Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Can't Let Go Chapter 7

I have always found that in difficult situations I remember the strangest things.

It's just way my mind works, perhaps like a weird defence mechanism. I choose not to focus on what's happening right in front of me and my sub-conscious runs wild.

To give an example, when I was twelve, my teacher asked me a question on a topic that we had meant to revise the previous night.
I had forgotten, due to two stupid boys getting into a fight and having to be patched up (That's another story).
But, hey! It's just my luck that on the one time I didn't revise, I was chosen to answer.

It would have been much easier if I had just said that I didn't know the answer.

Instead, I stand there like a dazed puppy only to shout out "Ducks!" to an audience of unsympathetic school children.

It must have been months before anyone let me live that down.
Even Ino couldn't help herself. Hinata, luckily, was ill that day and so didn't know why people quacked every time I walked by.

Seriously, though. Ducks?!
What an earth was going through my head?
And why did I shout it out?!

I guess it will be another one of life's mysteries.

"What?"

I heard Sasuke's voice. What did he mean 'what'?

Oh no...

"Sakura? Sakura, can you hear me? It's not that hard to work out that I'm great, and everything."

Temporarily forgetting my accidental outburst, I looked straight up into my former friend's eyes.

"How dare you."

My voice was as low and menacing as I tried to channel my inner self, the one that was a hell of a lot more scary than my usual self.

Before he could get a word in, I continued.

"You come here, after years of no communication whatsoever, and expect me just to forgive you? Then, you go making comment like that! You are an arrogant, stuck up, son of a..."

"Sakura!" Sasuke all but shouted. I noticed that I had gradually moved forward, as if, without thinking about it, trying to be more threatening.

Sasuke seemed the closest he would ever get to flustered.

He ran his hand through his hair, his very gorgeous, deep raven black hair...

Oh my god. This was Sasuke Uchiha standing in front of me.

This guy was incredible!

Barely a single person at university hadn't being buzzing with excitement about his arrival.

And here he was, right in front of me.

What was I doing? I couldn't just shout at Uchiha Sasuke!

Panic crept through my mind when I came to this realisation. I needed to get away. There nothing left to say to this person.

Just because he was famous, and I had known him once when he was a different person, didn't mean that I had to stay here and worship the ground he stood on.

I wasn't a mindless fan.

All the sounds of the outside world came rushing back once I looked away from his eyes.

I needed to get away.

I could hear some shouts coming from the main street that I had just come from and started to head towards them.

The man behind me grabbed my arm as I tried to dash away. "You can't do that, Sakura." His voice was calm again. Always so cool and collected.

"Let go of me!" I yelled, frantically trying to get away.

"Stop being so unreasonable."

"I'm not being unreasonable! Can't you handle someone not wanting to rip your clothes off for once?"

"That's not it at all."

"Then let me go!"

"You are being too loud," he pulled me behind a wall just in time to see a man with a camera run past the opening to the alley, "Those men are paparazzi, Sakura. They are vicious. If you walk out onto that street they will know that you were with me. If you want your life to be ruined by being hounded by cameras for the rest of your life, then go ahead."

I laughed at the distinct and settling feeling of irony I got from this situation. "How come you always manage to ruin my life, Uchiha?"

He seemed shocked by the question. His dark eyes hardened, "We are not talking about that here, Sakura."

"Well, then I guess we'll never talk about it, considering I'm never going to see you again after this." I managed to get my arm free, "Why are you even here? I would have thought that you would have enjoyed getting away with me. After all, you spent so long trying to show that you didn't want me around."

"Why won't you just get over yourself?"

I was outraged. "Me?! I need to get over myself?! Are we living in the same universe, Uchiha? You're the one with the ego so large that you can't even bring yourself to apologise! What did you want me to do, hey? Apologise for getting punched in the stomach? 'Oh Sasuke, I'm so sorry that I couldn't dodge your fist coming to...'"

"Ok, I get already! You didn't exactly make it easy to apologise. You ignored me every time I tried to talk to you."

"Oh, I wonder why?"

"Don't be sarcastic with me, Sakura. We both know who will win if it comes to that."

"How would you know? You don't know anything about me."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours! You ran off without so much of a goodbye! And don't you dare trying to accuse me of all of this. None of this would have happened if YOU hadn't betrayed my trust. Maybe if you weren't so selfish and stupid and ashamed of being friends with me..."

"I wasn't ashamed of being friends with you. I was trying to protect you. But you don't even want to try to understand that!"

"You are the one who doesn't understand. I was so scared! I thought you were going to save me, like the knight in shining armour I always believed you to be. You know what? It isn't as much about the punch as the betrayal. The bruise on my stomach healed years ago, but the fact that you betrayed me, Sasuke, that has stuck throughout..."

"You called me Sasuke."
"What?"

I was temporarily distracted from my rant. I suppose that I had been calling him 'Uchiha' in an attempt to try and show that he didn't mean anything anymore.

"A slip of the tongue." I replied after a short pause.

"Sakura, as much as I'd love to stay here and argue with you, we really should get out of here. The paparazzi will find us any moment and that is not something that I'm looking forward to."

I closed my eyes, deep in thought.
Right in front of me was the man that I had been hung up over for years.
There was no doubt that I was still incredibly mad at him. I despised him for what he had done.

But deep down (possibly not so deep) there was still something willing me to forgive him.
I just wanted my friend back.

And this might be the last chance.

"This alley leads to the back door of my building. If you're so desperate to talk, we can do it in my apartment."

"Hn."
Now that was a familiar sound.
Maybe there was a bit of my Sasuke left in this man after all.

The walk to my apartment was in almost complete silence.

Thank the Lord these back streets were far too seedy for the average city dweller to be caught traversing, otherwise we would have been in trouble.

I tried desperately not to look around at the man following me.

I ended up making a story out of it. Just like the Greek myth, you know the one where the man goes to get his wife from the underworld and can keep her alive as long as he can travel to the surface without looking? Something romantic and tragic like that.

If I made it to my apartment without looking at Sasuke, he will become my closest friend again, and not whatever these years have done to him.

Unlike, the man in the story, I am not going to fail and turn around. I pride myself in having at least some self control (I imagine Naruto would make some stupid comment there that would force me to hit him).

This whole situation has gotten me overwhelmed.

I know I really shouldn't be overwhelmed by Sasuke; after all, I did grow up with him.

But, it is really strange to think of him as my childhood friend right now.

I've spent the last couple of years seeing his face on the TV, on billboards, heard his voice on the radio. Everyone is perpetually gossiping about Uchiha Sasuke, especially recently, and it's gotten harder and harder to view him as anything other than that unreachable, glorified idol he has become.
Don't you agree?

I was so sure that I was never going to see him again that I had started to question myself.
What makes me any different to all those other fans? Past friendship doesn't mean anything in the world of the glitterati.

Yet, here he is.
He followed me, even when I ran away.

I don't want to get my hopes up. If I've learnt anything, it's that I can't rely on him to be my perfect knight in shining armour.
I can't trust him with blind faith.

If, If, I decide to forgive him, I would certainly not make it easy.

I hope that I made that clear to him earlier.

I'm really torn. I don't want to forgive him - I can't just forget the years of pain that he brought about me.

But, maybe I could. Very gradually. If he gains my trust again.

I couldn't help but laugh at myself. I spend way too much attention to everything. Analysing people's characters and everything.

I suppose it comes with the job. I've got to have a good attention to detail if I want to be a good doctor.

As soon as I finished that last interesting thought, I noticed that I was at the front door. I had somehow made it into my building without noticing.
So much for my attention to detail.

I sighed, then opened the front door.

I cringed as I looked around the small apartment.

It wasn't messy, but it must have been such a shock to Sasuke who is used to penthouses and luxurious suites.

I don't even know why I cared about what Sasuke thought of it.

"Well, here it is. Now is the time to say what you've got to say." I said, walking into my living room before stopping and staring at him expectantly.

He looked up.

There was a silence.

Finally, he made a start.
"I want you to know that I never wanted it to be like this."

I was about to make a comment, but he held out a hand to stop me in my tracks.

"Please. Just listen. I think we shouted enough earlier, and it didn't get us anywhere."

He was putting himself on a line here. He sounded so vulnerable.
Sasuke Uchiha does not do vulnerable.

Perhaps he did miss me, just the slightest bit, after all.

"I'm listening."

There was a slight flash of relief on his inexpressive face.

Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into?

Finally! Chapter 7 is out! First of all, I need to say a big thank you to all those that reviewed!

Over 100 reviews is beyond my wildest dreams. Reviews help to spur me on!

I'm really sorry for not updating earlier, but I'm hoping that things will become more regular.

I also need to thank my two beta's, Pistolwhipped and Fyrn for helping along the way. Please enjoy chapter 7 and I would love some reviews!

~Sweetluvingurl