Their Pain
Word Count: 2,751
Summary: It had been five years since he'd abruptly departed from their lives and left internal destruction in his wake for the blonde-haired boy and the pink-haired girl. Five years since he had reminded the boy of what a bastard he was. Five years since he left the love-stricken girl alone and unconscious on a bench. Five years since he'd followed his ardent lust for vengeance. He feels no different, and she is completely different.
Author's Note: It has been years since I've written any fanfiction on this website, but I was reading some SasuSaku fan fiction and got frustrated at her accepting attitude. I feel as though she's never had the chance to break down at least one good time and be angry at Sasuke. Let's be honest, Sasuke has a lot of baggage, but he still had a tendency to treat people like shit. So, I hope you enjoy. All these characters belong to Kishimoto, but the plot and the words are mine.
It had been five years since he'd abruptly departed from their lives and left internal destruction in his wake for the blonde-haired boy and the pink-haired girl. Five years since he had reminded the boy of what a bastard he was. Five years since he left the love-stricken girl alone and unconscious on a bench. Five years since he'd followed his ardent lust for vengeance.
He robotically stumbled into Konoha saturated in blood. Some of it his own. Some of it Itachi's. He'd just learned the daunting truth about his brother – a true shinobi. He pushed back tears that threatened to overtake him because he was tired, tired of the pain. He was tired of being in pain even in his dormant state. Sleep had become a double-edged sword – a way to escape his present but a constant reminder of his past. Nightmares filled with his clan's blood haunted him every night, and now his brother's death would soon be added to his never-ending nightmares.
There were multitude of endings to these nightmares that had him bursting awake, reeking of fear and sweat. Sometimes Itachi would kill the blonde-haired boy and pink-haired girl as well. The two had stopped searching for him for years now. They had given up it would seem, but he couldn't help but wonder if the girl with the emerald orbs offer still stood. If she would still move mountains to make him happy, if she still loved him.
His vacant eyes scanned the village. Nothing had changed in his absence. He staggered to the azure-eyed jinchuuriki holder's small apartment that he occupied the last time he was there. He hoped that it hadn't changed because his home was the closest, and Sasuke was starting to stagger even more as he left a bloody path behind wherever he went. He made it to Naruto's home and got one good knock on the door before the world became an endless sea of black.
"Oi, I think teme is waking up," A cheerful and familiar voice could be heard. To him it sounded like background noise, like the person was talking over static on a phone. His eyes slowly pried themselves open.
The room refused to come into focus for a few minutes, but eventually it did, and the first thing he noticed was the whiskered man leaning over top of him.
"It's about time teme," The dobe practically shouted. Sasuke glared. He could already feel a migraine coming on, and he hadn't been awake for five minutes yet. Naruto presses a button on the side of Sasuke's bed. Sasuke had struggled his way up into a sitting position, refusing the loud mouth's help. He almost expected the obnoxious boy to still be the short runt he was when he left. Almost.
Like himself, the obnoxious boy had turned into a man. He had gone through a tremendous growth spurt, standing at about 6'0. His hair was cut shorter, he was still loud, but he seemed to know when to quiet down. The blonde rambled on about the town, about Kakashi and how he had a girlfriend, about Sakura and how she became the most powerful and sought after kunoichi in the entire village. Sasuke lifted one of his eyebrows; he hadn't expected this. All he could think of was the twelve-year old girl him and Naruto had to consistently save. He thought of her senseless comments, her naive promises, and her gregarious nature.
A short while later, the door slides open. The pink hair was inimitable and undeniable; however, the body attached was foreign. Gone was the twelve year old body that was all stick and bones. She was still tiny, but she was still taller than before at about 5'4. She was no longer flat-chested. She had modest assets, but they fit her perfectly. Gone was the short hair and the baby-like attributes on her face. She was all curves and sophistication now. She walked with a purpose now. Her face had lost some of her softness from her earlier years, making her look older. Her long, thick hair was piled in a thick bun at the top of her head. She looked right through him even though she spoke gently. His eyes went blank. Looking at the dobe to his left and her right now reminded him that life moved on without him being present. Everyone had grown into better versions of themselves; however, he felt like he was still stuck in the same place as when he left.
"Sasuke, you have been in a coma for a week and a half. You showed up at Naruto's door severely injured. You had a collapsed lung, five broken ribs, lacerations in many places on the body, and…" He zoned out at some point. The lack of the honorific suffix hadn't escaped his notice, and the thought unsettled him. He was only able to catch the last part of her speech.
"Welcome back to Konoha Sasuke," She said in a cheerful voice.
When she heard of his arrival, she couldn't help but feel a wave of glee overcome her. He's back! However, the closer she got to the hospital, the more ambivalent she became. She tended to his wounds while he was dead to the world. They were so extensive that she knew that it would take multiple sessions to heal him. By the time Shizune had told her that she would have to go notify him of injuries and provide him with treatment over the next week, she was lackluster. The more she healed him, the more lifeless she became. She walked in to see him sitting up in his bed. Even though that was the last thing he should be doing, she kept quiet about it because Sasuke was the type to do as he pleased.
She told him about his health issues even though she's sure that he wasn't paying attention to half the things she said. She couldn't help the ire creeping its way up her spine at the way he ignored her, at the way he continued to glare even though her chakra, her hands were the only reason he could even be conscious and sitting up today. The cold man sitting before her was silent, and the sunny boy had such a wide grin on his face, she felt his face would eventually crack. She plastered a smile on her face and kept it pushing. When she saw her chance to leave, she immediately took it.
She felt as though the world was closing in on her as she left him. Over the next week, she returned to his room to heal him. He didn't speak, and she didn't try to engage him. She made it her mission to do her job even though her breath would hitch when she felt his inky eyes burning holes into her as she healed him. He was beautiful. His shoulders were now broad and like Naruto, he had grown like a vine in the past few years. His body was a work of art even when marred with scars. His face was sharp, and any softness that he possessed seemed to have vanished. If anything, it made him even more attractive. His eyes and hair were the only constant things on his body. His eyes were even less expressive if that were even possible. His hair still defied gravity but his spikes weren't as thick as they once were. Her resentment returned just at the thought of this; his scars would heal and his skin would be perfect and unblemished. He would leave this hospital okay while she was suffering even after five years.
When the week was over and Sasuke was gone, she felt as though she could breathe. The onyx-eyed man and the blond loud mouth seemed to go out to eat around town at least three times a week. The blond felt as though it was another way to show the emotionless man around the town and integrate him back into society. The lonely man was still on punishment. It was still being decided, but until then, the dobe was made to watch him. Every once in a while, the two would catch members of the ANBU following them as well.
The blond would invite the cherry blossom to come with them, but she always declined. It had been a few weeks since Sasuke had left the hospital, but Sakura was never anywhere in sight. She would come to Naruto's humble abode to talk, but if she saw Sasuke, she would hightail it before the two saw her. The blonde tried to confront her about her absence a couple of times, but she evaded him and made up an excuse to leave.
The blonde eventually became beside himself when she started to back away from him too. So what if he spent most of his time with Sasuke? This was his brother who returned, his best friend after five whole years. So, he convinced Sasuke to go over to her home with him. He didn't really have to convince him to do anything, Sasuke was on board immediately, giving a "hn" of approval because he too had been curious about the disappearance of the girl that once claimed to love him.
Naruto was more than observant, contrary to popular belief, and more importantly, he was connected to Sasuke in a way that no one else was just as the pink girl was. So, he knew. He picked up on his friend's sudden intrigue about her even though he was silent most of the time.
They made it to her house not long after the moon announced its presence to Konoha. Sasuke decided to wait outside while Naruto went to talk to her.
However, he soon heard voices rise and a crash.
"What do you mean he's here Naruto?" She growled between clenched teeth. There was pure fire in her bones, fire that she couldn't control.
"Sakura, he's our teammate, our frien-" The crazy look in her eye cut him off.
"He is none of the sort Naruto!" Her voice rises. "He left. He almost killed me twice and you. What type of friend kills their friends, huh Naruto?"
"He's been dealt a shitty hand in life. The least we can do is-" A deafening crash filled the air. It was the glass plate that Sakura's mom gifted her for Christmas, her favorite. Glass shattered all over the place, some of it getting stuck in her arms and legs.
"To hell with him," She roared as she felt her legs come out from beneath her but the whiskered boy caught her before she could fall into the shards of glass. She bawled, she screamed, drips of blood beaded on her arms from her clawing at them.
She had finally cracked. There were no smiles in sight now. There was nothing cheery about her. Her eyes were swollen, and she simply couldn't do it. She couldn't plaster the fake smile on her face and carry the facade anymore. She was exhausted and broken into jagged pieces that were almost impossible to mend. She was angry at him leaving, irate at the thought of him killing his best friend and her, exhausted because she didn't even know what she was to him, tired because of the many sleepless nights she had under her belt spent worrying about him. She worried about him being killed by Orochimaru, by his brother, by any rogue ninjas that he came across in his travel.
She was haunted that night by the blood that was covered him like a blanket, by how she didn't know if it was all his or a mixture of someone else's. She stopped breathing all together when she thought of how he walked to Naruto's place in shock with all his injuries, how he almost died on the operating table twice. She was angry at her selfishness. She hadn't expected much from the last remaining Uchiha, but she couldn't shake the hurt that coursed through her when he gave her a blank look in the hospital. He had been through hell and back. By now Naruto had lowered her to the kitchen floor, and she was curled up in his lap, her shoulders shaking in silent cries.
"Naruto, I…I know what he's been through. Walking in on his family being slaughtered…I couldn't even begin to imagine, but I look at you. You two are completely different – literally night and day. You may not have witnessed your families tragic passing, but many people blamed you for it, blamed Kyuubi for it." At the mention of his name, the nine-tailed fox stirred awake, and Naruto willed him back to sleep. "You were exiled while still living here. I still remember you coming here to eat sometimes because the people in charge of giving you your monthly check for food and rent conveniently "forgot". Look at who you are now. You are the sun. You are the epitome of warmth and love Naruto. I see you, and then I see him. He has never given himself a chance to develop ever, and look at him. He's become a monster. He has sacrificed everyone for his goal. Everyone Naruto.
That's why I pleaded with you to stop looking; he was a shell of himself after his family's massacre and understandably so, but the moment he walked out this village, he became blinded by bloodlust. Hurt people hurt people but Sasuke is beyond the point of grief. He's consumed with it. Even now that Itachi is gone and he told you about the real reason his family ended up being slaughtered, it eats at him. Even you said that he wanted to kill all of Konoha as a result. For a while there, he wanted to kill innocents Naruto.
I'm drained because even as I say all this to you, I can feel myself trying to make excuses for all of his behavior. I find myself wanting to run to him, wanting to help him now as we speak. I'm angry at myself because I would walk through fire for him even now if he needed me to. I still love him, and I know that I always will." She hated herself because of it, because deep down she was no different from the twelve year old girl, who was blinded with fear and grief at the site of the onyx-eyed boy leaving the Konoha grounds that night.
Naruto stayed quiet, having nothing to say. He simply held her, realizing that that's all he could do in that moment. The two were so caught up that they failed to hear the Uchiha walk in midway through their conversation. He stiffened because she was right. He didn't deserve another chance. The countless people that had lost their lives because of him played through his head like a flashback. She had grown into a beautiful person with shrewd intelligence and a set of standards that he could never reach, yet she somehow still had a never-ending amount of love within her. He was almost angry at the accurate assessment of him. That was one of the only emotions he felt comfortable with. However, he snapped out of it and walked around the kitchen counter where he noticed Sakura curled up in a ball between Naruto's legs with his arms wrapped around her. Naruto saw him first and frowned up at him almost apologetically.
Sasuke shook his head to tell him not to be sorry.
"I'll take it from here Naruto," His voice was low and strong, but Sakura stiffened at once. Naruto whispered something in her ear and handed her off to Sasuke. It was ironic to say the least because even in his vengeance he modeled himself after Itachi – his most precious and most hated person. Even with his strategy, his aptness, his prodigiousness, he still couldn't see what this pink-haired woman was trying to convey to him for years – vengeance would bring him nothing and that it would only make him as bad as he thought Itachi was. His vengeance damaged him indefinitely, but for the first time, he would not wallow in his sorrow. He would learn from it, grow from it. He would start with the one who would soon become the most important person in his life – her.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this quick one-shot about Sasuke and Sakura. Thanks for reading.