Heyyy, guys! Decided to update since the desktop hasn't been bought yet, nor have my documents been transferred onto something... -_-.
I noticed that some of you just turned on Sakura and called her a... bitch and what not, but guys, don't judge her. To be honest, I'm basing her actions and thoughts on how I used to act. Yeah, um.. I used to act like her when I was like... seven to nine years old. I feel REALLY bad about it now, which is how Sakura is feeling. So don't judge her just on one chapter. I swear, the reviews I get where you cuss them out, haha.
Glad most of you like it!
I'm still waiting for my chapters of my other stories to be transferredddd.
And I noticed that lately, I've been splurging on writing. I guess I wanna make up for the time I wasn't able to update xD
Summary: Uchiha Sasuke had always been labelled as the nerd. Bullied, tortured, taunted daily, because he wanted that life. But when his little cousin needs his help, he sheds his facade and fights back, wanting to become her role-model. Just when he thought he was content, his bully and old life shatter that peace.
Inspired by: Welcome to the Real World! By boredyetinspiredartist. One of my fav stories. ever. X3. even if Sasuke is tortured, which i like in this instance. :)
Dedicated to: Japan. Pray for Japan. They need our help now more than ever. And xena-chan because of our awesome convos:)
Disclaimer: I never owned Naruto now, what makes you think I'll own it now? Seriously.
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Someone to Look UP to
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Chapter 2:
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The next morning, Sasuke woke up and showered, but instead of throwing on his ridiculous nerd outfit, he slipped on a black high-collared tee and shorts. After all, he didn't want to scare his Aunt Misao, or worse, Aya herself. He had been flipping pancakes, finished about five, when the doorbell rang. The Uchiha used his spatula to poke under the last cooked pancake and placed it on the large plate with the others when the bell rang again. "I'm coming," He said, not needing to raise his voice as it was deep enough to resound in the house. Sauntering to the door, he softly opened the entrance and spotted the relieved face of Misao and Aya who was rubbing her eyes with one hand and holding her mother's in the other.
Staring at them both for a moment before stepping aside to let them in, he noted that though their physical appearance hadn't changed much, their faces were the things he almost didn't recognize. Uchiha Misao had long, silky dark hair just like most of the women of his family but held deep blue eyes. He noted the slight bags that gathered underneath her eyes and the glimmer of exhaustion, and she seemed much wiser in the angle he saw her in rather than how she looked like a year ago. She sent him an automatic smile, a little fake but at the same time polite and geniune. He nodded in response to her gesture.
His dark eyes travelling down, he saw his sniffling cousin whose onyx eyes were bloodshot and it was fairly obvious she had been crying in the car on the way to his house. The last time he was her was when she was merely five, and she definitely stuck onto him like glue; most of the memories he had when his family came over little Aya was standing straight by his side, giggling and smiling brightly. Her face had been so babyish back then, but it was surprising to Sasuke that she had already adopted the narrow structure of her jawline, obviously from Misao's genes. She grew a bit as well, but she wasn't even as tall as the middle of his chest. To Sasuke, it seemed as if she never cut her hair the two years he hadn't seen her, the long black hair-with blue highlights, just like he had-reaching all the way down to her petite waist.
Aya was usually so bubbly and nothing let her down.
Solemnly, he thought that this news would greatly affect him as well.
"I made some pancakes," Sasuke said as he reached inside his cabinet, pulling out three plates and used a fork to give each plate two pancakes, his back facing his family members.
"Oh, thank you," Misao smiled, a slight wrinkle in her face when she was either amused or tired. The older woman turned to her daughter, "Aya, what do you say?"
The little girl slowly lifted her head, and Sasuke could see the wavering mask she had in her eyes and watched, surprised, as it suddenly broke. Misao jolted, as if shocked as the sudden outburst, before she sighed and hugged the girl, patting her on the back comfortingly. "It's alright, Aya-chan," Misao smiled, though this time the wrinkle in her eyes made it obvious to Sasuke she was tired. "Let it all out."
Aya bawled and clawed at her mother chest, Sasuke frowning as her wails reminded him of painful memories he had always hoped to store away-far away-from his present, sane mind. He sat down next to his aunt and pat the little girl on the head, noticing how she hicked and tried to keep more tears from leaking out. "It's okay to cry," He told her, his words comforting even if his tone was emotionless. "There's nothing wrong with crying." Once those words fell out of his lips, Aya just seemed to resign and cry her heart out. The two older Uchiha listened as her wails turned to sharp breaths, and how her trembling turned to rhythmical, sleeping breaths. Once the girl fell asleep, Misao kissed her on the forehead and walked over to a nearby couch in the living room, gently placing her on the soft surface.
