Till That Last Rose Petal Falls
Warnings: Implied rape, SasuNaru, and character death. Dark AU.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Obviously.
Summary: Sakura is beauty. Sasuke is the beast. And Naruto is dead.
"-suke… Sa…suke-kun…" Her eyes open with a snap. "Sasuke-kun!"
Strong arms instantly envelop her, wrapping tightly around her throat. She struggles against them, against their very essence, against the comforting warmth and bitter chill, against the disgustingly familiar scent of spice and sweat. A deep, resonating voice tickles her ears with a rush of breath. "Don't move," he hisses. "Don't resist. Or I'll kill you."
She freezes. She isn't afraid of death, but she's not stupid either. The others might still be alive. She might still be able to rescue them. She straightens in those arms, steadies herself. "What do you want," she asks harshly, "Sasuke?"
Suddenly, she is dropped to the floor. She kneels there, gulping in breath after breath. Not very lady-like, she thinks with an ironic smirk. Tsunade-sama would not be pleased. Her self-mocking smile vanishes. Not that it matters. She's dead, anyway.
The raven-haired man is suddenly in front of her, and she can, for the first time, see his face. His eyes are cold stones, staring straight through, not looking at her. He kneels before her, the dark knight before his princess, head-bowed. She laughs inwardly at the image, a brief flash from her former fantasies. As if.
See, she's come to know that fairy tales don't come true. Knights and princesses don't exist; not in the real world, not in the ninja world. The only things that exist are those who are alive, and those who are dead.
His eyes rise to meet hers, but they don't see her, and she doesn't see him. He takes her hand suddenly. "Help," he replies softly. His grip tightens around her hand so hard it hurts. A small smile plays on his lips. "Your help. You will help me, Sakura," his lips brush across her hand, "…won't you?"
Her other hand, which has been clenched in a fist, comes around to connect with the side of his head. He dodges easily. "Let me go," she spits acidly, her eyes burning with hate. "Let me go! Let us go!"
He takes a step back and releases her hand. "Who's us?" he asks, turning his back to her. Her eyes widen for a moment. "I see only you here."
Her hands ball into tight fists. "You know what I'm talking about, Sasuke! Where are they? Tell me now!"
He doesn't reply for a moment, but drops to the ground, tracing a finger in the dust. "I killed them," he says finally, in a totally unconcerned tone. "Is that what you're asking?" He turns to her again, and she can see the evil in his face, his eyes. She takes a breath, wondering how someone can change so much, in such a short time. Who are you, she wonders, Sasuke?
She stands up, eyes closed. "Liar," she whispers. "You're lying! Tell me the truth! Where's Naruto? Where's Kakashi-sensei?!" she demands almost desperately.
He is suddenly behind her again, hand wrapping around her scarf. She feels his breath on her neck. He jerks her close. "Did you not hear me?" His voice is like sickening velvet. "Let me repeat it for you. I. Killed. Them.," he says slowly, clearly. "They're dead." A hand pulls through her hair, snapping her head up. "Just like you."
She seizes her chance, jerking forward, flipping him over her back. He doesn't resist. Biting her lip in concentration, she focuses all that mighty chakra into the palm of her hand, the heart of her fist. With a cry, she hits him directly in the chest, watching him fly into the cave wall. "I'm not dead," she replies viciously.
The dust clears around the area he has landed. Though disappointed, she is not surprised to see that his injuries are superficial. There is a nasty-looking bruise on his right temple where he cracked his head in the rock. A trickle of blood tracks slowly down the side of his face, which he wipes off with the back of his hand. "Yes, you are," he says, closing his eyes. Raising his arm, he cups her cheek with deceptive gentleness, leaving a trail of his blood on her pale face. "We both are." For the first time, those cold, dark eyes meet hers. "Welcome to hell."
She isn't quite sure what happened after that. She remembers a sharp feeling of pain at the base of her neck, and then darkness. Now she wakes up, bleary-eyed and stiff, and for the first time takes a look at her surroundings.
She is in a cave, of sorts. Cold, dark, lifeless. She shivers despite herself. Forget image from her fantasies, this is a nightmare. She sighs and wraps her arms around herself to conserve warmth. Then, like a good medic-nin, she begins to check herself for injuries.
She is instantly aware of pain in her legs and groin, her back and sides. It's more bruise than anything, so she overlooks it a dives deeper for internal injuries. Thankfully, there are none. No broken bones, no concussion, just bruises and scratches. She immediately begins the healing.
