#postshinobiworldwar

[anerdinallherglory]

Approaching Sun (25)

Author’s Note:The first day of SasuSaku month?! Yeah, I’ve been working my fingers to the bone to get this out tonight. Surprise! Summer has officially ended for me, so this will be my last chapter for a few months as I get back into the swing of teaching. So sadddd…. BUT I typed 12 pages for you guys and typed two chapters worth in one. And it’s a good one ;) Have a good rest of the summer. OUT.  

Pairing: SasuSaku

Previous Chapters:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Chapter 25: Without a Heart

Speaking with Satou was one of the most difficult things Sakura had ever done. Satou was angry at the world; angry at his Kazekage for involving their village in the war, angry at Konoha because of their relationship with Suna; angry at Sakura for not having been able to see his wife before she died and save her life. Everything Isao had told her about his father was true. Satou blamed everyone he could and detested his only child because of the constant memory he represented of Rina.

The man’s eyes had turned glassy once as he screamed and pointed a finger at the Kazekage who remained emotionless. But then Isao walked down the stairs, already ducking his head and cringing at his father’s voice. When Satou made eye contact with his son, the tears vanished, and he shot out of his seat and glared icily at the boy. “You—” he began, but then Gaara stood, reminding Satou of his presence.

The Kazekage decided that it would be best if Satou was removed from the children’s mental health clinic. He was sent across the street to the hospital where Sakura felt like it would be beneficial for the man to be attended to. Sakura was starting to realize that maybe children weren’t the only ones that benefited from a mental health clinic. How was there supposed to be hope for the next generation if the previous one passed on their grievance to their children?

She expressed this concern to Gaara as they walked together towards the Sunagakure entrance. The Kazekage had received the news about Isao from Kankuro before his brother left and when hearing that Satou had returned, Gaara knew he would most likely be seeking out the child. Gaara hadn’t been a moment too late when he, too, decided to make a trip to the children’s clinic. After reasoning with Satou, Gaara turned to Sakura and expressed his desire to take her to watch the sunset—something Kankuro had told him their guest had yet to do for herself. The Kazekage felt like the event would be a good respite for the both of them.

“To assume that peace would be enough for this generation has been our error in thinking,” Gaara responded thoughtfully, “However, peace has always been the ultimate goal to prevent more pain in the future. It will have to be enough for them.”

Sakura contemplated his response for a minute as they strode down the main street towards the western exit of the village. The ninja of the last war fought for this dream, but when a few took account of their losses and sacrifices, some believed that very dream to be a lie now that they suffered personally from unhappiness. Satou was not the first that Sakura had encountered to feel this way, but he was the only person that Sakura knew of to be taking it out on his own child, which in turn, without help might be damaged himself and angry later on. The steps that Sakura had already taken towards this epidemic were the right ones, but what more could she be doing now that she knew there was moreto do?

“It has been an inaccuracy,” she agreed as Gaara peered over at her change in facial expressions, “to think that only children could suffer. What if we included adults in our mental health program too?”

Gaara’s eyes tightened a fraction in thought as he considered her words, so she added, “It would be harder, but maybe somebody could help these people.”

Without even a second of hesitation, the sand-wielder commented, “Somebody like Naruto.”

Naruto. Somebody like Naruto who could reach down into someone’s soul and find the light there. Naruto, who had a permanent effect on everyone who he came in contact with. Naruto Uzumaki had been able to stir the hearts of Zabuza, Nagato, and Obito, inspiring them to fight for his dream. He was the ninja who never gave up on his friend and brought Sasuke back from the darkness. Even this very Kage, who walked casually beside her, had once been considered a demon before Naruto had gotten to him.

“Like youLord Kazekage.” Gaara’s expression of shock was what made Sakura giggle. Gaara had not been expecting anyone to ever compare him to the ninja he admired most.

He didn’t say anything, so Sakura decided to elaborate as they finally reached the canyon opening at the back of the village. “You remind me of him a lot, actually. Whenever you lead us to war after your speech, I had thought at the time that not even Naruto could have inspired so many people at one time. You have a gift.”

She could see that the words moved Gaara. His face lightened slightly as he nodded a thanks in her direction.

When the two of them finally made it through the rocky break in the walls, Sakura stopped dead on her feet at the long-awaited sight. The sunset was just how Kankuro had said it would be: absolutely beautiful. The sand dunes were high in the horizon, a dark, uneven backdrop for the sun to fall behind. The sun was currently balanced on the knife’s edge of the farthest peak, trailing a woven blanket of every color of orange behind it.

“Oh wow,” Sakura exclaimed as soon as she stepped out of the shadow and the auburn light illuminated her features. As she said it, Sakura began to hover suddenly as Gaara summoned up the sand at their feet, a compact disc suddenly materializing beneath them. Sakura had never been afraid of heights before, but when the floor shifted, her stomach almost came up her throat. Before she could even ask what was going on, Gaara was stepping off the sand cloud and onto the lowest of the two ridges of the jagged end of the north-west wall. The kunoichi tailed him quickly as the sand began to crumble, and Gaara walked ahead of her like he wasn’t quite aware of how unusual it was to fly people around on sand.

“You do this often?” Sakura called out as the sand platform blew away in the wind and she stood staring out at the vast expanse of desert that rolled in amber waves before her. She had never been this high up in her lifetime. Sakura felt like she was on top of the world as the evening breeze ruffled her hair and she turned to look over the tops of the stucco houses belonging to Suna.

“Sometimes when I need to get away and think, I come up here,” he announced, taking a seat a little down from where she stood, an arm propped on his knee as he too gazed out at the place that shared his name sake “Gaara of the Desert.” Even though Gaara was the Kazekage and had an official office, Sakura suddenly realized that she was beholding at a king who was sitting on his real throne. Sakura took that as her cue to do the same, so she plopped down too, choosing to dangle her legs over the edge of this giant seat.

“Thanks for bringing me up here,” she said after a second, realizing suddenly that he might not share this with many people.

Gaara offered her a small grin, “I never got to really thank you for what you did for my brother; what your team did for me.”

Ah. So that was it. When the Akatsuki came and abducted Gaara, Kankuro had been attacked and poisoned by Sasori. After developing an antidote that saved Kankuro’s life, Sakura had joined the rest of her team to help rescue the Kazekage. Even though Chiyo had been the one to technically revive Gaara by giving him her life, it seemed that the Kazekage still felt indebted to Team 7 and other leaf shinobi involved. That was why Gaara was being especially kind during this visit.

Sakura had seen Gaara several times before over the last couple of years and had met mostly with him during conferences or when he was around several advisors and council members. The last time she had convened with only him and his siblings, it was because Gaara had concerns about Sasuke (or rather unbeknownst to them at the time, it was actually a double of Sasuke.) Sakura supposed this was why she met with Gaara’s official and down-to-business persona more often than this normal, approachable version of him. It was so strange, Sakura thought as she observed the ninja a few feet away from her, how this leader with a heart had once been the monster Sakura had stared in the face as she stood guard over Sasuke. How different he was now in contrast to who he used to be. The Kazekage had a bigger love for this village now than he had ever possessed in hatred, and it was a vision that gave Sakura hope for her own goal to restore happiness to this generation and the one before. If Gaara and Sasuke could come back from such darkness, why couldn’t everyone else?

“You’re a friend,” Sakura told him, “and to be honest,” she confessed, “Naruto considers you one of his closest companions and your support of him and our village has been payback enough.”

And then Sakura told him about Naruto, how he was doing, what he had been up to recently, and what he was doing currently. Of course, Sakura couldn’t contain the news that had only been recently shared with Sakura, herself. Gaara was surprised and overjoyed to hear about the new member that Naruto and Hinata would soon welcome to their family.

And then the Kazekage admitted something to her that he had been thinking about doing in regards to family. “I wouldn’t be against adoption, myself. It’s something new I am considering.”

“Really?” Sakura beamed, delighted too for this man who would make any child an excellent father figure despite having a bad past with his own.

“The children’s clinic has had its own impact on me, you could say.”

Sakura smiled again at such a compliment and the Kazekage added rapidly, “I think I’ll wait a while yet to make an official decision. Something that big needs a lot of thought.”

Sakura couldn’t help but agree. Gaara was the Kazekage after all, and a very young one at that. His responsibilities grew by day and a child would definitely complicate things. Sakura also imagined that the council probably pressured him when it came to marriage and other long-term commitments. Everything would probably be filtered through his advisors, first.

Sakura sighed, thinking of her own future. She was on such unlevel ground with Sasuke, who knew if she would ever marry or have children with the love of her life. If not with him, would she ever find that sort of happiness with someone that lead to building a family? She had told Sasuke she wouldn’t move on, and maybe in her heart, she never would. If this was to be her outcome, then she could always adopt like Gaara. Maybe someone like Isao, who needed a mother desperately in their life, would be the child to make Sakura a mother.

It seemed Gaara’s main purpose of visiting was because he needed to talk to her about some intel, because he announced to her, “I’m afraid I’ll be rather occupied during the next few days; Kankuro too. We have had some trouble along the border between Sunagakure and the neighboring counties.”

Sakura’s ears pricked, and her eyes widened at the information. Her thoughts immediately jumped to Sasuke, who she imagined to be in the desert surrounding Suna this very minute. What if something had happened? Before her overanalytical brain could begin creating imaginary scenarios, Sakura asked, “What sort of trouble?”

He clarified by saying, “Rumors mostly about travelers. A few have been stirring up trouble as they pass through local towns. Kankuro has gone to investigate these reports.”

Sakura sincerely hoped this had nothing to do with the masked ninja that had attacked her and Sasuke during their passage through Tanigakure. She quickly relayed the story to Gaara, recalling all the details as if it had only occurred yesterday. The Kazekage listened patiently and even asked her to illustrate the strangers several times so he could commit the description to memory.

“I should have mentioned it earlier,” she apologized once she finished conveying the distressing event.

“I’m just glad you did,” the Kazekage solaced positively. “I’ll inform Kankuro immediately.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sasuke Uchiha had been stuck in that damn core dimension for three nights straight. After his failed attempt to circumvent it completely by transporting directly to Kaguya’s connected sand dimension, Sasuke had spent the night laying on his back in the dirt. As he rested immobilized in the sand, Sasuke remembered how Kakashi used to get physically after overusing his sharingan; his former sensei, not being an Uchiha, would be bedridden for days as the result of depleted chakra levels. Sasuke knew that the same thing was happening to him. According to Hogoromo, Sasuke was the reincarnation of Indra, and an Uchiha at that, and was therefore a natural candidate for the Rinnegan once Hogoromo’s chakra had been introduced. In other words, it wasn’t an issue of heritage that was causing this fatigue, but he knew it was similar to Kakashi’s situation in the matter that Sasuke was overusing a power that had not once belonged to him. More simply, it was like overusing the Mangekyo once gained; that is until one achieved the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan through transplant of a relative’s eyes and then no longer experienced the negative side effects.

In any case, Sasuke hadn’t been able to hardly move the first night after the attempt and had contemplated just how he would be able to achieve the next step in this dimension traveling process. First, he desperately needed more chakra. Granted, he had never been able to do what he had done before, and Sasuke believed that his theory of being in the dimension’s double (the desert) was what had made summoning its portal even possible. He needed more chakra; had to have it despite his efforts around it. It was the only way to pull this off.

On the second and third nights, Sasuke had managed to walk over and find a small incline of rock and took shelter under the ledge while he rested. Sasuke had thought that if he recovered quickly enough, he might try teleporting to the sand dimension a second time at the same spot where the rift in time-space might be weaker now. Maybe thatwas his next step. But when the next morning came, and Sasuke could manage heavy walking, he found himself stumbling slowly across the vast red dune dimension in the opposite direction—back south towards Sunagakure. While his body worked up enough chakra to teleport back into his own realm, Sasuke had decided to hike the distance in this dimension, so that when he teleported, he wouldn’t have much travel time left towards the village.

Sasuke didn’t admit to himself at first that it was his reoccurring thoughts of Sakura that had him calling it quits early. The Uchiha had dreamt another delusion again where Sakura needed his protection from an unknown enemy and when Sasuke woke, he had reasoned with himself that it was all imaginary and there was no need to worry. Regardless, Sasuke found himself on his feet soon afterwards. He knew without a doubt that his female companion was more than capable of taking care of herself and was probably focused on her own work without a second thought about him, but his worry still persisted. Sasuke felt that he at least needed to check on her just to make sure that she was being careful, cautious, and of course, not overworking herself. Naruto and Kakashi would want him to while she was in his care, right?

What Sasuke also told himself as he neared the end of his journey, was that he needed time to contemplate his current issue with chakra reserves and recover completely anyway. Maybe Sakura could advise him in this entire situation, being one of the world’s leading experts in medical science.

When the tomoes finally reappeared on his Rinnegan, Sasuke breathed in and ripped a hole in space, a black vortex spiraling in the air before him. When Sasuke stepped through the portal, he reappeared on the dunes bordering the northern wall of the Sand Village. Sasuke breathed in the sudden surge of oxygen blown to him from the western wind and noticed that the sun had almost completely set. It was dusk now and a purple sky greeted his return. A few minutes more and darkness would completely settle on the Sand Village. Sasuke thought it would be best if he headed straight to his lodgings since that was where Sakura would soon be heading if she was leaving the hospital. Or at least, he hoped so.

When Sasuke made his way along the wall towards the western opening—the same path he had taken on his way out of the village—he soon realized his assumption about Sakura’s current location had been wrong. Her voice rang like a familiar hailing bell somewhere in the air above him, and when he located it as he rounded the corner, his relief was a palpable weight off his shoulders. His pink-haired teammate was sitting up on top of a bluff near the exit, unhurt and completely unaware of his presence as she watched the sun sink below the mountains of sand at his right. The very next second Sasuke realized that she was talking to a person sitting next to her and Sasuke’s relief turned acid as he narrowed his eyes at Gaara, the Kazekage who was apparently partaking in the sunset view with her.

So, he thought to himself, Sakura had been fine all along. The entire trek here he had been thinking of her, and it made Sasuke a little bitter to see her free from the same type of thinking. From the looks of it, she was morethan fine.

Sasuke checked his unmasked glare then, because he was suddenly peering up into the scrutinizing assessment of the silent Kazekage, who had been observing every emotion that Sasuke had let slip onto his face. In the second that Sasuke’s eyes had fallen on Sakura, Gaara must have sensed the Uchiha’s presence and had focused on him before Sasuke had even registered the sand-wielder. Sasuke wiped his expression immediately with embarrassment of being caught, inclining a respectful nod towards the ninja who was currently their host. Sasuke should be grateful to the man for looking after her, not showing him disrespect.

Gaara turned to Sakura then, mumbling something quietly that not even Sasuke could register. He assumed it was a farewell because the Kazekage stood as Sakura gazed up at him, still oblivious to the eyes that watched her from below. Gaara picked a kunai out of his pocket and stuck it into the ground beside her before stepping out onto a platform of sand that materialized before him. With a gesture towards Sakura, Gaara lowered himself on the other side of the wall and disappeared over the tops of the village buildings.

Just as Gaara had anticipated, Sasuke summoned the small amount of chakra it possessed to switch places with the kunai that Gaara had put in place for him; the simple act made Sasuke feel even more guilty for the look he gave him seconds earlier. The Uchiha’s guilt changed to shame when he appeared on his feet beside his travelling companion and Sakura jumped up with joy at seeing him suddenly beside her.

“Sasuke?” she exclaimed, walking up to him and beaming up at him. “I didn’t know you were back!”

“Just arrived,” he grunted tiredly, instantly relaxing by taking Gaara’s seat on the ledge. “Why are you up here?”

“To watch the sunset,” she innocently gestured outward towards the sky. “I hadn’t done so yet, so Gaara brought me. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Sasuke tried not to be annoyed at that statement. In what circumstances had the Kazekage or Sakura thought it a good idea to bring up sunset viewing? Sasuke supposed he still wasa little bothered because before he could stop them, the words came out. “And what did the Kazekage say?”

