Fragrance Forever
Summary: It is the beginning of February and there is still no sign of Sasuke returning. That is until Sakura keeps receiving roses from a mysterious person.
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Love will come, it just takes time
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It has been three years now.
Three years without a word from Sasuke-kun.
No one seems to say anything.
Guess they don't want to remember what he did to our village.
In addition, today was the first day of February, which made it another month without Sasuke-kun.
Which also meant Valentines was almost here.
---Xoxox---
February 1
It was nearing night as Sakura walked down the sidewalk; she noticed that stores were starting to display balloon hearts, with chocolate boxes.
She gave out a sigh when she also happened to come by couples that were holding hands or sitting together.
"Sakura-chan!" she heard a cry as she snapped out of her thoughts as she had come to ichiraku.
Going inside the small eating spot, she noticed Naruto and a blushing Hinata seating together eating ramen.
"Hello Naruto, Hinata-chan." Sakura said as she gave them a smile.
"Hello Sakura-chan."
"Hey Sakura you want to eat with us?" Naruto asked as he began to slurp down his food like a vacuum.
Not wanting to intrude Sakura declined his offer saying she had to get home.
"Aw, come on Sakura-chan, I haven't seen you in a long time!" Naruto tried to persuade her but to no avail.
"Really Naruto I'm fine,"-she began with another smile on her face-"Besides we can eat another time. Right now, you're busy with someone else."
Right before she left she gave Hinata a suggestive wink that made said girl turn even redder if possible and leaving a confused Naruto.
This was no surprise.
---Xoxox---
Arriving home she realized that it was already night and began to prepare herself for bed.
After leaving the bathroom, she made her way to her room. Turning on the light she let out a small gasp when she noticed something on her bed that had not been there before.
Going closer she saw that it was a rose.
However, it was not just a normal rose, it was such a pure red color that it almost looked like blood.
Smelling its flowery fragrance, she made her way to her kitchen where she filled a jar of water.
Making her back to her room, she placed the rose in the jar and put both next to her to her bed in her small desk.
Giving it one last glance, she closed her eyes and with a smile on her face drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
February 2
The next morning she woke up and got ready to meet Tsunade, to continue her training in becoming stronger.
Smelling her rose one last time she made her way down stairs and out her front door.
Arriving with her sensei, they began their normal routine.
Tsunade would teach her how to focus a certain amount of chakra to a point in her body and teach her how she could do most harm with it.
Then after a couple of hours on working on that, they would train to see if she could maintain this power at the surge in battle.
Afterward, they would practice medical nin-jutsu where Shizune would bring Tsunade a dead fish; she would then order Sakura to focus her chakra on the fish and try to initiate the heart to beat again.
Saying goodbye to her sensei, she tiredly made her way to her house.
It was nearing night once again as she quickly tried to get home before the moon took the place of the sun.
Arriving to her house, she took off her sandals and set out to the kitchen.
To better assist her in her resting state, she prepared herself a hot cup of coffee.
Suddenly, she became alarmed when she heard a noise coming from her upstairs bedroom.
Quietly setting her cup on her kitchen table, she stealthily made her way up the stairs taking out a kunai in the process.
Once she was outside her bedroom door she put her ear against the door frame, closing her eyes to better concentrate on any sound that came from inside.
…
…
…
…step
Barging into her room, with kunai ready to pierce through anyone who dare intrude her house, she was met with her room empty.
Blinking in confusion, she put her weapon away and looked though the room to see if anything was out of place.
Satisfied with her search she sat at the edge of her breath to relax herself.
Swiftly, from the corner of her eyes she could make out a stem from underneath her.
Abruptly standing up she noticed a rose, intact, lying on her bed, it was the same color as the first rose she had received yesterday.
Picking it up a smile grew on her face.
"I wonder who keeps sending you little flowers?" she asked herself quietly as she gave it a quick whiff then placed it in the jar with the other rose.
That night Sakura slept happily, wondering who was sending her these roses and why.
---Xoxox---
February 3
"Sakura!"
"Hello Ino-pig," she greeted her friend as she walked over to the flower shop.
"So Sakura how have you been?" Ino asked as she yelled to her mother she was going for her break.
