I guess no one reviewed due to what happened in the previous chapter. :( Not that I can blame anyone if that is the case. It's gonna get much worse.
I've just finished an Itachi/OC story, "The Ronin and the Emperor's Daughter" (unrelated to this trilogy and inspired by Shrek), so here is the latest. :D
Chapter title translation: "cherry blossom viewing".
Chapter Four
Hanami
He was there. He was right in front of her eyes when she laid them upon his face: that monstrosity that was pale and tinted with blue, which might as well be a fish mutation if she said so herself. He couldn't even be human, and to think he didn't play a part in the defiling act against her mother was hard to believe; he simply enjoyed a good killing.
Kisame was his name; that was all she needed, as well as his face.
She remembered when he had that horrifying, unusual sword on his back, but now it was gone; was it taken from him? Was it broken? She didn't care about the answer as long as he died on that very day by her hand. The feeling was the same as the last two before her: exquisite. Him and that other one beneath her feet, the late winter air on her skin as well as her hair coming loose in places - she had never felt so alive.
Sasuke was watching her, and that look spoke of impression over her graceful brutality even if he didn't see everything. But the worst lay in that his best friend lay dying by the hand of the Ame general - whom Itachi killed himself and then beheaded - before he must have pleaded Sasuke to end his life mercifully. Sasuke screamed when he carried it out; this was his friend, and he killed him to avoid shame.
Never mind the great wealth and privileges; the life of a samurai was barbaric in the end. All that greatness came at a really high price that she wished things were so much simpler. However, living as a peasant, you were targeted by these men who had the right to punish you for getting in their way. She doubted Sasuke would agree with her if she told him all of this, but what if she got him to change his mind as they spent more time together? That one night was hardly any time.
Forgetting about the blood on her dark red robe and her wakizashi, she walked over to him and stood a safe couple of feet from him, keeping her eyes glued on his every feature and collapsing inside when she saw how hollow his eyes were. Filled with shame at what he had to do, despite knowing why it had to be done. "Sasuke." She had no idea how to console him because no words could make anything better when you lost someone precious to you.
Sakura knew that too well.
She decided that an embrace would do, uncaring if it was uncomfortable and straining. Because when she threw herself onto him, dropping her weapon so that its tip struck the ground, he froze in place while losing hold of his dagger in his side, same place. He remained this way for a few more moments - until she felt his limp arms come to wrap around her waist. As if he was suddenly desperate for some kind of physical contact, taken off-guard that he never thought an embrace would feel so good at a time like this.
The rosette closed her eyes and buried her face into the raven's shoulder, both ignorant momentarily of the remains of the carnage around them until his brother raised his voice to get their attention.
"We have to return home, but first, we have to ready Naruto's corpse so he can have the proper rites."
"What are you going to tell Hanaru?" Sasuke finally asked, his voice thick, as he let Sakura go and proceeded to help him by lifting the dead Naruto - she tried so hard to not look at the dark red mess at his throat - by the legs while Itachi got the other end beneath the arms, loading the body facedown on the horse's saddle before Sasuke got behind his friend's corpse. He was fighting to not look at the lifeless thing, which told her that he wasn't going to be the same after today.
She got to ride Naruto's horse so that the Uchiha brothers were left to their "respectable" tasks, and it wasn't long before they were met with a trio more of Orochimaru's samurai. One of them had spiky silver hair off to the left side, eyes so dark they could be black, and a relaxed expression, but the lower half of his face was strangely covered by a dark cloth. Perhaps he is so good-looking he doesn't want women to hound him - or he covers a mouth deformity from battle. The next man had shiny dark hair cut like a bowl, brows so thick they could form a caterpillar on his face; the other was a brunette, hair cut short and almost to his skull, also spiked, and his dark eyes were almond-shaped.
Sakura learned their names: the silver hair was Kakashi Hatake, the bushy-brow was Maito Gai, and the final was simply Yamato. She thought it strange that a respectable warrior didn't have a last name, assuming he must not come from a good family and was taken in based on his skill, but she knew nothing for sure.
"Naruto!" Kakashi looked at him with more horror than the other two. "What happened to him?!"
"He tried to kill the general himself," Sasuke said numbly, almost as if he wasn't there. "But he didn't stand a chance. Itachi finished it himself and has the head in his embrace." And so the elder brother presented the face of the enemy leader without removing all of the wrappings which were becoming stained with more blood that had stopped flowing by this time.
Now the attention was on her. "And who is the flower riding beside you, Sasuke?" Yamato questioned before his eyes widened. "Wait...Sakura Haruno? It's been ages since anyone at home saw your face or heard your name!"
