Fandom Redemption [Closed] [Graverobber141/arbus]

[Graverobber141]

Satoru stood on the other side of the fire, hand on his hip, looking at the boy with the same expression one might use on a lost puppy they had no idea what to do with. With another sigh, he was turning his attention toward the direction of Suigetsu's hideout, and scrunching up his brows in distaste, he came to the conclusion that he should get the child indoors after he had a chance to warm up a bit, even if it meant possibly coming face-to-face with the pink-haired medic again, an encounter he didn't know if he could yet steel himself against.

Yet it was odd, wasn't it? Being out here in the middle of practically nowhere, a day's or two travel from the closest resemblance of civilization, and stumbling upon a drowning kid that just happened to have floated by the only person outdoor for miles. His storm-colored gaze slowly trailed back to the boy, examining him closely, watching him with a curiosity not quite friendly, but that could be explained by how awkward he generally was around youngsters.

"Do you have a parent or guardian wandering around that I should be attempting to find?" Satoru asked, cocking a brow with the question. At the sight of the kid's obvious trembles, his expression seemed to soften a bit, and he had the thought that perhaps he should have paid more attention when one of his teammates had tried to teach him basic medical ninjutsu, but it had just been so dull. "There's a place nearby I can take you to, to keep you warm and safe, while I figure out what to do with you."

 

[arbus]

Some might commend Satoru's willingness to safe a child in need, but for Ari it was nothing but a display of the swordsman's stupidity. For a gifted shinobi like Sasuke, the trap would surely have been obvious. But still, Satoru kept his distance, and it was just Ari's luck that he had come across probably the only human being on the earth that did not like children. In the months when he had roamed around on his own, searching for his mother, everybody had gone out of their way to help him. And yes, his mother had warned him that people's intentions weren't always pure; an interesting, but overall trivial information for a trickster like him.

"Yes", he said quickly, "yes, my grandfather lives nearby -- I w-wanted to fetch him some water, b-but I slipped and f-fell ..." He just needed to distract the swordsman long enough for his plan to work. He had never actually killed a person, and the thought of doing so now was terrible, no matter how trivial his grandfather made it seem. So he wondered if he could go for the throat, so to speak, in more than one manner. Incapacitation -- hadn't Sasuke said as such to Sakura, while Ari had pretended to sleep? He curled up into himself, taking the risk of letting the swordsman out of his sight in favor of his next ploy. Shielded from view by the blanket, he cradled his naked foot in both his hands, and drove the nail of his finger against the sole to draw blood.

The whimper erupting from his throat was not even fake. He hated pain -- his sister always told him he was a pansy. "My foot h-hurts", he mumbled, squeezing more blood out of the cut in order to make it nice and bloody. Not to persist on the topic, though, it could look suspicious. "C-can you bring me back t-to my grandfather, please?"

 

[Graverobber141]

"You'll have to tell me where to find him." An exhalation of air escaped from Satoru's nostrils, listening to the whimper draw itself from the boy's lips, and raising a hand as if to ask him to hold on, he turned his back to retrieve a few more items from his traveling supplies, before making his way to the child bundled in blankets. Kneeling next to him, he placed the first aid kit down, before reaching for the boy's foot. "Let me just take a look at this." If it was serious, he would have to reach out to Sakura, guilt aside; she was more talented than him in such areas, and he wouldn't deny a child help just because of his own internal turmoil.

Disregarding any protests, Satoru gripped the boy's ankle, turning his foot so he could get a look at the wound, only to discover that it wasn't seriously deep, and the way it was cut was definitely not from any rock, nor stray branches; it was too even, almost as if it had been intentional. A tumbler of a lock slid open in Satoru's mind, and though he had yet to fully grasp and understand the whole situation, he was starting to realize what exactly it was, and it certainly wasn't what this boy was trying to make it seem like.

Funny, how the wind picked up for a split second in that moment, ruffling white and dark hair, and how Satoru found himself locking gazes with the boy, asking a question that Takeshi would have probably used himself, "What exactly are you doing, kid?" There was no aggression in his voice, no challenge, no confrontation, in fact his tone was unusually soft, but the steadiness in his steel eyes spoke more than his words.

 

[arbus]

The skin beneath the grip of Satoru's hand was cool, but not cold, not like the skin of a person having just been fished out of ice water. The child, with its skin so pale and its eyes huge and bright, sat rapt with attention as he held the swordsman's glare. He was a being of the forest, of snow mountains and icy caverns, and the corner of his mouth twitched into a rather uncharacteristic smile for a child that age; sly, and with teeth that, from one moment to the next, resembled fangs.

Gotcha.

"Protecting the pack", he informed him, and in their stalemate his movement was slow, almost sluggish. His fingers touched the back of the hand that was holding onto him in return. A trickle of blood ran over the ball of his foot and landed on the ground. This pause, it lasted for mere seconds, for the blink of an eye. Ari's fingers twitched at the pulse that transported a chill through his system, his body, his outstretched arm towards the swordsman's skin, making ice crystals bloom between them. In the same instance, he flounced his foot, smearing the blood across Satoru's hand and arm and it grew hot, the point where Ari's fingers touched Satoru's wrist. "Forging a pact."

His eyes were alight with mirth, with triumph, and he cackled like a fox, a sound so eery from the throat of a human child.

 

[Graverobber141]

After tending to the fire, taking a bit longer than usual, because he was mulling over his thoughts, Sasuke retired to bed, feeling emotion and physical exhaustion seep into his very being. Settling into the mattress, he noticed he did not immediately feel Ari's warmth. A shadow of panic flooded his mind. Immediately, he reached out to touch the bundle in the blankets, only to discover it was empty, and that panic started to overtake his whole body.

