A/N: Well, one year has passed and everyone's a year older now (obviously). Oh, by the way, I'm changing something: Naruto WILL return to Konoha today. This is in Sasuke's Point-of-View. Oh, sorry about this: This will be another short chapter. Apparently, I became addicted with Pokémon… If you have no idea of what I'm talking about, please go look at our profile. It's important.

空の絆: Bonds of the Sky
CH 7: One Year, Many Secrets

That girl… She wasn't normal… She was more than a little girl.

Those recurring dreams had repeated so many times that I became tired of it. By the time I started getting sick – literally – of it, I realized who that little girl. The little girl who was with me for a year, the one who stayed beside me, the one who would thank me so enthusiastically, the one who seemed to be so oblivious to the dangers around her, the one who would sometimes curse at me, the one who was smart for a six-year-old, the one whose reflexes and knowledge was just like hers.

It hit me. Ayame was not the girl I thought she was. Ayame was not the six-year-old that I slightly cared for. Ayame was not Sakura's cousin.

Ayame… was Sakura.

~.~.~

Only half a year had passed since I knew "Ayame's" true identity. I have absolutely no idea why I wouldn't say anything. I just couldn't. Perhaps it was the fact that Sakura disguised herself as a little girl this whole time without showing a single sign. Maybe I just chose to be oblivious. It could be that I didn't want her to know that I knew.

Whatever it was… I was certainly not enjoying the awkward feeling I had every time I was with her… or when she was with me.

Right now it was breakfast and Aya… Sakura… was keeping quiet, trying to avoid Orochimaru and Kabuto. I can understand why she would, but I don't get how she can be this good.

I put down my spoon and left the table. Sakura finished her breakfast in one bite and followed me.

Ugh, that awkward feeling came up again. I slightly sped up my pace and I heard her footsteps speed up too. Before I knew it, I was walking very fast and her chasing after me. We were nearing my room.

"Will you slow down?" she yelled after me. Sakura tripped and nearly fell to the ground.

My body reacted and caught her in time. I cringed. Really…? I never thought anyone could actually make me cringe. I took a hesitant breath.

"Be careful."

"How can I be careful when you're walking at a pace I can't even catch up to?" Sakura continued to pant. "Why are you keep pacing so fast? Did I do something?" My eyes darted back and forth, checking if anyone was near us. I grabbed her and entered my room. "Ow! Hey, let go of me, bastard!"

I couldn't take it anymore. I grew frustrated having to deal with this while knowing her real secret. I threw her on her bed behind the window, gritting my teeth. "Why are you doing this?" I growled lowly.

"Why? Why am I doing this?" Sakura repeated. "Don't get me started, Uchiha. You just grabbed me out of nowhere and threw me on your freakin' bed!"

I crossed my arms, feeling myself stiffen. "That's not what I mean."

Sakura raised a brow, rolling her eyes. "Then, what do you mean?"

That was it. I slammed my hands on the bed and got face-to-face with her. "Why are you doing this, Sakura?" I snarled. "I know it's you. It hit me six months ago, Sakura, six months!" I didn't know what else to say. All I was able to do is growl at her while she was scared and frightened of me. "Why are you Ayame? Why in the world are you like this?"

"Y-you… knew?"

"It has been six months since I knew." My brows furrowed as my hand covered my face. "How long are you going to keep this up?" Then, she did the most unexpected thing. She punched me. "What the fuck was that for?"

"You want to know why? You want to know why and how I ended up here?" Sakura snarled. "It was only a simple mission until those fucking sound ninjas came around! They ambushed me and tried to take me away! I had to turn into what I am now!" She started stomping across the room, flailing her arms about and screaming at me.

It was only a few minutes until she fell on her knees. Her body started to tremble.

Normally, I'd be indifferent to signs like that, but strangely, she was making it difficult to be. "Are you crying?"

"Just kill me, Sasuke."

"What?"

Sakura raised her head and her eyes were red… from anger. "I told you to kill me!" She attempted to suppress her explosion. "I lied to you about having a dead family, my identity, and everything else!" She sat in a fetal position and dug her head into her knees. "How can you not kill me when I lied about something you experienced?"

I bit my thumb, not knowing what to do. It was true. I've realized that a long time ago, but the thing is… I didn't have the urge to kill her. "I don't know. I don't know why I wouldn't kill you." My eyes were glued on her. "I already knew about the family lie. I just couldn't find a reason to kill you."

"Yeah, right," she hissed. "I'm pretty sure you were angry about it."

"I was, but there was no reason to kill you."

"Ha!" Her head threw back in laughter. "Why? Is it because Itachi, your brother, is the only person you want to kill?" She rolled her eyes and moved to the window. "Nothing will come out of killing him, idiot."

I gritted my teeth. "You don't know anything." She does know. "You don't know how it feels to have the person close to you betray you." I crossed my arms. "Don't tell me that there'll be nothing. I never want to hear it come out from your mouth again."

She only sat there, looking out the window. "Whatever."

~.~.~

I couldn't train today. My mind was preoccupied with Sakura. I sat down on a log, rubbing my head. This is ruining everything.

"If you're not going to kill me, what are you going to do with me?" I looked up to see Sakura, looking up at me with a stern expression. "You know you can't keep me here as long as you know that Ayame is actually Sakura." She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to tell you something that you might already know about."

My eyes glanced at her. "…"

She chuckled. "It's so ironic, really."

"Get to the point."

Sakura let out a groan of frustration. Her lips suddenly moved up in to a smile. She chuckled. "I keep telling myself that I despise you…" Strangely, that nearly sent me into a negative feeling. "… yet I still love you." She picked up a thick branch that was bigger than the size of her current hands. She broke it in half within a second. "I really hate that feeling."

