Chapter Two is here. I really wanted to get this done by today (November 10th) because today is the day the Naruto manga officially ended one year ago! Happy one year anniversary present!

I can't believe Sakura Gaiden has been well received! Thanks for giving my story a chance!

I don't own Naruto.


Somewhere in a bleak and dark room, a figure sat on the stone floor and leaned against the hard wall. The only light sources were from tiny, intermittent green glows emanating from firefly-like insects leisurely floating around and a shining crystal ball sitting on a stone table in the middle of the dreary cave-like space.

A sporadic glow from one of the lightning bugs revealed a man clutching his head. He abruptly hacked into his hand, loosely curled platinum locks flying wildly as he did so. Drawing his hand open, his clear purple eyes stared at the blood pooled onto his palm. Blood had also splattered onto his simple off-white poet shirt and black pants. He breathed heavily and raggedly, sweat dripping down the sides of his pale face. The man stumbled to his pale bare feet and staggered to the crystal ball.

The surface of the delicate ball reflected a pink-haired woman who wore the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. A lone teardrop escaped one of her sparkling emeralds, and it looked as though she let out a happy sob. He wished she would smile like that for him.

She would soon, for he had chosen her to be his healer and life partner.

He had scoured across the dimensions, trying to find a way to cure his sickness. He finally came across someone who he knew would be able to treat his affliction during his visit to a parallel Universe, on the planet called Earth. He had gone from village to village, stopping at their institutions of healing. All had either denied that he even had an illness or deemed themselves incapable of treating the unknown ailment. He also posed as a sick traveler who collapsed on the road. Not many people stopped to help, and those who did were incompetent in treating his unknown disease. However, this woman suddenly halted her own business and was the only person willing to sacrifice her time to help him into shelter and look into his source of pain.

The woman introduced herself as Sakura. She had been on her way back to her village from completing something called a "mission." She stayed with him for over a week, toiling through long hours analyzing his condition and taking samples. Not long after, she managed to concoct a small amount of fluid medicine to help him feel less of the effects of his symptoms, of which she put in several vials. Although she couldn't pinpoint what exactly was causing his sickness, she had gotten farther in healing him than anyone else he ever met. When she started noticing anomalies in his cells, which were slightly different from those of a regular earthling's, he forced himself to leave before his cover was blown. He needed to gather himself and plan for the future. He also took the remaining medicine with him.

Now, he was down to the last vial. But he had a plan.

Sakura would heal him, and when he became strong enough to consume the ripening fruit of his planet's Shinju, both he and Sakura would eat the fruit. They would purge that wretched Earth of all its sinful people and start a new world together as its omnipotent father and mother.

The perfect world.

The scene in the crystal ball shifted, and the man caught a glimpse of a male. He was a tall, lean, broad-shouldered human who possessed a dark and regal character. His raven locks covered his left eye, and his visible black zircon eye released tension as he witnessed Sakura's tears.

Why was Sakura smiling like this for another man?

In rage, the man swiped at all the medical materials scattered about the table. Glass tubes shattered and other items clattered to the floor. Papers darted about, disturbed. Clutching the last vial of medicine, he swiftly drank its contents in one shot and threw the vial to the ground. The glass fractured.

Waiting for a few minutes, he felt his power momentarily surge, as the effects of his disease were numbing back down. He chuckled a sinister sound, which subsequently evolved into complete malicious laughter.

It was about time he paid Sakura a visit.


"Enter," Sasuke commanded, after Sakura had wiped way her tears. He walked past Sakura and unlocked his door, disappearing into the dark and leaving it open for Sakura to follow.

Sakura blinked. "U-um, right."

She hurriedly gathered up the loose papers scattered about the ground into her arms, not particularly caring to reorganize them into the correct folders. Then she trailed in after him, closing his front door and carefully placing her shoes next to his. Light poured out into the hallway from his kitchen. She fully entered into the apartment and made her way to the light, not noticing the other pair of black ninja sandals kicked into the dark corner of the entryway.

"Sit." Sasuke nodded to the kitchen table. Sakura looked at him in confusion, but sat down in one of the chairs regardless and set down her documents. He poured them both tea in traditional yunomi tea cups, and he himself sat down in a chair across from her. His only arm rested on the table.

Sasuke observed her.

He noticed the way Sakura nervously tucked her hair behind her right ear. Her eyes were flitting around his apartment, although she couldn't see much because only the kitchen lights were on. She was clearly flustered by his scrutinization, so she settled her gaze onto the steam rising from her cup.

Sasuke saw the physical differences from the seventeen-year-old girl and the twenty-one-year-old woman who sat before him. She was slightly taller and slimmer. She lost the little remaining baby fat on her face. Her eyes reflected experience, maturity, and wisdom, shining brighter than ever before.

"You did surgery today?" He asked. Sakura jumped at the sudden question.

"Y-yeah. One of my patients had a complicated sort of blood clot in his brain. It took forever to find and ended up becoming a seven-hour surgery. I was getting ready to go home with my work after, but then I found out you came back, and that's why I'm late in coming to meet you, and I'm so sorry for that, I rushed here to find you as fast as I could—"

"Sakura," Sasuke interrupted, closing his eye. Sakura could hear the slight exasperation in his voice at her rambling.