"You're awake." She freezes, hand on her thigh. Her heart beats loudly in her ears.
"Obviously," she replies warily, searching for the source of the voice.
"Up here." She looks up, startled. He sits on the rock, arms resting lightly on his knee, a stream of moonlight lighting his face. "You must be hungry." He nods at the ground beside her. "Eat."
She frowns despite the emptiness in her stomach confirming that she is, indeed, hungry. She wonders how long it's been since she last ate. "What if I-" she begins, but is cut off as he suddenly chooses that moment to leap down from his perch.
He stands before her, eyes hard. "You won't starve," he says, though it is more of a command than a request. He stoops over, picks up a piece of fruit. "Here." He holds out the food. "Eat."
She hesitates, then takes it, careful to keep their fingers from touching. Their eyes meet for a moment before she takes a careful bite. Its warm juices fill her mouth, exploding with a tangy flavour that's just a touch too sweet for her tastes. She swallows. "It's good," she comments. She decided early on that it couldn't be poisonous. Why go to all the trouble of poisoning a person you've purposely left alive?
He smiles slightly, that annoying, self-mocking grin that she used to swoon over. It's different, now, more dark. "I'm glad."
She lowers her eyes to the fruit. "Are you really?"
He takes a step toward her, placing a hand on the fruit. "No," he admits honestly. "Would you like me to say something else?"
She glares at him, hatred filling her aura. "What do you want with me? Why did you let me live?" She won't think about Naruto. She won't think of him lying dead in the rain, a Chidori having been put through his chest. She won't think about the blood pooling around his decaying body.
She definitely won't think of him still being alive.
He lowers his hands. "I told you. I need your help."
"What for?" she whispers, narrowing her eyes. His face is so close to hers. She can feel his breath on her cheek.
That smile again. That dark, evil, self-mocking smile. "Revenge," he replies softly.
There is a muffled thump! as the fruit hits the damp rock. Her fists clench. "Why?" she asks bitterly. "Why? You've already killed Itachi, the council. You've killed Tsunade-sama, Kakashi, Naruto. What more revenge do you need?"
His face suddenly twists. "Everything!" he shouts. She winces as his voice echoes in the cave around them. He takes a step back, staring at his hands. "Everything. Everyone who has done me wrong." His eyes flit up to her. "You have no idea. You can't. Naruto, Kakashi, Tsunade, they couldn't either." He is suddenly very close. "Did you know, Sakura," he says, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "I killed Naruto with pleasure? I smiled when I saw him bleeding there before me." He closes his eyes. "And I would do it all over again. I would kill him, Kakashi, the council all over again for my revenge." There is a slight smile on his lips, a different one. Ironic. Sad, almost. "Did you know, Sakura," he repeats quietly, "That if I could, if I had the ability turn back time to before they were murdered, I would kill even my own parents?"
"Why?" she whispers. "What did they ever do to you?"
He bows his head, snorts. Then looks at her, eyes unblinking. "It's not what they did," he replies. "It's what they gave."
"What did they give you?" her voice quivers slightly, and she hates herself for it.
His eyes waver in the moonlight. "Existence," he whispers.
Her breath is stolen by the intensity of those eyes.
For a moment, they stand there, looking at each other. She can't figure him out. He is like a puzzle needing to be solved. Those she fights it, there is an irresistible force drawing her in.
He moves suddenly, turning from her. He is leaving, she realizes with a start. "Wait!" she calls desperately. "Where are you going?"
He doesn't look back, just continues on into the shadows. "I have lost interest in you," he replies coldly. "You can eat if you wish. Don't bother me."
She watches silently as he disappears in the darkness. "Where do you go?" she asks quietly once he is gone. "What are you?" Her eyes drop to the piece of dirty fruit lying on the floor. "Sasuke?"
A/N: Okay, here's the deal. I hate this pairing. But a friend asked me to write this, and I will do my best. Unfortunately, this is the only way I see SasuSaku, so this is how I'm going to write it. And, being my yaoi-loving fangirl self, I'm adding some SasuNaru goodness. If you have a problem with implications of slash, sorry. Also, there's gonna be no Sasuke or Sakura bashing from me. I like Sakura. She is badass. And Sasuke... I like his personality. When he isn't going and being uber-evil n' stuff.
Please R&R!