Where has time gone? It's been two years since the war ended and it seems like all of my friends are moving forward in their lives. Naruto and Hinata just go married, Ino and Sai are doing well together, hell even Shikamaru and Temari are getting married soon. Yet here I am working my ass off at the hospital and working hard on new research towards my clinic. Lady Tsunade has left the village to help other nations, Kakashi sensei is now the Hokage so I never get to see him and my best friends are either busy or gone.
Sitting at my desk I can't help but stare at the picture of Team 7 from all those years ago. Back then things were simple and we weren't having to save the world. I'm glad that everyone is happy but Hinata and Ino can see right through my mask. Honestly, I miss Sasuke. I haven't seen him since we said our goodbye two years ago. My heart ached from his absence but it was something that needed to be done. He had to repent for his sins but that doesn't mean he needs to be lonely.
A knock on my door interrupted my train of thought and Naruto came walking in holding two bento boxes. I smiled and he took a seat in front of my desk placing the boxes on the table.
"Sakura you are going to work yourself to death." His eyes were filled with worry and fear. Naruto has been under the impression that Sasuke had sent me hawks as well. Not in two years have I received word from the last Uchiha.
"I won't die that easily remember?" I pointed to the indigo diamond in the center of my forehead. He chuckled and pushed one of the boxes towards me. Hinata must've made these. She was sneaky but effective when it came to confrontations.
"So what's this about Naruto? We haven't had lunch together in a few weeks." His face dropped. Something was bothering him.
"I got a letter from Sasuke yesterday. He's coming home on Friday." Naruto's blue eyes met my emerald ones and I blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. His bandaged hand reached across and grabbed my now shaking hand. Yes, I've wished for this everyday since he left but now I couldn't contain my emotions.
"That's great for you Naruto. I know you've missed your best friend."
"Cut the crap Sakura. I may not be bright but I'm not an idiot. We all know you miss him." His stare became intense and I started to stuff my face with rice. Silence filled the room and he pulled out a small scroll, placing it on my desk. The Uchiha fan was engraved into the wood and my heart dropped.
"He told me to give this to you. Don't open it until tomorrow night. He wants you to read it the night before he returns." Naruto's voice was full of love and pure happiness, as if he knew what the scroll said. Nodding my head yes, we continued to eat our meal and I stared at the scroll sitting out on my desk. My heart was beating out of control and I couldn't help but wonder what is written on the paper and if I will actually see Sasuke when he returns.
Naruto left quietly after we ate our meal and I couldn't help but stay hidden in my office. Maybe I could have Ino read it before me? Or maybe Hinata knows something about it? Oh I know, I can have them both come over this afternoon when I get off work. Reaching for the phone sitting on my desk, I dialed the flower shop's number.
"Thank you for calling Yamanaka flower shop. How can I help you?"
"Ino, it's Sakura."
"What's up forehead? You never call me when you're at work."
"Do you want to come over tonight? I have something that I want to talk about."
"Sounds like a plan, Sai is gone on a mission so I was going to be lonely anyways."
"Awesome. Can you call Hinata too?"
"Yeah no problem. You get out at 5 right?"
"Yup. You have a key just in case."
"See ya then. Bye."
The phone clicked before I could respond, tonight was going to be a fun night to say the least. All three of us haven't spent time together since Hinata's wedding shower. I'm so happy for the two of them, Hinata spent her whole life trying to get Naruto to notice her. When she jumped in front of Naruto during the war, when Pein attacked the village and how she tried to protect him on the moon, Hinata is certainly a brave and loving person. Those two deserve happiness after all of the trials we've been put through since we were genin.
A sigh escaped my lips and I slumped back into the chair. Only five more hours before I could end my shift and start to investigate the scroll. Why now? After these two, long years he finally decided to write to me. Did something happen while he was away? What if he found someone? No, I can't think about this right now I have patients to check on and staff to keep in place. Standing up, I walked over to the door and looked at the reflection in my mirror. My pink hair was just past my shoulders, my face had smoothed out and I looked mature now. No longer that girl trying to keep up with her comrades but someone that can stand as an equal with them.
Opening the door, the scent of disinfectant hit me and my heels clicked against the tiled floor. At the nurses station a group of younger nurses were gossiping about anything and everything. I stood in front of the group looking down at them. They were holding magazines and laughing like school girls.
"I suggest you all start your rounds. Now." Their heads popped up and horror flashed across their faces as they hid the glossy papers. Each one stood up and bowed in apology. A younger raven haired woman looked at me and stared.
"We are sorry Lady Sakura."
