When Sakura had been younger, she had always envisioned having a boyfriend that was the cliché image of perfect—dark and sexy, stoic and handsome, smooth and irresistible.
She never would have guessed that she would end up with someone... almost the opposite. Bright and quirky, borderline obnoxious and loud, kind of awkward and to many, annoying. Perhaps the only thing that matched were the fact he was handsome in his own right (but in a more cute way than sexy), and his charm—which was absolutely unexplainable.
But it was times when he did those little things—the little things just for her, to make her feel special—that she was glad she had realized her type was much more of a Uzumaki Naruto type than the tall, dark and handsome Uchiha Sasuke type. And a lot of time, it was just silly stuff. He had a penchant for leaving post-it notes around the apartment they now shared, just to let her know he loved her, or demand that she smile just by seeing the flash of orange paper. The blonde enjoyed waking up earlier than she did before her hospital shift and making sure she had breakfast ready right then—even if it was just Fruit Loops and coffee on a tray in bed.
It was those little things that endeared him to her the most, and the ones that he'd shrug off the most, too. He'd shush her and tell her it was nothing, and no, it wasn't cute, and no she can't go telling anybody he does such things because it's unmanly and only for her to know about. A lot of the times, she didn't tell—if only because she wanted to keep the knowledge to herself, as something only between them, seeing as she had absolutely no problem emasculating him.
He never ceased to surprise her either—no matter how much she thought she was used to it, he would do something more, and it would catch her off guard. Her chest would feel warm and mushy and she'd wonder to herself why he even bothered, but couldn't help but love him for it at the same time.
But some moments were mushier than others, and tonight was one of those moments.
It was a Friday night, and they both were looking forward to sleeping in—and celebrated that by staying up a bit later than usual. He was hovered over top of her, forearms sinking into the bed on either side, lips against the pale skin of her neck. Her hands were tangled in his spiky blonde hair, and a hum of pleasure thrummed in her throat. After a moment of the open mouthed kisses, he stopped almost abruptly, and it made her open her eyes a crack to look down at her face.
"Naruto, are you—"
"Shhhh," he cut her off, and though she huffed her discontent at his command, she listened, watching him as he shifted. His lean form slid down her body, but nothing about it seemed prompted by arousal. With his ear pressed lightly to her chest, he stayed that way for a long moment, and she felt free to thread her fingers through his hair.
"What are you doing?" she whispered almost playfully.
"Listening," he replied softly. Her brow furrowed, but a smile was still at her lips.
"To what?"
"Your heart. To make sure you're real."
And she didn't really have a way to respond, except to lean forward to kiss the top of his head.
"I love you, Sunshine."
She could hear the smile in his voice.
"I love you, too."