It was in the dead of the night, and Sasuke had found himself staring in the eyes of an enemy. She almost looked beautiful to him—more beautiful than that day he faced her and Naruto on the battlefield, defeating Madara and Orochimaru. Her eyes were so deep and pronounced that it almost seemed as if her dull green eyes would pop out and fall to the ground.
"Sasuke, my, you've grown." She said breaking the silence. The light from the fire illuminated her face, and he could catch glimpses of sorrow in her eyes.
He only responded in a grunt.
"Still voiceless too." She said, putting down her basket of medical supplies. "I was on my way east when I saw your fire. It seems our paths cross pretty often now, wouldn't you agree?"
Sasuke noted that the last time they had met, Sakura was full of pride and eagerness; it disgusted him. Now she was frail and broken, and for some reason, Sasuke sadistically enjoyed her sad state. She must have been through a lot to end up the way she was now, but then again, her pain was well deserved retribution for being stupid.
He couldn't stand those happiness clinging idiots. "You and your village are stupid, and you know that right?" He said, because Sauske was almost six thousand percent done with the whole friendship crap. So fucking done with all of it.
Sakura narrowed her eyebrows. "You should send Naruto a postcard at least. The bastard never stopped crying for days. It's hopeless though, if he dragged you home. You would just keep escaping." Sasuke grunted in agreement.
It had nearly been a year since the Shinobi Alliances won the war, and Sasuke and Naruto were too stupid to die. Sakura knew they would make it out alive, and if it didn't, they would have taken the village and everything else it down with them.
Sakura looked into his cold eyes, and gave him a menacing glare. "What are you doing out here?" She asked him.
Sasuke scoffed in reply, "None of your concern." He said.
She almost laughed in his face—the same old Sasuke minding his own business, and the same old Sakura doing the exact opposite. She thought she had changed.
I should stab you, was what they both thought, but like terms cancel out and all that's left are the extras.
Sakura made her way into his fire, and sat beside him. She looked straight into his eyes and saw perhaps a bit of regret and sorrow in them.
"You should leave Sakura," He said staring into the fire. "There's no need for me to hurt you." She had wanted to smash that pretty face of his into the ground, but she would be dead before she could even raise a pinky.
"I don't live in Konoha anymore Sasuke—if that's your way of telling me I should go home." Sakura replied. The roaring fire ignited Sakuras face, and Sasuke almost looked at her with great pity. "I wander," She added. "The same way you do; village to village. It's a good life you know."
"Hn, you've decided to leave Naruto?" He replied.
"Happy to see that I've grown up?" She said.
"No," He scoffed. "You're even stupider if you think you can survive on your own." Sakura giggled. She lifted something out form her pocket and ignited a cigar. It dangled from her mouth and she exhaled smoke that danced between her lips.
"You underestimate me Uchiha." She said.
"And you over estimate yourself Haruno." He replied. Sasuke, snatched the lighter from her hand and threw it aside.
"That's a nasty habit of yours." He added, stoking the fire. Sakura had never seen him so lost before. No— she was wrong. Sasuke was always lost. It was just a matter of how he made it seem like he wasn't.
"I think I know a good deal about nasty habits Sasuke-kun." She teased. Sakura stood up, and fetched her lighter. "You were one of them."
Sasuke chuckled. It seems that he was slightly wrong about Sakuras frail State. She was more broken than any porcelain doll he had ever seen. "Why are you still here?" She said.
"Same reason you are."
"Sasuke, aren't you lonl—."
"No."
Sakura put her head and rested it against his shoulder, wondering how incredibly perfect it had seemed to fit. She waited for him to push her away, but it never happened and they just sat there watching the roaring fire die out into black ashes.
"How about the village? Do you want to know how Konoha was doing before I left?" Sakura asked. The two shinobi sat in silence and finally Sakura took it as a yes.
"It's not called Konoha anymore to start." She said, lifting her head off his shoulders. "It's the village of Tengoku. The kage decided to let the people choose their new leader, and so Naruto became Kage." Sakura laughed. "That bastard. His face was so bright and warm when they choose him. "
Sasuke and Sakura sat on the ground and watched the stars in the sky shift and move. They had lay down and listened to each other and their journey's the past year. Sakura had told Sasuke all about the villages rapid decline in Ninja enrollment.
"Sasuke, do you maybe want to go back? Just for a visit? I just want to see what's going on in the village." Sakura whispered, as she dozed off into sleep.
Sasuke looked over to Sakura and watched as her eyes shut tight. For now he said, he will do what she wanted, and be on his way. A quick peek of the village, he said, for his brother.