Author's note:

(Had to re-upload the chapter since I found some typos while re-reading it.)

Hello everybody! Here I'm showing you my second fic. I'm not done with my first one, I'll obviously keep it up but I had some ideas on my mind and I tried to put them togheter. This fic is way more mature so I'll try to do my best.

Please review and tell me what do you think, it'd be awesome!

I hope you like it.

Lots of love,

K.

Sakura looks at the message one more time, her eyes still widened. "You gotta be kidding me."

"Konoha Highschool ex-students meeting."

FUCKING. KHS. MEETING.

How many years had it been? 5? She clearly remembers her highschool years. The pinkette lost contact with all of her classmates the very day she started university, only meeting Ino a few times every year to keep up with their friendship. Her highschool bestfriend moved to another city to study psychology in a prestigious academy, but Sakura stood at Konoha. The Harunos weren't as wealthy as the Yamanakas.

Sakura sighs, laying on her bed and letting the letter fall to the floor "I don't want to go. I don't want to go back in time..."

It still hurts. A lot. Images start filling her mind as she pictures her prom night once again, just like everytime something reminds her about him. She bought a beautiful dark blue dress (his favorite color) because she was the happiest girl in the world: her teenage love was her prom date. She planned every detail the days before the night she thought that would be the best of her life, and yet she could only remember the tears running down her cheeks when he didn't show up. The love of her life left her alone on the last day of her highschool years.

The beeps of her phone bring her back to reality. She doesn't want to talk to anyone but that would be selfish, and she is the opposite of that.

"Heya, Ino." She tries to keep it cool. She has been learning to hide her feelings since that last time.

"Heya, Ino?" She mocked Sakura's nonchalantly tone. "Don't freaking talk to me like nothing just happened." Ino is too loud sometimes when she's excited.

"I'm not going Ino. You guys will get some fun, I'm not that im-"

"Shut the hell up, forehead. If you think I'm going to let you hide in your house while you could be showing off how gorgeous you are, you are totally wrong. I'll bring you there by myself if I have to."

Sakura frowns. Ino sure is a rich girl but she's not that well mannered. "Okay, okay, chill Inopig. I'll try to make up my mind."

"No, I'm not chilling and you are not taking anymore time. Go shopping if you want, take your time to get ready. I'll pick you up at 7 so we get in there at time."

Beep, beep, beep. Sakura lets the phone down. It's early morning, the light that reaches her bedroom is soft. "This is a mess." Lots of unfinished paintings take over her appartment, you can find oil painting materials in her kitchen aswell as in her bathroom. "I should start behaving like the 23 year old woman that I am."

It hadn't been easy to tell everybody that she wanted to be an artist. Her parents initially took her for a fool, her teachers shook their heads with frustration. Such an intelligent girl with excellent grades, she should had been a doctor or a lawyer. Everybody seemed to be disappointed by her choices. Only her friend Naruto encouraged her, wanting to check her artwork everytime, grinning happily at her, often asking for a portrait. "I miss him so much..." No one knew she just needed to start a new life, to forget about everything, and her only way to scape reality was painting. That was her true talent. She actually had a gift, her artwork was beyond wonderful, but nobody acknowledged her. Only in the Art Academy she could feel totally relaxed.

"Alright, let's find out what can I wear tonight." Sakura tells herself, trying to imbue some confidence in her voice.

She lives in a little apartament in Konoha's downtown just in the so called "artist neighbourhood". Her routine consists on painting on her own canvas and working on a small art gallery so she hasn't spent much time socializing. Opening her wardrobe is quite depressing since she doesn't gain much money to spend on clothes. "I swear I thought there was something..."

The pinkette gets a short, sheer blue dress that looks pretty enough to wear for tonight's meeting. A pair of black ballerina-like shoes and black stockings complete the outfit. Her mirror image reminds her too much of her younger self -that scared, sad girl. "At least I will be able to drink lots of sake and not remember a single thing the next morning."

She shooks her head, not allowing her green eyes to water because of bitter but old memories. "Ino is right, I'm a grown up woman now." Her waist-long hair is straight and it's the only thing of her appearance that she actually takes time to take care of. She passes a hand throught it, feeling it's silky texture and she can't help but remember that certain person used to love it's color. "As pink as a cherryblossom..." A thin, black headband suits her perfectly. "Oh also, black mascara and red lipstick!" She's ready to go in half an hour.

"So here we are." Ino says getting off her car. The blonde widens her eyes as she watches her pink-haired friend waiting for her. "Woah, Sak, you are beautiful! You look like a doll, you know? And that dress is so fairy-like! Your outfit sure is original."

Sakura frowns but allows an amused small to appear on her face. "I know you're in love with me Ino but I'm not lesbian."

"Go to hell! I was just trying to be nice, you know? I can be charming sometimes." Ino says ironically.

They are in the restaurant door ten minutes late, everybody is inside. Naruto's voice is clearly audible and Sakura grins. "I missed him so much!" She can't wait to hug her bro. It had been 3 years since the last time she met him and she wants to see his shiny, blue eyes again. He will make her feel safe as always. They were like sister and brother, hanging out togheter in class and spending their free time playing videogames, watching animes or eating ramen. "Team 7..." Sakura still remembers the day the had been put into random 3-man teams to work on projects in 1 st grade. That was the very day it all began, the first time she met the two man that changed her life forever: her best friend and the man she loved. "That's only a thing from the past now. We're no longer a team."

