#pls give hug to sakura he deserves everything

[atopearth]

Fate/hollow ataraxia Part 2 - Food is Bliss (Phase 2)

What?! So, Bazett dying is something normal? She dies, he takes her home and she starts breathing again eventually?? Or does it just restart back in this house after they both die? Wow, they can practically never die since they’ll always revive back at the house, unfairrr! Anyway, Avenger huh? I guess he’s Angra Mainyu? Since he sounds like just a culmination of all the hatred and violence, whilst also being someone that’s weak enough that he can’t physically fight and win against other Servants? I guess it’s good that Bazett is his Master then since she’s so great at hand to hand combat~ Did Bazett actually summon two Servants? And the other one was Lancer and that’s why he’s able to stay in this world even though Kotomine is gone? Actually maybe she just made a contract with Lancer? I’m not sure how I feel about Bazett as a character, in a way she’s interesting in that she fights to protect the “correct” way of life, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel like she really cares since she seems to just feel like she needs to do this rather than this is what she wants to do? On the other hand, Avenger definitely has more thoughts and feelings towards things than he lets out with his superficial personality that he shows to kinda hide what’s inside.

Anyway, is that ghost house Shirou went to the place where Bazett and Avenger revive? Omgg hahaha, I love how when Sakura and Shirou had to cook dinner for heaps of people on the weekend, they started early on the brainstorming as to what they should cook, and when they were doing it, Shirou would refer to her as Chef Matou and Sakura would call him Chief Emiya hahahaa, they’re so cute! I think it’s one of the few times you actually get to see Sakura get full on cooking guidance from Shirou rather than the usual where they kinda just help each other out cooking their own thing. I wish we got to see the reactions of everyone eating the persimmon dinner! It would have been fun! I wanted to see the fruits of their efforts~ Oh well. It’s kinda saddening to think but it’s true that above all else, Rider is a monster that can and will eat humans if it comes to it, I mean, in the Fate route etc, it was apparent that she was unnerved over killing and devouring humans after all. As she said, she’s never been a noble spirit like Saber. LOL at Shirou wondering how it could be possible that young Gilgamesh is a nice little boy hahahah. I love their after dinner antics, lmao at Taiga losing her after dinner snacks to Saber through blackjack, she really gambles everything away haha. It was cute how Shirou scolded them🤣

Lmaoo, trust Illya to tease Saber for having a stuffed lion toy and then forcing Shirou to go buy her one too lol. HAHAHA, I love how Shirou teased Mitsuzuri’s little brother (Minori) about liking Sakura and tried to dig why he likes her🤣 Gotta love how much of a spoiled brat Taiga is to knee drop Shirou to play with her when he’s trying to sleep lmao. Honestly though, with the relationship Shirou and Taiga have, I can’t deny that I kinda wanted a Taiga route in FSN haha. Omg, I nearly died laughing at Shinji sulking at the harbour port for appearing only 3 times in the game when Sakura’s appeared so many times hahahahah. It feels like Shirou is the most smitten with Saber after all~ It was so cute when she discussed with him why bras and underwear had to have so many designs lmao. LOL, so it was Rin the troublemaker that told Saber to consult Shirou about it just because she thought it would be funny hahahahha. It was pretty hilarious when she insisted on Shirou accompanying her to the lingerie shop and Shirou ran away, but the icing on the cake was when Sakura and Rider overheard their conversation and Sakura wished her good luck on this quest lmaoo. Btw, I love how Shirou experiments making different snacks and he gets Saber the glutton to try them hahaha, so cute. Omgg Saber’s face enjoying Shirou’s baked sweet potatoes was so precious, she looked so happy🥺🥰 Lmao at Lancer picking up Makidera and them, and even saying his speciality is the javelin throw, I guess he’s not exactly wrong or lying hahahaha. Lancer being a part time florist is definitely a win win situation for him, he gets to pick up girls and earn some money haha!

I quite enjoyed Mitsuzuri’s meeting with Lancer, they got along pretty well due to their interest in martial arts etc, Mitsuzuri was so cuteee! I love how Shirou ended up bringing the party of Saber, Sakura and Rider to help clean Rin’s house hahaha, it’s true that with all her antiques and carpets etc it can be rather difficult by himself, not to mention how large the place is too! HAHAHA when Saber changed into her armour to clean Rin’s house. Lmaooo at Saber thinking all the gym equipment in the basement was what Rin tried to use as a catalyst to summon her but failed, it was so adorable when she started playing around with them all instead of cleaning hahahah, didn’t think Saber would be a bludger!🤣 It was really sweet to see Sakura’s reactions to things around the house, it was so adorable how she talked about Rin giving her the precious handmade ribbon (that’s on her hair) as a parting gift and saying Sakura has to repay it with a compounding interest rate lmao. It’s cute how she wanted Sakura to always feel connected to her through this “debt ”. Awww how cute of Saber to play with the lion plushie and even sleep with it at night!! She’s so cute!! Shirou totally deserved Saber’s wrath for teasing her about it so ruthlessly hahahah. Sakura is so mischievous! She literally just wrote down everything Shirou said in the letter to Rin hahaha, I love Sakura in this, she’s so cute but cunning at the same time hahaha. Omggg how embarrassing for Sakura that Shirou caught her hugging his jacket so lovingly hahahah! So cute though when she got all flustered. It was really thoughtful of her to notice that his button fell off and sewed it back for him.

