Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

From Afar

by DeepPoeticGirl

Today was going to be a good day.

This was what Sakura decided when she woke up on this sweet summer morning, the air thick with the smell of fresh rain and wet wood.

Mama had always said early showers were signs of lucky days. Sakura believed it; she could feel the stroke of serendipity working its way through the very air itself already. It made her wings tingle and twitch.

Maybe today was finally going to be the day Queen Tsunade would approve of her progress and introduce her to the next level of advanced healing magic, as Sakura had been waiting for weeks. She felt ready—felt like she had shown she was ready.

Or perhaps, by the grace of all the good spirits, maybe today was instead going to be the day she would at last be promoted to the members of the Elite Fairies of Outstanding Skills and Strategy—of which she'd dreamed about becoming ever since she was nothing but a shy, clumsy fae youngling, still sleeping in hydrangeas with Mama and Papa.

Yes, today could only be glorious. With the sun shining so high and bright already, its rays of warmth streaming abundantly into their quaint little tree nook they called home—

Eyes snapping open, Sakura sprung up from her bed, breath catching in her throat.

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no—crap! If the sun was beaming inside, that meant she was late again. It only ever illuminated inside like this when the sun was at its peak height, which meant it had to be close to noon and—

Groaning, Sakura frantically pushed herself off from her perfect little leaf bed, rubbing at her eyes as she stumbled clumsily out of the hollow. Her sleepy wings barely kept her upright as she leapt into the fresh outside air and took flight, whizzing ungracefully towards the nearest bush to grab herself a breakfast.

She flew out a few seconds later with a raspberry in hand, already chewing on it as she raced towards the large, fenced-in garden where most of their community had settled for work.

Goodness, she was probably going to get ridiculed again for sleeping in. She really wasn't looking forward to it—with how common her lateness had been lately, she'd gotten so tired of being the garden faes' laughing stock!

And considering this recent tardiness hadn't even been due to any laziness, it was especially frustrating to Sakura.

But ever since she'd found the small group of lone, dying peonies two weeks ago as she'd been playing with a litter of wood forest mice, her internal clock had gone completely out of whack; she'd spent every single night working herself to her bones until the very early hours of the morning, desperately trying to heal the family back to a full recovery.

As peonies were her favorite flowers, Sakura swore she would be damned if she let them die on her watch without doing her utmost to save them. But sadly, despite her best efforts, only one peony managed to survive to this day, clinging to life bravely though it forever mourned the death of its neighboring kin.

Even still, Sakura held hope to be able to nurse the peony back to health. Pleading to the young flower to fight and endure just a little longer, she vowed to plant new seeds in her kin's stead to ensure she would have herself a family again.

If only I had Queen Tsunade's mastery in healing magic, Sakura mused, chewing the last of her raspberry. Though she had thankfully been seeing significant progress in the past few days, Sakura was sure if she possessed the same level of skills that most of the family would have survived, and she would not have found herself so exhausted with every rising day.

Zooming past the tall fence with urgency, Sakura exclaimed an apology as she inadvertently startled one of her working peers with her presence, moving fast enough to rustle a bundle of daffodil flowers who fluttered in protest.

Disaster struck once again a few seconds after as she promptly collided face-first into another unfortunate fairy.

Sakura yelped loudly, eyes shutting tight as the two of them barreled through the air for a moment, unbalanced and too stunned to do anything. Water splattered over them both as they collided with a tulip still dewy with fresh raindrops, soaking their clothes and hair enough to shiver.

The victim of her clumsiness caught their balance first, grabbing her arms with firm hands to her stabilize herself while also putting a stop to their tumultuous fall. Sakura stammered a flustered thanks. Yet as she looked up and met the gaze of the fairy unlucky enough to find themselves in her path today, she only found cause for her cheeks to redden so terribly her mind spun.

Because there, in all his painfully beautiful glory, stood Sasuke Uchiha, her longtime crush and the absolute fae of her dreams, looking rightfully annoyed.

His irritation quickly faded, however, as recognition swept across his gaze.

"Sakura," he acknowledged, brows rising as he let his hands fall away from her. "You're awake."

Sakura's mouth parted, and her blush worsened considerably. Even Sasuke had noticed she'd been missing from work? Oh, she was so going to give Ino and the other rooming faes a piece of her mind the next time they would cross each other's paths!

"I—yeah," Sakura mumbled, utterly mortified as any fairy in her position would be. "I just, you know—I mean I'm not normally like this—"

"Sakura, you don't have to explain yourself to me," Sasuke cut in, grimacing as he reached up and shook some water out of his drenched hair.

