Prologue
Naruto came barging into her office last week, disturbing her from signing medical documentation sheets. The repetitive motion of scratching black ink on thin white paper allowed her to focus on something other than the increasingly glaring fact that she was exhausted.
(So tired from comparing herself to her friends, who are all happily together till death does them part.)
She wasn’t threatened by her friends getting married left and right. She felt joy for them, but there was also a deep longing every time she attended yet another engagement party or wedding. Sometimes, she would catch Naruto gazing at Hinata with unprecedented tenderness and love. Unable to bear it, she would look away, feeling a familiar, unwelcome pang of envy.
The only thing that came close was Sasuke's tap on her forehead two years ago, his two fingers lightly grazing her Byakugou. But Naruto and Hinata spent their days and nights together as a newly wedded couple, while Sasuke was just ten characters inked on a piece of paper.
“Sakura-chan!” He shook her shoulders as if she hadn't already sensed his boisterous chakra and loud stomping from a mile away.
“Naruto, please, I haven’t had a proper sleep yet to hear you scream in my ear.” She half-joked, readjusting her seat to face him. She noticed he had a letter, the same type of yellowed parchment that Sasuke used for his letters, delivered by his rude but efficient hawk. “Is that?-”
He nodded, and a wide, cheek-splitting smile appeared on his face. “He said he's coming back in exactly one week. It's about goddamn time!” She didn’t know what to say; it felt like all the air had been knocked out of her since the moment she last saw him.
She wondered what Sasuke would be like, after all these years. Would he resemble the boy she knew during their genin days, or would he be someone entirely different? She cherished the brief glimpses of him underneath the hatred when they were younger. Whenever he would pout in a petty argument with Naruto, or subtly guard her during missions when there were minimal to no threats. Those moments made her fall in love with him, no matter how small.
She allowed herself a similarly wide, painful smile and settled for silence because she wasn’t sure she could talk without her voice wavering and her eyes watering. Naruto took her silence with unexpected grace, choosing to cover the distance between them and pull her into an embrace. He knew how difficult and simultaneously exciting this news was to her.
Standing alongside Kakashi and Naruto, she could feel the excitement in the air, each of them expressing it in their own unique way. She tried to remain calm in the presence of her former sensei’s disposition, not wanting to seem too desperate, but Naruto’s wide smile made her give in with one of her own.
Seeing the familiar yet unfamiliar silhouette of Sasuke come into view of the Konoha gates brought something she thought she had dislodged a long time ago to the surface. She didn’t think the racing of her heartbeat would ever slow down at this rate, not when it came to him.
She took him in like a starved animal, noting his sharp jawline, high cheekbones, and straight-sloped nose. He was so infuriatingly beautiful. Although he looked more ragged and slightly thin, there was a lightness in his steps and eyes that she hadn't seen him have, well, ever.
Naruto greeted him first, slapping him on the shoulder as Sasuke put up a fake fight with a default sneer, amusement dancing in his eyes. Kakashi gave him his trademark eye crinkles, welcomed him, and invited him to meet him at Hokage Tower to get situated back.
Sasuke made eye contact with her last. “Sakura.”
“Welcome home, Sasuke-kun.” How often had she gone to sleep, dreamt, and woken up thinking of uttering those words to him? She didn’t want to know.
“I’m home, Sakura.”