Notes: this is a SasukeSakura collection
Disclaimer: not mine
Summary: "It's like setting out to make the impossible, possible. You can change things, you can make them see; but that in itself is the challenge." But we're going to do it anyways, right Sasuke?" "Aa."
Going After
By: Just Lovely.
Haruno Sakura swung her – blackened with dirt and mud crusted – converses to and fro against the grey building. Her pink hair blew against tainted air, vibrant against the fire smoke skies that curled in never-ending spirals into the heavens.
Konoha was burning. Slowly but surely, small red-orange flames licking the ground with temptation and poison, riding against high grey buildings until they fell and crumpled into debris and white-grey ashes.
She didn't hear any screams or shouts, the village a mere ghost in history with no citizens to bring it out of its despair. In a few more moments, Konoha would be no more, disappearing with no trace left behind but wreckage and blowing dust, the sole remnants of a once beautiful village that prospered and glowed.
Sakura got to her feet, tapping dust off her clothes with black stained hands and finger-combing tangled pink locks. "C'mon Sasuke. It's time to go," she said with the flick of a dainty wrist in his direction.
Uchiha Sasuke pushed himself off the grimy wall, tucking his hands into his pockets and stalked towards her. He stopped in front of her, cocking his head silently at the door.
She nodded slowly at him. "Konohagakure is dying." she murmured with a small downward quirk of her lips and slipped through to the escape. He followed after and the door melted to dust.
...-...
There had been a lot more of them, enough to crowd five tents that slowly dwindled down to two per tent. It hadn't been a very tragic thing, one by one dying off every few days or so, a small stone head burial and that had been that. Nothing big and nothing small, simple yet meaningful. They got out of the misery, they got out of the mess and left everything else, everyone else, behind.
The sun had disappeared behind the tall trees, the sky a quaint indigo hue behind dirt and animal life. The fire glowed softly in its rock lined circle, the flames flickering red, orange, and yellow lights onto ashen faces until one by one, they retreated into their tents for the night.
Sakura crouched closer to the warmth, the light dancing across her in soft flickers as she pulled her knees up to her chest against the quiet night, she let a sigh escape her.
It was hours later from the last time she had last heard his voice, and it felt longer than that.
"You should get some sleep," he said quietly, his form a shadow that slowly defined into the body of a young adult rebel with each step that brought him closer.
Sakura shook her head, eyelids translucent as they fluttered opened and closed. "It's my watch, Sasuke."
Sasuke's strides were long, taking only mere seconds to close the distance between them. He wrapped a firm grip around her arm and with a smooth tug, she was up, swaying slowly from side to side, leaning half her weight against him.
"It's my watch." she repeated, but there was no fight or steel left in her voice, and he distantly wondered when she had lost her spirit.
"Well it's mine now." Sasuke replied tersely and gently nudged her over to their tent. Not refusing at all, Sakura obliged and her pink head disappeared into the camouflaged tent.
Sasuke hadn't missed the darkened skin below her tired eyes or her slouched – with fatigue and restlessness – form. It hadn't been a long time since he'd been by her side, a few hours at least and a day at most. But leading the rebel group had seemed to drain her, wearing her thin; but Sakura was stubborn and strong, thick headed and fire-willed, too independent to ask or accept help.
She, like the rest of the rebels, wanted a conclusion to the foolish war. A war that had blossomed in quick haste to gain firearms, to gain a fear-forcing reputation, to gain whatever they could salvage from what they had destroyed.
Sasuke let out a long sigh, tossing a thin twig into the flickering fire as finally, peaks of light shined through the forest leaves.
The sun bled red and yellow, staining a peacock blue sky with streaks of fresh colours. Bright incandescent rays pooled on the dirt ground, streaming through the camouflaged flap of the tent.
The sunshine was warm on Sakura's skin but bright on her eyes; blearily blinking, she gazed all around.
Sakura could hear the faint rustles of blankets being thrown aside from the other tents, the noise scratching against the slippery fabric were hands and feet as they scrambled to hurriedly get dressed.
Her green eyes flickered toward the tent entrance, meeting Sasuke's obsidian gaze halfway.
There was an odd sentiment in his eyes, flashing in the semi-darkness but it slowly became familiar to her. Sakura kicked off the blankets and leaped out of the sleeping bag encasement, she rushed out of the tent without a word, a frantic sober look upon her features.
