Karma

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.
Warnings: Sasuke-centric.
AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Karma
::four::


It was wonderful in the shade of the cherry blossom trees. Although his eyes were closed, he could still see the specks of light peeking in through the pink blur of petals above him.

A soft wind carried a few petals off the trees and fluttered around him. One of them landed on his cheek, and he slowly raised a lazy hand and brushed it off.

He opened an eye at the sudden stop of running footsteps. He looked up, startled as the sudden shadow dropped over him.

His eyes were blue, so dark and filled with grief. His breath heaved as his lungs worked for him to catch his breath.

His golden hair was matted and his clothes were dirty. But what caught Sasuke’s attention was the smear of blood on his cheek.

“She’s dying,” he whispered.

***

Sakura blew a few stray bubble-gum pink hairs out of her eyes and closed the door of the girls’ locker room behind her. She shouldered her duffel bag and proceeded to walk down the hallway, having freshly showered after her aerobic class.

“There is nothing like a good workout to lift my spirits!” Sakura exclaimed as she punched a fist in the air. “I wonder if Sasuke-kun wants to celebrate his birthday today.” But just as her good mood came, it was quickly diminished at the sight of a familiar person heading her way. She frowned and walked towards him.

His blue eyes flickered toward her before resuming on the path in front of him.

“Hey.” Sakura frowned when he made no actions to stop. “Hey!”

He paused in his stride, hands in his khaki pants as he turned towards her. An eyebrow lifted and Sakura stared into blue eyes that seemed a tad shade darker.

“What?” He said, finally as his gaze slowly traveled from her sneakers to her head. Then, he turned his head away and looked out the window.

“How dare you ignore me?” Sakura sputtered. “Do you know who I am? I am the single heiress of the Haruno-.”

“I didn’t ask for your life story.” Naruto said with disinterest. “So please, don’t bore me to death.”

“You!” Sakura growled, pointing a finger at him shakily. “You are the most despicable person in the entire world!”

“Oh?” Naruto turned towards her and a bright smile blossomed on his face. “You have some spirit, don’t you? Sakura-chan, was it?”

“No! It’s Haruno-san!” Sakura snapped. In a blink of any eye, Naruto towered over her.

“Your eyes are pretty. Why don’t we go on a date, Sakura-chan?” He suggested. “How about we get some ramen?”

“Get away from me, idiot!” Sakura screamed as she swung her arm. Her fist made direct contact with his cheek and he flew back a couple of feet.

“Sakura!”

She turned quickly at the voice and stared at an extremely pissed off Sasuke. Her eyes widened and she gasped, happily.

“Sasuke-kun! Naruto, he was going to-.” She began only to be cut off by a groan from Naruto. He shook his head and touched his cheek, gingerly.

“Sakura, why did you hit him?” Sasuke demanded as he walked over to the blonde. “You aren’t that petty, are you?” Sakura blinked and her mouth worked like a fish out of water.

“W-What?” she cried, shrilly. “Sasuke-kun, you don’t think that I intentionally punched him, do you?”

“Are you okay?” Sasuke asked, ignoring her completely.

“What happened?” Naruto frowned. His eyes had become a lighter shade of blue and Sakura frowned, her brow furrowing in concentration. What did just happen?

“Let’s go home and put an icepack on that.” Sasuke said, crossly. “It’s going to be a pretty bad bruise.”

Sakura stared and her duffel bag slid off her shoulder, dropping onto the ground. “He lives with you?” Sakura asked with wide eyes. “When did this happen?”

“That is none of your business.” Sasuke frowned as he walked away with Naruto in tow. When she overcame her shock, she quickly fumbled with the zipper of her duffel bag and pulled out her cell phone.

“Ino!” she said, breathlessly after she dialed a number. “Ino, you have to hear this!”

***

“Why did she hit you?” Sasuke asked as Naruto unbuckled his seat belt.

“I don’t remember.” Naruto replied, with a frown. “But it hurts a lot. She can pack a good punch.”

“Moron.” Sasuke rolled his eyes and pulled out of the school’s parking lot. “You must have offended her.”

“Oh. Then I’ll apologize to her tomorrow.” Naruto said, sorrowfully. Sasuke gave a nod as they exited the car and closed the doors behind them.

“Neji called. He wants you to call him back.” Sasuke said, distractedly as he opened the doors to the house. He walked in and was followed by Naruto.

“Oh. Thank you.” Naruto smiled. “Neji-san worries too much.”

