The day is coming.

Everybody is walking on eggshells around Naruto. It's impossible not to, with the way he's acting: nervous and jittery, jumping at every sound, bags under his eyes because he hasn't had a good night's sleep in days—which is so unlike Naruto, who usually sleeps until noon and even then waits another hour or so before getting out of bed.

Sakura doesn't know personally what the wait is like, because her soulmate walked into her arms a minute or so after she had her timer put in. There was no wait. Her gratification was immediate, despite how less than gratifying it's been lately. And now it's Naruto's turn, and he's been waiting eleven years; eleven long, dragging years for his soulmate to finally enter his life.

And the day is coming.

In fact, that day is today, and they have no plans whatsoever. It's an unbelievable drag of a summer, and Sakura has spent most of it outside, laying in the grass and reading, drinking with her friends, and swimming at Ino's. Today seems no different, but Naruto seems intent on going somewhere. How will he meet his soulmate if he's cooped up in their house? How will he meet him when all he does is spend time in the backyard on his phone? How will he meet him when he's glued to the TV watching Fox and correcting every little mistake they make?

Which is a lot, Naruto always reminds her.

She's laying in the grass now, a book in her hands and her sunglasses perched on her nose. Naruto is sitting beside her, legs sprawled out, watching loud political TikToks on his phone that he isn't paying attention to. Sakura sighs loudly, and says, "can you lower that? I'm trying to read."

"Yeah, sure," Naruto says, throws his phone on the grass, and flops on his stomach.

Sakura tries not to snort, watching her brother as he groans and stretches, his voice muffled by his face in the dirt. He's been miserable and antsy all day, staring at his wrist as it counts down. She can see it from over here: three hours, twenty minutes, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen seconds…

Sakura closes her book with a 'snap!' "What would you like to do today, Naruto?"

Naruto sighs dramatically, turning over onto his back so Sakura can hear him clearer. "I don't know. What is there to do? Can't we just stay here?"

"If that's what you have in mind," Sakura tries carefully. "It will happen, whether we leave or not."

Naruto groans again, throwing his elbow over his eyes to shield himself from the glaring sun. It's a scorcher out today, humid and disgusting, and Sakura keeps her hair back, her shorts short, and her sports bra lightweight when she can. Naruto remains topless, as usual.

"Would you like to… go for a drive?" she asks. "We can go to the mall, maybe… or the beach—"

"The beach!" Naruto cheers, suddenly rising to his feet and pumping his fist in the air. "We have to go to the beach! That's where he is!" He starts scrambling toward the door before Sakura can respond. "Go get your bathing suit!"

Sakura rolls her eyes, but laughs anyway. "Whatever you say, Naruto."

Sakura follows him into the house and gets changed quickly in her bedroom into a little yellow bikini and a white cover. She braids her hair back over her shoulder, and wipes whatever little makeup she had on off before she looks like a raccoon after a soak in the ocean.

She checks herself once in the mirror, smirks, and races toward Naruto's orange jeep. He's already in the car, ready to drive, bouncing in his seat. He's a nervous ball of energy, as opposed to his regular energy level, which is extreme, but less nervous.

"Ready?" he asks.

"Ready," she agrees.

Naruto pulls out of the driveway and exits onto the highway once he's out of suburbia. It's a short ride to the beach, a half hour tops, and it's just them. Sakura has been getting the front seat lately, much to her dismay, because all that means is that there's somebody missing.

Somebody who's been working long, strenuous hours, and neglecting to see her. Someone who the only interaction she has with daily is through text messages. Someone who hasn't touched her since she was seventeen, lying in bed, hungover and pining for him.

Sakura looks at her phone, and frowns. No new texts; none since this morning, at least, and the night before. Their threads look mostly like this:

Sasuke: Good morning

Sasuke: Are you studying?

Sakura: ? it's summer

Sasuke: Good night.

Sasuke: Good morning

She hasn't seen him in two weeks, if not longer. Not since his birthday, in July, and only before then was he at her graduation party, and now it's a disgusting early August and Sakura is still checking her texts for something out of the norm, but there's nothing like that, and she hasn't mistakenly drunk texted him lately—those are saved for Karin, when Sakura has questions about the sex she isn't having, or Naruto, when she's pining over Sasuke, again.

Sex and Sasuke, two things that are on her mind frequently. Sakura has resigned herself; she's going to be a virgin forever.

Her virginity is something she'd prefer not to talk about with Naruto, though, so she keeps her mouth shut and fiddles with the radio. "Why didn't you invite Sasuke?" she asks, as casually as possible, even though Naruto can see right through her.

