Short, Au world where the French Revolution and Naruto collide. Les Miserables inspired.
Start to Fall
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If anyone had been paying attention that night, it would've been obvoius that Sakura Haruno was hiding under a very poor attempt at a disguise. If the green eyes weren't a dead give-away, it was her delicate, light movements and terrible impersonation of a man's voice. She barely sounded human, let alone a fully functioning, grown or nearly grown man. There wasn't the slightest chance that she would make it through the revolution unscathed if she kept getting herself into situations such as this, but she wouldn't dare miss out on this night.
Tonight was the night she was going to be released.
And damn it felt good knowing that. After this night, she'd have no ties to this city. There would be no officers telling where she could and where she could not enter. There would be no friends holding her hand wherever she wandered, 'trying to keep her safe'. It was so foolish of them, she thought, trying to protect her. She was born on the streets and she'd probably die on the streets, and she was no more special any other street rat lurking along the dark alleyways. Relatively igsignificant, she called it. It serve them a lot of good to abandon her as soon as they met her.
It is what everyone else did.
But that was of no matter. Nothing was of any matter to her anymore. After tonight, she would be free of the hell she was forced to bask in. Her weighted chains would be released and she would go as far as she could and discover anything and everything else she possibly could. Oh yes, she could finally be free of the ties that bind her to this dark and desolte wasteland that she called home. Sakura would be free of Paris, and free of restraint.
And she could not wait for night to fall.
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Her battle started as soon as the army reached the makeshift barricade the Revolutionist set up not too long ago. It was stacked with meaningless items, books made for the illiterate, chairs that creaked when moved, and tables that were missing legs or two. Essentially, a pile of trash was blocking the soldiers from crossing over and slaughtering every single last one of them. Upon firing a shot aimed at a man;s head and successfully shooting him in the eye, she had to agree that the pile of trash was effective enough. Though any fool would be able to tell that it wouldn't last all night.
That was of no matter to her. Any result of the night would give her the freedom she craved. She was a woman of intellect, a rarity in this poverty stricken district of Paris. She knew her ins and outs of the city and her way around guards with guns. As far as she could tell, anyone was a sucker for pretty green eyes and a cute pout. A tear if two usually sealed the deal if she was agaist someone with a heart made of stone. Aiming her musket to make another soldier fall to his knees, she smirked softly. Upon firing, it connected with an unitended target, but an enemy all the same. Even stone breaks, she thought, almost daring to laugh.
If she knew what her laugh would sound like, she'd laugh until she couldn't breathe anymore, and laugh still. She'd be blue in the face and still laughing, as if she had not a care in the world. This was not the case, simply because Sakura hadn't heard her own laughter in so long, she assumed she forgot how to do it. Firing another shot, she jerked when a person laid their hand on her shoulder. She quickly aimed her musket, but didn't shoot upon seeing who it was. "You're supposed to be at home, Sakura," he said disapprovingly, stepping in front of her. His black hair was wet with sweat and blood, most of which was not his. His normally pale face was marred with dirt and grime, clinging onto him like a second skin. Deep eyes locked with his target before shooting at them quickly, his arm jerking back slightly.
"As should you, Monsier Sasuke," she purring, turning herself arounf him and taking a shot at a guard blocking her way. She felt his glare, and shot him one back. "Why are you here, Monsier?" she asked, ripping off her cap and letting her long, pink locks flow. They landed half way down her back, and moved with her as she danced acriss the battlefield, protecting herself accordingly. Her bright eyes darted back and forth between the enemies seemed to mulitply, and the student who was glaring at her with all the force he could muster. She could tell he was only concerned for her, but the adrenaline rushing through her veins did not allow her to care too much. "You're rich, Sasuke," she said, looking away from the battle for a slight moment. "You don't need to fight with the poor wretches who live under your feet."
He groaned loudly, and shot a soldier behind her back. "A franc I haven't earned isn't worth anything, Sakura," he said. "The poor deserve a chance to live as well, and if I don't give my life for them, then this will be for nothing. This bloody fighting would've been for nothing."
"Your life is worth more than ours," she said, moving closer towards the barricade. There was a horde rapidly tearing it to shreds, and she wasn't going to let it go so soon. That was everyone's chance at making it out of this alive, and she couldn't give it up without putting up a hell of a fight. Shot after shot rang out from her musket, sending powwder flying across the field. "You should not be wasting your life here," she said, tossing a halfway concerned look his way before shooting in front of her again.
