"There, all done." Sakura looked around, satisfied with herself. She had just finished unpacking all her belongings and her apartment was the way she wanted it. She sighed and flopped down on her couch, exhausted. After three days, she was done. It had taken her all day to finish it up. Now it was dark, nearly ten. Her gaze wandered to the table by the couch where a small calendar stood. Her viridian green orbs stared at it longingly. Tomorrow was Valentine's Day again. Usually, she was ecstatic and couldn't wait. Now, she just wanted it to end. At this point in her life, she despised Valentine's Day, having never gotten over Sasuke's departure. And like last year and all the years before, she would be all alone while everybody else around her was happy. Even Ino had found someone. She sighed again and trudged off to bed, tired from working, tired from hating Valentine's Day, tired from being alone. The last light in the apartment went off.
Tired green eyes opened and stared at the ceiling. Today was the day. Sakura groaned and buried her face in her pillow. All she wanted to do today was stay in bed and wait for another lonely year to go by. Outside her window she heard the laughter of couples already celebrating their day. Sighing and knowing she couldn't avoid this for her life, Sakura got up and did her morning rituals. She stared in her mirror for a long time before heading to the kitchen. Not feeling very hungry, she just grabbed a muffin and headed out the door, taking tiny bites. The sun shone brightly and Sakura raised her hand. Heading over to the park, she sat down on her favorite bench and watched the couples giggling and walking by. The muffin sat in her lap and she stared at it.
"Sakura-san!" Her eyes looked up to see a certain shinobi running her way.
"Good morning, Lee-san. Happy Valentine's Day. How are you?" She managed a small smile as Lee came up to her.
"I'm fine, Sakura-san. Thank you for asking. Anyways, happy Valentine's Day! I wanted to give you these." Lee said blushing, shoving a dozen roses in Sakura's face.
"Thank you, Lee-san. That was very nice of you. They're beautiful." Sakura took the roses, watching the thorns, and brushed her finger over the soft, velvety petals.
"Um, I was also wondering if you wanted to do something later. You know, if you didn't have anything else planned…" Lee trailed off. Deep in his burning heart, he knew the answer already. Sakura had always said the same answer year after year. But he had to try. One day, she would say yes.
"Thank you for the offer, Lee-san. But I'm not sure I'm really in the mood to do anything much today. Maybe another time." Lee had already expected this, but it hurt nonetheless.
"Very well, Sakura-san. I'll see you around, then." Lee waved, flashed a smile and walked off. Sakura watched him go and sighed, looking down at the blood red flowers. Year after year, Lee gave her a dozen roses and she always turned away from him. Wasn't it she who hated Valentine's Day because she was alone? Then why was she turning away the same offer of a great guy year after year? Down in her heart she knew the answer. She wasn't over Sasuke yet. And she probably would never be. But did that mean that she had to keep on breaking Lee's heart? Her common sense told her that Sasuke would never return, no matter how much she wished or prayed for it.
"Sakura-chan!" Sakura looked up again, breaking away from her thoughts. Hinata came up to her, Naruto close behind.
"Good morning, Hinata-chan. Happy Valentine's Day."
"You too, Sakura-chan. Look at your roses! They're so beautiful! Did Lee give them to you again?" Sakura smiled. After she and Naruto had gotten together, Hinata had grown more confident. She didn't stutter or twiddle her fingers anymore. No, now she was outgoing. Well, more outgoing than she had been, anyways. Naruto stood behind Hinata, smiling at Sakura.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Sakura-chan. Lee-san already gave you the roses, huh?" Sakura nodded silently, a small smile on her lips.
"Happy Valentine's Day to the both of you. What are your plans for today?"
"Nothing much. A walk in the park, some Ramen for lunch, dinner and then watching the sunset together." Naruto shrugged. Hinata smiled and nodded.
"That sounds nice. I hope you guys have a good time." Sakura smiled as Hinata and Naruto left hand in hand. Her gaze returned the roses in her hand. She knew what she was doing to Lee wasn't right, especially since she was the one who wanted the special someone. But she wasn't over Sasuke yet, and she was probably wasn't going to be for a long time.
"Hey, forehead-girl!" Sakura sighed and looked up at Ino and Shikamaru. Even though Ino and Sakura had become friends again, they never ceased the nicknames. It had become a habit and neither could break it.
