Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Something's Always Wrong ❯ Chapter 12
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: AniRayne 
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Romance / Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.04.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.4K | Visits: 342 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Romance / Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.04.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.4K | Visits: 342 | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: OMG!!! I did not even realize I was spelling Sasuke's name wrong. *Blushes, looks down, kicks at floor* (Btw, I was spelling it Sauske. I'm sure ya'll noticed.) I do appreciate the review for Wind and Fire part 2 that pointed this mistake to me. I'm a tard. Lol. And a horrible speller obviously, so if anyone else notices a spelling error, please point it out to me. Thanks to every one reading, reviewing and rating! And yes Reigh, she'll come around eventually. Maybe by the end of the chapter. ;) I'm in the process of editing the spelling mistakes out of the previous chapters. Oy, 11 chapters with occurrences of his name. Oh well, live and learn right?
-Ani
This chapter's song is also describes Sakura's angst well.
My Immortal-Evanescence
You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face, it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice, it chased away
All the sanity in me
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
But you still have... all of me
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along
But you still have... all of me
Me...
Chapter 12
Sakura stood in the shower sobbing; she was confused and didn't know what to do. Her heart wanted to get back in bed with Sasuke. Her head told her to stay at arms length. Her shift at the hospital wasn't for hours. She had a ton of time to kill, five hours to be exact. She stuck her face under the spray and held her breath. The cool water poured over her face, calming her somewhat. She turned around to rinse the conditioner out of her hair. She grabbed her shower gel and started soaping up; the smell of cherry-vanilla filled the tiny bathroom. Sakura inhaled deeply and rinsed off.
****
Sasuke could smell the cherry-vanilla in the living room. He took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. 'Nothing is going right,' he thought, 'Maybe I should stay at Ino's place.' He got a chill at that thought and decided even if he had to sleep on the balcony, he was staying here. He heard the water turn off and wondered if he should try to talk to her. He sat up with a groan, his shoulder was throbbing. He broke out in a cold sweat and a wave of nausea crashed over him. He touched the bandage on the back of his shoulder; it felt wet. 'Oh, now this is just great. She's super pissed off and I'm bleeding. Fuck!' he thought, getting up to knock on her bedroom door. He figured maybe she'd take pity on him and do another nerve block. Maybe she'd even change his bandage. He doubted it, but knocked anyway.
****
Sakura stuck her head out the bathroom door, she'd sworn she'd heard him knock. She wrapped the towel around her body a little tighter and opened the bedroom door.
When she pulled the door open wearing only a towel, Sasuke thought he was going to have a heart attack. He couldn't remember why he was knocking on her door. She stood there looking at him questioningly. Finally, he found the words. "Sakura, can you check my shoulder before you go? It's killin' me," he asked her, trying to give her a smile but failing.
She took note of how much paler than normal he looked. She stepped out of the doorway and let him in, "Give me a second to get dressed, okay?"
He nodded and sat down on the bed facing away from her, studying the pictures on the window sill above her bed. She still had the old team 7 photo and the candid one where they pulled their headbands down like Kakashi. There were other photos of people he didn't recognize. He saw a photo of what must of been her new team. He knew every one in the picture except for the guy with the ridiculous fake smile. The largest photo was one of her and Naruto, she looked beautiful in the picture. Whoever took it caught them mid-laugh, they looked like carefree teenagers. Instead of what they were, two shinobi who've seen too much tragedy in their young lives. 'How could she of not known how the dobe felt about her?' he thought studying the photo.
****
She closed the bathroom door quietly and watched him study the photo of her and Naruto. She wondered what he was thinking
about. She thought about the day Ino took that picture, had it really been four years? It was taken during Sakura's seventeenth birthday party; the day she decided she wasn't going to save herself for Sasuke, the day she decided to give herself to Naruto.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Four years earlier~
Sakura and Ino sat on the grass at the training fields and watched the guys half-assed spar with each other. Ino looked at her friend and saw the sadness in her green eyes. She sighed, nothing she could do or say could get her best friend to let go of the past. Personally, Ino thought that three years was way too fucking long to carry a torch for anyone. She gave up on Sasuke after a year, but not Sakura; she had a death grip on hope. Ino looked over a Sakura again, the pink-haired medic was watching Naruto roll around with Kiba and Akamaru. Ino arched her eyebrow got a wicked grin on her face. "Hey forehead, you should take Naruto up on his offer of dinner tonight," she told the now annoyed kunoichi.
