Ocean Of Blood And Fire [Sasusaku]

Chapter Twenty One: Sakura's P.O.V.

I laid in the warm bed, with this kind woman tucking me in - a completely foreign concept - and smiled. "Thank you, Onee-sama."

Tsunami-sama smiled down at me and gave me one of those wonderful heat pats that made me feel childlike- but in a good way. It made me feel... I don't know, like I was precious to her.

Then she turned to me, serious.

"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" She asked softly.

I faked a smile and nodded."Uh-huh!"

Tsunami didn't seem convinced, but she thankfully let it go for the time being.

"Well, I happen to know that a certain someone," she smiled at me, breaking the tension, "loves dango." At the name of my new favorite food, (thanks to Sasuke) I lit up.

"It just so happens that I have some left over in the fridge from earlier this afternoon. Would you like to get some before you sleep? I don't know about you, but sometimes when I can't sleep, sugar helps me."

I smiled. "That sounds great! Thank you, Onee-sama!"

She grinned at me as I got up and left the room.

I walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge and searched for the precious dango. I found it with a quiet, triumphant "Yess!" then swung the fridge shut to find someone standing next to me, obscured by the door.

I jumped and habitually grabbed ahold of the wide collar, pushing them back against the wall in terror.

My eyes were wide and my breathing erratic as I stared into his black eyes.

"Uh, sor-" Sasuke held up his hand, halting the apology he knew I was giving.

"What are you doing?" He asked, not unkindly.

I held up the container of dango. "Tsunami-sama said I could grab some."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

An awkward silence fell over us, which was weird. The silence wasn't new, but the awkwardness was. We were usually too wrapped up in our own thoughts or had too much to say to each other to really be awkward.

But it seemed like he had something to say, but was hesitant to. That was also weird. He never hesitated, always knew exactly what to do, and he would always say what was on his mind, and to hell with whoever had a problem with it. His hesitation was rubbing off on me, making me nervous. I wished he would just say what he needed to so I could eat my dango and leave, because too much more of this silence was going to drive me crazy-

"Why do you do that?"

Okay, maybe I didn't want him to speak after all. I nervously glanced away, biting my lip. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"U-um... Wh-what- do you..." I cleared my throat. Since when do I stutter?

"What do you mean?" I asked, calmer and more in control.

He raised an eyebrow in that oh-so humble way of his and shook his head. "You're way too smart to be good at playing dumb."

I blinked. Was that almost a compliment?

I was touched, but he wasn't exactly right. In my experience, the smartest people often played dumb- usually to gain information, and/or to see the true character of somebody, among other reasons.

But still, what mattered is that he knew something wasn't right, and knowing how stubborn he was, he wouldn't let it go until he found out. But this was something he couldn't ever find out. I was too afraid of losing him.