:) enjoy
/Chapter 9/
Three days. That was what today was. Three days since she was missing from Kohona. She needed to be home soon, or she would be a missing ninja. She would be one of us.
Why was this so hard? The sound of her breathless laugh was like a thousand wind chimes flowing melodically through the breeze, like the chimes Mom used to hang. Her small, low snoring—so familiar and cute—made me want to go back, claim my Uchiha fortune, and take her to… the Mist? The Sand? The wasy she heaved on my back made me want to do just that. I could just about imagine her surprise. Uchiha Sakura—I was afraid to admit how perfect that sounded.
I could just see here, a white apron over a silk Uchiha dress with cookies on a pan. We'd both have to give up out ninja status. I could see dozens of little blue haired, green-eyed boys and pink haired, onyx eyed little girls crowding around my golden wife. I could imagine coming home after whatever job it was I found and have my kids running to give me hugs. I could see Sakura smiling when I had three of our children hanging from my back and went to kiss her hello.
Such a pretty fantasy—such a lie. Eventually, even if we had twenty kids running about, Kohona would find us. We would be killed as traitors and out kids left orphaned. I'd rather me die and leave Itachi to raise the Uchiha Clan on his own than have Sakura die with me. She deserved life more than I did. Kami knew that.
The breeze picked up. Sakura's short coral hair whipped around us, going both in front and behind us. The air smelled like dog.
"Keep Sakura here. Hide yourselves, Sasuke," Itachi said warily.
"Wh—"
"Just do it!"
/Retrieving Team/
Akamaru howled, as if in pain. If ninja-dogs could cry, he was doing so. The smell was so familiar, so unpin-able, and so unique; it could only belong to one person. A person Akamaru hadn't seen or smelled in four years. It was the smell if the perfect kidnapper. The smell of Uchiha Sasuke.
"What's up, boy?" Kiba asked, jumping to his pet and petting him behind the ears to calm him. The giant canine howled again, this time louder and shriller.
Kakashi stared at the dog. How was it that such a huge animal could make such squeaky sounds? Lee and Shikamaru wondered the same. Neji, on the other hand, studied the dog; its posture; the earsplitting sound. This had either to do with Sakura or Sasuke.
The team blonde jumped to Kiba and the dog. The tree branch jiggled under the new weight. "Akamaru," he whispered intently, "is Sakura near? Is Sasuke?"
Kiba rolled his eyes. Of course, it had something to do with them! He thought blondes were the stupid ones. " 'Mon, Aka, take us to them," coxed Kiba, scratching Akamaru's ears as a plead. Akakmaru whimpered.
"Foolish pup."
Shikamaru gave a smirk to the voice. Third to Kakashi and Naruto; that voice, or rather its owner, protected the missing Blossom. He always said that id he did one good thing in his life, it would be protecting his brother's 'future wife.' "Troublesome pup," Shikamaru corrected.
The leaves rustled under the wind caused by a certain longhaired ninja. The tree limb groaned. "Sakura?" Itachi asked, eyes scanning the forest. Kakashi understood. The team looked like Sasuke's Retrieval Team, minus the pinkette and plus a few ninja. Itachi lived in the Mist; he knew nothing of Kohona's Blossom. "Did she give up on Sasuke? Must I slap that foolish girl?"
The team frowned. "Itachi…" Naruto started off, his voice slow and loud with hesitation, "Sakura's missing." The eldest Uchiha's reaction was off. He would've gone ballistic, normally. He would've had his Sharingan killing his vision and making his eyes bleed. But he just nodded somberly. Naruto tried again, "And we think Sasuke did it." Once more Itachi nodded.
"Foolish lovebirds," the navy haired ninja sighed. "I know where they are."
A smile crinkled Kakashi's eye. Jaws dropped open. "Where?" Kakashi begged.
"With an old family member. A foolish one at that," Itachi muttered nonchalantly. His black eyes met the team's, making sure they were paying attention. "Sasuke has her," he confirmed.
"I knew it!" Naruto shouted proudly. He had a silly grin on his face.
Everyone growled. Akamaru's claws grew long and sharp. He knew the youngest Uchiha had his favorite person, but, even as a dog, it hurt to have his worst fears verified. Kakashi's smile dissolved.
"Don't worry," Itachi warned. "He won't hurt her. He loves her."
Kakashi pulled down his mask. There was a frown tightly in place under his puffed eyes. He pointed to it. "This? This means I am not happy. Sasuke is a ruthless murderer, not a lovesick boy. Anything happens to Sakura and I will not waste time when I kill you, just like he won't waste time in murdering her. Sakura's fate is yours. Saying he loves her is different than him actually loving her," Kakashi warned the younger man.
