Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Past Midnight ❯ No More ( Chapter 4 )

A/N: Three or four more chapters before I finish this little baby. Yep, I thought about making this one super long, but I just don't have the patience to sit in front of the computer and type away. >_<

 

Anyways, enjoy the fourth chapter!

 

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A steady flow of warm blood trickled from her abdomen, trialing down her leg and onto the ground, staining her elegant white kimono. The long katana, shining so brilliantly in the afternoon sky, embedded itself into soft flesh, pining the petite figure against the surface of a willow tree.

 

“Sakura,” warm breath tickled her ear. With a quick motion of his nimble hands, the katana was pulled swiftly and effortlessly out of Sakura's frame. She bit back a fit of coughs soon regretting the bitter taste of metallic in her mouth.

 

“Y-you bastard!” she roared at the tall figure before her who seemed slightly taken back by screech.

 

She intrigued him to no end. There was no doubt about it, this young, naïve woman satisfied his every need and every desire. Isn't that why he chose to let her live, to not let her escape so easily from the boundaries of his little kingdom? He mused, if he remembered well it had been several days ago that she had so shamelessly thrown herself upon his feet without any doubts.

 

Itachi was rudely interrupted from his thoughts when Sakura spit in his face, a mixture of saliva and blood splattering all over his emotionless face. His eyes hardened slightly at her outburst and as soon as she began to pull away he slapped her hard across the face, sending a hot stinging pain to her reddened cheek. Sakura hit the ground, groaning in pain as she felt her fresh wound tear when it touched the ground non-too gently. Glistering tears began to pool in her dull eyes, threatening to fall and show her weakness to the man who proudly stood over her, silently watching her.

 

She held back. She wasn't going to cry, she promised herself many years ago she wouldn't cry. Not now, not later, never. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her break, of silently admitting defeat. No, she wouldn't do it, even if he killed her painfully slow or locked her away…again.

 

Sakura yelped in pain as a hand roughly pulled her to her feet by the hair, slamming her against the tree. The sickening sound of bone cracking made it to her ears.

 

“Sakura, Sakura…” his playful tone hid away the irritation of her attempted escape and uncooperative behavior.

 

Rough fingers traced glistering tears down to swollen lips, where his thumb softly smeared crimson blood over the puffy bottom lip.

 

“Don't forget that you are mine.”

 

She was about to deny it when a hard pull of her hair shut her up as quickly as the katana had. He leaned closer, his warm breath ghosting over her neck sending a fearful shiver down her spine.

 

“You. Are. Mine,” he growled each word haughtily as he nipped her earlobe affectionately, “if I can't have you, no one will…”

 

His grip loosened its hold on her long tangled hair, his hand slowly snaked its way to her swollen cheek where he wiped away the pouring tears.

 

“Mine,” he gently said before devouring her swollen lips.

 

Sakura bolted upright from her deep sleep, that same nightmare haunting her once again. She gently placed a quivering hand over her beating heart that was trying to pound its way out of her chest as she wistfully wished the dream were only a horrible nightmare. She would have felt better if it was only a figment of her imagination, something that couldn't hurt her, but alas it was a memory of her very first escape. Itachi had been very serious when he claimed Sakura as his `property'; she had no choice but to comply.

 

If Itachi found out she was missing there was going to be hell to pay, she pondered sadly as she rubbed the scar across her stomach. She hated being the obedient little girl while secretly wanting to break the rules, although breaking the rules this time was different than from breaking the rules when she was twelve. Back then she would have gotten a slap on the wrist from Kakashi for being disobedient, now she would get a good hard slap to the face when she spoke out of line and there was also the forcefulness at night…

 

Not that it could be called being forceful since she never complained nor never asked him to stop. He was very careful and gentle with her when she wasn't trashing around trying to kill him or his Akastuki buddies. And he always did seem worried about her, even if it appeared likewise. Aside from being a mass murderer and overprotective creep, he was somewhat sweet in his own eerie ways.

 

No!

 

Being so close to him was slowly warping her mind, she shuddered; she really needed a break from him. She couldn't go on like this it was too dangerous.

