Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters.
Chapter Three
~Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people brings happiness, but it can also leave a lingering painful memory.~
The next morning Sasuke was abruptly woken up by someone's small hand tugging on his pajama shirt.
He groaned and then opened his eyes, blinking lazily as they slowly adjusted to the bright lights that must've been turned on while he was fast asleep.
Rolling over, Sasuke let out a loud yawn and froze when the small hand vanished from his pajama shirt and grasped the collar of it roughly.
For leaning right above him was a deviously grinning Sakura who had her hand wrapped around the collar of his pajama shirt.
"H-hey what do you think you're doing?" He mumbled grumpily and still half asleep.
As an answer, Sakura flipped him completely over onto the carpeted flooring of the guest room, leaving Sasuke shocked, now wide awake, and the wind knocked out of him.
Before Sasuke knew what hit him Sakura had already leaped down off the bed and was now back to holding him down with her hand by the collar of his pajama shirt.
His head throbbed from the sudden attack and he gritted his teeth as he looked at Sakura once he had regained his breath.
"So you think you're stronger than me, do you?" Sasuke asked her with a raised eyebrow.
She simply nodded and let go of his pajama collar, but made no sign of getting off of him anytime soon.
"Hn, wrong answer," Sasuke told her.
Sasuke quickly leaned up and grabbed Sakura's shoulders firmly, and then turned her own game against her.
For she was now the one gritting her own teeth, lying against the ground with Sasuke's hand clutched tightly around her white pajama shirt.
On the other hand, Sasuke was in her position, leaning above her with a satisfied grin on his face.
Sakura's emerald eyes got wide and soon began to fill with visible tears that were threatening to spill over.
Sasuke's own eyes widened as his grin turned to nothing when he saw Sakura's facial expression.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" He started to apologize, thinking that when he slammed her on the floor he might've hurt her somehow.
Sasuke began to release his hand and started to get up from where he had her pinned down.
He let out a gasp of surprise when he felt one of her legs catch his right foot causing him to sloppily stumble and lose his balance once again.
He hit the carpet with another thud, although without much pain this time, which was good so that way he wouldn't have a visible bruise from it.
The only thing bruised was his pride…
How could I have not seen that coming? She's the one that started this little duel in the first place, so I should've known that she would have taken extra measures to end it on the winning side!
Sasuke grumbled, upset at himself for being tricked so easily, more however being tricked by a girl.
"So not fair," He groaned as he lifted his head up to look at her.
Sakura was now the one standing triumphantly and feeling just as satisfied in her winning as his losing; she stuck her tongue out at him with a smirk and skipped out of the room.
"Come back here!" Sasuke yelled, wanting his payback for feeling so stupid to lose to a mere girl, even if it was Sakura.
He clambered up after her, chasing her out of the room and hot on her heels down the stairs.
Coming to a skidding halt at the bottom of the stairs Sasuke lost sight of Sakura and decided to not let her get away with this, no matter how long it took him to find her.
After all, it was his game in the first place.
He peeked around the corner in the living room and saw no sign of her, so he then dashed over to the kitchen when he heard Mitsu's voice coming from it.
Sasuke burst forth into the large kitchen and found Mitsu standing next to Sakura, who was sitting innocently in one of the chair around the table.
"Good morning!" Mitsu greeted Sasuke cheerfully with a smile.
Sasuke noticed that three glasses were set out in three places on the table along with a spoon, fork, and last but certainly not the least used was a napkin.
Salt and pepper shakers were placed next to Sakura near the middle of the table.
He returned her greeting and sat down across from Sakura so that he was now directly facing her.
Sasuke lifted an eyebrow skeptically, "You know, using other people as a way to escape counts as cheating,"
Sakura rolled her eyes, completely dismissing his comment.
"There will be no games of any kind while you two are in the kitchen." Mitsu warned them.
Sakura nodded and Sasuke copied her nod, continuing to look at each other from across the table.
"Well then let's get down to having breakfast," She declared and with a clap of her hands walked over to where Sasuke was sitting down at the table.
