The breeze tickled Sakura's pink hair against the back of her neck. It was spring again and the air was still cool, but it was a gorgeous, sun-blessed day. She reached up to relieve the itch on the back of her neck before returning to finish her bowl of pork ramen. She couldn't feel all of the sun's early afternoon warmth under the shelter of Ichiruaku's roof, but being with her team for lunch provided all the warmth she needed.

They had just gotten back from a mission the previous day and had decided to train together, as was typical, in the morning. Sasuke enjoyed training with Sakura, Naruto, and occasionally Kakashi – who had joined them that day – and could honestly feel himself getting stronger each day. He relished the feeling he had experienced earlier that morning for a countless time: streams of sweat sliding down his face, muscles screaming with lactic acid buildup, and his mind whirring for another way to beat his teammates.

They had all gone home to shower after, all starting off walking together, but eventually breaking off on their own as their paths separated. But they only separated to meet again for lunch. Sakura smiled thinking how they ate at Ichiraku once a week as a team, but she usually went with Naruto at least once or twice again before the week was over. Sometimes Sasuke would come, too. And she couldn't have been happier. He had returned to them on the battlefield three and a half years ago and had remade his life in Konoha alongside her and Naruto, even Sai and some of their old friends from the academy, too. It had been very hard at first for him, she knew, but he was able to push past the initial troubles with their encouraging presence.

Sasuke had gone home to shower like the rest of his team, only something was riding his mind that bothered him a little bit. More than a little bit, actually. He had started to notice it almost ten months back, and once he noticed it, could trace it back even further. He had done all he could, pushed it aside, fought it, thought hard about it, dropped hints to Naruto about it, but he was beginning to lose all hope of ever getting rid of it. He longed for a day of closure.

"That was delicious ramen," Naruto declared heartily to no one in particular, or rather, everybody within earshot.

"I couldn't agree with you more!" Kakashi smiled over at his old student.

"Thanks, Teuchi-san!" Sakura called out to the aging man behind the counter.

They each took out their wallets and paid for their portions, having discovered they all liked this system of paying the best once Naruto grew out of trying to have others buy his lunch every time.

Sakura turned to follow the rest of her team out into the sun and dirt streets but only got so far before Kakashi turned with Naruto to face her and Sasuke. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "If you two don't mind, I have something I need to discuss with Naruto," Kakashi explained genuinely. "Is it all right if we head off on our own?"

Sakura's curiosity was piqued, but she just shrugged and looked over to Sasuke for confirmation. "I don't mind."

He nodded in agreement with her and the two groups said goodbye. Sakura turned to walk back home, expecting Sasuke to follow her, when he spoke up.

"Let's go check something out, if you have time."

She turned to face the man whose hands still had the habit of being deeply thrust into the pockets of his black shorts, which matched nicely with his medium-grey, high necked, Uchiha t-shirt. He was half-smiling down at her, and she thought he looked grandly tall.

"Of course I have time, Sasuke-kun. What did you have in mind?" she asked as she fell into step beside him, who had already started to walk in a different direction.

"You'll see; it'll be quick."

Sakura smiled as the two proceeded in comfortable, companionable silence, speaking only once in a while to share some trivial thought that came to mind. There was not a cloud in the deep blue sky and Sakura could not see a cloud in her heart either. After spending years together remaking their team in Konoha, all of Team Seven was close. Sakura and Sasuke did things together and hung out together often – often with Naruto or others, often by themselves as time went on. They were friends. They went to the library and read up on things, trained and ran together sometimes, and ate lunch or dinner at each other's houses a few times a week. She had stopped feeling nervous around Sasuke a long time ago – despite the fact that she still loved him and loved him more dearly every day – and was able to let only the appropriate friend-level amount of love and care out – and he had seemed comfortable with her for a long while, too. Walks like these were hardly out of the ordinary for any pair in their team.

The sun was giving him confidence and despite his heartbeats feeling slightly erratic, he felt normal. He couldn't wait any longer. He was throwing away pride and worries about how this would make him look because as long as it would calm the pent up water from overflowing the dam inside of him, he would give in to it. He smiled to himself as Sakura made an offhand comment about the balloons tied to the post by a store and laughed a little to the ground when she made a joke about two people walking past them. He interrupted with a short story of something he had seen a while back that made her laugh. He savored the lapses of quiet between their conversations because that was when he realized how relaxed he felt and how much clearer he could think and . . .

He led her through one of the gates with less traffic and once they were past the wall bordering Konoha, he strode off the path and to the left. She trustingly followed.

"You found something out here worth checking out?" Sakura asked, surprised. "What were you doing out here?"

"Just going for a run," he replied, looking back over his shoulder. When their eyes met, Sakura noticed something that wasn't native to them, but it was something she couldn't place. Sasuke wasn't acting differently, but she wondered what he was up to.

They climbed up a large hill that also served as a break in the trees. Near the top, the grass was a lighter green and not as riddled with weeds and tiny plants as it was in the forest below. The sun was magnificently lighting up the hilltop and tiny clusters of purple, yellow, and white flowers were growing all around it.

Sasuke admitted the view of Konoha was rather nice from on top of the hill, but he turned around so he could appreciate Sakura's reaction. She was grinning at its beauty and her eyes were shifting all over it.

"Wow, this place is really nice." She abandoned the scenery for a moment, choosing to look at him instead. She raised an eyebrow at him before continuing, now teasing. "Though I didn't know pretty hills and flowers were your thing."

