title: Road to Sakura
pairing: possible eventual SasuSaku.
summary: "I didn't give up on our friendship, Sakura. I gave up on the girl who replaced my friend but, more importantly, I gave up on myself and my ability to save you."
notes: Okay, so I lied. I got this chapter up earlier than next week. However, don't expect chapters to be coming out like boom boom boom. I only got this chapter out because I had a very wonderful idea to use and I didn't want to lose it. So without further ado, here's the chapter.
notes 2: lyrics from ayumi hamasaki's Fated
°∴✿° ·°✿∴° .·°∴°·. °∴✿°· °✿∴°
Road to Sakura
"Do you believe in fate
A momentary encounter
That changes everything in your life
Before that?"
Sakura had won. Little Haruno Sakura had won. And for some reason, Hinata wasn't at all upset by this. She was actually . . . she was actually relieved by this. Sakura had been right—she had grown. And it wasn't by "quite a bit," as she had put it earlier. She had grown by quite a lot. She was no longer the crybaby that needed constant care. No. Haruno Sakura was now a growing kunoichi who has just started to unlock her own potential and who has set her own standards. Sakura no longer did things just to please others now. She did things so that she could be proud of herself. The thought put a smile to Hinata's face as she slouched, her chin digging into her arms that were wrapped around her legs.
"Hey..."
The hesitant greeting brought the Hyuuga out of her musings and had her turning her head to look up at the pinkette standing before her. Well, speak of the Devil... "What are you doing here?" she asked. Her voice hid all clues to her recent thoughts, carrying with it her usual badass confidence. "Shouldn't you be with your team? Or did you come here to rub—" Hinata had wanted to point an accusing finger at Sakura, but the sudden movement caused the bruise on her arm to throb.
There was a small smile, but the fact that it didn't reach Sakura's eyes did not go unnoticed by the Hyuuga. "I got you real good there, didn't I?"
"Hmp." Hinata turned her face away, just in case it began to turn red from the humiliation. "I knew it. You're just here to rub your victory in." Hinata was so busy fighting back her blush that she didn't realize Sakura was kneeling besides her now. "Go ahead. Get in some insults. You've earned it."
"Actually, on the contrary..." Sakura's voice trailed off, and Hinata could feel her rival's hands on her injured arm. And suddenly, there was a warmth coming from those hands that enveloped her arm.
The warmth was unexpected and, when Hinata turned back to see exactly what the Team 7 kunoichi was doing, her eyes widened. "Healing jutsu..." Surprise clearly colored her voice. "When did you...?"
But Sakura ignored that question, continuing to heal the bruise that had been inflicted by her punch from earlier. If her healing ability had made Hinata speechless, her next statement took the Hyuuga's breath away.
"I still think of you as a friend, Hinata."
Sakura heard the sharp inhale of breath and, when Hinata failed to say anything, she continued to speak.
"You and others may believe that, when you gave up on our friendship, I did too. But really,"—Sakura paused to blink back tears because the memory of that day still brought her immense sadness—"what you did gave me the strength to better myself, and it gave me the push I needed to dig myself out of the abyss I fell into after my parents died. I may not seem like it, but I am very grateful that you did that. If not then I'm not sure how I would've turned out. This may not seem like much, but I consider you one of my saviors from the darkness, and I want to thank you for that."
Hinata's bruise had disappeared by the time Sakura had finished talking, but Hinata still had not recovered her ability to speak. Sakura took this as her sign to leave, and so she stood.
"I didn't give up on our friendship."
The words were so soft but loud enough to stop Sakura in her tracks. And sensing that there was more, the Fourth Hokage's daughter took a seat next to the Hyuuga.
"I . . ." Hinata didn't know how to put it in words, and so she sighed as she thought, letting the crown of her head hit the wall, her eyes closed. "I gave up on the girl who replaced my friend." Her eyes opened then. Yes, that was it. Those were the right words. She hadn't given up on their friendship. There was more to it than what met the eye, more to it than what others thought. She was staring at the ceiling lights now, remembering the days that led up to that fateful event. She didn't dare look at the pinkette, in fear that she would forget what she was prepared to say. "The Haruno Sakura I became friends with . . . she was innocent, she was happy, and she could see the good in everything and everyone, no matter how bleek things seemed or how bad the person might have been. That Haruno Sakura, she was my pillar of light in my own dark days. But the girl who replaced her after her parents' deaths . . . that girl was not the Haruno Sakura I became friends with." Hinata's voice was shaking by this point. She sniffled and, using the sleeve of her jackect wrapped around her waist, she wiped away any stray tears that left her eyes. "It . . . it tore at my heart every time I saw you after your parents' deaths." She was looking at her rival now. "You barely looked as if you had enough energy to live by the hour. You barely smiled and, whenever you did, that smile never reached your eyes. And your eyes . . . they were so blank, so lifeless. I couldn't bear the sight."
Hinata took Sakura's hand in her own then, smiling a watery smile at the fact that it's been the first time in years since she's done that. "I wanted to stay by your side," she said, pouring out her heart in the first time in years. "I really did. I wanted to help you as you had helped me when my father had disowned me. But . . . I couldn't bear even more the thought that I wasn't going to be able to save you from your own darkness. I couldn't bear the thought of failing you when you needed me the most. You may not remember, but I did try. I did try my best to restore you to your old self. But your parents' deaths had cast a shadow over you that I could not lift, no matter what I tried. And so . . . I took the easy way out. I dumped all my hopes onto one last try, and I yelled at you all of the worst things I could have said at the time. I really thought that that was my last hope of saving you, but please know that . . . I was scared. I was so scared . . . not just because of the bad effects it might have had on your deteriorating psyche but also because I knew that, once I broke our friendship, I would be alone again. I would have no one to rely on after I had lost you. But that . . . that was the risk I was willing to take, the sacrifice I was willing to make, if it meant helping you. I didn't give up on our friendship, Sakura. I gave up on the girl who replaced my friend but, more importantly, I gave up on myself and my ability to save you. And for that, I'm sorry."
Now it was Sakura's turn to be lost in silence, her green eyes also filling with tears.
"After that day, I... You didn't do anything wrong, Sakura, but I . . ." Hinata bit her lower lip, the truth hurting her. "Every time I saw you after that day, I got so mad at myself. I always thought to myself, 'Why couldn't I have tried harder? Why did I have to break her heart again right after her parents' deaths? Why?' I was so mad at myself that I took it out on you. I won't ask you for forgiveness for that, but I—"
Hinata's words were stopped when Sakura's arms wrapped around her.
"Are you stupid or something?" The pinkette was crying now. "Leaving me for such a reason... And asking me for forgiveness . . . when I've already forgiven you a long time ago? You're so stupid! I told you already, didn't I? I still think of you as my friend! That won't change, no matter what had happened and what could happen. You're still my friend, Hinata!"
"Oh god... Look at you. Maybe I was wrong," Hinata mused, trying her best not to cry. "You're still a crybaby." But those eyes of yours have changed. They're filled with so much life, just like the spring your clan is named after. If we had stayed friends then maybe, just maybe, it could have been me to have changed those eyes. But I'm glad I took the path I did because if I hadn't then you wouldn't have met those people... Naruto-kun, Ino-chan, and Sasuke... I'm glad she met people like you three. Thank you for taking care of her when I couldn't.
"I gave up,
Thinking that I couldn't reach your voice
I gave up,
Thinking that this dream wouldn't come true
You see?
The person before my eyes was the real you"