Untouchable (A Pein/Sakura One-shot)
This was an amazing one-shot requested by I-Luvs-Deidara-ArtIsABangUn, I've really been excited about this one. If you guys like it enough, it'll become a series! YAY! Told from Sakura's POV
I wake up with a jerk, my eyes stinging from the dream I've just had. "Sasuke-kun…" I mumble rubbing the tears from my eyes. Even after two years of not having him around, the memories I have of him are still fresh. It's really sad, but I do still love him. I think. It's been really complicated lately.
"Pein," I find myself saying, looking at the convict in my bedroom. "It's time for your treatment." He looks up from the spot he's taken in the armchair on the wall closest to my closet. My room's pretty small, as you might guess. There's my door on the right wall with my bed horizontally on the right side of the door. At the foot of my bed is my closet. And next to the closet is my armchair. There's a small hallway outside of my door that leads to my equally small kitchen with a bathroom next to it.
I've resigned from being a ninja, as you might have guessed. It was a hard choice but after I realized that I wouldn't have Sasuke-kun to fight for. He's gone. I realized that a year after he officially left Konoha.
"Sakura-san," Pein says formally. He's been staying with me for almost two weeks and he still calls me "Sakura-san" even though I've asked him not to countless times. "Are you alright?" I nod, shaking the fuzzies from my head as I slip out of bed, pulling my sleeves down over my knuckles.
"Yes, I'm fine," I say, surprised at how cool my voice sounds. It's almost chilling. I offer a smile to help lighten the blow, but he doesn't return it. I should be used to it by now but oh well. "Please lay down," He does and takes of his shirt in the process. I can still see the pale scars that my healing hasn't been able to clear. Just because I'm not a ninja anymore doesn't mean I won't use the skills I have.
I found Pein outside the village when I was going to look for a new flower for Ino-Pig. I don't know why, but she decided that I would be the perfect person to go get it for her.
Flashback
"Hey Forehead Girl!" I turn and see Ino waving as she runs towards me. "I need a favor!" This gets me to tighten my lips to suppress a groan. The last time Ino asked me for a favor I ended up in jail for the night.
"No way, Ino-Pig," I say shooting her a stony glare. "Remember last time?" She grins.
"That was the past, Forehead Girl! C'mon, it's just a teeny-weenie favor!" She's practically begging so I sigh and slump my shoulders, nodding.
"What is it?" She squeals and hugs me.
"My parents have been nagging me about the shop a lot recently so I thought it'd be cool if I found a new kind of flower! Help me out?"
"Where am I supposed to find it?" She points dramatically at the entrance of the village, one hand on her hip and the other pointed right out in front of her.
"Just go outside and look for something interesting, okay?"
"Fine, I'll be back soon," I say and start walking towards the gate. It doesn't take long for me to get outside, the guards on that shift being too semi-friends of mine.
"Flower, flower, flower," I tap my finger against my lips as I look at a bunch of poppies around me. They all look the same to me, so I don't get what the big deal is. I sigh and shove my hands into my back pockets, deciding to get a little farther away to find something 'better.' Not too far away is a decently pretty flower, pure white speckled with red. "Ooo, that one would work," I mumble to myself.
As I get closer, I can hear low panting and a couple of strained moans. At first I think they're coming from more than one person but as I get closer, I see red hair. And blood. Lots of blood. I jerk my hand back from the white and red flower I was just about to pick. That wasn't flower stuff, that was blood.
"Do you need help?" I call, not sure if this is a very good idea. There's more panting, this time it's sounding softer and more pained. I bite my lip hard as I get closer, scared of who this might be. There's so much blood everywhere, I feel my heart jumping into my throat. I've seen this person in the bingo book.
"Akatsuki, Pein," I mumble to myself, squatting. He's face down in the dirt, breathing hard. I gently put my hand on his neck, taking a quick reading of his vitals. He's alive, but just barely. My heart starts pounding in my ears and I can feel my face flushing. He's a lot more attractive then I thought he would be. "What happened…?"
Flashback End
I feel something by my temple and I shift my gaze to see Pein's index and middle fingers pressed against it. "Bang." He jerks his fingers up like his 'gun' had kicked back. "You need to be more aware, Sakura-san. I've been like this for two minutes. You'd be dead right now if it hadn't been me."
"I know Pein," I say trying hard not to smile. The way he'd done that so casually just made me want to smile.
"Your ninja skills are going to waste. You're becoming soft."
"I know, Pein," I say patiently, starting to work on the wound that I've been trying not to leave a scar on. It hasn't been working as well as I would have liked but from my experience, a small scar is better than death. "I'm not a ninja anymore."
"Shame," He says almost looking wistful as he pulls his shirt back on. I know this isn't good. He's been acting like this for a while now. Pensive, suicidal maybe? No, no that's not it. Depression? Not his type. "Sakura."
"Huh?" My head jerks up at the informal-ness I've been craving for so long with no surrender.
"Come away with me," He says, his gaze out the window like he's talking in his sleep. But his eyes are half-lidded. Normal.
"What are you talking about, Pein?" I ask tying a ribbon around my wrist. Bringing it to my lips, I take part of the ribbon in my teeth to tighten it. I've still got a nasty scar under it from the mission that made me decide not to be a ninja anymore. The ribbon's pink, the same color as my hair.
"I'm going to start Akatsuki again, different this time. I need a partner by my side, someone strong enough to hold their own. Sakura, come away with me." I bite my lower lip, not sure what he's saying.
But this village holds nothing for me anymore. Tsunade-sama is retiring soon. She and I haven't spoken since I withdrew from my apprenticeship. Naruto, Hinata, Ino, everyone's gone so much that I don't really have any friends. I have no real job. All that's left here are memories.
But this is my home. I can't just turn my back on it after all I've done for it and all I've gone through to keep it safe. It doesn't feel right.
I close my eyes in a sigh, emptying my mind as Tsunade-sama had taught me to when needing to make a decision in battle. The answer came to me, clear as day. My eyes snap back open and I look into his ringed ones boldly, stating my answer.
"I'll do it."