Sunflower Chapter 8: photographs, a naruto fanfic

Sakura fiddled with her new camera, handling it carefully. Her pink lips lifted up into an exuberant smile.

She had spent all her hard earned money on this.

She twisted around in her bed, looking at all the pictures she had taken. A sunset, a beautiful, serene meadow, a raindrop on a leaf, a sunny-haired boy, a beautiful dark-haired girl by his side, a silver haired scarecrow, a blonde-haired woman…and a raven haired boy with a soft smile.

Not one of herself.

"Right, Sakura! Let's go!"

I want to capture the beautiful world, everything on earth that I love; sunrays that brighten my day and the melancholy teardrops that fall from the sky.

But what I want most to freeze forever in time is your smile, because…

sometimes I wonder how long it will last.

Sakura creeped stealthily toward the couple sitting on the bench together, fitted perfectly into each other's arms. She stopped momentarily to revel in Naruto's sunny smile.

She held her breath and took a few more steps.

Perfect.

She raised the camera to her eyes.

CLICK.

She loved pictures. She loved taking them, being in them, capturing beautiful things frozen in time.

She loved looking at them, too.

Beautiful pictures reminded her of happier times.

ii.

"Sasuke-ku– OWW!"

Sasuke whirled around, his dark eyes flashing with concern when he heard her scream. His eyes widened when thin arms flung themselves around his neck tightly and a soft pair of lips captured his in a chaste, soft kiss.

He hadn't quite gotten over his shock yet when Sakura quickly pulled back and winked at him before raising the camera hanging around her neck and snapping a quick photo of him, his mouth slightly open and his expression adorably surprised, a light blush on his elegant cheeks.

She laughed and quickly spirited away in a cloud of white cherry blossoms, blowing him a farewell kiss.

He hated pictures. They were annoying to take, uncomfortable to be in and useless to look at.

Beautiful things always fade, anyways.

iii.

She was standing there, alone.

She was watching the sunset.

She loved this time of day, so peaceful. Here, in this simple meadow where no one goes, surrounded by gentle, serene stalks of grass and sweet flowers, in the safety of the setting rays of sun…she could taste happiness.

She could forget everything here and just lay here, browsing through her memories. She lay there, basking in the sun and was tempted to just fall asleep. But she pinched herself and reprimanded herself that she came here today to complete a task.

She set her camera carefully on the ground. After peering for a long time through the screen and adjusting the settings painstakingly, she skipped a little ways away, seemingly almost directly under the setting sun. She stared at the camera and then wrinkled her nose, remembering that she forgot to set the timer.

Running back hurriedly, she stumbled and tripped. She jerked her head up and looked around, checking to see no one was there and picked herself up.

Making her way carefully to the camera, she pressed down the button and ran back toward her previous position, looking back to see if the red light was blinking, an excited smile on her face.

FLASH

iv.

The camera had captured it perfectly, and it was completely by accident.

The picture was focused on the silhouette of the petite girl. Through the blurred stalks of grass, her figure was off to the side, not perfectly aligned in the center. Her long hair was billowing about her in a gentle, flowing blanket as she turned her head to look back. Her eyes were wide with excitement and levity, her slender legs poised in mid jump and her hands reaching back, seemingly as to wave.

The setting sun was on the other side, blurry but beautiful, in the distance, showering uneven but bright rays across the picture.

In the golden rays of the setting sun, her smile was illuminated and glorified.

movie shot//: the picture fades.

He was standing there, alone, or so he thought.

He was watching the sunset.

He loved this time of day, so peaceful. Here, in this simple meadow where no one goes, surrounded by gentle, serene stalks of grass and sweet flowers, in the safety of the setting rays of sun…he could almost taste happiness.

But he is not naïve; he is no longer a child.

He cannot forget the cruelty of life.

"This is my happy place, Sasuke-kun!"

He closed his eyes, letting the sun's rays warm him.

"We can share, if you'd like."

And unconsciously, his lips curved up in a soft smile and for just a moment, he forgot everything but her.

Her sunny smile that made the sun jealous, her smile that was so contagious that just thinking about it made him feel like he could be happy.

His hands itched to come up and feel his lips that were still tingling from her kiss.

His eyes opened to look up at the sky as he allowed himself to smile for just a moment.

CLICK

You are my sunshine.

vi.

His onyx eyes widened and immediately flashed crimson as he activated his sharigan.

"Who's there?"

A pink head popped up from the distance and he was momentarily stunned to find it was Sakura.

And she was smiling at him.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" She called, waving her hand furiously at him before turning around and running away. Abruptly, she tripped and her pink head went down. He panicked.

"W-Wait!"

She only laughed and got up to keep running.

Sasuke ran after her, his steps quick and light. His breath tore from him harshly as he tried to catch her but she was way ahead of him.

"Sakura!"

He saw her glance back at him, a teasing grin on her face before it dropped suddenly and she brought her arm back reaching toward him.

Without thinking, his arm came up too, trying to reach her.

Her lips moved but no sound came out.

I…

She vanished in a swirl of white cherry blossoms.

He didn't hear what she said.

vii.

I'm so sorry.

"Naruto!"

"EH, What's up Sakura-chan! You want some ramen?"

She shook her pink head. "Naruto, could you keep this safe for me?" She shoved a plain, sealed package into his hands and he looked down at it confusedly.

"Eh, Sakura-chan, what's –"

"It's a goodbye present."

