Hello guys! I'm sorry that it has been so long. It would be a poor - yet true - excuse to say that life has kept me busy. To compensate for that, I've decided to upload what I currently have written of the second chapter. It's unfinished and unpolished, but I hope you guys can still enjoy it! Thank you for keeping up with this story.
xoxo
Chapter 2
XXX
Uchiha Sasuke rubbed his eyes tiredly, fighting against a yawn as he stretched in his luxurious, leather chair. This week was proving to be slower than usual, and he had gotten very little sleep the night before.
He distractedly propped his chin on his hands as he paused in his paperwork to stare out of the large window in his office. His location on the eleventh floor gave him a beautiful, bird's eye view of the city, but Sasuke had ceased to be amazed by such sights years ago. In fact, nothing could give the Uchiha much excitement or joy. He was desensitized to the fancies of the world, and his life revolved solely around his work, nothing else, nothing more.
The twenty-six year old let his thoughts wander as he absentmindedly closed his eyes. He felt restless and bothered, as if he had an itch he could not scratch.
A blur of blond hair, blue eyes suddenly flashed through his mind, and Sasuke flinched so violently that he almost knocked over the huge stack of papers on his desk. The raven-haired man quickly stood up and strode to his window, his thin lips pinched in irritation as he willed the image to disappear by replacing it with the view of the busy Tokyo streets down below.
Her again.
It had already been a month, yet memories of her continued to haunt him wherever he went. Try as he might to forget her, his treacherous mind pushed towards the opposite result.
Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he did not hear the door to his office open and close as one of his officers came into the room.
"Chief."
Sasuke raised his head to glare at the brown-haired intruder.
"What is it?" he snapped.
Nara Shikamaru didn't bat an eye. He was well used to his superior's icy countenance. "You're requested on the ground floor."
"By who?"
"The Yakuza prisoner who was arrested last night."
Sasuke stiffened, and his entire body slowly turned to face Shikamaru, indicating that the Captain now had Sasuke's undivided attention.
"What does he want?"
"He says that he has some valuable information that he won't disclose to anyone but you."
"Why?"
Shikamaru shrugged, his eyelids hooded lazily. "Beats me."
Sasuke stared at Shikamaru for a couple more seconds, his expression stony and contemplative, before grabbing his uniform jacket from the back of his chair and throwing it around his shoulders. The Uchiha quickly strode past Shikamaru to the exit, but paused as he twisted down on the brass door handle.
"Captain Nara."
"Chief."
"Finish the rest of my paperwork." And Sasuke disappeared from sight.
Shikamaru sighed wearily as he stuck his hands in his pockets and stared up at the ceiling.
"How troublesome."
XXX
Sasuke stared through the one-way mirror at the scowling criminal, who was currently pacing like a caged animal around the only table in the small interrogation room. The heavily-tattooed man had put up quite a fight last night against the SWAT team, and now sported multiple lacerations and bruises on his face and body to show for it. Even with the handcuffs locked securely around his wrists, he made out to be an intimidating, demonic figure. Intimidating to anyone, of course, except for Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke glanced at the thick file he held in his hands. Inuzuka Kiba. The infamous heir to the most notorious Yakuza gang in all of Tokyo. He reread the last report.
Caught and imprisoned last night for: Gang possession of heroin packages. Rumored sex trafficking.
Sasuke frowned. The Inuzuka has been a constant thorn in the police force's side since the beginning of time, but drugs and human trafficking were not a common issue that the Tokyo Police had concerning this clan. Whatever Kiba had to tell him, it had better be worthwhile.
Sasuke then closed the folder with a definite snap, tossing it skillfully on the table and briskly walking to the door. Without hesitation, the Uchiha pulled it open and strode inside the small room. Kiba's attention immediately zeroed onto him.
"Uchiha."
Sasuke stared impassively at the Yakuza. "Inuzuka."
There was a heavy pause as the two leaders sized each other up. Wariness was stamped across both their faces. Neither moved a muscle.
"I came here under the impression that you have valuable information for me," Sasuke then said dryly, breaking the edgy silence.
Kiba bared his teeth. "I shouldn't be here."
"How convincing."
"Let me go, Uchiha," the Yakuza snarled, as he yanked at the handcuffs that chained his wrists together. The skin around the area was already chafed and bleeding from abuse. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."
