Chapter Seven: A Club, a Face, and the Impossible
Present Day:
Sakura was not herself. So much so, that even Sai had noticed the changes in her behavior. It was just unfortunate that he did not have the social knowledge in how to handle it. Sakura had taught him many things over the years and his humanity had progressed significantly, but his ability to read social cues and react in the proper manor still lacked. What he did know was that Sakura was not Sakura, and he did possess the knowledge to fix her.
Her mind had seemed preoccupied and distracted for nearly two weeks. So distracted in fact, that she was failing to correct him in his behaviors. Sai knew this because he had been purposely making mistakes to see if he could gain her attention. He had observed a small child doing this one day at the park and it seemed to work for him. The mother had been preoccupied with another child but as soon as the neglected child began to act out and cause mischief, the mother had directed all of her attention to the naughty boy. While Sai knew better than to throw his arms in the air, lie on his back, and begin to kick and scream, he found his own ways to act out that Sakura would deem as misbehaving.
He cut in line at the hot dog stand but Sakura simply fell into line behind him. He threw his trash on the ground but Sakura merely walked around it without stopping him and forcing him to pick it up and dispose of it properly. These transgressions were child's play when compared to what he had done in his past, but Sakura was not one to let even the smallest of infractions go without reprimand, followed by remedial actions. Yet for the past few days, she seemed to be letting things slide.
It was then that Sai decided he needed to do something bigger. Something more noticeable and more hurtful to others. If there was one thing Sakura despised the most, it was hurting innocent people. Physically, mentally, or emotionally, she was never lenient. He knew it was wrong, but like a child being ignored by his mother, Sai felt he had no other choice if he wanted to regain her attention.
So he punched a man. A random man. A burly, muscled, and steroid using man on the street. His logic had been that the man looked tough, therefore he could handle the pain. And Sai had been correct. The man was tough, and he handled the pain very well. Unfortunately, he did not handle his rage very well. For it just so happened that an anger management session had just concluded. Its members were exiting the building they were passing and Sai had chosen their newest member as his victim. His plan worked. He had gained Sakura's attention. But along with it, came her wrath as well as another's.
Sakura was at a loss as to what had happened. One moment she was strolling peacefully down the semi-busy sidewalk, taking care to weave through the motley group that had just exited from the Compass Counseling Center, when out of nowhere, Sai was throwing a fist into the face of the largest man in the group. A loud crack erupted over the hustle and bustle of pedestrians, causing several onlookers to stop and pause, all of them taking several steps back to give the upcoming brawl plenty of space. Immediately Sakura whirled around to look at Sai. To her utter disbelief, Sai was standing calmly with his hands now tucked into his pockets. And to make things worse, he had his signature, awkward smile, planted on his face as he looked at the man he had just punched with an expression of polite civility.
"What the hell!?"
They were the very words she was thinking and getting ready to scream into Sai's face but someone else had beat her to it. His voice was so deep and grizzlied that it sounded more like a growl than a question. The tone told Sakura that things needed to be settled quickly and drawing from past experience, Sakura knew that Sai's empathetic lacking self was not going to defuse the situation. Already the polite smile he had on his face was only making the situation worse. She was tempted to let Sai suffer the consequences but guidance and protection were her primary duties to Sai, not judgement and execution.
With great difficulty to resist the urge to begin her interrogation of his motives then and there, Sakura turned around to begin her apologies on Sai's behalf. But she was greeted by a wall of muscle instead of a person. She angled her head up only to be met by a meaty neck. She readjusted again, her neck straining from the stretch until she was finally greeted by the man's face. A broken nose and blood covered snarl was all she could register before Sai opened his mouth and made everything worse.
"Apologies," Sai said, his tone light and inappropriate for the circumstance. He sounded as if he were apologizing for lightly brushing past the man, not punching him in the face for no apparent reason. "But it seems my calculations were incorrect, I did not mean to break your nose. If you wish, I would happily assist you to the nearest clinic for medical assistance. If you do not reset the break quick enough, your nose will look disfigured permanently." He paused as his eyes ran up and down the man's body in quick survey." However, I see the rest of your body seems disproportionate in other areas. I can assume this is due to your lack of lower body exercise, unless you wish for your body to be disproportionate. If this is the case, then perhaps I have done you a service ..."
Sakura managed to turn around and gape at Sai for one more sentence before all hell broke loose.
"Why!?" Sakura questioned for the hundredth time. Sai opened his mouth but was cut short of uttering a single syllable when she continued. "Don't say anything," she snapped as she dabbed at the swollen cheekbone on his face. It was already beginning to blossom into a violet discoloration. With the last of the blood washed from his face, Sakura turned to the trash and threw the bloody napkin away. She let out a sigh and shook her head before looking at him. "Why in all the heavens would you do that?"
Following Sai's backhanded apology, the man had managed one swing. It was all Sakura would allow before she threw the man backwards. It had taken everyone for a surprise given her petite frame and the man's large build. After recovering from the shock of being thrown back by a pink haired pixie of a woman, the man moved forward, ill intentions blazing in his eyes but he was stopped by several others of his group that grabbed hold of his arms.. With some mantra nonsense being quoted by his friends and a warning glare from her, the man quickly calmed down and left after throwing some choice words in Sai's direction.