Sakura crouched down on her knees beside him and began explaining their entire conversation. Sasuke’s irritation was replaced with intrigue as Sakura educated Sasuke about the reports of criminal-like activity on the outskirts of the village. Gaara had made the effort to talk to her about this because it would help explain his and Kankuro’s upcoming absence over the next few days as they investigated the rumors. Sakura had also informed the Kazekage about their most recent encounter with strange ninja. At the mention of it, Sasuke was just relieved to hear that ninja hadn’t made an appearance here while he was away. Sasuke also felt relieved that the entire situation was now in the Kazekage’s hands. Perhaps the encounter with their attackers had been a random occurrence after all and Sasuke wouldn’t have to hear anything more about it.

As she continued to catch him up, Sasuke leaned wearily against the wall of rock behind him and watched her talk from the corner of his eye. Sasuke noticed abruptly that she was wearing the clothes that he had bought for her before he left. Despite the plainness of the style, she made them work wonderfully and Sasuke was thankful that he had guessed the fit right. The looser, more modest top had been intentionally picked and swayed around her agreeably. The light was fading now as stars began to prickle the dark purple horizon and a large rosy moon, too, made an appearance on the skyline. Sakura’s braided hair was a shade darker in the dimness and Sasuke recognized that it was longer now, just below her shoulders.

Soft fingers suddenly brushing his had Sasuke refocusing on Sakura’s words. Her expression was one of concern as she assessed him for any signs of injury, a lifelong habit. As Sakura leaned forward with fretful assessment, Sasuke pressed the fingertips reassuringly that dangled over his palm. “Just a little tired is all,” he admitted.

Sakura didn’t take her hand away as she scooted back against the wall beside him. Sasuke didn’t move his either, even though he tried desperately to convince himself to. He really shouldn’t have grasped her fingers, Sasuke told himself. But this wasn’t bad, was it? Their hands were just grazing one another; that didn’t mean they were holding hands. He wasn’t violating a boundary by resting his knuckles against hers.

“Tell me,” she spoke evenly, seemingly unaffected by their sudden nearness, “what you’ve been doing for the past three days.”

And so he did. All of it. Her face changed to one of uneasiness again as he explained why his absence was so long. He had run out of chakra and spent two days waiting for enough of it to return before he could make the voyage back. He enlightened her about his plan for the next attempt, trying it twice in succession, the first to open the door, and the second effort a day later while using the same door to see if that would get him further.

When Sakura pulled away her hand abruptly and placed it on her leg, Sasuke frowned and fisted his own in response. He backtracked, trying desperately to remember what he might have said that would make her upset. Sasuke instantly knew something was wrong and wanted to ask her about it, but Sasuke had a sinking feeling that it was related to him.

He was saved the trouble of asking as Sakura beheld the sky again and said quietly, “You didn’t say goodbye. I didn’t know that you had left.”

Sasuke looked down into his lap, fisted hand now resting on his knee. The Sasuke a few years ago would have instantly responded with “I don’t have to tell you anything” but he wasn’t that Sasuke anymore. He wanted to tell her that he had tried to go to her but had lost his nerve when Kankuro came out of the greenhouse and caught him looking for her. The reality was that he didn’t have enough steel to stray from the comfort zone of his reserved behavior in front of others. Maybe privately, just between them, Sasuke could have found her and told her he was leaving. But how could he explain that to her without looking like a total coward?

When he hesitated to reply, Sakura whispered in the darkness. “I thought we had a ‘partnership.’”

He returned his gaze to her then, recalling their conversation on the way here about a trust that involved the both of them working together. That’s what he had wanted. A partnership where he wasn’t the sole receiver. But how could a partnership work while they were away on separate missions? He had his own mission and she had hers. Sasuke couldn’t help but feel annoyed about this entire circumstance. Hadn’t he just come back to check on her? Wasn’t he getting distracted from the one goal that the entire world depended on him for?

“I’m sorry,” he admitted quietly. Then he added, “This is how it is for me. I have to leave when I can—”

“You can at least tell me you’re leaving,” Sakura interrupted, still not making eye contact with him. It unnerved him for her to do so. She alwaysmade eye contact with him. “I understand that you have to leave; I don’t expect any different. But a part of a partnership is communication.”

Communication? Between two people who couldn’t ever really be together? He cared about Sakura; he really did. If all she wanted was communication, couldn’t Sasuke give her that? Isn’t that what she had asked of him back in the Leaf too? “Stop dodging me,” she had tried to bargain. More of her words rang in his memory: "We don't have to be together to love each other, Sasuke.” So, maybe they didn’t, but communication alone wasn’t a relationship that Sakura deserved.

She added again at his silence, “Remember when I had run off to bathe in the woods and you came to find me?” Sasuke instantly wanted to say ‘no’ just out of mortification but Sakura finished by saying, “You had asked me to tell you where I was going before I ran off. How you felt in that moment is how I felt when I realized that you weren’t coming back to our room. I need you to do at least that—to tell me you’re leaving.”

Sasuke’s heart softened and his resolved wavered. It was the imagining of her in that equal amount of distress that had the Uchiha fessing up. “I meant to say goodbye. I went to the greenhouse, but…you were talking to people—so.”

Sakura turned to meet his eyes then and Sasuke felt both shyness and instant relief at the action. To the Uchiha, it was a sign that Sakura’s resentment was passing. Sasuke thought that he might personally prefer the animated angry Sakura that gave him a black eye to this silent one.  

“You did?” she asked, her voice lightening considerably. She searched his face for more information that Sasuke didn’t want to give her. The whole point was that he didn’t right?

Sasuke’s smirk was a reaction that his body didn’t make often. “I’ll leave a note next time.” He would do at least that for her—say goodbye in some way.  

“I’ll take it,” she smiled in response, elbowing him in the chest and leaning her side fully against his own despite his surprised expression. She ignored him and watched the moon’s progression as it turned into a snowy white, all color gone from the atmosphere now. Her warmth was a comfort that Sasuke hadn’t realized he’d missed while he was away. When they had parted, Sasuke had felt like he had lost his arm again, and now, it felt like a limb had been given back to him. No, he realized, not a limb. An organ. She was one of several pieces of his heart, a valve that Sasuke knew he couldn’t live without—didn’t want to live without. But he had to. Like Itachi had for the world, Sasuke would have to cut out his heart and learn to live without it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sakura found herself incredibly nervous as they made their way through the dim alleyways of Sunagakure towards their housing. Unlike Konoha, whose evening streets were alive with activity and lights, only the occasional lantern lit a window in the Sand Village. Sakura theorized that perhaps it was a fire risk to brighten the streets with firelight being that heavy winds traveled between buildings and rushed houses. The wind was especially strong at this very moment as she and Sasuke strode up the path towards the little inn adjacent to the hospital. It didn’t seem to be bothering Sasuke much; the only thing that flapped around him was his poncho. Sakura, on the other hand, clung desperately to her unravelling hair that was a perfect metaphorical illustration for her unraveling nerves.

“Welcome back sir!” Chie exclaimed as the two of them entered, her eyes quickly assessing Sasuke’s unexpected return. Sakura couldn’t help but notice how recurrently dead the place seemed despite the inn-keeper’s claim of full capacity four days ago.

Sakura expressed her thoughts to Sasuke as they made the climb together up the two flights of stairs. She only spoke because there wasn’t anything else she could think to say. “Don’t you feel something off about this place? All the doors are shut like they’re full, but I haven’t met a single soul while here.”

Sasuke answered emotionlessly with, “That’s because no one else is here; at least not on our floor. I think it’s intentional.”

Sakura blinked at that statement. “Our host seemed certain that we had one of the last remaining rooms. What do you mean by intentional?”

“Gaara vacated the place. I thought at first he did it because of safety measures, but I’m not sure.”

