Chapter Three: All You Never Say

A/N: I probably should say it here in the beginning. The title comes from the song "All You Never Say" by Birdy. Try listening to it while you read.

Disclaimer: I do not own the song featured here, nor the manga/anime Naruto

The call came around midnight.

Her sleep had been unusually lucid and it was as if her eyes had opened even before the shrill ring of the phone broke the peace. Everything that happened after was forever ingrained in her mind.

The sound of the rain as it pelted her bedroom window.

How her shallow breaths came out in icy puffs as she reached for her phone.

Her blood turning into ice, so cold, and her heart constricting so, so hard it hurt.

The almost obscene brightness of the hospital lights as she rushed towards the emergency room, wet from the raging storm outside.

Lastly… the absence of his tears or sobs. Just the gritting of teeth and the clenching of fist so tight that his nails bit into skin and drew blood.

And everything after that was drowned in the static silence.

"Gaara-kun, this is way too hot for spring in Konoha!"

Sakura chides the red-head as she sorts through the clothes in his luggage. Odd, because for someone who grew up in the near desert-like heat of Suna, he had so many thick clothing. When she moves to examine his closet, "Don't you have any light t-shirts or airy button-down shirts?"

Gaara, for his part, sits at the edge of his bed (because no, she hasn't moved in yet, it can wait after the trip), looking at her with a small smile. Like he was watching something interesting or rare.

"Tell me about your time in Konoha."

If he notices the way her shoulder squares, he doesn't let on. He just waits for her to turn.

"Well that's where I was born, though for most of my life I lived alone." She sits beside him, their legs nearly touching, "My parents were… not there. I lived with the woman who raised me as her own."

"But I had a pretty good childhood. Lots of friends, though there were bullies too. They said it was because of the wide forehead but I'd like to think they were just jealous of my pink hair."

"It is every girl's dream to become a pretty pink princess."

"Yeah well I was far from that! I was a little bit of a ruffian actually. My friends always got into trouble and I'd get implicated somehow…"

Her mind wanders a while, a sad but wistful smile displayed on her lips. It has really been so long, too long. She hoped that the dread would stop filling her mind so she could board the plane without her knees shaking; would stop filling her lungs so she could breathe again.

"Anyway! I'll show you all the sights and all the good places to eat! You like ramen right? What else do you wanna know?"

Gaara traces the lines in her palm with his finger, a gentle gesture that took her a while to get used to, and then green directly meets aqua. "Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of knowing your friends back in Konoha."

His request doesn't surprise her. It would only be natural; he's been hinting at it since she said she was coming with him.

"Tell you what, I'll introduce you if we see them there." She gives Gaara's hand a squeeze, for support and not out of excitement. "Let's go? We've got a plane to catch!"

How much of that was true, she'll find out when she gets there.

The decision to leave Konoha didn't come like a blow to the stomach. Even for someone who had never once even imagined leaving the picturesque little town. Even for someone who had imagined, since she was a little girl, that it was the place where she would start a family of her own and raise adorable children with black hair and green eyes.

No, it was more like a dawning revelation; a thought softly materializing from her mind as she woke up one day and she found that she didn't even have the strength to get out of the covers anymore.

A thought turned into fact, like it had been true all along.

A fatalist friend of hers would agree. You cannot escape fate.

And at the time it seemed like the answer to her every problem. Right? If she wasn't there, then no more problems. If she wasn't there, then maybe everyone could move on with their lives.

If only she could say the same for the people she left behind.

"I wish that you had told me earlier Sakura."

She doesn't look at Gaara when she asks him what he meant because she's too caught up in the moment. Outside of the airport, she's drinking in the sights and savoring the feeling of the hot and familiar air on her face. Even the smell and scents, that constant musky smell of the forest and the mountain, gives her a sense of nostalgia.

"I said I wished you had told me you were coming with me sooner. The hotel I'm staying in is apparently already fully booked. Are you sure you have a friend you can stay with?"

She laughs at him, her way of assuring him. "Yes, yes Gaara-kun. Are you sure that someone's going to pick us up?"

"Sort of… he said he'd be here early."

Her mind is tired from overthinking all the consequences of her being here, her eyes are heavy from a night of sleeplessness, and quite frankly, her legs are tired from all this standing. Sakura drags her too-pink suitcase to a nearby table where a man in a hoodie was sleeping.

He probably won't mind having a seatmate (tablemate?) right?

As Gaara looks for the guy who was supposed to fetch them, Sakura studies the man in the hoodie. She invents a story out of boredom. Maybe he's drunk, sleeping off a hangover. Maybe he's waiting for his sweetheart whose flight was delayed. Or maybe he's one of the guards who's supposed to be on patrol but is too much of a lazy bum.

Well, he actually is a man of the law, based on the logo of the local police on his back.

There's not much she can guess on what the mystery man looks like, everything's hidden underneath his jacket. Well, everything except those undeniably rippling biceps…

"Sakura, found him!"

She turns to the red head standing beside a middle-aged man with gravity defying white hair. He's holding a sign that looks like a kindergartner scribbled on it with a marker: "Sabaku Gaara, welcome to Konoha." And his eyes… are crinkled in what Sakura knows is shock masked by a smile.

Oh yeah, she knows alright.

After all, he did teach her to look underneath the underneath.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura throws herself at him because she is genuinely happy.

Because she knows he might be the only one who would be glad to see her here.

Because he is home.

"Hey there squirt. I didn't expect to see you here." Kakashi ruffles her pink hair, just like old times.

"Well I didn't expect you to be here so early! Finally got a working alarm clock sensei?"

Kakashi doesn't answer. Instead, he inquires with his eyes. Who is he to you?