"Ari!" The yell was loud, serving as both a call and a way to alert the others. Grabbing his katana, he slung the weapon over his shoulder, before quickly exiting the room, the door banging closed behind him. He didn't stop as he rushed down the hallway, only offered a quick explanation to any others who he might have passed: "Ari's missing!" And then he was breaking out into the early morning air.

-------------​

Satoru pulled his brows together in thought, more of those revelation, locked tumblers sliding open, though a bit too slowly. His hand was burning, a pain spreading throughout his fingers, traveling through his palm like stigmata, and instinctively, he was letting go and pulling back, the wind picking up around him as he channeled it into his body, through his muscles, and fled to the other side of the fire with speed.

It was also an impulse to draw his sword in that moment with his off-hand, to hold it before him threateningly, cautiously keeping his eyes on the boy, because he doubted it was a just a boy any longer. This jutsu...the coldness of his skin, as if it was a natural part of his being; no, this wasn't a simple child, and the deception had him on high alert, his muscles tensing from paranoia, and tightening his hand around the grip of his chokuto, he channeled his wind chakra into the blade.

"Start talking," he stated, his voice tight, and though it was calm, there was a certain edge to it. "What are you? And what do you want from me?"

His eyes darted to take in the cloaked figure that was approaching quickly, and his feet slid into a more offensive stance. The air thrummed with a dual of lightning and wind chakra, as Sasuke jumped in front of Ari, blade of his sword held out before him, charcoal eyes staring threateningly into grey ones. "Back down."

 

[arbus]

Nimbly, Ari sprang to his feet, throwing the heavy blanket off him as his eyes followed Satoru's path effortlessly. His skin was glowing in the soft light of the fire and the blue of his eyes seemed to grow more intense, to match the blinding effect of sun reflected by untainted snow. Ari was not an experienced fighter, far from it -- he was a cup, his mother's youngest and therefore the most vulnerable member of his pack. He had never known anything else, never known the might that offered itself in the forging of a pact, and so his body trembled in earnest now as the power ran through him like a swiftly growing crack on a sheet of ice.

The wind was uncomfortable on his skin; he wrinkled up his nose because it carried the swordsman's smell, and the stench of his tenseness, but he was not afraid. "I'm Inari of the kitsune", he informed him haughtily, and his fangs showed as he stared Satoru down. "And I grant your request."

Before he could say, or do, anything else, a figure was obstructing his vision. "Sasuke!", he yapped in surprise.

"You've gotta be shitting me!" It was Suigetsu -- alarmed by Sasuke's yells, Karin, Sakura, and himself had exited the cave only moments after the Uchiha, and Suigetsu was closest to the scene. "There I go thinking Sasuke's gotta snatch up my kitsune, and now it's you, Satoru!"

Behind him, Sakura's feet skidded to a halt, white as a sheet and eyes darting from one to the other. "Ari, what have you done?"

The boy leapt, and in midair changed his appearance, so that when he landed on Sasuke's shoulder he was once more the snow-white fox. Nestling his snout against Sasuke's ear, he said, quite proudly: "I have granted him my power, Sasuke", while his eyes never left what he considered to be their mutual opponent's face. "Ice is weak against fire, right?"

 

[Graverobber141]

The look in Satoru's eyes as they all came flooding in--in that moment, Sasuke knew he had made a mistake--was wild and dangerous, the look of a cornered animal burning within his stare, and with it anger, hatred. Ari had unknowingly just poured gasoline onto a fire, and in Sasuke's haste to check on the boy in his weakened state, had fed its flames with wind.

"It doesn't matter," Satoru stated, voice eerily sharp as an edge. His main hand, covered in a thin layer of ice, was held out before him, shaking as if it had been diseased. He seemed to be ignoring Suigetsu, focusing solely on the source of his torment instead. "You have no idea what I'm capable of. Tell me one thing, Uchiha: before you looked in that book of yours, did you even know his name?"

Sasuke's shoulders tensed, because he knew how this was about to go. Stabbing his sword into the ground before him, he reached for Ari to pry him off his shoulder, and place him behind his legs. "Go to Sakura, Ari. Now." There was no room for argument in his tone.

"Did you even remember his face?" Satoru continued, his voice becoming more dangerous with each word uttered. "Or after a certain amount, do they just all start to blend together?"

"And would he want this, your sensei?" Sasuke asked, flexing his fingers, though he made no attempt to grab his sword. It was risky; this battle would be about speed, but he desperately wanted to avoid what was so apparently about to happen. "Would he want this for you?"

"I am nothing like you." The wind that tugged at Sasuke's shirt became sharper, as if it were thinned just a bit more it could physically cut. At that, he reached for his katana, spreading his feet apart as the swordsman continued, "So don't try to relate. People don't change, Uchiha. You're a murderer, and you'll always be a murderer. And you know what I think? You're just waiting for an excuse to fall into old habits."

"Don't make assumptions about who I am," Sasuke asserted, snapping his katana up into his grip. "You're trying to alleviate your conscious, because you don't want to do this."

"Oh, I think I do." It happened in a blink of an eye; Satoru was moving, wind chakra thrumming through his blade, and Sasuke was rushing to meet it, sending a chidori rippling through his own. Metal clashed against metal, and the two stood staring each other down, swords locked. They would have started to dance in earnest, had it not been for the lightning-infused shuriken that came hurling down from the sky, forcing them to separate and put distance between each other.

