Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been six months since Naruto got married and Sakura still had a hard time adjusting to the new, married Naruto. He was still irritating, but it was mostly Hinata’s problem now. He was sweet as a newlywed, always holding the door open for her and insisting that she order whatever she liked at Ichiraku’s.

Ino and Sai were still dancing around each other officially, but Sakura knew it was only a matter of time before Sai figured out how to show affection. Ino was frequently over at Sakura’s new apartment, her old one having been destroyed in the war, complaining about her teammate.

It made Sakura happy, though, to be involved in her friends' lives. She went to Naruto’s house every Sunday for dinner and she saw Kakashi at least once a week in his office for briefings. Sakura was being groomed by Tsunade to take over the hospital and had begun including her in their meetings a few weeks ago.

Sakura loved her job. Her specialty became surgery almost immediately. It was strange, but she loved everything about surgery. The smell of the soap in the scrub room, the green glow of her chakra hard at work, and the faces of the family members when she told them their loved one was going to be alright.

Sakura continued to think about the last six months and smiled, but it was off. It had been nearly perfect since the war had been over, despite her run-in with Kido and a few other mishaps. The only thing that was missing was her still traveling former teammate.

Sasuke.

Sakura closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, but she was still plagued with images of a young man with mismatched eyes and dark, spiky hair. She winced at certain memories, cursing herself. She tried not to go down this road anymore, but on late nights like this, it was hard. She felt like she was walking unevenly since he left, like a part of her was missing, leaving her unbalanced and unsure. It had become only more apparent since Naruto’s wedding.

In the beginning, the thoughts of his goodbye fueled her but also kept her hopes up. Over the years, it became harder, but she had been so sure he would show up to congratulate Naruto by now. Forget Sakura; the only other person Sasuke even remotely cared for was Naruto and she had thought that care would be enough to get him back to Konoha for the wedding.

His letter had filled her with joy, especially since his hawk delivered it. He had been close by, maybe close enough to see her.

It was only when it dawned on her that he had sent congratulations by letter instead of in person did she realized that he wasn’t coming.

Sakura shook the hair out of her eyes and, shrieking when she saw what time it was, started to pack up her things. She knew she worked too much, but there wasn’t much else for her to do. Her friends were coupled up and with each day that Sasuke didn’t show, watching them became more and more painful.

She said goodnight to a few of her recovering patients before heading home. It was nearly fall and the wind blew a slight chill in the air. Although she didn’t see a soul, Sakura thanked Kami that most of the route to her apartment was lit with lanterns.

She walked leisurely for the first few minutes, stewing over what she was going to make herself to eat that night. She didn’t have much, so it was most likely going to be just eggs and toast, but it was good enough. She mentally started compiling a grocery list for the next day, tallying what she needed for herself and for-

She spun, kunai palmed in one hand and chakra charging the other. She threw the first and then the latter for a devastating punch at whoever thought it was wise to sneak up on Sakura Haruno.

Mismatched eyes.

They stopped her in her tracks. The kunai clattered to the ground and her punch would have fallen short had he not stopped it with a large hand wrapped around her wrist, aided by his bloodline-enhanced vision.

Sakura’s heart skidded to a halt. With wide eyes, she stumbled backward. He raised a hand like he wanted to reach her, but Sakura let out a small noise and took another step back. Her limbs shook and she couldn’t believe that it was real, he was here, he was home.

He looked confused by her reaction, eyes furrowed as he stepped forward to say something. Sadly, it was the concerned look in his eye that made Sakura’s heart finally stutter one too many times, causing her to faint. She crumpled, but Sasuke was there to catch her, one arm wrapped around her shoulders.

He sighed, gathered her to him, and transported them to her apartment. He left quickly after laying her in her bed, but not before he pulled the covers over her shoulders and whispered, “I’m home Sakura.”

Chapter Text

Sakura awoke with a fright, clutching at her throat. She closed her eyes when she realized it was still before sunrise and, it being her day off, she would sleep in until then. Snuggling back into her covers, Sakura began to drift of to-

She bolted upright once more, the memories of last night coming back. Or was it a dream? Her shaky hands rose to cover her blushing cheeks. God, had that really been Sasuke? 

Deciding that sleep was no longer in her near future, Sakura got up and began to pad about her bedroom and bathroom, getting ready for her day. Hinata had asked her to come over the last few Saturday’s to teach him medical ninjutsu, just in case something ever happened to Naruto. 

Or, so she said. Sakura knew it probably had to do with her attitude the last few months. She had stopped going out with her friends and chosen to stay in. She slept in later, but at least ate the same, if not more. Naruto and Hinata had both tried to reason with her one evening at dinner, Hinata saying that she was depressed and Naruto openly admitting he was worried. 

Sakura knew better. It was just the laziness that came from peacetime. But, she knew that Naruto wanted to take care of those who were precious to him and Hinata cared more than anyone in the world, so she let them dote on her. She didn’t mind being the third wheel, anyway. Well, she hadn’t for a while. It had started to make old wounds sting, though, she’d never tell either of them. 

After showering and changing into her weekend clothes, Sakura made her way out to the kitchen to make some coffee, but gave up after a while. Sakura didn’t know if meeting Sasuke on the way home last night was real or a dream, and it showed in her inability to do basic tasks. She had spilled her coffee twice, knocked over the red hot kettle, and managed to put the tea leaves in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard. 

Sakura leaned her head against the wood and closed her eyes. “Naruto will help me figure this out,” she whispered to herself. 

After reading through her reports from the previous night and checking on a few things for her grocery list, Sakura grabbed her bag of treats for her friends and headed out the door. 

The morning was chilly, but only just. She hugged her coat tighter around her and was again thankful that she lived in such a central part of Konoha. Naruto’s new house was only a few minutes walk in the opposite direction of the hospital and it was a lovely route.

When she arrived, she knocked once, then twice.

A flushed Hinata opened the door instantly. “Sakura!” She opened the door wider. “You’re here!” 

Sakura raised an eyebrow. “Um, yeah? Just like every other Saturday!” She brushed a kiss against Hinata’s cheek before stepping into the home. She took her sandals off and laid them neatly next to the pile by the door and asked, “Where’s Naruto?” 

Hinata smiled softly and shifted on her feet. “Oh, Naruto? He’s-um, he’s in the-” 

“Sakura chan!” The b-onde idiot came flying around the corner and latched onto Sakura’s arm. “You’ll never guess what we have for you!” 

Sakura laughed, albeit nervously when she saw Hinata’s worried face, as Naruto basically dragged her to their kitchen in the back of the house. “Please don’t let it be another gross prank, Naruto. I was washing that stuff out of my hair for weeks .” 

Naruto snickered, remembering the prank. “Trust me. This is actually a good surprise.” 

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura slid from Naruto’s grasp when they turned the corner and entered the open back of the house. When she saw who was sitting at the table, her heart did a ridiculous leap in her chest. 

It wasn’t a dream. 

Sasuke Uchiha sat in their kitchen, his good arm resting on the table and the other only noticeably missing due to the sleeve hanging loose at his side. He wore an iteration of what she had seen last night; a dark shirt with a lighter vest and dark pants. His mismatched eyes were wide when they finally landed on her and the intensity in them made her suck in a breath. 

He looked at her like he was memorizing her features, a slight curve to his lips. 

Was... was he smiling at her? 

“Sasuke is back home!” Naruto yelling in her ear pulled her from her shock. Sakura watched him run around the kitchen to hug their friend, who immediately shoved him away with annoyance. It was strange, to see these two who she knew so well as boys grow into the men in front of her, still up to their antics as usual. 

Her head tilted to the side while she took in the subtle changes she'd been into much of a shock to notice the previous night. Sasuke had grown even taller, if that were possible. His hair had gotten longer. So long, in fact, that it had started to be less spiky in the back and entirely covered his Rinnegan. 

“Get off of me, dobe,” Sasuke muttered. His eyes finally moved from Sakura's immoble form at that point. 

Hinata, always there to save Sakura from unbearable amounts of embarrassment, poked her from behind to get her moving. “Go say hello,” she hissed. 

Hinata was right. Sakura was a grown woman now! She had to do better. She slowly made her way over to the table, knowing that her cheeks were slightly pink the whole time. Looking up at the man she loved and missed more than anything, she squeezed her hands together and said, “Welcome back, Sasuke.” It came out in a breathless whisper. 

Sakura felt like Sasuke’s eyes swallowed her words and kept them with the way they gleamed. “It’s good to be back.” 

Naruto slung his arms over both of their shoulders, tugging them in for a hug. “Gosh, I can’t believe it! Team 7 reunited after all this time!” He fake cried for a moment before squeezing them all tighter. “I missed this so much!” 

“Naruto!” Sakura and Sasuke said his name in different tones and levels of annoyance, but it was timed perfectly all the same. 

Naruto’s grin was too mischievous for her liking so Sakura deftly maneuvered out from underneath Naruto’s arm and turned to face Hinata. “Well, did you still want to do a healing lesson today?” 

Hinata bit her lip, glancing over Sakura’s shoulder for a moment before answering. “I think since Sasuke’s here, we should all catch up, right?”

Sakura’s hands still hadn't stopped squeezing them from nerves. She hoped her smile didn’t look fake as it felt when she turned around to face the boys. “Right. No, that totally makes sense. We can just... hang out!” 

Hinata chuckled nervously and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Tea anyone?”

Sakura was counting down the seconds before she could leave. 

It had been unbearable, to say the least. Naruto kept going on and on about Sakura this, Sakura’s the best medic-nin that, bordering on an inappropriate amount of time on the topic. He even said that Sakura had all of the single shinobi lined up to propose. It was true, but it wasn't like it mattered to Sakura. So, she promptly kicked him under the table and denied any knowledge of the matter, but she couldn’t help but hope she had seen some emotion flash in Sasuke’s eyes at the mention of another man in her life. It wasn't anger, it was more like confusion mixed with apprehension. 

It was probably nothing. Sasuke had been silent for most of the visit. He listened to Naruto’s rambles, albeit with his signature unamused expression, and even offered a small smile when he congratulated Hinata on getting married to the “loser”. He had only asked Sakura one question, at the end of Naruto’s ramblings. 

“Are you happy? Working at the hospital?”

He had taken his time coming up with the question, something that puzzled Sakura. Still, her natural response came immediately. “Of course. I love what I do.” And she did. 

He hadn’t said anything in return. He hadn’t been able to, not with how Naruto jumped back into the conversation. And, for the first time, Sakura felt no obligation to scold him for talking so much. It saved her from doing something stupid, which she always felt like she was bound to do around Sasuke. 

It wasn’t like she wasn’t happy Sasuke was there. She was over the moon that he was home! She just didn’t expect to see him, especially after discounting the previous night as a dream. She had backed away from him in fear, then fainted when she realized it was the Sasuke she had dreamed would come home. Just thinking about him carrying her home and putting her in her bed made Sakura's stomach tilt like she was suddenly free-falling, especially when Sasuke started glancing over at her more and more as the conversations went on. 

He hadn’t ever looked at her like this. He seemed to do it more often today than he ever had before, but no more than occurred in most conversations with everyone else, she considered. As a child, Sasuke didn't like eye contact. He’d speak with his back to you or looking down. Now, he seemed to be a somewhat active listener. 

It made her smile into her tea. He had grown. 

Eventually, the conversation died and Naruto seemed stuffed with cookies and tea. Sakura saw it as her opportunity to depart quietly. 

“Well, it was nice seeing everyone!” She smiled a bit too hard and hoped they didn’t notice how abruptly she had risen from the table. “I’m helping at the clinic in a few hours and had a late night, so I better get some more sleep.”

It was a lie, at first, but then Sakura figured she’d rather spend her time occupied at the children’s clinic than spiral into her own mind all night. 

Hinata frowned. “So soon?” Her eyes shot to Naruto’s quickly before resettling back on Sakura.  “I thought we could-”

“Anything interesting happen last night?”

Sakura froze. That couldn’t have been…. he wouldn't...

Sakura turned around and hoped that her face wasn’t as red as it felt. To make it worse, Sasuke looked smug almost, as he leaned back in his seat, eyes on her. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't not smiling either.

Well, Sakura wasn’t going to out herself, so it was up to him to admit to their friends she had had an interesting night. 

Naruto looked between the two of them. “Did something happen last night that I don’t know about?”

Sakura just felt her cheeks flame. 

Sasuke finally spoke up in the silence. “I saw Sakura on her way home from work last night.”

Sakura closed her eyes. Oh Kami, he’s going to tell them about it- in front of her!

“What!” Naruto looked between them accusatorially. “Why didn’t either of you say anything!”

Sakura was saved from answering yet again when Sasuke spoke up, shrugging. “She didn’t see me, so that’s why she didn’t say anything.” When he looked up again, his expression hadn’t changed, but his eyes definitely held their secret between them. “I made sure she got home since it was so late.”

Sakura's mouth popped open in shock. Was he... was he teasing her? 

Hinata smiled softly. “That’s so sweet!”

Naruto had a different reaction. “What! What time was it?” He turned to Sakura. “It better not have been past midnight! What have I told you about working such late hours?” 

Sasuke frowned, looking between his two teammates. “It was well after midnight.” 

Naruto nearly shrieked. “Sakura! I thought we had agreed on this!” 

Hinata neatly sipped her tea. “We really did try to tell you last weekend that you worked too much, Sakura.” 

Sakura herself could not believe the direction that the conversation had taken. They had skipped over her and Sasuke seeing each other before this morning and went straight into lecture mode. Not that she wasn’t happy with that, but it was still uncomfortable to talk about this in front of Sasuke. 

“Guys, I really don’t work that much!” she insisted, looking between the two of them. Sakura frowned when Hinata and Naruto both gave her disbelieving looks. “What! I’m here every Saturday, aren’t I?” 

Naruto threw an accusatory finger her way. “Says the woman who said she was going to the clinic later!”

Sakura winced at her forgetfulness. “Well… I did say that I was going to go home and nap first!” 

Naruto shook his head, but finally Hinata intervened. “Sakura, you know you're more than welcome here. Why don’t you sleep in the guest room?”

Sakura was all too quick to grab her things. “Oh no, not again. Last time, Naruto tried to stack pillows on top of me.” 

“It’s not like I thought you’d wake up every time I tried!”

“I’M A NINJA YOU MORON! I SLEEP LIGHTER THAN A FEATHER!” 

Sasuke smirked. “I see you still love to yell at loser, over there.” 

Sakura quickly sobered her expression, whirling back to look at the blue-black haired ninja. She stared, wide-eyed at Sasuke. “I - P..please. You know how much of an idiot he can be.”

Great delivery, Sakura. Super natural. 

Sasuke smirked in affirmation. 

It was…odd. Not a usual reaction that Sasuke had ever had before. Sakura was unsettled for a moment before a slight amount of awe started to creep in. 

Sasuke had changed on his journey.

Chapter Text

Thankfully, Sakura was able to leave shortly after tea wrapped up. It was awkward and rushed, but she was just happy to be out of there. 

The mismatched eyes that had followed her out the door of the Uzumaki's also had a bit to due with her haste.

She was distracted on her way home, constantly bumping into things and people, taking wrong turns, and eventually sat on a random bench to process.

Sakura replayed all of the looks they had shared over tea. Was he okay, she wondered? He seemed much...lighter than he had before he left for his journey.

That thought caused her to think about all of their interactions before the war. There had been so many awful moments that Sakura had worked very hard to be at peace with over the last few years. She knew that a pain so deep had driven Sasuke to his actions and that only a love so strong could heal him. She also knew she wasn't enough to heal him on her own. He had to do some of the work himself, and Naruto filled in the gaps where she lacked. It was how she had accepted it back as when they'd failed to bring him home. When Naruto swore to bring Sasuke home, Sakura felt it in her bones that together, they could find him. The feeling increased ever since he had lost his arm and refused the Hashirama version.

Kami. His arm. Sakura had barely been able to look at the empty sleeve. She knew if she did she would feel too many emotions. He never said, but Sakura knew that he wouldn't accept the synthetic arm as his penance, his punishment. To live a full life after his actions would have driven Sasuke to madness; he needed a constant reminder. Sakura still didn't know back then if that was such a good idea. If Sasuke had been driven to his actions by pain, would diving into the darkness every time he looked at his arm do him more harm than good?

It had been a late night with Naruto that had cleared her mind on the topic. He had said, "It's not like that, Sakura. Sasuke doesn't get sad when he looks at his arm."

"But how could he not, with what he's lost?"

Naruto had just shaken his head. "He didn't lose anything at the end of our fight, Sakura-chan. He gained everything."

It was late the following Sunday evening (well, Monday morning, now) and Sakura was still at work. 

Everyone else had already gone home, but Sakura had just begun. She had a patient who had developed a terrible reaction to a very common treatment. She had been looking through the archives all day, trying to find any evidence of this happening before. Afternoon had led into evening, and now there she was, finally locating the documents she needed and able to pour over the thousands of pages about the treatment and its origins.

Two hours passed before Sakura realized and the sudden knock on her office door startled her more than she'd ever admit. She wondered who would be knocking on her office at this hour. If it were an emergency, someone would have just come barreling in.

"Come in," she called out. Her kunai she kept strapped to the bottom of her desk was in her palm.

She was thankful she didn't drop it when she saw who's shoulders took up nearly the entire doorway. "S-Sasuke?"

He arched an eyebrow while he looked around the room. "Why are you reading with all of the lights off?" He shut the door behind him. "Do you realize what time it is?"

Sakura felt herself fall back into her chair, completely and utterly unprepared to have this casual of a conversation with the love of her life who suddenly reappeared after a two year absence. "I- I know it's late, but I'm working on something complicated for one of my patients," she managed to get out, breathless and confused. 

Sasuke merely nodded, like he understood.

Sakura suddenly had a sinking suspicion. "Wait, did Naruto send you? Because he threatened to start sending ANBU units to send me home if my office lights were on past midnight."

Sasuke's one visible eye squinted at her. "No. But that's why you don't have your lights on?"

"That's not the point," Sakura grumbled. Sitting straighter, she tried to ask her next question in as nonchalant manner as possible. "So, what brings you by? Did you need something?"

Sasuke glanced around the room for a few moments before he made his way across her office to sit down on the couch. He regarded her calmly for a man choosing his next words. "I'm here to take you home."

"WHAT!" Sakura shrieked, flinching at the sound of her own voice.

Sasuke's expression didn't change. "It's just under an hour until sunrise, Sakura. You look dead on your feet."

Well that…sucked to hear. But dammit, if it weren't true. Sakura had been running on low amounts of sleep for months, it seemed like. She hadn't slept the night before, either. She had been plagued with thoughts of how she should behave around him. The way they left it held so much promise and now…she didn't know what to do. What was expected of her. 

Sakura leaned back in her seat with a scowl. "Thanks for that. I guess I didn't realize the time." She sighed and looked down at her watch. "Kami, you're right." She groaned. "I have a shift starting at 7."

"Not anymore."

Sakura looked up in confusion. "What?" 

"Tsunade saw me on the way up here," Sasuke explained just like he was remarking about the weather. "She told me to tell you that if you tried to step foot back in the hospital before Wednesday morning, she would do unspeakably evil things to you."

Sakura's mouth was hanging open. "B-but I have patients!"

"Whom Tsunade said she would look after personally." He gave her an uncharacteristically soft look. Softer than she'd seen since he'd said goodbye outside the gates. "It's okay to take a break, Sakura."

It took her a few moments, but Sakura finally accepted her miniature forced vacation. "I... yeah, okay. I'll head home." It was a well deserved break, she told herself, and she'd get to clean up her messy apartment after getting a good sleep. 

When she started to pack her research into ninja scrolls to transport, Sasuke watched with a disapproving look.

Feeling the need to explain, Sakura said weakly, "My patient is really sick.” 

His expression didn’t change.

“I promise not to stay holed up reading this all weekend…?" she tried, giving him a forced smile. 

Sasuke shook his head, but he couldn’t hide the tiniest tilt to his lips while he opened the door. "Let's go." 

Sakura hid her flush by ducking her chin and quickly followed him out of her office. 

On her way out, Sakura stopped and said good morning to the people and patients she saw. She felt tense and several of her regulars and coworkers seemed to notice, eyeing the  shadow that was Sasuke ever watchful behind her, but eventually, her mind stilled with his presence. She felt like she was able to breathe for the first time since he'd been back as she watched more and more people offer him a smile or "Welcome back". It made it easier to believe he was actually home.

When they finally made it outside, a question occurred to Sakura. "Why were you in the hospital, anyways?" she asked, glancing up to the side as Sasuke moved to walk beside her down the steps.

Sasuke didn't look at her when he responded. "Naruto let it slip at lunch that he was worried you were working too much.”

So he had come of his own volition, Sakura realized with no short amount of awe. 

Sakura spluttered through her response. "I'm- I'm sure he did more than just let it slip, but..." She could feel his eyes on her, so she braved a glance up, meeting mismatched eyes. "...thank you."

He nodded, keeping eye contact for a moment longer before facing forward. 

They eventually made it to the main streets and, sure enough, the early risers had begun their day. Shops were opening and people began heading to work, the academy, missions or off to train. Students of all ages walked around, laughing and playing while they did.

Sasuke stayed beside her the entire time, his eyes never really straying from the path in front of them. It was strange to walk the streets with him as a young adult. When they were younger, she had always been trailing after him. People looked at him with a sense of pity or fear that only spiraled his hatred and anger further and further until aided by Orochimaru, he had finally snapped. 

When people talked about the last Uchiha, they normally cowered or sneered. It hurt Sakura that they didn’t understand his pain, didn’t even attempt to think about what his life had been like. Sasuke was wronged, he had felt pain, and reacted. But he atoned and became a Shinobi of the Leaf once again. Still, people were wary of him.

However, that morning, Sakura noticed their outwardly harsh stares begin to soften when they spotted her beside him. 

The other villagers saw what Sakura could not, that morning. The man in black wasn't fully keeping his eyes forward. He watched her steps, where they landed and where they headed. He watched every corner and every street they crossed well in advance. He was calculating the distance between them, his only tell being the stutters in his stride when Sakura slowed or wobbled sleepily. He always extended his hand, ever so slightly, as if he were there to catch her if she fell.

The villagers saw it even when Sakura did not, and it softened a few hearts. 

Sakura truly was tired, so she tried not to be too mad at Naruto for being nosey for telling Sasuke about her work habits. Besides, the thought of curling up in the new bed she had just purchased made her eyelids fight to stay open. She knew she'd fall asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow, something that hadn't happened in a while. 

"Do you have something to eat when you get home?"

The random question from beside her surprised Sakura. "Uh-yes, I do. A few things."

Sasuke hummed in what sounded like satisfaction.

Sakura couldn't help it. She stopped and turned to face him fully, smiling a bit too much. She was giddy at his interest, his questions. He hadn't acted like his before. "You don't have to walk me home, Sasuke-kun. I won't try to go back to the hospital, I swear. I really do need to sleep," she added with a laugh. 

His head tilted ever so slightly to convey his confusion. "I'm not here to make sure you don't escape. I'm making sure you don't pass out from exhaustion. Or surprise."

The added comment was so quick, she had almost missed it.

"Ah- you, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's cheeks heated, but she managed to get out, "I…I'm sorry about that. You startled me and I wasn't expecting you back-"

"Sakura."

"Y-yes?"

"Your eyelids are drooping as we speak."

Sakura's mouth popped open with a soft, "Oh." She had nothing to say to that. She was too bust taking in the sight of Sasuke leaning in and looking at her with concern evident in his features. 

He gestured with his hand to keep walking, his eye dancing in the morning sunlight. It gilded his black hair and made his alabaster skin appear radiant. A Sasuke reborn, reunited with his home. It made Sakura smile for real, that time.

They walked the rest of the way, only parting ways when they reached the stairs to her second-floor apartment. Sakura thanked Sasuke, who simply nodded before disappearing down the street.

Once inside (it took her a while, not wanting to lose sight of Sasuke until he faded back into the crowd), Sakura slipped off her sandals and stretched with a long and loud yawn. She made her way to the living room to set her bag down at her cluttered desk. It was so cluttered that it made Sakura nervous to unpack all of the old texts she had brought home. What if she misplaced one?

She pulled her hair behind her ears to sit down and organize when suddenly, she heard a tap tap tap at the window in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized it was a hawk summoning.

Sasuke's hawk summoning. 

Wide eyed, Sakura opened the window and took the scroll from its leg. The bird flew away immediately, indicating that a response wasn't necessary. Closing the window, she unrolled the message.

Stop working and eat. Then, get some rest. The dobe wants to have Team 7 dinner tomorrow night at 6.

Sakura's free hand covered her parted mouth, her eyes rapidly reading and rereading the note. She couldn't help but snort out a laugh. It was definitely Sasuke, giving orders instead of asking, per usual. But still, she could almost feel the warmth behind the words.

After folding the note and slipping it into the drawer she kept other letters she'd gotten from him over the past few years, Sakura headed to the kitchen. She heated up some leftovers from the previous evening and quickly ate. Its warmth lulled her even further and she sleepily made her way to her bedroom after cleaning up.

She had been right earlier. As soon as her head hit the pillow, Sakura fell right to sleep.

Chapter Text

Sasuke was not doing a very good job at assimilating back into Konoha’s everyday lifestyle. 

He was either sitting on Naruto’s couch, listening in on Kakashi’s meetings with Naruto, or training with Naruto. He was desperate for a reprieve, but the only other person he knew he could seek out was her. 

Sakura . 

Her name felt different, stranger since he had come home. He’d spent so much time thinking about the girl he left behind, but for some reason, it was like the name didn’t quite fit the person he found when he came back. 

He reminisced about their walk home the night prior while he made his way to the clearing. It had been the first time after he had sorted through his thoughts after getting his first good look at her over tea. He hadn’t had time to digest everything when she suddenly appeared at Naruto’s the previous Saturday morning, so he had done a lot of thinking in between. 

It had been a while since he had taken the time to truly look at Sakura. Years. While they walked, he started cataloging the small things he hadn’t fully realized when he had seen her for the first time. She seemed so much shorter than he remembered. He could see the crown of her head if he was standing right next to her, but his right hand still brushed hers every time they jostled closer to one another in the busier sectors of Konoha. It was a strange feeling. 

He quickly realized, with no small amount of stupidity, that he had probably just gotten taller. 

Her gate had also changed. She used to walk around on her toes, but now her steps were weighted and measured. She was sure of where she was going and wasn’t looking to him or their other teammates for guidance or direction anymore. In fact, he believed that it had been the first time he had ever trailed after her, been led by her, even if she hadn't fully noticed. 

Her hair had gotten longer. Sasuke had spent an inordinate amount of time taking short looks down at how the pink edges of her hair swayed about her shoulders. And her eyes. Sasuke swore he hadn't forgotten the shade of her eyes, but the bright viridian that glanced up at him occasionally had looked much brighter compared to memory. 

She was just so- 

“Yo, teme!” 

Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed, bracing for the annoyance that was going to be next few hours of his life. “Naruto.” 

His friend (Sasuke shuddered internally at the truth behind the word) was sitting with his legs splayed out in front of him in the clearing. “You ready to spar?”

“Ah.”

And so, they began. 

It was hours later that they lay panting on the grass, the sun sinking behind the treeline. Both of them lay on their backs, a few feet apart. They had finally called it, both groaning, now sitting by the small river near the clearing. Naruto fell first, but Sasuke soon followed. He was exhausted. He didn’t know why, but there had been an edge he had needed to work out. 

“So…have you been to Sakura’s new place since you’ve been back?”

Sasuke closed his eyes with a sigh. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” In truth, he couldn’t figure out how to invite himself over after forcing his presence on her twice in a row. He didn’t know how to bridge the gap. 

And he wanted to bridge the gap, the hole that he had felt ever since he had left a crying girl on a bench. He had thought long and hard about his relationship with Sakura during his journey. He'd had to swallow his pride and admit things to himself that he had refused to see or accept, things he didn’t understand fully back when they were younger, but now could. 

It was…a hard process, to say the least. He spent months of his time traveling, holed up in a cave somewhere in the north, huddled over a fire and thinking about Sakura. Her actions, her words. Her inactions and her reactions. He replayed every significant moment that winter and tried to unravel every detail he missed, everything he gave up, gave in to. He made himself think about what he wanted then, why he wanted it, what he wanted now, and what he had to do to get there. 

It took time, more than just the time spent in that cave, but he finally was able to come up with a single word to describe what he wanted; a home. 

But a home took time to build, and Sasuke wasn’t sure if he knew how or even if he could do it. 

But with Sakura... he knew she knew how to do it, and she'd help him figure it out. 

Naruto sat up, bringing him abruptly from his thoughts. “Come on, Sasuke. You’re both my best friends. I haven’t mentioned it once since you’ve been back!” 

"Mentioned what?" 

"That my two best friends should be in love and not dancing around each other!" 

Sasuke rolled his shoulders and glared. “I’m going to see her at your place tomorrow, aren’t I?”

“Well yeah, but that’s not the same!”  His voice dropped to a comically loud whisper. “Have you told her that you’re sleeping-”

Sasuke growled, “No. And she'd be mad, so drop it.” 

“No! Dammit, this is ridiculous! You promised that you would- that, that you would fix this!” Then, Naruto added with comical quickness, "And you're at home, so sleep under a roof, for Kami sakes!" 

Sasuke had no intention of having this conversation with Naruto right now, but he didn’t have the energy to bite too hard at the dobe. “I promised something? I must have forgotten," he said loftily, looking off into the distance. 

“You’re such a bastard,” Naruto growled. “You said you would make things right with Sakura when you got back. You said, and I quote, ‘I’ll explain myself to Sakura and Sakura alone’.” 

“The sentiment still applies," Sasuke said, adding a Sharingan-aided eye to his glare. 

“Well?" Naruto demanded, waving his hands. "Get on with it! You both deserve to be happy and stupid in love like me and Hinata!” 

Sasuke stood and stretched. “You spend too much time with Kakashi. You both are hopeless romantics.” 

Naruto grinned. “Oh yeah? At least I’m getting laid!” 

Sasuke shuddered at the thought. “I don't need that image in my head, dobe.” 

“Whatever. All I’m saying is that you’re missing out by not being married.” Naruto sighed dreamily. “Hinata always smells good and cooks really well. It’s so nice being around someone who doesn’t care that I can be an idiot sometimes because she loves me anyway!” He grinned at Sasuke. “That’s what you’re missing out on!” 

Sasuke wondered what Sakura smelled like for a second too long. “Sakura’s cooking is horrible,” he said instead. 

Naruto laughed. “Yeah, maybe as genin! She’s actually gotten really good. She even makes ramen!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Naruto continued. “I don’t know what Sakura smells like, but it’s probably something from the hospital.”

Sasuke knew the answer, having clocked it on their walk the previous night, but he didn’t provide it. “You sound a bit too accustomed to married life. Is Hinata making you do any of your own chores?”

Naruto shuddered. “You have no idea. She gets the scary eyes.” 

Sasuke’s brows furrowed, almost offended. “Scary eyes?”

He nodded. “You don’t want to know. Hinata could be intimidating before, but after we got married, I swear her byakugan got stronger every time I messed up.”

Sasuke scoffed in response. “I don’t think that’s a thing.”

“Sakura’s strength is probably strongest when she’s angry with you,” Naruto said, laughing through the words. “I’d hate to be you when you get her the wrong color flowers for her birthday.”

Sasuke’s face was entirely blank. “I’m leaving now.”

Naruto scrambled to follow after him “Are you still not going to tell me where you’re staying at, exactly?”

“No.” 

"Bastard!" 

Sasuke shot off and Naruto let him go without too much more of a fuss. He wanted to wander in peace for a while, so Sasuke walked the training grounds until he found a large tree and decided to perch there for the evening, hoping the still sounds of nature would still his mind and convince his body that he was alive, in Konoha, trying to figure his shit out. 

However, peace never came. He had been unable to stop wondering what Sakura smelled like. He could recall the scent easily, but he couldn't name it outside of her, Sakura. He knew that Naruto smelled like ramen and Kakashi smelt like parchment paper and metal. It frustrated him that he couldn't put a name to it, as ridiculous as it sounded. He tried to remember anything from when they were kids, but nothing came to mind. 

He also thought about what Naruto said about Sakura’s cooking. Had she cooked for him, for their friends? Recently? Often? He wondered what she normally made for dinner and, if she had eaten. 

That last thought was what drove him across the village. That’s what he convinced himself of, anyways. It wasn't like he had been playing with the idea of visiting her at work at some point that day.

He crossed several more rooftops before the hospital came into view. He perched at his usual lookout spot and immediately frowned. His eyes narrowed further when he noticed the location and position of Sakura’s chakra. It was...strange. 

Moving after a moment of deliberation, Sasuke lept down to the street level and walked up the steps to the hospital’s front doors. There wasn’t anyone in the lobby except for the lone nurse manning the front desk, as it was getting late enough in the day for the appointments to wind down. The receptionist's eyes were as wide as saucers while giving Sasuke directions to Sakura’s office, but he was off before her she could ask him what business he had with the doctor.

Sasuke smiled, thinking about it. Little Sakura really had gained on them. A whole doctor, the lead of village's hospital. It made him proud in a way he couldn't describe fully.

He made his way to Sakura’s office and slowly, quietly, opened the door. He sighed when he took in the pink-haired kunoichi and closed the door behind him. She was asleep at her desk like he had thought she would be, her hair splayed across her face and arms. One hand was folded under her cheek and the other was still on the keyboard, a sentence halfway finished on another screen, cursor blinking in and out. 

The lights were off and the only source of light in the room came from the glow of her desktop. He peered around at the screen. It was still running analysis on some tissues, by the look of it. Sasuke’s head tilted, wondering if she-
“Ah….Sasuke-kun?”

He froze. 

“Sasuke-kun, is that you?” Sakura blinked heavily, glancing up at him with confusion. Then she smiled a soft, sleepy smile and said, "Hey. What brings you here?" 

A weight suddenly appeared on Sasuke’s chest. “It’s late. And, it’s your day off. I was wondering why you were here." 

Sakura blinked slowly again, looking sleep rumbled in a way that made the weight feel heavier. “Yeah, I just had to finish up this analysis for a patient,” she said through a yawn, her nose scrunched while she squinted her eyes at the screen. “Huh. On second thought, the projected time for completion now says... eight hours.” She sighed. "Fantastic." 

Sasuke looked at her attire, her office. There was a blanket on the couch and she definitely wasn't wearing a uniform. It looked more like sweatpants. “Do you sleep here often?”

Sasuke didn’t understand why Sakura’s cheeks flushed. She looked down, hiding her face and chuckled away her apparent awkwardness. “What, with my late nights and Naruto’s meddling, I guess it looks like that, huh?” She stood and stretched and Sasuke felt a lump in his throat and the feeling like he needed to turn away, but he didn't. “I try not to, but sometimes it happens. Usually I make it to the couch though.”

Sasuke’s head tilted. The light, airy tone at the end of her sentence gave away the lie, but he let it slide. “Are you going to go home tonight?” He felt almost like he needed to insist that she do so. 

“Oh, definitely! I have the day off tomorrow and I can’t wait to sleep in!”

Sasuke listened to her ramble while she packed her things. Her words came even quicker than their normal break-neck speed, and he felt a bit bad for making her nervous. She didn't need to be.

“... and then I got a new bed because Naruto always complained that mine was too small." She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Like it mattered if he fit on it! Hinata and Ino went to help me pick it out and it’s simply the softest thing I’ver ever felt. It was a totally great deal…”

Sakura trailed off when she realized Sasuke was holding the door open for her, waiting for her to realize that she had grabbed everything and was ready to go. She smiled a bit too hard for his liking and walked out, Sasuke following behind. 

He knew he made her nervous, but he also didn't know how else to make her relax with him outside of just spending time together, so he kept quiet. 

The hospital was quiet as were they as they made their way to the exit. It was a peaceful silence for Sasuke. He enjoyed walking, looking at new things, and letting his mind wander. If he was walking, he was in the present and his past was held at bay for the moment. He could notice things, like how Sakura smelled. It was like a mixture between hospital antiseptic and something floral, just like he had figured. He'd have to be content to just let it be her scent. 

They were on the streets when his thoughts burst from him without permission. “Naruto says you’re a better cook now.”

Sakura’s laugh was a chime in a breeze. It was her laugh when she found something genuinely funny or peculiar and it made Sasuke feel much better about how they stood. “I’d like to think so!” Her grin was effortless. “I guess you, Naruto, and Kakashi would need to be the judges, after all.” She chuckled again, shaking her head with supposed memories. 

Sasuke’s lips tipped up ever so slightly when Sakura’s grin turned into a beaming smile. She had more pep in her tired step when she asked, “Are you excited for Hinata’s cooking? Her lunch has nothing on her dinners!”

Sasuke snorted, unable to help himself. “I don’t know if I ever will truly look forward to eating around Naruto.”

Sakura laughed and Sasuke finally stopped fighting it and looked at while she said, “I guess that’s true. He really can be gross, but thankfully Hinata’s taught him a few manners.”

“Hm.”

They walked in companionable silence until they got to Sakura’s apartment. Without knowing, Sasuke had stared intently at the second-floor window since it had appeared in his view. 

Sakura, however, took notice. Her head fell to the side, pink hair swaying. “Would you…like to come inside?” She bit her lip after she finished, looking almost contrite. 

Sasuke’s gaze fell to hers instantaneously, then shuttered. He felt embarrassed that he was caught, but even more so that he had been so easy to read. It was infuriating, the intense desire to see where she lived, to be in her space. He wanted to attribute it to some baser need to know that she was alive and had a life, despite his actions against her. He knew, however, that it was fruitless to continue lying to himself. He was curious for curiosity’s sake. Because it was her space. That was enough. 

Sakura’s expression fell quickly at his lack of response. “I- I’m sorry, I know that it’s late and -” 

“Sakura.”

“Y-yes?”

“Were you serious?”

She blinked rapidly. “About…about what?’

“Your invitation.” Sasuke's eyes flickered to the window again before returning to her, feeling his ears heating underneath his shaggy hair. “If you were serious I…I would like a cup of tea.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was a start. 

This time, it took longer for the understanding, surprise, and excitement to work through Sakura’s expression, but elated she was when she turned to lead them up the stairwell after a quickly uttered, "Of course!"

Sasuke tried to maintain his composure while he followed, but in truth, he was equally nervous and excited to be there. His hand kept opening and closing as he walked. He hadn’t had a truly private moment with Sakura since he had returned, and he owed her a conversation, no matter how small. He was ready to repeat the mantra he had memorized and free Sakura from some of some of the pain he had caused her, that he causes her. 

Sakura fumbled with the key for a moment before ushering him through the entrance with a shy smile. The building was old, so he had to duck ever so slightly to enter the small doorway. Sakura moved past him and turned on a few lamps, illuminating the space and allowing him to understand the pink-haired kunoichi a bit more. 

Her taste was eclectic. Colorful. She had a deep, blue couch and a window seat just below the great window Sasuke had been staring so intently at that had several different colored cushions. Books filled every nook and cranny in her shelves and plants hung in the windows, rested on end tables, and sat in great, fat pots here and there. Her desk was the only truly cluttered thing in the apartment, as the kitchen looked sparse, but taken care of. It was clean, but lived in. It was a home. 

The weight in Sasuke’s chest returned with vigor, causing him to bring his lone hand up. He rested it there and closed his eyes, hoping he looked composed when he dropped it and turned around. 

Sakura had begun to waltz about her kitchen, putting together some snacks and tea. Sasuke watched and, what was becoming a theme around the pink-haired kunoichi, didn’t realize he was moving. His hands came to rest on the cold counter, the weight in his chest near unbearable as he watched her blush and bump into corners while sneaking glances up at him but pretending not to. The knowledge of how much trust it took for her to turn her back on him, invite her into her home…Sasuke didn’t know if she knew, but he did. He felt it everywhere. 

Sakura had been rambling since they had closed the front door. “- and I still love tea, so I have all different kinds of flavors! You can take your pick of the different leaves I have here but…” She trailed off, noticing his transfixed gaze with an increasing blush. "Sasuke-kun...?"

Sasuke could barely breathe. He was spiraling inside of his body, wanting to leave, wanting to erase his existence, wanting to wipe his hands clean until they were raw, and wanting her to stop looking at him like that. 

Her head, ever so tilted, her eyebrows scrunched with worry. Compassion born in strength lined every feature and all of it, all of it, was for him and all of it, all of it was so unbearably undeserved. He didn't know if he would ever deserve it, her unrelenting kindness. Not until he apologized and said his piece. The weight in his chest centered and tightened, threatening to send him over a precipice of emotions too fast, too fleeting, too many , to name. 

Sakura slowly set the tea tray down and walked toward him. “Sasuke…you’re pale.” She lifted a hand up as if to reachout, but slowly lowered that, too.

It all became too much for him. Sasuke stood upright and saw and gestured to the couch, not a thought between his ears. “Please. Sit.”

If Sakura thought his behavior was odd, she didn’t let on. She just nodded, eyes wide and cautious as she walked past him. She sat down and he promptly followed suit, leaving a more than healthy distance between the two of them. 

The course of action was devised without a second consideration. 

“Sakura,” he began, letting out the breath he'd been holding. “Have you studied healing eyes like mine?” 

Her shoulders straightened and she looked shocked for a moment. “I…” She swallowed, as if she were stealing herself. “Yes. I found an old scroll that was sealed. It contained…heavy detail about the medicinal needs of the Uchiha.” 

Sasuke was proud he fought his grin. He had left the scroll for her to find and, thankfully, she had. 

She seemed more bashful than he thought she would be. She tucked her hair behind her ear, a nervous trate he was thankful she still had. It clued him in when most other times, he was clueless as to her true feelings. “I’m sorry if you feel like that was an invasion of your privacy," she said, rubbing the back of her neck and glancing to and from the coffee table and his eyes. "I really only read up on it to make sure that at least…well, that at least someone in the world could help you if you got hurt!”

Sasuke didn’t feel thankful enough to Sakura for a long time. He was trying desperately not to overflow with it currently.

“It’s fine," he replied, his voice slightly hoarse from emotion. He cleared his throat. "You are right. It is safer to have someone with your skill know how to care for my eyes.”

Sasuke waited patiently for a response, but it seemed that his words had frozen the pink-haired kunioichi. He leaned forward slightly. “Sakura?”

She started, her blush back with full force. “I- yes?” 

“Can you…?” He gestured to his eyes.

She snapped to. “Oh! Yes, I can! Just, turn towards me, and, erm, hold still.”

Sasuke did as she asked, closing his eyes while he tried to calm his breathing and relax his shoulders. He held as still as he could when he finally felt her fingers gently tap against either side of his head. They gently traced his temples, the green glow soft and inviting from behind closed lids. The lull of her warmth both from her hands and her chakra were palpable in his fingertips, even if she was focusing it on a particular area.

Sasuke felt like he was going to melt. He didn't mind the feeling. Not at all. 

It was minutes, moments, or seconds after she started that he began to speak. “I did a lot of thinking on my travels.”

Sakura’s hands never paused, but he felt her chakra flicker. He continued on quickly, not wanting to lose his nerve. “I’m…sorry, for causing you pain with my leaving after the war."

If her chakra had flickered before, it seemed to fire up for the barest of moments while she sucked in a surprised breath. 

"I left for a good reason. I knew that if I wanted to…to…” He struggled for a moment, but decided to leave the thought hanging. He had to begin his monologue. He had rehearsed .  “I had to decide who I was, who I became, and what I now wanted to be. I was blind and filled with anger, revenge, and pain. There was barely room for anything else.”

“What filled the space all of that didn’t take up?” Sakura’s voice was a whisper of a wind against his skin. His eyelids fluttered, but he didn't open them. 

Sasuke fought to not to be too hard on himself for not finishing before she could respond. “I had people who saw me for who I was, but wanted me around anyways. I was put on a team that had an interest in my well-being because there were bonds being built. Bonds that I didn’t understand.”

Sasuke’s breath ushered out of him, the release of pressure at his temples finally easing for the first time in years. It relaxed him more than he could begin to describe, and as he slowly opened his eyes, meeting his favorite shade of green, he couldn't help but let a soft smile leak into his expression. “I came back because I understood those bonds as much as I could on my own. Now, I’m ready to try and understand them with those people.” 

Sakura simply stared at him, her fingers a hairsbreadth away from his skin, and he found that he missed the warmth. 

"Do you understand?" Sasuke asked, not willing to look away from her.  Sakura wasn’t crying, but her eyes shined in a way he had never seen before. It was beautiful, incandescent.

He was surely drowning, now. The weight on his chest was now constricting his ability to breathe. 

“Sasuke-kun," she whispered his name. Her hands fell lamely to her lap, as if she were in a trance. “I-I think so, but... can I ask a question?”

Sasuke was entirely unprepared for this reaction. He had expected tears, hysterics, or throwing her arms around him. He had prepared for those, had been ready and waiting. He certainly didn’t know if he had an answer to her question, but he wanted to try, so he nodded. 

Sakura took a steadying breath. “I…I just have to know one thing.” She clasped her hands in her lap and stared at them. “Is the bond you have with me…" she paused, searching for the right word. "...different than the ones you have with Naruto and Kakashi? And...other people you might have bonds with?" She finally looked up, and the hopeful look in her eye that she seemed desperate to hide made Sasuke feel like everything was going to be okay for the first time since coming back to Konoha.

Sasuke was nervous to respond, but he didn’t want to be dishonest. He nodded. “Yes, Sakura. Our bond is...different.” 

Chapter Text

Sakura was surprised that she had been able to sleep that night. Those four words were all she could think about until she closed her eyes, and they were the first thing she thought of when she woke up. 

Our bond is different. 

Sasuke had left not soon after saying those words. Right after, he had stood up told her he would pick her up the following evening for dinner at Naruto’s, tapped her forehead with his fingertips, and then swiftly departed. It had startled her the same way it had when he had done it two years prior. The subtle action, the small touch, it conveyed so much…she just couldn’t figure out what. 

Sakura had walked back to her room in a daze, tea forgotten. Her thoughts ran in circles all evening, wondering what on earth had happened to her expectations of his return. 

She never tried to put too much thought into him staying for an extended period when he returned. She figured that Konoha would never be his true home, not after what he and his family had been through here. He might be more content living a nomadic lifestyle, and that was okay with Sakura if that’s what Sasuke wanted, especially if that was what he needed. She had accepted that Sasuke may or may not return her feelings, if not some of them. If she was honest with herself, she had considered her odds 50/50 on having a relationship with him in any sense of the word. She knew he would come back, he always kept his word, but she just didn’t know what way he wanted her in his life, if at all. 

And that would be understandable. It would be understandable if he never wanted a romantic relationship with her, with anyone . 

Sasuke had endured…so much. It caused physical pain in Sakura's chest every time she thought about what he went through as a child, especially. He had been so young and had witnessed horrors that would traumatize adults well into their years. To see death, to know it firsthand with the death of a loved one, and then to have said deaths caused by a loved one? It hurt Sakura to the point of misery if she dwelled on it too long. 

She thought about it constantly for a while. Right after he left on his journey, she had begun thinking more about herself and the way she had acted towards him. Who was she to offer love without knowing what it took? She needed to try and understand his pain, not just know it existed. Sakura knew she could never truly understand it, what he had been through, but she lived in his pain in her own way for a long time. She barely ate or slept. She worked, she read research, and she pondered on Sasuke. 

Naruto helped as much as he could during that time. He usually didn’t say much, but on her really bad days, he would mention something about Sasuke that would make her smile and have hope that Sasuke could come back to Konoha a more healed man. The first time had been when she had been wrapped up on her couch. She hadn’t eaten all day, sick with the knowledge of what the elders did so many years ago.

“You know,” Naruto had started quietly, “Sasuke may not realize it, but when we were younger, you were uncomfortably important to him.” 

Sakura’s voice had been hollow when she responded. “I don’t think he saw me as anything more than an annoyance." And she believed that. 

Naruto had smiled, like he knew something she didn't. “That’s not true. He made sure that I knew how precious you were to him, even before he did.”

She hadn’t understood and hadn’t been in the mood to respond. But, little by little, Naruto let her on small moments she hadn’t realized were pretty consequential in the grand scheme of their bond bond. He told her about how Sasuke’s eyes were constantly on her after fighting with Kaguya, the fear Naruto had felt from him when she had willingly impaled herself on Madara’s sword, the interest he had seen in his eyes when the new Team 7 had run into him for the first time since his leaving at Orochimaru's hideout. 

It kept her grounded, and it gave her hope. 

It was hard for Sakura, as a doctor, to not look at the psychology. She had read into childhood trauma, PTSD, and the long-term effects of it left untreated, of it festering. The more she read, the more she understood that it wasn’t up to her to fix him. It turned out to be what helped her the most. She poured over novels and texts and began to understand that the most important thing was presence. She made goals in order to accomplish this: listen to him, make herself ready and available to him when he needed help, be compassionate and patient with his growth, and offer a safe place to exist in silence. Presence over conversation, that was her goal. 

Sakura knew she had to focus more on the third one. Sasuke wouldn’t talk unless he was ready and he would never be ready if she never shut her mouth. Her rambling had always been a defense mechanism, and Sakura was honestly proud of how she'd done so far since he'd been home. 

The previous night, when she had turned from making their tea, the look in his eye had been startling. She couldn’t place it, having never seen it before. He looked like he was struggling to breathe, like he was desperately trying to stay afloat on dry land. It unnerved her to see him so unsettled. She had repeated to herself to stay calm, to listen, to ask questions when he was done, over and over on the way to the couch. 

Sakura was unsure of why he had asked her to suddenly heal his eyes, much less act so nonchalant about her snooping through the things left from his old apartment. She imagined it was due to his disregard for the possessions he left in Konoha. Sakura couldn’t help but move Sasuke’s box of clothes and belongings to her apartment after he'd left the most recent time. She had needed something tangible, something to hold onto to show he had existed. To show that he was real . That the time they had together had been real and worthy of remembering. 

She opened it the one and only time, then repacked it neatly, storing it in her hall closet for safe keeping. Sakura might have also conveniently left out the old Uchiha manuscript, labeled as a medical text. She had sworn to herself that it was just to store it properly, the old parchment looking like it might crumble if not for the preservation jutsu cast on it, but when it fell open with a simple unlocking jutsu, Sakura had been overcome with what she had seen. 

Diagrams and instructions, summaries and diagnoses, diseases, and treatments. It was a treasure for the kunoichi who had spent too many nights trying to find anything about caring for Sasuke’s eyes. Her healing jutsu could find maladies and ease inflammation easily, but to care for such a delicate, otherworldly power? She never wanted to do more harm than good, and with the knowledge provided, she knew she could help Sasuke with his eyes if he ever found the need or will to ask. 

It was a short scroll, but the information provided was thorough. She had felt confident in her understanding of the theory, and when applying the theories to the simple and severe headaches she was tasked with addressing in the hospital, she saw incredible results. It had been a lifesaver for some, and for Sasuke, it looked like it had been sweet, sweet relief. 

Sakura wondered if he ever had his eyes healed after the war. She doubted it. 

After she'd healed him, frown lines that had been present since his return faded and the bags under his eyes lessened. He had relaxed under her hands and started a conversation Sakura hadn’t believed would ever happen. When he opened his eyes again, she could see the words coming and felt there weight. 

Our bond is different. 

The way he looked at her felt different, too. 

Hours later, her home clean and tidy and wearing the seventh outfit she had tried on, Sakura nervously paced her bedroom. She was incredibly nervous to see Sasuke again. He hadn’t told her what time he was going to arrive, so she had been ready two hours before dinner, just in case. Plus, after everything that had transpired between them the previous night, she was unsure of how she should act around him. She needed time to think. 

She wasn’t so naive to assume his words meant that they were suddenly together. She wasn't a stupid genin, anymore. She figured that Sasuke had spent some of his time on his travels looking at himself, thinking about his actions and what he wanted out of life now that his path toward revenge was over. She also knew that he needed to experience life for himself and decide what he wanted from those people, those bonds, too. 

She hated to admit it, but it put a tremendous pressure on her. She felt as if she made one sudden move or pushed Sasuke too far, he’d run and she’d never see him again. She would never tell him, but his leaving suddenly and without a word was probably her biggest fear. He could go wherever he wanted for however long he wanted, as long as he told her he would see her when he got back. That was all that mattered. 

A knock on her door drew her from her deep thoughts.

Sakura's eyes flew to the clock hanging on her wall. If it was him, Sasuke was a whole hour early. She smoothed her shaking hands down her red dress and tried to slowly, calmly, walk to the door, and opened it. 

Sasuke stood there, cloaked in black and dressed in varying shades of the same color and grey. For a moment, Sakura was struck stupid by how beautiful he really was. Especially when he looked pleased to see her. His eyes had softened and his shoulders relaxed as soon as their eyes met.

“Sakura," he said, dipping his chin slightly.

"H-Hi," she responded, looking up at him starstruck. 

His head tilted to the side. "Are you ready?”

His question jolted her to the present. “S-sorry, yes! Just let me grab my things.” Sakura tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked down at the floor while turning to grab her purse, knowing her cheeks were flaming.

“We’re in no rush.” Sasuke waited until she turned around to add, looking, for lack of a better term, somewhat sheepish. “I know I’m early, but I thought we could take a longer route to Naruto’s.” 

Sakura’s eyes widened. Sasuke wanted to take a longer route…and spend more time…with her…? “I..yes! Yes, that sounds wonderful!”

When he smiled his small smile at her response, Sakura fumbled with her keys and desperately tried to hide her blush. “It’s beautiful out today, so we should enjoy it!” 

“Ah.” Sakura missed the way the Uchiha shook his head in affection at her attempts to hide how flustered she was. 

Sasuke led the way down the stairs and to the main street. They didn't say anything as they started walking in the opposite direction of Naruto's, but Sakura eventually settled into their mutual silence, the busy streets of Konoha providing all the noise they needed. She had grown so used to filling the silences with ramblings, talking about anything and everything under the sun, so she was thankful that Sasuke’s presence forced her to relax, let her thoughts come and go without vocalizing them. She realized that she could hear, see, and understand more of the world around her when she let her eyes work more than her mouth. 

She smiled softly at the ground, thankful for the millionth time that Sasuke was home. 

Eventually, Sasuke cut to the south and took them towards the small park that Kakashi had ordered built in honor of those who sacrificed their lives in the Fourth Shinobi War. It had a small pond in the middle with trees from every land planted across the grounds. Flowers grew and were tended to by several of Ino’s family members and it had flourished and grown into a beautiful place to honor those who had lost. 

As they passed the entrance, Sakura sighed, closing her eyes and taking in the beautiful scents of the flowers. “I love it here. It’s beautiful, but…" Glancing up at him, she added softly, "it makes me sad. Seeing the names of my friends.” 

Sasuke made a noise of agreement. Sakura trailed just behind him as they made their way through the park. Over small bridges and past streams filled with fish, they eventually found themselves circling the main pond. Lilypads dotted the surface, and a family of ducks swam across the middle. The sun was a warm glow that cast a mirrored image on the water of the tree line. Sunset was approaching, and it was beautiful. 

After they had started to make the first turn around the pond, Sasuke spoke up. “My favorite thing to do outside of training is taking walks.” 

Sakura’s steps faltered, but only for a moment. She was internally screaming in joy at Sasuke offering up something personal about himself, but she maintained her cool. She had to if she ever wanted to hear more about him. “Oh? I…quite like taking walks myself. They help me…clear my mind.”

Sasuke nodded but said nothing in reply. They walked until they came across a small clearing with a bench, trees, and flowers arranged in a beautiful canopy. Sasuke gestured toward the area and Sakura obliged, hiding her flushing cheeks at the thought of sitting in a secluded area with Sasuke. 

They sat down on the bench and let the sounds of nature envelop them for a few moments. Birds chirped and the wind blew lazily through the leaves. A small waterfall bubbled and trickled over the rocks behind them and a school of orange fish swam by. It was peaceful, Sakura described, to sit with Sasuke and exist in a world that had survived, grown, and flourished. She never would take for granted the silence between them again. It was presence that mattered the most. 

“Would you…" Sasuke paused, like he was trying to find his words before continuing, "...like to listen to me? For a moment?”

Sakura looked up, her mouth forming a small ‘o’. It was sudden and a request that she had never heard from Sasuke. It was her greatest hope and a thought that filled her with intense trepidation. “Y-yes, yes of course.” 

Sasuke nodded. He turned to face forward and took a deep breath before he began. “I am not the best communicator, but I…I want to try and tell you about my conclusions from my travels. It might take some time, but I have thought quite a bit over the last few years. I think explaining some things to you will help our…bond.”

Sakura could only nod mutely at first. She was sure she was having an out-of-body experience because there was no way that her life was this good. When she got her shit together, she nodded quickly and said, “I’ll listen to whatever you have to say, Sasuke-kun.” Sakura couldn’t help but shift herself more in his direction when she replied, adding a hint of vulnerability, “I won’t change my mind about my feelings for you because of anything you might say. So don’t worry about that either, Sasuke-kun.” 

Sasuke’s eyes were still forward, but they closed upon hearing her words. He nodded, collecting himself before beginning again. “There are so many things I want to tell you, but I don’t know how. I think I’d like to start by explaining to you how I felt during my genin days and what it meant to leave Team 7.”

Sakura just nodded, her eyes wide with nerves and excitement. 

“My decision to leave was the result of a chain of events that rekindled my hatred for my brother." He sucked in a shaky breath. "I had been humiliated by Itachi's declaration that I was disappointingly weak and, when I saw that Naruto’s power was considerably greater than mine, I was driven to the edge of a cliff I had been teetering on. He could potentially beat me in a fight and that went against everything I had believed to be true about myself. About him.”

Sakura's eyes glazed over for a moment, remembering that fateful day on the rooftop of the hospital. 

Sasuke's hand gripped his knee. “I was so emotionally unaware of anything outside of revenge, pain, anger, and hatred, I refused to recognize anything about you or the rest of Team 7 for a long time. It was right after that when I truly began to reflect on the impact you, Naruto, and Kakashi had on me. When we all first met and started training together, all I felt was apathy. But then, we began to interact more and I could acknowledge each of your strengths and weaknesses.” He glanced up at her briefly. “The latter made me think of you all as people I needed to protect.”

Sakura was desperately trying to hold her pieces together while listening. If were anyone else, she'd have jumped on them to hug away their pain, but she knew Sasuke needed to get more off of his chest. The words tumbling out of Sasuke were measured and steady, like they had been waiting for a long time to escape.

“I was…happy with Team 7." He smirked. "Well, I guess ‘happy’ isn’t the correct word. I was distracted from my pain with the three of you, I forgot about my desire and need for revenge for lengths at a time. You all had the power to make me forget about the pain. That in and of itself made me feel so unbearably guilty. I was alive, was given a purpose, a mission to take out my treacherous older brother. I couldn’t afford to relax and be happy like a normal kid, not when Itachi still lived. Despite seeing how far each of you went to make me happy in Konoha, I still abandoned the Hidden Leaf and endured for my original and true purpose; revenge.” 

Sasuke took a deep breath. He gazed at the sun, setting slowly over the hills of Konoha. After a moment, he turned to face Sakura, his visible eye filled with an emotion Sakura couldn’t place. “I want to talk to you about the night I left Konoha.”

Sakura’s heart dropped. She didn’t know if she wanted to talk about this. It was one of her most painful moments, one of the worst memories she had relived too many nights in her dreams. But, she steeled herself and nodded, letting him know he could continue. Anything for him. 

Sasuke didn’t take his eyes off of her that time. “I left the village to gain the power to kill Itachi, but I knew a part of my journey was also to gain enough power to protect you all. Like I couldn't protect my own family. That’s why I couldn’t let you come with me, help me take my revenge. When you asked to go with me, I….I almost said yes. In that moment…” He trailed off, letting the thought settle in the empty space. “To have a partner with me, to not have to continue in loneliness…it would be too dangerous for me to have you with me while I was working to protect you. I had to do it alone.” 

His expression cracked, slowly, his eyebrows drawing in and his lips twisting in a grimace. “I wanted to say yes to your offer. But I thought I had to break my bonds with you, with Naruto, with the village. All of those bonds that caused me to lose focus, and I couldn’t afford that.”

Sasuke finally looked away and Sakura blinked, realizing she hadn’t the whole time he had held her gaze. He looked down at his single hand. “I only fell further into the darkness after that. There was no one there to keep me afloat, and I lost the person I was when I was on Team 7.” 

He looked up at Sakura, a new sense of resolve gleaming in his eye. He stood up and after a moment, offered her his hand. “The Sasuke I was on Team 7 doesn’t exist anymore. But, neither does the rogue ninja. I understand that I am a mixture, a combination of my past and a continuous movement towards my goals.” 

Sakura was simply frozen, unable to move or think. 

Frowning, Sasuke stooped down to take Sakura’s frozen hand. She couldn’t help but gasp, her eyes following the flush blooming at the top of Sasuke’s cheeks, but he pushed on before she could say anything. “I am sorry that I didn’t say more than a simple thank you that night, that I pushed you away, that I hurt you. I didn’t know it all then, but I know it now. I can’t change it, but I can understand it.”

Sakura was still shocked. It was more than she had heard from him in one sitting, and all of it was overwhelming her. He had wanted her to go with her…? That thought alone had nearly sent her spiraling, but his admission of happiness with Team 7? The maturity in his response set her mind working on recognizing her stages of grief and progress charts, but what touched her the most was one of his comments. 

He wouldn’t have been as lonely if she had gone with him. 

Sakura’s limp hand finally grasped his back. She stood and found she was right underneath him, their clothes brushing. Sasuke swallowed thickly and looked a tad unsettled, but Sakura just smiled softly. “Thank you for sharing with me, Sasuke-kun." Her thumb, with a mind of its own, swept across the back of his hand while she spoke. "I understand more of how you felt back then and, even if it sounds silly, I’m still glad I met you that night. I’m glad I got to see you off, and I hope that when you leave again…I'll be able to be there too, and our parting will be a bit happier.”

“How so?” Sasuke muttered the words, his eyes on their hands. 

Sakura’s smile widened. “You’ll keep promising that you’ll eventually come back.” 

He squeezed her hand, and the thankfulness she'd rarely seen in him was apparent in his eyes. 

They walked to Naruto’s in relative silence, this time more comfortable and dare Sakura say, intimate than before. A major wound on their bond had been repaired. Sakura would never have to look back at the memory of their first parting with as much pain ever again. Her whole perspective of the interaction changed and with it, her heart grew even fonder of the Uchiha. 

Naruto had been surprisingly civil at dinner. Hinata had him in the kitchen the entire day, helping her cook and clean. He looked tired, starving, and a bit terrified of his beautiful wife, but excited to see the two of them arriving together. He had also only joked about Sasuke and Sakura once, although it hadn’t been the worst thing he had ever said. 

