#also she likes sasuke when he's battered and wounded so

[keithisbae1]

The Mershark & Mermaid - Part 9

Sasuke was different from most sharks, despite being an Uchiha his appearance was… unique and not like his family. At a young age sharklings were to go further into the deep given to other sharks to be fed and tested, if they were weak then they would die or more specific eaten by the mersharks. If they were strong then they would escape and live. As the years progressed more and more sharks were hesitant on keeping such a trial, especially when there were more and more humans about.

They couldn’t go extinct from one another and who’s to say the sharklings wouldn’t grow strong in their own time. Uchihas were few of the sharks who continued this method, plucking out the weak as they were the strongest of mersharks. And Sasuke was no exception, despite the protests from his mother Sasuke had agreed to go through this trial. He wanted to get stronger and knew this would be the only option. And if he were to die, then he was simply not made for this life and maybe he could finally escape Itachi’s shadow.

What they didn’t know that day was that there were humans right above them. Dumping a load of toxic waste. At the time Sasuke was struggling to keep himself awake, the sharks were taunting him, attacking him with their tails and tossing him around like he was some toy. Their claws would scratch him leaving him all bruised and battered.

He thought he was finished until something had distracted them, it had entered the deep sea and that was when he knew this was his chance and attacked them. Sasuke didn’t feel or notice anything that day, too preoccupied in fighting for his life. To stay alive.

He had bitten two of them, scratched the eye out of another and headbutted another in his way. He was able to escape and swim back home safely. He had completed the trial, to make it out alive in an area infested with mersharks.

The sharkling couldn’t wait to see the look on his dad’s face, he could finally acknowledge him. Sure, he was beaten up badly but that was to be expected, this was proof that he could get strong. Until he fainted when he saw his parents.

When he woke up Fugaku had told him how proud he was however Mikoto was different, it was heard sometime later that within a few days the mersharks that were trying kill Sasuke were dead. The humans had gotten to them first with poisoning their land, and now it would only be a matter of time before Sasuke was taken away from them too, or so they thought.

Sasuke had come down with a fever with his wounds being fully exposed to the toxin, his life was in danger. He would scream and cry from the pain, but death never came, instead his appearance had changed. His greyish scales turned darker and black hair changed into darker blue and grown slightly longer. Even his tail which had used to be blue turned purple and he grew slightly bigger too.

It had seemed mother nature was tired of those two-legged creatures’ always taking and taking and finally allowed them to adapt. And Sasuke was one of the few lucky ones to be chosen. As his fever broke Sasuke had never felt so alive but was also terrified with how different he looked now compared to his parents. Was this really a good thing?

“Of course, it is son, you’re the first of us who have been chosen to adapt. Overtime this will be the norm.” If that was what his father had thought then it must be true, right?

“Oh wow, you look so different.” A younger Sakura swam around the sharkling inspecting him. She swam closer to touch his longer blue hair, it had only been two weeks since they last met. Did mersharks really grow so quickly.

“So soft.” Sasuke tsked swatting her hand away from his which only made her giggle in response, and she swam playfully around him until she was upside-down right in front of his face. Has no one ever told this mergirl about personal boundaries?

“How could you tell it was me?”

“Silly, I can always recognise you. You can’t escape me that easily.”

Maybe it wasn’t just the adrenaline keeping him going that day… maybe… just maybe… deep down he wanted to live again so he could see her, Sakura. Sure, she was a mermaid and not someone a predator like him should be friends with, but she kept him going. Made his day brighter and always smiled at him despite knowing what he was. Who he was. She had no ounce of fear and he admired her for that.

Whatever this is they had, it was worth fighting for. Was this why he was chosen?

“Sasuke? Oi, Sasuke?” Sakura had snapped him out of his thoughts watching him closely.

“You spaced out all of a sudden, are you okay?”

Why were these memories resurfacing? Ah well, it didn’t matter now. None of it did.

~~~

Boruto’s Mama was a very sweet mershark, happily welcoming Sarada to their cave. She almost reminded Sarada of her own mother with how gentle and kind she was. “Make yourself at home dear, Boruto is always bringing his friends’ home.”

“I was going to bring you a fish to make up for it.” Except Sarada had to wonder… would she have shown this same kindness if she knew who she was? Boruto had mentioned that his Papa and hers were close friends, so were they safe? Could she tell them?

Mitsuki seemed to know about her because of his parent, for some reason and she couldn’t put her tail on it, that didn’t sit right with her. Like it was someone who shouldn’t know and be wary of.

“I also must apologise for my son again for telling such lies, I mean really Boruto what were you thinking. You shouldn’t go making up such rumours, how would your uncle feel?”

“But it’s the truth I swear!”

So graceful and again there was her size, like Karin’s. Mama was tiny in comparison to them, especially to Papa. How can the two of them look so different and be so… so… in love? She didn’t know what love looked like but could see there was something there with the way they looked at each other. The same look Aunty Ino and Sai had or Shikamaru and Temari but at the same time it wasn’t there.

Well, Papa did hurt Mama. Sarada reasoned, maybe that was why.

“You must be hungry with all the playing, Boruto can be over the top. I’ll see if we have any leftovers.” She ignored her son’s protests.

“Th-thank you so much ma’am but… I can’t stay. I need to go…” She wouldn’t be able to stomach eating fish and that would be a big giveaway to them.

“Don’t be shy dear and call me Hinata, I promise it’s no trouble at all.”

“No-no, I’m sorry I really can’t stay. My Papa is looking for me, I need to go.” She couldn’t stay with them much longer, they seemed so nice and kind, but Sarada was having so much anxiety. If they knew the truth, would they eat her?

“We can take you home Sarada, right mom. It’ll be safer for us then.” No mershark would dare go near sharklings with the parents about or in some cases knowing who the parents were. If it would get back to them they would only be digging their own grave.

“I can’t, I’m sorry.” And Sarada quickly fled before they insisted some more, although both Boruto and Mitsuki followed knowing it wasn’t safe for her to go alone.

“Boruto! Mitsuki!” Hinata tried to call going after the three, but they were out of sight.

What a strange sharkling, maybe she is…

She could only hope the two of them made it sure she got home safe.

~~~

Sarada kept swimming and swimming, she had to get away from them and find her parents. She felt bad for leaving and being so rude but the more sharks she came across the more likely she would be discovered. “Hey, hey. Wait up!” Yet it didn’t seem like Boruto would give up, he was even catching up to her. How did he swim so fast? The sharkling swam in front of her blocking her from going anywhere.

What the-

“How did you…”

“They don’t call my grandpa the Yellow Flash for nothing.” Boruto grinned smugly. Although that didn’t really answer Sarada’s question seeing as she had no idea who the ‘yellow flash’ was. Maybe they were a powerful mershark.

“Why are you leaving? My mama could have taken you home. It’ll be safer to go with her, plus it’ll be getting dark soon.” It would be too risky for her to go out by herself, if she couldn’t find her parents in time then who knows what other kind of sharks or sea creatures would be lurking. Boruto once being a young naïve sharkling almost ended up in danger and if it wasn’t for his father being there, he wouldn’t be here now.

“I can take care of myself.”

“It’s because she can’t find out she’s Sasuke's daughter.” Mitsuki explained, which only made Sarada glare at him. Wasn’t he the one going on about how Boruto couldn’t be trusted with secrets?

