A/N: Thank you for all the heart-warming reviews, I love them. And thank you for not eating me for not updating faster.

Three Years

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

To: Haruno Sakura

158 Maple Road

Konoha, Fire

K5N9H7

Her hands shook lightly when she opened the envelope properly addressed to her. After ripping it open a small card fell out of it…

'Oh god…'

Sakura stared long and hard at her invitation.

She knew this was coming, but seeing it written on paper just made the realization greater, made it worst.

She hastily flung the leafy paper away and rubbed her sore forehead.

She had a major migraine… and it wasn't going away.

She fell back onto her couch and put her head in her hands. She sniffled back a sob and pulled back her messy hair. It had been 2 days, 2 days from when she promised herself no more vegging.

"June 30th …June 30th … I have 3 days…" She silently congratulated herself for being so brave. Against her better judgments, she had transformed herself into a terrific bridesmaid. She had gone shopping for the wedding, bought them a nice blender, which they would probably never use, and she kept a cheerful attitude whenever she was around Ino.

It was only the nice thing to do.

…But she never really found out the reason why they were together…yet… Or the reason Ino seemed so sad about marrying the lone Uchiha.

When they were younger, the pair would gossip and brag about their wedding and most importantly their future husbands.

A younger Sakura and Ino are sitting together in the grass surrounded by bunches of beautiful flowers.

Ino is facing the sunset while Sakura fidgets to get comfortable.

She turns around and smiles at Sakura, "Neh Forehead."

"Hum?"

She picks up a tulip from the field. "Don't you love flowers?" She brings it close to her face and smells it, and then cheekily smiles, "I just love them." She twirls them around. "When I grow up, there are going to be a bunch of flowers in my wedding. I'll have all different types of roses and orchids and the church will be littered with beautiful flowers as far as the eye can see." Chibi Ino let out a happy sigh. "And my husband will be so pretty!" she squeaks.

Sakura stares at her best friend in awe.

"He'll wear a black tux and he'll be smiling at me when I walk up to him and he'll just be," she lay down in the grass with the tulips in between her fingers. "He'll be perfect…just perfect." She let out a content sigh, "…exactly what I want." She turns and gives Sakura a dreamy stare. "Everything I have always dreamed of…"

"Wow…that sounds amazing…"

"I know ay…how about you Sakura?"

"Huh? Me?" She gave Ino a puzzled stare, " Well…" Sakura sat scratching her head for a while. "I don't really care what he looks like, as long as I love him." She gave a nervous smile. "I don't know…I never thought about it before. I always wanted a small wedding to tell you the truth."

"A small wedding?"

The pink head slowly nodded her head with a smile. "I want a small wedding…somewhere on a hill or by the water."

The blonde spared a glace at her best friend, "ah...so then what will he be like?" Her eyes glittered with curiosity.

She thought about this for a moment before beginning, "I'm not sure…I guess I want him to be strong and brave, and…dreamy. She stares off into the distance. "…Someone I love very much."

The blonde smiled and lay back down, curling her toes between the fresh dew in the grass. Sakura fell opposite her best friend and lay down so their heads are faced each other.

"Neh, Ino-Chan," she tilts her head back to get a better view.

"What?"

"You'll defiantly be at my wedding?"

"Yeah, of course! How could you think that I would miss my own best friend's wedding?" She putted on a shocked expression. She smirked, "and you'll definitely be at mine."

She waited for the girl to nod her head. "You betcha!"

"That is if I even invite you of course!" She winks.

"Ino-pig!"

"Forehead girl!"

The girls lay giggling in the grass without a worry in the air.

The card confirmed what her mind was trying to block out. This was it, it was really happening.

Sakura tumbled on her couch and took a deep breath.

"…He's getting married."

Invisible tears rolled down her cheek.

"He's really getting married."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ino had been busy for the past couple of days. She made invitations, got them printed; shopped for bridesmaid dresses and went wedding dress hunting. She basically planned the whole wedding and her soon-to-be-husband wasn't helping one bit.

Her ears perked up when she thought she heard the sound of the front door opening. She ran to greet him by the door and gave him a cheerful smile. She was sure if she asked he would help out with the planning, after all, couples like doing things together.

"Sasuke-kun, I was wondering if you wou -"

"Shut up" he hissed.

"But…Um…"

He gave her a stern look, "I'm tired. I'm not interested in hearing your loud obnoxious voice right now."

