Chapter Twenty-nine- A Night to Remember

"Hmmm…what looks better? This…or this…?" Sakura hummed as she looked at herself in a mirror with two shirts held in front of her. She furrowed her brow, thinking, before she placed one down and brought the other one with her to her bed where some of her other choices lay.

Sakura sighed, tossing the shirt into the pile. She glanced over at a clock. It was 4:15.

"I have 45 minutes." She thought, and then a smile broke out across her face as she blushed. "45 minutes till he'll be here."

Sakura looked back down at the pile of clothes on her bed. Then, her eyes widened as she continued to grin. "Ooh, there we go!" She picked up a shirt and a pair of pants. "This will work nicely!" She held the clothes up to her face as she giggled. "I think Sasuke will like it."

A few minutes later, Sakura looked at herself in her mirror. She wore a black, sleeveless turtleneck shirt and a pair of light tan capris. She slipped on a couple bracelets on each arm and applied a bit of lip gloss and eye shadow. She looked very pretty, she thought.

"And hopefully Sasuke will think so too." Sakura mused.

At the thought of Sasuke, Sakura sighed dreamily and dropped herself onto her now cleared bed.

"Sasuke…" Sakura whispered as she laid back and closed her eyes and thought of what had happened after she left Yamanaka Flowers with him.

"I'm taking you on a date." He had told her.

Sakura stared at Sasuke, surprised. "A…a…a date?"

Sasuke smirked, amused by her reaction. He nodded. "Yes. And I'm taking you out at five, so I wanted to give you all the time you need to get ready."

"What? You think I take a long time?"

"Not really, but I wanted to give you some good forewarning anyway."

Sakura continued to stare at the Uchiha, and then a smile formed on her face as she blushed. "Alright."

The two arrived in front of Sakura's house and they turned to look at each other. Sasuke squeezed Sakura's hand for a moment before he dropped it.

"I'll be back to pick you up at five." Sasuke restated.

Sakura nodded her head. "I'll see you then." She took a step forward, grabbing hold of the front of Sasuke's shirt. Sasuke in turn placed a hand on her upper arm and the other on her waist, and leaned down to kiss her. Sakura responded readily and they parted a few seconds later. The two held each other's gaze for another moment as Sasuke rubbed a hand over Sakura's side. Then he turned and took off down the road in the direction of his house. Sakura watched him until he disappeared, a tender smile and a light blush on her face the whole time.

Sakura opened her eyes and sat up. She looked over at the clock. She still had twenty minutes left. She rocked back and forth. She wished Sasuke would come now. Twenty minutes would probably feel like forever.

With a light sigh, Sakura stood up and left her room, hoping that walking around would kill a bit of time. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was greeted by her mother sitting on the couch in their living room.

Her mother turned and smiled at Sakura. "All ready?"

Sakura nodded her head and walked towards her mother. "Yeah…I'm just waiting till five now."

"Well, why don't you sit here and talk with me till then?" Her mother offered.

Sakura came around the couch and sat down on the other end. The two turned to look at each other.

"You look very pretty." Her mother commented.

"Thanks…." Sakura replied.

"I think Sasuke will love it."

Sakura blushed. "I hope so…."

Sakura's mother sighed and leaned back into the couch. "How long has it been since you two have known each other?"

"About…ten years I think. Though we didn't really start talking till five years ago when we were assigned onto our team together."

"Yes…" her mother huffed. "You've changed so much since then. I remember when your hair was long, and then you came back from the Chunin Exams with it sliced down to where it is now."

Sakura reactively brought her hand up to her hair. It was true, she thought. She had cut it off to get away from a Sound ninja who was trying to kill Sasuke. That had been the moment she had found her resolve not to be the one in the back anymore, and she fought the three ninja. And then Sasuke had woken up…and he beat them all up once he saw Sakura's condition.

"I guess maybe," Sakura thought, "he might have already been starting to really care about me."

"So," her mother piped up, "do you know where he's taking you?"

"Uh…" Sakura shook her head. "No, actually. I guess maybe he wants it to be a surprise…either that or he just didn't bother to tell me."

"Ah…I remember my first date with your father. He was the same way." Her mother laughed. "Only he didn't tell me because he didn't quite know how I'd react when he took me over to the Hot Springs."

Sakura's brows shot up. "The Hot Springs?"

"There was a restaurant connected to it for a while. He said he didn't know if I thought he was taking me out to eat or if he was trying to peek at me."

Sakura laughed. "That sounds like dad…. Well…except for the peeping part."

"Yes, it more than a little took me by surprise. Especially considering that I had never seen him as much of the perverted type."