“Eh? But you told me she wasn’t Uncle Sasuke’s daughter.”

“Have you not heard of the story?” Mitsuki asked ignoring both glares now being sent his way, considering Hinata was giving Boruto a stern lecture. Despite how she looked, she could be scary.

“What story?”

“About a mershark and mermaid that mated, then they had a sharkling and decided to keep it a secret.” Eh? Sarada was confused, that wasn’t what happened. Well, not entirely. Her own Papa didn’t know she existed until a couple of days ago.

“That’s a lie!”

“Oh…” So Sarada was that sharkling?

“Um, is that a bad thing?” Mitsuki could only facepalm, didn’t they have this conversation the other day when he thought Neji was with a mermaid.

“Yes, mersharks are meant to eat mermaids, not mate with them. They’re our prey.”

“So… you are going to eat me?” Sarada looked at the two in horror, and here she thought she could trust them. That they were different and wouldn’t hurt her.

“No way, we won’t eat you.” 

“But he just said-”

“It is true, mermaids are eaten by mersharks but like I told you, I want to see what kind of shark you are. I won’t say anything, and we won’t eat you.”

“Yeah, we’re friends now and friends don’t eat each other.” Friends? Were they? They had only just met and yet he was talking like they knew each other for years. Boruto was strange but she felt at ease with him. “And this is Uncle Sasuke, he knows what he’s doing.” Boruto nodded his head with his claws crossed completely confident in what he was saying. Except he had no idea on what he was doing, neither Sasuke or Sakura knew what would behold Sarada’s future. Was she better off with him? Sakura? Or away altogether from both sharks and merfolk. It wasn’t like they had planned to have a baby and keeping Sarada a secret would be impossible.

“So what’s it like?”

“What’s what like?”

“Being a mermaid and mershark, do you have any special powers?”

“It doesn’t work like that Boruto…” Mitsuki sweat dropped.

“Aww there’s got to be something.”

“Well, we know she doesn’t eat fish and can’t hunt.”

“Hey!” There was no need for teasing her, the other two laughed as they swam about. Sarada starting to feel more at ease with them, maybe it wasn’t so bad being here. That is until a bigger mershark started heading their way, the three were too engrossed in their conversation that no one noticed until they spoke.

“Mitsuki, I expected you to be home by now.” Said little one froze and bowed his head to apologise.

“Sorry, I lost track of time.”

“Sarada, get behind me.” Boruto instructed/ whispered, and she did, hiding behind him the best she could. She had recognised him as that scary shark that her Papa was talking to before. So, this was Mitsuki’s parent? Yet he seemed much more friendly.

Unfortunately, her presence didn’t go unnoticed by the shark.

“And who is she?”

“She’s… our new friend?” Boruto tried to sound as casual as possible whilst being in defence. “She’s also really shy, she literally swam away from me and Mitsuki when we first met.”

“I see,” Orochimaru stared at her to which she flinched but tried to remain calm, if they didn’t say anything then there was no need to worry.

“Hi,” Sarada squeaked but didn’t give much eye contact.

She seemed so familiar, aha so that was why... and that was when an idea came to him.

This would be fun.

“Is that so? Maybe you should invite your new friend to ours, it would be rude not to.” At hearing that both young sharklings froze, Orochimaru had to know something.

They had to think of a plan and quick.

I want Mama and Papa.

#sasusaku #sasuke uchiha x sakura haruno #sasusaku fanfic #ssfanfic #sasusakufanfiction #mershark/mermaid AU #mershark Sasuke #mermaid Sakura #mershark Sarada #need to do an update on this aaaaah

[avenger-hawk]

i just read one of your asks about your future fics. have you considered writing about sasukes interactions with karin?? not sasukarin (but sasukarin is still a good ship!!) but i really like your karin meta and would love to see her in your fics, even if she isnt part of a ship!!

wow Anon I just realized in the last nice ask I received about my writing I forgot to mention a suisasu oneshot I started writing as a drabble here…I haven’t thought about writing something centered on Sasuke and Karin, usually I wrote about Team Taka as a team, as in my Team Taka headcanons here, here and in bits of In Power (ff.net/ ao3) and What He Wanted (ff.net/ ao3).

I know what you mean when you love a character like Karin and you want to see her more, even in a not shippy context. And I totally agree that SasuKarin really IS a good ship, the only worthy Sasuke ship with a girl, tbh. (I think Sasuino would be ok too but I’m not interested in it all all as I find it boring, and I prefer Saiino anyway).

(needless to say: SS shippers, don’t read, this is not for you. And since it’s properly tagged as anti, don’t bitch)

It’s only a matter of personal taste, I’m usually more interested in rarer pairings, and because when I think of Team Taka ships I’m more intrigued by suisasu and juusasu that in my opinion have room for both ‘healthy’ dynamics and darker ones. But if I weren’t so slow and full of future writing projects as you read, I’d totally like to write them. In fact, I’m gonna leave some random headcanons here cause I’m sorry I’m not able to write all the things I have in mind and you guys mention, AND because I’m so late replying to this ask that I feel guilty xD

My favourite things to read and write isn’t romance but dark stuff and hurt/comfort, so I would love some hurt/comfort between them, and there is a lot of possibility for this, just thinking about canon. I actually see SK hurt/comfort as canon behind the screen so you may have an idea already, both for shippy and non-shippy stuff.

For example, there’s nothing about Sasuke’s years at Otogakure but we know he was always with Orochimaru, not only training or taking poisons/drugs to get stronger, but also visiting other hideouts and assisting to his horrible experiments as well as seeing/meeting Suigetsu and Karin, mostly, as she was not a prisoner but a subordinate, kinda like Kabuto. She saw more about Sasuke than the others in Team Taka, and this may mean a lot of things. For example like in this fanart, inspired by that Karin-centric filler episode (I think 331) where she witnesses Orochimaru taking Sasuke in a dark room which seems quite creepy and may be interpreted as…eh, you get it. And there’s also Kabuto telling her that Sasuke sought Orochimaru, that he came her by his own choice…that, in this dark context, that he is ok with things being done to him (it’s the price for power). 

So it’s interesting to imagine Karin being more and more intrigued by this person, who saved her in the past, when they were genin, and who now came to her creepy leader that she knows very well, and ‘lets’ him do all sorts of things to him. Some random headcanons coming, more or less connected

-(tw: pain) Otogakure: she’s doing some work and she overhears someone moaning in pain, and she sees Sasuke shirtless, strapped to a table/bed and kind of squirming, as he’s been injected poison for his training and he’s clearly suffering.

(She takes his hand and tries to comfort him. She thinks he was in too much pain to remember but some time later he tells her ‘thank you. For being beside me that day’)

-(tw: r*pe) Orochimaru leaves the creepy room and tells her to heal Sasuke. When she enters she sees him battered bruised and bloodied everywhere, looking in pain and lost, defeated, and it’s easy to understand what happened, and that it’s neither a first nor a last time, but when he sees her he puts up a tough face, cause he doesn’t know her and he doesn’t know if he can trust her as maybe she’s like Kabuto. He can’t imagine that she (like in my Team Taka headcanons part 2) was r*ped too by Orochimaru, that most of his ‘most interesting subjects’ have been at least once. He’s the most special which means Oro always comes to him ‘to toughen him up’ and ‘train’ him or ‘just’ to be repayed for making him stronger, and he’s constantly manipulated by him (that he’s not as strong as Itachi, that he needs him to be stronger and defeat his brother, and so on) and she knows this. She, too, is wary of him cause he might be so manipulated that he supports him and if she says something wrong he might tell Oro who might punish her and she is ok with him now, he leaves her be without molesting her, so she wants to keep the peace. So she’s discreet and heals him, not in the impersonal way Kabuto does though. Sasuke appreciates silently.

