Hyclon

Such a lonely day

The kitchen smelled like earth and rain. Sakura had opened the window after Sasuke had removed the remains from the doorway. After a few minutes of scrubbing and trying to distract herself from the entire situation, she was fighting tears once more. The beast had passed, leaving a possessive Sasuke she'd never encountered before, only for him to give way to the blank slate that was hovering over her now. His black eyes were utterly empty as he watched her move around the house.

She had pointedly avoided dealing with his newest mood by busying herself with chores. Maybe, she reasoned, if she just kept moving she would be able to think. So she'd fished the linens from the washing machine and hung them out to dry in the now crisp morning air. From there, she had straightened the bathroom and started a second load of clothing in cold water to rinse out the bloodstains. Just as she was running out of things to keep herself occupied, Sasuke's voice sounded from behind her.

"I'm leaving. Stay in the house." He didn't wait for an answer as he disappeared through the front door.

As the shouji slid shut, Sakura's bland expression washed away. Running a hand though her loose hair, she paced back toward Sasuke's bedroom. The kimono sprawled across the chair at the foot gave her pause. It was the jacket that she had altered, but Sasuke had apparently taken it to a tailor and had the Uchiha emblem added. Reaching up to feel the back of her collar, she smiled caustically at the stitching that met her fingertips. Even the shirt she'd borrowed had a little Uchiha fan.

Padding out to sit at the edge of the porch again, she hugged her knees and thought, 'First he didn't want me, now he wants to brand me.' After an hour or more of contemplation, the pinkette turned to go back inside. If she was going to regain her chakra reserves anytime soon, she needed to sleep. Settling down for a nap, she noted that she would have to be at one hundred percent to escape back to Konoha. Further than that, she would have to pray for luck.

And it's mine

When Sasuke returned from his afternoon training, he found Sakura outside. She was hurrying to pull the now-dry linens off of the line as an evening storm blew in. The white sheets were whipping around her, concealing her for long moments only to fly back and away from her grip. Her long hair was free of its braid and caught up by the strong wind as well. For a while, the elite-nin stood transfixed. The young med-nin had shrugged on her kimono and her back displayed the Uchiha fan.

She looked nothing short of a young housewife, hurrying to gather the laundry. Something strange settled in his stomach as he remembered his mother doing the same thing while he ran and played among the linens. A loud curse reached his ears and reminded him that his former teammate was not his beautiful mother, but another thing entirely.

A few quick motions later and the entire clothesline came down with a sweep of her concealed kunai. Sakura was a kunoichi, not a soft civilian. Green mist hovered over her arms for a moment as she grabbed the long strand of clothing, plucking it eerily easily from the grip of the breeze.

After reeling in the line, she bundled the line into a pile and fitted them into a nearby basket. As he glanced down to his blood-spattered body, he decided to bathe before confronting her.

The most loneliest day of my life

When Sakura walked back into the sliding doors of the bedroom, she was surprised to hear the shower running. 'Sasuke's home.' She blinked as the phrasing of her own thought surprised her. Home? Since when had the house she was being held captive in become home?

Glancing down to the basket of laundry in her arms, she tightened her grip on its handles. Maybe she wanted this. Still. Even after a million hours of training, of bettering herself. Maybe she still just wanted to be Sasuke's wife. Green eyes fluttered shut at the thought. She was still so weak. Weak for still loving the man who'd walked away from their true home of Konoha.

A loud beep sounded from the kitchen, startling her from her thoughts. At the tone she also heard the water stop. He'd heard it, too. Setting her features and sliding the door shut behind her, Sakura padded toward the front of the house.

As she dropped the washing in front of the couch in the living room, she made her way to the beeping stove. Turning the heat dial back to 'off,' she quickly stirred one of the pots on top of the range.

'Once I leave, this is all over.' She reasoned. 'He'll be here, and I'll be back home in Leaf where I belong.' Setting her jaw into a grim smile, she thought, 'I'll just enjoy it while it lasts, because after this...' Sakura didn't finish the thought. Instead, she began plating the meal she'd prepared and setting it onto a tray to transport it to the dining room.

