"S-so where are we going?" asked Sakura. She had wanted this day to happen since she was ten years old. The resulting roller coaster of unrequited love followed by becoming Sasuke's teammate, his defection from the village not to mention the violent acts he committed, and finally his seemingly becoming the shinobi he was before had her believing more often than not that they would never be together. And now they were going on a date...that he asked her on.

"Are you ok, Sakura?" he asked her having seen her change of expression. He didn't understand the realization that was going on behind those eyes of hers.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she finally answered, smiling, snapping out of her temporary haze. "Let's go." She started walking.

"Uh, this way," he said to her.

"Well, you never answered me!" she said jokingly. Sakura turned around and the two of them started walking.

"So...where are we going?" asked Sakura.

"You'll see," he said

They started walking side-by-side through the village. Although Sakura had no idea where they were going, she could tell Sasuke definitely had somewhere specific in mind. They were silent for most of the walk. Sakura thought to herself that she should say something, but she wasn't sure what to talk to him about casually. He had no family, and she certainly didn't want to bring up things from when he was out of the village. Finally, she decided to talk about the times from when they were all genin on Team 7 together and some of the fun times they had back then.

"Remember that mission we went on when you and Naruto's hands got stuck together?" Sakura asked him.

"Why on earth did you bring that up now?" he asked her.

"I don't know. I was just thinking about some of the fun times we had together when we were on Team 7...back before Yamoto-taicho and Sai joined us. You and Naruto certainly had your moments back then," she said.

His expression softened - he could tell she was trying hard. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he answered. "I'm not sure if we acted that way because we were young, or because were stupid."

"I never thought either one of you was stupid," said Sakura.

Sasuke looked at her.

"Well...you're right, I did doubt Naruto's intelligence a bit back then, but that is just who he is and I had to get used to it, ok?"

"I didn't say a word," noted Sasuke, deflecting all blame.

They both loved Naruto and now that they were essentially teammates and lifelong friends, they knew all of his strengths and weaknesses. Back then, when they were so new to each other, there was such pressure to compete with one another and stand out. But now, it was just a matter of compensating for one another and if you didn't have a talent for something, you just made sure you utilized the person who did. It wasn't personal anymore, it was just teamwork.

"Ok, we're here," said Sasuke, standing by an erected fence at the end of the road they had been walking on.

"Uh, Sasuke? There's nothing here," noted Sakura.

"Trust me. C'mon," he urged her on. He jumped up and over the fence.

Sakura sighed and followed him. She landed next to him and looked around. Then she looked straight at him again.

"You don't recognize it, do you?" he asked.

"Am I supposed to?" she asked in return. Sakura took another look around. The place looked somewhat familiar, but somehow was not bringing back any specific memories. "Wait, is this...?"

Sasuke nodded his head and smiled. Lady Tsunade sent me word late last night. Because it wasn't going to be developed, they had stored a bunch of wood and construction materials on it. They were finally done clearing it yesterday and she invited me to take a look the next chance I got.

Sakura took a walk out into the flat, clear lot. It was pretty big...as if someone had flattened an entire block of the village and cleared it away. "Wow, so this is where your clan lived," she said matter-of-factly.

"You can't even see where the houses once stood. Pain did a pretty good job wiping all of it away. And then it sat undeveloped for a few years...but this is it. This is mine...where I'm going to live once I get some buildings built," he said.

"You are seriously staying this time," she turned to him and said.

"I told you I was," he answered her.

"I know you did. I just...I guess I just never let myself totally believe it," said Sakura.

"Believe it," he said. He walked up to her and leaned in for a quick kiss. Sakura held her hand up to her lips as if somehow that would cause her to remember the sensation.

"And...you are still serious about me? About dating me?" she asked, needing a tad bit more encouragement to jump into this with both feet.

"Of all the people who have ever done anything for me...you have stayed by my side the longest. You have always been there for me - even after waking up in a field hospital having been away from the Leaf for six years, you were one of the first faces I saw," said Sasuke. "You are beautiful, kind, loyal...and I think, now that I'm back and can see you all the time...I think I may have just fallen in love with you."

Sakura mentally let down any remaining defenses she may have had having heard Sasuke's confession. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held his lips to hers as she gave him a much longer, wet, deep kiss.

When the kiss broke, she stood up on her tiptoes so her mouth was near his ear. "I love you, too, Sasuke Uchiha. I think I always have." She kissed his cheek on her way back down to stand flat on the ground. They pressed their foreheads together for a few seconds and smiled.

Sasuke finally leaned up and his stomach growled. Sakura giggled. "It's time for some food, I think," she said.

"I know you are going to think I'm crazy...but I'm in the mood for ramen," said Sasuke.

"Ichiraku it is then," said Sakura. "Let's go!" she exclaimed, taking the lead by running and hopping back over the fence that had earlier blocked their path.

The Uchiha land was only a ten minute walk from Ichiraku. When Sakura peeled back the fabric squares surrounding the customer's chairs, she was surprised to see a pair of blue eyes and a pair of white ones staring at her.

"Sakura!" said Naruto happily.