-(tw: random violence and blood) Inspired by this amazing fanart by @lisimba-art. Sasuke is trained to use his curse mark, but it’s hard to completely control his powers in that form, with those weird wings and everything. So it’s exhausting for his body but also for his mind, he can’t even think straight at some point, and he can’t control his emotions either, even though he tries hard cause he can’t be weak. Orochimaru makes him fight against other ‘test subjects’ with the curse mark or with other powers he developed on them, and Sasuke kills them…he hates killing, as there is only one person he wants to kill. He feels his body move and he can’t avoid it, he feels his nails slashing another human and can’t avoid it, it’s horrible, it’s like being trapped in a nightmare. 

Karin stumbles on the fighting ground and sees him. They know each other by then, she is worried about him, many in Oto bet on how long he will last, if he will last, when Orochimaru will ‘devour’ him, if the curse mark will ‘devour’ him first. When she sees him Orochimaru, who was observing him with Kabuto, left already. Sasuke is standing alone, a few corpses around him. She approaches him, talking slowly and calmly, to check his wounds. Nothing too serious, the most worrying thing is his mental/emotional state, cause he looks around without actually seeing things, he seems lost, troubled. 

It takes a few minutes for him to see the one who’s speaking to him, and when he does he’s not in his usual state anyway, Karin can tell not just from his chakra but from his body language. He’s standing so, so close to her, his shoulders are hunched and his eyes are empty, or somewhere else still. Or maybe they want to be somewhere else, she can’t tell. She should feel the heat radiating from his toned body -she dreamt of a moment like this- but the tanned version of what is normally pale is so cold..maybe he got so close because she’s warm instead.   

“Sasuke…bite me, you’ll get some chakra back and you won’t feel cold anymore,“ she tells him, but he just hovers over her, silent as a hawk watching its prey, but unlike it, just staring at her. 

“I killed all of them” Sasuke’s voice is low and raspy, but he’s back, she’s glad but also sad because he’s clearly upset by what happened and she knows why. Everyone does. 

- (tw: mentions of blood/violence/r*pe) This works both for Otogakure and for Hebi/Taka travelling. Night time, Karin hears some low pained sounds and she realizes it’s Sasuke having a nightmare, about either the above mentioned moment where he was forced to kill random people, or about some abuse Orochimaru inflicted on him, either directly or through someone else like Kabuto. He suddenly wakes up and realizes Karin was there. She tries comforting him by saying that she knows what he felt back then cause she was done similar things, and also Suigetsu and Kabuto and others, even though she doesn’t minimize his experience (as Oro’s favourite he took more than others of whom he soon got tired). It’s a hurt/comfort moment where they share intimate traumatic experiences and bond.

Bonus dark points if the experience Sasuke had a nightmare of, involved the aforementioned indirect abuse inflicted by Orochimaru but indirectly, through his current comrades Suigetsu and Juugo, ofc hypnotized/drugged/in some trance. Karin connects with the way he sometimes looks at them when he’s more tired and vulnerable, almost imperceptibly but she can see chakra shifts. They talk, he doesn’t say anything but the things he said in his sleep were obvious so she tries to make him admit and he does, as he’s honest. He doesn’t blame them, he knows they were under Orochimaru’s power just like he was during his curse mark mode when he wasn’t able to control it.

He thinks that Suigetsu and Juugo don’t even remember that experience but they do, exactly like he does with his killing random people in curse mode form. 

More bonus dark points if Karin assisted to the traumatic thing cause she was Oro’s assistant too, sort of.

Related to my Akatsuki AU that is mostly in my mind for now (how unexpected lol) and it’s Itachi/Sasuke centric but there’s also a lot of Sasuke interactions (like, with Deidara a lot, I just like the idea) and lots of Team Taka that exists in this context first as Orochimaru’s subordinates along with Kabuto, then as Sasuke’s comrades, cause while Itachi is a full fledged Akatsuki, like Orochimaru (he never left Akatsuki in my AU), Sasuke is not, and like Orochimaru has subordinates affiliates to the Akatsuki, Itachi has Sasuke. Unlike Akatsuki wearing cloaks with red clouds, Akatsuki ‘lesser’ members wear black cloaks like Sasuke and Team Taka wore in canon. They are given missions too, they’re younger and less experienced that the others and their interactions and dynamics are similar to canon ones.

Uh Anon why did you make me think of more interesting scenarios tho, I had too many already lol

#sasukarin #karin #sasuke uchiha #uchiha sasuke #uzumaki karin #karin uzumaki #team taka #anti-sasusaku #team taka is the best #vivalarevolution: visions #vivalarevolution #headcanons #my writing #akatsuki au #I love karin can you tell #also she likes sasuke when he's battered and wounded so

[that-otome-potato]

I keep going for drabble length, but it just isn’t happening.  This part in particular is much longer than what would be considered “drabble length”.

This is part 3 of who knows how many little ficlets for our beloved giant ninja boy, Nezu Jinpachi.

@saizoswifey, @otomelin, @dear-mrs-otome, @masamunesmistress, @calicocrest  (If y’all still wanted me to tag you.  If not, just let me know!)

TW: Blood

Also, I didn’t forget about Kansuke in one part of this ficlet.  I love Kansuke, but this mc isn’t “aware” of him.

Surely there must be some mistake. It just wasn’t possible. Asayumi felt like her legs were about to fall out from under her with the shock she had just over heard.

The Sanada lost??

There had to be some mistake, some kind of misunderstanding.  The Sanada were as strong a force as any of the larger clans.  Lord Yukimura was the Soul of the Sanada.  He wouldn’t allow his army to fail.

Gods forbid, if it were true, what of Jinpachi? Of course, he would be with Nobuyuki at the castle unless he had been directed to go to the front or on a mission for the Sanada Lord. Instinct screamed at her to return to the home she shared with him and quickly answered that feeling after closing the restaurant.

Deep in the forest, but still within view of Ueda Castle, their small home was nestled in a grove of trees and backed up to a cliff offering as much protection as they could manage. This building meant so much to them because they raised it together. She couldn’t imagine living here by herself for the rest of her life if something had happened to him.

Had he been captured?  No, he was too good at his job for that to happen.  Was the battle going on longer than planned and someone moved around under the cover of darkness, past the front lines to set fire to the Sanada stronghold?Possibly, but Lord Yukimura would never let that happen. Was he delayed due to injury?  A possibility she didn’t want to consider, but couldn’t deny the validity of the thought.  It was better than the other possible reasons for his delay.  Reasons that she refused to give a voice, even if it was only in her head.

Hours passed by as she waited anxiously in their home.  All her usual chores finished in record time, she went pacing back and forth over the worn tatami floor to keep herself occupied.

