GoodGurl: Dun dun duuuuun! So the question still remains…is Yamato TRULY related to Sakura? Well, you will find out not in this chapter :P
Chapter 5 – Hands Clenched
He hummed a little tune, from a song that he knew when he was a child. Generally, he kept quiet every time he started mixing up herbs in his bowl so he wouldn't put too many or too little of them, but for someone who just cured a little girl from her disease this afternoon, it was something to hum about. He started shaking a little bit of pepper into the bowl and stirred it around with the wooden spoon. And just as he looked outside the window he noticed a figure running towards the little cabin he called home.
Curious, he stopped stirring and watched as the figure continued to run and soon stood by the door knocking frantically. "Someone help!" The young man yelled. He ran to the door quickly and opened it. The young man didn't give the older man a chance to ask what happened because he carried the unconscious young woman inside quickly.
"You are wounded!" He told the young man. "Let me take a look at your shoulder!" He was about to reach out to place a piece of leaf on his bleeding shoulder, when the young man shook his head, slapping his hand away.
"Don't worry about me!" There was a lot of worry in his tone of voice and he glanced down at the young woman with long pink hair. "Please help her!"
He nodded. "All right, place her down here." He closed the door and lead the young man inside a room filled only with a single bed, an opened window with an off white curtain, a dresser drawer near the door and a small closet marked, 'un-opened herbs and spices.' The dark haired man urgently carried the young woman to the single bed and placed her down gently.
Long time ago, all he had to worry about was how to defeat him. Day and night, he had thought a lot about the man whom he had looked up to, the man he had called his 'brother' and the man who had betrayed his whole family. He would shut out everyone else and placed a cold barrier around himself. He had learned to throw unwanted feelings aside and replace it with nothing but an empty, featherless weight on his shoulders.
However, he was not prepared for this night. Sasuke didn't stop himself from worrying too much about the people around him, especially the people whom he had gotten to call his 'friends,' but Sasuke never really thought about what he was doing now. It only took a quick glimpse of his past to realize that he already WAS. His heart was pounding and his hair was standing on end, worrying for the one person who had become part of his life.
Sasuke heard the door open slightly and the man who had helped him carry Sakura to a bedroom came back out after what seemed like forever and glanced at him. "How is she?" the dark haired youth spoke, standing up eagerly.
The older man nodded, walking over to his small kitchen and placed the bowl he carried into the room down on the counter. After doing this, he turns back around and said, "She'll be all right. It's a good thing you brought her to me on time, or else she would've died. Her wound was pretty deep, but I managed to stop the bleeding." He watched as the young man nodded and was silent for a while. "She's resting right now, but you can see her if you want."
Sasuke glanced towards the closed room. "I will see her." He glanced back at the older man and bowed. "Arigatou gozaimasu, eto…"
"I'm sorry, how rude of me for not introducing myself." The medicine man approached Sasuke and bowed. "Boku wa-Shinpachi Kiyoshi des. And you are?"
Sasuke hesitated to answer, glancing once and a while at the room, then said quietly, "Uchiha Sasuke…Thank you once again Shinpachi Kiyoshi-san."
Kiyoshi shook his head. "No, don't call me that. Just call me Kiyoshi."
"All right…Kiyoshi." Sasuke gives the older man another glance to make sure it was all right and when he was sure Kiyoshi had given him a look of approval, Sasuke turns and heads for the room.
It was dark inside, just as Sasuke expected. It was also quite roomy, with beds that have thin mattresses on them and all four covered in thin, white bed sheets. There was a window overlooking a moon that was hiding behind a large mountain and it brightened the dark room, creating a curtain of shadows. Sakura was on the very last bed by the window, a blanket over her body. Sasuke crept closer, careful not to disturb her from her sleep. When he was close enough, he looked down at her pale face. This was the second time Sasuke has seen her asleep like this…peaceful like a Goddess. He had always looked away from the pretty girls who flocked nearby him, but this was the first time he had actually looked straight at the face of a pretty girl.
