章 24: Chapter 24
-Sakura's POV-
Gaara's arms tightened slightly around me and when I pulled back slightly to look at his face, it held an expression I wasn't familiar with but knew it wasn't a good one. In an attempt to figure out what had him on edge, I pulled my arms from around his shoulders and turned to look behind me, only for someone to roughly shove me to the side.
A small, surprised sound left my lips as my arms came out to try and catch me, but Sasuke and Hinata both grabbed onto one of my arms and pulled me up and away. I was too concerned with who'd pretty much tossed me aside and turned in time to see Garrett land a painful sounding punch to Gaara's face.
My heart dropped in my chest and I instinctively yelled, "Stop!" and tried to go try and help somehow, but my other bandmates wouldn't let me. My mouth fell open in disbelief as Gaara stumbled back with a hand to his eye before a terrifying expression crossed his face and he returned a hit with a ferocity I never thought he'd be capable of.
I felt sick to my stomach at the furious look on my bandmate's face. Gaara's never been anything but calm and quiet since I've met him. This person seething before us didn't even look like him anymore. I wasn't too stunned, though, to be impressed. Garrett had a significant height and weight advantage over him, but only one of them had been thrown to the floor and it wasn't the redhead.
Gaara dropped his hand from his eye and I gasped at how red it was. It was likely to be black within the next hour. Sasuke suddenly released my arm and stepped around Hinata and I to approach our friend, making me realize he was about to go in for another hit.
-Gaara's POV-
The moment he lay a hand on Sakura, my vision was red. The sudden surge of rage in my veins distracted me for a moment and a painful hit landed on the right side of my face, making me take a few steps back. Then everything went black for a while.
"This isn't the time or place, man. Come on!" Sasuke's voice snapped me back to Earth and I blinked, realizing he was holding my arms behind my back.
It took a moment for everything to register as I looked down at Garrett, who was still on the ground with a bloody lip. Then, I noticed the large crowd of people standing nearby with looks of shock as they stared at us.
It happened again. I haven't had a blackout like that since before signing with Evolution and I swore I'd never lose my temper like that again, but when he disregarded Sakura's safety like that I couldn't help myself. Panic shot through me and I looked around until my eyes landed on the girl in question.
Please, God, tell me she wasn't hurt.
I looked over her appearance before mentally relaxing slightly. Other than the terrified expression on her face, she seemed fine. Guilt washed over me when she took a few steps toward me, motioning for Sasuke to let go of me.
My arms were released and she hesitantly laid a hand on my arm, "Let's go somewhere else, okay?" I could tell just by the tone of her voice that she'd seen every second of me losing my temper. It wouldn't surprise me if she becomes scared of me after this. My lack of self-control probably just ruined weeks of trust we'd built up with one another.
Another hand touched my other arm and I looked over to see Tenten leading us backstage toward our dressing room. She was saying something to some of the aides nearby, but I couldn't really comprehend it amidst all the chaos.
-Sakura's POV-
Even if I was taken aback by his shift in demeanor just moments ago, the second he snapped out of it all I wanted to do was hug him and reassure him that no one was angry at him for standing up for himself. A look of complete and utter shame painted his face and showed no signs of leaving even as we entered the dressing room.
A small part of me was upset he hadn't just backed off after Garrett hit him because everyone saw it happen, but a larger part of me was happy to see the young man get his comeuppance. There are likely not a lot of people in the world that don't automatically try and fight back after being disrespected that way. Not only that, but he did it not even five minutes after our debut show! It was tempting to go out there and punch him in the face myself for that and all the other things he's put me through.
Once the door to the dressing room was shut and locked, we sat on the couch, Hinata taking Tenten's place on Gaara's other side and rubbing his back gently to try and comfort him. She's never been that good with words, but she was doing her best and I'm sure he'd realize that later and be grateful for her support.
I held his hand in between both of mine, rubbing my thumb over the back of it absently as Kakashi approached to address what'd just happened. Sasuke sat on my other side, pretending not to be concerned for his friend's well being, but the way he had his whole body turned slightly toward us so we'd be in his peripheral vision as we listened to Kakashi speak said his stoicism was all an act. Gaara himself was trying his best to avoid everyone's eye contact but the CEO's.
