• FIXING YOUR PROBLEMS IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE, BUT YOU STILL GOTTA DO IT •

A very confused Sasuke found Sakura sulking on a bench in front of the hospital. Itachi had been very worried about the girl, much so that he wanted to go in search for her with Sasuke. However he could not because his muscles were weakened with his illness and he could only go so far with shaky legs. It took a lot to calm Itachi down but when he did, Sasuke went out to search for Sakura.

Fortunately she picked her phone when he called and told him where she was which brought them to where the both of them were, seated on the hospital bench. "What happened back there?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura shook her head. "I'm sorry, I–" There were a lot of questions in her head to ask but she settled for the easiest. "How do you know Mrs Hikari?"

"So you do know Hikari sensei." Sasuke mused. He had suspected it when Sakura reacted strongly to the name back at Itachi's room but he wasn't so sure. "I don't actually know her, at least not as personally as Itachi does. She owned a small bakery where she taught children to bake and cook simple dishes. And whatever they baked, they shared with the neighborhood children and those that needed food. Hikari sensei was loved by everyone, she was an angel." Sasuke grew a soft smile as he told his story. "Itachi was one of the children she taught, he and my older cousin and his best friend. I don't think I was yet born back when they met her, he was six I think. Hikari sensei's bakery became a meeting spot for them and even when they were in middle school they continued meeting up at Hikari-sensei's bakery."

Sasuke's small smile turned into something sad as he continued his story.

"When I was five though, my older cousin passed away. He and Itachi were really close so it hurt him a lot. Hikari sensei was there for my brother till he got back up on his feet. The year she passed away was really tough on Itachi cause it was the same year his best friend, Izumi had to move to a faraway place." Sasuke sighed. "Hikari sensei's pastries meant a lot to Itachi. They were what brought him and his friends together and they constituted a great deal of his childhood to his early teens. I just want..." Sasuke's voice trembled with a weakness Sakura had never associated him with before. "You see, Itachi, he's ill with a brain tumor."

Sakura gasped aloud at the solemn confession. She had imagined reasons for Itachi's admission but she never expected something like a brain tumor. Sasuke's hands shook as he clasped them together.

"Yeah he's at the stage where he either dies because of the tumor or because of a surgery. He doesn't have much time to live. He's accepted fate, we've accepted fate, but..." Sasuke sighed. "But Itachi isn't happy." Nobody will be happy in such a state, Sakura thought. "He might try to hide it with smiles but when he thinks I'm not looking I see the smile fall. I don't want him to die sad and– and I don't want to regret never being able to make him happy for once before he leaves me inevitably."

"That's why you wanted to make dangos." Sakura whispered in realization. "For him."

Sasuke chuckled. "They're his favorite snacks. I can never stand sweet things but Itachi has a big sweet tooth. He'd make me try some of Hikari-sensei's pastries sometimes and sweet as they were, I never forgot how they tasted like. Honestly the whole masquerade potlatch party was just a desperate action to find pastries that could be good as Hikari sensei's and have the owner teach me to make dangos. Never did I expect to actually find one that tastes like hers, and never did I expect you to actually know her."

Stupid. Sakura felt really stupid and horrible. Here she was thinking that Sasuke fell in love with the girl at the ball which was why he was searching throughout the school for her, meanwhile all Sasuke wanted was just to make his brother happy. There was no "love" like she had selfishly made up in this story. Everything was just Sasuke being a pure and loving brother. She really felt stupid! She was really stupid!

"I must ask though." Sasuke spoke to her. "How do you know Hikari sensei? Is she your mother? You told me the cook book you got the cinnamon bun recipe from was your mother's, is she really your mother?"

Sakura couldn't speak. What could she say? That she stole the book from her stepsister in order to catch his attention? That she was technically a fake and there was in fact nothing she could cook well? Sakura feared how Sasuke would look at her if she told the truth. Surely he would hate her. Because of her silly and petty jealousy he would lose Itachi to sadness. She was so afraid. She didn't want to lose Sasuke. Other than her infatuation with his looks she had come to really like him for who he was and she really enjoyed his company. He treated her like an actual person, not the daughter of the gold digger that took her late husband's property for herself. She might not get Sasuke as a partner but she really didn't want to lose him as a friend.

