Title: Amicitia

Author: Kenhime

Genre: Angst, Drama, and Action

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The song "Only Ashes" by Something Corporate doesn't belong to me either.

Warning: This is strong NaruSakuSasu friendship, and includes profanity.

Chapter Two – Rudus Exposition: The Wretched Melody

Her fame was so widespread that she was known only by her first name around the world. Tsunade of the Three Ninjas, the most beautiful and strongest woman in the world, they said of her. She became the first woman to be inaugurated as the Hokage; she was also the most striking woman Sakura had ever seen. These facts were solid proof of her legend.

However, Sakura did not see her in search of glory or beauty. Just like Naruto and Sasuke had done before her, she sought one of the Sannin for power.

"Lady Hokage." Sakura bowed in respect, her long grown hair cascading down her shoulders and caressing her cheeks.

The Fifth Hokage did not answer immediately. Instead, she steepled her fingers on the rail of the watchtower, two blond tails of her hair ruffled by the high breeze. The younger kunoichi waited. Speckles of green whirled past them, the leaves of summer that were taken by the wind, leaving in the coming of the much colder autumn. Sakura did not like the feeling of déjà vu brushing against her chest. So many things in the village held so many memories she no longer wanted.

Piece by piece, and bit by bit

"So," Tsunade began, "what have you come to me for?"

Sakura turned rigid with attentive formality and respect. "I ask of you to become my teacher."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Your teacher is Kakashi, is he not?"

"He is, but only you can help me."

"That is unreasonable. I cannot teach you."

Unreasonable, she said, but to Sakura, it meant that she was too weak to be taught by Tsunade, the strongest kunoichi in the world.

"Life is the most unreasonable, Lady Hokage."

I'll break this down for you, real slow

There was soft shiing of metal. Tsunade did not bother to turn around. That little girl was crazy to try and threaten the Hokage. Sakura continued, fingering the dagger with her fingers.

"I can't find 'reason' anymore." She closed her eyes. Tears slid down. "Not when she died. All I feel is this dagger I hold. All I know is I must become the dream she always wanted me to be. For the wishes of the dead, don't refuse me my purpose," her voice trembled, but it was strong.

Tsunade whirled around, snapping, "I know what you seek. But I cannot allow your grief take over your senses!"

To her horror, the pink-haired girl sank the sharp edge of the kunai into her palm, the thick red liquid pooling in her cupped hand. Her face strained from the pain, Sakura gritted out her vow.

"On this hand, I swear I won't cry anymore! I won't be helpless, I won't be weak! Give me insanity, please and I won't ask for anything else!"

But I can't whisper all of this

"Don't be stupid, kid—"

"I am no child," the shaking girl cut her off. "I am no longer who I was. This time, I—I want to be strong."

To Tsunade, this blood oath would not be enough to convince her to teach the girl. But she understood the feeling of rejection and worthlessness. Becoming strong had stemmed from the immense resentment of being left behind, underestimated, when she was the little girl of the Third's three. Perhaps, they were the same in that aspect. How could she refuse then?

A heavy sigh hovered in the air. Tsunade approached the girl and bent down to meet her tearful gaze. She took her hand and with warming chakra, healed the cut. What remained was a thin, long scar that ran diagonal across her palm.

"Only a child would be so passionate," the Hokage murmured. A guilty expression flitted across her face. "But that makes me a child, too."

And I can't seem to let this go

Sakura sniffed in response.

"Then I will teach you, on one condition."

"What is it?"

"You will keep your allegiance to Konoha and the Sixth Hokage. You can never leave the village as a missing-nin. You shall never follow the same path as your former teammate."

"Then who's Sixth Hokage?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

A long silence. Then—

"I promise."

Sometimes Haruno Sakura had wondered how they came to this, having drifted far from their path of dreams, having gone into the bleakness that in the end was the one thing they ever shared. And there were other several times she had wondered, however, why they would have to meet, pitting hatred and bloodlust against each other, reduced to mere beasts invoked by one black passion.

