Go Home, Sasuke
I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
Chapter Two; Crows
Ame apartment complex, 10:14 AM.
Sakura woke to a cold wind drifting through the building, she lent forward, reaching for her pack of cigarettes that resting on the coffee table, amazed she'd been able to fall asleep on her lumpy, painfully uncomfortable couch again. She slept here ritually; it brought back memories of a better time-
She buried away the thoughts immediately as she felt the memories begin to pull at her heartstrings. Scratching the back of her head aimlessly, she pulled one of the cigarettes from her pack with alight hum. Closing her eyes, enjoying the potent smell of rain and it's thrumming on the roof of her apartment.
Her bones ached. That group of bandits she attacked on Ame border yesterday was a pain in the ass; one of those fuckers actually broke her collar bone with his big monster-hands. She let out a tired sigh and lit the cigarette between her lips, inhaling the comforting smoke as she lent back on the couch, her head resting on the back as she stared at the ceiling. "Kami, I'm getting too old for this." She sighed, looking at the water stain on the ceiling; she just didn't care enough about a leaky roof to fix it.
"You're only twenty, don't bitch, kitten. Try being as old as I am, doing what I have to do." A throaty, manly voice spoke from behind her, and without inclining her head Sakura brought the cigarette back to her lips, inhaling once more before a small, sad smile curled at her lips as she spoke to her old friend.
"Hey Kisame, haven't seen you in a while." She said, smoke curling from her light pink lips.
The seat on the couch beside her sank considerably as the giant mist-nin plopped down, closing his pearl colored eyes as he shrugged nonchalantly, "I've been in Oto for a while, Leader-Sama wanted to make sure Orochimaru didn't have any information on us before he died that could have been found."
A small, sad chuckle escaped the pinkette's lips, "In other words you went to burn it to the ground."
A hearty laugh shook the couch and he threw an arm over the pinkette, who flinched slightly, neck sore from sleeping on the damn couch, again. She was a masochist that was certain. "You know it, kitten." He agreed, before his gaze turned wary and he shifted uncomfortably on the furniture, Sakura noticed imminently and sighed, snuffing out her cigarette on the end of her coffee table before turning to face the blue-skinned ex mist nin,
"What's broken?"
He laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "Basically everything except my right arm and spine."
The pinkette raked a hand over her face and let it slide through her hair, pushing back her silvery-pink strands, annoyance clear on her features as she pumped chakra into her hands and set off to work, Kisame's silence was enough to assure her he was sorry for being such a pain in the ass.
As she was healing his horribly twisted ankle (Wandering how he even managed to walk around like this so long.) she felt his gaze on her again, she knew that look, and instantly her own gaze went icy. "I'm fine, Kisame."
His snort of disapproval was uttered as he stared down at his long-time friend, almost like a little sister to him. He'd come to know her very well over the years and after the incident in Iwa she has never been the same. She was a happy little hellion when he met her, full of life and enough light to touch even the darkest shinobi's heart, now… it was like looking at the ruble of a once great castle. "It wasn't your fault." He spoke lowly, carefully, noticing how she lowered her head, her chakra wavering slightly.
"I could have done so much more for him, but he just wouldn't let me, he- he chose to die that night Kisame." She whispered, he could feel the droplets of her crystalline tears on his ankle, now healed, he wrapped an arm around the much smaller kunoichi and pulled her into his lap, cradling her like a mother would a child, rocking her back and forth, stroking her hair, whispering sweet nothings just because she meant that much to him. He'd lost a lot of friends and she was the closest he could consider to family, it bothered him to no end to see her like this.
Damn it, Itachi. Couldn't you have just let her save you? He thought sadly as he clutched the sobbing kunoichi closer, knowing she was far too broken to ever come out of the walls she had built around herself.
