.Sasuke

Rain fell in sheets around Konoha.

When he lifted his face, under the black locks, he saw her.

Sakura.

Thin, shuddering, soaked. He could recognize her everywhere. Who could not have? It was she who alone possessed a florid shade of hair. That astounding hair color. However, this time, the locks were wet, a darker shade of pink. They were down to her nape like a thick sheet of pink. His eyes darkened in annoyance. Stupid girl. No umbrella, no cloak, no hood. She loved attention, didn't she?

Lowering his lids, he grunted. He found himself walking toward her, his footsteps were quiet. The sandals he wore sloshed the murky rain puddles as he advanced. As he held the umbrella aloft, he saw Sakura lift her head slightly, not looking up but tilted her head in a listening gesture.

He held the umbrella higher and shielded her against the fat rapid drops. Sakura stiffened. Imperceptibly, he shook his head.

"Sakura."

The girl didn't lift her chin, her eyes downcast and half-lidded. His forehead creased as he surveyed her appearance. Sakura wore black Capri pants that went down past her knees, red sleeveless shirt and black sandals. In closer inspection, the fine hairs on her bare arms were standing up in a shiver, making goosepimples. Her hand carried white duffel; her wet long fingers were loose around the straps. She looked shorter with her slouched posture and bent head. Thick collarbone-length layered wet hair obscured most of her face. For a moment, he was consumed with a sudden urge to part the hair to reveal her face. However, he restrained himself. After all, being an Uchiha, he was taught with perfect emotional control. His lips twisted in disgust, dismissing the urge.

Pathetic.

"Sakura, what are you up to?" his voice, even to his eras, sounded cold.

"I…I…"

"Do you need attention?" he drawled, his voice laced with growling quality. Another stiffening of her spine. His dark gaze strayed to her pale lips. Upper teeth bit down to the bottom lip, a bead of rainwater rolled to her chin.

Briefly, he closed his eyes.

"It's raining." He added, shifting his gaze, watching the silhouettes made by the raindrops against the fabric of the umbrella. "You should not stay out in the rain."

He was, at least, curious by her silence. Sakura was a free spirited girl who loved to talk ceaselessly. She laughed at the silliest things, she cried over the stupidest things. This girl was an enigma. A creature that was capable of emotions, a person who had the largest emotional bank account.

Sakura should not be quiet.

It was the oddest miracle.

"Go home." He heard himself say, staring forward, his expression passive as ever. "We have a mission. Don't be late." It must be his imagination but she cringed.

And that didn't matter. Never. Sakura never mattered.

"Yes." Her voice was thin, almost broken. But as always, he dismissed it.

"Go."

For a longest moment, Sakura didn't move. Slowly, she lifted her face. From the corner of his eye, he watched her looked up to the sky. He could not see her expression, only the sway and fall of pink strands as she moved her head backward. But he felt her move out of the shelter with slow small steps.

He listened. And closed his eyes.

Damn it. Frowning, he opened them again and at the same time, turned around to see her. He opened his mouth to call her name, but nothing came out.

Wimp, he heard a small voice whispered. Dark eyebrows made a straight line as he closed his mouth, ground his teeth and exhaled through his nose, aggravated.

With lids lowered over his eyes, he watched her.

Until she disappeared in a corner.

It was then he summoned the strength to say her name.

"Sakura."

He didn't move. He didn't know how long he stood there. Sakura was no longer in sight but he kept watching the place where she had been as if she was still there, standing.

There was a fork of lightning that illuminated the dark skies. He remembered, Sakura was frightened of lightning. There was a funny unsettling at the pit of his stomach. The uneasiness spread. Another lightning appeared, his frown deepened and—

"Hn." He spun and started to trudge in the direction of his apartment. Suddenly, he stopped. Frowning, he said. "Naruto."

"Sasuke." The blonde returned.

The frown turned into a scowl. "What do you want?" he asked impatiently.

"…"

He frowned at Naruto's expression of frustration and dread. "Naruto," he began, trying to stem his annoyance. "What do you want?"

Naruto heaved a deep heavy sigh.

"She's leaving."

Dark eyes blinked.

Leaving. The word sounded foreign to him.

She's leaving.

The sentence was even more surprising. And now, there was a feeling of dread along with it.

He knew what Naruto meant. Nevertheless, he pretended. He denied. And he asked.

"Who's leaving?" he asked coolly. The blonde fumed, he saw and clenched his fists.

"You fucking well know who am talking about, you bastard."

