Complex
Chapter 12 : Closure
Sakura made her way back to the complex a few mornings later. Getting used to the night shift was difficult, and although she loved her work, she felt like taking some time off sick. Good thing it was finally Saturday. It was about 5:40 in the morning, the sun was just coming up, and the village was still quiet except for the occasional shinobi's footsteps thrumming across the rooftops overhead. Sakura turned down the road that led to the complex and a pang of dread hit her stomach. She was still recovering from the frightening incident a few days ago, and had yet to even clean up Sasuke's old room. She sighed... She'd need to clean his room, they might even need to use Itachi's room in the future when they eventually had kids. Sakura's hand instinctively twitched toward her belly as she thought about it. She still wasn't pregnant. The fact surprised her, since she was fairly regular with her cycles and hadn't been sexually active before marrying Sasuke.
"Maybe that's exactly why..." she pondered to herself. By now she had reached the front door of the house, which she slid open with bated breath. All was normal. She sighed again, relieved. She dropped her backpack on the floor by the genkan and started to fix herself some breakfast. She sat down to munch on her granola and yogurt parfait. Sakura looked around. The place was pretty clean, but there were a few things to be picked up and then she should probably clean Sasuke's room.
"I might want to clean Itachi's while I'm at it."
Sakura frowned at the thought of the elder Uchiha appearing out of nowhere as she rifled through his belongings.
"It needs to be done." she reminded herself. "Sasuke isn't going to do it." Sakura smirked at the thought.
She stood and dropped her cup into the sink. Drying her hands on her skirt, she walked out onto the sunny walkway, energy renewed. She turned to Sasuke's room and bravely swept the shoji aside. The room was spotless. Sakura's eyes darted around the room and her mouth dropped open. Her and Sasuke's few clothes they had left behind were folded neatly on the bed and her husband's kunai and shuriken were arranged neatly on the comforter as well. She padded into the room quickly and grabbed the tools, stowing them into her own kunai and shuriken pouches. She scooped the clothes into her arms and ran out of the room, sliding the door closed with her foot. Once she made it to the master bedroom, she stood in place, breathing hard.
"This should not be happening." Sakura shook her head. "I can't believe this place is haunted. We should burn some incense or something." Sakura had no idea how to deal with the entities she could not see. "Maybe I could try talking to them..." she supposed as she hung Sasuke's shirts in the closet. As soon as she finished, she steeled herself and stepped out onto the walk. She felt stupid as she looked around the sun-bathed area. She had no clue what to say or do. She looked to Sasuke's door. All quiet.
Sakura took a deep breath, and her voice rang in her own ears, causing her to jump slightly.
"Hey!" She barked. She started again, a little less brusquely, yet still her voice commanded the attention of all those within earshot. "I hope you can hear me. I'm Sasuke's wife and I'm in charge now, so leave us alone." She paused for nearly a full minute. No response. "Well, as you can see, we have everything under control, so we don't need your help, ok? Umm..." "What now?" "Thanks." she blurted idiotically. She looked around, feeling fairly foolish. The quiet gurgle of the pond filter droned on as usual, and not even a breeze upset the peace. Even though she felt stupid, somehow she felt as though she'd accomplished something. She smiled faintly. "Hopefully things calm down some now."
XXXXxxxxxxXXXX
Mikoto sat on the roof with her husband. They were watching the pink-haired kunoichi run nervously around the house.
"As usual, overdid it again, Fugaku."
"Hn." he grunted noncommittally.
"Look at her! I think you went overboard with all of the blood."
"She's a kunoichi, isn't she? And a medic at that."
"Blood at work and unexplained blood at home in the middle of the night are two very different things." Mikoto tried to educate her husband.
"You can have both. Look at Sasuke."
"Yes, just look at him."