He didn't follow her, and Sakura hadn't expected him to. But her heart tugged all the same, whether with pain at the horrid news she knew would be enlightened upon her arrival, or the lack of a certain Uchiha's presence.
The tent entrance was crowded with pale distraught faces, the rebels moved as one entity, parting along the middle to let her through. And it was then, at the moment of placing one foot in front of the other that Sakura recognized the tent, she paled with fright and ducked almost unwillingly under the mint green flap.
She didn't dare glimpse at her surroundings, her pink hair obstructing her view as she kept her green eyes forward and unwavering.
Rock Lee lay unmoving in the sleeping bag, his arms limp at his sides and eyes closed in what would look like sleep but unfortunately wasn't. For his chest did not heave with life and his nose nor his mouth inhaled air, he looked like a waxed figure; each limb in place and characteristically immobile.
His green backpack perched just in reach beside him was closed, his usual green spandex suit was folded neatly over top it in preparation for the long journey the next day. But there wasn't going to be one for him; no more youthful treks through the forest, no more frivolous early morning laps and no more living.
But he had parted in peace. Unknown to what was coming, struck while vulnerable, but finally free from the twisted grip of war and struggle.
Subconsciously, Sakura moved his black hair aside from his face, her fingertips lightly grazing the cold skin of a familiar face as memories surged through to the surface and stung her green eyes with tears. Deftly, she could hear the blond rebel beside her speak, his clear enunciated words nothing but unwanted facts. She could feel the weight of his hand on her shoulder as he told her what he knew, his hand telling her to get a grip of herself and prepare the funeral because her crying was no use to anyone. Especially Bushy Brows.
Uzumaki Naruto shooed the rebel groups away, his face an emotionless mask as he tugged Sakura after him.
There was idle chatter amongst the people, their words carrying over heads in the soft dawn breeze. Their tones were distressed, their faces tense with anxiety as news quickly spread like wildfire, no mind not yet knowing. The death of Rock Lee represented more than a typical one that the rebels had grown accustomed to, it seemed to bring about the true ugliness of living in the wild as they fought for survival.
Funeral arrangement routine fell into schedule. Rebels' faces weren't as grim as they were at sun break, but sadness still clung in their faded eyes despite their efforts to look on the bright side of things. Because Lee wouldn't have wanted anything close to negativity.
Naruto led a quiet Sakura swiftly by the hand through the camp site.
She was numb, not quite feeling the rough dirt beneath her mud-caked converses as she placed one foot in front of the other, doll-like. The moment seemed prolonged, as if time was moving at a tiny snail's pace, her mind didn't recognize the difference as it flickered down memory lane.
Lee was dead, that fact still struck abnormally at her, like it was some sick joke that he and Naruto had come up with. But in the back of her mind, Sakura knew Lee would never do that; it was low, even for Naruto and to be honest, the blond boy could hit all kinds of low but nothing so drastic. Especially with the way they'd been living.
She could faintly hear sniffling, and the murmured soothing words of a young rebel as he soothed his friend. Sakura turned her head just slightly to see, blurred brown hair and the familiar bright fuchsia of an asian girl's shirt... Tenten. And the boy with her was probably Neji, both of them close friends of Lee. Sakura turned her head away, hot tears sliding down her cheeks.
Naruto stopped, then, his feet planted firmly on the ground but his hand still guiding Sakura – like a puppet on string – forward into the tent. Her fingers felt cold against his; despite the heat, he could feel a chill pass through him every time he chanced a glance at her. Her fingers fell away from his, no longer grasping like she was afraid he'd disappear too and then the blond left.
...-...
Rain fell in steady sheets, the cold water splashing onto uncovered heads.
Rain drops slid down Sakura's cheeks and though her eyes were blood-shot, her mind a mess; she did not cry. Her small fists were balled up at her sides, arms dotted like goose flesh and her body was shaking. With a last murmur of goodbye, the crowd behind her parted and she stood at the front alone with the headstone.
Thunder pounded in the angry grey skies, the rain fell faster and faster into the dirt ground, the sound like rocks crashing into glass. This time, Sakura flinched as if the world was crashing down on her.
"I'm destined to lead everyone to death." she stated nonchalantly into the frigid air, arms wrapped around her mid-section, trying to hold herself together at the seams.