She stirred in her sleep and Sasuke froze at his spot. He didn't know why, but maybe he was scared with the fact that she might see him watching her this whole time while she slept. Something told him that she wasn't the type of girl who liked to be watched by a guy he knew she had liked forever. But then again, he wasn't sure anymore how she felt about him. Why should she worry about him, when she has other things to worry about? Sasuke watched as a strand of pink hair fell across her face. He felt like he had to…he felt like it was supposed to be right that he reached over to curl the strand behind her ear.
She had awakened to the sound of birds chirping in the trees and the sun shining in her eyes. Sakura stretched and yawned, but winced when she felt a sharp pain on her stomach. She looked around, fully aware now that she was in a strange place…a room. A sudden panic suddenly fills her heart and it began to pound heavily. She sat up, but only for a little before allowing herself to lie back down on the bed.
"You shouldn't move so fast or the wound will open up," spoke an unfamiliar, deep voice, which obviously belonged to a man. Startled, Sakura glanced up and noticed a middle aged man with dark hair smiling down at her. "Here, you should take this to ease the pain." He showed her a small bottle that he held in his hand.
Sakura stared down at it and sat up slowly and held the bottle in her hands. She removed the cork from the top of the bottle and began drinking it. She almost spat the bitter taste out but despite the torturous taste, Sakura finished the whole bottle.
Kiyoshi smiled, patting her on the head. She reminded him so much of someone he knew from when he was a child. The only difference was…she was a girl. "Good girl."
"Where am I?" She looked around and spotted someone sitting on a chair beside another bed beside hers, his feet propped up on the bed. His head was leaned forward, his chin touching his chest and his arms were folded across his chest. It took her a while to register that it was Sauke. "Sasuke-kun?"
The middle aged man glanced at Sasuke, then back at Sakura. "He's been watching you all night and from all the worries, I guess it really absorbed his energy and has fallen asleep. You're lucky to have a boyfriend like him."
Sakura blushed. "He's not my boyfriend…" She continues to stare at Sasuke. She saw him stir in his sleep, his head jerking up and now lolling to the side. Sakura was about to laugh, when she decided to stop herself from doing so and as she did this, a sound escaped her lips. Kiyoshi glanced at her, lifting up an eyebrow amusingly. Sakura looked away, embarrassed. She was only holding back her laugh but she ended up snorting.
It was only seconds later did Sasuke finally wake up. He looked around groggily and saw Sakura looking out the window. "Ah, you're finally awake!" the middle aged man said, looking at the young man now. Sasuke takes one glance at Sakura, before he got up from his chair and walked over to them.
Kiyoshi cleared his throat and says, "Well I'll leave you two alone now." With that said, he turns and leaves the room, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone. Both of them watched as Kiyoshi closed the door behind him.
They were silent for a while, both of them unsure on how to start the conversation. It was until Sasuke spoke did the awkwardness between them disappeared. "So how are you feeling?"
Sakura smiled at him and nodded. "I'm fine. It still hurts, but I'm fine. What about you?"
Sasuke blinked at her.
"The last time I remember, your shoulder was still injured." She nodded to where the injury of his shoulder should be and noticed that it was already patched up, probably by that man she saw earlier. "But I can see the man already fixed it up for you. Who was he?"
The dark haired Chuunin sat down on the bed next to hers and stared out the window. It was suddenly morning now and he could hear the birds chirping in the distance. "He says his name is Kiyoshi Shinpachi."
Sakura nodded. "I should introduce myself to him when he comes back."
"Right now though, you need to rest." He stood up and was ready to walk off, when he suddenly stopped. Curious, Sakura just stared at him. Sasuke took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to say and in an attempt to find the right words, he said, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" Sakura asked, turning half of her body slightly to face him.
Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know…I feel like I should apologize." Without giving her a chance to ask, he turned and left the room.
