World Without End

by MoonlessAir

The Fourth War ended… or did it? For Naruto and Sasuke, it certainly doesn't feel like it. Hurt, jailed, and attacked in their own village, they've had enough. They turn in their headbands, and walk out the Village gate, and turn north, into the snow and wind. The Alliance is crumbling, villages are dying, and the ice is coming, and death with it.

12. Chapter 11: A Fire That Doesn't Burn Hot

Chapter 11. A Fire That Doesn't Burn Hot

The Konaha Library closes at five each day. It's not open on weekends, holidays, or at all around Christmas and New Years. Every night he wasn't with Sakura, he climbed to the roof, picked the lock, and descended into the library. He wasn't with her tonight because he waited in her office after work and she didn't show up. Then he overheard two nurses comment that they had seen her behind the hospital, crying. He checked the alley- not there, then walked to her house, and spoke with her parents- they had not seen her all day. He checked a couple restaurants, and a park, then went to the library. He liked the large, empty, dark silence and the smell of old books. But how was it that not a single book in this entire damn library could tell him what lied beyond the borders of nations. Ships exist. Maps exist. Roads and villages- but in every direction it was as if nothing continued past a small margin of water. One book might have had maps showing what was to the north, and those had been torn out. Recently? If that were the case, then someone in this village was working with the Ice. Okiku said she was from the Land of Our Ancestors, north of the Land of Glaciers. She mentioned the Land of Wolves. Where the hell were those lands? And something about the name- the Land of Our Ancestors, and the way she said it, and the way she looked, bothered him greatly. Whose ancestors?

He brought her lunch and made her dinner every night. And he had brought her lunch today, but only dropped it off- she had been too busy to meet with him. Then she had a surgery that took longer than she expected, and was much more difficult than expected. She lost the patient- a single mother. She needed him- she needed someone, but he wasn't waiting for her. So she consoled herself in a cold alley behind the hospital, and picked herself up, and picked up take-out, and went in search of him. He wasn't at his house, or at the park near his house, or at Naruto's. She walked to her house again, thinking he might be there, and he wasn't. Her feet were cold. She looked at the bag in her hand. The food was probably cold now. Where could he be? Then she worried- what if he left again? She decided to take another walk through the village, and as she did she wondered what if she didn't see him again for another five weeks. She thought about the genjutsu and realized it could be a lot longer. Surely he wouldn't leave without her. She was worried, and angry, and told herself she was being stupid, but tears were threatening at the thought that he left without her- again. On her way home she stopped by his house one more time- he wasn't there.

Sasuke learned blacksmithing while working with Orochimaru, and though obviously could no longer blacksmith with one arm, hammering glowing metal with a twenty-pound hammer was very good exercise, and he liked the smell of metal striking metal. He helped build the fires, and with his right hand hammered the glowing metal for two blacksmiths until late in the morning, and was paid well for it- he was doing the work of two strong men with one arm. He wanted to see Sakura, and had missed her last night more than he thought he would, so he washed up, got food, and decided to wait in her office. It was locked- he picked it. He sat at her desk awhile, then looked at some of the pictures she had on a cork board- Sakura and Ino, Sakura and Ino and Hinata and Tenten, Sakura and Naruto with their arm around each other's neck, grinning ear to ear, Sakura and Sai and Naruto and Kikashi, Sakura and Sasuke- when they were teenagers, one of her parents and aunts and uncles, and another of Team 7. He untacked the photo of him and Sakura, and flipped it over. There was a heart drawn on the back, and a date, and flowers. He laid it down and looked at all the others. That one was the only one with a heart. He left the food on her table, and slid the door shut behind him.

