prompt—misspent youth
summary: Any youth which is not misspent is, by definition, misspent.
note: quote from Hermester Barrington. I am a little obsessed with putting all the naruto characters in gangs, especially madara. anyways—this one features all the guys in gangs, which is hot. so… here it is! don't worry though, I have other AUs besides gangs and cops and more gangs… happy day 4 of ssmonth!

this or that
—reviee

"Sakura…"

Sakura swiveled around in her chair. She was met with the sight of a beaten up Sasuke pushing himself through the barely open window. Quickly, she scrambled to shove it open. He fell unceremoniously down on the floor with a thump. She dropped to her knees, bringing an arm around his shoulders to pick him up.

"Sasuke! God, what happened?" She dragged him to her bed and set him down among the white frills and pink bed sheets.

Sasuke smirked. "The usual."

Sakura rolled her eyes, opening her closet to take out the first aid kit she kept in there. It wasn't the first time he arrived at her window all tattered and bruised. He and Naruto—his absolute best friend—had started a gang of sorts in grade seven. Sakura scoffed every time, though, because to her it was a bunch of stupid kids getting into fights. She sighed. This was important to them, for whatever reason.

"Did you at least win?" She murmured, dabbing antiseptic onto a cut on his forehead.

Sasuke looked at her pointedly. Sakura rolled her eyes, returning her attention to the cut. Honestly—it was getting ridiculous. They were in their last year of high school. Were they planning on continuing this until university?

"Where's Naruto?" Sakura demanded, sticking a bandage on the cut gently.

Sasuke shrugged. "He was right behind me last time I checked."

Sakura groaned loudly—the boys could be so irresponsible. If they were going to fight to the death illegally, the least they could do was tend to their wounds. Sakura glared at Sasuke and poured the antiseptic directly onto a larger cut on his arm. He hissed, pulling back.

"Yeah, well, next time you better make sure Naruto's with you at all times." She threatened, yanking his arm back into her lap.

Sasuke scowled and glared at the cut on his arm. Sakura's hand was softly rolling gauze around; making sure it wasn't too tight or loose. He always got tended to by Sakura. Whether it was because she was the only female he really talked to or something else—it had become a habit ever since he had started this business. It was never supposed to snowball into a huge rivalry against Sound, but it had. They were now regularly had fights with the rivaling gang from the school down the block.

"All done!" Sakura announced happily, placing his arm back on his lap.

Sasuke examined his arm and all the bandages littering his face before thanking her. She smiled, waving him off and went over to her desk to retrieve her textbook. She retook her seat next to him on her bed while he settled into her mattress, putting his hands behind his head.

"What are you doing?" He turned so that he faced her.

Sakura looked down, staring at his battered face. An overwhelming urge to stroke his hair and caress his cheek flooded her, but she restrained herself. Instead, she smiled and held up the textbook.

"Our homework?" She reminded him.

"Aa." He returned back to his original position. "I'll do that tonight."

"You should do your homework earlier. Then you'd actually sleep at night." She scolded, flipping the page.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter, anyway."

Sakura scoffed. Sasuke always got the highest marks in class, even when he didn't study. All he did in class was sleep, yet he didn't even have to try. She tried numerous times to coax him to tell her his secret, but her efforts failed. Sakura was always a hard worker and it helped that she was naturally able to absorb information easily.

"You're going to help me, right?" Sakura fluttered her eyelashes, holding the book out to him.

"Aa. Sure." Sasuke sat up, taking the textbook and scanning it.

It wasn't unusual for Sasuke to help her after she bandaged him up. In fact, he usually stayed and watched her as she worked the whole night. She would sneak him dinner and watch as he wolfed down a ton of food. Sometimes, when there was no homework or studying to be done, they would sit on her bed and watch TV.

Sasuke would leave at ten PM sharp.

—

"You guys are really annoying, you know."

Sakura spoke after shoving a spoonful of yogurt and berries into her mouth. Sasuke scowled at her while Naruto blinked, completely confused. Shikamaru and Neji stared at her with a blank expression.

"Sakura's right!" Ino agreed, leaning over the table to shorten the distance between her and the boys.

"What are you talking about, woman?" Shikamaru replied, leaning back and closing his eyes.

"Your fights!" Sakura exclaimed, scraping the last of the yogurt out of her cup. "It's ridiculous how much you guys fight. Aren't you ever tired?"

"'Cause we are!" Ino rested her head on her hands.

Shikamaru sighed. "You don't have to bandage me."

"Ugh! You don't get it!" Ino gathered her tray and dumped it in the nearby garbage. She stomped out of the cafeteria.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru got up, going to find a pissed off Ino.

