A/N: Hey, guys. I'll be writing this chapter in Sakura's point-of-view. Sorry if this chapter is much shorter than how much I usually write. I'm running out of motivation for my Naruto and Bleach stories. You can help by leaving a review of your ideas I could add in here or even a 'hi'.

空の絆：Bonds of the Sky
CH 5: New Life, Old Desires

Sasuke was right. We were moving tonight. Orochimaru told Sasuke that they were going to relocate to another hideout. Oh joy…

It was only one o' clock and everyone was already packing. The other slaves were lining up again with chokers on their necks. Chains connected with each other's chokers.

I watched them line up one by one. Some struggled, but were beaten to submission. Would I have to do the same thing?

"Hey, do I have to do that too?" I tugged on Sasuke's pants, trying to get his attention. "Do I?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to be with them. May I, please?" Sasuke stared at me for a while. "Sasuke, just because I'm your slave doesn't mean I have to travel with you." He continued to stare, and it was scaring me. "What? Stop staring at me, bastard!" I stomped on his foot but I was the one to cringe in pain. I clutched my foot, hissing from the pain. "Damn you."

"Hn."

I swore I saw a smirk on his face, but it could've been my imagination. After a few minutes of rubbing the pain away from my foot, I stood up to Sasuke again. "Look, I'm going to be with them, got it?"

"I'm not stopping you, but I'm not taking the blame if you get whipped."

My eyes narrowed. "I'm not scared, Uchiha. If I took that previous whip without crying, I can take this one on with ease." Suddenly, an image of Rei appeared in my head. I wonder if he bid his grandmother farewell. "Hey, did Rei-Nii say bye to his grandmother?" Sasuke was silent. "W-what?"

"She passed away."

It was then when I felt like my heart stopped for a moment. "W-when?" The wound from this morning's whipping burned.

"The first day she came here."

Thump.

"She passed away, right in front of his eyes, from shock …"

Thump.

"… when she saw Rei being whipped."

How… how can Rei smile so innocently when his grandmother passed away the first day? His grandmother was the only family member he had left, and now she was gone. His heart must have been shattered. The wound felt like it opened but I don't think it did. "At least he tried to smile as if nothing happened, unlike you…"

"What?"

"Nothing." I shook my head and feigned a smile. "So I can be with the others, right?"

"Hn." Sasuke gestured me to follow him. "Do whatever you want. You have anything to pack?"

"My old clothes are tattered, so I have nothing to pack." I followed him back to his room. Currently, I'm worried about his stuff. He has a lot of weapons to pack, and I am pretty sure that he's going to cut his fingers if he handles them. Well… it's not like he's bad at packing weapons, but I have a bad feeling about that closet over there.

Sasuke looked around to see if anything was missing. I folded the futon and threw them on his bed. "Damn, if I wasn't so little, I'd be able to slam these at your face!" I saw him roll his eyes. I stuck out my tongue at him. "Bleh!" I hopped on the bed, swinging my legs back and forth. "So we're moving tonight, huh?" I sadly smiled. "I guess Naruto-Nii and Sakura-Nee won't be able to find me after all."

He stared at me with his usual deadpan eyes.

I chuckled to myself. "Oh well. You win some, you lose some." I fell backwards, the soft bed greeting my head. "But if it's here, it's 'You win none, you lose all.'" He smirked. "Yeah, I just made up a 'motto' of this stinkin' place." I hopped off the bed and made a beeline for his weapon closet. I felt Sasuke tense as I did so. "Oh relax. I don't even know how to use those swords in there. Senbons – yes – but there's no point in trying to attack you."

Sasuke was still tense.

"What's so wrong about me opening your weapon closet?" I touched the knob and opened the door. That's when Sasuke rushed towards me! But it was too late. The weapons piled on top of me! "Oh… This is why…" I was surprised that I wasn't cut from all these blades. If I move a muscle, I just might have to sign my own death warrant. Not only that, the wound hurt!

"Don't move." Sasuke carefully took one blade after another off of me.

"Any time now, Uchiha!" Does it take that long for him to take these off? Can't he just take them off me as a bundle? "Hello?"

"Don't move," he sharply hissed. "The ones in the bottom have poison in the blade. One scratch can be fatal for someone as young as you."

My eyes widened. "P-poison?" I hissed painfully through gritted teeth. "What kind of weapons does Snake Guy give you?" I knew Sasuke would be smirking, but I did not want to risk getting a fatal scratch.

The weapons were soon off me and I checked myself for any cuts. Nope. None. Nada. My wound was still stinging.

"Thank goodness," I breathed. Sasuke was putting the blades together. "Have you gotten cut by those too?" He showed me his hand. There were faint scars on the back. "O-oh. Do you use them?" He shook his head. "Then how did you get those scars?"

"It was an enemy's blade." He showed me a curved blade. "It's this one." I stared at him in horror.

"Y-you k-k-killed him?"

"No. He took it and gave it to me." Sasuke rolled his eyes, sighing. "I don't even need this." He wrapped a fabric around the blades and tied it together.

"Then what's the point of keeping them?"

Sasuke shrugged and threw the sack on the bed. He looked around, nodded to himself, and sat on the edge of the bed. I sat near the corner of my bed, silent.