 

The morning light filtered through the cracks of the blinds, illuminating the dark, musty motel room. The ticking of the clock caught Sakura's attention, but the constant soft tick slowly lulled her back to sleep as well the warm covers wrapped around her body like a cocoon. And before she closed eyes she noticed the dark numbers. She groaned.

 

11:45?!…Five more minutes………

 

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The morning trip was spent in silence. Neither one wanting to disturb the already uncomfortable quietness that settled between them since late last night. Sasuke's pessimistic thoughts about finding Sakura alive brought Naruto down to a new low, even lower than the time when he found Sasuke making out with his childhood crush by the training grounds. Of course Sasuke was oblivious to this fact because if he had known Naruto was spying on him at that moment he would have not made it to see his twenty-fifth birthday.

 

But he certainly looked happy with her…or at least as happy as an Ice cube can get…

 

He remembered hearing a soft giggle coming from behind the bushes. Unusual? Yes, but living in Konoha was a bit of a surprise. But the giggle continued softly and Naruto had to strain his ears to listen to hush whispers that tagged along. He noticed it wasn't just any ordinary giggle it was soft and heavenly. It was Sakura-chan's giggle. He was ecstatic. It had been months since he heard her indulge in anything else besides crying or being mute. He was about to burst in and call for her, but a familiar male voice froze his body from moving any further.

 

“Sakura…”

 

Lo and behold was a sight to be seen, one he knew that would never happen again if he were caught red handed. If Naruto wasn't so surprised and a bit disturbed he would have commented on how cute they looked or how hell had frozen over to the couple wrapped in the comfort of each other's arms.

 

Sasuke and Sakura lying on the training grounds K. I. S. S. I. N. G. First comes love then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage.

 

By then Naruto was hoping he'd get to be the godfather of their child, or children for that matter since Sasuke would want to restore his clan sooner or later, and it did seem Sasuke and Sakura were well acquainted with each other.

 

Sasuke had his arms wrapped around Sakura's petite frame; one hand gently rubbing her back soothingly while the other hand stroked her luscious locks. She was too busy poking him lovingly in the face, pinching his cheeks, and playing with dark strands of his hair that obscured his eyes to notice Naruto's presence.

 

Now, nobody would have guessed that Sasuke was being slightly human with his female teammate. If Naruto had been crazy enough to tell everyone in the village about his discovery it would have ended up in laughs (and a bloody death), because Uchiha Sasuke was never human.

 

He found it odd that the emotion he felt wasn't jealously, but disappointment. All three of them were close like a family, weren't they? How come he wasn't included in their life? It was the least they could have done. He was after all a part of them, right?

 

Naruto sighed sadly earning a quick stare from his gloomy friend. So many years had passed since he last saw a smiling Sakura and he hoped it wouldn't be the last.

 

“I'm hungry…”

 

“Aren't you always?”

 

The quick sarcastic reply from Sasuke somehow lightened his mood slightly. A little smile tugged on his lips and before he knew it he was grinning like an idiot.

 

“Naruto?”

 

“I call dibs on choosing lunch,” the grin never left his face as he watched Sasuke's face scrunch up in confusion.

 

“Wha--”

 

“RAMEN!”

 

It took Sasuke a moment to realize that Naruto had yet again won at picking lunch for both of them. If he weren't so lost in his thoughts he would have stopped Naruto from saying ramen out loud or even mouthing anything similar to the word ramen. He was getting sick of eating that stuff. Sasuke was certain he would die before he would achieve his goal of avenging his clan from eating so much ramen.

 

Here lies Uchiha Sasuke.

Loved by all.

Death by ramen.

 

“Come on Sasuke-bastard!”

 

He shook his head at Naruto's childish side of his personality, smiling slightly and silently thanking God for having some things in his life stay the same and not ever change even with time.

 

As soon as the pair walked into the town they immediately received questioning stares. It was hard not to stare at the two young handsome men geared up in war gear, katanas tied to their backs, dried blood stains covering most of their clothing. It was obvious the town didn't have any ninjas.

 

The town was nothing special. It was small, very remote, and occupied by simple people who lived their lives as farmers or artists. There were the occasional tourists walking around pointing at the old buildings, awing at the village's art and culture. None of it really interested Sasuke since his mind kept fluttering back to Sakura.