"While I know we just had a conversation about being involved with drama, " Kakashi looked at each of us with a stern look before continuing, "I was personally there to witness this incident and know that none of you are in the wrong."
We all drew a collective sigh of relief as he continued, "Just be aware that I won't be there for every single mishap you get into and you'll have to learn how to take control of the situation going forward. Gaara," he addressed the currently angsty young man directly.
The boy in question looked up at him with the same guilty expression he's had on since snapping out of his stupor, "I'm very proud of you for standing up for Sakura, but try to subdue him rather than hit him next time, okay?"
I felt a heat rise to my cheeks. He was standing up for me? It was my initial understanding that the anger that literally took him over was a reaction to being hit. Even I get a little crazy when someone hits me in the face. I know so for a fact because Karin and Suigetsu had done so a number of times when we were in school.
My eyes shot over to his face, but he refused to meet my eye and simply hung his head slightly, still looking incredibly upset.
There was a very loud knock on the door and Tenten silently went to answer it. The second she turned the lock, it shot open and my mother hurried through the doorway. I rose to my feet, dropping Gaara's hand in the process. He slowly got up as well. Kakashi motioned for us to go ahead and talk to her, our meeting could wait a few minutes.
I approached my teary-eyed mother and gave her a quick hug, "How did you like our show, Mom?"
A great part of me hoped she was unaware of the whole accident backstage, but the distraught look on her face immediately confirmed that wasn't the case, "Sakura, you know very well that I'm beyond proud of you! I always have been and always will be, but you know that's not why I've interrupted your meeting." I couldn't help myself from letting my demeanor fall slightly.
Gaara stepped forward before I could think of a response. He stood in front of my mother and bowed deeply, "I owe you and your family an apology. I lost my temper and did something terrible. Please forgive me."
My eyes widened at his boldness, but my mother surprised me more by pulling him up into a tight hug. Gaara's eyes were just as wide as mine as he stared at me from over her shoulder, but I was just as stunned as he was. My mother isn't normally one to get close to someone she barely knows. In fact, her and Sam went on four dates before they even kissed.
Mom eventually pulled away and held Gaara's hands in her own, studying his face carefully before reassuring him, "I saw what happened, dear. I came to thank you for putting Garrett in his place after he decided to embarrass us all public like that. Can you ever forgive us for his actions?"
She lightly ran a hand over Gaara's face, just to the side of his now-obviously bruised eye. He winced slightly at her touch, but nodded, "Of course." His face was turning a light shade of pink and a giggle nearly slipped past my lips.
I hated to interrupt, but I just had to know what she knew, "Mom, is Garrett okay?"
The woman released Gaara's hands and turned towards me with a hand on her hip and a stern look on her face, "He's fine, but you need to tell me what's going on. He won't talk and you don't seem all that surprised by his actions."
I scrambled to come up with a lie, but Gaara spoke up before I could stop him, "He's been harassing your daughter for some time, Ma'am."
My mouth fell open in disbelief as I turned to look at him with wide eyes. How could he just throw me under the bus like that!? He met my gaze with a firm look, wordlessly confirming that he knew what a huge impact what he just did would have and still didn't regret it.
"Is that true, Sakura? How long has this been going on?"
I met my mother's eyes and felt tears well up as everything started to come out of the woodwork, "U-Um...well, since Sam and Garrett moved in, really. It's just that I hadn't seen you smile in so long and you looked so happy! I couldn't be selfish and-"
"Sakura Haruno! How dare you keep something like this from me! I could never be happy if you're suffering! You should've told me immediately."
Tears fell down my cheeks in shame as my mother started to cry as well. Gaara awkwardly returned to his seat on the couch between Hinata and Sasuke, who were trying their best to give us some privacy by looking at the newer comments on the tablet from our interview earlier. Tenten and Kakashi were having a quiet discussion on the couch across from them.
I didn't have any words so I just cried silently as she continued, "You come first, before anything else. Yes, I love Sam and he makes me happy, but if I find out he knew about his son's actions and didn't do anything, do you think I'll still feel the same? What if, heaven forbid, you got hurt?"
