Konichuwa! As you can see, this is my new story Slain in the Moonlight and will be focusing on sasusaku! Please enjoy!
A/N: There is no Inner Sakura and there will be some music from Naruto but no lyrics, like the really sad backing tracks. Please listen to them while reading this! This is a one-shot! I also got some sayings from Naruto here.
Enjoy!
Enter the song: Nightfall
He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't know where he was going, but it seemed like his legs were connected to these strings of fate that will bring him to his destiny. He finally stopped at the Aka River (Aka as in red) and walked slowly closer to the foot of the bridge that connected the two lands separated by the river.
His clothes were drenched in sweat and dirt from the running. They were very plain clothes: black trouser and a dark, simple men's kimono that ended up to his waist and expanded near his wrist. He was the local blacksmith's son after all. He wasn't necessary rich in the village but he was better off than most people he knew.
He noticed the familiar shape of the cherry blossom tree he used to sit next to with her. As he cautiously touched the tree, he breathed a painful sign of relief as the sad memories came flooding back as his hands got used to the coarse, rough bark he used to sit back against and laugh away his troubles with her.
He still remembered the way the branches swayed to the wind and a rain of cherry blossom petals flew to the air. And the way it contrasted with her pink hair and shimmering green eyes. He still remembered the way she smiled, her laughter that sounded like holy bells and her petite figure that was the perfect size for him. He fell to the ground with a thud and looked up to the tree slightly swaying like those days, hoping to see a thick forest of pink.
But all he saw was the truth.
The reality.
What all creatures try to escape from.
What was a forest of pink, has now been swept away, replaced by bare, thick, ugly branches that was the core of the beauty.
Just like my heart. He thought.
He placed his forehead to the tree and strained his ears to hear the rustle of the leaves like that day.
A creak near the village got him up to his feet again. He strained his eyes to see the source of the creak. Finding no one, he left the cherry blossom, the memories still fresh in his mind. As he neared the bridge, he caught sight of a mysterious figure standing on one of the sturdy wooden posts on the bridge, looking out to the clouded reflection on the river.
"Who are you?" demanded him, his voice coming out weaker than he'd expected, like a mouse squeak. The figure dressed in a long red kimono with white lines and red hair turned to face him.
Enter the song: Man of the world
The face of the figure was hidden by a cat mask with three red stripes going up its face on both sides.
He took a step back and regained his courage again.
"I said, who are you?" he repeated again, his hand going to the back of his pocket to find the handle of his knife in case of an emergency. He wasn't the son of a blacksmith and swordsmith for nothing.
"My,my. I thought you would've at least recognised me at least, sheesh." The figure spoke through the mask, giving it a lower voice and reached up to pull away the mask. The clouds had at the same time, taken refuge away from the moon. The moonlight skimmed, if so, gently across the stranger's face.
He, who had pulled the knife at the sudden gesture and had narrowed his eyes at the unfamiliar voice, dropped his knife and widened his eyes with shock at the person before him. The knife clattered on the bridge but so one paid heed.
"It's been a long time, ne, Sasuke-kun?"
Enter the song: Morning
Flashback:
On the day of the new King's coronation, many had crowded round to get even a glimpse of the new king and queen, and let's not forget their 13 year old daughter, Sakura Haruno.
It was a very busy day. To be exact, it was the most busiest day since the last king's coronation, 50 years ago. But with the old king retired and his oldest sons all dead from war, the old geezer had to eventually hand over his beloved throne to his youngest son.
On that most rememberable day, the seamstress was busy sowing the new queen's outfit and her daughter's kimono. The butchers were (erm...) butchering (?) for the evening's feast, the women racing to the stores to buy the groceries before they run out of food and the florists were busy with decorating thousand of flowers to throw and decorate the whole village with.
It had been like that since yesterday morning. Not surprisingly, everyone kept pushing to see the king and queen with their beautiful daughter trailing behind them. Everyone wanted to see the glorious face of the youngest Haruno that was said to surprise the whole Five Nations. That was said to be too beautiful to be painted. Everyone had to just see her face.
When they do catch a glimpse of her, she would meet their expectations, if not, higher. Her round, dimpled face and green, shining eyes filled to the brim with emotion that made men AND women faint at even a split second of eye contact. Her wavy and most definitely 100% soft and bouncy (no, you perverts! not THAT) pink hair that flew at every breeze made women jealous and ask for her name of shampoo, perfume and conditioner, only to be disappointed by her soft spoken reply of her not using perfume or conditioner. She was wearing the most pretty, white kimono ever, with such delicate and detailed fining, it must've costed hundreds to just pay for it. It made her long, loose waves of pink stand out more and her face seemed more pale than usual.
One that day, Sasuke Uchiha was no where to be found. Partly because he was squished in a man's armpit from the crowd and just COULDN'T get out. For heaven's sake, the man didn't even feel a single thing! Not even when a 13 year old was struggling at his arm. No, the man Uchiha Sasuke just had to pick to have his face stuck into their armpit was his dad's most 'Eternal Rival', Uzumaki Tsuyoi (as in strong) who was known as the most buffest and the most strongest butcher ever! Great, just great.
