CHAPTER 2

When she woke up in the morning, he was gone – as usual.

She used to love waking up to him. She almost always slept heavily and was not an early riser by nature; therefore, more often than not, she found herself waking up to a kiss on the forehead from Sasuke, who undoubtedly had been up for several minutes by then.

Sakura loved looking into his eyes in the morning. They always looked so relaxed and placid. It was difficult to catch him looking so vulnerable at any other time of the day besides the very early morning.

She missed it.

She lay still in bed, her eyes boring into the other side of the bed. She wondered what time Sasuke must have gotten home last night as she pulled the pillow from his side close to her. She buried her face into it, taking in the relics of Sasuke's lingering scent.

She knew it was time to get up and start getting ready for her day, but she couldn't bring herself to go about her usual routine.

She wanted to see him.

What if I do go see him? A voice whispered in her heart. She almost flinched as she thought about the work that she would have to make up if she missed this morning's classes, and yet –

I want to see him.

"Oi, bastard. That's a good look for you; you should keep wearing that frown. I'm waiting for the day that your stupid face freezes that way."

When Naruto's voice came from the doorway, Sasuke silently cursed his secretary. Wasn't he paying her to keep people out of his office when he didn't want to be interrupted?

Without looking up from the papers in front of him, Sasuke muttered, "Go away. I'm busy. And you just got the secretary fired."

"Oh come on, how many secretaries a month do you plan on going through?" Whined the blonde.

"As many as it'll take to find one that won't let you in, no matter how much you try to bullshit them." Came the tense reply.

"I'll have you know that I have actual business to run by you this morning, despite your accusations of me lying to your secretaries to make them let me into your office. Shouldn't I have some kind of clearance, anyway? Like, a best friend clearance pass?"

"Yeah, when pigs fucking fly." Sasuke finally looked up at his blue-eyed friend. Naruto, with whom he had grown up, was making a name for himself as one of Konoha's top public defenders these days. Though he had graduated from Konoha Law School with surprisingly good marks that would have gotten him a position at any top law firm he wanted, Naruto had chosen to become a public defender. However, one of Sasuke's first order of business after becoming the head of Uchiha Group was to bring Naruto in as an independently contracted lawyer for his firm. Though Sasuke considered the blond to be an idiot in many respects, he also knew that his best friend knew his stuff when it came to the law – even corporate law, though he bitched and moaned about it every step of the way whenever he had to be involved with contracts.

"I have that meeting with the Hyuugas' firm later today. Have your secretary – if you still have one, that is – send me the exact figures for the bonds as soon as you're done looking it over."

"Aa." Sasuke sighed. Firing Ayume would have to wait, it seemed. He certainly didn't have any time to personally fax anything to anyone today.

Or any day, for that matter.

"You okay, man?" The blond observed as he seated himself on the couch in the office. "What time did you leave the office last night?"

"Late."

Naruto didn't speak for several moments, but Sasuke hardly noticed it, since he was perusing a couple of tricky contracts. When the blond spoke again, his voice lacked the usual boisterous humor. "How's Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke tensed. "Fine."

"She texted me last night, around dinner time. Said your phone was off."

"Aa."

Naruto wore a frown as he observed his friend whom he considered to be a brother. He could tell that he was wearing Sasuke's patience even thinner than usual today, and, contrary to his nature, he decided to leave Sasuke to work through the morning. He would try to convince the bastard to go get something to eat with him around lunch. Before he left, though, he felt that Sasuke needed to be reminded of something.

"Oi, Sasuke. Don't ignore Sakura-chan's calls. She's been missing you."

When he was finally left alone in his office, Sasuke let go of the pen in his hand and swept his hair away from his face.

Don't ignore her calls.

Is that what he's been doing?

He knew that it was wrong to shut himself out from her whenever he was at work – which was all the time these days.

He was ashamed that he couldn't give all of himself to the girl that he loved. The girl that loved him back despite all of his flaws and despite all the emotional baggage he carried from the death of his family. She deserved the world, he was sure of it; yet he had no time to devote to her anymore – and this made him feel so fucking guilty that he couldn't stand to hear her voice on the other end of the phone anymore. Every time he heard her say his name as if he deserved her love when he didn't have an hour to spare for her made him feel as if he were the most worthless being alive.

So he had taken to leaving his personal phone off while he was at work these days.

When left alone to his thoughts, Sasuke Uchiha often realized that he hated nothing like he hated himself.