Now they were settled at a metal table with matching chairs that scraped horribly against the sidewalk pavement each time they shifted. Given the bloody mess on Sai's face, Sakura had opted for outside seating and ordered two drinks to keep the cafe owner happy when she grabbed a handful of napkins and requested a cup of ice. With the blood now cleaned off, she placed the cooled ice against the bruise. Taking one of his free hands, she lifted it up to the cup for him to grasp in silent instruction for him to hold it himself. Satisfied that all her work as a healer was achieved, she leaned back and gave him an expectant look, waiting for him to give her an answer.
"I am confused. Do you wish for me to speak or not?" Sai replied. Sakura let out a growl of warning and Sai was quick enough to interpret the response as an affirmative. "I wished for your attention."
The lines creased between her brow quickly disappeared as she raised them in surprise. "My attention?" she asked in confusion. Her mind raced for an answer of the type of attention he was speaking of.
Sai nodded. "You have not been yourself lately and I feel different. I do not know what to call this emotion. It is not sadness nor is it fear. But I do not like it. I feel driven to do something but I am at a loss as to what to do. Something seems to be bothering you, yet I feel a drive to find a solution for you."
For a moment Sakura blanked as she tried to process Sai's struggle to describe his feelings. Having a childhood like Sai's, emotions were not allowed. Since a very young age, he had been trained to suppress such feelings and therefore, he never learned how to match what he was feeling with the name of the emotion and the proper action when feeling such things. When put under her care, the first thing she worked with him was allowing himself to feel such things. Now they were working on identifying and reacting. Each newly identified and mastered emotion was a mile stone, though Sai only had a few that he had learned to become familiar with. Mastery was perhaps a stretch for what he could do with them but Sakura knew someday it would become a firmly solidified title.
"Sai, I think what you are feeling is worry," she finally replied, a hint of excitement sounding in her voice. It was an emotion they had never managed to bring forth, therefore, this was a groundbreaking occurrence.
At her words, Sai quickly pulled out one of the books he carried around with him constantly. It was a small pocket sized dictionary. With a flurry of fingers and pages, he thumbed towards the back of the book and paused as he found the sought after page.
"Worry," he read aloud. "to feel or experience concern or anxiety." Sakura watched him as he turned quickly to another page, this time towards the front of the book. He stopped and his eyes ran down the line of vocabulary until he found the one he had been searching for and read aloud again. "Concern: to be a care, trouble, or distress for someone or something."
She watched him flip from page to page as he reread and compared. Finally after a few minutes of mental deliberation and assessment, Sai looked up from the notes he had compiled into a separate note book.
"It seems you are correct. I..." he looked down at his notes, "...I am worried about your change in character and how it will affect my progress. At first you seemed burdened and over the week it evolved into agitation. When you began to disregard my bad behavior I began to worry. I am afraid I have done something to make you no longer care or that perhaps you have given up on me. I fear that perhaps I have reached my potential and will not improve more and that this will be the best I will ever become."
Sakura gave him a look of endearment. It still surprised and warmed her of how innocent and childlike Sai truly was. It was her belief that he would have been a truly righteous soul had Danzo not corrupted him so much. Unfortunate as it was, it was not a complete travesty because she also believed that he would one day be that soul. And because of his trials and wayward past, he would be even better for it.
"Sai," Sakura said with a sympathetic sigh. "I would never give up on you. You have too much potential to ever give up on. However you are correct on one thing. You are right, I have not been myself and I apologize that I caused you to worry. I have been distracted, there have been things that have been bothering me lately and have been preoccupying my mind. But I should not have let them affect my work or duty to you. I am sorry."
Sai looked ponderous for a moment. "I read that when one is troubled, it often helps to speak with a friend or loved one," Sai said. "I know I do not fall under these categories for you but if you would like to speak to me about your predicament, I would like to offer my services. I hear most times people do not need a solution just for someone to listen."
Sakura reached over the metal table and grabbed his hand, giving it an affectionate and tight squeeze. "Thank you Sai. While I wish I could voice things to you, I myself am still unsure of how to make sense of things. I don't even know where I would begin. But don't worry, it is most likely nothing and merely coincidence. But for what it is worth, I do consider you my friend, and I love all my friends."
Sai nodded with a smile on his face and Sakura could not help but catch a glimmer in his eyes that could only be interpreted as relief and warmth. As she watched him process the emotions that she knew were trying to resurface after years of repression, she caught sight of something yellow and orange from just over his shoulder. Her eyes flashed to the point and there was no mistaking what she was seeing.
Naruto was standing near an alleyway. The moment he realized he had been spotted, he quickly ducked back. Sakura frowned. It had been thirteen days now. Thirteen days since Tsunade had given her a shallow of an excuse to keep her in the heavens at night. She had been expecting it and therefore accepted it without a fuss. Had she not overheard Tsunade's and Kakashi's conversation, she would not have submitted so easily.
Now she was regretting it. She had told herself it would only be for ten days, a week and a half, she could survive it. That had been the agreement between Tsunade and Kakashi thirteen nights ago when she overheard them in the garden. Ten days of remaining in the heavens during the dark hours. She had done it for centuries so what was less than two weeks? It turned out to be torture.
Sakura now understood the struggle mortals had with the addictive poisons they inserted into themselves. Once she had a taste of the freedom and experienced the adrenaline, it was difficult to give up hunting. She had rejoiced on the tenth day but when Kakashi gave her a strange look when she made to go with them, she realized that she had been wrong. Now it was three days passed and still she had yet to hear anything. She was paranoid. Already she felt Kakashi was suspicious of her but then she remembered, she had nothing to be guilty for. It was they who were being suspicious.