"Hn." Fugaku glanced at his wife. Even now, in their frustrating predicament she was beautiful, with her long dark hair and... eyes flashing with annoyance. Nothing the former head of the Uchiha clan couldn't handle. Mikoto looked away from her husband, exasperated but accepting. What good would fighting do her? The Uchiha boys always seemed to get their way.
The pink-haired girl was standing shakily at the door to their room again. "Poor thing. You should have let me talk to her."
Fugaku shook his head slightly. "Shisui couldn't get through to Sasuke."
"She's not Sasuke..." Mikoto murmured.
"Hmm." Fugaku paused. "Maybe-"
At that moment Sakura began to speak.
"Hey!"
The girl sounded upset. Mikoto wondered who else was in the house. She hadn't noticed anyone come in.
"I hope you can hear me."
"Oh, she's talking to us."
"Yeah, we hear your annoying voice all the time." Fugaku muttered. Mikoto shot him a dirty look.
"I'm Sasuke's wife and I'm in charge now, so leave us alone, ok?" Her bright green eyes scanned the walkway, searching for some form of response.
Fugaku laughed darkly, "As if we could. Looks like having Shisui talk to Sasuke did absolutely nothing. She still doesn't know."
"Of course. Sasuke doesn't trust himself, much less his wife."
Fugaku smiled blandly. "Of course, she's right as usual. Uchiha women..."
"Well, as you can see, we have everything under control so we don't need your help, ok? Umm..." the kunoichi's eyes were darting around the walkway again, searching for an answer.
"Thanks."
Fugaku raised an eyebrow at her. "Thanks..."
The girl stood there for a full five minutes after her performance, five minutes throughout which Mikoto and Fugaku watched her intently.
"I should talk to her."
"You think she'll respond to you better than Sasuke did to Shisui? Look at you. Look at me." Fugaku stood over Mikoto. Blood soaked his clothing from his solar plexus on downwards, and his face was pale. He turned to go and she could see the hole in his yukata where Itachi had run his father through with the thin, sharp sword.
Mikoto knew her once beautiful, elegant image was tainted with a similar wound, but she was determined. She raised her chin in defiance.
"Yes, I think she will. I won't subject her to any unnecessarily bloody images."
"So much snarkier in death..." Fugaku turned his head to look at his wife. He smiled. "I'm not stopping you."
Mikoto's face lit up in a bright, real smile. Suddenly, Fugaku's eyes widened and his happy face fell as he looked over her shoulder.
"She's going to clean Itachi's room."
Mikoto sprung to her feet. "We have to stop her, she'll die!" The dead woman exclaimed turning to see the girl trudging determinedly, frightened to Sasuke's brother's room.
"Quick, help me!" Mikoto leapt down in front of the girl. "It's no use, there's no time! We have to disable the traps!" Fugaku's commanding voice stopped his wife in her tracks, and immediately she darted into the dark and dusty room through the shoji as Fugaku purposely fell through the ceiling. They worked to cut through as many wires as possible, trying to keep handfuls of senbon and kunai from piercing their daughter-in-law. But there just wasn't enough time. Luckily, Sakura was not as brave in throwing open the door as she had been with Sasuke's. Sakura also was not stupid. She tried to slide the door slowly, but when it wouldn't budge, she sent some chakra into the wall to try and see what could be holding it in place. It was then that she realized there might be traps set, any room worth locking must contain something worth protecting. As soon as she sent her chakra in, a senbon flew through the paper, hitting her in the leg.
Fugaku looked over at Mikoto. "Sorry." he mouthed. "Getting rusty..."
Outside, Sakura withdrew her chakra and winced, rolling out from in front of the door. Mikoto stepped out onto the walk alone. The senbon had pierced Sakura's gastrocnemius muscle, on the inside of her calf.
"Shit!" She hissed, and immediately she drew her knee up to her chest and gripped the long spike with her hands. Steadily, slowly so as not to cause any more damage, Sakura pulled it from her leg, biting her lower lip all the while. She quickly infused her muscle with chakra.