A few minutes passed and nothing much happened at all. I felt sleepy so I laid my head in my arms and fell asleep.

~.~.~

Luck is so not on my side today.

I must've feel asleep for hours instead of minutes. When I woke up, I found myself on Sasuke's back! Ugh, how worse can this get? It's bad enough I'm with the boy I fell in love with!

"Oh brother…" I murmured.

"You're awake?"

"Yeah, so let me down." Sasuke crouched down and let me down. My god, my feet were dangling in mid-air when he crouched all the way down. "Unbelievable… You couldn't wake me up?" I walked beside Sasuke, pouting along the way.

"I'm just following what the medic ninja said. You need rest."

"Yeah, and I thought I asked you if I can be with the others. You said yes." I pointed menacingly at him. "And you can go ahead. I can catch up."

"I'm not risking you getting beaten to death." Sasuke continued to walk beside me. He muttered under his breath, "Sakura's probably going to be more than despaired if she finds out you're dead. She has more than enough to deal with…"

"Say that again?"

"It's nothing."

I didn't take that. He thinks he can outsmart me with his muttering! Well, I heard all that! And all I can ask myself if this: Is he trying to imply that he cares about me? One way to find out.

"Do you care about Sakura-Nee?"

There was no reply.

"You better answer me or I'm gonna take that silence as a yes."

"I can't yes or no," he quietly breathed out. He faced away from me, but I smiled.

"Okay, I won't ask anymore." I giggled. I might see a different side of Sasuke someday. He started to walk faster, or maybe I'm walking slower? Just then, I spotted a bunny! "Ooh, bunny!" I quietly and carefully walked over to it. It was a brown bunny chewing on a small bundle of grass. "Hi! What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing, Ayame?"

"It's a bunny!" I smiled brightly at Sasuke. "It's so cute!"

"Leave it alone. You're going to scare it."

"Am not…"

"It's not my fault if we're left behind."

"So? You have sharp senses and speed. You can obviously catch up in time and ditch me, while I catch up by walking." I turned to the bunny again and found the area empty! "Aw…"

"I told you."

"Shut up."

"Let's get going."

"Okay…" I stood back up, but cringed at the wound from this morning. I bit my lower lip, suppressing a hiss. Sasuke raised a brow. "It's nothing. I'm still disappointed that… that the bunny ran away, you know?"

"… right…"

I stared at his moonlit frame, my eyes softening. "Did you always keep that tone around Sakura-Nee?"

He didn't reply. He just stared at the moon, and I swear I felt myself blush. "Come here." I looked up. "Didn't you hear me?" I hesitantly walked over to him. He crouched and placed his hand on my head.

"What are you doing?"

"Sorry."

"Huh?"

"Sorry for making you go through all this."

"Hey, I've been here for only a week. I'm pretty sure Hell hasn't come to take me yet."

"But you're only six."

"And yet I lost my family when I was younger." I sighed. "Look, Sasuke, I'm sure I might've upset you at that, but I'm away from my family at Konoha. I feel so empty without the same warmth my family gave me. All I feel right now is loneliness and emptiness." I guess it was time to release another part of my frustration again. This is hard to tell Sasuke, but who else can I rant at?

"Do you mean Sakura and her mother?"

"No! I'm talking about everyone in Konoha! Naruto-Nii, Sakura-Nee, Kakashi-Sensei, Tsunade-Sama, and everyone in the village is like my family! Do you know what it's like to be away from your friends and family?" I refused to meet Sasuke's eyes, but I was sure he was going to say that he knows what it feels like. But my situation was different. I was away from the friends and family that was living. His clan was murdered! It's different! "I miss my friends and family!"

I suddenly felt myself getting pulled. What the-? Sasuke was embracing me!

"W-w-what are you doing?" I tried to pull away, but he was too strong! "Oh, please… It's not like this is going to change my mind about my impression of you being a selfish, cold-hearted jerk!" His embrace tightened. "Uchiha, what are you doing?"

"I can give you the warmth that you want. Do you think that would be enough for you?"

"What are you saying…?" I felt my face flush and tears were flowing down my cheeks.

Then, everything went black.

~.~.~

My eyes snapped open. Was that real or was that a dream?

I looked around. I was in a room. We must've arrived to the new hideout. How long was I asleep or unconscious? Moonlight was shining through a window, giving the room a small glow. Wait, there's a window? I sighed in relief. I can finally see the sunlight or the moonlight! Thank goodness!

But judging by the position of the moon, I guess it was a little past midnight. I attempted to sit up, but I stopped at the feel of fabric. I looked up and found Sasuke sleeping!

Oh shit! Shivers went down my spine. What am I doing? Why am I sleeping next to this idiot? I tried to get up, but something heavy trapped me! Oh my god, you're kidding me, right? Why is Sasuke's arm around me? Why am I so close to him like this?

But why must his sleeping face look so innocent? It's academy years all over again! I'm falling for him again!

If that scene was a dream, then what does it mean? If it was real, Sasuke seriously needs to take bipolar pills. I recalled that event, but found it hard to believe it was real. I guess I still want Sasuke to love me.

This hideout would be a new life for me, but my old desires still remain.

~.~.~

A/N: I'm sorry for the late updates! T^T I was so busy working on my IkariShipping doujinshi on deviantART. I also apologize if this chapter was short…