There are times when your brain simply rejects the possibility that everything is fine and nothing bad will happen. After all the horrible things Haruno Sakura has experienced, this is not really a surprise, but her brain was doing this more often than it should.
It was a little after two. Kakashi sensei asked the former, and now newly reinstated, team seven to wait for him at their old bridge at one to discuss the first mission they will go on together. Kakashi was, of course, late. Naruto was leaning over, looking at the water, chatting aimlessly about the heat and how some things never change. Sakura kept a small smile on her face as the blond went on about his thoughts, but she couldn't help but wonder, as always.
He's not here yet. Maybe he won't be here. Maybe he decided that leaving the village was the best decision he had made and he's done it again.
She shook her head. Doubt was no stranger to Sakura, especially when it came to the Uchiha boy she was still trying to understand. She always wondered if the day would come when he decided that he still hated the village, or hated the reminders of his painful past he had to encounter daily and he would just leave. He would, like last time, pack his things and not say a word and leave her with only the memories of all the things that now bound them together forever.
Her thoughts drifted to the very beginning. A rough, stone bench. The innocent idea that all it took was true love and a kiss. The ignorance regarding how dark someone's life can be from an age when the worst thing that could happen to her was getting grounded. It was hard to forget how angry Sasuke was from the very beginning, but it was even harder to forget his eyes as they opened on that bridge on their first dangerous mission, his arms around her when she was too scared to move in the Forest of Death, his fingers around hers when he was screaming in pain and his warm breath on the back of her neck as he was saying "Thank you". It was also hard to forget the chill she felt down her spine when she first encountered him before the war, the dangerous look in his eyes, the chidori chi-chi-chiing behind her...
Maybe it would be best if he left. Maybe it would be best to start over without him.
That was a lie she wished would sink deep into her skin and bones and somehow find a way to get to her heart, but it wasn't going to happen. A pang of anxiety hit her, though, when she realized that he might have had the same thoughts and decided to act upon them.
Her knees felt weak and she wondered how painful it would be to lose something precious twice, the second time right afte getting it back. Naruto's cheerful chatter felt out of place, like laughter during a funeral. She really needed to get it together, but the stress and heat were making her progress very slow.
"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Naruto asked, suddenly looking very worried.
"I'm fine, the heat is getting to me, that's all."
She tried to smile at him, but by now he knew better. It didn't stop her though. Naruto and his endless supply of optimism could not understand why every time Sasuke was not around she had the urge to run to the village gates and close them for good.
"I know why you're worrying but- oh, there he is. OI SASUKE! IT'S ABOUT TIME!"
Sakura's head spun around to see him walking slowly towards them, looking slightly irritated. The sudden feeling that the world had just collapsed and rebuilt itself within seconds combined with the hours spent under the hot sun resulted in her losing her balance. She tried to take a step towards him to say hi when, for one moment, everything went black. She expected to feel the ground beneath her but instead she felt a warm hand holding her up. She tried to steady herself and she grabbed onto whomever was in front of her.
"Sakura-chan? Do you want us to take you home?" Naruto asked her, and she realized his voice was coming from behind her.
Her vision was blurry but she could see the silhouette of the person she has been worrying about for the last hour. For one short second her fist tightened, holding his shirt until it felt like it was going to rip, then she let go.
"Yeah, sorry. Told you, the heat was really bothering me."
"We're going somewhere else to wait then. Come on, Sasuke. And you better have a good excuse for being late." Naruto said, quickly glancing from Sasuke to Sakura then right back.
Sasuke made an unpleasant noise then proceeded to give a short explanation.
"I lost track of time while training." he said, more for Sakura's sake than Naruto's.
They started walking away from the bridge in silence, both Sasuke and Naruto glancing at her every once in a while. Sakura was looking at the ground trying to avoid any eye contact when she felt something hovering over her head.
She glanced up and saw Sasuke's hip pouch, somewhat blocking the sun. It was a small, insignificant gesture, but coming from him, it meant the world. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and she looked up at him with a genuine smile.
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."
He shrugged, trying to seem indifferent. She blushed slightly and continued to walk beside him in silence. Naruto paused his rant about having to always wait for other people for a second and looked over at them. He smiled to himself, taking pride in the fact that team seven was back partly because of his help, and then he continued on about how he would make Kakashi buy him five bowls of ramen.
Sakura's memories flooded her mind again, and this time when she looked at Sasuke all she could think of was:
He's late, so very late. But... better late than never.