E T E R N I T Y
In a world of waring clans, Sasuke Uchiha searches for one thing, the identity of the demon who has watched over him since childhood. The sands of time have finally caught up with him, and a three hundred year old grudge will finally be fulfilled. SasuFemNaru. ItaSaku.
CHAPTER THREE
MISSING
"Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within
his bending sickle's compass come" ~ William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116.
As usual, on October 10th, he woke up sweating and shaking from a dream he couldn't remember.
This time however, there was another feeling amongst the fear and horror that lingered for a few moments on awakening. Much softer, but it raged with the same strength as either of the two unpleasant emotions. Then the grief came; it was so much stronger this year – he could feel the thud of his heart against his ribcage as his eyes burned.
His Sharingan, his Mangekyo Sharingan that had been with him since he was ten years old, had activated from the overwhelming emotion. He didn't know how he had achieved it – Itachi hadn't died, and he hadn't believed he had when the temple ceremony had been performed, so there was no reason for him to have it.
He glanced over at the pile of furs and hand woven blankets that his brother shared with Sakura; Itachi was sleeping soundly, but Sakura was sitting up watching him, quite unreadable other than the tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. After a few moments she quietly stood on soundless feet and crossed to his own bed, before wordlessly wrapping her arms around his neck.
Then he felt her slip into his mind in the same way his demon existed there.
I can't watch this any more! This had gone on long enough - you can't keep doing this to him! This happens every year, at the exact time! Why can't you just let him remember?
I know that Sakura, but he needs to remember by himself, or it wont work the way it should!
Naruto? He realised that it was the name of his demon – it was the first time he had heard anyone mention her name. She had never told him, and Sakura had always been careful to never mention it when they talked about her.
He is remembering! He is, but if this carries on at this pace it will all fade away! His essence remembers the emotion Naruto but you've given his mind nothing to catalyst the memories themselves!
He knew they had talked like this before, but he couldn't remember the conversation, but he had just accepted it as something he didn't need to know, the same way he didn't need to know his demons name. It seemed normal to refer to her without a name, but he remembered hearing it somewhere all the same.
I know that Sakura, but there's nothing here to act as one! He finds you familiar, but you only met him once! If he visited Tsunade then the location alone would be enough...
Naruto, that's a death-trap waiting to be walked into! We'd have to go right through Senju land to reach the coast! And what am I supposed to do with my cave while I'm gone?
Coast? Naruto had said she lived on the coast once hadn't she? Did she mean visit her own cave? Those smells...! They had been from her cave! He had met Naruto before – he was certain of it now, but when? When had there been time for him to achieve that?
I may be an invalid, but I can manage that much Sakura! My barriers are better than yours!
He could feel the disbelief raging from Sakura through his mind, as if she had snorted if the two were conversing face-to-face.
Really? Then how did he get through your barrier after all your efforts to keep his ilk out?
I haven't the foggiest Sakura... I really don't know.
...Are you really sure taking him there will do the trick?
I'm positive Sakura. He just needs something more familiar – and time. All the things he's seen or noticed aren't of much notable significance, or have been too short to have any impact. He spent months there... there's no way he can't remember something.
Sakura was gone from his mind as soon as her arms were removed from his neck; as always, he knew that there had been a conversation between the two demons, most likely involving him, and for the most part, it was like there had been no conversation at all.
This time, however, one word remained in his mind. As Sakura returned to the bed where Itachi lay lightly snoring with a pensive chew of her lower lip, Sasuke thought about the name he could finally place to the voice of his demon.
Naruto. Fishcake. Whirlpool. Maelstrom. It didn't really seem that familiar – there were other things that struck much louder chords in him – but it was strong enough for him to remember after one of those mysterious internal conversations.
It seemed to fit her though, based on what he knew of her. What better name for a demon with a horrifically short temper, and who played with the weather for entertainment, than maelstrom?
Sasuke held his breath beneath the cover of a gorse bush as the scouting party of Senjus moved past the thicket he had hidden himself in.
They had been travelling for two weeks; when morning had dawned on October 10th, Sakura had pointedly informed them that they would be travelling to the far western edge of continent into the southern part of Uchiha land. The fastest way there was to cut directly across three absolute no-go areas for any Uchiha, rouge or not.
First Sakura's Yamanaka territory, then Hyuuga occupied area, and the Senju land they were currently moving through; they were perhaps a few hours away from the border with Uchiha land, but that wasn't going to be much of an improvement.
Madara had put a price on not only his head, but also Itachi's, and that of his cousins Shisui and Sai – setting even one foot in Uchiha territory was insanity. It was probably safer to stay in Senju territory; Sakura, however, was adamant that they head for the coast directly through the middle of Uchiha territory.
There had already been several close encounters with Hyuugas who would have liked nothing better than to skin them alive! He was certain that the Uchihas would be just as bad, if not worse, but Sakura was being completely bull headed. It wouldn't be so bad if they could move faster, but Sakura was insisting on carrying a huge lump of rock on her back that didn't seem easy to carry.
