Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ My lovely sakura ❯ sweetest link ( Chapter 4 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

On a branch of a cherry blossom tree in front of Sakura’s house, you can see Sasuke sitting, waiting patiently for Sakura to step out the door. It was already 8:40 in the morning. Usually, at this time of the day, she would be hanging around at Ino’s place or irking him at his house. He was sitting here for almost an hour and a half and no sign of her still. Slightly worried, he jumped down and made his way to the secret entrance.
He surveyed the house. In the kitchen, all are in their respective places; it was still the same as he left it yesterday. She haven’t eaten breakfast. Not a hair out of place in the living room. She didn’t stay up late last night watching TV. He checked all except a certain room, nothing out of place leading to one conclusion: She’s still asleep. He chuckled. ‘She tired herself too much yesterday’
He softly went to her room, careful not to make any noise. He slowly slid the door open only to see Sakura down on the floor, head resting on the side of the bed.
He trusted his reflexes and quickly picked Sakura up, bridal style, and laid her down the bed. He checked on her. Vital signs steady, breathing normally. Sleeping. His hand rested on the side of her face, ‘Sticky. She’s been crying all night,’ Deciding worry will not be of any help, he tucked Sakura properly to bed and let her sleep more. I’ll just deal with it later. He got up and finished making breakfast before preparing a towel and a basin of water. Gently, he started wiping Sakura’s sticky cheeks, and then made his way to her left arm, then the other. As he was midway down to her hands, he came to a halt when she felt her stir. Putting down the towel, he planted a good morning kiss on her forehead, not noticing the paper clutched in her right hand.
“’morning, what’s with the scene I found this morning?” he helped he prop up.
“Oh that’s nothing!” she beamed him a fake smile, “I just fell because of dizziness,” she explained.
He eyed her. Lying won't make any good Sakura, but I’ll let it pass for now.
“Hn, fine. Breakfast is ready; I’ll wait for you at the table” and with that, he left.
She let the incident last night slip away from her mind, even just for a minute, and did her daily morning routines a bit faster.
“Hey, what’s on your mind?” while eating his buttered toast, he noticed she was in deep thought.
She snapped out of her reverie, “Nothing much,” she drank a small amount of milk from her glass. He just shrugged it off. She mentally groaned.
‘It won’t be long until he finds out. He’s too sparse to not notice.’
A memory of last night struck her.
“Have you found the note?” said the voice on the other line.
She raised an eyebrow to this as she stood beside her bed. “What note?”
“The one beside your clock. Read it” the person became suddenly became serious.
“Oh this…” she grabbed the paper and read it. Her face went blank. Eerie silence took over.
On the note was:
Dear Sakura,
We haven’t got our hopes down on finding the counter spell. We’ll try to get back in time. In the mean time, try to do everything you must and like. Just in case. Don’t give up on us.
Love,
Mom and Dad
‘I remembered I haven’t got much time left. I gotta tell him today.’
She blurted out, “Uhm, Sasuke,”
Sasuke raised an eyebrow on this. He swallowed his last bite of toast first before replying, “Yeah?”
“Can we go to our fave place and have lunch there?”
Silence.
“Y’know, on the summit, some kinda picnic there?”
What’s with her? “Hn. Fine with me,”
She grinned. “I’ll fix the food, don’t worry.” she assured him. She then finished her breakfast and went to do the dishes while Sasuke cleaned up the table. While her hands are full of foam, she asked him, “Sasuke, would you mind if I spend the morning with Ino and the others? I want to surprise them.”
“I won’t if you’ll allow me to accompany you, even just to her house, that is, if you won’t mind also.”
She shook her head. “No, not at all!”
“Hn,” He went to her and gave her a brief kiss. “I’ll be going now. I’ll just pick you up later.”
She started brushing the foam off her hand, a sign that she wants to lead him at least up to the door. He cut her actions by saying, “Just continue what you’re doing. I’ll be fine by myself.”
She sighed in defeat, “Okay, you win. I’ll be ready by ten.”
He made his way to the door, “Later,” he raised his right hand as a sign of departure.
“Take care,” he heard her say before she closed the door.
On the walk home, Sasuke can't help but think.
‘What’s with her? She’s been acting unusually irritating. The lies, fake smiles, deep thoughts, what’s with all that? Something’s going on and I need to find that out.’
Five minutes before ten, he arrived. Sakura was already done and ready to go so they walked down hand in hand to Ino’s place unusually but not awkwardly, in silence. By the time they’ve reached Ino’s, Hinata and Ino, amazingly without their boyfriends, was at the balcony. Seeing the couple, Hinata squeezed out a relieved sigh and murmured, “Finally,” Ino on the other hand, waved her arm and gave Sakura a thumbs-up before yelling, “About time you two get together!” Sakura just grinned in reply and Sasuke simply smirked.
Sakura turned around to face Sasuke, “Just wait for me at the summit by twelve. I’ll provide our food, you’re in charge of the others, okay?”
“Hn, have a good time,”
She gave her a peck, “Sure,” and he left.
