Pompeii
Chapter 27
VesperChan

Days later and Sakura was still reeling from the generosity of her friends. Gifts were one thing, but it was hard to shake the feeling that there was something more to her first birthday in Pompeii based on how they blessed her. There were flowers for her almost daily when she came down for work. Every other day someone came in during her lunch break to bring her food and sit and eat with her. Days before she had felt a lacking in the town as more and more people went 'off' on business she didn't understand, but suspected to be tied to Orochimaru's recent activity. She had mentioned it once and now it seemed all her friends in Pompeii were attempting to compensate for the few weeks she wasn't bathed in affection.

Sakura loved her friends, and loved the validation from their gifts and visits…but…

"It's too much."

Shizune nodded in agreement. "Well, the Senju dropped off flowers yesterday. It's no surprise the Uchiha would want to outshine their good neighbors."

Sakura grimaced at the gaudy floral display left on her desk. It was even more lush with flora than the one yesterday, left by sweet Kawarama Senju on behalf of him and his brothers. Sakura had forgotten the blackbirds who saw and heard everything when she took the flowers from the youngest Senju, and gushed to him about how happy she was and how much she loved them.

"The smell is overpowering," Shizune admitted with a shy shrug. "But it's still lovely."

"Yeah, it's gorgeous," Sakura agreed, looking over the swelling display of a dozen different flowers artfully arranged. "It's just too much. Even for a birthday present, I've never been so…spoiled. Is this normal? I mean, it's been over a week already."

"Yes, but it's your first birthday here. Sometimes special celebrations can continue on for weeks. Weddings typically last a whole month when they happen here. It all depends on how important or valued that person is to the community. You have a lot of people in Pompeii who see you as a member who is treasured." Shizune nodded, eyes rolling towards the window. "Plus, people would much rather celebrate you than the spring equinox celebration that's coming."

"What? Why is that not a good thing? I thought the spring celebration was for like…rebirth and new life."

"Oh it is, but this is just the quadrennial spring celebration. Every four years the spring celebration is a little different and people just don't like the traditions as much as the others."

"Is there a reason for that?" Sakura asked.

"It's important to preserve our history and remember the mistakes we and our ancestors made in the past. So, instead of every year we decided that every four years we would add an additional ritual of appeasement into our spring celebration. It's no terrible thing and we enjoy ourselves well enough because it is a celebration, but it's not as fun compared to celebrating the life of a person important to you. We would much rather just celebrate you, Sakura."

"What's the ritual of appeasement for?" Sakura asked, noticing how the crows outside her windows were gone and the room felt much larger than it should. The windows were far away and the doors even farther. If someone had been listening in on them there would be nothing for them to hear. This was Shizune's doing.

"It's better you not know that much," Shizune whispered sweetly, something sad in her eyes. She reached out and pat Sakura's cheek fondly. "There's no need for you to share in our penance. Forget I said all that I did."

Sakura wanted to ask what the penance was for and what she would do if she didn't have to share in it, but another part of her wanted to ask about the woods and if what happened to her last autumn was tied to the spring celebrations. She had been back to the woods only once since that last incident, but there had been no more stairs to nowhere or evil fires stalking her through the night.

But that had been before…

"Shizune, we don't have anyone else for the next hour, I want to check on something in my room real quick. Holler for me if we get a walk in?" Sakura asked.

"Of course."

With a grateful wave Sakura skipped back and doubled up the stairs to her room on the second floor. Inside, the book had been left on her bed and that's where she found it once more.

"Heeeey, old friend," Sakura chuckled, picking it up nervously. Sometimes it didn't want to talk to her and sometimes it did. She hoped she could get something out of it today.

"What is it now?" the book groused, sounding tired.

"It's not about Orochimaru this time, I have a different sort of question for you. Do you know what happened to me last fall in the woods? Do you know what that was?"

The book warmed in her hands, she knew it was awake, but it didn't reply. Sakura held her breath and waited, knowing it could be temperamental with her if it wanted to be. She could feel it still awake, it hadn't gone to sleep on her, she could tell that much by now. Finally, it shifted in her hands.

