Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Rise
Chapter 2
"Hi, Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke pauses in his step, one foot frozen in the air. Slowly his head twists to the source of the voice.
It's Sakura, of course. He'd know that voice anywhere, anytime. No number of years can change that.
Sakura's cheeks are flushed pink—perhaps from seeing him, he doesn't know—and she's standing beside him, a wavering smile on her face. She breathes deeply, as if preparing herself to speak to him, and shakes her head to dislodge a lock of pink hair that crept into her face.
He nods his head at her and turns to face her fully. "Sakura."
She beams at this. Her smile doesn't seem to waver anymore. "I was just finishing grocery shopping and saw you passing by outside." She gestures at the six or so bags in both her hands.
He raises an eyebrow at this. Anyone else would've been struggling with the weight, but this is Sakura, and he's seen her inhuman strength in battle before. The bags don't faze her in the least.
"I'm going to go cook dinner with my parents," she rushes on, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "They've been pestering me to visit them ever since the war ended."
He nods once more, a silent acknowledgment of her words.
Sakura's smile falters a little. "I feel bad. I really haven't been home in a long time." She laughs, but it's not full of mirth as it usually is. "I'm a horrible daughter."
"You moved out of your parents' home?" he questions, much to her surprise.
Her eyes brighten. Did it really give her that much joy for him to respond to her, to talk to her? "Yeah! I moved out a few years ago, once I had enough money to afford my own place. I like being on my own."
He's silent, simply because he doesn't know what else to say, but the silence is gone soon after when Sakura peeks at the position of the sun in the sky.
"Shit, I'm running late!" she exclaims, adjusting the bags in her arms to a more comfortable position. "My mom's gonna kill me."
Sakura makes to hop onto the nearest roof, but before her legs propel her into the air, she pauses and looks back at him.
"Now that you're back, you'll have to come over to see my apartment sometime, Sasuke-kun," she says, a smile curving her lips once more. "It's small but homey. And I can cook you dinner! I make a mean bowl of katsu-don."
Sasuke is surprised at this, though he doesn't show it. For some reason, he didn't expect this new, changed Sakura to put in the effort to see him. Perhaps she isn't so different after all.
It's been a good number of seconds, he realizes, since she's spoken, and yet again he's been silent. He sees disappointment in her eyes at his lack of response. It easily betrays the smile she fights to keep on her lips, and before he can open his mouth to hopefully rectify the situation—how he'd do that, he doesn't know, but he should at least try—she's speaking again.
"Or if you're not comfortable with that, that's okay too!" She laughs nervously. "Sorry if I'm being too forward, I…" She trails off, and her smile finally falls.
Sasuke frowns. It frustrates him, he finds, that Sakura can't be around him for more than a few minutes without crying or being sad in some way. He wishes he didn't have that effect on her, but doesn't have a clue what to do about it.
"Well, I'll be going then." Sakura's voice brings him back to reality. Mustering up one last, sad smile, Sakura lifts a hand—the bags swinging at the motion—as if to wave goodbye. "See ya around, Sasuke-kun!"
She's gone before he can do anything to erase the cheerless look so noticeable to him in her normally bright, joyful eyes.
Sasuke has known for a very long time that he cares for Sakura.
He's not stupid. He knows what it's like to love someone, to have their best interests in mind, no matter what the rest of the shinobi world might think. He's not heartless, or unfeeling, or any other cruel adjectives that have been spat at him over the years.
Sasuke is cold, yes, but still there is warmth within him—even though he himself forgets it sometimes. And while he might not be the easiest person to love, at the end of the day, he is still human, through and through.
He thinks that that is one of the main reasons why Sakura always remained a precious person to him, despite everything they've been through (he'll never forget the feeling of his hands around her neck, kunai poised to kill, as he was consumed with a rage he never experienced before; he still has nightmares about it to this day, and doesn't think he'll ever quite forgive himself for it).
Sasuke knows just how hard it is to love him, but for some reason, seeing Sakura pinned to a tree after she protected him from Gaara, being held in her arms as the curse seal faded from his body, watching her scream from exertion as she lent whatever chakra she had left to Obito so that he could make it through the portal—
For some reason, he never once doubted the depth and sincerity of her feelings for him. He just couldn't for the life of him understand them.
Haruno Sakura—for some reason entirely unknown to him—loved Uchiha Sasuke. It was a fact, every bit a fact as the sun rising in the east, or Naruto being an idiot.
Sasuke thinks that she still feels the same. That part, as least, remains unchanged. He can see it in the way she looks at him ever since the war ended. She's hesitant around him, cautious—like prey eyeing its predator—but nevertheless in love.
Just as he still has a hard time believing that Naruto considers him a friend after all this time, Sakura's continuous feelings for him shock him to the core. He can't imagine any other two people stupid enough to care for him despite what he put them through.
It's something, as Sasuke learned upon the end of the war, that he won't take for granted ever again. Truly, these people are special—have remained by his side through the toughest of times, and probably would follow him to the depths of hell if he asked.
Naruto knows it, too. He knows how much Sasuke cares for him, brags about it to his face all the time.
If only, Sasuke thinks, Sakura would be smart enough to do the same.
A/N: I'm nervous about this new approach I'm taking, but excited at the same time. In my head, Sasuke has always cared about Sakura to some extent, just as he's always cared for Naruto. So I wanted to write what I've seen in the series: a Sasuke who has held this quiet affection for Sakura since they were genin and who, despite the fucked up life he's lived, still knows what love is.
Please leave me your thoughts and/or comments about what you've read so far! I always love hearing from you. :)
Until next time!
Best,
Shannon