“So, did the bastard ever get inside your apartment? He’s been dying to see it!” Naruto had exclaimed this over dessert. Between Sakura’s water blown across the table and the wide-eyed death glare Sasuke was giving Naruto, the blonde idiot quickly backtracked with his hands held up in defeat. 

They left shortly after dinner, but not before Naruto pulled Sasuke aside to his office to show him something. Hinata walked her to the door instead, all smiles and soft eyes. Sakura gave her a hug and decided to wait outside for Sasuke, unsure if he was going to walk her home. She didn’t know where he was staying, so she didn’t know which way he would turn if he was to head home. 

Sasuke solved the problem shortly after closing Naruto’s front door. “Can I walk to your apartment with you?” 

His words were jumbled and a bit quick, but Sakura had squeakily agreed, turning clumsily on her heel to head back to her place. It wasn’t more than a five-minute walk, but they exchanged a few words. Sakura commented on how good Hinata’s food was, Sasuke retorted that Naruto’s behavior nearly ruined his appetite. Sakura laughed and then, they had arrived. 

He walked her up to the door where they both paused, avoiding the other’s eyes. Sakura tucked her hair behind her ears several times before glancing up at him. “Well, I have an early shift tomorrow, so I should really get to sleep.”

Sasuke nodded. He glanced down at the ground before asking, his words just above a whisper, “Do you want to have dinner tomorrow?”

Sakura felt like the floor had disappeared out from underneath her. It took her an awkwardly long amount of time to respond, but she finally recovered enough to string a few words together. “Yes! Would…you like to come here? I was planning on cooking anyways...” She trailed off, leaving it open for him to agree or volunteer another option. 

Sasuke nodded, near imperceptibly, but it was enough.

Sakura beamed. “Great, well I…I guess I’ll see you here tomorrow.” She turned to unlock her door, but quickly faced him once more. “Um, does 7pm work for you?”

Sasuke nodded.

“G-great, okay, well goodnight!” And with that, Sakura fled into her apartment and shut the door, not moving from the spot until she heard him walk down the steps and off to wherever he was going next.

Chapter Text

Sakura POV

Sakura could barely function at work the following day. She had dropped test tubes, taken a set of lab results to the wrong patient, and walked in circles for hours, forgetting what she was doing and where she was going. Several of her coworkers asked if she was alright, only to be met with a startled gaze and furious blush, followed soon after with a halfhearted excuse of tiredness. 

She eventually sequestered herself to her office after her last patient, eyeing the clock for the arrival of 5pm for the first time since starting at the hospital. She loved it there, she truly did, and she also never really had a desire to be home more so than here, in her place where she felt the most at use. So, Sakura mindlessly signed papers and made orders that she knew she couldn’t mess up until she realized it was half past and she could head home. 

She walked in a daze while trying desperately not to internally freak out. For the second time, Sasuke had asked to hang out with her, but it felt different. It was different from their previous walks or outings. Those had been in public or in the company of friends. The only other times they had spent alone in her apartment were brief and had pushed them both to the emotional brink. 

Well, mostly Sasuke had been pushed , Sakura thought. Even if it wasn't true, it felt like he had spoken more to her in the last week than he probably had the entire time they spent together as genin. It was as wonderful as it was unnerving. Sasuke answered more questions than usual and seemed genuinely interested in giving her an explanation for his past actions. Just days before, Sakura would have insisted that she didn’t need an explanation from Sasuke; she had forgiven him and that was enough for her. 

But hearing him elaborate on the reasons behind his actions, what drove him to leave the village…it had undone the work she'd put into pushing aside her need to know why. All day, she dwelled upon the events of that fateful evening when he left the village the first time, thinking about what Sasuke had felt that night. She dwelled on his pain, his anger, and his desire for revenge, but she'd never once entertained anything close to what he had said the previous day, before. 

It would be too dangerous for me to have you with me while I was working to protect you.

I almost said yes.

To have a partner with me, to not have to continue in loneliness…

I wanted to say yes.

He had even apologized. For hurting her.

Kami, it had nearly knocked Sakura to the ground to hear an apology from Sasuke. She never expected one and, if she was being honest, she hadn't thought that Sasuke was capable of offering one verbally. He was more in line with the old adage of ‘actions speak louder than words’, so to speak. His journey of atonement was evidence enough. The fact that he had gone out of his way to present his thoughts, his musing over his own actions and the reasons behind them, was something Sakura knew was hard for him. But he did it for her . 

He had spoken in a formal manner, at first. It was as if he rehearsed it, but Sakura shook her head at the thought. Sasuke was way too cool to do something like that. But, Sakura could tell that the words came from a place inside of him that Sasuke rarely let anyone see. He had been vulnerable in a way that Sakura had never experienced and, like she had thought earlier, it was unnerving . 

She thought that Sasuke wouldn’t change his behavior towards her too much if he ever returned. Sakura had held onto their last moment before he had left for his journey and it sustained the hope in her heart that Sasuke might eventually return to her. She didn’t care in what state, in what way, as long as she had a place in his life to help him find happiness, she would be happy. 

But the more that Sasuke shared, the more her traitorous heart wanted. Sasuke had said that their bond was different, he had said that her presence during their adolescent years would have eased some of his loneliness, but what did it all mean? Sakura thought so much about it, changed her mind so often, that she had started to feel mentally fatigued by the end of her work day.

She still had a simple truth to fall back on. She loved him, wanting his happiness in the purest of ways. That was still true, and it was all that mattered in the end. 

Sakura made her way into her apartment and breathed a sigh of thanks to herself for her fortitude the previous evening. After she had scampered away from Sasuke like the little idiot she was, Sakura had paced and paced until the state of her apartment finally reached the forefront of her mind. Seeing the papers strewn across her desk, medical textbooks everywhere, and at least a few dishes in the sink had pushed her into action. She had immediately got to work cleaning and didn’t stop until she knew even her mother couldn’t find a speck of dust. 

Sakura freshened up and changed before beginning her prep work for dinner. She had decided to make a dish that was heavy with tomatoes, having known since she had first taken a liking to Sasuke that his favorite food was the red fruit. She flushed as she peeled them, hoping that it was still the same. 

She burned the first sauce, dropped the rice on the floor, and knocked over at least three or more four things. Her hands were shaking and her mind was racing. She couldn't stop overthinking. Did Sasuke want to be real friends, who talked and hung out? Or, Kami save her, did Sasuke like her? That was a concept that Sakura could only just wrap her head around.

The clock steadily ticked towards 7 and with each passing minute, Sakura grew more and more nervous.  She didn’t know if she could keep her composure, not after the thoughts that had been spinning in her head all day. She had gotten lost, daydreaming about ridiculously outlandish endings to their dinner, many of which caused her mistakes at work. One particular one was a recurring daydream. It involved- 

Three knocks sounded against her front door. 

Sakura nearly dropped her sauce-covered spoon, but caught it midair with a breath of relief. She hastily wiped her hands on her apron before hanging it up on the back of her pantry door, desperately trying to calm her racing heartbeat as she moved swiftly about her kitchen. She shook her arms and tried to take deep breaths, but it honestly sounded like hyperventilating. Realizing how dark it had gotten, she flicked on the living room lamps and made her way over to the front door.

Sakura flung the door open a bit too hard, and she winced at the increased size of the dent in her wall right where the door handle was. Sasuke, who had been standing there with his hand raised into a fist to knock again, looked startled for a moment before schooling his expression. “Sakura.” 

Sakura felt all of the calm and cool she had collected that evening (who was she kidding? She had none!) draining from her body when she said a bit too loudly, “Sasuke-kun!”

_________________________________________

Sasuke’s POV

Sasuke stared with no short amount of confusion while the pink-haired kunoichi dropped a plate for the third time that evening.

He knew something was wrong. She hadn’t said much outside of ushering him in. She looked happy to see him, but she also looked stressed, as if she had too much on her mind. He had gone to wait in the living room for her to set the table after she had insisted, hoping that some distance would give her the breathing room she needed. He spent time looking through the many bookshelves in her living room, clocking the ones that were surprises and already guessed at by him. The clattering of trays and dishes drew his attention for a moment each time, and eventually, it stayed, his eyes itching to turn on his sharingan to see through the wall and locate what was wrong. 

But, he didn't. He didn't want to abuse Sakura's hospitality or intrude on her privacy. 

Sasuke turned and looked back at the ground and frowned. Work could be what was bothering her, but he hadn’t seen Sakura so…unsettled since he came back. It made him feel unsettled as well. His mind made up that he needed to investigate, he walked back into the dining room and took her in. He looked at her hands, her eyes, and how fidgety she was. She seemed almost…nervous. And she hadn’t truly looked him in the eyes once since Sasuke had arrived. Maybe she was scared of him? 

The thought hit Sasuke like a wrecking ball and he hissed out a breath.

Shame fell over him like a wet cloak. He felt like he had been punched right in the stomach and fought the urge to bend over in discomfort. Sakura being afraid of him was something he hadn't considered, but he also knew that she would do anything and everything in her power to hide it. That was who she was. To know that and to see her this unnerved by his presence carved a hole in his chest. His belief in her trust in him wavered.

It hurt. 

Once she had set the table, Sasuke made his way over, sitting down slowly. Sakura gave him a soft smile that was entirely fake, making the hole in his chest expand. They said thank you and began to eat in silence. It was tumultuous but fine- for a while. That was, until they both reached for the teapot at the same time. Sakura’s hands grasped the handle first and Sasuke had been too caught up in his own head to pull his hand back before his own was wrapped tightly around hers.

Their eyes met. Sakura’s were wide and she quickly withdrew her hand. Sasuke immediately drew his own hand back and looked down, unable to see the emotions he feared would be reflected back at him. 

Sakura murmured a short apology. Sasuke muttered back, "Ah." 

They ate in strained silence after that. 

As soon as their dishes were clean, Sasuke swiped them with his single hand before Sakura could say anything. He was more than adept at doing what he wanted with only one hand, and cleaning the dishes was an easy task. He balanced all of their dishes on one arm and made his way to the sink.  Her eyes on him, but he was too lost in his thoughts to realize.

Sasuke had been determined from the beginning to fix what he could of the bonds he had broken, and it broke a piece of him to see Sakura afraid of him. He wouldn’t admit it to himself, but he truly wanted Sakura’s full trust, her full confidence in his changed ways. The easy forgiveness and ability to stand before him even after he had done atrocious things were his saving grace, before. Now, he could only despair at his struggle to come up with a way to convince her of his inability to cause her any harm, any pain. At least, not intentionally. He seemed to be doing it all the time, still. 

Sakura stood to join him, but her eyes were on the floor. It was that action, or inaction, he surmised, that made him snap. 

“Sakura.”

She stopped in her tracks and finally, finally made eye contact. “Y-yes, Sasuke-kun?”

“Can we…talk?” Sasuke couldn't control how he flinched at how lame it sounded. 

Sakura’s eyes widened, but she steeled herself quickly. “I- of course, Sasuke-kun. You can always talk to me.” 

Sasuke nodded but was silent. He didn’t know how to do this, to talk through the issues. He knew what he had done and how it had caused her pain, he just didn’t know how to fix it. He needed to fix everything he had broken. 

Sakura stepped forward. She was slow with her movements as if not to set him off. “Sasuke-kun…I know that words are not your strong suit. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.” 

“I want to," came out of him quickly, without any thought. 

“Then…I will wait until you are ready and have the words to tell me,” Sakura responded calmly and with a small smile. 

She said it so brightly, so filled with impossible amounts of patience, that Sasuke had never felt more unworthy in her presence. Here he was, desperately trying to find the words to explain how he would never attack her again, never try to take her life, never place her under a genjutsu that he himself has refused to dwell too much upon. In that moment, Sasuke felt completely, totally, and utterly worthless. 

“I don’t think anything I say will ever be enough to make up for what I’ve done.” Sasuke’s voice was barely above a whisper. He didn’t know where that came from. He dared to hope he got his point across. 

Sakura’s head tilted to the side. “Sasuke-kun,” she said slowly. “Your words are precious to me. I always want to hear what you have to say.”

Sasuke nodded. He knew this, of course. He tried a different avenue. “Could we…go for a walk?” Red tinged his cheeks ever so slightly when he saw how late it was getting, but he continued. “I understand if it’s too late. I’ll just-”

Sasuke paused. Sakura had already thrown on a cloak and grabbed her keys. She jingled them in front of her. “You coming, or what?”

Fifteen minutes into their walk, Sasuke had found the words. “I would like to talk to you about something that’s been bothering me.”

Sakura didn’t falter in her step this time. “You can just start talking whenever you want, Sasuke-kun. I’ll listen.”

When Sasuke spoke next, his voice was hollow and thin. “I have done terrible things, Sakura. When I left the village, the training I went through under Orochimaru was only half of the horrors." At her glance up at him, her face filled with worry, he quickly added, "I’ll tell you about that another time. The point is that eventually, I was able to overcome him and seek out Itachi.” 

Sasuke took a deep breath. “Orochimaru said that shinobi are vain, stupid people with only a desire for glory. This was my understanding until I met the First Hokage. He said that Shinobi are individuals who endure for a purpose. Depending on what that purpose is can lead them to do good or bad. Meaning, what a shinobi endures for can change.” He looked at Sakura. “What I endured for, for the longest time, was getting strong enough to kill Itachi. Gaining power and experience and knowledge until I knew I could kill him. And I…I eventually succeeded.”

The look Sakura gave him was one that was pained, but not for herself. It was like he could feel her grief for him in the air. 

He paused, knowing the next words would physically hurt him. “After... after killing Itachi, any trace of my former self was shoved to a corner of my brain and locked away. I only felt…agonizing amounts of pain. I learned too much from Itachi, and it grew into hatred for so many people.” Sasuke looked ahead, wondering how he could explain away his response to grief. 

He tried. “I have killed without mercy, sacrificed those closest to me, and let rage and hatred fuel me. I went after the Kage out of revenge. For what, is complicated. But revenge was the haze over my vision that had existed since Itachi slaughtered everyone I ever loved." 

Sakura reached for his hand then, gripping it tight between her own. He glanced down and it looked like she was going to pull away, but he moved his wrist to hold on, for once letting himself use the strength of another to get by.

"Revenge haunted my dreams and made me feel delirious. It was like my humanity had left me completely.” Sasuke looked down at the pink-haired kunoichi and felt his chest constrict as he whispered one of his greatest sins, “In the madness after killing my big brother.... I tried to kill you. Kakashi, and Naruto. More than once.”

“I tried to kill you, too,” Sakura responded softly. Her eyes had a far-off look in them. “You looked like you were in…so much pain.” Her eyes squeezed shut. “You looked like you had drowned in pain.” 

“I had.” Sasuke’s eyes raked over her, her shut eyes leaving him the time to take in how the evening light cast her hair in a purple not unlike his rinnegan. “When I left Konoha, I slipped further into the darkness. Without you and Naruto…there was nothing to keep me afloat. But, that was how I wanted it. To finally be left alone to explore the darkness, not caring for what happened at the end. It was what Itachi had told me to do. To delve into my hatred for him until it was the only thing I had. But, when I saw you again, at the bridge…it had been too long. I had slipped too far. I-” Sasuke paused, his features distraught. “I was drowning in pain and darkness when you found me.”

Sakura opened her eyes, and the viridian green sparkled with unshed tears. 

“Thank you,” Sasuke breathed, squeezing her hand. “For not forgetting me, when I forget everyone but myself.” 

Sakura’s eyes shone and she insisted, “I could never forget you, Sasuke-kun. You are…” 

He watched her struggle to find the words, ones she had found so easily just a few years ago.

The words came without warning. He wanted to know. He needed to know. “I’m what?”

Sakura’s cheeks flushed. “Well, you know what I mean! You are kind, strong, and wise beyond your years.” Then, her eyes grew sad. “But you are all of those things because you had to learn to be at such a young age.” Sakura took a step closer to him. Sasuke’s heart rate elevated. “You are so, so strong. And I know I already said that, but walking through the village and coming back after everything….” Sakura smiled. “It takes a lot of strength to come back from where you've been, Sasuke-kun.”

Sasuke shook his head. His cheeks had a hint of strawberry. He needed to get them back on track. “I’m not here to talk about that. What I really want to get at is…”

Sakura waited expectantly, eyes wide and posture inclined toward him, ready to listen.

Sasuke battled with himself for a moment before letting go of her hands and reaching out to touch Sakura’s sleeve. He tugged on it slightly. It was only a moment, but it kept him grounded. She didn’t flinch.

This time.

“I don’t want you to be afraid of me," Sasuke said slowly, his words miserable. “I know that I have done things that will forever mark your memory with pain, but I want you to know that I will never, ever attack you with the intent to kill ever again. I…I couldn’t .” 

With his eyes, Sasuke willed her to understand. He needed her to not be afraid of him for his own, selfish desires. He didn’t know what he’d do if Sakura feared him. It would break him even further than he was now. It would- 

Then Sakura’s fist slammed into his sternum without warning.

Not having been expecting an attack, Sasuke wasn’t able to stop himself from being thrown back at least fifty yards. He fell to his back before rolling and holding himself upright with his one hand. The pain from her punch caused his elbow to wobble and he went down on one knee. He grimaced in pain and confusion, but Sakura had already run to his side in a blur, her hands glowing with chakra. She was all smiles when she placed her hands on his chest, fixing what she had injured. 

“What was that for…” Sasuke coughed out, giving her a look through his unbound hair. He eyed his teammate warily. He had no idea what to think of her reaction. 

Sakura’s smile was a wicked challenge. “I’m not afraid of you, Sasuke-kun. I might have been afraid of what you might do before, but you have never scared me.” Sakura paused. “Well, that’s a lie. You did scare me at the bridge. But, I had underestimated the level of pain you were in. It won’t happen again.” 

“No,” Sasuke swore, but for a different reason. “It won’t.” 

Sakura’s hands left his chest and Sasuke felt hollow at the loss. He looked at the ground in shame. Sakura continued softly with her hand raised, as if to draw his attention. “Sasuke-kun…why do you think I’m afraid of you?”

“You looked like you wanted to be anywhere but near me this evening,” Sasuke said miserably. He continued looking at the ground and added in a whisper, “I thought that you were afraid of being alone with me.” 

There were a few beats of silence before Sakura spoke. “Sasuke-kun…I was nervous this evening but for an entirely different reason.”

Sasuke’s head shot up. Sakura no longer looked stunning with victory over her overthinking teammate. Now, her cheeks and forehead were pink with a furious blush that was slowly crawling its way down her neck. Her green eyes were desperately trying to stay on his face, but failing, darting to his eyes, to his chest, to her hands. Sasuke was floored. He had no idea what she was getting at. 

“Sakura?”

His pink-haired teammate took a deep breath. “I…” Sakura tucked her hair behind her ear, her tick. “Well, I was nervous because you said our bond was different and, well, I didn’t know what that meant! Because to me…” Sakura glanced up at Sasuke shyly, holding his confused gaze for a moment before looking down at the ground again. “Well, I’ve always felt our bond was different because…because... well, you know why!”  

Sasuke felt like he was simultaneously floating and sinking. His chest felt heavy and light. His mind was racing yet still. His treacherous heart felt like it had stopped while it was beating furiously against his chest. So many emotions passed through him in an instant, but the main one he felt was relief. 

She wasn’t afraid of him. 

The secondary emotion he felt the most was something he couldn’t quite place. His face warmed, but so did the rest of his body. He looked down where Sakura sat on her feet below him and found himself struggling to understand what she meant. Of course their bond was different. It had always been different between them. Naruto had been his rival, Kakashi his male figure, and Sakura had been his safety. He also knew she loved him as genin the way a child loved their favorite toy or character. Fiercely and without question. It was stable. But, he also knew that her love as a child had grown into a mix of affection and loyalty that Sasuke truly couldn’t understand. He didn’t deserve it. 

But she meant their bond was different because…

Sasuke stared and stared at her and couldn’t form the words to explain why their bond was different. She had been the one to try and come after him. She had been the one to forgive him instantly and without a fuss, over and over. His previous thoughts of her devotion and loyalty plagued him with confusion. He didn’t get why. It was one of the things he couldn’t seem to understand during his travels. Why Sakura could possibly love him. 

Did Sakura mean she still loved him? 

Sakura finally looked up and stilled. 

The two shinobi only had eyes for each other. Soft and flowering green meadows fell into the depth of emotion in inky, black chasms. Time stopped for both of them, and they existed purely for the moment when they understood the other. Compassion saw nervousness and eased the edges. Understanding saw confusion and relayed the message of different, different, different . Patience met patience where curiosity saw answers. Awe and affection more openly shown than either of them were used to soothe the frayed and broken pieces until both felt calm, cool, and nearly whole.

It wasn't their first conversation held with their eyes.  

They slowly rose to a standing position, hands ghosting over each other's forearms and eyes still glued to the other. Sakura was the first to break the silence. “So…we’re…different?” 

With her looking up at him, slowly blinking her big green eyes, Sasuke felt like he had set himself on fire with his fireball jutsu. “Yes.” 

Sakura’s answering smile was stunning. Sasuke felt blinded. “I…that makes me so happy, Sasuke-kun.” She dropped her hands and folded them in front of her. “I know that you always found me so, well, annoying as a kid. And, I guess I never thought you’d see what I feel for you as genuine and not just a child’s first crush.” 

Sasuke felt the weight of her words like a battering ram against his chest. “Sakura, I’ve always known.” His eyes softened with his next words. “That’s what made you so annoying. You were so open and spoke so easily about your feelings. It forced me to feel more than I wanted to.” 

“Oh.” A furious blush colored her cheeks. “So…would you mind if I said it?” 

Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized how badly he had needed to hear it. That Sakura still loved him, despite his failures, his faults, and his weaknesses. 

“I think I would like that,” he responded softly. 

He watched as Sakura slowly stepped closer, looking like she was steeling herself for something as she bit down on her bottom lip. She gently raised her hand, waiting for him to move, and when he didn't, she placed it on the upper half of his good arm and stood on her toes. Keeping her eyes on his, Sakura placed a short, sweet kiss on Sasuke's cheek. 

Sasuke felt truly frozen to the spot when she whispered against his skin, “I love you, Sasuke-kun.” 

When Sasuke closed his eyes, all he felt was warmth, relief, and peace washing over him at her words. So freely given. Without an ounce of regret or fear. Sasuke breathed in through his nose and was filled with the scent of cherry blossom, antiseptic, vanilla, and something entirely Sakura . He was unworthy of standing there, but he couldn’t move. Couldn’t say anything except a small, “Thank you.” 

Sasuke was reluctant to let go, but Sakura eventually fell back onto her heels. She dropped her hands and rubbed the back of her neck, her cheeks flushed. “Well, it’s getting pretty late, Sasuke-kun.” She glanced up at him shyly, but less so than before. “Would you like to walk back to my apartment with me? Or are you headed home?” 

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably for a moment, forgetting about his still unsolved predicament. “I can walk you back.” 

Sakura, who was much more perceptive than Sasuke had hoped, eyed him suspiciously. “Where are you staying, Sasuke-kun? Not with Naruto...” When he didn’t answer, Sakura sighed knowingly and gave him a flat look. “You’ve been sleeping in trees, haven’t you?” 

Red stained the Uchiha’s cheeks. “Ah.” 

“Well, not anymore!” Sasuke’s eyes flicked to hers and was surprised to find wilting confidence. He watched her gulp before saying, “J-just stay with me until you find a place for yourself. I have the couch and lots of pillows and blankets. And my bathroom is way bigger than Naruto’s!” 

Sasuke knew he probably shouldn’t. He was too new to this, to being among people, much less someone who was precious to him. He didn’t know how to behave in a home. He didn’t know how to do what she was asking, as simple as it was. 

Sakura saw his hesitation. Her eyes softened. “It’s just a couch and access to the facilities. I promise to not invade your space or privacy.” 

Sasuke couldn’t help but let out a noise of humor. “I think I’ve gotten used to you invading my space and privacy whether you mean to or not.” Sakura blushed and looked embarrassed, so Sasuke hastily added, “But, yes. I…accept your offer.” 

Sakura flushed pink and nodded, her lips pressed together like she was holding back from saying something else. Once she turned to walk back, Sasuke smiled.  

They walked in companionable silence, both of them rigorously going through the events of the evening. How had something so small as a misunderstanding turn into a conversation of hearts, minds, pasts, and futures? Sasuke spent most of the walk staring down at the pink-haired kunoichi in front of him, trying once again to understand why she still had the love she had for him since they were genin. She was wondrous and so much stronger and braver than he was. She was loyal and kind and everything he hadn’t let himself know for far too long.

It left him feeling utterly in awe of her by the time they arrived at her apartment.

Chapter Text

Sakura awoke the following morning somewhat rested. Both Sasuke and Sakura had quickly retired upon returning to her apartment. Sakura had offered Sasuke some of Naruto’s clothes that had been left, but the Uchiha had taken a summoning scroll from his cloak, indicating it had all that he needed. He set his few belongings around the couch, Sakura fluttering by his side, insisting that he unpack further, put his things wherever he wanted, make himself at home, this and that. 

Thinking about how much she had hovered made Sakura feel self-conscious as she rolled over onto her back. She tucked her sheets against her cheeks as if to ward off the oncoming blush. She had just been so desperate to make him feel comfortable that she probably overdid it. But, as Sasuke had said the previous evening, he had gotten used to it. 

Sakura glanced over at her clock. She still had fifteen minutes before she needed to get up to get ready for work, but she never could quite sleep right to her alarm. It used to plague her years ago, but she had grown to enjoy that early morning time with her thoughts. She would go over her list of patients for the day, make plans for supper, and organize her heart and mind to be ready for the day. She felt quiet and still, like the moment before a great storm. 

Today, her morning thoughts were of last night. 

She knew it had begun to be a repetitive thought, but Sakura couldn’t believe that Sasuke had said so much to her. She had dreamed so many times of what it would be like to hear some form of an apology from him, but she never got far down that mental road. She figured he would mutter it or say it with his face hidden in shame, and neither option was appealing to her. So instead, she dreamed up silly moments when he would just hug her and say nothing or tap her on the forehead like he had when he left two years ago. In all of her daydreaming, she never came close to the reality of the previous evening. 

Yet, her mind was heavy with some of the evening's revelations. Sakura’s heart lurched in her chest when images of Sasuke’s pained expression, finally having admitted his fear of her fear, blazed behind her eyelids. He had looked agonized at the thought of her being afraid of him. 

Sakura opened her eyes and rolled onto her back. Her hands ran down her face once more, desperate to push the bad thoughts away. She had been mortified, shocked, angry, amused, and a thousand different emotions when she realized he thought she was afraid of him. Afraid . 

She hadn’t really thought much about it before punching him. It was as much about proving it to herself as it was proving to Sasuke that she was strong and not the same, powerless little girl he had left behind all of those years ago. It broke her heart more than anything, knowing that he thought she would be afraid. However, after thinking over what had transpired over dinner, her excessive clumsiness, and the incident with the teapot, she could see where Sasuke had thought she was afraid. To be honest, she had been acting timid, but not for the reasons he had assumed. 

Her blush returned with vigor when she thought about how ridiculous her reactions to him had been. When he had thumbed through her books, Sakura had been stunned by how beautiful he was in the setting sun streaming in through the window. He looked like a dark angel, intent on justice and finally ensconced in the light he deserved. She had dropped the spoon on the floor shortly after picking her jaw up off of it. 

And wiping a bit of drool off of her chin. 

Every time he looked at her, Sakura could feel his gaze like a hot press between her shoulder blades. Without meeting eyes, Sasuke made her feel hot, cold, and a turbulence of emotions that grew wilder and more out of control the more time she spent with this different, returned Sasuke. His insistence on walking with her caught her off guard, and his words were what eventually tipped her over the edge. She’d been fighting for purchase and a sense of normalcy to cling to, but at the end of the night, when the whirlwind in her mind was able to move through her eyes and understand the chaos in his, it didn’t seem so hard to finally bridge the gap between their old normal and their new normal. 

It felt perfect. 

Sakura eventually climbed out of bed, a warm smell from possibly the baker down the street enticing her to her feet. She was thankful that her bathroom had two doors; one for the hallway and one that connected to her room. She would hate to have to sneak around Sasuke each morning with her terrible bedhead and equally, if not worse, morning breath. She washed and got ready for her shift. By the time she exited into the hallway, she finally figured out the warm smell that woke her was coffee. 

Stopping in her tracks, Sakura felt like she hadn’t actually woken up. Her reality couldn’t be this good. Sasuke couldn’t be sitting at the counter, a book in hand and coffee steaming in a mug next to him. He looked breathtaking, even in a gray long-sleeve and black sleep pants. Sakura’s heart skipped a beat, the only thought on her mind being  different, different, different. 

As if on cue, Sasuke looked up from his book. “Ah. Good morning.” His voice wasn’t thick with sleep, but quiet, as if he had been savoring the morning stillness just as Sakura had. His head tilted to the side when he took in her attire. “You are working today.”

Sakura forced her feet to move. “Yep! I have a few surgeries this morning and after that, I plan to lock myself away in my office and catch up on paperwork! It shouldn’t be too late of a night.” 

Sasuke simply regarded her over his cup of coffee. “Would you like me to bring you dinner? I’ll be meeting Kakashi later in the afternoon to go over a few things from my travels. I can swing by somewhere and get us something.” 

Sakura felt like she was floating as she regarded him and took in his words. “I…yes, that sounds good.” She couldn’t help but shift her feet underneath her. She didn’t want to leave yet. After their last few interactions, Sakura was starving for more of his words, his thoughts, his everything. “Did you sleep alright?”

“Ah." Sakura caught an almost imperceptible smirk as he sipped his coffee. "The couch just barely fits my feet.”

Sakura let out a breath of surprise. Was…was Sasuke joking with her? She willed the happy tears to stay put and hoped that her voice didn’t sound off when she replied. “Good. I’m glad that you had enough room.” 

Sasuke still noticed. He turned to face her, frowning slightly. “Are you alright?”

Sakura nodded, biting her lip. Their eyes were caught in conversation while she made her way over to where he sat, her hands behind her back. Sakura looked at the ground, shy and not truly comfortable, but wanting to take a chance. Sasuke had been so open, so vulnerable to her in the past few days, that it spurred her to do the same. 

She looked up at him slowly, immediately falling into his eyes for a moment before she gathered her senses to speak. “I feel like I’m dreaming, with you here and with me. I dreamed of this all the time. Just…being able to talk to you.” The admission sounded lame to her ears, bringing a furious blush to her cheeks, but she stood resolute in her statement. It was a huge step in their bond to talk as openly as they had been these past few days. She wanted to recognize it. 

The hand that had been resting in Sasuke’s lap brushed ever so slightly against her forearm. His eyes were downcast when he said quietly, “I dreamed of this... of being normal together, too. It made me hate myself because I could never hate you. Even when I wished I could."

The admittance was heartbreakingly beautiful. He had thought about her. He had tried not to and failed. It filled Sakura’s chest with warring emotions of affection and devastation. Her hand rose to his cheek before she could stop it, coasting against his skin. It was the ghost of a caress, but Sasuke’s eyes flicked up to hers in astonishment all the same. Sakura gulped, but held herself together. “I…I am so happy that you came home, Sasuke-kun.”

Sasuke's expression softened in a way it only did for her. “Me too.” 

The next several days passed by and the two shinobi got used to living in such close quarters. They had traveled together for extended periods of time together as genin, yet living in an apartment after they'd aged several years took some getting used to.

Sakura noticed that gradually, Sasuke began to feel more comfortable around her and in Konoha. Although they hadn't said anything of the same depth as some of their previous conversations, the new and quiet back and forth of how their days went, what they wanted for dinner, if the other had finished their book, were just as comforting. The comfort extended to the warm cup of coffee he had ready for her each morning after she nearly drank half of his on the second morning of his stay and the lunch he often brought to her office. Things like those made her wonder if she was burdening him with her feelings, so she tried to help him where she could. He let her chakra flow through his eyes every evening, soothing the strain that had built up over years of misuse and forgone treatment. It was quiet, intimate, and something that neither of them had expected to bring them closer, but had. 

Neither of them ever mentioned Sasuke finding a different place to stay. 

Sakura lived for the moments when Sasuke paid extra attention to her. Moments when he brought a lunch he remembered she'd enjoyed back from their genin days to her office after realizing she never made time to eat during her workday. Moments like when he payed specific attention to her tone when talking about patients and forgoing some questions in response. It was breathtaking every time Sasuke surprised her with his patience, his kindness, and his quiet wisdom. These were the attributes that she knew he had in his heart all along, simply hidden by pain, anger, and trauma. It made Sakura wonder how healing the last two years had been for him. It also made the pain of his absence lessen. 

Their emotional intimacy had been on hold, but the intimacy of living together had brought up a few challenges that they had to overcome. For one, both enjoyed a shower before bed. After the second night of accidentally meeting in the bathroom, towels and spare clothes in hand, they had somewhat awkwardly agreed to an every-other-night schedule for who went first. The other challenge was how tiny Sakura’s kitchen was. The distance between the stove and the island had never been an issue until two people decided to be in the kitchen at once. Naruto had never bothered and no one else really cooked at her house, Ino preferring to sit on the counter and drink wine and yap while Sakura cooked. 

Every time one of them had to pass by the other, at least sixty percent of their bodies touched. Fabric catching, skin accidentally brushing skin, and blushing cheeks and ears now accompanied every mealtime. Sakura almost wished that Sasuke wouldn’t be so helpful, but the pleasant rush and dip in her stomach every time they accidentally touched felt too good to stop. 

They both had been exhilarated more than once in the other’s presence. Sakura found herself tripping over her thoughts and her feet every time Sasuke read a book on her couch. Every evening, he lounged about the living room reading another novel about ancient wars. By nightfall, Sakura was a puddle of lovesick pink. Sasuke’s downfall was when the pink-haired kunoichi brought her work home. She would sit at her desk by the window and work, chewing at the end of her pen and scrunching up her eyebrows, her nose. He could see the wheels turning in her head, a miraculous mind at work. He caught himself staring more often than not, yet still tried convincing himself that his insistence that she leave work at work was purely out of worry for her well-being and not because he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. 

What slowly tipped them both over an edge they hadn’t seen coming came late on a Friday evening. 

Sakura looked up from her task when she heard the front door open. In the two weeks that Sasuke had lived with her, Sakura hadn’t ever beaten him home from work. She had received a message by hawk that he and Naruto had decided to spar for some much needed training. Sakura hadn’t thought anything of it until she had mentioned it to Ino. 

“Oh no,” the blonde had said sarcastically, gripping Sakura’s arm with a fake frown. “They’re totally going to kill each other this time.” 

So, Sakura had fretted until finally, just as the sun was beginning to set, Sasuke trudged through the front door. One of his shoulders drooped and he limped on his left leg, but what concerned Sakura the most was the way his only arm clutched at his abdomen. 

Sakura set the paper she had been reading down. “Oh my god, Ino was right! You guys totally didn’t pull any punches!”

Sasuke winced and had the humility to look at least a bit admonished. “We’re alive, aren’t we?”

Sakura rolled her eyes. She stood and made her way over to him, grasping at his elbow, her hands already glowing green. “Get over here, you dummy. I’ll fix you up before dinner.”

Sasuke shook his head, but his feet were obediently walking him to the couch. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

Sakura helped lower him to the couch. “Well, after the assessment I just did, I think it’s safe to say you’re a lot worse than you look.” Sakura grinned cheekily at the look he gave her. “Kidding. Just sit still.”

Sasuke obliged, his body immediately relaxing into the couch. It was nearly comical, the way he instantly sighed and looked right at home. With him willing and ready, Sakura got to work. She began with his arms, healing the small cuts and bruises, before ending up off of the couch and on the floor. She kneeled between the coffee table and Sasuke’s injured leg, humming to herself while she expertly threaded his flesh back together. 

After a moment, Sakura murmured, “What happened here?” She tapped where the nasty cut had been moments before. 

Sasuke sat up a bit, roused from his rest. “Hm. He got me with some kind of rope. A new technique of his.” Sasuke frowned and Sakura couldn’t help but find it adorable. “It was pretty frustrating, honestly.”

Sakura smiled up at him. “Well, it’s good as new! The last thing is your ribs.” Without thinking, the next words tumbled from Sakura’s mouth, her voice practical and all ‘Dr. Haruno’. “Please take your shirt off.”

There was a beat of awkward silence, both of them staring at the other.

Sakura fought to keep her composure and won. Sasuke looked a bit taken aback, but eventually acquiesced. Rising to her knees, Sakura watched with what she prayed was a neutral expression as Sasuke reached for the back collar of his shirt. The black cloth slid from his body and before either of them knew it, Sasuke was shirtless, breathing a bit heavier than usual, and leaning towards the girl sitting between his knees. 

Sakura knew her composure slipped for a moment with the way Sasuke’s eyes widened and his breathing stuttered, but she couldn’t help it. Any professional would have a moment of weakness when presented with a body like that . Smooth panes, lines of hard work and years of training, a small tan line, and the barest hint of hair. A freckle here, there, blazing against his alabaster skin in the setting sun. He looked like a dark god, suddenly there to reap her soul, her heart. 

Sakura almost laughed. Her strange imagination wasn’t far off. 

Slow as syrup, Sakura rose fully up to her knees and pressed closer. Her hands glowed green with chakra, casting them both in the soft light. Sasuke nodded and let his arm fall to his lap. Sakura moved the final, scant inches between them and, taking a small breath, she pressed her hands to his stomach. 

Sasuke flinched. Hard. Sakura looked up, worried he was in more pain than she realized, but quickly understood the reason when the Uchiha’s stained cheeks came into view. 

“Cold,” he murmured. He looked down at her hands like they were an answer to a very complicated math equation. “Your hands were cold and startled me. Sorry.” 

“I can fix that,” Sakura whispered. She warmed her hands a bit with her chakra before slowly pressing back onto his skin. She laid each fingertip down slowly, letting him get used to the sensation. Sasuke’s breath hitched once or twice, but eventually, his chest rose and fell with a regular cadence 

Sakura kept her eyes on her work, trying to focus on healing the broken bones, but a rather loud and quick beat kept distracting her. Sasuke’s heart was racing in his chest and getting faster with the rise in Sakura’s chakra use. Or, was it the rise of her hands? Sakura moved her hands to a new area, just below his left pectoral, and his heartbeat became outrageous. 

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura said quietly. “Your heartbeat is…really fast. Are you in pain anywhere else?” 

She refused to look at Sasuke. Not after she felt his heart literally stutter. 

“No," he said, his voice slightly hoarse. "I’m fine.” 

She quickly finished fixing his last broken rib and pulled her hands from his chest. They hovered in the air over his lap and Sakura, unable to help it anymore, finally looked up at him. 

Sasuke looked… unsettled . 

They sat there for a few moments together. The pink-haired kunoichi, ensnared by the raven-haired avenger. Her hands fell to her lap, her eyes locked on his. Lips parted, breaths nearly shared, backs curved to bring them closer. Questions and no answers, a dance they didn’t know the steps to, and a wild chorus pulsing in their veins. It was terrifying and wonderful and a rush like neither of them had ever experienced.

They were caught by each other. 

For the first time, the avenger, the lone traveler, and the Last Uchiha, felt the magnetism between his body and hers. For the healer, the lover, and the strongest woman the Uchiha had ever met, the emotions that warred within her were love and unending, unyielding hope. 

He lifted his hand to touch a strand of the strange, beautiful pink hair. She let out a breath of surprise and delight. He let his fingers trail through the pink locks like he had dreamed about two nights previous. She wondered if her dreams could ever again compare to the real thing again. 

“You should go to bed,” Sasuke murmured. His eyelids looked heavy, but not with sleep. “You have three surgeries tomorrow.” 

Sakura nodded, no clue what she had just agreed to until her muddled mind caught up. Sakura went to stand and take her leave, but suddenly, Sasuke’s hand was firmer in her hair, keeping her where she was. Sakura paused and looked up at him in question, wondering if he was going to apologize, push her away, say he didn’t deserve this or-

Sasuke’s lips pressed the purple diamond on her forehead, his breath hot against her skin in a sigh before he pulled back.

Sakura’s mouth formed a small “o” as she stared back at him. She blushed furiously, her hand shooting to her forehead. Open-mouthed, but no words escaping, Sakura gaped at the pensive Uchiha, a flush taking over the tips of her cheeks.

When he stood, she stood with him, as if she were in a trance. When Sasuke smiled a barely there smile and tucked her hair behind her ear, Sakura felt like she was about to melt into a puddle on the floor right then and there. 

“Goodnight,” he whispered. 

“Goodnight,” she whispered  back. 

Neither of them moved to leave for a while.

Chapter Text

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke was laying in the grass, his lone hand propped behind him. He, Naruto, and Kakashi had trained for a few hours and generally messed around for a few more. It was Saturday and although Sasuke would rather have spent the day with Sakura, she had been called in for an emergency surgery. He had been disappointed, but he knew how important Sakura’s work was to her and the village as a whole. He hadn’t been sure of what to do with himself around her after having kissed her the previous evening, so he was retroactively thankful for their time apart. It gave him time to get his thoughts in order. 

He had started off watching Kakashi and Naruto spar for a while, but Sasuke found other things to occupy his mind. 

The unfortunate (fortunate?) thing was, whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was Sakura. Her wide eyes from last night, the look of her hair, falling over her cheek while she mended his skin with expert care and precision, the way she had gasped so quietly when he had pressed his lips to her forehead…

It all came back to that. The kiss . Not a real, true one, but a kiss all the same. One that was initiated by him . 

Sasuke was proud of himself for going through with it, even if he had been afraid of her reaction. Ever since seeing her again, the thought of actually kissing Sakura made Sasuke feel like he was either burning alive or needed to leave the village immediately. It was absurd, but he warred with what he wanted, what he deserved, and what Sakura wanted and deserved. Some nights, all of those aligned. On others, not so much. Then, there were his…dreams. 

Sasuke had dreamed of kissing Sakura a few times. It was rare and slightly embarrassing for the unsocialized Uchiha. Thankfully, it hadn’t happened since he had returned. On his travels, he’d been woken from his sleep many times by the images of his hand on her waist or slipping from her jaw to tangle in her hair before dragging her face up to meet his. Now, dreams had turned into daydreams, and with new images of Sakura to support them, his mind was filled with possibilities. 

Did she want to kiss him? Did she expect him to since he had moved in? How long would he need take to prepare himself to kiss her and not feel the need to jump into a portal or hold her tighter? 

It wasn’t that he was against it. Kissing. Physical contact. He wanted to…but at the same time, he didn’t. On the way back to Konoha, Sasuke decided that he was okay with not understanding why he cared for Sakura, just that he did . So, he attempted to be okay with not understanding all of the emotions he was feeling around her and simply just feel them. 

But it was getting harder to just feel and not…act. Not that he’d ever admit it, but the acting part scared him a little bit. 

He had acted last night. He knew why he did it. He had been relaxed under her touch for most of the evening. But, when she moved to the floor…Sasuke had been nearly sent to the brink. When felt her breath on his inner thigh while she coasted up his lower half with her hands like it was nothing, his heart had literally stopped. When he opened his eyes and took in the sight before him, he was overcome with affection for Sakura. Soft, quiet, then loud and heavy in his head. He was enraptured with the reality that she had not only healed his body when he had been at the brink of death, but stolen his heart from the reaper over and over again, reminding him that he was cared for and safe with her. He was loved . 

He remembered how wide her green eyes had gotten and how pretty she had looked. No, not pretty. Beautiful . Her pink hair had gotten longer since the war and was draped over her shoulders, falling onto his skin. It was a shock to his system to look at Sakura and feel a crushing sense of want, of need. 

It used to terrify him, but the feeling lessened each day he spent surrounded by pink and green. 

Sasuke hadn’t ever looked at girls the same way other boys his age had. He mainly saw them as an annoyance, an obstacle he had no business or time entertaining. So, he chose the alternate route; solitude. It was easier and frankly, he had thought for a bit that his childhood trauma had ruined any chance of him trusting someone enough to have a physical relationship with them. He hated touch for the most part, making the way girls reacted to him throughout his childhood feel more like a cruel joke than anything. Sakura had been the only girl he had tolerated. 

If he was being honest with himself, he more than tolerated it. 

It pained him to admit, but while in madness, he had only ever envisioned Sakura as his side, helping him raise a child in the new world after the Kage were dead. They were cold, harsh hallucinations that held no warmth for the kunoichi. The thoughts were possessive and dark. 

He had taken a long time to forgive himself for those.

Sasuke sighed and glared at the two idiots sparring across the field. Both of them had repeatedly reminded him of his treatment of Sakura when they were on Team 7 earlier that day. 

Some of it had made him feel a bit better. He was made aware that he grabbed her hand frequently. He never realized. They talked about how Sasuke had always protected her as genin, Naruto even bringing up the time he had demanded Naruto save her, even if it meant sacrificing his life. Kakashi said he caught Sasuke staring at her in confusion several times, which was “simply adorable”, according to the old jounin. 

Sasuke had only grimaced. He had remembered doing that several times. He also never remembered getting caught. 

They also recognized why he put her under the genjutsu during the 4th war, but still chided him on his harshness. Kakashi had been especially vexed when it came to his words about enjoying romance. And…the other stuff. 

“I know it was wrong.” Sasuke gritted his teeth at his former teacher. To his idiot friend, he said, “I also know I’m lucky she didn’t hear it. You don’t have to remind me.” 

Naruto had shaken his head in reply before saying, “You were a different person then, Sasuke. And because she didn’t hear it, the only person who needs to forgive you is yourself.” 

That hadn’t sat well with Sasuke. He was terrible at forgiving himself. 

The rest of what they talked about was embarrassingly uncomfortable. Sasuke had never been more thankful for his hair covering his ears. He closed his eyes again and thought over the conversation with a resigned sigh. 

“So, you’re finally doing the thing?” Naruto asked.  He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Because Hinata told me that Sakura told her that you’re living together now!” 

Kakashi was wide eyed. “Seriously? I told you that we could find you some accommodations.” 

“And I told you I had it handled.” He eyed his old teacher with a slight smirk. “I have a door that locks, don’t I?” 

Kakashi’s response had been bland, but hit the mark. “Hm. Does her bedroom?”

Sasuke had rolled his eyes, but his words didn’t come out as confident as he had hoped they would. “Whatever. You’re both blowing it out of proportion.” 

“Sasuke, I’m not sure that you’re correct,” Kakashi had said, thoughtfully. “You came back and have really only spent time with her outside of training. You do lots of couply things together and the endless parade of men asking for Sakura’s hand ceased when you came back.

Sasuke had nearly choked on air upon hearing that. “You’re kidding me.”

“You do bring her lunch quite a bit, Sasuke,” Naruto had added, nodding along. 

He glared at them both. “Not that part, you idiot. Have men really…do they really….” He hadn’t been able to finish the thought. 

Kakashi laughed his great, booming laugh. “Oh, you have no idea.”

Naruto had also cackled at the look on Sasuke’s face. “She stopped getting direct proposals after she punched the sixth or seventh guy to randomly approach her.” 

“Good for her,” Sasuke had mumbled appreciatively, but he was still perturbed. Naruto continued laughing while Sasuke stoically looked at the ground. “Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. I have no desire to talk to either one of you about this, so get it all out now.” 

“A little too close to the edge, Sasuke?” Kakashi had asked far too innocently. 

“ I’m always close to the edge,” Sasuke had muttered in response under his breath. 

“I bet that edge would really cut through some tension,” Naruto had said, suggestively waggling his eyebrows at him. 

“That didn’t make any sense!” 

“Yes it did!” 

“No, you idiot. It. Didn’t .” 

Kakashi had simply sighed. “Ah. Just like old times.” 

Sasuke then glared at him too. “Whatever. It’s not like that between us.” They had both looked at him like he’d grown a second head, and Sasuke grew more defensive. “What? It’s not. ” 

Naruto snorted. “Come on! Sakura blushed hard this morning when I ran into her. And all I did was ask about how her night was!”

“Don’t ask her again. It was awkward,” Sasuke had quickly answered. It was anything but , but they didn’t need to know that. 

Naruto just rolled his eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, since you live together now, you’ll eventually see her naked by accident or something by walking in on her changing. I did like five minutes after Hinata moved in!” 

“I’m not a perv, Naruto,” Sasuke replied coolly, trying very hard to not think about what that would look like. 

“I think Sasuke will be a perfect gentleman,” Kakashi had supplied thoughtfully. However, when he smiled, it was anything but kind. “He’ll ask her out on dates, give her her first kiss, and do all sorts of wonderful things!” 

It had taken a lot of effort, but Sasuke was able to swallow back a rude remark and instead grumble, “You both are awful . I have no idea why I ever come here.” 

They both just laughed. 

In the present, Sasuke could sense their fight coming to an end. He stood and stretched and, sure enough, Kakashi and Naruto were walking back to him, talking about some Jutsu they had seen in Sand. 

Naruto paused when they reached Sasuke. “We can talk later, Kakashi. Sasuke, you want to go get ramen?”

Sasuke shook his head in disgust. “ No. Sakura had a long surgery. I’m getting shioyaki.”

Kakashi nodded appreciatively. “Good choice. She loves that dish.” 

Sasuke knew that from a letter she had shared with him over a year ago, but he didn’t say anything. He just hmphed and left. 

Forty minutes later, Sasuke was walking into their apartment just after the sky had opened up and started pouring. He froze on the threshold at the thought before quickly shutting the door, his breath held. It was their apartment now, he assured himself. He lived there. With her. He could call it theirs. 

Still, it made his heart skip a beat. 

Sasuke closed his eyes and set his head against the door. He commanded his lungs to breathe. He could do this. He could be…normal. He could try. 

After placing the takeout in the kitchen, Sasuke noticed that the lights had been dimmed, but Sakura’s door was open. He crept down the quiet hallway and stepped into her room. 

“Sakura, I have-“ 

He froze. 

Sasuke couldn’t move a muscle, not when barely walking into Sakura’s room had revealed the sight of Sakura’s nearly naked back, exposed by a shirt ridden and covers tossed in sleep in the reflection of her conveniently (inconveniently?) placed mirror. 

His eyes couldn’t help but roam while his body remained frozen, taking in the soft edges of her shoulder blades, the way her spin curved and dipped, and the two small indentations at the small of her back he hadn’t considered she wouldn’t grow out of. It was ridiculous, but his mouth dried and his heart pounded in his chest. She wore shorts, her legs curled and wound through the deep emerald sheets.

Sasuke nearly swore at himself. He was a ninja, he had seen bodies before. He had seen her body before, when her clothes ripped on missions as genin. But the way her hair was strewn over her face and her partially opened mouth looked…strange to him. It was Sakura like he had never seen her. So peaceful and– and–

He felt strange. 

Sasuke’s head shook from side to side in frustration. The feeling in his chest was affection, he already knew that, but it had moved lower. To his stomach and to his-

Immediately closing his eyes, Sasuke quickly and quietly shut her door. Flinching the entire way, he turned and walked into the bathroom and shut that door behind him as well. Methodically, Sasuke began to prepare for a shower, trying to force the panic from his head. 

In. Out. In. Out. In out. In out. Inoutinoutinoutin- 

He didn’t wait for the water to warm up before he stepped into the shower. The cold instantly jolted him and finally, finally , it felt like he could breathe. Closing his eyes and leaning one hand against the tiled wall of the shower, Sasuke’s body felt like it had been flayed alive. His hand twitched at his side, in his hair, against his chest, on the wall. He felt restless, unable to pace in the small shower while his mind raced a million miles a second.

Remembering how simple tasks could stop his mind, Sasuke began to wash. His hands shook, but he managed to wash his hair, his body. He cursed Naruto, as if the blonde idiot had conjured up the incident with his words from earlier. Eventually, Sasuke was calm enough to sort through his thoughts, as ridiculous as they made him feel. 

It was…not okay, to have stayed there for that long looking, but he’d been shocked by walking in on Sakura. It had shocked him so much that he had frozen. She looked so much and nothing like what he had imagined she would be in such a state of undress, lying in her bed.... 

During his travels, Sasuke had thought endlessly about Sakura. He had tried to come up with reasons as to why. Simple ones. He knew that thinking about her when they were genin was normal. They had been teammates. They had learned things together, had been on missions together, had trained endless hours together, the list went on and on. She was bound to pop up in his thoughts. It was only natural and easy to think of her as a teammate, a childhood friend, and an ally. 

He had a good understanding of who she was then, back when they were genin. A young girl who desperately wanted to be accepted by her two overpowered, hot headed teammates. She was always at a disadvantage and she knew it. That caused her to stay back and not try as hard. It was easy to decide that at the end of the day, he was thankful for it, despite how it slowed her progress. It made her safer. 

Thinking about her now, as a jounin, was what made him nervous. He didn’t know her as well as he used to. He knew she was smarter than before. She was strong, mentally and physically. She had trained long and hard to make it to where she was, just like he and Narauto had, but without the benefit of a bloodline or tailed beast. She did it on her own, too. She was also stunning when she fought. He always smiled when he remembered Naruto’s surprise when Sakura displayed her true strength during the war. He had been subconsciously wishing that one day, he would be there when she proved she could keep up with the two of them. 

And she was still so good on the inside, like nothing had affected her. He knew it had, but she was so much stronger than him in that aspect. 

Sasuke closed his eyes to- 

“Sasuke-kun?” 

Sasuke’s hand slapped against the wet tiles. He felt horribly exposed, even with a door and curtain separating them. Wide eyed, he croaked out a response. “Yes?” 

“Sorry, I just woke up from my nap. Did…did you bring dinner home?” 

It took a few moments, but the initial shock of conversing with Sakura while naked wore off and his racing heart calmed. “Yes.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll be out in a minute. I’m sorry if I woke you.” 

She gave a cheerful response, her retreating footsteps signaled her exit to the kitchen. Sasuke quickly finished washing and got out. Thankful for the spares he always left in the bathroom cupboard, he slipped a pair of boxers and black sweatpants on. He didn’t have a shirt and didn’t particularly want to put the dirty one from training back on, so he opted for a short shirtless walk. 

That is, until he remembered that Sakura would be in the kitchen. 

Sasuke winced. He looked down at himself and wondered if this would freak her out. 

She had seemed fine the other night when healing me, he thought to himself. 

Turning, he wiped at the foggy mirror with his hand until he could get a clear enough image of himself. Sasuke was never one to indulge in long looks in the mirror, opting to ignore them all together. After his parents died, Sasuke shattered every mirror in the apartment he was given. He looked too much like his mother and didn’t need the reminder. 

Looking at his reflection now, Sasuke was a bit startled. His hair covered his rinnegan, but less so than when it was dry. His skin was pale, but he had a small birthmark on his upper chest he had forgotten was there. Sasuke pictured the scrawny kid he used to be and compared the image in the mirror with the image in his head. He had grown. In size, in stature. He shifted on his feet. Sasuke felt…weird. Like he didn’t know what to do now that he knew what he looked like all of the time. Still like his mother, but looking more like his father with age. 

Sasuke shook his head and tsked at himself. He opened the bathroom door before he could second guess himself and made his way into the hallway. 

“Sasuke-kun?” 

Sasuke grunted in acknowledgement, incapable of any other communication for the moment. 

He turned the corner and the bright lights of the kitchen made him squint. He briskly walked past Sakura, who was standing by the counter, purposefully ignoring her opened mouthed gaze. Sasuke quickly sank to the ground by the couch and dug in his bag for a shirt, his cheeks blushing furiously. 

She definitely noticed he was shirtless. 

Sakura cleared her throat behind him, but her voice still was a bit higher than usual. “Erm. I, uh, plated the takeout you brought home.” Her tone softened after a deep breath. “Thank you. It’s my favorite.” 

“I know,” Sasuke responded, shoving his head and arm through the holes, gritting his teeth at how irritating it was to put a shirt on with one hand. Finally clothed, he took a deep breath to steady himself. That had been much harder than he thought it would have been. Sasuke looked over his shoulder, but kept his eyes away from the pink haired kunoichi. “Salty foods, right?” 

Sasuke finally looked up at Sakura. 

His chest tightened. She was standing with her back against the counter, looking at him with an unfamiliar expression. She looked thoughtful, but…sleepy? Sasuke couldn’t tell, but her cheeks were flushed and her mouth had formed a perfect “o”. Thankfully, she was wearing pants and a sweatshirt. Sasuke didn’t think he’d be able to keep his eyes from her skin if her legs were bare. His eyes traveled up. 

His breath caught for a second. Sakura looked…her eyes… Sasuke couldn’t find the words. 

“Yeah,” she breathed, smiling just a bit. “I also love seafood.” 

Sasuke nodded slowly. “I know.” 

The silence after his words was deafening. Maybe Naruto had been onto something about cutting the tension between them. Even though his comment had been stupid. 

Moving to beat the awkwardness, they both made their way to the table to eat. While she dished them up, Sakura filled him in on her surgeries and their outcomes. Sasuke was always fascinated to hear how she manipulated her chakra into knives small enough to fix the smallest vessels in the human body. It gave him ideas for his own jutsu’s . He could easily admit to himself that he enjoyed listening to her talk more than anyone else. When they were children, all she wanted was to talk about him. Now, she talked about anything and everything under the sun that Sasuke suddenly had an interest in. 

“Anyways, enough of me!” Sakura smiled, sipping her drink. “How was training with Naruto and Kakashi?”

Sasuke leaned back in his chair. The two of them hadn’t broached any serious topics or talked about their past since Sasuke had moved in. He wondered if the details of this afternoon would fall into that category. Tilting his head, Sasuke decided that he wanted to tell her. “It was a good day.” Then, after a beat, he added, “We talked about you.”

Sakura’s eyes widened. “Really?” she asked with an awkward laugh and slight blush. She set her glass down. “What in the world about?”

Sasuke took a moment to steel himself. “They asked a lot of questions about my living here.” 

Sakura’s cheeks flushed, but she smiled, eyes closed. “Oh, those two are the nosiest ninjas I’ve ever met!” The look she gave him made Sasuke feel like they were in cahoots about something. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy to avoid their interrogation.”

“I didn’t avoid it,” he admitted, shrugging. Sasuke stared at his hand where it rested on the table. He could feel her eyes on him, but he kept his down. “We talked about it, how it’s been going.”

“And…” Sakura began slowly. “I hope you said it’s been going…good?”

Sasuke’s ears felt hot. He looked up. “Ah.” He cleared his throat and took a drink. He couldn’t help the grumble from his voice. “They’re happy I have a lock to sleep behind, apparently.” 

Sakura laughed. “Well, I hope they didn’t grill you too hard, Sasuke-kun!” She huffed and shook her head. “I swear, I feel like I’m going to have to start avoiding Naruto. He hounds me every time I see him for ‘juicy details’ of our continuous sleepover.” Her cheeks flushed at their friend’s choice of words and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s pretty ridiculous.”

Sasuke regarded her thoughtfully. He wondered how she would react to his next words. Would they make her feel better about their bond? He wanted to make the effort for he, so he added, “Kakashi mentioned something I had forgotten about.”

She looked intrigued. “Oh? And what was that?” 

He took a deep breath. “We were talking about our habits as genin. Apparently, I…stared at you. A lot.”

Sakura looked startled for a moment before laughing. “I don’t know about that! I think it was probably the other way around!”

Sasuke shook his head, smiling into his lap. “No, it’s true. I remember trying to understand you quite a few times when we were kids.” His eyebrows furrowed. “It was always when I had watch and everyone was asleep, so I’m not sure how Kakashi saw.” 

Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, kicking himself for admitting that he stared at her while she was sleeping, like a total freak. 

Sakura, however, didn’t dwell on that specific detail. She just huffed out a laugh and said, “Well, you know sensei. He’s got eyes in the back of his head!” 

Sasuke muttered a noise of agreement. He tapped his fingers on the table. So far, the conversation was easy. He wasn’t sure what he had been afraid of. He didn’t have a reason to. That is, until he said his next words without thinking. 

“Kakashi said men have been proposing to you since the war.” 

When he looked up and noticed how Sakura’s face drained of color, Sasuke nearly cursed out loud at his stupidity. His tone hadn’t been accusatory, but he still worried that she thought he was upset or angry. Her expression was that of someone who was confronted with a topic they desperately wanted to avoid. He knew it well. “Sorry, forget I mentioned it.” 

“No, no!” Sakura lifted her hands up in front of her. “I was just…surprised by that question, that’s all.” After a few moments of silence, she asked, “Well…what all did Kakashi say?”

Sasuke hoped his shrug looked nonchalant, but tension wracked every muscle in his body. “Nothing much. Just that men apparently were lined up around the corner, asking him if they could marry you.” 

He definitely didn’t pull it off. 

Sakura chuckled nervously, her hand on the back of her neck. She looked… embarrassed? He couldn’t tell exactly what and that frustrated him. “Oh, he’s exaggerating! I don’t think anyone’s asked him , but I’ve had a few… um… misunderstandings with shinobi or civilians that I healed or helped out in the war.”

That piqued Sasuke’s interest. “Like what?”

Sakura’s discomfort was now something of an amusement to him. He was honestly surprised that she had random men proposing to her. It wasn’t that she wasn’t beautiful and capable. She was . It was just a weird thing to think about; Sakura married to someone else. It didn’t make sense. Selfishly, Sasuke assumed that she’d always been for him. 

Sakura leaned back in her chair with a huff. “Kami, the worst was a shinobi whose life I saved. He was on the brink, but I was able to restore his heart function after a bad poisoning. He came to my parents house for weeks, asking to see me.” She laughed at Sasuke’s narrowed eyes and darkened expression. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t there! I had already moved out and made an effort to conceal my new address.”

Sasuke nodded, but was unconvinced. He needed more information. Was this guy still around? “Did he eventually find you?”

Sakura smiled grimly over the edge of her glass. “Unfortunately. I was at work and he showed up with a load of flowers and a ring.” She shuddered and Sasuke couldn’t help but smile at her antics. She looked….

Adorable. Cute. The feeling he felt when he was on his travels and saw a kitten trotting by or stretching in the sun. 

“And you turned him down?” 

Sakura’s eyes flicked open in alarm. “Of course I did! I had no interest, and he was just a patient. Besides,” she sniffed, looking irritated in retrospect. “He was pitiful, crying and clinging to my coat. It really was sad.”

Sasuke couldn’t help but snigger. “I’m not sure I agree.”

Sakura gave him a mocking look of admonishment. “Well, the good news is, the proposals died about a year ago.” It seemed his ease with the topic loosened her lips a bit. “For a while, it seemed like there was a random man in front of me on bended knee once a month!” 

Sasuke was pleased, then confused. Surely, she had found one of them attractive, funny, or honorable enough to accept? And he had been…he had been gone . For almost three years. He hadn’t promised her anything but a ‘next time’, something she easily could have gotten over…right? He would have understood if she had moved on. He would have deserved it, despite his selfish desires for her to wait for him. But, the question still begged; if so many men were interested in her, why hadn’t she said yes to at least one of them? 

He asked her as much, hesitantly. 