If she had not overheard Tsunade and Kakashi's conversation she would not have thought anything of it. But she had overheard them, and they spoke as if the Uchiha's presence was directly connected to her freedom. She would have understood if they were taking precautions with all of the younger and less experienced archangels. She did not like the idea of being too much of a risk to go out during dangerous times. She understood if it was because she was new. But it turned out she was the only trainee that was being banned.
Another reason why she was on edge was they were watching over her during the day. This was not the first time she had caught Naruto tailing her during the day. She had also noticed that someone always seemed to have a reason to delay her departure in the mornings and in the evening she found Kakashi and Naruto frequently coming to collect her significantly earlier than usual. It was one thing to be banned during the dark hours, it was another to be babysat during full daylight hours. She was new to her archangel duties, but she had been a guardian for far longer. She had experienced war when the mortals fought. She had guarded her mortals during their darkest times as they sat in the trenches as bombs exploded over their heads. While it was not a war between seraphim, they still fought and defended the precious souls of the mortals. Demons were always behind such contentions and while she had yet to take a life, she held her ground and fought against them on occasion in order to protect the souls she guided. Tsunade had trusted her then, she had faith in her skills and abilities. Where was that faith and trust now?
Naruto always had some kind of excuse for why he would come early. Excuses such as needing her for something then forgetting what for upon their return, or declaring he needed her healing expertise only to find out it was a splinter. That last excuse had earned him a well deserved goose egg that the golden angel was still sporting on his head.
Kakashi never even bothered to give her a reason to which she both appreciated and hated at the same time. He had always been like that when it came to her past and coddled treatment. Kakashi, the king of excuses, never insulted her when it came to matters that he knew to be important to her. She could see it in his eyes that he had truths and that he wanted to feed them to her, but something held him back each time. She had once asked him about it and he replied by saying, 'if you wish for lies I can weave them, but I would prefer not to'. It did not make complete sense but it at least assured her that Kakashi did not agree with whatever was causing him to withhold information.
Checking the time on the clock visible through the cafes front window, she noted it was nearly six o'clock. Sundown was not for another two hours. Yet for the past thirteen days she had been collected at six o'clock sharp. If she had not spotted Naruto spying on her, it would have only been a little longer before he made an appearance.
"I think I will take an early leave today," Sakura suddenly said, turning her attention back to Sai. She stood up as he nodded. Just as she was about to leave she paused. "And Sai," she began, waiting for him to look up at her.
"Yes?"
"Don't throw trash on the ground and remember it is unfair to cut in lines. You need to wait your turn."
"So you did notice those things?" he commented. "Why did you not say anything?"
Sakura raised a brow. "I am certain you know better than that. You have to take some responsibility for yourself. I won't always be her to dictate what is right and wrong. You have to judge for yourself and reap whatever consequences come from it."
Sai nodded and she began to step away but paused once more. "And the next time you want my attention, just don't have to punch a person in the face. In the words of a good friend of mine, 'it's troublesome'."
With that she departed, rounding the corner and catching a blonde Naruto off guard. After giving him a good throttle and interrogation to which she gained no satisfaction or honest answers, they each made their way to the heavens.
After Sakura left, Sai had felt better than he had for the past week and a half. He remained at the small table that was set up along the sidewalk as he sketched patrons and passersby. It was a quieter street on the outskirts of New York. Some would consider it more Brooklyn than New York City.
After he finished his chai tea, he stood up from the rickety table with a cringe as the metal scraped against the pavement. Lugging his bag up he pulled the strap over his shoulder. Preoccupying himself with placing his books back into their proper places, he began to make his way down the street.
He had not gone far when he felt his body run into another body. His hands lost their grip on the book he had been attempting to stow away into his bag and he quickly dipped down to retrieve the sketchbook that now lay open on the pavement. A half sketched Sakura smiled up at him for a few seconds before he gathered and closed it in one smooth motion. As he straightened up to give an apology, he found himself looking at his reflection or what seemed to be his reflection.
Dark eyes and matching dark hair, contrasting with pale skin. But the longer he took in the other person, he began to notice the subtle differences. His complexion was slightly darker and his hair longer and more untamed. His features were sharper as well, his nose and chin ending at a more narrow point than his own. And there was an air about him that seemed to exude power.
Sai was no stranger to supernatural powers. He knew of the seraphim world. It was a limited knowledge and slightly misconstrued given the contrasting examples that Danzo and Sakura were. Danzo showed his powers but gave no explanations, only orders. Sakura rarely showed her powers. She worked with him as if she too were mortal so as to give a true example of what was attainable for himself. However, if there was one thing he had learned from being around them and the others of their kind, was to distinguish between a mortal like himself and a higher being.
The only exception was Sakura. He was not sure why, but for some reason she was different. She looked ethereal but she felt human. From the first time they met he had felt that something was off. Perhaps it was her constant efforts to make sure she seemed as normal as any other mortal to help him feel human as well. Or perhaps it was something entirely different. Whatever the reason, she was unique.
As a mortal, the trick to identifying a demon or angel, was being fully aware of one's intentions. Seraphim had a certain attraction that drew mortals in. Like their own gravitational pull that grasped a mortal's desire and morphed it into a nearly uncontrollable urge. The stronger a seraphim was, the harder it was to ignore the pull. The tricky part was knowing if they were demon or angel, because despite a person's ability to know right from wrong, a mortal's mind could rationalize even the most sinful actions to be the most innocent of gestures.
