31 Days 6/?

[AngelOfDeath]

Working hard, or hardly working?. . . . uhhhh. . . the former.


WARNING: Some slightly more OOCness than usual. Blame it on the blood loss.


Disclaimer: (See Ch. 1)




Chapter 6




The strains of classical music filtered down through the noise and chatter in the restaurant, no doubt piped in by an expensive sound system. Tonight it was classical, and she had heard from Ino that it varied greatly depending on the mood they wanted to create that night. Sometimes there were themes, but those were all mere novelties to amuse people until their food came. The food was the most important thing, or so Sakura understood Chouji?s thoughts to run, and he ran a restaurant not a night club. Even Ino, who could care less about food except for its calorie count, had good things to say about the cuisine here. All this did not help Sakura, who listlessly pushed her vegetables around on her plate and tried to look like she was enjoying the evening. She knew she was failing, even though her acting skills were usually superb, because it was impossible to hide from Gaara. It wouldn?t do to try.

She couldn?t put her finger on why Gaara made her uneasy, and not in the exciting fluttery stomach way but the queasy and need to lie down kind of way. His eyes focused on her a little too long, and the way he spoke to her was always slightly off. The way he wouldn?t smile with his teeth unless he was displeased and his tendency to lapse into long silence as if he were waiting for her to say something. . . it all added up to a person she couldn?t deal with. Sakura didn?t like being placed in this sort of social situation. At work, it had been fine, because she received directions from him and she was left to manage her own time and organize her tasks. It had been ideal.

Would it be any easier if she had found Gaara attractive? He exuded power, oozing it from his pores in that way that had made more than one assistant on his floor weak in the knees. Disregarding the dark circles under his eyes, they were a lovely shade of green rather like her own and it complemented his hair color superbly. He was a gorgeous demon come to life. . . and yet. . . Sakura would rather be in a relationship with Naruto than Gaara. Considering that she had friendzoned Naruto so thoroughly, it did not speak well for Gaara?s chances with her tonight or ever.

?Is there something wrong with the squash??

?Hm?? She had drifted off again. Lost in a world of her own somewhere between the fork on her plate and her dazed plastic smile.

Gaara?s eyes narrowed. ?You seem to be distracted this evening. There?s something wrong.?

How very like Gaara. He didn?t ask questions, he gave you your answers. ?It?s the holidays. Things get so busy. . .? She didn?t know where she was going with this. If she said she was thinking about her plans, then she would be saying that she hadn?t been paying attention to him. If she said she hadn?t been thinking about anything, then she seemed like she was spacey and had no brain, a feeling she detested. Instead, she changed the subject partially. ?This was about the time when I would have been going around and collecting names for the office holiday party gift exchange. Is that still happening??

?I assume so.? Gaara had never participated. The gift exchange had only been for all the secretaries, assistants, and interns. ?Then again, maybe not.?

She sighed. The whole evening had been filled with probable conversation. She would ask a question and Gaara would give a muddled answer. Sakura assumed it came from living in a world where solid answers could get you cornered quickly if the other lawyer was quicker on the draw than you.

?Things aren?t the same without you there.? He threw it out there, casually, but it was the first sentence he had said all evening that instead of unsettling her filled her with a warm glow. At first the glow was happiness at the compliment, but then dull pink anger when she remembered whose fault it was that she wasn?t working for him in the first place.

?Thanks.? She stuffed a piece of her cooling entr?e into her mouth and chewed in an attempt to be kept from having to answer any other questions.

At least things hadn?t been totally disastrous.

Sasuke would have completely disagreed.

He watched her from his seat, brooding over the water glass that he rotated from side to side on one of its edges. The other three people at his table were talking to one another and he was happy to be excluded, particularly because he wouldn?t have responded or contributed in any way to the discussion. The full force of his attention was trained on Sakura and Gaara, observant eyes noting every gesture and analyzing it to its full extent.

