Heyo!! Today is my birthday! Therefore I decided to make a special little one-shot dedicated to our favourite pairing :)
Warnings: Major spoilers involved, that includes things after the Chunin Exam.
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The initial bloom of Sakura trees always symbolizes the arrival of the Season of Birth.
Delicate and Elegant. Fragile and Fleeting.
But everyone knows Sakura trees were not meant to last and so did the season called:
Spring
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Summer
They were twelve, both hot and sweaty after the endless day's training. But the stickiness isn't what that's been bothering them. Kakashi-sensei had been pushing them harder than usual.
"Right kick...left punch...focus your chakra more Sasuke! No, no Naruto...you're doing it wrong...it's the Goat seal before the Tiger! Good girl Sakura...you're getting the hang of it, now show me some enthusiasm!"
The sound of cracking wood and tired pants still rang in their eardrums. But the announcement of the upcoming Chunin Exams rang clearer in the beat of their hearts.
For Sasuke, this was going to be one step closer to his vengeful goal. As excited as he was, he couldn't help worrying over the obviously troubled female teammate a few feet away from him.
On the day of the fateful exam, he decided it wouldn't hurt to help boost up her confidence a little. It wasn't like she's going to be more annoying than she already was. How wrong he was.
She fell more in love with him.
Autumn
One day, his subordinates timidly inquired of his past. Of course, the poor lad received a venomous glare from the all-silent prodigy. Not even Orochimaru dared to ask him these trivial things. Around the Uchiha, the past was taboo. Not to be spoken of.
Forbidden.
But he couldn't help reflect for a minute about a certain blond chowing down his daily fill of ramen or the frivolous book that his ex-sensei always glued his eyes upon. Or should he say eye without the plural since the other was always hidden behind the forehead protector of the Leaf.
A single mental image stuck to his mind though. It was the memory of a female acquaintance asking him to go on the date everyday which he denied ever so coldly. She was naïve and should've known that to him...revenge came first.
He didn't need love. It was a sign of weakness. He got hurt from just loving his family. Look how the famous massacre shaped him? It molded him into a power-hungry machine out for revenge.
Just thinking about her made him annoyed as hell. She was only an idle girl out for love. However, an unconscious smirk played on his lips.
Winter
She breathed inaudibly, breathing out icy puffs of smoke, as she watched her former associate willingly got chained up in one hundred ways in fear that he might escape. Some say he was Orochimaru the second, but one hundred times stronger than him. He did manage to kill him after all. But more astonishingly, he finally completed his lifelong goal.
They had arrived just in time to witness the mind-blowing battle. No one made the move to stop him. All they did was silently watch.
He had killed...no...slaughtered his blood brother, Uchiha Itachi, until he was unrecognizable. Most people would say he was the Satan himself in mortal form.
But nevertheless, they caught him: the devil himself. The 'Rookie Nine' and Team Gai were all there to watch him get captured and placed in Konoha's highest security prison for S-class missing nins.
He paid no attention to the ones he knew...all but two. His blond best friend whom he 'supposedly' didn't want to kill because he didn't want to follow his brother's way of obtaining the Mangekyou. And to the girl he once knew.
He still knew her, but in a new light. She had changed. She had matured greatly, both physically and mentally. The girl who they once protected was now the protector. For that, he began to take interest in her.
Naruto was a loudmouth dobe as always, although he had turned stronger too. He could say the stupid blond was still his equal.
To them, he was still the same old Uchiha bastard no matter what the others say. The only thing that was different was that the revenge aura was gone. After the successful Uchiha retrieval, both of them took the time to visit him in prison. Things were quickly caught up and new relationships were established.
It wasn't long until he was going to get out of prison. He had been a good boy and followed every one of the Hokage's commands. He will still receive 24-hour surveillance but at least he could escape from his stuffy cell.
A few more days... All the former Team 7 members thought in their minds.
But before then, he found out his season was ending and her season was coming. The Diablo was starting to warm up.
Spring
"Sakura, Sakura..." He called out as he shook the woman in his arms. They were on an S-Class mission along with an ANBU squad commanded by Sasuke, himself.
Carefully grabbing the hilt of the long sword embedded in her vital organs, he pulled out the striking object as fast as possible. She screamed voicelessly and choked out blood, tears settling in her eyes making her forest green spheres hazy.
"Sasu-"
"Shhh..." he cooed as he cradled his dying girl in his arms.
"S-Sasuke...don't kill him..." she whispered anyway directing the comment to the frightened ninja who placed the very sword in her stomach because his leader had told him to.
"..."
"Please..."
"...I won't...I promise." He finally gritted watching the pitiful creature before him run away. He was willing to do anything that would make her happy.
She smiled and gazed at his everlasting attractive girl-powering face for the last time.
"Don't look at me like that..." he said hoarsely and tightened his hold. How he hated it.
'The last look.'
"Don't cry Uchiha." She retorted back and smiled wider. Her lower body had gone from pain to numb. Pretty soon, the numbness spread up to her whole body. Death was already knocking on her doors.
"I'm not." He murmured and moved in to kiss her, both remembering about the times they spent together.
She was the first one to break it for Death was now turning the knob. Her time was almost up. She was going to die at age seventeen. Tears rolled down her pale cheeks as she blinked. She wasn't crying because she was scared. She was crying because she knew she was going to miss out on so many things.
Marriage...kids...him. Life really was short. Her parents had chosen the right name for her. Sakura. She could feel her last petal falling after struggling for so long on the bare branch. Summoning up all she had left, she looked straight at him in the eye.
She wanted him to know.
She needed him to know.
That the saying "till death parts us" wasn't true. For she will always be by his side.
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"I love you..."
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Death entered.
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"...me too..."
Years later...
Sasuke strolled in the park aimlessly unaffected by the coldness of the weather. An old man wrapped in heavy clothing sat on an old worn-out bench, staring at an almost stripped cherry blossom tree.
"Pretty ain't they?" he said vacantly to Sasuke.
Sasuke, in early twenties, nodded politely and stopped to look at the tree with the elder.
"They're pretty but they sure don't last very long." The senior commented a few moments later after they watched the autumn wind sweeping the last petal away. Winter, his season, was coming again.
"Is that so?" Sasuke replied with a slight smirk. To him they lasted forever.
"Yup. In a way, it's a sad thing seeing all those delicate petals descend to the ground. Aii...Nature's wonderful work of art is always getting destroyed. Don't you think so young chap?"
"Not really...I wouldn't say destroyed."He answered with a grin,"Because for me, she comes and visit every year." Sasuke then walked off leaving a very puzzled look on the old man's face.
"She?"
Fin
Lol...I know this isn't exactly Happy Bday material nor fic but I had always wanted to write a semi-sad story :D I'm pretty proud of this fic and satisfied with it although I'm sorry for not adding a lot of sasusaku moments and events in between. The time skip really was huge.
This short little one-shot was inspired by Goldberry's fic called "Thursday". It's really sweet and also one of my favs, you should check it out. Btw, I got permission from her to write this fic...she's such a nice writer xD
Thx for reading. As always...hope you enjoyed it!! Mwahaha...tehehee...Ciao for now!