Predicting what he was going to say next, she hastily apologized, "Sorry, I was being annoying." She averted her eyes in embarrassment and clutched her pants at her lap.

The corner of Sasuke's lip infinitesimally twitched upward. Instead, he said, "You did well."

Sakura immediately flushed and she searched his eye in question.

A small smile found its way onto her face with her sparkling eyes crinkling, head tilting and hair swaying.

At his words, she found the courage to speak.

"Sasuke-kun, so many things happened while you were gone. I don't even know where to start! Not to mention, I'd like to hear about your journey too. Well, first, Hanabi—you know, Hinata's sister—somehow got kidnapped, and then Hinata managed to get herself kidnapped by the same evil guy while we were on a mission to retrieve Hanabi, so Naruto, Sai, Shikamaru, and I all traveled to the moon and were somehow able to save the moon from falling down on Earth. That was a year and a half ago, and not long after that, I proposed the idea of a mental healthcare clinic for the children of the war and it passed! Then, you know how your hair samples were being used to imitate your chakra? Some nasty person wanted to—"

"I know," Sasuke stated. Sakura halted her nonsensical talking. She sheepishly laughed and lightly scratched the back of her head in gesture.

She got up from her chair and slowly made her way to Sasuke, stopping in front of him. "I... I missed you," she shyly proclaimed, but boldly looked down into his eye. She bit her lower lip.

"... Ah."

"Did you... um, miss me?"

Sasuke held her hopeful gaze for a few seconds, contemplating on what to say.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a loud yawn cut through the air from the living room. The moonlight from the window-wall revealed a spiky-haired figure stretching his arms as far as he could reach.

"Man, that was a good nap! Wait, it's already dark? Crap! I gotta get home! Hinata's probably so worried!"

Sakura let out a surprised noise and jumped away from Sasuke in alarm. Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance.

"Naruto! You were here this whole time?" Sakura asked, shocked.

"Sakura-chan! You're finally here! Just how bad was your surgery that it took this long? Forget that, did you know that SASUKE'S BACK?"

"We're inside of his apartment, Naruto. Of course I know he's back!"

"Idiot..." Sasuke seethed.

Naruto looked back and forth between the pair. Realization dawned on him and he grinned, "Oh, was I interrupting something?"

"N-not at all!" Sakura declared a little too quickly.

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "If you're going to leave, get out now," he angrily directed at Naruto.

"Yeah yeah, alright," Naruto waved off, and he headed to the front door.

As he was shrugging on his sandals, he said conversationally, "You know bastard, the Spring Festival is happening this coming week."

Sasuke gave him a pointed look that indicated what of it?

Naruto continued, "I'm just saying that you should enjoy this kind of thing at least once in your life. It's also Sakura-chan's favorite festival, and I can name at least twelve people dying to be her date. You never know, she might accept one of their requests! And didn't you say you were going to thank her?" He winked while tapping each feet into his sandals as if to secure the shoes on.

"Naruto, stop talking as if I'm not here," Sakura snapped. Nonetheless, her cheeks heated. What did he mean by thanking her? She also secretly wanted to know if Sasuke would ask to accompany her, as Naruto was suggesting him to do.

"Leave."

"Just food for thought~" Naruto sang and merrily swung himself out the door and into the night.

Sasuke and Sakura stood, staring at the slightly swaying open door.

"Tch, he could have at least closed it," Sasuke resigned with a sigh. When he turned to Sakura, she was nervously playing with the ends of her hair.

"Naruto's an idiot, you're not really the kind of person who would attend childish things like festivals. I... I better leave as well, it's getting late." She briskly gathered her messy pile of papers and tapped them on the table to even the stack out. She also went to the entrance and tugged on her shoes.

She stood up and looked back. "Good night, Sasuke-kun."

"Sakura."

Sakura stopped as one foot crossed the threshold of the door. She turned back and looked at him.

"Yes?"

"... Monday, the giant oak tree next to the memorial stone. Be ready by five." With that, Sasuke swiftly turned around and retreated into his dark apartment bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Sakura blinked a few times, and closed the door. Once outside, she brought her hands to her warm cheeks and let out a strangled excited noise while she hopped up and down several times.

"I need to go see Ino!" She suddenly exclaimed and skipped all the way to her best friend's house.


The night was peaceful and the streets were empty. The spring evening saw crickets chirping about, and the stars twinkled brightly in the clear sky alongside the moon.

However, at the Yamanaka household, a storm was brewing.

"SASUKE-KUN ASKED YOU OUT ON A DATE?!" Shrieked a beautiful blonde woman.

"PIG, SHUT UP! YOU'RE TOO LOUD!" Sakura screamed back.

"FOREHEAD, YOU SHUT UP! YOU'RE BEING LOUD TOO!"

"Ladies! Please quiet down! The whole compound can hear you!" Ino's mother called from below.

"Sorry!" Both Sakura and Ino called back.

They were sitting in Ino's bedroom upstairs, much like they'd frequently done as children. Except that this bedroom was rebuilt after Pain's attack, just like every building in Konoha was. Ino sat at her vanity, long hair tied up into a thick bun with a green mud mask on her face. She had been filing her nails when Sakura relayed her shocking news.

