I awoke the next day to something poking my cheek. I swatted it away and murmured something before attempting to fall back asleep, but the thing poking my cheek kept going, rousing me from my slumber.

"What the-" I cut myself off when I saw the thing poking me was Sakura's finger.

"Oh shit." I raised my head from her bed and saw her trying to suppress laughter, which, of course, she failed at. I sat back and crossed my arms, letting an amused smirk crawl onto my face at her laughter. We looked at each other for a bit, and I found myself smiling at her, something that was becoming a habit to me.

She returned my smile with her own, but then I realized the situation and place we were in and how it was my fault. My smile faltered and I looked to the ground, ready to beg for her forgiveness.

"Sakura I-"

"Don't you dare," she interrupted, "don't you dare, Sasuke Uchiha."

"But-"

"No."

"Sakura-"

"No."

"Damn it-"

"No."

"Will you just listen?" She stayed quiet after that, but I could tell she already knew what I was going to say.

"I'm sorry," I whispered softly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she replied.

"How can you say that? If I was with you, you wouldn't be in this mess!"

"When I joined the FBI, I knew the risks, they prepared you for single combat because sometimes, you would have to be solo, so I was just doing my job, Sasuke."

"I was passed out drunk, Sakura, that's why I wasn't there," I told her. I expected that to at least get her a little upset, but all she did was smile at me and put her hand over mine.

"You've lived such a hard life, Sasuke, I can't blame you for giving into your demons sometimes because the pain is unbearable, I get that, so I don't hold it against you. I must've brought up some bad memories that night."

I was speechless, how do I respond to someone so understanding?

"Sakura..." I trailed off before clearing my throat, "About that night, you said something about your parents," I said.

"Yeah, they didn't want me to join the FBI, they wanted me to take over my dad's law firm."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I never wanted it, most of my life my main goal was to join the FBI, and when I told my parents, they insulted and yelled at me."

We stayed silent for a second before she laughed humorlessly.

"I guess I really am a burden."

My arms went around her before I could even register my body was moving. I wrapped my arms around her carefully, making sure I didn't squeeze too hard and hurt her. Her arms went around me almost as quickly as mine went around her.

"If you really were a burden, then you wouldn't have killed a murderer that was like three times your fucking size, you annoying idiot," I told her. She giggled into my chest, spreading a warm feeling across my body that calmed my nerves.

"I'm still sorry, Sakura."

"I forgive you." She buried her face onto my chest and I buried my own face into her sweet-smelling hair. "Can you stay, Sasuke?"

I pulled back and smiled at her before nodding at her request. It's not like I wanted to leave, anyway. I held her for a minute, savoring everything, from her scent to her steady breathing, I took it all in, letting it flood my systems. She was like my drug, I couldn't get enough of her, I was addicted. Of course, our peace couldn't last forever, and this time, it was my phone that broke it. I checked to see it was Naruto and went to sit back in my chair, only to be yanked back by Sakura.

"You're not going anywhere," she purred. Thankfully, her head was against my chest, so she couldn't see the blush that covered my cheeks.

"Hello?"

"Sasuke! We finally got something!"

"What're you talking about?"

"The theater bombing, we got footage of some blonde guy with a ponytail leaving the theater from the back entrance and driving away about 15 minutes before the explosion happened!"

"Can you use facial recognition to ID him?"

"No, we didn't get a glimpse of his face, but at least we have something to work with."

"Ok, keep checking it out and let me know if anything comes up."

"Yeah."

I hung up and rewrapped my arms around the girl with me because, to be honest, I didn't want to think about anything else.

"What was that about?"

"It was Naruto, they found some footage of a guy leaving the movie theater 15 minutes before the explosion went off, it could be the guy." She nodded and went back to resting her head against my chest. We both sat there for minutes, silently and unmoving, until I heard her silent breaths become rhythmic and her eyes had closed. I laid her down on her bed and pulled her blanket over her before pulling up my chair and sitting back in it. I used my phone for the next couple of hours, watching shows and texting Naruto before falling asleep myself in the same position as yesterday, with my head and arms on the edge of her bed.

