Chapter 10: Half Life
Sakura didn't know just what in the name of the Leaf he was thinking, but it was definitely stupid and careless enough for him to just come waltzing outside the okiya and throwing a pebble on her glass window. When she pushed open the velvet curtains to yell obscene things at the person who was blatantly making fun of her and disturbing her beauty sleep (which she desperately needed after a particularly hard week) she stopped mid-yell when she spotted pale skin, dark hair, and black obsidian eyes that seemed to smolder under the yellow light of nearby street lamps.
With a gasp, she nearly flung herself towards her wardrobe to search for her coat (she had no time to put on her wrappings) and dashed as quietly as she could to the okiya entrance. He was waiting patiently at a corner.
"Are you insane?" She hissed as loud as she dared. "What are you doing here, Sasuke-kun?"
The young Uchiha merely stepped out of the shadows and into the light and regarded her with mild amusement, "You look well,"
Sakura rolled her eyes. Her hair closely resembled a crow's nest and she was wearing a thin white under-robe underneath a thick tan coat. There were probably dried drool-stains on her chin and dark bags under her eyes. For some reason, the dishevelled state of her appearance bugged her more than the possibility that Hanaoki might catch her.
"What are you going here?" She hissed at him again.
He only shrugged, "I couldn't sleep,"
"That's it? You came all the way here to disturb my beauty sleep and risk the possibility of Hanaoki beating me just because you couldn't sleep?" Sakura wasn't much of a waking-up person, and despite the fact that she was always nice to Sasuke, she just didn't feel like acting all goody-goody when all she wanted to do was go back to sleep and get out of the damn cold. She hissed and stomped her foot and pointed at him with her index finger with the poise and grace of a drunken sailor.
"Sakura, have you been building a lot of stress lately…?"
The pink-haired girl merely slumped against the lamppost in response. "No. Leave me alone. I want to go to sleep,"
"Since when do you treat me this way?" Sasuke raised a brow, reaching forward to tug on her coat. "Let's go for a walk,"
"I want to sleep," She grumbled, uncharacteristically slapping his hand away.
But he was staring at her like a child begging for candy, and it was so un-Sasuke like that she found it hard to refuse. The next thing she knew, they were walking around the park, the brightest spot in the entire village at the moment. It was a circular space made up entirely of red and brown bricks, surrounded by lampposts, looking almost like a pavilion. Fireflies were flying around the park, looking a lot like stars dipping close to the ground. It was a lovely night, but all Sakura could think of was how unbearably cold it was out here and how wonderfully warm it was back in her bed.
"You're shivering," Sasuke remarked.
"Of course I am," Sakura muttered, wrapping her arms around herself, "I'm only wearing an under robe beneath this coat,"
"Why didn't you put on something warmer, then?"
"Because I didn't know I would be walking around the park in the middle of a freezing night," Sakura countered, rubbing her hands against her upper arms to warm herself. "And I was in a hurry. I sort of panicked when you started throwing stones at my window. Honestly though, boys only do that when they want to proclaim their love,"
She flashed him a crooked, teasing grin, "Are you going to proclaim your love, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke snorted, "Hardly,"
But he removed his coat and draped it over her shoulders.
"Why did you disturb me, then?" Sakura asked, rolling her bright green eyes. She slid her arms inside the sleeves of his coat and hugged herself again.
"Father's back," Sasuke shrugged, kicking a pebble. It skittered away and landed at the side of a lamppost, "I've been out the whole time since he arrived, and I don't feel like going back right now,"
"I heard that he's battling it out with Hyuga for the throne. Did you know?"
"I did," Sasuke replied, "Nara Shikamaru told me,"
"Nara Shikamaru…" Sakura repeated thoughtfully, "I met him at your brother's party,"
"So what did you think? Of him, I mean,"
"He seemed like a very intellectual person," Sakura replied, envisioning the face of the brown-haired boy in her head, "He seemed kind of laid back, the kind of person that doesn't enjoy drama or controversies. He seems like the type of guy that would do his best to avoid fights instead of causing them, and also, I think he dislikes women,"
Sasuke raised a brow, "Your ideas are fairly accurate. Are you sure you haven't met him before…?"
Sakura shook her head, "That was just the impression he gave me,"
"So I take it that you think he's a fine person?"
"Yes," Sakura nodded.