Which she's sure he does, but he doesn't comment on it, which she's thankful for. "He's working."

"Again?"

"He's been putting in a lot of hours," Naruto says. "He's trying to move out."

Sakura nods her head. It's about time they move out on their own. Naruto has been waiting for his soulmate, but what does Sasuke have to wait for? It's not like they can live together. She'll go off to college this fall in Suna, and he'll get his own apartment. Sakura can't think of a future beyond that—not when Sasuke makes it so very clear he doesn't want one.

She's made it her mission lately in life to try to think of her future without him, how many milestones she'll have that don't depend on a man; sure, she might never get married, and yes, she may never have all those kids she was planning on, but she'll still be a social worker, and she'll still work in the foster system, and she'll still be a foster mother one day. There are so many things she'll be able to do, and all of those things she can do without a soul mate.

"He thinks about you, Sakura," Naruto tries, "he just doesn't know how to show it."

"Right." Sakura nods again, like she always does when Naruto goes on about this, but the truth is, Naruto hasn't seen Sasuke lately, either; between work and sleep, Naruto and Sasuke only meet up once a week for drinks, and she doubts they talk about her when they do. Once a week, and that's still more than she's seen him.

God, she misses him.

God, she can't believe she admitted that.

God.

Sakura looks down at Naruto's wrist: two hours, ten minutes, and twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven seconds left before he meets his soulmate, and they're three minutes away from the beach. They're getting closer, she can smell it: the dirt, the sand, the crashing ocean water and the salt that stings her eyes, it's all overwhelming in the perfect inhale as she enjoys the crisp beach air.

After a long ride over the bridge, Naruto and Sakura turn off the exit ramp onto the beach lot. They pull into a spot, gather their things between laughs, and trek off the set up as close to the ocean as possible, so close that it grazes the trim of their blankets and touches the tips of Sakura's painted toenails.

When they're all done and Sakura has their blanket stretched out just enough to fit both of them, but not stretched out so much that too much sand gets into the little notches, Sakura immediately removes her cover up and throws herself down onto the blanket.

"Put on sunscreen, stupid," Naruto reprimands, like their mother would. He tosses her the spray, and Sakura sits up and applies it.

"All done, mom," she teases, sticking her tongue out.

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Mom is a doctor! She talks about skin cancer all the time, Sakura!"

"Whatever, just make sure you don't forget to apply it, too."

When Naruto is done, he lounges next to her, pulling out his phone and immediately pulling up youtube to watch videos. An hour passes, and Sakura falls asleep, the water brushing her feet that she's buried in the wet sand. She'll be as pink as her hair, she's sure, but it's worth it to spend time with her brother, and spend time out of the house. And today is his day, who is she to complain about a little sunburn?

She wakes up to Naruto shaking her shoulder. He looks excited. "I'll be right back, Sakura, watch our stuff!"

Sakura sits up quickly on her elbows, watching her brother run off toward a sand castle to their left. First, she thinks he's going to destroy it.

Then, she hears a sound.

A continuous 'ding!' A startling sound, and then she hears her brother's voice, shouting, "oh, fuck!"

And then he does destroy it.

Sakura knows exactly what his bracelet says: congratulations! What the bracelet hadn't anticipated was Naruto, face down in the sand, destroying his soulmate's beautiful, intricate sandcastle and the entire beach looking their way.

Including Sakura, but at least she hides it behind her sunglasses. Some people are shameless.

Sakura scrambles to her feet when she realizes Naruto isn't getting up, and it's been almost a minute. She needs to make sure he hasn't fainted. She begins walking toward the destroyed sandcastle, now a pile of sad sand on the ground, and stops when she sees him.

Naruto's soulmate.

He's cute, for sure, really cute, she thinks. He's got dark, red hair, a mess of spikes on his head, but a little longer than Naruto's. His eyes are even greener than hers, a pretty jade that sparkles under the sun. It's hard to see with his pupils so dilated, though, as he stares at her brother, who Sakura can now tell is staring at his soulmate from his spot on the ground.

They're both speechless, and Sakura decides to take a step back. "Alright, everybody, show's over!" she shouts, waving people off. "Move along!"

A few people roll their eyes, but most of them begin to turn away, ignoring the beeping that has finally stopped, and the destroyed sandcastle. Sakura takes her own few steps back toward their blanket, and completely removes herself from the situation, which is something she wishes her family had done at the time for her when this had happened.

She sits down on the blanket, and she waits for her brother to come to her. She waits for them both: the newest member of her family, too.

His soulmate.

It's been three weeks, two days and six hours since she's last seen Sasuke.

