A/N: Okay, there has been a little modification. When it's Sasuke's point-of-view, "Sakura" is changed to "Ayame". If it's confusing, then I apologize. But it's more confusing if I put in Sakura's name in Sasuke's perspective. It'll feel like he knows it's Sakura, but really he doesn't. And it's easier to tell which is his or Sakura's POV.

空の絆：Bonds of the Sky
CH 2: Fading Love

"I really love you more than anything, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, her tears streaming down her cheeks. She had finally confessed with true words directly to Sasuke. She grasped her hands together, as if praying to herself that Sasuke would change his mind. "So please… don't leave…"

"You're really annoying," Sasuke responded, smirking. He turned his back toward her again and took another step.

"Wait! Please don't leave!" Sakura attempted to approached the Uchiha, who was about to leave Konoha Village. "I… If you leave, I'm going to scream out loud-!"

Sasuke disappeared, sensing him behind her. "Sakura…" There was a pause. "Arigatou."

Sakura could only listen to his last words, frozen. There was nothing she was able to do. Then, she felt a sharp pain in her body and that was it. She was unconscious, but her heart was still crying out, "Sasuke-kun… Please don't leave Konoha! Please don't leave me!" She wanted to shout it out, but now she couldn't say anything that could stop him.

~.~.~

Sakura woke up, startled by her dream. She took deep breaths, shaking her head. "Again?"

"What's wrong with you?"

She looked up, finding Sasuke's onyx eyes staring at her. "N-nothing. J-just a bad dream." Sakura rubbed her eyes, her breathing becoming calmer. "W-what time is it?" Her bangs brushed across her eyes as she rubbed them.

"It's around 4." Sasuke blinked his drowsiness away.

"G-gomen. I didn't mean to wake you up." Sakura blinked hard, trying to clear the blurriness of her vision. "Just ignore me whenever you think I'm having bad dreams. Whatever happens to me isn't really important anyways." Her head was bobbing side to side from sleepiness. "I'm gonna go back to sleep… Just for a few more minutes." With that, she fell to her mattress, falling asleep immediately.

Sasuke watched Ayame sleep, his hard onyx eyes softening. She somehow reminded him of Sasuke's young self… before his whole clan was massacred. In his words, he was too innocent to notice anything bad, just like how Ayame was right now. Couldn't she realize that she was imprisoned by a dangerous fate? Shouldn't she see that she will be stuck with him for a long period of time? Wouldn't she be missing her family and friends?

"God, I can't sleep…" Sakura sat up, scratching her head. "Damn, that dream really got to my head…" she murmured. Her hair was slightly frizzy and her clothes were a mess.

"Hey, don't you have any other clothes in that bag of yours?"

Ayame shook her head. "No, I couldn't find much clothes fit for me, so I took my cousin's."

"Don't you have a family?"

"Uh-oh… Damn, I said that out of impulse!" she thought. "Ah, I have to think of something!" Sakura's hand clenched into a fist. "No, but I used to have one. I only have my cousin and her mother." She got up, heading to the restroom.

Meanwhile, Sasuke leaned on the wall. "She doesn't have a family, huh?" A flashback of his encounters with Itachi flashed through his head. "At least she has her cousin."

"What was that?" Sakura's head poked out from the door.

"Hn." Sasuke didn't reply, leaving Sakura to roll her eyes. "So what do you want?"

"You don't mind if I shower right now, right?"

Once again, he did not reply, but shrugged. The little girl scoffed and went back inside. The sound of rushing water sounded throughout Sasuke's room.

Her head poked out again. "Ne, the leather collar won't kill, electrocute, or do something to me if this thing's in water, right?"

"No."

"Okay!" Sakura grinned, disappearing behind the restroom door again.

Sasuke's mind was becoming preoccupied with Team 7, his former team, when he pondered about Ayame's capture. Fortunately, her voice distracted him from his thoughts.