Naruto stared down at his best friend.

"NANI?"

She winced and looked down at her feet.

"Naruto…can you do me a favor?"

He frowned. "Anything, Sakura-chan."

She looked up at him and suddenly embraced him tightly. Stunned, he wound his arms slowly around her tiny body as she clung to him. Her body was shaking.

"S-Sakura-chan?"

He jerked when he felt teardrops stain his shirt.

Alarmed, he pulled her back to look at her. She looked at him with teary emerald eyes. Up close, Naruto noticed she had heavy bags under her eyes and her usual rosy hue was gone.

"You know how you smile that goofy smile whenever you're with Hinata?" she asked in a small voice.

His lips automatically turned up at the mention of his sweetheart.

Sakura smiled in return and he sighed inwardly in relief.

She took his arms and grasped them tight.

"Never let it fade, no matter what."

He regarded her carefully and nodded. "Sakura, what–"

"And don't let Sasuke-kun's fade either."

Naruto snorted. "Please, Sasuke-teme doesn't smile."

BAM

Albeit, the bonk wasn't as hard as before. Naruto stared at her. She had taken the package from him and pulled something out. She waved it in front of him, encouraging him to take it.

It was a picture of Sasuke, a close up of his face, his smiling face. He was looking away from the camera, as if he didn't know it was there and his onyx eyes were clear from apprehension, hate, darkness. If Naruto looked closely, he could see the red and orange sky in his eyes.

And his smile was small, yet overwhelming. It was a simple tilt of the lips, so different from his arrogant smirk. It was a soft smile, as if the haunted boy had finally found peace from the world.

Naruto gaped at the picture, realizing this was the first time he had seen Sasuke smile.

"How did you get this?"

When he didn't get a reply, he tore his eyes away from the picture.

Sakura was gone, only the package left in the place she was standing.

Naruto stared before crouching down and picking up the package. He felt a heavy weight descend on him, an ominous feeling of approaching tragedy, something he couldn't shake off. To his surprise, his fingers were trembling when he began to open the package.

The first thing he pulled out was a letter.

…if I could just capture that ephemeral moment.

…if only the world could stop spinning now.

viii.

"Hello, my dear students. I'm sorry I'm a bit tardy but I got lost–"

Kakashi stopped abruptly. He felt his stomach drop.

"That's strange. Sakura's never late."

Sasuke nodded, his lips pulled tight and his expression dark. "She wasn't at her house. I checked."

Naruto only looked down from where he sat silently.

Kakashi forced his shoulders to shrug. "Well, she's going to have to make up the lost time when she gets back. Let's start, shall we?"

Sasuke got up and Kakashi had turned around when Naruto spoke.

"She's not coming back."

Sasuke looked back and Kakashi stopped.

"Stop being stupid, dobe. Let's go."

"I said she's not coming back."

Sasuke's brows creased and his heart started to beat faster, painfully. "What the hell?"

Naruto looked up at him and a small, sad smile was on his face. Sasuke came up to him and shook him.

"Do you know where she is?"

Naruto's smile dropped. "Yes."

Sasuke stared. Kakashi turned around. "Naruto, maybe you should–"

"I'll take you to her, if you want."

"Naruto."

Sasuke frowned. "Why isn't she here?"

Naruto regarded him carefully. "If you come with me, I'll show you."

Kakashi suddenly appeared behind Naruto, placing a hand warningly on Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto."

Sasuke glared. "Kakashi. What are you two hiding from me? Where's Sakura?"

Naruto shrugged off Kakashi's hand and strode up to Sasuke. "He deserves to know, Kakashi."

Kakashi sighed and then nodded. "I'll be on my way, then."

After the silver-haired shinobi had left, Naruto turned to Sasuke. "Take me to your happy place."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

ix.

They were standing there, two dark silhouettes in the fading sun.

They were watching not watching the sunset.

Sasuke looked down at the camera, resting on top of a photograph. He looked to Naruto who nodded.

Sasuke bent down slowly, his limbs heavy and tired. He felt a burning sensation behind his eyes and throat as his hand slipped the photograph out from underneath the camera.

It was a picture of a cherry blossom.

Naruto came up to Sasuke and put his hand on his shoulder. He could feel it shaking.

"Sasuke."

The onyx-eyed boy did not respond, only stared at the photo of the cherry blossom. It was a bright pink, the same shade as Sakura's hair.

"Sasuke, look at this, please."

Slowly, mechanically, the boy turned around to see Naruto pull out a photo from his shirt.

"Sakura told me to keep this safe."

Sasuke stilled.

It was the picture from a few days ago, when Sakura had captured him while he was smiling.

"Let me see that," he said, quickly snatching it from Naruto's hands.

She had captured it beautifully.

And he could not believe he had smiled like that.

He doesn't know if he can ever smile like that again. Not without her.

Naruto was rummaging through his shirt again and brought out another photo, along with a crumpled piece of paper.

Sasuke took it from him wordlessly.

When he looked at the picture, he felt all the breath leave him. She looked the same from that day in the meadow, when he had been chasing after her, her arms reaching back. But her eyes were happy and she had a smile on her face.

Sasuke stared at it for a long time, savoring the picture of her before looking to the paper.

He unfolded it and found it was a letter.

I love you, Sasuke-kun.

He hated pictures. They were annoying to take, uncomfortable to be in and useless to look at.

Beautiful things always fade, anyways.

But pictures of her were the only way to make him smile.