A/N: More plot than prompt here. It was a little hard since it's so similar to chapter four's idea. So I added some Sakura into this. Sasuke's so cute. I want ten.

6. You'll realize you're always smiling to yourself when you think about them

Sasuke was still a little unsure of what to do next, but he figured his next best bet was to just show her happiness: show her the laughs and good times and intimacy that she missed out on because he was gone for so long. Although he was not the extravagant romantic type, Sasuke would easily find ways to make sure Sakura's cheeks turned pink and a smile would grace her features.

He was very subtle too, for Sasuke was not a man of grand gestures.

It would be small, simple things, like tucking some loose hair behind her ear while she was furiously scribbling on some paperwork. She would pause, blush, and smile in thanks. When they neared sleep on nights they spent together, he would rub circles on her back and rest his chin on the top of her head, feeling her cheeks heat up against his neck. She would mumble a soft "g'night" and drift off to sleep peacefully.

He would invite her to talk about her stressful day when she looked like she was about to implode. He lent an ear generously, and at the end, she would collapse into his arms and thank him for being such a good listener.

He would bring her an extra bento at work when he ate out with Naruto, knowing sometimes she barely had time to eat at work. Sakura would become flustered at all the nurses behind her giggling like school girls. It was the small things he did that made her happy, and the small responses he got that pleased him and alleviated the guilt in his heart.

Something about Sakura just drew him to always feel the need to touch her. Whether he would unconsciously stand so close to her that their shoulders brushed, or wrap his arms around her entirely when she ran into his arms after a long day, Sasuke always found excuses to touch her. Much to her surprise, Sasuke actually gave wonderful hugs and really soothing back rubs.

Sakura's aura seemed to be much brighter in the following weeks. She would voluntarily stay at work longer, requiring less caffeine and sleep. Tenten noticed how much more she had been smiling as well. Her already alluring personality had increased tenfold, and everyone noticed: even Sasuke, and especially Naruto.

She seemed genuinely happy, and that brought peace to both of their hearts.

On the other hand, ever since Sasuke came to his conclusion that he wanted to be with her, he grew a little possessive. Of course, it was within reason, and only the people who could read Sasuke properly noticed. When he tried to justify his actions, he would say that, as one of her best friends, he was not going to allow any random hormonal man to touch her.

At first, Naruto thought he really was just being protective. But once he saw the ghost of a smirk grace Sasuke's features, he knew what he was up to.

He spotted her standing in front of another man he had never met before, one day. In one hand she was holding some medical texts, and her other hand rested on the strap of a bag. She had on her full doctor's uniform, and she seemed a little uneasy, though she tried to keep a cordial smile on her face for the man she was speaking to.

With a low growl, Sasuke approached them. Sakura could not look happier to see him. "Sasuke-kun!" her face suddenly brightened and Sasuke fought a smile.

"Sakura," he greeted with a smile. "I'm sorry," he feigned sincerity. "Am I interrupting something?"

The man looked at Sasuke from head to toe, a snarl forming in his expression. Meanwhile, he was losing points with Sasuke as well. This stranger stood too confidently in front of him, and seemed unaware of who exactly he was. The way he made Sakura tense beside him only made things worse.

"No, not at all." The man finally answered, and disregarded Sasuke, turning back to Sakura. "Who is this?"

"Ah," Sakura apologized half-heartedly. "This is Uchiha Sasuke, one of my good friends."

Something changed in the man's expression, Sasuke couldn't quite tell. He wasn't sure if he seemed intimidated at the sound of his last name, or even more uncaring and dismissive towards him. Either way, Sasuke's patience with this man was growing thin, and it grew even thinner when he sensed Sakura's discomfort once more.

"Sasuke-kun, this is Hiru-sensei. He is a medic from the hidden cloud village." Sasuke remained indifferent. If this is how this new guy wanted to play, he would beat him at his own game.

"Nice to meet you,"

"Hn,"

Sakura took a deep breath. Kami was just testing her patience, she knew it. "So then," she continued. "I'll have to run a couple more errands, but I should be ready to go in about an hour. If you don't mind, could you take this to Tsunade-sama at the hospital before we leave?" she began to rummage in the bag with her free hand and Sasuke looked back at the man in front of them.

The doctor was glaring straight at young man, as if he was stealing his candy (because really, he kind of was). Sasuke decided he had enough; who did he think he was? While Sakura continued to dig through her bag, he flashed his Sharingan and moved his hair to reveal his Rinnegan, and watched in amusement as fear washed over this joke. Satisfied, he raises an eyebrow and tries not to laugh at how easy that was.