Not by weight, just its shape. It seemed to sprawl across her back, and to change its shape every time she picked it up. It really didn't seem very rock-like, not for a rock. Sakura began growling and snarling when he or Itachi got within a certain distance of it too. It was very suspicious.
Sasuke watch with a blankly hidden frown as Sakura heaved the thing onto her back once again as they emerged from their hiding places; it didn't even smell like a rock.
He'd get a hint of earth and leaves on occasion, and those weren't the primary scents usually associated with rocks, at least not when you considered the fact that it had emerged from Sakura's sealed hideaway in her cave.
Will you stop worrying? It doesn't matter if it's a rock or a goat – it has to go with Sakura no matter how much you complain to yourself about it.
His head pricked up – ever since he had found out her name, the demon had been less forthcoming with the conversation than she normally had – the peace had been a bit unnerving actually. He was used to hearing her chatter in his ear every few hours or so since arriving in Sakura's valley.
"It's not a rock, and it's bugging me – if my thoughts bothers you so much, then stop nosing around in them" he muttered.
And here I thought you missed my company.
Sasuke ignored her, and went back to pondering the rock that was not a rock.
Despite Sasuke's worries, they made it to the coastal side of Uchiha territory without attracting any attention.
They trudged up beside the angular rock beaches – ones constantly hounded by the notoriously horrific sea storms that made the weather in the Uchiha occupied lands so unpleasant. He and Itachi were utterly frozen by the cold spray of the sea as it crashed onto the sharps rocks and the pounding rain, but they seemed barley more than a minor irritation to Sakura.
Cold and wet as the weather was, Sasuke found his mind to be occupied by other things; as they trekked along the coastline, certain features in the landscape were blaring across his mind, his memories.
Very few Uchihas came to this part of the territory, so this was his first time seeing it, but he knew he had been here before. He could remember seeing these rocky outcrops and arches and pillars jutting from calm, brighter seas, and the shrubbery around them plastered with more vibrancy that the lashings of rain and salt water.
He could remember someone being there with him too – if he concentrated he could almost remember their presence in these memories, but the one thing he couldn't remember was what they looked like, or their voice or even if they were a man or a woman. He did remember though.
As they came around a corner on a long overgrown beach-side path, huge cliffs rose from the choppy seas several miles in the distance – even amongst the grizzly grey weather and iron coloured salty sprays, he could make out the black shadow of a cave mouth near the top of the cliffs, and the treacherous pathway that ran up to the forest that grew atop the cliffs themselves.
A cave; demons lived in caves, Naruto was demon, and liked caves, and had mentioned living on the coast. This had to be her cave! This was where he had met her before! She was the one he could almost see beside him sometimes.
That was why he remembered this place! That still didn't confirm the how though – he had never been here before, he didn't know what Naruto looked like, so how did he recognise all of this? He veered even as Sakura did around a corner instead of following the overgrown path straight on, surprising his brother.
"Why can't we just go straight ahead?" Itachi asked.
"There's a huge gap in the cliffs that way, and bridge is rotted out; it's too wide even for a ninja to cross, so we have to go around it." Sasuke replied before Sakura could open her mouth.
The surprise on his brother's face was nothing compared to his own; how could he know that? It was clearer than day in his head, the image of a bridge rotted by hundreds of years of ignorance, and the gaping chasm leading to jaggy, water surrounded forks of rock hundreds of meters below.
Where the image came from, he had no idea.
Sasuke stared at the distant cave as they made their way around the gaping gap in the cliffs – the broken bridge could clearly be seen now, it's ancient wood planks hanging at either side of the cliffs, hanging by threads to rotten ropes that had been snapped by the weather many years before.
Everything about the area seemed to be old, the way Sakura's cave seemed to be, but much it was much more obvious.
The trees here were gnarled and twisted far beyond those in Sakura's valley, and they had to fight against the vegetation that had invaded the already unobtrusive path constantly as they made their way around the ravine.
It was as if the path itself had only ever been used by rare travellers long ago, and the old forest they wove through was halfway through the task of reclaiming it. It was so thick that he completely missed a tree root curving from the earth, and his foot was caught beneath it, sending him flying to the muddy ground.
As he hit the ground, a searing pain ripped through his chest, somewhere near his stomach, and a weary feeling of utter exhaustion only caused by serious injury wafted over him – he couldn't feel anything wrong when his hand went to keep his organs from spilling through his skin, not even a trickle of blood, and the feeling faded.
"Sasuke?"
He looked up to find Itachi hovering above him with concern written on his face, lit up beneath his rain-soaked hood by the light of a hissing torch. Beside him he could see Sakura's face, and it was full with a kind of hopeful anticipation. He paid neither expression much note, instead openly recoiling from the torch in his brother's hand, from the flames that hissed as the hail of water droplets struck them.
All of a sudden, Itachi didn't look like Itachi, and it wasn't an abandoned coastal forest path that he was standing on – the arms pulling him to his feet belonged to a pair of dark-haired men, and the tiny torch was a raging mass of flames in the centre of a dim, rain soaked courtyard.
