Wavering Between Forgotten LinesNaruto © Masashi Kishimoto
This fanfiction is made possible by a request from HinataLoveNaruto
—Forth
"Hinata, Naruto and I are going to visit Sasuke again. Do you want to come?"
"No." The response, so clipped and short, surprised Sakura. She stared at the girl besides her, wanting to know the reason behind the coldness. "I-I have some things to…um…do."
Sakura frowned. Hinata was not a good liar, and neither should she ever become one. But she noticed the fear on her face, and nodded reluctantly. "Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. You'll come next time right?"
When there was no response, Sakura sighed and again wondered what happened the last time they visited. She could still remember the pale, frightened look on Hinata's face as she stumbled out of the Uchiha manor. As much as Sakura wanted to know what happened, she couldn't bear to ask Hinata. There was no way that she would tell her anyway.
Oh well…"I guess I'll be going now. We can hang out later." She watched Hinata for a second, hoping for a response. There wasn't.
This time, Sasuke didn't even bother to open the door, nor did Naruto and Sakura give him a chance to. They waltzed in, smiling blissfully and opening each door they saw, looking for their elusive friend.
Actually, Sasuke was in the backyard, finally practicing his taijutsu. He decided that his arms might as well fall off if he didn't practice some basics once in a while – even if the creepy ANBU guards were always watching him. He knew they reported his every movement to the blonde female. He knew that the ANBU watching him were also trained specialists and analyzed every single one of his moves. Somehow, it didn't seem to matter anymore. This quiet life suited him – even if he woke up screaming everyday with the taste of blood in his mouth. Pein could wait. He had a lifetime of solitude to catch up on.
Naruto noticed him first – and promptly jumped down from the second floor to join him. Sakura's eager smile turned to melancholy when Sasuke straightened up and walked back into the mansion as soon as Naruto alighted. Then the unpredictable – Naruto exploded. Maybe it was the pressure, or maybe the years of hurt and betrayal had finally caught up. He lunged at Sasuke's back before Sakura could react.
Taken by surprise, Sasuke barely knocked him out of the way and immediately activated his Sharingan, spinning out of the way of the successive lunges. The guards were still standing calmly on the sides, as if this was all part of a plan. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed their apparent inactivity – he should've known. Konoha had changed since he had last been there.
Naruto swiped at him again, catching Sasuke's attention as he barely ducked out of the way. Sensing chakra emanating from the man's body, Sasuke knew that this was beyond the scope of a normal spar. The stupid, unpredictable bastard of a ninja was being serious – serious about hurting Sasuke. Avoiding the Hokage's enraged apprentice wasn't difficult; Sasuke could see his clear blue eyes, clouded with fury – and hurt. He'd been wrong. Konoha's time had never stopped. It had gone on without him, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Something strange throbbed in his chest though every single one of Naruto's lunges missed its mark.
"Why did you leave?" Naruto's words were barely intelligible from the roars of fury, "Why did you have to leave me alone here?"
There was no reply from his opponent, who did nothing except spin out of the way, like a butterfly out from the claws of a clumsy tiger. That was, until Naruto suddenly disappeared from view and landed a crushing blow on Sasuke's back. Although his speed had let him avoid most of the injury, Sasuke could feel his dislocated arm throbbing when he popped it back into place. However, that was all the distraction Naruto needed. He ran at Sasuke again, punching his face, drawing blood until Sasuke spun out of the way again.
The battle would have been over if there hadn't been a chakra reducer fastened to Sasuke's leg. With no ninjutsu or genjutsu to protect himself, Sasuke could only rely on taijutsu – which was clearly insufficient. He braced himself for another hit when the ANBU finally restrained Naruto, calming him down. The blond glared at the Avenger, snarling, "You thought we all stayed the same, didn't you, teme? You thought this village could go on without you. You thought I could go on. You thought Sakura could survive without you, eh, teme?"
Sasuke didn't even blink, he merely wiped away the trickle of blood, staining his sleeve red. As he turned and walked back toward the mansion, angry tears ran down Naruto's face, "How could you expect us to live without you?"
Sasuke stood silently in the doorway, and without turning, said, "I didn't." Then, closing the door behind him, he went inside without turning back.
Sakura quickly wiped at the tears gathering in her eyes. She'd known this was a bad idea – and Naruto was hurt – again. Without a thought, she jumped through the window and landed roughly on the ground before running to her broken teammate, hugging him until the old tears dried up again. Everything had failed. Pretending everything was alright – that everything hadn't been shattered when Sasuke left, it had only brought more pain.
She didn't notice the lingering shadow at the window above them, the bright red eyes cracking just like the hearts below them.
"Sakura-san? Sakura-san?"
She jumped when she heard a soft voice beside her and a hand gently shake her shoulder.
