Chapter 3 – A Heated Debate

His shoulders felt so much lighter when he received a message from her. Just two simple words and it felt like he had suddenly emerged from being under water for hours.

Fall–of–the–Blossom: He's gone.

There was nothing Sasuke hated more than men who beat defenceless women. Why only defenceless? Well, he had actually had a debate about that particular, touchy subject with his older brother just the other night. In his honest opinion, if a woman was going to act like a man, then she should be treated as one. You can't hit people and expect them to be okay with it – they were going to strike you back even harder. So, if a woman was getting in your face, was acting like a man and attacking you, then it was okay to put her in her place. Not go over the top and beat the shit out of her – one slap to the face to knock some sense back into her, or a forceful shove backwards to put some space between you. That way, it was merely self-defence and gave you enough time to try and calm the woman down.

Itachi had argued with him on that. It was never right to lay an offensive hand on a woman. If she strikes you, you walk away and only return when she's calmed down, when you have both calmed down. "But what if you can't walk away?" Sasuke had demanded with obvious annoyance. "What if she's continuously assaulting you and you can't find an opening to get away?" Well then, you simply restrain that woman until she agrees to hear you out, to calm down and act civilised instead of like a thug.

Avenger–S: Are you both okay?

He always had a good comeback during a debate or an argument and it annoyed Sasuke beyond belief. No matter how sound his own opinion was, Itachi always had something that seemed more just, more right.

Fall–of–the–Blossom: Yeah, we're both fine.

There had been a pause in her reply and the pen had stopped scribbling for a moment, telling Sasuke that she had stopped typing and continued not long after.

Avenger–S: You're lying.

Fall–of–the–Blossom: How can you even tell? You can't see me!

So now she was getting defensive? Something had definitely happened. He wasn't raised by a family who practically ran the police force for nothing, after all.

Avenger–S: You know that you can tell me if he hurt you, don't you? It's nothing to be ashamed of. Angry, yes, but you shouldn't feel like it's your fault. It's his.

Another pause and Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek. Maybe that had been too overwhelming for a reply? Maybe she thought he was being a nosy brat?

Fall–of–the–Blossom: Yes.

Yes?

Sasuke scowled.

Avenger–S: Yes, as in he hurt you?

Fall–of–the–Blossom: Yeah…

His scowl deepened.

Avenger–S: What did he do?

Fall–of–the–Blossom: Only grabbed my arm, but it was enough to hurt, you know?

Avenger–S: Don't try to make it seem less than it actually is. If he hurt you, he's hurt you. Fathers aren't supposed to do that to their children. Husbands are not supposed to beat their wives. Sooner or later, he'll come to regret his mistakes when he's put in the same position or somebody finds out what he's done.

Fall–of–the–Blossom: He's getting remarried… And he wanted me to meet his fiancée.

Avenger–S: I bet the woman doesn't know what he's done to his previous family, does she?

Fall–of–the–Blossom: I don't know and I don't want to know. My mom, however, was talking about secretly getting into contact with her somehow, so she can warn her.

That did not sound like a good idea. Sasuke had heard his father talking about cases like that several times with his mother. Mikoto had always argued that it would only be fair to give the other woman warning, to which Fugaku would shake his head and sigh, muttering that it didn't always work that way. The 'other woman' could turn nasty, could take the man's side. Then, once the man found out what she had been up to, he could be sent into a fit of rage and attack. It had been reported many times to the police and his father just so happened to be in charge of several of those cases.

Avenger–S: It sounds awful, but don't let her go to that woman. Maybe send an anonymous message somehow, but not in person. Don't let her know the identity of your mother or yourself. It could lead to trouble for the pair of you.

It made his stomach twist viciously at the thought of something happening to Fall–of–the–Blossom. Was that strange? Was it unusual? They didn't even know each other's identities. They didn't even know what the other looked like. But… Looks didn't really matter, did they? And Sasuke was beginning to learn quite a lot about her, even though he didn't know her identity. He knew her personality. Did that sound cheesy or cliché? Did it sound like something from a corny romance movie? It hardly mattered.

Fall–of–the–Blossom: That's what I've been trying to tell her! She just won't listen to me. She thinks she can 'help' the woman he's marrying and can 'save her'.

Avenger–S: Call the police and tell them their address. Say that there's been some loud noises over at their place, sounds like fighting and screaming. Then, when they're there, they'll most likely bring up something about your father's history of beating women.

Fall–of–the–Blossom: That won't work.

Sasuke scowled angrily at his screen.

Avenger–S: And why is that?

Fall–of–the–Blossom: We never reported him, remember?

Damn it! Other than that idea he had nothing and even then, the idea Sasuke had come up with had so many risks, too many what ifs. What if the officers arrived to an empty home? What if only one of them (mainly her father) was in? They would trace Fall–of–the–Blossom's call and do who knows what for wasting police time (Sasuke didn't know what because he didn't know what her previous criminal convictions were, and how many warnings she had or may have been given).