After many struggling and fighting back, and after a insisting that he was NOT trying to have a smell of Uzumaki Tsuyoi's 'manliness' and become a man, he managed to push through the hectic crowd throwing flowers. He even managed to get a daisy in his hair. Now, how did that get there?
He poked his head out to just in time catch a glimpse of the princess. The princess stared at him curiously for a second before walking off and blushing to herself. Needless to say, he was also left with a streak of pink painted onto his face. He'd wanted to see more of the princess, but was dragged away by his best friend, the dobe, Uzumaki Naruto. The image of the princess looking at him and blushing was burned into his mind and little did he know, the princess had also burned into her mind, the image of a blushing, dark haired man, probably about her age looking at her with the most mesmerising, onyx eyes she had ever seen.
Probably from the Uchiha clan. She thought.
THe Uchiha clan was famous for its amazing iron and steelwork, plus it had supported the royal family with swords and knives for hundreds of years. Not only that, they were famous for their handsomeness and beauty for generations. The currently two single Uchihas were the youngest two, Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha.
After that incident, they were bound by the red string of fate, destined to meet again...
Months later...
Enter the song: Kushina and Minato's theme.
"Ne, Sasuke-kun?"
"Hmm?"
"Don't you think that is beautiful?
"Ah"
The couple were currently lying on the grass of the cherry blossom, while looking up at the tree. Their heads were currently, barely just touching and they looked up at peace. Together, were they only allowed peace with each other, unlike their complicated lives, knowing the consequences of the secret relationship.
Sasuke's calloused hands reached for Sakura's hand and held it gently, like you would hold a a newborn puppy.
After a couple of minutes, Sasuke slowly sat up, cautious not to wake an asleep Sakura, and started to climb to the top of the sakura tree. At the top, sasuke looked down to Sakura and saw her innocent face with her hair spread around her head like a halo.
An angel. He thought. My angel.
He stayed up in the pink forest and saw the sun set.
"Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke looked down to an awake Sakura. He jumped down (sorta like a ninja) and landed neatly by her side.
"Oh, Sasuke-kun, what were you doing up there? And what have you got behind your back?"
He brought out behind his back, a sakura flower, and placed it behind his beloved's ear.
As he did so, he whispered into her ear:
"Only the best sakura from the top of the tree for my angel."
Enter the song: Guren
"Sakura, I need you in my office this instant."
"Yes, papa?"
"Don't yes papa me! I know about your relationship with that poor, dirty Uchiha boy!"
"P-Papa, how did you know?"
"Never mind that. How many times have I told you that love breeds sacrifice, sacrifice breeds hatred. Then you will know the meaning of pain. I don't want you to experience pain at all, luckily I stopped your mistake quickly. And now that you have confirmed it, I'm setting out!"
"Where to?"
"To the Uchiha household!"
"But p-papa, I will experience pain if I lose him!
"Nonsense, my dear! He is such dirty rubbish who only wants your money, with him dead, you will definitely be happier!
"No, papa! Are you saying you are going to kill him?
"Not him, my Sakura."
sign of relief.
"I'm going to kill his whole clan, put them out of their misery!"
"Papa! You have got to be kidding!
"Now, now. Papa's just going to step outside of the palace and take a walk."
"Stop treating me like a kid! You are going to kill the Uchiha clan? Wait till I tell mother about this!"
SLAP. Thump (sakura falls onto the floor)
"Don't you dare, young lady! I tried to be nice for once, but you just had to keep on protecting that stupid Uchiha brat! You are no better than him!"
I can't tell mother was supporting me the whole way. I can't tell.
sign. "How about deal? If you marry the prince of Lightning, I won't harm a single hair of the Uchiha clan."
...
"Well?"
"A-alright."
I hope I'm doing the right thing.
Enter the song: Samidare
"Sakura? Where are you?"
Sasuke walked around the sakura tree and saw a sobbing Sakura hunched up next to the river.
"What's wrong?"
"T-T-They f-f-ound hic o-o-out."
"Who found out what? I can't hear you. Calm down. Take deep breathes."
"Sasuke, I-i'm so sorry! My dad found out a-about us."
"What did he say?"
"He said he would kill the whole Uchiha clan..."
Sasuke got her up by the shoulders and looked at her straight on.
"It would be pleasure to die for you, Sakura. You know that."
"B-but your family.."
"My whole family were supporting me the whole way. But I don't think they would like the idea of dying just yet."
"I-i told my father that I would marry the Lightning prince if he won't kill you and your family."
"That, that, bastard?! You deserve so much better than him. But I guess I'm in no position to say that."
"Why not?"
"I mean, I don't really deserve you. You are so much better than me."
"That's not true! Before I met you, I-I was so selfish, s-so pathetic, and so-"
"SAKURA! Never talk about yourself like that again!"
A distant voice called out for Sakura.
"I really must go, Sasuke-kun. I guess this means goodbye, ne?"
"Wait, Saku-"
"Sayonara , Sasuke."
Enter the song: Saika
Sasuke came back to the sakura tree, over and over again, every day. Just to make sure she really was gone. And that this wasn't a nightmare.
