Itonami: Happy 20th chapter for me! Yay!
MORE SasuSaku! I guess it is the author's job to satisfy her readers. Yes, it is a blessing and a curse all at once. More SasuSaku coming your way. But really, I need to get started on the Akatsuki thing and finish this thing up. I've got a story idea for a Neji x Sakura.
Thank you for your reviews! Love you all!
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto.
Chapter 20
Sasuke was standing right in the middle of the Uchiha courtyard, looking about the mess and overgrown plants. The house itself wasn't bad, so Sakura had reassured him that she would clean up well. Sasuke had the job of picking up the outside.
Taking a broom, he started with sweeping the litter to one corner and picking up the fallen leaves. With ease and diligence, the Uchiha quickly cleaned the yard and proceeded to rid it of the weeds. He was on his hands and knees, pulling out each irritating plant. He almost thought that his back was getting sore. The weather was mild though, and he could be glad for that.
"Not done yet?" A voice asked cheerfully, causing him to look up quickly from his work. He came face to face with Sakura, who was also on all fours. They were so close that the tip of his nose brushed against hers slightly. He blinked rapidly, a way of displaying his surprise. When did she get so good at sneaking around? Sasuke thought, almost in a disapproving manner.
"Ne, Sasuke, that's a flower. Here, I'll take care of that." Sakura ignored his expression and nudged his hand out of the way. A small budding flower was peeking from the soil and the kunoichi gently removed the flower by its roots and carried it a garden that Sasuke had cleaned. Patting the dirt around it securely, she rubbed her dirty hands on her apron.
She stood and walked over to the raven-haired man. "Do you want to look around?" She offered a hand, which he took to get to his feet.
Sasuke allowed himself to be led into the house, a place that he hadn't dared to set foot in since now. The aroma of the place was still vaguely familiar to his senses. Soon, it was Sasuke who was leading Sakura. He automatically ventured to his own room from his youth. Everything was how he remembered leaving it and there was even a drawing was still on his low table. Opening his closet, moth-eaten blankets were folded neatly inside along with some clothes. Reaching out hesitantly, Sasuke lifted out one of his black shirts. They were so small that a part of him wondered when he had ever been so small.
Sakura gave him all the time he wanted to reacquaint with his house. After his room, the last Uchiha went to his parents' and everything was left there. Even his mother's sleeping yukata was folded neatly on top of the futon. His eyes stung with emotion as moisture threatened to fall from his obsidian eyes.
The last room he looked at was his brother's. Itachi's room was somewhat close to his own and the back window had a full view of the back, which was a huge valley, like a dimple on the earth's face. Itachi had left every single thing behind. Not even one thing was taken from the room. Perhaps the former Akatsuki member did not want to remember where he had come from.
Sasuke had spoken too soon. Hidden underneath a pile of blanket and futons in his closet, an empty picture frame was safely nestled. He recognized it almost instantly. In the frame, there was supposed to be a picture of himself and the late elder brother. Itachi wasn't too fond of taking pictures, but Sasuke had begged until his brother had grudgingly given in. The picture was gone. Had Itachi taken it when he left? No one knew the answer now.
"Sasuke, do you want to stay here? I'll go get the lunch I packed." Sakura said softly, gently shifting his attention back into the present. He nodded. When the medic-nin left and closed the door for his privacy, Sasuke knelt on the floor.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of sandalwood and soap. His brother—Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut to recollect how Itachi had smelled like—was not one to be concerned about appearance. He had always smelled of the woods, since that was where Itachi liked to train. Sasuke also remembered that there was a hint of musk, like perfume. Maybe his brother hadn't been as uncaring as he had always believed.
"I've always wondered what you did in here, niisan." Sasuke said aloud to the room.
The room was very neat and organized, not single piece of paper out of place. He noticed that Itachi always folded his futons in a strange way; he folded it like origami. Sasuke smiled at that. It looked as if Itachi had gotten that artistic side of his mother. His father was rather a practical man.
After an hour of dwelling in Itachi's quarters, he slid open the shoji door and stepped into the hall. Sakura had been waiting patiently for him. She was carrying two bentous—a pink one for her and a blue one for Sasuke—and she gestured to the kitchen. Sitting down at the table, they both lifted the lids to their lunchboxes and snapped apart the wooden chopsticks.
