Lost Year
Fleeting!
Be thankful for the bad things in life;
for they open eyes to good things that you weren't paying attention before.
The silence ensued once again and Chiyo looked away from Sakura to gaze at the redhead a few meters away from her. She took a step closer, and another. Chiyo seemed to know her grandson's discomfort so she made sure there was some distant between them.
"The village needs you." Chiyo started.
"The fact when I had killed hundred of people just to get away from the village should be able t prove how much I don't want to come back." He argued back.
"I know that. But would you want to run around being classified as a missing-nin or be the fourth Kazekage and serve the country?"
K-Kazekage?' Sakura gasped inwardly, staring at Sasori with both of her emerald eyes wide open.
"Just leave me alone." He glared at the hard and dusty floor, speaking just like a stubborn child.
Sakura gritted her teeth. She wanted to punch the redhead so much right that instant. Her jaw remained clenched and her glare intensified to a whole new level. How she wished she could actually glare Sasori to death or something.
Wait. No, she couldn't let him die…
"Sasori…" Chiyo muttered softly, deciding to take a step forward when suddenly, a small crack started to form on the brick walls. Then, another soft pound was heard at the other side of the wall, forming an even larger crack.
A couple of attendants were alerted to the noise and trudged into the cell with their weapons ready. They scurried to Chiyo's side and took their stance, prepared to strike anytime.
"What strength… This is actually the most secure cell that no one managed to break it down before." One warden commented, knowing that the person that they were going to face should be a superior Shinobi to be capable to smash down their infamous prison cell wall.
The cell vibrated a little due to the impact and bits of dry paint and cement started falling off from the ceiling, dropping like snowflakes and onto their head and the floor.
With another strike, the wall was shattered into bits and pieces. Bricks and rocks scattered through the room along with the smoke and dust that started clouding the room due to the strong impact.
The dust and smoke spread through the cell, making Sakura and a few other surprised prison caretaker to cough due to the amount of dust in the room.
"Emergency Code Red!" A warden started yelling out of the cell and loud, continuous sounds of boots started stampeding towards the direction of their prison chamber.
"Why did you come back?" Sasori sneered, observing the tall man before him.
"Take you back. What else?" Kakuzu used the hand that wasn't holding onto the case filled with money, grabbing Sasori by the waist and slumped the redhead's stomach onto the bounty hunter's other shoulder, earning Sasori a sharp pain in his abdomen. He didn't attempt to oppose or fight back since it would be pointless, and he's sort of depleted from chakra at the moment.
"Lady Chiyo!" Sakura forced herself to get on her feet even though her leg muscles were aching. She managed to earn the elder's attention as the pinkette finally succeeded in standing up and hopped closer to Sasori's grandmother even with her two foot tied up together. Chiyo watched Sakura quietly, slightly puzzled at why this pinkette seemed so worried over her.
As Sakura sensed Kakuzu's chakra signature coming closer and closer to her, she took the chance to speak before it would be too late.
"Don't worry. The next time Sasori comes back, he'll be coming back willingly." Sakura afforded a smile, although she knew Chiyo wouldn't understand why was she saying this.
The elder blinked, before she could even speak, a rough grip clutched onto Sakura's waist and pulled her back, letting the girl yelped in surprise. Chiyo was about to use her chakra strings to pull Sakura back, but she couldn't see the pinkette or the capturer through the thick smoke and dust.
After the fumes scattered, a dozen of prison wardens came dashing in, surrounding Chiyo and had their back facing her, trying to protect the elder when in fact, the prisoners and the bounty hunter who had changed his captive for money were already gone.
0o0
"I don't understand. Throwing us into prisons to save us again. You are really that free aren't you?" Sakura shook her sore hands after Kakuzu had cut the chain off by using his ironed fist.
"I should have left you there. Seriously. Other than complaining, do you have something you are good at?" Kakuzu scoffed, throwing the heavy metal cuffs onto the soft sand.
Not knowing what Kakuzu said had reminded her, but she suddenly went to felt her back to confirm that her pouches weren't with her. "My weapons…" Sakura pouted before turning to Sasori, hoping that Sasori was in the same plight as her.
"Were your puppets confiscated?" Sakura turned to the redhead who was massaging his wrist.