"I'm fine, yourself?"
"Ugh, I'm okay too just that Shikamaru is so lazy he hasn't asked me out on a date for two weeks now!" Ino complained as both she and Sakura walked down the main street of Konoha.
Settling down in a park bench, they both watched as the small genin trained together or played on the park rides.
"So Sakura how's your love life?"
"Ino you know my heart will always belong to Sasuke-kun." She answered seriously, as the wind blew her hair in front of her eyes so Ino would not see that she was trying to hold back tears.
"But Sakura that was three years ago,"-she tried to reason-"Surely you've seen a guy that has caught your…"
"No Ino." With that said she stood up and left, leaving Ino to contemplate over what Sakura had told her.
---Xoxox---
"Ino and her way in butting into my life," the pink haired girl argued with herself as she was still going over what Ino had said to her that afternoon at the park.
Letting out a frustrated cry she made her way to her restroom to take a nice bath.
Coming out in only a towel wrapped around her small frame, she went to her closet to take out her night-ware.
Getting ready for bed, she again noticed a blood rose on her pillow.
Taking it into her hands, she gave it a inhale before putting it with the other two roses.
---Xoxox---
This soon came to a routine for Sakura.
A rose would appear every day.
She would arrive at her house at almost might time and when she would go up to her room she would see a rose on her bed.
Moreover, with every rose she received she would give it a sniff before placing it with the other flowers in the jar filled of water.
---Xoxox---
February 11
Knock…
Knock…
Knock…
"Coming!" Sakura yelled as she flew down the stairs throwing a rag, she was using to clean the upstairs, into the kitchen.
Opening the door she was met by the shy Hinata Hyuga and TenTen.
"Hi Sakura!" TenTen exclaimed as she went up to her and gave her a bear hug.
"Um, TenTen-chan, Sakura-chan n-needs to breathe." Hinata quietly said as she noticed that said girls face was turning blue from the lack of oxygen.
"Oh, sorry about that!" the bun haired girl responded sheepishly, as she let go of her friend.
"Don't worry about it." Sakura said after a while of trying to catch her breath.
Letting them in she took them to her room where they would talk, like regular girls do.
Even though they were trained kuniochi, they were still teenage girls with teenage problems.
Upon arriving at her room both Hinata and TenTen let out a gasp of surprise.
"Oh my gosh Sakura! Who gave you these beautiful roses?" TenTen asked as she went over to where they were located and started to smell each individually.
"Yea Sakura-chan, do y-you have a secret admirer o-or something?"
"That's just it you guys, I don't know who sends them to me, but every time I come to bed I always finds a rose on it." Sakura explained as she took a seat at the edge of her single bed.
"That's so romantic!" TenTen shrieked in outmost joy as she went over to the pink haired kunoichi and ruffled her hair, earning her a glare from said girl.
"Yea, yea, so how are things with you and Neji, TenTen?" Sakura asked her bubbly friend who then turned a scarlet red.
"W-what makes you I care?" she said nervously as she tried to avoid her friends' eyes.
"Come on TenTen! We know that there's something going on between you and Neji." Sakura tried to persuade her to spill the beans.
"Yes, I have heard Neji talk to Rock Lee about you TenTen-chan." Hinata added.
"Really what did he say?"
"I thought you didn't care," Sakura replied slyly, as she saw the once scarlet girl turn into an even darker shade of red that made the roses bow their heads in shame.
"W-well he was saying to Rock Lee that h-he wanted to take you out on valentines after y-you both finished t-training."
"Aw! TenTen is going to get herself a boyfriend!" Sakura shrieked as she threw her arms around her friend that was trying to hide her face in her hands.
"What about you Hinata! I saw you and Naruto together the other day at ichiraku sitting mildly close to each other." TenTen said turning the tables to the girl that was giggling.
"W-w-what!"
Moreover, that is how they spent their whole day. Joking and laughing over the silliest things.
"Bye you guys!" Sakura waved to the two kuniochi's that left her house.
Closing the door behind her, she waited down stairs until she heard noise in her room.
Giving a small smile she went to the second floor and into her room where a red rose was awaiting.
This had also become a habit of hers.
