FLY AWAY- Part 2 : White Heather

Chapter 9

"Well kid, it's not easy everyday being a ninja…" Tazuna sighed, scratching the back of his neck and taking another shot of sake under his daughter's disapproving gaze.

Everyone was sitting in silence in the dining room after the end of Sasuke's story. Of course he had voluntarily omitted most details in his version of what had happened to him and the young medic-nin in Suiden. Tazuna and his family knew that Sakura had fallen ill and that the two Leaf shinobis had been chased out of all villages because of the fear the Uchiha name inspired after the war against Obito and Madara, no more was needed to be said.

The bridge builder and his grandson had returned less than an hour after Sasuke had woken up and the Uchiha had to admit, Inari had changed quite a lot from the little crybaby he remembered. At age sixteen, he was still rather short but possessed muscled arms because of the very physical aspects of his job as his grand-father's apprentice. His silhouette was thin but athletic, enhanced by the dark green vest resembling a sleeveless kimono that he wore over a plain white shirt. His neck was bare after he had taken off his scarf upon entering the house, revealing a black thread hinting at a metallic pendant dissimulated by his shirt. With these he wore plain beige pants and heavy black winter sandals, the same color as the headband covering his temple, like a ninja's hitai-ate. He also seemed a lot more cheerful. Naruto had changed this boy long ago and Sasuke was somewhat impressed that Inari had evolved like this thanks to his best friend. He secretly hoped, though, that the maroon haired teenager had not taken up the ramen lover's obnoxious behavior.

"Hey," Inari caught the older dark haired man's attention, his voice eager and light "I was wondering, will Naruto come here as well?"

The ninja lifted a curious eyebrow at the boy's childish excitement, a clear reminder of his blond friend's. Sasuke replied in a tone he judged less cold than his usual "No, he's busy in Konoha."

Inari pouted at that "Aw…Really? Does he get assigned on too many missions?"

This time the Uchiha couldn't help smirking "That, and his girlfriend keeps him there."

Just as expected, the teen slammed his hands flat on the table in shock "W-What!? I can't believe he's got a girlfriend!" He leaned closer across the table towards Sasuke "What's she like? Hot?"

"Inari!" Tsunami reprimanded her son from the other side of the table while she continued peeling apples for that evening's pie.

Sasuke didn't answer this last question and kept silent as the family began conversing about Tazuna and Inari's business meeting. The young Uchiha fumbled with the bandages on his left hand for a while, retightening them while listening distractedly to his hosts' small talk. He was about to move on to his other forearm when a loud noise suddenly resounded from the stairs. The slow, uneven 'tap tap' of heavy footsteps on the wooden stairway surprised him first, but soon the others perked up too and were greeted with the sight of a confused pink haired kunoichi rubbing her tired eyes at the bottom of the stairs.

"Sasuke-kun, what…?" Sakura stopped mid-sentence once she realized that her teammate was not the only one in the room and gave Tazuna and his family a sheepish smile. She briskly ran a hand through her unruly hair and straightened her red qipao dress.

"Sakura! You've grown up so much!" Tsunami exclaimed to break the uneasy silence which had followed the medic's arrival.

Sakura's cheeks were still flushed, but more from the fever than from embarrassment this time "Ah, really? I don't think so…" 'I'm so short, I barely reach past Sasuke-kun's shoulders' she added in her mind.

"Yes!" Tsunami confirmed her observation as Sakura staggered her way to the table "How old are you now, eighteen?"

"Sasuke-kun and I are nineteen" the jounin corrected. Tsunami started babbling with her father about how small the two shinobis used to be back in the old days and Tazuna simply gave curt nods under his newspaper, missing half of her words.

Sakura sat down on a spare chair on Sasuke's left between him and Tsunami, while Tazuna was seated opposite his daughter and to Inari's right. Said boy had not uttered a word since the kunoichi had arrived and was now blankly staring at her with widened black eyes. As she noticed this, Sakura gave an uneasy grin in a form of greeting and averted her gaze. However, the medic had to repress a gasp once she met the sight of Sasuke's injured shoulder. It seemed the cloth of Sasuke's shirt had been as easily ripped as his skin judging by the large gash darkened by dried blackish blood on his arm. Sakura turned away rapidly so as not to be caught staring by her teammate. The wound was deep and required immediate care, but Sakura knew Sasuke too well. He would push her away at once if she voiced her concern about his injury and pretend it was nothing. Though as she discreetly gave him a sidelong glance, Sakura easily noticed the fatigue in his drooping coal eyes, which indicated that he was not as alert as usual. Not wasting any minute, the young medic seized her chance and made a quick grab for his wrist under the table before infusing chakra in her other hand and bringing it up to heal the large gash.

