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"Hey, Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"Uhm...I'm just wondering if..."

"If what?"

"If I can marry you someday."

Sakura looked from across the table she is sharing with Sasuke then she laughed loudly. She was thumping the table in joy that her shake toppled over and its contents spilled to the floor. Sasuke looked at her disbelievingly. "What? Why are you laughing, you dumb ass?"

"Hahaha..." the girl trailed away. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the remaining giggles. "You didn't tell me you were allergic to chocolate shakes."

"What?" he asked. He looked at his arms to see if he developed any rashes. There were none.

"I mean, you began to say these crazy things," Sakura began to flail her arms. "When some chocolate shake enters your digestive system, it alters the way your brain thinks." She said matter-of-factly then she smiled at Sasuke innocently.

"Hey bastard, I am not crazy." Sasuke said sharply. He slumped in the chair and uncomfortably tilted his body to the side. He averted his gaze from Sakura and sank lower to his chair.

"Ne, Uchiha, I'm sorry. I was just joking." Sakura stood up and reached for Sasuke's arm. He jerked it away. Gently. He blushed at her touch.

He sat up again. "What's wrong with my proposal, Haruno?" he propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands. He looked seriously at the girl across him.

Sakura, uncomfortable with the prodigy's gaze, drew away. She sat down and fidgeted on her chair while playing with her hair. "It's just that, it's too early to say those things." She embarrassedly bowed her head, covering her face with her pink bangs.

"What's too early?" Sasuke asked. "You're eleven now, and I just turned twelve. Heck, we can even be together now."

Sakura's eyes widened at the thought of Sasuke being her boyfriend. Thoughts like mushy pet names and outrageous PDA entered her head and she literally shook those bad thoughts away. "No, Uchiha! That will be so disgusting!" she cringed.

Sasuke scowled at being dumped. "Okay then. If you don't want to be courted, then I'll court somebody else. You'll see." Sasuke rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. He propped his head on the table. "BUT WHO WILL I COURT?"

Sakura smiled. "Ne, Sasuke. I'll let you court me." She stood up and patted the boy's head gently.

Sasuke looked up and his eyes glowed.

"After 5 years."

A thump was heard from across the room.


***

It has been 8 months since the Haruno massacre. Everything has eventually calmed down, even Sakura. But the silence has been shattered again with some unexpected news.

"Mr. Uchiha!!!" a man in crisp suit and pants came running in the hall. He is in a hurry; in a state of panic. He is clutching a white envelope so tightly in his right hand that one of its side is crumpled.

The man looks so nervous that nobody dared to stop him or even ask questions. The man almost tripped in a corner and before he knew it, he's flying straight to Mr. Uchiha's door.

"Mr. Uchiha!" he gasped. The CEO looked up from his paperwork and stared questioningly at the man clutching the envelope.

"What's the reason of this sudden show of disrespect, Mr. Kimamoto?" he asked, returning to his work. He rolled his eyes.

The man, Mr. Kimamoto, approached the temperamental president and handed him the envelope. "It was from the courier." He gasped. "Unidentified sender and receiver. We decided to open it and read it." He pointed at the envelope. "Open it."

Mr. Uchiha looked so pissed at being disturbed so he opened it immediately. The words written on the envelope struck him like thunder and he paled like someone who had seen a ghost.

Prepare to die, Uchiha. Watch your family's back.

***

"Pick it up, Makoto. Pick it up." Mr. Uchiha walked around his office, his phone in his ear. He sounded so desperate.

Finally, someone answered the call. "Hello?" said the receiver. It was a woman.

"Hello, Makoto." Mr. Uchiha answered.

"Oh honey, why?"

"Listen," the CEO looked around nervously. "Pack your things now. You and Sasuke, then, then go! Go to America! Live there! There's---"

"What?" Mrs. Uchiha piped up. "Why are you telling us to leave? Why are you so nervous?"

"I received a death threat this morning. I just don't want you to get involved. You should leave as soon as possible. You don't know when they'll strike." Mr. Uchiha continued to pace around his office.

"This is so sudden! How about my businesses? My---"

"I'll take care of all that, godammit!" he shouted. The man calmed himself down by drinking some wine. "Look honey, sorry. Pack your things now; bring with you some bodyguards and maids. Catch the earliest flight to America and meet with Itachi there. He'll know what to do. I already informed him."

There was silence on the other line.

"But honey, how about you?" There was utmost concern in her voice.

"I'm okay here. Trust me. It's you I'm worried about."

"But Hideki, I'll stay. I'll always be with you."

"No Makoto." He calmed down. "I don't want you to get involved. I'll never forgive myself if something happened to you. Ok honey?"

Silence.

"Okay, love you. Take care."

"Love you too. Bye, take care also."

"Bye."

With the warning of a death threat and the looming terror that awaited them, Mrs. Uchiha can't help but be nervous.


***

"WHAT???" the boy's expression turned to anger that he stood up in indignation.

"You heard me the first time, Sasuke! Pack your things now. We're going to America!" his mother shouted all the same.

"But, but, why all of a sudden?" Sasuke tried to calm down.

"Don't ask anymore questions. If you don't want to pack, I'll order the maids to pack for you."

"No! But why this night? It's raining! Can't we just put it off until tomorrow?"

"We can't. That's final." Mrs. Uchiha hurried off, fixing herself. All the people in the Uchiha mansion were in a state of panic and emergency due to the sudden departure.

Sasuke sat down, his brain seeking some righteous answers. He diverted his attention to the rain. He looked out from the window and trailed the raindrops splattered on his window. Just when things were being better between him and Sakura, he needed to go away. Funny time to leave, it's raining. It will be so sad to leave now.