Sasuke broke away from looking at Sakura and turned his attention to face Mitsu.
After all, Itachi did tell him to mind his manners and he didn't want to disappoint his older brother by not doing what was expected of him.
"Sasuke, we have pancakes, oat-" But Mitsu was interrupted by a sharp clanging of Sakura's spoon against her empty glass repeatedly.
"Oh well I believe that Sakura here would like you to tells us what you want for breakfast using her way." She interpreted, turning her field of vision to look at where Sakura was sitting.
Sasuke turned his head to look at her from across the table.
Her way? I wonder what she means by that…
They both watched as Sakura picked up a book that had been hidden behind the salt and pepper shakers.
It was small like Sakura's writing notepad, but this one was light green with a floral design on the border of it.
It looks like a booklet of some sort.
Sakura turned the front over to Sasuke so he could see what words it were on the front of it.
Labeled neatly on the top of the floral bordering in the middle of the cover were the words, "Pick and Choose Mealtime!"
Sasuke was intrigued by this, for he realized that Sakura didn't use it last night when her aunt made them all dinner.
But then again, Mitsu made it when while we were playing outside and we didn't know. Or maybe she wanted it to be a surprise or something.
Sakura turned the front of the booklet to face back towards her and then flipped through a couple of pages.
Very slowly, as if taking her time in looking at what was on each page.
So slowly it was as if she was memorizing a foreign code like the sake of the world depended on it.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was curiously leaning over the table inch by inch to get a glimpse of what some of the inside pages looked like.
From beside him, Mitsu let out an amused laugh and Sasuke looked at her with a confused expression, hoping that she would at least explain what Sakura was doing before he snatched the booklet from her due to his lack of patience.
As if magically reading his needful mind she opened her mouth and began to explain.
"This is a mealtime booklet," She started to say.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and had a strong urge to say, "Thanks Captain Obvious!" but he didn't want to be rude, so instead he kept his mouth shut and continued listening for a further explanation.
"It has the three main mealtimes listed inside it. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On each page there is a picture that matches with the words underneath it. It's just a fun and simple little way that I came up with for Sakura to be more independent." Mitsu stated.
Sasuke nodded, now having a better understanding of it.
"I'm sure we both know how hard-headed she can be at times." Mitsu joked lightly, which in turn made Sasuke let out a chuckle.
The sound of pages being flipped through came to a sudden halt and Sasuke stopped his laugh and gulped, for he knew exactly the reason why.
Slowly he dragged his gaze to where Sakura was sitting and bit his lip when he saw her hand in the form of a fist and another evil grin plastered on her face.
"Now, now Sakura be good. Sasuke is still a guest here, no matter if he stays here for a couple of days or a couple of weeks." She told her with a firm look.
Sakura nodded, releasing her fist and then she continued looking through the booklet.
A sigh of relief escaped Sasuke's mouth, for he had just been spared of what could have been a very, very large catastrophe.
A week had passed since Sasuke had begun staying with Sakura and her aunt Mitsu.
Sasuke now knew his way around quite well; in fact he was able to roam freely without having to ask where anything was or where to put a certain dish away when helping out with the dishes after each meal.
Sasuke even knew her mealtime booklet by memory now and was able to understand more of Sakura's simple gestures without her needing to write on her notepad.
His older brother called in every two days, just like he always did, although he never mentioned anything to Sasuke that involved work or where he was.
Sasuke knew that the way his older brother was acting was definitely out of the ordinary for him, but decided not to push asking him as to why any further.
He just hoped that it would pass over soon and his older brother would return home.
Three whole months went by.
For Mitsu each day was a blessing as she watched Sakura and Sasuke grow closer as friends.
For Sakura, every day she spent with Sasuke she found herself staring into his onyx eyes she knew that they resembled darkness, but all she could feel was her heart being filled with light each time.
And for Sasuke, not a single day went by without him growing fonder of Sakura; even if she couldn't speak he knew that he could hear her voice speak through her actions.
