A/N: Uh yeah...hi? I know it's been about three years since I've updated, but I lost my muse. I think this just might be a filler chapter. If the beginning drags on, I'm actually afraid to post this. Let me know what you guys think. Should I continue this story? Rewrite it from the beginning? Or just quit and pack up and leave. Reviews are much appreciated! Sorry for the mistakes blah blah blah...read on!
Standard Disclaimer Applies: Anything worth recognition does not belong to Frankie.
Caught Up In Between
Summary: AU Sasuke and Sakura were inseparable when they were kids. Then Sasuke left with high hopes of becoming famous, leaving little Sakura to fend from the bullies herself. When he comes to town for a visit, can they reconnect, or will Sasuke's dream of being famous keep them apart? sasusaku.
C. h. a. p. t. e. r. 4:-: Situations
-x-
"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there. With open arms and open eyes."
–Incubus
-x-
The next morning, Naruto woke up to banging on his door.
"WHAT?" He yelled out irritated.
"Where's Sakura!" Sasuke's voice permeated through the closed door.
Naruto shot out of bed. "What do you mean where's Sakura?"
He pushed Sasuke out of the way and ran to Sakura's room. He threw open the door and found a note taped to the vanity mirror.
'Gone to work. Be back at 9.'
"What the hell? It's 10am, when did she go to work?" Sasuke asked.
"Shit, it's a Sunday, she works a double shift plus overtime." Naruto explained.
"What why does she work so much?"
Naruto's face dropped with a guilty expression. He clenched his fists. "She works so much so that I-I don't have too."
"Where does she work?" he asked.
"She works at the Rainforest Café in the mall."
Sasuke smirked. "You know, all of a sudden, I feel like having lunch out today."
-x-
Sakura didn't know what pissed her off more. The fact that Naruto lied to her last night or the fact that all the other waitresses at work were giggling like maniacs whispering to themselves and forgetting to serve their customers.
She pushed through the crowds of giggling girls to get to the front when she spotted bright blonde hair.
Sakura groaned internally. That meant Sasuke was nearby. Which explained the ogling fangirls.
"SAKURA-CHAN! OVER HERE!" Naruto screamed. All the other waitresses looked at her with jealousy.
Sakura walked up to the two handsome boys. Naruto tackled her with a hug.
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto screamed while crushing her with his bear hug.
"Dobe. Let her breathe." Sasuke smacked Naruto on the back of his head.
When Naruto let go of Sakura, Sasuke held out his arms. "What no hug for your best friend?" he teased.
Sakura just rolled her eyes and stepped forward to give him a hug.
When all the girls realized THE Uchiha Sasuke was in the restaurant squeals and whispers erupted.
"OMG that Haruno girl knows him?"
"How's that possible?"
"Who's the cute blonde next to him?
"OMG ITS UCHIHA SASUKE!"
The restaurant manager came out from the back to see what the ruckus was all about. When he saw one of his most dedicated employees talking to two boys, he rushed right over.
"Haruno-chan, what's going on here?" He asked in a stern voice. Before Sakura could answer, Sasuke cut in.
"I apologize profusely for the disturbance we caused, my name is Uchiha Sasuke and I was hoping to have a peaceful lunch at this fine establishment." He winked at Sakura who looked at him in disbelief. The manager seemed to have stars in his eyes.
"Of course Uchiha-san! Welcome welcome welcome! I am the manager here, please have a seat! How many people will you be eating with?" The manager asked quickly.
"It will be a party of three, that is, if you let Haruno-san join us for her lunch break?" Sasuke asked with his most charming smile.
"Why most certainly! I'm sure Haruno-chan would be delighted to have lunch with you and your companion!" he exclaimed while Sakura made gagging gestures in the background.
"Aww, c'mon Sakuraaa-chyan you know you luurrrrrve us!" Naruto gave her puppy dog eyes. He grabbed her in a headlock and proceeded to ruffle her hair.
"Naruto geroff me!" came her muffled scream.
"You messed up my hair you blockhead! I work till 9!" She shoved Naruto.
"Come on Saks, I'm hungry. Let's have lunch." Sasuke easily grabbed her wrist and led her to a table.
Sakura glared at the two during the lunch. Naruto cowered under her glare because he knew she was still mad at him about last night. As for Sasuke, he continued on as if her glare was just another stare from a fangirl.
"You know Sakura, glaring at me like that will only make me think you have the hots for me." Sasuke smirked from behind his menu.
"Why can't you two leave me alone!" She yelled out in frustration. Work was the only place she was able to get away from all her home life. She was still trying to deal with everything that took place in the past two days.
"Now why would you ever want us to do a thing like that?" Sasuke smirked.
"Yeah, you love us too much Sakura-chan! Plus why work when you can hang out with two dashingly handsome men?" Naruto countered.
Sakura deadpanned.
"Could you be more full of yourself Naruto?"
"Sure can, and that's why you love me!" He exclaimed.
Sakura smiled and shook her head. Boys will be boys. She glanced over at Sasuke who seemed to be staring intently at the menu. The manager came by to take their order.
Naruto ordered the Primal Steak which was one of the café's specialties and Sasuke started his order off with Tomato Basil soup and ordered a Planet Earth Pasta as his entrée, Sakura wanted something light and stuck with a Calypso Salad.
As they sat around and waited for their order (which wasn't very long at all considering, THE Uchiha Sasuke was in the restaurant) Sakura went back to glaring at both of them.
