The Burden of Future

~Chapter 17~

Hello, people. Chapter 17 is ready, hot out of Word. I should have put this up earlier but I just had to watch some vines and…well, you know the drill.

I'll be doing some editing to the first 13 chapters as I feel I've left some things out along the way, things that would make this story make more sense If you have time, do read them. I won't change the essence of the story, though, so no worries if you miss it.

P.S: Thanks for the reviews. They're precious.

Disclaimer: I wouldn't have been able to write 700 chapters about chakra molding and true friendship. If I did, I would have wished for both too much in real life.

"Itachi…"

"…What?"

'Oh,dung.'

"What do you mean 'Itachi'?"

"…Ha? N-nothing. H-h-how long have I slept?"

'I dreamt about it…again.'

Sasuke held her gaze warily and huffed a little sight through pouted lips. She was out of it again.

"Three hours. A little too much, it seems…"

"Haha, maybe," the rosette laughed it off, all while mentally cursing at herself.

'What the hell is wrong with you? You almost…Damn it.'

She just shook her head and got up faster then she should have, her brisk movements almost knocking Sasuke off his feet. She felt a bit dizzy from it as well, but she held it in this time.

'Done with the weakling time for today.'

"I'm going home," she said loudly, trying to tell it to the other two people in her team as well. The empty training ground spoke for itself, though.

"Where are they?", she said, not turning back to ask him.

'I'm sorry.'

"They left two hours ago…"

'I killed your family.'

"Why are you here then?"

'I lied to you.'

"Sakura," he said firmly, his fingers clasping her shoulder slightly seeing her all out of it. "…Are you okay?"

"Of course," she smiled, turning around and looking him right in the eyes. "Why wouldn't I be?"

'I'm sorry.'

"I'll go home for now. I think I kind of overdid it today. You should go too."

He let his hand slip off her shoulder. She wasn't going to speak. Not that day.

"…I will."

She threw him another one of her dazzling smiles before going her way, secretly hoping it would do, at least for that moment.

Sasuke watched her back as she went farther and farther away from the training ground.

"This time round, it won't do, Sakura," he said to himself. "You really have being overdoing it… for the past five years." Why did she think he stayed?

Her back finally disappeared around the corner, following the route to her home.

She seemed to walk slower than usual. It was already getting dark so… two hours, maybe? Yeah, that's how much it took her to reach home. It wasn't the first time it happened though. Seeing how it was the same date as then.

Was it the fifth time?

'No, wait, only the forth.'

The first time, it was different. Definitely different.

~Five years ago~

The rain seemed to know exactly where to pour, what souls to cool down. She was sitting under a tree, at the very back, so the raindrops wouldn't reach her. She wasn't sure she was doing the right thing by keeping herself dry, but there weren't any places left in the rain. She just stood there, motionless. She hadn't thought about what had happened only three days before, at all. She knew the aftermath, she was facing it at that very moment, but she couldn't feel it as yet.

She drew herself closer to the trunk behind, leaning against it tiredly. She was sleepy, the same blank sleepiness she remembered to have had after those full shifts at the hospital, with tens of surgeries and no break in between. Her gaze fell sleepily to the bottom of her feet, letting her see briefly a white-dotted spot. She looked at it carefully, comprehending its form. It wasn't small, nor big. Its surface seemed to be broken it dozens of carefully driven strokes and in the center, it was all yellowish, like a little sun hiding from the rain.

It took her longer to realize what it was than it should have, but it was all too normal after what she'd been through.

The white flower at her very left must have been dropped there, without anyone's notice. The only difference was that they had already put the flowers near the graves a day ago. This one, though, was…quite fresh in comparison.

If it took her long to notice the flower next to her, it didn't take her more than an instant to notice, to feel his presence. She wasn't actually sensing anything, no chakra flaring, no smell, no movement. Knowing he was there was a must, for both of them.

Her eyes drifted sharply towards the far right of the crowd, gazing at the backs of ANBU shinobi sitting solemnly along the people to say their goodbyes to the family of dead.