She continued to heal him, even though she was a crying, shaking mess she healed all of his wounds in a matter of seconds, her chakra; usually warm and amazing feeling, had become cold, almost foreboding, as if it knew it wasn't nearly as pure as it once was. The large man grunted and continued to stroke her hair as she rested against him, she was the size of a doll compared to him. "Leader-Sama says the invitation is still open to become a full-fledged member, he actually seemed concerned for you Sak, we all are."
A sad smile touched her lips, something that would break the heart of a lesser man, "No, Kisame. I will heal any of you on any given day, take missions from Leader-Sama when he needs a helping hand, but no, I don't think I could carry the burden of those robes." She smiled sadly.
Kisame nodded, not pushing the subject any further. Sakura was by far the greatest medic in the five nations, to a point where the fifth Hokage couldn't hold a candle to her skill, it was such a waste to have her just living out her days on lackey missions and doing simple healings for the Akatsuki, but these robes did bear the weight of the world, and if he could, Kisame would shed them in an instant, but if you're in, you're in. No going back.
The blue-skinned giant let out a sigh as the pinkette emitted her last sniffle and wiped her eyes, crawling off his lap to plop down beside him, shifting through one of her pockets before pulling out a small, sheer orange bottle of painkillers, "Here." She mumbled tiredly, bringing a hand to her aching temples, everything seemed to give her a headache these days.
As Kisame's large hand rubbed soothing circles on her aching shoulder blades, she sighed. She felt so old. She couldn't pin why, but it never seemed to cease, even when she wasn't in Ame, she could hear the rain, smell it, feel the chill on her skin.
"Meet me at the pub tonight? I need a drink or something, but I've got a quick mission to complete, I guess I missed some of the bandits." She sighed, reaching over to grab a sword of equal reputation to the ex-mist Nin's Samehada, with a single hand. Gleaming in the light as she rested the flat surface of the blade on her shoulder, looking so tiny and delicate compared to the massive sword, perhaps a bit larger than the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Mamoichi's own sword.
He grinned and nodded, "Sak, you were meant to be one of the Seven Swordsmen." He winked playfully, admiring the sword openly, hell, he helped her craft the damn thing, trained her to be a sword wielding little vixen.
"You keep calling me Sakura in public and people are going to get confused, Kisame." The pinkette sighed, rubbing her aching temples once more.
A powerful, throaty laugh escaped his lips and he ruffled the pinkette's hair, "Whatever you want, kitten. Or should I call you Taiga?" He offered one last sharky grin at the pinkette before disappearing off the balcony, as silently as he had come.
The pinkette offered one last longing glance at her scarlet leaf headband. Grabbing her pack of cigarettes, quickly lighting one between her lips before disappearing through the door, sword resting on her delicate shoulder, the weight of Itachi's headband in her pocket heavier than usual.
The air seemed… thicker today. Sakura closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of rain and the smell of cigarette smoke, her hair dripping with water, as were her clothes as she sat in the crook of a tree, one leg outstretched, one bent where her elbow rested lazily, sword sheathed on her back as she sat at her perch.
These bandits really weren't the smartest, but their persistence was admirable, she had slaughtered nearly sixty men yesterday with a single lightning jutsu, and eight had barley gotten away, yet, they continued to attack Ame trade routes, hassling travelers and carriages. Yes, ever the persistent, these bandits.
Smoke swirled around her like a halo as her cold gaze rested on the ground below her. Sighing as she felt the oncoming chakra presence, well- it wasn't really oncoming, he was neatly one hundred and seventy-five feet away, but he was coming in her direction.
"People are so persistent these days." She sighed warily, waiting for her onyx haired walking memory near her, promising more pain every time she looked into those eyes, those sharringan eyes.
A lone crow circled above her, outstretching a graceful porcelain hand she watched the crow land, curling its claws around her fingers to stabilize itself, Sakura's lips curled into a sad smile and she petted the creature fondly, it lent its head adoringly into her touch.
Itachi had always found it ironic how quickly crows had taken to Sakura.
They could probably smell the death on her.