"Shut it, Ino-pig. It's my damn birthday. Why would I subject myself to that?" Sakura asked the blond kunoichi.
"Seriously, why wouldn't you? You might have fun. All you ever do is pine away for Sasuke. It's not good for you health, medic-san," Ino smart mouthed her.
Sakura glared at her, she was really tired of everyone saying this to her. "Okay, fine. I'll go on a damn date with him. Hey, maybe I'll even let him fuck me. Then will all of you guys leave me alone?" Sakura sighed in defeat.
Ino's eyes widened in surprise, "Forehead, no one said you have to fuck him. Just go out, have fun, like a normal teenager. Do I have to explain everything to you?" Ino nudged Sakura's shoulder and put her arm around her. "You know I love you, right? You're my girl. And besides, I heard he rocked Anko's world on that last mission they were on together," she whispered looking at the jinchuriki.
Sakura was startled to say the least, she hadn't heard about Anko and Naruto. Of course, since she spent ninety-nine percent of her time in the hospital, she didn't hear the rumors. She looked over at Naruto and sighed, she could see herself spending the night with him. She watched as he took his orange jacket off and then stripped off his t-shirt. She heard Ino's sharp intake of breath. He was a sight to behold; she wondered when he got all those muscles.
"Forehead, I'm telling you now, if you don't go for it, I will. Damn, you never told me how ripped he was," Ino said, teasing her pink-haired friend.
"You keep your hands off of him, Ino pig," Sakura said in a low growl. She couldn't stand the thought of her two best friends together like that. She kept her eyes on him, he was playing with Akamaru. He looked up at her and she smiled at him. She could do this; she too, could get on with her life.
Ino laughed and got up. She went over to bitch at Shikamaru and Chouji.
Naruto looked up to see Sakura smiling at him. He smiled back, it was good to see her smile for a change. He picked up his shirt and jacket and headed over see what was up. He plopped down next to her and said, "Happy birthday, Sakura-chan." He decided that getting punched was worth it, so he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Then he braced himself for the punch that was never delivered. He gave her a sideways glance and she was smiling at him. She laid her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her.
She snuggled into his embrace and looked up at him. "You know I love you, right? You're my best friend," she said softly.
"Of course I know that, Sakura-chan. I love you too. I'm gonna bring him back for you, you know that. I just wish I could of brought him home for your birthday," he said smiling sadly.
She kissed him on the cheek and giggled at his startled expression. "I don't care anymore. I have you, I have my friends. I have everything I need," she sighed and danced her fingers up his side, making him jump and laugh.
Ino took a couple pictures and grinned. She hadn't seen her girl smile like that in a long time.
~End flashback~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She shook her head, 'Where did that come from?' she wondered. She cleared her throat to get his attention.
He almost dropped the picture when she cleared her throat, he set it down quickly and knocked down her new team picture. "Warii! I hope it didn't break," he said reaching down for the picture. Picking it up he asked, "Who is this guy with the fake smile?"
Sakura laughed, "Oh, that's Sai. We were team mates for awhile. Good call on the smile." Her eyes sparkled with laughter.
"How old were you and Naruto in this picture?" he asked pointing at the photo he'd been looking at before.
"That was at my seventeenth birthday party, so Naruto was still sixteen," she said knowing he knew the last bit of information.
"It's a good picture of you two. You guys look happy," he said smiling sadly, "I should of never left."
She took step towards him and stopped, remembering his shoulder. She removed the old bandage. It looked sore and inflamed. She pulled out more toxins and redressed the wound. Then she put a deeper nerve block in place. "There is that better?" she smiled at him.
"Yeah, arigato Sakura-chan. You've gotten so much stronger and you're so good at medical jutsu. Naruto's alot stronger too, isn't he?" he asked her.