"I remember being in your shoes but it is unacceptable. Please leave home life separate from work, if anyone is slightly distracted then we could lose a life. Now I want everyone to tend to your rounds. If I find someone sitting down or playing around there will be serious consequences."
They scurried off and I headed towards the maternity wing to evaluate the new mid-wives. The hospital has grown in a few short years and I know that it will be a matter of time before it doubles in size like the village. Tsunade handed over the responsibility of the hospital to me when she left to travel so I had to live up to expectations. I entered the floor and began to busy myself and forgetting about the scroll on my desk.
At ten till five I returned to my office to pack up my files and to retrieve the gift from Naruto. I'm supposed to wait 24 hours before I can read this, but what if Hinata can give me some clue as to what this is about. Exiting the hospital, I gave everyone a farewell and goodnight wave as the doors closed behind me. My apartment is only a few blocks away just in case something happens in the middle of the night. There were two familiar chakra signatures in my home and I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. Opening the door, I threw down the bag and hugged both of them.
"Hey forehead, what's the deal? It's like you haven't seen us in years." Her blue eyes rolled at me and Hinata let out a small laugh.
"She missed us."
"You're right Hinata. I've missed my two best friends. But there is another reason for me having you two here." I dung into my bag and tossed the scroll to Ino. Hinata already knew what that was considering Naruto gets these scrolls every week.
"Is this from Sasuke? About damn time he wrote you."
Ino has always been angry at the fact that Sasuke never once reached out to me. Even though she was over her fan girl stage, she knew how I felt.
"Yes it is Ino. Naruto get's them all of the time. So have you read it yet Sakura?"
"Naruto told me that I can't read it until tomorrow night. Maybe you two can peek and see what it says."
Their jaws literally dropped to the floor and laugher erupted from the two women. I twiddled with the scroll in my hand. My idea was completely stupid, of course they weren't going to look at it for me.
"Sakura, we couldn't look in it even if we wanted to. Did you see the seal on it?" Hinata was pointing to the tie for the paper. Wow…I feel completely stupid now. I was way too excited about what was written inside to realize that there was a fucking seal.
"I guess I didn't notice."
"It's okay Sakura. Naruto told me about the letter, so I asked him for the other letters from Sasuke." She held out a pile of scrolls and papers, Ino took one from her and started reading. I reached out and read one as well.
I just finished with business in the Land of Snow. Maybe I should've gotten my artificial arm before I left like Sakura wanted me to. I hope that you and Sakura are doing well.
S.U
Sasuke actually cared about me, well not in the way I wanted but in general. We sat down on the couch and began to go through all of the letters and organizing.
"Hey Hinata, are there dates on the paper? Maybe hidden with his chakra?"
Her eyes changed and Ino was right. Hinata quickly put the letters in order and was I stared at her work. Ino got up from the chair and went to the kitchen, returning with a bottle of wine and three glasses then she poured wine out for us.
"Well I guess we should start reading Sakura, Hinata. So this may be a little weird." Ino wiggled her eyebrows out me and I blushed. Grabbing the first letter in the stack, Ino took a sip of the wine and cleared her throat.
"All I can think about now is where do I go from here. My whole life I only cared about revenge, only seeing the darkness but now that I start to see the light I am lost. This journey will be long and demanding. Keep an eye on her for me please. S.U.…. Is he talking about you Sakura?"
"I have no idea Ino. Remember I haven't heard a word from him this whole time. Hinata you read next." I took a gulp from my glass and the new Uzumaki took the next one which was a small scroll like mine.
"My journey has lead me to the Rain Village. They are still trying to cope with the loss of Nagato. It's been lonely and some days I debate about returning early. Word has gotten out about all of Sakura's efforts for the clinics. I'm glad that she has something that is passionate about. S.U."
"Wow, he actually talked about you in this one. So Sakura you get to read next."
A knock at the door caught our attention and I popped up from my seat. Opening the door, Tenten and Temari were smiling at me and I already had a feeling that Ino called. They walked in and took a seat with the others, I went to grab two more glasses and I heard Hinata filling them in on why they were here.
"Here, two more glasses. Time for me to read one." I reached for another letter and I gulped down another big sip of wine.
"Sorry for not writing sooner. An illness was going around so I was indisposed for a week. I plan on stopping by an old Uchiha hideout to make sure nothing for Kaguya is remaining. Lately I have been thinking about you and Sakura. Has anything changed? S.U."
"Wow. For an emotionless prick he actually is being nice. It's probably only because Naruto is reading them."