Naruto blinked—still confused—and turned to Hinata. "You don't mind bandaging me up, do you, Hinata-chan?"

"No, of course not!" She turned bright red.

Sasuke turned to look at Sakura; his eyes soft, as if asking her a silent question. She blinked, but didn't react to his gaze. Instead, she turned back to her meal and started eating a banana.

—

Sasuke crawled through Sakura's window that night with ease. Sakura swiveled around once again, sighing with relief when she saw that his body was not littered with fresh cuts and yellowing bruises. She crawled over to Sasuke, who had settled himself on her bed. Hesitantly, she lay down next to him.

"I can do it myself, you know. Tend to my wounds, I mean." Sasuke muttered quietly, staring at the ceiling.

Sakura smiled. "Yeah, I know."

"Then what did you mean at lunch?" Sasuke asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

"I…" Sakura trailed off, her fingers picking at each other nervously while they rested on her stomach. "I think we're all a little tired of you guys getting hurt."

It was quiet for a while as thoughts ran through her head. It wasn't the first time that she and Ino had expressed their concerns. Hinata tended to keep her concerns to herself, though she believed in Naruto more than Ino and Sakura believed in Shikamaru or Sasuke. Tenten was a different story, however, because she was occasionally part of their gang. She fought with them in their biggest fights.

It gave Sakura a sense of ease—though she wasn't sure why—when Tenten was there. Women's intuition, she guessed. Tenten would stop them from doing anything rash or fatal. She knew when to stop and that's what made her different from Sasuke or Naruto or any of the others.

"We're completely fine." He reassured her nonchalantly.

Sakura turned in the bed to face Sasuke, resting her cheek against her forearm. "How long do you guys plan to do this?"

Sasuke shrugged. "We all have steam to blow off. Asuma's death still affects Shikamaru. Naruto, Neji and my parents are all dead. This is how we cope."

Her eyes softened. This was the first time he ever admitted the real reason behind his fights, though she had always suspected it and he had always hinted at it. She squinted—trying to see a flash of emotion in his features. There was nothing.

Sasuke always hid his emotions well. The only emotion that got the better of him was anger. He did not control his temper well, especially when it came to his family. Perhaps that's why fighting was so easy for him—for all of them, because none of them knew how to handle their anger. Her hand hesitantly reached over, lightly touching his arm. He turned to look at her in surprise.

"I get it." Sakura whispered, searching his eyes. "I just… wish it didn't have to be so dangerous. That's all."

—

"Yo, Sasuke!"

Sasuke and Sakura turned around to see Naruto running towards them, arms waving in the air excitedly. Shikamaru and Neji trailed behind the blond, bored looks spread across their faces. Sasuke nodded, signaling for Naruto to tell him what was on his mind. Sakura grinned at everyone.

"You ready for tonight?" Naruto slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulders, crushing him under his arm.

"What's happening tonight?" Sakura asked innocently, blinking.

"Nothin—"

"It's the big fight! Sound Four got more members, or something. Anyways, they challenged us. Wish us luck!" Naruto grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

Sakura's eyes widened and snapped towards Sasuke. He looked guilty and averted his eyes from hers. She frowned, turned around and walked away.

He couldn't even chase after her. Naruto held him in a death grip and didn't even notice Sakura leave. Soon enough, Shikamaru and Neji were beside them and they had begun talking about strategies for the fight that night. Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows and glared at nothing in particular.

The whole conversation flew by him.

—

"Sakura!"

Sakura knew the voice—it was Sasuke. She ignored him and picked up her pace, hugging her books to her chest. How could he not tell her? He was supposed to tell her about every fight, so that she would know when something happened. She could be ready to patch him up—although now she expected him every night. She didn't want to worry about him blindly. Why didn't he tell her?

"Sakura!" His voice was getting nearer.

Sakura picked up her pace again, now practically in a jog to get away from him. She passed her locker, intent on hiding. Sasuke growled, grabbed her arm and turned her around.

"Sakura! Where are you going?" Sasuke demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"You promised!" She screamed in his face, gripping her books tightly. "You promised you would tell me about every fight, so that I wouldn't worry! You promised, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke steadied her by keeping his hand tightly clamped on her arm. He waited a while, until her breathing evened out. She looked hurt, sad. This was exactly the reason he didn't want to tell her about this fight.

"I knew you wouldn't like it, Sakura." He hissed.

Sakura dug her nails into her binder. "You're damn right I don't like it! What are you guys thinking? You can barely take them on four versus four! Do you even know how many extras they're bringing? This is reckless!"

"We can handle it. We're bringing Tenten." He insisted.

