.

.

There was alot of noise in the hospital. It was overflowing with people, most of them were injured. Most of them looked lost. Sasuke took a look around his surroundings again. He was sitting on a bench on the balcony, hoping to find a familiar face, any familiar face. There were none.

The Tsunami hit the island a day ago. He was in the bar with his brother when it hit. His parents , sister-in-law and niece were at the pool at that time. They were talking about his future, about his life. Itachi jokingly ordered him not to get married under 25, even if he's in love. Sasuke scoffed at that, he had more important things to do. He was about to give a sarcastic reply to him when they heard it. It was distant, yet it was fast and deadly. It was suddenly very quiet outside. And before they could think of anything, it hit.

xx

Sasuke didn't how he made it. He remembered he was drowning. And when he got to the surface, he only saw water. There was water, everywhere. He doesn't remember getting on top of the roof of a house and passing out there. But that's how he found himself. When the water level went down, he got off the roof to look around for help. The area was devastated. There was no soul to be found here, except him.

There was a scream from the distance. It was barely audible, but it was there. Immediately Sasuke jolted towards the sound.

"HELP! CAN ANYONE HERE ME?!" the sound was close now. He can see it, there was a person stuck underneath the waste.

"HEY!" Sasuke yelled. "HANG ON!" he said as he kept running.

When he finally approached his destination, he noticed that it was a girl. Her lower body was stuck under a chunk of wood and rubble. "I'm going to help you, okay?" he said as he started moving the waste.

When it was all removed, he helped her up. There were alot of bruises on her body.

"Will you be able to walk?" he asked.

"I can try." She tried walking. But ended up limping in a pitiable manner.

Sasuke knelt in front of her. "Get on my back." She wordlessly complied.

"What's your name?" Sasuke asked as he started walking.

"Sakura."

"Sasuke."

They remained silent after that.

xx

The locals found them a few hours after that. They treated her wounds as much as they could in order to make her last for the journey to the hospital. They were already taking a truck load of people while Sakura was under their care.

"You should go." she said, panting due to the pain and lack of anesthesia.

"What about you?" Sasuke asked. He wanted to go to now to look for his family, but he couldn't just leave her alone.

"I'll be fine. Go look for your family. I'll-" she took a sharp intake of air. "I'll see you in the hospital."

Sasuke nodded in understanding and with that he got on the truck, offering a silent prayer for the safety of his family and this girl who he just met in this chaos.

xx

He looked for them for hours. He found none of them, yet. He searched the whole hospital twice, checked every bed, searched all the names in the patient list. Nothing. But as long as he doesn't find any pictures of them in the board where the people who didn't make it are shown, he won't stop looking.

Sasuke was still shell shocked how his life turned upside down in a matter of seconds. Suddenly he started missing everything he took for granted, his niece's tea parties with him and her stuffed toys, his mom's warm smile and chatter about how she wants more grandchildren and how he should get married, his father's stern orders, his brothers constant teasing. He would do anything to take these moments back now.

"Sasuke?" A feminine voice called him. It was Sakura, she was supporting herself on a stretch.

"Hey." he murmured as he got up to help her sit. "How's you leg?" he asked as he sat beside her.

"Functioning. How about you? Found anyone yet?"

Sasuke remained silent.

Understanding his silence, she looked away.

"How about you?" he asked.

"Well I haven't found mom yet.. But." she paused. "But I'm gonna find her. We were here for a vacation, you know. Spending some mother-daughter time. She said we didn't spend enough time together."

Sasuke glanced at her, she looked regretful.

"My family." he said.

"Sorry?"

"I was here with my full family."

She smiled. "I'm sure everyone is safe, Sasuke."

"Yeah." he looked away. "Yeah."

It was oddly peaceful between them among all these chaos.

xx

It was the night of the second day now. They were sitting at the balcony again. Sakura was about to go search for her mom in the death board, again. "I'm not gonna find her there." she told him every time she went, although she was trying to assure himself more than him.

"Sasuke!" he jolted up from his seat. It was a familiar voice. he looked at her to make sure it wasn't his imagination.

"I heard that too." Sakura said, already searching for the source.

"Sasuke!" it was coming from behind them, outside of the balcony. It was Itachi.

"Itachi!" Sasuke yelled as he made his way downstairs, after exchanging a nod of approval from Sakura which indicates she's going to be okay.

Immediately he hauled his brother into a hug. "Fuck, man."

"It's good to see you, little brother." he said to him, relieved that he was okay.

Sasuke stepped back thanking whoever answered his silent prayer. "You found the others yet?"

"Elena and Kagome's with me. Have you seen mom and dad?"

"... It's just me."

Itachi remained silent for a moment. "Don't worry, we're going to find them, alright?"

"Yeah."

It was silent between them. "I've already searched this hospital. So we're moving to the next destination." Itachi spoke up.

"Yeah. I just need t-" he looked up to see Sakura. She was gone.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Sasuke said as he reached the stairs.

"Okay but where are you going?"

"I need to make sure she's okay."

"Who are yo-" Itachi stopped mid sentence, realizing he was talking about that girl in the balcony.

xx

He found her in the main hall. She was crying. He slowly approached her, when he noticed it. She was smiling too. There was a blonde woman on the bed in front of Sakura who had the same eyes as her, staring at her. She looked relieved.

"I thought you were dead." Sakura told her, her voice strained. The woman whispered something to her before she smiled at her. "I know I'm glad, too." Sakura replied.

Sakura noticed Sasuke staring at her. She gestured him to come closer. "She just got here an hour ago."

Sakura looked at her. "Mom. This is Sasuke."

Sakura's mom smiled at him. "It's nice to meet you, Sasuke. Thank you, for taking care of her."

"It's nice to meet you too, ma'am."

He was glad that Sakura's alright. "We'll I'm leaving the hospital, now."

Sakura sadly smiled at him as she approached him. "You be safe now, okay?" she said as she hugged him. "You too." he murmured as he hugged her back, tightly.

Sakura let him go. "We're all going to be alright, okay?"

"Yeah." he murmured. "I'll... see you." he told her before taking his leave.

He was very thankful for the fact that this girl of oddly colored hair is safe. He doesn't know her, doesn't know where she's from. But perhaps in a different place, in a different time, they might've been something more than skin deep. He gave himself a moment to think about this, before putting this thought in the back of his mind and moving forward towards his family, not even once looking back.

.

.

.

fin.