It was starting to get dark, so she checked outside before night consumed the house.  ‘Where could he be?’ she thought to herself, squinting to see as far as she could into the gloaming just past the veranda. A soft popping sound drew her attention towards the castle where she saw an orange glow above the trees.  Her stomach dropped to the ground at the sight.

Asayumi nearly jumped out of her skin when she then heard heavy rustling in the bushes next to the veranda from the side where Ueda stood burning.  At first, she prepared to run, pulling out her wakizashi out to protect herself if it was one of the army who attacked the castle. One step, two steps, she slowly moved back so as not to attract unwanted attention.  But when the person emerged from the foliage, dragging themselves over the wood of the veranda on bloodied hands, she stopped moving. The person was obviously grievously injured and she couldn’t help but want to help them no matter who they were.

When she drew closer after they had stopped moving, she felt a horrified gasp escape her throat when she recognized the armor over wide breadth shoulders and the black as night hair that was matted with so much blood.

“Jinpachi!” She rushed the short distance left between them and collapsed at his side, her hands hovering over his still, face-down form, unsure what to do in her panicked state of mind.

She felt little relief when his body twitched at the sound of her crying his name. Asayumi gingerly turned him over, to the best of her ability against a giant of man, to face her and she felt her hands tremble at what she saw.  Never had she seen his handsome features so beaten and bruised. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth, as well as from a deep gash just inside his hairline. Swelling had already started around one of his eyes and jaw. 

She didn’t even want to imagine the extent of the injuries the rest of his body had. Fear gripped her even tighter when she realized that the tang of blood was so strong that his clean, natural scent that she had always been able to pick up over other scents, was unidentifiable.

As carefully as she could, she supported him after encouraging him to stand so she could get him inside where it was safe.

Slowly but surely, Asayumi got him into the house and onto the floor so he could be safe and comfortable. She could feel hot tears at the corners of her eyes but refused to allow them to fall.  He needed her to be strong right now.  She could cry later when he was bandaged up and sleeping.

Though she told herself this, she had a hard time keeping her hands steady. When she got his armor, kimono, and hakama off, Asayumi had to peel the dark cloth from his flesh. Deep gashes covered his body that hadn’t been protected by his chest plate, his arms and legs covered in bleeding cuts. How fierce had the battle been that he had come back this battered?  Did the enemy have their own ninja? What of the Takeda ninja, Sasuke and Saizo?

The wounds that were deeper, she bound as best she could to stop him from bleeding out.  She had to stop repeatedly to make sure he was still breathing because he hadn’t moved a bit since she unintentionally allowed him to fall unceremoniously to the floor when she couldn’t hold him up any more.

"As-a-yu-mi...?”

Asayumi whipped her head up towards the voice from where she was finishing up bandaging a slash on his thigh. Hazel eyes, clouded with pain and exhaustion, looked back at her and she moved towards him.

“Thank goodness you’re awake!  I was so worried for you.” She exclaimed while moving up until she could lay his head on her knees.

She gently combed her fingers through his matted hair, moving it from his battered face, feeling her eyes burn with unshed tears. He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh with a small smile filled with relief.

When he went still again, Asayumi felt panic fill her chest again until she saw the slow rise and fall of his chest with life. 

“Thank you for coming back to me, Jinpachi.  I don’t know what I would have done if something were to have happened to you.” she said as she bent forward, her hands on either side of his head to hold him steady, and pressed their foreheads together.

~*~

Days passed as she awaited on pins and needles for him to wake.  She cleaned and changed his bandages regularly as well as sewed up his more severe wounds while she waited. But still he slumbered like a stone statue laid out off of its plinth.

On the fourth day of his sleep, Asayumi was woken from a doze as she knelt at his head, his head on her lap like a pillow, by the feeling of something large and cool on her cheek. 

Looking down, her dark eyes were met with a lighter brown - this time with less pain and exhaustion. 

Surprise came without question, but relief beyond anything she had ever felt before quickly drowned out all other emotion. Asayumi felt a tear-filled smile form on her cheeks as she covered his hand in hers and nuzzled his rough hand with her cheek.

“Are you well?” Sleep had made his already low voice even more deep and raspy, sending chills through her body.  But she quickly tampered them down.  Now was not the time. It was so like him to check on others before himself.

“I am, now that you are back with me once more.”

                                               Previous |~*~| Next

#nezu jinpachi #slbp jinpachi #slbp fanfic #my work #my words

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Fifty-Eight: Human Spirit ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

There are few things stronger than the human spirit.

And few in their world have to find their strength sooner than children born to prominent  shinobi bloodlines.

Though no longer quite as vulnerable as their recent ancestors during the Warring States period, those born beneath banners of ninja clans - especially those with powerful reputations - have great expectations thrust upon them from an early age. While clans of Konoha have, for the most part, found a happy medium of pushing their children, but also nurturing them in the new safety of the hidden villages...few take the former to more extremes than the two dōjutsu clans: the Hyūga, and the Uchiha.

The first to have an heir of the most recent generation were the Uchiha: a son, named for the cunning and wily weasel. From an early age, he’d proven to be just that, and more: frighteningly intelligent, mature, and wise for one of his years. Next born was his younger brother, Sasuke. Then the Hyūga had their first: a girl, named Hinata. And like the Uchiha siblings, five years would separate the daughters of the Hyūga.

...unlike the Uchiha, the second child cost the Hyūga their matriarch. The blow was an emotional cripple for Hinata, who’d been far closer with her mother than her father. If anything, it was a signal of what was to come.

A set of boys, and a set of girls: both with relatively large gaps between them. And in yet another opposite reflection, it was the younger Hyūga who proved to overtake the elder. Hinata struggled in her training due to her softer nature, and a massive loss in confidence without her biggest supporter: her mother. And rather than try to bolster her, Hiashi instead tore her down: as though thinking ripping open her wounds would help them heal. Instead, she slowly bled out...until Hanabi - her beloved baby sister - finally bested in what became the deciding match. Hinata was stripped of her title, and practically abandoned.

Her genin instructor had more custody than her own father, in many senses of the word.

In the opposite vein, Sasuke struggled to be noticed. Itachi had Fugaku’s full attention due to his natural ability...and advantage in age. Left to the wayside, a spare, a second thought...Sasuke was made to feel as unneeded as his Hyūga mirror. It was only once Itachi began to distance himself that their father gave Sasuke the time of day.

And Sasuke knew why. As proud as he was - as determined - it still stung, knowing this chance came upon him only due to his brother’s apparent malfunction. His beloved brother.

In similar ways, the people they loved most came to take everything from them...but admittedly, one in more extreme measures than the other. Itachi took the clan. Took the family. Took the home. Sasuke was left with nothing but memories and nightmares.

If only they’d had the chance to notice each other...perhaps they could have seen those parallels. Maybe, in some strange way, knowing they weren’t as alone in their circumstances as they felt could have helped them. Sasuke got Naruto, who handled their similarities with rivalry and challenge. It pushed Sasuke, sure...but it wasn’t the support he really needed.

Hinata...had no one. Not until becoming a genin. Her team was a help, as was her sensei. But there was little missing the sting of her family’s absence...or in some cases, hatred. Her idol gave her no time of day, too focused on his so-called best friend.