"I knew that the time would come so I had sent my scrolls to one of my spies, letting him to take care of it. I'll summon them back later." He said casually.
"You have spies?" That's what Sakura intended to say, acting shock for bonus points. But she knew her acting's skills were horrible so she's just going to pretend she never heard anything related to his spies. All she said was "When did you even managed to do that?" The medic frowned along, very sure that he couldn't have done it in the cell.
"After the fight between the bounty hunters. News travel fast so I'm positive that no one will attack us if Kakuzu's around." Sasori drawled, as if mocking Sakura that she didn't thought of it.
He had given so much thought about hiding his weapons... Sakura pondered, although still sulking at the fact that she had lost her weapons while Sasori had his kept it safely hidden.
"I don't care." Sakura turned to Kakuzu who was standing mindlessly beside her. "You're going to use the money you exchanged us for to buy me weapons." The pinkette growled, pointing at the silver case Kakuzu was holding.
"No. It's your fault for losing something that is so important to a Shinobi."
"Hello? How is this my fault?"
"We're heading to Konohagakure. Does that satisfy you?"
Konoha? Sakura was certainly caught of surprise.
"Why are we following you anyway?" Sasori scoffed, his face showed his unpleasantness. Inwardly, he was glad that Kakuzu had saved them from the cell, but he didn't like it when he had to owe Kakuzu a favor even when the masked man didn't say he needed to repay to him or something.
"Because you are part of the Akatsuki." Kakuzu said calmly. He'll think of a better idea in telling the leader the truth next time. For now, he had to keep Sasori and the other bratty companion by his side. Having them wandering around to get themselves killed or captured as bounty again wouldn't be a good idea.
"I never said I'm joining in the first place."
"There isn't an option in wanting to join or not."
First, he's claimed that he didn't have the intention to force the redhead to enter the organization, now he's practically making him follow him everywhere because he's part of it?
Sasori wanted to reason out with Kakuzu some more but Sakura interrupted, rather impatiently since she was actually waiting for both men's argument to be over. "Why are we heading to Konoha?" She bit her lips, noticing the unpleasant scowl that Sasori directed to Kakuzu and the innocent pinkette.
"I have business to settle."
"Since we are companions…" Sakura couldn't hide the sarcastic tone she gave as she continued. "We should unite as a team and work together. So allowing the other members to know what you are up to would be something logical to do."
Both Sasori and Kakuzu snort in unison, which gave Sakura a sense of Déjà vu feeling. It was just like her trying to soother both of her teammates down when they were quarrelling or fighting in a mission.
"We are nearing the fire country, it would be natural to head to Konoha instead. Restocking goods would be logical, especially for a girl who doesn't have anything to protect herself. And bounty hunting would be a fine idea since there's a lot of good catch there."
She didn't know whether to thank Kakuzu for sparing a thought for her or be furious with him for hurting one of her people. But she wasn't a missing-nin or someone who hated her country so it wouldn't be wrong to be angry, would it?
0o0
"I won't be a surprise if you had the same thought as mine."
Sasori stared at Kakuzu for a second, eyeing him carefully before looking at the pinkette before them.
"I guess so." Sasori muttered.
"She claimed that she's from Konoha, didn't she?"
"I have seen her headband before. But it was gone along with her weaponry stuffs when we were captured."
"If that is so. Why does no one here even give her a second glance?" Kakuzu spoke, seeming to challenge Sasori's intelligence. "I'm pretty sure her pink hair would attract a lot of people's attention. And they did. But no one here even acknowledge her existence even after her pink hair had drawn so much attention."
As they slowly descend down the busy street, Sakura was ahead of them, wandering merrily around the different stalls she encountered with every step she took. But she had halted in her track for about five minutes to stare at the Hokage's monument that were craved on the cliff.
Sasori narrowed his eyes, looking at the pinkette who was still staring at the sculpture at the top of the cliff in awe as though she was seeing them for the first time.
Kakuzu didn't even need to say anything; the tall man already knew that both of them had set on their suspicion on the Konoha-nin before them.
Sakura started walking again, only to realize that her favorite food store existed even 16 years ago. She broke into a huge grin before turning around excitedly to her other two companions and pointed into the shop.
