So I just couldn't wait any longer! I am working on Chapter 8, no I will not post Chapter 7 tomorrow...even though I want to really badly, and I just had to post this because I told myself I would give it a week after No Longer Weak was posted before I posted this and of course it has been a week. You're all lucky I decided to post this now instead of waiting till Chapter 8 was done, although hopefully that will go smoothly since I have the chapter planned out! I hope you enjoy it and I did just reread it to proofread it, so hopefully all the mistakes are gone. If you find any please tell me because I don't like mistakes since it makes it harder to read it!
And now I'm just rambling when I should be working on the story, but it's okay to admit that everyone here loves my ramblings ^^. Don't lie now…once again just kidding.
On with the show now…(curtain rises slowly)
Regular
Thoughts
"Talking"
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Naruto is not mine, unfortunately.
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S
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Enjoy
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I sat down at the café table across from Hinata. The sunlight shined heavily around the umbrella that shielded us from it and I could hear birds chirping in the distance.
When Hinata has suggested that we stay on campus and find a place to eat I had been surprised. Normally students would have to go off campus to find somewhere to eat, which generally ended up being a fast food restaurant, but here there were places to eat on campus. And they were healthy.
"I didn't know that the university had on campus restaurants," I told Hinata. She looked up from her bag and shielded her eyes as a ray of sun shone across her face for a moment.
"When I first got here I didn't either. I guess they want to make things easier for us, plus all the employees here are students."
"Really? That's cool." I tried to think of something else to say but my mind was elsewhere. After the encounter with Sasuke all I wanted to do was curl up in my bedroom and eat ice cream while watching romantic movies. But I knew that was pathetic, especially since Sasuke and me weren't even romantically involved, we weren't even friends.
"Sakura," I looked up at Hinata. "Is something wrong?"
I hesitated at her question. It wasn't that I didn't trust her, she was nice and my roommate, but I didn't want to come off as an obsessed fan girl. I doubted she would think that but I couldn't help it.
"Does it have something to do with Sasuke?" My eyes snapped up to hers, startled. Her face started to redden as I continued to stare at her.
It wasn't that fact that she had nailed straight on what was wrong, but that somehow everyone seemed to be reading my mind. Whenever something was wrong, someone was able to guess as to what it was, and that bothered me. What if I didn't want anyone to guess at what was wrong? What if I wanted to just let it be kept hidden, only for me to know about?
I dropped my eyes, suddenly ashamed at my suspicion of Hinata. She was just trying to be a good friend, and maybe I needed to work on hiding my feelings better.
"If you don't want to talk about it that's fine, I'm sorry," she apologized quietly, her eyes glued to the table in shame. My guilt grew at this, she looked like a kicked puppy and I was the one who had kicked her.
"No it's okay…he's just so…" I drifted off, not able to pick one solid word as many came to my mind.
"He's like that. What did he do?" Her shoulders seemed to relax and the glow came back into her eyes, making my guilt lessen.
I told her how he was rude to me in the hallway last night, and about his mean comment at the martial arts gym. She listened intently and seemed to understand. Suddenly I wasn't so hesitant to tell her everything, her friendship clear as her attention stayed focused on me.
The waiter came by and dropped off our food, signaling the end of my explanation. My stomach grumbled in hunger as the aromas drifted up to me. All the working out and drills had brought my hunger to the surface, not even Sasuke's comments being able to make it go away.
I took a bite and almost moaned as my taste buds absorbed the food. I took another bite then slowed down, not wanting to give myself a gut ache like I have done so many other times.
"Sasuke is Sasuke, he's different from the rest. I don't really know what to say. I don't want to go off and say something and then it be wrong or looked at the wrong way," Hinata said while she ate, her fingers of her other hand playing nervously with her napkin.
"But I never did anything to him and at one point I actually thought he wanted to be my friend," I told her frustratingly.
It's all his fault. I thought while I mentally chased him with a frying pan. A big, heavy, metal frying pan. One that was just used on the stove and was still burning hot. That should do the trick.
"I haven't known Sasuke for that long, but I do know that that is how he is. He's very…what's the word…kept to himself. He's one of those people who doesn't want friends, even if he could have as many friends as he wants."
"But…oh never mind." I gave up with trying to explain it. It wasn't that I didn't get the vibe that he kept to himself; I totally got that vibe the first day. It was the weird feeling in me of some connection between us, of these weird dreams, of there being something there that was just waiting to be discovered.
"Okay, but if he does anything else then I'm here if you want to talk. Keeping that much stuff inside isn't good," she smiled shyly at me while pushing her plate away. The waiter came by and took our plates.
After some agreeing we decided to pay each for our own meals and left the combined money on the table. The café wasn't that far from our dorm so we decided to walk, the sun warming our skin.
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Hektos.
6.
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I walked into the classroom, thankful that Hinata had shown me where it was because I would have never found it on my own. When I had said the school was big, I had meant it in every aspect.