Sakura blushed furiously, looking anywhere but him. “I-, well, I guess…” She tucked her hair behind her ear again and Sasuke found his chest warming at the sight. He knew this tick of hers. He would ease her nervousness, if he could. “I didn’t love any of them and I want to marry someone…someone that I love.”

The warmth in Sasuke’s chest became an inferno, ignited by her words now and stoked by the memory of her confession weeks ago, whispered against his skin. Sasuke couldn’t help the small, knowing smile from forming, his eyes twinkling with mirth in his understanding. 

Sakura pursed her lips, her hands smacking to her flaming cheeks. “Oh, don’t make fun, Sasuke-kun! It’s not nice!”

He couldn’t help but laugh. It was small, breathless. He was enraptured and amazed by her. She had waited when she could have had anyone . It made him giddy. He felt like he’d won a prize. “I’m not, I’m sorry.” He composed himself, finishing his tea. “I’m…happy that you said no. To all of them.”

Sakura’s hands slowly fell back to her lap. “Really?”

He nodded, smiling. 

She smiled back, so soft, so happy but hesitant. It made his heart lurch. He was sad that it took so little from him to make her so unbearably happy. He could see her trying to restrain herself. She was practically glowing, her green eyes sparkling, but she held in the emotions that looked ready to spill over. 

Sasuke took a deep breath and felt his features soften. He should make her look and feel like this more often. Maybe then she would feel comfortable showing him more of her happiness. 

Sasuke gestured towards the table with his chin. He cleared his throat in order to speak. “We should clean up. Get ready for bed.”

Both of them started at the unintended ‘us’ insinuated by his words. They were going to get ready for bed. Together. Something that was intimate, only shared between people who were closer than just friends. Something they had avoided since their third accidental meeting in the bathroom before bed. 

They both quickly rose, ignoring the other’s heated cheeks, and cleaned together. Sakura brought dishes to the counter and Sasuke washed them. Once they were all in the sink, Sakura stood next to him and dried. The silence was tense and Sasuke unwillingly recalled Naruto’s crass remark from earlier. 

Once he had washed the last dish, Sasuke stood at the sink, a towel over his shoulder. He looked down at the pink haired kunoichi, lost in thought while drying the same dish for the third time. His eyes traced her profile, her nose, her lips, her chin. They trailed down her throat and over her collarbones before quickly skirting to her bare shoulders, arms smooth and deceptively small for her immense strength. He eyed the dark blue sweatshirt and decided he liked the color on her. 

Sakura placed the last dish to the side and looked up at him, smiling brightly. “All done! Thanks for…” She trailed off when she realized how close they were. “...your help.”

Sasuke made a noise of agreement. Sasuke couldn’t stop staring at her cheeks, her nose. She was blushing. He was close to her, much closer than usual. He tilted his head and wondered…what if he tried to make her blush on purpose?

Pushing the thought aside, Sasuke leaned his hip against the counter, clutching what was left of his missing arm with his hand. He glanced down at the sink. “Dishes are easy. It was my chore as a kid.”

Sakura’s eyes widened. “R-really?” She chuckled, grimacing. “I honestly hate doing the dishes. Something about wet food.” She made an adorable face, tongue out in disgust and everything. 

“Then I’ll wash and you’ll dry.”

Sakura looked spellbound by his offer. Sasuke’s head tilted, wondering if there was something insinuated by those words. They were living together, so was it not expected to split chores? Sasuke didn’t want to be waited on like a guest while he lived there. He would do his fair share. However, he could understand Sakura’s desire to keep him happy and welcome. 

“What are you thinking?” he asked, needing to know. 

Sakura was contemplative in her response. She looked hesitant like before. “Do you want my honest answer? It might be a bit startling.” 

Sasuke was startled by that answer, but he felt like he was prepared for any possibilities. “I think I can handle it.”

Sakura shook her head with a small grin. “I was thinking about how much you’ve changed. About how much we’ve changed.” Her smile became shy and secretive while she stared at the floor. “We work together much better than we did as teammates. And I like having you here. Probably much more than I should. Even if I sometimes make you uncomfortable. That’s what I was thinking.” 

He studied her in the silence. Her eyes, for once, were hidden with her confession. Her tone left something for him to grasp onto. Sated happiness with a nervous edge. It was almost as if she was afraid she would do or say something that would push Sasuke away. 

Ah , he thought. That is it

He could do something about that. 

“Sakura,” he murmured. 

When she looked up, Sasuke slowly reached between them and intertwined their fingers. Her eyes got impossibly wider. He pushed on, hoping that his next words put her at ease. “I know I haven’t said much about…us. But I…” He swallowed, desperately trying not to falter when her eyes grew impossibly larger at the word us . “I want to be here. With you. I don’t want to be anywhere else. With anyone else. I like that you feel like that too.”

The silence stretched. Again, Sasuke didn’t know what she was truly thinking as her eyes were staring at their hands. Her fingers curled more firmly into his, hesitant at first, but eventually squeezing his tightly. He squeezed back, hoping she got the message. 

“Can I ask a question,” Sakura whispered, her voice softer than he normally heard. He squeezed her fingers in response. Still shielding her eyes from him, she whispered even fainter than before, “You say our bond is different and you talk about us… ” Sasuke’s stomach dipped when he realized what she was getting at. He thought she knew. How could she not know? 

Finally, she looked up at him. Her eyes were wide, but with confidence. She had been steeling herself for this, he realized. 

“Is there an us? Are we…together?” 

Sasuke hated that he saw flashes of uncertainty in her eyes. He hated every moment she doubted his intentions. DId she truly, really not understand what he did during those two years? When her expression faltered in his silence, he received his answer. But of course, he should have known. You don’t spend several years rejecting someone and then expect them to suddenly believe that you want to be around them. 

Sasuke squeezed her fingers and smiled grimly, feeling like an ass. His whole body felt soft with an affection tinged with sadness for their predicament. Her pain, caused by his inability to deal with his own pain, and all when they were kids. Kami, they still were kids. The thought that they were young and would learn what they needed to calmed him and gave him the ability to speak.

“Ah,” he said, quietly. His lips pressed into a thin smile, portraying his own nerves. “We are… together. If you want that, that is.”

Sakura looked like she had been shocked. Her hand nearly slipped from his grip, but he held on. She quickly sputtered back to life, shaking her head and grasping his hand a little bit too tight. “I-yes! Sorry for screaming, but yes!” 

Sasuke couldn’t help himself. He lurched forward with his one arm and clutched Sakura tight to his chest, savoring the small gasp she let out as she fell into him.

He was wracked with guilt at how something as simple as explaining something he thought she already knew could cause the woman in front of him to bubble over with joy. He could see it in her eyes, her posture. This was everything she had fought for. And the only thing he had to do was admit to himself what was right in front of him all along. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear sooner,” he murmured into her hair. Without his permission, his fingers slipped through the pink locks trailing down her back, sifting through their silkiness. She smelled like roses and spring rain. He sighed into the skin at her temple. “I’m terrible with words and I have no idea what to do with myself but I…I know I want to be here.” 

When Sakura gasped into his chest, Sasuke couldn’t help but smirk. Finally, the tears he recognized. Sakura’s fists clenched his shirt tightly, almost as if she was afraid he was going to disappear. He ran his hand along her back like he’d seen his father do with his mother and hoped that the message was conveyed. 

I’m here. I’m here. I’m here. 

“Sorry,” she mumbled after a moment, banging her head against his chest ever so slightly. “It’s like I said the other morning. Sometimes…I feel like it’s a dream. That I’ll wake up and you’ll be gone.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Sasuke murmured. “It sometimes feels like a dream to me, too.”

Sakura pulled back unexpectedly. She looked at him with curiosity furrowing her brows. “Really?”

Sasuke nodded, his bangs tickling her pink cheeks. He felt remorse with his confession. “There was a time when I didn’t think I deserved this.” 

Sakura’s eyes sparked. “And…do you? Now?” 

He sighed, but said honestly, “Sometimes I don’t but…it’s getting easier.”

Sakura’s answering smile was blinding. “Well, we’ll just keep working on that.” 

Sasuke smiled. “Ah. I think we can manage that.”

They slowly disentangled themselves, Sakura sniffing and taking a step back to wipe at her face. Sasuke glanced at the clock on the wall. “It is getting a bit late. You have an early surgery.”

She nodded, grabbing his hand once more to squeeze it before letting it hang between them. She gave him a small smile before turning to go, but paused. Clutching her hands at her chest, Sakura turned and looked up at Sasuke with something like fluttering apprehension attempting to cover a sneaky motive. She stepped closer to him and with one hand on his chest and her eyes trained on his, Sakura pressed her lips lightly to Sasuke’s cheek. 

He held still, afraid to scare her, afraid to grab her, afraid he would run. He closed his eyes to calm himself and sighed when she stepped away. It was over too soon and not soon enough. His mind and his body were warring within him, but his heart was satiated. 

“Good night, Sasuke-kun,” she whispered. 

“Good night,” he whispered back, wishing for the first time that he was following her back to bed.

Chapter Text

Naruto had his plan ready before either of his best friends agreed to go to dinner. 

“Hey, Kakashi Sensei?” Naruto waited until the 6th Hokage looked up from around the huge stack of paper that was piling higher on his desk every day. “What are you doing later this evening? Because I’ve got the perfect plan for tonight.”

Kakashi immediately recognized his tone. “What do you want, Naruto?”

“I’ve been thinking…” Naruto said as he pushed back from his makeshift desk. In his preparations to become the next Hokage, and to make sure he actually did his studying, Kakashi made him come in for a few hours everyday. It was tedious work, but Naruto tried to find ways to enjoy it. 

Kakashi’s expression didn’t change. “That’s never a good sign.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. He stood up and started pacing in front of his former sensei. “I honestly can’t stop thinking about Sakura-chan and the teme!”

A single brow quirked. “What about, exactly?” 

Naruto let out a frustrated noise. “Sasuke said that he sleeps on her couch!” Naruto spat the last word out like it was something ridiculous. It drove him mad that his best friends hadn’t gotten together yet. He wasn’t a helpless bystander to their pain before and he sure wouldn’t be when it came to their stupidity. 

“Did you really expect them to have a normal relationship?” 

“Obviously not! But the bastard’s still a man and I’ve caught him staring googly eyed at Sakura plenty of times since he’s come back!” 

Kakashi placed his chin on his fist thoughtfully. “I think they’ll manage fine on their own. Don’t push them. Sakura is only patient with Sasuke and Sasuke will only talk to her.” 

Naruto’s eyes snapped to Kakashi’s. “And why do you say that?”

“They take walks,” Kakashi said, shrugging. 

Naruto looked at Kakashi like he lost his mind. “What in the world does that have to do with anything?”

Kakashi sighed and stood. He stretched long and hard before answering. “Don’t worry, Naruto. I’m sure that between the two of them and your meddling, it’ll be no time before we’re having another wedding.” 

Naruto’s eyes bulged. He hadn’t thought for a second that his two best friends were moving that fast. Not at all. Kami, he had barely believed Sasuke when he had insisted the two had hugged already. But for Kakashi to say this… “You totally know something you’re not telling me! Spill it!” 

Kakashi’s eyes crinkled, signaling his grin beneath the ever present mask. “Absolutely not the case.” 

“That’s it!” Naruto stalked towards the door, his head turned to Kakashi to shout over his shoulder, “I’m getting to the bottom of this tonight at dinner, no matter what!” 

Kakashi groaned. “At least try to be stealthy about it! We don’t want Sakura killing you and poor Sasuke’s ears burning off!” 

Naruto gave a vulgar gesture over his shoulder before shouting back, “You’re the worst !”

Naruto was already seated at Ichiraku’s, his eyes peeled for pink and black. He had gotten there fifteen minutes early to scout a good spot for the three of them. He wanted Sasuke to feel secluded enough to not be hassled and also give the budding couple a bit of privacy for Naruto’s plans. 

Naruto snickered into his shoulder. He was totally going to catch them. 

His gut told him they were still madly in love, just like it did back when they were younger. While waiting, Naruto found himself reminiscing on what he saw of their bond. 

He first noticed Sasuke’s change towards her when they saw him for the first time since leaving the village the first time. He had acknowledged Sakura first, something Naruto was shocked and a bit irritated by. He had been standing right there, yanno? But it was Sasuke’s eyes that shocked Naruto the most. They were emotionless, but they seemed to…swallow her. He looked at Sakura like he was trying to memorize her before he snuffed their lives out, barely sparing Naruto a glance. It had frustrated Naruto to no end to see the two of them, like ends of a magnet drawn together. There was an aether in the air, their mixed shock, relief, pain, and longing. He had felt longing in both of their chakra’s, even if only for a split second in the bastard’s. 

The most jarring moments were during the 4th Shinobi war. He acknowledged her first again, pissing Naruto off while simultaneously making him unbearably happy for Sakura. Sasuke hadn’t stopped there, not balking once at her fighting alongside them. Sasuke took in Sakura’s monstrous strength from her Yin seal with pride, and after getting over his shock, Naruto had been able to watch with satisfaction as finally, finally , Team 7 reunited. When she took her rightful place as the third member of the next legendary Sannin, Naruto could feel the magnetic pulse of Sasuke’s pre-battle energy. He was ready to go , but what made him more excited was that Sakura was by his side. 

Their magnetism had grown, especially in the fight against Kaguya. Sakura had always been hyper aware of Sasuke, but Naruto watched in awe several times when it was flipped. Sasuke’s eyes followed her, tracked her, even more so than Naruto. He knew when Kakashi had her and when he didn’t. He thought of the examples of Kakashi’s kunai to the lava wall and susanoo vs Sasuke protecting them both while the Infinite Tsukuyomi captured everyone else around him. He had started pointing it out by that point and felt a tug in his heart when every comment made Sasuke’s chakra flicker ever so slightly. 

But when Sasuke hurt her over and over…

Sakura under Genjutsu, his refusal of the arm, her tears the night Sasuke left again , the memories flickered one by one until Naruto’s hands had formed fists. He still needed to pummel the bastard for-

Naruto’s thoughts were abruptly halted when he spotted the two of them walking his way. Sakura led the teme, her cheeks flushed and sporting a wide smile. Sasuke was her shadow, eyes trained on pink hair. 

Oh , he thought to himself. This is going to be fun. 

“Naruto!” Sakura hugged him a bit too tight, just as she always did. She slid into the booth seat across from him, her smile bigger than he had seen in ages. “It’s good to see you!”

Naruto slid over to allow his friend to slide in next to him. However, Sasuke made a noise of disagreement and slid in next to Sakura. “It’d be nicer if I saw him eat something different for a change.” 

Naruto grumbled, but let it go, if only for the fact that there was definitely less space between them then Sasuke normally allowed. Naruto turned to listen to Sakura chat about work, but kept a close eye on Sasuke. He was genuinely surprised that he sat next to her instead of him and equally if not more surprised that Sasuke seemed to hang on to every work that came from the pink kunoichi’s lips. He didn’t look at Naruto once. 

Naruto, seeing an opportunity, sat back and smiled. “Say Sasuke, how’s it been living with Sakura-chan?” 

He expected Sakura to get irritated at the invasive question, yell at him, or punch him through the wall at worst. He expected Sasuke to either not answer or give some vague response resembling “tolerable”. What they both did surprised the shit out of him. 

They glanced at each other. It was quick, but it held meaning. An understanding passed between them in a second, leaving Naruto open mouthed, 

Sasuke eventually shrugged. “Sakura’s cooking has definitely improved since we were genin.” 

Sakura laughed good naturedly. “Even I can admit that!” She looked at Naruto in confusion when he didn’t respond. “Are you okay?”

Naruto quickly gathered his composure. “Of course! I’m just excited to have Team 7 back together! The original three!” 

Sakura’s answering smile was soft with memory. “Yeah, it’s nice, isn’t it?” 

“I have too many memories of watching you slurp ramen at this restaurant, Naruto. Why don’t we move locations for our next dinner?” 

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Whatever, teme. Don’t act like you’ll host dinner at Sakura’s.” 

Sasuke merely sipped his drink, unbothered. “Depends.” He glanced down at Sakura, who had been watching him. “I’ll wash, you dry?”

Sakura’s returning grin was blinding. “Sounds perfect.”

Naruto felt like a fish out of water. Open mouthed and wanting to flop about until his world turned back to normal. 

Ordering their food interrupted the conversation, but Naruto was still determined. He saw at best an intimacy among people who knew each other and cared about one another deeply. He already knew how Sakura felt, but Sasuke was an entirely different story. He had a relationship with Sakura, but on what level? More than the familial bond that all of Team 7 had? Naruto wanted their relationship status. Kakashi’s vague words had taunted Naruto until he had felt strangely left out of the loop. He wanted to know. He needed to know. 

After their food was delivered to their table, Naruto decided to begin part two of his plan. His eyes glinted with mischief when he asked his next question. “So, Sakura-chan, have you thought about what Kankuro offered you the last time you were in Suna?”

As if on cue, Sakura blushed a furious rose. “Naruto…”

Sasuke looked mildly curious. He looked to Sakura who sighed, eventually looking up at him. “He’s Temari’s sister and…well, he was really quite sweet about it, erm, but-”

“What Sakura-chan is failing to say, is that she saved Kankuro’s ass from dying by poisoning and he’s been asking her to date him ever since.” 

Sakura winced. “It’s not like that , Naruto! And, I didn’t tell you about that for you to rub it in my face!” She looked back at Sasuke who was still waiting patiently for a full response from Sakura. “Yes, I did treat him for an illness and he asked me out. He was delirious,” Sakura added with a pointed look in Naruto’s direction. “And I didn’t bring it up with him again to be nice, but I…I guess he remembered and asked me out again before we left our most recent mission to Suna. I…declined.”

Naruto snickered. “It was priceless.”

“Oh, knock it off, Naruto!” Sakura’s eyes narrowed on the blonde. “You’re being weird. Whatever you’re up to, knock it off.”

“Hey now,” Naruto chuckled nervously. He held his hands up in surrender. “No shenanigans here! I’m just making conversation!”

“Uh huh,” Sakura replied, not convinced. She turned to Sasuke but was distracted when she noticed something on his plate. Silently, she grabbed her chopsticks and moved her tomato slices from her plate to his, a small flush blooming in her cheeks. “Sorry, Sasuke-kun. I didn’t realize they put those on my plate.”

Sasuke didn’t respond. Not verbally, at least. He gave Sakura a small nod, their eyes meeting for a moment before snapping back to their plates, both of them shoving food into their mouths. The moment had been filled with tension and chemistry and everything Naruto thought was proof of his bastard of a best friend being totally in love with Sakura. 

Naruto grinned like the cat that caught the canary. “You guys are totally together, aren’t you?” 

“Naruto!” Sakura hissed through her mouthful of food, not caring at all for manners. Her eyes were like green lava, about to explode. That was, until Sasuke choked on his noodles. Sakura immediately turned to him to hand him his water, pat his back. His eyes were watering and narrowed as he lightly slapped her hands away. She just grumbled at him, but it was all with an air of weird affection between the two of them. 

Naruto was equally perplexed and overjoyed with the scene in front of him. 

When Sasuke finally recovered, he turned his full glare towards Naruto. “I told you before and I want to kill you for making me say it again.” His tone lowered and he nearly snarled out the next words. “It’s between me and Sakura . That’s it. ” 

Both Naruto and Sakura were stunned. Naruto recovered first, very quickly apologizing and promising to never bring it up with him again. He watched the two of them while he spoke, noticing the discreet way Sasuke slid his hand until it rested just next to Sakura’s on the seat next to them. He finished his groveling, smiling and promising that he would stay out of their business.

“Good,” Sakura mumbled, her fingers continuously tucking and untucking her hair. She glared at Naruto one more time. “And you’re totally paying for dinner!”

Sakura’s POV

Sakura had been wringing her hands together since the two of them had left Ichiraku’s. 

They had said goodbye to Naruto not too soon after the dinner exploded in choked ramen and tomato red kunoichi’s. Naruto had indeed paid for the meal and apologized in her ear during their hug goodbye, but she was still too nervous to do anything but jab him lightly in the side and growl a warning to be less nosy.

Kami, Sakura felt like she was going to explode in a fit of rage or nerves the entire evening. After Sasuke had declared the previous night that yes, they were together, they had hastily parted ways. Being a couple meant certain things, especially when you lived together. Sakura had known that Sasuke had already been through enough emotions for the evening and didn’t want to push him any further, so she went to her bedroom to leave him be. 

More like fled. Ran. Escaped. She had scampered away from him after realizing they were still huddled close in the kitchen, murmuring goodnight to one another, leaning in…

Sakura’s hands wound themselves tighter together. She didn’t notice Sasuke glancing down and frowning at the action. 

Sakura had been thankful for her busy day at work. She left early and been able to buried herself in several surgeries. However, when she stumbled out of the hospital doors at seven and noticed a lone, dark cloaked figure standing near the bottom of the steps, Sakura’s nerves returned with a vengeance. Sakura was knocking into things and tripping over herself the entire walk home. It was like she was back to square one, unaware and unsure of who she was supposed to be around Sasuke in order to keep him from running in the opposite direction. 

They had walked in a companionable if not a bit tense of a silence after leaving Ichiraku’s. Sasuke had tried to get her attention with his eyes the entire time and while Sakura had kept hers firmly planted on the route ahead. 

Sakura’s apartment came into view around the corner and-

Sakura’s hands squeezed so tight at the thought, her knuckles cracked. 

At the sound, Sasuke stopped. Sakura turned in surprise, her surprise growing even further when his hand smoothed over her clenched fingers, relaxing them from their hold on the other. She stared up in momentary confusion, the emotion temporarily dampening down the nerves still pumping through her. 

“You’re going to break your hands if you keep doing that,” Sasuke murmured, his eyes downcast. He kept them on their joined hands when he continued, “Can you tell me…why?”

Sakura sucked in air and quickly looked down, too. She didn’t want him to see her eyes right now. They had gotten too good at that form of communication, especially if dinner was anything to go by. 

Sakura’s heart was racing and her free hand clenched and unclenched at her side. She sorted through her thoughts, desperate to come up with a short, simple explanation that wouldn’t freak either of them out. 

“Sakura…”

“I know,” she mumbled, frustrated with herself. She shifted on her feet and took a deep breath before being honest. “I’m nervous. We agreed that we’re together and…” She had to pause when she felt Sasuke’s hand squeeze her own. Eventually, she whispered, “I have no idea how to do this.” 

Sasuke was quiet. Seconds passed. Minutes. He finally dropped her hand, only to place it against her cheek. Gently, Sakura raised her head to meet his eyes and hoped that she didn’t look as terrified as she felt. 

Sasuke’s expression was soft, his eyes equally so. As his hand fell, she could see the trace of nervousness in his eyes, the affection for her had won outright. “Sakura,” he said, his voice gruff. His cheeks were barely pink. He glanced down before returning his eyes to hers. “I don’t know what gave you the impression, but I have no idea what I’m doing either.”

Sakura couldn’t help it. She let out a choked laugh, her head dropping forward until her hair brushed Sasuke’s chest, his hand moving to grasp hers again. 

She felt so stupid. She wasn’t expected to do anything. She was supposed to just be… herself. They’d figure it all out as it came along. “Sorry, I’m being silly.”

Sasuke let out a soft breath of amusement. “I’d say you’re being more annoying than anything.”  

Sakura, now with a new understanding of what it meant when Sasuke called her annoying, looked up and beamed. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but it held no harshness. With a renewed spring in her step, Sakura led the two of them, hands now joined, up the stairs to her apartment. Sasuke was her favorite shadow behind her, every step of the way. 

Sakura was confident until the door snapped shut and the lock clicked with a snap. She froze in the entryway, one sandal off and another halfway there. What did they do now? 

Sakura’s mind raced. Did their bedtime routine change? Did they hug before bed now? Did they say they loved each other with their goodnights? Sakura, once again, had no idea what she wanted to do now that she was presented with the reality of being Sasuke’s girlfriend. The biggest problem wasn’t what she wanted, it was what he wanted.

Sasuke slowly walked around her, stopping to turn to face her. He crouched and helped her take her remaining sandal off. Sakura flushed and thanked him embarrassingly, but found only patience from the Uchiha. 

“Sakura,” he said, his tone expectant. “Explain.”

Sakura sighed, her shoulders sagging. She looked up at him and said, a bit frustratedly, “I just don’t know what you want from me.”

Again, silence for Sasuke to hear her, understand her meaning, then gather his thoughts. Finally, he responded, his voice quiet. “I…” Sakura could hear him swallow. “I want your ear. I want your response. I want you to heal my wounds when the dobe inevitably takes it too far. I want your time, your energy, your thoughts…” He trailed off, gauging Sakura’s response. 

She was enraptured by his words, spun by them like they were a spell. 

But the spell was broken when Sakura’s expression fell enough to betray a hint of confusion, trepidation. She wondered… he hadn’t said it, but surely…

“What?” Sasuke was earnest in his request. 

Sakura swallowed her pride. She needed to know, for her sake. “Do…do you not want me to…touch you?”

Sasuke’s eyes furrowed. “You have to in order to heal me.”

Sakura became flustered. Of course the dense Uchiha would need it spelled out for him. She whispered to herself, her eyes looking to the heavens for strength, “Oh Kami, I’m going to die from embarrassment from asking you this.” 

Unfortunately, Sasuke heard. Brows slanted further before disappearing behind his hair, his eyes wide with surprise. Sakura knew he understood when his eyes flickered to her mouth and back to her eyes. 

Sakura bit her lip and looked at the ground, her cheeks a furious red. The blush was quickly making its way down her neck and across her chest. Kami, she even felt her stomach and arms begin to burn. Sasuke took a step back and Sakura’s embarrassment and shame burned even brighter, nearly sending a sharp sting to her eyes. 

“Yes.”

Sakura’s heart stopped. She looked up on instinct and found Sasuke, her Sasuke, looking more shy than she had ever seen him. His hand was twitching at his half-arm and he shifted on his feet. Sasuke…Sasuke never did that. He was looking here, there, pausing a moment before his blush hardened. He looked at the window, the door-

Sakura, overcome with joy and desperate to calm the flighty looking Uchiha, took a step toward him. “Okay,” she said, placing her hands on his biceps. She gently tugged at his hand and held it down between them. “Okay,” she repeated, softer. She rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand, slowly, making circles and then drawing letters she hoped he didn’t understand.

Sasuke relaxed after a moment and squeezed her hand in return. 

“We’ll go really, really, really slow,” Sakura whispered, hoping that he understood what she meant by that. 

Sasuke’s hand left hers and she felt deflated, but soon recovered when she found it pressed between her shoulder blades, pushing her into his chest. Sakura’s hands immediately wound around his waist and pressed against his back. They molded together, each issuing a sigh of release, like they had been waiting for this all day. 

“Slow is good,” Sasuke murmured into her hair. His breath blew her hair over her ear and Sakura fought not to shiver. 

They stood there together for a moment before pulling away, hastily moving their hands back to their own respective personal spaces. Sakura gave Sasuke a cheeky grin. He harrumphed in response, but smiled softly over his shoulder as he turned toward the couch.

 Sakura couldn’t help the giggle that erupted from her. 

“Goodnight,” she said through her chuckle, lightly pressing her hand to his shoulder as she passed him to get to her room. 

“Goodnight,” he responded, his hand a ghost behind hers as she walked down the hall.

Chapter Text

It was late when Sasuke awoke that morning, slowly making his way up and off of the couch. He had been out late with Kakashi, so it was an acceptable time to wake up, Sakura thought to herself. 

She had been laying in bed with a few research scrolls in hand, listening to the drizzle and light thunder while she waited to hear the telltale sign of his awakening. She perked up at his footsteps and waited to hear him knock on her door and let her know that he was putting the kettle on. Their morning routine had evolved into a level of intimacy that Sakura simply adored. Sasuke always made the morning hot drinks and Sakura made breakfast. Whoever took the bathroom first waited for the other on the couch. Whoever came out second would gently run their hand over some exposed part of the other, a tea or coffee steeped or brewed waiting for them on the counter. 

Today, for the first time in a week and a half, Sasuke skipped the routine. He just walked into the bathroom, saying nothing and making no sounds outside of the creaks of Sakura’s wooden floors as he padded slower than normal down the hall. 

The shower turned on. 

Sakura looked up from her papers with a frown. That was…odd. Unless he had forgotten to wash something? Shaking her head, Sakura stood and walked to the hall to see if she had left some underwear or bra hanging on the doorknob of the laundry closet, but found nothing. He wasn’t embarrassed then, she thought. Glancing up at the calendar, she wondered if-

Sakura closed her eyes and clutched at her shirt when she realized the date. 

Dammit , she thought to herself, her eyes closing as she lightly knocked her head against the wall in frustration. Dammit . 

She knew this date. Everyone in the village who was old enough to remember did. Kami, she had it memorized from the first time she had seen Sasuke so dead in the eyes at the academy on the first anniversary of the Uchiha Massacre. After that first year, she made it her mission to simply be with Sasuke and help him in any way that she could, whether it was leaving his favorite onigiri by his desk or simply giving him a kind smile. 

When they got older and the anniversary passed on a mission or during training with Team 7, Sakura had insisted on wanting to sleep more, acting a bit more petulant than she normally did so that it forced Sasuke to begrudgingly volunteer to take both the second and third watch. Normally, he would have scoffed or made fun of her, but she had found a weird confidence in staring him dead in the eye while she asked him to stay up just a few more hours for her shift. 

Take it , her eyes had seemed to say. Take it so you can be alone and let it all out with no one’s eyes on you but your own.  

Without fail, he would always offer a short affirmative, then begin to take out his bedroll. Sitting with his back to his team, Sasuke would take his watch alone, and Sakura would quietly cry for him and his pain until she fell asleep. 

Where she sat against the wall in the hallway, Sakura breathed in deeply, settling herself for what was sure to be a day of missteps and emotions. This was the first anniversary that Sakura could really be with Sasuke. That was, if he allowed her to be. He might prefer to do this day alone, like he always did. She would respect that, but it would hurt her to know he was hurting by himself. She wondered what she could do, standing and glancing around the apartment. 

Sakura smoothed her hands down her dress, decided that comfort food was definitely allowed on sad days such as today, and got to work. 

Sakura quietly moved about the kitchen, cutting up tomatoes and stewing up a soup that she knew Sasuke enjoyed. He’d never admit it outright, but she could tell when he had asked for a third bowl the previous week that he had liked it quite a bit.

She sighed to herself as she stirred in the vegetables and tried to force the jitters she felt about her part in this day release from her body. It was not her day, it was his . She was a bystander for him to hold on to or let go of, even if all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and squeeze all of the sadness out of him. 

Today was about him. Today was Sasuke’s day to do whatever he wanted, and Sakura was determined to let him take the lead, no matter how she felt about it. 

Sakura sighed, looking over her shoulder at the bathroom. It had been a while, but she would give him his time. Setting the soup on low to simmer, Sakura moved to grab the plate of cut tomatoes as a peace offering but froze, biting her lip as her eyes darted from the table to the still closed bathroom door. 

Apple slices flew behind her eyes as she recalled what bringing gifts to an Uchiha in pain would do. 

Sakura shook her head, dismissing the thought. Sasuke wouldn’t be cruel to her, he might just want privacy. She could give him that, so she silently added in the last ingredients for the soup so that it would be ready right when he came out if he wanted to eat. 

She was still stirring it, thumb between her teeth when Sasuke finally emerged from the bathroom. His hair was wet, but not dripping, his shirt a bit darker at the shoulders, and he wore black sweatpants. It was the outfit of a man who had no intention of leaving the house.

He stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, halfway turned toward the couch. Looking down to the side, he asked quietly, “Is that your tomato soup?”

Sakura turned to face the stove so she didn’t see her shit eating grin. Comfort food was always the answer, her mother had taught her, and almost always the way to a man’s heart. “Mm. It’s almost ready! I’ll bring you a bowl with some bread.” 

Sasuke hummed a quiet, low response before moving to sit at the low table in their breakfast nook. His head hung to his chest, but not nearly as low as it had when he walked out of the bathroom. Sakura quickly grabbed the bread from the oven and ladled two bowls full of soup. Placing them all on a tray, Sakura walked over to the table. Sasuke looked up, but barely. 

“Thank you,” he said. Not a whisper, but not his full voice. 

Better , Sakura thought. 

They gave small thanks and began to eat in silence. The rain was light against the windows and roof, but it was steady. Sakura sipped at her soup in thoughtful but watchful silence. She wondered if she needed to call Naruto in for back-up, thinking about what Sasuke must be going through, wondered if she would be enough for him on today of all days…

Sakura finally gained the courage to look up. Sasuke didn’t look sad. He looked…tired. Exhausted . He blinked slowly and his spoon could have moved a bit faster for Sakura’s liking, but he looked less cold than he used to on this day during their genin years. Perhaps the soup truly had done him some good. Sakura leaned forward to ask-

But, Sasuke beat her to it, clearing his throat and starting quietly, “Today is-”

“I know,” Sakura said softly, cutting him off. She smiled sadly at his momentary confusion and added, “I know what today is.” 

Sasuke seemed to freeze, so Sakura added, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” 

Sasuke closed his eyes after a moment and nodded. 

They ate a few more spoonfuls of the soup. The rain began to let up a bit. 

Sakura looked up when she noticed Sasuke looking at her. She waited for him to speak. 

“I…like to take walks.” 

Sakura’s spoon paused halfway to her mouth. It lowered to her bowl. Unsure of where he was going with his statement, she responded, “I…like to take walks too, Sasuke-kun.” 

Sasuke looked out the window, and said almost wistfully, “I want to talk about it. With you.” 

But the rain , were the unspoken words between them. Sakura nodded, thinking about what he was trying to say. He had always talked on their walks, initiating them when things got tense. It gave him the peace he needed to eventually speak, she assumed. 

But the rain, albeit not a downpour, was enough for even two seasoned shinobi to look at and grimace. 

Sakura tilted her head, thinking of a solution. “We could run to the gates and walk in the forest? The trees provide enough canopy to remain reasonably dry as long as it doesn’t get any worse.” 

Sasuke finished his soup before he responded. Sakura didn’t mind. 

“You don’t mind going out in the rain?” he finally asked, looking hesitant to even be considering it. 

It warmed Sakura’s heart while wracking it with such sadness for the boy in front of her. Today…he looked, acted, and felt like the boy in pain so many years ago, but so, so much more sad. She was desperate to turn him back into the semi-happy, calm and content Sasuke from yesterday. 

She gave him a cheeky grin. “Sasuke-kun, have you forgotten that I am a well seasoned kunoichi?”

Sasuke hmph’d, but it was filled with patient humor. Sakura stood and gathered their plates and bowls, loading the tray up and taking it to the sink to clean. 

“Leave it,” Sasuke muttered, standing. “I’ll do them when we get back.” 

Sakura couldn’t help but blush. “O-okay. We can…change. Then, we’ll go.”

Sasuke nodded, turning back to the living room. 

Sakura went off to her room to throw on some leggings, a skirt, and a warmer top. She slid her boots on and waited another minute to give Sasuke privacy. She creaked open her door, dancing on her toes with nerves, and eventually ventured out when there was no tell-tale sign of an Uchiha quickly trying to cover his skin. She found him ready at the door, cloak already adorned and buttoned. 

He lifted her cloak, his question evident in his eyes. You sure about this? 

So, Sakura made sure her smile filled with love when she said, “Let’s get out of this apartment!” She stopped to grab her cloak, but Sasuke beat her to it, placing the black fabric around her shoulders and buttoning it at the neck before Sakura could comprehend the small, intimate act of kindness. 

Her breath stalled, but she ignored the minor dip in her stomach and pushed on. Not her day, not her day, she repeated as they walked out the door. They exited quietly and after locking up, they began their dash to the forest. 

The rain had slowed, but not enough for it to not sting slightly against Sakura’s cheeks as she ran. Sasuke led the way when they passed the gate, taking Sakura to an area she didn’t recognize. 

When the trees began to grow to obscene heights, Sasuke finally slowed down to a walk. Sakura slowed down with him and breathed in deeply. It was like her lungs could taste the melancholy in the air. 

Waves of pain had begun to radiate from the man next to her as they walked, and Sakura had to force herself to stay put, to not reach out to him. She could feel his shoulders shaking. 

“O-kuyami,” she whispered, hoping he heard. 

The pain fell from him like the rain, but Sakura said no more. She knew he would speak when he had the words he wanted to say. So, she walked by his side in the rain and let her heart ache for him instead. She mourned his losses in the silence, picturing what little she remembered of every member of the Uchiha family. She said a small prayer in remembrance and imagined a weight lifting up off of Sasuke with each moment they spent together and each prayer she uttered. 

She spent time with the thoughts of Sasuke’s immediate family. Mikoto had been especially kind, from what Sakura remembered. She made Sasuke say hello to her once, the memory warming her chilling toes. She thought of everything Sasuke had mentioned about his father, finding a unique softness in a memory of him picking Sasuke up from school in his police uniform. And of course, Itachi.

Sakura let a single tear fall for Itachi before wiping it quickly. He had been a child …

Sakura closed her eyes and tried to think of the warmest memories of Sasuke and Itachi. Watching them walk together in the market. Catching Sasuke’s rare grin when he spotted Itachi on patrol. Small moments she treasured as a girl became anchors for her pain. When she ran out of memories, she began to imagine things. Itachi teaching Sasuke how to throw a shuriken. Itachi holding a tiny, bundled Sasuke. Sasuke trailing after his big brother, desperate to play with him.  

A few birds chirped. 

The leaves rustled in the light wind. 

The sun never shone. 

Raindrops fell, here and there past them. 

It was silence. But what Sakura didn’t know was that it was everything for the Uchiha. 

An hour passed before Sasuke spoke. 

“Do you know the truth about Itachi?”

Sakura quickly nodded, blinking away the haze in her eyes and clearing her throat. “I- yes, I do.” She wanted to say more, like how sorry she was that it had happened the way it did, but this was Sasuke’s time to speak. 

“Today has been…hard for me, for many years.” He swallowed, the sound thick and heavy. “It only got worse after knowing the truth about the elders. When it happened, when I found out…it was traumatic, in every sense of the word.” His eyes met hers briefly. “It awakened my mangekyou sharingan.” 

They both sat with this information for a while. 

“Before that, my reality was that the older brother I idolized had murdered my entire clan, supposedly in cold blood, I-” His hand clenched as he walked. “It shattered a part of me. What I thought I needed was to kill him. That alone would avenge my clan. And, in order to cope with the loss, I filled the gaping holes with rage. The rage was what became my purpose to breathe.” 

Sakura imagined how hard it must have been to live his whole life for revenge, only to be told otherwise. It must have been incredibly confusing for him to be told different lies all his life. And, for the truth to be revealed only after his brother’s death, after his end was inevitably met by both his younger brother and his disease? It was tragic and painful and unbearably sad. 

Sorrow felt like it was being sewn into her bones, but she held it in. Not a tear fell. 

When she looked to him to continue, Sasuke looked lost in his head. “I was a happy kid before. I loved to play and train with my brother and cook with my mother. I had a friend named Satu who lived down the street from me.” He took a deep breath, the exhale rattling through him. “I knew what love was. I understood what it looked like and what it felt like. Warmth from my mother. Praise from my father. Itachi’s…just…” He sighed. “Just Itachi.”  

“But when Itachi did what he did…my entire blueprint for emotion was wiped clean and replaced with the ability to only feel a few emotions stronger than any other. Uchiha are known for their strong emotions, and I felt them in agony. I was so angry and, through that anger, came pain. But, I thought of pain as a tool to make me stronger, more powerful. I made myself believe that I could withstand any amount of pain to get even a little bit more powerful.”

He smirked, then said with a slight veil of self-deprecation, “I didn’t realize that grief is a gift. It means you had enough love to miss it when it was gone.” 

Sakura’s hands twitched, wanting desperately to reach out to him but also wishing not to scare him off, so she just nodded. 

Sasuke turned towards Sakura ever so slightly. “Itachi did a lot of bad things, but all in the name of his love for me. He…he wasn’t suited for violence. He hated it. But, he did what he could to protect me and the village, even if some of his choices were wrong in the end.” He sighed so deeply, Sakura felt her own chest tug up and down with his own. 

He spoke slowly at first, then crouched to a whisper. “Itachi didn’t know what he was doing, what he was unleashing , when he told me he never loved me. He crushed me not only for killing my family, but for destroying the adoration I held in my heart for him my entire life.” He closed his eyes. “When I was a baby, I would cry if anyone held me but Itachi. When I was a toddler, I followed him all around the house. When he left, I cried until he came home.” 

Sakura held on to every word, her heart cracking into pieces. 

Sasuke's voice was hollow. “I loved my older brother. He was my idol, my best friend, my confidant, and the person I looked up to the most. I…” He paused, as if the pain was fresh and new, which Sakura knew it sometimes felt as if it was. “I loved him. But the love I had for Itachi was stained and then shredded to hatred. Where he thought that hatred would develop a strong love for the village and a wish to protect the people of Konoha from Itachi, it merely blinded me to all else but my thirst for revenge.”

When he looked up again, he looked…apologetic? “Love became the strongest emotion that I had to battle with every day since Itachi killed my clan. I had to fight it every morning when I woke up and missed him or accidentally wondered what he was doing that day. I pushed it so far down that it disappeared entirely. The only emotions I felt towards him were anger and pain. My mother…my father…I held fondness, but too much pain was in the way to fully feel any warmth from the memories. Love eventually became an irrelevant emotion. I didn’t think I needed it like I needed power.”

Sakura slowly closed her eyes and pushed down the aching slash of pain that reached across her chest at his words, at his possible insinuation. However, when she looked up, Sasuke was looking down at where her hands were twisting themselves to pieces in front of her, a small smile playing against his lips. “But I was wrong. Even in the midst of all that, the people who taught me how to feel again were you and Naruto.” 

Sakura couldn’t help but gasp, her eyes widening. Sasuke’s small smile got a tiny bit bigger. “As much as I tried to rebel against it, you both taught me different lessons along the way. Kakashi, too. They were…imperceptible changes. But they came out in strange ways.”

Her mind was racing a million miles an hour, and Sakura couldn’t stop herself from blurting out, “How so?”

Silence. Then, “I tried not to kill for the most part.” The words were not quite sure. “My only goal was to kill Itachi, and if someone got in the way, I just wanted them to move. It was a narrow mindset that I think was a subconscious desire to keep a part of me away from Itachi’s stain. From being labeled a… a murderer.” 

They sat with that information for a while, both of them thinking of the bridge and the girl he almost killed and the man he took joy in killing. 

“I also imagined your reaction to things, toward the end,” Sasuke admitted quietly. Sakura’s face swung to meet his. He continued like she hadn’t moved. “I imagined your reactions to ridiculous shinobi, like how you always got mad at Naruto. I thought about what you would say when I didn’t take enough time to rest and eat. I wondered what you were doing at the village. It was always right before I fell asleep.” His voice was so quiet, Sakura had to lean in to hear his next words. “I played every scenario in my head. You left the shinobi world. You moved somewhere else to train. You had started dating Naruto. You had moved on from wanting me home at all.” 

Her heart stopped. “Sasuke-kun…”

Sasuke stopped walking and looked in her eyes at that moment, turning to face her. “Never, ever did I imagine a scenario where you still cared for me. Where you forgave me. I was so lost in pain, I didn’t remember the promise you kept making me.” He made a noise of irritation. “I knew the dobe would still want me around because the pain I caused him was so much different than the pain I caused you. I hurt you. I disregarded your feelings.” 

Sakura knew she had tears dripping down her cheek at this point, but the conversation had shifted. To them . This was the most he had ever offered her and she was drowning in it. Drowning in him, in his words, his eyes, with no desire to tread water. 

His eyes fell, and his shoulders caved. “It was why I had to say no to your request to join me after the war. I had walked with those who loved me for so long and was so stupidly blind to what it meant. I knew only in solitude that I could dive deeper into the actions of those who cared for me, to understand my reactions to them. I needed time to sift through the memories with a new perspective. In a way, I relived many moments in my life through the eyes of others.”

“I don’t understand.” Sakura winced when he glanced up at her, a brow raised. “I’m sorry, I know you’ve shared so much, but could you… explain that?” 

Sasuke looked at the remnant of his arm for a moment before responding. “I could see Naruto’s thoughts and past while we had lain dying in the Valley of the End.” He pressed on, despite Sakura’s flinch. Finding them there, bleeding out… it was still a sore spot for her. “I saw his pain and how it was so close to mine. Our pain had the same hollow feelings at their core but…” He struggled to find the words for a moment. “Naruto always had a… a brightness to him. He believed in himself when everyone else didn’t. He had a sense of identity that I didn’t understand until I felt it.” 

Sasuke looked sad, but wise. “The Valley of the End was a crucible, an epiphany, and a new discovery all in one. It was where I began to reforge myself with pieces of how Naruto saw me.”

“And…how did he see you?” Sakura’s voice was thick with emotion. 

Sasuke smirked at the ground. “By his side. As a shinobi of the leaf.” 

Sakura beamed. “Of course he did! You were always his friend, Sasuke-kun. He was angry with you, but I think he was angrier about his inability to help you with all the pain you were carrying.” 

“I know.” Sasuke sighed. “He was relentless. But, after our last fight, when I could see myself through his eyes, I knew I had to try and do it from everyone else’s perspectives too. I also needed to spend time in your perspective. You had already said the same thing so many times, I just hadn’t been aware enough to understand them.” 

He took a deep breath and began to admit something that shocked Sakura. “I relived memories I had recorded with my sharingan. Of…you. What you said. What you didn’t say but began to understand after paying close attention to your…” 

“My what,” Sakura whispered when he didn’t finish. 

“Your eyes,” he whispered back, finally looking up at her. 

They took that moment to simply take in one another. Mismatched eyes watched her with a shy and blooming openness. Green stared in awe. Sasuke thought Sakura’s eyes looked like liquid pools of green, shimmering in the rising moon. Nearly the same green as her healing chakra. Sakura thought his were the most beautiful she had ever seen. She felt as if she could swirl right into the purple and black, willing to disappear forever. Her beloved pair of mismatched eyes. 

It occurred to her that he must have spent hours, days thinking about her on his travels. It filled her with immeasurable joy, but she tried to remain steady, fighting a blush. “Will you tell me what you learned?” 

Smirking, Sasuke turned and tilted his chin up before bounding up the tree behind them. Sakura made a noise of surprise before grinning and jumping up after him. She found him settled near the trunk of the tree, looking out across the canopy below them, the rain creating a mist over the rest of the forest around them. Walking along the branch, Sakura lightly sat beside him and folded her hands in her lap. 

He slowly turned to face her as she sat down, but he returned his eyes on his hand, resting against his leg. It took him a while to find his thoughts, it seemed, but eventually he took a deep breath and rushed out, “I know that your love for me as kids and your love for me now are similar, but different. I know that you love me and will forgive me for the things that I will do. The logic in that is…sound.” 

He looked up, but his eyes didn’t find her wide ones at first. His eyes traced her hair, trailing over her shoulders, her nose, and her chin. When they finally settled on her eyes, she found his had softened more than she’d ever seen them before. 

“I can expect things from you,” he said, his voice quiet. “You are…reliable, in ways that no one else is. Your ability to understand my ridiculous inability to speak…” Sakura couldn’t help but smile, and Sasuke clocked it with a shake of his head and small smirk. “All at the same time, you still surprise me with your patience.”

Sakura chuckled and teased, “You’re easy. Just give you tomatoes and go for a walk!” 

Sasuke’s smirk was small, but how it grew at her words was a victory for Sakura all the same. Then, he looked up and his smirk transformed into one of his rare, small smiles. It was a sated smile, where he was satisfied and happy, with no other emotions to cloud it. It wasn’t perfect, but it was there , and victory bells rang in Sakura’s ears. 

Slowly, and with a bit more confidence than before, Sakura placed her hand over his. Sasuke started, but he didn’t move. She squeezed his hand once and tried to let go, but Sasuke’s hand had flipped to grasp her’s tightly. Sakura sucked in a breath and held still, wondering if she was about to be admonished or pulled closer. 

“Sakura…”

She got nothing from his tone or expression. But the way he whispered her name made her chilled toes curl in her boots. 

Sasuke’s head suddenly tipped forward until his forehead rested against her own. Sakura’s mouth popped open to form a small “o” and her eyes widened. His chest vibrated near her as he closed his eyes, no doubt chuckling at her shocked expression. 

He let go of her hand and slowly, like he was trying to pick a spot, placed his hand on Sakura’s middle back and pushed. 

Sakura was scooted closer until she was smooshed against Sasuke, his arm wrapped around her. He was crushing her to him, but she would let him break her spine before she let him know that. Her hands slowly wound themselves underneath his and tentatively rested against his back and gave him a light squeeze, causing a breath to shudder out of him.

“Thank you for today,” he sighed into her hair. His breath stirred the strands at her neck. 

Sakura felt warmer than she had all morning. She squeezed her eyes shut and let her forehead brush against his neck while she whispered back, “ Of course .” 

Not wanting to push her luck, Sakura moved to sit up straight, but was stopped by the firm press of Sasuke’s hand still at her lower back. She looked up only to be nearly nose to nose with the man she had loved since she was a kid, eyeing her with all the emotion she’d never dreamed she see from him. Her eyes widened and her blush finally won, taking over her cheeks and forehead. 

Sasuke watched it bloom, a small smile on his lips. “Mm,” he said, pulling Sakura close enough to place his lips on her heated cheek. They burned even worse. “ So annoying. ” 

Sakura grumbled, and said, unthinking, “I feel like everytime you call me annoying, you’re avoiding saying something completely different.” 

Sasuke looked stunned at her words, but only for a moment. Wide eyes, a frozen figure. He wiped his face of emotion in a second and looked down at the ground, his eyebrows furrowed. 

Sakura felt like melting away. She hadn’t expected that reaction and felt horrible for causing whatever emotion he had to deal with on top of the pain and sorrow of the day. 

As he had leaned back, his hand now ghosting her back, Sakura quickly tried to get out her apology, “Sasuke-kun, I didn’t mean anything by-“ 

“You’re right.” 

Sakura’s mouth was still open. She quickly shut it and stuttered out, “W-what?” 

Sasuke took a while to formulate a response. His mouth opened a few times, but shut soon after. 

“You don’t have to tell me,” Sakura said quietly. She leaned forward a bit. Sasuke grumbled under his breath and Sakura couldn’t help but smile. “Seriously, you don’t have to-”

“It’s the same as when I poke your forehead.” 

And that…explained nothing. Sure, Sakura had ideas about what it could mean. Next time , he would say, or some variation thereof. But she had never understood it as anything more than a promise: You mean something to me.  

But…could it mean something else? Something… more? 

Sakura felt her eyes drawn to his searching, yielding, swirling mismatched ones. She blushed, just as she always did under this kind of look. Filled with…something. It caused a shiver to run down her spine, but she pushed the new emotions down. When she saw him look at her like this…she never hoped. She never guessed. She had decided whatever it was, it was enough. That their bond being different from everyone else was enough. That it was okay that it would never be what she desperately wanted. 

But what if?

Sakura bit her lip. Sasuke’s eyes flicked down and up. She bit her lip harder. 

“Sakura…?” 

She closed her eyes. She hated how much his saying her name in that soft, searching way made her want to kiss him. She had been dying, desperate to drive out those kinds of feelings in case he didn’t want them, but loving him came with every emotion, want, and need, and she was starving for his affection after years of receiving nothing. She wanted to kiss him, just once. But she was unwilling to push, unwilling to break. She would be steadfast as the stars in her quest to simply become home to him in the way he needed, not in the way she wanted. 

“Sakura.” His tone was more demanding, now. 

She opened her eyes. Her mouth opened. Closed. Once more. She made a noise of frustration. She couldn’t ask. She couldn’t. She couldn’t. She couldn’t. 

But with that look in his eye, concerned, wanting to know her thoughts…

She could. 

“I don’t know exactly what the forehead poke means,” she said slowly. Sasuke’s eyes widened in surprise. She pushed on. “But I feel like…like it’s a promise. To come back. To come…home. To me.” 

Her voice was so quiet when she finished, she was almost unsure if he heard her. But, with how his expression had softened in understanding, only in a way that Sakura would notice, she knew he was with her. 

“It is that,” Sasuke said, his voice quiet, a bit unsure. “But it also means something…more.” 

Sakura blinked. 

Sasuke looked back at the ground when he spoke, a small, nearly undetectable blush on his cheeks. “Itachi would tap my forehead and tell me he would do whatever I asked, but the next time. It was his way of showing me…he loved me.” 

Sakura nearly fell off of the tree. 

Her heart bloomed. Dormant was the hope she had for them, but now it roared, rose like a wave, and toppled all of her worries to the side. Nothing else mattered. He could never say the words, but she knew. She knew . 

Sasuke loved her. 

Sakura’s eyes began to well with tears. Sasuke made a noise of disapproval yet tugged her closer, his vocalization in direct contrast to his actions. She clutched at his cloak and let out a choked sob, overwhelmed and so in love with the man who held her that it hurt. 

“Sakura.” His tone wasn’t angry. It wasn’t filled with pain. It wasn’t cold. It wasn’t impatient or unkind. He sighed her name. Like it was a word he had finally remembered and was able to say aloud. 

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her hands tighter in his damp cloak. She knew she was shaking, but the shock, the revelation, never really knowing and now knowing… it was all too much and all at once. 

Sasuke, apparently, wasn’t having it. His fingers grazed her cheek almost cautiously, like he didn’t know what to do. He pressed them firmer against her skin and slid them down to her chin, pulling her face from his chest and up. 

Sakura knew she looked a mess, but she didn’t care. She smiled, so full of love and happiness, despite the tears still trailing down her cheeks. Sasuke’s eyes softened even further, his lips pressed together in a thin line. 

“Please don’t cry,” he whispered. As if moving through molasses, his fingers swept across her cheek, pushing her hair back at his palm cupped her cheek. He held her face with a softness that Sakura had never imagined in her wildest dream. He touched her with love . 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, wiping at her face. Sasuke’s hand fell and she felt cold without it. She couldn’t help her hands from shooting out to grab it, holding it inches from her face. He didn’t take it back, she she held it in the air between them. “I…I just never knew. I didn’t let myself…you as you are is always enough. But I…”  

She didn’t know how to explain it. She didn’t want to hurt him by acknowledging that she had accepted he would never love her like she loved him. But when his hand returned to her cheek, his thumb caressing her skin, she wondered why she had ever doubted it. It was so obvious now. 

It was all in his eyes. 

Once again, unable to help herself, Sakura touched him. This time, it was her hands slipping around his waist to rest on his back, holding him tight to her. Sasuke didn’t hesitate to fall into the embrace, his chin resting against her temple, his hand sliding to the back of her head. They swayed slightly, both of them overwhelmed with emotion. The feelings they felt for one another were tangible in the air, their heartbeats melding as one, beating against the other’s chest. There was nervous, elated, and sated energy, all moving together in harmony. 

“I love you,” Sakura whispered shakily, squeezing him once, all she would allow herself. “I really, really do.” 

The breath Sasuke let out in response was harsh and just as shaky. 

She pulled back, but Sasuke didn’t let her get far. He held her close enough for his head to fall to meet hers, his breath warm against her nose. Sakura’s eyelids fluttered and she felt like she was about to take flight. 

Sasuke’s hand slid and tightened against the back of her neck. His eyes were closed, but she could feel his indecision, his nerves. In her joy, she had forgotten that Sasuke wasn’t ready for a relationship like she was. Silently admonishing herself, Sakura began to pull back even more, but Sasuke’s hand tightened, freezing her in place. Sakura gasped and immediately blushed, her eyes clenching shut. 

When he didn’t do or say anything, Sakura peeked her eyes open. Sasuke was looking at her now, a decision obviously made. She hoped and dreaded she knew what he decided. When he swallowed, his eyes flicking down to her mouth, she knew what he wanted to do, she just didn’t know if he would do it. 

Still. Sakura was melting . 

Slowly, as if testing the waters, making sure they were both okay, they were sure, he leaned in. Sakura watched his eyelids slide shut and closed her own just before their lips touched. 

It was soft, testing. Neither of them moved, not really. Her bottom lip was between his and he pulled on it, just a bit before taking a deep breath and pressing his lips to her more firmly, his fingers tightening against the back of her neck. 

Sakura felt warmer than she had all day. 

When they parted, Sasuke kept her close with his grip, their heads still together. Sakura opened her eyes to find Sasuke’s still closed, his lips slightly parted. He was flushed, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, his breaths deep and slow. Without black and purple, it was his nose, his skin, his mouth Sakura found herself devouring with her eyes.

They sat wound together for a while, breathing the same air, relishing in the other’s proximity. Sakura nearly glowed with happiness and Sasuke looked like a weight had been lifted from him. They held each other for the first time in intimacy that wasn’t kept in the dark, pushed down deep within them, or left on a bench leaving the village. 

They stayed until the rain started to come down hard enough for it to leave fat, wet splotches on their cloaks. Without needing words and using only a look, the two jumped to the ground and took off back to the village, their hands intertwined.  

Their evening was filled with leftover soup, reading, and heated, loving stares. Their evening routine stayed the same, but the looks they shared, the tiny brushes of skin and fabric, all of it meant so much more. Especially since Sakura hadn’t noticed that Sasuke kept his eyes closed for so long after their kiss so as to not reveal his activated sharingan.

Chapter Text

“...which leads me to my next question.” 

Sasuke sighed. He knew what Kakashi was going to ask. 

“Are you planning on killing the remaining elders?” His tone was conversational, but the question was explicit and required an answer. Not just as a student would answer a teacher, but as a village shinobi would answer to his Hokage. 

Sasuke didn’t waver in his bored expression. “I don’t plan on killing anyone.” Then, he smirked. “Naruto isn’t here right now, afterall.” 

Kakashi’s expression became severe. “Sasuke, it would be understandable if you did. I know I do. They ordered the execution of my student’s entire family by the hands of an innocent. An innocent that was also my friend.” 

“You don’t need to remind me,” Sasuke said through a sigh. “I’m well aware.” 

Kakashi lowered his eyes for a moment. “You’ll always have my apologies as your sensei and as the current Hokage, Sasuke.”

“They aren’t needed.” 

Kakashi sighed. He looked back up at Sasuke. “What are your thoughts? Sakura refused to talk to me about anything you might have said about them. And don’t give me that look, I am the Hokage. It is my duty to protect all of the village. Even if it means protecting my favorite student from actions that would hurt him more than help him.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “You really have to stop saying that to all of us.”

Kakashi’s eyes crinkled. “Ah, but it’s true. It just changes, depending on the day.”

Sasuke tsked. “What are you really asking? Are you wanting to know about my sanity a few days after the anniversary? I can assure you, I’m fine.” Sakura made sure of that , he thought to himself before continuing. Sighing, Sasuke closed his eyes and added, “I have been told so many conflicting things about what happened and I’m sick and tired of sorting through them in my head.” He bit out the next words. “The Uchiha were planning a coup. The elders didn’t want hot headed police officers running an entire village. My clan was wrong, but they didn’t deserve to die for it. I know that.” 

Sasuke took a deep breath. “The elders were impacted by Danzo. He poisoned everything, but they still acted of their own volition. They should be held accountable, and I expect that to happen in the near future.” He paused. “But I am not an avenger alone in my quest. I’m more than an avenger, I am… I’m a protector. It’s not my punishment to give alone. They didn’t just upset the balance of my family, they upset the balance of the village.” 

Kakashi looked at him with an interesting glint in his eye. “You have thought in depth about this.”

“I did nothing but think and walk on my journey,” Sasuke replied dryly. 

“Not from what I hear. Gaara was specifically impressed with your helpful hand in Sand. The Mizukage as well.” 

Sasuke shifted his weight. He tried not to dwell on those acts. They weren’t for him. They were for the world he had betrayed. 

Kakashi’s eyes were grave. “Do you want to have an input in their punishment? The Kage voted for their lives to be spared during your trial, but punishment has still not been decided upon.”

Sasuke thought for a while about this. Did he? He wondered if being too close to the source of his pain would be debilitating, turning the tide back towards who he used to be. He didn’t want to risk it. He had let go of enough of the pain tied to the two remaining elders. They were old, bitter, and didn’t understand life outside of their own perspectives. 

“No,” he said. “I don’t.” At Kakashi’s shocked look, Sasuke said warily, “I don’t want to put myself back in a place of darkness. Not willingly. Banish them, imprison them, I don’t care. Just… be just about it.” 

Kakashi sat back in his chair, his hands sliding across his desk. “You have grown, Sasuke,” he said, a hint of surprise in his voice. “If I’m being honest, I never thought I would have the pleasure of knowing the man you’ve become. But, I’m proud to say I do.”

Sasuke felt uncomfortable, but thankful for his former teacher’s kind words. He closed his eyes and dipped his head, his only sign of thanks. When he looked up, he said, “The day is over. Do you have anything else for me?”

Kakashi’s eyes twinkled with a certain mischief, and immediately Sasuke was put on edge. “One more thing. It’s technically still Hokage business to poke around in the relationships of a previously wanted nin. We need to keep up the voluntary reports. That is, unless you want an ANBU unit following you around the village.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Screw his thankful feelings. Now, all he wanted to do was smack that smug look off of Kakashi’s face. “Sakura and I are none of your-”

“Like I said, it technically is .” 

Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could just get it over with quickly. But what did he say? Oh yeah, by the way, I nearly had a panic attack after kissing her for the first time after crying over my family for hours and dumping all of my trauma on her because I couldn’t deactivate my sharingan that was desperate to record her face. 

Yeah. He definitely couldn’t say all of that. 

He decided on giving up a few details that would satiate his teacher. “We talk about a lot of things. My past. Our past. We go on walks. We’re…” He fought for a good word before he finally settled on, “...together.” 

Kakashi’s eyes crinkled from the grin hidden beneath his mask. “I need specifics, Sasuke. I have a report to fill out.” 

Sasuke’s next words were spoken through gritted teeth. His hand clenched at his side. “I don’t know how else to explain it. We’re…seeing each other.” He took a deep breath. “Dating.” His ears started to burn beneath his hair. “Whatever the hell you want to call it.”

“Have you kissed?”

“ Yes .”

“Wow, I didn’t think you’d admit to that one.” Sasuke’s eyes widened when Kakashi’s eyes crinkled from his smile. “I only needed an official statement of relationship status, but I thought I’d ask for curiosity’s sake”

Sasuke left without another word and headed straight home. 

Sakura’s POV

Sakura had a really bad day. 

She had lost her favorite patient that day. He was a young shinobi who contracted a strange disease while on a mission and she had been caring for him for months, nearly a year. He had been on the mend, but he eventually succumbed to the sickness after declining for five weeks. She had sobbed in her office, this loss impacting her more than she had realized it would. She cried for him, but she mostly cried for his beautiful and sweet wife, Shina, who would be going home alone. 

Unlocking her door and thinking of Shina made her heart ache with too many different kinds of pain. 

