"Nawaki, wake up."
He felt someone shake him and shot up, eyes wide and fully awake. The first thing he saw was pink hair. She had come.
"Mom! Sasuke! He's right over there and-"
"Shh, shh, Nawaki I know. I put a small genjutsu on him. It's undetectable and all it does is make him sleep heavier. Come on, let's go."
They walked for a little bit until both of them were sure they couldn't be heard. Once they were safe, Sakura pulled Nawaki into a hug.
"How've you been?" she asked.
He shrugged.
"Good enough. I still haven't beaten Hisa, but I'm more worried about Sasuke. It's kind of dangerous being on a mission with him, especially now that you're here."
She nodded thoughtfully. Nawaki could see that something was bothering her. He waited patiently for her to spit it out.
"Nawaki… What exactly is your mission?"
He was surprised by her question, but did his best not to show it. What did his mission have to do with her?
"We're supposed to patrol the area and find a missing-nin. Why do you ask?"
She bit her lip nervously.
"Never mind for now. Let's just enjoy the time we have."
Nawaki was sick of all the mysteries, but he was patient. His mother would have to tell him eventually. For now, he sat down on a branch and began to talk.
"I've finally managed to complete the Rasengan. It still cuts my hand a bit."
"The Rasengan? That's amazing! Here, give me your hand and I'll heal it."
She took his right hand and placed it gently in her lap. Soon, her hands began to glow and a pale green light surrounded his hand. Nawaki's hand began to tingle, and he felt the skin regrow. After a few seconds, she pulled her hands away and studied his palm.
"There, that should do it. Do you have any other cuts and bruises?"
Nawaki had plenty, but he didn't want to waste all his time. So he shook his head and leant back, resting his back againt the tree trunk.
"So…" he began
"So…" Sakura echoed.
Nawaki sighed. This was going nowhere. Time to be blunt.
"What happened between you and Sasuke? Did you leave the village because you were scared of him, or did you do it for some other reason? I really need to know, I'm scared that it's my fault you left."
The look of pain in his mother's eyes frightened him. Abruptly, she pulled him into another hug.
"Never, even for a second, think that you are to blame for me leaving." she said savagely "You are the best thing that's happened to me Nawaki. Never forget that."
Nawaki smiled, but she still hadn't answered his question. He didn't want to push her too far, but he needed to know.
"If I'm not to blame, then why did you leave?"
She closed her eyes and leant back. She was silent for such a long time that Nawaki thought she had fallen asleep. Eventually, she answered him.
"Part of it was Sasuke's fault." she admitted.
"Because he got you pregnant." Nawaki said quietly.
She nodded.
"Yes. Because he got me pregnant. But that was our fault, not yours. Besides, most of it is my fault and mine alone. I was too weak. I couldn't handle… a lot of things that had happened. I felt like I needed to escape."
Nawaki stayed quiet. It was the most he had ever heard her say on her defection and it left him with even more questions. However, he sensed that it was all she would say for the night.
She reached over and brushed a strand of dark hair off his face. He snuggled into her side, enjoying the warmth and feeling of safety that always came with being in his mother's presence. They sat there like that for a while. Sakura ran her fingers gently through his long hair.
"Do you like having your hair this long?" she asked.
He thought about it. It didn't get in the way when he tied it back, and it was always amusing to watch Sasuke freak slightly when he thought he'd seen Itachi.
"Yeah, I like it long." he said at last. "Sasuke told me it makes me look a lot like Itachi."
Sakura was silent. Nawaki glanced up anxiously, wondering if he'd said something that offended her. Her head was raised and her body stiff.
"Sasuke's beginning to wake up." she said "The genjutsu will only hold for so long until he realises what it is and uses his sharingan to escape."
They flew through the woods, jumping from tree to tree so fast that the animals barely noticed them. Once they reached the edge of the camp, Sakura gave Nawaki one last hug, whispered goodbye and took off. Nawaki quickly ran to the spot where he had been sleeping and lay down. He closed his eyes and made his breathing heavier, feigning sleep.
