On The Same Path [SasuxSaku]

Chapter 1: The Wait...

~ Sakura's POV

The lamps on the streets of Konoha Village started to lighten up as the last rays of sun started to fade away behind the clouds. Twilight was one of the best time of the day in the village. The streets would be crowded, people would finally be returning home from their work greeting everyone along the way, delicious smell of cooking would be coming out from the houses and young children would be playing in the garden carrying the dreams of becoming a strong shinobi like their hero: Naruto Uzumaki.

"No one can make one thousand shadow clones Yumika!", one of the child said.

"Naruto-sama can make more than one thousand clones, my father told me the other day! Believe me, Reo-kun!", the girl named Yumika said, excited to be a part of the conversation which involves the famous war heroes.

"He is also faster than light!", another child commented.

"No, that's Sasuke Uchiha! From the Uchiha clan... I heard they have powerful eyes.", the boy named Reo said, this time sure of himself.

"Yes, yes, Reo-kun! Shari... Sharin.."

"Sharingan.", Reo finished for her. "They also can produce fire from their mouth. Like Dragons."

The two girls eyes widened in amazement.

"But... But I have never seen him in Konoha Village. Does he not live here?", Yumika asked again.

"Yes because the greatest shinobi on earth have nothing better to do than to roam around in the streets of a village. He is out there protecting all of us. Iruka sensei told us one day", he answered, a bit annoyed with the girls and started walking off towards the park gate. He caught a women listening to them, who suddenly smiled at him when he saw her and started walking again. He remembered her as one of the doctors of the Konoha Village.

Sakura was finally heading home after finishing her shift at the hospital. He was lost in her own thoughts when she heard Naruto's name. 'Naruto-sama.' She smiled to herself. Naruto has surely made his dream come true. He might not be the Hokage just yet but the whole village respected him and considered him a hero. But again, he deserved every bit of it. Thankfully he is married now, Sakura thought. She remembered how stupid, giggling groups of fangirls roamed around Naruto before him and Hinata officially became a couple. It was after they came back from their mission from the Moon. Naruto was so in love with Hinata that he never walked the streets without proudly holding Hinata's hand. It didn't took more than two days for the whole village to know the story. Sakura has never seen Hinata so happy either. She was so happy for them. They finally tied the knot last month during the 'Sakura Season'. It was like the heaven has given their blessings to the couple. They were currently on their much awaited honeymoon to the Hot Springs, a gift given to them by Shikamaru. Sadly, they could not leave for the honeymoon on their wedding night because there was a sudden attack on the Sand Village and since the Kasekage had risked coming to Naruto's wedding during such difficult times, Naruto could not let Gaara leave alone without offering his help. Hinata was sad but Naruto promised her that he would come back and asked her to wait for him. He then whispered something in her ear which make Hinata's face redder than her lipstick and kissed her goodbye. A man of his words, he came back after a week and now they are finally off to their honeymoon. Actually, they should be back in a few days now, Sakura calculated.

She was again distracted from her thoughts when she heard the name... 'Sasuke Uchiha'. And then, 'have nothing better to do than to roam around in the streets of a village'. The words somehow hit her hard. She should have been really proud; Sasuke was no longer seen as a criminal but rather a war hero. Sure, the elders may not have forgotten but the coming generation saw him as a hero. But the little child's word hurt her already broken heart. A sense of reality dawned upon her. He may never come back... Maybe he found his salvation in protecting the village from outside. And it was becoming true also. The number of S and A ranked missions have decreased significantly. People at the Hokage Office have started calling him One Man Police Force.

The thought scared her and she quickly brushed it off her mind. She won't give up. No, she can't give up. Not now. Now, even if she had to wait forever, she will do it because there is nothing else she can do about it. She can't accept any other man's proposal and her heart would never beat for anyone else. This one thing was decided long back, long before she truly understood what love was.

People at the village knew about her love for the Uchiha and like other couples, considered them as a couple already. This was the reason she had few suitors in the beginning, just after the war. She was the famous medical ninja who was the apprentice of the Fifth Hokage and has gained the Strength of a Hundred Seal. As Sakura grew older, she was also seen as one of the most attractive konoichi of the Konoha Village. Initially, the guys hesitated in approaching her but almost after two years of war, there were more and more 'patients' leaving flowers at her desk in the hospital. She was well aware of these subtle moves made by the boys, she could not have ignored them anyway with Ino teasing her everytime she saw a flower on her desk, but she just knew she could never love someone else.

She cursed the child for mentioning Sasuke's name. Great again no sleep tonight.

But no matter how much she tried to reason with herself, she just could not stop the reality from hitting her. She thought, all she had to do was wait for him because... he promised. Didn't he? 'Until Next Time...' His words echoed in her mind every time she would miss him. And the smile. Yes, Sasuke Uchiha smiled at her. Finally, acknowledged her too.

But waiting was one thing. Because somehow, she always believed that he would come back. But with every passing day, every passing moment, the thought of him never truly returning started surrounding her. How will she survive through that? He had already been to Konoha twice and he still hadn't tried to make any contact with her.

'Sasuke-kun', she whispered staring at the moon, now shining bright. 'I am still waiting...'

Staring blankly at the sky... she wished for her prayers to reach him.

***

A/N: Hello Guys! This is my first story ever on WattPad. I am in love with Sasuke and Sakura <3 <3 So here I am, dreaming about their future. I really hope you enjoy this story! There will be many SasuSaku moments! So please keep reading and comment if you wanna give any suggestions or find any grammatical mistakes [ or if like what you read :D ] :) :) I am trying my best to keep my story strictly around the Manga and the novels.. but well :P :P