Complexity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by summerdragonfly
Chapter II
"Change"
A/N: I'm going to assume that Sakura and Ino are on speaking terms. ^^ Not friends
necessarily, but just not at each other's throats anymore. In this chapter, eight
years have passed since the last incident, and the gang are all twenty eight years old.
Um...just for some reference to those who don't know Japanese:
Okasan=mother
Ojisan=uncle
NOT to be confused with:
Obasan=aunt
Ojiisan=grandfather
Get it? Great. ^^ I use quite a bit of Japanese it here, but it's nothing that isn't
self-explanatory from context. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EIGHT YEARS LATER.
All of Konoha was buzzing, the news of a bloody, ragged, barely-alive-and-seemed-like-he-
was-going-to-drop-dead shinobi at the gates of the Leaf Village had spread. He was too badly
injured for medics to identify him yet, but the rumours were that he was no older than 27-28.
And one thing was for sure....
A Leaf forehead protector was found on him.
Since there were numurous shinobi in the Leaf, this did not help the medics out much. At least
they knew that they were not treating an enemy.
"Ne, ne, you know what everyone's saying about that guy?"
"I know! I couldn't believe it either...."
"Do you really think it's HIM?"
"Maybe, they won't even know until they clean him up."
"Impossible.....not....HIM..."
"Nah. Probably just a gossip."
"Yeah, well, whatever it is, I would hate to be Haruno Sakura now...."
The woman named Sakura stopped walking as she heard these words. The women who were
gossiping did not seem to notice that she was there. That is, until she spoke to them.
"Excuse me, but did I just hear my name?"
The women looked mortified. One of them stammered nervously, "Er....um...."
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.
"You...haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
"About that mystery ninja that appeared here---"
"Yes, I know about that." Sakura was never one who paid attention to any rumors.
"Ah, well....the thing is...." The woman then whispered something to her friend, who nodded gravely.
They did not understand why Sakura did not hear the rumors. "Nothing much, really."
she said. "We were merely discussing the people we admire in this village, that's all."
"Uh huh...." Sakura said slowly, but she smiled. "Domo arigatougozaimasu."
She continued walking, still convinced that there was something going on. She didn't
get far, though, when a blonde figure came running toward her.
"Sakura!" It was Ino.
"Ino?" Sakura was surprised to see her. "What's wrong? Why are you in such a rush?"
"You've---you've got to come with me---" Ino panted.
"Wait, slow down," Sakura said. "What's happened?"
"Did you hear about that person that----"
"Yes, yes, I know, almost dead and staggering at Konoha's gates," Sakura said impatiently.
"Now what's going on?"
"They've identified him!" Ino was unsure how Sakura would take this news.
"So? Why would I care?" Sakura asked truthfully.
"Because---because---well, Sakura, I think that you would care!"
"Why? Would you just tell me who it is?"
"Sakura, oh---it's---it's---"
* * *
"Uchiha Sasuke," Tsunade said in a serious tone, glancing over her shoulder at the
unconcious man lying in the coma. "Would you believe it? Uchiha Sasuke."
"Hokage-sama," said the medic Tsunade was talking to, "Are you sure it's him?"
"Yes, I'm sure, there's no doubting it." Tsunade nodded. "Tests have come back
from the lab, and it's definitely him all right."
"He's...alive," the medic said in awe.
"Yes, and it's a miracle too," Tsunade examined some papers. "Three hits to
his critical areas.....my goodness,"
"Should I alert his former friends? Kakashi-senpai maybe?" the medic asked.
"No," Tsunade sighed. "My feelings tell me they will be here soon enough. Words
spreads like wildfire here in Konoha."
And no sooner had she said these words did Uzumaki Naruto, now a Jounin, burst
through the door, followed by Hyuuga Hinata, Rock Lee, Nara Shikamaru, and a number
of other ninjas, including Hatake Kakashi, all of them looking extremely worried.
"Hey Tsunade!" The one called Naruto yelled. "I got here as soon as I can---"
"How many times must we tell you?!" The medic said angrily. "Address her honorship
as Hokage-sama!"
"Whatever!" Naruto said, shoving the medic aside, and looking anxiously at Tsunade.
"It's really him?"
"Hai, it is," Tsunade said. "And he's going to be fine. He just needs a lot of
rest." She turned toward Kakashi. "Does....she know?"
"....no," Kakashi replied. "Not yet."
"Someone's got to tell her." Tsunade said. "She can't go without knowing. You
know she can't."
