"S-Sakura-chan. I've been trying to call you for hours," Hinata said on her phone.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan, it's just that I've been really busy lately with school and my job, I just haven't gotten the time to answer your calls," Sakura said, feeling bad about lying to her friend.

"B-But Sakura-chan, you never work on Sundays…"

Sakura mentally slapped her forehead; Hinata was smart, of course she would try to find a loop-hole out of every situation, but Sakura couldn't say that she was spending all her time with Sasuke; that would be too much for her timid friend….Or would it?

"Okay, okay, to tell you the truth Hinata-chan….I was with Uchiha-sensei."

"U-Uchiha-sensei? Why were you with him?"

Sakura took in a silent deep breath, "He's been giving me private tutoring sessions and since he and I are both free on Sundays, he helps me with the homework."

There was a silence on the phone and Sakura knew that Hinata had figured everything out! She knew she and Sasuke were together as a couple! Oh crap! This was it!

"….Oh, okay then Sakura-chan, that makes sense."

Sakura gave out a relieved sigh, it was a risky move to do that, but she knew that she had to make Hinata-chan not be so suspicious.

"Yeah, so could you not tell anyone else? I'd hate for Sa-Uchiha-sensei to be busy with anyone else, I need this tutoring more than anyone, you know that," Sakura said.

Hinata nodded over the phone, "Sakura-chan I'm glad you're taking your academics more seriously, but you know that I could always help you."

"N-No no it's okay Hinata-chan, the tutoring sessions with Uchiha-sensei help me out just fine."

"Well okay…I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school then?"

Sakura nodded her head, "Of course, I'll talk to you later Hinata-chan," Sakura said as she ended the call.

Sakura sighed as she put her phone on her desk. She was hoping that she didn't risk anything by telling Hinata about her being with Sasuke…But it was okay; Hinata believed her and she said she wouldn't say a word to anyone and as long as Hinata didn't look further into it, everything would be fine.

Then all of a sudden Sakura's phone started to vibrate on her desk; she knew that meant that she had received a text message. Sakura walked over, hoping that Sasuke had texted her, but unfortunately it wasn't; instead it was from her other friend Ino Yamanaka.

Sakura opened up her phone and saw the message.

Sakura! Call me NOW!

Sakura gulped; Hinata didn't tell Ino about her and Sasuke did she? Sakura was kind of nervous to call Ino, but she knew that the text messages would just keep coming, so Sakura knew that she might as well get it over with.

So she picked up her phone and dialed Ino's number.

Ring

Ring

Ring

"Sakura! What took you so long!" A loud voice said over the phone.

Sakura sighed; leave it to Ino to take things way out of proportion.

"What do you need Ino?" Sakura asked.

"I called to let you know that I found your boyfriend!"

Sakura's eyes widened; did Ino really find out about her and Sasuke?

"W-What do you mean Ino?"

"I mean that I finally found you the perfect boy! He is so cool and he's gorgeous!"

Sakura sighed in relief, "Ino-chan, you know I'm not really up for dating right now."

"Oh come on! You've been single for way too long! And besides…He told me that he thought you were cuuuuute."

Sakura blushed a bit but ignored the comment, "Ino I said no."

Sakura could hear Ino whine, "Oh come on Sakura, he is really nice and he said he'd be willing to meet up with you for lunch."

"No Ino! Besides, I'm way too busy to even think about dating, you know that."

Ino groaned, "You are such a tease…Fine, I' guess I'll tell Sai-kun that you're not interested."

Sakura's ears twitched by the mention of that name, "S-Sai?"

Ino smirked, "Yeah, you know the mysterious transfer student we had at the beginning of the school year. All of the girls are interested in him, but can never get through to him, but he seemed interested at the mere mention of your name."

Sakura's blush seemed to risen more, 'No, no, no! I'm in love with Sasuke-kun! Why am I blushing!'

"Sakura? You still there?"

Sakura shook her head, "Y-Yeah I'm here….But why would Sai-san be interested in me? We've never spoken two words to each other."

Ino giggled, "It's because you're such a cutie Sakura! Besides, maybe Sai-kun is interested because you're not like the other girls who fawn over him like he's a rare jewel."

Sakura sweatdropped, "Well you and Hinata don't fawn over him."

Ino chuckled, "Well that's because I have a boyfriend and Hinata is too shy to even talk to guys, but you're available and easy to talk to."

Sakura twitched, "But we've never talked to each other before."

Ino rolled her eyes, "Well maybe you guys did and you just don't remember….Anyways, I'll just tell Sai-kun that you're not interested."

Sakura smirked at her phone, "Thanks Ino…But be a little nice about it."

"Yeah, yeah," Ino said, and with that said, Ino ended the call.

Sakura hit the end button on her phone and put it back on her desk before she made her way towards her bed. She was exhausted what with everything going on. Sakura kept staring at her phone; it just seemed weird that another boy was interested in her. All of her thoughts have been about Sasuke so of course she wouldn't notice other guys, but it still seemed…Nice.

