Standard Disclaimer Applied
"Uchiha Sasuke, tell me, my dear… are we a tragedy?"
Uzumaki Naruto never knows he can fall for someone else other than Haruno Sakura. In his eyes, she is beautiful. She is perfect. She has her charms: beautiful green-green eyes, soft pink locks, and such brilliant smiles. She has her fall: her temper, her crybaby, her lack of self-confidence. He thinks it makes her even more beautiful: a sprinkle of weakness in a bundle of perfection makes her human and less distant.
To Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura is beautiful.
She owns the spot in his heart –the one spot he would give to no one but her. He thinks it is what makes him alive and cheerful, brilliant and naïve. He thinks she is irreplaceable. He would do anything to make her happy: to see her green-green eyes gleams with happiness, to see her brilliant smile, and to see her plays shyly with her soft pink locks.
At twelve, he falls in love with her. He is twelve when she first breaks his heart. He is seventeen when she breaks his again. Still, he loves her. He knows she loves him too. But she is never in love with him. Of that, he knows too.
Broken hearts are never easy to heal. It is a plague, he thinks. A heavy and dangerous plague. He is always so positive and brilliant and naïve –always cheerful in the darkest hour. But broken heart leaves him starving for days, crying for days, and dazing out for days. He has no mood for ramen or training. He forgets about Sasuke who is traveling around the world to find his missing piece. He thinks broken heart is tough because it almost eats all of him.
Then, she comes. She isn't named after spring, unlike Sakura. He thinks she is beautiful and brave, but never as beautiful as Sakura or as charming as Sakura. He is in love and broken at the time and she walks in like a breath of fresh air.
She has black hair and he thinks black hair is boring (because Sasuke has black hair and they have the love-hate bromance). She speaks softly and slowly –too slowly at times. She sparks in low-dimmed light. But she takes him by breath and he remembers the way she gracefully moves under the moonlight to train and her hard work is admirable to him. He remembers how her softness heals the broken spot in his beaming heart. And he remembers how she is never afraid and never agonized –she always has her own principle. He likes her, always have.
He is nineteen when his heart heals. He let Sakura go because she is in love with his best friend so very much. He hopes Sasuke knows because the bastard is too lucky for his own good.
He is nineteen when Hyuuga Hinata becomes beautiful in his eyes. She is graceful and soft. She is feminine, shy, and hardworking. She is not as strong but she stands her ground. He thinks he is in love with her and he thinks she loves him too. And so, with a series of events, he comes to believe they are destined to be.
Naruto doesn't believe in destiny and fates because he thinks the world is unfair but what make it unfair is people. But, Hyuuga Hinata makes him believes in fate and destiny. He is only nineteen when he believes she is his one and only.
Naruto is barely twenty when he gets down on one knee and proposes. It is winter time in Konoha and he remembers wearing the red scarf she made for him that day. Hinata is barely twenty and barely breathing when she says yes.
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Haruno Sakura is barely twenty when she receives the wedding invitation. She is still sorry she broke his heart, but happy that he finds Hinata and Hinata finds happiness. She thinks they are sweet: like Romeo and Juliet classic without tragedy. She thinks it's cute how Hinata has Naruto wrapped around her little fingers. Naruto would do anything to keep his bride happy. And she hopes she could love like that too, one day.
She is sorry Sasuke can't attend his best friend wedding but she silently relishes because her heart still aches for him. So, she walks Hinata down the aisles and dances a father-daughter dance with Kakashi. She is happy at the time. She remembers the crinkles of Kakashi when he smiles so proudly. She remembers he nudges softly, asking if she'd marry someday and live happily ever after. She is hurt but she hides it under her skin. She forces a smile. She doesn't believe in happily ever after anymore.
She is barely twenty and young, she tells herself.
She is twenty-two when she decides she is a little lonely. Everybody is dating but she is waiting. She waits for Sasuke-kun –a man who promises a return but never comes back. She doesn't want to ask herself why she is still waiting. She is so in love that it hurts. So, she keeps her hands busy with Jounin and ANBU, with paperwork and hospital. She thinks she can be happy without Sasuke, but she can't convince herself she isn't lonely.