Fall–of–the–Blossom: We're fine, anyway. That's the main thing. Don't worry!

Don't worry? How was he not supposed to worry when innocent people were being beaten for absolutely nothing? It didn't necessarily matter that they happened to be women, but that fact only made it seem worse. A grown man, no doubt much bigger than his wife and daughter, thought that it was okay to intimidate them and use them as his personal punching bags. That did not sit well with Sasuke and he wanted that bastard locked away with other criminals, with criminals who would use him as their personal punching bag. That way, he'd learn how his wife and daughter had felt. He'd find out how it felt to be trapped and without an escape.

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

Fall–of–the–Blossom: Got to go! It's getting quite late and I still need to shower. I'll speak to you tomorrow!

And just like that, she logged off.

Had he offended her? Been too pushy? Frowning, Sasuke also logged off and shut down his laptop, getting up so that he could place it onto the desk in his bedroom. He'd simply speak with her tomorrow about it, make sure that she knew he wasn't trying to force anything on her. He just wanted herself and her mother to be safe.

Thursdays were awful, in Sasuke's personal opinion. For one main reason – no, for several reasons actually. First being that Thursday meant debate day in his politics class.

It wasn't an official class, more like an extra couple of lessons a week. Every student in the school had to take an extra class so that they would have more on their college applications. Only the headmaster was aware of the fact Sasuke had tried to take several of the extra classes. However, it wasn't possible. They were only allowed one extra class every year. Why had he tried to take more? Well, because Sasuke had wanted his application to look just as great as his brother's had. Perfect grades, perfect everything. It wasn't fair.

Sighing, he fixed the strap of his backpack on his shoulder and entered the theatre, where his politics class was always held. It was because of the size of the class. For health and safety reasons, there usually weren't more than thirty to a class unless there was more than one exit. Due to it being the theatre, there were five exits altogether. There was over one hundred and fifty students in his politics class. Just mentioning the amount of students in the class made it obvious why Sasuke disliked it. When he chose the class, he thought that hardly anyone would be in it. How wrong he was. How horribly, horribly wrong he was. It would've been better just to stick to sports. Sure, there was still a lot of students in the class, but at least Naruto was in that class. Here, he had Juugo to keep him sane and that was all.

Everybody was talking over one another as Sasuke sat down near the front, dropping his bag in front of him. Sitting right at the end of the row, right at the front, saved him from being surrounded by idiots. It was like he had a 'how to survive politics class' guide up in his head.

As a certain colour entered his line of vision, Sasuke just about refrained from gritting his teeth. That was his other reason for disliking his politics class.

Haruno Sakura.

Usually, they kept to themselves and got on with whatever they were told to do. Most of the time, they didn't even look at each other. However, the other day, their teacher had chosen them both for today's debate. And what was the debate about?

Bullying.

He sighed as everyone else began to sit down, Juugo sitting on his right. Not even half a minute later and the teacher was giving a short introduction to the class, reminding them of what the debate was about.

"And now, we have Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, debating about bullying and whether or not we can truly get rid of the problem."

Why was he so against this debate, especially against Sakura?

Their eyes met as they stood up and like all other times she looked at him, he saw the emotions in her eyes before those fresh apple green eyes hardened.

It was safe to say that he'd been more than unkind to her. And now she hated him for it.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Sasuke made his way up the stairs on the left of the stage, Sakura going up the right. There were two stands in the centre of the stage, each of them having a microphone of their own, and when he and Sakura met in the middle, she looked him in the eye for a few seconds before looking away. The pair of them took their places at their rightful stands, staring out of the audience until the teacher spoke up.

"Sakura, you believe that we can stop bullying. Why?"

"It's simple." She shrugged. "If people focused on themselves rather than others, if they learned to face and accept the fact that nobody can be perfect, then I believe bullying can be stopped. There's no such thing as perfection, in my eyes. There's no 'perfect' body, no 'perfect' mind and no 'perfect' student. Everybody has flaws. If we all learned to accept those flaws and not pick them out for everybody to have a laugh at, then I really believe bullying could be stopped."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Even after all these years, Sakura was still so naïve.

"Sasuke, you don't think the same?" the teacher asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," his reply was simple. "Bullying can't be stopped."

"Of course it can!" Sakura snapped.

Once again rolling his eyes, Sasuke shoved his hands back into his pockets and faced Sakura by turning his head to the side. He wasn't surprised to find her glaring at him. "No, it can't. No matter what you do or say, bullying is always going to be an issue. Nowadays, anything is classed as bullying. From a nasty name to a dirty look – like the one you're currently giving to me."

Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously and she gripped a tighter hold of the stand. "What would you know about bullying? Be honest." He had no answer. "Exactly. You don't personally know how it feels to be bullied, to feel afraid of even coming to school. You don't know the effect bullying has on people!"

