#ssm21d3

[queen-serena]

[xlalalandx]

Day 3: Nighttime - ssskmonth

Source: Ep. 109 from Naruto, Ep. 214 from Naruto Shippuden

IB: [x] [x]

[pinkhairedlily]

Her Monster

Prompt: Nighttime | AO3 link here. Connect with me on Twitter. Happy SS Month everyone! 🌸🍅🥗 @ssskmonth

The next time Sasuke went back to Konoha, Sakura greeted him at the gate. She was armed with her usual cheery grin and a bouquet of daffodils for him. He welcomed her presence like the breath of fresh spring air after a harsh winter.

He didn’t stay long however. He just had to physically report to the council of elders, and by afternoon, he was back to the gates, wondering how he will say goodbye to her this time. But she was already there with her rucksack bag, a determined look on her eyes, and an expression that didn’t take no for an answer. Maybe he was in need of company after all, not that he disliked it. Her presence was warm and reminded him of home.

He never minded her conversations – it was a cherished addition to his monotonous days. Somehow, he started to saw countless lives of the villagers through her eyes, as if he interacted with them himself, as if he was there to see it all unfold. He was let in on the gossips, too and the pet peeves she had for their batchmates in the academy. It was another foreign life for him.

She had trouble sleeping on their first week together. He made sure to maintain his distance from her area, mindful of her personal space, but he noticed how she would toss and turn until she would slip a pill into her mouth and slump like a log.

And here he thought he was the one with nightmares.

On their second month together, they became comfortable enough to sleep beside each other. He initiated the move first, grumbling because there were mosquitoes on his side (despite him being fully covered), and he was aware she picked up on his lame excuse. But as usual, Sakura waved this off with a chuckle and jokingly told him, “I still have space. No blood-suckling insects here.”

As if it was his second nature, he extended his still intact arm to serve as her pillow. She turned to face him and snuggled closer to his chest. Warmth enveloped his being like never before.

Until he woke up unguarded with a kunai on his neck. “What the fuck, Sakura?” She’s probably sleep-walking. Do not provoke.

It was as if he faced an entirely different person – hair untangled from the red hair band she wore, angry glints in her emerald eyes, and teeth ground together. She jumped away from him, the kunai serving as her defense. Sasuke stayed still, waiting for her to calm down.

Sakura hissed at him, “Don’t you dare touch her.”

Why is she speaking in third-person? “Have I…. Have I made you uncomfortable?”

Sakura laughed, worry etched on her features. “Uncomfortable? You fucking traitor, killer, murderer!”

She would never say these words to him, Sasuke was sure of it. Right? Right?

“This stupid, stupid girl really stayed in love with you throughout all her traumatic experiences. Do you see now – the nightly terrors she suffers from?”

Multiple kunai buried themselves around Sasuke, but he stayed still. Sakura flung at him, her hand curled into a fist, ready to pulverize him, and he knew he had to move. He quickly shifted across trees, glancing back to see the ground where he knelt collapsed into a big hole. She easily followed him from branch to branch, her agility greatly improved even after the great war, and he was afraid to be on the other end of her punches.

She’s not using chakra? Sasuke surmised to himself. This observation basically confirmed that she was sleep-walking. He heard the twig snap behind him, and he instinctively ducked, slightly missing the knife-sharp kick from the kunoichi. He could have been decapitated.

He teleported himself to the other end of the forest, having gained enough time to rummage Sakura’s bag and find her pills. Just in time, a poisoned kunai lands on his arm before he could substitute with a log. He met her mid-air with a kick and her mouth opens, just wide enough for him to pop one pill into her mouth.

And she fell unconscious, saved by his arm just before she hit the ground.

-------------------------

“Did we move places last night?” Sakura asked, seemingly unaware of what transpired over the night.

Sasuke nodded. He made sure she never saw the damage she dealt on the forest. “Sorry I had to carry you while you were sleeping. There were…insects.” The pain shot up to his arm, and he involuntarily winced. She immediately raised her brow in worry, ready to heal him, but also ready to grill him for the specifics. “I bit my tongue, don’t worry.”

