Hello there, I am back with another story.

Do enjoy and review.

Edited by the lovely WeepingCadaver.

-xxshadesofRed

Chapter One: Introduction

To love him is to know him.

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Smoke curls up the air as she took another drag of her cigarette, her face scrunches into a slight grimace when the bitter minty taste lingers on her tongue. She frowns at the cigarette in distaste. She stands up and throws the unfinished cigarette out of the window, listening to the slight hiss when it hits the rain.

She sits near the opened window, long slender fingers touches the cold window panel. She enjoys the weather, the rainy season was her favourite. She likes the cool breeze on her skin and the pitter-pattering sound of the soft rain. She closes her eyes and took this opportunity to enjoy every moment of this normalcy; it's not often that Sakura is at peace. She tries to clear her mind—shoo away all the bad thoughts and unwanted flashbacks, smiling slightly when her mind decides to show her a memory.

It was a lovely memory. She remembers the joy on Sasuke's face when she surprised him with tickets to his favourite band. Sakura knows how much he wants to see them live. She plans to give it to him on the day itself, but after seeing the sadness in her boyfriend's eyes when he found out the tickets were sold out made her heart ache. She knows he has been juggling school and work at the same time—trying to ace all his tests while earning money to pay his bills and saving up for the upcoming concert.

She remembers the way he kissed her, it made her breathless. She could feel the chills running down her spine; she could feel her heart pumping rapidly. She could feel her fingers griping onto his jacket tightly, she could feel the heat all over her body. Sakura stores this feeling into her pocket of memories—never will she want to forget how wonderful he made her feel.

A pair of arms snakes around her waist and she jumps lightly in surprise.

"You should have knocked," she says accusingly, narrowing her eyes a little when she heard his muffled chuckle.

"I'm sorry," he says, kissing her hair, "I will next time."

The corners of her lips twitch upwards as she rubs a thumb over his skin lightly. She turns around and buries her face into the crook of his neck; the scent of his aftershave fills her nostrils. She raises an arm to touch his soft black hair and sighs in content.

"What happened to your cigarettes?"

The mixture of the sound of the rain and the man she is embracing makes her feel too comfortable—she feels at home whenever she is with the man she loves. Instead of answering his question, she merely shrugs and whispers, "Disgusting."

His quiet laughter brings a smile to her face.

Sasuke shakes his head and says, "I thought you said you wanted to try something new?"

She frowns, throwing a look at him, "I know. I will never say that again. That shit tastes disgusting. I'll stick to my Marlboro, please."

When she hears his soft chuckle and feels his lips on her forehead, she hums in delight. Sakura appreciates the silence, her fingers drawing imaginary circles on his back. She treasures every moment with her lover, simply being with him makes her feel blessed for having such a wonderful man in her life.

"Baby," Sakura whispers, placing her lips on his neck, hearing a soft 'Hmm?' in return.

"I love you."

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"Excuse you," Ino says sugary sweet, throwing a chilling smile at the barista, "I specifically told you to add extra sugar in my coffee."

The girl, Ino studies, finally paying attention to her appearance, has a brown stain on her white uniform. Her black hair is tied back to a messy pony tail—her big and round black eyes, almost childlike, stare questioningly at her. The blonde grimaces inwardly at the visible pimples on her face, quietly thanking her mother for the constant reminder to look after her skin.

"I did, Miss."

Ino glares.

"Are you stupid?" she snarls, blue eyes shift to her uniform, looking at her nametag, "Does this coffee taste sweet to you, Nono?"

The girl—Nono, probably short for Nonoka, Ino thinks, anxiously fumbles with the hem of her uniform and mumbles an apology. Ino rolls her eyes and slides the coffee back to the girl, cursing under her breath. She turns around and rests her back against the stall, ignoring the accusing look on her friend's face.

"You're such a bitch, Ino."

Ino shrugs, picking away the imaginary dirt from under her manicured nails. "When am I not a bitch, Karin? Besides," she adds with spite, narrowing her eyes at the barista, "She should have known not to mess with me."

Karin scoffs. "How the hell is she messing with you?"

The blonde shrugs again, turning around to retrieve her coffee and takes a sip, making sure the girl—Nono, got it right this time. When the coffee tastes about right, Ino smiles with satisfaction and loops an arm with Karin's. Ino then drags the redhead out of Starbucks, glancing around the huge mall with stars in her eyes.

"I need to shop. I'm depressed."

Karin sighs, smoothing her red hair back from her face.

"I can't keep up with your mood swings, Boar. Is that why you've been so cranky lately?"

The pretty blonde gasps, "Excuse you, it's illegal to use Ino and cranky in a sentence—Oh my god, Karin, look at that pretty, pretty dress!"

Ino runs excitedly into Forever 21, dragging an unwilling redhead along with her.

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Tenten seethes.