This was no time to wonder. This was the time to feel the elation in finding an outlet of both misery and fury at last.

So I'll watch the matches, turn to ashes

She started forward and swung her arm in an arc, throwing a string of needles. The attack struck dead on—and his shadow clone went up in smoke. Without missing a beat, the kunoichi flipped forward to avoid the shuriken aimed at her from above. She flung more needles above at him and missed by a large margin. She could see the incredulity in his eyes.

She had been underestimated right from the start.

I'll watch the matches, turn to ashes

She allowed a bitter smile to surface as she thrust a hand out, fingers spread out. The needles stopped in midair at her command. In junction with the movement of her hand, the needles reversed its direction to stab Sasuke at the back. She commended him for still managing to land on his feet, when he should have been mostly immobilized by now. He was grim, steady even when she knew how painful those needles struck him.

"Those needles…they're chakra-controlled, aren't they?"

"Correct," she said, quite lightly, the same smile playing across her lips. She had waited for this moment to arrive. How long had she trained to meet him? How long had she perfected a technique that was unique to her only?

I can tell it's your turn, I smell the sulfur so clear

The needles left on the floor from earlier flew back to Sakura, who ran forward to catch them with ease. Sasuke managed to bring up his kunai in time to parry the needles that extended from her hand. As the steel slid off steel, the raven-haired ninja moved to kick her from the side; she ducked and did a leg sweep. He jumped out of her leg's path and taking advantage of her low position, kicked her at the chin. She was able to block his foot before it landed, but the force pushed her back a few feet—into the lake.

A jutsu was in perfect order for the situation. Sasuke's fingers moved, the speed of his technique faster than the blink of an eye, and he murmured the name. Before Sakura could escape, a circle of water surged up and crashed in on her. The water fell back down, sending waves that reached the shores of the lake. Sakura's figure was motionless before it fell in a broken heap.

A cracked log bobbed on the shaken waters, where her body should have been.

Sasuke was not taken back. The winds around him began to pick up, incited by his opponent's chakra. As his heavy bangs thrashed against his face, his crimson eyes searched for the chakra body that would pinpoint her location. When he found her, it was already too late; he was caught in her genjutsu. The wind grew even stronger and faster around him, carrying on its gusts the leaves of deep green.

"It's over," she said. The leaves twisted around him, its razor blades cutting into his cloak. Sakura watched in satisfaction as the flying leaves shredded his body, and readied her senbon for a closing attack.

And fire's a beautiful sound

However, there was a startling, ruthless tug on her low ponytail and she hissed in response. Before her narrowed forest eyes, his empty mantle fluttered to the ground, torn to scraps.

"You ruined my cloak," he said blandly behind her ear. The sight of lustrous pink hair triggered an unknown part of his mind, but he ignored it. His dagger cut her pale neck slightly enough to draw blood.

She snorted in response.

"Enough playing." He circled her, his kunai still pointed, until he faced her directly. He lifted his head to utilize his best weapon, one he had hoped to save for more important purposes than to punish one insignificant anbu. Sakura stilled, caught in his deadly gaze. "Mange Sharingan!"

And the wings that you burn turn to ashes my dear

The battle was decided.

Red.

She stood knee-deep in the thick red, circled endlessly by three black spheres. To her horror, the level of the crimson waters began to rise, and she frantically fought to keep her head above water, but she was finally submerged.

Black.

It was suffocating…thick and dark and cold at once. She willed herself not to recoil in the darkness, but her frame still shivered under the ominous atmosphere.

His voice permeated through the walls of her mind. "The world of the 'Grasping Moon.' All of space. All of time. Every matter. Everything is under my control."

She was hurled back into a platform, where leather straps secured her arms and legs on the icy cold cement. Black forms took shape as they neared—in the appearance of Sasuke, each holding a blade. One of them reached down and gripped her throat. She could not breathe.

"Now, for seventy-two hours, you will be stabbed by katanas continuously."

And ashes just fall to the ground

Deep in the corners of her psyche, she felt her entire body being ripped apart by sharp cold steel. The feeling drew up from her buried memories a similar experience, the one catalyst of all of her present actions.

