razed gardens & bright moonlight [Naruto Fanfic]

razed gardens & bright moonlight

(tw: Incest, References to Depression, Suicidal Thoughts)

hello! this was kind of inspired by my own prompt from a year ago; it took the same premise, but ran with it in a slightly different direction.

"update jikan" i know i know im sorry. while waiting for my laptop to get a new hard drive, i started writing this. my hard drive is fixed, though im still using my old laptop lol. it should be updated in a few weeks if anyone here cares lol

SASUKE

Sasuke is five when he sees a dark stamp of color amongst blues and greens. His mother likes gardening and is always on the lookout for new plants to add to her own personal garden. It is small, just encompassing their own backyard, but the flowers are fragrant and his mother lets him lay amongst them, as long as he promises he won't step on anything or crush any of the delicate flowers that line the edge of their property.

The blooming flowers are new additions, bought from the Yamanaka's flower shop, and they are large all over, from stem to flower. The green and blue flowers are taller than Sasuke, reaching for the sun. There is a dark spot, however, if one where to look close enough between the stalks of the high flowers. In the back, towards the fence that closes off the garden, there is a shorter flower, though it seems to be several inches wider in diameter than its taller brothers and sisters. Its petals are black, a maroon tint gracing the petals when it is directly under the sunlight. It's big and beautiful. Sasuke learns that the flowers are called dahlias.

It's merely a curiosity, this black flower amongst a sea of color, and he doesn't associate it with anything besides a mild want to know how this black dahlia had come to them when all the others they own are blue and green. He even forgets about it eventually, once faced with a wash of blood red and burning betrayal.

Afterwards, when he is the only one left alive in a large compound, he seeks relief in his mother's garden. Itachi's words ring in his ear as he lays there, gaze dull and unfocused as the soft moonlight shines down on him. There's a kunai at his side, sharp and dangerous as it glints against the silvery light. He nicked it from his parents' room, teary eyed and hyperventilating. His tears are dry now, his breathing more centered, as he looks at the stars and contemplates whether he wishes to live or not. Itachi told him to get stronger, that he was too weak to stop him or avenge their parents. Sasuke should be feeling determined and angry. Instead, Sasuke feels panicky, anxiety choking him as he fingers the kunai clumsily, the hard metal cold under his touch. He could do it, he thinks. He could end the life Itachi refused to snuff out.

That thought finally sparks the anger that he was hiding, the raging inferno of disbelief and desperation. It consumes him, that feeling, and soon enough he is stomping throughout the garden, high-pitched anguished screams following him as he destroys every flower that surrounds him. Bright pinks and red are crushed under his heavy, stiff stomps, while yellows and blues are strangled and mangled by grasping hands. He leaves no flower or bush untouched, destroying everything in his path of destruction. He falls into a heap once he's done, the flowers that were taller than him now crushed beneath his fury. He's breathing heavily, his eyes red and his throat sore, as he takes in his carnage. The sun is rising behind him, rays of golden light emerging over the house to light the yard, and he is face to face with that forgotten black dahlia. It was black in the night, so his gaze had not seen it, thus it escaped the destruction that befell all the other dahlias in its vicinity.

He stares at that black dahlia, transfixed, as his heart aches. It's petals are maroon now, the light behind him highlighting the hidden undertones of the dark spike like petals.

He has to get up eventually, making his way into the house in a daze. He can't, for the life of him, give a reason why he goes back to his parents' room, body and heart numb as he digs through his mother's book shelf. Towards the middle of the shelf, tucked on top of several other children books, is a book titled, "Exotic Flowers & Their Meanings."