30Yes... I am alive... drops dead I've just started my freshmen year and I cannot stand the overwhelming amount of homework I receive... it sucks... I'm so very sorry for not updating for over a year... I haven't been on ffnet much lately... D: Here's the last chappy of 'Meeting of Silence'... -sniff-
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I never will... D:
Key
"speech"
A/N-author's notes
thoughts/flashbacks
inner sakura
emphasis
Recap
If only Tatoshi knew how much I suffered. A bitter smile adorned her features.
End Recap
Two faces, two shadows, two backs... disappearing into the distance. The wind blew through the trees, howling in pain before dying down. This endless night, it lacks serenity. It embraces pain and regret. It exists within an unknown world.
A woman lay, deep in thought with an expressionless face. She stared off into space, she was suffering. A soul lost in her emotions and thoughts. Confused and aimless.
Three knocks resonated throughout the hallways of Sakura's apartment, breaking the long chain of silence which took on a more pronounced form soon after the familiar wave of pain had broken through the barriers that Sakura had taken time to build. Sakura shook her head to rid of her thoughts before putting on a face more befitting of a visit from a friend. She undid the lock of her front door and found her friend, Hinata, standing before her, an expression of worry etched across her face.
"Sakura-chan... Are you... alright...?" She questioned, taking note of her friend's 'serene' look. "I-I... passed by him this morning and I -I thought..."
"I..." Sakura shook her head. "I'm fine." she smiled, pushing back the words she truly wanted to speak.
Hinata scrunched up her eyebrows, not fully believing her words, but deciding not the press her any further. She sighed before looking down at her feet.
"I-If you need to t-talk to anyone... I will h-help you." She looked up and smiled at her friend before walking away.
Sakura shut her door, leaning against it and staring at the floor.
"I'm not fine..." She whispered before falling to the floor as she let the pain overwhelm her again.
Soon after Hinata's visit, hard, impatient knocks resonated throughout the halls, a complete contrast to Hinata's soft, patient ones. Sakura slowly got to her feet and undid the lock a second time and winced when her eyes met with angry blue ones.
"FOREHEAD GIRL!" Ino screached, her anger seeping through the veins protruding from her forehead.
"HINA-CHAN CAME RUNNING TO ME AND TOLD ME THE WHOLE STORY! SHE TOLD ME THAT THE BASTARD'S BACK AND THAT YOU LOOKED CONFUSED! THE FOREHEAD GIRL I KNOW IS BETTER THAN THAT!" She fumed, the volume of her voice rising with every word.
"I-" Sakura began, confusion and shock adorning her features.
Ino shook her head. "I told you that dating Tatoshi was a bad idea. From the moment you told me that you were going to try to forget about the bastard, I knew what you were really trying to do was seal away your feelings for him. But, doing so... causes even more pain..." She furrowed her brows.
"When I saw you smiling with Tatoshi, I knew that you were trying to hide the pain from us... I thought you would realize this sooner, but...You can't seal away your feelings for someone and replace them with others. I realized that right when I realized how much I love Shikamaru..." She smiled before turning her back to Sakura and making her way back home.
Sakura wandered through the empty streets of Konoha, blindly searching for the answers to her unanswered questions. A moment later, she ran into an object, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Ahh..." She winced, the fall interrupting her thoughts. Her eyes fluttered open to see a hand extended out to her. She took it, her eyes coming in contact with its owner. Obsidian...
"Sa..." The lump in her throat made speaking impossible. Her eyes went wide in shock.
"Sakura..." The name rolled off his tongue in a soft whisper. "I...have caused you a lot of pain..." He grimaced at his words. "I realized much too late... How long I've loved you..."
Sakura was shocked by his echoed within the crevices of her mind, pushing every thought out of her head.
When he was sure that she was listening to his words, he spoke again, in a voice barely above a whisper.
"I have also realized that I am not worthy of your love. I am glad that you've found true happiness with Tatoshi." Pain briefly flashed across his face as he spoke the name. Sakura took note of this and smiled. She brought the hand still cradling hers up to her chest.
"I never loved Tatoshi, and I never will." She placed her other hand on his cheek. "My heart has always belonged to you and it always will."
He smiled, his obsidian eyes flooding with emotions he thought his black eyes were incapable of portraying. He pulled her into a hug, burying his nose in her hair, inhaling her scent. Cherry Blossom...
Sakura returned the hug, leaning into his chest. Sasuke pulled away slightly, gazing into her eyes with his newfound emotions. He cupped her chin and tilted her face upwards before laying a soft kiss upon her pale pink lips.
"The bastard finally realized it." A voice chuckled softly, its owner smiling beneath the mask that concealed half of his face.
"Heh. It seems as though our plan worked." A second voice chuckled, eyeing the couple with his blue eyes and running his fingers through his brown hair.
"Now I just have to wait for their wedding night." Another voice laughed. "It will be good material for Icha Icha Paradise!"
"Ero-senin." The owner of the voice squinted his blue eyes in distaste at his teacher's immoral behavior.
The two broke their kiss, breathing heavily. Sasuke leaned his forehead against hers, closing the distance between them. Sakura took his face in her hands, smiling.
"We're being watched." Sasuke whispered, smirking.
Sakura giggled. "Let them watch."
"I have something I've been wanting to ask you." Sasuke whispered before standing upright, placing one hand on her shoulder and placing the other in a pocket of his jeans.
Sakura gasped in surprise as he got on one knee and looked up at her through his lashes.
"Haruno Sakura?" He asked, his obsidian eyes warm with emotion. "Will you marry me?"
Sakura smiled again. "I thought you'd never ask." She threw her arms around him as he got up, kissing him as he placed the ring on her finger.
The end of Meeting of Silence... -cries- Thanks for reading! I'm so very sorry for not updating sooner... D: Thanks to all of my reviewers too! -gives cookies to reviewers- :)