After a few minutes, he heard the rustle of a tent opening. He kept his eyes firmly shut, in case Sasuke had the sharingan activated. He heard a faint swishing noise, then silence. He lay there for a few minutes, hearing nothing. He could feel himself getting sleepier, his body protesting at being woken up in the middle of the night. He struggled to stay awake, but both his mind and body were against him. In the end, he fell asleep.
!
Sasuke's eyes snapped open as his senses noticed the familiar chakra signature. She may have lowered it to almost nothing, but he had memorized her signature and pattern long ago. Long ago, when they had been teammates and allies. Friends.
It was ironic really, he thought as he unzipped his tent, that he would spend the entire day searching for her only to find her by fluke in the middle of the night. Typical Sakura. Still annoying him.
She was speeding through the trees so quickly he could barely catch her chakra signature. She knew he knew she was near. He jumped into the nearest tree and began to chase her. For a while, they sped through the trees, but Sasuke began to close the distance. He would always be the faster than her and Naruto. She knew that too.
She stopped in the middle of a small clearing. It only took him a minute to catch up with her. He landed across from her, their eyes meeting. Neither of them moved, each frozen and watching the other. There were so many things Sasuke wanted to say to her, to demand answers. But he had never been good with words.
"Sakura." he said, his voice even.
"Sasuke." she replied, her voice in the exact same tone as his.
They were silent. Sasuke stared at her, and she stared right back, her eyes never leaving his. For a minute he considered putting her under a genjutsu but dismissed the idea in the end. He had heard she was good at breaking out of them.
"Well?" she asked. "What do you want?"
He stared at her. What did he want? What did she think he wanted? He decided to humour her for now.
"I want you to return to Konoha with me and to explain why you left." he stated.
Her expression was as cold and unreadable as his.
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
He was done with her silly game. He was here on a mission, he had to forget his personal feelings.
"Then I'm afraid you're under arrest." he said. "Will you come quietly or-"
He didn't see the punch coming until it hit him in the stomach and slammed him into a tree. In hindsight, it would have probably been more sensible to activate his sharingan before coming into contact with her. He activated it now, as he lay in the ruins of the shattered tree. She stormed over to him, until she was directly above him.
"Listen closely, Sasuke-kun." she snarled venomously. "You have no business in arresting me. True, I left Konoha without asking permission, but I haven't harmed a single person aside from missing-nin and creeps. You left the village too so don't pretend that what I'm doing is wrong. In fact, just stay away from me."
She spun around and began walking away. He pushed himself up, wincing slightly at the pain. He was pretty sure she had cracked at least one of his ribs. He stumbled slightly, before finding his balance. He didn't understand how this had happened. All he had to do was put a kunai to her neck and threaten her, and they would be on their way to Konoha. So why didn't he move? He had tried to kill her at least twice in the past, surely this wouldn't be any different? He felt the familiar gnawing of guilt in his stomach, a feeling he still tried to repress. He cursed himself for letting his feelings hinder the mission. If he didn't do something, she was going to leave, and he might not get another chance.
"Wait!" he yelled.
She stopped walking, but kept her back turned.
"Tell me why." he said, because he was still Sasuke Uchiha and he would not beg Sakura for answers. "Tell me why you left the village."
She was silent for so long Sasuke thought she was never going to answer.
"You know why." she whispered.
"I don't." he said firmly, although a little voice in his mind was whispering that he did know, and it was because of him. He ignored that voice as best he could.
She whirled around, and he was startled to see tears shining in her eyes. She did not let them fall though, and her words were furious.
"You do know! You know perfectly well. Don't tell me you don't feel even slightly guilty?"