…

Sakura was released from the hospital 3 days later, and we were on the first flight back to Jacksonville, ready to take our day off. The past week had been taxing, emotionally and physically, so I was ready to get back to my apartment and watch Netflix all day, because that was sort of my stress reliever.

We touched down in Jacksonville on March 27th, and when I realized that, I remembered that Sakura's birthday was tomorrow. I had to think of something to get her, quickly. Once we reached the apartment building, I unpacked quickly, not bothering to fold my clothes, instead, just throwing them onto my bed. I rushed out and drove my Camaro to the nearest mall, which seemed like the best place to get her something. I could get her clothes, but I feel like that would be too insignificant.

She was into TV and movies, but what gift would satisfy that? I looked around the mall, looking to see if there was anything that caught my eye, and thankfully, there was.

I walked into a jewelry store and saw a beautiful necklace with a gold and pink pattern encasing it. The charm was a picture of a tree which I couldn't identify, but I could just tell her it was a Sakura tree. I'm pretty sure this was the gift I wanted to get her, the only thing left was to pray that the price wasn't too outrageous.

"$400," the lady said. I silently grumbled to myself about how expensive women's jewelry was and how it was so overpriced before taking out my credit card and letting the woman swipe it. I walked out of the store satisfied and $400 poorer.

I should've just stolen the damn thing.

"Fucking expensive jewelry," I mumbled to myself like a crazy person before getting into my Camaro and driving home with her gift. I walked up to my apartment, and was horrified at the sight at my door. Sakura was standing there, waiting for me, unaware of the bag I was holding. I hid the bag behind and me and walked to the door, looking as innocent as I possibly could.

"Sasuke! I-." She saw the bag I was holding behind me.

Fuck.

From the wide grin that spread across her face, I knew I had been caught, but there was no way I was letting her see what I had gotten for her until tomorrow.

"Let me see!"

"Nope." I used one hand to fend off her advances and the other to quickly unlock my apartment door.

"Sasuke!"

"Nope." I opened the door, but she snuck in after me. I ran into my bedroom and locked the door with her outside. She banged on the door for a little bit before stopping in defeat. I smirked and quickly put the necklace in one of my drawers under my boxers before stepping out. She didn't hear me come out, and I found her looking at a picture of me and my family from back then.

It was from when we went to California for vacation, I had been 6 at the time. I walked up to her and she noticed my presence, silently putting the picture down and looking at me.

"I'm sorry, I just saw it and-" She began, but I cut her off.

"That's a good picture, isn't it?" She stopped talking and gave me a small smile before nodding.

"You're ok with me looking at it?"

"I remember someone telling me that I should be more open, so this is me, being...open." She nodded at my response before looking into my eyes for a second.

I poked her forehead and muttered, "you're still annoying though." She glared at me and lightly shoved my shoulder.

"Oh, um, by the way, I made some new friends in the time I've been here, and we're having a little party tomorrow, if you want to come, then, I guess you can."

"You guess?"

"You know what I mean," she said with a faint blush.

"Sounds like you don't want me there, Sakura, I'm hurt." I put my hand over my heart and feigned pain just to mess with her.

"Oh my god, you asshole, can you come?" I smirked victoriously and nodded slyly, watching her face go from faint blush to full blush.

"You suck," she muttered before walking out, sticking her tongue out at me before shutting the door. I decided to ask Naruto if he wanted to come, after all, he and Sakura could become friends, they're both happy people. I dialed his number quickly and put the phone on speaker while laying on my couch.

"Yo."

"Hey, I got a friend who's having a birthday party tomorrow, wanna come?" I asked.

"You know, Sakura?" He inquired, a little surprised.

"Haruno?"

"Yeah."

"She's my partner."

"Oh."

"How do you know her?"

"Well I...may have tried to ask her out...twice."

Silence.

"Oh my god."

"What?"

"She rejected you. Twice."

"Hey asshole, she just said she wanted to stay friends!"

"You got rejected twice," I teased, trying really hard to stifle the laughter that was threatening to explode from me. A few chuckles made it through the phone to Naruto, and I'm pretty sure it made him even more mad.

