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Chapter 17 - Fate
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It's blurry and green and brown everywhere; it's blurry and green and brown, and her lungs burn. Sakura feels herself fall on her knees and brings a hand to her heart. The beating is hectic, reverberates through her entire body. What is going on? Is she dying?
A loud gasp resounds, and she realizes she wasn't breathing. But once air engulfs her lungs, her confused brain registers voices in the vicinity, one so close to her face she can feel the other person's breath moving away strands of her hair.
"Sakura-chan?"
She jerks her head up upon recognizing her name through all the nonsense, and two cerulean eyes filled with concern meet her gaze.
"Sakura-chan, do you hear me?"
She feels something squeeze her shoulder and glances to see the source of the touch. That's when she realizes Naruto's hands are the only thing keeping her from collapsing on the ground.
"What's wrong with Pinky?"
She stiffens at the new, familiar voice.
"Don't call her that."
"I'll call her anything I want, 'cause she's mine, Uchiha."
Naruto's touch leaves her, but she realizes she doesn't need it anymore. She gets up, a hand to her throbbing head.
"Teme! Wait! We need a plan first!"
She notices her two teammates struggling against each other, but soon, her gaze drifts to the cause of their turmoils. A dark-haired teenager of around sixteen is standing on the side, accompanied by another guy wrapped in bandages.
"Get off!" Sasuke almost frees himself from Naruto's clutch, but the blond pulls him back by the collar, cursing through gritted teeth. "Since when do you care about plans, anyway? Do you even know what he did to her?"
Naruto's face scrunches into a pensive frown, and Sakura can see his hold on Sasuke loosen, so she joins them, placing a hand on each boy's arm.
"Stop it, guys. Doesn't matter what he did. We need to plan first." Then, she notices a Hyūga of around their age leaning against a tree, panting. "Are you Neji?"
The boy nods. "I need to stop the Suna guy. He's planning something. But they won't let me pass. And I've already wasted too much chakra against the puppet guy."
"How do you know he's planning something," Sasuke asks, regaining some composure?
"That's what the Nara boy told me. And when a Nara says something, it is usually true."
"So, what's it going to be, children," Dosu, the bandaged guy, interrupts, stepping forward? "Are you defying us? Or hiding under your mothers' skirts?"
"You fight them," Neji says, straightening himself. "I'll stop the others."
He takes a big inhale, preparing to jump, but Sakura stops him after assessing his condition.
"No." Neji casts her an annoyed glance. "Sasuke-kun and Naruto should go after the strongest opponent. You look beaten."
"Doesn't mean I'm not stronger."
His disdain for her team is apparent, just like his oversized ego, Sakura notices, annoyed. "If you're that strong, then you'll be able to catch up with them in no time."
He frowns but doesn't move, so Sakura turns to her team. "You go, guys. This is my fight." Sasuke only crosses his arms, and Naruto opens his mouth, ready to interject, so she cuts him short. "I need to do this. It's selfish, I know, but let me do it. I've never done anything for myself." She takes their hands. "Guys, please. I really need to do this."
Naruto nods reluctantly after glancing at the two older opponents. Sasuke, however, only takes a step forward. "How can I know it's really you?"
Sakura tilts her head to the side upon hearing his whispered words. "What do you mean, Sasuke-kun? You always know when it's me."
His searching eyes travel up and down her face, then meet her stare. "Your eyes," he says, frowning. "They are not as light as before, yet not as dark as Hana's."
Sakura's heart skips a beat at that new piece of information. She stares harder into Sasuke's dark orbs, wishing to get a glimpse of her own reflection through them.
"Oi! Enough. Step away from my girl, Uchiha."
Sakura snaps out of her daze when Sasuke turns around. "Careful," she hears him whisper. She nods when she meets Naruto's questioning glance, and it is all it takes for the blond to summon a bunch of clones that charge at their opponents.
She retreats to Neji's side, her eyes following Zaku's and Dosu's movements. When Sasuke jumps above the fray, chased by his blond teammate, Sakura sends flying a volley of shurikens towards the older guys to divert their attention from her boys.
