A/N: Hello!

Rich Boy, Poor Heart II

Chapter Seventeen

000

JULY 24

'Eh…EHHHHHH…'

Sakura sat up painfully, holding her head in her hands. She groaned.

"Finally awake," A voice beside her said. She gasped when she saw Sasuke there, lying down with the blanket over his head.

"W…what time is it?" She asked, cringing at her immense headache.

"One in the afternoon," Sasuke replied casually, amused at her shocked expression.

"You have a hangover right now," He added. She frowned.

"The drinks were…spiked again, weren't they?" Sakura asked. Sasuke nodded.

"Courtesy of the dobe. Are you hungry?" He asked her. She sighed before flopping back onto the bed.

"No…I'm tired," She moaned. He sighed and he began stroking her pink locks.

"What exactly happened last night? Did I say or do anything…weird?" Sakura asked after a few minutes of silence. Sasuke's cheeks turned pink, which went unnoticed by the pink-haired girl.

"…No," He replied as calmly as possible. Sakura pouted.

"You're lying…" She whined. Sasuke sighed.

"Do you really want to know?" He asked. She looked up at the ceiling.

"Yes," She finally replied, quite reluctantly. He looked away for a while, cheeks darkening.

"You were trying to…" Sasuke started uncertainly while Sakura began to brace herself. She didn't say anything; only nodded for him to continue.

"Trying to…get me to have sex with you," He admitted, cheeks now red. Sakura's face also turned red, and she quickly looked away.

"H…how embarrassing…" She hissed to herself.

"Was it…bad?" Sakura asked.

"You were just…really persistent," He answered back. She blushed again.

The room was silent and awkward.

"I'm sorry…" She finally said. Sasuke shook his head.

"It wasn't your fault. It was the stupid dobe's," He replied.

Once again, there was another awkward pause.

Sakura looked over at him uncertainly. She frowned, scooted over and hugged him.

"Don't let things like that make it awkward between us," She told him strictly. He slowly returned her hug and sighed.

"I know you…probably want it but…" Sakura started.

"No," Sasuke said quickly.

"No. I don't need it," He told her. She frowned.

"But you want it. I'm just sorry I can't give it to you. Not now," Sakura said, growing embarrassed.

"It doesn't even matter, Sakura," He told her, pulling her closer. She smiled softly at his reassuring tone.

"Ah…I didn't even get to spend a lot of time with you on your birthday yesterday…" Sakura said, feeling suddenly disappointed. He scoffed.

"You know I don't care much for my birthday, Sakura. If you want, we can spend the whole day together, right here," Sasuke suggested, grabbing her hand.

"Y…yeah!" She replied, grinning before groaning in pain again from her hangover.

The couple spent the whole day in Sasuke's room, watching movies on the TV, cuddling, and napping.

END JULY 24

000

JULY 25

"Moving?" Sakura stated, staring at the girl in disbelief. The blonde rolled her eyes and flipped her hair.

"Yes, Haruno. I'm moving out of here," Yumi repeated. Sakura frowned.

"But…"

"But what? You thought I could forgive you for everything?" She asked.

"A little…" Sakura replied truthfully.

"Well then, you're wrong. You spent the whole day in Sasuke's room. I don't even want to know what you did with him there"—

"Nothing. We've never had any sexual contact," Sakura cut in quickly. Yumi blinked in mild surprise before quickly regaining her expression.

"Good. Keep it that way. Don't tell anyone I left. No one will probably notice anyways," The blonde trailed off, almost sadly.

"D…don't go," The pink-haired girl said as Yumi opened the door.

"Oh, shut up," She said before dragging her luggage out with her and slamming the door shut.

Sakura looked over at the clock. Three in the morning.

Sighing loudly, she walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Didn't expect to see you here," A voice said.

She jumped up slightly and looked over to see Neji sitting himself down across from her.

"Oh…good morning, Neji-kun," Sakura greeted. He nodded.

"Do you usually wake up this early?" She asked curiously.

"Usually, yes," He replied. There was a pause.

"Why are you here?" Neji asked calmly.

"Yumi-chan just left…" Sakura explained. He looked slightly surprised.

"Yumi?" He asked.

"Yes…" She said, pouting.

"Then, that's a good thing. No more trouble for Uchiha," Neji pointed out. Sakura smiled.

"Yeah, but I was just hoping we'd become friends," She said.

"Maybe some day, Sakura. But there was something I needed to talk to you about," He said.