"Hn." I couldn't find myself to ignore her. It became so hard. "Ayame" really softened me up… "You are making things beyond difficult for me…" I accidentally muttered.

"Oh, well, excuse me!" Sakura scoffed. "Don't blame me for your mistakes. It's not my fault you decided to protect me and everything. It's not my fault you helped me. It's not my fault you took care of me."

The room was silent and soon enough, we were having a glaring session.

I was the one to break it. "You are so annoying."

Sakura's glare shattered and her head lowered. "Those words… I wonder why it's so true…" She looked up at the blue sky, her lips pursed in a neutral line. "I would really love to aim those back at you…" she paused, "… with just a bit more acrimony."

A question suddenly arose in my head. "Oh, oh yeah…"

"What now?"

"How long are or can you be in this condition…?"

She raised a brow. "… Condition?"

I pointed to her. "You as Ayame, idiot."

"Oh." Her shoulders slumped as her face dropped. "About that…" She scratched the back of her head. "I'm going to be stuck like this until some… paranormal-like technique breaks it." She shrugged. "Who knows…? I might even be stuck like this for the rest of my life."

I stood up. "Well, if you can keep up this disguise for a year, you can keep it up for a few more months." I looked out the window. It was almost time for my plan to begin. I felt my hand grasp my sword, which felt cold against my skin. "It's almost time…"

"Time… for what?"

My eyes looked up, realizing that I said that out loud. "Nothing." I lied on my bed. My eyes closed, but my mind was wide open. Now that Sakura knew I figured out her identity, she would probably plan to kill me or escape.

~.~.~

It turns out that I was wrong.

Hours had passed and Sakura hasn't made or shown one sign of either of those options. She just silently sat by the window on her bed. She sighed once in a while, but it wasn't bothersome. I opened my eyes again and glanced at the window. Sakura was still there, staring outside. It became dusk and the stars were beginning to appear.

"Hn." I turned over to my side, facing the wall. It was almost dinnertime, but I wasn't hungry.

"I'm going to go to the dining room to get dinner. Do you want anything?"

Since when did she change moods and decide to be motherly?

"…" I stayed silent, hoping she would just leave. After I heard the door click, I knew she left. I sat up from my bed and stared at the door. Something was giving me a bad vibe… maybe it's because I'm letting her go without me. I don't think anything's going to happen to her.

After what felt like an hour, Sakura came back in. When I looked at the clock, half an hour had passed by.

She threw me a large, red apple and went to the window again. "You don't need choo eat if you don't want choo." I felt my eyebrows furrow. Did she just say… 'choo'? "I didn't poison it, either."

Sakura faced the window and ate her rice balls. I heard her whimper once in a while. Something was not right. I approached her, but stopped when she leaned forward. She shook her head sharply without facing me. I hesitated, but went back to my bed. I slightly leaned to the side to get a glimpse of her face in the moonlight.

Her cheeks were slightly swollen than usual. Was she pouting? Or was she stuffing her mouth with the rice ball? No, wait… that's not… the color of her skin. I suddenly jumped forward and forced her to look at me. There was a swollen and purple bruise on her right cheek, a small speck of dried blood on her lower lip, and her left eye was swollen to the point where it seemed to blind her left eye.

My eyes slightly grew wide. "What the fuck happened to you?"

Sakura looked away. Her lips were pursed and I knew she couldn't say anything… or else. I examined her wounds again. They seemed more painful and worse than that cut she got when she was whipped.

"Who did this to you?" My voice became dangerous.

"I'm s-sorry."

"What?"

"I c-can't t-tell you…" she tried to say. "I-If I do, something w-worse is going to h-happen to you." She stood up on the bed. She was right now one head shorter than me. Sakura placed her hands on my shoulders. "Listen, d-don't come near me anymore. I-If you do, I'm afraid y-you're going to get hurt."

I stared at her for what seemed to be the longest time I've ever stared at her. "I'm not worried about that." I felt anger boiling up inside me. "Once again… Who did this to you?"

"Please, Sasuke! I don't want to see you get hurt!" She started to shake and she hugged her body in an attempt to stop. Her emerald eyes were wide and they were shaking. She was sweating and her body was starting to tremble violently. "Y-you don't know what you're going up against… P-please…! J-just don't ask m-me anymore!"

My eyes grew wider. I had never seen Sakura like this before. She never looked this horrified before.

What happened in that dining room?

~.~.~

The Next Day… Konoha…

"Naruto Onii-Chan!" Konohamaru greeted. He ran up to the fifteen-year-old Naruto, who definitely grew taller and more mature. "You're back!"

"Hey, Konohamaru!" Naruto greeted back. "What's up?"

"W-well…"

"Oi." The blonde turned around to see Shikamaru and Temari. "I need to talk to you privately… now."

"U-um… sure…"

Naruto followed the two to Tsunade's office.

"WHAT?" He slammed his hands on Tsunade's desk. "What do you mean Sakura-Chan's missing?"

Tsunade glared at him to lower his voice. "It's exactly what I mean."

The room became silent and dark. It lingered for a few more seconds until Tsunade decided to give him the blunt truth.

"Haruno Sakura has been captured by Orochimaru."

~.~.~

A/N: Sorry about the really short chapter. I'm not exactly motivated nowadays… -0-" Anyways, check our profile for information. You'll see what I meant in the first author's note.

Here's some questions for you to answer:

What do you think happened to Sakura?
Why is Sasuke concerned for her safety?
When do you think Sakura will get her original body back?
How do you want Sakura to get it back?
Where do you think Naruto will head for next? (Soooo obvious… xDD)