A man landed between the both of them, messy blonde hair held back by a slanted Sand headband, brown eyes narrowing at the two combatants. "Both of you. Stand down."

"Stay out of this, Kioshi," Satoru growled at his former teammate, keeping his eyes on Sasuke, who was watching them both carefully.

"Satoru. Stop. Before you take this too far," the one called Kioshi was stating softly. "You're not the only one who lost him."

"But I am the only one doing something about it. Chose a side, Kioshi, or kindly stay the fuck out of the way."

The blonde frowned at that, and started forming hand signs. Sasuke barely had enough time to activate his sharingan, feeling the genjutsu start to tug at his mind, to fight off the illusion pulling at him, yet Satoru had other plans to keep himself conscious. He was moving with that incredible speed, and a gale of wind sent Kioshi flying backwards, before Satoru was engaged with Sasuke once more, the two moving like a blur.

 

[arbus]

Ari struggled. For that first moment, surprised by the sternness in Sasuke's voice, he had haltingly retreated, and then been snatched up by Sakura, whose heart was beating alarmingly fast, a thrum against her sternum and ribs, an echo of rushing blood in her ears. A good thing to have cradled the kitsune in her arms, because as the men began to fight, he began to thrash, whimpering and yapping and snapping at her fingers, all in an attempt to let him go, because he wanted to help.

"I don't want him to die either!", she snapped back, gripping the back of his neck. It made him go stiff in an instant, and she pushed his furry little body into Karin's unoccupied hands. Behind thick glasses, her eyes were huge with anguish. In that moment, for the first time, Sakura understood something about the red-head; saw her own mirror image standing before her, a mirage littered with bite marks on her bare arms. Suigetsu was snarling at Ari, but Sakura's harsh tone shut him up: "Karin, take care of Ari. Don't let him interfere in the fight."

"But, Sasuke --"

"Sasuke can fend on his own", she said, and for a moment even believed her own words. Of course he could -- he always had, hadn't he? But even Karin did not know how depleted Sasuke's body was, how low he still ran on chakra, how damaged his cells and chakra pathways still were from the ordeal only three short days ago. He belonged in a hospital bed, not on a river side, fighting to the death.

She whirled around -- they all did -- as the new figure approached like a soundless shadow. Teleportation jutsu? No time for that. Then, the attempt at the genjutsu -- strong, damn it, even at the sidelines -- kai! -- and Sakura's eyes darted between the opponents and the Ari, whose head was falling to the side in sudden, deep slumber.

Sakura moved as the new arrival was sent flying. In the blink of an eye, she jumped, stemming her hands against his back to curb the fall. Her chakra pushed against his shirt, burnt little holes in it and she made a bewildered sound. "Oh no, that wasn't supposed to happen", she declared as she let go, leaving smouldering fabric behind. "I -- Kioshi, right? Are you a friend of Satoru's? Can you make him stop?"

 

[Graverobber141]

Kioshi grimaced as he came to a halting stop, feeling the small burns from the woman's fingertips, honestly surprised at the force behind that gust of wind, and more taken back by just how damn fast his former teammate had gotten; it was like watching Takeshi dance across a battlefield, and if the situation had not been so dire, he would have been impressed. Instead his stomach was sinking, because he had never seen Satoru like this, and that terrified him, but he strengthened his resolve.

Waving a hand at his savior in thanks, he kneeled down into the grass and straightened his gloves. "I honestly don't know, but I'm going to try." There was a subtle sadness in his voice, because if this went badly...He couldn't think about that now. Instead, he focused on the task at hand, taking on a tone of professionalism as he tried to formulate a plan with the woman at his side. "Since we seem to be past the point of reasoning with him now, we need to incapacitate him somehow. Genjutsu has never been his strong suit. If we can capture him in one, it'll at least give us time to bind him, and we can go from there."

He paused, watching as the two shinobi darted around each other with flashes of steel like lightning, before turning his brown gaze onto her, studying her reaction, as he asked, "The Uchiha: if we put Satoru down, will he stop?" With the sharingan, he doubted he could also catch him in a genjutsu, and he wanted to be certain he wouldn't be putting Satoru's life at risk by making him an easy target for his opponent.

 

[arbus]

Sakura's heart, at first elated by the hope of that stranger's help, sank again. It was an odd feeling, a roller coaster of emotion, but she carefully steered clear of examining the situation at hand too closely. Don't think about what could go wrong, she heard Tsunade's voice in her head, like a soothing mantra, think about what you can do to make things go right. Thoughts of Tsunade-shishou had always granted her strength in battle, and it was the same now. She straightened her shoulders.

"Of course he will stop", she said in a matter-of-fact voice, a hint of impatience in her tone because Sasuke was not the problem. "He doesn't want to fight Satoru. What he wants is to prevent any more bloodshed." She pressed her lips together. "But what can you do that an Uchiha's eye jutsu can't?", she asked bluntly. The situation was too dire for false niceties. Her eyes followed the fight, or what she could make out of it; two blurry figures, the sparks of chakra and scraping steal. Apart from that, it was almost noiseless, that confrontation. She still seemed to be listening to her own heartbeat in her ears. Satoru was too fast -- he had not let on his real strength, that lightening speed, when they had spared. Of course not -- now his restraint made sense. He hadn't wanted to give up his advantage by fighting her in earnest. She now doubted she would have stood a chance against him.

Are you my enemy?

It ached, not to have seen through his lie.

The tender sprigs of trust that had started to grow in her, she felt them rotting away. It made her sick, to have been so naive.

"He's so fast." It was almost reverend; whom, beside Naruto, did she know that could keep up with speed like that?

