Drumroll, please...!
Ta-da! Didn't think it was going to happen, did you?
Yay! Sequel! Wasn't going to do one, but it was kind of expected, neh?
Relationships! It's what you wanted, isn't it? No SakuSasu, though. I'm sorry to say that that couple would be physically impossible in this story. Yes, I did it— I killed off Sasuke. And you don't even get to watch. How cruel is that? This story takes place post-time skip, after the current arc (assuming it's the last big action arc). Details will come in good time, but bottom line is he's dead and he's not coming back. Sorry 'bout that one. I didn't want him to dominate this story; I'm being very careful about what happens and how it happens. Nah, I've got other things in store for Sakura and Kakashi. No, not incest. Don't even go there. I'm going to try my best not to turn this into a romantic comedy; there'll still be healthy doses of angst, so no worries there. If you're unhappy with the pairings at the beginning, take consolation in the fact that they're not set in stone. Any concerns? Lemme know. Any questions? You can ask, but I may not answer. Rating is T for now, hopefully won't have to change.
Oh, and before anyone asks what "alethia" means-- it's Greek, and means something alone the lines of "sincerity", "truth"... Tsukiyomi the Kami gave me the idea to use it as the title. Enjoy!
Rain drizzled softly around the Memorial Stone, the sound muffled by the long and swaying blades of grass. It raced to the edge of the Stone's flat surface, running down its face and swimming into the grooves that made up the names of fallen shinobi. There was a soft glow hovering over the dark treeline, the rest of the sky already painted with the purples and blues of night.
Two people were sitting on top of the Stone, watching as the final remnants of the sun sunk past the canopy of trees. Their legs were dangling over the edge of the cold slab of stone, water dripping slowly off of their bare toes. On the right was a boy of around fifteen, a navy blue mask adorning his pale face. His mess of spiky silver hair flopped down to one side, falling over his mismatched eyes. He was still wearing the bloodstained, black and white uniform he had worn on his last mission, although the sandals, gloves, and dog mask had been removed and unceremoniously discarded nearby. He was loosely gripping the edge of the Stone with his right hand, while the fingers of his left were intertwined with those of the girl sitting beside him.
She was wearing a simple purple dress, raindrops collecting on her long black eyelashes. She wore a peaceful expression on her face, her head tilted towards the right, towards the boy next to her. Her warm brown eyes were glittering with the subtle glow cast by the light of the stars that were slowly revealing themselves. Her Konoha headband was draped over the weathered edge of the Memorial Stone, her sandals neatly set at its foot; three pale lavender flowers, wilting already by being pelted with rain earlier that evening, accompanied them.
The girl scooted slightly closer to the boy on her right, biting her lip slightly as she turned her wide brown orbs towards him. His eyes were closed; he was in a state of bliss, enjoying the feeling of the moist breeze tickling his eyelids. He could feel her warm breath on his face, and he cracked his eyes open in response.
"Kakashi?" She whispered his name cautiously, as if she were afraid that she was going to blink and wake up from this dream. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines; his half-lidded eyes locked with her wide and vulnerable ones and he refused to let them close.
"Do you think we're…" She unconsciously leaned forward as she spoke, the tip of her nose almost touching the cloth covering his. Kakashi didn't notice as he was pulled in towards her, too; both were completely wrapped up in the moment. "Do you think we could… stay together?"
Kakashi blinked, his eyes glossing over as he felt the tears start to well up. Not really aware of his own movements, he nodded his head slightly in affirmation, fumbling clumsily with his mask. Rin's fingers instinctively shot up towards his, guiding them as they pulled the mask down.
They remained still for only another moment before their lips met, fitting each other perfectly as they kissed.
