Uchiha's Pride [Complete]

Chapter 15

Sasuke sat on the edge of his bed, head bowed with the weight of his thoughts. He'd been sitting in the dark for so long he'd lost track of time. He still hadn't seen Sakura and it was driving him crazy.

Had she abandoned him? Had he successfully driven her away? Maybe Naruto was right. Maybe he really did need to start on a fresh path in order to keep Sakura by his side... Sasuke ran a calloused hand through his dark hair, a frustrated growl escaping his chapped lips. The room felt as though it was suffocating and his mind threatened to give in again.

He needed Sakura.

Just then, the bedroom door swung open and Sasuke knew even before he looked up that it was Sakura. He could tell her presence anywhere.

She had come.

The Uchiha swallowed harshly and pushed his impassive mask back in place.

"So you finally decided to come," he rasped, eyes narrowed defensively.

Sakura licked her lips and nodded slightly. "I had things to...work out," she said softly, averting her gaze from Saauke's piercing dark one.

Sasuke closed his eyes and for a minute Sakura's presence seemed as though it would overwhelm him. She watched silently as his inner conflict broke through his mask but it was gone as soon as it came.

Sakura swallowed thickly and asked, "What am to you?"

Sasuke's eyes snapped opened as he process her question.

"I-I don't know." Sasuke answered honestly, "I do know that something is changed. I want to see you. I want to touch you. It's driving me crazy."

Sakura's eyes softened at his statement. She signed and sat down besides him.

"What do you want me to do so you'll accept me?"

"Just be yourself."

"Doesn't seem very romantic," Sasuke said.

"I didn't want romantic, Sasuke. I wanted someone who would stand by me. I know who I am and where I stand and I never wanted him to be something he wasn't. Ino could never understand that."

"It just seems strange to me that you would want so little from life," Sasuke said quietly.

Sakura looked at him. "Don't forget, Sasuke, that you come from one of the important clans," she said just as quietly. "I'm not very much more than a civilian. I like you and Ino and Chouji, but I don't think you know that much about me."

"What are you talking about?"

"There are different layers of the truth, you know. You sometimes treated me like shit. You think I didn't know? But there's a mitigating factor: you treat everyone like shit, not just me. you're just the opposite of those guys who suck up to me now because I'm the Hokage's apprentice and one of the best medics in Konoha and made my life a living hell when I was a kid."

"I don't understand..." Sasuke began.

Sakura looked at him. "Of course you don't. Of course. Ino doesn't understand, either. Every time I had a very real, very serious problem with missions, she began to bleat about my low self-esteem."

"You don't have low self-esteem?" Sasuke said.

Sakura's lips were shaped into a strange smile. "No, I think I know exactly what I'm worth. I think it's you and Ino who have no idea about how things really happen in our beloved little village."

Sasuke gave an unbelieving little laugh. "You really think there are things in this village I know nothing about?"

"Nothing is too strong a word. I'd just say very little, to be exact."