Sasuke didn't even realize she had blurted things out that afternoon. When she admitted to Naruto she wanted to read it together, they both stood there dirty, grimy and blushing. It was not an easy thing to admit, despite how things were between them. Standing ten feet away from the blonde, her hands clenched and unclenched as she stared down at her feet. Why was she nervous? She was an Uchiha! Her head jerked up so she stared up at the confused blonde. He wasn't sure what to think of the whole thing after all. Steeling her nerves, she would give a stern but softer stare toward him before she began speaking.

"Dobe….Naruto. We need to talk about a few things. We..we are dating, we have been for just over a year. We haven't done anything besides hold hands and the one date where you gave me a sloppy cheeky kiss-"

Naruto blushed and sputtered out in a rebuttal to her claims of it being a sloppy kiss. In typical male fashion it was one of the only things he replied to. He was nervous obviously about this kind of topic.

"It wasn't sloppy! It was raining out and we were both drenched!"

She sighed inwardly before smiling. He was her dobe after all. Maybe she needed to be clearer with him, more to the point. So she figured out how to approach the subject and began again.

"Naruto. We are ninjas. We can drink, smoke and kill. We can visit brothels and kunoichi take on seduction missions. It's a dark world. I want you to know that we are adults, and I aim to give you my virginity. I see a future with you. Meaning sex dobe. We can hold hands, and kiss and hold hands and when we get to the point that we think we are both ready, sex."

Her cheeks were blazing red and she felt like her heart was tightening. It was killing her to be the one saying all of this, though it was one of two subjects on her mind. They were in a relationship and she wanted to know where he stood on matters too. SO she looked at him and he was still mildly confused as she expected him to be but she could tell the wheels were turning and the puzzle pieces were clicking into place. However before she could get another word in, she heard the audible gulp and the nervous words of her boyfriend.

"I feel the same. I know I don't make the moves but it is still tough. It's weird. We can beat the crap out of each other, and well..we have seen each other naked even before we were dating. I just don't want to make the wrong move and mess things up."

Sasuke must have looked like a deer caught in headlights because she was staring doe eyed at him, which made him give out a nervous chuckle. Shaking it off though, she realized they both were on the same page but a bit different translation; meaning some things were missing that they didn't properly communicate. That's where the second thing on her mind came to light, him cutting himself and not talking to her about what troubled him. That had to be addressed.

Her voice cut the air of awkwardness and confusion like a hot knife through butter. There was no stuttering, but some anger and hurt. Sasuke's emotions were getting the best of her as she spoke frankly to the blonde genin.

'Why didn't you talk to me or come see me when you got home? I had to find you spaced out and your wrists slit. Do you not trust me enough to take some of that pain away from you?"

Her hand went to her side pouch and she drew a kunai from it before placing it to her own wrists. It was razor sharp and just the faint touch against her pale smooth skin drew blood. She made quick slicing motions that caused three marks that were reminiscent of those on his own wrists currently covered up by bandages. It was a stupid gesture she thought as her hand dropped the bladed weapon and she clutchted it tightly. Of course Naruto was wide eyed even as he came to her side.

"What the hell is wrong with you? This is why I didn't! Because we don't know how to talk about these things. We are finally starting to set rules and boundaries to further it and this, we are ninja. I'm not suppose to be weak and what I did was just as stupid as what you did.

Sasuke, you're my best friend. My girlfriend and….hopefully one day my wife but we got to make sure we know what we are doing. I'm sorry I didn't come to see you. I should have come to see you if things were deeply bothering me, regardless if we fought before I left."

His words stung. She was selfish to think this was the right way to do things. It was intended to replicate the notion she was willing to bear his wounds for him yet he was smart enough to call her out on it. The dobe surprised her even to this day. Naruto looked up as Sasuke began chuckling. Now he was confused. They were both kneeling on a warped but clean wooden floor of his apartment, both feeling grimy and the topic of conversation being a bit of a grim one and here she was laughing.

"What is so funny?" He said to her. Was she really laughing at a time like this?

She saved him off with her now free hand. Speaking between her laughs, she replied, "Nothing dobe. You just sounded really mature. I didn't expect you to one up me when I started the conversation regarding what bothered me. Sorry I was acting so selfish. I'll make it up to you."

In a surprise move, she felt his lips on hers. It was inexperienced, as she half expected but not as much as she thought. Maybe he had a few kisses….he had. Back at the academy when they were being placed on teams. He was her first kiss...of course. Not that she was mad about it now but at the time she was furious. Though instead of making it a chaste kiss, she kissed him back and it seemed their hands sought each other before they were both engaged in hand holding and swapping saliva. However both of the winced in pain as their grips had tightened on each other's wrist. Not to let it bother them, both stood and dusted themselves off. From there they looked away blushing, both as red as the tomatoes the Uchiha loved so much.

