The Author Says: Me's sowee!! Work leaves me tired. Haven't really had time to read fanfics, much less write my own. Sigh.

Crystal Promise guessed the song right! And, no, the names aren't from Fruits Basket. There was a clue in my profile ;-) well… sorta. Anyways, Kuro-no-Tsubasa and Janneia guessed the manga/anime correctly! Woohoo! Thank you all who tried, though! Quite a few people mentioned Fruits Basket. Is it good? I haven't read it.

I got a flame for this fic. rEAPER, I seriously don't know what your problem is. If you don't like this fic, don't read it. If you have a bone to pick with me, at least have the courtesy of letting me know what your issues are in a civilized manner. Sheesh. This update might have been held up a little coz of this flame. I was a little annoyed after reading it.

But otherwise, thank you all so much for your reviews! I might not have the time to reply to all of them, but I do read and treasure all the reviews. I'm not as great as all your praises say, but they keep me motivated and encouraged. They keep me smiling in the face of mindless curses. Yes, rEAPER, I'm referring to your… waste of cyberspace you call a review.

Btw, to those that think Sasuke's in trouble with Tsunade – that's not it. Sasuke was called away by the ANBU to join Tsunade at the stage coz the ceremony was about to start and they had to officiate it together.

In That Moment

by TooDarnLazy

Chapter 11

"Who's that girl?" Tsunade asked point-blank once he had reached her side. Sasuke's expression became frigid.

"I wasn't aware that part of the Hokage's duties were to spy on their subordinate's personal lives," he answered icily as he started up the stage behind her.

Tsunade wasn't intimidated. "Get the stick out of your ass, Uchiha. The Uchiha clan is the responsibility of Konoha; as such, whoever you choose to revive your clan with is my business as well."

Sasuke glared angrily at her. "Hatsutori Kazuha," he bit out. "You recall my final mission before my appointment as Rokudaime. As noted in my report, I rested overnight at Akagusa to recover from mild chakra exhaustion. I met her there." The circumstances were real – only Hatsutori Kazuha was not. But Tsunade probably wouldn't pry.

"I see," Tsunade murmured. "Strange how you are so friendly with someone you met for such a short while, yet you ignore the hundreds of Konoha women practically falling at your feet. '

Sasuke bristled. He hadn't expected Tsunade to be this inquisitive, though he was positive Sakura would drill him later. "She helped clean my wounds and took care of me while I was there. I invited her here as a way to repay her kindness," he replied curtly. Thankfully, they were already on the stage, and two kunoichi on duty were showing them to the seats of honour. Tsunade made one last remark, quietly.

"I don't know why, but she reminds me of Naruto."

The brunet nearly froze at that, and managed to keep calm with an effort. He feigned an offended and angry tone instead. "Kazuha-san is nothing like that brash, loud, unpredictable usuratonkachi. Please do not make the mistake of confusing Kazuha-san for that idiot."

Tsunade merely looked at him with an unreadable expression, then looked ahead to the crowds and sighed slowly. Sasuke turned his attention to the ceremony, which had started while the two Hokage were talking. Soon it was Tsunade's turn to make a speech, followed by Sasuke. He stepped up to the podium and flawlessly delivered his memorized speech in his usual emotionless way. His eyes, however, roamed the mass of people until they settled on Naruto's disguised figure standing at the fringe of the crowd.

At the end of his speech, Tsunade came forward to stand beside him, and focusing their chakra, called out 'Kai!' in unison.

All around Konoha, and around the square they were in, sakura trees that were previously bare and ugly burst into colour and life as pale pink sakura blossoms sprouted on the branches, and sakura petals swirled in the air, reminding Sasuke of the pattern embroidered on the kimono Naruto was wearing. He searched the crow again and spotted her. She was watching the sakura petals twirl about her with a peaceful expression and a gentle smile that somehow had a tinge of sadness to it. She gracefully stretched out a hand and let a petal fall into it, then stared thoughtfully at the petal. The sad smile didn't leave her face.