"Could we settle in there for a while?"
0o0
After Sakura assured that she would be paying for the food, Kakuzu finally gave in and decided that taking a break from the long journey wouldn't be so bad. As they found a place to settle down, a waiter came to take their order before proceeding to prepare their food.
For the next three minutes, Sakura just couldn't keep her butt stuck onto her seat properly. She kept shifting her position and rocking her chair back and forth happily while whistling to some random tune she didn't know where she heard from before.
Sasori was about to snap at her about how annoying it was when the waiter finally served the food to their table and Sakura was the first to grab onto the chopstick that was available from the holder, snapping it into two before she started eating.
"I miss these!" She shrilled with happiness before gobbling down more.
Sasori just watched Kakuzu who was not moving to take any food to eat, although the redhead wished he would start eating so he could see what on earth was he hiding behind that mask of his.
"Who are you?" Kakuzu couldn't hold back how tempting it was to ask her the question ever since they had went into the food shop. He had pondered on this possibility before; maybe this pinkette isn't Sakura, but some sort of secret spy that's worth billions of dollars for her head.
"Have you knocked your head or something?" She raised an amused eyebrow, putting a spoon of jelly into her mouth.
Sasori turned his attention towards Sakura, trying to make everything seemed clearer when it didn't. "You aren't from Konoha."
"What?" Sakura looked bewildered. She had been accused of being a hooker in a bar during a mission, being called as an old hag when she was actually still a teenager, but this surely went too overboard. She's from Konoha! How could he just plainly say that she wasn't when she was so proud of being a citizen in the fire country?
"From the look at it, you don't seem to know that the bookstore was located beside the pharmacy shop. You were like in daze when you were staring at the stationary shop, and then you said to yourself about there was supposed to be a playground you used to play with your friends." Sasori rested his chin on the palm of his hand, elbow on the table as support.
"Did I spoke that loud?" Sakura muttered, putting down the spoon.
"This loud." Kakuzu pointed out for the current situation as an example.
Sakura picked up the spoon again while taking the cup of yogurt and placed it in front of her. "I was just saying nonsense. This is my home."
"Home? Where is it?" Sasori challenged.
Sakura shot him a threateningly look, continuing her food afterwards. "I don't have to tell you. And I don't plan to return anyway." Sakura scooped the yogurt and stuck it into her mouth.
"It's not because you don't plan to return." Kakuzu paused, continuing smoothing.
"It's because you don't have one."
"Fine, I'll say! If that finally satisfied you two." Sakura glared at the bounty hunter, slamming the metal utensil onto the table and set both of her hands on her lap. She gave a glance at Sasori before diverting her gave to other customers who she wished she might recognize. But even if she did, none of them possibly knew her at all.
"Yes, I don't have a home right now because..." Sakura sighed, decided that she should just admit the truth.
"I-I came from the future."
After Sakura had spoken, both man momentarily paused and never moved a single inch. As the seconds ticked by, Sakura's grip on her cloth was getting tighter and tighter that she swore that it might tear any second.
"Future." Kakuzu said in a deadpanned tone. Three seconds in between then Sasori spoke up too.
"Future." The redhead mimicked the exact same tone and expression given by Kakuzu.
"I've told you the truth." Sakura glowered, not liking that obvious look on their face that shows that they didn't believe her a single word she said.
"Alright. Prove it to me." Sasori narrowed his eyes. "Tell me something that might determined that you are from the future like you said."
"I didn't know Hiruko and your name through the Bingo book, I knew it because the one and only puppeteer I fought is you." She said confidently.
Sasori didn't interrupted, so Sakura took it as an indication for her to continue.
"You have the Third Kazekage as one of your human puppets." She glanced for reaction, and it seemed she got what she wanted. "Your parents were killed by Hatake Sakumo, a Shinobi from Konoha." Sakura gulped, noticing how still Sasori had become when she talked about the human puppets to his dead parents.
Sakura's not going to mention about him turning himself into a puppet. She didn't even want him to even think that such a thing existed and maybe managed to fulfill his wish in forgetting the loneliness and pain felt all these years. Maybe all these while when Sakura didn't barged into Sasori's past and interrupted his life, the redhead could have already planned to make himself into a puppet.
