(this was written about a year and a half ago. I know its not very good XP)
Shooting Stars
Eight years had passed since they had first become ninjas. Many things had changed since then. Most dreams had been achieved during that time. Naruto was officially the sixth hokage of the village hidden in the leaves. Hinata had finally told him her true feelings a while ago. The couple was now married and very proud of it. Shikamaru had recently asked Temari to marry him. She had accepted his proposal and they were now planning their wedding. Neji and Tenten had been married for more than a year. They were expecting their first child in about five months. Many other couples were now married or engaged. The only singles left were Choji, Rock Lee and Sakura. Rock Lee loved training more than anything else and Choji seemed to take interest in a new girl who had just arrived from the village hidden in the mist. Sakura, on her side, was working at the local hospital. She was a med-nin, one of the best in the village. She had fallen into a working routine. She worked all day at the hospital until four pm and then went home. Sasuke had come back from Orochimaru’s lair two years ago. He had finally killed his brother and gotten revenge. He was now single and captain of a special ANBU team. He lived next door to Sakura. Not much had happened to him since he came back. He too had fallen into a daily routine.
Sakura had matured. She was not the Sasuke fan girl she had once been when she was younger. She had become an ingenious young woman. She was as strong as ever. She had for long gotten over her fan girl manners and now considered Sasuke as a friend she sometimes worked with.
Sasuke had recovered from the fight against Itachi in about a month. He was then forced to pass the chunin and jonin exam. After that, he had become captain the elite ANBU squad. Though he saw Sakura every day, he had never felt anything towards her. But recently, he was confused. Every time Sakura was with Rock Lee or any other boy, he felt a cold shiver crawling inside his heart. He did not really know what it meant but deep down he knew what this feeling was; jealousy. He had felt it so many times towards his brother’s power. He had also felt it some years ago when he had not been able to save Sakura from Gaara’s demon and it was Naruto who saved her in the end. But, he did not want to admit he had the slightest feelings for her. He thought she was too good for him. He had inflicted her with so much pain in the past and did not want to harm her any more.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
It was a lovely summer night. The stars shinned with their every glow. Sakura had come home later than usual that day. It was 10:30 pm when she finally got home. One of the patients she was in charge of had some complications in his injuries and had needed many special treatments to recover. All of these complications had made her very drowsy. She reached her room and changed from her working outfit to her snow white pyjama. She went to bed a few moments later. The soft cloth of the bed’s sheets brushed her face softly as she slipped in the warm bed. She then fell asleep rapidly, feeling the gentle sent of her house all around her.
A gentle shake awoke her from her dreamy castle. A cold hand was lightly shaking her so she would wake up. Sakura turned slowly around to see who was there. A tall figure stood beside her bed. The blurry silhouette soon became clearer. His dark hair was tied back by his ninja head band. His shoulders strong and so were his arms. It was Sasuke. She looked around to see if anything was wrong or out of place but nothing had changed inside the house. She pulled herself up to a sitting position. Sasuke’s hand grasped hers to help her climb out the bed. He then started to smoothly draw her towards the door, still not letting go of the light grasp he had on her soft hand.
‘’There’s something I have to show Sakura...’’ he told her as he opened the front door. Since she was not fully awake, she followed him without arguing. She was slightly taken aback to see him at that time at night but, she knew they were fine friends and trusted him.
They walked to the villages gates, right where the dense forest began.
‘’Sakura, do you mind if I carry you? I know you’re tired so... is it o.k.?’’ he asked her looking a bit embarrassed. Sakura brought her hand up to cover her mouth as a long yawn came out of it.
‘’Sure, I don’t mind at all.’’ She then replied.
She approached his back. He leaned forward so she could climb on. Her arms, now locked around his neck, warmed his naturally cold skin. Sasuke felt a slight blush form itself on his cheeks to the contact of her soft skin on his neck as he pulled her legs from the ground. He then felt her head lean on his own. He could now smell the delicate sent of her hair. To that he only blushed even more than he had before; the blush was now spreading to his neck.
Sasuke carried Sakura as they travelled through the thick forest for about twenty minutes. They afterwards arrived to a clearing in the middle of the ocean of trees around them. A small house stood there. Sasuke brought Sakura to the front door and let her slide down his back to the ground. He turned to the door and took out a key from the back pocket of his dark blue pants.
‘’This was of my family’s old country house. Everyone forgot about it a while ago, so I decided to clean it a bit...’’ Sasuke told the pink haired girl.
Now fully awake, Sakura was intrigued. She wanted to know why he had brought her here in the first place. They entered the luxurious residence soundlessly. Sasuke turned on the lights so they could see something else than dark figures surrounding them. He turned towards her and saw she was looking around as if she had never seen anything like it before. The Uchiha family was very influential and could afford many accommodations. To Sasuke, who had been to this dwelling many times before when he was younger, the glamorous look of the house was common. But to Sakura who had lived all her life in a small house with her parents, and now living in her own apartment, she had never been exposed to the sumptuousness of these quarters. He let his friend glance around for a few minutes. He was amused to see the surprise on her face every time she found something she had never seen before. He stared at her with a calm look on his face as he leaned his back on the wall. Without noticing, he started to flush. His cheeks rapidly turned from light pink to tomato red. He felt his heart beat faster than usual inside his chest as he continued to gaze at the gorgeous girl still exploring his domicile. Sakura unexpectedly turned towards him. An amused smile appeared on her lips.