Shouldn't exist

Stepping out of the shower but still not feeling clean, Sasuke wrapped a towel around his waist as he walked to the mirror above the sink. The face that stared back at him reminded him of the man he hated. He turned away, forgetting what made him stop there in the first place and paced into the bedroom to dress.

Sounds of doors sliding open down the hall told him that Sakura had come inside. The smell of food a moment later surprised him. He paused in tying his belt as he considered just what she was doing. Coming back to his senses and knotting the thick cord once more, he resolved that he would find out.

A moment later, his fingers were pulling back the thin screen that closed off the bedroom, leaving it carelessly ajar as he made his way toward the dining hall. As he stopped in the hallway outside, he waited and watched as the pinkette set the small table for only one. Before he could ponder who the setting was for, she pulled back the chair and said, "I hope you're hungry."

Nearly brushing her as he entered and sat down, he intoned, "Set another place. You're eating."

She answered quickly, as if she'd anticipated the argument. "Food like this will make me sick so soon after exhausting my chakra." Pinned by his dark gaze, she added, "I've already been drinking fluids all day. I should be fine for meals by tomorrow."

When the shinobi said nothing further Sakura dropped the last thing on the tray, a pair of chopsticks, onto the table by his hand. Without any further dialogue, she turned and left the room.

It's a day that I'll never miss

Sakura made her way back to the living room and to the basket of laundry she'd left there. Fishing out the bundle, she went about removing the items from the line and setting the twine aside. She rolled her eyes a little as she thought back on the impulsive act of cutting the line. Really, she just made more work for herself.

Separating the freed laundry into piles, she was pleased to notice that all of the blood had come out of the garments. A rueful thought crossed her mind, 'At least being a nin has taught me one thing.' She left the clothing heaped on the cushion next to her as she gathered the clean sheets and made her way to the back of the house. First she stopped off in Sasuke's room and made quick work of replacing the linens and spreading a dark summer blanket over them.

Her next stop was the guest room she'd found earlier that day and she made quick work of the bed there as well. She had washed the sheets and remade the bed and had even discovered a spare blanket thin enough to be comfortable with the spring weather. Once that chore was finished, she hummed a little to herself and paced back to the family room.

There, she settled herself back onto the couch and went about folding the clothing she'd left on the couch. She was still working when she heard Sasuke emerge from the dining room.

Such a lonely day

Sasuke wasn't sure what he felt as he stood from the table. Half-heatedly piling the bowels and plate onto the tray, he left it on the table and he walked out. The almost magnetic pull of the pinkette's feeble chakra signature told him she was back in the family room.

A few strides and he was standing in the hall, studying her as she folded one of his over sized, white shirts. As she smoothed it on top of an existing pile of his clothes, he broke in, "Why are you doing this?"

Sakura froze at the question and answered slowly, "Do you want me to stop?"

The immediate 'no' that came to his mind did little to his facial expression as he failed to answer. Instead, he strode forward, into the room she occupied. Sasuke knew he was hovering, but couldn't bring himself to care. Once he'd stopped moving, the woman returned to what she was doing. Systematically she finished off the basket and began loading the piles back in.

As soon as the last stack was inside, she stood and walked past him toward the back of the house once more. Feeling the urge to follow her, he bent his head. His impulses were beginning to irritate him. Rather than trailing after her, he made his way toward the front door.

If he couldn't get a better reign on his reactions to her, he wouldn't remain in her presence.

Should be banned

Sakura had already deposited her small pile in her room when she heard the front door swing shut with a bang. Drawing in a deep breath, she crossed the hall to Sasuke's room and wondered what she'd done this time. A shadow crossed her features as she wondered why she even cared.

Dropping the stack of clothes she'd cleaned onto the foot of his bed, she was ready to turn and walk back out when a dripping noise reached her ears. The repetitive drip-drop would grate her nerves if she didn't stop it. Huffing a little and dropping the basket at the doorway, she shuffled toward the bathroom.

