Sakura sat on her couch and Sasuke took a seat in her armchair. The air was so thick, that he could slice it with his katana. She didn't speak. He didn't speak either. He looked hesitant. Sakura sighed.
"So… what did you want to talk about?" Sakura prodded.
"I… wanted to apologize," Sasuke said lowly, carefully. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking… I…" he trailed off.
Sakura observed him, he clenched and unclenched his jaw, his eyes wouldn't meet hers for more than a second and his fingers kept drumming a nervous rhythm on his knee.
"I'm just not used to someone caring so much about me," he finally said. "I mean, I know that you've always cared," he went on, trying to find the right words. Or at least not say the wrong ones. "I just never knew how to accept those… feelings. I still don't."
Sakura's eyes softened. He had spent two years in solitude, wandering the world. Maybe he'd gone weeks at a time without even talking to a single soul. It was endearing how he tried to find the right words to utter, how he seemed to try them in his head before he actually spoke them.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura remembered her earlier concern. "While you were on the road… did you… I mean you probably met a lot of pretty wome–," he cut her off before she could even finish. His eyes pierced hers, and now he was holding her gaze, intensely so.
"No," he said firmly.
Sakura let out the air she didn't know she'd been holding in. "Okay," she said. "Good."
"I'm sorry," he said again.
"I'm sorry too," Sakura said. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry at you."
"No, you had every right to be angry. I… didn't mean to insult you."
"Why didn't you… while you were on the road…" Sakura struggled to ask. "I mean… Sorry. This is none of my business. Sorry."
"Why didn't you?" He asked unexpectedly.
"You know why…" Sakura cast her eyes down at her hands.
"Then, you do as well," he said. Sakura's eyes snapped to his. Her mouth was slightly agape.
Does he mean that… Does that mean what I think it means?
"Sasuke-kun, why did you come back?" She wanted to hear those words from him. She wanted him to admit his feelings. After all these years, she wanted to hear him say it. She needed to hear him say it.
"For you," he answered earnestly. Sakura felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Suddenly, he was too close and too far away at the same time. She wanted to touch him but she was afraid he would burn her.
She stood from the couch, slowly, like an animal enclosing its prey. She took gentle but slightly wobbly steps toward where he sat. He followed her every movement. She stopped in front of him and reached out for his hand. He grabbed hers and she yanked him up.
His eyes never left her, not when he was observing her from his seated position, and not now when he was towering over her, looking at her from under hooded lids. Sakura found herself mesmerized by his gaze. Those eyes of his… All villages either feared them or wanted to possess them. They were beautiful, Sakura thought. The lavender of his rinnegan complemented his skin tone nicely. And as dark and cold as the obsidian of his right eye was, his gaze was the warmest thing she'd ever experienced.
She trailed her free hand over his chest, up to the back of his neck. He swallowed.
"Sasuke-kun?" Her eyes left his for a second, to look at his lips. She licked hers. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" She locked their gazes again.
"Aa," his breath was hot across her lips.
All of a sudden, Sasuke closed the distance between them and pressed his lips gently against hers. His hand left hers and wrapped around her waist. Sakura tilted her head and moved both hands to the back of his head, holding him against her firmly.
At first, the kiss was nothing but lips. Innocent and chaste. Much like their first kiss had been before he left. They pulled away for a second, only to angle their head in the other direction and rejoin their lips again. This time, Sakura slowly opened her mouth against Sasuke's. She gasped when she felt his tongue tracing her lips and she parted her lips further.
Sakura didn't know how long they must have stood there, just kissing. But when they finally broke apart, she had a warm sensation washing all over her, centered in her lower abdomen. And she was breathless. She was beyond breathless. She rested her forehead against Sasuke's chest and felt his heart racing beneath his clothes. His hand caressed the small of her back as he rested his chin on top of her head.
Sakura was so happy she could burst. She needed to ease the tension that had built up between them, or she wouldn't be able to control her next actions.
"I see that kiss you shared with Naruto at the academy prepared you quite well," she joked.