"That's good, then," Sasuke replied, "Because they had another meeting just two hours ago, because one of the elders proposed an idea. She said that she wanted the Nara clan head to take the position of the temporary ruler,"
Sakura looked surprised, "They're assigning the Nara?"
Sasuke nodded, "Shikamaru was appointed as the clan head a few months ago, so basically, he's going to be the new ruler,"
"Wow, really?" Sakura remarked, "Why'd his father retire early…?"
"Because his senses were dulling with the passage of time, and that the clan needed a newer, younger head to continue leading the clan,"
Sakura looked impressed.
But Sasuke only looked amused, "Just kidding. That's what Shikaku-sama said to everyone, but in reality, I think he just wants to retire so he can spend his days sleeping and playing shogi,"
Sakura frowned, her ideals crushed completely. "That wasn't inspiring at all,"
"Shikamaru wasn't too happy, though," Sasuke said, "He never wanted to lead the clan or the country. In fact, he never really wanted responsibility at all. He just likes lying on his back and looking at the clouds,"
"That's going to be our new ruler?" Sakura said, her palm making contact with her forehead.
"He's a great person though, you agreed to that yourself," Sasuke pointed out, "And he's intelligent, albeit a little lazy, but I still think he's better than my Father as a ruler, don't you think? If I'm going to trust anyone in this damn city with all that power and control, then it would definitely be someone like Shikamaru,"
"And also," He continued, "I'm surprised you only met him once. He's close with your best friend, that blonde Yamanaka,"
Sakura was surprised, "She never mentioned him,"
"That isn't too surprising," Sasuke remarked casually, flicking a small leaf from his shoulder.
Before she could ask what he meant, he told her that he was feeling tired and that he felt like going home already. He walked her all the way back to the okiya, giving her a small wave as she went in. Upon reaching her room, Sakura realized he forgot his coat. She took it off, folding it neatly, and hiding it at the deepest recesses of her closet. Nobody else, not even Hanaoki, opens her closet, but it was better to be safe. She hung her own tan coat on the foot of the bed before lying down.
The warm silk warmed her toes and fingers, and the cold feeling slowly ebbed away. The freezing howling wind outside reminded her of the biting cold during that fateful night when the Akatsuki attacked. Things that meant close to nothing back then reminded her of so many things in present time. The cold, which only used to be an annoyance to her, reminded her of the numb feeling that seeped into her skin that night. The colour violet, which only used to be a pretty sight to her back then, now reminded her of Nadeshiko Shimura's fear-filled eyes.
A casual evening stroll reminded her of the pain in her feet as she struggled to run on the rough streets, fighting back cold and fatigue and her own fear, all the while holding on to Nadeshiko's soft, trembling hands. As ironic as it seemed, Sasuke's cold icy demeanor seemed to melt off the stinging fear, and nothing else aside from his stoic presence by her side made her feel braver than she really was.
The Leaf Village festivals were always happy and noisy and colourful, and that was precisely why Sasuke hated them so much, which didn't make sense, because both of his bestfriends were colourful (Sakura's pink hair, Naruto's blue eyes) and noisy (he was tired of their countless yapping) and they were always ridiculously happy. He really did wonder why he even bothered to hang out with people who were nothing like him.
As usual, in the morning on the day of the festival, Naruto waltzed into his house wearing a fancy robe in an obnoxious shade of neon orange. He tossed another robe to Sasuke, and it landed on top of his head.
"This is just like you, Sasuke," Naruto sneered, "Acting like a stupid chunk of ice on such a happy day,"
"I have no time for your stupidity, Naruto," Sasuke snapped, tossing the robe back at him, cringing at the colour in the process. Seriously. Baby blue. Naruto wanted him to wear a baby blue coloured robe.
"We always hang out during festivals!" Naruto said, stomping his feet indignantly.
"And that's why I hate myself," Sasuke grumbled before shoving his parchment paper and quill away. "Fine, you moron. But I'm not wearing that ugly thing,"
Naruto pumped his fist in the air in a triumphant fashion. The next thing Sasuke knew, he was walking around the noisy city, enjoying the festival. Well, Naruto was the only one enjoying anything, to be frank. All Sasuke did was glare at everything and everyone. As usual, the attention he received from various females was impressive. He usually ignored them like the nonexistent beings they are (in his world, anyway) but this time he found himself scanning the crowd, looking for a trace of pink and green. Instead, blue and yellow flooded his vision.
He pushed Naruto's face away, "What are you doing, idiot?"
"You're spacing out," Naruto remarked, "I was talking to you,"
"I didn't hear. What did you say?"