"Wow, snake guy actually has warm water installed?" Sakura stepped under the shower head, letting the warm water soak her body. "This feels so good." It really did feel refreshing to take a warm shower after a long day. "Ne, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why did you leave Konoha?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"Shoot! Not again!" Sakura thought. "U-uh… I've heard rumors?"

"Hn." Sasuke shifted his position. "That's none of your business."

Sakura rolled her eyes, shampooing. "I hate it when you say that, Sasuke-kun… I really hate it!" But she shouldn't be saying that aloud or she'd be revealing an obvious part of her personality. "Oh! Thank you for the wonderful reassurance," she remarked sarcastically. "Sheesh, do you always reply like that to almost every question someone asks you?" Her fingers combed her bangs behind her ears.

She suddenly pondered about her hairstyle. Should she put her bangs up like she usually did or should she put it down? After she washed the soap off her head, she walked to the mirror. Despite her wet hair, she brushed her bangs back to the front of her forehead then held them up. "Maybe I should put it down… I look more like me if I put them up."

Sasuke knocked on the door, just as she was about to go under the shower head again. "How long are you going to be in there?"

"Just give me a few more minutes!" Sakura exclaimed, applying conditioner on her hair. "And don't you dare come in!"

"I won't."

Sakura picked up her makeshift shirt, but gasped. "Oh no!" The stitches were falling apart! "My clothes…"

"What happened now?"

"My clothes are falling apart…!" Sakura panicked. Her shirt's stitches were falling off and her makeshift belt still wouldn't be able to hold her pants up the whole day. "What am I going to do?" She jerked her head to the sound of an opening door. "I told you not to come in!" Then, her eyes fell upon Sasuke's hand holding a shirt and a pair of pants. "Uh… Aren't those yours?"

"Aa, but these are from when I was your age, so they'll probably fit."

Sakura took them, shutting the door. She hung them on a hanger on the door, examining them. "Okay, I'm grateful, but do I have to wear something that has the Uchiha symbol on it?" Back then, she would've loved to wear Sasuke's clothes, but now, it was just simply uncomfortable thinking about it.

"It's the only pair of clothes I've got that would fit you." A hint of disappointment was in Sasuke's tone. Was the thought of wearing an Uchiha shirt that bad to her?

Sakura groaned in defeat, not wanting to wear her tattered clothes. "Fine…" Her fashion sense started to activate. "I wish this was a lighter shade though. I mean, this kind of color doesn't go very well with my hair color." Yes, in fact, the shirt was a rough, gray color, while her hair was a soft, lilac shade. But she didn't have a choice, so she started putting on her new clothes.

Sasuke stared at the wall, sighing. Really, he didn't understand girls and he would never want to.

It only took Sakura one minute to finish. She observed herself in the mirror. The collar widely embraced her neck, almost like her head can disappear under it like a turtle. The shirt and pants fit her perfectly. Turning around, she moved her hair up, seeing the Uchiha symbol embedded onto the shirt. Well, luckily, her hair would be covering the symbol.

Sasuke heard the click of the door and turned his head to Ayame. In a way, she was right: The color of the clothes didn't match her hair color… and her eyes. He brushed past her and closed the restroom door behind him.

Sakura stuffed her torn clothes into her bag. "Ugh, I feel so weird wearing this…" she murmured. "At least it looks new." She looked at the closet, where Sasuke's weapons were stored. It beckoned her to look through it. "Ooh, I can't, but…" She tiptoed to it. "I don't think it'll hurt to peek?" Sliding the closet door open, she came upon a sword. "Whoa."

It was a long and thin sword, which had an extremely sharp blade. It might cut through a human's joints without any difficulty! The thought made Sakura shiver. The creaking of the restroom door made her jump, shrieking.

Sasuke's eyes averted their attention to Ayame. "Why are you looking through the closet?"

"Uh…" She closed the door. "I was curious about the weapons?"

