This is chapter twenty six of A New Start. So far, a lot has happened. Let's get right into this! I don't own anything except my OC's!

Me: I love my reviewers~

Deidara: More than me?

Me: Noooo, Dei-koishii, just as much~

Me and Deidara: Review and read!

Ages:
Sakura- 30
Sasuke- 30
Itsuki- 10
Akari- 9
Daichi- 7
Akemi- 7
Mikoto- 4 months

Chapter 26: An Anniversary To Remember

The next morning, Sasuke looked over at his sleeping wife and had to fight the urge to laugh at how silly she looked with her hair all messy, even though she was still the love of his life. Climbing out of bed, he quickly changed and figured to have something very special for her planned. The thing is, even after ten years, he still had no idea what to do for her. Heading downstairs, he saw his children were up and about. Itsuki was the one to notice him.

"Tou-san! Can we help somehow?" He asked, excited that he could help his dad anyway he could.

"Well, you and Akari could try and keep your mom busy around here for a little or take her to a park with the others while I go talk to Ino." He mentally shuddered at the mention of that blonde and how she always laughed at his sad attempt to explain what he was doing in the flower shop.

"We can go with if your scared, tou-san." Akemi suggested, tugging on his sleeve a little as Daichi nodded in agreement. "Ino-obasan can't scare you if we're there!"

Sasuke actually chuckled and ruffled the girl's hair. "That's nice. Then perhaps you could tell Shikamaru-oji about how I'm better than him?"

"Course, tou-san!" Daischi replied right as his mother appeared with his little sister in her arms. "Kaa-san! Can I hold imouto? Please?" He asked, using the look his father was famous for when he was a kid.

Sakura shook her head and smiled. "Just be careful." She said, bending to give her son his sister before heading to make breakfast for them, having Akari and Akemi following her.

"Kaa-san, whatcha making?" Akari asked, tilting her head to look around her mother.

"Well, a breakfast skillet with a dash of tomatoes and biscuits. And of course a few sausages." She informed, seeing their eyes light up with glee at the fact that there were tomatoes. It was well-known that all of their kids loved tomatoes as much as their father. While she cooked, her daughters asked questions about jutsus and whether or not she'd let them learn them. "As long as you don't try to burn anything down, I don't see why not. It's up to your father, though." She glanced in his direction as the two elder girls nearly flew across the room to ask.

"Tou-san! Can we learn that awesome jutsu nii-san knows?" Even though Akari graduated with her brother, there were a few jutsus that only he knew and she wanted to know.

"I suppose. Just remember that it should be used only when needed." Sasuke replied, taking a sip from his coffee cup.

"You didn't remind nii-san of that! That's so unfair!" Akari replied, pouting and staring at her father, not backing down. She had gotten a stubborn streak that surprised even Sakura. For a nine year old, Akari could hold her own against not only Sasuke, but herself.

"True, that's because I had just remembered it myself." Sasuke amended before looking at Itsuki. "Same goes for you. Only use it if nothing else works."

"What!? Minato gets to use his Rasengan ALL the time!" Itsuki complained, showing off a little annoyance at that fact.

Sakura blinked and gauged what Sasuke would say, since she remembered when Naruto and him were that age and Sasuke got jealous at Naruto's growth. He had fallen into Orochimaru's hands easily and it took them nearly four years to get him to return, though he returned on his own power. She shuddered at the look in his eyes back then, when they had reunited for the first time: cold, distant and uncaring.

"Don't make it a competition, Itsuki. Believe me. It won't be worth it." Sasuke replied, not taking his eyes off the newspaper he was reading.

"But why not? I thought us Uchiha were stronger?" Itsuki questioned, clearly confused.

"We are in our own ways. You'll understand when you're a little older." Sasuke answered, not willing to tell his kids about his own dark past yet before glancing out the door, seeing Neji and Naruto pass by the window. Placing his newspaper down, he strolled to the door, ignoring the question in Sakura's eyes.

Itsuki huffed and sulked to the living room to watch his siblings, before looking to his mom for some answer. Sakura shrugged and shook her head, showing she agreed with Sasuke before she cleaned up and also went into the living room.

"Yo, teme. You sure you wanna surprise her?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Keh. Of course. Let's go see if you've messed it up already." Sasuke taunted, smirking to himself.

"I made sure he didn't, but, he could've easily done something when we weren't looking." Neji said.

"Man, I'm more mature than back then. I just think about if it were Hina-hime instead." Naruto scoffed as they arrived at the field where everyone really met back when they were kids: where Sasuke first talked to Sakura, even if it was to grunt a 'hey'. "Memory hill..." Naruto sighed happily.

