Ignition, Chapter 2: Fate and Freedom
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: SasukexSakura
Summary: AU Sakura was his best friend and then she disappeared. Five years later, Sasuke finds her, except now things are different, dangerous even. Suddenly, his world is turned upside down when he is caught in the middle of a five thousand year-long war in which the outcome can decide the fate of the world. And all Sasuke can do is make sure she doesn't disappear from him again.
Rating: T
Notes: PLEASE READ THIS! It's some background info. This story now takes place in America. Specifically, modern day New York. While writing this, I always thought of New York so it stuck. And because it's in America, everything is "Americanized." That means the language, culture, Naruto's ambition (you'll see what I mean) how they act and manner of speech is Americanized (so no honorifics like -kun, -san, -sama and all that. Also, this means Sasuke's 'hn' is gone!) You're probably thinking "Why not just let them be immigrants who speak to each other in Japanese. I like all that stuff!" I could do that, but this story is not about immigration or race/culture. I would definitely do that if that was my intention. But no. The characters really are speaking English and were raised to speak the language in this story.
I guess that's it for now. There's some more background info, but that will have to come next chapter so you won't be all confused as to what I'm talking about.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Ch 2: Fate and Freedom
I have got to be dreaming. There's no way Sakura can just suddenly appear out of nowhere when she's been gone for freaking five years. Maybe I fell asleep in class or on break. I gave myself a hard pinch. Nope, definitely not a dream.
Sakura was dressed in very, very dark colors. She wore a black hoodie, a dark shirt, very dark blue jeans and black boots to go with. Dark colors were not her kind of thing. She looked prettier in bright colors like red. The only source of color in this mass array of black was her long pink hair and a red armband on her right arm.
I stood on my knees, clutching my stomach. Sakura, still facing the homeless, got into a fighting stance. Her head momentarily jerked at something on the left too far out of reach. A knife. Is she really going to fight this guy? Sakura was not the most athletic girl, nor was she the toughest, even if she had some pretty hard punches. Did she even see what he can do? With just a flick of his arm, he knocked some Good Samaritan hard into a tree. I doubt her punches would be strong enough.
Sakura seemed to think otherwise. The man charged. She slammed the palm of her hand against the ground and a column of earth rose up and got him in the gut. It was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. While the guy was still in the air, Sakura dived for the knife and ran off the top of the column and swiped at the guy's torso. She spun and landed a roundhouse kick in his side, sliding back down the column.
I gave myself more pinches.
In a flash, Sakura was right in front of me, a small blue flask in one hand. I looked at her green eyes, searching for any sign of recognition. Do you remember me? Your best friend ever since we were four? There was something there, but whether it was recognition or not, I couldn't be sure.
She flipped open the flask and kneeled down. "Drink," she said coldly. A drop of blue, sweet liquid fell into my mouth.
The moment I swallowed, a burning sensation spread across my body. The worst of it was directed into my stomach. As I watched Sakura walk towards the guy that tried to help me, I keeled over, shuddering. It felt like forever before the burning stopped, but when they did, all the pain from my stomach to when I pinched myself disappeared. I lifted my face off the ground to see the earth column gone and Sakura still here, bending over the homeless, concentrating on him. She laid a hand on his arm, seeming to press down on it really hard. She did that a couple times more before pressing twice on a section between the guy's wrist and elbow. She pulled out her knife and sliced down the whole length of the lower arm. From the cut, she pulled out a red object. At first I thought it was a part of the bone. Then I saw it gleam in the sun and realized it was a crystal, a vibrant red crystal that was lodged inside the homeless' arm.
Along with the pinches, I slapped myself.
Sakura pocketed the crystal, gave the man a drop from her blue flask, and began to walk away.
"Hey, wait." I scrambled to my feet, grabbing her wrist before she got away. A million things swam through my mind: Sakura, it's me, Sasuke! Where the hell have you been all these years? You are the most horrible friend ever. I've missed you so much. But all I could say was, "Sakura."
