Sakura and the Prince of Flowers
By Miss Angel Maxwell

Free Talk- This chapter was a tricky one. It's a bit heavy on the SasuSaku fluffiness, so I hope it's not too boring. I guess this story is turning out to be a bit more romantic than I had originally planned. I kind of like the idea of SasuSaku (though I'm not opposed to NaruSaku, LeeSaku, or even GaaSaku either). I just adore Sakura. A bit off topic, I was listening to Hey Jude a lot while I wrote this chapter. Gotta love the Beatles. Please comment and tell me what you think! And thanks for the support.

Chapter 13: "The Uchiha Boy Finally Lost His Mind"

"Awww… Come on, Itachi! Play with me," little Sasuke pleaded, his tiny hands tugging on the hem of his brother's shirt.

"Sorry little bro," the older Uchiha chortled, patting four-year old Sasuke of the head. "I'm just too busy to play today. Why don't you go find one of your little friends to play with? It's a beautiful day out."

The black-haired tot sniffled sadly. He was too ashamed to tell his older brother that he didn't really have any friends he could play with. "But… but… Itachiiiiii…." He whimpered.

Itachi smiled apologetically, but didn't speak another word before heading out the door of the Uchiha household, leaving poor little Sasuke to play all by himself. The mother of the family came up behind her younger son and stooped down to hug him dearly.

"Oh, my sweet little Sasuke," she cooed. "I'm so sorry your brother never has time to play. But one day you will be a very great ninja too, and you'll be just as busy as he is. You should take his advice and go play outside, while you're still young and carefree."

"Okay mom," he said softly. Then he quickly put on a happy face so that his mother wouldn't worry about him, and skipped out the door.

"Stay inside the areas where I said it's okay to play, dear," Mother Uchiha called after him.

Sasuke said he was going outside to meet his friends and play, but once he left his home all he felt like doing was moping. He meandered through the intricate web of streets in Konoha, kicking a small stone for several blocks. It was the safest and friendliest part of town, full of smiling citizens going about their daily business, yet the little boy felt totally alone. He strayed away from the main streets and headed out towards the expansive meadows at the city's edge.

An endless carpet of tiny yellow and white flowers spread out in front of Sasuke. It was so remarkable he had to rub his eyes to make sure they weren't playing tricks on him. "Whoa," he uttered. "I don't remember ever being to this field before. It's so pretty." He walked out towards the middle of the meadow, taking in the sweet scent from the flowers as he moved. Then, having found a nice spot, he flopped down on the ground and lay back, letting the pure blue sky fill his eyes. "I wish Itachi was here," he sighed pitifully. He closed his eyes to stave the tears that were about to ooze from the corners of his eyes. When he opened them back up he was startled to see the round smiling face of another child above him.

"Hey there!" the young stranger greeted. His voice sounded cheerful, but his eyes seemed strangely sad. His hair was black and messy, and on top of his head was a woven crown of flowers. "You seem blue. Are you alright?"

Sasuke was at a loss for words. "I… uh… I don't know… I just came out here because by big brother couldn't play and I was bored."

"I'll play with you!" the mysterious boy chirped. "I'll be your brother today! C'mon let's go pick flowers! There's tons of 'em so we don't have worry about running out." Without any hesitation, he grabbed Sasuke's hand and yanked him to his feet, then ran through the field of flowers hand-in-hand with the bewildered young Uchiha. Being pulled along, with the cool wind kissing his face, and the colorful swirl of flowers all around him, Sasuke's heart soon felt light in his chest. When his newfound playmate collapsed in a joyful heap, he couldn't help but join him, rolling in the grass and giggling.

"You're nice," he said. "It would be fun if you were my brother, too… We could be the three Uchiha brothers! Sasuke, Itachi, and… and… What did you say your name was, again?" He looked over at the messy-haired little boy, who was now strangely silent. The sky, too, seemed to have suddenly turned somber, dark and overcast. Something warm and wet fell on Sasuke's shoulder. "I think it's starting to rain," he said glumly. "Maybe you could come play at my house, though."

Again, his friend didn't respond, but now his calm, indifferent expression had turn to one of wide-eyed terror. Sasuke turned and looked at his shoulder and was immediately just as disgusted. It wasn't rain that had fallen on him, but a huge glob of gooey, yellowish-green slime. Craning his neck upwards, the little boy was confronted by a huge, hairy snout, lined with massive yellow teeth, and dripping thick, putrid saliva. He tried to scream, but a vile, sickening odor had suddenly infiltrated his lungs, making him cough and choke.

