DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Naruto"

BROKEN

She stared at the photograph in her hands and sighed. It had been so long ago that the official Team Seven photo had been taken. Sometimes, when she was feeling especially terrible, she would look at that picture and her mood would lift. It served her well on days like today.

It was raining. The mid-morning day was made gray by ominous clouds. The cold drops of water pelted the glass of her hotel window with soft tapping.

Tap…tap, tap, tap…tap… tap, tap.

She wanted so much to bury herself in the warm blankets of the bed. It was a horrible day to be travelling. She wondered if the Nanadaime would pardon her if she were an extra day or two late getting back. The mission had been successful and she'd already started writing the report, what would one day of leisure change?

Leisure…

She didn't even remember what that was. It had been so very long since her last real day off. Things had been pretty messed up after Pein's attack. And then the war…

She had seen the worst side of the war. Everyone who had been injured or killed was brought from the battlefield to the medical tents. She had never truly been aware of just how many shinobi there were in the world until the war began. It was then, also, that she realized how badly they were losing. The fifth day into the war proved to be the most hopeless. Madara's plan was coming to fruition. Yet, miraculously, Naruto had come and he was able to defeat the maniac.

Word never came as to Uchiha Sasuke's presence on the battlefield.

Naruto never saw him and was left to battle the sadistic Madara alone. What had promised to be a fateful battle between the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki and the last Uchiha never happened and everyone was left feeling cheated and empty. That battle had been their last chance…their last hope to bring Sasuke back. Apparently fate was cruel, for it seemed as if he had vanished from existence.

The worst was over and there was no one left to fight. Not even Sasuke.

Things took a long time to fix after the war. Life still wasn't as it should be and it had been two years since the end. War was a difficult thing to overcome, but hopelessness was an even greater adversary.

Every day was a mountain to climb—an obstacle to pass. The nights were worse. Unbearable at the best of times, her pillows were stained from her many tears. She didn't feel strong enough to endure the loneliness. Sometimes she snuck into Naruto's apartment and slept beside him, just to feel some form of warmth. She had lost so many dear people…she was sometimes afraid she would lose Naruto too if she didn't keep a close enough eye on him.

Her world had shattered and she didn't know how to fix it.

So really, what was one day to herself? Who would it harm?

Well, that patient who's in critical condition could die if you're not there to intervene, she thought morbidly.

"I can't save everyone," she whispered to herself.

And, in a way, vocalizing that hard truth settled her decision. She would continue her journey the following day, if the weather permitted.

She got dressed and decided to go down to the hotel lobby. Maybe she could get some hot chocolate while she waited out the storm. Before she left her room, she grabbed the small frame that protected her picture and stuffed it in her messenger bag. She didn't go anywhere without it.

Walking through the empty hallway, she felt her loneliness suffocating her. She felt like she hadn't been able to breathe easy since she was a child. When had she become the adult kunoichi she was now? She was not even twenty yet, but she felt so old. Where had her childhood and adolescent years gone? She never remembered behaving like civilian teenagers. Her concerns had always been too great to act so frivolously. The last time she had seen a movie was when she was a genin and…she'd never been on a real date. She wondered if she'd ever go on a real date.

She made her way slowly down the staircase and into the crowded lobby. There were so many people trying to escape the rain. She moaned when she saw the mass of bodies in front of the bar. Rolling her eyes, she made her way into the crowd and tried her hardest to ignore the people pushing and elbowing her. Someone touched her inappropriately and, her frustration rising, she immediately threw her elbow into the assailant's stomach. A tight smirk lifted her lips when the sound of his moan met her ears. Was a cup of hot chocolate really worth this?

Deciding she was better off ordering from her room, she turned on her heel and started retreating from the crowd. And then someone shoved her. Hard. Gracelessly, she fell forward only to land against someone's back. Unfortunately, the frame stuffed halfway inside her bag went flying. A second later, shattering glass resounded. Shutting her eyes tight to stop the angry tears, she straightened herself up and sighed. She lifted her gaze to apologize to the person that had caught her painfully against their back, but was unable to say anything. Her eyes widened as they met with terrifying black holes.

"Sakura."

His voice was smooth, just like always, making her shiver, but his face betrayed him—it showed none of his usual aloofness. He was actually shocked to see her.

