A/N: FFN is pulling jokes on me. First, it leaves me without my links. Then, for the second time, it leaves me without those little thingies I used to break my chapters into sections. *sigh* I should have just stuck to the good old horizontal lines… Oh, well. I suppose there's no other way now.

Anyway, sorry for the long wait! You all know my excuse, I have an upcoming exam. That being said, expect no more updates on this story until… well, I guess July. Because the moment I'm done with my exam, I'm leaving on a holiday, and I'm not sure how much internet connection I'll have there. I'm going for none, bleah!

Enjoy this chapter!

Incomplete
By The Terrorist

Chapter Thirty-Six
Winter Wonders

"Oh, come on," Sakura coed once the car had come to a stop in front of the familiar apartment building, "Stop pouting!"

Sasuke, who was leaning back in his seat, one hand on the steering wheel, the other on the gear stick, spared her a glance, before he turned his gaze back to the car that was parked in front of them.

"I'm not pouting," he said, sullen.

"Yes, you are," she laughed. "You've been pouting since last night. I never took you for such a spoiled brat, you know?"

He threw her a glare.

"Seriously," she pressed. "Your mother gave you everything you wanted, didn't she? Your father, too. You only needed to stick your lip out, and"

He growled, a low, annoyed sound in the back of his throat, causing her to finally lose the battle against laughter and burst into giggles.

"Aren't you late?" he demanded tersely.

Sakura grinned. "No," she answered, leaving over the center console to playfully kiss his cheek. She hovered over his skin for a mere second, but that was all the time he needed to turn his head and meld his mouth to hers.

Their lips met in kiss, after kiss, after kiss. More than playful, they turned passionate. Sasuke leaned into her, tangling his fingers into her hair, bringing her closer, kissing her fiercely, desperately. Sakura, with her seatbelt undone, allowed him to pull her close, responding with as much hunger as he so openly displayed. Her hands fisted in his hair, in his shirt, ruining his frustratingly perfect appearance.

She had nearly undone his tie when the door to the driver's side unexpectedly opened, and they pulled apart just in time for the Uchiha to receive a smack to the back of his head.

"Whatcha doing, bastard? Seducing sweet, innocent, little Saki in a car?"

Sasuke growled, and the next thing she knew, he had unbuckled his seatbelt and flown out of the vehicle.

The pinkette had never thought she would see the day when her husband would grab her best friend in a headlock and shove him headfirst into a pile of snow. She was unsure whether she should laugh or run after them to put an end to their fight, but her decision was made for her when the door opened behind her. She abruptly turned around, still numb with surprise, but a grin spread on her features in an instant when she saw who was waiting for her outside.

The silence in the deserted parking lot was shattered then by two loud squeals, as TenTen and Sakura met for the first time in nearly three months with a hug.

"I can't believe you're finally back!" the brunette said, pulling back to look at her properly. "What did you do to your hair?" she demanded.

Sakura laughed, doing a pirouette and running her fingers through her shiny pink locks. "Do you like it?"

"It's gorgeous!" the other woman exclaimed.

"Nothing," she laughed. "I just let it grow – and I straightened it this morning."

"You lucky bitch!" she squealed, before grabbing her in yet another hug.

They both had tears in their eyes when they separated. Then Sakura caught sight of a silent Hinata standing next to them with a smile on her face, and she had to fawn herself in an effort not to let them fall.

"Hinata," she said, pulling the woman into a hug, which she eagerly returned. "I missed you all so much!" she exclaimed, dabbing at her tears with her fingertips when they pulled apart. "Where are Ino and Temari?"

TenTen rolled her eyes. "Getting dressed and doing make-up. It's hard to choose when you suddenly get a boyfriend, you know?"

"Aww," the pinkette coed, smiling.

"Come on, grab what you need and let's go. I'm freezing," she proclaimed.

Sakura nodded and turned around, reaching into the backseat for her bag and coat. Straightening her posture as she closed the door, she frowned. "What about…?" she asked, pointing unsurely in the direction of the snow-covered park, where she could still hear Naruto's loud voice.

"Leave them," the brunette advised, waving her hand in a gesture of dismissal. "You can't separate them until they decide they're done, so there's not point in trying. Now come on, I'm freezing and I really want some hot chocolate."

~•~

It was hard to believe how much she had missed her friends. After all, she had seen them in New York that one time they had come to visit. But back then, they hadn't had the chance to catch up – not in the real sense of the word; they had been pressured by time, and had tried, without much success, to absorb as much information as they could.

