Wrote this because I was sitting there, thinking about how there's barely any more of high school left and that soon, everyone will be separated when they go to college. Made me sad, you know?
Nostalgia
The barren wasteland was unrecognizable. It held no resemblance to the thriving village that he once called "home". The walls that had, at one time, stood tall and proud were now crumbled, forming a rough outline of the non-existent village's boundaries. He stepped over the piles of rubble, setting foot in what used to be the main entrance to Konoha.
A gust of wind swept through the emptiness, causing the edges of his shirt to ruffle slightly. He tightened his grip on the sword tucked tightly against his hips and took another step forward. The rush of air around him suddenly died down, leaving behind an eerie silence.
Without meaning to, his eyes wandered to the highest point in the area. The Hokage Monument. The mountain itself was still intact, as it was part of nature and couldn't easily be destroyed by man, but the faces that had once been carved into the mountains were gone. It made the entire setting seem just a bit emptier.
He made his way towards the heart of the village, pausing slightly as he passed some frequently visited locations. Konoha Hospital- he'd been there a couple of times, the various training grounds- he'd gotten his ass kicked quite a bit here, Ichiraku Ramen- he'd been forced to come here countless times with his two ex-teammates, the Academy- where he'd pretty much been bored out of his mind everyday during class, and finally, his home.
The Uchiha part of the village was relatively untouched. Most of the buildings were still standing, although several seemed to be completely demolished. The crest of the clan was visible throughout the buildings, most of them cracked in one place or another. He roamed through the streets, his mind numb as he allowed his senses to take in the surroundings. It was a desolate, lonely place, completely void of any signs of life. It was hard to imagine that this place had once been so full of people, people who cared.
He let out a frustrated grunt as he stumbled through the doorway of what was left of his house. The roof was gone, leaving a maze of walls that were slowly crumbling due to time. He entered what used to be his room and sighed, looking at the blank walls. There was no use in staying here any longer; it would only bring down his mood even more.
As he left the house and headed into the main streets, he felt a slight flicker of life. It was so brief, he thought he imagined it. Still, years of training had allowed him to perfect his chakra tracking abilities and he knew there had been a presence, even if it was just for a fraction of a second. His head turned toward the direction he'd felt the energy coming from, but there was nothing that stood out.
With a slight shrug, he continued walking, but made sure to be more aware of what was going on around him. The feel of a chakra other than his own penetrated his sense again and he froze. It felt so familiar, yet he couldn't recognize who it belonged to. The only thing he knew was that he was definitely not alone.
He concentrated for a moment, trying to detect the chakra and gauge how strong it was. It was fluctuating at a rapid speed, as if whoever it belonged to was playing a game with him. Well, if it was a game, he'd have to play along, wouldn't he?
Without warning, he dashed behind a building, his movements so fluid that it was impossible to follow him with the naked eye. He sensed the foreign chakra, now unmasked, as whoever it belonged to knew they had been exposed, rise slightly and move towards him. How could they find him so easily? He had one of the best chakra controls, another result of his years of harsh training.
He felt the presence closing in on him and he shifted to his left, moving slowly along the building, pressing his back against the bricks. He felt all movement freeze for a moment, then, out of nowhere, the building he was leaning against exploded into a million pieces. He leapt forward to avoid the harshest of the impact, but still landed quite painfully on the floor.
Immediately, his mind set to work, analyzing the direction of the attack and its possible causes. It felt like a punch, as if someone had punched the building and shattered it into pieces. But normal people couldn't do that. Even most shinobi couldn't. He knew that he sure as hell couldn't.
As he quickly scanned the area around him, he noticed that the chakra had increased immensely. Almost tenfold. It was weird that someone with such power would be roaming around in a place like this, but he supposed that anyone with such power was weird in the first place.
He jumped to his feet and backed up, surveying the area and taking note of possible places that gave him the advantage. Whatever, or whoever, had knocked the building down was nowhere in sight, and the chakra had disappeared.
Feeling a bit calmer, he continued walking, searching for any traces of another being. It was strange; it felt as if none of what had just happened even took place. The building was crumbled, but other than that, the same eerie calmness had settled over the place again.
He shuddered inwardly, but kept an emotionless face, eyes darting around once in a while. The feeling of chakra appeared once again and he froze, looking around suspiciously. He slid the sword out of its sheath and held it firmly, moving into a defensive stance.
A flash of pink blurred in front of him and less than a second later, he felt the ground explode under him. Shit. He lost his balance from the powerful impact and stumbled back, shuffling his feet so that he could regain his position quickly. The pink had disappeared and he frowned slightly, trying to decide if it had been a person or a weapon.
Really, he didn't believe it could be either. What kind of weapon was pink? And who would wear pink? It was too obvious a color and easily marked a shinobi as a target. As he hurried along the streets, almost running, he felt the chakra signal move further away from him. He could tell the enemy was running from him, but he wasn't willing to let it go so easily.