"But…the wedding…"

He shot her a cruel stare. "I don't care," he walked towards his room. "Do whatever you want."

Ms. Uchiha Sasuke stood rooted to the spot staring at her fiancée's retreating back; she fingered the diamond ring gracefully and dropped her gaze. She took a deep painful breath and plastered on a fake cheerful smile and continued looking happy about marrying the man of her dreams.

Ino walked back into the living room and continued leafing through her many catalogs.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

He was walking towards the village's market place, forced into buying a meaningless wedding present for the seemingly happiest couple in Konoha.

He let out a defeated cry. 'Damn my luck.' He kicked a nearby soda can on the ground and grumbled his way into town.

The last few days weren't good ones for him. He, Hyuuga Neji, was turned down without even the slightest second glance. The words weren't spoken, but spoken in-between the lines was a stone cold rejection. Not that he proposed anything to her for that matter but her stern words clearly stated that there was no point in trying. He really thought he had a chance…especially after what happened all those years ago…

He mentally cursed himself, now was not the time to think of such things… He was so sure that she felt something for him also. He knew she did…but the question was why she was hiding them?

Did she still love the Uchiha? That was most obvious.

What they shared together was a secret romance in Mist. He had no idea why he was worrying over her… He shook his head and scolded himself for caring.

A soft voice rang inside his head, 'I came back wanting something that I now know I can never have.'

Had he too come back searching for something that wasn't there? Had he miscalculated? He pondered for but a moment before brushing off the easy thought away.

She knew what he felt for her, it was no mystery. His late night visit proved that much.

'She is so confusing…'

The truth of the matter was that he couldn't careless about the Uchiha's upcoming wedding. It had been a bit of a shock when the soon to be Mrs. announced the impromptu date, he had never even known about their serious relationship until that day. Hell, he didn't even know they were in one.

'Feh, it doesn't concern me.' He stuffed his hands in his pocket and continued making his way down to the local mall, images of blenders dancing in his head.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Three Years Ago…

"Sakura!"

"NO! I'm not going! I want to stay here where I BELONG!" a young woman bellowed at the Hokage.

"…Sakura…" the older woman spoke more gently and brushed the woman's tears away, "I need you to do this…for me."

"I don't wanna."

Her brow arched at her apprentice's childish actions, "…not even for me?"

She sniffled and scrunched up her face making her lip quiver, "its not fair Tsunade-sama…its not fair…"

The older woman took her into her arms and gently patted her back in a warm embrace. "I know… I know…" she told her reassuringly, "I hate it too."

She rested her head on her shoulder and looked up adoringly to the woman she called her mother. She knew what she had to do. "How long?"

Her smile soon turned to one of dread, "…three years…"

Her daughter sighed and smiled cheekily up at her, "I'll miss you… Tsunade-sama…"

"…Sakura…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Three Years Ago…

She was sent away to the beautiful land of Mist to negotiate a new treaty with their new leader.

(Can't remember which Kage it is…please spare me…)

She let escape a brilliant smile. At the age of 18, things couldn't have gotten better for the genjutsu master. She was young, talented, and still had potential. This was the reason why she was so mad when Tsunade announced her long-term departure so suddenly.

She wanted to stay and complete her training, she was close…so close to completing…

She sighed, "Oh well…I can wait a bit longer…" she stared off into the horizon when a deep voice broke her concentration.

"We're nearing the gates."

Sakura turned her head and looked toward her teammates. She was stationed with a team of 5 other men. They needed a medic and she, being the only free one, was shoved into the mission.

She readjusted her knapsack and heard whispering behind her.

"Thank god we are almost there." A tired voice rang out happily. "I need to get drunk…"

"Ahahaha, me too, I need some entertainment." The bald one so pointedly nudged the tanned one in the side and made some hooting noises.

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes…Men were so juvenile.

"You're coming Sakura-Chan?" Her captain asked, having noticed her eavesdropping.

'Hmm…maybe joining them won't be so bad…'

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Still Three Years Ago…

The bar was grimy, dim lighting lit the place, and the smell of drunken men stank the place. It was loud, lively, and just how a club should have been.

There was a group of prostitutes flirting shamelessly with a bunch of drunken men in one corner and in the other a pair were making out. The music was blaring and couples were packed on the dance floor moving to the sound of music.

But…in the mist of it all you could still hear the continuous sighs admitting from the young woman sitting up front.

