A/N: Hey guys! I've spent an amazing 19th birthday this past week and now that I'm all partied out for the next few days I thought I'd start out fresh by posting another chapter! Yey! I know this chapter is short, but I wanted it to be more of a brief chapter containing some cute, slight SasuxSaku fluff. Haha anyway please enjoy the new installment and remember to read and review!
Redemption of the Heart
The Museum of Uchiha History
Sakura sucked in a ragged breath as she stared off at the flames licking her home. The Haruno home. The fateful place where all other Harunos had resided. Her family line may have been small but this home held so many memories. A tear escaped her eye, before hitting the cobblestone walkway. She couldn't help but let a chocked sob escape her lips as she struggled to brush off Sasuke's tight grasp on her arms. Sasuke frowned and held her tighter as she began trying to wrench herself out of his hold. He rolled his eyes at her irrational actions. She was actually trying to get back into the house.
"I have to go! Let me go Sasuke! That's my life! Everything! All of my medical books, my photographs...everything Sasuke!" Sakura felt her will slowly leave her body as her form slumped forward and she squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to drown out the moaning of the wood as it burned and collapsed into a large heap of firewood. "I…I just don't understand. What is going on?" Sakura for a second sounded composed, but what bothered Sasuke was the pleading and confused look in her eyes. She was genuinely scared.
"I don't know, but I'll make it my business to find out." Sasuke stood up as he said so. "This obviously isn't a safe place to be. You're coming with me." Sasuke took a hold of her arm again and lifted her upper body but Sakura's legs refused to listen. She crumpled back to the ground as she stared off at the flames. Sasuke watched her as her eyes grew dull and vacant. He snapped his attention to her delicate hand resting on her lap and how it began to tremble. Sakura didn't fight it anymore. She left a loud sob rip through her throat as she reminded herself of how much she loved her home. The home where her mother and father had raised her, the home where her own father had been raised. The only remaining possession her parents had left her before they had passed away. All of her family's precious history was gone in one moment. She wiped at her eyes furiously in attempt to calm her tears, but it was no help.
Sasuke watched her silently as she continued to cry. He decided he'd wait there with her until she was done mourning her loss. Sakura and Sasuke snapped their heads to the sound of approaching footsteps. Sasuke watched as the first figure came into view, his body glowing from the light of the fire. His familiar ANBU mask, and immediately recognizable silver hair.
"Kakashi..." Sasuke greeted him with a nod. Kakashi pulled the ANBU mask off of his face and slung it around his neck. He looked over to Sakura and crouched beside her rubbing her back softly.
"Sasuke, what happened?" Sakura was shocked at the sudden change in his demeanor. He had approached her with such tenderness but his voice rang with such anger. She blinked a few times to clear her vision of the tears that blurred her world. She sniffled before proceeding to throw herself into Kakashi's arms for a tight hug.
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Kakashi loosened his arms and let Sakura meet eyes with ice blue orbs filled with concern. Unlike the other two men, Naruto's eyes characteristically shown the deep concern he had for their teammate. "What happened? The ANBU on patrol said they heard an explosion from your home and that it went up in flames! Are you alright?" Naruto asked panicked, and almost knocking her to the ground for a second time with an energetic hug.
"I don't know...I just came back home from my date and Sasuke and I were talking when...he heard ticking." Sakura's brows scrunched together as she dug into her mind, letting the strange memories of the night resurface. "Then the house just went up in flames. I don't know who keeps doing this! First I'm attacked out in the forest and now my home." Sakura choked the last bit about her home when Kakashi cut in.
"Well you obviously can't stay here. Sasuke, you have vacant rooms at the Uchiha mansion right?" Sasuke nodded once. He had a feeling this situation would somehow involve the use of his home and its purpose to serve as Sakura's shelter for the next week or so. Sasuke sighed inwardly knowing that with this situation, more awkward moments were to come. Sure, he'd rather have Sakura in his home, so he could watch over her personally, but that was just because her house had blown up...not because he actually cared about her in a romantic sort of way.
'Here we go again. Her house just blew up and you actually care, yet you're doing that crazy little thing you always love doing...DENYING!' Sasuke smacked himself over the forehead just as he thought the voice would shut up. Sasuke looked over at Naruto who had been staring at him throughout the one sided conversation in his head.
"What?" Sasuke hissed. He decided to leave the dobe to his own thoughts and walked over to Sakura. "Come on, you're coming with me." Uncharacteristically, Sasuke stretched out a hand for her. Sakura eyed his palm as if she had never seen such a thing before. He waited watching her expression fade from fear to a faint smile. She slowly and carefully placed her hand in his as he pulled her weight up.
"Well Sakura, Sasuke, why don't you guys head home and rest? ANBU will take care of the rest," Kakashi said referring to the burning rubble. Sakura only looked from afar, watching the glowing embers flicker with light, fueled by all of her burning possessions. She stood there motionless for what seemed like forever in Sasuke's eyes, but he knew not to push her buttons now. Sakura finally relieved herself of one last heart heavy sigh and turned her back. She started off in the direction towards Sasuke's house, and all he did was follow.
