The leafs were slowly staring to fall of their branches, leaving bare trees. The weather has been getting colder by each day - autumn was arriving.
Sakura was rummaging through her old clothes in her closet, trying to find that cute jacket she hasn't worn for what felt like ages.
She had found her jacket and put it neatly onto her bed, looking at the mess she created with all the rummaging.
She slowly picked up all the fallen pieces of clothes and before she knew it she had an all to familiar article in her hand.
It was that sweater she bought years ago and when she held the sweater in her hand she noticed a small piece of paper peeking out
She took it and sure enough she was met by a picture of Sasuke hugging her from behind. She was so happy back then, she was sure that Sasuke was the one for her. She trusted him with her life.
No.
Her face saddened as she slowly placed the photo on her drawer.
If only, it would be different.
**
Sasuke finally arrived in Sakura's small hometown and he almost smiled at all the memories.
Sasuke himself grew up in the city, but once he started dating Sakura he heard more and more about how life was in a small village, about the farm life. Whenever she talked about it her eyes sparkled and she smiled brightly. Sasuke didn't only find Sakura utterly cute whenever she would go on for hours about her life back in her hometown, he was also curious as to how life there actually was. So a year into their relationship Sakura introduced her boyfriend to her parents.
Even though Sasuke never openly admitted it he was very nervous at the time, he had to leave a good impression on his future in-laws afterall. But once he met his girlfriends parents he relaxed, they were two of the most welcoming and open people he has ever met.
Sakura's father was constantly cracking jokes and even laughing his ass off at his own jokes. Sasuke was honestly confused himself as to why he wasn't getting annoyed of her father. He actually doesn't like people who are loud or gets easily annoyed at least, but with Mr. Haruno and his constant joking he couldn't find the least bit of annoyance or irritation inside himself.
As to Sakura's mother, she was a lot more serious than her husband, but she too welcomed Sasuke with open arms and she almost reminded him of his own mother, who would always openly show her love for him.
He felt very comfortable in Sakura's old home, it was almost like his own.
However this time they weren't going to be as welcoming as they were before. Sasuke just knew it. They must know what he did to their daughter and even though he had been thinking for a while he didn't have a single clue how to approach them and convince them to even let him anywhere near her daughter.
**
Sasuke finally arrived at the house of the Haruno's. A wave of nosalgia hit him and he slowly knocked on the door, more nervous than he was back when he was about to meet his girlfriend's parents for the first time. Before he knew it the door opened, followed by an angry gasp.
"Why you little-"
Thud
Now the wave of nostalgia wasn't the only thing that hit him in the past 30 seconds.
Sasuke felt the rock hard ground on his back. He pushed his upper body up with both of his arms and he instantly felt the throbbing on his face. Particularly the part around his eye.
The pink haired man in front of him sent him a glare before turning his back at him and wanting to walk back inside.
The ravenette on the ground quickly scrambled to his feet again and stopped the door from shutting right in his face.
Kizashi's glare intensified as he looked at his daughter's ex-boyfriend through the half closed door.
"Leave at this instant."
"Please Mr. Haruno, let me talk to you."
Said man looked at him for a few seconds before sternly answering "No.".
Just as Sasuke was about to speak again he heard a familair voice from inside. "Darling, who's at the door?"
"No one." He said as he heard footsteps proceeding their way.
Before they knew it the blonde haired woman pushed her husband to the side and opened the door as she continued to look at the man beside her. "You really don't have any manners, you know that Ki-"
She halted her words as she looked at the man in front of her house. It was Sasuke Uchiha. The man who broke her daughter's heart so many years ago. The man that betrayed not only Sakura but herself and her husband aswell. And sadly it was the man her beloved daughter still couldn't forget after all those years.
She looked at him in shock.
"Mrs. Haruno please let me talk to the both of you. I know what I did was horrible and I just want to apologize for everything that I did." He looked at her with guilt in his eyes.
