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Bring Me To Life
Summary: After Sasuke left, Sakura didn't know what her purpose in life was anymore. Her presence has becoming nothing. When three years pass, Sasuke comes back to Konoha. At his return, Sakura is at a mix of emotions. "Save Me From The Nothing I've Become."
Chapter 2 – Old Feelings
"Kakashi-sensei said you wanted to see me, Tsunade-shishou?"
The blossom-haired girl walked briskly into the office in the Hokage Mansion.
"Sakura, as I'm sure you know, the Uchiha's returned."
Sakura's emerald eyes dulled as her porcelain face saddened ever so slightly. "I know."
"Are you all right? I know you had… strong feelings for the Uchiha." Tsunade spoke cautiously, watching her apprentice's actions carefully. "Do you feel the same way towards him still? If you are uncomfortable, Sakura, I can remove him and send him on probation in solitude for the time being."
"Tsunade-shishou, I'm not the same person I was when I was a genin. You know that as well as Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. I'm not sure how I feel about… Sasuke, but I'll just have to deal with him being there. A kunoichi doesn't let emotions cloud her judgment."
The Godaime gave her student a small, sad smile. "Sakura, you don't have to be so strong. It's okay to let your emotions out once in a while. But I need to ask you, Sakura," Tsunade continued, "how do you, honestly, feel about Sasuke?"
Averting her emerald eyes, Sakura glimpsed upon the golden almond orbs of the blonde Sannin.
Her eyes hold so much emotion, yet her body shows nothing, thought the female Hokage.
"Well, Sakura?"
Large sea green eyes rounded, lacking luster. She put her gaze at the floor.
"I don't know."
"You don't know how you feel about him?" the blond-haired woman asked.
"Isn't that what I just said?!" Sakura snapped.
At the sudden outburst the Godaime flinched, the yell echoing faintly in the round room.
Instantly the kunoichi's face fell into remorse. "Ah, sorry, Tsunade-shishou, I didn't—I didn't mean to—"
Tsunade held her hand up, silencing her apprentice. "It's fine, Sakura. You're just going through a tough time."
And your emotions are finally beginning to truly wake up, thought the legendary medic.
"Go back with your team. I'm sure they are waiting for you," the Hokage stated calmly with light order in her tone, returning to her paperwork.
In response, Sakura quickly bowed in respect and left.
Sakura… don't let the Uchiha get you down too much, the blonde-haired woman thought. I don't want to have a lifeless doll as an apprentice—like you were before Naruto came back from training with Jiraiya.
Once the pink-haired kunoichi reached Team Kakashi, her eyes scanned over the area absent-mindedly, the events that had occurred earlier still playing fresh with her mind. However, she did now allow the memories to bother her, controlling herself with much self-will.
And upon glazing over the area, the first thing she noticed was the missing of a certain Uchiha.
"Where is he?"
Kakashi, Naruto, and Sai all glanced at her simultaneously. Each person knew who she was speaking of, the name not needing to be mentioned.
"Right here," came the reply of the former missing nin, appearing in a gust of wind behind Sakura swiftly.
"So now you finally come out of your little hiding place, eh, Sasuke?" Kakashi's voice drawled indolently, crouching forward as he sat against the high branch of a tall tree. His elbows rested on his knees as he glanced downwards.
"Hey, hey! Teme, get away from Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, his loud voice echoing in the vacant area as he lunged towards the Uchiha without hesitation, teeth clenched with eyebrows furrowed in a scowl.
Sai merely glimpsed the scene with slightly bored interest, yet keenly and naturally curious as to what the outcome would be.
"Your choice of attack…" Sasuke's head leaned forward, resting beside the side of Sakura's face as the girl could feel his firm chest press against her back, "…is wrong."
Large sea green eyes expanded, feeling the cold metal of a kunai mangling firmly against her slender, porcelain neck. She tried to calm her racing heartbeat, thick lashes lowering over her eyes.