"Ino," Shikamaru suddenly said. "Ino's gone off to tell her."
"Yamanaka Ino?" Tsunade said in surprise. "Well, not my choice of people,
but they are getting better nowadays..."
"I'm just worried about how she'll take this," Kakashi said sadly. "She went
into a depression ever since those years ago and hasn't really recovered."
"Sakura is a strong woman," Tsunade said confidently. "We must believe in
her."
* * *
"Well?!" Ino said incredulously. "Aren't you going to see him?"
Sakura looked away and said nothing. The shocking revelation that her former
love was now back in her life and inches away from death was not comforting. Not at
all.
"Sakura," Ino said gravely. "Look, I---"
"No, Ino." Sakura turned back towards Ino with burning eyes. "I'm not
going to see him. Not like this I'm not."
"But---"
"You know how how much he hurt me when he left. You know how much I struggled.
I'm still struggling now. Do you think it's easy to me for to see him again?"
"......"
"Besides, I don't think I could contain myself if I saw him in a coma and all
bloodied up. No more. Not again. Not ever again."
"But, Sakura---" Ino persisted.
"I said no," Sakura said. "When he's better and decides he wants to visit, then tell him
that's when I'll agree to see him."
"How will you tell him....about...you know..." Ino asked.
"I don't know." Sakura sighed. "But I doubt he'll visit me anyway. Being the selfish
jerk that he always was, he'll probably just sneak away again, with no regards
to the people that helped him. He did it once, it'll be easy enough to do it again."
"For heaven's sake, he has to know, Sakura!" Ino started to lose her temper. "You
know that it's important to him!"
"Not if he doesn't find out," Sakura replied calmly.
"But he has to find out about his----"
"Ino," said Sakura in a final sort of tone. "I've made up my mind. If he does decide
to prove me wrong and shows up, then I'll find someway to let him know. A way
that doesn't hurt any of us, okay?"
"Fine," said Ino, disappointed. "But if he wakes up and asks for you---"
"...." Sakura paused. "Tell him....tell him that....I'm not the person he once
knew."
* * *
Two months have passed since Uchiha Sasuke appeared back in Konoha again. He
awoke for the first time after two and a half weeks of being unconcious and
was slowly recovering. By the time eight weeks had passed, he was back on
his legs and although leaning on crutches, could walk.
"Oy, Sasuke, where are you going?" asked Kakashi, who was there conversing
with some doctors about Sasuke's condition.
"None of your business," Sasuke replied curtly.
"You're not going anywhere unless I say so. You're in condition to be
walking around and---"
"Shut up." Sasuke said. "I'm going and you can't stop me."
Kakashi realized something. He had been a mentor to Sasuke for all these
years, and knew him very well. Unless he was very much mistaken, Kakashi
was sure where Sasuke was going, and mentally decided it was for the
best.
"Fine then," Kakashi shrugged. "Leave."
Sasuke scoffed and continued out the door.
"Send her my regards," Kakashi said as Sasuke exited.
*How did he know....* Sasuke thought angrily. *That damned bastard....*
To Sasuke this was a mission. One that was ridiculously hard to do. Every
fiber of him wanted to see Sakura again, to see her bright smile across
her lovely face lined with the most charming features. And those eyes.
He always remembered those eyes. The most gentle light emerald eyes that
ever reflected starlight.
*This is harder than I thought it would be.* Sasuke thought, then comtemplated
something.
*....I....sure have changed.*
He hoped that she still lived where she did eight years ago. He stood outside
her door for what seemed like an hour, racking his brains for things to say.
His heart sank horribly when he thought about her reaction to him. She hadn't
even been to visit him. That must mean that she hasn't forgiven him. She
must've been holding him in contempt all these years.
He wanted to say to her, "Sakura, I've done it! I've killed Itachi....it
wasn't easy but I did it...and now...."
He couldn't even finish the sentence in his head. He remembered the special
jutsu he had used to kill Itachi. Normally it would've killed the user, yet
this one was special. Invented by an unknown shinobi a long time ago, it could be used
to kill someone and potentially take the user's life, if he didn't have anything
important to him. It was not to be used by ruthless shinobi but only those
with a heart, those who had special people close to them. Just thinking and
loving those people while using that jutsu would take the enemy's life, had
he been weakened. Sasuke had used up a large amount of chakra beating
Itachi down, and they were both weak when he used up the last of his chakra
with the jutsu, which had a very low chance of surviving. But he had done
it....he had loved Sakura enough to survive.