The room was large and there were plenty of seats to pick from, most of the students coming in after me and shuffling down the rows. I spotted a head of blond, spiky hair and started to move to the other side of the room. It wasn't that I didn't like Naruto, but something told me that if I sat next to him then I wouldn't be able to concentrate at all.
As if he could sense me, he turned his head and looked around the room. I mentally groaned when he spotted me and started waving at me, his chair tipping back on its back legs. It almost fell over but Naruto managed to grip the edge of the table before he fully tipped over, a screech coming from his mouth and making those around him either shake their heads or laugh.
I made my way down the isle and walked behind the chairs to the one next to his. All the desks were connected into one long desk with chairs placed evenly apart to give each student enough space to work.
Just as I sat down next to him the teacher walked in, making his way down the isle and stopping to chat with students. His eyes caught mine as I watched him chat with them and he gave me a friendly smile.
I smiled back, hoping he wouldn't come over and make me introduce myself to the class since I was new.
"You must be our new student, I'm Mr. Takishi and welcome to my classroom." I was so lost in my fear of having to stand in front of the class that I didn't even realize that he had walked up to me. He held out his hand and we shook hands, his grip strong and warm.
"Hello, it's good to be here," I told him truthfully, not that he would understand the double meaning.
"So what made you decide to take Human Theory?" He questioned as he leaned against the desk next to mine. To me he seemed laid back, a teacher that got along with his students and also taught them well. Like every other aspect of this university, he fit right into the perfect picture.
"Well I'm planning to go into the medical field," I said while I tried to hold back the blush that was coming to my face. It wasn't that often that I talked about my future plans, but I did love talking about it, and I was proud of my choice of a future career.
"Ahh, Pre-Med is a wonderful choice. I almost went into Pre-Med myself but I changed courses on a whim and here I am, and loving every minute it." He looked at Naruto and grimaced. "Well, not every minute."
"Hey! Mr. Takishi I thought you loved me being in your class," Naruto all but yelled, making both of us wince at the pitch of his voice.
"Only when you're sleeping Naruto, and once again why are you taking this class?" I held back my snicker as the teacher turned his full attention on Naruto who was now just realizing that his outburst was spurring on a throw down with the teacher.
"Well I was hoping that I could learn where ramen came from, and come on teach you have to teach it! If I was the teacher every class would be about the origins of ramen," Naruto had a glaze in his eyes and he imagined what the class would be like with him as the teacher.
Mr. Takishi shook his head with a secret smile. "If you were the teacher Naruto then the class would have no students."
"Yes I would! I would have more students than you, you're just jealous and won't admit that I would," Naruto told him with a smirk, his arms behind his head and his chair tipped back on two legs.
Suddenly he tipped backwards, his chair slamming into the desk behind his. "Sasuke you're such a bastard! That wasn't nice, I could have fallen and cracked my head open and died."
"That was what I was hoping for," Sasuke said as he sat down in the chair next to Naruto. I hadn't even noticed him walk in the room, or the girls that were suddenly sitting down around us. They were like a swarm of bees, and he was the Queen Bee.
Not that he's sweet or anything. I thought with a mental snort. He was bitter honey that somehow ended up with a whole handful of salt, or bowl full.
I willed myself not to look at him, not when I could still feel the wounds in my chest. Just looking at him would probably make me go into a cardiac arrest, which would probably make him smile and cheer as I died on the floor. He would have done it if it had been Naruto, so why would he not do it if it was me.
"I guess it's time for me to start then, it's refreshing to have a smart student like you in here Sakura and I hope we can talk some other time about your choice of medicine." And with that he went back to the isle and descended the stairs.
As if I cue, everyone went to their seats and quickly opened their notebooks or laptops. After some paper shuffling and desk arranging, Mr. Takishi set off into a lecture about the human's reactions.
Surprisingly enough I found myself interested the lecture. Usually I just listened to the key points and took notes on them, but I was hanging off his every word. And with a glance around the room I noticed everyone else was, besides Naruto who had dozed off.
Without a doubt I knew that Naruto had been wrong, that the teacher definitely would have more students because of his ability to captivate the students' attentions and keep them on him.
Without thinking my eyes flicked over to him, and I immediately scolded myself. I had been doing so good, not a glance during the first hour and a half. Or a single thought for that matter. But I had broken my silent record.
I studied his face, the perfectly chiseled bone structure, the hairless jaw and chin, the straight nose. His upper lip was on the thinner side, but his lower lip was plump and full. They made me want to kiss them, to see if they were as soft as they looked.
If I had been an artist then his face would have been the perfect subject. My eyes roamed up to his midnight black hair. The back really did look like a chicken's ass, and I wondered how it came to be like that. Was it a gene? Or did he style it?
Stop it Sakura, you're not even suppose to be looking at him. I allowed myself one more moment of looking before I directed my eyes back to the front. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed him looking at me, but I tried to ignore it. Had he caught me staring? If he had then I vowed never to look at him again, no matter how hard that would be, and if he hadn't then I still vowed not to.
