You guys have no idea how sorry I really, really am for this wait. Wow has it been what? A year? Two?
Please enjoy this chapter guys. I hope to update frequently and soon.
-Chapter 10: Fleeting Fight
Naruto walked through the streets, a smile plastered on his face, and his blue eyes gleaming over the different pastries of Milana's Bakery Shop. He grinned sheepishly at the old woman.
"Uh, I'll have this here Milana-baa-chan!" He said, flashing her with his characteristic foxy, whiskered grin. She smiled at the boy with her blue eyes closed in delight, and took the sweet bread buns out of their casing, and into a small basket. It was a simple basket, one Milana had actually made herself. She said it was a side hobby of hers, and often did it when business was slow right there in the store.
"Here ya' go, that'll be two fifty, my boy." She said, as she and Naruto exchanged hands of money. Her blue eyes shifted then, from a happy and pleased blue, to a slightly worried, and hurt hue of the same color.
"Naruto-dear, you know...uh, Sakura-sweetheart hasn't been to the shop in a while...she okay? Last she was here, she was awful quiet. The mention of Sasuke-boy's name was the only thin' that got her outta the gutter and then she was all angry and stalked off on outta here. She came back the next day apologizin' but was off just as quickly as she got here." Naruto looked down at Milana's confession. The last four months had not been very pleasant, especially ever since their second month in Suna, when Sakura and Sasuke started turning away from each other. He was trying his best to keep things together, but it was only getting harder. It was two months since the changes had begun, and Sakura was getting only worse, especially when it came down to Sasuke.
Sasuke said she was just becoming a rebellious brat. Naruto told Sasuke she was growing up the way they did, which was misunderstood and neglected.
The signs were all there. The anger, the seeming dislike for Sasuke especially, who use to be completely there for her, but now almost seemed to dismiss her as if she was some unwanted gift and her want to be alone. She stayed out most hours of the night and day, and was quiet most of the time, until yelled at by Sasuke in which she instantly growled back. If anything he had in fact caught Sakura crying once or twice, but when confronted she would angrily stomp away. She was still sweet to him, still the old Sakura he remembered, but in other ways, Sakura seemed long gone, even from something as simple as a few fights. Some days she was there, others she was another person. Naruto was damn near reaching his wits end.
"I think she's okay. Things have been a little rough back home, and well, you know. Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan have been butting heads and if anything, things have just been getting a little worse. Other than that, there's not that much to worry more about." Naruto said. Milana nodded.
"Well, you let me know if there's anythin' I can do. I miss my sweet flower. I almost can't believe how lonely I feel without her now. Never occurred to me, until she started comin' less and less." She said quietly. Naruto grabbed her wrinkled hand beneath his tan one.
"Don't worry Milana-baa-chan, I'm sure everything with get better soon." Naruto said turning and walking out. The instant he turned, his face dropped, eyes going from happy and optimistic to worried and tired.
"I hope." He murmured worriedly and walked back home.
Walking in, something was completely different. Rather than a usually quiet home, Naruto was met with the crashing and dropping of many different things, ranging from thrashing of dishes, to possibly furniture. When he left into the living room, he only saw Sasuke there, growling, and stalking around seemingly pissed off beyond imagination.
"Sasuke-Teme, what's going on?" Naruto said staring at the mess that was made. Gaara was surely going to be pissed. This was just a house he had lent them, not theirs to do whatever they wanted.
Like flip over the kitchen table in furious rages.
"Where's Sakura?" He growled. Naruto groaned.
"I don't know. She was here last night I think." He answered tiredly. Something must have happened again, and now Sasuke wanted some kind of revenge, or to yell at Sakura for whatever she did.
"She's been gone all day." Sasuke scowled. Naruto rolled his eyes. To think, Sasuke not really caring about where Sakura went, brought them to this point here and now.