"We've all gotten stronger," she said matter of factly. She met his onyx gaze and held it, he looked away first.
"You two did it the right way," he mumbled and left the room.
She watched him walk out of her room. Her heart and mind were battling again. She flopped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. The hot tears slid down the sides of her face, no matter how hard she tried to stop them, they wouldn't stop.
****
Sasuke leaned against the wall in the hallway and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. He could hear her sobbing again. 'Damnit, I'm so not worth it,' he thought, wishing she wouldn't cry over him. His heart told him to go to her and comfort her, his mind told him to let it go. For once he listened to his heart and went back in the bedroom.
She didn't hear him come back in the room, she didn't know he'd come back until she felt him wrap his arms around her. She cried harder and hugged him tight. "I just keep thinking I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone and I'll be alone again," she sobbed into his shoulder, "I just don't think I could take that kind of heartbreak again. It almost destroyed me once."
He held her tighter and stroked her hair. "I promise you, I'm not ever leaving you again," he whispered in her ear and kissed her forehead.
"You promise? Really, you swear? You're back for good?" she cried into his shoulder.
The pain in her voice almost shattered his heart; he had no idea just how much she'd loved him when they were younger. He'd always regarded her as a noisy, annoying fangirl. He never once considered she might really be in love with him, and that made him feel even more like a first class jackass. He pulled her away from him so he could see her face. He brushed her tears away with his thumbs. "You know I can't promise happy ever after, but I'm not going anywhere. Even if you decide you don't want me, I'll still be here for you," he said against her mouth as he kissed her. "I know it's hard for you right now. I won't pressure you. If you want, when Naruto gets back from his mission I'll see if I can stay with him," he said hugging her tight.
She sniffed and wiped her eyes, "You must think I'm so stupid." She started to get up and was stopped when he caught her wrist. She looked into his dark eyes and the tears started again. "Kami, I'm such an idiot," she sobbed.
"I don't think you're stupid, Sakura. I think you're just confused, which is normal," he said tracing little circles on the inside of her wrist with his thumb. "You're only human. You have every right to be confused, angry and torn inside," he told her.
"I don't want you to go. I want you to stay. I...I just...I mean," the pinkette stammered, once again wiping her tears away. "I have to start getting ready for my shift at the hospital. I hope you don't mind, but Naruto and Hinata are coming over to stay with you. Tsunade-sama's orders, I'm sorry," Sakura looked away from his burning stare.
"It's okay, I know I'm not going to be left by myself for a long time. Do you care if I listen to some of your music?" Sasuke asked the pink-haired kunoichi.
Sakura looked at him and saw he was serious; she started to giggle. "Why would I care? But I'm not so sure you'll like it. I have uh, eclectic taste in music," she said to him still giggling.
"Yeah, I uh, noticed. All I've been doing is listening to your music through your bedroom door," he said smirking.
****
Sasuke was by himself for about fifteen minutes, and it damn near drove him crazy. The doorbell rang just before he started alphabetizing her CD collection. He turned the stereo down some and went to get the door. "You're late, dobe," he said laughing.
"Shut it, teme. I got distracted," he gave Hinata a sideways glance. She immediately turned bright pink and slapped him on the shoulder.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh. "Now, that doesn't surprise me in the least. So Hinata, what's up?" he asked the Hyuga heiress, having decided that talking to Naruto was a lost cause. But after seeing the blank look she gave him, he resigned himself to a night of stupidity. He got up to change discs and noticed the startled look Naruto was giving him. "Now what?" he asked the blond chunin.
"Sakura-chan is letting you touch her music collection? She never let me," he pouted.
"Because I'm not a klutz, that's why I get to touch it," he said.
"I've touched it before. You're not special," Naruto said laughing, earning him another slap on the shoulder from Hinata. "Sorry, Nata-chan," he said trying to keep a straight face.
"Her music! I was talking about her music!" Sasuke said, out of breath from laughing.
Hinata looked at the two of them laughing their heads off and sighed to herself; it was going to be a long night.
