Women's Lib 4/5

[AngelOfDeath]

And now, the thrilling (?) continuation.....

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He had run out of food yesterday morning, but he really didn?t care. Sasuke still didn?t see any reason to leave his apartment. When the calls from Naruto and Kakashi had started to come every hour, he had unplugged the phone. Maybe if he could pretend the world didn?t exist outside of these rooms for a while then he could forget about her.

If he had thought that it all was going to end when he had walked away then it just proved how his reasoning skills were not to be trusted when it came to anything concerning that woman.

Acting as if nothing had happened had been Sasuke?s first tactic. He?d gotten exactly two days of work done in the four he was at the garage and all the while he?d tempered Naruto?s constant stories to Kakashi as their teacher asked for every little detail about the trip. The first two days had been filled with the minutia of every talk Naruto recalled and Sasuke found himself surprised at how much the often vacant seeming boy had actually taken with him from the experience. Sakura naturally featured large in most of the stories, but after the second day Naruto had reached what was effectively the end of his tales. Kakashi pumped him for a few more specifics, but mostly it seemed as if Sasuke was in the clear once he had refused to respond to inquiries as to what had happened that infamous night at the stream. The third day had been a good day.

Then the fourth day came and with it the pictures. He knew he shouldn?t have let Naruto use the camera so much. Nearly every picture Naruto had taken when they weren?t of an interesting leaf or the buses was of Sakura. Sakura laughing. Sakura trying to braid Sasuke?s hair while he tried to keep his hair from her reach. There was even one of Sakura when she had just woken up in the morning and her hair (still long in the picture) seemed to be eating her alive. Everywhere he saw her face and it was a punch in the gut he hadn?t seen coming. This was too much for him. He had walked out early on the fourth day leaving all his tools out and behind and simply went home.

That was it.

Sasuke went home and just didn?t leave. There was no other way he could deal with the situation. Naruto had tried to visit but when his pounding and yelling had gotten him ejected by the local law enforcement when the neighbors put in a call about the noise, he had been forced to start calling every hour instead. Kakashi hadn?t been quite that bad, but he to had tried to stop by and presumably tried to call as well since Naruto did it nearly every hour on the hour and there had been more calls in between those.

By his calculations, he thought he could stay inside the house for maybe two more days when hunger finally drove him out again. A body could survive on salt and water for a week but he wasn?t going to let things go for that long. He?d get far too behind with work. But that was a worry for the future. Right now all he had to do was live through another day knowing that he had stupidly and purposefully hurt someone he was beginning to care very much for and had wounded himself almost as badly in the process.

Idiot Uchiha.

Love doesn?t go away because you want it to.

The way the spider in the corner of the ceiling worked so hard to build a web again caught his attention. It was likely to starve up there. With the windows closed and the blinds drawn like they were it wasn?t as if any bugs were going to be buzzing around to make themselves hapless prey. Sasuke threw an arm over his face and sighed from his sprawled position on the floor. It was warm and he should get some water before he dehydrated.

It was as he was passing from the kitchen to the bedroom that he heard the knock. The odds of it being Naruto were slim. There would have been pounding of some sort involved. Probably Kakashi again. They should just leave him alone until he was ready to come out. This was trying his patience.

?Please Sasuke, I know you?re in there. Answer the door.?

The glass of liquid slid from his nerveless fingers and spilled its contents onto the floor but mercifully did not break when it hit. How did she find him? Why did she come here? Could he survive a three story drop from his bathroom window? He needed to get as far away from her as possible, and yet even as he thought it he was reaching for the doorknob. When had he gotten over here, he had decided not to open the door, right?

His hands rested on the door. She was mere inches away from him. A few centimeters. When Sakura knocked again it was so loud next to his ear that he jumped back.

?You have to come out some time, Sasuke. I?m not going to just disappear. You need to talk to me. Everyone is very worried about you.? Her voice dropped. ?I?m worried about you too. At least let us know you?re still alive in there.?

A surge of courage prompted him to tear open the door. She started as he stood before her and after the faint frown melted into a more neutral expression, Sakura crossed her arms over her chest.

