Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 9: How it changed.
Alright, this chapter took me some extra time to think up. I didn't want to sound extremely far fetched, but I didn't want to sound corny either. I think I did an alright job. Two more chapters until Sasuke comes home. Get ready for that. Like I've said before, I already have the last chapter written, but it will have to change because of a few things I've added. Next Chapter: Sakura's Heart. Oh, and thanks for the reviews, I love reader's input. Enjoy!
"That bastard! Why didn't he ever tell me this? I feel like a jerk now."
Sakura sat back on the swivel chair with a huge frown on her face. The latest e-mail she got to, open in front of her. When she started reading the e-mails during the time of their rough patch, she didn't even realize she had reached that far until she noticed the dates. His writing hadn't changed until she read this e-mail:
Dear Sakura
Why are you mad at me? All I said was that I didn't want to go to a chick flick. You have Ino, Hinata, Temari, and Tenten to go with; so why did it matter if I came or not? I'm sorry if I said something wrong. I can't stand to see you upset. I realize I'm not the best communicator, but I really wish you would express your feelings more with words, then with glares.
I can't read your mind Sakura, however much I want too.
Please, talk to me.
Sasuke
"So, Ino was right. I should have talked to him. I feel like an idiot. No! This doesn't change the fact that he started to do less and less things with me, other than sex!"
She closed the e-mail and opened the next one below it.
Dear Sakura
Are you still mad at me? So we missed dinner. Wasn't what we did at my apartment more fun anyway?
Sasuke
"Well! That throws my feelings of being a jerk out the window. He had no idea what he was doing!"
It had started almost a year before Sakura broke up with Sasuke. They had started to go out and doing other couple things less and less. Sasuke only wanted to hang out at his apartment and have sex. More sex than hang out. Sakura didn't mind at first, but soon never going out had gotten on her nerves. She tried to persuade him to go, but he never budged.
"Wanna go to the movies tonight?"
"Nah, we can just order one on pay per view."
"How about dinner? It's been forever since we've been to Carlos's Bar and Grill. I just love their smoked salmon."
"We can just have them deliver."
"How about…"
"Sakura, I'm trying to watch this. Please, can talk about what we are going to do tonight later."
'You'll never bring it up again.'
"Alright."
Suddenly her phone rang and she went over to the kitchen to answer it.
"Hey Forehead! Whatcha up too?"
"Not much, Ino-pig! Just doing the same old."
That was her code word for saying, 'hanging out at Sasuke's doing absolutely nothing and in dire need of a rescue.'
"Let's go see that new chick flick. I hear it's really good."
They already saw the latest girl movie two weeks ago.
"Oh yeah. I've been meaning to see that. I don't have my car, come by Sasuke's in ten minutes. Okay?"
"I'll beat that, be there in nine! Bye."
"Later."
She closed her phone and put it back in her purse, turned and went into the living room to find her shoes.
"You going out?"
"Yeah. Ino wants to some new movie with her favorite actor that just came out."
"Which one?"
"I don't know. She has so many favorites, and she didn't tell me."
"I thought we were doing stuff tonight." Sasuke said turning to face her.
"We can do stuff tomorrow."
A honk was heard from the front of the building.
"Oh! That's Ino. Bye."
She kissed Sasuke on the cheek and flew out the door. She quickly ran down the stairs and hopped into Ino's car.
"So..."
"Yeah."
"Did you?"
"Of course."
"And he didn't?"
"Nope."
"Jerk."
"I agree." Sakura said before putting on her sunglasses.
They drove out of the complex and made a left towards Ino's place.
The next day, Sakura woke up to her phone ringing.
'Who would call this early?'
Sasuke
"Ugh." She looked at the phone. "I'm not home."
Hours later, she was sitting at a café with Ino and Hinata.
"What's that sound?" Ino asked, looking around.
"My phone. I put it on vibrate."
"Why aren't you answering it?"
"Because it's Sasuke, and I'm not in the mood to talk to him."