Ino is dating Sai. Sakura thinks they are cute because Ino truly cares in her ways and Sai works hard to please her. Tenten is dating Neiji and Sakura thinks they are perfect and classy. Kiba isn't dating anyone but Sakura thinks Akamaru can be his one and only for eternity. Chouji and his food are true happiness (because she thinks live to eat is perfect). Shikamaru and Temari are dating and Sakura thinks it is the best couple in the world. Lee is in love with his training and Sakura thinks it is an enjoyable life. She thinks everyone is in a relationship and happy. She thinks hospital work can make her happy, but it is different. She is constantly afraid she will lose another patient. It is a lonely life she is leading.
It is winter time in Konoha when she receives another invitation to Naruto second year's anniversary. She danced with Kakashi last year, a father-daughter dance and she thinks she can be happy just dancing with him every year. But Kakashi is away on a mission and she is a little lonely. She doesn't have the heart to skip the ball because she knows Naruto will be disappointed. So, when Lee asks her out for the dance, she says yes without thinking. It is a nice dance for a while, but she wonders how it feels to be in Sasuke's arms. He promises her a return and she is still waiting.
Haruno Sakura is twenty-three when she helps Hinata gives birth to the first child. The child is cute with Naruto blonde hair and she wishes to have a child as well. Naruto becomes the Hokage soon after and she is very pleased. She hopes to see Sasuke in his inauguration day so she looks around but he is never there. It is summer when Kakashi steps down as a Hokage and Naruto becomes the seventh. She is happy to see him happy, but she thinks she is a little tired of waiting. Haruno Sakura is twenty-three when she decides she is very tired of waiting.
Naruto sets his anniversary date as a national event. Hinata tells him it is unnecessary, but Sakura thinks it is very sweet. Their anniversary is celebrated with a ball. They select a favorite couple every year but Sakura never win any. The crown looks so beautiful that she'd like to try it for once, but she is not in love and always a little lonely so she can't ever win. She is twenty-four when she waits a little less and hangs out a little more. She dances with any man and she is a little less lonely.
She is twenty-five when she receives the fifth-year anniversary ball invitation. She stops waiting for Sasuke returns because he is never there and she is very tired. When she sees Naruto two-year old son at the ball, she realizes she wants a better life than just waiting for uncertainty. So, she dances with Kiba and sleeps with him. He is drunk and she is a little tipsy. It is hot and wild and she likes it so much. Haruno Sakura is twenty-five when she decides she will never look back anymore.
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Uchiha Sasuke is twenty-five when he decides he has enough and he wants to go home. It is a long journey he takes and he silently hopes he hasn't been away for too long so he can still be remembered. He finds a little bit of everything here and there. It makes him less afraid to go home.
Uchiha is never afraid, they say. Sasuke never admits he is afraid, but he is. He is afraid he will be branded traitor and he is afraid of hatred. He is away for a long time and the trip back home is long and tiring. When he is finally home, he is happy.
He settles down in a cheaper and smaller apartment, at the corner of Konoha where it is the most peaceful. He rarely goes out until he receives the ball invitation at the end of the year. Naruto asks him to come but he decides to spend the day sleeping in. It is sixth in the evening when his doorbell won't stop ringing and he ends up wearing a set of tux as the idiot drags him to the ball.
It is noisy and crowded and he feels claustrophobic. He catches a glimpse of pink at the far-end corner and he remembers the promise he made five years ago. She is bright and smiling and happy. She talks to some other guys and swings her hips and grinds them. He sits at the far-end corner and watches her dances with many men.
Uchiha Sasuke is twenty five when he starts attending the ball. He is twenty-six when he realizes he wants Haruno Sakura.
He is twenty-seven when he goes for another ball. He has seen Sakura dances with many man whose name he does not bother to remember. She dances with Kiba and Gaara and Lee. She dances with her co-workers. She dances with Kakashi and she dances with the girls. She is always happy and shiny and beaming but she never spares him a glance.
Sometimes he can see the longing in her eyes for the crown. Naruto and his wife sweep the crown so often. Ino and Sai won the second time he went for the ball. A year ago, the crown was gifted to Neiji and Tenten who had their wedding prior to the ball. Haruno Sakura never dances with anybody lovely enough to win the crown.
