Warning: Excessive coarse language and extensive amounts of angst; I purely wrote this story to mass on the angst.

Recommended Listening: Hero by Regina Spektor.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or I'd make it into a Shakesperean piece. Totally.

So I've realised that every so often I like to write about Sasuke being crushed in the story rather than the typical Sakura being heartbroken as I find it much more different and able to be interpretated in various ways because of Sasuke's complex character. Yes, this is quite a contrast to my latest story, Simplicity Blade, which was rather sweet and innocent; and I've got to admit I'm on quite a roll... two stories within a couple of days.

Enjoy. :)

Dysfunction

& I'm the hero of this story; I don't need to be saved

Let's talk about arrogance, you and I. Let's talk about arrogance.

Arrogance is sin. Arrogance is like spreading poison in your veins, making you feel stronger on the outside, but killing you on the inside. Arrogance is downfall.

Uchiha Sasuke is arrogant. Arrogance makes you believe things that aren't true about yourself, that you're stronger than you actually are, that you're invincible; that no, you're not going to get hurt, because you never have before, so you won't now and that no, you're not going to fall for that girl with the beautiful pink hair and pretty smiles because you're much, much, much better.

Arrogance makes him believe that he's staying away from the bright hospitals because he never gets injured; so what's the need?

What's the need... he never needed anything. (never needed sakura?)

Arrogance for someone like Sasuke was like a glass wall that stood in front of him, unbreakable. Irrationality, idealism and illogicality are crushed in arrogance's wait. Sakura is crushed in Sasuke's wait, because she is filled with dreams and faith but he's filled with broken hope and blood and scars.

Sasuke was about as strong as Sakura as water was over a faltering candle. She tried so, so hard to stay alive.

However, like everything and everyone else, arrogance has an archenemy; and that archenemy was realisation.

Who ever knew that it'd be his turn to be that candle when he realised (realisation, realisation and realisation... no matter how hard you try, it won't be crushed in your wait like all the rest) he fell in love her like a sick and tragic love story.

Tragic. (because it'll crush you instead)

And it's alright, it's alright, it's alright

And Sasuke was Sasuke.

He had a beyond corrupted past that in turn tainted himself. He may have chosen to return to Konoha on his own will, but both Naruto and Sakura knew that it would take more than hugs and laughs to fix him (if they ever even could). Thinking that everything would be okay when it wasn't was just like saying you were tired in place for being sad: it was a pure excuse, but it worked anyway—for a period of time.

However, in this situation, thinking everything was okay was all the same as trying to catch sand with your hands. Sasuke was undoubtedly even broken then he was before, even if he had received closure. It was definitely not the truth that he expected, that throughout all these years of wretched revenge, Uchiha Itachi had remained the same Itachi-niisan that he was before.

Itachi-niisan. A wrecked smile curved onto Sasuke's lips, with the perfect edge of bitter nostalgia. He would never love again.

Yeah, bullshit. That was before realisation hit him.

As he watched Sakura spar with Naruto, laughing inwardly at how unknown they were to his thoughts, he suddenly became very sombre, very self-defeating. It could be fair to say that this was somewhat unlike Sasuke's usual persona, but then again, how Sasuke appeared now was just a shade; something that was created when it shouldn't have been.

The real Sasuke, the Sasuke-kun, was in there somewhere; dated back twelve years ago when he was six.

He loved her, he did. Arrogance was no longer strong enough to hold its defences to realisation. Arrogance had crumbled devastatingly. He was unable to tell himself that he'd never fall for a girl because he just wasn't that weak, because dammit, he was, he was. He was weak. Weak, for her. Always.

But Uchiha Sasuke was a walking detriment of what-could-have-been. He would never tell her he loved her, because (guess what arrogance, you lost!) he didn't deserve one second of her pink tresses, or one second of her jade eyes staring at his onyx orbs, or one second of her lips against his cheek, or one second of her walking by, her scent mesmerising him. She should just continue walking past.

He smirked (it was the best he could do because...), leaning against the tree trunk as Sakura hugged Naruto joyfully after the finished spar, the picture cracking in the middle of his vision as it froze through his mind, vibrating painfully.

Because arrogance hadn't lost, and he'll just pretend that he's strong enough to just let her pass by.

Because nobody has it all

And the next time he talks to her, he has changed, though to the rest of the world he is just the same.

"We haven't talked for a while," Sakura muses as they both lean against the bridge Team 7 used to always meet on every morning.