The girls at the terrace were giggling at the sight. Sakura went to them and they chatted. Non-stop girl talks until Sakura had to leave to prepare their food.
“Uhm, Sasuke, you need to know something,” Sakura walked back and forth the kitchen while preparing.
“Ugh! No, no, NO!” she cried out in frustration. It’s been half an hour since she started rehearsing on how she would tell Sasuke her little secret. She already spilled two glasses of water, broke a plate, and hurt herself thrice by the knife. It was already thirty minutes to twelve. She told herself to start walking at eleven fifty. She was already done packing but still murmuring ‘Sasuke, you should know this’ and ‘I have something to tell you Sasuke’ while walking to and fro. She was restless. Too nervous to sit down and relax. She had been clutching her hair out and biting her fingernails out of habit for the past three minutes.
‘Okay, I need to calm down. There’s no turning back now. I have not much time left. Even if I don’t wanna, he has the right to know.’ She convinced herself to calm down the last minute and decided that she will just trust her mouth when the time comes.
Gripping she started her way to the meadow. Thoughts still bothering her, she tried her best to be as calm as she could and regained her composure.
She arrived. Sasuke was already there, doing some finishing touches to his simple but calming setting. They ate and did a little chinwag. After eating, they cleaned up the mess and lay down on a material for some moments.
Sakura was tucked protectively in Sasuke’s arms; both had their eyes shut as silence intruded once again. Sakura remembered the little scene last night.
It was already 11:30. Even though she’s already in her comfy pj’s and tucked to bed, she still can’t sleep due to the previous event, she was still overwhelmed to be having forty winks. A ring from her phone beside her clock broke her reverie.
She picked it up and answered. The moment she recognized the voice, she smiled.
“Hey Mom! How’s the search? Why call this late?”
“Hi Honey, good thing you’re still up. How are you doing? How’s the house?” her mom answered, ignoring the previous questions.
Sakura dismissed it, “Everything’s fine here, being alone isn’t much fun but I’m okay. Sasuke came here early in the morning, we had breakfast and we spent the remaining hours out.” she reported to her mom, skipping out the details of her fainting.
“Good thing you’re enjoying yourself there… By the way, have you found the note?”
She raised an eyebrow to this as she stood beside her bed. “What note?”
“The one beside your clock. Read it,” her mom commanded.
“Oh this…” she grabbed the paper and read it. Her face went blank. Eerie silence took over.
“Sakura?” the person seemed to expect the silence.
“Honey, we may not be able to make it in time. Only less than a week before your birthday. Our meeting with the informant was two days postponed. We have to travel for two more days to reach the hidden village for the scroll. To our disappointment, the scroll was of no help. All the flights were cancelled so were stranded here. We love you Honey, but sorry. We tried our best but we still can’t find the counter spell and we can’t be with you at your last birthday…” her mom was now sobbing, “We’re really sorry Sakura… Sakura?”
When the silence went too long, the person snapped, “Sakura!”
Sasuke finished her trance when he held her tighter and asked, “What’s wrong? You’ve been acting odd lately. What happened last night?”
Okay, this is it. “About that Sasuke, I think you should really know what happened,” she broke away from his arms and sat up.
Sasuke eyed her curiously, “Why, what happened last night? What’s happening to you also? You’ve bee acting really unusual the past week”
“The truth is…” she hesitated a bit, “I fainted last night, crying.” She fought back the urge to cry, “Mom called up and told me that …” but she failed, “that… they won’t be able to come at my last birthday…” she wiped off the tears in her eyes. Confused, Sasuke remained silent. “This coming Sunday will be my last birthday ‘cause… because exactly after my 16th birthday, I’ll… I’ll… I’ll be gone… forever…”
“What? Care to explain?” he shot up. He was now really bewildered.
“We have a curse that runs in our family,” She explained in between sobs, “The eldest Haruno daughter will die the day after her 16th birthday. My parents went on a trip to find the counter spell and they failed. There was no cure to this curse. I accepted my fate weeks ago. You are the only person who knows this besides my parents…”
Sasuke jolted up. Was all of this true?
Sakura was now having a breakdown. “Sasuke, I love you. You’re important to me. Please understand.”
Sasuke was having trouble with his all mixed up feelings. Anger, pity, sadness swirled inside him. He was too confused to think. Anger consumed him, out of the blue, he bowled, “Of all times, why now Sakura? Of all times, why choose now when I’ve decided to spend my life with you, you tell me I only have nine more days to be happy!” tears now leaked from his orbs.
It is why I don't understandis why I’m feeling so bad nowwhen I know it was my idea.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I would’ve accepted the truth more clearly! Sakura why?” he couldn’t withstand this anymore. He disappeared in the woods leaving Sakura perish by herself.
I could've just denied the truth and lied.but why am I the only one standingstranded on the same ground?
The next morning, Sakura decided to leave the burden behind. She hoped, no, she knew he would understand sooner or later, well, not too later because she doesn’t have much time left.