"I know what it was." The book then went silent.

"What was it?" Sakura asked.

The next silence was even longer and Sakura grew afraid that was all she would get out of the book before it shifted and turned open it's pages. Sakura saw one bleed with a sloppy hand of ink. The ink ran into words and Sakura mutely read.

'The truth is in the forest. The trees know!'

"The trees know what?" Sakura asked, feeling the book grow cooler under her fingers.

"You'll have to ask them that yourself, won't you?" the book chirped before turning on itself and falling out of her hands onto her bed, closed once more.

When Sakura reached for it she could feel how cold it was and knew it was sleeping. There would be nothing more to glean from it after this. This time the book hadn't answered her on its own, but showed her the answer someone else had discovered.

"I have to go back into the woods again to find the answer," Sakura said out loud. "Why does that sound like a bad idea?"

It was too convenient that the next morning was her day off and the weather was impossibly perfect for an early hike. She had wanted an excuse to stay back, but there were only reasons to go out, so she donned her hiking boots, knapsack, and packed plenty of water.

"I really don't have a death wish, really," Sakura said to her empty room before locking it behind her.

But before she could regret it, Sakura was already out and at the edge of the woods, inhaling the sharp smells of Douglas fir trees and evergreen needles. It was wonderful and fresh and clean and it made her heart hurt in longing. It was so nice to be outdoors. There were a scattering of pine cones on the floor that crunched underfoot and the sound made tingles at the base of her brain stem.

She remembered why she loved the outdoors so much. She was spoiled with all this compared to the dirty life in the city she had left behind.

It was a perfect day with warm sunlight and brilliant clear skies dotted with just enough clouds to make things shady when they needed to be. Everything was picturesque. It almost made her want to sing.

Sakura hummed softly to herself, content with the world around her. She felt the bark, rough under her fingertips, as she dragged her hands over the tree's exteriors. Everything felt perfect. How had she ever been afraid of this wonderful place?

"Who is that?"

Sakura stopped humming at the voice and turned, looking around. She couldn't see anyone between the trees and spun once more, startling when suddenly there was a person standing right in front of her that hadn't been there mere moments before. She made a noise high pitched and quick before stumbling backwards and grabbing her heart.

"Oh my-Sasori, what are you doing there? You just showed up and freaked me out." Sakura let out a shaky breath and then gulped when she saw the ax at his side. "What…are you doing here?"

Sasori glared down at her but heaved the ax back up onto his shoulder and Sakura saw that it had a leather cap over the end of the blade to keep it from cutting anything accidentally. When he spoke his voice was dry and baleful.

"What do you think a woodworker would be doing up in the woods with an ax?"

"I mean…specifically, is there something you are doing out here. Do you have a project you're working on?" Sakura easily recovered, smiling up at the red head before skipping to draw up parallel with him.

Today he was wearing a shirt, but it was loose with shirt sleeves that showed off the ball joints at his elbows and wrists. She could see the joints under his chin and at his neck too, now that she looked for them. They were hard to see if you didn't know they were there.

"Meh, wood for the spring celebration. Any more details aren't meant for you to hear," he groused, mood sullen as he turned his back to her and began to walk away.

"Are you leaving?" Sakura asked, keeping pace with him.

"Are you following me?" he countered.

"For now." Sakura shrugged when he glared over at her. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"I'm sure there are plenty of other people in the woods for you to entertain, but I have work to do."

He started to walk away and Sakura stopped, letting him create distance between them. He wasn't far when she called out to him next.

"I loved the box."

He stopped and looked back at her, partially over his shoulder.

"I keep it on my dresser and it holds many of my treasures. The detail and skill you put into the decorations is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I…sometimes I'll look at it and notice something new I hadn't seen before, even days later. Thank you, I know that could have come from only you, even if there was no tag."

Sasori stared back at her, but there was no glare in his look anymore. He was a creature assembled, put together and made like a doll with joints and add ons. It was hard to see some of his expressions sometimes, but she could see he wasn't glaring at her anymore. There was something else on his face now.

