Italics are flashbacks. Three cheers for insanity and iced coffee. Please review.
Chapter 25: We Limbo, We Lie, We Swing.
Tap, oh hear the tap-
On the bloody windowsill.
Now a slap, ringing slap
beating upon your will.
Slice, slice it deep
Across soft flesh, let's have our fill.
Her heart, her kind soft heart
Prevented you from one last kill.
Scrape, hear metal scrape
Across the gorgeous ivory bone
Gather now and reap
The morbid things that you have sown
Snap, these fine lines convolute and twist
Relationships have grown
Such cowardice is shamed upon,
Where have your morals flown?
Drenched.
Positively soaked with his blood, she pulled her arm tighter around his neck, trying desperately to quell her violent shakes. Shakes of fear and of the utmost pain, as the avenger still dragged the kunai across, somehow convinced he was hurting himself, killing the presence inside of him, not tainting her soft flesh.
The culmination, the humming and screaming and crying of horror swelled to a din of many pitches, and Sasuke dragged it deeper. He still did not understand as he continued to dig until he felt Sakura's chin jamming the top of his skull as she shook, cold tears cascading down her face and chilling his scalp.
"Sasuke, STOP IT!"
He froze as Naruto's words figuratively backhanded him across the face, leaving him stunned as his eyes traveled slowly down to her arm; it was soaked to the elbow in glittering crimson.
He dragged the kunai.
She seethed.
He tore a bit of flesh, just to see.
Blood blossomed and swelled from the arm, still latched around his neck to prevent him from slashing his own worthless throat. He could not understand, he was slow to realize what she had done, and what he was doing now.
He jerked the knife.
She pressed her teeth against his freezing scalp and unsuccessfully quelled a sour note of the most terrible pain.
"You sick bastard, knock it off!"
"Come on, man, just let it go–"
"S–S–STOP IT NOW!"
Every head turned to see Hinata pointing a shaking kunai at Sasuke, aimed straight between his glittering eyes. They knew she would never do it, yet all the same they bathed in her rare courage, and looked as though they would follow her lead if need be. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, her normally meek voice peaked at the highest pitches as her cheeks flushed dangerously.
"Where do you get off?" she whispered, lip trembling. "What is wrong with you?"
"Hinata, please..." Sakura trailed off, shaking her head slowly into his mussed, ebony locks. "Let me do this." Shaking out of anger, Sakura reached around him, still keeping her arm tight around his neck; his kunai was still slowly dragging across her arm, the grotesque, unearthly pitch echoing in all ears as the metal scraped her very bone. Roughly seizing the kunai from her vibrating arm, she tightened her white fingers around the handle and yanked it from her flesh, grinding her teeth together as she kept herself from uttering another sound.
It clattered to the dust, echoing ominously and not fazing Sasuke in the slightest. Soaked to the skin in the warm blood of their bodies, he stared into nothing and barely flinched as Sakura screamed at him, right in his ear, still keeping her grip around his neck.
"Fucking coward!"
Naruto and Hinata were quivering with suppressed anger while Ino had her fists clenched, nails digging into palms, wishing she had a reason to lose her temper. Pakkun had adopted his masters lazy, impassive persona and Shikamaru and Lee were simply stunned.
"I can't even believe you. Trying to kill yourself. You told me once that it was an easy way out. Suicide was a weakness. You said it yourself!" She screamed this straight into his ear, so there was no question whether he could or could not hear. "Endurance made you strong. You said that!"
Through numb lips did weak words tumble off his tongue: "I...wasn't going to..."
"Then what the hell did you think you were doing?" She demanded, positively sobbing. She was furious. She took a deep breath, pounding hurtful words into his thick skull.
"You worked so hard. You passed every test, you overcame every obstacle, you pushed everyone away and fought, fought so hard to make yourself stronger. You were obstinate and stubborn and always pushed yourself to the limit. And when you'd passed the limit, you just kept on going. You reiterated, every single time, what you were fighting for! You said you'd do anything to achieve that dream. That's why you fought Naruto, that's why you left, that's why you knocked me out, and left me on a cold park bench with a bunch of words that..."
A breath caught in her throat, and she pressed her face into his hair, the grip on his neck loosening. A few words...that left me brokenhearted."
"You delved deep within yourself to try to kill everything that was holding you back, the emotion that you thought made you weak. But it got you. You came back, when you were 15, because that was the first time you wanted to stop. The first time you wanted to quit."
"But you climbed back up on your high horse and left again, after staying here and enduring all the shit from everybody, all the ones who called you a dirty traitor. You left, and then you came back again. Just a year ago. And then you left again. And then you came back one last time. You've stayed since then. What's making you? Why haven't you gone and left for a third time? Third time's a damn charm, that's what they say. I almost wish you had. So you could let me be, stop coming back, coming closer, embedding yourself in my h–our hearts and then ripping yourself away again."
"So what was all that for if you were planning to die right here, right now? It was for absolutely nothing! You'd throw everything, all those mistakes, away? Too damn bad! They were your choices, your regrets, and you have to live with them whether you want to or not. You have to endure, just like you always told me. When you sent me that pathetic excuse for a letter that I cried over. I know that you know I did. You asked me if I was still there, still enduring, still waiting. I did, I am. I am strong, Sasuke. I always thought you were too."
Sasuke was slowly shaking his head, as if to an invisible, slow steady beat, while the others continued to stare and Naruto clenched his fist. Many nights had been spent, locked in a dark room, in silence, because of that one little note he had sent.
"I don't agree with the decisions you've made...but at least you knew what you wanted in life. Now, you're backing off, you're questioning yourself, and finally wishing you could change the things you've done. You're being weak, you're being a coward. Something I never...thought the Sasuke Uchiha could be."
"You don't have to be the best now, you don't have to face the man you've been waiting for so long to face right now, so long as you have the strength to endure the time. Endure as you strengthen, as you wait, knowing that when the moment comes to take the chance on your dreams and your decisions, you'll be ready."
Sasuke lowered his head, effectively hiding his face...out of the utmost shame. Hinata was tearing up considerably and Ino closed her eyes tightly.