"FUCK YOU!" He yelled, followed by another slew of curses. After he was done cursing me and I was done chuckling, we continued our conversation like normal.

"I'm at my parent's place tomorrow, can you pick me up?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, then we're all set!"

"Hey, Naruto?"

"What?"

"You got rejected twice," I said before hanging up before he could verbally assault me again. To be honest, hearing that Sakura had rejected Naruto twice was kind of surprising. He was social, much more than me, and wasn't the ugliest person in the world. Still, I guess every girl has her preferences. I turned on the TV and put on some new show called "Ozark", that Netflix just released and watched a couple of episodes before falling asleep on the couch.

I woke up the next day to the sound of my phone going off. I checked and saw that it was Kakashi calling, so I answered.

"Yeah?"

"You hear about Dunkirk?" He questioned.

"The new Christopher Nolan movie? What about it? Is it good?"

"Apparently its amazing, wanna go see it tomorrow after work? I can bring Naruto with me." The mere mention of his name brought back memories of our conversation yesterday, I had to tell Kakashi about.

"Yeah, that's fine. Speaking about Naruto, you wanna know something?"

"What?"

"He got rejected by a girl, twice."

"Oh wow, is she hot?"

"Um, I don't know how to answer that."

"What's her name?"

"Sakura Haruno."

"Pink hair?"

"That's the one."

"She's in high demand, Sasuke."

"Really?"

"Have you seen her? She's literally beautiful."

"Literally, huh?"

"Literally."

"You got a crush or something?"

"We talked a little in a bar nearby because she recognized my name. We were talking for 5 minutes and like 4 guys tried to hit on her, seeing her reject them was actually hilarious." I smirked to myself, she was still single.

"I'm actually going to her birthday party, wanna come?"

"I'm already going."

"Really?"

"I'm her partner."

"Oh. Oh, now that makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

"Nothing, kid, you'll find out soon enough."

"Ok, I'll see you there, I guess."

"Yeah, see you." He was about to hang up before I remembered something important I had to ask him.

"Wait! What're you wearing?"

There was a long pause before he finally answered me.

"Sasuke? Are you ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You never care about what you wear."

"Oh, um..." I thanked everyone in the world that Kakashi couldn't see the blush I had on my face, but he must've noticed something from the way he snickered. I hung up the phone and decided that I would just wear a black buttoned shirt and some dress pants, that seemed like it would work. I put my phone down and went to get ready. I walked out later with only boxers on because I didn't feel like putting on clothes then changing into my fancy clothes, that would be annoying. I sat there in my boxers watching and finishing Ozark, which passed enough hours so that I could get ready.

I slipped on my dress pants and zipped them up before throwing on my shirt. I finished buttoning my shirt and walked out of my apartment with my keys and Sakura's gift. I hopped into my Camaro and sped to Minato and Kushina's house, reaching there in 10 minutes. I walked up the steps and knocked on the door a couple of times before Kushina answered.

"Sasuke!" She greeted cheerfully. I nodded in greeting before walking in and sitting on the couch, waiting for Naruto. As I sat there, my mind drifted to Sakura, who seemed to always be on my mind. I wanted to tell her how I felt, but I was a coward, afraid of rejection.

"Someone has a girl on his mind," Minato's voice sounded. I looked up to see him smiling at me before he took a seat next to me.

"You like a girl, don't you? I can see it in your eyes." I sighed and nodded, accepting the fact that I had been found out.

"Is it really that easy to tell?"

"No, but I've seen that look on other boys before, never on you, I have to say I didn't know if I ever would."

"Well, here it is," I murmured. He glanced at me before leaning back in his seat.

"I could give you a really long speech about how I met Kushina and how you shouldn't be afraid of rejection, but I don't feel like boring you. Instead, I'll just say this, you like her, go for her, otherwise, someone's going to get to her before you, and you'll have to live with the fact that you had a chance but you were too scared to take it."

He patted my shoulder before getting up and leaving me to my thoughts briefly until Naruto came into the living room. He was actually wearing a white shirt and black pants, normal clothes, for once.

