As a child, it had one of her most favourite places to visit, the konoha market lane.
She put her hand on the doorknob, turning it once before realising she had forgot the key. It would be alright though, she would be back early.
Everyday, she would leave the house and take the path to the right. Her mother would accompany her at all times. She got lost quite often.
She needed to head to the Hokage tower. Her mission report was done and she had to hand it in by the end of the day. Usually she would've tried to hand it to someone else at times like this but this one had been a one man mission. She looked towards the left and figured she could get some fresh air before being sailed off to another urgent one. So instead, she walked to the right.
She used to walk down the crowded road filled with scents of street food and noises of workers, doing their best to sell their goods.
The noise was heavy in the air and she hadn't been able to get any sleep with it at night. The workers picked up the load and under the heat had stank up the road with their sweat. If only Captain Yamato had been here at the moment, he could've gotten the houses fixed up within minutes-no, seconds. Unfortunately, he was off in another district at the moment. One that needed even more severe help. At times like this, she wished for rain, for cold breeze to pick up and take her with it.
First came the custom-made clothes shop. She always saw a lot of shinobis there, building their most comfortable attire for missions.
It had been days since she had last been able to change. She thought Shizune might have found some old clothes for her to change into by now. She only found a few of her own ninja attire but most of her clothes were.. who knows where. She hadn't even been sure which one her house had been.
Then came the Yamanaka flower shop where she would meet up with Ino occasionally. It was where she had always bought her flowers for all occasions.
Out of all the ruins in the place, her eyes were caught by the one covered in flowers. The place wasn't growing them, it was simply covered in the ones it had once sheltered. A flower shop. She remembered that only a couple weeks back Ino had given her a beautiful bouquet of mixed flowers with enriching scents. She had laid it on her mother fresh grave later that day.
After that, came the Ichiraku shop where she had always seen the yellow-blonde hair with the swirl on the back. All she paid attention to was the sadness on his face, the way his head had hung low. She always wondered why he looked so negative each time she saw him but just as quickly, his eyes would glow and his mouth would open in a wide grin the moment the man laid a large bowl before him.
She wondered where Naruto was. She had seen the state of his physical being and it had been a nightmare. Luckily, Naruto was one to heal quickly. Hell, the bruises barely even affected him. She would've gone in to help out that day since it was almost like her duty to attend to him, but the way Hinata's eyes had looked, teary and frustrated, she thought she would do the two a favour and gave up her small post to the curvy one. Afterall, she's not his only friend. He had everybody to look out for him now. On top of that, there was another place she had to be that day.
The next place in sight was the Konoha Hospital. She had been there once and never planned to return to the sickly place. The only thing good about it was the free candies after check-ups.
Her mission was simply regarding the presence of medical utilities needed. She had to make sure there was enough to treat all the wounded. In conclusion, there wasn't. Every med-nin had given it their all the past weeks. For every one that was treated, three more would come in and the work was ridiculous. But never once did she let herself falter. She was needed more than ever, as a leader even, and so she would give it her all. She loved her work. Shinobi took lives, she gave it back.
Then down the road the path diverged to two lanes. Down the left, at the far end, was the ninja academy. Some days, she went down that lane to see her future.
"Evening Sakura-san! How's everything going on your side?"
Choji was working alongside kiba and Akamaru, helping with the ruins. He had put aside the wood they'd been carrying to wave at her. Kiba looked too tired to even stand, let alone wave at her, but he gave her a small smile.
"Better Choji! It's not completely working out as we expected but since there are low to almost no more patients coming in, we can finally concentrate on the wounded. Numbers are starting to decrease."
"It's better than we could've expected" She heard Shikamaru's voice. "We're very lucky to have you, Sakura. I've heard many say the medics couldn't do a thing without you leading them."
She would've blushed at the sincerity of his voice, but it had not been the first compliment that week regarding her skills. Ino, who stood a little too close beside him spoke up as well. "I never thought I'd say it, forehead, but.. You really are amazing!" Now THAT she could be proud of. "But of course, that was only because I was helping out on the front lines." Sakura's pleasant smile turned evil, the vein on her forehead almost popped. "Shut up, Pig!" and with their little taunts, they showed each other the relief they felt over the others' safety in their own way.
"How's Naruto?" Kiba finally spoke up.
"I'm sure he's being well taken care of. I can only imagine the kind of conversation those two are having in their little room." Tenten had walked up with a smirk on her face. Everyone gave a hearty chuckle in regards to Tenten's thoughts on Hinata and Naruto.
Sakura could guess what the two would be talking about at this moment. Neji Hyuuga.
Beside her was Lee. Although the the forth ninja war had put tons of stress on his physical body, he still protested to walk around in crutches. The two weren't as enthusiastic as usual. They were worn down from war, from the loss of a comrade.
Eventually, the others started walking to them too. There was Sai, who had come up to her days ago and poured his heart out to her. No, not a confession, he was creating a bond. He was finally starting to understand emotions.
Then Shino, who as usual, creepily came up with a monotonic remark. Then she saw, from far, Kurenai-sensei walking with her big belly beside her comrades. She remembered seeing Kakashi-sensei and Guy-sensei battling over their usual competitions. Kami- at a time like this, she had shook her head at them.
And she looked around,
their faces,
their memories.
This is what the Academy had given her. These precious people to look after, to fight for and to walk beside.
"Are you about to go see him?" Ino asked as the crowd got silent.
Sakura smiled at her. "Hai."
Down the right lane was her favourite part. The road led to the Uchiha part of the village. The houses there were beautiful, the smell of food overwhelming and the people working seemed sweet from what she could see but she was never allowed inside the main doors of the residence. "You're not an Uchiha, Sakura. You can't just go barging in whenever you want."
