Chapter Text
Original prompt: Stamps
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In less than seven hours, Uchiha Sasuke will begin travelling again; no maps, no Konoha, and minimal contact. Sakura wrings her hands behind her back, and exhales. His brief visit of three days comes to an end.
But they'd been expecting this – no need for attachment to a soul that slips like smoke through ones fingers.
Still, they'd been something she'd been meaning to ask him – a favour. A not so small favour.
Seldom had Sasuke been alone during his stay in the village; a hovering blond being the culprit of this yet here he is, at a noodle bar, alone.
Finally.
Sakura approaches, and takes a seat beside Sasuke.
He turns to her, surprised by her presence, “Sakura, I wasn't expecting–”
“Neither was I,” she replies, quietly.
Sakura looks over the menu. Sasuke gazes over her profile, he doesn't attempt to hide his scrutiny, and he can tell that Sakura can feel this too. She is fidgety under his gaze.
“I want something,” she says, nearly too quiet for him to pick up.
He frowns, waiting for her to continue.
“I want a favour, from you,” she finishes. Her expression is like steel, but her eyes shimmer with a give-away to her vulnerability.
Sasuke turns back to his menu; he orders tonight's special. Sakura follows suit.
He then asks her whether this favour of hers is one they can speak freely of in public. Sakura replies that it isn't, and that she'd prefer to talk when there is less potential for eavesdropping.
Sasuke nods, and remarks that they'll speak after dinner.
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In total there are thirteen possible dimensions that may grow what she is looking for.
“You want to travel?” asks Sasuke.
“Yes,” she says, folding her arms across her chest.
Sasuke rubs his jaw in contemplation, his eyes briefly flicker to the end of the alleyway they stand in. The passer-byers of the street pay no mind to the two sannin-level shinobi speaking to one another in a rather undesirable location.
Sakura eyes down his expression, “so, what will it be? Will you help me?”
Sasuke hesitates, “can you not merely travel in our dimension, Sakura? Why do you wish to go elsewhere?”
“Because that's what I want,” Sakura counters; her chance is teetering upon his verdict. “Look,” she says, “if you want to say no, you can say no”.
“That's not what I'm saying,” he remarks.
Her jaw tightens, “this is just something I need”.
“Why,” asks Sasuke, “why do you need this?”
She'd expected some sort of resistance. The favour she asks for is rather extravagant in hindsight – “please assist me in travelling to different dimensions”. She'd been lucky Sasuke had not rolled his eyes and walked away.
She takes in a breath, “I just need it, Sasuke-kun. The same way you need your journey. The same way Naruto took his when younger, and left the village to–”
“Are you trying to get stronger?”
With a brief pause, Sakura replies, “I'm just trying to find something”.
As intended, Sasuke takes on the meaning of her words with a metaphorical sense. Truly, his interpretation matters little to Sakura, all she needs from the man before her is a 'yes'.
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Thirteen dimensions – she can finally stamp off the first tonight.
“Do you have everything you need?” he asks.
She half-shrugs to bring attention to the backpack slung over her shoulder. Sakura pulls out a slip of paper, and scans over her first intended destination.
She tells Sasuke of where she wants go. He in turn raises a sceptical look, “you want to go there?”
“Yes”.
“Sakura...”
“I only intend to stay there for a week”.
He exhales, “the duration is not the issue”.
“Then what is?” Sakura asks, frowning.
Sasuke stands a bit straighter, “that particular dimension isn't...safe”.
“So?”
“Why would you want to go there?”
“Because I do”.
“How did you even find out about this place existing–”
“Sasuke-kun,” she interjects, “are you going to help me or not?”
Unfortunately for the kunochi, he replies 'no'. Sakura bites down her retort.
Sasuke says to her, “I know I said that I would help you–”
“But you've changed your mind,” she finishes.
Sasuke nods, “had I known you'd want to travel to this particular dimension–”
“Look,” she says, “if you aren't going to help me, then I will find another way. You saying no is not the be all and end all of this, Sasuke-kun. If you don't want to help, I will not force you”.
His internal conflict is evident upon his expression; perhaps not to the greater population, but it is to her. The signs are subtle, “sleep on it,” he says.
