title: Born to Be Three
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH 2015
rating: K-M

summary: o11: They count down the bittersweet moments before they must say goodbye.

dedicated to: my baes on tumblr - i love you all!

NOTE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE MONTH: I wanted to add Sarada in many of these prompts, because she's a part of this beautiful family too /sobs forever at my babies having babies/ but sometimes I either couldn't find a way to fit her in and, to be honest, I have little experience writing about her! Hopefully that will change in the future!

.o11.
Graduate

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They count down the bittersweet moments before they must say goodbye.

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Sasuke felt the comfort of Sakura's head resting on his shoulder. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply through his nostrils, and held his breath in. The smell of her—warm honey and fiery cinnamon—cemented all their memories together into his mind.

"I don't want to leave," Sakura muttered. Her hand reached for Sasuke's, and she brushed the curves of his knuckles with her thumb. A lone tear fell onto the crease of his elbow. She was crying.

Sasuke didn't know how he should reply. Of course he didn't want her to leave him—he was happy with her, happier than he'd ever been in his life! And now, in less than five days, his happiness would be wrenched away from him in what he considered a double-edged twist of fate. Sasuke was glad Sakura would be getting the finest education an intelligentsia like her could ever wish for.

Except that it was halfway around the globe.

He responded, "I'll still love you."

Sakura stopped breathing for a second; she raised her head to look at him, observing whether his confession held any truth or if they were just pretty words to ease her insecurities.

"You really mean that?" Sakura asked. She removed her head from her boyfriend's shoulder and sat up straight. Her hand clenched his harder. "Because Sasuke-kun, it's not funny if you're just saying this to make me feel better."

Sasuke angled his body to the right. His left hand found the side of her face, wet with streaming tears. There were too many to brush away, so he bent forward and kissed them dry. This only made her cry harder.

"I mean it," he said. His voice was hoarse—Sasuke feared he would soon cry himself. "Sakura, I love you. And as much as I want you to be by my side, we both know that if you stay…you won't allow yourself to flourish as much as you can. And I'm not going to hold you back."

Sakura began to sob wildly, burying her face into Sasuke's chest. Her back heaved with grief; her hands clutched at the fabric of his wet shirt. Sasuke placed his arms around her and brought her close—it took all of his own willpower not to let down his guard and cry in front of her, too.

"Then promise me," she choked. Her hands clamped into fists. "Promise we'll be together until the end."

Sasuke can't do a lot of things. He can't bring himself to make her stay, but he can at least make their last moments together damn good ones.

"Of course," he promises. "You won't regret it."

updates come regularly on tumblr for each day. I'm lazy at uploading on ff, but rest assured everything will be up by the end of this month. XD