"Let's go!" He exclaimed before running to my car. I sat in the driver's seat, and before I could say anything, Naruto blasted the radio to keep me quiet. I smirked at him and drove off, knowing exactly why he wanted to keep me quiet. We reached our building a short time after and I parked in my usual spot before grabbing Sakura's gift. Naruto ran up to the elevator and mashed the button multiple times until it finally came.

"Calm down," I told him, "third time's a charm."

He turned beet red at that and started to yell at me. "Fucking prick, asshole, dick! I hate you so much!" I smirked at all of his insults and stayed quiet.

"What'd you get her?" He asked.

"Necklace, you?"

"Perfume." I nodded and waited for the elevator reached the fourth floor, the damn thing was taking forever.

"This is why I walk," I complained as the elevator finally reached our destination. Naruto and I walked out and to Sakura's door. Naruto pounded on the door and I smacked him in the head for it. He shoved me back and I put him in a headlock, starting yet another fight with him. Unfortunately, that's right when the door opened, revealing the one blonde I wasn't to ecstatic to see.

"Sasuke!" Ino Yamanaka exclaimed in excitement, and I could already feel my brain cells begin to deteriorate and wither away.

"Hi," I muttered before turning to Naruto, who was chuckling under his breath. I glared at him before stepping inside the apartment, which was covered with streamers and a Happy Birthday banner. I ignored the dreamy stares Ino was giving me and walked up to Kakashi, who was happily sipping on something while talking to a girl that I recognized. She had short dark brown hair, and looked to be about Kakashi's age.

"Sasuke! This is Rin!" He told me as I reached him. I remembered her from somewhere, but I couldn't remember where.

"You're the man from the coffee shop!" She exclaimed.

That's where.

"It's nice to see you again," I answered courteously.

"You two know each other?" Kakashi inquired, confused at our sudden recognition of each other.

"Only before our first date," Rin answered for the both of us.

"Date, huh?" I questioned Kakashi, who seemed to be embarrassed enough to run away for more juice or whatever he was drinking. Rin laughed and waved to me before following after him. I turned to see Naruto staring at something, hard, like really hard. When I raised an eyebrow at him, he didn't answer, he just pointed ahead. I followed his gaze and found exactly what he was staring at.

Sakura wore a strapless pink dress that highlighted her assets to perfection and stretched across her slender body all the way to her knees, revealing her creamy skin that I had always found alluring. I couldn't help but stare, I was a guy after all, and that right there was the most attractive woman ever, so I stared.

Shoot me.

"God damn," I heard someone say behind me, snapping me out of my trance. I turned to see Kiba, Shikamaru, and Neji, all staring at the same thing Naruto and I were.

I realized that the 5 of us staring at one girl would probably look weird, no, it would definitely look weird, so I snapped my fingers in front of each of them to break their intense concentration.

"What's up, Sasuke?" They all asked in unison, still in their daze, which almost made me laugh. Naruto came up to us and threw his arms around Neji and Kiba's shoulders while sporting a shit-eating grin.

"Well boys, we all have a crush, how will we ever solve this predicament?"

"Shut up, Uzumaki, go get a girlfriend," Neji spat back.

"Why is being around you always so tiring?" Shikamaru complained, the man was notorious for being lazy, but he was one of the smartest men I knew.

"Hey, Naruto, how bout we fight for it?" Kiba suggested, matching Naruto's grin with his own, those two were scarily similar to each other in terms of behavior.

"I'll kill you, Inuzuka!" Naruto yelled.

"Not if I kill you first!" Kiba challenged. Neji and Shikamaru had enough, and they showed it by throwing Naruto's arms off of their shoulders, dumping him in the process. He jumped to his feet and glared at them in response. I was about to insult him when I felt a hand tap my shoulder, catching my attention.

I turned to meet the owner of the hand and, well, who else could it be?

"Hi," the pinkette greeted with a beautiful smile.

"Hey," I answered, smiling at her.

"So you came, I hope the trip from the third floor wasn't too arduous?"

"You'd be surprised at the amount of work climbing one set of stairs takes in these pants."

"My apologies, sir."