"Ino-pig, Shikamaru-san, happy Valentine's Day. How are you two?" Sakura greeted politely.
"Happy Valentine's Day to you, too. Look at your roses! Lee-san always buys your roses at my family's flower store, you know. And he always picks even more beautiful roses for you than the year before. Why won't you give him a chance?" Ino pestered, clinging to Shikamaru's arm. Sakura smiled wearily.
"I'm just not ready, I guess. I do agree that the flowers are more beautiful each year. But, I don't know. I just don't think I'm over him yet."
"Still? You're too clingy, forehead-girl!" Sakura laughed.
"Look who's talking! I'm pretty sure Shikamaru-san is tired of his leech already!" Ino's blue eyes went to Shikamaru's face, who was bored, as always.
"Is it true, Shikamaru-kun? Are you tired of me?" Ino's voice wavered. Shikamaru looked her and muttered something about troublesome women as he averted his eyes. Ino pouted and turned to Sakura.
"Well, I say you should give Lee a chance. Sasuke's not coming back and you know that. Don't wait for him; just get over him and find someone else. Otherwise, you'll never be happy on Valentine's Day. Now, if you'll excuse us, I have to talk to a certain someone about my 'being troublesome'. See you later, forehead-girl." Ino glared at Shikamaru as she dragged him away by the arm while his eyes were wide with fear. He looked over his shoulder and mouthed 'Help!' to Sakura, but she just shook her head and laughed. "Oh, forehead-girl!" Ino turned around. "Be careful not to drop those roses, okay?" Sakura, confused, nodded. Ino smiled and turned back to Shikamaru, shouting some things that wouldn't be appropriate for this rating. The sun climbed higher into the sky as Sakura reflected on herself some more.
"Sakura-chan!" Sakura looked again. What, do they just hunt me down today or something?
"Hello, Tenten-chan, Neji-san. Happy Valentine's Day."
"You too, Sakura-chan. Wow, Lee-san really outdid himself with the roses this year. They're gorgeous!" Tenten exclaimed, eyeing the flowers. Neji just stood there, his eyes and face showing no emotion. Even today he's stoic as ever…Sakura mused. He and Tenten were celebrating their third Valentine's Day together now and every year, Sakura didn't see any emotion at all from. But she had no doubt that Tenten could get him to show even the tiniest bit of feeling.
"They are nice. So, what are you two planning to do today?" Sakura asked, wanting to change the topic. Tenten smiled and looped her arm through Neji's.
"A walk in the park, some alone time, dinner and maybe watching the sunset. Oh, and training after the alone time." Sakura laughed.
"Should've figured training was in there somewhere. Don't you guys ever take a break? Even Hinata's not training today, and you know how Naruto will train nonstop to succeed Tsunade-sama." Sakura saw Neji stiffen at Hinata and Naruto's names. Sakura bit her tongue. Hinata had said that Neji still didn't approve of her and Naruto.
"Hey, we both like to train, so why not?" Tenten shrugged. Neji nodded his head slightly, still showing no emotion.
"Well, hope you guys have a good time. See you later." Sakura said, standing up.
"Bye, Sakura-chan. And don't be so down. Give Lee-san a chance. What have you got to lose?" Tenten asked as she half-dragged Neji away. Sakura's gaze dropped. Why was everyone pestering her? Had they planned this or something? She walked slowly out of the park and headed to her apartment. Everyone she passed by that she knew greeted her and commented on the roses. The sky started to turn dark, signaling that the day was nearly over.
By the time she was at her apartment, Sakura was mad. Why didn't they just leave her alone? Didn't they see that she wasn't over Sasuke yet? Didn't they see that she didn't want anyone but Sasuke? Didn't they…? Sakura broke into tears and fell to her knees. The bouquet fell to the floor next to her shaking body, losing some petals in the process. She couldn't hold back the tears anymore. All five years of loneliness fell from her viridian green eyes as she gasped for breath. She knew there was no point in waiting for Sasuke; she had known that the minute he left. He was never coming back. Never. But he was still so precious in her heart. She didn't want anybody else but him.
When she had cried it all out, her eyes settled on the roses. Picking them up, she picked out a vase, filled it with water, placed the roses in and set it on the end table with the calendar. She stared sadly at her dark apartment.
