Posted:11/1/2012

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...*sighs*

Summary: To win the foreboding war, the last Uchiha was called to lead the army. Uchiha Sasuke would fulfill his duties if only to make sure that the person he cared about would live a safe and content life. Though Sakura wasn't going to let him go without a fight. And even though he left without her knowing, and uncertain of him coming back alive, she promised that she would wait for him…always. Though when her mother finally intervenes, Sakura finds her self in wedlock and in despair...and then he returns.

Pairing: Sasuke x Sakura (beginning to end)

Rating: T, some fluff here and there

Thinking of You

By DreamDevourer

Chapter Three
Are you thinking of me?

Two weeks had passed since his departure.

Two weeks of worry, lonesome, and heartache.

Sakura didn't know if she could take it any longer. She found herself doing the same thing everyday. Waking up, eating breakfast, napping, eating lunch, going out for a walk, eating dinner, sleeping, and then waking up all over again. She felt like a zombie.

She knew something had to change. She couldn't continue like this. She avoided the few friends she had, as well as contact with anyone else. She just kept to herself, lost in her thoughts about him. Oh, how she missed him. Was he alright? Had he gotten hurt? Was he cold or hungry? Was he tired?

Her thoughts were never-ending. Her dreams were filled with him, some were nightmares, some were pleasant. She didn't know how to make herself at ease, until one day she walked into town, and overheard the last bit of a conversation.

"I started writing to my son the moment he left," the elderly woman said as she picked up some fruit, placing them in her basket.. "I don't get letters back very often. But so far it's been three weeks, and I've received two letters from him. Which is great! So I'll keep writing as often as I can."

"Oh that's great to hear, at least he will know you are thinking of him," the shopkeeper replied with a kind smile.

Her statement woke Sakura up from her sad state. It was like a slap to the face. That was it! She could write to him. Why had she not thought of this from the very beginning!? She dropped her basket on the ground and started running towards her house. For the first time, in weeks, she felt alive. She would be able to talk to him now. She was so happy, she had tears in her eyes.

"Sakura, what is the rush?" her mother asked, confused as to where all this enthusiasm suddenly came from, especially since for weeks now, she had been walking around like a ghost.

"Oh, mother! I've had a brilliant idea!" Sakura beamed happily, her face flushed from all the running she did.

Sakura's mother set aside her knitting, and hesitantly looked at her daughter as she stood up. "And what may this brilliant idea be, Sakura?" she asked, walking closer to her daughter, who was twirling in happiness, lost in her own world.

Sakura couldn't control herself, she was in such a good mood, that she gave her mother a big hug. "I'm going to write to him, Mother! I will write to him every day! And although he may not write back so often, at least he will know I care about him, and I miss him!"

Her mother's look was grim. And here she thought, Sakura would forget about that worthless scoundrel. Of course she knew that it would take some time. It had seemed Sakura was making some sort of progress. She had not even mentioned the boy's name in the three weeks since he had left. It would appear she was wrong to think that. It seems Sakura was just thinking of ways to contact him.

She sat back down and picked up her knitting again. So Sakura wanted to write to the boy? She could write all the letters she wanted to, but whether or not she received any letters from him—well, she was going to make sure no letters ever leave nor enter this mansion.

Sakura had left her mother quickly, going to her room to start her first letter. What would she write? How should she start it? Should she write a lot, or just a little at a time?

"Alright, Sakura, just write something, and then you can edit it later," she mumbled to herself and smiled.