Sakura didn’t talk much the whole day – possibly racking up her brain for leftover memories. And again, they fell asleep together. When Sasuke was certain she was in a deep slumber, he moved away, carrying with him her sleeping pills. After a few minutes, the Sakura resembling last night faced him again, her bloodlust palpable in the air.

“You even have the audacity to continue sleeping beside her,” she gritted through her teeth. “To touch her skin, smell her hair, and hold her hand?”

“Sakura. Tell me what’s going on.”

Kunai appeared in between her fingers, all aimed at him and with the same dosage of poison he readily took on last night. She glared at him with such anguish that it was difficult to compromise her with the Sakura he has been with. “She fucking dissociated because of you, and I’m her defense.”

Ah, this is what Ino called before as Inner Sakura. It’s her last vanguard to her mental facilities. Apparently, even to her emotions.

Sakura continued, “She had nightmares of you striking a chidori to her heart. Cold sweats, harrowing screams throughout the night. But she had the pills, and then you met again, you distrustful son of a bitch.”

He was the bane of her existence. He let go of the pills and remained defenseless from her incoming attack. Sure enough, Sakura closed their gap and trapped his clothes to the ground with the kunai.

“And yet….and yet…..she loves you.” It was a question asked with sheer incredulity. It was the same question echoing in his mind for weeks. “And if I kill you, will that free her from this nightmare?”

She pulled out a syringe filled with violet liquid from her side pocket and pointed it on Sasuke’s neck. He saw her hand tremble from his periphery so he took the initiative and pulled her hand to stab it on his artery. It was immediate, the excruciating pain coursing through his veins like prickling needles.

Sakura doubled over at how things turned out. She just planned to torture him with words, maybe wound him, to an extent – kill him – but she felt intense guilt and sadness. Two emotions that washed over her like buckets of cold ice. “Why….why would you do that? Wake her up!”

Sasuke’s eyes start to roll over and he began to lose his senses.

She panicked, wounding her palm with the sharp edge of the syringe. With what little of the liquid was left, it was enough to summon the other part of Sakura. Both of their screams filled the forest, the poison quickly taking effect.

Realizing the current predicament they were in, Sakura swiftly channeled her chakra and extracted the liquid from her body. Sasuke however was a difficult case – it had been minutes. But she did her best, working hard until dawn. By noon, he was cured of all wounds and poison.

She waited for him to wake up. Somehow, she knew what had happened what with all the scattered kunai lifted off her storage scrolls, her personal dose of syringe, and the half-empty bottle of pills.

Tears were starting to fall down on his face which he first thought was just rain. He reached out to her, softly touching her cheek. “I told you, you’ll never forgive me.”

Sakura sobbed through her words. “There was just this part of me who refused to believe…..that there was this possibility.”

His voice was hoarse but he had to ask, he had to know. “That I love you?”

Sakura nodded, her resolve breaking again.

He lifted his two fingers shakily with whatever strength he had and they made contact with her forehead. A poke, one which she knew the gravity of. “I’ll stay, I’ll stay until your monsters go away.”

Song recommendation for this chapter: For the Fickle by Reese Lansangan - Youtube | Spotify

[twofourninetwelve]

Nighttime

ssm day 3: Nighttime

It was 10 in the evening. Sakura sat on the porch of their compound and sighed. Her husband was late again. His messenger bird had come the previous day saying he’d be home by nighttime the next day but he was late. Sarada had gone to sleep almost an hour ago. Sakura sighed again in defeat while going back inside. ‘Probably had something to do that held him back.’  When she grabbed the handle, she felt a hand on hers. She looked back and saw her husband right before her. She hugged him as he gave a soft, small smile and said “I’m home, Sakura.”

@ssskmonth

[kishillaa]

SSM21 Day 3: Nighttime

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura's weak voice murmuring the three syllabus of his name with the addition of the honorific he has grown to like coming from her.

Her body falls forward, and before it reach the dirty ground Sasuke uses his hand as anchor to support her unconscious body.

Head strain upward as he watches the big bright moon in the black non starry sky, Sasuke sighs. He pulls out the other hand that tucked deep in his pocket while listening to Sakura's chaotic speech earlier. He used both hands to hoist Sakura up and carry her bridal style.

