“You have to let go” | barbed wire | bound for Sasusaka (did I do that right? I'll never get used to combining names)

“Why are you here?” Sasuke fought to keep emotion from his voice, gripping the exasperation that crept up spine. Sakura didn’t answer, didn’t look up from the ground where she’d been thrown ten minutes earlier. The iron scent of her blood filled the air, but Sasuke caught the undertones of home at the same time. He blew out a breath and tried a different approach. “How did you find us?”

“I’ll always find you,” Sakura answered, bringing those brilliant green eyes up for the first time since Sasuke entered the holding cell. “No matter where you go, I will always look for you.”

Something shifted in Sasuke’s chest, but he couldn’t focus on that. The confusion of pain and hope was too raw and exposed to be examined. “It’s time to grow up.”

Drawing a kunai, Sasuke knelt. Sakura cringed away from the shine of the blade as he slid it through the rough straps that bound the girl’s hand behind her back. Frowning, she massaged life back into her wrists. He dropped the kunai between them, wondering if the woman would go for it, wondering what he’d do if she did.

Sakura’s tongue darted across her lips, but when her hands moved it was to brush across the gashes on her legs. The fabric of her pants was ripped and spotted with blood. Sasuke arched one eyebrow at the green glow that encircled the girl’s palm. She chuckled humorlessly. “I’ve learned a few tricks as well.”

The deep gashes along Sakura’s ankles knit back together as she moved her hand over them. Shaking her head, she tugged her pants leg down. “Using razor-edged barbed wire to protect your hideout, really?”

Sasuke raised one shoulder in a careless shrug. “Shinobi are more likely to miss common traps because they’re busy searching for jutsu.”

The light around Sakura’s hands faded, and the sudden darkness threw shadows across her face. It wasn’t fast enough to disguise the pain that flashed through her eyes. Sasuke forced himself to ignore it. “Why are you here, really?”

“To kill you.” Sakura didn’t move, didn’t put action behind the words. Sasuke almost wished that she would; things would be so much easier that way. Self defense was a hell of a lot better than premeditation or cold blood. Sakura’s voice trembled when she continued, “to save you.”

The last words hurt more than they should have, but Sasuke hardened his heart against them. He couldn’t turn away from the path that Konoha had set him on. He couldn’t erase the damage done, but he could avenge it. “I don’t want you to save me,” he answered.

That should have been the end of it. Sakura should have lashed out with fists and jutsu, but her tears were more effective. He wondered if she knew. Clenching his jaw tight enough to make his teeth grind, Sasuke turned away. Sakura shuffled two steps forward, close enough for the swirl of pink hair and green eyes to fill his vision. “This isn’t who you are.”

“You always thought you knew me better than you did.” In the months with Orochimaru, Sasuke had perfected the condescending tone that the Sannin used. He deployed it with devastating effectiveness.

Sakura flinched as his words struck home, but she didn’t back down. She’d found some courage in their months apart, at least. “And you always tried to be tougher than you were.”

The girl exhaled a shaky breath then unhooked the band of red that held her hair from her face. The leaf symbol caught the flickering light of a torch, dancing in the dim light. The reminder of Sasuke’s former allegiance sent a wave of nausea through his body. Sasuke wasn’t sure what he felt most: anger, resentment, or longing. Sakura knelt and reached for the kunai still on the ground. She rested the tip of the blade against the smooth metal.

Sasuke moved without conscious thought, catching Sakura’s wrist before it could scratch through the leaf symbol. “Don’t,” he cautioned, pain swelling like a wave that threatened to crush his lungs. “You can’t go back from that.”

“I don’t want to go back.” Sakura’s whisper was tentative, but the words were deadly as any weapon at her disposal. “I want to be with you.”

It would have been a simple thing, letting Sakura throw Konoha away. They could lose themselves; the world was big enough that nobody would ever find them unless they wanted to be found. But, everything about the woman screamed loyalty to the village she’d left behind. Hell, she wore the jonin uniform now; Sasuke should have noticed that earlier. Sakura’s parents were there, her family and friends. He had nothing to draw him back to the Land of Fire, nothing except Sakura.

The tears shining in Sakura’s eyes were almost enough reason to cross the line, but there were too many things left to do. Konoha and its leadership had to pay for the crimes they’d committed, for Itachi, for Sasuke’s family, for the Uchiha clan. He drew a breath and held onto the pain like a physical barrier. “I don’t want—”

Sakura’s lips brushed Sasuke’s mid word, stunning him into silence. “You’re lying,” she breathed, close enough for him to taste the words. “You don’t have to be alone as some kind of penance for what happened.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sasuke pulled away, drawing strength from the fact that Sakura didn’t understand as much as she thought. Small blessings were the only thing he had going for him these days. “You have to let me go.”

“I love you.” The confession felt like a sucker punch, even though Sasuke had known it was true for years. A stupid crush had developed into something more, something that would make a logical person to track down a rogue ninja without any backup. He’d checked before approaching the cell. Unaware, Sakura continued. “We could just leave together. I won’t be a burden any longer.”

Even the slightest waver and Sasuke would have been lost. He dropped his hands to Sakura’s shoulders and pushed her back. “You need to go.”

“Please,” Sakura began.