Right. Of course, he knew. But he was denying the possibility. He was trying… so hard to deny the truth. Even if he had to lie to himself.

Sakura and the word leaving did not go well together. She could not. She would not. She would not even try. She… that girl belonged here. Nowhere else. There was no spring out there. No fields to dig herself in. No winter to bring the spring for her.

"Do I have to spell it out to you?" hissed Naruto. "Fine. Sakura. Sakura is leaving. Sakura-chan. Do you understand now? She's leaving and she's not coming back, is that what you want to hear?"

He was still trying, and trying – so hard to understand.

Naruto frowned, almost sadly. "Sasuke—"

"What do you want me to do?" he asked calmly.

Naruto didn't answer for a long time. "Nothing." He answered finally. "Nothing at all." With that, he spun around and went off.

And he stood there, alone and quiet.

There was another fork of lightning.

The lightning. She's …scared. He can feel it. And he turned, letting the umbrella fall.

Later on, when he reached the gates and saw her back, he told himself— again and again— he did it, because she was a tiny girl who was scared of lightning.

Nothing else.

"Sakura."

The girl stopped in mid-step.

"Where are you going?" he made sure his voice was neutral.

She's leaving. The word echoed, ricocheting inside his head, making an annoying echo.

"Are you running away from me?"

Sakura slowly looked over her shoulder to meet his intense gaze. He was startled how composed she looked. She's not scared. Oddly, he felt a painful disappointment.

"No." Her voice was relaxed. He tried to suppress the mounting anxiety inside him.

"Then, where are you going?"

"Somewhere…" Sakura's voice sounded far away, like a fairy tale.

He was frowning now. "Were you ordered to go?"

Sakura took time to answer. "No."

"Sakura."

That sounded… unfamiliar. He sounded… different. Not himself. No. He never use that tone. But, something went horribly wrong.

"I have to go."

He made a desperate step towards her and grabbed her bare arm. Under his palm, he felt an electric shock but he ignored it. Static, he told himself.

Her bag fell from her grasp as she staggered back.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Sakura shrieked and with all his willpower, he suppressed the urge to wince. Truly, his control was the best out there. His face, he felt, didn't shift at all.

Congrats, bastard.

"Sakura…"

She lifted a hand, palm facing him as he stepped forward. "Stop. Please."

He did and stared at her.

"Where are you going?" he tried again but she kept silent, her green eyes, despite of her anguish remained glowing, iridescent, like lost leaves. He exhaled, controlling his temper. This girl… he mentally shook his head.

"It's late. And cold. Go home." He paused and struggled. "We have a mission tomorrow. Don't get sick. The team requires a medic-nin."

He saw her bit her lip. And then, her face hardened in a resolve, she reached down to her duffel and turned to the gap between the enormous gates.

He's now scowling. "Sakura—"

"I'm leaving."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Damn you.

You're making this difficult.

You make things difficult for me.

Sakura shrugged. "Nothing that concerns you." She lifted a hand in a seal. Funny, he panicked. Afterwards, he felt pathetic.

"Sakura— no, wait." He saw her eyes flinched when his skin touched hers. His eyes didn't miss the way she recoiled and winced. Ah… his cursed skin against her innocent skin… Pure, pretty Sakura recoiling. So, she felt contaminated?

He felt betrayed. Pain turned into anger. No. He was trying to mask the pain with anger. Fuck.

"Sasuke-san," Sakura sounded pained and he felt someone punched him in the gut. Sasuke…san? He ignored the pang of pain.

"Go home."

"I have to tell you something."

Sakura shook her head. Her wet short wavy bangs covered one eye. "No. I have to go…"

He gripped her hand tighter. "Sakura, this is important." Oh how the mighty had fallen. He was close to begging.

For a moment, Sakura seemed to reconsider but she looked at him straight in the eye and hardened her face. "I don't care! Let me go!" she tugged at her hand but he did not let go.

"Sakura, if you really want to leave. I won't stop you."

"Then, why are you here?"

Indeed.

He had no answer on that one— at least, an honest answer. He sighed instead. "I have to tell you something."

"Sasuke-san…"

A flicker of anger flashed in his eyes. "Don't call me that." He hid, again, a wince. Great. Not only he was good in controlling his temper, but he was developing a new talent. Hiding a wince.

Great.

"Leave me alone!" Sakura demanded, pulling her hand. "Let… GO!"

"Not until you hear me out." He snapped.

"You are so selfish! Cannot you tell that I don't want to listen?!"

