How could someone feel so much sympathy to one who’s caused constant agony? Even when the raven never left the village. He would always deny her, undermine her, treat her like she never existed. Sure there might have been times where she truly were annoying, but it was all to get his attention. To impress him, prove her worth. And then there was the damage done when he left and so on. He still managed to treat her like a piece of trash from then on. Everything built up inside of her, and it broke her heart little by little, bit by bit.
“But it’s different when I’m standing here with you.”
Irises dragged up to meet onyx coals, the area around her eyes puffy and red. Optics trembled, holding her gaze. It was true she didn’t deserve her tears, and she knew that very well. But all rational thoughts went down the drain as soon as the two were face to face. All the time she would plan what would be said and done when she had the chance to run into Sasuke. But the complete opposite would happen. It always did. Something inside of her would instantly switch, suddenly paralyzed and unsure what to do. She’d imagine herself getting physical and beating the crap out of Sasuke, letting him have it. But here she was crying, vulnerable before him.
“You’re worth the tears… because you are someone special to me.”
In this world of nothingness there is only one rule that applies into any general case–sadness, in all its forms or varieties–disappointment, betrayal, loss are all part of the everyday life of an individual. The pink-haired kunoichi in front of him had experienced many forms of sadness and it was mostly because of him. In the time he had spent with Orochimaru, for instance, thoughts like this would never even cross his mind, but now, as he sow those tears form in the eyes of one of the first persons to ever like him for him.
It was all long gone, however. "Sakura—–“
Any word died on his lips upon hearing those words. Special repeated over and over and over again in his head. What did special even mean anyway? Special would be someone whom is close to your heart, someone you look forward to seeing everyday, someone whose company you enjoy. Someone you long to–a hand reached down below for the pouch he remembered the girl had her weapons. Somewhat clumsy fingers extracted a kunai before carefully placing it in the girl’s hand. This had to stop.
No answer was given to his question. Her cranium kept low, her emotions eating her up. His steps startled her, her body reacting instantly. She flinched, feeling alarmed. All the times the team reunited with the raven, his initial action was to attack. This could be the day she died, for she knew she wasn’t up to par with the male. And not only that, but there was no one who could protect her. Sakura was absolutely useless at this point.
But he just stood there, the silence enveloping the two.
Don’t you cry.
Jaded orbs widened, only making it that much harder to keep the tears in. She was fighting herself, expression twisting into a sobbing one. Just then the roseate felt something slide down her cheeks. Tears. Damn it. Digits reached for her visage immediately, wiping away the droplets. But this moment called for crying. There was Sasuke standing in front of her after so long. Something she’s been begging to see. The thoughts forced more sobbing for the medic-nin, burying her face deep into her palms.
It was true. ——- She fell truly weak to Sasuke.
In a mere second, his mouth filled with a bitter taste, simultaneously with a feeling of nausea spreading throughout his entire being. He had never experienced such a feeling before and, consequently, he couldn’t quite name it–but he had a vague idea of what it was–and ti made him tremble.
“I do not deserve this."
He was slightly proud of himself for keeping his cool. When he asked of the girl the girl not to cry, it was maybe more for himself than for her. Seeing someone who used to matter a lot in his life break down – because of him – like that, was not a pleasant sight, not even for someone as cold-hearted as the raven.
That wouldn’t be the last thing on her mind. It wouldn’t cross her mind at all, as a matter of fact. Never did she want to cause harm to the raven, even during her attempt to take him out. Failure to do so not only showed weakness in her eyes, but also that she couldn’t hurt him. Not then, not now, not ever.
“You know I could never do that to you, Sasuke. Not before, and surely not now.”
Crap, she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Why did this always have to happen when coming face to face with Sasuke? Taking a deep breath, canine biting down on her bottom lip, the roseate did all she could to keep it in. This wasn’t the time to break down. This wasn’t the time to show weakness.
He wanted to mock her for that answer. He had so many mean things in his head that could entirely break her heart, but he didn’t say any of it. A frown formed on his forehead as he analyzed the way that the girl had leaned her head forward and low–the way he could see the moisture form inside her eyes.
"–Aren’t you going to take me back to the village then?“
Silence fell upon the pair for maybe the third time that day. With a piercing glare, he took a step closer, then another one and so on until he was standing in front of her, the height difference now much more noticeable. He did not lower his gaze to look at her, but kept on looking forward, over her shoulder. For a moment, he let the silence submerge, allowing his and her breaths to synchronize for the briefest of seconds before he spoke again.
Former comrades now stood mere feet from one another, nothing but an utter of their name’s spoken. It had actually shocked the roseate the raven didn’t immediately scurry back into hiding. Every time the team reunited with the Uchiha, he’d either strike full force or continue to run away from their presence. But now——- now he chose to stay.
What do you say to someone you haven’t seen? How’s it going? What have you been up to? In an ideal situation you would say something like that. But this situation was far more different and complex than that. This is someone who was once loyal to Konoha, in the same team as the medic-nin. Feelings were expressed and memories were made in the squad. All to have it sink down the drain in a snap.
She decided to stay silent, in hopes he’d spark something first. Maybe.
It was strange, but there was tranquility lingering in the air. He had no intention to run away from her just as much as she didn’t give out any sign of trying to catch him. It was rare for such a peaceful atmosphere to stick around the raven–especially around one of them.
He had watched her for far longer than he expected to. Onyx morphed into ruby as he still tried to find any sign of hostility coming from his former teammate and a strange, somewhat unpleasant feeling was caught in his chest when he remained calm … well, as calm as someone with such sadness running through their orbs can be.
“Sakura, aren’t you going to try and take me down?”
It had been nearly hours since setting afoot on an assignment for the first time alone. Simply she would arrive to a city close by in the Fire Country to deliver necessary medical supplies.
For what seemed like a moment a striking figure came into visage. Pupils squinted upon the image, growing more and more familiar with the oncoming silhouette. ——- Sasuke. It couldn’t be.
Feet stopped in their track, a wave of emotion hitting her all at once. Anger, happiness, sadness. ——- How would everything play out? Would he act as the enemy, or escape from the open and dash into the darkness?
“Sasuke-kun?…”
Memories of their previous encounter suddenly came to mind.–He had tried to kill her. No question regarding why was she so far away from the village popped in his head–but what was most surprising was that he didn’t feel any urge to retreat or run away.
Upon hearing his name being spoken, a new series of flashbacks came to his mind, but he chose to ignore them instead, so he put on an emotionless glare. In sync, the pair had stopped mere feet away from each other, onyx and emerald meeting after a very long time.
