Daylight

A New Dawn Pt.2

Once outside of the large building, the daylight shone on the two of them, causing Sakura to place a hand above her brows creating shade. Sasuke surmised that even in peaceful daylight, sometimes shadows were needed to be able to completely appreciate the rays of light. Without the dark days, it wasn't possible to see the true value of days that birthed voluptuous light rays.

Specks of the sunlight beautified their surroundings; the leaves hanging off from the trees sparkled a dewy green; the sky was a light shade of blue with fluffy white clouds, Sasuke reflected that if you looked too long, you may have mistaken it for the crashes of the waves in the sea. The laughter of young villagers rang high in the air, a pleasant sound, Sasuke concluded. Why is it now that he could reflect on the smallest things in this way? See the beauty of the world? Was it because she was beside his right side, their hands almost touching as they walked side by side? Or was it because he had never let himself see the beauties of this world, when his eyes were only in the darkness? These questions that had finally arose to the surface confirmed that his intentions of his journey to redemption was indeed needed. Alone. Now that he had reignited those bonds he once attempted to extinguish, and was beginning to bask in the sunlight as Naruto had put it, it was necessary to find out if Sasuke could still have these feelings for the world around him when his beloved comrades weren't there beside him. Being strained in the bleak cold hard cell had been a testament that he was ready for such a test. Now was the time to cleanse himself of all the tainted bad blood he had caused with the rest of the shinobi world. Sasuke's rambling thoughts came to a halt as Sakura's strides did. She had stopped outside a stall with flaps covering the interior.

"Sakura". Sasuke's voice was as luscious as ivy when he spoke her name. "Why are we here?"

"Oh, Naruto insisted we come here." She responded in an apologetic tone, her hands clasped together to affirm her apology. "You know how he is. He doesn't eat anything BUT ramen!"

Sasuke was relieved to hear that they would not be left alone. They both lifted the flaps and perched themselves on two wooden stalls, Sakura sat at the far right corner with Sasuke beside her.

At the sound of squeaks of wooden stalls scratching the stony ground indicating new customers, the Ichiraku Ramen cook turned around with a massive grin.

"Ah, and what can I do for you toda- Sakura! If it isn't my favourite customer's girlfriend!"

Sakura waved her hands in front of her face incredulously. "No, no! It's not like that!" Sasuke felt her emerald eyes glance at his indifferent face. "Me and Naruto are just good friends, really!"

The cook chuckled. "I'm only teasing. And who is this handsome young lad?" The cook squinted. "Could it be? It can't be! Welcome home, lad!"

It was a foreign thing to hear a genuine welcome from anyone outside of his old Team 7. Sasuke could only muster a small, "Thanks".

The sound of first customers of the day brought the cook's daughter from the stock room. Conversation then erupted between the cook's daughter, Ayame, and Sakura. Sasuke kept the corner of his onyx eye's gaze timidly on Sakura. He was amused to see how she was confident around everyone else, apart from him, a habit she hadn't grown out of since even prior to her genin days. He watched intently as she placed a strong hand over her mouth as she muffled back some laughter. And the way her eyes gleamed in pleasant surprise as Ayame told her that Naruto had already pre-paid for their date and would not be gracing them with his presence, and as Sakura blushed a deep red as she protested that she definitely wasn't on a date with Sasuke-kun.

The father-daughter duo then presented their first customers of the day with two bowls of piping hot miso ramen, with extra tomato toppings in Sasuke's. And then awkward silence. Sasuke bemused that he preferred when Sakura was talking endlessly, as it meant that he had only to listen, and not be forced to sit in uncomfortable silence, or worse, feel inclined to start a conversation.

Sasuke awkwardly adjusted himself so that he could comfortably eat from the bowl with no left hand for support. This was the first time he had eaten in public since losing his arm. Prior to this he had been fed by the medic-nins at the cell and then after the trial he had had some practice at eating with his right hand, as Naruto fumbled to work chopsticks with his left.

Sasuke could stand the silence no longer. He didn't know why the usually talkative of the pair was mimicking his silence.

"Sakura."

"Hm?" Sasuke watched as she parted back some loose strands of her hair behind her left ear.

"Kakashi informed me we were meant to go over some of the details of the nearby villages."

"Ah, yes of course..." Sasuke noticed that she had started to twirl her hair in her left fingers again. Was this a new habit?

"Sakura, are you ok?" At this Sakura glanced up to face Sasuke, her eyes wide. Their faces were inches apart. He could feel her hot breath on him.

"Wh-why do you say that?"

Sasuke looked towards his bowl of half-eaten ramen, "It doesn't matter. Tell me."

Sasuke listened as she told him of how the small towns and villages had been struggling to cope since the Fourth Great Ninja War, and how the vines of the great divine tree had been sucking out the energy out of the soil, causing food shortages. As she spoke of her speciality in the medical field of how Sasuke could transport medical supplies, her face lit up like a candlelight in a hollow cave, her face beamed of years of knowledge. He adored the way she had blossomed throughout the years, working her way up as a Sanin's apprentice, to becoming a renowned medical ninja Sasuke believed she had potential to be. And suddenly he felt a pang of regret for all those missed years. Sakura must have felt a shift in the air, as she started to play with her hair again.

"I'm sorry if I'm... annoying you, I get carried away at times when it comes to my field of work-"

"No."

Sakura's brows furrowed. "No, what?"

Sasuke exhaled heavily. He couldn't stand that word. It was a word full of torment for her, and he knew it. He knew he had always been the source of her pain. He couldn't allow her to dissolve into any more tears over him. He needed to stop this cycle. He looked deep into the remnants of the ramen's juice sitting idly at the bottom of the bowl.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"You're not annoying."

The look on her face was like another sun had appeared out into the sea-blue sky, and had broken a rainbow into multiple colours, like the birth of a new dawn.