AN: Sorry about the long time in between updating. At first it was unintentional, but then it became intentional when I realized after a month that I needed to take a longer break. With the holidays, it was becoming too much and I was beginning to get burnt out as well as uninspired. But I'm back now and feeling refreshed to continue. In the meantime, you have left such sweet reviews! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter. One reviewer mentioned that the only critique they have for this is story is being a bit confused about the Kei arc and his motivation. I definitely get that and thank you for your honest thoughts! I felt like the story needed something to shake up the fluff and push their relationship forward. Plus, I thought it might be fun to have a SasuSaku mission. But I did struggle a bit with the villain concept. I also don't feel like I'm the best at writing action conflict and that probably came across in those chapters. It's a writing muscle that I'm trying to flex since I'm also attempting to write my own original novel. Anyway, this chapter is more of a cute little build-up for what's to come next. I hope you enjoy and thank you for being so patient with me.

Btw, I joined the Naruto side of Twitter. I think I'll probably start posting story snippets there. I'm much more active on it than Instagram. If you'd like to keep up, my handle is lifeslilmusings.

I do not own Naruto.

Chapter Twenty-One

A week had come and gone, but Sasuke hadn't properly touched Sakura since the festival. It seemed like when the two would begin to become somewhat intimate, Sasuke would pull away from her. To Sakura, it was as if Sasuke had awoken from whatever fever dream had caused him to him to express such passion at the edge of a forest. He'd woken and realized that this wasn't what he wanted. That maybe he didn't want her.

Sakura glared down at her untouched coffee that, like Sasuke, had long ago grown cold. She couldn't even rely on its heat against her palms anymore. The pink-haired medic was beginning to grow frustrated by this sudden turn of events after such unexpected passion. But Sakura was also wary of pushing Sasuke too far, worried that any bold action might scare him away.

Delving into these depressing thoughts caused Sakura to pout. She had really thought that they were heading somewhere. She had been feeling happy, elated even. Sasuke had told her that he loved her. He'd gone so far as to publicly call Sakura his girlfriend. So why was he pulling away now? Was he rethinking things?

A creak signaled an unwelcome guest nudging her office door open. Sakura sighed as she saw a blonde head peek inside the room.

"What do you want, Ino?" Sakura snapped, harsher than necessary. "I'm busy."

"Damn," Ino snapped back, crossing her arms. "What kind of greeting is that?"

Despite Sakura's rude remark, Ino still waltzed inside and made herself comfortable in the chair across from the desk. Her blue eyes took in Sakura's appearance.

"You look awful."

"Gee, thanks," Sakura mumbled as she took a sip of the disgusting drink in her hands.

"No, I mean you look glum. And why should you be upset? I'm the one who's mad at you!"

Sakura whipped her head up, looking at her friend in confusion. "What are you mad at me for?"

"What am I-?!" Ino sputtered, incredulous. "What do you think?! When were you going to tell me that Sasuke started calling you his girlfriend?"

Sakura grew silent and stared down at the dark liquid. At least someone remembered. It seemed to her that Sasuke had forgotten.

"What else are you hiding?" Ino continued, eyeing her friend suspiciously.

"What do you mean? Sakura asked, frowning.

"You know."

"No?"

"You know..." Ino wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Sakura's face heated. "Ino!"

The blonde giggled at the reaction. "Oh, come on! It's just us two here. What are you so embarrassed about? It's not like I haven't told you about Sai and I-"

"Please!" Sakura blurted, holding her hands up. "Don't finish that sentence. It's not like I wanted to hear about that."

"Sakura..." Ino studied her friend with a frown. "What's wrong?"

Sakura tapped her finger against the cup, struggling to form her worries into words. After a few moments of silence, Ino continued.

"I saw Sasuke drag you off from the festival."

Sakura blushed and slowly looked up at her childhood friend.

"It seemed rather romantic," Ino mused. "He was looking at you like he wanted to eat you. It more ways than one."

The medic squirmed in her seat. "Not anymore, I guess," she grumbled.

Ino sighed. "Okay, enough with the cryptic comments. What happened?"

Sakura struggled to answer, but after sitting in silence for a while, the answer exploded out of her in a fury of frustration. "Ever since then he won't do anything!" she blurted and groaned. Sakura plopped her head against the desk, pressing her forehead against the cool wood surface.

"What do you mean, he won't do anything?"

