Title: "Blue"
Rating: K+
Warnings: Suitable for all
Notes: This story is written from a child's point of view.
It's not that I think he's mean, or that all the other kids love him so much.
I know that we're alike. I'm not stupid. Sometimes, I can see him, and he's sitting there at the water. Just staring. And I look at it, and I think, and I remember. I remember looking down like that, but not at water. Not really. I look down at the sand, and my toes in my hand-me-down shoes that Iruka-sensei gave me, and sometimes I even look down at tear-dirt. But, if someone asked me what I was looking at--but, actually, no one asks. No one ever does.
But if they did ask, like maybe they ask him sometimes, then I bet me and him have the same answer. I think so 'cause he looks the same way I do, with his eyes all wide but the lids kinda closed a little, like he's looking at something that no one else sees. And I think he is, and I do, too. No one can see what we're looking at, but if I'm right, then I know what we're looking at. We're looking at sadness.
I don't think everyone can see sadness, though. Especially the grown-ups. They all just think we're not paying attention, 'cause they can't see what we see. And the other kids are all happy, and so they can't see the sad, either. But, when I'm alone on my swing, I can see it. It's blue. It's blue and it's cold and it's big, but I just have to stare at it, 'cause it's there, except only I can see it. Except now I think maybe he can see it, too. He looks at it, and he can't look away, just like me, 'cause he knows only he can see it, so he has to look. That's just what you have to do, just look. And he can see it, and I can almost see it, like when I'm trying to remember what my scroll looked like so I can find it, so Iruka-sensei won't stop buying me ramen 'cause I'm a good boy. I can't really see it, 'cause it's not i my /i sad, but I can kinda see it. Or, at least I know where it is, 'cause he's looking at it. He sees it in the water, blue and dark. Like his shirt. Blue and dark, and maybe cold, too, like cold fingers touching my arm.
But, even when I see him staring at sadness like I do, I can't go talk to him. I just can't, 'cause it's kinda scary. I think we might be the only ones who see it...
...and I don't want him to not understand, so that I'm the only one who sees it, again. I want to think that, maybe, Sasuke can see it, too.