He was sitting in the rain. Again.
Doing so always provided time for him to reflect, to let his thoughts linger on the past and the memories he never realized he had kept. Empty eyes turned to the dark heavens as wet bangs hung limply over his face. He was the last Uchiha. The last fragment of his broken clan. What use was there to a weakling like him, who couldn't save his family, who couldn't save his loved ones? What use was there to an avenger who couldn't even gain revenge? His hands ghosted over the wet stone of the bench beneath him, and his gaze turned to the path he had taken many years ago. The path that he had taken to escape his past, his home, his team—the effort all gone to waste. Because here he was again, in the same spot he had been in when he was a genin. Konoha.
Sasuke had promised himself that he was going to crush his former village. That he was never going to return to being a Konoha shinobi again. His expression grew cold, a subtle sneer settling on his lips. More goals he had failed to achieve.
He smirked. The exit to Konoha was right in front of him. He could escape without even trying. Even though his teammates were supposed to be monitoring him closely, they had left him alone to offer him some freedom and privacy, both of which he rarely got these days. 'Those fools…' Sasuke narrowed his eyes, his gaze still locked on his blatant chance of escape. He could be gone in the blink of an eye…
But then again, he couldn't. He didn't know why, but something deep inside of him told him to stay. Itachi had wanted it…
Itachi. Memories Sasuke could never suppress flooded his mind with sadness. Itachi had loved him so much… Had been the only one left who was willing to love him. And to think that Sasuke had wanted nothing more in the world than his death… Sasuke supposed he had gotten what he had desired for so long. Yet a part of him was still empty. He presumed it never would be full.
The shinobi shuddered under the soft pattering of the rain, biting his lip almost painfully. Itachi died to protect you… To give you a chance of happiness… It was when the raindrops on his face became indistinguishable from his tears that he suddenly no longer felt the soothing coldness of the rain against his cheeks.
He opened his eyes, unaware that he had closed them, to see bright red cloud his vision where the gray sky should have been.
"You're going to catch a cold, Sasuke-kun."
He sighed and sent a weak scowl to his right. To the pink-haired kunoichi who was, at the moment, holding a ridiculously red umbrella over his head. He silently cursed himself for not noticing her chakra approach earlier. Why did she do this? Why did she have to be so…
"Hn. Annoying." He grumbled, closing his eyes once more. He felt her take a seat next to him, still holding the umbrella high.
The two sat in silence for a while, listening to the rain striking the ground and making musical plops on the umbrella over their heads. Sakura stole a glance at him, wondering if he remembered that night, her words, their genin days.
She had frequently seen Sasuke sitting alone, always on this bench, always when it was raining. She had wanted, more than anything, to sit by his side and provide him company. But she had known it was too early. Too risky. Today, Sakura had decided not to hold back anymore. He was hurting, and she wanted so much to heal him.
Her hand inched toward his hesitantly. She was overwhelmed with the fear of getting rejected, like she had been in the past, but the aching of her heart was so strong and the desire to give him a bit of comfort, a bit of love, was consuming her very essence. In a resolute decision to pull him up from the deep hole he was stuck in, she reached his cold hand and entwined her fingers in his.
Sasuke instantly flinched and glared at her, but she glared back with those fiery emerald eyes, holding his hand tighter as he made an attempt to escape from her grasp.
'I'm not letting you go, Sasuke-kun. Not now, not ever.'
As Sasuke stared into those intense viridian depths, he found himself relaxing into her touch. There was something in her eyes, a kind of spark, that puzzled him completely. Her expression vaguely reminded him of an expression he had not seen in a made him want to ask just what this girl felt for him, just what she wanted from him. But as he looked at her again, he no longer saw the kunoichi with green fire smoldering in her eyes before him. He saw Itachi, poking his forehead with a slender index finger. He saw his mother, smiling at him and ruffling his already messy hair.
'I will always love you.'
Sasuke's fingers tightened around Sakura's slender ones. Perhaps she could be his anchor in this world. Perhaps he could hold tight to her soft little hands and they would never weaken their grip. Perhaps.