A/N: Okay, like I said in my last note, I'm just going to make use of time skips and have little scenes here and there because otherwise it'll feel kind of dry and stagnant. Plus I have some Sakura POV for you! Slight warning, there's solo masturbation in this chapter (Sasuke, not Sakura though).

Sasuke remembered that Sakura had been something of a late bloomer. And he had to endure, once again, watching Sakura's body change right before his eyes.

And if that wasn't enough torture, she knew exactly what she was doing this time around.

He had picked her up from school as usual and she was helping him put together a snack when he noticed what she was wearing. He scowled at the sight of her tight pink crop top and low rise jeans.

"Did you wear that to school?" He hadn't noticed because he, in his defense, had kept his eyes respectfully on her face up until then.

"No way," she giggled, "it was too cold today. I wore one of your old jackets." She gestured to the jacket thrown over the back of a kitchen chair. Sasuke recognized it, it was an old college sweatshirt that she used to always steal from him. Old habits die hard, he supposed. But where did she find it this time?

(She'd rifled through his clothes to find something comfortable but had been delighted by the way they smelled like him.)

"Hn, alright."

"You can't tell me what to wear, you know."

"I know." He'd always known that. He was just wondering when the school dress code got so lax. He wasn't jealous when it came to Sakura, he knew what they had together. But he didn't particularly like the thought of teenage boys ogling Sakura at school. He knew exactly what went through his mind at that age.

"Good." She paused, growing bashful, "But do you, um, like it?" The little outfit was a slight departure from her usual more conservative and casual clothes.

"Sakura."

"What? It's just a question," she whined.

"A leading question."

"So you're really not gonna answer?"

"I think you can guess how I feel."

She poked his arm. "You're such a grump. I'm going to the bathroom, by the time I come back hopefully that frown won't be stuck on your face."

When she shut the bathroom door and was well and truly out of sight, he grabbed his sweatshirt from the chair. It smelled faintly of her shampoo and that place in his chest started to ache.

And then when she came to him and excitedly showed off her new belly button piercing he thought he was going to die. As if the cropped shirts she had been favoring lately weren't enough. (Her excuse was that it was hot outside.)

"Does it hurt?" he asked in an attempt to make small talk. He didn't want to think about all the times in college he'd taken body shots off Sakura. She didn't have the piercing back then, but he surely would have been all over it if she did.

"Not really. Plus I wanted it so badly that I was more excited than nervous before I got it done. I just have to keep it clean and it'll be fine! It's cute right?"

The little pink jewel winked at him as it caught the light, taunting him with the sight of her toned stomach.

"Hn, adorable."

One day he just couldn't take it anymore. He tried to be strong, to be moral, to be good. But he had been without her for so long, he needed to do something. The grief and confusion that came with losing and finding her again had suppressed his neediness for a while, but the potency of those feelings had been weakened lately. With a sigh and his eyes screwed shut, he roughly shoved his pants down and wrapped his fist around his hard length.

He was terribly embarrassed about it, so he chose very specific sexual encounters to think about: Sakura's 22nd birthday party, the third night of their honeymoon, the times she wore his favorite red lingerie. No thoughts of current Sakura were allowed. Really, his wife in their old life had given him plenty of spank bank material.

The hand jerking his aching dick couldn't move fast enough. He tugged hard and grit his teeth, wanting it to be over quickly. He couldn't believe his baser desires were taking over like this. He just needed to cum, then he would clean up and move on. He missed her, he missed her, he missed her.

She missed him. Maybe it was the fact that summer was right around the corner and more exciting things lie ahead, but Sakura just could not focus lately. Sasuke was always on her mind, but even when she got to see him, he felt so far away. Like, what was the driving lessons incident all about? Was she just imagining the way he could barely look her in the eye lately? If he looked at her at all.

But it was impossible not to think of him. Lunchtime with her friends was always filled with chatter about boys, boys, boys. When Ino asked her if she had her eye on anyone, Sakura responded casually, "Nope. No one's really caught my attention lately. It's too bad, having a crush is fun." Ino nodded sagely; she had just finished filling the girls in on the transfer student, Sai, who was apparently super cute and maybe even boyfriend material.

Having a crush was fun, but no one would ever be able to take her heart from Sasuke. She vaguely remembered first meeting him and feeling like her face was on fire. When he agreed to go on a date with her, she had felt like she was floating. She knew that spark, that passion, that boundless love was still there, but her age was weighing it down like a wet blanket.

She turned to look out the window, face resting against her palm. The clock could not go by anymore slowly, she huffed. Was he thinking of her? Was he waiting for her because he still loved her or he felt obligated to be with her? She shook her head, not wanting to think about it too hard lest she start crying like she had in the past. These were shower thoughts.

As her teacher continued droning on about something she had already read about in the textbook, Sakura turned to her notebook and started doodling in the margins. Classroom daydream thoughts were soft and happy and sweet. Thinking of the way he said her name was a good start.

"Can you take me shopping?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"That would require going out in public together," he muttered.

"Are you embarrassed of me?" she pouted. She knew the answer was no, but she was feeling a little mischievous. He was too easy to tease.

"You know that's not it."

"Then won't you take me?"

He tapped her forehead, "Do you enjoy annoying me?"

Her eyes sparkled. That was one gesture she remembered well. "Yes. So I'm asking again, why won't you take me?"

He sighed and gestured to himself, "I think it's quite obvious that I'm older than you. It's not proper. It would look like..like I'm paying for your time."

"Oh how scandalous!" she exclaimed with mock concern, hand against her chest like she was clutching her pearls.

"Exactly," he drawled.

"Well I'm bored."

"Did you finish your homework?"

"Duh." She always was a spectacular student.

He grappled with himself internally for a while before huffing and offering a compromise, "I suppose online shopping wouldn't hurt though."

"You're the best, did you know that?" She surprised him with a quick peck to the cheek. He turned around to pretend to grab his credit card for her when really, he needed to hide how flustered she made him.

A/N: Ha ha kind of meta, no sugar daddy Sasuke in this story, that's my other story! Someone asked if Sakura will ever regain her full memories and as of now, I'm gonna say no. There will be more stuff with her memory in the future. And the fateful 18th birthday will be in the next chapter!