She decided to take one more try. The woman searched for the set of sheets she kept in her desk finally finding minutes later completely misplaced in the middle of some of her old medicine scrolls. Taking a sheet and reaching for one of the pens sitting on her bureau, she contemplated the buildings across from hers and looked up at the Hokage tower. Sighing, she adjusted her back and turned her gaze back to the blank sheet. She started writing.

She hadn't planned for it to be a long letter. That was what she would've planned months ago, when she was hoping her friend had gone through some inexplicable change in his personality. Now, she just sent him brief updates on the village, similar to the ones he now consistently sent her on his travels. She still didn't understand how that was meant to atone for his sins, but that was person he could only tell her in person, as on his letters he only stated the essential: where he was, how we were doing and how long until he moved to his next stop.

So her said letter ended up being exactly three sentences. 'Hey, everything's fine here. Naruto and I are doing good. We hope you come back soon!' As soon as she finished, she put it inside an envelope and put on her civilian clothes. She had changed them up a bit since the war. The shirt was the same, but she grew gradually sick of the skirt that was as impractical as could be in case an emergency happened. And at the hospital, they often did, so it was replaced by a pair of white shorts.

She got out of the house and walked down the street until she arrived at the post office. Once there, she sent the letter through the special deliveries and hoped it would reach Sasuke before he moved to his next destination. When she got out, she pondered whether she should just go back home obeying Tsunade's orders or pay the training sites a quick visit. Before she could decide, she bumped into a certain annoying blonde.

"Sakura!"

"Ino!"

"I haven't seen you in ages! How are you doing?" She inquired enthusiastically. Sakura smiled sheepishly before answering her. "I'm fine. You know, still adjusting, I guess."

Ino looked at her in comprehension. "Yeah, I get it… But don't let it get you down, we gotta keep moving forward now." The girl winked. Sakura smiled. Ino's hair was the same length it had been during the war. Sakura mindlessly twirled her now waist-length hair around her finger.

Putting on her best smile, Sakura looked Ino in the eyes. "How about you?" Ino grinned back at her and excitedly told her about what she'd been doing in the past few weeks. It was good to talk to her friend like this. She missed it. She missed the cheerful conversations. This was the closest to normal she had felt in the last few months. It was weird. The first months after the war, everything felt out of place yet at the same time comfortingly familiar. However, somewhere along the line, the strangeness of everything became more and more prominent. Then, the dreams started, and she started going through her routine just trying to avoid thinking too much. Or at all. She tried learning new jutsus and it worked to distract her for a while but then the feeling just kept coming back and then the kid…

"Sakura? You ok?"

The girl in question shook her head. "Sorry, I spaced out for a minute."

Ino sighed in exasperation. "I was saying we should all go out together sometime! Everyone from our year, I mean!"

Sakura gave her a genuine smile. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Ino nodded. "Well, I better get going now or I'll be late. I'll see you around, Sakura!" She said before leaving hurriedly.

Sakura continued down the street. She really was looking forward to that reunion. Maybe things would get back to normal when they were all together. She found herself wondering whether Sasuke would come back. She regretted having asked him to go with him on his new journey. He must have gotten the wrong idea. She wasn't a twelve-year-old girl anymore. She wasn't blindly pining after him anymore. In fact, she was even surprised at how little she missed him now. Of course, she hadn't spent time with him in years, but still. She thought it would be different. That maybe they would have preserved some kind of connection. But she was clearly mistaken.

Even with her recent realizations about Sasuke, she couldn't shake the feeling she had about something being misplaced. Or perhaps it wasn't something, but herself. Walking past the hospital, she looked up at her master's face sculpted on the rock, next to the Fourth Hokage's. She stopped in her tracks and stared at them. She wondered if this was how they felt after the other Great Ninja Wars. After a few moments, she resumed her walk. Without meaning to, she ended up at the cemetery. She followed one of its large corridors until she found the tomes of the ones who died during the Third Great War. She read several of the names on the graves but none of them was familiar to her. She passed another row of stones and noticed the Hyuuga clan's stone where Neji's name now was carved. She continued, not baring to look at it, until she saw her own family's gravestone. Beside her grandparents' names was the name of another man. 'Haruno Asahi, 16 years old. Loving brother and son. Honoured his country fighting on the Third Great Ninja War'

That name she recognized. Her father never talked about it, but she knew he had a younger brother who had died during the last war. She didn't know he was younger than she was now, though.

She didn't know if she'd been standing there staring at his gravestone for five minutes or two hours. The young woman only looked away when she heard a familiar voice calling out for her. "Sakura-chan!"

She turned around to face a rather cheerful Naruto. As soon as he looked at her, his grin dissipated. "Sakura…"

Only then did she notice the tears streaming down her face. She didn't know how long she had been crying but forced a grin. "Oh, Naruto! This is nothing! I was just… This is…" Despite her efforts, the tears kept falling making her turn her back to him. She cleaned her tears and tried to get a hold of herself. Naruto didn't say anything. He must be thinking about how stupid she is, crying in front of the gravestone of someone she didn't even know. At least that's what she thought until he held her hand in reassurance. She looked at him, surprised at first, but it quickly morphed into gratitude.

She stood in silence, still staring at the gravestone. He was the first to speak. "He's from your family?"

She nodded. "Yeah… I never got to know him, though." She added.

They let silence reign for a few more moments before Sakura continued. "Who are you here to visit?" She hadn't missed the flowers he brought with him.

"Neji." He paused. "…and my parents."

She squeezed his hand and looked him in the eye. His gaze was already on her. She gave him a sympathetic smile, which he retributed before letting go of her hand. She grasped his hand again trying to be reassuring and he started walking until he reached one of the biggest stones. Its engraving read "Namikaze Minato. Fourth Hokage and Yellow Flash of the Leaf. Eternally missed by all his people." Below was another name in a much smaller size that Sakura had never noticed before. "Uzumaki Kushina. Brave Kunoichi of the Leaf. Beloved wife."

She could feel the tears forming at the corner of her eyes again. She looked up at Naruto. His expression was unreadable but uncharacteristically stoic. He placed the flowers carefully on top of the grave. She could feel him trembling slightly. The girl opened her mouth but closed it moments later. She had never seen him wear such a despaired expression before. He seemed like he was on the verge of tears. She turned her gaze to the grave again and only then did she notice the dry flowers that rested close to the ones Naruto had brought now. He had been coming here regularly. And she hadn't even thought that he would be feeling like this after seeing his father. And she had the nerve to call him idiot. The only idiot here was her.

"Naruto." She called softly without turning to him. "Maybe I don't understand everything you're going through, but if you ever need to talk, you know you can come to me, right?"

His response came in a strained tone "Thank you, Sakura-chan… Next time, I will."

She didn't let go of his hand until they left.