Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

I am sooo sorry for not updating for a long time. I really didn't have time to do this. Well, anyway, I hope you like the next chapter.

Warning- OOC!

Chapter 15- Apology

It's a beautiful Saturday morning. The birds were chirping, the wind was blowing, and the sky is the beautiful color of blue. It is just a wonderful morning! Well, except for a certain Uchiha.

'What should I do when I reach her apartment? Well, of course I should apologize and give her the bracelet. That's all I should do, right?' Sasuke thought uncharacteristically. It's so rare to find an Uchiha like this. Actually, there wasn't, but now there is. All because of an apology.

At Sakura and Kakashi's apartment….

"Kakashi! Kakashi, where are you?" Sakura yelled to the empty house. 'I guess he left, but to where? Oh well, he probably went to a mission. Hmph! He didn't even leave a note. Oh wait! He did leave one!" she exclaimed while spotting a piece of paper on the kitchen table.

The note says:

Sakura, I'm going to a mission. I'll be gone for 2-3 days. Take care of yourself while I'm gone. Be sure to follow that. – Kakashi

P.S. don't even think about burning my Icha Icha Paradise collection. I already placed a seal on them, so don't waste your time. Ja!

"Darn! And I thought this was the perfect time to get rid of those shits," Sakura said to no one in particular. 'Oh well, I guess I'll just take a bath, and then find a way to amuse myself. Maybe I should do some training? Yeah, I'll do that,' she thought.

A few minutes later…..

A handsome young man with onyx eyes, black hair, and a well-built body knocked at the door of a certain person's house.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

'Huh? I thought he said that he'll be back in 2-3 days. Oh well, he probably finished his mission early.' Sakura thought as she put on a white robe that reaches the middle of her thighs and shows a little of her cleavage.

"Kakashi, I thought that you-" Sakura wasn't able to finish her sentence when she saw who was really at the door. "Sasuke? What are you doing here?" Sakura who seemed to have forgotten her lack of clothing asked.

'Oh shit! Why the fuck is she dressed like that?' Sasuke thought wildly at the sight in front of him.

What an unusual sight. The well respected Uchiha Sasuke standing in front of a house that was opened by a barely dressed beautiful lady. It surely is an unusual sight.

"Sakura, maybe you should get dressed first," he said calmly as he regained his composure.

Sakura looked down at herself and saw what he meant. "Come on in. I'll get dressed in a jiff!" she said while literally pulling him in the house.

A few minutes later, Sakura came out of her room. Dressed in short white shorts and a pink baby tee; Sakura walked towards Sasuke.

"So, why did you come by?" she asked him politely.

Sasuke didn't answer for some time and just looked at her. How much she changed; he isn't so sure. Her once skinny structure now filled with beautiful curves. She even filled in, in the right places. And her beautiful face is angelic as ever.

"Well, aren't you going to answer?" Sakura who was getting ticked off with all his staring asked. "Oh fine, I'll just give you something to drink then," she said standing up. When she was walking towards the kitchen, she heard him say something but she didn't understand for it was almost like a whisper. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," she told him.

"I said, I'm sorry," he said clearly. That caused Sakura's eyes to widen a bit.

"W…why?" Sakura asked filled with curiosity and surprise.

"I'm sorry for those things that I told you before you left. I wasn't thinking straight that time. I hope you won't take those things I said to you as grudge," Sasuke told her seriously.

Sakura's eyes softened at what he said. All these years she didn't keep those harsh words of his as a grudge. In fact, it made her strive harder than before until it made her what she is right now.

"Sasuke, I never took it as grudge against you. In fact, I wanted to thank you for telling me what you thought about me. It made me stronger, so please don't feel bad about it anymore," Sakura said while taking a seat next to him with a soft, caring smile on her kissable lips.

Sasuke looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. He didn't expect such an answer; nevertheless he was relieved from her response. He then reached for something in his pocket. It was a midnight blue box with a white ribbon tied elegantly around it. "Here. I want to give this to you," Sasuke said while handing it to her.

"Oh! Um…thanks," she said while slowly opening his gift. When she did, she smiled at how beautiful it looked. It's a silver charm bracelet. The charms are hearts and, if you turn the hearts on their backs, you'll be able to see the engraved words 'I'm sorry' on each of them. "It's beautiful, Sasuke. Arigatou," Sakura said, feeling so touched.

Sasuke looked at her for awhile. His mind was filled with so many thoughts about her. Why? Why did he feel guilty after he told her all those harsh, painful, and crushing words? He wouldn't normally give a damn, but it was different, she was different. Why did he care so much when she left? Why did he felt like he was so alone and crushed into thousands of pieces when Tsunade told them she was dead? He didn't know the answers to those questions, even until now. All that mattered as for the moment is her, his cherry blossom.

Then, out of the blue, he wrapped his arms around her. "I'll protect you, no matter what. I won't let others touch you. I'm ready to sacrifice my life for you, Sakura," he looked at her for a moment, as if asking permission. Then he lowered his head towards hers, so their only centimeters apart. His lips pressed passionately on hers, tasting her sweet taste. He nibbled her lower lip patiently, until she parted her lips giving him entrance in her mouth. Their tongues gliding at each other, wanting to gain control. In the end, Sasuke was the one who had control, exploring her mouth. Sakura was the one who decided to end their kiss after some time.