As Sai looked at this man before him, he immediately drew the conclusion that this man was no mortal being. Judging by the intensity of the pull he felt for the man, he also concluded that he was no common seraphim. It was either that, or Sai needed to speak with Sakura again about sexual preferences. He had not ever contemplated his attraction preferences before since he had never felt the need. He had of course inquired about them. His observances of other people had brought about a curiosity as to why they were drawn to their partner or partners. Sakura had explained, but they had not focused on any feelings of the romantic nature as those feelings were complex and difficult to handle. It would most likely be awhile before he would ever be ready for such things.
The man's eyes were focused intensely at Sai's hands as he began to slip his sketchbook into his bag again. Sai noticed the pinched frown on his face as well as the deeply furrowed brow as his eyes remained glued to Sai's bag, even after he had tucked the book away. Immediately Sai began to match the man's expression with the earlier event in an attempt to try and interpret what the man was feeling. His conclusion was that the man was angry that Sai and ran into him. With his analysis complete, he immediately went into the proper actions.
"Pardon me," Sai quickly said, doing his best to honor the manors that Sakura had so painstakingly tried to ingrain into his habits. He paused in his apology when he noticed that the man had been exiting a building. While Sai had yet to accomplish the feat of driving, he was aware of the mechanisms of merging and yielding. Sakura had taught him that it was common courtesy to adapt these vehicular laws when in pedestrian traffic as well. Not one for giving up an opportunity to pass on the guidance of his guardian angel, Sai continued to speak, altering his initial plan of action. "I know it improper of me to walk without watching, but I believe as a person merging onto the sidewalk, you yourself should watch and wait for the right opportunity in which you might integrate yourself into the flow."
The man said nothing, he just stared at Sai's bag. Then, finally, when Sai cleared his throat, the man's dark gaze moved up to meet Sai's own with an annoyed expression.
"I mean no offense in correcting your manors. I only mean to help a fellow man. My friend once told me that 'acquired knowledge goes in vain if you do not impart it to others'," Sai quoted. Sakura had been teaching him about not belittling those who were less educated, but instead helping them to understand. "I am just trying to make sure…."
His explanation died when the man brushed past with nothing more than a simple 'hn'. Confused if the sound was acceptance, gratitude, annoyance, dismissal, or anger, Sai was left to watch the man's retreating back as he pondered the meaning of the single syllable sound. On his walk home he had opened his dictionary and searched for the word, this time taking precautions to not bump into any others as he researched. To his dismay, he was unable to find such a word of existence. After trying various ways of spelling and similar sounding words, he gave up his search and decided to ask Sakura tomorrow of its meaning.
There was something odd about today and it had nothing to do with his day starting in the late afternoon, this was usual for Sasuke. It was not an event that made it odd, but a feeling. Not just any funny feeling, but a sixth sense that tingled with promise. Or at least the potential of something astronomical happening. It was a strange feeling, but not entirely unfamiliar.
Sasuke had felt it a handful of times over the centuries. It was a strange feeling, difficult to describe. It was as if destiny was lurking around the corner, waiting for him to find it. At times it felt close, while other times it was just a faint pulse on a distant plane. Strong or faint, it was always the same feeling and always ended with the same results. Nothing would happen.
After the first couple of times, Sasuke had learned to not expect anything to come from these days and did his best to ignore the pulse that seemed to beckon to him as if begging him to follow. He was prepared to ignore it as always but for some reason, it seemed stronger than he had ever felt it. As if every other time there was always something not quite in place. But now, it felt as if all the stars were finally aligned. Not a single luminescent spheroid was out of place.
He had been contemplating this slight change when he was exiting the hotel he had been staying at for the past thirteen days, when all of a sudden, a mortal decided to walk right into him. His first instinct was to push the mortal out of his way and keep moving but all thoughts and actions were erased when he looked down at the human as it scrambled to retrieve its belongings. All agitation and annoyance, dissipated as he caught sight of an image. Roughly sketched in graphite was the image of a girl. Her hair was short, just barely reaching her shoulders and the eyes were unfinished, but the smile. The smile was perfectly shaded and contoured. While the image held no color, his mind automatically filled in the blank space that the eyes would be located with an iridescent jade. It was gone as quickly as it happened when the mortal managed to close the book and begin to slide it into his bag.
Sasuke felt his face scrunch into deep lines as he pursed his lips. He continued to stare at the man's bag, his eyes riveted on the canvas material as if he would be able to suddenly see through the barrier and look upon the page again. The man said something but he disregarded his words until he heard the man clear his throat. He raised his eyes to look at the man, his annoyance to the distraction clearly showing on his face.
"I mean no offense in correcting your manors. I only mean to help a fellow man. My friend once told me that 'acquired knowledge goes in vain if you do not impart it to others'."
All thoughts of the drawing were erased as Sasuke absorbed the odd mortal before him. And then he realized the absurdity of his earlier thoughts. It was just a drawing, a half finished drawing with hardly any details. It could have been anybody...but that smile, that perfectly drawn and familiar smile...
"I am just trying to make sure…."
Sasuke let out a skeptic 'hn' to himself and began to walk away, shaking his head at the illogicality of his thoughts. He heard the man's words trail off but it mattered not. He was too focused on other things to listen to the apologetic ramblings of a mortal. At least that is what he guessed the mortal was attempting. Whatever it was, it mattered not. He needed to find something distracting, something that would preoccupy his mind before it fully entered dangerous waters. And so he did something that he had never done before, he let his feet guide him through the city as he followed the instinctual pull of whatever made this day seem...fateful.
