"Sakura!" I yell at the top of my lungs the second I see her long, pink hair. I come to a stop and, hands on my knees, I attempt to catch my breath. I can't explain the mixture of emotions that are swirling around inside my stomach right now. I didn't even prepare a speech, but screw it.

"Are you alright, Sasuke? You don't look so good."

Sakura rests a warm palm on my forehead to test my temperature. It amazes and stills me when I notice this gesture doesn't annoy me. It excites me. Normally, I'd swat her hand away and call her something crude, but now I just want her to keep doing it. I know, hell froze over.

"I need to talk to you," I explain, taking her hand and bringing it down gently. Her eyes follow our hands in sheer shock and I can tell she's confused. She blinks at me twice, unable to speak.

"Are you free right now?" I'm still holding her hand, unable to let our minor contact go.

"I... what?" Sakura is staring at me, dumbfounded and I bite back a laugh.

I gesture towards the hospital she works at, "Are you free? I want to talk to you."

Sakura looks behind her as if she forgets where we are. A grin escapes me, I can't help it, she's too darn cute when she's confused.

"I-I'm still work-working...I'm sorry…"

"What are you sorry for?"

She looks downtrodden at the fact that she's still working, "I don't have much time...are you mad?"

Understandable reaction. "No, Sakura. I'm not mad, never. When will you be done?" The urge to call her beautiful at the end of that sentence was strong but I held back. Can't move in too fast, that's not attractive.

My thumb starts making circular motions on the back of her hand and now she's distracted again. She's like a kitten who loves getting attention. "Um…"

I lift her chin so she's looking at me again, probably a bad idea. Her face is entirely red, her eyes are protruding from their sockets. Did I do too much already?

"Sakura, breathe. Breathe, come on." I try to reassure her, calm her down. After a few seconds she listens and begins to take deep breaths. Once she's only partially red I think it's safe to ask her again. This time she responds easily, "I'll be off in an hour."

saku

"Perfect, I'll come back in an hour and pick you up. We can get dinner."

Sakura's jaw drops to the floor and I can't help but laugh. I let go of her hand, something we both instantly miss, and tell her to keep breathing and focus on her work. She stutters out a promise that she will and disappears back inside.

I have an hour to kill so I decide to wander around the village. The sand crunches under my feet, the sun blaring and hot. I'm not in Suna for a mission, if that's what you're wondering. I'm here because Sakura is. She was asked by the Kazekage to assist the medical team in finding a new treatment for a disease that's sprung up. I didn't mean to come here and distract her from her work, even though it seems that's exactly what I did. I know Sakura takes her missions seriously so I have faith I didn't just turn her world upside down.

I decide to stop at a small restaurant and get a drink. Stepping out of the sun is a blessing. Motioning to the server I tell him what I want. I run a hand through my hair and feel it fall back in place. My thoughts drift to Sakura and I feel my heartbeat speed back up. I can't believe it took so long to see Sakura for who she was. For the longest time, as you know, I thought she was annoying and worthless. I can't explain how I felt about her before I realized I actually care about her. It's like I totally forgot what annoying felt like and it was replaced with consideration.

I guess you could say the feeling sort of crept up on me. It wasn't just an instant gear switch, that's not how it works. I remember being on my mission, the tail end of it, and I was thinking about going home. My first thought, when I thought of home, was Sakura. Don't ask me why she was the first person I thought of, but now I'm here waiting for her to get off work. Weird, right? As you get older things change apparently.

I haven't seen Sakura in over a year. The last time I saw her she was training with Naruto. Seeing them together honestly struck a soft spot in my heart. Sakura had certainly grown into a woman, there was no doubt about that. But she remained tough on the outside, that's something I suspected would never change. Training with Tsunade granted her wisdom and more strength than any hot-tempered woman really needed but it suited Sakura nevertheless. For a decade, Sakura was weak to me. She would never be my equal. But things have changed.

Chugging the last of my drink, I throw some bills on the counter and walk out. The sun is still high in the sky, but soon to be setting. The walk to the hospital seems like ages, the urge to run almost unbearable. I wait outside the hospital doors, the heat making me sweat. Or its nerves, who knows.

"Sasuke," My head swings around to find Sakura, smiling nervously at me. Instinct has me grinning back at her.

"Hey, Sakura."

We take this moment to admire each other, I know she's admiring me because she's been doing it for years. But now it's my turn to reflect that look she's grown so accustomed to donning. Her forehead is creased in sweat, stray hairs cling to her skin and there's a hint of bags under her eyes. The word beautiful doesn't begin to describe her.

"Are you hungry? There's a restaurant up the street I thought we could try."

"That sounds nice."

We fall in step beside each other and I can feel the nerves vibrating off of her. I almost think she'll make an excuse to back out and go home but that's not Sakura. Sakura follows through with everything, no matter how she feels.

"So...how've you been?" She asks me, glancing at me from her periphery.

"I have been good, but I missed being home. How have you been, Sakura?"