"I'd really love to stand up there with my lover and wear that god-damn gorgeous crown," she slurred once. She is always tipsy by the end of the party.
He thinks she is beautiful. He thinks it is him who is unfit rather than her because she is beautiful and perfect. He thinks she should have won the crown for all.
Today, she is dancing with no one. Kiba is away because Akamaru is sick. Lee is busy with his training at the other end of the world. Gaara can't attend because the riots Suna is having recently. Ino is dancing with Sai. Shikamaru is as lonely as the girl but he keeps himself entertain with the sake and shogi.
He knows she stops waiting. There is less love in her eyes and less longing too. She gives him only polite smiles.
Uchiha Sasuke is twenty-seven when he decides he wants to win her heart. He promises to only look forward.
But this is the irony: Uchiha Sasuke is her past. Haruno Sakura is his future.
When he places his hand on her hips, she gives him a polite smile and places her hands around his neck. He thinks she is a little too perfect in his arms and her size fits more than perfect. The music is soft and romantic and beautiful. They move in synch: two step forward and one step backward. He thinks she may stop waiting but she may never stop loving him. He thinks it is selfish but it is only Haruno Sakura to love him.
As he gazes into her green-green eyes, he realizes she is the only woman who he ever bothers to spare a second thought for. There is something bitter in the way she smiles. He thinks it is because she hasn't stopped aching for him and he only starts to ache for her very recently. They are quiet and it feels wrong. Sakura talks a lot and Sasuke never talks.
"You know… I'd really like to win that crown for once," she whispers and she isn't tipsy. "Ino won them once and she brags about being a princess for all year long. It's beautiful, Sasuke. It's every girl dreams."
"Hn," he mutters for a while and he hears her sigh. "Then, why haven't you?"
"I think I'm not in love enough," she smiles, "I dance with almost every man and I always wonder… If you were dancing with me, would I win the crown?"
"Aa," he says and she sighs again. "Anyone who dances with me will probably win the crown,"
"But not me," she kisses his cheek and presses her cheek against his shoulder. It surprises him. Her actions and her words.
"Why?" he thinks she is playing with his heart. Uchiha is born to love, he learns. And he knows it is very clear in his onyx eyes that he wants her so bad. "Why is that?"
"Because people like sweet and beautiful couple, Sasuke…-kun," there is a pause between the –kun and he hopes she isn't hesitating. "We are not beautiful, Sasuke-kun," it flows better this time and he relishes. "We only look beautiful with sadness and distance between us, longing and tears in our eyes, and blood. Blood in our skin and malice in our word."
"That's not true."
"That's true. We are a tragedy, Sasuke-kun. I'm a tragedy," she says. "But I don't believe love is a tragedy because tragedy happens uninvited but I choose our tragedy. I choose to love you," she elaborates. "Sasuke… we can't be beautiful the way Naruto and Hinata is. I want to love like them. The Romeo and Juliet classic without the tragedy."
The music ends and there was a slight pause in the air and they both pause. A switch of music and he knows this is her favorite. This is all time most romantic music and Haruno Sakura is a romantic. They dances again but it hurts a little more this time. Still, they step in synch: two steps forward and one step back. He spins her around this time and her dress looks beautiful.
"I don't think we are a tragedy because I choose to love you," she ghosts her breath against his lips as she repeats her words again and again. "Tragedy is death and uninvited. You are not dead, you are here and I am here. We tried to kill each other but we didn't die. We aren't a tragedy… so what are we?" it is rhetorical and he does not want to answer.
She is different. She is no open book and she is complicated. She is no longer soft like blossoms in spring. She is hurt and afraid. She is tired and dangerous. He thinks she is becoming like him: a fire inside the soul. It surprises him when the spotlight falls upon them. It signals the Hokage is ready for the selection and he hopes he can win this time so he can win her too.
He is in love for the first time and there is so much tragedy in his love. He thinks this is tragedy but she does not think this is a tragedy. The spotlight is warm and bright for a long time until it moves to another couple. She smirks a proud yet bitter smile and he is taken aback. Her smile is different.
"So Sasuke…" she leans in and her breath ghosts his ear. It is warm and she smells good. "Tell me, my dear… are we a tragedy?"
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He kisses her and she relishes.