"But no...you almost gave that all up...just because you had one little moment of weakness."
With that, she pulled her swollen lips away from his ear and let her arm gently relinquish it's firm grip on his neck. The skin underneath was untouched and unblemished, contrasting awkwardly with his stained arms and chest, her blood that continued to seep through his shirt and chill him, suffocating his heart. She let herself fall back on her uninjured arm and held the other one to her chest, holding it limply and tenderly, useless.
"So...you killed Orochimaru?" she asked quietly.
Sasuke frantically began to wipe his hands on his shorts, brushing bright red streaks against his legs, bandaged from the knee down; it was drying, permeating him, like another extra layer of skin.
"I asked Tsunade; she let me read the final report after we had found Orochimaru's body. Apparently he had been injured multiple times with Chidori Nagashi."
"Chidori Nagashi?" Lee repeated, looking puzzled.
"One Thousand Birds Current," Sakura reiterated, staring at Sasuke's tensed back. "A derivation from regular Chidori. Used with a chokuto or other type of sword, the chakra emanating from the blade. Incidentally, the Sannin's neck had been not only slashed but...as Tsunade stated, 'ruthlessly massacred' with such a weapon."
A silence descended upon them. Chidori had always been labeled as a dangerous assassination attack, a fatal jab that was near impossible to live through. Closing her eyes, Sakura could remember the pain she had been in that night, how much, as the chakra had begun to eat away at her flesh like termites on wood, she had wished she would die. Her mind had screamed it over and over, and she had been ready.
"Did...did you suspect me?" Sasuke croaked, wrapping sweaty, bloody, pallid fingers around his neck and squeezing it, as though remembering the jerk of a noose. "Being as smart as you are?"
Slightly taken aback, Sakura swallowed and cradled her arm with the other. "Yes. But I had so much going on...I did not have the time to dwell on it. It was so obvious, but Tsunade by rule had to be fair in the final judgement, and we had more pressing matters to deal with. Besides...we didn't have enough proof."
"You know why I didn't leave a third time?" Sasuke asked in the same strained voice, fingers shaking violently as he clutched his neck.
"I was thinking that...since you had killed him...and presumably Kabuto had fled, you had nowhere else to go."
Sasuke chuckled frighteningly. "Ah." Sakura's guess had been right.
"Why did you?" Sakura demanded, jade eyes mere slits against the bending prisms of colors, of sunset. "I thought he was supposed to help you."
Naruto's hand was in and out of his pocket, kunai in hand before Sasuke had finished turning around, fixing the pink–haired kunoichi with a glittering onyx eye. Naruto made a small growl in his throat, warning him, and Sasuke growled right back, in understanding, yet in arrogance. Now facing Sakura, the avenger continued to clasp his throat and spoke in a low, thick lilting voice, full of anger and pain.
"Do you feel sorry for him?" Sasuke demanded, voice cracking on the mirthless syllable.
"Never," she replied, tightening her grip around her useless limb. "But you were so terribly keen on worshiping the ground he walked upon, I thought you could hold a little more respect for people you chose over your friends."
The avenger's eyes narrowed dangerously. Lips twisting and pursing furiously, he spat a gob of saliva and blood into the dust and glared, eyes dangerously glittering. "I don't have respect for people who screw me over."
Curiosity obviously piqued, the medic's head tilted slightly at his words, a silent inquiry of further detail. And it was time to tell them, tell them all the shame of what he had endured and what Fate had decided to thrust upon him. Maybe it had been a sign; maybe he had deserved it.
"About six months before I returned, when I was with Orochimaru, I had the very slightest suspicions. Acting upon them would have been foolish, so I did not press any points, even when the clues were right under my nose."
"He was weakening and it secretly gladdened me...his terrible condition worried him, and even Kabuto could not keep up with his dying body. Originally there had been time to spare in the decision of him taking my body as his own. But then...the hurried, whispered discussions in the night that were kept from me...they had to do it sooner, lest Orochimaru die before it could happen."
"And then..."
He trailed off, tearing his gaze from Sakura's: Those jade eyes had been full of sorrow for him although she did not feel he deserved it...brimming with tiny tears that were collecting on her eyelids so quickly, a swiftly leaking dam. Not being able to handle it.
"Hn."
It was unusual for the young man to speak at all to his mentor, much less to the deep violet carpeted floor, the single window through which the full moon hovered, a goddess, or the resolutely blank ceiling. To these things, he was actually ignoring, his noise of dissent echoing in the room despite the fact it had been so terribly quiet. A tone of finality coated the syllable, informing nobody but himself his decision.
Leaning up on his elbows, his onyx, glittering eyes, slits against the moonlight, surveyed the forlorn room and its furnishings of acquired taste. His handsome head turned mechanically to observe and let reflect, the round, blemished, white orb that hung over the treetops by invisible strings. Black silhouettes danced across the bottom from swaying treetops from all places so far, so non–existent to the uninterested.
A single petal, a twirling little thing of symbolism that made his throat tighten, teased him as it floated across the round white canvas, twinkling pink, a sickening wink.
"Fuck you. Fuck Fate." More unexpected words tumbled from cold, numb lips.
Stretching his muscular arms above his head, he gripped the bars of his bed and clenched the cold, slimy wood in his fingers. Distinct splintering sounded, and he quickly brought his angry hands back, slightly surprised. Was he this angry? Did his subconscious know before his mind would accept it?
Raising himself upon his arms, his loosely tied shirt slid off his white shoulders, exposing pitted and scarred flesh; amid the streaked blood there was the disgusting mark, blatantly reminding him of what he had chosen. Of what he was destined to do, all he was to give up for his ultimate goal.
Of what now...he was regretting.
With speed, agility, and deftness that had been so beautifully refined from years of intense conditioning and his boiling Uchiha blood, he now held his chokuto in his hand, staring down his hated reflection in the blade. Like a mirror that forced a man to define himself and justify his actions to the rest of the world, stare everything he was in the face and determine if it was supposed to be that way. He saw all that was: Every mark he had earned from his smart remarks, so hard to quell; injuries from the many pointless fights he engaged just to prove. A knot on his shoulder that was having a hard time healing, a parting gift from a friend that had certainly improved her punch. It hurt more than physically, and leaving for what now, the second time after coming back of his own free will, she had been pretty angry.
