Chapter Text
"Sasuke..." Sakura called to her friend. He didn't respond.
"Sasuke-kun..." She called again.
Nothing still.
She sighed as she watched him. Sasuke was just gazing at the sky but his eyes were glazed, unseeing.
He changed. When he came back, it was as if he was a stranger to Sakura.
Sasuke was never the same the game.
Sakura have never seen someone so defeated. And it hurts her to see Sasuke like this. He can barely recognize him.
It was ironic that they call him a 'victor.' It was as if he had lost himself. But still, Sakura is thankful that he was here; that he was able to fulfill his promise, that he was able to return to her.
Sakura let out another sigh and lie down by where he sat. They were up the hill away from the lumber site. They always went there to play when they were little. It was a special place to the two of them.
"Can you telll me about it?" Sakura asked quietly as she, too, looked at the sky.
"I told you I don't wanna talk about the game, Sakura!" Sasuke said, his tone harsh.
But Sakura wasn't perturbed.
"I wanna know about Sarada found that fox..." Sakura clarified. "You couldn't tell me before..." She said softly.
Sarada, Sasuke's niece, had found a fox a day before the Reaping. Sasuke had told Sakura about his niece's new pet just as they were walking towards the plaza for the event. Sasuke was very excited as he talked. Sakura, knowing him, knew he wanted to distract both of them even just a little before the hour of dread started.
Sasuke wasn't able to tell her the story for a long time, as his name was picked. The last thing he told her before he left for the Capitol was his promise of returning.
Sasuke was silent for a moment, and then he started talking.
"Well, Sarada went with me down by the river that day. I was hoping I could catch trout since they were in season. But we couldn't really spot even one--"
Samura let out a giggle at this. And she saw Sasuke's lips tug a little upward.
"But then Sarada suddenly started shouting saying she saw one. I was surprised since her voice seemed so far away. I realized then that she was already about ten yards away from me. I called to her, but she was following the fish, it seems. She kept shouting for me to hurry up before it can get away."
Sakura smiled as she imagined everything clearly. Sarada, though mature for her age, certainly still have moments when she acts her age.
"I started running towards her but then the next thing I know, she was gone. I panicked, thinking she fell in the water and you know how deep the river gets downstream."
Sakura sat up at this, looking at Sasuke. "Did she fell?" She asked.
"No, but she slipped and it was hilarious." Sasuke said, finally smiling. "Half of her, and I mean only the left side; left limbs, left side of the head--was covered in mud and the other side was spotless."
Sakura laughed at the image. I would have love to see that. Sakura had always been close with Sarada, as well, treating her as her own niece, or maybe little sister.
"I laughed so hard." Sasuke continued, looking more and more like the Sasuke that Sakura knew. "I laughed harder because she was glaring at me. I helped her up and we then noticed that there was a berry bush down there. So, we gave up on the trout and started collecting berries instead. That was where Sarada found Kurama. He was hiding in the bush. He's still a baby. I think he got separated from his mom, or his mom was caught by a hunter. Anyway, we took the fox home, and now he never leaves Sarada's side." He finished, sounding fond.
"She's just like you when we were little." Sakura told him, smiling.
Sasuke's smile faltered. "I guess so." He said softly, looking somber once more.
Sakura frowned, but continued relentlessly. "She's almost taller than me now, too." She commented.
She just wanted to distract him somehow, to make him think about happier things instead of the horrors he had just escaped... physically, at least.
"Yeah, she's up to my chin now." Sasuke said. "And she's only twel--" He trailed off.
Sakura was panicking inside. This was another thing. Sarada is twelve years old now. She was now eligible for the Reaping, and Sasuke can't protect her as a male, as a victor.
'I'm losing him once more.'
"She's very proud of you..." Sakura tried to say. "She kept saying he wanted to be like---"
"NO!" Sasuke suddenly burst out. Sakura was so surprise. He cluched at his head and closed his eyes, as if he was in pain. He kept shaking his head.
"No! She can't be like me! Sarada... they can't take her away! They can't make her like me! I... I'm a... murderer. She can't--" Sasuke kept saying over and over.
Sakura hugged him, but he pushed her away instantly. "No, Sakura... I'm not... I'm not the Sasuke you know.. I... I don't even know who I am anymore."
Sakura felt her tears flowing through her face. It's painful to see him like that; to see him so broken.
Sakura placed her arms around him again, holding on firmly. This time, he didn't fight much.
"You are Sakura... Nothing's changed." She tries to say. He kept shaking his head.
"You are... you are Sasuke. Sarada's favorite uncle; my best friend. You're still our Sasuke." She told him sincerely. "And Sasuke, I can still save her. If ever she's called, I can voluntee--"
"NO!" He shouted, and now he was holding her arms to his body tightly. "No! Not you! Not Sarada!"
He started crying and crying. And Sakura could only hold him, cry with him. She tried talking to him but it was as if he couldn't hear her, as if he wasn't there with her anymore.
And then eventually, slowly, he stopped moving.
"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura tried calling to him once more, voice broken. But he didn't respond. Sakura pulled away to look at him. Only to see... emptiness.
'I lost him again.'
"Sasuke-kun..." She called once more. But he wasn't speaking anymore. He wasn't hearing. Once again, he was looking up the sky, eyes glazed and unseeing.