Sakura could literally see the shadows of their muscles tensing in their backs and arms. It was a scary sight, but a weird one at the same time. They didn't even turn around, they didn't even flinch. She watched the council's men ignoring the one they had been searching for all this time, letting him grieve in peace. She felt touched at the thought, but she knew it was the humane thing to do. It was his family's funeral and he had all the rights to be there, even though he was the one to cause it.

The wind suddenly changed directions, the summer drops now wetting the tired skin of her face. They were quite cold, but she didn't mind the refreshing feeling. They appeared to have reached her right shoulder as well and they were all trying to hit the same place. It felt funny, though. How come the raindrops falling on her face felt like ice against her senses, but the ones touching her shoulder were warmer than her own body?

She reached the spot with her hand right before she felt the sharp scent of blood stinging in the air, her fingers smudging the stain in a way to test the fresh, red paint. It definitely came from above. Up in the tree.

'He's hurt.'

Her medic-like conscience made her rigid, focused and ready for everything and anything. The bad thing was she couldn't do anything. Not with everyone there. Not for now.

She hurriedly put both her hands back, trying to scratch against the bark with what was left of her nails. The sounds were both short and long, as required, telling him to try and enter Nara's forest. It was safe there. It was hard to enter, but it was safe. The code was vague and could barely be heard, but he wasn't one to be doubted.

He'd heard it, he'd understood it, despite being hurt.

She and Naruto were walking on each side of their future teammate, stepping silently, all together, on the way to Sasuke's new apartment. The mansion was still being cleaned. It would take a while for them to finish, though.

In spite of all odds, Sakura knew Sasuke had cried his last tears at the funeral. He's passed all those hard steps of sufferance and grieving and he was getting closer and closer to acceptance, one he hadn't even tried to reach in his other life. The difference? He wasn't left all alone after massacre. He had his friends' shoulders to cry on and even more, his mother's. He cried the most when close to her and he almost didn't care she was unconscious in her hospital bed. If a seven year old would have found his mother all sick, her not recognizing him from the shock, he would have been wrecked. But what was there to be done? He was just happy she was alive.

Upon reaching his apartment building, he was about to say goodbye to his teammates but he didn't get the chance to as they were already going in. They weren't about to let him alone right at that moment. Sakura took his hand and led him up the stairs and into the small hallway of his new house. In her mind, putting him to a well-deserved sleep was more important than anything, even more so since he hadn't slept in days.

She let him go to his room (or more so forced him to) and while doing so, she sneaked a powerful chakra shot into his system to numb him to sleep. She wouldn't let him do the job of falling asleep all by himself, so a little help was most useful.

It would have taken a few minutes for it to work, but hearing to peaceful breathing and sensing his chakra source put to sleep, she was sure it was a record to give credit to.

In the end, she had to leave alone as she noticed that her blonde ball of energy had secretly deflated on the couch, now puffing silently while sound asleep. She would have smiled at the cute sight, but the smile stopped midway before showing as she remembered where she was supposed to be at that time.

The rosette hurriedly put a blanket around Naruto and started searching for a sheet Sasuke wouldn't use…from then on. She took one found in the drawer and, along with few ointments she always had with her, she darted outside the window, going directly for the rooftops.

Mapping the village in her head was a good way to take the short run to the forest, but it wasn't easy. Since the attack, the guards had been doubled all over the place, closing in the few spaces she could have passed through freely in the past.

'If the air is hard to get through, then the ground should do just fine.'

She jumped high off the rooftop, did few hand signs and fell with speed right in the dirt of the street, disappearing in its mass.

'Good thing there weren't any people around,' she said, coughing slightly from the sudden change of environments. She moved her body along the rocks deeply embedded in the dry earth. Transforming her chakra movements into the ones of water was a smart idea as long as she could get out of the sticky clay that formed after her passing through. It might have seemed quite the challenge, but it took far less time than it would have if she tried to hide from the guards outside.

