Grey Skies
The war brought upon a lash of violent sentiments, it was one of the reasons why she moved away from the hospital.
She couldn’t blame them. There was only so much shinobi could do.
It was one of the reasons why Naruto started drinking to forget all he couldn’t prevent. Everyone carried an unreasonable degree of blame.
But everything was kept inside.
Naruto was seen in a positive light for ending the war. However, it didn’t prevent him from feeling lonely.
Nowadays, people walked on a grey area. No one wanted to ease the tension on their shoulders or return to normalcy. It was too soon.
Still, people wanted to be reassured that they weren’t alone.
Breathing had been exhausting, as everyone whooped and sang while others fell on their knees, crestfallen and jaundiced.
They could rest. They could sleep, now. It was over.
It was cruel how the world continued to be such an innocent color of blue. No wonder Shikamaru stared and stared at the sky.
Invisible chains seemed to connect the ankles of the surviving soldiers as they dragged their blistered feet home. Together as one. No one willing to get ahead, unwilling to leave a single person behind.
Since then, as far as her memory recalled, it was when naruto had sought company from Iruka-Sensei. He was the first person to acknowledge him and risk his life to protect him. He was the closest thing to a home and the closest parent figure.
Neither suspected that she and Kakashi knew. Who else knew about them?
It was so strange, but she understood. Kinda.
If she could she would ask Tsunade-Sama to adopt her. She really would. Sakura had thought jokingly about doing so ever since she agreed to teach her.
Though, Sakura cringed at the idea of doing inappropriate things with her master as Naruto was vocally doing with Iruka.
So, maybe she didn’t understand entirely. That didn’t mean she was against them.
Lifting herself from her bed, sore and dirty, she moved with her hands outstretched in front of her not wanting to fall on her face.
It amazed her how much her skills worsened in such a short amount of time. Only a year and a half, but it was not easy to move on like nothing ever happened. It wasn’t like the movies where things fell back in place overnight or in a few weeks.
War was something she never wanted to experience again.
But, on the other hand Naruto became himself again. For that Sakura was thankful to Iruka.
Even though, everyone knew about naruto’s drunken confession, and a large part of herself wasn’t surprised. It was odd between them for awhile because it meant they were each other's competition.
Sakura felt insecure even against naruto. If Sasuke learned of Naruto’s feelings would he choose him over her or would he reject them both?
Sakura prepared the bath and lowered herself slowly into the water. Completely submerging herself and coming up for air.
A hand flew to her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut. Memories flooded her mind.
The end of the great ninja war did not stop the maddly thumping of her heart. How? When all the odds of defeat were stacked against them? Did the universe, perhaps, conspired to give the good of the many the illusion of success? Maybe, it was Naruto’s speech after all that riled everyone’s adrenaline into a narrow common goal: survival.
To her amazement, Sasuke’s icy words didn’t make her crumble unto the dry ground where she expected the wind to blow her away like the dirt underneath her, that was swept away for a few fleeting seconds blurring the happenings of the battles before them.
She’s no use to me. I have never loved her and I never will.
Those two sentences echoed repeatedly in her mind. Her knees bent forward and with a sharp intake of painful breath, understood that words had immeasurable power to defeat the senses. Two sentences bounced, almost punching the walls inside her skull, each time, demanding to break free or at the very least to escape momentarily.
Two hands had caught her before her knees even considered to bend outwardly. These hands pulled her up from the shocked state that she was in. One arm was draped over her shoulders while another hand rested on the side of her tattered and filthy clothed thigh. Small injuries that appeared like scratches of a ferocious feline came in varying lengths on her exposed skin.
“Sakura, Sakura!” this tender yet firm voice belonged to Kakashi Hatake, who was attempting to revive her from her shocked state of mind and also keep her upright from her buckling legs.
Sakura let out a dry, silent, sob and forcefully killed the numb realization that Sasuke was forever out of her reach. But, unfortunately, her body wasn’t yet at sync with her focus. She, then, decided to shift her attention to Kakashi's concerned voice. She realized the position that she was in. Half of her weight was supported by Kakashi, she most certainly would be sitting on his lap if he weren’t half crouching to keep her steady.
She was nothing, but a shattered pink petal, who wanted more than anything to be away. Just away from it all.
“Oh, Kakashi-sensei. I’m sorry,” she huffed. They parted, but Kakashi’s hand rested on her mid back just in case and she was thankful because she didn’t want to be left alone to snap herself back to reality. Kakashi’s hand and presence was reassuring and aided in her reassessing their current situation.
Sasuke was standing at a great distance, watching them with his discolored eyes, and without a shrug of importance vanished.
“He casted a genjutsu, but you managed to bring yourself back. Well done,” his visible eye upturned as he lightly patted her head.
She furrowed her eyebrows in astonishment, “I did?” and in seeing her teacher nod, she was swept by temporary pride. Sakura couldn’t recall what the illusionary technique was composed of, but a cold shiver ran up her spine, thought better not to dwell on it. If she uncovered it, it was undoubtedly going to be unpleasant. Perhaps, her mind was guarding her well-being by blocking it. She gave a sad smile.
What was she hoping to expect from someone who had unquestioningly charged to aim at her life on more than one occasion? It was only up to the sole Uchiha survivor to change on his own.
The end of the great ninja war taught her one thing. Sasuke was an asshole.
She had been unbelievable for the longest time and not in a good sense. She was glad the self acknowledgement eventually came sooner rather than later.
But, Sakura experienced Sasuke-withdrawals like a hopeless drug addict.
She was trying her best to get over him.
It was harder than people believed. It was always easier said than done.
She noticed how people acted when she blushed and became more alert at the sound of Sasuke’s name. They rolled their eyes. They gathered in groups to whisper in hushed tones at her hopelessness.
“There’s something wrong with her head. Loving someone who wants nothing to do with her!”
The water made her shiver. She didn’t care. It was Friday.
A pang in her heart made hands curl up in fists and her teeth to grind.
She was a healer, but at the end of the war Naruto had the damned demon fox to heal him and Sasuke had Karin to bite, and bite, as many times he deemed necessary.
It hurt, she wasn’t going to lie.
But, at least she took care of everyone else. Especially, Kakashi. His physical state was the most time consuming.
Even though, Sakura spent hours after hours fixing him. The idiot would revert back to covering his eye.
Kakashi was adjusting to the fact that Kakashi of the Sharingan was no more.
She remembered how Kakashi faced away from her when she strode in his room.
“Kakashi, how are you feeling?”
She waited patiently, but no answer ever came. So, she walked around his bed to get a look at him.
He stiffened. His eyes were shut tight.
He was clearly struggling, “Sakura, I need a moment.”
“Tell me what’s wrong. I can help you.”
Without thinking twice she reached and brushed his hair. He looked so vulnerable. It was so unlike him. She knew then and there that she would fight against anyone and anything to keep Kakashi safe.
His breathing grew heavy. And his hand found hers. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, maybe he didn’t want to be touched.
Kakashi’s gloveless hand didn’t move her hand away. It simply rested on hers.
“It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay. You’re not alone,” his hand, rough and calloused, squeezed hers in thanks.
His voice broke, “I-I had promised myself to take care of Obito’s eye. It was my birthday gift before he died...That asshole was alive all this time.”
“He changed in the end, didn’t he? You didn’t say your goodbyes in bad terms. You helped him change. You saved him.”
Kakashi brought her hand against his eyes and it stayed there until his hold loosened.
He had fallen asleep and Sakura pulled up a chair beside him.
She stared, with tears in her eyes, as she felt the wetness on her hand and saw the tears on his face.