****
Sakura got to her apartment a little after 1am, she was beat, and almost stepping on Naruto's head upon entering her apartment didn't help her mood at all. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see her best friend curled up on the floor holding Hinata tight. She felt a tug in her heart and looked away from the couple. She looked at the couch and her heart almost stopped, it was empty. She took a few deep breaths, he was just in another part of the apartment. But she couldn't sense his chakra. She gave a quick look in the kitchen and kept going to her bedroom. It was also empty, the door to the balcony open. She sank to her knees and bit her lip to hold back the panic. "He left. He promised me and left. Why?" she whispered to herself trying to keep the tears at bay.
"Sakura-chan?"
Her head snapped up and she looked towards the balcony. She got up and stuck her head out the door. He was sitting on the bench she kept out there and rarely got to use. "Sasuke-kun, I thought you left. I couldn't sense your chakra. Why do you have it masked?" she asked sitting down in the chair that was on the other side of the doorway.
Sasuke looked down, out of habit he'd masked his chakra, effectively scaring the shit out of Sakura. "I'm sorry Sakura, force of habit. I got so used to doing it all the time, I forgot. I didn't mean to scare you. I had to get away from those two, they were beginning to creep me out. Come and sit next to me," he said patting the bench next to him.
She looked at him and tilted her head to the side, "What were they doing?"
"Let's just say after awhile I wasn't sure where Naruto ended and Hinata began," he said tucking his hands behind his head.
Sakura made a face, "Ew, now I can't get that horrific that mental image out of my head. Ew, ew, ew, ew." She sat down next
to him and put her feet up on the empty plant stand in front of the railing. She smiled as she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders. She scooted closer and laid her head on his shoulder, listening to his heartbeat. She closed her eyes and smiled, "You smell good."
"Thanks, it's your soap. Check it out, Hinata brought over her MP3 player. She has some music that you don't have," he said hitting play and turning on the speaker dock.
She listened to the song; it was one of her favorites. "I have this, you just didn't know where to look," she whispered against his neck, making him jump.
The sensation of her warm breath on his neck raised goosebumps on his arms. He would of done anything she asked at that moment. When she started sprinkling kisses along his jawline, he wondered if she'd been drinking. She'd been keeping him at arms length and now she was coming on to him; it was the only logical explanation. "Sakura-chan, what time did your shift end?" he asked her.
Now it was Sakura's turn to be confused. "At one, why?" she looked at him.
"No reason, just curious," was his only answer. He tilted her head up and kissed her.
She closed her eyes and kissed him back. She listened to the song playing and smiled.
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again
***************************************************************** *******************************
Times Like These- Foo Fighters
-Ani
This chapter's song is also describes Sakura's angst well.
My Immortal-Evanescence
You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face, it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice, it chased away
All the sanity in me
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
But you still have... all of me
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along
But you still have... all of me
Me...
Chapter 12
Sakura stood in the shower sobbing; she was confused and didn't know what to do. Her heart wanted to get back in bed with Sasuke. Her head told her to stay at arms length. Her shift at the hospital wasn't for hours. She had a ton of time to kill, five hours to be exact. She stuck her face under the spray and held her breath. The cool water poured over her face, calming her somewhat. She turned around to rinse the conditioner out of her hair. She grabbed her shower gel and started soaping up; the smell of cherry-vanilla filled the tiny bathroom. Sakura inhaled deeply and rinsed off.
****
Sasuke could smell the cherry-vanilla in the living room. He took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. 'Nothing is going right,' he thought, 'Maybe I should stay at Ino's place.' He got a chill at that thought and decided even if he had to sleep on the balcony, he was staying here. He heard the water turn off and wondered if he should try to talk to her. He sat up with a groan, his shoulder was throbbing. He broke out in a cold sweat and a wave of nausea crashed over him. He touched the bandage on the back of his shoulder; it felt wet. 'Oh, now this is just great. She's super pissed off and I'm bleeding. Fuck!' he thought, getting up to knock on her bedroom door. He figured maybe she'd take pity on him and do another nerve block. Maybe she'd even change his bandage. He doubted it, but knocked anyway.
****
Sakura stuck her head out the bathroom door, she'd sworn she'd heard him knock. She wrapped the towel around her body a little tighter and opened the bedroom door.