And he still did. He did love her as much as he ever did. He had once thought
that feelings, emotion and compassion made people weak. But the use of the
special jutsu showed him the complete opposite. Maybe...maybe now....he could
try being a little more caring?
He still stood outside her door, pondering what he was going to say. Suddenly
he heard a noise and the door opened. Out stepped a person.
Sakura.
They both froze and looked at each other for a full minute. Neither knew
what to say, nor what to do. They just stared. And stared. And stared.
Finally Sakura broke the silence. "So...you're back."
Sasuke was disappointed. He had expected something else. "Yeah..."
"Well, nice to see you again," Sakura tried to stay indifferent, but
inside her feelings screamed at her to throw her arms around him and
totally break down on his shoulder. But she contained herself.
"Sakura," Sasuke said quietly, walking up to her close. "I've missed
you."
Sakura didn't know what to say. "Well...I've missed you too, Sasuke-kun."
she thought she sounded a bit lame.
Sasuke was feeling bad now. Did she no longer love him? *Well, I'd deserve
it.*
"How have you been?" he decided to start out small.
"Good," she said plainly. "You?"
"....holding up." Sasuke was feeling worse and worse by the minute.
"So, you've done it, huh?"
"What?"
"Killed your brother. Had your revenge."
".....yes." He sounded like a complete jerk. But what other way was there
to say it?
"Congratulations. Guess you got what you always wanted."
"........"
"Um," Sakura said, hopelessly trying to get away from this akward situation. "If you'll
excuse me, I'm on my way to the supermarket, so, I've got to be going..."
"Sakura, look I---" Sasuke began, but the door opened again.
A little boy of about five appeared at the door. He had dark eyes and dark
hair. He tugged on Sakura's skirt. "Okasan, you haven't left yet?"
*OKASAN?!* Sasuke thought wildly. He looked at Sakura, extremely confused.
"Who's he?" The little boy asked, looking up at Sasuke, mildly surprised.
Sakura thought this was extremely uncomfortable. "Um....er..."
Sasuke didn't say anything. He looked back and forth between Sakura and
the boy, who he thought looked so much like him the resemblance was
uncanny. He could've passed for Sasuke's younger self.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said in a tiny voice. "This is...this is Takeshi."
Sasuke still didn't say anything.
"Takeshi, this is Sasuke Ojisan. Say hello." Sakura said very quietly.
"I've seen you before," Takeshi said, looking at Sasuke with those
dark eyes. "My mother has lots of pictures of you two together."
"Your moth---" Sasuke turned toward Sakura. "What's this all about?
He's your---your--"
"Hai, Takeshi is my son," Sakura said, now blushing very hard. *This is
a lot harder than I thought it would be! Dammit, I was determined not
to show him any weakness!*
"Your....son...." Sasuke said slowly. So Sakura had a son. This went
beyond any of his wildest imaginations.
"Okasan, will you get dangos for me then?" Takeshi moved on, just
like a child.
"Yes, yes, of course," Sakura smiled.
"All the kids at the Ninja Academy liked them when you put them
in my lunch last time."
*Ninja Academy?* Sasuke thought. *Wait...just what the hell is going
on here?* "Ninja Academy?"
"Yeah, I'm training to be a ninja like Naruto Ojisan! Okasan's
a ninja too!" Takeshi said excitedly.
"......yes I know," Sasuke said, still shocked.
"Well, remember to do well in your final exams, all right? I want
to be able to cook a big feast for my little next week."
Sakura grinned again.
"How old is he?" Sasuke asked.
"Seven years old," Sakura replied. "Going on eight in a couple of months."
"....and he's...already...."
"...graduating from the Ninja Academy. I know, I was surprised too." Sakura
ruffled Takeshi's dark hair.
Now that Sasuke was so into the conversation, Sakura couldn't bear to leave
him outside while she ran errands. She summoned up all her nerve and asked
him, "Would you like to come with me? We could....catch up..."
"Sure." Sasuke shrugged.
"Can I come too?" Takeshi piped up.
"No, don't you have shuriken practice with Hinata-sensei this afternoon?"
Sakura asked.
"Nope, she said I was good enough."
"What about---"
"Please? Can't I go?"
"How about spending time with Naruto Ojisan?"
"He's gone off peeping with old man Jiraiya again," Takeshi said.
*Damn Naruto....exposing such a child to something so obscene at such a
young age....* Sakura sighed. Now that Sasuke was here, she was determined
to keep her cool, let him get the feeling that she was indifferent. But
the problem was, she really wanted to talk to him again, like TALK, about
everything that had happened. To just leave him standing there would be
rude.
