The third chapter is here. I'm sorry that it took such a long time! I hope you'll like it!
Escape part 3: Darkness vs. Brightness
Escaping the darkness, the darkness that had started roaming in her heart. That was what she wanted.
I woke up the next morning feeling pretty much down. I rolled around and coughed, noticing that my throat was hurting pretty bad. There was no time to get ill! We needed to catch Itachi! Actually catch was the wrong word…
I sat up straight and groaned. My head felt like it had been smashed several times and my eyelids felt heavy. I reached my hands up to my head and massaged my temples. I snapped my eyes open and saw that, at least, I was still in the room I'd fallen asleep yesterday. That was a good sign. My headache and my throat were a bad omen though. I couldn't afford to get ill. That meant that I just would have to keep it a secret from Sasuke-kun.
"Not feeling too well?" a familiar voice startled me. Damn, he popped out of nowhere, like a good shinobi should be able to, I added sourly.
"I'm alright," I grunted. Lies of course.
Sasuke-kun snapped the lights on without any warning. It was like the light was burning his way through my eyes to the very core of my head. My stomach turned upside down. The headache was making me nauseate.
"You're not," he smirked evilly.
I glowered darkly at him, for as much as I could, since my eyes were opened only the slightest bit.
"You should rest," he replied my gaze, not the least intimidated. He turned around and walked to the door.
"I can't! We have to keep moving; otherwise Itachi will be long gone!" I protested. How could he say such a thing? He wasn't… "You aren't leaving me behind are you? I'm a medic! I can heal myself."Sasuke-kun stopped in his tracks. "I'm not leaving you behind. I took you with me for a reason. I know you're a medic, but I'm ordering you to rest at least for as long as I'm gone for now," he cut me off.
"No!" I sprang to my feet and immediately regretted it. A wave of nauseate took me over and I became very dizzy. In fact, I had the feeling that the ground was moving up, or was I…?
A moment later, I found myself in the strong and very supporting arms of Uchiha Sasuke-kun. Apparently, I was feeling a lot worse than I had thought. Now that sucked.
Sasuke-kun placed me on the bed with an angry look which said: "Told you so," quite annoyed.
"Don't look at me like that," I muttered annoyed, looking the other way. He grabbed my chin though and turned it so he could face me.
"You rest here, Sakura. I have to step out for a bit." His onyx eyes were mesmerizing me. So unfair…
"But I can heal myself!" I said and coughed again. "See?" I said and tried to fill my hand with chakra, but it wouldn't come out steadily. I frowned. This had never happened before.
"Sharingan," Sasuke-kun said calmly and his eyes were becoming red, his tomoes swirling around now. "Your chakra isn't flowing normally," he told me, while I was still staring at his handsome face.
Slowly, he looked up at me again. "Sakura, go to sleep now." His voice sounded hypnotic. My eyes were becoming heavy while my head was still pounding. "Sasuke-kun," I mumbled sleepily.
"Go to sleep," he said softly. It felt like his finger tops were stroking my cheeks, but that must have been my imagination.
"You Meany," I said, while I closed my eyes. My brain was nice and fuzzy now. "I love you," I added muttering before I fell asleep. Stupid gen-jutsu…
Finally she was asleep now, I sighed inwardly. Even though she was ill, which was extremely obvious, she still was so stubborn. So annoying. At least I can count on her, I thought. It did feel wrong to use a gen-jutsu to put her asleep though. She could have dispelled it easily if she'd been feeling any better. She had probably seen easily through it, I smirked. That was my Sakura. My Sakura? She had told me that she loved me once more… So annoying.
After tucking her in, only to make sure she wouldn't get any more ill, I could see that her cheeks were glowing brightly, forming a contrast with her pink-hair. A little bit worried I felt her forehead and it felt hot. Too hot in my opinion. I didn't know what to do, so I gave her one last look and walked away. She would be just fine.
First, I had to go and buy some stuff now.
While I was walking through the streets nearby the place we were staying, searching for a store, I was thinking about the nuisance I had just left. Sakura had to get well soon, I thought. We had to continue our search quickly. I only knew where to find Itachi because of the files I'd stolen from Kabuto. Knowing my brother (oh the irony) he wouldn't stay in one place for too long. Once I didn't know where to go anymore, it would become rather difficult to trace him and that fish idiot who was traveling along him. I didn't really intend to fight them both at the same time.
I didn't know the limits of Sakura so I couldn't depend on her fighting Kisame or at least keep him occupied. Not if she had to be my back-up and heal me.
