[ May I ]

"Get back here, you bastard!" He kept the empty beer bottle swinging around above his head as he ran after a little boy with an age about 6 or 7.

The small boy kept looking back and after realizing that he was still being chased, he continued running.

The man started hiccuping, his drunken state was not helping him to catch the boy so easily either. But unfortunately for the boy, he turned to the right and down the alley. In the end, he got trapped in a dead end with nowhere to run.

"Hehe… *Hic* You think you can *Hic* run away from me… You bastard…" The chaser grinned evilly, his face red from drinking too much beer. The terrified preteen knocked into one of the garbage bins and fell onto the hard floor, defenseless.

"You killed your own mother… MY WIFE! You jinx, *Hic* I am going to kill you… *Hic* And you think… *Hic * that I'll believe what she said? That you're my child? *Hic* You bastard…" The man slowly yet steadily approached the child, whose petrified pair of amber eyes staring back at the drunk man.

"No… Dad, Please don't…" His finally spoke before a huge and powerful kick hit across the little boy's jaw. The impact of the kick made the child flew across the alley and landed on the ground with a loud thud.

The boy slowly tried to pick himself up, but to find himself being trampled by his so-called father. His legs were right above the boy's body, pushing him down without mercy.

"I dare you to repeat what you call me. You have no *Hic* authority to fucking call me that!" The insane drunkard man raised his glass bottle and smashed the lower part into pieces against the wall. He brought the bottle closely towards the child's face.

"You have no, NO rights you got me? And you have no rights to tell me to stop either!" He hollered as he grabbed hold of the boy's tattered shirt and pulled him up before shoving him against the wall of the alley.

The helpless boy visibly tensed.

He forced his son to work, to pay for his gambling and beer money. Ever since the day when his wife died from giving birth to his and her child, he never acknowledged the red-haired as his son. Beating up him up seemed like a normal timetable in his life. Yet the poor boy never spoke about his abusive father to anyone. He always put up a brave front in front of everyone, keeping everything to himself.

Fighting and struggling alone, that was his own way of living.

After the final hit, the older one was finally satisfied as he smirked, dropping the boy down. New cuts and bruised began to appear on the redhead's arms and legs. Despite that, he still didn't make a sound, just like what his father wanted.

But his smirk disappeared and his satisfaction soon faded away. He seized the boy's shirt again, pulling him till up their eyes met. The little boy's chocolate-brown eyes wavered under the dark night, but he didn't struggle or fight back.

The boy witnessed the glass bottle raising above his head, and like a flash of lightning, it collided with the boy's head as his father released the grip on the boy's shirt. The glass bottle remained on its owner's hand, but it was dripping with fresh red blood.

The boy was flung onto the garbage bin fell onto the ground after being hit by the glass bottle. His head slowly went numb and he couldn't feel anything. No pain. Nothing.

His fluttered as darkness slowly enveloped him. The little boy tried to stand up, but he fell onto the floor for the umpteen time after he tried. The redhead used his hands and slowly touched the back of his head before looking at his blood-stained hand, his eyes widened in horror.

The man walked unstably and very slowly towards the injured child, as the boy wanted to escape again but he was too weak and tired to do so.

"Da-" He wanted to call his dad to stop, but right at that moment, he suddenly realized that no voice was coming out from his mouth. He tried again, trying to call out for his dad to stop all over again, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't.

Giving up, his eyes slowly shut away from this world…

"Mom?" The child was suddenly in a very bright lit and warm place, somewhere he had never been on earth. Before he could speak again, he felt a fond embrace, an embrace he was looking for, for seven years.

"I'm sorry, Sasori… It must be tough for you…" A soothing voice spoke, yet, he couldn't see the person who was talking at all. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you or love you like all the other mothers treat their child…" the voice continued.

The boy was speechless, happy and grateful. He always wished for this day, to hear his mother's voice, to be in his mother's embrace. Yet, he never knew he must go through so much just to get something that every other child could easily have.