Okay, so the punch had shattered his bones to pieces, but he had not given her the satisfaction of knowing that. He had shrugged it off. She had said, "Do what you have to."
He had turned his back.
She had watched it.
He had glanced at her, almost sadly, over his numb shoulder.
She had finished his sendoff with an insane punch to the ground that had ripped it apart, sending debris and boulders and dust flying, hiding her tears of anger, his tears of pain.
It had made him stumble.
It had made her laugh derisively at his retreating back.
He had returned and apologized to his mentor for leaving.
She had broken four pieces of furniture, thrown them at her roommates, and 'settled down' in her room. In the middle of the floor, staring up at the ceiling, crushing a picture frame with its picture reminding her of everything that was long gone. The glass had stained her fingers with crimson.
What was she doing now? Still crying?
An abrupt shatter–
CLINKCLINKCLINKCLINK–
The sound of glass bouncing off the windowsill echoed in the silence, his fist stained with blood and shaking as he pulled it back, surprised. Why was he angry?
He knew the voices floating in on a breeze without having to question, but he had known they were there before. Now, he would act upon it.
Hopping deftly to the sill, he launched himself out and landed on all fours upon the dust without so much as a sound.
They were only a few feet away, such idiocy, speaking of things not meant for the avengers sharp ears.
"Is this wise, my Lord?"
For the first time, Kabuto sounded a bit wary of his mentors actions. The levelheadedness normally possessed was breaking apart.
"You sound unsure, Kabuto," Orochimaru said genially, caressing the name in his slippery tongue. "Would I make a decision that was unwise?"
"You seem...at a disadvantage–"
"Really? Me? A disadvantage?" Orochimaru was using that degrading, superior tone, as if Kabuto had no idea. And he might not have. "I am afraid I must protest, Kabuto."
"Do you think Sasuke will simply go along with all of this once he finds out what you are planning to do?"
"Itachi is under the impression he will be fighting Sasuke–"
The Sannin's words sliced through Sasuke like a knife; just that name sent passionate hatred flowing through his cold veins like ice. But he continued to listen–
"When by then the jutsu will be complete. And Itachi will be fighting me."
Sasuke stumbled back and let his back hit the wall in shock and slowly slid, his skin scraping painfully against it. He knew the tone in his mentors voice. Orochimaru wanted to fight Itachi. For himself and not for Sasuke, of course. He should have known.
"Uchiha Itachi does not realize that you are performing this jutsu, correct? He will assume he is fighting his little brother–"
Hatred shot through the youngest Uchiha again: 'Little brother'. So inferior sounding, it set him shaking.
"–Not you."
Orochimaru hummed to himself a bit and smiled. "Once again, Kabuto, you seem to understand perfectly." Raising his pale face to the moon, he continued to grin. "Ah...there are so many waiting for this epic clash of blood, of brother versus brother. Yet they will not realize the true motives or even...what is going on inside."
"You're lying to Itachi?" Kabuto's voice was monotone yet hushed, as if the prodigy himself existed in the air.
"He will regret ever doing what he did, mark my words," Orochimaru hissed, his snake–like eyes flashing dangerously, the old jealousy toiling within him. Little did he know he was not the only one.
Sasuke bit his knuckle hard, purposely tasting blood...Orochimaru never wanted him. He had wanted Itachi. But a blood sibling...surely he could put faith in him temporarily until he got what he had really wanted. So Orochimaru settled on Sasuke and exploited his wants to get closer to Itachi. To make him pay...but for what? Not accepting Orochimaru's request when they had been together in the Akatsuki? Or was there more? There had to be.
Not that he was willing to listen to it.
One silent leap, and Sasuke appeared behind Orochimaru, holding his chokuto against the back of his neck. The Sannin did not appear concerned, although he had reason to be, while Kabuto stepped back.
Sasuke's hand was shaking, sweaty fingers barely clutching the hilt as he struggled to keep it steady. He knew the mentor had his damn tricks, but what he wouldn't give to slice through his neck, down to the bone, watching his body jerk in response as blood vessels broke and emptied onto the ground. Obviously in this world, no one would be able to help him.
He really had been alone...this whole time. Known, unaccepted.
"I wasn't good enough for you?" Sasuke hissed. "Everything was still about Itachi. Is that it?"
Orochimaru began to giggle.
"I wasted fucking years on...what? WHAT?!
"I knew that you couldn't defeat Itachi and use him for your sick experiments. But there was more, wasn't there? There's a reason...that...you hate him as much as I do!"
The pale man stared up at the cloudless night through his curtain of straight black locks and continued to grin. "I cannot tell you the answer."
"Well you're not going to ever face him," Sasuke spat, spitting the blood from his lip and knuckle onto the back of his mentors head. "He's mine. I will fight him, I will kill him. Before that, though, I will KILL YOU."
"How sad, Sasuke–kun...you are jealous."
Shock raced through his body so effectively his shaking had even ceased. "I want to kill him."
"You sound like a child...claiming a toy..."
"Shut up!" His roar made Kabuto step back slightly, fiddling with his glasses.
Now Sasuke's mind accused him, chiming in with every little insult. "SHUT UP!"
"I'm not speaking, Sasuke," Orochimaru whispered, looking at him over his shoulder.
"I'm going to silence you, Sensei," Sasuke promised, fingering his chokuto lovingly. "Forever."
"Such harsh words, Sasuke–kun–"
"Don't give me that," the avenger replied, spitting blood on his mentor once again. "You're screwed anyway. The medicines are not keeping up with your rapidly dying body, and you need me. If you don't, you will die, and you're only dying a bit sooner than I could have hoped."
"So–" Sasuke said arrogantly, shoving the man away from him, waiting until the snake–ninja had turned to face him. "Let's make it interesting, Sensei."