The rest of the class went by in a blur, Naruto sleeping through most of it, and my eyes staying firmly away from the he-who-shall-not-be-mentioned.
I stood up when Mr. Takishi finally dismissed us. My legs ached from sitting for so long and I was anxious to get moving again.
Sasuke smacked Naruto in the back of the head, waking him up from his slumber. "You could have just shook me you know."
"What fun would that have been then?"
"It may be fun for you but I'm the one that's going to have a lump on his head now."
"You should have thought about that before you fell asleep in class."
I rolled my eyes as they bickered like a married couple. At that thought I snorted and headed down the row towards the isle.
Naruto called after me, their little bantering done with, and quickly moved down the row also. He shoved chairs aside like they weighed nothing, but was stopped by a group slowly making their way down the row also.
I slowed my pace up the steps and waited for him. My foot accidentally stepped on something hard and startled, I looked up.
"I'm so sorry—"
"You should be." Gaping I stared at the person whose foot I had just stepped on. She was the girl from earlier, Ami if I remembered correctly, with the serious attitude problem.
"Excuse me?" I felt bad for stepping on her foot but that gave her no right to be snotty to me. It dawned on me that she had been sitting in front of me in class, something I hadn't noticed till I thought about it, and it surprised me even more that she was even in the class.
"You could have broken my foot with your ignoramus foot, and you scuffed my shoe," she said with a sneer, her eyes sliding past me and immediately lighting up. "Hey Sasuke, fancy seeing you here, didn't think we were in the same class.
Everything clicked. She was in the class for Sasuke, talk about waste of time and money. Seeing as her attention was now diverted to Sasuke and not me gave me the chance to walk past her. I would have more than gladly picked a fight, but I didn't want to damage her face up too much, plus getting in trouble wasn't my style either.
Three of Ami's friends stood behind her, their glares directed at me. I ignored them too, they wouldn't pounce unless their leader told them too, and passed them also. One of them moved closer and I titled my torso to avoid slamming into her shoulder.
My arm touched hers and my hair on my arms rose. My eyes snapped to hers and it seemed like slow motion as I moved past her. I felt tingles run down my spine in warning and time seemed to speed up again.
The tingles continued as I walked out of the classroom and leaned against the wall next to the doorway. Students passed me but I barely paid attention to them. I felt goosebumps erupt all over me and I shivered at the sudden coldness of my body.
What's happening? I leaned against the wall, my hands on my knees, my form bent over rigidly till the tingles stopped. I had gone so long without them then I had almost forgotten how they felt, and how they left me breathless.
I glanced up and found Sasuke standing in front of me, Naruto at his side. Both stood close enough to shield me from those passing by, Naruto with his back to me and his hands in his pockets lazily.
I straightened and took a large gulp of air. Sasuke stared at me with his black fathomless eyes, a powerful emotion making his face twist with concern. This was the closest I had ever seen of emotion from him, besides in my dreams.
"I'm fine, just got a sudden headache," I told him, lying through my teeth. For affect, I raised my hands and rubbed my temples, screwing up my face in slight pain. He seemed to sense that I was lying though because his eyes roamed my face for another moment before he nodded. Naruto turned around then and gave me a toothy smile.
"Wanna get some ramen? I'm starving."
"We always eat ramen," Sasuke said while glaring at Naruto.
"But ramen is the best. How can anyone ever get tired of it?" I rolled my eyes. Just hearing him talk about it made me get tired of it.
"No moron, only you don't get tired of it." I glanced at Sasuke as he said that. Why was he always so cruel? Especially to Naruto who seemed to be his closest friend, if not his only friend.
"If you really want it Naruto then I guess I can stomach one night of it," I told him. I was suddenly enveloped in a huge hug, almost tripping over Naruto's feet as he walked and hugged me at the same time.
I stumbled when he finally stopped, unable to get my footing back after being dragged sideways down the hallway. Sasuke grabbed my arm and steadied me, his fingers warm and his grip strong. I quietly thanked him, surprised that he was actually touching me. His fingers lingered on my arm, drawing so many goosebumps to my skin that it was almost painful, before his arm dropped back to his side.
I bet he would wash his hands as soon as he could. He was probably afraid he was going to get some disease now since that's how he treated me most of the time, like I had some horrible disease.
"I'm going to go meet Hinata once she gets out of class and we'll meet you at Ichiraku Ramen Bar," Naruto said as he raced down the hall and turned a corner, his squeal of excitement echoing all the way down the hall.
"Now he's going to think you want to get ramen every night." I looked up at Sasuke, once again shocked that he was actually talking to me in a civil manner.
"Then I'll tell him that we should go somewhere else to eat instead," I told him, keeping my voice from going up a notch in excitement. It was different to be talking to him like this, like we were friends, and I secretly loved it.
We turned a corner and I followed Sasuke. I had no clue where we were going, or where this Ichiraku Ramen Bar was. I didn't even know what part of the building I was in right now.