Said man rolled his eyes. "He's taking her home."
"That stupid Uchiha," Neji growled. "He'll do her more harm by coming to Kohona than by keeping her. It's like turning himself in; like slaughtering himself." The Hyūga loathed all Uchiha, Sasuke most of all, but he—dare he think it?—he loved Sakura as if she were his kid sister. (Now, not a year ago; a year ago he did things to her.) He may not approve of her heart's love, but he would support it. He would wish it the best, just to keep his friend out of depression.
Itachi ignored the comment, though it was very true, and continued with, "They're… He's… She's not well. The Sound was getting to her. Sasuke felt it best she return to Kohona. He killed Orochimaru"—Kakashi, with his lifted mask, gave a pointed look as if to say, I told you so, and frowned—"and knocked her out to do so."
"Is the youthful Blossom okay? Is she in health?" Lee shouted from the back to be heard.
"Indeed, the foolish blossom is healthy," Itachi smirked, knowing the use of his favorite word was becoming a stalling method. "She's out of sorts, but she'll be alright. It's naptime for her."
The simultaneous question of naptime came from them, their mouths slanted worriedly.
"Jūgo had a breakdown and Sakura's recovering," Itachi informed. He looked at the anxious Kakashi and giddy Naruto. "Go to Kohona. Tell Lady Tsunade that I found her. Tell her…tell her that I'm taking care of her."
Kakashi looked like he had heard the craziest thing in his thirty-some years of life. He actually thought that a father would leave his daughter in the hands of a man who trusted a killing machine. The retard. "I am not leaving my daughter with your brother."
"She'll be fine."
"Yes, Kakashi! The youthful blossom of youth will be in good hands with the youthful Uchiha!" Lee shouted from the background. He was far too trusting for Kakashi's taste.
"I'm with Kakashi," Neji growled. Shikamaru and Kiba nodded in agreement.
Itachi rolled his dark eyes. "Fine. Kakashi—stay. Happy?"
"Very!" Naruto bawled. He jumped to a tree far behind them. "Now come on! Hinata's waiting!" He went off, not looking back as the team followed—minus one copy-nin.
/Sasuke POV/
Somehow, it was easier to trust my brother than to hate him. I would never truly forgive him for killing Mom and Dad, but it helped to know that he at least fought for my life. And I was about to kill him. I trained all my life for nothing. I went to Orochimaru for nothing. I dealt with Karin for nothing. I left Kohona for nothing. I left Sakura for nothing. I cut our ties for nothing. I—
Was she waking up? Her finger curled in and out of the cotton of my gei. Her pink lashes fluttered over my exposed chest skin. She moaned softly, as if she were waking. I sat up on the dry leaves of the dirt ground and lifted her with me; she didn't have to inhale more of that packed dirt than she already had.
She coughed out some of that dirt. "Ugh. Eww. What was that?"
"Forest floor muck," I answered. She made a cut little face that translated into something like, gross. I smirked at it.
"Hey, Sasuke-kun, where the hell are you taking me?" Sakura asked.
I couldn't help the ting of pride I felt when she added the suffix. It was like I had finally won her back. I finally had my Sakura back. I had my innocent Sakura back. "A place," I answered, knowing that my reasons had to be kept mine.
She stuck her tongue out at me; I suddenly wanted to know what that pink, wet coil of flesh tasted like. But I controlled myself. "Mean!" she shouted at me. I smirked, nodding.
/Sakura POV/
Rustling leaves crunched in a tree. Our heads whipped to the side. Who could that be? I looked around, wondering. Then I noticed Itachi was missing. Maybe it was him, his arms overflowing with cherries—or strawberries—or bananas—or deer—or rabbit! Oh, the possibilities! Cherrie juice, strawberries in sugar, baby bananas, deer in fruit juice, or fried rabbit! Yum! Oh, but what about drinks? I hoped he brought spring water!
It was then that I realized I was more starved for food than worried over the rustling. I realized that those could be Naruto and the rest of the gang, coming to get me and bring me home. I wanted to stay with Sasuke; I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to be that fan-girl he hated, but I rather him hating me than having no feelings for me at all.
I watched as the trees rattled, wanting nothing more than to hide myself. I turned to Sasuke for guidance. He wasn't on his guard, he was smirking at my expression. He thought I was being paranoid—it was all over his face! He could probably feel the charka and—
Wait. So could I.