Kabuto had been forgotten, left in a non–existent silence. A terrible, fatal mistake.
Kabuto was no longer working for Orochimaru.
Kabuto slipped away unnoticed, stealing through the dark to report to Lord Itachi, and as he traveled through the pitch–black foliage he could hear the weakened Sannin let out a petrified scream.
"So Orochimaru...was planning to use your body and abilities for his own revenge? To fight Itachi?" Sakura shook her head slowly, as though it would make it untrue.
"You're brilliant," Sasuke snapped, still tightening his grip around his neck. "Really."
"Then where did Kabuto go? He stole away in the dark and went–"
"To Itachi."
Sakura's expression was contorted in confusion as her fast–paced mind struggled to comprehend, to let everything sink in slowly. "I don't–"
"You can't trust anybody in this world, Sakura. Remember that."
His face was now stone, as though it had hardened in seconds; he stared at her arm, the arm she was still holding limply, the one he had hurt. He always hurt her.
She let her arm fall into her lap, possessing the movement and life of a worn rag doll, and used her other hand to reach forward and smear a drop of blood across his cheek. With tenderness he did not expect, nor deserve, he raised his eyes to hers and felt a surge of guilt as a tear ran down her cheek.
"I...trust you," she said slowly, forming every syllable with precision and Sasuke watched her lips as she did, the words a shock. For everything he had done, for lying to her, for leaving and coming and going into her life like a bird that visited the garden every so often...all this, and she chose to accept his mistakes.
"I–"
Sakura blinked and felt numb. Had Sasuke really just...said...well, almost said...
But as he bit his lip, she knew it had cost him a terrible amount of pride. She didn't address it, but he had admitted it inside his head. I trust you too.
"Kabuto had fled and I had not even noticed...I was so focused on killing that man, so full of hatred, I had made a stupid mistake. I should have known that there was something strange, because he had run."
"It didn't matter, though," Naruto interjected, the expression on his face still one of confusion; he was still struggling to keep up and understand all the little details that made this incident so powerful, so painful. "The ANBU ended up bringing him in a few months later, and he got interrogated, and then he was dead!"
Sakura nodded slowly, but froze at the sight of Sasuke's face: His eyes squeezed shut, and Naruto winced, painfully unaware of his mistake, of what he had said to cause it.
"He was found injured, right? Most likely. Itachi took a piece out of him, too."
Sakura frowned. "Wait. I thought he was working for Itachi."
Sasuke looked at her in a way that could almost be called...dejected.
So he really was dead.
Pieces of clothing were still raining down, falling from tiny tree limbs and coming to rest upon his lifeless corpse. If you could call it such a thing: Flesh so torn, burnt, massacred it was impossible to tell the gender, (not that he had questioned), maybe even age of the, better put, pile of lifeless weight. It was just a body now, fit to be thrown upon flames and burned. It had no identity or personality, no goals or regrets or soul to speak of, and it was most likely wandering now, struggling in eternity to fix its mistakes.
Fingers soaked in the liquid life swept back and forth across the dirt, smearing the crimson in, as if painting a picture for a long–ago, barely remembered Academy class. No real objective in mind, he made swirls and streaks, laughing quietly as he did so. Ceasing his unnerving play, he tugged gently at the obnoxiously bright purple bow dramatically tied around the pallid neck of his sensei, and pulled it just a little bit more. It had not been the act that had eventually killed the Sannin, but it seemed fitting, if not morbid.
"Very...nice."
The murderer stared down at the body of his former teacher for a long moment, then rose his head to the sky to stare at the blood–red horizon; the sun was very slowly rising on an act that had no clear definition. Good or evil? Had it been right or wrong? He did not know, and for that moment, he did not care.
As though literally electrocuted, so waves of fatigue and exhaustion did torture his body relentlessly, and the young man, shuddering and white as the emerging colors of dawn hit his skin, slumped. Basking in the growing sunlight, his blood–soaked skin absorbed the gift gratefully, and after another silent moment he laughed to himself.
Electricity hung heavily in the air, a mimicry of nature such as humidity, and pressed on his lungs that swallowed, inhaled and exhaled the damp, thick air. Air heavy with the distinct coppery tang of blood, vomit, singed flesh and dew. The resulting mixture of sick smells sent his stomach churning and head reeling in response, and the avenger keeled over and emptied his esurient organ of nothing but burning stomach acid.
Sweeping the back of his hand across his mouth, he swallowed and grimaced–
And became acutely aware of the other presence in the clearing.
"K–Kabuto?"
His stammer was quiet and meek, surprising himself and the shinobi he had addressed. Kabuto readjusted his glasses and swept a long lock of gray hair from his eyes, narrowed with dislike.
"You know you could not have succeeded if I hadn't been weakening him from the start."
Sasuke immediately became defensive, letting his muscles automatically tense as his adrenaline rose; he would kill Kabuto too, if need be.
"Don't test me," Sasuke spat, voice abruptly bursting into his rich, accent–littered tenor, the strength returning. "I'll kill you too."
"I'd love to see you try, Sasuke–kun."
Sasuke had a kunai pointed at Kabuto in half a second, rage flooding through him. Only one person called him Sasuke–kun; Kabuto had always done it, but he had no right. "Call me that again and you'll soon follow your master."
"Again, I would love to see you try." Kabuto sighed and took a step forward. "Let's get this over with."
The underling had never possessed exceptional speed, and perhaps it was the young shinobi's fatigue finally getting the better of his determination; Sasuke slumped forward, shaking violently as his stomach twisted within his torso, trying to reject what was in it, which was nothing. Sasuke swore as Kabuto took the back of his neck, as if he were a dog being disciplined, and held something in front of his face, in the palm of his hand, like a gift.
Orochimaru's earring lay, bloodstained and glittering.
"What about it?" Sasuke choked out, clawing at his throat; he just couldn't stop coughing and retching.
The avenger abruptly cried out as Kabuto delivered a swift blow to the back of his head and he pitched forward, landed awkwardly on his ribs, eventually sliding out flat to lay on his stomach. Violently shaking, he spat blood into the dirt as Kabuto put a knee in the small of his back to keep him to the ground. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Giving you a little gift."