“He informed me it was your mother’s death anniversary today.” Sasuke continued as he dropped his keys on the kitchen table and walked over to the fridge.

“It is.” Naruto said as he sat down at the counter. Sasuke frowned and took out two glasses and a jug of juice.

“How did she die?” Sasuke asked, quietly.

A shadow past over Naruto’s face and he accepted the glass of juice that Sasuke handed to him.

“I killed her.”

Sasuke choked and sat his glass down with a thump, spilling juice over the rim and onto the counter.

“What?” he managed, as he cleared his throat. Of course he didn’t have bad hearing; it was just that he wanted Naruto to confirm what had he said. “What do you mean that you—.”

“It’s nothing you need to know.” Naruto replied, brightly. “Forget I said anything.”

“How can I forget when you…” Sasuke frowned. …could be a murderer? A murderer that I am left alone with for an entire week! He grabbed a dishtowel and distractedly mopped up the spilled juice on the counter.

“Hey, watch out!” Naruto exclaimed as Sasuke’s hand hit his glass of juice. It tipped and fell off the counter, shattering upon impact of the hard tiled floor.

“Fuck!” Sasuke hissed as he bent down to pick up the pieces. Naruto grabbed his hands and Sasuke flinched as he cut his finger on a piece of glass. A trickle of blood welled up from the cut and a drop of it fell onto the shards of glass on the floor. The drop of crimson changed a few slivers into a rosy hue.

“No.” Naruto whispered as he slowly released Sasuke’s hands. His eyes were vacantly staring at the pile of glass.

“Hey.” Sasuke frowned, uncertainly.

“No!” Naruto gasped out, his voice raising a few octaves.

There were sirens in the distance that was growing increasingly louder.

Someone was screaming.

He turned in his mother’s arms, feeling safe and protected in those encircled limbs.

“Okaasan,” he whimpered as he buried his nose into his mother’s bosom. The smell of soft jasmine filled his nose as his small hands tightened on the blouse she wore.

The sirens were getting closer.

“N-Naruto.”

He looked up and stared as his mother slowly opened her eyes, a trickle of blood came out the side of her lips and she attempted to speak. Her hand brushed against his face, skimming over the cuts that the flying glass had done. Her gaze was warm and affectionate. She had always looked at him with love that told him how much he meant to her.

“Don’t be afraid, darling.”

“Okaasan!” he choked out as a small smile lifted the side of her lips.

“I’ll be okay, let go.”

“No! I’ll never let go! Never!”

Rough hands grabbed his shoulders and he desperately clung onto his mother who continued to watch him with those loving eyes. He struggled as those hands pulled him away and he felt cold and vulnerable as he was broken from his safe cocoon into a world of death and violence.

“No! I won’t let you take her! No!”

“Naruto!”

Hands were gripping his shoulders and his eyes shot open as he met Sasuke’s eyes. He looked worried and his arms were shaking from the pressure he was applying into his grip. Naruto blinked as the pain registered on how hard Sasuke’s fingers were digging into his skin.

“It’s been so long.” Naruto confessed hoarsely. He frowned and raised a hand to his throat. It felt raw, as if he had been screaming. “I thought I would have forgotten it by now.”

“You were screaming.” Sasuke said in response to his silent question from before. “I couldn’t stop you.” He released his grip on his shoulders and pulled away.

“I’m sorry.” Naruto replied, shifting from his spot. “Maybe the past has come back to haunt me.” He laughed uneasily. “From the first time we met, I thought you had an uncanny resemblance to a boy…I once knew.”

“A boy?” Sasuke repeated.

“He was my best friend and he was taken away from me.” Naruto whispered as his eyes became unfocused. “He would always tease me on how much I looked like a girl.”

“Hardly.” Sasuke snorted as he began picking up the broken glass that had been forgotten.

“But he always made me laugh and he promised me we would be together forever.” Naruto clenched his fist and Sasuke let out a cry. “Then, he lied.”

Sasuke groaned and grab a hold of Naruto’s arm and shook it. Distractedly, the blonde looked down and sheepishly opened his fist to reveal his bloody palm. He had forgotten that he still had a few pieces of glass in his hand when he clenched down on it.

“You’re so fucking stupid.” Sasuke said, bluntly as he got up to throw away the pieces he had collected. “Get up and pick out the glass while I vacuum this area.”

Naruto obeyed silently as he walked over to the trash can and picked out the shards that had impaled his flesh. Sasuke quickly cleaned the area with some bleach and water before vacuuming the floor just in case there were tiny pieces he had missed. Then he placed them back into the hallway closet before walking over to where the blonde was rinsing his hand underneath the kitchen tap.