The silence bugged me, and a little part of me wished that we could talk some more. For some reason I liked talking to Sasuke, when he wasn't pmsing that is. Almost all of our past conversations had consisted of him either ending with some mean comment, or doing something that left me speechless and confused.
"Why do you do that?" I accidently said out loud under my breath. I hadn't intended for him to hear it but I knew he had when he turned his head and looked at me.
"Do what?" His face was perfectly emotionless, like always. We turned another corner and headed towards the stairs on the left.
"One minute you hate me, and the next you're acting like you actually care. You're like a roller coaster, up and down, and it's honestly starting to give me a headache," I told him honestly, almost tripping down the stairs in the process. Sasuke managed to grab my arm again before I could face plant down a flight of stairs and break my neck, proving my point. He seemed to be in the caring mode, a great relief from the hatred that might be looming somewhere in him, ready to spring out at me at any moment.
I waited nervously for his response. That was the most honest thing I had ever told him, and I waited for him to explode at me.
"I thought you already had a headache," he finally said, his eyes flicking to me as we got to the bottom of the stairway and walked down another hallway. The building was huge, and I hoped that I never got lost in it.
"I do, but you're making it worse." I followed him around another corner, there were so many corners in this building too that I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't go in a complete square.
Suddenly we were in the entryway, the large room encasing different artistic sculptures and paintings.
"Then I'll go," he said as we crossed the room and made our way for the front door which was surrounded by floor to ceiling windows. The sun was setting, casting its reddish orange rays through the windows and over everything it could reach. Sasuke's eyes took on a reddish hue, the black reflecting the rays and making them glow. At that moment I thought he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen.
By the time his words registered with me we were outside, the breeze making my hair dance around my face. I scrunched my nose as a strand brushed the side of my nose, making me want to sneeze.
"Ichiraku Ramen Bar is that way, take a couple lefts and you'll find it," Sasuke said while he pointed down the path. Then he started walking in the opposite direction. I stood there for a moment, angry that he was going to strand me here and make me find the place on my own, and even angrier that he wasn't going to answer my question.
"You're not going anywhere till you answer my question," I told him as I grabbed onto the back of his shirt. He stopped, his back rigid and stiff under my hand.
"I don't have an answer." His eyes glared at me over his shoulder, commanding that I let go of his shirt. My fear rose but I kept my strong grip on his shirt.
"Yes you do, you just don't want to tell me." Suddenly my wrist was in his grip, his strong slender fingers radiating heat into my skin and up my arm. I had to fight the shudder that threatened to overtake my body, my body heat rising till it was almost uncomfortable. Even as my body heat rose I didn't want him to let go, not now, not ever.
"You're right, I don't want to tell you because you don't need to know." He released my wrist and just stood there staring at me, challenging me to pick a fight with him.
I accepted the challenge head on, leaning in till I could see the different flecks of black and dark red in his eyes. It took some willpower to not get lost in them, their fathomless depths nearly sucking me in and drowning me. "Yes I do, I have every right to know why you hate me because I didn't do anything to you."
"You're just there, that's reason enough," he said strongly, his voice harsh.
I stared at him in shock. For a moment I wasn't sure he had actually said it but when he just stood there and stared at me, I know I had heard right. The pain slowly bloomed in my chest till I could feel it beating all through me.
My eyes welled up and I turned away, heading down the path. It wasn't until then that I realized that it was lightly sprinkling. Students ran around me on both sides, shrieking and shouting as the rain got heavier.
I should have known.
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The days flew by as I juggled classes, training, and spasming tingles all at once. It was even harder to avoid Sasuke though since he seemed to be everywhere I was now. I thought back to when he had told me that my very presence was what made him hate me.
Thankfully that had been a couple weeks, if not a month or more. I had forced myself to stop counting after the first week, the words pathetic and foolish popping into my mind so many times that it gave me the strength to avoid him in person and in my thoughts.
"Are you going to train Sakura?" Hinata asked from inside her closet.
I affirmed that I was as I quickly changed into my training clothes, comfy shorts, a shirt, and sneakers. Class had been long today, the virtual dissecting of a human the most interesting aspect of the whole lecture.
"Okay, then I'll go with you and maybe we can grab some dinner after?" She came out of her closet the same time I did, her attire consisting of sweatpants, a tee-shirt, and sneakers.
Auntie had brought Hinata in sometimes during my training to have us spar. She said that it was to help give me a sense of different opponents. At first I had wondered if Auntie was just bored with me, or if she was sick of beating me, but as Hinata beat me over and over again I noticed that I was slowly assessing her moves.
This newfound fact had helped me lengthen the time between the beginning of the spar and my defeat. Auntie seemed to notice too, not that she ever missed anything, and would constantly switch between her sparring with me and Hinata, trying to mess me up and confuse me.
It had only worked for a short amount of time though. My instinct was able to tell the difference, and I slowly started to listen to my instinct more than my mind, which helped a great deal.
I mentally shook my head. No need to think about how so much had changed in the past weeks. "Sounds great, Auntie said she wouldn't be able to be there tonight and I need a sparring partner," I told her as I grabbed my water bottle out of the mini fridge near the door.
