A/N: to see the last routine that Sasori and Sakura performed 3 yyears before the story took place, type this in and remove all spaces. www. youtube watch? v= 2sZPzxuc6eA
To see the routine she skates as a single: type this on without the spaces: www. youtube watch?v = ke0iusvydl8
Sakura sat in her room at the Yukigakure rink, moments away from her first return to skating. She was doing this without her partner and closest friend as a singles skater. She closed her eyes and memories of their last routine flooded through her as a tear spilled down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away when a knock came at her door.
She opened the door and was excited to see Itachi and Kakashi and hugged them both. "I can't do this, I am not ready." She said softly, Itachi hugged her tighter and whispered everything was going to be okay, he had faith. Sakura knew he was aware of something she didn't know. Kakashi hugged her next and wished her luck and told her no matter what, he would love her like a daughter always.
Sakura skated onto the ice to warm up a bit as she forced herself to relax and focus on the routine. She had won consistent gold for Konoha before and this would be no different. Taking her place in the center of the ice she waited for the music to start. Skating in a somewhat fast pace, she swiftly built up for the perfectly accurate triple lutz and triple toe before spinning slowly and gracefully sliding into a double axel. She leaned forward and grasped her skate in the back and spun for several seconds before releasing her foot.
She spun gracefully around the ice as if the music controlled her movements, Sakura fluidly moved her hips along with her arms and performed another jump with spiral. Sakura breathed slowly so as to maintain better focus while she skated around the ice once again to rebuild her speed. Slowing into one spot she quickly saw Sasuke's face before she blocked it from her mind and covered with a double lutz and a double toe. She leaned backwards and spun in a circle, arms extended for several seconds before lifting her foot with her hand maintaining her spin and delicate arch,
Sakura sat downwards into a sit spin with perfect speed and movement before coming to an end. She extended her arms upwards with a smile as the crowd all cheered and clapped. Sakura smiled and waved at the audience before skating towards the seat to wait for her score. Being the last skater, a lot was riding on her perfection and accuracy, Meeting Kakashi by the seat she hugged him tightly, even though he wasn't a couch he was like a father figure to her.
She sat and drank her water while waiting for the scores, She smiled and hugged Kakashi as the scores she was given placed her in the solid number one position. The scores were flashing on the screen, her technical score was 71.69, her component score was 69.82 and she had zero deductions. Konoha had won a gold on her first shot back to skating, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Her total score was 141.51, far higher than any other skater at the competition, even Tayuya.
Sakura stopped in the changing room to change and was confronted by Tayuya, "You just couldn't stay down like a stray dog could you? I figured killing Sasori would have killed what skating spirit you had but no, like a cockroach you just came back. I will finish you off permanently.." Tayuya stated, moving towards Sakura slowly. Neither had noticed the door open, nor the hand that grabbed Tayuya's throat and slammed her into the wall.
Sakura opened her eyes and was shocked to see Sasuke's back standing in front of her. "Touch her again Tayuya and I will killall you hold dear before coming for you and ending you in such a horrific manner you will BEG me for death, am I understood?" Sasuke stated venomously. Tayuya stumbled out the door and down the hallway, leaving Sasuke to tend to Sakura.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly, helping her up. Sakura nodded and grabbed her bag before following him to the door, confused when he shut the door and locked it. "We need to talk sakura, I need to know why you returned the ring, and I would prefer it if we could discuss this without yelling"
"Sasuke, It is obvious you care for Karin more than you do me. The only tie we have is that we are both from Konoha, your home village. Karin isn't, go be with her…" she was cut off by his lips claiming hers. She was pushed against the door as his lips moved against hers harshly.
"Sakura, I asked you because YOU are the one I care for. Yes I was with Karin and yes I should have told you that, but Karin was only to ease certain desires I had everytime I saw you in the forests on a mission. How I wished to claim you each and every time, yet I couldn't while being a missing shinobi and so I used her. Yes I am horrible fofr doing that Sakura, but it was never her I loved or cared for."
Sakura for once was speechless, she had no idea what to say as Sasuke was spilling everything into the open.
