Title: killing time

Summary: "I know you think we shouldn't" that this will end up blowing in their faces "but I would like for us to try."

A/N: Same verse as Slow It Down. Call it a sequel if you like. Whatever. :)

The Underground is unusually vacant on a Thursday night and Haruno Sakura takes this opportunity to drown her sorrows in liquor and the sound of booming techno music in the large club. She is glad that not many are around to witness her drink herself to a stupor but then again, she doesn't really care. She is sitting alone in the bar as she downs shot after shot of liquor until she can no longer see straight. Sakura smiles in satisfaction as the alcohol burns down her throat and motions for the waiter to bring her another round.

She senses him before she sees him.

Green eyes alight and her drunken smile turns into a smirk as she senses the familiar chakra signature. Even on the verge of inebriation she can never forget the unmistakable chakra signature she's known since she was a little girl. She can always sense it even from miles away.

The stool on her right is pulled and none other than Uchiha Sasuke sits beside her.

"Out to drink, Sasuke-kun?" She couldn't pass the chance. Sasuke rarely comes to places like this for a drink. Thinks it's too shabby and beneath him. Though he has a great love for alcohol, he prefers to do his drinking in private.

"I could say the same to you." She could practically hear the smirk in his voice even in its monotone. "That bad?"

Sakura closes her eyes and silently downs a shot.

'Bad' is a colossal understatement. 'Tragic' couldn't be any farther from the truth.

A family was rushed earlier in the Emergency ward. It had been a run-in with some rogue ninjas while the family was travelling back to Konoha. The father died before he could even reach the hospital while the mother and child were on critical condition. She later died during the operation along with the still unborn child inside of her. Their son—a child of three years old—was the only one that survived and is now an orphan all because she failed to save even at least one of his parents.

"I fucked up, Sasuke." She says as she remembers how the child wept when he heard the news "I fucking fucked up."

Sasuke just looks at her for a moment longer before putting a few bills on the bar and standing up. He hauls her up by her arms and he does so gently that Sakura doesn't protests and lets him take her wherever it is he's taking her.

She is at her apartment the next moment and he is about to leave. She grabs his wrist before he could walk out her door.

"Sakura—"

Her mouth is on him the next and they are on the bed and she knows they shouldn't but she wants to forget.

"Sakura, we shouldn't—"

He is pushing her away—gently, as always—and trying to reason to her and Sakura knows she should listen because they already agreed to stop this but she just really needs this—need him.

And she says so.

"Please."

Sasuke takes one look at her and knows he's a goner.

He lies awake even as she sleeps beside him.

Sasuke stares at her bedroom's ceiling and thinks of how long they could keep going on like this, using each other.

It's not that he resents her for it, God knows it has never been unfair on his part—has never been unfair on both parts—but sometimes he thinks of the possibilities and the 'what could be' of him and her, Sasuke and Sakura—of them together—and he thinks of something much more than just meaningless trysts and stolen glances and false pretenses.

When Uchiha Sasuke thinks of him and her together, he sees something potentially destructive and cataclysmic but wonderful and thinks it might be worth it.

Him and Her. Them.

Sakura stirs beside him and he shifts his position to see her better. A stray lock of pink hair falls on her face and he lifts a hand to gently tuck it on her ear. He smirks wryly at the thought that struck him.

Why does everything that involves Haruno Sakura have to be so annoying?

He caresses her cheek one last time and plants a soft kiss on her forehead before standing up to leave. He dresses quickly and quietly to not wake her but before he can even leap out her window he heard her stir.

"Sasuke-kun…"

It was faint and when Sasuke turns to see if she was awake he finds her moving closer to the side of the bed he always occupies when he stays over.

"…thank you."

He lets his eyes linger on her sleeping figure a little longer as if committing it to memory before finally taking his leave.

Sasuke waits for her to finish work the next day.

It is half past eight and according to Naruto, Sakura should've been out an hour and a half ago. Sasuke has been waiting for over two hours. He frowns lightly at the realization that she might be overworking herself again. He doesn't go in, however, and just waits for her patiently using the time to think over once again what he has been considering since last night.

Because he is Uchiha Sasuke and he doesn't do anything he isn't even remotely sure because everything he does needs to be carefully planned and concise right down to every little small detail.

At exactly nine o'clock Sakura exits the hospital to call it a day.

Sakura sees him casually leaning on a wall outside of the hospital and nearly doubles over in shock.

She wasn't exactly sure at first if it was him but when she got closer and confirmed that it is indeed Uchiha Sasuke, she almost trips over her own two feet.