"Nothing more than the usual activities your kind engages in." Sasuke eyed Kiba with disinterest. "Save your stories for court. It won't do you any good here."
"You don't understand!" Kiba looked ready to punch someone, and Sasuke had a good guess who. "You've got the wrong man. Let me go, Uchiha!"
"Unlikely," the Uchiha said, barely keeping the contempt out of his voice. He felt the warning stirs of an impending headache, and reminded himself to grab a cup of strong, black coffee on the way back up to his office. He counted slowly to five, and then tried again. "Given the doubtful chance that you are indeed innocent, Inuzuka, what information do you have to point me to the right man?"
Kiba stilled, staring straight at Sasuke. His brown eyes flashed once in anger and the tense moment crawled by, before the Inuzuka ended up shaking his head. The chains on his handcuff raffled.
"Let me go. I'm innocent."
"Is that all you have to say?"
"There's nothing more to say," the Yakuza spat. "I'm innocent."
Sasuke turned to leave, disgusted at the complete waste of time and making a mental note to give Shikamaru hell for even relating the useless message to start with. Maybe banning the lazy Captain from a week of smoking his vile cigarettes would suffice.
"Wait."
Sasuke returned his attention back to the Yakuza, raising an impatient eyebrow.
Kiba shifted. "Look, I don't know how to say this."
"You have five seconds."
"Uchiha, this is not - "
"Four."
Kiba pulled at the chains in his frustration. "I'm not playing a game, Uchiha!"
"Three."
A frustrated yell escaped from Kiba, and the Yakuza heir turned aside and threw a punch against the wall. He pulled his fist out from the indent that now fissured across the white paint.
"315 Hokage Lane." His voice sounded tired, as if the nightmarish events of yesternight and today had finally caught up to him, and his broad shoulders actually slumped forward. "You should know."
Sasuke stiffened noticeably, and the silence that ensued was so loud that an explosion could have gone off in the building and neither men would've noticed.
"Address sound familiar to you?" asked Kiba sarcastically.
"Explain yourself." Sasuke's voice was barely above a whisper, but it was cold enough to freeze fire. "And choose your words wisely, Inuzuka, or you will find yourself locked in a cell where you will never see the light of day again."
Kiba barked a bitter laugh. "Are you admitting to the corruption that poisons your beloved police faction?"
"I'm waiting, mutt."
Kiba clenched his fists, shaking visibly, before turning his face aside and saying flatly, "Naruto. I need you to get Naruto."
Sasuke's mind was racing a mile a minute, but years of rigorous law enforcement training - as well as his heritage as an Uchiha - kept his face devoid of emotion.
"I asked for an explanation, Inuzuka," the raven said, "not for a display of your childish theatrics."
"Cut the crap already!" Kiba exploded, his head snapping up to glare once more at the Chief of Police. One handcuff hand came to point accusingly at the Uchiha. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You really think that tiny girl carried you all the way from the Haku stream six blocks back to her apartment and up ten flights of stairs? It was a miracle she even managed to drag both of you onto shore." Kiba's body was quivering dangerously in rage. "You Uchihas have never been fair to the Inuzuka clan, but now you owe me a life debt, and if honor means anything to you, a debt needs to be paid when it's due."
"What is your relationship with her?"
Kiba glared at the Uchiha, his attitude quickly jumping from hostile to protective. "She's a good friend." The Inuzuka began to pace back and forth, growling incoherently between breaths. He stopped in front of the only chair in the room and just when Sasuke expected it to be flung in his direction, Kiba looked up. The Yakuza's eyes were now pleading.
"Uchiha, for what it's worth, I'm asking you to repay the favor. Man to man. Please bring Naruto here."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You would endanger her life for yours?"
Kiba didn't rise to the accusation. His expression was one of defeat, and an undertone of extreme sadness emanated from the man. "As I've said many times already, Uchiha, you don't know half of what's going on with the gangs. There's a war about to happen, and it's not gonna be pretty. This isn't for my sake; it's for hers." The Inuzuka shifted so that he was directly facing the Chief of Police. "Don't make me grovel on the ground, Uchiha. Because I will. Please bring Naruto here."
