We raced through the dark trees in utter silence. The breeze brought about the smell of smoke that stung my nostrils and tightened my throat. All I could do was keep my head low and try to avoid the tainted air, but there wasn't enough fresh air to last much longer. However, the further away from the town - and the burning building - we got, the clearer the air became. It was a relief and a curse at the same time.
We ran with Sakumo in the lead, his black nose up in the air constantly. Sasuke had his ruby-red Sharingan active and locked dead-set ahead, paying no heed to the trees that rushed past us in a blur which would give a normal person motion sickness. He never glanced my way once, despite the way my gaze lingered occasionally on him, then to Sakumo, and then scanned the area.
"There's a group up ahead." My wolf said in his husky voice, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder at us. We picked up our paces, the thrill of the chase finally catching up to us. A strange adrenaline rush rose in my chest and I found myself longing to catch our prey by surprise and giving them a taste of their own medicine. Knowing Sasuke and my own cruel streak however, I knew there was no way we were going to let our enemies off that easily.
I couldn't help but notice the gleam in Sasuke's eyes that probably reflected my own. We both wanted a good fight, and to give these guys what they deserved. It sounds like revenge, and maybe that was the thought that was running through my head; revenge. Maybe I did want revenge, but for what? Was being locked in a burning building a good enough reason? Surely it had to be, but even if it wasn't, that didn't stop the longing desire that fueled me to run faster. Maybe I was - maybe I still am - fueled by revenge, but everybody thrives somehow, and this was what we longed for.
"I can see them," Sasuke said in his raspy voice. "There's only two," At this, he glanced at me and smirked. I smirked back. Two-on-two; this was going to be fun.
We stopped and hide in the trees as soon as even my normal eyes could see them. Sakumo left us to have our fun in a cloud of smoke, and we stared down at the unsuspecting enemy. As ironic as this might sound, naive us, became the unsuspecting enemy. Without a sound or warning, we were pummeled to the ground.
Eyes wide, I looked around frantically only to find that we were alone. Our pursuers had vanished. I was still searching when a pale, muscular hand was extended towards me. Looking up, I stared into Sasuke's coal black eyes for a moment before I took his hand. He helped me to my feet without a word, and then we were both on the lookout again. After a very long, tense, while, we felt as if we were alone. I looked over in his direction, to see him staring a little too hard at something behind me.
"See something?" I asked, twisting at the waist to peer over my shoulder, but I did not see anything.
"I thought I did," He said cautiously as I turned back to him. His gaze flickered to me once, before he looked away again.
"Let's just go find Naruto and Kakashi," I said after one last sweep of the place. We met each other's gaze, and he nodded. I was about ready to turn when his eyes widened and he yelled out my name in alarm.
A sharp pain flashed through my head, taking the breath from me. The world spun and before I knew it, I was on the floor. I was somewhat aware of his voice calling out to me, and the clash of metal on metal, but by that point, everything was black.
"Sasuke..." I managed to utter before I completely slipped away.
When I awoke, the first thing I heard sent my utter fluttering open in confusion.
"Hey! I think she's waking up!" It was Aiko's voice.
Looking up, I was surprised to see her icy blue eyes staring, warmly down at me. She leaned back and smiled at me. I sat up groggily, feeling like I'd had one too many drinks (maybe I was young, but I'd had a few drinks before, so I knew what hang overs felt like). I blinked and shook my head then took a deep breath, feeling ready to pass out again.
"Careful. You two got beat pretty good." Aiko said, biting her lower lip.
"Sasuke!" I gasped. "Is he alright? Where is he?" I asked, suddenly terrified something had happened while I was out cold.
"He's alive." Aiko said bitterly, twisting away to reveal Sasuke and Éclair behind her. He had a few cuts and bruises, and he looked exhausted, but other words he was fine. Éclair was busy wrapping some bandages around a wound on his arm, when she turned towards me. She smiled and waved, then hastily finished wrapping his wound - obviously wishing she wasn't the one stuck with that job. She got up and walked over to me. While she did so, I noticed Sasuke look up at me, and he gave me a shy smile. I smiled back at him.
"You're alive!" Éclair said as she stood over me. I cocked my head back to look at her, and covered my eyes from the blinding light known as the sun. Such a nuisance it was.
"Barely," I croaked, rubbing the back of my head - which was throbbing insanely. "What happened?"
"They knocked you out. Sasuke here's lucky we found you guys or you both probably would be dead by now." She said matter-of-factly with a shrug. Oh yeah, us dying was no big deal, I mean we weren't her teammates - err, previously her teammates in Sasuke's case.
"Thanks." I said quietly as my hand dropped to my lap. "So, how'd you guys find us?"
Sasuke got up and walked over to our little group, carefully avoiding a very unpleased Aiko, and sat down beside me. It felt so weird being with him again but it was a good weird. I realized one thing then and there; I thought I had missed him before, but now sitting next to him, I found that I had truly missed him. I was so glad to have him back, even if just for a little while.
"Well, you guys didn't come back, so we had to come find you. We split when we found out you guys had split up as well. Raidon and Lycan went after Kakashi and Naruto; of course, if we had realized you were with Sasuke, I probably would have gone with Lycan." Aiko said with a smirk aimed at Sasuke. He just rolled his eyes. Éclair pretended not to notice, and I couldn't help and giggle.
"Hey, be nice you two." I laughed.
"Tell her that." Sasuke said with his typical poutiness.
Aiko just rolled her eyes, not ready to give up. Those two were going to fight for the rest of their lives for all any of us knew. But as long as they didn't kill each other, I guess it was alright. They were sort of like Naruto and I. Well, maybe not.