Hinata and I had come to the decision about a week ago that a mini fridge would be perfect for our room, and so we had ordered one and it had arrived a couple days ago. I personally loved it; the fact that I could now keep some food in there so I didn't have to go downstairs and possibly face Sasuke was a sweet haven all in itself.
I handed Hinata a water bottle and we quickly made our way out of the building and towards the martial arts gym. Thankfully no one was there when we got there, Hinata's relief mirroring my own. I wondered how many came here each week. Were Hinata and I the only ones that came besides Auntie?
We left our shoes at the door and went to grab our wooden katanas. A couple weeks ago Auntie had introduced me to the wooden katana. It was the same weight as a normal katana but the blade's edge was round and dull, not able to slice anything unless with extreme force. She had explained that now the sparring could be taken seriously, without the need to hold back from hitting each other.
The very first day we had used them I ended up leaving with more bruises than I could count on my fingers and toes combined. And weirdly enough I had enjoyed the ache the bruises left. It was like a physical reminded that I was working hard.
But as the days went by I started to snap back into things. My body moved easier, the stiffness of my muscles loosening up. I started to move without thinking about it, a skill I had long since forgotten. Auntie had also noticed because sooner than I thought we moved into sparring.
I wasn't sure if it was because I had mastered everything she had to teach me, but I doubted that was. We still worked on different moves, but we mainly did sparring. She claimed that it was more important to know how to fight someone than to master a move, so I just kept quiet and followed her instructions.
After both of us were done stretching and some doing some simple warm ups we started our sparring. Like always, Hinata beat me before the first ten minutes were up, her katana held at my neck as I kneeled on the floor.
We continued on, my defeat coming slower each time as my body sang with more energy. I leapt left and right to avoid her katana, rising my own to deflect a powerful blow before counterattacking with my own swing.
Ducking as she swung for my torso, I kicked her legs from out under her. She spun and landed on her hands and knees before rolling over her head and landing on her feet, her back to me.
I charged at her and she ducked to the left, holding her katana inches from her cheek and holding mine between her katana and her hand, locking it in place.
Before I could figure out a way to free my katana it was sliding across the floor and I was standing there with the tip of Hinata's katana at my neck.
We continued again, this time I was able to land a blow to her ribcage, a hit would have been fatal if done with a real katana. It held little satisfaction thought because seconds later I was sprawled on the floor with her katana at my cheek.
"Would you like to go get some dinner now? I'm starving, I was running late for class earlier so I missed lunch," Hinata said while pulling her katana away from my face. She extended me a hand and I took it, getting to my feet.
"Sure, I've gotten my ass handed to me enough for tonight," I told her with a laugh. I would have been ashamed at being defeated so many times but all of this was so I could improve. It was to master the art of the katana, not to boost my pride.
"You didn't do that bad Sakura, just a little more practice and you'll be as good as me." I mentally replaced her 'a little' with 'a lot'. When we had first started sparring I had been surprised at her skills.
When you looked at Hinata you would never have expected that she would be able to have you on your stomach and begging for mercy in five seconds flat. She moved with a grace that spoke of expertise. When she swung, she swung with such force that I felt it vibrate through our connected katanas and move up my arms into my shoulders.
"It took me much longer than you to learn the art," she continued as we headed out of the building and towards the cluster of restaurants a couple of blocks away. Hinata had filled me in on all the good places to eat. Naruto had tried to do the same but he could only come up with the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.
We chatted about different classes and teachers until we got to that street, then the conversation switched to which placed we wanted to eat at.
Finally after some minutes of 'no you pick' and 'oh no it's your turn' we finally decided to get the order to go and grab a movie from this little movie store on the way back to the dorm. Hinata picked a sandwich shop at the end of the row of buildings, telling me that I could pick the movie.
After we got our orders to go we headed to the movie shop. The sky got darker as we walked down the sidewalk, passing students who looked ready to party the night away or crash into a bush with exhaustion.
We lapsed into comfortable silence and I could hear the crickets in the distance, singing their melody to anyone in hearing distance. I wondered how they could do it all night, didn't they get tired? Didn't the other animals get tired of hearing them?
The movie shop was suddenly right in front of us. I hadn't even notice that we had turned onto the street.
Naruto was outside whistling a high pitched, ear hurting tune.
"Hey guys! Movie night for you too?" He stopped whistling and walked away from the wall he had been leaning against.
"Yes, we decided to bring dinner back to our room and eat while watching a movie," Hinata responded, her face radiating with a hidden joy. I had started to notice Hinata's hidden affection for Naruto, not that I had mentioned anything to her. She was modest, and I preferred not to mention the fact that I could see where her feelings laid, especially when she might have a heart attack because of it in embarrassment.
"I have the best idea ever! Why don't you guys come over after you eat and we could watch both movies together," Naruto said in an excited tone. He practically bounced from one foot to the other like a rabbit on two legs and on some serious caffeine.