The stony look on Sasuke's face didn't change, but inwardly the Uchiha was in turmoil. If word ever got out that the Chief Superintendent of the Tokyo Police Force had tried to commit suicide, the police station would suffer a black stain on its reputation for many, many years to come. Sasuke hadn't been particularly worried that morning when he walked out of Naruto's apartment door, for she had shown no signs of recognizing him, but now to know that Inuzuka Kiba had saved his skin made him sick to his stomach. He was aware that Naruto hadn't be alone that night when she saved his life - she even confirmed someone else carried him back to her flat - but of all persons, it just had to be the heir of the biggest, most notorious gang in Tokyo? This could easily become a dangerous form of blackmail, and yet -
Sasuke stared hard at the Yakuza, and Kiba's fierce gaze never wavered. Try as he might, the Uchiha could sense no deceit or maliciousness coming from the other man's direction.
"You'll talk if she gets here?" Sasuke said. His throat felt dry.
Kiba nodded gravely. "I will."
Sasuke straightened. "I'll be back in an hour."
XXX
The streets of Tokyo were the usual bustling pandemonium and chaos. Food carts from multiple vendors billowed clouds of smoke into peoples' faces, crazy taxi drivers swerved left and right on the roads like out-of-control pendulums, masses ambled by to their distinctive destinations. Nobody paid much attention to the lone man strolling along the sidewalk. The dark stranger was lost in his thoughts, his mood testy, and the last thing he wanted was for a reporter to recognize him and hound him for a prized interview. Luckily for him, his white sweatshirt, ragged jeans and navy baseball cap blent him into his surroundings perfectly, and Sasuke was free to brood.
Uzumaki Naruto.
The stormy expression on his face only darkened.
She had haunted him relentlessly over the past few weeks. No matter where he went and how he distracted himself, her wide-eyed blue-filled gaze pierced through his mind like a dagger. He constantly resisted the urge to utilize his influence over the police database and perform a profile check on her; his pride thankfully created an iron-will that would not yield to his traitorous curiosity. It was cancerous the way she seemed to have wormed her way into his peace of mind, but if Sasuke was completely honest with himself, it wasn't hard to figure out why.
She had made him feel again. Anger, hatred, shame, sympathy... Emotions Sasuke couldn't even identify had surfaced in the short time he had spent conversing with the blonde-haired idiot. And to the twenty-six year old police commander, whose reality had become nothing more than a bottomless black pit of misery, she had done the impossible.
Uchiha Sasuke was no stranger to grief. Coming home from school one day to a bloodied house and two murdered parents had, needless to say, traumatized his seven-year-old self and left him screaming for hours, long after the neighbors had called the police and he had been removed from the scene. And for the many years after, his screams continued, only this time they were silent in pitch, voiceless howls that haunted him in his sleep and tortured him every single waking moment of the day. His chest had been slashed open, a big, gaping infected wound invisible to everyone but himself, and it endlessly oozed anguish and pain for the rest of his childhood.
But as time passed, Sasuke had gradually learned to tune out the sounds, block out the angst, until his mind became blank and empty, his body numb, and the horrors of the past locked away in a tiny box in the back of his head that he would never bring himself to open.
After all, he hadn't been alone. Itachi was his family. Oh, how Sasuke idolized his older brother! He was Sasuke's ultimate goal, the biggest hurdle to overcome, and for that Sasuke was grateful. Itachi, who was never good with words, never good at comfort, gave Sasuke's life meaning, and it was all the fuel Sasuke needed to power through the next eighteen years. There was purpose, there was the light at the end of the tunnel, and in this hell, Sasuke was content.
There was one thing Sasuke had never tried to forget regarding the horrible incident of his childhood. The image of his dead parents had forever been etched into Sasuke's memory, and even so, he accepted this curse. It was the least he could do to respect the ones who had birthed him and raised him for the first seven years of his life.
Little did he know that it was only a matter of time before Itachi's dead body would be added to the collection.
Sasuke didn't cry the day he was told about Itachi's death. He didn't scream either. There was just another hole blown into his chest, only this time it didn't take years to close. The numbing had come almost instantly - years of practice had perfected the art.
