SasuHina Month 2016 #4
Day 4: Almost Lovers
Almost.
She hated that word. It reminded her of the burning of her eyes after nights of crying, the aching in her muscles of long, agonizing days of training. It reminded her of the disdain in her father's eyes, the hate in Neji's, and the smugness in her sister's.
Almost.
He hated that word. It reminded him of failure, of inadequacy. It reminded him his 99.9 to his brother's 110. It reminded him of anger and hurt and always staring at the back of someone, never surpassing, never achieving.
And now, there was only one feeling associated with that word.
It was pain.
It was pain, and it was an ache.
An empty, hollow hole right in the pit of her chest that made her want to gasp for air.
The space between his arms at night that wasn't filled with her.
The memory of her touch, the thoughts of his kiss
The dreams of the future they were never going to have.
The word screamed in his ear when he saw her with him
when he realized her smile wasn't his anymore
when he couldn't hold her or tell her how much she made him happy
and it made him want to gouge out his eyes
or chidori himself straight in the brain
just so he wouldn't have to think about her anymore
just so he could stop the misery.
The word haunted her everywhere she went
when she realized it wasn't his touch that caressed her skin at night
when the days were dimmer and her eyes were clouded because he wasn't there
and it made her want to curl into herself
and tear out her hair to cease the torment and despair she felt from the base of her spine,
to her heart, and up into her scalp, and into every cell of her being
just so she could forget him
just so she could end this suffering.
He became just another thing right out of her reach at the tips of her fingertips.
And she became one of the many other things in his life that he didn't try for.
Almost.
So close, but still so far.
