I'm back! I hope you readers are still there ;) As you know, if you read my last update, I had a really busy month. But I'm back home now! I'll still be busy, but I'll be able to find time to write :) Thank you for being patient!

A few important things before you read:

I edited the last chapter like I said I would. If you would like to go back and read it again, then go right ahead! But it won't be a huge deal if you decide not to :)

~WARNING~: This chapter contains a somewhat graphic scene. By this, I mean nudity. I kept it very minimal, as it is rated T and I'm not planning on changing the rating. However, if this isn't your cup of tea, I will let you know in the chapter where to skip :) I'll summarize what happened in my ending author's note.

Okay! Enjoy!

You're not doing anything wrong- It's all me. I've just been making mistakes for years. And I'm still making mistakes.

Why didn't I see it all those years ago? Why didn't I see that you were always there for me by my side? I was so blinded by other feelings that I didn't even see that you were the one for me.

I can still tell you how I feel. There's still time. But you're so happy. So content. I would never want to ruin that for you, so you'll never know my true feelings for you. You must feel like this is the way things are meant to be.

And maybe they are. I don't deserve you, after all.

I never will.

xXx

Sakura was reading on a bench across from Ichiraku's when she heard a familiar, wonderful voice.

"Man, I'm starving! Time for some ramen!"

Sakura looked up from her book. Naruto was striding confidently towards the tiny ramen shop. He was so excited about the ramen that he didn't even see her.

At the sound and sight of Naruto, Sakura's lips curved into a content smile. He's such an idiot, she thought, her insides melting into a warm pool of affection. Just as Sakura snapped her book shut to run over and join him, she saw Hinata running to catch up to him.

"S-slow down Naruto!" she was panting.

"C'mon, Hinata! We have to eat!" Naruto didn't slow down.

The pinkette froze, halfway standing. Then, she slowly lowered herself back onto her bench, fixing her eyes on Naruto's back. "Hm," she muttered. She watched him as he jumped onto one of the stools and began to devour the hearty bowl of ramen before him. She felt a bit creepy watching him- especially because he was completely oblivious that she was there.

But she watched him anyways. Just a little longer.

xXx

It had been nearly a week.

Sakura hadn't spoken to him for nearly an entire week.

Frustratedly, Sasuke sat on the edge of his bed, the sunlight spilling in through the window. He held his head in his hands, grabbing at his hair as he thought.

"What the hell am I doing wrong?" he pondered aloud in his anguish. Everything he did was for Sakura. People were giving him seemingly good advice, and he was doing exactly what they told him to do. He had thought that if he gave her some space, Sakura might approach him. However, she was completely ignoring him.

So why did Sakura dislike him so much?!

WHY?!

Suddenly, Sasuke realized something. He perked up, straightening quickly and staring fixedly and wide-eyed at the wall across from him.

And he uttered one word.

"Panties."

He had forgotten! Rock Lee had given him some solid advice in the art of seducing women. How could he possibly forget?

No wonder he was getting nowhere!

Sasuke stood, filled with a new purpose. He had to get over there, and fast!

xXx

"So," Ino said as she poured a cup of tea for her friend. "How is the whole deal with Sasuke going?"

Sakura shuffled uncomfortably on the cushion she sat upon. "Oh, it's going," she droned, picking up her teacup and taking a sip. "HOT!" she suddenly exclaimed, dropping the cup on the table. It tipped over, the contents spilling across the table. Before Sakura noticed, the tea spilled off the edge of the table and into her lap. "EEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAA!" she cried out, jumping to her feet. "Dammit, Ino! Are you trying to set me on fire?!"

"Whoa, hey!" Ino yelled defensively. "Tea is supposed to be hot, bitch! And you spilled it on yourself!" Ino stood up, went towards the sink, and came back to Sakura with a wet rag. "Here!" She handed it to Sakura.

Sakura snatched it from Ino. "I'm sorry," she practically snapped. She didn't sound sorry at all. "I'm just... I'm just..."

"Well, if you don't want to talk about Sasuke we don't have to," Ino interrupted. "All you have to do is tell me. Verbally. Without spilling any hot tea."

Sakura glanced down at the table, where the tea was boiling. Literally. Boiling.

Much to her surprise, Ino took a sip of her tea, without any reaction to the hotness.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said more gently. She took her seat on the cushion again. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"You have a stalker," Ino said with a shrug. "Personally, I would be flattered. But annoyance with the situation is understandable."

