Prologue
Sasuke looked at the grey-green sky. Heavy smog hung low over the ground; smoky tendrils caressing the ground with deadly affection. The landscape was torn apart and the earth bled through the tortured crevices. Deep trenches ran like jagged scars behind the infamous 'No-man's land'- a mess of barbed wire, mud and broken bodies.
He chewed on the end of his cigarette, grinding his teeth repetitively over the bitter tobacco. He carelessly tossed the glowing butt over the side of the vehicle and spat the tobacco from his mouth sulkily. Returning behind lines was the best damn part of this war- that and the nurses. Forget glory, forget 'for your country', here you forget everything but your own damn skin. There were less of the platoon returning this time.
'Hah!' Sasuke thought, sullenly, 'like any of them would be returning by the end of the year'. He hated the front line; he hated the whole damn war. The smell, the rats, the mud, the groans, the screams and most of all- the dead silence before an attack. The silence that drowned out the frantic breathing, the scuttle of rats and the gasps of pain. When the shells stopped it was only a matter of time before something worse came over the top.
The car rattled and shuddered as it drove over potholes towards the small French town. Sasuke winced and grasped his arm, applying pressure to ease the sting. Yet again shrapnel from a nearby shell had hit him. He had been lucky. Others hadn't.
Sasuke let his eyes slide shut. He slept for most of the journey and was shaken awake by one of the lads. He drowsily slid out of the and joined in a line leading to the hospital. A tall, voluptuous woman stepped from the hospital door and strode forward. She came to an abrupt halt in front of the men.
"Who's dying?" she asked sternly. About half a dozen men lying on
stretchers were pointed at. She nodded for them to be carried in.
"Who has broken something, been hit by something or got gangrene?" Most of the men raised their arms including Sasuke. The blonde woman sighed dramatically.
"Who is less urgent than others?" Sasuke raised his hand again, knowing there was no time for selfishness in a war. A few others reluctantly followed his lead.
"Right, you can see the junior nurses" said the woman, a few men wolf-whistled and were shot glares by the matron. "Line up there please." They all patiently paced to another line and happily loitered for these 'Junior nurses'. Three at a time the men were lead inside. Sasuke was at the back and the last out of four. He didn't mind being the only one left, he could rest away from the others- they never ceased their chatter and he preferred solitude.
"Excuse me," came a gentle voice. He was awake enough to open an eye to see who the newcomer was. He was glad he made the effort. It was a young, pretty girl. She had exotic pink hair and her eyes were sea foam green. She wore a large nurse's outfit, probably inherited from her mother. Her shironeri hair was coiled upon her head, so it would not fall and risk patient's infection.
"Yes?"
"Are you ready to be treated?" she quietly asked.
"Aa" he murmured. She quirked her head to the side and smiled lightly, her eyes crinkling attractively at the corners.
"I will take that as a yes, would you like to follow me?" she gestured towards the door. He watched her as she walked away, her heels clicking on the flagstones and then on the wooden floor inside. He liked the way she swung her hips- it wasn't deliberate but it was enough to show she had an hourglass figure. Sasuke had all the luck sometimes.
When they entered a long room full of rickety beds, she sat down in a chair and motioned to the nearest bed. Complying with her request he sat, all the while staring at her. She fidgeted under his gaze slightly but smiled nonetheless.
"May I see the wound? I presume it's a wound of course beca-" she was stopped short upon seeing the large lump of metal embedded in his arm.
"And this wasn't urgent how?!" she scolded. He shrugged and smirked at her horrified face.
"Wasn't bleeding. Figured I would live." She scoffed and applied a tight bandage above the wound effectively cutting off the blood supply. She muttered something about 'staying still' and 'macho-idiot' and grasped the piece of twisted metal firmly. She began to pull and the shrapnel slowly worked its way free. Sasuke winced a little, earning him a sympathetic smile from the nurse. When the metal was removed she quickly held a cloth doused in iodine to the wound. Sasuke hissed through his teeth and she smirked.
"Keep still Princess," she snickered. She cleaned the cut and then produced a reel of thread and a needle. He glowered darkly at the instruments of torture.
"Got a light?" she asked.
"Smoking at a time like this? Didn't take you to be the type," Sasuke leered. She rolled her eyes as he produced a box of matches. Slowly, deliberately, seductively, he drew out a match and held it up. His hand blurred and the match was struck against the rough edge- its orange flame dancing before the nurse's green eyes. The corners of her lips rose for a second then she was concentrating once more. She held the needle in the flame for a few seconds and twisted it. Carefully she wiped it with the iodine cloth, ignoring the hissing from the damp cloth.
"Now seriously, stay still!" she pressed herself against his front half, stopping him from swinging round if need be.
"What are you doing?" he asked nonchalantly. He jumped a little as he felt the first stab of the needle as the nurse began to sew up his wound.
"Is that thread even clean?" She ignored him.
"Do you want to give me gangrene?" The nurse ignored him again. This was unusual. Where ever he went women always answered him. Women always respected him.
"Woman, answer me," he demanded. She turned her head slightly and glared but continued her work without a word. Triumphantly she leaned back and tied the thread.
"All done, Princess! See it's not so bad if you keep still!" The
Uchiha stared.
"You are one hell of a woman."
"Thank you" she chirped.
"It's not entirely a compliment but what's your name, woman?" she
tutted.
"Ladies first and all…putting that aside it's polite to offer your name first, Princess." Sasuke considered this. Finding this fair he proffered a hand to her. She took it and he shook while saying:
"Captain Uchiha Sasuke. You can call me Captain Sasuke or plain Sasuke, even Captain, hell if you wanted you can call me Captain. Just not Princess." She grinned widely.
"A title! A ranking in the army, now that is impressive Captain Sasuke! I am Miss Haruno. Haruno Sakura but you can call me woman." She laughed and he joined in too. He rather liked her; she was witty, clever and good-looking.
Sakura was more unusual than his normal type but that's what drew him to her. His dark eyes searched her rosy, heart shaped face for a hint of sourness but found none. He quickly analyzed his options.
"Miss. Woman, Sakura. I will be taking you out to dinner next time we
meet."
"Oh really, Captain? No invite? Just an order? You really are a military man. But you're handsome and you don't appear lecherous, so I expect you to survive another fight and take me out as soon as you get back." He chuckled at her bluntness. He was taking a liking to this woman, a good liking.
"Until next time Miss. Woman." he got up, bowed slightly, tipped his hat and strode confidently out of the ward. Now he had something to keep him going in those god-forsaken trenches.
Miss Haruno Sakura, what a woman!
I am back. Note to all Porcelain is under a plot change- please wait I have the next chapter half written it will come. WYWS is suffering from lack of inspiration. I am Nothing will be updated last after my previous commitments.
So this is Front Line- bad title but my very much loved fic, it's been stuck in my head for ages. I love it please, please love it too As you can tell it takes place in World War 1 somewhere on the French-German border. Sasuke is a British soldier, Sakura a British nurse. Other characters will be introduced- eventually there will be mildish violence maybe extreme romance, I want to protect this fic and bring it up as a good and proper story should be bought up so dont expect weekly updates. THANKS alot to my beta Paprika012345 she's amazing gave me the advice I really needed.
RnR please peeps