A/n: One last submission before my hell weeks. I had fun writing this. I hope you'll also enjoy reading it. Please let me know your thoughts! They make me happy. :') Also plugging my Christmas fic, silent night and the morning after.

someday, definitely

Naruto was scarfing his third bowl of ramen down and making a slurping sound while waiting for the arrival of the next order that he had just placed. Sasuke, on the other hand, was just there sitting beside him, absentmindedly shaking his glass initially filled with sake but now with only the blocks of ice clinking against its walls.

He was staring off into space, lots of thoughts mucking about in his head when Naruto nudged him with his elbow.

"Teme," he started while not exactly diminishing his attention from his precious meal, "eva tot of yer nuys reslushn?" Naruto finished slurping the last strip of noodle before casting him a sidelong curious glance.

Putting his glass down, Sasuke just elegantly raised a brow at him.

"You don't make sense, dobe," he remarked before settling his gaze on the droplets forming on the surface of the glass.

Naruto lifted the bowl of ramen before gulping down the soup. He made a sound of satisfaction, patted his stomach before turning to look at Sasuke to repeat his question. "Ever thought of your New Year's resolution?"

"I don't need it," he answered flatly.

Naruto then reacted theatrically, slammed his hands down onto the table before standing up, his expression agape. "But Teme!"

His voice was so loud the other customers started minding them, and Sasuke had to casually play with his glass as if he wasn't involved in the ruckus Naruto was raising.

Naruto, seeing that Sasuke wouldn't give more than what he had just offered, finally sat down and decided to settle things in a more peaceful way. He suddenly intruded on Sasuke's space and eyed him intently until Sasuke forced out a sigh.

"Stop pestering me," he said because the last thing he wanted was for Naruto to keep on at him about something so trivial.

Naruto drew back, huffed, and folded his arms. Shaking his head at Sasuke, he began, "You need resolutions, teme. All of us do. New year is about changes so there must be some things about ourselves that we want to change."

"Changes happen. You don't plan them," Sasuke drawled while finally refilling his glass.

Sasuke then spared him a look before asking, "Why, have you been keeping your resolutions?" He snorted, not really expecting a positive answer.

Naruto dramatically got into a thinking pose as if regarding his question with careful intensity.

"Well, every year I keep telling myself to cut back on my ramen consumption..."

There was a significant pause before Sasuke scoffed lightly. "And you never did," he said as he drank down the sake in his glass.

"Kakashi-sensei can't also keep his anyway. He never stopped reading his magazines because he always buys new volumes at the start of the year so – "

"My point exactly," Sasuke replied in a throwaway manner.

Naruto then retorted defensively. "But that was because I lacked motivation back then! Now I'll definitely keep my resolution because I want to take Hinata out on dates and I need to save up for those moments. So for sure, this will be the last time I'll be ordering this much. Starting tomorrow, I'll start on my diet," he finished before proudly announcing to the ramen chef what he had just resolved himself into.

Sasuke didn't react to any of this because for a while, he considered the idea of actually doing that New Year's resolution thing that Naruto was so insistent about. But he would have so many things he would want to change about himself that it seemed pointless to even try. He would have to be a completely different person if he wanted to make it work. Besides, everything seemed to be all right now that he had come back from years of travelling.

The village had accepted him back, and he was slowly regaining his way of living as a Konoha-nin. Team 7 was still there for him, always ready to accept him. They could even talk over old times without any tinge of grievance. And Sakura...well, when he gave her the promise sealed with that forehead tap four years ago, he had assumed that Sakura would have an inkling that things would be different upon his return. He didn't know how exactly, but he could start by making up for the lost time – at least as her teammate.

So far, their interactions had been on friendly terms – casual, no lingering gazes, or amiss gestures. Sakura hadn't talked or hinted to him about whatever it was that happened between them that day. Actually, Sakura hadn't been around him as much as before, but Sakura was always quick to give them apology whenever she had to turn down their invitation of eating out as Team 7. She was always busy in the hospital, and she was now having more bonding moments with Ino and the girls. She reasoned it was because they were adults now – and only women can understand women.