 

[Graverobber141]

"I didn't mean to offend," Kioshi stated in response, voice sweetly even, even as his own patience was wearing thin. Now was not the time for debate; time was a precious resource, and they could not afford to waste it. "But I know nothing about the man, except that he killed my sensei, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence." Okay, maybe he was getting a bit sassy, yet he didn't have the patience to be polite. "And I would greatly appreciate it if we could focus on making sure these two don't kill each other."

Clicking his tongue, he turned his attention back toward the fight, considering their options, because she raised a good point; the problem was catching up with Satoru long enough to put him under a genjutsu, or even the second option that came to mind, drugging him, would require being able to match his speed. A frustrated sigh escaped from his nostrils, because he hated this feeling of being able to do nothing, and he denied it vehemently.

"That jutsu wears on his body, drains his chakra quickly," Kioshi finally stated, running a few fingers through his hair. "He's going to start slowing down. I just need a short window."

Now, the question was if the Uchiha could last that long.

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

Satoru was fast, and in his current state, Sasuke was finding it hard to keep pace, pressed into only being defensive against the swordsman's endless offense; even if he wanted to strike back, he would have found it hard to do so, as every movement of his body was spent dodging, kept one step behind. He was resisting from using fire jutsu, but if this kept up...Satoru's unstableness was becoming more apparent with the growing recklessness of his attacks, and even if he succeeded in this quest of revenge, Sasuke wondered if he would stop.

The swordsman was coming in for an overhead slash; dunking under his arm, Sasuke sought to slip behind him, yet saw--too slow to change course--that the move had been a feint. Satoru was rolling across his back, exposing him, and shifting his weight, Sasuke threw them both toward the ground to avoid getting a blade in his spine. They recovered by regaining their footing, dancing backwards to create distance, yet it was hardly a relief.

Satoru formed a few hand signs, ending in the serpent, and a strong, fierce, sharply edged torrent of wind barreled toward Sasuke, and with no other options, Sasuke formed a seal in return, spitting fire to meet the raging gale. The red and orange dancing flames fed upon the wind, fueled with a ravenous hunger, and he jumped back, eyes peeled for the any sign of the swordsman.

The chokuto came flying through the heat first, blade burning red, wind wrapped around it, and a third chakra embedded within the sword, the ice thick and sharp, clinging to the edges; Sasuke moved, but the weapon was just so fast. His shoulder was impaled, and with a growl, he felt pain, burning and freezing, spread through his body as the chokuto pierced through him.

No time to recover, for the blade ricocheted back into the flames, and its wielder emerged, burns licking his body, as he snapped the weapon thrumming with chakra back into his grip; the sheer power, dual natures all battling each other, sparking across the sword was turning the hand he held it with--the left--sickeningly black, as if burnt and decayed. Sasuke gripped his katana, sent a chidori rippling through the metal, held it up to block--

Sasuke's specially forged blade broke with a harsh snap, lightning sparking, as the chokuto's charged metal met the katana's, and with his sharingan glaring upwards, reflecting from the flat, heart beating so fast in that moment where time seemed to stop, where the tip of his enemy's sword was about to claim his life, Sasuke summoned his dwindling chakra, and the tomoes of his rinnegan spun.

Then he was gone. Replaced by a branch. Yet reappearing a distance away, he felt a sharp pain, as if someone was stabbing his eye, and groaned. Blood drying on his shoulder (the wound, at least, had been partly cauterized due to the fire on the blade) and dripping from his ringed eye, he began to feel the exhaustion settle into his muscles, and he knew he pushing his limit.

Across from him, Satoru was panting, his body now covered in severe burns, and the nasty, charred color infecting the hand holding his sword was spreading onto his wrist. Yet he was smirking sickly, as if he had already won.

 

[arbus]

"Then we wait", Sakura said, and her eyes never left the blurs darting across the battlefield, "for the right opportunity." How ironic for her to suggest such a thing, the girl that always stood at the sidelines, but this was not that. This was her, forming a plan in her mind; a strategy. Satoru had the upper hand, was fighting with the conviction of the righteous. The way he moved, pushed, ever forward, reminded her of the way Obito had fought in the war, desperate, as if he had nothing to loose.

Naruto had been able to bring Sasuke back from the bottom of darkness; he had fallen and spent so much time in this deep well of sorrow, but Naruto's arms had been strong enough to heave his friend out, and that strength had come from his own past, from a lifetime of stubborn rejection of his loneliness. But they had been friends, and Satoru was nothing but a stranger -- how could they hope for him to see reason? How long had it taken for Sasuke to let go of his hatred, his need for revenge?

"Suigetsu!" The white-haired man's head perked up as Sakura waved him over. On the battlefield, a flame grew into a fireball, burning grass and the leaves of nearby trees. The distinct scent of burning flesh, burning hair, wafted through the air. "You know Satoru -- we need you to help us end this fight."

"Oh, I see how it's gonna end", Suigetsu replied, but there was no grin on his face now. "If you think me strong enough to stand in Satoru's way, then I have to disappoint you, pinky, I'm still weak from --"

"It's not that", she replied, and her eyes were on Sasuke, clearly visible for the moment his blood flew through the air. Behind them, Karin gasped. "I need you to distract him so Kioshi can perform the genjutsu, I --" And then it happened fast, and there was no time left to relay what she wanted to do: Sasuke's blade broke -- Sakura's heart sank into her knees -- the killing blow (the madness in Satoru's eyes) -- the substitution jutsu -- their chance.

Sakura was gone, flitted across the battlefield in a straight run towards Satoru.