Haruno Sakura was getting impatient.

Every so often she would glance in the direction of the exit, very much wanting to leave the dimly lit tavern. With a light drink in her hands she would occasionally tap her foot again the wooden counter.

"10:30," she checked her watch, "It is only 10:30." She gave off another irritated sigh and took a sip of the bitter tasting liquor.

She suppressed a shutter and stole a glance at her drunken teammates, half of which were embarrassing themselves on the dance floor.

She inertly groaned… It would be her who would have to haul their sorry asses back to the hotel.

She silently cursed herself for agreeing to join her male teammates in this little "outing". She should have known better, when they told her they wanted to go out she should have figured that they wanted to get drunk.

She rubbed her templates in relief when she heard one of her teammates brag to a prostitute about how "big" they were.

"Dumbass," she hissed at him from across the room. "You're paying to sleep with her, you don't need to flirt with her first!" She shot the drunken idiot a glare before spinning her stool around.

Honestly, she was getting tired of this bullshit and did that whore just shoot her a dirty glare? Oh hell no.

'Calm down Sakura…just breath.' She stopped herself from leaping off the counter and beating the shit out of the unsuspecting bimbo. The worst thing that could happen was to get into a fight. She didn't need that right now, she was supposed to get on good terms with Mist.

Why was she here again? Oh yeah…Because of her sensei… She was doing this for her sensei…

She gave her 1000th sigh and went back to being bored.

She zoned out for the last hour and so, having not even moved from her seat. "It must have been the alcohol," she mumbled in half sleep, her eyes getting pretty droopy.

She had to fend off a couple of perverted males from trying to take advantage of her state of mind.

Finally, at around midnight, she decided to call it a night. Without a word she excused herself from the conversation a bunch of pimps were trying to engage her in and shot off looking to collect her 5 drunken teammates.

It was a difficult task considering that she was having trouble walking, every so often she would bump into someone and mumble a quick apology before knocking into the next…honestly…when did the place get so crowded?

When she didn't see any of them she panicked. She didn't remember the way back to the hotel, and even if she did, how on earth was she supposed to walk back there drunk?

She gave one or more of her more popular sighs and made her way towards the exit, the silver sparkly high heels she was sporting hurting her feet with each step.

"Oh… and what's your name mister?" Her eyes twitched at the woman's high-pitched giggle.

"Do you really want to know?" A deep male's voice said mockingly.

Sakura quickly turned her head in the direction of the voice. It sounded just like… Sasuke-kun!

Green eyes met the form of a tall raven-haired man. It was Sasuke-kun! Her mood quickly brightened up at his presence.

'It's Sasuke-kun!' She totally had forgotten that his Anbu team was also residing in Mist for a while.

She gave him a wide smile; his team must have been there the whole time. She began walking towards him thanking the lord that she changed out of her disgusting medic uniform before hitting the bar.

She was wearing a plain black dress that had a dangerous shirt line. She mentally smirked at this thought, and she could almost see the large pack of men behind her drooling.

She stopped halfway towards him. It seemed that he hadn't sensed her presence yet… What should she do? She promised herself to stop chasing after the cold Uchiha, didn't she?

She was too busy debating whether or not to approach him that the dirty kiss that the brunette haired woman gave him went unnoticed in her eyes.

The slut was grinding herself against him for god sakes!

This action she did catch.

And what made her mood worse was that he wasn't doing anything to stop it from happening, he looked like he rather enjoyed the slut's company.

She cringed with disgust and walked back to her empty stool finding it deserted; the pimps must have left to find another drunken woman to bother.

She waited for the bartender to show up after ordering the strongest the place had. Whatever the stuff was, it was expensive and did its job well. After gulping down the first glass she had almost forgotten about running into the Uchiha, that is what she felt before hearing the brunette's loud moan from across the room.

Seriously, her voice could have wakened the dead. It was so annoying, and this is coming from a person who knows what an annoying voice sounded like, ahem, ahem, Ino dearest.

It seems that the two were now making out. They were laughing and having the time of their lives while Sakura was fighting her emotions.

'What the hell am I jealous of? I'm not with him. He hates me…' Tears welled up in her eyes and she quickly turned around so he wouldn't see her face.

She didn't want him to notice her now.

With a bottle in hand and an unlimited supply of liquor, Haruno Sakura was in the mood to drink her troubles away.

