We Only Come Out At Night

by rumaru

Summary – Before their training began, before his family was destroyed, before her heart was destroyed by expectations – they had each other. Time, ambitions, tragedy, and life pulled them apart, but would their understanding from long ago help them both

1. Prologue

We Only Come Out At Night – A SasuHina ficlet.

Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto!

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The sky was dark and dotted with the occasional star as the wiry man made his way towards the waterfall, his footfalls unheard over the splashing and soft giggling in the air. It had been far too long since he had heard that particular sound and his heart skipped a beat as he found himself heading towards it.

They used to play here when they were younger, splashing his aniki and her nii-san as their parents watch from their favorite picnic spot on the hill. They were both so much happier then, no darkness plaguing their hearts as they chased each other gleefully through the grass and ignored their elders request to be careful. Nobody knew that when they were both six he had stolen her first kiss there by the rocks, where they had hidden from their older relations in a game of Hide and Seek.

His lips curved slightly as the memory of how she would blush every time she looked his way for years to come, and while neither would ever speak of it around anyone else, both of them found themselves thinking about those days before the storm. Still, thanks to his wretched older brother and her overbearing family, both found their ties sundered and their dreams ripped away.

He stood now behind a tree, watching her dance on the same rock they once plotted a future together, and found himself at peace. Nobody had to know that he had been coming her to watch her one day out of every month ever since when he ran away so many years ago, nobody would ever find out how he sat and watched her cry time and time again when her kind actions would go unnoticed or without thanks. Most of all, nobody would ever hear the words he would whisper as he guarded her while she lay sleeping, exhausted by whatever drama had plagued her day.

He marveled at how she would come here to cry and rage against the unfairness of the world around her, and yet she would always find it in her to dance. He loved how she would spread her arms as if embracing a world which had forgotten her, and twirl as if she was guiding the currents themselves. Most of all, he loved how when she was truly comfortable, she would careful set aside her inhibitions and remind him of the blushing doll from the days of a childhood he once shared with her.

He remembered the first time he watched her; it had been less than a month before he had run off. She had come to the waterfall to wash away the stains of regret after being told by his one and only rival that he did not feel the same way she did. His heart ached for the girl with the unreadable eyes, who had only ever tried to bring peace into the lives of others. He knew that she had noticed him, perched in a tree hiding from the world, and yet she went about her little ritual as of he was invisible. He saw the way she blushed, smiling as she waited until true night fell to finally show him what was so amazing about the night, and nearly fell off of his perch in the tree when she extended her milky white arms to him and invited him to join her.

Five long years, and she was his only link to the place where he grew up and the people who once claimed to love him. Every month, without fail, they would meet as the sky reached true darkness, and he would watch her until she invited him to join her. Then, they would embrace, their hearts and bodies moving through the twisting dance they had started so long ago.

Soon, she would grow weary, and he would carefully carry her to the edge of the river, laying her down so that he could watch her sleep. She would slip him a note filled with the local news and gossip, printed in her careful handwriting, and when she awoke he would have left a small token of his continued affections.

Nobody ever had to know. It was their little secret. They were as happy as when they were children, at least until the day they got caught.

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Okay, that was the Prologue of my new work in progress. Please, let me know what you think and if I should continue!