Putting on an extra burst of speed, he hurried forward, quickly catching up. He blinked once and red filled his eyes, the sharingan ready to track the enemy. There was a subtle movement to his left and he detected the same trace of chakra. His eyes focused on the origin of this chakra and then, with incredible accuracy, he leapt, landing on his enemy.
He had returned his sword to its holder while he was running and now had two kunai drawn, pointed at the throat of the enemy he'd just caught. When his mind finally registered who it was, a sudden shock ran through him and he froze, his grip on the weapons loosening.
The person under him took this opportunity to flip around and shove him harshly away from her, drawing out several weapons of her own. He managed to keep all emotion from showing upon his well-carved features, but the thumping of his heart had increased rapidly and his breath was becoming shallower.
Could it really be her? Hair the color of cherry-blossoms, eyes the color of polished jade.
He blinked quickly to focus his mind on the situation at hand, but it was too late. Because of his stupor, the other shinobi had cornered him into a wall, weapons drawn in one hand and pointed dangerously at him, a glow of chakra that could easily take his life in the other.
"Sakura", he said her name quietly, almost a groan.
"What are you doing here?" she was unaffected by his voice.
The last time they'd seen each other, it was around Orochimaru's hideout. That had been years ago, and so much had happened.
"I'm home. Isn't that what you've always wanted?" his voice was mocking, confident despite the situation he was in.
He noticed that her eyes no longer held the adoration she'd once had for him; they were now dull, lifeless. She still pointed her kunai at him, struggling to keep herself under control.
"Why?" it was a whisper that brushed his ears lightly.
"You're angry", he ignored her question, "You hate me. Why not just kill me now?"
"Answer me!" she shouted.
"You can't do it, can you?" his voice was calm, smooth, deep, "you can't kill me. You don't have enough hate".
"I can", her eyes looked at him, determined.
"No", he let out a quiet chuckle, shaking his head slightly, "I know you, Sakura. You've grown. You've become so incredible that I often heard of you during my travels. But I still know you. And I know what you're capable of".
She growled angrily and pressed the metal blade to his throat, drawing a slight trickle of blood.
"Do it then", he murmured in response, "it's not like I have a purpose anymore. Itachi's been killed. I never got to avenge my clan and there's nothing left for me to do. Years of traveling the lands, hoping I could learn something, find something to help fill the void". He didn't know why he was suddenly telling her everything, but it just poured out and he couldn't help it.
"Why didn't you come back if there was nothing left?" the blade was still pressed against his throat, but her tone had softened considerably.
He scoffed in reply. "How could I?"
"They would have forgiven you. You could have proved your worthiness to the Hokage, and eventually, you would have lived a normal life again". She sounded regretful.
"Normal? Is that what happened to this place?" there was just a trace of sarcasm in his reply.
"You don't know how your brother died, do you?" she retorted bitterly, "he died here, in Konoha, in his own village. He did this. He did all of this!"
She was motioning wildly to the destruction around them, her eyes frantic as they searched his for some comprehension, some understanding. "He killed everyone! He made this place what it is today", she sounded like she could start crying at any moment.
"Then why are you still here?" he asked tonelessly.
"I survived", the loudness in her voice had disappeared as the traumatic events rushed into her mind, clouding her memories.
"You killed him", it wasn't a question. He knew from their little "fight" earlier that she possessed the power to do so.
She didn't reply. Her grip on the weapon had, over this short period of time, loosened. Blood was no longer flowing down his neck, but a puddle had already collected at his collarbone, staining his white shirt red.
"You killed him!" his voice was more demanding this time, more accusing.
"HE killed everyone else! And you weren't here!" she yelled back.
"YOU KILLED HIM!" he couldn't get over the fact that someone was stronger than Itachi and he couldn't get over the fact that this girl in front of him, his former teammate and admirer, had killed his brother.
"Sasuke", she said his name for the first time, the affectionate "-kun" suffix no longer attached. It sounded like a plea, "Sasuke, I know his death was your goal, but I had to", her voice was gentle and he saw a bit of the twelve-year-old Sakura shine through her façade.
His heart had hardened during the training he'd endure with Orochimaru and the traveling he'd done, but he could feel a trickle of emotion escaping him. A strange sort of aching pelted through his body and he felt an urge to comfort, to push away the weapon she held against him and wrap his arms around her. It was an unfamiliar feeling and he hated the newness of it.
"Why are you here now?" he asked her, trying to distract himself.
"This is still my home. I've been living in the Sand, but I come back often just to… just to see things".
"Things", he repeated the vague word.
"I want to kill you", her words surprised him, "I need to kill you. You're a traitor to Konoha".
"There is no Konoha", he reminded her.
"You left us all", the blade was pressed against his throat again, "I have to kill you".
"But can you do it?" he doubted she had it in her to really kill him, "C'mon, Sakura, do it".
She narrowed her eyes at him and pressed the kunai tighter against him, drawing more blood. It was becoming painful now, and the amount of blood he was losing was increasing. Still, his dark eyes mocked her, daring her to take the plunge.
"Kill me", he whispered.
