You're No Exception
Hey guys! Brr it's cold!!
So I decided that I needed to update this series at least once over break XD. It's just that I've had no real inspiration for my stories lately…that and I'm in a really really bad mood. So maybe writing will cheer me up…
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"Sasuke-kun…why are their numbers above your head…?"
I was truly a wretched man.
"Your eyes…they've gotten darker…" She whispered as she stared deeply into my eyes.
I deserved nothing but death, for having put her in this position.
I watched her crimson eyes grow wider as my dark pools reflected an image of her, and the color of her eyes.
The curse, my curse, had stolen her salvation…her humanity. An angel's humanity.
"My eyes…they're…"
Because of me.
"Red…"
I should've never let this happen. I should've denied my selfish wants and desires, as I had done for 20 years.
And now, now…
"S-Sasuke-kun?" she asked me quietly. I could hear it, see it, even smell the fear she was trying desperately to hide.
It was impossible for her to understand the reason why she was seeing behind eyes of a monster. The demon that had haunted me for the 20 years of my life.
And in an instant…
Nor could I.
Was this the loophole behind the curse? The path for my demon to escape and forever torture those who were unlucky enough to draw themselves close to me?
So she has wished it, so it shall be.
But she didn't deserve this! To carry my burden… this was not the burden she was hoping to carry. Or be forcibly given.
No, Sakura had just been bestowed the worst possible thing of all. My inhumanity. My curse. In exchange for her soul.
Ignoring the searing pain that escalated through my body with the slightest movement, I wrapped my arms around her tightly, whispering a torn apology.
Though she returned my embrace, the questioning hesitance in her grip made the scowl on my lips turn more bitter.
"Sasuke-kun? I don't understand what you're sorry for…-"but her head whipped around at the sight of the door opening.
I glared at the man who entered; at the reflection of the fear and confusion in Sakura's eyes. Her now crimson eyes…
"I-Itachi-san…" Sakura murmured as the man's onyx eyes poured emotionlessly into hers. Without the slightest sign of emotion, my brother spoke.
"I see your relationship has gone beyond what I had assumed." He replied, with his eyes still fixated on Sakura's. "W-What are you saying, Itachi-san?" Sakura asked him as my grip noticeably tightened around her waist.
Finally, Itachi's gaze left the pink haired woman's and stared into mine after what felt similar to centuries. A hidden sneer appeared at his lips. One I could not understand.
"It appears that the Shinigami no me live on."
My eyes widened in horror at this. The crimson eyes….
The life lines…
My pain and desperation to keep Sakura safe…
He knew?
"Shinigami no me? Shinigami eyes…? Sasuke-kun, what are…?" Sakura's voice trailed off when she realized the horror in my expression was now a strand of raw hatred.
"You knew?!!" I snarled at him as I released Sakura in fear of crushing her waist. But her arm stayed firmed around my shoulders when I made an attempt to attach my brother.
Itachi's sneer widened. "Had you believed that you were the sole bearer?" he asked me, "That you were cursed by God?"
I gritted my teeth in anger. "What are they."
"Foolish, foolish otouto. The Shinigami no me was a curse given to the founder of our clan Uchiha Madara. It's been distributed to every generation as a kekkei genkai ever since" He explained as he walked towards us.
"The Uchiha clan members are the only known bearers of the curse. But," he paused to stare into Sakura's eyes once more. "I, nor had our parents, expected that the curse would be passed down twice in one generation."
"Twice?" I seethed as I glared murderously at him. My murderous intent was not returned as his expression turned emotionless and turned to look at me. "Aah. Being the eldest son, I was the given the kekkei genkai."
"And then you passed it to me." I growled.
However, I was caught off guard when he shook his head. "It was bestowed upon another."
I sneered at him coldly. "Of course you would pass it onto someone else. Was it another one of your sick jokes? Huh?!" I demanded. But once again, he shook his head. "This was unintentional. As was yours." Itachi replied as his eyes fixated on Sakura's again, but his stare was unfocused.
Sakura grabbed my hand to stop my growling as Itachi continued. "She was…a precious person. Someone who incessantly cared for my well-being, though I pushed her away. I was unaware of what she was to me, until I could no longer see the lifeline above her head." He whispered absently. "I saw the transfer, and she was horrified."
"What happened to her…?" Sakura asked as her gaze switched from mine to his. Itachi's eyes flashed a gleam of emotion before disappearing into the dark pools of his onyx eyes. "She ran. Moments later a car took her life."
The pink haired woman gasped and tightened her grip on my hand. "That's terrible…" she whispered to him. "It was presumed that the curse had died with her, since she was not one of the Uchiha clan." He paused to stare at me. "I was mistaken."
"If the curse died why was it given to me?! Now…" my voice trailed off as I stared at Sakura. Rage was flowing through me. The years of torture…the years of solitude were spent because of my families assumptions!
Itachi responded with his same indifference.
"The one who had inherited the curse was murdered, taking the life of the future heir with her. I assume the curse was given to the next possible hei; the second son." Itachi met Sakura's eyes again.
"It is possible to transfer the curse to the closest person of the holder. In both our cases, it has been the woman carrying an Uchiha child inside her." Itachi explained.
Sakura gasped and released my hand to cover her lips. "I…are you saying…I-I'm…"
Her words were lost as Itachi further elaborated. "It's possible now, to life the curse from the Uchiha bloodline forever."
