.
.
.
"Again?" He said softly.
She simply nodded.
They both sat in silence; he slipped his arm off around her shoulders.
"I can't go through this again." He spoke after a while.
She looked at him with cold understanding.
As if to correct himself, "We can't go through this again."
He turned his back to her.
She nodded daring the tears in her eyes to fall, "Thank you for everything."
He willed himself to look back at her, but she was already gone.
.
.
.
Chapter 1 -
Exit Strategy
"Don't all stand at once." Said the woman at the door.
She was hauling two suitcases underneath her arms, and dripping with rain. Her right leg was still hanging in midair after forcing the apartment door open. Ever the elegant one.
Four pairs of eyes stared at her in surprise from the small living room in front of her; only one looked up in guilt, "Holy shit Sakura I thought you were kidding."
"Just get your ass here and help me Sasori. It's been three years and they haven't fixed that damned elevator. I'm going to have to have a word with your landlord." Sakura moaned as she dropped the luggage bags from between her arms. She kicked them into the little corridor that viewed the living room ahead and a small kitchen on the left.
Sasori quickly dropped a deck of worn cards he was dealing out to his four friends, and made his way towards Sakura.
It was poker night, his way of getting shit faced with his male companions without the inconvenience of a club. Every week they'd alternate houses; this week it was Sasori's turn to host the infamous poker night.
When Sasori had finally reached the woman at threshold of his apartment he noticed she looked beyond tired and pissed. For understandable reasons he realized.
His cousin had been happily married the last time he checked. Sakura lived in some rural town while Sasori lived in Konoha City where she had spent the entirety of her life. She met her husband straight out of college; they had a shotgun wedding soon after. Her husband then got a job upstate, which forced her to reluctantly leave the bustling city.
In the three years she had been living upstate, she rarely made the trek back down to the city. For the most part Sasori would visit her every few weeks to check in on her and give her the comfort of a familiar face.
When they couldn't see each other, they'd make an effort to call one another. Sakura had called him last week saying she and her husband had finally called it quits. And she'd be moving back to Konoha City once all the paperwork was sorted.
To his own disbelief, she actually showed up at his door this time.
You see, Sakura was a hopeless nutcase. Every few months she'd go through a rough patch with her husband and in turn call Sasori telling him, "I swear this is it." And each of these times he'd tell her the same exact same thing. That she was more than welcome to stay at his place and everything would be all right afterwards. And each time she'd call the next day sheepishly saying she may have taken things out of proportion.
Sometimes this would annoy Sasori to no end. Sakura was the only person that could drain all the blood in his heart and still manage to keep him fussing over her like a doting mother. She had that effect on people he noticed, and she was righteously unaware of it. Ignorance is bliss.
And so here she was, standing in his apartment in all her dripping glory. The first time in three years in this godforsaken city, save for her parents' anniversary each year.
Sasori quickly grabbed at the two suitcases on the floor and reeled her into the apartment. He ushered her into the kitchen, which had been renovated very nicely she observed. Sasori placed a warm cup of burnt coffee in her hands and beckoned her to drink it as he carried her luggage bags to his room.
When he returned, she had finished the mug of coffee in her hands. Her hands were wrestling her damp locks with a small hand towel from the laundry basket on the counter. "You still fold your laundry in the kitchen." Sakura mumbled at him, "Old habits die hard." She then quickly answered for him.
Sasori fished around in his fridge to find her something to eat. He stopped his efforts when she muttered that she had already eaten on the way over.
He watched Sakura peeled off the red turned burgundy jumper that clung onto her small frame. She thanked Sasori when he gave her an old sweatshirt of his from the laundry basket. The smell of soap and lavender seemed to break the unconscious soft scowl on her face and release most of the tension in her body. She looked up at him in that moment.
Only then Sasori could take a closer look at her, and his heart betrayed him. All the years he had gone to visit her; he forced himself to ignore the tiredness around her eyes, and the growing lack of love she gave herself. He had to finally come to terms that this wasn't the same happy go lucky womanl he bid goodbye to outside a church in a white dress so many years ago. She was hiding something from him.