The two girls laughed again, and a moment later there was a knock on the door.

Both girls turned their heads to the door for a moment, and then back towards each other.

Sakura's mother grinned. "He's here. You two have fun."

Sakura blushed as she stood and started to head for the door. "Right…thanks."

When Sakura opened the door, she was, as expected, greeted by Sasuke, though she didn't quite expect Sasuke to be holding flowers in his hands. He held them out to her. "Uh…hey."

Sakura blushed like mad as she took the flowers, completely overlooking the awkward "hey" that just came out of Sasuke's mouth.

"Um…" Sakura stammered. "Thanks." She placed them on a little table next to the door, cast a quick glance over her shoulder at her mother, who pretended to not be paying attention to the scene, and then she walked out and shut the door behind her.

Sakura glanced up at Sasuke as she came out, taking in his attire. He was dressed out of his ninja wear and into a dark gray, collared, button-up shirt and pants. It wasn't as fancy as a tuxedo, which actually would have made Sakura feel very awkward, but seeing him dressed up at all made her feel like she was wearing washed out casual clothes.

"I guess this is what I get for having a…boyfriend…that even if he was just wearing a sack with arm and leg holes he'd still look good…." Sakura thought.

The two stood there for a few moments, only a few inches between them. Sakura didn't quite know what to say, and was hoping Sasuke would speak up.

Regaining some of his usual stature, Sasuke greeted her again. "Hey."

"Hi." Sakura responded, and then looked up in time to intercept a quick kiss from the Uchiha.

When he pulled away, Sasuke reached down and took one of Sakura's hands. "Are you ready to go?"

Sakura took in a breath, finding her own usual stature as well. "Yeah."

The couple then started off down the road, hand-in-hand. They walked in silence for the first few minutes, neither one really knowing what to say.

Sakura cleared her throat. "I…I liked the flowers you gave me."

"Hn," Sasuke replied. "I hoped you would."

"Well good," Sasuke thought, "I guess Naruto's randomly appearing and telling me to give them to her wasn't such a bad thing."

Silence fell for another couple moments before Sakura thought of something else to say.

"So…" Sakura drawled. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Sasuke answered, gripping her hand reassuringly.

Sakura's fingers that weren't laced with Sasuke's fidgeted as she thought of what her mother had told her about her and her father's first date. She didn't think Sasuke would bring her to the Hot Springs…especially seeing as there was no restaurant there anymore.

"Well…where could he take me?" Sakura wondered. "A walk…the movies? Dinner? You just never know with Sasuke."

Sakura turned her head to look up at Sasuke, who stared forward at the road. He seemed so calm, like this was nothing big. Internally Sakura huffed. She wished she could seem as nonchalant as him.

Inside Sasuke though, it was a different story.

"Okay…we're almost there…maybe the conversation will pick up when we're there. God…I just don't know what to say. What am I supposed to say? Do I just make idle chatter? Then again…I'm not much of a talker. But…this is Sakura! She's…your girlfriend now. Things shouldn't be so awkward…especially not after our night in that tent…oh god. Don't start blushing! Just keep your cool. I bet Sakura isn't worrying about this very much! She's probably just fine…while I'm losing my mind."

Sasuke stopped, slightly pulling Sakura to a halt as well. Sakura looked up at him, confused.

"We're here." Sasuke declared.

Sakura looked up to see what "here" was, and she was surprised.

"A…a fancy restaurant?" Sakura roared in her mind, looking up at the name of the restaurant. "To make it worse…it's got one of those schmancy names you can never seem to pronounce! He's taking us here?"

Sakura squirmed slightly in place. Sasuke caught this, and looked down at her.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Well…uh…" Sakura stuttered. "It's just…I…I feel so underdressed now…going to such a nice place…."

Sasuke stared at her quizzically for a moment, and then a smirk reached his face. He released Sakura's hand and put his arm around her. "You don't have to worry." He told her. "You look beautiful. Way better than any fancy-dressed girl."

Sakura blushed at hearing Sasuke call her "beautiful," and had to force her brain to send the signals to her legs to make her move forward into the restaurant.

Sasuke's smirk deepened as he saw Sakura's reaction. The two entered the restaurant as mentally Sasuke gave a relieved sigh.

"Well, at least I'm not the only nervous one."

'"'"'"'"

Sasuke and Sakura sat eating their food. Everything went by in relative silence, neither one really knowing what to say. Sakura stared intently into her food, as if conversation material would burst from the spaghetti noodles on her plate. Conversation material, Sakura thought, that didn't have to do with the food. That just seemed so lame to her.

Sasuke suddenly cleared his throat, and Sakura looked up at him.