Ame Border, 12:45 PM
"She's this way," Karin nodded; she could smell the pink-haired bitch's chakra a mile away. She didn't like the woman, but her chakra smelled delicious. It was sweet and floral and powerful, not as powerful as Sasuke-kun's, of course, but for a weak Konoha ninja, powerful.
"You sure Karin? You said that like fifty times, but we haven't seen her!" Suigetsu grumbled, crossing his arms with a huff, this woman was probably making them run in cycles because she didn't want her 'Precious Sasuke-Kun' to find that pink haired teammate of his, who was she anyway? Probably a hottie considering how worked up Karin got about having to track her.
"Yes, Fish face, I'm sure. She's a few miles into the forest." The crimson haired woman spat. Suigetsu needed to quit doubting her skills, why would Orochimaru-Sama have kept her so close if she wasn't useful! Second only to that asshole Kabuto. Karin snorted, remembering the white-haired asshole, which was one person she definitely wouldn't miss.
Jugo remained silent, although looked increasingly uncomfortable. Sasuke's ominously calm gaze fell on his teammate, who shifted uncomfortably as soon as he noticed Sasuke's inters was upon him, Sasuke's eyes snapped away and he unsheathed his katana. "Karin, stay back with Jugo, make sure he remains stable. Suigetsu, scout the perimeter, kill anyone who tries to intervene, she can't be alone." Sasuke's icy tone left no room for argument, and without a word, the three members of Hebi took the orders they were given without complaint, understanding that when it came to Sasuke's revenge, it was best to stay out of the way.
Sasuke's teeth grit as he tried to regain some sort of reign over his anger. He just couldn't understand why Sakura was with Itachi; clearly he had been seen with her several times, why did the bartender call her Taiga? Who was she hiding from? Damn that girl, she was worming her way into his mind.
He could feel her chakra presence; it flowed like water, soothing, silent.
His nostrils flared as he felt his adrenaline go wild, trying desperately to keep his curse seal from spreading in his blind fury, he needed answers, she had more than he thought she did, he had to know, he couldn't loose this opportunity, he hadn't heard of Itachi's whereabouts in the past year, it was like he dropped off the face of the earth.
He stepped back calmly as a delicate figure dropped from her perch in the tree, her eyes as cold an uncaring as the night before, but some kind of sorrow lingered there, a giant sword, perhaps bigger than Suigetsu's was unsheathed and resting on her shoulder, she seemed to have no trouble holding the large sword, seeing as she could balance it in one, and Suigetsu had difficulty wielding his own with two hands.
"Need something?" Her voice was leveled and calm as her Sea-foam colored eyes showed nothing of her feelings, they were dull, lifeless, and calm. The way she looked at him… it was the way he had looked at Sakura when they were genin, when she would constantly try to include him, to talk to him, to love him, but Sasuke didn't plan to do anything like that.
He would get the answers he came for, and she would not interfere. He will find his brother, weather or not he happened to befriend one of his teammates, he would cut down anyone in his way, she was no exception.
She saw the look in his eyes, the same look he had when he spoke of his brother, the same look he had in his eyes when Sai, Naruto and herself had blown up Orochimaru's base and found him, the look of captive insanity.
It riled something inside of her as his hand clamped around her throat, she was shoved against the rough surface of a tree, pain shook through her skull but chakra was there in an instant, it was pure instinct now; she didn't even need her hands. The look in his eyes- those shimmering crimson depths, for an instant, his face came into view, and then something happened to destroy that image: The complete look of pure rage on his face.
He was nothing like Itachi.
Something pumped through her cold, dead veins then, something she hadn't felt in a long time, something she hadn't the use to feel in a long time, rage, in nearly half a second Sasuke was on his back, restrained by her chakra enhanced heel on his chest, His sword in her hands and her emerald eyes buried in his crimson.
"Itachi is dead." The words were final, spoken bitterly as if they were acidic to her tongue, Sasuke's thoughts split, everything stopped, his heart, his mind; he died in that moment, and lost himself within the curse mark. All he could see was blackness.
