Chapter 8 – No More Schemes
A tear slipped down her cheek at the last message she received.
Sabaku–no–Gaara has signed out.
So… That was it, then.
Also signing out, Sakura switched off her laptop and put it away, grabbing her school bag once she had.
It had been days since she last checked her instant messenger, so she had checked it that morning in case any messages had been left for her. A part of her had been foolishly hoping Avenger–S would be online and that he would tell her he hadn't made it, that whoever she had met in his place, was not him. But… That never happened. Instead, Sabaku Gaara had messaged her, asking how she was and why she hadn't been online in a while.
Over a week ago now, it had been her failure of a meeting with Avenger–S. Everywhere she went, she saw Sasuke. Either he would be with friends, in class, or alone in the corridors. It didn't matter where he was, because every time she saw him, he saw her, too. And he watched her.
After explaining everything that had happened to Gaara – everything – they had…
Sighing and willing herself to forget about it, Sakura fixed her bag over her shoulder and left her bedroom. Mebuki had already left for work. It would be so easy to just change back into her pyjamas and laze in front of the television all day, stuffing her face with comfort food, but… Once more, Sakura sighed and slipped on her plain black shoes. Doing such a thing would be pointless. In order to keep her offer of working in Suna's hospital over the summer, she had to keep her attendance perfect, as well as her grades.
When Sakura opened her front door, she was surprised by the sight of an Uchiha standing in front of it.
He lowered his fist, having been about to knock on her door. "Sakura-san."
"Uh…" She frowned and stepped outside, closing and locking the door behind her. How had he managed to enter the apartment building? "Can I help you, Itachi-san? I'm kind of on my way to school and I'll miss the bus if–"
"I have come to offer you a ride to school." A pause, one where Sakura's frown deepened and suspicion was so very obvious in her eyes. "We need to talk."
She breathed in shakily. "About?"
No emotion flickered on his features, but the tone of his voice was serious. "You know who I wish to speak with you about."
Sasuke.
"Look," Sakura sighed and began walking towards the elevator (it had been fixed the other day after a nasty fall on the stairs) with Itachi a step behind her. "No offence or anything, Itachi-san, but I'm not really in the mood to talk about him. Sasuke… He made it pretty clear that I'm below him and that I'm a disappointment. He–"
"It does no good to dwell on the past," he cut her off calmly and once they were inside the elevator, he stood by her side, looking down at her. "My brother has changed since he was twelve years old, Sakura-san, as I am sure you have, too."
Yes, Sakura supposed she had changed in quite a few ways. The superficial, judgemental streak within her had been knocked down several pegs by Sabaku Gaara, who had, without a shred of hesitancy or mercy, put her in her place quite a few times over the years. If he didn't agree with what she was doing, he would say it and hold nothing back. That was why he was one of her best friends. He helped her make the right choices and gave a painfully blunt, yet honest opinion when one was needed.
She closed her eyes and sighed, willing away the ache in her heart.
"I haven't come here to fight his battles for him," Itachi continued after a few moments and when the elevator made a dinging sound, the doors sweeping open for them on the ground floor, he was first to leave the small space, leading the way out of the building and to his car. He didn't bother to look behind him to check that Sakura was following him. It was like he knew she would. Or, at least, was hoping she would. "I know that Sasuke is not perfect and I know that he can be the complete opposite of pleasant at times."
When he held the door to the passenger side open for her, Sakura refused to look at Itachi and instead settled on sliding in as proudly as she could, refusing to fully believe what she was about to do. And when the door was shut and Itachi was making his way around the car, sliding into his own seat, he gave a small smirk.
"However, I can tell you truthfully that I have never seen Sasuke behave in the way he has been since I returned home. He has changed from the foolish brat he used to be. He has grown up, in some ways." As he started the engine, Itachi's eyes met hers and he raised an eyebrow. "The fact that you are allowing me to drive you to school means you believe this, too, and you wish to give him a chance."
Once more, Sakura looked away and out of the window, watching the ground beneath them when the car slowly crept forward and they pulled out of the car park, onto the main road. "As Avenger–S, Sasuke was… It's hard to believe, but he was a nice person. We talked about things and confided in each other. He's told me so much about his life that it makes me feel like an idiot for not catching onto who he is!" Calming herself, Sakura rubbed her forehead, hoping that she wasn't about to give herself another headache before the day had even begun. "I'll admit that yes, he's changed and yes, he's capable of being a nice person when he wants to be."
