Intertwined
Written by BokchoiBaboy

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto
A/N: New story Colors of the Heart is up. (: Thanks for your reviews!


Live


Moonlight penetrated the thick, forest canopies as the sounds of clashing steel and agonizing cries reverberated through the cold, heavy air. Ninja of the Sound and of the Leaf battled in the mists and ravages of war, each holding fast to their ideals and to their life. Everywhere, the once beautiful forests of Konoha were stained with blood and with corpses.

In the resting clearing for the Leaf, there lay many tents for the tired ninja who had fought their fill for the day resting, their tired and aching bodies trying to recover for the next hours of required fighting and killing. In one, dim tent, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto quietly sat, their bodies weary and tired from two days of nonstop fighting. After they had passed their limits three times over, they were finally allowed a few hours of rest and sleep, before they would be woken to fight once more.

"I swear I saw the Teme, Sakura-chan," the blond's coarse voice called out.

Sakura turned to face her teammate, only wrapping the warm blanket around her tighter, her stained hands clutching the fabric as hard as they could. Her pools of emerald stared into her teammate's cerulean orbs, a weary smile present on her lips.

"Don't we all care about Sasuke?" She spat.

Naruto's eyebrow rose with insult and surprise, and he sighed and turned away from his teammate, his piercing orbs carefully watching the surroundings. Sakura bit her lip in regret, but remained silent, not wanting to start another conversation with her teammate and once again snap at him.

"What will we do if we see him on the battlefield?" He asked, after several moments of silence.

"Kill him."

Naruto furrowed his brow at his teammate's too-quick response, his face caught in a rare scowl. Five years ago, when Sasuke had left Konoha, Sakura had changed for better and for worse. Her strength and abilities grew incredibly, with help from Tsunade, but her personality became cold and fake. She would plaster on fake smiles and pretend everything was fine, but everyone knew that she was broken. On missions, her cold attitude had shone; she was not afraid to kill or to die. It seemed that she had accepted everything as it was, and simply put, she believed there was nothing else to live for.

"Nobody deserves to die; you know that, Sakura."

"Tell the Uchiha that next time you see him."

"Who died?"

Sakura let off a wry smile, her once beautiful emerald orbs now dull and lifeless. Her hands clutched the fabric around her even tighter, her knuckles growing white from the pressure of her strong grip.

"Me."

Naruto stared at her, unable to find the correct words to say. Sakura seemed unfazed by this, and continued to dully stare at the floor beneath her. Irritated, Naruto got up and stormed out of the tent, his heavy footsteps heard even when he was yards away.

"We're all on the wrong side," Sakura murmured.


The unusually dark night brought Naruto and Sakura back out of their tents, fully rested and recovered, ready for another few days of nonstop fighting. Both were still on rocky terms; Naruto was unable to look at Sakura without anger or remorse, while Sakura refused to look at him altogether.

"Sakura..." Naruto began.

Sakura stopped him with a sudden gaze of intensity, her eyes furrowed in concentration. Naruto instantly shut his mouth, and waited for Sakura's signal.

"Well, look here," came a familiar baritone.

Sakura and Naruto whipped backwards and found Uchiha Sasuke standing there, blood found all over his robes and dripping from his sword. His three tomoe in each eye were dangerously twirling, a nasty, sadistic smirk found on his pale lips.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked when he heard Sakura's uncharacteristic angry voice.

"Sakura, Naruto. It's been a while."

Naruto narrowed his eyes in fury, but held his growing rage back, knowing that if anything, it was Sakura and Sasuke's battle. It was always theirs from the start – from when Sakura had started to like him, to the time when Sakura began to love him, and to the time when he had left her, broken.

"Well, aren't you in the right position to say so," Sakura growled.

Sasuke seemed amused by the side of Sakura that he had never seen before, and shrugged indifferently, his smirk growing wider and wider as he felt Sakura's anger. He was about to retort, but he was once again stopped.

"We're all standing on the wrong side of this," she said, her voice growing even more desperate.

Naruto began to feel Sakura's resolve breaking, her body beginning to noticeably shake.

"You...you're not supposed to be there. You're supposed to be here."

"You're annoying," came his cool reply.

Sakura clenched his fists in anger, a wry smile beginning to form on her lips.

"What's more annoying? Living for a broken tomorrow, or trying for a miracle?"

There was a heavy silence between the three teammates.

"Naruto, let's go."


"What are you doing back here?"

It had been three years since the war between Sound and Konoha ended. All ninja were happy to know that they would finally be able to rest, to recover. Many villagers knew they would be able to sleep well now that the notorious Sound had been taken down and conquered.

Sakura stared in surprise as Uchiha Sasuke walked through the same village gates, a tired smirk on his lips.

"What's better, Sakura? Living for a broken tomorrow, or trying for a miracle?"

Her eyes began to flow back to life, the once dull orbs becoming more and more beautiful as the seconds passed. Her first genuine smile in eight years bloomed onto her rosy lips as her gentle laughter rang through the air.

"It was annoying to live for no tomorrow."

Sasuke stared at her, a tiny, almost invisible, upward lift of his lips present on his handsome face. He walked towards her and took hold of her fragile hand in his, leading her away from the bitter memories that she was never able to forget.

"Just live."

She nodded.


She had lost all slivers of hope. But she kept trying for a miracle.

But never once had she realized that all she must do is live. And one day, he would return to her, waiting for her familiar embrace.


A/N: Nottt a fan of this one. XD I just felt like I had to update, so ... here's the update! Anyway, if you have time, please check out my new story Colors of the Heart!
Thanks for reading!