There was panic in her eyes. "Sorry. I don't know what you're talking about." She pulled her wrist out of my grip and ran around the corner. I chased after her, catching up to her but not within reach. Since when did she get so fast? I was the fastest kid in my class back in high school. There's no way Sakura should be able to outrun me. We ran out of the park and into a crowded sidewalk. Sakura was weaving through the crowds, twisting and turning to avoid each phone occupied person. I followed, though not as lithe as her; people screamed after me as they bent to pick up their phones. We reached the intersection and before I could cross, a city bus drove through my path. Ignoring the shocked faces of the people behind, I proceeded to the other side. When I reached the curb, Sakura was gone.
* * *
I stood in front of the mirror in my bathroom, my shirt rolled up as I examined my stomach. There were no wounds. Not even a bruise. I turned around, checking to see if maybe a bruise formed somewhere else. Nothing. Even the cut I got from handling cutlery today was gone. I'm guessing whatever Sakura made me swallow was medicine, but I've never heard of medicine that could heal so fast.
There was a knock on the door. I rolled down my shirt and peeked through the eyehole only to find it covered. "Who's there?"
"Guess who, bastard," said a familiar voice.
I opened to door to see a grinning man with messy blond hair and blue eyes. His name is Naruto Uzumaki, one of my best friends from when we were little.
"Loser," I said as we bumped fists. He pulled me under his arm and gave me a noogie. This guy never changed, but that's alright.
"What brings you to New York?" I asked as I closed the door.
"I'm doing an internship for a semester here then I head back to Chicago." Naruto's studying politics and he told me he wants to become president one day. "I knew you were living here so I decided to come for a visit. Don't worry buddy, I'll come by more often so you won't get lonely."
I rolled my eyes and went to the kitchen to get us some drinks. When I came back, he was holding my blue leather photo album. It was a graduation gift from his mom. He's also got one in orange.
"Sorry, I-I saw this and I couldn't help take it. Can I?"
I looked at him uneasily before I nodded. Naruto plopped down on my black couch while I sat on the adjacent love seat. Carefully, he flipped through the collection of me, him, and Sakura, smiling at the captured images. Naruto did know Sakura. In fact, the three of us knew each other since we were five and have been best friends since.
"Hey, Sasuke remember this?" He pointed at a picture of the three of us. Sakura was in the middle, behind a birthday cake for her eighth birthday. Apparently, our moms thought it was cute and had me and Naruto kiss either side of her cheeks. "And in the end, we got cake on our faces," he laughed. He looked through more pages, passing through me part of the track team, Naruto holding up a lacrosse trophy and other pictures of our friend.
"Don't worry, Princess Sakura. Your knights in shining armor are coming to save you!" Naruto laughed, quoting a picture of us playing Knights in a sandbox. He punched the air, pretending to hold a sword like how he was in the picture.
He kept turning the pages, laughing at some, frowning, and almost crying on others. I was about to take the album away from him on those, but he perked back so quickly.
I took a sip out of my bottle, making small talk with him. I learned that he met this girl named Hinata Hyuuga and now they were engaged and would get married when he went back. That's good. Before, Naruto had a crush on Sakura ― much to my discontent later on. After Sakura disappeared, he was devastated. That's why I was uneasy about letting him look through the album. Seeing this happy-go-lucky guy cry was just as bad as her disappearing.
"I found her," I said.
"Who?"
"Sakura," I said. At that he closed the book and turned his full attention to me. Whenever it came to Sakura, we never, ever joke about it. "And it wasn't some chick who decided to dye her hair," I continued. "It really was her." I told him about what happened and afterwards he got this dazed look in his eye.
"Wait, what where her clothes again?" he asked.
I raised an eyebrow and described her dark attire with the red armband. "Why? Is it a gang thing?"
Naruto scrunched his face. "I don't know if you'd call it a 'gang.'" He scratched his head. "They don't sell drugs or become pimps, but they've got chapters and do have, like, and arch enemy, and have specific colors like a color gang."
"Uh-huh," which was my-speak for, Keep going.
"It sounds like Sakura is part of a group called Fate, this worldwide organization from what I've heard. This guy I knew in Chicago said he had a friend who was part of that group. He died and his body turned up with the exact same clothes on. Apparently, they're really powerful and the only one with just as much power is another organization called Freedom."
"Freedom?" I repeated.
"They're the opposite of Fate. Both groups are really powerful, but the weirdest thing is that all members supposedly have 'superpowers.'" He made air quotes around the word 'superpowers.' "Sounds like a load of bullshit to me. And Sakura?" he gave a cold laugh. "Would Sakura ever really join some group, gang or not?"
I honestly have no answer. For the rest of his visit, we talked, catching up on what the other was doing, or more he talked while I quietly listened. He still keeps in touch with Sakura's parents, Kizashi and Mebuki, but not much these days since it's too painful. He talks about his stupid roommate who won't stop slacking off yet can somehow be a genius, and sometimes I tell him about my boring life here in Brooklyn. When it was time to leave, he was a little drunk.
"Should I drive you home?" I asked smirking.
"Naw, there's no need for that. I'm just fi-ine," he drawled but he walked to the door without difficulty. "By the way, did ya talk to Sakura?"
". . . not really."
"Hmpf. Well next time ya see her, kiss her and tell her ya love her. Ya never had a real relationship since we were sixteen!" He gave a drunken laugh as I shoved him out of my apartment. "Once a bastard, always a bastard! See ya, Sasuke."
I closed the door, letting myself leaf through the photos.
To be continued . . .
_________________________________________________________________________________
And chapter 2 done! BTW the story may have a lot of sarcasm, especially in Sasuke's inner monologue. A lot of guys I know are sarcastic (and they're American! XD) and plus this is what I imagine goes on in Sasuke's mind. Not just for Ignition, but in Naruto too. I mean, no one's mind can just be static right? There's gotta be a reaction. Personality wise, to me it's how a person chooses to express themselves, so Sasuke chooses to be quiet and all cool and shit on the outside, but inside he's like "OMG WTF IS GOING ON AND SKDF:SJF:SK!" or something less fangirly like that. lol.
Naruto's dreams: See, I told you this was Americanized! Harharhar. I would totally vote for him :D
Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno! The official names of Saku's parents! They're such a perf couple. :D Road to Sakura gave me so many feels!
Until next time!
I really don't want you to hurt me.
Beta-ed by the awesome xXAsuka-chanXx
Pairing: SasukexSakura
Summary: AU Sakura was his best friend and then she disappeared. Five years later, Sasuke finds her, except now things are different, dangerous even. Suddenly, his world is turned upside down when he is caught in the middle of a five thousand year-long war in which the outcome can decide the fate of the world. And all Sasuke can do is make sure she doesn't disappear from him again.
Rating: T
Notes: PLEASE READ THIS! It's some background info. This story now takes place in America. Specifically, modern day New York. While writing this, I always thought of New York so it stuck. And because it's in America, everything is "Americanized." That means the language, culture, Naruto's ambition (you'll see what I mean) how they act and manner of speech is Americanized (so no honorifics like -kun, -san, -sama and all that. Also, this means Sasuke's 'hn' is gone!) You're probably thinking "Why not just let them be immigrants who speak to each other in Japanese. I like all that stuff!" I could do that, but this story is not about immigration or race/culture. I would definitely do that if that was my intention. But no. The characters really are speaking English and were raised to speak the language in this story.
I guess that's it for now. There's some more background info, but that will have to come next chapter so you won't be all confused as to what I'm talking about.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Ch 2: Fate and Freedom
I have got to be dreaming. There's no way Sakura can just suddenly appear out of nowhere when she's been gone for freaking five years. Maybe I fell asleep in class or on break. I gave myself a hard pinch. Nope, definitely not a dream.
Sakura was dressed in very, very dark colors. She wore a black hoodie, a dark shirt, very dark blue jeans and black boots to go with. Dark colors were not her kind of thing. She looked prettier in bright colors like red. The only source of color in this mass array of black was her long pink hair and a red armband on her right arm.
I stood on my knees, clutching my stomach. Sakura, still facing the homeless, got into a fighting stance. Her head momentarily jerked at something on the left too far out of reach. A knife. Is she really going to fight this guy? Sakura was not the most athletic girl, nor was she the toughest, even if she had some pretty hard punches. Did she even see what he can do? With just a flick of his arm, he knocked some Good Samaritan hard into a tree. I doubt her punches would be strong enough.
