Hellooooo!
How are you feeling? Good I hope…
Thank you:
Aen Silver Fire
Hmm, even though I promised a storm, I miscalculated the words and had to split this chapter in two smaller ones…
Chapter 25: Bloom a dream in the darkness.
When Sakura woke up the first thing she noticed was that it was overly bright. Tiredly she rubbed her jaded eyes, trying to rid herself of the excess sleep. She snuggled her pillow, deciding the outside world was not important enough for her to leave the comfort of her warm blankets.
Sleep-induced ignorance, the finely woven veil that obscured her thoughts. It was nice, so she stayed like that; ignoring her intrusive vision, searching for decorative flowers in a world so different from her own.
Slowly the darkness covering her conscious mind began to recede much to her displeasure and with that the memories came flooding in. It took about a millisecond for her to bolt up, eyes flashing from right to left in an attempt to take in her surroundings.
She wasn't where she was expecting to be –she clearly remembered falling asleep on the couch. That aside, she felt no one else in her apartment. She sighed as the pieces clicked together, forming the answer in bright neon colors; Sasuke.
She got out of bed, thankful to see she was still wearing her clothes from yesterday… she didn't think she could handle anything else.
The idea of a hot shower was most tantalizing and soon she was naked under the cleansing stream of warm water. She felt her muscles relax as her anxiety was washed away and her troubles were silenced by the pure sound.
Feeling soft and light she groaned in delight and raised her head towards heaven, letting the water curve countless paths across her skin. Liberating with spiritual intensity.
All too soon, she had to get out. She missed it as she wrapped a towel around her body and hair. What followed next was a routine she had repeated too many times to count.
She decided on civilian clothes for today since there was no way she was receiving a mission, sadly… Staring blankly at her closet wasn't of much help, so she shrugged and grabbed the clothes she and Ino had bought the previous day.
'Ugh… I feel terrible!'The almost whispered voice made her jerk in surprise.
"Saya!" She said out loud, unable to conceal her joy and relief.
'What?! Don't shout!' She could feel her previous self's annoyance, but she ignored it.
'What happened to you?'
'Hm? Oh… It took too much energy to come out like that… I had to rest a bit.' She took a deep breath. 'So what happened while I was out?'
Sakura inhaled softly as she concentrated and allowed memories to flood her mind, knowing the other woman could see them.
'So we are good… I expected it to be more difficult to convince him, you did a fine job!' The red-head gave a mental thumbs up.
'He wants to take on Arai…' She said bitterly.
'It is something that has to be done.' Emerald eyes shut. 'It's inevitable.'
'So what can we do? Arai is already dead!'
'She is dead, but not immortal.' Sakura rubbed her temples, feeling another headache approaching.
'It's too early for riddles… please explain…' She whined tiredly.
'Firstly, it's already past noon and secondly, I was getting to that…'
'She is dead, which means she cannot be killed by a mortal's hands… But she is not something eternal; there is a key to ending whatever she has become.'
'And that is?' She couldn't help but be impatient.
'To end something that is beyond your existence you have to exceed your own limits.'
'What you are saying is-'
'That you have to regain all of your past memories and abilities…' She finished and allowed the woman in front of her time to absorb and process the information.
'And how do I do that'The pinkette asked after pondering over it for a moment.
'The key to the past is my bond with Shin… If you and Sasuke are close, I can trigger a flashback.'
'Meaning-' She cringed a little at the thought that licked the back of her thoughts.
'It's just sleeping next to each other, Sakura…you can handle it-'
'Handle it? How can I tell him we have to sleep together?' She shouted inside her head at the mental image of a certain red-head.
'He was the one to ask for a solution, I don't think he'll disagree… and it's only sleeping on the same room, you've done that on missions before!'
'A mission is a mission-'
'Then you can see this as a mission?' She huffed finishing with putting on her clothes.
'I guess there is no other choice, is there?' She stressed.
'I-I'm afraid not..' The other woman spoke softly and Sakura somehow felt her heart constrict. Pushing it to a far away corner of her mind, she sighed.
'Let's get some breakfast first…' She needed some time to herself, Sasuke could wait.
!
His day went by so slowly it was almost painful. Even the 'spar' with a certain loud-mouthed best friend of his wasn't enough to splash some color in this gray reality all around him. He rubbed the back of his neck before securing the bandage around a particularly deep gash in his left forearm.
