- Mockingbird -
x - x - x - x
Hush little baby, don't say a word
Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird
And if that mockingbird don't sing
Momma's gonna buy you a diamond ring
x - x - x - x
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my writing.
The chill in the air was indescribably distinct; something eerie drifting about, as if looking for something that could not be found.
The pink-haired girl looked about her, attempting to distinguish anything abnormal, yet was failing to find any abnormalities.
Everything looked...fine.
Yet something felt so wrong. It was inexplicable, but the density in the air held a grasp on her, making it harder to breathe than usual.
Something was wrong.
"Sakura," a voice called casually from behind her, pulling her from her thoughts and causing her to whirl around rapidly.
An unexpected gasp escaped her, leaving her mouth ajar a bit.
"S-Sasuke?"
How long had it been since he had been home? Here, in Konohagakure? How long?
"Hai."
It was completely surreal; the sight of her former teammate and object of her affection standing before her with a glistening in his eyes she had never seen before. It felt like a dream, or maybe just a mirage.
Uchiha Sasuke, back in his home village of Konoha.
"Sasuke!"
It was a hushed cry that escaped her, and without thinking Sakura moved toward him until she stood less than a foot from the boy she could no longer say she recognized. Yes, physically he was the same aside from being somewhat taller and a bit more muscular, but personality wise it was like peering into a stranger's eyes.
"Sakura..."
Her arms slid around his toned torso thoughtlessly, and she snuggled into his broad chest. Nothing in a long while had felt so reassuring.
"Sakura."
The tone of voice changed, not just a different mood, but as if the words fell from the lips of an entirely different person.
"Sasuke?"
Looking up at him, she noticed a difference in the boy's normally obsidian eyes; there was a red glint, but it was dull, unlike his sharingan. Before her, his face began to morph, forming a more distinct jawline and a sharper nose. The shape of his eyes narrowed and darkened, and his pitch black hair began to lighten to red.
How? What was...?
The face was taking shape before her, becoming more recognizable. Pushing herself off the figure that too was changing, Sakura stumbled back and stared in horror at the person standing before her.
"Sakura. It's been so long."
Akasuna no Sasori.
"You...!"
"Me."
A devilish smirk crawled on to his lips, and the man before her tilted his head and narrowed his eyes further.
"It's been far too long, Sakura. I've been waiting to return the favor - everything you did to me, the time I lost here. There was so much I could have done, and you ruined it all."
"You deserved it!" She cried, her shrill voice piercing the calm night around them. Akasuna no Sasori had been dead, and yet there he stood before her, looking sadistic and disheveled as if he had just pulled himself from his grave and was seeking blood.
If Sakura was not mistaken, he was seeking blood.
"I've been waiting to return the favor - everything you did to me."
Sakura was gawking, astounded by the undead man's presence before her.
"Is it such a shock, Sakura? Or do you not believe what the Akatsuki is capable of?"
"You didn't bring yourself back, you liar!" She shouted at him, eyes blazing with fury. "That...that coward brought you back to fight for him! And yet you're taking the time to come seek vengeance in death?"
Sasori's skin was a disgusting gray, faded in some spots more than others, and peeling in places as well. As the moonlight poured down, it was then that Sakura took notice that his once-glistening hair was matted and splitting, looking more like straw or string than anything else.
Sasori was in fact dead, and standing before her, ready to take her with him back to the grave.
"Come, Sakura, don't be difficult. You and I belong together - we can bask in the fires of hell with one another for the rest of eternity."
"Hell is exactly where you're going, and I'll gladly send you back!" She screeched, baring her teeth in an animistic snarl. Balling her fists, Sakura prepared for a battle.
Sasori's laughter swirled around her like a painstaking nightmare.
"Sakura, Sakura - you don't get it, do you? You cannot fight me. You cannot fight what isn't there."
"W-what?"
The night around her twisted and warped, leading to a black and violet abyss she had never once laid eyes on. What kind of a jutsu was this?
"Sakura - come with me. You and I can rule the fires of hell together."
Sasori's voice was echoing, bouncing off the walls she could not see in what appeared to be an endless room.
"No!" She screamed, her voice echoing as well, followed by the sound of shattering glass. "I won't."
Sasori had vanished and abruptly appeared behind her. His cold, clammy hands grasped her face from behind, tilting it up to look into his lifeless eyes.
"You will, Sakura. Sooner or later, you will be here with me."
She looked frightfully at the man, watching him begin to snicker again and eventually cackle. As the noise built up around her in a relentless whirlwind, the room spun and colors that were not there a minute ago began to mold with the ones that already were.
Her eyes opened, staring up at the velvety night sky above her head. She was on her knees in the street, dirt clumps and pebbles pressing into the skin on her lower legs and palms.
What had happened?
I know I never finished Eternity, but I could not resist starting another Sasori and Sakura fic. In all honesty, I'm not sure where this one is going, but I had to start something more twisted than the last.
My inspiration? I happened to have Mockingbird, the original children's song, stuck in my head and decided it could easily be turned into something rather screwed up and vile. Thus, this was born.
Not to mention I've recently gotten into Durarara! and happen to find Orihara Izaya completely amazing. If you know who that is, you know he has a bit of a distorted perception of reality and might as well be out of his damned mind (:
I love screwed up characters. They are just so...wonderful x)