[ Chapter Ten: Reunion with a Stranger ]
Sasuke pulled out an object from the drawer of the dresser in his Inn room. It was a small cylindrical object carefully wrapped in cloth, inside was the pink cherry blossom patterned cup that belonged so Sakura. At that time while he was packing, Sasuke was under the impression that Sakura was dead. But he still thought it would be a good idea to bring it along with him, without really questioning why... But now... Now he had nothing but questions. More and more unanswered questions seemed to come what. What had Sakura been doing all these years? Why was she avoiding Sasuke? Why was she posing as a prostitute? Why did she kill that man? It had been a few days since he witness the murder of that man. Since then, Sasuke asked around, trying to find out more about Sakura. Nothing came up, however. Other than being a something of a regular to a few food stalls, Sasuke couldn't find any information about her. It soon became clear to him that the only place he could go to for answers was Sakura herself.
-----Finding her wasn't a difficult task. It was as simple as looking through all the food stalls during lunch hours. She wasn't even trying to hide herself from Sasuke. If she was trying to avoid him, she certainly was not doing a good job. Sasuke watched her from an open distance. He stood there clearly in her view, but she did nothing. She simply acted as if he weren't there; she simply sat there eating her meal quietly. Sasuke watched her at first with a blank expression, trying not so hard to draw attention to himself. He stood in his position deliberately, so that he was sure Sakura would be able to see him, but standing there, he didn't want to do anything out of the ordinary to get her to notice him. He wanted to see if Sakura would go to him of her own will.
Apparently not.
Sasuke stood there for five minutes. Twice did the owner of the stall asked him if he wanted to sit down and have something to eat. Sasuke said nothing and continued to stand. His casual gaze in her direction eventually became a complete stare. Somehow, it was becoming more and more difficult for him to wait for Sakura's attention. After another three minutes, Sasuke decided to give up.
Walking to where Sakura sat, Sasuke took a seat directly in front of her.
"Listen to me Sakura." he declared looking at Sakura straight in the eyes, making sure he had her full attention "It's been a long time and I don't know what the hell is going on. Explain to me from beginning to end what the hell you're doing here."
Sakura didn't answer. She only looked at him with a partially puzzled, but mostly offended expression. Sasuke was growing ever more restless at her silence. What was she gaining in not answering his questions?
"Sakura." he said firmly "Tell me what the hell is going on!"
This time Sakura looked at him angrily, as if he were the one at fault.
"I'm sorry, sir," she said in both a polite and peeved tone of voice "but do I know you?"
Sasuke mouth hung open in surprise.
"You don't know me?" he asked shaking his head a little.
"No, I don't." Sakura said, less peeved than before.
Sasuke said nothing. Things were beginning to make a little sense now.
"I'm sorry." he said "but, what's your name?"
"It's Sakura."
"Sakura..." he said leaving room for a family name.
"Just Sakura."
"No family name?"
"None."
"Why not?"
Sakura looked to a side, a trace of sadness could be seen in her face "... I don't have a family..."
Sasuke looked at her for a few moments before standing up. "... I'm sorry, Sakura." he said as if he were suddenly talking to a stranger "I thought you were someone else... Excuse me for intruding on your meal..."
Sakura watched Sasuke walk out of the stall in wonder.
"That was strange..." she said, not really thinking much of it. "I wonder who he was..."
-----Sasuke hid behind the curtain of a stall the stood across the street from the partial opening to the back alley. He waited for Sakura to return to her place of business, but she never came.
It's Sakura... Just Sakura...
Sasuke repeated Sakura's words in his mind. Everything was beginning to make sense ...I don't have a family.... Sakura lost her memory, or at least parts of it. She at least knows her first name for sure. But she doesn't know who Sasuke is, or even her family name. Sakura ignored him all that time because she didn't know who she was; he was just a stranger to her.
And in a sense, she was a stranger to him.
Sasuke realized he couldn't exactly approach Sakura as Haruno Sakura. The girl he saw is different from the girl he knew.... So he couldn't approach her and try to make her remember her old self, at least not right away. He had to find out who Sakura is now. Her current life could be totally isolated from the murder of Mrs. Haruno, or it could be related. The person who killed Sakura could have also erased Sakura's memory, or Sakura could have just lost her memory the day she 'died' during Sasuke's battle with Itachi. Before he could take any action, though, he would have to understand the current situation. At least now, Sasuke knows how to approach Sakura.