The small yet sincere hug continued to hold onto Sasori, refusing to let go. But in a few seconds time, the voice spoke again, in a sadder tone.

"No matter what, I'll watch over you, protecting you, forever, and ever…" There was a pause in between before the voice spoke again.

"Trust me. I'll be by your side just like an angel, always protecting you."

The light slowly faded, and the crimson-haired boy went slowly back into the darkness he disliked. He felt cold and more red liquid was coming out from his head again.

"Hey! Hey! Are you alright?" An unfamiliar voice spoke. He used all his strength to open his eyes, trying to accommodate himself to the darkness around him. He squinted his swollen eyes and his gaze went over to the voice that called him back just now.

"You're awake! Can you hear me?" The voice spoke again, which was actually coming from a little girl. He opened his mouth and tried to reply, but no words came out. His eyelids became heavier and heavier, forcing him to shut himself away again. But before he was knocked out from consciousness, he could only thought to himself…

'Mom... Ar-Are angels...Pink?'

8:25am at a nearby Hospital

'What... Where…am I…'

His eyes slowly fluttered and he was staring at a white ceiling. His nut-brown eyes started to scan around the room. A huge machine was by his bed, beeping continuously.

He slowly sat up from his position, the warm blanket on him slid down from his shoulders. He stared at his surroundings in confusion as he cautiously reached over to touch the bandage on his head.

'What happened…' He thought.

The young boy was about to speak to call for someone, but all he could do was to open his mouth and no voice came out, just like a sick goldfish. The child tried again, and he was shocked and stunned and wanted to know what was happening to him.

'What…Why can't I speak?' He clutched onto both of his arms, feeling terribly afraid, cold and confused.

"He is badly injured, but we will have to go through further scans and tests once he wakes up." A male voice said. The injured boy raised his head and looked at the closed door. He could hear a faint yet clear conversation outside.

"That's good then…" Another unfamiliar voice spoke, but he was sure it was a female one.

"Mum, will he be alright?" Another voice spoke, but out of the three voices he heard, he recognized this particular one.

"Hey! Hey! Are you alright?"

"You're awake! Can you hear me?

That's the same voice he heard last night, that fateful night…

"But there's bad news here…" The male voice said, which the patient thought might belong to a male doctor.

"The boy had actually lost his voice…"

There was a gasp outside the room after the doctor break the news.

The injured boy was stunned, not to say the least shocked, surprised and extremely upset. He had lost his voice.

He couldn't speak anymore…

"That damage on the head had caused his nerve system to prevent him the ability to speak. But luckily, he can still hear. An operation could allow him to speak again but nevertheless he is too young to go through the operation that is so risky. He could lose his life if there is any minor mistake during the surgery." The doctor continued.

The child's grip onto his blanket got tighter. 'Why couldn't that hit back just killed me and left me bleed to death? Why must I continue to live?' He thought.

'Why…'

"Dear, wait for me here, I'll go with the doctor to do some minor arrangements." The mature female voice spoke. After that he could hear the sound of their footsteps getting softer and softer, until there was no more.

"Click."

The boy raised his head again, to find himself staring at the little girl, pink locks covering her face as she popped her head into the patient's room. Her emerald eyes met his coffee-colored ones. The girl slowly entered the room, both hands were put behind her back as she slowly approached him.

But just a short distance could allow her to trip and fall over the wires of the machine.

"Ouchy…" The pink-haired girl rubbed her knee as she glanced at the redhead who was staring at her weirdly. "Heheh, sorry. I'm just a bit clumsy..." She rubbed the back of her head innocently, her face tinted pink.

She approached him closer and sat on the corner of the bed, looking at the injuries the boy had suffered.

"Mum said that your Daddy is arrested by the police, he's such a bad guy! He has injured you so much." She said angrily in a huff, crossing her arms in anger and glared at some random object on the small cabinet beside the bed. But then her eyes soon softened after her gaze moved to the injured boy once again.

