-

All that matters to Sakura is that is he's here. Dark hair, expressionless face and eyes so deep her reflection echoed in their depths.

Sakura's trembling fingers thread themselves in his hair and he hums approvingly. His eyes slip shut and Sakura kneads his scalp lightly. She laughs softly and feels so happy with his weight on top of her.

Sasuke's warm body is leaned against hers, his back to her chest, as she reclines against a tree. His legs are spread in front of him, a comfortable distance between them, and Sakura's legs are spread on either side of him. He has one calloused hand on his stomach, the other on her lower leg.

He traces small circles on her leg, fully aware he was skirting right around a sensitive spot just south of the backside of her knee. When his thumb brushes over the spot, her leg goes slack and she laughs.

He smirks slightly, the corner of his lip twitching upward.

"Sasuke-kun!," she giggles.

"Hn," he says, his grin stretching.

He rubs over the spot again and her hands retract from his hair and she doubles forward, her forehead resting on Sasuke's shoulder as she laughs breathlessly.

"Sasuke, that tickles!"

Sasuke smiles and Sakura leans down and kisses his cheek.

"You're too old to be ticklish,' he mumbles, a light flush staining his pale features.

"Says the boy who will still only eat two foods," Sakura says with a grin.

Sasuke frowns.

"I eat more than two foods."

"Cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes are both still tomatoes, Sasuke-kun."

When Sasuke doesn't respond, Sakura laughs.

Sunlight filters down through the leaves of the tree and dances around them, tracing patterns of heat on their faces. A summer breeze blows and brushes against them softly.

The two are silent for a moment, and Sasuke's eyes slide shut again. His breathing evens out.

Sakura leans back against the tree and sighs deeply, her gaze lifting toward the sky.

Her eyes lazily close.

"Don't fall asleep on me, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn."

There is silence for another moment and then Sasuke's body seems to become too relaxed. Sakura realizes how heavy he really is.

"Sasuke-kun, are you awake?"

Sasuke does not answer.

Sakura rolls her eyes.

"I told you not to fall asleep, you jerk," she says softly, and slides her hands around his middle. She can feel the rise and fall of his chest, the expansion and retraction of his muscles.

"I used to sleep outside in my yard when I was younger," Sasuke says softly- so softly it takes Sakura a moment to hear him. She instantly stills and desperately hopes he will continue. Her glimpses into his past are a treasured few and she wishes- wishes earnestly- that he would open up to her a little more.

She tries not to breathe.

Sasuke breathes out slowly.

"My okaa-san would sit outside and read. And I would sleep in the grass."

Sasuke's revelation has rendered Sakura silent. She cannot move. She cannot speak. She journeys back through their mutual history and tries to pinpoint the time before the massacre when she knew him.

All she can remember are brief flashes of seemingly incomprehensible moments where she sees Sasuke's face among those of children on the playground. She remembers skinned knees and a horrifying pressure of despair and confusion in her chest.

She remembers being teased. She remembers being ostracized.

She remembers Sasuke not coming to school for a few weeks, and suddenly showing up with a face so drawn and pained that it was beyond her limited realm of experience to understand the change in him.

She cannot remember pre-massacre Sasuke.

Sasuke continues.

"Okaa-san sat in a chair in the back of the house. I was very young. I would sit on her lap and try to read. I didn't know how. I would get off her lap and then play in the yard. I got tired. I lay down and then I slept."

Something breaks in Sakura and her eyes water.

The gravity of these memories is not lost on her. Her head dips to rest on his shoulder. Her arms tighten around him.

"What was she like?," she murmurs. Sasuke is still but his breathing has quickened.

"She was..."

Sasuke can feel the wetness of the shoulder of his shirt and knows that Sakura is trying out of respect not to cry too hard. He knows she does not pity him. She feels his loss as acutely as if it were her own.

"...she was very beautiful," he finishes.

The sunlight continues to dance across their bodies, leaving trails of warm skin in their glittering wake. The air plays around them, cool and light. The grass is soft and damp. Sasuke stares at it, marvelling at its greenness.

How could any one structure, natural or otherwise, be so verdant? How was it possible for something to just grow so freely?

"I love you, Sasuke-kun," Sakura whispers. Sasuke continues to stare at the grass.

"Aa."

She knows that he needs to retreat now. She knows he needs to hide again. She knows he loves her too. Otherwise he wouldn't be here with her. He wouldn't have let her touch him.

He wouldn't have spoken of his mother to her.

She lets him hide and expects no real answer to her proclaimation. At least not yet.

She is satisfied with the brief glimpse into his past that he has offered her. Her hands leave his middle as he moves to rise.

He offers her his hand as she too stands up.

-

Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.