Learning to Love. (Uchiha Sasuke)

Chapter 32.

Kaira's POV.

I watched Sasuke as he was drying his hair, which was still damp from the shower he took before I came to his room. Suki still wasn't here. She took longer than I thought.

Sasuke sighed and sat down next to me. Looking at him from the corners of my eyes, I saw Sasuke spacing off. When I first met him, I never thought things would turn out like this. I told myself he was an obstacle for me to overcome. He was in the way of the Akatsuki and I couldn't go any further if I didn't dispose of him. But.. I couldn't overcome him. Before I met him, I had never really thought about love and things like that. I found in unimportant, and only cared about my duties, even though I often didn't like those duties. I told myself things about Sasuke, reasons for not killing him. Maybe.. were those excuses? I had to admit that I did felt attracted to him when I first saw him. Maybe I couldn't bring myself to finish him off, and I told myself excuses. I did always look forward to see him again, to clash swords again. He was the first opponent I've ever met who showed a bit resistance.

But now I wonder.. why was I unable to beat Sasuke? I knew I couldn't kill him, but why couldn't I defeat him? Madara himself trained me almost every day since I was three-four years old. Sasuke was trained by Orochimaru, a guy who isn't stronger than dad. So why was I unable to kick Sasuke's ass? Why were we equal in fighting skills?

Even though Sasuke wasn't my enemy anymore, it still bothered me.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt a hand on my shoulder. ''Kaira, you okay?''

I glanced at Sasuke. ''..Yeah, I'm fine.''

Sasuke's hand went from my neck around my neck, pulling my head against his shoulder. ''After we talked to Suki, will you stay here for a while?''

I nodded and just when I saw about to scoot closer to him, someone knocked on the door. Sasuke pulled his arm back and I cleared my throat awkwardly.

''Come in.'' Sasuke spoke up, and the door opened, revealing my sister. Suki was frowning at us, not really understanding the situation. I hadn't told her anything about what this would be about. Suki closed the door and leaned against the wall next to it. ''Why did I have to come here?''

Sasuke ignored the annoyed tone Suki spoke with and stood up. ''I know you want to leave to go to Konoha.''

Suki glared at me the moment Sasuke said that. I returned the glare and crossed my arms over my chest. ''I didn't tell him.'' I grunted. ''Suigetsu heard you.''

Suki sighed and looked back at Sasuke. ''So?''

''Who is the person from Konoha you talked about?''

Suki seemed a bit hesitant to answer.

''Well?'' Sasuke asked.

''..Kiba.''

Sasuke sighed. ''Kiba, huh?'' he muttered. ''He's pretty loyal to the village, but he also cherishes comrades. I don't know if he'd sell you out if he knew who you really were.''

Suki's eyes widened and she shook her head. ''No! Kiba wouldn't do that to me! He was so kind...'' I clicked my tongue and looked at the floor. I wouldn't be surprised if this Kiba guy would betray her. It would be her own fault for thinking she could be friends with villagers from a ninja village.'

''At any cost,'' Sasuke continued. ''Avoid Neji, he'll notice immediately you're not one of them. And Naruto, he's pretty dense and stupid, but the demon inside him isn't. Try to avoid Kakashi as well. If you just act normal around the rest, you may be able to fool them, but don't underestimate them.'' Sasuke warned, and Suki looked suddenly not so certain of her choice to leave anymore. I hated to admit it, but those guys in Konoha are pretty good. Even though I never fought them, or even met them, I read about them. Hidan, Kakuzu, and Pein were killed by those people after all.. and Sasori as well. I clenched my fists.

''Thank you, for your advice, Sasuke.'' Suki muttered. ''But I think I'll be fine.''

I grunted and stood up. ''You will not be fine!'' I exclaimed. ''Suki, you better not tell Kiba who you really are! You'll not only get yourself in danger, but us as well. And.. I don't want anything to happen to you.'' The last words went past my lips as whispers. Suki smiled. ''I won't tell him.'' she reassured me. ''But I'll be going now.'' I nodded and Suki left. Sighing, I looked at Sasuke, who had an amused look in his eyes. ''What?'' I asked annoyed, not liking that look.

Sasuke walked at me, stopping right in front of me. 'Nothing..'' he mumbled. ''I just think it's funny that you can be so cold towards Suki, while you actually care a lot about her.''

He was right. I didn't really treat Suki nicely, but I never really treated people that way. I mostly don't show it when I care, but I did open up to Sasuke. I had to admit I act differently around him, but I had my reasons. ''You tell me that, but you're exactly the same.'' I murmured.

The corners of Sasuke's lips tugged up into a small, smug smile, and he cupped my chin. ''Maybe.'' He pressed his lips against my cheek. ''But I wonder who's worse..?''

Sasuke's POV

I followed Kaira as we walked through the hallways. After Suki left, we've stayed in my room for an hour, just talking, but then Kaira asked me if I wanted to go with her to Izuna.

When we walked into the infirmary, I saw Izuna sitting on his bed. He had a pack of cigarettes in his hand, and a lighter in his other hand.

''Izuna!'' Kaira hissed, stomping towards him. She roughly took the cigarettes from him. ''You idiot! You're recovering, and now you're already smoking?!''

Izuna sighed, a small smile played on his lips. ''Come on, I'm pretty depressed here. Being beaten by a bunch of bastards, I really need one Kaira.'' he complained.

Kaira gritted her teeth and put the pack in her back pocket. ''You don't look very piteous with that smile plastered on your face. Recover first, will you?'' she mumbled

Izuna's smile grew wider and he ruffled Kaira's hair. ''Only because you're asking so nicely.''

Izuna was so different from Kaira. He was more relaxed, laid-back, like he didn't care about anything, while Kaira did care. She almost never let her guard down, and was serious almost all the time. She surely didn't fool around like Izuna did sometimes.

I walked towards them, and Izuna grinned at me. ''Hey, Sasuke!''

I didn't return his greet as I came to a halt next to Kaira. Izuna pouted and folded his arms over his chest. ''Kaira rubbed off on you.'' he muttered.

''I did not..'' Kaira grumbled. ''We didn't come here to fool around, Izun. How are you feeling?''

Izuna let himself fall back on the bed and let out a sigh. ''Mom came this morning. She said I would be fine, but I have to swallow medicines I'll be back to my old self in a few days.''

''And what about Kuri and Rai'' Kaira inquired.

Izuna closed his eyes, not answering.

''Izuna?'' Kaira asked.

''Kuri will probably be fine.'' Izuna answered flatly.

It was already obvious what he was going to say next, and I glanced at Kaira. ''And Rai?'' she asked, sounding a bit more tense than before.

''He'll not make it.'' Izuna spoke softly as he sat up. ''He doesn't know it, so don't tell him.''

Kaira nodded, looking at the ground. ''Alright.'' Her voice wavered. ''I.. I still have something to do. I'll see you two later..'' she mumbled, before turning around. Kaira left and I watched her leave.

''Sasuke.''

I turned around, looking at Izuna. ''What?''

''Go after her.'' Izuna muttered, before a sly smirk appeared on his face. ''And take good care of her, will you? She's my dear sister after all.''

He knew about us. I could tell from the way he talked to me, and that stupid grin on his face. ''How did you know?''

Izuna shrugged and smiled smugly. ''I'm smarter than I look. Besides, you two have been hanging around each other a lot lately, so it wasn't that hard to guess.'' he explained. ''Don't worry, I won't tell anybody.''

''You better not.'' I murmured before turning around and leaving as well, going after Kaira.