Anonymous notes.
. Forgotten Rhapsody
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Standard disclaimer applied.
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8 years old
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"It's here again!"
A little girl with pink locks and deep emerald orbs stood up, piece of paper in her hands.
"I wonder who comes here every day leaving me these notes under this flower pot…"
Smiling, she opened it up; eagerly reading what was written inside:
'Dear princess,
It's chilly today: please remember to put on some warm clothing.'
Just like every other day, the girl tucked the note into her pocket, beaming.
"I want to meet this person. I'm sure he'd be a gentleman…or even better, a prince. My prince charming!"
The girl flushed, and she felt warm inside despite the cold weather. She giggled.
"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!"
A blond haired blob popped out to greet the pink-head.
"Hi, Naruto!"
"Sakura-chan, you're very cheerful today! Something happened?"
"…Nothing"
"Sakura-chan…!"
She stuck her tongue out, in a childish manner, and ran off to class, getting in line behind the children in front of her, missing the pair of obsidian eyes that were staring at her. The individual smirked.
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12 years old
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'Dear princess,
How long has it been since I started writing to you? I can't seem to remember, it's been so long…today it's going to snow, so please don't forget your anorak.'
"Thank you…"
She ran off to school, tucking the note into her pocket like she had always been doing since she was 8, a habit now;
Humming a little tune to herself, she skipped along…and she forgot one important thing: her anorak.
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16 years old
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Glancing to her left, Sakura blushed prettily, shaming her name, and seated herself. Classes were just about to start, and she was sitting next to her usual seatmate, Uchiha Sasuke.
Since she was 8, she always had a crush on him. She knew he would never even spare her a glance or even a word of greeting: in her point of view, he was cold, quiet and constantly brooding, but there was something about him that attracted her to him.
Yes, he was stunning: wan-skinned, pale to an extent he was nearly translucent, dark eyes that would analyze and calculate, beautiful hands with long fingers, thin and smooth, and raven black hair, spiky, his trademark, but other than his physical traits, there was something about him that called her, and she wanted to know what that was. Unfortunately, she was shy, and lost all confidence when it came to the Uchiha, and as high-school years went by, her small wish to strike a conversation with the boy never came true.
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18 years old: Graduation
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"Sasuke-kun! Could I take a photo with you? Could I?"
Fan-girls were jumping everywhere, asking a certain raven-haired boy for photos, who seemed distressed by the swarming amount of girls. The more he pushed them away, the more they would swoon, and after a moment of struggling, he decided to ignore them.
"No."
"Oh please! It's the last day of school!"
Girls were puckering their lips and clinging on his arm, begging for a dingy little photo.
"No."
Sighing, Sakura filled her bag with her school books as she stared at the crowd of girls with cameras, and the stoic Sasuke in the middle.
'And I thought I could talk to him…at least greet him once. Oh, I sound pathetic. Like Uchiha Sasuke would even want to look at me.'
Swinging her bag on her back, Sakura glanced at the crowd of fan-girls for one last time and left the school gates, thinking of an appropriate dinner menu.
As she was walking, she tripped on a little object on the floor. Cursing, she bent down and picked it up, reading the name written on it. As she read, she gaped at the pen and slid it into her pocket, a smile slowly creeping up her face.
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3 years after
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"Iyaa! I'm going to be late for my job!"
Cramming her shoes on her tiny feet, the pink-head swung her front door open, only to pause and slowly bend down to lift up the flower pot.
No little note.
Sigh
Sakura looked in a distance, thinking to herself, forgetting completely about work.
'I wonder why the person stopped writing since I graduated. It was nice to receive little notes now and then.'
Then, remembering the reason why she was standing outside, she let out a high-pitched scream and scrambled off to the closest subway, muttering a chain of curses under her breath.
Catching her breath, Sakura ran into the little restaurant she worked at, banging the door with a 'welcome' open and dashing into the kitchen.
"I'm so sorry I'm late Tsunade-sama! I didn't mean to be this late! Actually this morning-"
"No excuses, Sakura just get to work."
"H-Hai!"
Knowing the 'I'm-serious-tone', Sakura ran off to the changing rooms and changed into her waitress outfit. It was a tad short for her taste, but she couldn't complain; it could have been worse if the manager, Jiraya designed the uniform.
After changing, she went off to grab a little notebook and a pen to list down the orders the customers would order. Spotting a bump in her pocket, she tried pulling whatever that was in there out, and a pen came out. Reading the initials on the pen, she smiled and tucked it in her uniform pocket.
"Table 7, Sakura!"
"Hai!"
As she approached table 7, she couldn't help but let out a little gasp of surprise.
"Sasuke-kun?"
The said boy whipped his head around, a worried look on his face.
"Look girl, I won't date y-"
Stopping abruptly, Sasuke stared at the girl. His eyes grew wide, and he looked…surprisingly…surprised.
"Princess…"
"Excuse me?"
Frown
"Nan demo nai."
"…Would you like anything to eat?"
"No thank you. Just a drink would do."
The surprised face had disappeared, and it had been replaced by the Uchiha's usual face: stoic…emotionless.
"I'll be right back."
Grinning, she chirped, "It's good to see you, seatmate."
"…"
Blushing, she ran off to the kitchen to grab the best drink in the restaurant.
When she came back, she was balancing a little cup of Diablo on a tray, walking slowly toward table 7.
Bending down, she placed the drink on the table and straightened herself up.
"I hope you enjoy your drink!"
She threw her ex-seatmate a customer smile, she said, "Tell me if you need anything."
Ready to pick up orders of other customers, she turned around. Just as she was about to walk away, she was stopped abruptly; a tight grip on her wrist prevented her from moving.
