Forever Following Behind, No More
Disclaimer: I digress I don't own Naruto, however I like writing about it. Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled.
Summary: A deeply despaired Sakura makes a promise to herself.
Chapter 1: A Promise to the Morning Sky
"I love you with all my heart! If you were to stay here me... there would be no regrets... because everyday, we'd do something fun. We'd be happy, I swear! I would do anything for you so... please... just stay with me..."
Volume 21: Chapter 181
Several hours later, Sakura lay on the cold bench near the village gates, looking at the dawn red morning sky.
He must have hit the spine. Sakura's brain was aware of her surroundings, but her body felt nothing: neither the cold chill of morning air, nor the jagged feel of the pebble stones bench on her back... nothing. Her entire body was numb.
She remembered her words-- her pleas to Sasuke... how could she forget anything about that night? Everything was indelibly seared in her memories, never to disappear or be forgotten. The utter desperation she felt... The moonless night... his stone-set face... his blank stare... and his final cruel words...
Sakura... thank you...
His final words-- he might as well have ripped out her heart and squashed it under the sole of his feet. It was a self-delusion, but it was a little comforting to know that Sasuke-kun rejected her because he was simply ignorant of her feelings-- that perhaps he himself didn't believe her love for him was completely genuine. That in some small part of her mind, she believed that if she could just prove to Sasuke-kun how much he is cared for, how genuine her love really is... Sasuke-kun would finally grant her admission past his walls, his insurmountable walls...
But she was under no such delusion now. Sasuke-kun's final words proved he wasn't ignorant of her feelings for him all. Far from ignorant... he knew, and he merely thanked her for it. He acknowledged her feelings and left anyway.
Her vows, her love, her everything, just wasn't enough to keep him...
She wasn't enough...
She was completely useless...
But as despair ran through her heart, new feeling returned to her limbs. She could feel the early morning chill on her arms as they prickled with the familiar feeling of goosebumps.
She tried to scream for help-- for someone to come help her, but her voice was still lost. But after thinking for a moment, she wondered why should she bother calling for help in the first place. If she couldn't convince Sasuke-kun to stay, what were the chances someone else could bring him back? Despite the moments she felt completely ignored by Sasuke-kun, she knew for a fact that out of the whole village, no one, besides Naruto, was closer to Sasuke-kun than her...
If anyone had a chance of getting Sasuke-kun to return, it had to be her.
The sun itself began to rise gently from behind the mountains it had descended behind the previous night before; it's gentle rays of light peeking over the mountaintops, bathing Sakura, warming her, giving root to a new sense of resolve in her heart. She felt the feeling of her limbs returning; spreading from the tips of her fingers, then washing slowly through her arm. Yes, if anyone were to be able to retrieve Sasuke, it was her.
Steeling herself from the dull pain of lingering numbness, she clenched her left hand into a fist.
If her love is not enough for Sasuke... she vowed to change. If her love was not enough to make him stay with her, she promised to become enough so that she could stay with him...
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My first try at an angst/semi dark ridden stuff... please be kind if you decide to flame.