He was lurking through the shadows, inhaling deeply as the sun rays stroked his face with its warmth when he caught a glimpse of rosy-pink hair. His mind raced to think of the girl who was infatuated with him, who tried her hardest for him to leave; to not leave her, but he did.
It seemed she was training by herself, throwing punches against the tree bark, but none of them dented as she wished. He noticed the etched scars that ran through her body and wondered if she was the one that caused them. How annoying…
Sakura groaned as she shot back another fist towards the tree, but to her luck, the tree remained the same. She wiped the sweat from her temples, tying back her pink tresses to a loose bun, but fell to her knees when her body could not sustain itself.
His eyes flinched. He wanted to approach her. He wanted to push back the small strands of hair she missed behind her ear. He wanted to see if those emerald eyes he had missed so much still sparkled when he glanced at her. He wanted to do all of these things, but he knew he could not. It had been nearly two years since his departure to Orochimaru, constantly training below the Earth. Sasuke had had enough of the low oxygen and decide to take a breather. He had no idea he'd spot his old teammate, especially so worn out, so beaten, so lost.
He watched her struggle to rise up, her chakra was low but her sadness was high. "How am I supposed to reach Sasuke when I'm so weak?" She cried, eyes swelling up with her tears as she sat up and brought her knees to her chest.
"Stop it, Sakura," she cursed herself, she inhaled deeply "You can do this. Just do as Tsunade said."
His brow furrowed as his mouth formed into a flat line upon hearing her words. Was she straining herself for him?
He watched her stand up to only collapse. He heard her curse herself for her weakness and he wanted nothing more than to pick her up; tell her she was annoying for doing this (especially for him).
With his blood limit, he could see her chakra slowly fade away into oblivion. The missing-nin did not like witnessing Sakura like this, especially when it was him that caused her this. He felt a sudden ache in his chest as his heart rose to its beat. His breathing hitched and his eyes burned from the tears that dared to flee. He bit down his lower lip from curling, in a sense, he was proud the rosy-haired girl was finally reaching her potential, but in the way he wanted her to. Sakura was not supposed to hurt herself; not for him. He wished he had completely severed the bond he had with her that night he departed the village, but his feelings got the best of him when she confessed what he already knew (and longed to hear). Sakura was not supposed to suffer. It was always him carrying around a heavy burden and agony; not Sakura. She always had a smile on her face with bright emerald eyes and lips that were so inviting. Now she looks dreadful; torn. She looked as if she had been crying before from the puffiness of her eyelids. Was this what he caused? She looked like a broken toy, unable to be fixed.
Her breathing finally settled down, but her weariness didn't. Tsunade-sama had trained her for over a year already, but she has not reached her goal of extraordinary strength like the fifth hokage. The Senju heiress scold her for not succeeding, gave her a month to train by herself and come back when she has accomplished the will of fire (as Naruto had). It has been three weeks and Sakura was only able to worsen her chakra control.
"I'm so weak." She cried out, pulling her knees to her chest, but a sudden voice broke her sadness as she turned to find the source.
"You're not weak."
It sounded familiar like it belonged to someone she once knew, but a bit deeper and mature. She was afraid to gaze at him.
"S-Sasuke-kun!" She gasped, trying her best to rise up, and to her surprise, she did, clutching her hands together to prevent them from shaking.
She watched him come forward from the bushes. His presence was cold, but welcoming; as she remembered.
The raven-haired man stood in front of her, barely looking at her, she looked so wounded. She did not deserve to do this to herself. His arm rose to grab her arm, he lifted a brow and she nodded. His cold hand ran through her arm, feeling the scars she had inflicted on herself. Her arm looked as if it told a story, running all over her body, different colors of hues, some looked new, some looked old, but a few looked fresh. He dusted off the dry blood, ruffling through the pouch on his side, taking out some bandages and wrapping it around arm.
She was in awe over how he wrapped around the bandages over her self-inflicted wounds, wishing he had not seen them. Her brows furrowed
She didn't say a word, she looked away. He knew he had caused her this pain. He could not let this continue any further. It had to be done. He could not risk losing her too.
In an instant, he took a hold of her face, looked directly into her eyes, and activated his blood limit once again, but it formed a different figurine; it was crimson red with swirls surrounding his pupil and bright ashen streaks where the original swirls would have been.
His eyes glowed, "Sakura," he tried to find the right words, "Uchiha Sasuke has ceased to exist. You will forget about the man that caused you this suffering. For now on, you will live a happy life as you should," he paused and tried not to stutter before saying, "He always loved you, but he will no longer cause you harm."
He watched as her jade eyes glowed for a moment and disappeared when he realized that he has been erased. He watched her face return to its normal tranquility as his eyes saddened and walked back to Orochimaru's lair, wishing he could compel himself to forget about her too.
Author's Note:
I wanted to do a Code Geass Crossover with Shirley's death, but instead of writing that prompt, I wrote this instead. I'm aware that the sharingan cannot compel (wish it did, that'd be cool), which is why it's an AU where it can. Keep in mind, this is set back in pre-shippuden where it's only been two years since Sasuke left, so they still need one more year until they meet again (like in the manga).
I would love reviews! Oh, and this may or may not be multi-chapter.