Glancing away from the road, Itachi questioned, "Then what is the problem?"
"The problem…" Not for the first time that morning, Sakura sighed. "The problem, Itachi-san, is that I can't trust Sasuke. I wanted, or would have tried, a relationship with Avenger–S because I already trusted him – more than I even wanted to admit to myself. But having him turn out to be Sasuke? The same guy who hurt me so badly when we were younger? How can I trust him now?"
He silently listened to her, watching Sakura out of the corner of his eye before eventually, she heard Itachi sigh. "You will never truly know if you can trust a person until they give you a reason not to." Once more, he looked to Sakura. "But it is as I said: Sasuke has changed and I believe you can learn to trust him once more."
Shaking her head and inwardly screaming with relief when the school came into view, Sakura muttered, "Until he gives me another reason not to."
School was painful.
It was only the end of the second lesson and already Sakura wanted to go home – no, scratch that. She had wanted to go home the moment she stepped through the doors. Her work was above satisfactory level, but it was obvious Sakura just wasn't feeling it and the first person who realised something was up with her, was her teacher, Iruka. At the end of the double lesson, he had asked to see her for a few moments (which she gratefully accepted, since Sasuke always walked by her class to get to his next) and during those few moments, Iruka asked her how her home life was, and whether or not there was anything school could do to help her feel less stressed, or less lonely.
Don't get her wrong, because Iruka was a great teacher. His teaching methods were stern and he was definitely no pushover, but at the same time, he had a nice side to him and always greeted his classes with smiles, even when he was feeling agitated with them, or he was in a bad mood. However, despite how kind he was, Sakura just wasn't in the mood to open up to Iruka about her teenage drama and heartache. It seemed wrong to do so, since he was her teacher.
So instead, she had smiled patiently before shaking her head, saying she was merely feeling a little under the weather. A cold, perhaps or at worse, the flu. Reluctantly, for he could tell there was more going on than Sakura wanted to share, Iruka had nodded and dismissed her, although wrote down in his planner to keep an eye on her. After all of Sakura's hard work, it would be such a shame if she slipped up and lost her offer at Suna's hospital. It really was a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity.
Noticing the gatherings of a crowd, Sakura glanced to the girl who suddenly appeared by her side (having been waiting for her after their separate classes) and they both sighed in response. If people were rushing to see what was going on, shoving people aside and out of their way to do so, then that could only mean one thing: a fight. The fights were never decent, Sakura noted as she and Hinata continued their way forward, regardless of the fact she pushed people out of their way to do so and when they reached a more difficult part of the crowd, a more unyielding part, she glanced over her shoulder at Hinata and nodded once. In response, soft and dainty hands pressed to her back before pushing Sakura forward more forcefully, keeping a tight hold of her at the same time.
They'd had to do something like this a few times before. The corridors weren't all that big, possibly only ten feet wide at best, so when fights such as these happened, she and Hinata had come up with a plan. If Sakura couldn't push her way through the crowd, then they would have to work together to do so. Hinata would push Sakura, who would in response bulldoze her way through the crowd with both their strengths. There wasn't a chance of it being the other way around, because Hinata disliked confrontation and should anybody suddenly turn around and demand to know what the hell their problem was, she would be unable to reply. Sakura, however, wouldn't be.
And just as they were meeting the centre of the crowds, just when they were nearing the fight itself, that was when she heard him.
"Stop making a scene."
Sasuke.
When Sakura's body stiffened beneath her hands, Hinata took a chance and turned her to the side, pushing her in a different direction. This direction took them to the centre of the circle and already, even without the voice, Hinata knew who would be in there. After all, she had spoken with Naruto, who had been speaking with none other than Uchiha Sasuke. Sure, she didn't know all the details and she didn't know what to expect, but clearly this was it. This was his plan. The only reason she agreed to it was because she was tired of seeing Sakura hurting. It would be best if they sorted it out now, instead of leaving it until later. That way, they could either put what happened in the past and try to move on, or they could try and fix what had been broken and make a go of it.
"Making a scene?" a loud voice echoed despite the cheering of the crowd.
"Yes. You're unnecessarily causing more drama than there needs to be, Karin."