 

As soon as Sasuke saw the little glaze in Naruto's eyes, something between giddiness and mischief kind of look, he knew right away that he would soon be towered over by bowls of ramen or very angry chefs.

 

The little ramen shop was somewhat crowded and both Naruto and Sasuke had to sit on two small stools that creaked heavily with movement, they were sandwiched between a cluster full of customers shouting their orders to the chef and waitress or yakking to their neighbors. Sasuke had insisted they go somewhere else since he couldn't stand people invading his personal space, but Naruto coolly ignored him and happily hummed away as he received death glares.

 

Two steaming bowls were set before them and Naruto almost jumped with joy at finally being able to have his favorite food after so many years. His stash of ramen he had taken to war, which was plenty to live off of for several months before he would have to restock, was burnt to ashes when Sasuke `accidentally' practiced his fire techniques near Naruto's tent. Naruto mourned over his beloved ramen as Sasuke simply stood next to him, trying his best to keep the evil smile from splitting his face in half. With that memory in mind and before digging into his meal Naruto swiftly punched Sasuke hard on the arm earning a small grunt of pain.

 

“What the hell?!”

 

“Oops, sorry man. I guess I'm just really excited,” his innocent little smile hid the proud smirk that threatened to appear.

 

“Whatever,” grunted Sasuke while secretly planning his next move.

 

Slowly the customers began to disappear from the ramen shop leaving both men and a couple of others to enjoy the rest of their meal peacefully. Out of the corner of his eyes Sasuke noticed the chef staring at him and Naruto rather curiously.

 

“Where you two from?”

 

Naruto looked up and smiled at the old man who was busy cutting vegetables. The waitress next to him looked longingly at Naruto for his response.

 

“We're from Konoha.”

 

“Whoa,” the young girl gasped as the chef smiled at her reaction, “is it pretty over there?”

 

“Yep! One of the most prettiest places to live, although your town isn't that bad…”

 

The girl turned to the chef, “Ne jiichan, wasn't that pretty lady from this morning from Konoha as well?”

 

“I believe she is…”

 

Nothing could have prepared the old man and his young granddaughter from a barrage of questions by the heated blond.

 

“What lady?!! Did she have pink hair?! Green eyes?! Did she—” Naruto patted his jacket, went through all the pockets before pulling out a worn out photograph of Sakura in her early teens.

 

“—look like her?”

 

The young girl numbly nodded, somewhat surprised to see the young blond man tear up at her response. Sasuke slightly surprised at their early discovery, and quite happy as well, was also a bit disturbed by Naruto's hormonal reaction. God, it was like he was dealing with a woman. Maybe all the sexy jutsus he used over the years had somehow alternated the chemicals in his body. Naruto was just so open about his feelings, he shuddered; he really needed a break from him or else he'd lose his mind.

 

“About what time did she come?”

 

“Around noon,” there was a small pause before the old man continued, “she said something about going to Sand.”

 

“Aa, thank you. Come on Naruto.”

 

Naruto quickly followed behind Sasuke, but turned back to the ramen shop to slap a handful of bills on the counter not really caring if he received his change or not.

 

They were so close, even closer than he had ever imagined, he could feel it in his bones. There was no way, no humanly possible way that they could have ever found any leads to Sakura's disappearance after only one day, it wasn't possible. Investigating a missing person usually took months, even years for that matter, especially since her disappearance happened during war. But they did and it was somewhat nerve wrecking to think that she could still be alive after all these months of being declared dead. Although something in the back of Sasuke's mind told him it could be a trap to lure them in, to capture and posses the power of the sharingan or the nine tails. It was a well-known fact that Haruno Sakura was a valued member in team seven and each of her teammates would do anything, go any length to save her no matter the cost.

 

Sasuke just hoped it wasn't any kind of trap. Luring him by using the image of someone precious to him was a big mistake and if it were that case then that particular stupid person or people would cease to exist.

 

His sharingan had long been activated without him realizing. He pumped chakra into his legs, making his speed double in rapidness. He could feel Naruto do the same beside him, his demon chakra leaking out, lashing all over the green foliage.

