Summary: The sky is dark, the stars don't shine, and Sakura decides to do something about it.
A/N: This is just a little oneshot from Sakura's point of view. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto; this is for fun, not profit.
The Stars Don't Shine
The stars don't shine anymore.
Oh, they are there—she can look up and see them, dotted across the dark night sky like the tears that fall from her eyes. But they don't shine. Not since he left.
She lifts a hand to wipe her face, clutching the picture that is a reminder of what she has lost close to her chest. Near her heart, where he still holds her firmly in his grasp. She doubts that would ever change—her loving him. It hadn't been love at first; it'd been admiration, then infatuation and obsession. The love had come later, after he'd left. It was when Ino cried and got over it, chasing after the next boy in line to confess her undying devotion, and her own smile remained locked away, that she realized the true depth of her feelings. How foolish she'd been in the past years.
Had she really expected someone like him—stunning, cold, and way out of her league—to fall for her? No, not really, she thinks. In the beginning, her rivalry with Ino had spurred her on more than the hope of actually being his girlfriend. He was, after all, the last Uchiha. The looks, the skill—it was all part of the pedigree. Never once had she looked beyond that, beyond the outside layer. She'd viewed him as a prize, something to be won and shown off. How stupid.
And now he's gone.
Gone.
Emerald eyes slip shut, sending another trail of silent tears dripping onto the pink comforter beneath her. A beam of moonlight falls across the bed, but she sits in darkness. This is the same day. The day when, two years ago, her teammate snuck away during the night like a common thief. He'd left for all the wrong reasons: power, greed, revenge. She still remembers the look in his eye as he'd left the village, left her.
Maybe she'd have been able to cope if it had been just that. Naruto would have helped her. They would have held each other up, until they could stand on their own. She would have been filled with a new determination and a courage she had never felt before. Maybe she could have patched up the hole in her chest and managed not to think of him every moment. The pain could've gotten bearable. Maybe she would even have been able to get on with her life.
But he'd taken her last hope of happiness away too.
Naruto, her best friend and teammate, is dead. Because of her. A silly request, made through tears so like the ones now ghosting her cheeks. And Naruto—the foolish, wonderful person he was—had promised to bring him back. A "promise of a lifetime". While she'd stayed behind and cried, Naruto had bravely sought him out and fought until his last breath to keep his word. It cost him his life.
The guilt slashes fiercely through her, warring with misery.
She gazes out her window, to the black sky filled stars that don't shine, and stops the tears from falling.
She is alone, with no one to blame but herself. She has had enough hurt, shame, and sadness to last a lifetime. Enough burdens weighing her down that her shoulders slump like an old woman's. She is tired of sleepless nights, of raging nightmares, and she is tired of being tired. It is time for a change. There has to be some way to pick up the pieces and go forward. Not move on, never move on, but at least do something with herself. She can't lie around forever.
Her hand clenches around the small, wooden picture frame. With one last, longing glance, she gently places it back on her nightstand. With her other hand, she grabs her headband, smoothing out the cloth that has wrinkled after being tossed carelessly away.
Its weight feels comforting against her head, like it hasn't before. Instead of a required accessory, something to remember to wear and keep clean, it is now like a part of her. Something in her shifts, clicks. Something new. A shuddering sigh tears itself out of her chest, but then she is able to breathe freely.
She will live.
She isn't strong, but she will train. Her heart is in two, but her pain will harden her. She is alone, but she won't be forever. One way or another, she vows, I will find you, Uchiha. And when I do...things will change.
I will save you from yourself, even if you don't want saving. I will haul you back to Konoha. If you won't listen to reason, I'll kill you.
And if I die trying, I'll rip my way out of hell to drag you down with me.
I wonder—will the stars shine then?