This wasn't Sakura full stop. Her long petal pink hair had turned dull and her emerald eyes looked like the mold green colored jumpsuit his neighbor wore on his morning runs. An unconscious shiver ran down his spin at that thought. The roundness of her cheeks had been eaten away by her protruding cheekbones. He was too scared to pinch them menacingly like he used to years ago. He still stood a good five inches taller than her, which was the only thing that hadn't changed.
"You look like shit." He stated bluntly.
"Yeah my plastic surgeon has been coming through for me lately." She answered in a blasé manner, looking down at ruby colored chipped nails.
Sasori tried his best not to smile at her little jab but all he could do was snort a bit before giving her a quick hug.
She regarded him for a minute before she spoke, "I'm not here to spoil your night Sasori. I'm going to take a shower and head out for a bit."
"But you just got here!" Sasori pulled Sakura out of the hug.
"Yeah and I'm divorced. I don't exactly want to be around men right now." Sakura replied nonchalantly pinching Sasori's nose. This only seemed to upset him more.
"Go and play with your friends, we'll talk later ok." Sakura sighed, "I've had a long day, and I had to deal with Naruto playing taxi driver, so you get the gist."
"I'm sorry" He beckoned as he finally realized how the woman had made her way to his apartment. He remembered how Naruto, one of the two loud blonds Sakura befriended from an early age, was one of the worst drivers to grace this planet. Sakura had been convinced Naruto bribed his way through the DMV their senior year of high school. And he did. He promised that his father, the active mayor of Konoha City, would give a pay raise to whoever gave him a license. It worked. He probably also bribed the whole of KCPD to free him of any tickets or fines, because years of getting scot-free for double parking and speeding was a little too much good karma, even for him. The man was an idiot, but a pretty smart idiot when he wanted to be.
"ANYWAY" Sakura spoke loudly breaking away from the kitchen and walking towards the living area. The four men that had been previously staring at her when she arrived were playing a pitiful game of go fish.
She swaggered towards them with familiarity; this seemed to rouse some laughter from them, with one of them commenting, "Did Sasori kick you in the nuts or something."
"Nah just shit my pants again." She waved her hand casually in the air. Which only made them laugh harder.
She had known them for many years, all childhood buddies of Sasori. There was Diedera, a pottery studio owner who moonlighted as a talented sculpture when life permitted. Hidan, who worked as an odd jobs guy. He also was a member of a cult called "Jashinism", and would spend his Sundays harassing churchgoers.
When Sakura used to live in the city she would often stake out a church he frequented with her other blond friend Ino. They would record the whole charade. Ino would then post these videos under some ambiguous Youtube channel; it proved to be a good hobby. It was so good that Ino bought her uptown two story home from the royalties. Hidan also had become somewhat famous online and in person. They idiot didn't own any technological device so he was completely unaware of the videos. He simply thought that his god "Jashin" was gracing him with popularity because of his devoutness to the cult.
There was also Kisame, who was a stockbroker. Ino and Naruto were skeptical and had a hunch he may have been ex mafia. Finally there was Itachi, the elder brother of one of Sakura's close friends. He and his brother worked in a family owned law firm.
They were all men of many walks of life. An odd lot at that. They made small talk and slight jabs at her, in return she smiled at them ruthlessly, "Who ever loses tonight has to help me move my things back into my place tomorrow."
"Well Hidan's fucked for sure" Diedera drawled. Sakura winked at Hidan, smiling sweetly at him, "I"ll see you tomorrow afternoon then."
"You wish princess." Hidan grumbled, as he grabbed at all the cards in everyone's hands and began shuffling the deck.
Sasori who had been holed up in the kitchen, made his way back towards the living area, "I can't find the poker chips. I've got Oreos though."
"So long as no one starts eating mine." Diedera said off handedly, "You gonna join Sakura?" The rest of the men had a little twinkle in their eyes. The woman was a beast at poker.
"Maybe next time. I don't want to get diabetes the first night I'm back." Sakura joked.
"We'll hold you to it." Sasori smiled as he looked at his cards Hidan had dealt him and quickly slid into a poker face like his other companions.
Before long everyone had a stack of Oreos in front of them and nursing some sort of drink.
Sakura let them get to it while she quietly made her way through the apartment towards Sasori's room. She decided to use the bathroom attached to his bedroom rather than the one in the hall facing the living area. It was in her best interest to deflect some of the attention she had already gotten that evening.
Sasori's bedroom was pretty neat, as she had expected. A queen bed was hugged by to large floor lamps on the wall to the left of the door. The window facing the door showed the fire escape she had spent many nights talking to Sasori on. The window displayed a setting sun. The sky peaking through the buildings was a beautiful pastel grey blush despite the pouring rain. She looked around the room and saw Sasori's work desk and the hefty antique armoire she had bought him at a flea market a few years ago. Save for a few bits and bobs, Sasori's room looked almost the same as it had been all those years ago excluding the a few new photos taped to his walls.
The photos ranged from pictures when Sasori was in elementary school to what seemed like last week's poker night. Hidan had lost she laughed; a thick sharpie black "L" was drawn on his forehead while everyone else had their thumbs up. There were now more photos without her she noticed. It only punctuated her absence from his life these last few years, and it hurt her dearly.
In the center there was a picture of Sasori carrying her at her wedding. Sometime during that day the majority of the flowers in her bouquet had migrated into his maroon hair. Peonies and lilies haphazardly jutted out his hair while his face was crinkled in laughter. Any other person would have thought he was the groom, but everyone knew the two were something else. Up until her wedding they were almost inseparable.
The two were still very close to one another afterwards. However their dynamic did slowly change.
They didn't call to talk about little shenanigans happening in their lives anymore. It was mostly to check that the other was still alive and not in a mental asylum. It sometimes felt like a chore for her.
Sasori made an effort to visit her every few weeks when work permitted him to, but even when he did visit, Sakura didn't feel she could fully open up to him afraid her stresses and peeves would send him away forever.
Sakura had moved in with Sasori after her parents' passed away her junior year of high school. They got into a horrible car accident. The airbags hadn't been activated to cushion the impact that had fatally ended their lives instantly. Since then Sakura had a phobia of cars and made it a point that she never wanted to drive one. She was fine riding shotgun but never actually driving the car.
Because of this, she was limited to public transport and the occasional taxi, she never learned how to drive and didn't seem like she ever wanted to. Living in a city only made it easier for her in that respect. Living up state in that rural town was utter hell for her.
After her parents' death, Sasori stuck to her like glue. He turned down a dream job in Europe so he could stay in the city with his cousin. He went to art school and worked odd jobs to keep the electricity going and Sakura's belly full. He then struck big when he graduated when he bought an old warehouse with his small savings. He turned it into a pop up gallery of sorts featuring local artists. Each month the gallery had a certain theme that it followed.
Since then he had been trademarking his gallery, opening it up in various cities across the country. Eventually he got the attention of some big guys upstairs and he got connected. His gallery went international.
Even with all this going his way, Sasori stayed grounded. He still lived in his dingy apartment in a small neighborhood downtown, when he could have easily been living in a luxury high rise.
This place was priceless to him; no amount of money would ever make some place feel like home as much as this place. It was a safe haven for him and Sakura.
Sakura rummaged through one of her suitcases and pulled out toiletries and a change of clothes. A long sleeved grey jersey dress, a thick cream scarf Ino had crocheted for her last winter, and black stockings.
She methodically got herself washed up in the shower reveling in the searing heat of the water. As per tradition she stared at herself too long in the mirror before pulling on her clothes. She pulled on an old windbreaker of hers in Sasori's closet and an umbrella. She pulled out rain boots from her suitcase once she was satisfied with her outfit.