?I?m alive. Now go away.?

?You?re so cruel. Then again, I suppose you?d do just about anything to keep people from getting close to you.?

Sasuke just started to close the door at that once he realized talking was no benefit to his situation, but Sakura put her foot in the before he could stop her and then barged her way into the interior of the apartment. How dare she invade his private space! This was just too much. He thought about picking her up bodily and depositing her back outside.

?It?s so dark and stuffy in here. How can you live like this? I think I?m going to die of heat. . . and no fans either?? Sakura took off her shoes and brazenly continued her exploration. ?Well, first of all we?ll just open up this. . .? A cool breeze from the kitchen window blew through the apartment. Dust rose and illuminated the ray of light that shone in even more brightly somehow. It fell across his feet and Sasuke stared at them wishing that he was anywhere but here. The front door was still open he could just leave the girl here.

But when he walked towards the door he found himself closing it instead. He turned from the door to encounter a Sakura with her arms crossed over her chest. The frown on her face was icy and Sasuke just wished he could see her smile again. It seemed like all he could offer her was unhappiness. So why was she here?

?I suppose you?re wondering how I knew where you lived.? Sasuke just blinked at her. ?Naruto told me. He?s a good friend, and you shouldn?t be so mean to him.?

Finally something made sense about all of this. ?He called you didn?t he?? He was pretty sure that was the answer, but he wanted her to confirm it.

?Yes.? She stepped forward and closed most of the distance between them. ?He called me and he told me everything about why you both did what you did. The poor boy was so scared I was going to hang up on him before he finished that I had to get him to tell me three times before it was audible.? The fond and natural grin was back on her face as she spoke of Naruto and Sasuke felt his jealousy burn cold inside of him. The friendliness of her smile did not register, simply that yet another person could make her happy while he continued to fail. He forged a path past Sakura and straight for the bathroom since it was the only room in the apartment that locked from the inside.

Sakura, at a loss for how to stop him, ran up and hugged him from behind in a unique sort of tackle. With her arms around his waist Sasuke felt all his thoughts banish from his mind.

?Sakura. . .? The words wouldn?t come. He wanted to give an apology, any words at all, but all that he drew from his parched mind and starved imagination was fleeting images of a future with her that he was sure could never exist. ?You should go.?

Her arms tightened. ?No. I?m not letting you chase me away this time.?

?You don?t understand.? Sasuke mumbled. ?I can?t offer you anything you?d want.?

?This isn?t about me. This is about you.?

?. . .?

Naturally, she was right, but he didn?t want to hear it.

?Look, Sasuke,? The name, so new to her in some ways, still sounded odd on her tongue. ?Unless you can look me in the eyes and honestly tell me that what happened between us was just physical then I?d like to give. . . us. . . a try.?

Oh she made the terms of escape so easy. She would know it was a lie, probably, if he took this out. His actions so far implied a level of emotional involvement that was decently obvious even to Kakashi and Naruto, and this girl no doubt heard their theories. (There was a slight bristling in his mind as he thought of Sakura within fifty feet of Kakashi, that lecher.) In some ways he was looking at his last chance.

He was scared.

When it came right down to it, he had pushed her away as harshly as he could because he didn?t want to have to make a real choice. If this was love, it was a rather wretched thing to feel for another human being. Sasuke didn?t ?do? vulnerable, and this was laying everything out for someone to see.

?It wasn?t just physical.?

He took advantage of her shock to escape her grasp and retreat into the bathroom with a firm click of the lock.

?You?d better really need to use that bathroom, or else I?m calling Naruto over here with a drill or something. . .? Sakura did not sound amused. Sasuke calculated about how long he could stay in here until she made good on that threat. Any time he bought was just that much more time he could pretend he hadn?t just gotten himself into a world of trouble.

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It was almost the end of the day at the garage, and everyone was going through their usual routines with a few little adjustments. Kakashi and Naruto, normally oblivious to their looks, were scrubbing at their faces at the sink in the corner surreptitiously. Most of their conversation was about how hot it was and didn?t that water feel nice, but they were simply skirting the issue. They knew exactly why they made themselves more presentable. Sasuke, trying to get in that last bit of work before the other two men began to annoy him too much to keep going, purposefully ignored them. They?d been doing this for a week already. It was a useless behavior.

