Screwed Up World, A SasuSaku Fanfic.
Rated T.
KiiroIka
Summary:
In a world where Sasuke wasn't cool and cold, where Sakura was the stoic Ice Queen, Naruto and Hinata the richest, most popular power couple in the school and where Ino and Karin are actually the nice, timid girls in the scene, how do things turn out?
I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 14: Past Equals Present
Oh. My. Fucking. Gawsh.
"No way!" The blue-haired girl squealed.
"You have got to be kidding me!" The blondie stared at me in disbelief.
"Yes! I'm sure of it!" The black-haired girl nodded, happiness glinting in her eyes.
"No, no. I—" I said, raising my hands. "You must have been mistaken. I—"
"I heard it with my own ears, I swear!" One of them said.
"Hey, hey! Sasuke Uchiha is the Ekusasuchi023!" Another yelled.
"Hey, now, back off!" Sakura stood up.
"No! Don't!" Too late.
"What?!"
"Impossible!"
"I've loved you from the start!"
"MARRY ME!"
The noise was UNBEARABLE. People started crowding. Noise of shock, anger, glee and excitement filled the cafeteria. One of the writers from the academy paper came up front and started asking questions I can't seem to comprehend.
"I—" I managed to choke out. I stumbled forward and my breathing became heavy.
"Teme? Teme! Oi! Are you all-rrrgh? Whsss wrrrrng?" Naruto. Naruto?
My head started feeling light.
I can't hear anything.
Everything was a blur.
People were closing in.
What the… What the hell is happening?!
"Sasuke!"
The last thing I felt before completely blacking out was my chest burning like mad.
-x-
Nngh.
"—claustrophobic. Yep. It's written here in his records." A female voice—probably the school nurse—said.
"Will he be alright?" Another female voice—Sakura—asked, her voice worrisome.
"I believe so. His breathing's alright. He should take a painkiller to lessen his headache. Also, I suggest he stay away from closed, crowded places—" The nurse, Shizune, turned to look at me. "Oh, he's awake!" She scurried to my side and placed a hand on my shoulder. "How are you?"
"Nauseous." I admitted.
"Oh, Sasuke… I left a few painkillers on your bedside table. I suggest you don't go back in class for a while and go to an open place, say, the field or an open park." Shizune smiled. "I have already written an excuse note."
"Thanks, Shizune-san." I smiled weakly.
She gave me a nod and a smile. "You're free to go." With that, she walked away, her place to be replaced by Sakura.
I looked at her. "I'm real sorry I got you into this mess…"
"I saw your previous records. Seems that it's not your first time having some sort of claustrophobic-slash-anxiety attack. Your records full of 'em." Sakura sighed and placed a hand over mine. "Care to tell me what's up?"
I slightly shiver as I remember an event from my childhood.
"It's nothing, really." I shrugged. "I just got caught up in a mall frenzy before…"
"Sasuke."
"…got seriously injured, you know. Crazy…"
"Sasuke."
"…maybe even saw my brother's best friend get caught up in the mob and die…"
"Sasuke!"
I blinked once. Twice. My chest was heaving and my cheeks were wet.
"You're crying and you're pale." Sakura said, her jade eyes filled with concern. "Let's talk about this some other time, shall we?"
I bite my lip. No one, not even Naruto, knows about this dark corner of my childhood. This traumatizing event that probably lead me to who—where—I am today.
"No… It's alright." I wiped my cheeks and let out a breath. "Can… Can you skip classes? I'll tell you everything when we're in the field."
Sakura smirked. "Easy peasy."
-x-
A/N: Sasuke will be narrating the whole story to Sakura in this part. End of Sasuke's narration to Sakura will be indicated by this: ~ Oh, and the italicized sentences, which are narrated in third person, are Sasuke's flashbacks.
It happened back when I was seven. Mom, Itachi and I went to the Industrial City (A/N: made up. Yeah, yeah) to accompany Itachi's best friend Shisui in one of his mall tours.
You see, our cousing Shisui Uchiha was this big time famous pianist. He's the same age as Itachi. Itachi and Shisui were best friends. We always had him over. I could say he was my best friend as well.