If he said anything more, she couldn't hear it as her heart beat suddenly became thunderous in her ears. She said nothing and simply stared at him as a familiar fear started to rise in her chest. Breathing became a very difficult task and the lump in her throat wouldn't go down no matter how many times she swallowed it. She found herself reaching for her own throat as memories of his hand suffocating her flooded her mind. When he suddenly stepped forward, she stumbled back. He frowned.

Sasuke bent down to pick up the broken frame. His black, black eyes gazed at the photo in his hands and his frown deepened. After a moment, his eyes shifted and his sight was again trained to her. She was just barely able to restrain a whimper as she felt the weight of his stare. And then, he did something quite unexpected. He slowly reached out, holding the frame for her to take from his hand. She took a shaky breath and gazed at him with wide eyes. His expression changed, the harsh lines around his mouth disappeared and his hard eyes softened. She swallowed once again before hesitantly taking the frame, careful not to cut herself on the shattered glass. And as her fingers gingerly took it from his hand, she touched him, but he didn't flinch away. She bashfully stole a glance at his face and realized that the mad beast he had once been was gone. She pulled the photo out of the frame, careful not to scratch the surface on the shards of glass, and put it in her bag.

He made a shrugging motion and began to walk away, but she was certain he was intending for her to follow him. He was used to her following him. The crowd seemed to part for Sasuke as he made his way to an empty booth. She walked close behind. Sasuke sat in a booth, propped his elbows on the table and laced his fingers in front of his face. His brows furrowed as he watched her slide in across from him. She felt uncomfortable with his studying. After a long moment of silent staring, she took a slow breath.

"Where…were you?"

He sighed. "Sakura—"

"No, Sasuke," she said on the verge of tears. "Why weren't you there?"

He said nothing.

"You were supposed to be there," she whispered.

He lowered his hands and gazed at her seriously. "I was."

She blinked. "Naruto said—"

"Naruto doesn't know anything."

She watched him carefully and hoped he would continue. She hoped he would explain everything to her.

Another dreadfully long moment passed and Sasuke raked his hand through his raven hair in a rare display of frustration.

"I saw him…Itachi."

Sakura's mouth fell and a tear tumbled silently down her cheek. She understood now and she had no words to say.

Sasuke's mouth twitched ever so slightly. "I killed him…I had his eyes implanted into my head." Anger shone in those strange unfamiliar eyes. "Yet he stood with all the others resurrected by Kabuto's foul Edo Tensei no Jutsu. Even in death…his loyalty was still to Konoha."

He looked away from her and stared out into the lobby, yet she had the feeling his gaze was into the past and not the present.

"He looked at me," he said quietly. "He was disappointed."

Sakura bowed her head and let her tears fall in silence. She sniffled once and then brought her palms up to wipe the salty tracks from her face. "I wish I could take your pain away," she said.

Sasuke's gaze was torn from the past and he looked at her with sharp eyes. "What could you possibly know about my pain?"

"After the war ended…after waiting and waiting for you to come…Naruto told me the truth about your clan's massacre. He told me the truth about Itachi." She watched him with bated breath as his features darkened. When he said nothing, she continued slowly and carefully. "Everything I thought I understood about the world shattered. I felt so broken inside. Nothing made sense anymore."

"You felt broken?" Sasuke asked incredulously. "Imagine how I felt when, after reaching my goal of killing my brother, I was told the truth," he said the word with such contempt, such disgust. "My revenge was meaningless." He seethed. "And then, when Itachi finally had peace, Madara brought him back to fight against the village he loved. That's when I knew there was no such thing as justice. Try to tell me you understand how that feels," he dared.

"I don't claim to understand, Sasuke," she replied wearily. "I just wish that there was some way I could make the hurt go away."

"Well, there isn't."

Sakura clicked her teeth as a feeling of dejection settled over her. She took a calming breath and then changed topics. "Why did you run? Why didn't you turn against Madara for what he did?"

"It's not so easy when your whole world is turned upside down, when it feels like you've been ripped open." He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back. "I needed time to think."

Sakura bit her lower lip and her eyes shifted to gaze at her clenching fists. Uncurling her fingers, she saw the bright red crescent-shaped imprints left in her palms. She hid her hands under the table and spoke hesitantly. "Do you…still need time?"

