AN: Okay, I do know that maybe someone out there put this story on Alerts and probably thought at some point: 'When the hell is she going to start doing a chapter 11???'.
The answer is NOW.
I've been bombarded by coursework, homework, housework, exams and more so I completely forgot about writing. I know I've been horrible and not written but I'll make it up to everyone somehow~~~
Okay, enough talking and on with the story~~~
Chance Chapter 11: Trust
His footsteps echoed in the almost silent hallway, yet again he was the centre of attention. After that office fiasco around half an hour ago the cleaners were still cleaning up the sludge, now they were even staring at him.
He rolled his eyes inwardly and carried on walking, flipping his phone out in one swift motion. It didn't matter that today's little deal didn't go ahead, he had plenty of time and money to waste but one question plagued him the most…
How did she know that I put that line especially for her?
His gripped his soft ebony hair in slight irritation; it was just like her nature to make things harder for herself and him, just when he was willing to welcome her back. He had heard rumours going around after he left Konohathat she had moved to Suna to work, avoiding the pity that surrounded the room whenever she entered and went to work for him. When Shizuka entered his life he was almost 99% certain that life with Sakura was better and more worthwhile. After all, the old owner of Konoha had entrusted everything to her before she left. With that amount of information in her head it would be easy to break the company to pieces if he could get to her. Obviously Gaara wasn't using all this information to his advantage and it pissed him off slightly that he would waste perfectly good info on a competitor's company and get away with it.
His smooth voice was almost a whisper as he called the one person that could bring Gaara and Suna to the ground.
"Hello?"
"Welcome to Mellie's Pizza! How can I help you today? What can I get you? We have a special offer today, BUY ON GET ONE FREE on all medium pizza!"
Stupid redhead trying to make my life more of a living hell as it is…
"There's pepperoni, pineapple, Mediterranean, mushrooms, ham, cheese and tomato and lots more!"
How dare he assume that I'm a traitor? I've done more for the whole company than his ass has done in the last 2 hours or so.
"Miss? Miss?"
Stupid Sasuke, why do you need to remind me how much you hurt me?
Stupid Gaara, he can go and shove it.
"UGH! I REALLY HATE MEN!" She slammed her fists onto the plastic imitation of marble, leaving a giant crack in the centre of the circle. The entire restaurant went silent.
She looked bewilderedly at the teenage waiter who was almost shaking in fear as he pulled his hand back to take the menu back. She glanced from the crack of the table onto her perfectly unharmed hand and retracted her arm back from the table. There was only the slight echo of cheesy music in the background as the room continued to stare at her. She left quickly, grabbing her bag and coat with a soft mutter of an apology to the waiter before disappearing with a ring of bell from the door.
The cold air fought its way to her lungs as she ran from the restaurant, she had no idea that she had walked almost to the far side of the business area and walked into a restaurant in her rage. Tears flooded her eyes as she remembered an almost similar scene a few years ago with a girl, if not a woman by then walking out of a silent restaurant.
Flashback:
It had almost been 2 or 3 months since anyone had last seen Uchiha Sasuke. After the scam had been traced back to its roots he had thrown his briefcase over his shoulder, glancing emotionlessly at his dumbfounded 'best friend', his colleagues that he had grown up with filled with looks of betrayal and finally, his girlfriend who was the last to suspect him. By now, the news had already covered the scam, analysing the true 'culprit' and the mastermind, questioning whether Uchiha Sasuke had really fooled Konoha and legally took money to start up Sound. The authorities had announced that he could not be found guilty, all the business deals were legal and he had legally attained over $5 billion from the 3 years he had worked at Konoha. Konoha was an inch away from destruction and within the months that no-body saw Uchiha Sasuke they had climbed up the ladder again, turning debts into profit.
His so called friends were devastated, their company turned upside down and inside out and watched as his girlfriend waited on a phone call that came early in the morning.
"Sakura, meet me at the Goodman's café at 9. Come alone." The ending click of the call was the only thing that brought her back to reality. He had finally called her, after months of searching and trying to convince their friends that Sasuke wouldn't have taken that money and that it was all someone else's fault. She had told herself that he would call her and explain everything, tell her how everything was going to be okay and that they made a mistake, and then they could go back to the way things were…
"Sakura, I'm going away."