Sakura had to go shopping for her two sick aunts, and was away through lunch, and by the time she made it back she was upset, and kicking snow. It didn't help that her office door was locked, and wouldn't open with the key. How the hell did this break? She shoved the door back, breaking one of the hinges. Once in her office, she noticed the picture of her and Sasuke had fallen off her board, and lay face down on her desk. She viewed it as a bad omen. Her heart thudded with sadness and anger. She had the passing thought to pursue Naruto, and go to Amegakure, knowing at least, at some point, Naruto and Sasuke would meet back up. It had been a day and a half since she had seen him. Genma hadn't seen him. Shino hadn't, and she couldn't find Kakashi, either. It was snowing heavy when she walked back home, and so once again she detoured around to his house, and once again it was dark inside. And once again there was no answer when she knocked.

Kakashi called for Sasuke: a body had been found in the woods, missing his eyes. This time not a Hyuga. Kakashi was there as a friend, and asked Sasuke to come with him to investigate. Did the Hokage assign this? Nope. They wanted to take Sakura, but when he knocked no one answered, and the house was dark. It seemed to Sasuke that she had to be avoiding him- how else could it take him so long to find her? That, or something was wrong. He was growing impatient, and decided that kidnapping her, and forcing her to stop being so damned stubborn and difficult, might actually be the best route. Where the fuck was she? He knew she had been at this house, and at the hospital, and at a couple restaurants, but never when he was there. He also knew she could break the genjutsu herself- she had, though it required using her hundred seal, and that was limited in nature- they still needed to be careful; she needed to be careful. He kicked the door of her house hard, rattling the frame and cracking one of the glass panes at the top, and he took a few steps back, and grabbed a handful of snow, and crushed it into a tight ball, and threw it at her window. "Sakura!" he shouted into the cold early morning. Nothing. He grabbed another handful of snow, but this time he compacted it down, into a chunk of ice, and compacted it more, until it was a large ball of ice, and he hurled it at her window, shattering it, then he yelled her name again, louder. Kakashi pulled him away, grinning under his scarf, looking back to see if anyone had witnessed that.

She had decided to go to Amegakura, to find Naruto, but wanted to leave him a note- just in case. She spent the afternoon at Tenten's filling packs and pouches, then went to his apartment, broke in, and looked around- his cloak was gone, and both his swords. His apartment was sparse of decoration or any personal items, and so it was hard to tell whether he still lived here, or had left. She found a pen and paper in a drawer, and sat at the table, and then didn't know what to write. I'm sorry? But she hadn't done anything. Don't leave? But he was already gone. Come find me? Why? What did she have to tell him that was so important? She looked at the blank page, and felt frustrated, and betrayed. Why ask for help? Why ask her to be his partner, and threaten to kidnap her, just to disappear? God damn it! She wrote. I thought we were a team? I thought we were together? Jackass! I'm through with you! And she brought the pen down hard on the wood table, shattering it, and gouging the wood, and splattering black ink into the crevices and all over her hands and arms- some on her face, and blouse, and in her hair. That's it! Goddamnit! She surged chakra into her hands, and bones, and muscles, greatly enhancing her strength, and grabbed the table, and threw it into the ceiling, destroying the light, the plaster, and the rafters. She grabbed a chair and hurled it through the nearest wall- into his bedroom, and threw a second chair through that hole, shattering a back window. She kicked a portion of the wall down, then took the last chair and hurled it through the back window, over the sink. Wood and dust and a little snow drifted down around her. The letter fluttered to the ground. She stomped across the small room to the front door.

Sasuke made it home just in time to see lights go on in his apartment. He waited across the road for a moment, and another, then heard a crash. Then a couple more crashes. He opened a gate with his left eye, and stepped through, appearing behind the intruder.

Sakura was reaching for the door when someone grabbed her and pinned her arms to her side, and lifted her a foot off the ground. "Let me go!" she shouted, kicking, flailing. Whoever had her was strong- trying to break their grasp was like trying to break steel cables.

"You avoid me for two days and I find you destroying my apartment?"

"Sasuke?! Where the hell have you been!?"

He let her go and she spun around and slapped him across the face, hard.

