Chapter Text

Prologue

Sometimes I wonder if happiness is just a brief pause between chaos.

A breath.

A moment of stillness that never lasts.

Chapter 1

I spent the last three years pretending everything was okay. Smiling when my boss insulted me, nodding when co-workers whispered behind my back. Telling myself I was lucky to have a job, even as I broke down quietly every night.

But now... it’s done.

Sakura exhaled slowly, a shaky breath that felt like her first real one in years. Her finger hovered for a moment before finally tapping “Send” on the email.

Subject: Resignation Letter

It was over. She was free.

She let herself collapse onto her twin-sized bed in her modest apartment, her heart pounding, but not from anxiety—for once, it was relief.

“I actually did it,” she whispered to herself, a half-laugh escaping her lips.

The silence of her apartment wrapped around her like a warm blanket. She stretched out, hair splaying across the pillow as her favorite Taylor Swift song played softly in the background. The weight of the toxic workplace—the slander, manipulation, the narcissistic boss who used kindness as a weapon—finally began to lift off her chest.

She smiled.

Then—ding.

Her phone screen lit up. A notification from the credit card app.

"Monthly installment for your designer bag is due. Total: ¥87,000."

Her smile dropped. “What the—oh, crap.”

That pink Gucci bag.

The one she bought impulsively after her bonus, telling herself she deserved it, that it was different from all the other pink things she owned.

Because that’s what people called her—Pink Girl.

It wasn’t just because of her hair—she’d been born with pink hair. But somehow, pink had always followed her everywhere: a pink phone case, pink helmets from her days delivering food as a part-timer, pink sneakers, a pink water bottle, pink stationery, pink lipstick shades, even the pair of pink Hello Kitty socks she was wearing now to warm her toes. She even had a pink toaster sitting in her tiny kitchen.

Pink had simply become a part of her—whether she meant for it to or not.

Sakura sat up in bed, hugging her knees. “I really need another job. Fast.”

The phone buzzed again. This time, her mom.

She groaned but picked it up. “Hi, Mom.”

"Sakura! You just got home from work?" her mother asked cheerfully.

Sakura hesitated, eyes darting to the resignation email still open on her laptop. “Yeah… Just got back. Long day.”

"Poor girl, working so hard! Listen, your grandma and cousin Kurenai are visiting this week from Kobe. You should come by! Mirai really misses you."

Her heart tugged at the mention of Mirai, Kurenai’s daughter. Sakura adored that kid—she was like the little sister she never had.

“I wish I could, Mom. But I’m swamped. My boss has me working on so many projects... I don’t even get proper breaks anymore,” she lied smoothly.

"Oh no! Still? That company of yours is crazy. Well, if you can’t come, at least send Mirai a birthday gift, okay? She’s been asking about you every day!"

Sakura nodded, even though her mother couldn’t see her. “Of course. I’ll send her something special.”

Then came the part she dreaded.

"Also, Kurenai says she knows a young dentist. Handsome, responsible. She thought maybe you two could—"

“Mom.” Sakura cut her off. “We’ve talked about this.”

"You’re not getting any younger, sweetie. You’ll be 30 before you know it!"

Sakura closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Bye, Mom.”

She hung up and let the phone fall onto the bed beside her.

“Great. Now I’m single, jobless, and about to disappoint my entire family.”

She sighed and lay back down, pulling the blanket over her face. The glow from her phone teased her again.

On impulse, she downloaded Tinder. “Ugh, why not.”

She swiped through profile after profile lazily—guys holding fish, guys with suspiciously cropped ex-girlfriends, gym selfies, shirtless bathroom pics.

“This is so dumb,” she muttered, tossing the phone aside. “Scammers, cheaters, and catfish—who even finds real love here?”

She turned off the bedside lamp and wrapped herself tighter in the blanket.

“I’m never gonna meet the right guy, am I…”

Then she dreamed…

She wasn’t in her room anymore.

She was wearing a high school uniform.

“What the hell?” Sakura blinked, confused. The world around her shimmered like a VHS tape on rewind.

Suddenly, she was kneeling on the ground.

She looked down—there was ice cream on a pair of polished designer shoes.

“Wipe it!” a chorus of teenage voices jeered from somewhere above.

Her heart pounded. She looked up.

There he was.

That same face. Pale, striking, with jet-black hair and onyx eyes that looked straight through her.

Sasuke.

Behind him stood his usual crew: the red-haired girl with sunglasses practically glued to him, the smug boy with silver hair and a lazy smirk, and the Frankenstein-sized one who stared blankly.

“Do what you have to,” Sasuke said coldly.

Sakura’s blood boiled.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pink handkerchief—grandma’s gift, hand-sewn. With trembling hands, she began to wipe the edge of his shoe.