"I should get Sasuke to help me with this..." she muttered. "Freaking' s-class, family-killing, trap-setting criminals... should be dragged out in the street and beaten to a bloody pulp..."
"That's my son you're talking about. And I was just starting to think you were such a sweet girl." A slight smile played on Mikoto's lips.
Sakura's head whipped upward toward the sound of the voice.
"Aaahhh!" Sakura screamed and hastily stood, nearly falling down during the process. She backed away from the figure.
"Fugaku is probably laughing right now…" Mikoto frowned. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here because of Sasuke. If he'd just told you like we'd wanted him to this wouldn't have happened. And… I'm sorry about the whole bathroom scene. You can thank my husband for that."
Sakura froze, dumbfounded. "Your… husband?" She faltered.
Mikoto nodded. "I suppose you don't know who I am?" Sakura shook her head no. "Of course. I am Mikoto Uchiha, Sasuke's mother."
Sakura's eyes seemed to widen further, if possible.
"Oh."
Mikoto tried again to smile, to put the girl at ease. "I know I'm not looking my best..."
Sakura looked the woman over quickly. Her once white apron was blood-soaked from the waist down, and the woman also sported a huge gash around the back and side of her neck. Sakura could imagine the woman's back and long hair were drenched in the sticky liquid as well. The pinkette tried to relax.
"It's not as though I don't deal with death and blood on a daily basis." she told herself.
"Ok. So there's something you need to tell me?" she braved.
Mikoto nodded and her smile got a little brighter. She motioned for her daughter in law to follow her, beckoning with a wave of her hand. Hoping not to startle the girl, the ghostly woman turned around slowly, giving Sakura time to adjust to the striking scene. She heard the girl gasp behind her; after all, Itachi hadn't made her death pretty nor painless. Nonetheless, the girl followed her to the kitchen.
"Would you like a snack?"
Sakura was startled by the mundane question. "Uh, no, I'm fine."
"Something to drink then? Tea?"
Sakura nodded, sinking heavily into her usual chair. Mikoto busied herself with heating up water and retrieving a teapot and cup.
"Never really thought I'd have the chance to talk to you like this after what happened, I'm glad for the opportunity."
Sakura nodded more. "I'm glad to meet you too." "In a strange, morbid way…"
Once the water was put on to boil, Sasuke's mother glided over to Sakura and sat in Sasuke's usual chair.
"Interesting..." Sakura smirked.
"What is it?" Mikoto smiled warmly at the girl.
"Ha. It's just that Sasuke always sits there."
"Well he would, so did his brother."
"Oh." Sakura's face fell.
"It's in the past." Mikoto imparted simply.
Sakura fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "What was Sasuke supposed to tell me?"
Mikoto sighed and the temperature in the room seemed to drop. Sakura looked up, startled as goosebumps formed on the back of her neck. "Is something wrong?" she offered shakily, looking quickly at her mother-in-law's pale face. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Sasuke was supposed to tell you... Sasuke..." Mikoto's voice broke and her face wrinkled sadly, but there were no more tears left for her to cry.
"What happened?" Sakura was worried now. If Sasuke's mother was getting upset about it, it must be important. "Please tell me."
"More like what hasn't happened." Mikoto laughed bitterly, wiping her face reflexively. "I don't think I can tell you the details-" she paused, composing herself. "But I can tell you as much as Shisui told Sasuke, you are the hope of the clan." Mikoto looked at the flabbergasted kunoichi seriously. "If anyone can bring honor back to our clan's name, it's you." Sakura failed to find an appropriate response.
"Are you serious?" she whispered.
Mikoto nodded. "I should leave..." Sakura stood and strode over to the stove, glancing back over her shoulder at her new friend. "No." Sakura insisted, flipping the range off with a click. She turned back to face her mother-in-law. "I need to know what happened to Sasuke. Why he is like this. I need to know what happened the night Itachi left. Maybe then I can be of some help." It was Mikoto's turn to be shocked.