Sasuke let her have a moment of privacy before his aunt came back. He handed her a plate of pancakes, which she took along with the bottle of syrup he gave her. "Thank you," She said gratefully, pouring a generous amount of sugary thickness all over her pancakes. "I'm guessing you want to know why I'm asking you to take Aya-chan in." She held the bottle of syrup to him.
"No thanks," He said, taking the bottle and placing it on the side. "I don't like sweets."
Misao blinked, as if it were new information to her. "Then... if I may ask, why do you keep it in your house?"
"I may not like sweets," He simply said, taking a bite out of his plain pancake. "But my guests might."
They were emerged in temporary silence as they ate before Sasuke asked after swallowing another bite, "What happened that made Aya so..." He fumbled with the word for a moment. "Vulnerable?"
Misao put down her fork, the clinking of metal and plate echoing slightly. Seriously, she put her hands in front of her and bit her lip. "About a week ago.. my husband and sister died in a car accident."
Sasuke stared and stared and stared, before he noticed his rude eyes once the fork in his hands dangled and hit the plate. Clearing his throat, a dark veil shrouded over his already mysterious eyes. "I... see." He would say sorry, he really would, but he knew most people in his family did not take pity well, and neither did he for that matter. "Aya must be taking it hard."
"She hasn't stopped crying since she heard," Misao said sullenly, sadly, as her eyes blurred at the thought of her deceased lover and sibling. "Aya-chan... she's very smart. I thought that when I told her, she wouldn't understand until she was older, but the moment I told her that her daddy had gone to heaven, she just went through a trace before she just... lost it." Sasuke observed as his aunt sighed, muttering quietly in the blearing silence of the house. "She was always a daddy's little girl... Always asking when he was coming home, if he could take her to work, if he could see her newest drawings - and she adored my sister, seeing her as a way to spoil herself. And now, they're gone..." The Uchiha boy politely turned away when he saw a tear trail down her cheek.
He stood up, walking over softly to the couch where Aya slumbered. Peering down at her-stained cheeks, frown and all-he felt his chest tighten at her vulnerability.
Misao was at his side, watching over her daughter protectively as she slept. "She's been like this for a week, and I was so frustrated that I couldn't comfort her when I couldn't even assure myself." She averted her gaze to Sasuke whose eyes where now attentively staring at her. "Then, I suddenly remembered the times she would act like a brat and demand for her cousin, 'KayKay-chan'," He winced at the nickname, making her chuckle. "And I thought she would feel better if she were around someone who understands what she's going through right now..."
Sasuke's eyes flashed-
("Mom, dad, wake up!")
(Red splashed all over the concrete-)
(Soulless eyes stare back at him-)
(Blue lips parted, trying to form words-)
(He grasped them tightly,
and felt life drain from their bodies, and-)
("DON'T LEAVE ME!")
-and he sucked in a deep breath, catching Misao's pleading stare. After a few moments, he nodded, swallowing as he was still reeling from the sudden and strong memory, "Hn."
Misao smiled gratefully, not making any physical gesture to thank him as her eyes conveyed them all, "I'm glad my sister gave birth to a kind child."
Sasuke felt the corners of his lips lift, his eyes beginning to burn, when all sensations disappeared as he shut his emotions down, back to his empty shell of a body.
"I am, too," He muttered lowly, and he wasn't sure if his aunt heard it or not.
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Sakura felt doubt and shame grip her as she waited at the locker she had broken into several times, eyes flickering left and right for a certain someone. She glanced at the clock on the wall, frowning when she saw that there was only seven minutes until the warning bell rang. "Where is he?" She whispered under her breath, resisting the urge to bite her nails nervously.
The pinkette had told Naruto that she would talk to Sasuke today, and she had intended to keep her promise, going as far as to arrive at school at seven thirty in the morning just to see the guy. Surprisingly, he wasn't there and now she was having a panic attack, wondering if he was coming at all. She really hoped he would come because this may be the only day she had enough courage to face him and spill everything. This may be her only chance to tell the truth.
But... where is he?
"Sakura-chan!" The Haruno snapped her head up hopefully at the familiar honorific, though her eyes dimmed when she saw it was only Naruto running up to her, bright - physically anyways - as always. When he stopped in his dash, he glanced around, frowning, "Hey, where's Sasuke-teme?" His aqua eyes peered down at her. "Aren't you supposed to talk to him?"