But the drive was gone now. What hurdle was there to overcome when the hurdle itself had been shot three times in the head and buried ten feet into the dirt? What purpose was there in Sasuke's life when the only fucking person he had ever admired, cared about, loved, had been ripped away so cruelly? He couldn't even remember the last thing he had said to his brother. That tiny detail would continue to bother Sasuke to the brink of insanity.
Two years after Itachi's death had found Sasuke standing over the Zabuza river. It was pouring heavily, like it had been when Itachi died, making it only fitting that Sasuke's death was under similar circumstances. Strangely enough, he could've sworn he had heard a shout in the moment of his fatal leap, and right before he had gotten pulled under the currents he saw a young girl in a red dress desperately reaching her hand out towards him. Her wide cerulean eyes and bright blonde hair reminded him of cherubs from the Renaissance period; who knew Michelangelo saw angels after all.
The cold water was blissfully numbing, and the last thought that had crossed Sasuke's mind was a prayer of thanks that he had been given such a beautiful guardian angel.
But Sasuke didn't die.
The next thing he knew, he had woken up in a stranger's bed, his eyes staring unbelieving at a foreign ceiling, his joints aching with dull pains, his throat parched from -
From what? Not drowning? Or was he in purgatory, the Beings above unable to decide his place in the afterlife, leaving him forever stuck in between the realms of heaven and hell?
It was the scent of the bed that drew him out from his daze. Sasuke found himself mesmerized by the mixture of cinnamon, oranges and crisp autumn air on the sheets, and oddly enough it had a calming effect on him that left him clear-minded and rejuvenated. The pulse of his own heartbeat confirmed that he was, indeed, still alive, and he fought against the feeling of sadness that threatened to overwhelm him as he accepted the fact that his suicide had failed. Lived to see yet another wretched day.
He had spent the next hour moodily pondering the identity of his saviour. Trepidation furrowed his brows as he noted that there was not a soul in Tokyo who did not recognize his face. As he debated how to bargain for a deal of confidentiality regarding the night's events with his rescuer, he suddenly heard a yelp of pain as to what sounded like a body falling onto the ground, the scruffling of said body scrambling from the floor, and loud quickened footsteps heading towards the room. Instinctively, Sasuke stiffened.
She came bursting into the room in a dysfunctional blur of yellow, and from the moment he saw her, he hated her.
Her movements were loud, obnoxious, flashy; an elephant stampede would have demonstrated more stealth and finesse than she could have ever possibly dreamed to possess. Her multitude of emotions printed across her open face like a fucking children's book, complete with 25 size Arial font and dense-lined pictures. Her bright, color-block clothes, starting from the neon orange shorts to the bright red shirt, combined with her ridiculous blond hair, blinded his eyesight and gave him brief episodes of epilepsy. Sasuke found himself irritated by her boisterous presence before he had even known her name.
She then introduced herself as Uzumaki Naruto, and he felt his mood instantly darken; who the fuck would name their kid after a ramen topping?
"You look like a boy," he had told her maliciously, hoping to burst her bubble with the insult. But instead of being reduced to tears like he had imagined, she snapped at him instantly, her light blue eyes crackling in anger, and left the room claiming to make lunch. Sasuke spent a good fifteen minutes dreading the moment the kitchen was to catch fire before the smell of chicken noodles wafted into the room, and he relaxed. At least she could make soup.
And she didn't know him after all. No sign of recognition went off on her face at the mention of his name - though he had made sure to keep his last name to himself - and he was sure from the light accent in her voice that she was a foreigner.
When she returned, precariously balancing a steaming bowl of warm soup in a tray, Sasuke had to admit to himself that as miserable as he was that he had not succeeded in ending his own life, he was quite satisfied at how the post-suicide events played out. Although the blonde woman's vivacious personally irked him to no end, she hadn't called the police, she didn't rush him into a hospital, and the luckiest pointer of all, she had to be the only person in all of Tokyo to have not a clue the identity of the person she had saved from the clutches of self-inflicted death. Sasuke had high hopes he was able to quietly leave this scene with most of his dignity intact.
The song was his undoing.
It had been Sasuke's fast reflexes that caught himself from choking on a fair chunk of chicken when, at the moment he least expected, the lullaby of his childhood reached his ears, and immediately the remnants of his soul were clawed to shreds as the image of his mother, his beautiful mother who had died so young, so pure, surfaced to mind.
