"SAKURA-CHAN!"
His bowl tipped, almost spilling, when he jumped out of his chair to embrace her.
She giggled as he set her back on the ground. "It's good to see you, too, Naruto."
Naruto didn't realize how down he'd been feeling these past weeks until he saw Sakura—it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. When a bowl of pork ramen was placed in front of his teammate, she took up her chopsticks and glanced at Naruto—doing a double-take at his beaming expression.
"Are you up to no good?" she said with a devilish smirk that made her eyes spark with mischief.
She's so pretty, popped into Naruto's head and his face heated up.
"No, no…I'm fine. Just...uhh…how's things at the hospital?" He dove for his ramen, hoping she hadn't noticed his blush.
"The same. Kinda boring with only one patient, though." Sakura lifted noodles to her mouth and Naruto's hand shot out to grab her arm. "Hey!"
He rubbed his thumb across the greenish-yellow of a fading bruise. "Sakura-chan?"
Naruto looked from her wrist into her eyes. He watched them go from anxious, to guarded, to defeated—she couldn't lie to him, he knew.
"Was this—"
"Yes," she said, cutting him off before he could say the name. Sakura turned, dejected, back to the counter.
Sasuke.
Sakura poked around her bowl for a minute while Naruto seethed. As if sensing his brewing anger, she said to her noodles, "Naruto…have you noticed him acting…different lately?"
The concern painted so clearly on her face doused his ire immediately. "Different?"
She looked from her wrist to his face and whispered, "Darker."
A quick succession of images flashed through Naruto's mind—all of Sasuke shuffling through the streets of the village, his hands jammed into his pockets, his shoulders rounding and his head drooping more as the weeks went on. He nodded vaguely.
"Why?"
Sakura's eyes opened a little wider at his question. He knew she had the answer in that split second, despite her shrug and the I have no idea she mumbled as she quickly shoved a slice of pork in her mouth.
Naruto sighed, knowing that Sakura was as reluctant as Sasuke when it came to talking about each other—if he asked her what she knew directly, she'd brush him off, evade, divert. He'd need to be stealthy and trick her into revealing what she knew. He looked at her sad, sagging posture and knew it was for her own good.
"Kakashi-sensei left on a mission. He'll be gone for a month, you know," he said, plucking the swirl of fish paste from his soup.
"I know. I saw him before he left."
"Mmm," he hummed as he swallowed. "Me, too. He agreed with you—" Sakura looked at him, surprised. "—about Sasuke." She suddenly found her soup very interesting as he continued. "I wasn't sure what Kakashi meant when he told me to look underneath the underneath with Sasuke." She turned to face him when Naruto reached out and gently touched her wrist. "But I think you know. Don't you, Sakura-chan?"
Naruto's throat began to close up as he watched tears gather in her eyes. No! He wanted to pull his words back—reel them in. He never meant to make her cry. One droplet hung, heavy and luminous, from a lash. She slipped her hand from his grasp and wiped it away before it fell.
Sakura collected herself, dabbing her eyes and nose with a napkin. She tugged on it, staring at her hands in her lap, as she let out a quivering sigh.
"Karin is pregnant."
Naruto's face pinched in confusion. What does that have to do with anything? he thought. He was about to say So? when she added, "It's Sasuke's."
Denial roared through Naruto. He would've laughed loud and heartily if he didn't notice the depressed acceptance in Sakura's body language. She couldn't possibly think that Sasuke would—his nose wrinkled in disgust—not with Karin.
"Sooo," he drawled. "Sasuke told you this?"
"No. I examined her myself." Her gaze never left her lap.
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he thought. Sakura was an excellent medic—he didn't doubt that—but something here wasn't right.
"And you know it's Sasuke's from this examination?"
Sakura stopped compulsively shredding the napkin in her hands for a moment. "Well, no, but…Karin said that Sasuke would be very…happy…" She trailed off as she resumed shredding.
Things were beginning to click into place in his head. Sasuke was arrogant, blunt, big-headed, and proud…but he was Naruto's best friend. Thanks to fierce and frequent meetings of fists, he was sure he knew what was in Sasuke's heart—there was no way this baby was his.
"Sasuke-kun's not happy in Konoha."
Naruto turned over his conversation with Karin in his mind. Was that even true? Was Sasuke unhappy in the village? He recalled training battles with Sasuke where he'd clearly seen the indifferent bastard smirk—found him infinitely relaxed as he reclined high in the swaying boughs of Konoha pines—enjoyed delectable bowls of ramen that made Sasuke so content, he'd treated. Naruto knew about the guilt he'd harbored for his treatment of Team Seven, but now each of them had reconciled. Things were finally going well. It might be difficult for him now with Itachi coming back, but Sasuke was not unhappy. His fists tightened at how easily he'd been duped. He needed to find Sasuke and straighten all of this out right now.
