I'm SO very sorry this is late! It was supposed to be up last night, for Halloween. But things were chaotic! Soooo, here it is, slightly late. I hope everyone had a happy halloween, and that you enjoy this chapter. Please forgive me and my tardiness! Now, enjoy it, and if you have obsene amounts of candy around, maybe you can snack on that while reading?
-Lady-of-Laughter
Thankfully Sakura only had to deal with one mind, beside her own, in her head. Usually she only had her three best friends, and they were as easy to listen to or block out as breathing and they were all happy to keep their thoughts to themselves. It would have driven her crazy to have so many voices for so long in her mind if she had been forced to touch all of Team Hawk. The Jutsu was meant for one, maybe two for long periods of time, more than that for too long and the mind could shut down.
But with the four girls taking one person at a time, it made it remarkably easy. Sakura had been the only one volunteered, by the other girls of course, to take Sasuke. No one wanted to be in his head, least of all her. But they had insisted, and Sakura had been given no choice, Kakashi had backed up the choice, stating that she would know him best and would be better at reading him than the others.
At the moment Sasuke was listening to Karin rant, something about 'that pathetic pink haired freak.' It drifted through his mind but was dismissed in favor of a nice tomato just calling him from the table. So it seemed that Karin was in a fine and dandy mood tonight! Pathetic freak indeed! Sakura snorted out a string of threats, not that anyone, let alone Karin, could hear her.
Had Karin not seen what Sakura had done earlier to those two men? Thoroughly outraged, Sakura knew that if there wasn't a promise on her behalf to not kill them, Sakura would kill her. Almost comically a debate rose in Sasuke's mind. Abandon the team and have ten ANBU watching his every move, or sit and starve while the red fruit beckoned him. Sasuke must have gone clinically insane while he was away; this was an irrelevant and nonsensical debate.
Who debated over walking four steps to grab a tomato or to stay and stare at it like a starved wolf? The nut job had lost it and she was in his head! It was only a matter of time before she went stir crazy too. She only hoped that TenTen, Ino and Hinata could keep her sane, she would do her best by them also. Sakura knew Ino was going to be ready to kill Karin, she had only heard a tiny bit of the rant, but Ino heard it all. And Ino was very protective of her best friends. Now there was a fun thought! Let Ino torture Karin, yes that sounded promising indeed!
Sasuke's thoughts drifted to Juugo as the man sat talking to a bird. He understood the man's impulses, which was helping Sakura at the moment. She was getting valuable information from Sasuke's mind about the man and his situation. That he voluntarily locked himself away from the world to stop himself from hurting others was admirable and Sakura was ready to help him.
Besides, Sakura liked Juugo. People may have said that he was something of a simpleton, but that didn't bothers her if it was true. And something told Sakura it wasn't, he was simply enjoying the little things, like birds. Sasuke couldn't tell, but she had seen intelligence in his eyes, she would talk to Hinata about him later. She was sure she could help him, something she was determined to do. Other than that, he seemed like a nice, quiet and helpful guy, not counting the rages.
Then Sasuke's thoughts turned to Suigetsu. The guy was jabbering on like a magpie, and Sakura couldn't help but smile, the guy was talking about her. That he thought she was beautiful and a good ninja made her want to laugh, Sasuke's thoughts were in chaos. He didn't like it one bit, he didn't want Sakura to be strong or some powerful ancient something-or-other! He didn't want her to be so independent, and he most certainty did not want her to look the way she did, of all things she could have grown to be, she had to grow to be and look like that.
If Sakura hadn't found his rebellious and raging thoughts so very comical as he fell into a darker and darker mood, she would have been offended at his turbulent thoughts. But as it was, the faces of the team he was with, as well as his reaction to Suigetsu's words, had her laughing. They were truly frightened of him, all but his brother of course. Itachi simply raised an eyebrow and smirked at his little brother. A smirk lifted her lips, one that could rival both Uchiha brothers for pride, and thought of his last thoughts, which he was studiously ignoring and trying to forget.
Shutting her mind off from listening to Sasuke's thoughts, Sakura smiled. Yeah, she wasn't twelve anymore, and her body could prove it. If that wasn't enough, Suigetsu was pointing it out every half second. Sighing in contentment Sakura got out and toweled dry before changing into her pajamas. Walking out to her room Sakura smiled and moved to stand at the bed in the corner of her room. Her bed was on the other side of the room, but this one held Sakura's most precious person.
Taimu slept in his bed, his four year old little body a reminder of their mother. His medium brown hair was silken to her touch as Sakura smoothed his hair from his forehead. His eyes, now closed in sleep, were light green with brown flecks. Gently lifting him in her arms Sakura placed a kiss on his temple as her eyes looked at the bed. The brown sheets and red blanket were rumpled, but what caught her eye was the braided ribbon on the edge of his white pillow; it always did.
Through a hole in the pillow case was the braided ribbon, making a bow. The colors of the strands of braid were two pink and one red. Biting her lip Sakura shut her eyes and inhaled Taimu's scent. He stirred but fell back to sleep with little prompting. The bow represented the three people. The red stood for their father and the two pink strands for their mother and the baby that had been lost.
No one had known that Sakura's mother carried twins, but when the doctors had tried to save the baby and failed, they had unwittingly found a second one, miraculously untouched and healthy. The female child had been in a position that shielded Taimu from most injury, and as the medics pulled the babies from the womb of the dying mother, one was found to be a squalling baby boy with only five cuts and gashes, sadly the female lay still and cold.