Through a sheer force of will, perfected from the many years of military training, Sasuke had managed to finish through the rest of his meal. The soup had turned to poison, trickling down his throat like broken pieces of glass, and he clenched his teeth in an attempt to keep his rising temper contained. The clueless girl, her presence now suffocating and repulsive, continued to hum, unaware of the horrifying effect it had on him.
It wasn't fair, Sasuke had thought to himself. It just wasn't fair. So much hatred seared through his chest as he stared at the blond-haired girl. In that moment, he detested everything about her; her rosy cheeks, her bright baby-blue eyes, her ignorant cheeky smile - her very existence was an insult to him, a mockery to the memory of Uchiha Mikoto, who had once sang the traditional lullaby of the Uchiha clan to Sasuke every dawn of his birthday. He had only heard the song eight times in his life.
And now it was being hummed to him by a complete stranger, who had no idea the relevance of the tune she carelessly whistled.
Sasuke hadn't bothered to ask himself how she had known of the song to begin with; all he knew was that her happiness became a stark reminder of everything he had been deprived of since childhood. As he had battled through every hour of each fucking day against the pain, the injustice, the horrors that shape his life, she and the rest of the world continued on in a fantasy of blissful ignorance. She probably thought she had done him a favor by pulling him out from the depths of that river.
Hell, she probably expected him to grovel before her in gratitude.
A burst of tremendous rage had surged through him at the thought, and before he could stop himself, he cruelly lashed out at her, fixating on her innocence, using every bit of wrath his Uchiha heritage gifted to take his fury out at her.
Dobe, he had called her.
At first, the confusion and anger that crossed her face pleased him. It was what he had expected, what he had wanted. He waited for her to yell back, to give him a chance to continue his spiteful attack.
But instead she stared curiously at him, and something in her demeanor had changed. She sat next to him on the bed, her expression still petulant, her eyes still goading him on, but there was a level of understanding in her attitude that he could not shake. It was now she who confused him, and he could not fathom why.
Then she opened her mouth, and hit the nail right on the head.
You didn't want to die, did you? she had asked quietly. Waiting for a miracle, weren't you?
Sasuke felt his entire world shift as it slipped off its axis.
How could this girl, this ditzy, clumsy loud-mouth of a girl, take one look and see the very part of him that he had hidden so carefully from the public eye? How was it possible that she noticed every shard of pain that he had long since buried under layers and layers of military expertise, locked tight behind the impenetrable Uchiha mask?
Unable to come to terms with the new onslaught of emotion, he had snapped at her again.
Her confession that followed instantly transformed his anger into a heatwave of shame. Orphaned. Abandoned. Unwanted. These unspoken words bled through his skin, and for the first time in a long time, Sasuke forgot about the ache that ripped through the seams of his own existence, and listened to the melancholy croon that pulsed from her being. Here was a girl, chained to a horde of her own demons, who understood the allure of death, the promise of eternal peace and sleep from the hellish nightmare that was life, and yet her beautiful, cerulean eyes, ones that had probably seen more than their fair share of horrors, reflected nothing but tenderness and trust.
He thought he was going to burn in his shame.
But almost as if she knew every thought that passed through his mind, she had placed her hand on his, her touch surprisingly cool, her fingers so delicate, so small, and gave a reassuring squeeze.
It's all right, her quiet gesture seemed to say. I forgive you.
He had willed himself to make a sound, something - anything - but no words tumbled out. He wasn't used to being emotionally available on whim - in fact, prior to that moment he would've sworn he was incapable of feeling emotions - but something must be said, he knew that much, he just didn't know what.
Then she had left the room, leaving him in his transfixed state, and the clock in the room ticked by. Tick tock, tick tock. How much time passed, he really couldn't say. But finally, finally, he knew, as the tears began to fall and his hands began to shake, that the warmth spreading to the four corners of his soul could be nothing other than gratitude.
His Uchiha pride hadn't allowed him to face her - he vowed that she would forever stay a stranger to him - but he had made sure to leave a note on the coffee table as he made his way out the door and down ten flights of stairs. It was only when he had stepped out onto the sidewalk that he realized the clothes he was wearing were not his - but after a short moment of conflict, he had decided that the artifacts would serve as a good reminder of that night, and headed back to his own apartment without a single backwards glance.
