Chapter Twenty-Two

"Well are you sure it's her?" Sakura asked Sasuke while holding the small Polaroid picture in her hand. The pair sat in a parking lot, about to walk into an empty diner almost two hours away from their city. "That's definitely her, are you ready?"

"I can't believe I dyed my hair." She said while pulling down the hood of her jacket, revealing her temporarily dyed Black hair. Sasuke looked at her, and cupped her face, before kissing her forehead. "You look beautiful." She blushed a little, before putting the picture in the console of his car, and saying, "Let's get going."

When they opened the door to the diner, they heard the bell above the door chime, followed by an older man's voice as he welcomed them. Sakura smiled at him politely, before following Sasuke to a booth that was away from the windows.

They both glanced over the menu, and when Sasuke looked at Sakura, he could see the nervousness in her eyes. "We're fine, everything is going as planned." He said to her, making her nod while running her fingers through her hair. "I know."

  Before he could say anything else, they were approached by a young woman with dark brown hair, and big brown eyes. Sakura recognized her as the girl from the picture that Sasuke had, only now she was obviously older.

"Thank you for dining with us tonight, my name is Izumi and I'll be your waitress for tonight. Can I get you guys started with some refreshments?" Sakura looked up at her, and smiled while Sasuke kept his eyes glued to the menu.

"Hi, we'll both have two waters." She nodded with a sweet smile, "Alright, I'll have those right out." When she left, he looked up finally, and watched the side of her face as she poured the water into a cup from behind the counter. "That's definitely her." Sakura said, making him nod while she started to walk back to their table, "Here you guys go, have you decided on your entree?"

Sakura did all the talking again, "We'll just have two Cobb salads." "Sounds good, I'll have those right out." Izumi walked toward the kitchen, and put the order where the cook could see them, before walking back to the front of the restaurant.

As Sakura reached to put the menu's back, they heard the door chime, followed by footsteps, and the voice of a young child. "Mommy!" They exclaimed while rushing over to her, Izumi smiled at her child before kneeling down, and picking him up into her arms. "Mieko, hi sweetie, where's Daddy?" She spoke with a soft tone as she noticed he was accompanied by one of his father's friends.

"Daddy said that he had to do business, and uncle Toby brought me here." Sasuke looked up at the door, as he said that, while the man named Toby just stared at him intently. Though Sasuke tried his best to disguise himself, he couldn't shake the feeling that the random man knew exactly who he was. "You can leave now." Izumi said to him while rolling her eyes, making Obito grab her arm gently.

"I see you're still being a bitch to me."She smiled brightly at her son, "Go sit down at the table right there, and I'll get you some crayons and something to color, okay?" He nodded as she let him down, "Okay!" When she stood up, and looked into Obito's eyes she said truthfully, "I don't like you."

"Come on, Izumi. You don't mean that. I mean I did have you first." He said with a smile while reaching for her shoulder, "Don't touch me, and you need to stop, we were practically kids. Now, I have to get those nice people their food, so either sit there and color with my son, or leave, Obito."

Sasuke watched the entire scene unfold, and he noticed the obvious tension between the two of them. Obito must've felt his eyes on them, because he looked back at Sasuke, and shook his head, before going to sit at the table with his Godson. "Do you know him?" Sakura asked him, and he shook his head. "I don't think so, but he seems to know me."

"Well you didn't do much to hide your identity." She criticized, making him shrug while asking, "Was I supposed to dye my hair pink?" She rolled her eyes, "Or maybe do a little more than just put on glasses and a hat."

"You're right, I should put my hood up." Sakura laughed a little as he did so. "You look like a completely different person." She said sarcastically making him laugh a little. "Thank you, Iku." He said, addressing her by her fake name. "You're welcome""Mommy! I spelt my name." The young boy said with a bright smile on his face, making Sasuke look up at him. Sakura glanced at him, and smiled at his cuteness.

"Good job, Mieko. Next time a person asks what your name is, what will you say?" The waitress asked her cherubic son, with a smile on her restless face. "Mieko Uchiha." Sasuke's eyebrows rose as he said that, "That's right, Sweetie." Sakura looked to Sasuke, and snapped her fingers in front of his eyes to get him to stop staring at them. She had been listening, and though it was shocking to hear that his seemingly evil brother had a child, his staring was obvious.