Sakura went on. "Also, I could tell it took a lot of time and effort to craft, but it was perfect for me. The Sakura blossoms were a nice touch."

"M-mn…" he hummed, dipping his head a fraction. "It was meant as a-an…anniversary present for your first year in Pompeii." His words came out slow and his eyes didn't meet hers. "It wasn't finished as neatly as I would have liked, but I am glad you appreciate it."

He rested his ax against a tree and reached down to untie the arms of his black and red flannel and pull it on. Sakura watched him button up the front and then grab his ax again. Now his elbow joints were hidden and the ones around his neck were harder to see. The ones on his fingers were masked with magic, so it seemed as if Sasori was as human or normal as one could be.

"How long did you work on it?" Sakura asked, walking up next to him, hands behind her back.

"Long enough." He looked away and then hiked his shoulders before glancing back at her. "Not long," he finally amended.

"How long is not long for someone like you?" Sakura asked, suspecting that all the details he had put into her box must have been more than a few days labor. Some of the details were so tiny they must have been etched out with a pin she though. There were people happy under the Sakura trees and sometimes she thought she recognized them as people from Pompeii, like Ino, Gaara, and Naruto.

Sasori shrugged. "I couldn't put a number on it. I worked…on and off…I had other things to do in between and thought I would have more time to finish it. I didn't know it was your birthday so close to the spring equinox."

"I didn't know it was going to be such a big deal. I thought birthdays were like just another thing. Some people I've met are hundred of years old and don't even remember the actual number. I think it would get mundane after a while."

"You're different," Sasori said easily, and Sakura felt a pang of panic for a split second. She didn't want to be different, she didn't want to be 'outside' or apart from the others in Pompeii, even though she knew she was still something of an outside that couldn't share in their penance and history.

Sensing her tension Sasori quickly corrected himself. "Special. You're special. To Pompeii and everyone here. A doctor is special anyways, but you're one of the far kinder and more treasured ones to come through. Plus, you're still young, aren't you? The kids cling to you so easily."

"Kids? You mean Naruto and Ino and Gaara?" Sakura remembered the carvings on her box and realized that most of them were of the younger generation that Ino hung out with. There were a few older people like Shizune on the box, but almost exclusively the collection of Sakura observers carved into the wood were of the youngest in Pompeii.

Sakura felt her face flush. "Is that what I seem like to you?" she whined, cheeks burning. "I have a degree and a job!"

Sasori looked almost as if he were panicking when he heard her tone and saw her flush. She saw his mouth hang open on a gap then quickly shut. "No-not like that. You're an adult, you're old enough to be an adult, you're not a kid, but you're less than a century, right?"

"Does that make me a child?" Sakura whined, feeling even more embarrassed. No one else had told her this. Was a century the turning point out of adolescence?

"Obviously not. I don't see you as a child, Sakura," Sasori spoke quickly. "You're a wom-wo-woman." His voice caught towards the end and if he could Sakura was sure he would have blushed with how pained his eyes seemed as he looked down at her. His mouth was open and gaping again.

Sakura reached up and rubbed her face with her hands, stretching out the skin under her eyes. "It's okay, I get it. I'm not the oldest one here and I guess I'm just sensitive because I'm used to being dismissed and treated differently in my work profession. I-I graduated early from NYU and was one of the youngest in my field with a degree. I had people doubting me constantly because of my age and my sex. I'm more sensitive to it than I admit, but I'm fine now, really."

"You didn't deserve that," Sasori said. "You do an amazing job, better than anyone that came before you."

Sakura forced herself to laugh. "Thank you, Sasori. I'm…I'm also sorry for making you uncomfortable. I hadn't meant to put you in such an awkward situation."

"You didn't."

Sakura looked up at him and smiled slyly until he stuttered again.

"N-not really. Don't apologize for it."

"All the same, I bet I was more annoying than you expected. I even kept you from finishing your work. It was important work too, wasn't it?"