The sweet smile on her face, warm hugs, blushing scarlet cheeks, and even the occasional unexpected tackle from behind.
The only thing that was unsettling to Sasuke was the fact that three months had passed by since his older brother had last called him, and Itachi was one to never miss a single call, so Sasuke was constantly thinking of his older brother and fearing for what had happened to him that kept him from contacting him.
Although he kept acting like everything was fine when Mitsu would ask about how his older brother was doing and he would lie to her and Sakura just so they wouldn't worry over him about it.
Besides, what they don't know won't hurt them.
Or could it…?
Today was March 27th, the day before Sakura's birthday.
Today was the day that she finally decided to show Sasuke what he had been so curious to see when they played outside on the teeter-totter for the first time.
Today was the day that he would change both of their lives for a very long time, even if it wasn't his choice to.
Sasuke just didn't know it yet.
As of right now, he was waiting just outside the white door in the guest room that he had been so tempted to go in before but resisted.
Sakura had wanted him to wait, she went in first and he impatiently counted a minute in his head and then yanked open the door.
Now he was practically bubbling over with excitement, he bolted through it and ran out into the sunshine and semi-warm outside air, hastily looking for what the black thing really was.
His eyes widened when he saw a large sleek piano and Sakura sitting on the bench that was pulled out from underneath it.
She smiled at him and gestured for him to come over and sit by her.
He did so, with his feet echoing off of the balcony floor, his eyes grazed over the piano as his smile grew wider with each passing second.
No way! I've never seen a piano this awesome before!
It was like an elegant beast to Sasuke.
Keys of ivory white and smaller keys of charcoal black decorated it; smooth brown wood was curled delicately underneath the keys, and when Sasuke glanced up he could clearly see his reflection along with Sakura's in the shiny blackness of the beautiful piano.
"This is… Amazing," Sasuke yelled out to the world as he brushed his fingers lightly across a few of the keys.
Sakura nodded approvingly and then placed her hands on the keys of the piano as Sasuke placed his hand in his lap.
Sasuke watched as her delicate fingers danced across different keys of the piano, pressed down on some of the keys, and kept playing the piano in the same motion with the same keys as a calming rhythmic pattern was heard.
As her fingers pressed down accordingly to the right keys, beautiful notes followed by others similar to each one before it flowed out of the piano.
They weren't just beautiful, but they were saddening at the same time.
Sasuke's ears perked up at the soothing notes being played by Sakura, who was intently focused on making sure that she hit each key at the right time and with just the right amount of force.
He felt calmed by the pattern of notes as a warm smile lazily appeared on his face.
Distinctly, Sasuke knew that this tune wasn't quite a lullaby, so he mentally labeled it as a melody.
A completely soothing melody unlike any other kind he had ever heard before, this one was unique to his ears and he loved every note she played with every touch of her fingers.
By the time Sakura had repeated the melody two times, she lifted her fingers from the piano and faced Sasuke, directing her pointer finger at him.
"What?" He asked, visibly not comprehending what she was requesting of him.
As a response to his question Sakura opened her mouth as if she was going to sing, for she held it open wider and longer than a word would take.
She then pointed to Sasuke once more as she closed her mouth shut with a grin on her face.
"I can't sing. I've never tried." He told her, now realizing that she wanted him to sing along as she played.
Sakura took her small notepad out of her back jeans pocket and wrote in it.
When she was finished, Sasuke read her writing on the paper.
"Well now's your chance. Please, for me?" The notepad pleaded.
Sasuke's eyes flickered up to Sakura's, which held silent pleading within them as well.
After about a minute, she switched her facial expression to one of a begging puppy's, he gazed at her expression and then hastily tore his eyes away.
He groaned, for he knew that no one, not even an Uchiha such as himself, had enough self control to resist any type of puppy face.
"Fine, you win." Sasuke sighed with defeat as Sakura quit the puppy face act and returned her notepad to her pocket, and then eagerly put her fingers on the starting keys of the melody.