With a short response that Sakura could barely hear, Hiru grabs the folder from her and takes off in the opposite direction. Sasuke's smirk grew, until Sakura hit him softly in the arm.

"I know what you did," she scolded him, unable to repress the smile growing on her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sasuke lied, turning his head to hide the smug grin on his face. "What did he want from you?"

"Oh," she handed him her bag so she could reorganize the items she held in her left hand. "Ino and I are actually headed to the Hidden Cloud Village this afternoon for a mission…I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, I meant to tell you, but I forgot when I got so caught up in everything and-"

"It's fine," Sasuke cut in, wondering why she was so frantic and apologetic about a simple mission she was assigned.

She sighed and took her bag back. "It's part of Konoha's outreach program for the other villages' medical teams. Since Konoha is the fastest excelling village in terms of medicine, Tsunade-shishou and Kakashi-sensei signed contracts with some villages to host a program where the best medics, including yours truly, educate them and help build hospitals around the ninja world."

Sasuke looked at her in awe. He knew she was amazing, but to be demanded by the entire shinobi population to make a monumental difference to the growth and development of the whole world? He felt a slight tug in his heart; this was just another reason to love her. She caught him smiling.

"What?"

Swiftly, Sasuke changed the subject. "How long will you be gone?"

Sakura looked down. "They expect this whole program to take about two years." Sasuke's heart dropped. "But I will definitely write to you while I'm gone." She reassured, sensing his disappointment.

"And what does that creep have anything to do with this?"

Sakura suddenly felt awkward. "Hiru-sensei is the head of the hospital in the first village we will be working at." She watched as his frown deepened at this. "He's technically my superior."

Sasuke made a face. "He makes you uncomfortable."

She stayed quiet, unable to argue. She shifted awkwardly. "Well, it's only temporary." Then she smiled. "Besides, I think you scared him away enough."

He wanted to laugh, but his concern for her remained. He saw how much she didn't want him to worry, however, so he sighed and brushed some hair behind her ear out of force of habit. "If he does try anything, just remind him of your big, scary boyfriend back home."

Sakura could have sworn her heart stopped for a moment. She regained her composure, giggled cutely, and thanked him. When he didn't answer, she touched his arm softly and maintained eye contact. "Are you okay?"

"Why didn't you tell me all of this earlier?"

She watched him pout, and almost wanted to pinch his cheeks. This was new, and really cute to her. She took a step closer and laid a hand on his cheek, smiling. "I know, I'll miss you too."

He wasn't sure what compelled him to, but on complete impulse, Sasuke closed the distance and his lips came crashing down on hers. He had no idea where that came from, and it was the farthest thing from graceful. He felt his heart fight its way out of his chest and drop down to his stomach, but it felt nice.

After the initial shock, Sakura smiled against his lips, and then pulled away with a bright, dorky smile on her face. She looked very flustered, but the happiness on her face made him smile too. "You really are something, Sasuke-kun."

He looked away, feeling his cheeks heat up. "Sorry."

She laughed again, the graceful sound easing his embarrassment. "Why are you sorry? You know," she teased. "I've been waiting for that since I was twelve." Then she reached up and poked his forehead with two fingers. "I'll see you when I get back."

She gave him one last hug, and then took off.

For the first few weeks, Sasuke felt slight paranoia tugging at his sanity when she wasn't writing to him like she promised. After Naruto reassured him she's just busy and that "no news is good news", Sasuke eventually was able to temporarily relax and wait patiently.

Her first letter was awkward, since she had never really written to him before and didn't know what to expect in return. She told him in great detail how things were going and where she was working first. Sakura made sure to reassure him that Hiru was not making her as uncomfortable as he did before. Sasuke figured she was just saying that to calm his nerves, so he reminded her he was only a few days travel away.

When he wrote her back, he didn't say much. He would ask questions for her to answer, simply enough. And every time he heard her ecstatic voice in his head when he read about her stories, he couldn't help but smile.

He wasn't sure why he felt this way anyway. In fact, Sakura seemed to understand his feelings more than he did himself.

When he first heard about Sakura's suitors from Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi, Sasuke didn't see them as a threat. But the Hiru incident served as a wakeup call, and now Sasuke was fully aware of all the men after her. At this realization, he knew he had to do something.

Sakura was a beautiful, intelligent, and talented young woman; everyone knew this. And now that she was traveling the world, meeting new people, there was no doubt she was going to run into a few men who would finally meet their dream girl upon meeting her.

So, when Sasuke found himself back in the Uchiha compound, rummaging through his mother's neatly organized jewelry box, he couldn't help but think about how happy this would make her. That, and how disappointed each man would look after seeing the Uchiha symbol around her neck. When he eventually found the necklace he came here for, he took a seat and examined it. It was simple, but very elegant.

