Warning! Contains reference to chapters of Fading Petals that have not yet been published…or written.

She was five and he was four.

He was Shinigami. She was Konohanasakuya-hime.

She revolved around her friends, yet he was as antisocial as one could be.

Everyone knew him, yet no one knew her.

She had over a thousand versions of herself, yet he kept everything inside.

He could never show his emotion while hers were written on her face.

She was constantly working. He was a born genius.

He couldn't sever his past, nor his ghosts, but she took a kunai and chopped her own off.

She was as bright as he was dull.

Uchiha Sasuke was passing by the park when he first saw her. She was sitting on the ground, her knees tucked into her chest, crying her adolescent heart out. He mistook her for a ghost, with her long bangs hanging over her eyes and soft sobs racking her chest.

Sasuke wondered if she tripped and fell. "Okaa-san," he said, "Is she hurt?"

Uchiha Mikoto's grip tightened on his hand, staring straight past the girl. Sasuke followed her gaze and found himself looking at a group of kids standing a few meters away from her, all laughing and pointing. "No, Sasu-chan," Mikoto replied, "She's not hurt. Not physically, at least."

"What does physically mean?" Sasuke asked. Mikoto ignored her son and cleared her throat as loud as she could. The kids circled around to girl all went quiet and looked up at her. They all glanced down at the pink haired child in front of them, then back to the Uchiha clan head's wife.

They all ran off, and within seconds, the girl was left alone. She lifted her head and stared straight at Mikoto and Sasuke, getting to her feet. Nodding her head, she dashed off towards the market side of town, going as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Mikoto sighed and started walking again. Beside her, Sasuke blink in confusion. He didn't really understand what had just happened, but he knew his mom had helped somehow. Smiling, he looked up to Mikoto, "Ne, Okaa-san, can we have tomatoes tonight?"

Mikoto giggled, "Sure, Sasu-chan."

The first time they met, he was four and she was five.

Sasuke hadn't been in school for two weeks, he was too busy attending the funerals of his relatives. The first was dedicated to having masses for all of the Uchiha's who'd died in the massacre, and the second was to cleaning all the houses up.

He had to pull all the tape lines off and scrub the blood off. The ANBU had only taken the bodies, and no one was sent to help clean anything up. The scene could have triggered the war veterans, after all, and everyone else available was too young to be put through it all.

Even though Sasuke was younger than them.

He couldn't hire anyone, ether, since most of the clans money was used for all the funerals. What he was left with was enough ryo to buy himself clothing and materials for the Academy. The village itself sent him money weekly to buy food.

A random teacher dropped by on the weekends, giving Sasuke homework and staying for a half an hour to quickly explain what they'd taught in class. He did it all, every last page, and piled it in his bag to give back when he returned.

If he ever did.

The Uchiha was plagued with horrors in his dreams. Every last detail of the massacre played out in his mind as he slept, and he was the one killing them all. Itachi had done it all and replayed it in his younger brother's mind, after all. So for poor Sasuke it was in all in first person.

The boy always, always, always woke up in the middle of the night screaming his lungs out, drenched in a cold sweat and shaking like a leaf. It seemed to him that his bones themselves were ice, spreading the cold throughout his body.

He never went back to sleep, he'd only stare out the window with wide eyes.

When Sasuke finally pulled himself together and forced himself to go to school, he found that everyone, from the old women to the shop keepers, stared and whispered and pointed. The children near him were pulled out of his way by their parents, as if the victim of it all would snap, like the perpetrator did, and do the same to the village as what had happened to his entire family.

And the first thing that happened when he walked onto the Academy grounds? "Sasuke-kun~! Where were you?!" "Sasuke-kun!" "I like you!" "Sasuke-kun!" "I missed you!" "Sasuke-kun." "Sasuke-kun, go out with me, will you?!"

The said kid grit his teeth and ignored them all. They didn't know a thing; none of them knew a thing. He glared at them over his shoulder, and felt his eyes nearly fall out of their sockets. Next the Yamanaka heir stood a girl with hair the color of the cherry blossom tree she was standing in front of.

Sasuke glanced at the petals as they floated to the ground before walking even faster to the classroom.

He was Shinigami, a boy who'd seen only death. She was Konohanasakuya-hime, a girl who was as bright and pure as the spring. He bathed in blood and slept in a bed haunted by the souls of his dead relatives. She danced in cherry blossoms and kept the volcano inside of her at bay.

Sasuke never went out during recess. He sat in the classroom, stared at the bored, and turned down any confessions the annoying fangirls made. "Sasuke-kun," Yamanaka Ino purred. Sasuke nearly threw up then and there. They weren't even ten and she was acting like a slut, great.