Sakura's mouth went drier than the desert, but before she could even think of anything to say in response, Sasuke let his hand fall to his side again. "And besides—I get it."

Get it? Get what? Her eyes widened in panic. Oh spirits, what did he assume?

Apparently she'd been quiet for too long, though, because Sasuke cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "…I have work to do. The idiot" —That was what he called Naruto, the human who owned this garden with his wife— "gave the tomatoes too much water despite knowing it would rain, so I have to fix his mess."

He turned, paused, then shifted to look at her once again, some hesitation in his gaze. "…You should watch where you're flying next time, Sakura. You could get hurt."

And just like that, her blush returned with a vengeance. "A-Ah! Yes, I—Of course, Sasuke-kun!" she sputtered. "I'm really sorry!"

Sasuke raised his hand in the air and made some vague sort of gesture of nonchalance, wordlessly telling her not to worry about it.

Humiliated, and in utter disbelief that her luck could be this awful, Sakura covered her face with her hands and groaned. "Can't believe I had to collide with him of all people…"

Before long, she went back on her way, cursing all the fairies she was rooming with for not waking her up like she'd made them promise, thus inevitably responsible for this catastrophe of a run-in with Sasuke.

Thankfully, as the hours went along, the teasing she received from her peers was kept to a scant minimum, much to her surprise and delight. She and Ino still squabbled loudly when they found each other though, but the matter was just as quickly brushed away before it had even begun, their friendship proving too strong to be wounded by such a small mishap.

(it wasn't the end all, be all, as much as it had felt like it in the moment.)

Working away at a group of daylilies, the two gossiped and chatted about everything and nothing—from her incident with Sasuke to Genma's latest romantic chase and interest—before being promptly startled by the back door of the cottage home being slammed open.

They relaxed as they found that it was only Naruto; stumbling out with three giant bags of fertilizer, of which he'd likely only just bought at a local farm, and now wanted to stow away.

"Naruto, be careful," his wife—Hinata—called after him, looking a little exasperated as she peeked outside. She was holding a basket of fresh eggs and home-baked bread. "You'll hurt yourself again like last year if you don't slow down a little. How are you going to repair the fence this weekend if you go and get yourself another broken wrist?"

The fence they were talking about, of course, wasn't from the garden. It was the one on the front porch—the one Hinata had reminded him time and time again to fix these past few months, which Naruto had only finally been wanting to get around to when his wife had taken a tumble with it just a few days past.

"Don't worry about me, Hinata-chan!" Naruto said with a grin, dumping the three bags into the small wooden shed he'd built when they'd first arrived here five years ago. It wasn't perfect, but it had its charms. "I've got everything handled! You know I won't let silly fertilizer bring me down!"

Karma took offense, it seemed, because when he started to make his way back towards their home, the clumsy goof tripped over a garden rake he hadn't properly put away and stumbled into the grass with a yelp.

Ino erupted into laughter, some other garden fairies watching the scene joining in with her. "God, he really is such a mess."

Sakura shook her head and smiled. "You think so? I think he's funny. He and Hinata fit each other weirdly well."

Ino turned to her and grinned. "You know what? Five years ago, when we first met them, I would have said, 'you're crazy!'. But after watching them all this time? I have to give it to you. You're right."

Sakura giggled and bumped her shoulder to Ino's, eyes crinkling. But as they turned to continue their work on the now-whining daylilies, she unexpectedly caught a glimpse of Sasuke, scowling at the groaning blonde by the over-watered tomatoes. Her lips curled even more.

It was only when the sun started fading and that their colony decided to retreat to their homes that Sakura approached Sasuke again; determined to explain everything about their run-in earlier that day, both embarrassed and fearful that this would somehow color his image of her in a bad light.

On her way, she ran into Tenten and Lee who were in the middle of being tutored by Neji in the art of defensive magic. They had been training for a few months now, both holding a great deal of admiration for the way Elites like Neji protected their little society from pests and aggressive predators.

Tenten blinked in surprise as she saw her passing by, eyes squinting curiously as something seemed to catch her attention. She glanced behind herself and saw Sasuke was still working on his poor tomatoes.

A grin slipped to her lips.

"Good luck," she sang to Sakura, offering her a wink before quickly snapping back to Neji as he barked for her attention.

Sakura blushed deeper and continued to drift forward into the garden until Sasuke took notice of her. He raised a brow in obvious question when she neared his range and hovered just a few spaces away.

"Sakura," he greeted, when she found herself too nervous to even remember how to form words.

"Hi, S-Sasuke-kun. Are you—Are you doing okay?" she rushed, flustered as she tried to remember how to properly explain everything. "I mean, you didn't even take a break today. Have you really been so busy? Do you need any help?"

Staring at her for a few beats, Sasuke said nothing, his gaze only growing evermore tender.

Then, he murmured, "I'm fine. Just about done." Turning back to the plants, he wiped some sweat from his brow, hands glowing their purplish hue once more as he started tending to them again. "They're not happy, and they're struggling." He was talking about the tomatoes, clearly. "Some of them were really drowning, so I had to direct the water elsewhere into the garden while helping them breathe. Wasn't easy. But I've done enough they'll survive the night."

"You could have asked an Elite for help, Sasuke-kun."

He shrugged. "I knew I could handle it."

Pride and softness swelled in her chest; Sakura tried her best not to show it. His confidence was always so amazing, and she admired him greatly for it, but sometimes, when praise was thrown his way too often, it made him grow arrogant instead.

But spirits, was she ever certain that he would become an Elite someday. He was meant for it.

Maybe she could get there with him, too.

She bit her lip. "Um… about this morning, Sasuke-kun…"

"Sakura." He never looked away from the tomatoes. "I already told you. I get it."

"I don't know if you do, Sasuke-kun," Sakura went on, a little more pressed. "I mean at least let me explain if you're thinking about something el—"

"It's the peonies," he cut in, somehow without being rude. "Right?"

His magic faded from his fingers. He stopped working and turned towards her, flying closer to give her his full attention.

Sakura gaped, mind reeling for a long moment. "I… How did you—?"

A long sigh slipped from Sasuke's mouth, but it was patient. "Let me show you something," he said, grabbing her wrist.

Bemused, but too girlishly excited by the mere thought that Sasuke was touching her, Sakura let him lead them away, heart flipping inside her chest. She blushed heavily once she realized he was tugging her in the same direction she took to care for her peonies—but at the last moment when he should turn left, Sasuke veered a sharp right instead.

She wasn't expecting Sasuke to slowly swerve down and land upon the entrance of an old burrow dug up under a tree. Sakura frowned at him inquisitively when he tugged her further inside. He gave her a reassuring look in return, a silent promise that there was nothing to be scared about.

Her trust rooted, she followed closely behind him, stomach churning and fluttering as she focused on the way he still held onto her wrist, the feel of his warm skin on her own making her giddy.

Her eyes widened as they finally entered the burrow's main space, however, breath cutting short as she stiffened and reached for Sasuke's bicep with both of her hands. There was a calico cat staring warily their way, nursing half a dozen barely newborn kittens.

Sasuke tensed at her touch. He shifted to look at her and blinked quickly, seemingly completely unbothered by the calico cat, though she was sure he couldn't have missed her.

He softened when their gazes met, shoulders slackening as his eyes flickered over her face. A soft breath left his lips.

"Sakura. Don't worry," he said, looking down to gently pry her fingers away from him. He locked gazes again. "She won't hurt you. Trust me."

Sakura nodded, and she kept following him, fidgeting as the mother cat settled her gaze solely on her. Her heart thrummed in her ears.

But the moment Sasuke came up to greet her, whatever vigilance she held towards Sakura's presence positively vanished, head shifting towards the fairy she was evidently familiar with.

In awe, Sakura watched as Sasuke cradled half of the mother's cat head, one hand supporting the weight while the other gave her eager scratches and fond strokes. The young calico purred away, utterly content, angling herself in a position that suited her best in getting the most from his attention.

"Hey, Nakano. Still doing all right?" Sasuke murmured.

Nakano? Sakura's mouth dropped. Did Sasuke name her?

Nakano head-butted Sasuke gently, and she made a strange sound Sakura had never heard; a mix of a meow and a purr that made her feel all warm inside.

Judging by the way Sasuke's lips curled, the effect wasn't lost on him either. He hummed and patted her cheek.

"Good. Now let's see how your baby is doing today."

Nakano made another similar sound, and she leaned over to clean the nearest kittens, showing exactly what kind of trust she held for Sasuke—an enrapturing sight, for Sakura. The latter cautiously approached Sasuke as to not upset the mother, softening when she found him attending to a snow white, shivering kitten; the smallest of the lot, and the only one not feeding, she found as she got closer. She could only just now distinguish its faintly wheezing breaths.

"Poor thing…"

Sasuke frowned. The amount of care and genuine concern displayed on his features had her heart skipping a beat. He was so much more gentle with these cats than she had ever seen him with anyone or anything else in all the ten years he had been in their community. Maybe Sasuke had always connected better with animals than other fairies?

Somehow, that made all the love swell within her.

"Is it going to make it?"

"She'll be fine," Sasuke muttered. "I'll make sure of it."

Sakura smiled gently, and watched him. Sometimes, it amazed her how far he'd come. How hard he'd worked on leaving the tragedy of his old community behind, still capable of so much kindness and so much love despite having lost everyone he ever knew to a forest fire fueled by a still-lit cigarette. His entire family had perished to the burning flames; ones he'd barely escaped from with his own life.

Maybe it wasn't so much that he had always cared more for animals. Maybe Sasuke was simply too scared to openly show that he cherished those around him more deeply than they knew—too terrified that it would all be taken from him again.

Sakura's heart squeezed. How could the ancient gods be so cruel to a fae who felt as strongly as Sasuke did? She didn't understand it. She could only admire him, marvel at his strength and his secretly compassionate heart. Despite everything he'd gone through, he still managed to retain his tenderness, his sanity, his sense of right and wrong.

Spirits, he was so much more than the hot, cool and mysterious fairy that so much of their little garden society had pegged him as since the moment he'd arrived.

"I love you," Sakura found herself declaring without preamble, the words spilling from her lips so clearly she stiffened in an instant, knowing he couldn't have missed it. Horrified, her eyes snapped open wide.

Sasuke flinched, the purple glow of his hands fading. His gaze was frozen, unseeing; processing what he had just heard.

Sakura couldn't be more embarrassed. She panicked. "I'm—Oh spirits, Sasuke-kun, I'm so sorry, I—I don't know where that came from, I wasn't trying to—"

"Sakura," Sasuke called calmly, causing her face to flush the deepest red and her mouth to snap back shut. He didn't look up at her. "…I need to concentrate."

Humiliated, and a sharp pain twisting at her chest, Sakura nodded mutely and conceded to his silent request, twisting her fingers around themselves. Her furious blush refused to fade, her mind running endlessly with self-beratements, so much Sakura now only wished she could only fly home so she could pretend all of this had just been a bad dream.

"I'll be right back. Just need to take a break, all right?" she heard Sasuke say patiently, snapping her out of her daze. He was talking to Nakano.

Her breath caught as he turned her way and met her gaze for only a brief moment before looking away and carefully reaching for her wrist. He started guiding her back to where they had come from.

Sakura's heart lurched. They were both silent as they made their way out, a palpable tension between them so thick her blood pounded in dread. Was he going to send her away now? Push her away from his life, all because her mouth had run ahead of her thoughts? Sakura could barely stand to think because she was so nervous.

When he came to a stop, it was abruptly, just a few steps away from the entrance of the burrow. Sakura's heart pounded up a storm, dreading what might come next. For a moment, Sasuke did nothing but stare ahead, quiet, his warm hand still wrapped around her wrist.

And then he said, "This is what I wanted to show you."

Sakura startled. "T-The burrow?"

A faint smile curled at his lips. Her heart fluttered in response, fear fading slowly.

"No, Sakura. Look."

He lifted his free hand to point somewhere ahead, but Sakura couldn't see what it was he was trying to show her. There was nothing; just plain grass, wildflowers, and the trees filtering moonlight, and—

A gasp left her, and she slapped her hand over her mouth to cover it. Her eyes went wide.

Because there, far enough away that it was hard to tell through all the darkness, were her peonies—or at least the lone one surviving. The one she'd been working on for two weeks now, the one she'd been slaving away trying to save with all her heart… and she could see it all from here.

"You… you saw," she managed to utter, beautifully stunned green eyes locking with his affectionate black ones.

Sasuke squeezed his hand around her wrist, before turning to face her completely, responding with a simple nod. Hesitating, he took a step towards her; so close her breath caught in her throat, so close she could feel his own fanning against her cheek.

"I told you," he murmured, eyes flickering over her face, and just barely lingering on her lips. "I get it."

A shiver ran down her spine. She trembled as Sasuke touched his forehead to hers, slipping the hand on her wrist down to hold her fingers. A peaceful sigh left his lips.

"Sakura… Thank you."

Sakura didn't regret a thing.