"Wow." He said softly, and Sakura froze, not sure of what to say. All she wanted to do was hug him, but she knew she had to wait. "Are you okay?" She asked him in a hushed tone, "We can leave." She offered, making him shake his head while clearing his throat.

"I'm fine, and you haven't eaten all day.""I'm not too hungry really." His onyx eyes finally looked into her caring ones and he said, "I'm okay." Sakura didn't question it anymore, though she saw an unreadable expression in his eyes.

Sasuke was a confusing guy, but Sakura usually could read his emotions simply because she knew him so well; Only, this time she couldn't. They weren't full of anger, confusion, or even tears. "Okay."

After a few moments, Izumi was walking toward their table with their salads in both of her hands. "Alright, two salads for the beautiful couple." She said with a bright smile, although her eyes held a blank stare."Thank you, Izumi." Sakura said with a smile, "It's my pleasure. Can I get you two anything else?"

They both shook their heads, "I think we're good. Thank you though." "Of course, I'll be right at the counter if you guys need anything." As Sasuke ate his tasty salad, Sakura couldn't stop her anxiety from making her stomach ache. "Are you okay?" Sasuke asked her, and she nodded though she didn't mean it. "I just don't have an appetite right now."

"You haven't eaten all day." "I'm just really stressed." Sasuke nodded in understanding, "Well could you take a small bite?" Sakura gave him a small smile, before doing as he asked. "I'll just get a to-go box."

Sasuke nodded while waving Izumi over, "What can I do for you guys?" "Just two to-go boxes, please." She smiled with her infectious smile on her face, "Sure, I'll have those out with your bill in one second." They both nodded, before she was off to get their things. "You could've finished eating."

Sasuke shook his head, "I got what I needed." Her eyebrow rose in confusion, "But you didn't even ask her anything." She said while he drank water from his glass. His eyes watched Obito as he left Mieko alone at the table to answer his ringing phone.

Once he set the glass down, he smiled at how cute the toddler was as he sat at the table patiently. "Yeah, I had a change of heart." Though she was confused, she nodded and didn't say another word.

"Here you guys go, have a goodnight, and drive safe, my husband just informed me that there's a big thunderstorm coming." "Oh really? Thank you so much for telling us." Sakura said to the young woman, making her nod. "Of course, have a goodnight.""You too, Izumi."

Once they left a tip on the table, the couple left the restaurant, unaware of the young child that trailed behind them, in order to catch up to his ball that was rolling out of the front door. "Should we try and make the drive back?" Sakura asked Sasuke as they walked toward his car, while Meiko started to head toward the empty road as he was distracted by the red ball.

Obito walked through the door, after talking to his friend on his cellphone, and the bell made Izumi look up. "Where's my son?" She asked Obito, making him look to the booth where he was supposed to be. "I left him there, maybe he's in the bathroom." She shook her head while feeling her heart sink from anxiety, "No, because I would've seen him."

Izumi rushed to the door of the restaurant, while Sakura looked over her shoulder at the sound of a loud horn honking. Dropping the boxes that were in her hands, she sprinted toward the young boy as she saw the lights of upcoming traffic reflecting onto his skin.

"Meiko!" His mother screamed while following after Sakura, making Obito realize where his Godson was. Her son froze in the middle of the road, and looked for his mother as it started to rain lightly.

The semi-truck was a mere few yards away, and honked loudly at the young boy, though they didn't have the common decency to stop, as he started to cry from freight. Sakura luckily grabbed him and held him in her arms, before anything happened to him, and he instantly clung to her.

"It's okay, Buddy. You're safe, and everything is okay." She whispered to him while caressing his back and returning him safely to his mother's arms. Sasuke just stared at her with his heart racing, wondering why she'd risk her life for a stranger, but admiring her for doing so.

  She's amazing, he thought to himself. "Meiko, you can't do that, okay? We've always told you to not play close to the street, remember?" Izumi spoke to her child with tears in her eyes as her heart couldn't help but beat erratically.