He opened his mouth to tell Sakura that he had to leave when he saw her—slumped shoulders, colorless skin, and the napkin in her lap nearly disintegrated. He couldn't leave her like this. It hurt too much to see her in pain. Naruto looped his arms around her, pulling her out of the chair and into a gentle hug.
"It's going to be okay, Sakura-chan. I promise."
"I don't really…hmm…gotta go. See you, Sasuke."
Wiping away the last of the cleaning oil from his katana, Sasuke grit his teeth against the throb in his temples. A headache formed when he thought of Naruto's fake smile—causing him to thump the uchiko ball too hard against the back of his blade. Choking powder clouded the air and he coughed until his eyes watered.
"I have to go. I-Itachi needs me."
With the heel of one hand, Sasuke swiped at his wet eyes while running a polishing cloth methodically down Kusanagi. "Itachi needs you," he sneered, trying to muster up anger at Sakura's avoidance. Instead, his shoulders slumped and a hollow feeling filled his stomach. His sword drifted, forgotten, to his lap as he blotted his face with his high collar.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Unexpected hope caused Sasuke to leap to his feet and fling the door open so quickly that it rattled on its hinges. When he saw who it was, his face shifted from surprise to disappointment to irritation.
"Sasuke-kun! You're just always training, aren't you?"
"What do you want?" He'd heard more than enough from Karin lately. His fraying nerves certainly didn't need her grating simpering or flirting. Sasuke tilted Kusanagi so it caught the light, making plain his reclusive intent.
"I-I have news, Sasuke-kun." He began to close the door. "News about Itachi!" she blurted as he reopened the door to stare at her blandly.
Karin took a tentative step toward the threshold. "Mind if I come in?" she asked, ducking under his blade and scurrying into the apartment. "Oh, so this is your place, huh?" She gazed around in wonder, mesmerized, as she sauntered into his kitchen. Following her impatiently, Sasuke found every cabinet open and her head in his refrigerator.
He banged a cabinet shut and she jumped. "What news do you have about Itachi?"
"Oh, Sasuke-kun! I had no idea you drank so much milk. There's almost two gallons in here. That must be why you have such strong bone—"
"Karin!" His headache hammering, Sasuke reached the end of his patience when she danced around him and headed toward his bedroom. Frustration made him want to put his fist through the wall, but he managed to flash-step to the door before her and slam it closed.
"Tell me. Now."
Karin huffed and spluttered as she made her way back to the living room—he had no time for her ridiculous games. If something was going on with his brother, he needed to know right away.
Sasuke stood, resisting the urge to rub his temples, as Karin stretched herself out across his couch. "Sasuke-kun! You have such good taste in furniture," she purred as she pawed at the material.
Barely containing his anger, he threw and buried a kunai deep into the arm of the sofa, flashing his Sharingan threateningly until Karin relented.
"Fine. I was walking to Ichiraku's today because you know I appreciate homey cuisine, Sasuke-kun—I'm a girl with simple tastes." He slipped a kunai into his palm and she redirected. "Anyway, I heard Naruto and Sakura talking about Itachi and—"
He'd heard enough. Karin had no real news—she was just going to feed him some bullshit. He should've known. Sasuke started toward the door to usher her out, when she yelled, "Sakura and Itachi are together!"
"What does that mean?" he growled, the pain in his head making his stomach turn.
"Just that your big brother seems to have made quite an impression on your teammate." Karin moved closer to Sasuke. "And I guess she saved his life, soooo…" She trailed off vexingly.
"I care about getting the truth out of my brother."
"It's kinda hard to get to the truth if you don't talk to him."
Sasuke knew she was trying to piss him off. He'd been tricked by Karin before and been made to look a fool—it would not happen again. He took another step toward the door, away from her.
"Sakura would have to give you permission to talk to Itachi, right? Have you spoken to her about that, Sasuke-kun?"
His head drooped slightly. He could almost hear her smile.
"You haven't been saying much of anything to your teammates lately, have you?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He knew Karin's unhealthy habit of tracking his chakra at every moment—she knew he hadn't talked to Sakura or Naruto in a long time…too long.
"I'm sure Sakura's…busy…but where's your sparring partner, hmm?" She took two steps closer to Sasuke. "Naruto's a real ray of sunshine. I wonder if he just got tired of hanging around with the dark cloud." She smirked as the pain in Sasuke's head pulsed with the slow thud of his heart.
He thought that bringing Itachi home would somehow make him feel…whole…but instead, he felt so empty. Naruto—the one constant in his life, irritating as he was—had disappeared. Sasuke now felt very much like a dark cloud, always needing to be propped up and cheered by his more positive friend. Was he wearing Naruto down?