?Sir!? The waitress tried again to get his attention. Being well trained couldn?t stand up against the Uchiha for long, and his bad temper combined with that fact that he had not ordered anything made her disinclined to be polite anymore. ?Your water??

Sasuke looked down at where a large ring of water was seeping into the tablecloth. His circular motions had grown too vicious it seemed, and the splashes were widening. ?What?? His snapping reply came. ?It?s water. It will dry.?

?Don?t mind him!? Naruto tried to smooth things over with the waitress, he had a special relationship with anyone who brought him food. ?We?ll tip you extra for having to deal with our cranky kid over there.?

Naruto calling him a child? How ironic. While his statement did not bother Sasuke, the fact that he had yelled it out and followed up with a laugh did. Naruto brought attention to himself infallibly, and as Sasuke feared when he glanced over at Sakura?s table, the furious green eyes of her dining companion were trained on Sasuke. He matched Gaara glare for glare, and it seemed to be with great reluctance that Gaara tore his eyes away before Sakura followed his gaze to Sasuke. It had hit the fan. And they hadn?t even ordered dessert yet.

He chose not to tell his table that he had been spotted. Ino wouldn?t do anything about it; she would say it was inevitable and again assert that Sakura could probably take care of herself. This whole adventure was a cheap thrill for her. Naruto would insist on storming over and saying hello, if they already knew they were there, blind to the fact that the positive of seeing Sakura would be far outweighed by the negative of further aggravating Gaara. Hinata would follow Naruto. That left Sasuke as the only sensible one in the party. He never wanted this kind of responsibility. Then again, he had chosen this for himself, this role. She had said clearly that she didn?t want his help. She didn?t want him.

?I?m going outside for some air.? Ino nodded, being the only one who heard as Naruto continued to tell Hinata one of his inane stories. No one could do right by him tonight, it seemed, because even he noticed he was crankier than usual.

Outside it was as cold as he had expected it to be, and various people exited to stomp their feet and clap hands together before they lit their cigarettes. Sasuke hated the smell of smoke, and felt that any habit that was so expensive was a waste, but for a moment inside he had started to notice how stuffy it was, how claustrophobic. She didn?t want him. . .

There was a pain in his chest. He had sat hunched over too long, it would appear, and he tried to work his arms and shoulders to loosen up again. It did no good to be so tight, because the tension would only cause headaches. He had had them before, and the whole department had suffered for weeks until he had figured out how to control them. The funny part was, it wasn?t exactly the same kind of pain in his body before his muscles locked up. Sasuke was sure it was nothing to worry about.

?What are you doing here?? Gaara?s voice caught him off guard. Sasuke?s body clenched, and he forced it to release before he turned to face his enemy.

Gaara was standing too close, trying to impose his presence on Sasuke. Sasuke, who still was a little bit taller, tilted his head to the side and regarded him with amusement. ?What do you mean?? Playing dumb was the surest way to make this situation worse, but for some reason he felt like he had something to prove.

?I expected this from Uzumaki, but seeing you here changes everything.? Gaara stepped away and began to walk them to a less populated portion of the building?s side to keep their conversation private, as well as to get them away from the large windows that might expose their ?discussion? to the diners inside. ?I told you to stay away.?

?And I?m telling you now that my friends brought me here without me knowing what was going on.? This was true. That alone was enough to confuse Gaara, but it wasn?t the whole truth.

Unfortunately, Gaara followed it up with the question he didn?t want to answer. ?Once you found out, why did you stay?? Torn from him, expressing everything about the situation that Sasuke couldn?t stand, Gaara hissed. ?She?s my prey. Find your own toy.?

Sasuke took a deep breath, feeling how cold it was and yet how warm his internal temperature. ?She doesn?t want you, and it kills you doesn?t it?? The implication that she wanted him was standing between the two men, but one didn?t want to say it and the other thought it wasn?t true. ?You can have anything in the world, bought or stolen, but you can?t talk your way into this. . .?