Setting Taimu down on his bed and covering him with the blankets, Sakura got comfortable in her own bed before letting the blissful oblivion of sleep to take her away. Once asleep her mind automatically shut away the connection that linked her mind and Sasuke's together. Instead it conjured up memories of her childhood, the deaths of her parents, and the lost little child that she would never get to meet. Her little sister never got a chance to live, and she never got to hold the beautiful baby girl that was Taimu's twin, Airi.
Airi meant Beloved Jasmine, Sakura's parents had never been able to name the twins, but Sakura knew that there were two flowers her mother had loved, cherry blossoms and jasmine. In memory of her mother's favored flowers, Sakura had named the baby girl and had it written on the headstone of the tiny grave which sat beside the two larger headstones of their parents.
After two days of staying hidden, Sakura had been informed of the life they had saved. After a month in the hospital Taimu had been released to her care. He had three long cuts, two on his left leg and one on his left arm. And two gashes, one on his forehead and another on his chest. Sakura had given Taimu his name as a remembrance of their father. He had always wanted a son; it had been his biggest and most talked of dream. And so in memory of her father, Sakura had named her brother Taimu: Big Dream.
Sorrow filled her at the loss of family, and in the haze of pain her mind sought something else, anything else to distract her from the truth of reality. Unfortunately for Sakura her mind chose the one other being that she did not want to think about. Even in his sleep she could get inside his head, but he wouldn't be able to get inside hers, unless she wanted him to. In a time of danger Sakura could call Sasuke's mind to her, to speak to him and make him hear her thoughts, but only she could initiate the link to let him into her mind. And she had no intention of letting him into her mind anytime soon. Because really, who would even want such a thing? Not her.
So with one subject of pain avoided, another took its place. Memories of childhood, of training, fighting with and against Sasuke welled up like a wave. Something was different about him, although she could not put a finger on it. Thoughts and pictures filtered into her head, emotions she had long since put to rest, knocked at the firmly shut doors of her mind. But a subtle shift changed her thoughts; instead some power, beyond what she knew, touched her submitting force.
A swell of familiarity and longing, like a feather over her senses, awakened in her mind. Love like a vice around her heart disturbed her mind. She neither understood, nor recognized the pull of her senses. The touch of power quailed away as she shifted uneasily in sleep. Of its own accord the Kōgō inside reached out, wanting to again touch the familiar force. Yet it was not there, vanished into the night like a shadow in sudden light.
With its loss Sakura's fumbled mind changed back to her family, and the horror of loss tore from her lips the cries she had stuffed deep for so long. They did not last long, for the cries of Taimu awakened her. Her sob had woken him, and in the darkness the weeping had frightened him.
Sitting up Sakura shook her head to remove the memories while wiping the tracks of fallen tears from her face. Breathing deeply, concentrating only on her breaths, she moved her knees toss her legs over the side of the bed. She stood, feeling slightly wobbly as she moved. And not just the physical feeling, like her stomach was in knots and her legs were jelly. Something felt different, not wrong per say, but off.
Her eyes flashed to the window, the familiar feeling of eyes watching her making her jumpy. She saw nothing, even going so far as to step to the window and look out with the critical eye of a ninja showed her nothing. She scowled into the darkness, wishing something would pop up to set her at easy. Or better yet have someone show themselves, if not someone she could dismiss, then someone she could hurt. But after a moment, when nothing moved or made a sound she uneasily admitted that it was probably a ninja running a patrol past her window.
Behind her the small cries of her brother had turned into loud shrieks. He was obviously unaware of whatever made his sister upset, and he showed it by screaming like a branding iron had been settled onto his skin. With a shake of her head Sakura expelled a long breath, forcing herself to turn from the window and attend to her family.
Moving quietly to his small bed Sakura lifted Taimu into her arms, murmuring softly to him that he was safe. Gently swaying with his shuddering body in her protective embrace she buried her face in his neck, inhaling the smell of Taimu. Recalling a lullaby from her childhood, Sakura took up the tune in a soft humming near Taimu's ear. Enjoying the warmth of his body and the calmingly steady beat of his heart Sakura chocked back the tears of loss and focused on the comfort of life.
After only a few minutes he was sleeping and Sakura cuddled him to her body as she moved back to her bed. Sometimes it was hard to grasp the reality of it all. But holding Taimu this way, holding him close and being reminded with every breath, every movement and every heartbeat convinced her that he was indeed real.
And even though she had become a mother to her brother, gaining all the stress, worry and situations that came with raising a child, it was all worth it. She would do it again, given the chance, to step from older sister to the position of mother, benefactor and guardian. Because in this world, where she had lost so much, he was real and he was hers.
Taimu slept safely next to her, with him in the cradle of her arms, Sakura drifted into a peaceful sleep of true rest. Her mind cleared of all distress in the wake of Taimu's calming presence and complete trust.
There it is...review? let me know what you think? And I know that the whole 'her family was killed and now she's upset and understands Sasuke's bitterness' has been done. (by me as well as others) BUT: don't think this is anything like my last story, or any others...this one is going to be different, and I'll tell you now, I don't think you'll see it coming when the whole thing is revealed. I'm totally excited! I hope will be too!
-Lady-of-Laughter