here's day four, I might end up updating day five today as well since I might be going on a mini-vacation but we'll see if I can just do so tomorrow. enjoy
title: finally
summary: Her arms wrap around him instantly, burying her face deeper into his shoulder, her voice soft and almost inaudible, "Finally."
day four: There Was No Warning
He returned home on a September afternoon, the wind was slight colder and the green leaves on trees were starting to change their color.
His team, or rather his former team, was behind him asking question upon question about the village hidden in the leaves. They were all weary at the prospect of starting fresh somewhere new, but he knew this was the only place they would be accepted in, after all, Naruto had been the one who pardoned them.
He expected to return home with little to no fanfare, but to his utter surprise when the gates came into view, he spotted Naruto. The idiot was wearing his hokage hat and cloak, grinning proudly, hands on his hips as he watched him approach.
"Teme," and there is no hate in his voice, nothing but happiness, "welcome home!"
"Tch," he smirks, eyes shutting as they come closer towards the gates, leave it to the idiot to actually come meet him at the gates.
They reach Naruto in about two minutes, and when they do the idiot wraps an arm around him and starts talking at a hundred miles per hour, telling him about everything he's missed while he was gone. He also mentions a welcome home party he's throwing, and how flaking out won't be an option, Sasuke didn't expect less from the dobe.
When they enter the gates he takes in the small village that he left behind all those years ago, when the war had started this place had looked different, it had struck him as unfamiliar. Looking at it now, he thinks it's good that it's different, it's like starting a new.
"Oi, don't space out, everyone came to say welcome," Naruto grins as they stop in front of a large crowd.
He's surprised to say the least, that the hokage managed to get all these people he had wronged in the past to welcome him like he had just been away on a trip. His dark eyes roam the faces of the people until they land on the familiar faces of the rookie 9, who don't stare at him with unease or distrust, they're looking at him like this is a long time coming.
He's thankful for a second chance, for the opportunity they've given him to atone for his sins, but even so, there's something that makes the small happiness in his heart dwindle away. He scans the faces of the villages and shinobi once more, and yet again he finds nothing.
For the first time, he notes that pink hair and green eyes are missing.
"Sakura."
He breathes the name out, eyes locked on the people before him, but Naruto catches on, and judging by the way the dobe is laughing nervously, he's about to lie on her behalf.
"She, uh," he scratches the back of his neck, "working."
His eyes shift over to Naruto who's looking at him hesitantly, and that's all the confirmation he needs. She's not working, in fact, he can safely assume that she's merely avoiding him. He doesn't blame her, he understands perfectly well, after all, their past has never and will never be the best.
"But, Ugly did send a message," his replacement smiles, trying to get rid of the tension, "she said to welcome you home, so welcome home, Sasuke-kun."
He scoffs, "Hn."
He has half a mind to leave the crowd of people and find her. Have her explain why she can't come and tell him that herself, have her explain how this is all his fault when she knows well that she did things that betrayed his trust too.
"Well, come on, let's get this show on the road," Naruto clamps a hand on his shoulder, as if reading his mind, "I bet you're wanting to get settled."
"Aa."
"Wow, so talkative," he mocks, rolling his eyes, "come on, teme, teme's teammates, cousin."
"Don't call me that," Karin grits her teeth.
And the conversation picks back up with the information that not a lot of people knew, Naruto teasing Karin and Karin trying to beat him up for it. Suigetsu joins in and eventually the bickering between Naruto and Karin turns into the bickering between Suigetsu and Karin. Sometimes, Jugo will cut in and ask things about the village and it's people, or even asking Naruto about what his hokage duties consist of.
After they drop off his former teammates, they walk towards an apartment Naruto reserved for him, under his specifications of course.
"Well, I'm off, before Sakura-chan knocks me out for not finishing my paperwork," he sighs, "bye-"
"Is she," he pauses, searching his brain for the right word, "mad?"
"Mad?" he echos before laughing, "No, I don't think so, she might think she is, but come on, Sasuke, this is Sakura-chan we're talking about, you've always been an exception to everything in her life, whether you know that or not."