Aww Rider going to school just to give Sakura and Shirou their lunches (that Sakura forgot) was cute, I also really enjoyed how Shirou ended up buying her food for them to enjoy together on the rooftop, it was really sweet of him. I don’t know, but Saber welcoming Shirou home and thanking him for his hard work at his job was so heartwarming, it really made me think she was such a great girl. I can’t believe this but my love for Rin is going to be at the same level as Saber if this goes on hahaha, Rin come back soon pls. I found it hilarious that Rider is so dissatisfied with bike number two that is mainly used for casual shopping, and really wants to use bike number one which is a racing bike, but Shirou is scared that she’ll be zooming around the neighbourhood like a rocket and refuses, which is very logical!! Lmao, just imagining Rider at her superhuman speed riding on that bike is killing me hahaha. Omg hahahah, that silly drawing of him imagining Rider being chased by the police on the bike and her escaping happily was so funny and cute LOL. Hahahaha, I loved how Rider tried to use her seductive skills to make Shirou bend to her will so she can use the bike, but then Sakura appears overhearing them, so she immediately runs away and leaves Shirou to deal with the misunderstanding hahahah. Honestly though, seeing Saber and Sakura co-operate happily making pie and enjoying the fruits of their efforts was so cute. They used to be rather awkward even though they got along relatively okay, so it’s pretty nice and refreshing to see that if they had the time to bond more, they could actually be so friendly.

I think I’m starting to see how and why some people might like Fate/hollow ataraxia more than the original game, because wow, seeing Sakura grow so much and become the captain of the archery club was so cool. I absolutely loved how resolute and strong she was, and I loved how she scolded Taiga for being a nuisance hahaha. It was so funny yet so cool to see that. And it’s not something sudden too, because Mitsuzuri stayed, supported and guided her into establishing more self confidence in herself into being a worthy captain so I’m glad it all worked out. Although it’s obvious Sakura would be a great captain seeing how she carries herself at the Emiya household haha. I also absolutely loved how she fed Shirou the obanyaki when they went shopping after, and it was honestly so beautiful and heartwarming to see how truly happy Sakura was. Not only is she now able to have a proper life where she’s spending time with people in the club and making friends with others whilst actually playing around doing other activities, she is also able to truly live for herself and not live in fear of anything in the Matou household. It’s so wonderful to see how nothing is holding her back anymore, and honestly this is the best ending for Sakura, or I guess, it’s more like a new beginning for her! I’m so glad they showed all this. Sakura used to think she didn’t have the right to play around and stuff, so seeing her enjoy all that made me feel really satisfied haha.

Confused Caster walking around the shopping district wondering what she should buy to make for dinner was cute haha. HAHAHA, I love how Caster and Sakura became friends because Lancer was trying to pick up Sakura and Caster hates his flippy attitude so she taught him a lesson lol. It was even more hilarious when Sakura subtly kept badmouthing Rin for using Shirou like a servant and Shirou not minding it hahaha, I think it was pretty funny how Shirou didn’t even realise or he ignored the fact that Sakura was talking about him and Rin haha. Omgg snake wine with a snake in it?! Reminds me of the crazy Chinese concoctions hahaha. Anyway, I really loved how persistent but considerate Shirou was into finding out what Rider likes to eat and what she doesn’t eat. I think it was really cool that rather than giving up after she said she doesn’t particularly mind whatever he and Sakura cooks, he instead asked her to come to the kitchen and get her to choose what she would prefer to eat from the ingredients they have. I really love how thoughtful Shirou is in changing his approach several times in order to get Rider to enjoy her food rather than just feel apathetic about it all. Lmao at Saber getting jealous that she doesn’t get to choose even though Shirou asks her what she wants to eat all the time hahaha. LMAO at Saber’s reaction to octopus and not realising she’s been gobbling it up all this time when she ate takoyaki hahahah. I love how through their “fight” about the weird things they eat, Shirou gets to understand a bit more about what Rider actually prefers to eat. Rin is hilarious for making Saber wear the fancy clothes Caster sent to them hahahah, it was so cute how traumatised Saber was hahaha. Shirou imagining Issei in a frilly dress was LOL, that cursed image hahaha. Hahahaha, I love how Saber didn’t give up on eating high class food when Shirou told her they were poor, and instead said that they should raise/make the ingredients themselves so that they could cook it in the future. It was so cute when she started talking about raising ducks and pigs hahhaha. Issei being fond of sweets is cute haha.

I don’t know why but I never thought about Kiritsugu’s grave at all lol! I never thought it would be in the forest at the Ryuudou Temple graveyard though! I wonder if Illya and Saber would ever go visit…but then again, Shirou doesn’t even go so I think it’ll be harder for them. Wow, I didn’t think I needed it, but hearing Kuzuki call Caster his wife and leave her in Shirou’s hands (to learn cooking lmao) was so..amusing LOL. On the other hand, Reikan (Issei’s brother) is a pretty cool guy! He’s chill, full of confidence but also a strict serious guy, I can see why Issei would admire him. He gets along nicely with Taiga since they were classmates so it’s pretty cute. I…feel so sorry for Shirou that he was caught between Otoko/Neko (his part time job boss) and Taiga, they’re monsters… Hmmm, the actual story part is quite short as usual. It was expected that the white hair girl was the one who restarted the holy grail war, but why does she become possessed and have claws come out of her? Poor Shirou dieddd! Is she hiding a monster inside that comes out when it meets Shirou at the wrong time? Hahaha. Anyway, I’m curious about her so I hope we’ll get more story stuff in phase 3.

[la-moonlight-lily]

May I? Chapter 3

Summary: She’d been waiting for the one that would make her feel this way. That tenacious, profound, lingering emotion that no words can encompass. And now that she had, it had to be the one person she could not let into her heart. ItaSaku Soulmate A/U (or is it?). Non-Mass.

Rating: T. Subject to change.

1. Misconceptions | 2. Contemplations | 3. Decisions | 4. Resolutions

A/N: Hai yas I’m alive! Pls don’t hate me. This chapter needed a lot of thinking to get through, but I made sure to make it extra long to compensate for the wait! There’s a lot going on here and it’s pretty much an extra emotional rollercoaster (at least it was for me), but I hope that you like it!

