a/n: I was inspired by an image on my own Facebook, believe it or not. Bring on the angst, I say. ;)
Prompts: Pon & Zi, "I love you", Music, Not hearing a word anyone says/Inattentiveness.
Categories: Angst/Friendship/Implied Romance
Rating: T (For angsty content)
Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke x Haruno Sakura
Summary: He never did hear a word she said; not even the ones that counted the most.
Sasukeluva 4eva presents;
Ignorance Is Bliss
Sasuke x Sakura Oneshot
She would stand in the farthest corner of the room, simply watching his turned back.
Headphones propped over his head, covering his ears with the same effectiveness of earmuffs for a cold winter's day, a loud static buzzing filling the air—the sound of music, being blasted ruthlessly into his ears' canals.
She kept telling him, You'll go deaf one of these days, and he would always reply with a small, knowing smile, his eyes aloof even as he replied, so softly that each time he uttered it, she had to strain in order to decipher it, One can only hope.
She had never understood the cryptic intent behind those four words, and even now they sometimes stumped her hopelessly, but she persevered, hoping that one day, the meaning of his words, their true, veritable connotation, would bubble to the surface.
Until that day came, she waited, simply watching him from behind as he sung softly with the tunes he so frequently listened to in preference to her, a sad tilt to her forever silenced lips.
She loved him; God did she ever!
But being the meek, fainthearted young teen that she was, she could never raise her voice—could never tell him what he meant to her, truly meant.
They had been best friends for so many years now—so many—that she had lost count altogether; of course, he had never forgotten, that famed Uchiha memory never ceasing to amaze even after all of the time that had passed them by in which they had spent in one another's presence.
But sometimes, it was difficult to know whether or not he even valued that time, because now all he ever did was ignore her.
At school, his headphones were constantly in place, and in class he had moved and left her isolated whilst he made new friends, friends that were no more welcoming of her than they were of the STDs of today's society; she was too 'low class' for their tastes, as Sasuke would say in those brief yet precious interludes upon which he would spend by her side, on the walk to their bus, before branching off to take his place amongst them once more on the ride home—leaving her, the petite pinkette, all alone once more, silenced by his actions, by his cold shouldering and bitter resentment.
Why else would he be so avidly avoiding her, if he did not hate her guts?
The only time that she ever caught him off guard was when he was lost in that other realm that the sanctity of music provided, when he was too far gone to note her company in the room, in his room, that she could stand there for hours on end simply observing his complacent features, washed of the stains that had marred them—absolved of the hatred that he was feeling toward her.
Sneaking from her room to his wasn't the issue; living next door to one another was an unavoidable circumstance for Sasuke, and he was forced to bear the consequences of his parents' decision to move into that particular suburban house, next to that particular family, with that particular girl.
She could simply step over onto the nearby sakura tree, clamber over, before falling onto his massive balcony; it was that simple.
At first the door leading into his room, his sanctuary, had been locked, so she could only watch from the outside, that same forlorn expression constantly creeping across her solemn features, but soon he began to take his musical expeditions outside, spending a time on the lanai before slipping back inside, absently leaving the door open behind him in his trance.
She took this as her opportunity to be within his company, to share it no matter how little he wished to have hers in return, for a short while, keen green eyes watching the evident slump in his shoulders, the hanging of his head; the song was sad, it seemed. This routine, if it could be called that, continued onward for days, weeks, months going on a year, before Sasuke finally said something directly to her. It may not have been much, but to her, it was everything.
Sakura… Try to be a little more inconspicuous next time.
She tried it once, after thirteen months, twelve days, six hours and twenty four minutes of simply watching his back.
No longer was she silent.
For once, she said something.
Something that meant little to him, but everything to her.
"I love you."
Of course, he didn't hear her.
Every day for six months, it was the same words, over and over; "I love you."
It was her way of communicating with him; the only way she could ever show her true feelings without him judging her, faulting her for it.
She was no longer silent.
I love you, Sasuke-kun…
He never did hear her.
Sasuke arrived home from school to find his pink haired friend of almost fourteen years standing outside on his terrace, eyes downcast as the rain beat down heavily upon her shaking frame; she had been absent from school that day, and he would venture to guess that it was because of the recent sickness that had been floating around at their school of the past few weeks, the proof of that being her inelegant sneeze upon which she tried—and failed—to cover up effectively.
That rain surely couldn't have been doing anything to improve her illness. Sighing inaudibly, he strode over to the locked door, unhooking the bolt and chain before throwing the door open, storming off towards the other side of the room, to where his iPod lay, waiting to be listened to.
Leaving the door open was his way of unofficially inviting her into his room, she mused silently, a slight smile, burdened with sadness, lifting her lips, her sopped figure shaking violently as she shut the door to a complete close behind her.
She stood there, shivering in the cold, a small puddle quickly forming at her feet on the carpet as she shook off the worst of the accursed weather; a large towel was thrown her way, smelling distinctly of musky cologne, aftershave and peppermint.
Sasuke's towel, cologne, aftershave and peppermint gum.
His scent wafted into her nostrils, and whilst inhaling softly, she couldn't help but think this was what she missed the most; his small gestures, all meaningful in their intent, were, after all, the very same ones that had her falling for him in the first place.
He listened to his music, whilst she curled up in that very same corner, towel wrapped around her like a thick blanket as she was lulled off into a peaceful slumber through the soothing tones of the thundering rain outside, the fever that was making her delirious with joy, and the hushed baritone that was Sasuke's voice, singing her a familiar tune that she would later recognise as her lullaby—the one that he had written specifically for her when the bad weather became too much to handle.
Oh how she hated thunderstorms.
He was about to play his music for the nth time that evening, when he heard her approach, her feet shuffling softly against his carpet as she sorted herself into the corner.
Scrolling through his playlist briefly, Sasuke paused, hesitant. Honing in on the pinkette, the raven haired teen listened intently, a knowing smile, bittersweet in its reasoning, plastered to his lips as she spoke, none too softly in the deathly silence of the night.
I love you, Sasuke-kun…
'I know…' he would think to himself, just as he had every time before then.
She thought he was unaware, that he was ignorant of her feelings, that he did not hear her.
She couldn't have been more wrong.
One hundred and eighty three times had she proclaimed her love for him in secret, whilst he had been telling her over and over again five thousand one hundred and thirteen times more that he would never love her the same way.
One can only hope that I will go deaf to your feelings, because the guilt of not loving you is killing me inside…
~Owarimashita
a/n: Not quite how I pictured it to end, but then again, when do my ideas ever turn out half as good as they do in my head (that would be my insanity and insomnia talking)? Review, please! And please do check out the following:
My new poll (on profile) for a pending story idea.
My recent oneshots (Forgive Me & The Failure).
Until the next time I update!
~Rin