I had to keep running. I wasn't sure at all who or what I was running from, but I had to keep going. They couldn't catch up with me. I heard them yelling at each other. I looked up ahead and saw two figures, looking at me.
"Mom! Dad!" I yelled. It wasn't my voice, but the high pitched voice of a smaller me. They smiled at me, tears dripping down my mother's face. My father waved at me. How many times had those big hands picked me up? My mother opened her arms to embrace me. Those cozy arms that always gave me comfort when I needed it most. I was getting so close to them. They suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a tall dark figure, his eyes closed and looking down.
I stopped abruptly in front of him. "Sakura." The velvety voice said. Blood dripped down his face. I stepped back. "You're mine." He opened his eyes and they were a dark, flaming red. I screamed as Itachi grabbed me, pinning me to the ground, his teeth coming close to my neck; his breath was hot and he slowly opened his mouth wider. I screamed again, thrashing about. "Sakura…"
"Sakura!" Someone yelled. I jolted forward; my fist clenched and I projected it to hit my attacker in the face. Itachi caught it with ease. It took me a while to realize I was crying. He let go of my hand and I took both my hands to wrap them around Itachi's waist. I started sobbing uncontrollably. At first Itachi didn't do anything, and then he awkwardly put his arms around my shaking shoulders.
"Sorry." I finally said after my sobs had subsided. I blushed profusely as I got off of Itachi. So awkward. I looked at Itachi who got off the bed, walking over to the window.
He jumped out of it, and I fell back onto my bed. I decided to just leave the window open. If I went over to the window it would look like I was following him or something. I think I just made our situation ten times more awkward.
I walked to my sidewalk to wait for Sasuke. I wasn't supposed to be out in the open without anyone like this, but I was tired of waiting inside. The sound of a muffler resonated from down the street. I narrowed my eyes as Sasuke came into view. On his bike. He stopped in front of me. He reached behind me and threw me a helmet.
"I can't get on this thing!" I yelled. Sasuke took his helmet off and gave me a look.
"Why. Because Tsunade-baachan told you to?" He asked sarcastically.
"N-no." I stammered. "I'm wearing a skirt. If I wanted everyone to see my underwear I'd join a strip club."
"I'd pay for it." Sasuke replied. I blushed and hit his shoulder.
"I'm not getting on." I told him, crossing my arms for finality.
Fifteen minutes later, I was riding on the back of Sasuke's Yamaha R6 Raven with the ugliest white helmet I've ever seen and holding the back of my skirt through my legs with one hand, and holding on to Sasuke for dear life with the other. For some suspicious reason, I felt like he had ridden the bike on purpose.
Sasuke pulled into the school parking lot, the slight curb which wasn't even felt in the Corvette making me bounce up and down on the bike. I squeaked slightly. It wasn't very comfortable at all. He pulled into the same parking spot and held the bike steady so I could slide off. He handed me my book bag and got off himself. I took my helmet off and threw it at him. He caught it with a scowl.
"What was that for?" He asked, slamming the helmet on the seat of the Raven.
"For making me ride the stupid bike!" I retorted. He took off his helmet, shaking his head then rubbing his hand through his hair. A couple girls stopped and stared and the girl walking behind them ran into them because she wasn't paying attention either. I rolled my eyes and stalked off.
"Sakura…" He started walking beside me. "I can't do cars. I live on my bike." I turned around and noticed we had a following.
"Why don't you get one of your fan club girls to ride on the bike with you?" I told him hatefully, and turned around. For some reason, the fact that those girls were following him irritated me. One, I wasn't used to the attention. And two, Sasuke seemed to actually enjoy it sometimes.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked, easily catching up with me again. "Are you jealous?" He asked, the familiar smirk appearing on his lips.
"W-what? No!" I stammered, a blush appearing on my cheeks. "I'm not!"
"Okay…" Sasuke said, but the way he said it didn't sound like he believed me at all. But…I wasn't jealous. Definitely.
We finally reached our first period and Sasuke opened the door, and held it open. I stood there. Was he opening the door for me? "Are you going through or not?" he asked me. I nodded and walked through.
I sat next to Temari and Sasuke sat behind me. Temari looked at Sasuke and then at me. I still hadn't told her what Sasuke was doing with me all the time, but then again I technically wasn't supposed to. Class started and Kakashi-sensei started talking about something in literature. A folded up piece of paper fell on my desk. I looked at it questioningly. I opened it and saw Temari's handwriting.
What is hottie hanging out with you for?
I rolled my eyes and scribbled back.
I'm not allowed to tell you. I will say it's not a walk in the park. Sasuke is cute but he's a pain.
So you do think he's cute? Ooo, Sakura do you like him?
No, I don't! He's so irritating. Well…sometimes.
Yeah well that's his playboy complex. Explain, though! What's he like at all other times?