Needless to say, they had been left with a large gap – and the burning desire to continue the conversations they hadn't been able to wrap up then.

This time, though, neither of them needed to part in a matter of only hours. This time, they could spend the entire day talking and absolutely nothing would impede them.

Which was something that some of them seemed intent on taking complete advantage of.

"So, tell us," she said, in a sly tone covered in such fake innocence that Sakura could only narrow her eyes at, "Did you two… have sex yet?"

She rolled her eyes. Why hadn't she seen that coming? "No, you perverted woman, no," she answered, rolling her eyes once more for good measure. "We did not have sex."

"Well," she said, raising her hands in her defense, "I only asked because, you know, you seemed so close in the car…"

"What? What car? You lost me!" Ino exclaimed, nearly panicking over lack of information.

"We were waiting for her, out in the cold, shivering like two stray cats, while she made out with her husband in the car," TenTen explained, earning an uproar of cheers, complaints, and exclamations of surprise from her friends.

"Come on, girls," Temari interrupted, quieting them down. "Can you blame her? 'Cause I know I couldn't. What?" she demanded upon seeing the looks she had been sent. "Did her husband get any less hot since the last time we saw him?"

"No, but that's not the point!" TenTen said.

"God," Sakura made a strangled sound, raising her knees to her chest and burying her face into her hands. "Stop trying to embarrass me!"

The girls laughed.

"Don't you think we haven't noticed you're more open to the subject, missy!" Ino let her know.

"And don't you think we won't take advantage of that!" TenTen completed, before bursting into laughter.

"Fine," Sakura said, her hands falling away. "Let's get this over with. What do you want to know?"

"Why haven't you jumped him yet?" Ino answered, in a tone that made it seem as though it should have been obvious. "I mean, duh!"

"Because I haven't –" She stopped abruptly, not even knowing how to answer, and tried not to laugh at the way all of her friends seemed to have leaned forwards in anticipation. "– felt it was time," she finished lamely. "I mean, I thought I wouldn't want to – I thought we would have to wait like, a really long time before we got to that, because some of our problems were directly connected to it. I mean, we didn't talk. As much as you'll probably like the sounds of this, all we did was have sex."

They laughed and whistled at that, making her smile despite her attempts at keeping on track and remaining serious.

"But it's not like that. I don't feel anything of that kind. Nothing's stopping me from going to him right now and saying, 'Hey, Sasuke, let's do it'."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Temari whined, earning another roar of laugher from her friends.

Her smile grew wider. "It's something that will happen, eventually – a normal course of events in a relationship."

"So, I take it the time apart has helped," Hinata said, skillfully steering the conversation away from the previous topic.

"Absolutely," Sakura answered, firm and confident. "He feels like a different person. I feel like a different person. And now… we can finally have our fresh start."

"I heard he came after that fresh start," TenTen prompted, grinning in her direction.

"Yeah," the pinkette confirmed, smiling at the memories that flooded her mind with her words.

"What?" Ino demanded once more, straightening her posture from where she sat on a cushion, on the floor, leaning with one arm on the low coffee table.

Sakura nearly rolled her eyes. She had never quite enjoyed being the center of attention, and although she had known the focus would be mostly on her as they caught up, she had never thought she would be interrogated.

"Sasuke came to New York after me," she said. "He came to get me. He said I'd abandoned him, let me know how pissed he was because of that, and told me he wanted me to go home with him. So, I did."

She was surprised, as she raised her gaze from where she had fixed it on the coffee table, to see the women in the room, save for TenTen and Hinata, looking at her with their mouths wide open. Frowning, she was about to ask for an explanation, but Temari spoke before she could do that.

"That's – God!" she exclaimed, blinking. "Hot and sweet?"

The pinkette laughed lightly. "I know, right?" she joked.

"Thank God you were ready to come back, because if you felt like he was rushing you… well, that would have been pretty bad," TenTen said.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the tone she had used. "I wouldn't have beaten him up," she assured her.

"I would have," she countered, "In your place. I mean, all this time and all this talk, and he's still no good with patience?"

"Oh, shut up!" was heard in a chorus, to which she rolled her eyes.

"Wow, you can be quite the bitch when you want to be," Sakura remarked in an adoring tone, smiling. "But in any case, I was planning on returning. I didn't know how, though. I didn't know when. Most of all, I didn't know if it would be the right thing to do. Then he appeared and took my choice away, and I think that's a good thing, because… it made me realize that there would have never been a 'perfect time' or a 'perfect situation'. We'd spent so many months apart – and it was time to move on. Maybe it had been time for a long while. I can't possibly know. But when he came after me… that was us, right there. And I couldn't have asked for anything more."