Sensing the change in smell as she continued with her way confirmed her having reached the forest as such. Who knew the identification of different habitats by smell was actually a useful thing she relearned about at the Academy. Seeing there wasn't any kind of vibration coming from the surface, she assumed the place was safe enough to come out.

Her body got through the topsoil in one fluid motion, one that, although soundless, couldn't avoid getting her clothes full of dirt. As soon as she got back to her senses, she jumped up the branches and started searching for that spot she had told him about less than an hour ago. She was running faster than her still short legs could carry, but she wasn't slowing down.

"Don't bleed to death…please."

She finally came to a halt, stopping near the heart of the forest. Taking a sniff of the air, she could barely distinguish anything in that enormous mass of scents but…it was there. Blood.

She got down and stepped lightly in the direction the scent was more powerful, all while extending to the limits her chakra sense. She figured small bits of chakra flaring somewhere near her right and she knew in an instant it was his way of telling her where he was. She ran that way and finally saw his shadow lying on the ground, unmoving.

Her medic instincts kicked in and took over her body, her hands lightning with greenish, healing power.

Seeing his abdomen shredded, she realized it was more serious than she thought it would have been. Four deep, bloody gashes on his abdomen with possible damage to internal organs and he was still awake? Or at least it seemed so.

'Damn it, Uchiha. You're giving me plenty of work.'

She looked at his pale face and the usual pair of charcoal colored eyes fought back. He was wide awake, no traces of any kind of exhaustion. Yeah, sure…

'Hah, you thought you can fool me with keeping your eyes wide opened?'

She should tell him some day that the wider the eyes of an Uchiha, the more tired that person is to resist blacking out.

"You stubborn old being," she scorned him all while pumping constant waves of chakra in his opened wounds. "Since when do you let your enemies touch your body?"

She looked at him angrily but all he had to do was give her one meaningful look and she understood.

'Oh… You let them do it.'

He took a deep breath, one broken by a shattered rib on his left side. To him, it seemed the least he could do to his family.

If he was going to kill them, he could at least let them fight back, the ones who were able to. And it worked. The pain he was feeling now all over his body numbed a bit what he was trying not to feel inside.

Sakura watched him with wary eyes, tracing the lines around his eyes carefully in her attempt to read parts of his thoughts. Those few lines were pretty deep as of now…

She looked back at the slashes uncovering under her hands and she decided to concentrate on them. The silence that followed the next few minutes was perfect for her to do so.

"…Does he hate me?" he asked suddenly, his voice shacking with effort. It was an obvious question, but there was still hope glinting in his eyes.

"For now," she told him quietly." But it won't last long. I'll make sure it doesn't. I'll make him sane, don't worry," she said full of confidence, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Don't try and make him hate you so that he kills you in the future," her voice rang heavily in the now dark forest. "You just have to make sure everything will turn around as it's supposed to, as we need it to. You need to make sure you haven't just killed your family a second time for nothing."

The silence after her saying that lasted long, interrupted only by the shifting of the bandages against the sensitive skin she had just formed to close the cuts. She would have told him that his mother is alive and…well, almost fine, but she knew he already knew all that. How couldn't he? He even came to the funeral.

"Sakura," he said, his voice now stronger than before, be it intended or not. "I'll start phase two. Tomorrow."

She didn't stop in her tracks, she was expected it. It was in the plan.

"Take care, though. It's still Akatsuki we're dealing with." She said halfheartedly, but smiling slightly at the thought. She looked up and started another one of their usual wars, when she dared to gaze at him straight in his Sharingan painted eyes and he would hold his ground against her. They were both thinking about the future.

Could it be really changed?

Her steps echoed as she walked across her bedroom, sitting on her bed and looking at the clock ticking.

"And phase three starts…" she said quietly, looking at secondary feather passing the 12 o'clock mark.

"...Now."

Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews. I couldn't hope for more I'll update as soon as I can.

Peace!