She stuck half the blade through his throat, creating a deep gash. It wasn't enough to kill him yet, but it brought him near death. His vision faded and the girl in front of him became a blur of pink. She's really doing it, he thought. That was unexpected.
As more blood poured out of him, he saw the world around him become hazy, muddled, dark. I'm really dying. Maybe it's for the best. I have no reason to live any longer.
His eyes closed; he felt like he was falling, falling deep. The consciousness was slipping away from him, his mind went blank.
Then, a light.
It was a small light at first, then slowly grew larger, brighter. His eyes flashed open in a painful movement and he quickly shut them again. Then, slowly, cautiously, he blinked open one eye.
There was pink in front of him. A throbbing pain was noticeable at his throat, but otherwise, he didn't feel injured. Wasn't he supposed to be dead? A quiet sobbing grew louder and a few wet droplets landed on his cheek. The burning sensation from his wound was slowing disappearing, replaced by a soft, comfortable flow that felt like… chakra.
The crying grew louder and turned into heart wrenching sobs. He had a fleeting feeling of déjà vu and then he vaguely remembered, many, many years ago, on their first real mission, where he had almost died, then woken to find a crying Sakura sprawled over him. But this time, she wasn't just laying helplessly over him; she was healing him, sending her comforting chakra through his body.
Wait, she was healing him?
"You're right", she murmured when she saw that he was conscious.
He couldn't speak, but his eyes looked at her questioningly, urging her to explain.
"I couldn't do it. You're right, ok?" she struggled with her tears.
He sighed, satisfied. His life would be spared this time.
"We'll return to the Sand. The major damage is almost healed", she continued, knowing he couldn't say anything at the moment. He nodded once to show acknowledgement, then closed his eyes.
He could still feel the pressure of her hands along his throat, her fingers sliding gently back and forth as she pushed her healing chakra into him. He let out a grunt when she hit a rather tender spot and heard a soft gasp escape a moment later. She almost murmured an apology out of habit, but bit her lips and kept her mouth shut.
Her fingers had now completed their work and he felt much less pain, although there was still a dull throbbing somewhere in the neck area. He knew normal weapons couldn't create a wound like this- she had to have done something to that kunai. Posion? Or maybe it was some medical jutsu that he had very little knowledge of. Either way, he knew that she could heal him, that he was safe in her hands. Ironic, really, that he felt he could trust her after she'd just stabbed him. Very ironic.
He felt his body being shifted to a sitting position, her arms carefully supporting him. Her hands traveled along the side of his throat, checking once again to make sure he wasn't in any immediate danger. Then, she lifted him to his feet with surprising strength and leaned his body on hers, throwing one of his arms over her shoulder so that she supported his weight.
He was shocked at the speed she could move at while his body slowed her down; how strong was this... kunochi? He couldn't even call her a girl anymore- she'd changed so much. He marveled at her new abilities, at how much she'd grown. And it wasn't just her physical strength either. She'd become more mature, more confident, and he knew that her little breakdown right before she'd stabbed him was a spur of the moment thing.
He may not have known too much about her current life, but he knew enough to know that in the end, he was still capable of bringing out certain things in her. This piece of knowledge was something he valued- it was almost like an advantage.
She was unaware of his thoughts, as she led them at a rather brisk pace towards the edge of the village. He dared to take a look at her face, to see her expression. It was one of utmost concentration, her eyes glaring forward. She seemed angry, and he had several guesses as to why. It could have been that she was angry at him for everything he'd done. Or maybe she was angry that he dared to show up after all this time. Could it be that she was angry at herself? Was she angry because she couldn't really kill him?
Sasuke decided to let it drop. There was no use wondering such trivial things, and he was sure she wouldn't just tell him if he asked. He let his head droop slightly and stared at the ground, concentrating on taking one step after another. This wasn't getting anywhere.
He had wandered into his old village just for the heck of it, not expecting to see anyone here. Of course he knew it was destroyed- he'd heard stories and rumors although his travels, but he'd never heard that it was done by Itachi. You'd think something that important would definitely be included in the stories that were circulated, but every time someone had explained what happened to Konoha, they made it sound like the village just sort of collapsed on itself. He scoffed. That just showed how untrue rumors could be.
Before he could think any more, he realized that they'd stopped. Warily, he lifted his head and looked up to see an immense spread of forest in front of them. Well, technically, it was the same forest he'd gone through to get to Konoha, but for some reason, it felt like an altogether new forest at this moment.
"We have to walk", Sakura murmured softly. Her tone showed she was tolerant of him, but that he was still the enemy at this moment. "It'll take a few days".
"Ok", he complied.
They trudged off towards the forest and he managed to twist his head back a little, so that he could see the remains of Konoha. From here, it looked like a large pile of rubble. Broken, desolate, empty. And he had to admit that he didn't feel too different.
So, this was originally supposed to be an oneshot, but I realized it has some potential to become multi-chaptered, although if it did, it'd only be a couple chapters. I just want to know, is it better that this story ends here? Or should there be more? And if there were more, in what direction would the plot go?