In turn, Sakura introduces them formally, with the affection of a daughter introducing her lover to her father. "Gaara-kun, Kaka-sensei was my favourite teacher in highschool. Sensei, this is Gaara-kun, my … boyfriend."

A little influx of breath. An eye to eye gesture. A wide smile.

This is the first time she's ever called Gaara her boyfriend.

Kakashi wipes an imaginary tear from the corner of his eyes. "Maa, my little girl's all grown up."

"Can it sensei. Anyway, I still can't believe you're early today!"

He chuckles and rubs his neck. "Actually, if you'll remember, you're flight was delayed. I didn't find out until I got here so… my bad."

"Kaka-sensei! You would have stranded Gaara-kun here?"

"Don't worry Sakura, I always have a back-up plan. My driver came here earlier than I did." Kakashi points behind Sakura, where the man in the hoodie assembles himself and gets up.

And it was like the world stopped all over again.

Like that night.

And it's almost like all she can hear is his silence. And her heart beating.

And all she can see are his dark, dark eyes staring at her.

"I'm not your driver you bastard," he says in that deep voice of his.

Without a word, he easily wrenches the too-pink suitcase, and what little of her heart she's hidden, out of her hand.

Saying it's an awkward ride is an understatement.

She knows she probably should talk more to diffuse the tension, but she just doesn't have it in her. All the words she wants to say die in her throat as they come up.

Sakura knows Gaara is looking at her from his peripheral vision. Asking. Worried. Sad.

And she was so embarrassed for this. Gaara had to know though, right? That she was with him, right? She squeezes his hand and mouths the word 'later.'

Her eyes furtively glance at him.

Sasuke…

It's been six years but nothing seems to have changed. His black as night hair is still messy. His skin is still so pale, it doesn't look like he's ever left his house. There's still that arrogant and aristocratic look that's very Uchiha. And that makes her want to punch him, anything to mar that face of his.

Because damn it all, he's still the most strikingly gorgeous man she's ever seen.

Even his old pick-up truck is the same, albeit a little rougher around the edges. It still smells the same, like his cologne, so distinctively male.

"So Gaara-kun," Kakashi looks at Gaara from the rear-view mirror. "If I may direct your attention to the right, you'll see Konoha Highschool. It's the oldest secondary school in town, as you know. Sasuke, our good driver, will take us there."

She holds her laughter in when said good driver elbows their sensei on the gut.

They park near the old soccer field, and it's almost as she remembers it. The white lines are faded, the grass hasn't been mowed in a probably a month, and the trees lining the field have grown bigger now. But it's enough, it's almost the same.

Gaara tells her that he and Kakashi will check out the building for a moment. And would she be okay staying there for a while?

Sakura says yes too fast, she realizes too late. So she looks to him and is surprised by the anxiety in his eyes. Automatically, a hand touches the side of his face, "I'll be here waiting. Don't you worry."

Everything is quiet when the two leave and it makes her all the more aware of him behind her.

"Are you staying with him?"

She closes her eyes shut. It's been so long since she's heard that voice, husky and a little bit gruff. She doesn't look back because she's afraid she might break down in front of him again.

Or worse, that she might run up to him and hug him.

Sakura would be the first to agree that even after six years, she's not completely rid of him yet. But she's trying. And she thinks she's getting there.

So with her will resolved, she turns to him, arms glued to her side and the emotions on her face completely schooled. "No. I'm staying with Hinata-chan."

Sasuke scoffs at her (she almost expects him to say 'annoying') and climbs up on the back of his pick-up. "She's told you that she's pregnant then?"

"H-how do you—? Does Naruto know?"

Sasuke doesn't answer. He sits on the edge of truck and pats the space beside him, like he wants her to sit with him.

And she does. Go up the truck that is.

"No, he doesn't know. The idiot thinks Hinata's cheating on him."

"What? Mou, I love him but Naruto can be so stupid sometimes. How is he any—"

"Stay with me."

Just like that, he takes her breath away. Stay with him? What on earth is he thinking? Sakura asks Sasuke as much.

"You think Hyuuga Hiashi is going to let you stay with them once he finds out that Hinata is pregnant? He's going to kick you out faster than Naruto can inhale ramen. You know how he feels about us."

It's true. The man thinks they've been bringing Hinata down ever since they met the Hyuuga heiress.

"And so you're suggesting that I stay with you instead?"

Sasuke shrugs, not really looking at her. "Why not? I'm the only one in the house and I have an extra room. Most of the day I'm in the station anyway. Besides…" at this, his eyes so cold zero in on hers, "Everything's okay right? We've all moved on. At least, that's what you wanted me to do right?"

She narrows her eyes at him. What is he playing at here? The Uchiha never shows much by way of emotions, but she can't help but feel like he's a cat playing with his prey. And she's the prey.

Sasuke doesn't wait for her to answer, he never did before. He just gets off and opens the driver side's door. "If you need to ask loverboy then go ahead. But the offer still stands."

From afar, she can see Kakashi and Gaara approaching, conversing like old friends.

There's a challenge in his voice that she despised. Despised because she knows that he's baiting her, damn it she does, but she's taking it anyway.

"I'll think about it!" She calls out to him.

Oh, she won't be able not to that's for sure.

A/N: I think I really like this story… it's much easier to write than Nyx Eros, simpler. I gotta say though, all the suspense is hard to put into writing. This is a good way to practice though! And I really like exploring opposites in my stories. Like how here, it's Sakura who left.

Review guys! I'll appreciate it so much! Like, there's nothing I love more than reading someone's thoughts about my stories at the end of a long, thesis-filled day. Insert hopeful face.

KeganHorse- thanks for reviewing this story, and thanks for the compliment! The voice was always my weak point before. I'm happy to be making improvements!

dino- if I'm making you excited with this story, then I've done my job well! Thanks very much!