Warnings: character death, angst, Sakura. Inspired by Lolita Nova/Novocaine's Sakura.
SasuNaru, as seen from Sakura's perspective. A twisted alternate timeline.
Stupid Girl
by vernajast
sasuke x naruto
sakura
(team 7...you say it like it means something, stupid girl)
The first time, you think it's cute.
He's talking to himself while he trains, running through the paces, and you find yourself watching Naruto dance around the clearing half-naked and sweating and so very much alive. Sasuke's name can be clearly heard amidst the rambling and your eyes soften slightly. You miss him, too.
Later, you start to suspect that maybe, perhaps, something isn't quite right. But you don't want to think about that. About being left alone by your last remaining teammate. You would mention it to Kakashi-sensei, but Godaime has told you the story of that doomed team and...it doesn't seem right. So you smile when Naruto tells you how he's going to bring Sasuke to Ichiraku with him next time, that he's sure he'll have him back in the village by then. And you ignore the tiny wrinkles gathering at the corners of his eyes and the strained tone of his abnormally sunny voice and eat your ramen in silence.
A few hours later, you hear him talking to someone as he walks along the street ahead of you, unaware that you've been tailing him for three blocks. You catch a piece of dialog—"What do you think, Sasuke?"—and it's not normal IT'S NOT but maybe, perhaps, it's to be expected? A firm yes from your inner voice isn't very comforting.
It's only when you find his apartment empty, again, that you truly worry. He's still not back from his mission. The destination was precariously close to Orochimaru's lair and...no, now it's Sasuke's...He wouldn't dare. Of course, that's what you think. And maybe, perhaps, the old Naruto wouldn't, but you can't deny the possibility that he's gone to join him.
It's your duty to tell the Hokage your fears, but she cannot look you in the eye as you enter her office. When you explain, she sighs. She pulls out a photo album labeled "Naruto," full of photos of your friend and a young man who looks suspiciously like Kakashi-sensei and an adult who is blond and smiling and looks just like...Tsunade sighs again. Inside the worn back cover, folded neatly and marked with precise kana—and YES, your throat is suddenly dry with recognition—is a small piece of rice paper and a triangle of bloody cloth. Of course you recognize that, as well. You hated the outfit, the color, the flamboyant way Naruto...
It's big enough to know it is-was the left-front of his jacket. The shape of the hole surely belongs to none other than Kusunagi.
They weren't going to tell you. They weren't.
And you scream. You scream for Naruto and Sasuke, your broken team. For wheat field hair and eyes that held the sky and tan skin that was always warm to the touch. For insults that veiled the love between your teammates, your friends...and if you had known, thought for one instant, would you have stopped him?
No.
Naruto belonged with Sasuke belonged with Naruto. And you couldn't have, wouldn't have, and it's so sad IT IS because what does Sasuke have left? The same thing you have...nothing. Except as always, he's one up on you, stupid girl—he has Naruto's blood on his hands for all the good it will do him.
You hold that piece of cloth to your heart, Naruto's blood brown and dry around the phantom wound, and know for certain that now you are both truly alone.
[ .end ]