"Aww!" the girls exclaimed, making her smile.

"Enough about me!" she said, quieting them down. "I want to hear about you."

TenTen raised her hand in the air as the chatter rose in volume. "I have something to say!" she announced loudly, and waited until there was complete silence and she had the attention of every person in the room, before smiling sweetly. "I'm pregnant."

"What?" Her words caused yet another uproar in the room as everybody struggled to receive answers to their questions.

Sakura's voice, however, was heard loud and clear above the noise. "I want to be the godmother!" she said. "So that place is taken."

TenTen grinned, throwing her arms around her shoulders and bringing her in a warm embrace. "Of course you will," she said.

The pinkette smiled, resting her head on her shoulder.

"But…" TenTen swallowed, and Sakura pulled away, frowning. "I don't want you to do this if it bothers you. I don't want you to do this if it hurts you."

"Bother me?" For a moment, she was confused. But then she realized what she meant, and quickly shook her head. "Oh, no. No, TenTen, I… I'm over that."

The room was suddenly silent. Ino and Temari had also learned about her miscarriage while she was in New York, but despite her initial reticence, Sakura was actually glad that they had. What she hadn't wanted was their pity back then; now, it didn't matter anymore.

"I don't want this to sound as it does, but… but I can't see how things would have been any better if that child had been born. I don't… I don't want to say this, but maybe… maybe it was meant to be. Maybe it was necessary for us to go through this. Maybe it wasn't. I can't know, but the truth is, I don't even want to know. It happened – that's all that matters. I'm not going to let this haunt me for the rest of my life and stop me from enjoying this with you," she said, grasping the brunette's hand, "and enjoying my own children when they come… I refuse to. As much as I would have liked for this child to live…" She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders lightly, somewhat sadly.

The girls saw that as their opportunity to lighten up the conversation. "You're already thinking of your own children, you little liar," Ino accused. "You're thinking of how you're going to make them while playing innocent in front of us!"

"Oh my God, no," Sakura said, swiftly throwing a pillow in her direction. "Sasuke and I are like, at dating stage. We're not even thinking of children right now."

"How do you know he isn't?" Temari inquired, both eyebrows raised, which made the pinkette pause for a long moment.

"Okay, so I don't know," she laughed, rolling her eyes at her ingenuity. "But we're a couple. If I don't want them, then he doesn't, either."

"Yes, you go, girl! Wear the pants!" Ino agreed from the floor.

Sakura giggled, shaking her head.

"You haven't talked to him about this?" TenTen asked, her voice taking on a more serious tone. "At all?"

"No," the pinkette admitted, shaking her head. "And I don't think I will – at least not so soon. This is a subject that's clearly painful to both of us, and I'm not going to bring it up just because, as a couple, we're supposed to discuss these things. No, we discuss the things that we feel comfortable about. I doubt that drowning together in pain will help us. Of course, if it ever comes up, and it will, at some point in the future, I won't avoid it. But I won't bring it up just for the sake of it." She sighed. "I know Sasuke feels guilty about this, and I… I just don't want to do it."

"He's not the only one," the brunette said.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, directing a frown towards her.

"Karin left," she answered. "I mean, I haven't seen her around since the day of your accident. I don't know if someone talked to her, but if they did, it wasn't Sasuke. I mean, he tells Neji everything and Neji tells him everything – Karin is gone. And I think she felt guilty. I think she found out and freaked out and ran so that she wouldn't have to face the consequences of her actions."

The room remained silent throughout her explanation, and until Ino decided to break the tense atmosphere with a snide, "That bitch."

"To be honest," Sakura stated once she had stopped laughing, still smiling, "I don't care anymore. I just want to look to the future – and nothing else."

~•~

The pinkette was distracted by a particularly loud sigh from behind her as she stood, admiring her reflection in the mirror, dressed in a white tank-top and a monotonously grey pair of old sweatpants, but holding several dresses in her hands.

Her husband was sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room, eyes gazing downwards, fixed on his still loose tie.

"We've been through this already," she called in a sing-song voice. "You can't stay home on New Year's Eve, and you're not going to one of those boring office parties, either. So, you're coming with me."

With that said, she turned her attention back on the task at hand.