"I was asking if that guy looks familiar to you," Naruto pointed at someone.
Sasuke's eyes followed the tip of his finger, and saw who he was pointing to. Really, the person wasn't that hard to miss.
He was a large man, standing at least a foot taller than anyone else around him. He was wearing a gray and red robe, and was munching on what looked like a huge Takoyaki on a stick. He was talking to a handful of girls, who were laughing at something he just said. The last time Sasuke saw him, he was younger and a bit shorter, and still mourning over the loss of his protégé.
"That's Jiraiya-sama," Sasuke informed Naruto.
"Really?" Naruto's eyes widened. "Wasn't he on a long trip?"
"Maybe he went back to visit Lord Sarutobi's grave," Sasuke replied, handing a girl a few coins. He took two sticks of Takoyaki and handed one to Naruto, who munched on it eagerly as soon as he got it.
Jiraiya was the late Sarutobi Hiruzen's protégé. He was a strong, kind man (or so he says) but according to everyone else, he was an old pervert who liked writing and reading raunchy novels. He was the one who took care of Namikaze Minato during most of his childhood. Namikaze was a bit like his son and student and little brother and bestfriend, all at the same time, so others could only imagine what kind of pain the man went through after Namikaze's death. Jiraiya mourned for months. Eyebogs appeared underneath his eyes and he seemed to grow older and older with each passing day. Soon after that, he left the village and never came back once until now. He seemed to have recovered from his depression, and he looked fairly younger and happier and more like his old self.
"I was only six when I last saw him," Sasuke said, as Naruto watched with curious blue eyes. "He left around after my sixth birthday,"
Jiraiya let out a loud laugh, causing the others around him to laugh along with him. Naruto stared at him, something stirring in his bright cerulean eyes. Jiraiya spotted them and stared long enough, eyes lingering on Naruto before going back to his apparently hilarious conversation with the girls. Naruto didn't seem to notice, but Sasuke did, and he was wondering why Jiraiya smiled slightly when he saw Naruto.
"See you soon, Sakura-chan!"
Sakura waved jauntily at the handsome, brown-haired boy who waved back at her before exiting the teahouse. He was one of her long-time customers, and one of the very few ones that she actually cared about. At first, he came to her as a heartbroken puppy, asking for acceptance and compassion and acknowledgement. Eventually, he started going to her for love advice, and even after he found himself a new lover, he kept coming back to Sakura, not to ask for affection or compassion, but just to chat with her and tell her all about his day. Unknowingly, she made a friend.
"Haruno-san, you have a new guest," A servant girl called out.
Sakura immediately put on her fake, charming smile as the new customer went in. He was a tall, large man with thick white hair and a joyful face.
"Jiraiya-sama," She addressed, giving him a low bow.
"I'm surprised you know me," He laughed heartily.
"I read all about you in my books," She replied bluntly. It was certainly strange for a girl like her to read books and have an interest in the private affairs of the nation. While most people found this rather unladylike and strange, some of the men she catered to actually found it charming and endearing. Her intellectual side was her way saying 'I may be using my looks to earn a living, but I'm most likely still smarter than you'.
It wasn't her first time catering a well-known person, but she was still intrigued.
"Well, you're certainly not just some geisha, are you?" Jiraiya remarked, a trace of respect in his eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about," She replied with a smile as she poured them both some tea.
"What should I call you?"
"Sakura," She replied primly.
"Sakura-chan it is, then,"
It wasn't just the name he used for her. There was something else about him that reminded her of Naruto, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was for this reason that her smile melted into a sincere, almost fond one.
"What brought you back to the Leaf, Jiraiya-sama?" She asked, making it sound like she was just looking for a topic to start a conversation, when she was actually trying to learn as much as she could. If she was lucky, she might be even able to ask about Namikaze Minato, but it might be tricky. People never really did like talking about things that brought back painful memories.
"My old man died, I'm sure you know that," Jiraiya replied, "Well, I wasn't really talking about my dad. I was talking about old man Sarutobi,"
"Did you attend the council meetings, too?"
"I didn't," He replied, emptying his cup with one gulp, "As much as I care about Sarutobi-sama, I don't really care who leads this country,"
Of course you don't, Sakura thought. That position took his master's life, and at the same time, his protégé's. She was sure that a part of Jiraiya, if not all, blamed the position of Lord of the Land of Fire as the reason for the death of Sarutobi and Namikaze. It only makes sense that he doesn't want to have anything to do with the nation's royal affairs anymore.
