It was a chilly night, the cold wind swept through the village hidden in the leaves, sending leaves fluttering in one direction. Billions of tiny stars twinkled above, giving way to the vast, black sky.
Despite herself, Sakura Haruno shivered, goosebumps forming across her light skin. She crossed her arms in an attempt to warm her frigid body, and gazed up ahead at the sky.
Seeing all the stars together only intensified sakura's inexplicable feeling of loneliness, a feeling so unexplainable it might as well explain chaos itself.
The gently shifting wind changed its course, softly blowing back Sakura's pink hair, exposing the anxiety worn ever so clearly on her face.
It was full moon, and only a few clouds here and there hid it from view. Despite it being an inanimate object, Sakura wondered how it would feel if she was the moon, being ever so lonely despite the millions of stars floating about surrounding it. That very conceptualization felt so similar, so familiar to herself. She was never alone, her friends surrounded her, were always there for her, and most importantly, filled the unspoken loneliness she felt during the day.
But none of them could understand the deep yearning she felt in her heart.
In a way, she was truly alone.
She thought of Naruto's once constantly smiling face, which now held an expression of prominent weariness due to all the stress as part of being a shinobi, and remembered the previous ache in her heart.
Memories of the night he left Konoha never left her mind, however much Sakura tried to eradicate her thought process of them.
"Sakura, thank you for everything."
That was when realization hit her.
It hit her that nothing she could do or say could persuade him to come back, nothing she could do was able to stop him, she couldn't bring herself to envision her weakness, couldn't reach out to him, couldn't make him understand the void she felt in her heart.
It was at that moment when she realized how deep and unprecedented the darkness had settled in his mind, like dark pigment seeping through pure white cloth, emasculating his every capability to see love, to feel love, to understand any hope of achieving happiness in life.
His heart had become too consumed by bitterness for him to let go of the memory of that hateful night, allowing him to make room to see that there were people who could support him, who could help block the hatred he felt.
But nothing could help him, nothing could make him see the light when his mind was so precariously, so desperately focused on hate and pain. In the end, suffering blocked his mind of every trace of light. Even though she tried her best, tried to notify him the love she had for him, tried to show him that she'd be there for him and when she was prepared to sacrifice everything at the hands of him, her morality, her dignity, everything, the thought of obtaining power, raw, untested power, dark and vicariously evil power ready to hungrily devour the lives of innocent people, he nevertheless took the dark path to Orochimaru, sacrificing his chance of happiness and morality.
She wished she'd done something to prevent his departure, even though she knew in the deepest depths in her heart that not a thing could be prevented.
She knew she could never understand or even begin to comprehend his sense of loss, as her parents weren't dead, must less murdered in such a disturbing fashion, but the pain of seeing him walk away left her with a broken heart and a long term sense of desolation.
The pain had long faded, replaced with a constant ache and unrequited infatuation.
It was all very sentimental and all too illogical.
She never felt so alone. Although she had Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, Yamato and Ino by her side, no amount of compassion from them could fill the void in her heart. No, surely not. It was too soon. Far, far too soon.
But she was slowly healing, little by little.
I wish you were here with me…Sasuke.
Sakura suddenly sensed a presence behind her, walking ever so slowly towards her. As a ninja, her senses were sharp and reflexes lightning speed, but she dared not throw a kunai as she might harm someone she knew. She spun around hastily, eyes wide and close to panicking before she realized the figure. It was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.
"Oh, it's you…Naruto," she spoke gently, forcing herself to smile.
"Sakura…"
His voice was serious, his gaze transfixed on her face.
Her smile faltered.
"What's wrong?" he inquired, his familiar voice ringing from the oblivion. There seemed to be something off with Naruto's voice, besides his rather tired and composed way of speaking, which was highly unusual with him. Sakura shook her head, pushing away a bad hunch.
She could no longer keep her cheerful expression on her face, altogether abandoning her façade. She looked from Naruto's face to the ground, resuming her bleak expression.
No words needed to be spoken between them.
Naruto could instantly discern whether her smile was genuine or forced. It was unspoken fact, over the past few years, Naruto had come to know her more than anyone. She glanced up at him warily, searching her face for any trace of anger or resentment. He had seen through the lie she told, which she told through desperate means, trying to protect him, to save him from the untimely demise of chasing Sasuke.
To save him from feeling the same sense of bleak emptiness she felt.
His retrieval, whether it was to be forced or not, had long since become an impossibility, but though she meant well, her composure seemed forced, and Naruto had seen through her confession. Once again, she was unsuccessful, leaving herself with a sense of defeat and utter failure.
But there was none of that.
Naruto's face held an expression that rivalled her own myriad of conflicting emotions. Sakura was astonished to see he looked exhausted, defeated almost. Genuine concern was evident on his face, and for once Sakura realized the toll his duty took on him, dark circles were prominent under his eyes, and there was a sadness in his eyes she had never seen before. Usually they were bright with happiness, with energy, ready to spread the truth upon humanity.
Beneath his vivacious façade, Naruto had been harbouring bottled up pain, in which Sakura could instantly envision his sense of loss.
Naruto, don't be too concerned for me…please.
"Do you think he will ever come back?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
At that moment he only looked more forlorn.
"I don't know, Sakura," he responded candidly, his voice slightly hoarse.
He had voiced her inner fear. It was mutual between both of them, and both had little doubt Sasuke would never return.
Naruto's presence suddenly seemed unfamiliar to Sakura, and for the first time this night, she felt fear course through her.
"N-Naruto?" she uttered, eyes wide. He had just been beside her, seconds ago.
Sakura was suddenly aware of a presence that felt unfamiliar, yet all too familiar, behind her.
She forced herself to turn her head slowly, shaking, to look behind herself.
Her eyes widened in shock.
She tried to form words, but could not utter a sound. She couldn't gasp, being so transfixed upon what she had been looking at.
Something awakened.
She could discern a white zip-up shirt that was halfway unzipped to reveal the figure's muscular chest, as well as black pants with an array of dull blue cloth tied with purple rope, something whom all of Orochimaru's followers shared. She let her gaze wander above to take in the familiar attractive features of his now chiselled face and his jet black hair. The moonlight lit his every feature, and he almost imperceptibly turned to gaze at her, his eyes bright crimson and unrelenting as always.
Sakura gasped.
It was none other than Sasuke Uchiha.