"What's that in your pocket?"
Slightly pink, Sakura turned around and revealed the object in her pocket.
The Uchiha's eyes widened yet again in surprise at seeing the small cylindrical object. Slowly, his slender fingers picked it off her hand.
"It's…isn't this my pen?"
"Err…well yes, at the last day of school, I mean graduation, I just found it on the floor and well I well…err kind of picked it up and put it in my pocket because-"
A finger was placed on her mouth, silencing her babbling. Her face slowly flushed at the sudden contact, as her old high-school longing came back.
"You speak too much."
Giving the pen back to her, he stood up and started to go away, much to Sakura's disappointment. Her small nose scrunched up, and her brows scrunched, and just as she was going off to another table, he mumbled:
"It was nice to see you again, Sakura."
It was unexpected, and something Sakura never thought she would hear from the Uchiha's lips. Her eyes lit up, and a smile crept up her face: she conversed with Sasuke, even if it was short.
"It was nice to see you too, Sasuke-kun."
Then she dashed off, hiding her blushing face with her tray. Unknown to her, she had missed the small smile produced from the stoic Uchiha.
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Yawning, a pair of emerald orbs gently closed, as its lashes slightly moved at the tremor.
Singing to herself, Sakura went into the closest subway, sitting down in a window-seat. Opening her purse, she produced a small pile of old papers that were crinkled down the middle. Unfolding them, she smiled again, as she slowly read the words that were etched on the paper.
'I wish I could find out who used to write these lovely notes…', she thought.
Her eyelids closed slightly due to fatigue, and she drifted off to wonderland.
When she woke up, she found herself on a bench, just outside her house. Blinking a couple of times, she shrugged her drowsiness off, and started walking towards her house;
Sakura was still slightly ditzy from her joy, that she completely forgot that at this time at night, there were usually a handful of hobos and drunkards outside. She walked along, oblivious to this fact until she bumped into a figure.
Blinking fast, she looked up and saw a old man, red from the alcohol she could smell off him.
"Hey sweetheart…"
Not only did he reek of alcohol, he was drooling, and Sakura was positive he would be able to hurt her. Ignoring him, she started to walk away, only to be stopped by a rough hand that held onto her. She shivered.
"Don't run away from me…I won't hurt you."
Approaching her even closer, the man examined her.
"You're a sexy one!" He purred, licking his lips.
"Please, let go of me!"
"Let's have fun darling..."
'Time to kick his balls…wait, where have those been if he's this stinky? Guh I don't want to know!'
Her thoughts were abruptly stopped by a sound of a rough punch. Sighing in relief, Sakura looked up to thank her savior, only to have her eyes bulge out.
"Sasuke-kun…?"
"Hn."
.
"Thank you…"
The prodigy just grunted, looking around Sakura's little apartment.
"Nice place you have here."
"Arigatou."
She beamed, as she offered him a cup of tea which he picked up and sipped slowly, looking at her.
"I'm really grateful for you helping me there! I thought for a moment that I-"
"What's that in your pocket?"
Looking down, her cheeks were tinted pink as she pulled out the old papers.
"They're…just some old childhood memories."
She placed the papers into Sasuke's hands, who gave her a long look before opening them up. As soon as he read the words on the first paper, his face flushed a crimson hue. A mild discomfort was seen on the Uchiha's face, as he looked away. Curious and worried, Sakura approached him and touched his forehead.
"Sasuke-kun, daijyoubu?"
"…"
"Sasuke-kun, I'll go bring some medicine-"
"These notes…"
"Yes?"
"These notes…why do you keep them?"
Embarrassed, she smiled and sat down on the couch, daring herself to sit next to the blushing boy.
"Well…the person who wrote it, although I don't know who it is, I think…I think was my first love, in some way. You probably think it's silly and stupid and the person who wrote these probably forgot all about it, and-"
Her lips were silenced by another pair of lips that were placed upon hers, soft, and smooth. The taste of mint. Shocked, Sakura's eyes widened for a moment, only to close slowly, responding to his kiss.
When they parted, emerald clashed with obsidian as she gave him a shy, questioning look.
"His first love was you too."
For a fraction of a second, Sakura tilted her head to the side, confused. Then, realizing, she let out a little gasp, her eyes widened.
"Sasuke-kun…you…"
"I didn't know how to voice out my feelings, since I was young. So I wrote instead."
He looked down, a little pink hue settled on his cheeks, and for a moment, Sakura thought she could see the little 8 year old Sasuke, head lowered.
Cautiously, she approached him and leaned her forehead on his.
"Thank you. Thank you for writing these notes all the time. They were precious to me, and encouraged me daily."
Smirking, Sasuke lifted his head up and shot her a long piercing look.
"Really now?"
"Hai."
"Well, since I couldn't say it to you when we were younger, I'll say it to you now."
Questioning look
"Aishiteru."
Taking advantage of the surprised look Sakura was giving him, Sasuke leaned in once again and kissed her passionately, slipping his tongue into her mouth.
Shyly, Sakura responded, as her eyelids slithered to a close, and their tongues danced the dance they were longing for since long. Their lips parted just for a moment, as Sakura replied smiling,
"I love you too…and I always did ever since you sent me those notes."
"I know."
And they laughed.
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(Sasuke-kun)
(Aa)
(Tell me one more time)
(No)
(Mou)
(But I'll show you)
A/N: 'Hai' means 'Yes', 'Iyaa' means 'Oh no', 'Nan demo nai' means 'It's nothing', 'Arigatou' means 'Thank you' and 'Daijyoubu?' means 'Are you okay?'
R.R babes.