"He just won't leave me alone," Sakura said. "And he keeps trying to do these ridiculous, douchy things to get me to like him, but he's just proving to be more and more of a jerk the more he tries. I think he just wants a one night stand, or something, with the way he's acting."

Ino took yet another sip of the burning tea, staring thoughtfully into the distance. "You know, maybe he's like Sai."

Sakura looked up. "What?"

"Sai was really socially awkward for a while after leaving the Foundation. Remember?"

Sakura rolled her jade eyes. "Of course I remember," she replied.

"Sasuke's never been social, if you think about it," Ino continued. "This is his first time ever trying to make friends. AND his first time dealing with romantic feelings. He probably just has no idea how to handle it all."

Sakura frowned, her eyes drifting back to her tea spill. "But he should know better. He's not an idiot."

Ino raised her eyebrow threateningly at Sakura. "Neither is Sai," she said coldly.

Sakura ignored her. "I don't want to give him a chance," she said. "That would just feel like I was losing my dignity. I've made a decision never to be with Sasuke Uchiha, and I will hold to my word. Even if he's changed. I don't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking that he can get any girl he wants, even though he treats them badly. Besides... I can't help but resent him. After everything he's done to me... to Naruto..."

Ino smiled at her friend. "But he's still your friend, right?"

"Well, if he keeps up his behavior, then no. He's not."

"Just be patient with him. Like you said, he's not an idiot. He'll learn eventually." Suddenly, Ino grew serious. "Also, Sai isn't an idiot either! Don't you EVER suggest-"

At this point, Ino slammed the teacup that she was holding onto the wooden table. The concoction splashed onto her lap from the force. Sakura winced in empathy as she watched the tea drip onto her friends bare legs.

"Dammit!" yelled Ino, not phased at all by the scorching mixture in her lap. "Sakura, can you hand me that rag?"

Sakura raised her eyebrow, slowly handing over the wet rag. "How are you not in pain?" she asked slowly.

Ino grabbed the rag and began wiping her skirt. "I like my tea boiling hot," she stated.

xXx

There was a romantic sunset in the sky. This would be the PERFECT time of the day to lure Sakura to his home and win her heart over with his seduction skills.

Oh, and did he believe he had some MAD seduction skills.

Pacing nervously from one side of the street to the other (and running into several annoyed passerbys as he did so), Sasuke mentally prepped himself. Okay. I got this. This is sure to get her attention. When he had convinced himself that everything would go as perfectly as he planned, he started determinedly down the street.

Before he knew it, he was in front of Sakura's quaint little home. Closing his eyes, he tried to sense her chakra inside.

He felt nothing. The house was empty.

Sasuke took one last, deep breath of reassurance. "Wish me luck, Itachi," he said to the deep pink sky before stealthily walking up to the door.

Fortunately (and unfortunately), Konoha was such a friendly place where everyone was very trusting. So hardly anyone locked their doors. Sakura's door was locked, but Sasuke glanced to the other side of the house, to see that the living room window with Sakura's plants on the sill was wide open.

What's the point in locking your door and keeping your window open? Sasuke wondered as he clambered in through the open window, knocking over a potted plant in the process. He stared down at the broken pot for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "Eh," he muttered, walking deeper into the house.

Like a creepy stalker, the Uchiha made his way down the hall into Sakura's bedroom.

When he opened the door, he looked around. He had expected everything to be pink and maroon, but it was much more conservative than he had imagined. The walls were a light beige, while the floors were wood-paneled like the rest of the house. Her bed was queen-sized, and while they did have a maroon comfortor, the sheets and pillows were white. On one side of the bed there was a walk-in closet.

And on the other side, there was a wooden dresser.

Sasuke tip-toed across the floor, just in case anyone could hear him (even though he was completely and totally ALONE) towards the dresser. He opened the top drawer, where he suspected his targeted clothing items to be.

Sure enough, there they were, in all their glory. Sakura's panties.

And BRAS!

Sasuke reached into the drawer with shaking hands, and carefully pulled out a red transparent lace bra. He stared at it as though he were staring at something very sacred.

"Wow..." he breathed. This was one of Sakura's bras. He never thought he would ever see them. He felt his face grow hot as he gazed at the very sexy piece of lace in his hands.

Suddenly, he felt a familiar chakra presence nearby.