Sakura had seen the purple hue of his poisoned chakra, the black inky spots spreading across his skin like an illness, but as it began to turn a sickly grey, the white of his eyes blackening, his hair lengthening as it began turning a spiky navy blue, hideous claw-like wings splitting from his back, a black cross-like marking forming in the center of his face as his lips took an a dark blue color.
She was silent, not prepared for her former teammate to turn into a monster, exactly. But whatever he looked like, he was still Sasuke. The avenger she had admired when young, who she loved when she was younger, the child she had shamelessly shed tears for after his departure. He was not Itachi Uchiha. And while she could have said it kinder, he had the right to know his brother was dead, no matter how much pain it caused him, he deserved to know how much time he's wasted.
She knelt down before Sasuke's monstrous form; it would certainly be a strange sight, like a tiger cub trying to console a bear. Her gloved hand reached out, and began to gently stroke the silky locks, his eyes shifted from left to right as he continued to seize and morph.
Should I subdue the seal with the state he's in? She thought, aimlessly continuing to stroke the seizing man's hair nonchalantly, as if she wasn't watching one of the two last Uchiha's turn into a monster of Orochimaru's design. Although she had seen far worse to be scathed by something as casual as this little display.
She let out an annoyed sigh and tiredly eyed the Uchiha, who was probably more than less conscious of her mere presence at the moment; he looked like he had a lot on his mind at the moment, with the whole 'curse-seal-is-devouring-my-mind' thing.
"You know, this is a real pain in the ass, Sasuke. I'm not like you or Naruto; I don't have enough chakra to throw around whenever I want." She murmured, her hands traveling down the curve of his neck to rest on his curse mark, the other still soothingly stroking his hair, although she wasn't sure which one of them she was soothing, him or herself?
She bit into the pad of her thumb with a grunt, swiping it over his curse mark; you needed to give a little to get something, ne? As she made single handed seals with the hand that once petted Sasuke's head, her eyes bored and unreadable as her other hand touched over the curse mark, a flash of a blue glow and Sasuke was lying on the ground, his usual old Uchiha self, with Sakura's own seal around his original curse mark, a sheet of sweat covered his skin and his breathing was a bit more labored, but other than that he was lying on the ground with his eyes closed.
Sakura sighed and stood, crossing her arms as she looked down at the young Uchiha, her thinly sculpted pink eyebrow risen in curiosity, was he just going to lay there, well, he certainly took this better than she had.
He couldn't move, he had nearly lost himself in the curse mark, Sakura had- She subdued it, how the hell, in two days, had all of this happened. His entire world was crashing around his ankles, apparently Itachi was dead, so he had no reason to breathe anymore escaping the fact that he would need to rebuild his clan.
"You're lying." His words were laced with denial, the way she said it, the look in her eyes, told him everything he needed to know. He just couldn't. He didn't want to. He felt nothing. He couldn't feel everything. This was worse than the massacre, worse than seeing his brother strike down his entire family in Tsukuyomi; this was one of his childhood comrades tell him his brother had died before he got his revenge, telling him he would never get his revenge. He couldn't believe it, because if he did, his mind would shatter completely.
Sakura let out an annoyed breath she didn't realize she was holding, and her eyes narrowed a fraction, not going unseen by Sasuke's swirling, unforgiving crimson eyes. He would remember this day for the rest of his life, weather or not he knew it now.
"I watched him die with my own two eyes, foolish little boy." She spoke, and with that… her finger touched the surface of his forehead, a simple, single touch that had meant everything to Sasuke, broke Sasuke's mind, the words- they were practically coming from his brother's mouth, he had nothing left to say. No rage, no remorse, no happiness, nothing. He felt nothing.
