"This love is ours."

Her eyes slowly flutter open. She's awake again. It's a new day, but the same cream-colored ceiling (with the chip next to her fan) greets her as she wakes up for the, what is it up to now?, eightieth day without him. Her heart aches terribly as she sits up and swings her legs over the side of the bed to get ready for her next shift at Konoha hospital.

She misses him terribly, she thinks as she strips and steps underneath the warm shower.

Every waking moment that he wasn't with her was another painful stab to her already bleeding heart, but knowing that Sasuke would be coming back to her very soon, after such a long, extensive mission, gave her the hope and strength that she needed to keep pushing forward… to keep going on as if their lives (her life rather) hadn't changed.

She knew he didn't care to stay in the village for long. She reminisces on such as she scrubs her hair and body clean from the dirt and grim from yesterday's workload…forgoing a shower completely the previous night; due in part to her utter exhaustion and partly because she couldn't really find it in herself to care or keep up her appearance when it was just her and her alone in this empty apartment. She had no one to impress.

She stepped out, dried and brushed her teeth before going back to her bedroom in nothing but a towel to change. She was sorting through her clothes when a small tap could be heard outside her window. Straightening, Sakura turned to see that one of Sasuke's little hawks was eyeing her from just beyond the window's glass, and she smiled brightly at the familiar sight of the rolled up parchment attached to his right leg.

She practically raced over towards it, nearly tripping over her own feet along the way, and quickly shoved the barrier up after unlocking it, allowing for the miniature little raptor to hop inside. She reached out afterwards and stroked his head affectionately, to which the winged creature preened and tilted his head into her touch. This aviary in particular was one of her absolute favorites. Sasuke knew this, and sent him more often than the others given the chance.

She took the parchment from him and went to the kitchen to get his treat as per usual; which she'd usually store in there and replace every week just in case; never really knowing when or if Sasuke would be able to send her his letters. She hadn't heard from him in about a week and a half this time, and she was eager to sit down and read of his adventures, but also how close he was to returning to her; to returning home. Handing the bird his treat, she took the small letter to her bed and sat down, forgoing dressing in favor of reading it, and knowing that the bird would wait for her if she decided to send him one back or dismiss him if not.

She was grinning from ear to ear when she was finished. He would be coming home to her soon, within the month, and decided that she would write back to him this time… she almost always did unless he indicated otherwise.

She always felt better when she wrote to him. She walked over to her desk and sat down… reaching for a parchment and something to write with as the bird took a short nap on her windowsill; her bright gaze focusing on said bird at her window before a lightbulb went off inside her head. Sakura hurriedly adjusted her focus back on the task at hand and was soon writing with a rapid fluidity that rivaled the speed of the very raptor sent to retrieve her message.

'Dear Sasuke…'

A genuine smile tugs at her lips while her heart feels a little bit lighter as she dips her pen down again to finish the end of the letter. Writing down the same words that she always ended her messages with… reflecting his own.

'This love is ours. We'll see each other again soon. Until then—

Forever yours,

Sakura'

Author's Notes:

If any of these sound like your own writing or another you have read I apologize but I didn't copy anyone's work. This is entirely my own writing. As stated on Twitter, I'll be going at my own pace and not follow a daily upload schedule more than likely. I'll just post when they come to me. They'll probably be pretty short, and maybe a bit random, but I'll do my very best!