Tenten hates the rain. Tenten hates getting wet. Tenten doesn't have the capability to think right now, because she is very close to getting drunk. She's not a happy drunk, nor is she a sad drunk. She is an angry drunk, and remembering why she was angry in the first place makes her even angrier.

The brunette storms towards her car and shoves her car keys into the ignition. She starts the engine and takes a swig of Absolute and drives out of the car park, not bothering to put on her seatbelt. Right at this moment, Tenten doesn't give two shits about breaking a major law and possibly driving right into her death bed. She can only feel the burning hate bubbling in her belly. She can only feel disgust, churning like acid in her stomach.

Annoyed at the lack of speed, her fingers shake when she turns the steering wheel to the right and accelerate. Eyes wide, they try to focus on the narrow road as her whole body trembles in excitement. Like a mantra, she grits her teeth and whispers frantically, "Faster, faster. I need to go faster." She moves her body forwards and stomps on the pedal, fingers gripping tightly on the steering wheel. The possibility of crashing into something or someone, stretches the corners of her lips into a wide, maniacal smile. She makes a sharp turn to the left and halt, the sudden break jerks her body back into her seat roughly.

Tenten has reached her destination.

She takes out her phone from her back pocket and punch a series of buttons, placing it next to her ear.

Two rings and a husky "Hello?" place a smirk on her lips.

"Hyuuga. I'm at your driveway. Hurry up. Ten seconds, or I'll drive off."

Tenten hangs up then, not wanting to know what he has to say. She knows he's going to see her anyway, so why bother? The brunette takes another swig of her favourite brand of alcohol, and takes out a cigarette from the packet. She lights the tip, inhaling the smoke, and breathes out, loving the feeling it gives her. The combination of alcohol and cigarettes are definitely her favourite mix.

From the window of her car, Tenten notices Neji rushing towards her, wearing black jeans and an unzipped hoodie. The brunette ruffles her hair and relaxes on the driver's seat, winding down the window to blow the smoke out of the car. Even though Tenten is wearing nothing but a black sleeveless top and denim shorts in the cold weather, the alcohol is keeping her very warm.

The sound of 'Tak' when the car door opens and short breaths signals to the brunette that Neji is there.

"Tenten," he says calmly, looking at the bottle, then back to her, "I can't believe you drunk-drive to my house. What if you got caught?"

Tenten laughs, but it sounds strained and forced to her ears. "Then you'll just have to bail me out. Simple, Hyuuga. Anyway, it's not the first time I've done something like this."

When he says nothing, she sucks the life out of the cigarette and throws it out of the window. She takes the alcohol bottle and stares at it intensely, wondering what will happen if she drinks it all in one go. Will she die? She thinks to herself with amusement. It's a huge possibility, obviously, but Tenten doesn't care anymore. She is sad, she is angry and she can't think rationally.

She knows Neji is watching her every move, but she doesn't care. She likes hanging out with Neji because he is silent most of the time and he doesn't talk when she doesn't want him to. And unlike her girlfriends, Neji allows her to do anything she wants.

So when she decides to empty the bottle, a hand forcefully yanks the bottle away from her when she's at her fourth gulp.

Well, she thinks, almost anything.

"Why are you always not in the right state of mind?" He sighs tiredly, closing the cap tightly, keeping it beside him in a tight grip, out of her reach.

"Hey hey, what is that supposed to mean?" Tenten shifts her brown eyes to his. It took her a few minutes to focus a glare on his face, because she feels a little lost. At their close proximity, she realises he has very pretty eyes, and that is when Tenten convince herself that she is very drunk to form a thought like that.

Because Tenten doesn't think Neji is handsome, or has pretty eyes.

"Are you okay, Tenten?"

Tenten nods slowly, eyes never leaving his lips, inviting her to come closer.

It's okay, she tells herself, you've done this before.

It was then when she throws herself at him, frantic fingers trying to unzip his zipper, touching anything and everything she desires to. She smirks when he responds almost immediately, she can feel him leading her towards the back seat, his lips never leaving hers. She lies down and unhooks her bra, her arms pulling him down to her forcefully, accepting the warmth he offers.

It's okay, she says to herself again, I need this.

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"How dare you," Karin snarls, her body shaking from anger. The urge to grab the nearest thing to her and throw it at the disgusting man in front of her is far too great. She struggles to breathe, trying her best to calm the hell down. The effort is futile, because she knows she's going to lose her shit the moment she lays her eyes on him.

Just when her day was going great, after shopping with Ino and inviting her over to watch their favourite show, indulging in their favourite ice cream, this man has to show up at her doorstep.

She clenches her jaw and grits her teeth, flexing her itchy fingers, stopping herself from doing something rash.

"Hey Pumkin," the man says in a gruff voice, "Blondie," nodding to Ino, acknowledging her presence, "Nice seeing both of you again."

Karin feels a hand on her shoulder, appreciating the support from Ino. She tries to calm down again, concentrating on her breathing—one, two, three, and stares at the man in front of her.

"How much this time?" She manages finally, trying not to punch the smugness right off his face.