Safety from what? Sakura frowned when she quickly realized Sasuke was talking about himself. Did the Kazekage really think that lowly of the ex-convict Uchiha that he would actually evacuate an inn? Sakura chose to give Gaara, the man who had taken her to see the sunset, the benefit of the doubt. It seemed Sasuke was doing the same. She blushed as she considered the other possibility. The only other conclusion she could make was that Kankuro and Gaara had taken the time to ensure their safety… or privacy. That thought did not help her tangled anxiety.

When Sasuke opened the door to their room and walked in, Sakura couldn’t help but hesitate. He glanced back at her, reading her as easily as a book, and in response, Sakura giggled awkwardly/apprehensively before crossing the threshold and closing the door behind her.

After a few minutes of mutual silence, Sakura suggested hurriedly, “How about you take a seat and I’ll check on you really quick before you go to sleep. Just to make sure you’re okay.”

He nodded, possibly too tired to argue with her. The Uchiha was practically dead on his feet and it was hard to tell if he was experiencing even a fraction of the turmoil that was currently taking place inside of Sakura’s stomach. It hadbeen more obvious when they first stayed together; she was the collected one and Sasuke had tossed on the floor all night. Now, it seemed it was reversed.

Her bed, she noticed was messily ruffled from two nights ago; she hadn’t been able to tidy it that morning because she was late and then had stayed at the hospital last night with Isao. Sasuke turned to his own bed instead, seating himself and beginning to remove his shoes. He reached behind him and pulled the poncho over his head, leaving behind the black high-necked long sleeve. Slipping a thumb up under his hair wrap, he removed the firm binding and sand showered from his hair. He shook it all loose and then dusted the loose sand off his pants and quilt.

Taking a panicky breath, Sakura made her way over to him and Sasuke stared indifferently off into space as she touched his forehead with her glowing fingers. He sighed unexpectedly and closed his eyes at her attempt to soothe the pulsing behind his forehead.

“Does that feel better?” she asked him, taking the palm of her hand and closing his eyelids with it. The green light of her jutsu flared again, and Sakura focused her energy to the back of Sasuke’s Rinnegan, soothing the optic nerve and the pathways connected to the brain.

She got an exhausted mumble in response to her question, which made Sakura grin. “I think I have a solution for your chakra depletion, too,” the kunoichi announced as she pulled forward Sasuke’s left shoulder. “It’s been a while. Let’s have a quick look at this arm.”

“You do?” he responded to her first statement, a small spike of energy returning as Sasuke shrugged off his undershirt, giving her easy access to the firm bandaging around what remained of his bicep.  

“They’re not the best tasting, but I can make you my own version of the Military Ration Pills, or food pills, if you’d rather,” she offered, simultaneously stripping the dressings and placing a hand under his arm and raising it so she could easily observe the scar tissue. Sakura was pleased with the overall healing of this injury, but she still hoped that she might be able to rid Sasuke of the brutal scarring one day if he ever let her.

“The purpose of the food pills is to supply you with chakra for several days in succession. You’ll experience the same exhaustion afterwards, but these will help you get the chakra you need for a short period of time. You’ll have to eat many, but they should do the trick.” She explained all this while rewrapping the dismembered limb. “I first made them for Naruto back when he was trying to master chakra shape transformation while using shadowclones.”

Sasuke “tsk”ed at their headstrong friend and Sakura smiled again. “You can come with me tomorrow to the greenhouse, and I’ll cook you up a batch.”

. . . . . . . . .

Sasuke nodded sleepily at her offer. He had been correct in his theory that if anyone could help him figure out a solution to his current circumstances, it would be Sakura. Sasuke was knowledgeable about the use of food pills, but they weren’t the easiest things to come by; in fact, Konoha’s medics only made so many a year and Sasuke honestly hadn’t even took them into consideration. He supposed situations changed when you had a medic as a friend and she just happened to make a special recipe of food pills.

“There,” she nodded while tying off the end of his new bandage. Sasuke lulled at the feeling of her fingers dancing over his skin with such professional practice. He did a poor job of the wrappings with one arm, so it was nice to have someone else do it for once.  

Sasuke’s fatigue rapidly faded as the pink-haired medic leaned forward to release his arm and her shirt slid slightly to the left across her collarbone. Spotting the dark discoloration of a bruise just beneath the bone, Sasuke’s eyes widened and his right hand shot out and grabbed Sakura’s elbow before she could turn completely around.

“What is that?” Sasuke scowled, standing as he rotated Sakura’s body to fully face him again.

“What?” she asked unknowingly, disquiet jumping to the planes of her face at his sudden forcefulness.

“This,” he growled, releasing her elbow and using the end of his fingers to move the fabric away from her skin. As Sasuke placed his fingertips next to the mark, he couldn’t help but compare the size of them to the spot, and he made the connection almost instantly.

“Oh,” Sakura frowned down at the purple blotch, suddenly realizing the bruise was there herself. “That’s— I didn’t realize—” she began, moving away from his touch, then stopped her words when she saw the murderous stare he was giving the miniscule injury.

“Who did that to you?” he breathed, red beginning to stain his vision. There was an electricity forming beneath his skin and Sasuke couldn’t breathe. Somebody had shovedtheir fingers into her chest. Bruised her. In that moment, Sasuke knew instantly that he’d find and mutilate that person, whoever it was, accident or not, for even daring to lay their hands on her.

“Sasuke,” Sakura was saying, trying to reach him despite the ringing in his ears. “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me you’re not going to overrea—”

Making eye contact with her again, Sasuke stepped up to her and requested a second time for the name he was wanting, “Who was it?”

There was a moment of frigid silence between them as they stood searching each other’s eyes. And then Sakura’s hands found his waist and she slid them across his sides and buried her head in his chest. She clutched his bare back and spoke into his skin. “Stop. Let me explain.”

She clung to him like a stubborn leach as Sasuke tried remove her from his body. He tried reaching his arm down between them to pry her off, but her forearms remained secure around him. Damn her inhuman strength. His anger began to ebb as she awkwardly mumbled the story into his ribcage. During their skirmish, they had somehow ended up on the ground, and Sakura pinned his good arm to his side, pissing the Uchiha off because he knew that she was taking advantage of his one-arm-ness. The entire time Sakura described her experience with an unnamed patient’sunnamed father, Sasuke was crossly forced to listen to the episode via wrestling. Their tussle-talk ended when the Uchiha finally was made to agree with: “I promise I won’t do anything, just get off me.”

When her weight suddenly removed from his back and Sasuke flipped over with a huge breath of air, he shot her a glare. “Don’t ever do that again,” he hissed in the kunoichi’s direction as she grinned embarrassingly down at him.

She reached down for his hand and he reluctantly gave it to her. She was just fortunate that Sasuke was too tired to knock her hand away. As she helped him to his feet, she said, “I’m flattered at your concern, but I can’t have you going chunin-exam psycho right now—”

“What?!” he growled, and she dropped his hand. Stalking over to his bed, Sasuke sat firmly down and propped his pouty chin into his palm, feeling suddenly even more tired than before. “I don’t go psycho,” he grumbled despite the fact that they both knew thatwas an obvious lie. He’d gone crazyplenty of times. “And I’m not concerned,” he spit out angrily, tossing a pillow down on his bed and flipping onto his stomach. “Naruto and Kakashi would be—”

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved off his excuse and Sasuke stopped speaking; he still grumpily narrowed his eyes at her over the rim of his pillow before turning on his side completely, cutting off all conversation.

She didn’t take the hint, because seconds later she announced that she was showering and then going to bed.

“Hn,” he responded with more force and exasperation than he really needed to.

Okay, so, maybe he had gone just a little pre-psycho to this whole bruise situation. Sakura referenced the chunin exams and Sasuke recalled the incident she specified. When Sasuke had woken from his slumber, it was the effects of the cursemark that had the Uchiha turning his wrath on their enemies with fierce brutality. It was the rush of dark power that had turned Sasuke into a murderous “psycho.” So what was his problem now? A year ago, he wouldn’t have displayed something even close to the same reaction. He would have blamed Sakura for getting herself into the situation to begin with, and at the most, may have even told her to be more careful who she pissed off. But just a few minutes ago, Sasuke had felt like he did back in the Forest of Death, and yet he no longer had the cursemark. So why?