Sakura looked about frantically, eyes wide in confusion. What was going on?

Her heart stopped.

There was Ino, smiling at her and so tangible—so alive. She reached her hand to see if her best friend was real, but her hand froze when she noticed her mouth turn upside down in a frown. Sakura looked behind her, and saw Sasuke, an image of his younger self, standing a distance away, specked in blood. A kunai, dripping of the ruby liquid, hung in his hand.

"Now, for twenty-four hours, you will relive the day…she died."

For Ino's memory, for Sakura's punishment. For one girl's smile, for the other's tears.

Sakura dared not to scream. She dared not to cry. It felt like three days, yet it finished within an instant.

Her consciousness returned to the outside world. The needles dropped from her limp fingers to the floor, tinkling as they collided with each other. Her knees buckled beneath her and she landed hard on the ground, her chest tightening so painfully that death was not such a terrible option to her at that moment. Blood sprayed from her lips.

Yeah we're only ashes

"You truly bloomed into a beautiful flower, Sakura…"

Nothing could be compared to the pain Ino suffered. She dug her fingernails hard into her palm to bring herself back in reality. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"This jutsu…is used to…break down one's…spirit," Sakura gasped as she slowly lifted her head, smirking even when blood seeped from her mouth. "But—I—won't—fail."

Her shaking hands rose to form a perfect arrangement of fingers, a seal she could still execute even with the tremendous loss of chakra from the Mange Sharingan. Concentrating the rest of her energy, she made the needles vibrate. Sasuke let out a shuddering breath as the needles on his back grew hot and collapsed to the ground beside her. The needles seemed to pierce him deeper, and he felt his body agonizing until the numbness spread.

Part by part and inch by inch

Black, ugly tattoos appeared and spread across his face in horrifying speed. His face twisted with immense pain, he stared at her disbelievingly, his red eyes shrinking into two crazed dots. The chakra attack incited the curse seal, but no chakra came out. Instead, the pain increased by tenfold, and his breaths came shorter and shorter. The crimson liquid gushed out of his mouth as he spoke.

"What are you doing to me?"

"Those needles were aimed at your chakra holes. I jammed your channels. Because chakra can't get out, your curse is now trying to push your energy through your flesh. Painful, isn't it?" Her weak chuckle was triumphant as she stretched her arm out to take his fallen kunai. She fingered the blood running out of her lips as she pushed herself to her feet. "Let's end this."

She ran her index finger on the shining metal, staining it with her blood. Her eyes lingered on it, spellbound by how deep the color of red was. On her other hand, her needles appeared.

"Say hello to the devil for me."

You'll have your mile when it's through

"No," Sasuke rasped out as he threw himself at her. This was not the ending he wanted; he made no intention for this to be the last act of his tragic play. There was still something he needed done, and no stranger would stop him. With an unusual display of willpower, he pushed the curse seal into recession, though he could not prevent the seizure attacks that rolled in after. Hanging onto the brink of consciousness, he rained down blows on her, enough to shatter her mask, until she managed to stab him with her needles. Grunting, he fell off her. With his body about to give out from the spasms, he frantically searched for the medicine. Meanwhile, the kunoichi brought herself up to a sitting position, panting and coughing. She crawled over to where the man, who lay at last effete and overtaken.

By the time he found the medicine and swallowed the pill, the situation was inescapable. Even if he tried to get away, the effect of the pain relievers would bring him down in a few yards. Sasuke bit on his lip hard in frustration. The nightmares the night before certainly did not help, sending cracks into his impenetrable barrier that could not be fixed. He could not delay his death any longer—he could never see them again.

Incinerate what's left of this

"Why won't you die?" she whispered as she looked down at him. "Why won't you give up, Sasuke-kun?"

The feeling of familiarity struck him at once.

She lifted the kunai high in the air with both arms for the final strike. Like the walls of Sasuke's mind, the fissures on the animal mask grew until finally, the hard material broke away, revealing her bruised face.

