Forgiveness

Gentle Side

When did you become so gentle?
He didn't know
Sasuke laid awake on the couch the only sound was the clock in the corner but it was the loudest sound between his thoughts, his wife was resting in their room he couldn't leave her
He kept watching her in the farthest corner of any place she was in but most of her times she sat on her desk where she used to read her books, writings and paintings.
Sasuke had asked for days off
"Until when?"
"Until she gets better"
It been few days but he strangely found them enjoyable.
Thump
Sasuke jumped from the couch and walked straight to the bedroom to see his wife standing next to her desk and books were all over the floor.
He witnessed her flinching when the door opened
"Ah, Gomen..sas..uke-kun I wanted to re..read a book"
"How would you read if you're blind?"
His question came harsh without his intention and he knew he made a mistake when she bite her lips bowing her head down
"Gomensai"
He sighed when she knelt down to gather her books but when she heard him she stopped
He can't believe what he was about to do but it wasn't surprising at all now he had done more
Sasuke left the books from the floor
"Which book do you want?"
It was a shame that he didn't turn all the lights on to see her red cheeks clearly
"B.. before the.. rain"
It was the book he described it as too romantic
But he picked it for her and gave it to her
Leading her back to the bed a question still jumped inside his head
(How would she read it?)
He stood there watching her seating herself on the bed and then..
(No Way!)
Hinata stretched her hands to Sasuke with hesitation offering the book to him
There's no way he was going to do this
But there is, Sasuke knows that he had lost another battle against her when he threw the sheets off the bed and seated himself next to her opening the book to read it loud, how embarrassing
_______________________
The smell of blood reached the her nose
and she knew the future of this place was ruined already.
Nobody should touched the princess of a huge clan in one of the greatest villages she knows better than anybody else
"Guess i will have to find an escape"
Again she would run again.
She wanted to live as long as she could
She couldn't save everyone here, she had learn that many times before
Once she closed the door of her huge house
Someone called her
"Kyoko-san? You need help?"
She looked up to the boy the same boy who introduced her to their enemy without a clue
He was amazed by that pink haired beauty
"What kept you awake to this hour?"
He rubbed his head nervously looking back
"They found kenzou and his family dead in their house"
Kyoko looked at the boy he was still bright with his cheerful even in situations like this it would be a waste to take away that smile in such a young age
And then she thought
At least she could save one person
"Naoki if it's not too much would you please help me with those?"
The boy nodded and started carrying her stuff following her in the midnight to every direction she walked to
away and away from this town and its unfortunate fate
______________________________
Shikamaru slammed the door of his office at the beginning of the morning he was supposed to be smiling with a coffee in his hand waiting for the day to begin but no..
He was the hokage's advisor every order the hokage make should be discussed with him.
Shikamaru looked at his desk full of papers
Even his office smells like papers everything around him screams Work and it beginning to take away every taste of life
His brain was blank just like that paper on his desk
that's waiting for his orders to fill them
His pen was the shinobi a tool to protect their purpose
Shikamaru shook his head it was these thoughts that drawn him in an endless loop of thoughts that would hunt him in the midnights but now they were hunting him at any times even at the beginning of a new day
It was a mistake to let himself slip into them
Shikamaru sighed looking to the side of his window
To that sunflowers close to where he used to smoke
"A simple reminder that you're a human too"
She chose the perfect gift for him
And he knows the moment she gave it to him
That these flowers were meant to be a distraction
To have his moments, away from his work
"Will you escape to work?"
It was what he planned to drown himself in  work
To forget his losses in the past to fill this emptiness in his life but it was huge
"You think you won't face the same thing in your job?"
He would handle them, he would do the right thing this time
"I'm trying too shika"
They were all trying, everyone was trying to pass the past and move on even if it wasn't clear their eyes spoke a lot
"We have nothing we have no choice the only option is to live"
"Dammit ino!"
Even being konoha's advisor he becomes as clear as glass under those blue eyes
Shikamaru knew the moment she scanned him with her eyes that he was in trouble Yet he couldn't find himself avoiding her
"Such a drag"
She wasn't a drag nor the times he spent with her was, it was him
Shikamaru left the flower close to the window waiting for the sun to come out and shine his office
__________________
It wasn't him
He wasn't the kind of person to cook something for anyone who isn't him he didn't even do it for himself
But it was her, when he woke up feeling her weight on his shoulders her cold hair breathing out her scent to his nose and he felt the energy to surprise her with something like a romantic hero in those stories, Sasuke mocked himself and those ridiculous thoughts
He woke up from his thoughts by the smell of something burning and he glared down to the egg that's started to darken
"Dammit!"