But who's counting?

It's the summer before college, and Sakura is leaving her soulmate at the end of it. She's moving to Suna, and she won't see him again until Thanksgiving. She'll be an entire road trip away—a four hour one, to be exact—and she hasn't seen him.

Not that she's tried, really. Sasuke has made it loud and clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Since her graduation party he's texted her every night, but he hasn't called, or visited. He hasn't spent the day with her. Sakura has had a long, lonely summer so far that she's spent mostly with Ino and Karin, smoking weed and closing her eyes while they both go on endlessly about their soulmates.

She used to be able to bond with Ino, but she came back from her freshman year of college this summer going on and on about Sai this, and Sai that, and isn't Sai cute? And sure, Sai is cute, and he's tall, and a little older, and he has soft features like a round chin and plush lips that make Sakura think Ino is lucky to kiss him, but Sakura wouldn't know. Because she's never kissed anybody, least of all her soulmate, and now all the girls do is go on, and on about their boyfriends, fiances, soulmates, whatever, because Karin finally gets to live with hers during the school year, and Ino has already moved into Sai's apartment off campus in Konoha.

She had Naruto, too, who understood, but now Naruto has Gaara—possibly one of the kindest, gentlest, quietest men she's ever met who just adores Naruto. Sakura can't fault Naruto for spending all his time with Gaara, now; they just met, and they're soulmates, and truth be told, this is what Sakura's life should be like, too.

She turned eighteen on a wet March day, and that should've been that.

Eighteen was the magic number, but since she finally became legal, it seems like things have just gotten… worse.

And worse…

And now she's sitting alone, in her backyard, while her mother is at work and her father sleeps until noon, and Naruto galivants with his new boyfriend who makes him happier than she ever could.

She pulls out another romance novel, because that's the closest it seems she'll ever get to love, or, she thinks almost embarrassedly, sex. She discovered these books a few months ago at the bookstore, all nestled on the second floor next to mysteries, and she's been addicted ever since: dashing, gorgeous men, falling in love with women she could see herself as, taking caring of these women, and paying attention to them, and… touching them.

Sakura has never been touched. She wonders, has Sasuke? Sasuke is older than her, and he's had girlfriends, not serious ones, but ones she's seen him at least kiss, so she knows Sasuke has kissed a girl, but has he touched one, like these men do? Has he felt breasts in his hands, weighted like when she touches her own, soft and supple? Has he touched a woman… down there? Does he think about these girls when he touches himself?

Sakura thinks about him when she does, and it's becoming more frequent lately, especially since she's started taking out these books, and more so since she's had all this alone time.

She thinks about Sasuke's lips, how soft she just knows they are, how wet they look when his sharp tongue darts out and licks them. She thinks about his skin, pale and marbled, delicate and smooth, and how much she wants to touch it, to wrap her fingers around his strong arms, and wrap her legs around his narrow waist. She thinks about his thick, dark hair, a mess on his head and how she'd just love to run her fingers through it, to tug on it as he kisses her with his soft—she just knows it—lips as his tongue snakes into her mouth.

Sakura crosses her legs at the thought, and snaps her book shut. She lounges back in her Adirondack chair and stairs up at the cloudless, blue sky. It's going to be another hot day, the sun glaring down and burning the grass until it's a crisp brown. She layed on the sunscreen thick, but she's still tan, almost as tan as Naruto. Her freckles are coming out; little, brown spots across the bridge of her nose and all over her arms that Karin tells her are adorable.

Karin tells her how pretty she is all the time—so does her friend Kiba, unfortunately—and Ino does, too, and her mother, but she has to, and Naruto, who could just as easily call her an uggo if he's in a bad mood. So she knows she's at least okay looking, because weird boys have weird crushes on her, and all her friends gush about her hair and, okay, she's kind of got a big ass from all the squats she's been doing, so why doesn't Sasuke want her?

Aren't they destined to be together?

Occasionally, though it's rare, soulmates aren't meant to be together. They're meant to be friends—she knows a soulmate pair like that: Neji and Hinata, they're cousins, and they're certainly not in love, but Sasuke and her aren't related. She doesn't think he's gay or asexual, because she's seen him with women and she's even accidentally and very awkwardly seen porn on his computer once when she opened it up in the living room—she closed it out quickly and has never spoken of it to this day—and it was straight porn, for sure.

Sasuke just doesn't like her. It's her. She must be the problem.

What's wrong with her?

Sakura sighs, and closes her eyes. Another lonely day in the backyard, thinking about Sasuke, reading dirty novels she hides from her mother, and smoking a joint her father couldn't care less about as long as their mother doesn't find out.

