They've been staying at the playground for almost two hours now, with Sakura seated on a swing and Sasuke on the grass in front of her. Tears still trickled down Sakura's cheeks and Sasuke felt like pulling his hair for not even bringing a face towel before heading to play that day. He could've at least lent something to his best friend.

Sasuke remained in his position, his legs crisscrossed and eyes fixated on Sakura's crestfallen form. Her red headband was already in disarray against her short pink locks, her eyes were now red and puffy, and her hand still trembled a bit after crying for more than an hour.

Sasuke felt something breaking inside him, and he couldn't do anything to fix it, and worse, to fix her.

He clenched his fists. If only Sakura didn't stop him from chasing after those bullies, he could've done to them what he has seen Nii-san do with Shisui-nii through what they called a spar.

A little later, Sakura's tears have stopped streaming down her face, her trembling has subsided, and her breathing has finally become even enough for her to be able to speak. "W-why are you still...here, S-sasuke-kun?"

The boy was startled with the question. He then realized that the eyes he was trying to seek for a few hours now were finally focused on his. He cleared his throat before saying, "I can't just leave you alone here."

"Why?" Sakura sniffed.

"Best friends don't leave each other."

A new set of tears escaped Sakura's eyes upon hearing her best friend's words. And once again, she used her little hands to wipe them.

Sasuke continued to observe her, taking note of the sight and promising himself that he would never allow Sakura to end up like this again.

Until the girl spoke once more, "You've...been staring s-since earlier, Sasuke-kun."

Blinking twice, Sasuke swallowed hard when he realized he had been called out.

"Do you finally realize now that they're right?"

"What? No!" Sasuke's eyes widened until it softened when he saw how Sakura bit her lip and tried to restrain her tears from falling again. He released a sigh and stood up, before leaning close to use his thumb in brushing away the remaining tears near her eyes.

He then uttered, "I want to kiss you one day, Sakura. I want to kiss you one day and make you feel like you're the most beautiful girl in the world. Because to me, that's what you are."