Sasuke had once always felt the desire to protect Sakura and maybe his reaction was just that feeling returning again now that they were friends again. It’s not just that, his own voice enlightened him.

Sasuke had in fact gone after Sakura when he heard about Kido kidnapping her, but the worst he had done in retaliation was surround ninja with fire and use genjutsu on one of them. But a few minutes ago… he was contemplating just how he’d stab more than fingers into the person’s chest who’d touched her.

Sasuke breathed out his anger again, hoping it would help him stop being so intense about it.

Sasuke couldn’t fall asleep as he tried to contemplate any other reason that would explain his actions besides the obvious answer. It had been obvious for some time now honestly, but Sasuke had denied it up until this point. Sasuke was in love with Sakura, and an Uchiha didn’t need to have a cursemark to be irrational when someone threatened his loved one. It had been a slow progression, but Sasuke had been slowly allowing himself to believe and accept the truth he’d always known. But what could he do about it now?

When Sakura finished showering, Sasuke pretended to doze heavily, so she put out the lights and padded lightly across the moonlit floor to her own bed. Despite how exhausted Sasuke was, he would never forget the night where he listened to the sound of Sakura’s even breathing as his heart ached, knowing that what he wanted, Sasuke could never have.

[anerdinallherglory]

Approaching Sun (23)

Author's Note: Hey guys! Summer is flying by and I am already having to start planning for the next school year and attend summer trainings. Keep me in your thoughts because I am hoping my second year of teaching will be much better than the first! Good news is that despite all of this, I am hoping to have another chapter coming your way before the end of summer. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as it focuses more on the heroine of the story!

P.S. This chapter is tightly adapted to the Naruto light novels. Read up on them here and here.

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

Chapter 23: Separate Missions

When Sakura Haruno had been dismissed from the Kazekage's council room, she had immediately followed Kankuro to the Sunagakure hospital on the east side of the village. They had not been busy, but when Sakura had been kindly announced, the staff smiled in recognition and escorted her straight to the Children's hospital at her request.

Sakura saw several patients, but none of them had bodily injuries or illnesses to attend to; in their cases, it was their minds and mental well-being that Sakura was assessing. When meeting their first patient, a child named Isao, the head medics insisted on observing her interactions with the child despite the fact that she had modeled this process for them before. It was the first time the kunoichi had sat down with a child since the incident with her patient, Emiko, back in Konoha. It was still a fresh wound for Sakura, but because of that, she took her time examining the child in front of her.

"What's your name?" she asked him, pulling up and reviewing his chart which listed the child's background, symptoms of behavior, as well as his trauma record. There was only one pattern of concerning behavior: frequent night terror episodes. The trauma? The only thing listed was the death of the child's mother.

The child mumbled his name shyly in response, ducking his head, to which Sakura tried to give him a reassuring smile.

Sakura quickly identified all that had been done to rule out any physical ailments or causes that might be the source of the night terrors. A sleep study had been conducted in which heartrate, blood pressure, and breathing had been monitored. After a few more dead ends, the referral information said that the determining factor might be stress.

His mother's death was two years ago, during the Shinobi World War, in fact. Was the child still experiencing stress from her death or was it something more than that? Sakura would have to conduct a formal interview with him in order to figure out what exactly might be the stressor in this child's life.

Sakura began to ask him questions about his life, how old he was, how he was doing at school, who did he live with, where did he live. What she learned from these types of questions was that Isao was an 11 year old boy who lived with his father and seemed to be a fairly happy child despite his mother's passing. He was one of the top students in his class, had a close group of friends, and lived in a household with considerable means.

Sakura switched to the more specific questions in regard to his condition.

"Isao," Sakura smiled again at the young boy, "do you have any dreams during your night terrors?"

Isao looked up towards his hairline in thought for a quick second, but then returned her questions with a confident and mature, "Not that I recall."

Sakura recorded what she could and sent the child home with a promise to see him the following day.

After he departed, Sakura turned to the head medic—a man named Mako that Sakura had worked closely with before—who had remained standing close by and said, "I need to speak to the physician who referred him; there has to be more to this that I can use."

"Right away miss," Mako responded, leaving to retrieve the physician.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After repeating the process with a few other children, Mako informed her that the most recent adolescent would be the last of their patients for a while. Sakura was then escorted to the greenhouse that she had once visited before so that she could find some helpful herbs for Isao to help him sleep. She also wanted to do a quick session for Mako and his team about what she was discovering with chakra-applied medicine.

When arriving, she quickly came up with a draught for Isao and recreated the burn solvent that she had invented in the leaf to treat the burn victims of Chino's human bombs. Sakura had always been fascinated with how well the Sunagakure hospital was able to recreate an environment such as the greenhouse for most medicinal plants that weren't native to the land.

As she wrote down the ingredients for both medicines, Kankuro walked in with a casual wave. "Came by to check on you. I just finished preparing your rooms. I'll show you where they are as soon as you are finished up here."

"Thank you Kankuro," she smiled politely, "I think I'll be here for quite some time still and I don't want you to have to wait up."

Offering him the same pen she used to write down the burn solvent's ingredients, Kankuro drew her a quick little map on the back of her paper. "It's just to the right of the hospital. Take a right here at the corner and it's the little inn next to it. The manager's name is Chie; she'll take care of you."

She bowed to him, holding the piece of paper gratefully. "Thanks again."

"I'll be off now, but I'll come again before the night is over. Let us know if you need anything else."

She assured him she'd see him later and suddenly felt bad that he felt like he needed to babysit her. She knew that he was just being a good host, much like Shikamaru did for Temari when she had stayed in the Leaf Village at one point, but Sakura still felt it was unnecessary.

After Kankuro's departure, Mako had quickly returned everyone to the subject at hand by exchanging a brief joke in regard to chakra-applied medicine. Catching the very end of it, Sakura explained, "With this medicine, maybe sunburns won't be so much of an issue here." She laughed along with the others and her insecurities left as Kankuro walked out the door.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kankuro was true to his word and checked on her once more before the sun began to fall beneath the walls of Sunagakure. She waited until dark to make the small trek to her quarters and once again made sure that no one was following her before she entered the inn. Sakura could hear Sasuke's disapproving cluck already if someone else happened to make an appearance in the middle of the night because of her carelessness.

"Welcome," the elderly inn-keeper announced, quickly meeting her at the door, "I am so sorry dear, but all of our rooms are full."

"Oh," the pink-haired ninja exclaimed embarrassingly. There must have been some sort of mistake then. "You're not Chie? I must have the wrong inn," she told the woman, rubbing the back of her head as she looked down at the little hand-drawn map in her hands. "Can you help me find the correct one? Lord Gaara…"

"The Kazekage?!" the woman exclaimed, rushing forward and pulling the map from her hands. After a minute of observing it more closely, the inn-keeper cocked a head at her in second thought. "What is your name, miss?"

Feeling slightly awkward, Sakura smiled as politely as she could. Why was it that she was experiencing moments like this frequently at hotels?

"Haruno, Sakura," she answered plainly, almost telling the woman to forget it all together, instead. But the name sparked recognition in the woman's face, and her eyes grew wide as she began to apologize for her confusion.

"Yes, this way, ma'am," she gestured for Sakura to follow. The situation was explained to her as they walked, all while the woman wrung her hands nervously. "I only have one room for you and your teammate. He insisted that it was fine, but I would be more than happy to arrange for you to have another room miss."

Hadn't the lady just said that all the rooms were full? Sakura paused as she processed slowly what this woman was saying. Chie was explaining that there was only one room for the both of them. Her and Sasuke were going to be sharing a room? And he had said that it was FINE? Sakura's inner-self was both screaming and panicking.

Sure enough, the lady spoke true and Sakura arrived at the end of the very long hallway on the top floor, and surveyed the single, unoccupied, spacious room with two beds. "Again, I am so sorry for my mistake," the woman bowed, and Sakura waved her hands in polite dismissal.

