title: goodnight moon
summary: They're a thousand miles from the sky, but he knows she belongs with the clouds.
dedication: Hannah, because it's her fucking birthday and she's amazing.
notes1: Shit, I've not written something like this in a long while. Beginnings of an epic anthology, methinks.
notes2: EVEN THOUGH IT'S SO SHORT, I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS BB, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
.
.
.
.
.
There were a million different things Sasuke could have said, when Sakura entered the room.
One of them was 'hi'. Another was 'oh'; instead, he looked up at her, his eyes wider than usual, and stared for a bit. He took in her obnoxious pink hair and the tiny black heart drawn on the skin between her thumb and index finger. He took in the bracelets and silly bands, the chains and the high heels, the piercing through her tongue and the crazy grin on her face.
She looked at him, too.
"Hi, Sasuke," Sakura said, wiggling her black-painted fingernails. "Recognise me?"
He snorted, "You haven't changed a bit."
.
.
.
She had a coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other, the next time he saw her. She was bundled up in her winter-wear, the smoke from her cancer stick drifting hazily upward, her breath coming out in clouds, warm on cold, cold air.
She grinned when she saw him, flicking her tongue stud against her teeth. "'chiha."
"Terrible habit," He leant against the wall beside her, fumbled in his pocket, produced one of his own white-orange cigarettes. "Smoking. Lighter?"
"'specially for you."
She produced the small red lighter from the pocket of her faux leather jacket — crazy girl had always been an animal rights activist. She flicked the tip, lifting it to her face and watching the lazy orange flames dance. Looking straight forward, still, she killed the gas and passed him the lighter.
Sasuke ignited, and took a long, deep drag. "Thanks."
Sakura grinned.
"Not a problem, 'chiha."
.
.
.
Sasuke vaguely remembered a time when Sakura was a little girl — her hair wasn't cut jagged and short, and her tongue didn't have a hole through the middle, and she liked to wear pretty green dresses that went with her eyes. There was a collection of memories, in the back of his mind, and somewhere in hers, too, that told the story of a boy and a girl and a swing set and summer; it told of happier times, before the boy and the girl and the summer all got ripped apart, like the photographs of Sakura's mother.
Looking Sakura in the face, the night her stupid artist boyfriend dumped her and Sasuke was left to pick up the pieces, he swore he saw a bit of that same little girl in her eyes.
"You look pretty without makeup on, you know."
And he held her.
.
.
.
"Think I might skip town, again," Sakura said with the air of one commenting on the weather. "Start fresh."
Sasuke sat up, careful not to scratch the hood of his beloved car with the rivets of his jeans, propped himself up with one hand, and stared down at her, one eyebrow cocked in disbelief. She just carried on, staring at the night time clouds, shielding what would have been a sky cluttered with stars. She didn't seem to even notice his stare upon her.
"Skip town, because Sai dumped you," Sasuke echoed. "The Sakura I know wouldn't do that. The Sakura I know would kick him in the shins."
Sakura just shrugged, the ghost of a smile etched on her face.
"Guess I just can't live here without him. Too many memories, y'know?"
Sasuke blinked. "Yeah. Yeah, I understand. Where y'gonna go?"
She shrugged, again. "Who knows?"
He lay back, and any sound was engulfed by the silence.
.
.
.
.
.
outro: ILU HANNAH.