Hurriedly, he fished his mind for any remembrance of song lyrics that would be suitable for her melody, but came up empty.
Guess I'll have to just make something up... Ugh, but that's even harder!
Sakura started playing the melody again, although this time she played it more slowly like she was letting Sasuke get a feel for the notes.
"Let me think for a minute." Sasuke told her as he began to create lyrics that matched with the notes.
She nodded and kept playing at the same pace as Sasuke paid closer attention to the notes with his ears.
The notes were still just as beautiful and saddening as the first time he heard them, it was as if each note told a chapter of a silent story waiting to be interpreted.
A chapter… Like a chapter in our lives. Silent… Like Sakura. Interpreted… Like how I interpret her. Wait, that's it!
An idea began to take root in his mind, which he hungrily branched off of, forming lyrics in his mind.
Sasuke closed his eyes for a minute, took a deep breath, opened them, waited for the first note of the third time around, and then started to sing out loud for the first time in his life.
"Because they forbid, your voice hid.
When you feel so weak that you can't speak,
Well this time you've got a choice, 'cause I'll be your voice.
This is your muted melody, always awaiting the next tragedy.
All I see is shattered glass from a past I can't let go,
When I look up at the skies, just trying to tell the truth from all of the lies.
But you show me one true thing, that our feelings are connected by an invisible string.
This is my muted melody, fighting an unbeatable enemy.
We will figure out what's real and what's not, let's give this life another shot.
When we've got nowhere to run and everything's coming undone,
We'll find a place where we belong, we just gotta stay strong.
This is our muted melody, searching for serenity."
When he had finished singing, Sasuke was surprised at how even and how easy it was to match each lyric with every note.
Grinning, he turned to see Sakura with a smile on her face and the notepad already in her hand as she was writing something down.
"I loved your version! You have a really nice voice!" The notepad praised with a smiley face at the end.
Sasuke couldn't help but turn a light shade of pink and with a small duck of his head he told her, "Thanks."
Now I'm a bit embarrassed, after all it was my first time singing and Sakura actually like my voice. Sure, this feeling is kind of embarrassing, but it's also kind of nice in a way. It's like getting rewarded. The weird thing is I can't seem to remember the last time I was rewarded for doing something as small as this.
After that, Sakura played a few different songs while Sasuke fondly listed along as the afternoon drifted by enjoyably.
That evening: 7:53 pm.
Sasuke was sitting cross-legged on the guest bed, his shoulders hunched over as he worked on completing Sakura's birthday present.
Before him lay various objects, scissors, three single cherry blossom flowers that he had hand-picked out himself earlier, a red velvet ribbon, a pink gift box with a lid to match, a piece of paper, a picture of Sasuke and Sakura smiling together that Mitsu had took one day, and last but certainly not least, a black marker.
Occasionally, he would dart his eyes over to the closed door just to make sure no one was coming in or peeking at what he was doing without his knowing.
Shifting his eyes back to her present he reached to the left of him and grasped a pair of scissors in his left hand and with his right he picked up three cherry blossom flowers.
He aligned the scissors to the near bottom portion of the first cherry blossom flower and snipped it off in one swift movement.
He then set the freshly cut cherry blossom flower back on the bed and did the exact same with the remaining two, attempting to cut them as close to each other as he could so they would be even.
He tossed the scissors aside, for now they served no purpose to him.
From within Sasuke's right pocket of his jean shorts there was a light ringing sound calling out to him, he pulled it out hastily, held the cell phone up to his ear, and then pressed the 'send' button.
It has to be Itachi, it just has to!
"Big brother?" Sasuke asked anxiously into the receiver, holding his breath in anticipation.
"S-Sasuke?" His older brother asked in a shaky and what seemed to be a pain-filled tone.
Silent alarms began going off in Sasuke's head, for his older brother had never sounded this way before when doing something for work.
Something has to be wrong…
"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked his older brother, now sounding distressed due to the tone of his older brother, yet at the same time relieved to hear from him after not hearing from him in so long.
