Stuck With Me

Chapter 1

Sakura dragged herself wearily inside the apartment, exhausted from yet another tiring day pressing down on her too-slim shoulders.

Obtaining a scholarship at Konoha's most prestigious university had been a dream come true, and she had always considered that victory a considerable step toward achieving her goal. However, the commitment to be made was stratospheric, and there were days when she simply felt drained of all energy.

She did not turn on the light, one of many ways to save money, and let her stomach growl as she could not afford to eat dinner every day of the week. She needed the money for other things, such as rent for that decadent studio apartment, or the far too expensive tomes to study in order to keep her grades excellent and continue to take advantage of the scholarship.

She simply abandoned herself on the worn mattress laid out on the floor, suppressing as she did every night the urgent need to shed all her tears. Sometimes she could not contain them but this time she forced herself to do so. A few hours from now she would go to the usual club to meet some of her classmates. She did not consider them friends, not yet, having known them for such a short time, but they were a great outlet, a way to empty her mind even if only for a few hours, pretending she could live the life of any twenty-something.

She was not really allowed to, and reality usually pounced on her too quickly; the constant weight on her chest which took her breath away she had been forcibly subjected to. It was not her choices that had locked her into that bland, miserable existence. It was not the consequences of her own actions. Sakura was a victim, just as her mother had been. And on nights when the pain and exhaustion were too vivid, the pink-haired girl even thought that dying for the woman had been a grace, not a condemnation, since she was finally free from all that mud.

She sniffed her nose, already reddened by the tears which pressed and demanded release, getting up from the worn-out bed. She could not go down that road now, that stream of thought which would only make that night one of many in which she felt on the brink of giving up everything and surrendering. It couldn't be thatvery evening, the only one of leisure she could give herself after weeks and weeks of accumulating the money she needed to pay for her drinks. She did not want anything to ruin those few hours of respite.

The next morning, she would be back to her usual life of heavy college classes, endless hours of study, and, as if that were not enough, even a part-time shift that she had sought on the sly, since the university did not allow students to engage in work which might drop their performance.

"There you are, Sakura!" trilled Ino, the gorgeous blonde who shared the psychology class with her, enthusiastically. She had been the first to address her, unexpectedly deciding to take her under her protective wing. Perhaps she regarded Sakura as a kind of hopeless human case and therefore guiding her was like a charitable mission. "We thought you were no longer coming," she continued, making room for her on the velvet sofa on which those present were seated. "Here, we've already ordered you a drink."

"Oh— thank you! How much do I owe you?" asked Sakura, immediately slipping her hand into her purse. She had no intention of owing anyone anything. There were already too many on her back; gifts left by her father before the bastard decided to run away and leave her and her mother, alone and bearing the consequences of his gambling habit.

"Nothing, you fool!" Ino gave her a playful and friendly tap on the arm, bringing the glass closer to her. "We're here to have fun, no matter who pays. Besides—" The blond-haired girl's red lips curved into a mischievous smirk. "The first round was on Sasuke."

Sasuke was seated directly across from her, silent and his face partially concealed behind his glass of customary whiskey. He granted her no nod, no greeting. After taking his sip, he stared at her for a few moments with his usual detached aloofness before looking away.