"Hn. Annoying." She began to form a response, but was pulled away from me by Ino to meet some other guests. I masked my disappointment from losing her and turned back to my friends, who seemed to be awestruck.

"No way," Naruto and Kiba said simultaneously.

"What?" I demanded.

"I knew it was too good to be true," Neji muttered.

"What're you guys talking about?"

"You talked to a girl, and actually smiled," Shikamaru explained. I rolled my eyes at them in annoyance, we were just talking, what's so special about that?

"Ok, Sasuke, we admit defeat, us guys will have to find love elsewhere," Naruto admitted before leaving with the other 3 sulking men. I watched them go in amazement, what the hell just happened? I shook my head at the exchange before following them. I had just about caught up with them when Ino stopped in front of me, greeting me with a smile.

"Hi, Sasuke!"

"Hey," I muttered, trying my best to not sound rude and keep my patience.

"Enjoying the party?"

"Yes."

"That's good."

"Hn."

"How's work been?"

"Fine."

"I bet you're arresting all kinds of people, huh?"

"Hn."

"Ok, good talk, I'll see you later!"

"Hn."

The conversations I had with her were always draining, even though she wasn't that bad of a girl, she just wasn't for me. I didn't hate her, though, people thought I did, but I never hated her, I actually thought she was kind and tried my best to deter from me so that she could find a man who could make her happy.

Unfortunately, my efforts had been in vain.

I went back to trying to catch up with my friends, but this time I ended up bumping into a small girl that I hadn't seen.

"O-oh, sorry, Sasuke," Hinata Hyuga apologized.

"That was my fault, sorry, Hinata," I answered. Hinata Hyuga was Neji's cousin, she was shy and timid, which was partly the reason why Neji was overprotective of her, like an older brother.

"It's fine, are you enjoying the party?"

"I am, I didn't know you were friends with Sakura."

"Y-yeah, I met her at a supermarket with Neji," she giggled slightly in between sentences, "We started talking and all Neji could do was try his best to not stare at her."

"That sounds like him," I agreed with a smirk on my face. None of my friends knew this, except for Kakashi, but Hinata and I were actually much closer friends than anyone knew. The reason behind it was because she always knew when to be quiet, which I appreciated a lot. We started talking from time to time because of it, and gradually became friends. However, in high school, I had found her crying one time because her father had beat her for something, and I had comforted her. From then on, we never minded each other's company, and I was glad that Sakura had chosen such a good person to be friends with.

"But I can't blame him, all of the guys stare at her, wherever we go," Hinata said with a laugh. But right after, she became quiet and started to twiddle with her fingers, something she had always done for years. "Even Naruto," she said quietly.

Hinata had a crush on Naruto since high school, and I was fairly certain that she might be in love with him, but because she was always so quiet, Naruto had barely noticed her.

"He'll notice you, Hinata, don't give up just yet," I assured her before lightly patting her on the head and parting ways with her. I made a mental note to mention Hinata to Naruto later, it was the least I could do, though Neji might try to kill me for it.

Oh well.

I finally caught up to my friends, who were sitting on the sofas, sharing glasses of wine with each other.

"Hey, Sasuke, don't mind us, we're just drinking away our pain," Shikamaru said as I took a seat.

Sometimes, I really hated my friends, more like all the time.

I poured myself a glass of Boscarelli Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano, damn that's one long name, and sat back, sipping on it occasionally while listening in to the guys' conversation.

"Did you see all the free agency signings? I can't believe Adrian Peterson is a Saint," Naruto began.

"He's crossing the 30-year mark, plus. It's not like he's gonna be enough to get the Saints into the playoffs, not while Matt Ryan and Cam Newton exist," Kiba argued.

"Don't forget about the Bucs," I mentioned casually.

"True," Neji agreed.

"The Cowboys lost a lot of players from their defense," Kiba said.

"Yeah, they did," we agreed.

"The Draft is gonna be awesome!" Naruto yelled, pumping his fist in the air. Sometimes I forgot he was a police detective, honestly, he was still a kid at heart, though that wasn't a bad thing. Sometimes I need his lighthearted talk, it distracted me from my thoughts.

