Previous Chapter Summary: Sasuke and Sakura embark separately on their shopping mission in Tokyo square. Sakura meets up with Katsuya and the rest of her group, who were all surprised to hear that Sasuke had joined a different division instead. The Uchiha ended up enduring his day with Ari and Mako, who both remain clueless towards his antics the entire time.
A/N: Another new chapter up! This one was a lot easier and quicker for me to complete because it was already like 80% done in advance, and also a lot shorter. Sasuke was quite the sneaky one in the last chapter, eh? I always imagine him to do things discreetly like that instead of being upfront about it (seeing as he really doesn't enjoy showing his true feelings regarding Sakura).
I quite enjoyed writing this instalment. As you'll see, it has a lighter and fluffier mood compared to recent chapters. I feel you Sakura, the rockiness between you and Sasuke lately started to stress me out as well! I promise there will be more moments like these from here on out. :)
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
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Tokyo Tempest
Part XIV: Jade and Onyx
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The sound of silverware slowly clanked and scratched against ceramic plates on the following Sunday morning. The two ninjas worked at the leftovers of yesterdays dinner in a dreadfully quiet air- not as if it were anything new. As she poked and prodded at the cooked fish in front of her, Sakura couldn't manage to shake away the impatient and unsettled feeling inside of her chest.
Why did he suddenly decide to join Ari and Mako's group? How did his shopping go yesterday? These were the questions she pondered all throughout her restless night. Not to mention the strange atmosphere between him and Katsuya she had witnessed in the department store.
As she pondered the answer to these questions by herself, the Uchiha placed his fork onto the plate in front of him and stood from the table in a slow manner. She watched as he started towards the kitchen, bringing everything to the sink and soaking his dishes with tap water. After a minute, he began walking towards the door.
"Are you going somewhere today?" Sakura inquired abruptly.
"I have work."
"Oh. Right."
As he pulled the doorknob to exit, the viridian-eyed girl glanced over to the couch, where she noted his jacket laying messily on it's arm. Subsequently, she took a peek at the balcony, pursing her lips at the dark clouds in the sky.
"Sasuke, wait."
The Uchiha paused for a moment. When he turned around, Sakura was walking over with his jacket clutched in her hand. She stopped with a good space between them and then brought it forward to his reach. There was a slight pause as he looked at the coat, then at her face. Eventually, though, he reached to take it into his own hands.
Their hands made contact for a brief second, in which seemed to put a frown on the pink-haired girls' face.
"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" She asks in a suspicious manner.
The Uchiha looks at her expressionlessly before turning his back on her. "I'm fine. I'll head out now."
"Hey."
At the sound of her voice again, the Sasuke stopped once more and sighed. "Sakura, I'm going to be la-"
Suddenly, the raven-haired man abruptly shifted himself around, and just when he did, a soft hand placed itself onto of his forehead. He widened his eyes a bit, the gesture taking him aback. There was a slight lull as the two of them appeared as if they were searching each others' eyes. During this moment, he stood perfectly still, not sure why he was unable to move.
After a few seconds, the pink-haired girl shook her head. "You have a fever."
"What of it? I feel fine." Sasuke took the hand on his forehead into his own with the gentlest touch and pulled it aside. She let him, and as she studied his face clearly, she became more aware of the fact that she hadn't taken a good look at him lately.
"I'm going to work." the raven-haired boy says in a weak voice, turning once more to leave.
As soon as he looked away from her, he felt a hard grip on his shoulder, one that made him feel a jolt of pain. And it wasn't because he was sick.
When he sighed and turned his head to the side, his brows furrowed only to notice the seriousness in her own.
"You're not going anywhere. Sit down." She says in a voice he doesn't recognize. In the next second, she grabbed his hand once more, in which he robotically let himself be trailed behind her towards the couch. The next thing he knew, he was forced to lay on it.
Before he had the chance to react, a blanket was thrown over his head. When he lifted it away from his face, he saw her standing in front of the couch with her hands on her hips with an unsatisfied expression.
"Why didn't you say anything?" She asked.
He was about to respond with something intelligible, but instead opted to shut his mouth and start again. "It was probably yesterday. From the rain."
At this, Sakura didn't respond but only disappeared into the kitchen. He heard the sound of rushing water from the sink, then lifted his upper body from the couch. "I'm fine. I'll just-"
The moment he started to speak again, Sakura had approached him with a bin and a damp towel in her hand. Before he was able to make another comment, she threw the towel onto his face, in which he let fall onto his lap. With a sigh, he picked it up and placed it on his forehead unwillingly and laid back down.
