A NaruSaku I dug up from the abyss of my computer. The first Naruto fanfic I ever wrote. Set sometime between Mist arch and Sasuke-run-away arch. No spoilers.
Disclaimer: I own not Naruto.
Catch
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Her hands desperately clutched the front of his shirt as she wept into it, her tears raking her body as she hung onto him for the support he's always shown and always will show.
And all he saw was her tears and the whites of her knuckles, and all he felt was the ache in his heart. A dull throb that followed the rhythm of her mumblings, the words dribbling from her lips almost soundlessly.
She didn't even need to speak, he understood nevertheless. And even in her haze she felt an appreciation for him, an appreciation she had found years ago, from the first time she had ever came to him.
She had stumbled through his door during a mouthful of ramen and he had almost choked to see her, out of all people. He had swallowed his ramen to open his mouth and great her cheerfully when the smile dropped and shattered on the floor.
She had fallen into his arms and for a moment he didn't know how to react, but then the glazed look in her eyes was replaced by tears and his arms came around her instinctively.
With the ramen left aside long forgotten, she didn't say anything and he didn't ask anything, only stroking her hair tenderly and whispering soft nonsense in her ear.
Only when she had fallen into a restless sleep did he release his hold on her and gently place her on his bed. His fingers lifted clumps of pink hair off of her face and traced the outlines of her features sadly, regrettably, because from the moment she had walked into his door he knew. Her mutterings had not gone undetected by him and the words that had swirled in her mind appeared on her unconscious lips and drove into his heart. Sasuke-kun was all he would hear for a long time.
That was the first time, following it would come countless of other times when her façade needed a sanctuary, a place where she wouldn't be afraid to crumble her defense and surrender completely.
And as always, the next day he would see her, smiling with a brand new shiny mask in place.
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Once again I fear for the tenses in it, if you see any mistakes in it, please drop a note. This was going to be the start of a longer story but after I stumbled across it and reread it, it seemed pretty much finished. It might be a bit abrupt because of that.