It seemed fate at least knew what he needed. Sasuke had followed the pull until he found himself inside a loud dance club with plenty of auditory and visual distractions that his mind had difficulty focusing on anything. Any other needed diversion was provided by an abundance of alcohol. His immortal body was hardly affected by the mortal drinks, it took a great amount for any of his kind to become truly inebriated, but it did bring a dullness to his mind that helped immensely.
It had been an utterly uneventful, and disappointing week and a half. Sasuke had kept track of his former comrades but it turned out that they were relatively boring these days. It seemed that the first night he had run into them, they really were just trying to save a random soul from being claimed by a rogue seraph. It was odd, but it reminded him of another time he had hoped that something was more than what meets the eye. He had wanted to find out that there was something more special about the mortal from that night. But after thirteen days of watching from the shadows, Sasuke came to the conclusion that perhaps he had been a little too bored lately. His mind was attempting to find something of interest where there was no entertainment to be had. So much so, that his eyes were beginning to deceive him. They certainly had when the odd mortal had run into him.
At the time he could have sworn that he had seen a face he had not seen outside of his dreams and nightmares in a very long time. It had been a light sketch and only half finished. Obviously it had been a trick of the light or his mind. His eyesight was superior to perfect, they did not get fooled by optical illusions. So he could only blame it as a cruel trick of desperation that plagued his mind.
This thought disturbed him. It was obvious that New York was not providing the necessary distraction that he needed. With this conclusion, he decided that it was time to move on. He had enjoyed the city, walked the streets, and found himself thoroughly distracted. Until now. Now it was time to move on, find another place that would provide what he needed to keep sanity. He would enjoy one last night in the city, then check out the latest rumor for Kabuto's whereabouts over in Manila.
The densely populated city would provide the chaos that all highly populated cities offered to keep his mind distracted but it would also make his search difficult. That being if Kabuto was even still there or had ever been there. He had a knack for knowing when Sasuke was getting close and slipping away. Kabuto was also very good at leaving false trails as Sasuke had come to discover. But he seemed confident in Manila. It made sense, it was a good city for a person to disappear and hide. It also had an abundance of mortals that would make it easy for Kabuto to harvest souls in mass quantities.
A wave of contempt and disgust rushed him at the thought but he pushed it aside. Tonight he would enjoy New York's nightlife one last time without any thoughts of Kabuto, old comrades, or long lost souls. Tonight was about not thinking at all.
At the moment, he sat alone at the bar of one of the more popular clubs of New York. As the music and shouts of dancers filled his mind, it made it impossible to think. The atmosphere buzzed with energy making his senses vibrate like a suppressed coil waiting to burst. Along with watching his old comrades, he had been enjoying the energy that New York awakened in him each time he revisited.
A body settled next to him, and his relaxed posture tensed. He kept his eyes forward, focusing on the arrangement of top shelf spirits as if the world depended on his choice of poison for his next drink. When it was obvious that the person next to him would not be leaving anytime soon, Sasuke let out a tired sigh and finally spoke, not bothering to raise his voice as he knew they would hear him just fine.
"Did I not make myself clear the last time I saw you that if you bothered me again I would rip your tongue out," he said as he finally turned to the blonde man sitting beside him. "Or did I need to be more specific and tell you which tongue I would rip out? I did not think that you would be more partial to one over the others," he added, glancing down to the man's hands. "Or maybe I should just rip them all out."
The man's long blonde hair swung in its ponytail as the lackey looked to Sasuke. The one blue eye not covered by his bangs looked at him with no fear. "You may be powerful, hm," he said in a confident tone. "But I take Madara's threats more seriously, hm."
Sasuke's eye twitched. "I already gave him my answer, Deidara," he growled, finishing off his drink and grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair. He pulled it on as he began walking away.
"He says he will give you anything. " He heard Deidara call after him. "Sounds like a pretty sweet deal if you ask me, hm."
"Leave me alone," he said, not bothering to turn around as he began to make his way towards the exit.
A hand grabbing his shoulder caused him to whirl around, his sharingan blazed red as it activated and it was only then that Deidara showed the slightest of unease. His blue eyes dropped and his arms quickly retracted in a raised surrender.
"Hey hey, easy man. I am just the messenger, hm," he said with an uneasy chuckle. "If you change your mind…"
"I won't," Sasuke stated flatly. "So you can fuck off and tell Madara that I don't want anything from him. I don't want any part in his scheming, he should be happy enough that I am not involved at all. And you can tell him that next time he tries to summon me after two thousand years of silence I will see to it that I get involved with the opposing side just to spite him."
He did not wait for a response. Instead he turned back around and stormed off towards the exit. The masses parted before him. All eyes were drawn to him and each person who witnessed the expression like the one painted on his face, quickly removed themselves from his path.
All but one.
It seemed she had appeared out of nowhere but in reality it had been from the dance floor from which she had squeezed free from the tight mass of dancers. Short pink hair that was slightly disheveled and wearing a flashy red dress that caught the eyes of each male in her vicinity. Sasuke scowled at her. If there was one thing he hated about the modern fashions and inventions, it was hair dye. He could tolerate the green, he rather liked the blue, but the pink, the pinks he hated. He loathed them. They were a cruel joke because no matter what, his heart betrayed him each time with a beat of hope. Hope that was washed away when he met their eyes.
He watched the girl slightly stumble as she emerged from the dancing masses. Her abomination of rosette hair curtaining her face as she looked around her surroundings. He could not decide if she was searching or reorienting herself. His debating ceased immediately when she turned and he was greeted with a shade of green that had haunted him for over two millennia.
