Empire Fall

Chapter Fifteen

UNEDited

Sasuke traveled through hallways till the path opened out into the vast courtyard. Sweeping over the green grass and the marble flooring alike was Sakura's gown as her sword lashed out at the space before her. Pink hair was braided down her back since there was no need to conceal her identity here. It flapped in the wind as she spun mid-air and landed gracefully on her knees, the sword burying itself into the ground, kicking up dirt and blades of grass.

Her eyes followed Sasuke's form from his sandaled feet up to his face. So Sakura was aware of his presence, after all. But it was her eyes that caused a jerk in his chest. They were bloodshot from pain and possibly, holding back a dam of tears. Her gaze remained fixed on him as he approached and squatted down to meet her at eye level.

"You have to go."

Though spoken softly, Sasuke did not know why those were the first words that came out of his mouth. Then again, conversation was never his strength. Konohamaru came to him, concerned that Sakura had neither cried nor spoken since the hour of their older brother's revelation. It was fairly strange, Sasuke supposed, for a woman who was used to wearing her heart on her sleeve.

He thought she would need space to grieve and contemplate a further course of action - as cruel as it was, a major responsibility followed their titles and they were duty-bound to put it first. Needless to say, Sakura would no longer be accompanying him on his mission - or the war.

"Draw your sword," she demanded, instead of replying to his statement.

Sasuke understood firsthand, the need to destroy, punish, do something - anything - to demolish the anguish that came with the death of a loved one. That the loved one was her Father only made the need more profound. Thus, without argument, he straightened and stood. She watched him for another few heartbeats before standing up and pulling her own sword out of the ground.

She pointed the tip at him, just below his chin, a movement that was oddly reminiscent of the time she had confronted him about his identity.

"Raise your sword, Sasuke."

Carefully meeting her sharp gaze, he removed her blade with his own. Before his next breath, she charged. A dangerous dance of blades commenced, one that kept Sasuke on his toes despite his advantage of height as well as strength over her. Although, he wasn't sure if strength was an actual advantage when it came to Sakura.

He rolled to one side when she swiped, but before he could recover, she spun and brought her sword down on him. The amount of force it took to block this particular strike made his teeth rattle. She really wasn't holding back.

At some point, he became aware of a pair of eyes watching their sword fight. He paid it no mind. Then they were joined by another pair and then yet another. Kiba, Konohamaru and Asuma stood at the entrance to the courtyard, eyes moving between the two of them as they moved across the entire area.

If Sakura noticed, she didn't show it, utterly focussed as she was on Sasuke. Their blades continued to clash and then, it was as if something within her just snapped. Sasuke was in the middle of delivering an attack when abruptly, the sword in her grip simply dropped. If it weren't for his excellent reflexes, he'd have run her through.

As the iron blade fell to the ground, Sakura too collapsed forward. He caught her, holding her against his chest with his free hand. The eyes boring into his back became more prominent. His first instinct was to create some distance before intrusive eyes, but for Sakura, he firmly told himself and didn't move.

She pulled away soon enough, gracing him with a soft smile of gratitude that made watching eyes utterly irrelevant and something like warmth spread through his chest.