Summary: Like spring, they had to go through winter and the seasons before. Sasuke, Sakura.
Author's Notes:
Sasuke x Sakura is my guilty pleasure ship and one of my very few canon ones. I just want to pay homage to a ship that sailed through rough seas. This is also one of my very few HET fics, so I apologize for the sloppiness.
I also admit that my last "creative writing" last year.
Warnings:
- Out of character tendencies
- Impending mistakes of all sorts
- -.-.- Page Break -.-.-
All rights are owned my Mr. Kishimoto.
Like Spring
Uchiha Sasuke had a thin line pasted on his face as he walked in his normal pace down the familiar dirt path towards the village, which – for the longest time – had not longed to visit. Home, he thought to himself as one of the last breeze of the cold winter air brushed pass him. But he did not shiver. Nor did he even take time to realize that he called it 'home' – the place he once vehemently yearned to destroy.
All he understood was that he craved for the comfort of 'home'.
Sasuke suddenly had the urge to quicken his pace.
-.-.-
Haruno Sakura sighed to herself as she tore her gaze away from Ino and Sai, who were quite content in the bubble they created. A little world that she was obviously excluded from.
And it was bothersome.
Sakura did not see the point of being forcefully pulled out of her comfortable apartment on one of her rare offsets if she just had to sit on the other side of the table and be ignored the entire duration of the 'hangout'.
But Sakura was not at all jealous.
After all, she was confident enough of herself.
Her hand wrapped itself around the warm cup of tea she, for a while, had forgotten as the winter breeze blew by. Internally, she cursed he best friend for choosing the table outside of the teashop, when there was enough space inside.
"Sakura-chan!" A familiar voice called out, causing Sakura to turn her head to a brand new couple in the vicinity.
"Naruto, Hina-chan!" Ino, before Sakura could even speak, happily snapped out the bubble and greeted the two. "Holding hands, eh?" She smirked as she leaned onto the man beside her. "So fast!"
Sakura watched as Hinata's cheeks grew red and as Naruto's smile grew with pride. "Hey, you two." She smiled.
"Dickless," Sai greeted with a curt nod, which had earned him the latter male's vein-pop.
"I swear, if I wasn't—"
Same old, same old, Sakura thought to herself before she stood and placed her money on the table – "ANYWAY," she announced so as to stop the oncoming banter that could ruin whatever plans the two couples' had. "I need to go." She said as she moved in the direction of the wind.
"What, already?" Ino and Naruto whined simultaneously as they watched her back disappear in the crowding streets.
"Is…" Hinata started as she looked to her friends, "Sakura-san okay?"
No one had an answer.
But Sakura was.
She just felt like going.
-.-.-
Sasuke observed the trees as he took steps that brought him closer to his destination. Flowers, he mentally noted upon seeing the freshly bloomed flora that, he assumed, pushed themselves out of the snow. Briefly, he wondered, if the colors of springtime would be different that year again; especially when the rest of the seasons – no matter where he was or and when it was – painted the maps of the same shades: ghost white in winters, bright blues in summers, and dying oranges in autumns.
Strangely, out of all those colors, autumn colors were what Sasuke hated most. It reminded him of many unfortunate events as well as the many lives he had taken, the last flash of light they may have seen before they lost consciousness.
With a low grunt at his own thoughts, Sasuke shook his head and decided to look where he was headed instead.
-.-.-
Sakura had no particular reason to be in such hurry. In fact she really had no idea why she had to make her way through the busy streets and hasten towards the village gates. Though, she was not running. She was walking briskly, still with a dignified grace of a respected medic.
Nonetheless, amidst her hurry towards the entrance she found herself admiring the colors of the new leaves that sprung from the clouds of melting snow.
While Sakura found warmth in the peaceful shades of fall and calm in the serene hues of winter, the bright greens of the incoming spring was a welcome sight. It exhilarated her for something she could not fathom.
And then Sakura ran.
-.-.-
Sasuke was near, he knew it very well – he remembered the close-to-village scenery clearly even in his years away. Especially the last three farewells he had to bid before his long travel. He remembered with great detail the kinds of trees that lined up when he left the entrance and the specific tree where Naruto had waited.
He remembered where his former teacher stood with a sermon in tow.
Beside him, Sasuke remembered, Sakura stood with a shy face as she asked to be his company and how her expression fell when she was not allowed to be so.
It was a, as terrible as it would sound, a funny little memory.
Not because of the rejection but because she was still familiar to him. Even after every wrong he had done.
Sasuke looked down on his lone hand, at the fingers that he pressed onto Sakura's forehead. Why he had done that one affectionate act, which he only shared with his older brother, to her was not exactly clear himself. And he was certain Sakura was not aware of why so as well.
Nevertheless, it was one of his few fondest memories.
Sasuke, upon realizing where he was, pulled himself out of out of his reverie and stopped. He was meters away from the open gates of his village. He could hear his own heartbeat pound onto his chest as he looked at the people – civilians who were unaware of his presence.
He was anxious.
There was something different in the air. Whether it was good or bad, he did not know.
-.-.-
Sakura's eyes could not help but steal quick glances at the things and people around her. Everything just seemed so peaceful and so different – quite opposite of what the village was before.
When the village was rebuilt, there were a lot of changes – old buildings had disappeared only to be erected somewhere else. One could count with a hand the few that were still rightfully in their places. But, regardless of where the old places went, Sakura still knew by heart which event happened in what area, as though the memories were drawn on the palm of her hands.
She knew where her old academy used to be and the training grounds. She knew where the previous Yamanaka flower shop was and where she first fought with Ino over something as silly as a childhood crush. The short flight of stairs where Team 7 was first introduced to each other, the alleys they took when they tried to discover what was behind their former mentor's mask, and where the old ramen shop was.
The bench where Sasuke said his first goodbye.
The gate where he said it for the second time.
Everything that happened in the old village was still vivid in her memory – the good, the bad, the happy, and the sad. And while she still hand attachments to those memories, Sakura knew there was no going back.
"S – sorry!" Sakura bowed in apology after running into a civilian.
"Haruno-san! No, it's okay!" The civilian blushed upon the realization of who had crashed onto his side. "I wasn't looking!"
"Oh, here!" Sakura bent down and hurriedly gathered the scrolls that hit the ground due to her carelessness. "I'm really sorry!" She repeated and bowed once more.
"It's fine, Haruno-san." The civilian scratched the back of his head before he took the scrolls she returned to him.
She smiled and bowed for the third time.
Suddenly, something fluctuated – Sakura's senses rang alarmingly as she felt a familiar chakra race throughout the area.
Her heart pounded heavily and her eyes widened.
Sakura ignored the civilian whom had expressed his intent to leave. Her head turned to the direction of the gate that she stood meters away from. She managed to release an uneasy breath as she forced herself to take steady steps forward.
-.-.-
He had not meant to lose control of his earlier disguised chakra. But the sight before him was beyond expectation.
Uchiha Sasuke was met by the pastel sight of Haruno Sakura.
Fortunately, he still had control over his feet as he – like Sakura had done so – moved towards the gates.
In silence, they walked closer to each other.
In silence, they stopped within a foot of each other.
Sakura looked up into Sasuke's eyes. Likewise, he looked down to hers.
A bright warm smile stretched on Sakura's face.
Sasuke, at that, gave her a curt nod. "I'm home." He said with a smile only visible to her.
Sakura nodded back, "welcome home."
The End