Chapter 122: On Hatred

First thing that registered to Sakura's hazy slumber-ladened mind was that there was a pair of arms wrapped protectively around her, holding her like she would slip away if the grasp loosened. Not that this was something unusual to wake up to, she would often wake up to situations likes this, but her slowly waking mind marked something as out of place. Drowsily, she opened her eyes and was slightly startled to see the wall two feet away from where she lay—not that seeing the wall was unusual to see, as she often saw it when she woke up in her bed, not having to ward any nightmares away. Blinking a couple times, Inner Sakura took the two and two that had added up to five and rearranged the information so that it began to make sense. She wasn't in Sasuke's room—she was in Itachi's.

She was in that room because she had moved out of Sasuke's. She had moved out of Sasuke's because her father was there. The reason she had to move out because of her father was because it would be rid of further controversy and ward off future difficulties. It was pieced out in her mind, and everything made sense, but there was that one small thing that put everything out of place. Sasuke—what was he doing here?

It was then that he stirred slightly in his sleep, and after a moment, she felt his breathing pattern break—he was awake now. The grip around her slackened slightly, and it confirmed her suspicions that he had woken. There was a pause.

"Sasuke…?"

She didn't have to finish her question for him to know she was asking what he was doing there.

"Hn."

She waited for a few seconds for him to elaborate, but he did not do so. He intentionally twisted the questioning tone in her voice and deliberately interpreted it as a question of confirmation. Sighing, she squirmed so that she could roll onto her back; Sasuke loosened his grasp long enough for her to move, but grasped her tightly again once she had done so. She laid one of her hands on his, brushing the back of his hands with her fingertips; another small sigh escaped her.

"Sasuke, why are you in here?" she asked, more directly this time. Now that she was more awake, it was becoming increasingly apparent how bad this situation was. If they were caught, not only would her father most likely try to attack Sasuke, he would drag her home against her will as well. But she did not ask the question out of mere nervousness; she sincerely wanted to know why he was there. The very fact that he had come to her, here, caused her to worry for him. He had most likely dreamed something horrific again, and she felt terrible for not being there. She shouldn't have moved to another room—it had been a mistake to do so.

"I could easily ask you the very same question," he stated in an emotionless tone, his grasp on her unmoving.

The very tone that he used with her—the emotionless sound of it—stung her. It was only recently that she had noticed a slight drop in his manner—while he didn't show much emotion, there was a change, and she had noticed. For him to use it with her now—that hurt. She had done something to lose both trust and respect from him. She would have rather of had him be angry with her than use that emotionless voice.

When she had made the decision to move in here, she knew he would not be happy about it, and had not told him. She was in fact going to tell him, but she had been saving that for when her father had left. Too late she noted grimly.

"I was going to tell you," she murmured, switching her attention back over to her father's presence, "Look, Sasuke… This doesn't look good, and if my father—"

"He's still asleep," Sasuke cut her off before returning to the matter at hand, "You should have talked to me first."

He no longer used the entirely emotionless voice now, an icy edge was laced into it. Sakura bit her lip slightly, not exactly sure how to respond.

"Would it have done any good?" she asked him despairingly after a moment's consideration.

"I told you that I didn't want this room opened," he told her irately, his voice low.

His grasp on her had not slackened in the least, and if anything was tighter on her still. The pressure from his hold on her, coupled with the tension and the silence in the room, made her feel compressed, nervous, small, at fault, and agitated.

"Sasuke… I…I'm sorry," she murmured. In hindsight, she should have probably talked with him, but she had felt so many reasons not to. There wasn't enough time to discuss it with him, having mentioned the mere notion of moving rooms the night before her father came over. It had taken her the entire previous morning to clean out the room, and she knew that if she had asked Sasuke, they probably would have been debating it too long, and the room wouldn't have been ready in time.

"Are you?" he asked sharply. She said nothing to this, her emotions sorting themselves out. Sorry for opening the room? –No. Sorry for making him angry? –More sorry than she could describe. Yet how to put it into words that made it sound like she was sorry for making him upset, not for bringing his wrath on her? She couldn't think of anything.

"I didn't think it would affect you this much," she finally said, another sigh in her voice.

"You can't understand," he replied fiercely.

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