Spotlight

Sasuke froze, the surprise on his face masked only by the fact that his body was positioned away from the woman, the only thing standing between Sakura and the photo. A cold sweat formed on his forehead and his heart rate increased slightly. Slowly, he turned around, careful to position himself in the way of the photo.

”O-oh, Sakura… you're here-"

"I asked what you were doing." Sakura repeated sternly as she entered, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Why are you in my room?"

Behind his back, Sasuke worked his hands blindly trying to take purchase on the frame intending to take it back for the mean time. He knew Sakura was smart- She could put two and two together; The photo would pop up unexpectedly in a new frame at nearly the same time Sasuke was caught snooping around her bedroom. While yes, he did want to do something nice for her, the idol favored anonymity in his actions- another selfish choice, he admitted. Anonymity protected him from the vulnerability of expressing his emotions in words or a simple act such as this. Vulnerability was weakness, and he was not weak.

In the midst of this, Sasuke floundered his words, accidentally knocking over the frame with a thud that caught Sakura's attention.

Shit.

He watched her jade eyes flash to his side, squinting to make out what had fallen. This was his chance.

Sasuke made a break for the wide open door, covering as much ground as possible with wide strides, frame behind his back. Sakura lunged towards the man with arms outstretched but missed by inches, having to stop herself from crashing into her desk. With the time it took for her to stabilize and turn towards Sasuke, the idol had reached the doorway, looking back at Sakura for but a moment before fleeing.

She took one determined step forward and as he fled, she stopped, her eye catching on a familiar smiling face.

Was that…. Mom?

Sakura was elated- Her sadness turned into happiness, which morphed into confusion, then to anger, and suddenly the maid bolted.

Her limbs carried her swiftly, the sudden high of emotions aiding her pursuit. As Sasuke started up the staircase, Sakura yanked the frame from the idol’s hands with a forceful tug which sent her staggering backwards a few feet. She struggled to regain her footing for a moment and when she looked up, Sasuke was charging towards her.

"No!" Sakura turned away and clutched the item close to her chest as the towering man wrapped his long arms around her shoulders.

"Give that back to me!" Sasuke demanded through gritted teeth, his chest warming over Sakura's back.

The two exchanged insults as the man gripped Sakura's hands in an attempt to pry them from the frame while Sakura resisted his power, tightening her grasp on the item. Her body wriggled beneath the man’s hold, rejoicing in every break in his grapple and cursing every time he reeled her back, corralling her towards his solid chest. The idol’s muscles strained to contain the woman as it was evident she was in-shape.

Sasuke stood about 5-inches taller than Sakura and in this predicament he stooped low in an attempt to subdue the maid. His agitated curses spilled freely as short, warm puffs of air near her ear. In the struggle, Sakura stole a glance out of the corner of her eye to find the man’s face an inch away- Concentrated and flushed with emotion; His dark eyes reflected something between panic and irritation as he struggled over Sakura, tightening his hold on the worker.

He was looking over Sakura's shoulder, watching his hands fumble against the other's when he noticed an emerald pointing his way. Sasuke switched his gaze to meet Sakura’s, noticing the pink of her complexion which could have easily been attributed to their tug-of-war if not for the small sound of surprise escaping her lips. Almost immediately he was aware of their proximity, a moment of weakness as his grip faltered allowing for her to slip away.

Sakura held the object above her head triumphantly while Sasuke groaned, dragging a hand across his face. The two of them stood in silence catching their breath.

The intoxication of winning the battle wore off quickly, the item in her hand a reminder of the emotional turmoil she experienced apparently at the hand of the Uchiha. She could feel hot rage boiling beneath her skin as she stood across from the man, glare unwavering.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Sakura lashed between breaths of air. "Why did you take this from my room?”

Sasuke’s breath was shallow yet he still managed to scoff, ”I think you should be a bit more appreciative that I did this for you! Did you even look at it before you attacked me?" His tone accusatory, a way to turn him into the victim.

Sakura gritted her teeth because while Sasuke was absolutely wrong in victimizing himself, he was also right- She hadn't. With a piercing glare, Sakura flipped the frame over to expose its front.

The first change she noticed was the frame. The pink flowers gave an elegant appearance to the plain wood, along with the golden carvings of cursive letters flowing across the bottom.

In memory of Tsunade Senju-Haruno: Princess of dance.

