Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 9: I knew it!

"Oh what a beautiful morning!" Sakura got off her bed and opened the drapes. It has been a couple of days since Sasuke left. Sakura was doing fine on her own. She decided to stay in the bungalow a little bit longer to relax. She was still a bit worried about Sasuke, but not too much because Anko told her he was okay. However she still wanted to know why he would leave her like that.

"Max wake up boy." She jumped on the bed. "Come on Max, don't be so lazy and get off my bed." Max opened his eyes and jumped of the bed. "Today is going to be a fun day. I am determined not to worry about Sasuke-kun at all anymore. He is a big boy and he can take care of himself." Max barked.

Sakura took a quick shower and brushed her teeth. She ran downstairs and decided to make a big breakfast for herself. "Max?! Max, where are you?! Ma..."

Sakura stopped walking, her eyes widened. "Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun, are you ok?!" She ran towards Sasuke, who was playing with Max on the couch.

"I'm fine." He said without looking at Sakura. Sakura's mood changed almost immediately. She waited for a moment to see if he would tell her why he left, but with no luck.

"Do you... Err... do you want me to change your bandages?" She was upset that his attitude still hadn't changed. She decided not to ask about the reason he left, because she could clearly see that he didn't want to talk about it.
"I took a bath, so I already did that." Sasuke couldn't bring himself to look at her.

Sakura stared at the floor and a moment of silence occurred. Sakura was the one who broke the silence. "Uhm, do you want some breakfast?"
"Sure."

Sakura walked to the kitchen. "Max." Max jumped off Sasuke's lap. "Come and get your breakfast." Max wiggled his tail. Sakura placed his bowl on the floor and started making breakfast for her and Sasuke.

Sasuke was still sitting on the couch. He had his head in his hands, thinking about Anko's words.
"I can live a normal life with the one I love... My true love... Strength isn't everything, Sasuke. Love is..."
"How about getting stronger in the way that everybody does it? The normal way. The hard way, by pure training and help from your friends."
"Think about it Sasuke, before you loose all your friends because of this."
No, stop thinking about it, stop it. He already made up his mind that he doesn't want the seal to go away.

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted by Sakura's happy voice. "Hey Sasuke-kun, how about sitting outside, on the backyard terrace? It's a beautiful day." Sakura smiled at him with her usual heart-warming smile.

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. It wouldn't hurt to sit outside. And Sakura was right, it was indeed a beautiful day. "Sure, let me open the door for you."

They walked outside to sit on the white chairs on the porch. Sakura placed the tray on the table. They both took a bite out of their sandwich. It was delicious. Sakura looked up to see if there was any change in his mood. As far as she could tell he was still being cold and distant. It did seem like he had a lot on his mind.

But she could not help to ask him about why he left. "Uhm... Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke looked at her. "What is it?"

"Err... Why did you leave like that? I thought that we were getting along."

"Yeah that's the problem..."" He whispered to himself.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, I left because I needed some time to think."

"To think about what?" She asked curiously.

"Never mind that, it doesn't concern you." He replied.

There it was again, the cue to drop the subject. And so she did. But there was something different this time. She could not place her finger on it. Oh wait, there it was. Yes she could see it clearly now. No doubt about it. He was... He was blushing! But why?

After breakfast, Sasuke did the dishes and Sakura was putting her red bikini on. She went into the kitchen to ask Sasuke to join her.

"Sasuke-kun, do you want to take a swim with me?" His eyes widened, he stood there in awe in front of the most beautiful girl he ever saw.
"Sasuke?"
"Uhh, yeah I'll be right out."

As Sakura slowly and gracefully walked towards the pool, Sasuke could not do anything but to see her go. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. He caught himself staring and blushed. Stop it, just go and put on your trunks.