"Well," Sakura finally made up her mind. "Now that Sasuke Ojisan is here,
I can't just leave him standing out here, can I?"
Takeshi just blinked.
"Tell you what," Sakura handed her son a bag of money. "Here's some yen,
why don't you take it down to the market and buy Okasan some tomatoes
and celery and you can have the rest to yourself, that sound good?"
Takeshi seemed to agree. "Okay," he said. "Anything I want?"
"Yes, but make sure you get the vegetables first." Sakura said strictly. "Wakarimasuka?"
"Hai, wakarimasu. Ja, Okasan." And he was off.
Sakura watched him go fondly when she suddenly realized that Sasuke was still there.
She blushed. "Um....would you like to come in?"
Sasuke nodded, still thunderstruck from this news. As he stepped into the tidy house, all that was running through his mind was *She has a kid?! Holy crap! Who's...who's the father...Maybe it's me---* He shook his head. *Don't get ahead of yourself.*
"Is there anything I can get you? Coffee? Or tea? Do you prefer water?" Sakura tried to stay calm, but her nerves were getting the best of her.
"Water is good, thanks," Sasuke replied, and Sakura rushed off toward the kitchen.
"So how did you do it?" Sakura could not resist asking.
"Do what?"
".....you know....kill....him."
"Oh." Sasuke didn't know how to say it simply. He decided not to tell her that it was actually her that motivated him to finish off his brother. He finally settled on a good, plain explanation. "Forbidden jutsu."
Sakura scoffed silently. *Figures.* Her feelings about him were mixed. Half of her wanted to kick him out of her life forever, the other half wanted him back. The good half had caused her to invite him in, the second caused her to want to spit in his drink.
"Here you go," Sakura handed him a glass of water, completely spit-free. Her good side had gotten the best of her.
"Your son," Sasuke said quietly. "He's..."
"A very fine boy," Sakura said nervously, knowing what direction Sasuke was heading in.
"Is he a talented ninja?" Sasuke asked.
"Oh yes," Sakura said proudly. "You would say he's the...number one rookie." She blushed more and more.
Sasuke didn't know what to say. Memories were flooding by his mind the more he looked at her. But he had to ask the inevitable. "Sakura, who's the fa---"
Suddenly then, the door burst open. Naruto came in, a large grin across his face. "OY! Sakura-chan! Where's Takeshi? We just found out that the ladies' changing room at the training center had a door that had a broken lock! Jiraiya and I want to go check it out!"
"Then go by yourselves, baka!" Sakura yelled. "I do not wish for you to expose my child to
such things!"
"Relax, Sakura-chan, it's all natural!"
"You can go tell that old idiot that I don't care that he's a ledgendary Sennin, I'll kick his ass if he dares to show such things to my son---"
"Sasuke's here, too!" Naruto said, cutting Sakura off. She was surprised at how calm he was at this, pretending like Sasuke never left. She could never do that.
*Sasuke...just what are you playing at...* Naruto thought. Why would he come back to Konoha now and giving Sakura false hope? Naruto didn't like it at all.
"Naruto, did you know about this?" Sasuke asked seriously.
"About what?"
"Sakura, and her son."
"Yeah...so?"
Sasuke decided he would rather find out from Sakura herself, so he stopped there. "Nothing."
"Naruto," Sakura said. "I've got some things I need to take care of tomorrow, and I won't have time to do jutsu training with Takeshi. Do you mind?"
"Gomen nasai, Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "But tomorrow I'm going out on a new mission and I won't be back for a couple of days,"
"Oh," Sakura said. "Well, I suppose we could skip it for once..."
"...." Sasuke could not believe what he was about to do. "...I'll do it."
Naruto and Sakura both looked in his direction. "What?" They said together.
"I said I'll do it," Sasuke said akwardly. "Gives me a chance to...get to know the kid." He shrugged.
"Really?" Sakura's eyes lit up. Sasuke had not seen them like that for a long time. "You mean it?"
"Whatever." Sasuke said, but nodded.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura went up to him and hugged him. "Doomo arigatougozaimasu!" she said happily.
"...you're...welcome." Sasuke had not been this close to her for a while, and he did not want to let go.
Naruto grinned. *Those two....*
However, Sakura realized what she was doing and let go. "G-Gomen..." she said, embarrassed.
Sasuke just looked at her.
