Withered Black Flower:
By:Terrified of Logic
Beta-ed by the ama-zing Kisa Kisa Yum Yum
With help from the awesome KinkyK and JazzyJ
Dedication: To everyone who reads and supports this story
She sat down at the table, piled up with thick books and papers at one end. Books that looked impossible to read, thick, musty and heavy, and, most of all, boring. But to Sakura, it was a source of knowledge and a treasure which, if used and applied properly, could be exploited. The candle flickered, casting orange and black shadows against the wall. Sakura scribbled down some notes and drank some tea, not necessarily in that order. After two hours without looking up she slowly sat back in her chair, rotating her neck and getting the stiffness out. Her hand ached but she didn't care. It was a small price to pay. The sky was still infinitely black. Even the stars were swallowed up by the inky horizon. The window opposite was almost mirror-like, for it reflected her and the room quite clearly.
She stared into the window, staring at her reflection in the glass. Time passed, but she still didn't move her eyes or body. She fell into a reverie, full of thought and musings.
The candle flickered, and in that second she saw Sasuke standing behind her raising his katana. As the sword glinted in the light, she saw it was an illusion and was startled. She chided herself lightly, cursing her lack of constant vigilance, which she usually maintained to perfection. In fact, it was harder to drop her guard than to keep it up. Freedom was not an option anymore. At least not in Konoha.
She clenched her fists and breathed in, then, exhaling silently, let the breath she was holding trail out of her partly opened lips. She looked down at her work, and once again her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Pulling one of those heavy, musty books toward her, she scanned the index, and once again her head was bowed over her work until dawn crept over the horizon, staining the sky with lines of magnificent oranges and reds. At last she closed the lexicon, with her notes sandwiched between them to act as a bookmark. It was early in the morning, around five, but this was the time when most of the ninja of Konoha got up to start their training or missions. The citizens of Konoha slept on peacefully, while the shinobi trained to maintain that peace. Well, that was before war broke out. Before he came back. Villagers no longer slept peacefully at night, most kept watch over their house or children by torches, shinobi were all awake and the ones in training took shifts. There was no time for training now, only to survive and protect.
Sakura set about making coffee, not caring how many spoonfuls of ground up coffee went into her worn and chipped red mug. The scent of coffee beans reached her nose and she inhaled delicately. She closed her eyes and almost fell asleep on the spot. She fought back the feeling. She could get through another day and survive. How long ago was it when she had taken living for granted? How long ago was it when she had taken Team Seven for granted? Too long. It probably wasn't even true, reality and illusion had simply turned her world upside down.
She thought about her lodger upstairs, about how well he was sleeping. She growled. She should have never taken him in. Then again, how could she leave a person in need? It just wasn't in her to do such a thing. It was murder in her opinion, to knowingly leave someone to die. Her eyes unconsciously slid to the pile of books and notes she had studiously worked on for almost a month now. She felt guilty. How could she still have not found an antidote to Tsunade sama's wounds? Her shishou…her shishou… Sakura felt like crying, but she would not let her mentor down. She would prove to her that she was a capable shinobi, and prove she could find the antidote.
She leaned back against the counter and sighed. She sipped at the flavorless coffee. There was a time when she had grimaced at the weak, cheap coffee flavored hot water, but now she tasted nothing. It was just a simple jolt of caffeine to get her through the day, keeping sleep at bay. Just the way she used to cry every night after he left, but now she was used to it. She didn't cry anymore because she was a big girl. She checked her diary for the day, flipping through it with one hand. The usual, see Tsunade later that afternoon, hospital records and paperwork. Seeing as most medic-nins were on call for missions, she decided to spend the day at the hospital checking up on people.
She felt a presence behind her, and instantly a kunai twirled in her hand.
"So, you're up."
"Hn."
"Took your time, didn't you?" She turned around to face him at last. He just stood there, no expression whatsoever, displaying no emotion. He still said nothing.
"Why did you come back?"
"To destroy Konoha," he said simply, eyes meeting hers with no difficulty.
She looked at him. Then really looked at him. And this is what she saw. A man who had never been a child. A man who knew nothing of compassion and sympathy. Whose lips barely smiled, a boy she no longer knew, or had she even known him to begin with? Sakura mused. She liked to think she knew him best next to Naruto, but obviously not. She saw a man hell bent on getting revenge. Itachi had died, but Sakura didn't know the full story. It would seem killing one person was not enough for this…man. He intended to kill hundreds, and Sakura would not allow that. Even if that proprietor was an ex teammate, friend, crush, person she knew.
"You're a bastard," she said simply. It was an open-ended phrase. A phrase she meant for everything. The days he rejected her, the days he belittled her, that day he left her standing alone, that day Naruto came back wounded and was in the intense care unit for fifteen months, that day he almost killed her, the day his declaration of war arrived in Konoha and mostly, the day he came back in flesh.
"I merely fight for what's right," he said plainly.
"And what is right?" Sakura hissed, eyes narrowed. She was seriously losing her cool, just even talking to him. Why she couldn't she talk to him for two bloody minutes without feeling like crying? She had dreamed of this confrontation for years. Asking him why. Why did he leave? Why did he fatally wound his so called 'best friend'? It was all such a mystery…from one mysterious person.
