Sacred Flower

Hopefully, this chappie turns out to be as good as I wanted it to be, but I was rushing to finish this before I had class and I had a major writer’s block, so take it easy with the criticizing! Oh, and BTW, I know I made Sakura take those pills twice a day, but let’s assume she already took them around lunchtime. Enjoy this crap-tastic chapter!

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Sasuke got home, fumbling with his stupid keys. Sakura was already asleep on his back and he was hurrying to get her inside and warm her up. As soon as he got inside, he gently laid Sakura down on his/her bed. He quietly tiptoed to the living room and plopped onto the couch. He grabbed the remote control and flipped on the TV, but he wasn’t paying attention to it. He was lost in his thoughts.

‘Why do I care for Sakura? Why would I rush home just to get her asleep in my bed? When did I even start caring for her?’ His thumb kept hitting the button to change channels, but he didn’t care. ‘Well, there are two versions: the long one and the short. Which do you wanna hear?’ Sasuke didn’t even have time to think before his inner mind answered for him.

‘Time’s up! I’ll just tell you the super short version. You care for her because you lo-’ ‘Why do you always have to bring that up!?’ he screamed to his inner self. ‘Because you really do love her dumbass. You always have. You were too stupid to see her until she looked like a broken doll. Now do you wanna hear my other explanations?’ Sasuke allowed himself to explore all the other possibilities of his recent actions.

‘You care because you love her. And don’t interrupt me yet! You rushed home to make her comfortable and well-rested for later. Catch my drift? -wink wink-’ Sasuke felt disgusted. He really was no better than Kakashi or the orange loudmouth. He cursed his inner self for having these perverted thoughts. ‘Hey, I’m part of you. Whatever I think is what you think, but it’s deep down inside.’ Sasuke had no rebuttal for that comment.

‘And for the last part, you’ve always cared for her. That time in the hospital when you volunteered to watch her was the first time you’ve ever shown it.’ Sasuke thought long and hard at that. ‘Did I really repress it that far down?’ His thumb continued flipping through the channels on TV. Sasuke looked at the clock on the wall. It read 6pm. ‘Well, gotta start dinner.’ Sasuke got up and started preparing to make chicken teriyaki.

Sakura woke up to the smell of food. She stretched in bed and got up. She blinked a few times before she reflected on the day. ‘First, we had breakfast. Then we went to that nice blonde lady. She asked me a lot of questions, and took a blood sample and an x-ray. After, that nice boy came and she asked him questions about me. After we were done…’ Her memory became blurry at this part. ‘I…felt sleepy? And then that boy…he carried me home.’ Sakura would entrust her life to Sasuke, even if she barely remembered him. ‘I must’ve fallen asleep and he carried me home, but it felt so chilly. I wasn’t even holding on tight enough and I didn’t fall. He made sure I was alright.’

As Sasuke’s proven over the past few days, he was nothing like that monster that broke her. Sakura’s grip on the bed sheets unconsciously grew tighter. One mere thought of him made her uneasy. She hurriedly rushed out of the bedroom, looking for comfort and protection, from that boy who looked so much like that monster.

Sasuke turned around when he heard hurried footsteps toward his direction. It was just Sakura, looking like a child who was frightened by the dark.

“Sakura, did you have a bad dream?” Sakura swiftly sat down at the kitchen table, nodding while staring at the floor. Sasuke let the food simmer in the pot and sat down next to her. “Don’t worry Sakura. I’ll always be here to protect you.” He gently placed his hand over hers and stroked her knuckles with his thumb. Sakura smiled to him before she relaxed against him. She rested her head on his shoulder, and Sasuke didn’t know what to do.

‘Is this the part where I hold her?’ Sasuke awkwardly put his arm around her to embrace her. To his surprise, she didn’t move away. In fact, she snuggled up closer to him. She felt protected and safe. Her safe haven was only when he was with her.

They both sat there, embracing each other for what seemed like forever, perfectly shaped into one another. Sakura was the first to break their moments of peace. She looked up into his eyes, and he looked down into hers. This weird inner warmth spread all over his body, as did hers.