He rolled with it, and tasted ink. He didn't like being slapped; he licked his lip, then wiped his thumb across his cheek, and looked- black ink. That would be fun to wash off his face, in the shape of a woman's hand. He growled at her a little. "Looking for you. Where the hell have you been?"

"There's no way in hell you've been looking for me for the last two days. I've been to this apartment fifteen times. The cemetery, goddamn Naruto's, the parks, markets, my house-" She had her hands on her hips- that skirt was ruined.

"And I've been to your house, your office, the nurse's station, all the restaurants, the parks… fifteen times?"

"Yes, and-" and then she blushed; she had just told him she had looked for him fifteen times in two days at his apartment. She looked at his face, and half of it was black, and she felt bad- but only for a second. "God damn it, Sasuke," and she shoved him. "Where the fuck were you the night before last? I needed you."

Now there was ink on his chest in the shape of a woman's hand. He looked from the ink stain back to her. "At the library. Where were you for lunch and dinner yesterday, and today? Not eating anymore?"

"I had a surgery, and had to shop for my sick aunts. You would know that if you asked a question or two."

He looked at the ceiling, and the rafters. Part of the table had gone through the sublayer and shingles of his roof- snow would start dripping through soon. He didn't have the tools here, and it was too late at night for repairs. He looked at the wall, or what was left of it, then back at her, and those fiery, passionate, bright green eyes- even in the dark. "Fifteen times?"

"Jackass. Where the fuck were you today?"

"Kakashi and I stopped at your house at 6:30 to investigate an Akimichi corpse. You and your whole damn family go for a jog or something? They don't seem like the jogging type."

She glared at him and gritted her teeth. "Did you break my goddamn window?"

He noticed the letter.

And she noticed him noticing the letter, and jumped and stomped on it, and glared back at him.

"What did that say?" She didn't answer, but kept glaring. So he took two steps closer, and reached his hand up as if to grab her breast. She recoiled, and in doing so nearly took her foot off the letter- she was leaning back, and slapped at his outstretched hand. He dodged her easily, and gave her the slightest shove- a tap to the center of her chest, and put his foot on hers, and she fell back. He let her foot go, and jumped forward and caught her and read the letter as he did. God damn it! I thought we were on a team? I thought we were together? Jackass! I'm through with you!

He caught her tight around the waist and lifted her off the ground- not gently, or romantically, but to confine her. "You thought I left without you," he accused her. It was dark, and Sasuke needed neither light nor time to read- he could scan hundreds of words per minute with his rinnegan, and his sharingan provided all the visual ability and stamina and speed to see it.

"Obviously, Sasuke. Did you ever think of leaving a note?"

"Oh like the one you just left? I talked to your parents three times. I talked to your nurses. I went to that fucking academy looking for your little ass."

"Three? No, my parents said you stopped by, and said you were leaving. And you don't need to be talking to them. Put me down."

Not only was he still holding her, he readjusted her, so that her chest was at his face level and his arm was wrapped around her upper thighs, against her butt- he was still pinning one hand to her side.

"Put me down," she commanded, and slapped the back of his head with her free hand.

He growled, and sharpened his eyes at her. He was only going to allow her to smack him so many times before he bent her over his knee. "Fifteen times, and such a hateful letter, slapped me, slapping me, I have ink on me, my ceiling's dripping, my bedrooms ruined, my kitchen's probably ruined, it's getting cold in here, you broke into my apartment, and you think so little of me that you think I would just leave without saying a word. Did you break the door too?"

She was glaring down at him, and he was glaring up at her. She had her hand back ready to punch, or slap- one of the two. "Did you break my window? You ruined my bed, my mirror, and half the books on my shelf with your shit."

"Raise your shirt up," he commanded.

"What! No! Put me the fuck down!" She jumped out of his grasp, landed, and pulled her hand back for a punch. She landed a straight jab to his right side- like hitting stone, and another hard shove to his chest, followed by a left hook. She got him on the chin but he rolled with it, again, and threw her off balance, and sent her stumbling across the room. "I hope you're joking about pulling my shirt up, jackass."