The person whom she so closely resembled, and yet...in many ways, opposed.

The chūnin exams were exceedingly stressful. Hinata was put face to face with her cousin, who bore a burning hatred for her...and all she represented. That hate nearly killed her...but in the end, she couldn’t blame him. Couldn’t be angry. Still she pushed on, trying so hard to emulate her inspiration...only for him to best what she could not.

Sasuke saw the tests as the next rung on the ladder to his ascension toward revenge. But his too were plagued with challenges beyond the typical: the covetous snake Orochimaru - with a single bite - undid months, if not years of the boy’s progress in regards to overcoming his hate. Instead, it propelled him forward.

By the end, they both knew one thing: they had to get stronger. But how…?

Sasuke took to leaving, and seeking power elsewhere. Hinata sought it at home...from the person who had nearly ended her life. He wanted it for vengeance. She wanted it to grow. As the nearly three years passed, they each did just that.

The time leading up to the fourth war saw them each fight their own battles. By the time it was over...neither was the same. Sasuke, admittedly, more so. His journey had changed him...and in many ways, not for the better. Simply...to survive. Hinata had grown up, but also grown weary. He no longer sought revenge, and she no longer sought her title...nor her idol. Both, instead, contented themselves to guiding what they could not come to lead: Sasuke the village, and Hinata her clan.

And then, only then - after struggling so far apart - did the two finally manage to meet. Two human spirits tested, battered, and nearly broken...so similar, and yet so different. Driven together by both clan circumstances, and mutual affections. With Naruto and Sakura - both giving and receiving silence from the other pair - now a duo, Hinata and Sasuke were often left at the fringe.

And what better to do there but talk in turn?

Between the two forces pushing them together, it was inevitable. Slowly, they opened up to one another. And slowly, they discovered just how close their paths had been. How easily they could have made the same choices in one another’s shoes. And they lamented only knowing this now, when it was far too late to give two lonely, struggling children a friend that would have understood. Truly understood.

But it does mean they can make up for lost time.

Outside responsibilities and reasons, they begin...running into each other. Talking beyond what’s expected. Even finding themselves in the same line of work as the police are rebuilt and reformed. Acquaintances become partners, partners become friends...and friends become something just a little bit more.

Finally, after losing so much, and being so alone...two souls finally find completing pieces in each other.

     *flops* Welp, another late night, but at least I'm feeling a little better? Aha~      This is rather...bland, more narrative than a scene or anything...but I'm very tired and a bit museless today so it's the best I can manage. I can go on forever about the parallels between Sasuke and Hinata, and how GOOD they'd be for each other, even if just as friends (which we STILL don't get in canon...I feel so robbed). So, here's me waxing about them and how strong they each had to be: in both similar and different ways.      Yes, in the long run Sasuke suffered a lot more (imo), but Hinata's struggles are still nothing to sneeze at. A lot more than many other of the Rookie Nine (*coughs* Sakura *coughs*), at any rate.      But...I'm getting rambly, so best to stop there, aha~ Thanks so much for reading - be back again tomorrow!

#uchiha sasuke #hyūga hinata #sasuhina #a light amongst shadows [ canon verse ] #365daysofsasuhina

[roraewrites]

Initials - Chapter 4

Introductions Rating: K+

1 2 3 4

Through her various weeks of working at the hospital in Konoha, Sakura found that she had made a friend in one of the other girls that also worked at the hospital. She was loud, proud, beautiful, and a great first friend for Sakura; Ino Yamanaka. While Sakura hadn't found time to hang out with Ino after hours, they always had plans to eventually meet up one of these days, and spend some quality girl time together.

Today IS my day off. Maybe she'll be free, Sakura thought to herself as she finished her grocery shopping for the next couple weeks. She had recalled that Ino gave Sakura her address in case of an emergency, so now was better than any time. With her bags in her arms, she made her way towards Ino's home; her mind was frantically thinking of what she'd say when she got there.

"I guess this is just my luck," Sakura mumbled to herself after she learned of Ino's absence. Of course the one day she has off, Ino is away on a mission for the time being. Sighing loudly, Sakura began her walk back home. "Might as well get some training under my belt. It wouldn't hurt to learn the layout of Konoha since I'll be staying here."

-

"The doctor actually did a great job, and I didn't feel any pain the entire time," Ameri recalled, both of her teammates looking at her. The wounds on her neck were completely gone, and only replaced by small bruises, "she even cleaned up the scars!"

"Was it Granny Tsunade who healed you?" Naruto questioned, looking at Ameri's recovered wounds.

Ameri's eyes widened at the thoughts, but held back the truth, not wanting to anger Sasuke with who it really was, "uh, no. It wasn't her."

Sasuke felt his mind wander back to the doctor from Suna, thinking about what kind of job she would've done if she had been here to take Ameri in during their emergency. He ignored the questions that Naruto asked Ameri, and finally looked back to the bruises that painted Ameri's skin. The Uchiha finally scoffed, "shouldn't you be out of here, then? I mean, you've only got a few bruises and cuts. And if that doctor is as good as you say she is, you should be at home by now."

"You can't just be an asshole to her, teme!" Naruto shouted. As much as she appreciated their presence and consideration, their arguing was rather annoying, and she just wanted to sleep for the time being. The white haired kunoichi squeezed her eyes shut as the boys continued their arguing.

"I wasn't being as asshole, dobe. Get your story straight and quit being stupid," retorted the Uchiha. He had a smirk on his face as he glared at Naruto. The hyperactive ninja thought that Sasuke's comment of 'I thought you'd be recovered by now', was rude and uncalled for and with the kind heart that Naruto possessed, he was immediately attacking Sasuke and shooting down his opinions.

"Guys! Enough! If you're going to keep shouting, then do it elsewhere-" Ameri had been cut off when all three shinobi felt the pulse of an unfamiliar chakra signature surge through the room. Like both Naruto's and Sasuke's, it was strong willed and carried power. Naruto and Sasuke looked to one another being exiting the door rather quickly; leaving Ameri behind to continue her recover.

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke asked quietly, mostly to himself but Naruto had overheard him.

"Something big and probably scary!" Naruto shouted back to him. They were now pushing through the hospital doors and focusing chakra to their feet. The pair of shinobi quickly made their way to the rooftops before come to a halt. Sasuke honed in on his surroundings, trying to pick up the signature again and as if on queue, another pulse came across them like a wave from the ocean. Powerful and pulsating. In a flash, they were now heading in the direction that the waves of chakra were coming from - the training grounds.

What in the actual fuck is causing that, the thought kept reoccurring in Sasuke's mind and his body began to grow anxious. Whatever it was was either a threat, or a new shinobi in the Land of Fire.

-

Sakura could see the panic in his single eye, and she smiled to herself before wiping the sweat from her brow.

The silver haired shinobi that had come to Suna to drop off her order of herbs and medicine had luckily been passing through, when he saw her there, training and honing her skills. It was unlike her to accept a challenge from someone so new, but she figured a sparring match would do her some good and relax the tense muscles within her body.

"I honestly didn't think you'd be this strong. I'm quite amazed," he calls out to her.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name? I feel like we haven't met properly," Sakura is back in her defensive stance as she watches her sparring partner pull his hiate-ate up and away from his eye. This would be the first time she's seen his other eye, and her mouth was now open as she stared into the red iris.