Karin moved closer, her cloying perfume making his eyes burn. "Poor Sasuke-kun…all alone. You know I'd never leave you, don't you?"
Sakura…she had promised to walk the path beside him once. Was it really that easy for her—he swallowed against the nausea—to feel for Itachi? There was an ache building beneath his ribs and he found it hard to breathe. His brother's shadow over his life was dark and suffocating.
"I know how you hurt, Sasuke-kun." Karin pressed a hand to his chest. "I just want to make you…" She angled her head toward him. "…feel all better," she whispered, her breath on his lips.
Sasuke looked into her half-lidded eyes as she pressed herself more firmly against him, her arms slinking around his neck. He didn't want to be isolated. He didn't want to be left in the dark anymore. Karin pulled and he numbly stumbled closer. Her cheek rubbing against his, she breathed, "Sasuke-kun," into his ear.
A vivid remembrance of the wild electricity that tingled through his entire body when Sakura sighed sleepily in his ear made Sasuke realize that this was wrong—he felt nothing, hollow. Karin's desperation to be together left him feeling more alone. His Sharingan roared into life as he wrenched her hands off him.
"Out," he said through clenched teeth.
"But, Sasuke-kun, I'm the only one left. No one else cares. I just want—"
"OUT!"
He dragged Karin by the arm down the hall, ripped the door open, and threw her across the threshold. She turned quickly, beseeching him.
"Sasuke! I'm the only one!"
He flung the door closed in her face and sat on the couch, his fingers laced in front of his face. Cold, clean logic was the only way to douse the fire raging in his head. Picking through what was fact and what was fiction in Karin's story helped him disengage from the dull ache in his chest and the burn behind his eyes. He tuned out her whining and thumping on his door as he immersed himself in thought.
If Karin noticed Sakura and Naruto's absence from his life, then this needed further investigation—and Sasuke knew exactly where he'd look first.
The Restricted Ward.
Itachi blinked as Sakura's hands dropped from his temples. After only a few healing sessions, the clarity she'd given him was astounding. He could see the readout on monitors across the room, the grouted tiles in the hall, and every thick, black lash on her downcast eyes.
"Hey," he said, tugging on her hair. "What's going on?"
She tried to smile for him as she limply swatted at his hand. "Nothing. Nothing." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Really. It's just…"
Reasonably sure of the cause of her distress, Itachi tested the waters. "My brother can be…trying at times."
Sakura twisted her skirt into a knot as she frowned.
Sitting up a little higher in his bed, he said, "Sasuke's always been demanding." He slid a hand over her braided fingers.
When one hand slipped out from under his to scrub her cheek, Itachi realized she was crying. "Sakura?"
She pushed off the bed and over to a cabinet, fishing for tissues. Itachi was on his feet and walking toward her without thought. "Sakura?"
His world tilted and a powerful pull pitched him forward. His clear sight began to tunnel gray as his head swam. Strong arms slid around his back and his chin crashed into what felt like a shoulder, clacking his teeth together.
Itachi wasn't sure how he ended up back in bed, but he resurfaced to Sakura's concerned frown hovering over him, her hands pressed to his clammy forehead and chest.
"You don't get out of bed anymore, you hear me?"
He heard the worry in her voice so it was his turn to smile weakly for her benefit. "Yes, Haruno-sensei."
Sakura harrumphed as if offended, but Itachi knew better. He and Sakura had spent a lot of time shuffling hanafuda cards and discussing the finer points of chichi dango—all the while, he was uncovering who this woman was and why she loved his little brother so.
"So…are you going to tell me what's going on or will I have to tell the Hokage that my doctor has been allowing me to roam the ward to the detriment of my health."
Her chuckle warmed him more than any dose of healing chakra could. "You wouldn't dare," she challenged.
"It's my duty as a Leaf shinobi. You are aware that my loyalty to Konoha is legendary," Itachi joked. When her smile melted, he circled his fingers around her wrist. "Sakura…I want to help."
She took a deep breath and stared at Itachi's blankets. "It's Sasuke. He's—well, Karin's—I mean, they're—" He slid his hand into hers and squeezed, hoping to give her the encouragement she needed. Another sigh came up from her toes. "Karin is pregnant with Sasuke's child." She pulled her hand away from his and crossed her arms protectively over her chest.
Orochimaru's warden…
Itachi scowled, thinking that Sasuke's training with the snake had been an unfortunate monkey wrench in his carefully laid plans. He hadn't foreseen Orochimaru branding his brother with the curse mark, but he'd done what he could to minimize the damage the slimy Sannin could inflict on him. Then there was the assembling of a second team—Itachi knew they were picked to help him achieve his ambition. He was sure that Sasuke was so focused on his goal that he didn't have time to give in to baser instincts. Had he been wrong?
