Description: Sakura rememberedthe night when the moon and stars shone the brightest. She would smile when she thought about how the stars shone brightly, and how she fell for him madly.
O - O - O - O
She was alone, crying, trembling in the heart of a forest.
She saw nothing but blackness, blackness of a dark night. No moon shone as it always does. Or maybe the trees are covering the moon and the stars? Maybe that's why Sakura could see nothing, nothing but the black color.
'Do my parents even notice that I'm missing?' she sobbed.
'Why won't someone come find me?'
She heard shuffling sound of leaves every minutes. She heard the sounds of wild animals growling from the unknown direction. She heard the sounds of insects above her head. She heard the sounds of wolves howling deep in the forest. She felt the cold air passing her, blowing her arms and legs softly, but even those tiny sensation made her shiver out of fear.
She couldn't move, couldn't open her eyes, couldn't make a sound. Her legs were injured; her left leg felt numb, while her right one felt pain. Her arms had scratches, but those didn't matter. Her head hurts most, for the bullies had beaten her right to her 'large' forehead.
She didn't dare open her eyes, what if she saw someone watching at her with their red eyes. Sakura remembered every single picture of ghosts and demons from the books she had read. Her mother told her not to read those books and she followed her mom's warning by reading them at school. She now felt regret, the illusions of the monsters were hunting her. She believed that she would see one if she open her eye, so she closed them shut.
No voice were heard from the girl. Sakura made sure not to make any sound. If she made a sound, it would attract attention.
Tears stopped falling from her eyes, Sakura got calmer as the minutes passed faster. She now felt less afraid than she was before. Of course she would not move nor open her eyes, but she felt somewhat brave.
Sakura was kinda relieved and astonished at the fact that she was still breathing and fully conscious. It was such a miracle for her to survive the night without getting eaten by the carnivores, for she was a weak kunoichi as her bullies said.
Her bravery began to wear off when she heard foot steps.
She listened and listened. Yes, those were the sounds of someone walking on the grass.
The sound got closer and closer, and Sakura squeezed her eyes tightly, tears were now spilling from the corner of her eyes.
The sound stopped near her, and Sakura inhaled a shaky breath out of fear.
Then a warm hand touched her shoulder.
Sakura screamed out and mumbled things like "Do not kill me!" or "Please, don't hurt me!"
And she opened her eyes for the first time in 6 long hours.
She first saw light of a fire, then she saw a face of a boy.
A boy with black hair was looking at her and concerned was shown in his black eyes. He stared into her emerald eyes and said nothing.
Sakura hugged him even though she didn't know him. She hugged him tightly and cried in his chest, ruining his blue t-shirt. She held him as her life depended on him, and after some moments, he hugged her back.
He said nothing. He only soothed her by hugging her tightly, rubbing her back in encouragement.
They stayed like that until she stopped crying. Until she calm down.
Then the boy asked her if she could stand up, and picked her bridal style when she said no.
"So what's your name?" he asked her.
"I-I'm Sa-sakura, Sakura Haruno," she said, looking up to his face.
"Aa... I'm Sasuke Uchiha,"
"Oh..."
Silence.
"How did you find me?" Sakura asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.
"I was training,"
"At this time?"
"Hn...,"
Silence.
Sakura decided not to start a conversation again. Even though Sakura felt awkward, Sasuke seemed accustomed to the silence.
Sakura closed her eyes, only to open again to see the dark sky.
Sakura exhaled a sharp breath. The sky was not dark at all. It looked so magnificent. It was only dark in the forest but from the outside of the forest district, the sky was sparkling, sparkling with the lights from the stars. The moon shone at his brightest rate. The stars twinkled as if they were blinking at them. The scenery was so fantastic.
She looked at Sasuke's face. He looked forwards, not noticing that he was being watched. She couldn't advert her eyes from him. She stared at his face for some moments. Then she drew her gaze back to the sky.
The moon and the stars looked brighter and brighter as she watched.
She smiled and closed her eyes, thinking how fantastic the stars looked, how starry the sky was.
And on a starry night like that, Sakura fantastically fell in love. She fell for the boy, Sasuke Uchiha.
O - O - O - O
"What are you doing here?" he asked her one unforgettable night.
"Every one who leaves the village will pass this road," she replied.
"You should go back to bed," he said as he walked pass her.
"I know what happened to your family, Sasuke kun...But a thing like revenge.. can never bring anyone happiness. It will not bring you happiness,"
"Hn,"
"Even though I have friends and family, I will be lonely without you in my life," Sakura said sadly as tears fell from the corner of her eyes.
"These are just the steps we must take for the path we chose," he talked, not even turning around to look at the crying girl.
"But I love you! I love you from the bottom of my heart! If you and I are together, I swear you will not regret it. We will find happiness together, we will live happily together! I will do anything for you! I will kill for you so please, stay! If that's no possible, than take me with you!" Sakura shouted as her tears fell to the ground. Her breathed a shaky breath and started sobbing.
