Author's Note: Thank you for all of your encouraging reviews. As always, I'm amazed by the positive response that this story generates. It's really inspiring. This chapter is the start of different POVs incorporated. So let's proceed for the final act is upon us…
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Prelude to the Storm:
Of First Loves and Confessions
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Somewhere along the way I must have fallen asleep…
The last thing I remember is finding myself alive after the fall and at the mercy of a possible enemy who had disposed of the captain. Yet the warmth of his touch and the smell of smoke lingering on his clothing were the positive enforcers that put my mind at ease, and when my eyes gazed into onyx orbs I felt my breath catch in my lungs for I would have recognized him anywhere.
For those were the eyes of my first love…
They say that one never truly forgets their first love, that he or she will always hold a special place within their heart. I believe this to be true in all aspects. How many years had it been since Sasuke-kun and I had been a couple?
It had been due to the combined effort of Team Kakashi that we had been able to bring Sasuke-kun back to Konoha. We were seventeen at that time and I recall feeling as though we were already too late for there were so few signs of the boy that I had once loved, that I feared Orochimaru had already managed to destroy him from within.
At the time, I believe that my feelings for Sasuke-kun were that of a friend. I had grown up under the tutelage of Tsunade Shishou and my intentions for finding him were that of a deeper understanding, an unconditional love. I realized that I shared the same feeling for Naruto. At that time, I wouldn't have said that my love for Kakashi was unconditional…he did keep us waiting around a lot, pay for his meals, and ditch us after missions to read porn.
But somewhere along the way, whether it was due to Team Kakashi dinners or the fact that Tsunade Shishou had designated Naruto and me as Sasuke-kun's official babysitters, I fell in love with Sasuke-kun. Not to say that I didn't love him as a genin, but this was a love that had come from adversity, and the most amazing thing of all was Sasuke-kun loved me too.
To Uchiha Sasuke I was Haruno Sakura. It didn't matter that I had a large forehead or an even larger temper, that I could pound Naruto with little to no effort or that I was the third best medic nin in the entire village. Sasuke-kun always saw the real me no matter how poorly lit a room might have been, his eyes never failed to notice me.
And in return, I saw the real Uchiha Sasuke. The boy who wanted to protect all those he held dear, for his greatest fear was reliving his clan's massacre. I always promised myself that I would never leave him alone. And the few small smiles that were only reserved for me were gratitude enough.
Sasuke-kun was never really any good with words; he believed that actions always spoke louder. And I could never argue with his logic especially when he would take me into his arms, all the things he wanted to tell me would die on his tongue, but somehow I always understood.
I wanted nothing more than to be the one who could heal his heart, but after three years I began to notice that although he had managed to achieve his first goal of avenging his clan members' deaths, he was not content being a jounin within the hidden leaf village.
"No, Sasuke-kun," she sadly shook her head, "I want you to take this assignment. You're going to do great in ANBU."
"Sakura?" he questioned, reaching out his hand, grasping her wrist and pulling her forward into his embrace, "Why are you telling me to leave?"
"Because I know that your heart wants to be free—
"Free from what, Sakura? The village? You?"
He brushed the tears away from her cheeks with the side of his thumb, "Sakura, I want to leave this village, but not for power. I want to seek out something much more important, I want to aid Konoha in the best way I can, by protecting it from its enemies."
Glassy emerald eyes looked up into onyx orbs as his hand lifted her chin, "I want to protect you. Sakura, I won't go on this assignment if you don't want me to."
At the age of twenty, I did the hardest thing that I had ever had to do. I told a lie to someone I love. I let Uchiha Sasuke believe that I had fallen out of love with him and the response was just as I had planned it to be, he left. My Sasuke-kun had become an ANBU Captain and I had done the greatest thing that I possibly could have. I set him free because I could have never brought myself to admit that I didn't want him to leave. I didn't want him to leave me.
That Fall I joined the new Team Kakashi consisting of Naruto, Sai, and me. I was heartbroken over my loss, but knew that I had to go on. That's why Tsunade Shishou placed me with my former teammates. It felt so good to be back on a team with Naruto and he was just as comforting as before, trying to avoid the name of the Teme as he said and always managing to make me laugh.
It was one of our first missions that Kakashi and I had paired up against our enemy. I'll never forget that moment for as long as I live…
She tried to catch her breath as she stood in front of him, realizing that he was in no shape to continue and hoping that no more assassins would appear before them, therefore, giving her just enough time to heal him. She slowly turned to face his form sitting before her as she slowly fell to her knees.
"…Sakura…" he whispered, his entire body felt like it was going numb, he knew that he would be of no aid to her now, and the gash he had endured from an earlier impact was bleeding profusely causing him to find it hard to focus on the pink haired woman in front of him.
