Disclaimer: Nope. Got nothing of Kishimoto's.
A/N: I'm currently falling in love with blackmails. They're such wonderful things...Anyways, I want to thank those who reviewed for last chapter. You've made this update possible!
Summery: Crossroad- A moment of Hope. She made her last wait.
Wait
She waited a lot.
She had realized that recently.
She'd waited to become a shinobi of Konoha –A useful one.
She'd waited to be recognized –would they always think of her as a burden?
She'd waited for Kakashi-sensei –she did that every morning.
She'd waited for Sasuke-kun to see her –she was not useless kunoichi anymore.
She'd waited for Naruto to bring back Sasuke-kun –She was sorry that she was still too weak.
She'd waited to bring her comrades back –When would they let her?
And she'd waited for Sasuke-kun to love her. Like the way she did.
Lately, she'd realized that she was sick of those endless waiting.
Even for Uchiha Sasuke's affection.
Sakura had always looked for his love. In the academy. In their Genin days. When he left. When he came back. Giving him all she had, and asking naught in return. Vigilantly, slowly…hopefully wearing down the layer of ice which locked him in.
…She was tired of that. Tired of running around, trying to find an opening that didn't seem to exist. Tired of the fact that, it was only in the hospital where he really seemed to see her. Tired of the 'No, thank you' that he gave her now that he'd returned. Those three words that gave her so much hope and crushed her at the same time.
She was tired of that.
She stood on the bridge, staring at the crystalline water and waiting for Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. The only wait she didn't really mind. Because it reminded her of her Genin days, when things were about grasping a dream and not about reality slipping in.
Sakura trained her gaze on the body sitting on the railing which she'd leaned against. He sat there, calm and unmoving. His features betraying neither his thoughts nor his feelings. She felt like sighing wistfully at the picture he formed. She knew she'd fallen in love with this handsome picture…but she loved him now. For who he was...Strong and determined, arrogant and vengeful. And it was painful to wait for him to step out of the frame, his shell, when he showed no sign of even bothering.
She sighed at that thought and attracted his attention.
"Sasuke-kun." She said, staring into his dark eyes. "Will you walk with me?"
She waited for his rejection. One more time. The rejection which would tell her that she must stop waiting, stop hoping. The rejection which she needed yet did not want. She waited for 'No, thank you'.
"Maybe one day…" Sasuke said with a regretful smile and a tinge of sadness that was always there when he thought of his deceased family. "…when I've moved on."
She stared at him. Surprised by both the rueful smile and the answer.
"…Wait for me." He said softly before looking away again into the bright morning sky.
She watched the smile remain for a short moment, making the avenger a wounded boy trying to heal again. He stared into the horizon. The direction of where his clan once inhibited. It was as if he was trying to see his clan roaming on the streets once more.
Into the future.
Sakura smiled into the distance where Sasuke-kun was staring at. This was a moment of hope.
There was a future for them.
She could wait. One more time.
A/N: Once again, I'm hammering for reviews. Like I said, the more reviews the quicker the update. I'm sure you all know how the system works -huge grin-(if you know me well enough, you would shy away from it but then again, you don't reallly know me). Jiraiya-sama's done...Yashamaru's half done...I've got an Anko one hatching...