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The day was cold, but the sun shinned down on the large town, uninhibited by the few stray tufts of white drifting between. The trees captured the damp chill beneath their canopies, contrasting the subtle warmth collected by the full day of sunlight on the concrete where he stood.
He had been here for hours, simply staring at the monument before him. Still, he welcomed her arrival with only silent companionship. Their years together supplemented any need for words or glances to communicate. The subtle shift caused by his muscles subconsciously relaxing was all Sakura needed to feel that her presence was not only accepted, but wanted.
She smiled at this, the motion temporarily deepening the permanent grooves formed by a long life of performing this action. To her, Sasuke was even more beautiful than the day she met him. His outer beauty has changed over the years--From boyish, to prince-like, to stern, and now wise. However, his inner beauty had only been polished by time. His presence commanded attention and respect, but now out of consequence of who he is rather than a need to find value. His movements were still just as elegant and precise as his prime, but now with the ever-present calmness of someone who knows they have time.
Looking at him now, she could see that same fire that drew everyone to him still burning bright. No longer was it wild and barely maintained--It no longer needed to be large to keep burning; time had created him a deep foundation of white hot ashes that could set fire to anything thrown at him. So many times she had thought his flame had been put out, only for a single leaf to light it from the ashes.
It was at this point in her thoughts that he turned his head to her. It was his silent acknowledgment that he knew there was something on her mind, and that he was willing to listen. Looking into his eyes, she realized that they held the same sad happiness as hers. Her answering words matched their eyes.
"Thank you."
Sasuke's right eyebrow quirked upward in a subtle twitch of movement, but his eyes shouted the questions her words had prompted. The dichotomy of it would have had her laughing, if not for the melancholy mood that clung to their reminiscing. Instead of an explanation, she made herself comfortable on the ground beside him, resting her head on his shoulder as she lost herself in the monument before them.
"Thank you both." His words were barely audible. She had thought it was a trick of her mind until he continued. "We were able to have the families we had always wanted."
She hummed in response. A pleasant sound that vibrated his shoulder as it reached his ears, reverberating into the peaceful silence that followed.
"You know, I didn’t think it could possibly work out when Naruto first mentioned it. I thought it was another one of his idiotic ideas." She smiled at the man's etched name with all the fondness she felt for him, once again lost in her memories. Several moments passed before she spoke again. "Naruto and you were who Hinata and I loved more than anything in the world. We both wanted the two of you to be happy more than we wanted to live."
Sasuke tensed at his past-lover's name being spoken out loud, but he knew he needed to hear it. He was here to remember the past. He had made a promise to stop running from it, and he refused to break his promise to the only person who had never broken a promise to him. Sakura continued without pause. She always knew what he needed.
"It was a rough transition at first, but, when sharing you guys with each other was all you both needed to be happy, it was definitely the right choice to make." This time, her smile was directed at him. He felt it caress his features as he stared down the name that haunted every moment of his life. The corners of his lips lifted upwards and his eyes softened in response to her gaze. It was an imperceptible change in expression to the untrained eye.
"I’m glad you were both upfront though; I don’t know how we would have ever handled being lied to on such an intimate level." Her tone signaled the completion of what she had to share. As they returned to companionable silence, it became clear to him that they had been thanking each other for the same reasons.
"You and Kakashi were meant to be together." His tone was as expressionless as his face and body. Whatever thoughts that had lead to that statement had closed him off again.
"Yeah, I know." The longing in her voice caused his body to once again relax. Sakura looked at him questioningly, not expecting him to explain himself with words, but with hopes of seeing something that would hint at what he was thinking.
Sasuke was not the type to want verbal salve for his emotional wounds, so she decided to simply accept the reaction and continue on her track of simply sharing. "I've never stopped missing him."
"Yeah."
At this response, she relaxed further into his side, but her smile was that of sad comprehension. They both experienced the same type of pain—the same loneliness. Sakura understood, and that was all Sasuke needed for the moment. They relaxed into each other, sitting in their sadness as the warmth of the land faded into the coming night.
Eventually, her memories drifted into happier musings. The sun had fully set by this point, but neither payed any mind to the calls of the wakening forest surrounding them. Absently, Sakura returned her lover's discarded red scarf to his neck.
"I'm really glad that Gaara was there for Hinata. That woman deserved to finally experience requited love." Her tone was wistful, but her happiness for the couple still bled through. Sasuke sent a sideways glance her way. Once again calculating thoughts beyond her reach. She waited patiently for what he would decide to share.
"Sometimes I wish that I'd never experienced it." The comment was as soft as his original 'thank you.' If she hadn't been listening for it, it would have drowned in the cries of the crickets and frogs. Surprisingly, she didn’t have to push for him to continue. "Somedays It's hard to remember if the times with it were worth the all this time without."
Sakura had once asked these questions too, but Kakashi and Naruto's thoughts on the matter were practically etched into her heart. They were alive in everyone they'd impacted. They were alive in both her actions and thoughts. Even with a bleeding heart, she found her worth in knowing she helped keep many others from having to experience the same pain of loosing a loved one.
"Anytime I catch myself wondering why I'm even still here, they always seem to stop me." His continuation was a steep admittance--one that she wasn't sure how to acknowledge. It seemed that Sasuke still struggled to adopt their past loved ones' line of thinking, but he had never been one to experience emotions lightly. "How can the dead still have such an insurmountable impact on the living?"
He slumped forward, finally letting himself be taken by his grief. His face pulled into a pain-stricken grimace at the acknowledgement that he's not in control of his life, and that never had been. He has always been directed by the dead. Sakura collected him into her arms, crying silently for the both of them.
It had been decades since Naruto had passed. It had been half a century since Kakashi had passed. They had children, who now have their own children. Piece has been maintained, lost, and regained. An Uchiha has become Hokage. Huggas are no longer born into servitude. Even ninjas are free to travel, move and marry outside the village. The answer was clear to her, and when she finally collected herself enough to speak, her words were soft, but unyielding.
"Because, otherwise, life as a whole would never move forward."