She pondered what to answer. Now don't get her wrong, she still hated the young Uchiha very much for what he did to her daughter and she would actually never give him another chance, but deep inside she knew that Sakura was still hurting. That she has never been able to be nearly as happy as she was back then. Especially since she came to visit them. Sakura was never one to make things about her, so she never actually talked to her parents about whatever was the reason for her rather bad mood, but her mother knew that there must have been something that had occured. So seeing Sasuke in front of her right now, she just knew it had to do something with him.
"Come in." She stepped to the side, allowing entrance to the very much shocked Uchiha.
"What are you doing? Why would you let that little snake into our house? Do you-"
"Kizashi." She shot him a warning look and he visibly gulped and stopped questioning his wife, out loud at least.
They sat down at the kitchen table and Mebuki gave Sasuke a pack of ice for his swelling eye.
"Why did you come here Sasuke?" She sounded cold and strict, her look was the same.
Sasuke laid the pack of ice down and looked at the people that were sitting just in front of him.
"I'm sorry for everything I did to your daughter. And with that, to you aswell."
Kizashi was about to open his mouth before his wife cut him off, urging Sasuke to proceed.
"I hate myself for what I did. So I came here to show you that I have changed. I'm not the same stupid boy anymore who took Sakura's love for granted. I want her to be happy."
The pink haired man scoffed. "It's too late now. Leave Sakura alone."
The blonde on the other hand didn't know how to respond. She was pondering if she should take her husbands side and simply kick Sasuke out, but she could see that he really had changed. He was always very serious, but three years ago, a little before her daughter's break up with him, she had seen Sasuke. And he wasn't as composed as he used to be. Most of the time he would be organized and cool headed, but back then it seemed like he had lost control over his life and himself. But now looking at him, listening to him, she saw the same boy who made her daughter so happy in the first years of her relationship. She remembers Sakura being all giddy, whenever she talked about him or when he texted her. She remembers how happy Sakura was whenever he was around.
The woman sighed, knowing that this is the best she can do for her darling daughter.
"Leave now, before my daughter comes home. I don't want her to bother herself with you." The man sternly said.
Just as Sasuke was about to reply, Mebuki cut in. "Do you promise not to ever hurt my daughter again?"
The ravenette looked at her husband who was frowning before looking back to the blonde. Was she actually going to give him a chance?
"Yes."
"Do you promise to protect her at all costs?"
"Yes."
"Do you promise to make her happy again?"
"I'll do everything in my power to make sure of that."
"Sasuke, do you really love my daughter?"
The side of his lips turned up, into an almost invisible smile, thinking of how much he loved Sakura.
"Yes."
The older woman smiled. She saw Sasuke's slight smile and knew just how rare those were. He really loves her daughter.
"Sakura should be home shortly. You can then talk to her."
Sasuke nodded. "Thank you."
"Hm." Kizashi went to the garden, after giving Sasuke one last glance. He didn't glare at him, but he wasn't looking too pleased aswell.
The blonde led the Uchiha to the living room and just as they were about to sit down, the door opened.
"Mom, you won't believe it. There was this super rude-" she cut herself off, after she shut the door and looked to the living room, to not only find her mother standing there, but him aswell.
Sasuke was standing in her living room. Why? Why is he everyhwere?
And why does he have a slightly blue eye?
The Uchiha looked at the girl in front of him. She had already taken of her shoes, only standing there in socks, she wore simple blue jeans and her short hair hung loosely to her shoulders. She looked beautiful as always. But there was one thing in particular that caught his eye. The jacket she was wearing. He bought it for her. She wasn't wearing a jacket on a rather cold autumn day, she was freezing her ass off the entire day, but said that it was fine. Sasuke however was afraid that she would catch a cold. So while she was in a store looking for clothes for the upcoming winter, he bought his girlfriend a jacket and amlost forced her to wear it. Even though she said that he absolutely shouldn't have just bought her a jacket, he didn't miss the blush on her face.
The ravenette was pulled back into reality, by Sakura's voice. "Why is he here?" The pinkette turned to her mother, completely ignoring Sasuke while asking about him, just after she hung the jacket on the coat rack.
"He wanted to talk to you sweetie."
"I believe he already has. Several times."
Mebuki went to her daughter and put her hands on her shoulder. "Just hear him out okay?"