When she reappeared in the living room, the men sitting cross-legged around a large coffee table were getting slightly rowdy. She came over to look at the odds of each man and smiled before patting Sasori on the head.
"I'm just going to check in on the house and I'll be back." She assured his worried brown eyes.
He snaked an arm around her waist and leaned his head in, "If you need a ride call Naruto or Sasuke. They're probably not out drinking tonight."
Sakura nodded. Looking at the rest of the men, she said goodbye and made her way out the apartment.
Glancing at her mother's watch that slinked on her wrist, she made her way down the corridor of doors.
"I can catch the B, if I can get down to 4th Avenue in ten minutes." She muttered to herself, she hastened her pace and broke free from the apartment building becoming one with the cityscape.
Back in the apartment all eyes looked to Sasori. He only sighed. Before he threw his cards on the table, "I fold"
He leaned on his back and stared at the ceiling.
"Did she tell you what happened between them?" Itachi spoke for the first time that night.
Sasori shook his head, "He called me last night saying that he was sorry. And that he wished he could have taken better care of her."
"Well at least he had the decency to call." Diedera scoffed, standing up to grab a beer from the kitchen.
"I just thought she could finally stand on her own you know." Sasori added.
"She's still young." Itachi countered.
"Yeah and divorced." Hidan rolled his eyes but quickly regretted it after seeing Itachi and Sasori glare at him.
"You coddle her too much." Kisame added.
"Humour me Kisame" Sasori quirked his eyebrow.
"Yes, she is young. However she is old enough to fend for herself. You can't always be there to pick up the pieces for her. She's already healing on her own. You dotting on her will only make it harder on her." Kisame supplied genuinely.
Itachi nodded as he sipped at the last of his whiskey.
"I guess I do." Sasori sighed.
"She's got her own friends to help her out anyways. We're here to help too, but give them some credit." Diedara commented dropping a can of cold beer in Sasori's lap.
"So stop being a little bitch and play poker with us." Hidan groaned with annoyance.
"Can you tell your little brother to check in on her in an hour." Sasori asked Itachi.
"He's been difficult lately, but I'll see what I can do." Itachi replied while he pulled out his cell phone.
"Is he still butt hurt that Sakura dumped his ass for that country boy?" Hidan jabbed.
Itachi tried to hide a small laugh, "I don't appreciate you making fun of him. Sakura's a very sensitive topic for him. He has yet to come to terms with it."
Sasori rolled over and laughed, "Jesus Christ"
This only made the rest of the group burst into laughter.
"Sasuke should have killed the bastard when he had the chance." Kisame smiled into his tumbler.
"Yeah I never pegged them both as Bonnie and Clyde." Itachi supplied, "But who knows."
They regrouped and started the game again and sometime later Diedera caught Hidan eating at Kisame's Oreos and it all went to hell.
After a while the little skirmish was broken with a smile from Itachi, "He answered" looking down at his phone.
"Of course he did." Sasori leered.
Itachi turned his phone over to display his younger brother's reply, "fine"
On the other side of the city Sakura made her way out of the subway and walked down a few streets. After a few minutes she turned left on Kage Street.
The rain was still pouring relentlessly, and Sasori's umbrella was anything but mangled at that point. She made a mental note to buy him another one tomorrow morning.
She passed a few neat brick two story homes and when she came to one with the number seven on its front, she quickly made her way up the cracked stoop. The house looked older than the others, which where lined with manicured vines and imported European wooden doors. Sakura's home looked like the house from Nightmare on Elm Street. It was all cosmetic Sakura assured herself before looking towards a worn metal door.
She pulled off one of her rain boots to pull out a key that she stowed away in there. When she put the key to the door she cursed under her breath.
Sasori had changed the locks again, and had somehow forgotten to give her the new keys. Never one to give up quickly, she slipped on her rain boot and pulled at a bobby pin in her hair. She would try to pick the lock, after a while she pulled out a second bobby pin.
"Well that's a first. I've never seen someone trying to jimmy their way into their own home." Came a condescending voice right behind her.