"I mean, it seemed like he wanted to do something that night," Sakura grumbled, her voice muffled against the desk. "But now he's pulling away from me. I think he's regretting things and doesn't want to go any further..."

"Good gods." Ino clicked her tongue. "You two make sex so complicated. And for what? You so obviously want each other. Why not just get it over with? I'm tired of coming to you week after week for updates with you having nothing to show for it. "

"Wow. How romantic."

"You know what I mean."

Sakura frowned and looked up at her friend inquisitively. "I don't."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Sakura. Everyone can see the way that Sasuke looks at you now. The way that you two stare at each other is so sexually charged, it's insane. I watched him drag you off. He hasn't lost interest. Something else is going on here."

"Something else?" Sakura perked up at this. "So then... what do I do?"

Ino slapped her hand on the desk and smiled wickedly. "You have to confront him."

"Confront him...?" Sakura bit her lip. "I don't know about that. How?"

"I don't know! Wear something sexy. Hell, wear nothing at all! Say something. For the love of gods, do something! When will you finally suck it up and take my advice?"

Sakura bit her thumbnail anxiously. She wasn't sure that she could do something that bold. The fear of rejection was just too strong. Even if Ino had a point.

Sasuke rested his back against the grass of the training grounds, staring lazily up at the sky. For the past week, nothing but a certain pink-haired woman filled his every waking thought. And today was no different. If anything, the images of her were even more powerful now that he was attempting to keep his distance. It did nothing but test his patience and resolve as a man.

Even when he closed his eyes, Sakura's slender fingers were gripping his hair. Her soft skin made his stomach heat with longing as he trailed his hand up the inside of her thigh. Soft moans of pleasure swallowed by his mouth against hers spurred him to want more, more, more...

Sasuke groaned and pressed the heel of his hand hard against his eye, trying to block out the images. This was a kind of torture he'd never known before.

"What's with you?" A familiar voice said as Sasuke felt a presence join him to sit on the grass.

"Go away," Sasuke barked, removing his hand to glare at the unwelcome guest.

"No," Naruto said, stubbornly. "I've got a bone to pick with you, bastard! Sakura-chan is your girlfriend? When the hell were you going to tell me!"

"It's none of your business."

In an uncharacteristic manner, Naruto went silent for a few moments. Sasuke glanced sideways to see the blonde friend eyeing him through slitted eyes.

"She didn't want to?" Naruto aksed very seriously, studying him.

"What?"

"She didn't want to... ya know?"

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Sasuke snapped.

Naruto crossed his arms. "She must have turned you down if you're this upset."

Sasuke frowned, trying to discern his idiot friend's babbling. When it clicked, Sasuke shot up into a sitting position with a glare and clenched fist.

"We haven't tried doing that yet, idiot."

"Really?" Naruto blinked and cocked his head to the side like a confused puppy. "Ino and I figured that's why you dragged Sakura-chan away from the festival."

Damn. He thought no one had noticed.

When Sasuke continued his silent sulking, Naruto continued. "She isn't ready?"

"It's not that..." Sasuke grumbledand looked away.

"Why are you two making this so complicated?"

He shot the Uzumaki a look, who returned his glare. After a minute or the two of the friends throwing daggers at each other, Sasuke grunted.

"There's... There's still a lot I have to tell her before..."

Naruto seemed to understand what he meant by this. "Is that what you want?"

Without taking a moment to consider this, Sasuke nodded. He did want that. He wanted to share every part of himself with Sakura. She made him feel whole, at home, complete, understood, and loved in a way he'd never felt before. He wanted her and he was finally letting himself admit this. No matter what dark path he'd taken before, he was here with her. And she had the right to know exactly who and what he was.

But was it right to dump all of his darkness onto such innocent shoulders? Unlike him, Sakura had a good relationship with the village. Although he'd been mending, Sasuke was deeply broken and had so many conflicting emotions about the village and his past. Knowing her overprotective nature, Sasuke was worried about tarnishing such purity. But if Sakura was going to be with him, then she deserved to know everything. He couldn't be with her in such an intimate way until she knew what she was getting herself into.

"Sakura-chan isn't the type to be easily scared away," Naruto said.

"I know."

Realizing that this wasn't Sasuke's primary concern, Naruto nodded and leaned back against the grass with his hands folded underneath his head. "It's shocking, for sure. But Sakura-chan can handle it. It won't get any easier. You'll just have to tell her."