"Great power comes with great responsibility," Sakura quoted, "They served the country well. Their birthdays are celebrated as festivals. Their death days are mourned by the entire nation. They are important people. Children of the now, and children in generations to come, will know them as heroes. They'll be recognized for the amazing people that they are. They won't be forgotten,"
Jiraiya chuckled mirthfully, "And it was their choice to risk everything for the country,"
Sakura nodded, "Exactly,"
For the rest of the hour, Jiraiya did most of the talking. He talked about his adventures, the gorgeous women he met, the books he wrote, the crazy fans who tackled him randomly at the street, and the females who would lob him with buckets, rocks, or anything else for that matter, for writing such 'disrespectful' books (he pouted like a child as he said this, refusing to accept that anything he writes is nothing short of magnificent and state of the art). Sakura kept refilling his teacup, nodding primly from time to time, and laughing and giving short replies to whatever he was saying.
Just as he was in the middle of his story about his amazing escapades in the Waterfall village's famous bathhouse, a servant girl appeared to tell them that the teahouse was closing.
"Being in your company was enjoyable, Jiraiya-sama," Sakura said, meaning it. She had never laughed so much in just one hour before.
The festivities outside were still in full bloom. It seemed like the festival has just began. Sakura was glad she brought along a plain kimono; the plainness made it easier for her to slip around without drawing as much attention as she would have in her geisha garb. The Land of Fire was a huge nation, with the Leaf village as its capital. Festivals are one of the very few times that citizens from other places in the Land of Fire (like the Waterfall village) could mingle with those from the Leaf. The size of their nation made the bonds between villages quite weak.
Spotting Sasuke would normally be hard, considering how bland he was. With his pale skin, black hair and dark clothes, he might as well be black and white. Fortunately, he was lugging around a hurricane of bright yellow and blue.
"Back off, teme, I got this," Naruto announced loud enough for Sakura to hear, who was standing meters away from them.
Upon closer inspection, she saw that they were standing in front of a shooting game booth. Sasuke was standing behind him, looking alternately mildly amused (at Naruto) and very annoyed (at the girls surrounding him). Naruto was holding what appeared to be a long wooden arrow, and he was aiming it at the booth. The prize was a very lovely necklace with a delicate silver chain holding up a lavender gemstone.
Sakura wondered why Naruto would want a necklace like that, until she spotted a petite young lady standing a few yards away from them.
Hyuga Hinata was wearing a dark-purple kimono and her hair was pulled up into a slightly messy bun to fit the occasion. She was looking unsurely at the blond in front of her, "Um…excuse me, it's quite alright, really, you don't have to go through all the trouble…"
"This is no trouble!" Naruto exclaimed, still aiming at the wooden targets.
So he's trying to impress a lady, Sakura grinned and folded her arms across her chest, curiously watching the scene unfold. He fired two misses, but the third one was a direct hit. The girl managing the booth gladly handed him the necklace, and he in turn handed it to the former Hyuga heiress who looked very pleased.
"Thank you," She gave him a low bow and a small smile.
A few feet away from them, another Hyuga, albeit one with a disapproving frown, was standing and watching them. Sakura recognized him as Hinata's older cousin, Hyuga Neji. He wasn't exactly glaring, but he was giving Naruto an odd look as if he's just waiting for one wrong move from him before he steps in and rips off his eyebrows. Thankfully, Naruto brought along his manners with him and bowed back to the Hyuga girl who walked back to her male cousin, showing him the necklace. He smiled politely at her and offered to put it around her neck. Before they left, Hinata gave Naruto one more thankful smile (while her cousin gave him one last warning glare).
Sasuke smirked, apparently amused, "Neji doesn't seem to like you very much,"
"What's his problem?" Naruto pouted, squinting his eyes as he stared at the cousins' retreating backs, "He's being way too overprotective,"
"You can't blame him," Sasuke put in, "With everything that recently happened to his cousin, of course he doesn't want anyone else to hurt her,"
"He's a nice guy," Sakura said, suddenly appearing in front of them.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto immediately grinned, "Did you see what I did?"
"Yes," Sakura laughed, "Good job, Naruto. It looked like you made her very happy,"
Naruto scratched the back of his head in a bashful manner. "I guess I did, didn't I?"