?Shut up.? Gaara hit the wall beside them with his palm. It wasn?t a punch, but it had started out as one against the brick until he caught himself. ?I don?t make idle threats. I?ll ruin your life if you cross me.?

?What if her choice has nothing to do with me?? It would be oh so satisfying to tell Gaara to his face how much Sakura would rather see him in traction than in a relationship with her. But admitting that he was no part of her motivation for staying away from Gaara brought back that weird chest pain again.

Gaara, who had been pushed to the brink all night by continued rejection from Sakura that he would not accept, swayed on his feet. ?Stay out of my. . . our lives. Or else.? The air was charged, like it had been the day that it had happened. In a fit of rage, frustrated because Sasuke had been elected student body President over him (strong female voter turnout assured that), Gaara had brought up Itachi. Sasuke couldn?t be President after the beating the boys had given one another, and almost got suspended, but Gaara had been in the same boat. Stalemate. ?Or else. . . everyone will know about Itachi.?

In seconds, Sasuke lost years as he was transported back to a time when he had always been possessed by a blinding rage at even the mere thought of his brother. The destruction he had wrought hadn?t concerned him, what tormented his dreams were his father?s dead body, his mother?s screams, and Itachi?s placidly smiling face the day before he left. Maybe it had been simply another day to everyone else, but Sasuke lost everything and the pain burned in him. When the punch landed on Gaara?s eye, Sasuke had almost not even been aware that he had thrown it. Like lightening, it was so fast.

A strangled noise of excitement worked its way out of Gaara?s throat and while Sasuke was still in the process of realizing what he had done, Gaara had connected solidly with his nose. Not being one to pull his punches, and having been on the brink of violence all night anyway, Gaara?s fist forced stars to pop into Sasuke?s vision. That had hurt, a lot.

They had jumped away from one another and taken a fighting stance when from the crowd of people looking with curiosity at the fight that had seemed to appear under their nicotine filled noses Sakura burst out.

?Stop that right now! Both of you!? She didn?t seem to notice the cold, in her thin dress, and throwing herself between them she forced them to halt. Gaara looked like he was going to slap her away for interfering, but when she flinched as he raised his hand he seemed to remember how to be civilized and put it back at his side.

The two men weren?t about to inform her as to what happened. It involved a lot of things between them, old and new, and both of them were smart enough to know that if Sakura knew that they had effectively been fighting over her she would take offense to being treated like an object to be won. They weren?t cavemen, and the strongest male was not going to be readily embraced by the female. In fact, thanks to the glory of modernity, often the opposite was true.

?Sasuke, you?re bleeding!? That was Sakura, she would sort out the facts later but right now there were certain things that had to be tended to. She always seemed to have her priorities listed, even in an emergency. Sasuke was grateful for that tendency at the moment.

?Sakura, let?s go.? Gaara, who would not manifest a glorious black eye for a few hours yet when the bruising finally eclipsed his dark sleepless circles, grabbed her by the arm and began to pull.

She looked at Gaara, shocked, forgetting her fear over her indignation. ?But he?s hurt. I have to do something.? With strength Gaara hadn?t thought she held in those slim arms she managed to yank her wrist from his grip. ?You aren?t stopping me. And this evening is over if you think you still want to prevent me from aiding him.?

When Sasuke smirked, mostly to rub salt in Gaara?s wounds, Sakura was quick to turn on him. ?And don?t think I?m not pissed of at you, because I am. If he hadn?t done it first, then I might have been tempted to hit you myself.? As opposed to her steely tones when she had spoken to Gaara, Sakura?s voice had sounded more like a scolding than truly furious temper.

?This isn?t the end, Sasuke.? Gaara would retreat for this instance, when he had been painted at the bad guy compared to the profusely bleeding man in front of him. ?Sakura, I shall talk to you later about tonight. There are circumstances. . .? For a second, his eyes pled with her to understand, to take his side, but the weakness was gone in a flash and Gaara disappeared into the crowd that was already losing interest in the scene now that there was no more violence.

