Sakura's POV

"Do you think it's too soon for me to ask for a raise?" I almost choke on my sandwich after Sasuke says that out of the blue during our lunch break. I turn my head back up and look him in the eye. He is dead serious.

"Um... how long have you been working here?"

"A little over two months," he responds. "I know it's a bit early, but do you think would give me one?"

I already know the answer. "Uhhh... I don't think so." I say hesitantly. "You haven't been here that long. Plus, you're not the most enthusiastic worker."

"Are any of us enthusiastic about work?"

I grin. "You have a point... Are you having money issues?" Sasuke flinches when I ask that.

"Not really." Sasuke takes a bite out of his PB and J sandwich Sarada most likely made for him.

"Did Sarada leave you another note?" I lean forward to Sasuke in search of a possible small paper. When I do this, Sasuke reaches into his brown paper bag and pulls out a green sticky note. He then hands it to me, and I sit back into my chair. 'Have a good day Papa. Don't stain your shirt again!' I hear myself giggle after reading the note.

"Hey guys!" A random voice interrupts my lunch with Sasuke. A coworker of ours grabs a chair and sits down at our table. Today, we aren't eating in the back room. Instead, we are eating in the dining room.

"Hey Sai," I respond and give Sasuke his note back. There is obvious discomfort in Sasuke's face. He doesn't talk to anyone except me and sometimes Tenten during breaks.

"You guys are pretty close aren't you." The raised eye brow and dumb grin tells me there is more to what he is saying.

"Leave them alone Sai. You'll make them uncomfortable." Another thump is heard when an additional person takes a seat to the left of me.

"Tenten!" I say with glee.

"I was just curious, Tenten. They seem to be really close despite the short amount of time they have known each other." I roll my eyes and hear Sasuke grunt.

"Are you guys all eating together?" One of the cooks comes walking to us. "Mind if I join you guys?"

"Go ahead." I signal to the empty seat between Sai and Sasuke.

"Thanks." He doesn't waste any time in taking that seat. Once he is seated Sasuke moves his chair the other way. "How has you guy's day been?"

"Boring and more boring," Sai responds. The cook digs into his lunch that looks much more healthy and tastier than all of ours.

"Yeah same," he says while taking a bite of some cooked vegetables. "No one has ordered anything interesting."

"Well it is still lunch time," Tenten says. I grab my diet coke and take a few sips while zoning out of the conversation. I glance back at Sasuke who looks very upset and annoyed. His chair keeps getting farther away from the table and he isn't eating that much. He seemed happy before. Did I do something wrong?

"Sakura, wait!" I just exited the restaurant and was going to head home to take a nice, relaxing bath when I heard a deep voice shout from behind me. Once I turn around I see my tall, dark haired boyfriend.

"Sasuke! What's up?" I put my hands into the pocket of my shorts, or I try to because they are so small.

"I was wondering... if maybe... I could walk you home." His voice becomes more quiet and he starts to play with the front strands of his hair so I won't be able to see his face. Cute.

I respond with a smile. "Sure." I turn back around and start to walk again. Footsteps come closer and Sasuke is right next to me now. Maybe this will be a good moment to ask him about lunch. "How was your day?"

"Fine," he says looking at the ground.

"Just fine? So there was nothing bothering you today?"

"..." He doesn't say anything. He doesn't even look up.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to upset you or anything. Its just, you seemed unhappy and stressed and I was worried-"

"No," he replies. No? "You didn't upset me. I... I didn't like how everyone came and interrupted our lunch. I know there are your friends, so I shouldn't be mad. I'm just... not good at socializing with a bunch of people at once, especially if they aren't my friends." I start to feel Sasuke's fingers intertwined with mine. "I'm probably not making any sense."

I grip his hand completely into mine, making him raise his head and look at me. "I understand. Don't worry. You don't have to be friends with them if you don't want to, and to honest, I was upset too." A show him another smile, and he returns it too. Its not a big smile, but a sweet one, and a smile I could never get tired of.

As we continue to walk the sun fell from the sky and it became a purple color. We are still holding each other's hand, and I refuse to let it go. Sasuke loosened up earlier and is back to his calm facade. Most of the time, we spent talking about dumb small stuff like what is the best kind of chicken. Its really dumb, but I love it.

The more we walk towards my house, the less I actually want to get there. "Your house is right there, right?" Sasuke points to the dark blue and white lined house with a one step stone porch.

"Yeah." I can feel myself taking smaller steps, but because of Sasuke's big steps, I start to fall behind making our hands stretch out. Sasuke doesn't take the hint that I wanna walk slower, so I walk faster to him and continue at his pace.

I don't want this to end. Even though we work together, we don't get to talk a lot anymore because we are now doing a lot more separate things, and we were only alone for a little bit at lunch. Should I invite him in? No. My parents aren't home and I don't want to rush anything.

