Stone Walls (1/6) - [Fanfiction]
Title: Stone Walls
Summary: “You’re sick,” Sakura spat. In the next instant he was hovering over her and she found herself looking into bottomless black eyes. She felt his breath on her lips and he whispered, “Are you here to heal me, Sakura?”
Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.
Theme: Chance meetings
Prompt: Snoop
Medium: Fanfiction
Rating: K+ (might go up for later chapters)
Warning(s): Sasuke is a meanie? Some manga spoilers for the last 50 or so chapters.
Comments: First part in a 6-part series that hopefully I’ll finish according to schedule. Sasuke is a little OOC in that he gets pretty chatty. Also, it’s not very SasuSaku in this chapter, but don’t worry, it’ll get there. Aaand, it’s kinda darkish, sorry bout that! Also, sorry for the sloppy writing, I rushed a lot with this.
--------
“Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.”
-Richard Lovelace
There was someone in the hall.
Sasuke stiffened and listened. His eyes were still healing and he couldn’t see, but fortunately for him whoever was sneaking around outside his room was absurdly bad at concealing their presence. Sasuke nearly laughed. Or, apparently, their footsteps. Had a first-year genin been sent to infiltrate Madara’s lair?
I don’t need my eyes to take care of this, Sasuke thought.
The scabbard of his katana felt cool in his hands as he approached the door, listening intently for the enemy’s exact location. Though he felt confident he could deal with them in short order, he preferred to get it over with before they had a chance to notice and capitalize on his handicap.
There was a faint scraping noise four meters from Sasuke’s door. They were walking away from him. He could sneak out from behind and cut them down before they ever realized what had happened. It would be mercifully quick.
Silently, Sasuke cracked open the door and stepped out, gripping the hilt of his sword. Out in the hall he could clearly hear the somewhat ragged breathing of the one in front of him. Farther away than I thought. Four steps, then. I would have liked to know why you’re here.... But, oh well. With the speed he was known and feared for, Sasuke dashed towards the source of the breathing, intending to end it permanently. Just as he heard another shuffle and a gasp, he unsheathed his blade.
Goodbye.
“S-Sasuke-kun?!”
That voice. He knew it. Sakura.
At the sound of his name, his muscles froze up for a fatal second. When he collected himself again and completed the arc of his blade, the impact it made felt much shallower than he had intended. Barely a scratch. And she can heal now. It won’t be enough, I have to end this in one blow. Raising his blade to cover his body, he stilled and listened for movement. Sasuke cursed his luck. He couldn’t even use Chidori in this situation, the noise would only help her. The one time he wouldn’t completely mind one of Madara’s untimely interruptions and he was no where to be found.
“Stop-Sasuke-kun, stop!”
There.
Sasuke spun right and slashed downward. Sakura’s scream and a splash of something warm on his wrist told him he’d struck home.
“Damn it, I don’t want to fight you!”
Apparently he’d missed. And by the sound of her voice she had put in a surprising bit of distance between them, more than she should have been able to in such a short amount of time. This wasn’t good. He couldn’t let her make this into a long-range battle, not without his sight.
He tilted his head toward the direction of her voice and murmured, "You're going to regret coming here."
He pelted towards the sound of her desperate panting and attacked. Sasuke’s hearing and speed were exceptional and any average fighter might have been cut to pieces by now, but Sakura seemed to be narrowly avoiding each thrust. When a particularly vicious slice yielded yet another disappointing miss, the sharp clang of his blade impacting with stone momentarily confused him. He was forced to stop and listen again, impatiently waiting for...nothing. It had gone unnaturally quiet. Even the angry pulsing of Sakura’s chakra had vanished. Part of Sasuke distinctly felt like a predator turned prey.
Except...this was Sakura.
Sasuke cocked his head back and laughed. His mocking laughter echoed around him in the long hallway. “Are you hiding? Do you think you can run away?” He stalked forward, head bowed, listening for the moment she would give herself away. “I thought you were going to kill me. That was your plan the last time we met. But you failed. Like always.” Sasuke ignored the questions that had been running through his mind since the moment he heard her voice and never let his appearance of confidence waver. But in the back of his mind he kept thinking that if Sakura was here, then other Konoha-nin couldn’t be far behind. Especially... Sasuke grit his teeth. Naruto.