"You're in no place to act all high and mighty right now! Believe it or not, even strong ninja like you get sick once in awhile."
Sasuke glanced at her from where he was, making out the annoyed expression on her face. However, even he could feel that it was as if a barrier had broke between them. They were speaking.
Sakura lowered her voice. "Just be quiet and let me help you."
At this, Sasuke grunted, muffling his face into the inside of the couch.
"You are such a child." The pink-haired girl whispered, shaking her head once more. "Where do you work? I can go tell them that you won't be coming in today, and I'll pick up some things for you along the way."
"Don't worry about me."
Sakura sent him a dark look, even though she knew he couldn't see it. She cleared her throat madly, then stood there, waiting.
After a minute, the Uchiha spoke with hesitation.
"A fried chicken store."
"What was that?" Sakura leaned in at his murmur. Sasuke scowled into the couch.
"A fried chicken store."
"A fried chicken store!?"
The pink-haired girl suddenly bursted into uncontrollable laughter, earning a harder frown from the Uchiha, who suddenly became very invested in the comfort of his blanket. "Wait a minute, you mean the one near the square? I've seen giant chicken mascots on the street before! Is that it?"
"Be quiet. You're giving me a headache."
The pink-haired girl slowly tried to wean off of her laugher. "Are you sure you don't want to let them know? You might get fired for just not showing up."
Sasuke appeared to contemplate this for a moment. "Do what you want." He finally says, not moving. "I'm going to sleep. Don't bother me anymore."
"Okay. Tell me what you want for lunch, I'll grab it." She finished up the last of her giggles.
"Don't need anything." He responds grumpily.
"You won't get any better at this rate."
"I'll be fine."
At this, the pink-haired girl clicked her tongue in annoyance. She left without a word, and just when he thought she went away for good, she returned back to the couch and placed something down on the coffee table in front of it.
After a few minutes, he heard the door click. As he lifted a single eyelid open and turned around to glance at the table, he noted a cup of hot tea set aside for him. Tearing his eyes away from it, he rested back towards the inside of the couch and drifted off to sleep.
The Uchiha leaned his back against the wooden bridge, tilting his head towards the sky to feel the warm sunbeams penetrating his face from above. His eyes were shut closed as he took in a slow, tiny breath through his nose.
They say that when you do this, the rest of your senses heighten. And it's true. Everything sounds incredibly detailed once your vision sees black- the sound of your own breath, the sound of moving air..
"Good morning, Sasuke-kun."
-The sounds of voices that seemed to inch closer with every step.
"It seems we're the only ones here, again. Naruto and Kakashi-sensei sure like to take their time."
Like this, her voice appeared to echo inside of his mind; her words amplified louder and clearer than before.
"Well, while we wait for them, I'll tell you a about dream I had last night. Naruto dragged us to ramen right before.. of course he'd crave something like that. I don't really remember what the mission was, but- oh! We were fighting some rogue ninja in Iwagakure. They were really strong.."
The spring wind seemed to tangle along with her words, making her voice sound as if it were whistling and singing along with the breeze. From the other side, the birds chirped along to the same melody as if it were providing the accompaniment to her song.
"We eventually got split up from Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. We tried to locate them, but they weren't anywhere to be found. And then.."
The sound of her voice provided an irreplaceable comfort for him.
"And then.. you tried to kill me."
Suddenly, a cacophony of distortedness erupted in his senses as a loud ringing began inside of his ears began to take place. The Uchiha let out a surprised gasp, attempting to peel his lids open. When he couldn't, he began to panic at the sensation of his eyes being glued shut.
"H-Hey, what's wrong?"
The pleasing sound of her voice began to muffle with every word that followed, as if he were hearing her speak from underwater.
"Sasuke-kun,"
He began to tear at his eyelids- his fingers forcefully prying them open to feel a warm rush of blood trickling down his cheeks and onto his neck.
"Sasuke-kun!"
"Sasuke-kun."
When his eyes fluttered open, it took awhile for his brain to register that he was still inside of their apartment. His head pounded on both sides as he glanced at surroundings from where he laid. His eyes rested on the tabletop, where he saw that the water bin had been changed and a new towel was placed beside it. When he wiggled his toes, he realized his shoes had also been taken off for him while he was asleep.
In his peripheral vision, he noticed the pink-haired girl had appeared by his side from behind the couch. "You were muttering things in your sleep. Are you alright?"
Instead of providing a response, the Uchiha's weak expression spoke it all. As she saw this, Sakura sighed. "It's almost lunch. What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you."
"I'm not hungry."
"Not even some fruit?"
"It's fine."
