Redemption Blues
by: cutecrazyice

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The scream was enough to rouse Sasuke from a deep, deep slumber – one where he had been dreaming about hopping around in the flowery fields, with Naruto hopping along with him while singing, Kakashi strumming a guitar, Gai doing a belly dance and Shikamaru lying down on the grass while muttering mathematical solutions.

Okay. So maybe it was a nightmare.

But the scream stopped all that, as it practically pierced his eardrums and had him bolting out of bed in instant alarm. Automatically, his hand snuck under his pillow to pull out a hidden kunai, his eyes darting from side to side to observe his surroundings.

The dim glow of the television flickered under the door, giving Sasuke some light to maneuver. Without further ado, he opened the door, ready to plunge the sharp blade into any movement or piece of flesh that might come to attack him—

Sniff.

Sakura was sitting in the sofa of their living room, totally oblivious.

"Are we under attack?" he asked bluntly, still cautious. She could be a henge, or an illusion, or someone in disguise to—

Sniff.

She turned her head towards him. Her face was streaming with tears.

"N—no," she whispered, hiccuping as she did so. Hand slightly trembling, she took out a handkerchief and promptly blew her nose in it.

Thoroughly confused, the raven-haired Uchiha switched the lights in the living room on, flooding the entire room with brightness. There was no one there. He immediately went to stand beside Sakura.

"Then why are you crying?"

Mouth puckering down, she looked glumly at the television, ignoring his question. He glanced at the television as well, trying to understand what had rendered her to act like this and why she seemed to think it more important to look there than at him.

A familiar pair of round glasses stared back at him from the middle of the screen, before going to the side to chase after a tiny golden ball with wings. The golden ball plunged under a set of wooden bleachers, the boy's lightning scar and maroon robes diving swiftly to follow it.

"You're watching Harry Potter," Sasuke pointed out after a few seconds. He never really watched that stuff, but he knew enough to know that she loved it – adored it, even.

"Yeah," she mumbled.

"Watching the sports scene," he continued. He remembered she called it Quibbitch or something like that, and didn't really get the appeal of flying brooms and robes. What was the point when everyone knew it was magic and obviously did not happen in the real world?

"Yeah," she mumbled again, still sniffing.

"Sakura, why did you scream?"

Glaring at him, Sakura stopped pouting and opened her mouth to shout.

"Of course I would scream! It's so frustrating!"

"…what?"

"I said it's frustrating!" she yelled. "You guys just don't get it!" Then, as if she realized how mad she sounded, her face crumpled and she grabbed a pillow nearby, sobbing into it in the process.

Thoroughly alarmed now, but not wanting to show her that he was (Uchihas did not show alarm – or weakness – at the first sign of feminine tears), he cautiously sat beside her, awkwardly patting her back.

She let go of the pillow, immediately grabbing hold of him. Then she proceeded to sob in his shirt instead.

Sighing, he pulled her until she was sitting on his lap, and waited the storm out.

When she finally finished (minutes later), the part of his shirt that her face occupied was now wet. She was still shaking a bit. Quietly, Sasuke wiped the tears off with his one hand and rubbed his other hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her.

"Sakura? What's wrong?"

Silence.

"Sakura…"

Silence. Then…

"I feel bad for Draco," she blurted out.

Huh?

"…?"

"Draco Malfoy," she clarified. As if that settled things.

…huh?

"…?"

"Harry Potter's archenemy," she clarified further.

…huh?

"…aren't you supposed to be crying over Harry Potter's fate?" Not that he believed there was anything to cry over, considering this was just – hello – fiction…but really, there was something wrong with her sense of morals when she was crying over the so-called bad guy.

Something that he could not help pointing out, of course.

"I thought he was the villain."

"No, Voldemort's the villain. The true evil," she insisted. "Draco was just sucked in."

"Which still makes him a bad guy."

Looking like she was about to cry again, Sasuke rubbed her hair now, trying to placate her. They stayed like that for a few more minutes, him trying to soothe her and her trying to control her emotions. The shaking had stopped, and so did the sniffing, which meant that she was not going to cry anymore (he hoped so) and—

"He never got his redemption."

Pausing from his hand movement, Sasuke stared at her.

"Hn?"

And then, as if a dam had burst, she suddenly couldn't stop babbling.

"He never got it. He should have. He wasn't so bad, if only he got the proper guidance – I mean, he never really got to kill Dumbledore, right? That means he was never a killer. There was helplessness in his eyes. Couldn't they see that? I just hate the way the story ended, with him getting depicted as the coward who ran away, rather than the enemy-turned-ally who could have helped Harry in the end. He was a great man, he had a lot of potential – but that was all wasted because nobody concentrated on him in the end. He was discarded. Discarded."

She paused, trying to breathe.

"He was desperate, Sasuke-kun, already shrouded in darkness he couldn't stop, couldn't control…and no one helped him out. No one reached out. No one saved him. He could have been saved…like you."

Silence.

He didn't know what to say to that, because her words somewhat rang true. If it wasn't for her and Naruto (and Kakashi), he probably would have ended up the same way. No, not a coward that ran away.

But shrouded in darkness, nevertheless.

He glanced at her, looking at her disheveled hair, puffy face and sad, sad eyes. She looked so heartbroken. So vulnerable.

Sasuke did the only thing that came to mind at the moment. Tilting her face up, he slowly lowered his own face and kissed her.

And in that single kiss, he poured out everything that he was feeling for his pink-haired lover – gratitude, affection, contentment, desire. Gradually, she melted into the kiss, sighing against his mouth and making him feel as if he was drowning, drowning deep. He could feel everything in that kiss, everything she felt for him.

The love was unconditional – and something he would always cherish.

He usually did not say it to her (actually, he never did), but maybe it was time to give her part of himself, and show her that it wasn't one-sided. It never was.

"I love you," he muttered, his tone as casual as he would have said, "Hn".

She froze in his arms. He waited for his words to sink in, and waited for her to smile and say it back.

Silence.

Then Sakura's face puckered down again, and she ended up sobbing in his shoulder once more. Extremely flabbergasted (tears of joy? Regret? Why was she crying?), he looked down at her wearily (in worry), snuggling up to him for comfort and crying as if her heart couldn't take it anymore.

"…Sakura?"

"Hermione! Hermione Granger!"

A long pause.

"…Hn?"

"If he only got his redemption – he would have fallen in love with her and would have said that to her and Dramione would be a freaking star couple right now! They're supposed to be together! It's so unfair!"

Completely not understanding (who the hell was Hermione Granger? Harry Potter's girlfriend or something?), but knowing it was best not to ask, Sasuke simply kissed the top her head and let her bumble and mutter incoherent protests all over him. He wondered if there was a way to kill fictional characters. Especially this Draco Malfoy.

After all, the guy just made his future wife cry.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

a/n: Completely OOC and extremely cheesy. I'm kinda embarrassed for writing this, but whatever. Still posting. :p