Sakura. Haruno Sakura.

For a brief moment, Sasuke's eyes turned sable. Sakura's remained the same dull jade.

And torch the part of me that's you

"All alone…"

"Huh?"

"The sadness of having a parent yell at you is nowhere near what he feels…"

"What's this…all of a sudden…"

"You're…annoying."

"Die, you bastard," she spat.

A scream of pent-up rage let loose from her lips as she brought down the knife.

So I'll watch the matches, turn to ashes

But the dagger never hit home.

Sakura hung her head, vainly pushing the kunai down, but it made no budge. She smiled thinly.

"I knew you would do this to me, Naruto…"

The sun finally rose from the horizon, its rays striking them to make three silhouettes, frozen in the middle of a silent play.

I can tell it's your turn, I smell the sulfur so clear

Then Naruto's intruding hand gripped tighter around her wrists. Sasuke leaned his head down, struggling to regain the breath he had lost. Sakura's rigid posture slumped.

"Stop it," the blond ninja murmured. It was a mediating tone, a perfect ring that penetrated the dissonance of utter silence. "We were friends…this isn't how it's meant to be."

And fire's a beautiful sound

"How can I stop? I can't—I…" Useless. Naruto would not allow her another opportunity to kill him. The weapon slipped from her fingers onto Naruto's hand. She fell back on the Hokage, giving into the exhaustion she had doggedly pushed away before. Her glazed green eyes came to a close, bloodied lips mouthing words that carried no sound. Dropping to his haunches, he slipped his arms around her and straightened up, staggering to the side under the weight, with her body tucked in his arms.

Sasuke noticed he was unhurt. "You…"

Somewhere behind them, the sound of a pop and smoke exposed the use of a Henge jutsu. Naruto's cerulean eyes dimly met his old friend's questioning gaze.

And the wings that you burn turn to ashes my dear

"One of my anbu ninja acted in my place," the true Hokage explained quietly. "I came just in time."

"He was too weak to be you," the other replied simply. "But I was fooled nonetheless."

The blond ninja could not help from smiling a little. "Didn't you know I was a prankster?"

"I…had forgotten," he sounded very tired. "Now you can kill me, an S-ranked criminal. Just a simple slash with a kunai, and then I'm done for."

Naruto shook his head slowly. "No, I can never do that. We're still not finished with what we started long ago. So…it's best now if we split."

Sasuke managed to scoff weakly. An unbidden epithet came to mind, but he crushed the thought of the all too familiar word. He weakly raised an eyebrow as he watched Naruto fish out a small porcelain container from his pocket, which he dropped next to Sasuke.

And ashes just fall to the ground

"Take the medicine. Hinata made it."

"I don't need your pity."

"I don't need you to be a jackass," his former rival retorted. "Consider this an old debt repaid."

Sasuke looked away. "Tch."

But as the Hokage walked away to recover his injured comrades, Sasuke realized a question tugged at him, something he desired to know from his former teammate. He called out weakly to Naruto's back.

"Aren't you afraid that I will come back again? That the next time, I will kill you? And her?"

The blond ninja halted.

"No, because I know for sure that we're gonna meet again. And you will never kill us. " In spite of the wretched situation, a feral grin crossed Naruto's face, a bellicose look that Sasuke could not see.

"Because we'll kick your ass before you can."

Yeah we're only ashes

The sudden drop in Sasuke's chakra informed Naruto that the Akatsuki ninja had promptly lost consciousness. As he walked back to the scene of carnage, he spotted his old enemy again, leaning against a tree.

"Those were some confident words you gave," Gaara crossed his arms. "Do you think you can keep them?"

"Do I have to answer that?" Naruto replied as he surveyed the area with a frown.

"Don't bother. They're all dead. Your replacement did not survive even with the acupuncture."

"Shit," the Konoha leader cursed. "That bastard just killed them all without a second's thought, killed the very people he once was apart of."

"It's not hard to kill people you once knew. I should know," was the wry reply.

"Nothing against you, Gaara, but you're crazy."

