Disclaimer: Don't own. The Shadow
A/N: I was going through my unposted works, editing them and such... and felt like I was repeating myself into oblivion. This is my attempt to try something new—not a complete success, but I'm rather fond of the result. It's next to impossible for me to not write angst. I'm a sadist.
She's walking next to him, side-by-side and equal, and Sasuke doesn't say a word to her. Sakura had seen him walking and timidly inquired if she could join him. He had shrugged. He does not speak to her, and she can tell that it's back. The Shadow; the thing that pulls him away from her and the world. The Shadow is always there.
She follows his body language out of the corner of her eye. She knows when he's about to turn or when he's going to pause, and she acts accordingly. She follows him to a small bridge over a stream. It's nearly sunset now, and her mother will be serving dinner soon. She doesn't care. He has no mother to serve him dinner. He rests his elbows on the rail of the bridge and stares at the stream that bubbles below him. She knows that he's trying to distract himself from the Shadow. He wants quiet.
So Sakura gives it to him. She stands next to him—close enough to indicate that they are comfortable with one another, but far enough to show they are not intimate—and she is silent.
She likes to think she's a friend to him. Maybe not a best friend, or even a close friend, but as long as she's a friend, then that's enough.
He does not move, and it's so quiet that Sakura can count her heartbeats. Silence makes her uncomfortable. Like she's all alone. She knows that Sasuke loves quiet. So does the Shadow.
He's the one to break the silence.
"You're quiet, Sakura." Sasuke turns to face her. "Why?"
She can tell by the calculating look in his eyes that her answer will be a deciding factor.
"Because you want me to be."
There is a look in Sasuke's eyes—the Shadow flickering and a sort of appreciation, and he nods. She has passed and it makes her smile a little.
She knows that it doesn't matter that she passed the test, though, because of what she is about to do. She lifts one hand to the back of his neck and pulls him down, just enough—strange, she thinks, that it was so easy—and brushes their lips together. She takes the moment to remember what this feels like, his lips against hers. It's a kiss. Not his first, perhaps not his last, but it's a kiss that she's giving him, and that's enough. Her fingers move slightly, entwined in his black hair—and she pulls away as if she's been burned, certain she's gone too far.
But instead, when she lifts her green eyes to Sasuke's black, she doesn't see anger or rejection. The Shadow is flickering in his eyes and his face is blank and unreadable.
"Don't do that." He says—whispers. He whispers.
The unspoken 'please' hangs thick in the air.
She wants to ask 'why', but she knows he won't tell her. He never does. He pulls away now, standing straight, and Sakura realizes her hand is still on his neck and she lets it fall back to her side. Sasuke turns his head to look at the stream, and for a moment he seems to be in his own world. Then he turns back to face her—his black eyes flick over her lips, and she wonders what he's thinking—and he says,
"Go home. Your mother is going to be worried."
She wants to argue, to say she'd rather be with him than her mother, but she knows. She knows he has no family and he will want her to be with hers. She knows.
"See you tomorrow, Sasuke-kun." She says politely, and just as she turns she sees his mouth open—he's going to say something—but when she hesitates, he closes his mouth and turns back to the stream.
She goes home.
There was only one thing separating him from her. From the world.
The Shadow.