The football talk continued for a while until I caught sight of something interesting. I saw Sakura in her bedroom, alone, staring out of the window, seemingly lost in thought.

"I'll be back," I said before putting my glass down and walking into her bedroom, closing the door to keep out any disturbances. She didn't notice me until I had walked up behind her. She whipped her head around in surprise before noticing it was me, and her stance became calm again. I went next to her, looking out the same window as she was, taking note of how the view from the fourth floor was much better than the view from the third.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I whispered softly.

"Yeah, it is."

"But that's not why you're here, is it?" She looked up at me before looking back out the window and shaking her head.

"My parents...I know we probably won't get along, but I had hoped that they would at least call." I stayed silent, letting her continue as I stared out the window to keep my attention off of her figure.

"Is that selfish of me, Sasuke? To want them to at least call me?" I chuckled at her question, surprising her yet again.

"Right now, you and your parents are in a...bad place, but they'll get over it eventually," I said.

"How do you know, Sasuke? Don't get me wrong, but you don't even know them."

"You're right, I don't, but something tells me they're awake right now, thinking of how to make it right, and how they regret everything they said to you."

"I hope so."

"They are, trust me, you're too annoying to forget about." She scooted closer to me and I let her, moving my arm so she could lean onto my chest. She sighed and closed her eyes, almost tempting me to follow suit, but I kept them open, scanning outside. From the fourth floor, you could see over some of the buildings that blocked my windows, meaning you could see even farther than you could from my apartment. Most of the buildings were dark, probably workspaces that had cleared out or uninhabited offices. The night sky was always beautiful in Jacksonville, always clear and quiet, forming an almost perfect atmosphere, I couldn't say it enough times to do it justice.

Even through all that, all of the atmosphere and everything else, only one thing had my complete attention, the girl currently leaning on my chest, breathing evenly and softly, was it possible for someone to breathe sweetly? I closed my own eyes, giving into temptation, and leaning my chin onto her head, almost falling asleep while standing in the process.

The door swung open and both of us separated to see Ino giving us a weird look before putting on her usual cheery face.

"We're about to cut the cake, hurry up!" She said before almost running out of the room. Sakura and I shared a look before walking out to see a pink cake with emerald frosting lining the edges waiting.

"You don't have to eat any, I know you hate sweets," Sakura told me quietly.

"I'll be just fine, don't worry," I replied. Everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" as Sakura cut her cake and blew out the two candles that spelt 25. I stood there, motionless as the choruses stopped and she started cutting pieces and handing them to everyone.

"Are you sure you want to eat it?" She asked me as she handed me a piece.

I smirked at her before replying, "oh, I'm not eating it." Her face twisted into a look of horror, realizing what I meant by those words.

"Sasuke, I swear," she said, backing away from me, but I advanced with every step I took, like a predator cornering his prey.

"Get her!" Naruto yelled, cheering me on. She was trapped, there was nowhere for her to go, so she shielded her face with her hands in a futile attempt at saving herself.

"What? I'm not doing anything," I said innocently. When she peeked out over hands, I took my opportunity. In one swift motion, I shoved my plate onto her face, covering her in frosting and pink cake. I quickly stepped back and hid behind Naruto, who, along with everyone else in the room, was laughing at what I had just done.

"You're dead, Uchiha!" She shouted, taking her own plate and advancing towards me. I swung Naruto around, using him as a shield to protect my face from being assaulted.

Of course, Naruto fell on his ass as I swung him, and within a second, my own face was covered with the same cake on Sakura's face.

Everyone stayed silent for a second before bursting into laughter, including her. I couldn't help it, her laughter was contagious for me, like an infection. So I laughed with her, and I had to admit, it felt good. We looked crazy with the frosting smeared on our faces, but I don't think either of us cared. We just stood there with everyone else, laughing. When it died down, Naruto decided to go and embarrass me, just because.

"Hey Sasuke! I've never heard you laugh like that, I wonder if someone in this room has something to do with it?"

That asshole.

I glared at him fiercely and began to stalk towards him, ready to hit him for being a dick.