Sakura purses her lips, “what?”
“Sleep on it,” he repeats, “if you still want to go by sunrise tomorrow, then I'll help”.
“You leave the village at sunrise, don't you?”
Sasuke nods, “and, if you haven't changed your mind by then, I will help you”.
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Each passing second lost is a moment of time she will not recover for sleep. All she desires is for her mind to just shut down for once – just power off, and to stop playing out scenario after scenario.
Maybe she is just excited.
This is just the step in the right direction. Sure, Sasuke did not abide by her wishes tonight.
But tomorrow is her chance.
Sakura takes in a deep breath, and exhales; should he back out of their agreement once more, her options to continue forth will be limited.
Its possible if he says no, and they will no time left to find a new direction – not when she is running out of time to find a cure.
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Her toast gets burnt in the morning; Sakura curses the toaster. However she simultaneously notes that it is her fault for buying a faulty second-hand one. Her tea tastes good though.
Sakura opens up the newspaper for today. The major headlines reads: 'Naruto's backfired ANBU policy', 'The rising cost of basic essentials', and 'the first lady's fashion faux pas'; at this point she can tell the articles have delved from informative to useless.
She closes the newspaper. It is merely another day of silence.
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The streets are eerily beautiful this time of day. No noise, no people. Sakura heads to the gates, Sasuke is already waiting for her.
“I'm taking it that you haven't changed your mind,” he says as Sakura nears her approach, and is close enough for her to hear.
Sakura replies that no; she hasn't changed her mind. Then pauses before asking, “are you intending to back out?”
“I want to,” he says, “but I wont”.
She acknowledges his objection. Sasuke asks her to stand before him so he can begin.
Never before had she seen Sasuke activate the jutsu; his rinnegan swirls, an aura of power surrounds him as he speaks to her clearly, “hold onto me”.
Sakura grabs his left bicep, the ground below her feet disappears.
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The warp is not unpleasant. She lands comfortably upon the ground of a dimension she does not call home; Sasuke is beside her, “oh, you came as well...”
He looks at her quizzically, “what do you mean?”
“I mean,” she pauses, “I just wanted assistance coming here”. The here being a jungle overgrown with plants, trees, and shrubs she'd never seen before. They only grow here, which begs the question of: how the toxin had arrived to their dimension in the first place.
“I've brought you here,” Sasuke remarks.
Sakura nods, “right, so...are you leaving?”
His expression conveys his bemusement, “how?”
She blinks, “what?”
“I don't have enough chakra to travel back”.
“What?” Sakura utters softly; eyes widening upon the realisation. Too caught up with her goal to get to this dimension, the intricacies of how did not cross her mind. Sasuke's ability to switch dimensions included himself coming along – duh. Internally lamenting her lack of foresight, Sakura's eyes flicker upwards as she mumbles out a genuine, “sorry”.
Sasuke replies back, “for what?”
She holds down an exasperated smirk, “I asked for only a favour. I didn't intend to hinder your own plans by–”
“Sakura,” he interjects, “I was planning to leave the village anyway”.
“I'm aware,” she says, “though I doubt you meant this”. Then, a thought occurs to her, “could I lend you my chakra? So that, you know, you can head back”.
Without a beat, Sasuke replies, “no”.
“No?”
“With time, I can recover on my own”.
“Okay,” she nods, “then-”
“I had no solid plans in the foreseeable future, this doesn’t bother me,” he remarks coolly.
She adjusts her backpack, “okay, well, I guess I'll be...heading off...”
“We can travel together”.
Sakura's; blank expression – stone-faced, replies to him, “oh, that's not necessary”.
“Yes it is,” Sasuke responds, “you're time here is limited to a week, as per our agreement. It wouldn't make sense to split up. We could lose each other, after all, neither one of us knows the terrain of this dimension all too well”.
She bites the inside of her cheek – why are the pieces not falling into place as easily as she'd like? Sasuke's presence only poses a threat to her; his ties to Naruto, and loyalty to the man hinders the chance of her intentional disregard of the Hokage's orders to be brushed over as merely a, ' trip to find oneself '.
Sakura narrows her eyes; maybe he'd not even intentionally believed her.