-----Sasuke watched Sakura from the distance again. She spotted him watching her as she ate, but instead of ignoring him, she gave an odd look of not knowing what to do. Sasuke cleared his throat and walked towards Sakura's direction.
"You don't mind, do you?" he asked, motioning himself to the seat in front of Sakura.
Sakura shook her head, but with a look of skepticism "Before you say anything, sir, I don't know you."
Sasuke nodded "I know, I know... I just wanted to apologize about yesterday... You see, you look a lot like someone I've been looking for..." he said lying as the Sakura who sat before him was the Sakura he was looking for "Her name is also Sakura... I thought she was you by mistake."
After a few moments of awkward silence, at least for Sakura, Sakura chuckled "Well... I guess if anyone has green eyes and pink hair, the name Sakura would be an obvious choice..."
"I guess so..."
Sakura looked to the side nervously, not knowing what to do.
"What's your name, sir?"
"Oh... It's U-" Sasuke paused for a moment, then shook his head "It's Sasuke."
"Sasuke." Sakura repeated.
"Sasuke." he confirmed.
"Well... It's nice to meet you... I guess..." Sakura paused "... That was kind of weird what you did yesterday... So I don't know, really, what to do now..."
"It's okay... I'm sure a lot of stuff like that happens around here."
Sakura said nothing but continued eating. For the rest of the time, the two sat in silence. Sasuke, who was truly at a loss for words in meeting someone he already knew, couldn't think of anything else to say. Sakura merely continued to eat, paying him no real attention. After she was finished she paid for the meal and stood up to leave, giving Sasuke a slight wave of good-bye. As she moved to leave, Sasuke grabbed her arm to stop her.
"Listen." he said trying to get her attention "Will you be around?"
"Why?" she asked suspicious of his intentions.
"Because... Just because... You know, just in case I see you again..."
Sakura looked at him for a few moments "Maybe."
Sakura watched the blood flow into the drain as she washed it of from the business day. After washing herself off thoroughly, Sakura stepped into a large tub. Although the house she stayed at had been abandoned for quite some time, some of the things in the house were still usable. It was an old fashioned home. Everything inside was made out of wood and cement. Some of the rooms adorned old tatami floors and the bathroom was comprised of a wooden area to wash off in and a large wooden tub for relaxing. The door had been broken down, so Sakura used a very crude partition which did very little to cover the large entry. It didn't matter anyway, no one was in the house except her. There was no light in the room, so Sakura used candles to light it up in the night. The water also had to be heated using fire, which was no trouble to get started.
Sakura drew in a deep breath and slid down beneath the surface of the water. She kept her position beneath the surface with her eyes closed, to see how long she can hold her breath. Sitting still beneath the surface, thoughts slowly filtered into her mind.
In the darkness of her closed eyes, there were screams and there was blood. In the stillness of the bathroom, she was running. In the darkness of that night, the earliest night she could remember, she ran and ran. Screams screamed, blood bled. She couldn't see, but she couldn't stop running to find out where she was going. She could only run and run.
She quickly rose above the surface after losing her breath. Where am I? she thought. Caught in the depths of her memories, she slowly came back to herself in the bathroom. Sakura lifted her hands to look at them. Although clean, the reflection in Sakura's eyes revealed some blood as she stared at them. After blinking back to focus, the stains were gone. Sakura closed her eyes again and pulled her knees to her chest. She began to feel small in the quiet of the room. The space around her seemed to grow bigger and bigger. The distance between her and the rest of the world seemed suddenly immense. Sakura stretched her legs out again. Her eyes lost focus as her gaze became a stare into the still water.
Staring at her reflection, Sakura saw a flash of red. For a split second, Sakura saw an image of familiar emerald eyes covered in blood. Sakura's eyes widened with a gasp. Splashing her hands, Sakura quickly distorted the bloody image.
Sakura quickly got out of the tub. Wrapping herself in a towel, she leaned against a nearby wall breathing deeply.
Those eyes seemed oddly familiar.