Not much later Sakura walked into the garage, in a cute little red and white sundress, radiant as always. Furtively, Sasuke dabbed at the grease on his face with a handkerchief and then rolled out from underneath a car to meet her, stowing said handkerchief in his pocket before anyone saw it or his concession to cleanliness.

?Why Sakura, my dear, you simply must come earlier one of these days and see what we do here. I?d be very willing to give you the tour myself of this humble premises.? Kakashi?s eyes traveled over Sakura in a way that made Sasuke want to hurt him quite badly. Maybe just a broken leg.

Naruto ran up with an excited hug for his friend. ?We?re having dinner tomorrow, right? I didn?t get the day wrong did I??

?No, no. It?s tomorrow. Unless there is another Friday this week, and in that case I wouldn?t know. I?ll cook something really tasty for all of us, but I don?t pretend to be the best cook in the world.? Her laugh was a little husky, as it came from deep in her throat.

Once Sasuke had all of his gear put away he grabbed Sakura?s hand and pulled her from her admirers to the door without a backwards glance at the other two men. ?Until tomorrow then!? She called over her shoulder.

They were several blocks away before Sakura began speaking to him. He hadn?t let go of her hand and it was nice to enjoy any display of affection, even one so small as that. ?Someday you?ll let me hold an actual conversation with them, I promise you, or else I really will come early and let Kakashi give me the tour.?

?No you won?t.?

?You?re lucky I love you. I won?t let anyone else give me orders like that. Not that I listen to you, but at least I let you say it without getting angry.? It was said so casually, but she bit her lip afterwards when she realized she had told him she loved him. They had only been going out officially for about a month and half or so, and she worried it might be too early to be telling him something like that. Couldn?t take it back now.

Thankfully (or perhaps not), he didn?t seem to notice and they made their usual speedy walk over to the bus stop. Even when they sat down at the bench, he didn?t let go of her hand. After some consideration she decided not to mention it should it turn out that he simply forgot he was holding it. A month had not provided Sakura with enough confidence to think she could predict what he was thinking. Secretive to a fault, that was her Sasuke. . .

?Before my brother knew how to drive, he used to ride the bus with me to school.? His hair, which needed a trim, obscured his face when a warm wind blew through the street and kicked up dust at the two of them. Sasuke?s hand clenched around hers almost painfully.

It was unbelievable. Bringing up his brother on his own without her even soliciting that he share. Last time she had tried to ask about his family, he had yelled at her and stormed out of the apartment. He came back late that night and apologized for yelling at her but still refused to speak of the past or his family. Sakura simply left him alone.

?Then I turned eight and I told him I didn?t need him there anymore. I was old enough to take care of myself, I said.? She squinted against the sun, low on the horizon, to spot his smirk before it died. ?It wasn?t too much longer until I got the chance to try out that theory.?

Once Sakura had reclaimed her hand, she hugged the boy next to her. Despite his legendary distaste for her touchy feely mannerisms, he allowed her to hold him now. No one was around, but even if anyone was she would have done the same thing. It was just the time for it, and when Sasuke didn?t fidget or complain, she really squeezed him for all she was worth. Then the time limit of acceptance ended, almost as soon as she was really beginning to enjoy it. Sasuke extracted her with an expansive shrug of his shoulders and they went back to sitting on the bench as if nothing had occurred.

The bus turned the corner and Sasuke got a pained look on his face. He got Sakura?s attention while the bus pulled to a stop and said softly. ?What I?m saying. . . I love you too.? Sakura made motions rather like that of a fish on dry land before she hopped after him onto the bus.

Come hell or high water, she was getting his hand back and there was no way she was going to let go.












AOD: Just a lemon left, not really any more story. Read part five if you wish or not based on that info. ^__^

[bookworm]

Yeah!!!!!!!!! *punches fist in the air* Go, Sakura!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *sigh* I should read more of these kinds of SasuSaku fics. It makes me like them more.