Warning: Character death.
AU: I thought I swore off this pairing…
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She spots him almost accidentally on her way back to the small town with arms full of fresh medical herbs. It is strange the way their eyes meet, slowly but surely. She wonders where he is going, if he lives in the forest she just came from, if he is heading somewhere far away, if he has a plan or a goal or if he is just as lost and lonely as she is. She stops and watches him as he nears step by step. The road is small and untamed and they are the only ones around. The forest is calm and silent, save for the occasional rustling of wind in the leaves.
He stops too, a good 30 meters away and stares intently. She notices his gaunt face and protruding cheekbones, his sickly pale skin and his shabby clothes. His eyes are the same though, as black and unreadable as ever. She wonders if he remembers her. If he remembers Naruto and Kakashi and the life he left behind. The life he would never see again. She wonders if he ever regrets. With thousands of questions on the tip of her tongue the headband on her forehead weighs down her heart. She sighs, shifts her basket and disappears in a poof of smoke. He draws out his sword and the fight begins.
It is not an epic battle for they are no longer spirited teenagers with emotions bursting the seams of their hearts. They are two weary people, with nothing to lose and nothing to gain. Their weapons carry thoughts that they cannot speak for them.
Sorry her blade says as it slices through his tendon.
We do what we must his fist states as it burrows itself into the soft flesh of her gut.
She gasps for breath on impact and loses concentration for a second; Sasuke sees the opening and runs his katana through her stomach. The sound is sickening.
Sakura falters and coughs up bright blood, splattering over both of them and Sasuke prepares to send a chidori down the blade. He pauses though, almost unexpectedly but almost purposely and she steals a moment to grab his hand and to pull him roughly towards her. The hilt of the sword hits her stomach and she loses no time in thrusting two chakra blades into his chest.
Ah, he thinks not too surprised. She smiles up at him but it is merely a curvature of the lips.
"I…" forgive you, she starts to say. Or maybe it was I love you. Funny, she can't remember very well. He gets the idea though and she is relieved. The world starts to collapse on itself until all she can see is his face, then his eyes, then darkness.
He catches her when she tips forward against his chest and for a moment they are still, motionless, like two stone statues engraved in eternity. He breaks the silence and whispers against her hair,
maybe next time you will succeed.
He thinks she nods before they both fall.