Chapter 1
It was oddly... gut wrenching when thoughts of death flitted through his mind. It was an occasional line of thought — one he hardly wanted to bother himself with — but as it was, death was a topic that humans inevitably thought of one time or another.
Death.
How strange, he thought to himself. The very thing that makes a person unique is gone as soon as their hearts stop beating. It vanishes from this world, forgotten as if that person were never really there to begin with. Like a person you pass by on the street.
He chuckled amusedly.
"Hm? Sasuke? What's so funny?"
He didn't answer, instead breathing in the cool morning mist.
"Oi teme." Naruto stomped forward and plopped himself directly in his friend's line of sight. "Are you ignoring me? You're ignoring me aren't you?!"
Sasuke closed his eyes and drowned out the useless idiot's chatter. Knowing him, he'd go on. And on. And endlessly on.
"Sasuke."
He opened an eye to look at his mentor. Silver hair blended seamlessly with the light fog that surrounded them, the only thing visible of his youthfully attributed face is the lone eye that was annoyingly perceptive of its surroundings.
"Is something wrong?"
Sasuke stared up at him blankly for a moment. Then two. "It's funny." he deigned to answer him.
Kakashi didn't ask what was funny. He knew he wouldn't get an answer anyways. "We have to head out soon. The target's moving."
Sasuke hummed noncommittally in reply before closing his eyes. Death really is a funny thing.
Isn't it?
He gasped, clawing angrily at his throat. He shot up from his bed, breath coming out in short spurts as he looked around his familiar room.
A dream.
He tried to recall what he'd dreamt about but it was already slipping from his grasp. Well, no matter, he thought as he got out of bed. It was only a dream.
He leaned over the sink of his bathroom and splashed his face with water. Wiping his face with a hand towel, he threw it carelessly into the nearby wastebasket and stared intently at his features. They were no different from yesterday.
Dark raven hair that stuck up wildly all over the place. His obsidian eyes calculating, devoid of emotion. His skin was considerably pale, his nose slim, his cheeks plump. The only thing really out of place would've been the bags under his eyes. But even that was fast becoming the norm. He was offered a position as ANBU and he'd been thinking of accepting.
But he could feel the change. His change. He knew that he was deforming into something else and it was all because of... because of her.
Sasuke swung the mirror open and took out a pouch. He emptied the contents onto his palm and stared at the mound of food pills. They were prescribed to him by the medic he'd been forced to visit. They were supposed to help his mind relax.
But an Uchiha didn't need something like this. An Uchiha didn't need help, especially someone as strong as him.
He dropped the medicine into the toilet and flushed. He didn't need them.
"That was a real waste Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke tensed and ground his teeth in irritation. How could he not have sensed her?
"What do you want?" he asked.
The girl cocked her head and slid off of the bathroom window she'd been crouched on. "I'm here cause you want me to be."
He glared sharply at her. "Sakura..." he called out warningly.
She blinked. "I'm not wrong. If I'm here that means you want me to be here." she said firmly.
He stalked out of the bathroom and took off his shirt. It was drenched with sweat.
"Do you feel guilty?" she chimed innocently as she followed. "Is that why you can't let go?"
"I'm not crazy." he bit out scathingly as he pulled a new shirt on.
"Whoever said you were?"
He turned around to face her. She had her eyes closed serenely, her short pink locks framing her heart shaped face. She was clad in a simple white gown. She didn't have her hitai-ate and he knew why.
It was in his possession.
She started to hum softly and swung her legs back and forth as she sat back on the bed. A peaceful smile tugged at her lips.
"Why are you hear Sakura?" he repeated wearily.
She stopped her humming, stopped her swinging, and opened her eyes. Bright emeralds glinted sadly in the moonlight.
"I told you-"
"Answer the damn question. Why are you here?" he almost yelled, his calm demeanor cracking under his frustration.
"Not until you answer mines." she replied quietly. "Do you feel guilty?"
Sasuke stared down at her, unconsciously activating his Sharingan. She looked... so... real. There was nothing that could deceive these eyes and yet, when it came to her he wasn't quite sure if he wasn't being deceived.
He turned his back to her. He rummaged through his drawer once more and just as he was about to close it, a flash of silver caught his eye. He stared at the offending metal, his finger reaching out to brush the length of it. The Konoha symbol seemed to taunt him mercilessly and he carefully took out the hitai-ate. He turned around, intent on giving the annoying forehead protector back to the annoying girl but as his eyes landed on where she should've been, he frowned.
Sakura was gone.
It was his day off. Rarely did he ever get something so precious so he decided that instead of training, he should cook. It was a domestic skill that he always thought useless (even now) but it was one of the very few hobbies that took his mind off of the cruel workings of life.
"I used to imagine myself cooking for you, you know."
He withheld a sigh, only sparing her a glance as he got out the cutting board and knife. She was sitting on top of the counter, observing him with mild interest.
"I grew out of those fantasies of course. I could only dream for so long." she said wistfully. "Did you have dreams?"
He did. He dreamed of surpassing his brother, of happily following through with clan traditions and marrying an able woman who'd give him a healthy son. An heir. Then reality threw a bucket of cold water on his face and those rose colored lenses bled from his eyes. The massacre of his clan taught him that his childlike innocence was the dream. The murder of his family had jerked him awake.
Of course he wasn't gonna tell her that. So he just opted to stay silent.
Chop, chop, chop.
"Are you gonna ignore me?"
Sasuke slid the carrots into a bowl and started chopping the cucumbers julienne style.
Sakura ran a hand through her hair. "Ignoring me isn't gonna do any good. I'll just keep coming back."
Sasuke slammed the knife down and glared at her. "You're not even real."
She hummed thoughtfully, her dress swishing in time with her legs. "In a way, you're right. I'm just a figment of your imagination. But then again, I'm just as real as you."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
She stood on top of the counter and twirled dangerously close to the edge. Without thinking, he jerked forward, arms outstretched as if to catch her but when he looked again, she disappeared.
"It means nothing."
Sasuke grabbed the knife and whirled around, holding the sharpened blade to her neck. She only smiled.
"It means nothing." she repeated. "I have to go."
He went back to cutting. "Go then. It never stopped you before."
He didn't see the bittersweet smile she gave before she vanished with the sunlight.
He stopped his cutting for just a second, hesitating for a reason that was beyond him before resuming his julienne.
He supposed this was what they meant when they said 'haunted by the ghosts of your past'.
A/N: hey all :) this is a pretty short chapter. Pretty spur in the moment story. I was thinking of making this one of those 'incomplete oneshots'. Not quite sure. It might be a mulitchap story. I'll leave it to you all to decide
Hope you enoyed this little piece of mines 3
until next time :)
