title: breathe slow
pairing: eventual SasuSaku.
dedication: To playing MASH and rock, paper, scissors on the 'net. And to The Scarlett Ribbon for an exceptionally long and detailed review that had me sobbing in happiness. As well as to the anon reviewer who... Wow, made me blush really hard.
notes: We're not so close to the end, per se, but we're making our way towards it and she is beautiful. So, I don't want to reach fifty chapters (something tells me I will, tho'). So I'm making the chapters a tad longer, but short enough to still be... whassit... enticing. Or something like that. Yes.
On another important note: Plagiarizers are shit; lower than scum, lower than trash and lower than shit. Please don't plagiarize. You lose all the respect from people, when you do. My wife's been plagiarized. And if you read my stuff religiously, you'd know who my wife is. She's been plagiarized and its not right. Get some tits, create your own shit. Pointblank.
x
breatheslow
"So I was thinking," Ino said, airily as she landed in a crouch in front of Sasuke.
Sasuke looked up at her, a thin sheet of sweat making his skin glisten under the sun. It's been around four days since his team, and Naruto's team, arrived to both help the east camp and to Sakura's rescue. With so many trees of the fallen Zetsus surrounding where the camp was, it'd taken quite a while to fix it back up.
Trees had to be chopped off so that every corner of the camp could be visible to the general in his tent. Sasuke's team and Naruto's team had only been granted to stay long enough to help clean the mess up before they were to go back to their own camp.
"How impressive," Sasuke commented, dryly.
Ino stared at him, blankly, before rolling her eyes. "Anyway. I was thinking that... Revenge is a very powerful thing. Very... sticky; very tempting. Seductive."
Sasuke stared at her.
How would she know what revenge felt like? What the need for it felt like? How did she know that once it was in your head, it refused to leave until you abide to it?
"What would you know about that," he asked, trying to keep the bite out of his words. Ino was his... friend, now. She was the only person he actually felt comfortable around. Someone he hadn't tried to kill more than once and someone who - and he didn't really like this part - kept him in line.
Ino hummed as she fingered the tent Sasuke was fixing. "When Asuma-sensei was killed..."
Sasuke paused what he was doing and turned to stare at her, from under his forelocks. She was breathing harder than would be normal breathing, and her eyes were downcast; Sasuke wondered if that's how he looked, when he was younger and thought about those that were taken from him.
"When Asuma-sensei was killed," she tried again, "...Was one of the worst days of my life. Revenge was so close to consuming me; I actually think it did consume me - us. It consumed the three of us. And we were prepared to leave the village in search for that revenge, just like you did. We did leave, actually. And... Revenge was such a sweet, sweet thing when we fulfilled it."
"Asuma was... killed," Sasuke asked, brow furrowed.
Ino nodded. "By Akatsuki."
Sasuke flinched.
They went quiet.
"But anyway," Ino said in a lighter tone. "Just thought I'd say that, y'know?"
"Get away from me," Sasuke said, monotonous.
Ino laughed.
Sasuke shook his head and resumed his work. From somewhere behind him, he could hear Kiba and Naruto bickering in their loud voices. It made Sasuke twitch, much like it had done in their Academy days and their genin days. He turned to glare at them from over his shoulder, watching as Sai and Shikamaru stood by, little ways, staring with exasperated looks.
And then Sakura stomped towards them, smashing their heads together and hissing something Sasuke couldn't hear.
Shaking his head, he looked away.
"Can I ask something," he started off with much difficulty.
Ino looked up, caught up in helping putting the tent up. "Yeah?"
Sasuke opened his mouth. And then shut it with a snap.
He knew what he wanted to ask; he knew what he was asking for help. It's just that Sasuke couldn't bring himself to say it aloud. He couldn't get himself to let Ino know he was vulnerable and confused and in need of help. It was stupid to even think about.
Shaking his head he went back to work on the tent. "Forget it."
And he knew Ino's eyes were on his, contemplative, curious and - he'd be damned - knowing.
"Can I ask something," she drawled, standing up once the tent was perfectly stable.
"No."
She glared at him, lightly, lips fighting to turn upwards.
"I... Okay, I'm not stupid," she began, "I know it'd generally take time and be hard; what with this being you. But... I'd thought you'd make up with at least Naruto by now. What's wrong?"
Sasuke picked his shirt and his flak jacket up from the ground.
He didn't know.
Naruto's presence annoyed him; sure, it was the same annoyance Sasuke's always held for the idiot; the same annoyance he'd get when they were twelve. But, at the same time, much like everything else, it was kind of difficult to get things to be how they used to be.
If anything, a need for a talk, was evident.
But he and Naruto were never the kind to talk.
"Dunno," he finally drawled, turning back - on reflexes - to the same spot where the others had been, just to see them dispersing around the camp, and helping as much as they could.
"Did you apologize?"
Sasuke was affronted.
"Why would I apologize."
Ino stared at him, incredulous.
"I think all three of you need to get over the angst and just apologize and make up," she said, straightforward. She placed her hands on her hips, something like a smirk on her lips as she bent forwards, a bit, saying, "'Case you haven't noticed, Sasuke, you've changed quite a bit in the last few weeks; I mean, look, you're not even going all ballistic on me."
Sasuke stared at her as she made a move to leave.
"What's your point," he asked her back.
Ino paused and spared him a glance from over her shoulder, contemplative, again. "There's hope, duh."
"Oi, Uchiha." That was the general who's name Sasuke didn't have any care for.
Sasuke turned to him, face blank from the pensive look he'd been wearing a second ago. He stared down at the two figures on the ground before looking back up to him.
"Take these to the medic."
For someone who was in dire need for her service, the general didn't even seem to find it fit to use her name. But it's not like Sasuke was one to talk, so he said nothing.
This was like a strong dose of déjà vu, he decided, as he bent forwards and slung a man over either of his shoulders. They were both rather heavy, but he'd live. It seemed, he mused, as he began to walk towards the new medic tent, that this was always and the only way Sasuke ever had to face Sakura.
He dropped the bodies on two empty makeshift beds, closest to Sakura's examining station.
She had her head drooped, over someone, short, messy and choppy pink hair curtaining her from everything else. Sasuke stuffed his hands in his nin-pockets and cleared his throat.
Sakura looked up at him, immediately, green eyes dark from her concentration. "Wha—Oh...Sasuke..."
"Brought two more," he said, curtly, and jabbing either of his thumbs to the men he'd brought in. She still looked rather tired, he noticed. Bags under her eyes that were more pronounced than even his stood out against her pale skin. Had she even eaten?
"Oh," she said again, "Um... Yes. Thank you."
Sasuke nodded and turned around, walking out of the tent and running into, quite literally, Naruto, who had two other shinobis over either of his shoulders.
"Gah!" Naruto fought for balance. "Watch it, Sasuke-teme, god!"
Sasuke stared at him blankly for a second, not moving out of the way.
Naruto stared right back at him.
"You," Sasuke began, pointing back at Sakura, "should keep an eye on her. She looks dead."
Naruto's eyes darted to Sakura's hunched figure, glowing from the green glow of her hands. He looked back at Sasuke, a weird look on his face that Sasuke couldn't pinpoint. "Why don't you?"
"Don't be stupid," Sasuke scoffed.
"Look, Sasuke—"
"Just do it."
And Sasuke left.