After We Caught Fire
By: Silver-Serval
Disclaimer- Still don't own it...
Summary- Sequel to I Caught Fire. After the fire, Sasuke's not living his life. Finally, he saves a girl named Kari who happens to save him in the long run. Angsty, sorta... Errr... SasukexOC.
Author's Note- I'd like to thank RockerDaisySempai, Kraazy4kai, and Ronin 32 for being the first to review my other, very first fic I Caught Fire, so THANK YOU! I really hope you like thins fic, but I"m not sure it will make much sense if you don't read my other fic, so yeah... Errr... Read and review please!
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A bright light seared the darkness and unhappiness of a young Sauke Uchiha's world. Three years ago this night, he had practically killed the only one to see him smile, the only one to watch him cry, the one he ended up pushing away to the brink of death, the one who died this very night...
A knock sounded at the door and Sasuke was wrenched from his thoughts. As he opened it, a smile voicing the world brought him back to the world.
"Sasuke! You need to get out of your house more!" The speaker was Sasuke's other, and now only female teammate, Sakura Haruno.
With her was the one and only Naruto Uzumaki,"Yeah Sasuke, lord of all that is stupid!" Naruto's smirk glowed as he thought of his fool-proof way of getting Sasuke out of the house. When Sasuke didn't rise to the name, Naruto opened his right eye slowly, then the other.
"Sasuke? You okay?" asked Sakura with a face of worry.
Naruto turned to her and whispered,"Lord of the stupid wants to be alone to weep and mope and all the other stuff he does when this day rolls around."
Sakura leaned forward and hugged Sasuke and whispered,"Sasuke, Aira wouldn't want you to be unhappy and not live your life for what happened that night."
Sasuke turned around and got ready to close the door,"I'll be out in a bit. I have to get dressed." It was then that Sakura actually looked at Sasuke. He was wearing only a pair of lounge pants and a shirt. He was barefoot too. Sakura just blushed and waved Naruto away muttering something about letting Sasuke get dressed and going to meet Lee and Hinata who just so happened to be waiting for them at the Hokage's office.
Sasuke saw Naruto smile and lunge down the road pulling a laughing Sakura behind him. Sasuke then closed the door and shuffled slowly back to his dark room. As he lay his head back down on his pillow, bits and pieces from the night of three years previous inched it's way back into his head...
Sasuke tilted Aira's face towards him and she now gazed freely into his coal eyes. Sasuke gazed into Aira's golden orbs, thoughts running through their heads along the lines of: Why? Why me? Why now? Aira blushed slightly and tried to turn her head, but Sasuke gently grabbed her burnt face and turned it towards him. Then with utter care, Sasuke leaned close and kissed Aira with such care that the world was filled with no wrong doing, as if nothing in the world would ever be wrong again... Their eyes were on fire and their bodies as relaxed as ever possible again. Sasuke broke the kiss and again hugged Aira who didn't try to pull away nor reject it, she hugged him back as hard as her deteriorating body would allow.
"Aira," began Sasuke,"I love you. And if I would have just told you earlier, then you'd still be okay now..."
Aira smiled at Sasuke,"But if you had told me then, we might not be able to say this. Sasuke, thank you..." Aira's eyelids drooped until only her ears could catch anything belonging to Sasuke, and ever then, his voice was shaking with sadness and self-anger. Suddenly through the quiet rainfall came a noise from a nearby tower Sasuke smiled sadly as he heard this. Aira, even in her dreams also heard this and smiled as well. Then a small violent shudder ran through Aira's body. Sasuke looked down to see Aira's eyes half open her hand reaching up to his face as the spasms got worse.
Finally, her hand made contact with his face and Aira said quiet confidently,"I love you Sasuke-kun. I'm very glad I got to die with your eyes in my sight. They sing of the dark night sky,... don't they...Sasuke-kun..." Aira's eyes unfocused and Sasuke felt her heart stop with a great sigh. The last shudder jerked though Aira's body, then all was still. Everything remained quiet as if in remembrance of the girl. Aira was one of the only girls who would have sacrificed her life to save another who had so recently made her so sad.