Time slowed as he watched her wandering eyes roam over the surrounding club patrons. And then they fell onto him and everything paused. The thud of the music halted, the cold blast of air conditioning that spilled from the vent above could no longer be felt, and all he could see was the veridian orbs that were framed by pastel strands. It was as if he were reliving the moment of the first day he had met her, that moment when he had looked into her eyes and then went deeper.
Just as he was about to plunge deep within these very same orbs to explore everything he knew she possessed within her already, she blinked. And as if to make up for the paused time, everything came crashing back into him.
His heart went from a dead stop to beating against his ribs at a bruising pace. The flash of strobe lights were nearly blinding as they skipped around the warehouse room, and the music was like a deafening sonic wave of indistinguishable notes. All the while, it seemed he was the only one being affected by the tidal wave of stimulation that was crashing down on his senses. He watched as the woman that had frozen time casually continued her sweep of her surroundings. Her lips pulled down into a concentrated frown as her brows narrowed with focus.
His vision of her was momentarily blocked off when the occasional clubber entered or exited the dance floor. But between intervals of comers and goers, he took in the woman's face as she remained in place, occasionally stepping onto the tips of her toes as she continued her search for whatever she was searching for.
He knew that face. The eyes, the nose, the curve of the lips. Only the hair was different in length. But every other physicality of the woman before him matched to such an exact correctness, that it was impossible for this woman to be anyone else but her. Everything was exact except for the fact that the woman standing there did not belong here.
She belonged in an era that crumbled into ruin long ago. She did not belong in those clothes. She did not belong amongst the synthetic smoke that billowed from electrical machines. Nor did she belong amongst flashing LED lights. Her people were not this crowd of instagrammers and ravers. And she most certainly did not belong in this metropolis of skyscrapers and pavement. She did not belong in this modern world. Most of all, she did not belong because she had died. He had seen her die, seen the light fade from her eyes, listened to her last breath. Yet here she was, centuries later, standing in the middle of a club in New York city, and looking at him as if she had never seen him in her entire life.
His body was pushed forward as a group of drunken college students passed behind him. They were spared from any wrath tonight because the moment his foot moved forward to keep his balance, his other followed. He shifted through the crowd, his eyes never leaving the rosette as he watched her halt her search and turn her back on him. His pace quickened when he caught her move in the direction that would distance them and in a flash, he was standing right behind her with his hand wrapped around her upper arm. He relished in the warmth and familiar smoothness of her skin. And before he could even bring himself to register his actions or the impossibilities, a single word fell from his lips in the form of a name.
"Sakura."
It was like a whispered prayer on his lips. A prayer of the utmost sanctity. He had not uttered the name for quite some time. Yet despite its agedness, it was still as sweet as the first day he dared let it part from his mouth. Upon his hand encircling her arm, she immediately turned to look at him. There was a slight look of annoyance displayed on her mouth as her eyes glared up at him with silent threats. At the utterance of the name though, her green eyes widened and her face changed. Gone was the begrudged face and replacing it was one of shock and what he hoped was recognition.
"Sakura," he repeated pulling her arm and forcing her to come closer.
He needed to touch her face, he needed to run his fingers across her cheeks and along her jaw. He needed to trace her lips and tangle his fingers into her hair. He needed to read every plane of her features with his fingers tips like a blind man would read braille. He needed to be sure, he needed to know for certain that this was truly her, for what else could she be?
He managed two inches before he felt resistance. He refocused on her face to find her looking at him with an odd expression. Confusion and perhaps fear. He felt her begin to pull against him. It was a knee jerk reaction that his own hand tightened around her arm. He would not let go.
His grip on her was the only thing that assured him that this was reality and not a dream. He feared letting go because if he did, he was certain she would vanish like a ghost would. Because that was the only viable explanation. But specters did not cut their hair, nor did they wear the latest modern style. And they most certainly did not have physical bodies that he would be able to feel.
No, this was not the manifestation of a dead woman. Her warm skin and the feel of her racing pulse beneath his fingertips told him that this woman was very much alive. Her eyes widened into a panic and he was quick to try and rectify that.
"It's okay," he said soothingly. "It's me, it's Sasuke."
Sakura weaved her way through the mass of dances as her eyes searched each face she pushed by. Where was he? She had been dancing with a demon for a good hour and working up to getting him to leave with her when he suddenly said he had to excuse himself. That had been nearly twenty minutes ago and now he was nowhere in sight.
She cursed under her breath. She had put a lot of effort into him. Tolerated his wandering hands and put up with his annoying way of speech. Now she had lost him.
The edge of the dance floor was tight and not wanting to throw any mortals halfway across the dance floor, Sakura was forced to wedge and wriggle her way through the wall of bodies. She tumbled out of the masses, catching herself before she fell onto the sticky and dirty floor. Straightening herself up and trying to reassemble herself, Sakura began to survey the booths and tables lined along the wall. Her viridian eyes swept the faces of the club patrons. Looking for a flash of blonde hair and blue eyes of the male demon she had been working on all night.
He was an important target. Powerful, and rumored to be part of the Akatsuki. It was her first night back after nearly two weeks of being banned. Tsunade had a different term but Sakura knew better. Although she still did not fully understand why there had been a delay, when she returned to the heavens with Naruto earlier that day to receive the news that she was to go on a hunt, she lost all earlier worries. Now she was starting to feel a bit nervous again.
