Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series.
Blood covered walls without a scent. She stood, listening to the leaking pipes drip their precious cargo onto the pooling floors. Her bare feet were sinking in the inky, black liquid but she only stared with empty eyes. It wasn't until her hands moved off their own accord and snaked around her torso, did her eyes widen. She could fit her waist in her arms.
'Where...?' Her mouth opened to speak, scream, chock; but not a sound emerged from her mute throat. Where was her baby? The woman's gaze franticly looked around her surroundings, but dare not move from her sinking hole as her arms continued to constrict around her shrinking waste.
Her darting eyes eventually found a single figure in the room, her thoughts stopped as did her heart. Her eyes tried to focus on lone silhouette while she continued to breathe heavily. Somehow, it began growing, coming closer without disturbing the surface of the black liquid that now seemed to envelope her shins. She paid no mind as her eyes began to widen.
Her mouth opened to speak again, but unlike last time, a series of gasps left her mouth as she bent over. Sasuke?
She saw the white of his shirt and the shine of his blade, but it was the aura that he omitted that seemed to suffocate her so. She felt a blade through her torso through her encasing arms, but neither of them had moved. She fought against her own arm for control, blood trickling town her appendages into the black muck around them.
Her arm shook, attempting to reach out to him in a final attempt to reach him. It shook, dripping a rigged ripple of black crimson in its wake. But at half distance she stopped and stared as their eyes connected.
Black against gold, the figure that stood before her was not her protector. She felt another blade, penetrate her heart this time. The creature before her remained still as she felt herself falling into the sludge. It caught her, wrapping around her to encompass her small form.
She knew her heart stopped long before, but still her eyes remained wide and open, watching as his figure began to distance. Falling was so much like sinking through the molasses. Her world seemed darker ever inch she sank deeper; yet, those golden eyes still shone through it all. Laughing at her weak gaze and killing her very soul.
She felt the sludge between her fingertips, sliding past her exposed skin. Her arm remained outstretched form the rest of her body, still reaching for the one in her heart.
x.X.x
Black orbs opened, greeted by emptiness. Her breathing was still rugged, but her heart began to calm as she started to comprehend where she was.
'Not a vision anymore,' she told herself, but as her hands crawled along her body, the lack of a bump told her otherwise. Her eyes widened and anyone could hear her breath hitch and heart stop. With shaking hands, she tried to grip her torso, willing the lump to return. The beating heart inside her stopped in shock.
She closed her mouth, attempting to swallow a steady breath but it didn't seem to help. A splintering pain shot its way through her torso, up her chest. She crumpled into a shaking ball.
Yes, she saw visions of the future, but no being is all knowing. Surprises happen every day in life. That is what it means to live. Yet, Tsukiko long ago realized that even when the future is known, it can always change. And a shock is a shock; even when expected...
She remained in her ball, willing the darkness to embrace her. Yet, even the darkness would not comfort the girl. Instead, the chilling hand of sleep pulled her into unconsciousness, yet she could still feel her heart ragging against its cage, needing release from the empty confinement.
x.X.x
A young girl ran through a golden field. The tips of golden grass praising the touch of her fingers as she danced about. The wind played with her loose mane while the sun kissed her ivory skin.
The chime of her laughs brought about the rise of butterflies that swirled around her, encouraging her giggles. Her eyes were of shining obsidian, not unlike her parent's while her hair stood a stark contrast against the bright sunny days of spring.
"Tsubomi..."
x.X.x
Again, only darkness greeted her awakening. She was calm this time as she pried herself from the sheet's clutches. Her breathing echoed in the room around her, rippling off of the empty walls. She raised her head off the pillow to stare around her. Her feet moved off their own accord, off the bed and down the hall. Her body was just unfortunate enough to be attached to them and be along for the trip.
Her hands clutched around for some sort of support, any support. Despite her less than efficient movements, she stayed close to the wall and in the shadows; barely recognizable to those in the passing rooms.
The halls held an eerie silence, not even the occasional trickle of liquid rolled through the endless passageways.
She was still weak, with her knees nearly bucking beneath her. Her torso still throbbed in emptiness.
"Tsukiko?"
She almost flattered in her steps, but arms now supported her weight. Briefly, her feet paused its mission to allow her to stare up at the pair of pitch orbs looking down at her.
Sasuke noted her shaking form and lack of focus in her eyes. He realized the lack of a shape between them and as he looked down at her torso, his eyes widened, ever so slightly.
Gingerly, she pulled away, focusing on the path before her. She felt his questioning gaze upon her shoulders, but she could not turn around to face him. In truth, she did not really understand where she was headed. She only knew that someone was calling to her, needing her.
Her pace began to quicken when she caught the faintest notion of the disappearing presence. She rounded a corner, into the room, Sasuke following her and entering the room soon after. It was a medical room, newly sterilized from a recent surgery. It was then when he noticed the disturbed silence by a gasp of air, accompanied by a high scream.
Sasuke's ears perked up and he found himself behind a curtain where Tsukiko sat upon the cold floor in a heap. The screams persisted, uneven in tone and quite pointless in intention. She stared down upon the bundle in her arms, looking upon the child for the first time. Her child...
The newborn continued to scream after finding her voice since birth. The nurses believed the child to be a miscarriage with the lack of activity from the newborn. Yet, here she was, cradled in her mother's arms yelling because it was the only thing she could do.
Suddenly, the screams paused, leaving an empty silence to settle in the cold room. The child looked past the large eyes of her mother and at another. She had her mother's large, obsidian eyes; but, Sasuke observed, the shape of his...
Tsukiko tuned to the man beside her. She observed the curiosity in his eyes before another emotion rose to the surface. She stood, bringing the wide eyed child closer and looking down at the infant that was cradled between them.
"You know," she spoke in a light tone, absent of breath, "she'll look a lot like you."
Neither of them could help but smile as her name fell from Tsukiko's mouth like a sweet petal.
"Tsubomi..."
Light of breath and light of heart, Sasuke found himself reaching to the blanketed bundle. The little one made a movement, as if to cry out until her small palm found an anchor to grasp. Tsukiko released a light giggle as Tsubomi gave a yawn, clutching the index finger of Sasuke; leaving his staring.
The night was the silence before the storm.
Thank you for reading and please do not hesitate to review! Special appreciations to anon and dizzydani666! Really, reviews motivate me to write more and faster...
At the moment I am not quite sure how many more chapters there will be but at most there might be five... Please keep your eye out for another update by the end of May, beginning of June. Thank you so much for reading, again!
-Sin
