UPROOT||SASUSAKU||COMPELET

chapter 3

It can’t be him. This is all a lie. It’s not him.
Her heart thumped against her chest as she stared into Sasuke’s eyes. Releasing his hand, she brought both of hers to her sides and clenched them as tight as she could. She was strong now, and she wouldn’t let her emotions get past the hard and sturdy wall she had built. Illusion or not, she would show him she was strong. Sakura began to open her mouth to say something, but all words were gone. Finally, a sharp breeze cut through the tension filled silence; her long locks swept up and off her shoulder, dancing in the breeze. Sasuke’s eyes finally moved from her own, to look at her hair.
“Sakura.”
The mention of her name made her gut stir and her hands clench harder. Sakura felt as though her knuckles could rip through her skin at how hard her hands were balled up.
“Why did you do it.”
Anger began to fuel her temper, and she felt fire course through her veins. The kunoichi inhaled deeply through her nose and then exhaled through her mouth before looking to the moon. The glow reached out to the curves of her face.
“I did it for myself.”
What a bold faced lie.
Finally the glow of crimson depleted from Sasuke’s eyes as he stepped towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders. His face hung right before hers now and she sucked in a deep breath; her cheeks began to heat up from the sudden reaction from Sasuke. His scent reached out to her and she could finally see his face in the glow of the night. Sakura scowled at him as he glared at her.
“You’re lying, Sakura.”
At his remark, she removed his hands from her shoulders and took another step back. She was now furious.
“I did it so I could become strong. I’m not weak, Sasuke. I’ve grown up and I can keep up with you and Naruto now. I’m strong.” The words that fell from her mouth were empty and held no promises. Sakura looked into the eyes of the Uchiha. His face held no emotions.
“It’s not like you cared…” She mumbled before looking away from him again. Sakura began to remember why she had left the hide out.
Orochimaru.
As Sakura looked back to where Sasuke was standing, he was no longer there. Her breath hitched as she felt the hairs on her neck stand up, and the hot breath exhale from his nose. His mouth was right at her ear, and his deep voice filled her mind, and voided out all thoughts that currently swam through it.
“I’ve thought about you every day, Sakura.”
“Sasuke, I-I… Why are you out here? What are you doing?” Sakura built up her concentration and remained behind her built up and sturdy wall. She would remain strong, even through this confrontation with Sasuke mere centimeters away from her body. His heat radiated off of him and enveloped her body.
“Hn.”
Bittersweet memories coursed through her brain at the small grunt that just echoed from the bottom of Sasuke’s throat. Sakura’s eyebrows knitted themselves together at the realization that Sasuke still hadn’t cared for her the way she had for him.
Just punch him in the jaw!
Inner Sakura was now feeling feisty in the presence of Sasuke and Outter Sakura began to feel her face heat up, and a deep pain began to throb in her neck. Her lower lip instantly sucked into her mouth and was punctured by her teeth. The soothing taste of metallic liquid began to pulse from her soft lip. Sasuke hadn’t missed a beat of what just occurred with his old comrade.
“I came out here with Naruto and Kakashi. We’re on a mission.” Sasuke’s voice soothed the flaring temper inside the pink haired woman. She merely turned her head to the side with a questioning expression masking her face.
“We’ve come for you, Sakura.”
The feeling of a million mirrors shattering coursed through Sakura’s body as she listened to Sasuke. She couldn’t believe that her old comrades had been sent on a mission to come and find her. The pinkette had figured that they had long forgotten about her and didn’t care to search for her. She was the weakest link on Team 7 anyways, so why search for someone as weak as she use to be?
Instead of a throbbing pain in her neck, she felt it in her heart. Sakura began to think of her family and how worried sick they must be. Instead of seeing their daughter every day in person, they had been seeing her smiling face in a bingo book with a bounty on her head. She smirked at the idea.
“I want to go back, but I can’t.” Orochimaru’s threat and request danced around on the tip of Sakura’s mind as she stood in front of Sasuke. Sakura couldn’t make out the facial expression that came to rest on Sasuke’s face due to the dim light of the moon now. “Orochimaru will see to it that I don’t return to Konoha. I don’t want to see my friends get hurt.”
“Tch.” Sakura could see the toothy smirk on Sasuke’s face and her eyes widened. “We can handle ourselves.”