.:END CHAPTER II:.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by summerdragonfly
Chapter II
"Change"
A/N: I'm going to assume that Sakura and Ino are on speaking terms. ^^ Not friends
necessarily, but just not at each other's throats anymore. In this chapter, eight
years have passed since the last incident, and the gang are all twenty eight years old.
Um...just for some reference to those who don't know Japanese:
Okasan=mother
Ojisan=uncle
NOT to be confused with:
Obasan=aunt
Ojiisan=grandfather
Get it? Great. ^^ I use quite a bit of Japanese it here, but it's nothing that isn't
self-explanatory from context. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EIGHT YEARS LATER.
All of Konoha was buzzing, the news of a bloody, ragged, barely-alive-and-seemed-like-he-
was-going-to-drop-dead shinobi at the gates of the Leaf Village had spread. He was too badly
injured for medics to identify him yet, but the rumours were that he was no older than 27-28.
And one thing was for sure....
A Leaf forehead protector was found on him.
Since there were numurous shinobi in the Leaf, this did not help the medics out much. At least
they knew that they were not treating an enemy.
"Ne, ne, you know what everyone's saying about that guy?"
"I know! I couldn't believe it either...."
"Do you really think it's HIM?"
"Maybe, they won't even know until they clean him up."
"Impossible.....not....HIM..."
"Nah. Probably just a gossip."
"Yeah, well, whatever it is, I would hate to be Haruno Sakura now...."
The woman named Sakura stopped walking as she heard these words. The women who were
gossiping did not seem to notice that she was there. That is, until she spoke to them.
"Excuse me, but did I just hear my name?"
The women looked mortified. One of them stammered nervously, "Er....um...."
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.
"You...haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
"About that mystery ninja that appeared here---"
"Yes, I know about that." Sakura was never one who paid attention to any rumors.
"Ah, well....the thing is...." The woman then whispered something to her friend, who nodded gravely.
They did not understand why Sakura did not hear the rumors. "Nothing much, really."
she said. "We were merely discussing the people we admire in this village, that's all."
"Uh huh...." Sakura said slowly, but she smiled. "Domo arigatougozaimasu."
She continued walking, still convinced that there was something going on. She didn't
get far, though, when a blonde figure came running toward her.
"Sakura!" It was Ino.
"Ino?" Sakura was surprised to see her. "What's wrong? Why are you in such a rush?"
"You've---you've got to come with me---" Ino panted.
"Wait, slow down," Sakura said. "What's happened?"
"Did you hear about that person that----"
"Yes, yes, I know, almost dead and staggering at Konoha's gates," Sakura said impatiently.
"Now what's going on?"
"They've identified him!" Ino was unsure how Sakura would take this news.
"So? Why would I care?" Sakura asked truthfully.
"Because---because---well, Sakura, I think that you would care!"
"Why? Would you just tell me who it is?"
"Sakura, oh---it's---it's---"
* * *
"Uchiha Sasuke," Tsunade said in a serious tone, glancing over her shoulder at the
unconcious man lying in the coma. "Would you believe it? Uchiha Sasuke."
"Hokage-sama," said the medic Tsunade was talking to, "Are you sure it's him?"
"Yes, I'm sure, there's no doubting it." Tsunade nodded. "Tests have come back
from the lab, and it's definitely him all right."
"He's...alive," the medic said in awe.
"Yes, and it's a miracle too," Tsunade examined some papers. "Three hits to
his critical areas.....my goodness,"
"Should I alert his former friends? Kakashi-senpai maybe?" the medic asked.
"No," Tsunade sighed. "My feelings tell me they will be here soon enough. Words
spreads like wildfire here in Konoha."
And no sooner had she said these words did Uzumaki Naruto, now a Jounin, burst
through the door, followed by Hyuuga Hinata, Rock Lee, Nara Shikamaru, and a number
of other ninjas, including Hatake Kakashi, all of them looking extremely worried.
"Hey Tsunade!" The one called Naruto yelled. "I got here as soon as I can---"
"How many times must we tell you?!" The medic said angrily. "Address her honorship
as Hokage-sama!"
"Whatever!" Naruto said, shoving the medic aside, and looking anxiously at Tsunade.
"It's really him?"
"Hai, it is," Tsunade said. "And he's going to be fine. He just needs a lot of
rest." She turned toward Kakashi. "Does....she know?"
"....no," Kakashi replied. "Not yet."
"Someone's got to tell her." Tsunade said. "She can't go without knowing. You
know she can't."
"Ino," Shikamaru suddenly said. "Ino's gone off to tell her."
"Yamanaka Ino?" Tsunade said in surprise. "Well, not my choice of people,
but they are getting better nowadays..."
"I'm just worried about how she'll take this," Kakashi said sadly. "She went
into a depression ever since those years ago and hasn't really recovered."
"Sakura is a strong woman," Tsunade said confidently. "We must believe in
her."
* * *
"Well?!" Ino said incredulously. "Aren't you going to see him?"
Sakura looked away and said nothing. The shocking revelation that her former
love was now back in her life and inches away from death was not comforting. Not at
all.
"Sakura," Ino said gravely. "Look, I---"
"No, Ino." Sakura turned back towards Ino with burning eyes. "I'm not
going to see him. Not like this I'm not."
"But---"
"You know how how much he hurt me when he left. You know how much I struggled.
I'm still struggling now. Do you think it's easy to me for to see him again?"
"......"
"Besides, I don't think I could contain myself if I saw him in a coma and all
bloodied up. No more. Not again. Not ever again."
"But, Sakura---" Ino persisted.
"I said no," Sakura said. "When he's better and decides he wants to visit, then tell him
that's when I'll agree to see him."
"How will you tell him....about...you know..." Ino asked.
"I don't know." Sakura sighed. "But I doubt he'll visit me anyway. Being the selfish
jerk that he always was, he'll probably just sneak away again, with no regards
to the people that helped him. He did it once, it'll be easy enough to do it again."
"For heaven's sake, he has to know, Sakura!" Ino started to lose her temper. "You
know that it's important to him!"
"Not if he doesn't find out," Sakura replied calmly.
"But he has to find out about his----"
"Ino," said Sakura in a final sort of tone. "I've made up my mind. If he does decide
to prove me wrong and shows up, then I'll find someway to let him know. A way
that doesn't hurt any of us, okay?"
"Fine," said Ino, disappointed. "But if he wakes up and asks for you---"
"...." Sakura paused. "Tell him....tell him that....I'm not the person he once
knew."
* * *
Two months have passed since Uchiha Sasuke appeared back in Konoha again. He
awoke for the first time after two and a half weeks of being unconcious and
was slowly recovering. By the time eight weeks had passed, he was back on
his legs and although leaning on crutches, could walk.
"Oy, Sasuke, where are you going?" asked Kakashi, who was there conversing
with some doctors about Sasuke's condition.
"None of your business," Sasuke replied curtly.
"You're not going anywhere unless I say so. You're in condition to be
walking around and---"
"Shut up." Sasuke said. "I'm going and you can't stop me."
Kakashi realized something. He had been a mentor to Sasuke for all these
years, and knew him very well. Unless he was very much mistaken, Kakashi
was sure where Sasuke was going, and mentally decided it was for the
best.
"Fine then," Kakashi shrugged. "Leave."
Sasuke scoffed and continued out the door.
"Send her my regards," Kakashi said as Sasuke exited.
*How did he know....* Sasuke thought angrily. *That damned bastard....*
To Sasuke this was a mission. One that was ridiculously hard to do. Every
fiber of him wanted to see Sakura again, to see her bright smile across
her lovely face lined with the most charming features. And those eyes.
He always remembered those eyes. The most gentle light emerald eyes that
ever reflected starlight.
*This is harder than I thought it would be.* Sasuke thought, then comtemplated
something.
*....I....sure have changed.*
He hoped that she still lived where she did eight years ago. He stood outside
her door for what seemed like an hour, racking his brains for things to say.
His heart sank horribly when he thought about her reaction to him. She hadn't
even been to visit him. That must mean that she hasn't forgiven him. She
must've been holding him in contempt all these years.
He wanted to say to her, "Sakura, I've done it! I've killed Itachi....it
wasn't easy but I did it...and now...."
He couldn't even finish the sentence in his head. He remembered the special
jutsu he had used to kill Itachi. Normally it would've killed the user, yet
this one was special. Invented by an unknown shinobi a long time ago, it could be used
to kill someone and potentially take the user's life, if he didn't have anything
important to him. It was not to be used by ruthless shinobi but only those
with a heart, those who had special people close to them. Just thinking and
loving those people while using that jutsu would take the enemy's life, had
he been weakened. Sasuke had used up a large amount of chakra beating
Itachi down, and they were both weak when he used up the last of his chakra
with the jutsu, which had a very low chance of surviving. But he had done
it....he had loved Sakura enough to survive.
