"So what did you get them?"
Sakura wiped her hands with the napkin, taking plate by plate in her hands careful not to drop any crumbs on the floor. She went toward the kitchen dropping them gently in the sink and letting water wash over them while Tsunade followed with the rest of the dirty dishes and leftover food. Both mother and daughter took a day off to share a meal at home. It had been a long time since Sakura stepped foot into the Senju residence and after all that time away she felt like a tourist in Konoha. After its destruction and restoration, the village she once grew up in wasn't the same. Even the Senju manor changed its interior, she had to keep in mind to watch out for the sharp edges of Tsunade's new dining table.
"I figured newlyweds would appreciate an envelope with money more but I also managed to get them tickets to a new spa. Hinata would love that."- Sakura said while rearranging the plates in the washing machine.
"Naruto probably wants a honeymoon with a popular ramen stand nearby."- Tsunade chuckled. "He used to be such a cute kid... When did the time go by."- The blonde sighed wistfully.
"He used to get on your nerves, Mom. He still uses your "favorite" nickname."- Sakura replied shaking her head and seeing her mom fume at the mention of the name 'granny.'
Tsunade's age had always been a confidential subject. It was better hidden than the secret Uzumaki sealing scrolls. The technique she used was passed on to Sakura. The purple diamonds on their forehead were proof of their impeccable chakra control and exemplary knowledge of medical ninjutsu. After following Tsunade's footsteps, Sakura never understood the woman's obsession with staying young although the youthful looks and the blemishless skin were like a reward.
"I won't be this young forever, Sakura. Hurry up and get hitched. I have money to spend."
The pinkette rolled her eyes and resumed her dishwashing duty wishing Shizune had been there to side with her. Sure, she intended to do it eventually but her career's trajectory had become unpredictable over the years. She waited to finish her two-year contract in Iwa before Tsunade insisted she return. Sakura had a few more months before her visa at the village expired but Naruto's wedding was a priority.
"Yeah, forehead, get hitched so our babies can be the same age and hang out."
Just like that Tsunade had a partner in crime. The leader of the Yamanaka clan walked not bothering to knock or ring the doorbell as if she owned the place. During their girlhood, they spent so much time in the broad Senju Manor that Ino had become an honorary resident. Sakura closed the tap and wiped her hands clean before facing her friend seeing someone was missing.
"Where is Hina?"
Ino shrugged her shoulders. "Bride-to-be duties. She mentioned a Hyuuga clan tradition but it slipped my mind."
"Well then. I'll leave you two to talk."- Tsunade stood behind her and Sakura could feel the older woman signing at Ino to continue pressuring her.
Once her mother left Ino spread her arms open. "C'mere." Sakura's lips curved into a genuine smile and embraced her long-time friend. Ino still had a lovely taste in perfumes, Sakura rejoiced to smell the vanilla, happy that some things had remained the same.
A walk around Konoha at night used to be their routine. Sakura wrapped herself in a random cardigan and ran off, forgetting the dirty dishes ditched in the sink. Ino babbled about her life, job, and love status, and for once Sakura was relieved. The pinkette would rather hear hours about Sai's paintings of Ino than be forced to speak of her life. She would even listen to stories of Konoha's torture and interrogation force and Ino's new mind-altering technique.
The blonde Yamanaka had come far since their academy days. There was a certain glow about her. Her hair was blow-dried as usual and her makeup style hadn't changed as Sakura noticed. Her green eyes followed down the hand Ino had wrapped around her arm and saw the brilliant sparkling rock on her bony finger.
She halted in her tracks. "Yamanaka Ino! Why didn't you tell me?"- Sakura's heart leaped in happiness.
Ino only blushed and showed her the engagement ring. "It happened only a day ago and I still haven't announced it to my mom or the clan."
Her blonde friend was interrupted by Sakura's bone-crushing hug and loud squealing. They earned a few odd looks from the people passing by. The night was young and the village was still awake. Sakura went inside the nearest convenience store and bought a wine bottle. Finding a perfect spot in the park secluded by trees, the girls sat down and the paper cups bumped a few times to celebrate the blonde's engagement.
"Sakura."
"Huh?"- Sakura mumbled absentmindedly as she poured herself another cup.
