This Is Real

One week passed, one more week to go.

Honestly, Sakura couldn't think of what to do for her last task, and she was getting scared of how fast time was going. Did Sasuke even want her to stay? He's never once mentioned anything about it.

'Does that mean he'll go with the original plan? Will all this mean nothing then?' Sakura sighed and rolled over to face the ceiling, pulling the blanket up to her shoulder. Sasuke had left early to go to the company, as always.

Sakura glanced at the time and knew she should be getting ready to leave, too. It was almost as if this was a daily routine now...she didn't know how she could possibly deal with it if she went back to her old life without Sasuke.

Sakura let out a frustrated sigh and lazily sat up. '...I guess I should get ready...'

Sasuke glanced up when he heard the door open and smiled when he saw Sakura come in. "You're early."

Sakura forced a faint smile at him. "...yea, I know."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her lack of enthusiasm. "You ok? Are you tired? You could've just stayed home."

"I'm ok." Sakura answered bluntly, which made Sasuke doubt even more.

He sighed, got up, and walked towards her. "Seriously, if you're not feeling ok, go back home. I have two meetings today to discuss about me taking the position as president."

"Then I should be there, since I'm your wife." Sakura glanced at up him, hoping he'll say something about their marriage. After all, if they were going to divorce in just a week, she really had no position to be next to him when he succeeds as the company's president in four years.

"Well, if you really want to, then I guess you could come. Just don't fall asleep during the meeting." He made a small smile at her and lightly pinched one of her cheeks.

Sakura didn't know how he could do that. With just one smile or one touch, he could make her heart beat like crazy, and that wasn't really helping with all her mixed up thoughts.

Noticing how she didn't respond, Sasuke's grin slowly died down. He reached over and held both of her hands, pulling her slightly closer. "Can you tell me what's bothering you? It's gonna be on my mind all day if you don't tell me."

Sakura shook her head. "Really, I'm ok. Promise." She once again forced a smile to reassure him.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, still suspicious, but he let it go. "...alright. My meeting is about to start, then. Come on." He kept his grip on her hand as they both exited the office.

Gaara, on the other hand, was having a hard time getting over Sakura. He honestly couldn't understand women. He still wondered why Sakura still managed to stay in love with Sasuke after all that drama.

'Well, it was partially my fault for them making up.' He blamed himself and sighed.

He actually found himself missing Sakura after a whole week of not contacting her. Damn, he knew how hard he fell in love with her now. He should've stopped the bet when Suigetsu suggested to.

...but what the hell. He had to hear her voice or something; it was killing him.

Hesitating, he slowly reached into his pockets and pulled out his phone. Letting out another sigh, he dialed Sakura's number and called her.

Sakura nearly jumped at the sudden vibration in her pocket.

Sasuke glanced at her as she took out her phone from her pocket and answered it. He immediately frowned when he realized who it was.

"Hello? Gaara?"

"Hey, Sakura."

"Hey...how are you doing?" Sakura replied awkwardly.

"Not so good without you."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow when he saw that familiar blush on her face. Why the hell was she always like that when it came to Gaara? Sasuke thought he was over it, but apparently, he was still jealous as hell.

"So...why are calling?" Sakura blinked.

"Ah, just wanted to hear your voice. You know, with you being with Sasuke all the time, I'm jealous. I kinda want to see you...do you have time?"

"I'm actually going to a meeting right now, so-,"

"Skip it."

"Skip it? Why?"

"Well, you skipped a meeting to go hangout with me before. Why can't you do it again?"

"Because I'm going with Sasuke..." Sakura said cautiously and averted her eyes at Sasuke, who was obviously giving her an annoyed look.

"Please?"

"Uh, how about after the meeting?"

"No, now."

Sakura sighed. "Then can I call you back in a bit?"

"...I'll give you 2 minutes."

Sakura hung up and once again she looked over at Sasuke. "So? What was that about?" Sasuke scoffed.

"Gaara wanted to meet with me."

"Tell him that I said you can't go."

"You know he won't listen."

"Then are you seriously gonna go meet him right now?"

"Well, I haven't seen him a while..."

"You just said a while ago that since you're my wife, you have to be there with me at the meeting. You just said that."

"I know what I said, but you don't really need me-,"

"Wow, you're really making up excuses so you could go see him?"

"I'm not making excuses!"

"Then tell him you can't go and just hang up on him."

"That's so rude!"

"You've done that to me so many times, so don't even start."

"But that's different."

"So Gaara gets the special treatment?"