"Yes," is all Sasuke says. Sakura is naive and so just like the rest of the world, she comments with a light giggle how he hasn't changed at all.

He takes quite a while to reply. "Hn." I have changed, can't you see? Can't you see?

After a moment of awkward silence (which Sasuke was desperate to end since he was fighting against himself), Sakura clears her throat. "When was the last time we talked?"

Last time we talked? Months ago, when everything wasn't like this, when you weren't acquainted, when you didn't have that wretched ring on your finger and when you weren't in love with anyone but me! "A while ago."

Another silence breaks through, but it is fortunately (fortunately?) cut short when Naruto enters the scene, hugging Sakura and kissing her on the cheek. For the first time, Sasuke watches the interaction in front of him without shielding that glass wall of arrogance around him, because there is no more arrogance, there is no more I'm not getting hurt by this and there is no more room for pretending.

He welcomes the poison to enter a last time and relinquish through his veins with open arms. He smirks out of nowhere, and both Sakura and Naruto think that he is glad to see them together (when really he's not, not at all, he's just glad that he's finally fucking getting the pain he deserves so he can get out of here).

There is no arrogance for him to say that this was somebody else's fault, because he knows he brought this upon himself.

A few minutes later, the blonde disappears saying that he's hungry for some ramen. Some people really don't change. Sasuke thinks resentfully of how people don't have to change at all, but somehow, slowly, like molten rock beneath the surface; a relationship can dramatically. Just like Naruto and Sakura. Naruto and Sakura. He still hadn't gotten used to it yet, and he probably never will.

Oh well. It wasn't like it was going to affect anyone but him. This only made him smirk more. Sakura catches eye of this, and asks, "What's wrong with you today? Happier than usual."

Sasuke almost laughs. "Yeah. Happy." Her eyebrow rises at the cynical tone of his voice, but brushes it off. So, so naive.

"Are you coming tomorrow?" Her voice turns considerably soft, reminding him of the voice she used to always use to speak to him with. And now, he only hears it with Naruto. He feels like being angry with her, being absolutely furious of how she broke her promise of always loving him and always doing whatever he wants, but he can't.

"Yes." I don't want to...

He stops himself from yelling at her. Who the fuck would want to go to somebody else's wedding, watching the person you loved (and probably will, for the rest of your life) getting married to somebody else?

He sees how her smile is starting to crack, and how her eyes fill with tears. He questions himself in panic at what he could've possibly done wrong, because he's just seemed to have been doing everything wrong lately.

"Can I ask you one thing?" She says, her voice breaking, grasping her hand upon his.

He just nods, never looking away from the contact.

At this moment, everything starts to feel untrue, and everything feels like how it was before, how it could've been. How it felt like Sasuke. Sasuke and Sakura. The familiar old feeling and colour brushes over her face, and she bites her lip.

She takes a breath, and he swallows the one he's been holding. "Did you ever love me?"

Pain thunders through him; a cursed bullet that drives into his chest. No, no, don't ask that question, because I'm done pretending. I'm done pretending that I don't love you, because oh God, oh God, I do. I fucking love you. I fucking love you so much. Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you...

"No." Short and blunt.

(liar! why did you lie to her? why didn't you say it! you know she would've just broken off everything for you and you'd have that happily ever after that you've wanted for so long...)

She believes him, turning on her heel without a second glance, and before he knows it she is long gone.

...You don't see.

The poison engulfs away from him, clasping after the disappearing figure, and he smiles. Even though he loves her, he is not a hero, he never has been, and he has stopped pretending that he was. He cannot always catch her, and he cannot love her properly like Naruto can. She deserves to be happy, because she'll be happy, yes, she will be happy...

Haruno Sakura is now the arrogant one.

He never saw it coming at all

And as Sasuke shudders at the coldness of his bed as he stares at of the window, the digital clock next to him alarming the turn of 2 AM.

Well, he's only missed out on a wedding. Who cares? It was signified as the day for Naruto and Sakura. Heh, they'd be having their honeymoon now...

Unbeknownst to him, Sakura is also laying in a bed awake. She may not be alone (because who's that, not sasuke? its naruto), but it is still cold. She is now the pretender, and she will pretend that today was the best day of her life, just because everyone's telling her it was, and because she's telling herself it was.

Let's talk about arrogance, you and I. Let's talk about arrogance.

Yeah. Who cares.

& We're trying to be faithful but we're cheating, cheating, cheating

The End

This made me happy. :)

Uhm, yeah. Sequel?

Reviews are appreciated.