After Chie left, Sakura shut the door and placed her back against it with an exhale. She wasn't so sure if she shouldn't follow the woman and ask for a separate room after all. What was Kankuro thinking giving them the same room? And then Sasuke agreeing to it? Sure, they had stayed together back in Tanigakure, but that was because there were strange ninja after them. Maybe that's why Sasuke agreed to this; maybe he thought this was still considered enemy territory.

Sakura laughed a little when she saw how far away Sasuke had separated the two beds from one another. She could still see the outline of where it had been hours before, just a few feet away from the companion bed. She only recognized it as Sasuke's because his clothing was neatly folded and put to the side of it; the lack of his shirtless-self wandering the room's corridors let Sakura know that he was currently out.

Walking to the opposite side of the dim room, Sakura glanced down at her own bed which was currently occupied by a tray of food and fresh clothes. In response, her stomach growled, and she quickly removed the tray, snagging a few Sunagakure's famous biscuits from it. Sakura was even more excited about the new set of clean clothes. When she and Sasuke had fallen through the time-space dimension after they were attacked, Sakura had left behind her small bag of belongings. This meant the only thing she currently possessed were the dirty clothes on her back.

She quickly washed and changed into them. The beige trousers were exactly her size and fit her like a glove down to her ankles. She was amazed at how great of a guess the staff must have made in order to find them. The simple white tunic fit her a little looser, draped low with sleeves that fell just above her elbows. Sakura tucked the front of the shirt into her pants to give herself more shape and smiled at this version of herself dressed in Sunagakure fashion. Although she preferred her own style of red and white, Sakura thought this was a decent change. To finish the look, Sakura tested out braiding back her damp hair to keep the Sand Village winds from tearing at it. She quickly untangled it once she was sure she had the process of the plait in memory.

Sakura sat cross-legged on her bed, half-tempted but far too shy to pull Sasuke's bed back over to its original spot and blame it on Chie. She'd give him the distance he so obviously wanted even if it went against her own heart's desires. Even when Sasuke was with her, sometimes it seemed he was still very far away.

After several late-night hours of watching the starry sky out the window beside her bed, Sakura realized suddenly that she was waiting on Sasuke to return. And at this very same moment, Sakura made a heartbreaking connection. His clothes had been left behind because Sasuke had left to continue his mission in the desert; Sasuke hadn't cared if they shared a room because he hadn't planned on staying in it.

Sakura recalled her words to Sasuke when she had confronted him back in Konoha about accompanying him on his journey: "I'm a Jonin, now. I have my own mission to fulfill along the way."

And then she also remembered what she had said to Gaara earlier that morning when he asked about her "separate" mission: "I am hoping to check in on Sunagakure's own mental health clinic, as well as share some of my own medical findings with your hospital's doctors, if I may. I would also like to assist in any way medically during our time here."

Yes, she had made it clear to both Sasuke and Gaara about having separate missions but having separate missions didn't mean that Sakura wanted to be… well, separated. Sakura reasoned with herself that this was impractical of her. How else was it supposed to work? But she still felt frustrated. Shouldn't he have at least came and told her he was leaving? Couldn't Sasuke have mentioned when he'd be back, so she wasn't waiting on him? Maybe that had always been her problem.

She fell asleep to the memory of her apartment, the smell of tea, and his monotoned voice telling her, "I want you to stop waiting for me, Sakura."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sasuke stood ankle-deep in sand and focused on his breathing. It was evening now, and the setting, burning sun was a halo of orange fire against his shadowy figure. He breathed in the heat. Inhaled. Exhaled. Once. Twice, and then again. In his mind's eye, Sasuke pictured Kaguya's desert dimension and pretended he was inhaling the heat of that domain instead. This would be Sasuke's first attempt to teleport to any dimension directly without going through the core dimension where he had taken Sakura. It was connected to all of the other dimensions and was the bridge to all of them. But this had been Sasuke's goal for some time: to bypass the core dimension all together and cut his chakra use in half and decrease the time he spent there recovering afterwards.

Summoning the chakra to his Rinnegan, Sasuke exhaled the heat in his lungs as he opened the black rift before him. Pain instantly began in his temples as he reached forward with his chakra to push beyond the core dimension. He searched for the familiar desert, feeding the dojutsu more chakra in hopes of reaching it. More. It needed more, and he grudgingly gave it. Come on, he growled internally, reaching deep into his reserves.

Just then, an image of white sand appeared on the other side of the spinning portal and Sasuke immediately lunged for it. The Uchiha dove and the hot air around him abruptly vanished as pain pulsed like lightning in the back of his skull and behind his Rinnegan. Sasuke dropped to his knees at the sudden loss of chakra that evaporated from him. He knelt in the red dirt of the core dimension and felt the sensation of a vacuum as he lost hold of the sand dimension.

"Damn it!" he cursed and slammed his fist into the ground as a memorable weakness came over him. He knelt his forehead into the soil and let go of the jutsu altogether. He focused on his breathing once more, this time just trying to get as much oxygen as this cursed, airless dimension would allow him to have.

Sasuke had been so close to reaching it, but just couldn't supply enough chakra. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to amass the cost it would take in energy to do what Kaguya had been able to do so easily. Sasuke knew he shouldn't be disappointed since this was his first try at it. And besides, he had helped defeat the mother of chakra. If anyone could copy Kaguya's travel between dimensions, it would be him. Sasuke had to because the village depended on him to do so; he had to keep the future bright.

Sasuke frowned when he suddenly realized that he didn't have enough chakra left to return to his own dimension; he had used up too much trying to stretch the jutsu. He had thought this would happen, had even anticipated it and accepted it. But as Sasuke rolled onto his back and breathed heavily, looking towards where the portal had been milliseconds before, he felt disheartened. He wouldn't be going back to Suna to find Sakura tonight, then. Sasuke would have to recover here for a night or two before he could go back.

Despite having a talk with himself about Sakura's well-being on his journey here, Sasuke contemplated it again now. She would be fine. His pink-haired teammate was more than capable of taking care of herself; she didn't have to prove that to him anymore. Besides, Kankuro was looking out for her if not Gaara. She was busy with her own duties anyway. As long as she rested, she would be fine. Sasuke closed his eyes and let the sand-filled air brush against his face. She would be fine.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sakura was not fine for several reasons. The first was that she had been running off of only a few hours of sleep. How was she supposed to get any of the rest she needed if the kunoichi spent the night wondering about Sasuke? Sakura had tossed half the night in anger and the other half in worry. She knew that Sasuke lived in this exact same situation for two years without her worrying about him. Maybe it had been the encounter with the ninja back in Tanigakure, that still had Sakura's nerves on edge. The two of them hadn't met their pursuers since, but Sakura was still concerned about the confrontation and had never discovered the motive behind their attack. The identities of the ninja still remained a mystery as well. Her major concern was the fact that they had meant to do Sasuke harm first by breaching his room while the Uchiha had been asleep in hers. They came to hers next, Sakura rationalized, only because Sasuke had been absent. Were they really after Sasuke, or was the entire occurrence completely random because they were foreign leaf shinobi? If they were after Sasuke, how long would it take for them to track him down while he was alone in the desert, awayfrom the village and away from her? These were the thoughts that resurfaced in Sakura's mind all night, and she only managed a little sleep because she ended up reminding herself that Sasuke was one of the strongest ninja in the world, and that if anyone was after him, he would easily handle the situation and deal with the enemy on his own.

The second reason why Sakura was not fine, was because they were unable to locate her patient, Isao. After his first appointment with her, Sakura had developed a medicine that would help Isao sleep more soundly throughout the night to help with his night terrors. When his appointment time came first thing in the morning, he didn't show. One of the staff members had walked down to his father's house and had not found anyone home. It was evening now, and Isao had still not made an appearance. Sakura finally settled with writing Isao's father a note explaining her wish to see the boy and having the same staff member take it and leave it at their house.

Despite not seeing Isao, Sakura's schedule was full. Everyone in the village expressed a desire to be seen by the pink-haired medic, either because they believed in her advanced abilities or because they wanted to be included in the rare event. Sakura used their curiosity against them and was able to quickly give them a full exam as well as create detailed medical records for the majority of Sunagakure's citizens.

