SasuHina: Beyond The Camera

Chapter 56

-Sakura's POV-

It was the middle of the night after the sweet Valentine's dinner Sasuke and Gaara took us on when my phone went off, and I rolled over, grumbling at whoever dared wake me at such an early hour, but when I saw Sasori's name cross my screen, it was as though I'd never been asleep at all.

Since he and I have been sharing rooms so often lately, my initial reaction was to look over at the other side of my bed to see if Gaara'd been woken up by the sound, only to realize he wasn't there tonight. Then I looked over to verify the door to the bathroom was firmly closed, and when I confirmed it was, I gave myself a short, mental pep talk.

A few days ago, I sent all the members of Konan's band, other than Sasori, my updated phone number in hopes he'd somehow swipe it, and obviously, he did, or else he wouldn't be calling me right now. Step one in my plan to get proof of his awful actions against me was an outstanding success. I just have to keep being courageous. The well-being of potentially many more women, and maybe even me, hangs in the balance.

After calming down, I answered the phone in a hushed voice just in case Gaara was awake in his room, "Hello?"

There was a very long pause on the other end of the line, but the familiar voice of Sasori that brought terrified goosebumps to my skin eventually responded, "Why'd you change your number? I've been trying to get ahold of you for weeks now."

I sat up in bed and hugged a pillow for support, "I needed some time to think."

Another long pause, "We really need to talk, Babe. I'm not happy with how things went down at the party."

I swallowed the dozens of insults threatening to leave my mouth and did my best to play along with his mental instability, "I agree that things ended badly. Let's talk, then."

I held my breath, desperately hoping he'll be okay just speaking over the phone because I have it set to record all phone calls just in case, but he disappointed me, as usual, "When can we meet up? I want to see you again."

As I held back a defeated sigh, I reminded myself of my plan again. On Tuesday afternoon, there's about a two-hour window where I'll be the only one home. If any of my three housemates sees Sasori around, he might not make it out alive, so I have no choice but to keep this from them. The good thing is that one: if anything happens, it'll be on my turf, and I'll be more easily able to take control of the situation, and two: I can rig multiple cameras and recording devices without him knowing so anything and everything is documented. This type of thing is considered illegal in many countries, but not Konoha; for that, I'm eternally grateful.

Once I relayed the time and date to him, and he agreed, I hung up the phone without much of a goodbye so he wouldn't be tempted to talk more. Then I buried my face in the pillow I was holding, letting out a loud and anxious groan. If there's a god out there listening, let this go smoothly. I'm so fucking scared, but I have to do this. The last thing I need or want is to be hurt again.

Sunday, Monday, and the first half of Tuesday passed more quickly than I'd hoped, and suddenly it was time for me to see Sasori in person for the first time since he tried to force himself on me in that bathroom.

All according to plan, the other three didn't come home once our vocal lesson finished like I did. I know Sasuke and Hinata have an interview with the producers of True Talent. In this competitive television show, famous singers are challenged to write, compose, and perform a song from scratch. It's impressive just to have been invited to talk because there's not been a single celebrity on that show that's career hasn't benefited from it.

Gaara and I were also invited, but I said no for my mental health because I'm dealing with a lot right now, and worrying about something like that will just worsen it. Gaara said no for the dumbest reason ever, though. In his own words, he's not talented enough to perform solo and doesn't want to disappoint anyone by not doing well. Oh, I could've slapped him silly right then and there. He's completely wrong, obviously, but he wouldn't listen to any of us when we tried to convince him of it. So, the redhead said he had a few errands to run and disappeared before we could ask any questions.