Sakura seemed to think otherwise. The man charged. She slammed the palm of her hand against the ground and a column of earth rose up and got him in the gut. It was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. While the guy was still in the air, Sakura dived for the knife and ran off the top of the column and swiped at the guy's torso. She spun and landed a roundhouse kick in his side, sliding back down the column.
I gave myself more pinches.
In a flash, Sakura was right in front of me, a small blue flask in one hand. I looked at her green eyes, searching for any sign of recognition. Do you remember me? Your best friend ever since we were four? There was something there, but whether it was recognition or not, I couldn't be sure.
She flipped open the flask and kneeled down. "Drink," she said coldly. A drop of blue, sweet liquid fell into my mouth.
The moment I swallowed, a burning sensation spread across my body. The worst of it was directed into my stomach. As I watched Sakura walk towards the guy that tried to help me, I keeled over, shuddering. It felt like forever before the burning stopped, but when they did, all the pain from my stomach to when I pinched myself disappeared. I lifted my face off the ground to see the earth column gone and Sakura still here, bending over the homeless, concentrating on him. She laid a hand on his arm, seeming to press down on it really hard. She did that a couple times more before pressing twice on a section between the guy's wrist and elbow. She pulled out her knife and sliced down the whole length of the lower arm. From the cut, she pulled out a red object. At first I thought it was a part of the bone. Then I saw it gleam in the sun and realized it was a crystal, a vibrant red crystal that was lodged inside the homeless' arm.
Along with the pinches, I slapped myself.
Sakura pocketed the crystal, gave the man a drop from her blue flask, and began to walk away.
"Hey, wait." I scrambled to my feet, grabbing her wrist before she got away. A million things swam through my mind: Sakura, it's me, Sasuke! Where the hell have you been all these years? You are the most horrible friend ever. I've missed you so much. But all I could say was, "Sakura."
There was panic in her eyes. "Sorry. I don't know what you're talking about." She pulled her wrist out of my grip and ran around the corner. I chased after her, catching up to her but not within reach. Since when did she get so fast? I was the fastest kid in my class back in high school. There's no way Sakura should be able to outrun me. We ran out of the park and into a crowded sidewalk. Sakura was weaving through the crowds, twisting and turning to avoid each phone occupied person. I followed, though not as lithe as her; people screamed after me as they bent to pick up their phones. We reached the intersection and before I could cross, a city bus drove through my path. Ignoring the shocked faces of the people behind, I proceeded to the other side. When I reached the curb, Sakura was gone.
* * *
I stood in front of the mirror in my bathroom, my shirt rolled up as I examined my stomach. There were no wounds. Not even a bruise. I turned around, checking to see if maybe a bruise formed somewhere else. Nothing. Even the cut I got from handling cutlery today was gone. I'm guessing whatever Sakura made me swallow was medicine, but I've never heard of medicine that could heal so fast.
There was a knock on the door. I rolled down my shirt and peeked through the eyehole only to find it covered. "Who's there?"
"Guess who, bastard," said a familiar voice.
I opened to door to see a grinning man with messy blond hair and blue eyes. His name is Naruto Uzumaki, one of my best friends from when we were little.
"Loser," I said as we bumped fists. He pulled me under his arm and gave me a noogie. This guy never changed, but that's alright.
"What brings you to New York?" I asked as I closed the door.
"I'm doing an internship for a semester here then I head back to Chicago." Naruto's studying politics and he told me he wants to become president one day. "I knew you were living here so I decided to come for a visit. Don't worry buddy, I'll come by more often so you won't get lonely."
I rolled my eyes and went to the kitchen to get us some drinks. When I came back, he was holding my blue leather photo album. It was a graduation gift from his mom. He's also got one in orange.
"Sorry, I-I saw this and I couldn't help take it. Can I?"
I looked at him uneasily before I nodded. Naruto plopped down on my black couch while I sat on the adjacent love seat. Carefully, he flipped through the collection of me, him, and Sakura, smiling at the captured images. Naruto did know Sakura. In fact, the three of us knew each other since we were five and have been best friends since.