"I swear Teme, you are beyond bipolar. One minute, you want her by your side every minute of every second of everyday, and the next you want her away from you, the next you want her back. Are you frigging serious? You're asshole behavior is what made her this way in the first place!" Naruto exploded. His voice rose loudly, in a newfound anger and frustration. Sasuke glared, his onyx eyes flashing red for a moment.
"Shut up dobe! I'm doing what I can and have to." Sasuke scoffed turning away. Naruto stopped for a moment.
Those words, coming from Sasuke's lips, on this certain topic only met one thing.
"Don't tell me you're doing this on fucking purpose." Naruto seethed between gritted teeth, and his hands curled into fist. Sasuke remained quiet, and shook his head.
"What I do is none of your concern."
"It is when you're hurting someone I care for!" Naruto yelled.
"Well wake up!" Sasuke screamed, causing Naruto to be taken aback. If there was one thing Sasuke rarely did, it was scream. Sure in the fields of battle, sometimes. Maybe when hurt, rarely. Grief stricken, he hadn't done that in over seventeen years. It wasn't a first to be yelled at by Sasuke from Naruto, but it was a rare occasion, and it was one that usually made him shut up.
"Sakura is not going to be around forever! So distance yourself now, before time runs out!" Sasuke yelled. He looked away. After a silent moment, Naruto looked down.
"So that's what this has been about...," He whispered. Sasuke looked at him with eyes in mysterious shadow and undecided conclusions. A silence followed the two, and Sasuke looked fully away.
"This has nothing to do with anything." Sasuke whispered. Naruto scoffed.
"Oh, I know exactly what this has to do with and it's you being an ignorant, stupid bastard. You think you can just distance yourself from her? Just to avoid the pain of when she has to—"
"You're gonna end that sentence if you want to stay able to speak at all." Sasuke growled. The two shared a glare, Naruto about to retort before the opening and shutting of the door cut him off. Sakura stood there, looking at the two a very distant look on her face, that contorted into confusion with their current attention. Her green eyes became annoyed and she sighed, shoulders sinking just a bit as she walked in. When their eyes didn't tear from her, she glared, eyebrows furrowing in irritation.
"What?" She sneered as they stared at her. Naruto put on his best smile, knowing damn well this was going to be another day of bantering and fuming arguments despite wanting to keep it away from that. So he turned to her with a smile that made her give a look of question.
"Hey Sakura-Chan! How's your day going?" He asked. She stood quiet, shrugging and walking over to the couch, sitting down in front of the tv. Her bangs covered her eyes, as she began to flip through channels and quietly surfed through people either speaking of news or yelling at each other about a baby, and something else about someone waking up from amnesia, and having two kids with a woman he had a one night stand with, who tried to kill him to gain access to his drug riches. Naruto's grin for this moment faltered and he sighed.
At this rate, they were all just going to fall apart.
"Sakura..." Sasuke suddenly called her name. She replied with a hum, but didn't turn to him.
"Naruto spoke to you." Sasuke informed. And she nodded.
"My day was normal." She answered shortly.
"Did you get sunlight and water?" He asked.
"No. I want to die." She answered haughtily. Sasuke glared. Naruto grabbed his shoulder before the Uchiha could practically pounce at her.
"Sasuke..." He warned. Sasuke shook his shoulder away, and glared at her.
"You listen here, Sakura." Sasuke had already started.
"Arrogant prick." She murmured, even if Sasuke heard it, and Naruto looked at her.
"Sakura-Chan that's enough."
"Shut up idiot." She scowled.
"Sakura-Chan!"
"Can't I watch some TV in peace!" She said, staring at the television screen, kicking her feet up on the living room table, and watched the news with interest.
"You are not going to talk to Naruto that way." Sasuke yelled.
"I talk how I want to, and you can't tell me what to do!" Sakura yelled looking at him. Sasuke turned off the television, standing in front of it. Naruto gulped, watching them just to be sure they didn't launch for each other's throats. Sakura scowled, groaning and standing with her hands being shoved into her pockets. Her green eyes glared at them with a ferociousness that they would've never stopped to think of the sweet Sakura they had three months ago. Now she was staring them down as if she could kick their asses with both her hands tied behind her back in a two on one fight. She looked like she wanted to fight.