She heard Sasuke sighed impatiently, then he looked at her over his shoulders.
"You are really annoying," he said in a harsh voice, and began to walk away further snd further.
"Don't go!! I you leave, I will scream! I will-"
Suddenly, he disappeared.
"Thank you," Sakura heard his voice behind her. Then, she fell.
Sasuke caught her before her face lands the ground and put her body on a stone bench near by.
And, he left. He left his village to fulfill his revenge plan. He left his team only to get revenge.
The sky was dark that night. Neither moon nor stars appeared, not even the tiniest one. The clouds covered the sky like hatred covered Sasuke's heart . The clouds ate the whole sky just like embitterment ate his mind.
But Sakura strongly believed that Sasuke would return to her one day when he realises that revenge is not the only choice to choose; revenge is not the right path to walk.
Sakura believed Sasuke's dark soul could be lighten up with the things called love and hope. She had faith in him that he would returned to the boy she knew when she was six.
A day after the night Sasuke had left, Sakura vowed that she will trust him no matter what. She will be the arms to hold whenever he is in despair. She will have faith in him even when no one has.
She loved him so much after all.
O - O - O - O
Forth Shinobi War was when they met again.
Sasuke wanted to have a battle against Naruto. Naruto blindly accepted it.
Even when Sakura thought it was all over, even when Madara and Kaguya were defeated, Sasuke wasn't pleased. Nothing could make him satisfied.
"I will avenge for my clan," that was what he said.
'To revenge and avenge, that is all you have in your mind.' Sakura thought bitterly.
"Let's go some place else," he said, and Sakura already knew what he meant.
"Wait Sasuke.. " Kakashi tried to stop him, but he was on his limit.
Again, Sakura had to watch him leave.
'Why can't he just stay with us?'
Her sensei fell down beside her, and Sakura knew she couldn't do much. She only have a choice to stop him with her words.
So she confessed her love for him again.
"I...I know there's nothing much I can do to stop this. But I still love you! I never thought you'd turn out this way.
I couldn't be there for you when you needed help. Or even stop you from going down that path.
All I could do was just sit here and cry. And it's disgraceful really!!" She stopped to take a breath.
"But Sasuke kun! If I still have a place in that heart of yours, even if is just a little, please don't go!
If we're together again, I'm sure we'd be able to go back to those days," she sobbed out of exhaustion, she was so sick and tired of him.
Sakura saw pity in those Naruto's blue eyes. She also noticed Kakashi tilted his head a little to hear what she was saying. Even Sasuke stopped walking.
But only to turn back and glare at her.
"You're such an annoyance," he said harshly, making Sakura stopped breathing.
'How could you?'
Like the day he left the village, Sasuke disappeared in her vision. But this time, he appeared in front of her, and stabbed his hand to her chest, to her heart.
She gasped, pain suddenly controlling her mind and her body. Then she fell helplessly again.
Sakura always thought Sasuke was not a criminal. Not a cruel man to do such things like his haters said. She always had faith in him.
But he's not a kind hearted boy at all.
This Sasuke was not the Sasuke kun she knew. The Sasuke she knew would never ever hurt her like this. Not in a million years. But he had changed.
Sakura always dreamt about the days Sasuke come back to the village. They would be together, happily together. She would spend her remaining life with him, and would die holding his hand.
Oh, how foolish was she.
Sasuke had fallen in the pit of hatred. Nothing could pull him back from that pit. His mind had turned into the darkest shade of black; no paint could cover the color. And he had never wanted to stay in the village with her; no lies could mend the ugly truth.
Sakura had claimed many times that Sasuke could be changed, even after he had tried to kill her. Even after he had made her to shed so many tears.
She was just imagining after all.
Her dreams shattered into piece as he crashed her breaking heart. She thought just before falling into a genjutsu that,
'Sasuke Uchiha cannot be changed anymore,'
O - O - O - O
The war was finally over, Naruto won the fight, Sasuke willingly came back to Konoha, everyone was freed from genjutsu trap, every things was normal for once in a long time. But for Sakura, things would never be the same.
Sasuke called her to go together to the festival, noticing that Sakura had no one to go together with. Sakura didn't wanted to go there with him at first, but like it was stated, she had no one, so she accepted his offer.
She wore a pink kimono that night. Her hair, which were long now, was braided and tied up with a red ribbon. She walked down the street gracefully, yet feeling anxious to meet with him, alone.
She was avoiding him since last six months. How could she meet him and communicate with him like nothing had happened? She was afraid of him after the war. She never thought he would be like that. But he had changed after all, so Sakura tried to change herself. She cut all the ties with him and chose to avoid him. But she knew that deep down inside her, she hadn't gotten over him yet.
