Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto I would not be writing fanfictions about it.
Oh my God! I'm still alive! Yeah I know I have been slacking on my updates. I tend to get sidetracked every once in a while. I have by no means given up on any of my work. In fact I have been working on rewriting Ever After because, let's face it, it sucked. I have also been working on the third installment of the Drinking series. I hope to have that one done by next week. For more updates check out my profile page. I have been making note of my progress on everything. For now though, I hope you enjoy the product of my over active imagination. As always; Reviews = Love! Flames = Entertainment! Constructive criticism = Accepted!
The cool spring breeze danced through her pink hair as her jade eyes scanned her surroundings. She watched as the leaves swayed in the wind. The flowers in the field were in full bloom and the only way to describe the scene was breathtaking. Nothing could have been more perfect to her than this moment.
A slight rustling to her left alerted her to the fact that someone had entered her sanctuary. Her keen jade eyes watched the area below the branch that she was perched in. Within the blink of an eye, the person was standing in front of the bush that had announced their approach.
Upon seeing just who the person was, she relaxed her body from its tensed position. She knew that what she was doing was dangerous and would by all means end in her death, but she no longer feared death. It was part of her job description after all.
The person, though relaxed in appearance, was ready to strike her down at any given moment, "There is no use in hiding. I know you are there."
The light breeze picked up once again. This time, not only did it blow her long pink strands about, it also made the black cloak emblazoned with red clouds join in the dance, "Ah, that will not be necessary since I was never hiding to begin with."
Light chocolate colored eyes lock onto jade, "You are either fearless or extremely foolish, little girl."
"That I may be, but foolish people are often fearless for they know what they are doing before they do it," she paused to take in his expression before continuing, "After all we shinobi are the most foolish. We know what we are getting into when we begin training for this profession, and yet, we still do it."
"That may very well be true, but most shinobi do not relax their body in the presence of an enemy," he shot back at her.
She shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'oh well' before opting to change the subject, "Since you are alive Sasori, I take it that the Akatsuki still have need of you. Though I do wonder why they would bring you back in flesh instead of wood."
Sasori's eyes narrowed at her perceptiveness, "Those incompetent fools only need me as a pawn once more. They do not care whether I am human or puppet."
A hint of sadness entered the pink haired woman's eyes, their color darkening to emerald, "Is it really that bad being alive? To be human?"
For a moment he wondered just why he hadn't killed her yet. Her banter and inquisitiveness were starting to wear on what little patience he had. In the end his, now, human nature to be curious gave way and he decided to humor the girl for a bit longer. He would kill her after he had all the answers to his questions.
She watched as his eyes darkened with an emotion she was unsure of before he finally answered, "Being alive is a trivial matter. It does not matter if I am human or the ultimate work of art; in the end I can still be eliminated. You yourself had a hand in my death, little girl. As for being human, it is not something I condone. Human bodies have limitations and lifespans. They are not eternal nor are they everlasting."
"If we were meant to live forever then we would. As it stands, we were not and therefore everyone dies. In the end it does not matter who you are or what you believe. The bottom line is that we are all going to die one day. Be it today, tomorrow, or a decade from now, there is no forever for us," she paused before adding, "And I do have a name you know. In case it may have slipped your mind while you were transitioning back into this realm, I will remind you once more of what it is; it's Sakura, not little girl."
Sasori only shrugged him shoulders and smirked, "I will call you as I please, little girl."
Sakura released a sigh. She knew that he would not call her by name, it had only been wishful thinking that he would, "It's really not as bad as you think though."
He was confused. The change of subject was so abrupt that he didn't follow her train of thought and it only served to irritate him once more, "I do not follow."
She let out a small giggle at the fact that she had successfully confused an Akatsuki member. Hints of her mirth lined her voice as she proceeded to clear his confusion, "I simply meant that," she paused long enough for her expression to become more serious, "It is not so bad being human, Sasori."
"You obviously have no idea what you are talking about, little girl," he berated.
"I do. You believe that beauty is eternal and everlasting. Something that will never fade and will always be around to be seen," She paused to let Sasori soak in her words, "And while that may be a form of beauty, there are others. All you have to do to see these other forms is open your eyes. Life in and of itself is beautiful."
Sakura was amused by the look he was giving her. It was the one that could only be described as 'you're insane'. After a moment of silence passed, he finally opted to inquire about her insane testimony, "And how, may I ask, is life beautiful?"