"And you do?"

"Yes."

Silence.

Once again, Sakura's hold tightened. "From our first year right through to last year, I was bullied by the same group over and over again. They would come looking for me when I was alone and did whatever they could to put me down – sometimes going as far as to physically assault me." Just as he opened his mouth, she cut him off. "Why didn't I tell anyone?" Looking out at the gathered audience, Sakura asked, "Who here has been a victim of bullying?"

Hesitantly, a few hands raised.

"See?" she asked Sasuke, glaring over at him. "Nobody wants to speak up for many different reasons. I didn't speak up or tell anyone because I felt ashamed. I felt humiliated and weak and pathetic."

"That doesn't change the fact that you can't stop bullying." Sasuke shrugged, like he was shrugging her words off. From the look that flashed in her eyes, there was no denying that it hurt her. "It happens everywhere. School, college, work. It doesn't matter where you are, there will always be some kind of bullying." Like she had with him, Sasuke cut her off, demanding, "Are you saying that you've never given someone a dirty look, or called them a horrible name?" His eyes narrowed. "Be honest."

He could tell that the air felt hotter around her because her cheeks burned with shame. Why? Because the answer was 'yes'. Sakura had picked on somebody before. She had picked on Naruto. Not in a vicious way, but she had called him a horrible name every now and then.

"Known fact," Sakura muttered, cheeks still burning, "bullies are often victims of bullying themselves."

"There's no justifying bullying. You're either a bully, or you're not."

"How the hell would you know?" Sakura once again demanded, although this time, her voice was louder, booming around the theatre thanks to the microphone. Neither noticed the teacher flinch, worrying about either the microphone, or the fact Sakura was getting angry. "You haven't been picked on a day in your life!" His eyes narrowed and Sasuke's body language shifted as he turned to face her more fully. "And no, it's not because people are afraid of you. They're afraid of your last name." Clearly knowing where it would really hit him, her eyes narrowed again. "They're afraid of your brother."

This time, Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, but then a look of pure anger settled on his features. Who the hell did she think she was? "Shut up. You know nothing, Sakura."

"I know nothing?"

"No, you don't."

"I think I do." She shrugged, leaning against the stand. "You see, I spoke with Itachi-san a couple of times." It was like she found it amusing seeing his features deadpan, seeing the slight unease in his stance. Sakura had met with Itachi? When? How? Why? "And I can tell why so many people are afraid of him, even though to me, he's a pretty decent person and is really nice. It's because of how others make him appear. You know, gossip? And that's why they're scared of him. Because of rumours and stories." She waved a hand dismissively and stood up straight once again. "Anyway, my point is that they're not afraid of you, they're afraid of what your big brother might do to them, so nobody dares to pick a fight with you. Yet you walk around school like you're some big, bad boy. You cannot say anything about bullying! At least not the victim's side of it."

Sasuke had no words. He had no comeback. The audience was stunned. The teachers supervising the debate were stunned. He was stunned.

Sakura had defeated him.

Haruno Sakura had defeated him in a debate.

Previously, Sakura had never even been able to talk back to him. She had followed him around and hung onto every word he said like a little puppy. It had been like she was the puppet, and he was the puppet master. Controlling her and everything she did. Why? Because everything Sakura had previously done, revolved around him and everyone knew it.

Now…

It wasn't fairly that she'd beaten him, but when was politics ever fair?

Taking a step towards her, he held out his hand. It was something they always had to do. Something about making sure they didn't part on bad terms, or whatever bullshit the teacher had spouted. The last time Sakura had shaken somebody's hand after a debate, however…

Well, she had given that person a bloody and broken nose by tugging on their hand and slamming her fist into their face.

There had been a reason for that, though, and nobody really blamed her for punching the guy. The idiot had forgotten to turn his microphone off before he called her a vicious name, so they were all witnesses and understood Sakura's reasons, and because they had all stood up for her (yes, secretly he did, too) she never got suspended for her violence. At most, she probably received a detention or two.

It was obvious that people were wary, though. There had always been tension between himself and Sakura, after all, and it wasn't exactly a hidden fact. Even the teachers were aware of it and seeing the teacher now standing up and biting on her lower lip, fidgeting, had him scoffing.

Sakura stared at his extended hand for a moment, looking at it like it was diseased.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You're supposed to shake it."

And once again, her eyes were hardening and she took his hand, using unnecessary strength when shaking it. Sasuke wouldn't ever admit it, but it hurt. Physically, he meant. Most of his fingers cracked under her grasp and it took everything in him not to outwardly show the pain he was feeling. She smiled sweetly at him, her features innocent and pretty, before giving one last painful squeeze and releasing his hand.

Refusing to show the fact that his left hand was throbbing and aching, Sasuke once again shoved his hands in his pockets and left the stage, snarling mentally, calling Sakura every vile name he could think of.