"No way," she mumbles to herself, now recognizing who exactly her opponent is.

She can tell that he's now smiling by the way the skin around his eye wrinkles. Her desire to win has been boosted, and she's now ready to give it her all to beat Kakashi Hatake in their sparring match. What started out as a friendly spar, was now an all out match and Sakura wasn't going to let the Copy Ninja beat her. With their training ground a complete mess due to her destroying the earth beneath them, and Kakashi using lightning release techniques, Sakura took advantage of the field and began her next move towards him. The more she moved and focused chakra to different parts of her body, the more sweat accumulated on her face and back. She felt the way the dirt and chunks of grass and ground stuck to her, and she could feel the small burning of multiple cuts decorating her skin.

Through each chunk of earth she punched through, she was kicking and sending the multiple pieces of ground towards the silver haired ninja. Like she had planned, he was bobbing and weaving through each chunk. Whether it be a larger piece, or smaller piece, he was exerting his chakra trying to keep an eye on every bit. In one swift movement, she sent another chakra filled fist flying into the ground beneath her, shattering the rocks and creating a large crater. The training ground was ruined, but the two shinobi carried on with their match. Due to the distraction that Sakura had created, Kakashi was now working his way towards her, jumping from each boulder and rock that had flown up in the air. While his Sharingan was uncovered, he could easily see each movement she made until he finally decided to attack.

While his speed was tremendous, Sakura couldn't outrun him. He disappeared and appeared in front of her within a flash, and had her left arm pushed against her own back. Sakura wasn't one for being trapped, instead, her mind began to think of the possibilities that she could do in order to get away from Kakashi before he won the match. She immediately focused chakra to her foot and stomped it into the ground, breaking through the earth once more and disturbing the balance of the silver haired shinobi, causing him to drop her arm and kick away from their current position on the field before the rocks and chunks of ground swallowed them in their downfall.

They were both breathing heavily and staring at each other with determination in their eyes. Despite the fact that they were both jonin, they didn't even sense the presence of the spectators that had decided to watch from the tree tops. Kakashi finally held a hand up, but Sakura kept her eyes on him, refusing to take her eyes off this man.

"We can take a break," he finally pointed to the tree tops. Giving in, Sakura turned her head towards the trees and saw his teammates; the blonde haired boy, and black haired one. She felt her heart hitch in her stomach and immediately began to wipe the sweat from her face.

She remembered how gorgeous the one with black hair looked, and the look in his eyes made the core of her body heat up.

"Come on over, Naruto, Sasuke!"

Sakura watched as they glided down the tree and towards the broken and battered battle field, both with a confused look on their face.

"What the hell happened here?!" Naruto finally yelled, taking a look at his surroundings then back to Sakura and Kakashi. Kakashi was now standing next to Sakura and she noticed that he was taking deep breaths, his body glowed with sweat, and he too, had multiple cuts and bruises.

"I was on my daily walk and thought I had sensed the two of you here. I wanted to stop by, but found that it was Sakura here."

Sakura looked to Kakashi with a confused look, "I don't recall telling you my name."

"You're Tsunade's pupil. How could I not know who you are, Ms. Head Doctor at the Hospital," Kakashi replied sarcastically. Sakura nodded before chuckling to herself, a small blush overtaking her features. The moment she felt her face heat up, she looked to Sasuke. His face was expressionless and his mouth was pressed into a firm line.

"So why'd you destroy the battlefield, Kakashi?" The Uchiha finally spoke. His voice was smooth and low.

"Don't look at me," their sensei responded before pointing a finger at Sakura. Again, she responded with a small blush.

The pair of onyx eyes were now on her and she felt her throat go dry. She couldn't get a full breath of air while he was looking at her, or she would choke on her own spit. The way he looked at her was frightening, but it also made her feel so vulnerable and revealed in front of him. His face and skin were perfectly molded together, and she couldn't help but look away. He was too gorgeous to sit there and stare at and Sakura eventually began to feel uncomfortable.

"Why are you here? Don't you live and work for Suna?" Again, another blank expression coated his face as he directed this next question at her. His onyx eyes shimmered with question.

"I moved to Konoha and I now work here, too. At the hospital, like Kakashi said," Sakura spoke in an even tone. Her emerald orbs eventually fell from his eyes, to his lips, and finally his exposed chest. The hot air began to seep into her own skin, causing her nerves to act up. She finally gulped, trying to clear the dry sensation in her own throat.

"Ah," Sasuke's response was short and Sakura noticed that his eyes were now on her chest. A hot wave overcame her facial features, "you've got a cut across your collar bone."

Now she could really feel it, the embarrassment of thinking he was checking her out, but only to point out a small cut. She wanted to die due to the humilation, but instead she warmed her hand up with the pastel jade chakra and ran a quick hand over the cut. Her heart was beating like the way a hummingbird's wings flapped, fast and furious.

"Why are you looking at her boobs, teme! That's so rude and-"

Sasuke had Naruto on the ground with a kunai poised to his throat, "don't say stupid shit like that, dobe."

Sakura giggled and Kakashi sighed. He was pulling his forehead protector down and over his eye before he finally spoke, "if you're going to fight, as least do it here. Sakura, mind watching over them? If someone doesn't watch them, they'll probably kill each other." Kakashi closed his revealed eye and Sakura could make out the smile from beneath his mask as he waved, "see ya later."

The boys' sensei was gone in a cloud of smoked and that left Sakura there to watch Naruto and Sasuke wrestle around, calling each other names and trying to get the upper hand on one another. She found herself lost in thought as she continued watching them, until the strange pulse of fire ripped through her body. The burning sensation was coming from her wrist, from the weird birth mark again. She rubbed at it with the padding of her thumb and winced in pain.

"-and you're still lame, dobe," Sasuke finishes before kicking Naruto off of him and jumping up from the ground. The Uchiha takes one more look at Sakura before looking down to her wrist, noticing the way she grabs at it and rubs it gently, "are you hurt?"

Sakura looks up to him with confused eyes before realizing what he's asking about, "oh, this? No! It's fine."

"Hn," he grunts before walking in the opposite direction. Sakura watched as he walks away, the way the Uchiha crest between his shoulder blades crumbles against his muscles with each step. Her pink eyebrows raise in question before she looks to Naruto, who's now standing next to her.

"Was it something I said?"

"No. He's always a jackass. Don't take it personally!" Naruto assures her before patting her on the back.

Sakura returns his smile before nodding to herself. The pinkette takes a look at her body and clothes before sighing, "I guess I should go get cleaned up. I'm looking pretty rough."

Naruto shrugs, "I think you look good."

Sakura scoffs in response, "right."

-

The dark clouds that hover over Konoha at night are beautiful. Painted in deep blues, and shaded with dark purples, they cover the twinkling stars in the sky, but are thin enough to show the shimmering lights. Sakura sips the tea in her hands as she sits by the window, taking in the view.

Tsunade had reserved a small apartment for her. The view from the front window was breath taking, as it showed the entire village, along with the carved faces of the Hokage's. The pinkette looked back down to her notebook, reading the scribbling down notes that she had taken while in Suna. The new medicine that she'd created still confused her, but she still wanted to continue with her procedure.