"Hey, Sasuke remember this?" He pointed at a picture of the three of us. Sakura was in the middle, behind a birthday cake for her eighth birthday. Apparently, our moms thought it was cute and had me and Naruto kiss either side of her cheeks. "And in the end, we got cake on our faces," he laughed. He looked through more pages, passing through me part of the track team, Naruto holding up a lacrosse trophy and other pictures of our friend.
"Don't worry, Princess Sakura. Your knights in shining armor are coming to save you!" Naruto laughed, quoting a picture of us playing Knights in a sandbox. He punched the air, pretending to hold a sword like how he was in the picture.
He kept turning the pages, laughing at some, frowning, and almost crying on others. I was about to take the album away from him on those, but he perked back so quickly.
I took a sip out of my bottle, making small talk with him. I learned that he met this girl named Hinata Hyuuga and now they were engaged and would get married when he went back. That's good. Before, Naruto had a crush on Sakura ― much to my discontent later on. After Sakura disappeared, he was devastated. That's why I was uneasy about letting him look through the album. Seeing this happy-go-lucky guy cry was just as bad as her disappearing.
"I found her," I said.
"Who?"
"Sakura," I said. At that he closed the book and turned his full attention to me. Whenever it came to Sakura, we never, ever joke about it. "And it wasn't some chick who decided to dye her hair," I continued. "It really was her." I told him about what happened and afterwards he got this dazed look in his eye.
"Wait, what where her clothes again?" he asked.
I raised an eyebrow and described her dark attire with the red armband. "Why? Is it a gang thing?"
Naruto scrunched his face. "I don't know if you'd call it a 'gang.'" He scratched his head. "They don't sell drugs or become pimps, but they've got chapters and do have, like, and arch enemy, and have specific colors like a color gang."
"Uh-huh," which was my-speak for, Keep going.
"It sounds like Sakura is part of a group called Fate, this worldwide organization from what I've heard. This guy I knew in Chicago said he had a friend who was part of that group. He died and his body turned up with the exact same clothes on. Apparently, they're really powerful and the only one with just as much power is another organization called Freedom."
"Freedom?" I repeated.
"They're the opposite of Fate. Both groups are really powerful, but the weirdest thing is that all members supposedly have 'superpowers.'" He made air quotes around the word 'superpowers.' "Sounds like a load of bullshit to me. And Sakura?" he gave a cold laugh. "Would Sakura ever really join some group, gang or not?"
I honestly have no answer. For the rest of his visit, we talked, catching up on what the other was doing, or more he talked while I quietly listened. He still keeps in touch with Sakura's parents, Kizashi and Mebuki, but not much these days since it's too painful. He talks about his stupid roommate who won't stop slacking off yet can somehow be a genius, and sometimes I tell him about my boring life here in Brooklyn. When it was time to leave, he was a little drunk.
"Should I drive you home?" I asked smirking.
"Naw, there's no need for that. I'm just fi-ine," he drawled but he walked to the door without difficulty. "By the way, did ya talk to Sakura?"
". . . not really."
"Hmpf. Well next time ya see her, kiss her and tell her ya love her. Ya never had a real relationship since we were sixteen!" He gave a drunken laugh as I shoved him out of my apartment. "Once a bastard, always a bastard! See ya, Sasuke."
I closed the door, letting myself leaf through the photos.
To be continued . . .
_________________________________________________________________________________
And chapter 2 done! BTW the story may have a lot of sarcasm, especially in Sasuke's inner monologue. A lot of guys I know are sarcastic (and they're American! XD) and plus this is what I imagine goes on in Sasuke's mind. Not just for Ignition, but in Naruto too. I mean, no one's mind can just be static right? There's gotta be a reaction. Personality wise, to me it's how a person chooses to express themselves, so Sasuke chooses to be quiet and all cool and shit on the outside, but inside he's like "OMG WTF IS GOING ON AND SKDF:SJF:SK!" or something less fangirly like that. lol.
Naruto's dreams: See, I told you this was Americanized! Harharhar. I would totally vote for him :D
Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno! The official names of Saku's parents! They're such a perf couple. :D Road to Sakura gave me so many feels!
Until next time!
I really don't want you to hurt me.
Beta-ed by the awesome xXAsuka-chanXx