And he still did. He did love her as much as he ever did. He had once thought
that feelings, emotion and compassion made people weak. But the use of the
special jutsu showed him the complete opposite. Maybe...maybe now....he could
try being a little more caring?
He still stood outside her door, pondering what he was going to say. Suddenly
he heard a noise and the door opened. Out stepped a person.
Sakura.
They both froze and looked at each other for a full minute. Neither knew
what to say, nor what to do. They just stared. And stared. And stared.
Finally Sakura broke the silence. "So...you're back."
Sasuke was disappointed. He had expected something else. "Yeah..."
"Well, nice to see you again," Sakura tried to stay indifferent, but
inside her feelings screamed at her to throw her arms around him and
totally break down on his shoulder. But she contained herself.
"Sakura," Sasuke said quietly, walking up to her close. "I've missed
you."
Sakura didn't know what to say. "Well...I've missed you too, Sasuke-kun."
she thought she sounded a bit lame.
Sasuke was feeling bad now. Did she no longer love him? *Well, I'd deserve
it.*
"How have you been?" he decided to start out small.
"Good," she said plainly. "You?"
"....holding up." Sasuke was feeling worse and worse by the minute.
"So, you've done it, huh?"
"What?"
"Killed your brother. Had your revenge."
".....yes." He sounded like a complete jerk. But what other way was there
to say it?
"Congratulations. Guess you got what you always wanted."
"........"
"Um," Sakura said, hopelessly trying to get away from this akward situation. "If you'll
excuse me, I'm on my way to the supermarket, so, I've got to be going..."
"Sakura, look I---" Sasuke began, but the door opened again.
A little boy of about five appeared at the door. He had dark eyes and dark
hair. He tugged on Sakura's skirt. "Okasan, you haven't left yet?"
*OKASAN?!* Sasuke thought wildly. He looked at Sakura, extremely confused.
"Who's he?" The little boy asked, looking up at Sasuke, mildly surprised.
Sakura thought this was extremely uncomfortable. "Um....er..."
Sasuke didn't say anything. He looked back and forth between Sakura and
the boy, who he thought looked so much like him the resemblance was
uncanny. He could've passed for Sasuke's younger self.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said in a tiny voice. "This is...this is Takeshi."
Sasuke still didn't say anything.
"Takeshi, this is Sasuke Ojisan. Say hello." Sakura said very quietly.
"I've seen you before," Takeshi said, looking at Sasuke with those
dark eyes. "My mother has lots of pictures of you two together."
"Your moth---" Sasuke turned toward Sakura. "What's this all about?
He's your---your--"
"Hai, Takeshi is my son," Sakura said, now blushing very hard. *This is
a lot harder than I thought it would be! Dammit, I was determined not
to show him any weakness!*
"Your....son...." Sasuke said slowly. So Sakura had a son. This went
beyond any of his wildest imaginations.
"Okasan, will you get dangos for me then?" Takeshi moved on, just
like a child.
"Yes, yes, of course," Sakura smiled.
"All the kids at the Ninja Academy liked them when you put them
in my lunch last time."
*Ninja Academy?* Sasuke thought. *Wait...just what the hell is going
on here?* "Ninja Academy?"
"Yeah, I'm training to be a ninja like Naruto Ojisan! Okasan's
a ninja too!" Takeshi said excitedly.
"......yes I know," Sasuke said, still shocked.
"Well, remember to do well in your final exams, all right? I want
to be able to cook a big feast for my little next week."
Sakura grinned again.
"How old is he?" Sasuke asked.
"Seven years old," Sakura replied. "Going on eight in a couple of months."
"....and he's...already...."
"...graduating from the Ninja Academy. I know, I was surprised too." Sakura
ruffled Takeshi's dark hair.
Now that Sasuke was so into the conversation, Sakura couldn't bear to leave
him outside while she ran errands. She summoned up all her nerve and asked
him, "Would you like to come with me? We could....catch up..."
"Sure." Sasuke shrugged.
"Can I come too?" Takeshi piped up.
"No, don't you have shuriken practice with Hinata-sensei this afternoon?"
Sakura asked.
"Nope, she said I was good enough."
"What about---"
"Please? Can't I go?"
"How about spending time with Naruto Ojisan?"
"He's gone off peeping with old man Jiraiya again," Takeshi said.
*Damn Naruto....exposing such a child to something so obscene at such a
young age....* Sakura sighed. Now that Sasuke was here, she was determined
to keep her cool, let him get the feeling that she was indifferent. But
the problem was, she really wanted to talk to him again, like TALK, about
everything that had happened. To just leave him standing there would be
rude.