She had the privilege of watching them fall even more in love while he was hospitalized. They had gotten married in his hospital room. Sakura had even turned a blind eye to the young woman basically moving into the ICU. She brought her changes of clothes and let her sleep in the on-call rooms. All the extra help she had given them had been worth it all to see them together. Their relationship had been filled with a love so pure, Sakura couldn’t help but feel envious. They touched and kissed, not excessively, but as waves of reassurance. Kisses against each other’s cheeks, shoulders, and touches that were all too familiar. 

When she walked into the apartment, Sasuke was sitting on the couch, reading a few scrolls with a furrowed brow. Sakura paused on the threshold, as she wasn’t sure how to explain her multifaceted grief. All she wanted was to shower and sleep, hoping to banish away the images of Shina’s face streaked with tears while she held her dead husband. 

He, on the other hand, had other plans. As soon as he saw her, Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. He was far too observant for her to get away with not talking to him about it. “What happened today?”

Sakura sighed and sat down on the couch next to him. He normally didn’t demand an answer from her, offering a simple ‘welcome home’, but apparently she looked a lot worse than the few other times she had to return home after losing a patient. 

Her head fell back against the cushions and she sighed, closing her eyes under the weight of physical and emotional exhaustion. “We had a shinobi die today. I was his doctor and we just…” She trailed off because she knew Sasuke would understand without her needing to explain. 

“Is there anything else?” She looked over at him, curious that he would ask. He said, “You’ve lost patients before, but this one is hitting you hard.”

Sakura wanted to talk about them, but she also didn’t. They deserved to be memorialized, held in the hearts of those who could only hope to have a love as deep as theirs, but it hurt. Her voice shook by the time she finished speaking. “The shinobi died after fighting a disease for a while. I just haven’t been able to stop thinking about his wife and how heartbroken she must feel.”

Glancing over at his quietness, Sakura could see that he still didn’t quite understand. Sakura explained, “They were so in love. You walked into the room and could feel it.” She wiped her eyes and looked up at Sasuke apologetically, who looked at her with a hint of surprise. “Like you said, it’s just hitting me hard.”

Sasuke was quiet for a moment. Then, “What made you think they were in love?”

Sakura shrugged, sinking further into the couch. “I don’t know. Tobin, the shinobi, was always kissing her cheek, her nose, her neck. Shina was the same. She always had a hand on him, no matter what.” Sakura smiled while recalling. “They were like two stars, locked in orbit. One couldn’t go very far without the other.” She noticed Sasuke was giving her a strange look and she laughed awkwardly, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Sorry, I’m speaking in riddles. Like I said, it’s been a really long day.” 

Sakura got up to get ready for bed, but a hand on her arm stopped her. 

“Does..” Sasuke struggled to get the words out. “Does it bother you?” 

She knew he wasn’t talking about the death. “Does what bother me?” 

He looked anywhere but up at her. “That we don’t act like that?” 

Sakura was shocked. Never did she think he would ask her that. She struggled to find an answer. It did…but it didn’t. He was enough, just the way he was. “I…no, it doesn’t.”

Sasuke didn’t look happy with her response. 

“Wait.” Sakura quickly sat back next to Sasuke and faced him with her full attention now. “No, that’s not what I meant to say.” She took a deep breath and smiled, reaching down to clasp his hand. “I love you . That means it makes me happy when you’re happy. But…” Sakura steeled herself to keep going, to be the partner that Sasuke deserved after so much heartache. To not push him. “I am happy just beginning and ending my day with you, Sasuke-kun. You are all that I want. Just having you in my life. If that’s what we have for the rest of our lives, I would die a happy woman.” 

Sasuke searched her eyes as she spoke. She watched him blank for a moment then gasped as a red flash filled the room, his hand dropping from hers. He was pulling up a memory behind his sharingan. It faded after a moment before fully focusing on her. “Sakura…”

“....yes?” 

Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes. The hand in his lap turned over. He stared at his palm. “I may not act like it, but I….even if I didn’t know how it made me feel at first…” His voice was strangled as he tried to finish, “I know that you won’t make me feel ashamed or like I am not good for you, but I…” 

Sakura didn’t realize how close they had gotten until Sasuke’s forehead had dipped and tapped against her own. His breath fanned against her lips and Sakura felt his breath hitch in sync with her own. 

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and, like she always did, word vomited. “I hadn’t kissed anyone before you.”

She peeked through one eye and saw Sasuke’s shocked face. He had moved back slightly. “Never?” 

“Never.” Sakura felt a blush pooling in her cheeks. “Is that…weird?”

Sasuke snorted and Sakura’s eyes widened. He never did that. “I hope not, seeing as I’ve never kissed anyone else besides Naruto.” 

Sakura laughed, remembering the fateful moment. “That was quite a scene! I remember being so -” 

Sasuke didn’t wait another second. He quickly swooped in and captured Sakura’s lips between his own. 

She froze, eyes fluttering shut. His lone hand rested against her upper arm and squeezed once before pulling away. 

It was just a quick peck, but Sakura’s brain still melted to a puddle of pink goo on the floor. As Sasuke settled close, his breath still hot against her skin, she couldn’t help the small gasp of shock and happiness that coursed through her. Sasuke had kissed her. Again . 

His hand fell to his side and he stared into her hair. “Did that… make you happy?”

Sakura’s hands fluttered to her mouth. Her glow cracked slightly. “Did…did you do that just because you thought it’d make me happy?” 

“No,” Sasuke said quickly, his eyebrows furrowing down. “No, I…” Then the strangest thing happened. Sasuke’s hand rose up to touch his ear. 

Sakura found her head tilting to the side. “Sasuke-kun?”

Sasuke blinked, dropping his hand. He looked…weird. Like he was being squeezed uncomfortably. He swallowed and Sakura felt horrible. She had pushed him. Because of her story, her obvious envy of Shina and Tobin, he had assumed she was unhappy and wanted more. And a small part of her did want more, but most of her was fully satiated just being allowed to be by his side. After the other day in the forest, Sakura had never felt closer to Sasuke. She knew he didn’t talk to Naruto or Kakashi like that. He had it all saved up for her. 

It was enough. He would always be enough. 

Which is why she needed to apologize. 

“Sasuke-kun, you don’t have to kiss me, not if you don’t want to,” Sakura said softly, her eyes on her lap. “I promise, I just want to be with you, that’s all. You are enough.” 

Sasuke looked like he was being strangled, now. Sakura began to panic and felt like fleeing the room. Oh Kami, this was not going well. Her mind reeled, wondering if she should leave him alone or try apologizing again. Maybe she should play it off? Ask what he wanted for dinner? Or, maybe he needed to go for a walk. Those always seemed to-

“But what if I wanted to?”

Sakura blinked once, twice, three times. His response was…not expected. 

Her treacherous heart lurched in her chest. Her lips parted and she breathed in and out, deeply enough to settle herself as she came to terms with the fact that Sasuke was verbalizing that he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to. Enough to say it. To declare it. To make it known to her. He said something that was probably really, really hard for him and Sakua felt like dying of happiness. 

“Okay,” she whispered, her lips unable to help themselves from pulling up at the corners. “That’s okay too.” 

“Just okay,” Sasuke said under his breath, sounding slightly disgruntled. 

Sakura’s eyes widened. “I-no, it’s more than okay! It’s…” She trailed off, unable to voice what it was. It was the way her body warmed when he got close to her. It was the way her stomach felt like it was filled with flying shuriken when his hand brushed her shoulder in the morning, touched her lower back, her hip when he had to pass by her in the kitchen. It was the way he smiled at her a smile he gave no one else. So happy, but so at peace. Like he was home. 

It was everything she had ever wanted. 

So, she told him that, staring at her hands. “Sasuke-kun, I’ve told you it’s like a dream for you to be here with me, and it still is.” She paused to look directly at him, her eyes shining. “Each day with you, I think to myself that it can’t get better than this. But with every new piece of you that I get, I get surprised at my ability to be even happier than the day before.”

Sasuke closed his eyes, shaking his head. His lips trembled and with a shuddered breath, he pulled Sakura to him, his hand around her waist. She gasped at the sudden movement, but fell into him the way she had always wanted to and finally, finally could. He left no room between them. Sakura’s hands were trapped, flat against his chest and her eyes were clenched tight, a few tears of happiness leaking from the corners. 

“ Sakura .” He sighed her name again, the way that made her crumble. She shivered and pressed her face further to his chest, her nose skimming his collar bone beneath his shirt. His hand found purchase at her waist and squeezed, his breath hot against her neck. She could feel him swallow, his breaths shallow with a sharp rise and fall to his chest. 

“It’s moments like these where I feel I deserve you the least,” Sasuke whispered.

Sakura moved to sit up, to remind him to turn those thoughts off, to shut out the darkness, but he was too quick. He held her steadfast against him and continued, his words rushed. “Sakura, you deserve someone who will act on his feelings for you, who will go out of the way to show you that he loves you. And I don’t know how you can love me as much as you do and how such small, miniscule things from me can be everything for you when you actually do deserve everything .” 

Sakura choked on a sob. The stupid man. She smashed her face in his chest and pressed her palms harder into his shirt, his skin. “You don’t need a reason to love someone. You just do .” 

Minutes passed, then Sasuke let out a harsh breath. “Kakashi told me the same thing.” When Sakura let out a small laugh, Sasuke pulled her impossibly closer, settling back into his side of the couch. “You deserve so much, Sakura. I know I told you I can’t give you much, but it’s true. It won’t be a normal relationship. Not like everyone else.”

“We aren’t normal people,” Sakura whispered back. Her heart was about to burst out of her chest, racing at lightspeed while basking in the joy of being held so intimately by him, but she pushed on. “I don’t want what everyone else has,” she said shyly. “I want what we have.” 

Sasuke eventually pulled back to look down at her. His hand moved from her waist to rest against her cheek, tilting her head back to meet his eye. Sakura couldn’t help but lean into it, her eyes closing. Held so carefully in the palm of his hand, she felt warm and loved and safe and so many wonderful things that nothing could ever, ever convince her that Sasuke didn’t love her as much as she loved him. 

It was reinforced when Sasuke slowly leaned in. He kept his eyes, now swirling red and purple, trained on her until his lips pressed against her own, kissing her. 

He tasted like cold metal and smoke. 

Her hands clenched around his shirt when he barely pulled back only to press again, his lips slanting ever so slightly. Sakura trembled, her eyes squeezing tighter with every press, pull, press pull, their breaths shaky as they learned how to give and receive. Her right hand crept up his chest and rested at the base of his throat and she felt his raging pulse. Sasuke’s thumb hooked beneath her jaw, tipping her head back with the force of his kiss, and it made it hard for Sakura to breathe in the best of ways. 

It was perfect. 

After a minute or two, they sat in silence, heads bowed together. Both were replaying, memorizing, and reveling in their developing relationship. Sasuke felt warmer than he had ever felt before. He was stunned and mesmerized by pink and green. Sakura was desperately clinging to her reality and repeating over and over to herself, this is real, he kisses me because he wants to, this is real, he loves me.  

They felt everything all at once. And this time, when they stood up and began to part ways for bed, Sasuke pulled her back for a short, sweet kiss. 

A new nighttime ritual. 

Sasuke’s POV

Sasuke couldn’t fall asleep, a red glow cast across the room. 

He laid on his back, his hand across his chest and the blanket tossed to the side. The apartment was cool, but the Uchiha felt like he was burning alive. All he could was replay the evening over and over again, wondering how on earth he had gotten to where he was at without royally fucking it up for himself. 

He had a home. With a woman. Whom he loved, desperately and wholly. And, who wasn’t afraid of him. She even loved him just as wholly and desperately. 

He rewatched their kiss for the hundredth time that evening. He watched her eyes turn from being filled with love and desperation for him to understanding and surprise and…want. It was the final emotion he had seen that had been tripping him up all evening. Sasuke closed his eyes, but the image kept playing, the sensation of her little sighs and short breaths against his lips causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up.

With effort, his eye finally returned to black, a small ache building behind them. He blinked slowly and wondered if Sakura would have time to heal him in the morning. He sighed, knowing that even if she didn’t, she would make time. It was who she was. 

It was something he loved about her. 

On his journey and while thinking of Sakura, he wouldn’t name it, but he knew deep down that he loved her. It was never an overt thought, but an undercurrent in every recollection and conclusion he had or made. He’d been able to conclude several things about his emotional connection to her, but he never once considered anything…physical. 

It had completely slipped his mind. He had imagined hugging her or kissing her, but those were projections of a future far, far away. He honestly hadn’t expected her to welcome him back into her life, much less in that way, so soon. Yet, a child or two always was in the background, running or playing in the house they shared in his daydreams. He didn’t think it would happen soon and he certainly didn’t think that he would want it to happen so soon, but everytime he saw her smile at a child in the village or kiss a baby’s fuzzy head in the hospital, Sasuke felt a tightening in his chest. 

He hadn’t expected the intense desire to touch her as much as he did, either. It was always innocent, his daydreams while on the road. Now, presented with her physical self before him day in and day out, Sasuke couldn’t deny how badly he wanted to squeeze and grasp and push and pull and kiss and suck and–

Sasuke took a shaky breath to calm himself, his hand sweeping across his chest to soothe his racing heart. It was a bit unnerving to be having these thoughts while laying on her couch and under the same roof, her sleeping form only a few short steps away. 

He knew he had been immature in his dreams of the future. He knew what he wanted in this daydreamed future he had of himself and Sakura, he just didn’t consider all of the steps he had to take to get there. 

So, Sasuke did what he did while he was gone. He made a list of what he knew and what he wanted to know. 

He started with what he knew about a physical relationship. He knew what having a child entailed, obviously. Basic sex education was taught in the academy, but having been around Naruto and Kakashi long enough, he had at least familiarized himself with the social etiquette of having sex with someone else. You don’t do it and leave immediately, you don’t do anything they don’t like, and you get consent. 

He remembered something suddenly that Itachi had said to him about sex. He had asked his brother if having a baby really meant putting his you-know-what in a girl’s you- know-where. Sasuke didn’t even like anyone, he had whined to his older brother. Itachi had tilted his head and offered a piece of advice he didn’t know Sasuke would need later in life. 

“If parents love their children so much and sex is how they make us, then it has to be something special to create a love that powerful. ” 

It made his chest hurt, thinking of his wise older brother. He took steadying breaths and reminded himself that he was not only living his life for himself, but for Itachi and his desire for Sasuke to be happy. Sakura was a part of that plan. She made him happier than anyone, even when she unwittingly made him feel inadequate. 

She had been in the same sex-ed classes he had been in, but her education had been different. She hadn’t said it, but he knew she had been trained to seduce a target during her few month stint working with ANBU. Tsunade had overseen her training personally in that regard, too. Sasuke wondered bitterly if she would have to use those skills on him due to his lack of experience. He shuddered and thought that thankfully, she most likely wouldn’t. They were too close and she wasn’t a good actress around him. After living together for nearly two months, he could read her all too well. And, when they were close, she was always a bit more…undone. Nervous, and slow to act, but always at the edge of her seat waiting to see what Sasuke would do. 

Sasuke hadn’t realized for a while after moving in, but he liked how she got around him when he got a bit closer than socially acceptable. She would jump every time he touched her to squeeze past her in the kitchen, a blush hinting at her cheeks. She would sigh in happiness every morning when he would squeeze her shoulder, touch her hand, or whisper good morning against her cheek.

And when he had kissed her earlier that night…

Sasuke swallowed and clenched his eyes shut, his hand gripping the shirt he wore. Kami, she had looked so…so…

Like Sasuke could do whatever he wanted and she would happily comply. 

He knew deep down that Sakura was ready for more, but she was waiting on him. It was nerve wracking for him to have that amount of power, and some parts of him wished that Sakura would just tell him what to do, but he knew she’d never push him for more than anything than what he openly offered. She was still cautious about physical touch because she knew he hadn’t experienced much of it in all senses of the phrase. 

Staring at the ceiling, Sasuke made his conclusions of what he knew. Sakura loved him. She was happy with whatever he gave her, physical or emotional. He knew she loved him in a more normal sense of the word, like the way Naruto and Hinata loved each other. With a grimace of embarrassment, he added to the list that she probably had thought about having a physical relationship with him. Kissing. More than kissing. 

He felt ridiculous for thinking it, but he wondered how much she had thought about it. A lot? Only when others asked? He assumed Ino would bombard her with questions if Sakura’s complaining after her lunch dates with her best friend was any indication. She didn’t have the emotional trauma that he did and didn’t turn any of her emotions off, not like he had. She had developed normally and when sex became a part of all of her friends’ lives, she probably had felt terribly lonely and left behind. 

Sasuke realized at that moment that he was probably experiencing the shame and growth of emotions about physical relationships that all of his former teammates and classmates had gone through when they went through puberty. When his voice had gotten lower and his hormones had acted up, he didn’t feel pushed towards female companionship. He felt nothing but annoyance and irritation. But Sakura had been bombarded by boys and men since they were genin, meaning she had had to deal with those emotions and thoughts without him.

Sasuke clenched his fist, knowing that she probably had wished he had been home so she could have experienced all of that with him. 

Trying to regain his composure, Sasuke began to make a list of the things he needed to know or think longer about. He didn’t know if Sakura wanted to have a physical relationship as soon as he did. She seemed to like kissing him, but she also trembled like a leaf every time. It wasn’t a response he understood fully, but he thought that with time, he could understand if her response was positive or negative. He didn’t know how sex was supposed to feel good, as Naruto had mentioned a few times before. He thought it would be uncomfortable and awkward and, maybe it was. But he knew it could be good. It could be really good, if Naruto was to be believed. He didn’t know if Sakura even thought that he would want to eventually progress their relationship that far, but Sasuke… 

He was still a man, and Sakura was still Sakura. 

Sasuke had no idea how to find the answers to any of those problems, but he knew he didn’t need them any time soon. Although he wanted a family with Sakura, he wasn’t in any rush to push either one of them. They had been through too much not to take their time, and Sakura would never turn him away. 

It was that comforting thought that ushered the Uchiha to sleep.

Chapter Text

Sasuke’s POV

“Yo, Teme!” 

Sasuke looked up from his designated task with a scowl. They were setting up for a Team 7 party at Kakashi’s apartment and his job was filling cups with ice. “What do you want, Naruto?” 

“Get over here! We have some man things to talk about before the girls arrive!” 

The girls, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata, were at his and Sakura’s apartment, supposedly “getting ready”, whatever that meant. When Sakura had informed him that he would have to leave an hour early for the girls to do whatever they needed to do, Sasuke had dumbly asked why she wouldn’t just wear what she wore to work. She had laughed her chiming laugh and patted his shoulder before telling him that he would just have to suffer through Naruto for an hour and that she knew he could manage. He has been reluctant to leave, even after the two other girls showed up, but both Ino and Hinata had shooed him out the door, Hinata insisting that the other boys could use his help cleaning and setting out the food. 

Presently, Sasuke stayed where he was in the kitchen and eyed the three other ninjas sitting in the living room. They were all trying and failing to act nonchalant. Sai’s smile was even more fake than usual, Naruto was bouncing back and forth on his feet in anticipation, and Kakashi’s gleaming eyes betrayed his laid back posture. 

Sasuke sighed deeply and closed his eyes in defeat. “I see. They kicked me out of my apartment to be interrogated.” 

“If it helps, I had no part in the plan,” Sai offered brightly. 

“It doesn’t.”

“Didn’t think it would!”

Sasuke pressed his fingertips to the bridge of his nose. “Why can’t you all leave me alone?” 

“Because we’re your friends, bastard!” Naruto gripped stalking back and forth behind the couch. He threw an accusatory finger Sasuke’s way and added, “And we’re Sakura’s friends too! We want to hear about her happiness and make sure that the guy she’s been in love with for forever is being nice to her!” 

Sasuke glared over his hand, his irritation rising. “ Of course I’m being nice to her.” 

Kakashi intervened. “What Naruto is failing to say is that we care about both of you and want to make sure you know you can talk to us about it.” Kakashi paused, his eyes thoughtful. “You have slowly closed off to us since your return, but become more open to Sakura. We want to know how you’re doing emotionally and mentally, that’s all.” 

“We’re your moral support, you know!” Naruto said, folding his arms across his chest, looking rather put out. 

“We’re not going to make fun of you and we don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” Sai added quietly. “I know what that’s like.” 

Sasuke kept his expression cooled for as long as he could, but eventually, he snapped. “Well, it is embarrassing. I’m capable of being embarrassed and uncomfortable which is basically how I’ve felt the entire time I’ve been back! I’m embarrassed by all of the things I’ve done and what I’ve put her through and I’m uncomfortable trying to live a life I have no prior knowledge or experience of how to navigate!” He breathed harshly through his nose. “So, it’s hard to talk about. Especially with people who know how to have a functioning relationship with themselves and their…person.” His final words were bitter. 

Sai laughed his strange laugh. “I don’t think that’s true. I have less of an understanding of emotions than any of you. Ino teaches me everything.” 

“I never saw what a mother and father acted like,” Naruto added quietly, though not in pain. “Or, was around adults who were in love, so I get confused and mess up all the time.”  

“I’ve been single your entire lives,” Kakashi added dryly. 

Sasuke paused, their words sinking within him. It was a gentle reminder from all, but a good reminder that he wasn’t alone in missing out on “normal” things. Sasuke had known his parents. Naruto hadn’t. It made their pain different, but not in a way where one was in more pain than the other. There was pain in living in love and losing it, but there was also pain in never getting to experience it, either. Sai was raised without emotions, and Kakashi…well, he was Kakashi . 

Sasuke eventually walked over to the living room and sat down on a chair. He stared at the floor, realizing that once again, he had been too caught up in his own perspective. His feelings were his own, but they were not unique. Pain, shame, guilt, all of them had been felt by the other men around him. It made him feel less alone for the first time outside of Sakura’s presence since returning. It made him feel like he wasn’t a failure. 

But there was still something that bothered him. 

“I chose to turn it all off,” Sasuke admitted quietly. “She told me over and over again that she loved me. And each time, I worked to keep it off, to keep from straying from my goals of revenge. I chose darkness and anger and pain over her every single time.” 

Naruto’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes softened. “She knows that, Sasuke. And she still loves you.”

“She knows you a lot better than you think she does,” Kakashi added. 

Sasuke tsked. “Oh, I know it.” It had gotten less surprising each time she did it, but her mind reading skills had gotten to be very good. Too good. 

“Are you still sleeping on the couch? Naruto told me that you should be sleeping in her bed if you’re officially together.” 

When Naruto and Kakashi started shouting at him, Sai just frowned. “What? Was that wrong to ask?” 

Sasuke couldn’t decide what he wanted to do first. Kill Naruto for being a nosy moron, kill Sai for putting an image of climbing into bed with Sakura in his mind, or kill Kakashi for telling Naruto they were officially together. 

Sasuke continued to glare. He felt hot under his clothes and wanted to go for a walk, be outside, be anywhere but where he was at. However, when he glanced at the clock, he knew he wouldn’t be back before Sakura got there. He closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. “I just don’t see why everyone is making a big deal about it.” 

“We wouldn’t if you would offer up even the smallest bit of information,” Naruto snapped. He calmed down when Kakashi gave him a look. “Sasuke, it’s like Sai said. We aren’t making fun of you. We just want to talk to you.” 

Sasuke let his head fall back. He clutched at the bridge of his nose again and with irritation grating his nerves, he bit out, “I get that.” 

“How about we each get a question,” Sai suggested. Everyone looked at him like he suggested they go running through the streets drunk. He blinked. “One question each gives us a chance to satiate our curiosity but shouldn’t overwhelm Traitor-kun.” 

Sasuke blinked. “I…what did you just call me?” He wasn’t mad. He was…shocked? Amused? 

Naruto whooped. “That’s actually a great idea! Sasuke, you up for three questions or what?”

Sasuke eventually sighed. This might be as good as he was going to get from these morons. “As long as they’re not ridiculous or obviously inappropriate, I’ll answer them.” 

“Okay, me first, me first!” Naruto screwed his eyes together and thought hard about his question for a minute or two, Sasuke staring at him, unamused. “Okay, I got it! What’s your favorite thing about Sakura?” 

Sasuke’s eyebrows furrowed. He had many things that he admired about Sakura, but not all of them were ones he wanted to share with his friends. “I have no idea how to answer that.” 

Naruto groaned. “Oh come on, yes you do! What’s something she does that makes you stop and appreciate her? Or makes your chest feel all warm and fuzzy.” 

Sasuke opened his mouth to explain how stupid he sounded, but an example popped up in his mind instead. He closed his mouth to digest his answer for a moment before speaking. “When we read together at night. She…looks peaceful. Happy. I…enjoy it, watching her relax after a long day. She’ll wear sweaters her grandmother made her over the years. They always look…soft.”

They all stared at him for a moment too long. Sasuke felt his ears heat. “What?” 

Naruto just beamed. “See! That wasn’t so hard!”

“I have one.” Kakashi leaned forward on his elbows. “What’s your favorite thing that she cooks?” 

“Tomato soup.” The answer was instantaneous. Kakashi and Naruto grinned. 

Everyone looked at Sai expectedly, but he patiently sorted through his thoughts before asking, as if he were asking about the weather, “Do you love her?”

Naruto and Kakashi jumped down Sai’s throat, telling him that wasn’t a question he could ask, that it was probably going to piss Sasuke off. Sasuke didn’t know if it was their ability to switch from being nosy to protective or his inability to say it out loud to the person it really mattered to, but he knew the answer to this question even faster than the last one. 

They were so busy looking at Sai that they almost missed Sasuke’s quiet, muttered response. “Yes.” 

They froze. Sai looked happy with Sasuke’s response, Naruto looked shocked beyond belief that he had answered, and Kakashi looked about as smug as he had ever seen him. 

This was what the girls walked into. 

Sakura’s POV

Sakura was having a wonderful evening. The food Kakashi had ordered was spectacular, his apartment was actually clean for once, and all of the people she loved the most were gathered under one roof, not a raised voice or fist in sight. 

She smiled to herself over her glass of sake and basked in the joy of the evening. When she, Ino, and Hinata had arrived, the boys looked like they were talking about something ridiculous if the expressions on their faces were any indication. They had all jumped up and greeted them, opening bottles, and starting to unwrap the foil from the takeout like hosting was their new A-rank mission. 

Except Sasuke. He stood in the living room and waited for Sakura to come to him. She had smiled at him, tucking her hair behind her ear before popping to a stop before him. She had been a bit nervous since her outfit was different compared to what she normally wore. It was the same cut and style as her other dresses except a tad shorter and with a higher collar. It was a bit snugger around her hips, but Ino’s keen eye had bought it for its color; deep, navy blue with red buttons and stitching. 

Sasuke’s eyes had darted up and down quickly before muttering, his eyes tracing the color at her throat, “I like that color on you.” 

Which, of course, turned her cheeks strawberry. 

Glancing around the table, Sakura felt more at peace than she had in years. When she met Naruto’s eyes across the table, she knew he felt the same. The weight of Team 7 falling apart had been a heavy burden for them both and, in their success, they found a mutual understanding. We did it. We did it.  

Sakura looked to her left when she felt the bump of Sasuke’s knee against hers. She looked up and whispered, as not to disrupt Kakashi’s riveting tale of once again, racing Gui Sensei through Konoha. “Yes?”

He nodded to her plate. “You didn’t eat your carrots. I’ve noticed you don’t normally eat them. You don’t like them?”

Sakura blinked through her grin. She loved when Sasuke confirmed his thoughts with her. It was her new favorite game. Sometimes, if she was bold, she’d try to confirm what she had observed about him as well. “I-yes, Sasuke-kun. I’m not the biggest fan of cooked carrots.” Taking a deep breath, she added, “You ate all of yours. Do you want mine?” 

He hummed in agreement, but instead of just scooping up her carrots for himself, he added a small chunk of the cooked fish from his plate onto hers. 

Sakura flushed and gave him a small smile. “Thank you, Sasuke-kun.” 

He nodded once more before leaning back in his seat, his attention back on the conversation. Sakura was still warm, his knee still firmly pressed against her own. 

Dinner ended and the rowdy ninjas made their way to the living room. More sake bottles were opened and eventually, the boys started a drinking game with dice. Sasuke declined, but was forced to sit at the table, anyway. It was then that Sakura found herself on the balcony with her two best friends, reminiscing about the evening’s food, conversation, and attendees. 

“Seriously Sakura, I’ve never seen Sasuke like this before!” Ino shouted for probably the fiftieth time. 

Sakura chuckled, leaning back against the railing, her elbows falling back over the edge. “I know what you mean. It surprises me everyday.” Her smile turned a bit secretive. “I told him that, you know? That every time he does something to show me a bit more of himself, I think to myself that it can’t get any better than this. That I can’t be any happier.” 

Hinata and Ino both sighed. They had been filled in by Sakura from the start. She had been having weekly teas with them since Sasuke had returned. It wasn’t voluntary at first, but after the third time getting kidnapped by Ino, Sakura had started to show up willingly. In all honesty, it had been helpful to her. She didn’t realize how desperate she was to talk about her blossoming relationship with Sasuke with someone, especially since it was her first and hopefully only relationship. 

Ino always offered her way too much advice on seducing Sasuke whereas Hinata helped her remember to still be patient, even when it was hard. Ino would argue and say that Sasuke had two years to think and needed to act on his feelings, but Hinata would always reason that he probably didn’t know what to do. They balanced each other out after a few afternoons until Sakura had been able to join in on the conversation. 

“So he’s really still sleeping in the living room?” Ino asked, smirking over her cup. 

Sakura winced. “Aw, come on, I already feel bad enough!” 

Ino just rolled her eyes. “So, invite him to your bedroom, forehead! It’s not hard. Oh, turn those green lanterns on someone else. If it makes you feel better, ask him in baggy, gross clothes so he knows you aren’t trying to jump his bones.” 

Sakura groaned this time. “Ino, we literally barely kiss. There’s no need to jump to that conclusion. He’d know I wasn’t asking for…that.” 

Ino wrinkled her nose. “Kami, you make sex sound so terrifying.” 

It was Hinata, surprisingly, who giggled and added. “You really don’t need to be that afraid of it. If you trust and love each other, it doesn’t matter. You can figure it out together.” 

Sakura smiled at her friend, so happy for her that she had found that in Naruto. “You’re right. But still, Sasuke probably hasn’t even-”

“Ah, ah ah!” Ino interrupted with a wagging finger. “We talked about this. What did we talk about, forehead?”

Sakura sighed and let her head fall back, replying in monotone. “Sasuke is a man. Even emotionally traumatized men still think about sex.” 

“Precisely. And hey, if Hinata is right, so am I!” 

Sakura raised an eyebrow at her friend. “What are you wanting to be right about, exactly?” 

“That he should sleep in your bed! Duh!”

“Shh! Keep your voice down, pig!” Sakura glared. “I would have no idea how to ask! Besides, it really doesn’t make sense for him to sleep in there with me since I’d be a nervous mess the entire time and make it unbearably awkward. And, my bedhead is horrible !” 

Ino just smirked. “You don’t ask, you present him with an offer he can’t refuse. And it makes sense because you are a couple and can enjoy the cuddling that comes with the title!” Her eyes and voice softened when she added, “You can be nervous because he’ll probably be nervous too, so calm each other down with the previous step.” She paused, and her smile turned to a sinister smirk. “I’d even bet after following my instructions, your post-sex hair will probably be his new favorite style.” 

Hinata scolded her while Sakura grumbled, turning her back to face the city, “You’re the worst, Ino-pig.” 

The door to the balcony suddenly opened and they all turned to look. Sasuke had a hand on the sliding door and looked like he was about one minute from killing the drunk idiots inside. 

“We’ll go inside,” Ino rushed, snatching Hinata’s arm and tugging her inside faster than Sakura could blink. “Have fun, lovebirds!” 

Sakura, still looking over her shoulder, suppressed an amused smile at Sasuke’s irritation. “Want to join me?” 

He nodded, huffing a breath and sliding the door shut behind him. Sakura turned back to face the twinkling lights of the village, no longer warm in the golden setting sun. Night had fallen and a full moon bathed the village in white light. It was a beautiful evening in Konoha, but it was also a night that reminded Sakura of the dark peace she saw in Sasuke. It was different from the pain and hate he had fallen into. It was not darkness meant to frighten or that of assassins or death. She stared up at him, having moved to stand next to her, and decided this new darkness he exuded was that of a soft blanket on a cold night. One that was restful and soothing, like drifting to sleep in the arms of the one you loved. 

Sasuke looked down at her, his irritation slowly fading as he gave her a searching look. She stared back, unafraid in her daydreams of Sasuke wrapped around her, enjoying her warmth in a dark bedroom. She reached a hand over and clasped his hand and smiled, her eyes filled with love and affection. “I had so much fun tonight. I hope you did too.” 

Sasuke’s eyes softened and he squeezed her hand back when he said, “Ah. I did.” 

Sakura grinned, letting her hand fall. Sasuke caught it and held it between them, his fingers intertwining with her own. Sakura’s jaw dropped into her smile, but she held it. “Good…I’m glad.” 

He smiled like he knew she was flustered. Sakura felt her nose scrunch up and she bit her lip, turning to face forward. She sighed at the view, at her life, at her ability to hold the hand of the man she loved, and closed her eyes. She was memorizing how she felt so she would never, ever forget it. 

“What are you thinking?”

Sakura didn’t open her eyes as her smile wobbled. “I’m thinking I’m the luckiest girl in the world to have so many people I love, gathered together.”

She felt him move closer to her. “You worked hard for this.” 

She tilted her head back to look at him. He was happy for her, but he was sad. She knew there was guilt mixed in. She squeezed the hand she held. “I’d do it all again if I had to. Whatever it took.” 

Sasuke closed his eyes. He nodded, his mouth set in a firm line. They sat in silence for a while before either of them spoke. 

“I talked to them before you got here. About you.” 

“Oh?” Sakura’s curiosity got the best of her. “What about?”

“They wanted to know if I was being nice .” He bit the last word out like it was ugly or taboo. Sakura couldn’t help but laugh. Sasuke gave her an unamused look. “I assured them I had no plans of hurting you.” 

Sakura felt giddy. She tried to tamper it down, but knew Sasuke could see right through it. She couldn’t stop bouncing on her feet. She loved that Sasuke talked about her. “What else did they ask?” 

Sasuke sighed, but there was no malice. It was almost like he was…entertaining her. It made her happiness grow exponentially. “Naruto made me tell him my favorite thing about you. It’s your expression when you read. Kakashi asked what my favorite dish of yours was. That’s your tomato soup.” He grew very quiet and eventually said, “Sai asked me if I loved you.” 

Sakura felt her world slip out from underneath her. Her cheeks flamed. That was…a lot of information. “Oh.” 

They both tensed up for a second or two under that revelation. They both knew that Sasuke loved her, but he hadn’t said it. Not outright. Sakura didn’t need it, she truly didn’t, but she wondered if he could say it to someone else easier than he could say it to her. It could be that expressing his emotions to the object of them was harder due to the severity of the act. 

A comfortable silence rose up after a while, both of them having sorted through their thoughts. Sakura had ended up leaning into Sasuke, her arm wound around his. The party raged behind them, but they were locked in their own world, wishing to be nowhere else but where they were. 

Sakura’s eyes had closed by the time Sasuke spoke. 

“The moon is beautiful.” 

The words were so quiet yet so intentional. Sakura’s head snapped up to meet the very warm, very happy Sasuke, staring down at her with a depth of emotion she hadn’t been able to clock before. 

Love. It was unrestrained, unbound, and raging through black and purple. Mismatched eyes, all that she adored, and that adoration was staring right back down at her. 

Sakura felt like she was floating in an ocean of sparkling wine, her soul a cup overflowing. 

“It is, isn’t it?” she responded, smiling up at him. 

Sasuke hummed and kissed the hair at the top of her head, squeezing her hand tightly. 

Sakura floated in happiness for the rest of the night. 

It was two in the morning when Sakura blinked awake from the sound of a crash in the kitchen. She was armed to the teeth and halfway out of bed before she remembered that Sasuke was probably just getting a drink of water. She started to relax and put her emergency kunai back where it belonged, but when she heard the sound of a second shattered glass, she was down the hall and in the kitchen in a second. 

Sasuke’s back was to her, his single hand gripping the counter so tight, she could see the whites of his knuckles. The back of his gray shirt was almost black from sweat and his whole body trembled ever so slightly. Two shattered glasses sat next to each other on the counter and water dripped off of the surface in a steady flow to the floor. 

Sakura saw him tense and she knew he had realized she was awake. He didn’t say anything. He just stood there, frozen against the counter. 

Sakura took a slow step forward. When he didn’t move or object. She took another. She tentatively lowered herself to the floor and began to pick up the glass pieces that had fallen. Sasuke didn’t move the entire time she gathered them in a cloth, nor when she grabbed another to mop up the water. It was only when she reached across him to grab the two bottom halves of the glasses that he moved. 

His fingers wrapped around her wrist. “Don’t,” he said, his tone not harsh, but it didn’t leave any room for argument. 

Sakura didn’t move a muscle. She waited for him to let go, but he didn’t. Eventually, she said softly, “Sasuke, it’s okay. Let me clean up.”

“I can do the rest.” He let go and gathered the broken glasses and threw them in the trash before taking the towel from her limp hand to wipe the wet counter. 

Sakura tried to ascertain what happened based on his mannerisms. His eyes didn’t hold emotion, but they moved back and forth, like he was reliving something. She continued watching him slowly finish cleaning, keeping her hands to herself, wondering what on earth she was supposed to do. 

Once he was done, Sasuke turned to her, but his head hung low. “I’m sorry I woke you.” His voice was barely a whisper. It was hoarse. 

“It’s okay,” Sakura immediately insisted, giving him a soft smile he didn’t see. She shifted on her feet before finding the courage to ask, “Can you tell me what happened?” 

“Bad dream,” Sasuke rasped out. 

Sakura nodded, her expression cracking. She didn’t know what to do, how to fix this. Did she hug him? Did she tuck him in? Did she ask what the dream was about? She settled somewhere in the middle. “Do you think you’ll be able to go back to sleep?”

Sasuke shook his head. 

Sakura’s hands fidgeted in front of her. She eventually caved. “Do…do you want to talk about it?”

A shrug. 

Sakura stopped. A shrug? She had never gotten that response before. Did it mean it was her choice? Warily, she asked, “Did it involve…your family?”

He shook his head. He grimaced suddenly, like he was in pain. “It was about you,” he whispered, sounding so incredibly guilty. 

Sakura felt her heart break for him. She knew how he felt all too well. She had dreamed too many times of Sasuke leaving her. She had dreamed of what he had done to her on the bridge, but it always ended much, much worse in her dreams. She had laid awake too many nights, plagued by her worst thoughts of the Uchiha. She could only wonder in horror what dreams his battered psyche had come up with. 

“What about…me?” Sakura took a step closer but didn’t touch him. 

Sasuke’s breath was a rattle. His words were like tiny knive. “There was no one to stop me under the bridge.” His eyes clenched shut, and he dug the heel of his one hand into the eye with the sharingan. “There was so much blood…” 

Sakura’s eyelids fluttered shut. Oh. Oh, Kami. 

Needing to help him in the only way she could think of at the moment, Sakura tentatively grasped his hand. As soon as their skin touched, he flipped his hand, snatching hers from the air. She gasped, but pressed on. Bringing his hand up to her throat, she let his fingers rest where her pulse was its strongest. 

His head jolted up, his eyes wide and roving over her shivering form.

“I’m alive, Sasuke-kun,” she whispered. Sakura pressed his hand into her skin harder, wanting him to feel her life’s blood coursing through her, proving the fact to him. Sasuke’s eyes were so wide, his rinnegan seemed to swirl. 

She smiled weakly, hoping he understood her intentions. “See? My heart is pumping, my lungs are working. I’m alive, and whole, and safe, and-”

Sasuke tugged her closer, slowly crumbling into her. He kept his hand at her neck and squeezed, his thumb tracing her pulse up and down, up and down. Sakura held him as tight as she could without hurting him, hoping that he could feel her racing heartbeat against his chest. He let out a small gasp after a moment and his hand fell to her back, pushing her even closer. 

“I’m so sorry for that day,” he whispered, his breath hot against the curve of her shoulder. His voice shook, and she felt wetness against her neck. 

Sakura shook her head and squeezed him tighter. “I forgave you. I forgave myself . You just have to forgive yourself, now.” 

He didn’t respond, but she knew he would think about her words. 

They held each other, Sasuke reassuring himself that she was alive and Sakura, desperate for him to calm down, to return to the present, to let her continue to be there for him. 

Sasuke pulled away and wiped at his eyes. He swallowed thickly before asking, his voice low and hollow, “Can you stay in the living room tonight?” 

Sakura's heart broke into a few more shattered pieces. Sasuke couldn’t look at her when he added quietly, “I’ll sit on the chair and you can have the couch.” 

Make him an offer he can’t refuse.

Ino’s words gave Sakura the bit of courage she needed. She gently grasped his hand and tugged, pulling him out of the kitchen. “I’m not letting you sleep on the chair, Sasuke-kun.” Sakura swallowed her nervousness and quickly spit out, “You can sleep in my room.” 

Sasuke stopped in his tracks. He definitely wasn’t looking at Sakura now. “No, go back to bed, I’ll be… I’ll be fine.” 

Sakura grimaced and tugged . “No, you won’t.” She quickly averted her gaze and admitted a slight fear with her counter. “It’s okay if it makes you too uncomfortable. But…all I’m offering is space to sleep.” She looked up at him through her bangs, cringing slightly. “It’ll be just like when we went camping as genin.”

To her surprise, Sasuke let out a small huff of amusement. She watched Sasuke battle himself for a while longer before his posture relaxed, allowing Sakura to lead him the rest of the short walk down the hallway and into her bedroom. 

The lights were off, but the moon was shining through her curtains, casting her bed in dark and light. Sakura could barely breathe as she led him to the foot of the bed and climbed in, pulling him onto the mattress after her. It was a bit awkward since they didn’t let go of the other’s hand, but they managed to lie down. They were stretched out side by side, Sakura on her right, Sasuke on his left, and their intertwined hands on the blankets between them. 

Sakura tucked her other hand under her head and closed her eyes, letting Sasuke deal with his emotions in private. He held her hand tighter and slowly shifted closer, his warm breath ghosting across her forehead. 

Sakura fell asleep to the feeling of Sasuke’s thumb brushing the back of her hand and the feeling of his lips pressed against her skin.

Chapter Text

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke woke up to warm sunlight and warm skin. 

His body woke up before his mind did, confused yet comforted by the sensation of hot breath against his face. A small hand was still clenched in his and the press of someone else’s skin on his forearm felt like it had been there all night. 

Opening his eyes, he found his head slightly tilted to the right with his cheek on a pillow. He could see Sakura asleep next to him, their arms intertwined in between them. Her hair was splayed across her pillow and her lips were just slightly parted. She breathed deeply, peacefully, looking for all the world like a pink haired angel. She still held his hand, except now with both of her own. They were enveloped in her tight grip as if she was afraid he was going to run off in the night. 

He had fallen asleep after all. He hadn’t been sure he would when he crawled into bed after her last night. 

When Sakura had offered to let him sleep in here, he had immediately balked at this new level of intimacy, but seeing her laying next to him, sound asleep, Sasuke couldn’t imagine a scenario where saying no would have been a good idea. 

Looking around, he took in her room in a way he hadn’t allowed himself to before. Her walls were blue. A pale blue, and her bed had emerald sheets, her blanket tossed to the ground in the night and invisible to him now. The doors to her balcony were shut, but the curtains were light and gauzy enough for the morning sun to drift in lazily, warming the cool tones of the room. Shirts and pants were hanging in an open closet, and her desk was littered with more books and scrolls, and what he knew was her favorite picture of Team 7. 

It was simple yet so obviously Sakura . He didn’t know how to describe it. It just felt like Sakura’s room. He felt silly for thinking this and even more flustered when he remembered how nervous yet curious he had been when she had invited him to sleep in her room. He had barely crossed the threshold since moving in and hadn’t planned on doing so unless it was for something extremely casual and called for. Sakura requesting help with a high book on a shelf he imagined she had or asking for his opinion on an outfit. Those were the moments he had prepared for. 

Waking up in her bed…? Not so much. 

Sasuke almost laughed. He shouldn’t have underestimated Sakura again. He was remembering her as a genin and what genin Sakura might do. This Sakura, the one she was with him, was comfortable enough to offer him whatever he needed but definitely more knowledgeable about what questions Sasuke could actually give a coherent answer to. He was no help with her fashion choices, but he decided he might like it when she asked him about his day or if he could grab something she was too short to reach. 

Sasuke took the rare moment to study her sleeping form at length. Sakura’s expression was gentle in her slumber, her forward and slightly open mouth pressed against his arm. She laid only a few inches away from him, her knees slightly bent and just barely touching his own. The blanket was gone, but her sheets were pooled around her shoulders, but had fallen to his waist throughout the night.  

Suddenly, in the chilly morning air, Sasuke was enveloped in a stunningly blinding and hazy warmth and he sighed, sinking further into the bed.

Sasuke slowly closed his sleepy eyes but forced them wide open when flashes of Sakura flashed behind his eyes, her body broken and bloody, a hole punched through her chest. Sasuke looked at their hands. He stared and stared at them until he found something that made him feel the slightest bit better about his horrific dream. 

He had lost the hand he had tried to kill her with, and the knowledge of that caused him to let out a shuddering breath.  

That woke her. 

Sakura's eyes were open and alert before they found him. Then, she closed for a moment or two, her nose scrunching. Sasuke found her reaction to him in her bed strange yet… warm? He couldn’t pinpoint what, but he wouldn’t mind seeing her sleepily wake up next to him again. 

Eventually, she blinked them open again, slowly. “Sasuke-kun… good morning. Did you get any sleep?” 

Sasuke felt an odd sort of smile form on his lips. “I…yeah.” Even softer, he added, “Thank you.” 

Sakura blushed. She hadn’t moved, still strangling his remaining arm and hand, and Sasuke found himself feeling bereft when she slowly disentangled herself. She slid out from underneath his arm but, thankfully, still left one hand holding his. 

“You’re welcome,” she whispered. Her blush grew to a furious rose. “You can come in whenever you need to.” Her voice became very small as she looked around her room, chewing on her bottom lip. “I actually think this is the first time you’re been in here.” 

Sasuke felt his calm expression faulter. Sakura caught on and raised a single brow. “ Have you been in here?” 

Sasuke closed his eyes…then opened them. Bare back and sleeping beauty in a mirror was not a memory he needed to be picturing at the moment. He felt embarrassed, but he knew if he didn’t speak, her mind would come up with something much, much worse. 

“I came home and called your name,” Sasuke explained awkwardly. “Your door was open, but there was no response.” 

Sakura's single brow was joined by the second one, and a nervous expression took hold. “What was I doing?” 

Sasuke grimaced, feeling like a total idiot. “Sleeping. I…” He swallowed. She probably didn’t need to know he had stood there like a creep. “It was a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to wake you up, so I left.” 

Sakura nodded, her tense neck eventually relaxing her head back against her pillow. 

Sasuke sighed, dipping his head into the pillow. It was indulgent of him, but he couldn’t help it. He could smell Sakura on her sheets, under his nose, in his skin…she was alive and breathing and he would never, ever let himself stray so far into the dark again. He soaked in the knowledge while his eyes slowly slid closed. 

This was why he couldn’t take the artificial arm and hand. The things he had done with two hands deserved the constant reminder of a ghostly left sleeve; a weapon that was no longer loaded. The weapon had grown sentient and raised itself upright to walk forward instead of back, to push on despite the endless barrage of pain. Sasuke was no longer another man’s tool, whether it be as a vessel or being involved in a convoluted plot to get him to protect the village. He made his choices about others for too long. He needed to make them for himself. 

Sasuke’s eyes were startled open when Sakura’s hand drifted across his cheekbone. It was so soft, just a tiny trace of her fingertip and probably on purpose, but it sent a sharp zing down Sasuke’s spine. 

Her smile was soft. “Well, seeing as it’s Saturday and not too cold, why don’t we go for a walk?” 

Sasuke considered. Sakura had taken his admission to liking walks to heart and offered her companionship as often as she could.

However, Sasuke had a weird feeling in his stomach. He felt…light? Almost like a balloon that you knew had a bit too much air. Sasuke swept his eyes across her face and decided that he didn’t care what they did that day, as long as they did it together. It didn’t have to be anything other than sitting in the living room reading, going to the market, or taking a visit to the children’s clinic like Sakura had been begging Sasuke to do. He eventually decided that this light feeling was joy and he was filled with joy that he could simply spend a day with someone he loved and who loved him in return. 

It was more than he thought he’d ever have for a long, long time. 

“It doesn’t matter to me what we do today.” Sasuke knew the we he stressed was received when her lips tilted and her cheeks grew rosy. Still, to drive his point home a bit more and, possibly make Sakura feel a bit more comfortable, he added, “We can do whatever you want.” 

Sakura looked at him in awe, her eyes shining. Her hand flew to her mouth and her other squeezed his hand, somehow still clenched around her own. Her smile was dazzling. “Can we…stay home today?” Sakura flushed. “Just, have a lazy day at home?”

Sasuke nodded, though, he hadn’t the slightest clue how to have a lazy day. He would try for Sakura’s sake and, partially for his own. A day of mental and physical rest would be good. He had been told it was good for him, that is. He wasn’t sure when he had last spent an entire day at home being lazy. 

Sakura beamed. “Alright! Well, first rule of a lazy day is that you still have to cook breakfast!” Giving Sasuke one last soft, shy smile, Sakura scooted off to the bed and made her way into the bathroom. “I’ll be out in ten to make pancakes!”

Sasuke sighed, wishing he still held her hand in his and her warm body next to his.

He even wished he had found the courage to kiss her before she left the bed.  

An hour later, they were nearly finished with the surprisingly good pancakes Sakura had made. He normally didn’t eat pancakes, too sweet for his tastes, so Sakura had made him a side of sausage with sliced tomatoes. However, when she presented him with a stack of pancakes she had specifically made without sugar, Sasuke had no choice but to try them. 

They were delicious. 

Sasuke watched Sakura drink her coffee and wondered not for the first time how hard she had to try to balance her strength. She gripped the cup normally, held her fork like she wasn’t afraid she was going to break it, and never worried about slamming doors. How did she manage this control? 

He decided to ask. “I’d like you to tell me about your training with Tsunade.” 

Sakura’s cup paused halfway to her mouth. She set it down, a surprised look on her face. “I…sure, Sasuke-kun.” Flushing, she added, “It’s not as interesting I’m sure as your training or Naruto’s, but-” 

“Sakura,” Sasuke said, his voice dry. “You can punch someone’s head off of their shoulders and chunk rocks bigger than your apartment. Your training is very interesting to me.” 

Sakura blinked several times, her cheeks ripening with color. Sasuke had to hold in a smirk. He remembered this feeling from when they were genin. Sakura was never paid a compliment on her ninja skills and a compliment from him meant more to her than anything. He told himself he’d do it more often. 

Sakura quickly finished her coffee. “Ah, where to begin!” She leaned back in her chair, her eyes closed and nose scrunched together. “Kami, the first things that come to mind are rock lunges!” She chuckled. “ That was a particular form of exercise I don’t continue to this day.” 

Sasuke’s brow raised. “Rock lunges?”

Sakura sighed. “Yep. It was Tsunade’s favorite way to end training. She’d have me punch a huge boulder out of the mountainside. Then, I’d do lunges around the training grounds until I broke something.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “Well, until I’d broken a few things, most of the time. She’d heal the first couple broken legs or vertebrae before eventually shooing me home.” 

Sasuke didn’t know if he should feel disgusted or impressed. To know that Sakura had gone through training that strenuous under the 5th Hokage… Sasuke found he had a new sense of respect for the kunoichi. He knew she worked hard, it was a given with her intelligence and results. However, it was quite different hearing exactly how hard she had worked to get to where she was at. Breaking bones repeatedly he knew of. Having them healed only to be rebroken, he also knew of. 

It eased a chilly edge to his soul, knowing that she was still strong and vibrant despite it all. She was happy. He could be happy. They could be happy. 

But he wasn’t happy she had been hurt over and over again. He frowned at the thought. 

His expression must have betrayed his thoughts. Sakura rolled her eyes and chuckled good-naturedly. “Don’t look at me like that!  It wasn’t too bad! Tsunade-sama also taught me the importance of being a medic-nin and what it took to be a truly successful one.” 

“What were some of her lessons?” 

Sakura gave Sasuke a weird look. She probably wasn’t used to him questioning her. He tilted his head, waiting for her to explain. 

“She drilled into me that a medical ninja must never get hit by an enemy attack,” Sakura said. “If the medic goes down, then no one has a chance of being helped. If they get hit, the chances of success are slim to none.”

Sasuke couldn’t help it. He remembered her running off as the diversion against Madara. One corner of his lips tilted up. “You aren’t very good at following that one, are you?” 

“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura let out an indignant noise, but smiled, nonetheless. “I’m…well, I’m not the best at following that one, no. The Hundred Healings Technique helps me ignore the rule now, but I always wanted to be in the fight. Especially after you and Naruto left.” 

Sasuke was quiet. He sat with her words for a moment. He chose his next words carefully. “I’m sorry it was hard. After we both left.” 

Sakura gave him a tight lipped smile. “Tsunade helped. She focused all of my pain and frustration into training. I touched thousands of fish, was the target of her batting practice, and healed over and over again in order to keep training.” 

Sasuke didn’t know how he felt about her coping mechanisms, frowning. Then again, he wasn’t one to talk. Still, how often had that happened? He voiced the question. 

Sakura blinked. “Oh, everyday!” Sasuke was shocked, yet she just tapped her chin in thought. “Yeah, I barely remember a day where she didn’t have to heal me multiple times. There were a few times that I ended up with three or five days of bedrest ordered, but it was never followed.” 

Sasuke was definitely annoyed at this point. “The Hokage ignored her own advice?” 

Sakura’s tinkling laugh confused him until she spoke. “No. She would have to force me to go home, but even then, I would train in secret. After the first few times I was ordered to rest and didn’t return rested, she caught on.” Sakura laughed again. “I honestly don’t know how I got away with it. I wrecked havoc on those training grounds.” 

Sasuke frowned. “Is that why they were moved?” 

Sakura looked a bit admonished. “I… yeah. Tsunade-sama and I got a bit carried away one afternoon.” 

“I see that’s a common theme between the two of you,” Sasuke said, shaking his head. 

Sakura grinned. “Oh, you don’t know the half of it. Outside of taijutsu and medical ninjutsu, Tsunade also taught me how to drink.” 

Sasuke’s eyebrows flew up his forehead. “Really.” 

Her grin became mischievous. “Really. But those are stories for another time.” 

Sasuke thought she might be trying to hide that part of her training. Or, they could be too scandalous for mid-morning conversation. Whatever the case, he wouldn’t pry. He hadn’t ever seen Sakura drink more than a glass of wine or two, so he pushed that thought back to ask about later. He dipped his head, indicating for her to continue talking. 

Sakura said slowly, “Well… she taught me how to achieve the Strength of a Hundred seal. It was tricky and took a lot of time and energy. I focused and stored vast amounts of chakra over three years into a specific point on my forehead. After reaching capacity, the seal was revealed and ready for use.” 

“I remember,” Sasuke said quietly. And he did. He had no idea what had happened to Sakura when thick black lines began racing across her skin during the war. She had looked menacing, like a bride of death ready to reap souls. Her eyes had lit up in the battle and her increased strength sent shockwaves through the stone around them. She was beautiful in a way he had never experienced before and was shocked by all the same. 

Sasuke had watched with quiet pride, having forgotten the 5th Hokage’s signature jutsu. He had unconsciously discounted Sakura’s ability to achieve it. Now, he very nearly wanted to shake his head at his past foolishness. He should have known when he was a kid what she could do with such delicate chakra control. She was the perfect student for the Godaime. 

Sakura’s eyes were far off when she continued. “It’s a constant and warm presence, almost like a second heartbeat, pulsing with energy. And, when the user's chakra control is perfect, the seal allows them to pull chakra and perform techniques without any wasted energy.” 

Sasuke was now very, very interested. “It regenerates that quickly?” 

Sakura nodded, tapping the small diamond. “Think of the jutsu like an aquifer and well for chakra. It took me three years to carefully siphon my unused chakra and store it within that single point, my own body being the naturally regenerative aquifer of chakra. The well is the seal, able to pull and use the stored energy.” She closed her eyes and spoke softly. “I can picture it when I close my eyes. I fused the pieces together in my mind until it would never break, never spill, and continue to siphon chakra from my natural stores, even when I’m resting.” 

Sasuke could barely wrap his head around it all. Ideas, theories, questions upon questions bounced around his head. For the moment, he settled with, “You have infinite amounts of chakra constantly being created and dispensed, don’t you?” When Sakura didn’t answer, looking a bit flustered, Sasuke couldn’t help but smile. “Walking up trees first out of Naruto and I seems to have been a prediction of your perfect chakra control, huh?” 

Sakura's face flamed. She stammered out a thank you, his name, and a few other unintelligible words. Eventually, she took a deep breath, steadying herself. “Your recognition of the results of years of dedication and training truly means the world to me, Sasuke-kun.” 

Sasuke knew this. It also gave him a chance to do it again. “You have worked hard, Sakura. You should be proud of your accomplishments.” Sasuke looked down at his plate, a dark feeling having crept across the back of his neck. “You had no room to grow with Naruto and I around. We made sure of it with our constant fighting.”

Sakura’s expression was that of quiet joy. She looked like she had been shown something marvelous and unexpected. “Thank you, Sasuke-kun.” Her eyes twinkled before she said, “I might also agree with you about you and Naruto constantly fighting.” 

Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes and tsked . “We’ve gotten better.” 

Sakura just laughed, standing up and holding her hand out to him. She was all smiles and Sasuke was all confusion. Was she offering him help to stand up?

Sakura laughed again. “Dishes, Sasuke. Let me take your dish to the sink.” Sasuke handed his plate over, avoiding her eyes. He wasn’t too embarrassed, but it did still chafe a bit when Sakura caught him unaware. 

Realizing what she was doing, Sasuke stood and followed Sakura into the kitchen, snatching the plates from her hands along the way. Sasuke had said he’d wash and he was going to stick by it. “I wash, remember?” He moved to turn the sink on. 

Sakura stayed his hand. Her eyes twinkled, but her posture betrayed a bit of nervousness. She shifted on her feet. “Lazy days mean no chores, Sasuke-kun. That means dishes get done tomorrow, okay?”

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke tried to figure out if she was serious. When she didn’t waver, Sasuke sighed and dropped the plates into the sink. He stared at them, wondering what they were supposed to do now on her supposed lazy day. He turned to face Sakura. “What now?”

Sakura blanked. Scratching her chin, she mused, “I really want to read an old tome I found from the Senju archives. Tsunade needs it back by Monday and I haven’t finished.” 

Sasuke frowned. “I thought it was a lazy day?” 

“It is!” Sakura darted into the living room. She held up a small black book. “It’s an old manuscript about healing emotions and mental trauma. It speaks of rituals that extend far above traditional yoga or meditation.” She smiled, biting her lip nervously. “I want to expand medicine.” 

Sasuke nodded his head slowly. He could see her intrigue. Helping others still seemed to be what Sakura enjoyed in her free time, so he didn’t protest any further. His eyes darted to his “homework” from Kakashi. His old sensei had sent over several sealed scrolls from his father’s old office that were kept in the archives. Sasuke didn’t know how or why he hadn’t read them yet, but today was the perfect opportunity. 

“I have some things I want to read,” he said, agreeing with her choice of lazy day activity. 

Sakura smiled. “Good. Would you like some tea?”

“I’ll make it,” he said, squeezing her hand as he walked past. 

And their lazy day began. 

Sasuke was mentally drained by the time he finished reading everything Kakashi had found of his father’s. He’d stared at his father’s handwriting for what seemed like hours, his fingers tracing every character that reminded him of his own. He saw letters that reminded him of Itachi. He noticed the lightest coffee stain and was hounded by memories of his Otōsan enjoying the warm beverage with his Okāsan in the garden every morning. He didn’t need any of the information on the pages. He lived in the memories that came from holding a piece of a father that had long ago dissolved into a figment of his imagination. It reminded Sasuke he had been real. It had all been real. He had been loved by a family that had been real . 

His pain came to the surface a few times, but he held it in. When it became too much, he would look at Sakura, her toes curled in the large blanket and body lounged out across the couch, her pink hair scattered across the pillow he had been using every night. She would smile at him when she caught him before turning right back to her book. It reminded him that he still had a family that loved him, even if the traditional sense of the word wasn’t true. 

Sakura was his family. That was a fact. 

Sasuke hadn’t said it so distinctly in his thoughts before, but after the third or fourth time of looking up to her for stability, he understood. She was family, home, and safety. He could go to her like a ship found a shore in rough waters. Her eyes were beacon, guiding him to her soft smile and sweet smell that lulled the old panic that slithered under his skin to a calm he never could have found before. He was safe and he wasn’t alone. He was not under Kabuto’s knife. He wasn’t being tortured by Orochimaru. He wasn’t hellbent on revenge. He was enjoying a lazy day in the home he shared with someone who loved him. 

It held him together every moment throughout the day that he felt like falling apart. 

They had snacked throughout the day, chatting idly, Sakura unaware of the intense emotional rollercoaster Sasuke was on. Yet, he knew she still saw that he was not 100% okay. She had tried to initiate conversation after he finished rolling the scrolls back up, but Sasuke insisted that she nap, her eyes having started to droop. She didn’t put up a fight and drifted off, an eye on him until sleep took her, snuggled in the blankets that use to cover Sasuke each night.

Sakura slept for a few hours. While she was asleep, Sasuke had stared at her so intently, he had been worried she might wake up. He stared at her as if eventually, it would yield all the answers to his questions. Sakura was his family, but in what way? Did she consider herself part of his family? She loved him, but did she plan for her future? Was it with him? Was it just an extension of how they spent their time together now, or would their roles expand and change? 

Sasuke could at least answer those questions for himself. There would be no one else for the Uchiha but the pink haired kunoichi. Sasuke loved Sakura. He had known it for a while, but he truly felt it when he drank in her sleeping form and the peace that settled over him anytime he looked to her for strength. 

Physically, he was enraptured by her, and his eyes were greedy. It was the way her fingers barely curled and uncurled as she dreamed, the way her nose looked smaller and something else Sasuke couldn’t describe, that made him feel dizzy. She was cream, pink, and purple, all wrapped up in a dark blue blanket. Sasuke’s chest hurt and he clutched at it, questioning why it felt painful to love someone so worthy and deserving of it. 

Sasuke grimaced, his teeth set. He hated the turmoil, the guilt that ruined the warmth in his fingertips, his nose. He knew why it hurt, but he couldn’t stop it. He was guilty, guilty of intentionally hurting this perfect, beautiful woman in front of him, over and over again, desperate to get her away from him and his crimes. She had made him think things he didn’t want to and she had made him feel things he never thought he’d feel again. When they had been genin, he had been unbearably annoyed by the way she made him feel. Protective, careful, and observant. Things that distracted him from his goals of revenge. 