"No," Sasuke said, being as blunt as possible. She rolled her eyes and walked up to him, sitting down in the seat next to his. "Get away from me," the Uchiha growled. Yamanaka just batted her eyelashes and leaned forward.

"We're both heirs of a clan," she said, looking up at him in attempts to be sexy, which was totally stupid because she hadn't even hit puberty yet. Really, she didn't even have any assets to flaunt. "So why don't we just go out."

"I'd rather date an Akimichi than a slut like you." The words came out of Sasuke's mouth before he could even think. Yamanaka jerked back as if she'd been slapped. She giggled and swatted at his shoulder.

"Oh Sasuke-kun," the blond whispered, leaning even closer to him, "You're so funny." She flipped her hair, "Do you like it?" she asked, "I grew it out just for you."

"I was being serious," he hissed, "And no, I don't like your hair. Now leave, before I grab a kunai and cut it off." Ino's eyes went wide and she got up.

"I'll be back tomorrow," she said, before walking out the door, swaying her hips way too much for someone who wasn't even a genin yet. Sasuke sighed once she left, and banged his head on his desk. He had no idea how the fangirls got the idea that he liked long hair, but it was stupid and irrational.

In fact, it reminded him of a certain someone, and that was the worst turn off for him.

Sasuke got up and headed out the door. He didn't want to be anywhere near that classroom if Yamanaka came back. He was definitely not in the mood for dealing with her again. In fact, he wasn't in the mood for dealing with anyone.

"A-Ano."

Sasuke let out an annoyed sigh and turned around. Soft coral immediately filled his vision as the Uchiha found himself staring at the pink haired girl he'd caught a glimpse of a week or two ago. "Go away," he snapped.

"U-Um," she said. Her voice was so quite Sasuke had to strain his ears to hear her. "If you would…"

"I'm not going out with you," Sasuke growled. The fangirls were starting to get on his nerves. They followed him around, tried to take his stuff, threw themselves at him, and always fought over the seats near him (Iruka ended up having to assign them).

Hell, he'd even seen them taking pictures of him yesterday. The constant squealing and confessions were enough, but the invasions of his privacy were going way too far. The girl in front of him opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

She repeated the motion a few more times before Sasuke grit his teeth. This was a waste of time! "Please go out with Yamanaka Ino!" she suddenly shouted. Sasuke steeled himself; his eye's bugging out a bit.

Did she just…confess for that blond slut? Sasuke held in a laugh. 'Now that I think about it,' he said to himself internally, 'she was next to her the other day.' If was silent for a long time as Sasuke kept himself from laughing.

It'd been years since he'd found something funny enough to laugh. A few more seconds passed and Sasuke took a small breath. He let out his usual grunt and turned around, walking away. Unknown to the poor child, he was grinning so hard he though his face would fall off.

There she was, a girl that would make him take back his previous statement about hating long hair, and she was asking him out for a friend. Sasuke shook his head. Yamanaka was just using her, she should know that.

Sasuke let out a laugh.

She revolved around her friends – especially Hyuga and Yamanaka, even though the one the latter was the biggest bitch of them all – and he was as antisocial as one could be.

Sasuke was haunted. He was haunted by the memories of the massacre, of Itachi's words, of the memories of his childhood that seemed to get duller and duller each passing day. He was an empty shell, a ghost.

The only thing that kept him going was the idea of avenging his clan. Of killing his brother.

At least, it used to be this way. Then, he was thrown head first into team seven. Now, to make things clear, Sasuke thought he would only know one person on his team, the Usuratonkachi. Then, Haruno Sakura had spoken up about the groupings.

Now, to set things straight, while Sasuke knew her, he had never found out her name. Cliché, right? It should have been easy, really. The Yamanaka yelled it out all the time. But all he could ever hear was 'ra-chan.'

Everything else was too high pitched and too loud to understand. And when Hyuga said it, her voice was too quite.

The girl never introduced herself to him, ether, and boys and girls were separated during practice. Iruka had stopped doing roll call around the time Sasuke wanted to find it out, and they kept the same seats the entirety of the rest of the schooling.

She never reacted to anything, ether, so he couldn't find out that way, ether. The only time she perked up was when she heard her two best friends' names get called. It got on Sasuke's nerves, really.

He glanced around to look for the only fangirl that wasn't pouting or angry, only to find that none of them were smiling. "Um, sensei," the pink haired peer behind him said, "Why am I on this team."

Something clicked in Sasuke's brain, and he fought down a smirk. Sakura, so her name was Sakura. Iruka quickly explained why they were put together with the dobe, but Sasuke ignored him.