Wait.

She stopped.

“NOPE.”

She stood up. Then, without thinking, she yanked his leg, sending him toppling backward.

“Whoa—!”

His friends caught him just in time.

Gasps and boos erupted around her.

Sakura threw the handkerchief at his face.

“Clean your own damn shoes, you donkey booger!”

Laughter. Outrage. Chaos.

“I’m a 28-year-old independent woman, and I’m not afraid of some teenage prince wannabe!” she shouted, arms raised.

“And for the record, I almost did break your leg. Be grateful I didn’t!”

She stomped off, fuming, as the world swirled like a watercolor painting behind her.

Reality Again

Her alarm blared.

Sakura shot up in bed, drenched in cold sweat. It was 11 a.m.

“Crap. I forgot to feed Poppy.”

She scrambled out of bed in her bra and underwear, tugged on a T-shirt and shorts, slipped into house slippers, and darted to the kitchen.

Her tiny white poodle barked impatiently, spinning in frantic circles.

“I’m so sorry, Poppy! Mommy had a nightmare about that stupid guy who used to bully me at high school.”

The dog yapped again.

Sakura poured food into the bowl, then sat on the floor beside her furry companion, heart still racing.

“…Was that really just a dream?”

Because somehow, it felt like something had just… started.

- To Be Continued -

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

After a quick shower, Sakura emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair. She plopped onto the worn-out sofa in her tiny living room and poured a bowl of cereal, eating absentmindedly while scrolling through job listings on her phone.

Poppy, her cream-colored toy poodle, barked at the door with growing urgency.

“What is it now, Poppy?” Sakura muttered between chews, still scrolling. Her screen showed nothing but “Entry-level positions… Must have 5 years experience… Minimum GPA 3.9… Bilingual in five languages…”

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” she called out hoarsely. Her voice still raspy from sleep, she shuffled to the door and opened it.

A mailman stood there, slightly startled by her dishevelled appearance.

“Mail for Haruno Sakura,” he said, handing over a small stack.

“Thanks,” she said, grabbing them.

Her eyes scanned the envelopes. Electricity bill. Internet bill. Credit card bill. Apartment rent due in one week.

“Oh fuck—Jesus Christ,” she cursed under her breath, accidentally out loud.

The mailman blinked in surprise.

“Sorry, just woke up!” she added with a forced smile, closing the door as quickly as politeness would allow.

She backed into the kitchen counter, her breath hitching. The paper in her hands suddenly felt like bricks. The nausea started first, then the dizziness. Her pulse quickened. Palms turned clammy.

Poppy barked loudly, circling her feet like a siren.

“It’s okay. It’s fine. It’s… not fine,” Sakura mumbled, her voice cracking. “I need a job. ASAP.”

She poured herself a glass of water, gripping the counter until her hands stopped shaking. Slowly, she began to regulate her breath. She crouched down beside Poppy, who had dropped her favorite yellow duck toy at Sakura’s feet.

“You’re a genius, Poppy,” Sakura whispered with a weak smile, rubbing her little face.

Suddenly inspired, she lunged for her phone and found an old contact.

Naruto Uzumaki. Her childhood friend. They hadn’t talked in years.

She typed out a long message:

"Hi Naruto, this is Sakura. Long time no see! How have you been? Sorry to bother you, but do you still work at Newman Company? I’m currently looking for a job—particularly in PR. If you know of any openings, would you mind letting me know? I’d really appreciate it."

Sakura hovered over the "send" button.

Ugh, no. She couldn’t just text someone out of the blue asking for help like this. How pathetic. She deleted the message and chewed her lip.

But the pile of bills stared back at her from the counter, unbothered by her pride.

She looked at Poppy, who stared back at her with a weirdly understanding look.

“You’re right,” Sakura sighed. “What do I have to lose?”

She rewrote the message, this time adding a playful 😝 emoji to make it seem more casual—and hit send.

To distract herself, she turned on her laptop and started watching Love Actually. Poppy curled up at her feet with her yellow duck plushie.

Not five minutes later, her phone buzzed.

It was Naruto.

Hey Sakura! Long time no see! I thought you’d forgotten about me. Haha, good thing I never changed my number. About Newman—I’m not in HR, but I can ask around! I’m out of town for work right now, but I’ll check next week.

Then a second message popped up.

Also… I’m getting married next week!

Sakura choked on her cereal.

“Married?!”

Meanwhile, she was unemployed, broke, and freshly resigned from a toxic workplace, barely holding it together. Life really knew how to rub salt in the wound.

Another message arrived.

"Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier—I figured you weren’t interested in my life anymore. You never even accepted my friend request on SNS 😭

Anyway, say hi to Aunt Mebuki for me! I attached the wedding invite."

She clicked on the attachment.

There it was: Uzumaki Naruto & Hyuuga Hinata.

Sakura’s jaw dropped.

“Hinata?! The shy girl from high school?!”

She suddenly remembered that one summer night when the three of them had gone to the local festival together, watching fireworks explode over the river. Now here they were, getting married.

A smile tugged at her lips.

Hinata would look stunning in a white gown. And Naruto in a tux… kind of adorable.

Then—bam—the groom’s face in her mental image morphed into that arrogant, cold-eyed rich boy from her high school nightmare.

“Nope. Not this again,” Sakura groaned, shaking her head. “Get out of my brain, you smug prick.”

She snapped back to reality and typed a reply:

Wow! Congratsss, Naruto! I’m so proud of you. You have a great job and now you’re marrying a great woman! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness. Hope to see you soon.

She almost added “Please pray I get my life together,” but deleted that part.

He replied quickly:

Thanks! By the way, where do you live now? Can Hinata and I visit you sometime?

Sakura froze.

She glanced around her cramped apartment—the peeling wallpaper, the flickering light, the stacked Amazon boxes she still hadn’t recycled.

"Umm… I’m sort of living “nomadically” right now. Planning to move soon, so probably not a good time for visits lol 😅 "

Naruto replied again, “Nomad? What are you, a caveman? 😂 Also FOLLOW ME BACK YOU DORK. It’s been three years!”

Sakura laughed. “Fine, you idiot.”

She tossed the phone onto the sofa and slumped back down.

“Great. Now I need to find a dress for this damn wedding…”

She opened Instagram and finally checked her long-neglected friend requests. She took a grim sort of pleasure in blocking all the fake-smiling snake co-workers from her old office.

Then she gave in to temptation.

She checked Naruto’s feed.

Disneyland. Universal Studios. Bali. A luxury cruise in the Caribbean. Paris. London. Berlin. Perth.

Sakura’s heart sank.

She had never even left Japan.

She glanced over at the trophy shelf—debate competitions, academic writing awards, student leadership certificates—and felt a dull ache rise in her chest. None of it had led her anywhere. She had once dreamed of becoming an ambassador, or even a diplomat. But then Japan’s economy tanked just as she graduated, and jobs in foreign affairs disappeared like smoke. She had failed the national exams, been rejected by every fellowship, and ended up wasting three years in a toxic office that almost broke her.

Sakura leaned down and scooped Poppy into her arms.

“What do you say, Poppy? Walk time?”

The little poodle wagged her tail furiously in approval.

Sakura smiled. “Okay then. But first, let’s find your leash.”

- To Be Continued -

Chapter Text

Hello, my lovely readers,

I appreciate you all so much for reading my fictions. I just realized that since I’ve been uploading multiple fics in one day, the reach for this particular story has become stagnant. It no longer appears in the ‘updated chapter’ section, which may lead to less engagement and fewer new readers.

So, I’ve decided to delete many of the parts and update the fic weekly instead. It’s not because I care about statistics or engagement numbers—I truly don’t—but because I’ve worked so hard on this fic and its plot development for almost two years, and I genuinely believe this story deserves more love and attention.

When I first started, I wasn’t very familiar with how AO3 works, so I didn’t really know how to play the game.

For those of you who have already binge-read the fic up to Chapter 21, I want you to know how much I appreciate you, and I’m truly sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

I’ll leave the first three chapters up for now, and I’ll continue with regular weekly updates moving forward.

Once again, thank you so much for your support.

Warm regards,
Felicia

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

That night, Sakura had the dream again.

It started the way it always did: suddenly, she was back in high school. She blinked, confused, as she found herself sitting at her old classroom desk, dressed once again in that stiff navy-and-white uniform she thought she'd never wear again.

“What the hell…” she muttered, looking around.

Everything was too vivid—the chalkboard, the posters peeling off the wall, even the dust particles floating in the late afternoon light. It was lunch break, and the classroom was empty. A strange, quiet hum filled the air.

Then—tap. Tap.

A harsh tap on her shoulder made her flinch.

She spun around. “Oh, you again?!”

There he was—him. That smug, arrogant prick from her past, standing tall with his arms crossed and that stupid smirk plastered across his too-handsome face.

“Of course it's you,” Sakura groaned.

Could this be her subconscious warning her about something bad about to happen?

"You're seriously sleeping during break?" he snapped in a cold, perfectly polished tone.

She scowled. “It’s my break. I’ll sleep if I want to! Who the hell put you in charge of my life?”

Sasuke cocked his head. “You should spend your breaks outside. The weather’s nice today.”

