City of Night

Chapter 1

HEY GUYS, SO THIS IS BASICALLY A WORK OF MINE FROM QUITE A WHILE AGO AND WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON FANFICTION.NET. BUT SINCE IT'S SASUSAKU MONTH! I THOUGHT I'D POST IT HERE AS WELL. THIS WAS MY FIRST EVER FANFICTION SO BE KIND? LOL. ANYWAYS, PLEASE COMMENT AND FAV! I LOVE GETTING YOUR FEEDBACK!

Chapter 1

Sakura burst through the double doors of her apartment building's tiny lobby to escape the rain pounding the pavements of Manhattan outside, a puddle of rainwater gathering around her sneakers as she caught her breath with her hands on her knees and her back arched forward toward the dirty, tiled floor.

Completely soaked, she attempted to wring the water out of her long pink hair before walking to the single elevator that would take her to her apartment on the very top floor. She focused on the familiar, peeling paint on the walls, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the elevator to come down, adjusting the strap of her satchel on her shoulder.

When the elevator finally reached the ground floor, Sakura stepped inside and winced at her dishevelled appearance in the mirrors that surrounded her as it took her to the top. The elevator rattled violently as it came to a stop but Sakura was used to it and, paying it no mind, stepped out and hurried to her apartment, unlocking the front door with the key she kept around her neck and closing it behind her before locking it again once she was inside.

She dropped her satchel by the door and walked to the bathroom, pulling off her faded grey hoodie and leaving wet footprints as evidence of where she had walked. By the time she had finished showering and had replaced her soaked garments with dry ones, the rain had stopped but the dark clouds still bathed the city in darkness, making it look a lot later than only 3pm.

Her parents weren't home, as usual, and she sighed in resignation when she found another note on the fridge door, explaining where they had gone and when they'd be back, before she crumpled it up and let it fall to the kitchen floor with a familiar empty feeling in her chest.

She tucked her still-damp hair behind her ears and walked to the living room window to gaze out at the pavement below. The streets were cast in grey, were empty because of the rain, and Sakura could see the powerful cracks of lightning far off in the distance.

Pretty, she thought with a small smile as the clouds lit up in many different colours, like paint on a canvas. 

She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts and frowned when someone dressed in dark colours ran across the street to the pavement just below her, constantly looking behind him as though he were being chased, and her eyes widened when he collapsed, just in front of her building.

Sakura watched the boy in stunned shock with her forehead and hands pressed against the window as her fast breaths fogged up the cold glass, urging him to get up with her mind, but he remained still as the sky began to weep again and its tears fell on him.

She realised that he wasn't going to get up on his own, that the dark red pooling around him and mixing with the rain was blood, and that he was going to die if she didn't do anything to help him.

She bolted out of her apartment and flew through the elevator doors, pleading that the boy was still there as the lift took her down. She ran through the lobby and out the double doors and into the rain where the boy was still lying there, bleeding to death, her bare feet scattering the puddles.

She gripped him tightly under the arms and dragged him across the wet pavement and inside to the elevator, almost screaming at how long it took for the doors to open before dragging him inside.

Sakura couldn't see the boy's face because it was hidden by raven-black hair that was plastered to his features because of the rain, but she could hear his breath, ragged and faint. She dragged him to her apartment and laid him in the middle of her living room to look at his wounds.

Four deep, bleeding claw marks raked across his abdomen and the fabric of his black muscle tee was stained dark red and torn to shreds. Sakura pulled off the black leather jacket he also had on and pressed it into the cuts to stop the bleeding. Once she was certain he was no longer in danger of bleeding to death, she pulled off the muscle tee, revealing a lean and well toned chest, before she cleaned and disinfected the deep gashes, bandaging them up and then drying the boy with a towel.

She lifted him onto her old sofa and covered him with a blanket her mother had given her for her birthday a few years ago before she tucked the wet hair plastered to her face behind her ears and went to her room to change into a new set of dry clothes. She settled on a pair of grey sweats and a white tank top and dried her hair before returning to the living room to check on her patient.

His breathing had evened out and Sakura parted his long ebony fringe to the sides of his face to check his temperature, finally revealing his features to her.

What a beautiful face, she thought, smiling gently as he exhaled in relief at the feeling of her warm hand on his ice-cold brow.

His features were perfect, almost angelic, and of course framed by that coal black hair. His skin was pale, basically white which Sakura assumed was due to blood loss, and she regarded how satin smooth and completely unblemished it was with amused envy, but her thoughts were constantly drawn to his wounds. Who had done that to him? Who had he been running from so desperately? Sakura didn't know, but she would make sure that she found out when the boy woke up. She patted his cheek reassuringly. 

"You'll wake up," she told him softly before going to her kitchen to have an early dinner.

Searching through the fridge, she decided on leftover noodles from the Chinese takeaway nearby and ate in silence as her patient remained unconscious.

A normal seventeen year old would have had homework to do that Tuesday night, but Sakura didn't go to school. Her parents couldn't afford it and honestly, school was just another would-be stress in her life that she definitely did not need.

She threw away the noodles' packaging when she was finished and wet a cloth with cold water from the kitchen sink before returning to the living room and holding the soaked cloth over the boy's mouth. She squeezed and cool water fell onto his parched lips. She waited expectantly and watched with satisfaction as they parted slightly to allow more water through. When the cloth no longer held any water, Sakura put it away and checked the time.

5pm and she already felt tired. She moved to the window behind the couch with the best view of Manhattan and practised her gymnastics and contemporary, moving fluidly and gracefully as she made use of the space between the window and the sofa. This was how she stayed lean and slender and physically fit.

She continued her graceful movements for an hour until the sky turned black and the city lights lit up the world.

Exhausted, Sakura went to her room and pulled the duvet from her bed and took her pillows to make a bed on the floor of the living room, so that she would be close to her patient in case he needed her. She curled up comfortably on the floor after brushing her teeth and washing her face.

I better get a thank you, was all she thought before sleep took her.