A.N: Due note that this is a one-shot focused on Sakura and Sasuke and bits of Sakura and Naruto. Team 7 does play a larger and more intimate role in this one-shot and focuses on a few choice memories that conclude to a result in the end. Not all are pleased with this and two of the focused characters express this deeply.
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The short plot does. Enjoy.
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Memorable
The breeze was quiet and quick, stealthy like that of a ninja. It blew past the duo, long and fast. It jostled her hair and darkened his eyes. The wind was coming, and proceeding with no hesitations. Just as he had. Just as he had all those years ago, when nothing mattered as he was driven to wits end.
She stood still. Her breath was stolen away by such a thought. Her eyes considerably darker than normal from all the tears shed. From all the restless nights she turned in bed. From all the nights she awoke from nightmares that plagued her. From all the days where every little thing made her think of who he used to be, of all he stood for, of everything he fought for. And of how he left with deceit and horror, revenge evident in his eyes, posture and being.
He stood hunched in on himself a little away from her. He was quiet while studying her back, her stiff posture, and her silent sobs. He stood in this field of old, crippled, marigolds and studied what was left of everything he fought for, lived for, everything he promised for. Of course his promise was left unfulfilled in a way he could only hope she would forgive him for. He failed her. He failed himself. He failed his friends. He failed, most of all, him.
She remembered the days back in the Academy with Iruka as their mentor. How foolish she was all those years back. How blind she was in her sights. How naïve she was in her assumptions. How ironic that the teachings would still prevail in the society Konoha had turned into.
--
"Sasuke, how heroic of you!" She claimed, her arms pulled into herself in that disgustingly sweet, innocent, gesture that screamed feminine nature. "Too bad Naruto is nothing like you!"
She cast a nasty, glare at the blonde, who frowned and scratched his head. Said blonde, turned away from her, too scarred and ashamed to look at his long time crush. As usual, Sasuke prevailed in gathering the right information for the question their teacher asked. He sat in such a bored and dignified manner, he came off with an aura of confidence filled with an arrogance that belittled all around him. He was supposed to be the famous Uchiha survivor after all, and he would do nothing to put shame to his name.
"Sakura," he drew a small breath, his voice a void of no emotion besides annoyance.
"Yes?" She leaned forth and her eyes sparkled with anticipation, of what? She hoped for praise so that she could boast to Ino and all the other girls about his attentions upon her.
"You knew the answer, and passed a potential chance. What will you be like when in battle? Your throat could have and would have been ripped out if you missed a chance." He stated calmly in a bored fashion.
Her face paled and the other girls laughed and cackled like that of old women who gossip about a common whore. Her mouth formed that of an oval shape as she scrapped her mind a possible remark to put her in a good position with the said Uchiha, but none came to mind. Feeling rather hurt, she was quick to hide her pain. Turning to the girls, she huffed and threw her remarks around that at least he talked to her and had not ignored her as he had to the others.
She bustled past the hurt blonde boy who had no pride and no will to stand up for himself. The Uchiha snorted at this. He would not protect such a fool, and nor would he want to. If he couldn't stand up for himself, then he should expect to be the laughing stock of the Academy.
--
He remembered the day they were first put on the genin team together. He remembered his discontentment with being with such an arrogant boy, but remembered his delight to be with his growing love. He remembered his sensei, that crazy, old fool.
--
He thought to himself quietly. Sure, he was a screw ball and he passed just ever so barely, but he didn't deserve such lowly treatment to be with Sasuke! He condemned the Good Lord for choosing the Uchiha, but praised Him for giving the chance to be with Sakura and see her wonderful bearings.
She was intelligent, much so more when placed next to him, she was beautiful, compared to all the other girls in the Academy, and she...well, and she was just Sakura. Her only flaw that he could recognize was that she was infatuated with Sasuke.
Sasuke on the other hand, was also intelligent, well loved, popular, and, according to the girls, good-looking. In other words, "eye candy". But he had a dark past. Just like himself, Sasuke was an orphan. At least he knew his parents. Sasuke's clan was massacred by his own older brother and he was left to grow in hate and malice.
And then there was one, the ever so famous copy-ninja, said to have copied over a thousand jutsus; Hatake Kakashi. He laughed at the memory of his amazing prank. The old "prop the eraser in the door and when he walks in, let it fall on him" trick. It was great. The outcome wasn't. He remembered his sensei saying he strongly disliked their team, and how Sakura tried to butter him up good while Sasuke sat brooding.
--
She closed her eyes. As did he. And without knowing it thought of a memory that was worth every one. They remembered the day that their teammate left. They remembered the day their team was shattered and their hopes and dreams were discarded. But not the exact memory the other was thinking of.
Sakura--
He left me on a bench. A bench made of stone by the main gates. A bench I grew to dread, hate, and a bench that I grew to remember.
I begged to go. I begged to let me help him. I offered everything I had. I gave it my all. I gave him my words. I gave him my promises. I gave him my hopes and dreams. I tried. And he did not listen.
He was quick. Quicker than I ever predicted him to be.
He said, "Thank you."
And knocked me unconscious and left me on the bench that night. He left not only me, but his home, his memories, his friends, but most of all, his sanity.
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Naruto--
We fought. We fought on top of the water. We fought in the Valley of the End. We fought for each other. We fought for our own hopes, and dreams. We fought with pride and anger. We fought with such pain. We simply fought.
It was a battle that I promised to win. It was a battle I lost.
I failed Sakura. I failed my friends. I failed Konoha. I failed him. I failed myself.
I had put everything on the line for him and I fought with such a determination that the Kyuubi's own chakra molded with mine momentarily. I did what I could to try to bring him back. Back to Konoha, to friends, to Team 7, to Sakura, to me. It was a notable fight and one that the Nation of Fire would remember for years to come.
And I still lost. I lost even still today.
--
The wind picked up again, never really slowing down. And as she stared down at his grave, she realized that everything she had done, she passed up many potential chances and, as a shinobi of the Land of Fire, it meant death. The actions in which had resulted in his passing.
In the field, the marigolds had died, wilting away, just how their friend had. And before they could nurture him properly, he let himself go and they let themselves believe that they had given it all. And they had, but it wasn't what he realized he needed or what he wanted.
They let Sasuke pass due to his mistakes and grievances. Tsunade had no choice, but to execute him due to his betrayal to the village. Sakura and her friends had pleaded for his life, begged for a life in prison instead. Tsunade had heard their pleas and reasoned with the Council. Such a shame, that the Council of Konoha had dealt away with the last Uchiha seeing as he wished not to produce an heir to his dying clan.
He has been at rest for years now and the duo, what was left of Team 7, came every passing day to gaze upon his name on the Stone of Honorable Shinobi of Fire. And every passing night they came to watch over his grave.
And as Naruto came to hug his love, his wife, his Sakura, he realized:
The wind had stopped.
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A.N: And so I hope you analyzed what I meant by the wind and the marigolds. The wind was suppose to carry their grieves, their sorrow, their memories. The wind was supposed to represent something that wasn't everlasting, in a way. The marigolds were supposed to symbolize the life Sasuke was suppose to live; joyous, rich, fulfilling, and set. But dead, crippled marigolds were to symbolize his life's destruction and the corruption of all dreams.
Thank you.