Prompt: Thread

Rating: T

Title: Twist of Fate

Summary: So their lives were interlocked forever.

xxxxxx

Harsh fluorescent lighting burns her pupils as her eyelids flicker open. The cloud in her head clears up as the repeated beeping of a heart-rate monitor brings her into focus.

Memories flood back as she remembers the incident that landed her here.

The smell of burning rubber and melting plastic… glass digging into her skin… the thick material of the seatbelt wrapping around her neck…

Choking.

Gasping.

Dying.

"Oh my god!"

Sakura's green eyes flicker up to see a blonde woman with pale blue eyes looking at her in amazement. "You're awake!"

The girl grabs hold of Sakura's hand and squeezes firmly, as if to offer comfort.

"I was so scared," she begins, tears rimming the bottom of her eyes. "It was some idiot with road rage who took off right after. They found and arrested him, but still…" she babbles on and on, barely breathing between sentences.

"I'm sorry," Sakura begins her voice coming out raspy and effectively halting the other girl's words. "Who are you?"

The blonde girl's face drops in devastation, her tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "Oh honey," she cradles her forehead in her palm, as if it is all too much to bear. "The doctor said amnesia was a distinct possibility, but never in a million years did I think it would actually happen."

She continues talking about Sakura's different injuries and the incident, never actually stating who she is, and Sakura is too tired to listen so she looks down at her hands.

She sees the IV tube and different looking bandages that are most likely covering different cuts and bruises expected after an accident. However, something peculiar catches her eye.

A thread is tied around her pinkie, a delicate bow hanging down and brushing the back of her hand.

She wiggles and flexes her fingers, but it does not feel as if the anything is there. She tugs on the red string, trying to see what it is attached to and follows it with her eyes.

It runs over the side of her hospital bed and snakes along the floor before disappearing under the door.

"What's this?" she asks, holding up her hand for the blonde to inspect the crimson thread.

"That's your hand, honey," she says before muttering, "I didn't think it'd be this bad."

"No, this string." Sakura points to the thread and the girl's pale eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"I think you need to go back to sleep." She rises from her spot in the chair next to Sakura's bed and moves towards the door. "I'll call your boyfriend for you."

"Wait!" Sakura calls as the girl begins twisting the doorknob. "What's you name?"

A sad smile appears on the pretty girl's face before she quietly whispers, "Ino." Her voice wavers on the word. "We've been friends since elementary school."

"Ino," Sakura repeats before falling back to sleep.

Xxxxxxx

He walks in calling her name, all smiles and sunshine, moving right over to her bed. Without a second thought, he engulfs her in a large bear hug.

Sakura doesn't know how to react to the sign of affection from somebody she doesn't know. She stiffens, startled.

Ino had told her that this man has been her boyfriend since high school and her friend even longer than that, but nothing about him is familiar.

When he notices her discomfort and blank expression, his cerulean eyes sadden and his face falls.

"D-don't you recognize me?" he asks in a shaky voice. "It's me, Naruto."

Sakura shakes her head and can practically hear his heart breaking.

"I'm sorry," she chokes out and realizes that she's crying. "I don't know who you are."

Xxxxxxxx

They walk around the garden, awkwardly linking arms. He babbles about stories from the past, plans for the future, things that they supposedly shared, but nothing sounds familiar, and it simply makes her feel more lost.

"-and then, after the hundredth time of asking, you finally agreed to go out with me," he finishes the story and faces her, a large smile engulfing his whole face.

She tries to smile back, she wants to be hopeful so bad, but he obviously senses her discomfort as the happy expression on his face disappears.

"I- I get how hard this must be for you," he tells her, staring down at their hands. "I want you to know, that I'll stick by you throughout this whole ordeal, I'll stay with you forever."

He leans in as if to kiss her, but she turns away, still perceiving him as a stranger.

"I get it," he replies, disheartened. "It's still too soon."

He moves off of the path to a small stone bench, she hesitates for a moment before following behind him.

"Two days," he says, causing Sakura to look at him curiously. "I was by your bedside for two whole days, and the one time that Ino finally convinces me to take a break and get something to eat, you wake up."

He lays his head in his hands and continues speaking. "I can't help but blame myself for your amnesia, I mean…" he pauses and pulls at his blondes hair in frustration. "Maybe if I was the first one you saw, you would've remembered and…"

"Stop," Sakura tells him sternly, sure of herself for the first time since the accident. "Either way, I wouldn't have remembered. So stop blaming yourself because it won't solve anything."

He looks up at her, determination burning in his blue irises. "You're right," he states. "It's that bastard that hit you. He's the one to blame."