The man smirks, five fingers up in the air.

"Five hundred dollars, Doll."

Ino snaps, pushing Karin aside and grabs the man by the collar, slamming his back against the wall. "She doesn't owe you a single cent, you asshole," she hisses, pulling back an arm and lands her fist directly on his nose, hearing the satisfying crack. The blonde then throws him on the ground and breathes heavily—she could feel her anger draining.

He grunts and pinches his nose, but to their annoyance, he still has the smirk in place.

"Where did you learn to punch like that, Blondie?"

Ino folds her arms.

"Tenten taught us a few moves. You know, the crazy Tenten? Our best friend? She's going to kill you if she finds out you're here. With little respect we have for you, please leave and never come back."

The man glances at Karin, and back to Ino.

"I'm her father, why would I leave? If you want to blame someone, blame that bitch of a mother instead. After dying and leaving the inheritance to you," he barks at the redhead, "It's only natural that you give me some money."

Karin glares at the man. She refuses to call him father; she refuses to use familiarity with him, she refuses to acknowledge his existence. Just looking at him makes her blood boil with hatred, because this man, this vile, disgusting piece of shit, does not and never will deserve the title of a 'Father'.

"Five hundred," she spits through gritted teeth, "Five hundred and never come back. Do you hear me?"

"Cross my heart, Dolly."

Ino rolls her eyes at the blatant lie.

Karin turns around and runs back into her apartment, not wanting to leave Ino alone with him any longer. She grabs her blood red wallet, taking out five one hundred dollar bills, and sprints back to the front door. With enough self-restriction, she does not give in the urge to throw the money at his face. Instead, she bends down, placing the money on the hard ground.

The man snatches the money quickly. He stands up and stuffs the money into his pocket, nodding to them once again, walking off without looking back.

Ino shuts the door and pulls her friend inside the apartment, right into her room. The blonde switches off the TV, since both of them are clearly not in the mood for watching anything. She grabs the ice cream tub and stirs the already melted ice cream, shifting her gaze to the quiet redhead. Ino leans her head against her shoulder.

"Do you want me to call the girls?"

When Karin says nothing, Ino grabs her phone to text them instead.

I'm at Karin's. Come over, it's urgent.

She presses send, dropping her phone one the bed. She looks at her friend with concern. Although she might have no idea what is Karin going through at this moment, she knows the redhead feels horrible. Ino couldn't help herself but to interfere, her father is absolute trash—the most horrible man she has ever met. She stares at her knuckles, cringing at the pain when she tries to flex her fingers. Ino narrows her eyes as the scene replays in her mind, she can't believe she touched the gross man. She will gladly hand him over to Tenten, the brunette will probably chase him out with a chainsaw. Normally, Ino is not violent, but the thought of Tenten doing mean things to that man gives her satisfaction.

"What are you smiling at, idiot?"

Ino laughs at the redhead, shaking her head.

"Tenten, with a big, metal chainsaw. Your father."

Karin smiles, imagining the same thing as well. "Sakura, though," she starts, playing with her red hair, "Would poison him to death. I would pay to see it."

"Definitely."

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Sasuke watches his girlfriend through dark obsidian eyes.

Her rose coloured hair is tousled, a frown on her beautiful face. A medical book in one hand and a cigarette in another, jotting down notes on a piece of paper. She sucks on he cancer stick and exhales the smoke, eyes never leaving the book.

"Tell me Sakura," he starts, raising his eyebrows, "How can a doctor smoke so much?"

Sakura looks up at him and smiles.

"Funny. I'm not a doctor yet. Just an apprentice, remember? 'Sides, why can't I smoke so much? I know it's harmful to my lungs but that's a risk I'm willing to take. I need nicotine in my system to think. And relax."

The black haired man smirks, reaching out a hand to ruffle her pink locks.

"I thought cigarettes are bad for the brain?"

Sakura sticks out her tongue. Before she could retort, her phone vibrates. She reads the message and frowns, punching in buttons to send a reply immediately, sliding her phone into her back pocket. Without uttering a word, she stands up and grabs her keys.

"Something wrong?"

The pink haired woman nods.

"Karin, there's something wrong with her. Ino sent me a text to come over."

Sasuke stands up as well.

"I'll send you there. I'm going over to Naruto's, his mother is expecting me."

Sakura intertwines her fingers with his and leads him towards the front door. She raises an eyebrow.

"His mother?"

The man shrugs, squeezing her hand.

"Kushina likes to have this dinner-thing every Friday. She'll kill me if I didn't come."

Sakura smiles and kisses his cheek, rubbing a thumb over his skin when the mark of her lip gloss stays on his face. She laughs when he narrows his eyes playfully at her. He cups her face and bends down slightly, resting his forehead against hers. He touches her lips with his, softly, almost carefully. When they finally break away, he leans in again and kisses her forehead.

"I love you," he murmurs into her hair.

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Tbc