Everyone knew him, Uchiha Sasuke, the second son of Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto Fugaku, the little brother of the renowned criminal, Uchiha Itachi, and the only survivor of the Uchiha clan. No one knew her, the shy girl that sat in the back of the class, the one with pink hair, the one glued to the Yamanaka and Hyuga heirs' sides.

Sasuke was appalled. "Comfortable?' he asked, raising an eyebrow at the words his female teammate had used. Sakura sputtered, trying to explain what she'd meant. Sasuke almost rolled his eyes. She was so different.

One second, she'd be a bit down, her body tense as she awkwardly drew in the dirt, the next she'd be as red as a tomato, stuttering like Hyuga did and waving her arms around. She botched up an old saying, wagging her finger like she was suddenly older than them and knew much more.

And when Kakashi popped in, she was suddenly angry and cocky, yet respectful enough to make sure the dobe knew his place with their sensei. Sasuke did not understand her. Not one bit. But he did enjoy watch her as her moods changed.

After all, she had a thousand versions of herself. The 'Sakura' he knew was constantly changing, while he stayed the same.

Uchiha Sasuke never freaked out. Never, ever. Sure, he snapped at people when they got inside his bubble. And, yeah, he acted arrogant and stubborn around Usuratonkachi, but, really, he never flipped a shit, not since the massacre.

Yet, as he watched Sakura get hoisted up in the air, he felt something inside him go snap.

His hands flew through he signs he'd known since he was eight, and the Uchiha exhaled, blowing a concentrated torrent of flames onto the man in front of him. He tugged his leg back and whirled around towards the one that was strangling his teammate.

"Crap," he muttered, realizing he was down on his chakra. He really shouldn't have overdone his jutsu.

"Don't move," her attacker said, "Or she dies."

Sasuke watched with widened eyes as Sakura's face screwed up in pain. Her eyes were glaring down at the man holding her up, and her hands were clawing at him. The pinkette's mouth was opening and closing as she tried to breath. He face was flushed, and tears were rolling down her cheeks.

Everything was frozen for him. He could only watch at Sakura started to die in front of him. Her eyes were rolling up, and her face was shifting from red to white. The dobe snapped him out of everything. He tackled the man, and Sakura fell to the ground.

The pinkette and Sasuke both breathed in at the exact same time. Usuratonkachi let out a cry and Sasuke rushed forwards, only to realize he wouldn't make it. Sakura would be okay, but Naruto wouldn't.

Kakashi popped into placed in the nick of time, grabbing the man and throwing him into a tree. As he exchanged a few words with Sakura and the dobe, Sasuke looked from his outstretched hand to his teammates.

Specifically, to Sakura. He composed himself and strolled over, trying to act nonchalant, even though inside he was freaking out.

That was another difference they had; he never showed his emotions, wanting to keep to himself. She had everything written on her face, painted for the world to see.

Sasuke awoke to a sudden feeling of warmth. The boy blinked his bleary eyes opened and looked around. Usuratonkachi was there, spooning his pillow and snorting like a pig. Kakashi was in the room as well, sleeping peacefully with his stupid orange book in hand.

And Sakura… Any and all traces of sleep suddenly left Sasuke as he realized that the kunoichi on his team was mission. He got to his feet, and a blanket that had definitely not been there when he went to sleep pooled at his feet.

The Uchiha snatched it up and the scent of flowers immediately reached his nose. He blushed and dropped it to the ground. Okay, that was definitely Sakura's. Sasuke dropped the blanket and looked around again.

So if it was hers, what was it doing on him? "Alright," a quiet voice said. Sasuke perked up and padded over to the screen door that led to the backyard. "One more time." The dark haired boy pushed the door to the side and peeked out.

Haruno Sakura sat on the lawn, staring at her hands with a determined look on her face. Chakra spurred to life on her palms, and she sucked in a deep breath. Sasuke watched as it slowly, slowed turned a pale, pastel green.

'That's medical ninjutsu,' Sasuke thought to himself, 'How'd she learn it?' He watched her for a few more minutes before shaking his head and retreating back to the room. He grabbed the blanket she most likely given him and sat back down.

Closing his eyes, Sasuke soon nodded off to sleep, surrounded by the scent of cherry blossoms.

She was constantly working, giving it her all in order to perfect her techniques. He was a natural born genius, someone who understood everything.

To say Sasuke was obsessed with revenge was an understatement. It was his life. His goal. His ambition. And, he dared to say, his dream. It was what he lived for. Kill Itachi, avenge his clan, and have some kids; that was the plan.