There had been an unspoken agreement between them ever since that night when they returned from his parents' place. She would sleep in his room, in his bed, in his arms – no questions asked.

However, there was hardly any way they could fit her entire wardrobe in his bedroom without knocking a wall down, and Sasuke had not so subtly hinted that he was not, under any circumstances, doing this now, when he finally got some much-desired peace and quiet. Which meant that, for the time being, she had to relocate when the time came for her to dress up. But that was hardly a problem.

"What do you say?" she asked, turning to face him. "This one… or this one?" In her hands, supported by their respective hangers, she held two dresses which she had bought while still in New York and which she had thought would be suitable for such an occasion. It had taken her quite a while to pick them from the mountain of clothes her unorganized closet could currently be described as.

Her husband, however, seemed less than impressed. "What's the difference?"

She blinked, surprised, before she threw him a bland look. "In color and in texture and in pattern and in design – as well as in every other aspect?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "They're the same length," he deadpanned.

It took a moment for that to register in her mind, and when it finally did, she burst out laughing. "Oh, so that's what you notice," she said, shaking her head. "Enough, enough. Tell me, Sasuke. Choose," she commanded, holding the dresses up once more. "This one or this one?"

"That," he said, pointing to the one on the left.

"This?" she asked, turning it over for inspection. "You kind of have a thing for little black dresses, Sasuke."

"You're the one who buys them," he scoffed, and turned his attention back to his tie, continuing to brood in silence.

"True," she laughed.

Sakura looked closely at the dress he had picked. It was simple, form-fitting, with a heart-shaped neckline; if she remembered correctly, it reached her mid-thigh, and complemented her figure nicely. She would have to pair it with a statement necklace to make it stand out more, but… Her train of thought suddenly skidded down another path. Once she concluded it was the right one, she grinned, throwing the dress on the bed – and successfully capturing her husband's attention.

"Nice try," she said, glancing at him over her shoulder before entering her closet. "You want me to lie low so you can keep your hands on me all night long, but no! I'm going to wear this!" she proclaimed as she came out, holding a sequined dress in her hand. "Everyone will notice me and I'll stick to your side the entire time so that you get to suffer from too much social interaction."

Sasuke groaned, his head falling back to thump against the back of the armchair.

Sakura, on the other hand, simply laughed, delighted.

~•~

It was hard to say exactly how they arrived home that night. They had driven, that was a given, and he must have been the one to do it, because Sakura was hardly in the right state for it. Sasuke himself had served a glass of champagne at midnight, but in all honesty, he was more intoxicated by her presence than by the alcohol.

He had been aware of that particular aspect that characterized their relationship, of course. From the moment he opened up to the idea of living the rest of his life with her, he had realized how incredibly dangerous she could be. A simple gesture of hers could bring him to his knees – that was how much power she had over him now. That was how much power she would have always had, had he allowed himself to truly open up and see her for what she was – for his wife, for the woman he loved, for the person he wanted to share his life with.

A simple whiff of her perfume, and all his senses went haywire. At the touch of her lips, the entire world melted away – and all that was left was her.

That night, his hands traveled over the material of her dress, up her back, down her sides, into her hair, around her waist… It seemed like an eternity had passed since the last time he had the chance to touch her, and he wanted to drown in that feeling – to forget about everything and everyone apart from her.

In the past, he used to find that weakening. He used to find it annoying, even though he craved her, even though he wanted her close. But now… He wanted her, even now, there was no denying it. But it was different – everything was. More than he wanted to tangle in bed with her all day long, he wanted to hear her voice, cause her laughter, see her eyes, feel her smile… He wanted all of her. And, this time, he wasn't afraid to receive it anymore. He had place for her in his life now – and it was the place she had always deserved.

That was the conclusion he reached just before a loud clatter was heard, his movements were suddenly obstructed, and a small squeak sounded against his lips. Sakura smiled, then giggled, and stumbled once more to the side, making him tighten his grip on her waist in order not to let her fall over.

"You backed me up into a table," she whined against his lips, amused, as she clung to his neck with her arms.

Sasuke gazed down at her, his eyes unclear, not really understanding her words, not really caring to understand, either. His gaze was on her lips – full, red, bruised from his kisses and stretched into a smile. Before long, he leaned down to capture them into yet another kiss, but before he could do that, the front door burst open downstairs. They pulled apart abruptly, staring at each other with wide eyes, until a booming voice echoed through the large, empty house.

"Sakuraaa!"

