"Welcome back, Sasuke!" Mikoto greets with a warm smile. "How was school?"
"Girls are annoying" is Sasuke's slightly irritated reply as he takes off his shoes.
Mikoto blinks, surprised. Then she grins in amusement. "Ah, so my little boy is already at that age, eh?" she remarks with a giggle. "Well? Anyone catch your eye?"
Sasuke scowls. "No way! Ain't ever gonna happen!" he snaps before storming off to his room.
"My, he sure is grumpy today," Mikoto comments, chuckling as she returns to the kitchen.
• • •
"Aren't you interested in girls at all, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke scowls after his kunai hits the target dummy. Kabuto, who is nearby and overseeing his training, smirks and pushes up his glasses.
"Usually, boys your age are chasing after women," Kabuto continues on casually. "Like Naruto-kun, for example. Doesn't he like that female teammate of yours so much?"
The familiar, buzzing hum of electricity reverberates in the surroundings, indicating the materialization of Sasuke's trademark Chidori.
"...Shut up," he says flatly. "You're noisy."
But Kabuto only grins even more. "Ah... It's either I hit a nerve or you are simply uninterested about the topic. Which of these two fit, Sasuke-kun?"
"I don't care either way," says Sasuke, closing his eyes as he channels more chakra into his technique. "Think whatever you want."
Kabuto watches as Sasuke strikes down several dummies in one go.
"Hmm..." he muses before finally leaving the vicinity.
• • •
"Hey, Sasuke. You interested in Karin or something?"
Sasuke sends Suigetsu a sidelong glance, the latter looking at him in expectation as he downs his third canteen.
"No," he says promptly before turning away and going back to the campfire.
"Heh. Thought so." Suigetsu grins in both malice and amusement as he follows the team leader. "Then what kind of girl are you interested in? One with a hot body and a huge rack, or do you prefer the ones with brains?"
"Neither," Sasuke replies curtly.
Suigetsu stops momentarily, rubbing the back of his head in mild bewilderment.
"Man... what a cold guy..."
• • •
"Sakura... never stopped wanting to save you. Never..."
"Was she having fun in her little make-believe fantasy of true love?" Sasuke remarks flatly. "As for me, I have absolutely no reason to love her and likewise, I can see no reason why she would love me."
"You only need a reason to hate a person!" Kakashi exclaims. "And Sakura's not trying or wanting to make you hers! She only wants to save you! She whom you came close to killing once... She feels for and spills tears over you, even now... Because she loves you so much it's breaking her heart!"
An unbidden image of Sasuke's family rises in his mind. He is quiet for a moment.
Then he speaks.
"...That's probably just... chains from a failed past that she's feeling..."
• • •
[Present Time]
"I'm sorry... I'm getting a little too ahead of myself, coming with you like this when this was supposed to be your journey alone..."
Small leaves from the trees fall upon their forms. Sasuke looks at Sakura who is beside him, walking slightly faster than he is. He knows that it's because she has suddenly felt nervous and a little unsure of herself.
"And I bet you've probably liked a lot of girls in the past and also in your travels, ones who are really pretty and kind..." She is babbling now, not really registering the words that are coming out of her lips.
Sasuke frowns.
"Ah... I'm rambling again." She sends him an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, Sasuke-kun..."
"...Sakura."
She stops in her tracks when she hears the tone in his voice. Sasuke, however, continues walking forward in his own leisurely pace.
"Sasuke-kun...?" she tries.
When Sasuke turns around, she catches a faint smile curving his lips.
"There has never been anyone for me..." he says softly. "...but you."
• • •
"Sasuke-kun looks so cool, doesn't he?"
"He always does!"
Seven-year-old Sasuke ignored the whispers of admiration among the girls, minding his own business. He tried to be polite and not show his irritation, but his indifferent mask was slowly crumbling.
When he inadvertently gave them a sidelong glance, he spotted a girl about his age wedged in between the small crowd, staring at him silently with her hands clasped together.
When she noticed his gaze, she turned red and immediately stepped away from his vision.
• • •
When Kabuto left, Sasuke deactivated his Chidori and tried, again, to make the image of Team 7 disappear from his mind.
The last face he thought of was his female teammate, a memory of her looking irritated because of a certain blond-haired boy.
• • •
"Neither," Sasuke replied curtly before going towards the direction of the campfire.
Why on earth would he pick a mere pretty face when a woman with strength and intellect was a thousand times better?
• • •
"...That's probably just... chains from a failed past that she's feeling..."
His family who genuinely loved him sprang inside his mind. Perhaps Sakura really did truly love him for a reason he could not comprehend. Why would she still love him despite everything?
At least, with his method of assuring that she would not get in the way, he had already severed his bonds with her. She would hate him now.
He was no longer the person she wanted to save. He was too far gone in the path he chose. It was too late.
• • •
"What if... I told you... that... I'd like to come, too...?"
"It's my road to redemption," Sasuke said. "You have nothing to do with my sins."
Sakura hung her head low. "Nothing to do... you say..." she muttered, depressed.
Lifting his two fingers, he gently tapped her on the forehead.
And smiled.
"I'll see you soon. Thank you."
You've always been the one.
fin
YOU ARE READING
Anthology: Connected
Fanfiction[Collection of SasuSaku oneshots] #1: "It's been a long time since I saw your smile." #2: "I'm sorry... for leaving again." #3: AU. Sakura wondered why her handsome partner wasn't talking at all. #4: Sasuke and Sakura's thoughts during the Forest of...