Sakura's heart hit her ribcage, tears hiding behind her eyes, begging to get out. They were words she never thought she'd have to speak, she had pushed the pain behind the bars of her mind, trying to pretend they didn't rip out her very fucking soul to speak, but pretending only gets you so far.
"How?" Sasuke's voice was cold, distant, and raspy. Sakura wanted to console her childhood friend and love, but she couldn't. She couldn't bear to, she was tainted, and no matter how tainted he was, he would never let someone he cared for die before his eyes, no, Sasuke Uchiha would be the kind of man to turn his back if you were dying, so he wouldn't have to see. Sakura Haruno watched the life drain from their eyes in agony; Sakura Haruno was not Sasuke Uchiha.
"Because I killed him." The words left a salty taste in her mouth, but her mask had fallen, sorrow filled her eyes, the words hurt more than anything to speak, but in a way, she had killed him, she had killed Itachi Uchiha, but doing nothing, by not fighting against his wishes to allow him to die, by not defying him, she had killed him.
And she would never forgive herself for it.
"Oh." Sasuke's voice broke, and a tear slipped down his cheek, followed by another, agony went rigid through him, although he remained still, the pain in his chest was worse than anything he had ever experienced, the curse mark, his family's death, any pain he had ever endured in battle. He longed to feel, feel something besides pain.
Sakura remained silent, knowing the look on his face. Most would have expected him to attack her, hell, she expected him to attack her, but right now, there was nothing to feel. He had lost more than she could imagine, his entire life revolved around killing Itachi, and the universe had stolen him in a sequence of completely irrelevant events, leading up to the biggest fucking traumatic moment of her life. Sasuke wasn't even fighting the pain, he had nothing now. Sakura knelt down beside him, eyes dull and unreadable as she began to stroke his hair, not out of adoration, Sasuke knew that much, so did she. But out of longing to feel comfort, to feel something.
Sasuke would have taken comfort from any woman, the fact that Sakura happened to be that woman didn't change anything, he simply needed something, anything to assure him he was still connected to this earth, that his body was still here. He leaned into her touch, it was warm, a medic's touch.
It was odd to look at one you once loved and feel nothing, although Sakura really didn't have much left in her to allow her to feel. She felt Sasuke lean in to her touch, and slowly, robotically lowered her head to his chest, closing her eyes at the contact, his hand came to the back of her head, stroking it softly, enjoying the feeling of her silky strands between his fingers.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, listening to his heart beat in his chest, he smelled of rain, of spices and sweat, darkness and power. Her eyes closed, and she listened to the achingly slow beats of his heart, wandering how seeing an old teammate at the bar would end up with her telling Sasuke that she watched his brother die right before her eyes, and did nothing to stop it.
"Aa." His words were empty, as if he wasn't listening to her words. He probably wasn't, he was feeling nothing at the moment, it felt like he had been submerged beneath water and everything was a distant echo.
A sad lullaby filled his senses, and he snapped back to reality, the moment of comfort shared with his teammate ended with him gently pushing her away, she didn't say a word, her eyes just as achingly sorrow as before, eyes that could tame the beast within him, eyes that did contain the beast.
He looked at her, her eyes traveled to the sky, which is when she realized it wasn't raining, the clouds remained in the sky, but some rays of sunshine slipped through the cracks. How odd, she thought.
Sasuke watched her predatorily, she was achingly beautiful. Her silvery strands pooled around her, seeming more silver than pink when actually seen in the light, the damp grass around her, a staking contrast to the silky tendrils that he longed to touch once more. But he restrained himself. He didn't care for her, and although he didn't offer other women the same pleasantries, he wouldn't get her hopes up.
As she lowered her gaze from the sky to rest on the young Uchiha, he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, within those aching jade eyes rested a kind of longing, he could see what he saw in her, she outstretched a hand to him, forgetting about the bandits, someone had killed them about an hour ago when she subdued Sasuke's curse mark, one of the members of his team, no doubt.