His dark eyes watched her and she couldn't read his mind. She couldn't see past the blank expression.

Finally, "Why do you still care?"

She looked away from his searching eyes and felt heat rising to her cheeks. "I…I've always held you in such high regard," she said quietly. "No matter what you did, I always thought the world of you. I don't think I'll ever stop caring about you, even…even if I wanted to stop."

"Do you want to stop?"

She looked up. He looked as if he was daring her to say yes. He waited expectantly for an answer. "No. I want to hold you high," she replied evenly. "I just ask that you continue to give me a reason to."

He stared at her for a long time. She figured he was considering her heavy words.

"I never felt right with you gone," she said. Her emerald eyes shifted to gaze at him from under her eyelashes. "You've been away for so long, Sasuke."

"I'm sorry," he said after a while.

Her eyes widened as she looked at him. "What?"

He met her gaze evenly. "I'm sorry for what I did to you." When she said nothing, he sighed. "I don't expect you t—"

"I forgive you." She smiled softly.

Sasuke seemed a little unsure of how to react. He looked caught between relieved and surprised which made her smile all the more. For how corrupt he had been, it was surprising to see him appear so childlike. Sakura shrugged lightly as a blush dusted her cheeks. She glanced off to the side.

"How can you forgive me so easily? I tried to kill you."

"But you didn't."

"I left you."

She felt her lip begin to tremble and the sting of tears behind her eyes. She bit her lip hard. "I think that hurts the most," she mumbled as she looked down into her lap. "But…I can forgive you because—"

"Because you still love me," he finished.

Sakura's head snapped up to look into his knowing eyes. She had nothing to say, she certainly couldn't deny his words were true. She couldn't count the many times she'd been called foolish for waiting for him. Her mother had even told her it was time to move on. But, she loved him. She was willing to condemn herself to a life of loneliness to continue loving him.

Sasuke smirked. "Sakura caught speechless."

Her face turned a deeper shade of red. She brushed some pink hair out of her face as she thought of something to say. "I…it was never a secret."

"You said it yourself, Sakura, I've been away a long time. Things change."

Slowly, she shook her head. "If that's true, it's only that my feelings have grown."

"I wasn't talking about your feelings," he growled

She blinked. "I-I don't under—"

"I never planned to go back," he interrupted her stuttering. "I never thought I'd see you or any Konoha shinobi again. I didn't want to."

Sakura's brow furrowed as she tried to comprehend what he was saying.

"But the only thing I could think of was Konoha…was Team Seven." He shook his head and suddenly chuckled. It was a surprisingly pleasant sound, so unlike his mad cackling from two years ago. He looked at her with a strange smile. "And here we are."

"Here we are," she repeated, uncertain of where his train of thought was going.

Placing his elbows on the table he leaned forward. "Seeing you has brought back a lot of memories and a lot of…" he paused as if the word he wanted to say was beyond his reach.

Sakura watched him expectantly, hoping he wasn't going to shut down. It was a natural reflex of his to build up his defenses when he felt people were too close. She had come to expect the behavior of him.

He shut his eyes and sighed briefly. "Feelings," he said through gritted teeth. "A lot of which, I've tried so hard to suppress."

"What are you saying?"

His eyes filled with remorse. He looked away from her, ashamed of himself. "I thought that if I killed you, you'd no longer be…a distraction."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Sasuke—"

"Let me finish, Sakura." Her mouth clamped shut and he ran a hand through his hair. "You were my friend. After I left, occasionally, I would wonder if you were safe, if you were happy." He looked troubled as he glanced at the table. When he spoke again his eyes were shielded from view by his dark fringe. "The few times you found me, I almost wanted to go with you, but I couldn't. Even now…" he trailed off.

Sakura felt a new sort of pain in her chest. She had been closer to bringing him back than she thought. But…maybe it simply wasn't supposed to happen. Maybe all her attempts were in vain. When his eyes met hers, she knew that, even now, he would fight his desire to return home. His black eyes were resolute, if not a little apologetic. He must still believe that only death awaited him in Konoha, she thought. Outside those gates, he had the freedom to live his life.

"I hope you're happy." With those words, he rose from the booth and briskly walked away.

