- Notion - (a sasusaku fanfic)

Chapter One: Somebody to love

- Sakura's POV -
The sun elegantly bathed Sakura in a warm glow of light. Creating a shimmer over her pale skin. Her eyelids twitched from the sudden light and her mouth let out a small grown of annoyance as her day now began. Another day without him.

The mornings were the worst. The nightmares keep her up at night, so she takes pills to sleep. But the pills giver her the terrors. And so on and so forth. Sakura rolled her heavy head over to find the culprit. A small white pill bottle, prescribed to herself. Sakura sighed before mustering the effort to go wash up. She rolled out of the smooth sheets and grabbed a pink silky gown to cover her naked body before wearily stumbling into her bathroom. She gazed into her reflection with dismay.
The long work hours had given her dark circles under her tired eyes and sunken cheeks as the result of poor diet. Sakura loved her job and lived to help others, but it left very little time for self maintenance. She turned on the shower and watched the water pour down the drain until the temperature was to her liking, then hesitantly stepped into the water.

The feeling of every individual drop of water was reminiscent to a massage that Sakura cherished. Her showers felt as if life was timeless. And on the hard nights, the water masked her tears as she hugged her knees to her chest on the shower floor. She grabbed the pink shampoo bottle and squeezed it onto her palm, lathering her pink hair into a foam and washing it out soon after. And continued to do the same with the conditioner. During these mundane tasks Sakura reflected on the day that lay before her. Luckily it was a Friday which usually consisted of routine safety inspections and report filling. As well as a visit to Naruto to discuss the cancer centres budget. That should lift her spirits. Seeing Naruto always felt nostalgic. She was still in shock of how much the three of them had accomplished in there life time. But without them by her side, she belt empty. As though a piece of her was missing. But to watch Naruto accomplish his dream of becoming Hokage had Sakura filled with pride. Even though his role is only temporary. Lord Kakashi has Naruto on a three month 'Hokage experience' trial so if the little bugger messes this up it will be Sakura's foot up his ass for sure.

Sakura awoke into focus, finding herself still in the shower, her fingers becoming wrinkly from the constant water exposure. She span around and turned the taps off, stepping out of the shower while reaching for the fluffy pink towel hanging on the rack and wrapping it around her dripping body. She softly shook her hair around to remove the excess water that dripped from her pink strands of hair.

She walked into her cosy room and made her way towards the wardrobe, checking the time on her bedside clock. It read 7:15am. Sakura had to be at work by 8. She hastily pulled out her underwear, white jeans and red shirt and began to dress herself. Sakura placed her headband around her forehead before walking back to her bathroom. She pulled out a pink tote bag from the draw and began to apply make up from it, making sure to cover up those pesky dark circles. Sakura didn't start wearing makeup until after the war. Ino mostly pressured her into giving it a go. But Sakura was already curious. It couldn't hurt to try a little. God knows she needed all the help she could get.

Sakura finished up her beauty time and made her way to the kitchen. The kunoichi had purchased her first home about 5 months ago. It was a quaint little apartment in down town Konohagakure. A reasonably sized lounge room with connecting kitchen, a bedroom with a study and bathroom. Simple yet practical. Of course with Sakura's decorative touch the house contained lots of framed photos with friends and family. Dainty furniture accompanied the rooms and a small balcony held a little table for morning coffees looking out onto the street. It was simple in taste but it was her home. Although at times lonely for her.

The pinkette took a banana from the fruit ball and placed it in her hand bag. Breakfast is on the go this morning. She placed her feet into her black leather flats and grabbed her keys. She exited her house and walked down the steps leading out onto the streets and made her way towards the hospital. Sakura made sure to purchase a house close to her work place in case of emergency. And of course so she could sleep in a little bit more. Any moron could tell Sakura hated the mornings. She purchased a coffee from a local vender and continued to make her way towards work.