He was frozen in place with fear. This thing is going to kill us both! It was the end, he knew it. Just as he was preparing to be torn into bloody rags, however, the hideous beast leapt into the air, its dark hairy body arching over Sasuke and the flower boy, and crashing back down several meters away, sending a spray of blossoms into the air. It ran a little farther and was now hunched over something that was hidden amongst the flowers. Despite being utterly terrified, a strange curiosity washed over little Sasuke, and he had to see what the monster was coveting.

"Don't do it," the still nameless boy pleaded. "I don't want you to get hurt."

But his words had no effect. Sasuke was being drawn to where the monster crouched by some unknowable force. The smell was so revolting that he had to cover his nose with his hand and carefully breathe in through his mouth as he stepped lightly. Then he got a good glimpse of the beast. His hand dropped and he drew in one sharp, disgusting breath. There, beneath the creature's gigantic claw was a little girl, bloodied and unconscious, possibly even dead, her pink hair entangled in its gnarled talons. The sight of her crushed little body was just too much for Sasuke. His heart was surging and he thought for sure he was going to be sick, but instead he fainted. Everything became black.

And then everything was white. Suddenly yanked out of his nightmare, teenage Sasuke found himself, and everything around him covered in a blindingly white crust of snow. It took him a moment to get the full sensation of just how cold it was and he shivered madly. As he traveled further north, the weather had been growing increasingly cold, but last night was the first time it had actually snowed.

"I guess this will slow me down a bit," he grumbled. He'd just woken up, but already he felt cranky. Standing up and steadying himself on the rock that had been his bed, Sasuke vigorously beat his pants and jacket to remove the caked on snow. "Damn snow… Distracted me… made me forget what I was dreaming about before I… Oh my god! The monster! The weird little boy! The… the girl!"

The nightmare came back to Sasuke like a swift kick to the stomach. That final image of the monster bent over a pink-haired little girl burned in his brain, clear as crystal. He knew, of course, that it was Sakura.

During his waking hours, she was all that Sasuke ever thought about. He wondered, all the time, where she was at that moment and what she was doing. He worried about her health and her safety. Was she all right? Was her baby all right? He also thought about what happened that day, thirteen years ago, when Sakura was attacked by one of the Children of the Kyuubi.

"I've got to think about something else," he sighed to himself. I keep dwelling on that day… wondering exactly what happened… It's no wonder that I'm now having dreams about it. But it seemed so real, seeing Sakura lying there… I can understand how my subconscious came up with the monster. It looked exactly like the one Naruto and I saw in the woods that day. But I didn't even know Sakura when she was that little. And that freaky flower boy… Where did he come from? I don't think I've ever met anyone like that in my entire life.

Sasuke felt like he had no time to sit around and dwell on his dream, though he wasn't exactly sure why. It was true that the snow would slow him down. But it wasn't as if he were on any sort of schedule. He'd been pushing himself, traveling at a grueling pace for weeks, maybe even months, in search of the witch doctor named Rock Shin. Honestly, Sasuke was not even completely sure of why he was carrying out this mission. Hadn't this been Naruto's mission? Sasuke distinctly recalled having objected to this whole search. And yet here he was.

At first, he had told himself that he was doing it to help Sakura, to find a way to protect her against the monster that hunted her, or at the very least learn more about what that monster was. But now, so many days away from any signs of humanity, the Uchiha's mind was beginning to churn with doubt and confusion and anxiety. As certain things became clearer in his mind, it cast other things that he'd once been sure of into shadows. The further away from Konoha he got, the more he felt like he was running away from something.

Sasuke loved Sakura. He'd loved her since they were just kids. Back then his soul had been so consumed with revenge that it took him until he was a young man to realize just how much she meant to him. Sakura had always been the one, her kind words encouraging him, her tender touch healing him, her gentle smile giving him hope. Even now, when she was miles away and carrying another man's child, he had never loved her more. He wasn't upset or disappointed in her for having slept with Lee. In the depth of his heart, what Sasuke longed for most was to be a family with Sakura and the baby, to be the man that her child would call "daddy."