"You know I love you right?"
The obvious question confused the pinkette arousing suspicion.
"You are the bestest of all friends that have ever friended before."
"Thanks, I guess."- Sakura replied reluctantly. "I'm sure two of those words don't exist in the grammar."
"I mean I appreciate your existence on this Earth."- The over-the-top affection made her pink eyebrow twitch.
"Shut up and spill. What do you need from me?"
"You kinda need to..."
"Need to what?"- Sakura raised an eyebrow.
"Give a speech. The renovated children's clinic is opening and as the founder, I suggested you do the honors."- The Yamanaka smiled sheepishly. "I'll help you pick out a dress for the wedding if you do this instead of me."- Ino clasped her hands tightly as if pleading for mercy.
Surprisingly, Sakura nodded and sighed in defeat. "I'll do it, only because I know you don't have the guts to, piggy."- She stuck out her tongue childishly.
"I needed to see your forehead shine on TV."- Ino mimicked her and their bickering began.
A few hours had passed, and the neighborhood they were in was asleep, so they took a right turn at the corner of the park. Their cackling and banter weren't welcome in that family-friendly area.
"Ne... Sakura wasn't your new apartment this way?"
Sakura pondered it and recalled Tsunade's directions telling her to turn right from the park near the academy. The Leaf's neighborhoods changed drastically during the post-war period. Sakura hardly recognized the places besides the monumental ones: the headquarters, the academy, and the hospital. Even the Yamanaka residence moved location.
"Well, Sakura, you officially won the lottery."- Ino complimented the modern building's exterior and Sakura looked up at the tall construction in wonder. Her eyes sparkled with glee seeing the garden on the rooftop. There were three similar buildings side by side and she was in the middle, her eyes traveled to see the neighboring houses across.
"It's decided then... I'll be your permanent tenant."- Ino walked around giggling and waiting for her friend's snarky comment but none arrived.
"Sakura?"- She turned to see the pinkette's frozen figure. The tipsy girl from before vanished. "What's wrong?"- Ino watched her green eyes grow wide and her jaw almost slacked open.
District of the Uchiha Clan- read the letters on top of the gate with huge pillars and behind the tall orchard fence was the gated neighborhood. Sakura's apartment on the upper floor had a balcony facing the Uchiha district.
"Oh."- Ino came to a realization. "It totally slipped my mind."
There was no lease, her mother had bought that apartment as a gift for her "successful daughter". She couldn't refuse and hurt her mom and being in the Senju manor with the elders was out of the question. The apartment was a new start for an independent single civilian girl like her. It was supposed to be a dawning of a new life not a setting of the past.
On the area's main street, she noticed two dark figures moving toward the main gate. She didn't wait to identify them, Sakura grasped Ino's wrist tightly and pulled her into the alleyway between the two buildings. Seeing Ino was about to whine and complain, Sakura clasped her hand over her loudmouthed friend. The shadows approaching were exiting the compound and their voices were louder by the second.
"Come on, Shikamaru. I can't keep dragging you like this, you stooge."
Sakura could recognize that voice even if a thousand years had passed.
"Then leave me here, Dumbdumb."- The other voice slurred his words drunkenly. "All I want in life is... to be a cloud. Just drifting. Not giving any fucks."
"Tell that to Temari."- Naruto scoffed.
As the sound of their footsteps faded so did their voices. "That woman will kill me one day. I love her."
The pinkette finally exhaled the breath she had been holding and leaned her head against the wall of the building. Hiding from him brought back memories. There were no buildings then, only forest trees.
With the hood over her head, she kept her eyes on the ground counting the dry leaves cracking under the black sandal's heel. She told the shinobi protecting her she'd be out for a run instead she was heading down an abandoned road. A road even animals avoided.
He'd be there. Those were the whispers she heard at the inn. Uchiha Sasuke was out on a stroll and she seized the opportunity. Sakura would only capture the chance of one clandestine meeting with him. Talk to him, steal a glance, and go through three years worth of pining later. Instead of collecting medical herbs, she was collecting information on his tracks.