"Ino, it's probably not a date to him! It's just two friends attending a festival together, because that's what friends do. Yeah." Sakura reassured more to herself than to her friend. She was lying on Ino's bed, repeatedly throwing her pillow up in the air.

Ino scoffed. "Sakura, couples attend festivals together. Like me and Sai. That's what lovey-dovey couples do."

"This is not 'lovey-dovey'!"

"Sure it is; it's as lovey-dovey as Sasuke-kun's ever gonna get. I bet he'll ask you to make babies with him in the same tone of voice! I can imagine it now: 'Sakura. Help me rebuild my clan.'" Ino's voice deepened about five times its normal pitch as she tried mimicking Sasuke's way of speaking.

Embarrassed, Sakura buried her face in Ino's pillow and muffled a scream.

"Hey! Stop spitting into my pillow! I need to sleep on that you know!"

Ignoring her, Sakura groaned. "Ino... what do I do?"

She could see the glint in Ino's baby blue eyes as she announced, "Girl, you came to me for help, and help is what I'm gonna give! You said Monday, right? Perfect! That gives us one day! Since tomorrow's our day off, meet me in the morning at the flower shop at ten sharp."

Sakura gulped, uneasy at Ino's devious tone. "... Why?"

Ino threw her head back and laughed maniacally.

"To prepare for battle!"

The next morning, Sakura woke up and got ready. She wore a simple light blue cotton sundress that ended just above her knees and forewent the forehead protector, as she was not on active duty. She put on her small over-the-shoulder pale yellow purse and quickly brushed her hair.

Setting her brush down and putting on heeled wedge sandals that matched the color of her purse, Sakura made sure she had her keys and wallet and left her apartment.

The village was bustling with activity in preparation for the festivities. As she walked through the streets in broad daylight, families and friends were out trying to figure out how to build or set up their booths, laying out supplies or drawing out ideas. Playing children ran around, knocking various items over and getting yelled at.

Strolling down the street, many people stopped to greet her or compliment her. She always waved back with a smile.

Arriving at the Yamanakas' flower shop, Sakura entered and the chime on the door rang. Ino greeted her.

"Hey Sakura! Hold up, let me just finish my shift here."

As Sakura waited for Ino, she looked around the shop. Her eyes settled on beautiful white flowers.

"Wow," she breathed.

One of Ino's family members emerged from the room behind the counter, and Ino ushered him to take over the register. She bounded over to Sakura.

"Got good eyes there, Forehead. Those are white gardenias!"

"They're beautiful... the way the petals twist like that is just amazing!"

White gardenias mean... oh. Ooooh. Oh! I have a great idea. Why am I so awesome? Ino's mind immediately began forming a plan, which she would execute later by enlisting a few helpers. Whether they wanted to or not. But first, she needed to redirect Sakura's attention from the pretty flowers.

"Yo, Sakura, we should get going!" She got Sakura's interest.

"Oh, okay. What are we doing today?"

Ino's eyes flashed, "My favorite thing in the whole world: shopping."

Sakura blanched. She absolutely loved shopping herself, but Ino's idea of shopping was on a whole different dimension.

"O-on second thought, I think I don't feel too well toda—"

"Oh that's nonsense, let's go!" Ino snatched Sakura's hand and dragged her out of the flower shop. Their first stop was a store solely dedicated to selling yukatas.

"We might have to fight in there," Ino observed. The shop was surprisingly busy for the day before the beginning of the festival. Usually, girls (and boys) already had their yukatas picked out by this time. But today, there were many patrons hustling through the racks.

As they entered, Ino immediately began piling yukata after yukata into Sakura's arms. When Sakura herself tried picking out a few, Ino instantly swatted them out of her hands, deeming them unworthy. Sakura still managed to sneak one she thought was acceptable into the pile. Ino nearly had to fight numerous girls over a few.

"Try them on!" She commanded, gesturing to the fitting room. Sakura sighed and carried her large stack to the curtained area. She chose to try on the one she picked out first.

When she opened the curtain, Ino let out a small shriek. Everyone in the store briefly turned to look in their direction.

"Sakura! I did not pick that out for you!"

"What? It's a perfectly pragmatic color! I like earth tones!" After all, Sakura possessed earth and water-type chakra.

"... To be honest, you look like a fucking tree. No, wait, maybe even worse. A piece of shit with a cherry blossom colored mop sitting on top of—"

"Okay okay. I'll take it off," Sakura grumbled and retreated back inside the curtains.

She tried on one after another, withstanding Ino's criticisms every time.

"Too bright."

"Too dark."

"Ew, purple does not go well with your eyes."

"There's too much pattern on that one!"

"Ugh, that one's too plain."

And so on and so forth. After what seemed like eternity, Ino feared she would never find a suitable yukata for Sakura. She paced back and forth.

"Ino, why are we even here in the first place? I have a perfectly good yukata back at my parents' house," Sakura called out from behind the fitting room.

"Yeah, that you wore for like, six years in a row! It's definitely time to get you a new one."

"Well, let's hope this is good because it's the last one in the pile," Sakura muttered while shoving aside the curtain violently.