"Tch," was all he said, but Sakura felt his chest shake with silent laughter.
She lifted her head and looked at him with a bright smile.
"I'm glad you're home, Sasuke-kun."
–––
"Haruno Sakura," Kakashi announced and handed Sakura her certificate. She was now officially a jounin. She heard Naruto's loud cheers and clapping, along with Ino yelling "that's right!" She thought she heard her father's sobs and her mother telling him to keep it together.
She blushed as she bowed in front of Kakashi. "Thank you," she whispered.
"You deserve it, Sakura," he said, an affectionate sort of pride in his eyes. Sakura smiled at him and went to stay in line with all the other newly announced jounin.
After the ceremony, many people stayed behind to take pictures with friends and family. Some chatted with former instructors and fellow newbie jounin. Sakura's parents had congratulated their dear daughter and hurried ahead to finish up everything for the celebratory meal.
"Hey, guys?" Sakura looked at her team. "I was thinking… can we take a new photo?"
"Hell, yeah!" Naruto immediately agreed. Sai nodded and Sasuke didn't actively disagree. "I'll go get Kakashi-sensei."
"Ino? Would you mind taking the photo?"
"You got it, Forehead," she grinned at her best friend.
"Hey, did you hear that Haruno didn't even have to take the exam? She was just handed the title?" They heard someone whisper harshly from the side.
"I guess it pays off the be the teacher's pet. Especially if two of your teachers are Hokage," another voice said, irony lacing her tone. Sakura looked down at the ground bashfully.
"Hey, idiots!" Ino yelled at them. "If you're going to whisper about someone, at least make sure they can't hear you! And I'll have you know that Sakura could kick both of your asses just by waving her little finger in your direction!"
"Ino," Sakura groaned lowly. "Thank you for defending me, but please don't cause a scene."
"I'm just telling them how it is," Ino flipped her hair over her shoulder and sent another scowl toward the gossips.
"I heard there was a photo I needed to be a part of?" Kakashi arrived at Sakura's side with Naruto.
"Yeah, if that's alright with you, sensei."
"Of course," Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "I'm afraid I can't stand behind you anymore, though," he added as he eyed Sasuke and Naruto. The former was taller than him, while the latter was about the same height.
Sakura chuckled. "Okay, I say Sakura stands in the front, she is the star of the show, after all," Ino directed them. "Sasuke, Naruto, you guys stand behind her. Kakashi, Sai, stand on Naruto and Sasuke's sides," she instructed. "A bit to the left, Naruto. No, the other left," Ino said from behind the camera.
A smaller fight broke out, Sasuke was pissed because Naruto had apparently shoved him, Sai had his elbow buried in Naruto's side because he was afraid, he wasn't going to be in the picture and tried to press closer. Kakashi assessed if he could get away with making bunny ears behind Sasuke's head. Sakura crossed her arms and looked at the sky.
That's how the first picture came out. Kakashi staring up at the top of Sasuke's head, eyes narrowed in contemplation, Sasuke scowling at Naruto, and Naruto and Sai basically fist fighting. Sakura standing in front of them, arms crossed, gaze raised to the heaven, praying for enough patience to put up with the idiots behind her.
"That's enough!" She suddenly yelled. The men behind her froze as she turned around. "I will kick all of your asses if you can't even stay still for one second to take a normal picture!"
"Yes, ma'am," Naruto straightened.
"Sorry," Sai and Kakashi muttered.
Sasuke just looked at her in amusement. That asshole thinks I'm joking, Sakura narrowed her eyes at him before turning back toward Ino. "Okay, we're ready," she gave Ino the go. "I hope," she mumbled as she smiled.
In the second picture, all of them are grinning happily, except for Sasuke, who's just staring ahead at the camera. To those who did not know him, it would appear as if his face was devoid of any emotion, but Sakura noted the very tiny crease at the corner of his eye. He was proud.
In the end, Sakura hung up both pictures in her living room.
–––
"I got you something," Sasuke said as Sakura was making them some tea later that evening.
She put the kettle on the stove and sat down across from him. "What? You really didn't have to," Sakura blushed.