Sasuke scoffed from behind her. His arms were crossed as he gazed coolly at her back. "You sound like Hyuuga."
"I also sound like the bringer of death."
"And like Hyuuga," he continued, as if she hadn't spoken, "his destiny crap is often wrong."
Sakura didn't reply.
...-...
Sakura led them deeper, longer and faster. Her mind creating inner turmoil while the stiff weight upon her shoulders increased ten-fold.
The sun stretched and waned, disappearing into the horizon as it left darkness in its wake. Shadows crept across the barrier of trees, a blanket of night falling down as the rebels stumbled about the region, scrapping for vacant spots in the earth to set up sleeping bags.
A pair of twigs sparked, a neon flicker before the clump of sticks erupted in flames, lighting like unwavering hope. Hope, that was soon put out with quick moving hands and a spiked whisper.
Sasuke's figure was shady, moving around like a shadow as he reorganized the group of rebels together.
"They're here." he announced once, loud enough for the shivering wind to carry it through the lines of trees.
Sakura stiffened, still kneeling on the ground as her mind processed the words. An icy feeling of dread washed over her, numbing her mind to hear the footfalls, the scratch of fabric on fabric, as their pursuers neared.
Sasuke hauled her up, gently – always gently like handling thin glass – and placed her firmly in front of him. He held her with a strong grip as he looked eye-level with her. "They're coming, Sakura."
His voice sounded alarmingly soft, like a last heart-wrenching goodbye. She shivered as she looked at him, unable to maintain the gaze and it felt like a damn goodbye.
"I'll come find you." he whispered, quietly, consoling though unsure of his own words.
Sakura could barely hear him over the loud thumping in her head, it screamed at her, shouting and yelling like she should have seen this coming. Because Sasuke wasn't coming back, Sasuke wasn't going to come find her, Sasuke wasn't going to live.
It weighed down one world at a time.
Through the shuffling of feet and the murmuring of lips, she looked at him. Really looked at him, through long raven locks and depth-less obsidian irises to where she knew he was letting her go and caging himself in her place.
"Don't die okay, Sasuke? Not until we get back to where it all started, not until I can say goodbye. Not until... not until I know everything is ending." Sakura pressed her forehead against his, their noses grazing as she shut her eyes against the inevitable, tears pricking the corners of her eyes.
He promised her as he pushed her away; the loud bang of gun shots thundering around them. Rebels scattered and ran.
...-...
Small tears tread down her cheeks every so often, flushing her face pink as her legs pumped rhythmically faster from under her. Pink hair was wildly flying behind her against the wind, a flashing beacon to their pursuers and a signal to the rebels who followed her step after step after step.
The echoes died away, shrouded by distance and the density of the trees around them. Sakura kept running until everything became blurs, kept running until she was certain that safety was in their grasp, kept running, running, and running.
...-...
The blue water gleamed, colour reflected from the clear skies above as a soft humming sounded from passing birds. It was the few pieces of peace that the rebels had had in a while, stolen moments for relaxation and recuperation. But the silence that had befallen them was deafening, sometimes even frightening as they travelled from place to place. The rebels were uneasy with the quiet and lack of communication, sometimes not a word at all being spoken was worse than the sudden death of one of their own.
The stiffness was unsettling, Naruto mused, so ironically like Sasuke in every aspect that it sometimes made him cringe in thinking about it. Because Sasuke was assumed to be dead. An icy feeling swam over him, unpleasantly heavy with worry; but he refused to believe the thought. It wouldn't have felt right if he had; no proof, no evidence, no body. Sasuke was alive, he was sure of it, as sure in the knowledge of it as he knew it would tear Sakura apart if he said anything regarding the subject. It was off-limits, so he kept his mouth shut.
Sakura gulped in cool, fresh air, the sudden cold hitting the back of her throat as she swept her head back to meet the warmth of the sun's rays. She shut her eyes against the bright white light of the stars, feeling the wind pick up underneath the dirty tips of her rough fingers as her mind groped to fall to some sort of conclusion to the past events. They were still too raw, too close, too painful to think about – SasukeSasukeSasuke.
She fell back against the lush green grass and let herself come to a blank. Sakura didn't want to be disappointed, just like how she didn't want to lead the rebels – there was no definite location, destination, or clue to lead the way.