Expanding my charka-reading skill, I checked who it was. A sigh a relief excaped me when I realized it was just Itachi and Kakashi. More than happy that I didn't have to worry about anything, I scooted to closer to Sasuke's—
Whoa! Kakashi? I'm sorry—what? Why would Itachi bring Kakashi? Was the copy-nin taking me home? Why would Itachi do that to me? Tears welled in my eyes. That eldest Uchiha knew full well I didn't want to go home! And Sasuke didn't look the slightest bit worried.
Two pairs of feet landed soundly on the ground. I glowered at them, feeling my neck well with emotions, both good (for me) and bad (for them). Kakashi, not even one-hundred percent balanced, ran to me, enveloped me in his arms. I squealed unhappily. "Sakura, Sakura!" I tried escaping from the embrace, but it only got tighter. Until he let go, glaring daggers at Sasuke. I ran to his side, ready to protect him while I could. "You," Kakashi spoke with malice intents. Itachi was at his side holding his shoulders in a vice grip. "You took my baby girl!" Baby girl? Say wa'? "You son of a—"
"Kakashi, lay off. I'm taking her home," Sasuke sighed. Tears still stinging at my eyes, and dug my head into the gei top Sasuke had lent me and crept closer to Sasuke's side. The gei Sasuke had given away to me was uncanny in its heat. One day and it still held Sasuke's warmth. I pulled the plus-sized shirt over my ears.
"Kakashi-sensei," I called to him, my voice—surprisingly—not shaking, "Sasuke-ku—Sasuke didn't do anything!"
Kakashi's dark eye softened on me. "Alright," he said, as if I were a small baby, in need of protection and agreement. It was obvious he wasn't going to lay off. When he looked away from me, he eyes were cold, wild, angry.
And then I realized that must be what I looked like, what he saw me as—wild, scared, sad, and upset. My eyes were wide with dirt and wet with tears. My lips were puffed and swollen from laying on Sasuke's shoulder; my cheeks warm from the same. I apprehended I must've scared him into it with my unkempt hair and swollen lips and cheeks. I self-consciously licked my lips.
/Insert Line Here/
It was dark. Kakashi had brought precautions—two tents, water, food (thank Kami) and "bathroom needs". I couldn't help the happy squeal I gave when he showed me the sushi rolls and rice balls. I savored every bite and enjoyed ever sip of water. Despite the initial hatred that struck me when I saw him, I couldn't be happier that he was there. Mostly because he had food.
But my happiness was short-lived because Kakashi insisted that I sleep in my own tent. A furious blush crawled up my neck, sloshing to my cheekbones; but I said nothing, not wanting to be that girl that was long-ago squashed under my foot, and remade, reshaped, into the new me, the stronger me.
Of course, that didn't mean I didn't back Sasuke up when he said I wasn't well enough to be alone in my own tent. Or when he ordered it be him that helped me. Itachit backed him up with me. Which was why I was wrapped in my Sasuke's strong arms. My Sasuke, who, as it happened, was sleeping.
I looked up at him, his long eyelashes on his tan skin—surely he was dreaming nothing but sweet things. Alright, maybe not sweet, but pleasing. He didn't notice me scooting over and wrapping myself in the gei he was wearing. My Sasuke's gei was on the plastic floor, forgotten because of the forest's damned heat. It felt worse than Kohona's heat. There was only one place hotter than Kohona, that I knew of, and that was Kohona's forest.
Sasuke's words rung in my head: I'm taking her home.
Home?
Kohona!
Shocked, I kicked at Sasuke; I was too panicked to remember that all I had to do was lift the sheet and get out. I gasped, still kicking was a strength to bruise.
Sasuke woke, grabbed my feet, and stopped my kicking. I whimpered in his hold. He was too asleep to notice he was hurting me. "What the hell, Sakura?" he growled.
"You—you're sending me back!" I accused him. "Sasuke I don't want to go back! I want to stay with you!" My voice slurred and I sounded drunk to my own ears. I could scarcely make out my own words. I started to try to kick him again; Sasuke's hands stopped me.
"Sakura," he said calmly, finnily waking up and letting my legs go, "you have to."
"No!"
Losing the small amout of pasionce he had, Sasuke looked at me. Sasuke looked at me. "Look at yourself, Sakura. Your hair's a mess, yours eyes are wild, your teeth are yellow. Sakura, you're not meant to be like me, not meant to be a nuke-nin. You don't belong outside Kohona in its forest; you belong in Kohona."
Someone punched my neck. The lump forming inside my esophagus was a bruise. A large, rounded, painful bruise that extended to the four chambers of my very heart, hurting so much my eyes watered. My voice cracked when I said, "Sasuke-kun…"
"I'm sorry."
I swallowed past the bruising lump in my throat. "I don't want to…."