She turned her head away from the scene with repulsion, 'Damn Uchiha…'

The man next to her tilted his head back to indicate worry, "Is something wrong?" he inquired.

She quickly tried to hide her widened expression and faced the stoic face of the Hyuuga. She stared at him for but a moment; his silver eyes making her feel as if he was staring right through her. She mentally shuttered at the thought. "No, nothing," she shook her head. "Nothing at all."

Back luck was with her that night because as soon as she finished, an earsplitting laugh rang throughout the bar.

Neji slowly turned to face the cause of commotion and saw the woman's arms wrapped around the Uchiha. Realization came quick to him.

"Aa… So I see."

She hung her head in shame, for some reason she didn't want Neji to think that she was bothered by some random woman's affections towards her old teammate.

"Nothing's wrong."

His statement caught her off by surprise. She gave him a grateful smile, glad that he was humoring her.

"Thanks…Neji…" She whispered at him. She felt better that he didn't judge her and that he hadn't tried to comfort her in anyway.

"Aa." He said before he went back to his quiet drinking.

She took this moment to study the older man's face. Just like Sasuke-kun, Neji had also grown to be a handsome bachelor. From the rumors she heard in Konoha he was even harder to get then the heartthrob Uchiha. She giggled at this thought but shut up quickly when she saw the weird look Neji had given her.

Now was not a good time for her to act childish. She wasn't that much of a fool any longer.

She placed on her fake smile and took a swig from her glass.

Neji was in the books defined as a perfect catch. He was tall, dark, and handsome. Light bangs fell on his face and a shorter hairstyle was the most noticeable thing that had changed from his looks.

(I always imaged Neji-kun with spiked up bangs …drools…he's so hawt!)

His eyes still all seeing and his expression still so indecipherable.

He may as well be a bigger mystery than Sasuke-kun.

He was wearing a white sweater and black pants. 'White…the color of hope…'

Sakura stopped staring at him and ordered another glass and the two sat drinking with each other in silence.

After her 4th glass she decided that it was time to leave. She could no longer remember the reason she was still in the bar any longer. She was becoming increasingly dizzy with each glass. She slapped a large bill on the table and turned to her silent drinking partner.

She had downed a total of 7 glasses today… All of which was not a good thing.

"Hey Neji…" Her voice came out slurred and uneven.

Trust her to flirt with somebody when she was drunk.

He raised his head to look at her in an awkward manner.

"Will you walk me?" She gave him a seductive wink.

He was hesitant to answer but when he did she saw him give her a sly smile.

So he was also experiencing one of the many side effects of alcohol. He, like her, downed at least 7, if not more, glasses.

If the circumstances weren't what they were at the moment, Haruno Sakura would have laughed herself silly at the thought of a drunken Hyuuga. Well…mentally laugh of course, he would probably eat her If she dared to laugh at him…and also because she was a wimp and secretly scared of him and his freaky eyes.

He hastily got up from beside her, tripping a little bit over the stool, and offered her his hand.

She smiled. 'Even drunk he's still a gentleman.'

The two made their way out of the bar and Sakura pained her throbbing forehead to remember the way back.

If either one of them looked back they would have sensed the pair of deep red eyes following each one of their movements.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Again, Three Years …

They had shared one night with each other as lovers and in the morning he was gone…She had woken up to an empty bed and a note of apology stating that he left.

She was pretty pissed at him but that couldn't be helped. They both had a duty to their village to serve out and what they did together was nothing short of idiotic...or so she had thought anyways.

They both were lonely and bored…and so very drunk.

Maybe what they did was not the smartest thing in the world but it didn't really matter.

In the end Sakura couldn't help but remember not being the slightest bit mad at Neji-kun.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Three years later…

She turned over on the couch and laid her forehead onto her knee and rolled herself into a small ball, gently rocking herself to sleep.

Haruno Sakura decided one thing at that moment, something she shouldn't have put off for so long.

She was going to forget about him…for good.

Right before dozing off to sleep a nagging question she was trying to avoid popped into her mind…

She lay confused staring at the unwelcome card the whole entire night.

'…Who are you really trying to forget about?'

A/N: Forgive SB for her lack of inspiration, she had been slow a bit lately…must have been that burrito… shudders… Who the hell puts sour cream and hot sauce in a taco? Yes, she ate it, unfortunately. It was one of the most disgusting things she has ever eaten. She still cringes at the thought of it. It was just, ew.

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