The walk to his house was rather...normal, at least in the sense that this was as normal as things would get for them. They walked all the way to his cast-iron gate in complete silence. He unhinged the gate lock and pushed the creaky doors open making way for both of them. Sakura stepped through and almost gasped at the house. The large Uchiha manor seemed eerily haunted from the pale moonlight. The trees out front seemed more bare than most although autumn had only just begun to settle in. The grass seemed to be an endlessly vast ocean of black oil, glimmering lightly as a brisk breeze tore through the air. Sakura shivered and unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself, as she continued to stare at the manor as old folklore and stories of vampires and the undead began popping up in her head. Sasuke noticed her intense stare pointed in the direction of the house and how her skin began to ripple with goose bumps. He unzipped his jacket and draped it over the slender shoulders and caused her to jerk her attention away from his home and back to him. She didn't say anything but stared at him. He almost felt like arguing with her at the moment. Perhaps to ask 'Why didn't you thank me?' or 'Why aren't you blushing?', but he chose to shrug those thoughts off and instead settled for something a bit more into character.
"Are you just going to stand there all night or go inside?" Sasuke asked strolling ahead of her. She snapped out of her stare and treaded behind him, looking over her shoulder as if something ominous may have followed her. She only suspected that because her house had exploded, that perhaps luck wasn't on her side anymore.
The long pathway to his front door finally came to and end as she saw him open his unlocked door. She looked puzzled for a moment but continued into the house. She couldn't speak, it was as though everything in her sight sent her mind into a frenzy of confusion. The exterior of the home, and perhaps the lighting of the moon was to blame, had led her to believe that his home inside, would in fact be just as chilling. But of course to add to her ever chaotic day, she was wrong. The house was blanketed in a dim glow from the lone lamp that was lit on a table in living room. The walls were painted a soft yellow, but the liveliness of the color was dulled by the dust that clung to it. Sakura noted a slight fleck of gold dangling off the wall further down the hall. She mused at what it might be and began wandering down the hall where the soft glow of the lamp began to die out. She stood in front of the portrait and blinked several times before she could finally let things sink in. It was a family portrait. Little Sasuke sat upon a beautiful woman's lap. Her silken midnight hair pulled back from her face by several pins rested loosely on her slender shoulders. She smiled a little to herself as she saw that Sasuke in fact, had more of his mother's delicate features than his father. Yes, the man on the right would be his father. His broad shoulders and strongly chiseled features seemed more apparent in the young boy who sat in his lap, Itachi. Sakura had never imagined that Sasuke would keep such a portrait in tact. His intense hatred towards his older sibling and the pain of his murdered parents seemed like something he wouldn't want to be reminded of. At this thought Sakura turned around to catch Sasuke rounding the corner and going up a flight of stairs. Not knowing her way around, Sakura immediately scurried to catch up with him. They seemed to travel down a darkened hallway, that seemed to stretch on forever but he abruptly halted and opened a deep oak door to his right. He flipped the light switch on, and the light hanging above them flickered to life. The room was not lavish, but not plain. It was in general "homey" as most women would describe it. Sasuke continued on to open a few drawers. Sakura noticed that this room in particular seemed fit for two. She hadn't realized that a small framed picture rested on the lamp stand next to a full king sized bed. She squatted lower to take a closer look. It was a wedding photo of Sasuke's parents. The slightly damaged picture showed through the glass, the corners slightly torn and worn down from all the years of being stuck in an album. Sakura jumped when a hand shot out and slammed the frame face down on the table.
"Stop observing my family's possessions. They're gone and yet you keep staring at everything with greedy eyes" Sasuke said narrowing his eyes.
"What? Greedy eyes? I'm only observing so intently because this is your family, THE Uchiha family. The one I'll never meet. This is the closest thing to getting to know them. Besides, at least you still have pictures from your past. I..." Sakura was cut off.
"Just lost everything?" Sakura snapped her head to him and stared him straight in the eyes. "Welcome to my world." With that he trudged out of the room and shut the door behind him. She could only watch his retreating form as the weight of his words settled in. She sat on the bed and picked up the fallen picture frame and lightly fingered the gold trimmed framing.
"He has lost everything hasn't he? He lost his family and although he holds all of their belongings, all the photos of the past and the house...where they all lived and shared their love...it...it only haunts him...doesn't it?" Sakura asked herself out loud. Suddenly, the loss of her house didn't feel like much of a loss anymore. It almost felt like perhaps a burden had been lifted. Without her house, she wouldn't be reminded too much about the painful death of her parents as well. But Sasuke never seemed to be the most fortunate. He was part of a famous clan, in which generation after generation survived and lived prospering throughout the hidden villages, but everything that symbolized their once wonderful past had to stay in tact. Everything had to be left exactly the way it was, to ensure that one day his children would know of the Uchiha past. To ensure that Sasuke never forgets his purpose.
"Oh Sasuke, you can't do this on your own. Why won't you let anyone help you? Why do you always push me away?" Sakura whispered to herself yet again. She shook her head in annoyance as she relived the moments throughout the day where Sasuke had been cold and distant towards her, almost borderline unnecessarily mean. She moved her arms to lean back on her hands when she came in contact with something silky and soft, she immediately pulled her hand away. She sucked in a quick breath. A peach colored silk nightgown lay sprawled out on the edge of the bed. The material glimmering in the light. Sakura reached out to touch it again when she realized that Sasuke had been setting out his own deceased mother's nightgown for her to wear. She realized that this could only mean that Sasuke had decided her own clothes weren't suitable to sleep in. Sakura took one good look at herself and she was disgusted. Her skin was smeared with soot, and her clothes torn and covered in ash. It was no wonder he wouldn't stand near her...she was filthy. She looked at the nightgown one more time before stripping to wash up in the bathroom.
Maybe he wasn't so inconsiderate after all.