Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Title: Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?
Genre: Angst/Romance/Hurt/Comfort
Rating: T
Summary: [AU. SasuSaku.] Oh, waves of time seem to wash away the scenes of our crimes. For you, this never ends.
Chapter Two.
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N
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D
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'cause your eyes told a tale
of an act of betrayal
i knew
that somebody did...
耐久性
I knew she was hiding something.
The more she tried to hide it, the more I knew that something --anything, everything-- was wrong.
(Because I just knew that someone had done her wrong and I would do anything to prevent it.
I watch her.)
I didn't show my concern --my blatant curiosity-- to anyone. I was discreet. I caught whispers of forgotten conversations with the familiar sound of her name blended in like part of a song, so softly that the people closest to her couldn't hear it.
(But I did; I always listened for her.)
She was unusually quiet, and somehow her silence was easier to understand. Her smiles --fake, fake, fake!-- were forced and painful and her laughter --soft, gentle, familiar-- had next to vanished. I haven't heard it in days.
Her trend of wearing heavy clothes continued. She always had sleeves, always had legs to her jeans while everyone else was clad in some of the loosest, shortest and airiest fabrics possible. She was always covered. This gave me a vague sense that she was hiding --from something, from someone, from me.
Sometimes, inevitably, she caught me looking, so obviously looking, and something inside her was frightened by this aspect. I saw then something I shouldn't have in her huge green eyes: All the --masked, disguised-- hurt and --empty, disintegrating-- hope and all of a sudden I was this warm caring person and I don't know why.
What happened to normal (smirks, shrugs, grunts, ignorance)?
Inside, I yelled myself hoarse.
(Because that all flew out the window three days ago and there's nothing I could possibly have done about it.)
The bell rings to start class. I sat behind her, and today, of all days, she didn't notice. The idiot in the jumpsuit (at least some things haven't changed) began to rant and I felt everyone, including her, begin to ignore him. It was easy, and practical, so I did the same. My hands found their usual place folded just in front of my face.
She was writing something. I tried to read it, but she was just drawing lines, up and down, over and over, parallel to fill in the white space of the notebook.
The man's rant was nearing a close, and he dismisses class. I tried to see her face, but the bell rang and she was gone before I could even stand up. I glanced at Ino --exfangirl, her best friend-- and her face was closed off and blank, abnormal for her gossiping soul.
I wanted to go up and confront her, but then she would have been wary and suspicious of my curiosity. She was worried enough about Sakura as it was.
(Because I could tell she knew what was wrong.)
I turned a corner in the hallway, caught up in my ongoing investigation of the last person I want to be harmed by anyone, ever (because she was there for me), and nearly ran her over. She recoiled from the impact a little too harshly --a little too sensitively-- and her bag slipped from her hands, spilling everything on the tile floor.
"Sorry," she apologized, and I only smirked to cover my suspicions and took the time to kneel down and help regather her things.
"Sasuke-kun," she said when we stood, smiling her --fake, aggravating-- smile. I forced myself not to narrow my eyes because everything in her face was concealed and full of lies. However, I felt the intensity in my gaze as I nodded.
"Sakura." For the first time in my entire life, I didn't know what to say.
She pulled at her sleeves, slipping her thumbs through cut holes in the --dark, uncharacteristic-- cloth covering her arms. I could tell she was nervous. There was a few seconds of silence.
"See you," she nearly whispered, and she walked past me into the crowd of students.
Again, I berated myself, wondering why the hell I was so concerned about her and how she had done this to the one stoic Uchiha Sasuke.
The sun was out today, and the rays outlined her body --small, frail-- as she found her way down the windowed corridor away from me.
Her normal posture was sturdy, feet shoulder-width apart and back straight, but it wasn't at all as I watched when no one else did; her legs and feet were close together, moving slowly just in front of each other, shuffling. Her torso was slumped, like she was closing in on herself --for protection, for comfort.
It had been three days since I'd last seen her incredible confidence.
I heard and sensed and felt Naruto run up to me: God dammit, I could see him, but I wasn't listening to his broken record and he knew it. I think he knew of my curiosity. He didn't say it, but somehow he knew. He had always been smarter than I gave him credit for. He was like an elder brother to her, after all.
And it was he who led me to her in the first place.
I listened with half an ear to his rant, and I accepted his invitation to compete with the others in another barbaric game of nighttime paintball.
(Because I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep that night.
Neither would she, either.)
Ino, I decided, would be questioned tomorrow.
耐久性
can you stay strong?
can you go on?
kristy, are you doing okay?
;;the offspring;;