Chapter Text
He awoke to a phone ringing down the hall. The sound mingled with the last remnants of whatever he’d been dreaming about and he sat up in the dark for a minute, disoriented. The ringing continued. Without bothering to turn the light on he stomped down the hall, cursing himself for not getting an answering machine. It was still too dark to see the clock in the kitchen, but he was willing to bet it wasn’t much past three in the morning.
If it’s Suigetsu again I’m going to kill him. He had class in the morning. Theoretically, anyway.
“What?” He snapped into the receiver. “Do you have any idea what time-”
“Get out of there.” Karin’s voice. Even shriller than usual with fear. “Danzo’s on his way, Sasuke, he-”
“Shit.” He was suddenly very wide awake, as if someone had dumped an ice-cold bucket of water over his head. Karin faded to a dull buzz in the background as he let the phone slip out of his hands to dangle by its cord like a hanged man.
Feet pounded on hardwood as he ran back to his bedroom. A backpack sitting innocuously by the door was overturned, divested of folders, notebooks, and pencils, and stuffed with whatever clothing he could get his hands on.
Toothbrush. Comb. Aspirin. How much time do I have?
His hands hesitated briefly over the stash he’d hidden in his nightstand drawer but he decided they might serve as a decent distraction for Danzo and his crew. Buy him a few extra minutes’ head start.
Wallet. Knife. I can take a taxi to the bus station. It’s a Friday night, so there should be plenty around campus.
Minutes later and a framed photograph of his family was all that was left to watch over the empty apartment.
Another day, another dollar, Sakura Haruno thought as she gave the sticky drawer on the cash register a solid whack. The customer watched on with mild interest. He had the florid, Midwestern face and well-fed midsection that screamed “tourist” almost as much as his antsy gaggle of kids and “I Love Lumber” baseball cap. She handed him his change with a pained smile, her gaze shifting to the clock behind him.
Twenty minutes. If that door stays shut for twenty more minutes, I can close up and get home before “Season of Love” is on.
“That was a fine slice of pie, miss,” the customer said. He pretended to tip his hat. “Say, do you know where we might be able to stay around here? Me and my family’re hoping to get down to see the Peakskill mountains tomorrow, but it’s gettin’ a bit late to drive…”
Oh no, he’s a chatter.
She spoke in her sweetest Tour Guide voice, all the while praying that they would just leave.
“Well we do have a motor hotel right here in Bedford Falls, but that’s not necessarily the most family-friendly place.” Unless your family happens to be full of truck drivers and hookers. “If you’re looking for atmosphere, you can’t beat the Lamplighter Inn. It’s right at the edge of the falls, really beautiful.” And also pricey. Sakura could tell by the way the skin around the man’s mouth tightened that he’d guessed as much too. “And of course there’s a Days Inn down in Benton, about half an hour down the interstate.”
The man nodded at that, thanked her again, and left with his family in tow. One of the kids was already talking excitedly about the nice TV that awaited them in the hotel.
It’s always the same. They never stay anymore…
“More people coming for the Peaks?” Ino elbowed her way through the double doors from kitchens, interrupting Sakura’s wistful musings.
“Yeah,” she made a face. “At least they tip well. Sometimes. What were you doing back there anyways? That was supposed to be your table.”
Ino smirked and carefully tucked a large flyaway strand of hair back into her ponytail. On closer inspection, her lipstick was smudged too.
“Never mind, if you were with Kiba, I don’t want to know.” Sakura gave an exaggerated shudder as she turned to empty the coffeepot. Customers be damned, if anyone else came in this close to closing they were out of stock. “And you’re lucky Kakashi hides out in his office all day or you’d be toast.”
Her friend laughed lecherously and poked her on the hip. “C’mon Sakura you’re no funnnn. It’s not gonna hurt anyone.”
“Oh yeah? What about when you dump him and then we’re short a busser? Naruto’s late half the time as it is.”
“Hey I heard that!” The blond boy yelped as he barged in with a tray to clean up after the family that had just left.
“Good. Maybe you’ll set your alarm clock earlier.”
Naruto stuck his tongue out at her, but Sakura resisted responding in kind. Barely. He somehow managed to bring out her immature side better than anyone else and she fought to keep the upper hand. Someone had to be the adult in this argument. And speaking of adults…
“Anyways,” She said pointedly to Ino. “We were talking about you and Kiba becoming an item? How long before I have to put the ‘Now Hiring’ sign in the window- three days? A whole week?”
Ino had busied herself with counting the cash in the drawer but she paused long enough to flash her middle finger at Sakura. “Wow thanks for the vote of confidence,” she muttered sarcastically. “I dated that one Hyuuga guy for almost a year.”