Sasuke found himself thinking of their genin days until Sakura woke up. 

“Mm, thanks for telling me to nap, Sasuke-kun!” Sakura stretched, her shirt rising higher with the movement. Sasuke’s eyes flashed down and up before he realized, causing his ears to redden. “Want me to make some dinner?”

Sasuke didn’t want to move. He didn’t want her to move. This was the most peaceful day he had ever had. His ability to sit near her, doing separate things but together, had provided him with such clarity, he felt the need to share it. “I don’t want to get up just yet.”

Sakura blinked through her yawn. “That’s just fine with me, Sasuke-kun.” She smiled sleepily at him and Sasuke felt his heart lurch in his chest. “What did you do while I slept?”

“Stared at you while I was lost in thought,” Sasuke admitted, unfazed and familiar now with the blush staining the kunoichi’s cheeks. “The scrolls I read were my father’s. From…before.” He paused to let Sakura absorb the information before continuing. “It brought back many memories. Most of them were surprisingly good.” 

Sakura sat up slowly, keeping her eyes on his. “Do you want to talk about it?” Almost nervously, she patted the spot next to her. 

Sasuke moved in an instant, facing her on her couch that felt much, much smaller than it felt when he slept on it. Sakura was wide-eyed, her hands fluttering about in between them. “I wanted to tell you as soon as you woke up, actually,” Sasuke said. 

Sakura’s eyes widened impossibly further. “I-erm, well…” She stammered until she was red in the face. Sasuke smiled, trying not to laugh. It was…cute. 

That was it. The thought he’d had of Sakura several times recently. She was cute . 

Sakura poked his arm enough to bruise it, though her eyes were teasing. “ Sorry , it’s just, it’s not every day that the love of your life says he wants to tell you something he thought of while staring at you sleeping!” 

Sasuke did laugh this time, albeit quietly. He knew he looked happier than he had ever looked in his life at that moment. He felt joy. Complete and utter joy at having had the most wonderfully boring day with the most devastatingly strong woman burned in his eyes and he knew Sakura saw it all in his eyes and expression. 

“I thought about how much I enjoyed today,” Sasuke explained quietly, his lips tilting up at the look on Sakura’s face. Happy didn’t begin to cover it. “I didn’t know how a lazy day was supposed to work. I thought I would itch to train or go for a walk but…” Sasuke formed the sentence in his head until it was just right before finishing his train of thought. “I haven’t spent an entire day with someone just to enjoy their company, where being together physically was enough. Not since my family was alive. Today helped me realize that you, Sakura…you are my family, now.” 

Jade green eyes filled with tears that fell without any chance of stopping. They poured down her cheeks and dripped onto the Uchiha’s hand, raised to cradle her soft, too soft skin. Sakura’s face crumpled and she turned into his palm, clutching at his hand with her own. She squeezed it once before kissing it lightly, her breaths coming out in quivering gasps. 

“I am honored to be considered close enough to be called family,” she whispered. She smiled up at him through a curtain of pink. “I considered you family from the moment we became teammates and I never, ever stopped.” 

Sasuke didn’t think before he responded. “I felt the same way.” 

Sakura gaped. “I-, wait, what?” 

Sasuke swallowed. He was…nervous. Talking about their lives together as genin would be filled with awkwardness and revealed truths. Sasuke knew Sakura was embarrassed by her behavior towards him as a child. Sasuke thought nothing of it, not anymore. It used to irritate him, but not in the way it bothered him when other girls showed him attention. 

Sasuke stopped thinking and decided to tell her instead. “As genin. I considered you and Naruto people who were precious to me. I didn’t understand it then, but I do now.” Sasuke paused, sending heat beginning to bloom across the back of his neck. “Sometimes, it was obvious. I was…very protective.” 

Sakura looked like a small pink and green fish, her mouth opening and closing. “But…I…you…huh?” 

Sasuke sighed with heavy patience. “Ask me a coherent question and I will answer it.”

Her head shook lightly as she finally gasped out, “You hated me at first. You thought I was annoying almost all of the time! The true meaning of the word!” Sakura winced, one eye peering up at him. Her cheeks flushed. “And I was annoying. I was…all over you. I don’t know how you even put up with me,” she finished with a grumble. 

Sasuke smiled. He couldn’t help it. She was right…but she was also so, so wrong. “Sakura, I’m not going to lie to you. Your outward displays of affection when we were younger were a bit…much.” 

Sakura snorted. “It was awful for you.” Her face fell. “I’m so sorry.” 

“It really wasn’t that bad,” Sasuke reasoned. “Girls just liked how I looked. When you looked at me, it was with pride in my work, my training.”

“I also liked how you look…” Sakura murmured. “I still do,” she continued shyly. 

Sasuke felt himself shifting uncomfortably. He still wasn’t used to…this. The quiet confessions that made his stomach flop and his heart squeeze. “I…Sakura, let me finish.” 

Sakura smiled, her hands creeping to her mouth. “I’m sorry, go on, go on!” 

Sasuke sighed. His discomfort grew, but he needed to tell her and she needed to know. “Most girls tried to grab me or hold onto me for themselves and their daydreams. You did too, but…” Sasuke found his voice growing soft. “You also touched me to comfort me, to heal me, to help me. It wasn’t for you, it was for me.” Sasuke swept her hair up and behind her ear, entranced with the way the setting sun made her skin appear gold. “You were a constant reminder that I was loved by someone. That someone cared whether I lived or died, was comfortable or sick, careful or reckless. You became someone who I grew comfortable letting care for me.” 

Sakura smiled. “I’m…so glad to know that, Sasuke-kun.” She looked…relieved. Too relieved. 

Sasuke frowned, and with a hand on her cheek still, he tilted her head back, studying her eyes. “Has it really affected you? Thinking about your…affections for me as kids?” 

Sakura tried to look away, her eyes flicking between his and their laps. “No? Yes?” She sighed, closing her eyes. Sasuke made a noise of disparagement, wishing she would open them, let him in. 

She sighed again before speaking. “I did a lot of thinking after I saw you for the first time since you left. You looked…so different. I wondered if you thought I looked different.” 

“I did,” Sasuke said quietly. She had grown. It was all he had let himself think. His eyes had done the rest. 

Sakura let the admission sit in the air before continuing. “I came home that night and decided I needed to let my past go if I was going to bring you back. Being the nice girl who openly adored you hadn’t worked. I needed to become strong, both mentally and physically if I was going to accomplish my goal of bringing you back. I needed to let go of the idiot little girl I’d been and move forward. I needed to find power of my own.” 

Sasuke felt strange feelings enveloped him, too many to count. He felt..sad. Sad that Sakura felt such negative emotions about their time together as genin. He felt the need to explain that to her. “Sakura, I meant it when I said it wasn’t bad. I grew to…enjoy it.” 

“But you didn’t always and for that, I’m sorry.” The words were a choked whisper, her eyes still shut and closed off to him. 

“Sakura.” Sasuke felt incredibly guilty. If it didn’t bother him anymore, it shouldn’t bother her. “I didn’t tell you all of that to make you upset.” 

“I’m not upset,” she insisted. Her closed eyes and clenched hands betrayed her. 

“Sakura.” 

She didn’t move. 

“ Sakura . Open your eyes.” 

Almost defiantly, Sakura’s lids flew open, green eyes blazing with embarrassment and guilt, just like he knew they’d be. Feeling like he had something to prove, Sasuke grasped her chin lightly and tugged, pulling her up until their noses brushed. He breathed against the skin of her cheek, pressing his lips against the soft, creamy surface. 

Sakura gasped and twitched, knocking her knee into his. 

“I wanted to do that for the first time when I was 12,” Sasuke whispered, his ears flushing. He never thought he would be revealing such intimate details of the inner workings of his mind, but with Sakura, it almost felt like second nature. “It was after you had cut your cheek. I didn’t know where it came from, but I suddenly had the desire to kiss your cheek, to make it better. It was something I saw my father do to my mother and it made sense to me then.” 

Sakura was melting under his hand, her eyes shining as they looked up at him. The more he talked, the further into the couch they both sank. He let his fall to the back of her head, slipping down to curl around the back of her neck. He held her close, breathing in her grounding, floral scent. 

Over and over, he admitted things of his own. 

His hand slipped down her shoulder and arm to her hand and he squeezed it. “I wanted to hold your hand during the chunin exams.” 

“I thought you looked cute in the cat ears,” he muttered, his face heating. 

“I hated when you hugged Naruto before you hugged me.” His admission was filled with the irritation of his old rivalry. “Even if you hugged too hard.” 

This whispered confession included his lips trailing against the outer shell of her ear. “I thought you looked prettiest when you had just gotten done training.” 

By the time his last admittance came, they were laying side by side against the pillows of the couch, Sakura curled into Sasuke’s chest. Sasuke continued gently grazing his fingers through her hair, pushing it back, dragging his fingers through it. He brushed her hair from her forehead, his eyes tracing the pink locks as they fell. “I wanted to touch your hair every day after you cut it. Just to see if it felt as different as it looked.” 

Sakura sighed, nearly purring under his touch. This open affection, both verbal and physical, was not something either of them were used to. And it showed. Sakura was soft in his arms, pliant like puddy, her slowly blinking eyes entranced. 

Sasuke looked further down and, with a start, realized that their positioning could definitely be considered cuddling. He…hadn’t expected that. His stomach dropped and he felt his heart stutter. His hand paused ever so slightly before continuing, his strokes less sure than they were before. 

Sakura noticed and looked up, confusion drawing her eyebrows together. Unfortunately for Sasuke’s inconsistent heartbeat, this also brought their lips in alignment, leaving only a hand's breadth between them.

Sasuke fought a groan. His body was floating and sinking into the couch. He wanted . He wanted to kiss her and he wanted to do it like was entirely afraid of. Hard, with his hands and his body all active participants, with no aim or worry in sight. His want was imageless, no idea of how to begin and where to start, but desperately pulling at his mouth to move, his hands to grab, to touch, to take. 

It terrified him a bit. 

Sakura saw all of this flash behind his eyes. He was sure of it when her eyes widened, her lip disappearing between her teeth. She peered up at him, her gaze softening. Raising a single hand, she gently cupped his cheek, a soft smile forming on her lips. “I wanted to do this when I was 12.” 

Sakura kissed him lightly. It was a barely there brush of her lips, dragging against his own. Her breath was hot in his mouth, her scent was overwhelming, and Sasuke’s resolve collapsed. 

Sasuke’s hand found the edges of her hair and delved within, holding her closer and pulling her to him. Sakura responded with an open mouthed gasp, allowing Sasuke to more ardently fit their mouths together, swallowing the sound with a deep rumble in his chest. He was desperate to feel and taste more of her, so when Sakura leaned back onto the pillows behind her, Sasuke went with her, chasing her, wanting her, dying for the feeling of her beneath him. 

Sasuke couldn’t stop now that he’d started. She tasted like the joy that had been coursing through him all day, and the exposed skin of her waist beneath his thumb was too soft to ignore. Sakura seemed to be of the same mind, her fingers clutching at his shirt and the hair at the nape of his neck like she would refuse to let go even if the world was ending, which was fine by him. They’d saved the world once. It was someone else’s turn this time. 

When her tongue touched his ever so lightly, Sasuke’s arm collapsed and his heart felt like it restarted. His weight fell to his elbow while his hand swept beneath her arching back, pulling her up and into his body with a grown. With his chest finally pressed against hers, Sasuke felt even more alive, this kiss continuously eliciting soft noises from between their lips. 

Sasuke wondered what would happen if his lips found other areas of skin to explore. 

When they finally broke apart, Sakura let out a shaky breath, her eyes twinkling. “I wanted to kiss you every time you scowled,” she said, grinning up at him. “I imagined it’d wipe the look right off your face.” 

“It probably would have,” Sasuke admitted, smiling slightly while their chests heaved between them. His hand planted itself above her shoulder, her hair between his fingers. “Although, it quickly would have returned.” Sasuke kissed her quickly, unable to help it. Her lips were red and swollen and so, so inviting. 

Pulling away, he opened his eyes and let her see the truth behind his words. “It would have torn apart my resolve, and that would have pissed me off.” 

Sakura smiled. It was sad, but not for the Sasuke in front of her. It was for his past self, too consumed with revenge born from trauma to accept the affections of a girl who deeply cared for him. It was minutes later that she finally spoke. “I have gotten…more from you today than I dreamed of. You have told me so many things that I can feel healing parts of myself that still hurt.” 

Sasuke felt his chest grow cold. 

That is, until Sakura pressed her lips to his cheek. Then, his chest considerably warmed. “Don’t feel guilty, Sasuke-kun. You don’t need to, not anymore. You being here, sharing your thoughts, your past thoughts…” Sakura shrugged, but her shaking voice betrayed the level of emotion behind her next words. “Well…it’s everything to me.” 

Sasuke sat back, but pulled Sakura up with him, closing the distance between them once more. He hugged her close, pulling her head to rest against his chest. One of her hands clutched at the front of his shirt and the other held it in a fist at his back. Sasuke’s hand trailed across her shoulder blades before resting on her upper arm, squeezing her to him. 

“ You are the only person I want to talk to about anything,” Sasuke whispered. He hadn’t let that slip. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t like he was overcome with emotion. It was the truth and Sakura deserved to know it. She deserved everything he could offer. 

Sakura breathed her response into his skin. “And I will always listen.” 

And they sit like that for a while, learning how to be close, how to want, and how to feel more in love than they’d ever felt possible. They grew comfortable in their newness, in the shared feelings between them. Eventually, the two ninja ordered takeout and ate in the living room, sharing looks, sharing food, and sharing space. They fell asleep, side by side under a shared blanket Sasuke had wrapped around them, their hands intertwined, Sakura’s head on his chest, and the TV’s volume on low. 

Sakura woke first, gently rousing the Uchiha to stand, follow her, trust her. Of course he did, so slowly down the hall they went, mismatched eyes trained on pink, green, and purple. Her soft hand led him to her bed and tugged him down, just like the previous night. They laid out facing the other, hands held between them, a touch neither of them thought they would ever enjoy. 

Then, they drifted off into dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

Sasuke’s POV

Sasuke was trailing after Sakura towards the training grounds a few afternoons later. He found himself acting as her shadow more and more since he had returned, but he never minded. In fact, as he watched Sakura’s pink hair swing back and forth in front of him, he decided that he preferred being able to keep a watchful eye on her and the street. 

Sasuke glanced down at Sakura and had to catch himself mentally. Sasuke kept his expression neutral in public, yet he found his chest warming at the sight of Sakura bouncing and overflowing with excitement, her fingers crackling with adrenaline. No one saw his eyes soften. 

The previous Hokage was going to be in town for a few days and had requested a day of training with her favorite student. Sakura had been so thrilled, she had forgotten her morning coffee in order to get ready faster. If he was honest with himself, Sasuke was a bit excited to see what kind of training Sakura and Tsunade would do. After hearing stories from Sakura, he had tried to imagine what they would do. He hadn’t come up with much, so it only increased his anticipation. 

“Has it really been that long since you’ve trained with Tsunade?” Sasuke wondered aloud. 

Sakura grinned over her shoulder at him. “It sure feels like it’s been forever! She’s enjoying her retirement but also conducting a ton of research. We get to compare notes when she comes back.”

“Are you a part of the research?”

“Yep!” 

Sasuke frowned slightly. “What’s the research?” 

Sakura didn’t turn around to reply this time. “It’s about chakra channels. I’m sure you and Naruto will be off getting food by the time we get to it.” 

Sasuke's frown deepened. If he didn’t know better, he’d say her tone and body language conveyed evasion. He decided to let it go. “Hm.”

They arrived before everyone else. To pass time, Sasuke tallied his weapons and watched Sakura stretch, nodding and muttering words of affirmation while her words bubbled over in excitement. Sasuke found himself pausing his movements frequently to stop, stare, and listen. 

Sakura was…flexible. 

His ears were red as soon as the thought flitted across his mind. 

Naruto arrived a few minutes later with Tsunade at his side, talking animatedly with his hands. The Godaime looked like she wanted to be anywhere but where she was, her expression sour and her shoulders tight. That was, until she saw her favorite student. 

“Tsunade-shishou!” Sakura shrieked, running to her former teacher. Sasuke watched as Tsunade’s expression morphed to one of peaceful happiness. She accepted the flying pink kunoichi with open arms, chuckling slightly as they crashed together. 

Sasuke watched them chat, Tsunade brushing Sakura’s hair back and gazing down at her with a motherly look in her eyes. Watching them, he could tell that they were closer than the average master and student. There was familiarity, intimacy, and a sense of respect that flowed in both directions. It made him want to punch himself for going with Orochimaru. 

He felt Naruto creep up beside him, but he paid him no mind. He was too busy feeling an uneasy sense of gratitude toward the Godaime. He understood fully what she did for Sakura by being there for her when he and Naruto left, and the thankfulness settled into his chest like a warm blanket. 

Naruto swung an arm around his shoulders. Sasuke swiftly knocked it off, but Naruto kept his ever present grin on his face. “They tear up the training grounds every time Granny Tsunade comes home. It hasn’t been as often as Sakura would like, so they go all out.”

“Hm.”

“So? Are you excited to see Sakura train?” 

“I’ve seen her train before, Naruto.” 

“Yeah, but not like this.”

Sasuke shook his head. “Naruto, start training or they’ll keep thinking you’re as lazy as you really are.” 

Naruto’s eyes bugged. “Hey now, you’re not training either!” 

Sasuke smirked to himself, then flung his fist straight into Naruto’s stomach. Naruto flew across the training field before landing in a crouch. Sasuke watched his friend snarl, eyes glowing with irritation, but playfulness too. Sasuke cracked his neck and took a stance. 

Training had begun. 

Sasuke’s breathing was heavy when he found himself at the edge of the training grounds, guzzling water. Naruto leaned against a tree next to him, sighing at his dislocated shoulder. Sasuke’s knee felt a bit banged up as well, the dobe having miscalculated his strength once again. Sasuke flexed his legs while searching for Sakura’s pink hair across the clearing. 

Sakura and Tsunade had stopped their sparring as well, their side of the training grounds looking like the site of a small apocalypse, and were now standing several feet away from each other. Tsunade was speaking and Sakura was nodding, taking deep, steadying breaths. Each had their hands locked in a hand sign, however their eyes were closed in concentration. It was a stark difference to their earlier gleeful destruction. 

Sasuke’s brows furrowed. What they were doing didn’t look like training. “What are they doing?”

Naruto looked up with squinted eyes. When he spotted them, his face blanched before screwing together in a half-hearted attempt to appear casual. “Hey, Sasuke, you think you’re up for some food?”

Sasuke gave him a look. “Sakura’s not done.”

Naruto’s laugh was weak, his hand behind his neck. “Yeah, but I’m really hungry! Plus, Granny Tsunade and Sakura-chan will be done soon! They can totally meet us there.”

Now Sasuke was feeling very, very unsettled about Sakura’s training. First she avoided it, now Naruto? 

“What is she trying to hide?” He looked back at where Sakura and Tsunade were standing. It didn’t look dangerous, but by the serious look on Tsunade’s face and Naruto and Sakura’s evasive answers, Sasuke knew that this part of Sakura’s training was something neither of them thought he should see. 

His mind emptied of everything else. 

When Naruto didn’t answer, Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “What - exactly - are those two doing?”

Naruto began to look a bit desperate. “Sasuke, you really don’t want to watch, believe me. It took three or four times before I truly got used to-”

“What is she going to do to Sakura?”

As soon as he spoke, Sakura’s high pitched scream echoed across the clearing. 

Naruto’s hands were wrapped around his upper body before Sasuke could move more than an inch. “Stop! They’re training! I promise Sakura will be fine!”

Sasuke strained against him, his eyes locked on the pink haired kunoichi. She stood stick straight, her hands still holding her hand sign, but she shook violently. When she shrieked again, her eyebrows screwed shut in pain, Naruto couldn’t hold Sasuke back from taking a step towards her. 

“Let go of me,” Sasuke snapped. He could feel the veins in his neck bulging, his blood pumping with adrenaline with the desire to fight. His sharingan flickered to life, and he swallowed Sakura’s form, looking for any sign of injury, any sign of the source of her distress, the only thing visible her whirling, pulsing chakra, getting slower and slower, almost disappearing-

She screamed again, but this time, she fell to her knees. Tsunade’s expression did not change. 

“Naruto,” Sasuke snarled. He felt feral. He felt like an animal. He was about to go ballistic, Sakura’s possible anger at interrupting her training be damned. His last ounce of will was about to burn up in amatarasu. She should have told him what was going to happen because not knowing was going to eat him alive. Watching her scream and fall was going to kill him. 

“They’re training chakra channels and gates,” Naruto said quickly, tightening his hold. Sasuke could sense his friend’s chakra rising in order to hold him in place. It made his blood boil. “Tsunade believes that with the hundred healings seal, Sakura could actively open and use all of her chakra. All eight gates.”

“No one can do that,” Sasuke spat, his fury rising. “She could die, much less permanently damage her chakra paths.” His eyes snapped to face his friend. “You saw what happened to Guy.” 

“Granny Tsunade would never let that happen,” Naruto argued through his teeth, tugging on Sasuke enough to get him to take a step back. “They have done this before, Sasuke. It’s not dangerous, it’s-”

“Does she scream like that every time?” Sasuke demanded, his eyes still on Sakura. 

“She’s going to be fine, Sasuke!” 

“That’s not what I asked.” 

“Yes.” Naruto shouldered Sasuke in frustration. “But Sakura-chan isn’t weak, Sasuke. She knows what her limits are.”

“I know she’s not weak but I also know it’s bullshit to say that she knows her limits. She doesn’t!”

“Hey, watch your mouth, Sasuke!” 

“She’s always going to push herself too hard because of us.” Sasuke felt even angrier at his friend. He should have known that about Sakura. He had spent more time with her, and knew her in a way Sasuke didn’t. Wasn’t he her best friend? 

When Sakura screamed again, Sasuke swore at Naruto. “Get off of me!”  

“Not until I know that you won’t interrupt them! Sakura had me limping for a week when I did it the first time!” 

Sasuke finally broke free from Naruto’s hold. He took several steps forward before Naruto caught him again. “Sasuke, don’t!” 

Sasuke’s mangekyo flared to life. 

“Listen to the jinchuriki, Uchiha,” came Tsunade’s cool voice from where she stood. Her eyes never left her student. “Sakura is fine.”

Sakura screamed again. 

Sasuke had had enough. He tossed Naruto off and stalked towards where Sakura was kneeled on the ground, trying to maintain his composure. When he got close enough to see the sweat on the back of her neck, Sasuke’s heart stuttered. “Sakura, you-” 

“I’m fine, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura whispered. Her words were strong, but not like they should have been. “I’ve almost…” She groaned. “I’ve almost got it.” 

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, his eyes raking over her form. He scanned her from head to toe, watching her chakra levels. They were low and rising too slowly for his liking, yet he couldn’t help but feel slightly amazed at what he saw. Sakura was quite literally rebuilding the cells and structures that made up her chakra gates. It looked more complex than anything Sasuke had ever encountered. She had put cracks in them, opening them only slightly, and was rebuilding them. 

If he wasn’t so furious, he’d be in awe of her. 

Sakura was trembling from head to toe, and her face was concentrated. Her eyebrows furrowed every few seconds and a few mumbled noises were let loose, but she maintained her composure. Sasuke’s eyes moved across her figure nearly as fast as they moved in battle, tracking every stage of progress. 

He could see her pain in her tense back, the way her hands dug into the dirt in front of her, and how she let a whistle of a breath out every time she finished repairing a crack. He had no idea what to do with himself besides stand there and observe, making sure she didn’t push herself too far with his sharingan. It made him feel shifty. He knew she was training, he knew she was not weak, he knew that she was capable, strong, and every other adjective that could describe a kunoichi. Sasuke knew these things, yet none of them stopped his heart from pounding, his hands from sweating, and his mind from replaying her screams. 

He hated the feelings coursing through him, but he stood still and watched as Sakura painfully realigned her chakra gates, never once taking his concentration from the ebb and flow of her chakra. The chakra control Sakura displayed was leagues above anything he’d ever seen. Her mitotic regeneration was incredible to witness. 

Sasuke knew she was done before she did. He caught her before she face planted in the dirt, his arm around her waist, tugging her to him as he sat down, her body caged between his knees as he cradled her. Naruto was at his heels, his eyes on Sasuke instead of Sakura. Sasuke ignored him, his focus on Sakura. 

“M’fine,” she murmured against his arm, her head having dropped to rest against his shoulder.

Sasuke made a noise under his breath. If he wasn’t so overwhelmed, he’d be furious. “You could have warned me.” 

“Naruto was s’posed to make you leave,” Sakura said quietly. She let Sasuke sit her up straight, his hand a firm anchor at her lower back. “You weren’t s’posed to watch.” 

Sasuke tsked. He tucked her hair away from her face and hoped he didn’t look as frazzled as he felt. 

Tsunade walked calmly to the three of them. Sasuke looked up to find her eyes were trained on him and were heavy with implication. He glared back, not caring for a second that this woman was close to Sakura. She pushed her student too far. She’d pushed his-

Tsunade’s eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. “The last I checked, Uchiha, you went on a journey of atonement.” Her eyes were definitely insinuating something. “Did you also return with a heart as well as a new head?”

“Shishou….please,” Sakura whispered. Her tone was hesitant but held a small warning. 

Sasuke felt Naruto stiffen beside him, but Sasuke wasn’t worried. He wasn’t riled by Tsunade’s words. They were true. “I came back without the intent to murder anyone, if that’s what you’re asking.” 

Tsunade watched the two with observant eyes. After a moment, she turned to her student. Her tone was icy. “Did you forget to mention something in your letters, Sakura?”

Sakura smiled weakly up at her teacher, unfazed. “I was waiting to tell you in person.” 

Tsunade’s expression didn’t change. She merely grew more intense. “That was incredibly foolish. I expect an update when you decide to let a previous criminal get so close to you like it’s nothing.”

Sasuke turned to respond, the waspish words he’d been holding back about to explode out of him, but Sakura’s hand on the inside of his arm stopped him. She rose to stand, Sasuke helping her up despite her protests. She leaned on him for support before staring up at her teacher, a fiery will in her eyes like Sasuke had never seen. He was momentarily taken aback by the fierceness in which Sakura stood, bracing her back to Sasuke as if she were protecting him. 

“Do not think that my respect and love for you goes so far as to stand by while you insult Sasuke-kun.” Her eyes flashed. “He is important to me, more so than anything or anyone else. I trust him more than I trust myself. I know Sasuke-kun. And, I won’t have anyone questioning that or calling it foolish. Especially not someone that I also trust and respect so much.” 

Sasuke was floored. He had never heard Sakura speak so sharply, so eloquently in his defense, especially to someone who was like a goddess to her. He felt a swelling in his chest as he stared down at Sakura. Warmth enveloped him and wrapped around his throat. Gratitude was the emotion that nearly choked him. 

Tsunade was equally as surprised. She took a step back, her mouth falling open ever so slightly. Sasuke looked down at Sakura and found her staring resolutely back at her teacher, leaving no room for argument or response other than agreement. 

Sasuke fell utterly and irrevocably more in love with Sakura at that moment. It also made his irritation with her fade. Only a little. 

Tsnuade eventually recovered herself, coughing into her hand to hide a small smile that only Sasuke saw. She closed her eyes and sighed, composing herself into the serene face of the former Hokage. “Very well, Sakura. I won’t question you or Sasuke again.” Her eyes sparkled when they opened and, when she leaned down, Sasuke saw mischief. “After all, who am I to question my favorite student when she is so happy?”

Sasuke smirked. Tsunade had to have been updated by Kakashi and probably had known about the two of them weeks ago. 

Sasuke couldn’t see, but he could feel Sakura growing warm at her teacher’s words. He hid his smile in her hair, internally shaking his head at how flustered Sakura still got about the two of them. Sasuke had spent enough time in his head to grow used to the idea of him and Sakura as endgame months ago. The idea of it, the concept, it was concrete in his mind. And inevitability, so long as she allowed him to stay. Now that she was aware of how he felt, he had no problem with others knowing this fact about them as well. The problem was in their desire for so many details. 

Sasuke made eye contact with Tsunade. She sent a message with her eyes, as if to say, Caught you. Sasuke knew she had seen his smile. “I’ll leave you to it then,” she said with a smile, “As long as you don’t need me to heal you.”

“I’ll  be fine, Tsunade-shishou,” Sakura said, sighing. “I’ll make sure to rest up at home and be good as new!”

Tsunade gave her the look of a teacher who knew her student was full of shit. Sakura merely grinned in response. 

What neither of them realized was that Sasuke was already making plans in his head to force Sakura to stay home the following day. Sasuke had already reassessed Sakura’s chakra. It was actively working to heal her and return her to full chakra levels. He was satisfied with her going home to rest and decided not to suggest a hospital visit, like the overbearing Uchiha he was. If Sakura was going to be healthy, someone had to make her, and it might as well be him. 

“I’ll make sure she gets some rest,” Sasuke said quietly, his eyes on her dirt smudged cheek, and shaking legs. “She’s about to fall over.” 

Sakura had the nerve to look shocked. The funny thing was, she was too tired to truly put up a good fight. The only thing she said was,  “Sasuke-kun!” 

“He’s right,” Tsunade said, laughing lightly. The former Hokage gazed down at Sakura with a gentle look, her hand raising to push the hair from Sakura’s face. “Go home and rest,” she said. “You earned it. You are a formidable kunoichi and stronger than your teacher. I couldn’t be prouder.”

Sasuke couldn’t agree more with the Godaime, especially after witnessing Sakura basically rebuild every chakra pathway in her body in under five minutes. Sakura felt like a cooked noodle in Sasuke’s arms by the time Tsunade was finished speaking, obviously overwhelmed by the kind words of her sensei. He watched as she thanked Tsunade, her smile small, like she was desperately trying not to grin. 

Tsunade gave her one last smile, Naruto a wide grin, and Sasuke one last glare before she departed, poofing into smoke. 

As soon as she was gone, Sasuke’s attention immediately snapped to the kunoichi in his arms. “Have you lost your mind, Sakura?”

Her eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in irritation. 

Naruto chuckled nervously. “Uh, Sasuke? I wouldn’t recommend it!”

Sasuke ignored the dobe. He didn’t balk from Sakura’s defiant eyes or her temper. “You were evasive earlier. You didn’t want me here. Why?”

Sakura continued to glare. She was definitely irritated. “Because, I thought if you understood the process, you’d try to stop me from doing it. I tried the next best thing, which was Naruto distracting you. And obviously-” She paused to glare at their whiskered friend. “-that didn’t work.” 

Naruto threw his hands up in defeat. “Hey, I tried, alright! It’s not my fault the bastard is super protective of you.”

Sakura blushed. Neither Sasuke’s mood nor his expression changed. Of course he was protective of her. He pinned her with a look. “You wouldn’t want to sit there and watch me do that.”

“That’s exactly why I tried to get you not to watch!” 

“That’s not the point.”

“That’s exactly the point!”

Fed up, Sasuke’s arm dropped to Sakura’s waist and he tugged. She made a small noise of surprise but went still with shock when her feet were lifted off of the ground and she was spun around in order to be eye level with the Uchiha. 

Sasuke resisted the urge to shake her, frustrated that she didn’t understand him for once. He settled with re-educating her on his opinion of her. “You are everything that Tsunade said. You are strong, capable, and you terrify any enemy that comes across your path.” He tilted his head down to speak softer, trying to ease the bite in his voice. “And yet, you should have told me about your training so I would have been prepared to watch you work. I wouldn’t have stopped you.”

Sakura’s eyes had gotten wide at his words and Sasuke watched as her thoughts raced behind them. Her fingers absentmindedly fingered his shirt collar while she took in his words, sat with them, and then decided what to do with them. 

Eventually, she said softly, eyes on the ground, “I am…sorry, Sasuke-kun.” She blinked up at him, her face falling. “I should have told you. You are right.”

Sasuke tried to keep his face neutral as his chest felt like it concaved from the weight of her obvious self-deprecation. Sakura apologizing to him made him feel sick. He wasn't happy with Sakura earlier, but she didn’t need to dwell on that enough to apologize. “Don’t apologize,” he quickly said, his voice soft. “You had to have trained hard to be where you are today. I expected nothing less. But I…” Sasuke paused, his eyes shuttering as he recalled hearing her first scream of pain. 

Sakura noticed. She prodded him with a tap of her finger to continue. 

Sasuke looked to tell Naruto to go away, but thankfully, he was already gone, having disappeared sometime while he was caught up in Sakura. He turned back to face her, his eyebrows furrowed. “I didn’t expect to hear you scream like that,” he said quietly. 

Sakura’s eyes softened with understanding and regret. “I’m so sorry, Sasuke-kun. I…” Sakura looked at the ground again. “I really didn’t handle this well.”

Sasuke didn’t handle seeing tears begin to trickle down her cheeks well. His chest felt like a chidori was shoved through it with each tear that fell. His hand rose to her cheek and wiped what he could, his neutral expression falling to convey every emotion he felt. Worry. Frustration at himself, at her. Hating himself for making her cry. Again. 

Sakura’s head rested in his hand. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Sasuke ran his thumb across her cheek again, his eyes flickering back and forth between hers, wishing for her to open them, to let him in. He let his forehead fall to hers, needing to comfort her, but not sure how. He decided to inquire. “Sakura, why are you so upset? I’m not angry with you.”

“Aren’t you?” Her voice was incredibly small. 

Sasuke sighed patiently. “No, I am not.”

Sakura nodded, but didn’t open her eyes. 

Sasuke tilted her head back. Her eyes slid open ever so slightly and Sasuke held her gaze before speaking. He felt the need to explain himself to her, once again. “You will irritate me many more times in this life, Sakura. You don't have to worry about ever making me so mad that I leave you. We’re connected no matter what either of us do.” Sasuke smiled down at her, feeling a rush of affection for the woman in his arms. “Wherever I go, you will always be home.” 

Sakura blushed heavily at the implication, but Sasuke pushed on, his eyes softening with his next words. “You also don’t need to apologize. The words ‘I’m sorry’ are two words that you never have to say to me.”

Sakura nodded, her lower lip wobbling. She looked reassured but overwhelmed. And tired. She looked very, very tired. Too tired to still be standing in the cool air and having a serious conversation. 

Sasuke bent low to sweep her legs out from underneath her, scooping her up and against his chest in a heartbeat. His half-arm was situated under her knees and his hand wrapped around her bicep, cradling her to his chest. 

She was so tired that she didn’t even protest. As soon as she was off of her feet, her eyelids had started drooping. “Where’re we going?”

“Home.”

Sakura nodded slowly, then turned her face into Sasuke’s neck as her breathing deepened. 

Sasuke immediately took to the rooftops, using more chakra than necessary to stabilize his jumps. He didn’t want to jostle her in his one arm, so he also summoned his susanoo as an extension of his half-arm. Sasuke couldn’t afford to while traversing across rooftops, but he wanted to close his eyes at the sensation of holding her with two hands for the first time in too long. 

Evening was soon approaching and Sasuke was determined to make sure Sakura got the rest she needed. When he arrived at their apartment, he jumped down to their front porch as lightly as he could. Hoisting Sakura up a bit higher on his shoulder, he tried to pull his set of keys out of his pocket. 

Sakura tapped his shoulder and murmured for him to let her down. He did so, albeit reluctantly, ending the susanoo. She barely looked awake, blinking slowly up at him. His hand ghosted behind her elbow, ready to catch her if she stumbled. 

Sakura yawned and swayed into him while she unlocked the door “Mmm. Home.” 

“Yes,” Sasuke replied softly, gently pushing her inside. She trudged across the threshold, stretching high and yawning as she kicked her shoes off, toeing them haphazardly into their spot by the door. Sasuke was her shadow as she made her way to her bedroom, hands rubbing her eyes the entire time. If Sasuke hadn’t gone through the emotional ringer that afternoon, he might have been a bit more amused at her sleepy behavior. 

It would be cuter if he had ever seen her this tired before. 

Sasuke saw her turn to the left. He grabbed her arm before she could push the bathroom door open. “You need to go to bed, Sakura.”

She had enough energy to turn and give him a look of disgust. “I’m covered in dirt and grime, Sasuke-kun. I am not sleeping in my bed this dirty.”

Sasuke frowned, but after looking at her for a moment, he could admit to himself that she was pretty dirty and in need of a shower. He nodded, letting his hand fall as he followed behind her, not a thought in his head except for I’ll catch her if she falls. 

Sakura’s POV

Sakura sighed in relief once she walked into the bathroom, already unzipping her red top. Her movements were slow and sluggish, her chakra levels barely enough to keep her upright. Feeling dizzy, Sakura nearly stumbled into the counter, her head barely missing the upper cabinet. And, she would have hit it had a large hand not wound around her waist, snatching her upright. 

“Sakura, you need to sleep.” 

Sakura shrieked, clutching her top to her front as she whirled around in his grasp, falling back against the wall. She had her bindings on underneath the shirt and they covered everything, but they were totally not something she was prepared to wear in front of Sasuke. She glanced behind him to the still open door, cursing her stupidity. She hadn't even heard the door close before she had started stripping. 

Sakura felt the blood rush to her face as she stammered out, “W-what are y-you doing?”

Sasuke’s brows were furrowed, as if the answer was obvious. His hand was still wrapped tightly around her hip and Sakura could feel every one of his fingers pressed against her exposed skin. Sakura shivered, unable to help it, and forced her eyes to stay on Sasuke’s shoulder in order to ground herself. She was far too tired to deal with this, but Sasuke was still Sasuke, so the feeling of his hand on her bare skin made her short circuit just a bit. 

The deep timbre of his voice wasn’t helping. “Sakura, you’re dead on your feet. I was worried you’d fall, and you would have if I hadn’t caught you.”

Sakura felt like a fish, her mouth opening and closing. She recovered herself, shaking her head emphatically. “I-Sasuke-kun, I’ve got enough energy to shower by myself.”

Oh Kami, why had she said that? She had no idea if that was even his intention. She was beyond flustered, her cheeks furiously warm, but she looked him in the eye. “You don’t need to…be in here.”

Sasuke’s expression didn’t change, but she could see him thinking. His head tilted to the side, his hair shifting across his face. His eyes flickered back and forth between her own before he asked, calm as can be. “Are you sure you don’t need my help? Or are you just uncomfortable?”

Sakura continued gaping at him. 

The words came out in a squeak. “Are you seriously asking me if I’m comfortable showering in front of you?” 

The “naked” aspect of showering was implied. 

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed and he took a step back, dropping his hand. Sakura felt cold without it. “It’s not like that.” He almost stuttered, something she’s never heard from him. “You’re injured. I’m not…looking at you, not like that.” Sasuke’s cheeks were tinged with pink by the time he finished. 

Sakura was floored. She didn’t know whether to be insulted by his ability to keep his head straight in front of his half naked girlfriend or thankful that he cared for her so much to keep it together in order to help her. She felt both, shifting on her feet in embarrassment, anxiety rippling through her. This topic wasn’t something Sakura had prepared to talk about with Sasuke anytime soon. She didn’t know how to respond. 

“It’s the same as you when you have to heal someone,” Sasuke said after a moment. He looked up at her, his expression smoother than before, but his cheeks were slowly pinking. “You’re focused on helping. It’s the same.” 

Sakura nodded and Sasuke’s posture relaxed slightly. This, she understood. She behaved the same when she had to check him and Naruto for injuries. But, it didn’t mean that she was totally comfortable. Eyeing Sasuke warily, she asked, “Are you planning on sitting in here the entire time?” Please say no, please say no…

Sasuke’s sharingan flicked in and out before he responded. “Your chakra is still low, but I think you can manage.” He paused, glancing down at the shirt that she held against her chest before looking back up, his eyes immediately flying to the wall behind her. “I’ll wait outside.” 

Sakura watched him retreat from the bathroom like his life depended on it. She held in a snicker as her shaky hands moved to further undress herself, the door thankfully closed this time. She replayed the look on his face when he looked down at her barely clothed upper half. If Sakura hadn’t been so tired, she would be shrieking with excitement. Sasuke would have heard it, anyway. He might have been able to put aside how they felt about each other in dire circumstances, but the reaction he had gotten from realizing she was nearly topless in front of him was all man. 

Sakura tried to shower as quickly as possible, but with each passing moment and every press of the hot water against her tired and overused muscles, she slipped further and further towards sleep. By the time she had stepped out, a big, blue towel wrapped around her, her eyelids were fighting to stay up. 

Sakura slowly made her way out of the shower and into her room, but cursed when her shoulder smacked into the doorway. Her eyes had closed for a second too long. 

Sasuke was in front of her in a second, a small wind fluttering the ends of her towel. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Sakura murmured, making her way towards her dresser. At that point, Sakura was so tired, it didn’t even register to her that she was in just a towel in front of Sasuke. 

He followed close behind, always her shadow. When she fumbled on the drawers, Sasuke sighed and opened them for her, grabbing a pair of shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt. He looked Sakura up and down for a moment before sighing, his eyes closing. “Can I help you get dressed? Please? I won’t…look.”

Sakura grunted in affirmation, her lids heavy. Sasuke took the long sleeve and placed it over her head, tugging the shoulders down and around her before pulling her wet hair out from underneath the collar. Sakura held onto her towel with one hand while Sasuke carefully guided one arm into a sleeve. She switched and he did the other, his concentration apparent in his eyes. 

When it came time for her shorts, Sakura sleepy slapped Sasuke’s hand away, snatching the shorts from him. She was coherent enough for that. She shimmied them up her thighs and under the towel before dropping it, nearly falling over into Sasuke in the process. He caught her with an arm around her waist, his firm grip keeping her upright. 

“Bed,” Sasuke growled, his patience obviously wearing thin. 

Sakura sighed, letting him tug her towards the bed. She crawled under her covers and was nearly out before he spoke, right next to her ear. “How long should I let you sleep before making you eat?”

“Like….twelve hours?” Sakura squeezed one eye open. “Yeah, no more than twelve hours.” The first time she spoke was Sakura. The second time was all Dr. Haruno. 

“Do you need to eat?”

She sighed, half asleep already. “No, I can sleep now.” 

Sasuke nodded, turning to go, but Sakura, curled on her side facing him, tugged at his arm, her eyebrows furrowed. “Why’re you leaving?”

Sasuke’s eyes widened before closing. Like a statue he stood, his arm ensnared by hers, unable and unwilling to move, Sakura wasn’t sure. All she knew, in her addled state, was that it was nighttime and Sasuke shouldn’t sleep on the couch anymore. 

It took a while, but Sasuke eventually moved. He nodded once, gently untangling her hands before walking to the door, turning the lights off, and walking around the bed to his side, his eyes on the floor the entire time. Sakura rolled over to face him as he slid beneath the covers, facing her. In the morning, she would remember his movements as jerky and awkward. For the moment, Sakura only felt safer and warmer now that the Uchiha was where she needed him to be. 

As sleep took her, Sakura managed to whisper into the darkness, “G’night, Sasuke-kun….love you.”

She was out before he could hear his response.

Sakura woke up to the smell of something delicious. She swam through the thick exhaustion from chakra depletion towards consciousness and opened her eyes. She glanced at the clock and noticed that she woke up a bit earlier than she thought she would have considering how low her chakra had gotten before Tsunade and her had begun. For Sakura, who rarely got to train outside of her medical skills, yesterday had been like a dam that finally got some relief from the pressure. 

Rubbing her eyes, Sakura began to sit up. That was, until a hand swiftly pushed her back down. 

Sasuke was there in an instant. “Sakura, you still have one more hour to sleep.” His eyes flickered over her form, checking her chakra levels with his sharingan. 

Sakura, now feeling much more rested than she had last night, was a bit flustered by Sasuke’s protective and caring side. It was weird in a very, very good way, but also in a way that Sakura wasn’t sure how she felt about yet, especially now that she was thinking more coherently. “I’m well rested, Sasuke-kun, I’m just a bit hungry.” 

Before she could sit up, Sasuke was there again to push her back down, his hand now gripping her shoulder. “Sakura. One more hour.” 

Sakura narrowed her eyes. The cute caregiver daydream she was nursing went up in flames to reveal only a bossy Uchiha. “I’m a doctor, Sasuke-kun. I know how much sleep I need. Twelve was the most I could sleep without the possibility of a coma.”

Sakura immediately regretted the words as soon as they came out. 

Sasuke looked murderous. His expression was far too calm and his sharingan swirled. He was quiet when he asked, “There was a possibility of you going into a coma?”

Sakura winced, rushing out her next words, her palms up in surrender. “No! Well not really! It’s never happened before, it’s just one of those outliers that doctors have to look for. It’s a precaution, not something that is a true concern, I swear.” 

Sasuke merely narrowed his eyes in response. “You realize I am this close to calling Tsunade and asking for more specific instructions? Or taking you to the hospital?”

Sakura’s jaw dropped. She knew she shouldn’t have mentioned how ridiculous her master’s rest routines were. Bed rest, bed rest, and more bed rest. It would drive her insane. 

“You wouldn’t,” she whispered. 

His eyes gleamed with promise. “Try me. Now, give me a specific set of directions you would give a patient if they were in your position or you can choose between the two options I gave you.” 

Sakura was equally amazed and furious at Sasuke’s assertion when it came to taking care of her. Still trying to figure out which emotion she felt more, Sakura choked out, “Sleeping for twelve hours or more after chakra depletion is a sign of possible chakra shock, which leads to coma or death. Sleeping for ten to ten and a half hours at a time for a few days is preferred and recommended, as well as eating twenty percent above the average daily calorie intake.” 

He nodded. “How long do you need to be awake?”

“Thirty minutes at least for the first twenty four hours. Enough time to eat, digest, and use the bathroom if necessary. I can resume normal routines after that.” 

Sasuke finally pulled his hand back. “Good. You’ve slept for eleven. You can get up and eat.” 

Sakura laughed. She couldn’t help it. The scene was so wrong, so different from the usual Sasuke, it was comical. “When did you turn into a bossy caregiver?”

Sasuke gave her an unamused look, ignoring her comment. “I have food for you. It’s chicken noodle soup.” 

Sakura nodded, giving him a thankful smile, though by the way his eyes narrowed, he still saw how entertained she was by all of it. 

Sasuke walked towards the door, but paused before leaving. He left his hand on the doorknob and said quietly, “It’s what my mother made for me when I was sick. It’s the only thing I thought to make.” 

Sakura’s heart felt two sizes too big. She clutched her sheets right to her chest, as if to staunch the flow of emotion that poured out of her heart. “I…thank you, Sasuke-kun. I know I’ll love it.”

He nodded once more before leaving her to it. 

Sakura groaned quietly as she stood up. She was sore and her body wasn’t finished healing itself, but a warm meal was necessary, if the loud grumblings of her stomach were any indication. The smell of Sasuke’s cooking wafted towards her as she made her way down the hallway and her mouth watered. She was hungry. 

After finishing her third bowl, Sakura could confidently say that Mikoto Uchiha’s chicken noodle soup tasted even better than it smelled. Every bite she ate warmed her heart and her body, her thoughts of a young Sasuke, eating this soup when he was sick. Still, she could have gone without the sulking Uchiha staring her down until she ate every last piece of chicken, vegetable, and spoonful of broth. 

Once she was done, Sasuke ushered her back to her bedroom, not even deigning her a response when she said she could still dry the dishes. He only pressed harder against her lower back, steering her even quicker out of the kitchen and down the hallway. 

Sakura wished she could say she hid her snicker, but the sharp poke from Sasuke betrayed otherwise. 

Even though it was the early morning and she had just slept for hours, Sakura felt exhaustion sinking in, the feeling of chakra depletion creeping deeper into her bones with every step. She crawled into bed and pulled her blankets high, tucking them under her chin. 

Sasuke stood over her like a shadow misplaced, refusing to budge. His expression was a bit drawn, but his eyes were affectionate while he looked down at her. “See you in ten hours?” he asked, his hand brushing across her forehead. 

Sakura smiled, her heart warming her from the inside out. “See you in ten hours, Sasuke-kun.”

Sakura fell asleep to the feeling of Sasuke’s fingers trailing over her skin. 

Sasuke’s POV 

Sasuke closed the door to Sakura’s room and let out the breath he had been holding. He turned, his hand falling from the knob to his side, and made his way back to the kitchen to clean up. 

While he cleaned, Sasuke sorted through his thoughts. He hadn’t had time to think since they had gotten home, having been too stressed about Sakura to do much other than react to her needs. After she had pulled him into her bed, Sasuke had obsessively tracked her chakra until he had fallen asleep himself. 

He was feeling a bit more satisfied after seeing Sakura eat. She hadn’t said much, but her movements were smooth and she ate every bite of the soup. He hadn’t ever made it before, yet it felt like just yesterday he was standing at the stove with his mother, learning to make the Uchiha family soup. The recipe and memories flooded him while he cooked yet and, a change he had noticed as of late, he felt no pain. Only warmth. This development, he attributed to Sakura. 

Sasuke finished cleaning the dishes and decided to take a shower before entertaining Kakashi. He was supposed to have another meeting with the Hokage that morning, but with Sakura still asleep and not a hundred percent, Sasuke had requested they meet at the apartment. Kakashi’s response was delivered by hawk; a crude drawing of Sasuke and Sakura sleeping next to each other, a heart encircling them, and with a new time listed at the top. 

Sasuke had rolled his eyes, then burned it between his fingertips. 

As soon as he stepped into the bathroom, he was pelted by thoughts of Sakura stripping in front of him hours earlier, unaware that he had followed her in. Shutting them out, Sasuke grimaced as he started the shower, disappointed in himself. 

Looking back, Sakura had definitely felt uncomfortable with him there. She knew he was in the apartment obviously, yet she still screeched in fright when he had grabbed her. He couldn’t fault himself for following her, not when he had been just in time to keep her from getting a bruised hip and forehead, but he understood more now than he had then that he had crossed a line. 

He was truthful when he told Sakura he was there to help, that he wasn’t looking at her with want or desire, not when she was so tired or she might break her neck from slipping on a wet tile. He had walked into the bathroom right after her, his thoughts only on how to safely get Sakura in and out of the shower before she passed out from exhaustion. He wasn’t concerned with her clothes coming off outside of getting her clean and into bed. 

It was an unconscious miscalculation on his part. While he could detach himself, Sakura was the one he would be helping, and he hadn’t considered her reaction in the slightest. He knew all too well how hard it was to be vulnerable enough to accept help. Sakura wouldn’t be any different, especially if said help involved Sasuke having to see her naked. He definitely wouldn’t have been as calm as she had been if their situations were reversed. 

Sasuke stepped into the shower, his teeth grinding from the effort to keep his sharingan at bay. He eventually lost the fight, and the memory of Sakura’s shirt held loosely against her stomach played over and over again. Sasuke closed his eyes, but it was no use. He fell victim to her wide, green eyes and bare shoulders, her bindings wrapped tightly around her chest. She had dirt smudges on her chin and her cheek and her hair was a mess. She had looked so beautiful, Sasuke’s chest began to hurt. 

Maybe he couldn’t detach himself as much as he thought he could. 

Sasuke quickly finished showering and dried off, his sharingan finally turning off. He hadn’t had as much trouble controlling it before coming back to Konoha. The thought made him wonder if having heightened emotions outside of pain and anger could affect his visual prowess. Since returning, his sharingan felt sharper and more stable, especially after Sakura’s healing sessions, yet he lost control now more than ever. He decided to check the Uchiha’s collection of books on the sharingan the next time he went to their secret meeting place. 

Sasuke got dressed and sat in the living room, his eyes closed as he breathed heavily. He knew it was time to think about his physical attraction to Sakura in more depth. He had let himself go far too long with the notion of ‘I’m attracted to her’ as the only response in his head when his body and hands moved and wanted more than his mind was ready for. He needed to be mature about their relationship, despite his inexperience. She deserved more from him and he needed to figure it out. It was just about sex, it was all physical intimacy. What you saw and what you touched. 

It took a while, but Sasuke could finally admit to himself that he didn’t just want Sakura as a life partner; he wanted her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to hold her hand at night. He wanted her to feel comfortable enough to lay her head on his chest while they slept. But, he also wanted more. He’d never dreamed of someone like he did Sakura, of pushing her back onto her couch or bed, kissing down her neck, his hands on her, his teeth, his-

Sasuke shook his head, banishing the thoughts with red ears. 

The past few days waking up next to her had truly tested his resolve and stoked the flames hotter. Sasuke normally dealt with the physiological response of his body in the morning by ignoring it, yet it was becoming increasingly more difficult each day he woke up next to pink hair and soft skin. He opened his eyes with desire in his veins, something he had no experience with. He’d held back every morning from burying his face into her neck, from pulling her as tight as he could to his chest, slotting their hips together, wanting to know what it felt like and sounds she’d make. 

Sasuke felt embarrassed, even with no one around to hear his thoughts or witness the plethora of emotions rolling across his face. When alone with her, he was more unguarded. But with this, with topics of vulnerability and intimacy, Sasuke felt wildly out of place. He didn’t know what she wanted from him. She asked him if he wanted her to touch him, but had he ever asked her if she wanted him to touch her? 

He didn’t know what to do about the feelings of desire he found himself having about the pink haired kunoichi. They were random, almost haphazard in their popping up, but they always felt like a kick to his stomach. He felt it when she laughed or grinned freely, nothing staining her joy. He felt it when she wore the sweatshirt he decided he didn’t hate one bit, not with how it always fell down one of her shoulders, exposing the pale skin of her neck and collar bones. Sasuke felt it the hardest and for the first time when Sakura wore the tiniest shorts imaginable to bed, only having witnessed them in the dark quiet of the night when Sakura had gotten up for a glass of water. He had stared at her legs until he realized what he was doing. 

Sasuke felt like grabbing her and doing…something, every time she gave him a snarky response to some stupid thing he said. He had wanted to crowd her and run his hand over the skin of her stomach when her shirt had ridden up as she reached for a cup on a high shelf. He would get overwhelmed with the desire to kiss her every time she did something selfless or kind for him, proving her trust in him like it was the easiest thing to do. And when he kissed her…

He wanted to kiss her everywhere. He wanted to kiss her forehead, her cheeks, her neck. He wanted his mouth even lower, on her breasts, her stomach…and lower. He wanted to kiss every single inch of her until she realized that he wanted her like he had never wanted anything before, not even the air he breathed. He wanted to show her that she was precious, that she was everything to him. He wanted to have a family with her, to enjoy her, her time, her body, her mind. Sasuke felt selfish, but he wanted her to enjoy him, too. He wanted Sakura to want him just as much as he wanted her. 

He thought she did, but he also was insecure in this newness. Sakura was always open to him when he had questions, but he couldn’t help but wonder if she wanted to have this conversation with him. Shame enveloped Sasuke when thoughts of Sakura begrudgingly explaining basic human emotions to her inept boyfriend clouded his thoughts. He asked too much of her and refused to put the weight of his inability to court her like a normal man on her shoulders. He would figure it out on his own. 

Funnily enough, Sakura would disagree vehemently with this decision not two days later.

Chapter Text

Sasuke’s POV

Sasuke made Sakura stay home for another day after her training with Tsunade. She argued with him until she was red in the face, but Sasuke didn’t waver. It was home with him or at the hospital as a patient, not as a doctor. She accepted the deal, albeit begrudgingly. 

She still tried to do too much too soon. Sasuke urged, then argued, then ordered her to sleep more, to rest on the couch during the day, to not even set one foot in the kitchen. He cooked, cleaned, and took care of everything around the house. That morning was the first time in a while that Sasuke was on the receiving end of one of Sakura’s glares. It didn’t bother him. He’d let her be angry with him as long as she let him take care of her. 

And, he found it kind of cute. 

However, Sasuke noticed that after the first few forceful instructions he gave, Sakura’s irritation turned into a quiet thankfulness, and by mid-afternoon, she was biting her lip to keep her grin in check. Sakura might have been frustrated with his level of care, but she was also desperately trying to hide how much she secretly adored it. Sasuke swore he saw cartoon hearts dancing in her eyes, and it made him feel like he was on top of their own little world. 

He felt silly, but seeing Sakura wrapped in a blanket, staring lovingly at him while he handed her another glass of water, did satiate a small part of him that was male, that said protect, serve. It boosted his ego and his pride to know that Sakura didn’t let anyone else take care of her like this, that it was only him. He felt that it was more than fair to take care of Sakura when she was vulnerable when she had saved his life over and over again, without complaint and with all of her heart. 

She still blushed as much as she did as genin. 

Sasuke had even begun a small game of it. He felt entirely childish, but it had grown too amusing to stop. After the fifth or sixth time checking Sakura for a fever and watching her face grow red, he started counting her blushes. After the eleventh or twelfth, he only counted the ones he tried to elicit on purpose. 

His moves were elementary, tucking her hair behind her ear or brushing his hand across her back, but it didn’t really matter. It turned out, pretty much every time Sasuke prolonged eye contact, Sakura would flush and look away, chewing on her bottom lip. In the end, it was entirely too distracting for Sasuke, so he ended his game that evening. 

He had grumbled about her chakra levels only being at ninety percent the following morning when she was to return to work. Sakura shut him down quickly, chakra knives poking from between her fingers to remind him of a surgery on a little boy that was a day delayed and wouldn’t take more than an hour or two. He of course relented, but not before giving her a ghost of a kiss on the cheek and squeeze of his hand against her arm, telling her to have a good day. 

Sakura was as red as a strawberry her entire, clumsy way out the door. Sasuke had watched, hiding his smirk behind his coffee, and added one more to his tally. 

The day passed by quickly enough for him. He didn’t find anything else about the sharingan’s connection to strong emotions in the Uchiha secret meeting place, so he spent the rest of the day with Naruto and Kakashi, outlining different parts of the war for the record. It was one of his primary objectives after returning to the village, assigned by the Hokage himself. 

It was a pain and helpful, all in one. He learned about what went on in other parts of the world while he was with Orochimaru and Taka. The painful part was Naruto and Kakashi inserting random comments about Sakura and Sasuke. Examples were, Then, Sasuke stared longingly at Sakura, speaking to her first, or He looked so turned on when she smashed those ten-tailed miniature beast things. Sasuke corrected the overzealous parts through gritted teeth, but left a few of the tasteful additions the two idiots managed to sneak in. 

Naruto looked at Sasuke like he was going to explode when he had intoned that Sasuke placed the genjutsu on Sakura because he loved her too much to let her get hurt. Sasuke’s expression didn’t change, so it was kept. 

The two idiots high-fived. 

He picked up dinner on the way home, but still made it back before Sakura. He knew she didn’t have any late patients, so he plated the takeout and covered both bowls before stepping into the bathroom to quickly clean up. While getting dressed after his short shower, he heard her come home. 

“Tadaima!” she called, unbearably cheerful. She seemed excited. 

Sasuke expected to feel withdrawn or hesitant like he normally did. He had felt nervous about cohabiting with Sakura since they started sleeping in the same bed. Instead, he felt a warm presence take residence in his chest as soon as he heard the front door open. If he was being honest, he wanted to rush dressing in order to get out to the kitchen faster. He wanted to see her, to hear about her day, a feeling he hadn’t felt since he was a child and he had been waiting anxiously for Itachi to come home. 

The thought gave him pause and Sasuke felt the tension release from his body. He truly was home. 

He walked into the kitchen. Sakura had brought the food to the table and was seated, her doctor’s coat hung on the back of her chair. She seemed to have forgotten to have taken it off at work. When she looked and saw him, her eyes shone with her smile. Sasuke wondered if she had been in a rush to see him, too. 

After dinner, Sasuke still itched to go outside, so he offered a solution. “Would you like to sit on the balcony?” His eyes found the large window in the living room before moving back to her. “It’s still nice out and I’ve been inside all day.”

Sakura looked thrilled with the idea. She agreed with a twinkle in her eye, like he had just asked her for something beautiful and wonderful. She grabbed both of their drinks and led the way. 

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke followed her to her room and out onto her small balcony. There was no room for a table and chairs, but a small stool rested in the corner. The iron railing was covered in a green vine that grew from a pot hanging from the roof and various other colorful plants decorated the space. She pulled him down to sit beside her, their backs against the glass door. Sasuke felt every press of her clothes and skin against his own like tiny shocks. 

“It’s nice,” Sasuke commented once he settled in. And it was. She obviously cared for the plants enough for them to thrive. “The plants look good.” 

Sakura smiled woefully. “They’re mostly Ino’s. A few have medicinal purposes so I keep them here.” 

“Mmm.”

They sat in companionable silence after that, watching the evening fade in warm colors and drinking their iced tea. Sasuke eventually found his eyes wandering down to Sakura. Her knees were drawn toward her chest and her head tilted up, eyes on the stars beginning to appear over the horizon. 

Sasuke took in her red dress, her hair loose around her shoulders. He couldn’t believe he had ever tried to convince himself that Sakura wasn’t good looking. She had grown into her big eyes and small nose and became one of the most stunning women in the world. It struck him every time she was caught unawares under his eye. She didn’t even know how beautiful she was. He had heard of the pink haired beauty of Konoha from five countries away during his travels. 

Sasuke sat back and looked around, wondering what on earth was going to happen to disturb this peace. He had no world ending problems or childhood trauma to keep him up at night outside of the Ōtsutsuki clan’s mysterious background. The weight of that unknown was still around his neck, but with Sakura, he could maintain it, keep it at bay until it was filed away in his brain to stew with another day. For now, all Sasuke wanted was to sit with Sakura and talk about anything or nothing, it didn’t matter. As long as she was there. 

The air became languid and sticky in the aftermath of the warm day, causing a small bead of sweat to trail down Sakura’s cheek. Sasuke found himself tracking it like a madman, now spiraling into his rapid heartbeat and the woman next to him. Without warning, he darted out to wipe it away with his thumb. 

Sakura started with a small, “Oh!”

Why is her skin so soft? Why are her eyes so green? 

Sasuke’s eyes and mind marked every detail of the pink haired kunoichi staring up at him. Her upturned nose. Her ability to put him at ease, yet drive his heart rate through the roof. Her ways of getting him to relax within moments, but also keep him on his toes. He was becoming unglued at the seams for the woman next to him and she had no idea. He had no idea how it happened, but he couldn’t deny the feelings in his chest. 

Precious wasn’t a good enough adjective to describe what she meant to him. 

Sasuke hummed, deep in thought, letting his thumb glide across Sakura’s cheekbone again. Her eyes widened even further, but what hitched the breath in his throat was the way her lips parted with his ministrations. He felt unbalanced, staring at them. 

“Sasuke-kun?” A hand rose and lightly rested against his forearm. 