It was just unfair.

It was all unfair.

***

At the far end of the town...

"Hey Sakura! You didn't tell me the Uchihas are leaving." Ms. Mariko asked the girl crouching in the couch.

Sakura almost choked on her chips. "What the bloody hell did you say?"

Ms. Mariko rolled her eyes. "I passed over them on my way here. They are preparing to leave. For America. Funny they chose to leave during a rainy night." She shrugged.

And in a second, Sakura was out in the rain, hurrying after Sasuke.

"NE, SAKURA!! Bring an umbrella!" Ms. Mariko called out.


***

Drip....drip...

I love you, Sakura.

"Drat!" Sakura spat. "How dare he leave without my permission?"

I like you.

Drip....drip...

"Can you marry me someday?"

"How dare he, I'll kill him!"

"You're cute."

Drip....drip...

"You look good when you're blushing."

"How dare he..." Sakura wiped the tears rolling on her cheeks. "Dammit! I will not cry for that jerk!"

"I want to see you happy."

Drip...drip...

"Because I simply care for you."

"Sasuke..."
"My brother once told me that it's okay to let out some tears especially when you think you have cried enough in your heart."
Drip...drip...

"I'll wait."

"He told me that. He told me it's okay to cry."

"Until you learn to like me."

Drip...drip...

"I'm just your best friend."

"You're my best friend, why do you have to leave me???"

"But I like you.

Tears. Sakura looked at the sky as the raindrops mixed with the tears she cried.

"You can't stop me from liking you but I can wait."


***

"Let's go now, Sasuke." Mrs. Uchiha urged the boy to hurry and get in the car.

Sasuke looked at his mom. "Can I say goodbye to Sakura first?"

"There is no time. Come on!"

As Sasuke was about to get in the car, he heard a voice, calling him, choking with emotions.

"SASUKE!!!!"

He turned around and looked at the source of the noise. It was his angel, running towards him, drenched in the rain, crying.

"Sakura---"

"Come on now, Sasuke. Ignore the girl."

"BUT she's Sakura---"

"I don't fucking care who she is! Get inside the car!"

"SASUKE!!!"

Closer. Come on.

Closer.

Closer.

But the closer she was, the farther he became.

The sound of a door being slammed shut and the start of the engine made Sakura's heart lurch.


***

"You told me you won't leave me, you jerk..." She continued to run even though it was obvious she wouldn't catch up.

The sound of wind in her ears, the splatters of rain on her legs, the drenching cold in her arms make her want to not give up, to still hope that Sasuke might hear her, that Sasuke might come back again to her arms.
***

Sasuke wanted to cover his ears to muffle the sound of her voice. It wasn't that he didn't want to hear it but it was because he didn't want to hear Sakura hurting, and worse - it was all because of him.

He painfully closed his eyes and tried to remember all the memories he had with Sakura. "I'll never leave you, you bastard. But this is inevitable. Jerk, get up there. Stop crying."
***

"You told me you'll wait for me." It was very painful. "You're one of the few people that I love, why are you leaving me now??"

"Is it because of me?" Closer. Closer. Run, Sakura. "Is it because I don't like you?"
***

Sakura, I told you I'll wait. I'll wait. It's just I'll have to wait in another country. But, you'll never forget me, right? After all, we're best friends.

Even thought it hurts to be dumped, it's not because of you that I left. Even I don't understand these things, but one thing's for sure, I still like you.
***

Sakura stopped running altogether. She totally broke down in the middle of the street and continued to cry. "If I'll let you," she was choking with emotions. "Court me, will your decision change?"

She sobbed harder in her lap, rocking to and fro. She looked up at the sky. "If I tell you I like you, will you come back, Sasuke-kun!???!!!" she shouted.
***

The boy looked out from his window and looked at the dark sky. "I'll be back. Not now. But soon."

He stopped the tears from flowing but he couldn't. He just cried when his heart was full of emotion. And this time, it was overflowing. It was overflowing with regret that he never had the chance to say goodbye; sadness for he'll never see Sakura again; anger at himself for he was too cowardly to tell her the truth and love. Yes, love for Sakura; love that was wasted.

Wasted.
***

And the question that was bothering her, she had the guts to voice it out.

"Will you come back to me, Sasuke-kun? Huh? Will you come back to see me once again?"

"Will you come back to wait again? Right now, I like you but not in the way you also like me."

Tears.
***

There had been a nagging doubt in the back of Sakura's mind. "But Sasuke-kun, if you come back, will you tell me that you don't love me anymore?"

Worry.

What if he won't love me anymore when he comes back?

But love shouldn't be this selfish. Sasuke still likes me even though I don't like him.

Tears.

"I don't care. Just come back. Then I'll love you."
***

Sasuke clenched his fist and closed his eyes tightly. "I'll come back, Sakura. I'll come back for you. For you. So I can see your face again, so I can love you again. I just hope that when I come back, you already like me."

"But for now, goodbye my cherry blossom..."

A promise was uttered in the hopes that he will be reunited once again with Sakura. In the separation of souls, a promise of forever was being kept. But after years, will they be able to keep it? Especially now that destiny was having fun.

Can they fight with destiny to be with each other again?

***

Sakura continued to cry, a lone soul in the middle of the street in this kind of weather. So many things were in her mind right now, so many emotions filling her heart that she didn't notice the light behind her nor the sound of a car horn.

"Shit, you girl! Get out of the middle of the street!"

It was too late.

Destiny had begun to play.

***