"You said we fought. So I've summoned out the Third Kazekage during the battle, is that so?" Sasori asked, seeming to ignore about the issue of his dead parents.
"Y-Yes." Sakura confirmed.
"Who won?"
"A-actually, Lady Chiyo was in the battle, with me against you. And it's not actually a finished battle." Sakura paused, playing with the hem of her skirt, not knowing how to continue. But the silence between them forced her to anyway.
"You were stabbed in the chest with Lady Chiyo controlled the Mother and Father puppet."
In his heart, that was all enough to be said. The brat also unknowingly knew about the Third Kazekage puppet, which only the dead Kazekage himself, Orochimaru and Sasori know about its existence. And to add that Sakura was also well-informed about the very first two puppets he made; the puppets that were made of a replica of his parents. It couldn't have been the bingo book that told her that.
So he'd died in the battle, which meant he lost. And to prove that this kunoichi before him was impressive enough to make him produce his favorite human puppet into the battle, which also proved that the fight between them wasn't just a game.
This silence now was rather different than the one before Sakura admitted how Sasori was killed, it sorts of let Sakura calmed down a little since it somehow — she didn't know why either — made Sakura think that Sasori finally trusted her for once.
Kakuzu eyed the redhead who was still staring at Sakura before turning to her. "All those words might prove something to him, but not for me." He drawled.
Sakura turned to face the Waterfall-nin. After debating with herself in her mind for a couple of seconds, she finally said it. "Your village sent you to assassinate the first Hokage." Sakura broke down into a whisper, hoping that no one could hear her.
Sasori raised an eyebrow, turning to stare at Kakuzu who was watching Sakura silently.
How old is this guy. Sasori pondered.
"But the mission failed, the village didn't acknowledge your loyalty to the village and deserted you even when you risked you life for them."
Just by speaking about it made Kakuzu raged. But he slowly soothed his temper — which was actually the very first time he tried — and it worked. He took in two deep breaths, scanning behind his shoulder to see if anyone was snooping around before looking back at Sakura.
The things that she just claimed were very true, and it's impossible for a mere girl like her to know something like this. The elders in his village who knew about this were longed killed to complete the technique he stolen from the village just to infuriate them. So no one other than himself or the first Hokage knew about this.
"How the hell do you know of this?"
"Before you died in the battle, you claimed it yourself." Sakura spoke. "I wasn't there to witness it, but my friends and sensei who were battling you told the fifth Hokage about it. I wasn't suppose to leak out personal information we acquired, but that is the only thing I know about you…" Sakura picked up the spoon calmly, sinking the cold ladle into the melting yogurt, "…so I have no choice but to say this to prove that I indeed came from the future, that's why I could actually receive so much information's, even Akatsuki."
Sasori glanced at Sakura for a while, wanting to mention about the Orochimaru incident but something kept him from speaking. An image of her on the hospital bed being depressed and upset flashed across his mind. He bit his tongue before lying his back on the chair calmly, thinking he'll only speak about that matter when he got the time.
"How much do you know?" Kakuzu spoke in suspicion.
It wouldn't be a harm to tell them, would it? "You guys worked in pairs, to hunt for Bijuus." Sakura pushed the finished cup away from her and took the one with a couple of colorful jelly on top. Kakuzu glanced away
"You said I died, so I presumed we've crossed path?" He asked out of the blue.
"Yes." Sakura swiftly said. "You died in the hands of my other friends for killing their sensei and exchanging him for money."
"Oh?" Kakuzu spoke, tone tainted with boredom, not very reactive to what the pinkette had told him in Sakura's opinion. "Couple of kids actually managed to kill me?" He paused, adding swiftly behind.
"Why don't I kill their parents before they were born? It kind of solves the problem, doesn't it?"
Sakura stared in horror at the masked man, the metal spoon in her hand slight bent due to the force she was acting on it. "I won't allow you."
"Hn. Even though I never had a time where I hesitated to kill anyone, I wouldn't go that low to do that. It just proved that I'm weak, scared and a coward for not wanting to face the truth." He scoffed, continuing his speech.
"So if that's the case, I would just have to make sure I kill them during the battle in the future without wasting time and talking about my past or whatever crap it is. And if they were so talented to even manage to lay a finger on me, I'm curious to know how they even do it." Kakuzu assured.