"Wha—…You're not really going to kill—"
"Who says I won't kill you?" whispered the Uchiha in her ear, his hot breath tickling her earlobe. His other free arm wrapped around her waist securely from behind whilst the hand clutching the kunai wound around her neck in a headlock. The metal weapon touched her skin as he swiftly drew it across, drawing a thin line of blood.
Upon feeling the sharp pain from the minor cut, Sakura took a sharp intake of breath. She began struggling against in grasp, only to find her squirming in vain. He didn't move a muscle.
"Sasuke…! Let—me—go—!" She twisted with each word.
Naruto had well stopped charging the minute he realized the danger his pink-haired teammate was in. He watched agape for a few moments before his hand clutched in a fist.
"Teme! Let her go!" he bellowed.
Sai remained calmly focused whilst Kakashi studied the Uchiha's expression diligently.
He… he may really kill her… the silver-haired jounin thought, noting the slaughter intention that was radiating off the raven-haired shinobi.
"Naruto's right," pitched in the black-haired artist. "Pointless slaughter would be meaningless. What would you gain?"
The Uchiha feigned the thoughtful expression that crossed his face, pressing the kunai deeper. Sakura gasped at this, her two hands grasping his wrist tightly.
"Let me go!" she shouted, frustration beginning to get the better of her.
"I don't think so," answered the boy flatly, twisting the kunai as he dragged it along her cheek slowly, the cold metal leaving a mark of her blood lining along her cheek. "I thought you were stronger than this, Sakura. Seems like I overestimated you. I expected more from the apprentice of a sannin…" He could feel the kunoichi's breath hitch in her throat. "I won't make the same mistake twice."
The medic nin bit her lip, casting her emerald gaze towards the ground. "I… I have grown stronger," she murmured quietly. She cringed at this. Never more in her life had she felt so pathetic.
Upon her response, the Uchiha prodigy scoffed, twirling the kunai expertly around his finger before stashing it away. Despite this movement, he remained with his firm grip on her.
"Show me," he whispered to her, his mouth against her upper ear.
((SFX: Poof!))
Smug engulfed around the two shinobi before it cleared, revealing the pair had disappeared from sight.
"What the – Where'd they go?!" Naruto exclaimed angrily. Cerulean eyes searched the area frantically, looking for any sign of Sasuke or Sakura, but mostly for the latter. "Kakashi-sensei! They're gone! We have to go after them – Sasuke-teme's going to kill Sakura-chan!"
"Naruto, the last thing we need to do is act impulsively," Kakashi answered briskly, his tone holding light command. "Sakura is perfectly capable of handling herself, and we will leave things in her hands. She has grown stronger." He gave a pointed look towards the kyuubi vessel. "Besides," he added, slowly, "we both know Sasuke isn't heartless enough to kill her."
His fist clench tightly, molars grounding against one another before his body plopped on the ground roughly. He closed his eyes in annoyed anticipation. You better be right, Kakashi-sensei, thought Naruto. Or else if teme really does hurt Sakura-chan, I'll make sure he regrets it!
"Kakashi is right," came the even voice of Sai's. "All to do now, is wait."
Deeper in the forest...
"Where are you taking me?" demanded the blossom-haired kunoichi, still trying to wrench herself from the Uchiha's grip.
"Shut up," he curtly responded, tightening his grasp on her to further prevent her escape.
Her mouth tugged in a frown, noting the strong, deathly aura surrounding him. Feeling his movements come to a stop, she allowed her large sea green eyes scanned the area. Blinking, she realized she was in a large, empty meadow, clear from any civilization for hundreds of miles.
This area is ideal for a fight, she thought to herself. She put two and two together instantly. He wants… to fight me?
Show him that we're not to be messed with! That we've grown stronger! Inner Sakura encouraged.
Emerald eyes flashed at her alter's statement. "Sasuke," she called to him, her voice laced with rigidity. "What are you—"
"Fight me."
It wasn't a statement, but a command.