"Sakura-Chan I don't know what's going on with you, but this has gone on far enough!" Naruto glared. She stayed quiet.
"What's with you?" She stayed quiet to the blonde's question.
"Well?" Sasuke snared, and she still stayed quiet.
But then they saw it. There was something in her eyes, something unseen before. There stared at the ground doing their best to look nonchalant but something was hiding a secret that was destroying her inside. She wanted to tell them, but something was keeping her from doing so, and she turned on her heel beginning to walk away.
"Sakura-Chan..." Naruto called softly, but the flower didn't answer. Naruto looked at Sasuke, his concern evident in his blue eyes. Sasuke sighed.
"You like to spend a lot of your time here." Sakura sat up sighing, and turning towards Sasuke, who stood at the doorway of the roof they both stood on. She stared at him for some time, before laying back down on her back to stare at the coming stars. Sasuke stared up at them also, feeling a wind blow by in an attempt to ease the tension between the two. He walked to her side sighing, remembering what Naruto said just a few moments ago.
'You have no right to protect yourself from Sakura, especially when she's done no harm to you.' The blond haired man whispered when Sakura had left them alone earlier. While Sasuke had said nothing, he knew Naruto was slightly right. With that, he looked at her face, her eyes closed nonchalantly, as she rested them with quiet steady breathing. She looked a bit older, almost as if the baby face from her seemingly "child" years was beginning to fade into her full womanhood. Her cheek bones seemed a little higher, and her face had lost, not completely, some of its innocence. Sasuke shook his head.
Now instead of the mind of a child in a woman's body, he had to deal with the mind of a beyond rebellious teen in a woman's body.
He sat next to her, and she opened her eyes at the sound of his body's very light thump.
"Does this roof give you peace?" He asked. She remained quiet, looking at the stars of the darkening sky, as midnight blues began to take over the purples and pinks. Sasuke looked at her.
"What do you want?" She asked him in a low voice. The voice lacked its suspicion, and seemed to already know Sasuke was here for something. Sasuke stared at her eyes, seeing the dullness of them, and he wasn't sure if it was because she didn't get much water or she was just that cold now. He sighed, looking down. He understood fully why she was angry. She had every right to be. He used to be there for her, and then suddenly one day, he just decided he wouldn't be there as much. In his mind, he didn't think it was going to be that much of a big deal. He simply figured Sakura would question it and under his command of course, she would leave it be. But then she started yelling, and screaming at him, fighting with him on everything he suggested; from bed times, to her getting home at a certain time, to what he said to Naruto, she fought and if he yelled back at her, she did not back down. She only became more infuriated, and would fight with him to the ends of the argument. And Sasuke could only suppose that she was moving through the adolescent, rebellious stage.
She had even slapped him once or twice. He couldn't help but chuckle at the time.
"Sakura...I want to make things right." He whispered, looking away. Her eyes shifted to him, and her hands moved from cradling her head, to supporting her weight. He supposed he got her attention, but she didn't say anything.
"I've been distant Sakura, and it's been because my own selfish reasons. I ask for your forgiveness." He simply said; a heartfelt apology, that honestly, didn't seem to impact Sakura at all. She stared at him with knitted eyebrows, and she seemed not to even understand his language anymore. After a moment of silence, she sighed.
"Forgiveness granted. Now leave me alone." She said.
Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed, creasing together in utmost confusion and slight anger. He had just apologized, sure it wasn't the greatest of apologies but he did it, and she simply told him to get lost.
"Sakura..."
"I said I forgive you already now leave me alone."
He stood there quiet, both slightly hurt, and angered. Standing and walking away he remembered that this would take time, as all things did. And with that final reminder to himself, Sasuke walked through the heavy metal door, and back into the home. Sakura remained on the roof.