"What do you think Sakura?" I nodded, not able to turn down Naruto and ruin Hinata's hopeful joy.
"I'll just go pick out a movie then and we can head back to the dorm," I mumbled and went into the store before they could respond. I wasn't sure I wanted to hang out all night in Naruto's room. He was the roommate of Sasuke, so there was a very high chance that he would be there too. Unless he was out partying all night…
Ha, yeah right. Mr. Anti-Social was definitely not a partier.
I slowly moved down the first row, looking at each movie cover. Which movie should I pick? Hinata had mentioned this one movie that she had really wanted to see but I had no clue where it would be in the store. I guess I would just have to go through each row till I found it.
I turned the corner and bumped into something hard. "What the—"
I looked up. Had I somehow misjudged the corner's size and run into the shelf? The midnight black spiked hair was the first thing I saw, the shock quickly wearing off into stronger feelings that told me to retreat.
My eyes moved to his, the black orbs reflecting the lighting from the ceiling lights and twinkling lightly. I mentally told myself that even though his eyes twinkled that didn't mean that they held any emotion.
I scolded myself for not thinking sooner of the possibility of him being here. Naruto had been waiting outside instead of being in here looking for a movie, hint one. Sasuke clearly towered over me, which meant he was tall enough to be visible over the shelf and I should have seen him, hint two. Naruto had said 'we' when he mentioned movie night, and clearly he hadn't meant another girl, hint three.
I'm so stupid. All that avoiding just to run into him here, where we are alone and he'll probably word bash me again. I thought glumly.
"Following me now?" I glared up at him. He had the nerve to say that to me when it was clear that following him was the last thing I ever wanted to do. His tone was light and for a moment I thought I heard a teasing hint in there but I doubted it. I bet he was just waiting for me to say something that he could use against me to insult me.
"What's that block up your butt? Oh, it's your ego," I told him mockingly while looking him right in the eye.
But I wasn't going to play that game, not anymore. I decided that a hit and run was a better option, hit him where it hurt and leave him wallowing on the floor in pain.
He just stood there, his face just barely showing shock. I gave him my most innocently smug smile I could muster before I walked past him and kept looking for a movie I wanted.
A silent prayer was sent up to whoever was listening, my hope of Sasuke not talking to me at the top of the list.
Clearly it wasn't heard thought because footsteps approached me from behind.
"I don't have an ego." I turned around and gave him a sarcastic look.
"Have you listened to yourself lately?" I turned around and continued down the row for a moment before I looked over my shoulder at him. "You do."
"No…I don't," he said behind me as he came closer until his chest was nearly touching my shoulder. I would feel the body heat radiating off of him and it made this delicious feeling erupt all over my skin, like tingles only pleasanter.
"You just can't let go of the fact that you do, can you?" I asked as continued down the row and turned into the one next to it. He followed close behind, too close, making me feel uncomfortable and giving me the sense that he was the predator and I was the prey. I mentally shook my head, I refused to be the prey, especially to the likes of him.
"It's a fact that I don't," he replied in a voice of sureness. Suddenly he was in front of me, his body blocking me from moving further down the row.
"You seriously need to record yourself and listen to the things you say. Some of those things aren't exactly pleasant." I tried to move around him but he didn't budge. My plan to avoid him was failing miserably, especially when he was trapping me in the movie store.
He grabbed my shoulder when I turned around and tried to walk away. I spun around, ignoring the tingles that seemed to run from his hand and into my shoulder, and tried to smack his hand away. That didn't work either for he grabbed my wrist as it flew through the air, further trapping me as I tried to free my hand from his strong grip.
"Like what?" His voice was soft, as if it caused him pain just to say those words. Why it would be a pain to say two little words I didn't know because the anger washed over me as I gaped at him.
Sasuke seriously had no clue as to how much he had offended me ever since I got here? It all suddenly came out in a rush of anger. All the confusion, all the frustration, and most of all, all the pain.
"Like what?" My strength increased along with my anger and I suddenly found it easy to tear my hand out of his grip. "You said my mere presence was a burden to you and I sure as hell didn't feel any nice feelings coming from you when you said that…the only thing I felt from you was the hatred, and it hurt, a lot."
As I spoke Sasuke's eyes dropped to the ground in the last expressions I expected he would ever feel, shame and regret. I waited for him to say something, anything, but he didn't. Well, if he was going to be quiet and not say anything then I didn't need to continue standing here waiting.
Waiting was for those who were fine with wasting their lives away, but not for me. I wasn't going to waste anymore of my life waiting for something from him that I didn't know of, or understand. Maybe I was waiting for him to see me as a person with feelings. Or maybe I was just waiting for that passion I had seen in my dreams, something that I would never see in reality. Or even just a little shred of kindness from him would be nice.
I turned around and walked a couple of rows down to continue my search. Those couple of rows I imagined as very thick walls that would hopefully keep him away from me, at least till I could recollect my thoughts and put a leash back on my anger.