"You sound just like your former master. I know about his sick little 'parting gifts'," Sasuke said, straining to raise himself up on his arms, but they did not cooperate with him and gave up.
Body rigid with fear and discomfort, Sasuke seethed as Kabuto pressed a long finger to his curse mark and gently stroked it, as if touching the gentle cheek of a loved one, and wracking waves of pain coursed through his veins.
"Get off!"
Kabuto ignored him and held the thin piece of jewelry between his index and middle finger, now performing hand signs; dark chakra began to culminate and twist around his hands, reaching like tendrils to barely graze the tiny hairs on Sasuke's neck. Writhing, jerking like a dying fish, he struggled to tap into some power, some energy he could use to save himself, but when Kabuto rapped him upside the head again, his skull seared with pain. He whimpered.
"I really hope that doesn't hurt, Sasuke–kun," Kabuto hissed sadistically, ceasing his hand signs and toying with the earring in his hand. "This kinjutsu is going to hurt a great deal worse."
"Wha–"
"I'd love to help you...well, actually, I wouldn't, but I have my orders. Orders, in fact, from someone you know–"
"Shut up!"
"I'll tell you how it works. Well, since Orochimaru–sama is obviously gone, he no longer has control over your curse mark. What a dreadful thing to happen! Surely he wouldn't allow such a thing. He was very attached."
"Yeah, to Itachi, not me. Lying piece of–"
"Your older brother actually comes into this...see, it was his wonderful idea–"
"You're working for him too!"
"–to perform this little jutsu, just so Orochimaru's plans wouldn't come completely to naught–"
"How dare you fucking work with him! Speak to him!"
"–or maybe Itachi was feeling a bit lonesome. This way, you can feel him with you wherever you go–"
"DON'T IGNORE ME, YOU BASTARD!"
Kabuto's eyes narrowed and flashed dangerously behind his round spectacles, and his lips pursed femininely in obvious annoyance and slight offense. Placing the tip of the bloodstained earring to Sasuke's skin, he began to lecture the young man as if he were a child. "You know, you're being awfully rude, Sasuke–kun. Speaking with your superiors like that–"
"I'd never consider you my superior–"
"Tsk, tsk. Exactly why Itachi thought this was such a good idea. Oh, and I almost forgot–"
"I swear if you keep ignoring me I'll–AUGH!" Sasuke pressed his face into the dirt as the air stung the back of his neck. The little slice had stung more than expected. Kabuto raised the earring and stroked it gently, tilting his head and still wearing a sick, sadistic smirk.
"Let's get this done, now, shall we?" Without waiting for an answer, he raised his hand a few inches above the curse mark and closed his eyes, the other hand in a complicated hand sign. "Uchiha Itachi."
Sasuke could feel the unearthly energy gathering at his curse mark, the entire shoulder numb and shaking involuntarily; Kabuto slowly formed the final hand sign, and slowly spoke the words, "Sasuke Uchiha."
Sasuke gritted his teeth, but even with the bare minimum of preparation he could give in his state, he wasn't ready for the erupting pain that commenced as Kabuto plunged the earring, with both shinobi's blood staining the silver, into the very heart of his curse mark. "SEAL!"
It dug.
It bled.
He screamed.
And screamed.
It was no normal scream, not of terror or of fear. Of pain. High–pitched and yet a rough, guttural roar of frustration and a way to channel the ruthless waves and spasms of pain surging through his entire body, as though a smothering blanket that covered every inch of him. The cry, echoing and heard for so many miles in the middle of nowhere, effectively drowned out the triumphant snickers of the gray– haired man, who stood at full height and gazed sadistically down at the writhing boy. Laughing. There was no humor, watching the avenger scream until his lungs were empty and he had nothing left to give, then take in breath and scream more, bleeding heavily from the shoulder as the convoluting black marks burned over his neck, down his pitted back.
It was unfathomable.
The scream was clear: He wanted to die.
Sakura cried out as Sasuke slumped forward: His shakes were involuntary and vicious, and as his face fell into her lap and he seemed to shrink into himself, Naruto couldn't stand it any longer. He rushed forward and Sakura cradled Sasuke's head, vibrating with him as the sun continued to fade away, leaving the atmosphere cold and just so chilling. Down to the very bone. The distance became near as faraway cries echoed in their ears, seeming to come closer with every passing moment.
"So now–" Sasuke broke off, struggling to sit up, now clutching at his shoulder. "Orochimaru is gone. But the control he once had over me, because of this mark, is now...in the hands of someone else."
"I–Itachi." Sakura's voice was flat, distant, monotonous.
"Yes. And although the pain does not come very often...being related by blood...when it does come..."
He raised his head, shadowed against the orange–golden backdrop of the horizon. "It's...insane. I never knew what pain was until I felt this. It makes me almost..."
Sakura's expression hardened, and strangely, so did Naruto's; the latter was shaking. Dangerously angry, his cerulean eyes flashed in the dimming light, piercing and glaring at his rival and friend with an intensity so unusual that it was unnerving. Sakura's chest swelled, as though preparing to scream curses upon the avenger, but her eyes were still brimming with tears that were precariously hovering on her lids. Naruto stiffened as Sasuke continued.
"It makes me...almost want to..."
Something in Naruto's mind snapped.
"Die."
SLAM.
Sakura's head swivelled to survey Naruto in shock and awe, turning slowly to see Sasuke now clutching at his face, the black marks still streaked across his pale visage; amid the scratches and marks, an obvious red swelling immediately appeared on his cheek. And now, little rivets of purple.
"AND YOU THINK THAT'S OKAY?"
Sakura stared, openmouthed at her teammates, looking back and forth. Naruto was yelling the words she had been about to say.
"SO YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN GIVE UP BECAUSE OF THAT?"
Sasuke glared viciously at him, spitting out a gob of blood.
"THIS IS ALL THE MORE REASON FOR YOU TO KILL THAT BASTARD!"