No, he wouldn't be… this is all just a dream… Sasuke-kun wouldn't leave me here…
"I won't see you again. I want you to pick up your stuff from my apartment by the end of this week. I'm selling it."
The apartment was the one place she felt she belonged… She practically lived there…
"Sasuke-kun, you're not really leaving! Don't joke around like that! I just got that promotion from Tsunade-san; you even helped me out with the documents. How can I do this without you?" She smiled; the bitterness in her mouth didn't disappear.
"Sakura-"
"Ah! I get it; you wanted to move to a bigger apartment… We can pack the stuff together, just you and me-"
"Sakura-"
"Oh Sasuke-kun, I'll quit tomorrow. I can get everything sorted out, I'll get Ino pig to take my role for awhile until I can sort out another job where I can work with you-"
"Sakura. Stop. You know-"
"I'm so tired, I'll get you a black coffee, just the way you like it. Give me a sec" She swirled around the chair, almost running towards the coffee machine until she was pulled back down by the boy.
"You know what I did. Everyone knows what I did. There's no going back for me-"
The strong bitter taste spread to the tip of her tongue.
"Don't be silly Sasuke-kun; everyone knows that you didn't steal that money from the books. You haven't even touched the books-"
Everything seemed so clear, the mist rising towards the sky.
"Me." She whispered the word to herself, the soft sobbing began.
"So that's why they looked at me like that. They knew it was me all along, asking you for help with the books… The books that you took the information from."
"I'm going to make Sound the best company on this planet. I refuse to stay chained to this place." His eyes were hard, cold even to the girl staring aimlessly at the mist.
"I don't need or want you Sakura. I never did. Never will."
"All you were good for was to get me those books. They all trusted you so much; they never thought you would be the one to help me make Sound."
No… I wouldn't have… Sasuke wouldn't have done this to me…
"Why should I choose you when I can have anyone I want?" He glanced sideways, smirking at a random waitress and watched as she almost fainted from a stare from him.
"Sasuke-kun, I love you, more than anything and anyone. You don't have to love me back. I can come with you to Sound. I'll do anything for you Sasuke. You know that!" She almost shrieked, her breathing was erratic and uneven.
"Sakura, stop making a scene and throwing a tantrum. Everything I want is ahead of me. Stop being a burden and let me go. All your little female friends did, they all knew that it would come to this. Didn't you see those glances they threw at you little girl? They knew that you were a tool to me and added you to the circle. Why would they like you?" he smirked.
Her sobs became louder, the restaurant's busy morning activities were dimmed out.
"You were never my girlfriend. What gives you the right to go with me?"
She ran, spinning the chair with such speed that smacked off the wall. The restaurant was silent; the on-lookers were silenced by a red glare.
"Run little girl, run. That's all you can do. After all, no-body cares for you now that I'm gone." There was no hint of a smile, only the twitch of his lips in an impression of supremacy combined with his oddly changed red eyes….
From that day onwards, she tried to pick up the pieces. The shards of memories sticking out of her made her an almost ominous figure in Konoha.
The girl who was used by the Uchiha.
The girl who thought the Uchiha loved her.
The girl who betrayed her own company.
Her friends.
She never once questioned Tsunade about why they kept her. She was primarily responsible for the loss. She was the one who couldn't stop him. She couldn't save him from the evil inside. She had taken on the mask of a pretender, blocking the comments out, working beyond her capacity until one day, her best friends couldn't take it anymore.
'Forehead! Stop wallowing in the mud and move on. So what if he used you?' She inwardly flinched. Sasuke was not a topic that people brought up.
'I can't see you looking like this Sakura-chan! No-one blames you for what Sasuke did. I'll bring him back someday. The same guy that ate Ramen with us whilst holding your hand'
Her hand seemed to almost twitch from an electric shock.
Naruto! Can't you see I'm busy? I'll talk to y-
Sakura-chan!
Does it really pain people to see me everyday?
Yes but-
"I'm leaving." She repeated the words he said.
"Ne, Gaara…" She twisted her blond hair nervously, like a teenager on a first date.