Sasuke gazes down at her vulnerable tears streaked face, regretting what he is about to do to her. He couldn't go back now, not even to send Sakura on the comfort of her house, as he knows, one step backwards and he won't be able to left the village behind.

He walks to the bench, and stop beside it. His stares never leaving Sakura's face as he carefully, gently lower her down and place her on the bench.

Her confession earlier. It was too genuine to be faked. She might be desperate, but he knows Sakura enough to know that she's spoke her heart. It's been years now that he has heard that word coming from someone directed at him, that's why he couldn't take his mind away from it.

He touches Sakura's cheek, cupping it at such gentleness, wiping her remaining tears in the process. He realized it before, but right now is when he really acknowledge it. Sakura's feeling has never been one sided.

He remembers vividly when he was just a child, getting overwhelmed by the pink haired girl who somehow manage to give him a challenge in written test, who is just so clever that he has to work extra hard just to beat her during exam. He admired her then. He always does, because she is one of the reasons he was top of the class. He makes sure that his skills in everything is over average level, just so he could beat her during exam. It help a lot when the girl is lacked in so many things beside theoretical related. She was shy, and has zero shinobi skill. He thought she's annoying when she start to fawning over him, like the rest of the fangirl. He hated it, for once he thought maybe there's someone worth compete with. Sakura though surprised him; even though turning to be one of his fangirl, she's still the smartest in their class, she wasn't as good at it at other tests, but decent enough for him to acknowledge her. And when they were declared to be in the same genin team, he started to feel the urge to keep her away from danger, to always be her protector. He makes sure, during mission, that she is always in his range of sight so he would detect it if enemy is nearing her.

Her approaches are what annoyed him to no end. Despite that, he can feel the rage and some mixed feelings he couldn't comprehend what it means coming from within him when someone like Lee make a move on her. Sure, she rejected each and every one of them, but the thought that she'll call other people with -kun honorific just didn't sit right for him.

He pushed all those thoughts away as he caresses her cheeks, hoping that he didn't have to do what he's about to do. Hoping that his family is still very much alive, that his brother isn't the murderer of his entire clan. Hoping above all, that he won't leave the girl on the bench, cold and alone and in much danger of many possible things, and perhaps tell her he feels the same about her, probably not as much as she does but close enough that they can share it together. Hoping that Sakura isn't the one coming to talk him out and convince him to stay, so he won't be left wondering things he is currently wondering.

"I'll come back," His mind speaks to Sakura, wishing she hears it. It was nighttime, he's leaving Sakura on the bench. He's walking out the village, become a missing nin, maybe. He wonders if what he's doing is an act of betraying the village, and if they will kill him for what he's about to do. He hope so, because once Itachi is killed, there's no more purpose he has in life. Sakura will found a new boy while he's away, someone she deserves. Someone that can always be by her side, that can always protect her. Because it's nighttime, and he do a lot of thinking during this time, and right now he's thinking about a future of him and Sakura, and he just know, he knew that there's nothing he can give, he can offer, this girl that loves him with all her heart. He doesn't deserve her.

As he bends down, a tear roll down his cheek. He kiss her forehead, linger there for a second while the reality sat in. He's leaving everything behind, his family, his friends–or friend really, his home, his sensei of whom he respect, Sakura, Sakura.

And with that, he walks away. Not looking at her again, knowing if he does he'll just delay his journey. Its too late anyway. And his companion is waiting for him.

She'll be sad for a week or two, or maybe a little longer. But she will move on, she will. After that, she will realized she doesn't really loves you. It's just a feeling she mixed with her simple crush. She will get over it, she will get over you.

He chanted over and over again, hoping that its true, knowing deep down it don't. Because Sakura is passionate and honest, and even though he haven't admit it out aloud, he is too, falling for her. Who wouldn't if its Sakura. Beautifully pretty, annoyingly kind, hair oddly pink, and eyes mesmerisingly green, Sakura.

[kotokoharuno]

Día 3 noches ( traen el peluche de festival), me emocione con las estrellas como siempre.