Sakura looked back down and then turned her head to glance out the window. "No…I should be the one apologizing." An image flashed in her mind of the impostor Sasuke and her in that intimate embrace, him trailing kisses down all over her naked body and her enjoying every moment of it…lust overcoming the real emotions she was feeling for this man.
Sasuke had only walked a few steps once he was out of the room when he noticed Kiyoshi pouring some tea into two cups. Kiyoshi looked up and gestured for him to sit down on the chair across from where he stood. "I made some tea for the both of us. I mixed in a special herb in your tea to help you ease your nerves."
The dark haired youth hesitated for a moment, then decided that he was harmless after all and then sat down on the chair the older man pointed out to him.
He watched as Kiyoshi sat down on the chair across from him. "I am a very curious man, so I wonder, what brings two shinobis from Konoha all the way here?" Kiyoshi asked.
Sasuke slowly picked up his mug in between the palm of his hands, his shoulder still throbbing but managed to put his lips against the ceramic cup. Cautiously, careful not to burn his tongue, he drank the tea. It had the same bitter taste as a regular tea, but there was a little bit of sweetness added to it, which Sasuke figured was the special herb Kiyoshi was talking about. "We're on a mission…" was all the young man said, before continuing on his quest to finish the cup.
Kiyoshi gave Sasuke time to drink his tea, before he decided to finish the conversation in which he had started. "Must be a very dangerous mission to have you injured on your shoulder and for her to be stabbed in the stomach…A little bit more to the right and she would've lost her liver."
Sasuke glanced at him, his cup paused in mid-air, now very curious about what Kyoshi had just said. "Stabbed?"
Kiyoshi stared back at him, putting down his cup, a surprised look on his face. "You mean you had no idea she was stabbed? I'm not quite sure, but it looked like a stab wound and a close one too. It looked as though whatever weapon this person used to stab her, he or she seemed to know what they were doing."
The dark haired youth glanced back at the room. "So you have seen different types of wounds in this line of work?"
The older man nodded. "I am after all, a medicine man."
Sasuke looked back at him. "Why are you living alone here?"
Kiyoshi shrugged. "I found it a comfort for me to be living in isolation. It helps me work better. Anyway, this is not about me, it is about your friend. She would need to rest for at least a week for her wound to heal." He paused and watched as Sasuke stared back at the room where the girl was, in a deep thought.
"I know…I have known this was a dangerous mission. I couldn't let her go alone and escort her father back to where he shouldn't be."
"What do you mean?"
He didn't know why he started telling everything to this man, but Sasuke found it easy to talk to him somehow. Kiyoshi seemed like a harmless man. "I don't quite understand it myself, but our mission was to escort her father back to Mist Village. Then we were attacked by some men and then he was taken away…What I didn't understand was that he willingly went with them." Sasuke put the cup down, finished with his tea and stood up.
Kiyoshi nodded, understanding that this was the end of their conversation. "Give your friend time to recover then, so you can go and find her father. She needs at least a week as I mentioned before."
Sasuke started walking towards the door and paused to look at him. "If it's all right with you, we'll stay."
The older man agreed. "Yes, it's fine." Curiously, he watched as Sasuke opened the door and stepped out of the cabin. "Where are you going?"
The young man didn't look at him, when he said, "I need some fresh air…" With that said, he closed the door behind him.
Flashback...
Eight year old Haruno Sakura swung her feet and she began to move back and forth on the swing. School wasn't all that great for her today. Kids her age made fun of her forehead, teased her about the colour of her hair and began talking behind her back. The kids, whom she considered her 'friends,' weren't helping, instead they mocked at her along with the other 'popular' kids, afraid that if they didn't, and they in turn would be teased and ridiculed.
A few tears began falling from her eyes, but Sakura knew she had to be strong…for her mother and for her father. She wasn't the type to cry so easily, but it was hard to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. But before she could catch the last tear, it began to stream down her porcelain-like face and down on the sandy ground.