Sakura yawned as she stretched tiredly, bending backwards over the back of her chair. The sun was just beginning to set, but Sakura found herself giddy with triumph. She’d been working with Shizune for the past month on developing a jutsu to accelerate bone healing, seeing as how most of their village’s occupants flooded their village daily to treat injuries ranging from fractured toes to a full-on pelvic reconstruction.

It didn’t help that the majority of Konoha’s shinobi -or any shinobi really- were always too impatient and headstrong to cooperate and let their injuries heal properly. The fact that the missions needed to sustain the village were also too many to complete with the rate of injuries occurring made their dear old Hokage quite cranky too. And a cranky Hokage meant exhausted, overworked apprentices who had almost incessant headaches from dealing with a tipsy, irritated superior who constantly shouted out her frustrations at the two of them. When poor Shizune almost burst into tears once from all the stress, Sakura suggested that they try to find a solution to their predicament. It managed to placate Tsunade slightly, and gave the two women something to focus on other than fiery blondes and paperwork. And silky-haired Uchiha prodigies.

“I think this is it, Sakura-chan!” Shizune’s smile was so infectious and Sakura herself found it hard not to beam brightly at the older woman.

“Now we just need to test it,” Shizune continued, looking over some of their notes from the day, “It’s been effective enough on the test material, now we just need an actual human with actual broken bones.”

Sakura grinned at her. “Give me an hour and I’ll get you two of those.”

Shizune looked exasperated. “It is generally not advised to crack your own teammates’ skeletons, Sakura.”

“Not when they’re as annoying as mine!” Sakura said with a laugh. “Besides, the two idiots are probably slamming each other’s faces into the ground as we speak. It’s an opportunity that we shouldn’t pass up, really.”

“Tomorrow, then,” Shizune countered, “we’ve been very productive today, I think we deserve to clock out early. And if you’re as tired as I am, you’ll need at least a long bath and a good night’s sleep before you even have the mind to deal with a patient.”

“You’re just going to talk Genma-san into giving you a massage tonight, aren’t you?” Sakura smirked at her. The older woman smiled slightly in return.

“Can you blame me?”

She really couldn’t. Genma was infamous for giving the best massages in Konoha -among other things that Sakura could not mention without resembling a red beet- and if she wasn’t such good friends with his wife, she’d be constantly bullying him into helping her relax her tightly wound muscles. She’d been aching for a massage that good ever since she received one from him after a particularly rough mission that left her neck pretty tense the whole way back. Her neck had never felt so good since.

“Go home to your husband, Shizune-san,” Sakura had started organising their notes in stacks, “and I’ll make sure I show up with two already shattered morons tomorrow.”

Before Shizune could respond, a knock sounded at the door, which opened at Shizune’s permission to whoever it was to enter. When a shock of blond hair greeted them, the two women couldn’t help but burst into giggles.

“Couldn’t you have mentioned a million ryo instead, Sakura-chan?” Shizune joked and Sakura sighed in mock-disappointment.

“Shishou’s luck is rubbing off on me.” She was pouting and Naruto looked confused for a second before his brain caught on.

“Saying good things, I hope?” He was grinning and making his way around the desk towards her. She smirked back at him.

“Of course not, you dummy,” Sakura said very matter-of-factly and laughed as her friend just rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her smaller frame in a giant bear hug. One which Sakura welcomed greatly.

“What brings you here? Are you hiding from Hinata? Did you upset her again?” she couldn’t help but tease when Naruto set her down, and he almost pouted at her.

“Sakura-chaaan!” he whined in protest and Sakura giggled and ruffled his messy hair in apology.

“Sasuke-teme wanted me to tell you that he wants us over at his place tomorrow for dinner,” he explained, “Hanabi’s coming over and he doesn’t want her to feel awkward, so we’re going. Hinata too.”

Sakura frowned.

“Won’t that make her feel more awkward?” she pondered aloud. “I mean, we could get pretty carried away sometimes, and she hasn’t known us for as long as we’ve known each other. I don’t want her to feel left out.”

Naruto shrugged. “Better than having her alone with an emotionless bastard and his terrifying father.”

“Good point,” Sakura quickly agreed, nodding to as though to emphasise it more to herself. “So we should be there, say around 7?”

“Yep! Hinata and I could pass by and we could all walk there together, if you want.”

“No that’s okay.” Sakura shook her head slightly. “I’ll probably come straight from here and it’s closer to the compound anyway, so you guys don’t need to make a detour.”

“Okay then!” Naruto gave her one of those always-sunny smiles and she couldn’t help but smile at his excitement. He bent to give her another hug, telling here that he couldn’t wait to see her tomorrow before he excused himself to Shizune and left the two women back to their interrupted discussion. Sakura couldn’t blame him, really. It had been a while since he’s gotten to properly spend time with her. And even when he did, she was usually all gloomy and depressive. She could always see how hurt he was that he couldn’t cheer her up, no matter what he did. But Sakura wasn’t going to think about that now.

“I’ll clean up, Shizune-san,” she said instead, returning to the scattered papers all over their desks. “We could check the orthopaedic ward tomorrow morning, see if there are any patients willing to be our test subjects.”

The brunette looked grateful to be finally leaving their shared office. She murmured her thanks and slipped quickly out the door, leaving a suddenly more tired Sakura to sigh and gather everything into a chronological order so that they wouldn’t be lost when they need to review their findings.

Opening the top drawer to her desk, Sakura was about to deposit the now neatly organised notes and articles inside, when something caught her eye.

There was something there that hadn’t been inside this morning.