Ino stopped in her tracks and her jaw dropped.

This was the one.

Ino squealed, "Sakura! This is it! We're buying this one!"

Sakura skeptically looked at her friend, "Really? But the price is so high..."

"I don't care, we are so getting this!" Ino dragged her friend to the register.

The clerk rang up the yukata and cheerfully said in her best sales voice, "And the total is six hundred and sixteen ryou!"

Sakura gasped. "Ino! I don't have that kind of money on me!"

Ino waved off her friend's distress, "Put it on my credit please!" She handed the clerk a small, rectangular card. As Konoha was undergoing building construction, the village was also in the midst of a technological revolution. One such result of this boom in technology was the credit card, a "pay later" kind of system. Sakura's hospital pager had also been a product of the revolution.

"I-Ino..." Sakura herself did not own a credit card, but she was touched that Ino would do something like this for her.

"Don't sweat it, Forehead. If this will get me closer to seeing a mini Sasuke grumping his way around the village, I'd do it every day until it happens."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I promise I will pay you back. Are we done with the shopping?"

Ino grinned, "Now we go for makeup!"

Sakura sighed at her best friend's antics but complied anyway. They visited various civilian makeup stores, and Sakura learned what mascara and eyeliner and all the different types of foundation were. She knew Ino was well-versed in this subject so she just let her work her magic. They had the most difficulty finding a shade of eyebrow pencil that matched Sakura's hair color.

Sakura insisted on paying for the makeup products this time, as all of them combined was less expensive than the yukata. Ino let her.

"Perfect!" Ino all but purred when they made it back to Sakura's apartment, "Okay, since the big day is tomorrow, I'm coming over at three to get you ready. Alright?"

"Whatever you want, Pig." Sakura cracked a smile. Ino turned around and left, humming.

Sakura entered her home and set the numerous shopping bags beside her bed. She sighed and put her hands on her hips, looking around for something to do. There was still time left in the day.

She decided to go for a walk.


"Yo, bastard! What brings you to my awesome humble abode?" Naruto answered the door to his and Hinata's apartment when Sasuke rang the doorbell in the late afternoon. Sasuke didn't care to point out the oxymoron in Naruto's statement.

"I need... consultation."

"Consultation? On what?"

Sasuke coughed, "About tomorrow."

"What about tomorrow?"

"I'm... accompanying... Sakura to the festival."

Naruto's jaw dropped open, "You took my suggestion? More importantly, YOU ASKED SAKURA-CHAN OUT ON A DATE?!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke hissed, "you're so loud."

"Naruto-kun, who is at the door?" Uzumaki Hinata appeared at the doorway, touching Naruto's bandaged arm.

"Oh, isn't it Sasuke-kun? It has been a long time! Come in!" She invited, gesturing Sasuke to come inside. Naruto shrugged and stepped aside, and Sasuke hesitantly stepped into the Uzumaki household.

"Please, sit down," Hinata softly urged, nodding her head to a comfortable-looking couch. The place was homely, not as orange as Sasuke thought it would be, and surprisingly clean. Sasuke and Naruto took a seat and Hinata disappeared into the kitchen, mentioning that she would make snacks and tea.

Marriage definitely did a number on both Naruto and Hinata.

Sasuke could see that Hinata had become less shy and more open, especially after Naruto had finally reciprocated her feelings. Now, she looked more like a confident kunoichi and wife instead of the stuttering mess of a girl he knew as a twelve-year-old. Naruto had become more organized, if Sasuke judged by the state of the house—that or Hinata was doing all of the cleaning. The papers sitting on top of stacks on the living room table indicated political matters. Must be Hokage training, Sasuke thought.

"So? What exactly do you need advice on? There's really nothing hard about this: you just take Sakura-chan out, have a good time, kiss her, marry her, and make a family!"

Sasuke glared. "I'm asking how exactly do I do that?"

"How exactly do you do what? Make a family? Sasuke... you're twenty-one and you've never been given 'the talk'? Or did defecting as a pre-teen deprive you of learning about s—"

"No, moron! I know where babies come from," he snapped, "I'm saying it's easy to say to just 'have a good time,' but I've never done anything like this before."

Naruto laughed and put his hands up, signaling defeat.

"Okay, okay. Well, let's see... the key to a successful festival is... the festive outfit! Yeah!" Naruto abruptly turned his head and called out to his wife, "Hey Hinata, do you know where my yukata is? I'm thinking of letting Sasuke borrow it."

Hinata's head poked out of the kitchen.

"Hmm, yes, I think it's packed away somewhere in the storage closet. I'll go get it," she said as she set down a plate of senbei and two cups of tea. She scurried away into another room.

When she emerged with a decently big box, Naruto brightened. "Yeah! That's the one! Let's see..." He opened the lid and pulled out his yukata.

"No." Sasuke vehemently spat after one glance at the article of clothing. It was black with bright orange flames patterned all around it.

"Why not? It's so cool!"

Not wishing to insult Naruto's fashion sense in front of his wife, who also took a seat in a nearby chair, Sasuke merely said, "You wear it. I'll find something else."

"If you insist, I guess." Naruto put his yukata back into the box and set it aside. "Okay, so next is what you should do on a date!"