By this point, he released his grip on the medic nin, shoving her a few feet away.
The pink-haired ninja jumped a few yards away out of a defensive reaction. "What?" she questioned, eyebrows furrowing as her mouth still remained open, seeming as though she was trying to form more words. "But… but you—"
"Che, you're not afraid of me…" A gust of wind passed as he vanished along with the wind, reappearing behind the girl. "…Are you?" His tone dripped with arrogance. "Last time I remember, you would kill to be alone with me in the woods."
"That was long ago," she snapped back, feeling her anger boil. She refused to remember the frail, weak girl she was formerly. "I can't fight you," she spoke firmly. "We're on the same team. What's the point of senseless sparring? We're certainly not training." Her voice grew flat.
A snort came from the Uchiha. "Ever heard of something called 'betrayal'? You were going to fight me one day, Sakura. It just happens to be today."
The prodigy crouched low, a rapid grasp following on the sheath of his katana. Sakura followed suit, tugging down her gloves as she bent her fingers.
"Let's make this more interesting." She arched a brow at his spontaneous decree. "If you win," he continued, "then I promise to never abandon Konoha again. But, if Iwin, I'm leaving. I won'tbecoming back. Sound fair?"
Leave? …And never come back? Realization dawned her as her mouth fell open slightly.
"But… you just got here…" the kunoichi whispered.
"Which gives you all the more intention to want to beat me," his retort was instant and flat. "As you said, there's no point in fighting unless you have an intention."
Sakura nodded, understanding his logic. But… do I have what it takes to beat him? He was an intimidating figure, after all, with rumors flying around that he had single-handedly taken down Orochimaru.
Of course! Her alter ego tried to encourage. He doesn't stand a chance!
But here… and now?
"Wait a minute," she started. "Can this fight… take place later?"
Great, now he'll think that I'm weak because I'm stalling.
Then why the hell are you stalling in the first place?
I don't have a clear mind right now, I'm distracted. How can I give it my all if I'm not completely focused on the battle?
Inner Sakura crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. Humph, whatever…
Upon the kunoichi's request to later the battle, Sasuke folded his arms across his upper torso. "No backing out. But since I'm feeling generous today… we'll hold this fight for later."
I did use a little more chakra then I intended to today, he thought before appearing behind his former teammate.
Sasuke's arms went around Sakura's waist, earning an immediate squeak from the girl.
"I guess I should take you back to Kakashi, the dobe, and the pathetic replacement," he assumed, telling her in a mere mumur before leaping up swiftly into the air, flying through the branches of trees as he hurdled across.
It had only taken the Uchiha a couple minutes, slightly to Sakura's amazement, to reach where the three left-behind members of Team Kakashi stood. Upon the graceful landing of the raven-haired shinobi, Naruto's head immediately snapped upwards, followed by Kakashi and Sai's a few seconds later.
"Here," stated Sasuke vigorously, his palm shoving against the small of Sakura's back, the blossom-haired girl stumbling forward from his push.
Arms already outstretched, Naruto easily caught her before sending a loathing scowl towards the Uchiha. "What'd you do to her?!" he growled. After all, Naruto was the type of shinobi that didn't like being "kept in the dark."
"He didn't do anything, Naruto," reassured the medic nin, her voice speaking in a soothing manner as she tried to calm her blond-haired companion. "I'm fine."
"Why are you defending him?" questioned Sai before innocently inquiring, "Is he too weak to defend himself?"
At the insult, Sasuke heatedly glare at the painter, the artist only answering his glare with a blank expression.
"Che," he scoffed before vanishing from sight.
"Argh! Why does he keep doing that?!" shouted Naruto in frustration, arms shaking in seething anger.
"That isn't of importance, Naruto. Sakura, are you all right?" Kakashi asked, trying to restrain Naruto by taking hold of his arms.
"I'm fine, Kakashi-sensei."
She gave a fake smile in spite of her troubled mind. I still have to fight Sasuke… but do I have to?