"Okay, for real you guys, what are you doing here?" She pestered.
"We wanted to surprise you, is that so bad?" Sasuke answered.
"Yes considering you are THE Uchiha Sasuke and now that everyone knows you know me, they are going to bug the hell out of me with questions about you." She said.
"But Sakura-chan, we thought you liked having us around."
Sakura sighed. "It's not that Naruto, it's just that I'm at work and you guys are distracting me. I won't get paid if I'm not working, not to mention I'm losing money in tips."
"How much do you usually make in tips Sakura?" Sasuke asked casually.
"Depends on the night really, since today is a Sunday I can usually rake up about two to three hundred dollars just in tips. With Saturday's earnings in tips I can pay rent for the month, go grocery shopping and have money for gas."
Sasuke stared at her like she had grown another head.
"What?"
"Are you always that money conscious?" He asked.
"No, but it's always helpful to be. I'm not saying that Naruto and I are poor, I know for a fact Naruto's parents left him more than enough money to last him the rest of his life, and my parents did not leave me penniless either. But in case of emergency, Naruto and I can last just on the money I make, and not have to touch the money our parents left us anyway. At least not until we turn 18."
"So then why work so much?"
"What is this, the third degree?"
"Just answer the question, Sakura."
"Why?"
"Because I want to know more about you."
"If you wanted to know about me, then you should have read the letters I left for you on your doorstep." Sakura stood up. "Have a nice lunch, I'm going back to work."
Naruto looked at the person who was his sister and his best friend.
"She's not the same Sasuke, you have to be careful what you say to her."
Sasuke looked down guiltily. "I never read her letters because I was afraid as soon as I read one, I'd come running back here and ruin any chance I had at becoming a star."
"She needed you Sasuke-teme. And you weren't there. I think a part of her will never forgive you for that."
"When did you get so wise? And I'm not planning to leave her. Ever. I'm done with my career. I'm going to tell everyone I'm retiring."
Naruto gaped.
"Close your mouth dobe, you look demented." Sasuke smirked.
Naruto snapped shut his mouth and glared. "Whatever teme, just know that you can't weasel your way back into her life. She was mine first."
"We'll just see about that." The two boys glared at each other.
"Is there a problem gentlemen?" The manager had walked right up and felt the tense vibe emitting from the two.
"No sir, no problem at all." Sasuke continued glaring at Naruto as he stood up and dropped some bills on the counter. "Thank you for your service."
He walked straight to Sakura who was cheerily helping a family pick from the menu.
"I need to talk to you." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her outside.
"Sasuke! What the hell, let go of me, I was in the middle—"
He pulled her around and hugged her. Sakura stood there speechless, not quite sure how to feel.
"Sakura, I'm sorry." He said.
She was a statue not moving or speaking. Eyes wide open. Hesitantly, she lifted her arms up to lightly hug him back. "It's okay Sasuke-kun. You don't have to apologize."
"I realize things will never be the same, but I'll try my hardest to make you happy."
She smiled understandingly. "Sasuke-kun, you make me happy just by being back, by even remembering who I was."
He hugged her tighter. "I could never forget you, I told you that."
She gently pushed him away. "As much as I'd like to continue this chat with you, I seriously have to go back to work."
"Do you work tomorrow?" He asked.
"I work in the morning but I have the evening off."
"Okay I'll drop you off and pick you up tomorrow." He told her.
"Um no need Sasuke I can get here fine by myself."
"I'm picking you up and dropping you off tomorrow." He told her in a no-room-for-argument tone.
She raised an eyebrow. "Ooo-kayy." It was better not to question him.
-x-
Sakura waved goodbye to her manager as she made her way out the café and to her car. She almost had a heart attack when she saw that someone was leaning against her car.
"Sakura." A suspiciously familiar voice spoke up.
"Sasuke?" He stepped out into the light.
She sighed in relief. "Man you seriously gave me a heart attack. " She walked over to the driver's side of the car. "What are you doing here?"
"I had someone drop me off so I could ride home with you." He answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Ummm, okay? Hop in." She said as she got into the drivers side and unlocked the passenger door for him. "How'd you get Naruto to stay at home?"
"I didn't tell the dobe where I was going." He smirked.
"Ah, very nice." She giggled.
The ride was spent in silence while Sakura hummed along with the radio. Sasuke wanted to bring up the fact that he was going to retire from show business but didn't know exactly how to break it to Sakura.
"Hey make a left here." He said suddenly.
Sakura turned without question. His directions ended up leading them to the park where they played at when they were younger. Sakura took shaky steps towards the swings. Memories flashed in front of her eyes like film reel. Sakura clutched her head and dropped to her knees.
"Sakura!" Sasuke ran over to her and grabbed onto her shoulders. "What's wrong?"
She took deep breaths to calm herself. She looked up at Sasuke. "It's nothing, sorry, I'm fine." She slowly stood up with Sasuke's help and made her way to the swings. She sat down and kicked off before swinging into the night sky. She shut her sad eyes and let the wind rush past her hair as she swung higher and higher. Almost as if she was trying to reach the stars. She looked so peaceful with her eyes closed he didn't want to break the silence.
He inhaled deeply before beginning, "Sakura I have something to tell you."
"Hm?" came the hum of her voice.
"I'm going to quit acting…"
-x-
"Silence in black and white, falling forward as she, walks to the light."
–Hawthorne Heights
-x-
Started: 05.29.09
Finished: 08.13.11