Sakura.

She was getting closer and closer to her house from the outside- Sasuke could feel it!

As quickly as he could, he reached into the drawer, grabbed an armful of suggestive garments, and ran into her walk-in closet. There, he spotted a large, maroon purse, and he proceeded to shove the underwear inside, dropping a few on the ground in the process.

The Uchiha heard the door shut, and Sasuke could sense her presence inside. Shit shit shit shit shit... He thought this word over and over again in his mind. Looking around, he ducked in a corner underneath several hanging dresses, hoping that they would hide him sufficiently in case she came into her closet.

xXx

After her tea session with Ino had ended, Sakura made her way back to her house. Unlocking the door, she stepped inside and slipped her shoes off. As she stepped towards the hall, she saw something on the ground out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh no," she said sadly, seeing that it was one of her cute little plants. "I'll have to re-pot that."

And so she did, her mind keeping itself busy all the while. Gloomily, she made her way into her bedroom. It's going to be an early night for me, she thought glumly. All she really wanted to do was lay in bed, anyways.

And you know what? Screw pajamas.

xXx (Here's where you'll want to skip if you have a sensitive soul ;)

Sasuke sat in anxiety as he heard the door of Sakura's room open and shut. What'll I do? he thought frantically. Carefully and quietly, Sasuke crawled across the floor and barely cracked the closet door open, just enough to see what Sakura was doing.

Then, his jaw dropped.

Sakura's bare feet made their way across the room to the foot of her bed. Then, she began to unzip her red dress.

Sasuke put a hand over his mouth. He felt like he shouldn't be looking, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. Slowly, Sakura pulled the zipper of her dress down, until it reached the bottom and parted completely, revealing her green spandex and pale stomach.

Then, adrenaline rushed through the young man as she shrugged out of her dress, revealing the rest of her torso.

She wasn't wearing a bra.

Her breasts hung off her chest naturally as she leaned down to slip off her spandex shorts, revealing the rest of her body to Sasuke.

Was Sasuke turned on? Yes. Yes he was. She was fit and toned from her training, and her skin was light and fair. But, despite his undeniable feelings of lust, he felt something more- deep admiration and awe. She looked gorgeous as she slipped into her bed with nothing on, covering herself with her sheets.

Sasuke's whole body shook stiffly. He was ashamed of himself for watching her- he felt like he had disrespected her privacy. As he was thinking this, Sakura shifted in her bed to face her closet. Sasuke was about to scramble deeper inside when he noticed that she wasn't looking at him at all.

Sakura was just staring at the wall with a strange expression on her face. Something like sadness. Hurt. Loneliness.

And, even though it was still barely light outside, Sasuke watched as her eyes closed and she fell into a deep, dark sleep.

As soon as Sasuke was sure she was asleep, he slowly opened the closet door and crept back into the room, to the side of her bed. He stared down at her face, which now looked peaceful.

Suddenly, she groaned and shifted onto her back, stretching her arms above her head and resting them there on her pillow. Sasuke froze completely, scared to death that he had been caught. But then she was peaceful and still again.

Gulping, Sasuke's curious and very invasive eyes wandered back to her chest. The blankets had slipped down, revealing her torso again.

[Don't look too much, Sasuke,] the Uchiha told himself, quickly glancing away. [I should cover her, though.]

With that, Sasuke reached, his hand trembling violently, towards the blankets at the base of Sakura's breasts. Careful not to touch them, Sasuke gently pulled the covers up to her collarbone. She didn't wake up.

Still, Sasuke stood there, staring at her face. Impulsively, he reached out with his hand and brushed a stray piece of pink hair off her forehead, and let his hand slide down to her smooth cheek. The sky outside was finally growing dark.

"Goodnight, Sakura," Sasuke whispered. Then, he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, right on top of her blue diamond.

And with that, he left the room.

Then he rushed back, realizing he had forgotten all of her underwear.

Then he REALLY left.

Okay. So basically, Sasuke just saw Sakura getting undressed. He felt guilty watching her, but he kept at it. Sakura didn't ever notice him, and she crawled into bed and fell asleep. Sasuke kissed her forehead and then left... with her underwear -.-

Anyways, Sasuke is kind of an idiot in this story, but he's a sweet idiot ^^ I hope it was somewhat worth the wait- again, I'm sorry about that. Let me know what you think! Thank you very much :)