title: love month
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ!
rating: T-M

summary: o26; From the moment he saw her as a child, he'd been searching for her ever since. In fact, he gave up everything just for her. After all, Sasuke loved this Sakura girl very, very much.

.o26.
Innocence

"She's beautiful," Sasuke said sincerely, stopping right into his tracks and looking at the small, fragile girl who collected flowers in the park. He grabbed Itachi's pant leg, his older brother hovering over him by at least three feet, and looked to see where Sasuke's line of vision was.

"Which one? The one with the purple hair? Or the one in the buns?"

"No, none of them. It's that one." He pointed to Itachi and his brother widened his eyes before nodding. "I see. The pink haired girl, right?"

"Yeah."

"She is cute. Do you like her?"

Sasuke began to blush. "I don't know."

Itachi rubbed Sasuke's head and smiled, bending down to his level. "You know you can tell aniki everything, right? He won't laugh or make fun of you…" Itachi paused to think about what he said. "Well, most of the time he won't. But whatever you want to talk about—girls, problems, anything, just tell me and I'll listen."

Sasuke smiled back at Itachi as he poked his forehead. "Thanks."

But honestly, looking over his shoulder, Sasuke honestly didn't know if he really did like her or not.

.

.

.

He never saw her again for about ten years. The first time they met was when Sasuke was about seven, and the girl was…maybe his age? Younger, perhaps?

He was no longer the innocent boy who clung onto Itachi all the time, talking to him about whatever worried him at the moment. Sasuke lost all his childhood innocence at eleven, when he was felt up by a woman twice his age, lost his virginity to another woman just as old at thirteen, took his first drink at fourteen, and smoked his first cigarette at fifteen.

But with his handsome, rugged looks, he could get anything he wanted.

He grew further away from Itachi and his parents to their worry and acted on his own impulse. Often times, when he did come home, he reeked of alcohol and pot and got into fights with his family, deciding not to come back for at least a week.

Nonetheless, his mind kept drifting off to the young girl he met when he was seven. It was always the same—pink hair, green eyes, red sundress. She was indeed a beautiful girl and loved her even all these years, though he knew nothing about her.

So every night when he was with a different woman, he would always envision pink hair and green eyes. Though he didn't know what the girl looked like now, he presumed that she would always be more beautiful than the day before.

Hell, he didn't even know her name.

.

.

.

Sasuke tried to come home one day after fucking some random chick he picked up at the club. His head hurting from the alcohol, he stumbled frequently, holding onto the building for extra support.

He heard screaming down in the alleyway of the bar, but paid no attention to it. After all, those things usually happened nearly every night—some girl was getting mugged and guys were telling her to shut up.

"Stop it!" a woman's voice shouted before he heard men's groans, and then snarls. Someone was running towards him, but he didn't have the energy or the mind to turn away just in time—

"Watch it!" Sasuke shouted as he landed flat on his back. The girl was panting on top of him, her eyes misty and teary, her cheeks dried. She attempted to get off, but Sasuke, seeing the man coming towards them, held her tightly as protection. Looking at her outfit, she didn't seem like a girl who went to the club. Just a normal suburban girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He looked back at her scared eyes. Green, like…he couldn't place it.

But in the dark, he saw her hair. Pink.

She's beautiful.

Sasuke found her again. He found her, and she was lying on top of him while he held her tight. Standing up, he placed the girl onto the side of the building and said, "Wait."

"Get out of the way, jackass," the man shouted, trying to find his target. Sasuke, even in his drunken state, landed a blow onto the man's cheek and knocked him backwards, straddling him as he kept hitting the man who cried for mercy.

"Stop it! Stop, stop—don't do anymore," the girl said, rushing to Sasuke's side. "Let's get out of here!" she grabbed him by the hand and ran. He tried to keep up, stumbling, but managed to get by her side.

Once they were relatively safe, Sasuke said, "What's your name?"

"Sakura," the girl breathed. "Thank you for saving me."

In all seriousness, Sasuke took her hands and placed them on his chest. She struggled to get free, but he held onto her tighter.

"I'm not going to hurt you, sweetheart," he said. "But Sakura…" the name suited her perfectly. "Do you remember me? I'm Sasuke."

"H-How would I remember you?" she asked, panicking.

"Ten years ago, I was with my brother in the park, and I saw you picking flowers. I was so mesmerized by you that I couldn't help but fall in love with you, even after all these years…" he moved closer to her so that he could feel her elbows on his stomach. "I love you, Sakura. You're so sweet, and innocent, and a lovely girl…"

"You're drunk," she said, panicking. He was going crazy. "You don't know me. I don't know you. You're not sober and you can't think straight."

Sasuke, even through his drunken haze, knew what he was talking about. "I found you, Sakura. And I don't want to let you go." He stepped back to look at her. "You're still so beautiful and so innocent…" he leaned in to kiss her before he felt her hand on his cheek in a harsh, quick motion.

"Stop it! You're drunk! You and I both know that you're just talking nonsense." Sakura moved away from him. "Get away from me." With every step back she took, he took one forward.

"Sakura—"

"Get away from me!" she shouted before she turned to run. She expected Sasuke to run after her, but instead, he slumped down onto the sidewalk and watched her run, unable to follow her as much as he wanted to.

"Sakura, sweetheart," he shouted after her as he sunk to his knees, unable to follow. "It doesn't matter if I'm drunk or sober. I still love you."

Sasuke felt his own tears drip down onto the cement as her figure disappeared.

.

.

.

She was innocent. He was dirty.

He loved her. She didn't return the feelings.

What could he do now?

Ever since she disappeared from his sight, he woke up on the sidewalk in the morning, hoping it was all a dream and that he could find her again someday. Although the harsh sting of his cheek and the caked tears said otherwise.

"Sakura…" he whispered hoarsely, before feeling sick and going somewhere to vomit. "Sakura, Sakura, Sakura…"

Sasuke decided to go home. He wanted to talk to Itachi.

.

.

.

"You found her? Really?" Itachi put aside the fact that he wanted to talk to Sasuke about his unhealthy lifestyle, but said, "So what happened?"

Sasuke buried his head in his hands. "Everything…just…she hates me, she thinks I'm crazy and she'll never love me…"

"Sasuke, don't say that." He took his brother in his arms. "She doesn't know the real you."

"The real me died a long time ago, aniki."

"It's not too late," he said. "You can always change."

Sasuke, with his eyes full of tears, looked up. "I can?"

"Yes. You just have to work for it. I'll help you."

.

.

.

It had been another year since he last saw her, though he searched for her constantly through the internet and phone books. Sakura was a popular name, and unfortunately, he didn't know her surname. Nonetheless, he was determined to make her his.

He had given up drinking, smoking, and meaningless women to find a woman. Sasuke was now well-dressed and fit a perfectly good lifestyle, his brother and parents especially proud of him.

But for now, he would keep searching for her. And he would love her all the same, the innocent little girl in the red sundress. Someday, he would marry her, and she would accept. And he would make love to her as she gave him her innocence, although still giving off the pure virgin look she would always have.

With list and pen in hand, he went door by door like he did every day.

On his list, he crossed out the names: Fujihara Sakura, Momoiya Sakura, Sato Sakura, Suzuki Sakura…

The last one for the day was Haruno Sakura. He held his breath and knocked, closing his eyes.

The door opened.

Sasuke opened them to find his sweetheart standing in front of him. She, apparently, remembered him too.

"S-Sasuke?"

He dropped everything and hugged her tight. "I found you."

Wow creeper Sasuke…

Slight changes 7.8.14