"Forgive me, Sakura," he sighed. He moved his hands; I blacked out.
/Sasuke POV/
She wanted to stay with me. Itachi was right. Why the hell didn't I let her? Why the fuck didn't I grab her, steal the food and the tent, and go to Oto—where I now rule thanks to Orochimaru's death? I mean, both of us could've made it with no one knowing. And I knocked her out—a fourth time. I was making my way out of the tent when Kakashi's upset masked face appeared before me. "It's ten solid hours to get back to Kohona. How's Sakura?"
"Out cold." I pushed past him, wanting nothing more than to walk and clear my head.
Kakashi got the message. "Be back in ten minutes, Sasuke," he ordered of me. I snorted. Me? Uchiha Sasuke? Bothering to follow orders? Unheard of!
/Insert Line Here/
No matter what I said, I was back in less than ten minutes, with an unconscious pinkette waiting for me. Everything was packed or dissolving into the earth where it belonged. Itachi—I smirked when I saw—was making sure Kakashi didn't pick her up, distracting him with little things that were still in need of being done. A pot there, a glove here, a kunai that way—and so on. I made my way around them, to Sakura. She was sleeping and limp; but when I rested her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist they tightened, as always. I pet her rosey hair and closed my eyes, enjoying it.
Kakashi moved out, calling the order. I growled and followed, like when I was in Team Seven.
/Insert Line Here/
The last time I was here, the gate gaurds were so deep in sleep. The strats were black, dead, sleeping. Today, there were guards at the ready. Weapons were visible in there pouches, posin needles were threaded together, hanging from belt-loops; shiudkin were out and ready; kantana sharp enough to brake through bones in one strike. Two ninja were posted at the tops of teh gate, the bottom, the sides. Was Sakura really that important? What secrets did she know?
White cloth in hand, Itachi and Kakashi stepped from the forest's cold shade in the sun's mad glare. At four o'clock, the sun was blazing strong. Itachi nodded at me, and I walked forward, Sakura resting on my back. Her steady breath warmed my neck and firmed my steps. I made my way to the gate.
Dog-breath and Lazy-ass grabbed her from me. I held her tight; i was never going to let go. Not Sakura. "She needs her fucking check-up," the dog growled. She probably should go see the doctor. She would be fine in Kakashi and Tsunade's hands. I nodded and let her go. Kakashi followed Sakura's ANBU team as my brother ushered me through the Saturday Shop-day crowd. The schedule of this village was forever burned into my brain.
At the Hokage Tower, a sober Tsunade met Itachi's soft frown. Both ushered me to the office.
Things too fast for me to understand were said. Politics were not my thing. It was when onyx orbs, identical to my own, widened and began watering that I began to try and comprehend the argument. I caught nothing other than one statement that stopped my heart:
"He's kidnapped and killed and betrayed Kohona; his punishment is death."
/Sakura POV/
I knew that smell anywhere. Antiseptic, morphine, chakra, and bleach. I sat up before my eyes had even opened. The hospital! And I was in my ninja skirt and medic shirt! Whoa—clothes. Two days without them and the idea was already foreign.
An IV cord was sunk into my skin. I pulled it out, hissing at the pinching sensation. I pulled out another cord from my ankle. I didn't care if I worked here, I sympathized with the people that needed those wires to live.
"Sakura-chan," I heard a whisper. Her—it was a her. Her voice was soft and gentle as the ocean after a storm. I smiled.
"Hinata," I said. I winced at my voice. It was hoarse. "Hi."
"Sakura-chan," she sounded hesitant, resistant, "Sasuke-san's going to be hung." She wasn't stuttering; she always stuttered when she lied. Why wasn't he stuttering? I tried willing my ears to hear her stutters. It didn't work.
I stood off the bed, ignoring how Hinata must've brushed my hair for me, and staired at her. "H-h-hanged?" My words tripped over each other in fear. Violet hair flew over lilac eyes as she nodded. "Wh-where? Tell me where! I need to know where!"
Fear widened those lilac eyes. I was too wrapped up in my own to care. "The Village Square."
That familiar bruise in my neck returned. I rushed to the door with my ninja speed. My hands pushed before me, shoving people out of my way and tripping over stairs. I was panting by the time I made it down to the first floor. Not because I was tired, but because I was tired, but because I was scared. Was I too late? Was Sasuke's head hanging high on a rope? My eyes drowned in saltwater. Those tears whipped behind me as I made my way to the Square.
Sasuke was there, his head propped on a harsh rope. Uritko held the rope that would kill him. He let go.
I rushed to the center stage. "Sasuke-kun!"