"Why are you crying?" Sakura looked up, quickly rubbing her face, hoping maybe to remove the redness from her eyes, but it made it worse. She was staring up at a young boy with dark spikey hair, who was staring curiously at her. He had a gentle face on.
Sakura shook her head, annoyed that a boy like him could be so nosy. "I am not!" she hissed, pressing her feet on the ground to stop swinging. Despite the gentleness in his eyes, Sakura couldn't help but be annoyed with this outlook on her, since she wasn't SUPPOSED to feel this way.
The young boy frowned, but didn't say a word as he sat down on the other swing beside her. "Kids are very mean," he said finally, after a few moments of silence. When he didn't get a reply from her, the young boy went on. "Don't let what they say get to you. Usually if they say something bad about you, they're just jealous."
"Jealous?" This time, Sakura looked up, interested in the way the boy said this to her. "Why would they be jealous of me?"
The dark haired boy shrugged. "I dunno…maybe some of them are jealous because you have parents who love you, while they don't have anyone to love them, so they take out all their frustrations on you. Sometimes, kids need to find someone to blame for what they don't have."
Sakura thought about what the boy said for a minute and looked at him. She noticed a few kids staring at them and then turning to their friends to whisper obviously more rumors about her and this boy. "You shouldn't talk to me or they'll start talking about you too."
The boy beside her shrugged. "I don't care." He stood up and nodded towards her. "If you want to tell me anything, I'm here to listen…"
That was the promise the boy had made that afternoon. Sakura didn't even know his name as she watched bewildered at the wise little boy who walked off, glaring at the people who dared to mock him behind his back.
End of Flashback...
What were they supposed to do now? Sasuke sat on the rocking chair on the deck and stared up at the bright moon above. There were no traces of Jounichi anywhere and it was difficult to start from the beginning and retrace their steps. The only option would be to go straight to wherever Mist Village is and hunt him down. Maybe there they could get clues on the man's whereabouts.
The dark haired Chuunin glanced down at his arms.
Clench, unclench, clench. His hands were so weak, it was impossible to go on and searching. If Sakura were to recover now, he wouldn't be able to do anything, since his shoulder was still quite damaged from the previous battles he had. But then again, he still had enough chakra to continue on with his search for Jounichi.
Sasuke stood up. It was decided. If he leaves now, there would still be time to come back and bring Sakura home to Konoha as she recovers.
"You really think going alone is a good idea?" The dark haired Jounin looked behind him and noticed the older man leaned against the door frame, his arms folded across his chest. "You remind me quite well of someone I knew a long time ago…"
"I'm used to working alone…" How does he even know what he thinks? Does he have some kind of special power to read people's minds? It didn't matter though because Sakura would be safe with him and this he knew very well in his heart. "Please, take care of her…"
Kiyoshi furrowed his eyebrows curiously. "And what should I tell her?"
Sasuke didn't answer for a while, deciding on something good for Kiyoshi to explain to Sakura on where he had gone. "Tell her that I'll be back with her father alive."
"Hm…And what if she decides to follow you?"
"Then I can't stop her…"
"Will you stop me now?" Startled, Sasuke turned around to find the pink haired Chuunin struggling to walk towards him. Kiyoshi caught her just in time before she fell forward from the medicine she took from the man. "Sasuke-kun, please don't do this on my behalf."
The dark haired Chuunin looked away. "I'm not," he spoke, his fists clenched at his sides. "I'm not doing this for you."
Sakura frowned. "Then, tell me why you're planning on going alone? If not for me, then who? You? What's your involvement in all this? He's my father…not yours." She knew she was going too far, but she couldn't help it.
"You should be resting," Kiyoshi spoke gently to Sakura.
Sakura shook her head. "I'm tired of resting and feeling helpless!" she yelled, pulling herself away from Kiyoshi's grasp and began to slowly walk towards Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun if you're doing this for male pride, then I won't stand for it! I am going with you and that's final! I won't just sit here and wonder whether you've gotten yourself killed or not!"