He didn't respond or change his expression. All he does was just staring at his feet, deep in thought.

"Hey… You can hear me right?"

As he couldn't reply, he nodded in response.

'He must be really upset… maybe I should cheer him up!' The girl ruffled her bubblegum-colored hair and continued pondering until an idea struck her mind. She smiled as she sat closer to the boy.

"How 'bout introducing yourself? What's your name?" She asked. The boy lowered his head and all he did was open his mouth, no voice came out.

The girl said bit her lips sadly when she realized what she had said. She then looked around and went to the drawer. After pulling the first drawer, she found a pencil and two pieces of paper and took both of it out. She handed a piece to the boy.

"Why don't we write it down!" She said, with a bright smile across her face. She took the pencil and began writing on the paper.

'I like Pink, and you can call me anything but Pinky. I am 5 years old. My hair color is naturally pink. I like to eat ramen and anything with strawberry on it. I also like to play with my small and cute collectable furniture set! My dream is to become a furniture designer!' She wrote on the piece of paper and handed the pencil to him.

"Here! It's your turn." She said. The redhead stared at the blank piece of paper, not sure what to write. "You can go just according to how I write if you don't know how to..." The girl responded.

'I like red, and I don't have any nicknames. I am 7 years old. My hair color is naturally red. I don't have any favorite food or any hobbies. My dream…' He stopped there while looking at the girl.

"Don't you have any dream? Like you want to become a lawyer, a teacher or anything?" She asked. He shook his head in response.

She took the paper and looked at him with her two bored looking eyes. "First, you have a very nice handwriting and second, you sure are boring…" She commented as the patient shrugged.

"Oh yeah, I've forgot the most important part." She said as she took the pencil and wrote down.

'My name is: Har-'

"Snap!"

The lead of the pencil broke off. The innocent pink-haired girl looked at the pencil and smiled sheepishly again. "Hehe, never mind, my name is actually Haru-"

"Hey little sweetheart, could you come out for a while? The doctor wants to check on the boy now." Her mother made a hand gesture, indicating her to come out of the room. She nodded while she jumped of the bed and looked back at the boy for the final time.

"Take care! I guess we will meet again!" She waved, heading towards the door obediently.

As both mother and daughter were waiting for the lift, the small girl then spoke. "Mum, what will happen to him after he recovers? Why don't we ask him to stay with us?" She asked her mother.

"Sakura dear, I will certainly do but I'm afraid your father will not allow it…" Her mother said.

Sakura stared disappointedly at her feet as they entered the lift together, "but don't worry Sakura. I have a good friend. She is actually working as a counselor that helps these poor children and I am sure she can help him much more than what we can do for him." The girl's bright green eyes soon lighted up.

"He'll be fine, right?" She asked again. She didn't know why but she just wanted to protect the poor boy from any further harm.

"I'm very sure." Her mother patted her on the head as they left the lift, "he'll be well."

0o0

"I'll refill the jug of water for you." The nurse said, walking out of the door. The check up was done and other then his disability to speak, he had no other serious injuries.

He looked at the small table before pulling the first drawer out. The broken lead and the pencil was replaced with a new one by the nurse. The two sheets of paper which the girl had left were still inside.

He slowly took it out, glancing at the paper. He gently placed the paper on his lap. The beeping from the machine beside him never stopped.

'If my angel were to fall, I'll catch her with both of my hands.'

To be continued

Author's Note:

I disclaimed everything from this chapter onwards. I do not own Naruto or anyone in this story

Yesh, my lovable pairing SasoSaku. I've thought a lot about it and came up with this . I don't know if all of you would like it but I've put in many effort on this story to share the SasoSaku love with everyone. You can criticize my story or anything you want. Criticism is the only thing that can make me better and know where I can improve on. Please R&R