Thanks to lala, impromptumelody, and Xero.
king & lionheart
If only things had been different.
(for mom and v.)
"No one can go back and make a new beginning, but we can start here and make our own end."
.
.
.
Sasuke's heart first throbbed at the sight of Sakura on their first mission, the sight of her actually on the battlefield, the sight of her naviety and innocence disappearing from her eyes.
He didn't ask for it, didn't anticipate it, and the thought had never even crossed his mind. Sakura was quiet, introverted, and almost always hid behind a thick curtain of pale pink fringe. More often than not, when Sasuke addressed her, she would look down, around, anywhere but him. He found it very strange and made it his personal mission to break that trait. After all, true ninja were confident and reverent individuals who didn't show weakness easily. Itachi had beaten that into his brain over the years.
Even if he adopted his brother's traits of quietness and seriousness, Sasuke still had many friends. As opposed to the rambunctious Naruto who beamed at the sight of anyone who was not yet his friend, Sasuke preferred to choose them carefully. He spent a bit more time assessing them and their characteristics, then slowly opened up his personality to them. Friendship would quickly ensue, most of the time.
Sakura was an example of the sometimes when someone wouldn't become Sasuke's friend.
She was just too quiet, even for Sasuke's liking. She gave off the essence of fear, almost as if she was scared of letting anyone in and seeing something she kept very closely guarded.
In order to either try and find out what she was hiding or just break her tough outer shell, Sasuke went out of his way to be around her. He lagged behind the rest of the team just a bit so he would be walking next to her and would try and direct his attention to her a little more often than to Naruto.
But she always deflected that attention away, always ignored it to the best of her abilities.
.
.
.
"Sasuke!"
"Sa... Sakura..."
Sasuke could feel the tear in his lip, the blood streaming from it steadily. His body ached all over, and he knew bruises were already blossoming all over his body. His vision focused in and out with every unsteady breath he took.
throb.
"Sakura... you're okay, r-right?" breathed in the Uchiha, wincing at the sharp pain coursing through his chest. It felt like someone had taken their claws and had chosen to slowly rip him open.
The kunoichi nodded, long pink locks spilling over her shoulders to caress Sasuke's face. Her tears splashed onto his face.
throb.
"D-Don't worry about me, you need help!" She had wanted to yell at him for thinking of her safety when it was he who had almost died, but the thought was quickly discarded.
throb.
Sasuke blinked slowly, turning his head as far as it would allow. He saw more than twenty Narutos fighting the ninja Gato had employed haphazardly and Kakashi taking on Zabuza by himself. Tazuna had disappeared.
Salty tears suddenly mixed with the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. Sakura was crying, obviously frightened at the sight of her comrade injured so severely. The part of Sasuke that was pure shinobi was disgusted at the such a display of emotion—something ninja weren't supposed to have, at least, not on missions. But the other part of Sasuke—the friendly, pubescent boy part—wanted to tell her to wipe her tears and that everything was going to be okay.
"Go... go help Naruto. He needs you." Weakly, Sasuke lifted his chin in a gesture towards the blonde whose clones were being dispersed one right after the other.
Green eyes became very cloudy as Sakura stopped crying and instead looked away, shameful.
"I won't be much help. I'll probably just end up getting him hurt or something. That's what got you into that mess."
throb.
She was referring to what had caused two kunai to pierce Sasuke's body. While Sakura was protecting the bridge builder, she had become too focused on one ninja that had come too close to pay attention to another who was already launching his weapons. Sasuke had rushed in front of her just in time to receive the blow.
"I'll be fine... I told you." It was a lie. In his mind, Sasuke was remembering all the things Itachi had told him about injuries, especially those to the abdomen.
"Evisceration..."
"Bleeding out..."
"Hypovolemic shock..."
Sasuke decided he had about ten minutes until his very early death. The way the kunai had hit him meant that his intestines were most likely torn, and whatever blood that wasn't pooling on the floor next to him was filling up the inside of his body and would most definitely cause something gruesome.
throb.
throb.
throb.
throb throb throb throb throb throbthrobthrobthrobthrobthrobthrob—
"Sakura. Go and fight. I... I will be just fine."
Sasuke closed his eyes.
Happy late mother's day, mom. And happy late birthday, V. I have finals this week, which means no homework! Summer is almost here, and I am most definitely happy about that :) Cali, here I come ❤
Love, and
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