Chapter Text
The day was bright and sunny. It was summer.
Her best friends were getting married on the second of July.
Sakura was happy for them; she had been the one to introduce them in the first place. She still remembered the weight of the long white dress, the delicate lace hugging her torso, the slit along her right leg that revealed just a glimpse of skin when she walked. Everything had looked elegant — perfect, at least to everyone else. Hinata wore a soft pastel blue that made her fair skin glow. Her friend stood in a black suit with a blue tie, formal yet still youthful.
That day, Sakura had smiled a lot.
Too much.
“Hinata! I’m so glad I found you,” Sakura said as she approached, resting one hand on the back of the chair.
Hinata sat at her assigned table as a bridesmaid, a wine glass held loosely between her fingers. She looked up and smiled — a beautiful smile, but fragile, like it might shatter at any moment.
“Hi, Sakura!”
She was trying to look happy, but Sakura knew better. She sat down beside her without asking. She didn’t need to. She knew her too well. She noticed the way Hinata absentmindedly toyed with the glass, how she avoided looking around too much. Her boyfriend had been imprisoned not long ago, and even if no one said it aloud, the wound was still fresh.
Besides, this day wasn’t supposed to be like this.
The double wedding they had planned — Sakura with Sasori, Hinata with Deidara — had fallen apart at the last moment. The evidence. The betrayal. The murder of Michiru, Deidara’s sister. Everything had come crashing down like an unstoppable avalanche.
Sakura leaned closer, lowering her voice.
“Listen, Hina… I don’t want you hiding anything from me,” she said gently. “I know this is hard, and you won’t forget everything overnight. But today… just try to enjoy yourself. Have fun tonight. Forget about it for a little while, even if it’s only for a few hours. I know you can.”
Hinata’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. Then she nodded, slow and thoughtful, as if Sakura’s words had given her permission to keep going — at least for tonight.
Sakura took her hand carefully, like she was afraid a sudden movement might break her.
“Come on,” she said with a faint smile. “I want you to meet someone.”
Hinata raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think it’s too soon for me to meet someone?”
Sakura blinked, taking a moment to understand, then laughed softly. “Huh? Oh — no, not like that.”
Hinata flushed instantly, lowering her gaze in embarrassment. Sakura gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and guided her through the crowd. Hinata walked carefully, avoiding bumping into anyone, trusting only the hand leading her.
“Naruto!”
The blond was chatting animatedly with Sai, Shikamaru, and Chōji. They were laughing about something Sakura couldn’t hear. Lee hadn’t been able to come — supposedly a cold had kept him home. When Naruto heard her voice, he turned and ran toward her without hesitation.
“Sakura!” he exclaimed, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her excitedly. “Every time I see you it’s like — I don’t know! I just get way too hyped!”
Hinata watched from behind. When Naruto finally stopped shaking Sakura, he noticed her and paused. Sakura caught it instantly and glanced sideways at her friend, who was watching the blond with quiet focus.
“Ah, right,” Sakura said. “This is Hinata Hyūga, one of my best friends. I wanted to introduce you the day I announced my engagement, but… things got complicated.”
“Hi… you’re Naruto, right?” Hinata asked softly. “Sakura talks about you a lot. I know you’ve been her best friend forever — just like Ino.”
“Nice to meet you!” Naruto grinned, giving a thumbs-up. “Yeah, I’m Naruto Namikaze. I think I’ve heard about you too from Sakura and Ino…”
He paused, thinking, hand on his chin.
“Wait… weren’t you supposed to get married too?”
Hinata lowered her head almost immediately. Sakura felt her tense and placed her hands gently on her shoulders.
“That’s right,” Sakura said carefully. “Hina was going to, but some things happened. The wedding was called off.”
Nothing else needed to be said.
“Oh… I’m really sorry, Hinata,” Naruto said, scratching the back of his neck. “If you ever feel lonely, you can call me. We’ll go wherever you want.”
Hinata slowly looked up. He was smiling, a little shy. She blushed and nodded.
“Should I give you my number, or—?”
“I’ll give you mine,” she said as Naruto pulled out his phone.
After typing it in, he turned the screen toward her. “I added a cupcake next to your name. I had a feeling you liked them… do you?”
Hinata’s eyes widened. “Wow… either you’re a great guesser or I’m really easy to read.”
They both laughed.
Sakura watched quietly, smiling. Seeing Hinata laugh after weeks of sadness eased something tight in her chest. Still, she knew she didn’t belong there anymore.
“Well,” she said, “I’ll let you two talk. See you later.”
She winked at Hinata before leaving.
Sakura headed toward the main table. She searched for her now-husband, not finding him at first. When she finally did, he was dancing with Kaede, his older cousin — brown eyes, blonde hair, resembling their grandmother Tsunade.