She didn't know whether she was leading them to safety or to death.
...-...
The ground was hard and dry, the grass a yellowing shade of green underneath the round, dead stumps of trees long gone from the surface. The fields were slowly dying out, leaving behind a scarce reminder of what used to stand tall and alive.
Sakura delved them deeper, trekking on more sand than dirt as the image of the fields faded behind their backs. The rebels were breaking into sand territory, a long distance away from the village itself but it was an accomplishment nonetheless.
The rebels set up camp, heavy packs thudding and slightly sinking into the grainy earth as in moments, tents sprung up and the centre fire gave out its first crackles in the new territory.
Sakura resided outside in the blackness of the night. The sky held no stars, a waning crescent moon hung on invisible threads as she looked for the dust trails of shooting stars, hoping for a once-in-a-lifetime assistance, wishing for a sign that she was heard.
Tiny, dimly lit red orbs hovered in her sight, appearing unexpectedly as they flew about randomly from one direction to another. There was a very quiet buzz, unheard if she hadn't strained her ears and bent her head. The sound was soothing in the lonesome night of her insecurity.
Fireflies, Sakura thought to herself, finding a thin, frail hand reaching up from her side to capture the creature, to hold it between trembling fingers and feel the heat of its light and the fluttering of its life. She envied their freedom and liberation as they flew easily away from her, wings soaring through the air in crisscrossing arcs as they danced teasingly in front of her green eyes. It was impossible to catch something so small with her big, disgraceful excuse for hands – like it was impossible to believe that she would lead her rebels to safety, like she would find Sasuke alive.
Tears stung the back of her eyes, shimmering a faded scarlet as they fell onto her hands.
Sakura was tempted to give up, then and there.
...-...
It was the first thing Naruto noticed a few hours before dawn: Sakura's tent wasn't up.
The wind had picked up since the night before, a foggy cloud of sand fazed his vision as frantic cerulean eyes peered into the semi-darkness. It couldn't have been blown away, he thought to himself, it was too unlikely. But then, where was Sakura?
In his moment's hesitation, Sakura had already covered roughly three miles. Her backpack stuck to her back, sticky with sweat, her pace slowly dwindling against the sharp gusts of blowing sand as she moved consistently forward. There was no time to waste, she primly reminded herself, none but what was already wasted to make up for.
...-...
Naruto wasn't bright nor dim, an average sort of in-between. He didn't fall into the instinctual action of running out to find Sakura nor did he fall into a panicked state; he remained as calm as possible, level-headed despite having a very logical – and right – assumption in mind.
He searched around the exterior of his tent, tentative hands skimming across the surface as deftly, his fingers found a crumpled piece of paper pinned stiffly and securely at the back of his shelter.
The blond's friend had been straight-forward in her well-chosen words, not stalling at all as she stated her intentions: Sakura was leaving him in charge of the rebels as she went to find Sasuke, telling the blond to send a message to her as soon as they arrived into the bordered neutral security of Sunagakure – she'd be doing the same when she found the Uchiha.
Naruto's fingers started to shake, slightly fumbling with the fragility of the note against the wind. He gazed at the spot he had left her last, the coals and stones gone, charred twigs remnants of her fire. He held his chin up against the bright streaks of dawn and concentrated on his new task; he had a group to lead.
...-...
The sun was burning, blazing against a faded blue sky.
Sakura dipped in and out of the shadows, her hair gathered into a pink ponytail high and tight at the back of her head as sweat built up behind her neck. She moved quickly, not stopping to eat or drink – essentials she did as she moved. It felt like days since she had last been with the rebels, but only thirty-six hours in reality. The soles of her worn converses were thick with mud and torn grass strands. She didn't quite notice she had stopped until a few minutes later when the scenery began to differ.
The grass wasn't green as it had previously been, it was a scorched black and brown. The whole area was now a clearing of ashes and death. Sakura could see the ring where the fire had been lain, licking up everything that had remained inside its lengthy body. She could still smell the acrid scent of burning, visualizing the sickly grey plumes of smoke curling up and staining life with its opposite: death.
She didn't know what to think, she could feel the relief marring her thin face. Nothing was distinguishable in the place, nothing could tell her that Sasuke had lived... or died.