"Well done."
And Sakura looked down to the floor, as hands pressed themselves on her shoulders and a breath crept down her neck.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open the sun will rise.
Here it's safe, here its warm.
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true.
Here is the place, where I love you.
Deep in the meadow hidden far away
A cloak of leaves a moon beam ray
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when again they open they'll wash away
Here it's safe here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
As Sasuke remembered the lullaby, he stared down at his newly sharpened knife. He had been reflecting on the long unheard lullaby for some time, and from its lyrics deciphered nothing. The hymn was one he had not heard before, but he swore he knew every note, down to the last rhyme. Back then, it seemed to help not only him, but Sakura also, even if she didn't truly sing it much. She had only sang it twice as far as he remembered, and both times, without knowing the song at all, he knew the lyrics.
What he didn't understand was how he knew them, why he knew them, and what they meant. The meaning seemed to go far beyond just some kind of paradise that could release the troubles of anyone and everyone. It was more. It was not just some kind of safe haven, where the daisies spoken of, protected you, they did something else. Something Sasuke didn't know. And when Sakura sang it, there was something more also. Almost as if all of life seemed to revolve around her peacefully, and as she sang, he swore everything came to a standstill; just for her.
"Hey Sasuke-Teme, I have dinner ready." Naruto said.
Why Sasuke just happened to remember the lullaby he didn't know, but he felt that, for some reason, it was important. Something was being told in that lullaby something other than the promise of safety, love and protection within the beautiful heaven of a meadow.
"I'll get Sakura. Maybe she'd like to have some water with us at the table." Sasuke said standing. Naruto nodded. Sasuke slowly walked up the stairs, heading towards the red steel door that lead to the roof. And slowly opening it, he found Sakura standing there, looking down at the streets below.
"Sakura we're going to eat, and you haven't had water in a while. Want to come join us?" Sasuke asked. She stood quiet.
"Sakura?" He took a step forward, now realizing she was trembling. With a new concern laced up in him, Sasuke approached her quickly and cautiously.
"Sakura! Sakura are you okay?" Sasuke grabbed her shoulder and she tensed. He could see her trembling lip, and dark veins along her neck, signifying her withering.
"Sakura...come in. You need some water." He brushed away his fear, idiotically ignoring the voice in the back of his head telling him, screaming at him that this was not due to a lack of water. This was something else, this was not anything bodily, this was something emotionally or mentally. And when she didn't move Sasuke then began to listen to that voice.
"Sakura...," He turned her face, and she stared at him like she knew he was the devil in disguise. And Sasuke observed as she thrashed back from him. This was definately not a lack of water. This was something else. This was something beyond his comprehension, and he called out to her again, with a call that fell on deaf ears.
The image of Sasuke being beaten, and bloody flashed in front of her, replacing the surrounding area, with his pain filled red eyes, as he was kicked onto his back. She closed her eyes and grabbed her ears.
'Don't listen Sakura…' She said again, in a murmur. Sasuke quieted when he heard it. She opened her scared eyes again seeing Naruto impaled by something in front of her; she didn't know what it was. In reality she just looked at Sasuke who was trying his best to analyze the situation. She let out a whimper, and shut her eyes again, shaking her head, and crying quietly with eyes shut in complete terror.
'Don't listen. Don't listen. Don't listen Sakura, whatever you do Don't. Listen. Anymore.' She began to whisper over and over. She dropped to her knees, looking down at the cemented ground of the roof she stood on, beginning to cry louder as she gripped her head, and whispered the phrase over and over. Her green eyes snapped open when everything stopped, and everything was deafened, and time slowed, to see the illusion of Sasuke yelling at her. She couldn't hear the words, but in slow motion he yelled, from his place against the ground. She took note of the blood on his lips, the cut on his face, and the blood coming from his shoulder along with his abdomen.
And he continued to yell at her over and over, and she could only make out the one word he was saying.
Run.
