Well I'm back.
For all of the people who actually keep up with all my stories thank you very much. I love you all.
I love anyone who's ever reviewed one of my stories.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Anyways....
"Talking"
Thinking
Inner Sakura
Author note.
Almost none of those ^^^ show up in this chapter.
Sorry? XD
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Much as I wish that I do.
Chapter One: Chance
Sakura stood outside her parent's house with her hands in her pockets, staring up at her old bedroom window.
She imagined her walls still had that cherry blossom tree painted on them, her old bed still had her pink bedspread on it, and a few stuffed animals would be laid out carelessly on the covers.
Her armoire mirror would still have pictures of him taped to it. And there would still be posters of all her favorite bands pasted on her walls.
Everything would look like it used to.
But not everything was as it used to be.
She no longer lived in that room.
That was past now.
And those windows would forever remain dark and black.
She was no longer a child.
She no longer had such luxuries as feelings.
She was a shinobi.
She lived for her village.
Her only purpose was to complete her missions successfully.
She had chosen this life.
Chosen to throw away her worthless emotions.
But…
Every now and again she let herself hope.
Maybe….
Maybe things would be different someday.
Maybe there would be a day when Shinobi were no longer needed.
But…
When that day came….
She would no longer be needed either.
For what did she know how to do except kill?
Such were the consequences of allowing herself to ever hope.
It was on days like that that she took a long walk through the Uchiha compound.
She'd touch a wall here, run her finger through the dust there.
It was comfortable.
And not because it had been Sasuke's home.
That didn't matter now.
It was always dark and empty.
Lifeless.
Just like her.
She sighed and turned to walk away.
Go home.
But…
Not yet.
That place was calling her again.
She could feel it.
She kept telling herself to go home.
But that place…
It whispered on the wind.
"Don't worry.
You can forget.
Just stay here.
Everything will be okay."
She believed that just as much as she believed Sasuke would come back.
Just as much as she believed those halls would be filled with life.
Those homes would be filled with people again.
It was never going to happen.
But still…
It called.
She closed her eyes for a few moments, letting her feet take her where they willed.
She already knew which way they would go.
Her head had whispered 'go home.'
And her heart had whispered 'I am.'
She rarely listened to that faint whisper anymore.
It never said anything worth listening to anymore.
Or that's what she told herself on her slow walk through the Uchiha compound.
Sometimes she even went in.
She knew by now which house was Sasuke's.
It was the only one she ever went in anymore.
She 'd sometimes wondered, in the past, what he'd felt, witnessing such a thing.
But she didn't need to anymore.
She understood far better than she ever could have before.
She'd witnessed much the same thing.
And it had been his fault.
She could still see the red stains on her hands, even though the blood had long since been washed off.
And it was all his fault,
Although she would never say such a thing.
It was too childish.
Too emotional.
Too much like her twelve-year-old self.
She didn't pretend anymore.
She couldn't forgive him.
And he probably didn't even care.
They were too different.
Such differences would always pull them apart.
There was no team seven any longer.
It was just a figment of Naruto's overactive imagination.
She could smile at Naruto, but it would never truly reach her eyes.
She hated seeing his smile dull a little every time he saw her.
He couldn't understand her anymore, even though he knew what she'd gone through.
Had gone through the same things.
But he was eternally a child.
They lived in different worlds.
Their paths no longer crossed.
Or that's what she told herself as she walked through the empty house.
That's what she told herself when she slid down the wall.
That's what she told herself when she buried her face against her knees.
That's what she told herself when she cried.
Sasuke walked through empty streets with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
There were too many memories here.
Too many things best forgotten.
Or that's what he told himself.
That's what was easiest to believe.
He was one of those people who'd seen too much
Too many times.
He sighed, staring at the skyline of a village he had once loved.
Once been a part of.
But was no more.
He was forever like that
Obsessed with the past, that is.
The past was where he was happy.
Was it any surprise he wished he could have stayed there forever?
He sighed and changed paths, heading down into the town. No one would be out at such an hour and he felt the need to revisit the past.
To remind himself what his goals were.
Remind himself why he was doing all this.
Yes.
Just a simple visit.
To his old home.
Certainly no one was ever there.
No one would ever care enough to visit the place he'd left behind.
Or that's what he told himself.
He seemed to be having to tell himself a lot of things these days.
And he barely believed any of it anymore.
Though it was far easier to believe a lie than to accept the truth.
The truth was always painful.
And he had enough pain to deal with already.
He changed routes, walking through the darkened streets and staring up at all the windows, trying to remember who lived in each house.
There was the Yamanaka's flower shop.
And that was where Naruto lived, or where he'd lived when Sasuke had still lived here.
Back when he was twelve.
And this…
This was Sakura's old home.
Sasuke had no doubts that she no longer lived there.
He imagined she'd been very quick to throw away her past after their last meeting.
He didn't blame her.
He'd been extremely cold.
He could still see her face when he closed his eyes.
The icy realization in her eyes.
The hardened determination.
And the acceptance that he was never going to come back.
Naruto had been his normal hyperactive moronic self.
Still firm in his beliefs that he would bring back Sasuke.
After all he'd made a promise.
But it was clear that Sakura did not believe he could do it.
Did not believe Sasuke would ever willingly come back.
The only way to get him to come would be to drag him kicking and screaming.
And yet….
Here he was.
On a slow walk to the Uchiha compound in the city everyone believed he would never return to.
The city even he believed he would never return to.
He took another turn, standing in front of the gates of the compound.
Did he really want to go inside?
Was it really worth it?
What if someone saw him?
Recognized him?
He shook his head slightly, clearing such foolish thoughts.
It was late.
No one would be out.
No one.
Except him.
And the ghosts he was certain haunted this place.
With everything that had happened here there had to be ghosts.
He could see the red on the walls.
Still see the bodies spread across the streets.
Those sights would haunt him until the day he died.
He pushed open the gate, walking into the compound.
Gazing around at the streets, at the houses.
That was where Mother's sister lived.
That was where the elders had gathered.
That was where his father had held meetings.
He named off who had lived there or what the building had been used for as he passed.
And here?
He stopped walking and gazed up at the darkened windows.
Remembering times where light had shined through.
This was my house.
He turned to go.
Emerald glass eyes opening, a lifting of the head, the will to stand.
Onyx, looking away from those windows, just before the lights turned on.
Two feet walking
In opposite directions.
Two people passing on the street,
Too blinded by the black
To ever turn and see.
So did you like it?
Originally I'd planned for this story to be a one shot.
But now I think I'm going to make it a full-fledged many chaptered story.
So Anyways...
Thanks again for reading.
I love you all.
Please review!
Witty Comment of the Day: You know how in Sailor Moon we always used to marvel at how pretty and LONG her transformations scenes were. Nowadays we wonder why nobody got bored and killed her in the middle of one.
Ciao!
~God's Broken Dreamer