"Maybe Tsunade can help me out-"

Knock, knock, knock.

Sakura's attention was now focused on the door to her home. She placed the notes and her cup down, making way for the door. Before she had arrived to the door, she knew exactly who it was.

"Wanna come out with us?!"

Sakura's eyes widened at the blonde, confused as to how he figured out where she lived so fast. Sakura gulped and took a step back, giving herself space between herself and Naruto, "uh, I have to work in the morning. Who's 'us' and where are you going?"

Naruto nodded before smiling, "just a few of our teammates is all! Ino should be there."

Sakura recalled that Ino should have been back by now, but spaced it due to all the work she had been doing at the hospital, and on top of that, training with Kakashi and Shizune. Naruto knew all too well that Sakura would say yes if Ino had been there, and just like they had planned, Sakura agreed.

-

Naruto and Rock Lee were incredibly loud, Sakura had come to notice. The blonde decided that they'd all go out to ramen, and introduce Sakura to more of their friends: Rock Lee, Shikamaru and Choji. Two being comrades and on a team with Ino. Rock Lee on the other hand was a close friend of Naruto's, and he had also taken a fond liking of Sakura.

"Wow! You are absolutely beautiful, Sakura!"

Sakura blushed at their first interaction, and before she could react, he already had her hand within his own, and going on about how he would love to be her boyfriend. She refused, resulting in an upset Rock Lee, but he still continued to compliment and flirt with her throughout dinner.

"Yo, Sakura. You work tomorrow?" Ino asked between bites. Sakura simply nodded, enjoying her own bowl of food.

"Cool, me too! Let's do something afterwards."

The group finished their dinner but remained at the ramen stand, chatting among themselves before Sakura finally noticed that Sasuke hadn't been present. Everytime she saw the dark haired boy, he was always with Naruto, "hey, Ino?"

"Hm?"

Sakura lowered her voice and leaned over towards the blonde, covering her mouth and whispering into her ear, "where's Sasuke at?"

Ino chuckled to herself before giving the pinkette a mischievous look, "he didn't want to come," she spoke in a bored tone, "said it would be lame and he has other things to do. Why? You like him or something?"

Sakura's eyebrows shot up and she felt her cheeks flush, "no! No! That's not it, I was just curious!"

The outburst between the two girls caught everyone's attention and Naruto and Rock Lee were now competing to see who could ask the most questions.

"What is it, my dear Sakura?"

"What are you two talking about? You're being SO loud!"

Sakura rolled her eyes to herself before leaning over on her elbow and pressing her hand to the side of her face. She regret even asking Ino that question now.

Why do I do this to myself, she thought, but began to listen to everyone's conversations and smiled to herself, at least I'm meeting new people and making friends.

Sakura looked down to the mark on her wrist, tracing the shape and watching how the weird shape flowed against her skin. The discoloration looked pretty in the lighting that they were in, and the more she looked at it, the more she started to realize the shape that it was in. It wasn't some random shape, but it was in the form of letters. She remembered the burning sensation from earlier and how much it hurt.

I'll get answers soon enough.

#ronan rae #sasusaku #ss fanfic #sasusaku fanfiction #ss fanfiction #sasuke uchiha #sakura haruno #writing #initials

[cherrywoes]

acanthus. (san.)

REVENGE WAS NOT for Sakura Haruno, she found out, after maybe an hour or so of following Neji’s admittedly sloppy trail through the thinning underbrush and heavy trees of Konoha and into the broad, watery expanse leading to the edges of Amegakure. The ground was perpetually covered in a layer of water, perhaps due to extensive rain, and life had begun to take to it, tadpoles creeping along in deeper pools and Kingfishers swooping down to collect the small fish trapped along with said tadpoles. Sakura had eaten one of those fish when she was forced to stop under rainfall, so hard that it was difficult to see in front of her face—it had tasted far too much like iron, had enough bones that she was constantly picking them from her teeth, and was mostly unfilling as dinner. While a psychotic break was the easiest explanation for the deep desire for revenge, Sasuke coming to the forefront of her mind for that one, it was also the least likely; because for once in her entire life, Sakura found herself unwilling to care.

The moment it had started raining, the warm, humid air coiling around her and setting deep into her bones, she realized, very belatedly, what a stupid idea it was to go after Neji. He had already ‘completed’ his mission to have her killed and left, not waiting around to see the aftermath. She didn’t care that he was just following orders, just like she didn’t care that her entire life was lost to her—well, maybe, she did, just a little bit, Kakashi’s earnest eyes flashing through her mind. He had been, in the end, the only person to truly care about her up until she had left, a direct switch from her genin days that she appreciated. Now he was stuck in a village he knew would turn on him given the chance, all of his students either filled with revenge, hell-bent on an impossible retrieval mission, and living in exile for a war that would be her end. It was a little poetic, really, but Sakura didn’t have a taste—or mind—for poetry.

Stretching out under the canopy of the most decent looking tree she could find, Sakura reached under her mask and rubbed her eyes tiredly. They burned and stung from holding back tears. She would have cried the entire way to Ame if she had let herself, until her tear ducts didn’t work anymore and her nausea threatened to consume her. Ino had always called her ‘crybaby Sakura’ when she got like this, and it was an apt description, she supposed. She pushed her mask up to free her face from the stifling air coming from her mouth and squinted, peering up at the rapidly darkening sky. The rain had yet to let up—

A rustle. Faint, nearly smothered by the rain, and Sakura had barely caught it in time before she was being tackled off the branch she was laying on. Her hands met nothing but air, scraped over what felt suspiciously like an ANBU flak jacket, and when she landed on her spine with a smidge of chakra to cushion her spine, she hooked her leg out from under the ANBU and over his hip, using the force her her movement and anger to roll him over and off of her. He—she decided ‘he’ judging by the grunts—struggled beneath her, one hand punching repeatedly at her ribs that were, thankfully, covered by the flak jacket, and the other coming up the hand she had wrapped around his throat, scratching and clawing. She braced her knees against his hips, brought her free hand back, and slammed her knuckles into the porcelain mask. It cracked and fell apart upon impact—but so did his face.

Blood and brain matter sprayed in a wide arc in the mud around his head, landing on Sakura’s face, hair, shoulders, and dousing her shirt and pants and flak jacket in gushing blood from where the artery in his throat flopped uselessly. What little remained of his bone structure and skin suggested she knew him from somewhere, but she didn’t have time to care; where there was one ANBU, there was another, and clearly someone saw the destruction she had created outside Konoha.

Before she could reach for the pack at his waist, her hands caught her attention. Swollen and red, not just with blood but inflammation, she flexed them experimentally, cringing when stinging pain, not unlike that of a thousand bees, tore through her nerves as the adrenaline ebbed away. It looked as if she had severe rheumatoid arthritis, her fingers curling up and appearing like that of her neighbor’s, Sayu. Biting her tongue, one by one, she began prying them apart from where they were curling against her palm, working them to a semblance of usefulness that was painful, shaky, but would work until she figured out something to keep them from flaring up. In the back of her mind, she knew it was her chakra doing this to her, but why now, when she needed it most?