Run Sakura.
Run Sakura run!
It slowly but surely got louder and louder, until she was actually hearing Sasuke scream at her full blast, as if she were actually there, hearing him scream at her to run. She shook her head. His eyes wild and filled with a shaking fear, yelled at her to do the verb.
"Run Sakura! Run!" He screamed and begged her. She shook her head and grabbed it.
"No!" She screamed, lengthily. Her eyes shut as she thrashed back, knocking over the edge of the roof and starting to fall. Only to be caught by her ankle.
"SAKURA!" Sasuke screamed to her, and she came to, looking up at him and back at the ground below them. In her eyes was fear, a pure fear that saw the death of thousands in gruesome ways that would leave even the toughest warriors scarred. She stared at the floor and for some reason, only one thought stretched across her mind.
'Let me fall.'
Sasuke began pulling her up and she was placed back on the ground, shaking with wide eyed fear, trembling at the sights and displays she was just forced to watch. She shook quietly, and sobbed and cried, Naruto having just made it up to the roof hearing Sasuke scream her name looked at him with worry.
"It's okay Sakura, tell me what happened. What's wrong? What did you see?" He hushed her and asked her. She cried quietly, the only sounds coming from her being sniffing and sobbing, as she buried her face into his chest. Sasuke's eyes traveled all around them, and he found nothing out of the ordinary at all. She was alone here and no one seemed to have reached her or contacted here at all.
"Come on Sakura, we're going to go get inside okay?" He said, quietly lifting her bridal style, and she stared at him, with a broken, scared look.
She was broken, inside, and possibly outside.
Sakura opened her eyes from their restful slumber, and sat up quietly. First checking the empty hallways she looked into each open doored room, seeing Naruto and Sasuke asleep in their beds. Covering her chakra, she stepped out, getting dressed in her black boots, with a red tanktop, a black very short coat reaching above her stomach covered her slightly. Her legs wore dark blue jeans. The moon shined through the window, as she opened it, and then fully onto her. she looked up at the currently full moon, as it slowly began to become covered in disappointment and shame.
She looked back in the hallway from her bedroom window and then at the moon.
"Forgive me." She whispered, jumping out and down onto her feet with grace. She looked up at the moon again, as it spoke to her, and slowly the faint clouds covered it, leaving her with its very faint light, and the street lights. She sighed, and begun to run, her destination; the park.
On her way she thought about the earlier events. She was sure she had worried Sasuke and Naruto to a point passed the threshold of concern. It was all out fear of her health and mental state. However she was a bit concerned herself. The images, for the last two months, were never able to get the best of her like that. As far as she was concerned, she had never freaked out like that since the first few times she got them, but today...watching Sasuke get kicked onto the ground, scared her down to her very soul. She both did and didn't understand why.
She stopped at the fountain, and from what the moon had said, it was twelve am.
"Welcome back beautiful flower." A voice said, his breath lingering on her neck. She closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply to keep herself calm. She turned, being met with a hooded caped figure, staring at her with eyes she could feel. She looked down quietly.
"You let them see…" She whispered.
"Did you really think they were going to truly stay out of our business, my beautiful blossom. They, especially the Uchiha, are your protectors. Something not quite different from so many millennia ago, am I right?" He asked, a man unidentifiable with his dark hood, turning her, and grabbing her waist and hand in a starting position for a dance. She stared up at him, into hollowed unseen eyes.
"Ready to begin?" She put the other hand on his shoulder, and she placed her head against his chest, as they quietly moved. For a few minutes, they danced, the wind occasionally blowing between them, and through Sakura's hair. After these few minutes passed, and the moved revealed itself once again, both the figure, and Sakura looked up at it. The figure chuckled.