Dear Sasuke,

Do you remember that first day we met? It was last March, on my eighteenth birthday. I was just about to blow out my birthday candles, when I saw you standing in the corner of the ball room. You looked oh-so-darn handsome, leaning against that wall. I'm pretty sure you crashed my party, since I know mother wouldn't have invited you. But I'm so glad you did. From that moment, when I saw you, I knew I wanted to be with you. When I blew out the candles, I wished for you to ask me to dance with you. The dancing had started, and I turned down so many invitations to dance, as you may have noticed, hoping you would eventually approach me. I saw you staring at me from that corner. You thought I didn't notice, but I did. Finally, the last dance was starting, and my mother was pestering me about dancing at least once, since it was my party. I looked back at you, in hopes you would take the hint, but you were gone. I was just about to accept another young gentleman's offer, when you called my name from behind me. I turned around, and there you were. Tall, dark, and mysterious. I didn't know much about you, actually I didn't know anything about you, only that when you came into town, I was warned to not bother with you. But when do I ever listen? You held your hand out, and gave me this daring looking, as if you were trying to warn me of you. But instead, I grew even more excited. We danced our first dance. Must have been one of my happiest moments. We twirled, and twirled. I couldn't stop smiling, while you had that smirk on your face. And then the music stopped, and we were standing so close to each other, breathless. I really wanted you to kiss me, but of course, that wouldn't be the proper thing to do in front of everyone. My mother came and snatched me away from you, but not before you whispered into my ear, "Happy birthday Sakura, until next time." To think that such a serious man, could have such a pleasant voice.

I miss you, Sasuke. I hope you are doing well and you are staying strong. I think about you every day and every night. I wish you are here now. Until next time…

Love,

Sakura

Sasuke sat on the cold ground, leaning against the tree trunk. It's been four weeks away from her.

They fought in nine battles already. He came close to his death on the second battle, because he was so lost in his thoughts about her. Afterwards, he had a good talk with himself. While in the battlefield, his mind had to be cleared. What good was he to her, if he were dead.

Sasuke took a bite out of his sandwich, and looked at his teammates. Each group had twenty members. He was somewhat pleased with his team. At least they were skilled in combat and didn't freeze on the battlefield. He didn't have to worry so much about them as he did for himself. He had to work on clearing his mind better.

It looked like one of his teammates was teasing another. He held a piece of paper in his hand, waving it around. "Haha, look at here boys, Ichi got a letter from his sweetheart back home…" The others all laughed, as they passed around the letter. Ichi was having a hard time getting the letter back.

Annoyed by the ruckus, Sasuke stood up, slowly walked up to the young man that now held the letter. "Give it here," he ordered. Without objection, the letter was placed in his hand. Sasuke turned back to Ichi and returned the letter to him. Ichi hesistantly took the letter, quickly bowing, and thanking him.

"Hn," Sasuke said without an expression. "Stop fooling around, and rest up. We have a long way to travel, and we aren't stopping for breaks."

"Jeez, what's the matter with him?"

"Looks like someone has a stick up his—" Sasuke glared, the man closed his mouth, scared for his life. He was too tired to deal with immature rascals, so he walked back to his spot, ignoring their questionable stares.

It hit him then, why he had been so gloomy. Of all the members in his team, he was the only one that hadn't received some sort of letter from someone back home. He tried to not think about it, but how could he not? He wondered why Sakura hadn't sent him anything. Maybe she didn't know she could.

What if he sent her a letter, that way she knew she could still communicate with him. And in the letter, he could reassure her that he was safe, and he was thinking of her, always.

With a somewhat more pleasant mood, he searched in his backpack for a pencil and paper. How should he start it? Should he just tell her of his experience here so far? He wouldn't go into too much detail about the war, since that was not allowed to begin with. Should he just tell her that he was alright, and missed her?

He wasn't really good with expressing feelings, it was hard enough telling her how he felt in person, much less to write it down. He sighed as started writing.

Sakura,

It's been about four weeks since I left. I wonder how you are doing? Is there anything new happening? Do you miss me?

Sasuke scoffed at himself, what a lame way to start. He crumpled the paper, and started another, and another, and another, until finally he was getting aggravated. He wrote like a damned fool in love. He didn't want appear that soft. He started again, this time with an old memory on his mind.