It was only when he was found nearly four hours later that Sasuke began to cry. The only thing he could think of was Aira's last words... "I love you Sasuke-kun. I'm very glad I got to die with your eyes in my sight. They sing of the dark night sky,... don't they...Sasuke-kun..." As Sasuke sat surrounded by his team and friends, a song was tuned in on the radio.
With that, Sasuke awoke. He stumbled out of bed and made his way slowly to the bathroom. After a while, Sasuke came back to the bathroom to find the deceased object of his sadness sitting on the edge of the bed.
His mouth opened in shock as he asked,"Aira? I-I thought you died..."
She grinned sheepishly,"Errr... I did..."
Sasuke blinked at the dead girl infront of him as she grinned like a crazed Cheshire cat,"Then why-when-how did you get here?"
She grinned lightly,"Magic, duh!"
"But- never mind, you wouldn't explain it to me since your dead and all. Meaning you're not real, you're a figment of my imagination."
Aira smiled at his frown,"You always were one to push away the truth. But if this is how you're going to act, then I'll go visit Naruto and Sakura and Kakashi. They loved my like we were family. Bye Sasuke!" Then she turned invisible yo watch her only love smack himself.
"Aira?" he asked,"Aira, please. I'm sorry... Come back!"
She poofed up behind him,"Yo!" He jumped in shock.
"Aira? That's really your ghost, isn't it?"Sasuke's question was more of a statement.
"Well, der!" Aira smiled as Sasuke finally got the gist of her meaning.
"Meaning," continued Sasuke,"I'm dying?"
Aira hung her head before asking,"You really don't know why I'm here. Do you?" Sasuke shook his head. Aira sighed,"You're slowly killing yourself by deserting you friends. Both Sakura and Naruto were here earlier, correct?" When Sasuke nodded, Aira's spiritual essence continued,"You left them behind the night I died. You left your city to fend for itself without you. Sasuke, if you really loved me, then you'd have kept going in life."
"Why?" asked Sasuke.
"Because. They care for you. Because I care for you." Aira's eyes glinted as she began to cry tears that would never again hit the ground. Tears that continued to streak the face of Sasuke's dearly beloved.
Sasuke fell to his knees and began to sob into the tiled floor,"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I'm so very sorry Aira..." As the clock began to strike midnight, Sasuke felt the arms slide around his shoulders and his face lift. He opened his eyes to find Aira's face infront of his.
"Carpe diem. Seize the day and live your life. For your friends, for your city, for me." Then Aira lifted his chin and kissed his slowly on the lips with as much passion as a dead spirit such as herself could muster. With that, Sasuke heard the clock strike the final gong and the essence of his beloved Aira disappeared into nothingness. As his head fell onto the ground one final thing crossed his mind, lyrics he couldn't quite place until sometime later. Lyrics from the song playing the night Aira died. Never caught my breath. Every second I'm without you I'm a mess. Ever know each other. Trust these words are stoked, my cuts aren't healing. Learning how to love...
The next morning Sasuke awoke with a smile gracing his lips. He stepped out of bed to find his, once Aira's, pet cats waiting to be fed. He grimaced and began to get dressed. As he pulled a shirt over his spiky hair, a picture caught his eyes. The picture that Kakashi-sensei made them take together. The only picture. Sakura smiling at the camera with a happy smile and Aira laughing at Naruto and Sasuke who were fighting as usual. Those were the good days, thought Sasuke unhappily. He slowly walked downstairs while running a hand through his unkept hair as he tried to tidy it. No use, again. He sighed and got ready to do his chores. Eventually, Sasuke grabbed his coat and walked out the door into the blinding pure white wonderland. Unknowingly, Sasuke gasped at the beauty of the pure snow. Eventually, he found himself walking to the local market where he usually bought his groceries. The trip was uneventful until he was walking home, that was when he spotted the girl resembling his beloved Aira.
He watched her fall from a blow to the face and then he stepped up and asked the man beating her up,"Sir, do you have any idea what you are doing?"
The man nodded,"Well, first this little lady here asked if I knew where the girl named Aira Chisushu was and I told the runt that the girl was dead and that she had been for a while. Then she asked if I knew where a few people lived and I didn't tell her cuz she was buggin' me and all!"
Sasuke sighed,"Leave her alone, she's with me."
The man nodded,"Of course, hve a good day Mr. Uchiha!" Then the fat, old man walked off.
