empathy (rewritten 2019)

chapter twenty-seven

The war was over and after the rebuilding and healing, Sakura decided.

"Sakura, please. Put it down."

The bottle rattled and Sakura heard Keiko's footsteps, fast and desperate, stalked over to the pinkette's side. The jounin grasped the bottle, sliding it from Sakura's grasp and threw to the side. The bottle wouldn't work anyway.

"Sakura, look at me. Please look at me. Don't do this to yourself." Keiko was only a voice to the side, her words another thought drifting from Sakura's left and out to her right. And Sakura, staring down at the ground, considered her options, all the while Keiko thought and begged with her eyes please, don't do it, and goddamnit look at me and what are you thinking?

It was a miracle Keiko caught her in time. Had she been a second late, the funeral would have been months too early.

"I just," Sakura breathed and her shoulders shook and Keiko, wrapping her arms around her, brought them to the ground. "I don't know what to do anymore."

It sounded so pointless, so pathetic. Sakura was wasted on the war and all she was to the village now was a nurse giving out bandaids and kisses on scratches and pink hair and lost potential. She was her mother, falling for a librarian and abandoning bruises and scars and months in the wild and screaming at his face this is what i gave you and this is what we have now.

They sat like that until Keiko called it lunch and brought the two of them up on their feet, before walking into the kitchen and scanning the pantry for anything to cook. The two of them stuck together that day, despite the last few months of them living as two strangers two apartments away, from eating soup and egg for lunch (Sakura had yet to buy groceries) to roaming the streets for the afternoon and eating dinner at the new restaurant by the corner.

And even after dinner Keiko stayed, laughing through the evening and eating cookies into the couch cushions. And even as Sakura fell asleep, Keiko stayed, laying a goodnight on her forehead and keeping her eyes peeled by the couch the entire night. Keiko stayed that night, like all other nights, as though they were never alone during the war.

It was only until the morning when the day ended and Sakura awoke to the note the Hokage called me in for some meeting, i left you a snack on the counter. eat up :) And she, wanting to repay for the entirety of the day before, set out in the early morning for a hearty breakfast to be ready for Keiko once she came back.

And as Sakura left her apartment with a basket in hand and a new smile in mind, along with the thoughts of Naruto's probably trying to convince Keiko to mentor a team again and maybe i'll wait a bit for the dango shop to open so i can buy her a snack, she was far too busy in her thoughts to mind her way around the corner before consequently bumping into a stranger.

"Oh, sorry, sir, I--" Sakura picked her basket up and look up. "Oh! Sasuke, hey! Sorry about that. How are you?"

"Good." He seemed happier now.

"That's good!" Sakura took off and Sasuke was already continuing his morning back to his base, a basket of his own full of tomatoes fresh from the market. "Well, I gotta go now, but I'll see you soon! At the wedding!"

And, over his shoulder, he nodded.