Redemption |complete| (SasuSaku)

Tsuchigumo

Wednesday 26th of July - Night time

"We should camp for the night."

Sasuke stopped to wait for Sakura's answer. They had travelled non-stop since they had left Konoha. They both wanted to arrive to the village of Tsuchigumo quickly. The place was also hidden in the forest and from where he was standing, he could see the outline of the walls surrounding the secret village. As soon as the morning will come, they will both be talking to the head of the clan who was known as an unaccepting man.

He felt an insisting tug at his sleeve. He looked down and saw a little hand grabbing the fabric. His eyes met Sakura's and a small smile appeared on his lips. He wanted her to stop being this close to him but a part of him enjoyed it. She was doing it so innocently that it made his heart beat a bit faster.

"I need to do a check-up on you."

He was staring into her eyes. She seemed so much more confident than back in the days and he liked that. She was constantly making sure that he was alright when he was supposed to be the one protecting her in this mission. In two days of travel, she had checked up on him four times to make sure that everything was fine.

The memory of the moment he had told Kakashi that he will be her guard came back in his mind. He felt flustered and stupid. How did he let himself be so open to people? Now everyone was able to read him.

He shook his head and walked away from Sakura hoping that she would let go of his sleeve. He had a more important mission right now and he needed to stay focused. He also had to constantly remind himself that there was a possible threat related to Kaguya that will definitely keep him away from the village. He couldn't open himself up too much, his vulnerability had to stop. He gathered his thoughts and took a quiet deep breath before replying to Sakura.

"No need to check up on me, I'm fine. I'll start a fire."

Without looking at her, he walked towards the trees to pick up some branches. He didn't have the strength to see her face after the cold voice he had used to talk to her. She had to get over him and his friendship.

As his hand grabbed the branches, he remembered what she had said to him about him moving forward and then backwards. That was exactly what he was doing again. A little pain in his chest stopped his breath. He glanced back at her and saw her standing looking at the ground. He could feel the guilt filling his chest but he ignored it. He was doing what was good for her.

The two ate quietly. Sasuke could feel Sakura's stare but he never looked at her back. He missed the times when she was talking to him about everything just to fill the empty the silence. The sound of the forest was the one thing that he could hear right now.

Later on he told her to sleep. He sat across from her and watched her. She seemed so calm. His eyes followed the movement of her hair. Back in her kitchen, he had touched her hair and it was so soft he could still feel it on the tip on his finger. Maybe it was alright to do it for one night when she was asleep. Just once.

He stood up and sat next to her. Her head was resting against the bark of the tree. His hand travelled to her hair and he pushed away a strand of it. He finally could see her entire face and took the opportunity to admire it. Since he had came back, he kept finding her more beautiful every time he looked at her. Her eyes were so welcoming and understanding that it made him want to drown in them and let her heal him like she did up until now. Every time he looked at her, he remembered his parents and the love they had for each other.

Growing up he had realised that he might never have what his parents had but she made him want to. She made a part of him want to stay in the village but there was the other side of him that kept telling him that he couldn't. He couldn't give her what she wanted. She needed someone who would be able to tell her how much he loved her, someone who was liked by everyone. She deserved more than just him.