A/N: Thanks guys for all the reviews and also to those who put me in their alerts and favorites. And about the chapter length… I know my chaps are short but please bear with me… although I'm now trying hard to make it a wee bit longer.

Chapter 10: The Clearing

"So you think I'm handsome, huh?"

Sakura went very red. 'Gah! So stupid! Stupid!' she said to herself. She looked at Sasuke who was smirking. Oh how she wants to wipe off that stupid smirk of his! Trying to keep herself cool, she just sat down wearily on the sidewalk and turned her back on Sasuke.

"I take that as a yes," Sasuke said coolly. Then he sat down beside her, not minding that they are sitting on some dirty, dusty sidewalk. He felt tired but he didn't want to show it.

"Hmph," Sakura grunted. She couldn't say anything back.

And so they sat down in silence for a few minutes. Sakura had already cooled off and was now thinking about her embarrassing outburst a while ago.

'I've only been here in Konoha for three days and a lot had happened. Wow, I'm such a lucky girl! I had a jet lag, I fell in a guy's arms, I got lost in a huge mall, I got dragged, chased by rabid fangirls, I lose control and MY pride and did I mention getting stuck with this jerk?' she thought sarcastically. She slapped herself in the forehead out of frustration.

"Why are you slapping your forehead? Come on, you want to make it larger?" Sasuke said teasingly. How he love taunting others!

"Bastard," she muttered and looked away. She was careful because she didn't want to say something embarrassing again.

"Sakura, quick!" Sasuke suddenly said. He stood up and grabbed her hand again.

"What the heck?" she said irritably.

"They're here!" he hurriedly explained. Without further ado, he dragged her again as his fangirls appeared.

They were running on a rocky road when Sakura tripped. She was able to stop her fall with her hands but she scrapped her left knee and her hands. She winced. The wounds were shallow but nonetheless, it was painful. "How clumsy of me," she muttered.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked. He helped her get up. "Can you walk?" he asked again. He looked back and saw that the horde was getting dangerously close. 'Don't they ever give up?' he thought.

"I can, but I don't think I can run fast," she said. Sakura was surprised when Sasuke suddenly lowered himself, his back facing her.

"Get on my back," he calmly said, "hurry." Left with no choice, she got on his back and blushed hard when she enclosed her arms around his shoulders and felt his arms under her knees. 'Piggy-back!' she thought.

Sasuke started to run again, taking turns every now then but not being able to completely lose the girls. 'Great! I'm touring Konoha while riding Sasuke's back!' she said in her mind. Then they came upon Konoha Park, or to be more correct the old Konoha Park.

What used to be the park was now a vacant lot with many trees, high grasses and clumps of bushes. A rusting fence surrounded the park to protect it from trespassers. An old arch, on which a faded sign hang, was also rusting. The sign said Konoha Park. If not for the sign, Sakura wouldn't even recognize the place.

"What happened?" she said in disbelief.

Sasuke stopped. "A new one has been built just a few more blocks from here," he answered. Then he added thoughtfully, "But I miss this park."

He looked back again to check, and to his disappointment, they were still being chased. 'Argh, when will this end,' he thought, annoyed. Wanting to finish everything, he went through a hole in the fence, still carrying Sakura.

"Where do you think you're going? We might get caught!" she said horrified. Sasuke didn't answer but merely continued on his way. 'I don't have any choice since we are here…' he thought.

Sakura continued protesting as they got deeper into the clump of trees. "Did you plan this? Oh my gosh, are you… are you planning to-to do something to me?" she said, afraid for the first time.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Did you really think I like to kiss someone I've only met and has a forehead that's wide as Pacific Ocean?" he muttered.

Sakura's eyebrows twitched. "I heard that Sasuke-kun," she said in an angry tone.

"Good."

Sakura took her right arm off and pulled Sasuke's right ear.

"Ouch! What did you do that for?" he said, his ear turning to a bright shade of red. But still he didn't put her down.

"You deserve that," she said, satisfied.

Sasuke walked for a few more minutes. Then, he stopped and gently put her down. "Where are we?" she demanded.

"I had to bring you here so we can rest. Those brats won't stop that easily," he explained while rubbing his right ear. "I supposed you can walk now. It better be because my back's hurting. I didn't know you were that heavy," he said.

Sakura glared but she replied, "Yeah, thanks."

Sasuke motioned her to follow. They went through some trees and came upon a clearing.

"Beautiful," Sakura whispered, stunned. Sasuke smirked.

"Calling the attention of Ms. Haruno Sakura, please go to the information booth right now, located at the ground floor, west wing."

After a few more announcements, the group gave up. "Where could she be?" Ino exclaimed.

