Redemption |complete| (SasuSaku)

The bird without a letter ("soft lemon")

"He... did that?"

"Yeah, I was just as surprised as you! Anyway, Sai painted him one and I saw Sasuke put it in his pouch. I guess he still has it."

"That's where he keeps the photo of team 7 and my drawing." she chuckled.

"What drawing?"

"It's gonna sound very stupid but back when I was on mission with him... you know stuck in the dimension while I was pregnant, we had a huge fight. Few days after it, he came back to the tower and I was drawing something-"

"Oh god. I'm surprised that your lack of artistic abilities wasn't the subject of the fight." Ino slapped her shoulder playfully after she took a bite of her cake. It reminded Sakura that she still hadn't touched hers.

"Just shut up!" Sakura laughed. "I offered it to him as a joke but when I washed his clothes few weeks before he left, I found it in his pouch."

"You know what? Sasuke is so cute. Like so so cute. I never thought hat he was so romantic, so caring and thoughtful."

"He only is like that with me though." she stuck out her tongue at her friend.

"That's what's even more adorable."

"Yeah but he is also very absent..."

"He can't be perfect. He is doing everything that he can to make your life comfortable."

"I know... I just wish that I could have him by my side."

"But you do. He is in you and in Sarada. When you look at her just remember that there is a big part of him in her. Well... that child honestly mostly looks like him. I don't know what kind of genes his clan has but they all look very similar. I mean, remember Madara? Sasuke looked like him. Same goes for Itachi."

"I know he is inside of me and in her. But... You know... you can hold Sai in your arms, hug him, touch his hair or even kiss him on the cheek... well I can't do that anymore. I don't have him by my side at night whenever I struggle to fall asleep."

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you. I'm sorry that your husband got some eyes that nearly gets him killed. Thankfully he is strong so you don't have to worry too much."

Sakura looked at her friend and she realised how sad her friend was for her. Ino always somehow understood her, always.

The blonde spent a few more hours with her and before she left, Ino asked her if she was sure about not having a birthday party. Sakura assured her one more time that she was fine by spending her night alone. Oddly enough she just wanted to be by herself tonight. She felt like crying.

She brought Sarada to her parents and walked back home. She picked up Sasuke's old t-shirt from the crib and lay down in her bed holding it against her face. It didn't smell like him anymore but it was bringing back memories. Memories of a time when the were freshly married and even memories of a time when they were starting to get to know each other again. She wished that she could go back to these times. She fell asleep crying in her bed and alone.

She got woken up shortly after by something poking her cheek. She opened her eyes and it stopped. It took her a second to realise that the bird was Sasuke's summoning. She jumped out of bed and it flew to the window. So he hadn't forgotten about her birthday!

She tried to look for a letter but there was nothing attached to it. The bird simply flew out of the window and without thinking, Sakura grabbed a photo on her bedside table and jumped after it. She followed it towards the forest. She slalomed between the trees until the hawk eventually stopped. She looked around but couldn't see anyone.