Sasuke felt thunder in his ears. He wanted to kiss Sakura. Intensely. The thought hadn’t been there a moment before, but it was burning in his mind now. He was nervous since the last time he had properly kissed her was nearly a week ago. His breathing shallowed out and his chest tightened and Sasuke knew he was slowly losing his grip on his perfect control. 

Sasuke’s head fell forward until Sakura’s forehead rested against his own. This was all he allowed himself for the moment, but he wanted more. He didn’t know what that meant, but he wanted it. He felt it everywhere and it startled the breath out of him. 

Sakura continued to stare at him, her eyes flickering back and forth between his own. He realized that she could see both of his eyes from where she sat beside him, a whole head shorter. And she did so unabashedly, unafraid to look into the mighty Uchiha’s eyes. It made him want to simultaneously hug her and run for the exit, a common theme while navigating his life with Sakura. 

Sasuke closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, hoping to settle himself, his nerves. He didn’t want to scare her with his feelings. It scared him. He didn’t know if he was any good at what they were attempting and he never liked being at a disadvantage. He wanted to kiss her, and he felt like he might die if he didn’t. It was overwhelming, the want and the fear of not knowing exactly what to do. What if he was gross? What if he smelled bad? What if he kissed her too hard and scared her? What if- 

Sakura’s hand on his cheek made him open his eyes. Doe eyes, creamy skin, and the most stupidly cute nose. She looked ethereal, a goddess of green and pink and purple swirling in his tomoe, having been activated without his realizing. He drank her in with heavy breaths and desire stronger than he ever felt coursing through him. Fear fell to the wayside. She was so stunning. 

She smiled softly at him, her thumb tracing his cheek. “Sasuke-kun. I…” She flushed. “I really want you to kiss me. If you want to, that is…” 

Sasuke held in a groan. He was embarrassed, relieved, and struck with need, all at once. Of course Sakura understood his dilemma. He was an open book to her, after all. But in this…he didn’t know if she truly understood how much he needed her. He had to stop himself from touching her all the time and with her underneath his thumb like this, he was losing the battle. He had never felt like this before. 

He opened his eyes and made a small noise of discomfort, his control snapping like a cut chord. 

Sasuke’s mouth fell to hers in a hard press. It was harder than he meant to, but he didn’t care, not when Sakura’s gasp of surprise slanted their lips in an extremely pleasant way. Sakura was warm against his chest, and she tasted like lemons and tea. 

Sasuke nearly sighed in relief. The weight on his chest fell to the floor and he felt lighter than he had in days. He moved his lips against hers slowly at first, relishing in the feeling of finally, but he wanted more. He pressed and pushed, pulled and prodded, tilting her head to the side for a different angle. He felt his teeth tug on her bottom lip when he shifted, and the raging inferno in him burned brighter. 

Sakura’s second breathy sound encouraged him further. He slid his thumb under her chin, tilting her head back. He kissed her and kissed her until Sasuke’s lips began to feel bruised, his hand falling to feel her pulse, to feel her alive. 

Sakura’s response was to slowly sweep her hands into his hair, gently pulling at the raven locks. His grip on her tightened and a noise escaped his lips, but he didn’t care. He knew Sakura wouldn’t, so he pushed past it. 

Sasuke kissed her harder, his hand pulling and pushing her against him, battling with himself. What he wanted and what he thought he deserved clashed. In the end, Sakura decided for him, placing a hand on his chest to push with her inhuman strength. In a second, Sasuke was back against the door and she sat over him, one leg thrown over his, Sasuke’s hand wrapped around her thigh to pull her closer. 

Sasuke couldn’t stop. He felt like he was falling off a cliff with the way his heart was pounding in his chest as their lips danced. Her hands were in his hair, and her body was a pleasant weight in his lap, causing his breath to hitch. 

Sakura fared no better. She was gasping, clutching at his shirt, rising up on her knees, pulling him closer, but not close enough. His hand traveled down her neck, over her shoulder and down, down, until it splayed across her waist, her dress bunched up in his fist. Sakura made a soft noise into his mouth, her back arching until her chest was smashed against his as he chased her to drink in more, more, more. 

Sasuke felt like he was on fire. He also felt like if he didn’t stop, he’d embarrass himself. Slowing down, Sasuke let himself kiss her languidly, lazily, like he had all the time in the world. He slowed down until they broke apart, still gasping for air and heart rates a bit too high, neither of them moving more than a few inches apart. 

Sasuke’s post-kiss panic was avoided when a blush that rivaled all previous ones bloomed across Sakura’s cheeks, her nose, and her forehead. Sasuke couldn’t help it. He smiled, his eyes crinkling from the movement. He counted it toward his tally. 

Sakura’s glow dimmed to that of hesitant shock. Her hand withdrew from Sasuke’s chest, but he caught it in the air before it could move too far. He could see the guilt in her eyes. He could see it clearly. She thought she had pushed him, especially after physically pushing him down. 

Keeping eye contact, hoping that Sakura understood that it was okay, he was okay with what just happened, that she hadn’t pushed him, he had really pushed her, he gently laid her hand back on his chest. He squeezed it once, sending the message of it’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong. 

Sakura watched with wide-eyes, her expression somewhere between embarrassed and uncertain. When Sasuke gave her a small tilt of his lips, she finally smiled. It was soft and secretive, like she wasn’t sure if it was the right response. Sasuke’s hand squeezed hers once more before returning to her waist, hoping she was reassured. 

The hand on her waist made her jump about a foot in the air.

Sasuke sighed, but the exasperation was with himself, never with her. He was an idiot. He couldn’t just kiss her like that and not say anything. And he hadn’t said anything at all. Sakura was too internal and spent too much time in her own head. She would beat herself up for it on the inside if Sasuke even slightly retracted from her or made a move to distance himself in the days to come. Sasuke knew, then, why Sakura would change her behavior so often for his sake. 

Looking up at her from where he lounged against the door, Sasuke asked quietly, “Was that alright with you?”

“Of course!” Sakura squeaked, her free hand flying to her mouth. The hand against his chest pressed into him, though he thought it might have been subconscious of her. Sakura winced at her high pitched response. “Sorry, I always seem to do that. Scream at you.”

Sasuke shrugged. He had more to say, but he didn’t know what to say to that. He looked up at Sakura and hoped that she saw the calmness there, the contentedness in his eyes, even if there was nervousness with his next question. “Did you…like it?” 

Sakura, now permanently red, fidgeted in his lap and nodded vigorously, as if words had failed her. Sasuke thought he should make it a holiday, the day that Sakura Haruno was speechless. 

For only about ten seconds. Then, she asked quietly, “Did…did you?”

Sasuke tried very, very hard not to grimace. He didn’t want to give away how much he liked it, how much he wanted to do it again, how uneasy it made him feel. He felt like he was left footed before and after they kissed, but during, all he thought about was her. He needed to tell her something, though. 

Sasuke's hand squeezed her waist as he sat up a bit higher, bringing Sakura’s face closer to his. She watched him warily, but also like she couldn’t wait to see what he did next. “I wouldn’t have kissed you for as long as I did if I didn’t like it,” he said. 

“Oh,” Sakura said, her eyes shining. 

Sasuke, wanting to do something he had thought about for a while, pulled Sakura down until she was settled against him, her head under his chin. She made a noise on the way down, but situated herself further between his legs to get comfortable. Both of her legs were thrown over one of his thighs and her cheek pressed to his chest. She wasn’t fully relaxed, but she wasn’t stiff. Sasuke could say the same about himself, now a bit unsure of what to do next. He moved his hand to Sakura’s hip and kept it there, unknowingly pressing the entire length of his arm down her back. Sakura stiffened then, but eventually relaxed, her fingers unclenching from around his shirt. 

Sasuke, looking for anything to say, mentioned a memory that popped up in the aftermath of their kiss. “You once said you couldn't stand handsome guys who think they can get away with awful things.” 

Sakura peered up at him, dumbfounded. “When on earth did I say that?”

Sasuke smiled, remembering the eventful day. It had actually been fun. “Do you remember when you, Naruto, that photographer guy, and I tried to find out what Kakashi looked like under the mask?” When she nodded, still confused, he said, “It was after that. You said it about the photographer.”

Sakura nodded slowly. “I…remember.” She raised a single brow. “Why are you bringing that up?”

Sasuke swallowed. He had to know. “Do you think that I’ve gotten away with awful things…with you?” 

Sakura didn’t understand the layers of meaning beneath until Sasuke slid his hand further down her leg. It was only an inch, maybe two, but it sent a clearer message. Touching her, kissing her… was he asking too much of her? Taking too much?

Sakura’s lips parted and she leaned farther back to look at him, her eyes searching. “Sasuke-kun, are you asking if I think you’re getting away with too much in our relationship?”

Sasuke closed his eyes, nodding, but also shook his head. He opened his eyes to take in their positioning, his hand, her hands. It was hard to put into words, but he would try. “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to.” At her distressed look, Sasuke tugged her closer, his guilt racking through him. He had to tell her. “I know how often you base your actions on how you think I’ll react. You don’t act on your love for me in a physical way because you’re afraid of my reaction. That I’ll reject you.” 

Sakura had the decency to look admonished. She knew it was true and didn’t argue otherwise. 

He made sure to keep her eyes on his when he spoke next. “I don’t want you to think you’re pushing me every time we kiss.” He brought his hand up to Sakura’s face and cupped her jaw, tilting it up to see her better. She had to understand and for her to understand, Sasuke needed to be vulnerable. It came out strangled, but he managed to say, “I want to kiss you. I want to touch you. So much so, it’s been driving me insane.” 

“Really,” Sakura whispered, as if she were in a trance. 

A small, shy smile graced his lips. “Really. So don’t worry anymore about pushing me. I’ll tell you to stop if I want you to stop.”

“Okay,” Sakura whispered. 

Sasuke sighed, bringing his lone hand up to brush the hair from her face. “Your one word answers are starting to concern me.” 

Sakura’s smile was wide. “I have no thoughts. Just bliss.” 

Sasuke smiled back. That was an acceptable answer. He let his head fall back against the glass door and closed his eyes, content to sit with Sakura as the stars came out. 

Sakura stirred against his chest a few minutes later. Sasuke opened a single eye to peer down at her. She was furiously chewing on her lip and her foot was tapping. 

“Hey, Sasuke-kun,” she eventually whispered. 

“Mmm.” 

“Why do you…” She trailed off, her lower lip now sawed between her teeth. 

When she didn’t continue, Sasuke sat up straighter, pulling Sakura up with him to face him better. “You can just ask.” 

Sakura swallowed and blurted, “Why do you like me?” 

Sasuke blinked once. Twice. He hadn’t expected that. “I…”

Sakura’s eyes clenched shut. She looked like she was about to leap out of his lap and take a trip several countries away. “No, never mind, forget I said anything.” 

Sasuke clamped his hand down on her side. “Why are you asking me that?” He grew a bit unsettled once the question and its possible motives sunk in. “Do you think I don’t like you as a person?”

“Oh Kami, no!” Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I just… I just wanted to know what you liked about me because I don’t really understand why you do…sometimes.” 

Sasuke didn’t know what to say at first. He was disappointed in himself for not making it clearer to Sakura that he enjoyed her presence, that he looked forward to seeing her. He cursed himself for placing too much credence in their ability to communicate non verbally. While Sasuke preferred it, he knew Sakura needed more. He needed it too, regardless of his comfortability. He would beat it into his skull until he was better at it. 

Sakura smiled softly, surprising him. “You look like it’s somehow your fault that I’m asking you this,” she explained. She smiled more when his eyebrows furrowed. “You’re obvious when you feel guilty, Sasuke-kun. I can always see it.” 

Sasuke felt heavy. Of course she saw it. And of course she tried to make him feel better, despite. “Sakura, I should have told you before now all the things I like about you.” 

Sakura shook her head, her smile fixed and true. “No, I’m just being a girl, Sasuke-kun. I… know how you feel about me.” 

“But you don’t know what I think about you,” Sasuke countered softly. It was true. He rarely shared what he thought about her and only when she obviously needed it. Tonight seemed like one of those times. 

Sakura was quiet. She didn’t look like she had a response. Sasuke took it as an opportunity to answer her question. He didn’t have to think very hard to come up with several examples. “I like how wild your eyes get when you fight. It’s the brightest green I’ve ever seen. I like how you make my coffee. When I make it, it never tastes the same.” 

Sakura’s jaw dropped, staring at Sasuke like she was seeing him for the first time. Sasuke smirked, then softened before continuing. “I like listening to you talk about your day. It always makes me think of new ways to apply my own chakra in battle. I like how kind you are, to anyone who needs it, even if they don’t deserve it.” 

Sasuke’s hand moved to her hair, capturing a few loose strands between his fingers. “I like your hair color. I can find you anywhere.” He glanced down at her clothes and this time, when he spoke, his ears were warm. “I like when you dress up to go out but I like seeing you comfortable in those giant sweaters you love. I like it when you wear navy.” 

The words were like a waterfall pouring from his heart and out of his mouth. He couldn’t stop once he started. “I like watching you work. With my eyes, I can see how delicate you are with your healing. I like watching your heart grow a thousand times bigger when the kids you work with at the clinic come up to you in public, giving you hugs and sending me glares.” 

Sakura laughed at the last one. “Kiki didn’t glare at you, he just-”

Sasuke snorted. “He said I was his rival since he is going to marry you someday.” 

Sakura flushed and mumbled something under her breath that Sasuke didn’t quite catch. 

He tapped her on the side, none too lightly. 

Sakura looked up, wide-eyed. “Hey!”

“What did you just say?” 

Sakura looked like she wanted to throw up from nerves. “Absolutely nothing.” 

Sasuke let it go for now, but he wasn’t going to let go of the previous conversation. Not yet. Taking Sakura’s hand, he stood, tugging her up with him. It was getting late and Sakura had an early surgery to leave for. But, when she turned to open the door, he caught her hand. 

“I like you, Sakura,” he said, his head dipped down to her cheek, kissing it softly. “Don’t forget it. I like all the little things and the big things, even if everything I like about you also annoys me to no end.” 

Sakura was a statue beneath his hand, her lips curving up towards the end. She grinned up at him as he finished, her eyes sparkling like fine wine. “Thank you, Sasuke-kun.” 

“You’re welcome,” he murmured, pulling back to stand up straight. He felt lighter, yet a bit unsteady on his feet. He remembered something he thought of last night. “I want you to know that I’m working on it. That I’ll figure this out. Us. How to be together.”

Sakura laughed, startling him. “No you won’t, Sasuke-kun.” His light feeling disappeared until she spoke again. Then, it returned with a vengeance. “We’ll figure it out. Together.” She laughed again, light and filled with mirth. “You can’t have the blind leading the blind, right?”

Sasuke had half a mind to feel insulted, but he was too busy feeling amused by her change of attitude. He pulled open the door behind them. “I guess you’re right.” 

She laughed again, following him inside. It was music to his ears. “I know I’m right.” 

Sasuke didn’t need to respond. The squeeze of his hand over hers as he passed by her to get his change of clothes from the living room said everything. 

In fact, Sasuke had just said a lot of things he never thought in a million years he’d be saying. It seemed that a few weeks of living with Sakura, spending time with her, and reacquainting himself with the grown up version of the girl he knew were all he needed to change his stoic and indirect ways. At least, where she was concerned. 

When Sasuke crawled into bed next to Sakura, winding his fingers with hers, Sasuke made several conclusions. He was in it for the long haul, no matter what it took. He knew he would leave on missions, perhaps years at a time due to the power of his eyes, but one thing would always remain true. Sakura was his home. The life they created together, their memories, their feelings, they would all be connected and intertwined to the point that nothing, not even time would unravel them. He was sure that she would never waver. As for him, it was only ever going to be her. 

When she was asleep, Sasuke allowed himself the luxury of laying next to her, promising himself that he would pull her closer tomorrow. Tonight, he just enjoyed laying next to the person he loved the most in the world. 

Sakura’s POV

Sakura looked up from her journals as soon as she heard the lock start to turn on the front door. She had been anxious ever since getting Sasuke’s note about sparring with Naruto earlier that morning, especially since the note indicated that Sasuke would be thankful if she healed the injuries he was most likely to sustain. Like an idiot, she had taken light work that day, just in case Sasuke was seriously injured. She knew it was silly, but she couldn’t help it. The two of them fighting still set her nerves on edge. They liked to take things a bit too far. She wanted to be prepared. 

Sasuke came inside with a quiet Tadaima before taking his shoes and cloak off at the door. Sakura watched him hide his injuries with stiff and slow movements and felt a sense of deja vu, remembering the last time he had come home injured. Shaking her head, Sakura set her things down and made her way over to him. 

“How was training,” she asked, taking kusanagi from his hands. Sasuke nodded gratefully and watched as she put it away. 

“It was good. Naruto’s gotten faster.” The second comment held a bit of a bite behind it and Sakura had to fight to stop a grin from forming. 

Still bent over from storing away his sword, Sakura could see a bit of blood at the edge of shirt. Poking his ribs and earning a light wince from the Uchiha, Sakura sighed. “Come on, I’ll fix you up.” 

Sasuke followed behind, not a whisper of argument. Sakura smiled to herself, happy that this was something she could do for Sasuke that she could see, that was tangible. It healed a small part of her that still felt a bit useless around Sasuke. 

Sasuke sat down on the couch and whipped his shirt off without Sakura having to ask, his expression tightening with the movement. Sakura held her feelings in check and turned into Dr. Haruno, sweeping her glowing green hands over his torso, mending the tear at his hip, healing the cracked rips, and-

Sakura gasped at what she found, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration immediately. “Sasuke-kun, I’m going to need you to go lie down in bed,” she said, scanning his abdomen again to confirm. “You have a small tear on your spleen. I’m going to need you to lay flat for me to fix it.” 

Sasuke sat up with a heavy sigh, but nodded. He left his shirt on the couch and headed off to the bedroom. 

Sakura followed behind, but almost wished she hadn’t. Sasuke was beautiful, she knew that, but it was usually his face she was referring to. It was the only part of him she saw, most of the time. The other times he had been shirtless in front of her, he had been sick or changing. He was still injured, but this, walking to her bedroom, the one he slept in as together, was giving her heart palpitations. Sasuke’s body looked as strong as it was, yet he was still lean, his arms long and corded. He reminded Sakura of a panther, lazily making its way back to its den. 

Blinking the craziness out of her eyes, Sakura turned her bedside manner back into a professional ease. She helped Sasuke lie down, smiling softly in comfort when he made a face. Kneeling at the side of the bed, she placed her hands on the upper left side of his abdomen and settled into her chakra, letting it build within her before she began pointing it directly in the direction it needed to go. 

She weaved it into what she needed. She sewed, cauterized, and smoothed over Sasuke’s internal injuries until she was wasting time in the heady feeling of healing Sasuke, of having her hands on him. She sent needless amounts of chakra to warm him, to ease his pain, to stop any possible swelling. She could feel Sasuke’s body growing warmer, filled to the brim with healing chakra until not a scratch marred his skin. 

Sakura slowly leaned back, blinking her eyes open. Sasuke’s head, propped on a pillow, was turned towards her. He was smiling his barely there smile, the one he saved just for her, like he was in awe that she was still in front of him. Sakura sat back on her knees and tucked her hair behind her ear, smiling down at her knees. That smile of his did things to her stomach, to her heart. 

Sasuke sat up slowly, rolling his shoulders. He blinked slowly, his head tipping to the side and stared down at Sakura, a sated happiness in his eyes. “You overdid it. You healed a bruise on my back from weeks ago. I could feel it fading.” 

Sakura bit her lip. “I… might have overdone it, yeah.” 

Sasuke’s smile widened. After a small shake of his head, Sasuke leaned forward and kissed Sakura’s cheek, his fingers barely grazing her jaw. “Thank you, Sakura.”

“Of course,” Sakura murmured, her eyelids fluttering. She tried to fight a blush but failed, her cheeks warming under Sasuke’s continued stare. However, she grew still when she noticed Sasuke mouth something to himself, almost subconsciously. Did she hear something as well?

“What was that,” Sakura asked, genuinely curious. She could have sworn she had also heard him say something like ‘thirty-four’. 

Sasuke looked shocked, like he had been caught with something. Sakura was immediately more intrigued. “Did you say something under your breath?” When Sasuke’s eyes refused to meet hers, Sakura knew she had caught him. 

However, before she could corner him, Sasuke said quickly, “I’ll tell you what I said if you tell me what you said the other night. On the balcony.” 

Sakura’s smug expression was immediately wiped from her face. But, it seemed like he wanted to know that badly. She could admit this one, tiny embarrassing thing. “Well, you mentioned that Kiki wanted to be your rival because he wants to marry me and, well, I just made a mean comment to myself.” 

The look Sasuke gave her told her that her explanation wasn’t enough. Sighing, Sakura looked up at the sky and grumbled, “I said that you’d have to want to get married to me to be his rival.”

“I’ve been counting your blushes.”

Sakura’s head snapped back down and, like it was called into existence, a blush bloomed across her cheeks. “What?”

“Thirty-five,” Sasuke whispered, his eyes crinkling at the corners. 

Sakura’s jaw dropped and her hands slapped against her cheeks. “You have not.” 

Sasuke nodded smugly, hiding his smile. He looked like a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar too late, all of the cookies already eaten. “I have.” 

Sakura felt like she was going to faint. It was so unlike him, she almost didn’t believe it. Counting her blushes was playful, like he had made a game out of it. It made her stomach do summersaults. “Well,” she said, as primly as she could. “I can believe that I’ve blushed that many times. I seem to do it all the time around you.” She couldn’t help but grumble out the last words, hiding her eyes from his. She felt caught, but not in the same way he had. 

Sasuke pulled one of Sakura’s hands from her cheeks. Naturally, she stopped and watched, waiting to see what he did next. Sasuke’s thumb glided across her cheekbone, warmth following its wake. She felt frozen under his touch, his watchful gaze. He looked like he was memorizing her features, her face, her eyes. 

Sasuke smoothed his thumb over her cheek one more time before dropping his hand. “I like it when you blush. Though you blush at random moments,” Sasuke said thoughtfully, “I like it best when you blush after I’ve made some effort.”

Sakura wanted to squeal. Sasuke had been making an effort to make her blush? He was purposefully trying to make her flustered, to see her reaction to him? Oh Kami, she definitely felt like fainting at that moment. 

Sasuke seemed to realize her internal chaos. He backed up, but stayed close enough for his breath to still warm her skin. He looked up from underneath his eyelashes, looking incredibly young and unsure of himself. Almost as if he were afraid of being scolded. “I’m not making fun of you, Sakura.” 

Sakura dug herself out of her panic for his sake. “I didn’t think you were! I just…”. She wanted to say that she blushed like an idiot around him because of how handsome he was or how open he had become since returning home. His smiles, his innocent and unconscious touches. All of them were stark reminders that he found a home with her. But for too long, her feelings for Sasuke were like a scythe hanging over both of their heads. Mentioning her feelings used to cut the rope holding the blade, forcing Sasuke to act in ways that always hurt her. She tried a different route. 

“I don’t want to act like the lovesick little girl I used to be,” Sakura finished, her voice rather small. She felt Sasuke lean closer, but she didn’t look up, shifting on her knees. “I feel childish sometimes, always blushing and stuttering.” 

“I told you, I didn’t mind it as much as I let on,” Sasuke insisted quietly. He looked perturbed by her change of attitude. “You were an innocent child. You had no idea what I had gone through.”

“But that doesn’t mean I’m not embarrassed!”

Sasuke tugged on her shoulder to turn her back in his direction. His eyes were severe, his jaw set. His expression left no room for arguments. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s me. I didn’t try hard enough.” 

Sakura felt her heart squeeze. She grasped his hand. “No. Don’t say that. You gave everything to your family in the only way you knew how, the way you were told to do it.” Sakura hated it when he spoke so low of himself. He had been through hell, through worse than hell, and still came back to her. He still came home. 

“You don’t get to say that anymore,” she ordered softly. “Not when it isn’t true.” 

Sasuke looked pained. His hand squeezed hers. “You give me too much credit.” His eyes fell from hers. “You were always kind to me. Above all, you were kind. I wasn’t. That’s what I am embarrassed about. I was angry and bitter and mean. Especially to you.” 

Sakura wished she could take the weight from his shoulders. She knew it would take time for them to get over their past together, but she had thought they would have more time, become more settled into their present before falling back into the pain of a thousand yesterdays. Their relationship was moving faster than Sakura ever thought possible, only making their conversations of the past more complicated, more necessary. 

Sakura looked down at their entertained hands. “Well,” she said. “I think we both had some growing up to do.” She looked up at Sasuke with a smile filled with patience, love, and understanding. “We were kids. We can forgive ourselves for not knowing what to do.” 

Sasuke sighed. He looked lost. ”I still don’t know what to do most of the time.” 

Sakura giggled, unable to help it. “It’s a good thing I don’t know either.” Her grin softened to a warm smile as she stood up, her hand still wrapped in Sasuke’s. “I’ll make some dinner, ya? We can figure everything else out tomorrow.” 

Sakura knew she didn’t imagine the fiery warmth in Sasuke’s eyes when he squeezed her hand once before letting go. “Thank you, Sakura.” 

Sakura didn’t hide her blush when she whispered back, “You’re welcome.” 

Sasuke didn’t hide his smile.

Chapter Text

Sakura’s POV

Sakura flung Naruto’s door open like she was bursting through the door of an enemy hideout the following Saturday morning. Naruto shrieked, having just come down the stairs for his morning coffee. Hinata was there in an instant, rushing to bring the pink-haired mess inside, her arm wrapped around her shoulders and ushering her over the doorstep. Sakura had sent a message that she was coming and, thank Kami, it arrived before she did. 

“I am going to combust into a ball of flames and burn in hell,” Sakura groaned into her hands, Hinata leading her into their sunken living room. Sakura fell on the couch in a heap, wishing that the soft fabric would swallow her alive. It was the least the world could do after she had embarrassed herself so horrifically not thirty minutes earlier. 

Sakura Haruno felt like she could die of mortification. 

“I’ll go get some water,” Hinata said, giving Sakura a small smile. 

Sakura smiled weakly back. 

“What’s the matter with Sakura-chan,” Naruto said, coming into the living room. He scratched the back of his neck and scowled down at his friend, his sleep-addled mind still not fully caught up to the present. “You alright, Sakura?” 

Sakura groaned. “No. I want to crawl in a hole and die.” 

She could hear Naruto turn to his wife and ask, his voice a bit uneven, “Uh, Hinata? What on earth is going on?”

Hinata returned to the room with a pitcher of water. “Oh, it’s nothing, Naruto. I’m sure Sakura will tell you all about it when she feels better.”

Suddenly, Sakura was pulled up off of the couch and shaken. “What did that bastard do,” Naruto shouted, fully awake and furious. 

Sakura gave him a good punch in the gut and he let her down, groaning. “Ugh, he didn’t do anything, Naruto.” She flopped back down on the couch, her hands flapping about as she talked, a nervous trait only unearthed in dire circumstances. “You should probably go check on him after what I did.” 

Naruto, rubbing his stomach, still came to sit by her. Hinata was busy pouring her a glass when Naruto asked, a bit nervously, “Um, Sakura, did you do something to Sasuke?” 

Sakura took the cup handed to her and threw it back before responding. “No. Yes. I don’t know. I’m just freaking out because I walked in on him when he wasn’t…decent.”

Sakura flinched. Oh, she had done much more than that. Sasuke was in the shower when she woke up and, for the first time since he moved in, she didn’t remember it wasn’t her day to shower first. The water wasn’t on to signal that Sasuke had just gotten out of the shower, so Sakura had walked right in. And by right in, she meant right into Sasuke, barely toweled, and still dripping wet.

Yawning, Sakura opened the door to the bathroom. The first thing she noticed was how warm it was, enough to make her uncomfortable in her t-shirt. The second thing she noticed was the wall of wet, naked chest her nose and forehead suddenly smashed into. With a jump of fright and now definitely, painfully awake, Sakura looked up. 

Sasuke, eyes wide, stared down at her from where he was half in, half out of the shower. Sakura had turned right into him as he was getting out, a dark towel covering him from where it hung in his fist by his stomach. 

Sakura was frozen. She didn’t know what to do as she ogled the soaking wet Uchiha, his wet hair pushed back from his face as if he had just tried to shake the water out. He looked just as shocked as he did, but his eyes didn’t move from hers. 

Sakura tried to keep her eyes on her face, but there was so much skin. Her traitorous eyes slid down without her permission, tracking a bead of water as it glided down his throat and between his pectorals. His chest looked like it was satin covered stone, more water falling down in rivulets from his wet hair, down and down his abdomen and-

Sakura’s eyes lurched to Sasuke’s and immediately, she felt guilty. Sasuke looked unbelievably uncomfortable, his back rigid and his hand clenching tighter and tighter on his towel. His face was blank, but she could see a muscle moving in his cheek. He wanted to leave. He wanted her to leave. 

Sakura flinched hard, raising her hands in front of her and apologized profusely. She backed out of the bathroom without another look in his direction and shut the door behind her. Tears were already beginning to well in her eyes, but she fought them. She fought them as she got dressed, dismissing a shower at home. She fought them as she penned a note to Hinata before sending it off with a tiny summoning of Lady Katsuyu. She fought them hardest when she heard Sasuke call out her name as she rushed out the door, not trusting the strength of her voice to even utter a goodbye.  

She fought the tears all the way until the present.  

Naruto frowned. “Really? That’s it?” 

Sakura glared, her temper rising. “He was uncomfortable, okay? And I just made it worse. I feel awful.” 

Naruto only laughed harder, dodging the pillow Sakura threw at him. Throwing his hands up when Sakura began to mean business, he gasped out, “I’m sorry! It’s just fun watching the two of you date.” 

“Oh, I’m sure it’s so funny to you, Naruto. Well, let me remind you that-” 

A banging came from their front door. All three heads whirled at the sound of the Uzumaki residence’s next guest of the morning. 

“Answer the door, dobe. I know she’s in there.”

Sakura felt like she was going to pass out. Her neck nearly snapped with how fast it turned to Hinata. “You have got to get me out of here.” 

Naruto placed his hand on Sakura’s shoulder, stopping her. “Woa, hang on there. You guys should probably just talk it out-”

“Absolutely not,” Sakura seethed, her anger once again rearing its head in Naruto’s direction. “I will throw you out of your windows and make lemonade while I watch you rebuild them in a day's time with your clones if you don’t take your hand off of me.” 

Naruto withdrew his hand like it had been burned, chuckling nervously. “You’re right, eh heh heh. Why don’t you and Hinata go upstairs and-”

“Cover for me, thanks, bye!” Sakura grabbed Hinata to run up the stairs. 

She raced as fast as she could to the guest room, planning her escape via the southern facing window. When she heard the front door open, she moved faster, wanting to get out before Sasuke sensed her chakra and wondered why she was here and not at work. Hinata disappeared back downstairs, probably to distract her new guest. It would look suspicious if Hinata didn’t welcome Sasuke. 

Before she could reach the end of the hallway, Sasuke materialized in place of the small end table, his cloak billowing behind him from his transportation. 

Sakura skidded to a halt in front of him, her heart pounding. If this morning wasn’t embarrassing enough, she had now been caught running away from him. She had never wanted to disappear more than in that moment. 

Sasuke wasted no time. He made the two steps it took to close the distance between them, gathering her to him with his one arm. Sakura squeaked. He ignored her, calling over her shoulder to Naruto and Hinata, “I’m taking Sakura home. See you guys later.” Then, with his left eye a blazing magenta, Sasuke pushed them backwards into a portal that dropped them straight into the living room of their apartment. 

As soon as their feet hit the floor, Sasuke set her down on the couch and took a step back. Sakura looked up from behind her hair. His stance was the one he took when facing a formidable opponent, waiting for them to either make the first move, talk, or decide for himself if he was going to make the first move. 

He decided to make the first move. “You were embarrassed about this morning and ran out of the house. When I sensed your chakra at Naruto’s, you didn’t want to see me enough to try and leave through an upstairs window.”

Sakura shook her head, no words available to her. She was devastated, embarrassed, and guilty beyond belief. The mix of emotions wound within her like wolves, biting and clawing at her resolve. Sakura felt smaller than she had ever felt in front of Sasuke, in all the years she had known him. She knew she couldn’t stop the tears, not any more. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her shoulders curving in. She had run. From him. Sakura felt like a failure. Tears fell onto her lap. “I’m so sorry, I-”

“You aren’t allowed to say that to me,” Sasuke said, immediately in front of her. He was on one knee, his hand cradling her face. His thumb pushed the tears into her skin and his eyes softened, but he still looked so angry. 

Sakura couldn’t stop the hiccup from tears held in too long, finally breaking free. “But I am. I made you uncomfortable this morning. I just forgot about it not being my day because I was still half asleep and that’s not an excuse, it’s just the truth, and then I ran and-” 

“I wasn’t uncomfortable, I was-”

“Yes you were! Kami, I walked in on you basically naked-”

“I wasn’t naked, I had a towel on-” 

“Barely! And I was completely inappropriate-”

“That’s not how I remember it-“

“That’s not the point-”

“Then what is your point?” 

“You looked like you wanted to throw up! Or…or run.”

Sasuke took a deep breath, his eyes closing. His hand flexed against her cheek, almost like he wanted to shake her. When he reopened them, his eyes were wide and intent swam within them. He was begging her to understand. “You didn’t make me uncomfortable. I made me uncomfortable.”

Tears slipped over Sasuke’s fingers. “I don’t understand,” she whispered, 

Sasuke's eyes squeezed shut and his head dropped. He looked defeated. Then, he groaned, low and deep in his throat, a sound of utter frustration. 

Sakura’s chin jerked back. She had never heard Sasuke make such a noise or seen such a reaction from him. She was pushing him, always pushing him, and the guilt was slowly eating her alive. Trying to smile, trying to sound like her cheerful, unaffected self, she said, “Sasuke-kun, it’s okay, we don’t have to-”

“Yes, we do.” His tone was final. 

Sakura paused. She had never felt so unsure in their ability to communicate until now. This was like walking in a minefield. She had no idea what to say or what to do. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. So, she stared dumbly up at Sasuke, hoping that he would say something, say anything, to help her understand. 

Sasuke didn’t look like he would be speaking anytime soon and of course, Sakura shouldered the burden. “Sasuke-kun…when you say that it was you who made yourself uncomfortable…” Sakura swallowed. “Does that mean you didn’t tense up…because of me?”

It felt like a thousand years before Sasuke nodded, his eyes still on the floor. 

“Okay,” Sakura whispered. She placed it on his wrist, squeezing it once. She felt better, but not much better. If he said it wasn’t her fault, she believed him. She couldn’t see how, but she tried to release the tension in her shoulders. 

Sakura could feel his pulse racing against his skin. “You don’t have to tell me anything else, Sasuke-kun.”

Sasuke made that frustrated noise again. This time, it was accompanied by words. “I am desperately trying to maintain some decorum. I am embarrassed because you have no reason to believe that my reaction to seeing you this morning was anything but negative. So please, can you stop being so goddam nice for a second? I made you cry again, so I don’t deserve it.” 

Sakura's whole body jerked back into the couch then, his hand slipping from her cheek. It was almost as if he had slapped her. As biting as Sasuke could be, he had never cursed at her. Ever.

He knew it too. The moment Sasuke finished speaking his eyes shot up, his expression wracked with guilt. She had seen this face only once before, while he bled out from his destroyed arm. 

Sasuke’s hand fell from where it was frozen in the air and flexed at his side. “I should never have said that. I am sorry. I’m always sorry.” He looked like he expected her to push him away, to say something much worse in return. He shielded his eyes before saying, “I am an idiot and angry at myself but never, never at you.” 

Sakura couldn’t control the whirlwind of emotions inside her. She was hurt, yes, but while Sasuke had never spoken to her like that before, he had also never apologized like that before, either.

Sakura lightly placed her hand on his. Sasuke sighed in reply, slowly flipping his hand to grasp hers. He stared at their intertwined hands, his thoughts racing behind his eyes. Sakura could see the internal struggle, his want to explain and his ineptitude with words battling. She tried to ease his conscience. “I forgive you Sasuke-kun, as long as you also understand that you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Not with me.” 

When he didn’t respond, Sakura lightly tapped the underside of his chin. Sasuke looked up at her after a moment, his eyes shuttered. “Sasuke-kun,” Sakura said, her voice playfully stern. “I mean it. I won’t forgive you if you don’t stop being embarrassed. I’ll never laugh at you and I’ll always listen.”

Sasuke tsked, but warmth was returning to his eyes. He shook his head ever so slightly, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was a soft look of wonder that never ceased to make Sakura feel whole. She could see her words weaving in his soul, convincing him that he could be at peace, that he could rest and be vulnerable with her. She felt more accomplished in that moment than she ever did performing surgery or defeating enemies. 

It took him a while, but eventually, Sasuke said, “I know. I apologize.” 

Sakura nodded and smiled reassuringly. She moved to stand, but Sasuke’s hand moved to her wrist, stopping her. She looked down, curiously, but let herself be gently guided back onto the couch. “Sasuke-kun?”

Sasuke took a deep breath. He didn’t look her in the eye when he spoke. “I…want to tell you. Why I was tense this morning.”

“You don’t have to,” Sakura counterred softly, always willing to offer him a way out. 

“I have to. You’ll think it’s your fault until I explain how it wasn’t.”

Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but she stopped, sighing, “You’re right.”

Swallowing audibly, he squeezed Sakura’s hand tighter as he spoke. “I was tense because I didn’t expect to see you looking at me like that and…like it.” Sasuke paused and, when he spoke again, his voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes secretive, like he was about to admit to doing something he shouldn’t have. “I wanted you. Physically. It was…evident. And I didn’t know what to do.”

Oh. 

Oh…he was…oh. 

Sakura flushed a million shades of pink and red. A deep breath filled her lungs as the heavy, lecherous guilt was chased away by a new emotion. Something akin to shame, but it felt too much like fun to really be shame. Maybe it was daring trepidation, maybe it was madness, but Sakura suddenly felt like giggling. 

Pushing those feelings down, Sakura found a warm sense of affection for Sasuke washing over her. Watching him struggle to explain that he was aroused reminded her of how young they were, of how much they had both missed being in the war, being away from each other. They didn’t get to go through the awkward stages of flirting or crushes with each other, with anyone. The world had other plans. Besides, Sakura didn’t look to other boys during puberty and she couldn’t imagine Sasuke doing anything either. 

Taking a deep breath, Sakura gave him a small smile, squeezing his hand in reassurance. “Sasuke-kun…it’s totally normal. I-” Sakura paused to push her hair behind her ear, unable to help another soft flush from rising to her cheeks as she tried to force a bit of Dr. Haruno into her voice. “I wouldn’t think less of you or think anything negative. It’s a completely normal reaction from your body.”

To her surprise, Sasuke nodded. Sakura noticed that if she looked very hard, a faint blush was also dusting the tops of the Uchiha’s ears, peeking up from where his hair had fallen forward, as well as his cheeks. He was satiated by her response, but he looked like he was drowning in awkwardness and self-deprecating thoughts.

Wanting to extend an olive branch, wanting to make him feel less alone, Sakura decided to bare herself a bit. “My body reacts to you, too,” she said breathlessly, watching him stiffen slightly.  She winced. “It’s a…good thing. For….couples.” 

The truth sat in the silence between them for a while. 

His next words were very quiet. “I shut everything off. Before. And now that I’m here…” Sasuke took a moment to gather his words. “I’m feeling so many things. Things I’ve never felt before.” 

Sakura felt her chest seize. She felt grief for the pain Sasuke had gone through, but she also felt overwhelmed with joy that he was experiencing new feelings with her.  “It’s okay to feel new things,” Sakura assured him, her hands reaching up to cradle his face. Her hands trembled slightly. “Don’t forget that I’m here too. You’re not alone in feeling new things, Sasuke-kun. I haven’t felt a lot of this before, either.”

Sasuke looked up at her finally. His eyebrows were still creased with unease, with the vulnerability in his admittance, with her own baring confession. Sasuke placed his hand over her left, gently removing it. Instead of letting it go, he held it tight against his chest. He pulled her back towards him until she was seated at the very edge of the couch, peering up at him with wide eyes. 

Even kneeling, Sasuke still towered over her. His cloak was splayed around him, like the cape of a hero. And to Sakura, he was a hero. His hair was away from his face and Sakura could see his features relax into the expression that always filled her stomach with butterflies and sent her heart galloping into her wildest dreams. The love in his eyes couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. 

“I feel safe with you, figuring it out with you,” Sasuke said, his face warming ever so slightly.

Sakura was entranced by his words. She beamed, unable to help it. “I…feel the same way.” Sasuke looked like he wanted to argue, so Sakura added quickly, “I do! Even if I still get nervous or flustered around you.” She grinned weakly, her cheeks heating. “You’re still so handsome and…and, well, you’re here, and I sometimes can’t catch my breath, but…” 

She pressed her hand over his heart and whispered, “I trust you.”

The kiss against her forehead was all she needed. It conveyed everything.

Sakura found herself home earlier than expected. When she received Sasuke’s message via hawk, she was more puzzled than anything. The note said, I overheard Naruto and Kakashi. Dinner for four, unfortunately. 

It was vague, but Sakura had just shaken her head and continued on with her day, a bit of excitement bubbling over at the thought of having an original Team 7 dinner. It had been so long since the four were together and Sakura was beside herself by the time five o’clock rolled around.

She was in the kitchen finishing up when Naruto burst through the front door, yelling “Honey, I’m home!”

Sakura looked over her shoulder to scold the blonde and hopefully greet her other guest and welcome Sasuke home, but it was only Naruto, swinging the door shut behind him loudly before plopping down at the counter. 

“Ne, Naruto! You’re thirty minutes early!” 

Naruto waved a hand at her. “Nah, I just beat the other two here. They had to double back for Sasuke to fill something out at Hokage Tower.”

She frowned, turning back to the pan on the stove. “What’s he filling out?” 

“He’s legally becoming the official head of the Uchiha Clan!” 

Sakura dropped her stirring spoon, whirling back around. “What! Kami, I had no idea…” Sakura felt her heart drop in her chest. She knew Sasuke wasn’t hiding anything from her, but she didn’t feel like a good partner, not knowing. Was she supposed to know? Had he mentioned it and she had forgotten? 

Sakura composed herself quickly, but Naruto watched her with a knowing look. “Sasuke found out he had the option today, Sakura-chan.” He stopped, his hand freezing in the air. “Actually, he’ll probably be mad that I told you before he could.”

Sakura’s smile was much easier when she turned back to face the stove. “Mmm, you’re probably right.” 

“I know I am, believe it!” 

Sakura grinned at the old adage, still alive and well in his vocabulary. “Yeah, yeah, Naruto. Make yourself useful and set the table, please?” 

Naruto quickly sprang into action, grabbing plates and chopsticks for four, delicately setting the china down. Sakura knew he was thinking of the first time he helped her set up for a dinner party where he broke several plates trying to show off for Hinata. 

Clones were no longer allowed in her apartment. 

Sakura placed the lid on the pan to let the meat and vegetables simmer before she turned to face Naruto, a soft smile on her face. He was carefully setting every cup and plate on the table, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. It was silly, but it warmed her heart to see him take such care with her things. 

Sakura sighed, a warmth blooming in her chest. She loved Naruto so much that it hurt. She loved him in a completely different way than Sasuke, of course. The love she had for Naruto was intimate, but it wasn’t romantic. It wasn’t just his friendship and loyalty, it was his part in bringing Sasuke home, helping him more than she ever could. It bound her to Naruto, forever in his debt. He would always be around, he would always be a part of her life, no matter what. She didn’t always know why or how it happened, it was simply the truth. 

Like Kakashi said, you didn’t need a reason to love someone. 

“So, Sakura-chan,” Naruto started. Immediately, Sakura knew he was up to something by the tone of his voice. “How’s it going living with the teme?”

Sakura should have known better. She popped her hip against the counter, her eyes narrowed. “Naruto, I’m fine. Stop butting in.” Under her breath she added, “And leave Sasuke-alone too.”

Naruto looked devastated. “Aw, c’mon Sakura-chan,” he said, drawing out the a in the honorific. “Sasuke barely tells me anything and you used to tell me everything! Everything sucks since he came home!” 

Sakura laughed, rolling her eyes. “Naruto, you love it that he’s back.”

“That’s not the point! He stole my best friend and you stole my best friend and well, it just sucks!” Naruto pointed a finger at Sakura who only looked back, unamused by his tirade. “That’s why we’re here! I don’t care if I spoil the plan! Kakashi-sensei and I demand to see you two in all your domestic bliss, you hear me?” 

So much for feelings of love, that moron. “You know how shy Sasuke-kun is,” she hissed at Naruto, taking a step towards him. “Do not embarrass him in his own home, Naruto, or so help me...”

Naruto had the nerve to stand straighter in the face of her anger. “We only plan to observe, Sakura-chan.”

She didn’t care for his high and mighty tone. She took a step forward. “Naruto, you meddling little-” 

The lock at the front door clicked and in walked Sasuke, followed by Kakashi. Sakura tried to maintain her anger at Naruto, but found her gaze softening. Her heart tripped over itself when she watched Sasuke’s eyes drift to hers. When he first came home, it used to amaze her that her heart would skip a beat each time she saw him, even if it had only been hours. Now, it was the comforting, I’m home, that made her heart work overtime. 

“Good Evening, Sakura,” Kakashi said, closing the door behind him. He shoved Sasuke lightly in the back, who merely grunted something about Kakashi taking his shoes off before he got dirt on Sakura’s new rug. He already looked weary of their teammates. 

Sakura’s grim expression morphed into a dazzling smile, taking in her three boys. “I hope you guys are hungry! I made a lot!” 

Kakashi gave her a crinkly-eyed smile and made his way over to Naruto. Sasuke walked past Kakashi and around to the other side of the kitchen, peering over her shoulder at the stove. 

His eyes warmed a fraction as he sighed, “It smells good.” 

Then, he slipped past her, his hand a ghost of a squeeze against the inside of her elbow. As he walked away, Sakura wondered if he purposefully went out of his way to hide his small version of a hello from their guests. Their normal hello hadn’t been that subtle in a while, but with Naruto’s plans in mind, it didn’t hurt. It almost felt like a fun secret. 

Sakura 1, Naruto 0. 

Naruto and Kakashi helped Sakura bring the food to the table, thanking her profusely. Sasuke gave her a look that said everything, and Sakura felt more than blessed. 

Naruto was the first to speak, his mouth full of half chewed food, his words aimed at the Uchiha. “I bet you remember our conversation every time you taste one of Sakura’s meals, huh teme.” Sakura looked up, confused, but Naruto continued on. “She’s such a good cook now, right?”

Sakura’s head whipped to Sasuke, wondering what on earth was going on, only to find him looking somewhat annoyed. “Funnily enough,” he said, his voice a low drawl. “I actually do think of that conversation whenever Sakura cooks.” 

Sakura flushed, keeping her face in her bowl, but she smiled softly to herself. 

“I for one love coming to Sakura’s for dinner,” Kakashi supplied nonchalantly. To this day, they never saw him raise his spoon or move his mask but, in the blink of an eye, his food would be gone. That evening was no different, his plate empty and the ice from his drink rattling in the glass as it settled. “It’s always nice to be able to see the tops of tables, for a change.” 

“We used to come a whole lot more,” Naruto grumbled, stuffing his face. 

Although Sakura felt a bit bad for not inviting Naruto over as often as she did before Sasuke returned, she did have to admit that their blonde friend was a bit overbearing for this new, delicate time in their relationship. She tried to compromise. “Why don’t we resume our Sunday dinners? We can switch locations if…” She paused, looking over at Sasuke. “....that’s alright with you?”

Sasuke nodded, swallowing. He looked blankly at Naruto. “Maybe it’ll get you to leave us alone.” 

Sakura laughed at Naruto’s false, astonished look. “You guys are the worst! All your friends want is to have some proof that you guys are normal!” 

“We aren’t, Naruto,” Sakura said, her eyes sparkling with a memory. “So, leave it be. Leave us be. Everything is fine, we’re good, I promise.” 

Kakashi, ever the instigator, said thoughtfully, “I thought whenever a woman says it’s fine, nothing is actually fine?”  

Sakura took a deep breath to steady herself. She was only mildly irritated at their intrusiveness. Her main concern was Sasuke. She didn’t ever want him to feel uncomfortable about them in their own home. She looked over at him to gauge his reaction, but he had none. He was already looking at her, waiting for her to continue their defense. When she turned back to Naruto, Sasuke closed his eyes, content to let her handle it. 

“See!” Naruto whined, slapping his hands on the table. He got a glare from both Sasuke and Sakura. “You guys are totally a team of two and I’m sick of you leaving me out!”

“We aren’t leaving you out,” Sakura said gently, her guilty feeling rising. She bit her lip, unsure of what to say, of what Sasuke was comfortable with her saying. Kami, she wished he didn’t trust her so much. “You see Sasuke-kun nearly everyday, Naruto.” 

“I want to see both of you! Plus, the bastard keeps you from me!” 

“You’re not banned from the house, dobe,” Sasuke said. He looked rather bored, but Sakura could see the irritation in the lines around his eyes. “You can come over. Give us warning and respect no.” 

He looked at Sakura. No one saw it but her, but his eyes softened. She dipped her chin at Sasuke ever so subtly before turning back to face Naruto. “Does that sound fair, Naruto?” 

The insanely powerful jinchūriki was pouting. “I guess,” he mumbled, moving to pick up his chopsticks. 

Kakashi sighed. “Ah, just like old times, but so different. It’s good to have my favorite students all grown up and alive.” 

Sakura giggled, the tension easing from her shoulders. “Kakashi-sensei, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you refer to us as your favorite students, plural.” She raised an eyebrow, smirking at his astonished expression. “Usually, you save it for whoever’s with you at that time.” 

He waved her off. “Nonsense. I would never do such a thing.”

And, just like old times, the three younger shinobi shared a look of exasperation with each other about their sensei. 

They finished dinner not soon after, Sasuke washing the dishes and Sakura drying. Their other two guests lounged in the living room, probably trying to eavesdrop without being noticed. They insisted on helping with dishes at first, but Sasuke shooed them away with a flick of his wrist, telling them to stop breathing down his neck. Kakashi responded by steering Naruto in the other direction. 

Sakura grabbed the last plate from Sasuke, eyeing the wall that separated the kitchen and living room. She was thankful that Naruto wasn’t visible at least, the overbearing but lovable idiot. She still wasn’t sure if he was pressed against the wall, or not. She looked up at Sasuke only to find his Sharingan activated, looking through the wall and tracking their chakra. Sakura couldn’t help but grin, shaking her head as she turned back to drying the dish. 

Feeling Sasuke’s head turn to her, she said quietly, “It’s kind of…funny, to see you use your eyes for something outside of battle or training.”

She looked back up. Sasuke was closer than she had previously realized, their shirts brushing. His eyes, now black and purple, were still trained on the wall. “When it comes to him, it’s always a battle.” 

Sakura chuckled, shaking her head in amusement. “You guys are the worst of frenemies..”

“I think our bond is super.”

“Oh, hush! I know Naruto can be annoying, but he loves you.” 

“I know. He always means well.” 

Sasuke usually didn’t say such nice things. Especially about Naruto. She eyed him suspiciously, before turning to put the plate away in the cabinet behind them. “I know. He’s just so-”

Sasuke’s chest brushing her back and his hand reaching around her to grab the plate from her hands stopped all words, all thoughts. He reached high above her to place the dish back on the shelf, his warmth disappearing from her back in nearly the same second, his hand ghosting across her hip as he went. 

Sakura let out a shaky breath. She felt colder without him behind her.  

“Mmm, I’m sure Sakura-chan sure loves having a tall man around to help her, huh Kakashi-sensei?”

Sakura whirled to find Naruto and Kakashi leaning against the opposite counter. Kakashi’s eyes danced and Naruto looked too smug for his own good. Sasuke didn’t respond, simply walking past them and into the living room with an air of indifference. 

“Of course I do,” Sakura said as primly as she could, walking into the living room.

She reluctantly handed over a point to Naruto. 

Once in the living room, Naruto’s childish antics came back with a vengeance. “Ooo, what should we do, guys? What about a movie night? With a pillow fort or a giant blanket and-”

“Movie, yes,” Sakura said, holding up her hand, smiling to herself. “But wreck our apartment, no.” She blushed when she said ‘our’. “You don’t clean up now any better than you did at twelve.” 

Sasuke huffed in agreement. 

Kakashi settled onto the couch, fiddling with the movies in the basket next to him. “There’s a couple of new ones in here I haven’t seen.” He paused, bringing his finger to his chin. “Although, I don’t see the new Icha Icha movie about-”

“Like I would have that, Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura said, rolling her eyes. She plucked one from his hands and tossed it to Naruto. “You gave me all of these for Christmas last year, so any of them should be good with you.”

Naruto exclaimed, not listening to a word she said, “Oh hey, I love this movie! Good taste, Sakura-chan!” 

She sighed, grinning at Sasuke’s rolling eyes. “Thank you, Naruto.” 

In the end, they did kind of make a pillow fort. Sakura pushed the coffee table to the side and pulled some extra blankets and pillows from the hall closet. Her, Naruto, and Sasuke sat on the floor with their backs against the couch, pillows behind their backs and underneath them, their feet stretched out beneath a blanket each. It was a nice little pallet they all could settle into. 

Said blankets were insisted upon by Naruto, making a remark about everyone keeping their hands to themselves. Sasuke slapped his arm on the way to the floor, his ears slightly red. Again, only Sakura saw his blush, but she didn’t say anything. She was too busy scolding Naruto. 

Sakura sat between Naruto and Sasuke, her hands dutifully holding the popcorn bowl for both of them. Kakashi of course was lazed out across her couch like he owned the place, his heels cocked against the armrest. The movie began and the four of them relaxed into themselves and into the comfort of the blankets and pillows. They were held in suspended ease, like time had reversed. 

Sakura had never felt more like her genin self. She closed her eyes and let herself imagine she was twelve years old again, watching a movie at Naruto’s apartment. She smiled, unable to help it, the feeling of then so tangible, it felt real. She could feel how Sasuke sat on her right, still and watchful with a body that radiated heat. She felt Naruto jab her side in excitement, his voice carrying over the movie much deeper but so much like Naruto, it left her image unshattered. Kakashi’s book’s pages flipped behind her, a constant sound to accompany her early adolescence. 

Sakura opened her eyes, her toes scrunching while she contained her joy. She was so happy, she nearly burst from the overwhelming sense of light, lovely, bubbling delight. She had her boys. Kakashi and the two of them, alive, well, and with her. It was more than she had ever asked for. She had fought with all of her might for it, and she had prepared to not get there. And now, living it, she blossomed. 

Sasuke knew something was on her mind during the movie. He had tapped her lightly against the back of her hand, his eyes inquisitive. She smiled, flipping her hand under the blanket to grasp his. “I’m just really happy,” she whispered, shrugging, but still unable to play at nonchalance. Her voice shook ever so slightly. 

Sasuke’s eyes softened, understanding etched in his features. He looked at her for a bit too long before giving her hand a light squeeze. 

As soon as the movie was over, he stood, turning the TV off, and kicked Naruto and Kakashi awake, telling them none too lightly to get out. 

Sakura chuckled under her breath. She was a bit excited to spend some alone time with Sasuke. He had seemed more than vigilant throughout the night. At times, he was downright staring. She was anxious to see where it led. 

Naruto grumbled, but he looked happier than she had seen him in a while. “Yeah yeah, let me say goodbye to Sakura-chan first.” He stood, offering her a hand up as well. He gave her a big squeeze, nearly lifting her into the air, before setting her back down on her feet. “Ah, thank you Sakura-chan! This is exactly what I needed.” His eyes twinkled when he pulled back. “Just like old times, huh?”

Sakura smiled, her chest warm. “Yep, just like old times.” 

Kakashi bid them both goodnight, ruffling their heads as he passed. Sasuke gave him a dark look, but Kakashi merely grinned, poofing from the spot as soon as he walked out the front door. Naruto quickly followed, his excitement to get back home to Hinata shouted over his shoulder as he ran out the door. 

Sakura took a deep breath in the silence, chuckling lightly. “We can do that once a week, right?”

Sasuke tsked. “I think you’ll need to drug me next time.” 

Sakura rolled her eyes, moving to pick up the blankets and pillows. Sasuke helped wordlessly, taking the pillows from her to put back up. He startled her when he said quietly, “It seemed like you really enjoyed the movie.”

She knew he wasn’t talking about watching some vague super hero defeat a dragon. She shrugged, smiling. “I just couldn’t believe how far we’ve all come. I closed my eyes and it felt exactly like it did when we were twelve, forced into Naruto’s apartment for bonding time.” She chuckled to herself, more memories replaying. “You probably didn’t enjoy them all too much, but I loved our few movie days.”

“I did.” When Sakura looked up from her folding, Sasuke clarified. “I enjoyed them. I couldn’t admit it to myself until after I left, but I always felt lighter.”

Sakura beamed. “Well, I hope you enjoyed this one too!”

Sasuke’s response was almost too quick, like he didn’t think it through. “It would have been better if it was just the two of us.”

Sakura felt her jaw drop slightly. She paused folding to look up at him, his back to her while he put the next stack of blankets in the hall closet. “If I didn’t know any better,” she called, a bit nervous with her teasing. “I would say that Naruto’s accusation of you keeping me from him has some truth.”

“Nonsense,” he said, walking over to take the last blanket for her. She could hear the air of amusement in his voice. 

Sakura grinned at the floor, biting her lip. She loved when Sasuke let her poke fun at him. It was intoxicating, seeing him willfully at her mercy, even with something so small. She walked over to the hallway and leaned against the wall, her heart jumping. Could she take it a step further? 

“It was nice having grown versions of you to keep me upright this time around,” she said, her eyes dancing. “I always slipped and fell asleep on one of you.”

Sasuke shut the door with a click, turning to face her, leaning against the wall himself. He smirked and said, “You fall asleep next to me every night, so what’s the difference?” 

Sakura felt scandalized by his words even when they were true. Flustered, she didn’t have a response. Sasuke knew it, his smirk growing while Sakura fumbled. She let out a breath, her smile still present. “You win, Sasuke-kun.” 

Sasuke huffed a light laugh. His shoulders were relaxed, he had one foot barely propped up behind him, and his free hand rested across his chest. He was the picture of content, a man who had found joy in peace. He looked like Sasuke might have looked all along, never having been plagued by death, pain, and hatred. 

It made Sakura take another step forward, almost as if she was drawn in against her will. Sasuke’s smile became the soft one she adored, his eyes like liquid power, swirling, testing, easing into letting his emotions loose. He looked happy, but he suddenly looked…more. 

Wanting. 

Sakura tilted her head back. Sasuke watched her, his lips parting. Slowly, she rested her hand on his chest, her eyes gauging his reaction. When he leaned into her touch, Sakura finally stood on her tip toes and pressed a kiss against his lips. 

Sakura felt like she was swimming through champagne. The ability to kiss Sasuke, for him to kiss her back, his hand a gentle caress against her waist, caused white, sparkling light to flicker behind her eyelids. Fireworks, in every sense of the word, every time they kissed. 

Sakura settled back onto her heels, her breathing a bit unsteady. Sasuke’s hand dropped to her hip, keeping her close enough to make her stutter. “I-I really had a good time tonight.” When she looked into his eyes, she poured as much love and adoration for him as she could into them, smiling with all of the joy of her heart. “Thank you.” 

Sasuke hummed, low and deep. He dropped his head to hers, his breath hot against her cheek.  “You’re welcome,” he whispered, his fingers flexing ever so slightly. 

Sakura swayed into the touch, swayed into him. Her hand splayed across his shirt. She nearly tore her hand back when his breath caught, but the heat of his chest and the feel of his heart racing beneath the chorded muscle kept it there. 

Sasuke didn’t seem to mind. He hummed again, the low sound vibrating her fingers. When she looked up, his eyes held all the warmth of the Uchiha clan, those that loved the most. He dipped his head to kiss her again. 

His lips were soft, he tasted like Sasuke, and Sakura felt like she was flying. 

His grip tightened and didn’t release, pulling Sakura closer. She gasped, her breath catching. Sasuke had started kissing her with a bit more vigor and more emotion the more they kissed, but he had never strayed from his normal placements. Lips on lips. Hands on her hip or her cheek. They never moved, not really. 

This time, his fingers touched the edge of her shorts before sliding over the curve of her hip. He traced the dip of her waist, and curved around her back to delve his fingers into her hair. He went up and down, tracing and retracing his path like he was committing her to memory. Sakura was shaking by his third pass. 

Then, he moved her. 

Sakura’s back pressed against the wall, Sasuke moving her with the speed of a shinobi, swallowing her small gasp as he kissed her deeper, his hand gripping her shorts at her hip tightly. He didn’t stop with just his hand touching her in new places. His lips trailed across her jawline, his breath hot and heavy against the skin of her neck. Sakura’s head tilted back of its own accord, hitting the wall with a light thud. 

It was magnetic, the way his body molded to hers. She could feel the hard planes of his stomach pressed against her, her hips pinned by his in a way that made her light headed. He kissed her with targeted strokes and nips that betrayed just how confident Sasuke had become when kissing her. 

Then, he gripped her thigh and pulled her leg up, their hips aligning in a way that made her stomach flip deliciously. 

Sakura immediately released a soft sound, her cheeks bright red, but Sasuke didn’t stop. He kissed her even harder, his breath hot and heavy as he held her there, his fingers pressed into the skin of her outer thigh, his fingers underneath the loose fabric of her shorts. 

So, Sakura did what she wanted. She slid her hands up his chest and wound them in his hair, tugging on the black locks to keep him close. His breath caught, and Sakura smiled into the next kiss, reveling in the reaction she pulled out of him. 

They were carried away, both of them knew it, but neither one of them wanted to stop. 

Eventually, Sasuke’s lips slid down her neck, pausing against her pulse, once, twice, three times before he gently leaned back, releasing her leg to fall gently back to the floor. 

Sakura stilled, her eyes watchful as Sasuke stood straighter, his eyes never leaving hers. His hand rose and rested against her cheek, cradling her face.

“Sakura,” he whispered, closing his eyes. He didn’t say anything else, but she understood. He was overwhelmed with new feelings, but he was trying. 

“That was a wonderful goodnight,” Sakura whispered, flushing. 

Sasuke merely hummed in response, his hand hesitantly reaching up. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear, his eyes soft, his cheeks slightly dusted with pink. 

Sakura bit her lip, her grin splitting her cheeks. No longer afraid or nervous, Sakura asked, “Are you ready to go to bed?” 

Sasuke nodded, turning to walk into their bedroom. His clothes had found themselves in two of Sakura’s drawers and Sakura took it as a good sign when he simply rolled with it. Sakura followed after, taking her things and heading to the bathroom. Their night time routine changed when Sasuke began sleeping in her bed. She got ready for bed in the bathroom and Sasuke took her room. 

Their room, now. 

