A/N: This is the first one shot I've written in a long time, and it feels good to be attached to my computer again. I'm working on getting my mojo back and plan on writing more often, but school ruins my life. It's overrated. Well, read on.
It was so surreal, and for a moment the only thing she was completely aware of was the ferocious pounding of blood in her ears and the sharp intakes of her breath. For a moment, she stood utterly stunned, her eyes wide and horrified and her body still.
This wasn't her home. This couldn't be her home. What lay before her eyes wasn't familiar in the least, and she walked through this area everyday every so of course she would recognize it. Rubble and destruction covered her plane of sight, and people ran through the streets screaming and crying. And there were bodies too. Bodies of so many people littered the ground that the stench began to mix with the smell of smoke, and she struggled not to gag.
A fire was blazing off in the distance, angry red and orange fingers curling upward and igniting the night sky with a hazy orange glow. Her mouth hung open slightly in horrified surprise, and her eyes were glossy with disbelief. They darted slowly about, taking in the houses that had crumbled completely into a pile of dust and beams and houses that were still half standing and struggling to remain standing.
She took a hesitant step forward only for her legs to give way and fall to the ground, small shards of glass cutting into her knees as she did so. It was unbelievably overwhelming. Her chest was constricting painfully, and the swirl of agonizing emotions running through her body made her feel light headed and incapable of breathing. Planting her palms on the earth and leaning heavily against them, she clamped her eyes shut tightly to withhold the oncoming tears.
Throwing her head back, she let a sob tear itself out of her throat and release into the air. She screamed out all the pain and agony felt and called Naruto's name brokenly into the sky, begging him to return home.
She never felt that need for his protection and strength more than she did right now, and her heart had never ached for him as much as it currently did. They needed him. Konoha needed him.
As his name died on her lips and into another wracking sob, she clenched the dry earth in her fingers and felt an overpowering rush of anger and revulsion surge through her. This was her village. How could anyone come to her home and destroy it so carelessly? How could they think they would get away with it?
A scream sounded off in the distance, and Sakura pushed herself up off her knees and was running. Help. She needed to help in whatever way she could. People were rushing for cover all around her, and their faces were only blurs as she passed them, but she knew the expression they wore. It was the same look of fear and shock that she bore.
Everything was happening so fast and indistinct in her mind. She was shouting orders to them, stopping and pointing where to go and what to do. There were some who sobbing uncontrollably, searching for a loved one or simply confused. The children were absolutely hysterical, confused as to what was going on and why everything was happening like this.
"I can't find my daughter! I can't find my daughter!" a woman was screaming wildly. Her face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were wide with panic.
She finally spotted Sakura, immediately recognizing her as a ninja and stumbled to her. "Please!" she yelled frantically, clutching onto Sakura's fraying pink shirt. "You have to help me find my daughter!"
Sakura felt her heart jerk harshly at the lost and desperate look in the woman's eyes. "You have to go, lady," she responded to her. "You have to get somewhere safe."
The woman shook her head, untamed red hair flying about her. "No, my daughter. I have to find-"
An explosion shook the ground suddenly, and a hot and powerful burst of air flung Sakura backwards off her feet. Pain erupted in her skull as her head came into rough contact with the ground, and her breath was knocked clean out of her as her body smashed against the hard dirt.
She bit her lip to restrain the pained scream that fluttered at her lips and instead released a loud gasp. When her lungs had finally gained a steady supply of oxygen and the bright stars disappeared from her eyes, she slowly sat up.
A large cloud of dirt and dust obscured the world for a moment, and her eyes watered at the discomfort they caused. Clutching her head, she rose to her feet unsteadily and glanced about as the world cleared.
Though several bodies littered the ground, she was surprised that there weren't more. Apparently, those few had overheard her had done as ordered and evacuated the area quickly. Her stomach plummeted when she saw the distraught woman lying lifelessly upon a pile of debris. Her eyes were wide and still, and a trail of blood flowed from her mouth.
Swallowing the lump in her throat and tearing her eyes away from the scene, Sakura quickly bustled to the other victims and was distressed to find that none of them had survived. Her head was hurting horribly, and she was finding it more and more difficult to swallow with each second.