"Ok, Sasuke, we get it," Kakashi said before grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the blonde. "Though he has a point," Kakashi whispered to me before letting go and chuckling all the way back to Rin.

"Let's go," Sakura motioned me towards the bathroom so that we could wash our faces of the sweet delicacy that covered them. I had almost washed my face clean before I felt a splash of water decorate my hair.

"You little-" She silenced me by throwing more water at me. She kept assaulting me, not even giving me time to counter her.

"Stop it!" I protested, but that only made her laugh. I knew I had suffered enough when I saw that she had gotten my shirt wet, so I decided to put an end to her continuous attack on me. I grabbed her arms and pinned her to the wall so that she was trapped. And before I knew what I had done, we were staring at each other, our faces, our lips only a couple of inches away from each other's. I could feel her breath on me, beckoning me, calling for me, and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to answer that call.

"Sasuke…" She whispered melodiously.

"Sakura…" I whispered back, entranced by her pink, plump lips. I slowly leaned in and closed my eyes, ready for her, more than I had ever been. I finally felt light, like I could have her and there would be nothing stopping me, that it would just be us.

I wanted her so bad, but of course, our moment was broken.

"Hey, what's taking you guys so long?!" Naruto and Ino yelled at the same time from outside. We quickly separated right as they walked in and pretended that nothing had happened, going right back to the sink to avoid any suspicion.

"Let's go! The others have to leave!" He yanked me by the arm and led me outside to where the guests had put on their coats and shoes, ready to leave for their own homes. I didn't look at Sakura, what was I supposed to do after that? I opted to just see everyone else out until it was just me, Sakura, and Naruto, standing in her apartment.

"I'm gonna go now, see you guys later!" Naruto announced before leaving me alone with her. I was nervous, like really nervous, what do I do? Just then, I felt something in my pocket and realized that I had never given Sakura her necklace, the item that I had hunted for.

"I never gave you this," I said, taking the small box out of my pocket and opening it for her to see. I could tell by the way her eyes went wide and how her mouth fell open that I had been right, of course.

"Sasuke, it's...beautiful."

"Like you," I wanted to say, but I didn't have the courage.

"Want me to put it on?" I asked. She nodded and lifted her hair, which had grown long enough to reach the upper half of her back. I walked behind her and secured it onto her, ignoring the feelings that raged in through my whole body.

"Thank you, Sasuke, it's perfect," she said as I finished putting it on. I nodded in acknowledgement and stayed silent, trying to find the words that I wanted to say.

She took a step closer to me, and I think I might've gotten a heart attack in that moment.

When did I turn into such a bitch?

"Sakura, I…" I trailed off, losing my tongue when she took a step back and disappointment covered her features, which in turn, made me feel guilty and frustrated at the same time, why did I make this so hard?

"I'll be seeing you, Sasuke," she said, putting on a weak smile for my sake. I couldn't do it. I walked out, wanting to say something before she closed the door, but I just couldn't. I walked back to my apartment, but I didn't open the door.

I banged my forehead against the door lightly before turning around and sitting with my back on the door. I lowered my head and stared down, wondering why I had to make things so complicated.

"That bad, huh?" I looked up to see Naruto standing there.

"What the hell do I do?" I asked, my voice slightly cracking.

"You love her, don't you?"

"You sound like your dad," I muttered.

"Yeah, some people say I look like him," he replied sarcastically.

"I almost did it today, I almost kissed her," I told him.

"Yeah, I know," Naruto said. He probably realized what had happened in the bathroom and kept quiet about it. "So when are you gonna tell her?"

"I don't know if I will."

"If you don't, I might just kill you."

"Hn."

"Please tell her this weekend, I'm begging you."

"What do I do? Walk in there and say 'I love you'?"

"Yes."

"It's not that simple!"

"Actually, it is, you both want each other, you're just getting in your own way, so man the fuck up and tell her."

With that, he got up and went into his apartment, leaving me there, contemplating on what I should do. Maybe I should go tomorrow, yeah, I'll go tomorrow, I'm going to tell her. With that thought in mind, I went into my own apartment, telling myself that I would tell her tomorrow.