"______~"

You jumped and continued hiding in your small space.

Sasuke hadn't let you leave for the past month. He didn't let you see outside. He kept you caged like an animal while he went to school. The only thing you could do was hide.

He had padlocked the doors, removed the house phone, hid all tool, barred the windows, and put combination locks on the cabinets and drawers. He made sure everything dangerous was out of reach and you were only allowed to take showers. You asked for a razor to shave and he told you he would have to watch as you took a shower.

He went as far as to make soup or ramen every night so you didn't have anything to choke on. After you were done he would immediately take the spoon from your hands and wash all the dishes to put them away again.

He didn't want you to hurt yourself, after all. You didn't care, you could use the bedsheets as a noose if you had to. You weren't about to give Sasuke the satisfaction that he drove you to kill yourself. That you were thinking only of him in your final moments.You hated him. You hated Sasuke more than anything in the world.

You found a paperclip on the ground earlier that day and used it to unscrew the vent. You moved back just a little bit as you heard Sasuke pass by your spot.

It was like this everyday. You would hide and he would find you.

'Not today....'

In only five minutes you heard furniture being thrown against the wall.

"DAMN IT ______! Come out already!"

You shook. He paced back and forth in the hall, growling and punching the doors. Then he stopped in front of the vent.

'No......please just go away......'

You heard Sasuke mutter, "Damn it...."

Then the bedroom door slammed and a lock turned.

You moved to the edge of the vent and looked as far as you could from your hiding spot. You pushed the vent slowly forward and set it on the ground. You backed up against the wall and saw the front door unlocked. Sasuke had locked himself in the bedroom. He only did that when he was really upset.

You kept to the wall of the hallway. The door was just in view. You the moved slowly into the living room.

A hand covered your mouth and pulled you into a warm body.

"_______~ I'm so glad I found you~"

You kicked him off of you and struggled to grab onto the door. He simply lifted you over his shoulder and pulled you into the guest bedroom, your current home.

"______, would you please stop struggling? When have I ever done anything to you?"
Your eyes welled with tears, you let out a choked sob. You let all of the pour from your eyes as Sasuke set you on the bed. You sat up.

He saw you were crying and said frantically, "_-____?! What's wrong?!"

You didn't dare look at Sasuke. You turned away from him. Sasuke sat down next to you on the bed.  He put both hands on your face. He turned your head to face him.

His black eyes flashed, "______, what's wrong?"

You didn't say anything. You just closed your eyes so you didn't have to look at him.

"______, why won't you love me?"

You put your hands on top of his and moved them off your face. He looked surprised as you put your hands on his face. Your eyes pleaded softly.

"Please let me go......please.....I can't.....I can't be in here anymore....."

Sasuke sighed, leaned forward, and kissed your forehead. Your heart lifted.

'He's going to let me go! I'm going to-'

"No. I'm sorry.....I can't let you go.....Your mine _____."

"CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I HATE YOU?!" you cried.

Slap.

You grabbed your cheek, "Sa....Sasuke...."

He pulled you into a hug, "_______. Why won't you love me? Why? After everything I've done for you......AFTER ALL THIS SHIT I WENT THROUGH TO KEEP YOU SAFE, WHY WON'T YOU EVER SAY I LOVE YOU?!?!"
You shivered in his arms despite he was very warm.

"Hehe....You're like a newborn lamb.....Shaky legs...... I'm sorry. It was rude of me to yell like that ______. I'm sorry."

Sasuke rubbed your back softly, "I'm sorry...."

In that moment, you realized how much Sasuke loved you. You felt your arms move around Sasuke's waist and rested your head on his chest.

"I love you _______......."

You didn't reply. You felt as if.....you were getting somewhere with him though. Like maybe you could love him later.

Right now though, you still mostly hated Sasuke.

Only partly did you love him.

≸    ≹    ≸    ≹    ≸    ≹    ≸    ≹

Sasuke  ≸  ≹  ≸  ≹

"I can't believe _____ has gone missing for so long.....It's a real shame isn't it?"
"Yeah, even if Sasuke was nicer to her than he was to us...."

"Speak of the devil, Sasuke!"

I turned away as the pink idiot ran over to me. She hugged my arm, "What's up?!"

"Could you please not touch me Sakura?"

"Did you hear that ______ ran away?"

"Ran away?"

"They found out a bag of clothes that was left outside the police bus station with _______'s name on them."

I didn't say anything I just sat down in my seat and leaned forward.

"So! Do you wanna go out tonight and do something?"

"Like what?"

"Grab something to eat, maybe? I know this good ramen stand-"

"Thanks but I have somewhere to be after class. In fact, for the next week I have some things to do....."

"Why don't we do them together?! I'm sure I could help-"

"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to join me tonight Sakura," I said coldly.

≸    ≹    ≸    ≹    ≸    ≹    ≸    ≹

I pulled my keys from my pocket and unlocked the door. Recently I added another lock, just to be sure. I never locked the door when I got home because if ______ ran, I would just catch her again.

I pushed the door open, "______! I'm home!"

I closed the door behind me, leaving it a bit cracked because it was stuffy inside the house. I saw _______ sleeping on the couch, mouth open and blanket on the ground.

She looked so cute. I kneeled next to her and kissed her head.

"_______..... I'm home...."

"What?!"

I heard a shocked voice behind me and saw Sakura standing behind. I stood up. Sakura closed the door behind her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her. She walked into the kitchen and set down the bags she was carrying. It was to-go ramen.

"I came to bring you dinner, since you seemed tired lately! What is _______ doing here?!"

I put a finger to my mouth, "She's sleeping. She doesn't trust me enough to go to sleep while I'm home."

"Should she?"

"Probably not, but I would like her too," I smiled to myself. I opened the door, "Now you need to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on here!"

"Shh!" I said, putting a finger against my lips. I moved into the kitchen where she was and Sakura crossed her arms.

"If she knew someone else was here, she'd try to get you to take her home. Now leave!"

"Is she here against her will?!"

I covered Sakura's mouth, "Shut up! You tell anyone and I will kill you!"

She pushed me off of her and said, "Are you insane?! B-But why?!"
"Because I love her. Do I need much more of a reason than that?"

She gaped at me.

"So are you going to keep your mouth shut? Or do I have to close it for you?"

"Like you would ever kill someone just over ______! Especially _______ for that matter! What do you see in her?! She's so....bland!"

I grabbed a knife from the knife holder and threw it at Sakura. It stuck to the cabinet behind her head. She was shaking visibly in her spot.

I sighed and muttered, "See what you make me do _______.....I need to kill Sakura because of you....."

I reached into the drawer and found a cleaver. I walked over to Sakura, who couldn't move. I smiled softly and said, "Sorry Sakura......."

Next thing I knew, Sakura was on the ground in a puddle of blood. 

"S-Sasuke.....?"

I turned to see my little lamb.

"______, I-"

"What did you do?!" she asked, tears streaming down her face.

"______! I did it for you! She would have told the police or someone! She had to go!"

"Sakura was my friend!"

"She didn't think of you as one.....Besides....You don't need friends if you have me right?" I asked smiling at her.

She was upset. Even I could see that. I hoped that if I smiled, I could comfort her in some way.

"I was wrong.....I thought.....I thought I had an inkling of love for you......No....Sasuke....I HATE YOU!"
I grabbed her hand and kissed her. She tried to push me away.

"Stop it!" I yelled.

She froze as I kissed her head.

"If you ever say you hate me again.....I'll kill your family.....your friends....Anyone you ever cared about....And I'll make you watch...."

I lifted her chin up, "So why don't you start loving me now?"