Sasuke waited for him to go on.

"You gotta buy her a lot of things or win her things from games—girls like Sakura-chan love anything remotely cute. So whenever she screams how 'kawaii' something is, get it for her!"

"... Hn." Money was not an issue for Sasuke.

"And the food; pay for her food because street food at festivals are always amazing." Sasuke wasn't sure if Naruto was talking about his own preferences instead of Sakura's.

"Oh, and I know this might be super hard for you, but try to show some emotions? Okay? If I hear you've been being an asshole to her, I'll kick your ass."

Sasuke rolled his eye.

"Anything to add, Hinata?" Naruto asked his wife.

Hinata thoughtfully put a finger on her chin. "Well, the only thing I would say is to be yourself, Sasuke-kun. If you act completely different from the person Sakura-san fell in love with, it will put her in an uncomfortable situation. Trust me, a girl's heart doesn't change so easily," Hinata said, her gaze settling onto Naruto in a loving manner. Naruto noticed and grinned back at her.

Sasuke stood up, awkwardly feeling out of place. "Thank you for having me."

"Sasuke-kun! Remember what I said!" Hinata called as Sasuke was almost out the door.

After he left, the Uzumaki couple was left sitting in the living room. A few seconds of silence passed and Hinata said in a worried voice, "I hope it goes well for Sakura-san."

Naruto laughed, finding his wife's worry for her friend adorable. He stood up and walked over to her seat, embracing her from behind.

"Sasuke will do fine."

Hinata closed her eyes and smiled, "Yeah." She touched his arms lovingly.

"So I've been thinking."

"Hm?"

"How do you feel about us... starting our own family?"

Hinata blushed and envisioned a baby in her arms, a cute little Naruto running around their home, or maybe even a little girl crying because she fell and scraped her knee.

She imagined nurturing her and Naruto's children into fine shinobi, helping to protect Konoha.

"I... I w-would love that very much..."

Naruto beamed.


If Sasuke was honest with himself, he never thought that he would come back to Konoha, much less be concerned about his future with a life partner. He always believed he would exact his revenge on Itachi and die doing so.

That was before he unraveled the whole conspiracy behind the massacre.

Now, Sasuke was here. Now, Sasuke had to think about his future. And when he really thought about it, he couldn't imagine a woman beside him other than his teammate from so long ago. When he really thought about it, he couldn't think of another woman who made him feel so many different ways.

Sasuke remembered his corruption by Madara's hands.

Psychotic laughter resonated from his throat.

"Bring back Itachi... and my mother.. and my father... AND MY CLAN! BRING THEM ALL BACK! THEN I'LL STOP!"

"By killing every last one of you until Konoha is crushed forever, any link to the Uchiha will be severed and our name will be purified! That is how I'll revive my clan!"

"I'm going to kill every last person in your beloved village!"

"Was she having fun in her make-believe fantasy of true love? As for me, I have absolutely no reason to love her and likewise, I can see no reason why she should love me."

Sasuke closed his eyes and held his head with his only hand. Stop, he ordered himself. He had suffered through countless of sleepless nights thinking about all of his past mistakes on his travels, realizing that he would never truly feel guilt-free for his words and actions. Swallowing down the bile that rose to the base of his throat, Sasuke continued walking. He needed to get to the old Uchiha district.

He saw a buzzing crowd down the street, in front of a small café. He was about to walk past the commotion until a familiar shade of pink standing right in the middle of the circle caught his eye. Sakura?

There was also a dirty pre-pubescent boy standing in front of her, angry and flustered. His coarse brown hair was way past due for a cut and dirt riddled his tattered clothes.

He watched her hold up her index finger.

"One finger," she said, "is all it takes for me to pound you into the ground."

"Bring it on lady!" The boy charged headfirst at Sakura. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Sakura sighed and swiftly ducked under the boy's terribly predictable and obvious punch and jabbed her forefinger into his shoulder. The crowd hastily parted as the boy flew a good twenty feet back.

"Ow!" The boy howled, clutching at his wound. Sakura calmly walked up to him. She squatted and placed a hand on his injured shoulder.

"That," she said in an even tone, squeezing the injury while the boy winced further, "was for trying to steal my purse." But then a healing green glow enveloped her hand. The boy looked at her in shock as his pain soothed.

"But this," her voice softened as did her facial expression, "is so that you learn your lesson." After healing him, she pulled out her wallet and whatever money she had and enclosed his fist around it. It didn't take a genius to see that the boy was probably homeless, most likely orphaned from the war.

His fist tightened around the money and he grit his teeth. Suddenly, he threw the money back at Sakura.

"I don't need your pity! I can earn money by myself, like a real man! Just you watch!" He stood up and ran away, hair guarding his eyes and his mouth curled into a growling frown.

Sakura smiled, her plan following through. "That's the spirit." She gathered her money and wallet and stuffed both back into her purse. The crowd behind her murmured with praise.

"Did you see that? Sakura-san is so cool!"

"Mama, I want to grow up to be just like her!"

"Yes, dear, that is lovely indeed."