Sakura didn't know she should be relieved or not. He had indirectly promised her that he wouldn't kill anyone, but she could never be too sure. However, she never even mentioned any of her friends' names at all, so they should still be safe. Sakura inwardly sighed, thinking that she might have endangered her friend's life.
"So, is pink hair a sort of trend in Konoha 16 years later?" Kakuzu casually questioned.
"This is natural!" Sakura gritted her teeth, frustrated. Now she's stuck in the middle, not knowing whether should she be relieved that Kakuzu seemed to have believed her to ask her that question or to be furious at him for teasing her like that.
"What kind of jutsu or mishap happened during a battle brought you here?" Sasori finally took a chopstick, snapping it into two before jabbing it into his food, looking at Sakura with mild interest.
"It's not a jutsu or any mistake in a battle that end me up here. It's a mission." Sakura blurted out, knowing that it was too late to take them back.
"Mission?" The two men said in unison.
"Yes." Her voice went low. "Once I complete it, I can go back."
"What is it?" Sasori asked out of curiosity.
"C-Changing the future." Sakura mumbled, a small blush tinted on her cheek.
"How messed up is the future? To actually sent you back to the past just to change it." Kakuzu wondered out loud.
Sakura bit her lips, not knowing what to say.
"Who actually sent you for this mission? I never knew there's such time-travel jutsu that existed; even in the future." Sasori inquired.
What should I say now? Sakura yelled in her mind, trying to get her wish-maker in her mind to help her and think of an idea, but there was no response.
"It's forbidden to tell." Sakura tried her best to remain as composed as possible. "This mission's actually top secret, and the person who created the jutsu too."
"So you have to do something to trigger the change, then you'll return?" The bounty hunter confirmed.
Sakura glanced tentatively at Sasori, when their eyes met, she swiftly looked away into another direction and answered a solid "Yes," to Kakuzu.
"Since I've fought you. That means I'm part of Akatsuki, aren't I?" Sasori inquired after Sakura had answered the Waterfall-nin.
Sakura blinked at the sudden question, although she unwillingly nodded since it was true. The main reason why she was here was to stop him from joining, but what could she do now?
"You mentioned working in pairs. So who's my partner?" Finding their conversation getting more interesting as every second ticked by.
Sakura thought back. She believed the blonde guy was referred to Deidara when Sasori was arguing with…
"A blonde guy from Iwagakure. Deidara. That's his name." Sakura rubbed her chin. "You two were arguing about art, completely ignoring us when we were standing before you, prepared to battle."
"Art?" Sasori made a face. "What is there to argue about art when art is definitely eternal beauty?" Sasori sat up straight. Sakura couldn't help but started chortling behind the back of her hand as he gave an ominous frown that Sakura found it cute.
"Fleeting. Art should be transient and fleeting." She finally recalled back and added a small laugh when Sasori watched her in disdain.
Slightly amused and curious too, Kakuzu questioned Sakura the same thing Sasori had asked her previously.
"He..." Sakura became serious, knowing him as the man who made Kurenai's child fatherless. "His name's Hidan and he's from Yugakure. This guys is immortal and I heard that he…"
0o0
Kakuzu departed once again, knowing that it's time to inform the leader about the new information he received regarding Sasori. But before Sakura could ask where he was going, he had already fled the scene, leaving Sakura in charge of the bill.
However, before he had went to do his things, the masked man had assigned Sasori to tell Sakura to find an inn together and the two of them did found a decent inn not far from the Hokage tower. Sakura remembered that this exact spot where the inn was located was actually Sai's favorite bookstore, where he would always come here to read books.
Before Sasori walked in, Sakura stopped him by tugging onto his arm softly. "I'm going to clear my head for a while." Sakura spoke, putting down her arm when Sasori had turned to look at her.
"Don't hide your chakra signature. We can easily find you if something happens." He suggested.
Sakura nodded in response before heading off as she immediately disappeared into the crowd.
0o0
"Is it this room? Sasori, open the freaking door!"
There was a muffled continuous sound of knocking outside the room Sasori was peacefully resting in.
"Who the hell are you? Get out!"