We finally got to my house faster than I expected. It looked farther than it really is. But as soon as I take a step to the stone walkway, I see something I don't normally see on my porch. Or rather, someone. A girl with dark long hair is sitting on the one small step. I can't see her face because her face is down making her bangs cover some of it, and her face is covered by her hands, but by the pale skin and figure, I can immediately tell who this person is.

"Hinata?" I call to her. Her face rises back up. Because of how swollen her eyes are, and by how tired she looks, I call to tell she has been crying. "What's wrong?" I let go of my grip on Sasuke and jog to Hinata. Once I am in front of her, I bend down so we are on the same level.

"He-" Hinata sniffs. "H-he just wa-nted me for se-sex." She keeps stuttering and breathing heavily like she is having a panic attack. I jolt back up in rage.

"He what! That son of a bitch! I'll kill him!" I raise my fist in anger ready to punch something. I then hear Hinata sniffle quite roughly, which bring me back to her. "Come inside. I'm sorry for making you stay out here for so long." She stands back up wiping her eyes and I place my hand at the small of her back and lead her to the front door.

Before I unlock the door, I remember that she and I aren't alone. When I turn back to Sasuke, he is farther away from us than before, and he is blocking his face with his hand. "Here, take my keys. I'll go inside in a moment." I give Hinata my keys and walk back to Sasuke.

Sasuke's POV

Crap! It's the girl from that restaurant. The one who caught me trying to escape from my date with Karin. Did she notice me? If she did, will she tell Sakura about that moment? I take a little peek at the girls and I see Sakura walking towards me and the other opening the door to Sakura's house.

Once she is inside, I stop hiding my face and look at Sakura who is now right in front of me. "Sasuke what's wrong? Why were you hiding your face like that?" I should tell her the truth. Better from me than from her friend.

"Well, to tell you the truth..." I start to rub the back of my neck and head in embarrassment. "I've met your friend before at a restaurant. She was at the table next to me. During that time I was on a date with my friend's cousin, and I was very uncomfortable the whole time, so I tried to leave when she went to the bathroom, and your friend stopped me. She told me about how much it might hurt the girl." I take a pause from speaking and look at Sakura again, who doesn't seem to be listening intently. "I didn't want her to see me because I was afraid she might say something bad about me to you."

Sakura smiles a little to me. "Okay."

"Okay?" I question.

"Yeah, that's not that bad. You made it seem like you dated her then broke her heart like all the people she dates does for some reason."

The moon finally comes out to the sky, making Sakura's skin glow, and her beautiful emerald eyes shine, and makes her plump red lips shine a little too. "Well... I won't keep you out here any longer." I feel myself staring at her lips. Damn it, I want to kiss her. Can I? Does my breath smell bad? Are my lips chapped?

"Yeah," Sakura says, but she doesn't move from her spot. When was the last time I kissed someone anyway? Has anything changed? I see Sakura bite her lip a little. Shit. My body starts to lean in on it's own, making its way to her face.

The tips of our noses touch. My eyes are half closed, and caught in the trance of hers. She then closes her eyes completely waiting for me to close the gap. I turn my head a little to the side, and lean in all the way and close the gap. The kiss is soft. Her lips taste even better than I thought they would. She put on chapstick a little while ago and I can still taste the coconut and pear.

After a couple of seconds, I feel Sakura grip one of my shoulders a little, and bring her other hand to the back of my neck. She starts responding more. Releasing from the kiss and starting another one, but keeping it soft. I take this as an okay for me to put my hands on her waist and bring her in closer.

At this moment, I can't hear anything, I can't see anything. My mind goes blank. I can only feel my stomach swirl and her lips on mine. It feels like I just received something that I have craved for, for so long. Like I finally found a warm blanket and fire after being in the cold, and I don't want it to end, but sadly, it has to.

We both release for the final time, but don't move from our position. Sakura lets out a giggle, and I can't hide my smile. Her eyes glance up to mine. I can feel myself getting lost in her bright eyes. I could look at them for hours, and never get tired. "I'll text you later," she says.

I only respond with, "Yeah," and we let go of our grips. She makes her way back to the door and I stay still waiting for her to enter her house. Once she opens the door, she looks back to me and waves. I return it and watch her close the door after entering.

Sakura's POV

I can't stop smiling. To be honest, I have been wanting to do that, but I didn't know when would be the right moment. But I can't think about that right now. My friend needs me. I can screech in a pillow later, but for now, I am no longer Sasuke Uchiha's girlfriend and now Hinata Hyuga's best friend.