Until that rotten mutt of a Yakuza just had to get himself jailed and decided to drag Sasuke along for the shitty ride.
Sasuke's cheeks reddened as he suddenly realized that it had probably been Kiba who had changed his clothes after carrying him back to Naruto's apartment, and the mortification he felt upon this epiphany made his skin crawl. But before the Uchiha could turn back and somehow make the damned Inuzuka mysteriously 'disappear,' Sasuke found himself standing in front of his destination, and he inwardly sighed. No way out of this now.
The loud cacophony of rambunctious customers then reached Sasuke's ears, and he fought the urge to claw out his brain as a pounding headache threatened to split his head in half. Damn he had forgotten about that cup of coffee.
"Don't go to her apartment," Kiba had mentioned. "She works on the weekends. At that ramen bar, next to the university's library."
It took Sasuke a while to figure out the Yazuka had been referring to Ichiraku, which recently opened in the past year and had become a very popular joint ever since. But Sasuke himself had never been here, seeing how he wasn't particularly fond of ramen and he barely had the leisure to indulge in such activity. He hated crowds anyway, so on the days he didn't feel like cooking, he always ordered delivery.
So of course he would find her working as a waitress in the noisiest, most obnoxious restaurant in all of central Japan.
A dark aura of doom now hung over the Uchiha as he pushed his way past the long line of customers and into the entrance of the restaurant. The busy crowd gave him a wide berth; none of them felt like dying at the hands of a madman that particular afternoon, and thankfully, no one recognized said madman to be their Chief of Police.
Sasuke immediately took notice of the blonde the minute he stepped inside, and her distinctive, loud voice carried all the way across the room.
"Sweet corn for the lady, miso for the gentleman! Anything else I can get for you guys today?"
The smile on her face could not be described as anything but genuine. Even with the dark work uniform and black headpiece that covered most of her yellow hair, she seemed to emit some sort of brightness that still irritably hurt his eyes. Why did she have to smile like that? Where did she find the patience to deal with this unruly, nonsensical crowd?
He impassively watched her from the corner of the restaurant as she finished her order. If the information Kiba had given him was accurate, it was near the end of her shift. Sure enough, the girl soon wiped her hands on her apron, shouting a quick goodbye to someone three tables down - probably her manager - and headed for the "Employee's Only" door. Sasuke made haste to follow.
The corridor was long, and by the time Sasuke got there the blond had already disappeared. But there was only one way to go, and that was forward, so Sasuke unhurriedly walked down the tiled path. He took off the baseball cap, and refused to let any emotions remotely related to that of embarrassment cross his mind; he was an Uchiha, goddammit, here on business, and that was all he was ever going to let it be. He imagined that she would try to disrespect his title as soon as she found out his true identity, but if she dared to show any sign of impudence or - God forbid - pity, he was going to set her in her place. It wasn't long before he heard snippets of a conversation from a room further down the hall.
"Don't you have better things to do than to come harass me at my job?" The blonde sounded exasperated. "Don't you work at like, I don't know, a hospital?"
"Naruto, just give him a chance," said another girl's voice. "You guys would make a really cute couple."
A derisive snort came from the blonde. "Yeah, because it's so romantic the way he calls me 'Dickless' all the time."
"That's just Sai flirting with you!"
Sasuke heard Naruto bark in laughter. "Jesus fucking Christ, woman, you're not just persistent, you're also crazy. The answer is still no."
"Naruto, I'm telling you, there's chemistry between you guys!"
"Sai is a pale-assed, emotionally stunted psychopath, and the last thing I want is you imagining him to be some fucked up version of my Romeo. I'm done with this conversation." There was a scruffling sound, like someone picking something heavy up from the ground. "C'mon, I'll walk you back to the hospital. Granny's is going to have a fit if you overstay your lunch break."
"And then what you are gonna do?"
"I am going to go study at the library."
"Naruto - "
"I have a million exams to take before this semester ends. Please, woman, I'll let you set me up on those blind dates during the summer, but not now." The footsteps were quicker now, and Sasuke felt a sense of deja vu as he instinctively tensed in anticipation of the inevitable meeting.
