Chapter 4: Fault and Imperfection
Normal P.O.V.
Sasuke walked out of his house early that morning, locking his door tight before leaving for the walk he decided to take before meeting his team.
"Maybe a walk around the village would help clear my mind from what happened the other day…" Sasuke thought, remembering when he had saw Sakura walking out her front porch, tears rolling down her soft face. He couldn't help but recall the conversation they had, the talk that had allowed him to open a small part of himself to the girl. Sasuke closed his eyes and remembered everything that happened, and as he remembered that day, it seemed to replay in his mind like a dream.
He continued to view in his mind his meeting with Sakura, until he remembered what Sakura told him…
"I wish, I wish that everything about me would just change. I wish that my life didn't have to be this terrible. If only-"
Sasuke opened his eyes, "What was she going to say?" he pondered. His thoughts staying on that phrase Sakura said. He kept on lingering on his thoughts when he heard shouting from the house he had just passed by. Sasuke stopped in his place and looked at the direction those voices were coming from. As soon as Sasuke finally realized who's house this was, his mind was in shock, "This is Sakura's house!" he exclaimed.
Sasuke rushed towards the house and was about to barge through the door when he heard Sakura's voice, "Oto-san, please, I'm doing everything I can to be the ninja you want me to be!" she shouted.
"The ninja I wanted you to be!" Sakura's father exclaimed, "The ninja I wanted my daughter to be was the perfect kunoich, who wouldn't fall for an Uchiha brat!"
"You don't know him!" Sakura screamed at her father.
"Maybe I don't, but I know that its all that Uchiha's fault that you gave up what we had planned for you!" Her father continued, his voice getting louder with each word that came out from his mouth.
Sasuke stiffened as he heard this conversation. Yes, it was about him, and now he knew, that he had a fault in Sakura's misery. Sasuke looked through the window to get a closer view of Sakura as she started crying, her sobs getting louder as the seconds passed. Sasuke watched as Sakura's father got closer to her until he gripped his daughter's shoulders.
"Sakura, why are you giving up everything that we have planned for you!" Her father asked in a harsh tone, "Why are you letting your emotions be the weak point of your strength? What happened to your dream to be the perfect ninja that everyone in konoha would admire? Why are you letting some boy destroy your dreams!"
Sakura's eyes were now filled with shadows, "It's never been my dream, dad," Sakura whispered. She then pulled away from her father's grip, "It's always been yours!" Sakura cried, running out the front door.
Before Sakura ran out the door, Sasuke hid behind the bushes so that no one would see him. And as soon as the door shut tight, Sasuke got up from behind the bush and started to walk towards their meeting area. He had wasted his time listening to a lousy conversation he shouldn't have heard. As he continued walking down the path leading towards the bridge, Sasuke's mind lingered on the thought of Sakura…
"So, she feels alone too, huh?" Sasuke thought, "What should I do?"
Sasuke kept on walking until he saw Sakura. She sat on a bench that had been covered by the canopies of Cherry Blossom trees. Sasuke kept his gaze on her. Her beauty was shown as the petals fell from the trees and blew around her. As soon as Sakura looked up, she saw Sasuke, staring at her.
Sakura quickly wiped the tears off her face, "Oh no, Sasuke saw me, he saw me crying!" she thought, trying to regain her composure.
Suddenly a voice in Sakura's mind spoke up, "Don't you think it's about time you showed others your true feelings?" it whispered. "It's about time you showed others your pain…"
Sakura stopped wiping the tears that fell from her eyes, "What are you talking about," she shouted in her mind, "I wont show I'm hurting, because I'm supposed to be the person who supports others in a cheerful way, especially Sasuke-kun! I'm supposed to show them that as long as your smiling everything will just go away! I won't change that!"
"You won't change it although you're in a lot of pain?" the voice asked, "Everyone has a right to hurt Sakura, and everyone has the right to show their feelings. Everyone has a right to be comforted when they feel they can never come out of darkness."
Sakura sat still in disbelief, "What do you know! You don't care about me! Stop talking to me! Go away, you're just confusing me! You want me to go back to that world of perfection where nothing feels real!" Sakura screamed in her mind, "Go away, and leave me alone!"
The voice inside her suddenly became silent, "Alright, I'll leave. But Sakura, the more you keep it all trapped inside, the longer you will be engulfed in darkness…"
The moment the voice left her, Sakura began wiping the tears off her face, and stared as Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, ohayo!" she greeted in a cheerful voice, trying to make him forget the look of her face when she was crying. She had to be strong, for him.
When Sasuke heard her voice, he quickly stopped gazing at her and looked away. He remembered the conversation Sakura and her father had just a few minutes ago…
"You don't know him!"
"Maybe I don't, but I know it's his fault that you gave up everything! Our plans for you, your dreams…"
"What should I do?" Sasuke thought, "I don't want to be the reason why she is going through so much pain…"
Sasuke kept his eye contact from Sakura, making sure she couldn't see the regret in his eyes, "I have to push her away from me more than I ever have," he thought, "If I don't, she'll go through more pain than she will have to. I know it would hurt her if I reject her, but its for the best…"
"Hn," he replied to her.
Sakura gaped at Sasuke a questioning look on her face. "Ne, Sasuke-kun, don't be so distant to me okay?" Sakura said, "We're teammates and friends, ne?"
Sasuke glared at Sakura, "Go away," he simply said.
"What?" she asked him, her voice showed that she was shocked.
"I said go away, you're annoying me."
Sakura let out a nervous laugh, "Sasuke-kun, I don't understand, what's wrong with you? Yesterday, you were so kind to me and-"
"Forget what happened yesterday, and if you're wondering why I comforted you, it was all pity, nothing more."
Sakura was taken aback as tears started to form in her eyes, "Sasuke-kun, I know something is wrong, why don't you tell me what it is," she cried.
"You want to know what's bothering me?" He asked, "You are, your very presence annoys me." Sasuke replied calmly as he turned his back from Sakura and walked away.
Sakura's tears finally fell fiercly down her face, "Wait, Sasuke-kun!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Sakura watched as Sasuke started to walk away, the distance that had closed between them, had been pulled farther away than ever. "Sasuke-kun, please wait!" she screamed louder, "Please, Sasuke-kun, I want to understand you, I want to be there for you so please, come back!"
Sasuke turned around and faced Sakura, her tears were falling quickly to the ground, damping the soil. Sasuke glared at her, "Someone as weak as you could never understand me," he said and finally walked away, leaving Sakura under the cherry blossom tree, its petals falling to ground, just like her tears…