Her frown deepened, and her distress soon become noticeable, "I was going to, but he's not here yet." She tried to peer over the crowds of people, but still nothing promising showed up.
Naruto scratched his head, very confused. As far as he knew, Sasuke had set a high standard for himself in keeping a perfect attendance, which was why the blonde arrived earlier to school than what he was used to - he wanted to keep his new friend company (well, not new since they're known each other for about three months or so, but any-who). He even came when he was dead tired and lethally sick - Naruto kept his distance to his dark-haired friend on those days, maybe just a few feet more. But, that truly was strange. It wasn't like Sasuke to skip school, even if it were a small problem. Something important must have come up or... he got jumped...
"Poor Sasuke," He cried, an exaggerated waterfall of tears spilling out of his eyes. "He might've got jumped! And he's so vulnerable!"
Oh, if Naruto knew who he was really talking about, he wouldn't think so.
Sakura growled, pinching the yelping blonde on the skin of his elbow, not in the mood to be so violent and punch him. "Stop overreacting! He's strong enough to protect himself!" Although she told him that, she couldn't help but worry for the boy as well. No - stop doubting yourself Sakura! It'll only bring bad luck. She chanted this inside her head, before sighing out in disappointment that shined clear in her wavering emerald eyes. After pinching the blonde, she felt the instant need of just taking a nap somewhere, like outside in the school gardens or even in the classroom; sometimes she couldn't help the reactions people squeezed out of her.
Naruto frowned, fingering the cell phone in his pocket. Seeing his friend's slight anguish, he pulled the object out and smiled comfortingly at her. "Don't worry! Maybe something came up and he couldn't come to school. I can call him since I have his home phone number." He pushed the unsurprisingly orange, flip phone to her face, as if to prove to her everything would be okay and that she could always try again later.
Hope filled the pinkette again, and the blonde saw this as she picked up her chin to look at him. "Really?" She smiled in relief, wishing to talk to him as soon as possible and glancing at the time on the phone once Naruto placed the cell phone in her hand. "Only five minutes until the warning bell, huh? Do you think we could call him right now?"
Naruto smiled, shrugging. "Sure! The faster you apologize, the faster things will be easier for us all." He took hold of his own phone as he scrolled through his contact, but he furrowed his brows in confusion when the cell buzzed, blinking, as someone was calling him.
Ruefully, he ignored Sakura's inquisitive gaze as he pressed the 'answer' button, picking the phone up to his ear. "Uh, hello?"
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"Naruto-san?" Sasuke kept his voice quiet, not wanting to seem out of character in his 'geek-mode' or to disturb the slumbering girl on his couch. Clearing his throat slightly as he shifted the phone in his shoulder, he kept washing the dishes as his aunt sat in the couch next to her daughter, seemingly reflecting what had happened so far with her family. "Ano... it's Sasuke."
"Heyyyy, Sasuke-teme!" The Uchiha winced at the loud volume his friend created and resisted the urge to growl out insults. "Heheh, what a coincidence! I was just about to call you!"
"...About what?" He asked quietly, eying the stirring Aya who furrowed her brows painfully. Nightmare, or bad memory, he concluded.
"Well, uh-" He could hear Naruto stage-whisper something incoherently to someone next to him, and Sasuke immediately stiffened, thinking that his blonde, whiskered friend could be betraying him in some way. He couldn't make out the words, though, since the loud sounds emitting from what the Uchiha thought were in the hallways of the school made Naruto's words almost inaudible. "Well, I was wondering why you weren't at school?" Oh. "Cuz', um, you're usually early to school ALL THE TIME, man! And was getting really worried, like, what if you got jumped and were left for dead? It seemed so not-you for you to ditch school, too!"
"Oh, um..." Sasuke turned off the water, placing the clean, dried dishes in their correct cabinet and strolling over to Aya's side. He sat down slowly on the couch as Aya thrashed a bit more violently this time, silently whimpering in the grasp of her nightmare. Sasuke felt a strain on his heartstrings and pat her head, and her eyelids fluttered open, watery blue orbs that she had definitely attained from Misao peered up at him, a chocked expression on her face. "Something... came up."
"Like what?" Naruto definitely couldn't keep the curiosity and concern out of his voice.
"...Family problems," He muttered softly, not wanting Aya to hear what he said, knowing her she would probably think he was calling her troublesome or a problem. "Look, can we talk later? I'm probably going to have my hands full for a while..."