"I wasn't joking. I couldn't attack with my hand while holding you. I intended to bite you, but needed your help." He grinned, and darkness sat in his dimples and shone in his eyes like small galaxies, voids of stars and suns and moons.

She blushed. So he didn't necessarily mean anything inappropriate with that command? An inch or two of stomach- not her breasts? No- that wasn't right; everything Sasuke did was inappropriate. He glanced at her thighs, then turned and looked through the huge hole in the wall to his bedroom. "Where were you yesterday morning, ass?" she asked.

"At the forge," he answered, over his shoulder. "You would know that if you asked a question or two. Where were you this afternoon?"

She sure as hell wasn't about to tell him she was preparing for a trip to Amegakure, or drinking her anger away.

"And two weeks off? Taking a vacation?" He turned back to face her.

"Visiting my parents three times? Did you also break the god damn lock on my office door?"

He eyed her suspiciously. It would take two weeks to get from here to Amegakure and back. But she wasn't dressed to travel that far. She would need a pack, and much better clothes.

"Goddamnit, if we're together, you need to be where I can find you," she said. Defiance has its own temperature, and it was approaching a thousand degrees- too hot to stand near. He loved it. Her emerald eyes threw fury and annoyance and kindling into a heap, and lit it on fire. Anger took some of the pout, and innocence, out of her mouth, and her lips chewed on him with each word.

Her anger drew a ravenous hunger out of his stomach. He was fighting himself- his eyes wanted to look at her body, his mouth wanted to command her to come to him, and then chew on her. He was fighting his hand, which was trying to reach out and grab ahold of her by the throat. "You need to trust me," he said, gravel and darkness punching the underside of his voice full of holes, "And keep your little ass still for a minute."

His shirt was open to his pants, and his cloak hung halfway off his left stub of an arm. His hair was wet, and his eyebrows frustrated, and sticking out every which way, and his eyes as black as the blade of a sheathed sword. And Sakura felt him pulling her in. She couldn't stand him half the time, but she couldn't resist him any of the time. God damnit all if he wasn't the sexiest man alive. Sakura loved romance novels, and he looked like half the men on every cover, except better. "Keep my little ass still," she huffed, and was glad he hadn't left her, and furious that it had taken her two days to find him. She pushed her pink hair out of her eyes. Now they both had ink stains on their faces. She sighed. "That's not how trust works." She looked down, and away. "I'm… sorry, about your ceiling. And wall. And other wall. Table. Window. Bed… window… door… chairs…" Embers of embarrassment burned on her cheeks, casting a gorgeous glow on her downturned green eyes, and the ashes of anger fluttered down with her defenses.

When had she become so stunning? If statues of goddesses from a thousand years ago came to life, came to color- that was what she looked like. An ancient goddess from a forgotten culture. An exotic culture- something about the shape of her eyes, as if they were so slightly feline. It was her little nose that called attention to her eyes and mouth. And she really didn't look like a Leaf Villager. She didn't look like her parents, either, for that matter. Interesting. He walked to her and put his arm around her, and hugged her. He needed to stay closer to her. He wrapped his arm completely around her small frame, and lowered his head, and rested on her a second. "Don't be sorry. A fire that doesn't burn hot isn't worth much, is it."

A fire that… her breath caught. She couldn't remember a time anyone had given her a compliment that sincere. He didn't own a sword as sharp as those words, and she fell forward into him a little. To accept her for who she was- hotheaded, loud, aggressive, fiery. She hugged him back, hard. "God damnit. I missed you. I needed you, and I thought you left."

"I wouldn't do that." He brought his hand up and slid his fingers into her pink hair, and held her head against his chest. "I missed you, too. What did you need me for?"