They crawled beneath the blankets and sought one another. Sakura ended up with her hand in Sasuke’s, resting on his chest. Her nose skimmed the skin near his collarbone and her cheek was pressed into his arm. He squeezed her hand, kissed her forehead, and softly told her to go to sleep. 

Sakura’s eyes closed immediately, his warmth lulling her to sleep.

Chapter Text

Sasuke was in the Hokage’s office on a rainy Thursday reviewing yet another set of documents about the war. For the third time that morning, Sasuke found his thoughts drifting from the task at hand. Every time he blinked or paused, all he saw was the exact shade of pink Sakura’s hair was when it had been gilded in the rising sun earlier that morning. When he opened his eyes, he was consumed with affection for the pink haired kunoichi. While asleep, her brows weren’t furrowed and she didn’t look tired from her shifts at the hospital. She looked peaceful, warm, and content, simultaneously causing Sasuke to feel the same. It was her aura, always comforting, always safe, always for him. 

Of course, he had gotten out of bed before he did something he had no business doing yet. Like kissing her. In bed. In their bed. Maybe on top of her. 

Definitely not. 

“Sasuke.”

He looked up from the papers in front of him, blinking. “What?”

“You’re blushing,” Kakashi remarked, his head tilting to the side. “Did you have a good morning?”

Sasuke glared and pushed the paper aside to pick up another one. “Not in the way you’re thinking, you pervert.” Then, he grumbled under his breath, “She was your student.”

“Just rooting for you, that’s all,” Kakashi replied, not fazed in the slightest. 

Naruto chuckled. “Well I had a great morning. In exactly the way he was thinking!” 

“Did you use clones again?” Kakashi asked curiously.

“No, Hinata about fainted last time.”

Sasuke ground his teeth and tried to concentrate on the next map. His pencil flipped back and forth between his fingers for a moment before crossing out a few inaccuracies from the area he was at before he encountered the Sage of Six Paths. He added about six more points of interest, but very nearly broke his pencil when he heard a particularly suggestive comment from the jinchuriki. 

Sasuke stared at the map, unmoving. He felt uneasy. This type of guy talk didn’t feel accessible to him. It made him feel less than, like he wasn’t the same kind of man Naruto and Kakashi were. He of course always insisted that he was better, but with women? He didn’t have anything to contribute. He didn’t want to, but he wanted to be able to. 

“So teme, let’s set some ground rules,” Naruto said, bringing Sasuke out of his thoughts. 

“Ground rules?” Sasuke cleared his throat. “For what?”

“You talking about Sakura-chan, that’s what!” Naruto slapped his hand on the table before pointing it at Sasuke. “She’s like a sister to us so I don’t want to hear anything about your bedroom time, got it?”

Sasuke glared. “I don’t plan on ever talking to you about sex. And, like I’ve said, it’s not like that.” 

His yet went unspoken, making Naruto grin. 

Flustered, he continued. “So, if this is an attempt to get me to say anything, there’s nothing to say.” 

Naruto still didn’t look convinced. “I don’t believe you! You undress her with your eyes when you think no one is looking.” 

“I have not.”

Sasuke was appalled. He knew better than to behave like that in public and he sincerely doubted he ever undressed her with his eyes. 

Well. He might have imagined it when he was alone. He thought about undoing the pins on the shoulder of her usual dress. He had watched her fiddle with them a few times during dinner or on a walk. He never let himself think too long about what he would see when the red fabric parted. He had slowly developed a slight madness for those damned pins. Watching her mess with them made his mind wander. Could he undo them with just one hand? What sounds would she make? Would she blush, or look coy. 

Blush. Definitely blush. 

“Do you even want to?” Naruto cocked his head to the side, his expression falling. “Ah, poor Sakura-chan. Didn’t want to think about it, but now I’m just sad she won’t-”

“Of course I do,” Sasuke snapped, not thinking. “I’m not a fucking statue.” 

Naruto’s jaw looked like it might touch the floor. 

Sasuke closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose, trying to calm his ever rising wave of anger. “I’m still a man, and Sakura is…Sakura.” 

Naruto was still speechless.

Kakashi, however, looked mildly amused. “I for one have always thought that you both would make beautiful children.”

Sasuke’s head tilted to face Kakashi, his expression utterly unamused. “You’re far too kind.” 

He glanced at Naruto. “I’m not talking to you guys about Sakura like that. Ever. So, get your information from somewhere else.” He then added in an afterthought, “She’ll probably tell Hinata and she’ll tell you, and you’ll tell Kakashi, so there.” He smirked, happy with this outcome. “You both can leave me alone.” 

Naruto’s expression morphed into one of absolute delight. “You’re right! Sakura tells her when major stuff happens, so I’ll definitely know when you guys start making babies!”

Sasuke frowned. “What does she tell Hinata?” 

Naruto waved his hand in dismissal. “Oh, nothing too dirty, don’t worry. “

“Naruto.” 

When he noticed Sasuke was seriously asking, Naruto looked past him, thinking. “Well, she mentioned that Sakura ran into you before you saw her at our house.” He narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. “Hey, why didn’t you say anything about that!”

“It wasn’t important.” Then, he added, “It also embarrassed her. So don’t ask her about it.” 

Naruto grinned. “Uh huh, okay. Um, what else? She told me when you moved in, although it was after I already found out.” His grin turned mischievous. “She told me when you guys kissed for the first time. Hinata was literally screaming, she was so happy.”

Sasuke felt the tips of his ears redden. 

“She came home with the biggest smile and shouted that she had just heard the best news and that you totally loved Sakura-chan. Of course, then I was like yeah, duh, but she explained how you let her be with you, you know, on that day, and that you guys kissed and it all made sense!” 

Naruto kept talking, oblivious to his friend turtling beneath his cloak. “Hinata went on and on about how Sakura-chan was so happy you let her in. Although Sakura never admitted it exactly, apparently her smile and mannerisms when Ino pushed her about whether or not you’d kissed totally spilled the ramen! Hinata said the whole time she was trying to, and I quote, ‘not burst from the seams’ with happiness or whatever.” 

Sasuke’s head slowly lifted. He stared into nothing, reprocessing Naruto’s words. Hinata wouldn’t lie to her husband, so it had to be true. Sasuke felt a weird sensation in his stomach and he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. 

He had made Sakura that happy? So happy that her friends were proclaiming it the best news? 

He laid his palm on the table and sat back in his chair further. He didn’t know why, but he said to the two other men in the room, “I always thought she’d eventually grow tired of me sooner than later. Of waiting for me to be… normal. And she’d ask me to go and not come back.” 

And I would, he thought to himself. 

“Don’t be surprised, Sasuke,” Kakashi said, his eyes uncharacteristically soft for the jounin. “Sakura has loved you for a long time. The love that means she only wants to see you happy and safe.” His eyes crinkled from his smile. “You’re happy with her and safe in the village. She’s living the dream.” 

Sasuke closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. What he was doing was enough. He felt a sense of pride burning in his chest, so opposite from the cold bite of shame whenever he saw a couple holding hands on the opposite side of the street, or when Naruto tugged Hinata closer in front of everyone, not a thought in his head besides showing his wife how much he loved her. Sasuke knew that would never be him. He would never be so open, not like others. 

He could blame it on his formal upbringing or his time spent in solitude, but Sasuke knew that it was the fear of losing a loved one. The last time he had loved so deeply, held such a desire to be in someone’s presence, his entire family was still alive. Losing them all in one fell swoop left scars on Sasuke that would never heal fully. For him, experiencing love became too intertwined with the pain of losing his family, and he lost any desire to extract one from the other. Even now, loving Sakura deeply, he still felt some pain. 

But, he was slowly learning. When they were alone, it was much easier. She helped him relax, her easy smiles and endless patience a safety net he never expected he would want or need. It was more than he could ever ask for, and he was eternally grateful for her love. 

“I’m glad she’s happy,” Sasuke finally said. He looked up. “You both know her best, so it means something to come from both of you.” 

Kakashi cocked a brow. “I think that title is finally falling on your shoulders. You seem very attuned to her.”

Sasuke felt like a bug under a microscope with the way Kakashi was looking at him. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve eavesdropped a few times. You both communicate very well.”

“I knew I saw you outside her office window the other day,” Sasuke grumbled, thinking back to the gray flash disappearing behind Sakura’s shoulder when he brought her lunch. 

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. “They totally have some kind of mind communication thing going on, that’s for sure!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, finally returning back to the task at hand. 

That was, until Kakashi said something taboo. “I was actually surprised at how willing she was to look at your eyes, considering the genjutsu you placed her under.”

Sasuke took a steadying breath, his fingers gripping the pen tighter. “I asked her why she wasn’t afraid and she punched me, so I guess there’s that.” 

Naruto snickered. “Sounds like Sakura-chan.”

Sasuke wasn’t listening. He was too busy battling the shame clawing its way through him. He hadn’t really apologized to Sakura for that particular sin yet. 

Fucking Kakashi. 

Sasuke made it home before Sakura, so he brought home take out. It was a simple noodle dish, but he knew she liked it when he managed dinner, regardless of what he brought home. Sasuke felt the need to do something for her, to show her that he was home for good, that he wasn’t the same person. He had no idea how making sure dinner was ready when she got home could contribute to that cause, but it felt right doing it. 

His guess was confirmed when he saw Sakura’s face light up as soon as she walked in the door. 

“Oh, that smells wonderful, Sasuke-kun,” she called, setting her things by the door. She breezed over, stopping just in front of him to kiss his cheek. Her smell of vanilla, antiseptic, and the floral hand lotion she always used assaulted his senses. When she leaned back, it was her eyes, wide open and trusting, staring straight into his own cursed ones that unsettled him the most. “Thank you for grabbing dinner, I was starving!”

Sasuke hoped his response was decipherable. He felt frozen on the spot. 

Sakura merely smiled up at him, unaware of his internal struggle. She ran a hand down his half-arm when she walked past him, letting him know she was going to freshen up before dinner before disappearing down the hall. 

Sasuke didn’t let out a breath until he heard the door close. He shakily plated their meal and took it to the table, his back stiff. He figured he should talk to her, tell her how he felt, but he didn’t know how to broach the topic. She had already said she wasn’t afraid of him, but he selfishly wanted to hear it again. He needed to hear it. He needed to know if she thought his eyes were the most hideous thing she had ever seen, especially after the hideous things he had done with them. 

He thought they were. 

Sakura returned shortly, sitting down with a smile and flourish of her hands, looking excitedly at their dinner. Sasuke managed to keep his face neutral, but everytime he made eye contact with Sakura, he found himself looking down, his memories of the war and of putting her under his genjutsu in the harshest of ways plaguing him. 

Only a few minutes into dinner, he knew that Sakura figured out that something was wrong with him. She had looked at him a bit too long with a tilt of her head. Sasuke braced for her to bring it up, but she didn’t. She continued talking about her day like nothing was wrong. She never stopped trying to look him in the eye and her smile never faltered. 

It wasn’t until they finished the dishes that she finally asked him something. She looked up, her expression shy as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Would you like to go for a walk?”

A sense of relief flooded him and Sasuke nodded. Of course she knew what he needed before he did. “I’d like that.”

Sakura's smile grew. “Okay, let’s go!”

They quickly donned their shoes and cloaks and set out. Sasuke set the path towards the main gates, wanting to get out of the village for a while. Sakura dutifully followed after, never uttering a word. She always waited for him to speak and Sasuke always appreciated her for it. 

Sasuke had shared memories of his family on their last few walks, a light topic compared to some of the others. Sasuke glanced at Sakura as they passed beneath the main gates, wondering if she thought he was going to share something else personal and important to him. He hoped he didn’t disappoint her. 

They walked in the forest outside Konoha for about an hour before Sasuke finally spoke. “I have been struggling today,” he admitted softly. 

Sakura nodded. “I thought so.” 

Sasuke sighed, his chest heavy. He placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping them both. Sakura looked up, waiting for him to continue. She looked so patient, so understanding, and so boldly into his eyes, that Sasuke finally felt the ability to explain. “I’ve been feeling guilty over casting the genjutsu on you during the war. Kakashi said something today and I…” He shook his head, his eyes closing. “I just can’t get it out of my head.” 

Sakura slid their hands together and held them between them. “I forgave you, Sasuke-kun. I will always forgive you. You have nothing to feel guilty about anymore.” 

Sasuke felt his shoulders shake with the effort to keep still. Her words helped, but they weren’t the words he needed to hear. Sasuke still felt like a villain, holding her gaze.

“Is there something else, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura asked, stepping closer. Her free hand cupped his cheek, but he still couldn’t look her in the eye. 

He could almost hear her frown. “You…you’ve been avoiding looking at me all day. Is that part of it?” 

Sasuke grumbled under his breath, simultaneously wanting to call Sakura annoying and congratulate her on being the person who knew him best. He looked up at her then, letting his vulnerability show. “You know me too well.” 

Sakura hummed, a small smile gracing her lips before falling into a more serious line. “I could see you avoiding eye contact like you used to, but it seemed more reactionary than before.”

Sasuke felt his shoulders sag. He said, his voice full of self-hate, “I just couldn’t understand how you can stand to look me in the eye.” 

Sakura looked crushed. Her hands flew to Sasuke’s cheeks, keeping his head from falling in shame. “No, no, don’t think anything like that, Sasuke-kun.” She pressed her forehead to his, her words rushed. “Kami, you have no idea how much I am enthralled by them. I could watch the tomoe swirl forever. You communicate so much with them and no one cares to pay attention but I…” 

Sasuke heard her swallow before she said quietly, “I love your eyes.” 

After letting her words sink into him for a few moments, Sasuke pulled one hand from his cheek and held it at his side. He looked at her and felt more love than hate for the first time all day. 

“Sasuke-kun?”

“Mm.”

“Do…do you trust me?”

Sasuke didn’t need to respond. She knew he did and that she could do or say whatever she wanted to. 

“I want you to place me under a genjutsu,” Sakura whispered. 

Sasuke paled, his heart stopping. He dropped her hand in shock and anger. Why would she ask him that? “Absolutely not, Sakura.” 

“Why not,” she argued back. Her eyes begged him to listen, so he did. “You need to prove to yourself that your eyes can do more than just hurt people, Sasuke-kun. And, you need to understand that I’m honestly not afraid of you and I’ve truly forgiven you.” 

“I know that,” Sasuke said, shaking his head. 

“No,” she said, her smile sad. “You don’t.” She regained the distance he had placed between them and boldly tilted his head until they were in a deadlock, her eyes captivating. He saw her fierce will to prove herself to him. “You know that I’ve forgiven you, you just can’t let yourself believe it. You haven’t even forgiven yourself.” 

Sasuke closed his eyes, turning away. He felt broken, undone by the woman in front of him. Because she was right. He hadn’t forgiven himself, so he never understood how she could have forgiven him. The vicious cycle was never ending and he hadn’t been able to get himself out. He might never be able to. 

“Your eyes aren’t just weapons, Sasuke-kun,” she whispered. “They’re gifts. And you can use them for wonderful things.” He felt Sakura smile through her next words. “In the scroll about the sharingan, I read about a father’s love for using it to put his son to sleep. He would make fairytale stories and show his son memories.” She paused to take a breath, her tone pleading with him to understand. “Your eyes can be used for love, Sasuke-kun.” 

Sasuke was overwhelmed, but he opened his eyes. Sakura was looking at him, her resolve only strengthening when mismatched eyes latched onto green. 

“Prove that your eyes are capable of more,” she said, her hands dropping. She grasped his hand with both of hers and raised it to her cheek, pressing it into her skin. “I trust you.”

Sasuke was under her spell. Maybe that’s what influenced the direction of his genjutsu. 

Sakura’s POV

Sakura opened her eyes with a gasp, her mouth breaking into a wide grin. He had done it, he had really, really done it!

Sakura stood in the middle of a stunning meadow, the grass a pale green with soft wildflowers growing everywhere. The pink cherry blossom trees and green maples at the meadow’s edge were like a rim around the pale blue dome of the sky. The robin’s egg color was warm and inviting, asking her to lay down and cloud watch while the sun sparkled overhead.

Sakura felt entranced by the beauty surrounding her. The sun cast rays across the meadow, like spotlights of life and warmth, dazzling the dewy grass beneath her feet. Sakura could feel the cold of winter’s last breath like a ghost against her ankles, but her face felt warm in the shifting beams, dancing across the meadow with the movement of the clouds. She couldn’t help but laugh, spinning around to take it all in, the overwhelming feeling of spirit in the air intoxicating. 

“I’m glad you like it.”

Sakura whirled around to find Sasuke standing a few feet away, leaning against a flowering tree that hadn’t been there moments before. His hand was in his pocket and he looked relaxed, his eyes dancing with amusement. 

She walked over to him, bubbling over with excitement. It had worked. “I love it, Sasuke-kun!” She sidled right up to him and grinned, victory in her eyes. “I told you.” 

Sasuke smiled and shook his head. It only encouraged Sakura further. She poked him in the chest. “Look around, Sasuke-kun! You made the most beautiful place I think I’ve ever been.” Sakura looked around again, still taking in the breathtaking views around her. “It’s truly so beautiful…”

Sasuke tapped her arm and Sakura turned back around. Sasuke’s mismatched eyes glittered in the sunlight. “You are the inspiration behind it,” he said quietly, his small smile secretive. His cheeks were dusted with pink. 

Sakura felt her heart stop in her chest.

Sasuke continued, looking down at her with warm eyes. “Your namesake, your birthday, your entire personality; they are all the embodiment of Spring. You rejuvenate those who’ve been cold and you bring life back to the dead.” Sasuke let out a breath and said, almost as if he were in a trance, “I thought to myself before that you were brighter than the sun and more beautiful than any flower, and this is what my eyes created.” 

Sakura couldn’t stop the tears from forming. She quickly blinked them away, her soul soaring.

“Thank you, Sasuke-kun,” she whispered, grasping his hand. When she composed herself, she looked up at him and smiled, more in love with him than she had ever thought possible. 

Sasuke squeezed her hand.  “I don’t tell you enough about what I think about you.”

Sakura blushed, her eyes darting to the side and back to him. “I see it here. I can feel it.” And she could. It was everywhere around her. A shifting of shadows and light, but never darkness, and filled with a peace that only being together brought. 

Sasuke looked drunk in it, his stance lazy while he gazed down at her. Sakura felt dizzy as well. When Sasuke spoke next, she felt even dizzier. 

“You are beautiful,” Sasuke whispered. His thumb glided over her cheekbone. His eyes roamed her face and he breathed in deeply, tilting his head forward. He closed his eyes and muttered, “I always thought you were.” 

Sakura was a trembling mess. She couldn’t stand to hear the enchanting words, not when her knees were already so weak. She clutched at Sasuke’s shirt and fell forward, her forehead falling to his neck. His hand slipped behind her head and held her to him, his chest rumbling with what felt like a chuckle.

“Don’t make fun, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura whined, trying to be mature. She lightly punched his chest, making Sasuke laugh out loud. “You can’t blame me for falling apart when you say such nice things about me!” 

Sasuke peeled Sakura from her chest and smiled her favorite smile. Sakura thought he might kiss her, but instead, he poked her forehead. 

Sakura bit her lip and smiled, her hand rising to her forehead. 

Much better than a kiss. 

“Let’s go,” he said. 

Sasuke took her hand and pulled her away from the tree, leading her across the endless meadow. She clutched at his arm and smiled at the beautiful flowers and sunny pastures, but what made her the most happy were the plentiful amounts of cherry blossom trees, darting the horizons in all directions. They walked for what seemed like hours, knowing that the time passing in their real bodies would only be minutes. 

Sasuke spoke after a while. “Can I tell you my thoughts from the war?”

Sakura looked up, her eyes softening. He needed to get more off of his chest. “Of course, Sasuke-kun.”

His eyes searched hers. “It is dark. I want you to prepare yourself.”

Sakura squeezed his arm. “I am always ready to listen to you, no matter what.” 

Sasuke nodded and began walking again, his eyes forward. “After meeting the previous four Hokage, I made the decision to join the ninja fighting against Obito and Madara.” He paused, then spoke clearly, but quietly. “I did not expect nor desire to return from the war.”

Sakura felt her heart break. No. “S-Sasuke-kun…” 

He stopped walking again and Sakura’s hand fell from his arm. She quickly turned, facing him, unsure of what to do, of what to say. She felt tears sting her eyes, but she held them at bay. She had to be strong for Sasuke. 

“I was on the path of no return,” Sasuke said, his eyes on the ground. “My desire was to make the ultimate sacrifice to at least stop Madara. But when we did survive, when we saved everyone... I couldn’t take it.” His eyes had gone cold. “Everyone survived.” 

“The elders,” Sakura said quietly. “The Kage.” 

He glanced at her, a yes. “My belief at the time was that a true Hokage shouldered the hatred of others and did what was in the best interest of all, regardless of the stain it left on their soul. In the darkness. I saw the kage continuing the quest for power and control, continuing the atrocities they committed without check. The horrible things they allowed. The lives they played with. I wanted them all dead.”

It took Sakura a moment or two to articulate her thoughts in a less bloody way. She still wanted to kill the elders. “I… I can understand that.” 

“It doesn’t mean I was right.” 

“No,” said Sakura. “But… I get it. How you felt was… understandable.” 

Sasuke grimaced. “My actions weren’t.” 

“But there was Naruto,” Sakura said with a small smile, eyeing a particularly orange flower. 

Sasuke tsked. “He was always there. One of two who cared enough about me to try and save me from the hatred and foolishness of my thoughts and desires. It made me mindless with anger, that Naruto of all people, the dobe, thought he could convince me otherwise.” 

“And thank Kami he did,” Sakura said, her fingers pressing into his hand with a light squeeze. 

His eyes flickered back up to Sakura’s. “But not before I hurt you.”

“Sasuke, the genjutsu wasn’t the worst I’ve ever been through,” Sakura insisted, the words tumbling out. “You didn’t… hurt me. Not in there.” 

Sasuke didn’t look convinced. “It was the intent, Sakura. At that point, I still needed to go deeper. I had to become the object of all hatred and I was close, but you…” Sasuke trailed off and looked at her with the strangest mix of agitation and affection. “You never hated me. Even after everything I did to you. You proved it by proclaiming your love for me again.” 

He looked up with remorse staining his features. “I couldn’t let you love me the way I was. I didn’t want it, I didn’t deserve it, and it hurt.” 

Sakura closed her eyes, her lower lip trembling. She hated that Sasuke ever felt like that. 

“You reminded me of everything I had lost.” He barely spoke above a whisper. “I couldn’t have you follow me into the darkness, not when you had done everything in your power to keep me in the light. That’s…” Sasuke swallowed. “That’s why I had to put you under such a powerful genjutsu. Otherwise…”

Sakura nodded, sadly. She already knew. “I would have followed you both to the Valley of the End.”

“Yes.” 

Sakura met his gaze, searching. “There was no pain in the genjutsu, Sasuke-kun. I didn’t feel the sting of electricity from the chidori and I never felt discomfort or agony. I could feel you wanting to hurt me, but you couldn’t. The pain came from being pushed away from you. Again.”

Sasuke's shoulders fell and his head hung in shame. 

“But,” Sakura said, stepping forward. “I’ve thought about it a lot, too. I would have chased you both and I would have gotten in the way. I probably would have died. And you both never would have come back from that.” 

The haunted look in his eyes confirmed it. 

Sakura placed her hand on Sasuke’s cheek. She took a deep breath and poured every ounce of emotion into her eyes. “You may not see it, but everything you did was out of love. For your family. For Itachi. For innocents. You never wanted to hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it and some people really, really deserved it.” 

Sasuke made a noise of disagreement. “I was insane. I went mad with revenge. It wasn’t love.” 

“What else could have driven you to revenge besides your love for your family,” Sakura insisted, her voice soft as she pressed her fingers into his skin. 

Sasuke was quiet. She could see him musing through her words, her conclusions. Sakura held still and let him work through his emotions, her thumb grazing across his cheek in comfort. She knew for a long time that it was love that drove Sasuke. He loved his family so much, he couldn’t bear to move on until he had avenged them. He loved Itachi so much, he tried to take on the crooked mantle Itachi had created for him. 

His love for Itachi was what broke him in a way Sasuke would never recover from fully. The, ‘what if I had known?’ would always haunt him. 

Eventually, Sasuke closed his eyes and nodded. When they reopened, Sakura blinked and they were back in the forest outside of Konoha. Sakura’s hands were at her sides, but Sasuke wasn’t in front of her anymore. 

He was behind her, her body leaned back against him ever so slightly, her head resting against his chest. His hand was warm, pressed to her hip, his arm across her waist, but it was nothing compared to how warm he was behind her. 

Sasuke’s hand intertwined itself with hers and gently turned her towards him all at the same time, relaxing their hands together in the barely significant distance between them. 

His eyes opened slowly, his Sharingan fading. Sasuke looked like the weight he had been carrying all day had evaporated. He seemed taller, even when he leaned down to whisper, “Thank you.” 

Sakura squeezed his hand and smiled, her eyes sparkling. “You’re welcome.” 

He kissed her, something soft and sweet. 

Their walk home was silent, but not with the tension of earlier. It was a quiet ease that the other’s company provided that followed them home. The sun was setting by the time they saw Konoha’s gates and when Sasuke opened the front door, the sky was splashed in hues of purple, pink, orange, and navy.

Sakura stretched, humming. “That was a good walk,” she said, wriggling her fingers in the air. She turned around when she heard Sasuke make a noise. “You don’t agree?” 

He sighed, straightening from removing his sandals. “I do.” He looked tired.

“Mmm.” Sakura leaned towards him to run her fingers across his cheek. “I’m ready to go to bed. Are you?” 

Sasuke nodded, giving her a grateful yet knowing look as he passed her by. “I’ll be a few minutes,” he said, walking to the bathroom. 

“I’ll be waiting,” Sakura whispered, smiling into her hand. 

Sasuke’s POV

Sasuke woke up before Sakura and couldn’t stop staring. Of course, it wasn’t the first morning he had found himself in this position. Unknowingly, he had started a new morning ritual, one he did alone and only when he woke up first. His eyes and his mind would drift to the present Sakura, committing her to memory without the use of his sharingan. 

It wasn’t needed. He already had her image imprinted in his mind, at every stage of life. Maybe he would add the next image to his collection when she became a mother or got wrinkles. For now, Sasuke had moved on to memorizing her person, her soul, her strength. 

After three months of living with Sakura, he was utterly mesmerized by every bit of her, and it was all her fault. 

Sasuke cataloged everything he loved about her, intent to fully understand the woman she had become. Her kind smile and sweet disposition, frustratingly softening him with every occurrence. Her strength and grace, mixing in training like she was a dancer, her choreographed moves splintering trees and powdering boulders with only a pair of gloves. He had never seen a kunoichi like her and knew he never would again. 

He thought about how Sakura was one of a kind and not just because of her battlefield prowess. Her spirit and will were even stronger than her fists. Her cutting feelings towards herself had grown into confidence and surety, her knowledge and knowhow tested and proven both in battle and as a medic. The overflowing emotions of her youth had been sharpened into tools to care and protect the village and people she loved. 

Sasuke thought that she was the most admirable shinobi he had ever met. He thought she was the strongest person he had ever met, enduring his hatred and fury, enduring being the odd member out of Team 7, enduring her own self-punishing thoughts, all to become strong enough for herself.  

Sasuke looked down at Sakura, sleeping peacefully on her back, her left hand held within his right. His chest hurt when he looked at her, alive and whole and gloriously happy. He could see it the night before when he tugged her closer, just before she fell asleep. She looked like she had won the lottery when she closed her eyes, her cheek on his chest. 

Maybe it was his thoughts and maybe it was the stunning shade of viridian when Sakura’s eyes slid open that drove him to his next action, Sasuke wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he was thankful he was alive, that he had survived, just long enough to see Sakura’s sleepy, love addled gaze. 

“Good morning, Sasuke-kun,” she whispered, not awake enough to notice how close he had gotten. 

“Good morning,” he whispered, pressing his lips to hers. 

He kissed Sakura awake, her eyelids fluttering open before slamming shut, her hands timidly rising from underneath the blanket to clutch at his shirt. She kissed him back, her hands more sure, her movements less shy than normal. 

Sasuke’s hand fell beside her shoulder, dropping the upper half of his body over her with a twist of his hips. He wanted to climb on top of her, but he forced the thought back, his hand clenching and unclenching in the sheets. 

He had to hold himself in check every time they kissed. Each time, his resolve struggled to hold. He wanted to take it slow, to not push himself, not take his time making things up to Sakura before he took advantage of her love for him. It was all her fault that he was struggling. She was alluring, strange, and fascinating like this. All he wanted to do was try something new and see what else they could do together. 

Usually, those kinds of thoughts scared him. That all changed in the heat of the moment that morning when Sakura’s hand gripped his hip and pulled, her monstrous strength barely a factor as he settled over her, their kiss breaking. 

Sasuke was panting, but he didn’t move. He didn’t want to scare Sakura before, but now that she had moved him… 

The two of them stared at each other, their chests brushing with the rush of air they craved after finally parting. Sasuke watched Sakura’s eyes steel, ready to accept whatever Sasuke wanted next, whether it was to get off of her or continue. 

Continue? He looked at her posture. She was relaxed underneath him, one hand still on his hip and the other gently placed on the shoulder with his half arm, probably unaware that she was helping brace him. She didn’t look like she wanted him to move or get off of her. His eyes fell down to their bodies, taking in a sharp breath when he realized there was barely any space between them. Her shirt had ridden up, baring more than a sliver of skin of her stomach, and he had a knee between her legs as he held himself aloft. A bit of shame washing over him, unsure of how he deserved to be so close to her. 

Then Sakura smiled, warm and sleepy, and the shame was gone in a flash. He gave her a small smile and lowered his head, thankful his mind came up with two options. 

His smile turned into a smirk when Sakura’s head rose up to meet him halfway, her eyes immediately closing and his at the last second, taking her in. He kissed her softly, tentatively, consciously. He wasn’t lost in a haze, he was lost in her, in feeling something so opposite of hate. It pulled on his heart and body, and he knew that even if he didn’t deserve this, Sakura did, and he wanted to give it to her. 

He felt like he was floating while he sank lower onto her. 

Sasuke didn’t think about pressing down or letting his weight drop on top of her. He didn’t think about what she probably felt in his shorts while her hips cradled him, her knees on either side of his waist. He didn’t think about how he was coasting his hand against her skin instead of over her shirt. He didn’t think about how he should have asked, not when her back arched to keep pushing his hand higher and higher. He didn’t think about anything other than her and the small, little gaspy noises she kept making and how she felt underneath him. 

So he touched. He felt. He fell. 

When Sasuke felt like he was going to pass out from lack of air and excess of her, he pulled away. He couldn’t move far, not with her arms around his neck and in his hair. He moved to kiss each of her cheeks and her forehead, then made a second round, catching her eyelids and chin. She laughed by the time he reached her nose and Sasuke couldn’t help but laugh too. It was a small huff of amusement, but he couldn’t help it. 

He was so stupidly happy. It was like his boiling blood from moments ago had turned into rays of sunshine, just from hearing her laugh and waking up with her like this. 

He leaned back and smiled, his hand cradling Sakura’s cheek. She smiled up at him, her hands now resting on his hip and on her stomach, biting her lip in an obvious attempt to keep her excitement in check. She couldn’t help it and let out a small laugh. The sound bubbling out from happiness caused his thoughts to cascade out of his mouth. 

“Is this what you always felt like,” Sasuke breathed, wonder in his voice. 

She stopped laughing, her head tilted to the side with a smile. “Like what, Sasuke-kun?”

He raised his hand to his chest and hoped she understood. The weight in his chest was heavy and he felt like he couldn’t breathe, but there was light everywhere inside of him. “Like this?”  

Sakura’s eyes widened. Her smile was wobbly and her eyes swam with unshed tears, but she nodded and whispered, “Yes, Sasuke-kun. It always felt like that.”

Chapter Text

Sasuke checked the perimeter of the village once a week. It was the Hokage’s duty to check the multiple jutsu’s and stations that guarded the Village Hidden in the Leaves, but Kakashi had never gotten around to it in his entire tenure as Hokage. When Sasuke had heard his old sensei complaining about it not having been done a few weeks ago, he had taken it upon himself to perform the duties himself. 

That was, until today. 

“Someone’s busy,” a voice drawled from behind him.

“Just doing your job,” Sasuke said, finishing the seal on the guard tower’s roof. He jumped down to find Kakashi sitting on top of the great wall that surrounded the village. One leg was dangling over the edge, while the other was bent under his arm, propping up his head. 

Kakashi looked out over the forests surrounding Konoha and patted the space beside him. “Why don’t you sit and talk with your old sensei for a while, Sasuke.” His tone was conversational, but the order was clear. This was a Hokage talking to one of his subordinates, so Sasuke sat down. 

“What is it?” 

Kakashi pointed out into the open. “What did you see out there, Sasuke? What threats did you encounter?”

Sasuke raised a single brow. “You want me to tell you about my journey again?”

“Not quite.” He looked at Sasuke then, his eyes hard. “You made the choice to return as a shinobi of the leaf, to defend the village with your life. To take missions and follow the orders of your superiors.”

Sasuke just looked at him impatiently. Where was Kakashi going with this? “I will take the missions given to me.” 

“Even if it meant leaving Sakura for years at a time? Your future children?”

Sasuke blinked. He understood, then, what his teacher was saying. He looked at Kakashi, his face blank. “You have a mission for me. For my eyes.” 

“Not yet,” Kakashi said lightly. “You have some time to live your life before the new Hokage will have any orders for you.”

Sasuke was shocked only for a second. Then, he laughed. “You’re kidding.” 

“I’m equally proud and terrified to say that Naruto will be the Nanadaime by the end of the week.” 

Sasuke shook his head, but he couldn’t help it. He laughed again. Then, he laughed harder, clutching his stomach. “I can’t believe the dobe actually did it. He’s going to become Hokage.” 

Kakashi chuckled too. “It’s a bit weird, I have to admit. But, I was tired of all the paperwork. I’m sure you both will exceed my expectations.” 

Sasuke looked up at Kakashi, confused. “Us both?”

Kakashi pinned him with a look. “You are vital to Naruto’s success, Sasuke. Don’t forget the lives you have lived before either of you were born. Your destinies are intertwined more than any other shinobi on earth. The bond you share is not only one of brothers, but one of two ninja who would do anything to protect the village they call home. Protecting them from things of this world and not.” 

“Otsutsuki.”

“Yes.”

Sasuke didn’t know if he was up to the job, but he knew it was his shinobi path from the moment he returned. He would support Naruto in whatever way he could. He would defend innocents and protect the weak. He would keep peace in the world for all who deserved it and ensure hell for those who dared to disrupt it. 

He would protect his village. 

His home. 

Sakura. 

“It will take me far from home. For long periods of time.” 

“You will investigate threats that no one else can detect. Your eyes are the greatest weapon and shield in the world.” Kakashi paused, then added softly, “Sakura understands this more than anyone, Sasuke. She knows what duty requires of you.”

Sasuke turned to look at him. He knew he could withstand the distance, but he worried for Sakura. Their new love was just that; new. He hadn’t had enough time to grow sure in his place in her life. “What makes you so sure of that?”

Kakashi’s eyes crinkled from his smile. “She loves you. She knows you’re not leaving to leave her, you’re leaving to protect the village and work for the greater good.” Kakashi’s voice grew playfully stern. “Sakura is a shinobi as well, Sasuke. She will always support the mission.” 

Sasuke let his words sink in. He knew Kakashi was partially right. Sakura was a shinobi; a damn good one at that. He knew she would see him off with an extra poncho and a kiss on the cheek, telling him to be safe and write to her on his travels. She would support him from afar, but it would take its toll. He imagined her worrying late at night or being forced to take care of their children on her own, the sole responsibility of raising possibly falling on her shoulders. 

The images burned him with guilt. “I can’t ask that of her. She deserves happiness. Presence.”

“She deserves whatever the hell she wants,” Kakashi replied darkly. Sasuke looked up, surprised by the heat behind Kakashi’s words. “Sakura has decided that she wants you. So, until she tells you otherwise, I suggest you give her what she wants.”

Sasuke sighed, turning back around. “You and Naruto both.” He gave Kakashi the side-eye and said, almost imperceptibly, “If it’s for her, it’s out of my hands. She gets what she wants.”

Kakashi had the nerve to laugh at him. 

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Sasuke grumbled. He stood and said, “I did unspeakable things to her. I’ve said horrible things and I-” 

“Ah, you love her, Sasuke,” Kakashi said heartily, wiping a pretend tear from his eye. “So you’re giving her exactly what she wants. Keep it up!”

Then, he poofed out of existence. 

Sasuke cursed him the entire walk home.  

Sakura Pov

“So, forehead,” Ino started, her eyes darting up mischievously. “How are things really going with Uchiha?” 

Sakura looked up from where she was bent over, arranging an orange flower arrangement for Naruto’s surprise party at Ichiraku’s. A few strands of hair slipped from her top knot, and she blew them out of her face and stood, propping her hand on her hip. “I already told you, it’s going really well. Why do you ask?” 

“But I want details,” Ino whined. She flopped down on the table, party decorations flying. “You used to tell me everything and now you tell me nothing!” 

“It’s true,” Sai chimed, breezing past Sakura, a box of tulips bulbs in his arms. He smiled and added, before disappearing back into the front of the flower shop, “You only give basic adjectives that buffer your true experience with neutrality.” 

“What a horrible teammate you are,” Sakura said hotly, turning back around. 

“And you’re a horrible friend,” Ino snapped. She snatched the flowers from Sakura’s hands. 

“Ah, Ino-pig!”

“Tell me some details, Sakura,” Ino pleaded, her eyes beginning to water. “You’re so disgustingly happy that I’m afraid you’re pregnant and not telling me and it’s hurting my feelings! So, just get it over with and fess up-”

“I’m not pregnant,” Sakura said, laughing. She gave Ino a guilty look. “I have been kind of avoiding the subject lately, haven’t I?” 

“You have!” Sai called, transporting a few bags of soil back to the storeroom. 

“Sai!” both girls yelled at once.

“Just trying to be helpful,” he yelled back, disappearing behind the plastic curtains. 

Sakura shook her head and turned back to Ino, who was looking expectedly at her. “Well, I guess I can tell you about the other morning.” 

Ino’s eyes grew as big as saucers. “Oh. My. Gods. Tell me!” 

Sakura sat down on the stool and mindlessly continued cutting the thorns off of the stems, handing them to Ino while she talked. “Well, the other morning, I was just waking up and Sasuke kissed me. Like, really kissed me.”

Ino squealed. 

Sakura grinned weakly, her discomfort slowly fading. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk about it, she did. She desperately needed to. She was just still so flustered by it all that she thought she might faint trying to get the words out. “Well, he kissed me awake basically and we sort of made out. And then, well, I kind of pulledhimontopofme.”

Sakura winced when Ino’s piercing squeal nearly ruptured her eardrum. Ino slapped her arm, grinning at her. “Atta girl, forehead! I told you to take charge!”

Sakura rolled her eyes, flushing while she stared at the floor. “Well, in all honesty, it wasn’t like that at first. He was leaning on his hurt arm a little bit and I was worried, so I just kinda tugged him over me. He seemed shocked at first, but then…” 

“What!” 

Sakura smiled, remembering the look on his face. “He kissed me again. And we- he-” 

Ino’s grin was mischievous. “Did you guys have sex?”

“No,” Sakura said with a furious blush. “But he- we- might have… I don’t know, felt each other up?”

Ino squealed and Sakura hid her face in her hands, embarrassed and giddy at the same time. 

Choking on a breath, she continued. “Anyway, it was…it was great. Perfect. I almost died. And when it was over, he pulled back and- and-” 

She looked at her best friend with tears in her eyes and choked out, “Oh my gods, Ino. He was so happy, he was clutching at his chest and asking me if what he was feeling then was what I felt all the time.” 

Ino’s hands flew to her mouth. “Oh, Sakura…”

Sakura wiped at her cheeks, shaking her head. “I just… I think that’s the most precious memory I will ever have. He looked like a kid on Christmas. And I did that! Me!” 

Ino gave her best friend her warmest smile. “You truly are a saint, Sakura Haruno. No one else could have thawed out that ice block but you.”

Sakura laughed and stood up. “Whatever. Are you happy now? You got a story, so let’s finish these arrangements up so I can get home and start getting ready!” 

“No way, I need more,” Ino insisted. She leaned forward onto her elbows and propped her chin on top of her hands. “How serious is it? Are you going to go with him when he eventually has to leave?” 

Sakura sighed, her eyes downcast. Hinata, Ino, and Sakura had talked for hours the previous weekend about Sasuke’s role in the village. Sakura’s was in the village at the hospital, but Sasuke’s was broader. Sakura knew his eyes demanded certain duties that would take him from the village for months or years at a time. “I don’t know, Ino. We haven’t talked about it.” 

“And why not!” Ino’s expression softened when she reached across the table to take Sakura’s hand. “He loves you. And you love him! You might as well get married and try to pop some babies out before he leaves for ten years!”

“Ino,” Sakura said, giving her friend the stink eye. “I don’t know if Sasuke even wants to get married. Or have kids, anymore. He’s happy and comfortable where he’s at, so unless he brings it up, I’m just going to keep supporting him.”

Ino sighed. “You’re such a good wife.”

Sakura laughed and tried to hide her blush. “Pig! Come on, be serious!”

“I am! You’re the most understanding and patient woman in the entire world. Sasuke is an idiot for not asking to marry you, just so no one else thinks they have a chance!” 

Sakura looked down, biting her lip. Maybe Ino’s words had some truth to them, but Sakura was already set in her choice. She would leave those kinds of decisions up to Sasuke. If he wanted or needed something from her, all he had to do was ask. “I’m fine with how things are, Ino. Better than fine! And besides, he told me I’d go on his next journey with him.” And, she was going to hold him to his promise. Sakura smirked at her friend.  “Who knows, I might pop out a baby in the middle of rain or lightning country.” 

Ino snorted and held a hand out for the next batch of flowers. “You’re not popping out babies until you start practicing making babies.” 

“Traitor-kun at least has a dick, unlike Dickless!” 

“Sai!”

“Was that not funny?” 

The girls looked back at each other, rolling their eyes. “Anyways,” Ino said, pinning Sakura with a serious look. “You both might be prudes, but sex isn’t just the lusty, moaning and groaning bullshit I always talk about. It can be nice. And soft and quiet. And filled with love! You and Sasuke have no shortage of love, so you guys should be making love in no time!”

Sakura groaned, her head falling into her hands. “Ino, have you ever thought that I’m the one that’s not ready for sex?”

“Why the hell not! It’s Sasuke for crying out loud!” 

Sakura kept her face in her hands and bit her lip, trying not to sound like a little girl. “It’s just scary, alright! We’ve only really been together for a short while, and with all the history, I don’t know! What if it’s weird? What if I’m weird? Neither of us are experienced so we have to learn together, which is totally fine, but I don’t want anything to mess up how good it is now!” 

Sakura was nearly yelling by the time she finished. She sighed and looked up, expecting to find Ino’s laughing face. Instead, her friend was smiling at Sakura with compassion and warmth. 

“Do you trust Sasuke?”

“Yes,” Sakura said, with a duh look. 

“And he trusts you?”

“I… yes.” 

“Then you’ll be fine,” Ino assured, standing up. “Stop worrying about it changing your relationship because it will. And it’ll be weird and you might feel gross or awkward, but it’ll be okay because you’re with Sasuke, who you trust and who trusts you.”

Sakura let out the breath she had been holding. She gave Ino a thankful smile. “Thank you. I feel so much better.”

“You better feel good! We have a show to put on tonight!” Ino gave her a knowing look. “You have the new perfume I made you right? And are you wearing-”

“Yes, Ino,” Sakura sang, gathering her things. She patted her bag, her favorite scent curated and perfected by her best friend, just for her. “Thank you, and I’ll see you later! Bye, Sai!” she called, walking towards the front of the store. 

“Don’t be a scaredy cat!” Ino called, waving goodbye. 

Sasuke Pov

Sasuke looked at the clock in the bedroom. Sakura hadn’t been in there long, but he was anxious to go. Ever since his conversation with Kakashi, Sasuke wanted to talk to Naruto about the future, about what his role would be in it. He had thought long and hard about his duties, but he had a few conditions that had to be met first. However, those conditions stressed him out, so Sasuke vowed not to think about them until he had to. 

Sasuke heard a small bang from the bathroom, followed shortly after by Sakura muttering a curse. Sasuke smiled at the floor and shook his head. He knew that she was nervous, but it wasn’t for herself. She had only asked him once if he wanted them to stay home, but his declination didn’t ease her worries. She knew he didn’t like being in large groups of people, especially in public. 

And, this would really be their first public outing together, where they would be a known couple in front of people who had known them their entire lives. He wasn’t nervous, but he was a bit apprehensive. He did want to spend another evening with people whispering behind his back when he passed by, but he wanted to go for Naruto. And, for Sakura, whom he’d explain this all to when she finally came out of the bathroom. 

Which should have been five minutes ago. Sasuke walked over to the door and knocked. “Sakura?”

“Oh, sorry Sasuke-kun!” she called back. He heard something slam. “I’m almost ready! I’m also dressed, so you can come in!”

Sasuke slowly opened the door and peered inside. Sakura was facing the mirror while she placed a small, sparkling stud in her ear. She looked at him through the mirror while snapping it in place, her hands falling to the counter with a smile. “Okay, that was it!” 

Sasuke let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding and nodded. But, not before doing a quick once over of her outfit, noticing the lack of familiar maroon. Instead, her top and bottom were both a deep, navy blue. Her shirt was a short, hooded tank top that exposed her most of her stomach and, looking lower, he noticed a deep slit in the side of a short skirt. 

Sasuke felt like it was going to be a long night of desperately trying not to stare at pale, pink skin. 

Sakura still smiled, oblivious to his thoughts. “Are you ready?” 

He nodded and moved to leave, but not before saying over his shoulder, “You look nice.” He didn’t stay to see her shocked expression. He was too busy trying not to feel like a pervert for staring at her legs for so long.

Sasuke eyed her outfit one last time before walking out the door, vowing not to stare all night, even if she looked so different. He told himself that she was only wearing it due to the unseasonably warm temperatures, but it didn’t calm his inexcusably fast heart rate. She didn’t wear stuff for him, even if he thought she looked like they should stay home. 

But what if she did?

Sasuke cleared his throat and shook his head lightly to push the thought back as they walked to the bar. 

Kakashi had planted a seed in his mind and he needed time to process how he felt, yet he was about to damn it all and ask to go back to their apartment and spend an inordinate amount of time looking and touching her legs. 

Sakura had their gift in her hand while she merrily led them to the bar, oblivious to his internal struggle. Sasuke glanced down at her to inquire about the contents of the bag when a hot breeze lifted the hair off of her neck. Sasuke was hit with the floral scent of Sakura so hard, he nearly stumbled. She usually didn’t smell so… good? 

It wasn’t overpowering, it was just there, wafting about him the entire rest of the walk to the party. There were no other scents to hide the usually subtle, floral undertone, so Sasuke figured she had to be wearing perfume. Yet, it didn’t smell sickly sweet like other perfumes. Sasuke was thankful since he hated perfume, but Sakura simply smelled like… Sakura. 

Sasuke forgot his question and resigned himself to the fact that it was going to be a very, very long night, indeed.

When they got there, the party was just getting started. Everyone was getting drinks and toasting to Naruto, who was due to arrive in a few minutes. Choji and Kiba had a round of drinks in each hand, passing out beers with no hesitation at the door. 

“Hey guys,” Kiba said, shoving a beer at both of them. “Ready to party?” 

Sasuke wasn’t prepared, but Sakura was. She shoved the gift in Sasuke’s hands and snatched both bottles from Kiba, giving him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Thanks, Kiba. We’re ready to support Naruto!” 

He smirked down at her and said, before moving on to pass more beer out, “Keep it light tonight, Sakura.” 

Sasuke looked down at Sakura to find her grimacing. “Something to do with Tsunade’s training?”

She sighed and handed the beers off to a passerby as they walked inside. “Yeah, something like that. C’mon, let’s go to the side entrance so we can see Naruto when he comes in!”

The party really did start when Naruto arrived. Confetti flew, cheers were shouted, and someone popped champagne. Naruto was in shock for the first five minutes, shaking hands and accepting hugs. He eventually warmed up to the crowd once the shock of the moment began to fade. He still looked overwhelmed with the fanfare thirty minutes later, but Sasuke saw the happiness in his friend. It was everything he had ever worked for, finally coming true. 

Sakura had gotten Naruto a set of orange handled kunai, engraved with Seventh on the blade. He had teared up and hugged Sakura tightly, only barely able to snatch a quick side hug from the elusive Uchiha. Sasuke then watched his former teammates tearfully exchange words, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Both of their dreams had come true and neither one deserved their happiness less than the other. 

In his own way, Sasuke was happy for his friend. He knew Naruto was strong enough to be the Hokage. He was selfless and brave, even if that bravery sometimes was wrapped in impulsivity and recklessness. Naruto would do a good job, and Sasuke would support him in whatever way he could. 

Sasuke knew that he was never meant to become Hokage. The role, the weight, and the decisions of everyday life were not things Sasuke was equipped for. Stealth and secrecy, moving in shadows and collecting intel, those were the things Sasuke could do for the village. While Naruto led from inside the village walls, Sasuke would protect from the outside. 

Sasuke eventually forced Sakura to go hang out with her friends at the bar. She had stayed by his side for the first hour, not really doing anything but greeting people who walked passed. He gave her a light push and told her to go have fun, that he was content to just sit for a while. It had taken a few minutes of pushing, but she succumbed, giving him a soft smile and thanks before dashing off. 

He ended up sitting near the back of the bar and watching the celebration with unease. It wasn’t enough to make him want to leave, but it made its presence known every time he saw the flash of pink disappear in the crowd. He would shift his head or posture until he saw her again, then relax back into his seat. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Sakura to go find her-

“Mind if we sit, Traitor-kun?” 

Sasuke looked up, brows raised at the unexpected company. “Sure.” 

“Great!” Ino slid into the chair across from Sasuke and Sai took the one next to her. “My feet are killing me, ugh.” 

“You shouldn’t have worn such high of heels,” Sai said, matter of factly. “But,” he said, continuing on in the same tone, “I will just carry you home if they hurt too badly.” 

Ino gave him a grateful look. “Thanks. I know you’re tired.”

“You only weigh one hundred thirty-six pounds. It will feel as if I am carrying nothing.”

Ino’s eye twitched, but she still smiled. “Sai, what have I said about mentioning my weight?”

Sai looked confused, then he blinked into a stoic expression. “Ah. I said the number outloud, didn’t I?”

“Yes, dear, you did.”

“And I am not supposed to do that?”

“Correct.”

“Ah. I won’t again.” 

“Thank you, dear.” 

Sasuke watched them talk with a bit of an odd feeling. He realized that Ino and Sai didn’t fall under the category of a normal couple like he had previously assumed. He knew Sai didn’t develop emotions correctly due to his time spent with Root, but he didn’t expect for him to be just as clueless as Sasuke in some ways. He communicated in staccato, speaking what was on his mind and stopping to get clarification when he got something wrong. He was short with his phrases when he was uncomfortable, but he seemed to be able to articulate for Ino. 

The odd feeling returned to his chest and Sasuke understood what it was. He felt a kinship towards Sai, their similarities and struggles eerily close enough to result in the same thing: socially stunted men with women who were too patient for them to ever deserve. It made him look at Ino in a different light. She had to be as patient with Sai as Sakura was with him. 

No wonder they are such good friends, Sasuke thought to himself. 

Sai turned to Sasuke. “Do you think Ugly did a good job?”

Sasuke couldn’t help but bristle internally at his nickname for Sakura. “She did.” 

Ino twirled her straw in her drink and eyed Sasuke across the table. Sasuke shifted in his seat and Ino’s grin grew more catlike. “Sakura looks good tonight, doesn’t she, Sasuke?” 

Sasuke’s eyes immediately found her. She was talking to Hinata and Kiba across the bar, her pink hair visible in any sea of people. He glanced back at Ino before looking back at Sakura. It was a known fact to Sasuke that Sakura was beautiful, so he said nothing, letting the silence speak for itself while he watched his-

His…

Sasuke struggled to find the right word to finish his sentence when the word he almost finished with was wife. 

“Hey, teme!” 

Sasuke, for once, was grateful for the dobe’s interruption.

“Ino, Sai, do you mind if I snag Sasuke from you?” Naruto asked. He’d already half tugged Sasuke out of his seat, much to Sasuke’s dismay. 

Ino waved him off and stood, Sai immediately following her lead. “Don’t yank his arm out, Naruto, just take our seats! We’re going to go dance anyway!” 

Naruto beamed. “Hey, thanks guys!” 

“Anytime, dickless,” Sai said with a smile, taking Ino’s arm to be led off. 

“They are different,” Sasuke said quietly, watching their backs fade into the crowd. 

Naruto plopped down across from him. “Nah, they’re really not that bad. They’re good together and they’re really good friends to Sakura.”

Sasuke nodded, unsure of what else to say on the matter. He leaned back in his chair and smirked at Naruto. “You’re really going to become the next Hokage.”

Naruto’s grin widened. “I know. I can barely believe it.” He gave Sasuke an evil look. “You can’t call me dobe anymore, huh teme?” 

Sasuke scoffed. “As if. You still finished dead last in school. Our lazy sensei became Hokage before you. And he didn’t even want it.”

Naruto growled, but it held no heat. “You’re the worst, you know that, Sasuke?”

Sasuke let up a notch, his smirk fading into a small smile. “You’re going to be fine, Naruto. Despite my pride taking a hit, I have to say I think you’ll be a great Hokage.”

Naruto’s mouth opened in shock, but he quickly recovered. “I wouldn’t be able to do it without you. You’re my best friend, Sasuke, and I seriously doubt I’d be alive today if it weren’t for you.”

Sasuke snorted. “More like we wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for Sakura.” 

Naruto smiled, his eyes wistful. “Yeah, you’re right. I got you back, but she kept us all together, in the end. Kept you here.”

Sasuke cleared his throat, suddenly uncomfortable. “What did you want to talk about, anyway?”

Naruto became serious. “I talked to Kakashi the other day and he called you something funny. It gave me an idea.” 

Sasuke raised a single brow. “This doesn’t sound good.” 

Naruto spluttered, “What? No, it wasn’t anything stupid! It was actually inspiring.” He looked past Sasuke, and recalled aloud, “He said that when I took on the mantle of Hokage, I wouldn’t be able to do it alone. The Hokage’s role is massive and most of the time, it’s just bureaucratic bullshit. The need for a shinobi with the strength of a Hokage only comes in dire circumstances, once a generation. In order to keep the peace, I would need someone, a shadow outside the village, acting in the name of the Leaf.”

Naruto took a deep breath and asked, his words hard and determined, “I need you to be that shadow, Sasuke. No one else can discover what the Otsutsuki are really up to except for you. And, with the discovery of new dimensions and time parallels, we have to be more prepared for the next fight that’s coming. It’ll be worse than Kaguya and we might not make it, but we won’t be able to say that we didn’t do everything we could to keep the village safe.”

“What I’m saying, Sasuke,” Naruto finished, taking another deep breath, “You will be the sasaukage, the Shadow Hokage. You are the other half of the protection that is now vital in the face of new and old enemies. You will be the one to protect the village when I am no longer around or if I die in battle, because the Hokage’s seat would already be yours.” 

Sasuke was floored. He had already assumed the role Naruto was speaking of, but he never thought Naruto would equate it to being half of the Hokage’s seat. It was… it was a big deal. 

“Naruto…” Sasuke closed his eyes, his expression tight. “I am not worthy of such a title.” 

“Bullshit,” Naruto snapped. “You saved the world, and you’re a completely different person than you were before.” He paused and said, much slower, “You are worthy of having a life after everything that happened, Sasuke. You were used as a tool for far too long.”

Sasuke looked up and said dryly, “Were you not just asking me to be your tool?”

Naruto looked affronted. “I’m not telling you as the future Hokage, I’m asking you as your friend. I need your help to protect the village, Sasuke. I can’t do it without knowing that you’re protecting the village under the same cloak of responsibility as me.” He smirked and added, “We are rivals, after all.” 

Sasuke couldn’t help but let out a huff of amusement. He didn’t want the title, he didn’t think he deserved the title, but he would do what his friend asked of him. “Don’t call me whatever name you made up, but I’ll do it.” He dipped his chin and gave Naruto his word. “I accept. I have a few things I need to do first, but I will be an extension of the Leaf wherever I go and act in the name of the Hokage. I’ll hunt down the Otsutsuki and get rid of any other threats I find.”

Naruto grinned, his eyes savage. “Good. I knew I could count on you.” 

Sasuke smirked. “Who else would save your ass from the rest of the world?”

Naruto just laughed. “Probably Sakura.” He paused and tilted his head to the side, eyeing Sasuke with an apologetic look. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave for long periods of time.”

“I know.” 

“You’ll be leaving Sakura.”

“Anytime soon?”

Naruto snorted. “Not a chance. I refuse to use you until I get at least one new Uchiha family member.” Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but Naruto dismissed him, looking over at where Sakura was. Then he said, his voice sad, “I wonder how she’ll take the news.”

“She’ll be okay.”

Naruto looked back at him. “How do you know?”

Sasuke looked over at Sakura. She was laughing with Ino and Sai, getting pulled around on the dance floor. The answer was obvious, but he said it anyway. “She’ll have you. She’ll have her friends and her work. She’s needed here and she’s always wanted to be needed.” Then he added, because he could feel the guilty look penetrating his head, “She’ll know that I’ll always come back to her. That I’m never gone for good.” 

Naruto said his name, so he turned to look at his friend. Naruto then asked, almost a bit hesitant, “Are you going to come home to your girlfriend, or your wife?” 

Sasuke was stunned. 

Naruto chuckled, his eyes dancing with mirth. “Come on, Sasuke. You’ve been watching her all night. And don’t give me that look, I only noticed because I was paying attention. I’ve been paying attention.” 

Naruto looked over at where Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were dancing. The three of them were laughing and twirling each other around and genuinely enjoying themselves. Sasuke felt his chest thrum when Sakura threw her head back in a hearty laugh, her hands tugging back and forth at Ino’s while she spun in circles. She looked so carefree. To Sasuke, she became vibrant in a sea of muted tones. 

Sasuke would never stop hating himself for not realizing sooner how utterly magnificent Sakura was. 

“There,” Naruto said quietly, drawing his attention back to the table. “You’re looking at her like you love her. It’s written all over your face. It looks like you’re in pain.” Naruto laughed at his expression and said, “No one else but me can tell because I’ve felt it. I felt like an idiot when I realized I loved Hinata and could have been together sooner had I just opened my damn eyes.”

Sasuke felt a bit too exposed for his liking, so he settled for a glare. “What are you really saying, Naruto?”

Naruto took a swig from his beer. “You need to marry Sakura, Sasuke. She’s your best friend too, and she gets you. Then, you take her on your journey like you promised, come home, pop out a few babies, then we make a decision on when you leave.” 

“Do you have anything else on that list,” he snapped, his fist clenched at his side. So much for asking for his conditions. Naruto already knew them all. 

Naruto laughed, standing up. “Yeah, go buy Sakura a drink. New Hokage’s orders!” 

Then, he left an utterly perplexed Uchiha alone at the table. 

Sasuke went to find Sakura after that and she just so happened to be at the bar. He slid into the seat next to her and tapped her shoulder. “Hey.”

She looked up with a start, but immediately relaxed. “Hey. I haven’t seen you in a while.” She bit her lip, trying not to smile. “Thank you for making me go hang out with everyone. I really didn’t want to leave you to sit by yourself, but it was fun dancing.” 

“I wasn’t,” Sasuke said, turning to face her. “Alone, that is. Ino and Sai came over. Then Naruto.” 

Sakura raised a brow. “Oh? How did that go?”

Sasuke looked at her for a moment. Not the time. “We can talk about it later. It was… serious. Nothing bad, but it’s just… not now.” 

Sakura nodded, easily appeased. “Alright, later.” She glanced at his empty hand, resting against the bartop. “You don’t drink?” 

“I drink.”

“I haven’t seen a drink in your hand all night.” 

“I haven’t seen one in yours, either.” And, he hadn’t. 

Sakura shrugged. “I didn’t want to drink if you weren’t.” 

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. That was ridiculous. If she wanted to have fun, she should, regardless of what he did. Naruto’s request gave him an idea. “What if I bought you a drink?”

Her eyes danced as she leaned her elbow on the bar. She propped her chin on top of her fist. “Hm, I don’t know, Sasuke-kun. I don’t think I could do it if you weren’t drinking, too.” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and said to the bartender, “Can you please get her what she normally drinks?” 

Her cool facade crumbled. “Why do you think I have a usual?” Sakura choked out. 

Sasuke gave her a look. “Are you not Tsunade’s apprentice?” 

The bartender’s head moved back and forth between them nervously. “Sakura, I can get you-”

“Water,” she snapped, her eyes on Sasuke. “I want a water.”

“Try again,” Sasuke replied, trying not to laugh. The bartender even knew her name. 

Sakura huffed, her anger growing, but she stopped. She closed her eyes, straightened, and when they opened, they were filled with a more playful fire. “Fine. How about a challenge? If I lose, you can buy me the drink. If I win, you have to enjoy a real drink with me.” 

Sasuke asked, trying not to sound too interested, “What’s the challenge?”

Sakura laughed and jerked her chin at the bartender, who simply sighed under his breath and left. “That depends, Sasuke-kun. Do you have a budget?” 

Sasuke knew that she was aware he had all the money the Uchiha left. No, what she was really asking was if he was willing to spend a small fortune on her. So, he simply gestured at the bar in acquiescence, now officially way, way too curious for his own good. 

The bartender returned with a strange assortment. On a long tray, there were eleven shot glasses and one large, empty glass. He set it on the bar in front of them and Sasuke got his first look. The last shot glass looked and smelled like it was filled with water, while the others were filled with a pale sake.

Sakura placed the one with water in front of him, then poured the ten shots of sake into the empty cup. His eyes grew wide when she placed the large cup in front of herself. 

“Right,” she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “The first person to finish their shot wins! One…” 

Sasuke looked at her like she had two heads. “Sakura, you have a full glass.” 

“Two…” 

He looked at the bartender for support. “I don’t think-” 

“I’m already done, Sasuke-kun. You lose!” 

Sasuke’s head snapped back around. Sure enough, her glass was empty. The only evidence of the previous contents was the small bead of sake she swiped from her lip with her thumb.

“You cheated,” he said accusatorily, feeling incredibly childish after the fact. 

Sakura laughed. “I never said I was going to count down. You could have taken the shot immediately! I just waited for you to not pay attention.” 

Sasuke glared at her. He wasn’t a fan of her cheeky tone. “Have you done this to someone else before?”