Because Uchiha Sasuke usually avoids the hospital like a plague and would rather let his injuries heal by themselves than stick around the hospital. More often than not, the Hokage herself has had to order him to go before he even come dragging his limping body to the hospital. And he always snarls and exude an aura that repels any medic that tries to help him and she has to heal him herself in the end; which, although is extremely touching for her part, irritates her to some degree because she has other things to attend to than just a simple dislocated shoulder.

Thus, it is truly a sight to behold that Uchiha Sasuke is within range of the hospital even if he only looked to be waiting for something.

He straightens up when he saw her and looks to be expectant, of what she doesn't know.

"Hey, Sasuke. What are you doing here? Are you hurt or anything?" Sakura smiles at him and her eyes automatically went over him to check for any injuries.

"Hn. Let's go."

Sakura's eyebrows shot up.

"Why? Where are we going? Did we agree to meet or something?"

He just shrugs. Is there really something off about him picking her up from work?

Sakura seems to have picked up on something as she stares at him for a long moment. She draws herself to her full height and turns away from him.

"If this is about yesterday then you don't have to worry because I'm fine. It was just one of those days. It happens." She explains. "I'm fine."

Sasuke didn't like how she sounds as if she's convincing herself.

"Whatever. I'll walk you home." He says as he grabs her wrist and tugs her towards the direction of her house.

Sakura was about to complain but whatever protests she might have had dies down in her throat as she marvels at how warm Sasuke's hand is.

Half way through her house she decides to ask, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you feel the need to walk me home? I can take care of myself just fine."

"I know." Sasuke doesn't look at her. He just kept walking with his hand lightly grasping her wrist, "I just felt like it."

The night that Sasuke decided to wait for her after work and walk her home was, Sakura discovered, not a one-time thing.

Because he had kept on doing it the following nights regardless if she clocks off from work early or she decides to extend her shift far more than was necessary. Sasuke will be waiting for her outside Konoha General without fail and walks her home.

Sakura would be lying if she says she doesn't find the gesture sweet, if not a little confusing, so she just lets him and greets him with a smile, talks about her day and asks about his on the walk to her house, and thanks him for escorting her.

But she is naturally curious and there is only so much curiosity she could handle, and for the life of her, she could never quite figure out the Uchiha entirely.

It was half way through the third week that she asked.

It was Wednesday and she had clocked off early from work and they were walking in a leisurely pace towards her apartment. The night is still young and they decided to take the longer way where they had to pass downtown Konoha. It was still quite busy and lots of people are milling about the concessionaire stands and the lights of the stores illuminate the streets.

Sakura had been chattering about her day and Sasuke was making small comments here and there when she suddenly cut short whatever story she was telling to ask, "Why are you really doing this?"

Sasuke was momentarily taken aback by her sudden query despite not outwardly showing it. Because even though he's been used to her fast changing stories, this one had been quite abrupt, more so than normal.

"And you can't just say because 'you felt like it.' I want to know the truth and don't you dare lie to me. You know I know when you do."

He stopped walking and turned to look at her with an unreadable expression. They are only three blocks away from her apartment and Sasuke thinks that maybe now might be an opportune time to say what he has been pondering over for the last few weeks.

"Sakura."

Sakura stopped walking as well when she heard his voice. She was a few steps in front of him and she turned around to face him, expectant.

He looked at her straight in the eyes and Sakura felt the beginnings of a blush creeping up her neck at the intensity of his gaze. She nearly fell over when Sasuke said his next words.

"Go out with me."

Sakura literally felt her brain stopped working. She replayed the words over and over in her head and knows he doesn't mean the literal sense of them because they are out as in outside and she can only arrive to one conclusion as to what Sasuke meant but what the actual fuck.

"D-d-did y-you," she is mildly aware that she is gaping like an idiot and sounds acutely like Hinata did when they were genin but that doesn't matter right now because she thinks her hearing is failing, either that or she's hallucinating. "Did you just say what I think you just said?"

Sasuke resolutely holds her gaze even as she stutters and looks at him in various levels of disbelief and incredulity.

"I've been thinking over it for a while and I…want us to be more than just…what we are right now."

The words are said haltingly as if he's weighing them but she can clearly hear the conviction in them. Sakura swallows and wonders why her throat suddenly felt dry, "Sasuke I—"

"I know you think we shouldn't" that this will end up blowing in their faces "but I would like for us to try."

There is silence as Sakura tried to take everything in and Sasuke weighs his next words.

"I'd like to court you."

She doesn't say anything for a long time that Sasuke is beginning to ready himself to either hear her rejection or a good swift chakra punch to the jaw. He can never be sure with Sakura even after the years they've spent.