But no. If Naruto or Kakashi were here, they would have made their move by now. No. She must be alone. He just had to keep goading her.
“I haven’t forgotten about you,” Sasuke continued. “I remember how you ran from danger. How you cried. Are you crying now?” The name flowed like silk across his tongue, sparking some unnamable, familiar thing in his chest, “Sakura?”
There was an intake of breath a few feet to his left. He threw a kunai. There was the screech of metal meeting stone, then silence.
She got too close, he scolded himself.
Sasuke raised his voice, scorn dripping from every word, “Maybe you thought someone would come and rescue you again. But Kakashi won’t be here to save you this time. Even he should realize by now that something so useless should be left to die.” He smirked. “Or maybe he’s already dead.” Another faint noise. Sasuke threw a kunai. “Why don’t you come at me? We both know what will happen. You’ll attack. You won’t be fast enough. And you’ll die. But even the weakest shinobi would rather die fighting than be stabbed in the back as they run away. But you’ve never been a real shinobi, have you, Sakura?”
Sasuke heard the whistling of the shuriken a split second before it would have taken off his nose. As he dodged, it was by sheer luck that he’d reflexively brought his hilt up to protect his ribcage, because judging by the painful impact it made against his body when the kunai hit, the blow might have been serious.
Using the louder noise of a rotating shuriken to distract me from the second attack, Sasuke mused with grudging respect. You’re smarter than I expected, Sakura.
Not missing a beat, he threw two more kunai, and again they missed.
“Do you know why they put you on our team, Sakura? Balance.” Sasuke paced slowly, voice lowering. “They were afraid of me, of my eyes. Naruto, too. He’s a monster. And I’m the last of my clan. We know power, and we could have destroyed them all. But if they could find someone weak enough, stupid enough to hold us back, maybe they could feel safe. That was you, Sakura.
“Why do you fight? You can’t protect anything. You can’t even protect yourself. You failed to kill me before. You will fail now. Kakashi never bothered to teach you anything because he knew he’d be wasting his time.
“Why are you hiding? Naruto wouldn’t hide.”
Sasuke sheathed his sword and shifted his weight to his heels, knowing he would seem the picture of relaxation.
“I wonder...why did you hesitate? You could have killed me then. And just now, my guard was down. I can’t see. You could have done it. Why, Sakura? Why do you hesitate?” Sasuke strolled to where he knew the door to his room would be and stepped inside. “Maybe it was because you wanted to save me, because we’re comrades, or for the sake of the village. I’m a precious member of the Leaf. Your nakama,” he laughed. Smiling, he tilted his face toward the open doorway he’d just walked through. “Or maybe,” he let his voice drop, “it’s because you love me.”
He felt her attack rush past him as he dodged and the floor cracked beneath his feet where he landed. Charging his Chidori in his right hand, he used the left to toss out a handful of smoke bombs. Though he couldn’t see it, he knew the thick black smoke would be filling each corner of his small room. Her movement completely halted across from him and he could no longer hear her, but it didn’t matter anymore. The playing field was leveled and there was nowhere to run.
Positioning himself in front of the door, he let the electric power of the Chidori Nagashi flow across his body. It was strange doing this blind.
“It’s over, Sakura,” he declared. “Tell me why you’re here.”
After a brief, heavy silence, she finally answered, “You took a prisoner. I’m here to find him.”
Prisoner? Sasuke thought. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. “By yourself?”
He heard her chuckle darkly. “There were more, but we had a run in with the guards. I’m all that’s left.”
“Hn.” Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this, though it wouldn’t be seen. “Are they sending more?” If taking one kunoichi down was this difficult, Sasuke was not looking forward to a second wave of reinforcements while he was still recovering.
“More? What ‘more’? They could barely spare the few of us. We are in the middle of a war, aren’t we?”