At first it was clumsy, both of them uncertain, but then he cupped her chin in his hand and they cast their hesitancy aside, pouring their souls into that kiss. All of their emotions came spilling out, channeling themselves into the way he caressed her cheek, the way she gasped softly as he plunged in. Disregarding their surroundings, they lost themselves in a world of passion that they alone shared—
Kakashi's train of thought was broken by the feeling of something wet trickling down the side of his face. He blinked, tilting his head towards the sky. He squinted, trying to keep the rain out of his eyes as he observed the storm clouds billowing ominously overhead. He figured that in less than five minutes the collected rain water would be swimming around his ankles. He sighed quietly, returning his gaze to the top of the Memorial Stone, weathered smooth by years of enduring Konoha's fickle weather. Both of his eyes were focused on the spot he had sat on, such a long time ago now… He could still almost feel her lips brushing up against his, her soft fingers slowly intertwining with his calloused ones.
His gaze slid downwards onto the names carved into the stone's surface; he felt his shoulders droop slightly as they fell on the name he had read too many times to count.
Her name. Rin's name.
Rin.
He sighed again, cocking his head to the side as he felt his eyes mist over. Dead at sixteen… Dead because I was too damn stupid to keep myself to myself… Dead because at fifteen I thought I knew everything. He slowly exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It was undeniable; at fifteen years of age, Hatake Kakashi had been a confused teenager who couldn't seem to understand what was going on inside his own mind and who still, after nine years of killing whenever and whomever he was told to, had no idea how the world worked.
Again he sighed, bitterly this time. He closed his eyes, feeling the rain dance lightly across his exposed face.
As if I really have any idea now.
He stood in silence for a few moments before parting his lips to whisper to the cold breeze dragging the rain towards him. "I've missed you," he said quietly, his words colored with an aching sadness. He cracked his eyes open, resting them on a space a little bit above the top of the stone. "It's been awhile since I've been here; in between hospital visits, Tsunade has been keeping me busy with more understaffed and underranked missions than I've had since I quit ANBU." He narrowed his eyes. "I haven't been able to spend much time with Sakura because of it, let alone Naruto." He paused. "Naruto's still getting over Sasuke's death; I wish I could comfort him more, but I've hardly seen him since…" His voice trailed off as disconnected images swam in front of his eyes.
Naruto running to the body and screaming through his tears as he shook the front of Sasuke's bloody yukata…
Sakura falling to her knees, shaking violently as she succumbed to her sobs…
Yamato standing behind her, head hung in sorrow…
Team 8 frozen with shock in the background, hardly able to stand…
He shook his head back and forth vigorously, trying to rid his mind of such thoughts. Don't think about that now, he told himself forcefully. Don't think about it period.
He blinked several times in quick succession, trying to clear his vision of the faded images as if they were half-forgotten nightmares attempting to come back for another round. He cleared his throat, inhaling slowly before speaking again.
"It's hard to believe that it's been fifteen years," he said quietly. "So much has happened since…" His words faded as he was again unwillingly overwhelmed by memories.
Rin's tangled brown hair plastered to her sweat-drenched face as she inhaled sharply, her eyelashes fluttering wildly in pleasure…
Two teenagers lying asleep on the couch, the girl wrapped in the boy's arms as sunshine crept through the window…
Harsh words ringing in his ears as he clamped his shaking hands over them, trying to block out her screams as she sobbed into his chest…
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, dark thoughts racing through his mind as he eyed the sharp razor on the side of the sink…
Kakashi clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the images. After several moments, he opened them again. He swallowed before continuing to talk. "As I said, I haven't been able to spend much time with Sakura."
He paused.
"I think… For the most part, I think she's forgiven us."
Another pause.