But mom's never home, so Sakura gets away with a lot.

When she's sufficiently stoned and halfway through her novel, she decides it's lunch time and enters the house.

Where she finds Sasuke sitting at her kitchen table, staring at his phone like he's not sure how it works.

"Um, hey, Sasuke," she starts carefully, and prays he can't smell her, because she thinks he might actually reprimand her for smoking. "What's up?"

He turns from his screen to narrow his eyes at her. She almost flinches, almost looks down to check and make sure her clothes are in order, and that she doesn't have a massive stain in the middle of her shirt, or a big hole on the crotch of her jean shorts. She's almost sure she doesn't, so why is she the recipient of Sasuke's unwavering stare?

"You smell like pot," he deadpans.

Sakura sighs. "Don't tell my mom."

Sasuke smirks. "I'm not a narc."

She's skeptical anyway, but chooses to trust him. He is her soulmate, after all; can soulmates lie to their soulmates? She doesn't think she could ever lie to Sasuke.

She takes her seat across from him at the kitchen table. "Naruto isn't here."

"I know," he says. "I'm not here to see Naruto."

"Who could you possibly be here to see then—"

Sasuke interrupts her with a sigh. "You, obviously, Sakura."

"Oh."

"What are you doing today?" he asks.

"Nothing," she admits, and by nothing, she means finishing her trashy novel, and touching herself before she takes a midday snooze. "Why?"

"Can we… talk?" he asks, and he looks hopeful. This is the most he's spoken to her since… since her graduation party, maybe, when he handed her his gift—money, how impersonal, but a lot of it, so whatever—and thanked her for god knows what reason.

"About what?"

"I have a few things in mind…" Sasuke sighs. "We need to talk, Sakura—about—about… a lot of things, about…" He sighs again. "I know where you thought this was going, and—"

"What are you talking about?" she interrupts him. Where did she think this was going? What's this? Their relationship, or lack thereof?

"I just, you're leaving soon, and…" He looks like he wants to bury his face in his hands, but instead he runs his fingers through his hair, a nervous habit he picked up from Naruto. "I don't want to leave things… like this."

"Like… what?" she asks. Sakura swallows down the tears that are bubbling in her throat, pushes down the sob ready to burst from within her. Is he telling her they can't be romantically involved? This feels like a break up. Sakura has never been broken up with, and by her… by her soulmate? What's happening right now? "What's happening right now?"

His eyebrows furrow. "What do you mean? I'm just trying to—"

"Are you trying to break up with me? Is that even… a thing?" she asks.

He looks completely flabbergasted at the notion. "What—"

"Because you've made it very clear that you don't want me," she explains, and it's only a few moments before the sob absolutely rips through her. "And now you're trying to—what? Tell me we're not—not supposed to be involved?"

Sasuke shakes his head. "That's not what I'm saying at all, Sakura—in fact—"

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm saying… that... " he trails off, and this time he does bury his face in his hands, and he makes a noise that sounds something between resolute and defeated. "I know what I'm trying to say, but the words never come out right. I'm sorry, Sakura—I'm so… embarrassed. I can't even speak to my soulmate." Sasuke looks up from his palms, and his eyes look wet. When he looks just about ready to bury his face in his hands again, Sakura grabs them with her own. He looks up, shocked, and she squeezes even tighter. "Sakura…"

"You always go on and on about how I should talk to you," she tells him, "but you never talk to me."

He frowns, and then sighs, letting go of her hands. Softly, he says, "I'm trying too… I'm sorry, Sakura. This isn't fair to you. I know it isn't. I've been putting so much space between us, since…"

"Since forever," she supplies.

"It's been… harder… as you've gotten older. I've been trying to give you space, and time to grow," he says.

"I didn't ask for space—"

"I know," he says, "but you needed it. I'm sorry for not being open with you, but I'm not sorry for letting you live your life. I will never apologize for that."

"It wasn't fair," Sakura says, and at that moment, she feels childish, but Sasuke doesn't shame her, he only nods his head.

"I know, but Sakura, now…"

She leans toward him. "Now?"

Sasuke swallows, hard. "There are so many places I want to show you, Sakura, and things I want to do with you. Being away from you… it physically hurts."

"I know, Sasuke—"

"But that doesn't mean I regret it," he says. "Creating boundaries, and putting space between us. You have to understand that, Sakura, that it was the right thing to do, even if you don't agree right now—it's what any adult would've done, and—"

"Stop, Sasuke, I get it," she says, and her eyes are wet, again, aren't they? Maybe she doesn't really get it, Sasuke's holier-than-thou attitude. "But there are exceptions for soulmates. You were right when you said it physically hurts. We're not supposed to be apart—!"

