Disclaimer: Refer back to chapter one. Particularly the part about The Angry Fangirls. (GIVE US BACK KAKASHI-SENSEI, YOU MOTHERFUDGER.)
Uchiha Sasuke did not do uncomfortable. Apathetic, yes. Asshole, yes. Cold, yes. Calm, yes. Furious, yes.
The word 'uncomfortable' wasn't even in his vocabulary; but that was only word he could use to sum up his current feeling as he shopped for clothes for Sakura.
He grabbed a pair of black shorts and a blank tank top, trying to envision her in them. His mind, however, couldn't conjure up the image. Sakura wasn't made for dark clothes.
He kept the black shorts but grabbed other colors that he thought would match her, along with five shirts.
One of the combos he had picked up were a pair of dark green shorts and a red zip-up vest, and his mind immediately associated it with a twelve-year old Sakura.
"Sasuke-kun!" Legs were running to him, then a body dropped to its knees in front of him and the face of a worried, anxious girl filled his gaze. "Are you okay?!" Green eyes were the only thing he saw, his mind clouded with pain, but those green irises were the only color that registered. Those eyes and that scared face. He would do anything to keep that look off her face.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Stupid Sakura. He hadn't thought of his team in so long, and now having her so close was dredging up memories he thought had been long buried.
He slammed the clothing onto the counter, and the girl behind it raised a pierced eyebrow but said nothing, merely ringing up his purchases. It was when she was bagging them that she decided to speak up. "You know, your girlfriend's gonna need more than shirts, vests, and shorts for whatever she's doing."
Sasuke glared at her. "Mind your own business," he snapped.
The girl shrugged, seeming unaffected by his glare. In a way, she reminded him of Sakura, and this made him narrow his eyes further. He didn't want to think about Sakura more than was absolutely necessary.
"Just saying. It might make her happy, knowing that you were thinking of her."
It might make her happy, knowing that you were thinking of her.
The only problem was, Sasuke didn't know what Sakura liked anymore.
He didn't know Sakura anymore.
Feeling oddly unsettled, Sasuke gave the female one last glare, gathered up his things, and left.
-x-
He heard her before he saw her.
Or rather, he heard her laughter, the one thing he would never be able to forget. Sasuke slowed down almost imperceptibly. How long had it been since he had heard Sakura laughing?
"We tried so many times to see what was beneath Kakashi-sensei's mask. Seriously, it was a little sad." She laughed again, but what made Sasuke walk faster to his room was when he realized that Suigetsu was in the room with her.
When he opened the door (it wasn't his fault he threw the door open so hard it rebounded against the wall--the door was just weak) Sakura was sitting on the futon, knees drawn up to her chest with her chin balanced on her kneecaps. Suigetsu was sitting on the floor, legs sprawled out. Still, they were far too close in Sasuke's opinion.
"Suigetsu." Although Sasuke's tone was calm, there was an anger behind it that only Suigetsu noticed. "What have I told you about coming into my room uninvited?"
"That's not true," Sakura protested, "I invited him in here."
Sasuke threw her a withering glance. "Stay out of this, Sakura."
Sakura bristled. "No! Just because you have me prisoner in here doesn't mean you can control my life, Sasuke."
"No, it's fine, Sakura. I'll go." Suigetsu interjected, and he reached out to ruffle Sakura's hair. Seconds later his hand was touching air as Sasuke reached out and snapped Sakura to his chest, big hand clutching her back as her face was hidden in the hollow of his chest. Sasuke's eyes spun into the Sharingan, glaring at the sharp-toothed male. Suigetsu raised an eyebrow. "Well, then. Bye, Sakura. Sasuke." He nodded at the only person who could see him, then left the room.
Sakura's fists came up and started pushing Sasuke away. "What the hell, Sasuke?!" she demanded angrily. "What was that all about?!"
Sasuke glared down at her, his eyes having returned to normal. "I don't want you near him, Sakura. Suigetsu is dangerous, or have you not grasped that yet?" He sneered. "It wouldn't surprise me if you haven't."
"Screw you, Sasuke! I would have thought you'd be overjoyed--I'm not bothering you. After all," Sakura sneered back at him, and Sasuke was almost taken aback, "I'm annoying, remember?"
"I'm trying to keep you alive, idiot!" Sasuke snarled. Their faces were so close that Sasuke could feel every angry breath that was loosed from her lips.
The fury melted from Sakura's eyes, and Sasuke was captured in her gaze. "Why?" she whispered.
Sasuke jerked back. Why indeed. "I got you clothes." He said, a not-answer, and Sakura could feel his shell coming back up. She took a few steps back before she sank onto her futon and laid on her side, her back to Sasuke. She wouldn't get any more answers from him at the moment.
The door slammed behind her and Sakura closed her eyes, something hollow aching in her.
It's probably where my heart used to be, she mused bitterly. Since it's no longer my own.
-x-
Suigetsu stared at the ceiling, contemplating.
He liked to believe that he knew what kind of person Sasuke was, since he had spent so long in a group with him. Sasuke was an all-or-nothing person; what he wanted he went out and got. The hunt for Itachi is what cemented this idea; Sasuke had done everything possible to reach Itachi. Now that Itachi was dead and gone, and Sasuke had learned the truth, he was determined to attack Konoha to right its wrong against Itachi.
Still, Suigetsu mused, rolling a toothpick against the jagged rows of his teeth, there were missing holes in what he thought he knew about Sasuke.
Holes, he bet, that Sakura knew.