I make my way to the kitchen to see her leaning on the island, playing with her thumbs and sniffling some more. Before I talk to her about her trash ex, I open the fridge and grab a drink. "Capri Sun?" I ask her while holding one. She nods and I toss it to her. Once she starts to sip from the straw, I grab one for myself and close the fridge door. "So, explain to me what happened." I sit down on a stool and listen to her story.

She takes one more big sniff to start. "It all started about a week ago. He invited me to his house for dinner and to relax together. Once we finished eating, we decided to watch TV. As time went on, he kept making moves. He started to lean in a lot and breath on my neck. Then started to kiss it. Next thing I knew he was on top of me and we were making out. After a bit, I felt his hand go under my shirt and I asked him to stop. At the time he was fine with stopping, but as the week went on, he kept making moves on me. I didn't think we were ready to have a physical relationship yet, but he kept saying how much he liked me and that he has never met a girl like me." Her voice starts to crack. I reach over and grab her hand. "A couple of days ago I foolishly agreed to have sex. The next morning he started acting weird and distant. Once I left his apartment, he never called me again. I tried texting him and everything."

I slam my hands on the counter. "That dick! He's such an ass! If I ever see him again, I will destroy him! If he ever texts you again, let me know. I'll handle him."

"Thank you Sakura." Despite my attempt to help her, I don't think I did too well from her sadden expression.

"Hinata." I walk around the island and start to pat her back. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I wish I could go back in time and stop him from ever going out with you, but I can't. We can't change the past. All you can do now is learn from this, and remember your self worth. Don't let this make you think any less of yourself."

I think I helped her because she finally smiles, and not a fake smile. "Thank you Sakura," she responds almost in a whispering tone. I pat her back one more time but a bit harder.

"Why don't you stay the night? We can pop some popcorn and watch a horrible romcom."

"That sounds good." As I walk to the cupboard to grab a bag of popcorn, I hear Hinata speak again. "By the way, who was that guy you were with?" my arm freezes. "I think I've seen him before, but I couldn't really see his face."

There's no point in hiding it. "He's my boyfriend. You might have met him once at a restaurant. He said that you stopped him from leaving early on a date." A light bulb goes off in her head as she puzzles the pieces together.

"Oh, you're right! But... how do you know him?"

"We work together."

"I remember that night. The guy I was with wasn't kind either. I kinda pushed him to stay because I remember the time that happened to me in college." You have the worst luck in guys Hinata.

"Anyways, he didn't want you to think bad of him and then tell me something. That's why he acted like that." I rip open the plastic wrap holding the popcorn bag. "Now go take a shower."

Sakura: Hello!

Sasuke: Hey. How's your friend?

Sakura: Better than she was before. She honestly has terrible luck with guys. I wish assholes would stop messing with her. I'm always trying to convince her that there is someone out there that won't hurt her, but damn, ever since we entered college, every guy has been a dick. She is losing hope.

Sasuke: That sucks.

Sakura: It does.

Sasuke: I understand your pain a bit. My friend Naruto has gone on a lot of dates and he gets attached and trusts people too quickly, so it normally ends up with him lying on my couch drinking beer and complaining about never going to be happy, and me trying to comfort him, or trying to shut him up, depending on my mood.

Sakura: Your friend? Is he single?

Sasuke: I know what you're thinking and it is not a good idea. Naruto is a moron and doesn't know when to stop talking.

Sakura: Well Hinata doesn't talk a lot and is pretty smart. Maybe they will equal each other out.

Sasuke: Sakura...

Sakura: Why not give it a try. Your friend isn't a jerk right?

Sasuke: No

Sakura: Then let's just set them up. What's the harm in trying?

Sasuke: You're lucky you're cute.

He just said I'm cute. SHUT IT SAKURA, YOUR NOT A MIDDLE SCHOOLER! But still, I can't help but giggle.

Sakura: Is that a yes?

Sasuke: Fine, but you and I should be there, otherwise it would just be awkward for them.

Sakura: That's fine with me.

Sasuke: We can talk more about this tomorrow, good night.

The light from the bathroom gets brighter as Hinata exits it and makes her way to the couch where I am sitting with some snacks and more Capri Suns. "Hey Hinata, before you swear off men, would you be open for one more date?"

"A date? With who?"

I give her a little smirk. "It's a secret."

"Sakura..." Hinata doesn't look too happy with my reply.

"Please?" I plead. "You don't have to see him ever again, I just want to give you some hope. My boyfriend and I will be there the whole time so you won't be alone."

Hinata hesitates. "What's his name?"

"Naruto." My dark haired friend stares off when she thinks of an answer. After a couple of seconds, she sighs.

"Alright." I smile

"Great! Now, let's start this awful movie." I grab my remote and hit the play button for the movie. I take a minute to respond to Sasuke's last text, which gets me thinking. If this is a date for Naruto and Hinata, isn't it also going to be a date for us since we will be there?