"What the fuck!", Suigetsu uttered, because this was suicide. Every shinobi worthy of the name knew not to confront an opponent head on like this, especially not one who was so obviously off his rocker. And so, sentimental idiot that he was -- she had saved his life, after all -- but with a few colorful curses on his lips, he followed.

It was exactly what Sakura had wanted, but she did not look back to check as not to loose even one precious second. While running, she yelled Satoru's name to gain his attention. And when she thought to feel his eyes on her, even for the briefest of moments, she performed a substitution jutsu of her own -- leaving the same branch Sasuke had used in her stead. It fell with a heavy clonk to the ground quite a distance from Satoru's position.

But where Sakura had been was now Suigetsu, Kubikiribocho raised as he flew through the air. "Oi, mate, what's gotten you in such a frenzy, eh?", he taunted and swung his sword at him. He had no idea what Sakura's plan was, but he hoped it was a good one, because Satoru looked like he was ready to --

CRACK.

The earth trembled, then broke, as a crevice opened and split the ground in two. It was huge; a crater that grew and threatened to swallow them whole, running across the ground between Satoru's and Suigetsu's position and where Sasuke stood. At it's base, near the river bank, stood Sakura with her fist buried in the ground, and her wild eyes weren't on either opponent but on Kioshi, and she screamed: "Do something!"

Many things were happening at once: The crevice opening; Suigetsu's attack coming in; Karin, using the body flicker technique to bring Ari to safety, as the earth seemed to crumble beneath all of them.

 

[Graverobber141]

'People aren't simple, but they are predictable.'

Figures moving, a clash of lifetimes in a few seconds, some told from generations before by lingering ghosts, and narrated by a thin, white noise that occasionally broke through a deafening, screaming silence.

Satoru was jumping back from Suigetsu's blade, dancing across the shards of the crumbling crater, and eyes locking with a red gaze, he was changing targets, charging with that incredible speed. Kioshi realized what he was doing, and in that moment his heart beat so quickly in his chest in a restrained panic, as he was forming hand signs, moving to stop this, but the two of them were just so damn fast.

Sasuke thought he knew what was happening, and because of that he started moving with a new intent, that underlying compulsion of his to protect. Rushing down the riverside, his right hand extended, and though he had never used it with this arm, chidori flashed within his palm, the lightning sparking as it trailed behind him.

And Satoru was raising his chokuto.

'Because we're only human.'

The wind picked up viciously, randomly, not aided by any jutsu. There was a drop of rain that fell from the sky, a streak of lightning across the clouds that shrouded the rising sun.

They met a breath away from Sakura.

Sasuke skidded in front of her, chidori crackling as he thrusted it forward, a hollowed impulse, need, to make sure he never lost someone precious to him again driving his actions, and with that predictability--

Satoru, a white noise drowning out the world around him with only this hollowed pain eating away at his core, leaving him numb to everything else, did not flinch away from it as his sword changed course, and with that disregard--

Sasuke's hand pierced through his shoulder, but Satoru leaned into it, free hand reaching out to tightly grasp the Uchiha's arm, pushing the attack forward, even as it caused the chidori to cut closer to vitals, slicing into his chest, until Sasuke's hand was through him, and he was close. An arm reached out to snake around his neck, holding him almost as if in an embrace. Then the chokuto was raised into the air, before being driven down, aimed at Sasuke's exposed back.

It all had happened in the span of a single heartbeat.

The tip of the blade stopped right before it could pierce through the Uchiha's heart, and it was that hesitance that saved his life, that gave Kioshi enough time to reach them. One hand grabbed Satoru's wrist that held the weapon, the other pressed against his head, and then the world swirled into an illusion around Satoru, his eyes closed into a deep slumber.

Sasuke's dark eyes were wide, not from fear, but the feeling of warm blood running down his arm that wasn't his own, the body slumped against him. Having used what little chakra he had remaining, pain from exertion rippling through his muscles, his legs gave, and he was falling.

Kioshi was helping them to land gently, and Sasuke could see the tears running down the blond's face, a quiet sorrow, felt warmth around his arm as healing jutsu was flooded into Satoru, heard a muttered, desperate plea, "You're not allowed to die, you asshole. You hear me? Don't you fucking dare die on me."

 

[arbus]

So, there was pain.

Emotional pain, which did not wreck your body, but capable of bringing you to your knees regardless. There was anger and the inkling of a feeling, like a shadow, like the breeze that played with Sakura's hair in the deafening silence. Oh, she thought, and looked at the bleeding, lifeless body in front of her. Saw tears like rain hit the handsome face -- or was it rain, because the sky had darkened and the air filled with its scent -- saw the blood on Sasuke's hand, his arm, a constant trickle from his elbow to the ground. Nourishment for more hurt.

Oh, she thought and understood a little bit better, this wish to cause hurt. For an infinitesimal amount of time she had been sure to loose Sasuke, to loose him for good, to death, to a blade pushed through his organs that were supposed to sustain his body, to keep working, to keep him alive. And there, she had thought of how to reciprocate, how to give that pain back. Take it, and stuff it down your throat. You have used me.

She was on her knees now, too, and her hands pushed against Kioshi's as she searched for his eyes, once, and gave a single nod.
We've got this.
The seal on her forehead glowed, and black lines like ink crept over the skin of her face, and she gave Kioshi all of it for him to stir, to direct into Satoru's maltreated body.

"Hey there", Suigetsu said as he landed by Sasuke's side, eying him with a raised brow. "You alright?"