"Naruto–"
"DON'T YOU 'NARUTO' ME WITH YOUR COOL COLLECTED TONE! THINK OF WHAT HE'S DONE! And you want to give in!"
"I never said–"
Sakura was dumbstruck. Sasuke protesting? Naruto raging? And Sasuke hadn't punched in the blonde's face by now?
"Let's get something straight, Sasuke!" Naruto snapped, getting into his face. "Sakura told you before and now I'm saying it again. You have a hell of a lot more strength than this. You always pushed us to do our best, whether you meant it or not. Now we're telling you, I'm telling you. Keep enduring, keep fighting."
Sakura expected him to snap. She expected him to rage and scream and beat the living hell out of both of them amid the insults he would rain down. Abruptly, she took Sasuke's hand.
And unexpectedly, Naruto took her hand.
Team seven sat quietly in the face of danger once again, staring around at each other as though they were unfamiliar with themselves and with the world. The insults rang like gongs in all of their minds as they looked, they felt, they were wrapped up in so many tangled memories that were never clear, so many words exchanged that meant everything and yet absolutely nothing. The he said she said, the promises made like tied ribbons, broken like shattered glass. Would they be able to stay together this time?
Hesitating, Naruto let go, as if he had completed a very solemn, important deed, and Sasuke looked at him, nodded so very slightly, and then looked Sakura in the eye.
"Why...why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, horrified, staring at his dark eyes, transfixed, as though she had never quite seen Sasuke before.
"What could you have done?" he replied, shaking his head as if to deter her from any ideas. He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, steeling himself to convey what he wanted to say. "I don't want you wrapped up in this, or Naruto."
"Wrapped up in this." She repeated his words in numb disbelief; how could he say such a thing?
Everyone in the vicinity jumped as thousands of birds of all shapes and sizes took flight as one, a frightening black mass against the color–streaked sky. Pakkun rose his head and gazed into nothing for a moment, then seemed to pale. "They're coming."
"How do you know?" Ino demanded, but her question was answered as Sasuke let out a strangled cry and began to shake again, struggling to get to his feet. Sakura held him to the ground as he fought in her grasp and began to take charge, whether they all liked it or not.
"We have to hold him off, at any cost. We cannot let him get to Kohona," she said firmly and loudly, informing everybody of the leadership. Naruto came forward and slipped an arm under Sasuke, the other arm carrying the dark–haired child. "Naruto will take the children and Sasuke, along with Pakkun and Shikamaru. Get Sasuke out of the compound and find Kakashi–sensei straight away."
"W–what about us, Sakura?" Hinata asked with only a slight trace of fear. The white–eyed girl had stepped forward, breath held, stance determined. She knew, and she was ready.
"You and I, Ino and Lee will meet Itachi and his men–"
"THE HELL YOU WON'T!"
While leaving most of his weight in the care of Naruto, there was no questioning his flashing eyes and narrowed gaze. Now his violent shakes were out of anger and not just pain.
"I won't let you do that."
"He won't fight me, Sasuke," Sakura said firmly. "He won't fight a battle he doesn't have to."
The avengers ebony hair was on end as his handsome face was contorted; he sputtered for quite a bit before finally bursting out, "He killed my fucking family! You think he'll spare you?"
"He won't fight a battle he doesn't have to!" she snapped back, turning her back on him; the others tensed, prepared to follow her lead, but Sasuke shoved Naruto away, stumbled and fell while tackling her around the knees and dragging her to the ground. Kicking and struggling, she tried to beat him away, but after a moment she stopped and listened to him. His pale face was pressed into the back of her thighs, and he was still shaking violently.
"Sakura..."
"Sasuke, let go!"
"Don't do this, please."
The fact that he had uttered such a polite word, please, in such a dejected tone towards her nonetheless, made her cease her frantic struggle and look at him.
"I couldn't...he'll.." I couldn't handle losing someone again. Not you. He'll kill you. Raising his head, he glared at her so frighteningly that she turned over as he kept her legs in a vicelike grip. "Don't. Do. It."
"Sasuke, be reasonable, you're in no condition to–"
"REASONABLE? ME? I'M NOT THE ONE GOING ON A FUCKING SUICIDE MISSION! I WON'T LET HIM HURT ANYONE ELSE!"
Sakura shook once, the tremble of someone touched by a higher power, as though someone had dropped ice down her spine, and it had been his heartfelt outburst that had reduced her to silence.
"Got it?" he roared, letting go of her legs and dragging her to him by the shoulders. "Not again."
Although tears threatened to spill, she blinked her jade eyes furiously to stem the flow and her lip began to tremble. Sasuke looked away as though ashamed to see her tears, and gently, like her shaking hands were comprised of the finest glass, took them in his own and stared at them.
"There is no way," he began, in his low, slow, serious yet terribly seductive tone, "–that I would ever, ever forgive myself...if something happened to you."
Sakura gasped; Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, looking at anything but her quickly crumpling face.
And she began to cry.
Despite the many times he had reduced her to tears, it was very different; ripping her hands from his cold grasp, she hugged herself and shrank away. Her sobs were loud and painful, similar to the cries she had once uttered for his seemingly dead body, but the unbearable emotion this time was just too much.
Ino started forward, but roughly took hold of her forearm and stopped her.
Sakura threw her arms around Sasuke's neck and clung to him as if the other choice were coming face to face with Death itself, burying her face in his chest.
Stymied, Sasuke awkwardly put his arms around her; she was fragile and weak, muttering through her sobs and shaking. "Look. I...didn't mean to make you...c–cry," he stammered, internally cursing himself.
"Why do you always act so tough? Why do you act like you're invincible?" Her words were spat at him, accompanied with a tightened hold...her hand gently crept up his neck, and through his underlying haze of pain a pleasurable flush washed over him. Fingers toying with his raven locks, tears continued to rain upon the blood that had crusted and dried on his clothes and skin. Each one fell, individually and chillingly cold and reducing him to shudders as she showed him how distraught, how hurt she was.
Sasuke exhaled slowly.
Forewarning blatantly absent, Sakura jabbed two fingers into the back of his neck and let him crumple against her. Half a second.