Frowning, she picked up the offending object, practically throwing the contents of her hands into the drawer and slamming it shut. She examined the item in her hand, a thin white envelope, plain but for her name scribbled upon it in an oddly familiar script.

The furrow between her eyebrows growing deeper, Sakura sat in her desk chair and proceeded to carefully split the paper open.

The next morning, Sakura ran into Ino at the hospital, who informed her that she had run into Sasuke the night before and had gotten herself invited to their dinner.

“He sounded so nervous,” Ino had told her. “Said he wanted me there because we hadn’t all had a nice get together in ages and he wanted you to have fun.”

Sakura had frowned a little at her words. Wasn’t he doing this for Hanabi and not her? It was getting a little confusing.

“I think he’s trying to distract himself from Hanabi’s presence?” Ino had considered. “He sounded weirdly intimidated that she was going to be there, it’s not like him at all.”

It’s true. It wasn’t like Sasuke. She’d have to punch some answers out of him later.

All in all, what was supposed to be a Team 7 plus the Hyuuga sisters gathering became a slightly-out-of-control gathering with the addition of Ino, who brought Shikamaru along, and Neji who claimed that he couldn’t possibly let his two precious cousins be present on their own. And suddenly, what had begun as a bonding dinner became a dining room full of everyone and their soulmate, with the exception of her and Neji, and Sakura was more than a little overwhelmed by the time they’d all finished their food.

It wasn’t too bad, since the calm that Neji and Shikamaru offered balanced out the boisterousness at the table. And Ino, bless her, forward, charismatic Ino didn’t waste any time playfully baiting and joking with Hanabi, and the younger girl was comfortably being her lively, confident self with the rest of the group in no time.

It was fun and she laughed more than she usually did for the past few months, and she was glad that Sasuke’s stiff form was beginning to loosen up bit by bit, but there were too may Shikamaru-wrapping-his-arm-around-Ino or Naruto-and-Hinata-being-super cute moments for Sakura to loosen up entirely.

Quietly excusing herself, she slipped out of the dining room and made her way up to Sasuke’s room. It had been something they’d done since they were kids, climb from Sasuke’s window up to the roof and spend the rest of their time there until they had to go home. Sometimes they would plan missions, sometimes they’d just sit there with their mugs of hot chocolate, away from the loud bustle of Konoha.

Her pink strands danced softly to the wind, just a light breeze that barely made her skin erupt in gooseflesh. Just what she liked. She’d barely gotten to cross her legs underneath her when she heard a light thump behind her.

“Almost thirteen years, and this is the first time I’ve known that you were a fan of house parties,” Sakura teased, her eyes closed.

She could almost hear Sasuke roll his eyes, if that made any sense. He plopped himself beside her and they sat in silence for minutes.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Sasuke whispered suddenly. Sakura opened her eyes a fraction, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

He was sitting cross-legged as well, almost seeming like he was meditating. But Sakura knew him better than that. She knew that close-to-invisible rigidity to his shoulders, the almost negligible lock of his jaw.

She couldn’t find anything to say. She didn’t know what she was doing herself, after all. That, and the fact that two more thumps resounded behind them not long after.

“It hasn’t been two hours, and you two are already sulking up here?” Ino’s tone was playful, carefully concealing her concern for the two of them. Sakura opened her eyes to see her blonde friend shove Sasuke aside with her foot, him scowling at her before scooting over to Sakura and letting Ino sit on his other side. Naruto had already sat himself across from them, the four of them forming a crooked semicircle.

“How did you know we were up here?” Sakura raised a thin eyebrow at Ino. The blonde snorted.

“Only had to follow this idiot up here. He seemed to know where to go.” Naruto looked ready to protest at being called an idiot, but only sighed with a resigned, but fond look on his face. Sakura uncrossed her legs and spread them in front of her, settling them in Naruto’s lap.

“So?” She didn’t need to specify who her question was directed towards. The four of them were already on the same page.

When Sasuke didn’t respond right away, Ino poked him in the ribs with her elbow.

“Speak up, Uchiha,” she poked him again, “we’ve got three stuck up Hyuuga and one ruffled pineapple head down in your dining room. We probably have only five minutes before they walk in on your parents trying to find us and get us all thrown out.”

“Hinata is not stuck up, you bimbo,” Naruto did protest this time, throwing a weird nut lying on the roof at her. Ino stuck her tongue out at him. He just huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Neither is Hanabi, for the matter,” Sasuke stated quietly, regaining the attention of his three companions. “She’s just…”

“What?” Sakura’s tone was much quieter this time. Sasuke looked so strange to her at that moment. Almost as if he was the one needing comfort for a change. She scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around his torso, pulling his head down to rest on her shoulder.

“I don’t know if I can make her happy,” he mumbled into her shoulder. “I don’t know if I can be happy.”

“Did something happen?” Naruto sounded alarmed, and Sasuke groaned in response and stuffed his face deeper into Sakura’s sleeve.

“That’s the thing,” he sighed, “nothing happened. Nothing at all. I can’t feel anything beyond what I do for any other person I have no personal feud with. There’s no connection, no spark like I thought we might have had in the beginning.

“And we just sit there, not knowing what to talk about other than the best way to sharpen kunai,” Sasuke continued. Sakura and Ino’s eyes connected over his head, a look of understanding passing between them.

“I can feel that she’s starting to get attached somehow, and she’s been trying so hard, I know she has, and she’s been trying to catch my interest in anything but I can’t seem to be capable of anything but sitting there in front of her like a dead fish.”

The three of them could barely stifle their chuckles. It wasn’t a regular affair to see Sasuke so flustered.

“Have you tried relaxing a bit around her and just being yourself, Sasuke?” Sakura tried.

He made a face. “I am myself with her.”

