False Hope (Modern SasuSaku Fanfiction)

Chapter 35: Heal and Forgive

"Sakura! Naruto!"

It got the others' attention too, of course. Their group of friends turned and saw them, a happy grin spreading across their faces. The other guests simply whipped their heads to check the newly arrived batchmates, but remained quiet, nevertheless.

"Hey! It's been a while!" Chouji was the first to greet, smiling brightly.

Sakura and Naruto took steps towards them and the latter replied, chuckling, "Yup! I hope we can enjoy this night altogether!"

"Of course!"

Everybody among their "squad" was present (excluding Hinata) and they exchanged greetings with no hesitation. Even Sakura herself felt jolly inside just by seeing her friends.

"Why is Hinata unable to attend?" Sakura finally speaks up.

Neji opened his lips to answer, "She's still working abroad. As much as she wanted to come home, she was way too busy to even buy a plane ticket."

"That's a shame..."

As mentioned, almost everybody was present and it was obvious how Sakura tried to avoid looking at her left side, where she previously saw a flash of raven-colored locks and red hair. She knew it so well and she refused to even try to look.

"Anyway, it seems like there's a lot of people now..." Ino cleared her throat.

"We can probably start the program." Tenten scanned the surroundings, nodding.

"Program?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. Before we start eating and all, we suggested having a few starting remarks to greet everyone."

"We'll start in five minutes, then." Ino suggested.

They continued talking to each other but Sakura's mind was floating elsewhere while her heart was beginning to beat rapidly. She didn't expect Sasuke to actually attend this kind of event; he hated it. The pinkette bit on her bottom lip and silently composed herself, breathing deeply. It terrifies her how he can still affect her like this in spite of every painful thing that occured between them.

One thing that will probably not change is that she will cherish Sasuke's presence forever. She may end up hating him after all the cruelty he's done to her but he has a special place in her heart; he will always be forgiven and loved by the pinkette. She may end up marrying another man but Sasuke will not be replaced in her heart.

"Let's start," Neji faked a cough.

Ino nodded.

With a microphone, she went in front and asked for everybody's attention. She smiled and began to speak in a warm tone.

"You want to get some drinks?" Naruto turned to Sakura after the blonde's opening remarks.

The pinkette smiled, nodding. She wasn't thirsty but for the sake of avoiding Sasuke and Karin, she followed Naruto.

"You want to eat? I'll get some food for you..." The blond smiled warmly at her, a smile that she once thought was innocent.

"On second thought, I'm not feeling hungry or thirsty. I'm good."

It wasn't long when Shikamaru approached Naruto and the two started to talk. Sakura was simply roaming her eyes around the place until her emerald orbs fell on dark, onyx ones. Her stomach turned cold at the familiarity.