So midterms is over and I thought an update was due! Mostly I got encouraged by all your nice comments... You guys are the best! Thank you for reading!
"We don't," Sasuke insisted irritably.
"Yes, we do," Sakura fought back patiently.
"We can do it ourselves," the Shinobi said, not budging.
"I know we can, but a little help would be nice..."
"Isn't telling them there's 'potential trouble' enough? It would be burdensome to involve them even more."
"But they should—"
"Nothing's certain, yet, Sakura, this is just a hunch."
"Then we can always retract later on..."
"That only causes unnecessary anxiety. Tell her, Kakashi."
They were at the Hokage's Office, proposing a Gokage Summit. They had already agreed that it was proper to tell the other Kage that Sasuke has been hearing rumors and sensing disturbances that would necessarily send him out on an intel mission, but Sakura kept insisting that the Kages should know just how big the threat possibly was.
"So you finally decided I was here, too?" The Rokudaime sighed dramatically, putting his chin on his hand and looking at his former students. "My my, now I know how Naruto felt all those years, Sakura..."
"W-What are you talking about?" The kunoichi blushed, embarrassed at the insinuation.
They had told the Rokudaime earlier of Sasuke's proposal-well, Sakura did, as it was when they were in public and Sasuke was less talkative—and even though the kunoichi had tried to make it brief and to the point so they could get to business, Kakashi had not been able to help but tease them.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted, impatient.
"Sakura is right," the Hokage finally said slowly. "It would be beneficial for everybody if we all knew how much we possibly have to prepare for this 'trouble'. We can control how much information actually gets out, of course, so you don't have to worry about that. But it's integral that the Kages know."
"I don't even know what I'm looking for yet. For all we know, this could take years," Sasuke set his jaw, stubborn.
"Sasuke, stop trying to do things on your own," his former sensei looked lazily up at the Uchiha, but his look was anything but lazy.
Kakashi's eyes glinted sharply, and Sasuke knew that was the end of it.
The last Uchiha closed his eyes and sighed, defeated.
"Besides," Kakashi added, the glint turning mischievous. "If the Kages knew about your mission, you could get free passes to everything and enjoy benefits! Like inns, hot springs and such!"
"Kaka-sensei..." Sakura warned.
"I'm sure the mission would be taxing and you would need places to stay, that's all," their former teacher said dismissively.
"Next week?" Sasuke interrupted.
The Hokage nodded.
Sasuke would have wanted to hash things out with his new traveling companion, but the two of them rarely saw each other in the next few days even with him staying at Sakura's apartment. The medical nin went back to her hectic schedule, and this caused her to come home during odd hours into the night. As much as he would have liked to wait for her, Kakashi somehow decided it was best to assign him to fodder missions during the week prior to the Gokage meeting; missions that although were insultingly easy, would nevertheless take all day and tire him out by the time he went home himself.
Home. He paused at the thought, as he removed his sandals and locked the door behind him, another day over. It had been a long time since he'd been able to call a specific place home. Konoha was his home, he thought reluctantly, sure, but this apartment which he had just been acquainted with for not even a week felt like home to him enough that he could call it that, because... well, Sakura was here.
He was embarrassed about such a forward thought, and remembered the last time they were alone and what almost happened...
In his defense, he had planned it all out from the moment Naruto sent him that message telling him Sakura's reference to him being Konoha's secret one-man police force. His heart had swelled with pride and nostalgia and hurt and love all at the same time he could barely contain it. Sakura... this girl had made him feel this way over and over again throughout the years... saying things without even knowing how much her words meant to him.
Sakura had always made him feel, even when they were Genin—a fact he used to be annoyed at because that was the exact opposite of what he was trying to do. Feelings were a distraction from his goal. But that was before... it didn't annoy him now. And when he had read the letter he thought maybe it was time... to fulfill his promise of seeing her again. Besides, there was that strange feeling he had about Kaguya that he wanted to relay to Kakashi... it was just a hunch, but he figured it was relevant enough to report.
He had turned almost immediately around and walked back to the direction of Konoha, thinking of what he was going to do. He was going to report to Kakashi, wait for his decision about his gut feeling, and in the meantime... he was going to catch up with Sakura. Yes, that seemed valid. Maybe he could even take her out on a date like a normal boy would with a girl he liked—he smirked then, hardly believing he was allowing himself to think about such things. Kami knows he didn't deserve it, after all he's done—
He cut himself off then. Shaking his head, the Uchiha decided he should take a shower now before his body could get any ideas about falling asleep on him. He stripped and folded his clothes neatly beside Sakura's laundry basket, went inside the stall and sighed as he turned on the shower.
It was still a struggle. No matter how much people appreciated him for what he accomplished during his redemption journey, there was still the matter of himself accepting he deserved any semblance of happiness in this life after all he did.
Him coming home... to Sakura, was the first step towards that.
He allowed himself a smile as he scrubbed himself clean, thinking how quickly things spiraled out of control. He had congratulated himself for getting her that take-out ramen—it had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, although it didn't help with her fainting.
He frowned, taking a mental note to ask her about her fainting spells later. The hot water was turning cold now, anyway, so he took a clean towel out of one of the cabinets and turned the shower off.
"—ke-kun? Where are you?" A muffled voice reached the shinobi as the spray stopped.
Ah, she was home early.
Sasuke wrapped the towel around his waist and went outside into the kitchen, where sure enough, the pink-haired kunoichi was in the process of taking off her lab coat and hanging it on the coat rack with her back towards him, muttering about something he couldn't quite hear.
"Sakura," the shinobi called, intending to make her repeat what she was saying.
"Oh great," the medical nin exclaimed, turning around. "You're here. I was thinking—um..." She paused, staring at him.
Sasuke raised his brow, urging her to continue.
Sakura's eyes went over him top to bottom and he saw her cheeks turn pink.
"Tadaima," she burst out.
"Okaeri," he responded, amused.
Four whole seconds went by.
"You were saying?" Sasuke went to the countertop to pour himself a glass of water.
Sakura shook her head and tried to continue.
"I wanted to take you to see my kids!"
Sasuke audibly choked on his water.
"Your—"
"Oh, no," Sakura turned even more pink, and tried again. "I meant my patients. They're mostly kids, and I've wanted you to meet them for a while now."
"Ah," Sasuke had heard about Sakura's mental health clinics for children even during his travels. She had gained tremendous praise for them throughout all the nations he's been in. It was something he was very proud of as well. She had truly, truly made something of herself. Someone who, even beyond the battlefield, everyone could rely on.
He went over to her and cupped her face, tucking the few strands that escaped her ponytail behind her ear.
"I'd be glad to," Sasuke whispered softly.
"Ah," Sakura squeaked. "You're very wet."
"Sorry," Sasuke said, not sounding sorry at all.
She was very aware of the minimal distance between her face and his, and the fact that it seemed to be lessening.
"Why is my fiancee embarrassed?" the shinobi suddenly asked, getting even closer. Sakura could feel his breath on her cheeks now even if she could barely hear him.
"I'm not embarrassed," she muttered just as softly, knowing full well she was lying and he could so obviously tell.
"Right."
"Right!"
Neither of them could take their eyes off each other.
Sasuke was less than an inch away now.
"Oh," Sakura whispered quietly.
"What?" he asked, curious.
"You said 'fiancee'." Sakura smiled sweetly up at him, her eyes sparkling and making Sasuke's heart stutter.
He had thought Sakura needed to get used to him, but he just now realized that was also the case the other way around.