“The you that we know and love,” Ino beat Sakura to her reply, “or the son of a bitch that rest of Konoha absolutely detests? Other than the ladies who desire your pretty face, of course.”

Sakura knew that Sasuke loved cheeky Ino. He appreciated her beyond words. Now though, he looked close to punching her in the face. Which did not deter the blonde at all, as she continued to tease him for a bit more while he tried to ignore her. Sakura personally thought he just didn’t want to grant Ino the satisfaction of seeing him smile.

“I just don’t want to make her miserable.” He ran his hand through his hair. “And maybe this sounds selfish, but I really don’t want to end up miserable because I’m stuck with someone I can’t love as well.”

“She is your soulmate, though,” Naruto interjected for this first time in the conversation. “Whatever happens, it should end up working out in the end.”

Ino snorted. “Naruto, you and Hinata probably belong to the satisfied five percent of the world’s population. It’s not the same for everyone else.”

Naruto looked almost upset by the notion. “That’s not true! There are plenty of people who are happy!”

“And I agree,” Ino returned calmly, “but that doesn’t mean that they’re the majority. You’re the only one out of the four of us currently in a functioning relationship, and that makes you the exception, not the rule.”

Naruto looked confused, and Sakura and Sasuke just stared at Ino with a bewildered, but scrutinising expression.

“Ino might not be completely in the wrong,” Sakura began carefully, “but that doesn’t mean that you have to be miserable either. You said she was trying, and I don’t believe that you aren’t, but maybe you should try a little differently.”

“And possibly not by inviting another half a dozen people to what should have been your dinner date with her.” Ino interrupted. Sasuke almost deflated.

Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment. “You could try being as open with her as you are with me. I think she’ll appreciate a bit of attitude, she can go back and forth for hours. And she might be a bit rough on the edges too, but a little softness always works with a girl.”

Ino was nodding and Sasuke sighed. “A little easier said than done, Pinky.”

“But not impossible.” She pinched his side. “And you’ll get there, just take it one baby step at a time. Now,” she directed her attention over to the girl sitting on his other side, “what on earth is your problem? You’ve been together practically since you started babbling, what could go wrong now?”

Ino’s cheeky smile froze on her face for a fraction of a second. Then it turned almost sour.

“Well,” she inhaled deeply, “Shika has another soulmate.”

“What?!” Naruto practically yelled, and Sasuke snapped up from his slouch on Sakura’s shoulder, looking at Ino wide-eyed. Sakura felt her chest tighten.

“He does,” Ino nodded. “Remember that blonde chick from Suna? The one with the huge fan? That’s her. She even has the same tattoo as I do and she said the same first words to him and everything.”

“Wait, wait,” Naruto held his hands up, “Shikamaru’s soulmate is the freaking Kazekage’s sister?”

“The one and only,” Ino let out a bitter laugh, “they found out during the Kage Summit.”

“Ino, the Kage Summit was two months ago…” Sasuke murmured softly, and Sakura’s eyes widened.

“You’ve known for that long?” she whispered. Ino nodded, her eyes starting to well up. “Why haven’t you said anything?”

“You’ve been so down for so long, I didn’t want to add to that. And then you were just beginning to finally get back to the old you and I just…”

“Don’t you dare.” Sakura was already crawling over Sasuke’s lap to her friend. As soon as Sakura wrapped her in a tight hug, Ino’s tears became uncontrollable.

“You do not hide your pain because I cannot deal properly with mine. I’m your best friend-“ Ino squeezed her tighter, “- and you will let me be a good friend to you just like you’ve been for me, no matter what I’m going through.”

“And you have the two of us as well,” Sasuke supplemented, very firmly. “If that’s you excuse, it doesn’t hold with either of us.”

“You know it, Ino-chan,” Naruto nodded.

“I know, I know, it’s just…” she trailed off, sniffling a little while Sakura dabbed at her cheeks with her sleeve.

“I felt too heartbroken to be able to be completely coherent. It’s not her fault that Shika already has a soulmate and it’s not his fault that it’s one of those instant connections and explosion of feelings that he can’t control. It would be so wrong to keep them apart just because I already exist but…” she started to hiccup, started to sob again.

“I just can’t live with him having feelings for another woman,” she cried and Sakura felt herself tearing up, “I can’t live with him smiling at her and teasing her and, and- touching her and being so- so intimate with her the way he’s supposed to only be w-with me.”

Sakura just held Ino as she cried till her eyes were dry, her heart breaking for her friend.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so selfish,” she whispered, running her hand over Ino’s hair over and over, “You’re my oldest friend. I should have known that you weren’t okay, I should have seen it the moment you found out.”

“That’s alright,” Ino whispered back, hugging her closely, “it’s not your fault, Sakura. And you’re still my best friend.” She nudged Sakura’s shoulder with hers, wiping her face dry. As soon as she could collect herself, she sat up straighter, though still leaning on Sakura a little.

“I’m meeting up with her tomorrow,” Ino announced.

“Do you want us to go with you?” Sasuke immediately asked, sounding every bit as helpless as Naruto looked, springing up at the opportunity to ease her situation.

“No.” She shook her hair firmly, sniffing. “No. This it between the two of us. We need to reach an agreement on this together. Shika doesn’t even know we’re meeting, we need to settle on a dynamic between the two of us before we can include him in the conversation, and we don’t have much time before she has to go back to Suna.”

Sakura nodded. The delegation from Suna on behalf of the Kazekage was only staying for three more days.

“We can meet up after?” she suggested instead, “you can sleep over at my place, and we can get that strawberry banana ice cream that you love so much and catch up on all the latest gossip.”

“Sounds like a plan, Forehead,” Ino giggled quietly, pressing her palms against her now sore eyes.

