Authorâs Note:Â Sorry for such a long wait. Itâs not the longest chapter but rest assured because Chapter 19 is already 30% finished! Thanks again for your patience. Keep reading and letting me know what you think. The recent feedback has been really encouraging and I canât wait to dig into the details of this story.
P.S. Forewarning, things might take an interesting turn now that we are in this âplace.â
Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Chapter 18: A Bond Not Completely Severed
Sasuke was dodging puppets, weaving in and out between their closely assembled bodies. They were spinning swords and launching poisoned shuriken in his direction and he was fighting them off desperately, trying to get to her.
âSakura!â he screamed, running towards the red-headed puppet master who was holding her up on the end of his blade. Spewing blood, she stared at Sasoriâs face with wide-eyes, and asked, âWhy?â
âStop!â he tried to scream but it wasnât his voice that echoed across the cavern. Kakashi? Kakashi was the one who was running now, but towards Sasuke, screaming at him in order to prevent the Uchiha from what he was about to do. âSasuke, stop!â
Sasuke turned back to locate Sakura again, but instead, he found her throat between his fingers. âWhy?â she choked again, the crimson blood from her lips spilling out onto his wrist. He realized that it wasnât Sasori who was killing her, but himself. A poisoned daggerâthe one he had snatched from herâ was thrust through her stomach. At the sight, a terrible laugh bellowed up from his very own chest.
Kill her, a voice said inside his head. Sever the bond. Â
Sasuke was pulled from the nightmare like a dead man resuscitated back to life. Sakura was leaning over him on the floor, shaking him.
âWhat is it?â he sighed irritably. And then hushed immediately when he realized that she had a panicked look on her face. Her gaze focused on the wall across from them, and it took Sasuke a hazy second to register the muffled voices that were coming through the wall of Sasukeâs old hotel room.
The voices were faint, a whisper that only a ninja would have been able to detect. It was a harsh, frustrated hiss of an individual and the barely-audible squeaking hinge of the door next to theirs, that made Sasuke understand their current situation.
âSomeone isââ she began. Alarm bolted through every nerve in Sasukeâs body, and he shot up and covered Sakuraâs mouth with his right hand before she could say more. She gaped at him with fearful eyes as the door knob to their room began to twist slowly. Someone had just been in Sasukeâs rented room and now stood just outside. Â
Was it that bastard with the black glove that he had met earlier in the hall? So, if they had gone to his room first, then Sasuke had been the target. Not Sakura herself.
Within seconds, the door was compromised with a splintering CRACK and two masked men charged into the room. It was hard to see them in the pitch dark, but with his active Sharingan, Sasuke could faintly make out ninja headbands with an unrecognizable symbol. And then, Sasuke cursed himself for not having acted sooner, because the enemy acted first, and ninja weapons were sent swiftly towards their kneeling forms.
Sakura immediately angled her body to dodge, but Sasuke released her mouth and held her close to prevent her from moving. The Uchiha closed his right eye and focused his chakra to his Rinnegan. Immediately, a spiraling, purple portal opened up behind Sakura and the Uchiha ducked his shoulder and dove forward, clutching the startled pink-haired ninja as the two of them tipped over into the vortex. As they plummeted, Sasuke twisted their bodies around so that he was able to watch the black tear in the space seal back shut just before the ninja could follow them through. Â
A couple of shuriken, however, did make it through, and Sasuke clasped his female companion close to him, barely able to angle them so that the weapons flew past them on either side. He had to act quickly! They were falling!
âSasuke!â Sakura screamed into his shoulder, terrified as the red ground was rising up to meet them. The portal had appeared at the same height in this dimension that their room had been at the top level of the hotel building. Which meant that the two of them had several stories of air between them and the ground. A space that would be crossed within a matter of a few seconds.
As the thick air of the new climate rushed around their bodies, Sasuke spun again so that Sakuraâs back was to the ground and he hovered a few inches above her.