Sakura,

I came to Konoha with a mission. Maybe I will tell you when I get back, the entire truth of my return, but for now, let it be just a mission. The man that gave me this mission had saved my life, twice. In gratitude, I gave him my word, before he died, that I would return and keep his most prized possession safe from all harm. I started to stray a little from the mission when I saw you for the first time, walking alongside your mother. She was talking on and on, and you were nodding, with a small smile on your face. You weren't happy, even though it appeared so. At first, I thought you were sad because of the loss of your father, but as time went on, and I observed you from afar, it seemed you just wanted to be free. You took every opporuntiy possible to leave your house, whether it was to help in the hospital, or tutor the younger kids. I saw something in you, that reminded me of myself. We were both lonely, weren't we, Sakura? I had no intention of making my presence known to you directly. After three months, it became increasingly hard to not talk to you. On your eighteenth birthday, you saw me, do you remember? That smile you gave me when you first spotted me, nearly took my breath away. It threw me off guard. I never expected anyone to give me such a warm greeting, especially from a stranger. From that day on, I couldn't get you out of my mind.
Sakura, are you thinking of me? Because I'm thinking of you.

Sasuke.

Sakura had sent three letters that first week she had started writing. Three weeks later, and she had sent a total of eleven letters. Now it was alittle over two months that he had left.

Why wasn't she receiving anything back from him? Did he not get any of her letters? Was he alright? Surely they would tell her if anything did actually happen to him. So he wasn't dead. The very thought made her sicken.

Maybe they hadn't reached him yet, or he didn't get a chance to respond back. He was in a war, after all. Sakura tried to justify the reasoning. But then again, everyone else she talked to seemed to have been receiving letters just fine.

Sakura continued walking onwards down the street. The first snow fall of the season started, she didn't even notice. She was lost in her thoughts, only to find herself at building he lived in. "Sasuke…please write back soon," she whispered as she walked past the building. She wouldn't give up that quickly, she would continue to write.

Maybe the first few letters got lost, or went to the wrong team. Surely, at least one of her letters will make it to him. Yes, she would continue writing.

Katana, Sakura's mother, watched from the window as her daughter handed the postman yet another letter. When will she give up?

She paid the postman generously so the letters will never be delivered, and paid him twice more for the letters that came from Sasuke. She looked at the box she held in her hands. Already it had dozens of letters from both of them. She didn't read them, she could care less what they said to eachother.

Sooner or later, Sakura will come to understand that she had no future with him. She will settle down with whomever Katana chose for her, and that would be the end of it.

It didn't pain her one bit, to see Sakura in such an agonized state. It was Sakura's turn to feel the pain that Katana had felt for many years. Sakura had stolen all the love from Katana's husband—Sakura's father. Katana let out a small irritated laugh, she wasn't even her real daughter!

Her husband had gone off on missions, many, many times. During one of those long missions, he had apparently falling in love with a woman, by the name of Mebuki, he met in one of villages. The woman had died in childbirth. And what does the scoundrel bring back with him? A new born child! That bastard dared to name her his heir! Katana had no where else to go. It would be a scandal if she left her husband. What else could she do, but pretend to be the loving wife and mother anyone could ever ask for.

Katana locked the box of letters in her closet.

But even her pretend affections weren't enough for her husband. Oh no. Whenever he was home, he spent all his time with Sakura. Giving her everything she ever wanted. Sakura was always loved. Katana couldn't make her husband pay, because he was already dead-just as he deserved to be-but she could most definitely make sure that Sakura will experience the same hurt as Katana had felt for so many years.

Unfortunately, Sakura was heir to his wealth, so Katana had to make sure she wouldn't make herself the enemy. Katana would get a big share of it, only if Sakura was married off. And married off she shall be. Soon.

Good riddance to all.

Sasuke gasped in pain, as he pulled out the shuriken that pierced his stomach. They were losing the battle, all because he wasn't focused.

It was close to three months, and he had heard nothing from Sakura. Was she alright? Did she not receive any of his letters?

"Focus Sasuke, focus," he told himself, as he dodged more flying shurikens.

But how could he focus, when deep down, all he could think was that she was moving on.

To be continued

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