If Sakura saw what they did to each other, both he and Konoha's orange hero would have to add a nasty bruise to the sum of their injuries…
He cringed, knowing no one was there to see, that girl could punch! He could still remember the first time he got to experience the joy of having quite a few of his bones broken by a hand that was, easily, half the size of his...
It was when he and Naruto had almost killed each other after just recovering from the damage they'd sustained during the final battle with Madara. Of course the one who healed them wasn't exactly ecstatic they wasted her hard work. So after healing them again and promptly giving them a piece of her mind, she'd punched the blond through a row of trees.
Sasuke actually smirked at the familiar image, feeling smug inside his safe bubble of superiority. Sakura's sweet smile was nostalgic and his smirk widened as he turned to inspect the whining blond. That, as he later realized was his fatal mistake.
Forget about the world being knocked off its axis, it felt as if everything around him exploded a disgusting red and black. It took an awful lot of time for him to realize in, exactly, how much pain he was in; his chest felt like it had been blown apart and his head pulsed with liquid anguish.
He blinked in an attempt to clear the fog that had fallen over his vision and breathed in deeply to calm his protesting stomach.
Three broken ribs, a concussion and a bruise twice the size of his palm in his stomach…
He suspected the catalogue of his injuries was longer than just that, but a fresh concussion wasn't exactly helpful…
He shook his head clearing away the memories as his hand landed on his stomach, although she'd healed him immediately and quite efficiently if he concentrated enough, he could still feel the pain linger amongst the newly formed cells.
!
With thoughts like that swimming inside his head he slowly made his way to his house to rest for a couple of hours, it was already afternoon.
When he reached his apartment he was surprised to spot a mop of signature pink hair in front of the entrance. He stopped to inspect her; she was dressed in civilian clothes which was not all that surprising.
'The colors suit her' a pinch of a tiny needle at the back of his brain, but he refused to acknowledge it. Instead his eyes fell to her face; her equally pink eyebrows were drawn together as she bit her fingernail in what was obviously distress mixed with nervousness.
She was in her own little world again, he noticed and shook his head. She was a shinobi and that kind of thing was dangerous. Granted this was Konoha, but with all that happened lately, he would expect her to be more careful.
Annoyed with her carelessness, he masked his chakra and proceeded silently. He crept up behind his unsuspecting prey, a feline drunk in the thrill of hunt. He paused for a mere moment considering his next action.
Slightly dipping his nose in the mass of pink tresses he sent a puff of warm air cascading down her neck. Then, immediately locked her arms behind her back.
He felt her eyes widen as her body went rigid for a miniscule amount of time. Instincts kicking in she tried to step on his toes and he stepped back, releasing her.
"If I was an enemy you'd be dead by now, pay more attention to your surroundings." He said as he pushed his hands inside his pockets.
She pushed the blush of mortification down, refusing to satisfy his ego. He relished it anyway, the slightly disoriented look on her face, so he smirked. She sent him one of her fiery glares.
"So, what do you want?" He asked deciding to spare her of any of his comments. Her eyes went wide and she seemed to sober up immediately. The remnants of the smirk on his face disappeared as the same far-away look twisted her features.
"Ummm… Saya…" This was all she needed to say for him to understand.
"Let's go in." He motioned to his apartment and he moved without looking at her, knowing she would follow.
They went inside his apartment and she settled on the couch, stilling her arms and legs so as not to move. He sat opposite of her with his hands coming to entwine in front of his mouth and raised an elegant eyebrow in question.
She took a deep breath and cleared her mind, pushing all doubts in a faraway place.
"What she told me was…" She took another deep breath, for it seemed the previous one had run out. "in order for us to be able to fight equally with Arai, we'll have to gain back our past memories."
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly and it was more than clear he was not pleased.
"So what do we do?" She realized she'd fallen silent when his voice reached her ears and shook her out of her trace.
"Um…" She started. "If we sleep close to each other she said she can initiate a 'dream'." She said it too fast, but he caught it anyway.
"We have to do what?" He stared at her as if trying to decide whether she had finally lost her mind, or she was downright insane. She fidgeted..
"W-Well... there is really no other way..." She said looking at anything but him. Sighing he rubbed his temples and shut his eyes in contemplation.
"You've got to be kidding me…" He mumbled, more to himself, but it had already been decided. It was he who asked for a solution, so it would be him who would accept it. He was a grown man.
"We'll do it tonight, come over at sunset." He spoke after what felt like an eternity to the woman in front of him. He turned around and because of that, he missed the blush that became apparent on her cheeks.