âWhat are you-?!â she screamed, as Sasuke released her with his only arm and used his hand to reach into his weapons pouch. He launched a single kunai past her toward the burgundy dunes beneath them. The metal blade stuck in a soft spot of sand below and Sasuke once again narrowed his Rinnegan eye. Closing the space between them once more, he grabbed onto Sakuraâs waist and the falling pair flickered in the green sky and disappeared.
Sasuke was suddenly on his feet, having used his teleportation ability to trade places with the kunai. However, now the kunai was racing in the sky towards them. Still holding Sakura, Sasuke dropped in order to dodge the falling blade, and together, they skidded down the hard sand of the duneâs side.
They came to a stop several feet away and below from the kunaiâs intended targetâinches from where they stood a second ago. It was a risky gamble, but the fact that the two of them were unharmed, and not splattered on the ground of this dimension, made Sasuke sigh in relief.
He rested on his back and let his head fall back against the ground with a thump. âThis is all your fault.â
âMy fault?!â Sakura asked incredulously, rolling out of his open arms, and sitting up to look down at him. Â "How is this my fault?â
Sasuke stood and swiped at the copper dust that clung to his cloak. Looking down at her, he accused, "Because if you hadnât run off yesterday, and announced yourself to every citizen you met, then no one would have followed you to our hotel.â
âExcuse me?â Sakura growled up at him, which Sasuke returned with a hard, fixed glare. âI did no such thing!â
She rose to her feet and came to stand next to him. âIf you werenât so hard to wake, we could have evaded this entire situation!â
Sasuke grit his teeth at the statement and bitterly retorted, âI wanted to pass through the village. You insisted that we stayed the night.â
Sakura frowned, then just said, âWe could have handled them.â
Sasuke feigned indifference and arrogantly mocked with âHn.â She glowered but he didnât give her a chance to respond; he walked off.
Sasuke surveyed the land around them. It had been awhile since he had had enough chakra to reach the core dimension that served as the central connection between all the other dimensions. Why had he brought them here instead of handling the situation back in that hotel room? Now that he was thinking about it, it would have made much more sense to teleport with the man closest to the door and then surprised the other from behind with a killing blow. He felt like a coward, having ducked into this realm and avoided the entire confrontation altogether.
Sakura was right. Coming here was his fault. He had tried to blame her and reason with himself that it was just instinct that had caused him to do this. He had been scared, which resulted in his knee-jerk reaction to get them as far away as possible. But why? Sasuke blamed that horrible dream he had just had which kept him from reacting to the threat sooner. The whole thing had thrown him off his gameâno, she was throwing him off. If she werenât here with him, he wouldnât be having these dreams where he was concerned for her safety. And just now, Sasuke had been so desperate to remove her from the life-threatening situation that he had spent the last of his expendable chakra reserves to get her to the farthest place he could think of. Why didnât he just eliminate the ninja in that moment?
Sasuke ran a hand down his face. Damn.
Were these nightmares all because of the bond that was growing stronger between them? The bond he had tried to sever that day when Sasuke had meant to kill her. These unwanted scenes that were merging with tale and memory were tormenting him. Watching other people repeatedly attack her and then seeing himself take her life, was all because of his damn guilt. Was he trying to protect her now, because he owed it to her?
Ugh, see, why was he even thinking like this?! Itâs not like he cared back when they were fighting Madara and she impaled herself on his black receiver rod. Instead, Sasuke had taken advantage of the diversion, rushing past her to deliver Madara a blow. Naruto was the one to catch and aid the kunoichi after Madara had sent all three of them flying backwards. Hell, he even let Kakashi save Sakura from falling into the lava in Kaguyaâs volcano dimension.
Sakura was following him closely, asking him questions he wasnât even listening or responding to. He marched ahead, looking at the green sky above him and the maroon mountainous terrain around them and beneath his stomping feet.
To add to his list of corrupt choices, Sasuke recalled his thoughts during the last time that he and Sakura were here together. Yes, she and Obito had opened the portal between this space and the hot, desert dimension where Sasuke had been trapped. In all honesty, when he first saw his rescuers, his first gut reaction was to replace himself with one of them. What had kept him from that resolution, was the fact that if he had separated the two, the portal might have collapsed before he could have even made the exchange.