He's really…
I couldn't finish writing because another note fell on my desk. It came for over my shoulder. My stomach dropped; Sasuke.
Stop talking about me.
I turned around to look at him. He had this scary look in his eyes. I blushed and turned around, crumpling up both sheets of paper. I looked over at Temari who looked disappointed. I gave her a little shrug, nodding my head toward Sasuke. Sasuke, in turn, hit the leg of my desk, jerking me forward. I turned around and glared at him. He was so aggravating! I started to think about yesterday, though. His stormy eyes, his smell… I didn't even hear the bell ring.
I hastily threw all my things into my bag and got up. Sasuke was waiting for me near the door. He looked annoyed and crossed his arms.
"Hurry up." He growled.
"God, we have like six minutes between classes. Calm down." I grumbled and pushed pass him out the door. A heated blush crept up on my face again.
I could feel my friends' eyes on my back. I had opted to not sit with Naruto and the rest of my old clique. It was too heated between them. I looked back. Sure enough, Naruto was looking at me. Nix that; Naruto was glaring at me. I stuck my tongue out and turned around. Sasuke was looking at me, rolling his eyes.
"What?" I asked, frowning.
"I was just admiring your maturity." Sasuke said, smirking and taking a bite out of his sandwich.
"Screw you, Uchiha." I muttered under my breath. "Where's the rest of your gang, by the way?" I asked. I hadn't seen them all day. It was different having only one pair of eyes boring into the back of your head rather than four all day.
"There's a car show today so they skipped." He said. No wonder he seemed more pissed today than usual. I felt kind of bad. If it wasn't for me, he probably would be checking out the latest car models and motor oil and whatever else he liked to do at car shows. Like having skimpily dressed girls all over him or something.
"You could have gone." I told him, sipping the rest of my milk.
"I can't. I have to watch you." He said, and he crunched up his cola can.
"I'm sorry." I said, standing up and throwing away my tray. "I'm sorry it's such a burden for you." I told him as an after thought and started walking away. I couldn't tell if I was saying it sarcastically or not. I realized how selfish I was being. I was miffed because Sasuke was always around me, because I couldn't see my friends and because Sasuke's fan club was annoying me. But I never considered how it was affecting Sasuke's life. He was giving up just as much of his life. I decided that if I ever saw a Hyuuga, I was going to punch him in the face.
Sasuke came up silently beside me on the way to P.E. "It's not." He said quietly.
"What?" I asked confused.
"It's not a burden watching you. In fact I rather enjoy it sometimes." Sasuke replied. I blushed. "I mean, it's not everyday you get to see someone walk into a door and then hit in the face with a basketball in the same hour." My eyes narrowed.
"You're a jerk." I exclaimed.
"I know." He smirked. I simply turned on my heel and walked through the P.E. doors, without injuring myself.
After an hour of torturous running (While watching Sasuke spring effortlessly, his fan club trailing behind) and another hour of physics with Iruka, the sight of Sasuke's bike waiting in the parking lot wasn't welcomed gracefully. Sasuke got on, putting his helmet on and starting the engine. I simply stared at him, arms folded and an obviously cross expression plastered on my face. Sasuke patted the seat behind him sarcastically.
I sighed and threw my bag at his face so he could store it. He caught it without flinching. I pulled my skirt through my legs and hopped on, strapping the ugly helmet on my head. Sasuke accelerated quickly so both my arms had to quickly wrap around his torso before I flew off the back end. Sasuke took the corner out of the school parking lot at 50; I almost slipped off and my knees unconsciously went up and clenched Sasuke's body tightly. Why the hell is he driving like a madman? I thought frantically. He passed the turnoff to my house and my stomach sunk. I didn't like it when he didn't tell me where we were going.
"Sasuke, where are we going?" I yelled. He didn't even acknowledge that I had spoken. He merged onto the highway. I could hardly stand being on neighborhood streets on this thing but the highway? Yep, I was going to die.
Usually, Sasuke went 30 over the speed limit. So if the posted highway speed was 70, we had to be going at least 100. My skirt was edging up underneath me, threatening to fly out behind me and flash the cars behind us. I wanted to grab it, but the thought of letting go of Sasuke scared me too much. I was holding on to him so tightly my arms were sweaty because of his leather jacket.
Sasuke quickly cut across three lanes of traffic to take the exit. I could hear the angry honks behind us, but I could have cared less. Taking a few turns, Sasuke finally turned onto a dirt road. That slowed us down some, but we were still going at least 60. Finally we pulled out of the wooded road into a huge field.