"Well," Sakura finally made up her mind. "Now that Sasuke Ojisan is here,
I can't just leave him standing out here, can I?"
Takeshi just blinked.
"Tell you what," Sakura handed her son a bag of money. "Here's some yen,
why don't you take it down to the market and buy Okasan some tomatoes
and celery and you can have the rest to yourself, that sound good?"
Takeshi seemed to agree. "Okay," he said. "Anything I want?"
"Yes, but make sure you get the vegetables first." Sakura said strictly. "Wakarimasuka?"
"Hai, wakarimasu. Ja, Okasan." And he was off.
Sakura watched him go fondly when she suddenly realized that Sasuke was still there.
She blushed. "Um....would you like to come in?"
Sasuke nodded, still thunderstruck from this news. As he stepped into the tidy house, all that was running through his mind was *She has a kid?! Holy crap! Who's...who's the father...Maybe it's me---* He shook his head. *Don't get ahead of yourself.*
"Is there anything I can get you? Coffee? Or tea? Do you prefer water?" Sakura tried to stay calm, but her nerves were getting the best of her.
"Water is good, thanks," Sasuke replied, and Sakura rushed off toward the kitchen.
"So how did you do it?" Sakura could not resist asking.
"Do what?"
".....you know....kill....him."
"Oh." Sasuke didn't know how to say it simply. He decided not to tell her that it was actually her that motivated him to finish off his brother. He finally settled on a good, plain explanation. "Forbidden jutsu."
Sakura scoffed silently. *Figures.* Her feelings about him were mixed. Half of her wanted to kick him out of her life forever, the other half wanted him back. The good half had caused her to invite him in, the second caused her to want to spit in his drink.
"Here you go," Sakura handed him a glass of water, completely spit-free. Her good side had gotten the best of her.
"Your son," Sasuke said quietly. "He's..."
"A very fine boy," Sakura said nervously, knowing what direction Sasuke was heading in.
"Is he a talented ninja?" Sasuke asked.
"Oh yes," Sakura said proudly. "You would say he's the...number one rookie." She blushed more and more.
Sasuke didn't know what to say. Memories were flooding by his mind the more he looked at her. But he had to ask the inevitable. "Sakura, who's the fa---"
Suddenly then, the door burst open. Naruto came in, a large grin across his face. "OY! Sakura-chan! Where's Takeshi? We just found out that the ladies' changing room at the training center had a door that had a broken lock! Jiraiya and I want to go check it out!"
"Then go by yourselves, baka!" Sakura yelled. "I do not wish for you to expose my child to
such things!"
"Relax, Sakura-chan, it's all natural!"
"You can go tell that old idiot that I don't care that he's a ledgendary Sennin, I'll kick his ass if he dares to show such things to my son---"
"Sasuke's here, too!" Naruto said, cutting Sakura off. She was surprised at how calm he was at this, pretending like Sasuke never left. She could never do that.
*Sasuke...just what are you playing at...* Naruto thought. Why would he come back to Konoha now and giving Sakura false hope? Naruto didn't like it at all.
"Naruto, did you know about this?" Sasuke asked seriously.
"About what?"
"Sakura, and her son."
"Yeah...so?"
Sasuke decided he would rather find out from Sakura herself, so he stopped there. "Nothing."
"Naruto," Sakura said. "I've got some things I need to take care of tomorrow, and I won't have time to do jutsu training with Takeshi. Do you mind?"
"Gomen nasai, Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "But tomorrow I'm going out on a new mission and I won't be back for a couple of days,"
"Oh," Sakura said. "Well, I suppose we could skip it for once..."
"...." Sasuke could not believe what he was about to do. "...I'll do it."
Naruto and Sakura both looked in his direction. "What?" They said together.
"I said I'll do it," Sasuke said akwardly. "Gives me a chance to...get to know the kid." He shrugged.
"Really?" Sakura's eyes lit up. Sasuke had not seen them like that for a long time. "You mean it?"
"Whatever." Sasuke said, but nodded.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura went up to him and hugged him. "Doomo arigatougozaimasu!" she said happily.
"...you're...welcome." Sasuke had not been this close to her for a while, and he did not want to let go.
Naruto grinned. *Those two....*
However, Sakura realized what she was doing and let go. "G-Gomen..." she said, embarrassed.
Sasuke just looked at her.
.:END CHAPTER II:.