She nodded before realizing he wasn't looking at her.
"Okay…" She whispered and left, her steps light, unsteady and fast as liquid nausea filled her chest to the brim.
A thought nagged at the back of her mind, but she didn't acknowledge its existence, so the small thought disappeared leaving her inside her precious quietness.
The rest of the day went by in a blur of sloppily mixed colors. Mechanically, she talked with those who greeted her in the street, automatically, she smiled when she had to, for her heart was in a place faraway.
A bad feeling, a haunting premonition, even the beating of her heart was something ominous.
She tried to ignore it, but even if the thoughts were silenced, the feeling stayed.
If it was a color, it would be pitch black… if it was a song, it would be a cacophony of pained screams… and if it had a face, it would be her own… If she had to describe it, those words would fit…
Fear… maybe that is what it was…
For the second time she was in front of the door of his house, just in time, as the sun gave the first, passionate kiss to the horizon and the sky blushed at the intimacy.
She didn't knock, he was aware of her presence…
When he opened the door, she only greeted him with a nod of her head and so did he…
Absentminded, she took of her shoes while he made sure no one was watching.
Sakura had picked up something for the both of them to eat on her way there, so they ate… submerged in an unquestionable, deafening silence…
Her fists became tight balls, ready to strike the unknown enemy, even without her consent. The anxiousness was everywhere, in the raised hair at the back of her neck, in the tight muscles all over her body… hiding at the darkest part of her shadow.
Que sera sera…
The spell was broken by a low voice and for that, she was thankful.
"You can get ready at the first door to your left." He pointed at somewhere behind her as she regarded him with wide, innocent eyes. It took a while for her to manage to stand on her uncooperative twin legs.
She took the bag that was patiently resting next to her and went to change to her choice of nightclothes; long woolen pants and a plain, long-sleeved, red shirt.
When she emerged, he was already waiting for her. With a look that spelled 'follow me' loud and clear, he moved up the stairs.
He led her to a room with two futons, already waiting for them, laid close enough, but not nearly touching.
She froze for a moment, but he did not, he walked across the room and laid down in one of them, his eyes closed as soon as his head hit the pillow. She frowned and mimicked his actions.
Silence…
She gulped as her body refused to be consumed by sleep… She turned to her side, her back facing him and opened her eyes. She studied the strands of hair that obstructed her vision as if they were the most interesting sight in the world.
After a few minutes she sighed… there was no way she could fall asleep!
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes… she hummed a sweet, calming song inside her head as she forced her breathing to even.
After some time –she had no way of knowing how long- her eyes snapped open.
"This is just annoying!" She whispered harshly.
"Hn." She jumped slightly inside her skin, she had forgotten about him.
"Sorry…" She whispered. "You can't sleep either?" She asked even though the answer was clear.
"Hn." She didn't know what made her, but she turned to face him… only to find him already looking at her.
"What do you think we'll see?" For a moment, he looked torn, probably between answering her and commanding her to sleep.
"I don't know…" He only answered because he couldn't sleep.
There was nothing else she could say, her mind had gone blank. She bit her lip.
"Isn't there any way to knock us out?" He said and she realized he wasn't talking to her.
'There is, but it is not pleasant… would you like me to?' She opened her mouth and uttered the same words that were spoken inside her mind. He looked at her now and she nodded, giving him permission.
"Do it." He said simply, never hiding his eyes from her.
Sakura felt it blooming inside her chest, a vacant feeling that spread over her like wild fire.
She watched his eyes widen and only then did she realize what she was feeling was showing on her face.
But it was too late, she was drifting and the more she tried to fight it, the stronger it got… like the force of gravity, it consumed her being and she, cradling what was left of her consciousness protectively inside her fisted fingers, reached forward with a trembling arm.
Whatever little taste of strength was left inside her, faded as her eyes closed and her fingers hit the wooden floor. She was falling, gone from this world before she had the chance to feel his fingers grasping her own.
"Forgive me... for the pain you have to shoulder... for what I couldn't accomplish..." A pale, slender hand... colder than what a human could perceive raised to stroke soft strands. A touch but not a touch, a ghost of ethereal warm...
"This is maybe the last time I will be able to talk to you like that..." Said a lone, melancholic voice. "Take care..."
When she was able to perceive what her eyes were seeing, the first image that got painted in her emerald orbs was that of Sasuke. He was holding her hand and leaning protectively over her.