It turned out that Kakashi had been pushing Tsunade for several days to revoke the ban. And it was only with the promise of the possible capture of a member of the allusive Akatsuki that she was even allowed into the mortal realm tonight. And here she had lost him.
Sakura let out an annoyed sound from deep in her throat and continued to look carefully. It would be easier to find him if she did not need to keep her chakra so carefully masked. But alas, that would notify every present rogue seraph in the club that archangels were around and hunting. And she could not mess this up. Tonight had to be a success, there was no other option.
She felt the pulse of a chakra and turned her head in the direction of it. Her eyes searched around for a moment until she was able to pinpoint which face it belonged to. She was met with dark features and a pale face, nearly opposite in every way of the demon she was looking for. The moment she took note of this fact, she had quickly moved on to scan the rest of the area. Any other night she would have abandoned her other target and approached the dark haired one instead. But tonight's mission was not as simple as taking out rouge demons. Tonight, was about gaining information that only certain demons could provide. Tonight was about proving that she was of more use down here than in the heavens.
Not seeing the blonde Akatsuki anywhere, she decided to venture outside and look around. Perhaps her target had gotten distracted with a more vulnerable mortal than she had played herself to be. Turning around, she began to move towards the main entrance, but she was only allowed a few steps before she felt a strong hand encircle her upper arm.
It was nothing out of the normal. She frequently had to deal with this kind of thing, especially as the night went on. Drunken men and even sometimes woman thinking they could just drag her onto the floor where she would freely let them grind and grope her. Most of them did not leave without a sprained wrist or broken finger. Narrowing her eyes, she turned around to face the person who was about to regret touching her. She was greeted with dark eyes that pierced into her.
His swirling chakra was nearly chaotic as the stranger looked down at her, his face pale and features construed into an assortment of emotions. Desperation, hope, anger, hurt, disbelief, they all danced with each twitch of his brow, the tightening of a jaw muscle, or the flash of his onyx eyes as he looked over her face. She watched his black orbs narrow with suspicion as if examining her with the precision of a microbe under a microscope. And then they widened. As if he had made some kind of astounding discovery that challenged everything's existence.
"Sakura," he murmured.
It was intimate and familiar sounding from his lips. Yet his expression and tone made it seem as if he were not certain. She looked at him warily. Did she know him?
So took a moment to take him in fully. She could not ignore the bought of familiarity that coursed through her mind, telling her that she knew him. But Sakura would have never forgotten such a face. His dark locks looked nearly midnight blue in the dim light and his eyes, piercing and intense, were just as striking against his pale skin. Angled and sharp bone structure carved his cheeks and nose into a devastatingly handsome face that would tempt even the most noble of angels into corruption. Deep down she could sense her own unconscious mind pondering what actions she could commit in order to appease him.
And with that thought, she suddenly became afraid as she realized the danger that this demon could bring. She suddenly became all too aware of the bruising grip he had around her arm. He was strong, and judging by the hefty aura of chakra that was leaking out of his body, he was powerful. Very powerful. A strangely familiar powerful. But as before, she could not place where she had felt it before.
"Sakura," he repeated, sounding almost soothingly.
But despite his tone, the louder volume of his voice suddenly struck her. A cold chill ran down her body as a flash of a crying Naruto with broken wings played in her mind. Along with that came the sudden, not too distant memory of why he seemed familiar, or at least why his voice was so familiar. Who is your little friend? She was certain it was the very same voice that had spoken those words. Her heart was now pounding as adrenaline coursed through her veins. How did he know her name?
"It's okay," he said quickly as if he caught sight of the panic that was more than likely posted across her face. "It's me, it's Sasuke."
The confirmation of his identity had the opposite effect on her that, judging by his tone, he intended to have. She quickly pulled her arm from him in such a panic she was sure she had let the mask of her chakra slip slightly. As she put a small distance between herself and him she watched for any reaction but he seemed too distracted with something else to have noticed the slight slip.
Her entire body was on edge as her mind scrambled to choose fight or flight. The decision was made for her when he moved forward to grab her again. Her body moved on its own accord as it chose flight as the proper method to handle her situation. She pushed past groups of men and women. Some falling over from the hard force and their unstable feet. As she passed by she heard a second wave of protests repeated not long after, telling her that he was following.
For the past thirteen days, she had been confined to the heavens during the dark hours. She had spent that entire time wondering and gleaning for answers. After nearly two weeks, all she knew of the reason was that it was connected to Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha whom she had only heard whispers of his cruelty and lust for vengeance. Sasuke Uchiha who had nearly killed Kakashi and Naruto, his former friends. Sasuke Uchiha, who, at this very moment was pursuing her. She ducked down, and scampered towards the exit. She needed to get out, she needed to get away.
She burst out of the doors that were guarded by the bouncers and immediately veered right to make for the alleyway. She ignored the strange looks and occasional whistle from the line of mortals still waiting to enter the club. The moment she turned the corner she did not delay nor check to make sure she would go unseen as she let her wings burst from her back and in the same motion, lift her up into the air towards the sky. She beat her wings ferociously until she was to the roof and there she landed. Taking refuge near the edge she peaked out to watch as the demon himself, burst from the club and dashed into the middle of the street.
His name only seemed to frighten her more and suddenly her arm was yanked out of his grasp. First he felt relief. Relief that she did not vanish but it was quickly replaced with shock. Shock that she had managed to break free of his strength. Then again, she always seemed to have a resistance to his power.