Sasuke ignored the rapturous cheers of the crowd and shunshin-ed to her side.

"Kazhua-san," he called softly, so as not to startle her. Naruto turned her now-brown eyes to him and the sadness left her face as she smiled at him.

"Sasuke-san," she answered. Out of the corners of his eyes, Sasuke saw quite a few men eyeing her, and a surge of possessiveness sparked in him. He was so tempted to snake an arm around her waist and keep her close to his side to show just everyone just whose date 'Hatsutori Kazuha' was, and had to keep his twitching hands by his side.

"Shall we, Kazuha-san?" he said, making a sweeping gesture with one hand. Naruto nodded shyly and kept to his side as they walked along Konoha, admiring the beautiful sakura trees. His male ego was satisfied by the jealous looks the single male fraction of the Konoha population shot him. He had meant for 'Hatsutori Kazuha' to be an unremarkable, nondescript person, but somehow it didn't work. There was something about Naruto that attracted people to her, even when in disguise. Perhaps it was this 'something' that Tsunade somehow recognized.

Which reminded him. He slowly brought his head close to Naruto's and could see her tense almost imperceptibly.

"Tsunade knows about 'Hatsutori Kazuha'," he whispered. "She questioned me earlier, and I fed her our little story."

To her credit, Naruto didn't show any negative reaction, but pretended to nod and smile shyly, as if in response to something Sasuke had said. "How did she-?" she whispered back, then shook her head lightly. "Must be that darned crystal ball of Sandaime-ojisan's."

'Hn," Sasuke agreed. "We'll have to be more careful. But I want you to enjoy yourself, too." He felt foolish for saying such a sentimental thing, but was rewarded when Naruto lightly and quickly gripped his fingers with hers.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" a familiar voice called out behind them. Sasuke scowled inwardly and turned around.

"Sakura," he said. The pink-haired Chief Medic was walking up to them hand in hand with her fiancé.

"Who's this?" she asked with undisguised curiousity, and smiled cheerfully at Naruto. "Hi! I'm Haruno Sakura, and this is Hyuuga Neji, my fiancé. Hajimemashite!" She started to stretch out her hand, and Sasuke almost panicked until Naruto pretended not to see the hand and bowed respectfully.

"Hajimemashite. My name is Hatsutori Kazuha," she said in Kazuha's shy, polite voice. Sakura smiled and let her hand fall, and bowed in return.

"Hajimemashite. You're not from Konoha, are you, Hatsutori-san?" Neji asked from Sakura's side.

"You are right, Hyuuga-san. I am from Akagusa. Sasuke-san has done me the honour of inviting me to your lovely festival, which brings me here today."

He'd better not turn on his Byakugan! Sasuke thought fervently.

"We were on our way to grab some lunch," Sakura informed Sasuke. "Join us? We'd love to get to know Hatsutori-san better."

Sasuke could easily read between the lines: you'd better come along coz I'm gonna give you and Hatsutori-san the third degree. He scowled at her. She grinned mischievously back at him, and Neji glared at him for scowling at Sakura. He ignored the Hyuuga.

"We were thinking of Ichiraku Ramen," she added, and Inner Sasuke deflated like a punctured balloon. He had wanted to take Naruto there, since he knew she missed eating there. He had wanted to take her there by himself – just the two of them, but now it seemed that idea was out. He glared at Sakura, who shot him an amused look. She probably thought she was tempting him with Ichiraku Ramen, since they had been having lunch there every once in a while since Naruto had disappeared years ago. He absently wondered when she had grown immune to his glares. Neji glared back on her behalf, and Sasuke ignored him, as usual.

"Fine," he said shortly, and turned to Naruto. He knew his expression softened when he looked at her – he couldn't help it. "Shall we go for an early lunch, then, Kazuha-san?" he asked gently. Naruto looked up at him. Her expression was polite, but he could see her eyes had brightened, and were practically shining. She nodded demurely.