"Sakura-chan!" Tenten's voice came from outside the window. Startled, Sakura ran over, opened the window and looked down at Tenten on the ground. A cold gust of wind blew in, causing Sakura to shiver.
"Tenten-chan? What is it?" Sakura called back.
"It's Lee-san! He's hurt himself badly!" Tenten motioned for her to come down. Sakura gasped.
"What? I'll be right down!" Sakura yelled back and shut her window. Her heart raced as she grabbed a jacket and ran down the stairs.
"Hurry up! He's at the hospital! Tsunade-sama is already there!" Tenten called as Sakura came out. They ran together through the wind and arrived at the hospital out of breath. Everyone was already there. Neji, Naruto, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru; they had all shown up and were sitting in chairs. They leapt up at the sight of the girls, all except Neji calling out to Sakura. Tenten lead Sakura through the hospital maze and went in a room. By now, Sakura was shaking fiercely. She held her breath as Tenten held back the curtain. A gasp escaped her lips. Tsunade looked up.
"Sakura, good. You're here. Tenten, please go back down to the waiting room." Tenten nodded and left. Sakura stood still, staring at Lee. He was injured badly; Tenten had been right about that. Wounds and scratches covered his body and his face was badly scarred.
"What happened to him, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura whispered.
"I don't know. Most likely he had a freak accident while training. But I've never seen anything like this before." Tsunade said, equally quiet. It was quite clear that she was perplexed and frightened.
"Why…why was I called down?" Tsunade looked up and frowned.
"He was muttering something about you and roses. Does that sound familiar?"
"Roses? What about them?" Sakura looked at Tsunade, utterly confused.
"He gave you roses today, right?" Sakura nodded, still not sure where this was going. Her mind wandered back to the park. Ino had warned her about not dropping the roses. Was that part of it?
"Tsunade-sama, earlier today Ino warned me not to drop the roses Lee-san gave me…" Sakura started.
"Did you drop them?" Tsunade looked up from Lee.
"Yeah, at my apartment. Then I picked them up and put them in a vase of water."
"Call Ino up here." Tsunade said firmly and looked at Lee again, talking to the nurse. Sakura nodded and left. She wandered through the halls effortlessly and made it to the lobby shortly.
"Is Lee-san going to be okay?" Sakura blinked at the question asked in unison.
"I don't know. Ino, Tsunade-sama wants to talk to you." Ino, startled, got up and followed Sakura.
"Ino, those roses Lee bought. You warned Sakura not to drop them. Why?" Tsunade asked as soon as they stepped into the room.
"They were special roses. If she dropped them, then Lee would suffer."
"What? Did he know?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, he said that if you suffered today, then he wanted to suffer too…" Ino trailed off. Sakura looked at Lee helplessly.
"Thank you, Ino." Tsunade said and turned back to the nurse.
"You dropped them!" Ino asked suddenly.
"Not on purpose! I broke down…" Sakura trailed.
"What did you do after?"
"I picked them up and put them in a vase of water." Sakura's voice wavered. Ino sighed and Sakura looked at her in confusion.
"Smart move. He'll be fine." Tsunade and Sakura stared.
"What? That's all I needed to do?" Sakura asked, dumbfounded.
"Yeah. Putting the roses in water after dropping them will heal the inflicted wounds. Wow, you must've dropped them pretty hard!" Ino said, looking at the injuries. Sakura blushed.
"Thank you, Ino. You two may leave now that we know he'll be fine. Happy Valentine's Day, girls." Tsunade dismissed. Ino and Sakura went down to the lobby and explained the entire thing to the others. They laughed and all agreed to go home, since it was dark enough as it was. Sakura walked slowly, even though it was freezing. Her mind followed the day's events and by the time she reached her apartment, she was exhausted. She threw her coat on the floor and flopped on the couch, looking at the roses. She shook her head. How could Lee-san buy roses like that from Ino? Sakura already knew the answer in her heart. Because he loves you that much, stupid. Then why did she keep denying him? Because of Sasuke. But she knew he would never return. Why couldn't she give him up? Because you still adore him with your heart. Was there a way to not give Sasuke up but still accept Lee's offers? What kind of question is that? Of course! Sakura smiled at her heart's answer.
"Another year, then." Sakura answered her self out loud as a wave of tiredness overcame her and she gave in. "Another year…"