I furrowed my brow. Now I was thinking about it, maybe it would be a good idea if we would spar first before we actually encountered my sweet nii-chan. After all, only if one knew every aspect one had to deal with, you could make a good strategy. That included the weaknesses of your own cell. So I decided to fight Sakura as soon as she was feeling better.
Meanwhile, I had arrived at the shop where I could buy a new sleeping bag. The girl behind the cash register was staring at me with an adoring look. Hell, she looked as if she wanted to share that every sleeping bag with me. I started back in annoyance and she blushed, averting her gaze quickly.
"Ano…" she started and I sighed inwardly, knowing what was coming now.
"I was wondering…" she blushed deeper and still didn't dare to look at me straightly. I crossed my arms, waiting for her to continue, since I couldn't get out of here without paying. "I'm off early today and…" she had gathered all her courage and stared at some point passed my right ear now and asked: "Would you like to go on a date with me?" in one breath. Now it was for me to decide whether to go the polite or the direct way.
"No." After all, I didn't really do polite, right?
Her eyes widened in awe by my rudeness but I couldn't care less.
Quickly and highly embarrassed, she continued her job and gave me my bag. By the time I left, she looked at the verge of crying. My my, how annoying.
I walked out of the store and started searching for a pharmacy. Sakura had to get well soon, otherwise she would be too much to care for and that would be annoying. I couldn't use her when she was ill. This would be about the first time that she would actually be useful to me and it would be just like her to screw that up by getting herself too worked up and overwork herself and get even more ill. Stupid girl.
Her image popped up in my head. Sakura: pink hair, jade eyes, slim figure, small girl, smooth skin, silky hair… it reminded me of the other day when she was lying nearly naked….
I shook my head, no distractions were allowed. And most definitely not from the girl I was traveling with. She would end up hurt anyway. I breathed out, not even aware of the fact that I'd been holding it all the time. Time to buy medicine for that obstinate girl.
I was opening my eyes briefly, finding myself lying in bed with a wet towel on my (way too large) forehead. Was Sasuke-kun back already? I had no sense of time and was therefore unaware of the current time. I couldn't remember lying down in bed. Did Sasuke-kun…? No, I couldn't assume something like that. My fever was rising and my chakra flow had become even more disturbing, since earlier this day. My head was still throbbing and the blood was pounding in my veins. Next to my bed, I saw a glass of water and some medicine. Now I must be really delirious. Maybe I couldn't remember lying down on this bed, but Sasuke-kun actually caring for me while I was being ill was just too much. My cheeks started glowing even more and I supported my upper body with my elbows. Slowly I reached out for the glass and took the medicine. Exhausted already, I fell back and my vision became blurry before turning black. Ah, time to go back to sleep, I thought sarcastically.
Xxx
Sometime later, I woke up again, feeling slightly better. Yet then, I saw Sasuke-kun sitting next to my bed. Clearly, I felt worse than I thought.
"Sasuke-kun?" I asked hoarsely and tried to squeeze out a smile. "What are you doing here?" My throat punished me for my attempt to speak and smile. I coughed again and it felt like I had eaten razors for breakfast.
Sasuke-kun started at me with his onyx eyes. Did I mention how beautiful his eyes looked? They mirror his inner pain sometimes. If I could only take that pain away and help him. I know I wasn't big a help before. I wasn't kidding myself with that.
Sasuke-kun looked serious, but then, he always did. He did make me feel self-conscious though. Quietly, I was waiting for an answer.
"You don't look too well," he replied seriously.
"That's just what a girl wants to hear," I muttered half sourly, half jokingly. "Why are you sitting here?" I continued, "Or am I just dreaming?"
Once again, silence filled the air. When I was about to open my mouth again, he cut me off by saying: "Don't talk so much." Then he got up from his chair, passed me the medicine and lay down on his own bed, without another word, I took the medicine once more and soon after I fell asleep again. Sasuke-kun was sure acting weird today.
I had been observing her sleeping figure for almost an hour while sitting next to her. I couldn't help but thinking the most disturbing thoughts, making me feel like Kakashi's proud student. Now I was lying here on my bed, trying not to jump her for fuck's sake, and trying even harder not to think about her at all. But with like most things, trying not to think about something or even trying to ban it out, it made me think about her even more. Like the way she had been looking when she slowly opened her eyes. Like when she was moving in her sleep, the wet cloth that I had put on her forehead had fallen down… obligating me to put it back in place. It almost scared me to realize what kind of effect the girl was having on me. She'd never even perked my interest the slightest bit back then, not even Karin, who had been trying so pathetically hard to seduce me, hadn't even sparked my interest at all. Yet this sickly girl somehow managed to sneak into my head. Maybe it was because I hadn't seen her in such a long time, or maybe I was just a sick pervert who wanted to take advantage of that mentally weak girl.