"Thank you so much. I'm so sorry that you even had to do that." Sakura shook her head, "Don't worry about it, accidents happen." Izumi nodded while kissing her son's forehead as he no longer cried, "Are you a mom?" "Hopefully one day." Sakura said with a smile, "Well you'll be a great one. You really saved my son's life."

"Don't mention it, Izumi. It's the least I could do, really." A small smile came to her face, and she sighed while shaking her head. Sasuke stood a few feet away, and when Sakura walked toward his car, he just shook his head while leaning against his car with his arms crossed. "You're amazing." He said aloud, making her shake her head with a smile on her lips, and a cute blush to her cheeks.

"I dropped our salads." She said with a pout, while she stood in front of him as he opened the passenger side door for her. His hand caressed her cheek, before he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "We'll find something."

A blush came to her cheeks, feeling his loving gaze watch her as she sat in the passenger seat, before he closed the door behind her. When he glanced over his shoulder, he noticed that Obito still stood in front of the diner.

"It was bold of you to come here." He said with his hands in his pockets. "I won't be back." Sasuke answered while walking to his side of the car, "I sure hope so." Though Sakura couldn't hear what Obito was saying, she saw Sasuke's facial expression change as he asked, "And why is that?" The man shrugged nonchalantly, "I just wouldn't want anything bad to happen." Sasuke crossed his arms, and walked around the front of his car.

  "Are you hinting at something?" "Not at all. I'm just saying, you should be more careful. You never know who's watching." Once he said that, Obito pulled a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked the man, as soft droplets of rain fell against his window shield. "That's for me to know, and you to find out, Sasuke." When he said that, Sasuke's eyebrows scrunched in confusion, and Sakura opened the car door. "We should go before the storm starts to get bad."

"The girl's right. Have a safe trip." Obito said before taking a swig from his cigarette. Her emerald eyes looked into his, and he shook his head, before finally getting into his car. Speeding off, Sakura asked him as she saw how tense he was, "What was all of that about?"

"He knew who I was." Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion, "Do you know him?" "I have no idea who he is. Itachi never had a friend named Obito." Sakura nodded while placing her hand on his knee, as he continued to speed on the busy road. "Okay, well don't stress about it. We will figure it out one step at a time."

"Sasuke." She spoke as he recklessly sped through a red light. Though she trusted him and his driving ability, she was already incredibly stressed. Her heart was practically beating out of her chest as she asked, "Can you slow down?" He was completely zoned out as he focused on getting out of the small town.

"Sasuke, if you don't slow down I'm going to be sick." She said loudly, making him abruptly hit the brake. Her body jerked forward, before the safety belt pulled her back against the leather seat.

"I'm sorry." He said softly, while she closed her eyelids and tried to calm down. "Hey, look at me." Sasuke said after pulling the car over to an empty warehouse parking lot. His hands cupped her face, and when her eyelids opened his thumb caught a tear that fell from her left eye.

"What's wrong?" Her bottom lip pouted and her perfect eyebrows furrowed, as she started to cry even more. "It's selfish." A small smile came to his lips, "That's okay."

"I-I just hate how nothing ever goes right for you. It's like you always take one step forward, to take five steps back, and it just hurts me to see you so stressed out. I just really wish I could take all your pain away, Sasuke." Sakura said, making his heart flutter, though he tried not to show it. Leaning over the console that sat between them, Sasuke kissed her forehead. "You make my life worth living, Sakura."

A blush came to her face when he said that, and her eyes stared into his onyx ones. "I genuinely don't think that I could live without you." Sakura said truthfully. "You'll never have to." He said truthfully, "There's no way you can promise me that." She said while another tear fell from her emerald eye.

"You could be here one day, and gone the next. T-that's why I get so annoying, and I'm sorry for always asking you how you are, or if you've slept well recently, but I just worry so much about you. I want, no, I-I need you here with me, Sasuke." Sasuke's heart broke for her as she spoke such heartfelt words to him.

"You're not being annoying, and I'm sorry for ever making you feel that way, because you are one of the only people who have genuinely cared about me, and I appreciate that much more than you'll ever know. There's no need to worry, I'll never leave you, Sakura." He said while looking into her tearful emerald eyes.

