"We are going to marry."

He closed his eyes while announcing the news.

Both of his friends were pausing in their movements to eat from their ramen bowl.

Suddenly, the blonde one spit out the load he just inhaled a second ago and coughed out a loud "What?!" while making a mess on Ichirakus counter. The shoulder-length-haired girl beside him looked at him with mixed feelings, and it looked like as she's thinking how to strategically respond to his news. Before she said anything, she turned to the still coughing blonde and pats his back and reminded him to breath as his head turned dangerously red. When his friend calmed down, he turned to him and asked again.

"Did you just say you're gonna marry Teme? Are you really gonna marry Hinata? Wait, when did you even start planning to propose to her? Why haven't you told me? When did you propose?"

With every question, Naruto came dangerously closer to his face. It ticked him off, so he pushed his palm into his face to put him back to a healthy distance between their faces. Too lazy to answer everything, he just gave his trademark "Hn" answer to them. Naruto and Sakuras gazes crossed each other and as if they know what the other is thinking, they just nodded their head and gave their full attention back to him. Sakura tilts her head and gives him a small smile.

"That's good news to hear. Congratulations to both of you!"

Naruto crossed his arms before his chest and nodded to her answer in agreement.

"Yeah congratulations. Can't believe you got to marry before me."

"Thanks, you both are invited to the wedding, of course."

"Of course, we are invited! I guess I gonna pick up with you good tuxe-"

"I'm so sorry to bother you."

A young brown-haired girl, maybe aged 16, stopped Naruto in what he was going to plan about his wedding. She looked really troubled and out of breath, as if she was hurrying over to find a certain someone. Her eyes met Sakuras.

"I'm so sorry to bother you in your lunch break Haruno-San but we need you urgently back. An Emergency in the ICU. Shizune sent me to you."

Sakuras eyes widened at the mention of ICU and Shizune, as she already knows which patients need urgently her healing abilities. She grabs her bag and put some money on the counter as she hastily stands up.

"I'm sorry guys, as you've heard, I'm needed. See ya and again congratulations Sasuke!"

And with that, it was only Naruto and him left. His eyes lingered at the door maybe a little bit too long as he suddenly heard Naruto clearing his throat.

"Aw man, she was maybe like 15 minutes here? I haven't seen her in weeks. She's always at the hospital, they should give her a break man…."

Sasuke closed his eyes for a second. While Naruto hadn't seen her in weeks, he hasn't seen her in months. Since the war ended, and he was pardoned for his crimes, he saw her only a few times. While everything feels the same with Naruto, with Sakura, it was different. Although it wasn't. She approaches him like a friend. She talks with him like a friend, but he could feel a distance between them. He just doesn't know if it is because of him or her and truth to be told, he never really cared or thought about the reasons about their circumstances. Naruto started talking about his plans about his wedding again, but his mind started to drift to his memories to the time where he and Hinata announced their relationship.

"That's good news to hear. Congratulations to both of you!"

She said the same thing back then.

Sasukes eyes darkened.

He also noticed something, and it annoyed him to think about it.

Her smile didn't reach her eyes…

Here she is. Holding a bouquet of colorful flowers in her hand, just like Mikoto Uchiha would have liked. Frowning, she cleared the grave of off leaves and placed the lilies beside another bouquet of flowers. They were tulips. They seem fresh, so she assumed someone also just visited the grave. 'Must have been Hinata' she thought. It was weird, thinking about how Sasuke would go to Inos Shop and buy some flowers. The blonde beauty would have told her right away if that had happened. Looking up, her green eyes meets the open sky which was placed in the warm and beautiful rays of a sunset and a soft breeze run through her hair. Taking in the view, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. No, she really didn't know why she was here. She doesn't even know what she was feeling right now. It wasn't good feelings. She feels uneasy, and to be honest, since Sasuke came back, she has always felt like that. And she doesn't know why. She would lie to herself if she would say that she doesn't love him anymore. She was hurt, no, she is still hurting, but she was realistic enough to see that she missed her chance. "I guess, there was still some hope left…" It was a whisper that left her, and she doesn't know why, but it made her tear up a little. She remembers the conversation she had with Hinata after they announced their relationship. Hinata was apologizing to her, but Sakura, as realistic as she is, told her not to worry and everything will be fine, that it is fine and that no one has any power to their feelings, especially when it comes to love. She wished them luck, as a good girl as she is. That was her doom. If she's completely honest with herself, she feels like a total loser. She feels helpless in everything when it comes to him. She couldn't say anything. Not when she saw how he looks at her. Not when she saw how softly he smiles at her, like that time she accidentally saw them while grocery shopping… Swallowing back tears, she stared at the grave again.

"I'm sorry."

Clenching her fist, she bowed her head and remained like that for a little while.

This is as far as I can go. I'm sure it's alright if I leave like that."

Her voice just came out quietly.

He is happy now. Well, I guess he is. I don't think he would want to marry if he wasn't."

Her eyes softened.

"I know, you said that I should stay by his side, but I don't really feel comfortable with that. Especially when he's going to have a wife to do that."

Closing her eyes again, she smiled a little while thinking back to a time when she was still a 7-year-old girl. Making a promise to Mikoto Uchiha, totally clueless about life. All she knew was that the boy she saw on the bridge, eating a tomato like an apple, was cute and good-looking. She got embarrassed and tried to run away, but while turning, she crashed into this beautiful woman, who revealed herself as the mother of the boy she just stared at. Unluckily for her, the mother saw everything.

"What's your name, pretty girl?"

The little girl blushed at her remarks and gave shyly her name.

'It's Sakura. Haruno Sakura."

The woman looked at her with soft, knowing eyes.

"Well, your name is just as pretty as you. Like the flower who are blossoming in spring."

The little girl slowly looked up to with her big green eyes.

"Well, Sakura, you just saw Sasuke. He's my son. The one who's eating a tomato."

The shy girl nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"See, he is not an easy boy and he's not very social. So can you make promise with me? I just want to make sure of something. In case, your paths will cross again. Will you agree?"

Opening her eyes again, she directed her gaze to the sky.

"Now that I think about it, it seemed like you knew, something bad was going to happen. I don't know why else you would do a promise with a stranger…"

A few months later after the promise was made, the Uchiha massacre happened.

"It was a promise made to you. I guess in the process, I just wanted it myself. Most of the time, I couldn't fulfill it."

Her voice cracks. She realized that she started to bite her lips. A bad habit of her. After licking her lips, she continued.

"So actually, I'm a failure…but in the end, the result is the most important thing, right? It was his happiness I promised you. Although, it isn't me who gives him that happiness, he still is happy."

A water drop landed on her hand. Lifting it to her face, she realized that her tears started to fall silently. A quit sob escaped her. That's what she gets for playing martyr. A bitter smile formed on her bruised lips.

She only could talk in whisper.

"I wish him all happiness..."

And she meant it.

With her whole heart.

"I only will believe you if you say that without crying."

Shocked, Sakura turned around to face the person who just said that.

tbc