He found her there, lying bundled up under a small mountain of blankets, face buried in a pillow.
"Sakura," He called. She didn't stir.
He could barely make out the faint, steady breathing coming from her as her chest rose and fell.
"Hey," Nothing.
He ran his hands through his hair, mussing it in the process: a habit picked up out of anxiety. It was quiet. There weren't even birds chirping outside.
Padding over to the bed, he sat beside her cross-legged. He couldn't see much of her at all besides a few locks of bubblegum-hued hair and an elbow peeking out from the corner of the quilt. She seemed so small then, frail even, though he was well aware of her strength.
It was like she might just sink into the ground at any given moment.
That's what humans did after all, right? They lived to die and to decay into the earth. To become the nurturing life force of trees and plants and flowers. To be eaten up by worms.
No. He didn't want that-not for Sakura. She wasn't ready for that. It wasn't her time.
He wanted her alive and happy and smiling.
He wanted to hear her voice again. He wanted her to talk to him like she used to, chattering on about nothing of great substance, keeping things light.
How annoying.
"Sakura..." He lowered his voice, as if speaking to a sleeping child. He felt his eyebrows furrow, worrying that maybe this time it had been too much for her. Maybe this was the last straw and she didn't want to see him again.
He sighed, laying his head down in the crook of her neck, arm draped gently over her back.
"I'm sorry," He breathed. "I'm so sorry."
She sniffled, shoulders tensing at his words. He felt his stomach sink with guilt.
She did nothing but show him kindness, while he made her repeatedly cry. Could ever do anything except upset her and push her away?
She wriggled over onto her side, wrapping her arms around him, still hidden in her cocoon of blankets. He felt his shirt dampen as muffled sobs crept out from the petite girl.
He thought back on his limited conversations with her. Was it always like this? Him making her feel worse about herself.
Had he ever made her laugh? Was he even capable of that?
Sighing, Sasuke tried to remember what people did when someone was crying. It had been a while and, regardless of that, he wasn't normally the type to offer comforting; though he would make an exception for her.
He began tracing soothing circles on her back and carefully brushed the soggy strands of hair from her pink-tinged, puffy eyes. She continued clinging to him, avoiding eye contact as she did so.
"Why did you have to leave?" She choked out finally, batting back tears. Her rosy eyelashes clumped together like blades of grass in the morning dew.
"I'm sorry." He murmured. "I'm really really sorry."
And he was. He hated how he always screwed things up.
Filtered sunlight streamed in from behind sheer window curtains across the room. A breeze swept papery red and gold leaves from their branches outside.
"I was so mad at you." She scowled, still turned into his chest, nudging him with her forehead ever so slightly.
"I won't do it again." He hummed, burying his face in her shoulder as he held her closer.
Her hair was soft, despite it's disheveled appearance.
"Promise," She grumbled.
"I promise."
"I'll forgive you this time, then," She said shakily, easing into a gentler expression than before. Her eyes met his, and he found his thoughts drifting to lush summery fields, crisp and swaying in the early-morning chill.
There was something pleasant about those first few moments in the quiet hours of the morning, where thoughts are still sluggish and vision bleary from sleep. The time of the day when problems don't yet exist and remnants of dreams drift on the edge of your mind. Where there is no war. Where there is no hate. Where there is no revenge or loss or regret.
Her breath gradually deepened, shifting into a rhythmic undulation-inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale-as she calmed down.
"I really missed you," She whispered. "I'm glad you're back." Her shoulders had relaxed, and Sasuke felt a tension he hadn't realized was even there dissipate. She was snuggled into his chest comfortably, seemingly on the brink of slumber.
He wanted to sit with her, eating breakfast and drinking orange juice while watching the sun languidly crawl it's way up into the sky. He wanted to walk her home from training, and pick her up for lunch dates on weekends, and he wanted to kiss her over and over and tell her everything was going to be okay again. He wanted to tell her that he wouldn't let anything ever hurt her again.
"I missed you too," He said once he had carefully thought over her words. He felt his own cheeks flush as he glanced down at her, checking for a reaction.
He thought she might have already fallen asleep for a moment, until he saw the smallest of smiles tinging her lips.