Xxxxxxx

"Sign here," Sakura's doctor, a busty blonde woman named Tsunade, says as she hands her some release forms.

She does as instructed and hands the papers back.

"We will have weekly check-ups to make sure everything is healing nicely and to check your memory loss, but I want you to take it easy." Honey eyes look at Sakura a striking seriousness within them. "Court cases are messy and can be hard on the mind, so I want you to call the hospital if you feel discomfort or remember something."

The lawsuit is Naruto's idea and of course, Ino backs him whole-heartedly. They both tell Sakura that it is the best way to find closure, but in all honesty, facing the man that made her lose her memories is the last thing that Sakura wants to do. She tells herself that she is going along with it to help give her friends closure, mainly Naruto.

The beautiful, blonde boy that has been with her every step of the way makes her sad every time his piercing blue eyes rest on her. He tells her of all the time they have spent together and all of the memories that they have shared, but nothing is familiar to her. With Ino she sometimes senses lost jokes and odd details, like how the girl cannot stand strawberries, or that her favorite flowers are cosmos. However when it comes to her "boyfriend," she only ever draws a blank.

Sakura nods as she begins wrapping the curious red thread around her finger. Weeks have passed since she first woke up and mysterious string that nobody else seems to acknowledge or even see is still securely tied around her finger. She has tried cutting and untying it, but it is stubborn and seemingly indestructible. When she told Doctor Tsunade about it early on in her recovery, she claimed it was just a mental blip that would go away in time. Sakura has not told the kind doctor that it is still clear as day to her. She has just come to accept that it is some oddity that is out of her hands.

"Sakura," the doctor speaks, jolting the girl from her muddled thoughts. "I know that you don't back the idea of going to court very much. Just please don't push yourself into things because you feel like you owe your friends. Not being able to remember does not mean that you're in debt to them, please remember that."

"Thank you, Doctor Tsunade," she takes the women's smooth hands in her own. "You've done so much for me, I promise I will follow your instructions."

With that, the pink-haired girl gathers her belongings and exits the hospital to where a purple car waits patiently to take her home.

xxxxxxx

"Are you ready for this?" Naruto asks as he studies her face for any unwanted emotions.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura nods her head, and together they enter the courtroom. After taking their seats behind the plaintiff's table, Sakura begins twiddling with the red thread. It is a nervous habit that she had picked up in the past few weeks. She begins to have second thoughts as to why she has to be here. It is not like she remembers anything that the court would find useful. Naruto had been the one that demanded to press charges, not her.

Naruto notices her anxious movement and grabs one of her hands, squeezing it firmly as a door on the side of the room opens.

A man about her age walks in and her first though it that he is very handsome even with the black eye and cut lip. His pale skin contrasts nicely with his otherwise dark coloring. His hands are cuffed behind his back and he is escorted by a police officer.

He looks up and stares straight into her eyes, and Naruto glares at him coldly, muttering about how the handcuffs must mean that he has been deemed dangerous. It makes Sakura uncomfortable, especially when she notices the dark look in the man's eyes. He seems to have a wall built up there, one that conceals the sadness and guilt that his slumped form shows.

She reverts her green eyes back down to her own hands, not liking locking gazes with the man that took her memories and a part of her life away.

The bailiff announces the arrival of the judge, and everybody in the room rises. The judge walks to his stand lazily, with a bored expression on his face. He straightens the nameplate on the desk and it reads "Judge Hatake." Sitting down, he states that everybody can be seated and customary procedures commence.

Sakura swears with her right hand, and – as she expects – not one person in the room seems to notices the little red string wrapped around her pinkie. She sits down and continues to stare at her hands when it is his turn, not noticing how the string moves across the room. It is then that she hears his name again, Sasuke Uchiha.

She repeats it in her mind, trying to make it stick in her memory this time. Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke.

The lawyers present their different cases and Sakura tunes them out, not wanting to hear of all the gritty details she already knows.

Eventually, she is called to the witness stand and Naruto's family lawyer questions her first. He asks things like whether she has been in a crash before, how safe of a driver she is, and she answers to the best of her abilities. Finally, he questions what type of injuries she suffered.

"Now, you mentioned memory loss," he begins while pacing the room. "How severe is it?"

"I have most of my motor skills and can remember some of my studies from my undergrad degree," she answers coolly, but then her eyes begin to tear up. "I do not remember any of the people from my life, where I live, who I am." She takes a moment to regain her composure before finally adding, "not even my deceased parents." The tears burn at the back of her eyes and threaten to spill over.