Perfect, just as I am on the way home. "Yes, I am she whose parents were taken from her," she said coolly, lifting her chin at them. "But my revenge has been finalized today, for the last one was among those the Uchiha brothers and poor Naruto fought against." She jerked her head in Sasuke's direction when he spoke up for her, the numbing pain absent and replaced with something crystal clear as ice. Ice with a burning core of lava.
"And as of today, since she has agreed to return home, Sakura will be my wife in the near future."
~o~
I like a challenge.
He let himself be overcome by youthful enthusiasm, assuming he thought he knew what it was like to be a powerful warrior, to be honored to serve lord and emperor, but then that day he lost someone. Someone he'd known since he was a child, who laughed with him, played samurai with him and trained in the ways, encouraged him to try pleasurable things - including women - when he felt it was a waste of time.
I wish to have that one's head myself - and Naruto to share the victory with me.
His exuberance to have that goal accomplished died the moment with Naruto. He felt like half a man now - but the other half eventually found itself joined by a certain petal-haired woman who wasn't ashamed to admit that she accomplished her revenge and was coming home to marry him.
He wasn't going to forget that deadly - radiant - aura as she stood over the dead men, some blood on her garment and her blade. She had gotten what she wanted, unlike himself, and was returning home with self-gratification and hopes for a better life, but he was another story. He was heading home with bittersweet victory; he could already see how his pregnant sister-in-law would take the news of her younger brother's death.
I hope it doesn't cause her to miscarry.
He and Itachi didn't go home right away, but they were all to report to Lord Orochimaru and share their parts in the mission. Naruto's body was taken elsewhere in the temple for examination. When Sasuke spoke of how he was asked by his friend to kill him faster than his injuries, he held his head high and kept his attention solely on the serpentine man as those eyes narrowed with each word the younger Uchiha spewed without a shred of emotion from his mouth.
"Where is the Haruno girl now, Uchiha?"
"At the present, with my wife," Itachi answered grimly, "and giving her the news of her brother's sacrifice in our place."
"Hmm." Yellow eyes flashed briefly with sympathy. "I pray it doesn't cause her to lose the child she is carrying, poor woman." Took the words right out of my mouth. "But in any event, she can know that her brother did it for all of us, and know that her husband lives another day - as do all of you." A slight smile formed on his face. "I applaud you for vanquishing our enemies, and the remaining will end up becoming rats for slaughter at any time, knowing they don't stand a chance if we should see their faces again."
His lord's appraisal made him feel a little better, but it wasn't enough. When we get out of his presence, I need something to take my mind off this pain - this pain I haven't felt since Mother and Father died.
~o~
She found herself riding off to the Uchiha estate, and there she was greeted by a few servant women in simple gray kimonos, one who helped her down from her horse and led her to the entrance guarded by a torii, and eventually finishing the flight of stairs until she was met with a beautiful woman who couldn't be much older than she was. Long hair touched the backs of the knees, glowing with gold and streaked with flaming red, and tied below her neck. Her eyes were blue like the flowers on her dark-colored yukata; the resemblance to Naruto was there.
This is his sister - and Itachi's wife. And there was also the visible roundness of pregnancy in the middle of her body, which she cradled with one hand beneath, back straight and rigid like a statue. "Congratulations on the upcoming delivery, my lady," Sakura said with a bow of her head, making the woman laugh.
"Oh, you can call me Hanaru. I hate formality when it involves a friend of Sasuke's - assuming that's what you are," she said, putting a hand on the pink-haired woman's back, guiding her into the compound.
Sakura nodded, then quickly shook her head. "It's more than that, Hanaru," she said. "I'm...Sasuke's bride-to-be. It happened quickly when he, your husband, and your brother were away."
A bright smile spread across the sweet face. "How wonderful!" Then her face fell a little. "But why do I detect that there is more since this feels sudden? Man and woman take time to know each other, arranged or not," she pointed out, and Sakura couldn't agree more. So, she took her time relating the events that happened.
"I was at the geisha house when they came, and I never expected to meet them - lest of all, Sasuke once again. We met for the first and only time many years ago at the Shin'nen Winter Festival. And then...you know what happened to my family," she said, earning a nod from the blonde woman. "I ran away to seek retribution for their deaths. It's accomplished, and now I am home. Sasuke heard of my story as he stayed the night with your husband and brother. He offered me to go with him so that I could find the last one, and it happened to be luck that he was one of those to ambush us: the Ame samurai general was there, as were a few of his hands. Ronin competed; the one I was looking for was there, and there were only two. I took care of them myself while the men handled their orders." Sakura halted, and it was by this time they reached a room she pushed open herself after getting instructions. They had reached the main meeting room, and steaming hot tea had been placed on the short table in the middle of the area.
