🌸 The Flower He Saw 🌸 A Kakashi and Sakura Story

Demise

────────────────────

"Asuma." Kurenai said, in horror.

"I saw them too, on my way to your house."

The black haired beauty walked alongside her lover as they strolled down the peaceful streets of Konoha to head towards the infamous dango shop. The lady couldn't help but look around to see numerous flyers with a very distinctive face located right in the middle of all of them.

"These were put up today, I believe." Her brows were knitted together as she read one of the flyers from afar, plastered in a very visible place of the fence. "She's been missing for a week, and we're just finding out. Why hasn't Kakashi told us?"

"You expect him to tell us?"

Kurenai would have retaliated, though his words held truth within them. Grazing her fingers against her the fence, her breath hitched. "Sakura, dear.... Where are you?". Scrutinizing the picture, she spoke once more, "Of all photos they could've used..." 

"There he is." He gestured towards he left, noticing that Kakashi was headed their way. 

He seemed just like he always did--- hands stuffed into pockets, eyes low with blood stained Anbu gear. His Hitai-ate strapped around his right arm, per usual. 

He hadn't sparred them a glance, causing Kurenai to frown. "Kakashi."

"Kakashi."

Yet again, no response. Instead, Kakashi walked past the duo's side without daring shift his eye elsewhere. 

"He hasn't done something like that since─ well, since 6 months ago." she remarked. She watched Kakashi's retreating body, his hair matching the grey sky that barely shone light upon him. The snow gently landed upon his shoulders, yet no shiver escaped his cold limbs.

────────────────────

Trudging, head ducked down and hands dug deep into his pockets─ The words of his comrades echoed from one side of his soul to the other. The last thing he deserved was a pat on the back for something he caused. 

Every time his eye flickered up for a moment, a flyer with Sakura's face caused him to duck his head right back down. Her smile still shined bright even when it was just a photo─ the guilt within ate at him slowly. If she were still alive at this very moment, He knew that with all the courage she had, she couldn't even fake one if she wanted to.

Wherever she was, she wouldn't be able to smile no matter how hard she would try.

The frosted and untouched grass brought him to flick his head up, he arrived. 

Of course, in a place like this it'd be odd to plaster photos of a young girl that'd been missing─ a girl that could possibly be dead. 

He gaped up to the mountain before him, placing on hand upon a rock and slowly climbing with 3 limbs.

Six months ago, he would climb this mountain even if it was raining harshly with high amounts of thunder. nothing stopped him then, and nothing would stop him now. 

Though, for six months, the only thing that stopped him from this was Sakura. 

────────────────────

Had it been up to her to have allowed Kakashi, of all people to be the one to take in hand the little pinkette─ surely, she would have chosen someone else. 

Her lips flattened into a thin line, he wasn't the same anymore.  

kakashi... She'd been the one to print the flyers of the missing girl, to hopefully bring the masked man to terms with the situation. All that really did was get him to lock himself in his room for an entire week before coming out to train in the cold.