Hinata's eyes narrowed a fraction. She could see already where it was going and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that Sakura would get involved. After all, if there was one thing Sakura hated more than Uchiha Sasuke, more than anything, then it was…
As she saw the girl shove Sasuke backwards, something in Sakura snapped and she quickly darted between them and shoved Karin even harder, refusing to show her anger when she heard the other girl slamming into the lockers with a harsh bang. Even though he was Uchiha Sasuke, he was still Avenger–S. And even though she was so angry with him right now, Sakura did not want to see him get hurt. Only a second ago did she realise that it would hurt her, too.
"What the hell?" the redhead yelled, clenching her fists tightly as she stepped away from the lockers. "Why are you getting involved?"
"Because this isn't right," Sakura yelled right back at her, stepping closer to Karin. "He's not going to hit you back and everybody can see that, but everybody knows that I will."
There was a falter in Karin's movements as she seemed stuck between taking a step back or a step forward. But a second later her stance strengthened, just like her glare did. In response Sakura stood up straighter, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"You seriously want to fight?" Karin scoffed. "Over him, no less? I'm not Yamanaka. If you want to play rivals, go and find her. This is between me and Sasuke. When was the last time he even spoke to you? A few years ago before he fucked you off for others."
A vicious whip lashed at her heart but Sakura did not show the pain she felt. "We were kids back then. None of that even matters anymore. It doesn't even have anything to do with that! I'd stand up for anybody who was being shoved around like you were just shoving him. You're nothing but a bully!"
If there was one thing she absolutely could not stand, it was bullies.
"Sakura–"
"Shut up," she snapped at Sasuke. "This doesn't mean you're forgiven. It simply means that I don't want you to look like an idiot by getting your ass kicked by Karin, of all people."
Karin flushed red. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"
Just as she was about to yell back at her, just as her tightly clenched fist raised, Sasuke grabbed her and pulled her away from the crowd, hissing in her ear, "Are you insane? You'll lose your chance at that hospital if you start fighting at school."
Her heart stopped.
A second later it restarted and Sakura pulled her arm away from him, but he quickly tightened his hold and dragged her closer. "Don't throw everything away over something like this. You worked too hard for it."
"Let go of me, Sasuke," Sakura demanded as he successfully left the crowds and turned down another corridor, one that held an elevator. Never before had she taken an elevator at school, instead always choosing the stairs since it was the healthier option. That and Hinata didn't particularly like elevators. Gaara hadn't either, because of the small space. It freaked them both out. "I said let go!"
They were outside of the elevator once he let go of her, but something was telling Sakura that there was no use in trying to get away now, or trying to avoid him. In the back of her mind, something was nagging at her and it sounded very much like the older Uchiha brother, telling her to hear him out.
"You have until we reach the ground floor to explain to me what the hell just happened," she snapped and stormed into the elevator, barely even giving Sasuke the chance to step in before she was furiously pushing the ground floor button. "And you're going to tell me exactly why I just risked my place at the hospital, so I can see whether or not it was worth it – and it had better be!"
"Sakura." A vicious glare being directed at him had his eyes narrowing. "Stop acting like a child. And quit pressing the button. You're going to–"
The elevator suddenly shuddered, the lights flickering a few times before they went out.
She did the first thing she could think of.
Sakura reached out and grabbed Sasuke, shoving her face into his shoulder and barely holding back her whimper of fear.
"It's okay," he muttered, sounding strangely surprised. "It's just stuck. The lights must have stopped working, too." When nothing was said in reply, when Sakura merely held on tighter, he frowned. "Are you afraid of the dark?"
It took everything in her to hold back the sudden urge to scream or cry. "You don't need to say it like it's the most pathetic thing you've ever heard!"
There was a shake in her voice, one that stunned him. "You're afraid of the dark."
Sakura pushed away from him until her back hit the wall of the elevator and she slid down it, holding her head in her hands and taking deep breaths. "Not the actual dark," she whispered, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I just… I don't like the unpredictability of it."
Listening to her voice, Sasuke carefully made his way over to her, patting the wall for a second before he was joining Sakura on the floor, sitting by her side. "Does it have anything to do with your father?"
Even in the dark he could feel her glare. "Don't talk to me about that."
"You already told–"
"I told Avenger–S, not Uchiha Sasuke," she spat in return.
Sasuke sighed. "This is getting really old, Sakura. I am Avenger–S, whether you want to accept that or not is up to you, but I'm getting tired of you holding something like that against me." His head fell back against the metal wall with a thud, though he barely even felt it. "I told Fall–of–the–Blossom personal things, too, but you don't see me sneering and snarling about who you turned out to be, despite you showing me up in front of the entire school and almost breaking my hand."