The four of them turned towards Ichiraku, and Sasuke felt Naruto give his hand a quick, excited squeeze, and nearly smiled at her hidden anticipation that was pretty obvious to him.

Sakura had fallen in step beside Naruto, and was chattering away to the blonde-turned-brunette. Neji strode beside Sakura, and Sasuke could tell he was listening carefully to Naruto's shy replies even if his expression was blank. It was the nature of shinobi to be curious and alert, after all.

They arrived at Ichiraku, and Sasuke knew Naruto was barely repressing a shit-eating grin by the way the corners of her lips twitched spasmodically. They ordered and ate, and Sasuke listened carefully as Naruto spontaneously told fictitious stories about Hatsutori Kazuha's fictitious life and childhood in Akagusa. He was grudgingly impressed at the way she came up with her stories and managed to keep track of them. Sasuke repressed a smile.

Naruto somehow managed to eat her ramen in a lady-like manner, and when she was done, shot Sasuke a pleading look. He could immediately tell what she wanted.

Inner Sasuke cackled evilly as Sasuke ordered another bowl of miso ramen – if he wasn't mistaken, miso was her favourite – and laced his fingers together as he waited for the food to arrive.

"Are you alright, Sasuke-kun?" came Sakura's voice. She sounded curious and a little concerned. He knew why – he had never ordered a second bowl of ramen before.

"I'm fine, Sakura," his reply was curt, as usual. He didn't turn to her, but he knew that she probably had on a thoughtful, calculative look.

"Good to know. I'll talk to you later, Sasuke-kun." Which, knowing Sakura, translated to "I'll be dropping by to interrogate you in the future."

Sasuke scowled inwardly but kept his face blank as Sakura stood up to leave together with Neji. He heard her bid goodbye to 'Kazuha', to which Naruto shyly replied in kind. She walked over to clap him on the shoulder and was off.

Beside him, Naruto released a loud breath.

"That was stressful," she said softly, bringing up both hands to massage her temples. "I thought she'd figure me out any time. And if Neji had used his Byakugan, that would have been it." Her fingers pressed circles into her skin for a minute as she closed her eyes.

"Man, I miss them," she whispered so softly Sasuke almost didn't catch it. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her to stay in Konoha, but he refrained. It would only have upset her – and by extension, him – and turn the date, which was turning out to be quite enjoyable, bad.

"Here you are! One miso ramen!" Teuchi said jovially as he placed the steaming bowl in front of Sasuke. He saw Naruto perk up immediately and turn to him. He pretended to ignore her and reached for a new pair of chopsticks, breaking them apart.

"Itadakimasu," he murmured, before calmly lifting out a few strands of the ramen and swallowing them. Inner Sasuke was grinning evilly. He turned and regarded Naruto nonchalantly as he chewed.

"Sasuke," she whined softly, giving him puppy-dog eyes. He merely raised an eyebrow as he repressed a smirk.

"Aw, Sasuke!" she whined again. This time he smirked as he caught up more noodles, raised them to his mouth and blew gently on them. Naruto made a disgruntled, pouting sound, and was turning away as Sasuke held out the noodles on the chopsticks to her.

"Here," he said, smirking at her. Her eyes widened a little and she moved as if she wanted to cross her arms sulkily before she probably remembered that she was Hatsutori Kazuha, a shy and lady-like woman who didn't have temper tantrums in public.

What could he say? He liked teasing her, and he found for some crazy reason he liked feeding her, too. Her expression softened as he continued feeding her, and soon a fond look settled on her face.

A bit of broth splashed onto her cheek. Sasuke put down the chopsticks and slowly used his thumb to wipe it off. She had tensed, but only mildly. He brought his thumb back and licked the broth off it, and in that moment, he knew.

He knew he cared deeply for her. he knew he wanted her by his side. He knew he wanted to keep her safe. He knew he'd kill for her. He wanted to feed her, and hold her close, and kiss her senseless.

He was pretty sure he was in love with Namikaze Naruto.

The Author has More to Say: X3

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!