A/N: Totally revamped.
Summary: I promised I would stay with you forever. It was the promise of a lifetime. "Love is staying with someone to the bitter end."
-#03-
Even in Death
(Failure comes at a high price too, in case you forgot).
.
.
"Sakura..."
Clasps hand.
"Yeah, Sasuke-kun?"
...
"It's nothing."
.
.
I don't cry.
It isn't that I don't want to, it's simply because I can't; they won't come out. I think it's the subconscious thought in my brain which is telling me: don't cry. don't cry. crying won't solve a thing.
A gaping, hole in his shoulder.
He's bleeding out.
Sasuke –Sasuke-kun– he's dying.
People always seem to leave me.
I approach him. He doesn't notice me; his eyes are blank and ice-cold.
Exactly like the first time they became a team.
His eyes. Those same, fathomless obsidian glass eyes that I would stare into every time I caught his attention when we were genin...
I pause.
...
Sasuke is blind. I attempt to muffle the sob as I fall down onto the wet pavement, skinning my knees in a process. The dying man flinches and snaps his head towards my direction, finally realizing someone is there.
"Who is it?", he hisses sharply.
I feel my heart crack a little more when I see him dart unseeing eyes. Pathetic; a shell of his former self.
Was it really worth it, Sasuke-kun?
He stops and lets out a faint, wet exhale.
I stare at him, my dull eyes watching the prone form.
"Hey Sasuke-kun..."
...
"It's Sakura."
.
.
Some days, she'd cry herself to sleep thinking of him.
Some days, she couldn't get out of bed.
.
.
Sasuke stiffens and turns his head to face me. I ignore the eyes looking through me and crack a smile. He seems to sense it and gives me a weak, barely-there smirk.
...
He always did manage to find out when I felt weak.
We both stay in our respective positions until I speak.
These awkward silences between us, I always tried to break them.
Old habits die hard.
"Do you want me to try to heal it?" I ask quietly. He doesn't speak.
My shoulders droop. I wonder why I always set myself up only to be disappointed.
"Heh", he rasps out. I look at him through half-lidded eyes.
"No."
Ok.
He seems to know my silent answer.
...
There's a hint of finality in the humid air, and really, it's kind of sad.
.
.
"Do you think me and you could have happened if we were born in a different life?"
"No."
Smiles.
.
.
I wasn't that foolhardy to convince myself this was the right thing to do, but I just felt like it was necessary for me to do it.
For me as well as the man I loved.
.
.
"... It would've been different then. We wouldn't have been so–" (hopeless)
Silence.
She nods, understanding.
.
.
When they find her, she's in her room.
There's the faint scent of almonds in the air.
-x-
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A/N: Inspired by tsubaki-hana's 'Long Live the Queen'. Hopefully, that wasn't too bad. Now that I've read it, it's kind of... "ugh". - -;
Thank you to anyone who favourites/alerts this fic. A special thank you to anyone who reviews.