Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Naruto series.
She saw the smoldered fire behind the deceiving brown eyes. They had tried for months to stomp out her flame, but Tsukiko saw that it was not yet dead, just low on fuel. The brown eyes were possessed by a girl by the name of Aritsu who now stood crookedly in front of Tsukiko.
"She'll be your little helper," Kabuto smiled kindly; yet both girls knew that there was nothing kind behind it. Tsukiko's charcoal eyes looked at Aritsu's before offering a lightly smile. At this, Kabuto left the two, but not before shoving the red head into the doorway.
The action startled Tsukiko, yet she remained rooted in place as Aritsu fell to her feet. They were left alone together in the dark corridor of the stone cage.
"Aritsu-San," Tsukiko knelt down, careful of her enlarged stomach, and reached out for the cracked woman, but as her fingertips slid across her still shoulders a shock raced up Tsukiko's arm. "Do not touch me." Even with a cracked voice and shuddering tone, Tsukiko remained still with calm eyes.
"Ari-"
"How do you even know my name?" A single dull, brown eye looked up at her from the ground. Aritsu's face still in the rock bottom with rusty red hair sprawled around her. In response, the coal eyed girl merely smiled lightly.
She had been cracked and they beaten everything out of her; but to Tsukiko, Aritsu had only been cracked and not broken.
"I know you are a very strong person, Aritsu-San," her hand was firmly placed on the fire haired girl's soiled clothes, "and that I can't help you unless you want to be helped." Tsukiko pulled back Aritsu's rusty hair in a motherly fashion to peer into her eyes before holding an open palm to her.
The brown eyes held a small ray of hope, but it was smoked out by suspicion and pride. "You do not know me."
"I know enough," she countered serenely with a knowing smile and palm still empty. A new expression overtook Aritsu's face as her head tilted up in wonderment. Her cheek raised off the ground and her mouth parted.
What she saw was a similarity. Both desired what they could not have and having an understanding of that made them understand one another. A plan was behind the woman's deep, coal eyes that was being read to Aritsu, beckoning her to join. It was what they both wanted.
Tsukiko's hand seemed almost too inviting to the shattered woman, it was so tempting. She found herself rising up and reaching out for the woman that seemed to understand all. Her hand fit into Tsukiko's lightly and a fire ignited between their palms, spreading, burning, growing.
Her face became gaunter every day with her skin becoming nearly white. Her hair, though still an inky black, lost all compliance to do anything except dangle loosely down Tsukiko's bony back. Despite her fingers turning into skeletons and prominent cheek bones, her weight kept on increasing along with her waistline.
She felt bare out in the open air. Had it already turned foreign to her? With a brow of sweat she seated herself at the base of a rock to rejuvenate what little breath she had.
"Tsukiko," Aritsu called from beside her, "you wait here and I'll go get the herbs." She meekly nodded, curling her legs up to retract them from the burning sun while her eyes slowly started to readjust to the surroundings. She watched the fiery red head trek away with an empty basket in hand.
Over the last three months of Tsukiko's and Aritsu's agreement, they become something like friends.
"What are you doing out here?"
Sasuke seated himself at Tsukiko's side with his gaze on the red attired Aritsu. Minor scrapes on his arms were apparent as well as his heaving chest.
"Collecting some herbs for tea," she smiled at him before turning forward. Comfort settled upon the two as their very presence seamed themselves together. Tsukiko's head shifted to slightly rest upon Sasuke's shoulder while his eyes remained forward, unaffected by her movements.
"She reminds me quite a bit of you, you know." Tsukiko smiled, knowing his gaze scoped out Aritsu. Sasuke grunted, in response; but she knew that he was attentively listening and seeing every movement around him.
Aritsu used to be the type of person that never took crap from anyone. She was strong willed and hated authority. Despite her temper and rash behavior, she loved helping people and was really a sweet person to those she accepted, which in a subtle way, reminded Tsukiko of the man beside her.
Soon winter would settle, but unlike the forest location, snow would not melt into spring, bringing the birth of new butterflies. Plants would die and new ones would slowly take their place before inevitably withering away, starting the cycle again.
Aritsu glanced back at her friend, finding her in company. Her movements stopped and jaw set. Sasuke's gaze was far off as Tsukiko rested beside him. It always seemed like he paid no mind to Tsukiko and the though alone drove the red heard into a frenzy. All men were the same to her: demanding tyrants. Nothing of what she has seen of Sasuke has falsified her thoughts.
Aritsu plundered the weeds with her callused fingers without a care. 'Vile men...' She often wondered how her friend could even stand to be beside the dark haired sinner. Did she not know that he killed and hurt others without so much as batting an eyelash?