Sakura chuckled, handing the tray back to the bartender. “No,” she admitted, eyeing him from behind a curtain of hair shifting over her shoulder. “Tsunade did it to me when we first came here. I had to work for weeks to pay the tab after losing.” She glanced up at Sasuke and winced. “Ah, sorry, Sasuke-kun. That was some expensive sake.”

Sasuke barely comprehended her words. “I cannot believe you just drank all of that and are acting fine. You’re holding a conversation like you haven’t drunk anything.” 

Sakura grinned at the bartop before accepting the two new glasses from the bartender. Inside each was an amber liquid. “I told you, Tsunade taught me how to drink, Sasuke-kun. Don’t be so surprised.” She handed him his drink and said, with a nervous edge to her voice, “It’s not so bad when you can burn it out of your system with healing chakra.” 

“That’s impressive and terrifying,” he admitted, taking a sip of the unknown alcohol, not wanting to be a sore loser. He expected it to burn his throat or taste bitter, but all he tasted was warm, smokey richness. It felt like the feeling in his chest when he performed his fire jutsu had invaded his entire body. 

“Good, right,” Sakura murmured, taking another sip. Her eyes were fixed in thought. “It’s not my favorite, but I thought you’d enjoy it.”

Sasuke took another sip and set it down on the bar. He was surprised that he had enjoyed it himself, so he wanted to hear her reasoning. “Why?”

Sakura shrugged. “I don’t know. I tried it for the first time a few years ago and it reminded me of you.” She blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes flickering nervously between him and the bar. “It reminded me of the heat of your katon no jutsu.” 

Sasuke hummed, his whole body warming despite not having taken another sip. Sakura knew him well and comments like that threw chinks in the armor already softening with every sip. “That was my first thought, too.” 

Sakura looked up, her eyes glowing. “Really?”

He nodded. “It’s warm enough to burn, but only just.” 

Sakura smiled, nodding back. “Yeah… exactly.” 

Sasuke took another sip and looked around, noticing the party getting a bit wilder. Sakura noticed too, smirking when she saw Kiba and Lee having a drinking contest in the corner. In another, a few party goers were starting kunai throwing contests, the darts long forgotten on the ground. 

“I think after this drink I’ll be ready to go home. It’s getting a bit too rowdy in here for my tastes,” Sakura said through a laugh. 

Sasuke was relieved, but also not. It confused him until he realized that he had a good time. It hadn’t overwhelmed him and people had generally left him alone. No one pushed about Sakura or about his plans. It was one of the first evenings he had been out in years where he truly wasn’t bombarded with his shortcomings. He could be a simple man enjoying a drink at a bar with the woman he was with. It was a night out in a way he had never experienced before, nor ever thought he would. 

So Sasuke sat back and enjoyed the rest of the evening, thankful that Sakura was by his side. He watched her face her friends with a smile on her face, laughing when they did something dumb and waving when they caught her eye. Sasuke was content to simply sit beside her, welcoming the warmth that struck his chest and softened his eyes. 

He didn’t know it, but he was openly loving Sakura Haruno in public, desperately wishing that she would be okay if he ever asked her to become Sakura Uchiha. 

Sakura POV 

Sakura was beyond thankful she gave both her and Sasuke a burst of healing chakra before they left the bar. It wasn’t until she had gotten down from her stool that she realized how intoxicated she was, so she figured Sasuke was nearing the line between drunk and blackout. 

She had given him a heavy whiskey, so she was surprised to see him steady on his feet when she finished ridding her system of most of the alcohol. He let her drain almost all of it from his system as well, but she knew better than to completely sober them both up. Shocking a shinobi’s system was never a pretty sight and she didn’t feel like throwing up in front of Sasuke anytime soon. 

So, there they were, walking home together, a bit tipsy from their evening. Sakura was bouncing on her feet, a mixture of nerves and excitement bubbling up inside her. She had had so much fun that night, much more than she thought she would have. It wasn’t that she thought going with Sasuke would be boring, she just hadn’t expected to let loose as much as she had. After dancing with her friends, getting to see Naruto’s dream come true, and having fun with Sasuke in a bar, for kami’s sake, Sakura was on cloud nine. 

Looking up at him, Sakura found herself overflowing with happiness. She was with Sasuke. And he loved her. 

And he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off of her all night. 

Even without Ino and Hinata poking her each time it happened, she could feel the mismatched eyes of the Uchiha constantly tracking her. From the moment they separated in the beginning until the moment they reunited at the bar, she could feel him, watching her every move. It was thrilling and the alcohol left in her system made her body sing with the knowledge. 

When they walked in the front door, Sakura couldn’t help but notice the slight ambiance to the apartment. They had left a few lamps on, casting the otherwise dark home in shades of amber and gold. Sasuke clicked the lock behind him and Sakura felt the air thicken around her from Sasuke’s chakra. It was flickering behind her, like flames crackling. 

She felt Sasuke’s heavy presence behind her while she undid her sandals, her hand on the wall. “Did..did you have fun, Sasuke-kun?” 

Sasuke hummed, deep and reverberating into the air. “Ah.”

Sakura turned slowly, her pulse rising. Sasuke stood straight behind her, his eyelids lowered to stare at her beneath him. He looked menacing, but it didn’t make her afraid. It made her feel excited.

“Are you going to shower?” Sakura asked, hating how breathless she sounded. 

He shook his head slowly. “Are you?” 

She shook her head.

Sasuke hummed again. Sakura felt it in her toes. He inclined his head, the lamps that were his eyes finally shuttering closed. “Let’s go to bed, then.” 

Sakura nodded and took a step back, turning around. Finally reacting to the tension between them, she was wide-eyed and felt the thrill of anticipation as she made her way to the bathroom. Her hands shook at the feeling of Sasuke’s eyes on her back, a shadow behind her, and her stomach somersaulted. 

In public, she knew Sasuke wouldn’t touch her. At home, it was slowly becoming an increasingly different story each day. She could feel him holding himself back every time they kissed, as if he was desperate not to touch her more than what was appropriate. But tonight, he had a look in his eye he hadn’t had before. It was the same love filled gaze, but different, almost darker. 

It was thrilling. 

Sakura slipped into the bathroom without a backward glance, not trusting her shaking hands. She had pajamas already stored in the bathroom, but she couldn’t find it in herself to get ready for bed. Sakura felt electric, pacing the floor with flexing fingers, her thoughts of Sasuke and her night with him. Her skin felt tingly and the hair raised on the back of her neck when she recalled several moments; the expression on his face when he looked at her outfit, his eyes when they met hers in the middle of dancing, and the subtle hint of pride when she drank all ten shots at once. She replayed them over and over again, her head overflowing with questions and possible answers.

The sound of Sasuke knocking from her room made her freeze. Sakura felt like an idiot for getting so distracted that she didn’t even change, but she turned around and called for him to come in anyway, leaning back against the counter. 

Sasuke opened the door and stopped, halfway in and halfway out. His eyes widened slightly in surprise, then relaxed into a look that made Sakura’s stomach flutter. If anyone saw who didn’t know him, they might have said he looked lazy or tired. No, Sakura knew him better. This look was targeted and predatory. 

She watched his eyes get a bit darker as he stepped in the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. They zeroed in on the exposed skin of her abdomen. As if on reflex, Sakura tugged at it, wishing it covered more skin. 

Dammit Ino! she thought. 

That is, until she saw his eyes narrow further, now even more fixated on her top than before. He stared at her and stared at her until finally, he said, his voice almost defeated, “I like your shirt.”

Sakura laughed shakily, her wide eyes on the ground. “I remembered you said you liked when I wore navy.” 

Sasuke took another step forward. Then, he asked quietly, “Are you still intoxicated?” 

Sakura didn’t feel any trace of alcohol in her system. “N-no.”

Sasuke nodded. He looked down and up, a question in his eyes. Sakura answered with a nod and he moved, taking the last steps towards her. He didn’t stop until Sakura had to crane her neck to look up at him, her hand reaching out instinctively to grasp the arm braced against the counter next to her waist.

Sakura sucked in a breath, her body arching without her consent. She could feel Sasuke’s breath stirring the hair at her temple, nearly distracting her enough to miss his thumb trailing across her hip, where her skirt was hung low. 

When Sasuke’s hand moved to fully grasp her waist, cool fingers a shock against her feverish skin, Sakura felt her body come alive. She swayed forward slightly and Sasuke’s hand squeezed her side to keep her upright. She blushed furiously, but Sasuke merely hummed again in response, this time squeezing her side until Sakura found herself being lifted on top of the counter. 

Sakura was wide-eyed in shock, so she saw Sasuke open his mouth slightly in surprise, his hand flexing against her skin. He looked a bit taken aback by his actions. 

“I…” 

“It’s alright,” Sakura said quickly, desperate to get that look off of his face. She hated seeing Sasuke so unsure of himself. She smiled, wanting him to feel reassured, not stop. “This is alright,” she repeated, softer. 

Sasuke nodded. He held still for only a moment longer before tilting his head forward, his temple brushing against hers with the movement. He leaned further down, until she could feel his breath against the exposed skin of her shoulder. 

“Is this alright,” he asked, his voice quiet, but sure. She could feel his words against her skin, his mouth unbearably close. 

“Yes,” she said, transfixed. This was more than alright. 

He kissed her gently, right where her shoulder met her neck. 

Then, he asked again. “Is this alright?”

Sakura felt like she couldn't breathe when she whispered, “Yes.” 

Sasuke kissed her neck, right beneath her jaw, and Sakura couldn’t take it anymore. She let out a small noise, the tiniest sound that had her clamping her mouth shut and wincing. Sasuke had no reaction. Instead, she felt his hand slowly rise under her short shirt, right up until his thumb was dangerously close to the underside of her breast. 

His intention was very clear, but again, he asked. This time, with his lips against her ear. “Is this alright?”

“Yes.” 

He didn’t move his hand. Instead, he finally kissed her, tentatively and slowly. It was almost as if he was holding back. It was unhurried and torturous and Sakura was going to explode, especially when Sasuke’s teeth gently tugged at her bottom lip. 

Sakura slowly sat up straighter, rising up to meet his kiss with the desire that’s been burning through her for ages, wanting him to stop being so cautious and just move. Take. She felt his body vibrating with restraint when she rested a trembling hand on his chest.

Sasuke made a noise in the back of his throat when she did, but it was nothing compared to the noise that Sakura let out when Sasuke’s hand finally decided to rise a few inches. 

Sakura’s back arched when his thumb smoothed over her breast, pressing on her nipple, and her mouth dragged across his lips with a gasp. 

Sasuke kissed her harder, deeper, swallowing the sound and her breath. Sakura couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe for how his touch set her nerve endings alight, like tiny chidori were sparking across her skin as he squeezed, tugging on her bra to bare her skin to him. When she let out another soft noise when he squeezed her breast, Sasuke made a deep, almost wounded noise, his lips grazing her own. 

Then, he stepped closer. 

The moment his hips aligned with hers, Sakura felt like she couldn’t breathe. She could feel him, and her hips rolled of their own accord. 

Sasuke sucked in a breath, but pushed against her, causing her eyes to roll back. 

It was artless, almost messy how their kisses grew, how their bodies moved. Sasuke was panting against her neck, and Sakura’s head fell back and hit the mirror behind her, everything feeling delicious and perfect. 

Sakura used the moment to breathe, but ended up having to bite her lip to keep a noise from escaping. Taking a deep breath only pushed her breast further into Sasuke’s palm and tugged at the feeling in her stomach. With her hair settling in loose strands across her face and the little distance between them doing nothing to calm her racing heart, Sakura wondered if she looked as off-kiltered as she felt on the inside. 

Sasuke was breathing just as heavy as she was, his chest rising and falling against her palm. He was hot, radiating the kind of heat that not only warmed you, but also sent shivers down your spine. His lips looked red and his cheeks were flushed. His eyes were lowered, watching his hand slowly slide up to her collar bone before trailing back down. 

Sakura was unable to stop the small chirp from escaping when he slid it back down and out from under her shirt, grazing the side of her breast as he did. 

His hand slowly rested against the counter and he stood up straighter, his chin just barely brushing overtop her head. Sasuke was looking at the floor, but he didn’t leave. He didn’t look like he wanted to run, and Sakura was thrilled. 

“Was that okay,” Sakura asked, hesitantly. She bit her lip, worried about his reaction. Did she go too far? Did she let him go too far? She let her hand slip from his chest and-

He caught it before it fell to her lap. Without looking at her, Sasuke nodded. Then, he asked quietly, “I didn’t go too far?”

“No,” Sakura breathed, flushing a million shades of pink and red. “Ah-, no, you didn’t, I-” Sakura took a deep breath and whispered rather quickly, “That was a much better goodnight than last night.” 

Sasuke finally looked up at that. He examined her for a while, searching for a lie, for unsurety, for anything that might tip him off. Sakura let him look, since there was nothing to be found but honesty in her answer, in her feelings for him. Even if they scared her a little bit, even if under his eye, she felt like she couldn’t breathe. 

Eventually, he asked quietly,  “Yeah?”

Sakura smiled, biting her lip. “Yeah,” she whispered, her feet lightly swaying on either side of Sasuke. 

Both of them realized she was still sitting on the counter when her heel hit the cabinet under the sink. Sasuke flinched and offered her his hand. She gave him a tight lipped smile and tried not to laugh while letting him help her down. Once back on her own two feet, she felt even smaller compared to Sasuke. 

“I still need to get changed,” Sakura said, blushing furiously. 

Sasuke nodded, turning back to the bedroom. His cheeks were pink and he looked like a walking statue, and he said over his shoulder, ever so quietly, “Hurry. We still need to talk.” 

Sakura had never gotten ready for best so fast. 

She crawled into bed beside him not three minutes later, wiping toothpaste from her mouth with one hand while she pulled the blanket over her with the other. The tension from earlier was gone. Instead, a certain apprehensive air filled the air of their room. Sasuke was already in bed, sitting up against the headboard. His bedside table light was still on, so Sakura settled next to him on her side, waiting. 

Eventually, he laid down next to her, facing her on his side, his hand slowly pushing her hair back from her face. 

“Is this about what you and Naruto talked about earlier?” Sakura asked softly, one hand fiddling with the blankets. 

Sasuke nodded. “He asked me to be his sasaukage. I would be half of the Hokage’s seat, according to him.”

Shadow Kage…wow, Sakura thought to herself. “I figured he’d ask you something like that,” Sakura said, her heart filled with pride. “He wouldn’t be able to do it without you.” 

When he spoke next, he seemed hesitant. “My job would be to protect the village from all enemies and investigate any threats that make themselves known.” 

Sakura smiled, her expression filled with patient understanding. It was finally time for that conversation. “I know that, Sasuke-kun,” she said softly. “You’ll be gone for… for a while. You won’t be home often.” 

Sasuke’s eyes closed. She could see the turmoil in them before he shut her out, angling himself away from her. “I told Naruto I had some conditions. Some things I wanted to do first.”

“I’m sure he understands.” Sakura sat up a bit higher on the bed and leaned against her pillow. She eyed Sasuke’s posture once more before saying quietly, “I also understand, Sasuke-kun.” 

When Sasuke’s head finally turned, Sakura continued softly. “You are Uchiha Sasuke, the wielder of both the sharingan and the rinnegan. You can use your eyes to protect the village in ways that no one else can.” Sakura tried to keep her voice even with her next words, but she knew they came out wobbly and unsure. “You’re going to leave, Sasuke-kun, not because you want to leave home, but because you want to protect it. I will always understand that.”

Sasuke’s expression tightened and, in an instant, he turned to face her more fully, his hand reaching for her. Sakura immediately moved closer, but it wasn’t close enough for him. Instead of sitting her to him, Sasuke pulled Sakura until she was curled on top of his chest, his arm an iron band across her back.

Sakura was wide eyed, her hand gripping his shirt to- 

“I’ll come back.”

Sakura stopped. The way Sasuke said that… 

“I will always come back,” Sasuke swore again. She could feel his body shivering beneath her and his arm tightened when he said, “When I come back from a mission, I will always come home. To you.” 

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, but it was too late. Several large, fat tears had already escaped and dripped onto Sasuke’s shirt. She felt him look down, so she held him tighter, hiding her tears. 

“Sakura,” he sighed, his hold loosening. His hand ran up her back to rest on her cheek, pulling it from where it was plastered to his chest. His eyes held a sad, regretful sheen. “I’m not leaving you anytime soon.” 

Sakura blinked at him through watery eyes. “I know, it’s not that.” She shook her head slightly, Sasuke’s hand still wiping at her cheek. “I just…” She tried to find the words, but very nearly couldn’t, not with the man she loved the most, holding her close, looking down at her with love and concern. “I love you. Kami, I’m also so proud of you.”

Sakura hiccuped, unable to help the fresh bout of tears. “I know that being in the village is hard and that you’ll probably never feel truly comfortable here. But that’s okay! Because…because you don’t have to stay here. You can travel the world and protect everyone all at the same time.” 

“It’ll make you happy,” Sakura breathed, her smile true and honest. “And that makes me happy, to know that you’ll never have to feel trapped here. You’ll have a home to come back to, but you’ll never have to stay for long.”

Sasuke was quiet during her entire monologue. He listened with rapt attention, the only reaction being a slight widening of his eyes or flare of his nostrils. Now, he was still, thinking hard with nearly visible wheels turning in his eyes. 

Sasuke’s next words were very, very measured. Almost as if he were holding back his irritation. “You are taking this well.”

Sakura laughed weakly, pulling her hair back behind her ear to see him clearer. “If I wanted to have a life with you, Sasuke-kun, I had to think about the choices I might have to make in the future.”

Sasuke looked a bit apprehensive when he asked, “And what choice are you currently making?”

Sakura pressed her hand over his, reveling in the feeling of his ability to cradle her face so softly. “I choose this. Having you in my life in whatever way I can get. Because not having you at all would be so, so much worse.” Sakura smiled, and although it was a bit sad, it held all the love she had for him. “I will support you in whatever way I can, Sasuke-kun.” 

“You deserve more than the bare minimum,” Sasuke said impatiently. His hand dropped from her face, but he caught her hand on the way, holding them tight to his chest. “And I don’t…”

Sakura waited a while before prompting him. “What, Sasuke-kun?”

He sighed, the noise filled with agitation. “I don’t want you to think that I’d be happy if I was gone for months or years at a time. I don’t…” Sasuke’s hand twitched over hers, restlessly, his frustration with himself evident. 

“I would miss home,” he finally settled on. “I would miss you.” 

Sakura peered up at him through her bangs. “I… know that.” 

He stared at her. Then, the words came out in a single breath of air, as if he almost couldn’t believe it. “I would miss you so much, Sakura.”

“I would miss you, too,” Sakura whispered, her eyes shining. “Terribly.”

Sasuke’s sigh was a release, a tension let go from his body. She knew he had said what he had wanted to say, in whatever way he could. The set of his shoulders had relaxed and his hold on her hand loosened. However, she could still see something bothering him by the look in his eyes. 

She tapped his chest once, a silent question. What else? 

“Naruto is giving me time to live my life and I plan on taking it,” Sasuke said after a moment. 

Sakura’s mouth popped open and felt a blush rising to her own cheeks.. “O-oh. Okay.”

“I… I have some things I need to do first. Before I leave. It could take… years.” 

Sakura nodded, but couldn’t quite meet his gaze. She knew she would look too hopeful, too in love for him not to see that she desperately wanted to be included in his plans. She wanted to be in every single one of his plans before he started taking missions again, but she wouldn’t be greedy. Whatever Sasuke wanted, she would accommodate, she would help with, she would be supportive-

“And I…” 

Sakura looked up, startled to hear him continuing. 

Sasuke pulled her back to his chest. “I have more to say, but it can wait. We need to sleep.”

Sakura knew an evading Uchiha anywhere, but she didn’t push it. Instead, she happily settled into his embrace, his warmth, and drifted off into sleep.

Chapter Text

Sasuke’s POV

The day before Naruto became Hokage, the three men of Team 7 were working out of the Uzumaki’s living room. They found themselves shunned out of the wreck that was the Hokage’s office, all due to the stress of the transition according to Kakashi, so they ended up at Naruto’s. The finished work was stacked around Naruto’s living room while they worked on the last few papers at the kitchen table. 

Their work consisted of finishing the accounts of the last bits of the war and adding personal details for major figures; where they ended up, where they were buried, and who survived them. Kakashi covered the village as a whole and helped Naruto with the finer details. The major players were given short, post war biographies. 

They needed to seal the scrolls with the information for the archives before the transition, but decided to hold Sasuke hostage late into the afternoon. 

“C’mon, teme,” Naruto insisted for what felt like the millionth time. “You’re the other hero of the war! You need to have more than a line or two in there about you!” 

Sasuke glared at the future Hokage. “I don’t need to even be mentioned.”

“Sasuke, you are a part of history,” Kakashi said lightly. “If your new goal is to atone for your sins, you might as well start by writing what you did right.” 

“I didn’t do much right,” Sasuke said tightly. 

Naruto snorted. “You saved the world. You traveled and made up for the mistakes you made when you were a kid. Then you came home!” 

“And why can’t you just write that!” 

“Because that’s only a few sentences, teme! I at least wrote down that I became Hokage and got married!” 

“I wrote about being late to my own Hokage’s ceremony,” Kakashi said good-naturedly. 

“Exactly,” Naruto snapped. 

Sasuke was done with both of them. “Fine,“ he hissed. “Have it your way. You can write that after I traveled, I came back to Konoha. I started dating Sakura, I moved in, and then we got married and left for our journey. We should be back in two years, but I don’t know how long we’ll take so don’t mention a time span.” 

Only silence answered him. 

Sasuke finally looked up. “What,” he snapped, feeling a warmth begin to creep up his neck. 

Kakashi let out a breath of air, sitting back in his chair as if he was in a daze. Naruto looked like he was given the best news ever whilst also being slapped in the face. 

Sasuke growled under his breath, “Wipe those looks off of your faces. You both look ridiculous.” 

Naruto was the first to recover. “You-you really want to marry Sakura-chan?” 

“I’m more surprised that you’re really taking her,” Kakashi said. His eyes crinkled with a smile. “You really did mean it when you said it.” 

“Huh?” Naruto whipped around to look at Sasuke. “What’s he talking about?” 

Sasuke wasn’t going to answer. 

Unfortunately, Kakashi was. “Sakura asked to go with him last time, after the war. He said he’d take her the next time he left.” 

“Kakashi.” 

Naruto had the nerve to look offended. “Why didn’t you tell me? And why are you being so weird about it?” 

Now, Sasuke was pissed. He didn’t want to get into this with them. He was having enough trouble dealing with it on his own. “Because she shouldn’t go.” 

“Sasuke,” Kakashi said measuredly, after a moment. “What do you mean?” 

Sasuke took in an angry breath and said, “I mean I don’t want to put her in danger. People still hate me, all around the world. Bringing Sakura along basically invites someone to try something with her in order to get to me.” His sharingan flickers when he thinks of Kido. “They already did.” 

Naruto’s confusion slowly faded. “Sasuke, you know she can take care of herself.” 

“Of course I do,” Sasuke snapped. “It’s where I have to go that makes it all risky. I have to travel north to the Samurai and I still haven’t been to Lightning.” Sasuke let out a harsh breath. “I have more than just those two places to go that hate me. Why would I want her there?” 

There was silence. Then, Kakashi stated quietly, “You still plan on taking her.” 

Sasuke looked away. He wouldn’t explain to them that while he still could, while he was still around and not off searching for the Otsutsuki, he wanted to be with Sakura. She deserved what little she could get of him and he…well, Sasuke was beginning to believe that he deserved that time, too. The risks aside, Sasuke knew he couldn’t leave Sakura in the village again. If he wanted to finish his journey, Sakura would be coming with him. 

He looked up at Kakashi. “She gets what she wants.” 

The older man laughed, remembering Sasuke’s words from the other day. “I guess she does, doesn’t she?” 

Sasuke expected a smart remark from the jinchuriki. Instead, Naruto looked strangely at ease. “Don’t have anything else to say, dobe?” 

The blonde shook his head finally and said, “Honestly, I’m not surprised when it comes to you and Sakura anymore.” He smiled at Sasuke like he always did, but for some reason, Itachi flashed before his eyes. “You look happy, Sasuke. I’m proud of you.” 

Sasuke couldn’t say anything due to the expected weight in his chest, so he nodded in thanks. 

“Does Sakura know about all of this?” Kakashi asked, as if realizing something. 

Sasuke’s eyebrows furrowed. He hadn’t spoken to her yet, but she knew. “She doesn’t know when we’re leaving, but she knows she’s going with me when I do.” 

“Uh, teme, I think he was talking about the whole wanting to marry her thing,” Naruto said, his chuckle warming the tips of Sasuke’s ears. 

He opened his mouth to respond yes, but he found that he couldn’t say it. “She knows I’m not ever going to be with anyone else,” Sasuke finally said, hoping that got the two of them off his back.

Naruto was perplexed. “Sasuke, you know you actually have to ask her, right?” 

“Naruto’s right,” Kakashi said, giving Sasuke an uncharacteristically stern look. “Sakura’s patient, but I think she deserves an honest proposal, don’t you?” 

“I know I have to ask her,” Sasuke said through clenched teeth. “I plan on doing it soon. And leaving not soon after.” Thank Kami. 

Naruto looked like he wanted to argue, but Kakashi put a hand up. “Sasuke and Sakura can do what they like, Naruto. If they want to leave, they can.” 

“But I feel like you just got back,” Naruto said, his tone edging towards a whine. “And this time, you’re taking Sakura-chan too! I’ll be losing both of my best friends for who knows how long!”

Sasuke tsked. “It’s not like you’ll never see us again.” 

“I’ll miss you guys,” Naruto insisted. “Well, maybe not you so much, but Sakura! Who’s going to yell at me when I do something stupid?” 

“Hinata?” Kakashi supplied. 

Naruto groaned, throwing his hands up before slumping over onto the table. “It’s not the same. Hinata’s always nice when she yells and I get to make it up to her with sex.”

Sasuke looked down at his begrudgingly endearing yet pathetic friend. “Give it a rest, Naruto.” Then, he said, deciding to spare him just a little. “We’ll have to come back to revive my clan.” 

Naruto’s head instantly shot up. “Oh my gods, please tell me you aren’t joking teme, because I swear I-”

“I’m pretty sure you know I’m incapable of making jokes.” 

“Not true,” Naruto said, waving Kakashi away from making an inappropriate comment and sitting up straight again. He sighed in resignation, his words glum. “But I guess I’ll just have to wait a while for little pink headed children terrorizing Konoha.” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stood up. “Alright, I’m leaving now.” 

“Pink hair wouldn’t be too bad,” Kakashi called after him. 

Sasuke flipped him the middle finger. He knew it didn’t matter what his kids looked like, but he had already passed his threshold for social interaction for the day and didn’t care to engage in another ridiculous conversation. 

“You better ask her nicely, teme!” Naruto roared from behind him, adding in just before Sasuke slammed the door shut, “Or I’ll make sure you never revive your clan!” 

“Baka,” Sasuke spat, turning on his heel to leave. 

Sasuke had plenty of time to waste before Sakura would be home and figured he would train in the meantime. That was until he remembered where Sakura worked on Thursdays. 

Sasuke walked the short distance to the hospital with a bit of apprehension. Once inside, he followed the signs to the Konoha Children’s Mental Health Clinic until he found himself outside of bright green doors painted with flowers.

Sakura had asked him a few times if he wanted to visit, each time leaving ample room for him to refuse and not hurt her feelings. He was honest when he said he would like to, but he was also honest when he said it would be difficult. She built this place from the ground up and Sasuke was incredibly proud of her for it, but it was bittersweet. He knew one of the reasons she worked so hard to make the clinic a reality was because of the helpless feelings she had when she couldn’t fill the holes left in place of Sasuke and Naruto’s family. 

So pushing the door open, it was a harsh reminder that this place was a beacon of everything he wished he’d had when he lost his family, but it was also an open embrace of someone willing to show him new ways to have a family. 

Sasuke walked to the receptionist desk. It was manned by a young girl holding a small, sleeping child, eyeing Sasuke with caution. 

“Good afternoon,” the girl said, sitting up straighter. She was suddenly very serious. “How can I help you?” 

Sasuke blinked. The girl couldn’t have been more than seven or eight. He glanced at the child in her arms and felt his chest constrict. He was probably around one and had black hair and pink cheeks. He reminded Sasuke of the goal he set for himself at twelve. 

Sensing this girl wanted to seem like a professional at the front desk, he asked, “I am here to see Dr. Haruno. Is she here?” 

The girl’s eyes lit up at the mention of Sakura. “You know Haruno-san?” When Sasuke nodded, the girl’s mouth split into a wide smile. “She’s the best! And she came today like she promised!” 

Sasuke nodded again, unsure of what else to say. “So… can I see her?” 

The girl nodded rapidly, pointing to the left. “She’s down the hall at the end with the babies right now.” She added in a loud whisper, “Make sure you’re quiet or she’ll get the scary look.” 

Sasuke fought a grin and gave her a quick nod of thanks before walking down the hall. There were beanbags, foam dart guns, and all kinds of kids’ toys and drawings decorating the space, making it feel like one giant home. He smiled to himself before opening the door, knowing that only Sakura could make a place like the hospital feel warm and inviting. 

When Sasuke opened the door, he noticed two things. First, the lights were dimmed with only a few lamps lit along the crib lined walls. The second thing he noticed was Sakura. She was singing softly while she rocked a swaddled baby in a wooden rocking chair. The sight of her with a child did the same to his chest as before, and Sasuke nearly lost his footing. 

He was transfixed. 

Sakura didn’t notice him or didn’t care, as she continued to rock the child slowly to sleep, her voice soft and lilting while she sang a lullaby he had never heard before. Her pink hair fell over her shoulder and brushed her arm while she leaned further in, smiling to the babe while she finished her song, her viridian eyes sparkling. 

Sasuke saw everything he wanted in a moment

He slowly made his way over to the two of them and knelt beside Sakura. She had to have known he was there because she didn’t flinch or stop her rocking when he gently ran a hand across her shoulder. 

“Hey, Sasuke-kun,” she whispered, finally looking up from the bundle in her arms. She looked so happy to see him. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I was annoyed by Naruto and Kakashi enough to leave early.” That sounded rude, so he added. “Then, I remembered you worked here on Thursdays.”

Sakura smiled at him and turned back to rocking the child. “I’m glad you came. I’ll show you around as soon as I put Hotaru down.” 

Sasuke looked down at the child in her arms. It was a fairly young baby, definitely too young to be without a mother and father. Sasuke already knew what happened to the boy’s parents, so he asked, “What will happen to him?”

Sakura smiled sadly and stood, continuing to rock him in her arms. She walked over to an empty crib and gently laid him inside, keeping his creeping hands tucked in his swaddle. Sasuke watched from over her shoulder as she leaned down and kissed his forehead and whispered, “Sweet dreams.” 

Sasuke felt himself stumble, his knees weak. 

She led Sasuke from the room after that. Shutting the door quietly, she silently gestured for them to sit down on two available bean bags. Sasuke raised a brow, but he didn’t say anything about it when he sat down. 

“So?” 

Sakura sighed, leaning her head back against the wall. She closed her eyes. “He’ll be placed in my adoption program. I oversee it to ensure that no child gets put somewhere they won’t be loved. Ino helps.” 

Sasuke had unbearable amounts of admiration for the woman in front of him. “You do a lot of work for these children. Work that no one else would do but you.” 

Sakura opened one eye, her cheeks reddening slightly. “You don’t know that. I have a ton of help from nurses and volunteers. And, like I said, Ino helps.” 

“I do know it,” Sasuke countered softly. He tapped Sakura’s foot with his and waited until she opened both eyes. “You made something…incredible.” He shook his head, unable to find the words to describe the feeling in his chest. “You are saving lives in a different way, every day.” 

Sakura’s blush deepened. He couldn’t help but grin at her modesty. 

She tapped his foot back even harder. “What are your plans right now?” 

Always willing to change the subject off of her. “I’m here.” 

Sakura’s shock quickly bloomed into a blazing smile. “Great,” she said, standing up with a new pep in her step. “If you’re sure you can handle a bunch of teenagers, I’m going to take you to the floor we call the Main House. It’s the ward where we keep the older kids.” 

Sasuke smirked at her and said, “You think I can’t handle kids?” 

Sakura laughed and motioned for him to follow. “There’s kids and there’s teenagers.” She gave him a smart look over her shoulder and said, “You should know, Sasuke-kun, seeing how angsty you were as a teenager.” 

Sasuke laughed and followed her down the hall.

Sasuke did realize there was a huge difference between kids and teenagers by the time he and Sakura left the Main House. The permanent residence for children in the program was a bright, happy place, filled with kids ages five to seventeen. He helped Sakura make their lunch, but mainly spent his time being bombarded by tiny humans without a filter. 

Did you fight in the war, Uchiha-san?

How tall are you? 

Is Sakura-san your girlfriend? 

What happened to your arm? 

Aren’t you the guy who left for a while?

You were on the Hokage’s team? 

You were on Sakura-san’s team!? 

Sasuke thought he was going to feel exhausted by the time they got back to their apartment, but all he felt was relaxed. The children had been a bit much, but his contentment came from watching Sakura with them. She was a natural with all ages, easily navigating their needs and petty squabbles like she was their mother. 

Motherhood, Sasuke realized by the end of the day, was just another role that Sakura would shine in. It cleared his nerves, and when he was climbing into bed, he kissed her goodnight, wondering how he wanted to ask her to be Sakura Uchiha. 

It was the day after Naruto’s inauguration as the Seventh Hokage that Sasuke was suddenly presented with the perfect opportunity. 

It all boiled down to laundry. 

Sakura normally kept their clothes separate. She washed them together but folded them into separate piles to be stored in various drawers. That was, until one of Sasuke’s drawers broke and they had to double up on a t-shirt drawer. Sasuke didn’t mind, but he knew Sakura was very keen not to wear his clothes. He figured it was because she thought he wouldn’t like it. He neither cared nor thought about it until that morning, when she walked out of the bathroom wearing one of his shirts. 

“Hey, Sasuke-kun,” she said, breezing past him with a squeeze of his upper left arm. “Do you want some tea?” 

Sasuke didn’t respond. He was too preoccupied with the symbol adorning her back. Her hair was long enough to hide the white of the Uchiwa, but with every swish of pink as she moved in the kitchen, the symbol of his clan became a visible representation of what he wanted the most in the world. 

His crest on her back, her last name the same as his. 

“Sasuke?” 

He walked over to where she was in the kitchen, a loose plan already set in his head. He gently touched her back, causing her to jump and turn around, her hands flying to her throat. Sasuke smiled slightly and tapped her back again. “I didn’t respond because I was surprised to see the Uchiwa on your back.” 

Sakura yelped and turned in his arm. She tugged up on the shoulder of the shirt with wide eyes, her jaw dropping when she realized she was, in fact, wearing one of Sasuke’s smaller shirts. “Oh my gosh, Sasuke-kun, I’m so sorry!” 

Sasuke resisted the urge to snort out a laugh at her antics. “I don’t mind. It just made me think of something.” Sasuke minded in an entirely different way. He placed a hand on her shoulder to turn her back around. 

“What did it remind you of?” Sakura asked slowly, her hands falling to her sides. 

Sasuke took a step forward and grasped both hands in his one. He looked at them for a long time before deciding on how exactly he wanted to do this. “I have something I want to ask you, but you have to let me get to it. I have some… things to say.” 

Sakura nodded, her attention rapt. “Of course, Sasuke-kun, go on.” 

“I have seen some things that made me think,” Sasuke began, leaning back to look into her eyes. “Being in Konoha, visiting the clinic, and being here with you, all reminded me of what I was searching for on my journey. Then, people kept telling me to live my life and do what I want, what makes me happy.” 

Sasuke took a deep breath and said, “You are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, Sakura. It might make me selfish, but as people also constantly remind me, it’s what you want too, so it’s a mute point.”

Sakura looked close to tears at this point, and Sasuke grew impatient with himself for not speaking quicker. He released her hands and placed his one hand on her cheek to pull her close enough for him to see the gold flecks in her eyes. 

“I want you to be Sakura Uchiha,” he breathed, his emotions laid bare. “All of my life, I never thought of getting married to anyone but you. I never dreamed of having children with anyone but you. I never longed for being forgiven and loved in return as much as I longed for you. All my life I have never loved someone like I love you. And I know I am asking you to sacrifice parts of life that you might have dreamt of, but Sakura…”

Sasuke kissed her once, a light press of his lips to drive his next words home. That, and he couldn’t help himself. “I want you. I want you to be my wife and the mother of my children. There isn’t going to be anyone else and I don’t want to wait any longer.” He kissed her again, his hand shaking as it slid into her hair. “I want to make you happy. I want to go on our journey together as soon as you want to go. I want to start the next part of life. With you.” 

Sakura’s body shook until she leaned into him, her hands grasping the front of his shirt. Sasuke cradled her cheek and kissed the tears off of her skin, swearing to make up for every single tear she ever shed because of him. She was everything to him, his future, his stability, and he would spend the rest of his life protecting her and the family they created with the love only an Uchiha knew. 

Sakura leaned back to place her hands on his cheeks. She was smiling through her tears, laughing lightly at herself. Sasuke kissed her cheek again and nearly growled out, “Are you going to say yes, Sakura?” 

Sakura kissed him. Her hands fell to his neck and shoulder and tugged him down until he was hunched over her, greedily taking whatever she wanted to give him. 

“Yes,” Sakura panted out, her forehead tapping against his own while she drew in a breath. “Sasuke-kun, you know it’s never been anyone but you and I-” She paused to gasp, her head shaking in blissful disbelief. “I have always loved you and I want nothing more than to marry you. I promise I’m going to be the wife you need and I will do everything I can to make you happy!” 

Sasuke felt the unknown weight from his shoulders disappear. Yet... “I am sorry for how hard it is going to be.” And he was. He was so incredibly sorry that their life together wouldn’t involve Sunday dinners with his in-laws like Naruto or baking a cake together for every birthday, but he hoped that everything he did have to give would be enough. 

Sakura kissed him lightly and said, as if she could read his mind, “You are more than enough to make me happy, Sasuke-kun.” 

Sakura’s POV

Sakura went straight to Ino’s office when she got to work. She needed to tell someone about what happened, especially when Sasuke looked like he didn’t want her to leave. He held onto her until the last moment, his fingertips trailing across her skin like the ghost of a caress. Sakura knew that if she didn’t leave for work right then, she would have leapt on top of Sasuke and kissed him senseless. 

And maybe something else. 

The utter elation at finally hearing such a declaration from Sasuke was like a miniature sun, burning in her chest all day. 

Ino had screamed then swore herself to secrecy until they could talk about it later that afternoon. Sakura and Sasuke hadn’t talked about the specifics, so she wanted to wait and see what their plans were before letting her friend go overboard with planning a big wedding. 

Of course, Ino still showed up to Sakura’s office after their last patients. She came through the door on dancing feet and bit her lip to keep from squealing. “Forehead,” she sang, shutting the door behind her. “It’s time we talked!” 

Sakura sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I figured the interrogation would start up again as soon as you finished vaccinations.”

Ino laughed and sprawled out across Sakura’s couch. “Where did we leave off? Last I remember, he basically told you he loved you and wanted you to be his wife and mother of his kids in the most romantic way ever.” She sighed. “Boo, you awful woman. What it must be like to have a man like that.” 

“Yeah,” Sakura sighed dreamily. “I can’t believe my life is real.”

Ino snorted. “That idiot is lucky you swore me to secrecy. I’d just love to rub it in his face the next time he says something stupid.”

“You love me too much.”

“No, he loves you too much.”

“Ino,” Sakura chastised, though she was smiling the entire time. “Do you want to hear the rest?”

“If you don’t wait all day to finish telling me, then yeah! I’d love to know!”

“He asked me to go on his journey with him,” Sakura said, her voice rising in volume as she grew more and more excited. Then, she whispered, as if it were a secret, “I can’t believe he remembered!” 

“I can! He’s selfish enough to want to take you away from me for who knows how long!”

Sakura laughed. “It won’t be that long. And besides, it’s perfect timing. The clinic is set up and running, Tsunade is staying for another year or two to see its transition, and I only take missions when I really want to. It’s perfect!”

“What do you mean by perfect timing,” Ino asked. “When do you guys plan on getting married?”

“I don’t actually know,” Sakura admitted. She clicked the pen in her hand a few times. “He said soon. He wanted to get married, to have a family, all of it soon.” 

Ino laughed. “Sounds like he’s just wanting to get laid.”

“Ino.” 

Her friend just laughed harder. “He’s still a guy, Sakura. I’m surprised he’s kept it in his pants for this long.” 

Sakura took a deep breath to steady herself before ignoring that comment. “There’s a lot of emotions we’re both feeling, but most of all… I just feel at peace.”

Ino raised a brow. “Peace? What in the world do you mean?” 

Sakura leaned back in her chair and looked out the window. “I don’t know how to explain it! It feels like… like everything is finally happening for Sasuke, and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

“Sakura, you deserve this happiness too.” 

Sakura waved a hand at her friend. “Oh, you know what I mean. I’ve loved Sasuke for so long that all I want is for him to be happy. Knowing that he wants to start a life with someone, with anyone, is incredible. It’s everything I could have asked for.” Sakura blushed and looked down at her desk. “I can’t say I’m not pleased with him wanting it to be me. I guess I’m still sometimes getting used to the idea that he might like having me around.” 

Ino smiled, her expression softening considerably. “He does love you, Sakura. In whatever way he knows how, he does.” 

“I know,” Sakura said, biting her lip to keep from grinning too hard. “It’s what makes up for the lack of all of the traditional bullshit you’d expect from a man in a relationship.” 

“Who needs flowers when you get hmm’s,” Ino snickered. 

Sakura laughed unabashedly. “Exactly.” She shook her head, smiling at her desk. “It feels like it happened so fast, yet it also feels like he’s been home for a lifetime. And, just like that, we’re off again.” 

“Well, make sure he stays home long enough for me to get your flowers ready for the wedding,” Ino said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. 

“I don’t even know if I want a wedding,” Sakura said thoughtfully. “I know Sasuke doesn’t care for a lavish ceremony. Plus, he hates crowds.” 

“What!” Ino shrieked. “You can’t do this to me, Forehead! Your wedding has to be as epic as your love story!” 

Sakura gave her a look before standing up. “We’re not doing a big wedding. You’re lucky we haven’t gone off to Naruto to do a five minute paper signing.” Sakura’s head tilted to the side. “On second thought, I think that’s exactly what we’ll do!” 

“You know,” Ino grumbled, “For being so stupidly in love, you seem to not care about the romantic parts about getting married.” 

Sakura finished putting away her things and getting everything settled for the next shift before she replied. “A ceremony and flowers sure help with the setting, but it’s the two people getting married that truly make it romantic.” Sakura shrugged and said, feeling a bit embarrassed, “I’m honestly trying to be nonchalant about it so I don’t start freaking out.” 

Ino laughed. “There she is! I was wondering where the Sasuke fangirl was!” 

Sakura smirked and shooed her friend out of her office before locking the door behind her. “At least I can say I won, Pig.”

Ino snorted and gently shoved her shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, you won, Forehead.”

When Sakura got home, Sasuke was already in the kitchen. She could smell the dinner he was making and her stomach grumbled from her forgetfulness. She quickly slipped her shoes off and made her way into the kitchen, her heart racing in anticipation to see Sasuke. 

Steaming pots and pans cooked on the stove behind him while he washed several dishes at the sink. He was absorbed in his task enough for his head to pop up in surprise upon sensing her. His eyes widened for a moment before they softened and it looked like he released a breath of relief. 

“Tadaima,” Sakura said softly, her hands falling from where they rested on the entryway. She could die at that moment and be happy; Sasuke Uchiha, her fiancé, had a towel over his shoulder and was making them both dinner in their kitchen. 

Bliss. 

“Okaerinasai,” he replied after a moment. He looked back down at the dishes. “Did the vaccinations go alright?” 

“Mmm.” Sakura slowly made her way over to him, but found herself feeling more sensitive than usual to his movements. The bubbling of the pot and the water splashing in the sink were louder than they should have been, and with every step she took towards Sasuke, her breaths became heavier and heavier to draw in. There was a new tension between them, though it wasn’t bad. It felt good. Sakura wondered if Sasuke felt the same. 

She swerved around him, clutching her elbows and leaned over the stove to sniff at the food. “It smells delicious.” She turned around to glance at him with pinched lips. “I may or may not have forgotten to eat lunch today.” 

Sasuke tsk’d, but it was more amused than irritated. 

Sakura took the food off of the stove and took it to the table. Sasuke followed after her and folded himself down across from her. They said thank you for the food and ate in a peaceful silence, yet Sakura still felt a heaviness in the air during dinner. Sasuke kept eye contact longer than he had ever done before, like he was contemplating something the entire meal. In fact, Sakura felt like Sasuke was contemplating her with the way his eyes seemed to candidly observe her, his thoughts a mystery, but his emotions clear. 

He was content, but he also was aware of the… tension.

After dinner, they washed the dishes as usual, but there was a slight thrill to the mundane task that hadn’t been there before. With every graze of their skin or bump of their elbows, Sakura was reminded of Sasuke’s declaration from that morning. Sakura felt a shift in Sasuke then and she could sense it in him again. He didn’t tense when they touched, but he moved with caution, like he was tracking both of their movements with an awareness he hadn’t had before. 

Like…like a predator. 

Sakura felt tingly all over. She had done a good job trying not to daydream about Sasuke and their future when at work, but she couldn’t help it now that he was so near. She dreamed of kissing him at their wedding, sitting next to him by a fire in the middle of nowhere, finally being able to share themselves fully with one another…

Sakura looked up at him and felt her blood pump faster. He was so handsome and he was hers. Not only that, but he wanted her too. The thought of Sasuke wanting her ignited the desire she’d always felt for him, and Sakura’s toes curled against the tile floor while she fought to maintain her composure. 

Sasuke was aware of her heated stare, glancing to the side for a moment before looking back at the task at hand. Sakura expected him to make fun or diffuse the tension, but he didn’t say anything. He let her look. 

Sakura set the towel down and leaned her hip against the counter and watched with sparkling eyes while Sasuke finished washing and drying the dishes. He gave her a look when he took the towel from her limp hands, but it was the playful set in his eyes that made Sakura grin. 

Sasuke folded the towel over the faucet when he was done and turned to Sakura. His eyes flickered back and forth between her own with a look Sakura for once didn’t understand before he breezed past her with a caress of her cheek. “I’m going to shower.”

“Okay,” Sakura said in a daze, turning to watch him go. “Do you want a cup of tea when you get out?” she quickly asked, not wanting him to go just yet. 

“No,” Sasuke said softly, continuing down the hall. “I’m ready for bed.” 

When Sakura emerged from the bathroom, clad in a large t-shirt and shorts, she didn’t expect to see Sasuke sitting upright on her side of the bed, facing her. He was leaning forward with one elbow on his thigh while his hand rubbed absentmindedly at his half-arm. 

“Sasuke-kun, is everything alright?” Sakura asked. 

When Sasuke looked up, his face impassive but his eyes burning, her concern vanished. He motioned with his hand for her to come closer and Sakura felt like she was in a trance as she closed the gap. 

Sakura grasped his hand in one of her own and smiled gently at him. She didn’t speak, she simply waited. 

Sasuke finally spoke, his words precise. “How are you feeling about this morning?” 

It was easy for Sakura to be honest. “I feel like everything I’ve ever wanted is coming true.” 

Sasuke hummed low in his chest and Sakura was more than thrilled with his response. It pushed her to ask him as well, “How… how do you feel?” 

Sasuke thought for a moment before answering. “I don’t know how to articulate my thoughts. They’re more like feelings or instincts. But, I at least know that happy is too small of a word to fully describe what it feels like to know that you’ll stay by my side as my wife.” 

Sakura wanted to simultaneously pummel and kiss the man for saying something so sweet so nonchalantly. 

“Those words were more than enough, Sasuke-kun,” she breathed, feeling almost light headed. 

His eyes flashed, seemingly pleased with getting his point across verbally and getting such a positive response. After his smile faded, his eyes grew wary. “You’re not apprehensive about everything being so soon?” 

Sakura knew this was the perfect time to have that conversation. “I’ve been ready to marry you since I was a kid, Sasuke-kun. Everything else that comes after can come when we’re both ready, but I’m not worried.” She palmed his cheek with one hand and said, her words true, “I guess the first step all depends on what you mean by soon.” 

Sasuke looked a bit startled by her response, but he grew calmer after a moment of gauging her. “You truly would get married whenever I wanted? Leave on our journey the moment I asked?” His hand snaked out of her grasp and pulled her closer by her hip. “What if I wanted to get married tomorrow and leave the day after?” 

Sakura was breathless when she responded, “I already have the clinic and hospital procedures prepped. We could leave tomorrow if you wanted.” 

Sasuke peered up at her, his mouth was slightly open and with a look of awe in his eyes. 

Sakura flushed. “What? You promised me years ago. Leaving Konoha is no problem. Marrying you definitely isn’t either.” 

“You don’t want a wedding?” 

Sakura knew he was referring to the traditional ceremony and guests. She shook her head no and kept her eyes on her hand while she brushed his hair back in order to get the next words out. “The only thing that matters is that we’re there together. We’re the ones exchanging vows and making promises to each other, so all I care about is coming home with a new last name.”

Sakura finally glanced down at Sasuke. He was smiling at her. “You have thought about this.” 

The before was implied, and Sakura couldn’t help but feel like Sasuke was poking fun at her. She blushed and smacked his shoulder lightly, her eyes dancing. “Be nice.” 

Sasuke smirked. “It’s nice to see that some things didn’t change about you.” 

Sakura couldn’t help but laugh lightly. “I haven’t changed that much. I may have gotten stronger and grown more patient with Naruto, but I’ve always been the same.” She smiled shyly. “I’ve always loved you. That hasn’t changed.” 

“No,” Sasuke insisted, his eyes dropping down to look at her body. “You’ve changed.” 

Sakura sucked in a breath. He meant… oh. 

She couldn’t help herself. “Really?” she asked, her voice small. 

Sasuke didn’t respond. Instead, he slowly lifted his hand from her side and dipped it beneath her shirt. Sakura held still while he palmed her waist, his hand warm. His eyes were down, but Sakura could see the shift in him when his guard began to slip. 

“It used to make me… unsettled,” Sasuke said quietly. His thumb moved over her stomach. “When I kept seeing you over the years, after I left, and even now. You don’t look the same. You don’t act the same, yet you’re still…” He trailed off and looked up at her. “…you.”

Sakura was basking in his words and wanted more. She decided to be brave. “Do you…like the changes?”

Sasuke hummed and squeezed her side. This time, Sakura let out a small noise. He looked like he was being strangled when he said, his words low, “It’s not a question of like.” 

Sakura felt her stomach drop deliciously. 

“I prefer to be in control,” he admitted, his words slow. “But this…” Sasuke slid his hand further up her side and she swayed into the touch. “Desire is not something I can control easily.” 

This time, her stomach flipped with heady anticipation. 

“You can control this part of our relationship, if it makes you feel better,” Sakura offered quietly, breathless. 

“No, I can’t,” Sasuke said softly after a moment. “It’s always been like this with you. I can’t control myself.” He tsk’d and leaned forward to breathe into the skin of her neck, “So annoying.” 

Sakura stumbled forward until his knees caged her in, his hand still holding her in place. Sakura tried blinking through the haze of desire, but she wondered if Sasuke really wanted her to. He seemed to be fixed on the spot, waiting for her to respond, but more than happy to stay where he was. It made Sakura decide that they both deserved a little more than just… this.  

The constant of his hand gliding across her skin and the heat of his body encouraged Sakura to say quietly, “I think I like that.” 

Sasuke’s hand froze on her side before slowly starting to move again. Sasuke’s head was still bowed, and he said, his voice low, “You don’t get it.”

He waited a beat before saying in a low, quiet voice, “I want to consume you.” 

Sakura couldn’t take it anymore. She had to see his face. Slowly, she grasped both of his cheeks and pulled his face up to hers. She opened her mouth to assure him that she wanted nothing more than that, but she stopped short when she saw red. 

Sasuke closed his eyes and tilted his head away. “I’m sorry. They get like that when I…” Sasuke took a deep breath and opened them again, the red tomoe still spinning. “I don’t want you to have to look at them while we…” Sasuke trailed off again, his hand squeezing against her side from his agitation. 

Sakura pressed her fingers into his cheeks and pulled his face back. Her eyes were fiery when she looked at the Uchiha. “You don’t hide from me, Sasuke-kun. There is no reason, not when there isn’t a single part of you that I don’t love.” She tipped his head up further as she continued softly, “Especially your eyes.” 

Sasuke’s attempt to remain stoic failed and his face cracked with emotion. He closed his eyes again, but kept his head up. Sakura was overcome with the need to show him, so she bent down to kiss each eyelid, his forehead, and then his cheeks, her lips trembling the entire time. She pretended that each kiss erased the pain from his heart and filled it with her love instead. 

Sasuke made a noise in the back of his throat after she kissed his cheek a bit too close to his mouth. He tugged with the hand at her waist until Sakura was pressed against him and her mouth left his skin with a soft sound of surprise.

He kissed her the second she leaned back, pressing his lips so hard to hers that Sakura would have fallen over had it not been for Sasuke’s grip. She kissed him back just as fervently, the desire from before more prevalent with each gasp of breath and clash of teeth, her body and mind singing in harmony. Sakura’s hands fell to his shoulders and squeezed, her blood boiling underneath her skin. It was a push and pull of bodies and lips, a release of tension that had been building for weeks. 

Sakura’s back began to arch from the pressure of Sasuke’s hand and, without thinking, wanting to be closer, she took a step forward and placed one knee on the bed next to Sasuke’s hip.

Sasuke’s lips fell from hers in surprise and his forehead dropped to her shoulder to look down at their bodies’ close proximity. Sakura was a blushing mess, but she couldn’t find the space in her mind to be embarrassed. Sasuke was breathing just as heavily as she was and the heavy lidded look he was giving her indicated that maybe her move hadn’t been a bad thing at all. 

Looking up at her, Sasuke slowly slid his hand from under her shirt and over her hip. Sakura shivered when it coasted over the bare skin of her thigh and bit her lip to keep from making a noise when his fingers pressed into the skin behind her knee. Slowly, Sasuke increased pressure until he lifted her leg up and over his, seating her precariously on his lap. 

Sakura clenched her hands harder into Sasuke’s shirt, bunching it at his shoulders, her eyes trapped in Sasuke’s mismatched stare. His hand made its way back to her side while he sat up straighter and brought their bodies closer, never once breaking eye contact. 

It took a second for both of their questions to be answered in each other’s eyes as yes before they were kissing again. Sakura reveled in the way Sasuke’s breath caught when her teeth snagged against his lower lip, and she knew Sasuke enjoyed each of her startled gasps. When his hand splayed across her lower back to pull her closer, Sakura could only oblige. She felt their bodies slide into place like puzzle pieces and softly moaned into his mouth, her hands wrapped around the back of his neck squeezing. 

She was embarrassed when Sasuke immediately pulled back, but it faded into another soft noise when he dipped down to attack her neck instead. Sakura was floating in bliss and the growing heat of her body. Her hands were restless and grabbed at his hair, his back, his chest, anything to keep herself from pushing him down into the mattress. 

“Sasuke-kun,” she gasped out, unable to help herself. 

Sasuke pressed his mouth harder to her skin, trailing his lips and teeth down until they grazed her exposed collar bone. When she gasped his name again, he made a low noise in the back of his throat and wrapped his arm around her waist. 

Fast in the way only shinobi were, Sasuke flipped them both until she was underneath him. He kissed her again and again, holding himself up on his half-arm while pushing and pulling at her waist. It made Sakura delirious. 

When Sasuke’s hand slipped inside her shorts to curve over her hip, Sakura jerked. It wasn’t a negative reaction, but it was powerful. She let out a choked noise and squeezed his shoulders, waiting for him to back off or keep going. It was always up to him, no matter how cloudy her mind had become. Her body wanted more and Sasuke looked ready to comply. 

Instead, he hovered just above her. His weight was shifted back on his legs and he breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling with occasional hitch. Sakura tentatively let a hand slip to his chest to hold more of his weight, her eyes filled with patience. 

Sasuke’s eyes slid shut and he heaved out a great sigh. He took several more controlled breaths before speaking. “This is what I’m talking about. I can’t stop myself.” 

“You just did,” Sakura informed him cheekily.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. “I didn’t want to.” Then, he added quietly, almost to himself, “I don’t want to.” 

She took a leap of faith. 

“So don’t,” she breathed, her eyes shining with trust and want. 

The red and purple of Sasuke’s eyes seemed to darken considerably, but he was a still sentinel over her, watchful, considering. 

His hand shifted inside her shorts, splaying over her thigh. 

Her breath caught. 

“Don’t stop?” he breathed, his hand digging into the flesh of her thigh. 

Sakura nodded and sighed against his lips as she tugged him by the back of her neck back down to her. “Don’t stop.” 

Their kisses took on a new meaning. It felt possessive and claiming, like a damn had finally broken after the pressure got to be too much. His weight settled more to the side, and his hand roved down her leg, his nails scratching as he ran it back up to her hip, gripping it tightly. 

“Tell me to stop if you don’t want me to touch you,” he gasped between kisses, gripping and pulling at her hip, his indecision obvious in his movements. 

Sakura wanted the same thing as him, so she said as her hand ran down his chest, stopping at the waistband of his shorts, “Tell me to stop if you don’t want me to touch you.” 

It was almost wounded, the sound that came out of him, when her fingers slid just barely beneath his waistband, and then he was on her. 

His hand slid down her hip, his thumb gently rubbing her inner thigh beneath her shorts, his lips furious and tasting against her own. Sakura joined him and slipped her hand beneath his shorts, her fingers curling just above where he was hard and thick against her hip. 

Sasuke made the first move, shifting his hand to lightly cup her sex, pulling a gasp from Sakura’s throat, her mouth popping off of his while her head kicked back from the sensation. But, not to be outdone, Sakura did the same, slowly sliding her hand down until she was palming him. 

Both of their hearts were racing. 

Sasuke sucked in a harsh breath, his hips involuntarily jerking into her hold, and he dragged his hand up her core in retaliation, his fingers dipping into the wetness gathered there. 

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura gasped, her hips rolling up instinctually. 

It felt good. Too good. 

He groaned, his fingers finding her bud of nerves and slowly, torturously, rubbing circles onto it. 

“Tell me what to do,” he whispered, his mouth finding the curve of her shoulder and laving at it. 

Sakura gasped, her hand wrapping around him. “J-just like that.” 

She began to move her hand. “Tell me what to do.” 

“Just like that,” he growled, his teeth snapping at her jaw. 

It was slow, clumsy, but unbearably good as they both dragged and rubbed their hands on each other, their breaths hitching and bodies tensing and relaxing with each new sensation. Their hips rolled into each other’s palms, and their lips and teeth were ravenous on their skin. 

It was Sakura who tumbled over the edge first, whimpering and gasping, but she was followed almost seconds later by Sasuke, his spend coating her hand as she slowed her motions, pulling every last drop from him almost lazily. 

Sasuke nearly collapsed on her, and Sakura barely had the mind to catch him with her free hand, helping him land beside her. His fingers were wet, his hand pressed on her lower stomach, half in and half out of her shorts, her own hand still pressed against him. 

It took a while for them to catch their breaths. Sasuke recovered first. He buried his face in her neck, and his hand rising up to her waist and squeezing him to her, his lips soft and sweet against her skin. Sakura sighed a shuddered, blissful sound as she pulled her hand from his shorts, her body slowly coming back to itself. 

 His voice was quiet and slightly hoarse when he asked, “Was that okay?” 

Sakura held back the inclination to laugh and smiled, her head tilting to the side and letting her nose fall to his temple. 

“Yes,” she breathed, kissing the curve of his cheek. “More than okay for me.” 

With a bit of hesitation, she asked, “And…for you?” 

Sasuke didn’t hold back his inclination to laugh, the sound low and rumbly. “Yes, it was.” 

They cleaned up after a few more minutes of laying tangled together. Once they slid back beneath the sheets, Sasuke leaving his shirt behind before he snagged Sakura around her waist, tugging her to lay on his chest, his arm like a steel band around her. 

It was several minutes before either of them broke the peaceful, satisfied silence. 

“I didn’t expect that,” he said softly, almost thoughtful. “It was…traditional, to wait for any of… that, until we were married.” 

Quietly, Sakura replied, “Do you regret it?” 

He was quick to answer. “No. No, I don’t, I just…” 

He sighed. “I’ve never been able to trust feeling this…satisfied. Happy. It’s…”

He let it hang in the air, but Sakura knew what he was trying to say. 

Scary. 

Sakura couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy over Sasuke’s internal struggles. They had grown so much together, but he was still plagued by his trauma. 

“Sasuke-kun, I told you before that I was okay with you controlling this. I want you.” Sakura flushed to the tip of her toes. “It’s a known fact, so just… let me. Want you. And let yourself want me back.” 

Her shoulders inched towards her ears as if to hide from her embarrassing words. “You don’t have to…hold back. Stop yourself from feeling… good. I’ll never judge you and I want you to feel safe to just feel and learn how to feel new things.” 

Sasuke didn’t respond, but Sakura didn’t feel shut out. She could feel him musing with her answer and needed time to sort through his thoughts. Sakura idly ran her fingertips across his abdomen while she waited. 

“It’s hard still,” Sasuke said after a while. “I hadn’t let myself feel anything but anger and pain for so long that it feels overwhelming at times… being with you. Like this.” 

Sakura felt like she needed to say something to ease his mind. Sakura whispered ever so softly, “We don’t have to have sex even if we’re married. Not if you aren’t ready for that kind of vulnerability. Even if you want kids soon, we don’t have to until you want to.” 

Sasuke went still beneath her. 

She whispered, wanting to reassure him. “I know it’s a step in our relationship that changes things, but I don’t want you to feel pressured or like you have to.” 

“I’m not worried about that,” Sasuke said quickly. “I want to.” 

Sakura flushed a bright shade of red. 

“I… I just…” He sighed and took his time looking for an answer before he finished quietly, “I need to remember that it’s just us. Just you and I, and nothing could be wrong with that.” 

“Yeah,” Sakura breathed, smiling. “That’s exactly it.” 

Sakura slowly gathered his hand between her two and let the silence simmer between them. The day had been filled with confessions and proposals and and even more confessions towards the end, and Sakura could tell Sasuke was nearing the point of mental exhaustion. So, she leaned forward gently to kiss his chest before whispering a goodnight. They settled further beneath the covers facing one another, keeping their hands between them. 

Just when she thought Sasuke was asleep, she heard his voice in the dark of her room. “Thank you.” 

“What for?” she asked softly. 

He squeezed her hand. “For being what I need.”