"Ready." She replied. He smiled, leaning in and brushing her lips with his own. Her lips parted with permission, and you'd think the two would kiss. But something else happened. The man opened his moth just slightly and Sakura let a deep inhale and exhale emit from her, as a green force came from her mouth and into his. She closed her eyes, imagining it be someone she would actually want to do this for. Not this man she was being forced to do this with. And when she finished, the green light, traveling in its green wave left into the man's and from him came black flames, that traveled from his mouth to hers. Her eyebrows knitted together as she felt the slight pain.
She was used this already though.
She took it in, and after some time, could feel herself growing weak, and when the transfer was over she dropped to her knees. She panted, her arms shaking at the absolute fire she felt in her body. She clenched her teeth and the man chuckled, kneeling down to her with a smirk illuminated by the moon light. She looked at him, eyes dulled just slightly, and stood wearily.
"I guess its time to play." He said. Sakura looked at him, and turned, the figure remaining where he stood as Sakura took a few steps away from him, before turning again.
"One..." He counted, and got into a defensive position. Sakura did the same.
"Two..." She glared.
"Let's make this one worth remembering." He smirked, and ran at her, just as she did the same, both fist raised at each other, as they swung.
"Sasuke, Sasuke-Teme, wake up!" Naruto shook Sasuke's shoulder. The said man opened his eyes, finding the blond looking beyond worried, and fearful. Sasuke rolled his neck, stretching tiredly.
"What's wrong Dobe?" Sasuke groaned. It was three in the damn morning.
Naruto only looked to worriedly and he nodded him over stopping at Sakura's room, where Sasuke followed his eyes. His eyes widened.
Sakura's bed laid there empty with the window completely open.
The man fell back hitting the ground with a few thuds, and Sakura slid back on one knee, gripping her stomach.
"Well done Sakura, well done. I've taught you well." The man praised, and Sakura panted, her shirt slightly tattered, and a new cut on her lip. He chuckled.
"But you'll have to do better if you don't want me to kill the all of the people here tonight." Sakura glared, at this statement, and ran at the stationary man again. He smirked, and ran at her as well.
"Where the hell could she be?" Naruto asked Sasuke, as they ran across roof tops. Sasuke's eyes were red with the sharigan, and pissed beyond imagination. Sasuke turned jumped onto another roof, Naruto following his lead.
"I'm not sure." Sasuke said. And looked at Naruto.
"Let's split up. We'll cover more ground." Sasuke commanded, and Naruto nodded, the night sky barely showing his figure has he went off to another direction. Sasuke himself went another way, glaring and cursing in his mind, at all things that had to do with this. Why the hell would she leave, especially when she was still injured? The answers to these questions were going to be answered whether she liked it or not, and this time Sasuke didn't give a damn if he had just patched things up with her.
She was going to have Hell to pay.
Sakura back flipped, kicking the man upwards, and jumped, following him. He chuckled, as she caught his foot in her hand, and slammed him into the ground. Sakura was about to kick him, that is when he moved out the way and she landed on the ground. He remained there however, staring into the distance. Sakura begged for this quietly to be over.
"Looks like we have to wrap this up Sakura dear. Your protector is on his way here." He said, and she nodded, taking off her shoes, and walking towards the fountain, inwardly jumping for joy that Sasuke was on his way.
'It was fun my dear,
The greatest fun.
And this time, I can honestly say,
You would have won.'
Sakura remained there, listening to the words carefully. There was more. There always was. Slowly her wounds began to heal, glowing green essence covering and closing them into mere redness.
'Don't worry about the images I send you
They're simply going to make you stronger
Just keep deceiving, keep lying,
And we'll get to play a little longer.
And then he was gone. Just like that, in a cloud of smoke he was gone, without another moment's notice. She sat on the edge looking down at her wet jeans and feet, retelling herself that she was doing this for the good of the people. She was doing this to keep people alive and if that meant lying and keeping Sasuke at a distance, no matter how much it hurt, then so be it. She would sacrifice herself, for the good of the many, and if that included the happiness she felt with Sasuke, then again, so be it.