Damn Sasuke. Damn Sasuke Uchiha to hell. I thought bitterly. A couple acres of cars, motorcycles, boats and booths were spread out in front of us in the field. He had taken me to the freaking car show. Sasuke pulled and parked at the end of a long line of motorcycles. A couple people crowded around us, including the rest of the Hawk. Sasuke put the kick stand down and took his helmet off. I followed suit, just wanting the damn thing off. Apparently the fury I felt was scribbled on my face because Sasuke smirked. I got off and my knees and arms started shaking from holding on to him so long. Sasuke hopped off and walked over to the crowd, shaking some hands and bumping fists with others.
I crossed my arms while glaring at him, wishing I could glare two perfect holes into the back of his stupid, sexy head. Sasuke looked back at me and then told something to Karin, who nodded. He walked over to me and I just glared at him even more.
"Hey, might want to fix your clothes." He told me. I quickly looked down. My skirt was wrinkled and riding up, my bra was practically twisted around making my chest look weird, and my collar was twisting out at weird angles. I'm sure my hair was amazing. I quickly turned my bra around and fixed my collar and skirt, blushing crazily.
"God, what the hell Sasuke! What are we doing here? If we hadn't taken your damn motorcycle this wouldn't have happened!" I ranted, trying to mess with my hair and make it lie at least flatter than it was. He just smirked.
"Just because I have to watch over you all the time doesn't mean I'm going to completely give up my life. The deal was to watch over you, and I am. There was nothing in the contract that said I have to follow everywhere you go." The whole time he spoke, he didn't smile. Ashton Kutcher didn't pop out either, so…this jerk was being completely serious. I can't believe this! I even felt sorry for him! Ugh!
Sasuke started walking off. I wasn't sure if I should follow him. I mean, I didn't want him to get in trouble. I sighed and started following him.
"Sasuke!" Sasuke and I both searched for where the voice was coming from. All of a sudden, a blonde in miniscule cut-off shorts and a tight white shirt came flying from nowhere and attacked Sasuke, throwing her arms around his neck and nuzzling into his chest. I felt my eye twitch slightly as her boobs pressed into him. Sasuke didn't look happy to see her but he wasn't throwing her off, so I assumed he was enjoying himself.
"Hi, Ino." Sasuke said. She let go, stepping back and smiling ecstatically at him.
"When did you show up? I've missed you, baby." She said, putting on a pouty face and grabbing his hands.
"I just got here. I had to babysit her at school." Sasuke said, throwing a thumb back in my direction. My jaw dropped. What. The. Hell.
"Oh." Ino said curly. Her nose wrinkled up slightly. "Who is she?"
"Haruno Sakura." I said, disdain barely hidden in the tone of my voice.
"Oh, you're that girl whose parents were murdered." Ino said, recognition lighting up her eyes. "I remember my parents telling me about that. Didn't we go to the same pre-school?" she asked sincerely.
"I don't know." I replied. I hated meeting new people, and this was the reason why. I wanted to get away from them. I couldn't stand it. Ino talking about my parents and Sasuke treating me like…work or something. Ino looked miffed. I knew I was being rude but there was a reason girls like Ino and I were not friends. "I have to…go to the bathroom." I said, turning around and walking away. Sasuke was calling me…or was he? Maybe it was just in my head.
"Sakura-chan." Someone said behind me. I turned around. Who-
"Gaara!" I exclaimed in surprise. Relief rushed through me. I'm not sure if I was excited because I still had small feelings for him, or because he was someone who treated me like a person and not someone that was pulling him down. "What are you doing here?"
"More like what are you doing here? This is a rather rough part of town." Gaara retorted.
"Sasuke brought me here." I said. Gaara nodded his head, signaling me to follow him and I did.
"So what's going on with you two nowadays? Are you guys like dating or something?" He asked. I blushed ten shades darker.
"Oh my lord, no." I said, laughing a bit. "It's kind of complicated to explain, actually." I said.
"I see." He said. One good thing about Gaara was that he didn't hover on awkward situations. "Temari misses you. Apparently Sasuke has been taking over your life lately."
"I know…" I muttered. "Sasuke just pisses all my friends off so I haven't been able to hang out with anyone lately. Wait…why are you here?" I hoped that me changing the subject wasn't obvious.
"I like being here. All the people, the cars, you know. Well, I guess you wouldn't." Gaara said. Was he…getting nervous? He wouldn't look at me.
"No, I get it." I said smiling. "I like the cars…not so much the people. Things get…complicated when I meet new people. I have trust issues." I couldn't decide if I liked the fact that I was spilling all this out. Gaara was just really easy to talk to, because he liked to listen more than talk. "Plus, I like cars but I don't know anything about them so I feel like I have nothing in common with the people here. I mean, I love gawking at nice cars as much as the next person, but pop the hood and I'm useless." I said smiling. Gaara smiled back and stopped in front of a sleek, black car.
"Oh my god, Gaara, is this yours?" I said, a smile brightening up my face. He looked proud but a little shy when he smiled. This car was definitely a Gaara-car.