Maybe he already knows.
“Besides,” he continues tonelessly, “how were you planning on returning without me to assist?”
Sakura frowns softly, her bottom lip catching lightly between her teeth – crap, he was right.
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She'd already researched ahead of time. The route she takes leads her to a field blooming with several different plants and flowers. All of which potentially could be the last ingredient she needs for her cure. This had all been planned ahead of time, muses Sakura; as she stands before the field, what she had not planned for was the six-foot missing nin trailing behind her.
“You seem like you know where you're going,” Sasuke remarks out-of-the-blue.
She does, “I don't”.
“Why did you want to come here?” he asks.
“I'm just wandering,” she lies – deep down, she doubts Sasuke believes her.
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Her circumstances forces her to continue her goal during the night (or whatever time this dimension considered appropriate to rest). Their camp is set up not too far from the field. Sasuke is sound asleep whilst Sakura; ' on her turn to take watch' decides to use this free time to grab what she needs without the gaze of her unintentional travelling partner.
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At the three day mark, she has all that she needs, “I know this is early, but...” Sakura pauses, scrutinising his expression, “are we able to go back now?”
Sasuke stands up from his position on the floor; his breakfast lies forgotten, “sure,” he says.
“Really?”
“Yes, why are you surprised?”
“I...” she gathers her thoughts, “if you were able to leave before, why would you stay?”
“How else would I find you if I went?” he questions nonchalantly.
She looks away sheepishly, “right...of course”.
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The return home is within an instance. Their parting of ways is cordial, or she intends it to be; “are you going straight home?” Sasuke asks as Sakura is midway upon turning on her heel to leave.
The kunochi stops, “I'm...not”.
Sasuke scrutinises her expression – and Sakura is lost to the confusion that is this moment.
What reason is there for Sasuke to know of her whereabouts?
“I would assume you'd want to go home, after a trip like that?”
“Yea, well...I've got something to do,” she pauses, mulling over her next words, “I'm assuming that you'll be heading out now”.
“Why would you assume that?” asks Sasuke.
“Because...that's what you wanted to do before I asked you of my favour”.
“Don't you have a list of places you'd wanted to go?”
How did he know that - “Okay,” says Sakura, smiling, “what do you know?”
Sasuke shrugs, “I'm sure I don't know what you mean”.
She tries not to morph her smile to a smirk, “I'm just kidding,” she purses her lips, “I'll see you later, Sasuke-kun”.
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On the bottom floor of the hospital is a research and development lab open to those with high enough clearance. Naturally, those with a job requirement utilise the lab the majority of the time, and whilst that is not necessarily her, the occupants of the basement say nothing as Sakura walks in. In fact, they nod in acknowledgement; its a silent agreement that they wont say anything about what she is doing to anyone outside the lab.
After all, it is also their family and friends afflicted by the illness – and she is the only one doing something about it. Without permission, of course. For the council and Hokage's view on the matter is: 'everything is fine ' and ' no one is suffering, it is a chargeable offence to think otherwise'.
After all: we as a village must remain strong, and hide our weakness from the other villages.
Sakura tries not to scoff at the thought whilst pulling out boxes containing an assortment of flower, shrubs, and herbs that perhaps holds the potential to be the cure she is looking for.
Sakura pulls on a set of safety goggles, and begins grinding up the first shrub – if she is lucky, she'll not even need to travel to another dimension; should she find the cure within one of the boxes before her.
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She isn't lucky, “good afternoon, Sasuke-kun”.
She stands before the invisible barrier that signifies training ground and sidelines. Sasuke finishes his footwork, sheathing his sword thereafter. He takes in a breath, and walks over to the kunochi, “Sakura,” he nods.
She clasps her hands behind her back, “you know that favour you did for me last time...”
Sasuke turns around to pick up his water bottle; Sakura swears she sees a flicker of a smirk before his expression falls out of view. He drinks, then turns back, “where do you want to go this time?”
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That night, Sakura stamps off the second dimension on her list. As expected, Sasuke travels with her, “I can't do much about it,” he says. Sakura nods, remarking that she's aware, and still a little sorry that he has to be here for her travels.