"Hai, Kakashi…" she responded, slowly crawling to his side as she placed her hand gently on his stomach, seeing so much blood before her hardly fazed her anymore, she had had much practice in the hospital in Konoha, medic-nins were in such short supply.
"Sakura, you should go and find Naruto and Sai," he stated weakly, trying to focus on her face, when he did he managed to find a sea of emotions in her jade eyes as she gently pulled him forward to rest his chin on her shoulder, he could feel her right hand on his stomach, while her left hand remained on the back of his head, her chakra slowly making its way into his body.
"I won't leave you, Kakashi," she firmly whispered, her fatigue evident in her voice, yet she managed to hold onto him and continue to let her chakra flow into him.
"Sakura, you may not have a choice…if you stay…we're both sitting around waiting for an attack," he tried to reason with her, "plus your chakra level can't be too high, you should retain it for—
Sakura whispered something into his ear that caused his eyes to widen in response, "Like I would ever leave someone as important to me as you behind, you've got to be joking. So please just stop talking…" her eyes were becoming heavy but she had almost gotten the bleeding to stop, the least she could do would be to give him enough of her chakra to protect himself.
I had just lost Sasuke-kun; there was no way that I could give up on another member of my family. Sai I might have sacrificed depending on the day, but my porn reading former sensei? It just wasn't an option.
So back to the present, imagine my surprise to find my first love coming to my rescue when all hope appeared to be lost.
Now don't believe that in amongst my musings I have forgotten about Kakashi. The reason why I haven't mentioned him thus far is quite simple really—seeing Sasuke-kun has popped the cork off of my emotional bottle.
I never set out to fall in love with Kakashi. It really was the furthest thing from my mind, what started out as friendship just grew stronger.
I'm in love with Kakashi, but I love Sasuke-kun.
I want them both to be a part of my life. I want to shake my head when Kakashi forgets a date and is found reading Icha Icha, and I want to smile when Sasuke-kun out does Naruto at something as simple as Roe Sham Bo, which I swear they learned from observing Gai and Kakashi.
It's truly amazing the things that the mind thinks of when asleep…
"Are you awake, Sakura?"
My eyelids flutter at the sound of his voice and I find that I am being carried on his back, my arms wrapped around his neck and the side of my face resting on his shoulder. My clothes are still damp from the earlier storm, but I still smile savoring the feeling of having Sasuke-kun back in my life. But then reality comes crashing down upon me and I know that if we are to stay alive we still have a long ways to go.
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"Hai, Sasuke-kun."
I watch as she tilts her head to the side to look upon me and can't help but smirk. Sakura always looks like a sleepy child whenever she awakens, and the tightening of her arms around my neck doesn't go unnoticed either.
But now is not the time for making jokes, I need her at her best, and something tells me that Sakura is far from being alright. Something obviously happened in between Pakkun's account and the delivery of Sakura's letter to Tsunade. The dog was one of Kakashi's best; how could he have misread the signs of death?
And the fact that she was traveling alone with Kakashi…
Kiri would have been the closest to Iwa; therefore, when they found her, she must have been badly hurt and Kakashi being the fastest of the group would have had no choice but to separate from the group to deter any pursuers.
"Ne, Sasuke-kun?"
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He's doing it again. Sasuke-kun's putting the pieces together with that calculating mind of his. I really don't know why Ino brags about Shikamaru being such a genius, when it's obvious that Sasuke-kun is just as smart. Besides, if Shikamaru's such a genius why can't he realize that he's in love with my blonde haired best friend?
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"Hn?"
She let out a sigh, for he was just as talkative as always and smiled, "How did you know where to find me, Sasuke-kun?"
"I didn't," replied the shinobi carrying her on his back and leaping agilely from tree branch to tree branch, "I thought you were dead Sakura."
The medic nin noticed how his voice dropped and gently tightened her arms around his neck, "I was."
If she had been on Naruto's back they would have surely missed the tree branch. But since she was with Sasuke she deemed it safe to speak (that and the look on his face threatening that she had better be planning to elaborate) as they came to an abrupt halt on a tree branch.
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It appeared that the rain clouds were closing in again overhead as they sat on a tree branch in companionable silence, their legs dangling over the side.
"I never thought I would see any of my loved ones again, Sasuke-kun," she commented, looking down at the damp ground below.
"So the captain made one of his subordinates…" began the sharingan wielder, trying to appear aloof but the clenching of his fist against the bark of the tree branch cracking under his weight.
"Hai…" she murmured sadly, "That boy is dead because of me—
She gasped, feeling his hand latch around her wrist and emerald met onyx as he explained his actions.