On the day he found out she left, he'd come back to the sakura tree and punched the tree in a wild rage while crying his heart out in the process. Every punch he took, the sakura tree cried a little. The tears fell on him and reminded him the days he used to sit with Sakura and stare at the tree.
Flashback Flashback ( A flashback in a flashback?)
"Mite mite! The sakura tree is crying. The petals are the tears and they fly away!"
"Hn."
"Is that all you ever say, even though it is such a sad sight?"
"Ah" It came out a bit muffled though.
The tree must be crying because the ones meant for each other can't be together. He thought.
"Sasuke-kun?"
...
"Sasuke-kun! Why are you crying? Was it that sad? I'm so sorry!"
Flashback ends
Enter the song: Lonliness (the one with Yahiko, Konon and Nagato. Not the one about Naruto)
"S-sakura? Is that you?"
"Hmph, who else?"
"What are you doing here? It's dangerous! The whole village is currently now being killed by unknown assasins-"
He stepped closer and noticed she was holding a dagger that was dripping a sort of red substance.
No, it was blood.
And upon a closer look of her mask, there was splashes of blood on it.
But what really shocked him was the kimono she was wearing. It was the same one she had worn for her father's coronation day.
The same pattern.
The same shape.
The same texture.
But the colour was different.
Wasn't it white? The colour of beauty and innocence?
But now, it has been stained by another colour, the worst ones.
Red. The colour of death and blood.
But it wasn't a dye that changed it.
It was blood.
Piecing together the evidence, the blood splattered on her clothes, the dagger and mask dripping with blood and her faraway gaze like as if she was in a different planet, looking away from him, was an expression he'd never seen on her face before.
"You were the assasin?"
"That's right. I-i killed all those innocent people who had cheered me on when I was with you. The look on their faces, their final moments, I'm the one to blame for all of this."
"But why? Why?"
"For what else? Revenge. I've decided on vengeance. Ever since my father sent me to the land of Lightning, I've decided to come back and kill him. For giving me pain and hatred. That's been my sole purpose of living until now. But it ended up bigger than I thought. Seems like my order was to kill the whole village. Ironic right? The village I was supposed to destroy was my hometown."
Silence. All they could hear was the rustle of leaves in the wind.
"Why did you come here then? You can't kill anyone here."
"This place makes me think about the mistakes I made in the past...and I've made so many of them."
"Have you came to kill me too?"
"Yes, I have. That's what I told myself. And I will fulfil that duty."
Sasuke stepped up to her and stared at her eyes.
"You're lying. I can just tell from your eyes."
The eyes that used to sparkle even in the dark of the night has now been dulled and faded to an ugly colour that he couldn't recognise.
Sakura brought the dagger up to Sasuke's neck. He didn't even flinch.
After a while of not moving, Sakura brought the dagger down and signed.
"I planned to just finish it and get it over with, but it seems so much harder in real life."
Sasuke walked closer and gave a chaste kiss on her pale lips and walked away.
After a few steps, he turned around. The sadness in his heart became a river of tears that flowed down his eyes.
"What are you-"
CUT
Enter the song: Maisou
"SASUKE!"
The last Uchiha had run back at a terrifying speed towards the dagger and stabbed himself. (the same as Yahiko's death.)
"Forgive me, Sakura. It's either you end or I end. Cough cough."
"I don't care if I end! What will happen to our promise of being together forever?"
"And I've made a decision." Cough cough.
"Don't talk anymore! I will save you!" Sakura held her hand up to the wound and a green glow appeared.
"These are my final words, Sakura. Listen carefully."
"W-what are you talking about? You aren't going to die here!" cried Sakura, holding onto the face she loved so much.
"It's my end. S-Sayonara S-Sakura."
Sasuke looked at Sakura for the last time and gently caressed her face.
He smiled at her one last time.
"J-Just remember, Sakura. Be it heaven or earth, I will always l-love you."
The shining onyx eyes slowly faded to a dull colour for eternality.
His body became limp and fell on the pinkette's shoulder.
Enter the song: Hinata vs Neji
ARGHHHHHH!
The scream of agony echoed through the air. Sakura held her head tightly and collapsed onto the bridge. While staring at the handsome face she fell in love with, she said:
"Gomen, ne, Sasuke. It seems like I couldn't keep my promise. Even if we couldn't be together, I will make sure we will be together in death."
Sakura carried the body to the sakura tree, laid it against the tree and gathered some strong ropes.
Noticing the trail of blood from the bridge and dripping into the river, she got a kunai and cut both of her wrists. She winced at the pain.
The blood from the wound came pouring out onto the river, mixing with Sasuke's blood. (Ironic, ne? the name of the river is red river)
Enter the song: Despair
She tied their wrists up with their backs against the tree, after she carved something on the tree.
"Next time, I will be walking right beside you every step of the way. Whatever the time, age or face. We will always be together."
She died two minutes later.
On the tree she had written: Here lie Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. May they never be separated so they may be together in heaven. May they be together, whether through hell or death. May they rest in peace.
A/N: AND that's one done! Phew!
I was crying so much while listening to these songs... The ending was a bit rushed though...
Thanks for reading and please review!