She looks over at Naruto, hoping for some form of comfort, but none comes.

"No further questions," the lawyer says before turning to sit down.

"Mister Orochimaru, you may commence questioning," Judge Hatake says.

Sasuke's lawyer stands up and approaches her and she immediately feels uncomfortable. His skin has a sickly pallor and his eyes resemble those of a snake. He comes up close to the stand and speaks in a sickening tone.

"Miss Haruno, I am very sorry about your accident," he begins, fake sincerity laced through his words. "I have only one question for you," he trails off, suiting for stalking in front of her bench with his hands held behind his back.

"You mentioned a deep wound on your neck from the locking of your seatbelt." Sakura nods to confirm this, and moves the collar of her shirt to reveal the healing wound, she just had her stitches taken out so it does not appear too bad. A picture of what it originally looked like flashes up on a screen next to her, and many attendees gasp and turn away.

"Now," the snake-like man continues, "If you were found 'tossed from you car' as your lawyer stated, how could you receive that injury?"

Sakura pauses to think. He had a point. Everybody told her that she had been thrown from her car through the windshield, but that would mean that her seatbelt had not caught her.

"I don't know," she mutters quietly.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that into the microphone so everybody can hear?"

"I don't know," she says more sternly and wondering gazes appears on everybody's faces. Her lawyer and Naruto flip through papers, trying to find something in the medical report.

"You may step down now, Miss Haruno," he says offering a hand out to her. She accepts, but gooseflesh breaks out over her skin when she comes into contact with his clammy palm .

Once she sits down, he begins to speak again. "I call my client, Sasuke Uchiha to the bench."

"Are you okay?" Naruto whispers in her ear as he slings a heavy arm over her shoulders.

She looks at the concern in his blue eyes and nods, though she feels anything but. The expression on his face shows that he does not believe her for a minute. Before he can say anything, Sasuke's turn on the stand begins.

Now that she takes the time to look at him closely, an annoying feeling prods at the back of her mind. Maybe it is the curve of his jaw or perhaps the shade of his eyes, but something feels… familiar.

"Can you tell me why you were driving the night of the crash?" Orochimaru begins.

"I was returning from the hospital," Sasuke responds impassively.

"Oh?" his lawyer responds with feigned surprise, prompting him to elaborate.

"I had just taken my brother off of life support." As he says this, his entire body tenses up.

"How come?" Orochimaru questions.

Sasuke inhales deeply as if he does not wish to discuss it, but he tells the story anyways. "Ten years ago, when I was twelve, there was a home invasion. Both of my parents were murdered and my brother was shot trying to protect me."

Gasps are heard around the courtroom and it is obvious that he is gaining sympathy points. Sakura finds herself tearing up at the story, and she realizes just how much she does not want to be in this room.

"So," Orochimaru continues, "After losing the last of your family, it's safe to say that you weren't thinking clearly."

"Yes," he bites out as if pained.

"After the accident, what did you do?"

"I checked to see if Miss Haruno was okay." As he says this, his eyes come to rest on her.

"And was she?"

"No," he begins, "Her car was flipped, she was being choked by her seatbelt and was bleeding heavily from her head." Sakura's hands come up to touch her throat.

"I broke the windshield, pulled her from the car, and called 911 once I checked she was breathing." Naruto's knuckles turn white on the table and Sakura can hear his teeth gritting together.

Sasuke brings his hands up to rest on the wooden edge and something catches Sakura's eye. It is small, barely noticeable between his interlocked fingers, but a red thread is wrapped around his left pinkie.

Craning her head slightly, she follows the path of the thread from the witness stand, across the floor, and up to her own hand where it wraps around her pinkie.

Then, a memory hits her like a ton of bricks.

She is dangling upside down, a crushing weight holding her up by her waist. Looking around, it is dark, but she realizes that she's in a car. Her car? Was she in an accident? Was she driving? Who did she hit? She begins screaming, tears running down her face.

How did this happen? Where is she? How did her car get flipped?

She tries to move around, but her head throbs. Blood drips into her eyes and she becomes hysterical. Desperate to get out, she begins thrashing around. She tries to wiggle out of the waist strap, but just jostles the seatbelt enough so that it presses against her throat

She tries to take in air, but it is futile. Her windpipe is being crushed and her lungs refuse to inflate. Darkness begins dancing on the outside of her vision and the choking sound of herself dying fills her ears.

It is at this moment that she would expect her life to flash before her eyes, but she cannot remember any of it. What are her parents like? Does she have a husband? A boyfriend? Any kids? For god's sake, she is not even sure how old she is or what she looks like.

