Summary: What seemed like just another walk to him meant the world to her. After all, it was almost never that the Uchiha Sasuke asked one for a walk. For what reason did he ask for it in the first place?

Pairings: Sasuke/Sakura

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, at all. All the characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi-sensei.

As Time Passes
A Walk in the Park

"Take a walk?" he asked as he looked at her, his eyes cold to everyone else but warm to her. Time seemed to freeze when he asked her that.

"E-excuse m-me, S-Sasuke-kun?" she stammered as she stared at him disbelievingly. Maybe, this was just Naruto disguised as Sasuke to try and trick her. Maybe, she was dreaming. Maybe, this wasn't real.

"I asked if you wanted to take a walk," he repeated as he shoved his hands into his pockets, turning around so his back was facing her. Taking a deep breath, he spoke once more. "Unless you don't want to, Sakura," he said without any hesitation.

"N-no! O-of course I'd like that, Sasuke-kun!" she said in haste as she clung onto his arm and tried to pry him off of the bridge railing, "I was just surprised." She sensed his tension when she had finally got him free of the bridge. With a grin, she let go of his arm and looked at him. "Let's take a walk as friends then, okay?"

"Hn," he murmured as he followed her lively gait, her cheerful words going through one ear and passing out the other. How long had it been that he since he had been able to look at her in the eye without her averting her gaze, a red blush staining her cheeks? He didn't know but he knew for a fact that her feelings for him had mellowed out.

"And so, Tsunade-shishou has given her recommendation to ANBU headquarters so I can become one," finished Sakura as she looked back at him with another grin on her face, "And I was hoping to get assigned in your team. Just to look out for your welfare, I mean. You and Naruto were always the reckless ones."

"Hn," he murmured once more, as his eyes remained focused on her but were distant, "Okay then." Sakura frowned slightly as she looked at him. She expected him to go on a long lecture as to why she shouldn't. Naruto and Kakashi did when she had announced to them her plan.

"So, what have you been up to?" she asked shyly as she approached him, a curious look painting her green eyes. He shrugged carelessly as he walked on with her tailing him expertly. "Come on, Sasuke-kun, you asked for this walk," she prodded as she held onto his arm, causing him to stop abruptly.

"I just want a walk, you were there so I asked," he explained as he attempted to brush off her arm. She frowned and sent a pout towards his direction. Without any reaction, he continued to pry her fingers off of his arm. "Is it such a disappointing fact, Sakura?" he asked plainly as he successfully removed her hold on him.

She didn't reply as she pouted, walking ahead. Shrugging, he followed after her, silence dancing around them. He didn't know why he just couldn't say it and as if a brick had just smashed into his face, he had just remembered what she said earlier.

"Wait, you want to become an ANBU Nin?" he asked, hoping his hearing was fooling him. Sakura turned around and nodded with a wary look on her face. "No, I will not allow you," he muttered as he crossed his arms. The cold wind blew past them, the scarf around his neck billowing behind him. "You're much too delicate a kunoichi to do the work of an ANBU. Plus, it doesn't suit your nature," he explained, hoping to convince her to change her mind.

"Why? I'm a Medical Specialist and the ANBU are in shortage of those I hear," she countered evenly, her tone frosty. He flinched invisibly at the tone, colder to him than the wind that had just blown past. "And you don't seem to care much about anything," she added, still hurt from his comment earlier about the walk. Waving it off, he approached her.

"But you're not part of that anything," he explained firmly as he pulled her closer to his body, his onyx eyes staring straight at her jade optics. A red blush started to rise on her cheeks at the closeness of their bodies, their lips barely away from each other. "And you know my nature, Sakura," he added as he let her go. She could still feel his breath dancing on her skin. "I'm hardly ever direct to the point when it comes to my feelings," he added.

"I realized," she muttered bitterly as she looked down at the ground. She wanted the support of her teammate, even his alone for that matter and she didn't get it. "Can we just continue with the walk, Sasuke-kun?" she asked as she continued looking down. His hand cupped her chin, forcing to look her to look at him.

"I'm sure that when a male ANBU Nin goes to his house, he wants to see his wife waiting for him, a smile on her face, telling him that the children are safe in their beds," spoke Sasuke, his lips growing dangerously close to hers. She nodded, trying to suppress the redness of her cheeks. "I'm also sure that the female ANBU Nin who are married are worried sick of their children whenever they leave on a mission," he continued as he kept an even gaze at her.

"W-where a-are you h-headed to with th-this conversation, S-Sasuke-kun?" she stammered, failing miserably at her attempt to keep her blush down. Her face was bright red at the closeness of their faces.

"I don't know, just explaining what might happen when you're married to me, supposing you join the ANBU," he said without much of a care as he let go of her chin and walked on. She stared, dumbfounded at what he had just said. Was that supposed to be a proposal?

"Sasuke-kun!" she shouted in embarrassment as she ran over towards him, clinging to his arm to force him to stop. He still had a casual look on his face. "Was that supposed to be a proposal?" she asked as she looked into his eyes. He nodded slowly. "What if I rejected you? What if that scenario doesn't happen to me?" she asked with a panicky tone, "I'm not even aware that I was your girlfriend!"

"Well, if you rejected me, I would have done things to persuade you to change your mind and make the scenario I had just explained exactly what would happen to you if you join the ANBU," he said with an air of confidence. She kept staring at him, dumbfounded.

"Like what?" she asked warily as her shoulders sagged, "What would you do, Sasuke-kun, if I had rejected your proposal?" He seemed to be in deep thought for a few moments before replying.

"I don't know. Kissed you? Hugged you? Take you out on dates? Those kinds of things," he said as he looked at her, "Wh—" His question was cut short when Sakura launched herself towards him and kissed him with all of her heart, causing the both of them to collapse on the ground.

"Okay, I'll marry you and make the scenario exactly the case. I'll just stay a regular Jounin and maybe teach a Genin Team," she said with a blush on her cheeks. He nodded as he remained stationary. With a cheeky grin she spoke. "But you'll have to wait until we're around twenty-two or twenty-three. I'm sure my father would prefer it if I actually dated the guy for a few of years before getting married. We're only seventeen you know." It was Sasuke's turn to stare at her dumbfounded after her last statement.

--- Owari ---

Of course this is Sasuke in OOC mode here but I hope you'll forgive me. I wanted to write a light-hearted fanfic and this came out.

The end came rather unexpected, didn't it? Let me know what you think!

Oh yes. I created a Livejournal Community called springpaperfan which is an archive of Sasuke/Sakura fanfics. Please join and add your own Sasuke/Sakura fanfics!

In any case, these stories aren't going to be long, since they're the type devoid of any major storyline. If these one-shots inspire you to write any more, by all means go ahead.