Sasuke took a deep breath, vaguely shaking his head. He slid the closet door closed.

"I wasn't messing around with them, okay?" Sakura hissed. "I could've been looking at them, for all you care!" She rushed to the door, opening an inch. "No one's awake yet?" Her mind started working. "Wait, this could be my chance! I could escape!"

"If you're planning to escape, there are guards outside."

"Damn it! How the hell does he do that?" Sakura exclaimed. "Does he know I'm trying to escape whenever I think I have the chance?" She slumped, repetitively hitting her head on the wall. "I'm never gonna get out of here…"

The Uchiha opened his closet again, taking out the sword Ayame examined. He, obviously, was going to train. "Are you going to stay here?"

"I'd very much prefer that," Sakura replied. "I don't want to be slashed dead because of you." She went back to the closet, where Sasuke was packing some kunais in a small bag. "Wait, where are you going to train this time?"

"Outside."

Again, the little girl's head jerked in disbelief, but soon was filled with hope. "Really?"

"Now you want to come…?" Sasuke asked, his brow raised. She nodded. "Fine, but don't attempt to escape."

"Ugh, whatever. Anyways, is there any weapon I can practice with?" She scanned the set of bladed weapons. "How about this?" Her hands grabbed a hilt of a small dagger. Sasuke shook his head. "Sword?" He repeated his previous answer. "Ax? Nah, too heavy…" Sakura's eyes were laid upon a set of senbon. "How about senbon? I'm really good with those, I swear!"

Sasuke shrugged. He never used senbons anyways. A thought popped in his head. "But attacking me with those is impossible."

Sakura cursed under her breath, causing Sasuke to smirk. She took out a small pocket of senbons, holding it in her tiny hands. "There are targets there, right?" Sasuke nodded. "Perfect!"

~.~.~

After half an hour of practicing with senbons, Sakura sat on a log, exhausted. "He never takes a break, does he?" She was watching Sasuke train, and he hasn't taken one break! He never stopped, and he made training look easy. "Don't you ever get a few minutes of rest? It's unhealthy if you train constantly without taking a breather."

But he ignored her, continuing his array of attacks on thick straw dummies.

"And you're not listening…" Sakura mumbled. "Someday, all the karma is going to come back to you, Sasuke-kun." Half of her chuckled, while the other half was horrified at that thought. "Wow that would be a lot of bad karma…" She continued to watch him and his surprising bundle of new techniques she hasn't seen before. "Dude, take a few minutes to breathe."

After Sasuke landed his final attack on a target, he evaluated his progress. 38 hit targets out of 40. The two misses were behind him, which was part of his blind spot. His teeth were grinding against each other, wanting to overcome that blind spot of his. He was about to take another go, until his arm was grabbed.

"I told you to at least take some rest, dammit!" Sakura exclaimed. "If you faint from fatigue, it's not my responsibility! It's your fault for overexerting yourself!" Her eyes were fierce and frustrated.

Sasuke slightly narrowed his eyes. He tried to pry off Ayame's hands, but proved useless.

"I'm not letting you go, until you take a quick breather!" This was dangerous, of course. She was grabbing on to the arm of a man who could knock her down any second! "Come on!"

"Let me go."

"Sasuke-sama, is your servant disrupting you of your training?" A guard came running by, who must've overheard Ayame's shouts. Sasuke didn't answer, but she rolled her eyes. "You are coming with me, child!" The guard was about to grab her wrist until Sasuke gave him his trademark cold stare.

"Don't touch her. She's doing nothing."

The guard cringed under his icy stare, stammering. "H-hai! I deeply apologize for my actions!" The guard slipped away, returning back to his post.

Sakura couldn't believe what Sasuke just did. Sasuke, the emotionless and cold Uchiha, actually let her escape a dangerous encounter. "Why did you help me?"