“Do you need stiches?” Sasuke asked as he none too gently wrenched Naruto’s arm hand away from the water. “It doesn’t look too deep.”

“You’re a really nice guy, Sasuke.” Naruto smiled. “And you’re easy on the eyes when you’re not scowling.”

Sasuke glared at him, fighting to force down the blush that threatened to appear on his face.

“He was the first person that I ran to when I got hurt.” Naruto laughed. “…But every time he would tell me how stupid I was.”

“You are stupid.” Sasuke responded a little angrily. He walked over to the kitchen cabinet and withdrew a first aid kit. Naruto watched him as he took out a roll of bandage and some disinfectant.

“I have these dreams…” Naruto said as he watched him. “That I don’t understand. Do you ever have dreams like that?”

In fact, I do. “No,” he replied as he wiped his face clean of any emotion. He gently dabbed at Naruto’s cut with a cotton swab and Naruto hissed quietly when it stung. In silence, he wrapped the blonde’s hand in gauze while Naruto watched him curiously.

Blood…smeared across a cheek.

His eyes were as blue as the sky.

In the end, when he woke up.

He had already forgotten.

***

He woke up to the ringing of the phone and he turned over, eyeing his cell phone before picking it up and looking at the screen. Then he realized it was his house phone that was ringing.

With a grunt, he propped himself up on his elbow and reached over.

“What,” he grumbled sleepily.

“Uchiha?”

Sasuke instantly narrowed his eyes and slowly sat up.

“You better have a good reason why you called so early.” Sasuke snapped. The wheels in his head were already turning as he plotted Neji’s death.

“Sorry.” Neji said, even though Sasuke knew he probably wasn’t sincere at all. “Naruto didn’t call me back yesterday so I was worried.”

Obsessed was more like it.

“Naruto got in a bit of accident so he probably forgot.” Sasuke said as he pulled away his covers and swung his legs so that his feet were touching the floor at the side of the bed.

A pause.

“What!” Neji gasped. “Is he okay? Where is he? Put him on the phone!”

Sasuke was way ahead of him as he opened the door to Naruto’s room and threw the handset so it landed solidly on Naruto’s chest. The blonde jerked and opened his eyes, staring quizzically at the figure in his doorway.

“Sasuke, it’s a Saturday.” Naruto said in confusion.

“Uchiha! Put him on the phone NOW!”

“I know,” he responded simply.

“Do you hear me? I want to talk to Naruto!”

“Oh, then what are…”

“Naruto! Is that you?”

The blonde stared at the handset on his bed and picked it up, placing it to his ear. “Neji-san?”

“Naruto? Are you all right?” Neji’s voice was almost frantic.

“I’m fine.” Naruto replied. “Oh right! I forgot to call you back yesterday.”

“You’ve never forgotten before.” Neji sounded upset and Naruto laughed quietly.

“Sorry! I’m still adjusting to things here.” Naruto said, absently. “But you didn’t have to call so early. You woke Sasuke up.” He glanced up at the aforementioned young man who towered over him while glaring at the phone in his hand.

“That beauty queen doesn’t need that much sleep.” Neji replied.

Naruto choked back a laugh and kept his tone serious. “That’s not nice.” He said.

“I heard that.” Sasuke growled at the same time. “And the princess doesn’t have to grow his hair out that long. It’s not like he’s waiting for a prince to climb it.”

“What did he say?” Neji demanded as Naruto shot Sasuke an amused glance.

“Nothing,” he told him reassuringly as Sasuke walked toward the door.

“I’m going to back to bed. Keep the phone.” Sasuke said as he walked out.

“Neji-san.” Naruto said quietly as he heard Sasuke’s door close. “Sasuke is a really good guy.”

“I’m glad for you.” Neji murmured. “But don’t get your hopes up. He might not remember anything.”

“It’s okay.” Naruto smiled as he fell back onto his back. “Just as long as I get to be by his side, I will be happy.”

“Your time is running out, Naruto. How are your headaches?”

Naruto paused and his grip on the phone tightened.

“Naruto?”

“I snapped once.” Naruto said, carefully. “Haruno Sakura punched me and Sasuke told me that I did something to upset her.”

“Naruto, once this semester is over. I want you back at the Hyuuga House.” Neji ordered.

“Neji-san…”

“Do you understand?”

Naruto closed his eyes tiredly and sighed softly.

“Naruto?”

“…I understand,” he whispered.

***

Kisu.