Sasuke heard a faint voice saying something to Itachi, but it sounded much more like an order of some sort.
He heard his older brother reply to whoever had told him something and then Sasuke clutched the cell phone tighter against his ear, attempting to hear some of their conversation.
He mentally cursed his hearing when he still couldn't pick up on a single thing they were talking about.
"Come to me as fast as your feet will take you. Leave tonight when no one else is awake. Travel only at night until you reach the company gates." Itachi instructed him straightforwardly, now sounding more in control of himself.
So this is all about the company, I should have known all along! But wait, I can't leave right before Sakura's birthday… She would surely be crushed if I did.
"But tomorrow's Saku-" He began saying as a protest.
"I don't care. This matter is of uttermost urgency and cannot wait under any circumstances." His older brother cut him off harshly.
Sasuke flinched back from the receiver; Itachi hardly ever used that tone of voice with him unless he was very angry or something really serious was going on.
"Yes Itachi…" He murmured into the receiver, now feeling like he had failed his older brother by making an excuse.
Uchihas don't make up excuses; they do what is expected of them.
"Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I just really, really need you right now, Sasuke." Itachi spoke in a much gentler tone of voice now.
"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can." Sasuke said.
"Good, also be sure to get the files from the apartment too." Itachi said to him, although his voice went low when he said the word files.
Sasuke just figured that Itachi didn't want anyone else to know about the files or hear talk of them, but Sasuke knew exactly what his older brother was talking about.
"Will do." Sasuke replied, seeing the mental image of the stack of files that Itachi kept hidden in the bottom of the desk drawer in their apartment that was guarded with three combination locks, two cam locks, and one padlock.
Sasuke remembered how to get in them, how they put a huge hole in Itachi's money pocket, and how they took almost a full two days to install correctly, even with the help of the instruction booklet.
"Be careful on your way," Itachi warned him and then added, "I love you, little brother."
"Yeah, you too." Sasuke said with a warm smile on his face through his troubled feelings, because through all this, he honestly missed hearing those words for over three months now.
The line went dead; Sasuke closed the cell phone shut and returned to finishing his present for Sakura.
He tried not to think of the things his older brother had just said and how they would affect Sakura and him, but he couldn't help feeling a ting of guilt because he wouldn't be there to see her open it.
Later on that night, just as Sasuke was about to shut off the lights and go to sleep there was a light knocking at the door.
"You can come in, I'm decent." Sasuke called out.
Mitsu came in and closed the door behind her and then took a seat next to Sasuke on the guest bed.
"Sorry, I realize it's late, but here's something I've been meaning to speak with you about." Mitsu told him.
He nodded, "Sure, what is it?"
"Have you ever wondered why Sakura doesn't talk?" She asked straightforward.
Her simple question hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks.
"Doesn't… Not can't. That means…" He fumbled over the words, both verbally and mentally.
"Yes, that means she can fully well speak without a problem, but she just chooses not to. At least she hasn't spoken a single word since-" Mitsu paused, appearing to have trouble finishing her sentence.
"Since her parents passing?" Sasuke finished/asked quietly.
"Since her parents yes, but they didn't die. They were both sent to prison because they were doing things a parent should never do. They both treated Sakura very badly and she was hurt over and over by what they kept doing." She told him in a way his young mind would be able to understand it.
The image of Sasuke's still living parents flashed through his head and he clenched his fist at the sight of them, but also due to the knowing that Sakura's parents were like them.
"But during all of that time when she was treated badly by them she still loved them." She said with a sad small smile.
"Even if they did do illegal things and put her through them, even if they cared more about their stupid drugs and druggie friends to not even bother to look after her properly or take the time to go to the park with her. She still loved them…" Mitsu whispered sadly.
The image quickly left his mind when he heard those words and his fist returned back to being a harmless hand.
Oh Sakura I'm sorry. You didn't deserve to go through all that…
He was intensely saddened learning this information about Sakura and what had caused her to not speak.
