A Fire Will Rise

"Some say the world will end in fire..." Robert Frost

-:-

Extinguished Thoughts


"Would you rather be stranded on an island with—"

"Am I dead?"

"Stranded, I said. If you were dead I'd say dead. No, you're stranded and—"

"I'd rather I was dead."

"Will you please shut up and let me finish? Ino or Karin. Who would you pick to—"

"Kill me? Isn't that what you're doing already?"

"—be your companion on the island."

It was too early in the morning for her games, and he so was not in the mood for it. "Sakura," Sasuke growled in warning.

"Aw, that's so sweet. But as flattered as I am, I'm not one of the choices, so try again, Sasuke."

Said Uchiha gave the young woman a glare, but she simply smiled at his attempt at intimidation. "Well?"

Silence on his part.

The sound of Fall's dead leaves crunching underneath their weight, coupled by that of the rustling of birds in trees were the only sounds for a couple of minutes. Sakura Haruno sighed, as she did not mind. She knew her companion very well. He was a very quiet man and often she was the one to start conversations in order for him to speak at all. It was at times like these that Sakura got a kick out of playing one of her many 'mind fuck' games, as Sasuke called them, to mess with him.

It was all she could do to keep from going insane. Their third member was in the hospital, and although she very well knew Naruto would make a full recovery, it didn't stop the pink-haired woman's mind from wondering of What ifs.

What if Naruto had been too far from the village, and he died? Alone, with no one around.

What if Sakura couldn't counteract the poison?

What if it was too late?

What if-

Stop, she scolded her thoughts. He's fine, just fine. And safe. I'm no amateur. I was trained by the best! I am the best. Sakura didn't gloat ever, it just wasn't her style. But just this once, she needed the reminder that Naruto had been in good hands.

It worked. Because now she could focus on other things, like her current question, which was an awful good one for the ages if she ever knew one. Now if only Sasuke would answer it.

Finally, he did. "Neither."

"C'mon, Sasuke. You always do this! It's just the two of us. You and me. Nothing gets out. So what —or rather, whom— will it be?"

They walked a couple more steps further down the street when Sakura all but thought he wouldn't answer. Then, "This does not get past the two of us."

It was not a question, she knew, but still decided to nod in agreement for her companion's sake.

There was another pause, although this one was relatively shorter. "…"

The woman's pink brows furrowed in confusion. "Pardon? I didn't catch that."

"...IsaidIno."

"If you could just speak a little louder—"

"I'm not repeating myself again, Sakura."

"Holy—! Are you for real?"

"Sakura…"

"It's just, I can't believe it. But out of the two I guess—"

"Stop."

"Wow."

"Shut up."

Fine. However he didn't say anything about laughing. And so that's exactly what she did.


And that was exactly how Sasuke and Sakura stumbled into a murder scene.

Sasuke, with a frown marring his handsome features, gait slightly off balance, followed by Sakura, who was still laughing her head off to the point she was clutching onto Sasuke's arm for life or risk falling head over ass.

As they got closer (and louder, in Sakura's position) a man in his mid-forties looked up, and seemed to breath a sigh of relief. His features, which had held so much worry and distraught in the past half hour, dissipated with the exhale.

He stepped out of the ring of cops questioning him. "Princess," he said.

There was only one person who ever called her that. "Daddy?" Sakura called out, not bothering to wipe away the tears that had slipped through her merriment.

"Sakura, sweetheart." The man paused, looked at his daughter, then at the young man clutched at her side. "Were you on a date?"

"Date?" Sakura trailed her father's line of sight and noticed she was still wrapped around Sasuke's arm like a leech. Quickly righting herself, Sakura hurriedly explained, "Oh, no. Sasuke and I were just coming back from visiting Naruto at the hospital. You remember me telling you about it?"

"Yes, right, of course. The loud one got hit with poison knives while coming back to the village two days ago."

"Kunia, Daddy, they were kunia."

"Right…"

It was her father's tone of voice that Sakura knew something wasn't quite right. For one, he wasn't at the library where he worked. And two, he was looking awfully pale. "What's going on, Dad?"

"Dr. Haruno, a pleasure to see you again."

Even though Sakura was no longer hanging on Sasuke she was close enough to feel him tense up. There was only one person for such a reaction. "Chief Fugaku, hello. How are you, sir?" Sakura politely asked Sasuke's father as he came closer.

"Could be better." Sakura noticed his voice, too, sounded grave. "Sasuke," Fugaku Uchiha nodded in greeting at his youngest heir.

"Father," Sasuke mumbled with a tilt of his head.

"How is your teammate doing? Naruto."

After a few seconds in which neither knew which of the two Fugaku had asked the question to, Sakura took the lead, "fine. Nothing some bed rest and antibiotics won't cure."

"Yes, he's a fighter, that one. I am sure he will pull through."

"Yes," Sakura said, for a lack of anything better to say. She was getting more and more suspicious that things were just not right. All the more, her father seemed to be having a hard time keeping a show of disgust off his face. "You alright there, Dad?"

At once, Kizashi Haruno grabbed his daughter's shoulders to stare at her straight in the eye. "Princess, a horrific crime has been committed here. The police are looking into it."

"What sort of crime?" She had had a feeling it might have been something along those lines.

The taught man shook his head sadly. "A murder."

It was like someone flipped on a switch. She was suddenly in work mode. "Where's the body?"

"Sakura," he gasped, shocked. "You are going nowhere near that!" The very thought of his sweet and innocent daughter laying eyes on a corpse. Mutilated and all. It was not going to happen.

"Dad," Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Don't you 'Dad' me! I will not allow it and that's final, young lady!"

"I work at a hospital, Dad, remember? This sort of thing isn't new to me." She wanted add that she had seen worse but probably wasn't the right thing to say to her already on edge father.

"Yes, but…" The stab wounds. The viciousness of the crime, Kizashi's thoughts churned out.

As if reading his mind, Sakura said, "I'm also a ninja." She smiled. "It sort of comes with the job."

Mr. Haruno knew what 'it' was. He just didn't want to delve any deeper than he needed to.

"Go home, Dad." He looked at her with wide, glassy eyes and Sakura didn't like what she saw. Her dad was a civilian, not at all familiar with death and blood and murdered bodies. His eyes looked haunted, and she was willing to bet he had been the one to find said body.

"On second thought…" Removing her right mitten, she placed her warm hand on her father's temple, and pretended she didn't see him flinch. "Don't worry, Daddy. This will help." Concentrating careful amounts, she weaved enough soothing chakra through the man's system until he was out like a light.

Sakura gently lowered him to the ground. "Can I get a stretcher over here?" A paramedic appeared at her side. "Take him to the hospital. I used chakra as a sedative to calm him so inform me once he awakes."

The paramedic nodded once and did as they were told. Sakura watched with sadden eyes as her father was rolled away.

Once the medic van was out of sight, it was time for her to get to work.


I was inspired to write this by watching CSI, Rizzoli & Isles, Dexter, Castle and Bones reruns. I love mystery dramas, so why not write my own?

Please leave me a review telling me what you think of my new story, and as always, thanks for reading.

-Sass EL.