There were different reactions from the two spouses. At first, they both frowned. Then Sakura smiled, squealed, and dashed towards the staircase, leaving Sasuke to curse the day he allowed the blond-haired idiot into his life.

He took a moment to gather his bearings, knowing that no one would appreciate it if he lunged for his throat the moment he caught sight of him, before heaving a resigned sigh and following his wife.

Climbing down the stairs with a scowl on his face and his hands in his pockets, he found Sakura and Naruto face to face, a bottle of champagne between them, the latter explaining to her how he had been unable to bear the thought of it ending up in the wrong hands and had the wonderful idea of sharing it with her because, apparently, they were like brother and sister – and he shared everything with his sister.

A rather ashamed Hinata stood behind him, throwing them both looks of apology. But only Sasuke caught those, as Sakura was very busy acting idiotic right along with the blond.

Clapping her hands, she jumped up and down in a childish manner.

Sasuke still wished he could murder her self-proclaimed best friend.

But in the end, seeing her so happy made everything – including having to deal with him – worth it.

~•~

It was a cold day in January, approximately two weeks since she came home, when the pinkette decided to give in to her lazy side and sleep in. She awoke briefly when the warmth of her husband's toned body left the bed, but then once again allowed herself to be swallowed up by unconsciousness as blankets were tucked around her and a kiss was laid on her forehead.

Now, almost three hours later, she stood in the middle of the kitchen, still dressed in her pink and black pajamas, leaning against the counter with a glass of orange juice in her hand. Having nothing planned for the rest of the day, she resumed at watching the large snowflakes descend from the dark sky, feeling oddly disconnected from the world – but most of all, from Sasuke.

Usually, she was there to see him off in the mornings. They would both be awakened by either his alarm clock, or her annoyingly accurate sense of time, and they would have breakfast together.

Now, Sakura knew that only by interrupting their routine one day she wouldn't ruin their relationship, wouldn't lose the ground she'd been so keen on keeping the last time. Rather, the feeling coursing through her veins at the moment was more likely to be attributed to longing. She missed him.

And before she even knew what she was doing, she was reaching for her phone.

Can I call you?

All of her current wishes could fit in a simple text-message, so she hit send and waited for a response. Much to her surprise, it came in an instant, almost as though he'd had it written before she'd even thought of sending her own.

Meeting, he answered shortly, Are you alright?

Smiling, the pinkette hesitated before typing her next words, knowing that her reasons for bothering him, for all they were innocent, were foolish and even naïve only serving to make him worry in vain.

I wanted to call you, she finally typed, her finger pressing on the send button before she could change her mind.

Once again, the answer came quickly. She briefly wondered how much experience her husband had when it came to texting, but then pushed the thought away. Sasuke didn't need to be experienced in anything – he was naturally good at nearly everything.

Do you want to come over? I can pick you up in 15 minutes.

Biting down on her lower lip, she gazed at the screen longingly. There was nothing she wanted more at that moment than to see him, and Sasuke had, once again, hit the mark with his assumptions, seeming to read her mind in that astonishing way only he could. Regardless, the last thing she wanted to do was bother him, distract him, and keep him from doing his job right – and she knew that, by making a sudden appearance in his office, she would do exactly that.

You don't have to do that.

But she couldn't lie to him, not even when he was miles away.

Despite her internal battle, she had a feeling his answer would have been the same, no matter what she would have told him.

Be ready in 15 minutes, then.

~•~

When Sakura entered his office that afternoon, she was wearing a long-sleeved, beige sweater that complemented the color of her skin and the brightness of her eyes, together with tight, black pants and tall, brown booties. Her long hair was caught in a messy ponytail, and she was wearing only enough make-up to bring out her eyes.

"You changed your office," she remarked as she turned on her heels to face him, frowning cutely up at him. "Why?"

"There have been a couple of renovations," he answered, shrugging. But that was only half of the truth. There had been renovations, true. But there had been no reason for him to change floors – none of what the rest of the world could understand, at least.

"I like it," she declared after a thoughtful moment. "It's spacious, it's airy, and it's nicely decorated. Though I wouldn't have taken you for a beige kind of guy," she added, playfully skeptical. "I thought you'd be more into morose colors, like, you know, boring grey, depressing navy, emo black… that sort of hues."

Sasuke merely threw her a flat look as he walked past her to take a seat behind his large, mahogany desk. The pinkette grinned, following him.

