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Sakura No Yousei- Chapter 16: Sleep Just To Dream Her
It was cold, freezing in fact. Her skin crawled with the icy moisture in the air and her eyelids shuddered as an immense pain shot through her leg, riding her nerves till her head pounded fiercely. She bit her lip, tasting the crimson blood that had previously stained her lips earlier during the skirmish. She attempted to move and felt her head spin uneasily and her stomach return the favor and she bent over to wretch.
As her stomach burned with the sudden emptiness, Sakura lifted her hands to attempt to wipe at her mouth, but found her hands tied tightly around her back. She suddenly became aware of her surroundings as she moved slightly, spitting the nasty taste of her previous dinner from her mouth. Her ears strained against the silence. It was eerily dark, silent, and cold.
Her ears picked up on a noise and she shuddered. A deafening scream rang through the dark room she sat in, filtering in through a small barred window high on the stone walls. Her breath hitched as she faintly heard a whimper beside her. Her eyes were heavy and stung, craving to be closed, but she strained against the darkness to make out a figure hunched in a grimy corner of the room. She fixed herself to face her company in the cramped space and opened her mouth to speak but found her throat dry and instead a small grunt emitted from her mouth.
It seemed enough to get her companions attention and Sakura could see a pair of red eyes lock onto hers. She wasn't sure if she was correct in assuming she knew those eyes, but the quickened heartbeat in her chest told her she did.
" Sa-Sasuke?"
" Don't… don't leave, don't go away, please…"
It was Sasuke. She knew his deep voice anywhere. But his voice shook and his wide eyes surveyed her with fright. She leaned onto her knees to move forward but felt the shocking pain radiate from her leg and she collapsed onto her side. She let out a gasp of pain as she curled into a ball, the wet tears mingling with the dirt on her face. The chilly tears streamed down her face and she bit her cheek as every muscle in her body tensed with the agonizing twinge of her nerves.
" Sakura?"
She heard his voice return to normal. He seemed to respond to her almost immediately as she muffled a strained sob. She felt chilled fingers sweep over her waist as she was lifted carefully into his lap. He supported her leg carefully as he set her neatly in his crossed legs and cradled her shaking body.
" Sasuke, I'm soo scared." Her voice came in gasps as she clenched her eyes closed, the throb in her leg ceasing slowly as the pressure was removed. His gentle movements of his fingers through her hair made her tears fall faster as her fright overtook her. She was always safe in his arms, but what would happen when she couldn't feel him anymore.
" Sakura, it's okay, we'll get out of here, I swear to you."
Sakura nodded her head against his warm chest, their body heat mingling and making the nippy air more bearable. Sasuke leaned down to brush his lips over her forehead chastely as they tried to keep each other warm. His rough fingers swiftly undid the tie on her wrists and she immediately flung her arms around him. Sakura wrapped herself in him, turning carefully to face him and stretched her legs weakly at his sides. He embraced her closely, his arms held tight to her slim waist.
" I see our prisoners are awake. Get to you're feet, scum. Lord Orochimaru wishes to see our guests, and he doesn't like to wait." A tall dark man stood at the door. Sasuke couldn't tell if it was Itachi, but something in his gruff voice told him it wasn't his brother. Sakura struggled to her feet, trying to buy time, pulling Sasuke up with her as she half leaned against the wall for better balance.
If they could spare even a minute, it might be enough to escape. But she didn't know how much chakra they had between them, and protesting now would only increase their chances of dying in their dark, cold prison. Sasuke pulled her arm over his shoulder and took her weight on himself as he led her out of the room, following the man till they came through a tall doorway that opened up into an expansive candlelit room. Sakura shuddered. It wasn't the sort of place she would like to see again.
Skulls hung from the ceiling in macabre style lanterns, their hollow eye sockets glowing with an eerie orange that sent shivers crawling through her skin. It seemed made for a more than morbid inhabitant, and almost as soon as the thought had passed through her mind, a porcelain white man turned in a leather chair opposite them, his grim smile gracing his sunken face.
His slit, snake-like pupils roamed her vulnerable body before moving on to Sasuke, who returned his look with an expression of deeper hatred than she thought possible. She moved closer to Sasuke as the pale man's tongue flickered from his mouth, moving out across the space between them to trail across Sakura's cheek. She shuddered and moved her hand in protest, but felt it wrap about her wrist and draw her forth.
" Sasuke!"
He moved to stop Orochimaru from pulling her to him, but the dark man held Sasuke's hands behind his back before he could even move. He watched as Sakura writhed in the tongue's hold, trying to free herself before she was drawn too close.
