Hello, all! It is, I, back from the dead! Life has been nothing short of crazy, and I have been away for so long! First and foremost, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone for your words of encouragement and kind reviews! I finally replaced my old computer, and now I hope to continue to improve and give you fics worth reading! I'm a bit rusty now, but this is something that just poured out of my brain (at like 1 am...). I have tossed around the idea of turning this into a mult-chapter fic, so let me know what you think! THANK YEWWWW! -Elerael
Her Portrait In Black
She was alone at the bar when he walked in.
Except she wasn't really alone- she had men flocking around her on all sides, like flies, begging to be the next to buy her a drink. He almost didn't recognize her. Her long chesnut hair was hanging around her shoulders, and her bright amber eyes were dull and almost lifeless.
He walked forward, making his way towards where she was seated. He pushed his way past the throng of men, and took a seat next to the woman. The men who had been so desperate to gain the woman's attention sighed and grumbled, walking away defeated.
"I'll have what she's having, and another for the lady" the man called to the bartender. The bartender busied himself with preparing the drinks.
"I don't need your charity." The woman muttered, lifting her almost empty glass to her lips and taking a long drink. He noticed that she never tore her eyes away from the bar, instead focusing on swirling her drink around with a straw.
"It's not charity," the man replied. The bartender placed the drinks in front of the couple. "Put it on my tab, thanks." The bartender walked away and the man turned his eyes to his companion, who had not averted her gaze from her rapidly emptying glass.
"Well, whatever it is, I don't need it." She swished her glass around gently, listening to the clanking of the ice against the glass.
"It appears to me to be rum and coke. And everyone needs rum and coke." The man lifted his new glass, and tilted it toward the woman next to him. "Cheers," he said, before downing half the glass, and dropping it firmly onto the wood bar. "Ugh," he grimaced, his handsome face contorting in disgust. "Nope, not rum and coke."
The woman chuckled, but it was an empty sound. "Then I definitely don't need it." She sighed, and grabbed her purse. "Thanks anyway." She stood and turned, and the man grabbed her wrist gently. She looked up, for the first time acknowledging her unwanted companion. Her amber eyes looked into pools of onyx, and he swore he saw her eyes narrow for a fraction of a second as she recognized him. She jerked her hand away firmly. "Move your hand."
"Or?" He asked, his voice light with amusement.
"Or I'll cut it off. Uchiha-san." Her voice dripped with venom, and he dropped her hand.
"Good evening to you," she said curtly, before turning and making her way for the bar's exit.
Slamming back his drink, he dropped money onto the bar to cover his tab and hurried after the woman. She was already a block away, but he knew she would have been long gone by now if not for the restricting dress and ridiculous heels she was wearing. He easily caught up to her retreating form, and he slowed his pace to match hers.
"What do you want now?" The brunette woman asked, never looking at him or breaking stride.
"To talk," the man said, glacing sidelong at the woman next to him. Her face was gaunt, and her form more skeletal than lithe. She resembled more a stray dog than a lioness.
"I have nothing to say."
"Tenten." The woman stopped in her tracks, hearing her name.
"What? What do you want?" She whipped towards him, resembling a wild animal, more desperate than vicious. "What can you, of all people, possibly want?"
The man sensed the sharpness of her voice. He figured it was only fitting. She trained all her life with weapons, and she was the deadliest of them all. "No one has seen much of you for a while," he answered. It had begun to snow, the white flakes clinging to his dark hair and melting on her pale face.
"The fuck do you care?" She snickered. "I've been around. In fact, I've been around since you left. Since your mopey little spoiled ass walked out and left, and we all picked up the slack." She shook her head, her eyes downcast. Almost nervously, she nudged the snow on the sidewalk with the toe of her shoe as she chuckled to her self. "And now, you come back, and everyone cheers and praises the return of the genius prodigy," she finished quietly.
He stood quietly with her for a moment, replaying her words in his head. "So you hate me," he said matter-of-factly. It wasn't a question. He knew.
She shrugged nonchalantly. She looked into his dark eyes, and addressed him directly for he first time since his return. "Everyone else may have forgotten, Sasuke. But I haven't." He returned her gaze stubbornly, and he saw flashes of emotion he couldn't quite place "We had a genius prodigy. You're not doing anyone any favors."
His mind finally clicked all the pieces into place. "Ah," he sighed. "You blame me for your teammate's death."
She stood still for a moment, before turning away. He caught a flash of her eyes, and watched them glimmer with sadness before hardening into amber steel. She stood with her back towards him, and the wind carried her words into his ears.
"No. You're not the one I blame." All he could do was watch her walk away.