Sakura used one hand to place on Sasuke's arm, to gently, carefully, guide it out of the other's body, and her fingers were warm on his freed skin, slick with blood and gore, and for a moment they lifted to his face to stroke his cheek, but then her attention was on Satoru again, who was loosing too much blood too fast.

 

[Graverobber141]

It felt surreal, and Sasuke was frozen, this strange world around him drowned out by a white noise that rang in his ears. He didn't register Suigetsu's question, hardly registered Sakura's hand removing his from the pale shell of a being he had been locked with, and it took a few heartbeats for his mind to process how her fingers had graced his cheek, incidentally staining the other side of his face with a dot or two of that warm liquid that engulfed his arm. His eyes drifted to take her in, in response to her touch--too shocked to fully feel the hurt surrounding his heart, to give substance to these thoughts floating in the back of his mind, for there was only a dull numbness--and he simply stared at her (such an expression unknown to him, because he had only worn it once, on the worse day of his life), as if he were constantly trying to remind himself that she was there, alive--as if to he was afraid to look away, fearful that he wouldn't know where she would go if he did so. Perhaps a little bit of that fear came from what he would see should he dare to look over.

Kioshi had spared Sakura a single look when their eyes met, one that was entirely thankful, one that said he knew how easy it would've been to turn away, to let this idiotic fuck-up he called his die in a mess of his own making, and how entirely, fucking, deeply, wholly grateful he was that she was helping, because he was so very desperate not to lose him like this, not when he was still very, very and rightfully furious with him, not when he still had that shogi strategy he was sure he could finally beat him with, not when he had so many more speeches on responsibility and growing up to lecture him with.

Kioshi inhaled deeply, tried to settle himself, and though the tears occasionally kept sliding down his face, he was able to steady himself enough to focus. Giving her a nod, he did what needed to be done, pooling their combined chakra into that gaping whole in Satoru's chest.

 

[arbus]

It was a delicate procedure; she had operated on open wounds often, and once, an open heart (her best friend's open heart, with her own in her mouth and the thought don't you dare don't you dare don't you dare like another one of those mantras running through her mind). She lost herself in the rhythm of it -- this always happened, sooner or later, no matter how afraid or agitated she was: One moment, she was Sakura, the little girl with her heart in her mouth; and the next she wasn't. The soothing warmth of a sage's nature chakra rushed through her. She conveyed it, ever forward, a steady stream into Kioshi's adequately talented hands. It would have worked without him, but slower; beneath her fingers, beneath his, the strings of their chakra threaded through torn tissue. Cells, restored; at the same time -- draining -- a systematic anamnesis of Satoru's body. His pulse, weak but steady, and Sasuke had not damaged any vital organs. The blood loss was their worst enemy, so they worked on closing the wound, stitching it up -- the muscle and fatty tissue, until they reached the outer layers and finally, thin, rosy skin spread over the wound.

She threw a quick glance at Kioshi, to make sure he was holding up, before her eyes darted to Sasuke, once.

Suigetsu was sitting next to Sasuke, a steady hand on his shoulder, because the poor sucker looked like he was going to keel right over any minute. And somehow, Karin had gotten there, too, beyond the crater, her hair dark with what looked like earth. She still cradled the sleeping fox, and like Suigetsu himself, she stared at the unconscious man before them.

Suigetsu did not think of himself as an overly sentimental creature, but he had his moments; and he did not want Satoru to die, who had never been anything but good to him -- a fair opponent, a drinking companion, a friend. Usually, he would have demanded an explanation at the top of his voice; this, however, was not the time. The gloom hung over them much as the thunder clouds did, dark and heavy, like a burial. A light drizzle moistened their hair and clothes, yet nobody moved. Only when Sakura, her hands soaked in green light and blood, finally raised her head, Suigetsu exhaled, feeling as if he had held his breath this entire time.

"Suigetsu, help Kioshi to transport Satoru into the hideout. He needs a fire, warm blankets and to get out of those dirty clothes. Karin", the red-headed woman twitched, and her body tensed, "can you make sure you get Ari dry and warm as well? I'm not sure, but he might have exhausted himself, and if he overreached, we need to keep an eye on him."

 

[Graverobber141]

Kioshi, once Satoru was stable and he felt the swordsman's heart beating underneath his fingers, a reminder that he was still there and with them, removed his bloodied hands, wiping them on his shirt, before he lifted his sleeve to dry his face. Giving Sakura another nod, one to state that he would be able to keep it together, even as it seemed like everything was falling apart around him, he stood to lift Satoru up, along with Suigetsu's help, and began carting him off toward the hideout. The wind was picking up, somehow gentle, even as it tore at the medic's clothes, carrying with it the drizzling of rain, and he wondered if it was Takeshi, weeping on that other side of his, anguished by what had become of his son, yet such thoughts were foolish. Could it be fixed, the damage that had been caused?

With reassurance that Satoru was going to make it, some of Sasuke's basic functioning skills seemed to return to him, though a haze still clouded his mind, as if he were dreaming; the situation should have made it seem like a nightmare, but it just simply didn't feel real, even though the drying blood on his hand confirmed that it was. He felt like a lost child, small and vulnerable, and in that moment also felt incredibly stupid, for just sitting there, staring and doing nothing, when he should be doing something, anything.

He shifted to balance his weight onto his knees, intending to attempt to stand, and noticed a small, insignificant pain as he mildly scraped his leg against something sharp. Looking down, he noticed that the chokuto had been forgotten, and now laid in the wet grass as if put to rest, and he noticed his own reflection in the flat of the blade, how exhausted and empty he looked. He didn't know exactly why he felt the need to retrieve it, but he did, and after sliding and securing it into his belt, he finally stood with effort, dark gaze drifting back onto Sakura.

