Title: Reflection
Chapter: Where the Heart Is
Author: ahzheejhei
Fandom: Naruto
Rating: K+
Pairing: Sasuke Uchiha / Sakura Haruno
Spoiler Warning: Takes place a couple months after the Massacre. If you don't know what "massacre" I'm referring to, this may or may not make you happy.
Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto is the owner of Naruto, not me. ;^;
Summary: Sakura couldn't put her finger on it, but she could tell that something was wrong. Unfortunately, it took her a little to long to figure it out.
Word Count: 895
Author's Notes: Week 2 is Chance Meetings, and Day 3 is Home. I realize that I'm behind, but that's what I get for enrolling in a summer course. (Hee hee!) Enjoy. :D
On the night the infamous Uchiha Massacre occurred, Sakura somehow knew that there was something wrong.
"Sakura-chan," her mother chided, pushing the plate of steamed rice and fish stew towards Sakura, "you haven't touched your dinner yet, and we're almost done. Aren't you hungry?"
If I can't find a fish scale or a bone, then there's something wrong!
The seven year-old shinobi-to-be nodded, taking the first bite of her stew and slowly chewing it, hoping that a scale had missed her father's sharp eye or a bone that Sakura herself had missed and had up in that very spoonful of fish and rice… but to no avail.
Something is wrong.
"Did you have a bad day at school?" her father had asked, cleaning up the rest of his dessert.
"No, Tou-chan," Sakura said, and quickly finished her meal, trying to figure out what was making her hair stand on the back of her neck.
.
.
.
On the following morning, when Sakura entered the school grounds, she was greeted with a heartbroken Ino-chan sitting on the front steps.
"Ne, ne, Ino-chan!" the rosette-haired girl called to her best friend, "What's going on? Why aren't you in class yet? Class starts soon!"
"School's been cancelled," Ino frowned, opening her bento box for some sliced oranges. "Haven't you heard? There was an attack on the Uchiha district! Everyone but Sasuke-kun is dead!"
Mint-green eyes widened as Sakura sat down next to Ino, dumbfounded. "J-Just Sasuke-kun? Why would someone want to threaten Sasuke-kun's family?"
"Well—"
"And the Uchihas are our police force! Sasuke-kun couldn't possibly be able to run it all by himself!"
"Calm down, Sakura-chan—"
"W-well, I mean, Sasuke-kun is really strong and smart, so—"
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Ino's nose flared as she placed her hands on her hips, "You're doing it again!" The blonde girl frowned, as her best friend's face reddened. "I don't mean it like that, Sakura-chan, but when you get all hyped up and stuff," Ino had made various hand gestures at this point, "and it's hard for anyone to reign you in."
Sakura nodded silently, picking at her own bento box that held what was supposed to be today's school lunch.
"Anyway, it was his older brother who killed everyone."
"ITACHI-SAN?"
"I know, right? The tall, almost-Sasuke-kun-look-alike who came to the ceremony."
"…but doesn't he love Sasuke-kun?"
"Well, I thought so…"
And as Ino continued her "What-if's" and "It-Could-Be-Possible-That's," Sakura couldn't help but still feel that odd chill down her spine that made her feel colder than Yukigakure.
.
.
.
Three weeks after the attack, the Konoha shinobi and close friends of various Uchiha members attended one of the biggest funerals they had ever seen. Everyone was wearing white clothing and lighting incense in front of various tombstones, and the one that was visited the most was that of the patriarch and matriarch of the Uchiha clan.
That wasn't who she was looking for, though.
"Hokage-sama…"
Sakura turned around, listening intently to the purple-haired ANBU member converse with Hiruzen Sarutobi
"Is it still okay for us to continue with the funeral? Wouldn't Sasuke want to come say goodbye to his family?" the purple-haired ANBU asked.
Sarutobi shook his head, sighing as he folded his hands behind his back. "He's been through a lot. Just yesterday he had fallen into the lake. If the caretaker of the grounds had not seen him, Sasuke would've drowned."
"Aa."
He put on his hat, and looked towards the sky. "This may be for the best – there's no clue as to what Itachi has done to him psychologically. We need him under close surveillance."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
The only thing that Sakura could do was sit down as the same, eerie feeling washed over her.
Something is wrong.
.
.
.
For a year, Sakura had barely seen Sasuke. He attended class, then disappeared as soon as Iruka-sensei dismissed his students. People talked about how he spent his days and nights sitting in bed as if his older brother had sucked out his soul, leaving a living, empty shell. Others said that he trained non-stop at the Uchiha private training grounds.
Rumors were rumors, and unfortunately, there was no one to confirm his whereabouts, as the guardian of Sasuke's apartment refused to say a word, and the Uchiha district was strictly off-bounds unless you had business there.
It wasn't until one late afternoon, when Sakura was beating the clock to reach home in time for supper, that he saw him swinging on the swings by himself.
"Sasuke-kun?"
The little boy looked up at the sound of the name, and sure enough, it was him.
"Sakura. Hey."
"Whatcha doing here? How come you aren't going home yet?" she asked, rubbing her arms nervously.
He looked down, face darkening, then looked at her with a straight face. "Follow me."
A couple minutes later, the two eight year-olds reached the Uchiha graveyard. For a while, they stood in front of Mikoto and Fugaku's tombstone, silently admiring the craftsmanship and listening to the wind whistle through the breeze.
"What's a home, Sakura?" Sasuke finally asked, looking at her with blank, dark eyes.
Sakura blinked, then answered, "It's a place where you live and people love you for who you are… like your mom, dad, pets, and other people like that."
The young Uchiha looked at the ground, sniffling.
"Exactly."
Fin