A strange fetish of the Uchiha was tomatoes. Apparently, that was his main diet. Sakura had found out the information long ago when they were still gennins. In the rice that Sasuke was currently eating was sprinkled with neat cubs of ripe tomatoes, adding color to the plain meal. He smiled as he ate. What did he know about her that most people didn't? He was determined to find out by the end of the day. He just needed to figure out how to go about accomplishing his mission.
"Sakura," he spoke, breaking their silence, "do you write in a diary?"
The woman addressed looked at him strangely, but her eyes were smiling. "I think almost all women do."
"Aa." Mission failed. A second try was in need. He would try again.
"Why do you ask?"
"Nothing." He answered stiffly, not knowing how to react.
"Oh." Sakura's smile slid off her face as she gazed at her food. He could taste the disappointment that surrounded her. Sasuke hated feeling such things.
"The food tastes good, Sakura. Thank you." He said, not unkindly, his tone of voice far different than the one he had used previously.
She brightened immediately. "You liked it? I'm glad."
"Where did you learn how to cook?" He asked. This time, he would surely succeed.
Sakura seemed to be thinking. "My grandmother. She was a wonderful cook. Everybody learned from her."
Okay, maybe that didn't go as well as planned. What was something that no one knew about her? That only he could keep to himself. Something that he could hold onto and tease her about. He would pursue later. Right now, she probably wanted to get back to cleaning.
As soon as he thought those words, Sakura called from another room. Apparently, she had already left the kitchen and had left him to ponder by himself. "Sasuke, can you get that mop? This room is mud-filled! …Eek, is that a dead rat? That's disgusting!" She exclaimed various things aloud as he trekked to the room that she was in with her desired mop.
He helped minutely here and there since she was doing most of the work. At times Sasuke hindered her work and eventually she all together banished him from the rooms. By the end of the day, the place was so spotless that he wondered if he was hallucinating.
"Well, I'm exhausted." She stretched. Lying down on the tatami-covered wooden floors, she closed her eyes and sighed.
"Go to sleep. I'll wake you up in thirty minutes or so." He said quietly, looking towards the low sun position. It was six in the evening. In under a minute, the petite woman fell asleep, breathing softly on her side facing him. Sasuke looked at her closely and reached over to brush a strand of stray pink hair out of her face. He hadn't been able to get a secret out of her. This would be his first failed mission.
"Sasuke, to be strong means to become isolated and arrogant."
"By protecting those precious to you, you become strong."
"Are you willing to love? Love makes everything possible."
"People hate those who are skilled."
"I will be acknowledged by everyone."
"I love you with all of my heart!"
Thoughts swam around in his head, and Sasuke fell back next to the sleeping Sakura. Turning to his side so that he could see her, he rested his head on his hand. The Uchiha smiled softly at Sakura. "You sleep so peacefully. I envy you…"
The room was lit with the rays of the golden sun as the evening passed away. It was definitely past thirty minutes, but Sasuke did not want to disturb his companion. Instead, his mind decided to wander.
The day before the picnic, Sasuke had gone back to Tsunade. She had received the message containing the village elders' decision on his matter. Unexpectedly, he was actually feeling quite nervous as he calmly walked to her office. In her hand was the scroll that determined his sentence.
"Sasuke, the elders…have not granted my request for your early dismissal from your punishment." Tsunade said with disappointment quite laced in her voice.
He nodded. "I see. Then am I still going to participate in defending Konoha?"
The Godaime looked away. "The elders are still debating about that. They think you are still a threat to Konoha's safety. I'm sorry."
"Iie, Hokage-sama. Thank you." He bowed and turned to leave but the Hokage stopped him by raising a slender hand.
"No matter what the elders' decision, Sasuke, I will allow you to go to the battlefield. We need all the shinobi available."
He crookedly smirked. "I would worry about Sakura if I couldn't go."
She grinned. "Being open about your feelings, ne? Well then, you would definitely have to go now. I can't keep an eye on her all the time."
"She was disappointed about being assigned a medic position."