My anger finally quieted down and I sighed dejectedly as other feelings rose to the surface. Even though I had just admitted to him the extent of what I was feeling, it didn't make me feel any better.
My mind argued that he deserved it, that it was his fault. And it was his fault. He shouldn't have said all those things and hated me so much if he hadn't wanted it to be his fault, if he hadn't wanted to feel all that shame.
But another part of me, maybe it was my soul, or maybe it was my heart, wanted to go back and smooth out the sad lines in his face and kiss it all better for him.
No, he brought this upon himself. I thought, forcing the feelings to comfort him away.
My stomach growled then, bringing me back from out of my thoughts. I quickly picked the movie Bolt, it looked cute and I bet Hinata wouldn't mind seeing it.
The line wasn't too long at the front so I didn't have to wait long. It wasn't that hard to ignore the urge to look around for Sasuke since my anger still simmered slightly under the surface.
Just as I was about to pay for the movie Sasuke came up beside me and placed his movie next to mine. I glared up at him in annoyance. He just had to keep pushing my buttons didn't he?
"I'm not paying for your movie," I told him, hoping he would just leave me alone and go to the back of the line where he belonged.
"I know," he replied while pulling out his wallet from his front pocket. I just stood there speechless as he paid for both of the movies and then grasped my arm and moved towards the door.
"Are you trying to buy me off?" Normally I would have just thanked him and been done with it but his nice gesture seemed too nice to me.
And I had every reason to think that too. Sasuke just didn't go from mean to nice in a couple of minutes. Mean to meaner, yes. Mean to really confusing, sometimes. Mean to caring, rarely. But mean to nice, never.
"No, I'm not." I gave him an exasperated look but he ignored it. I wouldn't allow it this time though. I pulled my arm from his hold and instead grabbed his, stopping him and earning a dark look from him. I guess he didn't like being stopped, especially by me.
"It seems like you are to me and when someone apologizes to me I prefer words, not gifts," I said quietly, making him have to tilt his head slightly forward to hear me better. I wasn't one for public scenes and by the looks from the girls in the store they would be more than glad to come to Sasuke's defense, no matter what he had done.
"I'm just trying to be nice. Can't you just accept it and let it go?"
"No, not when nice isn't in your vocabulary." His look grew darker and he tilted his head closer. I once again could see those reddish black specs in his eyes and it made my mind go blank and my body go haywire for a moment.
I was pathetic. Here I was having an argument with an ass of a guy who couldn't say two nice words to me in one sentence, or paragraph for that matter, and I was getting lost in his dazzling eyes!
Instead of responding he turned around and pulled me out of the door. He dropped my arm before Naruto and Hinata could turn around and see.
"Let's go," he muttered loud enough for them to hear, then started down the street.
"Wait up man, let's just walk at a normal pace, my legs can't keep up," Naruto yelled at Sasuke's back while trying to keep at his pace.
"It's not just your legs that can't keep up." Naruto went to smack Sasuke in the back of the head but missed. He went to hit Sasuke again but stopped at the dark look that was suddenly directed at him.
A long time ago I would have thought this exchange was weird but now it was normal. Naruto's idiotic ways had finally worked their way into my daily routine, and even though sometimes they were just downright strange, I was glad he was here. He made the mood light, something that Sasuke clearly failed at.
We made it back to the dorm all too quickly. I wanted to stay outside for as long as I could, away from the confinement of Naruto and Sasuke's room.
I tried to eat as slowly as I could after we parted at our doors but it also came to an end. Hinata seemed to be more eager than me to get over there and start the movies so I had no choice but to go the moment we finished.
"You guys eat slow," Naruto stated as he opened the door not two seconds after Hinata had knocked. As we walked in I noticed that the room looked just like ours only with orangish yellows and bluish blacks. It looked like the room was portraying the opposite times of the day and I could quickly tell whose side was whose.
Hinata went and sat down on Naruto's bed with a blush and it was then that I realized there was no couch like in our room. Instead there was a large shelf with video games and other gadgets.
Before I could figure out where to sit Naruto pressed play and flopped on his bed next to Hinata, taking up all the rest of the space possible on his bed. She giggled as he moved around, shaking the bed and almost making her fall off.
Just as I was about to sit in one of the desk chairs the door opened behind me. Sasuke came in, making me catch my breath. His pajama pants hung low on hips and when he lifted his hand to scratch the back of his head his shirt came up to reveal millimeter after millimeter of wonderful skin.
I looked away when his shirt dropped back down, covering back up his abdomen and the hard edges of his hips. Unwanted images flashed through my mind, temporarily stunning me. Never before had my mind been that vivid and well…dirty.
Long fingers wrapped around my arm and dragged me over to the other bed. I glanced up, wondering why Sasuke was making me sit on his bed instead of leaving me to sit on the desk chair.
"The chair is uncomfortable, especially if you sit there for hours," he explained it like it was the most logical thing ever.
