UchihaSkye here with chapter 14 of Sacrifices!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters.
There were those glistening crimson eyes again.
Sakura always found herself staring at those eyes, never anyone else's.
She didn't know where she was; she tried to move to see past the crimson eyes staring at her gaze, but couldn't seem to look past them.
That alone terrified me; it made me feel like I was the prey and the crimson eyes were the eyes of my hunter.
Sakura was completely helpless.
Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.
It managed to work for a minute, but she gasped as she heard an emotionless voice say, "Open your eyes."
A new spark of fear began to rise inside of her, but when she heard the voice she noticed it sounded like a male's.
Holding back a desire to show any direct fear to whomever, or whatever had said that she slowly opened her eyes.
Nothing had changed, except for the fact that her calm state had been utterly shattered.
Sakura continued to gaze into the crimson eyes, now feeling desperate as fear started to once again sink in.
She could tell that her eyes started to show her fear of what was happening to her, but as for the crimson eyes she had no clue what they were showing her, at least not yet.
The first thought that came to her mind when she saw those eyes staring into hers was emptiness.
Sakura thought they held nothing, that they were simply red endless eyes.
But as she continued to look deeper she realized she was beginning to see the outline of a figure.
It seemed to be the outline of a person, but she wasn't sure because it faded away just as quick as it had come.
Little did she know that those eyes would soon hold so much more than she could ever possibly begin to imagine.
Sakura awoke much earlier than the morning before, gasping as she realized she was no longer in that strange dream with those eyes.
Getting out of her bed, she tried to shake off that re-occurring nightmare by being sure of herself that she wouldn't let Naruto have the chance to do something without her knowing of it.
She changed, and slipped out her bedroom window quietly, not bothering to leave the correct way.
As she lightly jumped down from her roof to the street below she smiled to herself when she heard an early morning bird singing in the distance.
She admired the beautiful way birds could make such simple music so lovely, but also that listening to birds was a way to distract herself from thinking about that nightmare.
Yet she couldn't help but wonder why it had been occurring so often lately.
She usually only had that dream one every few months and just a couple days before Naruto had brought Sasuke back that dream began to happen more frequently, almost every night now.
Except that had been the very first time she had been able to decipher what seemed to be the figure of a person in those crimson eyes, but that still didn't answer why she had been having them so often now, or who those crimson eyes belonged to.
Considering how Naruto still isn't up yet I'll go to the hospital and check on Sasuke myself.
And with that thought she began her morning walk towards the Kohona hospital with hopes of being able to see Sasuke.
As she passed Ichiraku's she noticed a certain cloud gazing ninja up on the roof.
She smirked and decided to make a detour as she pulsed more chakra down to the soles of her feet and leaped up on the roof next to him.
"Your in my light." A lazy voice said annoyed.
"Sorry, just wanted to see you again. You've been so busy with missions lately." Sakura giggled apologetically as she stepped aside and sat down next to Shikamaru Nara.
She looked over at him, he had a lazy expression on his face as always, and his head was tilted towards the sky.
"Everything seems so troublesome lately. From loads of high ranked missions to not being able to sleep in, even Ino's rants about Sasuke." He said with his lazy tone of voice.
"It's not so bad, you'll be used to it before you know it," Sakura said cheerfully to him.
"As for Ino-pig… She won't ever been getting near him, not with me around. So she can stop living and ranting about those never going to happen fantasies of hers." She said, with her voice immediately becoming defensive.
"You can say that to her face the next time you see her around. I'm no one's messenger." Shikamaru told her.
"I never would ask you to be one. Yeah, next time I see her. Speaking of her, where'd she twitch her wannabe self off to?" Sakura asked casually.
"You insult each other too much, it's too troublesome to keep up with all your girl fights." He said, and then shrugged his shoulders.
"The day she stops insulting me and gives up on Sasuke will be the day I stop insulting her, but until then you better get used to it. Sorry, but that's how it'll always be until one of us gives up or Sasuke chooses me." She said straightforward.
He won't ever choose her, there's just no way. As for right now, I should be focused on him healing, starting with going to check on him instead of wasting time thinking about Ino-pig.
Getting up Sakura told Shikamaru, "I've gotta go, sorry don't have time to talk. See you later."
Shikamaru nodded and continued staring up at the sky.
Continuing her way there she passed by several villagers who waved and greeted her, she did the same and shortly made her way to the hospital and went right to the main desk.
