Falling Away With You Chapter 4

Arise and Tear

'Maybe things can be like they were.' Sasuke thought.

Getting Lee off of her back was no chore for him. The bushy browed boy was getting on his nerves the second he decided to make his presence known. It didn't help him that he decided to voice his affections at Sakura. Sasuke had had enough. It was one thing to breathing in his airspace. It was another thing entirely to try and hit on Sakura while he was sitting right there. Did no one remember their history?

'Well that's all it is….history.'

Sasuke couldn't give up on his goal. She would forgive him and she would eventually trust him again. That was all he could hope for. But he wanted her to know the truth and he would tell her…some day. He couldn't just leave her in the dark about what he did and why. Maybe her knowing the truth would change her perspective on everything and allow her to finally forgive him. Or it could go the other way and she could hate him even more than she did now and cause her to never want to speak to him again as long as she lived.

He really hoped that wasn't the case.

The four of them continued with their lunch and their idle chit chat without any further interruptions. It was good, for all involved, to reconnect with the team they all thought they had lost so long ago. Sasuke was genuinely interested in what had happened while he was away and wanted to know what he had missed in their lives. Naruto was more than happy to occupy his time filling him in on all the details.

After awhile the customers in the ramen shop began to leave hinting at their own departure. The four left the building still talking and reminiscing about when they were small genin. The story of the bell test had sparked a tiny giggle out of their old sensei that they were almost certain they did not hear.

"I was just remembering the look on Naruto's face when I told him he couldn't eat…priceless."

"Eh? Whatever, we passed so I don't care what my face looked like." Naruto scoffed.

"Well kids I must go. I promised myself I'd catch up on my reading. I stopped at a particularly juicy spot."

The three cringed as their old sensei disappeared over the rooftops.

"Stupid Kakashi and his stupid Icha Icha." Sakura shook her head in what Sasuke guessed was disgust.

"I don't know Sakura. Some of those books aren't all that bad. Kakashi-sensei bought me a few for my last birthday. They were kind of entertaining." Naruto shrugged his shoulders and Sakura had stopped to look at him. Sasuke knew that the loud mouth blonde had said something he would soon regret. He might as well help out his whiskered friend. Naruto took off in a full sprint away from their fuming pink haired teammate. Sakura went to leap at him but Sasuke was quicker and had a hold on both her arms preventing her from chasing after Naruto.

"Naruto! I can't believe you re-" She paused and seemed to tense up a bit. Her breath came out in short puffs and Sasuke could feel her pulse quicken.

"Sasuke you can let me go now."

He immediately released her and looked in the direction that Naruto had taken off in.

"I don't think he's coming back any time soon."

"Yeah well he'll have to see me eventually…I should get going anyway. I guess I'll see you later Sasuke."

To be honest, Sasuke knew he was a bit disappointed at the thought of her leaving right now. He wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to catch up on what he had missed and what he made himself miss out on by pushing her away. This was no way to try and rekindle a friendship. She had walked only a few short steps when Sasuke knew he couldn't let her leave yet.

"Hey Sakura?"

She stopped and turned to face him. She didn't speak so Sasuke took that as his cue to continue.

"I'm not going back to Naruto's just yet and I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk with me?"

He so badly wanted her to agree but he wasn't expecting it. She was angry at him for leaving and he couldn't blame her. He wanted a chance to explain everything but the problem in doing so was the fact that he would need to tell her how he really felt. And expressing one's feeling was difficult, to say the least, for an Uchiha.

"I don't know Sasuke. I was going to get a little paper work done for the hospital and-"

"Please?"

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

She had never known him to say please in that way. She could've sworn there was a hint of desperation in his voice, but she dropped that thought before it gave her any hope. She didn't see anything wrong in taking a short walk with him…it wasn't as if she was still in love with him.

'But you are.' She cursed the voice in her head. It never said what Sakura wanted to hear.

'No I tell you what you need to hear.' She pretended she didn't hear that either.

She looked down at her hands, twiddling them together and playing with the hem of her skirt. She raised her head to look in his direction. He was looking back at her and she figured he was probably doing that the whole time. There was something in his eyes that made them look almost pleading.

"Yeah, ok."

They walked for a few minutes in absolute silence, Sakura following him in the direction he was walking. She couldn't sense if he had a destination in mind but she was pretty sure he didn't. He didn't look too focused on which direction he was going. She didn't like the silence. Luckily he broke it first.

"So I hear you have accomplished quite a bit at the hospital working under Tsunade."

"Yeah. She's really is a great teacher. I'm lucky to be her apprentice."

"You always did have better chakra control then me and the idiot growing up."

She paused. Was that…? No. She had to have just imagined it. There's no way he just complimented her. The old Sasuke would have never acknowledged anyone's strength but his own. Sure he had his moments when a nicer side would slip through, but this? This was completely new territory. And she wasn't going to lie to herself when she admitted that she kind of liked the new side to him.

The silence came back over the two of them. She focused on her shuffling feet and the breeze passing by. She saw Sasuke stop walking and sit down. She followed without really looking where they were and when she raised her eyes from the floor she realized exactly where they were.

The bench.

The bench.

This was where he left her those years ago. She begged and pleaded and confessed her love to him and in the end he still left. He left her on the bench.

And here they were again.

She sat next to him, situating on the opposite side of the bench from him.

"Sakura…I know…" He stopped. She could see the struggle going on in his head at trying to make his feeling known. He was never good at it. Heck, he never tried it at all. She was patient though so she waited for him to continue.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

I don't think she knows how difficult this is.

Sasuke strained to find the right words to tell her. How did you tell someone that you were sorry? How did you say that most of the mistakes you made were for their own good? He wanted to say that he loved her. That he didn't go a day without thinking about her. That after he had finally killed Itachi the first thing he thought of (after the initial shock of being able to accomplish such an impossible task) was how he would get to return home, to her. She never left his head. He had an obsession and he knew it. No matter what happened he had to make it better. he had to fix things between them. He had to know if she still loved him. He wanted to say so much and found that trying to confess all these emotions was not going to be easy.

He just had to say it flat out and thought maybe it was best to get the biggest thing out of the way.

"Sakura…I…I love you."

She held a blank expression and it didn't look like she was blinking. She didn't seem to be breathing either.

Ok, so maybe it wasn't best thing to say first.

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Author's Note:

I know it's been more than a month since the last update but finals and...you know...LIFE gto in the way. Hopefully I can write more before the next semester starts. So yeah. New chapter. I'm ok with this. I need to listen to more music for inspiration. Any ideas??

Comment por favor. Good or bad, short or long...they all help in the motivation department.

Until next time. Au Revoir ^_^