It was Naruto's friend who first came out the door. The strange girl's bubble-pink hair was oddly familiar, and when her green eyes widened upon recognition, he knew instantly where he had seen her before. She was the prestiged surgeon of Konoha Hospital, and countless times Sasuke had watched behind glass walls as she worked furiously to save his team members from the brink of death. It was rumored that she would surpass even Tsunade herself given a couple more years. Sasuke didn't doubt that assumption; he would've lost many skilled men had it not been for this woman. He also recalled seeing her a couple of times at police-hosted functions with Shikamaru and his girlfriend, and perhaps had even been introduced once or twice. But for the life in him, he could not remember her name. He knew something fruity and ridiculous - what was it again, Peach? Apple?
There was suddenly a loud bump as Naruto ran into the still-shocked, pink-haired doctor, and a loud curse escaped from the blonde.
"Sakura, what's the matter with you?"
Ah, that's right. Cherry blossom. He was close.
Sasuke shifted his attention to the blonde who was scowling fiercely away and rubbing at a red bump on her forehead, too distracted to even notice his presence. She was every bit as dysfunctional as he remembered.
"Miss Uzumaki," he said.
Her head shot up to stare at him, and it was like watching a movie clip in slow motion. Disbelief, shock, wonder all passed through her face one after another, and she seemed to be suffering a stroke the way her features contorted drastically through every emotion. But then her tan visage finally settled in on a furious expression of anger, and he inwardly cringed as her mouth opened to release a bloodcurdling shriek.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"
She stomped towards him in a fit of rage and jabbed a sharp finger into his chest, and he was so surprised at this display of familiarity that he found himself unable to form an appropriate response to her assault.
"IMBECILE!"
He blinked blankly at her, wondering why she was not foaming at the mouth like all other rabid animals did.
"A whole month!" the blonde raved on, her cerulean eyes flashing dangerously. "Four fucking weeks and you decide to show your face here now? Do you have any idea how worried I was? Do you know how many nights I stayed up wondering if you were okay? You could've caught pneumonia!"
He responded the only way he knew how.
"Hn."
The blonde threw her hands up in frustration and a strangled growl tore from her throat. "Typical. Oh so typical. This is what I get for worrying. Why the fuck did I even bother? You'd better have those clothes I lent you, because God knows I will hunt you down like a sorry son of a bitch if I find you threw them away."
He waited a moment, before trying again. "Miss Uzu - "
"Oh don't you Miss Uzumaki me, you snot-nosed bint," she snapped. "Calling me all these formalities now won't do shit. Dobe, wasn't it? Well I'll show you dobe!"
"Naruto!" Sakura seemed to have finally recovered her ability to speak. "Naruto, do you have any idea who this is?" The last part of her question was a hysterical, panicked hiss, and the older woman immediately grabbed Naruto in a vice grip and yanked the girl a few meters back. Sakura then smiled apologetically at Sasuke, all the while throwing not-so-subtle death glares at the blonde, and Sasuke didn't miss the way the way Sakura's rigid posture effectively blocked Naruto from his line of sight.
"Miss Haruno," he said calmly.
"Please, Chief," the pink-haired woman said quickly, "I don't know what this klutz has done but I swear to God she didn't mean it."
"Sakura, what - " Naruto spluttered from behind the doctor. "Sakura, do you know this bastard?"
"Yes I do, Naruto, do you?" Sakura snapped, whipping around to glare at the blonde. Her emerald eyes were narrowed dangerously. "Please watch the words that come out of your mouth, young lady! Why does our esteemed Chief Superintendent know your name? Uzumaki Naruto, tell me right now what heinous crime you've committed!"
"Crime? I don't know what you are talking about, Sakura. I haven't done anything!" Naruto furrowed her eyebrows in perplexion. She turned her gaze to Sasuke. "I - you're not here to return my clothes?"
"No."
The blonde scowled fiercely. "Fuck you."
"NARUTO!" Sakura was beyond furious. Her eyes glittered dangerously, a promise of painful death reflected in their green surfaces. "Do not - speak - to the - Chief - like that."
Naruto stared at Sakura like she had grown two heads. "Sakura, what's the matter with you? This is Sasuke, he's - " She choked mid-sentence, and Sasuke could see the gears turning in her head as she processed Sakura's words. "Wait a second, Chief?" Naruto's mouth now gaped at Sasuke like a dead fish. "Chief?"
There was a moment of silence.