She couldn't deny that she was beyond happy with Sasuke. She was happy with Naruto also. And these last two months were not made easy for them as she understood. But there were things they didn't know, things they wouldn't understand and in the end they would only treat her as some child who didn't know any better. Like a flower in a human body. So she kept quiet, and listened to Sasuke's approaching footsteps. She turned, seeing his angered eyes, but turned away slowly, looking back down at the water with a solemn look in her eyes. If there was one thing Sakura wanted, it was for Sasuke to understand that she was not only doing this for the sake of the hundred thousand maybe even millions of people that lived here in Suna, but she was doing this for him also.
And if there was one thing that she could do to repay him for his protection...she decided it would be this.
"Sakura, what are you doing here? Do you understand how late it is!" He growled at her. She remained quiet.
"I know. I came to bask in the moonlight, and drink from the fountain." She replied quietly. He glared, his red eyes spinning in anger. She smiled gently for a moment. She wasn't sure what exactly was the cause of his distance those months ago, but he was trying to mend things for whatever reason. She wasn't sure if Naruto had said something to him, or he just missed her as much as she missed him.
Her soft, small hand was grabbed gently by Sasuke's colossal one, and Sakura turned to him. He looked at her now with onyx eyes both, relieved that she was okay, and calmed now that they knew she was out here for a good reason. How more wrong could he be? Sakura looked down feeling almost unworthy of Sasuke's kindness, even if he didn't show much. She squeezed it reassuringly, and with that small gesture both of them were captured in each other's eyes again, smiling calmly at each other with a secret signing of a peace treaty. He would for now on, trust her unconditionally, and stop being an asshole, and she would in turn, be more cooperative, and would stop being an asshole back.
She pulled him into an embrace, and closed her eyes at the comfort his arms brought, despite the pain she was beginning to feel. And Sasuke stared into space, wrapping his strong arms around her.
"I missed you." She whispered.
He stood quiet, understanding, and his eyes lowered as he buried his face into her neck, inhaling her floral scent.
"I missed you too." He whispered. Sakura smiled letting tears fall out her eyes.
She pulled away revealing her tears, letting Sasuke slowly wipe them away. That feeling began to return, the one where he was absolutely and positively...taken...by her. He wasn't truly sure what to make of it. His eyes stared into hers for a long while, and even with her tears gone, his hand remained on her sweet face, holding it there with peace and contentment. The other hand was still wrapped around her waist.
They stood that way for an eternity, and the eternity was ended with Naruto's yell.
"Sakura-Chan you're okay!" He yelled the two turned their heads towards him from their eye lock, their positions of closeness severed with a silent promise of being renewed someday. Sakura smiled, and nodded at his relieved observation as he ran towards them, and Naruto stared at her with a warm look in his eyes, slowing to a stop. Sasuke glared just for a moment, before Sakura and Sasuke stepped out the water, and put on her boots, able to do so without getting sand on her feet. She walked ahead of them as they slowed their pace.
"So...did you guys fully work it out?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded.
"I believe so." Sasuke shortly answered.
"Did she talk to you about what happened?"
Sasuke shook his head in answer.
"All she told me tonight is that she came here to bask and drink. That was all. She said nothing else." Sasuke filled Naruto in. Naruto nodded understandingly.
When the three reached home, Sakura went straight upstairs to bed, taking off her boots to lay down and fall into her slumber. Sasuke stood from the doorway, watching her with a small smile for that moment before heading to bed on his own. It was five thirty in the morning and while Naruto was already snoring, Sasuke figured he'd at least get his own few minutes of sleep.
Sakura's eyes snapped open, and she sat up instantly, gasping for air. She looked at the clock reading ten thirty and instantly ran to Sasuke's room, in a wild frenzy. He laid there, sleeping peacefully, and she stared at him with tear filled eyes, her hands trembling, and lip quivering.
He was safe. He was alive. He was okay. She kept telling herself.
She walked over to the bed, climbing in and hugging him tightly. He woke up instantly to the contact, and turned.