Just when she is about to pass out, she hears a voice yell at her to cover her eyes. She does as instructed and hears the sound of glass breaking.

What happens next, she is not entirely sure since it is a mixture of drifting in and out of consciousness.

Her seatbelt releasing, her body landing on top of the strangers, being dragged through the broken windshield.

One moment in particular sticks out. Her eyes barely open as she feels somebody slapping her cheek.

"Wake up!" a man yells.

Through her blurred vision, she sees him. He looks around nervously, but his eyes are still visible. She focuses in on them, the dark pools that seem guarded and sad.

When he notices her watching him, he exhales in relief.

She opens her mouth to thank him, but before she can, he stands up and runs off. She tries to lift her head and locate him, but pain shoots through her skull, and she falls unconscious once again.

"Sakura?"

She snaps back to reality at Naruto's voice. Looking around, she realizes that she is still at the trial and everybody in the courtroom is looking at her. Out of habit she looks down at her hands to locate the red thread, and finds herself trembling with such force that her chair shakes.

"Miss Haruno, are you alright?" Judge Hatake asks, leaning forward.

"I remember," she barely whispers.

"What?" Naruto asks.

"I remember him saving me," she says firmly, extending her right hand to point at Sasuke.

His dark eyes widen, at the motion, his eyes watching her trembling arm.

"He…" Sakura pauses, trying to form words between chattering teeth. She becomes conscious of the many pairs of eyes on her and breathing becomes a chore. "He pulled me from the car."

At this, the court bursts into outrage. People from the spectator area begin speaking loudly, camera's flash, and reporters yell questions. Kakashi hits his gavel on the sound block multiple times, calling for order.

And among all of the chaos, wide viridian eyes lock with confused onyx.

Xxxxxxxx

"You remember!" Naruto exclaims once the court has been excused for a twenty-minute recess and Sakura finds herself in Judge Kakashi's office with Naruto and her lawyer.

She looks at his face, so bright and cheerful. It breaks her heart, but she shakes her head. "I only remember what happened right after the crash, and just barely."

"What do you think triggered it?" Judge Hatake asks Doctor Tsunade who had attended as a witness.

"There are many things that could have caused Miss Haruno to remember, but it also could have just been something clicking into place on its own."

"His eyes." The words leave Sakura's mouth before she can stop them.

"What?" Naruto says, his fallen face looking at her in confusion.

"It was his eyes," she repeats bravely. "I remember seeing them when he pulled me from the car."

"Do you think if she met with Mister Uchiha face to face, more memories may come back?" the judge asks the doctor once again.

"I'm not sure," Tsunade begins, "He did only have that short interaction with Miss Haruno so it's doubtable that he can trigger any memories he was not involved with." She turns to look at Sakura. "But if Miss Haruno is willing to meet with him again, I don't see how it could make matters worse."

"I'm sure my client can agree to that," Sasuke's lawyer states, peering at Sakura as if she is a science experiment. "I'll go confirm it with him."

With that, he steps out the door.

"Sakura, you don't have to do this," Naruto tells her as he begins gathering their things.

"No," she looks at him, her green eyes practically glowing with determination. "I want to talk to him, I want to do this for myself."

Naruto shakes his head, but does not argue.

"Bailiff, go bring in Mister Uchiha," Judge Hatake orders.

A second later, the door opens and the dark-haired man is brought in, his orange jumpsuit practically luminescent in the office. Sakura's eyes immediately drop to his hands where she sees the other end to her thread tied neatly around his left pinkie finger.

She moves closer to him, ignoring Naruto's warning to not get to close.

"I'm in handcuffs, idiot," Sasuke mutters as he turns his head away.

"Look at me," Sakura orders in a hushed tone. It takes him a minute, but he complies. His tortured eyes look down at her, and a flashback to the crash comes to mind.

Her car is heading straight for his and she sees her own terror mirrored in the same eyes a second before the collision.

"You were scared," she mutters to herself.

"What?" Judge Hatake asks.

"Nothing," Sakura turns away, back to Naruto who wastes no time in putting an arm around her waist. "I'm tired and have a headache, can we continue the case a different day?"

"Of course, we don't want to overwork you." The judge states before turning to everybody in the room, "We will continue the case the same time next week. Dismissed."

xxxxxxx

Sakura tosses and turns in her bed, thinking of the events from the day. Her mind is filled with the dark eyes belonging to the man with the other end of her thread.

What does it mean? She ponders as she twists the yarn over her hand.

