Lost and Found

ONE

It's been 2 years since Sasuke Uchiha has left Konoha. The villagers had all but returned to their normal lives after the war save for a select few individuals. Sakura Haruno was one of them.

Although it was painful for her to watch him leave again it was no where near what she felt when he left at the age of 13. She knew, deep down, that he would eventually return to the village and hopefully to her.

Sasuke had left to redeem himself of his past disgressions, to find himself, and to see the shinobi world through a new perspective. She was supportive of his decision but as time passed it was hard for her to remain positive about his return.

Sakura had been lost in thought and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a knock at her office door accompanied by the call of her name. A few strands had escaped her ponytail to fall in her face which he hastily brushed back.

"C-come in!" she called.

The door swung open to reveal Shizune. She did not enter the office, instead, leaned in the threshold and crossed her arms.

"Why are you still here?" she asked as she leveled her eyes at Sakura. She was not happy to be having this conversation. Again. Her tone resembled one a parent would use when scolding a child. While Shizune was her friend first she did think of herself as sort of a mother figure to Sakura.

The pinkette smiled sheepishly. The two of them had this conversation many times and Sakura had given her many excuses. Many, many excuses.

"I just had one last thing to do."

"Sakura you were supposed to leave before I went into my last surgery. That was 5 hours ago."

"But I-"

"Nope" Shizune said as she held up her hand, "Not interested in hearing another excuse. Just do me a favor and go home. Please. You look terrible."

Sakura couldn't help but narrow her eyes at that last comment. 'That might be true but you don't need to say it out loud' she thought to herself.

"How kind" Sakura responded sarcastically.

"You know I'm right. You barely go home, barely take a break, barely eat. You're exhausting yourself Sakura. How do you plan to take care of others when you aren't taking care of yourself?"

Sakura didn't have a response or an excuse for that one. There wasn't anything she could say to justify her lack of self care. Shizune had been spot on with everything.

"I only tell you this because I care about you" Shizune told her gently, the harsh tone disappeared from her voice.

"I know" Sakura answered meekly. She had tried to distract herself by fidgeting with the stack of papers on the desk in front of her. She was smoothing out the wrinkled edges and tapping the sides to create a neater stack.

Shizune waved her towards the door. "Come on, I'll walk you out so I know you've actually gone home this time."

Sakura stood from her desk and slouched off her lab coat to leave it hang on the back of her chair. Before walking around her desk to leave she grabbed the stack of papers she had been fidgeting with off the top and tucked them under her arm.

"The point of going home is to not work" Shizune teased.

"I- I can't just sit in that empty house. I have to keep my mind busy" she admitted.

Sakura had worked tirelessly over the last few years and was able to purchase her own home. She didn't have the best relationship with her parents so she knew she had to move out as soon as possible. She was very proud of herself but sometimes the loneliness was too much to bare.

"You're still thinking of him, huh?"

There were people who hoped Sakura would eventually move on from Sasuke as time went on. She had stuck by him since they were kids, she always believed in the good in him. She nodded her head in a silent response as they continued walking towards the exit.

When Sakura wasn't working at the hospital he was all she could think about. Working helped keep her mind busy, that's why she has immersed herself into her work the way that she has.

"Have you heard from him?" Another silent response from Sakura, she shook her head.

She used to have so much hope that she would hear from him while he was on the road but as time passed her hope had started to dwindle.

When Sasuke left two years ago he had tapped Sakura on the forehead, just like Itachi used to do to him. It was a way that they showed love and when Sasuke shared that with her it made her feel like there was finally something more than just one-sided love between them.

When the two women reached the exit Shizune stopped just outside the doors. "Go home and get some rest Sakura. I'll see you tomorrow." As she waved goodbye she turned on her heel and went back into the hospital to finish her shift.

Once the door closed Sakura turned and began her short walk home. She had purposefully bought her home nearby incase there was ever an emergency at the hospital. The short commute was a nice perk too.

She remembered when she first laid eyes on it. She had spent the whole day looking at houses for sale and none of them seemed right, for one reason or another, but when she saw it she was instantly in love.

It was a small two story home, white in color with a dark roof and shutters to match. The first thing she did when she purchased it was put planter boxes on the windows and planted flowers of every color. It was small but it was hers.

She always dreamed of what it would be like to build a family here. She imagined picnics in the grass in the backyard, having family dinners every night in the dining room, turning the second bedroom into a nursery one day.

As she got closer to her little home she could see the soft glow of the night light she placed in the kitchen. Outside of that and the light by the front door, the rest of the house was dark. She pulled her key from her pocket and went inside, once she was in she turned and immediately locked it.

She abandoned the stack of papers from under her arm on the coffee table as she walked past to the stairs. With each step her exhaustion was setting in more and more.

'The shower can wait, I need sleep more' she thought to herself as she climbed into her bed. She didn't even bother changing her clothes.