"Thanks…" I trailed off, still wondering why he was allowing me to sit on his bed with him. I wouldn't have been so shocked if he was sitting on the couch next to me, but this was his bed. The place where he slept every night and who knows what else he's done in it.
It brought more images to my mind which made me mad at myself. He was offering me a comfier place to sit than in the desk chair, and I was thinking way too much about it.
I decided to just enjoy the movies, and not the fact that we were sitting close enough that the body heat coming from the man next to me was giving me more than just a couple pleasurable tingles down my body.
The movie was some horror movie that Sasuke must have picked out because I had picked Bolt. It wasn't that bad at first. They were cave diving and suddenly they were trapped as some rocks blocked their only way out. There was some fighting between the group of girls about whose fault it was and then they were trying to find another way out.
I grabbed onto Sasuke's thigh the same time Hinata jumped as this gruesome looking thing came out of no where. There was some fighting as they tried to get away from it and some of them were dragged off. I wanted to look away but I couldn't, I wanted to see what would happen next.
"Sakura…" I looked up at Sasuke and suddenly realized I was crumpling up pajama pants.
"Sorry," I said as I felt my face heat up and hoped he wouldn't see it in the darkened room. I let go of the fabric and tried to unwrinkled it. Then I realized how messed up I must look trying to straighten out the wrinkle I had put in his pants which included rubbing his thigh.
I apologized again and put my hands back in my lap.
"It's all fake," he whispered quietly so only I could hear.
"I know but they keep coming out of nowhere," I replied in the same quiet voice. I was okay with the gruesome looking things in horror movies, but once they started popping up unexpectedly then I started to become a scaredy cat.
Another monster came up onto the screen, making Hinata jump again and a gasp escape me before I could hold it in. Once again my hand was on his thigh, clutching his pant's leg like a lifeline.
My knuckles protested as I slowly let up my grip. But instead of smoothing out his pant's leg like I expected him to, he placed his large warm hand over mine and held my hand on his thigh.
"What—" I began to ask but he cut me off. I focused on the reflection of the TV light in his eyes as I heard the music from the movie start up into another creepy theme.
"Clearly you are going to keep doing it so…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish the somewhat nice sentence. But I understood perfectly what he meant. It was his way of comforting me without saying it.
Some small part of me blamed him for picking out the movie in the first place but a bigger part of me was grateful. His thigh burned under my hand like a burning furnace.
The heat under my hand suddenly made the rest of my body feel cold and disconnected. It made me want to curl up at his side and soak up the heat like a dog in the sun. I wanted to snuggle under the blankets and press up against his body, all warm and cozy, while he whispered in my ear and caressed my body with his fingers.
I felt his hand wrap around my wrist and I came out of my little daydream. My face heated up when I realized that I had just been stroking his thigh. No, not clutching at the pant's leg, but stroking it! The tips of my fingers still tingled from where I had been running them up and down his thigh slowly while I surrendered to my thoughts.
His hand was still around my wrist when I went to move it to my lap. Instead of pushing it away from him he just placed it back on his thigh, surprising me once again. It was as if something had clicked in him, changing him from the mean person that I was use to and into a nice person that left me confused and wondering what he was playing at.
The movie finished and Naruto quickly put in the other one. I tried to ignore the steady heat coming from Sasuke's thigh but it made me wander in unbidden thoughts.
Unlike before, the heat started to slowly drift up my arm and into my shoulder. Until then I had ignored the steady beat of tingles in my spine but I couldn't ignore them when the heat washed them away and left me in a heap of warm comfortable limbs.
My whole body was finally engulfed in heat, making me sigh and sink down against Sasuke. I felt him shift slightly but I ignored it. If he wanted to move me he could, I didn't care as long as the heat continued to pulse through my body.
The heated pulse lulled me to sleep, smoothing away all the aches and pains and leaving a delightful warmth in its place.
And for the first time in a long time, I had the feeling of home.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Well! That is all for now. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while but that's what No Longer Weak was for, to keep you all satisfied.
So you all should know the drill by now you: click, opinionate, submit=happy Riddler-of-Words :) or click, flame, submit=happy Riddler-of-Words!
And as we all know, a happy Riddler-of-Words means a higher chance of a quicker update…or not. I'm not sure yet, maybe I should test the theory out soon.
So, off topic here but I was thinking of trying out Aion, this new game coming out by NCsoft. I am a big gamer, well in the free game world, and was thinking of buying this and trying it because it looks so good! I mean, aerial combat? How cool is that! Very cool in my book. Is anyone else thinking of trying it? If you are I would love to hear your opinions on it and what roles you would like to play in the game!
So back on track, I would like to thank all my readers, no matter how little the group is compared to some of these other fantastic stories out there, who remind me everyday that I do have a story to write and that if I don't get writing then I will lose whatever little thoughts I keep in my brain to other random thoughts that invade it.
I do have an LJ and I might start going on there more and maybe posting some little scenes to see if people like them! No guarantees, but definitely a maybe. To get to it just go to my page and click the Homepage button and it should take you there.
Thank you and enjoy your reading! ^^