“I feel so stupid,” Sasuke muttered, rubbing his neck uncomfortably. The two women half turned to look at him.

“Look at me bitching about not being able to make good conversation while you two are practically in tears because of how fate has been a right asshole to you.”

“What does that make me, then?” Naruto snorted. “King of La La Land?”

“Suits you better than Hokage-sama,” Sasuke returned and the girls laughed, their friend mock-scowling at them.

“Then you shall be upgraded to Bitchy Teme.”

“And we’re Ms. Deformed Threesome and Ms. Can’t Locate My Soulmate?” Ino threw back.

“Don’t joke about that!” Naruto cried, looking almost upset with himself.

“It’s true, though,” Sakura said with a soft smile.

“Maybe he’s dead?” Ino asked.

“Nah, he can’t be. She’d know,” Sasuke answered her.

That was also true. Her Shishou had mentioned once how she felt a part of her was missing after Dan died. Sakura attributed it to her overflowing love for her dead fiancé. It wasn’t until Kakashi got more tipsy than he usually would when they went out to celebrate returning from one dreadful mission that she started to believe otherwise.

She’d drunkenly declared that she decided her soulmate was long dead and buried. And he just fixed her with a hard look and told her she’d know for sure if he was. That she wouldn’t be so carefree about it if she knew how it felt.

He told her about a girl named Rin. She was his soulmate, but he wasn’t hers. His words never matched her tattoo, and she ended up being matched with their third teammate instead. He wouldn’t tell her the details, but apparently a mission went bad because Rin wasn’t focused months after her soulmate died. And Kakashi just knew she was gone miles and miles before he got to her.

“Maybe you knew because you knew her too. But me, I don’t know what this guy even looks like,” she slurred, “he’ll probably kick the bucket without me feeling as little as a tiny pinch.”

Kakashi just stared at her for what felt like hours.

“Trust me Sakura-chan,” he finally spoke, sounding a lot more sober than he should have been.

“You’ll know.”

“Maybe I wish he was dead,” Sakura declared quietly, her mind back in the present. Itachi’s smiling face flashed into her head and she sighed.

“Maybe I wouldn’t feel so guilty then.”

She felt Ino sag against her. Saw Sasuke stiffen from the corner of her eye, and smiled as Naruto just decided to pretend he hadn’t heard her. The poor thing would probably start crying if he thought about it too much.

“Seriously though, who is happy with their soulmate?” Naruto’s thoughtful look turned horrified in the span of a second. “Or are we all just going to become hopelessly miserable at some point?”

Sasuke couldn’t help but chuckle at his friend’s distress. “My parents are actually very happy. Among many others, as you said.”

Naruto scrunched his eyebrows together. “How?”

“What do you mean how?”

“Teme, your father has the emotional capacity of a potato.” Naruto deadpanned.

“Hey!” Ino whined. “Don’t insult the potatoes.”

“And don’t insult my father.” Sasuke was grinning, but he kicked Naruto in the knee anyway.

“He’s a good husband, and a good father. A really good leader for the clan too. Itachi and I…” he trailed off for a few moments, “we have big shoes to fill.”

Nobody said anything to that. But they all silently agreed. Uchiha Fugaku was known as many things, and a formidable Clan Head was on top of the list.

“When did you know that Itachi wasn’t your soulmate?” Ino broke the silence suddenly.

Naruto looked panicked, but Sakura just smiled calmly at him. She’d been sulking so much for months that none of them dared to bring up Itachi’s name in front of her. It didn’t even occur to Sakura before that they really didn’t know the details, just that things between them ended before they even started.

“It’s okay Naruto,” she said when he still looked ready to pounce on Ino and carry her away.

“It was one of those hot days, you remember that strange heat wave last year.” Ino nodded silently.

“I managed to bully Pasty Face over here into a spar and we just went at it for a couple of hours.”

She inhaled.

“And then we were lying there like molten jelly, and Sasuke was helping me up from the ground so we could go shower and suddenly he was right behind me.”

She could remember it so clearly. She’d gasped as soon as she felt him, almost pressed against her back, her hand still in Sasuke’s.

“Your genjutsu is still in need of much improvement,” she could hear the teasing smile on his face, felt his breath tickle her ear.

“Perhaps I could interest you in some private training?” he’d continued in that cool, confident tenor. But she couldn’t smile at his teasing. Couldn’t turn around to face him for fear that she would burst into tears, being so close to him but unable to hold him in her grasp.

“I’m sorry,” she’d choked out instead, yanking her hand free of Sasuke’s hold. “I need to go.”

She’d bolted across the village to her apartment after, too shocked to react. The sobs came later that night.

“I didn’t hear what I expected to hear from him, and so I left,” Sakura finished for them, Ino patting her back soothingly.

Sasuke, however, had a strange look on his face.

“That was the first time that you spoke?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, giving him a puzzled look when his frown grew deeper.

“Is anything the matter?”

“No,” he answered quickly, causing her to raise an eyebrow at his direction. “Nothing at all.”

“Okay…” Sakura turned her head away from him and rested it on Ino’s shoulder. They slipped back into silence before Sakura decided to sit up, a small smile on her face.

“You know,” she started, “even if I don’t end up with who I want, even if I don’t find my soulmate at all, I’ll still be happy. Because I have you,” she looked at Sasuke then, “and Ino,” Ino squeezed her hand, “and Naruto.”

Her smile grew wider.

“And I love you. For all that you’ve done and all that I know you will do for me.”

“We love you too, Sakura-chan,” Ino whispered and hugged her again, and Sakura spread an arm behind her to grab at Sasuke’s shirt.

He crawled over to her, hugging her back, and Naruto needed no invitation to envelop all three of them in a giant hug.