"How do you know this?" Itachi demanded. He would get to the bottom of this mess now.
"I examined her myself—there was a secondary chakra signature."
"When did you do this examination?"
"Three weeks, maybe a month ago…"
Itachi wove his fingers together and pressed them against his mouth as he thought. He'd dedicated his entire life to the study and nurturing of Sasuke. Despite being miles away from his brother for long years, Itachi dutifully kept abreast of Sasuke's development—every event, every mission, every relationship his brother ever had was examined, contemplated, and weighed.
Itachi had scrutinized each member of Taka for their ability to contribute to Sasuke's goal and growth. He was well aware of Karin's infatuation with his brother, but felt assured that her worth as a sensor would override her excessively dramatic behavior.
Her worth as a sensor…
"Sakura." His eyes caught hers. "Let's play cards."
She looked off-balance, as if that was the last thing she'd expected him to say, but she nodded politely and left to find the hanafuda deck. This would take some delicate maneuvering, he thought, but Sakura was uncommonly smart. He had to allow her to figure this out on her own.
Sakura dealt and he picked up his cards, arranging them in his hand by suit. He chatted to distract her as they dropped and grabbed matching pairs. At the end of the round, Sakura totaled up their winnings.
"How do you always manage to get Gokou," she moaned, frowning at his high score.
"Koi-Koi is about deduction," he said, taking the cards from her and laying out a playing field to demonstrate. "I know what I have and what's in plain sight. It's just a matter of reasoning out what you're hiding in your hand and what unknowns are still in the pile."
Sakura snorted. "Kakashi-sensei calls that looking underneath the underneath."
"You only get the worthy prize by digging deeper, Sakura—find what's hidden below the surface." He tried to convey the depth of his meaning with a long look, but Sakura seemed determined not to notice.
"Dinner's here," she chirped as she gathered up the cards. By the time she'd put the deck away and rolled a table up to his bed, an ANBU stepped out of the elevator, two meals on a covered platter in his hands.
As she uncovered and arranged their meal, Itachi asked with a chuckle, "How is it, Sakura, that you always know when the meals arrive? Is it a sensitivity to chakra or just a sensitivity to your rumbling stomach?"
She flushed and rapped his knuckles lightheartedly with her chopsticks. "Itachi!"
His laughter trailing off, he knew it was time to steer the conversation toward his objective. Feigning casualness, he said, "You know, I'm surprised, with your level of chakra control, that you're not a sensor."
Sakura quirked an eyebrow at him while she dipped her gyoza. "You don't become a sensor," she said dismissively.
"That's where you're wrong. Highly gifted sensors are born, yes, but for the rest of us, it's merely a skill—like genjutsu—that any adept chakra user can hone with practice. During my time…outside of Konoha, I encountered many sensor types and they all had outstanding chakra control. In fact, some of them had such an acute level of control, they could change the pattern of portions of their own chakra."
Itachi was unable to contain his grin as he watched the idea unfold in her head—her gripped chopsticks slowly floating down to her plate as her mouth hung open. A tickle in his chest soon became a throaty chuckle—Sakura's broadening smile told him that hope was blooming inside of her.
Surprise widened Itachi's eyes as she leaped over their tiny table to wrap her arms around his neck. She sniffed loudly in his ear as he patted her awkwardly.
"Thanks, Itachi," she whispered as she tightened her hold.
Family, he thought. He moved his arms to envelop her and sighed contentedly. I've missed this.
Burning red eyes watched from the shadowy hallway as his brother held her in his arms.
Karin was right.
Roses are red, violets are blue, Paige is so awesome, and this is not a haiku. You like? I'm now a fiction writer AND a poet. Or neither. Well, Paige is great at editing...but not so great at sharing cookies. She's lucky I still like her. Hee, hee.
BIG NEWS: SasuSaku Month is starting soon! That's right! This year, we'll kick it off with a celebration of Sakura's birthday on March 28th. We're going to have a drabble request party for our favorite kunoichi, post the new sign-up procedure, and the prompts! I'll put a copy/paste link in my profile for easy access.
For anyone who doesn't know about SasuSaku Month, it's a huge fandom party for our favorite pair! We supply 31 prompts (each corresponding to a date in July), and you (and many others) create fan works for those prompts (fiction, art, AMVs, etc.). When July rolls around, we post each day's submissions for your enjoyment-it's SasuSaku overload! We're posting the prompts earlier this year, so everyone has lots of time to create!
The event is hosted on LiveJournal, but you DO NOT need a LiveJournal account to participate. So go check it out. Don't forget to replace the dots and take out the spaces!
sasusaku-month(dot)livejournal(dot)com / 108882(dot)html