She suddenly clamped her mouth shut and wiped roughly at her tears. She pulled me into a tight hug, "Don't cry, Sakura. We'll be alright one way or another. I'm going to talk to Sam and figure out what he knows. Don't let this affect your big day! I love you! I love you! I love you! I've gotta go!"
She let me go and quickly waved at the others in the room, "Sorry for interrupting! You all did amazing!" Everyone let out varying noises of appreciation as she left. It's just that they didn't see the fresh tears still falling from her eyes as she left the room.
Hinata rose to her feet to pull me back to the couch. She put her arms around me as Kakashi continued our meeting. I wiped angrily at my tears, trying to ignore Gaara's stare. Anger rushed through my blood at what he'd just done and I didn't know what to do to get rid of it so I just kept my mouth clamped shut and my eyes on our agency's CEO. Kakashi obviously wanted to avoid talking about what had just happened and quickly started talking about our performance, doing his best to brighten our spirits.
-Hinata's POV-
After a very long post-performance meeting, we were made back up by our make-up artists and ushered back out to the LMC talk show stage for our second interview. I could tell that Sakura had been affected by her conversation with her mother, but she did her best to hide it behind a bright smile. Things were tense between her and Gaara, so much so that she'd chosen to have me sit in the middle next to him instead of her during the interview.
It wasn't really any of my business, but I could relate to both sides of the argument. While it wasn't Gaara's place to tell Sakura's mother about Garrett's harassment, I understood that he did it because he cares about her. Sakura was understandably angry at him and he was taking her silent treatment punishment like he deserved it, which he might. Sasuke was fed up with the whole situation, shaking his head in annoyance at the two every now and then when the camera's weren't on him.
Once our tense interview was finished, it was nearly midnight and all I wanted was to take a steaming hot bath and go to bed. We trudged into the elevator once we were back at the agency. It was dead silent and awkward until the doors to the elevator reopened on our floor.
Sasuke walked briskly ahead of us all towards his room. We all paused until he reached his and Gaara's door before I awkwardly stepped past the other two and hurried to unlock our room as well. The air in the elevator was getting more tense by the moment and I didn't want to be there when the two finally spoke to each other.
-Sakura's POV-
As soon as Hinata and Sasuke were away, I had to get my emotions off my chest. I stepped out of the elevator before the doors could shut, Gaara following suit, then turned on my heel and glared at him, "You had no right, Gaara. What the hell were you thinking?"
The redhead just stood there and listened to me berate him with attentive eyes, which made me even angrier. Where was the animalistic rage he had earlier? I wanted him to be angry back at me so I wouldn't feel like such a jerk for being the only one arguing. I wasn't wrong for being upset with him. What he did was out of line and he had to know that otherwise he'd be talking back.
"You don't have anything to say to me after what you just did?"
He looked at me with searching teal eyes for a moment before confessing in his usual soft but sturdy voice, "I understand why you're angry and I'm not going to argue with you about why you feel the way you do. I did what I did because it needed to be done before you got hurt."
He turned to walk towards his room, but I grabbed his arm, "That's it? My mother is distraught, Gaara! You may have just ruined her engagement!"
The muscles in his arm tightened up slightly and I knew that I'd struck a nerve somehow. He turned back to face me with his jaw set in a line, "If your mother's engagement is broken off, it would be Garrett's fault, not mine and you know that."
He was right because I did know that. What I didn't know was why I needed to get a rise out of him right now.
My glare hardened further, "You don't get to make decisions for me, Gaara. I deserve a better explanation than that!"
His gaze hardened and he pulled his arm as gently as he probably could away from my grasp. His voice was slightly louder as his anger was obviously rising, "I'm not going to sit around and watch you get yourself hurt for someone else's sake, even if it is your mother!"
In the back of my mind I was telling myself to take a deep breath and handle the conversation like an adult, but I ignored it. I'm tired of being perfect all the time. "My well being is none of your business. You're not my boyfriend and you're sure as hell not my friend after this!"
As soon as the words left my lips, I wished I could take them back. His irritated expression sank into a blank one the moment my words registered. With one last pause as he stared at my face, Gaara turned and wordlessly walked to his room without another glance back.
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