Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
(Warning: dark fic.)
Alerion
:
Part the Tenth:
:
Recherché
:
Morning came quicker than Sasuke wanted it to. He woke up to the faint smell of pancakes - but that was the last thought on his mind.
His heart began to beat uncontrollably against his ribcage as his arms were met with emptiness, and he flashed upright, eyes flying open.
"Sakura?"
Where is she? God, don't tell me she left -
His voice rose to a panicked shout. "Sakura!"
Suddenly, she appeared in the doorway, her pink hair swaying, her eyes questioning. In her arms she held a large tray filled with two cups of orange juice, a plate of bacon, and a large stack of pancakes. "Something wrong, Sasuke?" she asked, frowning as she walked toward him and placed the tray on the bedside table.
His eyes closed for a second in relief, then flashed open again. Slowly, he rose from the bed and stepped to the ground, pulling her toward him in a crushing embrace.
Sasuke let out a short exhale of breath - his version of a laugh. "Everything's fine," he breathed into her hair. "Sorry about that."
She giggled into chest, then gently pushed him away. "Here," she said, smiling, and held a piece of bacon out to him. "I walked to the grocery store earlier this morning and got breakfast supplies. Your classes start at nine, don't they? You'll need the energy. Eat up! "
He smirked softly at her, and did as she said.
"Sakura Haruno, correct?"
The well-endowed blonde woman - Tsunade - focused her calculating amber gaze on Sakura's motionless form.
The pink-haired girl nodded.
Tsunade shuffled a few papers on her desk, then stood from her seat. "I assumed it had to be you," she remarked, her lips twisted upward. "I've never seen anyone else with pink hair."
Sakura smiled grimly. "So I've been told."
The older woman grinned, and held out her hand. "I'm the chief of police around here. You can just call me Tsunade."
Sakura shook the hand that was offered to her. "Nice to meet you. Just to make sure, you've been informed that I wish to keep all my files classified, right?"
Tsunade tapped a bulky file on her desk with her long fingernails. "Yes." Her voice grew quiet. "It seems you've had quite the life so far, Sakura. I'll respect your wish - only your basic information will be visible to the rest of the department. The rest about your parents will be between us."
Sakura swallowed, then lowered her gaze to the file in her hands. She took a deep breath before handing it to the chief. "This…is a file I've written about myself. I - I thought you would like to know."
Tsunade opened the file warily, skimming over its contents with growing alarm. Her eyes flashed upward. "You were a heroin user," she stated, voice impassive.
Sakura forced herself to keep her composure. "I stopped using at age fourteen. And I know you have the records of my drug tests - I'm completely clean now."
"Normal people wouldn't be showing this to the head of the department, Sakura."
The pink-haired woman bowed her head. "You had a right to know. I did not want to hide anything from you."
Tsunade huffed out a breath. "Well, then," she said, considering.
Sakura crossed her fingers.
"I guess you can trust me to keep your secret."
Sakura's pale jade orbs widened, and she lifted her head to stare at the other woman in shock. "You - you really mean it?"
Tsunade smirked slightly. "Yes, I mean it. Not only would letting you go be a great loss to the department - seeing how impressive your records are from your days at the Academy - but…" She turned to gaze out the window. "…you seem like a good person, Sakura. I'm putting my trust in you, and I hope you never have it taken away."
Sakura smiled so widely she thought her face would rip in half. "You'll always be able to trust me, I promise it."
"Good," the blonde affirmed. Then she gestured to the hall opposite them. "Now, I think it's about time you met your partner-to-be for the next fraction of your life."
They headed down the hall in an easy silence, finally emerging into a large indoor shooting range. At least twenty targets were hanging from the ceiling, each accompanied by its own shooting booth. The crack of the guns pounding into Sakura's ears, but she was used to it - after all, guns had become a daily part of her training away from her studies as a detective.
Tsunade led her to a stall at the far end of the room, in which stood a tall man with grey-tinted black hair pulled into a loose, low ponytail. His uniform-clothed back was turned to her as he clicked the safety off his Glock 22 pistol, arms straight out in front of him, and aimed.
Sakura smiled a small, appreciative smile as he shot ten rounds and hit the small red circle in the middle of the target every time.
After, he glanced back, then set the weapon down and removed the earmuff-styled hearing protection from his head, placing it with the gun. He turned to the two woman, his obsidian gaze roaming over Sakura's petite form expressionlessly.
The man was incredibly handsome, she noticed. Long eyelashes brushed the tops of his cheeks whenever he blinked, and two long tear-troughs were carved into the skin beneath his eyes. His thick black hair fell forward to frame his face, accentuating his soft features neatly.
His gaze met Sakura's, onyx eyes flashing with curiosity.
"Sakura," Tsunade began, her hand motioning toward the man before them. "This is Itachi Uchiha, your new detective partner."
And Sakura smiled.
The time came for her leave, even though he tried to persuade her otherwise.
"I have to go home!" she laughed, pushing him away. "It's my turn to do the laundry, and Ino'll be pissed if I don't have her clothes washed before the movies tonight."
Sasuke frowned at her as she reached for her wig and placed it atop her head. She adjusted her bag hanging from her shoulder, then opened the front door and stepped outside.