"That should be the name." Neji commented as Choji walked up.

"You like everything, Sasuke? If not, we'll definitely redo it! I just will need another bag of chips and I'll be good." Choji asked.

"Nah. It looks amazing, really." Sasuke replied as he strolled around to see how there were the same flowers that were growing back then were just starting to bloom now.

Ino caught his attention and rushed over. "Sasuke-kun! Can you believe that these are starting to bloom now? It's almost like a sign!" She gushed, grinning.

Sasuke chuckled and shook his head. "You could say that. I just hope this will be enough." He put his thinking face on, which made Ino hit him over the head. "Hey!"

"Stop it. Sasuke-kun, you seriously still spend too much time in that head! Instead, when Forehead and you are here alone, think with this!" She shoved a finger at his chest, where his heart was. "That's all that you really need for her. I mean, you love Forehead, right?" Getting the shocked Uchiha to nod, Ino nodded as well. "Well, let her know that! And remember everything positive you remember about her from when we were kids." She hugged Sasuke. "If she isn't happy tomorrow, I will hunt you down!" She threatened before turning towards the group. "Alright, people, let's hurry and do the finishing touches!" She ordered as Sasuke left with Shikamaru to go get the kids.

"Ino's right. Even I stopped thinking with my head with her. You and I both usually like to think three moves ahead. Tonight, just focus on her." Shikamaru added, smirking.

"Easier said than done." Sasuke replied.

"I know, but it'll make life so much easier." Came the response as the two saw the kids outside, with Sakura, looking up at the stars. "Hey, Sakura."

"Shikamaru? What's going on?" Sakura questioned.

"What makes you think something happened? Mind if I take the kids for the night? Megumi wants to tor-erm play with them." Shikamaru asked.

Itsuki blinked before furrowing his eyebrows. "I'd rather go see Tsumio than have to deal with Megumi." He shuddered at the thought of dealing with the dirty blonde. "I'll go hang out at Neji-oji and Tenten-oba's." He replied.

"I'll go show her to not mess with you, nii-san." Akari said, brightening at the thought of getting Megumi to lay off her brother. The twins both seemed to want to go to Naruto's.

Sakura switched Mikoto to the other side and raised an eyebrow in skepticism to which Sasuke avoided her implied question. 'I'll have to ask later what the whole thing is about.' She watched with Sasuke as their children went with Shikamaru to their destinations. As she was about to say something, he rested a hand on the small of her back and directed her to Rushina's without saying a word. The elderly lady was already outside and her eyes lit up as she wordlessly took Mikoto, winking in their direction before entering her house. "Wha-?" She started.

"Hold that thought for a moment." Sasuke replied, taking her hand.

"Sasuke Uchiha! You better tell me what's going on or else!" Sakura said, ire dripping from her tone.

Sasuke flinched mentally before smirking as he led her to where he had been earlier, the umeboshi shop he actually took her on their first actual date, a few months after their engagement.

The owner's son smiled. "Ahh. Welcome. Follow me." He said, giving Sakura an uneasy feeling when he led them to a table with a small lamp in the center of it. "I'll be right back with the specialty you wanted." He stated, leaving the two alone.

"S-Sasuke, w-what's going on?" Sakura asked, clearly startled.

"Can't I take my wife out alone? Or do I need her permission?" Sasuke teased as their order arrived, enjoying how her face lit up when she realized it was her favorite umeboshi she always got when she was depressed back when Sasuke was a rouge ninja. He, himself, settled for just some tea as he smirked. "What, not hungry?"

"I-I..." Sakura tried to find words, but instead decided to smile and eat her umeboshi, loving the flavor. "What exactly is going on?" She asked again.

"I thought I told you, I just wanted to take you out. Being cooped up in the house isn't good for you." Sasuke answered.

"You just wanted to take me out." Sakura repeated, trying to figure out what he meant in her mind as she chewed. When she was finished, Sasuke paid for the meal and the two left. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun. I mean it. I know you hate sweets."

"I'm not done yet." Sasuke replied before tying a blindfold over his wife's eyes. "There's still more." With that, he led her to the field, smiling at the work that was done and had to chuckle at the banner before turning and reaching up to remove the blindfold. "Ready?"

"Well, considering I have no idea what to be ready for, yes." She replied right as the blindfold was removed and her husband moved aside to show her the very field she first fell in love with him, though she didn't know it at the time. "S-S-Sasuke-kun."

There were lanterns hanging from the trees and a banner saying, 'Happy Anniversary' on it. The trees seemed to glow from the lanterns and the flowers that were blooming looked even prettier. Fireflies had since began to fly around, adding a even more scenic view to the field.

"Happy anniversary, love." Sasuke said, smiling softly right before she launched herself into his arms, making him spin her around. "You have no idea how hard this was."

"I-I-I bet." She hiccuped, burying her face in his shoulder before pulling back and kissing him sweetly. "Happy anniversary, too, dear. I thought you forgot about it."

"I'm not the dobe. I had this planned for a few weeks, but it didn't actually come together until two days ago." He huffed at the mention of being like Naruto before smiling. "I remember when we actually met here, though I was just a stubborn, stuck up kid then. Since then, it was like I had always seemed to bump into you. Whether it was just coincidence or not, I actually liked it."

"You were stubborn, but not as stuck up as others. You just were cocky that you were a Uchiha, there's a difference." Sakura replied. "But that day, I had a feeling I had found someone special. Little did we know." She added as he sat down, with her in his lap.

"Hn. I think that meeting you was fate and becoming your friend was a choice. Especially after Itachi killed my clan, I was afraid to lose someone else dear to me. That's why I tried to keep my distance from you. You had become the closest thing I cared about." Sasuke explained. "But, I was afraid to love you. Now that I love you, I am never letting you go."

Sakura smiled sadly before nodding. "I had a feeling that I had somehow done something to make you do that. Back then, I had always wanted to just be around you to somehow show I wasn't going anywhere. When I saw you, I was afraid to meet you. When I met you, I was afraid to lose you, too. But, now I know you're not going anywhere."

Sasuke grimaced. "Damn straight I'm not going anywhere. I would go back and kick myself for hurting you then. When I did leave with the Sound Four, I regretted hurting you, but couldn't let them know you were important to me. Under Orochimaru, I kept going back to how I treated you and felt worse each time I relived calling you 'annoying'." He kissed her lips softly before continuing. "I wish there was a word more than 'love' itself to convey what I feel for you."

"Sasuke-kun... You don't need to think of that. I always understand that and I will always keep falling in love with you. In fact, each day I keep doing that. Seeing you with Itsuki or just talking to the kids, I nearly cry every time." Came the answer as she kissed him back. "I think this was the best way to celebrate. And, don't worry. I will keep this a secret. I still won't tell Ino-pig about what you said to me on our wedding night." She giggled like a younger Sakura.

"Good. I like keeping my ego safe from her." He admitted, glad to open up to someone on such a deep level and knowing that it wasn't going anywhere yet. "I doubt the dobe could beat this." He grinned as he rested his chin on her head.

"Hn. Never know. Naruto still comes with surprises and we've known him for twenty five years or so."

Sasuke's eyebrow shot up at the grunt. "Are you starting to grunt?" He questioned.

"What if I am?" She asked.

"I'd say you were going against your own words about 'Sasuke-speak'."

"Hn."

"Sakura... Shut up." He teased before capturing her lips in a heated kiss before parting to say one last thing he wanted to say. "When I look at you, my dear, it doesn't seem like you've aged. To me you're just as beautiful as the day we got engaged. Happy anniversary."

That finally made his wife break down and cry into his chest, making him laugh at the fact he now embraced her when, years ago, he would've shook her until she stopped or pushed her away.

"S-Stop l-l-laughing, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura hiccuped as she pulled back to try and glare at him, despite having tears flowing from her eyes.

"I'm not laughing at you, my little blossom. I'm laughing at the fact I would've reacted differently when we were genin if this happened. I'll never laugh at you."

"R-Really? Oh, Sasuke-kun.. I love you, and I will love you until I die." She sniffled as he kissed away her tears.

"You have bewitched me from the very first day, Sakura... I love you, too."

Bwaaaah! It's so beautiful! And, sadness! This story is coming to an end in another few chapters! I know! It's so difficult to see a lovely story like this end!

Deidara: But then you can focus on my own story! Wit-

Me: Hush, love. Ignore him for a moment! I want to thank everyone that have read and read and read and read this story! YOU guys are the best! *spreads love to all* I will even read a review this time!

"ANYWAYS, this deserves a lot more attention than it's getting. From what I've read so far, I'm really enjoying this (and yet, I'm reading a manga at the same time... Oh well)." From REDemption Love and Lies.

Me: I really do hope you enjoy this even more, RED.. =D Also, five year time-skip to what you all wanna see: protective daddy, Sasuke-style!

Deidara/Me: Read and Review!