Really, this girl had no idea how the famous adage worked: words cut like a knife. Sakura managed to free her hand and hurriedly turned to face the gates. But he's not someone who'd accept defeat that easily. One way or another, she'll listen. If he had to force her, so be it.

He had to tell her. He had to.

And so, he grabbed her shoulder and forced her to face him.

Anxiety spiked. And that anxiety made him truthful. For once, for the first time in his life, he was honest to himself. He confessed:

I'm hurt. You're hurting me. And that really hurts.

Which resulted in—

"Damn it! This is important!"

yelling.

Sakura was shocked, he could tell. And he could not blame her. He never yelled at her. Even when she's at the peak of annoying him.

Green eyes slowly lifted to meet his. "I told you… I don't care."

He sighed, frustrated. "You're… annoying."

After that, silence hung between them. Sakura broke it softly, like the way she broke his heart when she said:

"…goodbye." It was so soft that it made an illusion. But he gripped her shoulder as though gripping his sanity. And his pride. The reality.

"Why don't you even listen to me?"

"Sasuke…" the way she whispered his name made him look down to her face. Tears were flooding down her cheeks. He could not even tell if they were tears or the raindrops.

"Sakura! Listen to me—"

She smiled. Oh god, she smiled and he wanted to smile back. And suddenly, emotions were overflowing and he wanted to tell her everything, about the sunshine and the spring, about him… everything about him, how he felt about her, how scared he was, of her, of what she was capable to do to him, of losing the important things… everything.

He wanted to smile and say…

"I can't stay."

Dark eyes widened under the black bangs.

Sakura.

"I can't stay… not anymore."

"Sakura." A view of his mouth, saying her name. Then, the hand on her shoulder tightening, clenching.

"I'm sorry."

He had to blink because his vision became cloudy. And he didn't know why. The rain was clouding his vision. Her face became a blur.

He blinked and his vision cleared.

Beautiful face. A sad beauty. Green eyes, pale hair. A face that he will always remember.

Sakura smiled. "Thank you."

Poof.

Silence. His hand gripped air. The lower portion of his face was seen, wet locks covering his eyes. His mouth opened, closed then opened again. The jaw muscles twitched and he struggled again to speak.

He can't.

"SAKURA!"

He screamed.

-

-

"Pleased to meet you! I am Sakura!"

7 years later.

The sight of her was painful. He thought, the longer he looked, the more painful it got, and the sadder he felt.

To feel sad even though I don't understand sadness.

But feelings were really like liquid, didn't they? They kept overflowing, tangling together until he cannot distinguish one emotion from another. They flowed everywhere yet they remained together. He wanted to bottle them up to control them, but the "bottle" broke and they went everywhere, flooding the "room" he had inside of him.

And so, he stopped looking. He dropped his gaze and looked somewhere else. However, he had looked enough to notice that her hair had grown long. The bangs she didn't have 7 years ago had grown down to her eyes. She changed, only slightly. She didn't grow in height. She remained thin, still pale and wide-eyed.

"W-well…" Sakura stammered. "… that's a nice name."

The little girl smiled widely. "It is! And to be named after my father's love," he felt her gaze as she looked up at him. "It's amazing! Anyway, how about you, Miss? What's your name?"

He stiffened, his eyes widening slightly. And he knew that Sakura froze too.

"Sakura-chan!" Both girls looked toward the direction of the voice. It was Naruto. His daughter immediately perked up at the sight of the blonde. She loved that person dearly.

"Naruto-jichan!" the little girl waved with both arms. Naruto slowed down into a halt and smiled down at the girl.

"Sa-chan."

"Ji-chan!" she threw her arms around Naruto's middle. "I missed you, jichan!"

There was a discreet exchange of nods between him and Naruto. The blonde bent down, and picked her up, smiling softly. His gaze went past the child.

"Sakura…"

His jaw clenched. As well as his fists. Briefly, he closed his eyes and breathed.

"Yes?" the little girl asked eagerly. He heard Naruto sighed. It wasn't a good idea to name the child after the Cherry Blossom tree. Not now when she was present.

"Sa-chan, you're getting heavier, eh?" Naruto said. The girl pouted.

"No, I'm not!" the child said. "But look! Look! A woman with pink hair, she's pretty, isn't she?"

Naruto smiled softly. "Yeah…"

"Naruto…" He heard Sakura say softly. Almost at once, he felt his insides frozen up, his stomach clenched and his eyes dropped close.

An unbridled thought crossed his calm mind. How would it feel like to hear her say his name like that?

He'd have to keep guessing.

"Amazing…you also knew my Naruto-jichan?"