"Courting, huh?" she looked up at the stars and Sasuke can see the beginnings of a smile on her lips. "You know we got it the wrong way?"

He couldn't help the smirk on his lips, "We can still do this right."

She laughed, "It might be a little late for that." She started walking the remaining distance to her house and Sasuke follows.

When they reached her door, she turned around to him and said, "It might take awhile."

"I know." His decisiveness was clear in his tone.

Sakura just smiled and thanked him as always for walking her home and he was about to ask again when she spoke, "I'm free on Sunday night around seven."

He always picks her up from work after that.

Sometimes he brings flowers with him when he happens to pass by the Yamanaka's shop and had to endure Ino's gushing of "You are so cute together." But he often gets them free because of that so he just sighs and lets her be. When he has the chance he brings her sweets from the sweet shops on the outskirts of Konoha when he comes back from border patrol. And one time, when he was sent to the Land of Iron, he bought her her favorite chocolates that are exclusively sold in a small shop in the aforementioned village.

The look on her face was well worth the long lines he had had to endure just to attain a single box of the treats.

But the days are growing increasingly cold this time of the year and flowers that bloom in the winter are quite expensive and he hasn't been sent to any border patrol missions and Sasuke thinks she might appreciate what he's brought for her now more than any flower or sweets.

Sakura goes off from work nowadays considerably on time than she does before. Before, when she needs to extend her shifts, she just immediately continues in her hours without pause; but these days, she now has to excuse herself for a few minutes to send a quick message before getting back to work.

Because now she has someone waiting for her at seven o'clock pm every day.

But today is quite different, she thinks, because it is the middle of winter and the days have been increasingly cold and she knows Sasuke hates the cold ever since they were children. He won't be out there tonight and would probably just wait for her at her apartment.

So she takes her sweet time putting on her coat and winter boots. She grabs her bag and hat on her way out and calls out a goodbye to the medics working in the night shift before exiting the building. The walk to Konoha General's main exit is relatively long and she takes her time to enjoy the crunching of snow beneath her booth-clad feet as she made her way across the courtyard.

She stops a few feet away from the gate and nearly drops her bag at what she saw.

Goddamn. Why does he always have to surprise her every time he picks her up from work.

Uchiha Sasuke, clad in what she surmises is his thickest winter coat and a dark blue scarf wrapped around his neck, is standing in the bitter winter air cradling a cup of what she knows is hot chocolate from her favorite café two blocks from the hospital. Half of his face is buried in his thick scarf and even from where she stands, Sakura could see that his cheeks and nose are flushed from the cold.

Sakura thinks she hasn't seen a sight quite as adorable as Sasuke in the winter.

She nearly broke into a run towards him in her haste to get to him. She greets him with a smile that almost made Sasuke drop the cup of hot chocolate he's holding because it is so radiant and beautiful and it reaches her eyes and just lights up her whole face and it is very similar to the way she used to smile at him when they were children.

Sasuke may despise the cold and winter but he thinks he would gladly stand in a blizzard just to see her smile that way for him all the time.

"Hey," she greets a little breathless with her breath coming out in puffs of smoke due to the cold "I thought you hated the cold."

He just shrugs and hands her the cup he's been holding and she nods and smiles in thanks. "I just got back from a mission."

She frowns after taking a sip. "Are you alright? Were you hurt? Do you have any injuries? You need to get inside to be checked—"

Sasuke is suddenly filled with the familiar fondness he's had of her since they were genin and couldn't help the amused smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I just got checked. I'm fine, Sakura you don't need to worry. I'm just tired."

Sakura's eyes widens at the realization that hit her before softening with the surge of affection she felt for Sasuke.

He hates the cold and he just got back from a mission and she could see just by looking at him that he is dead-tired but he still took the time to wait for her to get off work and walk her home.

If she wasn't so touched by his gesture and is on the verge of tears, she would've hugged and kissed him senseless.

She took his hand in hers and didn't miss the relieved sigh that escaped him from the feel of her warm hands on his ice cold ones. She frowns at him and lightly chides him for not wearing any gloves. Sasuke just shrugs and "Hns" at her and Sakura resigns herself to the task of warming his hands for him herself.

He doesn't say the words so much as blurt them out.

"I love you."

It was sudden and unexpected and he hadn't known he had said it until it was already out of his mouth and she had stopped talking presumably from shock.

There was a moment of silence akin to the night he had asked to court her. Sakura is just looking at him with an emotion in her wide and bright and greengreengreen eyes that he couldn't quite fathom what and for a moment he fears it might be too early, too abrupt, too sudden and he had completely ruined the wonderful thing they have.