She held him tight and cried for a full minute, and finally choked out, "I fucked up. In an…in an operation. And lost someone. I couldn't…I couldn't save…There are orphans in this world because…because of me…"

He let her cry, and didn't ask any questions. There were orphans in this world because of him, too. He matched his breathing to hers, and pulled her close. Her tears ran warm down his chest, and water plopped on the wood floor behind them, and the cold came in along the dark rafters, and watched. He gently pushed her hair out of her face, and wiped some tears away, but never said shhh, or it's ok. Sometimes it's not ok. Sometimes it hurts like hell. Finally, when she had calmed, he said, "Tell me how trust works."

She sniffled, and swallowed. She so much appreciated that he had simply held her, and not asked questions, not consoled, not defended, not reassured. Just solid for her. Stable. That was what she needed. He was what she needed. Sometimes words don't help. Sakura knew she didn't create the disease, and without her the woman would've died anyway. Sometimes reason and truth are not effective shields against grief, and sorrow. It had been over three years since she had been this close to him. "It starts with you…you promising you won't leave without telling me."

There was no hesitation in his response. "I promise I won't leave without you."

That was more than she asked, and heavy enough to impale her already weakened heart. Her breath stuttered as she inhaled, and she held him tight.

"Since you have time off, come to the library with me tonight."

"The library is…is closed at night. And if we're working on trust then-" she swallowed hard, and took a few, slow deep breaths against him, and caught the little butterflies that were threatening to come flying out of her heart. "We should spend time together. Alone. Dates and stuff." She let her voice trail off.

"We can do both. And I know it's closed- that's why I go."

Oh Sasuke. Where is the most obvious place to look for Sasuke Uchiha? His apartment? No. A restaurant? No. Any place that has large fires used to incinerate or melt things? Sometimes. But the most likely place? "Of course you do. I should've known to look for you somewhere that required breaking and entering." She allowed a smile to play with her mouth, and cheeks.

He smiled down at her. So beautiful, so exotic, so fiery. He found himself thinking about what it would be like to have a daughter with her. What an amazing daughter. Black eyes and pink hair? A sharingan with Sakura's chakra control? Or black hair and stunning green eyes- even better. And strong. And smart. And talented. And fiery. He looked down at her and wanted to bite her neck. "Where should we sleep tonight?"

"We?"

"Well, not here- it will be cold as hell. And not your bed, apparently."

"Did you break my window?"

"Yes."

She shoved him, and laughed. And the front door. "God damnit. I was already in a bad mood when I came home and found my damned window broken. You're fixing that."

"I've got a lot less to fix than you do. Now how to punish you…" he said, and looked at her with ravenous hunger in his eyes.

"Punish me?! Sasuke, once again, this whole mess is your damn fault."

"Here's what we're doing, hotsauce- we're taking dinner to the Library and then spending the night at Naruto's. Then we'll-"

"The hell we are, and don't call me that, jackass," she said, and tried to shove him, but he was too strong, when he wanted to be, and so she smiled at him, and collapsed back into him for another hug. She hugged him for three years worth of lost time, tighter, harder, until her arms were out of strength, and he hugged her back. Snow dripped in through the hole in the ceiling.

They ended up putting tarps down, and buckets, and tried to lay tarps over the roof, but with all the snow it was a losing effort. So they took some of his belongings to Naruto's, then snuck into her house and took some of hers, and cleaned Naruto's apartment as best they could, and put their items away. The cabinets were mostly destroyed, but not the fridge, although there was a piece of wood from the table lodged into the door, slowly leaking cool air into the apartment. The front light was out and some of the walls stripped to the support beams, and the bathroom door didn't shut all the way. Nearly all the ceiling tiles were destroyed, and some of the ventilation duct work, which caused the heat to click like a beetle in the ceiling. She helped him change Naruto's bed, and picked his dirty clothes up, and swept, and dusted. They changed into pajamas; he slipped on a pair of Naruto's pajama pants, and she one of Naruto's tshirts, and a pair of Naruto's socks, and looked in the mirror. She smiled. What a mess. She had ink on her neck, her forehead, and in her hair. She was blushing. And smiling like an idiot. What a fucking mess he was. What a fucking mess life was with him. But it was fun, and exciting, and so god damn necessary- he was everything she wanted, and everything she needed. She slipped her shorts off and put them on a shelf, so she had on just a tshirt, panties and socks that were much too big for her feet, and floppy when she walked. She flipped the lights off. He was on the bed looking up at the wiring and ductwork through what was left of the ceiling tile frame. The ducts looked like they could fall at the slightest touch.