He supposed he could risk Sasuke's ire again. Besides, it was always fun to piss Sasuke off.
And it seems like Sasuke got a lot more pissed off at him now that him and Sakura had been talking.
Suigetsu smirked. Well, wasn't this interesting?
-x-
Sakura had her back to Suigetsu when he opened the door, and he saw how the muscles in her back tensed when he walked through it. Well well well, it looked like Sakura and Sasuke had gotten into a fight.
Not that he was surprised; Sasuke's emotions had been in turmoil ever since Sakura came around, and Sasuke, it appeared, didn't know how to handle it.
"Hey," he greeted, and Sakura rolled over in response. Her eyes met his, and though she looked happy to see him, there was also something sad lurking behind those viridian irises. Yep, they definitely got into a fight.
"Hey. What're you doing back here?"
"Well," Suigetsu drawled, sticking his hands into his pockets nonchalantly, "I was sort of hoping for a threesome with you, me, and Sasuke, but it appears he isn't here, so I suppose it'll just be the two of us." He waggled his eyebrows at her and Sakura laughed, fully sitting up now.
"Well, Sasuke left to god-knows-where."
"Better for us then, huh?" Sakura laughed again and he grinned at her. "So anyway, Sakura, how do you know Sasuke anyways?"
The smile slid from Sakura's face. She looked down at her feet. "We were teammates, back in Konoha."
Suigetsu nodded; he had suspected as much. "Friends?"
Sakura looked up and smiled, though it was both dark and painful. "I liked to think so."
Hmm…he was getting warmer. At least he knew his thoughts weren't off.
"What was Sasuke like, back in Konoha?"
"Why do you care so much?" Sakura shot back, and Suigetsu grinned. Clever, clever girl.
"Relax," Suigetsu drawled, "I'm not planning any blackmail or anything, so you can stop being so defensive. I've just never seen Sasuke so emotional. Ever."
Sakura's jaw dropped. Then she began to laugh hysterically. "Sasuke? Emotional?" The thought of those two words in the same sentence brought along another round of hysterics.
Suigetsu watched her, grinning. He could understand the amusement of it--because honestly, the idea of an emotional Sasuke was pretty funny--but he was being completely serious.
"You get under Sasuke's skin." Suigetsu said, and Sakura looked up at him, tears of mirth in her eyes. "You unsettle him. It may not be obvious to you, but to the rest of us? We notice it."
Sakura smiled softly, brokenly, shaking her head. "No, you're wrong." She said quietly. "The only person who ever affected Sasuke was Naruto."
Suigetsu raised an eyebrow, then he seated himself down on the floor again. "What's Naruto like?" He didn't miss how the light returned to Sakura's eyes at the name.
"Naruto's amazing. He's so full of life, so exuberant. Naruto never gives up. He's my rock, the one person I know I can always lean on when things get tough. Naruto understands me, understands why I've always defended Sasuke against the villagers." Sakura's smile became wistful. Sad. "He's my best friend.
"But," she sighed, "he was Sasuke's best friend first. Those two were like brothers." Suigetsu did not miss the past tense: were.
"What happened?" The light was extinguished from Sakura's eyes, and Suigetsu almost winced. What had Sasuke done to Sakura?
"When Sasuke was leaving the village, I tried to stop him. He knocked me out and left me on a bench. He punched a hole through Naruto's chest, and Kakashi-sensei was the one to find Naruto." Sakura gave Suigetsu a sad smile. "Sasuke's excuse for it all was that he was cutting his bonds." She looked down at her feet, her bangs shadowing her eyes. "He left us all alone."
Suigetsu watched her quietly. "Maybe he hasn't been able to, though. Cut his bonds, I mean. After all, he rescued you, didn't he?" He stood up, stretching, and Sakura picked up her head to look at him. "Anyway, I'm gonna get going before Sasuke finds out I'm here and rips my head off. And I may or may not mean the one on my shoulders, if you catch my drift." He winked at her and then left, laughing at the dark flush that spread across her cheeks.
"Perv!" Sakura yelled to the closed door, then laughed softly. Suigetsu was amusing, she'd give him that.
Still, she thought, getting up and opening Sasuke's closet, he was wrong about Sasuke not being able to cut his bonds.
She fingered the Akatsuki cloak, her mind conjuring up the image of him in it, one that still made her chest ache with the pain and betrayal of it.
If Sasuke hadn't been able to cut his bonds, then he never would have donned this damnable cloak. Instead, he'd be home, where he belonged.
But he had been able to cut his bonds, and he had donned the Akatsuki cloak.
Except he hadn't been able to return home. It was clear that by joining the Akatsuki, he had no intention of doing so. Sakura bit her lip painfully, hands clenching the cloak.
She and Naruto had been reaching for empty air. Sasuke had never wanted to go back home. He never wanted to go back home to them.
And as for him kidnapping her…it was merely a whim, something he probably did for his own sick amusement, and now she was a pawn caught in his twisted little game.
A/N--AHAHAHA. Um. Okay, so yes, Suigetsu IS OOC. But, uh, it's for a reason, I swear! Plot development and all that. This chapter would've been out sooner, but my laptop charger died on me and I didn't get a new one for two weeks. In between that was school and driving lessons. AND THEN HANA YORI DANGO TOOK OVER MY LIFE. It is now taking over Becca's. This pleases me greatly. (Domyouji/Makino FTW!) SO. ANYWAY. Um. If you review you get a shiny rock! So review, por favor!