She has mixed feelings for this Uchiha guy. She is angry that he crashed into her, grateful that he took the time to rescue her, pissed that it was his fault to begin with, and devastated by the fact that he lost his brother and with that, the only thing left of his family.

It's not fair, she thinks. Why is life so cruel like this?

Sakura is taken aback by the similarities that she seems to share with the dark haired man. Both have lost all of their family, both feel lost and alone in the world, and both have been dealt terrible circumstances from fate.

She mulls over everything and finally, a thought begins formulating. Naruto will probably hate her for it. Ino will not be so hot about the idea either, but Sakura's gut is telling her it is right course of action.

Reaching over to her bedside table, she picks up her cell phone and punches in a number.

The phone rings a few times and Sakura worries that her call will not be accepted. Finally, a sleepy voice answers.

"Miss Haruno? It's late."

"I know," she replies, "but I have a question."

"Can't it wait until morning?" The question is ended with a yawn.

"Please, Judge Hatake," she begs, "It's very important."

A pause lingers as the white-haired man thinks, before finally responding.

"Alright, I'm listening."

xxxxxxx

Sakura half listens to Naruto and the lawyer as they give her instructions for the trial. She will not need them; she knows what she is doing.

Judge Hatake walks in, goes over the customary procedures and summarizes the last meeting, but instead of calling the judges to the stand, he continues speaking.

"A odd and very interesting proposal has been made. Instead of hearing witnesses, I want both sides to consider this new offer and give me their opinions on it."

He pauses and pulls out a piece of paper. "What I hold in my hand is a written out schedule for Miss Haruno's rehabilitation schedule given to me by Doctor Tsunade herself. I also received a statement from the doctor that Miss Haruno's recovery could take up to seven months. I am sure you many of you are already well aware of this," he says with a nod towards where Sakura and Naruto sit.

"Anyways, a person, who I will not name, has requested that Mister Uchiha receive no jail time."

Shouts ring out through the room, the majority of them coming from Naruto.

"Order!" Kakashi yells. Immediately the room falls silent. "I'm not finished. Instead, they requested that Mister Uchiha must complete community service, some of which to be carried out assisting Miss Haruno with her rehabilitation."

"That's madness!" Naruto bursts out. "She doesn't want him anywhere near her!"

Kakashi gives Sakura look and she nods her head slightly, giving him permission to speak.

"That's odd, because it was Miss Haruno that called me with the suggestion."

Naruto turns to stare at Sakura. "What?" he questions, his face looking as though she betrayed him.

"I don't have to explain myself," she snaps.

Naruto flinches as if she hit him and sits back down, silent.

"So," Judge Hatake continues. "Mister Orochimaru what does your client think of this proposal?"

Sasuke leans over to whisper something in his lawyer's ear.

"Due to the fact that Mister Uchiha is in law school and does not wish to be kicked out or fall behind due to being jailed, he accepts the offer to do community service."

"Very well," the judge says. "Sasuke Uchiha is required to do 150 hours of community service as well as finance all of Sakura Haruno's medical expenses." He pounds the gavel before dismissing the court.

xxxxxx

"Why did you do this?" Sasuke asks from across the table, his gaze hard and demanding.

"I wanted to say thank you," she responds meekly, still not entirely sure of her reasons.

"For what?" he lets out a mocking laugh. "Nearly killing you?"

"No," she states firmly, her eyebrows furrowing in frustration. "For saving me."

He just stares at her as if she is an idiot. "Don't forget that you wouldn't need saving if not for me flipping your car."

She leans forward quickly, worked up by his words. "But you could have left me to die, you could have waited for somebody else to find me and be tanning on a beach in Suna somewhere." She puts her hands over his, but he jerks away the moment she touches him.

He is silent for a moment and Sakura begins fiddling with the thread.

"Why do you do that?" he asks, his eyes glued on her fidgeting fingers.

"Can you see it?" she asks quietly as she glances at the red bow on his own pinkie.

"See what?" he questions skeptically.

"The string," she holds up her hand, but he just remains staring at her like she is crazy.

"What string?"

She wants to scream at him that he has one too, but she begins to think that she rightfully deserves the look he is giving her. "Never… never mind," she responds, disheartened. "It's just a nervous habit."

He still stares at her strangely, but lets the topic go. "So why did you offer to do this? Shouldn't you want me behind bars?"

She shakes her head slowly, "Because you've dealt with enough."

He leans across the table so that he is right in her face. Her eyes widen and for a moment she thinks he will kiss her. Instead, he stops an inch away from her lips and in a deep and dangerous voice hisses out. "I don't need your pity."