There was a pause, one where Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "That's because–"
"You're not a dick, right?" he drawled, sounding bored. "No, you're not. And I'm willing to admit that I deserved what happened at the debate, that I was wrong to treat you the way I did. There's no excusing it and there's no way I can ever make it up to you. However, I'm not above apologising if that's what you really want."
Apologising. Uchiha Sasuke apologising. Something had to be wrong. Was it the end of the world? Had hell frozen over? Or had–
No.
This time, it was Sakura who sighed. She had to let go of past grudges. They were turning her into a bitter, awful person and she really didn't like who she was becoming. It scared her. All the anger and the hatred… It reminded Sakura of her father and that was the last person she wanted to turn into. "How do I know this isn't some mind game of yours? I can't…" She grimaced, trying to see through the darkness to look at his face. "I don't want to be hurt again."
Sasuke's head instantly snapped up, turning in her direction. Was she giving him a chance? "I can't promise you that I won't hurt you," he muttered, his brows furrowing. "Apparently I have a habit of acting like an ass." It made him smirk when Sakura laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "But… I'd be willing to try, to see where this goes, if you are."
"But what about the fact that I'm going to Suna in a few months?"
"We'll think about that later. Right now, we should just take one day at a time."
"I'm going for the entire summer."
"I know."
She shifted in her position quickly, going from sitting miserably on the ground to kneeling up and glaring down at (what she hoped to be) Sasuke's face. "And that's it? You still want… Whatever the hell it is that you want, even though I'm going to be leaving soon?"
His head was leaning back against the elevator wall again. "Why are you always so angry?"
"I'm not!"
"So you're not glaring at me right now?"
"…No."
In his eyes, Sakura was always angry about something. It had even been rumoured that the teachers didn't like angering her and had been giving her anger management classes whenever possible. Sasuke was certain that that was just a rumour, however. Teachers would never show proof that they were scared of students – they'd lose control of their classes in an instant. Sakura's anger, however… Well, he wouldn't exactly blame those teachers for doing what they could to avoid angering her.
"Why are you always angry?" he repeated his question, though sounded genuinely more curious now. The first time, it had been a grumble, like how Shikamaru would say 'troublesome'. This time, his curiosity was obvious.
Sakura dropped from her knees to her behind, turning her head in a different direction to his voice. "I don't know. I just… am."
Realising that she had turned away from him, Sasuke sat up straighter and frowned. "Maybe you should see somebody about it. You scare the crap out of pretty much everyone."
Rolling her eyes, Sakura sighed. "You really know how to warm a girl's heart."
He snorted. "It's the truth. The only guy who dared to piss you off was Sabaku."
Silence met him.
She was so grateful for the dark, for the fact that he couldn't see her. Tears filled her eyes and Sakura bit her lip harshly, trying her best to keep her breathing steady and quiet. The last thing she needed right at that moment in time was to cry in front of Uchiha Sasuke about Sabaku Gaara.
It was no secret that the two hated each other. No, they utterly despised one another. And Gaara's hatred for Sasuke only multiplied when he heard what the Uchiha had done to her. All of her friends had abandoned her because Sasuke kicked her out of the 'popular' group, leaving her friendless, self-conscious and depressed. All Sakura had had to keep her going were her grades and the thought that school would eventually be over. Only a month later and she became friends with Gaara, who had caught her crying beneath a set of stairs. From then on, they had been friends.
Her shoulders shook.
When he received no reply, Sasuke frowned. "…Sakura?"
No answer.
"Oi." His frown deepened. "What–"
She couldn't help it. It just slipped. Her control slipped and before Sakura could stop it, a quiet sob escaped her.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
"A-Are you crying?"
He'd seen her cry once before (twice if you included that time she was crying into Sabaku Gaara's shoulder, but he hadn't really seen her face) and that was when he'd told her that he didn't want to be friends anymore. Nobody knew it, but… But the sight of her tears had pained him. To this day they still pained him. For a while he had been able to push aside those feelings and instead focus on his studies, but since speaking to Sakura again, since finding out she was Fall–of–the–Blossom, Sasuke had had to face how badly he had hurt her.
"N-No," she whimpered, wiping at her eyes furiously even though he couldn't see her.