‘’Sasuke, why are your cheeks red?’’ She said as she giggled innocently
‘’Um...WHAAAA..!!!??’’ He replied as he brought his hands to his cheeks to cover them, embarrassed that she had seen him blush.
He looked up and saw the clock hanging from the top of the wall. Automatically, he got reminded of why he had brought her here in the first place.
‘’Sakura! ’’ She turned to listen.
‘’Come quickly, I’ll show you what I brought you here for...’’ He took her hand and led her to a stairway. They rapidly climbed them and stopped in front of a washed-out door. Sasuke delicately opened it. Behind the door was an old run down bed room. It looked like it had been the only area that had not been cleaned in the whole house. Massive windows let the moon’s light shine in to the room and illuminate what little furniture it contained.
‘’That was my parent’s bedroom... I haven’t had the chance to clean it yet.’’ He told her.
‘’When was the last time you came here with them?’’ Sakura asked as she looked around the almost empty room.
‘’I think it was about... um... twelve or thirteen years ago...’’ he said hesitantly.
‘’ You must miss them so much...’’ she looked down to her feet. A sad look appeared on her countenance.
‘’Yes... I do. But now I also have my friends and you to help me through it all.’’
He walked to the windows and opened them. The glass doors led to a balcony where two chairs had been placed.
‘’ Come Sakura,’’ He said, ‘’what I wanted to show you is right outside.’’
They walked to the balcony and sat down on the chairs.
‘’ It should start right about...now!’’ Sasuke looked up and pointed to the sky. Sakura raised her gaze and looked at the stars. What she saw was the most incredible thing she had ever seen. Millions of sparks danced through the sky, all heading to the same point in the horizon. They passed playfully in front of the moon, illuminating ever more the villages of the world. The shinning objects seemed to come from every direction but always heading to the same point, as if attracted by an invisible magnet. The shooting stars almost seemed endless as they kept coming, bringing their shine to the world.
When the last one finally came, it was the brightest of them all, slowly passing by as if it was blessing us all with its light. The moon’s natural glow was now once again the only light illuminating the sky.
‘’Wow...That was so...’’ Sakura started.
‘’ Magical?’’ Sasuke asked.
‘’Yes! Magical.’’ She replied, turning her head to face him.
‘’So, did you make any wishes?’’ She asked him, smiling ever more.
‘’I didn’t need to,’’ he started,’’ because I’m already here with you.’’ A smirk appeared on his face as he said it.
Sakura looked away as she started to blush wildly. She then smiled back at him. She was quite happy to have heard those words being told to her.
‘’What do you mean by that?’’ She asked still blushing. A childish innocent smile formed on her lips.
Sasuke’s naturally pale skin bloomed in to brighter colors. He looked down to his feet. He knew what he had to do but he was afraid of her reaction. Ironically, he had fought so many opponents but still, he was afraid that his heart might be broken by a single word; no.
He hesitantly raised his gaze to her face. Their eyes met. He felt he could finally tell her the words he wanted to say. A warm feeling now eased his heart. Like feeling you get when the end of the long and dark tunnel can be seen in the distance. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He then took Sakura’s sift hands in his own. He looked straight into her emerald eyes and whispered,
‘’ Sakura,’’ he started hesitantly,’’ I... um... I ... Sakura, I love you!’’ His gentle words pierced the silence of the night. Sakura was taken aback to hear this. She felt herself blush even more. Her red cheeks now complimented her pale emerald eyes. Strange warmth erupted inside her heart. ‘Love? Do I... Love him?’ she asked herself. She had thought she had gotten over him years back, but... what was this feeling? Lost in her thoughts, she did not notice Sasuke leaning his face into hers. He kissed her tenderly and then pulled back to see her reaction. He did not go far, for she pulled him back in for another one. He was finally kissing his love’s sumptuous lips. The one’s he had wanted to taste for so long. Sakura was now sure of what she felt. She loved him too. All that time she had only been denying her own feelings towards him because she thought he would only reject her once more. Their kiss seemed to last for an eternity, like a picture frozen in time. Both of the lovers wanted it to last forever. But when they finally pulled back from one another, they smiled. They had both been scared of their feelings but in the end, they had found each other.
They sat together on one of the chairs. Sakura was held by Sasuke’s strong arms keeping her close to him. Her head against his chest, she could hear his heart beat. She soon fell asleep, not affected the coldness of the air, for she knew that Sasuke’s gentle touch would protect her from anything. She closed her eyes, still feeling her lover’s warmth fill her surroundings.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
The sun’s light brought bright colors to the dull room. Sakura awoke inside her bed. The soft covers brushed her skin as she sat up. Surprised to see she was in her own house, she looked around to see if there were any clues to what had happened the previous night. There were none. ‘Was it all a... dream?’ she thought to herself. She got out of bed and started to explore her house to see if she had dreamed the events or not. Nothing had changed since the day before. The sweet melody of the singing birds filled the air. ‘I must have dreamed it all...’ she thought reluctantly. She wished it had all been true; that the warmth she had felt had ever existed.
Saddened, she went to her room and changed for work. She had a very depressed look on her features. She picked up her bag and walked to her house’s front door. As she was about to open it, something caught her eye. On the small table next to the door, stood a vase where innumerable flowers had been put in it. She leaned into the flowers to smell them. ‘What a wonderful sent.’ She thought. She then noticed the scarlet envelope leaning on the vase. She opened it and read what had been written on the small piece of pastel paper inside.
‘’For my one and only shooting star,
Sasuke.’’