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura noticed Sasuke's presence. He turned to her. She was a palette of colors, a splash of pastel. She was... she was—

"So pretty!" A young girl chirped and bounded up to them both. Sasuke stiffened at the sudden presence. Seriously, as one of the most powerful ninja in the world, one would think a toddler couldn't sneak up on him! She was a cute little creature, with a bright yellow dress and brown pigtails. Her large brown eyes shined with excitement. Her mother was not far behind.

"Rumi! Don't disturb other people!" She admonished. The little girl named Rumi ignored her mother's call.

"Rumi thinks you're pretty!" She repeated, talking in the third person. Sakura laughed.

"Why, thank you Rumi-chan. Here, a treat for you." Sakura pulled out a piece of hard candy from her purse and gave it to the girl. She lit up in excitement and ran back to her mother.

"Mama! Look what I got!" The mother gave Sakura and Sasuke an apologetic look and she and her child walked away, hand in hand.

"Rumi-chan, it's okay to receive candy from Sakura-san, but don't ever take candy from strangers, okay?"

"Okay!"

Sasuke and Sakura stared after their backs. He turned to her.

"You're good with children," he observed. Suddenly, she turned red.

"W-well, I'm a doctor, so I do this kind of thing on a daily basis," she stammered, hyper aware of her consciousness.

"Hmm..." Sasuke made a noncommittal noise, his face blank.

"Um, I... I should get going," Sakura said in an embarrassed tone. She turned around and started walking.

Sasuke stuffed his hand into his pants pocket and trailed after her. The left sleeve of his long back shirt flapped slightly with the breeze.

"Oh, you're going in this direction too?"

"Hn."

"Alright then."

They continued like that for quite some time, Sakura ambling down the road and Sasuke leisurely following her.

"..." Sakura's eyes kept glancing to the side, but she refused to fully turn her head to look at Sasuke.

"Isn't.. isn't your apartment the other way?" Sakura inquired. Sasuke should have taken a left at a fork they passed a while ago. He remained silent.

When they reached Sakura's apartment, they stood outside the bottom of the building.

"Well, I'm heading in. See you tomorrow!" She headed up the stairs, uncertain. Sasuke stared after her. After making sure she was safely in her home, he turned and left.

Deciding to expend a little chakra, he jumped over roofs to the Uchiha District. The district, as with the rest of Konoha, had been squashed like a bug under Pain's attack, but it had been rebuilt out of curtesy of the Uchiha's old history with the village. Sasuke couldn't stand being in there for more than he needed, because it made him relive unwanted memories.

He entered the rebuilt version of his old home, back when his parents were still alive. Back when Itachi was still alive. All of the things that were salvaged were packed in boxes. Carefully, he sifted through the items.

After an hour of searching, he miraculously came across what he was looking for. Snatching the item, he closed the boxes and quickly left the compound.

Looking up, Sasuke noticed that evening had descended. The moon hung high in the sky, gleaming as bright as ever.


Sakura woke up extremely early the following morning. Actually, she couldn't really get any sleep at all.

She threw off her covers and got ready for work, donning her casual clothes and her red forehead protector.

When she arrived at the hospital and started working, she couldn't help but glance at the clock every few minutes. It was still early in the morning.

This is going to be a long day, she thought.

Sakura tried to lose herself with her patients' troubles, focusing on each and every one of them during her rounds.

At around noon, Sakura was just about to go for her lunch break when her pager beeped.

An emergency?! She thought, concern immediately spreading across her visage. She ran out of her office and sprinted to the room that needed assistance.

"Sakura-sensei!" The nurse in the room stepped aside, and Sakura ran up to the patient. The ex-kunoichi in the hospital bed was wheezing and coughing a pink foamy mucus. She was an amputee; her right leg had been crushed during the war. Sakura closed her eyes and put a hand on the patient's chest. Using her chakra to scan her, Sakura's eyes snapped open.

"It's a pulmonary embolism. Prepare an operating room immediately!" She ordered.

"Right!" The nurse scurried out.

Whatever thoughts Sakura had of the festival flew out of her mind as saving this patient's life took priority.

Promptly at three o'clock, Ino stood outside of Sakura's apartment, banging on her door.

"SAKURA! You didn't forget about your date, did you?"

But there was no answer. Thinking Sakura had fallen asleep after work, Ino took out her spare key to the apartment and let herself inside, ready to pour cold water over Sakura's head. But when she wrenched open the door to Sakura's bedroom, it was empty. In fact, the entire apartment was empty.

Ino sat down at the kitchen table, crossing her legs. She probably just got caught up at work. I'll just wait for her here.

The hands on the clock ticked by. Five minutes turned into ten, which turned into thirty. Ino put her head down on the table and drifted off.

Just after four o'clock, she heard the front door unlock. She jumped out of her seat.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?!" She yelled.

Sakura tiredly threw her hands up in defense.

"Sorry! Emergency surgery!"

Ino sighed in defeat, "... Can't help that. Anyway, we have no time! I'm giving you five minutes top to take a shower! You reek of sweat." She shoved Sakura into the bathroom.

After a quick shower, Sakura wrapped her head in a towel. Ino helped her into her new yukata, expertly tying her obi into a cute bow in the back. She let her hair out of the towel and blow-dried it on the highest setting, roughly shaking her hands through Sakura's hair. She glanced at the clock. 4:30PM. Ino created a fast updo, french-braiding her hair across her head like a headband and diagonally braiding it into a twisting bun at the nape of her neck. The resulting look almost imitated a flower. A few loose strands framed Sakura's face.