Ino opens the door and they hear lots of voices coming from one side of the restaurant. It's a typical japanese place so people sits on the tatami and the lights are subtle. Her blonde friend is the first to enter the room and greets everybody with her loud voice, but Sakura hesitates. She can't help but shiver when she thinks about all the people waiting for her. She's not ready, she's not ready, she's not-

"You wouldn't belive who came with me!" Ino says loudly and pushes her friend in the room. "Our wonderful artist, Sakura!"

"Sakura-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" Naruto automatically gets up, runs to her and holds her on a tight hug. Sakura responds inmediately. His warm aura invades her heart and she can swear she has went back in time to her highschool days when they used to hang togheter. He's taller and her muscles have grown, his back is now larger. "He's a man now."

"Let her breathe you moron!" Ino says angrily but her eyes show nothing but melancholy. "It's nice to see her sweet smile again" she thinks.

Naruto shows an empty seat besides him and grins at Sakura. "I saved it for you, Sakura-chan."

"Oh, yay! I missed you so much, you fool." The pinkette can't stop smiling. Naruto's bright spirit is as contagious as always, his hair blonde like the very sun.

"Hey there Sakura!"

"How's it been, Sakura?"

"I'm glad to see you again, Sakura!"

The rest of her ex-classmates start to greet her. "They all grew up so much..." Hinata's hair is much longer and she seems more confident about herself. Kiba's hair is also longer, his voice reflects his wild spirit. Shikamaru has the same bored expression but his smile towards Sakura was genuine, just like Chouji's, who is taller and fatter. Lee's body is way stronger than before and Neji's face looks more mature aswell as kind towards TenTen, whom seems to be deeply in love with the Hyuuga young man.

"Hey, ugly. Long time no see you." Sai affectionately pats her back. "Looks like he finally got to understand how to treat people" Sakura thinks, amused. Her friend no longer has his childish face, he looks now like a man.

"Thanks guys, it's nice to see you all again!" The pinkette smiles sweetly. Sakura loves these people and she's happy to see them again.

Naruto serves her a glass of sake. "So, Sakura-chan, what have you been up to? Will I get to see any of your new artwork soon?"

"Mmmm... You could come to my appartment one day. I got loads of canvas there." She takes a sip. "Do you remember the tale of the nine-tailed fox, the Kyuubi? A few days ago it came to my mind how much you loved it so I started a few paintings about it."

"That's amazing'ttebayo!" Naruto grinned. "I can't wait to see them!"

"What about you, Naruto? I heard about your name on TV last sunday."

"Oh, yeah, my politic party made it to the primaries. I'm still a comissioner member but we're trying to shot for the presidency." He's proud of his job as a politician and Sakura couldn't be happier for him.

"I assume you still want to be the president of Konoha one day." Sakura smirks and fills Naruto's glass. She gaves a toast between them. "For your dreams!"

"For yours aswell, Sakura-chan." Naruto drinks and this time his smile is sweet. He knows how Sakura feels just by looking into her eyes, he remembers the pain she had endured when she was at highschool. He suddenly remembers. "Oh right, I haven't told you!" Naruto grabs Hinata's hand, who instantly blushes and mutters an apologize for not telling Sakura before. "She said yes!"

"Can you believe it? Naruto married, hah!" Shikamaru mocks him. "Women are troublesome, bro."

"Yeah, that's why you're going out with Temari, right?" Naruto laughs as Shikamaru frowns.

Sakura doesn't hear them. She only sees a beautiful yet simple ring in Hinata's hand. The sudden notice shocks her and she can't say a word. Naruto... is going to... marry... Sakura knows they have been dating for almost 4 years but it's too sudden, it happened too fast... She automatically thinks of her misserable life. Small appartment, no brilliant job, no boyfriend, nothing. She tries to keep it cool for her friend's sake. Her smile looks bright, she swallows her sadness.

"Wow, Naruto, Hinata-chan... Congratulations again!" Her voice sounds sweet but she fears that it will break.

Shikamaru raises his glass, giving a toast. "For Naruto and Hinata, the hero and the princess!"

They all take a sip of sake and congratulate the future married couple. Sakura starts feeling envious, something she truly hates because she's not really happy for them. She's actually envious of how good their life is. She wished she could be like them, but she still tries to keep her sweet smile. Naruto is her best friend and she has to be happy for him. She almost thanks Kami-sama when someone reminds them about how hungry they are so she can't stop thinking about how great Naruto's life has become.

"Oi, can we start the dinner already?" Chouji says impatiently.

"Ugh, teme is late as usual." Naruto frowns.

"Maybe he will not come." Hinata tolds her fiancée with a soft voice.

"That bastard better comes now!" Ino yells.

"Calm down, you guys are loud as always." A very-well known voice for Sakura suddenly gets into the room.

Then she realises everything. She sees the empty seat on the other side of the table, she sees Naruto's grin as he stands up to hug his best friend. She realises it's been 5 years old since the last time she had seen him, her another teammate, the man she loved till the very end. She also realises that she's not ready, that her heart is beating furiously in her ribcage just because of his voice and her cheeks are red remembering his tender lips against hers. Her first kiss arrived the day before her life fell apart.

Because in the door frame stands a dark-haired young man. The back of his black hair is spiky and his eyes look like two onyx gems. He's even taller tan Naruto and his body shows he's been working out, his back is larger and she's sure he has defined abs. However, he looks just like the last time she saw him. He looks as painfully hot as the last time she called him by his name. And then he also realises she's there but no one can tell what is going through his mind since his face has his trademark stoic expression. That's the beautiful face of the love of her life.

Uchiha Sasuke.