Because what her parents did to her was far worse than what he and Itachi had to go through, and she was facing them all alone.
Sasuke had his older brother, but she on the other hand, had no one to turn to in the long nights of tears and loneliness.
"I haven't seen her smile since I took her under my wing. Not until you came along that is. She's been less sad and instead she's been getting happier each day ever since she met you. Bit by bit I can see it." She said.
Sasuke nodded, beginning to not feel as sad because he was helping her in a way that he didn't even know of until just now.
But as the young Uchiha began to think about the words that Mitsu had just shared with him he realized that she was wrong on one matter about Sakura.
He opened his mouth and spoke in a low tone, not wanting to let his sadness seep through his words, "But she's smiled before. Come to think of it, the first day we met she smiled at me."
"That may be, but you see Sasuke, Sakura is able to fake emotions quite easily. She can fool many people into thinking she's happy or excited, but in all honesty deep down in her precious little heart she's sad."Mitsu told him.
"Maybe she does that because she doesn't want you or anyone else to worry about her or be sad because of her," Sasuke guessed.
"Maybe," She mused.
Mitsu reached over and gripped Sasuke's hands within hers, holding them as if she was desperate for something that only he possessed.
"Can you do something for me Sasuke, just one thing?" She asked, her voice now sounding as if it was hanging off a cliff and asking for the only lifeline to save it.
"What is it?" He questioned, trying to reign in his sad tone so that he wouldn't let her think he was weak or overly affected by hearing all of this.
Sasuke looked at her eyes; likewise, they were filled with some sort of silent desperate plea.
"Keep making Sakura happy." She pleaded with her voice and eyes.
Keep making her happy? There's nothing else I'd rather spend my days without my big brother doing than make her happy because she makes me happy!
Sasuke cracked a smirk and Mitsu shook her head.
"I mean more than what you're doing now." She told him in the same tone of voice.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow questioningly, his smirk now fading to a confused look.
"What I mean is… Well, you might be too young to fully understand what I'm going to say to you but one day you'll figure it out. I want you to be there for her when she needs you the most, to laugh with her, to continue being such a good friend to her, to not let her doubt herself, but most of all… I want you to help her speak again." She told him.
Mitsu turned her head and Sasuke realized that it was to wipe away a tear from her eyes.
"I remember how her voice used to sound. It was so full of love and happiness. Nothing could ever break her joyful tone until her parents made her to stop talking when they brought people over. She used to sing too, her voice was so pure and beautiful to listen to. Someday, regardless if you're able to help her speak again, I'm sure someday you'll get to hear her beautiful voice." Mitsu murmured as she finished wiping the tears away from her eyes.
She turned back to face Sasuke, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be this talkative right now. It's past your bedtime and you need your sleep to keep growing up all strong and healthy. I'll let you get your rest now, good night, Sasuke." Mitsu said, now back to her usual cheerful tone as she got up from the bed, shut the lights off, and then closed the door behind her after she walked out.
Sasuke let out a sigh and let himself fall backwards from where he had been sitting on the bed.
Feeling the covers and pillow curve under his weight, he focused on the ceiling as his eyes became adjusted to the darkness.
"I will make her happy someday, but right now my big brother needs me more." He confessed to the ceiling.
Sasuke felt another stab of guilt, stronger this time, because it felt like he was confessing to Sakura herself instead of the ceiling.
March 28, 1:21 am.
Sasuke crawled out of the guest bed, turned the light switch on and quietly packed all of his belongings together as he got ready to leave.
He was sad, for he didn't want to leave Sakura on her birthday of all days, but he also didn't want to leave the feelings they had shared and the unforgettable friendship they had discovered together.
At the same time he knew it was for the best, Itachi was his main priority before she came along, so that rightfully put his older brother first, and Sasuke knew he couldn't just leave his only living family member that he still trusted and loved in his time of need.
Although Sasuke didn't quite know what that need was besides that it had something to do with the company, he would find out as soon as he arrived there and Itachi would be the one to tell him all that had been going on these past few months ever since he left.