"Go on," Hanaru said quietly, the trouble heard. Foreboding. She was intuitive, and Sakura liked that about her. But what she told her was going to be far more distressing than that.
"Master Itachi beheaded the general, but before that, Naruto tried to do the job himself, only..."
She'd prepared the poor woman as much as she could, but it seemed she didn't need to beat around the bush anymore. Hanaru Uchiha already guessed what happened. "My brother...he's dead, isn't he?" She pursed her lips, eyes glazed with tears she wasn't going to let fall just yet.
Sakura couldn't keep it in any longer and nodded. It was then that the woman took a few deep breaths before bringing both hands to her face, wiping the tears without moving them, before bringing them down again to rest on her lap. She was being graceful and trying not to break down into a storm even though she'd lost the brother she loved so much.
She got up from her seat and went around to hold the woman as she sobbed, clutching onto Sakura as the only available support there was. Since her husband and brother-in-law were meeting with their lord to discuss the mission's events. "I'm so sorry," Sakura whispered, stroking Hanaru's back.
When the lady of the house calmed down, for now, she cleared her throat and accepted the teacup from her guest. Sakura chose this moment to ask her about the child she was carrying, to which Hanaru smiled weakly and said it would come in a couple of months' time, in the middle of summer. The rosette wondered if it would be this kind of joy to share with Sasuke if they had any children of their own.
Except that left a question that worried her: would he be attracted to her the same way she was to him?
~o~
Everything was quiet for the time being in Konoha and outside, so he and Itachi were home with Hanaru and Sakura - who had moved in with them, the dowry that her father left and all her weapons in possession. Days had passed, and the Ume Festival came and went as it was sweet and comforting to an extent now that he finally noticed these things thanks to a certain someone who was still smiling despite everything that happened.
Did she put on a smile when she was disgraced? Is it genuine or just a façade?
The more he looked, eventually, he came to the conclusion that it was authentic. The sadness present was slowly going down, unlike the one in himself - only little by little. His brother assured him time would heal his wounds, that Naruto would want him to go on just like their parents. When he was a boy, he believed in Itachi's wisdom. But this time, he felt that wisdom slowly slipping away.
If only he could spend the rest of his days in comfort, with his bride-to-be beside him, instead of losing friends and comrades just for the sake of protecting something greater.
Hanaru at least didn't lose her baby or go into early labor. He thought about how the birth could make things better for the family besides the scheduled day: two days before the Hanami Festival would end. And that was today when he found himself amongst villagers and nobility underneath sunshine and pleasant winds which caused the pale flowers to tremble on their branches, some to fall to the emerald grass and litter like a woodblock painting. There were many locations to sit and enjoy bento and sake, whether it was under the trees or at an appropriate view to glimpse the pristine beauty.
His brother and sister-in-law happened to be on the other side of the tree he and Sakura were under, but besides enjoying the rice and vegetable pieces that were made by her hand - she was fantastic with her hands in many forms, he finally saw when it came to THIS - he found himself savoring the sight of her in the kimono which was pastel pink like her hair and tied with a pale green sash and a red obi rope. And her hair free as a laughing river just the way she preferred it - and the way he liked it.
She was beautiful, kind, and ferocious beneath that surface. She was everything he waited all his life for without obsessing - unlike her. The paper she produced from within her kimono was evidence, though he wasn't going to run away like he did that night at the new year's festival.
Sakura had written him a poem, and he read it:
My thoughts drift to you
Dreams of youth
Foolishness or no
The various flavors of the seasons
Come what may be.
What she had told him was that she had been in love with him since the first time, how it withstood time even if it were different for him, and it wasn't foolish as far as she was concerned. She knew it when I didn't. Yet she didn't pursue me again. Maybe she was right...
She kissed him once before at the geisha house, so he did it to her just now after reading the short and sweet message written by her dainty hand. Was it funny how something simple as this could make a difference?
They were married under this very same spot several days later, and she wore that very same kimono that matched her hair, tied with the same sash like her eyes.
Genji Monogatari (1951), directed by Kôzaburô Yoshimura, is another masterpiece from Japan, with a moment where Genji (the emperor's son) writes a secret note to the Akashi's daughter. It's a romantic but tragic story. :3
So, looks like Sasuke's descent is beginning because he lost his friend if his parents' deaths in childhood hadn't already done the job. :(
Review! :'D
