Hers (17)

Work seemed like a daunting task to her this morning. She usually loved her job, the cool air of the hospital's hallways, the peace she felt when helping others, the hectic nature of the job itself, which kept her mind working, her senses tingling, her blood running. However, today, she didn't want any of it. Not after that awkward encounter she'd had at the market earlier.

How did he know, she wondered. It scared her to think of how the boy had figured it out. It didn't even make sense, they'd been avoiding each other heavily for years now. Of course, they spent some time together now and then, but not where no one could see, and certainly what they did was just talk, which wouldn't look suspicious anyway. Well, except for that one time. She felt goosebumps rise on her skin at the thought, which she immediately repressed, swearing to forget it even happened.

She lay in bed alone, as the minutes ticked by, the hour she usually arrived at work slowly fading away. She closed her eyes and rested, hoping she'd sleep straight into the next day, but her sleep kept being disturbed by her own dark dreams. She never thought she'd end up here, ever.

She'd kissed him. Kissed him while being married to another man, a man she supposedly loved. A man she shared children with, a house with, a life with. She'd spent about 14 years next to him, sleeping in the same bed, telling him she loved him, enjoying herself in his arms. And yet, she'd kissed another. She laughed ironically at herself. Sakura Haruno, the adulterer, she thought. She couldn't even blame it on Naruto. It was her who jumped him.

And Sasuke, where was he now? Would he come back? Was there anything she could do to fix what she'd broken? She was sure there was no way of glueing back together the pieces she'd shattered from her relationship. And her children, that was another story. If Sasuke didn't come back, they'd be left without a father. Was he capable of doing that? Their children weren't at fault. She didn't think him capable of leaving his children behind, but then again, he always did crazy things when he was angry. It scared her, but she knew he had changed from who he was in the past, so that calmed her back a little. Maybe he just needed time. He had said that she was the only thing that kept him feeling alive and welcome in this village. She'd been his pillar. And she let him fall. How deeply that thought cut.

She was crumbling, piece by piece destroying herself with her choices. She should have done things differently, so differently. She couldn't regret it now, of course. If she hadn't chosen Sasuke, she wouldn't have her wonderful children. Her three beacons of hope for the Uchiha clan, the beauty of being a mother. She couldn't regret her children with him, or her relationship with him, not ever. However, she wished her and Naruto would have parted ways way sooner. They shouldn't have remained friends for so long. Not after what they shared. Their youthful encounters had left an unbleachable stain in the fabric of her existence. She couldn't get rid of it, no matter what she did. And as much as she wanted to hate that stain, with time she only became fonder of it, seeing it as part of herself, as something she needed, as something she couldn't live without.

She didn't know how she'd get out of this one, or if she even could. Should she even try, she wondered. Wouldn't it be wiser to just finish what she started? There was no fixing this mess, anyway. What if...? No. She shouldn't think about that.

Looking at the time on the clock on her nightstand, she decided to finally show up to work, even if it was the afternoon and Shizune would yell at her.

Arriving at the office extremely late, with lots of delayed work for the day, she noticed a curious package on top of her desk. She knew what it was, she recognized the packaging immediately. What confused her, however, was where it had come from. The only people who bought her these before were Sasuke and... him.

Was Sasuke back? Or was this a prank, maybe? She looked for a note on or under the bag from her favorite dango place, and yes, as she thought, there was a note there.

"Hoping you have a good day, Sakura-chan."

It was his handwriting. Suddenly she wished she'd come to work earlier. Heartfelt, she began to go through her paperwork as she snacked on the dango Naruto had brought her. Should she return the nice sentiment, she wondered, distractedly signing some papers. She could sneak something sweet in his office tomorrow morning, if she woke up early enough. Or ramen. She smiled at how easily he made her day better. Maybe she could do the same for him. She planned it out, and spent the rest of her day, and night, catching up on work.

The next morning, she warmed up the enormous bowl of ramen she'd made the night before, packaged it up tight, and headed to sneak into the administrative section of the Academy, where the Hokage office was located. Brilliantly, unseen, she climbed up the building and reached his office easily, dropping the package and the note she wrote on his desk.

She tried to take her leave as quickly as possible, but an impossibly irresistible sound reached her ears.

"Sakura-chan?!"

Of course he had to see her. It seemed the universe wouldn't have it any other way.

After the awkwardest moment she'd ever encountered, yes even worse than being confronted by Boruto, the kunoichi found herself sitting at the Hokage's desk, something she'd never even done before. Well, not with Naruto being the Hokage, at least. She'd avoided this place like the plague. He was the one who visited her at work, after all. Her friend was currently devouring what she'd intended him to have for lunch, with the happiest smile ever plastered on his face.

"Sakura-chan, this is delicious! Try it, try it!" He cheered excitedly, shoving his chopsticks in her mouth as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

She was about to protest at the intrusion in her mouth, but the deliciousness of her own ramen distracted her. "Okay, that IS delicious. Damn, I'm a good cook," she praised herself, yanking the chopsticks out of Naruto's hands to feed herself another bite. "This is incredible!"

Naruto chuckled adorably. "You should cook ramen more often, Sakura-chan! You nearly beat Ichuraku's!"

That stopped her in her tracks. "Nearly?! What'd you mean nearly?!"

Chuckling, he waved his hands playfully at her. "Only a joke, Sakura-chan. I'd eat yours any day over Ichiraku's."

Pleased, she returned him the chopsticks.

While he finished his meal, she debated whether or not she should take the chance that she was here already to talk to him about everything that's happened. She concluded that she would.

"Naruto, I'd like to talk." She said quietly, he dropped his chopsticks. "Since I'm here already, I mean. I don't want to make it awkward, or ruin your day, sorry."

"No, it's okay, don't apologize," he soothed her sweetly, getting up from his seat and sitting right in front of her, on top of his desk, mirroring their old encounters at her office.

He was dangerously close, which made her hands sweat. She tried to ignore that as best as she could. Avoiding his gaze, she began; "Yesterday, I saw your son at the market and he said... what?!" She asked, as her companion had begun giggling comically under his breath. "Is what I'm saying funny or what?!"

"No, no!" He managed to say between heaves. "I mean, yes of course it is. Yeah, Boruto told me about it. Sorry it's just, you look adorable right now. You have a— whatever that is, on the corner of your mouth. From the ramen, I think." He explained, scratching the back of his head and smiling. "Here, let me get it for you."

"Oh, n-no, it's fine—" Her words got stuck at the back of her throat when his hand met her face, his thumb lingering at the corner of her mouth, his innocent gesture quickly turning into something more— electricity coursed though her veins and she was sure they coursed though his too. Suddenly he was much, much too close, the place too warm. She could feel his breath on her face as he leaned in.

"Sakura, I— I know this is wrong, but I can't... I can't stay away from you how I'm supposed to. If you were about to ask that of me, I'm sorry to disappoint you." He said everything looking straight at her lips. Her mouth watered as the tension grew. His thumb grazed her bottom lip. Speechless, she could only listen. "I know I once said I would do anything for you if you only asked, but this, this is definitely the one exception."

Lips quivering, she accidentally thought out loud, "I shouldn't have come here."

She thought he'd retort, but he agreed, "no, you shouldn't have," as he pressed his lips to hers.