Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Prompt: SakuKarin. "It's okay to cry."
Under the Grey-Blue Skies
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In the times of peace following the Fourth Shinobi War, the Konoha cemetery wasn't a very busy place anymore. Deaths still occurred, of course, however their causes weren't violent as often as they had used to be. This day, the cemetery witnessed the largest gathering since the ceremony for the fallen in the war.
The funeral was grand. The person it was for probably wouldn't care, as he was very private and didn't like huge crowds, but it seemed that in his rather short life he had amassed a far greater number of friends than he would have expected. Despite the harsh wind and rain falling in sheets from the sky everyone showed up, joined in mourning for the young man who had a shining future ahead of him mercilessly stolen by a poisoned blade. It was unthinkable to all of them that someone so strong and proud, so courageous, would be the first one to die from their shinobi generation. His best friend by the end of his speech was choking on tears and unable to stand without assistance, crushed under the weight of his grief.
The grey-blue skies wept as the living said their goodbyes to one Uchiha Sasuke, the last of his clan.
Slowly, the crowd dispersed and the fresh flowers, left to the elements, became sodden and ragged. A bunch of pink and red carnations, hit by a strong gust of wind, rolled off the granite into a puddle, their petals muddied, the fragile beauty forever tainted. The occurrence was observed yet ignored by the two women still lingering at the grave. Lost in thoughts, with hearts heavy in sorrow, they stood side by side, huddled under a single umbrella. Their hair – pink and red, ironically just like the two shades of the destroyed flowers – was the only speck of bright colour to be spotted in this sombre place shrouded in hues of grey and blue.
Sakura cried ever since she saw the body in the coffin – before then, a small part of her still hadn't accepted that Sasuke was no more. She cried softly throughout the ceremony, all the way through the burial and only now her tears were tapering off from the sheer exhaustion she felt. She didn't even try to wipe them, knowing how pointless that would be, and so her face was glistening with the salty wetness spilling from her red and swollen eyes.
Slowly, her tired gaze trailed to the woman standing next to her like a silent pillar. Karin's face was shaded by the long hair, but the white-knuckled clutch she had maintained on the umbrella until now betrayed her inner turmoil.
"Karin?" Sakura said and winced at the terrible, croaky sound she made.
The redhead didn't answer, but she turned her head slightly, indicating that she heard the call. Sakura peered at her and noticed that her gaze was trained on the grave, numb and unmoving. For an expressive person like her, Karin was uncannily good at cutting off her emotions.
Directed solely by a gut feeling, Sakura touched her companion's arm lightly to garner her attention.
"Do you want to go already?" Karin asked.
Sakura shook her head. "No. Are you okay?"
Karin's pupils widened in utter surprise, some life returning to her expression. "I..." she frowned, as if trying to solve a complicated puzzle, not answer a simple question, then changed the topic. "Why do you ask?"
"Ever since the news came about... about Sasuke..." Sakura paused for a deep inhale, fighting off the stinging of fresh tears brought by the mention of his name until the urge to cry receded and she could continue, "I was only thinking about my pain. Everyone is trying to cope... Naruto, Kakashi-sensei and others... but what about you? I know you cared for him a lot, so you must be in pain too, but you don't show it at all! How can you be this calm? Did you even cry?"
Karin averted her eyes and shrugged. "No... not really."
Sakura pursed her lips. "Why not?"
"I won't cry for this bastard," the redhead said vehemently, tightening her hold on the umbrella if it was possible and almost crushing the handle under pressure. "I... I won't," she repeated. "He doesn't deserve my tears."
"Do you?" Sakura asked.
"What?"
When Karin looked at her again, Sakura's hand cupped her cheek, the green eyes effortlessly piercing through her bubble of invulnerability. "Do you deserve your tears? Because it's not really for him or because of him... He's dead, Karin. It doesn't matter to him if you cry here. The only one who it matters to is you."
Karin wavered in her projected indifference and took a step back,. "Sakura... I can't." She shook her head, red waves falling wildly around her. "I don't want to! He was a bastard!"
"I know." Sakura followed, stepping forward, just to stay under the umbrella's protection. "Trust me, I know," she said wearily.
"Sakura..." Karin murmured, immediately reminded of the suffering the woman had undergone because of Sasuke. Even now, years later, this made her angry and sad at him, the cardinal cause of so much misery in Sakura's life. How did he dare to die and make her cry even more! The nerve of this man! She bucked at the notion of shedding tears for him. She would not!
After all he had done, she should be dancing on his grave, but no, she couldn't... because she knew better than most that he was never all bad or all good, and even with her many reasons to rejoice, she had as many to reasons to mourn. If it wasn't for him, she would have nowhere to go, she wouldn't have known all these wonderful people, she wouldn't have met Sakura...
Some of her conflict must have shown in her expression, because Sakura sighed.
"Just please, don't hurt yourself..." she requested softly. "Don't keep it in forever."
"I'm not some fragile flower," Karin snorted. "I'm stronger than you think."
"Crying isn't weakness. It's like the rain," Sakura said and swept her arm around. "It purifies the soul."
Karin looked hard at her, with a peculiar expression, before suddenly looking away, right at the grave again.
"The soul, you say... Sounds like another Konoha sermon... heh..." With a weak chuckle, she hang her head down, obscuring her face from Sakura's view. "Maybe you're right. He... Sasuke cried too. For his brother. We all thought he was crazy, crying for the man he wanted to kill, but he still did it."
The memory of those times before everything had gone bad in their group unlocked something deep within Karin and the internal pressure rose in her, trying to get out. Karin shook like a leaf as she struggled to contain it, but it was too late. Her chuckles gradually turned into sobs.
Sakura silently embraced the other woman, offering her support. "It's okay to cry. You don't have to be strong."
"I'm... not... crying..." Karin chattered out between harsh sobs, then wiped furiously at her face. "It's just the damn rain... Just the rain..."
Sakura smiled faintly at the stubborn facade, then let her own tears fall too. They stayed like this until the rain lightened to a steady drizzle.
"Let's go home, Karin," she rasped and took her free hand, cold and clammy. She put their clasped hands in her pocket, where they would warm quickly.
"Let's," Karin agreed and they headed out of the cemetery, the last mourners to leave. After pouring it all out, the old regrets and grievances didn't weigh on her anymore. Her heart was now cleansed and unburdened.
She squeezed Sakura's hand for comfort and felt a gentle squeeze in return, which made her smile a little. No matter the sorrows of today, she suddenly felt at ease with Sakura walking at her side.
As long as they were together, everything was going to be alright. Karin was certain of that.
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The End