Sakura quickly whipped around, "SON OF A-" the curse was cut short when a stroke of lightning revealed who the voice belonged to, "Shit Sasuke, what the hell."
She had her hand over her heart as she slid down to her knees, "You know you can't do that to me asshole." She wheezed.
"Fuck" He slid down to the woman, "Sorry."
He had forgotten how easily the woman was scared, in spite of being a spitfire.
"It's fine. I swear you should have been a secret agent or something. Not a lawyer. What are you gonna do? Make people shit bricks with loopholes or something?" Sakura breathed, looking up at him.
He cringed at the awful joke.
Her eyes traced over his face. Sasuke Uchiha. He had changed. Of course he did. The years seemed to have treated him more kindly than her she admitted. He was as handsome as ever. His eyes still the coal black his family was known for. And his slightly lighter colored hair was now shorter. However she noticed some familiar untamed tufts in the back of his head. His pale complexion had warmed up slightly. She also noticed no piercings hung on his ears, and some of the holes had actually closed up. She smiled to herself remembering his unconscious and subdued scene phase in high school and the beginning of college. Boyish features had given way to looks of a man.
He was dressed in an old souvenir jacket she and Ino had gotten him when they went to Japan for their spring break their junior year in college. Underneath she could see a navy pajama set and house slippers. What a homebody.
Memories flooded her mind. So many close calls, and ifs and maybes.
"Are you feeling better?" Sasuke piped up after noticing she was staring at him.
She quickly swallowed and looked away as she busied herself to stand up.
"I heard you're back for good." Sasuke mustered.
Sakura bit her tongue before saying, "No shit." Instead she just nodded.
"Sasori left the new key at my parents' place. Naruto's over too." He added.
"Lead the way." Sakura huffed as she noticed the towering height difference between them. Now she remembered why she used to wear heels whenever she went out with Sasuke and Naruto.
They huddled under the large umbrella Sasuke had brought; it easily covered both of them. "Soccer mom." Sakura quipped when seeing the monstrous thing. During their quiet walk to his house he couldn't help but notice her bare ring finger and how she seemed to be indifferent to it. He hadn't seen her in years.
They had been neighbors since their diaper years. Naruto had only lived a few streets down. They spent most of their time together, even ending up in the same university. It was only after they graduated college and everyone was either off finding work or getting a post grad, Sakura had gotten engaged and soon after married.
Sasuke coincidently got accepted in a semester abroad program, and in turn missed the pinkette's wedding. He did send a gift to be fair, only after having a long chat with his mother on the phone.
He only came back once she left town. He hadn't seen her since, and to see her now like this, older and almost more worn, made his heartache slightly and rustle old feelings he had so carefully tucked away behind his sanity.
And so when he had gotten word that Sakura was back when Naruto had swung by after dropping Sakura off at Sasori's, Sasuke could honestly say he was lost. He wasn't sure if it were a blessing or a curse that she was back.
After reaching a house with a "21" displayed on its door they crossed to the other side of the street, to a home with the number "22" on its front. They were greeted with an open door at the top of the stoop. Golden light flooded the miserable downpour outside.
A gorgeous woman and Naruto stood at the door.
"Your driving has become so much worse Naruto." Sakura quickly greeted.
"Nice to see you too Sakura." Naruto pouted.
"Hey don't take it to heart. Maybe in a few years your car will put a restraining order on you." Sakura winked.
Sasuke hid a laugh with a grunt.
"Oh come on! Is this what I get for picking you up at the train station; I had to take off work early. I don't even get paid for the two hours I was there for because of you." Naruto grumbled.
Sakura ignored his antics as she turned to the woman that had similar features to Sasuke, "Aunt Mikoto." She said warmly while she embraced the woman.
"It's been so long dear." Sasuke's mother spoke lovingly.
"It really has." Sakura admitted. She pulled back and looked at the woman gently before pulling in for another hug.
Before long the four migrated to the living area where they made idle chat. Everyone made sure to not address the elephant in the room. Sakura's return.
