Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Spur of the moment drabble. I spent a while fixing it up, despite it being so short (which I apologize for), because I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending. And I couldn't think of a proper title. I still don't like the title. But oh, well. What can I do?

The Words They Spoke

Sakura's granny smith apple eyes stared widely at the man in the center of the ANBU squad. His hands were tied behind him with chakra strings; one could see the bright red welts and bleeding cuts on his wrists from them being too tight. But he showed no sign of pain. In fact, he stood tall with an air of dignity surrounding him as he walked past Konoha's gates. There was pride in every step.

Then, she noticed that, other than the wounds around the necks of his hands, his body was in good condition. Even the ANBU that walked with him looked fine. Not a single scratch. Sakura safely assumed that there had been no battle. Maybe the boy had come willingly after all. Perhaps his life sentence wouldn't be something along the lines of execution.

Suddenly, his head turned, and his dark depths held her gaze. He looked surprised for a fleeting moment before he went back to his usual poker face. That was unexpected. Yet he did not look away. And as he stared at her familiar face, Sakura could see the hurt he so desperately tried to hide behind those black eyes of his, the frightened child locked up within him. At that moment, she realized she couldn't hate the boy because he was hurting. And she understood his pain.

So she gave a small nod and smiled at him, warm and forgiving. He looked unsure at first but eventually gave a nod of his own and looked away. His form slowly disappeared as the ANBU took him deeper into the village he had abandoned years previous.

The citizens that had stopped their work before returned to their daily lives, the image of the bound Uchiha fleeing from their preoccupied minds. Sakura waited a few minutes, knowing the one with dark eyes had been long gone, vanishing beneath a sea of people. With a sigh, she decided there was nothing left to see and turned around. Hopefully, the next time they met wouldn't be at the execution stand.