"What Temari? Can't you see I'm trying to find my dignity from where you threw it off the Suna BUILDING?" He roared as he put his head in his hands. As much as he wanted to blame Temari for everything he was man enough to blame the right person. Or rather, the one person that pissed him off the most today.
Sakura.
Ugh. That woman gives me a hell of a headache.
"Oh get over it Gaara. You're not a child anymore." She tapped his forehead with the guilty pink tie. He glared maliciously at her before staring into the clouds.
"If she wasn't on a contract with Suna Corps I would have her fired right now" he snarled as he tapped his fingers on the marble table.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you mate. Tsunade on a bad day is almost as scary as Temari if Shikamaru tries to cheat on her." Said the voice in the shadow, the purple face paint and tattoos were almost frightening in the dark corner.
"What has Tsunade got to do with that woman?" He asked, turning his swirly chair around to face the corner.
"Well, Sakura did used to work for Tsunade idiot brother of mine" He was answered by a glare and a silent threat.
"Why did she move here then? People that work for Konoha tends to stay there."
"That scam a few years ago probably did it." Temari answered, sighing as she remembered the early days in her and Shikamaru's relationship. The redhead showed no sign of knowing anything about it.
"The Uchiha scam a few years ago happened in Konoha while you were running around the city lil bro."
"Turns out, Sound was made from Konoha's own spawn. Uchiha Sasuke. He found a way to sneak money out of Konoha's books and made Sound to rival the Akatsuki" Temari continued as she kicked her legs aimlessly.
"The rumours around then was that he had help from someone who worked high in the ranks. At that moment in time, Haruno Sakura was the head secretary of Tsunade, recently promoted and…. Girlfriend of Uchiha Sasuke."
Gaara narrowed his eyes, he knew that his instincts were right. A rat was a rat no matter the time and-
"Don't make up your mind so fast Gaara" Kankuro reminded as he waved his hand absently to let Temari finish.
"The papers had it all confused and the scam was declared legal. The only culprit was Uchiha Sasuke. They never mentioned his girlfriend. Konoha was an inch from death for the next 3 months until she gave up on him. Shika told me that it all happened so suddenly, one day she was still proclaiming that Sasuke did nothing wrong and the next day, she changed completely."
"She worked overtime for about half a year until your best friend in Konoha practically pushed her off a cliff and made her quit her job to feel less guilty. Rumours said that she had met the Uchiha during the 3 months of crisis and probably lost hope in him. All of Konoha figured the scandal out but were forbidden to tell outsiders, they probably gave her a hard time at some point. So many people lost their jobs because she trusted the wrong person. She was used by that ass and left behind Gaara. Alone."
They were all silent until Kankuro coughed awkwardly.
"Temari, for once, all your gossiping skills came handy to save someone…" he laughed nervously.
"Why did the Uchiha try to get her back today? He didn't want her back then, there's no point having her now." Gaara muttered as he quietened down his rage.
"Who knows?"
"Oi! Let's not forget who mistaken Sakura for a spy and called a Family meeting!" Both siblings turned to glare at their brother who swirled around his chair to send a glare of his own.
"It was a likely mistake."
"It's all about trust Gaara, if you don't trust her, how can we kick Uchiha's butt off the business world?"
"With that, I'll leave you to choose the location of our annual company trip this year~" Temari and Kankuro had zoomed out before he could comprehend what they had left him with.
Hanako,
It's been so long. I guess you've been busy as well. You normally don't wait for me to reply. I kind of did misunderstand my co-worker but it really wasn't my fault. She half brought it on herself. I'll actually take your advice for once and maybe treat her normally. I'm going to be busy for awhile so I won't be able to reply always. Email me whenever.
Sabure/
AN: Well guys. I'm deeply sorry. People (ahem ahem A Flower and a Demon) have been whining at me for the past year or so to try and get my busy butt working so I've actually skipped a few hours of revising to type something up. It's not a lot but it covers the history everyone missed. Btw, does anyone like the mini cliff hanger I left? Take a guess at who Sasuke was calling~
An early Merry Xmas and a happy new year!!!
Note: Please pray for me and my exams if anyone could! I need all the help I can get!
Blue~