Grimacing, she blinked away her tears and began rifling through the man’s emergency pack. It was stuffed with blank sealing scrolls, a few high protein bars with better flavor than her nutrigain bars would ever have, a mission statement that she tucked into her inside vest pocket for later, soldier pills, food pills, dark hair dye, make-up, and, for some reason, an ANBU mask. It was nothing like she had ever seen before, the black and white design depicting that of a three eyed crow with crimson red markings upon the brow. It looked like something Sai would have made, with careful artistic touches and well meaning motifs. When she turned it around, there was a note tucked inside just under the elastic band that would hold it to her face. It was on a thick sheet of watercolor paper and her heart stuttered to a stop at the realization of just who had put it there.

Unfolding it, her eyes raked across the writing, Sai’s handwriting, with a frenzy she didn’t know she was still capable of.

‘Ugly,’ it read,’you’ve probably killed the messenger. That’s rational of you. You most likely do not trust Konoha ANBU anymore and I do not judge you for it. You were my only friend after ROOT was disbanded and I will not forget that.’

It was as brief and insensitive as Sai himself, but in her heart, she knew what he meant. Swallowing over the knot in her throat, she tucked the letter into her bra where it would be safe, and transferred her pack and new supplies into the sealing scrolls. As she tucked them into various pockets on her person, she noticed a fresh puddle of blood beneath her feet—blood that did not belong to the ANBU and was quickly mingling with the mud and rain. Her eyes darted to the corpse battered by rain and sinking into the mud, catching sight of a tanto gleaming silver in his hand, already washed clean by the storm. Her hand drifted down to her flak jacket, near her ribs, where she counted fifteen individual punctures, each one clearing through the kevlar and piercing skin.

Sakura tore open her vest and pulled her shirt upwards, scanning over the holes in it and then the decidedly not so small bleeding holes in the right side of her abdomen and near her ribs, narrowly missing her lungs and other organs. Those ‘punches’ hadn’t been fists—it had been the tanto. She didn’t quite feel them like she did her hands, a faint pressure that could have been dismissed as her flak jacket, and an internal sweep that probably did more damage than good told her she needed to get stitches into them and fast. She was almost two minutes into bleeding to her death, but she didn’t feel the typical signs of blood loss—she didn’t even feel lightheaded.

She just felt… tired.

A scan of her inventory revealed no dissolvable stitches, not even sanitary bandages, just gauze and medical glue in a tiny blue tube that was better than nothing. She was risking severe infection like this, but she needed to stop the bleeding somehow, and began stuffing gauze into the larger wounds with muddy and stinging fingers, rain soaking them with possible contaminants. She worked fast despite dark spots starting to form in her vision, gluing the smaller ones first and then pulling out the gauze and gluing the inside of the wound and then pulling it shut. It was medical grade glue, so it would hold until she could get actual medical care—if anyone accepted her at all. Her face was probably plastered all over the bingo books, eliminating her from patient care in any nation. The only one likely to forego that general rule was probably Iwa, but she would never make it in time before her wounds began to fester and the fever would set in. It was highly unlikely she had managed to evade contaminants; she couldn’t even check for poison in her body without her chakra ripping it apart, too. It was just as self destructive as it was destructive in general.

With her vision swimming, Sakura buttoned zipped her vest back up, closing her eyes and sucking in a quiet pained squeak when it pulled against the glue. She didn’t feel any of them tear, luckily, and pulled Sai’s mask over her face, if only to hide her tears from the world.

As she jogged into the trees and headed in a direction she thought a local village still remained, she was oblivious to the crow sitting innocently on a tree branch above her, melting and dissolving into ink when she vanished into the growing dark of the forest.

“She got it,” Sai announced quietly, pulling his awareness from the ink bird and allowing it to fade in the rain. Across from him, Ino sighed in relief, pressing her hands to her forehead and then rubbing her eyes vigorously to hide the tears. Kakashi had taken up a seat at his bare table, but even he could see he wasn’t gripping Icha Icha’s spine quite so harshly. “She killed the messenger, but not before sustaining some severe injuries. She glued them together, but she once told me that—”

“—infection can happen anytime in a non-sterile environment,” Kakashi finished, closing his book and tucking it away into his back pocket. He looked as ragged and run down as both of them, mask slightly askew and his hair not defying gravity as it usually was. Pakkun had voiced several concerns about him since Sakura had left, noting he was colder, harsher, with Tsunade and everyone in general that housed a certain opinion of his former student. “And Ame’s a nasty place when it rains.”

“Sakura’s smart,” Ino steepled her fingers. “She’ll know what to do. There’s a village not far from there, I think, full of civilians—they might help her for the right price.”

“Not for an exiled ninja,” the silver haired ninja intoned grimly. Any relief that had been previously on his face hardened into something a little more serious. He ran a hand through his hair and collapsed back into the chair, staring at the individual grooves in its surface. “Her best bet would be Iwa, but she’d never make it in time. She has twenty-four hours max before infection begins to set in, and Iwa’s a week away on foot. Injured? She’ll never get there.”

“I don’t know what to do.” Sai blinked and shook his head. He could feel… something in his chest pulling and twisting, but had no name for what it was. Not exactly. He would have to consult the books Sakura gave him on emotions when he had the time. Her name, even mentally, made that twisting pain hurt a little more. “I should have gone with her. Maybe then, she would not have been in such a mess to begin with.”

“Sai, no,” the Yamanaka shook her head and stood, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Forehead needs you here. There’s no telling when they might issue another mission if they find out she’s still alive.”

“Ino’s right, Sai.” Kakashi nodded somberly. “We can help her more from inside the village. For now, we all lay low, take missions as normal, and continue on like we have been. If anyone seems suspicious… take them out.”

“T-take them out?” Ino spluttered, whirling around to face the older male, her pale blue eyes wide and surprised. “Shouldn’t we—I don’t know—recruit others to the cause?”

“You know as well as I do, Ino, that not everyone sees Sakura in a good light.” Kakashi rubbed his face, fingers catching on the mask. “Pulling in others is suicide. We don’t know what rumors have been spreading among ANBU, or even the populace to begin with. The only safe person might be Shikamaru, but I have my doubts about him, especially since he’s ANBU now.”

“I agree.” Sai nodded. “Secrets are harder to keep between more people. It’s best we stay like this for now, until we come up with something to keep the council off her back.”

“But what are we even supposed to do?” Ino sprawled back on the couch, arms clenched tightly to her chest over a pillow. “None of us have ANBU clearance anymore, and I doubt they’ll let Kakashi within a thirty mile radius of any classified documents about Sakura—and then there’s Naruto. What if he comes back in the middle of this? What do we even tell him?”

Kakashi considered her words thoughtfully, rubbing his chin over his mask. “Naruto has always been one to see the good in others. He can’t reasonably blame Sakura for her actions and look past Sasuke’s string of murders these last few years; he may just be a gamble we can take.”

“Dickless is out of the village, though,” Sai pointed out. “We don’t know when he will come back. What do we do until then?”

“Learn what we can,” Ino said, throwing a pillow over her face,”and pray we don’t get caught.”

二 (ni) | masterlist | 四 (yon)

#naruto #sakura haruno #kakasaku #kimisaku #kimimaro kaguya x sakura haruno #kimimaro x sakura #kakashi hatake x sakura haruno #kakashi x sakura #naruto shippuden