"You'd be beaten," Sasuke stated. He slightly massaged his shoulder, sitting down on a large rock. He now saw Ayame's mouth hanging open. "What?" Yes, he helped her from receiving a harsh beating. He knew that Sound shinobi were harsh with their servants, even when the servants had done even one simple thing wrong. If Ayame was beaten, she'd be mentally and physically scarred for a long time.

"Wait, are you resting?" Sakura crossed her arms, smirking to herself. "Aha, see? Looks like your shoulder was aching for a while."

Although Sasuke didn't like to admit it, she was right. His right shoulder was experiencing some sharp pains.

"You should've taken a break."

"Hn." Sasuke thought about Ayame's family, questions arose in his mind. "Oi."

Sakura snapped back to attention. "Huh?"

"What happened to your family?"

"Damn it, must he have to ask me that?" she thought. "T-they… abandoned me… when I was only 4. Shortly afterward, they were killed." This was wrong for her to tell Sasuke. If she was forced to reveal herself, he's hate her for her lies. He suffered a massacre of his whole clan, and yet, she was lying to him about her "parents" abandoning her and killed. "And my cousin picked me up and I lived with her family ever since…"

Sasuke blinked.

"… UNTIL NOW!" she exclaimed. "I've been living with my cousin and her mother until now! Until I was captured by you guys!" She held back the temper tantrum that threatened to surface. "Damn it, I want to kick something so bad!" Sakura approached a straw dummy and jumped. She kicked it as hard as she can, but she did not gather her chakra to use her super human strength. She wasn't satisfied, but it was enough to rid of the boiling tantrum.

"They abandoned you?"

Sakura cringed. She didn't want to lie, but she had to… for now. "Yeah. I guess they didn't want me." She groaned. "Okay, since when did you start worrying about my family?"

"Tch, never mind," Sasuke snarled. "Forget I said anything." He felt frustrated, because this harmless little girl in front of him was making him worry about something like this. But there was one more question that was clouding his mind. "Who's your cousin?"

"I'm not telling you. I don't care if the rumors about you leaving Konoha were true or false; I can't trust you," Sakura snapped. If she said her own name, Sasuke would be growing suspicious. He stood up, and she slightly cowered. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna take a walk."

"Hey, take me with you. I'm probably gonna get a beating if I go back alone."

"Hn."

Sakura took that as a 'fine', and followed behind him.

~.~.~

It was quite a peaceful morning stroll, despite Sakura's tantrum earlier. It was summer after all. The morning was warm and moist. Birds and cicadas began to chirp as the sun rose over the horizon. This was a relaxing sound for Sakura to calm down and let go of her anger. She breathed in the air, which smelled of dew and grass.

Almost like the sun's rays absorbed her grief, her usual lively mood returned once more. It was quite strange of her to change moods so quickly. She was a Blood A type. It was probably her sensitivity…

Taking walks weren't Sakura's interests, but it was satisfying and relaxing.

"Hey, uh…"

No response.

"Sorry about screaming at you."

He still didn't look at her, but acknowledged her apology with a smirk.

"It's not funny, Uchiha!" She poked his thigh hard. "I'm trying to give you a genuine apology, sheesh…" Ayame pouted, crossing her arms. "Do you take walks every morning? After you train?" Sasuke nodded. "Oh! Can I go with you every morning?"

His head turned to Ayame. "Why?"

"Because this relaxes me and gets rid of my frustration or anger," she replied. "Well… that depends on how I act before I come here, of course." Her emerald eyes shined in the sunlight. "This also satisfies me too. I can at least see the sun come up every morning."

They made it out of the forest and were now looking over a plain of tall grass. The grass was very green and flowed with the warm summer breeze. Sakura crouched, staring at the view. "Can we come here whenever we're going for walks?" Sasuke shrugged. "There you go again… Giving me a shrug as an answer…" But she was too dazed to resume her upcoming lecture. The rising morning sun, the smell of dewy grass, the sound of chirping cicadas, and the breeze overwhelmed her with happiness. "I love this view. It's so… amazing."

