She looks like spring
Dances like summer
Lives for the fall
And falls for the winter.
Oh yes. She falls for the winter.
Official Black Cat
Chapter One
The tree that never had to fight. She reads, and takes a sip of her orange juice, wiping away the little that dribbles down her chin on her sweater.
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
"Is orange juice all you're having, Sakura? It's all you ever have. You know it's on the house." Kurenai presses, her swollen belly reaching over the booth table that Sakura can't help but smile at. Her pen and pad ready for Sakura's order that she seems so determined to get. Sakura pulls her brown sweater sleeves over her hands, a habit she can't get rid of. "No thank you, Kurenai. I don't plan to be here long." She lies. She loves this small, twenty-four hour breakfast restaurant. And on days like these, she'd kill to get here and do nothing but read. Kurenai surrenders for now and resumes her duties, knowing later that Sakura will offer her assistance.
She continues to read.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
She pauses, and rests on the cool glass of the just-rained-on window. It feels nice to her feverish forehead. Her droopy eyes look down at her silver watch. It's 9:33pm and she figures she should head for home soon.
Not like there was anyone waiting for her there anyways.
She looks out the window and sees no one but a boy wearing a leather black jacket. His hood over his head. He's sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, watching the stop light change colors. She averts her gaze back down to her poem.
Good timber does not grow with ease:
the stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
She looks out once more at the boy on the edge of the road, he stands up, hands in his pockets and walks towards her breakfast restaurant, her safe haven. There's something not right about him. She ignores him and wipes her tired eyes.
Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
whose broken branches show the scars.
Of many winds and much of strife-
"Do you mind if I sit here?" She hears a hoarse voice and looks up and into a pair of aquamarine colored eyes. It's the boy from outside, his hood covers much of his head. She wants to say no. She doesn't want to be disturbed tonight. But she doesn't have a heart of stone and she knows it.
"N-no, go ahead." She's surprised of how she didn't hear the bell of the door ring when he entered. He nods in gratitude and sits quietly. "I won't bother you." He says, eyeing her papers full of poems. "You're okay." She mumbles. He is quiet for what seems like hours, hands in his pockets as he stares outside and watches the rain pound the gravel. He then removes his hood, revealing wet locks of deep red hair. Strands stick to his forehead, which allows Sakura to notice a tattoo that graces his skin.
It's the kanji symbol for love.
Sakura wondered. Surely this boy was only about sixteen. How did he get that tattoo?
"I know a guy." He mutters shyly, realizing what she must have been thinking staring at his head. "I-it's beautiful." She says, and quickly looks away. He stares at her, as if he didn't understand what she just said. It would have been easier if she had not let him sit there. Maybe he should leave. But he can't just get up and go. "You should get one. It would look nice on you." He mumbles, avoiding her look.
She nods, not in approval or disapproval. "I got this when I couldn't feel it's meaning." He says so suddenly it startles her. She's silent and she places her poems down. She moves her long hair out of the way.
"I won't tell anyone." She mutters. And his eyes became so piercing that she wanted to trade her own for them.
"Sai. His name is Sai. I'll give you his address." He says and he grabs a napkin from the retro-styled dispenser and asks her for a pen. He writes down where she should go and what times she can be there. He tells her she cannot tell anyone. That he didn't want Sai to get caught. She nods. As she pushes the napkin in her sweater pocket, she looks back to the boy. Then hesitantly, she reaches her hand out across the booth table. "Sakura." She says. The boy looks at her, almost as if he was going to break out into a sweat. He then suddenly takes her hand, shaking it once. "Gaara."
"You know Gaara, we can't help it if we no longer feel love. Some of us have to learn to live without it."
"Yeah." He whispers. "Yeah." He's still for a moment. "Or not live with it at all." She looks away. She can't do anything now.
"That's right." She says, and she doesn't lie. She bites the inside of her lip as he stands. "Sakura, thank you." He says and his eyes are gleaming with decision. She smiles at him. "No, thank you."
He shoves his hands in his pockets again and walks out. She has to watch him now. There's a nonnegotiable obligation between them now. And she has to watch. She picks up her poems and puts them in her beige pack, leaving Good Timber out. She watches him still from the cool glass window. He steps on the corner of the street and looks both ways, waiting.
He sees a car coming his way as he steps off the sidewalk and into its path.
She can't breathe now as many rush to Gaara as his body is covered in the same color his hair is.
-This is the common law of life.
"The kanji symbol for love?" Sai asks her. "Wouldn't be my first." He says monotonously. "Where would you like it?"
Sakura points to the back of her right shoulder. "Make it about the size of your hand." She says. She knows being here makes her nervous, but her determination keeps her from caring. "Green. I want it green. And make it a little pale." She looks at Sai's pale skin, no tattoos or anything. She thought it was odd. "You're hair's too long. Can you put it up?" He said, throwing her a rubber band.
"It's going to hurt a little." He mumbles tonelessly. She lets out a small joking smile.
"Love hurts anyways doesn't it?"
A/N: Sooo, that is the first chapter of Official Black Cat. If you're not into the angsty stories I would stay the hell away from this one. I've had this idea for a SasuSaku story for a while and I didn't plan it to be but a oneshot thing. But then I came up with ideas for the story and I got too interested. Not all chapters will be this short, some will be ridiculously long. I've been with FanFiction for three years now on a different name. I made this one so I can start fresh. Thank you for reading the first chap. and please review. Please, no hate. But constructive criticism is always welcome. See you next chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Good Timber. And obviously I do not own Naruto. That'd be cool though.