"Oh my gosh, Sasuke, can I just go?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said you can't."

"That's not a good enough reason." Sakura rolled her eyes and opened her cell phone to call Gaara again. She gasped when Sasuke suddenly grabbed her phone from her.

"Sasuke! Give it back." She hissed at him.

"You're not going with him."

"I'm probably going to be back even before the meeting is over, so just let me go and stop acting so childish." Sakura frowned.

"Why do you rush to him whenever he calls?"

"I don't! I haven't seen him in a whole week!"

"So? It's not like you have to." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, why do you always get so jealous?" Sakura sighed in frustration and crossed her arms.

Sasuke stayed quiet. She looked really pissed off...did she seriously want to go see Gaara that much? "Well, why do you always want to see him?"

"I don't always want to see him. I can't just blow him off...he's always been there for me and I don't want to ignore him just because I'm with you."

"So what, he's more important than me?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but she couldn't. Of course, no one else was more important than Sasuke. "W...well, no, but at least he treats me better than you." She managed to say.

Sasuke just smirked. He took a few steps closer to her and slowly handed her phone towards her. "If I'm more important, then stay. If I'm not, then go to him."

Sakura huffed and pouted at him. "Why do you always make things so difficult?"

Sasuke smiled at her and once again took another step closer. "Take your phone, and you can either go or stay. I'll know your answer that way." He shrugged.

She hesitated, but slowly reached over to grab her phone. When she had it in her palm, Sasuke suddenly took a hold of her and pulled her closer. She gasped at the sudden action and blushed when he gave her that irresistible smirk again.

"W...what?" She blinked nervously at him.

"So? Are you gonna stay or go?" Sasuke asked quietly.

She looked into his eyes and stayed quiet for a few moments, thinking. Her gaze averted down to her cell phone, and hesitantly, she put it back into her pocket. Sakura then averted her attention up and once again, their eyes met.

"...I'll stay."

"That's what I thought." He lightly pinched her cheeks which made her frown at him. She hated when he did that...she felt like a little kid. But her thoughts were cut short when Sasuke unexpectedly leaned in and gave her a light peck on the lips.

Sasuke pulled back and chuckled at her astonished expression.

Sakura was blushing furiously. Sure, they've kissed before, but this was the first time he did it on free will. All the kisses they've had before, it was only because Sasuke had to.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and wondered why she looked so stiff. It wasn't like it was their first time kissing. "...Sakura, seriously. You acted like that was our first time doing that."

Sakura blushed and crossed her arms. "Shut up. We're going to be late." She quickly changed the subject before walking past him into the hallway.

Sasuke couldn't resist to laugh and he shook his head. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of her...he just loved everything about her.

Gaara stared at his phone then shook his head and placed it back down. If she didn't contact him back by now, she obviously wasn't coming.

"What the hell am I doing?" He groaned to himself. It didn't matter how much he missed her.

Sasuke was the only man she would see, and Gaara knew he needed to let them be. Sasuke was still his friend, and he didn't want to keep making him mad all the time.

"I guess I should really let go now..." He muttered to himself. Picking up his phone again, he opened it and scrolled down to Sakura's name.

"I can only watch now. If you're happy with Sasuke, I'll let it be." Taking a deep breath, he made up his mind and deleted Sakura's number.

After the meeting, Sasuke planned to take Sakura out.

But when he looked out the window, it was raining. "Ugh, wow...great timing." He rolled his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Sakura came out of the meeting room and noticed his expression.

"I wanted to go somewhere, but it just started raining."

"Let's go anyway, I like the rain." Sakura shrugged.

"Well, I wanted to take you to the beach, but I don't think it's a good idea now."

"Aw, let's just go! Please? It's pretty when the rain goes into the ocean...I wanna see it."

"No, the weather's not good. Let's just go home." Sasuke took a hold of her hand dragged her with him.

"Please?"

"No."

"But I want to go!"

"No.

"Sasuke, pleeeease?"

"I said no."

"But-,"

Sakura was cut short and gasped when Sasuke suddenly turned around and leaned close to her. He made a small smile at her kept his eyes locked on hers. "Ok. I'll go anywhere you want for today if you do what I say."

"...fine, what?"

"Kiss me first." Sasuke replied bluntly and as he expected, Sakura blushed and just stared at him like he was crazy.

"W...what? Heck no-,"

"Well, I offered. Let's go home, then." Sasuke just shrugged and turned back around, dragging her with him again.

