everyday with you

glances

The last time he had seen her, she was blushing. Pretty pink just like her hair, while her eyes stared wide at him in wonder. It warmed his chest.

The last time she had seen him, he had thanked her. The same words that she had held on to for years like a lifeline, but this time, it had felt more like a promise. It gave her hope.

He had missed her. Every time he came across someone with eyes the colour of jade, they were always the wrong shade. When he would sit at a camp fire shrouded in the night's darkness with only the grating sound of crickets to keep him company, he would try to remember her different kinds of laughs. While he sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking The Land of Snow, he had pictured how she would marvel at the sight. After breathing in deeply and unable to let it out because his chest pricked with searing pain, he had imagined how she would have scolded him for being reckless as her hands glowed green to give him the gentle relief he needed.

He wonders if she had thought about him too. He wonders if she still feels the same. Or maybe he had asked for too much time and things changed. Maybe she moved on.

She had missed him. On the nights that lasted too long, she would sit outside on a roof and stare up at the moon while she imagined he was doing the same. When she would leave the hospital after pulling a triple 12 hour shift with nothing but coffee, similarity rations pills and a prayer keeping her going, she had wondered about how nice it would be to have him by her side, just to walk home with. Parts of him manifested in her patients—when their eyes gleamed dark, when they shared stories of pain that she would never fully understand, when the ones that didn't smile often would show her gratitude.

She wonders if he had thought about her too. She wonders if he still feels the same. Or maybe he opened his eyes to the world and things changed. Maybe the fragile promise dissolved.

They both think that maybe the beginnings of something is all they could ever be. Maybe that's just as far as they would get.

But the day he is greeted by the gates of a village he once thought he'd walked away from forever, she is on the other side standing beside their best friend and teacher, and the distance between them narrows.

They both scan the other from afar, eyes flickering up and down. When he is close enough that he notices she parted her hair differently than he had last seen and he notices that he filled his clothes out better than before, they manage a glimpse at each other.

First, she notices that his face has changed. There is a sense of peace in his expression that she is seeing for the first time. Second, he realizes he didn't need to worry.

All it takes is a glance, but it's a breathtaking sight for both of them. Sakura's smile wide while Sasuke's is barely there. It is as though a mirror is placed between them to show how their expression reflects in each other's, and so they both understand.

Nothing had changed between them, and at the same time, everything had.

A/N: Inspired by cherrynojutsu's first chapter to 'Like Gold' (on ao3). I highly recommend going to check it out! I wanted to start off the month with some canon material and I couldn't get the thought of them looking at each other after being reunited and just knowing out of my head.

In honour of Sasusaku Month 2021, I'll be posting daily ficlets for the month of July 2021! Prompts by ssmonth on Twitter/ssskmonth on Tumblr. Mostly unconnected. Some will be canon-based and some will be AU. They're ficlets so everything will be under 1000 words and honestly, I'm hoping for under 500 words but we'll see. This is going to be more of a writing exercise for me than anything since I've always been a little afraid to write SS, but hopefully we'll get something decent out of this.

Thank you for reading and I hope you can follow me on our journey with Sakura and Sasuke through this month!