note: Two years ago as in when Sakura first left.
Approximately two years ago.
"You have to stop moping all the time, bastard."
"I don't mope, idiot."
"Hey, calling me names isn't gonna get you anywhere! If you miss her so much, you should just call her."
"I don't know which 'her' you're referring to."
"Sasuke, don't be an ass."
"..."
"Just pick up the phone and call her!"
"...I don't have her number."
"Wha-? She never gave it to you?"
"No."
"Oh. Uh...do you want it?"
"Naruto, if she didn't see fit to give it to me in the first place then obviously she doesn't want me to call. Now get out of my office unless you have some legitimate reason to be here."
"Fine, fine, jeez. Just because you got dumped..."
"Out."
She'd left a month ago, and every. Single. Day, he thinks of her.
He knows that this isn't like him, that he should be able to forcibly remove her from his mind. The first few days after she'd gotten on that plane, he'd found himself continuously picking up his phone, the first half of Gaara's number already dialed before he came to his senses.
It isn't half as bad now. He doesn't wake up expecting to find her next to him anymore, but she never fails to cross his mind at least once or twice a day. It's always the little things that get him: the occasional flash of pink, a familiar laugh or the smell of lavender, sometimes apples. Whenever he crosses paths with a reminder of her, it always feels like a first-a hard, fast hit to the gut.
Sasuke is currently sitting in the middle of an important meeting with a client from overseas. This meeting will determine if Uchiha Corps will be acquiring another property or not, or if the company up for sale falls into the hands of rivaling businesses.
Sasuke doesn't give a flying fuck how the meeting goes.
He doesn't show it, of course: his poker face is in place, and his eyes are dark and attentive as the man goes on about market saturation and distribution, when in fact he's wandering lost somewhere in last March twenty eighth, trying to remember what he'd done for her birthday.
...they hadn't spent much time out of the bed, that much he could recall. That and the particularly enthusiastic way Sakura had shown him she was happy to be alive.
Sasuke's hand curls itself into a fist, as if he can physically hold onto the weight of his memories.
Frowning, he forces himself to pay attention to the man speaking up front, already readying his own speech in his mind. For the next hour and a half Uchiha Sasuke is completely focused on business, on acquisitions and convincing the business that selling themselves to his corporation is the best possible move. His right hand though, remains closed in a fist throughout.
Present, March 20.
The day dawns slowly, the light filtering through the floor to ceiling windows of his high-rise flat. The pale sunlight creeps steadily over the silk sheets of his bed, tinting his skin with the golden glow of warmth if not the thing itself.
The moment the streaming sun hits his eyes, Sasuke is awake. He sits up, one hand raking through his hair. The sheets slide down a bare chest until they pool around his waist in a puddle of silk. Sasuke turns his head towards the sun, eyes slitted against the light. Today is March twentieth. It will be her twenty-fifth birthday in eight days. Two birthdays spent apart, two days each year of wondering who she is with, what she is doing.
His bedroom is sparse and cold, the entire wall of eastward facing windows flooding the space with light but not warmth. There is his bed, and a desk, outfitted with a laptop and a chair, but that's it. The only thing hanging on his bare walls is a calendar above his computer, where he circles the dates of important meetings and crosses off the days as they pass. Sasuke had gotten it after she left.
He isn't a pining man, and even if he thinks of her regularly it is now only in small instances, a few seconds per day of remembrance. The calendar is his only physical concession to his wanting, to regret.
Sasuke has counted the days, but subconsciously, automatically, and it is only now that he realizes how soon she is supposed to be coming home. Anticipation settles in the pit of his stomach as he gets out of bed, unabashedly naked.
The daylight highlights the tense lines of his face and offers a glimpse of tightly pressed lips before he turns away from the window.
It won't be long now.
"Hey teme! Didn't think you'd make it!" Naruto waves him over to their table. Sasuke is surprised to see Gaara's sister occupying the opposite seat. A waitress, eyes speculative, tries to hand him a menu. He ignores her and makes a beeline for the two blonds.
Sliding into his seat, Sasuke raises an eyebrow at the woman across the table. It isn't rare to see Temari around Konoha because she is Suna's ambassador, but the oldest Sand sibling had never made it a point to spend any time alone with Naruto before.
"Hey Uchiha," she says by way of greeting. Sasuke gives a curt nod in return.
"Stick still stuck in your ass, I see?" Temari smirks.
Naruto snickers, "If you really knew Sasuke-teme you wouldn't even have to ask."
Sasuke rolls his eyes but chooses not to dignify the jibe with a response, instead addressing the ambassador, voice low and polite, "Temari-san, what brings you to Konoha this time?"
"So the boy does have some manners after all? Nothing much, just some routine political nudging," Temari supplies. Her tone then shifts, "I thought the first thing you'd do is ask me about Sakura."
Sasuke stiffens, but Naruto thankfully, obliviously, plows on, "Ahh, Sakura-chan! How is she? Is she gonna come home soon?"
"About that," Temari's eyes shift to settle on Sasuke, "She says she might stay permanently after all. She seems to be getting fond of Suna."
Naruto starts protesting vehemently from besides him, but Sasuke does not notice at all. Instead, every single nerve of his body is strung-tight, and the only thing he is aware of is-
He's given her enough space, enough time. If she insists on running, on continuing to hide-
He will go to her.
That night, Sasuke clears his schedule for the next two weeks and books his flight.
He will be in Suna by March twenty-eighth.
a/n: Guess who's getting a Sasuke for her birthday present?