It was a family heirloom; he vaguely recalled his mother telling him how it belonged to his father's mother, or something. It had been passed down the main branch of the Uchiha clan for generations, always given to the lucky woman who stole the heart of the next Uchiha heir. Sasuke held it up and imagined it already around her neck, as she would smile in response to such a beautiful and meaningful gift.

Sasuke took a deep breath to suppress the blush tainting his cheeks and the smile forming on his lips, and he headed to the jeweler's to polish it up.

"You're terrible, you know that?" Ino pointed her chopsticks at Sakura's face one day during their lunch break. "Why didn't you tell him earlier?"

"Are we still on this?"

"We were never 'on this'," Ino countered. "And it's not funny!"

"I'm not trying to be funny!" Sakura groaned. "I don't know. I know it was really immature, but part of me just wanted to make him wait for me. You know, like how I waited for him for seven years."

"Sakura…"

"And it'll give him time to himself to think about whether or not he wants to be with me, because I'm getting a little tired of playing this game with him." she added, a little aggravated.

"Huh," Ino suddenly looked extra interested. "What game?"

Sakura shook her head, looking like she had just eaten something that left a bad taste in her mouth. "I don't know what he wants. I mean, I should just be happy where we are right now. I already know how he feels…"

"I don't think you're wrong for feeling that way though." Ino sighed. "You've waited so long."

"Right," Sakura agreed. "Besides, I don't think he's ever missed me before. This can be a first."

"Fair enough," Ino reached over, taking a dumpling from her plate. "But do you not feel even a little bit of remorse? He's been so good to you lately."

Sakura thought back to all the moments Sasuke was the cause of her smile. She remembered the way he brings her lunch, even on his low Genin pay. She thought about the times he would walk her home if she worked over time. She smiled at the way his countenance would change based on what she would be ranting about after a long day.

Sakura had never truly seen this side of Sasuke before. She knew that when they were younger, he was most definitely capable of loving and caring for his teammates, but she had no idea how sweet he could actually be after ridding his life of hatred and revenge.

Not only was Sakura ecstatic from all the attention she was getting from the love of her life, but she also felt very giddy knowing he loved her back, even if he hasn't said it to her yet. She couldn't fight the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Yes, he has," Sakura, in turn, stole a piece of shrimp from Ino's. "Because of him, this is the happiest I've ever been since…I can't even remember."

"Mhmm, and you blatantly lied." Ino shook her head, "all because you want your revenge. Sounds familiar."

"Okay, now you're just being a jerk," Sakura defended. "If I really did pour my entire being into this kind of mission it really would take two years."

"True, but Kakashi-sensei specifically said our job was to educate and then kick start the growth of medical expansion around the world," Ino countered effortlessly. "not make sure we ourselves are carrying wood to build hospitals and then personally train all of the potential medics."

"I hate you," Sakura mumbled, succumbing more to her guilt.

"And why the hell did you tell him two years? Three and a half weeks in every major village, this should be done in six months."

Sakura wasn't even sure why Ino was getting on her case about this. Even if she was acting like a child right now, Sakura couldn't help but feel a little resentment for everything that made her grow up too fast. And now they weren't letting her act a little childish, as if she didn't already feel a pang of guilt in her chest for hurting Sasuke like this.

"As if he really cares that much," she waved a hand, dismissing her accusations. "He has Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei, and all the other boys back in the village to keep him company. They can train and punch each other in the face all they want without me there to scold them into next week."

Ino laughed, but then she became serious again. "Are you kidding me?" Sakura looked up, surprised at how easily and confidently Ino smashed her opposition. "Sure, he's been hanging out with all the other men around town, but when it comes down to it, he's always thinking of you."

"What are you talk-"

"And I bet every time he does hang out with them, they're talking about you."

"Okay, now where did you get this?" Instead of being convinced at this point, Sakura fell back on denial at how ridiculous her best friend sounded.

"Sai told me." Ino said simply, and it seemed credible enough. "And come on, I see the way he looks at you. It's the same longing look Naruto gives Hinata when they're together."

Sakura looked up at her curiously. "How?"

"He doesn't look at you lustfully, but longingly. Lovingly."

To be honest, Sakura couldn't deny any of this. It was true, Sasuke had really learned to open up to her and show more affection than she ever imagined he would. Of course, he never did anything drastic like Naruto, or extravagant like Sai, or even romantic like Chouji, but he made sure she knew she was loved, as much as Uchiha Sasuke could.

Ino sat back in her seat when she felt content with seeing Sakura contemplate her life decisions. If they were both going to be really dense about this whole thing, she would at least do her best to speed things up a little.