Without even realizing it, I had created a coldhearted, indifferent image over the past years. But I wasn't coldhearted. I could be very passionate about killing my brother. If I would have been coldhearted, I wouldn't have cared less about my family's death. It was more like I had stored my feelings somewhere save; somewhere no one could ever reach, let alone, touch them. Any signs of weakness would be destroyed immediately. It had made me selfish though. The little prodigy who could never reach his brother. The kid who always ended in second place. The boy who could only disappoint his father. At least I hadn't killed him, I thought sarcastically. And at least they had been there back then. Back when I was young. Faith had made me an avenger. Yet, that pink-haired nuisance had tried to be there for me I guess. Trying to support me while I was only thinking about myself. Now once again, I was only thinking of how I could use her to destroy my brother, once again, she was helping me. Even now, now she was so fucking ill, lying there in her bed, not being able to do anything but sleep. Even now, she was trying to help me. How thoughtful, how stupid.
How could she not realize how stupid she was? It was so pathetic that it made me want to laugh out loud. I got up and walked over to her bed. Hovering over her and watching her red cheeks burning with fever, while she was sleeping peacefully made me want to laugh even harder.
Stupid, stupid girl. How could she not realize that she would only be hurt when she was dealing with me? She used to be so smart.
A smirk spread over my face while I was staring at her.
Suddenly she opened her eyes and saw me standing next to her bed. First, she looked confused, but then, her face brightened and she smiled, whispering: "Sasuke-kun is laughing, I'm glad you smile." Then her eyes closed again and she slept again.
Even under these circumstances, she felt happy that I was smiling? I didn't understand her at all. Wouldn't it be making more sense to cry over her friends she'd left at home? Why did she care about me anyway? Why would she care about what happened to me?
Absentmindedly, I took the cloth off her forehead and wetted it again, replacing the now cold and wet cloth.
I walked back to my bed and let myself fall down upon it. What a weird girl she was. Tired, I fell asleep myself now.
Sakura was lying in bed with white sheets and a white pillow. She herself was as white as a sheet as well. When Sasuke touched her, she didn't move. When he checked her pulse, he discovered that there wasn't any. His eyes widened in horror. She had died of her cold? When he pulled her sheets back, there was a bloody mess. Had Itachi been here?
"It wasn't me, my foolish little brother," Itachi spoke, emerging out of nowhere."How could you forget the work of your own two hands; the sadistic pleasure it gave you? How can you not know about the chaos you were causing in her heart? Darkness was roaming her heart for such a long time. In the very end, it tore her body apart. She didn't die because of a cold. She died because of you." Silence filled the air and Itachi walked over to Sakura. He kneeled down next to her and held his hand hovering over her chest.
Sasuke couldn't move but looked in awe at his brother and at the dead girl lying on the bed.
"Sakura-chan, come here," he whispered and a transparent figure, impersonating Sakura appeared over her body.
"Itachi-kun, you were calling me?" she replied emotionless.
"Aa, my little brother here would like to have a word with you, Sakura-chan."
Her head turned around and she stared blankly at Sasuke.
"What is it, Sasuke-san," she asked remotely, not implying any emotion into her voice.
"How did you die?" he asked quietly, staring at her. His eyes couldn't leave her face.
"You killed me, Sasuke-san." Then she turned her head back to Itachi. "Didn't you tell him, Itachi-kun?"
"He did," Sasuke butted in before Itachi could answer her monotone question. "I wanted to hear it from you, to verify its truth," he swallowed.
She was now looking at him again. Her eyes were empty. "Why would you doubt your nii-chan's words? You killed me without even touching me. You ignored me; you hurt my feelings over and over again. You used me while I loved you. It was that one-sided love that killed me. You abducted me, took me away from my friends so I had no one left to support me. No one left who loved me –"shereplied, but Sasuke cut her off fierce.
"So? You were just like me! Because I hadn't anyone left either! No one who supported me either! Because my brother, whom you call 'Itachi-kun' killed my family!" he panted heavily and his eyes were blood red with anger.
