*
It had happened again.

That agony.

That emptiness.

Those words coming from his lips and throwing her into a melancholic trip to her past.

But she comes back in a second when a hand trespasses her chest and her heart stops beating. It was removed, yet, the pain of its broken pieces still remain in that messy and bloody hole that was made by the one she loves. It was a nice way of stealing her heart, she thought while the blood dripped on the rocky floor of the battlefield.

She is dead, and he smirks.

She falls on her knees and he laughs.

She opens her eyes and it was all just a dream.

Ever since the war ended for her on that genjutsu, the pink haired medic had been having that same nightmare every night. At first, she thought it was because of a post traumatic stress due to so many atrocities seen by her eyes during the war, but, since all of the dreams were about the same thing, the girl realized that the illusion where she had been trapped was the real problem. He was the cause of her nightmares. He and his lack of compassion were the reason why she would wake up breathless and, sometimes, crying. It was always the same thing with only the size of the bags under her eyes bigger. And that was when she gave up and started using those sleeping pills. If she simply blacked out at night, no dreams would bother her sleep. But pills don't last forever. They tend to end, and, on that night, when her stock was over, her nightmare prevented her from sleeping. And that was when she had decided to go out for a walk. Some fresh air would make her good.

The small and whispering sound of her steps could be heard around the streets of the village. The girl allowed her feet to drag her to wherever they wanted, for her mind was too busy with wondering about her life. Sakura believed she had really reached the bottom. Loving a criminal who had showed her how cold and fast the life of a person could end. Loving a man who had stolen not only her heart but her peaceful nights. Loving an Uchiha who had no reason to love her. This is her sin. This is the cross she has to carry. And yet, even acknowledging her mistakes, the Cherry Blossom of the Spring couldn't simply move on. There was something bonding her to that feeling, and nothing would ever serve those ties. It was a burden to be carried by her. But she wouldn't have to carry it alone. On that night, the one to be blamed had decided to help her.

Once the sound of her steps changed from a stone floor to a wooden one, her eyes widened and, immediately, the girl recognized the place where she had reached. It was a place long lost in time, where the laughter of the old days could still be heard and the promise of three kids was still resting in the depths of that static river. The water had stopped, but their time together was already gone. The three of them wouldn't meet on that bridge every morning anymore. They wouldn't even meet every day anymore. But that was not how things should be. They were still a team, after all. So, on that quiet night, two members of the forgotten team 7 had decided that it was time for an emergency meeting.

With her elbows resting on the bridge's rail, Sakura felt a soft breeze dancing with her locks at the same time when his presence was revealed. Her emeralds widened and so did his dark pearls. None of them were expecting to find any lost soul in the middle of those streets. Perhaps the time for them to be found had finally arrived.

" you've gotta be kidding me..."

" Hn, you wanted me back, now you'll have to bare with my presence around here."

" ... Do as you wish, Sasuke..."

"Hn."

Turning her attention back to the stuck Kunai on the depths of the river, the pinkette accompanied the raven haired boy's steps as he crossed the bridge. Her heart beating faster at each step taken. She wanted to say something. She wanted to tell him everything she was feeling, just like when they were kids and she would tell him about her life. How could things have changed so much in such short period of time? How had they become strangers like that? Her heart couldn't understand, and that was when she lost the control over her mouth.

"... Why is it so wrong to have someone loving you?"

He stopped.

" to be loved... Is it so bad? Or is it my love that hurts you? Do you hate me that much that you decided to put me on that genjutstu?"

" Hn. I didn't want you to follow us... Besides, there is no reason for you to love me. Just stop with this love nonsenses."

" reason? ... Love has no reason... It simply hits you hard and... Destroys your life... But I can't help it... I'm sorry."

Sasuke clenched his fists after hearing her words. She shouldn't be apologizing. She should be angry at him. She shouldn't be loving him. Not anymore.

" Hn."

"... Won't you even answer me? Even after what I've told you at the battlefield? I meant every single word. Sasuke... And, as expected, you couldn't care less."

" do you want to know that bad?"

His voice as harsh as ever as his body moved to fully face her back. A faint nod quickly captured by his eyes.
Taking steps towards her, Sasuke went close enough so his breath was tickling her ear and his hand just some inches away from her back. Sakura was afraid, yet, she did not move at all. She trusted him but couldn't stop remembering that feeling. She was paralyzed. And that was how she would stay until the moment when she heard an honest explanation from him. The girl needed it if she wanted to sleep well again.

" all of those who loved me are dead..."

The tears started to gather on her eyes. They were like pools ready to be released.

"Do you wanna become one of them too...Sakura?"

The pacific water had finally been shaken by her salty tears. Sakura couldn't hold them back anymore. Just the idea of imagining all of his beloved ones dying was too much for her. He must have suffered a lot, and, if she could, she would still take all his pain onto her.

"Do you want to die like all the others?"

As his eyes captured her tears framing her face, the boy decided to step back and return to his previous way, with his hands into his side pockets. It was time to go home. It was time to leave her and try not to damage her even more than he had already done. Maybe he had gone too far, he thought. He didn't want to have told her that. He didn't want her to know that, in his mind, such guilt and loneliness were the one things keeping him wandering around Konoha. It would have been better if she didn't know, but it was too late. She already knew, yet, fear was not the word to define her at that exact moment.

" I already do..."

He stopped again. Out of curiosity or even concern. Was she dead? Was she intending to kill herself? Was he going insane? No. None of the answers were correct. And so, once the silence allowed her to continue, Sakura was ready to start talking about the nights when she dies.

" I'm dead... I die every time I dream... When you use your chidori in me, it's hurts a lot... It hurts not only physically but I can't make the pain in my heart stop. Knowing that you've finally finished what you've started at the Iron bridge. You ripped my heart off... But you left a hole in it... And that's why I die... You kill me... I am already dead."

"..."

"So what now? Can you accept the love I'm trying to give you? Can you accept the love of this dead girl? Or is it still not enough for you to accept someone's help?"

"... That's not what I was talking about."

" then what was it!? What did you want to tell me? How can You accept this stupid thing I have inside of my heart!?"

She clenched her fists as more tears turned the river below salty. The pink haired medic couldn't help them from coming. And she hated herself for it. Still, she refused to face him like that. It would be too embarrassing for her to show him how nothing had changed about her. It would show him how weak and pathetic she still was, just like when she thought she could stop him from fighting against Naruto. Barely she knew that her face had brought him so many memories. But memories would never stop them from fighting. It was already destined for things to end up like that, but the consequences would also come, eventually.

" Hn."

" I hate when you do this... I hate when you make me cry and when you make me fall for you all over again! Loving you without a reason is a curse set on me! It hurts me but... It still makes me live... I guess that's the reason... It makes me feel... Alive."

Softening his expression, the last Uchiha knew, just by looking at her back, that the girl had been trying to win a battle against herself for a long time already. She had been searching for the reason to love him, but she just couldn't find it. Love had simply grown inside of her, and there was no way to take it out. Not that any of them really wanted it out anymore. It was already to late to kill such a strong love.

Approaching her one last time, the Uchiha patted her head softly and he held a smirk on his face. It was a relieved expression. He couldn't get rid of her in the end. Maybe it was time to accept the fact and, with it, accept the love she was willing to give to him.

" you really are so damned annoying... Thank you..."

The End