Ino almost panicked when the clock read 4:40.

"Sakura, sit still!" She demanded, and worked on Sakura's face as quickly as she could. She thanked the heavens that Sakura pulled off the "natural look" the best.

When the time was nearing five o'clock, Ino pushed Sakura into wooden geta with thick thongs.

"Alright! Now go be fashionably late!"

"Thanks Ino, I owe you one!" Sakura trotted off, out of her apartment and down the street.

"Hell yeah you do!" Ino called after her.


Sasuke was leaning against the huge girth of a giant oak tree when he sensed Sakura's chakra rushing toward him.

She was late. He felt her stop behind him.

"You're late," He stated before turning around.

"Sorry," she replied, sheepish.

When he did turn around, he stopped in his tracks at the sight before him.

Sakura donned a dark red yukata with long sleeves and a navy blue obi. Elegant white petals were patterned throughout it in an asymmetrical way. Her collarbone was prominent and one side of the yukata slipped, her supple neck showing. Sasuke almost gulped.

Her porcelain face was very lightly powdered, eyes lined with slightly smokey kohl and lips painted. Her hair was intricately woven up, and she wore a pair of tiny white pearls on each earlobe, which completed the aesthetic.

Sakura's eyes had been locked to the ground. When she turned her gaze to Sasuke, she couldn't help but feel her mouth hang slightly open as she also surveyed him.

She didn't think Sasuke would be the type to dress up for this kind of event. A lot of men just attended festivals in their casual clothes, after all. But Sasuke wore a male dark navy yukata, one that looked maybe a little too big for his lithe figure because his toned chest peaked through. However, his hair and face remained unchanged. Sakura had to actively prevent her hands from flying up to her cheeks in embarrassment by fiddling her fingers together.

"That yukata..."

Sasuke cleared his throat, finding his breath. "It was my father's."

Before he let Sakura see the pink dusting his ears, he walked past her.

"Let's go."

Sakura gazed at his back. The Uchiha symbol all but glowed under the twilight sky, and the sleeve of his missing left forearm billowed lightly as he walked.

Wordlessly, she followed after him and matched her stride with his.

They were silent the entire walk to the festivities, wooden geta clacking on the road. Slowly, more and more people appeared as Sasuke and Sakura entered the busy street.

Heads turned in their direction and gossip filled the air about the dazzling pair. Sakura looked down at her feet, secretly happy.

Suddenly, her stomach let out an atrocious growl. Sasuke looked down at her with a raised eyebrow and she flushed.

"I haven't had anything to eat all day..." she muttered. Sasuke looked around and his eyes settled on an odeng street vendor. Tilting his head in that direction, he led Sakura over.

"Four," he simply said to the vendor.

"Coming right up, sir!" Sasuke placed money onto the counter. The owner handed over two sticks of fishcake in each hand. Sasuke took two and handed them to Sakura who gratefully accepted, and then took the remaining two for himself.

Sakura, observing the entire exchange, asked a question that had been on her mind for a while when they were walking together once more.

"Doesn't using only one hand for everything get annoying at times? Why not accept Shishou's prostethic arm?"

Sasuke looked down at her and was reminded of all the times he tried to kill Naruto with his left hand's chidori. When he tried to kill her with that very hand.

"I... I need it to be this way. As a reminder. As punishment."

"But... haven't you punished yourself enough? You're forgiven, you know."

Sasuke looked away. She really was too good for him.

"I haven't forgiven myself."

And Sakura left it at that. She munched on her odeng-on-a-stick and took in the sight of all of the festival booths. A glint out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

"Oh! So cool!" She exclaimed, referring to one of the prizes at a game booth. Sasuke followed her gaze. It was a game that called for players to knock over stacked milk bottles. Often, the game was rigged to make the milk bottles extremely heavy and the ball extremely soft, rendering it difficult to throw and knock them over.

Suddenly, Sasuke recalled Naruto's words. "Girl's like Sakura-chan love anything remotely cute. So whenever she screams how 'kawaii' something is, get it for her!"

Sasuke looked at the prizes. There was a huge fluffy stuffed bunny hanging overhead, its beady eyes staring at Sasuke like the eyes of a dead fish. Sakura hadn't exactly said "cute," but Sasuke assumed "cool" meant something similar. However, before Sasuke could go up to the booth, Sakura herself bounded over and slapped some money on the counter.

"I'd like to try!" She cheerfully exclaimed. The vendor, a middle-aged man whose face screamed 'con-artist!' deviously smiled.

"Oh? Are you sure, miss? This is harder than it looks," he slyly said as he took her money and handed Sakura three foam balls. Sakura weighed the balls in her hand.

"I think I'll be fine," she sweetly smiled and took a deep breath.

Rolling up the sleeve of her right arm, she wound it a few times and bellowed, "SHANNARO!" And released the first ball. The force of her throw made the ball impossible to see with the naked eye as it completely shattered the milk bottles into tiny fragments and left a steaming hole on the back wall of the booth.