"Don't," ordered Sasuke, his grip on her wrist lessening, "Don't do that, Sakura. You always blame yourself for the actions of others," he dropped her hand and looked away, "It wasn't your fault."
The medic nin couldn't help but smile, before taking hold of his hand, "Arigato, Sasuke-kun."
"Hn."
Was his distant response but the softening of his gaze made it known that he really did care.
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We were on our way to Grass. As I had suspected Sasuke-kun had pieced together all of the pieces of the puzzle and we had agreed that Kakashi and Shikamaru would come up with a similar alternative. It was pointless for us to backtrack and Sasuke-kun had already assured me that Kakashi would be alright.
I didn't want to be a burden to Sasuke-kun and feeling that my strength had returned had taken to leaping along side of him.
"What did they hope to gain?"
His question didn't come as a surprise to me. In all the years that I have known him, I've prided myself at usually being on the same page as Sasuke-kun.
"The captain felt that my knowledge of medical ninjutsu would aid Iwa in its goal of destroying the other hidden villages."
"Is that where the scroll comes into play, Sakura?"
"Hai. The scroll depicts the strengths and weaknesses of each of the hidden villages' vital points within medical ninjutsu. The blue prints were confiscated when I tried to escape with my team from Iwa. The original copy would have been in the captain's quarters on the night that Team Kakashi ambushed the camp; however, since that time they are among the missing. The captain pursued me to Kiri because within my mind I hold the strengths and weaknesses to all of the hidden villages' medical ninjutsus."
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Uchiha Sasuke. Of all the people to be with Sakura at this moment, he would be my first candidate. Only after Naruto, is Sasuke one of the best choices for caring for her. However, even though the logical side of my mind informs me of this information, the rational side is giving off a blinking red neon sign in large letters stating Danger.
Uchiha Sasuke is the third link to the original Team 7. My team of misfits if you will an avenger, a hyperactive knucklehead, and a highly intelligent love sick girl. It was due to the third member that the other two were always striving to become stronger. In the end it was because of their desire to save Sasuke, not only from Orochimaru but from himself, that the two were trained by the remaining Sannin.
In the end each of my students were guided by one of the legendary Sannin from the hidden leaf village. An honor that was quite rare to come by. But unlike their predecessors, Naruto and Sakura were able to save the third member of their team.
Sasuke was returned to Konoha at the age of seventeen by the collective forces of our entire team. It was then that Tsunade requested that we reintroduce Sasuke to the hidden leaf village. I believe after the resentment faded Sasuke was finally able to see that the feelings that Naruto and Sakura shared for him were unconditional.
Shortly after we had retrieved Sasuke, I returned to ANBU but whenever I returned home it was always easy to weasel news out of the hyperactive blonde by buying him a bowl of ramen. It was in between mouthfuls of ramen (and tuning out the useless bits of information) that he would metaphorically spill the beans and tell me how Sakura and Sasuke were both progressing. Not to mention, the hidden innuendo of you know what I mean.
I felt that if anyone could heal Sasuke it would be the glue of our team—Haruno Sakura. That's why upon returning from my last year long mission with my ANBU squad, I was entirely surprised to find that Sasuke had been promoted to the ranks of an ANBU captain and had left the village indefinitely.
No matter how many bowls of ramen I bribed Naruto with; I never could get the truth out of him. Perhaps Sakura had threatened him? Maybe it had been Sasuke? However, I wasn't able to pay much thought to it for that Fall I was ordered—I say ordered instead of requested because Tsunade never gives an option— into regrouping with my former teammates (Sai included) by Tsunade.
Even after all this time, I never questioned Sakura about her relationship with the Uchiha. I felt it to be neither my place nor the right time to question her about something so personal, and in return she never mentioned his name outside of our conversations of times when they had been a genin under my care.
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"Oi, Kakashi!" hollered Shikamaru, letting out a sigh, "We should probably stop, we still have two days before we reach the boarder. Don't worry; the Uchiha will stop for camp, if he hasn't already, what with the storm clouds moving in once more."
"Agreed," replied the shinobi, looking down at his faithful pug, "Pakkun, you and the others find a secluded area for us. It looks like we're going to have quite a storm."
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Alright, please review. Sorry about any mistakes but I've already worked 52 hours this week and I have 24 to go. I've been very stressed lately planning my parents anniversary party and finishing this scrapbook from hell. Party is on the 9th of March and I will be so happy when I give them the scrapbook, shove some cake in their face and say 'Congratulations on your 25th Wedding Anniversary!' -sigh- Then I can get back to my stories…for I cannot seem to muster up enough creativity for both projects.