"Although I'm not sure if she ever held anything against you; after all, it wasn't your… wasn't necessarily your fault." His brow furrowed. "She's recovered from Sasuke's death much more quickly and successfully than I had anticipated. She still…" He swallowed again. "She still cries for him sometimes, but that's… only to be expected… Actually, she's been doing fairly well recently." Both of his eyes curved into a smile. "She's managed to find herself a boyfriend. You may remember Nara Shikaku? He's got a son, and he's about as clueless as Shikaku and a genius to boot." He sighed exasperatedly, shoving his hands further into his pockets and turning his gaze upwards again. "I can't help but worry, though… I mean, I know that you and I were a pretty rare case, but… I'm just afraid that… afraid that Sakura will be hurt in the same way you were…"
There was silence before he continued. "Of course, Shikamaru's very responsible… Much more responsible than I was at that age." He allowed himself an embittered sigh before returning his gaze to the Memorial Stone.
"Well, speaking of Sakura… I haven't seen her in over a week, so I think I'll be heading home now." He raised a hand in salute. "Ja ne!" he said cheerfully before disappearing in a poof of smoke accompanied by a flurry of dancing leaves.
The sounds of the busy street outside were muffled to a dull buzz of unimportant noise, insignificant compared to the important matters being discussed behind the tattered flaps of cloth fluttering lazily in the soft breeze. Three people on the cusp of adolescence sat on short black stools in front of the long booth of the Ichiraku Ramen Stand, the dim lighting casting shadows dancing across their faces. One, a blonde-haired boy, was slurping his ramen more enthusiastically than should have been allowed as he winked suggestively at the pretty brown-haired girl chopping vegetables behind the counter. She paid him no notice, instead eyeing the raven-haired boy sitting to the blonde's left. Said boy was frowning at the steaming bowl in front of him, trying to ignore the glances a pink-haired girl on the far right was constantly shooting him.
"So, Sakura," the blonde said thickly, his mouth forming a little "o" as he sucked in a stray noodle, not bothering to wipe the broth from his chin. "What's it like living with the big man?"
"Stop calling him that," the black-haired boy spat. This earned him a finger waving obscenely in front of his face for a few seconds before the blonde returned to his precious ramen.
"Whatever," the blonde muttered. "Anyways, like I was saying, does he actually, like, talk to you?"
"Of course he talks to me, Naruto," Sakura scoffed, her chopsticks dangling idly from her fingers. "Why wouldn't he?"
Naruto shrugged. "Sensei's just never been much of the talkative type, I guess." He sat up straighter, clasping his hands together.
"Another, please!" he said loudly, grinning as the old man handed him yet another bowl. Naruto leaned over it eagerly, saying "Itadakimasu!" for what must have been the fifth time that evening.
"Anyway," the dark-haired boy said, trying to tune out the disturbing noises coming from his right side, "Wasn't he supposed to treat us?"
Sakura sighed irritably. "Yeah, but as always, he skipped out to go visit—" With a little yelp of realization, she gulped back her words before she said too much.
"Go where?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide as he peaked interestedly over his ramen bowl. "Visit who?"
Sakura shook her head back and forth sharply. "Nothing, nowhere, no one," she said hurriedly. Quickly changing the subject, she said, "A-Anyways, Sasuke, I was wondering if—"
"I already came out for ramen," Sasuke muttered darkly. "Isn't that enough?"
Sakura's eye nearly twitched as her gaze slid down from his face onto her untouched bowl of ramen. "Yeah," she murmured. Naruto, however, perked up immediately. "Oi, Sakura, I wouldn't mind—"
"Forget it."
Sakura's tone was gloomy but dangerously final; Naruto didn't dare challenge her words this time around. After all, what's more dangerous than someone who's got nothing to lose?
The brown-haired girl server leaned across the counter, smiling pleasantly. "How's the food?" she asked cheerfully. Naruto's smile spread from ear to ear as he grinned slyly at her, his blue eyes slits as he focused on the open neck of her uniform.
"Beautiful," he muttered, a blush rising in his face as his nose grew unusually warm. The owner's daughter cocked an eyebrow immediately, the confused and suspicious look she wore quickly turning to an angry and embarrassed one as she raised her hand to slap Naruto. Her father's ringing call of, "Customer, customer!" stayed her open palm, which she instead slammed down onto the countertop.