She gulps when it works, and she meets Zaku's impatient glare. Her heartbeat increases as memories of their last fight resurface. And for a second, she regrets her decision, feels vulnerable and in desperate need of help from the two boys who left her behind.
"Stay back and don't get in the way. I'll take care of them."
Neji's order snaps her out of her thoughts. "What? No! You take the weirdo; I have unfinished business with the other."
Zaku throws his head back as he barks a laugh. "That we do."
Sakura takes a step forward with narrowed eyes, but Neji blocks her path by outstretching an arm. "I don't care. I won't save you when you need me. Your life is of little value in this situation."
"I won't need your help, anyway," she spats, annoyed. "Stop assuming I'm weak."
He sends her a look full of disdain. "I'm not assuming anything. I know you are, civilian."
Her eyes widen, but before she can fire back, Neji lunges at the bandaged guy. Sakura has half a mind to let him discover the deadly weapon by himself. After glaring at the Hyūga's back for a second, she calls him.
"Careful. Even if the metal arm doesn't touch you, the sound waves coming out of it will incapacitate you."
When the boy doesn't acknowledge her, she shrugs and turns to her own opponent. Upon seeing Neji charging at his teammate, Zaku had taken a few steps closer to the pink-haired girl. Sakura notices this with a growing frown.
"Last time, I was exhausted, almost out of chakra, and it was three against one. You don't have the upper hand today. I won't let you touch me."
He snorts. "You're not a guy. I will always have the upper hand against you, Pinky."
Her blood boiling, Sakura retrieves her kunai and squares her shoulders. She will prove to them just how wrong they are to think so little of her. When Zaku's lips stretch into a smirk, she lunges forward, ready to strike and wipe that smug look off his face.
Before she reaches him, a sudden movement of his arms attracts her attention. She could duck, but it would force her to retreat or disturb Neji's fight. Then, Zaku unfolds his fingers, and her eyes land on the hole in the middle of his palms in panic. She still hasn't settled on what to do. And now, it is too late. She takes a big inhale and braces herself for the powerful gust of wind, an extensive amount of chakra flowing to her feet.
When it hits her, her feet slide back, so she has to readjust the grip of her chakra to the ground. Then, with her eyes closed, she waits for the jutsu to end. She has difficulty breathing, and it startled her when a piece of wood hits her face, probably propelled by the strong wind.
"Dammit!"
The wind stops, and Sakura hurries to open her eyes. With pride, she smirks for the first time in her entire life. "Now, my turn."
With the amount of chakra already to her feet, Sakura propels herself onward at a speed that could almost rival Sasuke's. She tightens her hold on her kunai when she sees Zaku taking out a weapon of his own and jumps before he can stab her. She sends a high kick that he blocks, then tries to hit him with her blade, but the sound of clashing metal meets her ears when his kunai stops hers.
He laughs when she tries to free her ankles from his clutch, so she puts more pressure on her weapon with growing anger. She stops a few inches away from his face, their noses almost brushing. "Keep on underestimating me, asshole."
He only smiles at her, his fingers tightening around her leg, but instead of wincing in pain, Sakura copies his expression while her fist turns a glowing green. When she punches Zaku in the stomach, it takes a second before she releases her stored chakra, and during this second, she witnesses the shifts in the man's facial expression with a growing smile. His eyebrows rise, his eyes widen, then it all contracts as he folds in two with a wince. The first shock over, she sends him flying backward several feet away, where he lands in a tree. The bark splits upon impact, then silence falls on the clearing. She glances around and meets Neji's and Dosu's stares. The Hyūga has his Byakugan riveted to her fist, and his eyebrows are scrunched into a pensive frown.
Sakura swirls around when she hears Zaku cough, and after assessing his condition, her eyes lock on his glare.
"You are getting annoying, girl."
He stretches his arms, palms facing her, so she brings chakra to her feet again. After a big inhale, she closes her eyes, preparing for the gust of wind she knows is coming. However, instead of the blast, a high-pitched sound exits the hole in Zaku's hand. A sound so loud that she snaps her eyes open, startled, and even with her hands shielding her ears, the pain is too much to bear. A cry escapes her lips, and she falls to her knees, unable to move, unable to think.