"You had me, Sasuke-san. I was there for you. I loved you, I supported you, but you took it all and gave me nothing in return. My heart started bleeding and soon the rest followed," she said blankly, as if she was merely talking about the weather."So that's why I made a new choice. I want to be with someone who can give me love, who won't take me for granted." Her voice slowly filled with emotion and her transparency slowly became replaced by a real body. She started looking like the real Sakura again.
"Sa-Sakura," Sasuke said stunned and extended his hand in order to feel her and see if she was real.
"I got another chance from Kami-sama to make a new resolve, to pick the right person this time." She turned her head towards Itachi. "Right, Itachi-kun?"
"No," Sasuke whispered quietly. This couldn't be happening. It was like she said: she was the only one he had left. The only one who had been there for him, who had loved him so deeply. "No," he repeated and fell to his knees. While Sakura was leaping off the bed, and her dead body slowly disappeared, only leaving the blood behind, Sasuke grasped for his heart.
It felt like it was bleeding. His hand became drenched in blood and his eyes widened in horror. "Sakura…" he said hoarsely.
She was chatting happily while his world slowly became surrounded by darkness. Itachi had enveloped his arms around Sakura and she turned her head at hearing her voice.
"Sakura…chan, I'm…" he coughed blood now. "I'm sorry…" he said before fully falling down. "Please…" His body felt torn. He didn't want to die alone. Not like this. He wanted to be held by Sakura, who would whisper to him that it would be all okay, while she was trying to heal his wounds. He wanted to feel her warmth. "So sorry… Sakura," he repeated, fighting to stay conscious.
"Itachi-kun, shall we get out of here? He's annoying," she said.
Those last words were like his final death sentence and with one last cry; he finally closed his eyes, knowing that he didn't deserve a second chance.
My eyes flew open and my heart was pounding heavily in my chest. I looked around rapidly and shot up. Sakura!
I leaped to my feet and almost ran over to her bed. Was she alright? Did I kill her?
Her face looked pale but she was breathing. Her chest moved up and down heavily.
My knees felt weak and I fell down on my knees next to her bed. Sakura… My dream had seemed so realistic, yet here she was lying in her bed, sleeping not knowing what was going on in my mind.
Why was it that she kept appearing in my nightmares so frequently?
"Sasuke-kun?" she muttered sleepily, staring at me with half lidded eyes.
"It's okay, go back to sleep," I said soothingly.
"Mhm," she replied sleepily and closed her eyes.
It wasn't okay. My dream was way too close to reality.
I kept glancing at the girl with the pink hair in front of me. I had caused her pain. I had hurt her. I knew I would hurt her even more and I also knew that she didn't deserve that. But what should I do? I couldn't just leave her alone. Not in this state at least. Moreover, wouldn't it hurt her even more when she would be left alone again? Deadly tired, I fell asleep again, this time; my head was lying on her bed though.
I woke up freshly and happily. Ah, how great sleep could be. I turned around, not wanting to get up yet and saw Sasuke-kun lying with his head on my bed. Why was he lying there?! He looked so peaceful while he was asleep, it made me want to stroke his hair and kiss his beautiful features. It would probably wake him, so I decided against it, not wanting to wake him up already.
I didn't dare to move, so I laid there quietly, waiting till he would wake up himself.
I really felt a lot better today, for a great deal because of Sasuke-kun's great help. That made me realize, that he didn't have a blanket or anything thrown around his body. He must be very cold. Slowly and carefully, I pulled him into my bed. He didn't even blink, but curled up against me once he lay in position. He must've been deadly tired. I shivered from the coolness of his body and place my arms around him, only to fall asleep again myself.
As I woke up a few hours later, I was lying here all by myself again and smiled sadly. It must've been the circumstances that made him lose his collective nature and fall asleep on top of my bed. Feeling quite alright again, I got out of bed and saw a note swirling down. I caught it and smiled.
I went to fix us breakfast,
Sasuke.
Why had he become so thoughtful all of a sudden? I had no idea. Since I hadn't been able to do anything yesterday, I got one of my medic books and started reading again. Maybe, being here with Sasuke-kun wouldn't make me as sad as I'd thought before. With the help of a soldier pill, my strength should return easily. I tried some easy exercises and was finding myself capable of my usual chakra control again.
Satisfied and bouncing with energy, I slammed by book closed and got up. Time to change my clothes.
Happily, I started to sing while I grabbed my clothes and pulled my shirt out.
Without any warning, the door slammed open and horrified, I was staring at Sasuke-kun while being topless. At least he had the decency to color.
