Raptured ◈ Sasuke Uchiha

XXX

The saddest word
In the whole wide world
Is the word almost

He was almost in love
She was almost good for him
He almost stopped her
She almost waited
He almost lived
They almost made it

-Nikita Gill

Everyone dispersed to their homes to get themselves cleaned up. I got to a public bath sector where I used to leave one of my spare clothes to one of their locker rooms. Sasuke went to the males section as well. It's kinda funny that we almost actually think alike. I frowned noticing that a flowy white dress replaced my shirt and my usual shorts. There was someone who took my clothes and out of guilt, replaced it with a dress which explaines why my lock had a few scratches. The culprit is left handed. A female. Probably of the same age as me.An inch smaller than my height.I observed, noticing that the culprit could easily snuck in and had opened my locker.

I sighed, clutching the dress in my hand. I had no choice. I made my way to one of the showers to remove the stench.

The dress had fit me in the right places. My hair damp from the water. I came outside the female's area with my sword tucked at my side. The male Uchiha was already done, leaning his torso at one of the pillar, arms crossed while looking at me. He must probably be waiting for me or someone. I strode forward, passing him by. His hand quickly shot to one of my arms, holding me still. "Akane.. I want to talk to you." My lips trembled, glancing in his way.

We sat on top of the third Hokage's monument, taking the breathtaking scenery below us. I stood a small distance away from him, feeling the windy season Konoha always has. "Akane.. that afternoon.. I- I made up my mind." He turned his head at me. His eyes reflecting the same lights the street emitted. "I will wait for you, until you came to acknowledge me as a person more than the bond they call friendship." My eyes gaze softly, my mouth sligtly parted. Words never came out.

"You don't have to wait for me, Sasuke. This is my divine punsihment in atone for my sins that I have begun." He narrowed his eyes. "You never did wrong Akane. Why must you push me away?" I shook my head, feeling my hair slightly brushed my shoulder. "It is for the best Sasuke." I hear his teeth gritted, reigning his annoyance. I looked at him once more, my face held the answer. The telepathic message got into him. "Those eyes.. you were never an exception to this curse of hatred. You were hiding it all along." He muttered under his breath, sighing. "I'm sorry. If we only met under different circumstances." I gave a closed eye smile, my back crouched a bit.

His face became curious. "We both know what Itachi did to our clan. Did you also plan to kill him as I would?" I shook my head, clutching the sword in my hand. He seems to be looking at the same direction as well. "She was important to me. She sacrificed her life to protect me. I know that I had only know her for a short period of time but she means that much to me." I feel my hand gripped the handle more. "My father.. wasn't as cruel as everyone thinks he is. He was kind, caring, a loving father when she was alive." I blankly stared at the distance, watching a small campfire built from a group gathered near the walls of the village, dancing with glee. "Due to my mother's side of clan, their special kekkei genkai, the clan was of total wipeout. Only her had survived but wasn't able to inherit the jutsu, I was." He never made a response but merely wanting me to continue. "She burned herself, chasing away those hunters." I quickly brought my sword closest to my face, seeing my own reflection as I sheathed the blade. "This was my mother's gift to me. The blade of resentment." A slow chuckle escaped my lips when I hear loud explotions from the sky. "This is a pretty f*cked up way to start the midnight isn't it?" I said, noticing that there were a few couples sitting on their picnic blankets in an open field. He made a short grin in agreement.

"Sasuke-kun! There you are!" We turned to our backs to see Sakura in a short pink halter top with the Uzumaki wearing an orange t-shirt, panting, trying to keep up with her. Her emerald eyes narrowed to us then she quickly scowled, noticing my attire. "What are you two doing here?" She puts her hands on her hips, questioning, but most of her attention was on me. I shrugged nonchalantly. "Sasuke wants to talk to me." I said but she had took it as an offence. "Why did he wanted to talk to you?" She sneered at the last word. "Sakura-chan, the fireworks..." Naruto mumbled, pouting. I concluded that he had probably asked her out and he got rejected as usual. "Hn. We had clan matters to discuss." The male Uchiha said, his voice sounded convincing. "Oh.." She sheepishly smiled, looking only apologetic at him. "Let's go guys, we're meeting with the rest of the teams to play some arcade." The Uzumaki inquired. We all agreed following him. Sasuke and Sakura had walked side by side, a small distance separating them. A small pang of pain went through me. It's for the best. It's for the best. I reassured myself. Somehow, those words won't numb the feeling I got.

Everything was a blur right after the last battle of the chunin exams. Apparently, my hypothesis was right. Orochimaru was the Kazekage and leader of the sound nin. They had sent Gaara, particularly his shukaku to demolish the village. I merely scoffed. It took him years to attack Konoha? The damage wasn't that great and only ninjas were hurt. Kakashi had ordered Shikamaru, Sakura, Naruto and Pakkun, one of his dog summon yo hunt down the sand siblings. The third Hokage died after sacrificing his life to amputate the snake nin. I, on the other hand, was given a rather boring mission to subdue enemy ninjas. After that, a two man team of Akatsuki members had stealthily entered Konoha. While I was taking my break, the news was that Itachi, Sasuke's older brother was there to get Naruto's tailed beast but failed. I scowled at the thought. I was always missing in action these days.

Today, Sakura had insisted to go with her to visit the her beloved. Sasuke was recovering from Itachi's tsukuyomi. She had bought a basket of fruits for him and I merely followed her towards his ward. She opened the door for me, revealing a rather sulky duckbutt. I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms in thought just how the Uchiha traits have been passed down to me. The pink kunoichi was cheerful for she was going to nurse him back to health. She sliced the apple, with a small smile on her face. My face was set on a grim line, noticing that the male raven wouldn't want to be disturbed. His eyebrows slightly scrunched, his lips set on a grim line, gave its way as a message to me. I'd left them alone, not wanting to face Sasuke's pissy mood. Right after, I could hear the plate fell down the floor.

I came to see Naruto who was standing in my way. "Akane-chan, we're are you going?" He asked, giving the raven male a visit. "I need fresh air." I walked without making a small look at his face. I found my way towards the rooftop, standing with my hands im my pockets, the sword was safely tucked on my side. He was mad, just like I was before. Memories of my deceased Mom was hazy due to the fact that I was still very young to even remember her face. I could still make out long strands of scarlet in between my memory, or maybe it was just me dreaming of the Uzumaki clan. My eyes quickly darted when my team mates came as well. Sasuke's face was so full of rage, unlike Naruto who was only mad that he got to fight his rival for the wrong reason. "Akane! Please stop them!" The pink kunoichi said beside me. I looked in between the two. "Naruto, Sasuke, this is not the right time for this." Onyx eyes glared at me. "This is none of your business!" My eyes hardened. "Sasuke! It is my business as well! This concerns us!" Sasuke came charging at me but Naruto went and punched him in the face. Sakura flinched at the sight. Grinding his teeth with anger, he charged at the Uzumaki with ferocity.

I could feel Kakashi was almost coming. I have to lessen any damages. My mouth gasped in surprise when both parties released their offensive jutsus. "Stop this!" Sakura whirled pass me, running in between them. Time felt so slow as a silhouette of an older man clutched both of their arms and quickly waved them off to the opposite direction. They groaned from the blast that was near them. The silver haired jounin came angry, scolding them about their killing intent. We all decided to leave the rooftop. Sasuke came last. He watched the damage Naruto had caused. It was rather small but his eyes widened at the opposite side of the water tank. I shook my head in disappointment. This was one of the rare moments that Sasuke lost his cool.