Nothing else was said as the sound of the rain hitting his car filled the void of silence. Sakura believed his words, only she knew that there was no way he could guarantee any of it; or at least her anxiety made her think she knew.

Sasuke was made aware of her mental illness weeks ago, and he was communicating with her well and truthfully, only she thought that she was pestering him, and being irritable, even when she wasn't. Fearing that she was becoming annoying, Sakura nodded, and took a deep breath.

"I'm overreacting, aren't I?" Sasuke shook his head in disagreement, "You're not. You've had an incredibly stressful week, and after everything that happened tonight, I can't imagine you behaving any other way." He reassured her, making her nod. "Thank you."

Tilting her head to the left, Sasuke leaned in and kissed her lips passionately, with his hands gently pressed against her face. She smiled against his lips, and parted her own before lightly flicking her tongue against his bottom lip. A blush came to his cheeks as a soft moan left his parted lips, making Sakura smile a little.

Pulling away from his lips with a small trail of saliva leaving their lips, Sakura asked, "Backseat?" When Sasuke nodded, she pulled the passenger seat forward, before climbing into the backseat, while he did the same. His arms crossed as he pulled off his jacket and shirt in one motion, making her bite her bottom lip from the way his muscles flexed.

Leaning forward, he pulled her petite body on top of him, before pulling her jacket off to expose her pink bra. Her hand made him look in her eyes, rather than her breast, before kissing him sensually. His hands were against her hips while her's sat against his neck, before her lips kissed the bare flesh roughly.

Though the car was a cramped space, they made it work as their hands worked to unbutton each other's pants. "Can I?" He spoke into her ear softly, while his right hand slowly caressed her inner thigh. A blush came to her face, and she soon realized that she wasn't in the right state of mind as tears came to her eyes subconsciously.

His onyx eyes looked into her's, and he saw the tears begin to weld. "Sakura." He said softly, moving his hands to her face. "I'm not okay." She allowed her tears to fall, and Sasuke's thumbs caressed them away.

"What happened?" The tone he used with her made her completely unravel, and as her crying became more intense, he held her body closely. The words her friend had told her only a few days ago stuck with him, and he remembered that he had to patient with the young woman. "I'm sorry, let's just keep going."

"Hey, we don't have to. I want to make sure you're okay, Sakura." He said with concern in his onyx eyes. "I-I'm fine. I'm just having a moment." She lied without looking him in his eyes, "You're lying." Tears continued to fall from her eyes, and she didn't know what to say to him.

Before they both knew it, she was spilling out the truth. "I haven't felt the same since I relapsed. L-like sometimes I do things, and it doesn't feel real, like the other night I was with Sasori, a-and ugh." He watched her as she brought her hands to her face, trying to stop her mind from racing.

"Everyone says that I shouldn't keep hanging out with him, because whenever we do anything I have to be high, but I wasn't Sunday night. I really wish I was though, because I can just remember it all, and I-I feel horrible. Like I can't even explain the way I feel." Sasuke nodded, trying to understand the words she was saying.

"And I don't want to tell my friends, because they're going to tell me something I don't want to hear, and I'm trying not to think about it, but it's like every time I close my eyes, there he is." She said with a laugh leaving her lips, as she continued to cover her face with her hands.

"Then I got my hand on some meds, and I've had so many intrusive thoughts that I'm actually scared of what I'll do to myself, if I'm left alone for too long." When she said that, his heart rate quickened, and he felt like he should've said something, but he was at a loss of words by her honesty.

"Then the other day I realized that I have feelings for you, Sasuke. Like I-I love you, and I know you're not there yet, but as pathetic as it sounds; I'll wait for you to love me the same way that I love you." Her eyes finally looked into his, and she immediately felt oddly shameful.

"I'm sorry." She said softly, while getting off of him, and leaning over the console to find her jacket. Grabbing her arm, she stopped and looked at him. The full moon provided them with light, and he saw her empty Emerald eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked her, and she gave him a small smile. "What's there to talk about?" He looked at her for a second, "It sounds like something happened between you and Sasori, and it's made you suicidal." She shook her head immediately."It's not his fault, I don't even know what happened really, like I guess I could've-"

"What happened?" He asked her, cutting her off before she could rationalize what ever happened. Her plump lips parted, and closed as she contemplated what she wanted to say. "You can't get mad." Sasuke nodded, "I just want to help you, Sakura."