"Wrong room? Sorry!" A loud piercing shriek echoed down the corridor, and the process continued until the sound of Sakura's knocking on the door and the tenants' shouting were louder and seemed to be more closer to the room which Sasori was in. He already heard Sakura's voice getting closer and closer, yet he didn't bother to calm the situation by making Sakura go back to their room. Instead, he just sat on the floor, continuing to work on his puppet.
"Miss. Please stop making a ruckus. Where is your room?"
"I don't know too!" Sakura wailed loudly.
In annoyance, Sasori reluctantly stood up from the ground, walking away from his puppet and towards the door before swinging it open, revealing a blur pinkette blabbering to the housekeeper.
"Eh? It's Sasori! The evil man!" Sakura cheered, running towards the redhead and jumped onto him, giving him a tight hug. "I miss you! I thought I was lost and everyone is so mean to me!" After knowing that Sakura would not disturb her other customers, the innkeeper went back to the counter.
"Sakura. You're drunk." Sasori sniffed at the heavy smell of liquor and stared at the reddish blush on Sakura's cheek.
"How smart of you! How did cha' know?" Sakura grinned, tightly embracing him again.
Sasori growled, trying to pry her away while he close the door from letting the other busybodies continued staring at them.
"Hehehe it was so fun just now!" Sakura pretended to swing a bottle of beer and gulped the content when she was just sucking air. "Everyone was like, DANCE DANCE!" Sakura started snickering out loud.
Sasori dragged the girl who was still in his arm to the bed, but Sakura stopped in her track, grabbing onto Sasori's firm jaw with both of her hands, forcing him to look at her.
"Why don't you kill me? " Sakura gave a big grin. "If you kill me, everything could end. You won't have to die in the future. You won't have to encounter me. Perhaps, this is the trigger to the change." Sakura chuckled lightly.
"If I were to kill you, it just proved like what Kakuzu had said. Why should I be afraid of death when this is something that every Shinobi encounter every single day?" Sasori muttered, still staring at the half conscious girl right in front of him. He knew if he continues talking, it's the exact same thing as speaking to a stone, but he still continued anyway.
"Supposing someone like you was powerful enough to be part of the reason why I was defeated, I would love to know how the process is. And maybe it wouldn't turn out the same anymore. I'm still alive and well here, I still have every chance to win you on that very day we battle in the future."
Sakura hiccupped, tilting her head to another side as if that would make her vision much more clearer. She still had that cocky smile plastered on her face.
"I knew Sasori-kun would say like that!" Her smile still not wiped off from her face. "It was a scary battle between me and chu! But it taught me a lot of things like perseverance and courage when you almost managed to kill me with the cloud of poison gas you sprayed towards me!"
Sasori sighed, trying to tear the tight clasp around his neck. "Whatever you say. But can you let go?" Sasori grasped onto Sakura's wrist and finally pulled her away successfully after the third attempt when they were talking.
The redhead brought her to the bed while she was singing some random songs at the top of her voice. He wondered how much had she drank to make herself so drunk.
But what he had answered her questions about why he didn't want kill her puzzled him. He had never even thought about killing that pinkette even when Kakuzu suggested that he was going to kill her friends' parents just to stop him from dying in the battle, yet he could actually answer her right after those questions escaped from her lips.
Sasori tried to gently lay her onto the soft mattress but Sakura had flopped onto the bed exhausted herself and soon she cuddled herself and slept.
Currently Namikaze Minato's the Hokage of Konoha. She really wanted to go and see what did he look like since all she knew about the blonde was from portraits and the monument, although both of these sculptures and status kind of remind Sakura of Naruto.
"Naruto…" Sakura mumbled.
The redhead who had already settled back into his position and went back working on his puppet turned back to look at Sakura. Sasori heard her calling out something, which Sasori guessed that it was a person's name since the pinkette's facial expression was actually a small smile.
A few hours ago, the very first thing she did after she had told Sasori she's going out for a walk was passing by the Ichiraku stall. She would always see Naruto at the Ramen booth no matter when she went there, and then piles and piles of empty bowl would be stacked next to the blonde who was still slurping down his soup.
"Sakura, wanna join me for ramen?"