He was watching her, hardly half a head taller than her, he stared down at her from his spot alongside her. "It's nothing that couldn't have waited another hour or day."

"Oh good, because I didn't want to say it before, but I'm really glad I ran into you. I was a little afraid to come out here on my own." She smiled so easily as they began to start walking off in a new direction together.

"Why?"

"Oh, you know, um last autumn I had a few missteps in the forests and ended up going weird places for hours even though it felt like minutes. It freaked me out and the Senju couldn't even tell me what it was that was happening. I haven't been back here since, but I thought if I wanted to better understand what happened I should…put in a little more effort. Does that make sense?"

"You came here on you own?" She nodded. "Knowing that the last time you did so resulted in unpleasant events?"

"Oh well, they were actually a little worse than unpleasant, but you know it was so long ago."

"You didn't ask anyone to come with you?" he asked again, still walking.

"I didn't want to bother anyone, and it was sort of last minute. Plus, a lot of people have been busy. I don't know what it is, but like, when I went to visit Pein at his diner he wasn't there and the Uchiha leave gifts with their birds, but they're also out and about with the Senju more than usual. Everyone is working hard in their own way. It would have been selfish of me to bother them."

"Are you an idiot?" he asked, voice dry. "That's the stupidest thing you've ever said."

Sakura missed a step and staggered. "Excuse me?"

"You think you would be selfish to 'bother' them by asking them to go on a hike with you. The matter of your safety aside, who do you think wouldn't want to go on a hike with you if you asked them."

"Everyone here is really nice and I knew most would say yes if I asked, but I didn't…want to be a bother." Sakura paused to make a face up at the redhead. "You make it sound like I'm being the conceited one here, but I don't think I was stupid."

"Maybe, but it's fine to be stupid from time to time. Regardless, it worked out with me."

"Oh yes, thank you for that, my knight in shining armor," Sakura gushed in exaggeration. "Where ever would I have been without you to cross my path?"

"Humming to yourself like a loon in the middle of the woods," he breathed out with an almost smile on his face.

"Excuse you," Sakura gasped. "Rude!"

Sasori looked at her face and there was something like ice breaking in her heart as she saw his expression shift. His lips stretched and the smile was matched in his eyes as he laughed down at her. It was a full, honest, sort of laugh he hadn't thought about or meant to let slip. Sakura felt her heart catch and pinch painfully for a split second before it warmed and she laughed along with him, unable to fight it. Sasori was laughing and it made her want to laugh too.

The pair of them went on walking a little further. Eventually Sasori explained to her that he was looking for the Genesis tree, a tree that sometimes springs up during the ritual performed on Founder's Day. When Sakura and the other boys from the Mizu gang went into that trance things had happened on the outside and one of those things was a tree springing up in the middle of Pompeii somewhere.

"How will you be able to tell which one it is?" Sakura asked, momentarily marveled by the vast amount of trees she had already seen.

"It's one that wasn't there before. Only the experts of the wood even attempt to go out looking for it. Aside from that, there is some residual magic in it that others can track. It's…every four years a tree has to be cut and presented as tribute during the Spring Celebration, and if there is a genesis tree it has to be that one."

"What happens if you can't find that tree in time?" Sakura asked.

Sasori shrugged. "That's not happened before, but I guess it would be bad. Maybe. It's a break in tradition, but there's not any real danger."

Sakura hummed along, following him down the path. "Do you get the tree for the ceremony every four years?"

"Yeah, usually. I mean, it depends on who finds it and sometimes that's one of the Senju brats because they're all over this forest, but I've found it several times in recent years. Regardless, I always go out looking."

"Is it the same type of special tree, or is it sometimes different?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"I'm curious! That's how people learn. Besides, I feel like no one talks to me that much about Pompeii's history apart from Shizune, but even she has things she won't tell me."

Sasori nodded, pushing away a tree branch and walking around it. "There are some things about Pompeii you are better off not knowing about."

Sakura watched him for an expression as they walked. "Like Orochimaru?"

Sasori didn't miss a step, but she saw his lips thin. "Among others, yes. Learning about them might draw their gaze to you, so it is best if you knew less."

