Title: Illusion
Summary: The lightning struck. The thunder roared. Now came the storm.
Rating: T
Prompt: Thunder
Warning(s): Some slight violence and blood.
Notes: AU. A series. I doubt I'll have the whole story done in time for SasuSaku month, but I still plan to finish it. Here's the first installment!
Disclaimer: Naruto and Final Fantasy belong to their owners.
-S-
"Haruno-san! Haruno-san! SAKURA-SAN!"
The loud yells of the student startled everyone in the cafeteria.
"What is it?" Sakura immediately stood up, her heart beat faster as the student briefly paused in front of her.
He simply said, "Follow me," and Sakura was racing after him.
They ran down the corridors, down the stairs (it was faster than waiting for the elevator), past the front entrance, past the gates, and into the fields.
Outside in the rocky field stood two boys. There was the unmistakable glint of a finely polished silver sword. The boy with sunshine-colored hair stood his ground, even as the sword was pointed at his neck. The tip steadily held exactly an inch away from the vulnerable flesh, so close to the jugular vein. Then, she noticed their clothes had bloodstains. The sight of blood shocked her out of her frozen state. There was already a small crowd gathered around them, but none dared to stop the fight.
"Stop!" Sakura pleaded as she sprinted to them. She grasped the arm of the raven-haired boy, coaxing him to let go of the weapon. His eyes flickered to the hands clasped around his arm before sighing. He relented and sheathed his gunblade.
"Sasuke-kun! Naruto! It's practice. You're not supposed to actually injure each other," she scolded but the slight shake in her voice betrayed the panic raging in her heart. Sakura took an arm from each boy and led them back inside, away from the onlookers and towards the infirmary.
"I'm fine," Sasuke insisted as he shrugged his arm out of her grasp. He spared them no more glances as he walked towards the dorms.
The girl watched his retreat, still staring even as his form disappeared from their view. Naruto tugged at her arm; breaking her away from the dazed state Sasuke seemed to always put her in. She looked down at her feet and let go of his arm as they strode to the infirmary together. Even when he was standing right next to her, bloodied and bruised, the other boy still held her captive, had her attention, affection, her heart without even trying.
-S-
Lightning is the flash of light before the roar of thunder. Light travels faster than sound. It's the warning light before the attack. Each little gesture, every ignored inquiry, the increasingly vacant spot, they were all little flashes of lightning. They were a signal for what's to come. Maybe they should have seen it as a sign of an oncoming storm, instead of a beautiful lightshow. They were certainly not random, disconnected, insignificant occurrences. If only they had acknowledged the lightning and understood it, they would have been ready for the thunder that was sure to follow.
-S-
The roar of thunder came on a bright sunny day. There were few clouds that leisurely floated across the vast blue sky. Gentle winds swayed the grass, the leaves, and the flowers, making them dance. It was a beautiful day when the already precariously pieced together shards of glass holding them together shattered.
-S-
It started slowly. Sasuke had never been outgoing. Certainly, they never expected him to embrace them. But the walls Sasuke built around himself were low; they were made of wood, and had little holes. There were several vulnerable spots if you knew where to look. Sakura and Naruto spent much of their childhood looking for these little spots, breaking them down, to let the light shine through. And Sasuke had let them. For a long time, his attempts to rebuild his wooden castle were half-hearted.
Fast forward.
Gone were the wooden walls of the little castle fort, replaced with metal and concrete.
-S-
Ever since childhood, Sasuke had liked fire and lightning. He sat by the window, unafraid. Rather, the lights and the sounds of the squall fascinated him.
Sasuke's first Guardian Force* was Quetzalcoatl. Even as he acquired more, it remained his favorite. Instructor Kakashi taught him the Chidori attack, and Sasuke developed it further into a variation of attacks. Thunder and lightning joined his already expansive array of fire techniques.
-S-
After leaving Naruto at the infirmary, Sakura felt a strange foreboding feeling. She worried about Sasuke-kun and the gash on his arm. Sakura left Naruto in the care of Shizune-sensei, grabbing a first aid kit, and heading to Sasuke-kun's dorm. She was sure the gash on his arm wasn't very deep, not deep enough to require the use of healing potion. It wasn't good to constantly use healing potions anyway. Sakura figured she could close the wound with healing magic and let it finish healing naturally. As she quickly jogged to Sasuke-kun's room, she reviewed her medic lessons in her head, staving off the nervous jittering.
A few knocks and several pleas of "Please, Sasuke-kun, open the door," and the door was opened. Sure enough, Sasuke-kun was having difficulty treating his injury with only one hand. The bandage was half wrapped around his arm. He stood aside and allowed Sakura to enter, conceding defeat in the privacy of his dorm room, for only a moment.
Sakura opened his closet, grabbing a plain blue shirt with a small Uchiha crest on the collar, and a pair of dark grey sweatpants.
"Can I?" she asked, holding them up for his approval before proceeding to change in the bathroom. Her new dress was a light shade of blue and she did not want any bloodstains on it.
When she emerged, changed into Sasuke-kun's clothes, hands washed, and First Aid Kit in hand, Sasuke was already perched on the edge of his bed.
She silently treated the gash on his arm, knowing that Sasuke was not in the mood for idle chatter. He still had not spoken a single word to her. He only gave small nods or a shake of his head, not even giving her single-worded answers. It was better than being completely ignored, she supposed.
She moved to sit behind him, and blushed as he took off his shirt so she could apply ointment to the bruises on his back. Sakura tried to keep an air of professionalism, keeping her hand and her eyes from staying too long on his skin. When they were done, Sasuke went to his closet to put on a new shirt. Then, he grabbed some drinks and handed one to Sakura. He murmured a quiet "thank you", and let her stay in his room just a little longer as a gesture of gratitude (when it was obvious that she had no intention of leaving. Sakura had already cocooned herself in his blankets, laid on her side and was deeply immersed in one of his books.) He sighed, too tired to make her leave. He collapsed next to her on top of the blankets, closed his eyes, and drifting off to sleep, calmed by Sakura's gentle caress. Sakura was running her fingers through his hair to lull him to sleep, and whispering, "I love you, Sasuke-kun," softly into his ear. She put the book away and followed him into dreamland. She dreamed of fairytales and a soft kiss from her beloved knight as they danced under the veil of stars.
When Sakura awoke she felt cold despite the blankets; her arms reached out seeking Sasuke's warmth. She blinked her eyes sleepily when she couldn't feel him. The sun hadn't even risen. It was too early for even Sasuke-kun to already be awake. The full moon was still high in the sky. It was still nighttime. They had only slept for a few hours.
Sakura had woken up from a nightmare. Her sweet dreams had faded away in a mist and she was running after Sasuke-kun, begging him not to leave. She woke up to an empty bed and empty dorm. Sakura quickly rummaged through his closet, finding it mostly empty, and his weapons missing. Uncaring of the stares she received for wearing Sasuke Uchiha's clothes, Sakura ran at top speed to the Headmaster's office. A check into the surveillance systems showed they had been tampered with. The search for Sasuke began, but he was nowhere in the vicinity. There was no consolation in waking up. The nightmare was reality.
The lightning struck. The thunder roared. Now came the storm.
-S-
1) Yes, this story does have Final Fantasy 8 Elements.
2) In case you didn't know, a Guardian Force (GF) is like a sidekick, like a Pokémon you can summon to help in battle
3) This is part of a series.