Sakura sighed in frustration and glared at him. Honestly, she did want to kiss him, but it was so nerve wrecking. And she didn't want to just kiss him and act casual as if they were a legit couple. It was driving her crazy how he can just act like this but not even mention anything about their marriage.

Sakura pulled back, making him stop. "...can we talk about something when we get home?" She asked quietly.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes when that familiar expression came on her face again. He knew something was bothering her. "Yea, of course..."

When they got home, they both changed into more comfortable clothing and sat on the bed quietly.

"So...what did you want to talk about?" Sasuke asked immediately.

Sakura didn't want to just ask him directly and bluntly. But she didn't know how else to bring it up. "Um...our marriage..." She paused, thinking about what to say next.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Their marriage? That kind of scared him...especially with that look on her face.

"...Sasuke..." Sakura let out a sigh and stared down at her hands. "...where is this going?"

Sasuke stayed quiet for a few moments and also looked down. "So you wanted to talk about that, huh."

"Well, we can't just avoid it. Are we going to get divorced?" She asked hesitantly.

"It's part our agreement, Sakura."

"So everything that we've been through will mean nothing to you?"

"I already told you I won't answer that until you give me your third task."

Sakura was a bit frustration. Why couldn't he just say how he feels about her? Was it because he really didn't love her like she loved him?

"My third task..." Sakura thought for a few moments. If he wasn't going to tell her, she might as well just do it this way. "...then I'll tell you what my third task is."

"Already? Right now?"

Sakura nodded. Sasuke turned to look at her, wondering what she would tell him to do.

"I...really like you, Sasuke." She finally confessed. It felt so scary, but at the same time, she felt a huge weight lifted off of her. She didn't dare to look at him though.

Sasuke hadn't expected that. He kept a straight face on, but on the inside, emotions were exploding all over. She felt the same way.

"And honestly, I wouldn't mind it if this marriage was real. But...if you don't feel the same way, and you want to keep our original plan, I'll go with it. I don't want to force you to do something like spend your life with me if you don't want to. I..." She hesitated to say it and she could feel her hands shaking from being so nervous. "...I love you, Sasuke...and I just want you to be happy."

Sasuke still remained silent. He wanted to blurt out everything, that he loved her too, that he'd willingly agree to make this marriage real, but he needed to hear her final task.

Sakura cleared her throat quietly and once again averted her eyes down. "So my third task is...even if it's a lie...please, just please, say that you love me, too."

Nothing; no response. Silence filled the air. Sakura felt her heart slowly breaking into pieces. Why was he not responding? He couldn't do it? He couldn't just lie that he loved her, too? He could breakup with his girlfriend of two years, kiss her, but not even say three simple words?

"...you can't say it...?" She asked and finally looked at him with a hurtful expression.

She was taken by surprise when Sasuke let out a small laugh. Was this funny to him? She felt so humiliated and pathetic. She just confessed to him, and all she gets, is a laugh. A pitiful laugh.

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat and was about to get off the bed, but Sasuke grabbed her arm, and pulled her back. "...I can't do that task, Sakura." He finally replied.

"Why not?" She glared at him with teary eyes. Sasuke's expression dropped. He never intended to make her cry. Quickly wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes, he cupped her cheeks and leaned closer to her, keeping his gaze locked with hers. "How can I lie to you about that?" He smiled softly at her.

Sakura blinked her eyes in confusion. "Wh...what...?"

Sasuke laughed again and closed his eyes, leaning closer so that their foreheads were touching. He was just so happy right now.

Sakura fluttered her eyes closed when he lightly pressed his lips against hers. Her heart was beating so fast, she afraid he could actually hear it.

Sasuke broke away and gazed into her beautiful emerald orbs. "You love me. And you want this marriage to be real. If that's what you want, then I have no complaints, Sakura Uchiha."

"Then...if I tell you to say it, and it's not a lie, will you say it?"

Instead of answering, he lied down on the pillows and pulled her down with him. Her head rested against his chest and he intertwined his fingers with hers.

When Sakura gazed up at him, he once again leaned in and gave her kiss...a longer, meaningful one, this time. She was officially his, and he was going to cherish her even more. He pulled away and finally whispered, very quietly, "...I love you..."

A smile graced Sakura's face as she closed her eyes and leaned back on his chest. The warmth of his body against hers, his soft breathing, how his fingers intertwined perfectly with hers, how his heartbeat matched with her heartbeat...how everything fell in place so strangely, but wonderfully...

...this was real.

Just edited a few spelling/grammar errors.

And it's official, I am making an epilogue. :)