His possible existence deep in the forest rekindled a flame in her and that butchered hope she'd been clinging to: Sasuke would possibly change his mind for her sake. Even if he didn't take her hand and flee to Konoha with her, Sakura hoped her words would somehow leave a mark. Never in her life had she thought that her inclination to heal people would translate to the urge to fix broken guys but there she was.
A strong wind bent the tree in front and blew off her dark hood away. Her eyes squinted not able to see ahead. In the blink of an eye, she felt someone coming full force and pinning her to a tree sabotaging any movement.
Her struggling hands were held up. She roared in frustration glaring into a pair of eyes the color of blood. She got what she bargained for. The sixteen-year-old Uchiha Sasuke hunted her down and instead of his deprecating glance, he was smirking at her.
"Konoha never ceases to surprise me."- He muttered, his gloved hand brushing away strands of her pink hair. "They usually send shinobi, not medics."
Once her heart settled she spoke. "Konoha didn't send me. I came willingly upon my own decision. Naruto wanted to find you-"
"You and the dobe are all the same. Foolish and don't know when to quit."
"Sasuke-kun."- Her pink eyebrows lowered and pulled together, their inner corners angling upward, and her lower lip wobbled while he studied her expression with a curious look in his eye. "Please, when will this stop?"
"I'll give it to you, Sakura. You're brave. Coming here with a forest full of Lord Orochimaru's henchmen. You have guts."- Sasuke scoffed and she felt something moving around her restrained hands. Its surface was dry and scaly. Sakura swallowed and whimpered once she heard a hissing sound. Sasuke had handcuffed her with a snake, the animal she feared the most.
"Don't worry. It doesn't bite."- Sasuke nuzzled into her slender neck, she could feel his whisper and the light brush of his nose and lips. Her whole body stood motionless as if on guard awaiting his next move. He nipped on her skin there and she let out a frightened gasp. His chuckling vibrated through her whole system and her ransom hung on the hope that he would never harm her.
Click. She heard the sound of something being unsheathed. There was a smooth cold surface caressing her outer thigh. It was sharp, she couldn't see it but the weapon could puncture her skin. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears. Sakura nibbled on her lower lip nearly drawing blood and she held her breath as Sasuke moved the kunai up toward her skirt. Her focus was slipping away between the wiggling small snake grasping her wrist tightly, the wondering cold blade on the skin of her stomach, and Sasuke's other hand which now grasped her neck like a necklace.
He stared her in the eye again, his gaze was no longer mischievous. Sakura had to remind herself that wasn't Uchiha Sasuke who played with her as a child and comforted her. He was a man who slowly cut through the material of her red crop top and her breath hitched. Her cheeks dampened with tears and her lips muttered soft pleas while her mind couldn't register the boundary between excitement and fright.
"This is what happens when you seek a missing-nin, Sakura. Remember that."- His Sharingan tomoe spun.
Soon Sakura found herself five feet away from him, her body free and her hands holding her neck. Her heart leaped seeing his emotionless dark eyes holding no remorse after keeping her under his genjutsu. Her lack of immunity to it proved his prowess. Sakura always excelled in repelling such illusions but he had won the battle.
"Come after me again and I'll ruin you."- Sasuke warned her.
Those were his famous last words for a few years to come.
Years to come and Sakura had never mentioned that encounter to anyone. She never mentioned most of their meetings not even to Ino. That night when she was fifteen, he had planted a seed in her head while toying around with his genjutsu. That's the reason why even after his name was cleared, Sakura never once admitted the adrenalin rush.
Not that she would ever stomp on her pride again and bare her soul to Sasuke. There were countless topics she avoided discussing with that man but fate rolled the dice for her.
"Sakura. I think the coast is clear."- Ino whispered once she freed herself from her hold.
Her friend never understood the sudden paranoia. Ino always told her to stop pining for Uchiha Sasuke telling her about the ridiculous rumors and myths about his clan. Sakura brushed it off as if nothing happened between her and that man. She was scared of the judgment and never uttered a word regarding her, Sasuke, and that night.
Blinding lights, flashes, echoes of the microphone, and fast-moving pens on paper sheets. The journalists of the Leaf came prepared to conduct the interview and Sakura chose her words carefully. It wasn't her first tango holding a conference. Tsunade had imposed that she knew how to conduct herself in such situations. Under the impeccably straightened hair, the light make-up, and the confident glance- Sakura counted like clockwork each minute till the end.