Just as he uttered those words, Aya broke out into large sobs and hugged Sasuke around the waist, her tears soaking his T-shirt as he sat, stunned and not knowing what to do. Naruto, panicked, obviously not expecting to hear a girl's crying over the phone. "Sasuke, what-"
"I'll call you later," Sasuke hung up before Naruto could reply and hoped that the blonde wouldn't think anything unusual of it. Placing the phone on the counter, he awkwardly pat the girl on the head, bringing her closer, which made her collapse all of her tiny weight onto him. His aunt Misao watched him with careful eyes, and he wanted to hiss at her to come over to him so that he wouldn't be the victim of being glomped and cried on - even if he cared about Aya, he still didn't like physical contact. But then, he caught something.
Misao was sitting silently, observing expectantly and the Sasuke instantly realized it.
She was testing him. Seeing if he could really handle a little girl when she was emotionally at her worst.
He would have to sacrifice many things if he wanted to help Aya, and one of them was privacy.
So, he wrapped his arms around her tiny seven-year old body, hushing her quietly, as if grumbling. "It'll be okay," He said, although feeling fairly unsure. Aya nodded into him, her sobs gently dying down as his aunt sent him an approving smile.
As Aya began to sleep again out of exhaustion, he came to a conclusion.
He knew what it felt like to have the closest people around him ripped out of his hands and dragged to their deaths as he could only watch in despair. He could relate to how Aya was feeling right now; empty, torn, anguished, angry. He could predict just how she would change because of the young age her father and half-aunt's death, and it didn't seem pretty at all - it seemed so very similar to how he had gone through it. But... he didn't want her to go through what he did. Alone, trying to pick up shattered pieces of who he was without trying to cut himself in vainly, and his personality bending and breaking until he was instinctively blocking people out of his heart.
He, Uchiha Sasuke, would stand up, strong and proud, so that Aya would see him as a role model and have her be happy and giggly like she had been the last time he saw her.
After all, he would sacrifice anything to protect his family.
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"Well?" Sakura asked, holding in her breath in anticipation. "Can I talk to him?"
Naruto made a whirling gesture with his hand and head, before muttering something else in the phone as the pinkette impatiently waited. Suddenly, the blonde paused and said, "Sasuke, what -" Naruto pulled away from the phone, and from the speaker the Haruno could hear a distinct sound that agitated her to no end.
The sound of a little girl crying.
She only heard about a second of it, but she couldn't deny the familiar noise that used to emit from her own throat. Memories built up on each other and flashed before her eyes-
(She could hear them chanting, "Forehead-girl, forehead-girl" with their mocking voices-)
(One girl walked up to her crumpled form and kicked her in the mouth, and others joined in, their laughter demonic-)
("Ugly, billboard brow, pinky, freak, forehead-girl,"; All those words were taboo-)
(And they never stopped-)
("Please... no... STOP PLEASE!")
(No matter how loud she cried.)
"Sakura-chan?" She snapped back to reality when a hand shook in front of her eyes, her sight refocusing to catch Naruto's concerned gaze. "You okay?"
Despite the demons chanting in the back of her mind, she smiled - albeit with a sadness laced into the stitches - and reassured him, "Yeah, I'm fine! I can always talk to him tomorrow, right?"
The Uzumaki hesitated, and the pinkette instantly knew that he wasn't talking about that. Nevertheless, Naruto nodded and explained, "Yeah, that's true. Anyway, Sasuke is having some family issues right now, so I couldn't tell him you wanted to talk to him."
A little disheartened, Sakura hung her head thoughtfully. "Oh."
Naruto immediately jumped in, shaking his hands back and forth comically with a nervous expression. "He-y, don't worry! You can always pull him out anywhere, he follows you like a dog anyway!" Oh. "Well, an abused, frightened dog, but that doesn't matter. Even if he does get defensive, you can always bring out the big guns like you always do!" Naruto, you idiot.
Sakura's left eye twitched as she felt ten times worse than before. "...Gee, thanks," She said in a tone laced with heavy sarcasm and venom.
The blonde sent her his million dollar smile. "You can always count on me!"
The Haruno had to resist the urge of banging her head into the locker in front of her due to her friend's idiocy.
B-RRNG! The two popular kids glanced up at the intercom that crackled, the students around them shuffling around after the warning bell sounded. "Good morning, students," Tsunade's - the principal - voice rang out throughout the school, though she had a bit of a slur, which indicated her early drinking habits... during school. "At this time you should be heading to your seventh period class. Remember, respect the rules and your teachers, and furthermore - oh, you know what, screw it. You all know the drill. SHIZUNE!" The busty blonde woman hung up on the intercom, and Naruto and Sakura sweatdropped. She was probably barking at Shizune to get her another glass of sake.