This was his third time so  he threw the pan in the sink
"Tsk"
___________________
Ino was someone who loved her job at the Yamanaka flower shop, it took her away from her thoughts
She loved all the surprises she see in there
An old man who picked a single rose in his way to visit his wife who was resting on her grave
Some familiar faces who chose to pick flowers to their patient teammates
Kids who asked for her help to pick a flower in their way to confess their love
She remembered choosing the same thing before
Ino looked up to the big surprise in front of her as the flashback refreshed when she confessed her love to the same person standing in front of her flower shop
She stopped staring at those dark eyes
How did he turn from her obsession to her worst nightmare?
Ino glared at his figure that she hated so much
He was hesitating, trying to cover it by hiding his hand in his pockets
Ino looked up to the sun it was early
"What brought you here?"
The satisfaction she felt when he got annoyed was giving her excitement
Sasuke Uchiha stood in front of her as if he was standing at the edge of the highest place on earth
With only two options death or life?
He was about to turn and leave
But the image of his wife resting her head on his shoulders proved him in his place
If he dared to speak then it's a miracle that came true
______________________
Hinata woke up to Nothing
The exact meaning of Nothingness
It wasn't darkness what she see it's the nothingness she always dreamt about living in it
Now she was rethinking her thoughts again
Being blind doesn't mean seeing darkness
But nothing
It left her empty sometimes she would be afraid that she was living in one of her dreams and not her reality the fear she felt in every move she took reaching for anything beside her to make her feel steady and then loneliness attacked her like a ghost
Feeling her heart sink inside
But then he would appear in any moment
His breathing like a touch of reassurance that's pulled her to reality
Whenever he say something she wished he wouldn't stop
She wanted to tell him to speak
I want to hear your voice
These words always reached her throat but never come out
How shameless she would sound
"I'm your husband"
Yet she found it difficult to say them
The hyuga jumped when she heard the door opened
"Hinaaataaa-chaaaan"
Ino shouted from the door followed by Sasuke
He watched from afar his wife standing in the middle of their home with confusion in her face
A wall of guilt fell over him
How did he left her?
She stood there waiting for her friend to come closer and reach for her stretched hands
They came fast
"Hi-na-ta I brought a surprise for you!"
Sasuke watched both female in front of him
Like a view in one of his wife's novels
He could see the difference between them
The loud mouth Yamanaka and his quiet shy wife
Mixing well together
Didn't they say opposite attracts?
Wait wasn't this between couples
Sasuke rolled his eyes at his own thoughts and walked outside his house to the garden
Where her flowers grew
But they weren't grown, they started to dry
He remembered her when she escaped to them while that inzuka was lecturing her
About what?
He didn't know that was in their beginning of their wedding how long had it been?
He doesn't remember
But Sasuke hoped that the Yamanaka would stay longer inside so she wouldn't see him doing this
Sasuke knelt to the flowers touching them with his palm before he splashed them with the water to return life to them
But he forgot that he had the worst luck ever
"Eh Sasuke didn't know you would go this far?"
He almost jumped from his place
"First you asked me to prepare food for her and now this"
Find a way!
"She used them for her ointment"
Yeah everyone knows how he hated hospital good one
Ino nodded her head and walked before she left she turned
"Neh Sasuke did you forgot that you're talking to someone who knows flower as the back of my hand not mention I'm a medic too"
Two point for ino and zero for Sasuke
He threw the water when he finished
Looking to the door of his house
He walked in the smell of tea spreading through this place his steps took him to the kitchen
She was sitting on the table the Yamanaka had cleaned everything
He always keep a safe distance from her so she wouldn't hear his steps or breathing or anything
"Sasuke-kun"
His name sounded loud and he had to blink confused if she was talking to him or was it his imagination?