" Please, don't."
She whimpered as his tongue released her and slid back into his mouth. His hand moved forward, brushing her shoulder delicately, causing her skin to crawl. The straps of her yellow dress hung around her upper arms, having fallen off her shoulders, and she watched as he lowered his head to touch his lips to her skin.
It was warm and inviting, but her insides screamed with disgust as his lips played along her neck and up to her jaw. Sasuke was now locked in full struggle, pulling and tossing wildly as Orochimaru touched Sakura's lips with his own.
" Get off you her, you bastard!" Sasuke yelled as he slowly began to loose strength from trying to free himself. His blood was boiling and his dark eyes filled with the scarlet laden comas as he pushed his chakra to his eyes. He could only watch weakly as Sakura writhed in her captor's arms.
She tried to scream, but Orochimaru pulled her hard against him and she felt his wet tongue brush hers as her mouth opened. She clawed weakly at him with her aching fingers, trying to get his mouth off of hers, get the feeling of his sweeping tongue away from her own. He released her and she immediately stumbled backwards, catching herself on the edge of the desk and turned to limp over to Sasuke.
" You sick monster," she spat, wiping at her mouth as Sasuke's arms were freed and he immediately grabbed Sakura and pulled her closely. The pale man simply chuckled low, his deep voice resounding off the high ceiling.
" Take them back to their cell, and this time bring them some blankets to sleep with. I wouldn't want our guests to be uncomfortable," he sniggered as he moved to sit back in his leather chair and swiveled his back to the couple. Sasuke gritted his teeth as he steered Sakura gentle away, the dark man on their heels. He had a feeling they would be trapped in Oro's mansion for quite some time.
Sakura roused beside Sasuke, pulling her dirty blanket further around her thin frame before she settled down and the only sound was her soft breathing. He looked down at her sleeping form besides him and scowled. She was getting too thin. They had almost been in the mansion prison for a week and Sakura had refused every meal. She never complained about hunger or of their treatment.
But he could see the pain in her eyes when she would curl up to him at night and tell him she loved him as though it were the last thing she would get to say to him. It was breaking him down, to see her taken away from him day after day to do god knows what with their captor. His anger had now been focused away from their grimy prison and more on how to get out.
But everyday, Orochimaru would come and drain him of his chakra and everyday he would have to watch as Sakura walked from him with her head hung low, Orochimaru's hand wrapped about her small waist. He felt weak, just like he had soo many times when he couldn't defend her. They were trapped with no escape and Sakura was being tortured in ways that made him sick to think about.
He knew Naruto and the others were safe and probably plotting on how to rescue them, but he figured they would be dead long before they could retrieve them. He wasn't hopeful any longer. He merely thrived as a hold for Sakura. She needed him desperately. When he would hold her and let her cry each night and hear her confess to him everything she was forced to do. He couldn't help but feel something was more at stake for them both. They were planning something, he could sense it.
Sakura had told him again and again the reason, that Orochimaru wanted the Sharingan. Sasuke took it as she said, and he knew his brother must be traipsing about the mansion while he sat in solitude.
" Sasuke."
He looked down to see Sakura shift closer to him, her arm wrapping around his waist. He smiled mournfully. Her hold was soo weak and fragile. He couldn't stop the layer of tears that blurred his view. He returned his eyes to the small window that let in the tiniest glimpse of the moon. Its silver rays stretched forward and touched his tears stained face gently. He sighed and lay back, allowing Sakura to lay her head on his chest to hear his heartbeat as he dozed off to sleep.
" Tsunade, this is an extremely important matter that must be dealt with swiftly," Kakashi said, his voice slightly trembling. The blonde Hokage turned her golden eyes to him and her lips pursed in frustration.
" Kakashi, you know I can't just " let" you go there," Tsunade said as she leaned forward on her elbows, her chair creaking as her weight shifted forward. " This is dangerous, Hatake, I don't even think you realize why I hesitate to let you and Genma and god knows who else you've recruited to go after the Uchiha and Sakura."
Kakashi let out a heavy sigh and sat down with a plop into the chair across from her desk. His lazy eye wandered to the outside world, so quiet, so untroubled. And somewhere off on that horizon, Sakura and Sasuke were captive or even dead.
" Kakashi?"
He turned his focus to Tsunade whose eyes searched his weary form anxiously.
" I know you had a… close relationship with Sakura, but we have to think reasonably here. Don't you think I worry about her as well?"