"Comfy chair?" she inquired, apparently innocently. He raised a questioning brow, and in response, she rounded his neck with her arms and seated herself sideways on his lap, crossing her heel-clad legs. "Better?" she asked.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Much," he answered, amused, as he locked her in his embrace.

The pinkette grinned. Straightening her posture, she peered at his neatly organized desk, child-like curiosity shining in her green eyes. "What do you do all day? Look over papers? What are they about?"

The Uchiha nearly smiled at the quick succession of questions and her excited tone. "I read them, I sign them… I authorize transports. I legalize…" He paused for a moment. "…everything."

Sakura laughed. "Do you like it?"

"Of course," he answered, nearly confused by the question.

She smiled. She had no doubt that he did. It was logical, it was systemized, and every once in a while, it brought a challenge along; it provided him with an important position, with money, and with power. That was everything a man like Sasuke could possibly wish for on a professional level.

"I was thinking…" she started, fingers trailing over the surface of his desk mindlessly. "I'd really like to go to college."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "So, what's stopping you?"

She shrugged. "I don't think there's anything that can stop me," she said. "I've wanted this ever since I graduated from high-school, and I have no intention whatsoever of delaying it until I turn fifty or something like that."

"Ever since you graduated from high-school?" he asked, his brows pulling together in a frown. Reaching out, he titled her face towards him, coaxing her to look at him. "It's been three years since then, Sakura. Why didn't you do it?"

In a rare display of sadness that he had not seen coming after so many days of seeing her beautiful smile, she looked down, shrugging one shoulder self-consciously. "My father told me it would be better if I stood by your side and looked pretty. Too much independence from the woman's part can ruin a relationship, apparently."

"Your father is a bastard," he stated bluntly, "We've already established that." Titling her chin up, he looked at her in the eye. "I can't believe you actually listened to him, Sakura."

She sighed. "Back then, I firmly believed that my life would be over once I married you, anyway. I figured I might as well fuck it up royally."

Sasuke blinked. "Your mind can be very twisted at times, you know that?" he told her.

She laughed. "Yes, I do," she answered. Tightening her embrace, she bent her head to his shoulder, curling into his chest.

With a sigh, Sasuke draped his arms over her shoulders and buried his face into her sweet-smelling hair. "I have a business trip coming up in a month," he declared, breaking the peaceful silence that had fallen over them. "I want you to come with me."

For a moment, she was silent. Then she straightened in his embrace to look at him wide-eyed. "Are you serious?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do I joke, Sakura?"

A grin broke on her features, and a squeal pushed past her lips, which she quickly muffled with her hands. Sasuke was amused as he watched her attempt to calm down.

"Okay, then," she said, composed, though barely containing her excitement. "I will. Where are you taking me?"

"Russia," he answered promptly.

"Seriously?" she gaped, eyes wide. "Oh my God, I've always wanted to go there! Well, there and a million places more!"

Sasuke's expression softened at her involuntary confession. "Why didn't you?" he asked gently.

The pinkette blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"Why didn't you, Sakura?" he repeated. "You could have traveled anywhere. I would have never prohibited you that, and even if I had, it wouldn't have mattered."

Little by little, her excitement faded as she considered his question. "I don't know," she eventually answered. "All these months… there was a thought that haunted me. The thought that maybe I've acted like a bigger victim than I actually was. Maybe if I'd really wanted to do something with my life, I could have. I don't like the idea of my being a victim because I wanted to, but there are moments when it feels like it's the only logical explanation for which I stayed by your side for so long, for which I kept forgiving you over and over again."

Sasuke sighed, leaning further back in his seat. "I, for one, like to think that the reason you've done all that was because, deep inside, you've loved me from the very beginning," he said, surprising her. The words themselves sounded foolish to his ears, but that was the way he felt, and he would be damned if he would rather keep that to himself instead of bringing a smile to her face. "It sounds stupid, since all I ever did was hurt you, but love isn't logic. It's defying and annoying."

Slowly, the shock worn off her features, and a playful grin broke through. "Really, now?" she asked.

"Hn," he grunted, tucking a lock of pink hair behind her ear. His next words were whispered reverently, "Especially annoying."

A/N: Don't forget that I've relocated my blog on tumblr!

Please review for chocolate chip cookies!

P.S. I know! I've used this title before, for two chapters in "Pieces of Me". I know. But to my defense, it's not always easy to choose chapter titles, and they're nowhere near as important as the content itself, and I can't always be expected to have inspiration at the right moment, now can I?