Sakura's eyes widened as she sat up, 'Why am I thinking like that? I'm in love with Sasuke-kun; why would I care if another guy liked me?'

Even though she had never talked to Sai, she did know who he was. It was strange because he looked like Sasuke; maybe that was why all of the girls fawned over him. Every girl would have killed to be in Sasuke's class the minute he entered the school; but of course they couldn't make a move because for one he was married and two he was their teacher. But that didn't seem to stop Sakura at all; she took an interest in Sasuke the moment he introduced himself, of course she thought back then that it would never happen, but on that faithful day…It did.

"Sakura!"

Sakura heard her mother calling from downstairs so with one movement, Sakura was out of bed and heading down the stairs.

"What is it mom?" Sakura asked as she entered the living room and once she reached the bottom step; Sakura's heart started beating faster and her eyes widened.

"Hello there, Sakura-san," the voice said.

"….S-Sasuke…?"

Right now in her living room…In her own house stood her fiancé…Her lover.

"Sakura, don't be rude; even though you're not in school you should never call your teacher by their first name," Sakura's mother said, "I'm so sorry about her, she's usually more polite."

Sasuke chuckled, "It's quite alright; Sakura-san is probably shocked that I'm in her home, so I don't mind at all."

Sakura was still in complete shock; why would Sasuke come to her house, unannounced and in the presence of her own mother?

"Sakura; don't be rude, you're teacher came all this way to return something to you; the least you could do is not stand there looking dumbfounded," her mother said.

Sakura shook her head and made her way towards Sasuke, "W-What are you returning to me?"

Sasuke held out a book, "Your English book, you forgot it at…your tutoring session."

Sakura's mother looked at Sakura, "Sakura, since when did you start having a tutor?"

"F-For a while now; since school is almost coming to an end, I've decided to take tutoring sessions with Sa…I mean Uchiha-sensei."

Sakura's mother smiled, "Well I'm glad you've decided to take the initiative and got yourself a tutor…But I'm sure you're teacher must be busy with his own life outside of school."

That's when Sasuke intervened, "It's no problem at all; I've been tutoring many of my students so it's no problem for me Haruno-san."

Sakura's mother blushed, "Oh please call me Mebuki."

Sasuke bowed, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mebuki-san."

Mebuki smiled, "Well I thank you or tutoring my daughter; she has a lot of potential if she'd only study more."

"M-Mom!" Sakura cried out.

"Now, now, I'm sure Uchiha-san has heard the same thing from other parents about their kids."

Sasuke chuckled, "Of course."

Mebuki smiled, "Uchiha-san would you care for something to drink? I can make you some tea if you would like."

Sasuke nodded, "Actually that sounds nice."

Mebuki smiled and made her way into the kitchen, "Sakura, make sure Uchiha-san is comfortable okay?"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she made her way into the other room with Sasuke trailing behind.

Once they were out of sight and sound from Sakura's mother, Sakura turned around and glared, "What the hell were you thinking coming here?"

"Returning your book," Sasuke stated in an obvious manner.

Sakura groaned and grabbed her book from Sasuke's hands, "That's not what I meant and you know it."

Sasuke chuckled and kissed Sakura on the forehead, "I know what you mean, but it's the truth, you left your book at my house so I thought it would be much easier explaining it to your mother instead of coming into class tomorrow and trying to explain it to a bunch of teenagers."

Sakura knew he was right, if he would have come into school with her book, many of the students would wonder when Sasuke started doing tutoring sessions and why it was only Sakura, so truth be told, it was the right choice.

"Okay, okay, but don't kiss me either, you're lucky that my mother didn't see."

Sasuke smirked as he kissed Sakura on the forehead again.

"Gah! S-Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke placed his index finger on her lips, "Now, now Sa-ku-ra-chan, we wouldn't want your mother to find out now huh?"

Sakura twitched as she crossed her arms over her chest and puffed her cheeks out, "You are so mean."

Sasuke chuckled and patted Sakura on the head, "And you are so cute."

Sakura blushed and shifted her eyes so she couldn't see his smug smirk.

"Ne, Uchiha-san, I hope my daughter isn't giving you any problems," Mebuki said as she entered the other room.

Sasuke released his hand off Sakura's head and turned towards Mebuki who had just entered, "No, in fact, Sakura-san happens to be one of my best students."

Mebuki smiled as she placed the tea set on the table, "Well I did raise her that way."

Mebuki poured some tea into a nice decorative teacup, "I hope you don't mind, it's just green tea, I hope that's alright with you."

Sasuke nodded, "Yes thank you very much Mebuki-san."

Sasuke took the teacup and slowly drank the tea, "I must say though, that Sakura-san is a very bright student; she works hard and is very confident in her abilities; in fact I told her that she didn't really need me as a tutor; but she insisted."

Sakura twitched, "Now, now Uchiha-sensei, you mustn't be so modest, in fact I distinctly remembered that you thought it would be a good idea if you tutored me; I can remember like it was yesterday, he was just begging me to join his study group."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "…Well Sakura-san was the one who gave me the idea, that little note she sent me really hit me hard."