Once she was inside, she paused, gauging where the sound was coming from. Turning her head sharply, she pinpointed it at the sink. Two steps and she was twisting the tap until the slow stream of water stopped. A glint in the half-filled basin made her heart skip a beat. There, sitting forlornly beneath the pinkish water, was her ring. Dipping her hand quickly into the sink, she grasped the chain and pulled it out.

Frowning a little, she wondered at the odd place she'd found it. Another glance at the coloration of the water she'd retrieved it from told her what she wanted to know. Sasuke must have gotten it bloody and allowed it to dry. A soak would have removed the dried stains and dyed the bath to match what she saw before her.

A smile crossed her lips as she turned the band over in her palm. Grasping two parts of the silvery chain, she pulled as hard as she could. Nothing. A disbelieving look flooded her face. She'd even channelled a little chakra into her hands and the metal hadn't so much as stretched. Pulling again, she got the same results. Or lack there of.

Biting her lip, she decided not to waste anymore time. As she slid the ring onto her pinkie finger, she found that the added width of the chain made it a passable fit for her smallest finger. A surge of chakra to her finger and the stone faded a little as a warming sensation burst to life in her chest. A smile split her features. This was her chance.

She dashed quickly from the room, overturning the clothes basket into the hall as she went.

And if you go

The bustle of the relatively busy market wasn't doing anything for Sasuke's temper. People were passing by him so close that they nearly touched him and it was setting him on edge. A creaky, feminine laugh grated over his ears and he turned to glare at the being who'd made the offensive sound.

An old, haggard woman was the culprit. She stood, hunched behind her stall and smiled, displaying rotten teeth, as she noticed Sasuke's glower. Spreading her arms to draw his attention to her wares, she cackled, "A boy as handsome as you must have a lady friend to buy for, yes?"

A curl of his lips expressed what he thought of that and he was ready to continue brooding down the main path when the contents of the woman's cart made a little bell go off inside his head. Jewelry of every size, shape and authenticity dripped from the rickety wooden structure. The shine of a large, fake emerald in the dying sunlight made him freeze.

He had left her ring in the sink.

An instant later, he was on top of a nearby roof, pumping energy into his legs as he hopped from building to building, setting a rapid course for his home. He wasn't sure what made him quite so desperate to keep her away from the ring. The fiery swirl of jealousy, deep inside his gut even now wasn't the only factor.

Something about it made him suspicious. The stone itself reminded him so much of Sakura it was astounding. It was green, of course, like her eyes. But that wasn't quite it. As he pushed off the last building with enough force to crack its brickwork, he frowned in thought. Its resting place against his chest always seemed warm and...A realization hit him as his knees absorbed the shock of his landing on the dirt path at the edge of the Village.

I want to go with you

It wasn't an emerald at all. It was her stored, concentrated chakra. That explained why she was always so desperate to get a hold of it. With that much chakra, she could make a non-stop run for Konoha from here, easily. A crystal infused with enough of her energy to color it would be more than enough, even in her weakened state. A vicious curse fell from his lips as he took off at a run.

She was the Hokage's apprentice and he'd underestimated her. Of course she'd have some sort of trump card. He felt the seal on his neck pulse with his increased agitation. He thought back on what she'd said the night before.

"Someone important gave it to me. I would...be really sad if I lost it."

At the time, he'd attributed her pause to her tired state. He hadn't considered that she might have been flat out lying. She had always been such an obvious liar and she seemed truthful when she'd spoken. Dark brows drew together. Her placid features could be attributed to the fact that Tsunade had most likely given the stone to her. In her mind, she wasn't directly lying.

As he skidded to a stop at the back door of his home, he snarled at the scene that met him. The doorway was wide open and basket was spilled in the hall. The curse seal exploded across his body as an infuriated roar ripped from his chest.

Sakura was gone.

Walk away

Oooh. Cliffhanger. :3 Sorry for the short chapter, I've been really busy but wanted to keep up on this fic. I'm not really happy with the lyrics this time, so they may be subject to change once I get some time. The song's Lonely Day by System of a Down and it's NOT MINE.

Thanks for reading and please review!