"What is it?" Sakura asked as Yumi's departure began to drift away from her mind.

"Is it about Ten Ten?" She asked. His cheeks turned pink.

"No. It's about Sasuke," Neji replied. Sakura frowned.

"Is it something…bad?" Sakura asked. Neji looked away for a while.

"You know that after this vacation, you might not ever see Sasuke again, right?" He asked her.

"I never really thought about it…"

"The Uchiha company is in a crisis because of the cancellation of the contract with the Gane company. Sasuke will need to be around here in America to help prevent the company from falling apart," Neji began.

"Then…your family's company is good too, right? Can't you two just form a contract together?" Sakura asked. Neji's eyes widened a bit and he went silent.

"…That's a good idea," He muttered, beginning to smirk.

"That is."

Sakura and Neji turned around to see Itachi and Sasuke standing there, looking calm.

"…Do all guys wake up this early…?" Sakura asked. Neji smirked.

"No. Just us three," He replied.

"Anyway, Sakura. That actually is a pretty good idea. I'm not sure if the Hyuuga company is good enough to save us, but it'll definitely help us in some way," Itachi commented, patting the girl's head.

"I don't know why we didn't think about it before," Sasuke mentioned, frowning.

"Then…Sasuke-kun won't have to leave…?" Sakura asked. Sasuke's expression softened.

"I'll have to stay in America for a while, Sakura," He told her, clutching her hand. She sighed, but smiled.

"That's okay. I'll always be thinking of you," Sakura told him. He frowned.

"There's always possibilities, Uchiha. But for now, we have to go inform your father of the suggested arrangements," Neji said. The two Uchiha brothers nodded.

"Get some sleep, okay?" Sasuke told Sakura before following the two boys up the stairs. She quickly nodded before lying down on the couch. She pouted.

She couldn't sleep. She couldn't sleep with the thought of not being able to see Sasuke later on. Now that she was with him, she couldn't bear to let him go. Not again.

They only had five days left.

000

"Sakura? Were you always here?" Rain asked once she had spotted the curled up ball on the couch.

"Yes…" She muttered back sadly. Rain frowned and went to sit down next to her.

"What happened?" The dark-haired girl asked, stroking Sakura's hair a few times. Sakura sighed heavily before sitting up gently.

"I don't think I'll ever see Sasuke-kun again after this trip…" She admitted.

"Maybe you can go with him?" Rain suggested. The pink-haired girl shook her head sadly.

"Sasuke-kun would be too busy…and Ino…I can't leave Ino"—

"Who said that?"

Both Sakura and Rain turned towards the voice and saw Ino there. Her arms were crossed and her hip was pushed elegantly to one side.

"Sakura, it's alright if we part ways for a while," The blonde sighed, taking the other seat beside her. Sakura glanced away nervously.

"What if we never see"—

"You can go with Sasuke. And besides, I'll probably follow Shikamaru to America too," Ino winked, causing Rain to giggle.

"See, Sakura-chan? I'm sure things will work out fine in the end," Rain said, smiling at Sakura. The girl smiled back reluctantly.

"Ano…what about you and Itachi-kun?" Ino asked curiously. Rain blushed.

"Of course I'll be following him where he goes," She replied, grinning. Ino sighed happily.

"Well then, I hope everyone else gets their own happy ending…" She said. Sakura frowned at the thought of Yumi sitting at home, unhappy.

"Yumi-chan left," Sakura said unconsciously. Ino blinked in surprise.

"Eh? Well, it's about time she did," She replied, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, but…" Sakura started.

"Sakura, it's okay. You tried her best to become her friend. She's just not your type, that's all," The blonde said.

Sakura managed a smile, before looking away and pouting again.

"By the way, you and Sasuke spent the entire day yesterday in your room, didn't you?" Ino demanded, grinning boldly. Sakura blushed.

"What did you guys do?" Rain asked from pure curiosity.

"N…nothing! Just couple stuff…" Sakura said quickly. Ino rose an eyebrow.

"Sexy couple stuff…or cute couple stuff?" The blonde asked suspiciously, causing Sakura's cheeks to grow more florid.

"Definitely not anything sexy!" She squeaked back. Rain and Ino exchanged looks and giggled.

"You're so adorable," Rain teased the pink-haired girl, pinching her cheeks.

000

"Sai-kun!" Sakura called out as she walked into the backyard. The said boy looked away from his sketch book and turned to face her. He smiled.