Sasuke was walking off when the girl asked,"Sir, do you know where Aira Chisushu is?"
He turned around with a glare to deal to the poor girl when he saw her crying,"Yeah. Want me to show you to her?"
The girl nodded,"YEAH!" Then Sasuke led the girl to the graveyard where an angel stood.
"Here she is." said Sasuke with difficulty.
The girl blinked before saying hotly,"You're kidding, right? Just a random and cruel joke on a poor young girl looking for her sister?"
"S-sister?" stuttered Sasuke.
"Yeah, sister, I'm Kari Chisushu, Aira's sister. And that is not Aira's grave."
Sasuke sighed,"You really don't catch up to things quickly, do you." His question was more of a statement.
Kari blinked a few times before beginning to yell angrily,"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"
Sasuke smirked,"Is to me."
Kari glared at his cocky smirk and said, It's really not funny, where is my sister!"
Sasuke sighed unhappily,"I'm not kidding. This is what is left of your sister after three years in the grave."
"...THREE!" screamed Kari. Sasuke covered his ears in pain as the young girl began to cry her heart out. When Kari suddenly stopped crying and started couching, Sasuke picked her up out of the numbing snow and carried her to his house. Once there, Sasuke diagnosed her with a mild case of a fever. She sat on the couch as he hugged her close in an attemp to warm her up. (A/N- body heat does that ya know!)
"Hey, Kari, you feeling any better?" asked Sasuke carefully.
She tried to put on a brave face,"To tell you the truth, no. My sis is dead and I didn't know until three years afterwards."
Sasuke gave her a sad smile,"I know what you mean. But as Aira would say, live life to the fullest, don't dwell on what has already passed."
Kari giggled,"That's exactly what sis would say." Sasuke smiled the rare smile he'd only given to Aira and began to asked Kari questions about Aira's childhood and such while Kari countered with questions about the night Aira died and the few months beforehand. Kari eventually fell asleep in Sasuke's arms, and he, so happy to finally sleep, just lay there in the warmth of another.
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Somewhere, up above in the land of the eternal youth sat Aira gazing down to her sister and loved one,"Finally Sasuke, finally you begin to live your life again. 'Bout time too!" Aira smiled softly and said her blessings before running off to join her friends.
A young boy with long brown hair and long white-grey wings smiled at Aira,"Finally! You're late! Zabuza and Kaze went looking for you!"
Aira's beautiful wings twitched with hidden laughter,"Makes me feel so much better Haku, much better. And now I'm out of my happy craze!"
Haku's lips twitched as he tried valiantly to conceal a rising smile,"So you finally got Sasuke to live his life by running off to marry some overweight chick in Maine?"
Aira blinked,"Was that supposed to be funny. It wasn't, just to let you know."
"You know what I mean!" growled Haku playfully as he lightly hit her arm.
"Of course I know! I'm not that dumb! And of course, mission: Carpe Diem was a beautiful success!"
"Good." smiled another person happily,"Watching the love birds, I knew it. Zabuza owes me a dollar! Again!" Aira and Haku laughed as the man known as Zabuza gave the girl a dollar.
"Geeze Kaze, get over yourself." They fought a while longer as Aira walked back over to the visionary device.
After a while, Haku walked over asking,"So, you think this will last?"
At this, Aira smiled the sad knowing smile of hers and said,"Sasuke's finally got another chance at life. I doubt he'll give up easily again. Besides, he knows an outcome if the past does repeat itself."
Haku sighed and tugged her away from the sleeping couple and then also grabbed Kaze and Zabuza's arms and dragged them down the white as snow street to eat some pizza in the park.
A few years following this incident, Sasuke and Kari decided to date, whereas, eventually, they married and had two kids. A boy named Haku and a darling, yet mischievous daughter name Aira.
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Author's Note-
Silver-Serval- WHEEEEEEEEEEE! Another fic! Two in a month! Hell's yeah!
Sorrel- Mind your language author-lady.
Silver-Serval- Fine! Well, how'd you like it? If you don't understand it, then read the story that came before this. It's called I Caught Fire. I really hope you liked it. Took me forever to write up too... especially since my brother sorta... lemme call it: DELETED IT! He got in trouble though, so all is well. I'd love constructive criticism! Thanks! Review please?