I suddenly got inspired from sitting in break between lectures, hopefully people like it! ~ Sealson

Ten Days

"Asuma, how did you and Kurenai…" The silver haired jonin asked suddenly.

"Why do you ask?" His bearded friend replied.

"Just curious…" He trailed off as if lost in his thoughts again.

"Well, it took time. Ask her out, wherever she is; keep trying day after day. If on the first day you fail, try again tomorrow. If in ten days you still can't do it, you don't like her enough. But if in ten days she hasn't ignored or rejected you, she likes you."

"Oh…"

"Who is it anyway?" Asuma's eyes gleamed; not a wonder that Konoha's number one gossiper is his teammate or was his student.

"Thanks, ja ne!" He said lazily as he prepared for his signature exit, completely ignoring his friend's question.

"I bet it's Anko…just get her some dango and she will say yes…Baka."

It has been years since the whole Sasuke crisis. Sasuke returned a few years ago to find that nothing have changed. Tsunade is still the Hokage, Naruto is still loud, Sakura's hair is still pink, Kakashi still reads porn in public. He wanted to rebuild his clan, but women was not a problem, love was. Bit by bit, he found out just how much this village has changed during his absence – his two biggest fan girls did not greet him in their normal 'affectionate' way, but instead they just waved and said a "Hi, Sasuke-kun!". What scared him the most was that the honorific was becoming a rarity, especially from a certain pastel-haired girl who's temper is a contrast to her soft coloured hair, not to mention the inhuman strength.

She had somehow gotten over him after throwing her whole heart out to him, expecting him to catch it and cherish it. He caught it, even if it didn't seem as if he ever held it close to him. Or did he? Was it not him who thanked her on that night? Was it not him who saved her from those guys back in the chunin exams? Was it not him who saved her from the disastrous situations…say like the random ninjas back in their first C-rank mission in their genin days? These thoughts soon lulled him into a deep and peaceful sleep. He dreamt of a beautiful sakura tree, its petals swirling around it; he couldn't tell if it was loosing its beautiful pink hue to the gentle breeze or if it was simply letting go of its pride. He spotted someone under the tree fast asleep, or so it seems. Despite all his efforts, he couldn't find a way to see who that person is, and so he approached – SASUKE!

"You're going to be late again like Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun!"

"What…What are you doing here?" His eyes shockingly wide as his vision focused on the strawberry blonde currently sitting on him with an innocent face.

"Making sure you get to training on time, what else? Now get up!" She pouted as she hopped off him, disappearing out of his window.

This was not the first time Sakura had woken him up like that. She has taken most of the responsibilities that he'd list on a sister or mother list…or if he dares to say it, on a wife list. He shook his head and headed towards his bathroom and re-emerged back in his room in five minutes as he jumped out of his room through his window.

As he hurried through the small meadow, he picked up a small daisy. He saw her standing alone on the bridge, and realised that he was half an hour early. He calmly headed towards her with a small smile. As he approached, he could see that the young kunoichi's eye twitch once, a small blush played on her cheeks as she returned the smile.

'Why is he smiling at me like that? This is so awkward, Sasuke smiling?!' Sakura thought with a panic. Her eyes darted everywhere but never stopped to look at the raven haired boy in front of her. She quickly reached into her pouch to find a distraction. To her disappointment, she found a small blue novel that she confiscated off her jonin partner the other day. She mentally grumbled as she flipped open the book, pretending to be ever so interested in the little squiggles. She noticed how Sasuke's eyes twitch when he glanced at the bold title – Icha Icha Tactics.

'Haha! He looks so stunned and cute!' Inner Sakura screeched.

'Kakashi's expression was cuter.' The outer assured the inner. It was the truth. His expression when the medic jonin snatched away his novel from his calloused hands was a mixture between shock and disappointment with a small tinge of amusement.

"Mmm…so that's what Junko did…" A familiar voice found its way to her ears as she read intensely from page one. "You could've just asked me to lend it to you if you wanted to read…mind you, you should start with Icha Icha Paradisu first…" It continued.

"Sure, lend them all to me…Sensei…" She spoke as her eyes continued to scan the literature before her; who knew Jiraiya could write so well.

"You don't plan to burn them do you?" His voice was mellow and laid back, she could feel him behind her reading along as she did. Sasuke on the other hand crushed the fragile little flower in his pocket, feeling mildly left out. He approached the two jonin and tried to peer over his former sensei's shoulder, only to receive a small hand slapping across his eyes, covering them.

"One Kakashi-sensei is enough." She stated, followed by a small giggle as Kakashi poked her shoulder to tell her to turn the page.

Hours later, the two finished reading a few more chapters and Sasuke had declared that he will go 'train' since Sakura was nice enough to wake him up and make him get to training on time. Stomping off he saw a flash of yellow and orange whiz past him – Konoha's number one loudmouthed knucklehead ninja…no more…maybe just a little bit.

"Kaka-sensei! Do you have it? Please say you do! I've been waiting for so long!" He literally screamed across the bridge as he approached it.

Much to Kakashi's disappointment, Sakura snapped shut the book she was holding. It will be a long while before he finally finds out what is Junko's big ultimate secret. With a sigh, he stood up and offered his partner a hand up. By the time the two have straightened themselves up, Naruto was already in front of them jumping from foot to foot. Sasuke had turned round and joined the team again.

"Oh yea…Here it is…" He handed the boys a few sheets of paper. "It's at noon today, don't be late!"

"HEH!? Why isn't Sakura coming with us?" Naruto screamed as he saw that he and Sasuke were the only ones with the papers for the coming chunin exam.

"Oh, she recently passed her jonin exam and is now my partner in my missions." Their former sensei laid the words out, lacing them with innocence as his single visible eye creased up.

"NANI!" The two boys' jaws fell to the floor as they stared at Sakura in her jonin uniform. All this time they thought that she borrowed them off Kakashi as the two have become good friends over the years.

"Well, if only you stayed in the village instead of running off…" The pink haired girl giggled. "And it's rude to stare." She continued as she held out her forefinger and poked Sasuke's forehead protector. He flinched. He knew what that innocent finger could do…bring trees down, crush the earth beneath him, bring down an entire mountain and make it into little bits of rock, all with a single flick.

"If you're late, please don't use any of my excuses." Kakashi's eye creased up again as he spoke, shoving the boys on their way towards the exam venue. Sakura said something about "Good luck!" in the background.