To You, To Me
Month Twenty One – Week Two
~ . ~
The living room is unusually bright this fine spring morning. As usual, Sasuke is in his chair, facing the window, watching the world he hates go by. His hands are clenched so tightly that both have turned a sickly white.
From the doorway, Sakura watches him. He hasn't said anything for days. Not since Naruto thought it was a good idea to take him out for a midnight dash in the wheelchair. She glances away, irked. A sigh catches in her throat.
"Stop staring…"
She ignores him. "How are you feeling today, Sasuke?"
He says nothing. The colour slowly returns to his hands.
"… I know what happened…" she murmurs uncertainly. "I know… and it's not right. It's-"
"I didn't attack the village?" he turns ever so slightly; his voice rasping painfully. The burning black of his eyes silences her. "I'm not an S-class criminal. I'm not affiliated with the Akatsuki. Right..? Liar."
She hugged herself. "What do you want me to say?"
He looks back out of the window. "Go away…"
She shakes her head. He had been doing so well. His chakra levels had slowly been rising. He had started walking up the stairs – just a little, but enough! He was even eating on his own!
"They were idiots," she tries to reason. "They were drunken idiots."
"I'm a criminal! A murderer!" he roars back. "Did they put me up to it? Hmm? Was I stupid enough to do what drunk civilians told me to? Is that what you're saying?"
"That's not fair!" she yells. "You're putting words in my mouth! I didn't say that! I didn't mean that! It wasn't them! Of course they didn't! They couldn't-!"
He draws back into the chair. "I am responsible for more deaths than you can count."
She straightens at that. Her composure slipping back into place, her professional task remembered, she makes sure to make contact with the reflection of his eyes.
"I've seen more deaths than you realise, Sasuke," she says quietly, sternly. "If you're expecting me to run away scared I'm going to disappoint you. I've killed people too. Naruto has. Ino has. Hinata, Lee, Neji… We all have. So don't think you can scare me off with this. None of us are innocent. If you don't like it, then man up and get used to it."
She snatches up a towel that she had used to bathe his wounds with the previous night. The stains are vivid vermillion. Then she turns and storms away.
"Sakura…"
She grinds to a halt at the door. He's quiet once again; his tone recalling her memories of their genin days. Her heart thumps painfully.
Then he breaks the silence; his voice savage and ungracious. "Thank you…"
Author's Note: I'm very sorry. I'm very sorry.