"I..." Sakura began, mouth heavy. She could just say that Hikari was her mother. After all she and Hinata were step sisters so that made Hikari indirectly her mum too. But she couldn't do that. Not to Hikari, not to Hinata, not to Sasuke and certainly not to Itachi. Sakura was still afraid of how she'd look in Sasuke's eyes after she revealed the truth, but in the end all that mattered was his happiness. Making Itachi happy would make him happy and even if Sasuke hated her from that moment on, she would accept it and try to make friends in a more honest way from then on. "I have a confession."

It was so hard. God it was so hard to let go of what she had with Sasuke but she had to. The boy had initially been confused, then angry, then all of a sudden he just went blank. Sakura decided that his blank face was the scariest of them all. There was no way of telling what he was thinking.

"I'll drive you home." Sasuke said dryly after she had come clean of everything she did wrong. Sakura began to decline but his hardened face made her reconsider. The ride was so uncomfortable and tense but they finally got to the Hyuga turned Haruno mansion.

"Do you..." Sakura hesitated a bit. "Do you want to speak with Hinata?" She had told him who the real daughter of Hikari-sensei was. Surely he would want to speak with her as soon as possible. However to her surprise Sasuke just sighed.

"I'm too tired for this right now."

"O-okay. I'll– I'll tell her about it tonight then. M-maybe tomorrow you guys can meet...?" Sakura's voice shook with anxiety and unshed tears.

"Fine. Get out of my car." Sasuke said not very nicely and Sakura promptly got out, not wanting to annoy him any further. Neither of them lingered long at the driveway, Sasuke instantly making a reverse and Sakura immediately entering her house.

Ino and Mebuki were the first people she met at the living room. The former was so excited to hear about the date but Sakura's tears which she had been holding back had started streaming down her face in torrents and it set Ino off. "Hey Sakura what's wrong?" The girl asked worriedly after her friend but Sakura was not in the mood to talk. She ran straight to her room, locked the door and cried into her pillow.

A knock followed soon after. "Sakura what's wrong? What happened?" Ino asked worriedly from the other side of her door.

"What? Did the Uchiha boy not like you?" Her mother's voice reached her ears and all of a sudden Sakura felt really bitter towards her mother. She was not to blame for her recent actions but Sakura couldn't help but think about how different her life would have been if her mother wasn't a money chaser. Sure she was able to live a comfortable life because of it but her mother's greed for money caused a lot of the bad reputations she had and that cost her social life. Sakura was angry because even now her mother was greedy for the money. She was no fool, she knew that her mother wanted her to get along with the Uchihas as well as possible for her own selfish gain but because she liked Sasuke she was willing to let it happen. God, was she a fool!

"Go away!" Sakura yelled angrily. "Leave me the hell alone, I hate you!"

Mebuki gasped from the other end of the room. "Don't you dare talk to me that way young lady! Open this door right now!"

"Shut up! You have no idea just how much my life is ruined because of you! My life would've worked so well if you were different, if you weren't my mum! I wish dad was alive! I wish he wasn't the one that died! Just leave me the hell alone!"

Sakura was panting at the end of her screaming bout. She clearly took her aggressive side from her mother because after all that she said Mebuki wasn't about to let it slide. She was rattling her door's handle and yelling at her to open the door while Sakura was screaming profanities back at her. Ino was trapped outside trying to get Mebuki to give Sakura some much needed space and Hinata was nowhere to be found. Everything was disastrous.

***

Whoo! The drama is buzzing! Thanks for reading, now I have a question for ya. Be honest, if you were in Sakura's shoes what will you have done? Will you be able to tell the truth knowing that the one you love will hate you forever for it?

Please vote and leave a comment. See ya in the next chapter.

-Star.