Our family loved Shisui. We held sleepovers, road trips and other stuff whenever he isn't busy in the music industry. Child stars were very sought after back then.
So, it was the last leg of Shisui's mall tours—Industrial City. We told him not to push through since the mall he was performing in was not only well known for its beautiful and exquisite design but the mobs that form there whenever there are sales or hot concerts. Still, Shisui wanted to perform there. What can we do? We just agreed to go with him.
"A lot of my fans are in Industrial City Starmall. It would totally suck if I don't get to perform there!" Shisui grinned.
"I don't think I'll get to change your mind, so, what's the point." Itachi shrugged.
"We'll go with you, right? Right, Shisui-nii?" Little Sasuke grinned at his idol.
Shisui didn't believe the madness that happened back in Starmall when people there go insane. We didn't believe it. So, a day before his last mall tour, we arrived at Industrial City and decided to go around the mall for a while. We wanted to look around the big mall while Mom and Shisui's mom wanted to check out the Christmas Sale.
Boy, that was probably the most stupid decision we have ever made.
"Hey, hey! Look at that crowd over there!" Sasuke pointed. He held his mother's hand as he watched the people rush in and get lost in the sea of people inside the Department Store a few meters away.
"Nagi-chan, I think we better head back…" Mikoto said after seeing a woman walking past them with a bruise on her eye and a cut on her lip. "This sale is crazy."
Nagi, Shisui's mother, nodded. "I tink so, too."
The Department store windows were plastered with promos and discounts and new releases. The entrance was overflowing with people; some trying to get in, some trying to get out.
Going in there would be suicide.
Of course, none of us kids knew that.
"They have the latest model of Robo Monsters 2000! It's on 50% sale! I have to get it for my son!" A mother in her late 30's said.
"Well, you're too late. It's limited edition. It's a good steal and stocks are depleting quickly. So much people are buying this… My son got a bruise from squeezing into that crowd!" Another mother said. Sasuke's ears perked up and his eyes brightened.
"Mommy, mommy, did you hear that?" He said. He turned to Itachi and Shisui. "They have Robo Monster 2000 model AB3 Limited Edition!"
Shisui was snapped out of his conversation with Itachi. "Really?!"
"Mommy, I want it!" I said.
"Let's go get it!" Shisui agreed.
Both moms said no in unison. "It's dangerous in there! You could get hurt!" Mikoto chided.
"B-but, mommy… I want it so bad." Sasuke's eyes were in tears.
"Honey, I'm sure we can get you something else another time, not now." She scolded. "Let's go."
"Hey, Sasuke!" Shisui tapped Sasuke's shoulder. "Do you really want it?"
"H-hai, Shisui-nii!" I said. He grinned and took my hand.
"Let's go get it."
The crowd of desperate, angry, violent shoppers was no place for a kid like me or Shisui. But we wanted that toy so bad we held hands and ran to the crowd. Nagi-san called out Shisui's name and we stopped ourselves from entering the frenzy. We were near the entrance so we were getting pushed around.
But the mob wasn't the scary part.
The scary part was when some stupid, Goddamned motherfucker screamed one word that threw the people off their feet.
Nagi-san was nearing us when the word rang in everyone's ears.
Bomb.
People started freaking out. Crowds desperately tried to get out the department store. Shisui and I ran, but we were too slow. We, soon, were stuck in the middle of a rampant crowd.
Itachi, completely ignoring his mother's call, went after his little brother and his best friend. He managed to get to Nagi. She turned, tears in her eyes, and said words that made Itachi's heart stop.
"I can't see them. Shisui, Sasuke. I can't find them."
Everything was a blur. People around me pushed and punched and kicked. They screamed and panicked and didn't give a damn about Shisui or me. I saw Shisui get battered and bruised in front of my very eyes. Soon he was pulled away from me. I called out for him. I got so scared and stumbled a few times, my hands and legs getting stepped on. I thought I was going to die. My vision darkened, my body went numb and my chest felt heavy.
I lost consciousness after hearing the sound of a megaphone crackling.
I woke up in a hospital. Mom was crying. Itachi was in the bed beside mine.
Sasuke and Itachi opened their eyes to see nothing but white. They had needles stuck to them. The room was filled with sobs and beeping sounds.