"No…" Sasuke said firmly.
"What?" Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing!
Sasuke glared at her. "You're not going with me."
"You're not telling me what to do!" Sakura clenched her fists as well. "It's my choice whether to go or not!"
And in a swift motion, he was seconds in front of her, his hands gripped on both her arms and shaking her. "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU AGAIN!"
Sakura blinked, staring into his eyes, speechless.
Sasuke looked away quickly, startled even by his own words and suddenly let go of her. "…" What was he thinking saying those things? Has he lost his mind? "Kiyoshi-san, can you please take Sakura back inside?"
Kiyoshi nodded and placed an arm around the young woman. "Please, you need to rest…"
This time, Sakura did not protest, confused beyond anything else. She let Kiyoshi lead her back to the room, but managed to glance behind her towards Sasuke's back who stood there, still quite bewildered about what he had said. Seconds later, she was back on her bed and was tucked in gently by the older man she barely knew. "I am sorry I have not introduced myself…" Sakura slowly lifted her head up at the man with the proper use of English. "Boku wa-Shinpachi Kiyoshi-des." He bowed slightly and smiled at her.
Sakura smiled back slightly, still engulfed in the conversation she had with Sasuke. "Wa…watashi wa-Haruno…Sakura-des."
Kiyoshi's eyes widened. "Haruno?"
"Hai," Sakura spoke gently, her eyes focused towards the door. She wondered what Sasuke was doing now.
"You mean Haruno Jounichi's daughter?"
Sakura turned her head back at Kiyoshi, now curious. "Yes…how… How did you know that?" She figured Sasuke told him by now, since he seems to trust this man.
"I see, so you're Jounichi's daughter…" He seemed to hold an amused look on his face and Sakura saw this, her eyes still searching and curious for Kiyoshi's knowledge on her father. "Your father, your mother and I grew up together in Konoha. I knew there was something familiar about you. You really do have your father's eyes and your mother's smile."
"You knew both my parents? Then why are you here living alone in the middle of nowhere?" Sakura gently shifted her weight from her right to her left as she lay on her bed and leaned her back against the wall. She was suddenly getting tired from all this talking all of a sudden. "Why aren't you with them back in Konoha?"
Kiyoshi seemed to have hesitated, but watching her like this brought back a lot of memories of when Jounichi, Chiharu and Kiyoshi were very young…about twelve to be exact, when all three of them joined the Academy. "Your parents loved Konoha and of course I did too, but I wanted to see the world so by the time I was old enough, I left Konoha and ended up here. How are they by the way? I haven't heard from them for so long…Ten years I believe." Then, it occurred to him that the question he was asking was already answered by Sasuke. However, he wanted to know from his best friends' daughter.
Sakura thought about it. So the letters that kept coming for her parents came from this man. How is she supposed to tell her parents' best friend about the situation they were in now? "They're…they're all right," she lied.
The older man nodded. He can understand that this whole thing must be traumatizing for her. Maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea to tell her exactly what he knew about her parents…about Jounichi. "Well, I'm glad. It's really a small world to meet you in a time like this."
"Yes it is," Sakura said quietly. Was it really a good idea to lie to the man like this? After all…she barely knew him so maybe it was all right.
Kiyoshi nodded. "Now you need to rest. The medicine is still working its way around your body, that's why you're getting tired." He turned and began walking out of the room, when Sakura's voice stopped him.
"Kiyoshi-san? Could you please tell Sasuke-kun to wait for me? I want to go with him…"
The older man looked at her and nodded. "Sure thing, kiddo." He watched as Sakura lied back down on her bed. She pulled the covers up to her chin and closed her eyes to sleep. Kiyoshi watched her for a bit before leaving the room.
When he got back to the kitchen area, Sasuke was already back inside, sitting on the same spot he sat earlier when he had tea. He was looking through a map in which Kiyoshi recognized as his own handwriting. The older man was quite surprised at how good Sasuke was with searching for the right items around his home. "You made this map?" was the first thing Sasuke asked when he noticed the older man walking into the kitchen.