"Liar," Sasuke murmured. He knew what she sounded like when she cried. For over a week now the memory of how badly he had hurt her kept haunting his dreams. Sitting up, he listened carefully and tried to figure out where her breathing was coming from (uneven, shaky breaths – making it even more obvious she was crying) and once he had, Sasuke reached out and grabbed her upper arms, yanking her forward and ripping the breath out of her when he pulled her to his chest. "Why are you crying?"
The trembling increased when his arms wrapped around her and for a split second, Sasuke was unsure if he was helping or not. But he'd seen many people doing it to try and comfort their friends. Sure, not all of them pulled their friends against them, allowing them to sit between their legs, but it was more or less the same. Either way, her side was against his chest, her face buried into his neck and his arms were wrapped around her – so he was still holding her.
He was holding her.
Her hands fisted in his shirt. "I'm just… I'm just being silly," she whispered, her voice strained from holding back her sobs. "S-Sorry–"
"Don't apologise," he muttered, closing his eyes and pressing his cheek to her hair. It was strangely relaxing and enjoyable, holding her in such a way. "Did you… Are you arguing with Sabaku?" Silence met him and in response, Sasuke pulled back slightly, glancing down at her in the dark. "You didn't start crying until I brought him up, so clearly you're crying because of him."
Sakura also pulled back, her eyebrows knitting together and a sob trying to claw its way up her throat. "He's stopped talking to me."
She was crying because he stopped talking to her? "Why?"
"Because he thinks I'm seeing you."
Oh. Well, he'd never liked Sabaku Gaara anyway. They were too similar. But still. "He stopped talking to you because you're talking to me?"
Nodding, Sakura loosened her hold on Sasuke's shirt, though didn't let go completely. "I-I was upset… when I found out who Avenger–S really was… and I've never kept anything from Gaara, so I told him." Her face twisted with pain and not for the first time, she was so glad he couldn't see her. She'd never been a pretty crier. "We had this… this huge argument a-about it this morning and… and he called me an idiot… before going offline and refusing to talk to me again. He's… He's ignoring my calls and texts, too."
Sasuke grimaced. He'd never been good with helping people. "Maybe you should just leave–"
"You don't understand!" she sobbed, no longer able to keep her very little control over her tears. "When you and everybody else abandoned me, Gaara was there! Nobody else bothered with me. Not even Ino. Naruto had left and I had no one. He was there! A-And now… now he's not. And I'm alone. Again."
He didn't know what to say. One minute Sakura was angry with him, yelling and snapping at him and the next, she was crying in his arms. Granted, he had pulled her to him, but the fact that she was crying in front of him meant something. No, it meant a lot. However, her mood swings were beginning to give him whiplash.
There was a pause the length of a minute or so, the silence filled with nothing but her shaky breaths, her faint trembling, but Sasuke was glad that she was beginning to calm down. He had no idea how to comfort somebody when they were upset. Nobody ever came to him with their problems, when they were hurting. Well, Itachi had asked for his advice once, but that had only been one time.
"Sabaku lives in Suna, right?" Sakura nodded. "And you're going there in summer." Again, she nodded. "Then find his address and go to him."
Sakura rolled her eyes and leaned back a little, glaring up in his direction. "You make it sound so simple. I don't think getting a hold of his address will be so easy, you know."
Even in the dark she could feel his deadpan. "You're forgetting who I am, Sakura. If you want his address, all you have to do is ask and I'll get it for you." Itachi never minded doing the odd favour for him every now and then, especially when he knew that his younger brother couldn't do it for himself. "Just know that you'll owe me for it."
She frowned in confusion. "Owe you?"
"Yeah."
"What will I owe you?"
There was an idea of telling her she would have to go on a date with him in his head, but it seemed a little cliché to him, like something from a movie. It was a good idea though. That way, she would have no choice but to give him a chance, because she owed him. However, he didn't want to have to force her to be there. If they were going on a date she would be willing. No tricks or schemes.
"You'll find out when the time comes," he answered mysteriously, biting back a smirk when he heard her growl with annoyance.
"So when are we getting out of here?" Sakura asked him.
Sasuke scowled, his hold unknowingly tightening slightly. "Why are you asking me? You're the one who broke it by pushing the button too many times."