"I..ino-chan saved some for you"
She knows about his presence and he wondered if she knew about it all before
"There is a tea o-"
"Sit"
He cut her before she got up from her seat
Too late to escape he had exposed himself but he didn't care
Sasuke walked through the kitchen to that tea that started to boil and left to serve some for her and himself
Both couple fell silent the noise of his chopsticks made him very uncomfortable in front of her
Good thing those eyes were wrapped
Now that he thought of it now he could look at her as much as he wants without getting noticed by anyone
Her face was so clear now
Her nose, her pink cheeks and those lips
"Tomorrow"
How many time would he jump as if he got caught stealing
"Sakura-chan said t..tomorrow she would take it o..off"
That what she said bur what he heard was this would be your last chance to stare
He nodded as if she can see him
"Gomensai"
He hated that word coming out of her mouth especially when she direct it to him
He felt like he was one of her judging clan
"You've spent so much time to.. take c..care of me"
He did and he just realized it or maybe ignored that reminder inside his head until she said it herself
"Gomensai"
"I'm your husband"
These two words played inside his head like an old song
Sasuke didn't say a word he felt embarrassed to speak as she was saying her gratefulness
(It's my job)
These words were too simple too realistic but hard to say, he felt like a kid being praised in front of his mother for doing the simplest thing
Minutes passed and he didn't moved from his seat it
He left his tea to taste it but
"Naruto-ku-"
He didn't get the chance to compare the Yamanaka's tea to his wife it burned
And she didn't get the chance to speak
He was coughing hard and fast sounds like he was die..
Hinata stood from her seat stumbling until she was sitting beside him
Doing nothing but frowned
Reaching for his shoulder to pat it as gentle as she was, Sasuke stared at her
Studying what she was about to say he couldn't read that frown eyebrows was from what she was about to say or worried
Sasuke wiped his mouth
"I'm fine"
Straighten himself he wanted her to speak
"You were saying"
Confusion washed her expression and for a minute he thought she forgot
"Ah ano.. Naruto-kun spoke to.. me b..before he said that he missed your company as his.. friend"
She fidgeted on her place playing with her fingers
"I..don't want them..to think that..I'm the reason for k..keeping you aw..away from them"
Was that what he had been worried about all this time?
Did he stopped Naruto at the right time?
She didn't want to be blamed he could see it
He said nothing while he sipped from his tea trying to avoid looking at her the whole time
_______________________
Kakashi stared at the paper with dull eyes
He didn't know how to react?
Despite his cold face every part of him was boiling with madness yet freezings from fear
Confused, ashamed and guilty
He hated the world in one moments
He wished that he wasn't saved that one time he had the chance to speak to his father
Should he follow the same path as his father?
There was no mistake
His worst fear came true there's no way to avoid it
The hokage wanted to throw his hat and leave this chair, this room and this whole place
"You're responsibilities"
He knows
He knows Damn well that this hell hole of a place was his responsibility and ha hated his brain for pushing him away and pulling him back
Sai stood there waiting for an order but nothing came
"You're dismissed"
He knew that the silence of the hyuga's wasn't for something good and why was he surprised?
(Do i leave?)
To where?
Kakashi blamed it on fate, yes it was fate that small town's and leaf's shinobi destiny
The coldness inside him was uncomfortable making his lips heavy, voice was lost despite his desire to scream maybe wake up from this dream
Kakashi lived the future as if the war had begun what order should he make?
Protect konoha at all cost.
That was inside his head yet he feared the loss in the other side
Kakashi wasn't responsible for the death of his village's shinobi only he was responsible for the death they would cost in the other side
Who knows that they wouldn't attack innocent people, who can trust that they wouldn't destroy homes of many people
This is a war!
And wars were never clean
There would a lot of dirtiness, stained hands with stained fate women would suffer , kids would be lost in orphanages and a lot of men wouldn't have a place to return to
How would he be able to avoid all of that?
He had tried
His advisor tried
Yet by a small mistake all of his attempts were nothing.
Forgive me
"Forgive me"
It wasn't my intention
"I don't want to be here either"
__________________________
He stood in front of his fathers grave too ashamed
To stain his name he would have to do what he had wanted to avoid the most..
"Forgive me, father"
Despite being the genius of the village he couldn't avoid what he fear the most
Shikamaru looked down to the grave he wanted to tear his skin and became another person
To escape this, to run to the mountains and hide in another piece of earth where nobody knows who he was or his past or mistakes
He wanted to build another human inside him and forget about who he is right now
Questions and questions filled his head and he was tired of looking for answers
Shikamaru looked at that single sunflower that laid on his father's grave and then he turned
And walked away returning to that papers he was supposed to escape to but he was escaping from them now
(Where do i go?)
No place in his head appeared he had no options at all, he had no power to fight
(I'm tired)
He was and he couldn't find rest
His last escape came in front of him or he went to this place
"Shikamaru!"
Ino rested her flowers on the tables and walked to him
"What brought you here?"
The man stood in front of her looking forward to those blue eyes
And she understood, she always knows whatever he was feeling she could read it on those brown eyes
Yet she could only offered nothing but hold him close to her running her hands on his back
And he couldn't be more grateful