Sasuke considered the very good possibility that she was lying, but decided it didn’t make a difference. Soon the bandages would be off, and he would gladly welcome visitors then. But for now, he had the current one to dispose of. He tensed for the final blow, the power of his lightning begging to be released.
Suddenly, Sakura spoke, interrupting his concentration. “You’re wrong, by the way,” she said, her voice strangely quiet and calm amidst the screech of his Chidori.
“About what?” Sasuke asked, slightly annoyed.
“It’s not over yet. And I haven’t failed.”
Amused, Sasuke drawled, “You’re going to die here, Sakura.”
Her answer sounded far surer than it had any right to be. “I bet you I won’t.”
The fierce determination in her voice was new to him. Intriguing.
And frustrating.
“You’re a fool.”
Sasuke let his chakra explode unto the room. In such close quarters there was no way she could have escaped. Sasuke felt his chakra connect with flesh and knew that she didn’t.
He relaxed and allowed the violent energy to subside, the chirping dying down and echoing in the silence even after it was over. He let out a calming breath. It really was strange doing this blind.
Carefully stepping over debris and cracked stone, he felt around for his sword. Instead of the coolness of the hilt, his fingers brushed against something warm and soft. They lingered there, tracing the contours of her skin, finding the curves that told Sasuke his palm was resting against the column of her neck. His mind was involuntarily brought back to the last time he had touched her there, though far less gently. Choking the life out of her, burning with hate. And.... Sasuke paused. There was another time-
Unbidden to his mind came a softer memory, of a young girl crying in the moonlight, pink hair spilling messily across the back of her neck, which stiffened right before he struck her in that vulnerable spot at the base of her skull. But of course, no part of her wasn’t vulnerable-but it was for her own good....
Sasuke recoiled from those thoughts. The boy from that life was dead. And now, so was she. Sasuke made to move on, when something stopped him.
Sasuke clenched his fist against her still-warm skin. It was impossible. But there was no denying it. Without knowing why, Sasuke began to laugh.
“I lost that bet.”
She had a pulse.
Part 2
Summary: “You’re sick,” Sakura spat. In the next instant he was hovering over her and she found herself looking into bottomless black eyes. She felt his breath on her lips and he whispered, “Are you here to heal me, Sakura?”
Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.
Theme: Chance meetings
Prompt: Snoop
Medium: Fanfiction
Rating: K+ (might go up for later chapters)
Warning(s): Sasuke is a meanie? Some manga spoilers for the last 50 or so chapters.
Comments: First part in a 6-part series that hopefully I’ll finish according to schedule. Sasuke is a little OOC in that he gets pretty chatty. Also, it’s not very SasuSaku in this chapter, but don’t worry, it’ll get there. Aaand, it’s kinda darkish, sorry bout that! Also, sorry for the sloppy writing, I rushed a lot with this.
--------
“Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.”
-Richard Lovelace
There was someone in the hall.
Sasuke stiffened and listened. His eyes were still healing and he couldn’t see, but fortunately for him whoever was sneaking around outside his room was absurdly bad at concealing their presence. Sasuke nearly laughed. Or, apparently, their footsteps. Had a first-year genin been sent to infiltrate Madara’s lair?
I don’t need my eyes to take care of this, Sasuke thought.
The scabbard of his katana felt cool in his hands as he approached the door, listening intently for the enemy’s exact location. Though he felt confident he could deal with them in short order, he preferred to get it over with before they had a chance to notice and capitalize on his handicap.
There was a faint scraping noise four meters from Sasuke’s door. They were walking away from him. He could sneak out from behind and cut them down before they ever realized what had happened. It would be mercifully quick.
Silently, Sasuke cracked open the door and stepped out, gripping the hilt of his sword. Out in the hall he could clearly hear the somewhat ragged breathing of the one in front of him. Farther away than I thought. Four steps, then. I would have liked to know why you’re here.... But, oh well. With the speed he was known and feared for, Sasuke dashed towards the source of the breathing, intending to end it permanently. Just as he heard another shuffle and a gasp, he unsheathed his blade.
