Wilting Blossoms

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Chapter Four: Of Slips and Redemption
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The air was moist. They were getting close to the sea… and the border of Fire Country. Sasuke should have felt relief… but he was only leaving half his problems behind. The other half were following him, keeping herself thirty yards behind and a bit to the left. His dedication was beginning to waver, and it was all HER fault. He seethed, gritting his teeth so hard that they ground together. She was always there… sleeping beside him while they rested for a few scant hours… whipping up a decent breakfast from what she could forage while he cleaned their weapons. Always trying to cheer him up, always smiling… always a burning temptation to distract him from his objective. He hated the temptation… but he couldn’t quite bring himself to hate… her.

And he couldn’t deny her usefulness. If he hadn’t taken her… if she hadn’t been with him when Kakashi’s seal broke, he would been disabled and powerless when the pursuers caught up with him. He would have been dragged back to the village in ropes… he shuddered to think. But she, through what he could only deduce to be panic-driven talent, had managed to reseal the curse.

But that was only the rational side of his head that was talking. Brutally suppressed emotions had begun to leak through cracks in his psyche… cracks that had appeared with her kiss. Even now, thoughts were tumbling through his head of their own volition. What if he had someone he could trust? Someone he could rely on during the hard times… someone he could laugh with during the good times. Someone… he could love.

It was the single dumbest though Sasuke had ever let spin about in his mind. She would be a liability at best, and the cause of his demise at worst. And yet… the thought wouldn’t go away. For what seemed like the thousandth time, he mulled over what Kakashi had told him on the day he left the village. ‘Even if you succeed in your revenge, all that will remain is sorrow.’ He didn’t know what had happened in Kakashi’s past, but the look Sasuke had seen in the one eye which was visible… he couldn’t deny the truth in it.

He was so caught up in his contemplation, he almost didn’t notice Sakura until he spotted her speeding through the trees beside him. She signaled for a stop, and they landed deftly on a wide branch of an ancient oak tree. Sasuke realized that the sounds of labored breathing weren’t only coming from his pink haired companion. His eyes stung with sweat, and he allowed himself to feel the pain in his legs. If he was this bad off… he could only imagine what Sakura felt like.

“I’ve been thinking…” she managed between pained breaths. “Maybe we could spend tonight in an inn?” She pointed to a clearing in the trees a half mile away, barely visible through the foliage. It looked like a small inn for travelers.

“That’s stupid.” He watched as her expression twitched, then fell. For a second, he thought he saw a flash of anger in her eyes before her customary, hurt expression appeared. “We don’t have time to, Sakura.”

She pouted, holding her ground. “We don’t need to spend extra time sleeping… I just want something more comfortable. A bed would be more restful anyway… we could move faster if we didn’t have cramps from sleeping on uncomfortable ground.”

Unbidden thoughts flashed through his mind: Sakura’s warmth through their clothes as she was pressed against him, the delicate smell of bathing herbs from her hair, the softness of her lips pressed against his. The thought of them sleeping in a bed, nestled together… he railed against his yearning, lashing out at her. “If you slow me down, Sakura…” he growled, “I won’t think twice about leaving you behind in that comfortable bed of yours. Should have known you couldn’t cut it… bringing you with me like this…” He harrumphed at her.

Her hands clenched into fists. Inner Sakura was screaming bloody murder, and for once Sakura felt the same. She had saved his life, and he hadn’t so much as thanked her. She was keeping up with his pace even though it was murdering her, and he didn’t even acknowledge it. She had thrown away her life, her future as a shinobi, all because she wanted to make sure that he didn’t die on this insane mission of revenge of his. Now this? “Screw you, Uchiha.”

Sasuke blinked at her. She blinked back. Did she just say that out loud? She was pretty sure she had only meant to say it in her head… but it had instead come out of her in an unnatural, cold tone. The raven-haired love of her life was looking at her as if she was insane, and she tended to agree. Her head swam with the knowledge of what had just happened. Sure… she had felt it. She had meant it too. But she sure as hell hadn’t meant to actually express it to him. She turned her back slowly, walking away from him down the length of the branch. Her knees felt very weak at the moment, but she managed to keep putting one foot in front of the other, slowly meandering away from him.

“Sakura.” His voice was uncertain. “I’m… uh… sorry. You’re probably right… sleeping in a bed would be more restful for us.” Sasuke wasn’t certain what he had just seen, but it wasn’t the Sakura he was used to. He felt… unsettled.

Her voice was thready. “We can just use Henge no Jutsu to make sure that no one recognizes us. Let’s go.”

And Sasuke found himself following her.

*****

Shikamaru was contemplating over various strategies as Neji shouted something from the back of their line. The stream of ninjas halted and backtracked to where the pair of Hyuuga stood with their byakugan active, looking over the area. His keen eyesight didn’t miss much, but he couldn’t see anything to cause the stop. Just a small clearing in the forest. “What is it, Neji.”

“There was an enormous explosion of chakra here…” The white eyed boy spoke quietly.

Shikamaru swallowed nervously. Neji’s conception of quantities of chakra varied greatly from his own. The male Hyuuga didn’t think twice about pouring his vast chakra out of his body… and seemed to have incredible reserves. For Neji to become so unsettled… “How much?”

“It’s easily on par with what Naruto exhibited while fighting me. Also similar to Naruto… the chakra feels… evil.”

Hinata gasped. “Naruto-kun isn’t evil… just…” She looked over at Naruto, who’s expression seemed locked in a perpetual half snarl. “… um… angry.” She blushed.

Neji slowly nodded. “Hinata-sama is correct in a sense. While Naruto’s chakra feels as though it comes from a source of anger… this chakra feels coldly malicious.”

The obvious question was voiced by Naruto. “Sasuke?” The Hyuuga nodded in unison. “Bastard…”

Hinata spoke in a hushed voice, just loud enough for everyone to hear. “I hope we can catch up to them soon. Whoever is holding them might be hurting them…”

Shikamaru watched the reactions of his teammates. ‘She’s the only one who still has hope they’ve been kidnapped.’ Shikamaru gave a resigned sigh. This mission was looking more and more troublesome. Why did he always get into situations like this? “Let’s get going, team. Stick to the plan.” Nods all around, and they took flight.

*****

Review Responses:

MidnightMoon - Thanks for giving my fic a try! Like I said before... I don't particuarly like the pairing either but I wanted to see if it could be done. Thanks for the frequent reviews.

Chelsey - Thanks for the frequent reviews as well! Yeah... Sasuke is a lot less of a jerk when I write for him. Out of character? Maybe... but if the pairing's going to work then I gotta make him a little nicer...

Emina - Hehe... I like NaruxSasu too... but its good to branch out, ne? Who knows what'll happen. Thanks for giving me a try!

animevivverz - Sasuke stabbed Naruto's face out of the picture mainly because he's jealous. He just doesn't think too much of Sakura... at least he didn't before they left on the journey. Thanks for reading!

tsukashi - WOW thanks for the detailed review! You obviously put a lot of thought into that... *heartheart* As for Sasuke giving in too easily... I'd have to say I agree. Looking back on it I think that part was a little rushed. Perhaps cause for an edit later... but for now I'm going to concentrate on getting out new material. Yay!

*heart* to all my reviewers.