Chapter 4: To Close the Open Hand Because One Loves
"This is what is hardest: to close the open hand because one loves." - Friedrich Nietzsche
That was it!
Haruno Sakura stomped across the room, unmindful of the curious eyes that trailed her angry wake. He had no right telling that to her face! None at all. Not after everything he had done, not only to her but to Naruto and the whole shinobi world.
She was sincere, she truly was! She said what she wanted to tell him. And she really meant it when she said she wanted to be there when he got out of prison. It was insulting, and hurtful, for him to tell her those things. She was being that bigger person, putting history and his own faults aside.
He didn't get to tell her that! Not when he tried to kill her so many times.
The next morning, however, she was eager to see him. This was their last day in Kumogakure, and she wanted to give him a piece of her mind. Forget that bigger person. And I'll make sure he understands that!
"Sit down, Sakura-chan," Naruto offered, but she refused to and continued tapping her heels as they wait for Sasuke in the visitor's hall. They didn't know what was wrong with her, but she was obviously pissed and they didn't want to have anything to do with it. Sakura was Sakura; she rarely gets temperamental nowadays, but when she did she could blow up.
The basket from yesterday was still on that same table, surprising that the guards didn't take it yet. She got a hold of it and laid it on their new table now. Minutes later, Sasuke emerged from the gates, and her eyes narrowed as if ready to pierce. When he saw her, standing arrogantly with her arms crossed against her chest, he just smirked. She was clearly angry, completely different from the stammering, tearful, gentle woman from yesterday.
He was intrigued, actually, with what this woman had to say. She looked as though she was ready to wrestle him down, if not for the place, maybe. He chided inwardly. Humor me. She should be enough of an entertainment for this godforsaken place, or even for his ran-down life.
He kept his usual bored expression as he approached them. When he was near her, as she was inches ahead of the table, he smirked and nodded to acknowledge her presence, as if to mock her. He finally sat down with his back to her. It amused him further that the two people sitting with him grew even more confused at the drama playing in front of them.
Sasuke waited for them to speak, Naruto would always try to break the ice. But she beat him to it. She turned until he could see her glaring at him from his side.
"You, Sasuke-kun, don't get to tell me that! I ate my pride yesterday, and I acted like some stupid fangirl still fawning over you just to tell you things that could somehow close that fucking gap between us," she flared. "You disappeared first; it shouldn't even bother you if I do exactly what you did."
He appeared to lack enthusiasm, or even acted as though she was non-existent; but he silently listened. To every word she had to say. If this should be their last meeting, then it could be a better closure than the one he gave her years and years back.
"I did what you asked me to, after all. I did forget you. Yesterday, I just tried to reach out, even wanting to be there for you, as a friend, when you get out. And now you're mad that I wouldn't be coming back here? You, of all the jack-ass people, don't get to tell me that!"
Sasuke bit his tongue to keep himself from grinning as Naruto and Kakashi ogled at the two of them. He was more bewildered, however, at the way she ranted that if he didn't concentrate enough, his unresponsive face would break into a smile. The only response she got was the movement of his chained hands from the table to his face, crossing his fingers in front of his mouth in case she finally cracked him to laugh.
Sakura fumed even more due to his lack of response. She should have known better, than to expect this Uchiha to even respond to anything. He was apathetic. But yesterday, he didn't sound like he was. As though it really did bother him that she wouldn't be coming back to see him. Or deep down, did she pull this skit just to get him say what she truly wanted to hear?
No fucking chance, thought her. In which it boiled her up and her reflexes made her raise her clenched fists to punch his arrogant poker face. He was on the floor in mere seconds.
"Oi, Sakura!" exclaimed her two alarmed companions. The guard, who was a meter away, immediately ran between Sakura and Sasuke.
"Lady, you better calm down or I would need you to leave," he threatened, but she could only glare at the man who interrupted. Naruto already went beside her and almost dragged her on an empty seat between Kakashi and him.
"Sasuke," Kakashi gestured him to rise and get back to the table. That was truly unexpected. And Sasuke cursed as his jaw felt numb from her attack. To spite her, he sat exactly in front of her, glaring irritatingly at the woman who had balls to do that to him - in prison.