Sakura shook her head at the Uchiha before stepping away again, pulling her hands up to her chest and cradling them under her chin. Her cherry blossom locks shadowed her face as she looked down at her toes. The small rise and fall of her chest was like a soothing rock-a-by as she pondered on what was happening. First, she was standing with Sasuke, alone, in the dark after three years of not seeing him. Second, he was on a mission with their comrades to retrieve her. And third, he wasn’t being rude!
The kunoichi finally moved her eyes to look at Sasuke again and offered a soft smile. “I’ll come with you guys. I want to be back in Konoha.”
“Good. There’s someone you need to meet.” Sasuke beckoned her to follow him as he turned his back and pumped chakra to his feet. He felt her hot chakra signature began to surge from behind him as they made their way through the trees and back towards Team 7’s camp. The unusual signature that pulsed from her peaked the Uchiha’s interest.
Sakura’s heart was now beating against her chest as she thought about her blonde haired comrade, and silver haired sensei.
You’re in for it, Sakura. What do you think the Hokage will do once you get back to Konoha? You are indeed a rogue nin.
Sakura’s heart was now in her throat as she thought of the consequences that Konoha would reign down on her. Taking a deep breath, she focused on the present time. Her time she had spent with Sasuke. She focused on the branches that they were jumping to and from. Only time would tell, and she would take it as it came. A small smile graced her lips as she followed the Uchiha through the night; his signature spikes following the movements of his body as he jumped from each branch.
“Sakura!” A loud squeal sounded from Naruto’s throat as he opened his blue orbs from his slumber. As soon as he saw the pink hair, he was immediately encasing her small frame in his arms and hugging her tight. Sasuke rolled his eyes to himself as he watched his best friend smile like an idiot. Before he looked away from the hugging couple, he could’ve swore that he saw the dobe press his nose to Sakura’s hair and inhale a deep breath.
“Naruto, let her go.” The calm and wise voice sounded from behind the reunited couple. Naruto released Sakura and scratched the back of his head, still smiling like an idiot. The silver haired shinobi stood lazily in front of Sakura, eyeing her with his dark colored eye, finally giving her a small smile. “So it looks as though Sasuke found you first.”
Sakura nodded in return before looking back at him with a soft smile, then back at Kakashi. Sasuke could tell that there was something that Sakura wasn’t telling them and he was going to find out exactly what it was. Walking to his bag that was on the ground, he slung it over his shoulder before Team 7 began their journey back to Konoha.
Sasuke remained next to Sakura the whole back; watching her long pink hair flail in the wind as they jumped from branch to branch. The purple ribbon that held her hair back really clashed with not only her hair, but the rest of her outfit. He figured that she would sort that out as soon as they returned back to Konoha.
That is if Tsunade and the Council allowed her to live.
xxx
As the sun began to kiss the tops of the mountains and trees good bye, dark skies began to settle above the traveling shinobi. Sakura’s heart beat began to speed up in her chest as the view of the Hidden Leaf popped up into sight. The previous Hokage’s faces had the final rays of sunlight shining down unto them as they stopped at the gates of Konoha. The four of them breathed heavily as they looked at each other, and then to Sakura.
She swallowed her heart back down into her chest and cleared her throat. “I guess someone should take me to the Third Hokage so I don’t get jumped, huh?” Sakura laughed nervously before getting sad looks from her team.
“Sakura, the Third was killed by Orochimaru after you left…” Naruto confessed before looking down with eyes that shimmered with sadness. “He not only killed the Third, but attacked the Leaf. It was pretty brutal.”
Sakura’s heart fluttered before finally relaxing. She felt sorrow course through her veins as she looked down to the ground, too, except guilt filled not only her eyes, but her heart.
So that’s where Orochimaru went, that bastard.
Thoughts of the past rushed through the pinkette’s mind of when she first arrived at the hide out. She had been ordered to study and train with Kabuto, while Orochimaru left on an “important mission.” Sakura clenched her fists at her sides before the sound of Kakashi’s voice broke her from her thoughts.
“Well, instead of dwelling on the past, let’s move forward. Sasuke will assist you to the Hokage tower and Naruto and I will start on paperwork. Best of luck!” Kakashi waved before hooking a protesting Naruto and dragging him off and through the gates. Sasuke and Sakura stood at the entrance to the village, watching after their sensei and complaining comrade who was still yelling.