The elder woman sighed. "Ah, she came to talk to me about that. Sakura is a genuine medical ninja, far gifted than I could be. I realize that she has superb uses besides the medical routines, but this time, I need her to be our leader. We have excellent ninjas assembled such as the newlywed Hyuugas, Naruto, Lee, and you. Our intelligence unit lead by Shikamaru has had more success missions in the last five years than our previous ones in ten. Sakura alone carries the burden of healing and medical knowledge. Hyuuga Hinata has only begun training in the field.
"Do you see her importance? I fear that this war is going to be bloody. Konoha needs to take care of our wounded. They have the best chances with her."
Sasuke's fist clenched and his eyes were turned to the floor. "Relying so heavily on Sakura wouldn't be good for her."
Tsunade clasped her hands behind her back. "Yes, there is that issue also. I am going there personally to be a medic."
He snapped his head in surprise at her words. "You are going?"
She chuckled at the Uchiha's facial expression. "Hokage is a boring, tiring routine. I need some change of scenery."
Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed. "What about the village? Wouldn't you be needed here?"
The woman sighed and waved a hand. "You just need to make me feel guilty about leaving the village alone, don't you? Anyway, I'm leaving Jiraya in charge."
"I see."
"Sasuke," she said, her voice growing deeper in seriousness, "your chakra will be returned to you. I can promise you that. You have proved yourself most trustworthy. The village has already forgiven you for what you've done. And I have too."
He bowed formally and smiled a bit. "Thank you."
"I'm sorry to have been the herald of bad news." She shook her head. "I'm probably keeping you from important things to do. You'll come to the picnic tomorrow?"
"Hai." Sasuke bowed again and left the office.
A deep ache formed in his chest the rest of the day. He had been hoping to have back his chakra. It always felt that he was missing a part of him. As a ninja, it shamed him at times not to have his chakra. Carelessly, he walked through the crowd, not really caring if he happened to bump into someone.
And as Fate would have it, he did just that.
He knocked someone backward with a strong shoulder. Sasuke would have kept on walking but he caught a flash of pink. He twisted around and saw Sakura rubbing her shoulder sheepishly.
Immediate guilt washed over him. "Are you alright?"
Sakura grinned and nodded. "Of course. I just didn't watch where I was going. I'm sorry."
He smirked. "Where were you headed to?"
"The market. I'm out of groceries." She shrugged.
"Aa."
"You want to come, Sasuke? I'd like the company. I usually go shopping with Ino, but she was busy today." Sakura smiled warmly, sending awful tingling sensations throughout his body. He only replied with a nod.
Sounds of children shouting goodbye echoed in the evening air. Distant doors could be heard shutting, some quietly while others loudly. Then, the night was silent. The wind sang a soft song of a passerby as it blew by the clean Uchiha estate.
It was getting late and Sasuke himself was getting a little tired. Getting up, he transported to his apartment and grabbed some pillows and blankets. Sakura probably wouldn't mind sleeping in the Uchiha house. He didn't want to wake her up anyway.
He reappeared beside her sleeping form again. Laying out a futon, he gingerly placed her on top of it and covered her up with a blanket. Sasuke decided to look around the house again before going to sleep.
Walking out into the cool night, his eyes spotted something familiar. The stone walls which were decorated with the Uchiha emblem caught his eye. The one directly in front of his house was marred with old age and dust, but also with spidery cracks from a focal point. Sasuke's curiosity heightened and he walked to it barefoot.
His fingers reached out to touch the cracks. They traced each one to the center hole. "Niisan, it's hard to believe…" The last Uchiha whispered.
This incident had happened long ago when his brother had gotten angry at being accused of murdering one of the Uchiha clan's finest. It was also the day when Sasuke first witnessed the Mangekyou Sharingan burning with hatred towards his father. A shiver involuntarily went down his spine.
"I don't have time to play with you."
Sasuke sighed. There was no use in dwelling on the past anymore. His life now fed on his future.
Going back inside, he spread his own futon near Sakura and sprawled on it in an eagle-spread fashion. His unruly hair splayed out on his pillow. His dark bangs tickled the side of his nose. He felt satisfaction that the pink-haired jounin was sleeping close by.