Sasuke put a hand under his aching nose. It came away smeared with blood. It didn?t feel that bad, no worse than walking into a door, but Sakura was fussing over him as if he had something life threatening happen to him.

While Sakura pulled a handkerchief out of her purse to stem the tide of blood washing out of Sasuke?s nose, Sakura reflected on how her timing could have been better. When she had been waiting for Gaara to get back from the restroom, Sakura had had the time to look around a little. With her presence of mind and powers of observation back out of the depressing aura that Gaara brought her, she spotted Naruto and Ino immediately.

Naturally, she had thrown down her napkin in a fit and stormed over, demanding to know why they were here. Naruto tried to stutter out something about hearing it was a nice restaurant from someone while Hinata blushed and did that trick that only she could manage of disappearing in plain sight. Ino, bold as usual, felt no remorse for spying on her. It was when Naruto mentioned how Sasuke had been gone for a while outside that Sakura finally connected in her brain that the direction Gaara had left in had not been that of the bathrooms. She rushed out without explaining anything to her friends and forgetting all about how angry she was supposed to be.

?Put your head back. Hold this.? She put the now bloody handkerchief to Sasuke?s nose and forced him to staunch the bleeding with it. ?Let?s go. I?ll get a cab for us.?

Sasuke tried to look up and still obviously shake his head. ?I dod ned a cab. I drobe.?

?Well, you aren?t driving like this. Besides, I think I need to leave right now.? She looked back at the restaurant where Gaara and her friends were still all couched in. Yes, there were a lot of situations in that location that she didn?t want to cope with. Sasuke bleeding because of a curious argument was a far more personally important option to explore this evening. She didn?t care about her coat. She?d go get it later. Oh, and speaking of the coat. . .

?Look, I?m cold.? Sakura rubbed her bare arms. ?We?re going and you aren?t arguing. I?m sure they?ll take good care of your car.?

?My code. . .?

?No! No time for coats. We?re leaving right now, fixing up your face, and then you?re going to tell me a pretty fabulous story because it would have to be to keep me from finishing what Gaara started.?

Sasuke wanted to fight her more on this, but Sakura had entered a mood that couldn?t be reasoned with. It was as if all the passivity of the date had been bottling up her actual personality and now it was bursting out with a vengeance. This was good, to see her with some life in her, cheeks red and that usual look in her eyes as if he were the worst thing that she had ever had happen to her or possibly the best. For once she was smiling at him, too, in the way she smiled at all of her friends. It must be something like the Florence Nightingale effect. If he hadn?t been bleeding she would have cursed him out and left him standing here to take care of himself.

A flash of gaudy yellow later, Sasuke and Sakura were sharing a cab. It didn?t smell particularly savory, and the seat made a weird squelching noise, but Sasuke was grateful to be out of the cold and putting distance between he and Gaara. He was about to put his head down, gushing blood be damned, and give his address when Sakura jumped him and gave hers to the bored looking driver. Apparently bleeding men with pretty women in the back of a cab wasn?t even enough to raise his eyebrow.

Sakura leaned back on the seat with a sigh and checked on Sasuke again.

?I think I have some gauze at my apartment, and some basic medical supplies. I?ll take a look at it more thoroughly when we get someplace. . . cleaner.?

Sasuke took a breath through his mouth. It was odd that he felt like he wasn?t getting enough oxygen. ?Why are you qualified?? He got it out, though it sounded as stupidly nasal to him as it did to her. At least she didn?t laugh. Sasuke didn?t think he could take any more shame this evening.

?While I?m not in med school yet, I think I know a trick or two about treating a simple injury like this.? She smiled to herself. Being a doctor was in her blood. Sasuke had the dubious pleasure of being one of her first patients, in a way, since she had been seriously studying medicine. Informally, true, but seriously.

The sight of her with a huge textbook before her came back to his mind?s eye. So it wasn?t a hobby, it was her future career path. He felt a prick of admiration for her, glad that someone as obviously smart and capable as she was had not consigned herself to a lifetime of filing papers and typing reports. Not that she wouldn?t have plenty of paperwork to go through if she did become a doctor, or whatever it was she wanted to be in the medical field. He mused on how much it would cost to go to medical school in the current economy and soon enough felt her pressing at his side.

?This is it! Let?s go.? Sakura shoved some money at the driver and hustled Sasuke into her building. ?Don?t expect much. Things are always a mess, and I?m so tired when I get home. . . you know how it is when you live alone.?

Sasuke reflected that he knew more about living alone than most people, including Sakura. On the third floor, eight doors away from the elevator, was Sakura?s apartment and the inside surprised him. It was the night for that, it seemed.

?Go ahead and sit down, I?ll get the stuff out of the bathroom.? She put her purse down by the door and strode back down a short hallway and out of his sight.

He looked around, noting that despite her claim that it was a mess here that the living space was nearly as pristine as his own. There was a small mess around the spot on the couch where she must sit to watch TV, but nowhere else in the room looked lived in. It wasn?t dusty like his apartment, too. Another difference were the shelves lining her walls piled with books. It wasn?t just medical texts that graced these, he noted at he read some titles at random, but history, philosophy, general science, biography, literature, and. . . a line of books with improbably curly writing on the sides on the bottom shelf. He pulled out one of them and saw a woman with a heaving bosom falling into the arms of a man whose chest alone probably outweighed Sasuke.

?I think you should come back here, I don?t want to move the whole chest of supplies and it?s easier to do it in the bathroom anyway!?

Sakura?s voice startled him, forcing him to somewhat guiltily drop the romance novel he had been disdainfully examining. The apartment was small and it was easy to wander back and locate the bathroom. Sakura was bent over something in her dress and Sasuke quelled a flash of an impulse to pinch her on her bottom to see how she?d react. Being in her apartment made him feel giddy. Or maybe it was blood loss.

?This should do the trick. Oh!? She stood up and almost ran into him in the small bathroom. ?Come and sit down here, and I?ll get you fixed up.? Sasuke sat on the toilet, as she asked, and her gentle hands took her hopelessly bloody handkerchief from him and began to dab at him with some sort of cold liquid.

They spent a few minutes in companionable silence while she did her job and Sasuke tried to figure out what he was going to tell her when the questions began. Sakura was going to want to know things, and Sasuke didn?t want to be the one to tell her. Then again, he liked the idea of Gaara saying anything to her even less and he couldn?t count on that bastard to say nothing instead of twisting the truth to fit what he wanted to be true. Gaara would do anything to gain an advantage with Sakura, and Sasuke wasn?t going to let that happen.

?Other than a particularly purple looking and ugly nose, you?re as good as new. You?ll have to be kind to it, and sleep on your back for a few nights to keep from pressing on it, but I don?t think you broke anything. It looked so bad at first. . . .? She began to wring out the blood from the handkerchief in the sink and she gave him another smile, the real kind. Bedraggled, tired, . . . ?Now tell me why Gaara punched you.?. . . and cranky, she was still beautiful. Sasuke tried to kill that thought before it grew wings.

Sasuke tried to stall. ?Can?t we go somewhere else first??

?And have you possibly bleed on my carpets? Not likely. The bathroom is good enough.? At least she turned back to the sink to tend to her rinsing. The full impact of those mossy eyes of hers was making him feel like a little boy crying in the emergency room again. Damn Gaara, bringing up all those memories. . . ?I?m waiting.?

?Since you insist,? Sasuke grumbled. ?Naruto set me up tonight. I never would have been there otherwise.?

Her shoulders sagged and then righted themselves. ?Oh.?

?When I went outside, Gaara followed. We. . . have some bad blood between us.?

?You think?? She said sarcastically. Turning to face him, her eyes clouded with more worry than malevolence, she asked him again. ?Please, would you tell me??