"You can't be serious! Do you have any idea what you're asking me to do?"
"No, and that's precisely the problem!" Sakura sat back down on her chair, leaning eagerly toward the spirit. "You may be the only person who can take me back to that night and show me what it is that's been tearing Sasuke apart for the last fifteen-odd years!"
"No, no, no..." Mikoto shook her head, face in her hands. "It wasn't supposed to be like this." Sakura could feel the temperature drop again, and this time she associated it with Mikoto's state of upset.
"Please don't be sad." Sakura put her hand out, only for it to pass through the semi-opaque figure. "I just want to help him." Sakura fought back her own tears. "I've been trying to help him since I met him. Please, show me."
Mikoto slowly lowered her hands from her face and looked at the determined young woman before her. Never did she imagine that the girl would go this far for her son. After some careful deliberation, she finally nodded. "Come with me." Mikoto stood and Sakura followed her out of the kitchen into her and Sasuke's bedroom. She pointed to the chest.
"Take out the futon. You'll need to lie down."
Without hesitating, Sakura did as she was bade and settled herself on the cushion. "What now?"
"Not so fast. I can't do this for you. Just a minute." Mikoto closed her eyes and reached out mentally to her husband. With a gentle stirring of the air in the room, Sakura's eyes widened again as the smoky figure of what must have been Sasuke's father materialized out of thin air.
"H-hello." She stammered.
Fugaku merely nodded, mouth turned down into a frown. He looked from the girl to his wife. "I told you so." She could see it in his eyes.
"Get Shisui please." she whispered.
"This won't end well." he asserted, yet he still reached out to the boy. Fugaku was the only Uchiha that could reach out to any other Uchiha in that plane of existence. As the head of the clan, he was the only Uchiha that had shared a bond with each and every clan member in life.
A third figure materialized in the room, a friendly-looking young man, and Sakura's head was beginning to hurt. She wanted to stand to say hello to these new people but it was just too much. She merely looked at the wet, blood-covered boy, bewildered.
"Hello Auntie and Uncle. Can I help you with something?" The boy smiled good-naturedly, looking at Sakura all the while. He walked over to her without hesitating and crouched to her level, balancing on the balls of his feet. This young man strangely reminded her of Sasuke and Kiba all at once, with his quiet, noble air and his capable, carefree way of carrying himself. "Nice to meet you, Sakura." The young man grinned. "Ok, more like Kiba."
"H-hi." She stuttered again.
Mikoto sighed behind him. "She wants to see that night." Shisui frowned.
"Are you sure, Sakura? It's awful." his black eyes looked deep into hers.
"Yes." she whispered, afraid.
Shisui nodded. "I'm the only one who saw it all happen, front to back. I was already dead, you see." he mentioned his passing casually to her.
Sakura nodded in response. "Ok."
"Lie down." Shisui whispered. She obeyed, staring at the ceiling. "Close your eyes." the soft command came close to her ear. Her eyelids fluttered closed and she tried to regulate her breathing. "Perfect. Now, relax." Sakura concentrated disjointedly on each different muscle, focused on loosening any tension she felt in her body. A few minutes later, Shisui must have been satisfied with her efforts. He whispered in her ear again, "Alright, Sakura, you know the feeling of falling in a dream, falling endlessly? The jerk behind your navel and the way your breath catches and freezes in your chest? Imagine that in just a moment, imagine you are falling through the futon, through the floor, down into nothing." she heard the smile in his next words. "Don't worry, I'll catch you." Sakura exhaled profoundly in response. Finally she felt she was ready, on her next exhalation of breath she imagined the feeling and the action of falling when still, from the inside, and the next thing she knew, she was lying in Shisui's arms under the house. He was kneeling in the dirt, smiling.
"You hardly needed any help. Don't be frightened, you'll be jerked back to your body if it gets to be too much."
Sakura nodded. "What's this?" she ventured, her own ethereal fingers tracing a thin, silvery cord that led up into the house.
