Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
A/N: I just had to write an angst-filled Sasuke and Sakura fic! Please review!
Unexpected. That's the only word that could describe this chance meeting they had. So many years had passed, so many wars fought on opposite sides. To think that they would meet like this suddenly, it could only be summed up in one word. Unexpected.
But through all those years, they had been thinking about each other. In silence, as the war raged on, their hearts often wandered to beat in time with one another, as their thoughts linked.
Where are you now? Are you okay? Would you forgive me?
Questions would plague their lives as this battle played out. Their lives fell into different paths, only connected by a rainbow of remembrance. But as hard as they might try, a rainbow can never be walked upon without falling through. All they could do was stare at its beauty.
So, why now? He thought as they stood face-to-face, unable to move. They couldn't push themselves to so much breathe, let alone draw their weapons. There she was, on a stealthy mission to get herbs from a nearby village to heal their shinobi. And there he was, on a stealthy mission to assassin the person who was sneaking herbs into Konoha. To think it would be her.
Unexpected.
Throughout the years, they had both grown, and so had their abilities. He was now able to take his special technique to a new level. He could now look into someone's eyes and see what their life could have been like, had he not killed them. Sometimes it gave him a sick pleasure. Sometimes it tore him apart.
Now he dared not make contact between his crimson eyes and her emerald ones. It was like setting foot on that rainbow that isn't meant to be treaded. But in that moment when she said his name, he had no choice. The desire to see her was too overwhelming.
"Sasuke-kun…"
The moment their eyes met he felt a jolt. Inside those pupils he could see it. Her life with Lee, the much more deserving man she had chosen upon his absence, raising their child together, sharing meals and good times. It made him bitter. So he rewound time a bit more. Her life with Naruto, as it would have been if Hinata had died that night instead of only being mortally wounded. Sasuke almost laughed, thinking how Sakura might have picked Naruto, had he finished off Hinata. He took it back even further, a slight pang of curiousity hitting him. What would have happened if he hadn't left? Then it came, the vision he had greatly desired, but at the same time, hated for tearing him apart. Them, together… living together with each other. His face—it was one that smiled, and her face, one that lacked the shadow it held now. Holding hands, exchanging vows, becoming one, having children. The images reeled through his mind like a sped up movie that was never filmed.
He couldn't stand it. He snapped himself back to the present—to the reality of what was, not what could have been.
"Sasuke-kun…" She repeated. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes. Even his own throat was tightening in an unfamiliar way. He could never regret knowing her. Her soft voice, pale features, bold green eyes, feathery pink hair, even that billboard forehead were always a part of him. But… even so…
"Sakura…" He whispered. For the second frame in their lifetime, he quickly whipped himself to station behind her. Her eyes widened. "Sakura… Thank you…" For the second time he repeated those words, and for a second instance he hit her until he eyes slid to a close, tears still dripping from them.
Only this time they never opened again.