"Note?" Mebuki asked.

Sasuke nodded and smirked at Sakura, "Yeah, I think Sakura-san felt a little too shy to ask me in person if I could help her with her studies, so she ended up writing me this nice little note."

Sakura clenched her fists, 'You are so going down when I see you tomorrow.'

But before anything else could be said, Sasuke's wrist watch began to beep. He looked at his watch and saw the time.

"Oh my, it looks like I have to get going," Sasuke said as he set his teacup down on the table, "Thank you very much for the tea Mebuki-san…And Sakura-san, I'll see you tomorrow in class."

And with no further words, Sasuke left Sakura's house and drove off.

"He seems like such a nice man," Mebuki said as she put Sasuke's teacup in the sink.

"…He is," Sakura said to herself when her mother left the room.

"Sasuke-kun, what would you like for dinner?" Karin asked as she put her apron on.

"I don't care, whatever you want is fine," Sasuke said as he started flipping through the channels on the television.

Karin pouted a bit, "W-Well I can make that spicy curry that you like."

"Yeah, that's fine."

Karin stared at the back of her husband's head; she didn't like this, he didn't even seem like he wanted to acknowledge her in any way.

"S-Sasuke-kun, I was thinking that maybe tonight; you and I could-."

"Not tonight Karin; I've had a long day, I just want to relax."

Karin's eyes widened. That was the first time since being married that he ever called her name without ending it with chan.

"…..Sasuke-kun…Are you…tired of me?"

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit as he turned around to face Karin.

"W-Well….Are you?"

Yes

"Of course not Karin-chan, why would you think I am?"

Karin's head fell as she let out a sigh, "O-Okay then."

And with that she ended the conversation. Karin really didn't want to further the subject any more. It just seemed recently that Sasuke was not the man she had married. He seemed more distant and unresponsive.

That's when Karin's eyes widened. Could his strange behavior be because he was nervous? That maybe he wasn't ready to start a family yet. That had to be it; Sasuke was still mourning over his parent's deaths, and bringing a child into the world might make him miss his own family. Maybe Sasuke wanted to wait a while longer. Karin's eyes started to brim with tears. She felt so selfish; she never even asked Sasuke if he was ready to start a family, she just threw herself at him any chance she got without thinking of his feelings.

That's when Sasuke felt a force on his back as arms wrapped around his neck. Sasuke was a bit taken back by this, but he soon relaxed when he realized that it was Karin.

"I'm sorry…"

Sasuke's hands twitched with…guilt?

"I'm sorry…I know that I'm not the best wife in the world…But I love you so much…I've been so selfish lately that I didn't even consider how you were feeling."

Sasuke just sat there motionless as he felt warm drops of water soaking the back of his shirt, and then he realized that those were tears.

"I know that losing loved ones is hard; I can never understand how you are feeling…I still have both of my parents…But when news came about Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san…It felt like I had lost my own parents."

Sasuke just kept silent.

"I care so much about you and your family…But I just wanted to bear you a child so then maybe you won't feel so upset about the loss of your parents…But I realized that I was thinking more about myself than you…And that's never something a wife should do to her partner."

Sasuke remained quiet…It was hard for him to hear her say these things; he hated talking about the loss of his parents, not even his older brother Itachi could say one word about it without Sasuke feeling uneasy.

"So please Sasuke-kun…If I'm doing something wrong then please tell me…I want you to love me like I love you; I don't want us to hide anything from each other."

Sasuke was trying hard to drown Karin out; her words…He hated them.

Everything she said made him more angry, not at her, but at himself. He knew that Karin was trying to be a good wife, but this wasn't about bearing him a child, it was the fact that she was never around.

When he lost his parents, Sasuke felt an emptiness inside of him; a black hole that swallowed up all of his emotions. He felt isolated and cold no matter who was around him, but then he married Karin and he felt like everything would be okay; he started to feel happy and not so alone; but that only lasted for three months, and then Karin's job made her be home less and whenever Sasuke would try to be romantic towards her she would shoot him down…He then again started to feel the loneliness he had felt when his parents died.

He could have divorced Karin then, but in his mind just knowing that he had a wife, made him feel he could be loved, but all of his feelings for her became less real…and then he met her. His Sakura-chan. She had filled in the emptiness that was there; every day he would watch her at school and feel a sort of warmth that he hadn't felt, and then on that day…The day she confessed to him, it seemed like he could be happy again.

But he knew that it was wrong.

"Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke was thrown out of his thoughts when Karin clenched his shirt, "Sasuke-kun…I love you."

Sasuke could only say one thing to her.

"…I love you too."

Even though his words were far from the truth.

Yaaay! See I told you all that I would update faster, I seemed to really enjoy making this chapter. It kind of gives us a bit of history between Karin and Sasuke, but don't worry there will be flashbacks later on. Please Review! :)