Her Only Sin
Chapter 1 Black For Today
Summary: When Sasuke left Konoha, he left Sakura with scars. As their paths converge again in an unexpected meeting, a dialogue occurs- and so much more. [SasuSaku]
Warning: Major Spoilers ahead.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.
A certain pink-haired kunoichi woke up with a start.
She was awake before she knew it and the taste of salt and water lingered in her mouth.
The effort it took to rouse her body from its drowsy state was enormous and after several seconds of aimless pondering, her mind seemed to have finally caught up with her body. Sakura sat up on her bed and wiped the sides of her eyes.
It was a long time since she cried, much more cry in her sleep. The dream was one she could not even remember, but, she was fairly sure, it was the same dream that had been lingering in her mind in the past years and it did not anymore matter. The 17-year-old medic nin yawned and stretched her hands upwards then blinked. She turned to the clock beside her bed. It was only six o'clock in the morning.
She groggily pushed the sheets and went out of her bed. Sleep was knocking once again, but she was determined to ignore it. As she opened her closet, she slowly surveyed her clothes, looking for the outfit she had in mind the previous night. For the first time in quite a long time, she decided to forego her usual red outfits.
It was black for today.
The day proved to be more than just long.
As Sakura was in charge of the hospital for the specific day, she started doing her follow-ups at eight and, eight hours later, she was still barking orders at the resident medics. Coincidentally, the day she took charge of the hospital was the day most of the missions were completed. Before noon, Sakura already had her hands full. By mid-afternoon, she was still handling patients. The worst was yet to come.
One of their medic nins brought a man whose chakra system was almost burnt out. Sakura took one thorough look at him and saw that his heartbeat was irregular. He was in a state of coma.
"He's been poisoned." she said. "Actually," she explained, turning to her assistants. "That is only how it seems. In fact almost every single cell in his body has been severed- I'm guessing a wind jutsu was used against him."
Her assistants nodded vigorously, eyeing the man with concern and pity. Sakura's hands expertly performed the needed jutsu. Gathering a precise amount of chakra into her hand, Sakura began her operation.
"It will be impossible to completely heal him, still-" she gave her assistants a determined smile, "let's do our best."
It took her two gruelling hours just to stabilize him, and by then, the fatigue already sunk in.
Sakura left the man under the care of one resident medic nin and went to their quarters. Without another thought, she threw herself on the nearest bunk. Forcefully shutting her eyes close, Sakura could still see faint glimmers of light, When she opened them again, she thought she saw her chakra moving out of her body. She tried to force herself to a nap.
She couldn't.
Strengthening her resolve, Sakura covered her head with a pillow and lapsed into a dreamless state.
When she woke up, it was even worse. Her head pounded heavily and she had to steady herself to be able to walk to the door. Sakura paused before going out and massaged her temples. She checked the time. It was almost six o'clock.
She went to check on the critically injured patients, then proceeded to the records office to update their data. She sat on the desk and flipped open the first folder. Just as she was about to proceed to her second folder, the door burst open.
"Sakura-chan!"
Salvation seemed to have knocked right at Sakura's door and it was all she could do to stop herself from embracing her teammate, whose voice seemed to be her only source of comfort amidst the chaos. She immediately went to Naruto.
"Shall we go?" he began. "I'm starving!"
Sakura smiled, her exhaustion suddenly forgotten. "And I feel like I can eat more than twice your apetite right now, Naruto-kun."
Naruto grinned. "Shall we bet on that?"
At the corner of Konoha's busiest streets was a small pub that came to life mostly at night. It was one of the town's favourite spot where ninjas gather to share stories and relax. Naruto and Sakura went there mostly during the last day of the week, sometimes along with the others. Most of the time, it was just the two of them, talking and relating to each other what they did during the week.
"Oi!"
Sakura and Naruto turned to find Kiba, Neji, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji and Lee.
They invited the pair to sit with them.
"We'll need one more table." Shikamaru said and asked for an additional table and drinks.
When they were all settled, they began to share their stories. Drinks began to flow and laughter and light-hearted banter soon filled the air. A lot of them occasionally stood up to greet another acquaintance coming in. Soon, the place was brimming with people.
Sakura looked around the table listening and sharing her stories at the same time. At one point she laughed out loud when Neji dropped a particularly nasty comment about Lee's tireless spiel about the springtime of youth. She was buried beneath their raucous laughter and boisterous arguments but Sakura couldn't care less. She was with her friends. For that alone, she was grateful.
It was already past two o'clock in the morning when they all decided to call it a night. Ino went to Sakura and embraced her. It was a long time before they broke apart to finally say goodbye.
"You've been dreaming those again, I presume," Ino gently told her. "It's been exactly five years, Sakura." Then she added as an afterthought, "Grieve no longer."
The words were pregnant with meaning and they were not lost upon the medic-nin. Sakura clutched her friend even more tightly.
When they broke apart, Ino looked at her. "It's about time."
Sakura gave her a half-smile and there was a silent understanding between the closest of friends.
Shikamaru took Ino home and Naruto, although a bit tipsy walked his teammate to her apartment.
When they arrived at her doorstep, she bid him good night.
"Good night Naruto-kun. Be careful not to fall into any manholes, okay?"
Naruto nodded absentmindedly. Sakura then went inside her house.
"Sakura-chan."
She stopped.
"We will all be together again," he assured her, then, more forcefully, "I promise."
She nodded weakly and sauntered distractedly into her apartment the shut the door behind her.
Naruto took this as a signal for him to leave, but he stopped dead in his tracks. As if realizing something, he dashed to her door.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto called reluctantly. "Are you-?"
Alcohol has tainted his senses but he was not immune to her crying. As he pressed his forehead against her wooden door, he heard her small sobs. The tears came even though, as always, she willed them not to. Every time it did, the pain became as fresh as it was before and the years did nothing to heal the wounds that left her bleeding.
"Naruto-kun," was all she was able to say. Her sobs echoed loudly across the dark house and for a moment, Naruto wondered if they would ever be loud enough to be heard by the very person who caused her this much pain.
Naruto stayed silent.
"Today is...today...I can't..." she broke into tears again. There was no denying how much their team meant to her, how much she had come to love the avenger who chose his own path at a very tender age.
Naruto clenched his fists tightly they almost bled. He slid down the porch, and sat on the opposite side of the door until he felt her calm down.
She needed some time for herself.