“Kakashi!- I wanted to go with them! Not! You!”
Sasuke smirked, “Dobe.” Sakura turned her attention to him before adjusting her shirt, an uncomfortable feeling nesting in the pit of her belly as she looked down the street of Konoha. “Let’s go.” She followed after the Uchiha, her emerald orbs remaining on the ground as she shadowed Sasuke’s every step. The feeling of eyes watching her began to overcome the pink haired kunoichi, and the curse inside her hummed quietly. Sakura grabbed at her backpack straps, trying to distract her mind from the silent whispers that sounded around them. Her concentration came to an abrupt stop when she felt Sasuke’s eyes on her.
“Don’t let them get to you.” Sakura looked at him with a confused expression before realization zapped the back of her mind.
The Uchiha Massacre.
Sadness settled into the uncomfortable nest in her stomach, and she felt her stomach churn at the some what comforting words that Sasuke had spoke to her. She had forgotten that he dealt with this almost his whole life. Sakura inhaled proudly, and lifted her head up for the villagers to see her. Konoha’s pink haired traitor walked proudly through the streets, making eye contact with people giving her rude glares before turning to their spouses or friends and whispering. A wave of happiness washed over her as they approached the Hokage tower.
As the two reached the gates that lead upstairs, Sasuke let Sakura push past him and lead the way up the stairs. Her fingers pulled at her spandex shorts nervously as they reached the top. Before they rounded the corner and started their trek down the hallway, Sakura felt the heat of Sasuke’s body right up against her back side, and his hands pulled her into the corner of the stairs. Sakura gasped as her back bumped up against the wall, and the Uchiha’s hands were placed on both sides of her head. His eyes pierced into hers, and she squirmed under the interrogative stare that he was giving her. The feeling of being pinned against the wall was rather unsettling, but also exciting.
“Sakura.”
The pink haired woman swallowed hard.
“What’re you hiding?”
Sakura smiled nervously, looking to the left slightly before exhaling the breath she had been holding.
“Nothing-” She couldn’t finish her sentence as she saw Sasuke inch his face closer to hers; the tips of their noses now touching. She felt sweat beads began to form at her hairline, and her heart rate picking up significantly.
“I-I was sent,” she gulped, hard. “Orochimaru sent me to come retrieve you.” The words waltzed off the end of her tongue, and her emerald eyes dropped from the severe stare of onyx eyes. Sasuke’s body relaxed as he pulled away from her, the scent of charcoal and cinnamon encased Sakura.
Oh, Kami. Sasuke…
A smirk pulled at Sasuke’s lips and he shoved his hands in his pockets before rounding the corner and making his way to the door. Sakura followed closely behind him, looking around nervously.
“You’re safe here, Sa-ku-ra.” The way her name rolled off his lips made the kunoichi stiffen up, and her heart felt as though it stopped. The blood in her veins turned to ice, and goosebumps coated her body. The curse mark on the back of her neck clawed at her cream colored skin, and her face began to heat up. Sasuke’s fist against the heavy wooden doors brought Sakura bought to reality, and away from her day dream. The way he said her name drove her body insane.
Damn you, hormones.
Sakura cursed to herself, as Inner Sakura sat in the corner of her mind, ogling over the Uchiha that stood calmly in front of her.
“Come in!” A female voice sounded from behind the set of doors. Sakura’s ears tuned into the voice and noted that the Hokage was definitely a female. She felt the cool flow of power surge through her veins at this thought.
“Did you bring paperwork, Uchiha?” Sasuke walked through the door frame, presenting himself in front of the Hokage’s desk. “I expect a full report if the three of you managed to fail this mission. Where are Naruto-” Sakura stepped through the door frame after Sasuke, and noted that not only was the Hokage a female, but she was damn gorgeous.
Her hair fell in long strands of pale, blond hair. Soft almond shaped eyes, colored honey with deep yellow and golden flecks. Her lips were a soft pink color, and her cheeks were finely chiseled. Her skin was ever so smooth and flawless, as well. The forest green jacket that she wore complimented not only her skin tone, but her eyes as well. Resting at the center of her forehead, sat a small, purple diamond. Sakura also couldn’t help but notice the size of her breasts. She instantly felt her cheeks flare up with heat before making eye contact with the woman. To her surprise, she was met with a smile.
“So this is Sakura?”
“Hn.”