Sometimes, sometimes, when the sky was so clear, when the leaves turned so green that it looked like emeralds, sometimes, Sakura allowed herself to believe that Sasuke was a dreamer at heart.
She knew she was deluding herself but she couldn't help it. All through her adolescent, she had noticed him. He was always at the brink of a crowd, his dark eyes scanning the crowd, noticing and dismissing.
That was what she hated about him; his easy way of dismissing people.
When she was 12, she fell in love with him.
When she was 13, she dreamed of a prince whose name was Sasuke.
When she was 14, she obsessed with him.
When she was 15, she couldn't stop loving him.
When she was 16, Naruto arrived.
She hated that boy. That unknown figure whose grin was always brighter and who's loud was just as loud. But unlike Sasuke, she spent her years not idolizing him but hating him.
When she grew older and wiser, she thought about it with a tinge of sadness and shame.
Sadness because she knew Naruto and, dare she even say it, liked him.
Shame because she herself cruelly inflicted most of the wounds with the hurtful things she did NOT say.
She wasted so much time.
You're a good friend, Naruto.
You're brave…
You're too happy, Naruto. Is something wrong?
Let's go out for dinner!
All the things she should have said but never did.
When did she learn all these things?
When she was 15, she was too busy being obsessed with Sasuke.
When she was 16, she was too excited to have Sasuke in the same team as her that she forgot everything else.
When she was 17, everything was too late.
She was the only one who stayed till the very end. When they brought his body back, torn, battered, bleeding and cold, she had not cried. When his ashes were lowered down into the ground, she had not cried. Alone in front of his grave, she still did not cry.
If only I knew…
If only I knew I was sending you to your death…
But would I have cared?
Maybe a little…
But my mind and heart would have been more worried for Sasuke.
I knew I was sending you to your death.
But you kept your promise.
I remember that you promised that you would not come back till you brought Sasuke back.
We bought you back instead.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry…
My obsession killed you.
Sakura wiped the unmarked grave. Even upon his death, he had still been rejected. Left alone in the middle of a forest, the village had chosen to ignore his existence. Now he was dead, they had nothing to worry about, she thought bitterly.
I'm sorry…
When she turned 17, she gave Sasuke up for good.
When she turned 17, she grew up.
When she turned 17, she finally gave up her fairy tale.