Fortunately, Sakuraâs vest had been laying there on the ground next to her and Sasuke didnât haveto replace himself with one of the people who had saved him. But in his defense, Sasuke hadchosen to look for an alternative, which was proof that he was changing for the better even in that second. Okay, maybe he couldnât have gone through with replacing himself with Sakura, but Obito had definitely been an option.
Sasukerecalled the way in which he supported Sakura in her chakra-depleted state right after that. At the time, Sasuke was telling himself that it was only gratitude. A very small sense of gratitude that he had had for her for bringing him back. Nothing else.
Recalling it now, Sasuke would be lying to himself if he said that it was only gratitude. There was always something between them, he supposed. Even during moments when he truly believed their bond was severed; when he treated her less than she deserved; when he was cruel, unresponsive to her feelings, and wanted to kill her.
âHey!â Sakura, who had been trying to talk to him this whole time, placed herself in front of his marching form. âAre you even listening?â
âWhat?â he spat, his annoyance with her apparent on his face.
She looked up at him with worry on her face. âWhatâs going on with you? Whatâs wrong?â
You! He wanted to say. You are whatâs wrong! You and your damn stubborn resolution to be involved with me.
âI just used all of my chakra reserves to bring us here,â The Uchiha grumbled instead. âIâm annoyed about it.â He pushed past her again, continuing his trek. Â
No, he admitted to himself. He, himselfâ or rather, who he wasâ was Sasukeâs problem.
âŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠ.
Sakura followed the stalking Uchiha as they made their way across the foreign landscape. Well, it wasnât entirely foreign. She had been here before during their battle with Kaguya, back when Obito had brought them here along with Narutoâs clone, in order to bring Sasuke back to the battle in the ice dimension.
Sakura didnât necessarily like this place. The air was neither hot nor cold, but it felt strangeâlike there was just enough air to inhale, but not enough to take more than short, limited breaths. The sun was currently dim through the green atmosphere, just enough light where they could see, but not enough that it could be considered bright. Everything about this place was completely on the edge. Sakura did not like it.
Not to mention, that it also reminded her of their battle with Kaguya and the many lives lost in the war. This place also reminded Sakura that the threat of the Otsusuki clan was still very real and not something that disappeared in the past along with Kaguyaâs defeat. This threat was what kept Sasuke from a happy life in the village.
It did have one good memory though. When she thought of this place, Sakura couldnât help but remember the sensation of Sasuke supporting her against him when she had felt like she had failed him. The Uchiha had borne her weight as she recuperated her strength after having spent all of her chakra in order to save him. It was something a friend would have doneâsomething the Sasuke she knew would have done.
Despite the memory, Sakura still loathed this place.
So why? Why had Sasuke chosen to bring them here?
She wanted to ask him, but his mood was foul, and he was currently stalking forward, not caring if she followed him or not. Where he was taking them, she had no idea. Sasuke had been exploring these dimensions for years now, so Sakura knew that he must have a final destination in mind.
Sasuke had said he was annoyed about the amount of chakra it had taken him to teleport. Did this statement mean that they were trapped here?
Despite his mood, Sakura jogged to catch up with him, a difficult feat considering the up and down momentum she was having to regulate on this uneven ground.
âSasuke?â she asked him, âWhere are we going?â
He didnât answer, just trudged ahead with that unwavering focus. So, she did something she knew would get his attention. She reached out, and gingerly took hold of the fingers of his right hand.
She expected him to stop or to freeze, but instead, he spun on her with a wrath she wasnât quite anticipating. âStop doing that!â
The kunoichi recoiled, embarrassed and frustrated. She immediately withdrew her hand back to her chest. âWhy wonât you tell me whatâs going on? Youâre starting to act like the Sasuke I donât know.â
His eyes got wide at that comment and he immediately looked away from her.