-----Sakura briskly walked out of the noodle stall. Before she could turn around, Sasuke appeared before. It wasn't the first she has seen of him since they talked during lunch. In fact, she's seen him quiet a few times.
"Listen, uhhh..." she paused trying to recall his name again "... Sasuke. Listen, Sasuke. Aren't you looking for another Sakura?"
"No!... I mean, yes...I... Look, it's complicated."
"Well, last time you mistook me for her, you seemed pretty steamed about whatever it was. You love this girl, don't you?"
"No, I don't love her..." Sasuke paused again "I mean... She's..."
"Well, this Sakura you're looking for seemed to mean something to you, so don't let me get in your way." Sakura pushed Sasuke's hand away and continued to walk on her way.
"Wait, listen!" Sasuke stopped her again "That Sakura... That Sakura is gone, now. I don't know where that Sakura is... Really, I'm just here to talk to you."
"Why? So you can replace me with her?"
"No, not to replace her... Look, I know I don't sound very convincing right now and I understand that. But would you please just let me talk to you? I know it seems crazy that this stranger looking for someone else would come at you like this, but you must believe me."
Sakura turned around to look at Sasuke directly. "Fine, then... Talk to me." Sasuke looked at her as she stood before him. It was the first time since he first spotted her that she spoke to him directly. Now that he had her full attention, he wasn't sure of what he could say. He looked down at the ground to think. His eyes moved up to her feet and slowly moved upwards. Through the mesh of her shirt, he could see a slightly toned abdomen as well as arms and legs. Her body was well toned, but still soft enough to be feminin. His eyes moved to the strap of her shirt, behind the strap was the scar. Sasuke's eyes widened just barely.
"Where did you get that scar?" he asked.
"This scar?" Sakura said, lifting her hand to cover the strap of her shirt "Well... Actually I don't remember..."
"You don't remember?"
"Bad memory... Amnesia... Whatever you want to call it... I don't remember a whole lot about that past, and quite frankly, I'm not very interested in it. I've gotten by without it, so why should I go looking for it now?"
"Aren't you at least a little bit curious?"
"Not, really. Why?"
"Because I think I can help you?"
"You? Help me? I don't think so. You were looking for someone else named Sakura."
"I told you, already. She's gone now. But I can still help you... She... She also lost her memory, probably from an attack or something similar."
"Doesn't that sound a little fishy? I swear she sounds exactly like me, same looks, same name, same story... Why should I believe you?"
"I know, I know. It does sound suspicious... But I want to help you. Can you really blame me for that?"
"I still can't trust you just like that..." Sakura stated gravely "A lot of things can happen in this place and no one will ever know about it..."
"Look, I really want to help you, Sakura. Is there any way I can prove that?"
Sakura said nothing. She closely examined Sasuke who stood before her in an Anbu uniform. She took a step closer to him and examined his face. After a few minutes, she spoke.
"Why do I feel like I know you?" she asked genuinely curious about her intuition.
Sasuke could give her no real answer. At least, not the answer he wanted to give her.
"Fine, help me, then." was her answer. However awkwardly he had managed, Sasuke was able to convince Sakura to let him speak to her openly. When he returned to his room that night, Sasuke scolded himself for using such a hastily put story to get Sakura to speak with him. But he did open the door with her. Now I can speak to her... he thought and maybe even... help her? Sasuke paused. The thought of whether or not he was really going to help crossed his mind. He could speak to Sakura and find out what's going on, and that's fine. But to help her... What would that mean? Would it mean he'll restore her memory, though she said she didn't really desire to have it restored? Did it mean he was going to save her from something or someone? If so, who or what? Sasuke couldn't find the answer. Well... I guess it doesn't matter. He looked at Sakura's teacup again. Maybe I can actually give this back to her... If not a as a return to her past, then just as a gift. Sasuke placed it back in it's wrapping Besides, what was I going to do with it in the first place?
----------Author's Note: I have high hopes for this fic, I really do. There's much to be said and a lot of inspiration to work from. Man, I REALLY have high hopes. And it's fun to write up.
In any case, I hope you readers are enjoying this as much as I am. Again, and I do mean it every time I say it, I truly appreciate all you readers (and reviewers) for taking the time to read my little fic. :)