Sasuke jumped at her touch and then at the sensation of her familiar chakra on his arm. He glared "Sakura, stop that."

"It'll only take a sec', don't worry" she reassured him, her glowing green fingers working magic on his wound.

"Save up your chakra, you need rest" Sasuke said in a low voice, trying to shake his arm off her iron grip. Curse her superhuman strength.

She didn't answer but ten seconds later the rough cut was already closed and the young man's skin repaired. Only a rosy scar remained, almost as if Sasuke had never been injured. The medic-nin let go of his wrist, turned to cough as quietly as possible in her forearm and then smiled innocently up at him "There, do I look like I'm on the verge of death?"

"Tch, annoying…" Sasuke looked away, making Sakura's smile widen even more. However, the young man's gaze soon returned to her when she erupted in another fit of obviously painful loose cough, her body trembling and her eyes becoming foggy. The same worry as last night's resurfaced as Sasuke frowned deeply.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Tsunami asked, looking up from her work.

The kunoichi coughed twice more before answering in a raspy voice "Yes, yes…Don't worry." She instinctively placed her hands on her elbows to warm herself up but kept shivering under Sasuke's cold stare. Sakura cursed between chattering teeth.

"Don't you have any warmer clothes?" The Uchiha inquired impassively, his gaze discreetly traveling from her bare legs under the table to her uncovered shoulders -he also couldn't help noticing how thin the fabric of her dress was and that she was wearing neither her elbow or knee warmers. His eyes bore accusingly into hers "These are not fit for the season."

Sakura wasn't blind like the others in the room and had seen him rapidly inspecting her from head to toe. A crimson blush of embarrassment doubled the one caused by the fever as she gathered up her courage to counter as bravely as she could "Well, this is my jounin gear. I usually wear this on all missions and since…"

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, you look very pretty like that."

Both shinobis froze at Inari's light hearted comment. Even though his intention had been far from creating tension in the room, he had managed to achieve this effect perfectly, with Sasuke turning to glare daggers at the table and Sakura blinking a few times in surprise. When his words finally registered in her mind shock took over her senses and strangled coughs escaped her mouth again. Inari on the other hand, looked totally content with a light blush on his tanned cheeks and a big grin on his face. Tsunami giggled and Tazuna let out a throaty chuckle from behind his newspaper.

"Thanks Inari, but Sasuke-kun is right. I-I'll go change." Sakura quickly stood up to walk as fast as her weak body would let her towards the stairs before the younger boy's voice made her halt again.

"Wait! I didn't ask you, can I call you Sakura-chan?" Inari stood up too as the medic seemed ready to run away in a desperate attempt to cover up her embarrassment.

Sakura frowned and squeezed her eyes shut, wanting nothing more than to disappear under the earth 'What the heck, Inari wasn't like that last time! Shannarooo!' This situation was getting way too confusing so she waved it off and looked over her shoulder with a smile, although her voice wasn't so confident "Sure."

As she fled off towards her room Inari sat back down with a toothy grin, motioning with his fist in victory. Sasuke was still silent, drinking water from a glass he had taken a while ago. Only when he brought it to his lips and realized it was empty he tensely put it back down on the table, trying not to slam it like he actually wanted to. Tazuna wolf whistled, his eyes never leaving the newspaper, to which Inari started grumbling at his grandfather as Tsunami giggled again. Feeling edgy and out of place, Sasuke stood up from the table intending to take his leave.

"Hey young man," The old bridge builder called to him "You still haven't told us how long you intend to stay."

"Don't be so blunt, dad" Tsunami scolded "They can stay here as long as they need to."

Tazuna readjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose before replying "Still, Inari and I will probably be off to Kirigakure in a week and a half so you'd be alone with two guests."

Tsunami was about to protest when Sasuke cut in their argument "One week should be enough for Sakura to recover. We're also headed to Kiri, in case you want an escort on the way." The young Uchiha wasn't so close to Tazuna and his family, but considering they were accommodating him and Sakura for free, it was only natural to try and repay them for their kindness.

"What a coincidence!" The old man exclaimed. "We'll plan it all later then, thank you for the offer."

Sasuke nodded in understanding and added before walking to the stairs "Thanks for hosting us."

In response, Tsunami smiled and Tazuna chuckled. Only Inari stood up abruptly before the Uchiha reached the bottom of the stairs. "Wait! Don't go now, Sakura-chan's changing!"

It was Sasuke's turn to chuckle, unlike the younger boy, he knew his teammate too well. "She doesn't have anything to change into." With that, he left a taken aback Inari and two amused parents in the dining room as he climbed up the wooden stairs.

Once on the landing, Sasuke was able to hear Inari's displeased grumbles loud and clear but did not mind them in the least. The door to "Sakura's room" was opened just enough for Sasuke to peer in its crack and make sure he could come in without risking being punched through a wall (although he already knew that Sakura would not be changing). She was indeed senselessly rumbling through her bag in search of some clothes, all the while mumbling colorful words under her breath. When the door creaked as Sasuke entered the room she perked up, alert for a second before recognizing his familiar chakra and resuming her previous activity. The Uchiha walked to stand beside her crouching form and although Sakura wasn't looking, she knew for sure that he was smirking when he said:

"You don't have any spare clothes, do you?"

Her brows knitted in frustration. Sarcasm and cynicism were the only attempts at humor Sasuke Uchiha could manage and though she would have usually welcomed it, this mockery currently irritated her to no end. She hadn't been clever enough to bring so much as a pull-over with her. This already annoyed her greatly but with Sasuke –an experienced traveler and also the person she wanted, no needed to be flawless around- knowing that she had made this foolish mistake, it made things far worse. As a means of conveying this feeling, Sakura grumbled lowly behind clenched teeth.

He gave a short chuckle. A CHUCKLE. Had he been anyone else, Sakura would most probably have already punched him through a window for his impudence. However, he was not anyone else but the one and only Sasuke Uchiha, and because of this simple fact all Sakura wanted to do right now was to disappear under the ground out of shame.

"Go ahead, laugh at me…" She sighed in defeat, a darker shade of red now shading her cheeks.

As the young man sat down cross legged beside her, he noticed the deep blush covering her face and her averted gaze. Seeing Sakura so embarrassed was a rare sight. This puzzled him greatly, especially since she had stopped rummaging through her bag and was now directing shy green eyes towards the floor.

"Is something wrong?" Sasuke asked as emotionlessly as he could although a barely perceptible tinge of worry was laced in his voice.

A frown still present on her face, Sakura coughed then shook her head briskly "No, no…It's…" She felt Sasuke's stare burning on the side of her head and heating up her face even more. 'Quick Sakura, an excuse…an excuse…' She thought helplessly 'Oh! I got it!'

"I…I didn't think Inari would have changed so much…" she said bashfully. A change of subject was even better than an excuse for her stupidity in her current situation. Besides, she wasn't completely evading his question since this was also upsetting her.

Sasuke's eyes seemed to turn an even darker shade of obsidian with these words as his eyebrows furrowed slightly. It didn't seem like he would talk so Sakura carried on in the same tone "He came about three years ago during the reconstruction of Konoha but he really grew up since then. Inari was still a little boy the last time you saw him, right Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn" the raven haired shinobi vaguely shook his head to confirm her assumption but gave nothing more.

Sakura stole a glance at her companion who had shifted his stare to the parquet before continuing "I…didn't think he would compliment me like that…"

Then his voice came out too fast for him to ponder his question "Is it what's bothering you?" Sasuke's concerned tone surprised the medic since she had expected him to remain silent during her monologue. Though this time he seemed worried, and this fact really touched her considering how rare such display of emotion was for him.

Sakura smiled lightly, still blushing from the fever and looking at her hands in her lap "No, it's just that I don't receive compliments very often."

"I thought you'd be used to it." The words left Sasuke's mouth before he could even register them. Realizing what he had just said, he cursed himself over and over in his mind and hoped that she didn't understand the innuendo in his sentence right away. But he was no fool and knew Sakura was smart enough to immediately detect this unintended hidden compliment.

This was so small. A very short sentence with such genuine kindness in it, Sakura almost didn't believe it. Not poetry, but a few casual words that made her heart flutter and beat slightly faster in her chest. Call her a love-sick, romantically desperate lunatic and she wouldn't mind because of this simple sentence. Two years ago she would have never dared hope for such words to one day escape Sasuke's mouth, especially for her. But now it was real and she could take pride and happiness from this fact. So she let a tiny little part of her feelings seep through her voice and smiled tenderly at him "Thank you."

A short silence followed during which Inner Sakura partied on cloud nine inside the kunoichi's mind and an embarrassed Sasuke shifted uncomfortably on the parquet floor. Sakura coughed some more when suddenly three knocks resounded on the wooden surface of the partly open door.

"Excuse me," It was Tsunami carrying a small pile of woolen pull-overs and warm clothes "I was wondering if Sakura would like to borrow a few things?"

Said pink-haired girl stood up instantly and walked to take the pile from the older women "Ah! Thanks a lot Tsunami-san."