"Yes, I just got her. Temari thinks it's silly-using money for cars. I can't help myself though." That sounded like Temari; so frugal. I could understand though. The three siblings had lots of inheritance, but with no parents like me, their business crashed instead of flourishing like mine. They didn't have Tsunade, however.
"I was thinking I'd teach you about cars. You know- so you don't feel so useless." Gaara explained. I smiled.
"Yeah. That'd be great." I replied, smiling warmly.
Gaara was explaining to me that a dipstick wasn't another word for dipshit when it happened. First, it was the shouting and arguing at the car behind us. I turned around and Gaara looked up from the engine. One guy pushed another and then guns were pulled. Three shots went off and one of the guys fell down. I screamed, my shriek just joining the many others as people began to flee the scene. The guy and his gang began to shoot at bystanders. Gaara grabbed my hand, running behind his car. I looked up at him, trying to find security in his face. He looked determined and concentrated, but not scared which gave me some comfort.
We began to run, hunched over behind other cars. Someone was hit next to Gaara, and blood spurted from his arm. He went down screaming. I closed my eyes. I couldn't stand looking at the scarlet liquid. Shudders ran up and down my spine. Pretty soon Gaara and I were far enough away. I looked around and recognized the line of motorcycles and the Raven at the end.
A cool hand grabbed my arm. "Sakura, where the hell were you? I've been looking for you!" I looked up into Sasuke's narrowed, steely dark eyes. Gaara pushed me behind him.
"You should have been paying more attention to her, Uchiha. I don't know what game you're playing but this is a dangerous place for her." Gaara said, his eyes not leaving Sasuke's.
Headlights blinded me for a second and a lustrous black Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT going at top speed slowed then fish-tailed, stopping before hitting Sasuke. The driver killed the lights and the door opened. My eyes, still adjusting from being blinded couldn't see who got out of the car until he was grabbing Sasuke by his collar.
Itachi.
"What the fuck were you thinking taking Haruno to a place like this, Sasuke? She could have gotten hurt you fucking dumbass. I can't believe father would entrust you with something as big as this. You obviously aren't responsible enough for something like this." Itachi said all this in a whisper, but it was the most menacing and intimidating whisper I'd ever heard. When Itachi acknowledged me, I jumped.
"Sakura! Let's go." He barked, a bit of the anger still lingering in his voice. Sasuke's eyes were narrowed and he watched me walk over to Itachi, his eyes never leaving mine until I looked away. Itachi put his arm around my shoulder and walked me to the passenger side door, opening the door and taking my hand so I could get in. He shut the door and walked around to the driver's side. I blushed at his manners. No guy had ever treated me with such courtesy before.
I saw Gaara standing near Sasuke still and I waved. He nodded his head and began to walk away. Flashing police lights flashed and Itachi turned on his engine, killing the lights. He backed out and drove right past the police cars. How they didn't see us, I didn't know.
"I'm sorry for the actions of my idiotic brother, Haruno-sama. You deserved better." Itachi's voice filled the car. I was thankful that it was dark so he couldn't see my face flush.
"It's okay, Itachi…er…Uchiha-sama. I understand. Sasuke is still a teenage guy. I totally get that he feels tied up by me and he would want to live like he normally does."
"I admire your compassion, Sakura. But please don't give my brother sympathy. He's almost an adult and he needs to begin acting like it. Stunts like this are childish."
"Uchiha-sama..." I began but Itachi cut me off.
"You may call me Itachi if you wish, Sakura. I know our arrangement is formal but our relationship doesn't have to be." He said lightly and I flushed again. I could smell him from where I was sitting. It smelled so good that I wanted to bury my face in his neck…but that would be weird…
"Itachi-sama…you won't tell your father, will you? I don't want Sasuke to get in any trouble." I said quietly. Itachi was silent for a bit.
"Because you wish it, Sakura. But if he ever puts you in any sort of trouble again I won't be so lenient."
"Deal." I agreed. I was still rather angry at Sasuke. I mean, I know I walked off but with Ino all over him it's not like he missed me. There was uncomfortable silence in the car until he pulled up to my house. "Thanks for the ride home, Itachi-sama." I said, opening the car door.
"One moment, Sakura-chan." Itachi called to me. "Take this." He said, throwing a silver object at me.
"A cell-phone?" I asked, confused.
"In case anything happens again." He explained. "My number is already programmed in there for you." I smiled.
"Thank you." I shut the door and began walking to my door. I heard the car window roll down.
"I'll be outside all tonight, okay?" Itachi called. I turned around and nodded. Still the creeper.
Wow I know, long time, haha. So I made two references in this chapter. One is to a song and another is to a book. Can you find them? Haha. Anyway I can feel Itachi slowly degrading from the manga character. Allwell (: Anyway leave a comment or something please. (: