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Bride of the Village

Chapter 2:

The moment Sakura left Sasuke on his own, he was the only person running through her mind. She knew that she was supposed to forget him completely but she couldn't. He was her first true love, and still is. Wether she wanted it or not, he had carved a special place in her heart.

- - - - -

S-Sasuke-kun... Don't leave me! If you do, I'll scream!

Sakura was suddenly awaken from her dream about Sasuke. She then realized that she was late. She was supposed to be in Tsunade's office at 9:00 sharp and she was already 40 minutes late.

She bolted out of her bed, clad in her silk nightgown and went straight for the bathroom for her morning routines. Even though she walked out of the bathroom feeling very refreshed, she was distressed emotionally with all the things that she learned in just a day. First was her sudden sealed fate of marrying the Sand village's Kazekage and the there was Sasuke's uncalled return and confession. Changing into her usual clothes consisting of cream-colored skirt and a red shirt with a white circle at the back, she slipped on her boots and left her house immediately.

Once she arrived, she instantly went to Tsunade's office only to find it void of the hazel-eyed hokage. And instead of Tsunade, she found Gaara there by himself. Once she saw him leaning on one of the walls, she made an attempt to leave but he was too fast for her and he was already standing beside her shutting the door and locking it.

"W-what do you want?" Sakura never took her gaze off her young, yet haunting fiancé. She inched closer to the wall as Gaara looked at her intently, his lips set into a thin line.

"Who else do you think Sakura-san? Hokage-sama won't be here for a while so we have some time to get to know each other better." Gaara spoke softly to Sakura, causing her to feel uncomfortable because of his intimidating presence. She fidgeted slightly under his scrutinizing gaze.

"I have things to do, so if you don't mind I would like to leave Gaara-sama," Sakura excused even though Gaara simply answered her with a 'No'.

Gaara walked closer and closer to Sakura until she could feel his breath on her. She backed up against the wall, looking for a chance to escape only for her wrist to be grabbed by one of his hands.

"Sakura-san, I don't think it is good that you are trying to avoid your future husband," he gave her a smirk, something that cannot compare with Sasuke's.

"How about we start knowing each other this way..." Gaara leaned closer to Sakura and she moved back only to find that she was already up against the wall.

She closed her eyes tightly as Gaara came closer, his breath mingling with hers. She thought to herself silently, 'If I don't kiss him he might get mad and the treaty would be in the line... Tsunade-sama and the village's counting on me. Why do I have to be his bride!'

Sakura decided that she had no option but to kiss the once-Shukaku vessel. She leaned in closer to him and their lips met gently until Gaara kissed her harshly that it bruised her lips. She didn't enjoy one bit of it and a tear fell down her face as Gaara held the back of her head for better access on her lips. Gaara never seemed to notice the tears that fell on her porcelain skin. They broke up for air, both of them panting slightly. Shortly after Tsunade showed up.

"Ah Sakura I'm glad you could make it!" she greeted.

"Sorry Tsunade-sama, I slept in…" Sakura chuckled nervously as she spoke, knowing Tsunade did not liked it that she was late even though she did not said it. She tried to discreetly wipe her tears away.

"Well then let's get down to business. You are leaving tomorrow, are you ready?" Tsunade asked, sitting herself on her office chair.

"Yes, of course I am!" Sakura feigned, trying to pull on a perfect smile. Her mouth was saying it all, but it was the opposite of what her heart was shouting.

Tsunade nodded her head in understanding, although she could see through Sakura's fake façade. But as the Hokage, the village must come first.

"That's excellent. I would like to tell you something, but only between the two of us," Tsunade turned to Gaara, "Would you excuse us, Kazekage-sama?"

"Of course Hokage-sama," Gaara bowed politely before heading to the oak doors of the Hokage's office.

When she was sure that Gaara was out of hearing range, Tsunade turned back to her pink-haired kunoichi.

"Sakura, Naruto informed me about what happened the other day. I asked Gaara about it and he assured me that it was not his intention to scare you or anything for that matter. But I want you to be careful, got it?" Tsunade looked as serious as ever, a tint of worry visible in her voice.

Sakura smiled gently, knowing that Tsunade still cared for her. Tsunade returned the smile as she stood up and hugged the younger female before returning to her seat and calling Gaara back in.

The door opened to reveal Gaara once again, and Sakura could not help but feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Now both Gaara and I only want a few things from you Sakura."

Sakura nodded her head in response, wondering what those things would be.

"I want you to be on your best behavior for the village. I want you to follow Gaara's every word. And finally, we both want you to forget about Sasuke." Tsunade made herself perfectly clear as she spoke to Sakura. She looked at the roseate-haired woman, trying to say that if she did forget about Sasuke, everything would be much easier.

Sakura looked taken aback upon hearing the last sentence, and before she could stop herself, she asked "What?"

"Sakura... " Tsunade started to speak but was interrupted by the young, rosette woman.

"Alright," she replied, bowing quickly and leaving the office as soon as possible.

- - - - -

Sakura went straight to her apartment without looking back. She looked around the small room that served as a home for her, remembering the times when Naruto would come over for a sleep over, sometimes with Ino and Hinata. Tomorrow, she would be leaving Konoha, and she still had so many things to do like packing the things she would be bringing with her and checking on the hospital one last time. She would also have to say a proper farewell to her friends, especially Kakashi, Naruto... and Sasuke.

Now that she thought about it, Sasuke was only given a month probation and community service as a punishment. But why would she care? She would be leaving tomorrow anyways and had already said her farewell to him, so no need to talking to him anymore. She hoped that he would find another lucky girl that can return his feelings unlike her.

She started to pack her things, including the old photo of Team Seven. She smiled at the framed photo, touching the glass surface of it gently before putting it inside her bag; cushioned between her clothes to protect it from breaking.

As she packed she came upon something. Something that she wished to give to Sasuke. She remembered the day she found it.

Flash Back

Sakura threw the kunai at the tree as hard as she could. She had been training all day and was really tired. She refused to stop training though. She really needed to get stronger. She closed her eyes to picture him. Him being Sasuke, one of the reasons she badly wanted to get stronger. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her hand. She decided that it was time she gets going. As she walked away she found something sparkling on the ground. She picked it up and examined it carefully before she decided that she would give it to Sasuke one day.

End of Flash Back

Sakura smiled when she remembered that and then she decided to go to the training grounds once more. She started practicing, focusing more on taijutsu. That was until she felt someone behind her. Being the skilled ninja that she was, she quickly got into a defensive stance ready to take on any opponent. Once she saw who it was she sighed sadly, she felt an invisible hand squeezed at her heart painfully. The person who was behind her and now in front of her was none other than Sasuke, the very person she wanted to avoid so that it would be less painful leaving the village.

"Sakura can we talk?" he asked, looking at her intently with his hands in his pockets.

Sakura looked down at the ground before her, hesitantly replying, "Sure. I need to talk to you about something too, but not here."

"Okay, we can go to my house if you want to," Sasuke offered.

Sakura nodded her head and walked towards him until she was beside him. They both silently made their way up to Sasuke's house. Once they arrived there, Sasuke led her to his room and Sakura sat at the side of his bed.

"So I guess I'll let you go first," Sasuke spoke softly to Sakura, sitting himself beside her, careful not to be too close.

There was a moment of silence.

"Sasuke," the Uchiha noticed the lack of the honorific. "You know how I felt for you, and even though you can't say it, I know you feel the same, judging with what you were trying to say yesterday," she smiled at him sadly, noticing the faint rosiness of his cheeks. Her smile vanished as she continued, "…but the thing is we can never be together."

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. Deep inside, he wanted to hold her in his arms, but there was something that was keeping him from doing it. It was an unexplainable feeling that if he did it, he might regret it later on.

"And I'm going to tell you the reason why. I... I'm engaged." Sakura spoke to Sasuke and she quickly looked out the window hoping he wouldn't see a lone, salty tear that cascaded down her cheek freely.

Sasuke remained silent for a moment, trying to fully understand what Sakura had just said.

"Who is he? Tell me Sakura, who is the man you're engaged to?" Sasuke asked in monotone voice, but inside, he was feeling miserable and a mix of emotions overwhelmed him at the same time. Anger was slowly eating him.

"Sasuke, I loved you," Sakura told him, emphasizing on the word loved.

"I only told you I love you yesterday to test if I still have feelings left for you. And now I don't. Do you understand now? We can't be together because I don't love you and I belong to another man. We have to stop living in the past, this is reality and in reality I don't love you anymore. So let's forget about each other completely," Sakura lied, her voice slightly quivering as she shed more tears and continued to look at the window, not noticing that Sasuke already stood up from his spot.

"Look at me! Damn it, Sakura just look at me!" Sasuke instructed. 'Stop lying Sakura' he thought. Knowing Sakura from spending times with her during their genin days, he knew wether she was lying or not. But just to make sure, he wanted to know that she was lying from her own lips.

Sasuke put his hand gently on Sakura's chin and looked at her. He saw that she was crying and he knew that very instant that she was really lying.

That's when he leaned towards her face and pressed his lips onto hers gently and in a soothing manner. A part of Sakura was telling her to pull away but she just couldn't. A larger part of her just could not pull away from him. She truly loved Sasuke and she knew that Sasuke knew she was lying from the very start. It was very hard to say that she does not love him anymore when just yesterday, she had felt very happy of learning that he feels the same way for her.

He kissed her tenderly and she felt herself melt under his touch. She loved the feeling of their lips touching and wanted more, but they both pulled away in need of air.

"You don't love him do you?" he whispered against her lips.

Sakura did not answered Sasuke and he got up to leave, knowing what her answer would be just by how she kissed him back with equal passion.

"Sakura, I feel the same way as you do," he said, knowing that she understood what he meant by that. He looked at her over his shoulder; her hair messy and lips slightly bruised from the kiss they shared. "And I'm not letting anyone have you, especially someone you don't love. You're mine!"

With that said Sasuke left, leaving Sakura on his bed, shocked. She felt warmth on her chest when he told her she was his.

'I'm yours Sasuke-kun, it never changed.'

Sakura decided that now was the time to leave her goodbye gift to Sasuke. She left a neatly wrapped gift with cherry blossoms on it on his bed and placed a letter next to it. She closed the door behind her. It seemed like she can never lie to Sasuke, just what happened ago was a proof of that. Once again, she fell for his touch and her true feelings surfaced. It made it harder for her to say goodbye, but just the fact that he loved her too made her feel secured.

- - - - -

Sakura went to her little farewell party that her best friends Ino and Naruto were throwing for her that night. Naruto did not liked the idea at first, but if he could not do anything about Sakura's marriage, he might as well bond with Sakura while she was there. When she arrived she came to notice that everyone was there; even the young and handsome Uchiha. Her friends greeted her, hugged her and told her how much they would miss her. Sakura felt herself crying. She would miss them as much as they would miss her. But she wiped her tears away, now was not the time to be emotional. She must have fun with them while it lasted.

As the party went on Sakura couldn't stop herself from looking at Sasuke. He had a gift with him. When everyone had left except for Sasuke, Sakura walked towards him. Then she gasped when she saw what he was wearing. It was her gift for him. Sakura smiled and blushed as she looked up at him.

"Sakura here... " Sasuke handed her a gift.

She opened it, hiding her excitement. She smiled at him after seeing the content of the box. "Thank you Sasuke-kun! It's very nice of you." Sakura tiptoed to place a chaste kiss on his cheek, even though she knew that she should not have done it.

"I have to go," she said, turning around to leave.

"Wait!" Sasuke stopped Sakura. He grabbed her wrist firmly and pulled her towards him for a kiss. Sakura wanted the moment to last, her last moment with him before she leaves. She played with his locks and his hold on her waist tightened possessively.

"Don't worry. I will come for you," he whispered against their lips as they ended their kiss.

Sakura shook her head. If he did came for her, she might come with him and it could cause the very same thing that they were preventing to happen – war.

"Sayonara Sasuke-kun." Sakura tightened her grip on the gift Sasuke gave her and then she ran off and whispered "Thank you… I love you and only you Sasuke-kun."

Once Sakura was at home she immediately fell asleep from the fatigue that she acquired from the party. She left one window open, the breeze blowing in gently inside her room. Sasuke stepped in her room through the window, lying next to Sakura's sleeping form. He brushed some stray pink locks away from her face and hugged her from behind gently so she would not wake up.

He would find out who she was engaged to and he would make sure he would have what was rightfully his.

- - - - -

When Sakura woke up the next morning, she had a feeling of someone's presence last night. But she brushed it off thinking nothing of it but a dream. She went inside the bathroom, looking at herself in a mirror to find a reflection of a dull and sad woman with the same pink locks and emerald eyes as hers.

Once Sakura was ready she grabbed her bags and left for the gates of Konoha. She kept looking back, wishing Sasuke was there to take her. But she already said goodbye, and maybe, Sasuke finally understood they could never be together now and just gave up on her. She felt pain with those thoughts, but at least he would start forgetting about her and then she could finally forget about him. From now on, she had to admit the fact of living without being near him.

When she arrived she found that Gaara and Tsunade were already there. She hugged her mother-figure, bidding her goodbye. Tsunade smiled at her sadly before she turned her back and walked beside Gaara. Then they took off for the Sand village.

They were not aware of the onyx eyes that watched their every move.

Sasuke watched as Sakura left with the guy she was engaged to. He clenched his fists angrily before he ran off to talk to Naruto about something important.

- - - - -

What is this important thing Sasuke is going to discuss with Naruto? And what did he mean by "Don't worry! I will come for you" ?? You will find out in the next chapter!!!!!

Plzz Review I really appreciate it when people review!!! Thnx!

Story edited by: baby's breath