(A/N: Props to Suigetsu for that, heh)
Sakura was the furthest thing to religious, she liked to blame Kami for her mistakes, but it was just a habit or furthermore an ironic statement used to relieve anger and have someone to blame when there was no one else, but at that moment, she never thought she would need some unseen force of nature to help her. Sasuke ripped down every fucking wall she built, in two days.
The second she saw him in the bar she remembered everything she had tried so desperately to forget, everything she had ignored and buried into her subconscious, she knew she would have to face him someday, and even though she fucking hoped and preyed she wouldn't have to, she knew somehow she would be the one to have to tell Sasuke the truth.
But those eyes- his hair, his face, everything about him was so much like Itachi, but so different, all she could see when she looked at Sasuke was her many, many mistakes, and how she could never bear to make them ever again.
"Never let someone you love die, Sakura." Tsunade's old words etched into her skull like they had been carved there, she would never forget them. Even though she had left her old life behind, for reasons far too personal for her ever to reveal, Tsunade would be appalled that her student was making the same mistakes as her, going down the same road, if she wasn't already.
Sakura's fingers twitched with the urge to touch, to feel, to be touched, and Sasuke just so happened to be the closest thing in range, the fact that it was Sasuke didn't mean shit, it was a living, breathing person. She would have looked for comfort in Zetsu at a moment like this, when she was at her weakest, Damn Sasuke, damn him to hell.
"I wish I had never met you." The words escaped her lips, and in all honesty, they were truthful, her entire world revolved around the day she was assigned to team seven, the day they were all bonded together, the day her fate had been etched in stone, her hand cupped his cheek as she lent forward, eyes half lidded.
Sasuke's own eyes closed, "I wish I had never met you." He repeated her words, truthfully, before claiming her lips, the taste was unforgettable, warm, like ice on a burn they brought him out of his agonizing haze, he had lost everything, power meant nothing, honor meant nothing, answers meant nothing.
Right now, all that mattered was the touch of another human being, something to prove everything was real and not a dream, something to prove he could still move his limbs, anything to make him feel.
It had nothing to do with feelings, nothing to do with thoughts, Only instinct, touch, taste, scent, hearing, basic instincts, Sasuke's thoughts had shut down, and he was moving on instinct, hand fisting in her silky strands, from the position she was, resting on both knees, he didn't need to lean down as much, his legs sprawled out on either side of her as he kissed her.
Her scent filled his senses, floral, cooling. Her taste, like Sake and blood, and sugar, delicious. Her hair was silky, he couldn't stop touching it, hand fisted into it for dear life as tears slipped from his eyes in pure agony, some slipped from her own, and soon he could taste the salty mixture of their tears.
He pulled away, standing from his position, she followed his movements, his back was turned to her, his voice empty, lifeless, he had no reason to live any longer, his revenge had been stolen from him by his pink haired ex teammate, but there was no use in killing her now, he had no honor to gain from that.
"I hate you, Sakura." The words slipped from his lips effortlessly, the words rolled off his tongue, when you live in a world of hate, it doesn't matter if it's true or not, when you tell someone you hate them, you can always feel it toward them, simply because you're overflowing with it.
"I hate you too, Sasuke."
With her parting words, he disappeared, going to Hebi, to disband, or something. His life was his own now, his shameful, honor-less life was his to live now.
Sakura sheathed her sword, pulling Sasuke's katana from the tree it had embedded itself in when she tossed it, nearly burying itself to the hilt, with little force and a soft grunt it was free from the tree.
She stared at the weapon a moment before gently placing it in the shade of the tree before her, where the mark from the sword remained, with a soft prayer and Sasuke's bloody taste on her mouth she turned away, preparing to head to Ame.
The sound and smell of rain followed her back, leaving her skin icy and her hands shaking slightly from shivering, droplets of rain slid down her cheeks, making it look like she was crying.
Funny thing, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
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This story isn't finished, your questions will be answered, I apologize for spelling errors I've been up all night, and I'm very tired.
-Sakura-Centric