Sakura’s slender finger drifted over the words tenderly, a part of her afraid her touch would cause ruin to something so beautiful. Her eyes met the photograph of her mother smiling at her and felt her heart swell with happiness. Hope sprouted in her chest like a flower through pavement.

He did this… for me?

Gently, she raised a finger to the glass, stroking over her mothers cheek when she noticed something off. Curiously, the maid flipped the frame again and unlatched the backing. Her eyes widened in horror at the sight of the smooth, white photo paper, free of crinkles and tape.

Abruptly, Sakura threw her head back in derisive laughter earning a confused look from the idol.
He did it again that deceitful prick. Nearly had her too. Did he really think she was stupid enough to fall for a fake? Heat rose to her cheeks as her temper reached the end of its fuse. Her laughter died alongside the hope she had and was faced once more with the underhandedness of the idol in front of her.

"Yeah, I did, and I'm going to say it again. What the fuck is wrong with you?" Sakura repeated once more.

The idol flinched at the rise in Sakura’s voice, half expecting her to melt in his hand. With the state of the photo, he thought she would at least grant him a smile of appreciation. Sasuke proceeded with caution.

”What do you mean-"

"What right do you have to break into my room and take my personal belongings? Nobody asked you to do this!”

He was confused, wondering how the sentiment of the action became lost in translation. It wasn’t supposed to incite this reaction, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. The idol swallowed hard, his head swimming with thoughts of things he wanted to say to explain himself, but he was never good at expressing his own emotions in conversation. Characters on TV he can do because the emotions were never his own.

Right now he felt cornered. The maid demanded an answer and he could only respond in a way he knew how.

”What are you talking about? I did it because it was fucked up. You should be grateful!” Sasuke snarled, stepping towards the woman. His jaw tightened, immediately regretting snapping at her. The point of this gift was to make peace, or at least something which resembled it.

Sakura laughed dismissively setting a hand on her hip. “Did you ever consider maybe asking me first?” She waved the frame in front of his face. “I don't want this; I don't need anything from you!"

She didn’t even know when it happened.

She looked down and the frame was snapped in two places, glass shattered at her feet as the picture drifted across the floor. Her eyes followed the picture until it landed at Sasuke’s feet where he stood speechless.

Their eyes met fleetingly before his averted.

“Sasuke… I-“ Her voice fell off softly, stunned even at her own childish actions. Anger wasn’t a foreign emotion to her, especially after her mother passed. In fact, anger was a friend she made peace with, learning to work with it in healthy ways. Dancing with it instead of against it.

She inhaled deeply in an attempt to ground herself. “Just… Give me back the original photo," Sakura stepped forward, the glass crunching under her shoes. “now."

Sasuke silently watched as the woman approached him with her hand outstretched expectantly. Each step a kick in his ribs.

"Naruto, bring the picture.”

Naruto had heard the commotion and stationed himself around the corner of the hall, supposedly undetected. At the mention of his name, he peeked from the wall, nodding with a small frown on his face. He emerged a moment later, handing over the large, orange envelope which he carried earlier this morning.

Sasuke opened the flap of the packet and fingered through copies of unrelated documents. ”Naruto, what is this?” The envelope moving at the flick of his wrist, emphasizing his words. “Where's the picture?"

The blonde appeared genuinely confused, reaching out to grab hold of the paper. ”What are you talking about? It's in there!" He swore as he examined the insides.

His jaw dropped, his hand frantically feeling the insides for something to appear out of thin air to exonerate him, to save him. He wasn’t afraid of Sasuke, but Sakura…

“Naruto,” Her voice nails on a chalkboard, “do you have it?"

The manager bit his bottom lip in thought, recalling the errands he ran that day.

"I think I," He said in a worried tone, "left it at the photocopy shop." Naruto bowed his head in shame, eyes shut in a brace for impact.

Sakura drew her hands through her pink hair, tugging lightly on the locks intertwined through her fingers, “Oh, god.” Her head was spinning trying to think of all the photocopy shops in the city of Konoha.

"I'm so, so sorry!" The manager rubbed his hands together in a plead for forgiveness.
 "I remember putting it on the scanning glass, but I don't thing I took it out. So it's most likely still in the shop I went to… But I can’t remember which one.” He was on his knees now at Sakura’s side as she shot an annoyed look at him.

Sakura sighed in defeat, ”I'll be back later.” The woman practically had to pry her leg from Naruto’s desperate grasp, persuading him with words reassurance despite the fact she was the one who really needed them.