"Sasuke! Itachi! My babies!" Mikoto cried as she went between the two siblings' beds and hugged each of them tight. "I thought I was going to lose you!"
Sasuke suffered from a lot of cuts and bruises and a broken leg. Itachi was in the same condition, though it was his arm that was broken. Mioto only had a few bruises on her arms.
"Don't you ever, ever do that again! Do you hear me?! Never again!" She yelled and cried. Sasuke was so scared.
"Where's… Where's Shisui and Nagi-san?" Itachi asked. Mikoto's eyes were wide and she looked like she was dead.
Mom was so pale and her pupils were dilated and her breathing stopped.
I wish Itachi didn't open his mouth. I wish I didn't open my mouth.
"Mommy?"
"N-nagi's in the ER." Mikoto said, her voice monotone and raspy.
"And Shisui-nii?"
No words came out of Mikoto.
Shisui was dead.
The news hit me like I was thrown back into the crowd of people. Scenes from that horrifying day flashed in my mind. Shisui pulling me to the crowd. Someone shouting out the word 'bomb.' Shisui getting bruised. Our hands separating.
The beeping got louder. Doctors came in. My mind spun and I was thrown back into unconsciousness.
The whole week was a blur. The funeral was heartbreaking. Nagi-san was in a coma. There were no Uchiha Christmas parties held that year. I kept blaming myself for his death.
If only I had listened. If only I hadn't told him I wanted it. If only…
The memories didn't leave me alone and I would black out when I'm in closed spaces. When I'm in crowds, I'd have anxiety attacks. Sometimes, I'd the memories would come rushing back to me and I would black out even if I was in a big, spacious room.
That's when the bullying started.
I kept blacking out in the classroom and my kids called me weak. They called me stupid. They called me tons of names each time I came back from the nurse's office. None of them had any idea what I had gone through.
Everything got worse when the bullies actually closed in on me and started, well, bullying me.
It was a cloudy afternoon and I was alone in the playground. Akako Hinamori, the big girl in my class, alongside the rowdy boys in the class, trapped me in their circle and beat me up. It brought back horrible memories and naturally, I was out before the bruises formed.
My mom found out the truth and those kids were suspended. The kids in my class stayed away from me. I had no friends and I was completely alone. The following grade, I was transferred to a different class. That's when I met Naruto. That year, the visions receded and, with precautionary measures, I was alright again. I still had nightmares and I had to stay away from crowds and small spaces to prevent the black outs and I, being the loser, had black-outs due to getting locked inside a locker or a janitor's closet. It became bearable, eventually. Naruto was there to stick up for me most of the time anyway.
"It's thanks to that past that I am who I am today—claustrophobic, a loser, a person who can't face a crowd. That's why I don't want anyone to know I'm Ekusasuchi023 on YouTube. They'd just mob me and I can't… I can't take that." I finished. I looked at Sakura and saw her face twisted in sympathy.
"Suke, I'm sorry." Sakura said. We sat in the middle of the field. Her hand was intertwined with mine. My cheeks were wet again and my chest was heaving. "The nightmares… They don't happen anymore, right?"
"They still do, but it's very rare." I wipe my cheeks with my sleeves and flash her a smile. "It's hard to have nightmares when all I dream about is you, Kura." I place my hand on her cheek and I felt her lean to it.
"Thank you, Suke." She said, her warm cheek not leaving my touch. She scooted closer to me. "I know it must be hard for you to tell me all of this."
"Yeah… But hey, it feels good letting it out." I said. "And I had you with me the whole time." my hand left her cheek only to intertwine with her fingers once more. "You held onto me so I won't fall back into the darkness."
I saw her smile that beautiful, genuine smile and somehow, I knew.
I won't fall back into the darkness.
OH MY GOSH T_T
One year... I HAVEN'T UPDATED FOR ONE FREAKING YEAR!
I am so, so terribly sorry!
Well, I won't promise you guys anything, but here's an extra long chapter for you guys.
I hope I can update again!
I AM SO SORRY! I love you guys if you're still reading this.
As I have said before,
I WON'T ABANDON THIS STORY!