"I won!" She cheered, much to the vendor's and bystanders' gaping faces.

The booth operator rubbed his eyes as if he couldn't believe what just occurred. "W-what would y-you like as your prize, m-miss?"

Sakura pointed to a glimmering new shuriken set hanging at the top corner of the prize wall. "That."

Sasuke smirked, amused.

Sasuke and Sakura continued down the street. Sakura forced him to play some games, much to his embarrassment. He won a balloon darts game, which was rigged similarly to the milk bottle booth (but wasn't anything his Sharingan couldn't handle) and ended up giving Sakura the toy ring that was inside the balloon as a prize. She looked extremely happy and wore it proudly, although Sasuke personally thought it looked very childish. They scooped for goldfish, although both failed to catch any. They tried different foods.

As the night went on, Sasuke and Sakura both grew tired. They were walking together again, this time at the end of where all of the festivities were happening, when they met another couple.

"Sakura-chan!" They both turned to look at the person who called Sakura's name.

"Naruto! Hinata!" Sure enough, the Uzumaki couple came into view. Naruto was wearing his black yukata adorned with orange flames, and Hinata was dolled up into a simple lavender-colored one. Sakura thought Hinata looked absolutely beautiful in her clothing.

"So Sasuke, you took my advice, eh?" Naruto grinned, bounding up to Sasuke and clapping him on the back.

"Advice?" Sakura questioned.

Sasuke quickly bit out, "It's nothing."

"Oi! Sakura!" A new voice interrupted. Ino ran up to the two pairs, and Sai calmly followed behind her.

"Ino, Sai! Wow, everyone's meeting up today!" Sakura laughed. Ino was dressed in deep violet, while Sai was casually in a black shirt, grey open hoodie, and black pants.

"I'm going to borrow these two for just a tiny second, alright?" Ino didn't wait for a reply as she dragged Naruto by the ear and pulled Sasuke by the collar of his yukata along with her. Sakura blinked.

"Now what's that all about?"

Hinata, who was also confused, shrugged. But she had an idea of what Ino was probably planning. She looked back to Sakura and changed the subject, finally getting the chance to say what she wanted to for a year and a half.

"Sakura-san, I never got the chance to thank you."

Sakura tilted her head, "For what?"

Hinata smiled and took Sakura's hands into hers.

"For supporting me when I needed it. This time, I would like to encourage you, because you deserve this more than anybody else."

"Hinata..." Sakura called in a small voice, touched.

Back on Ino's end, she executed Part One of her plan. Inside of a bush.

"Sasuke-kun, here," she shoved something into his hand. It was a white flower about the size of his fist.

He stared at it in question.

"Don't you think it would look absolutely fabulous in Sakura's hair? Especially if you know what it means in flower language."

"..."

"Ugh, you men are so hopeless. White gardenias mean secret love! Isn't that so romantic?"

"Hey, why was I dragged here?"

Ino turned to the other blonde, almost forgetting that she brought him as well.

"Oh, so I can tell you to STAY OUT OF THE WAY!" She yelled.

"RUDE! I'm never in the way!"

Sasuke simply gave Naruto a pointed look.

"... Okay, maybe sometimes," he conceded.

"Go!" Ino urged Sasuke. He gave an annoyed sigh and shoved the flower into the inside pocket of his yukata. He walked back to where Sakura was standing.

Hinata, seeing Naruto wave her over, smiled and said, "Well, it looks like I must go. Please have a good night, Sakura-san!"

"Likewise, Hinata!"

Hinata left just as Sasuke came back.

"So, what did Ino want you for?"

"It's nothing."

"O-oh."

The pair traveled into the forest and soon came into a clearing where a crisp river was running through. Sakura let out a delighted noise and hiked up her yukata, sitting down at the edge of a few rocks and dipping her feet in. Sasuke tried not to notice how high the yukata rode up her legs.

"Look! Fireflies!" She laughed softly. Little green dots flitted about the air, like stars twinkling in the midnight sky.

"I know this might be super hard for you, but try to show some emotions? Okay?"

Sasuke reached into his pocket, and Sakura looked at him in confusion. He pulled out the flower and Sakura's eyes widened as she realized it was the same flower she saw at Ino's shop from the previous morning. Suddenly, she felt like she knew why Ino momentarily pulled Sasuke aside.

Sasuke's eye twitched as he was aware of the presences behind the bushes a few yards back. Seriously, these people were ninja, and they all seemed to be as terrible as Naruto in stealth! Ignoring the obvious rustling of the bushes, as Sakura hadn't seem to notice, he swallowed and knelt down, carefully placing the flower in Sakura's hair just above her left ear. She froze at his touch.

Unbeknownst to Sakura, this was Sasuke's second confession. Taking a deep breath, he gathered himself to finally verbalize his thoughts.

But he couldn't as a figure deftly swooped down in front of them.

Sasuke and Sakura immediately jumped up, falling into a defensive position as the air around them suddenly became heavy and suffocating.

"Why hello, Sakura."


A/N: DUN DUN DUN. Honestly, I thought about deleting this story because I think it's riddled with clichés, but after all you all followed/favorited/reviewed it I'm really really trying my best to do better with my ideas.