"So," he started, "what were you talking about with the girls? Something that had to do with me…."

"Oh," Sakura stammered, thinking of her conversation with the girls in Yamanaka Flowers, "they were just…prodding. Ino and Tenten were pretty surprised to hear that we're…uh…"

"Dating?" Sasuke finished.

Sakura blushed, nodding her head and inadvertently looking back down at her food.

Sasuke caught this. "You're not…embarrassed are you?"

Sakura looked back up at Sasuke, surprised. "No! No, no. Of course not. It's just…this all seems so…"

"Surreal?" Sasuke finished again.

"Yeah…." Sakura replied.

"I know." Sasuke responded, putting one of his hands on the table. "But I don't think that should stop us from enjoying ourselves. It'll become natural eventually."

Sakura stared at the Uchiha across the table from her, taking in what he said. Then she smiled sweetly at him as she reached out and clasped his outstretched hand.

"Yeah…"

'"'"'"'"

When they finished their meal, Sasuke led her out of the restaurant and down the road.

Sakura glanced up at him. "Are we going somewhere else?"

Sasuke looked up to the sky. The sun was just setting. "We've got a lot of time, unless your mom has a 'before dark' curfew on you."

Sakura rolled her eyes at Sasuke's joke. "I wouldn't be a ninja if I had such an early curfew. I'd never get anything done. But I do think my mom would expect me home before say…midnight."

Sasuke smirked. "I guess. Don't worry though, I'll have you home before then."

Sakura smiled. "I'm sure, even though I do like the alone time we're finally getting. So…where are we going?"

"You'll see." Sasuke answered.

Sakura sighed. "That's what you said earlier. Why all the surprises?"

"I'm just making it interesting."

"You have got to be kidding. I'm on a date with, honestly, the hottest guy in the village. What's more interesting than that?"

Sasuke chuckled. "You'll see eventually. For now…"

The two stopped in front of a movie theater.

"I thought we'd see that movie you keep talking about."

Sakura stared up at the movie theater for a moment, and then she averted her gaze to Sasuke. She smiled at him. "Sounds nice."

'"'"'"'"

Sasuke and Sakura sat together, watching their movie. It was already about halfway through, and so far they had been enjoying their time just being together.

Suddenly, from behind they heard a couple boys whispering to each other.

"Man, this movie is lame." The first muttered.

The second snickered. "It is. It's a lot more fun just looking at the cute pink-haired girl in front of us."

A brief silence fell, in which Sasuke and Sakura could only assume the first was looking at the "pink-haired girl."

"Dude, she's hot." The first finally whispered, obviously trying, and failing not to be heard.

"Totally. Wonder if she's single."

Having enough of the boys' comments, Sasuke turned his head and cast a sharp glare at the boys over his shoulder. His Sharingan flared momentarily, making both of the boys flinch in surprise as Sasuke moved his arm across the back of Sakura's chair.

Sasuke averted his eyes back to the screen as Sakura leaned against him.

"You know you didn't have to do that." Sakura murmured, low enough so that only Sasuke could hear her. "It's not like they could actually do something or make any sort of impact on me."

Sasuke's arm came down from the chair to wrap around Sakura's shoulders. "I know. But I wanted to put them in their place anyway."

Sakura smiled and shook her head, snuggling herself closer to the Uchiha. "Well, you don't have to worry. Why would I have an interest in anyone else if I have you?"

Sasuke smirked, tightening his grip. "I know. And I'm glad about that."

'"'"'"'"

"This has been a great time, Sasuke." Sakura stated as the two left the movie theater.

"Good." Sasuke responded, leading her down the road.

Sakura looked up at the sky. "It must be nearing nine now."

Sasuke followed her gaze to the sky. "Yeah. In which case we still have time to go somewhere else."

"Really?"

"You don't want to?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. It's great being with you. I just didn't know you had come up with so many things to do."

Sasuke smirked. "It took a bit, but I think this will be the last thing."

"Okay. So now are you finally going to tell me where we're going?"

"No," Sasuke answered, making Sakura sigh in a disappointed manner. Sasuke squeezed Sakura's hand he held. "Don't worry. I'm not telling you because I think this one will be pretty special."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, and then looked forward. "Well…at least you finally gave an explanation." She squeezed his hand back. "I can't wait to see."

'"'"'"'"

"So when can I open my eyes?" Sakura asked, walking carefully by Sasuke's lead.

"In just a few moments." Sasuke answered, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her up a ledge.

The two walked on for a couple more minutes, and then Sasuke pulled Sakura to a stop.

"Okay," he announced, "check it out."

Sakura opened her eyes, taking in the sight before her. She drew in a breath. "Oh wow."

