Day One: Glances

It only takes a single glance.

The first came with a great deal of emotion. Eyes so warm and green they could only be considered otherworldly. He thought he was dead, and in that moment, he honestly didn't care. Those green eyes enveloped him whole, enrapturing him in a way indescribable, pulling him out of the hazed state he was in. Confusion loomed over him like an impending storm, his own eyes impossibly dark and bleary as he forced them open a fraction wider, blinking up at the strange creature staring down at him.

He'd been so lost in those eyes of hers that it took several moments for him to realize he was not only soaked but covered in sand, clothes clinging to his body in a most uncomfortable manner. The sky overhead was a dark grey, a tell-tale sign if the angry rumble of thunder wasn't enough. Strong waves crashed upon the shore around him, salty seawater spraying over his already drenched form, but all these things were somewhere in the distance, irrelevant when he had the face of an angel no more than an inch from his own.

Her ivory skin was wet as well, thick lashes framing those vivid green eyes. Her pretty pink lips were parted just slightly as she regarded him, a crease between her furrowed brows as she scrutinized him. Her hair was probably the most peculiar thing about her; pink — the same shade of pink he associated with the cherry blossoms of spring. It was long, framing her delicate features in a way that complimented her so perfectly. A dainty hand raised to his cold wet cheek, an affectionate and worried caress that had his heavily-lidded eyes opening fully.

This girl—no older than him—was no ordinary girl, but a creature of the sea. The fins almost hidden within her hair told him that much, if her lack of clothing did not. She stared at him as his curiosity morphed into something more akin to confusion and fluster. Sasuke was not a man of many years, but a boy of thirteen, barely a teenager, and yet he had never believed any tales of mermaids and such.

He forced himself to lean up, weight resting on his elbows. The way the furrow of her brows deepened and her lips pursed together had something unfamiliar to him clenching in his chest. Tight and unrelenting. Sasuke didn't understand. He wondered how he had gotten here and where she'd come from. He wondered many things, and yet not a single question poured from his lips.

Those eyes of hers bore into him in a way most unsettling, evoking a shudder from somewhere deep within him, flesh covering in chill bumps. He swallowed hard, obsidian eyes shifting between those breathtaking emeralds of hers, willing an explanation to fall upon him. What had brought him here and why was this girl—this creature—looking at him with such sadness?

One look and Sasuke felt as if he had an elaborate book laid open before him—a most enticing and entirely forbidden tale there, too tempting for him not to absorb all the information it harbored. She looked to him as if he was someone precious, someone she needed to protect. As if her heart and soul had been shattered by the thought of something happening to him. As if she was filled with fear and concern and he was the cause.

It felt as if an eternity passed between them when in reality it was no longer than a single moment. His heart palpitated in his chest, stuttering out of beat before gaining momentum and working harder as her eyes fell to his left arm. He was bleeding, a gash there that had him hissing when he finally noticed it—the sound eliciting from him in pain. She reached for it, and he flinched slightly, tearing his gaze from the wound back to her eyes which somehow managed to placate him. A look of assurance and promise.

When she touched him, a faint glow appeared from her hand, the shade a green eerily similar to that of her eyes. The pain in his arm he'd only just begun to register faded into nothingness, a sensation of cooling pleasure replacing it. She was healing him. Sasuke had heard tales, yes, but healing had never been a factor in any of them. He watched the miraculous girl, the concerned look on her pretty face ebbing away, becoming one of concentration, and then relief. She trilled once his arm was to her liking—the wound gone completely as if it had never existed to begin with, and then she giggled.

"You frightened me."

Sasuke, for whatever reason, hadn't anticipated her speaking to him. Her voice cut through the air, loud in his ears despite the soft tone she spoke with, and still the waves and the thunder were lost on him. As if this girl was the only thing in the vicinity. As if she was the only thing in existence.

He opened his mouth to speak only to find his words fail him. For an embarrassingly long moment, he floundered, mouth closing and opening like a fish out of water—the irony. She seemed to take pity on him, much to his relief, and pointed to the left. Sasuke turned his head, following the motion.

The cliffs.

He'd been wandering along the edge of the cliffs, ignoring the warnings he'd been given about the dangers of them so close to a storm. The ocean was violent when the storms brewed, unforgiving and strong in an unfathomable way. Sasuke had gotten too close, and a single wave had swept him into the sea, knocking him unconscious in the process.

"You saved me." It wasn't a question, because he knew it to be factual once everything came back to him. He hadn't witnessed her bring him out of the raging sea, but that much was obvious. He couldn't have saved himself given the circumstances.

When he'd opened his eyes again, it had been to glance into those eyes of hers which were still so baffling to him.

"I saved you," she said with a small smile that clearly showed how pleased she was in doing so. "It's dangerous."

His parents had told him so numerous times and yet he had ignored them. Sasuke had been going through a bit of a rebellious phase as he was facing a great deal of responsibilities that he wished he could ignore. Most people his age were being adventurous in their own rights, having simple chores and nothing more, but not Sasuke. His days were spent training and preparing to make a name for himself.

A name that would make his clan proud of him.

"I'll be more careful." It was a promise he never made sincerely to anyone else, but he meant it genuinely when he said it to her.

"Please do," she replied with a smile that set his heart aflutter. "You should go… before it worsens."

That quickly, she'd slipped into the water, and Sasuke scrambled to his feet, calling after her to wait as if the mere thought of her disappearing was an outcome he wouldn't be able to handle.

Though her form had vanished into the building waves, her pink hair appeared at his call, green eyes so bright they appeared to glow.

"What's your name?" The question fell from his lips unbidden, without thought, bringing blood rushing to his cheeks so quickly it had him shifting his feet anxiously.

"Sakura," she answered after a drawn-out growl of thunder passed and Sasuke breathed in at the information.

Her name was Sakura. How fitting.

"Sasuke." He gave his name in response.

Sakura merely smiled and replied with an amused, "I know," before she was gone, leaving Sasuke to reflect on their chance encounter and all the things he'd felt by glancing into those telling green eyes that spoke such volumes to him.