"My life is of no greater importance than any of yours," he said, shooting at them with her.
The shots were coming at them too fast for anyone to count, and each time a musket went off, everyone was momentairly blinded by the bright spark. They were both fighting valiantly, but anyone could tell that this was a losing fight.
The poor rebellion was lost, and France would never be a free place. A commoner could see that, and Sakura wasn't one to miss this. She sighed softly, and held her musket to a soldiers head carefully, blowing his brains out effectively. "You'd better leave if you want to make it out of this alive, Monsieur!' she shouted, trying to get the point across.
"The same goes for you!' he yelled back, trying to make the same point. "You shouldn't be the one dying. Not here. Not tonight. You must go, run as fast as you can. Get away before you die a dishonorable death, Maiden!" he said, urging her to leave. It was clear that he wasn't going to leave this battle, and Sakura was determined not to let him die tonight. It wasn't his time, she reasoned. He was far too young and far too important to die because God's mistakes were being annihilated.
She creamed at him, "What is honor to a slave?! You mock me with such words! Bite your tongue and save your pride, before you meet your death. Don't be a fool! We wretched have nothing to live for, nothing to lose! Honor is a word we don't understand for we have never had any."
"Everyone has honor," he shot back, taking another shot from the musket.
"I have none, Sasuke!" she screamed, dropping her weapon. She ran towards a pile of garbage, trying to fill in the holes where the soliders moved the trash around. "I have no honor, nor pride, or anything else in the world. I have nothing to live for, Monsieur Uchiha! Not a damned thing! But I have something to lose, Monsieur. And that something is you. I'd die right here that let you get yourself killed. Please, Sasuke, get the hell out of here!"
He was taken aback by her slight confession, and forgot for a moment that he was locked inside a losing battle. The enemy slowly advanced on his, aiming their musket towards his face. A shot was fired.
But it never hit him.
Instead, it pierced a maiden, with green eyes and long pink hair. She'd grabbed it, and pulled it towards herself. The bullet broke through her hand, and went straight through her abdomen, soaring out of her back. He could hear the distant tink of the metal hitting the wall behind her. She looked at her wound, red covering her hands. Sakura gave him a smile before allowing herself to fall against the building behind her. She slid down it, her hand covering the gaping wound made by her own choices.
Immediate, Sasuke rushed to her side. His onyx eyes were wide with questions, wonderings. "Your life is one thousand times more precious than mine, Monsieur," she said, her voice breaking slightly. He only her her tightly, pressing kisses in her dirty hair, as if it would make the hole go away.
"What...what have you done?" he asked her. She laughed softly, before coughing violently.
"D-Don't worry about me, Monsieur...Sasuke," she said, trying to speak, but was cut off by a slight hushing sound. Still, she opened up her mouth and continued talking, "I don't feel...any pain." She took a sharp inhale as he pressed anther kiss to her hair, trying his best not to overreact. It was hard for him, though. The closest friend he's ever known was lying in his lap, her blood staining his hands. Gently, a tear hit her face. And the another, and another.
"I'm.."
She pressed a finger to his lips and spoke gently, "A little bit of water couldn't hardly hurt me now. You're here, keeping me safe. That's all that matters now."
"You've made such a terrible decision, Sakura," he said, his voice uneven. He didn't bother to conceal the tears streaming down his face and hitting hers. She was dying, and nothing was going to fix that.
"I'm finally free, Sasuke," she said, her voice like a whisper. "I..I'm free." And in that moment, she laughed. She laughed so giddily she sounded shrill, and her voice got tired after a moment, but still she laughed.
And he laughed with her. "Mark my words Sakura, you're going to live or I will die tonight," he said, cradling her to his chest. "I cannot lose you. Not here, not tonight. Not in this bloody battle where both parties lost."
Her eyes fluttered softly, threatening to close, as if she was becoming overwhelmed with sleep. "You won't lose me, Sasu...ke," she said weakly, barely holding on. She pointed to his chest, and found a bird ready to leap out of it's cage. "I'm right there, Sasu...ke. C-Can you feel me, th-there?" she asked, which he nodded eagerly. She smiled at him and said in a voice barely audible, "And by the way, Monsieur Sasu..ke, I believe that I was a little bit in love with you."
Her head went limp against his chest, and the fluutering beat of his heart was the only thing he could feel.
fin.