The sand ninja snorted in response.

"Still," Naruto bent his head low, murmuring angrily, "they wouldn't have died if I wasn't so stupid and left them to handle it by themselves."

"Don't trouble yourself with it. You didn't know Sasuke was going to ambush your team."

Despite Naruto's misgivings, Gaara was right. He left the team in hopes that they would steer Sakura off his track and distract her while he dealt with his own troubles.

"Still killing? Senbaku no Gaara…" Naruto walked closer until he saw him in clear view. Gaara glanced back down at the corpse.

"He was dead before I came," he said. "If I remember correctly, I wasn't being targeted by Konoha ninjas."

"I'm not stupid enough to go after you." Naruto bent down to examine the body. "I've seen him before; he was a hunter-nin. Do you know who killed him?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

The blond ninja stiffened. "You're joking."

"No I'm not. I saw him going south from here."

Gaara raised an eyebrow. Dust clouds rose from where Naruto originally crouched.

Back in the present, Naruto cursed again.

"There is nothing you can do now, Naruto. You'll just have to take refuge in a nearby village. She'll need medical attention."

"I know, I know. Where're you going, then?" The Hokage shifted Sakura's weight around until he carried her on his back.

"With you."

The stupefied look on his face was priceless. "Huh? What?! Aren't you some kind of wanderer now?"

"I'm not wandering without cause. The Akatsuki were affiliated to my father, and for the past couple years, I've been gathering information about them."

"So finding you here was no coincidence?"

"That's right. I won't let this opportunity go to waste." Gaara hung his head, smiling darkly.

"…Especially when I can finally kill my father's murderer."

Naruto had nothing to say to that. "All right, you can tag along."

"Yes or no, I would've still followed."

"Jeez, at least you got permission, right?"

This was quite troublesome.

His position in the higher echelons of Akatsuki had afforded him the privilege to not stain his hands so needlessly. He could have sent a lower-ranked ninja in to do the job—that should have been sufficient enough—but the problem was most of them were killed already. Those who did survive were both unwilling and inadequate for this task, so it was left to him to strike at the root of this situation and strike quickly. His master expected him back within the speed of a few days when he finished dealing with the little irritating bug that had been eating away Akatsuki followers.

The grey-haired ninja nonchalantly hacked the last standing Konoha ninja across the throat, killing him instantly. Two people were left standing at each end of the Hyuga dojo. He moved his head slightly, and his glasses reflected Hinata's collected but fiercely intense gaze.

I can tell it's your turn, I smell the sulfur so clear

"I apologize, Miss Hinata, but these guards kept me from seeing you."

The Hyuga heiress kept her composure. "Killing them will not grant you pardon, sir. What have you come here for?"

"I suppose I can tell you that much." He wiped the specks of blood from his cheek with a pleasant smile. "Well, you see, one of your clan has killed many Akatsuki followers recently. I've come to make sure that such a thing will not happen again."

And fire's a beautiful sound

Hinata narrowed her eyes. "Then I am here to ensure such a thing will happen again."

The man clicked his tongue. "You refuse to give me your cooperation. Your life could have been spared, Miss Hinata."

"I have no regrets. As leader of the Hyuga, I am the protector of my kin. I would rather die keeping you from him than to be shamed for my cowardice. I will not stoop to you...Mr. Kabuto."

And ashes just fall to the ground

"My, my, you've turned so stubborn. But I am short on time; I mustn't spare anymore of it on you than necessary."

"And I will do the same." Without taking her pale eyes off of him, she reached behind and grasped a kodachi. Trapped in her kimono, she could do no more than to parry him with a weapon. But she would not go down easily. After unsheathing her sword and throwing the scabbard aside, she fell into perfect stance.

"Come," she said.

He smiled wickedly.

The strike of metal against metal rang in the old walls of the dojo.

Yeah we're only ashes

If you're wondering why there was a large gap between lyrics, it's because that's where the guitar instrumental fits in. - Just kidding.

How did you like this second installment? Please tell me! =)