She would wait downstairs until she heard a noise, then would go up and see a rose waiting for her on her bed.
She was curious as to know who it was that was sending her these flowers.
She had thought of Naruto, but he would not do that he had Hinata to being giving roses to.
Neji? No.
There was a possibility that it could have been Rock Lee but she had seen him with a girl the other day, who looked like his possible girlfriend, so she took that out of her mind.
She was so confused, yet she didn't care.
She was just happy that she was receiving something from a secret admirer, as TenTen had called it, and she could not help but feel giddy inside.
Taking a sniff of the flower, she put it with the other 10 roses and turned off her lights to go to sleep.
Xoxox
February 12
"Sakura today we'll work on healing tissue injuries. We'll bring in an injured person and you are to heal their wounds, you got that?" Tsunade told her apprentice as both were seated in her office.
"Yes Tsunade-sama," she replied. Deep down she was jumping for joy.
'Cha, we're getting stronger!'
"Bring in the wounded."
"Hello Tsunade-sama," said a man as he came through the door with his nose stuck in an orange book.
"Hello Kakashi,"
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked with confusion etched in her voice as her sensei took a seat next to her.
"Hello Sakura," he replied still not taking his eyes off from his book.
"Yes Sakura, Kakashi will be the one you will be healing for our little session today. Now you will be healing his arm that have bruises and his legs that have cuts from his previous mission." Tsunade explained with her hands folded in front of her face.
"Your chakra may diminish faster since this will be your first time healing an actual person, but the more you practice the longer you'll be able to keep it up."
Nodding her head they prepared what needed to be done in order for the healing to begin.
That night Sakura was exhausted.
She quickly took a shower and went to bed.
Turning around under the covers, she saw a rose on her pillow.
Taking it into her hands, she smelled it, but before she put it in the pot with the other roses, she noticed a white piece of paper attached to one of the thorns.
After placing the rose away she read the paper.
'Good job, you've improved.'
Re-reading the slit of manuscript, she became more puzzled.
What was this person talking about?
Improved…suddenly realization hit her.
Was this person talking about her in becoming a medic? Yes.
In that case, whoever was sending her these roses was someone that knew her.
Nevertheless, she didn't think about it for any longer as her body collapsed into her bed; not bothering to get under the covers.
---Xoxox---
February 13
That morning she woke up to a world of bright light.
As she stretched out her numb limbs she threw the covers off her body (which was not on her when she had fallen asleep) she made her way to her to the restroom to get ready for her training with Naruto.
Putting on her normal attire that she wore now, her pink skirt cut in, with black shorts under it, and her red kimono shirt with the Haruno clan symbol on the back.
Putting on her blue sandals, she took off in a sprint towards the forest.
Arriving at the training grounds where team 7 would originally train when they were younger and Sasuke was still in Konoha.
"Hello Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he caught sight of his pink haired friend making her way towards him.
"Hi Naruto!" she waved back as she saw him.
"So you ready to train Sakura-chan?" he asked getting into a fighting position.
"You know it!" as she also got into a fighting stance while putting on her gloves.
They soon began to fight.
They came to a halt when the afternoon sun was over the horizon giving the sky an orange, reddish color.
Lying against the big tree they took a rest while both chatted about anything and everything, until they came to the subject of their long lost best friend and crush.
"Do you miss him Naruto?" Sakura asked quietly as she pulled her knees to her body.
"Of course I do Sakura-chan," he replied just as quietly as sorrow pasted through his eyes that went unnoticed by Sakura.
"But he'll come back Sakura, either I have to go get him myself I promise you…he'll come back."
"I know Naruto, it's just wondering when he will."
---Xoxox---
That night she went to her room again.
This time the rose was on her counter.
Going to pick it up she noticed another paper strapped around the stem of the flower.
Reading the note, she gasped in surprise.
'I'll see you soon.'
Suddenly she began to feel butterflies in her stomach.
She was going to meet the person that was giving her these roses. In addition, she couldn't help but feel a bit excited and happy.
Breathing the scent in, she placed it with the other 12 roses before she went to sleep.
---Xoxox---
February 14
"Happy Valentine's day!" yelled Naruto as he ran to Sakura giving her a bear hug.