He put a small bag in front of her. She peeped inside; it was some sort of thick fabric. She slowly pulled it out to reveal a pair of fighting gloves. They seemed to be aged.
"They were my mother's," Sasuke said. "I think my father gave them to her when she made jounin," Sakura's eyes welled with tears. "She never used them because she became pregnant with Itachi," Sasuke shrugged. As if it was no big deal. As if they were some regular pair of gloves.
Sakura slipped them on and sniffled. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she murmured as she observed her hands.
Thick steam erupted from the kettle suddenly. "I got it," said Sasuke as he rose to his feet.
Sakura carefully peeled the gloves from her hands and accepted the cup Sasuke was handing to her. Sakura stood and lead Sasuke to her living room, cups in hand. They sat on her couch, her side pressed closely to his. Her television was on, but neither of them paid attention to it. In truth, she wanted to kiss him again. She just wasn't sure if she should just go for it. She shifted slightly and felt Sasuke turn his head toward her form. She lifted her head from his shoulder.
She didn't have to ponder much longer over it because Sasuke pressed his lips against her in a sweet, yet chaste kiss. Sakura wanted more. Before he even had time to pull back fully, she grasped the back of his head and crashed her lips against his. She was arduous in her kissing him, and slowly, he matched her pace.
He turned his body toward her and snaked his arm around her waist. She wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders and angled her head to have better access to his mouth. She pressed into him so forcefully, that he fell back on the couch.
"Sakura," he groaned as she kept kissing him without a second's respite. He obliged, though, matching each movement of her lips. Without thinking much about it, his hand wandered under her shirt, stroking the soft skin, tracing a large scar over her lower back. Sakura just pulled his face impossibly closer.
"Sasuke-kun," she eventually broke apart, panting heavily.
He was a disheveled mess beneath her. He looked so handsome, she thought. His hand shifted from the small of her back to lightly dance over the side of her ribs. She beamed down at him, perhaps the happiest smile she had ever smiled.
He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her down for another kiss. They kept at it for a long while. Kissing, stroking, nuzzling. Until Sakura couldn't take it anymore. "Sasuke-kun," she groaned as she abruptly rose to her feet. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up as well.
"Sakura… What are you–?" He didn't finish his question when he realized she was heading toward her bedroom, leading him by the hand.
Once they were in her room, Sakura turned toward him. Her fingers nervously fluttered across his chest. She looked up at him in the dusky room. "Sasuke-kun… do you want to?"
He swallowed. She held his gaze, eyes wide in expectation, hazed over with desire. As he looked into them, he saw no amount of doubt or hesitance. He nodded. She pressed her lips against his.
They were a bundle of flimsy, clumsy limbs as they headed toward her bed. Sakura laughed into the kiss and their teeth clattered against each other, but that didn't stop them. The back of Sakura's knees hit the bed and she broke apart, just for a second so she could kneel on the bed and pull Sasuke with her.
Her hands slowly trailed down his chest, his abdomen. They slipped under his shirt, slowly lifting it as her hands made their way back up his bare skin. She pulled back just long enough to discard his shirt to the ground. She couldn't believe he was real. That he was here. That he was hers.
They slowly undressed each other, nervous from lack of experience. Sakura bit her lip as she looked at Sasuke, completely bare before her. She looked up at his eyes, only to find them looking back at her. They were so tender, so loving. She felt her heart rampaging beneath her ribcage.
It wasn't like in those books she'd read as a teenager. It was clumsy and sticky and sometimes uncomfortable until they found their place, the right position. It didn't hurt, and she wasn't sure if it was because of her seal, but it didn't matter.
She gazed into Sasuke's eyes whenever he wasn't kissing her senseless. She peppered sweet little pecks all over his shoulders, his neck, his face, his eyes.
It was perfect, with all the fumbling, all the whispers of "wait!" and "nope, not like that! ah! yes, yeah, that's good," with the way his eyes glowed red and violet, the way their soft breaths and grunts filled the air. Afterward, she got up to go to the bathroom and by the time she'd returned, Sasuke was fast asleep in her bed.