"Good, works been consistent but I like staying busy."

"You always were restless," I tease her and her cheeks tinge pink.

I don't take her to the restaurant I was at earlier, but a further one down the street. It's a bit fancier, something necessary for this occasion. Sakura tries to protest that she's dirty and isn't dressed for a fancy place, but I reassure her that she looks beautiful, which makes her jaw drop.

"Come on, Sakura. I promise, you couldn't look any better if you tried." I take her hand and gently tug her inside, giving her a reassuring smile. She relents, and after sitting in the chair I pull out for her, she seems to relax. Slightly.

She opens her menu and starts browsing, but I get lost at the sight of her. She notices me staring and doesn't know what to do. "Why are you staring at me?"

"I'm sorry, you just intrigue me."

"How so?"

"You have such a grace with the way you do things, I've never noticed it before."

"I do? I guess I've never noticed it, either. Thank you, Sasuke."

At that moment the waitress came to take our order. I let Sakura order first, getting the rice bowl with vegetables and chicken, and I ordered pork with a side of rice.

"How was work today?"

"We made a breakthrough on the cure but we're not quite there yet. Suna's medical team is very intelligent."

"Congratulations, I knew you'd make progress. I'm sure Gaara will be glad to hear that his medics are on par with Konoha's."

"How did you know I was here?"

I sip my water, "I asked Tsunade."

"You asked Tsunade where I was? Why?" An eyebrow went up in curiosity.

"Because I wanted to talk to you," I said, holding her gaze.

"About what?"

"Us."

Silence ensued. I stared at Sakura warmly, admiring how her countenance went from confused to hopeful to worried and back to hopeful. Her mind ran a mile a minute, finding answers and conclusions in seconds. It's why she did so well at the academy and why she's excelling as a medic. She's terrific.

The waitress came with our food just as Sakura opened her mouth. Disappointment crossed her features but I reassured her, "We have all the time in the world, Sakura. Eat." I nodded to her plate.

We chatted and made small talk as we ate our food, which was well worth the money, by the way. The pork was delicious, and when I asked Sakura how her food was she said she wanted to get some to take home. When we couldn't eat anymore we got the check and decided to take a walk to get some air. On the surface I was calm and collected, but on the inside, I was racing with anticipation. My reason for coming here was to confess my feelings for her, but we still haven't gotten to that yet. I hoped it wouldn't blow back in my face and end up with her screaming at me for ignoring her for years. If nothing else I expected that.

I just hoped it didn't happen.

It was dark out by the time we left, the air cooler than it was earlier. Sakura didn't have a jacket on so she crossed her arms for warmth.

I shrugged off my jacket and held it up for her to put her arms through. She blushed and murmured a thank you. As she put my jacket on I caught a whiff of her scent and felt a warmth in me that wanted to burst. As she stepped away so we could walk, I got the desire to put my arm around her as we walked. So, I did. It happened so fast I didn't have time to think about it. My heart shook as I waited for her to push me off and yell at me or give me a look of disgust. It was the longest moment of my life. But she did none of that. Instead, she nestled in closer to me and I held her close, bursting at the seams with pleasure. This moment was one of the best moments I'm sure I would remember for the rest of my days because I've been wanting this for so long. Sakura's been waiting a decade and a half for this, so I have nothing to complain about.

We walked together in comfortable silence, the stars starting to show in the night sky. Nobody was outside except for a few teenagers and some villagers on their way home. One thing you could count on was the village shutting down at a reasonable time. After some time, we found our way to the hotel we were staying at. Neither of us wanted to go inside so we agreed to sit outside and talk. The mood between us was lit with suspense and anticipation. Sakura wanted to know what I had to say and I wanted to know her response.

"Sakura, there's a reason I came all the way to Suna to talk to you. I thought you would be at Konoha but Tsunade assured me you were here to help out. So, without telling anyone and asking Tsunade not to send word that I was coming, I headed here not knowing what I would find."

"What do you mean, what you would find?" She asked softly.

I took a deep breath and exhaled. "When I was finishing up my mission, before I came back to Konoha, something woke me up. I was alone and had time to think about my life and what I wanted, or more specifically who I wanted in it. Do you know who that person was, Sakura?"

Sakura stared at me, holding her breath, and shook her head.

"It was you, Sakura. All I could think about, was you. I can't explain it," I ran a hand through my hair, trying to put my feelings into words. "I was thinking of what it would be like to come back home to Konoha, to the people I cared about. And it scared me."

"Why did it scare you?" She whispered, putting a hand on my knee.

"I wasn't sure of what would be left there waiting for me. I know I pissed off a lot of people by leaving the village in my own selfishness and I said a lot of hateful things to a lot of people. Coming back asking forgiveness is scary when you haven't seen anyone in over a year.

But I'm here now and there's something I've been meaning to tell you for the longest time." I looked her directly in the eyes and took her hand in both of mine. With a deep breath, I finally said what I've been meaning to say.

" Sakura, I'm sorry."