"Don't get too full of yourself, dobe, I was the one who taught you how to shoot,"
"Yeah, and you basically sucked at it,"
"Says the one who shot his own foot. Be thankful we weren't using real arrows,"
The trio walked around the village, visiting various booths. Sasuke, who offered to get something for Sakura, got shot down. He stared at her, unconvinced, "Are you sure?"
"Of course," She smiled at him and aimed. It was a perfect hit.
After successfully lowering the Uchiha's manly pride and winning herself a brand new hair ornament, she dragged the two boys around until they were practically begging to sit down. She obliged, and soon, they found themselves lying side by side on the soft green grass near the park, watching the stars spread out across the dark sky. Sasuke and Sakura traced the air in front of them with their fingertips, trying to show Naruto how to see the constellations. Naruto never had a mother who could lie down with him on a clear night like this to teach him that, so the two were determined to show him. When the first traces of snow fell from the sky, Sakura and Naruto both practically jumped up and down while Sasuke watched with mild amusement.
"Naruto," Sakura started to say when they calmed down, "What does the sign on the back of your coat mean?"
"It's the symbol of my clan, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied, absentmindedly tugging on the edges of his shirt.
"It's shaped like a whirlpool," Sakura remarked.
"Uzumaki means whirlpool," Naruto replied, giving her a strange look.
"I know that," She said patiently, "Your mother was from Whirlpool, right? I was wondering why you're using her clan name instead of your dad's,"
"He doesn't know who his dad is," Sasuke told her.
"You already told me that," Sakura pointed out, "I was just wondering—I mean—no one ever knows who your dad was? That seems kind of impossible,"
Naruto shrugged, "I have no one to ask, and if someone knew my dad, they'd have told me by now. I've been looking all over the place for clues to their identities, but still…nothing. No one knows anything,"
Sakura tipped her head to the side, confused, "And your mom?"
"No clue," Naruto shook his head, "All I know is that she was from Whirlpool, and her last name was Uzumaki,"
"She's dead cause of childbirth, right?"
Naruto nodded.
"How about her hair color? Or eye color?" Sakura pressed, unable to accept this. He knew nothing about his own parents. How can that be? She found it unbearably cruel.
Naruto shrugged, as if to say no.
"They probably weren't very important people," He said thoughtfully, "Cause if they were, people would immediately recognize me. My guess is, they were probably commoners, like me," He looked down at the palm of his hands and said, "Over the years I built my own version of what they would have been like,"
Naruto sat up and started forming random shapes in the air as he described his parents, "My Dad probably had shiny black hair and his eyes were probably blue, like mine. He must have been very loud and annoying and liked to annoy his best friend, too. I'm also sure that my Mom had very pretty blond hair and green eyes like yours, Sakura-chan. She must have been very sweet and meek and gentle like Hyuga Hinata, too,"
"And they fell in love because everyone else bullied her when she arrived from Whirlpool and your dad defended her," Sakura cut in, grinning.
"Yes!" Naruto grinned back at her, "They probably didn't get along well at first because Mom was so shy and quiet and Dad was loud like me!"
"And your Mom would have liked me better than you," Sasuke smirked, joining in.
"Hey!" Naruto slapped his shoulder, "Mom would have preferred a nice guy like me to a frigid ice-berg like you,"
The sad atmosphere started to dissipate, replaced instead by loud laughs and silent smirks. They had to take the long way home because Naruto outright complained that "Why do you always walk Sakura-chan home and not me?" and they had to pass Naruto's apartment first to stop him from making a ruckus. Sasuke walked Sakura home next, and he was seemingly oblivious to the fact that she had looped her arm around his, and he tried to ignore how she widely she was grinning. They arrived at the okiya right in the middle of her explaining her plan of making a snowman with a duck-butt shaped head and naming it 'Sasuke-kun'. Sasuke mentally slapped his head, wondering why he even bothered.
The next thing he knew, her arms were around him and she was still laughing. He awkwardly hugged her back, unsure of what to feel, and she skipped merrily towards the okiya before he could say anything. When he got back home, the first thing he heard was Itachi asking him why he smelled oddly of cherry blossoms, and he replied by staring at the wooden floor as determinedly as he could.
Naruto slept well for the first time in weeks, with images of a black haired man and a lovely blond haired woman in his head. But for some odd reason, when he finally succumbed to sleepiness, he dreamt of a blond-haired man and a beautiful red-haired woman instead.
A/N: A happy chapter to make up for the serious ones xD And yeah, it seems like a filler but it's not xD