Melancholia

Chapter 1

Sasuke was the first one to arrive at the bridge. It was still pretty early though, so nothing surprising there. Hands in his pocket, he took a moment to look down at his reflection in the water beneath him. Immediately after, however, he scoffed, turning away. It seemed everything served as an unwelcome reminder of Itachi to him anymore, especially his own resemblance of his Older Brother.

He sat down, leaning against the railing of the bridge. Looking up, he took a long moment to take in the vibrant array of orange, red, and purple in the sky. And for just a little while, the aesthetic pleasing sight actually seemed to calm his nerves. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before his thoughts once again began to go rampant, ruining his mood entirely.

"You still don't have enough hatred..."

Itachi's haunting voice echoed in his head for the thousandth time that week, giving him a sickening reminder of his lack of progress. Over the course of the past few weeks, he'd been training non-stop, but he knew it wasn't enough, it would never be enough.

Revenge was what he had devoted his very life to at this point, it was supposed to be his only purpose, so why wasn't he strong enough yet? What had he been doing all this time? What was it all for? Had he-

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." His teammate's voice interrupted his thoughts, drawing him out of his trance. He looked up, jumping a bit, startled by their close-proximity. He tried to ignore the heat in his face at the awkwardness when he saw her smile, turning away.

"Morning." He muttered.

"Took you long enough." Sakura said, lightly scolding him. Sasuke had been so distant lately. She was honestly surprised to even get that much of out of him. "I called out to you a moment ago, but you didn't even hear me."

He then glanced back up to notice a bruise on her cheek as she stood back. The placing of it was kind of peculiar. Had somebody hit her? Something welled up inside of him, making it impossible to just ignore. Without a second thought, he casually asked, "What happened to you...?"

It took a moment for Sakura to realize he was referring to her cheek, because he rarely ever voiced concerns for his teammates, but she was quick to dismiss it. Such a thing shouldn't have to be of concern to Sasuke or any of the others. They already had plenty of other things to worry about themselves anyway. "Oh this? It's nothing, really. I just had an accident earlier is all."

Sakura cursed herself. That act probably wouldn't have even fooled Naruto.

Naturally, Sasuke seemed even more suspicious at this point, but, much to her gratitude, he decided to drop the subject.

"Anyway..., you seemed like you were pretty deep in thought about something. Is there..." Sakura, who had sat down next to him and noticed his wounded fist, trailed off into a momentary silence, trying to think of the best way to broach the subject. She wanted more than anything for Sasuke to open up to her or at least somebody for once. He always kept people at a distance, and lately he'd seemed even distancing than ever. "...something bothering you...? If there is, you know you can talk to me, right?"

Sasuke almost seemed surprised for a moment, but looked away. He had no reason to get her involved with his problems. "...It's nothing to concern yourself with... Just focus on yourself, Sakura..."

His tone almost sounded cold, but it was not completely decipherable, so Sakura couldn't tell if Sasuke was just saying that as a means to get her off his back or if he genuinely was saying that because he wanted her to focus on her own problems instead of stressing herself out more. Maybe it was both.

"Mn..." She looked down at her folded arms. Why was Sasuke always so stubborn...? Why did he never let others in about anything? Naruto wasn't any better either. Both of them were always pushing themselves to their limit, and keeping her at a distance. She wanted to be there for them and help them through their problems, but they always told her to not worry and pushed her away. Even Kakashi... He hadn't wanted to get her involved with the matter about the mark on Sasuke's neck despite her concern.