title: to be juliet's secret.
summary: He forgets how fragile she really is.
dedication: The long-ago birthday girl. And to my AAG hoes. ;D

prompt(s): pages between fingers / teaching, learning, bonding

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The sun was near to rising, caught halfway between steel grey and a million different shades of peach, and Sakura could feel the morning approaching, on her skin; she didn't feel cold, she didn't feel warm, she just felt…refreshed. Calm, and refreshed.

The training grounds of an early morning were still and empty, save for the straw dummies hanging limply on their poles of steel. The grass, dewy and wet, was unmarred by muddy footsteps and droplets of fresh crimson (for now), and there was no sign that the fenced-in area of grassland was so frequently the site of bloodshed and stress, of memories that hurt to recall.

With a deep breath, and a shake of her head, Sakura opened the gate, her bag slung over her shoulder and her holster packed with fresh kunai.

Stepping warily (one could never tell if there would be discarded weaponry, concealed in the grass), she made her way over to the edge of the grounds, where she always liked to sit against the criss-cross fencing. She crossed her legs as she sat, first patting the ground with her foot to check for shuriken blades, and placed her bag beside her, fumbling inside the pack for her book.

She opened the leather-bound edition of Kunoichi through the Ages, and began to read.

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He couldn't remember how long he'd watched her for — a while, presumably, considering how the sun was only half-risen when he arrived and now it was three-quarters of the way into the air, hovering like a pendulum between the sea and the sky. He didn't even know why he was watching her.

There was just something captivating, to Sasuke, about the way Sakura read. Her thin fingers held the pages with a feather-light touch, her eyes skittered along sentences, paragraphs, forming facts in her mind, and there was a simple sort of elegance in that.

He pushed off the wall, and with a sigh, moved towards her, raising a hand in apology.

"Sorry 'm late," he said.

She jumped, closing the book as she did so, her shoulders twitching and her eyes widening in a panicked sort of way. When she saw Sasuke, she scowled, and stood to her full height (which, even now, was a good two heads less than that of Sasuke). "You scared me."

"I noticed," he replied, quietly. "Kunoichi through the Ages? Aren't you a bit old to be reading that? I swear you used to read that cover-to-cover at the Academy…"

The page crumpled slightly as her grip tensed. "I don't care, it's my favourite. It helped me…y'know. Change."

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. "A book helped you get stronger?"

"Yeah, you should read it," She replied. "It's not just about Kunoichi. There're some good techniques in here." She placed it down onto the grass, and forced a smile. "You want to get started?"

Sasuke turned his attention away from the open page.

"Teach me everything that book taught you," he said. "And if I feel it's beneficial, I'll stop taunting you. Deal?"

Sakura grinned. "Deal."

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outro: THEY GET SHORTER. D: