HELLO!

I wrote a little something for SasuSaku Month. I've been shipping this pair ever since 2006, and even while I took a loooong break from FanFic writing (8-year hiatus, yeah!), I never stopped believing that these two will end up together.

Please be nice to mehhhh. It's been so long since I wrote an essay for fun. (school essay writing's a bitch).

Thanks! Enjoy! Let's go, SasuSaku! 3

Uchiha Sasuke is pissed off. No, that's an understatement. He's ready to kill someone at that moment.

Having just recently returned once again to the village, he's mandated by the Hokage to take on D-rank level missions. As he was technically a genin when he left, he, therefore, still is one. But, being on probation, any D-rank missions that he has to undertake will not count as official. He's been given missions to take dogs for a walk, look for missing cats, look for lost items, re-write old scroll writings, and other menial things that a kid can do. All this, for nothing…I'm an Uchiha, for Kami's sake! He clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes, unable to control the irritation he's feeling at the moment.

After the war ended, and was given pardon by the Hokage, he won't admit it to anybody, but he was a tad bit excited to be back in the village his brother loved so much. A part of him wanted to eat ramen at Ichiraku with Naruto, attempt to once again uncover what lies behind the mask of his sensei, Kakashi, and… yes, make up for the lone "thank you" he left for Sakura years ago. However, he don't see them around as much, given that all shinobi are busy with the reconstruction of Konoha and missions from the different countries to rebuild the financial stability of the said village.

And he's stuck there to become the village's nanny. At that particular moment, he was at the brink of his patience.

He crossed his arms in front of the Hokage, holding the mission scroll Tsunade had just given him. He tried to hide his annoyance and anger, but he's failing miserably at it. Tsunade smirked in satisfaction at the sight of the young lad in front of her. She admittedly enjoys torturing the Uchiha Sasuke. "You do know that you have no choice," she said nonchalantly.

This woman. I'll kill her if only I wasn't atoning for the things I did. "I am aware of that." Sasuke forced himself to say.

A playful smirk hung at the tip of Tsunade's smile as she was satisfied with the reaction she got from Sasuke, who's aura gets darker and darker with every second, filling up the room. Shizune held Tonton tighter when the latter squealed upon feeling the intense dark chakra emanating from Sasuke. "Good. Well, then. We'll wait for your superiors." A nerve evidently twitched in Sasuke's forehead, and Tsunade gained satisfaction from this.

The phrase was just out of Tsunade's mouth when the door suddenly opened, revealing Aburame Shino and a familiar teammate's face, Haruno Sakura. Sasuke glanced at the former, and unknowingly gazed long and hard at the latter. This did not go unnoticed, earning a slight blush and a small smile from the object of his stare. "You are to help these two gather insects and bugs for Sakura's herbal medicine. Sakura just found a formula that hastens the recovery of wounds, regardless of its depth, and it would be beneficial for the Shinobi Alliance if that was mass-produced as soon as possible." Sakura evidently got flustered at the compliment being given to her by her master.

Ignoring the little flittering feeling he got when he saw Sakura, Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance and diverted his attention once again unto Tsunade. "Then, why don't you ask the whole Aburame clan for this? It would make the job much faster."

Tsunade didn't back down from the Uchiha's glare, "First of all, you are on probation, which means, you have no right to argue; you only have to accept and accept missions. And second," she glanced at the two newcomers, "the whole Aburame clan is out at the moment to the Land of Hana to take care of the pollination of the flower gardens heavily damaged with the battle that took place there. I sent the messenger hawk already, so the earliest Aburame member should arrive tomorrow evening. However, since this medicine is of high importance to the recovery of our shinobi, no time should be wasted. Now, I will not entertain any more questions. Please leave immediately." Tsunade took a deep breath, clasped her hands together and had her chin rest on top of her hands, giving a look that says get out now.

Sakura glanced back and forth to Sasuke and Tsunade during the course of their conversation and sighed. The Hokage sure isn't cutting Sasuke-kun some slack, huh… she smiled inwardly and thought that this is a rare opportunity to spend time with Sasuke since he's been back. She has been working almost non-stop ever since the aftermath of the war. She heads the makeshift hospital in Konoha because Shizune is back to being Tsunade's secretary of some sort. She isn't able to spend time with the man she spent years wishing to come back because she's been kept busy by reason of her duties to the Shinobi Alliance.

"Hello, Sasuke." Shino said, snapping Sakura out of her thoughts. He's been standing beside her the whole time. Shino acknowledged Sasuke for the first time while in this room, but an awkward silence insued.

Sasuke looked at him long and hard. Eventually, he sighed, and waved his hand and said, "Aburame… uhh…" Sasuke gulped inwardly. He can't remember his name. Sakura felt awkward as Sasuke evidently struggled with remembering Shino, and gave Sasuke a cue to follow. "Ne, Shino-san, Sasuke-kun, let's do our best together!"

Shino disappeared. And the whole room sweat-dropped, witnessing how Shino wallowed in self-pity at the corner of the room, muttering "Nobody remembers me… no one at all…am I that forgettable?" over and over again. Sasuke sighed. Damn this Hokage for mandating me to know every single one of the people in the village, but I can't remember this guy at all.

Tsunade, getting annoyed with all the ruckus wasted at her office, reached the end of her patience. She stood up, banged her fists at the table, and shouted, "EVERYONE OF YOU, GET OUT OF THIS OFFICE AND START WITH YOUR MISSION, GODDAMNIT!"

And, with that, everyone left hurriedly, even Sasuke. Sakura, out of habit, was able to leave a small bow of respect, and dragged Shino out from the room, still being emo about being forgotten.

"This is the area. Remember to look for these kinds of bugs. They can be found mostly in areas not well lighted. Look under rocks, logs, leaves, and big branches. They're more often than not hiding from sunlight." Shino told Sasuke. "Put them in these jars. Sakura-san will start processing them right here and now, so we need to be quick." Sasuke glanced behind him and saw Sakura preparing a pseudo-table to work on. He nodded at Shino, and both of them disappeared in an instant.

Sigh, and I thought I'll have time with Sasuke-kun…" Sakura thought. She laid down everything in front of her and stopped for a while. I swear, when this is all done, I'll try to catch up with him. We haven't talked to each other for more than 3 years. I deserve a conversation, at least. She sighed.

Almost immediately, she was snapped out of thoughts when something fell behind her with a loud thud. Her alertness heightened, and she looked behind her, while infusing chakra into her fists, ready to defend herself. Her eyes widened when she saw Sasuke lying on his back, clearly unconscious.

"SASUKE-KUN!" She immediately rushed to his side to check up on him and let the chakra disappear. "Sasuke-kun! What happened?!" She surveyed checked for any signs of damage on Sasuke. Nothing…What's wrong? She looked around her and tried to sense the surroundings for any sign of enemy attacks. The war just ended, what the heck-!

"Sakura-chaaaaaan…"

Sakura froze. The voice sounds very familiar, but it just doesn't sound right. She's afraid to even look down.

"Sakura-chan, I looooove youuuuuuuuu…" She gulped, and slowly looked down. Indeed, Sasuke spoke. Although he's regaining his consciousness, his eyes remained closed, and he remained lying flat on the ground.

…

….

…. "NANI?!" Sakura shouted and, unable to control her surprise, her voice scared away birds that were at the clearing. "S-Sasuke-kun? N-Nani?" Sakura stuttered. Something's wrong here. "Did you just say…" she cannot finish her sentence. Sasuke sat up and looked around, apparently dazed either from the fall or Sakura's scream. Sakura just looked at him and remained seated next to him, too stunned to continue.

Sasuke cocked his head on one side and looked at Sakura. For some reason, he has a weird, dazed, almost childlike look on his eyes, and this bothered Sakura. And what he said next almost made her feel like going unconscious. "Sakura-chaaaaaan, weeeeeeeeeeee! I'm so glad I'm with youuuuuuuu…"

Shino landed and appeared next to them. "What happened?! I heard something. Sakura-!" Shino, from behind his glasses, widened his eyes at the sight of Sasuke staring all lovey-dovey at Sakura, while the latter was just plain too shocked to respond to him. "What in the hell happened here?"

Then, Shino saw the perpetrator, sitting innocently on Sasuke's neck, an insect that's around half an inch in left, red in color, and slightly resembles the shape of a heart. The insect-tamer himself couldn't bring himself to say it, "A l-love bug…"

"L-love bug? Something like that exists?! Don't even joke like that!" Sakura, upon hearing the specie of bug that her companion mentioned, was able to react to the absurdity of what she's hearing.

"I know it exists, but I never expected it to be here at this clearing. It usually shies away from crowds or people. One won't find it near a village." But then again, the war destroyed everything… I guess that's why this love bug found its way here…Shino thought. He looked around. "Be careful, Sakura. Although, love bugs usually are alone."

Sakura looked at Shino, "Explain. I'm really lost right now. What happened to Sasuke-kun?" She just stared at Shino, pleading him silently to start making sense of this situation.

"ILOVEYOUUUUSAKURA-CHAAAAN. I CAME BACK TO KONOHA FOR YAAAAA~~~~!" Sasuke suddenly hugged Sakura, and started rubbing his face adorably against hers. Sakura blushed furiously, but tried to compose herself to listen to Shino's explaination.

"Sakura…" Shino hesitated, but decided to tell her, "Love bugs got their name from their effect. Once they bite a person, anything that that person feels to the person next to them, they'll honestly tell them, no holding back." Shino went a step closer to them. "And, so…believe in what Sasuke tells you now." Shino knelt down next to Sasuke to get the bug that bit him in the neck.

And, the usually loud and talkative kunoichi has reached the point where no words come to mind. All this is just too much. Love bugs…anything that person feels…they'll tell them, no holding back… Sakura looked at Sasuke, unable to contain everything that she just took in right at that moment.

Sasuke glanced at Shino, surveyed him, and said, "Gomene, Aburame-san, I honestly can't seem to remember you." He had an apologetic look on his face. Shino twitched in annoyance and stood up, away from them, and got emo once more.

Sasuke once more focused his attention on the still-shocked Sakura and almost jumped on her when he hugged her. "I love you, Sakura-chan! Go out with me! I can't bring myself to ask you out before!"

I love you…

Shino hesitated, but was able to compose himself. "Sakura, to snap Sasuke back to his senses, you need to…reciprocate to the intensity of his feelings. You should do whatever soon. Else, the bug's poison effect will overpower him." Sakura stared at him ridiculously.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! RECIPROCATE?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN OVERPOWER HIM?!" Shino flinched. Sakura's temper is just as the rumor says, it's the same as that of the Hokage's. "WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" Sakura shouted.

"If it overpowers him, he stays like that…" Sakura waited and held her breath, "forever. There's no known cure as of yet."

Sakura focused his attention once again at the one in front of her. What am I… supposed to do? Maybe holding his hands will do the trick… Nothing. As she grabbed her left hand, Sasuke squealed in delight and just acted all happy and hyper. Sakura bit her lip and tried to think of what to do.

"Sakura-chaaaaaan, don't get angry anymore. You'll look old faster. Awww!" Sasuke doesn't seem to have any control over himself. He's grinning the biggest grin he has, it almost feels like Naruto made a Sasuke-clone and plays a prank on her. The holding of hand has no effect… how about… Sakura hugged Sasuke close to her. Sasuke stopped for a moment. This is as far as I can go.

"…" Did it stop?

"…did she stop it?" Shino thought.

"SAKURA! YOU'RE HUGGING MEEEEE. IT MAKES ME SOOOO HAPPY!" Sasuke shouted and hugged Sakura, letting her fall on top of him on the ground. Shino almost blushed at the sight. He felt awkward and left the scene.

Sakura only stared at where Shino was a few moments ago, "Kuso… No way." With mixed emotions welling up inside her, she looked at the raven-haired man she's on top of right now. He's really acting weird, and it makes her feel really uncomfortable. If Sasuke-kun had Naruto's attitude, I might have not, or… maybe… I don't know. Sakura smiled inwardly. Admittedly, Sasuke's childish ways reminded her of a lot of her admirers who acted this way towards her. Naruto, Lee…even Konohamaru once declared his undying love for her. Sasuke-kun, kawaii, but this is not you at all… Sakura smiled.

Sasuke still spurts out words of affection to Sakura. Then maybe… will… this… do? She cupped Sasuke's face with both hands and pressed her lips with his.

Sasuke's eyes widened, and almost immediately, the powerful control that something has over him suddenly vanished. He came to his senses, and realized that right at that moment, Sakura's kissing him. Sakura... doshte? Why?...

Not only the powerful controlling something disappeared; to him, everything disappeared. Sakura. Is. Kissing. Him. He felt her pull away, he raised a hand to her head and pulled her back in for another. She stopped the kiss and looked down at the pair of onyx eyes, still not moving off of Sasuke's chest. "Sakura... you're heavy."

Sakura smiled. She remembered those words. The very same words he used when she thought he died at the hands of Haku, one of the first moments she realized that she genuinely feels different for this guy. That's the very first moment Sasuke realized, someone cares for him deep enough to cry if he dies. He stared back at Sakura's eyes, feeling vulnerable at the moment. And, in response, he genuinely smiled back and pulled Sakura in for another kiss.

I love you… Sakura…

"I love you…" Sasuke found himself saying.

Sakura felt all the emotions she restrained all those years gush at this moment. Tears gathered in her eyes, and she smiled at the man whom she waited for. "Is this real already?" Sakura found herself saying.

"I don't know what happened to me, but I just woke up to you kissing me." Sasuke said. Oh, so, he didn't know what happened… Sakura thought. She disregarded that, and just went down to steal another kiss from Sasuke. "I love you so much, Sasuke-kun…" It'll be a secret that me and Shino will share. It might be a bit too much for you how you acted in this forest…