Sasuke grabbed his suitcase with everything now packed inside of it and scooped Sakura's present under his free arm and held it behind his back as he made his way carefully out of the guest room and into her room.
Ever-so-slowly Sasuke opened the door leading to her bedroom and crept in as quiet as a mouse.
The moon was out; he noticed it shined through her bedroom window, which was a good thing because Sasuke knew that he would need it to guide him until he could get a flashlight at the apartment.
He tip-toed over to the side of her bed and found that she was sleeping peacefully in it.
Sasuke sighed into the darkness, let go of his suitcase, and listened for any signs of nocturnal movement besides him.
The only sounds that could be heard were the constant nighttime chirping of the crickets and Sakura's soft breathing.
A sad smile appeared on his face as he took her present out from behind his back and gripped the soft red velvet laced edges of the ribbon.
Carefully, Sasuke placed her present on the pillow beside her that was currently not being used by her and pulled his hands back to his side.
"I hope you like my present, Sakura. I know it's not much, but it'll have to do until I can come back to you." Sasuke told her through the darkness that surrounded them.
"Please cherish my memory; I know I won't forget yours." He whispered to her softly with a somewhat large unexplainable lump forming in his throat, making it tight and hard to speak.
A small sigh escaped her lips, as if she could actually hear him in her sleep.
He chuckled at that idea, because if she really was then she would be fully capable of forcing him to stay right now instead of leaving her tonight.
Sasuke swallowed and felt the unexplainable lump disappear, which made him able to talk normally again.
"Happy birthday Sakura," Sasuke murmured into her pink locks that surrounded her face as he gently leaned down and kissed her on the cheek lightly.
Sasuke leaned back up and held onto the latch of his suitcase knowing that it was time for him to go.
He padded over to the window, slowly opening it as he tried to make himself sound as quiet as possible so that he wouldn't wake Sakura.
Sasuke managed to pry open the window just enough so that way he could squeeze himself and his suitcase through it without waking anyone in the process.
Sasuke heaved his suitcase through it and onto the roof, it was surprisingly heavy when he had to lift it through, but he managed to do so without banging it into the sides of the window.
Then he took one step out of the window so that foot was resting safely on the roof, looked back ruefully at Sakura's sleeping form once more, and then slipped out into the dead of the moonlit night.
A lone tear made its way down his face as he clutched his suitcase and leaped off of the roof, landing safely on the ground he began walking with the moonlight washing over his face.
Sasuke hadn't noticed the tear travel down from his eye to his cheek but when he did he was taken aback, for he had not shed any tears since his parents passing.
With each step he took, Sasuke got farther away from Sakura, yet with each step more tears followed after each other, racing down his moonlit face.
Sasuke lifted one of his hands up to catch one of the falling tears in bewilderment as he felt his heart get heavy and the lump came back in his throat, making it tighter than ever before.
"Sakura…" Sasuke sobbed her name out into the dead of night as more tears escaped his eyes falling freely, for he was now unable to stop them.
Similar to how he couldn't stop them from falling when his parents were buried, for Sasuke had left a piece of himself with them that day.
The only conclusion that he could come to was that he left a piece of himself with Sakura when he left too.
Maybe, just maybe this is how it feels to completely severe the blissful bringing bonds that Sakura and Sasuke had shared together.
I don't know, but one way or another it feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest and the gushing blood is my cascading tears spilling out all of my emotions.
There's the third chapter of Muted Melody! I'm sorry it took so long to write up, I was so busy in between school and getting my mom back on her feet. She's okay now, which is great. And yes, I created the little lyrical song Sasuke sang to Sakura, but that's just a rough draft of it! Also, the lyrics foreshadow things of what is to come. I'm having surgery on my right hand this Tuesday, but I'll try to post up a short preface of after the time skip and what occurs during it as they get older. Also, which POV would you guys prefer the actual main story in? Sasuke's or Sakura's? Or an alternation between the two of them? Comments are very much appreciated!