"You have to eat, or your body won't get any nutrients."
"Don't need them."
The pink-haired girl twitched an eye. He just doesn't want to accept my help. "Fine."
However, instead of parting from the couch, Sasuke watched as she went around to the front and sat herself down on the hardwood floor, her back resting against where he laid. From behind, the Uchiha could clearly see the side of her face even though they didn't face eachother. He knew she was trying to give him some company.
"Did you ever fall sick before? You know, while you were with Orochimaru.." She trailed off quietly.
"Where in my life do I have the time to get sick?" Sasuke muttered in fatigue, "It's because of this whole situation we're in that I'm carelessly letting my guard down."
"Really? Not even once?"
"Not once."
Sakura appeared to ponder this for a moment.
"Why is that such a strange thing?" Sasuke inquired, sensing her discontent. "We're ninjas. Our bodies are quite versatile."
"Well, yeah. We're always fighting and doing things that risks our lives, but in the end, we're human too and humans get ill." Sakura says, "Guess it takes being in world without ninjutsu to realize that we're a lot more similar to civilians than we'd think."
There was a lull in the air afterwards, and for some reason the Uchiha felt as if there were a double meaning in her words.
"Anyway, that's why I think it's okay to get sick once in awhile. That, and among other things. It's normal." Sakura reinforced, changing her voice to be a bit more upbeat.
Another silence stipulated in the air, but to Sakura's surprise, this was the good kind that she had loved and missed. The ticking of the clock was quiet but well-heard, and as this peace lingered for the next few minutes, it was as if everything had fallen back into place as it should have.
"Sasuke-kun."
"Aa."
The sound of the kettle that had been boiling in the kitchen clicked with a short popping noise. Sakura let out a tiny breath in anticipation.
"How are we going to get home?"
The Uchiha looked at her from the side of her face, though she didn't turn to look back at him. The depth of her question caught him off guard, and when he realized he was unable to formulate a response, he closed his eyes and gazed back to the ceiling.
"I don't know." He said quietly, "I really don't."
"There's been no signs at all."
"We'll find it." Sasuke continued, almost as if he were sure. "We have to."
At this, the pink-haired girl pursed her lips and recalled his words when the two of them had fought in her hospital room. He was right in that sense. They didn't have all the time in the world to be playing school here, no matter how much it was needed.
But what exactly are they trying to find? If there was a clear sign.. where was it, and when was it going to appear? And when they find it, this thing is supposedly going to return them from where they came from. And then..
..What next?
"I'll get you some tea." She responded, hoisting herself up from the floor and making her way to the kitchen counter.
When she returned, instead of sitting back down, she knelt herself on the floor to face the Uchiha. To her surprise, he sat up immediately, and she managed to get a clear look of his weak face. They locked eyes for a brief second before he took the cup from her hands, his fingers slightly brushing the tip of hers once again.
Sasuke gave the tea a couple of blows, then proceeded to take a small sip- then another. Throughout this moment, Sakura realized she had been staring at him the entire time, and it wasn't until she realized how weird that was that she decided to look at the balcony. Right when she did that, Sasuke glanced at her from the corner of his eye, catching her divert her gaze.
"-It was all apart of the same failed past. There's nothing left of it, and there's no reason for us to feel anything towards eachother."
"Why are you still doing this?"
The question seemed to catch the pink-haired girl off-guard.
"I'm a medical ninja. My jutsu may not work here but my duty is still intact. You're a sick person, so I'm helping you. That's all."
"You know that's not what I'm asking."
Sakura found herself unable to speak for a moment. He was right, even though he was broad, she fully understood the context of his ambiguous question.
"And you?" She whispers back. "I think you owe me more answers than I owe you."
The two of them searched eachothers' eyes, and each of them noticed the seriousness in the other. After what seemed like an eternity, Sasuke swallowed the tiny lump in his throat.
"They're real." He started slowly, "Your feelings."
The pink-haired girl tried to calm her racing heart.
"Then, the thing I heard you say.." She says with slight hesitation, "Was that real too?"
"And to think I once thought of accepting those feelings."
"-I know they're real, because they reached me." He continued, stopping for a second. "And one day I felt like I was able to produce those feelings too."
When he said this, Sakura's lips parted.
"But, that was in the past." He looked away. "Which means the person you feel so much for right now has long been altered beyond recovery. You know best that I'm not like how I was before. That past is long behind me, and I'm firm on letting it stay that way."
He said this in a relatively calm manner. After a few seconds, she let out the breath she had been holding.
"Thank you for telling me." She whispered softly. "But there's something I have to clarify."