Sakura took a shuffling step forward, dead grass giving way under her weight as green eyes stared all around. She let a small breath escape her and ambled out the clearing. There were still a million more possibilities to search.
...-...
She was running and chasing, chasing and running – her vibrant pink hair trailing after her. The trees were varying in colour as she streamed past them. Green, brown, red, orange, yellow and white – ashes and ashes all around.
Sakura turned left, ran straight for a while and then cut a sharp right, the thick tree branches scratching at her skin. There was a bubbly feeling in her stomach, working its way up to her throat and she could almost taste it, feel the fizzing on the tip of her tongue as she moved faster and faster.
The trees were healthier as the distance behind her increased; greener and taller, just like how she remembered them to be. The dirt beneath her feet seemed the same, void of footprints and imprints, clear from any disturbance but the other pair of tracks that ran along hers, like they were leading her, tracing the route beside her. There was a faint scent in the air, fresh and smoky like the air above a carefully, specifically conjured fire made with the thick bark ripped from old trees and the fresh green of young leaves.
Hope was tugging painfully at her heart, strumming the aching chords quickly and strongly; moving in sync with her rapid breathes. The air whistled and buzzed in her ears. Sakura couldn't stop. She was too close, too near, to let it go now.
Smoke was curling above the pointed tops of fir trees, a light grey that resembled storm clouds, the ones known in Konoha for their rebounding thunder echoes. Her green eyes already caught sight of his profile, his dark hair stuck up at the back, shoulders and back ram rod straight.
Sakura emerged from the trees, making no sound at all as her feet hit the padded earth.
His head whipped toward her nonetheless, alert and pinched with an alarmed expression, guarded.
She'd never seen the look on his face, the way it had turned so instinctively that it threw her off from the usual indifference she was so used to. It made her shiver and tremble wondering how it had come to be like he was broken. But the look was quick to slip off, like rain off a glass window, and then he was looking at her with relief instead of fear.
"Sakura," his voice was warm and relaxed in her ear, she didn't even remember taking those final steps to him but somewhere, she did; and as she did, his arms had enveloped her so carefully, bending around her overwhelmed frame.
Her fingers were white, clenching tightly onto the front of his blue shirt like he'd disappear again, somewhere in her mind, she could hear her voice like a mantra, repeating the same words over again: follow him and find him, follow him and find him.
Sakura felt his breath in her ear, fanning over her cheek. She let her terror rush out of her as she said his name with the love it always deserved, "Sasuke."
...-...
He had ran. Ran as far as he could, as fast as he could until he was sure she was gone, she was safe, she was away. It was later that he was certain that their pursuers had not followed, and he had gone to investigate.
Sakura had stopped listening after that, her pink hair limp and dry around her face as she pressed herself closer to him. But it was never close enough, not enough to gain back the distance from him she had to endure. She let herself sleep, knowing – finally – that he was okay.
...-...
Back to square one, Sakura mused to herself. It was the first time she had seen the final state of Konohagakure, the crumpled, the mangled, the destruction. She felt Sasuke's long fingers against her own, smoothing them straight from their previous curled up and fisted state.
"It's different." he said quietly.
Sakura bit back the sarcastic retort on her lips. Of course it was different, but it was different bad, a different that reduced Konoha to ashes.
The silence thudded around them.
"Do you think they're every going to stop?" Sakura asked but she couldn't help but think how childish her question sounded, how innocent and afraid she was.
Sasuke let a few moments pass by before answering. "Which answer do you want?" he murmured softly.
"The honest one."
Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "I don't think they will... but forming the rebel group may open their eyes. It's like setting out to make the impossible, possible. You can change things, you can make them see; but that in itself is the challenge."
Sakura let a small fleeting smile cross her lips as she looked over at him. "But we're going to do it anyways, right Sasuke?"
He could see the fire in her eyes, the determination and perseverance learnt from her own experiences flashing back at him. She didn't want anyone else feeling hurt as she had been, was, thinking she had lost him.
He agreed wistfully. "Aa."
Hey guys, it's been a while! I've had this file withering away in my folder, rusting and tarnishing since early 2011. So I thought I'd fix it up, smoothing over the edges and sharpening the words until near perfect; and lo and behold, it appears.
Thank you to everyone who's alerted/favourited/reviewed so far, I haven't forgotten about this little collection! And I hope you enjoyed it, review!