The sound stops after a minute, but it is already too late. She can feel the blood flowing from her nose and ears, and her whole body is convulsing, big tears rolling down her cheeks. She knows she should open her eyes, that she has to win this fight, but her body doesn't respond anymore.
She doesn't hear Zaku walking closer, but when she gets slapped hard on the face and propelled backward under the strength of the blow, she knows it was him. She opens her groggy eyes and blinks a few times to dissipate the black dots obscuring her view. The first thing she notices is Zaku's face, inches away from her own. Then she feels the extra weight on her body and the grip on her wrists.
"Finally, back to square one," he says, straddling her and stroking her cheek, wet with tears.
She recoils from the touch and tries to free her wrists from his hold. "You're sick! Let go of me."
Ignoring her, Zaku leans on his elbows, crushing her arms under his weight. With his face now out of sight, she can only watch his broad chest with growing anger. Helpless, that's how she feels yet again. Zaku is right, and it pains her to admit it. But she can no longer ignore the fact that he is taller, more muscular, and stronger than her. The only thing that could save her now is her sharp mind. And sometimes, being smart is not enough.
An icy touch on her forearm brings her attention back to the present moment. She glances up but can only see her opponent's squared jaw. It doesn't take long, however, before she discovers the source of the uncomfortable feeling. At the sudden pain, she cannot hold back the cry that escapes her lips. It feels like something is tearing up her flesh, and when she feels warm liquid streaming down her arm, she realizes it probably is what's happening.
The unbearable pain stops as abruptly as it started, and Zaku pushes himself up a bit, a satisfied look imprinted on his face. "Now, no one can deny it."
"Wha-what is it?"
He glances down upon hearing her feeble voice and meets her gaze with a growing smile. "You want to see?"
She nods, even though the fresh wound is the last of her worries. Zaku chuckles, then grabs her injured arm, provoking another wave of pain through her body. He brings the limb between them, so Sakura can see the letters carved in her flesh.
Her eyes widen in horror when she registers the words now permanently adorning her arm, and for a second, she forgets her initial plan. It all comes rushing back, however, when drops of blood land on her face. In one swift movement, she twists her arm until her hand faces Zaku's head. Then, with the help of her chakra, she fights the guy's hold and pushes on her limb. When the skin of her palm comes in contact with his face, she releases the amount of chakra stored in her hand and sends the guy flying back. He lands on his back, a few feet away from her.
She hurries to her knees, ignoring her dizzy head, and crawls towards Zaku. On her way, she retrieves her kunai, hidden through the long leaves of grass. Her chest is panting, her head throbbing, but she cannot stop herself; she needs to make him pay. When she reaches the boy, her eyes land on his broken nose. She awaits the wave of guilt that usually would fill her heart, knowing she causes someone else's pain, but it never comes. Instead, her blood boils at the memory of everything he put her through. On impulse, she stabs his hand to the ground, anger clouding her mind.
Then she straddles his hips with a smug look on her face, happy to make him taste his own medicine. She finds a kunai secured on his thigh and steals it. He gulps when the blade comes in contact with his throat.
"Admit it. I'm stronger than you." He spits in her face in answer, so she applies more pressure to his throat until one drop of blood roll down his neck. She doesn't know what she is looking for, why she isn't just silencing him, putting him unconscious. "At least, apologize," she whispers, brow furrowed. "What you did to me was wrong. You treated me like I wasn't even human. Like I was under you."
"But you were," he answers with a smirk.
"Not anymore." And to prove him right, she pushes on the kunai, piercing his hand, impaling it a little more. He curses under the pain, but she doesn't get to hear an apology. And she's still stuck, looking for a way to get some closure, waiting for a stupid guy to go past his ego to admit defeat, to acknowledge her strength.
"You'll always be weaker than me, girl. See, you cannot even finish our fight. In your position, I wouldn't have hesitated one bit before killing you."
