Author's Notes: I got bored in Philosophy class. This was the result. A poem from Sasuke's POV, representing him looking back on his first Academy spar with Naruto. Please note that it's my head canon that Naruto was entered into his third Academy class, Iruka's class, at ten. I may do more poems representing Sasuke's POV of future important moments with Naruto - may even do poems for Gaara, Neji, or Pain afterward - and continue this into a poetic series. But that is not a guarantee. Mostly, it's dependent upon my Philosophy teacher's future tenacity to be drawn-out and boring.
Any comments/critiques are greatly appreciated.
A Light Within the Dark
Darkness all around me,
Pressing on me, board-like,
Hard to breathe and take in
Oxygen.
Everything is tainted, sick,
Changed and angry; now I
Don't know how to speak with
The same words I used to.
He charges in but I
Don't see him, not at first,
Underestimate him,
The power of his words.
Never at a loss for
The words with which to speak,
To speak out and to spark
A light within the dark.
His words have a strange power,
They push back at the weight,
Break him from its confines.
Indomitable, free,
That's him.
I learn about his words
That day we're pushed to face
Each other, in a match.
I have something to prove,
I don't know he does too;
I push him and he shoves back.
(Fire sparks, unseen.)
That's never happened here,
Never in this cold place,
Sterile and pathetic,
Coddling.
I brush it off, big-egoed.
'Impossible,' I think.
I push him harder but
Then he surprises me.
(I will learn later on
That he is good at this.)
I left myself open.
Looking back, I see it.
Not physically,
But emotionally,
The part not expected.
He says a few soft words,
Hissed and mocking, angry,
And abruptly I lose
Two years' worth of control.
I'm on him and before
My eyes, too familiar,
Flash whole worlds from my heart,
Spilling onto his face.
Though not as romantic
As I think in my mind
(I tried to kill him, so
Nearly did, but stopped my
Fist before it met him)
It was significant,
Hadn't happened to me
(Not before, at least, though
He would do it again).
He saw, and he ran back
To when we hadn't met
(Or, at least, to that where).
I pretended blase.
I lied.