Naruto continues to walk away and Sasuke sighs as he enters his apartment. He'll take Naruto's answers, he reasons, just for now.
The welcome home party was a bit more than he had expected.
Almost everyone he knew had been there, a large crowd welcoming him and his former teammates to the village. Not once did he feel unwanted there, nor did he feel hatred when someone looked at him or talked to him. Hell, he even managed to get back that stupid fan club he thought girls had grown out of.
However, there had been one thing, one person, missing, she had been missing.
And it had made him absolutely furious to know it, it made him want to beak something or someone, just because she showed no interest in being around him.
So, in an effort to make her get out of his brain, and in anger, and spite he had taken the drink Naruto had given him and didn't allow them to stop coming until he could no longer feel anything at all, just a numbing pain.
But it wasn't enough, she was still there, haunting him like she had always done.
Afterwards, he slipped out, staggering through the streets until his feet led him to the familiar path of the hospital she worked at. He shuts his eyes and felt it, the soft hum of her chakra, and with new-found determination he went inside, looking at all the nurses, and muttering a quick hello before asking them to lead him to her.
"She's not seeing anyone right no-"
"I said lead me to her."
In reluctance the woman pointed him in the direction of her office, and he gave her a small nod before heading over there. When he reached the door, he spotted the small name plaque that hung on the side, and he wonder if she'd changed from the last time they've met.
"Who's there?" her soft voice calls out, "I'm not in the mood for food right now, if that's you, Tanaka-san."
He takes a deep breath, trying to steady himself before he pushes the door open, and when she comes into view he takes her in. Big green eyes, that had always been so expressive, eyes he can read like an open book, her pink hair is tied up in a ponytail, it looks longer than before, he notes. And she looks tired, frustrated, but in deep concentration as she looks at a paper on her desk, to Sasuke she's never looked as lovely.
"S'kura," he slurs, staggering in, and he tries his best to remain the same composed Sasuke he's always been, but it's hard, especially when she sits there looking as beautiful as she does.
Her head snaps up, and her pretty pink lips part as she stares at him with wide eyes, standing up in seconds, "Sasuke-kun."
It's still there, he muses with a sloppy grin, she hasn't dropped his suffix.
"You didn't show up," he steps towards her, "you weren't there."
"I-I'm working," she states, her finger pointing towards the stack of paper, "I had paperwork, Naruto may be hokage but that doesn't excus-"
"I'm so sorry," he blurts out.
It's quite for a few seconds, and to Sasuke it feels like it's too much time, but then her features meld into something dark, and she no longer looks shocked, she looks absolutely angry. She rounds the corner of her desk and gives him no warming before she punches the right side of his cheek.
He crashes against the wall and groans as he slips down, he shuts his eyes in pain and wonders why she even hit him to begin with.
He holds his cheek in his hand, looking up at her in surprise, and she stands there, hands clenched into tight fists looking at him like she would like to hit him a few more times. He supposes he deserves it, but he doesn't move, doesn't say anything, merely stares at her.
"Oh shut up, Sasuke, you're so stupid," she snaps, "you don't get it!"
He opens his mouth, ready to apologize once more, but she doesn't give him a chance to do so as she slips down to her knees, removing his hand form his cheek, and replacing it with her own. He shuts his eyes when he feels the familiar sensation of her chakra.
"I'm sorry," she breathes out when she removes her small hand, "so sorry."
She doesn't give him a chance to say anything before she lets her had drop down on his shoulder. He stares at her with wide eyes before he slowly, and hesitantly wraps his arms around her smaller frame, bringing her in completely, and placing her on to his lap.
She doesn't punch him this time, she doesn't yell, nor does she cry, she merely clings on to him tighter and he takes the moment to breathe in her scent.
"Thank you," two words he gave her back then, with absolutely no explanation behind them, but tonight, tonight it's different, "for loving me."
Her arms wrap around him instantly, burying her face deeper into his shoulder, her voice soft and almost inaudible, "Finally."