An hour later, the door to his office opened once again, and Sasuke, who was in the middle of signing papers, felt a burst of anger at his incompetent secretary once more.

"Ayume, I told you I didn't want to see anyone this morni –"

"It's me, Sasuke."

When he heard her voice, his head snapped up.

Sakura?

He glanced the silver rolex on his wrist. It was half-past nine. She should have been in class for an hour and a half by now. What was she doing in his office? Her brilliant green eyes sparkled at the sight of him, and he felt a sharp tug on his heart as it dawned on him for the umpteenth time that that her eyes sparkled at seeing him.

That he could make someone so radiant shine even brighter had always baffled him.

She was like a ray of light. Everything she touched seemed to shine, and everywhere she went seemed to be made brighter by her presence. He had never thought that he would ever think of anyone in such flourished terms, but in regards to Sakura, it came so naturally.

Of course, whenever they had one of their infamous fights about this and that, he often thought that she was an absolute madwoman who would surely drive him to an early grave. She could be downright infuriating at times when she wanted to be. But part of the reason he fell so hard for her was that he loved that she could drive him insane – that she could bring out the fieriest parts of him and make him forget all about his past. With her, he could be brought to the present, where she was with him every step of the way even despite all of the fighting.

They argued like crazy and had their share of mishaps throughout the years, but through it all, they had managed to stick by each other. She was with him. He couldn't believe that sometimes, and he had always been grateful for it. Seeing her standing in his office so unexpectedly made him forget about the papers he had been signing a moment ago.

"Sakura," he said, getting up from his desk and approaching the pink-haired girl.

"I'm sorry for barging in, Sasuke. I just wanted to… surprise you." Her voice trailed away, her tone uncertain.

When he realized that she sounded so uncertain because she wasn't sure if she was supposed to be there, Sasuke thought his heart felt as though it were being stabbed.

She should always know that she belonged anywhere that he was - except he knew that it was his own self that made her feel so unsure of her place next to him these days.

Without a word, Sasuke reached his hand out to hold her cheek, and closed the gap between them with a gentle kiss. He hadn't realized how much he had missed her – her flesh, her lips, her. She responded to his kiss gently but passionately, and Sasuke recognized the longing behind her lips.

She had missed him, too.

"Am I interrupting?" She pulled away from him to look him in the eyes. She looked worried.

"No." He leaned in once more to kiss her. He felt her smile underneath his lips, and his heart sped up. "But what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?" He murmured against her.

"Yeah, but," she put her forehead against his and looked downward. He could see her long, black lashes and feel her small hands curling into his. "I decided to play hooky this morning. I… I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, Sasuke."

She said her words quietly, almost timidly. This was different from her usual self-assured persona, and her next words were closer to a plea than a question. "Can you take the morning off?"

Yes, Sasuke wanted to say. He wanted to give the love of his life anything and everything that she asked for; he wanted to make her happy, to make them happy together.

But –

"Mr. Uchiha, Mr. Nara's on the phone for you as well as Mr. Hatake. And just a reminder that your 10 a.m. meeting is in less than half an hour, sir."

Sakura flinched when Ayume's words cut through the room from the machine on Sasuke's desk.

"Sakura, I –" Sasuke began, but Sakura had pulled her face away from his already.

"It's okay." She said quickly. Too quickly. "This was a stupid idea. What was I thinking? You can't possibly skip your morning." She shot him a smile, but Sasuke could see that the smile lacked its usual brilliance.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I just – it's important, this meeting. And I really need to take that call with Nara; he's been trying to get a hold of me for two days." Even as the words were coming out, his heart screamed to his head that there was nothing more important to him in the world than the girl in front of him. So why was this not simpler?

Why couldn't he go off with her and make her happy for one fucking morning?

You have a responsibility, came a voice from inside him. This company is all you have left of your parents and brother.

"No, I know, Sasuke. I shouldn't have interrupted you at work. I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me this morning." She threw in a small chuckle that sounds hauntingly hollow to his ears. "I should get going and see if I can make it to the end of the lecture, at least." She stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll see you at home. Bye, Sasuke."

Without giving him a chance to react, she was gone in the blink of an eye.

See you at home, she had said.

He thought he had never heard her sound sadder than she had when she uttered those words.

A/N: Special thanks to usuratonkachixx for being the first and only reviewer so far! Please follow her lead, everyone, and leave me your thoughts if you've enjoyed the chapters! :)