"Why would I feel guilty?" he said, and he knew that he was lying to himself. "I come back to Konoha and you ignore me for eight years. I thought I understood why: I had betrayed you and tried to kill you, so why would you forgive me? I respected the fact that you probably despised me. Then one night we both get intoxicated and have a one night stand. A week or two later, you leave. I don't see the connection."
"You're a moron." Sakura told him, all feeling gone from her voice "I loved you. I still love you. But all you've ever done is treat me like shit. So I decided to let you go, let you find someone who you actually love. But you never dated anyone…"
Sasuke knew where this was going, but he kept himself firmly in denial.
"…Then one night you start hitting on me. I was drunk and stupid, but you were just as bad. You told me that you wanted me, that you loved me. I was too drunk to care that you weren't serious. I convinced myself that you actually meant it. You took my virginity and then you acted like it never happened! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO FEEL AFTER THAT?"
Her voice had gotten shriller as she spoke. By the end of her speech, she was practically screaming. Sasuke was feeling very uncomfortable. He had no idea how to respond, and things were getting out of hand.
"This is all irrelevant." he said coldly "I have a mission to complete. You're coming back to Konoha. I understand you're… confused. But you've had seven years to sort through your feelings. We can talk once we're both back."
Her face softened slightly, and her eyes became slightly distant.
"I'm sorry Sasuke." she said "But things have changed. This isn't just about you and me anymore. To be honest, it never was. True, you were a big reason I left, but I had more. There's a secret I need to protect, and it's not just for me. I know you've never apologized, and you probably never will, but I think we both deserve apologies from each other. I'll get mine out of the way now."
His brain was trying to process all the information she'd given him. So the main reason she left was because of the one night stand, but she had other influences. He was so caught up in his thoughts he barely noticed her leave.
"Sakura!" he yelled after her.
She kept moving, never looking back. Sasuke was desperate, another feeling he hated. He was about to lose her.
"Please." he whispered. "Please, I'm… I'm sorry."
She turned to face him, and he could see that her tears had begun to fall.
"I'm sorry too, Sasuke-kun." This time there was no malice in her words.
He allowed himself to feel a small morsel of hope, but it was crushed as she turned back around and jumped away.
His body was numb. He tried moving forward, to chase after her, but his legs wouldn't respond properly. He ended up crashing onto the forest floor. Only when his face was buried in the grass did he allow one tear to fall. He had failed. He had failed Naruto, he had failed Sakura and he had failed himself. Why the hell did he act so stupid? There were a million ways he could have convinced her, and instead he had acted cold and unrepentant.
He lay there for a while, lost in self-loathing. Years ago, he would have lashed out and tried to blame his failure on someone else. But he was a grown man, and he had matured enough to accept responsibility.
He pushed himself to his feet and made his way back to the campsite. As he walked, he thought about everything that was puzzling him. Nawaki's preference for sleeping under the stars, Sakura's sudden appearance after seven years and her words to him about protecting a secret. He understood one of her secrets, but were they thinking of the same one? Added into that confusing mix were Nawaki's resemblance to Itachi, Kakashi's calmness whenever he brought Sakura up, and for some reason: Sai.
All these thoughts made Sasuke confused. As he climbed back into the sleeping bag, he was determined to work it out. He felt like it was all a giant puzzle, and there was one key piece missing. He knew he could find it, if he just knew where to look.
His thoughts turned to Nawaki. Where did the boy fit in to all of this? Was it just his old suspicion returning? He frowned, he would think about it some more in the morning.
He closed his eyes and slept. Ever since his return to Konoha, Sasuke had had recurring dreams. Generally, either Itachi or Naruto was training with him. They were always enjoying themselves, and Sasuke felt happy too. Tonight, his dream took a different course. He dreamed of him and Sakura, posing for a picture. Sasuke felt his hand clutch at the shoulder of someone standing directly in front of them. But when he looked down, there was no one there.
His dream turned again, this time to him, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi all eating at Ichiraku's.
A small smile appeared on Sasuke's face as he dreamt.