He was unconscious, and he hadn't seen it coming.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke," she whispered.
Naruto ran forward and relieved her of the burden, lifting Sasuke's lifeless arm around his neck and hoisting him to somewhat of a standing position as Shikamaru quickly embraced Ino. Leaving him with a chaste touch of the lips, she touched his earring gently.
"You be careful."
The strategist could only bring himself to nod, and turned to walk away, gaze hardening as she let her fingers trail off his arm. Pakkun made an impatient sniffing noise and Naruto walked carefully forward as Shikamaru scooped the children off the ground, all of whom had been silent during the entire incident.
"But Sakura...what do I do when he wakes up?" Naruto asked, surveying his teammate, his friend, his sister with the saddened eyes of a little boy. Jade eyes equally emotional and round, she swept a tear off her cheek and let her expression harden in determination.
"Keep him from coming back as long as you can."
"Be careful, Sakura."
"I will."
"You too, Hinata."
"Y–yes, Naruto."
"And Lee."
"I wouldn't be anything but, Naruto."
Words were exchanged to waste precious seconds and let the sun continue to paint colors across the sky, trying to ignore and delay the inevitability of it all. Crucial, at the very least, was it to establish the care that had been known and acted upon all along, every day through the most insignificant things that in the grand scheme were not so small in comparison, not anymore. Not that day. Wallowing and yet bathed in the simple appreciation that family, that friends, that loyalty illustrated for each and every one of them.
Sakura turned on her heel, glancing one last time at the people she was leaving behind, or rather, sending ahead; after swallowing and looking at the shinobi under her lead, she rose her head to gaze at the darkening sky and it's wavering treetops, up into the desolate canopies of foliage.
Graceful reflexes sent her soaring, the other three following closely, falling into the almost twisted rhythm as they traveled without hesitation toward what could be suicide, hitting each tree limb with the thump of a panicked heartbeat.
As if a man with a ready paintbrush had depicted it, so nearly forty capable and ruthless shinobi gathered in a semi–circle, two rows of twenty staring through the thinnest slits of black material.
Itachi stood majestically among them, weathered black locks dancing eerily like vines as the wind forced them into a dance. Air was thick and tense around his presence, as though it were afraid, as if he were of a higher power than nature itself, while he commanded his subjects in unearthly, abnormal silence. The path they had taken, from which they had come was nothing but a green–less abyss of fallen, burning trees and an opaque haze of smoke that did not completely obscure the convoluting flames that were following their march like devoted animals. Effectively killing, reducing all in it's path to the lowest form of nature; the dirt on which ruthless sandals walked.
"They must be retreating; we haven't encountered a single one of them yet."
Itachi nodded in agreement with his current right–hand man, clad in heavy boots.
"They may want us to push them back into the village," he added, looking to his leader for acknowledgment.
"Hn." A man, a leader of few words and even fewer emotions remained so.
Rustling in the undergrowth attracted the attention of the tensed, ready ranks.
A figure leapt through the thick foliage, somersaulted in the air, and landed perfectly on sandaled feet, delicate features shadowed by the haze and the slowly dimming light of day. Her tall, slim figure adopted a slightly pretentious and feminine pose. Tossing her long ponytail over her shoulder, she stepped forward and rested her weight on a slim hip, smirking, wide azure eyes narrowed with obvious dislike. "Well. Looks like we found you just in time. Conspiring, are we?"
Another figure emerged from the haze and let himself be bathed in the piercing light of dusk, eyes also illustrating dislike. Assuming his customary pose of respect, he did not incline his head, but grinned slightly at Ino and said, "There shall be no more of it."
A third presence made herself aware; pale eyes flashed and reflected the streaked colors as her mouth, a prim flat line, twitched. "We will protect our home, and our friends as well." Hinata glanced at both of her comrades, attempting a smile. It seemed out of place, but what could frowning do at this point?
"And this is as far as you're going to get."
Her voice was a spit as though speaking to the enemy was beneath her and they were unworthy, and a ripple of tensed muscles and shifted weapons traveled through Itachi's ranks. Taken aback, shocked, and most certainly offended.
Giving space, her friends stepped back ever so slightly to let their leader emerge from the haze.
And Sakura Haruno stood tall, proud and determined, soaked in the blood of Sasuke, head held high to gaze at the back of Itachi's head.
"Turn around."
"Don't speak to him–"
"TURN AROUND!" she repeated, ignoring the random outburst of a silly little shinobi who was not even on her radar.
"Who are you?" Itachi asked monotonously, not turning to acknowledge her in any way. His voice was empty air, no inflection, no emotion or otherwise. "Why are you here?"
"My identity is none of your concern," Sakura continued, eyes narrowed. "As for the 'why'...I'm here to protect my village and more importantly–"
She rose a kunai and aimed it at the back of his head; if she had thought of landing that mark, it would have emerged straight between his dark eyes.
"–I'm protecting Sasuke."
She let the weapon fly–
A shinobi broke from the ranks and prepared to block it with one swift arm–
SLAP.
SCHING.
Sakura watched, unflinchingly, as Itachi held the man back effortlessly with one hand, which had let the kunai slit a chunk of hair from his head. The locks tumbled to the ground, over and over themselves like falling autumn leaves. All was left in stunned silence.
Itachi turned but did not look in her eyes, instead gazing far over her head.
"Determination. Fine. Too bad it is for others and not for you."
"Who else would I fight for, if not those that matter to me the most?"
"Is that not obvious?"
"Fighting for yourself is pointless if there is nobody else to enjoy life with."
Itachi did not even begin to contemplate such a ludicrous idea in his dangerous eyes. "He wants to fight me, you know. Why are you ignoring his wishes?"
"He will fight you, one day. He will endure, he will wait, but when the time comes, he will win."
She took a step forward, tensed: Lee and Ino assumed offensive poses, eyes sweeping the line of shinobi, sizing them up.
Hinata placed her hands together, concentrating for a moment to call upon–
"Byakugan!"
Sakura turned to stare at the eldest Uchiha once more.
His voice was still air. "I did not come for you."
