Memories Back Then

23

Chapter 23-

5 years later

Fifteen year old Sasuke approached his group of friends with a semi permanent frown growing on his normally smiling face. It was a Thursday morning, usually on these particular mornings he'd rush to the group with some kind of news to tell as did everyone else did. But the tradition seemed long forgotten, it seemed he wasn't the only one not upset with it when he spotted a few of his friends with matching frowns.

"Hey Sasuke did you get anything from Sakura yesterday?" Naruto asked sulking toward the boy with boogers coming out of his nose and dry tears matting his cheeks.

"Gross, get away from me dope!" Sasuke yelled out moving away from the other boy. "And no I didn't, why?"

The others looked up grimly and spotted only two pink envelopes in Ino and TenTen's hand.

"It seemed she only sent us letters this week." Ino spoke rather softly then her usual loud mouth self. "But in these letters they seem to be shorter."

'She wouldn't forget so easily, she has to be busy. She promised not to forget.' Sauske thought to himself. 'Or maybe she's just enjoying her new life so much more than she enjoyed us.'

"Tch maybe she forgot all about us after all." Sasuke snarled feeling bitter and enraged by the minute. Realizing  what he said without thinking, he rushed passed the group and into the school building as fast as he could to avoid being questioned or faced with anger glares from his friends.

"What's his deal?" Kiba growled with his arms crossed.

"He didn't have to go and say something like that." Choji said patting Naruto softly on the back who began to burst into tears again at the raven boy's words. "We're still being hopeful."

"I guess he's taking this way too hard." Shikamaru mumbled stretching his arms toward the sky with a yawn. The others turned to stare the pineapple hair boy as if he made no sense.

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Ino yelled smacking him in the head.

"I think he means how close those two were Ino." Hinata muttered. The others turned to her for a bigger explanation making the lavander hair girl blushed in embarrassment. "Those two were inseparable even if they knew each other for a brief period of time. Sasuke fell in love."

The others muttered their opinion to the though before looking toward the school where the raven hair boy left in a rush.

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"Did anything come in the mail for me?"

"I'm sorry Sasuke but there were only bills." Mikoto addressed her son who came rushing into the kitchen the moment he stepped over the threshold. She noticed how his hopeful face quickly dropped in disappointment.

"Oh ok." He said in a mumbled before dragging himself toward the staircase to retreat back to his bedroom.

"What's with that boy Mikoto? He should be worried about school and not what's coming through the mail." The patriarch Uchiha grumbled from his seat on the table. Fugaku Uchiha crossed his arms and stared at where his youngest son left. "He should be more like Itachi at his age."

"He's still young dear, don't start pressuring him." His wife retorted in a huss tone with a raised brow in disapproval.

But Sasuke heard everything clearly from on top of the stair way. "And he doesn't seem to care about me as usual."

He trudged down the hall and made his way toward his bedroom growing more sad within himself by the minute.

"She would have eventually forgotten everyone by now. It shouldn't be that much of a surprise." Sasuke grumbled to himself.

He spent the whole day avoiding all his friends and only giving a few grunts to those who caught him and tried to question his sudden behavior. Even the quietest ones, Hinata and Shino, both approached him but he pushed them away.

The raven hair boy threw his book bag to the corner and settled into his desk chair armed with a pencil and paper. He wanted to write his frustration and anger and saddness out onto the paper then send it to the pinkette girl that has got his chest twisted into knots. But somehow a part of him couldn't do it. Sasuke looked down at his paper and scoffed, the words 'Sakura!' written in an angry manner were at the top. He shock his head and looked up to the small frame that stood proudly on his desk. His anger soften at the site of the frame and what they contained.

Both eight year old Sasuke and Sakura smiled into the camera with the pinkette almost on top of the boy who tried to hug her. Another picture was taped onto the frame of the pinkette girl two years after she left, her bright green eyes were smiling all on their own as usual. There was another picture of the girl that was only a year old. She looked more mature then he ever saw her. Her long pink hair grew past the middle of her back. Her porcelain face was the same creamy pale. Her green eyes looked slightly dull but still bright. No matter how many times he looked at her photo, he always thought she was beautiful. And sitting in front of the frame rested the green ribbon she gave him instructing him not to forget her.

Sasuke pushed his hair out of his face and began to write on a new sheet of paper about his week, in hopes of any news. No matter what thoughts crawled into his head, he had to keep his head held up high. Even if those thoughts alone twisted his chest into painful knots.

'I still believe your coming home Sak-u-ra.'