"That connects you to your body. You're not dead yet. You're just having what meta-physicists like to call an 'out-of-body experience'." he grinned. "You're lucky! If it wasn't for your perfect chakra flow, we might never have pulled this off!"
Sakura finally let go of her fears and laughed. It was easy when you were being held and comforted by Shisui Uchiha. "Cool!" she moved to stand up and Shisui steadied her the whole time. Her head and shoulders popped up through the tatami. She looked up at her mother and father-in-law.
"Oh!" Sakura looked down and decided to jump onto the tatami, and as soon as she deemed them solid, they were and she landed on them lightly. "Can I touch you?" she looked to her new parents excitedly. Mikoto's tinkling laugh echoed throughout the room and she held her arms open to Sakura who leapt into them. "I'm glad I met you." Sakura breathed in the woman's scent joyously, she smelled like soap and lilies. Mikoto smoothed her pink hair. "Me too." Sakura pulled away and faced her father-in-law.
"Hug?" she offered open arms to him. Fugaku eyed her for a moment in a very Sasuke-like stance, then uncrossed his own arms and gave in.
"I guess it'll be my only opportunity." he grumbled. His big arms enveloped the thin girl in a warm, firm embrace. He smelled strikingly similar to Kakashi minus the musty dirty laundry smell. Spruce and faint whiskey, or oak, and of course, kunai and shuriken cleaning solvents. Something like that. She smiled, vaguely remembering her own dad. It had been a long time since she got a hug from someone other than Naruto. Finally, they separated and a faint, fatherly smile graced his features.
"You'll need that." he assured Sakura. "Itachi was brutal to Sasuke. He killed us fairly quickly, but it was not easy for our youngest. With Shisui's ability, you will see it as Sasuke saw it." Sakura's eyes widened slightly in fear but she fought the tug at her belly-button and set her mouth in a determined line. "If Sasuke lived through it, then so will I."
"He barely made it. If only you knew..." Fugaku thought, but he nodded instead. "We are leaving. Go with Shisui."
Her in-laws turned and after Mikoto threw her one last reassuring smile, the pair vanished without a trace. Sakura turned to Shisui.
"I'm the only one who roams the complex freely. Everyone else is tied to someone or something, most can't leave their own homes. Until Itachi dies, I'm stuck here in the complex though, so I guess that's not much better is it?" he smiled. "Eternally waiting for my cousin." he laughed.
Sakura smiled. "Ok, let's go then." she extended a hand.
Shisui maintained his smile. "Not necessary. Look at my eyes."
"Of course." Sakura thought, and she obeyed him, placing all of her faith into him. "I hope this works, never tried using the sharingan after dying..." Shisui muttered, and Sakura saw the faint blue of his chakra begin to spin at his center of gravity. "Ghosts have chakra?" she was surprised but there was no time to react as the chakra shot up to his eyes which glowed blood red at her own, and she felt herself crumple to the tatami as his gaze remained trained on her own eyes. As soon as her soul's eyes closed, new ones were awakened in her subconscious and she felt an incredible happiness coursing through her heart as she ran home from school.
"I can't wait to see what 'Kaasan made me for dinner! I hope she saved me some! And I hope 'Tousan isn't too mad I'm late..." she heard the words run through her mind and felt a slight trepidation in her belly at the thought of Fugaku upset. The she realized that she was not only seeing the events unfold as Sasuke had seen them, but she was Sasuke. "Oh, shit." This was going to be horrible. Sakura thought about giving up right then. But the reason she couldn't leave here no matter how much pain or fear she felt was because of Shisui's mangekyou. "This is for real." Sakura was horrified. But there was no escape.