"You wouldn't understand. You haven't grown up at all, have you?" Sasuke said, looking right into her eyes.
Sakura felt her fury grow. Ex teammate or not she was going to make sure he wouldn't be able to walk straight for weeks. Long gone were the days where she would apologize for not understanding, for not being enough for him, the days when she would just take his insults and chides. She had grown up, and she would just show him how much she had grown.
Twisting her gloves on, she growled. Yes, she was a shinobi, able to use chakra much to her advantage, manipulating it and bending it to her will, but now she would fight him like a human, a mortal. She would land a blow that he would feel worse than chakra. She cocked her fist and let fly. She was quick, alright. Much more advanced than she was when she was twelve. But Sasuke was faster. Every blow that she landed, he blocked with ease and grace. For every blow that was blocked, her anger fueled another punch, harder and stronger than the next. Now if only the punches would actually reach their destination…
He caught her fist in his hand, and pushed her toward the counter.
"Stop." One word and that was it.
He was so close, closer than he had ever been in a long time.
"I…" Her breath was caught in her throat. There was no place to escape. He had her other hand pinned to the counter, and the other in his hand. He dragged it to her side, but never let go of her wrist.
"Just stop. Because you'll never win." She glared at him. If looks could kill. She squirmed under his grasp, but her slender wrists were handcuffed easily within his big hands, which had grown so much…
"Sasuke kun…please."
"You still call me that?" he said, smirking.
"N-no…I.. it just…" She blushed. She hadn't meant to call him that. She hadn't called him that in awhile.
Sasuke sighed and bowed his head. He was so close and she could feel his hair brush against neck, his breath hot on her skin.
"Sasuke…kun."
Her hands were no longer restrained, because his large ones had settled on her waist.
Vulnerable. Weak. Again. Forever.
You're so stupid.
I'm sorry.
You're so annoying.
I'm sorry.
Please don't go. I don't want you to go.
Please, don't go.
You don't understand.
She closed her eyes, letting her hands rest on his neck.
I have missed you.
She opened her eyes slowly. The room was still and it was still dark. She lifted her head from the book she had been working on. It was still three twenty in the morning and the house was silent. Sakura shook herself. What a vivid dream. She hadn't felt anything that real in a long time. She stretched her arms, feeling her shirt ride up on her stomach. Rubbing it thoughtfully, she pulled her shirt down and rotated her neck. God she was tired.
She had done enough work for tonight. Locking her front door, she set out for Naruto's house. She didn't forget Sasuke. She was just so tired of him. Tired and confused. Although she knew his hands on her waist were not real, nor were the lips that grazed her neck, she couldn't help but shiver delicately.
The moon was hidden behind clouds tonight, the silhouette of the trees blacker, outlined faintly. She didn't teleport, she took the normal route, by foot, to his house. Pulling her jumper a little closer around her body, she smiled. Why she was smiling she had no idea. But it felt like the right thing to do. Wandering around a destroyed, ruined village at night at three in the morning, of course, the most natural thing was to smile.
Finding the key under the welcome mat, she fitted it in the lock and let herself in. The hall light flickered in it's warm glow. Sakura stood still in the warmth and glow of Naruto's house. It had such a unique smell, like ramen and cologne and home. It smelled like home. How many nights had she spent lying on his sofa, using his lap as a cushion, reading a magazine while he sat watching some chick flick with his hand behind his head? How many nights did she sit curled, crying on his bed, while he fed her chocolate and wrapped her in his blanket, promising her that he would bring him home. That he wouldn't fail the next time. She owed Naruto.
Long ago were the days where she chastised and preached to him when she thought she knew better. When she thought he was such a cocky idiot who knew nothing. But countless missions proved to her countless times how wise and knowledgeable her teammate actually was. She stopped hitting him and yelling at him long ago. Now she yelled at him just to tease him and live in the past a little. He accepted her rants with a smile, because he always knew she didn't mean it, had grown up, matured so much since the time they were Team Seven.
Making her way through his hallway, she noticed light pooling onto the floor and she followed it till she reached his living room.
"Naruto?"
"Oh! Sakura chan I didn't expect to see you tonight," Naruto said, waving to her from his seat on the couch. "Late is a bit of an understatement, no?" He chuckled lightly.
"Shut up, baka." She giggled and pulled a blanket over her.
"Tea?"
"Yes please, with the usual amount of sugar and milk, thanks!" She called as he disappeared through a dark doorway.
Sakura looked around. Porn magazines, clothes and empty cartons of instant noodles lay scattered on the floor. There was a mug of cold coffee on the table and his orange jumpsuit was hanging by the window in a desperate attempt to dry itself. The living room was small, but it was perfect. The TV was on silent and showed some kind of chat show which she paid no attention to. Her eyes settled on a shelf and she smiled to herself. There was the famous picture of Team Seven. She didn't have to pick it up to know exactly what was in it. There were only four copies of it, each for Kakashi, Naruto, herself and Sasuke, although what Sasuke did with his copy she would never know.