The woman's movements stopped and instinctively she looked up at the burning sun. "He's not going to get away from this..."
Food never looked good coming back up, but when there was nothing more to regurgitate, it just hurt. The throat burns and one feels the stomach quake. Hands begin to desensitize and quiver on their own accord. After a few hours of this, one finds it useless to even move out of the bathroom.
Tsukiko sat against the wall across from the toilet. Her shoulders slumped at each breath and she no longer felt cold with her palms pressed against the hard porcelain tiles. Her breaths were shallow and steady, each movement shaking her frame. Black eyes cast off to the side, into the corner while her mind just wandered off to the point of blankness.
"Tsukiko." She didn't respond and Aritsu didn't bother to repeat. She merely took a cool cloth and pressed it to her friend's temple. A week straight of this has left both girls exhausted.
"You really should eat something," the red head placed the cloth in a cool bowl of water, only to find Tsukiko to shake her head. "Then drink some tea! You can't just starve yourself, you're skinny enough as is!"
Again, a shake of the head. At some point, Aritsu would rather have Tsukiko be rash and yell instead of just plain quiet and stubborn. When she was like this, Aritsu couldn't blame her. In consequence, she blamed the man behind the story.
"You wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for him."
Tsukiko's ears perked up and her gaze turned to the girl kneeling in front of her.
"It's all his fault that you're in this pain. I mean," she fumbled with her words as she rung out the refreshed towel once more, "you're a mess." Aritsu moved to dab the dark haired girls forehead once more, but words halted her movements.
"Who do you speak of?"
Her eyes widened as her mouth slightly dropped, making a perfect you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me expression. A second passed and Tsukiko's eyes weren't moving from hers. They almost seemed dead, yet held enough force to defend the Uchiha?
"Who else could I be talking about?" She found her voice raising. "That bastard who got you in this mess in the first place: Uchiha!" She saw something in Tsukiko's depths ignite and her gaze turned downwards to the side before rolling to look down at her stomach; the womb that contained a life, an infant, the future. Tsukiko's throat still burned, but felt dry and scratchy making words harder to form.
"You should not blame Sasuke."
"You're still defending him after all of this!" Aritsu found herself standing with crossed arms as Tsukiko continued to lay crumpled on the ground. It was, in no way, a fair fight.
"He has done nothing to wrong me."
"He took advantage of you, Tsukiko!" She really wanted to rant about how dense Tsukiko was being at the time, but she did not have the heart to face tears.
It was with the silence that Aritsu made a fatal realization and nearly slammed her fist into the wall. Tsukiko felt deeply for the bastard. She made her way out of the cramped space and went for the hallway door. The air was not any better in the room and opening the door into the hallway only seemed to suffocate her further.
Off to the side, in the shadows stood in all his hell glory the subject of her rage. His head didn't turn to meet hers, but his movements told her that he aimed to get past her.
Her fire red hair stood on end, like sparks to a match as her eyes narrowed. "I'm not fooled by you!"
His pace stopped from behind her, already half way into the room, before he made a slight movement, as if to tell her that he was listening.
"Tsukiko may have fallen for you, but I see the real you," she breathed sending a glare in front of her. "I see..." Her fists shook, and if she had the power, they might have smothered.
Aritsu's teeth clenched as a shiver crawled down her spine. She threw a glare over her shoulder before widening her eyes. All the tension seemed to dissipate as she stared behind her.
It wasn't Sasuke that she saw. The gentle movements he made around the woman were not rushed or rash. The woman in question leaned against him weakly, too exhausted to much else. He looked upon her in a secret way, like no one could steal his moment. She saw the care of his very breath in order to not shatter the woman. She saw requited feelings...
She saw her father...
Six months...
Thank you so much for reading! I apologies for the update tardiness. I be honest, I was trying to catch up on some online manga that I have been meaning to read. However, I did not forget about my work! Special thank you's to Wasipi, XxshippingsMfreakxX, Abandon All Hope, and KhAeL!
Reviews are my inspiration. So please, good or bad, please send me your comments! I love reading them and I am always willing to improve my writing and stories!
Special Note: despite how many series I currently have going, I have published another SasukexOC series titled: "What Once Was". I highly recommend it, not only because I am writing it and adore it; but also because it is one of the series which I have been mulling over for quite some time and would really like for it to be a success. Please, take a moment to at least glance through it! It showcases a bit more of my newer style of writing and will be a shorter series!
Thank you for your time and dedication as readers! I really hope to hear from you! Happy Holidays!
-Sin