It was all too much to handle in one moment. She shouldn't have left the hospital, but she knew there were people out in the danger zone who would need her help as well. And the hospital was just as bad if not worse.
Once again, she found herself running to a different location, where another explosion had hit. Her chest was heaving, and she could feel her mind beginning to drift as she thought of all the dead. She was fully aware, however, of the kunai hurdling toward her with rapid speed.
Swiveling on the ball of her foot, she easily evaded the weapon and came to a sudden stop. Currently facing her was a woman with an origami flower adorning her dark hair and an Akatsuki cloak wrapped around her figure. There was no obvious emotion on her face; she seemed absolutely at ease.
Sakura faltered at the sight of the beautiful woman, immediately recognizing her as Konan. She had pumped nearly all her chakra into the patients at the hospital, and Konan was highly powerful. Hopelessness and despair hung heavily in her stomach as she turned to fully face her opponent. Licking her dry lips, she kept the tears back in her eyes and mentally prepared herself for the battle that would undoubtedly ensue.
Deciding to take the first move, Sakura infused her fist with chakra and slammed it into the ground. The earth split with a resounding crack, jagged pieces of rock jutting upward. Konan was not fazed at all by the small girl's monstrous strength, and before Sakura realized what was happening, the older woman was sailing into the sky with a pair of magnificent paper wings attached to her back.
Green eyes narrowed as several kunai and shruiken flew down at her, each one of them the same paper as the wings upon Konan's back. She twisted and flipped to avoid the weapons and winced as one grazed her side. They wizzed and shrieked in the air as they flew past her head and cut through the air ever so delicately.
All too suddenly, Konan was rushing down at her with a paper based katana, and Sakura withdrew a kunai from her pouch just in time to block the fatal blow. The force of it made her hand ache, and she grit her teeth in effort to push the weapon away from her face.
The strength of the woman before her astounded Sakura as she saw that she bore no physical sign of discomfort or exertion, and she fell deeper into her hole of despair. Smashing her foot into the ground as an act of desperation, she managed to make the ground explode beneath their feet, and Konan once again took to the sky.
Sakura was inexperienced when it came to airborne opponents, and she became more alert and wary with every passing second. This time, instead of a barrage of weapons, came a rush of origami cranes, each one crying fiercely.
And their attacks were much more brutal than their cries. Sakura's kunais flashed and glinted in the light of the fire of the nearby buildings as she worked quickly to slash and shred the cranes to pieces. But their beaks and claws grabbed and stabbed at her body viciously, and she responded with equal vigor. Pressing her heel roughly into the ground, a wall of solid rock appeared between her and the oncoming crane, and she was keeled back when it smashed right through it.
Rolling several yards, Sakura felt her power beginning to drain, and it was with extreme difficulty that she raised herself onto her hands and knees. Chest heaving, she prepared herself for what she knew would be the final blow, but it never came because a voice intervened.
"I'll take care of her," came a deep and familiar voice behind Sakura, and she stiffened.
"We spare no one," Konan said. "It's orders, remember that."
Her retreating footsteps followed, and Sakura raised herself up more so that she was kneeling, her back still to him. She couldn't gain the courage to turn and face him. And when she did she was absolutely horrified by the Akatsuki cloak he wore. The disappointment was evident in her eyes, but he didn't appear at all fazed by her gaze.
She wasn't all that much surprised by the colder expression that now was his face or the hard and emotionless gaze in his eye. It did, however, tear at her heart and cause her to once again turn from him. The pain was a sharp aching in her chest that quickened her breathing and forced her eyes closed.
When she opened them, she was met with the sight of a still young boy upon the ground. Horror made her heart speed up, and disregarding the eyes watching her, she knelt beside him. He was so young. Tenderly, she brushed the blond bangs from his forehead and let her hand stroke his pale cheek. A single tear slipped from her eye and splashed onto the young boys face.
Sasuke watched the scene with slight interest. Her hands had him intrigued for a second. It was obvious by the way that she stroked his face, that she willed her hands to bring him back to life. He'd heard great things of her healing abilities, but he doubted that even she could do that. But she had very nice hands. Healing hands.
And then he saw that small crystalline drop fall from her face and moved forward. "Sakura."
Hearing him say her name with that beautiful, velvety voice nearly sent a shudder down her spine, but she managed to suppress it. He was still hollow on the inside, no matter how perfect he looked on the outside.
"Tell me where Naruto is."
It was a command, an order, an expectation, and she simply remained still. He was moving closer to her now, emitting a dangerous aura. When she heard his feet stop heavily behind her, brushing her back slightly, she stilled her hand and let it fall back into her lap.
"Sakura," he warned, his patience beginning to wear thin.
"No," she said softly, and he growled softly.
His katana rung as he unsheathed it and pressed it tightly against her neck. She didn't waver as it cut ever so slightly at the perfect skin or as he stood closer to tower over her, his dark shadow looming out in front of her. She stared at the ground dejectedly.
"I won't hesitate to kill you," he said darkly, letting his obsidian eyes rest on the top of her pink head.
"I know," she said softly, her shoulders falling even more as fresh tears gathering. "I don't really think I was built for happy endings anyway."
He was slightly taken aback by her saddened and dark attitude. Dropping his katana, he swiftly reached down and tugged her up roughly by her arm, spinning her to face him. Her eyes were a deeper green than he remembered, and she had definitely lost all that baby fat. In fact, almost everything about her seemed to have matured greatly.
His intense scrutiny of her face made her feel uneasy, and she shifted her eyes away to look at the fire blazing behind him. Small cuts and bruises decorated her face and gave her the look of a fighter, but there was still that small gleam of vulnerability and innocence in her eye. He was sure that it would disappear in time. No one was immune to the horrors and nightmares of war.
"Sakura," he said once more in a colder tone, "I'm not playing any more of your foolish games. Where is Naruto?"
"Likewise, Sasuke," she responded in a flat voice. "I'm not playing any of yours, so it would be smart of you to stop asking and just kill me."
He stared her down for a long moment, taking note of how the tears gradually began to gather more thickly every second. Her eyes were practically pleading with him to rethink what he was doing with his life and with hers, but they grew dark when his own eyes remained void of any emotion. She really had given up any hope she had left. Her head collapsed onto his chest when she saw him reveal a kunai from his pouch, and tiny fists bunched up the fabric of his shirt.
It was unreal how much she didn't want to die and how much she wished none of this had ever happened. She wished with her whole being that Sasuke hadn't gone to Orochimaru and that this attack on Konoha hadn't happened and that she was happy. Why did she always want so much?
His eyes somehow found their way back to her hands and silently marveled at how small they were yet how much they could destroy and heal. They were shaking, and he could tell that she was trying hard to stop it. And he felt this odd….magnetism toward her at the moment. Like he was stuck to her and something powerful was holding them together.
Why hadn't he pushed her away yet and just gotten rid of her? What was he waiting for? There were other people who would give him Naruto's whereabouts, and he would make them, so Sakura was utterly useless.
But the kunai wouldn't raise itself any further, and Sakura stopped breathing when she felt nothing pierce her skin. Raising her head, she studied his face as he stood with his eyes closed and his mouth pressed in a thin line. Feeling her gaze, he opened his eyes and was hit with an unwanted feeling of nostalgia when he saw her wide and unbelievably green eyes staring up at him in confusion.
His face was flashing with so many emotions, it frightened her slightly but confused her even more. For a moment, she forgot that she had been disgusted with him only moments earlier and utterly disappointed by the fact that he had been weak enough to let revenge and power control his life. Now, he simply seemed lost.
"Sasuke," she said so softly he barely heard her.
Her soft hands suddenly found a place softly cupping his cheeks, and his eyes narrowed at the too comfortable warmth of them. The pools of green gazing up at him were filled with so much pain and loneliness that he just wanted to make it go away. And he wanted nothing more than to not want that.
Before he could stop himself, his hands were reaching up to softly cover hers, and he marveled at how soft they felt and how perfectly they fit in his own. They were healer's hands, and a small part of him wished that he could still be healed.
A/N: Well, that was a lot longer than I planned it to be. I know some things may not be fully explained and the ending is somewhat sudden, but that's why I'm leaving it up to you to fill in the rest or whatever floats your boat. I actually wasn't too sure how to end it anyway, so I decided to just end it there and end my suffering. : ) Hope you liked it!