"S-Sasuke-kun?" She tried to say, but her mouth didn't respond and so her words were never heard. Instead, he kissed her knuckles.
She followed his eyes and gave a small inward scream… She was completely naked! The thin sheet that covered most of her body only went up to her waist. She tried desperately to move her arms, to cover herself, to hide from his eyes… It was futile, her arms wouldn't listen to her, the muscles didn't even twitch.
After the initial shock passed, she realized where she actually was and it relieved her momentarily, to know that this was not real… all sense of security flew out of the window when she remembered Sasuke was probably watching the same scene…
And from a really interesting angle…
'Damn Saya! Couldn't you land us after this? Shannaro!' She screamed inside her head, but received no answer, her other self was nowhere to be found.
"Are you ready?" He whispered as he buried his nose in her hair and she was stunned.
"Yes…" She whispered back, a voice identical to her own one.
"Then we'll leave tonight…" He said and kissed her forehead, softly as if he was afraid she would break if he used too much force. Looking into his eyes she idly wandered if this was truly Sasuke's past self…. On the outside, they looked identical, but the warmth in his dark eyes as he bent down to kiss her was something she was not used to, something amazing.
Suddenly the scene playing in front of her eyes changed and she was thankful, for she could still feel his lips on her… they were scorching…
Her hands came up to stroke the almost invisible bump, Sakura knew Saya was pregnant… somehow… it was something she knew. She giggled lightly as the woman hummed. She eyed the black cloak that fell over her figure and frowned, he said they were leaving…
She concentrated; if Saya could read her memories then the opposite should be possible too…
She shivered as the images flashed in front of her eyes and took them all in, reading the meaning behind each and every one.
The knock on the wooden door shattered her concentration. Her body hesitantly moved towards the source of the sound.
The one who greeted her was who she expected, clad in a similar black cloak that covered everything but the lower half of his face. He closed the door behind him and gave her a brief kiss on the cheek.
"Are you ready?" He asked and she nodded. He smirked and grabbed the backpack she had prepared for them.
After securing it around his waist and over his shoulders he turned to her and trapped her face between his warm palms.
"Are you ready?" She nodded again for it seemed her voice had left her.
His hands fell on her belly and he grinned, a glowing, twinkling grin that shed light to every corner of her world. Sakura stood there, breathless, desperately trying to engrave that smile into her memory.
"Is my son ready?" She snorted.
"I told you, she is a girl!"
"You have no way of knowing…"
"A mother's instinct is never wrong!"
He hugged her then, burying his nose into her long red hair, a sweet hug with a tint of desperation.
"You two are my life." He said and he meant it, it was said with every fiber of his being.
"I love you." She said and tears burned behind her closed lids. He kissed away the single tear that escaped its confines.
"We have to leave, he can't buy us much time." He murmured and she pulled away from him.
When the door closed behind her, the hood was already over her head, concealing the fiery determination that glowed in those twin pools of liquid emerald.
They moved swiftly, two shadows amongst shadows. The borders were not that far from her house, they reached the appointed spot probably within ten minutes. He held her hand as they watched the guard, running his thumb over the soft skin.
A small eternity later and they finally heard the booming voice of a certain someone. Sakura smiled a bit, the familiar yelling left her with a lingering sense of security.
Unknown to her Sasuke smirked, feeling the weight on his shoulders lessen. The blond idiot had that effect on people…
Once the old guard left, they were on the move again. He had taken the same path many times before, ever since he was a kid, when he needed to get away from everyone and everything.
Behind the great tree, the oldest of the few that actually grew in this type of biome, hidden in plain sight was the entrance to an old tunnel that led outside the walls.
He looked up to meet the faithful blue eyes of his best friend; even dressed in the gloomy, heavy armor he still managed to look childish. He gave a wave and a respectful nod of the head.
The 'thank you' was carried by the silence and was reflecting in the young man's warm smile.
He went in first and then helped Saya.
She couldn't help but make a face, the walls were wet and slippery, the ground muddy retreating ever so slightly with every step she took. The spider webs glimmered in the paltry light…
"We are out!" Even as a whisper the words held an excitement she couldn't conceal, he agreed silently.
Freedom was within their reaching arms…
SOOOOO…. Originaly this chapter was to be the end of Shin and Saya's story… things didn't go exactly as planned… ^.^' you'll have to wait one more chapter for the conclusion of their little story…
Until next time…