Reaching Her

Heading home

You made it back safely to where you were staying, packed up all of your belongs and started making your way back home to your village. It was going to take another week to get back and you were beginning to feel homesick but you knew you'll be home soon. You began your walk home and took the time out to admire your surroundings once more since you don't know when will be the next time you will be this far away from home; in a completely different place than what you're used to.

Your hands were hanging on to the straps of your backpack again and you felt as if each step you took were sad. Even your exhales sounded sad. The woman you saw. Her name was Fumiko and you couldn't shake her out if your head. You were thinking about your encounter with her; you were thinking about her skill set. You knew she was a very skilled fighter to get such an important scroll, the one now residing in your backpack, but did she hold back? Maybe you caught her off guard since she didn't expect you to be skilled enough? You just released a sigh of sadness again. You honestly wanted to see her again, wanting to talk with her and learn about her.

If only this were a different lifetime.

Maybe in another lifetime, you wouldn't have fallen so deeply in love with Sakura and maybe have fallen deeply in love with Fumiko - or any other woman for that matter and just lived happily. You know what they say when you have a romantic encounter with someone; you can't stop thinking about for the rest of the day. You wondered if Fumiko couldn't stop thinking about you for the rest of the day you two met.

                                                                       **

It had been a few days since you accomplished your mission. You took a couple extra days to relax and have a rather short vacation. You climbed a couple mountains, rested on said mountains and became one with nature. As you were walking through a rather small forest, you felt as though you were being watched. You gradually checked your surroundings but there didn't seem to be anyone around. Maybe it was just you? Unlikely, since it isn't often that you feel an off energy. You could also be overthinking.

You kept treading forward and overtime the off feeling faded away. Maybe it was the small forest? Who really knows at this point. You don't really have a set time to be back at the village but you were missing your home and a home cooked meal to boot. At this point, the sooner you got home the sooner you'd be in your bed.

                                                                       **

By the closing of your mission, you felt amazing; almost like an entirely brand new person. It was then that it hit you - how would you handle things with Sakura when you see her? Are you no longer romantically interested in her or what? As you gradually slowed down, you were back at the river that you had your small fantasy of a family day at. You took a deep breath and decided to take a break to have some lunch. You packed food before going on your mission but you were gradually running out. Looking around, you decided to check out what was around you. You were able to find a bunch of nuts, legumes, and berries. All delicious since they were all ripe for the picking. They're in season.

You sat by the river with your legs folded. You didn't want to submerge your feet in the water this time. You wanted to eat and think of how things could be when you see Sakura again. You know you don't have the same feelings for Fumiko as you do Sakura. You were even beginning to feel the attraction you had for Fumiko fade. Thinking about Sakura and your love for her was making all of those romantic feelings rush back but they were different this time. It was starting to hit you that as often as Sasuke is away from his family, whenever he does make time, he uses that time to go straight home to be with Sakura and Sarada. Lord Hokage was absolutely right; Sasuke does care about his family very dearly and would do anything for the girls.

It took you a long time to realize but maybe it was finally time to let go of Sakura romantically and be the friend she truly needs when Sasuke is away.