The hiss and crackle of the flames seemed vicious as he was dragged past them, up a flight of stairs. He paid no heed to where he was being led; the figure in the centre of the dull, blue flames was of much more consequence – the agonized snarling and whelps and vulpine shrieks were more than enough to tell him the figure was not human.
He could see the thick ropes of chakra on the burning demon's ankles as something was slipped around his neck – he vaguely noted it was something thick, and uncomfortable. The figure roared something indecipherable at someone he couldn't see, but he recognised Madara's laughter as the flames billowed up towards the rainy skies.
There was another shriek in that vulpine language, and he roared something, then the ground fell away beneath him, and air vanished. He realised now that those steps had been leading to a set of gallows. The rope tightened, and he could feel it tearing at his skin, constricting his bones until-
Everything dimmed to black for what seemed like decade after decade, and he was back in the forest, under the rain with Itachi and Sakura; the spring demon had hoisted him to his feet and had her hands either side of his head, frantic eyed.
He spluttered as the feeling of strangulation disappeared from his neck, bending forward to inhale deep lungfuls of the cold, damp air. What on earth was that he had just seen? He was certain that the demon burning in that horrendous image had been Naruto. He knew her voice better than his own hand...
He turned to Sakura, searching for some sort of explanation, but the bitter disappointment on her face told him that she couldn't give him one – she seemed to be waiting for something from him, but was doing little to explain what it was.
She can't tell you Sasuke – no-one can do anything to interfere or help you with this, despite how much easier it would be, that's why she doesn't tell you anything. If you don't remember by yourself, you won't remember at all.
By himself? That hardly seemed fair – how was he supposed to remember something that he couldn't even recall doing before? It was impossible to be the same age twice, and from what he had just seen, he had been around the same age as he was now, perhaps a few years older.
None of it made sense, and so far very little of it seemed like something he would even want to remember. Then he remembered that this was all linked in with Naruto – that it had been Naruto burning in that blue fire. The image was was... He'd never be able to forget it, and he didn't want to remember it.
He'd never seen Naruto's face, but even the faint shadowy image of her through those eerie blue flames was like a knife twisting inside his chest. Naruto had always been part of him, always with him even if she did not speak often – he couldn't fathom something like that happening to her.
What had she done to warrant something so horrible anyway? He knew some demons could be tricksters, or even vicious and evil, but those weren't common. The tricky ones usually just liked playing around, and the evil ones... well, most people dealt with them if they were found. Naruto was neither of those two – though she did seem to have a tricky, mischievous side.
What had she done? Why couldn't he remember it?
There was a tense silence as they finally rounded onto the other side of the ravine, and started heading for the path that would lead them down the cliff face into the cave.
He could her the muffled whispers between Sakura and Itachi some distance behind him, and though he couldn't make them out, he knew that they were arguing about him. Itachi didn't like being kept in the dark, but Sakura seemed not to have uttered one word to him about whatever he was remembering (or how).
It probably didn't help that he was the one leading them through the bushy undergrowth now, but he couldn't help it – it was like his feet were simply following an autonomic path, something as natural as walking along the exterior walkway back at the family home in the Uchiha compound.
He felt like he had made this journey beyond dozens of times before. He knew where he was going, but it was completely unfamiliar territory.
The salt tang of the iron waves crashing into the chalky cliffs far below reached his mouth and nose as they finally broke out of the forest, and onto the path that led down the face of the chalky escarpment itself.
The path was treacherously narrow, and despite the sudden urgency for haste, he had no choice but to slow his feet and hug the side of the chalky face to keep from slipping onto the jagged rocks peeking from the raging waves below. Sakura was having a horrible time trying to keep herself steady as she carried the huge rock on her back, but she persisted despite Itachi's protests.
The wind and rain lashed against his skin, threatening to pull him from the narrow rocky path, and spray from the sea blasted him with and an icy chill; he had to use chakra in his hands and feet to keep himself glued to the path, and the two surges behind him betrayed a similar action from Itachi and Sakura.
After perhaps an hour of clinging to the rock, the cave was finally visible, and the path widened out enough to form a wide lip just outside the entrance. Again the familiarity was almost drowning – he could remember sitting there in calmer winds and sunnier days.
This time he remembered pulling a small dark-haired girl with pale eggshell eyes away from the edge, and heard something from his companion, before the girl ran past into the cave behind him. Then it disappeared from his grasp again, and he ground his teeth in frustration; why couldn't he keep hold of these memories?
As they descended the short distance down towards the lip, he made out a person standing in the centre, apparently waiting for them.
She wore a style of dress similar to Sakura's, but her grey sleeveless shirt was covered by a green jacket, and she wore dark trousers and sandals – it was a bit more up to date. As they drew closer he could make out the seemingly young face and blonde hair, and recognition was instantaneous.
"Tsu... nade?"
Nyeh heh heh. Sasuke's begining to see things! Or is he? I think most of you can guess where I'm heading with this story now. If you can't... Neyh heh heh... Patience is a virtue! Title is 'Missing' by Evanescence
Hope you liked the chapter.
Nat.
xxx