She looked at the scowling Sasuke and wondered, did she know back then he would become a dangerous portal of power and energy that would destroy her and her home? Did Sasuke know that he would almost kill Naruto? The Naruto in the picture, ever competing against Sasuke, was frowning at the raven haired boy. Did Naruto know that Sasuke would hurt them and Konoha? Then she looked at herself, a smiling twelve year old, happy to be a part of her team, to benefit the others, to help and support. To be part of a family...
Her musings were interrupted.
"Here you go, careful, it's hot," Naruto said as he placed a mug next to her.
"I know, and thanks," Sakura replied, accepting the tea and taking a sip, letting the warm drink heat her up inside and out.
"I know you know. But I didn't." Naruto scowled as he sucked his swollen, bright red thumb, an obvious burn.
Sakura laughed. "You're such an idiot. Come here."
Naruto pulled a face at her, before winking at her cheekily and sticking his tongue out. He sat down beside her, watching as she healed his thumb in a matter of seconds.
"You know, I'll never know how you medic-nins do that..." he said, inspecting his thumb.
"Basically, you have to concentrate your chakra-"
"I don't get it..." Naruto complained.
"...Never mind. Basically, it's magic," Sakura said, sipping her tea, peering at him over the rim of her mug.
"Naruto?" she said after a moment.
"Yes?"
She set her mug down on the table and tucked a piece of pink hair behind her ears before continuing.
"You know how Sasuke is back and he's staying at my house? I had a dream about him and now I'm not sure I want...I mean...I don't really know. It's kind of strange having him back after so long, don't you think?" she said hesitantly not meeting his eyes.
"I know...I understand. But we have to help him. He is our a friend after all. We must not forsake him."
"Thing is, I can't help but feel that he wouldn't do the same for us, you know if we were hurt and in trouble...I have a feeling he would just leave us to-"
"But we're not Sasuke, are we?" Naruto interrupted.
Sakura was silent for a moment.
"No, we're not," she answered finally.
Sasuke sat on the edge of his window sill, looking out at the village, just like he had been doing ever since he retired upstairs after dinner. The sky was inky and showed hints of turning to day very soon, but not for at least another hour or so. His eye betrayed nothing. Even by himself he couldn't drop his guard. Sasuke and Sakura were a lot more similar than they would like to admit.
His fingers found the wound where the two Kusa twins had gotten him His eyes narrowed, ashamed to have lost and been beaten by a pair of Kusa shinobi. It was embarrassing enough that they were girls, but Kusa shinobi? What had happened to him? Whatever it was, it wasn't going to happen again. Sasuke was feared in more than six different villages, had a bounty of over 1000 ryo in five different villages and was wanted dead or alive in three.
Konoha.
It had changed greatly. Not just because of the rubble and ruins. He eyed the charred wood and scattered stones that once paved the village, as if they were ants crossing a log, with polite interest.
He had once walked this road without people staring at him, throwing insults at him, not that he cared. It was just another change.
The sky was turning blue and indigo at the very edge of the horizon. He leant his head against the window sill.
Sasuke thought of Sakura and Naruto. Indifference. Their bonds he had cut long ago to become stronger.
He would not let those bonds recreate themselves to make him weak again. He would never be weak again.
Sasuke looked around at his room. He noticed a drawer that had been half opened. Sitting on his bed, he opened the drawer and his hand stilled. He pulled out a picture frame with four very familiar people in it. Lightly rubbing off some of the dust that had collected on the glass, he held the frame in both hands. His eyes roved over the picture, seeing but not seeing. Thinking like a blur.
His eyes noticed where he should have been there was a great rip instead, but it had been scotch-taped back together. He imagined that Sakura had ripped him out of the picture after he had left her on the bench, but later had fixed the picture. Unable to look at it any longer for personal reasons, she had stuffed it in the drawer and it had lay forgotten for a few years accumulating dust.
His eyes lingered on the Sakura as a young girl. He had seen her earlier today but now comparing her to her younger self in this photograph, he could clearly see the differences in how much she had grown up. The young curves in her face had disappeared and left her with defined cheek bones and a chin. Her smiling eyes had been replaced with paranoia and worry that reached deep into her eyes. Her once light green eyes had taken a darker shade that flashed dangerously when she was angry. And what a temper she had. Her warm mouth that always smiled whenever she had seen him was now almost in a perpetual line, hard and used to shouting directions and advice. Her body, he couldn't help but notice, had grown up, her legs shapely and toned from all that training, and with a trim waist.
He frowned. He didn't like where his train of thought was going. He took the frame and placed it face down back in it's drawer where he had found it.
He heard the front door click shut quietly downstairs and the scraping of a chair as it was pulled backwards. He looked at the time. Six thirty. He opened his door for the first time in eight hours and made his way downstairs.
Time to start a new day.
Many thanks to Kisa Kisa Yum Yum for the beta :) especially to get done on my birthday... she really shouldnt have especially after me being mean to her (sorry Kisaaaa =) )
Yes its my birthdayyyyy and my mom got cross with me AGAIN...gah... ah well, please enjoy the chapter :) KinkyK and JazzyJ...just felt like syaing your name :)
Lol,
Terrified of Logic/ TroublesomeGirl