Sakura narrowed her eyes. “Well, I don’t want to be outside. Especially not with you.”

He smirked again, but this time, he covered his mouth—poorly. She could still hear the amused huff escaping his lips.

“What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?” he said, almost teasing.

“I’ll stop cursing you when you stop bothering me,” she snapped. “Leave me alone, Uchiha Sasuke!”

His brow twitched. “Wow. Full name? Bold of you to call me that out loud… deliveryman’s daughter,” he sneered.

He hadn’t meant to say it. Not really. There was something else in his voice—something Sakura couldn’t quite place.

“You camel dung of a human!” she barked, rising from her chair. “I’m out of here.”

But before she could storm off, Sasuke grabbed her wrist and dragged her toward the hallway. Sakura struggled, but he was too fast. Too determined.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! Let go!”

Suddenly, the hallway dissolved around her, and in the blink of an eye—

She was standing on the baseball field.

Helmet on her head. Bat in her hands.

“What the—?!”

A group of students in their gym uniforms stood around, watching gleefully.

“C’mon, loser! You’ll miss for sure!” someone shouted from the sidelines.

“Trash!” another chimed in.

Sakura clenched her jaw. “I hate all of you.”

From the crowd, a shrill voice called out, “Do your best, Sasuke-kun~!”

It was that red-haired girl with the glasses—Karin. She bounced up and down in her cheerleader pose, making no secret of her obsession with Sasuke.

Sakura’s eyes swept the crowd.

Naruto and Hinata stood in the back, watching her with worried expressions. Sweet, rich kids. The only two who ever treated her kindly. But even now, they couldn’t help her.

Because Sasuke had threatened them—rumor had it, he could get anyone expelled. His family was that close to the school director. No one dared to defy him.

“Look out, Sakura! Ball incoming!” yelled a silver-haired boy—Suigetsu—from the dugout, pointing.

She turned just in time to see Sasuke hurling the ball straight at her.

Panic shot through her body. She swung the bat in a blind, frantic motion.

CRACK!

No, wait. THUD.

She missed.

The momentum knocked her off balance, and she collapsed in a graceless heap onto the dirt.

Laughter erupted like thunder.

“She sucks!”

“BOO!”

“Sasuke’s the GOAT!” the girls squealed. Karin clapped enthusiastically, practically bouncing on her toes in excitement.

Sakura stayed on the ground, her cheeks burning. “Shit. Shit. Shit,” she hissed under her breath.

Just as she was about to stand up, a hand appeared in front of her.

Not Naruto.

Definitely not Naruto. He wouldn't dare.

She looked up.

It was Sasuke.

His hand was outstretched toward her, waiting.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“You think I’d accept your help after all that?” she snapped, slapping his hand away. “No way in hell.”

She stood up on her own, brushing the dirt from her knees, wincing at the scrapes.

“You bastard. Monster. Prick,” she spat as she limped away.

Sasuke’s expression didn’t change. Not at first.

But then—just before she turned fully away—she saw it.

A flicker. A shadow of something real in his eyes. Sadness? Regret?

Longing?

Sakura blinked.

Wait… what?

Suddenly, the dream shifted. It was like she wasn’t herself anymore—but instead, a camera, floating behind Sasuke. Watching him stare at her as she walked away.

Watching the way he bit his lip.

The way his shoulders slumped.

The way he whispered, “Why do you always run away from me?”

And just like that—Sakura jolted awake.

Her heart pounded like a drum. Sweat clung to her skin, and her sheets were tangled around her legs.

1:11 a.m.

Of course.

She stared at the ceiling, trying to calm her pulse.

That was the second lucid dream in a row. And about the same person. Why? Why him?

She hadn’t thought about Uchiha Sasuke in years. Not seriously. Sure, his name came up in jokes. A ghost from the past. But now he was haunting her dreams like some twisted prophecy.

Was this the universe warning her about something? Was her burnout triggering some kind of unresolved trauma?

She shook her head and grabbed her phone from the nightstand.

Fine. Just to get it out of her system, she searched: Uchiha Sasuke on Instagram.

There it was.

uchiha_sasuke97

Private account.

Profile picture? A photo taken from behind—him standing at the edge of a lake, staring out across a horizon that was definitely not Japan.

Just his back. His dark hair. That familiar silhouette.

“Geez,” Sakura whispered. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

She stared at the follow button.

Should I?

“Nope. No way,” she said aloud and tossed her phone into the nightstand drawer like it was cursed.

She pulled the blanket over her head and groaned.

“Please. Just let me have one dream where you don’t show up.”

And somehow, miraculously, she fell asleep.

That night, Sasuke didn’t return.

- To Be Continued -