Giving up, he followed her. She paused at the foot of the steps.
For a moment, Sasuke saw a flash of bright blonde near the bushes to his left, but when he looked, it was gone. He was probably imagining things.
Ignoring it, he closed the distance between them and lowered to touch his lips to hers, pulling her closer and kissing her ardently. She met his movements, her lips working precisely against his.
After a good fifteen seconds, he pulled away, and instead reached to grasp her hand. "I'll see you tonight, then?"
She smiled. "I'll see you tonight." Then she drew their interlocked fingers to her mouth and pressed a soft kiss to the back of his hand before turning and walking down the steps.
He watched her until her form became invisible to him.
And, just as he turned to head back inside, that same flash of bright blonde entered his vision, and he was shoved roughly inside his apartment, a tanned hand clutching at Sasuke's neck as he was pressed to a wall.
"You asshole," the person seethed.
Sasuke was met with blue eyes clouded over with rage.
"Naruto," he greeted quietly.
The blonde's eyes began to water over, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. "God damn it, Sasuke, you knew!" he shouted. His voice grew ragged as the tears began to spill over, running down his whisker-marked cheeks. "You knew I liked her! And what do you do?" His hand tightened around Sasuke's neck, trembling slightly. "You go have sex with her, when you could've had any other freaking woman in world! You just had to choose her!"
Sasuke kept his mouth shut.
"Because that's what you did, right?" Naruto's voice lowered to a whisper. "Why else would she be leaving your house so early in the morning? It's because you had sex with her, isn't it?"
Sasuke closed his eyes in response.
And, at that one action, Naruto knew it was true.
"You love her too, don't you, Sasuke?"
The Uchiha fixed Naruto with a straight, unwavering stare. It gave Naruto all the answers he needed.
Slowly, the blonde released his grip on Sasuke's neck, backing away with unsteady movements. His blue eyes seemed to have had the life drained out of them - now, instead of blaring with energy, they were dull.
"Well," Naruto choked, "congratulations. With the way she smiled at you, it looks like she feels the same way."
Sasuke could only stand there as his best friend sprinted out of the apartment and vanished down the streets.
And his lips twitched into a grim line.
Because, even though he wanted it with every fiber of his being, there was no way Naruto's last statement could be true.
Itachi became the one person she felt truly comfortable with. As the weeks turned into months, she grew to enjoy his unspoken words and his rare half-smile. They trained together, solved endless cases together, kept by each other's side when life as detectives grew to be a little too rough.
He was her light in the darkness, and, gradually, he also became her life.
Gradually, she fell in love with him.
And she was glad to hear the words reciprocated when they shared their first kiss - six months after they had met - in the corner of the otherwise empty indoor shooting range.
In those two years with him, she felt that her life was complete.
…and then everything changed.
Sakura smiled to herself as she folded the last of the laundry, leaning against the small couch in the living room of her shared apartment. Ino was in the shower, and Hinata was in the backyard reading the new book she'd gotten.
Sakura had begun to close her eyes when the phone suddenly rang. She jumped up with a loud "I've got it!" and hurriedly grasped it in her hand, pressing the 'receive' button before holding the speaker to her ear.
"This is Sakura," she answered smoothly.
The voice that responded caused her to freeze. "We know where he is."
Her eyes narrowed. "Sasori? Are you sure? I told you to never call me unless you were completely -"
"It is no mistake," the redhead's even voice cut in swiftly. "Deidara is with him right now, keeping an eye on him. They are currently located at the Transcend Club, just five miles north of the Pande -"
"I know where it is, Sasori," she interrupted. Her mind was whirling chaotically. "Tell me, is he there to stay? Will he leave if he senses anything is off?"
"Deidara told me less than three minutes ago that he was injecting was seemed to be crystal meth into his arm. Deidara does not think he will be going anywhere soon."
She tried to fight the hope swelling within her.
On the other end of the call, Sasori gave a short, sharp chuckle. "It seems we have hit the jackpot, Sakura."
"What do you mean?" she questioned warily.
"It seems as if Ren Hyomi, Chezura Nanoko, Ichima Juran, and the one called Orochimaru are also present at the club."
"Five of the top murderers and drug dealers in the world, all in one place," she breathed, eyes wide. "Yes, Sasori, I do believe we have hit the jackpot. Tell Deidara to keep position" - she smiled bleakly - "and to run when the uniforms show up."
"Sakura, what are you -"
But she had already hung up.
recherché
\ruh-sher-SHAY\ , adjective;
- uncommon; exotic; rare.
- exquisite; choice.
- excessively refined; affected.
- pretentious; overblown.
A/N: We're just going to pretend Naruto went to Sasuke's place because he ran out of ramen, and needed some food. Yeah...
Getting confused? Good. ;)
Ren Hyomi, Ichima Juran, and Chezura Nanoko are just characters I made up (imagine that they're terrible, conniving murderers and need to be sent to prison for the rest of their lives). You all know Orochimaru.
Well, please review! Please?
Please and thank you,
Silver Echo
P.S. HOLY SHIT. If you want to hear an eerie song that'll send shivers down your back, check out "Salvation" by Scanners. My big sister introduced me to it, and now I believe I have broken the repeat button - it's just that awesome. No joke. Go listen. :O