"You're Uchiha Sasuke."
Somewhere in the hallway, Sakura groaned. But Naruto didn't notice. Her expression seemed to be stuck in a deadpan. So fast that Sasuke thought he had imagined it, a flash of pain passed through her tan face. He mentally shrugged it off, and instead raised an eloquent eyebrow.
"You seem to know my last name after all, Miss Uzumaki, " he said dryly.
Naruto flushed. "Shut up. Who in their right mind wouldn't know you? You're just a lot prettier in person than in pictures." Realizing what she had just said, the blonde immediately clamped her mouth shut and snapped her head sideways to glare at the wall, her face turning an even deeper shade of purple.
Sasuke found himself too amused to make a remark, but the smirk on his face said it all.
Sakura, the poor girl, glancing back and forth between the two, could not have been more at loss of what to do. "Chief," she said slowly, "forgive me if I'm not getting something, but why are you here for Naruto?"
"Be at ease, Miss Haruno." The Uchiha's gaze flickered to the blond-idiot, who was still muttering to herself in the corner, before turning his attention back to the pink-haired woman. "Miss Uzumaki is not in trouble, but I do request that she come to the headquarters with me for questioning."
"Questioning?" Sakura echoed. "Like interrogation? Why does Naruto have to be interrogated?"
"That information is not to be disclosed."
"But you can't just take her!"
"Miss Haruno," Sasuke said, a note of impatience now edging his tone. "Police procedures."
Sakura flushed. "But there's no - "
"It's Kiba, isn't it?"
They both turned to Naruto, whose face now held a grim, ashen expression. Sasuke knew there was no use in lying to her, so he merely nodded and watched impassively as worry flashed through her cerulean eyes. Guess the mutt had been honest about their relationship after all.
"Is he - is Kiba - "
"He's fine. But I need you to come with me."
The blonde locked eyes with Sasuke, and he was slightly taken aback to see so much trust resonating within her ocean orbs.
"Okay." Naruto turned to Sakura, who was still standing there with a look of extreme perplexity on her face. "I'm sorry, Sakura, I can't walk to the hospital with you today."
"Wait - Naruto, what is going on?" demanded the pink-haired woman. "Why is Uchiha-san here, is everything okay? Who is this Kiba? You - " She suddenly gasped. "You can't possibly mean Inuzuka Kiba - Naruto, you promised!"
"Sakura - "
"I told you to not get close to him! The Yakuza isn't the type of person you should mess with, Naruto. You know that!"
"He's my friend, I don't give a damn what he is - "
"And maybe you should! Nothing good will come from being friends with him. Naruto, why don't you ever listen to me?"
"Sakura." Naruto's voice sounded pained. She placed two hands on Sakura's shoulders. "Please."
Sakura's lips pinched down in a sour, unhappy line, and she stared long and hard at her blond-haired friend. The moment crawled by slowly. At last Sakura blew out a tired sigh and rested her hand on the crook of Naruto's arm, smiling wanly. The worry gleam in her eyes had yet to disappear.
"You're so much trouble, Naru-chan."
Naruto grimaced. "Sakura, you know I hate it when you call me that."
"And I hate all the stuff that you do, but you don't hear me complaining about it."
"Yes I do." Naruto noticed the angry twitch in Sakura's face, and she quickly backtracked. "But it's okay because you only ever say great things."
Sakura growled and gave the blonde a big hug. "Naruto, please be careful."
Naruto smiled crookedly, reaching over to give the doctor a loving kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Sakura. I promise I'll be okay. I swear." She straightened and stared at Sasuke. "C'mon then. I'm all yours. Let's go." With determination burning in her eyes, she walked by him and headed down the corridor.
Sasuke turned to leave when Sakura's voice stopped him.
"Chief." The woman's expression was grave. "I don't know your relationship with Naruto, but she's a good person. The best you'll ever find. She'll befriend a hungry lion, that one." She sighed and one hand came to rub against her elbow. "Please take good care of her."
Sasuke humored the woman with a slight nod of his head, and followed in the blonde's footsteps.
XXX
Like I said, this is an unfinished chapter. I cannot promise you guys when the finished update will be (as I seem to be suffering slightly from writer's block), but hopefully it will be soon!
Please leave a review and let me know how you like the story so far!