It was Naruto who answered. "The three of us…belonged to the same Genin team, the Team Kakashi." Naruto paused. "We are…the Team7."

Dark eyes opened and strayed toward Sakura.

The little girl's eyes widened. "Team 7…? The…Legendary Team Seven… My father, Naruto-jichan and…" the little girl's eyes lingered at Sakura. "…you." With a small intrigued frown, she stared at the pink-haired woman. "I remembered Iruka-sensei telling us during History classes that the female member of Team 7 was trained under Godaime-sama— and that girl is… you."

It felt like the world had stopped moving. That time stopped for them as they stood around in a circle, separated by space, despair, hopes and pain.

The little girl looked around them, to her father then to her ji-chan and to the woman whose name she didn't know.

After a long silence, Naruto spoke. "It's been a long…long…" A pause. "…time, Sakura-chan."

"…!" The little girl's eyes widened slightly.

"…Naruto, I—" Sakura started but stopped when—

"Sakura." He saw her eyes widened as she turned to look at him in surprise. "I—" Impetuously, he stepped forward with a firm intent. A feeling consumed him. An uncontrollable urge. He wanted to tell her what he had failed to tell her seven years ago but a flashback stopped him:

Live and let go, Sasuke. Naruto told him seven years ago. Live and let her go. Let her live her life without you. Let her go and let her look for her happiness on her own.

Naruto, I—

She has to be happy. With or without us. Naruto paused. With or without you.

He thought with realization: with or without me, her life will continue. With or without me, she can be happy.

Live and let go. Naruto repeated. It's a big world. Somewhere out there, she'll find her happiness.

Looking at her right now made him realize that he was not the one to provide that happiness.

His tight fists loosened. He exhaled, lowered his face and stepped back quietly.

Live and let go.

I'll set you free.

You can be everything you wanted to be. And I'll just watch from behind.

"You… you don't mean HER?" the little girl said disbelievingly, looking at her quiet father.

No one spoke.

"Otou-chan? Say something!" the little girl demanded. His throat was dry but he tried…- very hard— to speak as he looked down to the child.

"You're going to be late." He said quietly. "Your class will start soon. Let's go. I'll walk you to school."

"But…"

"This is something to be discussed privately between the two of them." With his big hand, he took the girl's small one. But stubbornly, the child looked up to the woman.

"What's your name? Who are you?"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura bit her bottom lip. "I…I…I'm…"

"…pink hair …green eyes …" the girl said slowly, her eyes never left Sakura's face. "…you are Haruno… Sakura, aren't you? Godaime-sama's apprentice. Naruto-jichan's long time crush…"

Naruto stiffened.

"…and my Father's first and only love."

His chest was grating painfully. In realization, pain, humiliation and despair.

There was a poof and a flurry of petals swirled where Sakura previously stood.

"Sakura!" "Sakura-chan!"

"Shit." He snapped. "Naruto, inform Tsunade-sama about Sakura. I'm sure, she'll leave again." Naruto left in typical ninja way. With narrowed eyes, he watched the fluttering pink petals.

"Otou-chan, did you ever love my mother? The woman who bore me?" the tiny voice below him made him sigh. "Okaa-san told me that you married her just to—" the girl continued with small shrugs of her tiny shoulders.

He frowned, interrupting her. "Your mother and I had reached an understanding. As a child, you should not have concerned yourself with complicated affairs."

"I know! I'm only seven but—"

"Sakura." That silenced her.

"I saw you cry one time."

He blinked in shock.

"Not a cry with sobbing and all— it's small tears. You had your hands on your face and you tugged at your hair like this." She demonstrated with her even black bangs. "Then, you stopped, sighed, worked and I stopped looking. You looked sad everyday."

I looked… sad?

"But you waited, didn't you?"

("I can wait. Can you?")

It wasNaruto's last statement seven years ago.

"…you waited for a very long time."

The corner of his mouth tugged upward in a small, discreet smile as he bowed his head. "Yes. I did."

"I love you, Otou-chan."

He smiled.

"And thank you for naming me after the person you waited for. I feel very special!"

"You are."

Little Sakura gave him another pretty smile. "I know." Her smile widened. "And I know that you weren't really my father."

-

-

Tears of the cold, cold man

Touched an angel's heart

He looked but she turned away

She looked but he turned away

He thought she'll be there

She thought he never cared

He thought it's forever

She thought it's never

He believed in ever after

She believed in fairy tales

Together

In a tale

With no heading

Will there be happy ending

For the love

That has no beginning?