She smiled and crawled into the space beside him. Her heart had never been more content.
–––
Sakura woke to a body restlessly tossing and turning beside her. She sat up and looked around the darkness of her room, but that was all she saw: darkness. She switched on the lamp on her bedside table and looked to her right. Sasuke's face was scrunched up in a tortured look, he was gripping the end of his stump as he thrashed around. She could see his eyes moving around rapidly beneath his eyelids.
Sakura placed a green, glowing hand on his residual limb, caressing it as she sent healing chakra pulsating through it. "Sasuke-kun," she called gently. "It's okay. It's just a dream."
He didn't hear her. He did let go of his stump, so Sakura guessed his pain had decreased. She knelt beside him on the bed and moved both hands to his temples, continuing to send calming chakra into his own disrupted system. His movements started to slow down, his breathing evened out. Sakura withdrew her hands. Before she could move away, Sasuke grasped her left wrist.
"I'm sorry," he croaked as he stroked her wrist with his thumb.
"It's okay," Sakura smiled gently at him. "Are you alright? Is your arm okay?"
"Aa."
"Okay," she whispered and slowly laid her body beside his, wrist still in his hand, resting atop his chest.
Sakura recalled a genin Sasuke often waking up panting and sweaty in the middle of the night when they had overnight missions. She assumed the nightmares must have stopped. Though she guessed with a past as traumatic as his, he might never be rid of them completely.
"Thank you," he murmured. "Go back to sleep."
"Okay," Sakura said as her eyes fluttered shut.
When she woke again, Sasuke wasn't in the bed anymore. She sat up in a panic but relaxed immediately as she felt his chakra signature, strong and steady, in her kitchen. She stretched her arms and legs and slowly sat up.
"Good morning," Sakura greeted as she walked into the kitchen. Sasuke was making her breakfast.
"Hn," he responded.
"What's that?" Sakura peeped down at the pan over his shoulder. "It smells delicious."
"It's a pancake. I was watching the cooking channel because I wouldn't sleep," he replied.
"A pancake, huh?" Sakura imagined Sasuke sprawled out on her couch, watching people cook. She smiled. "Well, I can't wait to try it," she pressed a kiss to his shoulder blade.
He hummed a response but didn't take his eyes off the pan. Sakura had a feeling he was feeling perturbed about the previous night.
"Hey, Sasuke-kun?" She said from her seat at the table. "You don't have to worry about last night. I also get nightmares all the time," she said.
"I'm sorry I woke you," he said. He wasn't listening to what she was saying.
"Sasuke," she said. He stopped with his movements, she rarely – if ever – addressed him without the honorific after his name. "I'm saying that it is no big deal. I really don't mind."
He exhaled. "Hn."
"Besides, you can wake me up as much as you want during the night as long as I wake to the smell of delicious breakfast cooking," Sakura joked.
He put a plate in front of her, small, circular cakes – she supposed – were stacked upon each other, beside it were cut-up pieces of fruit. It looked like something out of her television for sure.
"Thank you," she smiled up at him.
"Would you like some tea?" He asked, dismissing her appreciation. Sakura rolled her eyes at his stubbornness never to accept gratitude.
"Sure," she bit into a pancake. "Oh, my god," she moaned. "This is amazing!" Sasuke snorted and Sakura kept shoveling pancakes into her mouth.
They ate their breakfast in mostly silence. It wasn't uncomfortable per se, but Sakura felt the urge to fill the quiet.
"When does your shift start?" Sasuke spoke up before she could.
"At ten," Sakura moved her gaze to the clock above her microwave. It was half-past eight. "And I have a double shift, so I won't get off until two in the morning."
"Why would you do that to yourself?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"Because I can handle it," Sakura chirped, swallowing the last of her fruit. "Especially after such a delicious breakfast," she sang.
Sasuke just shook his head at her.
"Well, what are your plans for the day?"
"I'm going to look some things up at the Hokage Tower," he answered. "I might have found something during my travels. Kakashi asked me to look into it further, see if my suspicions are right."