"I'll call Sasuke after school and tell him, okay?" Naruto shouted across the hallway whilst he waved a goodbye, running to his locker to gather his stuff to rush to his first class of the day.
Sakura didn't yell a response, but nodded even though she knew the blonde wouldn't see her as he sharply turned on his heel, disappearing behind a corner. "Right..."
Glancing around, she saw the hallways thinning and gathered her supplies, slamming her locker shut as she ran to her class, half-hoping she'll make it on time, the other half not caring as much anymore.
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Aya sat near Sasuke on the couch, rubbing her bloodshot eyes as she sniffled. Her mother peered at them closely, smiling with a hint of solemness laced into it.
Misao crouched down to her dark-haired daughter, rubbing her on the shoulder. "Aya-chan?" She said softly, meeting her eye level.
Aya, noticing the seriousness in her mother's eyes, stopped touching her face in order to get a better look at her only immediate family member. "Okaa-san?" Her voice was thick with tears still, but Sasuke noted that she was resisting the urge to sniffle.
"I have to go away for a while," Misao murmured to her Aya, whose already glassy eyes were tearing up again. Sasuke watched with cautious eyes as his cousin's shoulders shook up and down irregularly, but she never burst into tears or protests when a long string of silence followed. When Aya didn't respond, Misao continued, stroking her daughter's hair, "I have some work to take care of, and there have been some conflicts within the whole clan that I need to clear up, okay? For now, you'll stay with Sasuke. Don't be so sad; he understands what you're going through right now! Any question that I wasn't able to answer he'll definitely have the answers for. ..okay?"
Aya paused, then nodded her head slowly. "Uh-huh."
Misao smiled sadly, patting her daughter on the head. "I'll be back before you know it, and we'll live near Sasuke if you want. For now... I'll be gone. But don't worry!"
Sasuke looked away at those last, empty words. Even his aunt knew that that sentence held no meaning whatsoever within it.
"I have to go now," Misao whispered, kissing Aya one last time on the forehead and pulling out of the embrace.
The older Uchiha bowed deeply to Sasuke in gratitude, "Please take care of my daughter." Sasuke nodded, and he watched with a guarded expression as his aunt hesitantly walked out the door and shut it behind her. He turned to the hiccuping Aya and sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Well, looks like we're living together," Sasuke said, even if he was being uncharacteristically talkative today. "Can't be helped though, huh?"
"Gomenasai," Aya apologized, taking his words in the wrong way.
Sasuke gave her a look. "Don't apologize, what's done is done." He stood up and walked towards the kitchen, and his small cousin peered at him curiously, observing as he threw out some pots and pans. "You hungry?" He asked, flicking on the stove once he placed a big pot filled with water on top of it.
"Umm... yeah," Aya jumped off the couch, catching herself weakly as the earlier solemness was replaced by excitement in spending time with her cousin she hadn't seen in years. "What are we going to have?" Her vocabulary and grammar skills were polished even if she were seven; a trait that was either passed down through the Uchiha blood or was given to them through the expectations of the parents.
Sasuke smirked, knowing she would jump for joy at her favorite dish being cooked. "Four cheese ravioli."
"With ma-ri-na-ra sauce?" She pronounced slowly - as she was only human and guessing was the second best thing - perking up.
"Whatever you want," He responded comfortingly, crouching down to hand her a wooden spoon. "Wanna help?"
Through her bloodshot eyes, Aya grinned. "Okay!"
Sasuke almost smiled. His goal of making her momentarily forgetting what happened days before was a success. Even if it was temporary, her happiness was still worth it.
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Now that I think about it, this fic is more in the FAMILY category than the DRAMA, but then again, there is some SasuSaku and friendship things as well, and it isn't revolving just around family issues, so yeah.
It's a little shorter than the chapter before, but I found that I wrote all I needed in this chapter, and I didn't want to add too much fillers in fear it would bore you guys and stuff. And I wanted to update it as soon as possible :P
I'm glad I at least finished this chapter. AND ON MY NEW COMPUTER, SQUEEEE~ It's so bigg! and clear! LIKE HD!
Thanks to our tax refund, we were able to get it. and soon my story chapters will be transferred. Can't wait:)
NEXT CHAPTER: Sasuke returns back to school! How will Aya react to his get up? Will Sasuke show his true self? Will Sakura confess to Sasuke why she really was hurting him? Will there be romance (ohoho;D) or family bonding (awww)? TILL NEXT TIME!
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
They motivate me to write more:)
Till next time!
Love,
~CiiCiinREX.