Reaching Her

Keeping her company.

The woman of your dreams followed and pursued a man for years who did not deserve her. The actions you took to win her love proved to be nothing more than a failure. You thought if you were there for her to listen to her pain that she would notice you were there all along; that did not seem to work. Of course, there were other women throughout your life that you had the opportunity to be with. But, none were her. None made you feel as alive as she did. So, you could not help but try to hold onto her just a bit more in hopes that she would see the person you are. Unfortunately, she ended up marrying the man who did not deserve her; Sasuke Uchiha. 

 It has been years since they have been married but he ended up parting ways from his family soon after his daughter was born. What father, in their right mind, would want to spend time such a large amount of time away from his princess? Considering all the time he has spent away from his family, you're surprised he found the time to marry her in the first place. You made it a priority to remain in her life however way she saw fit. Sure, you hate the fact that she ended up choosing him over everyone else, not just you, but whatever it takes to make sure you see her smile every time you are with her. You wanted to make sure that you are someone she can go to for anything and everything; you'd never want her to leave anything out. You know about her daughter Sarada Uchiha and see how independent she has grown up to be so far for her age. Yet, you can't help but notice her child-like tendencies considering the fact that she is indeed still a child; she is only twelve years old.

It bothers you that her husband is not around because he decided to travel the world in search of who knows what and for who knows how long. No one really knows how long. The only person you could think of who may know is the Hokage but of course, you know it is not your place to ask. You see his daughter growing up into a wonderful young girl without a father-figure in her world and it continues to irk you. You know it's wrong to have such strong feelings for a married woman but it is not just any married woman. You have been in love with Sakura Haruno since you went to the ninja academy. You hoped with all your heart that Iruka-sensei would pick you to be apart of her team. When you heard that Naruto and Sasuke were lucky enough to be teamed with her, your heart sank. On that day you felt that your heart would never reach hers. 

As time passed, you noticed a sudden change in how close he became with her and you could not believe the advancements. Of course, you were there along for the ride because you and Sakura had become very good friends while you were still a genin and you decided that you would not confess your feelings. The last thing you wanted to do was risk all you have with her because you decided to be selfish on a random day. You valued your friendship with her more than your romantic feelings.

Even though you are not the one she chose, even though you are not her husband and father of her daughter, you can't help but feel somewhere within that this is not the end for you. You can admit that you are not fully sure if whether or not you'd try something with her but all you are sure of is that you want to be around her as much as you can.

You want to be there to support her and her daughter whenever they are in a time of need. You feel that is the least you can do since Sasuke has been away for years now and of course, has to be too far to come back in time for anything for them.

"Good morning, Sakura. I got you breakfast on-the-go. Wanted to make sure you didn't go to the hospital on an empty stomach."

"Goodmorning, (y/n). It's a really lovely morning. Thank you. You didn't have to do that, ya' know."

"I know. But I noticed you've been skipping breakfast so I thought it would be a good idea to try to bring you anything to eat. Want me to walk you?"

"Sure." Her voice sounded appreciative. You wonder when was the last time she had breakfast. She has been very busy as of late at the hospital. She was working on some chakra research and has actually been staying at the hospital rather late. There have been some nights when you made the effort to make your way over to pick her up and walk her home. You've also done the same thing with her daughter whenever it was her turn to cook dinner. You know very well how strong Sarada is but you want her to learn that no matter how strong you are, there's nothing wrong with accepting or asking for a little help.

"How is the research going, Sakura?" Your voice was filled with genuine interest to know how everything is doing. You know she is one of the top medical ninjas in the village and you couldn't help but feel very proud of her. You've seen her grown so much and you couldn't help but grow even deeper in love with her. You have even tried venturing elsewhere and turning your eyes towards other women but no real luck has been on your side. You've seen her fight. You've seen her passion and fury. you can't help but want to love her more. You're sure, Sasuke sees that same passion but he rather be far away from her than up close and intimate. You even remember Sakura telling you that their first date was about two minutes and you couldn't help but to tell her, "that's not a date, Sakura. That's barely a walk..." Nonetheless, you can't help but feel more fueled to stay by her side.

"Tiring. I hate going home so late some nights because I rather be home with Sarada when she comes home for school and have dinner with her. But, it's only for a little while longer. About two to three more weeks and I'll have my usual schedule again. Then, I can have dinner with her." You can hear it in her voice how seldom she feels about leaving her daughter alone to have dinner and not being there when she falls asleep. But soon, things will go back to their norm and you'll worry less about them.

"But thank you again for having dinner with Sarada and keeping her company. It means a lot to me."

"Of course, Sakura. You know I love Sarada like my own." Fact. You care so deeply for Sarada that you can't help but be the concerned friend sometimes when it comes to Sakura and her daughter because of how strong they always try to be, especially, Sakura. You can see it in her eyes how much she misses Sasuke and it saddens you that she's hurting so much. She works so hard because apparently, he is. Even if that is true, you think he should work harder for Sarada more than Sasuke.

"Either way, thank you again. Oh...we're here already. That felt fast."

"Time always flies with good company." You flashed a soft smile at her.

"Yeah..." She responded with a soft smile of her own. Anything to make her smile.

"Thank you for walking me to the hospital and for the breakfast on-the-go." She said as she lifted the bag carrying her breakfast.

"It was really thoughtful of you."

"You don't eat! Have to make sure you don't starve! In order to make sure you can help others, you have to help yourself first." You sounded a bit stern but it is true. You just wanted to make sure she is taking care of herself.

"You're absolutely right. So long as you're around, I'm sure that won't be much of an issue." She flashed the last smile you're going to see from her for a while and she waves at you slowly as she walked towards the entrance of the hospital. You wave slowly to her in return. You waited until she got inside to turn around and make your way towards the academy. You knew Sarada had breakfast but you just wanted to check up on her.