When she pulled the door open wearing only a towel, Sasuke thought he was going to have a heart attack. He couldn't remember why he was knocking on her door. She stood there looking at him questioningly. Finally, he found the words. "Sakura, can you check my shoulder before you go? It's killin' me," he asked her, trying to give her a smile but failing.
She took note of how much paler than normal he looked. She stepped out of the doorway and let him in, "Give me a second to get dressed, okay?"
He nodded and sat down on the bed facing away from her, studying the pictures on the window sill above her bed. She still had the old team 7 photo and the candid one where they pulled their headbands down like Kakashi. There were other photos of people he didn't recognize. He saw a photo of what must of been her new team. He knew every one in the picture except for the guy with the ridiculous fake smile. The largest photo was one of her and Naruto, she looked beautiful in the picture. Whoever took it caught them mid-laugh, they looked like carefree teenagers. Instead of what they were, two shinobi who've seen too much tragedy in their young lives. 'How could she of not known how the dobe felt about her?' he thought studying the photo.
****
She closed the bathroom door quietly and watched him study the photo of her and Naruto. She wondered what he was thinking
about. She thought about the day Ino took that picture, had it really been four years? It was taken during Sakura's seventeenth birthday party; the day she decided she wasn't going to save herself for Sasuke, the day she decided to give herself to Naruto.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Four years earlier~
Sakura and Ino sat on the grass at the training fields and watched the guys half-assed spar with each other. Ino looked at her friend and saw the sadness in her green eyes. She sighed, nothing she could do or say could get her best friend to let go of the past. Personally, Ino thought that three years was way too fucking long to carry a torch for anyone. She gave up on Sasuke after a year, but not Sakura; she had a death grip on hope. Ino looked over a Sakura again, the pink-haired medic was watching Naruto roll around with Kiba and Akamaru. Ino arched her eyebrow got a wicked grin on her face. "Hey forehead, you should take Naruto up on his offer of dinner tonight," she told the now annoyed kunoichi.
"Shut it, Ino-pig. It's my damn birthday. Why would I subject myself to that?" Sakura asked the blond kunoichi.
"Seriously, why wouldn't you? You might have fun. All you ever do is pine away for Sasuke. It's not good for you health, medic-san," Ino smart mouthed her.
Sakura glared at her, she was really tired of everyone saying this to her. "Okay, fine. I'll go on a damn date with him. Hey, maybe I'll even let him fuck me. Then will all of you guys leave me alone?" Sakura sighed in defeat.
Ino's eyes widened in surprise, "Forehead, no one said you have to fuck him. Just go out, have fun, like a normal teenager. Do I have to explain everything to you?" Ino nudged Sakura's shoulder and put her arm around her. "You know I love you, right? You're my girl. And besides, I heard he rocked Anko's world on that last mission they were on together," she whispered looking at the jinchuriki.
Sakura was startled to say the least, she hadn't heard about Anko and Naruto. Of course, since she spent ninety-nine percent of her time in the hospital, she didn't hear the rumors. She looked over at Naruto and sighed, she could see herself spending the night with him. She watched as he took his orange jacket off and then stripped off his t-shirt. She heard Ino's sharp intake of breath. He was a sight to behold; she wondered when he got all those muscles.
"Forehead, I'm telling you now, if you don't go for it, I will. Damn, you never told me how ripped he was," Ino said, teasing her pink-haired friend.
"You keep your hands off of him, Ino pig," Sakura said in a low growl. She couldn't stand the thought of her two best friends together like that. She kept her eyes on him, he was playing with Akamaru. He looked up at her and she smiled at him. She could do this; she too, could get on with her life.
Ino laughed and got up. She went over to bitch at Shikamaru and Chouji.
Naruto looked up to see Sakura smiling at him. He smiled back, it was good to see her smile for a change. He picked up his shirt and jacket and headed over see what was up. He plopped down next to her and said, "Happy birthday, Sakura-chan." He decided that getting punched was worth it, so he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Then he braced himself for the punch that was never delivered. He gave her a sideways glance and she was smiling at him. She laid her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her.