Goodbye.
“S-Sasuke-kun?!”
That voice. He knew it. Sakura.
At the sound of his name, his muscles froze up for a fatal second. When he collected himself again and completed the arc of his blade, the impact it made felt much shallower than he had intended. Barely a scratch. And she can heal now. It won’t be enough, I have to end this in one blow. Raising his blade to cover his body, he stilled and listened for movement. Sasuke cursed his luck. He couldn’t even use Chidori in this situation, the noise would only help her. The one time he wouldn’t completely mind one of Madara’s untimely interruptions and he was no where to be found.
“Stop-Sasuke-kun, stop!”
There.
Sasuke spun right and slashed downward. Sakura’s scream and a splash of something warm on his wrist told him he’d struck home.
“Damn it, I don’t want to fight you!”
Apparently he’d missed. And by the sound of her voice she had put in a surprising bit of distance between them, more than she should have been able to in such a short amount of time. This wasn’t good. He couldn’t let her make this into a long-range battle, not without his sight.
He tilted his head toward the direction of her voice and murmured, "You're going to regret coming here."
He pelted towards the sound of her desperate panting and attacked. Sasuke’s hearing and speed were exceptional and any average fighter might have been cut to pieces by now, but Sakura seemed to be narrowly avoiding each thrust. When a particularly vicious slice yielded yet another disappointing miss, the sharp clang of his blade impacting with stone momentarily confused him. He was forced to stop and listen again, impatiently waiting for...nothing. It had gone unnaturally quiet. Even the angry pulsing of Sakura’s chakra had vanished. Part of Sasuke distinctly felt like a predator turned prey.
Except...this was Sakura.
Sasuke cocked his head back and laughed. His mocking laughter echoed around him in the long hallway. “Are you hiding? Do you think you can run away?” He stalked forward, head bowed, listening for the moment she would give herself away. “I thought you were going to kill me. That was your plan the last time we met. But you failed. Like always.” Sasuke ignored the questions that had been running through his mind since the moment he heard her voice and never let his appearance of confidence waver. But in the back of his mind he kept thinking that if Sakura was here, then other Konoha-nin couldn’t be far behind. Especially... Sasuke grit his teeth. Naruto.
But no. If Naruto or Kakashi were here, they would have made their move by now. No. She must be alone. He just had to keep goading her.
“I haven’t forgotten about you,” Sasuke continued. “I remember how you ran from danger. How you cried. Are you crying now?” The name flowed like silk across his tongue, sparking some unnamable, familiar thing in his chest, “Sakura?”
There was an intake of breath a few feet to his left. He threw a kunai. There was the screech of metal meeting stone, then silence.
She got too close, he scolded himself.
Sasuke raised his voice, scorn dripping from every word, “Maybe you thought someone would come and rescue you again. But Kakashi won’t be here to save you this time. Even he should realize by now that something so useless should be left to die.” He smirked. “Or maybe he’s already dead.” Another faint noise. Sasuke threw a kunai. “Why don’t you come at me? We both know what will happen. You’ll attack. You won’t be fast enough. And you’ll die. But even the weakest shinobi would rather die fighting than be stabbed in the back as they run away. But you’ve never been a real shinobi, have you, Sakura?”
Sasuke heard the whistling of the shuriken a split second before it would have taken off his nose. As he dodged, it was by sheer luck that he’d reflexively brought his hilt up to protect his ribcage, because judging by the painful impact it made against his body when the kunai hit, the blow might have been serious.
Using the louder noise of a rotating shuriken to distract me from the second attack, Sasuke mused with grudging respect. You’re smarter than I expected, Sakura.
Not missing a beat, he threw two more kunai, and again they missed.
“Do you know why they put you on our team, Sakura? Balance.” Sasuke paced slowly, voice lowering. “They were afraid of me, of my eyes. Naruto, too. He’s a monster. And I’m the last of my clan. We know power, and we could have destroyed them all. But if they could find someone weak enough, stupid enough to hold us back, maybe they could feel safe. That was you, Sakura.