"Hello, Sakura," He greeted pleasantly as he returned back to his work. She noticed as she bent down to sit beside him that he was sketching the cloudy sky above.

"That's…pretty," She commented, beaming. Then, she noticed that he was beginning to sketch swallows. She rose an eyebrow.

"I thought you can't draw things that you can't see," The pink-haired girl said thoughtfully. He shrugged.

"I think you give me…inspiration," Sai mumbled as he quickly added finishing touches to the realistic looking swallows. She blushed from embarrassment.

"Where's Sasuke?" Sai suddenly asked, absently. Sakura looked down at the pond in thought.

"Ano…he's probably still having business talk with Neji and his dad," She replied.

"What if I told you…I liked you?" Sai asked as he lazily outlined clouds with his pencil. Sakura froze. Finally, she blinked and turned to look at him.

"I've…never really met other girls like you. Other…genuine girls," He told her, dropping his pencil into the pond.

"Ah…!" Sakura squeaked as the koi fish surrounded it, but quickly moved away from it when they realized it wasn't food.

"Whenever I see you," Sai sighed, looking at her.

"I feel…weightless…and happy," He explained, frowning in a frustrated matter.

"I'm sure you'll meet someone better than me," Sakura commented, beaming.

"No. I don't think I will," He decided ultimately. Sakura sighed slightly.

"I know," Sai added quickly before she could open her mouth.

"I know you like Sasuke," He told her, emotionlessly.

"I just…thought I should let you know," Sai shrugged lightly as he reached into his pocket and took out another pencil.

"You're an amazing person," He said, causing the girl to feel guilty.

"I'm…sorry," Sakura finally whispered. To her surprise, his face was slowly growing closer to hers. Her eyes widened, then quickly slid tightly shut.

"Wait, no"—

SPLASH

Sakura slowly blinked her eyes open to see Sai floating in the koi fish pond. She whipped around to see Sasuke standing there, glaring.

The Uchiha grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her up, wrapping one arm around her shoulder.

"Who do you think you are?" Sasuke demanded.

"I'm Sai," Sai replied coolly as he lifted himself back up from the pond. Sasuke roughly pushed him back in, and Sakura yelled.

"Sasuke-kun! Stop it now!" She shouted. He scowled at her.

"He tried to kiss you," Sasuke pointed out.

"It's okay! Maybe he was just…" She trailed off, at a loss for words.

"Don't try to find excuses or defend him now. Let's go," The raven-haired boy said before pushing Sai, once again, back into the pond.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura winced as Sasuke's grip on her wrist grew tighter. He guided her inside the house and slid the door shut.

"Bastard," Sasuke muttered. It wasn't until he let go of Sakura's wrist that he had noticed how tightly he was holding onto her.

Quickly, yet gently, he took her wrist into his hands and observed it.

"Sorry…" He mumbled, embarrassed and guilty, when he noticed that a purple bruise was already beginning to spread. Sakura grimaced lightly.

"It's…alright," She said back. Sasuke shook his head.

He walked over to the window, and watched as Sai sank back into the pond thoughtlessly. The Uchiha scowled.

000

"Wah! That's great news!" Rain exclaimed as Itachi explained to Rain how the Uchiha and Hyuuga companies would finally be forming a contract together. He smirked.

"That means…" She started, staring up at him hopefully. He cocked up an eyebrow.

"That means we can still be together even after vacation's over?" She finished. He gazed at her momentarily before sighing. She frowned.

"It's be…difficult. I'll be busy. And you'll just be…" Itachi winced at what he was about to say. Rain sucked in a quick breath, waiting for the blow.

"A burden," He told her. She sighed heavily and pouted.

"I…I had a feeling you would say that. But…I won't be. As long as I get to see you everyday"—

"And what if you don't?" Itachi interrupted, surprising her. She bit her bottom lip.

"Can't you just…" She started stubbornly.

"I can't. I want to, Rain. But face reality. You don't even have to wait for me"—

"I really like you. I really sincerely like you," Rain told him, now glaring at him lightly.

"You should be more like Sasuke…and how he is to Sakura-chan. Why are you so negative?" She asked.

"That's because he can't stand to hurt her," Itachi explained, ruffling his hair. Rain looked pained.

"So that means you can stand to hurt me?" She asked quickly. Itachi pulled her into a hug, despite her silent protests.

"I just know you can take anything I throw at you," He told her. She glared again, but playfully this time.

"You're such an ass…" She muttered before he pulled her in for a quick kiss.

END JULY 25

A/N: Thank you for reading!