Sasuke sighed. "I wouldn't know where to start."

"You don't have to tell her everything at once," his friend said. "It was the same with me and Hinata. There's too much to say and it's impossible to say it all at once. It comes with time. Just tell her something and the rest will follow. Rip it off like a band-aid."

Sasuke cocked his eyebrow at the blonde. He wondered where this emotional maturity had come from. It seemed like his rival was finally growing up. Maybe all of this Hokage training and married life had finally caused this shift. But Sasuke was no longer the same as he had been, either. The fact that he was sitting in this spot next to Naruto proved that.

As he chewed on Naruto's words, the former rogue-nin thought back to when he'd taken Sakura to his childhood home and the few times he'd opened the gates about his past. He supposed that he had told her some things already. But the truth about his brother and the betrayal he felt from the village... How could he breach that subject?

He knew Sakura sensed that something was wrong with him. Sasuke had let his sense slip in that moment at the festival, so caught up at seeing Sakura blissfully happy. He hadn't realized what had overcome him. It was as if she had cast a spell on him.

But it was a mistake.

He'd let himself get too worked up and had pushed her too far. Sasuke was determined to do this right. He'd done so much wrong in his life. But he would do this right.

"Have you even taken Sakura-chan out on a proper date yet? Start there."

Having broken him from his thoughts, Sasuke looked up in confusion. "A date?"

"Ya know? Picking her up, taking her out... that sort of thing?"

He frowned. Wasn't that what the festival had been?

"I just took her to the festival," Sasuke said. "And we've been living together."

Naruto shot up and gave him an incredulous look.

"Did she know it was a date?"

Sasuke continued to look back at him and didn't reply. A ridiculous question didn't deserve a response.

Naruto ran a hand over his face like he was the one who was exasperated. "Okay. Look. If there's one thing that I learned from Sakura-chan when I first began dating Hinata, it's this: You have to be upfront with women. Otherwise, it leaves too much second-guessing and overanalyzing. Ask her out on a date."

Sasuke's frown deepened. He really didn't think that was necessary.

Noticing this, Naruto continued. "Did Sakura-chan even know that you were her boyfriend until that moment?"

The dark-haired ninja scoffed at the question. Of course, she knew. Sakura wasn't stupid. What else would they be?

"She didn't."

"What?" Sasuke asked, caught off guard.

"She didn't know that you two were dating," Naruto clarified.

Sasuke struggled to wrap his mind around these words. He had told her that he loved her. How much more did she need?

"How do you know that?" Sasuke asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"Ino told me."

Ah. The loud, blonde one who had helped Sakura get ready for the festival. He sighed heavily.

"When you want to date a girl, you can't leave any room for doubt," Naruto said. "You should've made it official. Ask her out on a date. It'll make her really happy and... It's a start."

Here Sasuke was again, taking advice from Naruto. Relationship advice. When the hell did this happen?

The next morning, Sasuke woke to find himself alone in bed. He frowned at the empty space next to him, knowing Sakura didn't have to work today. On her free days, she typically slept longer than him. Even when she didn't, the pink-haired woman would remain next to him and quietly nestle her body closer to him.

He sat up and made his way towards the living area where the rattling of kitchenware nearby signaled signs of life. As he crossed the couch and walked towards the sound, he saw Sakura standing at the stove wearing her tiny red shorts that barely covered the curve of her ass. As he watched her from behind, he glared at the offending garment that never failed to test his patience day after day.

Sakura glanced back at him as he groggily scratched his chest from underneath his shirt. He smirked as her green eyes flickered to the bit of exposed skin of his stomach.

"Don't come any closer!" she shouted, flustered and blushing.

Sasuke frowned. "What are you doing?"

"It's a surprise!" she said, brightly. "Go sit at the table."

Although he sighed, Sasuke listened obediently.

"Now close your eyes," she commanded.

He groaned now. She knew that he hated surprises. And yet, he still complied for her.

He heard her shuffling towards him and sensed her presence in front of him. His eyelid twitched and his natural instinct to be alert whenever anyone was close was almost too intense to ignore. However, it wasn't long before Sakura finished her preparations.

"Now open!"

When he opened his eyes, the image of Sakura leaning over the table towards him filled his vision. Cupped in her outstretched palms was a single onigiri that had a lit candle sticking out of the top.

"Tada!" she said, beaming with pride.