"I'm pretty sure I've already pissed that guy off when I helped Haku out a curse. Chiyo helped with that, so you might have heard." When he nodded grimly Sakura went on. "So, it doesn't matter much more than this. I'm better off knowing."

"There are things far more dangerous than Orochimaru to worry about," Sasori sighed, stopping and squinting into the tree line ahead of them.

He picked up his ax off his shoulder and popped the button around the leather head covering, letting it fall to the floor as the blade's edge gleamed in the early morning light. "Sakura, get behind me."

Sakura recognized the tone and rushed to do as she said, situating herself behind him. Above them the sky had turned gray and was thicker with clouds than before. A moment later one cracked and a strike of lightning hit the ground close to where Sakura had just been standing. It cleared in a burst of smoke and there, standing at the stroke point, was a nonchalant looking Pein.

"Oh, you." Sasori's tone and expression were bland as he straightened, but didn't put down the ax. He still held onto it and kept his arms wide enough to shield Sakura.

"Me," Pein said, brushing smoke off his shoulders. "But it's not you I was here to see."

Sakura touched Sasori's arm and peeked out from behind him. "Pein? You're back."

The nonchalant edges and disinterested expression were wiped off Pein's person as he straightened at the sound of her voice. His eyes went to her instantly and everything about him was different.

"Sakura," he breathed, voice as soft as his eyes as he looked down at her. "You weren't at work and someone mentioned you went into the woods. I was worried. Are you well?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just went on a walk. Wait, when did you get back? You've been gone."

There was a real sort of hurt in his eyes as he nodded to her. "I'm sorry. Yes, I was gone but I heard you came looking for me? I can't apologize enough. I even missed your birthday."

Sakura waved it off. "There will be others. It's not a big deal."

Pein swallowed, looking from her to the redhead who stood immediately next to her, ax still raised. "What are you wearing, Sasori?" he asked, a single brow raised in scrutiny. Are you trying to hide your imperfections?"

Sasori didn't react, but lowered his ax and reached for the leather head covering, avoiding eye contact. Wordlessly he started to cover up the blade with the leather.

"There are none." Both males looked over at Sakura as she spoke. Sakura blinked at the attention but didn't hesitate. "Sasori doesn't have any imperfections."

Sasori's head turned away and he looked down, buttoning the clasp to his ax head covering while Pein readjusted himself and then coughed into his hand.

"Of course. Nothing ill meant in it. I'll apologize for the slip of the tongue just now. Regardless, Sakura…" he waved a hand and there was a ripple of magic around them. He reached for her and offered her his hand. "I have something I wanted to show you. To make up for my absence please let me take you to your birthday present."

Sakura looked back over at Sasori who hadn't turned back to face her. Something about the lines in his back made it hard to approach him.

"Sasori," she called out to him but he didn't turn around or react. "Thank you for spending time with me and staying with me. I enjoyed our time out. Let's do it again sometime soon. I'll help you look for your tree."

She took Pein's hand and with a snap the pair were gone.

Without Sakura there Sasori could feel the wave of Pompeii's magic clustered not far off. He swallowed, trying to move past the feeling he still wrestled with from Sakura's words. Where his heart should have been hurt. He'd have to look at that later and check to make sure there was nothing wrong.

He followed a less tread path deeper until he came upon it. Wide and stretching with a solid trunk wide enough to be buried in, the buds were starting to come in varying shades of pale pink. Any day now the Sakura buds would bloom and fall.

Sasori dropped his ax to his side and sighed, lacking the motivation to move. Just this once he wanted to pretend he never found the genesis tree. Maybe this could be the year they broke with tradition.

Meanwhile, with Pein and Sakura

"No," Sakura whispered, eyes wide.

"Happy birthday."

"Pein…"

"Yes, dearest?" he purred, head close to hers.

"That's a car."

"Mmmhum," he hummed into the side of her head, nuzzling her hair before pulling back. " It's a 1957 chevy convertible. I thought you might like it."