They stayed like this until voices interrupted them, and they barely disentangled from their unusually long group hug to see the two Hyuuga sisters climb up to the roof, a triumphant look on Hanabi’s face.

“See! I told you!” she told her sister and skipped over to them.

“What are you all doing, hiding up here and leaving us with two weirdos downstairs for half an hour?” she was almost pouting adorably. Ino grinned and got up to steer her back down to the dining room, the rest of the group following.

“Sorry Hanabi-chan,” the blonde quipped, “we needed to give your man his daily dose of mockery away from Neji. We’ll initiate you into the Let’s All Make Fun of Sasuke club soon, don’t worry.”

The younger girl perked up at that. Sasuke almost looked scared.

“How did you know we were up there, by the way?” he asked instead.

“Your chakra signature, idiot!” she looked at him in mock-horror. Kept on ranting about how the oh-so-confident Uchiha Sasuke wouldn’t think of something so simple a pre-genin could know it. She’d only stopped in the middle of mockingly explaining how to conceal one’s chakra when he dipped his head down and kissed her on the cheek.

She went from cheeky jokester to stuttering mess in an instant, the only reaction she seemed to be capable of producing is a blush and incomplete words. He grabbed her hand in his, ushering her forward with a soft ‘come on’, followed by three grinning girls towards a bored Shikamaru and slightly horrified Neji, who quickly ducked back into the room, much to their amusement.

Shikamaru met them at the door, wrapping an arm around Ino’s shoulders. Looking back, Sakura could see his overly affectionate, almost apologetic gestures all night. Ino gave him a small smile and Sakura pushed the remaining couple behind them, telling them that she’ll prepare them some tea.

Turning on the light in the kitchen, Sakura set on boiling the leaves while preparing the tea set. As the kettle started screeching, she turned around to take it off the heat, only to find a masculine form passing by the door.

He froze when he saw her, backtracking a step to stand by the shoji screen. They looked at each other blankly for a few moments, then Itachi’s lips started to tug upwards.

Holding her hands over the pocket of her vest, where a small, folded piece of paper resided secretly, Sakura almost beamed at him.

And he gave her what might have been the largest grin she’d ever seen.

She almost skipped the entire way home, too overwhelmed by her giddiness to control herself. The day had been intense, but not even Ino’s revelation could damper her mood. Not today.

Slipping into her apartment, Sakura quietly closed the door behind her so as to not disturb her elderly neighbour, and flopped back onto her bed as soon as she entered her bedroom. Not even bothering to take anything off besides her shoes.

Running a hand through her bubble gum hair, Sakura finally let the smile she’d been fighting for the past hour break free. Her hand unconsciously slipped into her pocket, unfolding the short letter. It looked almost worn, even though she’d only opened it a little over twenty-four hours ago. And even though it was burned into her memory by now, Sakura couldn’t stop herself from reading it over and over again.

Sakura,

I have always prided myself on being a man of my word. Every promise I’ve made has gone fulfilled – all but one.

I’ve promised myself, promised Sasuke, to try my best to leave you be. To help you move on instead of tying you down to what could be nothing more than wishful thinking. And every day, I did all I could to keep my distance, waiting for the day when the smiles graced your lips and your eyes shone with laughter once again. I tried so hard to let you be happy, and then perhaps my misery could have been repressed as well.

I have discovered, however, that I am more selfish than I ever made myself out to be. I cannot stop myself from longing for you; I feel a constant need to be the reason for your smiles, an unending desire to feel your happiness directed towards me, to hold you in my arms for hours on end and showing you all that I feel towards you. With no limitations, no judgement, no barriers between us.

You were not fated to be mine. But Sakura, if you are not my destiny, you are most definitely my choice. And as selfish as I am, know that I will stop at nothing to ensure your happiness, to ensure that I will give you all that I can and more, that I will do all I can to be wholly yours as you are mine.

All I need is for you to tell me that you want the same. I will never attempt anything that is against your wishes, and if you want to wait for your other half, then you can pretend that this letter never existed. No matter how selfish I am, no matter how much pain it will cause, your happiness comes before mine. And if you wish for me to remain out of your life, I give you my word that I will. That is one promise I will never break. But if your heart desires the same as what I long for, then consider me already to be you lover, your companion, your partner through all the joys and hardships you will go through. Because I have been hopelessly and completely yours ever since I saw your smile.

I am eager for your response. But please take all the time you need to consider this thoroughly and carefully.

Itachi.

She read it over twice, her lips mouthing the words as she took them in, relishing the feel of her rapidly beating heart, of the fluttering inside her stomach.

Folding the paper again, Sakura slipped it underneath her pillow and hugged another one to her chest, stuffing her face in it in an effort to contain the girly squeals she was trying to keep at bay.

For the first time in months, Haruno Sakura could say that she’d gotten a night of tranquil, contented sleep.

Itachi couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

He had to postpone his evening spar with Shisui because his cousin would have caught on to him straight away. That, and he wanted to relish the memory of Sakura’s blinding grin.

He could only give her a quick nod before he scrambled away, fearing that he’d grab her and kiss her senseless in the middle of his kitchen for everyone in the house to see.

Instead, he locked himself in his room after sending a message to Shisui, planning his next steps. He had to make sure that Sakura did not face the brunt of the backlash they were going to get. He had to make her happy and safe at all costs, make sure he’ll deal with all the obstacles he could expect with the best damage control.

All the thinking had left him famished, especially since he’d skipped dinner, and he groaned as he rolled off of his futon and made his way to the kitchen.

Even when he wasn’t actively thinking about her, Itachi couldn’t keep Sakura off his mind. Absently rubbing his lower back where his mark was tattooed, he thanked whatever deity up there that chose to put it on him in such a concealed spot. Sometimes it felt like a blessing that it wasn’t always in his face, that it didn’t constantly remind him of what he couldn’t have or what he was about to do to anger his destiny’s maker.