Sasuke glanced at Ayame's frame. She seemed very joyful, almost like she was about to laugh. Her face and eyes had a faint gold glow from the sunlight. His eyes softened, He realized the time and turned around.

"It's time to go back."

"But I don't want to," Sakura murmured. "I don't want to walk away from this!"

It only took one word to take her back to the hideout. "Breakfast?"

As if on cue, her stomach growled. "I hate it when you say that at the wrong time…" She kept mumbling about the scenery and breakfast until they reached the dining rooms.

Once again, Sakura was silent around Orochimaru and Kabuto. She refused to answer their questions any further, only lowering her head. Sasuke was impressed. She was able to become the opposite of a lively little girl. When they reached his room again, she became regained her personality again. He would hear her complain about Orochimaru and, once in a while, Kabuto.

Today's complaints were directed to Kabuto.

"Okay, I know that he said he's a medic, but I do NOT want him near me," Ayame snapped. "His aura gives me a "Don't worry; I'll make it quick and painful" feeling." She waved her arms about, continuing her package of complaints for one shinobi. Sasuke wasn't listening to her, because she was mostly talking to herself. "I mean, it's supposed to be quick and painless! How can quick and painful go together?"

It took a few more minutes until Ayame wasted her energy complaining. She didn't have enough to say anything else anymore. Sasuke was slightly relieved. "Are you done now?"

"No, but I don't wanna talk anymore," Sakura drawled. "So do you have other plans for today?" The Uchiha didn't answer. "Oh, wait! Let me guess!" She took a sarcastic second to think. "Training and more training, right?" She smacked her forehead, wondering if he ever took a whole day off. "I swear, if you faint somewhere from fatigue and exhaustion, it's not my fault."

Sasuke kept silent, cleaning the blade of his sword. It was hours until Ayame started groaning and scoffing.

He suddenly spoke up, "You want to go outside again, don't you?" He lifted his eyes from the weapon. "If I let you go outside, you'd escape again."

"Dude, do you read my mind or something?"

"It's obvious."

"Ugh, well, even if I tried, someone is bound to catch me." Sakura fell on her futon. "I can't run very fast because I'm six." She pouted. "Just like how that stupid ninja captured me…" Hoping her depressed mood would convince Sasuke to let her out, she continued murmuring to herself.

"Do you want to go outside that badly?"

"Duh! Seriously, don't these Sound Ninjas, plus you, do something outside every day? Exclude the training part!" Sakura exclaimed. Her shoulders slumped, her depressive mood returning. "Please? I won't escape." Sasuke stepped off his bed again, turning to her. "Are you giving me permission or are you going to knock me down?" Sasuke didn't reply but took a step toward the door. Sakura took that as 'permission granted'. She skipped outside, but heard a tap behind her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going with you."

"I'm not gonna escape!"

Sasuke raised a brow, skeptical of that protest. He walked behind Ayame, keeping his guard up. "Yeah, I can't take your word for it," he thought. And he was right. Once they went outside, she made a break for it, but he caught her by the shirt collar. Ayame scoffed. "If you keep this up, you might never go outside."

Now that made Sakura panic. If she was stuck in an underground tunnel without any sunshine, her skin would become very pale and weak. "F-fine." Sasuke let her go, and she pouted. "That was an unfair play, Uchiha."

"So you're calling me as "Uchiha" now?"

"Yeah, got a problem?"

"Hn." He constantly glanced at Ayame, in case she'd try to escape again.

Sakura thought it was time to give up. She's going to be stuck in "Ayame's" body until some other phenomenal force counters her technique. Until that happens, she can't escape this fate and body. As they arrived to the same location they came in the morning, Sakura exhaled. "How about a deal?"

Sasuke glanced at her. "What now?"