She then walked off to the garden, to help her husband as Sakura sighed, refusing to look at the male who was slowly walking around the couch, getting closer to Sakura.
He stood still in front of her. His face a stoic mystery.
"Sakura, I-"
"No. Don't talk to me." She walked up the stairs.
Sasuke frowned for a moment, before he followed her. "Sakura please."
When she reached the second floor she turned around, facing the Uchiha. "Didn't I make myself clear the last time?"
Sasuke only looked at her.
"I don't want to talk to you anymore. Is it so hard to understand that?"
He didn't answer.
"Now for the love of god, just leave me alone and go away." She marched to her bedroom and quickly went inside, wanting to shut the door, but Sasuke's hand stopped that from happening.
"Just listen to me, Sakura. Please."
She stopped trying to close the door, knowing that she wouldn't be able to close it anyway. She sighed and stepped to the side, allowing the Uchiha entrance, unwillingly.
He walked inside and decided not to close the door, knowing that would be just a little weird. The room looked the same. The walls were painted in very light pink and there were pictures of Sakura's friends and family.
There used to be pictures of me aswell.
The male looked at the pinkette and saw no sign of her throwing an insult or the like at his head, so he began talking.
"Sakura, I want you to know that I regret what I did back then. I was out of my fucking mind to even think of doing something like that."
She looked to the side, avoiding his gaze.
"But I know that this is not really what it's about here." His voice was low and Sakura glanced at him, meeting his eyes for only a second before focusing on something else again.
"You don't trust me." He stated, as if it was just natural. Well it was, considering what he'd done.
Sakura however was shocked and only showed it slightly. She looked at him, meeting his gaze full on now and the minute she did, she couldn't look away anymore. As if his eyes bound hers.
"I mean how could you, after what I did?" He asked bitterly. "Even though I know you don't trust me," he stepped a little closer "I want to spend time with you again. Even if it's only little. I want to show you that I am not the same stupid boy from back then. I want to make you be able to trust me again." He remained where he was standing now, not wanting to pressure Sakura. "I want you to be happy again."
The pinkette let herself get carried away by his words. His words were spoken camly and softly, but at the same time firm, showing that he was serious. Was she actually believing his words? She pushed any possibility of that out of her head and spoke up.
"What makes you think I wasn't happy already?" She hissed at him.
He only looked at her with sincere eyes and it pissed Sakura off. It pissed her off that he knew exactly how she felt. It pissed her off that he could read her like an open book. And it pissed her off that she actually belived his words.
"It doesn't matter. Just go Sasuke." Her voice was firm.
"Sakura-"
"No. Just... just go." Her voice lost it's firmness.
"I know that you can't simply throw those feelings away. Just as I can't."
She was now looking to the ground.
"All those memories we made. Do you actually want them to become nothing?"
She was quiet.
"Sakura, I love you. Please let me show you that I am finally the man you loved back then."
She looked up at him briefly and before she knew it she was enveloped into a soft embrace.
She was about to push him away.
"Please don't cry."
Only then did she see that Sasuke's shirt had a single drop of her tear on it.
She didn't push him away. Her arms hung loosely at her sides as, little by little, more tears left her eyes. As the tears ran freely she found herself slowly wrapping her arms around Sasuke's back and softly hugging him back, while burrying her face in his chest.
She felt just as save in his arms as she did back then.
They stood there for a while, completely silent, just her sobs being heard occasionaly.
As her crying ceased Sasuke pulled away from the hug, but didn't step back, rather looking at her teary face from up close.
"You're beautiful."
She let out a breathy laugh, sniffing as Sasuke wiped the remaining tears from her face. "You always say that."
His heart lit up. She was actually smiling and talking to him lightly. He remembers how she looked back then, whenever they were around each other and it was just the same.
His lips turned up into a slight smile as he looked at her. "Because you are."
Expecting a spunky answer from her, Sasuke was very much shocked to find her lips on his.
Nevertheless he regained his composure and kissed her back. It was a sweet and soft kiss. Just like their very first one.
They both missed each others touch and this kiss was just what they needed to slowly start to heal the whole they left in each others heart.
**