"I didn't come for you, either, but I know what you want," she countered, nimbly sliding a shuriken between each of her fingers and holding them in front of her. "So you want him? You go through me."
Itachi's eyes narrowed so slightly that Sakura was not sure if they really had, if he had actually divulged some little emotion. "I have heard those words many many times. I have heard them from the mouths of much more capable beings than you. Excuse me if I cannot take you seriously." His sentences flowed, yet did not, for there was no inflection to indicate a beginning or end. It was as if he were reading a script that did not originate from a 'once upon a time' and there was not a 'happily ever after' anywhere in sight.
"I'm not here to kill you," she hissed. "I don't have to fight, as long as you turn on your heel and you walk away and leave the rest of my village alone." She smirked. "But I can't say the same for the rest of them," she added, nodding her head toward the immobile group of shinobi who were waiting for a signal.
"So you have come here to talk and not fight to back up your words. Foolish."
"What I have to say is important! I wanted to be the first one to come here and spit at your feet and tell you how much of a damn coward you are!"
Even her own teammates were shocked at her harsh, brusque words.
"That's right! So cowardly that you can't look anyone in the face! You disguise everything you are by putting up a front, to instill guilt in everyone's hearts and make them question themselves!"
Itachi was silent, impassive, and strangely indifferent.
"And you know it...you know it's true," she whispered, fingers tightening around her weapons.
"Foolish," he repeated with the personality of a statue. "Guilt. Emotion. What heart? These things do not exist to me and have not for a very long time."
"Liar!" The normally sweet kunoichi's voice was like the whip of a leather belt across bare skin, full of loathing and hatred. "You have remorse! You suffer from guilt!"
"No I don't." Still no inflection, no expected pause as in normal human speech. "I do not feel these things and I will not feel them even if I kill you."
Sakura let out a sadistic laugh that caused even Ino to look at her warily. "Like you would even try."
Itachi let out a strange sound that Sakura could only assume was an irked sigh, as if she were barely worth his time. "Do I have to force you to step aside?"
Sakura slowly fell into a defensive position but stepped forward; her teammates tensed behind her, ready with their own specialities and everything they had to throw. She surveyed the shinobi behind the eldest Uchiha.
"I'll take the right," Ino offered, smiling.
"Left," Hinata said, without a single stutter.
"I'll be everywhere," Lee said determinedly, tensing.
Sakura raised her head to the sky and gazed through the haze; it seemed to make the colors of the setting sun grow even brighter, as an overcast sky is often brighter than the actual sunlight. She took a deep breath, inhaled, exhaled, then smiled in a very final, submissive way. But she was not submitting to Itachi's will or the inevitable, only to herself. She wanted this clash. She wanted to prove. Protect. And damn it, she would.
Somewhere far, far away, a tiny bird composed a song of lilting chirps and set the dramatic scene.
Speed:
The many shinobi had reacted in less than half a second; Sakura had led them, and they branched off to attack each angle to prevent a single ninja from breaking through their defense. Speed was the name of this violent game. A second too late was a fatal mistake, which could leave you incapacitated, wounded, bloodied, bruised, dead. This was no fight, not like a war where thousands fell by the minute. Each shinobi was it's own dangerous weapon, immovable and the battle was forced to continue, you were forced to endure as to form a counterattack. Fighting dishonorably and dirty, despite the fact it was wrong.
Sakura kept her eye on Itachi. He had not moved and she knew better than to not expect a surprise, whether a kick from nowhere or a vicious attack on her mental defenses from his accomplished genjutsu. But she ran straight at him, weapons drawn, and in reality...
She didn't know what to do.
And suddenly she was in front of him, angry fist coursing with chakra, shuriken still in her fingers, time seeming to slow down, mockingly–
What the hell are you doing?
She could imagine Kakashi–sensei's face if she was attacking like this, out of emotion and without a clear thought. Straight on, without some sort of plan. Naruto's disbelief and annoying nagging echoed like a gong in her skull, clashing with Kakashi's calm lecture.
But staring at his impassive, pale, emotionless face and watch him watch her without blinking an eye, tensing a muscle, moving at all, enraged and puzzled her. He was standing, watching her come closer and closer without defending the fatal impact she was sure to inflict upon him–
With a strangled cry she planted her heels in the dirt and jerked awkwardly back, directing her fist away from his unmoving face–
He still did not do a thing.
She had thrown so much strength into the punch. She wrapped her hand around her arm to pull it away from his face, and, realizing there was no way to stop the insanely high chakra flow from her hands, slammed her own fist into the ground, falling to her knees at his side.
An earthquake shook the ground, the people and trees and things upon it ruthlessly, as if flinging a plate full of food across a room. Crevasses formed and widened, dragging trees into the dark, deep abysses as if swallowed completely. The dirt and rock crumbled beneath her feet, and as she looked to her side, Itachi was gone.
Ripping her fist from the dirt, she yanked it back and struggled to her feet–
But he was too quick for her–
A cry, a yelp like a frightened puppy was all that she still had the air for; his arm tightened considerably and she struggled to remain calm as her face quickly bypassed red and darkened.
"Do not think that I do not know you. You look like your mother." His voice was still emotionless, but as his sadistic nature showed he lowered his lips to her ear, his revolting touch sending her head reeling. This man was a murderer.
Unwisely, she jerked her head away and struggled to reach her weapons pouch, but he ripped it from her waist and tossed it away; even his slight touch made her body shudder violently, and he seemed to keep her close to him, dealing with her kicks and spits and elbows effortlessly.
He commanded her in a voice that he obviously thought sounded friendly. "Stop."
"HEARTLESS BASTARD!"
"Yes I remember." He smirked, and her breath was stolen in the shortest millisecond.
No. His smirk...god no, he looks just like...
Sasuke.
His grip tightened and she let out a wretched choke–
"Yes I remember," he repeated flatly. "You have a pretty face–"
"Let...me..." Her voice cracked.
"A pretty face...just–like–her."
No muscled tensed, no warning came, no effort required. Echo, reverberate.
And Sakura's neck went
SNAP.