She snuggled into his embrace and looked up at him. "You know I love you, right? You're my best friend," she said softly.
"Of course I know that, Sakura-chan. I love you too. I'm gonna bring him back for you, you know that. I just wish I could of brought him home for your birthday," he said smiling sadly.
She kissed him on the cheek and giggled at his startled expression. "I don't care anymore. I have you, I have my friends. I have everything I need," she sighed and danced her fingers up his side, making him jump and laugh.
Ino took a couple pictures and grinned. She hadn't seen her girl smile like that in a long time.
~End flashback~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She shook her head, 'Where did that come from?' she wondered. She cleared her throat to get his attention.
He almost dropped the picture when she cleared her throat, he set it down quickly and knocked down her new team picture. "Warii! I hope it didn't break," he said reaching down for the picture. Picking it up he asked, "Who is this guy with the fake smile?"
Sakura laughed, "Oh, that's Sai. We were team mates for awhile. Good call on the smile." Her eyes sparkled with laughter.
"How old were you and Naruto in this picture?" he asked pointing at the photo he'd been looking at before.
"That was at my seventeenth birthday party, so Naruto was still sixteen," she said knowing he knew the last bit of information.
"It's a good picture of you two. You guys look happy," he said smiling sadly, "I should of never left."
She took step towards him and stopped, remembering his shoulder. She removed the old bandage. It looked sore and inflamed. She pulled out more toxins and redressed the wound. Then she put a deeper nerve block in place. "There is that better?" she smiled at him.
"Yeah, arigato Sakura-chan. You've gotten so much stronger and you're so good at medical jutsu. Naruto's alot stronger too, isn't he?" he asked her.
"We've all gotten stronger," she said matter of factly. She met his onyx gaze and held it, he looked away first.
"You two did it the right way," he mumbled and left the room.
She watched him walk out of her room. Her heart and mind were battling again. She flopped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. The hot tears slid down the sides of her face, no matter how hard she tried to stop them, they wouldn't stop.
****
Sasuke leaned against the wall in the hallway and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. He could hear her sobbing again. 'Damnit, I'm so not worth it,' he thought, wishing she wouldn't cry over him. His heart told him to go to her and comfort her, his mind told him to let it go. For once he listened to his heart and went back in the bedroom.
She didn't hear him come back in the room, she didn't know he'd come back until she felt him wrap his arms around her. She cried harder and hugged him tight. "I just keep thinking I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone and I'll be alone again," she sobbed into his shoulder, "I just don't think I could take that kind of heartbreak again. It almost destroyed me once."
He held her tighter and stroked her hair. "I promise you, I'm not ever leaving you again," he whispered in her ear and kissed her forehead.
"You promise? Really, you swear? You're back for good?" she cried into his shoulder.
The pain in her voice almost shattered his heart; he had no idea just how much she'd loved him when they were younger. He'd always regarded her as a noisy, annoying fangirl. He never once considered she might really be in love with him, and that made him feel even more like a first class jackass. He pulled her away from him so he could see her face. He brushed her tears away with his thumbs. "You know I can't promise happy ever after, but I'm not going anywhere. Even if you decide you don't want me, I'll still be here for you," he said against her mouth as he kissed her. "I know it's hard for you right now. I won't pressure you. If you want, when Naruto gets back from his mission I'll see if I can stay with him," he said hugging her tight.
She sniffed and wiped her eyes, "You must think I'm so stupid." She started to get up and was stopped when he caught her wrist. She looked into his dark eyes and the tears started again. "Kami, I'm such an idiot," she sobbed.
"I don't think you're stupid, Sakura. I think you're just confused, which is normal," he said tracing little circles on the inside of her wrist with his thumb. "You're only human. You have every right to be confused, angry and torn inside," he told her.
"I don't want you to go. I want you to stay. I...I just...I mean," the pinkette stammered, once again wiping her tears away. "I have to start getting ready for my shift at the hospital. I hope you don't mind, but Naruto and Hinata are coming over to stay with you. Tsunade-sama's orders, I'm sorry," Sakura looked away from his burning stare.
"It's okay, I know I'm not going to be left by myself for a long time. Do you care if I listen to some of your music?" Sasuke asked the pink-haired kunoichi.