Sakura loved him too. Or at least she once did. Sasuke couldn't deny the growing bond between Naruto and Sakura. The loving embrace they'd shared in the hospital was proof of that. Perhaps that was why Sasuke was running, because he couldn't deal with his growing fears that he'd lost the woman of his dreams to Naruto forever, that he'd never be part of a family with her. If I'd only realized how I felt sooner and done something about it, he often thought, she'd be in my arms right now. I've lost my chance forever, haven't I? Now, there's nothing left for me but to wander aimlessly… looking for a man who may very well be dead now.

Once he was thoroughly awake, Sasuke lit a small fire using his fire breath and began to dry out his clothes. Wet clothes in subzero temperatures could kill a guy just as surely as any ninjutsu. So could starvation. As he crouched silently next to his campfire, the young shinobi's stomach made a sound like a growling tiger, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything in over a day. His food supply was running out. He hadn't brought a large amount of food with him simply because he could always find food in the wild, and lugging it around would just weigh him down. What he hadn't counted on, though, was that food would be so scarce once he got up into the mountains. The trees were bare and the streams were frozen, not a berry or fish to be found.

Hesitantly, he pulled a salted and preserved fish from his bag and spitted it on long stick to heat over the flame. It would be shameful to starve to death while I still have food left, he thought. He nibbled his meager meal slowly, trying to make the most of it, but when he finished his belly still felt empty. Then he put on his warm dry jacket and scarf, put out his fire, and slung his bag across his shoulder. Today would take him still farther north, higher into the mountains, further away from Sakura and Naruto.

It snowed virtually every day after that, the flakes growing thicker and thicker, the drifts getting higher, the winding growing so strong and cold that it cut Sasuke's face like a kunai. Even with gloves and thick socks on, his extremities were always numb. It soon got to the point that he had to stop and light a fire three times a day just to thaw out and regain sensation in his fingers and toes. Then, about two weeks after the night he dreamed about the field of flowers, Sasuke's food ran out. He was starving to death, and the clothes he had brought were no longer sufficient to keep out the excruciating cold. A desperate voice from somewhere deep inside his head kept telling the Uchiha to turn around and go back to Konoha, but he ignored it. Sasuke was marching to his death and he knew it.

When the last of his preeminent strength finally gave out, it was not as terrifying as he'd expected. The cold must have reached his brain, because he could no longer feel it on his skin. It felt warm and tingly. And his stomach, which had been empty for days, was no longer raw and on fire, but dull and warm, as if he'd just eaten a warm bowl of soup. When Sasuke finally collapsed, he didn't even feel himself hit the ground. There was nothing but white all around him.

His mind had frozen into a state of sedated, peaceful dementia. What will they be saying back in Konoha? he mused as he lay paralyzed in the snow. Ah, the Uchiha boy finally lost his mind. He's run off into the mountains to die. He didn't really mind if they remembered him like that. Then, even his conscious thoughts shut down, and she was there, waiting for him. As he stared blankly into the whiteness, his eyelashes caked with ice, Sasuke could see Sakura waiting for him with a gentle smile and sparkling sea green eyes.

"Sasuke," her voice came lilting into his subconscious. As her form continued to materialize and her body swayed closer, he could see that Sakura was cradling something small against her red bosom. "Sasuke come here. Come and hold our baby." She continued to draw closer to him, light shining all around her head, until she was almost close enough to touch. It was too much for his heart to take. He wanted to reach out to her, but he couldn't lift his arm. Then, as quickly as she had approached him, Sakura began to retreat back into the white. Sasuke couldn't even call out to her. She simply vanished.

Once again, there was nothing but white. Was he finally dead?

Something else was coming into focus, not ethereal and glowing like Sakura, but solid and real. He was alive and he was wrapped up in a warm, dense fur blanket. There was a real face floating above him, not a beautiful, smiling, green-eyed, face, but a wizened old face, with round, long-lashed black eyes and enormous bushy grey eyebrows. It was Lee as a little old man.

"Rock Shin?" Sasuke breathed, surprised he had strength enough to speak.

The old man smiled the same way Lee used to. "That's right," he said in a slightly squeaky but energetic old voice. "And you are the Uchiha boy, Sasuke. I've been waiting thirteen years for you to come and see me."

To be continued…