Young Sasuke turned down the street to his house happily toting the cloth that contained his bento and sprinted down the street to the gate. He pushed on carelessly, happily, but his pace slowed as she felt the thoughtless confusion mounting in the back of his mind. "It's dark. Where is everybody? Why is it so dark? Why is it so quiet? Is it really late? 'Tousan is going to be mad if it is. I should have come home earlier. Why is it dark? What's-" the body she was in froze as he looked down from his distracted thoughts to something soft that his little foot had run into. Sakura felt the uncontrollable panic and confusion fill her head as Sasuke looked at the ground. An older woman with her short hair in a ponytail lay lifelessly at his feet and blood had long since pooled under her and dried. The acrid stench of refuse barraged her nostrils and she couldn't help but notice how empty the older woman's open eyes looked.
"Auntie?" she heard Sasuke whisper. There was a pounding in her ears, Sasuke's breaths were coming hard and he dropped his bento. He looked up and around from the chilling sight. "Uncle? 'Kaasan? 'Tousan?" he started to jog, and his heart pounded harder and harder, sinking painfully into his gut with every new body he discovered in the street, they were all sliced up, every one of them. Some carried more wounds, signs of a fight. Sasuke continued to call for his family as he stumbled along the road that seemed to go on for an eternity, and his vision was blurred by the frightened tears he was shedding. Suddenly she felt a prickle on her neck and Sasuke turned to look over his shoulder just as suddenly. Nothing but the full moon greeted his searching eyes. He was almost home, she recognized the neighborhood, and she could feel the worry and intense fear increasing even more as Sasuke's guts churned. He ran through the house until he stood outside the doors to his parents' room. Sasuke threw them open and darted in, then stopped in horror at the sight that greeted him. Sakura was reeling from all of the sights and sounds and from the terror that coursed through her soul. She felt that she couldn't take any more, and Sasuke felt the same way. Along with Sasuke, she was forced to look to the sweet people she had just met as they kneeled solemnly on the floor. Itachi, evil and proud, stood behind them, sword drawn. She felt herself scream in her head along with Sasuke. She felt the pain rip through her chest as he screamed for his mother and father.
"Itachi! Don't! Stop it! Stop!"
Itachi mercilessly swung his sword through their spines and their blood splattered across the floor. Sasuke held his head, shaking, screaming. Sakura screamed and cried to herself in her own mind. The pain was too much. She was breaking. Sasuke was broken already.
"Foolish brother." she heard the words but couldn't pause in her pain to process them. "You are not even worth killing." it explained so much, but she couldn't concentrate on anything but the rage and helplessness she felt with Sasuke. "If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and survive in an unsightly way." the pieces were falling into place and Sakura's soul felt like it was tearing apart with the pain of Sasuke's little one breaking under the strain of his brother's heavy words. "Run and cling to life. And then..." Sasuke's breathing hitched, and she realized he was crying now, purely afraid, ready to flee. "When you possess the same eyes as me, face me." Itachi opened his eye and a chill ran through Sakura and just as Sasuke thought to step back, he froze and... she saw the ground rushing to meet them, Sasuke had passed out.
A deafening whooshing noise opened her own eyes and she felt herself falling, twisting, it was so dark and then she was kneeling by Shisui whose hand rested on her back. The tears poured down her face and her breaths came so quickly, wheezing in her vocal tract, and finally she gripped her head as hard as her disembodied hands could and mashed her face into the floor, screaming. Immediately she felt a hard tug behind her navel and she reached out to Shisui, struggling to hold onto him, desperate for any form of comfort, but it was over and she was alone, sitting up on the futon, now crawling across the floor, collapsing face first onto the tatami that she knew had been only recently replaced, screaming wordlessly into the mats. Her fists clenched and her throat was getting sore, but she couldn't stop.
This pain... it was too much to bear.
XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX
Mikoto sat in the kitchen with her husband. She looked to him sadly, haunted.
"I remember when Sasuke would scream like that. Burdened. In pain." she thought to herself.
"Just like Sasuke..." she whispered.
"You overdid it." Fugaku muttered sadly.
"I know." Mikoto vanished, to spend some time alone presumably.
Fugaku just shook his head.
