Cinderella at the Grave
By anna
All general disclaimers apply
three
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From the very beginning, she led him nowhere.
--
That morning, a messenger came.
Sakura received the piece of paper with no little fear. The Anbu offered to stay with her but she declined- she didn't know who he was and was not tempted to display her anguish to a man with no face and no name. After the black op left as quietly as he entered, Sakura opted to sit on the luxurious Uchiha couch. With a flick of her fingers, she burned the letter to crisp, courtesy of Sasuke. Sakura was not interested in answers she already knew, that was courtesy of Sasuke too.
She wondered why Naruto didn't come to deliver the news of death himself, the blonde was anything but a coward. Maybe Naruto took his best friend's death a lot harder, after all, they were on the same team- Naruto was the one who had to witness everything. Sakura, on the other hand, had the luxury to remember him as he really was- dignified and beautiful.
Slowly, she walked back to their bedroom, determined to make that her grave.
--
That night, a messenger came.
Neji received the piece of paper with slight curiosity. It was unsigned, but the perfect penmanship was her calling card. It was short and undemanding, consisted of a simple thank you for his time and an apology for her withdrawal from the Anbu exam. A thank you and an apology, the subtle contradiction made the Hyuuga growled in disapproval.
He wondered why Sakura didn't come to deliver the decision herself. She worked hard, and he was proud of her. If her abilities weren't ANBU worthy, Neji wasn't sure what else they would be good for. He did not spend all his time with the woman to let Sakura have her way now.
Quickly, he made his way toward her residence, determined to prevent Sakura from stupidly burying her skills.
--
The door was unlocked and Neji walked inside. The Uchiha manor was eerily quiet and the silence inspired thoughts of a ghoulish past. A woman like Sakura did not belong in a building like this, a place where even the sun was obstructed from view. She belonged in his house, on his bed.
Following the lamps on the wall, the Hyuuga stopped temporarily- in the past weeks, he had been a frequent visitor in the Uchiha residence, but never in the bedroom. The implications of all the activities that took place there were suffocating.
He saw her, the silhouette of a woman. Sakura turned around and Neji tried hard to push down the nasty feeling in his gut when he saw the trails of dry tears on her face. Something terrible happened and he was about to find out what.
"Neji…" she whispered, slightly embarrassed that he caught her in such a state of distress.
"Why are you crying?" no sooner had he said those words that his genius mind supplied the only reason of her agony. There was only one man who was capable of turning a strong woman like Sakura into a sniffling mess.
He was angry, angry at the Uchiha for being unbelievably weak. If Sakura belonged to him, Neji would never be stupid enough to die.
"You should go, Hyuuga-san," she said quietly, her face lowered.
Neji realized he no longer had the luxury of walking away. He simply invested too much of his time, his mind, his emotion on her. He didn't want to deal with her absence. Before he knew what came over him, Sakura was already glaring at him hatefully. His silver eyes descended to where his hand clutched hers. She tested his grip but ended in failure. The weak action belied the fact that if she really wanted to him to release her, she could.
"I don't belong to you," Sakura whispered.
"No, you don't. You don't belong to anyone," he answered, "not even to him,"
"I love Sasuke-kun,"
"But he doesn't love you. He did. He can't. Not anymore," Neji reminded, he didn't care when her hand began to shake. She was turning him into a sadist.
"What can I do to convince you to let go?" the ring on her finger intensified the pain of his grip.
"Simply request it so," Sakura was used to such intensity in the eyes, but there was something different between silver and onyx.
"You won't,"
The Hyuuga scoffed in agreement. Of course he wouldn't, he wasn't stupid enough to let her go simply because she decided to "request it so".
"It's starting to hurt," that was a lie, and they both knew that too. Or maybe it was the truth, depended on what was doing the hurting. But he indulged her anyways, just like he indulged her everything else. He let go of her hand and promptly left the room.
--
The first time Sasuke came back to the village, she hated him, but at least when she proceeded to beat the living shit out of him, he responded. She hated him the second time too, but there was no point trying to beat a heart that won't reciprocate.
She wondered if he was ok about leaving without first formally making her an Uchiha. She wondered if he thought of her.
The soil beneath her feet was still moist; Sakura shook off her sandals and dug her toes in the cold ground. The old Uchiha grave site was just that… old. He was the first addition in seven years, Sasuke had ferociously opposed the notion of burying Itachi there, and he was going to be the last in a long time. It needed some flowers, she concluded. But the young Uchiha would never assent to something so trivial like flowers. Maybe she could plant tomatoes there. It could give her something productive to do. She liked red and she was pretty sure Sasuke did too.
--
Strolling back to the Uchiha manor, she was bathed in a sense of peacefulness. Sakura was taking his death a little too well. It was odd; she remembered how hard she cried the night he left. Back then, she did not know whether he would ever return home; but now, he was home and he wasn't going anywhere.
Sakura pushed the heavy door open and walked inside. She felt so small and insignificant in that large house. She had wanted to fill the space with little Uchiha children, but when her hand reached her empty womb- she felt like a failure. They hadn't planned on conceiving, Sasuke had not wanted a child out of wedlock. When it came to reviving his clan, the late Uchiha wanted everything done right.
Naruto was still absent, she only caught a glimpse of his blonde hair during the funeral. Sakura did not blame him; they would both break down if they saw each other.
The medic was hungry when she entered the kitchen. Mildly thanking Neji for teaching her survival skills, Sakura began making her dinner. The scrambled eggs were nowhere near as fancy as when Neji made them, but at least they were edible. Eating her dinner quietly, Sakura heard the small squeaks of a mouse. She felt a peculiar sense of relief, knowing that she wasn't the only form of life in the house.
Putting her chopsticks down, Sakura remember how much she hated being alone. Neji would have been the natural choice, but she wasn't sure she wanted to continue the conversation they left hanging a few weeks ago. The ANBU exams came and left without another visit from Neji. As much as she hated to admit it- Sakura missed his company.
She stood up with a new sense of resolve. It was high time Sakura stopped her ridiculous evasions and talked to the Hyuuga.
--
Walking up to the Hyuuga branch house, Sakura's finger reached forward to ring the doorbell. After getting no answer, she remembered idly that the Hyuuga were not very hospitable people. She twisted the handle and entered when found it unlocked. Walking along the hall, she stopped in front of his room.
A single knock announced her arrival and Sakura waited to hear the hasty shuffling of clothes. But when the door opened, the medic was mildly surprised when no beautiful woman ran out the door. Instead, the Hyuuga himself appeared. A head taller than she was, he had the liberty of looking down at her. The loose yukata he wore showed that Neji did not expect her but he immediately composed himself when green eyes clashed with silver.
Neji stared at the woman in front of him, with no intention of letting her out of his sight. After weeks of evading his presence, Sakura finally decided to seek him out and Neji was going to take it for all it was worth. The small smile she gave him was enough to coerce the ANBU to dissolve whatever hatred he felt toward her.
From the very beginning, she led him no where. But he'll be damned if he wasn't there when she decided to stop her endless wanderings.
"Get in,"
--
End.