"How come?" Hinata asked, taking a bite of her salad.
"Because he'll find a way to get me to come over and I actually want to spend the day doing exciting stuff."
"Sex with him isn't exciting." Ino asked, ducking down to dodge the spoon Sakura just threw at her.
"That's none of your business. You know what I mean."
"What's been going on with you two?" Hinata asked as she looked down at her phone.
"Text from Naruto?"
"No, my father. We are having dinner with him tonight, Naruto and me."
"Oh, haven't told him yet?" Ino asked again.
"We have. But I think he is trying to convince him to change his mind."
All three laughed at this.
"So, back to topic. Sakura, what is going on with you and Sasuke? You guys were doing so great, why the sudden change?"
"It wasn't that sudden. It's just been increasing in occurrences from every so often, to all the time."
"What has?" Both girls asked.
"His unwillingness to do anything with me."
"But you guys hang out at his place all the time, Naruto told me."
"Yeah, but when I'm there, I feel like an unwanted pest. Well, until he is horny enough to take me to the bedroom. Then after, he'll just fall asleep, he use to cuddle with me."
"I find it hard to picture Sasuke cuddling."
"Well, cuddling might be an exaggeration."
"Maybe he is just stressed or something like that."
"I thought that at first too, Hinata. But it happens everyday now. We had reservations the other night for Lugio's and at the last minute changed his mind and we stayed home instead. Do you know how hard it is to get a reservation at Lugio's?"
"No."
"Ino, you don't count. You have like a permanent table there."
Ino giggled, but stopped when she saw Sakura glaring at her.
"Was it a special occasion?" Hinata asked, finishing her salad and laying her napkin on the plate.
"No, but I had been looking forward to it for weeks. I've tried to get him to go places with me, but he flat out refuses… Well… in so many words he refuses, but still."
"Have you talked to him about it?"
"He'd probably just deny he's doing anything wrong and change the subject by kissing me."
"Well, it's your own fault for having an irresistible boyfriend."
"I'm sure things will get better. He can't stand inside for the rest of his life!"
Sakura laughed, "Maybe you're right Hinata. Hopefully you're right."
'She was wrong. It didn't get better.'
Sakura remembered how instead of getting better it seemed to get worst, evident by the e-mails she was reading.
Dear Sakura
Why haven't you returned my phone calls? Why are you ignoring me? What did I do? I don't understand. We are spending time together. Isn't that enough?
Sasuke
"No, it wasn't enough."
"It's not like he is ignoring you, or hanging out with his friends more than you."
"It's not that Ino. I love spending time with him. And I love being at his apartment a lot, it's like we are living together. Married even!"
"So, what's the problem?"
"Even married couples go out. To dinner, to a movie, to the park."
"Why would you want to go to the park?"
"It's just a place to go, alright! It's like I'm spending time in his apartment and he just happens to be there. We use to talk and make out on the couch and then he would…"
"Okay! Enough! I sorta of get your point. He isn't showing any interest in spending time with you; expect when he wants to have sex."
"And there's another thing. He calls it sex."
"So?"
"So, I want to call it making love. But I don't even know if he loves me or not."
"Do you love him?"
"With every bone in my body!"
Sakura let herself slip off Ino's couch as Ino was getting ready for a date in her bedroom.
"So, who is it this time?"
"Chouji."
Sakura sat up and ran into Ino's bedroom.
"You're kidding."
"Nope. He asked me yesterday. I never knew he liked me."
'Idiot.'
"That's another thing. We might be together, but we can still go on dates every now and then, right? That's not too much to ask, is it?"
"No. Sakura, seriously… Talk to him. If you keep all this inside, you'll end up doing something you regret."
"Yeah… maybe." She whispered before returning to the couch.
Sakura placed her head in her hands.
'Did I do something I regret? Well, I think I made the right choice… I'm not so sure anymore.'
She closed the e-mail dated shortly after Christmas and continued to read.
It was getting closer to six, but Sakura never noticed.