The sound of her scoff reached him a second or two before she spoke, "I'm not an idiot, Sasuke. You planned this. I simply… decided to give you a chance, although I never planned for that… emotional breakdown." Her voice was sheepish, though it soon grew stronger. "You warned me on the second time I pushed the button that I'd break the elevator, even though it could have just been a slip of my finger." Sasuke actually chuckled, much to her surprise. "I was right, then. You planned on the elevator getting stuck." Silence met her, telling her that yes, she was right. "What would you have done if it turned out I was claustrophobic?"
Since his arms were still around her, Sakura felt him shrug. "I would have contacted the janitor to get us out of here."
"And just how would you do that without a light? You could press the wrong button!"
He rolled his eyes. Did she think he was an idiot or something? Like he'd risk something like that. "I could use my phone light to flick the light switch for the elevator and then contact the janitor."
Clearly she was stunned. "What…?"
Sasuke smirked again. "You had an easier time speaking to me, opening up to me, when we were behind computer screens, not looking at each other. I thought that being in the dark, where we can only hear each other's voices, would be the same."
"You're so sneaky." She pouted.
"Thanks."
"It's not a compliment!"
He chuckled again.
"And… That thing with Karin?"
There was a pause. "She owed me a favour."
Sakura's eyes narrowed. "What for?"
It took a lot to hold back his snort of amusement. Apparently, what Karin had warned him was true. The two girls had never seen eye-to-eye and if they were locked in a room together, chances were, only one of them would be walking out (and Karin had declared that it would be her, though Sasuke doubted that after what he had seen earlier – Sakura had sent her flying with a simple shove). She had warned him that, if he chose her for his plan to get on Sakura's good side again, there would be quite a few risks. The first being that a real fight would break out between the two girls due to their disliking of each other. The second was that Sakura could possibly become jealous, or think that something was going on.
Sasuke had ignored that second risk, thinking it was bullshit because surely, Sakura wouldn't be jealous if he spoke with other girls? It seemed Karin was right, however. There was definitely a tinge of jealousy to Sakura's tone as she demanded to know why Karin owed him a favour, not that he entirely blamed her. It was no secret that Karin was interested in him, after all. However…
"I gave Suigetsu a push in the right direction."
Yet another pause, one where Sakura struggled to find the words to say. "Suigetsu and Karin are…?"
"Together," he replied with a shrug. "She doesn't like showing it, but she likes him."
That was… Sakura shook her head with annoyance. "So that thing on the corridor was planned, too?" Sasuke nodded. "What would you have done if a real fight broke out? I could have lost everything!"
He rolled his eyes. "Which is why I dragged you away before you started one."
"Me?" she demanded angrily, voice almost shrill. "What about her? Karin was the one getting in my face!"
Other than her heavy breathing, it was silent for a few moments until Sasuke once more spoke up, asking, "Have you calmed down?"
"Not even close, Uchiha Sasuke!" Sakura snapped and pulled away, standing up. "Get us out of here."
After flicking on the lights and contacting the janitor, only half a minute later they were getting out on the ground level. It wasn't nearly as packed as it usually would be, so Sakura was guessing lessons had started. Great. How was she going to explain this and try to keep it off her record? The hospital–
"I had the janitor authorise your absence for this lesson," he stated, seeing her unease and worry melting away her anger. "He informed school that we were stuck in the elevator and that he was trying his best to get it working again." Sakura nodded, feeling a little awkward now that they could see each other once more. "Here." Sasuke raised his hands, about to cup her face, only for her to flinch and turn her head away, eyebrows knitting together as she did so.
After a moment, however, she turned her head back and leaned into his hands, frowning softly. "…Sorry."
He shook his head, wiping away the tears that lingered on her face. It felt so… normal to be touching her that it shocked him. "We'll work on it."
Sakura bit her lip, nodding slightly.
"Sakura."
She looked up, not expecting the intensity of Sasuke's eyes and she wasn't going to lie, it shook her. "Y-Yeah?"
"I won't give you a reason not to trust me," he told her, eyes narrowed. "I'll earn your trust again."
It was a promise, she realised. He wasn't just saying those words, he was promising them. This wasn't… It wasn't Uchiha Sasuke. This was Avenger–S. Her Avenger–S. Maybe this was who Sasuke really was? Maybe the guy they all saw around school was just who he pretended to be? Or, the more likely option, he was both? Like a mixture?
"No more schemes or games?"
Sasuke gave a small smirk and shook his head. "No more schemes or games."