"Of course they're not," he grouched at her, folding his arms across his chest. "They're your thing."

She grinned wider before nodding. "True."

Now was perfect. Just the thought made his heart pump blood faster and he thought that was such a stupid reaction because he wasn't in any mortal danger or exerting himself physically in any way. His body didn't need the extra oxygen and it was unnecessarily making his palms slightly sweaty. It looked like she wasn't sure if he wanted to stay or leave but was about to sit down anyway when he called out to her.

"Wait." A little too loud, or maybe a little too quiet. He had been holding it in for months now. He was sick of waiting, as patient as he had trained himself to be. He didn't even know what he was doing, honestly, or what he hoped to achieve other than a sense of release.

He cursed himself when he noticed the twinge of a blush on her cheeks as she turned around because it would only be there if there was something in his eyes, in his expression, that caused it. She never blushed around him, she hadn't in a long time – maybe that was part of his worry – and he never acted discomposed around her. He hardened his resolve and closed off any emotion on his face that wasn't supposed to be there.

Trying to act like he normally would, he frowned at her and said, "I'm not finished; you have to stand here." He pointed to a spot on the peak, the center of the hill.

Her fluster disappeared and she raised an eyebrow, looking convinced he was just trying to annoy her by asking her to do meaningless things. Nonetheless, she walked to where he told her to and stood facing him at a comfortable distance, waiting for him to explain.

But he was struggling, struggling with finding a place to start. Think! Come on! If this was a mission you'd have this done and done well in no time. It's easy. Come on. He swallowed and shoved his hands deep into his pockets again, meeting her eyes but letting them drift off to the scenery every once in a while.

"Hey, sorry for having brought you up here," he began. She was about to tell him not to apologize, but he cut her off before she spoke a word. "Just let me finish." Her eyes immediately turned serious, but a wondering curiosity lurked in their depths. "Well . . . there's something I need to tell you." He toed the grass with his shoe. This was a bit out of the ordinary for him and he could tell because she blushed faintly again and her blush just encouraged him and cracked the dam in his chest and suddenly he couldn't hold it back. "Sakura . . . I . . . since a long time ago . . . I love you." Her eyes went wide, flailing between hope and disbelief and her breath hitched. To him, somehow, that was almost as good as confirmation, confirmation that filled him until he was about to overflow. But the dam was broken, any reason to hold the water back was crushed so he didn't need to feel the pressure that came with the filling feeling anymore. He felt a need to make himself sound more usual, she he proudly declared, though in a softer voice, "So don't make me repeat myself." He couldn't help but repeat himself, though, because she looked so beautiful and they had been through so much together and spent so long together and he had wanted to say it for so long and her eyes were glassy and her mouth hung open a little in a smile, still almost disbelieving, so he exhaled, "I love you . . ." like it was the most obvious and urgent matter in the entire world and he repressed a sudden urge to hug her and pull her tight to him.

She was speechless. All she could think to say was his name, Sasuke-kun, but words wouldn't come. Sasuke-kun . . . I love you, too . . . more than words can say. She just wanted to tell him, though she had an inkling he could tell without any of her words from the uncontrollable expression that presented itself on her face. They had been friends, friends, growing closer week by week for years, but she had not really seen this coming. Being honest with herself, she had practically stopped looking for it. But now that she was faced with it, her mind was blank and her heart, full. All she could do momentarily was gape in her little half-smile.

Now that he had done it, released the dam, and was rewarded with that unique, Sakura expression, he had all the patience in the world for her to compose herself and reply. He could feel a little heat on his face and knew it was probably visible; it didn't bother him, though. He knew there wasn't a lot because he didn't feel embarrassed in any way. It felt natural, almost. Uchiha Sasuke saying those words was not natural, but saying them to her was a different story altogether.

He loved her. He smiled wide – something his teammates had finally been able to make him do – just watching his teammate, the one he was filled with love for, try to speak.

He had finally said it. Saying it out loud, to her, was coming to terms with it and he didn't regret it at all. How could he when a single tear rolled down her cheek as she broke into an ear-splitting smile, more radiant and dazzling than the sun that hung in the sky above them, and she quickly closed the distance between them, throwing her arms around his waist and crushing him to her, pouring all her joy into her embrace. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and didn't mind how long they stood there.

Eventually, muffled in his shirt, he heard her whisper, "Sasuke-kun . . . I love you, too . . . more than I could ever hope to say."

a/n: For anyone who hasn't heard the audio clip that was the inspiration for this piece you can access it here: bleu-et-rose .tumblr/ post/65969518517/if-im-not-mistaken-this-is-a-little-fragment-of ((Don't add spaces; I just had to for the link to not be deleted. Also, you have to add the dot com between 'tumblr' and '/'))

Reading about Sasuke confess his love to Sakura is enough to make anyone in their right mind melt, but hearing him say it will bring anyone above and beyond all sanity. I love this clip.

Thank you so much for reading. If you have any comments or critiques, reviews (or favorites) would be very appreciated. Once I got the idea for this story, it flowed so naturally! I was really excited for it.

Also, for anyone who is looking for more, I have recently finished a multi-chapter fic, one that is related to this one and takes place directly after the war.

In conclusion, viva Sasusaku and thank you! Hope you enjoyed this; I really enjoyed writing it!