His fingers reached out of their own accord, to touch her cheek, as if to reassure himself that she was real, that she was there, that she was alive; his touch gently grazed over her neck, before dropping to wrap his arm around her shoulders, and then he was pulling her against him.

 

[arbus]

Karin hesitated. She was torn between following the men, and Sasuke, who seemed dangerously unsteady on his feet. The streak of blood on his cheek a stark red against his paleness. Her breath caught at the sight of him, pulling the pink-haired gnome into an embrace -- she could hardly belief what she saw, because Sasuke, her Sasuke never appreciated such closeness, let alone sought it on his own accord.

There was nothing for her left to do here; she realized she was a third wheel, a remnant of a long-forgotten version of the man she believed to love. So she turned, and pressing the fragile body of the fox closer against her chest, she followed the medic and Suigetsu, who was looking back at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

Sakura did not hesitate; she had gravitated towards Sasuke's forlorn form from the moment she had cleared Satoru for transportation, and was wrapping her arms around his neck now, burying her fingers in his hair. She pulled his head down onto her shoulder, cradling it in her hands, her nails scraping softly over his skull as she held him. Her body thrummed with energy, seeping like warmth into Sasuke, a healing jutsu of it's own, soothing the shock he was experiencing.

"He's going to live", she whispered against his ear. "I am going to live, because of you."

 

[Graverobber141]

"Because of you," Sasuke corrected her softly, burying his face into the crook of her neck. His hand lifted, as if he wanted to entangle his fingers in her hair, but he remembered the blood coated upon them, and instead settled for tenderly, lightly tracing them down her back. "He's alive, I'm alive, because of you."

Her warmth spreading into him, her chakra thrumming against his own, his walls nonexistent in this rare, unguarded moment, where the remnants of what just happened left him completely open, he realized how much his body responded to this welcoming touch of hers, how much it he craved it, and an inkling of a thought was spreading throughout his exhausted conscious that this, this was what he remembered home felt like.

Kami, this was dangerous, like leaving an open container of gasoline near burning flames and hoping it didn't catch fire. And yet, with the thought of what could've happened still fresh on his mind like an open wound, he found himself selfishly not caring.

He just wanted to stand here in her embrace, bask in her warmth, to stay grounded in this moment, without thinking about what awaited them in the future, or what had haunted them in this past; he simply wanted to stay right here, right now, held against her.

A minute passed by, maybe several. It wasn't until the drizzle started to turn into an honest downpour that his hold began to relax. Raising his head, he pressed a kiss against her forehead, lips lingering and tracing over a dark line of her seal, before withdrawing. "We should head back," he murmured.

 

[arbus]

Sakura held onto him, trailing her fingers through his hair, a gentle, ever repeating caress. She would lie awake for nights to come and think about this embrace, the shiver of her body at the tender brush of his hand, but for now, she was all his, her spine made of steel and her shoulders as strong as he needed them to be. The seal on her forehead throbbed with contained energy, under the graze of his soft lips, but she did not allow it to wane yet.

"In a moment", she said, guiding him with a gentle hand towards the river. She did not care about the rain, as it was washing the dirt and sweat from the fight away from his pale face, and she would make sure to guide him to the fire in a few minutes, where he would be wrapped in blankets and given some broth Karin, or maybe even Kioshi, would have prepared by then. Both were healers, competent enough from what Sakura could tell; both knew what to do in this situation. When they had reached the riverbank, she sank to her knees, motioning him to follow her example. Her fingers, she only now realized, were crusted in Satoru's blood as well, and it flaked off her nails like dried paint. Sasuke would need a bath, later, but for now, this would do. She closed her hand around his wrist, extending his arm by gently guiding it towards the water. Cupping her other hand, she dipped it into the cold stream, and very slowly began washing all the blood from Sasuke's arm. Her fingers scrubbed carefully, and despite the rain and the coldness, she took her time to clean him from the remnants of the battle. She was only satisfied when his skin had turned slightly pink, but her chakra-infused touch guarded him from the cold, a barrier between his body and the elements.

In the spot at the back of her neck, where it met her shoulders, she felt a building tension, and early sign of her body, protesting the constant strain of the seal, which she had employed to often in the past few days.

Her fingertips rubbed against the streaks of blood she left earlier on his cheek, and she looked into his dark eyes as she did so. "You'll be alright", she offered in a gentle tone, the soothing nonsense words uttered to reassure the primal part of his brain, which sought shelter, and in his current state, she knew, guidance. She had learned much in her years since the War, it seemed, and had not even been aware to what extent. "Everything will turn out alright, Sasuke. You'll see."

 

[Graverobber141]

The gesture was deeply intimate, perhaps more so than any embrace could be, and with his knees resting on the soft grass of the river's bank, his arm held with her gentle grasp, the water and her palm cleansing away the blood that had stained half of his limb, Sasuke studied her features as she worked, and felt something shift within himself; an indescribable feeling, almost like a relief, as his heart hummed within his chest, and his soul felt suddenly lighter, as if he had shrugged off an infinitely heavy burden that he had been carrying for years. Here, with his id so definably compelling his conscious, there was little mason work done to keep himself imprisoned within his own mind, his own beliefs, his own self-imposed punishments for his sins and guilt.

And it was so very dangerous, like gasoline.

"I believe you," he muttered back in return, and it wasn't a lie. In his current state, he doubted he could lie.