He would then give his signature foxy grin whenever he spotted her standing outside the stall. Sakura would often decline his offer as she had to run some errands for Tsunade, but she always hang out with him at the Ramen stand when she was free and had nothing to do.
Sakura missed her best friend, she missed the times when she would always reprimand him or punch him in the head when he do nasty stuff like doing a sexy technique.
"Sakura. You did great!"
"Tsunade-sama... Shizune-san..."
Sasori's chocolate-brown eyes were still staring at Sakura even after a long pause after she had muttered Naruto's name. He was captivated and contented by the soft smile he had never seen her gave to anyone around her before. But after she had said the two names with honorific terms behind, her expression changed to one that Sasori found it familiar when she smiled at Chiyo; like a form of respect and admiration. Her brows were raised and her lips turned to a huge smirk, looking prouder and regards.
Tsunade was just like her second mother, Sakura held so much respect in her that she sometimes unintentionally called Tsunade as her mother. Shizune was just like her sister too, always looking out for her and helping her whenever she's in need. Sakura missed them; she missed the warm embrace she got from Tsunade and Shizune, and it always reminds her that she wasn't alone. She had a teacher who treated her like her own daughter, she also had a senior who treated her just like her own sister too.
She missed them so much…
"Friends, till the end."
Sakura passed by the florist store to find Ino's mother attending to it. Sakura just watched the Yamanaka watering some flowers from her watering cans from afar, and immediately reminding her of her childhood friend Ino, who was always in the shop, doing the exact same thing her mother did with that warm and bubbly smile of hers.
"Ino…"
Her expression now changed from respect to relief, as though she had let out all her exhaustion at once. She seemed so peaceful suddenly, and Sasori couldn't help but wonder what dream was Sakura actually dreaming of now.
That day where everyone mocked her for her huge forehead, and only Ino stood up for her and broke down the wall that Sakura was always hiding behind, shutting everyone away from her. Despite the fact that they often fight over Sasuke and their relationship started to drop, they managed to get back together again. This time, she would not allow such matter like fighting for their crush to ruin their friendship, she had learnt, and she's going to treasure everything around her before it's too late.
"You're annoying."
"Sasuke…"
Sasori could have almost missed out the hurt look that Sakura gave in her sleep. Sakura was grabbing so tightly onto the bed sheets till her knuckles turned white.
No memories.
She couldn't find any happy ones, those that were even worth remembering.
But she could clearly recollect some sad ones.
No…
"Thank you for everything."
I don't want to hear that anymore…
Forget him… Forget him…
Think…
Think of someone who can make you happy…
Someone who can make you forget the pain you suffered…
Perhaps he can save you…
Just like how you are saving from his nightmare too…
"S-Sasori…"
The said man blinked slowly. When he stared at the pinkette on the bed, she was just snoring softly in her sleep. No facial expression, no sleep-talking, absolutely nothing.
It must be my imagination. Sasori spoke, not knowing that his brows were furrowed in disappointment.
A whole ten minutes had passed as Sakura had stopped her sleep-talking already and Sasori had started to focus on fixing his puppet damages that were caused by Orochimaru. Perhaps that's the reason why he didn't hear the creaking sound of the bed and the soft footstep behind him.
"Let's go for an adventure!" Sakura pulled Sasori up with just a little strength and he was already lifted up.
"What are you-" Sasori sprang up from his seat and walked with Sakura towards the door. The redhead pulled back with force and managed to slip out from Sakura's harsh grip, but he stumbled back and almost crush onto his wooden puppet if he had taken another two steps back.
His shocked reaction almost made Sakura laughed out loud even though she was already spinning around and cackling like a mad woman. She only stopped when she noticed Sasori still staring at her with a sort of troubled expression; not knowing what to do with this drunken idiot.
"Sasori-kun! If you don't want to go on an adventure…" Sakura slowly ambled her way towards Sasori as if he was her prey. Her eye glimmering with mischief and both of her hands were at her back, her mouth turned into a soft smile; just like how a pedophile watched the terrified children before him.
The puppeteer narrowed his eyes, not liking how haunted Sakura looked when she was creeping towards him like that, although the room was quite dark since Sasori didn't switch on the lights when the sun set, the sparkling emerald eyes that was shining in the chamber was immediately identified as sinister-looking in Sasori's opinion. He carefully took his position, preparing himself if Sakura made any crazy move like throwing herself onto hi-
"Be my bolster!" Sakura screeched, lunging herself onto the redhead, seeming to trust him that he would make sure she wouldn't fall when she thrown herself onto him like that.