Sakura was now sitting on the side of the pool. She giggled. "My little stunt worked." These past few days she realized, that Sasuke might have feelings for her that go beyond friendship. Actually she already suspected something since the chuunin exam. He probably had those feelings then as well. A lot of things happened since that time. Sasuke probably thought that she wouldn't notice, but she is not ignorant. How else could she explain his strange behaviour, his sudden mood changes and the face he makes when he's thinking about something? At first she couldn't place her finger on it, but after this stunt she knew that she was right. Even though it was a bit of a wild guess.

She slid into the pool and began swimming. Next thing she knew, she heard a splash. She turned around and saw nothing. "Sasuke-kun?" She felt something against her leg. Before she could see what was going on she was pulled under. After a few seconds they both came back up.

"Sasuke-kun, you scared the shit out of me!" "Hahahaha." Sakura smiled at him. "I like your laugh, it looks cute on you." She swam towards him. Sasuke looked at her wondering what she planned on doing. She placed her hand on his face. He blushed. They stared into each other's eyes. She leaned forward to kiss him, but Sasuke prevented her from doing so. He swam towards the side.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura had a sad look on her face. Sasuke didn't respond and didn't even turn around to look at her, even though he could hear the sadness in her voice.
"Sasuke-kun..." Sasuke climbed out of the pool and grabbed the towel he had left on the sunbathing chair.

"No Sasuke! You are not doing this again!" Sasuke turned around to face Sakura. He was a little bit surprised to hear Sakura say that. Sakura stared back at him with a determined look.

"I have been quiet all this time, but not anymore. I know you have feelings for me! Why are you discarding them?! They stared at each other. Tears started to well up in Sakura's eyes. "Answer me!"

Sasuke ignored her and went inside to go to his room. She could hear the door close. That was it for Sakura, she could no longer fight back her tears. She climbed out the pool, she ran upstairs without even drying herself. Max followed her, barking on the way, wondering what had happened between the two of them this time.

Sakura lay on her bed, she had fallen asleep after a whole lot of crying. She opened her eyes and immediately remembered the reason why she was crying. She couldn't understand why he reacted the way he did. She glanced over her entire room. Max was sleeping at the end of the bed as usual.

She stood up and walked over to the window. She saw that it was dark out and wondered what time it was. It was a full moon tonight and it was shining brightly. She stood there for a while, staring at the night sky. There was a knock on the door. Sakura didn't feel like screaming at Sasuke to go away and leave her alone, so she didn't say anything.

Sasuke opened the door and saw her standing by the window looking at the sky. "Sakura-chan?" No response, no movement. "Sakura, I realize ..."

"Don't Sasuke. Don't come up with a lame excuse. You don't want to be with me, I understand now." Sakura turned around and faced him with tears in her eyes.

She walked over to him, she raised her hand to place it on his face, but stopped and withdrew her hand. She wiped away her tears and leaned against the wall with her back. "Sasuke-kun, could you please leave me alone right now?"

"No."

"I'm serious Sasuke, leave me alone." She did not feel like talking to him. Listening to those painful words he always says to her.

"No never, not anymore." Sasuke whispered. But this time Sakura could hear him.

Sakura was shocked to hear those words coming out of his mouth. "Sasuke, why? Did I hear you correctly?"

"I don't care anymore Sakura. I don't care about anything. The only thing I care about is you."

Sasuke placed his hand next to her on the wall and the other one he let it rest on her thigh. He stared into her eyes. He wanted her, he needed her... He moved closer and they kissed. It was long and passionate. It felt so right. His soft lips. A while back she never thought that they would touch her lips again.

When they broke off the kiss, they smiled at each other.
"I knew it! You had feelings for me! Haha."
"Ahh Sakura-chan, you're too smart for me."

Sakura giggled. She hugged him tightly. She didn't want to let go of this feeling. Sasuke knew in his heart that this was right. He had finally found someone to love, to take care of, to live for, to protect... They kissed again. Suddenly Sasuke felt pain in his neck.

"Au, aaaaaaaaaah!"

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?!"

"AAAAH!!" Sasuke passed out in Sakura's arms.

"Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun?!