The whole group was at ichiraku to celebrate this Valentine's Day.
As if it was in purpose it seemed like everyone was sitting with his or her respective couple.
Neji and TenTen were talking amongst themselves while their ramen lay in front of them untouched.
Naruto and Hinata were eating their ramen while it seemed like Naruto had told her a joke that caused her to giggle while the blonde-haired person rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Lastly, Ino and Shikamaru were seated at the last two seats, which looked like Ino was scolding him while he had his head on the table.
As it was nearing midnight, Sakura said goodbye to her friends and made her way to her house.
She had looked everywhere.
Looking for anything that might give away that the person that was sending the roses was anywhere around her.
However, to no avail.
Entering her house she went into her dark house. Not bothering to turn on her house lights she went to her room, not aware that she wasn't alone.
Lying on her bed, in the still darkness, she saw another rose next to her.
She gave a sad smile as she picked it up and smelled it.
Wait, there's no scent on this flower.
Sitting upright, she turned on her lamp to notice that the flower she was holding was a fake and that there was a piece of paper attached to it as well.
Getting a hold of the paper, she read it.
'Look outside' it read.
She cautiously went to her balcony to find that it was a bit undone.
Stepping out into the breezy, moon lighted night she look to her left to see a person sitting there on the rail with one leg hanging down and the other propped up with his elbow boosted on it.
Since it was night it casted a silhouette on him covering his face and half his body.
"Hello?" she said unsurely.
"Hello Sakura." He responded in his velvet voice.
She stared in shock at the person that had spoken.
That voice, it was so familiar yet so foreign.
However, she could never forget his voice.
The voice that haunted her dreams since the day he left.
"S-Sasuke-kun…" she said quietly as she saw the young man get down from the rail and walk towards her.
The shadow soon casted away to show the face of a handsome young man, but it also adorned cuts and bruises, which were over his arms and body too.
"Sasuke-kun," said surprised as she saw him stumbling. She quickly ran to his side and helped him into her room, as she sat him at the edge of her bed.
"Sasuke-kun, are you ok?" she asked as she came back to his side with a first aid box in her hands.
"Hn."
They became quiet after that while she tended to her wounds.
"I'm going to have to use chakra to heal your bruises, so it may feel foreign." She told him as she put her hands over his arm and compressed chakra to try to heal it.
Sweat started to fall down her abnormal brow as she was almost done healing him.
"Hn, I was right. You have improved."
Taken by surprise she lifted her head to be met by his black coal eyes that stared at her with such passion she felt heat rise to her face.
"S-so that means it was you who s-sent those r-roses?" she asked him quietly as she still kept staring at his mesmerizing eyes.
Giving her a smirk, he lifted her chin with his finger and met her warm lips with his own.
Her eyes widened as she slowly came to realize that her first love was actually kissing her.
She quickly melted into his gentle kiss as she shyly wrapped her arms around his neck and he around her small waist.
Once a couple of minutes had passed, the lovers pulled apart slowly as they rested their foreheads against each other.
Unexpectedly, tears began to stream down her eyes as Sasuke began to wipe them gently away with his thumb.
She quickly took him into her arms as she cried in his blue shirt that he was wearing.
He quietly hugged her back as he nuzzled his head into her neck.
"You're back,"-she said through her sobs-"Y-you're finally back!"
He couldn't help but let a smile grace his lips as he pulled out of their hug but into another kiss, only this time he showed all his love and comfort into it, which surprised her even more as more tears began to fall, but she still returned it with just as much care.
Giggling into the kiss, Sasuke pulled away with an eyebrow raised as he stared at her with confusion.
"Sasuke-kun," she began "what were the roses for?" she asked him.
Smirking he gave her a simple answer. "To count down the days until I'd be right here with you."
She gave him a smile, but then she asked another question.
"But you sent 13 real roses and one fake. Why?"
"I'll love you till the last rose dies."
Not giving her time to respond he connected their lips again.
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Love will come, in the most romantic way
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Well here's my first one shot!
Happy Valentine's everyone!
Please review and tell me what you think!
For a story without a review is a story not worth writing in the first place.