He tripped onto his puppet's arm and stumbled back, with Sakura pushing him onto the window, although he tried his best not to fall off despite how hard it was with Sakura uncomfortably hugging onto him. And luckily both of them didn't collapsed onto his puppet since if their weight were to combine; the entire marionette would be crushed.
"You know…" Sakura hiccupped loudly. She swallowed her saliva in attempt to stop before continuing. "Lady Chiyo really loves you. Even if you can't see it, you should be able to feel it here." Sakura jabbed her finger hardly into Sasori's chest.
"I don't need you to tell me." Sasori muttered.
"If I don't, nothing will get into your head." Sakura yelled childishly. "You'll only continue going into the path that I don't wish you to go." Her voice suddenly turned to a whisper.
Sasori blinked slowly, staring right through Sakura's determined eyes, her warm breathe touching the tip of his nose, and the cozy feeling that Sasori hadn't felt for a long time returned back to him when Sakura was holding him so closely.
"Why can't you open up your heart to give others a chance to love you, and a chance for you to love someone too?" Sakura hiccupped again, proving that her attempt to stop her hiccups previously was a failure.
"Actually …" Sasori gave a small smirk. "I already did…" He mumbled back.
Only after few seconds of silence then, he was positive that Sakura wasn't even aware that Sasori had spoken to her. The kunoichi just slumped her heavy head into Sasori's firm chest.
"You're so warm." Sakura softly muttered, snuggling further into Sasori's chest. He tensed, feeling more awkward than usual. The redhead tried to push her away again but she was stick to him like superglue.
"Brat. Let go before I force you."
There wasn't any reply, but he did presume that her answer was a no when she embraced even tighter.
He inwardly sighed, tiredly lying on the windowpane and stared out at the night. Kakuzu hadn't come back yet, like he already said he wouldn't. But it's very annoying for Sasori, having to wait for that money lover when he could do something worthwhile than to wait and get hugged by a drunken pinkette.
"Sakura, say the truth." Sasori muttered, hand still clinging tightly to the windowsill as he remembered that hesitant glance Sakura made when Kakuzu questioned her. "Other than changing the whatsoever future you claimed, what else is needed for you to go back?"
There was just silence again. He gave a loud sigh, attempting to push her off when he knew she wouldn't answer his question but she was still hugging him so tightly and it was kind of hard to believe that she was actually asleep when she still had the conscious to embrace him so tightly.
"Heart…"
He blinked, halting in his attempt to actually carry her up and away from him.
"Your heart…" She muttered.
"Pardon?" He raised an eyebrow.
Sakura seemed to be like unconsciously annoyed as she gave irritated sigh and a huge frown.
"Go back… Change… Heart."
Sasori shook his head, he grabbed the two arms they were hugging his chest and forcefully pulled it away from him.
He settled her down on the bed and tried his best not to wake her up before draping the blanket over her small body.
Sasori finally turned away and went back to his puppet when he knew it was still waiting for him to be fixed, after standing by the bed for one whole minute to make sure that she wouldn't sprang up and perhaps asked him to dance with him.
And only when he's focusing on his work, then the thoughts about this kunoichi that often messed up with his head could slowly go away.
The room was only filled with the muffled laughter coming from a crowded bar just a few blocks away from their inn. Sakura's soft breathing and the creaking of Sasori's puppet added to break the silence in the room too. But sometimes, the squeaking sound that Sasori made when he motioned his puppet would stop for a whole ten minutes without knowing it himself as he had paused his work for the fifth time to stare at the kunoichi lying on the bed, just coincidentally facing him too.
He wish he could be emotionally attach to her, be close to her, claiming her as his.
But he couldn't be attached to her unless he wanted to suffer those terrible pain and memories he strived to forget.
Sakura didn't belong to this world; his world. They are impossible to be together as sooner or later, she would go back to her own world, to her own friends and family, where they'll be waiting for her return.
Then once she's gone, he'll be alone—
—Alone in this cruel, cruel world.