"It's simple really," Sakura started as she allowed her eyes to drift so she was now focused on the field of flowers, "While most humans may not be beautiful themselves, it is the things we are able to witness in our lifetime that is beautiful. It's all the little things that no one ever thinks about. For example, the field that we are in now. It is filled with life and emanates a serene beauty."
He stared up at the short female that was still perched on the branch, as she waved her hand to indicate the surrounding area, "While that may be true, all of these things will lose their beauty when winter comes. The trees will lose their leaves and the flowers will die."
Sakura simply smiled at him, "They will, but they will also bloom once more when spring comes again. If you think about it, humans are much the same. We are born and then we die only to be replaced with new life."
Just as Sasori was about to shoot down yet another crazy ideal of hers, her head snapped up and she turned to face the direction of the Leaf Village. He didn't know what it was that had drawn her attention though. He had not heard or sensed anything.
She turned back to face him with a small, almost sad, smile on her face, "It seems that it is time for me to leave. I doubt that we will meet again though, but who can ever really predict the future? I wish you the best with your second chance at life. Most people never get one so make it count. I really do hope what I said will make some sort of impact on you though. Goodbye, Sasori."
The years had passed, slowly at some points and yet quickly in others. The Akatsuki had been defeated and the ones that remained alive had disbanded to move on to a new start. The Hidden Leaf Village had decided to leave them be for now. They would only deal with them if they became a problem once more.
Her once bright green eyes stared listlessly out the window closest to her. She knew it was almost time and so she pulled herself out of her bed. She methodically changed into her ninja attire before gathering anything she may need for her short trip out of the village.
Everything was calm and peaceful in this place. Much more so than the village that she had left just two hours ago. For that she was thankful. As much as she loved her friends for looking after her, she needed some space and quiet so she could think things through. They wanted to distract her so she wouldn't have time to think about what was to come. As much as she didn't want to think about it, she needed to.
It was almost sad, but it was one of those things in life that can't be helped. Never the less, she would not let it bring her down. Nor would she let it bring down everyone else around her. Maybe that was why she decided that she needed to visit him. She was pretty sure that he wouldn't care and would treat her the same as always. After all he was still her enemy.
Lucky for her, she didn't spend too much time looking for him. She was surprised to find that he was within the Fire Country. She had expected him to be anywhere but there. It wasn't like she was going to complain about her stroke of luck though.
"And here I thought you said that we would never meet again. I must have broken a mirror in a past life just before I died in order to have the misfortune of running into you multiple times in this life," the red haired man spoke while his back was still turned to her.
She rolled her dull jade eyes before firing back at him, "Ha ha. You would make a wonderful comedian, Sasori. To think that I went through the trouble of seeking you out."
"That was your own mistake," he began while turning to lock his chocolate colored eyes with her own dull jade, "You look like hell by the way."
Once again she rolled her eyes while shaking her head, long pink hair obscured his view of her face, "Leave it to you to notice my state of disarray and comment on it. It hasn't even been five minutes and you have already insulted me twice."
"You are the one who, for some ungodly reason, sought me out. It was not the other way around," he spoke with a bored air to his voice.
"I suppose I could enlighten you. To tell you the truth, I came to find you because I know that you will not treat me like glass that could shatter at any moment," she paused her speech long enough to jump up on the nearest tree branch before continuing, "God knows everyone has treated me like one for the past year."
"Oh? Too weak to take care of yourself now? Whatever happened to the little girl that helped kill me?" Sasori inquired.
Green eyes wondered aimlessly around the scenery, watching the withering flowers and colorful leaves of autumn, before she replied, "I have become weak, but it is not because I wanted to. To answer your question; that little girl, as you so love to call me, got sick."
Sasori raised an eyebrow as he looked at the pink haired woman, "So you stopped training because you got sick? That is rather pathetic."
"I didn't get sick by choice. In fact I have been sick for a long time and it will never go away. There is no cure for it and it is terminal. They say that I am only going to live for another week at most," she said as if nothing was wrong.
He was confused by this. She was dying and she talked about it as if she were speaking of the weather. Wasn't she in the least bit scared? He would never admit it but, he was afraid to die. That was why he tried to become immortal. Even now, after dying once already, he was still afraid to die.
"Don't give me that look," she said referring to his trying to analyze her attitude, "We've had this discussion before. I was sick then too so don't even think about trying to act different now. If I wanted sympathy I would have stayed home and waited for someone to come over and treat me like a leper."
"Is that so? No wonder you had no fear of me then," he spoke with his emotionless mask back in place.
She shook her head at the man's ego, "I never had fear of you. Even when we fought. Doubt maybe, but never fear. And would it kill you to use my name? Even just once?"