As she answered questions and the reporters directed her every word, her gaze traveled through the small crowd in front of the hospital. Ino stood on her far right with the investors, giving her a thumbs-up, and her mother looked relieved to be out of the spotlight and have someone take over.
She took one look down at her notes on the stand.
"Our project was a success in the other Lands. Now clinics have opened in Iwa and Suna as well, and children there can get proper care. Our goal is to protect the young from the destructive force of this violent world."
They applauded her and she looked down, collecting the sheets of paper. The bothersome feeling of her every move being scanned irked her. Sakura looked up and gave the crowd a friendly smile. Some faces she recognized as the hospital's staff. Between the strange faces, she found a familiar one. At the far back of the crowd, a dark gaze pierced through her whole being.
She imagined their next meeting in her head more times than she could count. In none of those scenarios did Sasuke come unannounced to add more pressure. Would he finally ruin her like he promised? She couldn't read his gaze. At times she felt the chill of his cold and at times he could burn the fire in her. Sakura forgot to blink once she located him, sunlight got in her eyes and she squinted. Blinking a few times he was gone as if he was never there in the first place. It was only a random man with dark features and similar height.
Her brain was on a mission to torture her in the most delicate moment of her life when she stood under the public radar. Sakura didn't have any patients for the day and only got familiar with the things she missed over the years such as the relocation of her office to the west wing. It was more spacious, holding a bigger wardrobe for the doctor's items.
There wasn't any paperwork waiting on her desk, only the keys to her new apartment. Sakura gently hung the doctor's coat in her office and left when the sky was dipped in shades of orange and pink and the afternoon sun was losing power.
Instead of taking the shorter path home, Sakura walked on the longer one that provided less exposure. Once near the entrance of her building, she heard the noise from the Uchiha district and registered the small crowd in front of the Senbei stand. Quickly she entered the code and the door clicked open, once inside her heart could be still.
"The police station is near and security is tight. The apartment is brand new. Of course, I'd arrange for you to live there. Not even a fly can get past there without notice."
Tsunade's decision was absolute that her daughter should be provided with the finest residence. One where she was protected. It was odd to see a Senju trust the Uchiha as much but times had changed. What was even more surprising was Naruto being the one to propose the location of her new home. Not that Sakura wanted to file a complaint once she strode into the place.
The paint wasn't peeling like in the first student's dorm she had at nineteen. It wasn't dilapidated with worn-out furniture like one of those cramped apartments she had for rent years ago. The lively apartment had a peach-colored tapestry and long burgundy curtains. She turned on the lamp and its dim yellow light created a cozy atmosphere. Seeing the cute eclectic furnishings, she wanted to dive into the soft comforting couch with a blanket and book and disappear.
Sakura made amends that the balcony provided a "lavish" view of the district and opened the thick curtains letting the last light of the day inside. She opened the door and a soft breeze blew the curls that were letting loose from her hairbun.
Curiosity got the best of her, so she walked up and leaned on the railing. Many times as a teenager after Sasuke's disappearance she imagined he'd walk to her house unannounced and tell her it was all a dream. Sometimes she wished he was the man of her life until rationality got the best of her.
Down in front of the district's gates were three people, one of whom owned her tortured heart. His arms were crossed and his eyebrows furrowed, seemingly he was focused on the words of the guards. Sakura fidgeted with the long sleeves of her dress, her fingers playing with the buttons. She bit her lip, taking in his magnificent aura, the broad shoulders, and his confident stance. Counting to three, she decided on three to turn back and go, until Uchiha Sasuke peered up at her.
After the eye contact, she forgot what breathing meant and the word heartbeat was a foreign term. His dark gaze was real and not a hallucination as before. His lips curved up into a smug smile. Sasuke hardly paid attention to the group he was conversing with. His eyes swallowed her whole being. No use of genjutsu was needed, all it took for him was to spare her a glance and her thoughts wandered off to forbidden destinations and hot summer nights.
Sakura nodded at him and cowardly turned away with a tail between her legs deciding she wasn't mature enough to face the music.