"No problem." Without further ado, she smiled and left the two shinobis alone once again. However, the sound of loud, rapid footsteps soon cut through the silence after the woman's departure and the door opened abruptly as Sakura was sitting back down on her futon to inspect the clothes Tsunami had given her.

"Sakura-chan!" Inari appeared on the doorstep and let himself in a second later. The young medic perked up again to see the boy grinning enthusiastically down at her. "Would you like a tour of town? A lot's changed since you last came here, you know! I can show you around and…"

"She can't."

Inari immediately turned to Sasuke who had shamelessly interrupted him. The raven haired man grabbed his dirty cloak and his katana as he stood up, now a good foot taller than the younger boy. Still, Inari didn't chicken out "Why not? You can't decide for her!"

Sakura didn't say a word, she already knew what Sasuke had in mind so she wasn't surprised when he replied "Sakura's sick. She needs to rest."

This argument was irrefutable considering her condition the previous day. It was undeniable that Sakura wasn't in any state to wander around town. But Inari hadn't witnessed these events and still looked over at the young woman for her opinion on his proposition despite Sasuke's barely repressed glare.

She coughed in her fist then smiled apologetically "I'm sorry Inari, maybe once I feel better."

The emotion that coursed through her once she saw the childish crestfallen expression on the teenager's face was between surprise and great amusement as it was a perfect imitation of Naruto's whenever he was told that Ichiraku Ramen was closed. "Ah, alright…" he said in a failed attempt to hide his deep disappointment "Rest well Sakura-chan." He waved then went to the door, closely followed by Sasuke.

Sakura called the latter before he could exit the room along with Inari "Sasuke-kun, where are you going?"

She wished the fever would dissimulate the shy blush creeping on her cheeks when he turned to her, his dark onyx orbs peering directly into hers "I'll go train outside unless there is something else for me to do."

'That explains the katana' Sakura deduced in her mind. She grinned "Okay."

A simple "Hn" was his response as usual, then he waited for Inari to go first before he closed the door behind the two of them.

Sakura took off her item pouch and other unneeded equipment to lie down on her futon. A guilt she was becoming used to soon overwhelmed her, almost strangling her. Lying down, breathing evenly in and out, shutting and reopening her eyes slowly… as always nothing could make it go away. Her halfway closed emerald orbs settled on a spot on the ceiling without even really looking at it as she began reminiscing. The previous day and night Sasuke had carried her tirelessly for hours on end and had protected her from a crowd of mad people. Now he was leaving for her to rest better. He was being protective of her, or so it seemed. Had Sakura been her selfish twelve year old self, she would have been beyond happiness. But now, however heartwarming the feeling of Sasuke actually caring about her was, it was rapidly overtaken by the guilt of being such a weight to him in just a few days.

'He does so much for me, he is kind to me…But I have done nothing yet to show him that I'm not a burden anymore… What if I'm still annoying?' She had been dwelling on these thoughts for a while now. Sakura knew for sure that she couldn't rely on Sasuke all the time during this journey. No matter how long she had wished for his care and attention before, she now needed to be more independent in order to prove him that she had become strong enough to deserve her place beside him.

This was not about her feelings for him, Sakura simply wanted to confirm how much she had changed while he had been gone, that she no longer needed to be protected and also…that she was strong enough without him. This last thing was the only one she had to persuade both him and herself of. 'I can't live without you' is what romance novels always say and Sakura had to admit that all these years without Sasuke had been a heart-ache which she never wanted to go through again after the war. Even when he had left then –Sakura had known that it had been for his sake and redemption only- it had hurt her so much. A part of Sakura told her that no matter what she did the pain of his absence would never subside, but the other more stubborn one was sure that there was a way of becoming strong enough in order not to depend on him all the time. It had become necessary for Sakura to prove herself that she could be strong without Sasuke.

Closing her eyes once more with a sigh, she slowly fell asleep with this resolve in mind. If there were any character traits that the young woman had inherited from her master Tsunade, it was her obstinacy, her despise of defeat and her will to be autonomous. Sakura did not need Sasuke alone to be happy. Sakura was strong.


A.N./: Done! It annoys me how I always get so many ideas for the author notes while I'm writing the chapter but I don't remember them once I post it...

Well, at least, today is a great day since Naruto Gaiden has come to an end! No more Kishi-trolling, yeah!

Hum Hum (*clears throat). HUGE thanks to everyone who read until now and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If so, you are very welcome to tell me your thoughts and opinions in a review.^^

Stay tuned for the next chapter! I will (hopefully) be able to write more now that Kishi won't sap my inspiration anymore. :)