"Did you ever think that it just might and that is why I never do?" The red haired male asked with directing a smirk in the pink haired woman's direction.
She let out an exasperated sigh while rolling her eyes, "Call it a last request if you will."
"Fine then, Sakura. Are you happy now?" Sasori asked.
"Very," was the reply he received.
Silence consumed them and Sasori wondered just why he was still there. It wasn't like he even enjoyed her presence. Though he supposed that she was good for idle conversation. Not that he needed any though. In a way she reminded him slightly of his mother. He supposed it was the way she saw the world that made him think that.
He watched silently as she clenched her shirt over her heart, "I don't mind dying but I could deal without the pain that comes with it."
Sasori shook his head before he locked his chocolate colored eyes with Sakura's jade, "The only way death is painless is if you die in your sleep without having any sort of illness beforehand."
Sakura only sighed at his words, "I know but I can dream can't I?"
The red head only nodded his head at her question. He didn't feel like giving a reply to a rhetorical question. Once again everything went back to silence. It wasn't the awkward kind though. It was more peaceful than anything.
At that moment Sakura decided it was time to fill the silence, "I suppose I should be going now. The pain is only going to get worse and it's a two hour walk back to Konoha. I guess this really will be the last time we see each other, well on this plain anyways. I hope you enjoy the rest of your life, Sasori. This will be the last one that you get."
And with that she jumped off of the tree branch she had been perched in. He watched her stumble a bit before she righted herself and left in the direction of her home. But not before throwing one more comment over her shoulder.
His eyes widened slightly at her words before he shook his head and returned to his wandering. He was still in search of a place to live after all and he figured that maybe, just maybe, living in the Land of Fire might be nice.
The news had spread like wildfire. The Hokage's apprentice had died. Everyone, civilians and shinobi alike, was shocked at how the young woman had died. They had all expected her to die a shinobi's death like most did; in battle. For her to be a medic and die of a disease was what shocked them all. But none the less, everyone mourned for her.
Being that it was the day of her funeral, many had flocked to Konoha to pay their respects. Some of which were even criminals that had found her to be a formidable opponent. All of said missing nin were in hiding of course. If they were caught it would mean the end of their lives or freedom so they stayed within the shadows. Even if the Hokage knew that they were there.
As the funeral came to an end, most began to leave. Even after everyone had gone, a few of the missing nin lingered so they could pay her proper respect. Among them was the red haired and auburn eyed man that she had openly sought out in her final days. Another being the crimson eyed and raven haired Uchiha who had also been brought back to the land of the living.
"I did not expect for you to be here, Sasori," the Uchiha began, "Unless maybe it is to spite her."
"I am not here for that. We were on neutral ground before she passed," the red head answered before asking a question of his own, "What brings you here Itachi? So far as I know you only encountered her once."
Itachi turned his crimson eyes back to the headstone before him, "I may not have known her, but she did try to take care of my little brother before he left. She even tried to get him to stay and for that she has gained my respect."
Sasori only nodded his head in response before looking at the headstone one last time. He read the inscription once more. It couldn't have been a more accurate inscription either and for a moment he wondered who had written it. Simply put the inscription read;
Sakura Haruno
One of the greatest medics in the world
You will be missed by all
And it was true. Even Sasori would admit that he would the spirited young woman.
With one last nod to Itachi, Sasori turned to leave before he paused and looked over his shoulder at the Uchiha, "I suppose that we may never see each other again. If we don't I will leave you with the last words that she told me; this is the last chance that you will get at life so make it count and remember, life is beautiful."
And with that Sasori left. He would always remember what Sakura had told him and he would try to see the beauty in life. It wasn't about leaving a lasting impression on the world. It was about being remembered long after you were gone and he knew that she would be remembered for years to come. After all, her life had been beautiful. Even in the end.
The red eyed man had stayed stationary long after Sasori had left. He knew she was there and she knew that he knew. There was no use in hiding either since the man was a genius. So she did the only thing she could do; she apparated next to the raven haired male.
"You've known this whole time, haven't you Itachi?" The transparent female asked.
"I did. Tell me Sakura, why are you lingering in this world?" The Uchiha asked as he shifted his gaze to hers.
Sakura only smiled at him knowingly before answering, "I wanted to make sure that Sasori makes the most of this life. The same goes for you as well. Enjoy your life Itachi and I'm sure I will see you both when your time comes."
Itachi only nodded as he watched Sakura disappear from the living world. Once she was gone he took one final look at the tombstone before taking his leave as well.
Notes: Nothing of importance. If you have questions then feel free to ask.
~Trust~