"Sakura," he cuts her off, eyes hard. "You were only thirteen when we matched, a literal child, and I had already graduated. It was inappropriate—sometimes I feel like it still is—and—"

"It's not!" she shouts. "God, Sasuke, I'm eighteen! We're soulmates! Unless you think—you think—are we just…" she sighs. "Meant to be friends?"

Sasuke shakes his head. "I don't know, Sakura, but… I'd like to find out."

"W-what?"

"Sakura, I want to get to know you… more than I already do," Sasuke says. "I want to be friends… like you asked me to be when you were thirteen. There's so much about you I still don't know."

She frowns. "You never asked."

"I know, but I'm asking now." Sasuke, for the first time since she was only seventeen and he placed his hand on her forehead, touches her—he grabs her hands in his, again, and drags his thumb across her skin. "I want to be friends, Sakura, please. Let me… take you places, and… spend time with you. There's so much we can do together."

Sasuke is looking at her, so hopeful, dark brown eyes wide and reassuring. Sakura wants to say yes. She wants to leap into Sasuke's arms, and tell him that they can be friends, and then, maybe, they can be more—maybe she'll finally have her first kiss, if she accepts him, and maybe he'll finally tell her he loves her, like she loves him, but there's a problem.

She's leaving for Suna in less than a month.

"Sasuke…" she begins. "I want that. Very much, more than you can even imagine, but… you know I'm leaving."

"I know, Sakura, but I can call you, as often as you want," he says. "And I can visit, when I'm off work on the weekends, it's not that far, and—"

Sakura's tears turn into giggles. "Really?"

She watches as the nervous look on his face dissolves into relief at her laughter. Clearly he was hoping this would go well, even if she thought it was going pretty shit when she saw him. Maybe she should have considered the fact that he's an idiot this whole time and she should've just talked to him.

But he said they needed space.

And he gave her that. Maybe it's a gift.

She can't say she fully understands, but she wants to trust Sasuke, and not only because he's her soulmate, or because he's Naruto's best friend, but because he seems genuine, and he made it clear he never meant to hurt her, and even his lack of communication skills are getting better.

"Really," he says, and his lips twitch into a smirk. "I want… to see what we can be, Sakura."

Her heart starts beating a little faster. "Me too, Sasuke."

"I have to run out now," he says, finally releasing her hands. "I just… wanted to see you as soon as possible, and get this off my chest. I've been thinking about… this," he hesitates, and then says, "about you for a while, now…"

She already feels the blush building on her cheeks. "You think about me?"

He even turns a little pink. "Well, obviously."

Sakura giggles again, which only causes his blush to deepen, and how beautiful does he look, with a little bit of color on his face? Just as pretty as he looks in the summer with sunburn on his shoulders, and a dark farmer's tan on his muscular arms.

She's digressing.

"I want you to help me this weekend," he says. "I'm looking for apartments, finally, and… I want you to help me."

Her eyes widen. "Okay!"

It almost looks like he's smiling, now. "There's no point in getting a place unless you're comfortable there."

That definitely makes her heart flutter, but she keeps her mouth shut. Sasuke never means anything with innuendo, so she takes it as an innocuous, innocent comment.

"I'd love to," she says.

"Great." Sasuke stands, gathering his phone and his wallet. "I'll pick you up Saturday morning, but I'll text you…"

"And you'll call me?" she asks, hopefully.

He nods. "Sure, whenever you want, Sakura. I can't promise I'm… good on the phone, but I can listen, always."

"Thank you, Sasuke," she says.

"I should thank you, Sakura," he replies.

The air is charged between them as she stands, so thick she can feel it. She can't tell if it's awkward, or exactly what she's looking for, but she errs on the side of awkward and immediately turns around and starts walking toward the door. "I'll walk you out," she says.

Sasuke snorts, and she turns even redder, because is Sasuke laughing at her, now? Oh god.

Sakura unlocks the door and opens it for Sasuke. "Thanks for coming by."

"I'll see you soon—I mean it," he tells her, looking her right in the eye, lips curved into whatever Sasuke would call a smile. "This Saturday."

She nods. "I'll see you then."

He stands for a moment, and looks like he's going to say something else. He doesn't, though. He reaches his arm out, and touches her shoulder, and Sakura freezes.

He squeezes her shoulder, awkwardly, and drops his arm. "Right, uh, I'll see you then," he says, and closes the door behind him.

Sakura puts her back to the door, slides to the ground, and squeals.