Sakura looked at him and saw he was serious; she started to giggle. "Why would I care? But I'm not so sure you'll like it. I have uh, eclectic taste in music," she said to him still giggling.
"Yeah, I uh, noticed. All I've been doing is listening to your music through your bedroom door," he said smirking.
****
Sasuke was by himself for about fifteen minutes, and it damn near drove him crazy. The doorbell rang just before he started alphabetizing her CD collection. He turned the stereo down some and went to get the door. "You're late, dobe," he said laughing.
"Shut it, teme. I got distracted," he gave Hinata a sideways glance. She immediately turned bright pink and slapped him on the shoulder.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh. "Now, that doesn't surprise me in the least. So Hinata, what's up?" he asked the Hyuga heiress, having decided that talking to Naruto was a lost cause. But after seeing the blank look she gave him, he resigned himself to a night of stupidity. He got up to change discs and noticed the startled look Naruto was giving him. "Now what?" he asked the blond chunin.
"Sakura-chan is letting you touch her music collection? She never let me," he pouted.
"Because I'm not a klutz, that's why I get to touch it," he said.
"I've touched it before. You're not special," Naruto said laughing, earning him another slap on the shoulder from Hinata. "Sorry, Nata-chan," he said trying to keep a straight face.
"Her music! I was talking about her music!" Sasuke said, out of breath from laughing.
Hinata looked at the two of them laughing their heads off and sighed to herself; it was going to be a long night.
****
Sakura got to her apartment a little after 1am, she was beat, and almost stepping on Naruto's head upon entering her apartment didn't help her mood at all. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see her best friend curled up on the floor holding Hinata tight. She felt a tug in her heart and looked away from the couple. She looked at the couch and her heart almost stopped, it was empty. She took a few deep breaths, he was just in another part of the apartment. But she couldn't sense his chakra. She gave a quick look in the kitchen and kept going to her bedroom. It was also empty, the door to the balcony open. She sank to her knees and bit her lip to hold back the panic. "He left. He promised me and left. Why?" she whispered to herself trying to keep the tears at bay.
"Sakura-chan?"
Her head snapped up and she looked towards the balcony. She got up and stuck her head out the door. He was sitting on the bench she kept out there and rarely got to use. "Sasuke-kun, I thought you left. I couldn't sense your chakra. Why do you have it masked?" she asked sitting down in the chair that was on the other side of the doorway.
Sasuke looked down, out of habit he'd masked his chakra, effectively scaring the shit out of Sakura. "I'm sorry Sakura, force of habit. I got so used to doing it all the time, I forgot. I didn't mean to scare you. I had to get away from those two, they were beginning to creep me out. Come and sit next to me," he said patting the bench next to him.
She looked at him and tilted her head to the side, "What were they doing?"
"Let's just say after awhile I wasn't sure where Naruto ended and Hinata began," he said tucking his hands behind his head.
Sakura made a face, "Ew, now I can't get that horrific that mental image out of my head. Ew, ew, ew, ew." She sat down next
to him and put her feet up on the empty plant stand in front of the railing. She smiled as she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders. She scooted closer and laid her head on his shoulder, listening to his heartbeat. She closed her eyes and smiled, "You smell good."
"Thanks, it's your soap. Check it out, Hinata brought over her MP3 player. She has some music that you don't have," he said hitting play and turning on the speaker dock.
She listened to the song; it was one of her favorites. "I have this, you just didn't know where to look," she whispered against his neck, making him jump.
The sensation of her warm breath on his neck raised goosebumps on his arms. He would of done anything she asked at that moment. When she started sprinkling kisses along his jawline, he wondered if she'd been drinking. She'd been keeping him at arms length and now she was coming on to him; it was the only logical explanation. "Sakura-chan, what time did your shift end?" he asked her.
Now it was Sakura's turn to be confused. "At one, why?" she looked at him.
"No reason, just curious," was his only answer. He tilted her head up and kissed her.
She closed her eyes and kissed him back. She listened to the song playing and smiled.
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again
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Times Like These- Foo Fighters