He moved forward to grab her again but she was quick to step back. He could see her chest rising and falling as her breaths increased and her pulse, visible on her neck, began to beat harder. He stared at her for a solid minute, neither moving. And then she blinked and the small dip of her lashes was like the starting gun of a race. Before he could register the fluttered dip of her long lashes, she was moving. Not just moving, she was running, fleeing from him.
Sasuke watched her push past three small groups before he managed to break from his trance and begin to follow, nay, pursue. He could not let her escape. He had searched for a way to bring her back to him for so long, he had done unforgivable deeds, he had been willing to sacrifice his own body in an effort to revive what he had lost. And he had given up that hunt long ago. He had lost all hope and as a result lost himself. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, there she had been. And now she was leaving his sight nearly as quickly as she had left him once before, leaving him alone in this cold world.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. No; not this time. He would not lose her this time. He would capture and he would hold onto her. There would be no time limit, there would be no fragility. Because this time, he knew better. He caught a flash of pink just before a crowd crossed his path but there was no need to keep his eyes locked on her anymore. He already knew where she was headed. To the streets. She was headed for the exit where the wide open streets and late night would keep the view open for him.
It was perfect.
With a speed too fast for the human eye to capture, Sasuke was moving towards the door. He was sure he would cut her off but he had perhaps hesitated for too long. For when he arrived at the front of the club, she was not anywhere near the entrance. Sasuke was not bothered by this fact, he knew she would not be far. In a second he was out the door. Given the lateness of the night, the street was nearly barren except for the few late night partiers still waiting in line in hopes to enter the club.
His sharingan swirled and spun as he looked up and down the street. His eyes narrowed and his hands shook. It was impossible. There was no way she could have caught a cab or ventured far enough down the street in the fragment of time it had taken him to exit the building.
He swore loudly, his mind reeling as he frantically rotated in a full circle, scanning every alley way and car that drove by. It had not been an illusion. He had seen her. He had felt her. Yet, at this moment there was no evidence of anything he had witnessed. He let out an inhuman growl and disregarded the stares he collected by passersby as he stood in the middle of the road.
It was not until the high screech of rubber skidding across pavement, followed by the long draw of a horn that he was able to focus on something. It was a yellow cab, its headlights flooding his overly sensitive eyes. Immediately he let the sharingan fade as he focused on the cabbie hanging out of the window and yelling incoherent words. His heart pounded audibly in his ears drowning out everything.
Unable to contain it anymore, he let his fist slam down on the hood of the car where it had stopped only a few inches from his legs. It drilled a dent into the metal, warping and reshaping as well as damaging what lay beneath. The car gave out a mechanical groan and he watched as the cabbie retreated back into his car, a look of fear and startlement on his face before revving the engine and speeding away in reverse.
As his shoulders heaved, Sasuke looked around, his eyes taking in the numerous spectators as their jaws hung open in disbelief. It was then he realized that in his rage, his wings had appeared for all to see. He caught sight of a young man with a group of friends, his arm extended as his hand held up a phone. Sasuke swore and flashed stepped to the man. His friends jumped at the sudden apparition before them, but the boy with the phone remained in place, unable to move as Sasuke grasped his wrist with one hand. With his free hand he reached up and plucked the phone from his hand and in the same movement, crushed it and let it fall to the sidewalk. It crumbled onto the cement in a heap of wire, broken glass, and plastic.
Ignoring the kids complaints, he took to the air, all shrieks of spook and awe being swept away with the wind as he rocketed to the skyline. Tonight was to be his last night in New York but that was no longer the case. Kabuto and Manila could wait. Now, he had an all new hunt before him. He would tear the city apart, brick by brick if he had to. He would find her, he would have her again. He did not care about the impossibility of it all because for the first time, in a very, very long time, he felt alive.
She watched with both horror and awe as his roar filled the air. His blatant display of supernatural powers shook her. There with no hesitation as he nearly punched through a car hood, leaving a large dent with his full wings on display. For a moment she thought he would rip apart a mortal and she moved to rush forward and stop him from committing the ultimate sin of their kind. The blood shed of a mortal. But she was halted when all he did was smash the man's phone before taking off into the air.
Sakura hid herself quickly as he soared above and scanned the street below him. As she watched him fly away, Sakura was left shaken and incapable of processing what exactly had just happened. When she finally did, there were certain facts that disturbed her.
The first being that he had known her name. He had spoken it not just with knowledge but with familiarity. As if he knew who she was. Yet at the same time, it was obvious that he did not know what she was. He thought her mortal. She had seen the surprise in his face when she broke free of his grip. And the way he searched up and down the streets instead of the skies, told her that he did not know of her angelic identity. What disturbed her the most was the intensity of his search and pursuit of her. It was not one of vengeance or a demon looking for sport. It had been like an act of desperation. As if his own sanity had been dependent on catching her.
As she watched his silhouette continue to spur along the streets, she felt a pull towards him. It was a gentle tug, as if they were somehow linked by a small thread. Sakura felt her mind being coaxed into following and she felt as if she were slowly gaining a small, understanding perception of the allure a moth had to a source of light. She was the moth and he was that light source. But he was not just any source, he was a flickering flame. A flame that could burn and consume her wings. Yet despite this danger, she found her body urging herself to fly to him.
She nearly hurtled herself from the roof in the direction of the departing dark demon. But just as she moved forward, she paused as a brief moment of clarity came to her mind. No, she needed to stay away from him. He was dangerous, he was a flame. If she got too close, she would burn. With this thought resonating through her mind, she forced herself to turn her fixation away from him and took flight in the opposite direction.