"Sakura-chan, don’t go. It just started raining outside. Let’s go later.” Naruto offered, to which he only received a serious look.

Before Sakura could place a finger on doorknob it was Sasuke's turn to speak up, "I'm coming with you. Hold on, let me pull the car around-"

"Don't even bother. You're just going to cause more problems." Sakura said coldly. The maid expected a snarky return which never came.

The idol watched as the pinkette exited the estate, slamming the door in her wake.

“You’re just going to cause more problems.”

Her voice rang sharply in his head as clear as day, replaying on a merciless loop.

A strange feeling arose in him. His heart seemed to stop, like an unmaintained machine breaking down to its inevitable end. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was when. How could he fix it? He wracked his brain wondering why the venom in her words, while dull, left a pain so vivid.

Sasuke stared at the front door, visualizing the maid in its frame as she took her leave, and he wondered why.

Why did he care what she had to say? To think?

Why did he want to help her?

Why did her eyes pierce him so deeply?

Why did his heartbeat quicken?

“Dobe, give me my keys." Sasuke held out his hand, palm up, ready to leave.

Naruto hesitated, calling back to mind he practically put Sasuke on house arrest for his previous outbursts. However, he sensed a sliver of desperation in his friend’s usually steady demeanor. The manager reached into his pocket and dangled the keys from his finger, "It's three O'clock right now, don't you dare to stay out any later than ten.”

The idol responded with a slight nod and and throaty sound of confirmation. His lips turned up into a slight smile, grateful for the chance to help make this right. “Thank you.”
_____________

Sakura guessed she was five minutes into her journey on foot. She tried to make out the numerals of her watch as she swiped the raindrops off the glass watch face with her hand. She groaned in agitation.

Flattening her hand, Sakura raised it above her eyebrows as a visor as she looked up in a diagonal line up to the stormy sky. Spring was a fickle season, Sakura knew this well, never knowing if her birthday would bring clear skies or storms. As the days edged closer to summer, she couldn’t help but relate to the stubborn capriciousness of the season. Spring wanted one last laugh before surrendering to the smoldering heat of summer. She couldn’t help but smile to herself.

As she walked the road between rows of cherry blossom trees, soft lights gradually became bolder as it neared close to her position. A sleek, black expensive-looking sedan pulled up next to her with the window rolled down and a familiar face peering at her.

"So," The man started, "you going to get in or what?" It sounded more of a command than an option.

Sakura rolled her eyes at Sasuke and continued on down the road in silence, leaving his words to the wind. The engine revved, jolted forward and reduced its speed to match Sakura's pace.

Sasuke attempted to reason with her- She was going to take forever to get to all the shops, she wouldn’t make it in time, she would get lost, it was dangerous at night. Her response was either a "no" or silence.

The idol grew tired of the cold shoulder, an exasperated breath forced from his chest. Without warning, he swerved the car in front of the maid’s path causing her to stumble backwards.

“Oh, so you’re trying to kill me now?” Sakura screamed as she clutched her chest, heart throbbing.

"No, but you'll end up killing yourself if you don't get into this car! It's freezing out there and you're shivering like a leaf. "Come on, you're letting out all the hot air with this window rolled down." He said.

The maid began to protest before a strong gust of wind raked its icy nails across her skin. Goose bumps surfaced as she shook violently at the chill seeping into her bones. She read about hypothermia in a textbook when she thought she wanted to become a doctor. The aftermath isn’t pretty, and she absolutely needed her toes to continue dancing.

Sakura struggled to reach the car as a strong gust of wind blasted her. With a huff, she pulled the handle and opened the door, a wave of heat engulfing her body with open arms. She sat in the passenger’s seat with a relieved smile on her face, relishing the warmth. In the drivers seat, Sasuke sat with a grin that made Sakura startle.

"What? I'm just hitchhiking with you to get to the city faster to fix what you did. Now drive, since you insist on taking me." Sakura buckled herself into the seat and looked out the window.

The idol chuckled, put the car in drive, and sped towards the city.

"How are we going to find it? There must be at least 10 of these shops around here.” Sakura speculated as they parked at a shop closest to them.

“I don’t know, there's no way of knowing now which shop they went to." Sasuke said as he shifted the gear from drive into park. "We simply have to go to all of them."

The pair slid out of the car and entered the first shop where a short woman welcomed them.