She walked down town, beaming a frustrated smile to everyone who greeted her and passed by her. She wasn’t meeting Ino or Hinata at the town. She was just hoping she would see him there, not expecting he would even notice her if he would be there. She just wanted a glance of Sasuke. Simple as that. And as fate decided, he was there, and as she expected, the moment their eyes met, he turned away and left, ignoring her. Sakura was saddened by this, but still happy she saw him. You won't stand ignoring me for long. Right, Sasuke? and she made her way to their fave place for some peace. I’ll start my way of saying goodbye this afternoon.
That night, Sasuke felt really guilty of his actions that morning. ‘She told me that to help her. Shit. She needs me now more than ever. I can't stay this way, I can't even think right today. I need her. She needs me. Maybe I should apologize. Now? Nah, she’s already asleep. The first thing tomorrow that I’ll do will be it.’ and so his mind rested the first time since the incident and let him sleep.
Sakura woke with a headache. This thing is really getting into me. Seven more days. Not much time left. Gotta finish this as early as possible, I’ll deal with Sasuke later. So she thinks, but give her a truth serum, she would end up desperately wanting Sasuke back at this very moment. Tsk, tsk, see what love can do?
The moment she stepped out her door, she felt his aura. He can’t even stand another day. Acting like she didn’t notice anything, she continued to walk out the door and down to her usual path but before she could take another step, Sasuke jumped down the tree where he was hiding, er, staying and faced her back. Sakura halted for a second then resumed walking. Let’s play this little game. I want to see his face.
Sorry na kung nagalit kadi naman sinasadyaKung may nasabi man ako init lang ng uloPipilitin kong magbago pangako sa iyo
“Sakura!” he called. Sakura stopped on her trail. He ran to catch up with her and faced her. At this, Sakura calmly closed her eyes and void any emotions on his face. “Look, I’m… I’m…” he trailed off. She smiled inwardly. Having a hard time, eh?
Sorry na wag kang madadalaAlam kong medyo nahihirapan kaNa ibigin ang isang katulad kong parang timangNa paulit-ulit kang hindi sadyang nasasaktan
Tired of waiting, she started walking again. Desperate, he took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry. I was just really shocked and a little upset.”
Sorry na talaga kung ako'y medyo tangaHindi ako nag-iisip na-uuna ang galitSorry na talaga sa aking nagawaTanggap ko na mali ako wag sanang magtampoSorry na
She opened her eyes to see his face. Oh, how she wanted to laugh at his face, but she can’t… for now. Face still void of emotions, she walked past through him and continued on her way. Seeing there’s no other way, he trailed behind her. Even through the busiest streets of Konoha, he was still behind her, trailing. Getting tired of this little game, or so she thought, she stopped in the middle of the street. Sasuke also came to halt just centimeters behind her. Estimating the distance between them, she turned around to his surprise to kiss him. Not too long, she broke off and slyly smiled, “Can’t stand ignoring me can't you?” He responded a smirk, “Can't toy with me for too long, hn?” He caught her in an embrace. The moment they broke off, they blurted out at the same time, “Sorry,” and they laughed and spent the day together with a little sprinkle of teasing and annoying. He helped Sakura do her thing the entire day.
Mahal kita sobrang mahal kitaWala na akong pwedeng sabihin pang ibaKundi sorry talaga di ko sinasadyaTalagang sobrang mahal kitaWag kang mawawalaSorry na
“We need to tell Mom and Dad about this,” she mentioned while eating dinner, courtesy of Sasuke, at her house. “They usually call at night. You better sleep here.”
He smiled at that, “Sure, I have some spare clothes here right?”
“Yeah, you left them when I asked you to stay here for two nights; they’re at the guest room”
“But I won't sleep at the guest room tonight, right?”
She rolled her eyes sarcastically. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you want,”
“You might faint again, who would rescue our damsel in distress?” he teased.
“Ha-ha, very funny,”
After dinner, they cleaned up and got ready for bed. They were already sitting comfortably at Sakura’s bed, chatting, when the phone rang.
As expected, it was Sakura’s mom. They talked, Sakura explained and her parents approved of Sasuke coz they’re close before and all. It was like her parents entrusted her to Sasuke and all the works. It just ended up happy.
After the long talk, sleeping time came. She let Sasuke sleep with her at the same bed, side by side, seeing no harm in it. Her back was to him. One arm curled protectively around her waist, he was a head higher and so he drowned himself in her scent.
Even in the silent comfort of the night, both were still awake. In the midmost of the silence, she suddenly remembered no.9 in Sasuke’s list: Make Sakura sing for me. Choosing carefully one of her treasured composed songs, she picked the one with a mellow tone and has a sentiment for him. More like, the one she composed after the day Sasuke confessed at the infirmary, not long before her mom called. She started with the first verse.
“Now, you’ve been a part of my lifeYou’ve lead me into a better placeI thank you for the love you’ve given”
Sasuke realized what it was and muttered a thanks and kissed her earlobe. She continued as her angelic voice lulled Sasuke to sleep.
“You are important to meSo let me show you how much I careLet me show you how much I love you”
When she felt Sasuke doze off, she softly ended the song with the last to lines of the chorus and shut her eyes to sleep.
“Only for the one in my life,and it’s you…”
To be continued…