‘Is this…love?’ he asked himself. Sasuke slowly dropped his head toward hers, inching closer and closer. Sakura barely moved a muscle. ‘Almost there, just do it already!’ screamed his inner self. ‘Wait, remember the last time this happened?’ he reminded himself. Sasuke immediately stopped what he was doing.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. He let go of her, missing her warm touch. He went back to the stove and shut it off. The food was well-done, if not overdone. He placed the food in the middle of the table, as well as a couple plates, a few utensils and a glass of water. They ate in complete silence.

“H-how was your day Sasuke?” said Sakura, breaking the silence. ‘Did she just speak? And did she just say something without me addressing her!? What progress!’ “It was fine, thank you Sakura. I did what I usually did, but it was still fine.”

They continued eating in silence when Sasuke accidentally knocked over his glass of water. Instantly, Sakura got up, got a washcloth and wiped it up. Sasuke gave her a small smile as his token of gratitude. Sakura gently smiled back and sat down on her chair. After they finished eating, Sakura helped Sasuke wash the dishes. Lately, she’s been doing more chores: doing the dishes, doing the laundry, vacuuming, etc.

‘She’s improving a lot. I think she’ll be okay in no time.’ His heart clenched. Not only was it a good thing for her, it was a bad thing for him. ‘Soon, she’ll be living on her own, the way it used to be. The way it used to be…’ He’d ignore her everyday. She’d annoy him everyday. He didn’t want to seem heartless after this experience by brushing her off the way he used to.

Soon, it was time to go to sleep. He felt weary from all these thoughts in his head. He plopped down onto the couch, his arm tucked behind his head. Sakura sat down on the other couch and flipped on the TV. She enjoyed watching several programs whenever she could watch it, especially the soap opera “Deception”.

Sakura fell asleep watching the news, even though she woke up from a nap a couple hours ago. Sasuke gently woke her up, and she was greeted by a glass of water and two pills. “Sakura, don’t forget to take these.” Sakura gulped down the pills, grimacing at the bitter taste. Sasuke gently lifted her up and carried her to bed. He tucked her in, kissed her goodnight and closed the door. He plopped down onto his crummy couch again and fell fast asleep.

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Somewhere else in Konoha, a blonde woman received an envelope. Tsunade was shocked; she didn’t expect the results to come back to her within the same day. She slowly opened the envelope, not really wanting to know what the test results were, but she knew she had to see. She slowly undid the flap and pulled out the piece of paper, and her heart shattered into a million pieces.

‘This isn’t how it’s supposed to be,’ she thought. Sakura’s test result came out negative, meaning that she had a slim to none chance of bearing children. Before Itachi’s attack on her, Sakura had grown close to Tsunade, almost like a mother to daughter bond forming between them. How was Sakura supposed to hear the worst news of her young life by the one person who was her last maternal figure? Tsunade hurt for the young girl. ‘This could very well destroy her life, but she must be told.’

Tsunade wrote to Sasuke, saying that they had to come by her office the next day. She sent a messenger with the scroll and got into deep thinking. How was she supposed to tell Sakura without destroying her? It was almost like asking a random person to walk on water without using their chakra. She began to think of ways to tell Sakura the horrible news.

‘Sakura, you’re a beautiful young woman. Surely you don’t want to get pregnant and gain extra body fat…’ No, too stupid.

‘Sakura, I’m sorry to say this, but you can’t have children.’ No, too heartbreaking.

‘Sakura, when Itachi took you, he also took your future children.’ No, too right-to-the-point.

Tsunade became desperate. She’d rather give up her life to see Sakura happy and live out her young life. She looked out her window to be greeted by twinkling stars. She took this as a sign that the gods were listening to her silent prayer.

“I pray for Sakura’s well being after I tell her this tomorrow morning. In exchange, please grant her the ability to give life and I will cease my drinking.”

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Oooh, what’s gonna happen next? Keep reading, and you’ll find out soon enough! Oh, note to all the loyal fans to this story, I won’t be updating for awhile because I will be off to Europe for a school trip for two weeks, starting Nov. 15. Please stay patient and I promise to bring you two chappies the minute I return home. Also, I’m super sorry that this chapter is a lot shorter than I thought it’d turn out to be. Plz R&R!