A/N: Yeah. Not much to say about this. Just what happens at 12:30 on a cool summer night when you get off the computer from reading fanfics and have a mug of tea beside you. I was going to edit this one a bit, fix it up some, add some stuff—maybe I will someday. I wasn't even going to post it. But now I am. Oh well. So it's up—in its rough, nearly unedited form. So the wording is off in spots. And it's cheesy and all that. Sorry if it's painful to read—12:30, people!
Need – A KakaSaku oneshot
Why do I need you?" he murmured into her hair.
She shifted her body slightly in his arms, keeping her head on his shoulder. "I don't know, why do you need me?" she answered, a teasing lilt in her voice.
He made no reply to this but gently removed his arms from around her. Grunting a little as he rose from his sitting position on the wooden floor, he wandered over to the room's lone window. She had made no noise at this sudden movement; yet he still felt guilty at interrupting their reverie. He put this thought out of his mind, focusing instead on the night sky he could see through the frigid clear glass.
Then he started as a cool, slim hand slipped into his rough one. He hadn't even heard her get up. Seems it's obvious which one of us is most caught up on their training, he thought ruefully.
"I know something's on your mind," a voice said quietly from just behind him. The fine hairs on his neck rose to meet the warm breath that wafted down on them.
"There isn't," he replied, trying to keep all negative emotion out of his voice. She couldn't see his face or he would have given her his best attempt at a reassuring smile. Hadn't it worked when they had all been his students? A carefree grin, a solitary walk before meetings, even delving himself into a fictional world so that no hint of the turmoil inside him would emerge . Physical pain he had prepared them for, and some emotional pain too, but he had always neatly avoided the subject of the deep scars this pain left behind. He had always foolishly hoped they would never have to bear those scars—but this decision help or hinder them in the long run?
"That won't work," her voice said, still behind him. "You might still fool Naruto with that kind of stuff, but it won't get past me."
He sighed and turned around to meet her fixed gaze. Her brow was furrowed with concern, her eyes sparked with defiance. "You don't need to worry about it," he dismissed, leaning forward to plant a soft kiss on the warm forehead.
Two hands firmly grasped the cloth mask that hung around his neck and yanked it back up to its rightful position, preventing anymore of these diversions. "If you're thinking about it right now, I most certainly do," she said, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Tell me." The expression on her face told him he had no way out.
He discreetly removed her hands and paced the small room for a minute, thinking of the best way to word it. He could feel her eyes on him, hear her impatient sighs. Finally he stopped, gazing out the window once more.
"Why me?" he asked expressionlessly, deliberately facing away from her.
There was silence for a moment. Then he heard her quiet reply. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, what's the point of being with me?" he said quickly, wishing this thought had never made an appearance. "I'm old. I'm broken. You're still young. You deserve a chance to actually live a good life. You could have anyone, anyone, not someone close to forty who has nothing to do but cling to that life." There. He had said it. He felt cross now; cross at her for dragging this out of him and cross at himself for letting this many emotions escape at once.
There was no sound from behind him, just what he assumed to be contemplative silence. Gingerly he turned, expecting to see a look of thought and realization on her face.
Instead he saw tears.
In a split second her was in front of her, holding her, smoothing back her pale hair from her face. She let herself stay in his arms for a few seconds, then pushed back, restraining her tears.
"You—you idiot," she whispered, fighting back sobs. "I don't want another life, I don't want anyone else, I just want—I just want you!" With that the dam that held back the barrage inside her burst and she flew at him, seizing the front of his vest with all her might.
"Sakura," he murmured, his eyes wide at this sudden eruption. He'd never guessed he might mean the same to her as she did to him. It wasn't that he doubted her love, but the nature of it. They sank onto the floor, he cradling her in his arms and making soft noises of comfort.
Finally, when the front of his vest was damp with warm saltwater, she lifted her head to look him in the eye.
"I think I know why you need me," she told him, without a hint of teasing this time.
He cupped her face in his hands and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "Mm?"
She laid her head back on his chest. "The same reason I need you."
A/N: Yeah. Uh. Um. That was it. Don't say I didn't warn you. I still might go back and fully edit it sometime. For now, I'll just leave it the way it is. –Runs away-