A/N: I uploaded this way back in January, but took it down because I reworked it into an original piece for a class I was taking. Putting it back up now because I honestly forgot about it. More oneshots in the work and next chapter of Sanguine slowly on the way. It's summer and, as always, my interest in Naruto has been rekindled.

He came to her in a dream with promises of his return.

She woke up with a smile the next morning, peering out her window to look toward the horizon and the rising sun, expecting to see his shadowy figure crawl closer.

He was not there.

She looked out her window every morning that spring and continued through summer. The autumn months cooled the world down and left her a chilled sight come morning. Her motivation began to wane but she pressed on through winter and almost forgot about his promises.

He came to her in a dream with a whispered prayer. His breath, cold and almost real.

"Sakura,"

She could say nothing and tried instead to reach toward him and pull him closer in a chilled embrace. She shivered as his breath crawled across her neck.

"Wait for me."

She buried her face in his neck, resting her temple against it in hopes that it would numb the headache that had settled from her held back tears.

"Promise me you'll wait."

Slowly, she pulled away and looked up into his eyes; they seemed to glow.

"I promise, Sasuke."

The world before her began to spin but Sakura stayed fixed on Sasuke's eyes; they remained unmoving.

Sakura greeted the morning with blue lips, smiling. The hinges to her window had frozen. She could not close it.

Spring rolled around but her frosted window remained as it was throughout winter. Sakura thought nothing of it and chose instead to focus on keeping her mind off the topic of her window and who she hoped to see framed by it in the distance.

Summer came once more and the frost seemed to have finally melted away from her window. However, heated days and humid nights gave her no motivation to try and shut her window. The mornings were fine and greeted her with a gentle breezing that cooled her heated face. She found herself tangled in her sheets and would often kick at them in frustration. Upon successful release from the confines of the wrinkled cotton, Sakura would lie on the bed, limbs akimbo as the air moved over her moistened skin. There were times, during that summer in particular, when Sakura could not help but to ignore what her left hand was doing and it worked, for what would follow always came as a surprise to her. Her knees would jerk and she would bite down on her right hand. She often wondered if she could actually wait.

He came to her in a dream with a warm embrace.

His breath burned her skin, leaving moist trails he would follow with his tongue. It set her skin aflame.

"Sakura," he breathed against her neck. "wait for me." He bit down.

Sakura's cry was lost and her moan silenced as he made his way up to her ear. He kissed the skin beneath it and whispered again.

"You promised me, Sakura." He bit down.

Sakura arched her neck away, closing her eyes and her legs for the same reason.

He moved again, his lips kissing away the tears that had managed to escape and his hand—

Sakura arched her back away from his hand and reached for his head, curling her fingers into his unruly hair, and pulled him close.

She could feel the breath of his words against her own as he spoke, "Promise me you'll wait, Sakura." He kissed her lips. "Promise me you'll wait and I will return to you." He bit down.

"I promise, Sasuke."

He kissed her again, swallowing her words.

"I promise you, Sasuke."

He kissed her and put her legs on his shoulders.

"I promise you I'll wait, Sasuke"

And then her world fell apart, but his eyes remained intact, hovering above her, out of her reach as she flew towards them, and then winking out of existence as she began her descent.

She woke up in the middle of the night. The crickets were silent.

Autumn rolled by without a word or a dream and winter followed suit. Spring came once more and summer passed by without much acclaim. And so it was for one decade followed by another. Sakura stood in front of her window one chilly autumn evening, peering out the cloudy glass toward the fast approaching night. Her weathered hands traced the pane, nails picking at the chipped paint. She caught a reflection of herself in the glass and was almost startled and completely heartbroken. It looked as though she laughed far too much and smiled one too many times. She knew she worried too much but found it hard to believe it would physically manifest on her forehead. It must have drawn even more attention as a result. Her hair had lengthened to brush past her shoulder but it had also lightened; tufts of silver had begun to peak out of her scalp. She looked tired.

Sighing, Sakura turned away from her reflection and crawled into bed. Already half asleep, she languidly pulled blanket after blanket onto her in an attempt to keep the chill away from her bones. Sleep came easily.

He came to her in a dream with a smile on his face.

"Sakura,"

She did not respond; she didn't want to.

"Sakura, look at me."

She was afraid.

"Sakura,"

She turned but saw nothing.

"Sakura,"

She squeezed harder.

"Sakura, open your eyes."

She almost refused.

There he was, hovering above. He hadn't aged a day. Sakura bit back a cry and turned away, burying her face in her hands in an attempt to muffle her cries.

"Sakura, what's wrong."

She wished he wouldn't say her name so often. It broke her heart.

"I'm leaving you behind."

He was silent.

"I've waited for so long but no matter how hard I try, I'm going to leave you behind, aren't I?"

If he was breathing before, she couldn't hear it then.

"You're not coming back, are you Sasuke?"

Nothing.

"Sasuke?"

Still.

"Sasuke?"

Everything was still.

Sakura turned around to look at what he was doing only to find him sitting in front of her, unmoving.

"Sakura, I—"

"No—don't say name, please Sasuke. I don't know if I can do this anymore."

She looked up at him then and her tears stopped.

"I'm sorry."

And his began to flow, washing her away. Unseen tides pulled her away from him but she could see his eyes in the distance, steady and unmoving.

Sakura woke up chilled to the bone; at some point in the night she had kicked the blankets off of her. She pulled them all back over her and slept the morning away.

One fine spring evening, Sakura dragged a chair over to her window. Grabbing a blanket off her bed, Sakura sat down in it and threw the it over her lap. She stared out the window toward the impending night with a smile on her face. She ignored the urge to get up and grab a pillow for the chair was more uncomfortable than anticipated and was doing a number on her hips. She rubbed her hands together, brittle fingers running over veins and liver spots. At some point, sleep claimed her.

Sakura woke with a start to face the rising sun. The light was blinding but she couldn't find the strength to bring up a hand.

He came to her then with his own stretched out to her.

"Sakura,"

She looked up to see he had not changed at all.

"I'm here."

"Sasuke?" Her voice cracked, weighed down with age and sorrow. "Where have you been?" She took his hand and struggled to stand.

"I've been waiting."

And then it was no longer a struggle as Sakura left the world behind to be with her own.