Prompt: Sasusaku Month Day 11, Shelter from the rain
Summary: Sakura has always loved the rain. (Yes the title is supposed to be shelter for the rain, it's not a mistake.)
Set after Sasuke Hiden, When Sasuke returns back to Konoha after his journey of redemption.
Sakura Haruno was amongst the few people in Konoha who truly loved the rain.
There was a time when even Naruto who is bright and optimistic about everything, became weary of the rain, his usual hyperactivity dulled and unpolished under the dreary cloud cover. He was still much better than most people and he fought against the cold harsh weather and won quite a few times. The other times he was stuck in bed with a cold and a disgruntled attitude.
The rain was kinder to Sakura than most, Ino who once went on and on about how wonderful the rain was had now become more cautious of it stating that she hated how her hair frizzes up and Hinata who'd always been gentle enough to hate nobody had become averse to storms for she'd always been a little afraid of it if nothing else.
But it didn't start of that way, not even close. There was a time when rain was a cause to celebrate, the pride and joy of Konoha, but then the village was betrayed.
The rain that they prayed for, the one they revered turned on the village and caused a flood whose tales of destruction would be told for many generations to come.
Konoha started hating the rain.
But Sakura didn't.
She knows she should have but while most saw the flood as an unforgiving and cruel calamity Sakura saw it as nature being pushed to it's very limit, broken until it lashed out unable to control it's grief.
She'd once been silly enough to think that she'd been strong enough to tame the weather and she'd gone into a hurricane all by herself thinking she'd be able to make it. It was her love for the rain that had kept her frozen in her spot unable to do anything when lightning had almost struck her.
Naruto had saved her at that time. Bright, sunny, happy Naruto was the only one who could brave that storm. All Sakura could do was stand in the eye of the hurricane and watch the rain and wind tear everything apart around her.
Naruto had hated the rains too as a child, he saw it as dreary, cold and frankly a pain in the ass but he had been stunned when he saw how beautifully spring bloomed with the help of the rain.
He didn't understand why something so beautiful could bloom in the presence of something that was so utterly harsh.
Or why Sakura would love the rain so much when all it did was make her sick.
He'd always fuss over her, pull her out of the rain into a dry shelter but she'd never stay for long. She'd give him a bright smile and go running back out to brave the dark and menacing storm.
Eventually Naruto learned to understand the rain too in his own way. At first he'd ventured out only to keep Sakura company, to make sure she'd be safe even in the storm, but somewhere along the way Naruto started understanding the rage of the rain, the sadness of the storm and hate that resided in the hurricane.
But Sakura had never understood the rain, no, she'd loved it. She'd loved it unconditionally, senselessly, selflessly and foolishly ever since she was a child.
And she'd never stopped.
No matter how hard the winds pushed her back she'd always make her way through blinding rain one step at a time never faltering. She loved it till the devastating storm finally broke and the dark clouds parted slightly letting a ray of sunlight through.
And she continued loving it even after the rains had long since departed from Konoha.
It hadn't rained in the village for the last few years now, just light showers on the outskirts of Konoha carefully watering the crops, keeping the trees alive and protecting the village in its own quiet way almost afraid to let itself show again for the fear of bringing another disaster.
But Sakura patiently waited for the rain come back. She knew it would, she believed in it even if most people didn't.
She knew that the rains would return home to Konoha one day.
And she knew that today was that day.
Sakura stared vacantly up at the cloudy night sky after she stepped out of the hospital following another one of her brutally long shifts.
The air was humid, heavy with water and humming with a current she'd not felt for a long time. The usually crowded and bustling streets had become silent around her and it felt like the entire village was holding it's breath to see what the rains would bring this time around.
Would it be a friend or a foe?
The first drop of rain falls on her. It falls directly on the centre of her forehead, warm and reassuring like a nostalgic poke against her skin.
She smiles widely and rain starts falling, slowly, gently and carefully.
The few people left on the street scrambled for shelter but Sakura simply walked ahead steadily without an umbrella, the quiet rain soaking every bit of her, from head to toe.
The rain was no longer biting cold as it had once been, instead it was warmer and far more gentle even if it seemed outwardly dangerous.
But then again, the rain had always been kinder to her than most people.
She almost stopped at the sight of a lone figure standing next to an old stone bench, waiting in the shadows, reluctant and hesitant just like the falling rain.
The rain had always been the most cruel to him, more so than anybody else, unforgivably pounding down on him as if to say that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't wash away his sins.
He'd always hated the rain the most.
Even if the people of Konoha might learn to forgive the destruction the rain had once caused he probably wouldn't.
But Sakura knew that if she showed him what she saw, the kindness of the rain she'd known as a child, the beauty she'd always seen even amongst the darkness then he'd one day learn to love the rain too.
She continued walking towards the figure her steps steady and echoing against the the cobbled pathway. When she finally reached the bench, she stopped standing a few feet away from the man she'd never stopped loving.
This time around he was facing her, his dark hair soaked from the rain, mismatched onyx and purple trained attentively towards her pale green orbs.
The wind around her stilled, came to a groaning halt just like the rest of the world around her and she realised that she was in the eye of the storm.
"Welcome home, Sasuke-kun." She said softly.
The very next moment sky tore itself apart, thunder roaring, lightning flashing and the once quiet rain began falling down in sheets, washing away everything.
But there was no ill intent in this rain, it felt like hope, like a promise finally fulfilled.
It felt like a new beginning.
"I'm home Sakura."
Rain had finally had returned to Konoha.
"Teme." Naruto asked Sasuke months after his return,"Have you ever wondered why Sakura-chan loves the rains so much? She goes on strolls in the middle of the storms. Normal people would take shelter from the rain, dattebayo."
Sasuke had rolled his eyes, Naruto was hardly in the position to question Sakura when he wasn't any better. Of course whenever he went out into the rain it was to try to prove a point that he was stronger than it, only to almost always fall sick until the nine tails finally felt sorry for the idiot and healed him.
Sakura on the other hand glowed. She blossomed during rainfall and never even got sick during the frequent spells of wet weather in Konoha nowadays.
Yes, Sakura Haruno was amongst the few people in Konoha who truly loved the rain.
And she was the only one that the rain had ever loved back.
"Idiot." Sasuke had responded,"That's because she's shelter for the rain."
I tried to sound all deep and metaphorical but i think it just became confusing. Anyway tell me what you think, please!