"So, does that mean you guys got rid of the dudes that totally kicked our asses?" I asked.
"Yeah, kinda." Éclair said with a smile. Wow, I don't think I'd ever seen her so optimistically cocky. I guess they were both just harassing poor Sasuke. I think it was working too, because he was looking more then slightly annoyed.
"Anywho!" I said, hoping to save him a little misery. "Maybe we should find the rest of the gang, don't yah think?" I asked.
Luckily, my adopted sisters nodded, and rose to their feet. Sasuke smiled and mouthed a quick 'thank you' to me, and me alone. I smiled back and then we helped each other up. His hands were fairly cold, but his touch was somehow warm, and I immediately felt guilty. I guess I still wasn't done crushing on him, even though I was dating - and in love with - Kakashi. And even though I really shouldn't have even thought about it, I couldn't help and wonder if Sasuke felt the same.
As we searched for the rest of our companions, I couldn't help and glance over at Sasuke from time to time, comparing him to Sai. Sakura had always said she saw a similarity between the two, but what did she know? She always had her head in some medical book. But thinking about it, and seeing his face again, I couldn't help and compare them. They were, sort of similar, but Sai pissed me off so I would never compare them out loud. Even though Sasuke left us, he was still a lot cooler and much higher up there on my scale then Sai would ever be. He just could never compare. Not to mention, I was too stubborn to admit that Sai was an amazing artist - as an artist myself, I was somewhat jealous he could use his art for his fighting style.
I guess I had started staring at Sasuke as I was thinking, because suddenly I realized he was staring back at me with a confused face. Embarrassed, I looked down at the ground.
"Something wrong?" He asked.
"Uhh..." I mumbled, looking back up at him. "Guess I was just thinking." I shrugged.
He stared back at me with one eyebrow arched above his coal black eye. "About what?"
"The asshole that took your place."
"Somebody took my place?" He asked with sincere shock. It was then that I realized he did miss being on the team, and never once thought we would fill his spot. Not that I - or Naruto for that had as well - wanted to replace him, it was thrust upon us; and by it, I mean Sai.
"Sorta. He'll never replace you though. He's a pain in the ass. Naruto and I hate his guts." I said with a sigh.
"Wait, you and Naruto agree on something?" He asked with a teasing smile.
"Yup! We agree that we hate Sai's guts and really, really want you to come home and show him that you're a hella lot cooler." I said with a grin.
"Yeah, you should have seen the way she punched him when he bad-mouthed you Sasuke!" Éclair said with a laugh as she stared back at us. "I hate him too, but man, Nikki and Naruto just want to stab him sometimes."
"Can't you guys respect him!? He's an amazing artist!" Aiko hissed, frowning at us.
"No!" I snapped back. "You try going on a mission with that cocky homo, and you'll see." I retorted.
Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Aiko turned away from us and faced forward again. Éclair did the same, but not out of annoyance.
"You stood up for me?" Sasuke asked, a playfully smirk across his lips.
"Well duh." I rolled my eyes. "I mean, somebody's gotta support that big-egoed-superiority-complex-traitor when he's not around. Naruto and I take turns." I smirked and watched him frown, clearly not amused by my childish name calling.
"You know I'm just kidding." I said when he didn't respond for awhile.
He just rolled his eyes to tell me he heard. I couldn't help and snort at his typical pouty attitude. We continued on in silence then. It wasn't awkward, but I was getting fidgety; to my amazement, there was so much I wanted to talk to him about. It made sense though, I mean, I hadn't gotten to actually sit down and have a conversation with him in almost four years! I was allowed to catch up on old times right? Paranoid? Maybe just a little. I couldn't help it. Could it be possible to love two boys at once? Or was this just that old crush that decided to spring back up again?
An unexpected groan escaped from my lips and erupted in the air. I looked down at the ground before anybody was given the chance to ask what had just happened. That was definitely not a conversation I wanted to have.
From there, nothing too exciting happened. When we finally found the rest of the group, Sasuke hung back, not wanting too much interaction with anybody else. Not to mention Lycan, Aiko and Éclair would probably gang up on him, knowing them; although I think Kakashi, Naruto, Raidon and I outnumbered them, they would still try. I knew he wanted to leave as soon as possible, but I wouldn't let him. I forced him to stay while I ran off, grabbed Rae, and brought her over. At first, I was sure he would kill me, but the second the tears started rolling down Raidon's cheeks as she hugged him, I knew he wouldn't. In fact, I thought he was ready to cry himself.
I sat around in a some-what awkwardly way as they hugged and talked, catching up on the years they had missed. After awhile, I got bored, and joined in myself. That lasted until Sasuke decided it was time to go, and that was much too soon for Rae and I. We tried pulling him along, bribing him, we even threatened him, but eventually he got away, and was gone. We walked back to the others very disappointed. And sad. Very sad.
And just like that, life went back to the way it had been; without Sasuke. He walked in, and walked out of our lives, again. But I know this won't be the last time I see him. He'll walk in again, and when he does, we'll force him to stay in our lives. He's not going to leave again next time. One thing I do know is that even if the village brings him back in, or I have to do it myself, I will. Even if I have to alone. I won't be for long though, because he will be with me then. And hell, I probably won't be alone in bringing him back; Raidon, Kakashi and Naruto all want him back, and I'm willingly to bet I know a few people who would consider giving him a second try. What ever happens, I know I'm never alone, and I want to spread that to him. I don't want Sasuke, myself, or anybody I care about for that matter, to ever be alone.
The End!!!!!!