"What? You're gonna try and kill me again?" provoked Sakura, he only smirked. "You could've just said sorry, Sasuke, instead of accusing me of being a liar. Besides, what was the point of telling me I was insincere, when you could care less about it?"
She just couldn't stop talking, as if she had a lot to say when she had just been repeating what she had already said. Why was he putting up with her, anyway? Yesterday was clearly a mistake, he had blurted out without thinking. But he really couldn't help it. The realization of her no longer visiting after all of the things she said hurt him in an indescribable way.
It was silly. And now, knowing that this was the last time he'd see her, and seeing all that anger she had for him, he couldn't just will himself to stay indifferent. It was for closure.
His eyes turned to slits and glowered in annoyance of her. "Look, I wasn't the one who approached you and asked for your kind words. I just wish you didn't come all the way here just to screw with me," Sasuke hissed. "If you couldn't say anything that you couldn't live up to, then don't even speak a word."
"I meant what I said, goddamn you!" She rose, as she hit the table loudly.
Her stubbornness was annoying, and all the more painful. "I never said anything to keep your hopes up, have I? So do me a favor; shut up and stop making me believe that there is for me. I almost fell for it."
She stared at him for the longest time; and as his words sank in, her body limped inch by inch. She had no more words for him. In her head there are a lot, more questions, more curses, more words. But in that moment, she went blank.
Through such harsh words, she easily came undone. He may be the most inarticulate person ever, but he had a way of making her go back to her own words. He was evil, cruel, and just couldn't stop playing with her mind even after years of blocking him off.
Sasuke stood now, ready to leave. "Go home, Sakura. All of you. And just move on with your lives, then let me go on with mine." He signaled his guard that he's done here. No one made a move, not even Naruto and Kakashi expected Sasuke to say something like that.
"Did, did he mean what I think he means?" she asked, softly; still looking at the gate where Sasuke went in to.
Naruto, having been recovered from the drama that he just witnessed, couldn't help but chuckle. Happily. "Yes, I guess he meant it that way, Sakura-chan." Even Kakashi was in the mood to tease.
"Who would think that Sasuke would only speak to you, Sakura? He didn't even say 'stupid' to Naruto's endless ramblings yesterday."
"Ah, Kakashi-sensei, maybe it's because he wasn't up for it, after Sakura-chan left," he egged on. She was feeling warm and fuzzy with their coaxing. He wasn't mindraping her again, was he? No, he couldn't be.
She was still stunned, he was impossible, unbelievable. She couldn't make herself stand, afraid this feeling might just be from a dream; but Naruto was sweet enough to carry her on his back.
"Sasuke, you idiot, you forgot your basket again," she whispered to Naruto's back, so the blonde took it with him. She'd just have to give it to that bastard again. And with that thought, he beamed.
"Nee, Sakura-chan, you're not going back home after that, are you?" She didn't answer, though.
"Teehee! You can stay a bit longer; I bet Tsunade-sama wouldn't mind." Sakura's grip on Naruto's shoulder tightened, and it continued to do so as they went back to the inn.
"Wasn't he keeping my hopes up now? He's doing exactly what he didn't want me to do! What a hypocrite!" She mumbled, with her voice muffled by Naruto's neck. "Sasuke, you idiot..."
The two men just laughed. Naruto was in high spirits. Somehow, he felt that all could end well. "Sasuke, you idiot… Sasuke, you idiot…" she continued whispering, to the point of almost chanting.
It wasn't time for these two to have their closure, Naruto mused. Not yet, not when their story had just began. He didn't know how it'd work out, but somehow, fate would manage.
"Sasuke, you idiot…"
AN: Thank you heaps and heaps! I'm sorry if it's getting tooooo angsty... You should know by now that I revel in angst, but it's starting to exhaust me. So I'm trying to get the mood be a bit light. Tell me what you think? I was all fluffy when the idea of Sasuke saying those words pop into my head, but as I re-read it, I wasn''t so sure anymore... Sorry, maybe it's the angst... Bit too much?
Still for SasuSaku Month. Prompt: Close.
Enjoy, and tell me about it ^^ I'm stalling my thesis for this fic, but I'm enjoying a lot! :3 Thank you again for the kind words!