Tenten took the next one, we continued the circle another two times. Sasuke was only reporting about his journey and how he was finally seeing things through pure eyes. Ino took the last one and we all leaned in listening.
"Naruto, I will be returning to the village next Friday. My journey has tired me so I need to come back to reenergize. I have sent another scroll along with this one, make sure Sakura receives it but tell her not to read it until the night before I return. Also I know how you are so don't open it before you give it to her there is a seal on the scroll. Please make sure she gets this, it's very important. Thank you Naruto. S.U."
The room went silent and all eyes were on me holding the sealed scroll. My eyes looked down in wonder and curiosity. Why couldn't I read this early? What words are written on this paper that is so important? My heart is beating a mile a minutes until Hinata knocks me out of my trance.
"Sakura don't worry. You can open it tomorrow after you get off."
"I don't work tomorrow Hinata. So all day tomorrow I'm going to be counting down the seconds until I can read this." A tear was welling up in the corner of my eyes, blinking to keep it at bay all of the other women were watching me closely.
"So Hinata, do Naruto talk to you about Sasuke? Maybe he can help with what's on the scroll." Temari was trying to use logic to help crack the code. No matter what Sasuke never did anything that could be expected. Suddenly the hair on the back of my neck stood tall and I looked out the window. For some reason I felt like we were being watched but there was no one there.
"Earth to Sakura! Did you hear Hinata? She has an idea." Tenten was moving her glass to her face and took a huge gulp. We have already gone through two bottles and honestly I just wanted to sleep and not wake up till tomorrow night.
"Sorry, I zoned out. What were you saying Hinata?"
"Naruto said something when he read this last letter. I think he said 'about time teme' or something along those lines. Do you have any idea?"
"Not really. Sasuke and Naruto used to leave me out of everything remember. I was always in the shadows until the war. Thank you guys for coming over but I need to sleep. My shift kicked my butt today." I yawned as I finished the last part to prove how utterly exhausted I was. Since Sunday I have been working 12 hour shifts, so far 48 hours in the hospital and I finally get a day off tomorrow before I do it all over again.
"Okay forehead we get it. I'll be over in the morning so we can distract you from everything."
Ino smiled and me and gathered the empty glasses. Temari and Tenten came over to give me a hug, Hinata stayed on the couch watching every move I made until they left.
"Sakura I didn't want to say this in front of them, since Ino and I have been around longer I thought you would be more comfortable." Her voice was strong and her posture was confident, as if there was something that she was supposed to keep silent.
"What is it Hinata? You can tell me, I trust you and Ino with my life."
"Naruto said something else about this letter. Obviously there are more letters but these were the only ones he would give me. Naruto said 'after all this time he finally understands how she feels'. I overheard him in the office at home."
Ino and I locked eyes and Hinata had a huge smile on her face. My jaw dropped and instead of being happy I started to cry. It's been so long since I let everything out. Within a matter of seconds my two friends were on both sides of me holding me close. They knew how I felt and have been there since day one for me. I try to act like everything is fine, my work at the hospital keeps me busy for the most part and some days I don't have time to think about life. Lately, life has been hitting me in the face.
"Sakura do you want me to stay? Sai is gone so I don't have to leave. Mom can run the shop tomorrow." Her face showed how truly sad she was for me, Hinata mirrored her exact expression. Watching over me is no one's responsibility, I have to take care of myself like I always have.
"No I'll be fine. I love you two. Thank you for being here for me. It means a lot."
"That's what we do. We are family, connected by our hearts." Hinata's grey eyes looked at me and I squeezed them tighter to me. Releasing them, they went to the door and slowly left my house. Hinata took the other letters, leaving me with a single scroll on my coffee table taunting me.
A nice hot shower was calling my name as I slowly made my way to the bathroom. On night like tonight, when I let my feelings out, I played music and sat in the bathtub. The steamy water was filling up the tub, I took off my regular clothes and stepped in the liquid. My muscles relaxed, the soft music filled the air and I sunk down further into the tub. Once the water almost reached the top, I flicked the water off with my foot.
Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day to say the least. Although I'm glad that Ino is going to help distract me, I should go training with Naruto tomorrow. It's been so long since I sparred with anyone and letting off some extra steam would do me some good. I miss sparring with Team 7, I wonder if a small reunion would do our team some good. Well we really aren't a team anymore considering we all have our own lives going on.
After an hour the water started to get cold and the music has ended a while ago. Wrapping my body with the white fluffy towel, I trudged to my room and changed into a pair of underwear and an oversized shirt. My head hit the pillow and I stared up at the ceiling, hopefully tomorrow won't be as bad as I think. One can only hope right?