In the morning, Sasuke woke up to sounds of sizzling. His nose twitched at the scent of eggs and sausages. Sitting up with grace, he looked down to see that he had fallen asleep in his clothes. Sakura's futon was folded neatly in a corner of the room.
"Are you awake, Sasuke?" A melodious voice called from the kitchen.
He got out of bed and automatically went to the kitchen. There she was cooking eggs and sausages with a box of cereal on the low table which was situated in the center of the room. "Where did you get all of this?"
She turned to look at him and giggled. "So this is how you look like after you sleep? I guess Uchiha Sasuke has some faults after all."
Sasuke snorted. He never looked good in the morning. "I'm going to wash up."
"Breakfast is almost ready. Hurry back." She teased.
He smirked and headed to the bathroom. It was a wonder that everything besides the electricity was working. Even the hot was in perfect working condition. Sasuke took a quick shower to freshen up and brushed back his wet hair as best he could. His reflection reminded him that his mother used to tease him about his hair.
"Your hair represents a very cute bird. Do you see its tail feathers back here?"
Surely enough, the back of his hair always stuck up in odd angles. Sasuke remembered scowling playfully at his mother. Itachi had his mother's hair, smooth and silky. He remembered how soft his mother's felt against his face whenever she hugged him.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he traveled back to the kitchen to find all the food set and Sakura sitting across from his seat. "I was wondering if you'd drowned in there. I was debating whether to go in and see if you were alright."
"That would have been nice." He commented offhandedly as he sat. Sasuke smirked at her slackened expression.
"Were you just suggesting something?"
He shrugged one shoulder mysteriously. "Perhaps."
Sakura stuck out her tongue. They commenced eating. "So, how come you didn't wake me up yesterday?"
"You were sleeping well. I didn't want to disturb you." He said while taking a bite out of his sausage.
"The futons are too new to have been from the house."
"I got them from my apartment."
Sakura sighed and smiled softly at him, almost shyly. "Thank you…" Her eyes darted away.
He swallowed his mouthful of food. "It wasn't any trouble."
She shook her pretty head. "No, not about that."
A dark eyebrow arched up in an inquisitive manner. "Then?"
"For not sleeping in the same futon…as I did." She said the words very awkwardly, as if it was a tongue-twisting rhyme.
Sasuke's mouth went dry and he took a drink of water. "Is that important to you?"
Sakura tired to smile. "I know it may sound strange. I know that we slept in the same bed those years ago when Naruto's ANBU team were given the mission to search for you and Itachi. To me, that was wrong. I shouldn't have done that.
"Something as little as sleeping with another person beside me bothers me." She laughed hesitantly. "I've always been like that. My aunt…was a prostitute. She almost ruined her life. I never want that to happen to me. Ever. The only person that I will be close to will be my husband." Sakura's voice was firm and he believed her.
A light went off in Sasuke's head. His mission was completed a day later than promised, but it was completed anyhow. Sakura was bothered by sleeping close to another of the opposite gender. Sasuke would be protective over this secret. His secret and hers.
The Uchiha nodded. "No one else knows?"
She shook her head again. "No, you're actually the first person I've admitted this to."
"I will respect your privacy and your beliefs." He said quietly. "It's the least I can do."
Sakura seemed to brighten up the entire kitchen with her smile. "You're the best, Sasuke."
"Hn," he grunted to his plate, "I know."
He was hit by a piece of sausage. Courtesy of Haruno Sakura.
Author's notes: Chapter 20 is done! This took me SO long to finish. Writer's blocks everywhere! I enjoyed it though. Glad you liked my previous chapter. I liked it too!
Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed! Wow, I'm amazed. I like reading long reviews! Some of you are so cute when you write me reviews. They are such a pleasure to read.
Sasuke x Sakura pairing only in this chapter. If you were disappointed, I'm sorry.
This story will probably conclude…for real. I know I bluffed once, but this time I think it needs to end. I dragged it out way to long. It went so far off my summary that it's starting to bug me to no end. I'm also getting started on a Neji x Sakura story now. I need to finish this one and get the other one up as soon as its first chapter is written. Probably three more chapters? I'll probably need two chaps to wrap up the Akatsuki thing, and maybe an epilogue of some sort.
Hope you enjoyed this one and thank you for reviewing!