Sometimes he would think of doing something more about his relationship with Sakura. He knew how much she had been through because of him, and the least he could do aside from thanking her was to show her that he did care more than she would ever know. Wandering alone in his journeys made him realize that while he had been blind to the world and its beauty, he had also been blind to his own desires. He had grown tired of being alone, and there was not a single night when he didn't go to sleep without a blur of pink burning inside his head. Sometimes he would even dream of looking into those emerald eyes, repeating his promise, and sealing it over and over. Her constant presence had deeply affected him, and it didn't take long before he had decided to return and make a progress on keeping the promise and what it entailed.

Naruto then cut into his reverie.

"You should try to be more honest, Sasuke." Naruto looked at him solemnly.

He snorted, "The same thing goes for you, dobe."

"No, Sasuke. I'm serious. You should be more honest about your feelings."

"Like how most of the time I'd rather beat the crap out of you in our trainings than accompany you to your ramen sessions?"

"No. Like how you should be doing something about you and Sakura instead of pretending you only see her as a teammate," Naruto leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms, fixing Sasuke with a scrutinizing gaze, ready to call him out on his lies and excuses.

Sasuke somehow sensed this, so he decided to avoid his stare and focus instead on the puddle beneath his resting glass. In fact, Naruto didn't even have to tell him about the matter for he himself had been trying to come to terms with his feelings. He had already lost once everything that he treasured and going through it again would kill him. To put it simply, he was holding back because he was scared.

Naruto clasped his hands at the back of his head, his legs outstretched, and hit a different angle of the matter.

"Well that's just a suggestion. If you have better resolutions for yourself, then go do them. I'm just saying that New Year is about changes. You'll never know what her resolutions might be. I don't know," he shrugged off, "they might include you."

Naruto didn't notice it, but Sasuke's grip on his glass instinctively tightened at his words. Naruto then cast him a furtive glance before jumping out of his seat.

"I'll have to leave you here, teme. It's almost time for me to pick up Hinata from the party. Really though I can't understand why the girls didn't invite us to go party with them," he brooded.

"Blame Kakashi. He's been suggesting that to Sakura," Sasuke answered, despite being rather distracted.

"Oh, but it's sensei. He wouldn't want getting dragged into parties when he can spend his time reading his magazines instead."

Naruto gave him a light shove. "Think about what I said, Sasuke." He grinned before shuffling off.

Sasuke quickly finished the last of his drink and stood up to leave as well. But upon seeing the New Year's crowd – mostly people who were walking in pairs – on the street, he decided to hang about inside for a while than to push his way into the flow. There would be a fireworks display somewhere as a signal for the coming year, and people still believed that seeing it with someone would improve or solidify their relationship. Sasuke didn't. He wasn't one to believe in traditions or resolutions anyway.

His thoughts continued to race on. He said he didn't want to believe, but to be honest, he had no assurance that there wasn't any truth to Naruto's assumption. After all, he hadn't made any progress on fulfilling what should've been obvious implications of his promise. He put his hands inside his pockets and let out a sigh before throwing a look outside which was now near empty. But his vision caught a blur of pink, and when he checked, there was Sakura walking side by side with his replacement.

His eyes narrowed at the sight, and before he became conscious of it, he had already gone out of the bar, striding across the street. Sai was the first one who noticed his presence, and he didn't know why, but Sai suddenly leaned towards Sakura so that their heads were put together, as if conferring privately. He then saw Sakura chuckling before Sai looked at him again. Sakura seemed to notice Sai gazing past her, making her wheel around to finally see him.

"Sasuke-kun!"

A strange feeling bubbled up inside him when he saw how Sakura's eyes lit up as she waved him over. He quickened his pace until he reached them. He gave Sakura a nod before focusing on Sai who had, what seemed to him, a devious smile plastered on his face.

Sakura's eyes carelessly flicked between the two, checking if there was anything wrong until Sai turned to her.

"I should get going. Ino is waiting for me." He smiled at Sakura before heading off.

It then came home to Sasuke that there could be nothing between the two so he felt himself wanting to heave a sigh at his words.