"Not bad, huh?! I bet you didn't expect the great Naruto Uzumaki to kiss you."

She blushed even harder as her hand tightened to a fist and she would punch him in the shoulder, hard. He of course winced but laughed. It was the reaction he had hoped for. Sasuke turned away and with a rather commanding tone, she would speak loudly.

"Hurry up and help me finish cleaning up this mess. I'm gonna clean my wrist and bandage it and then you're taking me out for dinner tonight. Shikamaru recommended a place earlier. You'll take me there."

Of course he just laughed it off before blanching. Why was he treating her to dinner on his birthday? Oh well, guess it comes with being the boyfriend in a relationship combined with his comment seconds ago. However he resigned to fate and as she walked off he began picking up more of the scattered clothes off the floor, as well as placing trash into bags. How had he let it get this bad? This was pretty nasty and he definitely needed a shower after this, likely after a couple more hours and he would be mostly done.

As it persisted, he felt a nagging feeling on his mind. It was dark and ominous feeling but he couldn't quite place it. However he shrugged it and went back to cleaning things as he was told. Least he knew he had a floor, even if it was waterlogged, warped and burnt in places all over. The villagers had done a real number on it when he was younger. He remembered it as bright as day actually.

Naruto had just turned eight, and though his morning had begun pleasant enough with a meal with the Third Hokage, the man he saw as both a grandfather and a mentor, once he had left the office of the Hokage, it all went to hell. His feet couldn't carry him fast enough as he was running away from the mob. They had been lying in wait, both civilians and and ninja amongst the faces he couldn't remember. As he took off from them, he had gained a fair bit of distance before he stumbled on unfamiliar gravel roads and took a hard fall. His knees and legs were scratched up and bleeding, the wounds being extremely painful for such a small boy. Tears streamed down his cheeks and his hands stung as they too had been marked up by the rocks on the road. This tumble had given enough time for the mob to catch up and surround him.

'There he is."

"It's the demon brat!"

"You took them away from me!"

All three of those lines were amongst a varying chorus of shouts directed toward him. He didn't even know these people outside of occasionally seeing them on his daily commute to the academy and training grounds. Sometimes when he went to Oji-san's office but not often enough. He knew the hell happened last year but he thought it was just a one time thing. It all happened when he got kicked out of the orphanage a month before his seventh birthday. He hadn't told the Third Hokage, and chose to live off alley scraps and take up a room in an apartment building in the red light district. The girls never seemed to mind him living around there.

As he went to scream back at them, he felt the air leave his lungs and everything fade to black. One of the mob had kicked him hard in the chest, enough to crack a rib and send him into the darkness that was an unconscious state. When he awoke, he was staring at the mob in his apartment building. They had gather all his belongings in a pile and it was burning. He was tied to a chair, and had several bruises and scrapes to add to the wounds from his fall. He was lucky enough to escape reality for the duration of the beating. The rest was a blur. They burned the pile, doused it was water when it was just ash and left after another beating he was unfortunate to be awake for.

Roused from his thoughts, he seemed to have worried Sasuke as she was glaring at him, apparently it was spelt on his face he was thinking of not so good memories. Chuckling nervously, he looked around. He had cleaned up a fair bit in the brief time she was gone, though given her fresh clothes and damp hair, she had showered as well. She had chosen a simple pair of white shorts that ended just above her knees and a sleeveless collared shirt with the Uchiha fan on the back. She still wore her black sandals but forwent her pouches, likely since they were going to be in the civilian area. Her hair was down, which he found to be really pretty and it framed her face perfectly.

"Dobe. Go shower so we can go eat. I'm starving."

Her voice was stern, not playful but it was concerned. Smiling, he removed his gloves and tossed them onto the floor. She shot him a glare and a guttural growl. He gulped and picked them up before disposing of them properly.

Naruto showered quickly and he had to dress in the nicest clothes he had, which was orange baggy pants and black shirt. He chose his black sandals but left the orange coat he was known for off. Both of them chose to leave their headbands in their pockets given the nature of their time out.

As they left and made their way toward the restaurant Sasuke had mentioned, they happened to bump into Sakura. Of course when she saw them, she frowned and shot a menacing glare toward Naruto. Sasuke was meant to be hers. Yet here she was being thrust around by some dumb wannabe ninja wearing bright orange pants. Who even wore orange as a color for their ninja clothes. Though her bright pink dress was not one to point fingers.

"Hey Sakura! How's it going? Sasuke and I were going out to dinner? Maybe you and….Kakashi Sensei would want to join us? Team 7 dinner, my treat?"

Sakura just stayed silent before punching him square in the nose. The evening sky looked absolutely lovely tonight.