That tone of voice, her sad face, the proximity of her body in this small room, it all combined to combust something in him. ?I didn?t want him to use you.? Sakura went still, eyes far away as if screaming an inner monologue in response to his words. ?Gaara?s dangerous. You don?t know how dangerous.?

She smiled, but not in a happy way, and held up her arm. The bruises there could not just have been from the one time he had grabbed her arm earlier. ?I know. He doesn?t know how to control himself, I think, because no one has ever encouraged him to. I?m sure he isn?t aware he hurt me. He was just trying to get my attention. . .?

Sasuke stood to confront her. It felt like a fire had been lit under him when he saw her bruised flesh. He had failed, even in a small way, to keep Gaara from hurting her. Belatedly, he wondered when this had become less about Gaara and more about Sakura.

?You shouldn?t see him anymore. I?ll help you.? Nervousness fluttered in his empty stomach. No one had ever had to count on him before. Even offering was unprecedented for him. It wasn?t only blood loss and lack of food that was making him act like this. Again, he cut off his thoughts before he could find anything deeper than that. Sakura was important. Sakura needed protection.

?Well, that?s nice of you, Sasuke.? She didn?t want to take him seriously. The punch must have addled his brains. ?What if he wants to go out again??

Sasuke frowned deeply. ?Say you have work at the office and it isn?t possible to get away. I can arrange things with Kakashi.?

?What if he wants to go out on a weekend??

?Make plans with Ino or Hinata or whoever,? He was coming to realize that there was actually very little he would have to do to protect her. Unless Gaara directly showed up, Sasuke didn?t have much of a role. Fine with him. He was starting to feel too attached to her anyway.

?And what about Christmas, huh? What if he wants to spend the holiday with me, are you going to take me with you instead? I can?t make excuses forever. . .?

Sasuke hadn?t heard her last sentence and was seriously considering her words. ?It wouldn?t be possible. Then again, all I do is visit my mother and she couldn?t care less.?

?That?s a little harsh.? Sakura felt like the mood had been lightening. He must be joking with her. Why would Sasuke feel any sort of sense of responsibility to her? ?I?m sure your mother cares.?

He shrugged. In a low tone he added almost to himself, ?Why would she? She?s been in a coma since I was nine.?

[wicked]

Gah! And the drama continues! DUN DUN DUN!

I can't help it AoD. I can't. I feel bad for Gaara! You have to write a GaaSaku after this one is finished. You must! But then I might start feeling bad for Sasuke because I love SasuSaku.... Crap.

But at least Sakura's getting closer to the truth about Sasuke's past. And at least Sasuke's beginning to understand what it is Sakura is/going to be to him. Huzzah.

More soon AoD! MOOOOOORE!

~Wicked

[Pikachu]

:B;I was telling Cheyrl this last night, after I read it... and all I have to say is.. there better be a bathroom make-out scene, and who knows what , on the next chapter. :B

[AngelOfDeath]

Sorry! We're only a chapter away from the lemon if that makes you feel any better. . .

Yeah, I know, the next chapter better be darned good justification by the time the lemon roles around. Then again, if you're so itchy for the lovin' then you should write and post some of your own.

HOHOHOHOHO

[Lauren]

GAH! AoD you have no idea how much you made my night. After FIVE call-outs, pissed off customers, pissed off managers (hey *I* didn't call out, jerks!), Super Bowl Sunday rush that we didn't have the staff to handel, and trying to run breaks, customer service, and the Express Lane single handedly....this really hit the spot ::sobs:: I'm totally with Wicked, I think we need some GaaSaku fluff to make it up to poor boy ;p OH! And one chapter away from the lemon! YESSSSSSS! Me and Cheryl have a new mantra now especially for lemon chapters.

Lars and Cheryl: GO FOR THE 'O'!

Sasuke: -_-;

Keep up dem writins' girlie!

[Oyuki]

wow. so gaara is scary. and poor sasuke. his mommy...