"Hello, pretty unusual weather we're having here, yes?" She beamed.

“It is. But I came to ask if you've seen a certain photo and person come in today." Sakura started.

"Yes, we would like to know if you've seen a man with blonde spikes hair come in today with a portrait of a woman?" Sasuke inserted himself next to Sakura, his arm grazing her shoulder. Sakura looked up to him at the touch.

"No, I'm sorry. You're the first couple to come in my shop today. Maybe you should try the other one just around the corner." She pointed indicating the direction.

“O-Oh, we aren't a couple,” Sakura said sheepishly and waved her hands in front of her. She shot a side glare to Sasuke, "There's no way I'd date him." The last words pointed.

The shop owner tipped her head back, a sound of understanding resonating from her. “What a shame. You look perfect together." A sort of dreamy look in her eyes took Sakura by surprise. She turned away to hide the blush that was prone to appear sooner or later and quickly thanked the woman as she left the store.

"Where's the next one?" She asked as he took shelter under the store's awning.

Sasuke flipped up the hood of his jacket and started walking down the street, head tilted downward to shield his face from the rain. “It's this way. Hurry up, I want to get out of this rain as soon as possible."

Sakura trailed at his heels, struggling to keep up with his long strides, ”Then why don't we just take the car?" She asked almost pleadingly as a shiver went down her spine.

"So you can suffer." He said simply, hiding his devious smirk as he took a punch in his arm from the maid.

After two hours of stranger’s compliments, awkward glances, insults, and whining, Sakura felt fatigue begin to set in the soles of her feet.

"Is this the last store in Konoha?” Sakura asked, out of breath from all the ground covered. In truth Sakura knew they hadn't walked that far at all between nearby shops and using the car for further ones, but for some reason she felt unusually tired, hot, and dizzy.

Sasuke confirmed her question as he held the door open for her to enter first. Sakura made her way groggily into the store and let out a suppressed sneeze. The man behind the counter greeted his customers just before retreating behind a curtain to what Sasuke assumed to be the back room. Sasuke stopped him.

"Excuse me, we were wondering if a man with blonde spiky hair came through here today with a portrait of a woman?" He asked the shop owner politely.

The man tapped in his chin in thought, "Oh, yes I did see him! Is there something wrong?"

"He accidentally left the photo behind, and it's really important to her.” Sasuke smiled, his hand landing on Sakura's shoulder as she stood dazedly.

Then the old man shuffled away in his fuzzy slippers and slipped behind the curtain to find the item.
As the pair stood side by side in uncomfortable silence. At this point, they'd be trading insults or Sakura would be talking to herself, saying that she hoped to find the picture this time. Sasuke peered at Sakura whose eyelids wore heavy and ivory skin turned pale. The idol bent down to observe Sakura's vacant expression, "Hey, Sakura, are you doing okay?" He wondered out loud.

"Is this it?” The owner held the picture between his fingers.

Sakura's face automatically brightened a notch when she saw the photo. Sasuke turned towards the owner, thanking him for his help.

Sakura stood planted listening to the men speak back and forth, their voices distorting like they were walking away from her. Sasuke looked back at Sakura with concern in his features before the world went black.

"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted as he watched the woman crumple to the floor. His hand instinctively reached out to catch Sakura’s head before it contacted the floor. He shook her from her shoulders gently to garner a sign of life. Sakura laid there, unresponsive to her name and movement to her body.

"Is she alright? Do you need an ambulance?" The man behind the counter asked with urgency.

Sasuke brushed stray pink hairs from her forehead and pressed the back of his hand to her skin. She was burning up, but she would be fine.

"No, she just has a fever. I’ll take care of her, if you can just help hike her up on my back.”

When the man agreed to do so, Sasuke stripped himself of his jacket and fit it over Sakura, zipping it up all the way to her neck and pulling over the hood. Sasuke stepped back, noticing how the jacket fit Sakura like a dress. A smile pulled at his lips.

The owner passed the picture on to Sasuke which he folded away into his front pocket.
A few seconds of struggling with the limp body, they managed to fit Sakura comfortably atop Sasuke’s back, his arms looping under each of her legs. Sasuke thanked the shopkeeper and went on his way, the shopkeeper calling after him,

"You two look good together!”

Sasuke didn’t turn back as he made way to the car with Sakura hung around his shoulders.

A wide grin decorated his face, "Look who's causing the problems now."