He could feel her warm chakra tingling against the skin of his cheek. Reaching his hand up, he entangled his fingers into hers, pulling their interlocked hands down so that he could run his lips over her knuckles, kissing the bruises her fierce, crater-causing punch had left behind. His intense gaze held her own, and it was almost burning--like in some cheap, amateur romance novel written by some hack author who thought love was simple--yet was just kindling awaiting a flame, one he did not dare strike, even as it took every ounce of waning willpower to resist, a battle raged against that instinctual part of himself that currently had command of his body.

He knew she had to be drained; three lives saved in a matter of days, his own twice, and that didn't account for the emotional toll left behind within these last few hours. There it was, that embedded need to shield her, care for her, making itself known, and without a thought, he was moving closer, shifting his weight back onto his feet in a crouching position, and moving his hand, after having squeezed hers before letting go, to rest against her knee.

"Put your arms around my neck," he whispered against her ear softly, and while it certainly wasn't an order, it wasn't quite a request either.

 

[arbus]

That thin line she was navigating: perhaps she had crossed it, but if so, she had no intention of validating it. Instead, her thoughts remained on the surface of her consciousness that shivered like a see-through veil. She could brush that veil aside, have it run like silk through her fingers, and step into truth‘s warm embrace. She didn‘t.

Instead, and without a moment‘s hesitation, she curled her arms around his neck. Buried her face against his cool skin, into the crook that contained the damb stale scent of blood and sweat and himself. Glad to hide her face, she waited for what she thought would happen next, and did not care the way her body pressed up against him as if it wanted to crawl into him, for safety, for the knowledge that he was bruised and wounded but mercifully alive.

And her chakra, with its mild green glow whispering of leaves and warm earth and thick roots buried deeply into the ground, caressed that wild mixture of lightning and fire running through his veins like it was the most natural thing in the world.

 

[Graverobber141]

Fierce fire smoked and extinguished underneath a calm, deep wave of water, and steady earth crumbled from a sparking strike of fervent lightning; their dual chakra natures danced dangerously close around each other, and he could feel it, as if his life energy reached out to grab onto hers out of instinct. He had considered how Naruto made for his perfect rival, a flip side of the same coin, fire countering wind and wind countering lightning, but this was different. A balance instead of a fight, and part of him wanted to laugh at how obvious it was, this thing they dared not to acknowledge in this moment, afraid to break the surreality of it all, to welcome in reality and all the harshness that would follow, but on some level, underneath his surface, he found it so very evident.

His fingers drifted to gently caress her hair, offering reassurance, comfort, the remaining strength he had left in both his muscles and being, as his face pressed into her cheek, taking a few heartbeats to just embrace her underneath the orange, morning sun that fought to shine through dark clouds, the cool rain that fell down upon them, splashing within the nearby river. And then his hand slipped underneath her legs to support her weight, and he lifted her as he stood.

He carried her across the battlefield, over loose, cracked rocks dislodged by a punch, over scorched grass burnt from his own jutsu, past trees scarred with deep slashes from the sharp wind, past all the physical reminders of the pain and hardship they had just suffered through, and cradling her against his chest, he remained comfortably silent on the journey, cautious that speaking might cause them both to wake.

It wasn't until he had travelled past the waterfall, arriving at the entrance of the hideout, that he finally did speak. Lips parting in a small, quiet laugh, he exhaled a light breath of air, in that way of his that resembled a chuckle, and pressed his lips against her ear, asking, "Could you get the door?" With one hand, trying to open it himself would be nothing but a disaster.

 

[arbus]

She had not expected this. And as she was raised with such apparent ease, she felt her heart lift as well. A protest was on her lips and died, as that selfish want crept up on her: Being cradled, being embraced and held and safe, and she gave into it by holding onto him even more tightly, her seal glowing and the chakra breaking. A wave of fatigue flooded her body then, as the lines on her face faded, her fingers curling into the hair at the back of his neck.

She could not remember ever having felt like this. Words were not adequate to describe it; it was like the warm blanket smelling of her mother; like the grass tickling her feet in summer; like splashing water on her overheated face, and eating dango and ice cream on the same day, like making a leap and landing between her two bests friends, both scarred and bleeding and laughter like relief in their eyes.

A beat, another, and she returned this sweet sound uttered against her ear with an amused smile, a lover's glance. "You could always put me down, you know", she said, her voice soft, as she extended her hand to push the handle down, the door open.

 

[Graverobber141]

"Hm," Sasuke murmured dismissively, the soft sound playful and filled with affection. Taking a moment to look into her emerald gaze, to feel the emotion behind it, he allowed himself to get lost within it if only for a few seconds, to bask in that notion of home, before his dark eyes were drifting down to take in that intoxicating smile; he loved that expression of hers, wanted to see it as often as he could. And after those few heartbeats passed, spent trying to extend a few seconds into an eternity, he used his shoulder to push through the door.

He avoided the kitchen, sticking to the hallway, because he didn't want to face anyone else, to be drawn out of this dream, and carried her into the room she was staying in; with this door being already cracked opened, he didn't require her help to take them across the threshold, closing it with his foot behind him.

"There's now two other competent healers under this roof," he explained, "And I'm sure, if for some reason they do require your help, they'll let you know. So you're going to rest." He was using that same tone, the one that was somehow lovingly stern, neither a demand nor a request. Pausing near her bedroll, he gently kneeled so he could place her down near it, aware that the rain had left them both soaked and reluctant to get her bedding wet. "Change into some dry clothes. I'm going to see if I can scavenge up something for you to eat."

He didn't wait to give her a chance to protest; running his hand tenderly across her back as he withdrew his arm, he stood to leave the room, giving her some privacy.