characters: sasuke uchiha, suigetsu hozuki and karin uzumaki
genre: romance
rating: g
Early Spring
"Why are we stopping?" Karin asked as she noticed their leader halting his steps.
"Where are we?" The raven haired man inquired quietly.
"Border of Kumo. Why?" Suigetsu replied.
Sasuke didn't answer. Instead, his eyes observed his surroundings; he gazed at the pillars of trees that lined their trail and tilted his head to stare at their branches.
Karin tried to see what he was seeing but all she could see was the pastel pink flowers that bloomed as signs of early spring. Seeing nothing interesting, her gaze returned to his face.
She couldn't quite put her finger on it but something about him looked different.
Sasuke was a traveler, this Karin knew.
He had the soul of a wanderer— a bird with unclipped wings. He was the captain of his own ship with his mind as his only compass.
But despite this, in moments that he brooded alone, Karin would sometimes catch Sasuke Uchiha looking like a man who had sailed all of the seas and missed the shore; a tired man who saw all the world and looked for the comfort of a home.
The wind brushed through his dark raven hair, the sunlight peered through the gaps of the leaves, and there reflected on the Uchiha's face was an expression she never thought he would ever show.
It was a flicker of a moment, a rare occurrence she'd never forget.
His eyes were closed, his face relaxed.
He looked peaceful.
So peaceful that if she were tracking Sasuke, she'd never recognize his chakra to at all be like this.
Its glow felt soft and warm. As if a heavy blanket had covered him from all the harsh winds of life and heated him all the way down to his very core.
It made her wonder what image could he have seen beneath the lids of his eyes? What could make him so calm? So collected? So different from his usual self?
The pale pink trees swayed in the breeze and Karin had to wonder what was it about sakura that had Sasuke so peaceful.