She went down the right lane. Past all the fallen buildings and into the medical center zone. The place occupied a large space now and they had finally been able to fit enough patients onto the beds instead of mats on floors. They had gotten colour coded tents and curtains and patients clothes from the clothing places. The Yamanaka clan had helped loads by being the "alerter" for many of the serious case patients. They could easily allow people long distance to cooperate through their minds. Restaurant and street food owners had offered to help with the meals. The place was finally doing better.
Sakura saw Hinata emerge from one of the green tents. "Oye! Hinata! How's he doing?"
"Ohaiyo Sakura-san." She smiled her sweet smile. That said it all. "He just got moved from the yellow to green so he's fine. Just waiting for minor wounds to heal up and letting him get some rest." She just noticed the bags under her eyes.
"Did he go to sleep?" Sakura asked. She thought of suggesting Hinata to get some rest herself but she knew it would be pointless. At the moment, they're in the same shoes.
"Yes. He's sleeping right now! I just thought I would go get him some ramen. I heard Ichiraku opened a small place near the outskirts. I guess I'll see you in a bit. Gomenasai, just in a rush!"
"iie iie! You go on. I have my own business here!" Hinata looked into her eyes for a moment, understanding.
Sakura went on her way towards the third tent on the right. It was yellow.
"How do I become Uchiha then?" Sakura had asked her Kaa-san innocently. "Do I sign up somewhere?"
Her mother had given her a hearty laugh. "Well, the only way I know to enter a clan is to either marry one or be born into one. I guess that only leaves one option for you." Sakura felt her mothers' finger slighty tap her on the nose. "I hear it's very hard to be accepted though. Only the best get in!" Her mother smirked before looking away. Sakura looked ahead with a worrisome face.
"Why Sakura? Who do you want to meet in there?"
"A-ano.. It's not someone. It's just… the street food there smells so good! Why can't we have some too!?"
Her mother had looked at her with dumbfounded expression. "And here I thought it was for a boy.." she mumbled.
It was at that moment. She was walking past and she had seen him with his wide grin, looking up to an older boy. One hand holding onto the boy and the other holding a half eaten tomato.
She had found it ridiculously odd that someone would eat a vegetable with a smile on their face.
His eyes were closed and his breathing was still. If the village was in better condition, he would most likely be in a highly guarded room with Black Ops, chained to his bed. At the moment, no one truly trusted him and yet here he was. If he turned on them, there was no one to hold him down.
His eyes opened suddenly, but he wasn't looking at her. His sharingan activated, his face in alarm. Sakura was surprised but this sudden action and made no move to go beside him and calm him down. She knew better than to be near him. Not in times like this, not now.
'Take every step in caution.'
He turned his head to the side, to take a better look at who had entered.
The silence was long and and his gaze was piercing, although his face let no emotions show. Sakura looked away uncomfortably and around the room. Her stance had unconsciously gotten defensive by folding her arms together under her breasts.
The tent outside might have been yellow, but the inside was a light simple beige. It made the place brighter. The bed was a normal single bed size but thinner, easier to transport around. She hoped it was cosier than it looked.
After a few minutes of silence, she heard him take a short intake of breath. For the thickness of the tent, it was a pretty quite room with the door zipped up.
"I didn't' recognise.. your chakra." She realised he hadn't lifted his eyes away the entire time. "I suppose it's been a while."
His voice was just as deep but quieter. Lately, she only remembered him with his tone so.. cold. It didn't seem right, the way his voice sounded so gentle. The way he looked at her, the apology in his eyes. It didn't feel right, after having him gone for so long, chasing him through the ages, and now he was just.. there. But it felt good. After seeing this criminal, after having him almost kill her twice, after not trusting him even after his help to the village, it felt so safe.
Sakura couldn't even breathe properly. She didn't know what to say. Should she yell like she did to Naruto? Should she give him a hug? Just words of politeness maybe? She had come to see him before but he had been under more critical conditions. She didn't have to deal with it before.
Just as her mouth was about to form words, Sasuke had cut her off.
"Jounin huh?" He was looking at her vest. "A med-nin… You've come far." She looked at his eyes to recognise any form of sarcasm or insult. None.
This time she held their gaze and walked closer to him.
"How are you feeling?"
Another small pause.
"I could really go for some apples right now."
She smiled at his response. Her eyes starting to tear up a little. She didn't recognise this Sasuke as much but she'd bet anything that he couldn't truly recognise this Sakura either. But they would grow. Together. If he was willing to let her in this time.
"I'll bring a whole bunch tomorrow, and tomatoes if you'd like." She made a slow move to take one of his hands, the closest one, into her own. First her fingers slightly felt the skin on top. When he made no move to move away, she entwined their fingers together.
Still, Sasuke showed no sign of any romantic feelings on his face but she could swear his grip on her got slightly tighter.
Doing her best to keep her feelings bottled up, she slowly brought down her face to kiss his forehead, a innocent gesture. Just like her fingers, her lips only slightly brushed against his skin. Her other hand pushing his hair back.
Before she could let go, she felt his other hand on her hair. First, gentle then it grabbed the strands. She suddenly felt his body pull up and his mouth crash into hers. It barely took her seconds to follow along what he was doing.
"Kaa-san, I've made up my mind." Little Sakura was trying to reach the jug of water across the table. Her tiny body barely allowing her to do anything. "I'm going to marry an Uchiha."
Her Father had spewed out the water from his mouth. "She's going to wha-"
Kizashi looked at his wife in shock.
"I really want to know what tomatoes taste like on that side."