He frowns, “I agreed, didn't I?”
Sakura shrugs, “I suppose”.
As before, Sakura waits until Sasuke is asleep before venturing out to collect the shrubs and flowers that she desires. This dimension houses its plants underwater (she assumes the liquid is water). Algae-like gunk drips off her fingers; she stores her specimens within her prepared containers.
Within two days she has collected all she needs.
“You want to head back already?” he asks.
Understandably, the situation begs a few raised eyebrows. Her cover being the desire to travel is not one she has been utilising to its full extent. Nevertheless, she is running on borrowed time, “if its not an issue”.
“Its not”.
“Okay, lets go”.
Sasuke makes no gesture; he doesn't move, “can I ask you a question first?”
She hesitates; the man before her is the Hokage's right-hand man – but he is also, just Sasuke, “sure, go ahead,” she says.
His eyes briefly flicker over her backpack, “are you here for a purpose?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he frowns, “are you looking for something?”
“I told you before, yes, I am looking for something”.
“I assumed at first you meant something intangible,” Sasuke takes half a step closer, “you mentioned how both Naruto and I needed the journey's that we embarked on; what we gained wasn't an actual thing, but I believe that is not the case for you”.
“What makes you say that?” challenges the kunochi.
“I'm not blind, Sakura”.
“You're not justifying your position, Sasuke-kun”.
Perhaps it is a moment of clarity that allows him to consider this point in time as a loss with her. He speaks to her softly, “Sakura, you can trust me”.
But she knows that she cannot, “can we please just go home now”.
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They arrive back to their dimension without a hitch. They part ways without an exchange of words.
Sakura heads to the lab, she works on the specimens she has collected.
It takes her two days to determine that the plants she has collected do not contain the cure she is after.
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The façade is simply an encounter between two friends meeting one an other for coffee. The real intention is to convey a status update; Shizune blows on her latte, and mumbles over her cup, “how many places have you gone to?”
“Only two so far,” Sakura replies, hugging her jacket closer to her body to counteract the morning breeze, “both places don't have what I'm looking for”.
“When are you going to travel again to another place?”
“I don't know,” says Sakura, “Sasuke-kun is getting suspicious”.
“I don't think he is an issue”.
“He is Naruto's best friend”.
“But professionally, I can tell you that he hasn't approached Naruto on anything”.
“You can't be sure,” Sakura insists, “they could meet in private. This is Naruto and Sasuke-kun we're talking about”.
Shizune finishes her latte, and throws away the Styrofoam cup, “do you trust him?”
“No”.
“Okay,” the older woman pauses, “we still need him though, if you want to travel through dimensions”.
“I know,” says Sakura, “does Naruto suspect? I mean, I know I should have asked at first–”
“He doesn't” Shizune reassures, “after press conferences, and public silence on the matter, no one – especially not Naruto – suspects what you're doing”.
Sakura nods, and allows a lull to pass by. Her next remark is at the tip of her tongue, but she hesitates in speaking, “I’m going to see my mother today”.
Shizune's expression marginally softens, “her condition has not deteriorated, but nor has it gotten better,” the older woman pauses, “we're running out of time”.
“I know”.
“Not just for your mother”.
“I know”.
Shizune bites her lip, “I know you want to visit, but I think its best for you to approach Sasuke again, to try your hand and the third dimension as soon as possible”.
Sakura swallows, “okay”.
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She is going to be able to stamp off a third dimension today.
“Ready to go?” he asks.
Sakura nods, and steps forward to hold onto his left bicep. Sasuke had been surprisingly accommodating to her third request to warp to another dimension. He'd nodded and agreed without hesitation – which in turn has made her suspicious.
So, the moment they land back on solid ground, Sakura is half-surprised that Sasuke's gaze flickers to her form as he remarks, “I know for a fact that in this dimension, the plants and shrubs grow high on cliff-tops”.
She purses her lips, “well done, you've figured it out”.
“Like I said, I'm not blind”.
But she had been; now, stuck in a dimension that she cannot escape without the help of the man that shadows the Hokage. Sakura clenches her jaw, her eyes dart around to her surrounding, then she asks, “what are you planning on doing?”