He wouldn't need anyone for it, not until the last part, at least. But even though he was so determined, it still haunted him. He'd have to kill his brother. Sure, Itachi was the person that killed his own parents, Shisui, and, oh, the entire fucking clan, but there was a time where he was kind and caring.

And even though Sasuke had to strain to remember those times, they still existed. But Itachi wasn't the only one he'd have to kill. Sasuke looked down at Sakura, who was dodging another one of Yamanaka's punches as they danced around the finals arena, then to the dobe, who was straining his vocal chords through all the cheering he was doing.

He'd be haunted by the ghosts of them, too. Uchiha Sasuke wasn't an idiot, he knew what the mark on his shoulder meant. Within the next month, he'd be leaving Konohagakure. He'd leave behind one of his first friends and his closest rival.

Usuratonkachi was almost like a brother to him. He pushed Sasuke to his limit and helped the emotionally broken boy keep it together. And Sakura. Sasuke couldn't help but smile. To him, Sakura was like a cherry blossom blooming in the middle of a stormy night.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Yamanaka screeched.

Sasuke turned his attention back to his teammates fight and felt his eyes go wide. "I don't need this," Sakura said slowly, gathering up her hair, which had fallen out of its ponytail somewhere in the fight.

The entire stadium was silent. A small hiccup broke through the silence. Hinata who was watching in the balcony with the other chunin exam participants feel to her knees, sobs racking her body.

Inuzuka and Aburame knelt down to comfort her. Hyuga scoffed and turned away from her, muttering how she was weak and useless.

Sasuke couldn't really sympathize with the heiress, but he knew that it had to be hard for her. Her two best friends were fighting to the death.

"If it links me to you in any way," Sakura reached for a kunai, "Then it's useless to me!"

The sharpened blade tore through her pastel pink locks, and it was in that moment that Uchiha Sasuke knew he was in love with Haruno Sakura.

He couldn't sever his past, nor his ghosts, but she took a kunai and chopped her own mistake off.

He was leaving, just as he'd figured at the chunin exams. The graves were cleaned, along with the main branch house. His fridge had been emptied into the trash, all the clothing he didn't take with him was burned, and every last weapon and book in the Uchiha compound had been hidden in sealing scrolls under the Naka shrine.

In fact, the only thing that was 'impractical' that he took with him was a certain pocket watch.

He'd looked at the pictures before he left. Itachi with his teammates, looking happy for once as he stood between Shisui and a girl/boy with red hair. His parents holding himself in a family picture. Itachi with his jonin certificate. And, of course, the picture of team seven.

He was ready, ready to leave the village.

"Goddamnit!" a certain pink haired girl shouted, "You can't leave! Have you ever once thought about how Naruto needs you?! You're the only family he's got. Team seven needs you!"

But he was definitely not ready to leave Sakura

Before he even knew what he was doing, Sasuke had stormed towards her and grabbed her by the arms. Tugging her against his chest, he smashed his lips into hers. Sakura gasped through the kiss. Sasuke watched as her eyes went wide.

He closed his own and held her tighter, pressing his mouth hard against hers. The Uchiha felt her eyelashes brush against his cheek as her lids finally closed. Sakura leaned against him, her arms wrapping around his neck.

Sasuke had heard about 'the fireworks,' but he didn't feel them when kissing Sakura. All he felt was overwhelming relief and warmth. Lots and lots of warmth that spread from his scalp to the tips of his fingers to his toes.

Sakura wove her fingers through his hair as he moved his hands from her arms to her face, cupping her cheeks. Their lips seemed to fit perfectly together, moving in a slow, steady rhythm.

When the need for oxygen became overwhelming, Sasuke broke away. Sakura's eyes flung themselves open to stare at him in shock. Sasuke pulled her close and dug his face into her neck.

He knew he had to leave to become stronger, to avenge his clan. But he just couldn't find a way to leave a certain Haruno alone. She was as bright as he was dull, a light shining in the darkness, guiding him away from solitude.

"Stay," she said, "Please, just stay here with me."

"I can't," he replied. Every word pained him.

"I love you," Sakura whispered, "I love you so much it hurts." Droplets fell onto his neck and Sasuke instantly knew she was crying. He lifted his palm from her back and held it to the back of her neck. "I love you," she repeated again.

Sasuke winced and bit his lip, pinching her pressure point. She fell limp in his arms, piercing green eyes staring up at his as they slowly, slowly closed.

"Thank you."

They were opposites, really. Yet, he was unexplainably drawn to her, like a wanderer to a shaded tree. She was his support. And without her, he crumbled.