"Hi Naruto. Hinata," answered Sakura.

Sasuke came in behind Sakura.

"Teme!" Naruto shouted for all to hear.

"Are you ever calm?" Sasuke asked the jinchuriki while rolling his eyes.

Naruto turned to slurp up some broth and noodles from the bowl in front of him. "Onlee wen Im eeting," he barely got out as he ate.

"H-hi Sasuke," said Hinata. She was no longer the meek shinobi she was known for being, but she still fell back into her old ways whenever she was in a situation she deemed a bit uncomfortable.

"Hi Hinata," answered Sasuke. "So what I've heard is true. You and Naruto..."

"Uh, yes," she replied. "We're dating...er, we're on a date."

"What a coincidence, so are we," added Sakura.

Naruto just about choked on his noodles. He started coughing. Hinata started to rub his back out of concern until he was done clearing his windpipe.

"Officially?" he somehow squeaked out.

"Yes," said Sakura happily.

Naruto turned to Sasuke. "You'd better not hurt her," Naruto said to his best friend. Sasuke could see that his light demeanor had a definite air of seriousness to it now.

"Don't worry, dobe. I'll treat her right," Sasuke reinforced. "Besides, if I did anything bad to her again, I wouldn't want to be on the other end of one of her punches these days. I think I'd be dead."

Naruto snickered. "You know what? You're probably right!" Sasuke started laughing as well. Hinata's cheeks glowed pink with embarrassment and Sakura scowled.

Sasuke and Sakura ordered a bowl of ramen and began to eat it as soon as it was delivered. Naruto and Hinata finished up and paid for their meal.

"Do you have any plans this evening?" asked Sasuke.

"Nah, we'll probably just go hang out at her place," said Naruto.

"Sounds good," said Sasuke. "I'll see you later then."

Hinata rose from her chair, but didn't follow Naruto out of the restaurant right away. She walked over to where Sasuke sat and bowed down to him. Sasuke looked at her like she was crazy at first.

"S-sasuke? I just wanted to say thank you very much for helping Naruto at the end of the war. He tells me he would not have survived without your support and for that, I am deeply indebted to you," she said curtly.

"Hinata...," Sasuke muttered. She stood up straight again.

"I know you have been through some rough patches having come back here to the Leaf. Just let me say that my team and I...we support you. Naruto has told me everything and if he says you are a good Leaf shinobi, well...then it must be true. If you ever need anything, please, just ask."

Sasuke didn't even have a chance to talk to the girl let alone thank her for her words. She bolted after her boyfriend as soon as she was done speaking.

"That was nice," said Sakura to Sasuke.

"I guess I have another team on my side now," noted Sasuke.

OlOlOlOlOlO

The now-boyfriend and girlfriend spent the rest of the evening together. At first they hit one of Sakura's favorite parks so they could feed the birds who happened to be swimming by them. It was a peaceful place that she had used to meditate at many times in her troubled past and she had always enjoyed coming here.

After the park, they went to a local gambling joint and played some cards. Within two hours, Sasuke had made a little money and Sakura had lost a little so all in all they came out about even. Although both of them were not big gamblers, it was still fun to get out and mingle with some friendly people (apparently the type of people who didn't give a damn about Sasuke's past even if they did recognize him) and not think about anything else other than the cards they held in their hands.

When they left the building, Sasuke asked Sakura, "So where to now?"

"Do you want to come back to my place?" Sakura asked meekly, a pinkish tinge to her cheeks.

"Your place?!" repeated Sasuke. "Seriously?"

"What?" she asked. "I'm not a prude or anything."

"I didn't mean to imply that you were," he answered. "You've probably had a bit more experience with that sort of thing than me anyway."

Sakura immediately thought of an earlier conversation she had with Sasuke about how he never thought about anything other than fighting or training almost all of the time he was away.

"It's ok," she said, grabbing his hand. "I...I just want to hold you a little."

"That sounds nice," he agreed.

The two shinobi walked back to Sakura's place, but stopped out front.

"Damn!" she shouted.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Naruto won't know where you are tonight," she said. "We need to go leave him a note or something."

Sasuke caught her and kissed her. "I think he will figure it out," Sasuke said to her. "I only need one of you to watch me and he knows I'm with you..."

"I guess so," said Sakura. "Let's go up then."

They made their way up to her place.

"What's that?" Sasuke asked when he saw a white envelope attached to her front door.

"I don't know," she answered, pulling the envelope down so she could open it. Sakura read the paper to herself. "Looks like we have an appointment with the Hokage tomorrow morning."

"We?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, there are a bunch of us copied on this note...see?" she said and held the paper out so that Sasuke could read it.

Sasuke took the paper from Sakura and read it. "I guess something big is going on," he said out loud.

"I hope it's not another mission so soon," she said, taking out her key and unlocking the door. She entered her place and Sasuke followed closely behind her.

"I can't imagine all those shinobi on one mission," said Sasuke. "She probably just wants to tell us all something. Just in case, we should get a good sleep tonight."

Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand. "We had better get started then..." She pulled him towards the bedroom.