"I was just about to look for you. I've seen Naruto with Hinata so I assumed your ramen time was over. I'd just like to greet you before the year ends so..." she took a few steps towards him and held out a neatly wrapped gift.

"Happy New year, Sasuke-kun! Hope the new year will turn out well," she beamed.

He reached for the gift while just staring intently at her for he didn't know what to say. Sakura then gave him a curious look, her head angled to one side.

"Is there anything wrong?"

His feelings and desires were suddenly brimming over that he just had to shake his head and turn away with a shrug.

He might have given her the wrong idea though because Sakura automatically put a fair distance off him.

"Anyway, I'll have to retrieve some medical scrolls from Shishou so...see you, Sasuke-kun!" she waved a goodbye before turning on her heel.

"We...Naruto was talking about New Year's resolutions," he began despite being unsure on what to say next. He just had to stop her.

Sakura just laughed, and it echoed in the now silent street.

"He's always been talking about it. Let me guess, it's about his plan to go on a ramen diet, isn't it?"

Sasuke just nodded.

"He never changed. It's the same resolution every year but he never kept it," she remarked, shaking her head fondly.

"He told me this time he would definitely change because he has dates to worry about," he then added.

A gentle smile settled around Sakura's eyes, and she glowed. She tucked some of the strands that had come loose behind her ears before answering.

"Good for him. If it's for Hinata, then I'm sure he'll definitely be keeping it this time."

For a moment, neither of them talked. Sakura was just about to say something when he beat her to it.

"Do you also have resolutions?"

Sakura cocked her head to one side and looked upwards, her lips puckered, trying to rummage through the countless thoughts in her mind.

When she began to speak, Sasuke hung on her every word.

"Hmm...read more medical books, hang out with Ino-pig more often...and yes, spar with you guys more because I've noticed I've been neglectful of the team recently," she grinned sheepishly.

"That's all?" he prompted.

"Oh...and I guess letting go. Yes, I do have to let go of some things," she said with a wistful smile. But as if to dissipate the air of solemnity that had suddenly loomed over them, she added quickly, "How about you, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke was trying to compose himself, but her words just blasted him. Without thinking, he marched over to Sakura, resolved to come out straight with whatever half-baked speech he had in mind.

"Sakura, I..." he began, and Sakura gave him a searching stare.

"I..." he looked into her eyes.

He hated how he couldn't pull it off. Suddenly, Sakura's face creased into a soft smile.

"If it's about the gift, no problem, Sasuke-kun."

A chilly air passed them, and she tucked her shoulders in, rubbing her gloved hands together.

Sasuke then gripped her wrist and yanked her towards him, hugging her lightly, for he didn't know how else to show what he needed her to know.

"The dobe told me I should be more honest," he mumbled into her hair before breaking the hug and looking at her again. His grip on her wrist, however, only tightened.

Certain emotions were passing over her face, but the only one he could discern was that of anticipation, so he tried a bit harder.

"I...Sakura, I..."

Sakura then reached out and placed her palm on his cheek, flashing him a significant smile.

"It's okay. You don't have to force yourself. I've...we've already forgiven you."

"No, Sakura, I...just..." he continued in a new voice, "Don't let go. Don't give up on me, Sakura."

Sakura's eyes began misting over, and he knew that understanding finally dawned on her as she leaned her forehead against his chest. She said nothing, however, and he was just about to try to explain when various whizzing and whistling sounds suddenly rang through the night air and the dimly street was illuminated by the flashing multihued fireworks overhead.

They both looked up to witness the magnificent display. Sasuke was taking in the sight when he heard her speak.

"The genin Sakura never changed, Sasuke-kun," she said, eyes still glued to the sky. Then facing him, she added, "My feelings will never change."

She smiled warmly at him before returning her attention to the fireworks display.

Sasuke took her hand which brought color into her face, and when she turned to him again, he realized he had really never lied about his feelings towards her. It was the only thing he could tell her (at least for now), but it encapsulated what he had always felt about her.

So he lifted her hand to his lips and whispered, "Thank you, Sakura."

...

Fin.

(he says thank you because I love you pales in comparison -

this line is from my other story sunrise in the west. just thought it's fitting.)