 

Tonight was going to be a long night.

 

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It was nightfall before they found a fresh track of small footprints on the soft earth and it was until early morning, before the sun rose, that they found a petite body of a young woman hunched over a tree stump, curled under a small blanket sleeping peacefully. The little snores she emitted somehow made Sasuke relax; feeling thankful that she was all right, that is if it was Sakura.

 

Naruto and Sasuke both stood a safe distance away from her, making sure it wasn't a trap, they nodded to each other. Sasuke made sure she wasn't an illusion and Naruto made sure there weren't any traps around.

 

It was safe. There were no traps, no illusions, nothing, there was only a young woman sleeping peacefully under the sky, silky pink locks strewn across her back and onto the grass.

 

Sasuke was the first one to recover from his shock; he took small steps towards Sakura. She was alive, breathing, and making small snoring noises, he could almost cry out in joy. The last twenty-four hours had been hell for him. He had not felt so depressed in his entire life, nor ever felt like he could no longer breath. Not even the massacre of his clan could compare to the dread he felt of the possibilities of finding her body somewhere mangled, beaten or rotting. No, he couldn't, and he would never be able to continue his life if he wasn't able to see her again alive and well. Granted their last encounter wasn't very pleasant, but he never meant to hurt her. He cared too much for her to intentionally screw their relationship by doing something so dirty, so gruesome to her.

 

But somewhere in his mind he kept making excuses. He didn't want the woman to be Sakura. He didn't want to see her emerald eyes, eyes that held so many emotions be dull and lifeless like before. It could just be another woman who came from Konoha who dyed her hair pink, whispered a little scared voice in his mind. It was possible, it was. But the closer he got the more it was hard to deny it wasn't Sakura.

 

Sasuke kneeled beside her and gently shook her, trying to wake her as soothingly as he could. She stirred, groaning at the pressure on her shoulder, eyes groggily opening and blinking away the sleep. It was still dark, the sun had yet to rise, but with all the darkness surrounding her she noticed a pair of blood red eyes peering at her, comas swirling dangerously. She felt her chest tightened, squeezing her lungs, making it harder for her to breath. Surely Itachi wouldn't have found her so easily, she covered her tracks well from the disgusting building she called home for the last year and the guard did say he wouldn't be back until a couple of days. The pressure on her shoulder slowly tightened and she immediately slapped the hand away.

 

“GET YOUR FILTHY UCHIHA HAND OFF ME!!”

 

She was beyond hysteria. Only one day away from her cage, her prison, and he was already on her trail, hunting her. It was a sick joke. God must really hate her.

 

Sasuke was a bit hurt, but he didn't complain since she had every right to hate him now. He had caused her too much pain, had done so many horrible things to her that were unforgivable.

 

She crawled away until her back hit the roughness of a tree, trembling terribly as she stared at Sasuke in horror. Her breathing now shallow had somehow alerted Naruto that something wasn't right. She was scared beyond reason as if she was going to get hurt.

 

“Sasuke, you idiot! Turn your sharingan off!” he walked slowly to Sakura, “Sakura-chan?”

 

He carefully held his hand out before softly calling her again, “Sakura-chan? Babe its okay, everything is fine…we're here for you…”

 

She blinked away the tears that pooled in her frightened eyes and noticed a warm hand on her cheek trying to calm her.

 

“Na-aruto?”

 

“Shhh…” he gingerly lifted her onto his lap and hugged her close to his body as her sobs erupted. She held tightly onto him, never wanting to let go, she was finally safe. No more Itachi, no more abuses, no more caged like a bird.

 

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A/N: I had this cute picture of Sasuke and Sakura I drew over the weekend that I was going to post for this story, but I didn't finish it. I still have to ink it and maybe, just maybe I'll color it on Photoshop. If I happen to finish it by the next time I update this story I'll put a link on the new chapter so you can see it.

 

Sorry if there are any mistakes for this chapter. I just started writing early, I didn't stop until I finished it and posted it up before going to bed. At least the length of the chapter makes up for the stupid mistakes I made while typing. ^_^

 

I wanted to continue writing, but I am tired as hell. And really want to save the rest for the other chapters.

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.