“Why do you fight? You can’t protect anything. You can’t even protect yourself. You failed to kill me before. You will fail now. Kakashi never bothered to teach you anything because he knew he’d be wasting his time.
“Why are you hiding? Naruto wouldn’t hide.”
Sasuke sheathed his sword and shifted his weight to his heels, knowing he would seem the picture of relaxation.
“I wonder...why did you hesitate? You could have killed me then. And just now, my guard was down. I can’t see. You could have done it. Why, Sakura? Why do you hesitate?” Sasuke strolled to where he knew the door to his room would be and stepped inside. “Maybe it was because you wanted to save me, because we’re comrades, or for the sake of the village. I’m a precious member of the Leaf. Your nakama,” he laughed. Smiling, he tilted his face toward the open doorway he’d just walked through. “Or maybe,” he let his voice drop, “it’s because you love me.”
He felt her attack rush past him as he dodged and the floor cracked beneath his feet where he landed. Charging his Chidori in his right hand, he used the left to toss out a handful of smoke bombs. Though he couldn’t see it, he knew the thick black smoke would be filling each corner of his small room. Her movement completely halted across from him and he could no longer hear her, but it didn’t matter anymore. The playing field was leveled and there was nowhere to run.
Positioning himself in front of the door, he let the electric power of the Chidori Nagashi flow across his body. It was strange doing this blind.
“It’s over, Sakura,” he declared. “Tell me why you’re here.”
After a brief, heavy silence, she finally answered, “You took a prisoner. I’m here to find him.”
Prisoner? Sasuke thought. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. “By yourself?”
He heard her chuckle darkly. “There were more, but we had a run in with the guards. I’m all that’s left.”
“Hn.” Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this, though it wouldn’t be seen. “Are they sending more?” If taking one kunoichi down was this difficult, Sasuke was not looking forward to a second wave of reinforcements while he was still recovering.
“More? What ‘more’? They could barely spare the few of us. We are in the middle of a war, aren’t we?”
Sasuke considered the very good possibility that she was lying, but decided it didn’t make a difference. Soon the bandages would be off, and he would gladly welcome visitors then. But for now, he had the current one to dispose of. He tensed for the final blow, the power of his lightning begging to be released.
Suddenly, Sakura spoke, interrupting his concentration. “You’re wrong, by the way,” she said, her voice strangely quiet and calm amidst the screech of his Chidori.
“About what?” Sasuke asked, slightly annoyed.
“It’s not over yet. And I haven’t failed.”
Amused, Sasuke drawled, “You’re going to die here, Sakura.”
Her answer sounded far surer than it had any right to be. “I bet you I won’t.”
The fierce determination in her voice was new to him. Intriguing.
And frustrating.
“You’re a fool.”
Sasuke let his chakra explode unto the room. In such close quarters there was no way she could have escaped. Sasuke felt his chakra connect with flesh and knew that she didn’t.
He relaxed and allowed the violent energy to subside, the chirping dying down and echoing in the silence even after it was over. He let out a calming breath. It really was strange doing this blind.
Carefully stepping over debris and cracked stone, he felt around for his sword. Instead of the coolness of the hilt, his fingers brushed against something warm and soft. They lingered there, tracing the contours of her skin, finding the curves that told Sasuke his palm was resting against the column of her neck. His mind was involuntarily brought back to the last time he had touched her there, though far less gently. Choking the life out of her, burning with hate. And.... Sasuke paused. There was another time-
Unbidden to his mind came a softer memory, of a young girl crying in the moonlight, pink hair spilling messily across the back of her neck, which stiffened right before he struck her in that vulnerable spot at the base of her skull. But of course, no part of her wasn’t vulnerable-but it was for her own good....
Sasuke recoiled from those thoughts. The boy from that life was dead. And now, so was she. Sasuke made to move on, when something stopped him.
Sasuke clenched his fist against her still-warm skin. It was impossible. But there was no denying it. Without knowing why, Sasuke began to laugh.
“I lost that bet.”
She had a pulse.
Part 2