But the words are already out of his mouth and Sasuke would rather die than take them back because it's the truth and he wants her to know—needs her to know.

Sakura squeezes his hand and smiles that smile again. It takes him off guard and makes his throat constrict and makes him feel all sorts of strange things he is not accustomed to feeling because it is the smile she used to give to him when they were genin.

She leans in and takes him by the nape and closed the distance between them and all Sasuke could feel are her lips against his because she is kissing him as suddenly as the words tumbled out of his mouth.

Sasuke could feel her smiling against the kiss and then she is laughing and then the kiss is over much too soon for his liking but it's okay because he could see her smile reaching to her eyes. Tears threatened to spill from too green, too bright eyes and she looks sososo happy and she is so beautiful it hurts.

Sakura leans in to kiss him chastely and in a breathless whisper against his lips tells him the same words the stupid boy told the silly girl so many years ago.

"Thank you."

It takes her five months, three weeks and two days to tell him she loves him back.

She is sprawled across his couch on a lazy mid-afternoon because it's a weekend and his apartment is a lot nicer than hers and his couch is the comfiest thing she has ever laid on. She doesn't have anything better to do because she just got back from a mission and has temporary vacation so she decides to spend time annoying her most favorite person in the world.

Sakura thinks she's doing a great job if the way Sasuke is scowling while he busies himself with whatever in his kitchen is any indication.

He turns to her and tells her he doesn't have any apples left and she already finished the last slice of cake during lunch. He's not scowling anymore but a perennial frown is still etched on his face as he grumbles about her being 'annoying' and 'turning into the dobe' and 'get your own food, slave driving freeloader' as he roots through his cupboards in an attempt to find her something to eat other than tomatoes and onigiri just to shut her up.

She watches him as he opens and closes his cupboards and pace about in his kitchen. She watches as he eventually gives up and lets out a resigned sigh before closing his fridge and turns and tells her he's going out to the market.

It is stupid. It is irrational. It is illogical, silly and ridiculous and it doesn't make sense but Sakura knows there is no way she can ever fall in love with Uchiha Sasuke anymore than she did in that moment. It is so simple, so small a gesture, yet it made her heart beat in a way she didn't know was biologically possible (and she's a medic!).

It's just food for Kami's sake but the thought that Sasuke was willing to root through his whole kitchen to find something for her and even go to the whole trouble of going to the market to buy something for her just makes it all the more clear to her.

And Haruno Sakura knows she's in love with Uchiha Sasuke.

Still in love and always will be.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun"

He looks to her if only because she used the suffix because she rarely uses it anymore unless she wants something from him or she's really happy with him and he sees her sitting up on his couch looking at him like she just had an epiphany.

"I love you."

His eyes widened. There is a dazzling smile on her face as she says it.

"Always have. Always will."

She walks up to him still stunned and staring at her like he doesn't believe her and she just smiles up at him and it's all she could do before she kisses him and means it like the words she just said.

"I love you."

Kiss.

"I love you."

Kiss.

"I love you."

And she continues to kiss him as Sasuke wraps his strong arms around her and lifts her up and twirls her and then she is laughing and laughing and laughing and even Sasuke is smiling.

Kami. It feels so great to finally be able to say it. She is so relieved to finally be able to say it again.

She stopped laughing by now but she can't keep the shiteating grin on her face and Sasuke is smiling too as their foreheads touched. He sighs as if exasperated but the smile on his face doesn't waver.

"You are so annoying." I love you.

"I love you too."

When people see them together they often think it was inevitable, really, for the Uchiha boy and the Godaime's apprentice to end up together. 'Why, she's only been in love with him since they were children!' But it is more than that.

It's waiting for her every day at seven pm or even beyond that to walk her home. It's nagging him to get checked after every mission and even before. It's for letting her drag him outside even when it's cold, raining or snowing just because. It's for cooking his favorite dish and making sure he eats a proper diet other than tomatoes and riceballs. Because he holds her hair out of the way when she pukes her guts after drinking too much; because she heals him after every spar and because they both look out for Naruto and filter his idiocy. Because he is there for her when she had a bad day at the hospital; and because she shakes him awake and holds him tight and makes the nightmares go away when nights get rough and a million and more reasons that neither cared to think about.

Because he's Sasuke and she's Sakura and they know they can be a mistake and a disaster and they will never be perfect but they are brave enough to try.

A/N: I have this HC in my head where Sasucakes and Sakuface falls in lust first before actually falling in love (again in Sakura's case) especially because this is set in post-war and everything. I have a whole scenario thought up too but that's for a different fanfic.

Read and revie and let me know what you think, lovelies! :D

-angeline