Next chapter! Sorry it was a little late, but I spent my day writing a 3000 word chapter for Moments. Go check it out! Oh, and I want 30 reviews this time, thanks!

Pain as Punishment?

She stayed in the frame of the door, afraid to step in. He stepped near her.

"Sakura!" he collapsed in front of her, "I'm so sorry! I swear it wasn't me..." he rambled on.

She was taken aback, what was he talking about?

"Sakura" she glanced over to see Sasuke standing in front of her bed, his hands in fist, "Don't look."

Ignoring him, she gazed beyond his shoulder to see a red haired figure lying on her bed.

"I'm s-s-sooooo sorry!" her father kept repeated, still on the floor, his face in his hands.

She numbly stepped forward, towards her bed.

"Stay back Sakura." Sasuke repeated.

She took another step.

"I'm sorry!" her father said again, grabbing her ankle.

She shook him off, taking another step.

Sasuke sighed.

Another step, all she had to do was turn right, and she'd see who it was, though she suspected she already knew.

She couldn't turn.

Sasuke turned to face her, "You don't have to look."

"But I need too" she whispered, gaining the courage to turn.

Her bed. The figure. Blood.

So much blood.

Too much.

The figure, she refused to accept it was her mother, had lost way too much blood to survive.

The tears started. Her father was still moaning in the background, his sobs muffled but loud.

"Sakura" Sasuke said, unsure of what to say. He remembered how it felt when he had found his parents dead. Unspeakable. Lonely.

He put his arm around her waist, dragging her into his body so that she could lean against him.

He wouldn't say he was sorry, he knew how it felt to be pitied. It sickened him.

Sakura was panting, her mind panicking. Finally it had hit her, just exactly what was happening.

Her mother. Her mother, was dead. Murdered.

Murdered.

Who had killed her mother?

She turned around, Sasuke following her keeping his arm around her waist for fear of her falling without his support.

"You..." she said, facing her father.

"It wasn't me!" he screamed, getting on his hands and knees, keeping his head ducked.

"You" she said again, "DISGUST ME!" Sakura threw out her leg and kicked her father. He hit the door frame. "I hate you!" she screamed, stomping towards him, trembling with anger, tears steadily streaking her face. "This is all your fault!" she kicked him in the stomach and he whimpered.

After another swift kick to the ribs, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Let go of me!" she tried to pull away but Sasuke pulled her into him. She beat her fists against his chest, weakening until she was barely moving them. "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him..." she murmured, "his fault, not my fault, his."

Sasuke didn't say anything, in reality the fault could be his own. This, he thought, could be the elders' way of telling him to keep his mouth shut. But that wouldn't make any sense...

Sakura slipped towards the floor, he quickly tightened his arms around her.

Why would they kill Sakura's mother? He had no doubt that this was somehow tied to the Hokage and Sasuke for speaking up. He glanced over at the mumbling glob of flesh that was her father. Why would they do that to the man that made them so much money?

Sasuke didn't know, but he planned to find out. He looked down at the quietly sobbing girl in his arms. He needed to know, because he may have to run.

Short, but suspenseful right?