SasuSaku Month 2014
Day 4 Prompt- There Was No Warning
I was five when I first saw him at Ninja Academy. Spiky raven hair, fair skinned, proud features, dazzling smile and those expressive pools of obsidian. Cheerful, lively, energetic, gentle- all described Uchiha Sasuke. He was gifted, and determined to be the best. There was something about him that made me want to get to know him; what, I don't know.
All the girls had a crush on him. The second he was mentioned, every girl had hearts in her eyes. Even my best friend, Ino, had a massive crush on him. He, however, never paid anyone any attention. He lived in his own world. Sure, he knew that he was the object of many of their affections, but that didn't mean he had to reciprocate.
Over time, I observed him. He had been cheery and playful at one time, but slowly grew cold and distant. He began shutting others out. I wanted to help him, even if only as a classmate. Other girls still chased after him, for his looks and status. I won't say that I never did that, but somewhere underneath all that, I appreciated him for his nature.
When we were twelve, I got assigned to the same team as him. For me, it felt like a personal achievement. The other girls were envious of me. Initially, I was extremely happy, but it took me my first mission to realize what the life of a ninja really was.
Kirigakure. One of my worst nightmares. A C-rank mission turned into a B-rank one. Kakashi-sensei exhausting himself to the point of collapsing and overusing his Sharingan. Death lurking at every corner. And then, the bridge. Where for the first time, I felt true fear. And true hopelessness. And true grief. When Naruto didn't reply to me, for a moment I felt unsettled. Then, as the truth of the situation sank into me, I realized why Naruto hadn't answered. My Sasuke-kun, lying on the ground. Senbon piercing him on every part of his body. Eyes closed and a rivulet of blood running down his mouth. His body was cold and heavy. As I lay there, sobbing, holding him to me, I felt a sharp pain shoot through me. Was this what loss felt like?
The clearest thing I remember is the sheer joy and hope I felt when he blearily opened his eyes, and rasped out a "Sakura, you're heavy." My world came alive again, from the gray it had nosedived into.
The Chuunin exams and with them, Orochimaru. The Forest of Death, where Sasuke-kun saved the both of us from Orochimaru in the nick of time, as we stood frozen with fear. The Curse Mark that Orochimaru put on my teammate and the torture it put him through. My heart was twisting in pain for him. Protecting Sasuke-kun and Naruto with my life, and then cutting off my tresses when I was restrained using them.
The third time I felt fear was when I saw Sasuke-kun awaken. The dark aura surrounding him, and the dangerous chakra and absolute killing intent leaking from him, as he almost killed the person who had harmed me. Wrapping my arms around him from the back, as I begged my Sasuke-kun to return, to resurface from within the cold-hearted killer that stood before me.
At thirteen, when Sasuke-kun went to Orochimaru seeking power, my heart shattered. I begged, pleaded, laid my heart out to him, but couldn't stop him. I offered to go with him, to help him in every way to get his revenge. In the end, I begged him not to go, to not make me experience the torture that was solitude. Confessing my love for him didn't work either. He offered me a 'Arigato' as he rendered me unconscious and left me on the bench.
At sixteen, when we saw him for the first time, he was cold, indifferent. And a lot more powerful than we expected. Within minutes, he had rendered us incapacitated. And then, I could only look on as he flickered away into nothing.
Today, as I race on, with the sole objective of killing him, I realize that I never got a chance. When I gave my heart to him, I became tied to him. Even though I don't regret any of my choices, or what they brought me, I never knew of the hardships his choices would bring me. When I fell in love with Uchiha Sasuke, there was no warning.