A/N: Just a short blank period drabble in second person POV and a little break from writing The Runaways. Previously posted to my AO3 account under the same handle. Reviews are appreciated!

The first time was eight years back. She asked you to take her with you, begged even, any other man would have said so if they've seen her, but they didn't, and you wouldn't allow that either. When you saw her tears, a step forward would be a step to hearing her fall apart. You almost faltered, almost wavered, forgetting the reason why you ended up back in the route you've followed religiously for all your life. But it took all that was in you to not turn back.

Now seemed different. She did not beg: a part of her spoke in a language you would not have recognized even after a year or two. Another just happened to be something you could easily read, being Haruno Sakura, the girl who's stuck with you for as long as you remember, eager yet patient, strong yet yielding at every affirmative response offered.

"I'm going with you this time, Sasuke-kun."

It was not a question, nor a request, but a goddamn fixed proposal, where your reply would not matter, you realized as you opened your mouth, but could not, for the first time, articulate the words.

She started walking ahead, carrying her mission backpack and walking slowly, if not dawdling – you were very sure that she wanted to hear you reject her, only so she could use another comeback. This was not what you were expecting when you promised her of your return.

"Sakura." Finally, you heard your own voice against the whistling wind.

The pink-haired kunoichi stopped in her tracks, head turning by her shoulder with a sly smile at ready. "Yes?"

"You can't go."

She faced you, hands on her hips, pretending to glare matter-of-factly. "I already asked The Sixth and he agreed. I have Kakashi-sensei's legitimate approval. This is as good as an official mission."

"I'll be heading east," you warned, eyes gazing at the open clear sky. "Then up north. It will be a longer journey than you might like."

When you look back at her, Sakura had already erased the distance in between so her face – a little burnt red from the summer air – closed in, a softer more genuine smile emerged, and your stomach churned in response, but still ridiculously unable to break away from her stare. She always enjoyed invading the smallest of your personal space, yet for some unsounded reason, it did not bother you.

Until now. Until her eyes grew bigger as a finger steadily poked your forehead, down to the tip of your nose. "Sasuke-kun? You look dehydrated."

"What?" The word escaped your mouth too harshly. You think she might have assumed you were angry, instead of blatantly just surprised. Sakura simply nodded, a hand already extending to her back pocket and tossing you her bottle of water.

"Drink up," she said. "Long journey ahead."

"I was serious about that."

"I was, too." A glimmer of hope, an untiring heart, an innocent anticipation – her eyes reflected such things you realized she always possessed ever since you got teamed up, and perhaps you really could not blame her. It faintly reminded you of your mother, a spared memory inching into the back of your mind and before you knew it, you started doing what she asked, tucked the bottle in your bag, then slid your hands down your pockets. Your mother, who never ran out of hope, who was strong in her own caliber, the matriarch of an entire powerful clan.

Unresisting as she took the lead, you tried to walk at the same speed, towering now a little over as the years have been kinder to you post-war. She was petite, a woman you solely wanted to protect, but warranted nothing of such protection, a woman who held her own. Somehow, the Uchiha crest would look good on her back. You turned away slightly at the thought, a blush still evidently on your cheeks.

Haruno Sakura was a peculiar one, indeed. The kind you just couldn't ask the universe for anything else.