"Huh? Sakura? What's wrong?" He asked as she cried and hugged him tightly as if he had been gone for years. He knew it couldn't have been due to their quarrels, that had already made up earlier. But she was crying and holding him as if she thought he had died, and now he came back to life as if it never happened. He caressed her to look at him.
"Sakura..."
She didn't say a thing, only held him in quiet sadness, with fear and torment that he may someday leave.
"Sakura...,"
"Sasuke-kun..." she spoke suddenly, and Sasuke remained quiet. She stared up at him. She smiled at his confused and worried look, and chuckled when he looked even more confused.
"Sasuke-kun...I'm sorry for the last couple of months." She said. Sasuke stared in his confusion before giving her a soft smile, and caressing her face.
"Sakura...we've made up already. We both know we're sorry, and it's okay." She shook his head at his reasoning. She placed her forehead against his, her pink locks messily falling all over the bed and mixing into his. She chuckled, as he moved strands of air away from her face. She was curled into a ball, and he was cocooning her curled just a little bit with his own. She shook her head.
"Of course. I know." She whispered, her voice, Sasuke noted, sounded more womanly. She chuckled, grinning, and Sasuke smiled hopelessly at her. She turned away and stood, much to Sasuke's dismay. With a stretch she walked, turning her head to the side just lightly to grace him with her divine smile.
"I'm going to Milana-Chan's bakery." She told him, and Sasuke smirked, sitting up.
"Be safe." He murmured, and turned away to close his eyes again. Sakura walked out, not without seeing Naruto inside the hallway looking at her. He seemed a bit upset, but immediately pushed it away when she questioned him. He promised that nothing was wrong and gave her his honest word. And so she left, with a gentle stride, and walked towards the direction of Milana's bakery. After waving at the woman through the window...she walked passed it, beginning to head towards the old Suna construction site, long abandoned and forgotten due to the amount of deaths that occurred here. The building, condemned, remained a ghostly reminder of what it meant to be a waste.
She waited inside an old broken building and closed her eyes.
"As always...well done." The voice slithered. She opened her eyes, glaring, as the man put both hands by each of her sides, trapping her with no room for escape. She looked down.
"Now...ready?"
"Ready...," She whispered. The man smirked. Leaning in and brushing his lips against hers.
Only to get stabbed. His eyes widened.
He thrashed back in pain, and yelled in a fury, falling on his rear as Sakura shoved the kunai she stole from Sasuke deeper into the man's stomach before slamming him into the ground. Upon result, the Earth shook, the fragile ground beneath them cracking as they plummeted through the old building from its top floor.
She hugged Sasuke tightly, crying making sure his focus would turn on to nothing else before he turned around. After reaching quickly and swiftly, took a dagger from his belt, and put it in her own under her shirt before he turned around.
"This is the end of our contract." She glared, and punched the man free of the blood soaked dagger. And as she fell she let out a furious cry that roared. She would kill him, and protect the ones she loved on this earth. She would save the humans, and she would hold fast to all she held dear, no matter what images she was shown and no matter what she was told. She would fear no one anymore. And bullet dived, as she landed into the ground, punching him with the kunai again, causing him to scream.
The Earth shook all throughout Suna.
She heard him laughing, coughing up blood. She remembered how scared she was of blood in her first encounter with it. She remembered being scared of Sasuke as she watched him kill someone. But she had already seen so much death and bloodshed that Sakura could say she was used to it. She had the images, the nightmares, and the man in front of her to thank for that.
"S-So...the flower has bloomed?" He taunted, chuckling.
"Blossomed." She haughtily replied.
"W-Well..." he coughed.
"If it's a fight you want...," He coughed and next thing Sakura knew she was grabbed by some kind of puppet, as it encased her in its arms. He chuckled, and Sakura glared darkly. He lifted his hood, revealing maroon red hair, and dark eyes, smirking at her.
"Well then my sweet Sakura flower...a fight you will get." He smirked.