Summary: Haruno Sakura only had eyes for the moon. Character death. Fourth Shinobi World War AU. Response to prompt eleven (a night with no stars) for SasuSaku Month.
Disclaimer: Naruto is (c) Masashi Kishimoto and Shueisha, Inc.
THE MOON SHINES BRIGHT
Haruno Sakura was dying.
She was dying and there was nothing that Uchiha Sasuke could do to prevent it. The cruel reality was, all of the power he accumulated while Orochimaru's disciple and thereafter had not prepared him for this eventuality. He was a fighter, not a healer.
"It's... okay... Sasuke-kun," she whispered through blood-stained lips.
'Liar!' he wanted to shout. 'This is as far from okay as you can get!'
Sasuke did not think her imminent demise would hit him so hard, yet it did. He could not save her, and that made him feel like he had been thrust back to the point of beginning. That everything he had accomplished, everything he had become was for naught. He was once more a weak, ignorant child unable to protect someone precious to him.
"It's... okay," she repeated. "I'm... not... scared."
In response, Sasuke pulled her fragile body into his arms and buried his face in the crook of her neck. He hurriedly tried to savor everything she was, enough to last him a lifetime - the feel of her, the smell of her, the sound of her. Sakura may not be scared, but Sasuke suddenly realized that he was terrified. How was he supposed to survive in a world that she did not exist?
"The moon-" Sakura's soft-spoken words were interrupted by a fit of coughing that caused her entire frame to convulse.
Sasuke stubbornly tightened his hold, as if he could keep her with him by force of will alone.
"The moon and stars are out tonight," he rasped after the coughing and convulsions had subsided.
Sakura's mouth curved upward.
"I... don't... see the stars," she said with her final breaths. "I've... only ever... had eyes for... the moon."
In the years to come, whenever Sasuke caught sight of the crescent that had been engraved into his palm, he would be reminded of a beautiful, pink-haired girl that felt like happiness, smelled like heaven and sounded like hope. Perhaps they would have more time in the next life.
THE END
