A/N: Pftt... yeah, I'm evil.

.

Sakura's eyes widened, her expression fallen for a moment.

However, not a second later, she was recomposed, deep in contemplation. The longer she dwelled on her memories, the wider her smile grew.

"Well, Sarada," Sakura said slowly, "I am glad you asked."

When prodded, Sakura laughed, fingers subconsciously reaching for her forehead. "You see, it was when your otou-san and I were twelve years old."

"Twelve!" Sarada excitedly leaned closer, hand clutched at her chest. "That young, okaa-san?"

Blushing, Sakura nodded. "Just after our Academy graduation. As fate would have it, we were put together on the same team. But even before then, I had crushed on your otou-san for years at the Academy. Only, I had no idea whether he would like me back or not. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get myself to look cute..."

"What! But okaa-san is so pretty now."

Sakura gave a toothy grin. "Nope. Gods, my body was so awkward as a kid. All my proportions were below average, except for this." She jerked a thumb at her forehead. "I was so insecure about this forehead. The class constantly made fun of me for it, and your Ino-oba-chan even nicknamed me Billboard Brow." Sakura scowled, fist shaking in the air, before she broke into a sad smile. "I was naive back then. I thought I had to be pretty to be loved, so I almost gave up, thinking I had no chance. But then…"

"But then?"

"But then…" Sakura averted her eyes, face red. "Well, I was sitting on a street bench when I noticed your otou-san. He was looking at me with the warmest eyes, like he saw into my heart. And just when I thought I was overthinking it, he approached me and said..."

"What, what!"

"He said, 'You sure have a charming forehead. It makes me want to kiss it.'"

Sarada was speechless. Then, she fell back in laughter. "Oh man, otou-san is so corny!"

Sakura laughed too. "Hey now, corny or not, it made your okaa-san believe in fairy tales again. That was the moment I realized your otou-san had been holding the same feelings that I had been holding for him all along. So I confessed, and we looked deeply into each other's eyes, leaned in, and…"

Sarada held her breath.

"... and he chickened out." Sakura snapped her fingers.

Sarada collapsed. "What!"

Sakura rubbed her neck, tongue out. "Guess your otou-san was too shy."

"But- but you two kissed the day after, right?"

When Sakura shook her head, Sarada gave an indignant cry.

"The opportunity never rose. From then on, we had missions nonstop. Not to mention, whenever I tried to be alone with your otou-san, Naruto, the Shichidaime, would always interrupt."

"How annoying!" Sarada gave an angry frown, adjusting her glasses. "Doesn't he understand it's not nice to butt into the romances of others? Boys need to realize when they spoil a mood!"

Sakura giggled. "Now, now. Anyway, a lot of things happened in the following years. At some point, I had even thought that your otou-san's love towards me may have changed. But then, one day, he did this."

Sarada blinked at the poke. Sakura lowered her hand, the warmest blush on her cheeks.

"And that was when I knew."

Standing up, Sakura returned to the sink. "I'm sorry, Sarada, I know you wanted to hear a kiss story, but to me, it is the almost-kiss that is important to me than all the kisses in the world. Because that was when we first communicated our true feelings for each other. Over the years, many boys would confess to me, but out of all of them..."

Sarada rubbed her forehead, then grinned. "Only otou-san ever loved okaa-san's forehead!" she finished.

.