Sakura gazed in awe as she saw the whole village below her. The village sparkled with lights from houses and streetlights, standing out in dazzling contrast to the dark night that loomed over the village. It was obvious to tell they were in a lookout area indented into the side of the stone heads.

Sakura continued to stare out across the village for a moment longer, and then turned to face Sasuke. Her face was lit up with an amazed grin.

"You brought us here?" Sakura breathed.

"Obviously." Sasuke responded, taking a step closer to stand beside her. "I thought you'd like it."

"I've never been up here before." Sakura declared. "Well…at least not right here…and not at night. It's amazing."

Sasuke said nothing, taking her hand and pulling her over to a bench she hadn't noticed was there. The two sat, gazing out towards the village.

Sakura leaned against Sasuke. "You know…this whole night has been great. I was so nervous at first, but now…that initial nervousness is gone, and everything just seems so perfect."

Sasuke wrapped an arm around her as he had done in the theater. "I know what you mean."

Silence fell between the two as they sat there, enjoying the sight and each other's company. Sakura glanced up, and then she nudged Sasuke side. "Look at the stars. They look so bright."

Sasuke looked up at the sky, seeing the bright stars spread across the dark sky. "Yeah. I can see some constellations."

Sakura's eyes raked through the patterns of stars. "Oh, I never thought about that. You're right."

They continued to stare up at the stars, occasionally pointing out constellations to each other. Sasuke made a mental note to one day take Sakura out stargazing, and the two reveled in having some good, general conversation material to loosen up the last of their nervous anxieties.

Eventually Sakura sighed. "Do you believe the old mythology…that when someone dies they'll go up and become a star or a constellation and watch over the world?"

Sasuke eyes glanced downward at Sakura nestled between his shoulder and neck, and then back up to the stars. "I don't know. I've never met anyone who could definitively say. Though I would guess if that was true…then maybe my family is watching us now."

Sakura caught a slight change in Sasuke's voice at the mention of his family, and her brow furrowed apologetically. "Sorry…I guess I just made you think about that incident…."

Sasuke leaned his head against Sakura's. "No. It's okay. I'd actually be glad if they were watching. They'd see that I'm okay…and I'm happy. And they'd get to see you."

Sakura blushed as Sasuke mentioned his family seeing her, and gripped her hands together. "I wonder…what they would have thought of me."

Briefly, a smile reached Sasuke's face, but Sakura couldn't see it. "I think they would have liked you…even my father."

Sakura's blush darkened at Sasuke's comment, but she smiled. "I would hope so."

'"'"'"'"

It was nearing 10:30 when Sasuke and Sakura came upon the Haruno household. They came to a stop just a few feet off from the door, and turned to face each other.

"I guess this is it." Sakura stated as she glanced from the door to her house to their still interlocked hands.

"For tonight at least." Sasuke declared, an expectant smirk reaching his face.

Sakura blushed lightly. "For tonight…. I had an amazing time."

Sasuke gripped her hand. "Me too."

The two stood in silence for a brief moment.

"Well," Sasuke started, "I suppose this is good night."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah…good night."

Sasuke dropped Sakura's hand, but instead of turning and heading off toward his house, he took a step forward. Sakura followed his lead, stepping forward as well. Sasuke's arms came around her waist as Sakura's came up around his neck. Sakura tip-toed up, Sasuke leaned down, and their lips met.

They both held it for a long time, trying to make their final moments together for the night last. When the two finally pulled away for air, they stayed locked in each other's arms for a moment longer, maintaining eye contact.

Finally, they let go of each other. Sakura smiled sweetly at him as she stepped backwards a few steps and put her hand on the door.

"Good night." She called again as she opened the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He responded before he turned and started to walk down the road as Sakura entered her home.

When Sakura came into her house and closed the door, she sighed and leaned against the wall. Her hand which she had been using the whole night to hold Sasuke's came up and touched her lips. She could still sense him on her, and it brought forward thoughts of their date.

"Our first date…." Sakura thought. "That was our first date…and it was so…wonderful."

Sakura's eyes closed momentarily, and when they opened she smiled and started to head towards her room.

"And that was just the first of many to come…in my relationship with Sasuke."

Woo! I actually got this finished! And it's just two days before I go on vacation! (Which is over by the time this is published.) Ah…and now I just have to think about the final three chapters, in which…I still have quite a bit to think up. I hope you people liked the SasuSaku fluff I have in here. Nothing really huge, just the two of them adjusting to the thought that they're a couple now. Moderately sweet stuff. I keep losing my train of thought. I feel tired. Ah…well…anyway. Till the next chapter! On to the final arc!