"The cot's for you," she said.

"I'm not sleeping on the floor."

"Well I'm sure as hell not. Take the futon then."

"No. Come here."

Him and his orders, and commands. "Sasuke, we can't sleep in the same bed. It's inappropriate."

"Come here."

This god damn stubborn man. She stepped over the cot and put her hands on her hips and stared down at him. He glanced up at her, then sighed, and sat up, as if to give up the bed, but then grabbed her, and pulled her down, and turned her over, and held her, tight, from behind.

"Inappropriate my ass. I'm making damn sure woman I know where you are when I get up tomorrow."

"Fine. Just tonight. Couples don't do this kind of shit this fast." She tried to cover them both up but he held her too tight. She fussed, and he loosened his hold just a little. "Are you going to hold me this tight all night?"

"Yes."

She hid her grin. She realized he didn't correct her when she called them couples. "What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Trust, dates, and research."

Now she really smiled. "What are we researching?"

"How best to punish a feisty pink-haired woman for destroying my apartment."

She blushed, and spun around in his arm and punched his chest. "That was your damn fault, and I want you to take me on a romantic date."

"The forge?"

"No. God. How the hell is a forge romantic?"

"Visit those sick aunts?"

"God no. Do you not know what the words date or romantic mean?" They were nearly touching noses. Sakura had never been this close to him- not like this- not in bed, in her underwear, under a blanket. She liked it.

"Want to spar?"

"Yes. I'll kick your ass from one side of this village to the other."

He grinned. So much fire. "Hike through the woods, candle-light dinner at the library?"

"Finally. The library works too- we need to find you a good dictionary." She flopped back over and scooted her small frame into the shape of his, and reached back for his arm and pulled it around and wrapped it tight, and held him. She couldn't stop smiling. Sakura was smart enough to realize where this was going- she would leave the Leaf with him, Naruto and Hinata, and maybe Shikamaru, and maybe even more of their friends. They were right- the Hokage wasn't doing anything about the many problems they were facing, and they couldn't stay here and simply continue to be attacked. She was worried, and nervous. And slightly afraid. She knew how the people to the north died. Well, she knew what they died of, at least. The cold. But it was more than that: something paralyzed them, and the paralysis set in fast- the old people had just enough time to sit down in a corner, climb up a ladder, or pull a chair out from the table before their legs gave out. There's a large number of things that can paralyze a person, of which viruses do not top the list. Spider bites, scorpions and jellyfish and some mushrooms, certain drugs, certain neurotoxins- all would be much more effective. Botulism, maybe. The bites of certain spiders, and snakes. But spider bites and botulism do not present with swollen lymph nodes- not without ancillary infection, which wasn't present. And those viruses that do paralyze can take weeks to decades. So why the black lymph nodes. Why the black lymph nodes hidden by pooled blood in the skin. A virus should not be so specific to paralyze only the children elderly, but not adults. It almost seemed to Sakura that this virus, or toxin, mimicked symptoms of freezing to death. Could a virus cause frostbite? Could a toxin attack only cartilage and the extremities? Dead skin does not turn black like that when it freezes- it withers. Only live skin turns black and erodes back, as the body tries to keep its extremities warm. So something froze them in place, and then they froze to death. And then rats ate their feet and hands, and ravens plucked out their eyes. But the two that were in the attack escaped that, and actually froze to death. Escaped what? Were they still conscious? What a horrible way to die. What a horribly painful way to die.

She held his arm tight, and eventually turned over, and forced him on his back, and laid her head on his chest, and held him.