His blank-faced stare falters when a flash of confusion flickers in his expression, “what do you mean?”
“You're Naruto's right-hand man, and I'm intentionally disobeying his orders”.
“That's probably a good thing,” says Sasuke, “the other villages will not stop their attacks. Feigning ignorance, and ignoring civilians who are plagued by the illness will not do anything – except prove further our militaristic roots”.
She is speechless.
Sasuke notes her mouth agape expression. Hit with news that turns atop her perception of the whole situation; her eyes widen, and she shakes her head.
Sasuke smirks at her reaction, “I told you before, you can trust me”.
Sakura closes her mouth, and swallows, “no,” she says.
“No?”
“No, this is a trick,” she continues, “you and Naruto–”
“I am not his right-hand man,” Sasuke interjects, a slight edge of his voice hinting to disgust at the label, “I am not even a shinobi of Konoha”.
“But you are his best friend”.
“My relationship with Naruto does not change my respect for you, nor my loyalty”.
She scoffs, “what? Where is this coming from?”
“Sakura–”
“Your loyalty to Naruto is all I can be assure of”.
“Well you'd be wrong,” Sasuke replies, hard-lined, “do you still think me that cruel to want civilians to suffer at the hands of bio-warfare between the ego's of the hidden villages?”
A crease appears between her brows, “...when you put it that way?”
“Sakura, what happened?”
She is noticeably perplexed, “...what do you mean?”
His eyes steel in a way that turns his scrutiny uncomfortable, she shifts under his gaze. “What happened to us,” he says, “that we've reached a point where you think this about me. That, we aren't what we should have been”.
“I don't know what you mean by that”.
Sasuke takes half a step towards her, “I understand your animosity towards Naruto, but what have I done to make you believe that I would follow him?”
“Are you really asking me that?” she questions, eyebrow raised.
Sasuke nods, and Sakura tsk's under her breath, “you said you knew the way to where the plants are within this dimension”.
Sasuke nods, and turns on his heel, “follow me,” he says.
Sakura does so, keeping a step behind him in pace. Sasuke notes her intentions, and decides to go against them, slowing down so that they'd fall in line. She tries not to smile at his desire to want to continue a conversation she'd tried to cut short – travel to a different dimension, and even dynamics can shift.
“You used to trust me,” he says, softly, “you used to pursue me”.
“I was young,” Sakura counters, “you were...you meant so much to me”.
“Has that changed?”
“Do you truly want to hear my answer?”
“I do,” he says.
Sakura exhales, shaking her head. She steps over a large tree root to keep up with him, hopping on her landing, “I, respect you”.
“That's not what I'm talking about”.
Sakura frowns, “what more do you want?”
Peripherally, she can see a slight fidgety movement under his cloak, “when you were...pursuing me, I considered our relationship, as,” he struggles to get out his sentiment, “I had already thought of you as my partner”.
“Why?”
“Because it was inevitable”.
“You make it sound like I was forcing you”.
“Hardly,” he smirks, “it was just a future I wanted, and a future I knew we could have”.
“But we didn't,” Sakura bites out, “here we are, years later”.
“Because you stopped pursuing me,” Sasuke remarks.
Sakura stops walking, Sasuke stops a step after and turns back to the kunochi. Her eyes narrow in onto his, “did you enjoy the attention? How long did you intend for me to go on?”
His expression dawns a realisation, “I didn't mean it like that”.
“Okay,” she nods, gesturing for him to continue.
He sighs, “I'm sorry,” he says. This admission takes her by surprise.
“What?”
“I'm sorry,” he repeats, “my...indecisiveness is what has led us here. By the time I'd realised what had happened, it had been too late”.
She frowns, “when did you realise?”
He tries not to smirk, “upon Naruto's first major act as leader, I realised you no longer stood by his side – nor mine”.
“Can you blame me?”
“No”.
“So...?”
“I blame myself”.
She purses her lips, “I...” her time runs short, this conversation cannot linger on forever. She has a goal she needs to complete, “I need to find the plants for, a chance, Sasuke-kun. Every second is precious”.
His expression fades, but his eyes do no dull – he understands, “right,” he says, “follow me”.