"Consider that a warning, chikan," she growled, flames practically jumping out of her narrowed brown eyes. She watched him cower in fear for a few seconds before twisting her scowl into a cheery grin, saying, "I hope you enjoy the rest of your meal." She then turned away sharply, and despite the circumstances, Naruto couldn't help but follow the swaying movements of her hips with his eyes.
"Pervert," Sakura muttered under her breath, noticing that Naruto's nose was starting to look awful runny all of a sudden. "You're just as bad as Kakashi-sensei. Jiraiya-san, even."
Naruto tugged at his own cheeks, waggling his tongue at Sakura offensively. His eyes popped open and his hands fell, however, as a brilliant idea dawned on him.
"Sakura! We should totally hook up Kakashi-sensei with Ayame!"
Sakura and Sasuke both nearly choked on their ramen.
"Baka!" Sakura roared at once, turning to Naruto and bopping him on the head with her fist.
"What, what?" Naruto whined, his hands covering his mop of golden hair protectively as he pushed his bottom lip out in a pouting fashion. "What did I—?"
"You never know when he's listening," Sasuke hissed. "He could be anywhere—"
"… Listening to everything you say." A shadow loomed over the three teenagers as they froze, rigid in their seats. All of them were thinking the same thing...
Dammit!
Kakashi slapped some crumpled-up bills onto the table. "This should be enough," he said, the false cheer in his voice sending shivers down the spines of his subordinates. He smiled at the furiously blushing Ayame, saying, "You can keep the change." He then placed his hands on Naruto's and Sasuke's shoulders. "Now, my little matchmakers, I think it's very important that we make a few things clear…"
Sakura couldn't help but grin devilishly as she watched the two boys she considered brothers listen to their sensei tell them exactly why such an arrangement wouldn't work out, and why they would be better off not trying for their own sakes. He seems to have given this pairing a bit of thought, Sakura commented privately, trying to suppress her grin. Kakashi left Naruto and Sasuke sitting quietly in their respective seats, heads bowed over their ramen humbly. She couldn't help but giggle at the scandalized looks on their faces and the deep red hue of Ayame's.
Sakura's reminiscing was interrupted by the sensation of something wet falling onto her shoulder. She looked upwards, searching for the source of the water. A storm seemed to have just narrowly skirted Konoha, leaving light rain in its wake. It had petered down to a slow drizzle; Sakura had been hit with a stray droplet, its downward path swayed by a sudden gust of wind. She sighed, returning to her cup of tea. It had now gone quite cold and was a dark greenish color with a clump of tea leaves sitting at the bottom. She swirled its contents around idly with a chopstick as she found herself straining her ears for echoes of her teammates' laughter. It seemed so long ago that they had all sat beside each other, still balancing precariously on the thin line that separated innocence from the life of a full-fledged shinobi. Naruto had laughed so openly then… and Sasuke had still been capable of showing enough emotion to blush… to feel remorse… to show fear…
Sakura sighed again, turning her head slightly to the left. Her gaze settled on the faded red cushion Sasuke had once sat on. She was dimly aware of the tears welling up behind her emerald eyes, although at this point, she hardly noticed nor cared. Tears at seemingly random moments were commonplace these days; sometimes she would be walking with Naruto and they would be talking about something simple like how the weather had been lately and without any warning Naruto would slow down, fists clenched as he doubled over with sobs.
"Weren't we good enough for him?"
Sakura's grip on her chipped cup tightened dangerously. Don't think about it don't think about it don't think about it—
"We couldn't even kill Itachi, we couldn't even avenge his stupid death!"
Don't think about it don't think about it don't think about it—
"We could've stopped him!"
Don't think about it don't think about it don't think about it—
"We could have saved him!"
Saved.
Could have saved him.
Saved him.