"What...?" he began, confused.

"Happy birthday, Sasuke-kun! I know you don't like sweets so..." Sakura shrugged. "I figured that I would make you something that you liked." She also motioned towards the plate of cut-up tomatoes.

Sasuke was caught off guard, not expecting this scenario in the slightest. He looked from her expectant face to the ridiculous make-shift birthday cake. When his gaze flickered back up, he noticed her eyes twinkling with pride. His lip twitched upwards, finding this cute and amusing. As he watched her, Sasuke was suddenly reminded of his mother who used to always dote on him during his birthday. He could almost see her now, reflected in Sakura's kind smile.

Realizing that she was waiting for some kind of reaction from him, Sasuke leaned forward and blew out the candle. Sakura blushed at this, his hot breath running across her wrists in the process. She sat the rice ball in front of him on the plate with the tomatoes.

"Oh!" she exclaimed and retreated to the living room only to return with a gift wrapped in purple paper. "I also got you this!"

Sasuke began to open his mouth to protest, only to shut it quickly. Not only would it not do any good to argue with her, but she was clearly enjoying herself. Instead, he took the gift and slowly unwrapped it as Sakura stood next to his chair. He glanced at her, noticing her features shift to nervousness as he opened the box.

"It's a sword sharpening kit," Sakura said as she scratched her cheek. "I know it's not much but... I wasn't sure what to get you. I figured you were the kind of person who would prefer something more practical."

The Uchiha's heart warmed at this. Sakura always seemed to know him better than anyone else. He couldn't help but think that her gift was much more thoughtful than the ramen coupon Naruto had given him before departing the training grounds yesterday.

"D-do you... like it?" Sakura asked, her face turning red as she shifted her eyes away.

Sasuke impulsively stood and snaked his hand around her waist, pulling her body close to him. He swallowed the squeak Sakura made when his lip came down on hers. Her wide eyes softened and she quickly melted into him, running her hands up his chest as he kissed her. When he softly slid his tongue against hers, his hand slipped underneath the back of her shirt to run his hand up her spine, sending fire in its wake.

Before he could push this too far, Sasuke pulled back slightly. Their breathing had already turned heavy and his mismatched gaze burned into her emerald irises as his hand moved to hold her chin. His lips still lingered near hers.

"Sakura..." his voice was low and husky and Sakura shivered at the sound of it. He brushed his lips lightly against hers as he mumbled, "Thank you."

Sasuke stepped back and sat down in his chair, the air now feeling cold without the feel of her body. His stomach was tight and he tried to soothe his frustrated senses by popping a piece of tomato into his mouth.

"Y-You're welcome..." Sakura's voice sounded sluggish and drunk. Her hand trembled slightly as she tucked a lock of pink hair behind her ear.

He ignored this and focused on the food in front of him, pulling the candle out of the rice ball. Sakura stumbled towards the seat across from him, her cheeks as pink as her hair. He hid his smirk behind a bite of the onigiri as she sat down. She was clearly trying to get her bearings after such a spontaneous and passionate embrace.

Yes, Sasuke didn't want to push her, and holding back had become frustrating as hell. But it was undeniably cute how flustered she became when he teased her.

Sakura cleared her throat before speaking. "So... I was wondering. Is there something you would like to do for your birthday?"

He bit into the rice ball again and quietly chewed. Sasuke's first reaction was to say no. Today wasn't more special than any other. However, he stopped short as he contemplated this. Sakura sat patiently and smiled to herself now that he was enjoying the special meal she'd created for him. Sasuke was reminded of Naruto chastising him for having never taken Sakura out on a proper date.

He swallowed and replied, "Yes."

Sakura started, clearly not expecting this answer. "Oh! Alright, what is it? We can do anything you'd like today!"

Sasuke sat the rice ball down and said seriously, "Let me take you on a date."

The medic-nin blushed fiercely, red steadily creeping up her neck at an alarming rate.

"T-take me on a...?" She blinked rapidly, like she was trying to wrap her mind around this. "Are you sure, Sasuke-kun? I mean, it's your birthday! I should be treating you today, after all."

He nodded. "I'm sure."

Sakura turned away and giggled into her hand. "Okay! We'll go on a date!"

As she continued to giggle and swoon, Sasuke smiled softly at her reaction as he continued to eat the breakfast Sakura had made for him. Naruto was right. This did make her happy.