An uncomfortable pang struck her chest, but she chose to ignore it. She didn’t want to ruin her own night. She sat with a glass of wine, letting the music carry her, imagining the peaceful life she believed was waiting for her.
Four years later, it was clear it hadn’t been like that.
The first three months of marriage had been… acceptable. Then came eight months of distance, silence, and empty stares. And on August twenty-fourth — their anniversary — she discovered everything had been a carefully staged lie.
A performance.
One that kept her practically imprisoned.
Sakura hardly left the house. Sasori drove her to the hospital on weekdays; she knew that if it were only up to him, he wouldn’t even allow that. Only thanks to her grandmother did she keep that space — the only place she felt useful, where she did what she loved, and where everyone except her husband recognized her talent.
The last time she saw Hinata had been eight months ago. She had slipped out just to buy instant ramen when she ran into her on the street, on her way to meet other friends. The encounter had been awkward, painful. Hinata looked at her as if begging her to run, to leave that life.
Sakura could only shake her head, sad and powerless.
She couldn’t.
Later she found out through her grandmother that Hinata and Naruto were getting married. Sasori had made it seem like Naruto and Sakura had had a horrible fight, that that was why she hadn’t been invited. It was a lie. Naruto had invited her. Sasori made sure the invitation never reached her.
He took her phone.
Gave her an old one.
Cut off almost all contact.
She needed to get out.
From her so-called home.
That Saturday, she woke at one in the afternoon. A special day for special people… and she was locked inside. She cried sitting on the bed, clutching the sheets, throat tight, chest aching.
Everything hurt.
She decided to stay there. Alone. No food, no entertainment, just a television with two channels she didn’t care about. She thought about eating something. She didn’t want to die; she wanted to keep living, keep helping, keep being herself.
She went downstairs and ran into Yuki, the maid. She didn’t speak to her. She never did. That was the “owner of the house’s” order.
In the kitchen she found no apples. Only a small peach. She took it and returned to her room. It was sour, but she ate it anyway. She looked at the golden clock on the wall; the ticking reminded her that time kept passing without her truly being present.
By now, the party must have already started.
She called her grandmother.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Tsunade…” she said, knowing she wasn’t supposed to call her anything else. “I wanted to know… how’s the party going?”
The silence unsettled her.
“Honestly, it’s a good thing you’re not here,” her grandmother replied. “Everyone’s worried.”
Sakura’s heart shrank. “Why?”
“Well… you see—”
“Wait, I’m getting another call…”
Sakura knew immediately who it was.
“It must be Sasori,” Tsunade said. “Take good care of your good husband. Answer.”
The call came in. Sakura hesitated before picking up.
“Hello?” Her voice barely trembled.
“Ah, Sakura, finally you decide to answer. Where the hell are you that you can’t pick up? No… wait. Who the fuck are you with?”
Sakura froze on the bed. He dared speak to her like that while she had spent hours crying, locked in that damn room.
“W-with no one… I’m at home, in the bedroom,” she replied, swallowing. “I took a while because I was in the bathroom…”
“You better be,” he spat. “We need you at the hospital. Now.”
“Why? What happened?” she asked, knowing he only called her on weekends when something serious had occurred.
“It’s Fugaku Uchiha. The owner of Ufarma — the company that supplies our equipment.”
Sakura’s heart jumped violently.
“The… the Uchiha?”
“Yes. You should know them, at least by name.”
Of course she did.
From photographs.
From articles.
From stories.
And most of all — from Sasuke.
Naruto had talked about him more times than she could count. His personality. His talent. His family. Sakura had learned to know him without ever seeing him in person. It had been an old dream, born when she was fifteen — the moment she discovered she could fall in love with someone through stories alone.
“Was his youngest son with him?” she asked, almost in a whisper.
“Why do you care about that?”
Something inside her snapped back into place.
“WHY DO YOU CARE WHAT I CARE ABOUT?! JUST ANSWER!” she exploded, not recognizing herself.
“Don’t talk to me like that, damn it!” he growled.
“I’ll talk to you however I want from now on, you bastard,” she said, her voice shaking but unyielding. “I’m sick of you. I want you dead!”
She hung up.
The silence afterward was deafening.
Sakura began to tremble. Cold spread through her body; her breathing turned uneven. She had screamed at him. She had wished him dead. She couldn’t believe what she had done.
What would happen when she saw him again?
For a second she thought about running — escaping that house and never coming back. But reality struck immediately: she had to go to the hospital.
For them.
And then she understood everything.
The wedding felt subdued.
People were worried.
Sasuke hadn’t arrived.
They didn’t know where he was.
But she did.
If she told them he was at the damn hospital…
Sakura squeezed her eyes shut.
That was where everything began.