"How?" I demanded. I would do anything to deliver Sakura from the monster I had made her. Itachi's eyes stayed fixed on the pink haired woman as he spoke.
"There are no more Uchiha men from our generation; the single holder is this woman. If you kill her, the curse will be lifted."
Rage and horror filled my soul as I lunged for Itachi's throat a second time. Muffled screams of protest were heard at a distance I struggled in Sakura's arms.
How…how could it be possible to speak such words?!
Kill Sakura?
Live without her?
(The light that had brought me out of darkness…?)
"If you fail to make the right decision, prepare to watch this woman and the next generation of our clan suffer, foolish otouto." He replied before turning on his heels and walking away as silently as he had come.
Anger and rage clouded my judgment as I ignored Sakura's desperate, heartfelt cries for me to calm myself. What had I done to deserve this? To be damned and take every precious person with me?
"Sasuke-kun…please! Onegai…" Sakura sobbed to me as I found her arms snaking around my neck. My breath hitched as she pleaded to me. "Please calm down…"
After stiffening and everlasting seconds, my arms slowly found its way around her back. "I'm…sorry." I rasped as guilt and pain clenched around my throat. I felt her shake her head. "No! Don't apologize!" she commanded as she held my shoulders in place to stare at my torn expression.
"I…had no idea…how much you suffered…what you and your brother saw all this time…" Sakura told me. Anguish clouded her new-found crimson eyes as her hand found my bruised cheek. She smiled meekly. "I'm glad…that you're not suffering anymore, Sasuke-kun. That I could carry your burden-it's what I've wanted since the day I met you!" she exclaimed.
I scowled at her. "It's not your burden to bear, Sakura."
Sakura shook her pink locks. "I couldn't understand it before. Why you hated me so much…why you kept me at such a distance when all I wanted was to make you happy." she paused to caress my bruised cheek.
"But now I know that you were trying to protect me from…from this. Naruto told me that you've always seen yourself as a monster. A monster that would hurt me. But in the end, nothing would've kept me from you, Sasuke-kun."
I clenched my fists. I could not bring myself to meet her eyes. The eyes of the demon I was responsible for.
"Abort the child, Sakura." I told her firmly. If the child was destroyed, she would no Uchiha blood inside her.
She would live.
"What?" she whispered as tears and wild disbelief suddenly filled her crimson orbs. "N-No! I won't! Why would you say that?!"
"You'll die, Sakura. The curse-"
"I'd rather die than kill our child, Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed. "I love you with every fiber of my being! The only thing I've ever wanted was to spend forever with you. And now…now I can give you what Kami-sama designed me to do!"
Sakura paused to exhale shakily as she gently placed my hand over her slim stomach. "I want this child. Our child." Sakura leaned closer to me and rested her forehead on mine as she shut her eyes. "If I didn't, I wouldn't have given myself to you…"
As her lips found mine more guilt consumed my soul. I had shot down an angel. An angel that tried to deliver me, a demon, from hell;.
And I had just planted a demon child inside this angel; stealing her way into heaven as a result. But she was aware of the consequences. Aware that I was sending her to hell, but she wanted to bring this child- my child into this world.
Because she loved me…
I wouldn't allow it. I could withstand spending the rest of my life in pain and at conflict with my demon if to save Sakura from being damned to hell. I would not be the cause of her damnation.
"It was a mistake; I was careless-." I told her as I pushed her away from me.
"It wasn't a mistake, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura protested desperately as I clenched my fists tighter. "Every moment we spent together was real and you know it! Why is it wrong for me to want you?! For you to want me too?"
"The shinigami eyes have damned you. I damned youl!" I yelled at her."Only a monster would-"
"You're not a monster to me, Sasuke-kun! Would a monster save me from being hit with a steel girder?" She countered the tears spilled from her eyes.
"Sakura…"I growled as I stared at her. But the determination in her crimson eyes showed that I had evidently lost. Sakura would not leave me. Her mind was set.
"It doesn't matter." she murmured.
"This is wrong, Sakura… Is life not enough for you?"
"You are my life now, Sasuke-kun." Sakura told me as she held my face in my hands again. "I'd rather life with this- this curse than be without you again."
I looked away from her warm expression. Something I didn't deserve to see, but could not completely turn away from.
(The light in my dark world)
"Sakura…" her name left my lips as she leaned closer to me to fill the gap between us.
That is, until two more visitors barged into the hospital room.
One loud, the other calm and collected.
I had not remembered them in a long time.
Nor had I expected to see for quite sometime.
"Sakura-chan!!" the loud blonde man exclaimed, his arms filled with and sweets. "S-Sakura," the soft dark haired woman said. In her hands she held a cup of ramen and tea.
And as my dark eyes met his blue ones, shock gradually filled them as the sweets fell from his hands.
"S…Sasuke…you're-"
But a gasp escaped the Hyuuga heiress's lips suddenly. She had noticed Sakura's change much sooner than I had anticipated.
"S-Sakura…"
I realized that by damning her, Sakura would have more to lose than I had ever expected; her precious people.
"Your eyes are…"
She would lose it all, as I had…
"T-They're…"
However, unlike my decisions to sever these ties…
"Red"
She wouldn't have a choice.
And it's all my fault…
TBC..
I'm really sorry guys, but this is all I'm going to leave you with until next time. But I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!
Because she was no exception…
xxasukachanxx