She saw him waiting for her at the waiting room of her apartment. She gave him a faint smile and advert her gaze to every thing except his eyes. He only gave her a cut nod, then they both went outside with tightly shut mouths.
Sakura would think that this kind of silence is awkward when she was younger. But now, she was just glad that she didn't need to talk anything to him and she wanted to keep this 'comfortable silence'.
They went around the festival and Sakura would stop sometimes to buy a snack, and she would look at Sasuke; asking silently like 'Do you want to eat this?' and Sasuke would shake or nod his head for answer. No words exchanged.
Sakura saw Naruto and Hinata as she walked around the festival. They were together, holding hands and often staring at each other with love snd affection.
Sakura smiled at them, but she kind of felt sad. After the war, most of her friends became together and only she didn't have a boyfriend. 'The one you loved didn't returned your feelings back, so why won't you move on?' The people around had asked her many times and she just smiled sweetly at them, answering nothing. She had avoided that question many times.
The sky became darker and darker, and soon the horizon turned black with the moon and stars shining brightly.
Sakura sadly thought about her 'good old days' as she saw the star. She remembered how the stars twinkled brightly when she first met him.
'But it was in the past after all,' Sakura muttered mentally. 'He's not the Sasuke kun I knew. That Sasuke kun is dead.'
Sakura felt something touched her palm, and flinched when she saw that Sasuke was holding her hand.
If she were younger,Sakura would be jumping and squealing for his actions. But she had became mature since the day he left the village. So instead of heart beating faster or blushing, only confusion crossed her mind.
She looked at him with raised eyebrows, silently asking him for his gesture.
"We have to talk," he coldly said.
"Yes?"
"Let's go to the Hokage's monument."
"Why?"
"It's a private conversation," he told as he started walking towards the Hokage's monument.
Sakura sighed. She was afraid, afraid to speak with him privately. But did she have a choice?
Sakura gasped out of amazement upon reaching the monuments. The view was so breathtaking from there. The lights from the festival seemed small down at the village. The sky looked so near that if she jumped a little, she would reach to the moon and stars. She've never seen the stars closely like this.
"Sakura.." he said quietly, almost whispering.
"Huh?" she replied, still starring at the sky.
"I will leave the village-"
"Again?!" she asked suddenly.
"Yes."
"Oh..." she breathed quietly, and tried to stop her tears forming at the corner of her eyes. She felt his eyes staring at her back.
"When?" she asked after a moment.
"The day after tomorrow,"
Sakura turned her body and fully faced him, and looked straight into his eyes.
She said nothing, just stared sadly into those onyx eyes which held no emotions.
"I...I won't tell you not to go... because..., well, I've learnt my lesson," she said and tried to fake a laugh, but ended up with a shaky one.
"But...Sasuke, come back to us. Come back to our village. I will welcome you no matter what, okay?" she spoke and smiled at him, and tears started to fall from her eyes.
"I know you don't feel the same...but Sasuke kun," his eyes widened slightly for adding that suffix to his name.
"But Sasuke kun.. remember that I will always love you. Forever and ever and ever and eve-"
Sasuke cut her off by hugging her, and Sakura cried in his chest like she did before. He, like before, didn't say anything. He just hugged her, but this time, tightly. Sakura cried heavily and sadly.
'Why can't you just live with us?'
It took a long time for Sakura to stop herself weeping, and when she calm down, Sasuke broke the hugged.
"Sakura...I love you too."
Sakura looked at him like he had gone mad. Then broke down into tears again. But she didn't hugged him this time. She wiped her tears away, and smile genuinely at him.
"Do you remember the night we first met?" Sakura asked as she wiped her falling tears away again.
"I do," Sasuke replied and smiled a little, recalling back the old memory of young him and young Sakura first encounter. He remembered the every moment of how he soothed her when she cried, how her skin felt cold that night, how her hair smelled like cherry blossoms and how she looked pretty even when she was sad and afraid. He remembered vivadly of everything about her.
"The stars were so bright that night," she said dreamily.
Sasuke gazed up to the sky, and saw the stars dancing on the black canvas.
"Yes, it was," Sasuke replied and smiled freely. "But tonight is definitely brighter," he said and looked and Sakura.
Their eyes met, then they both walked closer to each other. Sakura clasped his hands in hers as Sasuke stared into her eyes.
"I thought you had turned cruel, but there's still a softer side of yours, right?" Sakura said and giggled sweetly, and Sasuke smiled kindly at her for the first time in his life.
"Do not forget me. And when you come back from your journey," Sakura stopped her sentence and turned her gaze from the sky to look at him clearly, and they both smiled when their eyes met again.
"May we meet again...under a starry sky like this."
O - O - O - O
Word count: 3018 :)
A/N: Thank you if you have read my story to the end. Sorry for my mistakes.
Arigatou!!
Until next time~