"Sa-Sasuke-kun," I managed to drag out flabbergasted and feeling very exposed. Realizing my nudity, I covered myself up quickly. "What are you doing here without knocking?" I asked beet red. This was so embarrassing!
"I brought us some breakfast," he replied, not looking at me directly. "As I can see, you're feeling a lot better now," he added, bringing me my share of the food. He seemed rather shy or at least embarrassed to walk in to me like that. It made me want to smile. He wasn't quite that bad indeed.
"Sakura, we need to talk," he suddenly said seriously. I put my food down and looked at his hands instead of his face.
"It's about our strategy. I want to talk these things through before we will encounter them," as he referred to Kisame and Itachi. I found out that he didn't like to be remembered of the fact that they indeed were brothers, the same flesh and blood.
"I don't know about your current weaknesses or strengths at all. I only know the girl you used to be." What he didn't add, I thought while finally facing him, was that he hoped I'd improved my other skills besides my medical knowledge as well. Otherwise I would turn out to be quite useless in the very end. That would be too ironic, since I couldn't go back either.
"Hai, I have improved," I answered the unspoken question hanging in the air. Doubt was still visible in his eyes though. "If you want to, we could pack our stuff and head east and spar halfway," I suggested. "I know I'm not at full strength yet, but with a soldier pill, things should speed up quite a bit."He kept staring at me, making me feel quite uncomfortable again.
"Aa," he nodded agreeing. "How far does your medical skill go?" he asked me and I smiled.
"There are rumors that I have surpassed Tsunade-sama," I replied smiling.
"So I heard," he muttered underneath his breath. He stood and walked over to his side of the room, picking up a scroll from his bed. He came back carrying it and opened it while he was seated next to me again.
He saw me looking and smirked. "This is your file."My file… I wondered.
"Kabuto's file about you. He was quite interested in you, since you aspired to become a medic. It's quite thorough. He filed everything, from the day you started to train to become a medic. Even when you were heading out to aid the Kazekage and you made the cures against that poison. He filed it all. Though the information about your other skills were quite limited and that made me worry. Apparently, glasses boy wasn't as interested in that aspect about you as I am," he looked assessing at me. "Of course I remember our interrogation and my broken nose, but other than that, I must admit that I'm still in the dark." He paused for me to comprehend and gave me time to say something. As I didn't use that time, he continued: "I think the best way to get to know your fighting style for me, is by experiencing it myself. Just promise me that your feelings won't blurry your focus. You can have feelings or whatsoever; just don't let them get in your way while you fight. Promise me," he looked me deep in the eyes but I couldn't answer.
"I can have feelings?" I slowly repeated moments later.
"I cannot forbid you to feel emotions. I'm not the boss of you, just don't let them interfere with my business," he replied.
I stared at him. He looked so gorgeous and I really couldn't resist him any longer. Yesterday, he had been there for me all day even though I was ill. He cared for me yesterday and I learned this new side to him, which I wanted to explore. He was always so closed about himself. I wanted to know more about Sasuke-kun. I didn't know if he cared for me or not, all I wanted was just to taste those lips again, feel his warm and strong body pressed against mine again. I loved him so much. The only thing that could make this difficult one-sided love of mine less painful would be his healing lips upon mine.
Before I could comprehend my actions, I was leaning in and pressed my longing lips against his, I couldn't care less about his reaction, but I hadn't expected what happened though.
Sasuke-kun stiffened at the first contact, but dropped the scroll he still had been holding in his hands and kissed me back.
His mouth felt wonderful upon mine and the memories from before flashed back into my mind.
When I finally pulled back for air, his eyes were blood red and he whispered: "Promise me, Sakura."
I was ready to promise anything and I nodded whispering out of breath my reply: "Aa, I promise," not really understanding what I'd been promising at all. "Sasuke-kun," I breathed as I recovered and kissed him once more. I didn't care about his feelings for me, if there were any to begin with. I just cared about how I felt needed at the moment, even though it was a different kind of need than mine, it still felt good.
Once again I thought: don't die, Sasuke-kun, don't die, I love you. Yet, I must've said it out loud, since he broke apart and started packing his stuff without saying anything.
Even though I felt horrible at the moment, it didn't feel as terrible as last time, since I still had yesterday's memory no matter what.
The darkness, now slowly moving out of the way to let the radiant light enter her heart. Maybe, she could warm up his heart as well.
Let me know what you think! A little bit of plot development here. I read so many different mangas and that's why they might seem a little bit OOC, hehe, sorry!