He sighed again. The longer they procrastinated, the less time his two former students had at living. He should have just left instead of seeking any ANBU support from her. She just sat there staring at him, examining him while he gazed impatiently out the window. The silence between them was crawling under his skin and finally he rose out of his seat and began to walk towards the door.
" Where do you think you're going, Kakashi. You think you can rescue them yourself?" Her voice had an underlying quake that made him smirk. She wasn't to let him go alone, at least not without some sort of back up. He stopped briefly at the door, leaning lazily against the wooded frame.
" Are you going to stop me? I have men willing to risk their lives to get those two back, you can't stop all of us. If I don't go after them, they surely will."
Tsunade held her breathe. She had a feeling he had recruited others. He was backing her into a corner and she felt her self cave.
" Fine Kakashi, I'll allow you a team of 6 ANBU. But that's it. And I want those two back home safe, you hear me?" He smirked as her voice returned to all business, the forceful bite of her words relief to him. He turned to see her narrowed eyes watching him.
" Thank you."
She couldn't help the smile, or the nausea, that had settled with her decision.
" It's time. Is everyone ready?"
Naruto and Gentai nodded. Neji and Kiba stood silently, their kunai and shurikin adorning their battle-readied bodies. Genma smirked and placed his senbon between his teeth. Kakashi counted his team and with a nod of his head, they all took off through the dense forest toward their target a mile away.
" ANBU team be ready for the attack. If we fail to rescue them, it's up to you to retrieve Sakura and Sasuke."
" Roger, sir."
Kakashi continued with his team through the forest, their second team of ANBU a mile behind, following their trail. He had never really planned on using the ANBU squad, but if got messy, he would need all the help he would get. As they crossed into the Land of Waves, Kakashi signaled for all to turn on their communicators. They dashed along the dark forest trees for another hour, Kakashi praying he wasn't to late.
He suddenly began to recognize the forest. They had passed the village where he had the stand down with Sasuke and Sakura when they had been infected with the curse. He felt the stir of excitement and nervousness before the battle and repositioned his mike near his mouth.
" What do you see Neji?" Kakashi said briefly into his communicator, the sound of static broken by Neji's smooth voice.
" Three guards stationed ahead, 5 yards. We're going in."
" Alright, we'll hang back till you clear an entrance," Kakashi replied as he, Naruto and Gentai came to stand still on the high branches of the Hidden Mist Village's trees. Neji, Kiba and Genma streaked past. Within seconds, an eruption burst through the air. Shouts of men falling rang through the midnight air.
Kakashi listened closely till Genma's voice snapped into his ear bud.
" You're good to go. We'll keep watch. Call if you run into trouble."
" Alright." Kakashi turned to Naruto and Gentai who stood with determined faces beside him.
" Let's go."
It was a typical night. Sleepless. This time Sakura stayed up with him. After two weeks of nothing but the same cell walls, the same agonizing, sleepless nights, the same mental torment impaled on their weakened minds, they had finally given up hope. They had accepted mutually they would die here, together, as fate had intended. The sleep had almost come easier as they came to terms with their imminent deaths.
But something in the air made them stay awake this night, staring side by side out their dingy little window onto the world so peacefully going about its business as though there we're no evils. A familiar scent clung to the breeze that filtered thought the crude bars and filled their nostrils. The stifling August air, the cool moisture, it was coming.
Sakura had waited for the last rain. And although she knew she might never feel it on her face again, she wanted to smell it, to hear its calming beat. Sasuke stayed up with her every waking moment and even the resting moments for the simple fact he couldn't stand to not be there if it were their last moments.
It seemed cruel, Sakura said to him earlier before they had nestled together before their window. It seemed cruel that Orochimaru wouldn't just take what he needed and kill them. He had never heard her voice so calm as she spoke so sardonically. He had just nodded.
The trees rustled and waved to and fro as the wind picked up and the light rain began to patter against the earth. Sakura sighed and laid her head back against Sasuke's shoulder, the wet dirt mingling with the air and filling her senses. She let her dull jade eyes drift close as she felt her weary body relax for once and she drifted to her safe haven in her mind.
Sasuke smiled as he rested his cheek against her soft hair. No matter what condition they were in, the smell of cherry blossoms never faded from her rosette strands. He pressed his lips to her cheek and she hummed sweetly as she cuddled up against him. If tonight were the last night together, he would take it over any other time.
No sooner had he thought that did an explosion shudder the floor of their cell, stirring Sakura suddenly from her drowsy half alert state. Her frantic face searched Sasuke before she smiled weakly. Finally, they were here.