“That was in tenth grade.”
“Yeah well, the sex is good okay? We’ll be fine.” She snickered wickedly as a flush crept up Sakura’s neck. “God, girl you are such a prude. We need to find you a boyfriend ASAP.”
Sakura let a stack of clean dishes clatter on the counter bad-temperedly. “Like who?” She snorted. “I’ve known everyone in this town since kindergarten.”
“Not EVERYONE.” At Sakura’s blank stare, Ino jerked her head not-so-subtly in the direction of the boy who was now wiping down the table while tunelessly humming “Eye of the Tiger.”
“Naruto? Are you insane?”
“What?” Ino shrugged. “He’s kinda cute, in a playful-puppy sort of way.”
“Then he’s all yours,” she scoffed. “I think I’d rather stay celibate forever.”
“Come to think of it, you’d make a pretty good nun.” The blonde girl squawked as Sakura punched her in the side.
“Very funny. I’m outta here. You, Lover Boy, and Rocky over there can finish closing since I covered your table while you were out getting a quickie.”
“Ugh whatever. Now we’re even.” Ino muttered. “You’re at least going to Shikamaru’s party tomorrow night, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there,” Sakura called over her shoulder on her way out the door. Silently she mourned the full night’s sleep she’d be losing on a day when she’d have to open the next morning, but it was pretty impossible to turn Ino down once she’d been bitten by the party bug. Besides, maybe she would get lucky with the guys. Or at least drunk enough not to care.
Sakura stood outside the diner for a moment, breathing in the chilly fall air. She cursed herself for not bringing a coat, as the light breeze blew right through her thin, cotton uniform. The diner was perched on a hill just off the turnpike, so she could see the lights of Bedford Falls twinkling below.
I’ve got to get a car, she thought to herself as another gust blew in. She crossed her bare arms across her chest and began the trek down a path behind the diner, worn through the woods by many local feet over the years.
The town itself was as steadfast and unchanging as ever, weathering both the seasons and the ups and downs of the economy with the same stoic determination that had caused the original settlers to stake out the densely wooded landscape in the first place.
Ino’s right. I probably should start looking around for a beau. She was twenty-three after all, her mother asking about grandkids every visit.
Sakura hustled past the video store, the grocer’s, and Ed Hardee’s Auto Mechanic shop, before she finally stopped at her apartment, one of many in a cramped brick complex that housed most of the town’s single twenty-somthings before they decided to settle down and start families. Once she got inside, she waited a minute before turning on the lights, letting the peace and quiet of the empty room wash over her. Her feet ached and she kicked off her shoes with a sigh of bliss.
Still in the dark, Sakura felt her way along the wall to the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of water. Season of Love beckoned to her on the only new appliance in the place; a rabbit-eared TV set her mother had given her as a birthday gift the year she’d moved out of the house, but Sakura felt a familiar exhaustion settle over her.
Is this going to be the rest of my life? Coming home from the diner every day, church and lunch with Mom and Dad on Sundays, partying with Ino when we get a few nights off. At the same old bar with everyone I went to high school with. Maybe I should’ve left when I could…
She listlessly heated up a frozen dinner in the microwave, ate, and fell asleep in front of the television.
His limbs were stiff and cramped from the endless hours spent on a bus and then a few more standing along the road with his thumb in the air, but he couldn’t let himself rest. He kept a constant vigil out the window, as if Danzo and his shadowy band of followers were hiding somewhere in the pine trees. He’d been lucky so far with the hitchhiking. The bus had stopped in Seattle, but that was still too obvious. He needed to go deep. Somewhere no one would even think to look, let alone find him. The man he was with currently asked no questions, nor had he spoken a word aside from the initial “hop in,” and had spent the entire trip with his eyes fixed on the road, smoking one cigarette after another, which suited his passenger just fine.
He tried not to think about Karin or Suigetsu, and was glad that he’d ditched his phone in Chicago, because the urge to call one of them to make sure they were alright was almost overwhelming.
I can’t ever go back. This is my new life now.
They passed a lonely sign on the road. Bedford Falls: Population 5,326. There was an arrow pointing off the highway to a single-lane road winding through the trees. Something tugged in his chest. If he’d been superstitious, he might’ve thought that important, but as it was his legs were aching fiercely and this place looked about as remote as you could get.
“Pull over here.”
The driver quirked an eyebrow but otherwise his facial expression didn’t change.
“Good luck kid,” he mumbled as his passenger disembarked the truck. He didn’t turn around, or otherwise acknowledge that he’d been spoken to.
Sasuke stood alone amongst the whispering pines, a satchel on his back and wad of bills folded neatly in his shoe.