They stared at each other passionately for a long time. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura wanted this moment to end. Sasuke held her tightly and snuggled his head on her neck. Sakura then placed her arms around him, returning his embrace.

How long has she, Haruno Sakura, waited for this moment to come? If she was the old her, she would surely jump for joy and tell every single person that she kissed Uchiha Sasuke, but that's not the case anymore. She became more mature and she isn't annoying anymore.

She looked at Sasuke who is now comfortably positioned on her neck with arms possessively around her waist. She smiled sweetly at him and snuggled closer to his embrace. They stayed like that as long as they wanted all throughout the night

2 days later…………

"Hey, Sakura! I'm back!" Kakashi called from the door.

"Kakashi!" Sakura yelled in joy as she heard him. "You're back!" she exclaimed while giving him a big hug.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked suspiciously. It isn't normal for her to react like that especially whenever he returns from a mission. "Okay, something's up, so spill," he said as he got out from her hug.

"Well……um……," Sakura said while smiling nervously. 'How should I tell him? Oh well, here goes,' she thought while keeping her nervous smile on. "I have a boyfriend."

"Oh, okay," he answered, then after a few seconds. "YOU HAVE A WHAT? I've been gone for only two days and then you suddenly have a boyfriend? What kind of shit is this? Who's the fucking guy who seduced you? I bet the guy isn't even trustworthy! I know you aren't that kind of girl, Sakura! Why?"

"Come down! First, he didn't seduce me. Second, I know he can be trusted. And third, this isn't some kind of shit," Sakura answered calmly.

"So who's the lucky guy?" Kakashi asked as he sat down on the sofa. He sort of calmed down at what Sakura said, but still had some doubts about the guy.

"It's Sasuke." Sakura told him.

With that said a wave of relief flowed through his body. He knew Sasuke could be trusted. It's just that he's a bit overprotective of Sakura. They became very close to each other, since they trained for two years away from their village. You could say, their almost brother-sister now.

"I see. Anyway, you're free to choose any guy you like, just as long as he's worthy of you. But remember, if ever he does something wrong, all hell will break lose! Okay?" Kakashi said with a smile, getting his beloved book.

"Okay!" she answered happily while giving him a hug. Kakashi just let her hug him, not knowing she has something forming in her mind.

"Hey! Give that back!" he exclaimed, running after Sakura.

"Heh! I finally got one of your perverted books to burn!" she said while running at full speed. She finally got outside and jumped from roof to roof, and tree to tree, and Kakashi is still at her back. "You will never get this book back!" she yelled playfully at her back.

"Oh? Let's see about that," Kakashi said while smiling. 'So she wants to play, huh?' he thought. 'Well, I'll just have to play along.'

After 2 hours of playing get-the-book-back…..

"Awww…. I can't believe you got your book back," Sakura complained like a little girl.

"And I can't believe you fell for that trap," he answered with a smirk on his face; although you can't see it.

"Bah…you cheated!" she said defensively. 'I can't believe I fell for that trap too. Gah! That was so stupid of me.'

Flashback

Sakura jumped from tree to tree in the forest in hopes Kakashi wouldn't be able to catch her. She even placed a genjutsu on the perimeter she's in; just to be sure she'll be able to succeed. Just then she saw something that made her lose her concentration. It's a wounded dog. A kunai pressed deeply on one of its legs. A wave of pity come over her, so she jumped down from the tree and landed gracefully next to the wounded animal.

When she did reach the dog, she couldn't move. "Oh, shit. You caught me, Kakashi. You can come out now," Sakura said admitting her defeat.

"Heh! I can't believe you fell for that!" he teased.

End of flashback

"Haha! I can see that you're still soft hearted when it comes to helping the needy. That's a good thing, and I'm happy that you still are. I mean, others might've changed the way they think, now that they know they have a very powerful and destructive technique." Kakashi said patting her head like a dog.

"Eh…. I don't know what to say. I mean, come on, first, you give me a compliment and now, you're teasing me about the whole dog thing again!" she said while giving him a childish pout.

"Hehehe! I'm going to take a bath now. And maybe you should start making dinner, it's almost night time," he said good-heartedly.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about dinner!" she said as she stood up and proceeded to the kitchen.

Dinner time……

"Itadakimasu!" they said in unison as they both began to eat their food. Their meal was tempura with rice, and as for their drinks: water.

"Sakura, I forgot to ask you something a while ago," Kakashi told her.

"What is it?"

"Why did you –in a way- asked for my permission to have Sasuke as your boyfriend?"

"Oh, that. Well, it's because you're like my guardian now, right? So it's just the right thing to do, you know. I mean, it isn't nice if you found this out from other people, so I made it a point that you should know. I also want to know what your point of view is, so that I know I'm making the right choice. Did that make sense?" she stated.

"Yeah, it did," he answered her. He felt touched about what she said. 'She wants to hear what I have to say first before she pushes through with her decisions,' he thought, a smile reaching on his lips.

Tbc…………

Ah! I had a hard time writing this chapter. Do you know why? If you don't give damn, I'll tell you, anyway! I don't have an inspiration, that's why! Blame my lack of inspiration for the late update. Oh, and blame the projects and researches too!

Wahahaha! I'm back to my happy self again! Thank you to all those who reviewed my story! They are the ones who encouraged me to keep on writing! Thank you once again! Buahahahaha!