When Kankuro came to check on her, Sakura embarrassingly assured him that she was more than fine despite the workload. She was in the middle of organizing these records when Kankuro reminded her to make time to see the sunset while she was here. She had briefly mentioned it to him when they had first arrived, and it seemed he still remembered their conversation.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I was able to catch glimpses of it yesterday. I imagine I'll have some time left to do so once I've finished up here."

Kankuro nodded in response and said, "You are doing so much here. Take time for yourself, too."

"Oh, I will!" she promised again as he exited the building, wondering why he was emphasizing this point to her. Sakura had too much on her plate tonight such as finish the records, go over what new information she learned from Isao's referral, as well as check on the patients that stayed overnight at the children's medic clinic. She even considered staying with them overnight since she assumed Sasuke wouldn't be back any time soon; she honestly didn't know how long her teammate would be away. A couple of days? Weeks? She prayed it wasn't so. Sakura rose her chin and faced her work confidently. If she had any hope whatsoever of one day loving this man and having him love her in return, then she had better get used to this. Sasuke Uchiha would return eventually.

[anerdinallherglory]

Approaching Sun (21)

Author’s Note: Surprise chapter for my awesome readers who have been so supportive and kind during the entirety of Approaching Sun. You guys are my absolute favorite. And to my “guest” reviewers that I cannot respond to: I LOVE YOU.

Also, I will be adding the percentage of each chapter’s completion onto my Fanfiction profile and will be updating it as a write. That way you guys will know just how far I have to complete before posting next.

For those who are interested, I have created a playlist for Approaching Sun. It is just a list of songs that inspire certain chapters. The theme songs for this particular chapter are “There’s No Way,” “Superhero,” and “Enemies” by Lauv. Here is the link to the playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1235990355/playlist/7HmuyTgnSeuTNvhV9kytLw?si=SxBMwlj5SymNiVr1g1HvnA

P.S. I hope you guys are beginning to understand the story’s title. I plan on explaining it fully later.

As always, please like, share, and review. The feedback is so helpful. :)

Pairing: SasuSaku

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

.

Chapter 21: Balance

They had returned to complete darkness. It was the first thing that Sasuke noticed as the two of them practically fell out of the purple portal. When Sasuke’s feet hit the ground on the other side, he pulled Sakura to him as the two quickly tipped, causing Sasuke to land somewhat ungracefully on his back. Catching the brunt of their fall, Sasuke hissed.

It took the Uchiha a second to process that they had made it back into their own dimension, before he ended the jutsu and the spiraling door of his time-space technique collapsed upon itself. It was hard to see it because of the dimness around them, and Sasuke realized it must be either late night or early morning. The absence of feeling completely drained had Sasuke’s attention immediately turning to the kunoichi, whom he still held tightly to his chest through their connected hands.

He could feel that she was breathing, which was a relief, and his alarm faded slightly when her chin brushed against his chest and he found himself staring into her conscious green eyes, somewhat visible in the dark. Sakura blinked hard and Sasuke could practically feel the black marks slipping from his body as they returned to her, untangling their joined hands and quickly receding up her chin, cheeks, and forehead.  

Sasuke realized he was still clenching her hand even after the chakra stripes faded, and after a second, he came to his senses and released it immediately, moving his arm to support her back as he tried to sit up. In response, Sakura did some sort of scrambling motion to relieve him of her weight which had them both awkwardly fighting each other’s moves to detangle themselves.

“Ah, I’m—” Sakura began in flustered rasp.

Suddenly embarrassed, Sasuke jerked back his hand and let go of her completely at the exact same moment that she tried to lurch away. This only resulted in Sakura falling over the side of his leg and landing onto her hands and knees.

“—Sorry,” she breathed, not righting herself and remaining crouched as she caught her breath.

Sasuke berated himself for his actions next, but he was unable to conceal his concern. Grabbing her upper arm, he pulled her up and helped her settle against a tree. Because of the lack of light, Sasuke didn’t move too far away from her so that he might still see her face.

The Uchiha knelt in front of her for a long minute before he asked genuinely, “Are you okay?”

She nodded.

“Why did you do that?” Sasuke asked quietly, still only a foot’s distance away from her.

Still breathing hard, Sakura looked up to meet his eyes. She blinked at him innocently. “What?”

“Why did you dothat?” he bit out, which caused the kunoichi to furrow her eyebrows together in reproach, not understanding his irate tone. Sasuke didn’t even realize that there wasanger bobbing on the surface of his worry, until the words were out of his mouth.

“I just wanted to help—” she began, but Sasuke interrupted her.

With that same edged tone, he said, “You tricked me.”

“No—" she began, but in his anger, Sasuke kept talking.

He got closer to her face than he had originally intended to. “Is that what a partnership means to you? Surrendering yourself like that?” Sasuke knew it was a harsh accusation, and that Sakura had meant nothing negative by doing so. He was thoroughly impressed at her strength, but that didn’t matter to him anymore. He had stopped evaluating others’ worth by their power.

Before, he would have calculated how to use that power in the future. Sasuke would have thought something like “Better her than me” and told her not to let her fatigue keep them from moving forward. He couldn’t help feeling like the him before as his body was currently experiencing the result of what Sakura had done at her own expense.

Not only had she completely bypassed his own chakra network and directly supplied his dojutsu with the chakra it needed, but the medic had also pumped his body so full of her own energy that it left Sasuke with more chakra than when he had teleported them to that forsaken realm to begin with. She had emptied herself so that he might be restored in all his strength.

A partnership didn’t leave the other party at their worst. It left the Uchiha feeling like he had used her—like he had done with so many others. That was why he was hesitant to rely on her Strength of a Hundred seal to begin with.

“Sasuke,” she began between gasps. “I’m sorry.”

No, he thought. She needed to know exactlywhat he thought. “I have spent years taking from others and feeling absolutely nothing once they were reduced to the state that you are now in. Is that what you want to be to me?”

She continued to blink at him in the dark, and Sasuke realized something as he recalled what she had told him twice before: “I will help you get your revenge.”That’s who she thought he wantedher to be to him. The thought almost made him physically ill.

“That’s not a partnership!” he hissed in her face and stood up. “That’s not balance. You lied.”

“Yes,” she admitted. “If you put it like that, then I lied. But I did what I believed was best. I am fine, and I still have chakra. Transferring you that much chakra was because of what I did back at the tow—" but she stopped and her eyes widened as they focused on something past him.

Feeling the hairs suddenly stand on the back of his neck and arm, Sasuke turned, silent and aware that someone had just appeared at his back. When he spun, Sasuke effortlessly pulled his sword from its sheath and held it between himself and the enemy, all while wearing that signature glare of his.

Placing himself in front of his teammate, Sasuke pointed his blade at the multitude of shadowy figures that now stood scattered around them and between the trees. A million thoughts went through Sasuke’s mind when he realized that there were severalof them and he and Sakura were now completely surrounded.

One thought being that he felt like an amateur for not assessing their surroundings more closely. The second was that he needed to get Sakura out of here without ducking into a dimension this time. Sasuke didn’t know how the enemy knew where they would appear, but he needed to deal with these strange ninja who were after them, once and for all. There were no more thoughts after that as he allowed himself to slip into a calm, fierce determination to kill each and every single one of them that so much as came near them.

But when a voice called out to them through the darkness, a bell of recognition rang throughout Sasuke’s head that eased his alarm slightly. “Who are you?” the ninja called out with edged authority in his voice. “Tell us why you are here.”

Sasuke’s sharingan flashed in the ninja’s direction, but Sasuke didn’t lower his sword even when he approached, until he heard Sakura say his name: “Kankuro?”

Frowning, Sasuke lowered his blade. Because he and Sakura didn’t use the previous door, Sasuke realized then that the teleportation must have brought them two hours west. They had practically tumbled out onto the border between the Lands of Wind and Rivers. How convenient. But why did they have to run into these guys so soon?

It was then that Sasuke recognized the ninja by the faint purple markings on his face and the shinobi symbol of Sunagakure on his forehead. When the puppet master came within a few feet of them, he raised his hand in silent communication for his companions. Kankuro smiled largely at them in recognition. “Ah. Uchiha and Sakura. We have been expecting you.”