Kiyoshi nodded. "…with my own two hands. I have been traveling around for a while and I made sure to write down the villages, the mountains, the lakes and rivers so maybe others like you know your way around."
"Can I take this with me?"
"So you're really going?"
Sasuke didn't reply. He was getting quite tired with how nosy this man was.
The older man sighed. "You can. I have several more copies of the map."
The dark haired Chuunin looked back down at the map. "I see that the Mist Village is only a few kilometers away from here."
Kiyoshi nodded his head. "It'll take two days to get there on foot, but there's a faster way of getting there." He approached Sasuke and stood behind him to point at the map. He traced a finger along the lines, in which were marked the rivers and then moved his finger down to a drawing of triangles behind the lines. "These mountains have a few pathways that lead faster to the village. If you're brave enough, it'll take you there in twenty-four hours."
"Then, I'll take that," Sasuke decided, rolling up the map as he stood up. He stuffed the man-made map in the back pocket of his pants and began searching through the cabinets like it was his own.
The older man glanced at him, surprised at this quick decision and quite annoyed with the way he was treating his own home. "Um…Are you sure about your decision?" He ignored the way Sasuke was stuffing some medicines and herbs into a backpack, which reminded him oddly of his own backpack he rarely used. "Where did you find that backpack? Isn't that mine?" He had forgotten to ignore, because he was getting annoyed with the boy's rudeness.
Sasuke ignored Kiyoshi's pleas about his backpacks and glanced at him. "You said there were pathways through the mountains, which will take me shorter than the two days of walking through the river path. I don't want to waste two days just trying to search for Sakura's father." He would first kill himself if he sees Sakura sad when he finds out that in those two days, Jounichi would be dead.
Kiyoshi sighed, giving up on watching cautiously as Sasuke took whatever he could find and stuffing them into the backpack which clearly wasn't his. He figured that Sasuke wouldn't give a damn whose house he was destroying as long as it accomplished something good. Kiyoshi has to give him points for being such a loyal young man for the woman he cared about. "You might want to grab one of the bottles in the top shelf on the right cupboard," he suggested.
Sasuke paused from his scavenging and did as he was told, reaching with his long arms towards the top shelf on the right cupboard. He grasped his fingers around a medium sized bottle and gently removed it from the shelf. Sasuke glanced at it for a while, and then looked up at Kiyoshi. "What is this?"
"It's a potion for you, just in case you get really injured. It'll stop the blood flow to your wounded shoulder as well."
Sasuke nodded and stuffed the bottle in the backpack. When he was done, he stared at the drawers in front of him, emotions running through his face, his back facing the older man. "If I don't come back, please tell Sakura…"
"Tell her what?" Kiyoshi asked curiously.
"I barely know you, but I know that you can tell her this for me…Tell her that…" Sasuke turned his head to glance at Kiyoshi. "I never once stopped thinking about her when I left ten years ago to find my brother…I really don't understand how I'm feeling right now, but all I know is that I want to do anything for her. So…"
Kiyoshi nodded his lips in a straight line. "Don't worry, I'll let her know."
"Thank you…" Sasuke closed all the cupboards he almost left opened and closed his backpack and put it on his back. With one last glance at the older man, Sasuke wordlessly turned and began walking out.
"Aren't you going to say good bye to her?" Kiyoshi asked.
Sasuke stopped by the doorway, said nothing and then left the cabin completely.
The older man sighed and watched through the opened door, the young man disappearing into the darkness of the forest. "All this for the sake of love…" Kiyoshi said to himself, shaking his head. "What has the world come today?" He walked to the door and closed it after he made sure Sasuke was gone.
GoodGurl: gasps Great, now Sasuke decided to go on his own to solve the problems involving Sakura's father. What next? Stay tuned for chapter six!