"Get in the car or die."

"No."

"Get in. Now."

"Nope."

"Come on, Sakura."

"Don't you 'come on' me, Sasuke."

"Sakura."

"Sasuke."

"…"

"Are you going to pout like that all day?"

"Maybe."

"If you do… I'll… I'll…"

"You'll what? Kiss me like you know you want to?"

"Oh shut up."

"So you don't deny it. You want to kiss me."

"H-Hey I never said--!"

"Sakura. Just get in the car, okay?"

"Fine. But this better be good." Sakura got into the red convertible. Sasuke smirked with triumph. Sasuke started the engine and roared off down the street. The ocean was sparkling next to the street, the ocean breeze combing its sharp fingers through Sasuke and Sakura's hair. Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who was almost happily tapping his fingers to the beat of the music on the wheel. He actually looked happy. Her angsty teammate, Sasuke Uchiha. Looked happy. Wow.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Sasuke's voice did not reflect his look. It usually never did. He sounded completely normal, stoic and uninterested. Sasuke's eyes flickered over to Sakura, and for a moment Sakura saw something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Well you seem so… happy. I was wondering why," Sakura answered truthfully. She fiddled with the chunky black bangles on her wrist. "…Because you usually seem so… annoyed or something." Sasuke didn't respond. The music from the radio filled the silence along with the wind rushing past their ears. Sakura sighed, but the wind took the sound away. Sasuke frowned, ruining the peaceful expression he had before. Sakura couldn't help but note that he still looked amazingly handsome either way.

"Sakura, we went on this vacation for a reason you know."

"Yeah, it was to send us away from Konoha so that Naruto wouldn't screw with the festival everyone is preparing for."

"Well not just because of that, but because we all needed a break. Isn't that obvious?" Sakura hated it when he said that. Isn't that obvious? It just made her feel stupid. Sakura turned away from Sasuke, facing the other side of car; sometimes she couldn't look at him for too long. They stopped at the red light and Sakura watched the people crossing the street.

"Yeah I guess so," Sakura murmured. "Where are we going, by the way?"

"You'll see."

"I hate surprises."

"I thought you loved them."

"Not when I know Naruto had something to do with it."

"Who said he was involved?" The question hung in the air. The light turned green and Sasuke took a sharp turn to the right, away from the ocean view. Sakura's heartbeat quickened. Sasuke is taking me somewhere for a surprise. Without any of Naruto's doing. Sakura clenched her fists to stop from doing a little happy dance.

"Sasuke?"

"What?"

"Did you want to come? Did you honestly from the bottom of your heart want to come?" Sasuke's brows furrowed for a moment, he was thinking.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that. Are you asking if I wanted to come on this vacation? Or come… back to Konoha?" The pause in the middle of the last sentence demonstrated his hesitation.

"Both, I guess." Sakura looked nervously at Sasuke. She hoped she wasn't asking a terribly bad timed question.

"For your first question, I didn't really have a choice. But it was nice to get away from all those villagers who think I'm going to whip out my chidori and kill them all."

"Oh. I see." Sakura didn't really know how to respond to that. It was palpable that most of those who lived in Konoha still thought of Sasuke as a traitor. But he wasn't. Sakura knew that. He no longer had any motive to hurt anyone; not with Itachi and Orochimaru already dead. All that was left was the Atkatsuki. And those battles would come in time.

"For your second question…" Sasuke hesitated. He honestly didn't really know why he came back. It was sort of a random kind of decision. The one that your gut refuses to follow but your heart dives in headfirst.

"Yes?" Sakura shifted on the leather seat. It was a hot summer day, and her thighs were beginning to stick to the seats.

"I don't really know," Sasuke said as honestly as he could.

"Oh." The answer was not the one she was looking forward to hearing. She expected a long, complicated story of how he contemplated his life and what he should do next. It was not at all like that.

"You seem disappointed."

"I can't say that I'm not."

"Why?"

"I just thought that you coming back to Konoha would have to have a lot more reasoning than an 'I don't know'. It seemed so complicated. And after me and Naruto worked so hard to bring you back… we were eventually forced to stop by Tsunade-sama. She told us it was a lost cause. And here you come strolling back into our lives… My life… and your reasoning was an 'I don't know'."

"It is complicated."

"Then why can't you explain it to me?"

"It's too confusing."

"Then explain it in a way that won't be confusing."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because…"

"Because?"

"Because it would be a lost cause. You would never understand it." Sasuke's words hit harder than expected. Sakura immediately looked away, blinking back tears.

"I can never understand anyone or anything. I can't understand the complexity of the Kyuubi in Naruto… I can't understand the Akatsuki's motives; I can't understand the life problems that are hurled at me day by day. I can't understand you. Why?"

"Sakura." Sakura looked up at him, his voice was firm. "If you start thinking that you're worthless and stupid, then get over yourself. You're not stupid. You are the only apprentice of Tsunade; that's a pretty large accomplishment. And you're not worthless. If you were, then no one would need you like…" Sasuke trailed off.

"Like what?" Sakura couldn't believe Sasuke. He was actually trying to cheer her up. It was so abnormal.

"Like…" Sasuke couldn't find the right words. Sakura leaned towards him in her seat, hoping for a romantic answer. "Like that stupid Naruto and Kakashi and your parents and all those patients at the hospital. People like that."

"Oh. Yeah." Sakura hoped for him to say, 'If you were then no one would need you like me.'

"We're almost there."

"Oh good."

After a few minutes in silence, they arrived at their destination; a little resort with beautiful Japanese gardens surrounding it. It seemed like the most romantic place to bring someone. Sakura's heart quickened yet again, secretly yearning for something girls only have in fairytales. Sakura opened the door and stepped out, breathing in the fresh, fragrant air. Her black heels clacked against the pavement as she followed Sasuke into the quant building Oh, please God, let this be good.