Still sitting on the ground, Sakura asked up at the approaching ninja, a smile spreading across her face. “You were expecting us?”

Kankuro nodded at them, confirming, “We got your message, Sasuke. As soon as we heard that the two of you were headed this way, we were sent to intercept you.”

“The two of us?” Sakura asked.

“Yes,” he explained with a knowing smile. “Along with Sasuke’s letter, we received word from the Hokage that Konoha’s most renowned medic might also be in company.”

Sasuke couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at the unexpected compliment, something fierce honing itself within.

“An escort for the Hokage’s pupils is the least we can do,” he finished despite Sasuke’s glare. “Not to mention that you both played a part in saving the world.”

“We thank you,” Sakura replied with a blush. When she spoke, Sasuke and Kankuro both noticed that she did so breathlessly as the result of her weariness. She made to stand, and the puppet master instinctively reached out towards her with concern when she stumbled slightly. “Are you okay there?”

Before Kankuro could so much as offer her his help, Sasuke intercepted her himself. He didn’t know why he did it, but the Uchiha quickly grabbed her elbow with his right hand and lifted it over his head as if it were the most casual thing for him to do. It took Sakura a blinking second to register that Sasuke was offering her assistance, but she quickly settled into his side.

“Long journey,” she explained simply to the sand ninja, making quick eye contact with Sasuke before letting her gaze fall back on the puppet master.

Sasuke cleared his throat after Kankuro watched them silently for longer than a few seconds.

“We’ll get you some refreshments as soon as we are back in Sunagakure,” Kankuro promised. He turned then, motioning for a few ninja to come forward. Accepting their new orders as scouts, the unfamiliar ninja nodded and disappeared in the trees.

After a few conversations between shinobi, they were ready to make the remaining voyage towards Sunagakure. Even in the dark, Sasuke could glimpse flashes of Sakura’s embarrassed flush as Sasuke supported her weight. He did his best to hide his own as his hand fisted into the clothing closest to her hip. He drew her nearer so that he supported most of her weight.

When her eyes grew wide, Sasuke offered her a one-word explanation that both reminded her of their unfinished dispute and assured her of its finish. “Balance.”

Sasuke also hoped the word reached her in another way. He wanted to prove to her that he could be a partner that didn’t solely take. He would carry the kunoichi the whole damn way if he had to.

……………………………………..

Sakura Haruno gazed out at the ripples of pink-glistened sand that rose into small dunes ahead of them. The sunrise at their caravan’s backs practically highlighted the desert hills in such a way that the sight shaped Sakura’s perceptions of beauty.

“Wow,” Sakura exclaimed upon seeing the rosy scenery. She had only ever walked this path during mid-day when the sun was at its highest—and hottest—which always had Sakura grateful for her fortunate—and much cooler—upbringing in the Leaf. It was dumbfounding how the time of day had her reconsidering her dislike for the desert.

A small laughter brought Sakura back from her meditative appreciation, and she blinked when a younger kunoichi from the group—someone Sakura had never talked to before—walked up beside Sakura and remarked, “It matches your hair!”

“Oh,” Sakura grinned at the ninja, reaching up to finger her hair with her free hand. “You think so?”

“Yes!” the girl exclaimed, “It reminded me of the sunrise as soon as I saw you! It’s very beautiful!”

Sakura grinned shyly at the girl. The female ninja looked then at Sasuke with that same enthusiasm. “Yours is the opposite, because it looks like nightfall!” Sakura swore that Sasuke’s uncaring attitude and blank expression is the reason she ran up to the front of the group soon after.

Kankuro, who was currently leading their company, called back, “If you like this, then you should see the desert during sunset.”

“I’ll have to make sure to see it while we are here!” she called out to him. Why she had never cared to see before, she didn’t know. Most likely because every time she had been here prior, she had been incredibly preoccupied.

Sasuke, who had remained quiet for their entire trek, shuffled her weight on his shoulders to regain her attention because he was preparing to move forward again. When their feet slid a little bit in the sand, Sakura offered him an embarrassed grin.

“I think I am alright now, Sasuke,” she admitted despite how much she was enjoying their tread. She thought back to all the times she offered Sasuke her support in the same way just to be next to him. That was such a long time ago. Sakura made to take back her arm, but Sasuke didn’t release his hold on her side.  

He only continued to move forward and said, “Anyone can see that you are dead on your feet. You’ll only slow us down, so I guess I’m just going to have to drag you the whole way.”

Sakura scowled at him. He certainly had a way to spoil the pleasant moments between them. But even when he turned his head, Sakura could see the small upturn of Sasuke’s lips at her glower.

“Annoying?” she asked, testing the word on her lips. The word’s connotation seemed to be changing in her mind the more that the two of them used it—which was veryoften. Unfortunately.

“Hn,” he snorted in agreement. “Insufferable.”

Thoroughly enjoying their small banter, Sakura replied with a closed-eyed grin, “Get used to it.”

Sasuke didn’t say anything to that. They fell back into a silence, so Sakura’s eyes flashed back and forth for a second as she worked up the courage to take advantage of it. Everyone else in their escort was several paces ahead of them, so Sakura readdressed their tense conversation from earlier.

She sighed. “I have to admit something else to you.”

Sasuke’s expression completely changed as he eyed her apprehensively. “What?”

Sakura had tried to tell him this before Kankuro and the other Sand ninja approached them. Bringing it up now took twice the nerve. “While you were asleep back in Kaguya’s tower, I went exploring the dimension by myself.”

There was a silence. No answer. But before he could think of a response, she also blurted, “And what’s worse, is that I might have—” She took a breath, “—even coaxed your body into a longer sleep . . .”

The Uchiha’s black and purple eyes flashed at her then, and his feet faltered a step. “You did what?” he hissed.

Cringing guiltily, Sakura rubbed the back of her neck and dropped her eyes to the right. “I just wanted to prove to you that I could help. I didn’t know that helping you sleep would keep you from waking up. Your body must have really needed the rest. I’m sorry.”

Sakura knew that if his hand wasn’t currently fisted into her side, it would have gone up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

After an annoyed sigh, Sasuke just tugged her closer, which she thought impossible until it happened. “If you want this . . . partnership to work, I have to be able to trust you. That was a very stupid thing to do and all you accomplish by doing things like that is making me regret bringing you.”

Sakura blinked at that word “trust” and flinched inwardly at his words. The weight of them made her entire being feel heavy with disappointment. How could she explain her desire to prove to him that she could be useful? His earlier words came to mind: “Is that what you want to be to me?”

After along minute, Sasuke spoke again, his voice almost a whisper, “I know who you are. I know what you are capable of. I know your power. You can stop trying to prove to me that you aren’t weak.

Her eyes widened at the comment, which was so completely unexpected. It was like Sasuke was suddenly talking to her for the first time—outright acknowledging her. It was what she had always wanted—to hear him say those words. Little did she know that she had already proven herself to him. She tucked his words, and the feelings with them, away in her heart.

Face blank from any expression, Sasuke said again, “While we travel together, we can ‘rely on one another’as you call it. But there are guidelines.”

Still somewhat elated at this sudden progress between them, Sakura nodded enthusiastically. “Anything.”

“I have to trust you. So don’t be stupid.”

Sakura immediately frowned. What did she honestly expect?

“Also, no more stunts like earlier.” In other words, he wanted to be balanced. He wanted it to be a fifty-fifty partnership. Symbiotic and equal.

That one, Sakura could agree to even though she still didn’t regret what she did with her power earlier. When she thought about it, maybe that’s how Sasuke wanted it to be because he considered her his equal now? Sakura wouldn’t hold her breath on that one. She just smiled, looked ahead, and said, “Okay.”

…………………………………………….

Sasuke should have added more guidelines to their agreement. And as he walked towards Sunagakure through that beautiful garnet desert with its look-a-like at his hip, he knew precisely what he needed to add.

No more of this, either.

But Sasuke didn’t want to add that one.