I see him.
He doesn't think I see him, but I do.
I want him to see me, but though he told me he wants to fight me, I can tell that there's something different about the way he said it.
He smirked, knowingly, and with that slick voice he said, "I want to fight you too." But I saw something in his eyes I'd never mention, and it excited me, but I didn't pick up on it until today.
I'm watching him train. It's near evening and the sun is slowly giving way to the moon. The forest around us is silent save for the chirp of early crickets and the titter of birds. I would say that it's a bit chilly, but my body is still on fire from our short match.
His eyes aren't crimson right now and I'm glad for it. Sometimes I wonder if the Sharingan can see through people, capture their real emotions, and expose them for the users eyes only. What would I do then? I wouldn't have my oblivious smile to fall back on.
He's been kicking that log for an hour now. I thought I was the one with the most stamina. Heh. Sasuke and Taijutsu? I wonder what got under his skin for him to be training so hard and so long on one thing.
Or it might just be my imagination.
Sometimes, I worry about him. I worry that he'll run away and seek that 'revenge' like he always talks about at the wrong time. I worry that he'll leave us behind and fall into himself too far, forget about those who care about him, and only have his mind on one thing.
But who am I kidding? I wouldn't let him leave without a fight, anyway, that bastard, and I would win. I would.
I don't want to cry over loss anymore. I don't want to shout and stomp my feet and complain about how everything bad always happens to me. I don't want to shrink under those stares reflecting so much hatred and disgust, I don't want to go home and pretend to sleep while the shadows on my walls mock my uncertainty about myself.
I would win.
I don't want to cry over him again. I don't want to feel that sense of helplessness while his eyes begin to slowly close, his lips parted, blood seeping from the wounds all over his body. I don't want him to say, "I used to hate you" like it'd be the last thing he'd ever say to me. I don't want him to have to admit that he cares for me in such a dire, fatal situation. Never again.
I will win.
He glances over here to where I'm sitting beneath the tree I'm leaning against, but the odd emotion in his eyes I can't decipher. I think he's making sure that I didn't leave, but he knows that I wouldn't. I may me a prankster, but I'd never leave a friend. I'd never turn my back on someone I love and cherish.
He smirks—is that a smile?—and turns his face away again, going back to his training.
Uchiha Sasuke just smiled at me. Huh. Never thought I'd see the day.
Did he see that flash of seriousness that had overtaken my expression for nearly a minute, now? A smile of my own greeted his. I wonder if he can tell that it's fake, with that Sharingan of his.
His eyes weren't red when he looked at me, but they are now. They're blazing.
Sakura still doesn't know about Sasuke's Sharingan. I guess I'll have to act surprised when she sees it for the first time. I don't want to ruin my reputation.
I wonder if Sasuke can see me with that Sharingan. No, not me, the real me.
"Yo, moron."
I wonder if he's surprised that I don't react violently to the 'pet-name' he's given me.
"Huh?"
I wonder if he knows that I see him, that I acknowledge him as strong, that he can become powerful here and that he doesn't have to leave.
"Let's go."
"Okay."
I wonder if he sees the smile on my face as I stand and approach him and he waits with his arms folded over his chest like always. He looks impatient but tired and patient at the same time. It's weird how I can see these things.
But I see him.
"You sure killed that log."
"Hn..."
I wonder if he knows that that was a compliment. I wonder if he knows that I see him. I wonder…
"…Thanks."
…Does he see me?