"How about we call Sasuke and ask for help?" Tenten said. Neji raised his eyebrow. She noticed this and said defensively, "Well, I just thought he could lend a hand or something."

Naruto tried to do so, but no one was answering Sasuke's phone. "Sasuke-teme is not answering his phone," he informed the others.

"I also tried calling Gaara's house but the maid said she wasn't there," Neji said.

"Even Sakura's phone just kept on ringing. I think she left it at the house," Ino said.

"Wha-what will we do?" Hinata asked nervously.

"It's time to let Gaara now about this," Shikamaru said softly.

They all looked quite hesitant. They knew Gaara cared for Sakura and he expected them to take care of her too. He wouldn't be happy if he knew about this. But they've been trying to search for her for hours, it's too difficult.

Slowly, the rest of them nodded their heads. They just hope, Gaara's in a better mood.
Apparently, they are wrong about that.

Gaara slammed the door behind him. He was furious. Kankuro and Temari, who were outside the office, looked at each other.

"Um, what did father say?" Temari asked tentatively, though she guessed it already.

"No. He said no," Gaara said angrily.

"I'm sorry," his elder sister said comfortingly.

"You should tell Sakura soon," Kankuro quietly said.

He said nothing but glared at his father's office door. 'What's the big deal?' he said to himself angrily. His phone suddenly rang.

"Hey, Gaara?" Shikamaru's lazy voice came out.

"Gaara speaking," he said emotionlessly.

"We have a problem," Shikamaru said with a hint of hesitance.

Kankuro and Temari were surprise when Gaara stiffened and roared, "What the hell?"

"I said we can't find her," Shikamaru repeated.

Gaara put down his phone and quickly walked out, leaving his older siblings stunned.

'Damn it! Three days here in Konoha and all I've got is this! Problems, problems, problems! Where will I find her? The mall? The streets? The park? Where the heck are you, Sakura? You always make me worry. You better be alright or else…,' he thought while driving.

"Beautiful," Sakura whispered again.

Sasuke had brought her to a large clearing. Never had she seen such kind of place. Cherry blossom trees surround it, their pink petals carried by the soft breeze. Soft grasses lay at her feet and further on were flowers of different kinds and colors. One huge sturdy-looking tree stood in the middle.

Gleefully shouting, Sakura began to explore. She was like a little child, running in every direction before finally sitting down in exhaustion.

"You like it?" Sasuke asked.

"How did you find this place? It's so amazing!" Sakura happily exclaimed.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," he answered, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

Sakura pouted. 'She looks cute, uh no, the word 'cute' is not in my vocabulary," Sasuke said to himself, shaking his head.

"Oh well," Sakura mumbled and gazed contentedly at her surroundings.

"Hey, I want to show you something," he said and pulled her up. They walked towards the huge tree and Sasuke began climbing it.

"What are you doing?" she said, giving him an incredulous look.

"Wait here," he ordered. So Sakura waited patiently. Soon, Sasuke's head showed through the branches and he threw an old rope ladder to Sakura.

"Use that to climb up here," he said.

"You sure about this?" she asked.

"Yes."

Sakura began to climb up the tree using the rope and let out a gasp when she finally reached the top. A tree house was built on the largest branches. The room was square with a window and a door. The door led to the outside "porch". It looked quite old, but it wasn't full of cobwebs and dust, which led her to think that Sasuke comes here often.

"Oh wow!" she exclaimed. Sasuke smirked. He sat down at the edge, his feet dangling in the air. Sakura soon sat beside him, gazing into the vast land before them. She seemed to see the whole of Konoha and the view was simply breath-taking. The soft breeze touched their faces, telling them to rest.

"Wait for a while," he said.

Then, Sakura gasped. There in front of her, the sun was setting, its glorious colors bathing the two of them. She lifted her hand and raised it up towards it. The sun seemed so near and if only she could reach out a little bit more, she could touch it.

Sasuke looked at her with soft eyes. No one knows about the place except him, and he didn't know why he brought her here even if they've just met. But even so, he felt it was the right thing to do. Actually, he cannot explain what he was feeling right now. One thing's clear though. He didn't regret doing so.

Sakura felt happy that Sasuke had opened up to her. He was even sharing this place with her. She couldn't explain why she felt this way, is it because of the sheer beauty of this place or more because she was experiencing the moment with a certain man?

She let out a sigh of contentment and leaned on Sasuke's shoulder, forgetting for a while the world outside and the fact that they just met three days ago. Right now, it was just him, her and the clearing.

"This is one of the best moments of my life, Sasuke-kun."

"I know."

A/N: There you go. I made this chapter a bit longer. Hope that this was enough, coz I'm not really the type who writes long chapters. Read and review again, guys.

I love sunsets. They make me feel calm and contented. I just want you to know. :D