"Fugaku called the water and electricity company a while ago. They should be over sometime tomorrow morning to get things sorted at your house. So please spend the night here." Mikoto relied after answering her husband's call on the landline. He was still at work.
"Thank you." Sakura smiled.
Eyeing the grandfather clock reluctantly which ghosted at a minute before eleven, Mikoto retired for the evening, leaving the three alone in the living area.
After the woman had left, the three stared at one another.
"So I'm divorced." Sakura said bluntly to the two, "It was mutual. We didn't have a fight. It just didn't work out." Sakura added quickly, as she raked at her drying locks.
"Are you ok?" Naruto spoke while Sasuke sat still fidgeting with his hands.
"I'm not sure, but for now I'd like to think I am." Sakura genuinely answered.
Satisfied with the answer Naruto slapped Sasuke on the back, "This dope landed his first big case."
Sakura's eye lit up with the change of topic and looked at Sasuke beckoning him to speak.
Sasuke a little uncomfortable with the attention he was receiving, simply just nodded.
"Is this a parent teacher conference Sasuke?" Sakura laughed, "So whose sorry ass did you get money from?"
"That landlord on 43rd." Sasuke breathed out.
"Finally" Sakura bitterly replied, "I've been trying to get the city to class that building uninhabitable. He didn't even get a permit when he was renovating the third floor."
"Here she goes" Naruto rolled his eyes.
"He freaking tried to drag me through the dirt saying that my drawings weren't right, and went to some other engineer who didn't know his head from his toes." Sakura muttered.
"Well if it makes you feel any better, that engineer's license was annulled." Sasuke added.
"Good." That seemed to satisfy Sakura.
"By the way how did building that hospital in Suna go?" Naruto asked Sakura.
"Surprisingly it went well. We almost lost the bid but after some negotiations we got the go to build it. The contractor was a pain so I fired him from the get-go, it was smooth sailing from there." Sakura looked up in thought, "it should be opening up in a few weeks, we were just doing the parking decks when I left."
"'atta girl." Naruto smiled.
Sakura had decided to go into civil engineering after her father's passing. Her father had been in construction and she couldn't help but find comfort in doing what her father had been doing.
Naruto ended up going into teaching despite his track record of skipping classes in high school. He now taught history at West Konoha High School.
"Enough about me, how's work going for you?" Sakura peered at the blond, before standing up and making her way to the kitchen.
The two men followed her, Sasuke scoffed, "Make yourself at home why don't you."
Sakura rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs, "You want tea too?"
He nodded and she produced two cups from the rack next to the sink. She stop to look at Naruto who shook his head before she continued to make the tea. Sasuke helped her find the tea bags, which had been relocated from the last time she stepped into the kitchen. "Ant problem" Sasuke supplied when she arched her brow at the new cupboard the tea sat in.
"So anyways this kid is giving me so much pain. Like it's his last year in high school and I've been dealing with him for four years and he still never wants to play nice with the other kids." Naruto groaned.
"Sounds like someone we used to know Sasuke." Sakura grumbled as she passed him a hot cup of tea.
Their fingers briefly touched, neither flinched.
The tip of Naruto's ears turned a handsome red, "He-Hey! No way that brat is like me!"
"Karma bitch." Sasuke said before he sipped at his tea coolly.
Sakura burnt her tongue from swallowing too much of the tea.
"It's not that funny Sakura." Naruto almost whined.
"But it is." Sakura spoke as she gripped at her stomach trying to calm her laughter, "Geez I've missed you guys so much."
Naruto then stopped pouting and put on a gentle smile, "We missed you more."
Sasuke leaned against the counter and looked slightly away from the counter.
She was home. And for now that's all that mattered to her.
.
.
.
Hello my dears.
I haven't written in so long, especially SasuSaku.
I hope you liked it, I'm not sure if I should continue this, but this idea has been gnawing at the back of my mind.
Please review.
Much love.
-Oxza