And maybe her first words to him weren’t ‘stay with me Itachi’, and maybe they would never even come out of her mouth, but it didn’t matter anymore. Sakura was his now, and she would be staying with him for a long, long time if Itachi had any say in that matter.

Making his way down the stairs, Itachi almost sprinted towards the kitchen in his hunger, only managing to stop himself a split second before he collided with his brother.

The day had been more overwhelming that Sasuke had been ready for, but it had ended on a better note than he had expected. It was good having a more intimate interaction with Hanabi for a change. Even if her cousin had been red faced the entire time, looking torn between being relieved for his little cousin and grabbing Sasuke by the throat. Hanabi had almost latched onto him the entire night after, too. And he had to admit, having her hand in his for a prolonged period of time had felt… nice.

But even with his -very small- progress with Hanabi, and with their newfound distress for Ino, and with Sakura’s apparently improving mood, something was still nagging in the back of Sasuke’s mind.

He’d waited long enough, till after his guests had left and both of his parents had gone to sleep. But he knew Itachi was still awake, and he needed to confirm something with his brother.

But first, maybe they needed to fill that cavity that had been gradually widening between them for the past year.

He grabbed a plate of dango from the kitchen and made towards the stairs to get to his brother’s room. But then Itachi came darting down the stairs and almost slammed square into him, making Sasuke blink in surprise.

Itachi looked almost guilty for a moment, as if Sasuke had caught him doing something he shouldn’t have been doing, but he quickly composed himself, arranging his features to give him his usual blank expression.

Neither of them made a sound, then Itachi gave him a nod and made to duck around him as he’d been doing for a while, trying to avoid any further confrontation.

“Aa, nii-san!” Sasuke almost sputtered, stopping his older brother in his tracks. Itachi turned to face him, looking at him curiously.

Sasuke offered the plate of dango wordlessly, and it was Itachi’s turn to blink as he reached out to pluck it out of his brother’s hands.

“Thank you,” he said anyway, still looking confused but with something akin to gratefulness in his eyes.

“Would you, ahh…” Sasuke began awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, “would you like to have a little spar tomorrow? It’s… it’s been a while.”

His brother cocked an eyebrow, staring at him for a little longer before his lips curved in a small smile.

“I’m leaving on a mission in the morning,” Itachi sighed, “but as soon as I get back? I’ll leave my day off entirely open for you.”

Sasuke grinned, nodding a few times like an excited child being offered candy. Itachi grinned in return.

“Thank you for the dango.” He raised the plate slightly in Sasuke’s direction and made his way back up to his room.

It felt almost as if a weight had been removed off of Sasuke’s chest.

Her good mood had lasted for about two weeks. Then she started getting antsy.

Itachi had left the day after they bumped into each other in his house. She couldn’t blame him for being away, but Sakura wasn’t known for being very patient. And it seemed her patience wore even thinner when it came to that man.

It had been three weeks since he’d left, and while it had been just impatient excitement at first, Sakura had been feeling strangely uneasy for the past couple of days. She’d wake up with her heart in her throat, like she would after having a disturbing nightmare. She’d be on her rounds at the hospital, or at the bathhouse with Ino, or even sparring with her team, when suddenly her stomach would feel like it’s in tightly coiled knots, make it effortful for her to breathe.

There was absolutely no reason she could find for her distress. Her friends were fine, the hospital was fine, they’d been doing well testing the bone-healing jutsu. Everything had been flowing in a good direction, and all that remained was for Itachi to return and claim her as he’d promised.

She was briefing a new nurse on her duties and who she was going to be shadowing for her training period, when she felt a disturbance towards the entrance of the hospital.

Curious, Sakura handed the girl the folder with her instructions and made her way towards the commotion. It was only when she was but ten steps away from it that she realised what was going on. And suddenly the knot in her stomach tightened so much that she felt her breath leave her entirely.

Standing in the middle of a makeshift circle of frantic medics was Shisui, barely able to support his body on what seemed to be an at least fractured leg.

Over his shoulder was a half-dead Itachi.

Feeling the bile rising in her throat, Sakura struggled to regain her breathing, to steady her shaking hands, and practically ran over to the two Uchiha.

Keeping his eyes open was a struggle. He’d been trying to remain conscious for the past half an hour, with absent encouragement from Shisui of ‘just a little more’ and ‘almost there’. But he’d been fighting for three days, and it was becoming a battle that he was very clearly losing. He felt the pulling sensation of being transported and almost fell off Shisui’s shoulders as the older man’s body could no longer hold him up.

Then suddenly, Itachi was being tipped backwards and his back was hitting a hard surface, several half-blurry faces looming over him.

“Ambushed… Rain shinobi-”

He could barely make out the voices. Didn’t have the energy to care. But a splash of pink assaulted his vision and for a moment, he was almost alert again.

“…poisoned three days ago-”

“…OR 4!”

He could see her barking orders that he couldn’t hear. Could see her eyes shift to his, desperately willing him to hold on for just a little longer. He tried to raise his hand, just to get his fingers to brush against her skin one more time. But his body had already given up on him hours ago, and he knew it.

“…lost too much blood-“

“…going into shock!”

“We’re losing him!”

His eyes were open only a fraction now. And Sakura was still frantically trying to stabilise him, her chakra-infused hands resting on his chest, in her frenzy looking as if she was practically pushing her life force into him.

‘I’m sorry… I tried to love you…’

He felt her slip away from him, saw her grab something somebody had offered her, then her hands were on him again.

The last thing her felt was her soothing chakra running through him and her voice ringing in his ears as his eyelids finally slipped close.

“Stay with me, Itachi!”