She saw that the receptionist was going through a stack of medical files.
"Can I help you with something miss Haruno?" The female receptionist said without looking up, whom Sakura knew as Kimi.
"Yes, would you mind telling me what room Uchiha Sasuke is currently being kept at?" She asked while looking at Kimi, who had now turned back to the computer.
"Let's see…" Kimi mused as she typed quickly on the computer and clicked with her mouse a few times before reading what was on the screen.
"Ah, he's been taken out of the ICU and moved to room 116. I trust you know where that can be found; after all you've been working here for over a year now. Of course I can always show you." She said in a jokingly manner.
"No thanks. I know this place like the back of my hand." Sakura replied, deciding not to take her remark as in insult.
"Not a problem at all." She said as she smiled.
Sakura smiled back, then walked down the hall.
CHA! We're gonna be the first to see him! Inner Sakura shouted excitedly.
Sakura merely laughed out loud as a reply to her inner self while starting to feel a bit excited at the thought of seeing Sasuke again.
"I wonder what he'll look like… Or if he's warmed up to anyone yet…" Sakura mused to herself as she was walking.
She turned at the end of the hallway and made her way up the stairs, taking two at a time with a smile creeping up on her face with each footstep she took.
But unexpectedly, Sakura's expression turned to one of bewilderment and she put both of her arms on the railing and tried to make herself as small as possible to avoid being hit as she saw a blur of a person tear down the stairs like a tornado.
"Wonder what someone's in such a hurry for that they can't even say excuse me for almost plowing me right over." Sakura said irritated while leaning over the railing, trying to see whom it was.
After a minute of looking Sakura's eyes bulged and she scrambled up the stairs, for she caught another glimpse of the person coming back up.
I've really gotta learn to shut my big mouth sometimes… Oh why don't I ever learn?
Well you might if you escape her wrath this time. Hence the word MIGHT! Inner Sakura warned with a laugh, knowing who it was.
Don't remind me…
Sakura watched with fear rising as she heard her master walking up the stairs with each click of her heels, knowing she would not get out of this without punishment easily.
Tensely, Sakura went put a hand on the door leading to the second floor, but she was stopped by Lady Tsunade's own hand suddenly over the door before she could even touch it.
"Tsunade-sama… I'm sorry. I didn't-" Sakura started to hastily apologize, but was interrupted.
"Enough. Where are you headed?" Her master cut her off with a stern voice as she looked at her.
"T-to see Sasuke…" Sakura admitted as she recognized there was not rage in her master's eyes, but shock for a reason she didn't know.
"Fine. Stay with him, he's awake. Do not bring up anything about anyone or tell anyone that he can have visitors right now. Also, don't freak out, because he's…" Her master paused.
"Different than before. I'll be back soon." She finished and then took off tearing her way down the stairs again.
"Different…? What does you mean by that?" Sakura asked out loud, even though her master was too far away to hear her as she walked through the door and reached Sasuke's room.
Sakura took a deep breath to mentally prepare herself before she put her hand on the door handle and slowly turned it.
She pushed the door and walked through it, keeping her head down and taking one more deep breath as she closed it behind her.
Slowly, with each moment seeming like a lifetime passing by, she raised her head to see Sasuke.
She then felt as if she were frozen in place, for she gazed at her former teammate, crush, and one of the people that she held closest to her heart.
Sasuke was sitting cross-legged with a empty tray of food beside him, looking down at his hands resting in his lap.
He looked older and broader than before, his raven black hair was longer, but it was still in the same style he had worn it when they became team 7.
He gradually lifted his head up and gazed back at Sakura.
She heard herself gasp when she saw his face, for he still had the same onyx black eyes as before, but they looked dull and lifeless.
All the memories of the night he left her came flooding back, she sucked in a sharp breath and bit her lip, for she was not ready to see that night again now.
Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.
It managed to work for a minute, but she gasped as she heard Sasuke's emotionless voice say, "Open your eyes."
Sakura re-opened them, looking at Sasuke again, not believing what she was seeing.
She held a hand up to her mouth in disbelief, for Sasuke's eyes held something completely different now.
Her eyes widened in fear as she stared at his eyes.
They looked to be empty, as if they were holding endless depths in them, except they were crimson colored.
J-just like in my nightmares!
"I-It can't be…" She whispered in shock as she fell to the ground.
Then everything went black.
Dun dun dunnn… Cliffhanger! Find out what happens, next chapter!