Summary: One Shot, SakuSasu friendship, maybe a hint of romance When he returned, everything was the way he left it...except for her. But why does that matter so much all of a sudden?
This story contains much angst. It's also kinda short. I had to get this out of my head though, so...here it is
The song is Forgive Me by Faktion. That's where I got the title, too. Ooooh, shiny.
Disclaimer: I'm a Chicago Cubs fan. All I own is a twisted sense of pride and a stubborn devotion to said baseball team.
Forgive Me
Concentrating
on my knees
Cause they're no help to me
I find myself with
simple questions
And simple needs
Bleeding forces gather
me
Undo my weakness and appease
My sadness and guilt
Of what
was done for me
After four years, he had come home. Of course, he had already been back in Konoha long enough to realize a few things.
One: very little changed in the course of a few years.
Two: regaining lost trust was not, by any stretch of the imagination, an easy thing to do.
And three: the things that do change are the ones you always hoped would stay the same.
The last was probably the most painful. Forgive and forget did not seem to be in the vocabulary of his pink-haired, green eyed, female former teammate. Not anymore.
"Sasuke?" Her voice was the same as he remembered it. She asked the question not with disbelief or wonder, but rather with a detached curiosity.
"What, no suffix?" He offered sarcastically.
When he saw her reaction, he wanted to take it back. He wanted to take everything back. But it was too late.
"It's been years." She said casually before turning away from him and continuing about her business.
Strangely enough, after all the times he had told her to leave him alone, to quit bothering him, he now found himself wishing she'd smile the way she used to and try to draw him into conversation. Separation had only strengthened...strengthened what? Friendship? Lust? Desire?
Love?
Vengeance was a hollow thing; he knew that now. He only wished he had realized it before he walked out on all he had known. They had all tried to tell him, and he ignored it, all the signs, all the blunt statements, everything. And so it was, admittedly, his fault.
She had grown colder. She still smiled a lot, still laughed, but it seemed that something dark always hovered over her, haunting her, teasing her. She didn't deserve that. She was the one who tried the hardest to save him.
"We all missed you." She said one day, out of nowhere.
He was silent.
"As long as you don't make the same mistake twice, we can forgive you. But I don't think anyone will ever forget."
"I don't want you to forget." He retorted harshly. "I want you to remember for the rest of your life."
Forgiveness turned out to be relative. He became something to be feared, a blemish on the perfect face of the village. He had many names now. Liar. Killer. Traitor. Even she was starting to believe that was who he was.
Why did it matter all of a sudden? Since when did he care what other people thought, especially the annoying girl who had chased him for years? Why did it hurt so much to hear her voice turn cold?
"Are we going to be okay?" He asked, his voice was uncharacteristically soft.
She smiled, much to his relief but also to his chagrin. "I don't know. All wounds mend with time, but there will always be scars." She began to walk away. "For now though," she turned and gave him a final smile, though her words betrayed the gesture. "It's all I can do to forgive you."
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Well, there it is. Again, a half-hour one-shot. It's short, but I'd still like to hear your opinions. Please review!