"Tenten!" She exclaimed. "What if she gets hurt? God, what if you guys can't handle it? Then what will you do? You guys will get hurt and… and…"

"Sakura… trust me."

She shook her head. "No, Sasuke… it's… god, I can't stand it when you get hurt. It scares me."

Sasuke simply stared at her and wondered how she could care about him so much. What did he offer her, if not pain? He stayed silent as a tear rolled down her cheek. She stepped closer to him, resting her forehead gently on his chest. He stayed frozen, allowing her to soak in her thoughts. He couldn't change—not even for her. This was something he had to do. This was it for him.

They stayed like that until the bell rang.

—

When Sakura arrived home, she was surprised to see Sasuke waiting outside her window. She dropped her bag and hurried over.

"Sasuke-kun? Aren't you supposed to be at the fight?" Sakura moved over as Sasuke climbed in.

He settled on her bed, just like all those other nights before. His hands cushioned his head as he stared up at the ceiling. Sakura was hesitant—why wasn't he at the fight? Why was he so relaxed? She took a seat at the edge of the bed, her neck awkwardly craned towards him to see his face. After a few moments of silence, she sighed and settled in beside him.

"Why aren't you fighting?" She murmured softly, locking her eyes on the ceiling.

Sasuke shrugged. "The fight is in an hour."

Sakura turned to him, completely unnerved by his arrival. She briefly wondered if he was here because he felt bad. Though they had made up at lunch that day, there was a feeling of unease all day. She knew he was going to go that evening no matter what and it dictated all her actions around him. She sucked in a breath and turned on her side to see him. His eyebrows were furrowed.

"What are you thinking?" Sakura asked, biting her lip.

Sasuke turned to face her, just as she did to him. They locked eyes. Sakura rested her head on her arms, burrowing further. There was a weight in her chest that seemed to appear whenever Sasuke stared at her like there was no other choice. It was his choice—she wanted to tell him—it was his choice whether he wanted to drag this angst around with him for the rest of his life. He didn't have to do this to himself.

"I'll come back." He promised.

The weight in Sakura's chest lifted—just a little. She silently reached over, softly encasing his hand in hers. She stroked her thumb over his knuckles and brought it up to her face. She brought her lips down onto the tips of his fingers. His fingers were rough. He liked to pick at them—a habit out of anxiety or anger, she wasn't quite sure. Her lips caressed each little wound.

"Don't go." She whispered, pleading.

Sasuke's eyes flickered as he took his hand out of her grasp. He wiped away a tear that fell and tangled his hand in her hair. Gently, he pushed her head forward and moved his to meet hers. They kissed. It was far too sad for a first kiss, Sasuke thought. He could feel Sakura's emotions pouring through every breath she took; feel the fear that boiled inside of her.

They pulled away—completely breathless. His finger slid down her cheek to catch another tear and then his hand was gone. She hiccupped as her lip started to quiver. It felt like a permanent goodbye, though it wasn't supposed to be any different from his usual fights.

His fingers ghosted over her forehead before he got up and left.

—

Sakura anxiously waited all night.

She was a mess of nerves and anxiety—clutching her phone to her chest and keeping her eyes set on the window. The texts exchanged between her and Ino helped soothe, but only for a moment. She knew both she and Ino's nerves couldn't be soothed until they came back safely.

Finally, at 2AM, there was a knock on her window.

Sakura was on the edge of falling asleep and the knock was so faint that she barely heard it. Only when it resounded a third time did she literally roll out of bed, phone clutched in her hand, to shove open the window. In the dark, Sasuke was wobbling, clutching his eye. Her breath caught in her throat.

She carried him over the ledge of her windowsill and tumbled onto her bed. She was standing over him, staring at his battered form. He wasn't as bad as she thought he'd be. In fact, it didn't even look like he had any broken bones. There were yellowing bruises everywhere and his left eye was swollen, but he would live. His lower lip was cut and there was blood seeping through the wound. Asphalt burns littered his elbows and knees as blood trickled down his legs. Sakura's eyes softened.

"We won."

Sakura's head shot up when she realized what he had just said. A sob clawed its way up her throat as laughter started bubbling. She laughed because she was glad he was here; glad he was safe.

"We're not going to fight anymore." Sasuke breathed—his voice raspy.

It only made Sakura laugh some more. She cupped his face, taking in every feature. He just stared back at her, knowing that he was the one who put the smile on her face. He was most content here—in her bed, watching as she laughed. He tipped his head up and pressed his lips firmly against hers. His arms reached to wrap around her waist, pulling her down on top of him.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun." She whispered as she tightened her arms around him.

Sasuke fell asleep on her bed that night with their limbs entangled around each other.