"I'll stay here, and I will NOT escape until YOU let me go," Sakura stated. She unconsciously touched her leather collar behind the shirt's collar. "But, in exchange, you have to let me do whatever I want…" A thought came up. "Don't worry, I won't attack you. You'd probably knock me out instantly if I tried." She saw that there was some interest in the Uchiha's expression. "Deal?"

"What makes you think I can trust you?"

"Are you really that slow-minded?" Sakura grunted. "Compare my strength, speed, powers, senses, and chakra amount to yours. You're obviously gonna catch me the moment I step outside your room to escape!" She arched her head up to the towering Uchiha. "So how about it? Deal?" He didn't answer. She slapped his wrist. "Well?"

"Tell me what you want to do if I accept this deal." Sasuke crossed his arms, curiosity flickering across his face.

"Well, as time passes, more things might come up," Sakura remarked, smirking. "But for now, I want to go outside whenever I want. Early in the morning or night, midnight, or afternoons… anytime I want to go outside for as long as I want." She crossed her arms, her expression firm. "Again… How about it? Do we have a deal?"

"Fine."

"Now I'm satisfied…" Sakura commented. She paused. "… Except for the fact that I have to be stuck here until you let me go."

"You're really annoying."

That phrase took her back to the time when they were alone on the pathway to the Konoha gates.

"I really love you more than anything, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, her tears streaming down her cheeks. She had finally confessed with true words directly to Sasuke. She grasped her hands together, as if praying to herself that Sasuke would change his mind. "So please… don't leave…"

"You're really annoying," Sasuke responded, smirking. He turned his back toward her again and took another step.

The flashback that haunted her this morning had returned again. Her hand shot up to her head, hoping that it will disappear in her trembling hand.

"Sick?"

"No, I'm fine," Sakura reassured. "It's nothing to worry about." But she was lying. The event that took place that night had frightened her ever since Sasuke's betrayal. Whenever that would come up at the most worst times, she'd break down. And a few of those worst times were when she was on missions, which gave her teammates the wrong idea. She cried in front of her friends and her parents. It wore off until Naruto left with Jiraiya to train for… who knows how long Naruto will be out of Konoha? They came back, but it didn't affect her as much as the past.

Sasuke constantly glanced at her as time passed. Ayame seemed a bit paler than usual, and he thought he saw something flare in her eyes for a moment. Was he imagining things? He shook his thoughts away as the sun shined at his face.

"You should really get some sun, you know." Sakura fell back on the warm grass as small daisies tickled her arms. "You actually get part of your energy from the sun, and you might grow frail if you're underground too long." She giggled. "I mean, if you were stuck under there for a year without getting out, you can't even face the sun's rays that reflects on trees!" There was no answer. "Hey, I'm talking to yo-!"

Sasuke was gone. Her eye twitched but held her anger down.

"Sheesh… Talk about being rude…" she mumbled, rolling her eyes. "He left while I thought he was there, dammit!" She rolled across the grass, cooling her exposed skin. Then, she looked back at the sun. "Does that mean he trusts me?" Shrugging to herself, she played around in the grass, along with the flowers and ladybugs.

After a few hours of playing under the sun, she leaned on a large tree, feeling its cool shade from the sun. Sakura didn't want to go back. She wanted to stay there until the whole day ended. And she was with Sasuke, the boy whom she loved so much back then. Perhaps she still loved him, but not as much as before.

Maybe that's what her dreams… her flashbacks… meant. She still loved him, but her hope for him is starting to fade. The thought made her feel sad.

A tear slipped down her cheeks. She wiped it away, smirking sadly. "I'm crying, huh?" She was going through all the memories of Team 7: Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Hoping that no one would see her cry, she climbed up the tree to a large branch. Sakura gripped her chest, choking on a sob.

"My heart hurts…"

~.~.~

A/N: What will happen to Sakura? Is it a serious situation? LOL, not really. If you love Japanese songs, the next chapter is going to include a song I just heard about. It kinda of matches Sakura's condition on her love life. I will also post a link to a video that influenced the next chapter.