" Kakashi, we've encountered more Sound Nin Guards. You guys are on your own till we can fight our way out."
Genma's hard raspy breath echoed in Kakashi's ears as he, Naruto and Gentai. " On our own…" he reiterative to his student s who crept along the corridor behind him. They stealthily made their way along the dark lamp lit hallways that wound up and down, to and fro through the expansive house. They had a tip off from an insider on the basic whereabouts of the prison cells. After all this time, he was soo close to getting there, getting Sakura and Sasuke back.
Overall he was more worried for Sakura. Those feelings still stirred in him when he would see her, her soft rosette hair hanging delicately about her beautiful laughing face… her arm linked with Sasuke's as they strolled thought the cherry blossom trees. Did he regret having a brief relationship with her? Certainly not. It was one of the memories he was happy to be able to hold on to. He just wanted her safe, no matter what that meant.
" Kakashi, we're close, I can sense Sasuke's chakra," Naruto said in a low voice, " it's really weak though, he must be drained."
Kakashi felt hopeful. If Sasuke was still alive then that must mean she was safe as well. He prepared himself with a handful of kunai before slipping around the corner. As he had thought, there was a number of Nin waiting on the other side of the wall. Each took a kunai to the throat, the last sputtering blood at his feet before he moved around their bodies to the barred wall they were stationed in front of.
As soon as he saw their faces, he felt relief wash over him.
" Kakashi!" Sakura leapt up from the floor and ran over to the wall, her fingers wringing the bars tightly as she struggled to speech between sobs.
" Thank you, thank you!" Her shimmering tears ran down her face and Naruto pulled the strong bars open instantly, Sakura leaping into his arms the second she could slip through.
" Oy, Sakura-chan, you're sooo thin. Have they been starving you?" She shook her head and refused to release him. Sasuke followed through the bars, but lit his Sharingan to everyone's surprise.
" I figured you wouldn't have any chakra Sasuke," Gentai commented as he watched Sasuke walk away from them. He stopped short when he felt Sakura's eyes wander to him. Sakura and instantly pulled out of Naruto's arms to run to Sasuke. Her arms wrapped about him frailly to prevent him from walking.
" No Sasuke, it's over, lets leave while we can. Please." Her jade eyes begged with him.
" No Sakura. I have a score to settle. I won't leave till it is. Kakashi. Take care of her for me till I get back. If I don't," he turned and took Sakura in his arms, his deep dark eyes exploring her frightened face, " I love you Sakura, and I always have. Since we were children, no matter what it seemed Sakura, you were always on my mind. When I kissed you it was all I ever dreamt and now… It would be wrong for me to ask you now, but when I return home, I'm going to marry you, Sakura, and we'll be together, forever."
Her tears were streaming down her face and a nervous smile crept over her face. He couldn't help himself and he tipped his head to touch his lips to her. " I'll come back for you," he whispered against her mouth. She nodded her head as they parted and she let a frightened sob out before she turned to Naruto and clung to him as the tears overcame her. Sasuke nodded to Kakashi and disappeared in the smoke.
" So Sasuke, you've found me. What is it you plan on doing without chakra? Fight me? Ha, don't make me laugh. You're weak. Pathetic…"
Sasuke circled Orochimaru as they faced down. Sasuke clenched fists as Orochimaru flicked his tongue out across the air.
" You're just like your parents, Sasuke. They couldn't stop me from taking control of your brother and now you can't stop me from killing that pretty little girlfriend of yours. She'll die like everyone else close to you."
" You won't touch her. If you even lay one finger on her I swear I'll destroy you till there's nothing left."
Sasuke's forced what chakra he did have left to his hand, a luminous white engulfing his fist. At that, Orochimaru's slit like pupils grew wide as the chidori fell upon his chest in one fatal blow.
Sakura opened her eyes to a blinding light. She could smell the sterility on the air and knew in an instant she was in the Konoha Infirmary. A familiar warmth beside her forced her to open her drowsy eyelids to stare up into the face of a very worn looking Naruto. He smiled weakly down at her, his smile fading as fast as it had appeared.
" Naruto, what's wrong," she said thickly as she pushed herself up from the soft nest of sheets wrapped about her shoulders. She ran a hand through her tousled hair and yawned wide before she turned her jade eyes to her companion. He fidgeted in his seat before he bit his lips and scooted his chair across the linoleum floor towards her bedside.
" Uh Sakura. I have some things to tell you."