Sakura needed answers. She needed to know what their current situation wasâsome sort of affirmation that everything was going to be okayâthat he wasnât mad at her because he blamed her for this.
âDid you know those people, Sasuke?â she asked, quieting her voice and clutching her rejected hand to her chest. âWhy were they after us?â
The silence continued and there was no response. He must be truly upset with her about this.
âLook, Iâm sorry I told the guards at the entrance we were leaf shinobi and associated with Naruto. Iâm sorry I went to the medic center. I promise that I didnât tell anyone who you wereââ
âItâs not your fault,â he interrupted, which surprised Sakura. It always astonished her when he said things like this. âTheyâre after me. Due to my reputation, Iâm not the most difficult person to recognize. You just happen to be with me so youâre being targeted.â
Sakura stared at him in open shock. Did he really believe that way? She took a step towards him, afraid that he would retreat into his shell of silence again if she didnât keep him talking. âBut why? Why are they after you?â she asked.
âBecause of who I am and what Iâve done,â he said, rotating his back to her and walking again. This time, he slowed so she could keep up. âIâve pissed a lot of people off. Who knows why theyâre after me.â
Sakura strode quickly by his side. His hair fell into his eyes as he ducked his head. There was a long silence before he spoke again. âThis is why, Sakura. This is why I have to stay away from the village as much as possible right now. I have too many enemies.â
âIâm here, though.â she whispered to him, leaning in to elbow him. âI can help you.â
âI donât wantââ he began but held his tongue. He didnât have to finish for Sakura to know what he meant to say. I donât want you here. The words felt like a blow to her heart.
She stopped in her tracks.
Sakura didnât understand. She didnât understand why Sasuke didnât want her here, next to him. Was she wrong about all of this? There were times when Sakura believed Sasuke might actually love her back. Times like just a few short hours ago when a stranger knocked on her door, and the Uchiha had stormed into her room announcing that it was âpointless to spend money on two rooms.â Or how yesterday morning, when Sasuke came looking for her in the woods because he woke up to her missing. Maybe Sakura was misinterpreting it all. Maybe it was just concern for a friend that had him acting this way.
Sometimes she wanted to just give up and let the stubborn Uchiha have his damn, lonely way. But it wasnât in her to give up because she just couldnâtlet him go. Couldnât remove him from her heart. And when he acted this way towards her, she couldnât bring herself to smother out the hope that bloomed in her chest. This undying love for him often felt like an undying curse.
âItâs just thatââ the Uchiha began, and Sakura glanced up to see him standing still just a few feet in front of her. He peeked back at her guiltily for a second through his black curtain of bangs. If Sakura would have blinked, she would have missed it. She waited anxiously for him to continue.
âItâs easier when Iâm by myself,â he continued, âJust because I only have to worry about myself.â
There it was again. That hope in her chest; that undying curse. What was Sasuke feeling when he said things like that?
All anger evaporating from within her, Sakura closed the distance between them and poked him in the sideâsomething she was finding quite enjoyable when he made that âhow dare youâ expression. âAre you sure itâs not because Iâm annoying?â
He scoffed and brushed her hand off of him. Their fingers touched for a long, lingering second. To Sakura, it wasnât long enough. Their eyes met too, but then Sasuke blinked and retracted his hand gradually as he purposefully avoided her gaze. Was that lasting touch supposed to be an apology for earlier, or was she reading too much into it?
âThatâs the main reason,â he snorted loudly before walking off again.
She glowered. Yep, she was reading too much into it.
Sakura stuck her tongue out at him behind his back. She let out a quiet sigh and watched him walk away, content to hang back a few feet as they continued forward. Silently and to herself, Sakura cradled her burning fingertips.
âŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠ..
Sasuke trailed onward, an annoyed expression permanently glued to his face. If he let the mask slip even a little bit, his expression might give him away. After what had just passed between them, Sasuke didnât look back at his companion even once. Silently, and concealed by his cloak, Sasuke was running his thumb over his middle and ring fingers. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldnât rub away the tingling sensation.