He looks at her in a questionable manner.
"People's feelings do change over time and its inevitable. You and I have gone a long way." She started, "But it also means my feelings right now are a lot different from back then. Just like how you've changed, they did as well."
Sasuke stared at her blankly. "I don't quite understand what you're trying to say."
"What I'm trying to say is, the childish love that you remember from me isn't here anymore." Sakura continued, "The love I have for you right now means that no matter what kind of person you think you've become, and no matter what your goals are, my bond with you remains unconditional. So no matter what you say about yourself, that's the one thing that isn't going to change."
The viridian-eyed girl finished with an expression that she realized must have been too serious. She also became aware of the wetness in her eyes, in which she instantly felt her face flush hot. "I-I'm not expecting you to get it right away. I just needed to clear that up."
She waited for a response from the Uchiha, anything, to tell her that she had been heard. Despite her wishes, the two of them only stared at eachother- or rather, she stared at him while it seemed as if he were searching her face for more.
"What?" Sakura asked, feeling a bit awkward in the current situation. Did I talk too much?
Sasuke appeared to linger on her for awhile longer before finally blinking back to normal. "Just thinking about how annoying you are."
The pink-haired girl immediately pouted at his words. Seeing her displeased expression, the the corner of the Uchiha's mouth curled into a smirk before he lifted his cup for another sip of tea.
"By the way," Sakura started again in a lighter mood. "I did confess to Naruto. But it was only because I thought I could handle you myself without anybody's worry. I never once wavered."
The moment she finished, the viridian-eyed girl swore she felt her face turn a darker shade of red as she anticipated his next response.
"..You don't have to explain something like that to me. Aren't you embarrassed?"
She didn't know what she was expecting after clarifying something like that. "What do you mean? I have to! You made such a big deal about it!"
"Don't know what you're saying."
Sakura frowned. He seemed to really enjoy messing around with her. I guess it was as camaraderie-like as he was going to get.
"By the way, as well."
He started again, grabbing her attention with the seriousness in his voice.
"You didn't fall behind me."
His words struck her like the wind. After awhile, the pink-haired girl's lips slowly curled into a smile. When she looked away from his gaze, the Uchiha couldn't help but grin as well.
"Guess who I saw at your work." Sakura brought on a new subject, this time grinning like a fool.
"I know who you saw." Sasuke responded immediately, smirking a little.
"It's so weird." The pink-haired girl giggled, "When I walked in, he was the spitting image, except he was laughing and smiling like crazy. It was kind of..creepy."
"My first thoughts as well."
"What do you really do there? Doesn't it get super hot inside that chicken costume?"
The Uchiha scowled. "Don't joke. I don't do that stuff."
At this response, the viridian-eyed girl laughed and poked at him some more. The two of them stayed like this for a moment longer, appreciating eachother's presence before Sakura hoisted herself up from the floor once again. "I'll get more tea." She said, gently taking the raven-haired boy's cup into her hands and started towards the kitchen.
Sasuke watched her back for a few seconds as she roamed about in the kitchen, opening the cupboard to grab another teabag. He then laid himself back down, gently placing the back of his head against the armrest of the couch and gently closing his eyes for a brief moment.
"So we got as much things as we could for the festival preparations tomorrow. Hinata kind of got us a little sidetracked though because she claimed that I needed.. you know, normal clothes."
The Uchiha parted his lips, taking in a slow deep breath. There it was.
"And so we ended up getting a bunch of things, but I still have to find a job as soon as possible so I can pay her back. But with all of this festival stuff going on.."
Immediately, he felt his breathing become more constant, the headache that had pounded against both of his temples dissipating as she spoke.
Sakura rolled her eyes at his silence. "-Okay, I get it. You're not even listening."
He suddenly remembered the words of the silver-haired boy during their interaction at the department store.
Even if, in a perfect world where he were to eradicate his solitude and accept Sakura's feelings wholeheartedly, his cursed fate would only deem to take that away from him as well. He knows this would happen because it happened with his own kin; people who offered the same kind of love she did.
But there's no escape from it. That's the fate of a Uchiha. Knowing this better than anyone else, was it still okay for him to let his guard down a little?
"Tomatoes."
The pink-haired girl paused what she was doing and turned her head towards the couch, even though she was unable to see his face from where she was.
"I'd like something with tomatoes." He repeated.
Sakura let her mouth hang half open before she pursed her lips together into a benevolent smile. From where he was, he listened to a pause in her movements, unsure if his request had been heard. Peeling a single eyelid open in curiosity, he then closed it once again and smiled once he heard the sound of the stove whirring to life.