Her fingers twitch in frustration, and images of Zaku's slit throat invade her mind. Her eyes widen upon realizing what it implies, that a part of her wants to kill him, to end someone else's life. She quickly drops her kunai on the ground and leans back, scared of what she almost did. When the weapon leaves his throat, Zaku brings his hand to her hip, fingers playing with the hem of her shirt.
"I like this new position, Pinky."
Another fit of rage engulfs her when his thumb grazes her navel. She tangles her fingers in his dark locks and, after summoning chakra to her hand, slams his head to the ground, the earth splitting under the impact.
She doesn't think she killed him, but she certainly did some damage to his head. She knows a blow like this should leave him unconscious for a while.
Her shoulders drop, and she runs a shaky hand through her pink locks as she glances to Neji's side. The bandaged guy lies some feet away, a trail of blood leaving his half-open mouth, while the Hyūga sits further behind, his back leaning against a tree. She freezes when she meets his stony stare. How long has he been watching her? Did he notice her hesitation? That she almost killed Zaku?
She clears her throat, then pushes herself off the unconscious body.
"Is he... dead?" She assesses Dosu's condition from a distance, her heart beating fast.
"Not for now, but I guess that if he doesn't get to the hospital soon, he will be in an hour."
"Should we..." Sakura doesn't finish her sentence, already knowing Neji's answer. However, the Hyūga doesn't need to hear the words to get what she wanted to say.
"You were going to kill him. Now you want to save him?"
She frowns, inwardly agreeing to his every word. Troubled by her own actions and eager to think about something else, Sakura ignores his question.
"Do you still think I'm weak?"
She can see the conflict in his eyes until he diverts them to the left. After a while, he whispers an almost inaudible "no." She takes a few steps closer, then kneels in front of him with a wince.
"Why does it look like I just turn your whole life upside down?"
"I'm a prodigy but a member of the Hyūga's clan branch house. Fate put me there, and even though I am stronger than my cousins, I will always be in their service."
The silence that follows takes Sakura off guard. She doesn't understand what those things mean, and she doesn't want to sound rude, but she needs an explanation. Otherwise, she doesn't know what she's supposed to say to that.
"Okay..." She shifts uncomfortably, her eyes boring into his lavender orbs. "What does that have to do with me?"
"You are a civilian, and nothing will ever change that. Fate put you there, put you in that weak body." His eyes trail down her form as irritation grows on Sakura's side.
"Yes, you don't choose your family. Or to have pink hair, for instance," she says with blushing cheeks. "But life is what you made it to be. I didn't want to be weak, to watch from the sideline my teammates fight, so I took the matter into my own hands." Neji grunts, but she ignores him. "I know I still can't rival them, but at least, now, I don't need their protection all the time. And I've found people willing to help me, even though I'm just a civilian and a girl. With my sensei's guidance, I know I can become a kick-ass kunoichi."
"And what about that," he asks, staring at her forearm.
She glances down at the fresh wound, her heart sinking upon reading "Zaku's" carved in it. "What do you mean?"
"Isn't that proof that, despite all your hard work, you will always be someone else's property? I mean, that's what being a woman entails, being a civilian too."
She frowns. "That's a sick way of viewing women, Neji. And civilians."
He shrugs. "That's what we learn, growing up in a clan."
"Then, I'll be glad to prove you wrong." She wipes the blood still dripping from her arm and pushes herself up. "To answer your initial question, this," she shows him the letters, "is a reminder, not that I belong to someone else, but that I can beat up a guy three years older than me."
She forces a smile and extends her hand. "Are you coming?"
His face contorts in what weirdly resembles a pout, and Sakura has to refrain from giggling. "I can't," he finally says. "I'll stay here and make sure they don't escape," he adds, pointing at the two Oto shinobis.
"Thank -" She stops herself when a loud explosion resounds in the vicinity. Her eyes widen, and she hurries towards the scene, her teammates being her priority. "I have to go," she shouts before leaving Neji's sight.
She knows she's in no condition to start another fight, but for her boys, she would do anything. For Sasuke, she would give her life.