Sakura blinked. A second later, it registered that Sasuke was walking away. Again. She wasn't going to let that happen. She jumped up from the booth and spotted his retreating form.

"Don't you get it yet?" she yelled across the lobby.

Stopping, his shoulders became rigid.

"I will not be happy until you come home."

He still didn't face her. She snarled and walked slowly toward him. "After all these years, do you still not understand that?"

People were staring. She didn't care. She continued her measured steps until she was a foot behind him. His stance was tense.

"So, despite what you want, you're just going to walk away and wish me happiness?"

His arm flexed. She glanced down and saw his bone-white knuckles as they clenched.

"Don't presume to know what I want."

"You always were a coward," she whispered venomously.

He spun on his heel and glowered at her. "What did you say?" he growled.

Sakura stepped up on her toes and met his fierce eyes with her own intensity. "I said you're a coward."

Suddenly, there were gasps and chairs fell to the ground as people sprung to their feet. Sasuke had her against a wall, his arm pinning her across the shoulders and his nose mere centimeters from hers. The bridge of his nose and forehead were crinkled as he glared at her. She could practically feel his body coursing with anger and, in the back of her mind, she wondered if he was going to hurt her. But, she noticed with interest, his Sharingan was not activated. He had no intention of harming her.

They stood like that for a moment, hostility pouring off Sasuke and making the air thick. Then, without a word, he roughly pulled his arm away from her and stalked away. Sakura sucked in a breath. She looked at the ground and then in the direction that he had taken. Gathering her resolve, she fisted her gloved hands and pursued him.

Finding him in one of the hotel hallways, she ran to his side and matched her pace with his.

He stopped abruptly and stared at her. "Leave me alone."

"You can't run away from everything."

"You are so annoying."

She smirked. "I try."

He rolled his eyes.

"Sasuke, can't you feel me here?" Her eyebrows were tilted and her green eyes sparkled. "Stop shutting me out."

"I can't be open," he replied roughly. "It hurts too much."

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said softly as she reached for his hand.

He flinched away and she withdrew her hand. Hurt poured over her expression. He glanced to the side. "I wish things could be different."

"Things are different," she said with bright eyes. "There's so much you have to learn."

"No." He looked at her. "I can't go back. There's nothing for me there."

Sakura was silent for a moment, before she said evenly, "They're all dead."

His eyebrow arched upwards.

"The Elders, Tsunade. They were all killed in the war."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Killed?"

"Anyone who would have sentenced you to death, they're gone. You can breathe again, Sasuke."

His eyes narrowed. "Who's Hokage? And please don't say it's Naruto."

Sakura smiled. "Nanadaime Hatake Kakashi."

"Kakashi…"

"He'll pardon you," she said with conviction.

Sasuke looked at her and she knew that he believed her. His whole body seemed to lift as if a heavy burden had been taken off his shoulders.

"You don't have to feel broken. We can help you put the pieces back together."

"I'm not broken," he replied. "I'm simply…incomplete."

She looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

He took a step toward her and dwarfed her. "What do you think I mean?"

She looked up at him and saw just how close he was. "You need us, your friends."

His eyes bore into hers, intense and dark. "Do I?"

"You've always needed—"

"Shut up, Sakura," he said huskily.

She tried to talk, but the rising heat in her face made her mouth stupid. His eyes shifted to glance at her lips and her heart skipped. As his fingers gently trailed her jaw line, her eyelids fluttered closed. His mouth met hers tentatively, softly. It felt so strange, but so wonderful. He moved his lips carefully over hers and she breathed him in. He smelt like the forest. It was electrifying. His other hand came up to rest in her pink tresses and her hands reached up to hold his arms. He was so unsure and so careful in his kisses that Sakura knew he treasured her.

After a moment, he drew back from her and then pulled her into his arms. She snuggled into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. She sighed and then giggled.

Title: Broken
Summary: I'm broken when I'm lonesome. And I don't feel right when you're gone away.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto"
Theme: Chance Meetings
Prompt: Shatter
Medium: Fanfiction
Rating: T
Warning(s): none
Comments: Beta-read by Sakura's Unicorn. Thanks for being AWESOME! Also, this is inspired by the song Broken by Seether and Amy Lee. I challenge you guys to find all the lines of the song. They're changed slightly, but they're in there.