Konichiwa!!

Hope you all enjoy chapter 3!!

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Sakura gulped.

"Well, take your seat then, Sakura" said Kakashi.

Sakura almost jumped from his voice, but looked up at him and nodded.

"Hai!"

She walked slowly over, and took the seat next to Sasuke. Sasuke said nothing. Sakura said nothing. But the whole time, they both had a rigid awkwardness around them. They were both extremely stiff.

"Hey" Gaara Whispered to Ino. "What is up with Sasuke and Sakura?! They're both so stiff!"

"I have no idea!" Ino whispered back."It's almost as if they're embarassed to be sitting next to eachother."

Throughout the class, neither Sakura or Sasuke spoke to eachother. They didn't look at eachother, or interact with each other.

"Okay, thank you class, and I will see you tomorrow!" Kakashi said, the class finally coming to an end.

A small sigh of relief came from Sakura. She started packing her books into her bag.

Sasuke walked past slower than usual. Just as he passed the back of her chair, a small folded up peice of paper landed on her desk.

Sakura looked at it blanky. Could this be...?

Sasuke stopped short of the door. He turned around, and very discretely, gave a look at Sakura, and then down at the peice of paper before turning on his heel and walking off to his next class.

Sakura picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it. She gave a small gasp.

It was a note, from Sasuke! The note read:

Sakura,

You look beaten up, and tired. I'm worried about you.

Please meet me by the lake where we last met, after school today.

Sasuke

Sakura's heart pounded in her chest a thousand beats a minute. She folded the note back up, and put it in her school bag. She looked up, and saw Gaara standing there with a suspicious look on his face.

"What are you all flushed and smiley about all of a sudden? And why do you have a black eye?"

"Ummm, i fell the other day is why I have a black eye, and I suddenly just remembered a funny joke that my friend told me! That's why I was smiling! Uhh, see you later Gaara!"

Gaara watched her run out of the class room. Weird girl, he thought.

Sakura could hardly concentrate throughout the rest of the school day. The thought of going to meet with Sasuke was almost terrifying to her, but at the same time, she wanted to meet with him.

At lunch time, Sakura sat by herself under a tree eating a small onigiri. Sakura was ravenously hungry, and the onigiri was too small to fill her up completely, but she could not afford any more food. This was due to the extremely limited amount of money Sakura recieved a week from her father and step-mother Esmee.

Lee saw Sakura eating all by herself. "Nobody should be eating lunch by themselves" he thought. After all, Sakura was one of his best friends. He walked over to her.

"Hey Sakura!"

Sakura almost jumped from his voice. "Oh! Hi Lee! What's up?"

"I was hoping maybe I could have lunch with you. We haven't had lunch together in ages"

Sakura nodded and gestured to the place next to her. Lee sat down.

"Is that all you're eating?" said Lee, looking at the now half finished onigiri.

"Uhh, yes, you see, I spent all my money on clothes, so I don't have much money left for food!"

Lee wasn't convinced. He hadn't seen her wear any new clothes. The clothes that she wore were tattered, and looked too big for her.

Lee was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"Sakura, I'm worried about you. You've lost so much weight recently, and whenever you come to school you look tired, and this morning you came in with a black eye!" He looked at the pale, thin girl chewing on her food, looking sheepishly to the left. "Is there anything that's going on at home? Anything you want to talk to me about? Can I help with anything?"

Sakura gulped. She couldn't let him know. It was too demeaning, too degrading to let anyone know. She sighed.

"Lee, I'm so sorry for worrying you, but really I'm fine. My parents are...just going through a few fights, and I guess I just haven't been looking after myself properly, that's all. Please, don't worry about me any more! You've already done enough by being the best friend I could possibly ask for!"

Lee looked into her huge green eyes. He sighed. Sakura had by now finished the onigiri.

"Well, here, then seeing as you only had that tiny excuse for a lunch today, at least take my onigiri too. It's much bigger!"

Sakura looked at Lee with eyes that were full of more gratitude than Lee had ever seen.

"Arigato, Lee!" She took the onigiri and ate it slowly, making sure to treasure every bite.

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The end of school came. Sakura's heart did flips in her chest as she walked over to the lake where she had been with Sasuke the previous day.

She saw Sasuke sitting on the same rock. Taking a deep breath, she gathered some confidence, and sat down next to him.

For a few moments Sasuke didn't say anything. They both looked out over the lake for a while.

Sasuke then turned to her. "Sakura, why do you have a black eye? And why do you look so run down? Recently, I've noticed. I know something is not right. Please tell me what it is."

Sakura looked down at her lap. She had had enough. Everyone wanted to know. She still just couldn't bring herself to tell anyone. She hung her head. Sasuke looked down. Small teardrops began to land on her lap.

"Sasuke, I'm s-sorry, b-but..."

Sakura let out a little sob.

A feeling of guilt swept over Sasuke. She didn't have to tell him. Maybe he shouldn't have asked in the first place. "Sakura, I'm sorry..." he whispered.

He reached his hand underneath her chin and slowly lifted up her face. Sakura looked back at him with tear-filled eyes. Eyes full of sadness and regret, that's what Sasuke saw.

Slowly, he held the side of her face with one hand, leaned in and pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss. His other hand came to rest around her waist.

Sakura kissed him back as passionately as he was kissing her, feeling all the stress go out of her body. Sasuke had a way with kissing away all the pain, hurt, and sorrow from her life. She brought both her arms around him, and let herself just melt into the kiss.

Sasuke stroked along her back slowly, then slowly lowered his head and kissed along her neck, making little bites along the way.

Sakura pulled away slowly, but firmly.

"Sasuke, I have to go, my parents, I got punished last time I was late, and I don't want to get punished again."

Sasuke looked down, but nodded with understanding. Looking back up at Sakura he said, "Just remember Sakura, I will always be here for you."

Sakura gave a warm smile. "Thank you, Sasuke. Oh, and also, please don't tell anyone about...Us...If my father found out, he'd kill me..and..."

"I understand. Don't worry, I would never tell anyone" Sasuke simply said.

Sasuke was so forgiving. He had such a kind heart, and had always been there for Sakura. Sakura gave all her gratitude into the one last kiss she gave him before walking back home.

Sasuke watched after her. But he was still worried. He couldn't just see Sakura like this and do nothing. He had to do something about it.

It was decided. He would follow Sakura home that day, and see what really went on at home. He needed to know. No matter what happened, he would make sure Sakura was happy again.

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Soo, that's chapter 3 for you! Hope you enjoyed it!

Oohh, and please please reveiw! I love you all who added me to story alerts and favorites, but please leave a reveiw as well next time if you didn't! It will only take less than a minute!

Thanks so much again for reading, and I will try and update soon!