"A-are you alright, Sakura-san?" Hinata's blank white eyes were concerned as she sat down next to the pink haired medic. "D-did something happen at Uchiha-san's place? Naruto's been acting strange too ever since he got back."
"It's just…" Sakura sighed, "We failed. We agreed to treat Sasuke like nothing ever happened, you know? Like he never left, like nothing ever went wrong. But…but…" Her voice broke as she reflected on the painful years after Sasuke's departure.
"It was too hard," the woman beside her stated matter-of-factly. "We all changed. Something broke when he left. It'll never be the same." Hinata put a hand over Sakura's trembling ones, "Is that what you wanted to say?"
"Oh Hinata-chan," she whispered softly. "How do you understand so perfectly?"
"Because" – it seems we're not so different, Sasuke and I – "I-I just guessed," Hinata smiled gently and looked down, masking the trembling features of her own face. "I seem to be good at these sort of things" – you know, the useless kind.
"I just – I just don't know how to face him anymore, Hinata. I mean, after Naruto attacked him and he said that Sasuke destroyed the village and then Sasuke basically said he didn't care – I don't think we can ever go back," Sakura felt her heart grow heavy as she realized that. She whispered again, just to herself. "I don't think we can ever go back."
"Then don't." The Hyuga clenched her friend's trembling hands, "I'm sure you'll be able to go back. After all, you've always loved him – that'll get through some day." Somewhere, a nurse called for her. She looked around, and with one reassuring squeeze, Hinata left quickly toward the voice. Sakura looked at her empty hands and bit back tears. Oh, I'm so sorry Hinata…I can't tell you – I don't think I do love him anymore. I don't think I ever have, really.
The dreams changed.
Ever since Naruto's outbreak during his taijutsu practice, the dreams had changed. Splitting hearts, the bloody strands string broken lives together in a pool of pure white. Even while he slept he couldn't forget the burning feeling in his back, the accusation in those fractured blue eyes at what he had said.
Those words were completely true. He hadn't expected them to live after he left. He had expected them to find him and beat him back to his sense. He had expected them to tell him the truth about Itachi. He had expected them to save him from the bleak future destiny had intended him to endure. They were the ones who had failed. Not he.
Of course he didn't just expect them to live. He had expected them to do so much more. But there was no way in hell he would ever admit it – nothing would be accomplished by doing so. Not now, not ever. Naruto would be hurt all over again – and there would be nothing for Sasuke to do but carry the heavy burden all by himself, just like he always had. The road to revenge was only wide enough for one person.
He turned over in the thin sheets of his bed, breathing in the musty air. He'd been in the room for a few days now. The curtains were drawn over the windows, their thickness blocking any speckle of sunlight from filtering through. And he, he had been curled up in the bed, clutching the spear still lodged in his heart. His stomach ached from the lack of sustenance and his throat felt like sandpaper from lack of hydration. Maybe he would die, just like that, starved and dehydrated like an old hermit. A fitting end for him. It would finally be peaceful.
Bam! The door to his room slammed open and two women walked in. Sasuke hissed and opened his eyes – it was that bitchy Hokage, as expected, and…Hinata Hyuga? He hadn't expected to see her again, cold little girl.
"Trying to starve yourself to death Uchiha?" Tsunade's sarcastic voice boomed in his room, and he could smell the stink of sake in her breath as she spoke. "Unfortunately, that won't happen on my watch. Hitch your miserable ass up and go eat something. Death is too good for you, damned Uchiha."
He just shifted slightly and looked away. It wasn't like she could force him into drinking and eating.
"Hokage-sama, I-I think w-we should be a bit nicer," a small voice quite different from the Hokage's spoke up, "He technically is a patient right now…besides…he looks miserable."
Although she had clearly not intended for him to hear the last part, it reached his ears, resounding in his mind. He looks miserable. He must look truly disgusting and pitiable if she, idiot girlfriend of Naruto, wanted to be sympathetic. She must be here because of Naruto, Sasuke thought. It's not like anything happened anyway. Naruto just let his stupid emotions get ahold of him.
"Well, I don't have anything to do today," the blonde woman drawled, "There are other methods of getting you out of your bed. Things you'll never be able to forget, Uchiha." Sasuke felt a cold chill go down his spine. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the Hokage had a point. She was a medic, the best there was. It would be simple to reverse the effects of some healing ninjutsu.
Sasuke sighed and got out of bed.
"Good boy."
"Bitch."
Author's Note: How long has it been? Over a whole year…I tried to write, but it was pretty hard. Then I noticed my essay skills were going down the drain, and I realized that writing fanfiction was beneficial. And so I forced myself to write – and here it is. I'm not promising to update regularly, or even once in a while. I don't want to keep people waiting for the chapter that might never appear. But maybe a chapter might appear every few months and a year or two later. I hope to finished everything up before leaving for college, but who knows? Please review! :]
moonhaku
