Daylight

Kindle Pt.1

In her white bathrobe she dragged Sasuke across the landing until they came upon the kitchen. She pushed him into a seat on the dining table. And it was there that they feasted, communicating with stolen glances, blushes and shy touches, almost as if they were falling in love all over again. Almost as if all their history had been erased and he had been given a new chance - a clean new slate. Maybe they could start from the beginning, brand new. If only... But life wasn't as easy as that. There were no brand new starts - second, third and fourth chances still had the ghost of the past haunting every flicker of light, casting a shadow over every cobblestones that was graced in daylight. Even if he had redeemed himself from some of his sins, regret still hung over him, like a bad odour that would not pass, no matter how much you bathed or sprayed expensive perfume over it. He was stuck beneath the weight of his own mistakes, but at least, right now, in this very moment, he had her. And she was the light that kindled him in the darkness. 

***

A rustling in the leaves, and on and on he went. The blades of grass beneath him stuck to his ankles, as if begging for him to stay. "Don't leave me!" they seemed to cry out. But he had to keep going. On and on. With a spark of a chidori in hand, he stayed on his pursuit of  his prey. As quick as lightning, he struck down thirty of the missing-nin and the once multicoloured land was now plastered in red. Sasuke planted himself gently onto a branch and looked down at the once beautiful land: it was another thing he had tarnished, another thing tainted by his hand. Sasuke brought out his pen and paper and inked a letter to Kakashi, informing him that the deed had been done. 

Sasuke cast a genjutsu over the semi-conscious missing-nin as promised, and continued with his travels. As the orange flow of the sky melted away and silver and dark blue overtook its reign, Sasuke sat beneath the full moon with a myriad of blossoms surrounding him, covering a vast land that stretched out as long as the ocean. It was March 31st, and the fourth year in a a row that he had missed his daughter's birthday. She would be seven today. He wondered how much she had changed. Did she still so closely resemble him, or with age, had her mother's genes bloomed and surfaced? He had last seen the mother of his child only three days prior, on her own birthday. He had come with clothes that were small enough for a seven year old, and Sakura had teased him saying that she was a bit too big for those clothes. It was the same joke each year, but it never seemed to get old to Sakura, something which amused him. 

Sasuke looked around his surroundings, and found that every distinct flower spoke to him, reminding him of the last four years... 

The first flower that caught his eye was an orange aloe flower, the flower of affection but grief. It was fitting for him, truly. 

*** 

Aloe

The orange spikes of the aloe flowers reminded the once lone Uchiha of another orange being with spikes: his best friend, Naruto. His best friend, who at one point had taught him the meaning of daylight and how to forge a new path of light for himself. Eventually the raven-haired man had decided that he needed time to see the world in this new light his friend envisioned, before following the road that led towards a heart surrounded by pink blossoms. It was the path of light that Sasuke walked four years prior, that led him towards the Hokage's office where he was accompanied by his friend who referred to himself as the 'orange spark' and the Sixth Hokage. 

Sasuke was clad in his black cloak as he turned towards his former male team members and greeted them, "Naruto. Kakashi. I trust you know why I'm here." 

Naruto scrunched up his face and closed his eyes and itched his cheek as he contemplated, "Hmm, is it about that white rabbit woman?"