A sigh left her lips, "W-well I blacked out while on some drug, and I guess we did stuff, but I couldn't remember anything. We worked it out though, because we didn't like actually have sex, so it's fine I don't care." Though she said that, they both knew that she meant otherwise. "And it's like my fault anyways. I always get like that when I'm high, and I never really told him that I wasn't okay with it."

Before he could interject, she continued to tell him everything. "But after the party last weekend, he came over, and we were kissing. Then I don't know, I wasn't high or anything, I was just completely out of it, and I like told him to stop, but I was so passive that he thought I was kidding. So I guess it's my fault, like I just laid there and let him touch me, until I bled everywhere like a fucking virgin. I'm such an idiot." She said with a giggle, trying to stop herself from crying.

"A-and I'm still like texting him back and stuff, so I think that I'll get over it. It's not like he was like forcing me to-" Sasuke cut her off, "Is that how you got that bruise?" Biting her bottom lip she nodded, "Yeah, but-" He shook his head and said, "That's assault." Her forehead scrunched, and she shook her head, "Stop, you sound like my friends."

"Well what if Hinata was in the same situation? What would you tell her?" She continued to be dismissive. "That's not the same thing." "And why not?" The question only made her mind race even more, and before she knew it she was sobbing in the backseat, with his arms around her. "Fuck." She continually mumbled, hating how vulnerable she felt. "I'm so weak, what the fuck."

"I don't think you're weak, Sakura." Sasuke said to her while his hand caressed her cheek, making her bring her hand to his. "I just laid there, Sasuke. Like I tried to say I wasn't in the mood, and I was just so passive. This is all my-" Her eyes watched him shake his head, "No. It's not your fault, you told him to stop, and he didn't.

This is in no way your fault, Sakura. He's your friend and you trusted him to stop when you told him to." It annoyed her to know that he was so right, because she kept wondering why she couldn't believe him.

If her friends had been in that position, then she would be telling them the exact same thing, but now as she sat there, she couldn't believe it. "I can't talk about this anymore, Sasuke. I know you're right, I-I just don't want to think about it all right now. Thank you for listening though." She said while grabbing her clothes from the front seat, alongside his so they both could get dressed.

The roles between them had reversed, and as she started to shut him out, he chose to respect her boundaries. "Thank you for tonight." He said while looking at her beautiful face, making her blush. "Of course, Sasuke." His eyes stared into her's as his lips parted to speak, "Can I tell you something?" She started to internally panic as he asked that, because she could read his mind. "No?" Sakura answered before looking down to button her jeans.

"It's good though." "I'm not ready to hear it, and you're not ready to say it." His eyebrows scrunched as he gently grabbed her hand, "I am." A sigh left her lips, "No, Sasuke, you're not.""Sakura-" She cut him off while shaking her head, "I shouldn't of said that earlier. We're not even dating. I can't expect so muc-" He cut her off, "You're right, let's just start with that." Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion, "Are you asking or telling me?"

"I'm asking." He answered smartly, making her look at him for a moment. "Are you sure?" Sakura was sure that she wanted to date him, but after everything that they did tonight, she wasn't sure if either one of them was in the right headspace to be making such a big decision. "Do you not want to?" He asked her, feeling the nervousness in the pit of his stomach. Those onyx eyes of his watched her facial expression as she bit her bottom lip, before caressing his cheek.

"I realized about a week ago how I felt about you, and I also realized that you, right now are incapable of reciprocating those feelings." Sasuke shook his head, "I understand where you're coming from, and you're right. Just last week I was thinking the same thing, but tonight has really changed me. When I saw my nephew, I couldn't imagine taking his father away from him. Itachi did it to me, and I know how it feels; I couldn't possibly do that to another person willingly."

His hands cupped her face while saying, "Though it is soon, I'm confident that the feelings I have for you are what I think it is. However, we can take this step by step, and I want you to be my girlfriend." He watched her emerald eyes light up, before she smiled and nodded frantically. "Okay, then yes." A smile came to his lips, before he kissed her passionately.