His tired face seemed even more worn than just a night without sleep and she studied him carefully. He looked mournfully back at her and wrung his hands as his eyes clouded with tears. She frowned deeply as her eyes followed a tear that trailed down his cheek. Her eyes grew wide as she looked around a bit. She wasn't stupid. She knew what he was going to say.
" Do-don't say it Naruto, please don't," she breathed as her own eyes filled with tears.
Her hands clenched at her heart as her insides twisted with pain and her breathing came in short inhalations as she watched Naruto break down. He laid his head on her bead and reached up to take her hand, holding it tightly as he sobbed into the white sheets beside her. Sakura's eyes swam with warm tears as she stared blankly ahead, her eyes never really focusing on anything.
" Sakura… I'm sorry, we couldn't find him. I'm soo sorry Sakura, I should have never left him, I should have never… it's all my fault."
She let her hand limply slide from his as her eyes brimmed and spilled tears. She shook with hard suppressed sobs but her face remained solemn and unmoved. Finally her bottom lip found its place between her teeth and she choked out a hollow gasp as she pulled her knees to her chest and buried her head in her hands.
" Saku-"
" Leave Naruto, just leave," she breathed as she rocked back and forth, her loud sobs aching him to the core. He nodded and wiped his face messily before he opened the door to her room, sparing one last glance at her, and left.
How could he be gone? Gone. That hollow word echoed in her mind as the full impact of Sasuke's disappearance hit her. He was dead. She knew that was the only answer to his absence. She would never see his smile again, feel his warm hands on her skin, and touch her lips to his as they enjoyed the sunny days of their future together. He was gone.
" Sakura?"
Sakura lifted her tear stained face to meet the dour face of Tsunade. She wiped at her tears as she tried to calm herself. Tsunade walked forward to take the seat beside her bed that Naruto had previously sat in and took Sakura's hand consolingly. Sakura tried so hard to stop herself but she couldn't control the pain and felt tears roll over her damp cheeks.
" Oh Sakura, I'm soo sorry. Please, know I'm here." Sakura nodded weakly before turning away, ashamed to be crying in front of such a powerful woman. Tsunade stood and silently left her room quietly, the snap of the door bringing Sakura's face up from her sheets around her knees. She just wanted to see him. That's all she wanted. His dark raven hair, his deep onyx eyes. It ached to remember.
She slid her legs out from the bed and walked to the window to stare out across the small village. It was so bright and sunny out. Sasuke's favorite weather. She smiled mournfully as her tears came to her eyes in floods. Her heart was sore and empty. She was alone. On the horizon, she could make out the Uchiha mansion, sitting so grandly on the grassy hilltop. It was all hers. But she just wanted him.
She turned to head back to her bed, feeling too weak to stand and spotted through her blurred vision her medical papers clipped to a board on her bedside table. She sat lightly on her bed, drawing her knees to her chin and leaned down to pick up the papers and leafed through them curiously. All of a sudden she froze, the clipboard falling from her shaking fingers, her other hand held up to her mouth in alarm. " No…" Her eyes welled again and she sunk into her bed and wrapped her sheets around herself tightly, sobbing until she fell in to a deep sleep.
Sakura slept soundly, her eyes red and puffy, not realizing Naruto had come back in to stay by her side as she slept. He pulled up her chair to the side of her bed, his foot hitting something as he stretched out. He leaned down to find her med report and lifted it carefully and set it back down on the table, but not before seeing the bright red words stamped across the special medical attention slip. Naruto stared sadly down at the papers in his hand, his eyes widening as he read over it carefully. Sasuke was dead and Sakura, the girl Sasuke loved the most, was… pregnant.
Black's whatevers-
Oh my god I am SOOOO sorry this took three freaking weeks to update, I've had finals and finishing up school is becoming BLEH! So yeah its bad I know Sasuke dead, Sakura prego… dun hate me cuz I can kill people…no really trust me you'll forgive me when this is all over. Yeah so anyways, until next chapter, you'll have to loathe my existence. Have a lovely few weeks, no just kidding I shall try my hardest to update tons sooner than that, promise! Thanx to all who have read and reviewed and commented and threatened me to update! All jokes aside, I really appreciate those of you who enjoy reading my story! There should only be a few more chapters after this, maybe like 2, then I'm gunna start back up on my Sakura and Kakashi fanfic, Accidents. I think after that I may do another Sakura and Sasuke, or some different pair, any suggestions would be lovely! Anyways, be patient, and I'll update sooner!