Could they have? They arrived as quickly as they could— after barely surviving their battles with Karin and Juugo and Kabuto, Sakura had privately thought — in hindsight, at least — that it was a miracle they had gotten there at all. And if they had reached Sasuke before Itachi delivered the final blow, could they have stopped him?
Would they have stopped him?
It had been a final battle between brothers whose relationship had been tainted with a hatred that could not be erased by time; Itachi had underestimated just how far Sasuke had gone to prepare for their final showdown, and he had paid for it with his life, even if he had taken Sasuke with him.
It was almost a fitting end, really.
Sakura almost regretted thinking that. She had poured her soul into finding him, into redeeming him, into returning his ambiguous "Thank you" with a good slap in the face followed by a warm bear hug. When they had stumbled across the carnage surrounding his bloody corpse, however, she had felt the part of her that still hung onto the hope that Sasuke wasn't too far gone irreversibly sever itself. She had cared, oh yes, and she had cried as she had never cried before (understanding for the first time in her life just how much losing Rin must've hurt Kakashi and why he had cried himself hoarse countless times for her), but after the ironically sunny funeral, she found herself unable to keep caring. It still tore her heart to look at a picture of him, still made her heart twinge whenever she happened to hear his name, but her heart had ultimately moved on and she knew that there was no going back.
She sighed again, gulping down the rest of her now lukewarm tea. Steaming to warm to cold to lukewarm and bitter all the while… a most distasteful sequence of events, in Sakura's opinion. She watched the old man, still determined to work at the Ramen Stand until his dying day, scrub mechanically at the wooden countertop. It was nice to have something monotonous distract her from the chaos of the shinobi world; she spent more time out of Konoha than in it these days, even if she was theoretically supposed to be stationed at the hospital. Her lip twitched, threatening to frown, but even the inconsistency in the system didn't seem enough to stir her emotions anymore.
In fact, there were now few things that did. Her relationship with Naruto had almost completely patched itself up again, even if there were those empty moments when both of them were craving a third presence, and those quiet moments when both of them could almost feel it.
Sakura really had to wipe the tears away this time. Rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand, she willed the salty water to stay put long enough for her to get out of there. Of all places, honestly…
As far as comfort was concerned, Sakura knew there were people waiting to open their arms and their hearts to her, but for the most part she flew solo, not wanting others to have to carry the burden of the dull sadness she was carrying. Naruto was one thing, but the fourth member of their team…
Sakura hadn't been able to spend as much time with her father as she would've liked over the past three years. They had gotten to know each other fairly well; they would always visit Rin's grave together on her birthday and on Sakura's. It was at those two times of the year that Sakura felt a real connection between the two of them. Rain or shine, they would both wake up, eat, shower, and dress before hopping out of the window and making their way to the Memorial Stone together. She would snake her fingers through his and they would stand there, side by side; sometimes in silence, sometimes talking to Rin. Try as he might, he would never be able to stop from crying, and she would rest her head on his shoulder as he did so.
Other than that, however, she hadn't seen him cry since she had experienced one of his breakdowns, three years ago… She sometimes could've sworn he was crying softly at night, but whenever she would sneak into his room to check on him he would appear to be sound asleep. Then again, he had cried after the funeral, too. He had sat down on the couch with his head in his hands and started to sob, but Sakura had been crying then, too, so it wasn't really on the same level as what had happened all that time ago…
Sakura exhaled a tired sigh. He is getting better, though… At least he'll cry around me, even if it's only once in awhile…
Shikamaru's image swam in front of her eyes, but she angrily shoved it aside. She didn't have the energy to think about him now.
Sakura rose slowly from her seat, suppressing a groan as her aching muscles were forced to move. She dug around in one of the beige packs on her hip for some money, placing a few coins neatly next to her finished tea. The owner looked up from his cleaning, his eyes crinkling at the corners in a smile.
"Thank you, come again," he said warmly. Sakura smiled and nodded respectfully at him before disappearing in a swirl of smoke and pink cherry blossoms.