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Chapter 5

*~The Next Day~*

"Sasuke!", called a familiar voice. Sasuke turned around to see Naruto darting towards him at full speed. Wide eyed, Sasuke side stepped to avoid collision. With a beaming smile, Naruto brought his hands down hard, clasping onto Sasuke's shoulders.

"Jeez Sasuke, it's just like you to have waited this long to meet up! How've you been?! What are you doing back in the village?! How has your trip been so far?! Wait... How long are you staying in town? You're not leaving yet are ya?" Naruto exclaimed, asking each question with frantic enthusiasm.

"O-one question at a time Naruto-kun" a small voice answered from behind Naruto. Sasuke peered over Naruto's shoulder, to see that it was Hinata. She was clutching onto the back of Naruto's jacket, looking just as tired as Naruto did from running.

Releasing his grip on Sasuke, Naruto sheepishly scratched his head laughing.

"Haha, yeah, you're right. Sorry about that, I was just surprised to find out you were in town" Naruto said grinning.

Hinata stood next to Naruto then, as she bowed to Sasuke, who nodded amicably back at her.

"Hello Sasuke-san, it's nice to see you again!" Hinata piped up, smiling genuinely.

"It's been a while, Hinata. You both look well." Sasuke said in return, appraising the pair, who happened to be standing in closer proximity than Sasuke would've thought to be usual.

Just then, as if confirming Sasuke's suspicion, Naruto put his arm around Hinata's waist, drawing her closer.

"Oh yeah. I forgot..." Naruto fumbled then, looking down awkwardly before continuing, "You've been gone a while Sasuke, so I'm sure you didn't know but, Hinata and I are together now!"

Sasuke's eyes widened at the new information, taking in Hinata's embarrassed expression, and studying the closeness between Naruto and Hinata. It was peculiar seeing his friend in this light.

"Ahh" Sasuke murmured, nodding in approval of their union. "That's great news. I am happy for you both" Sasuke said, with the beginnings of a truly heartfelt smile on his lips.

Hinata gawked at the small smile on Sasuke's face. I've never seen him smile before, she thought to herself, before Naruto interrupted her thoughts again.

"Well actually Sasuke, it's really good timing that you're here... I've been meaning to ask you something, but it's pretty difficult to get a hold of you when your whereabouts are hard to pinpoint..."

Sasuke squinted, perplexed by Naruto's sudden seriousness. He's been trying to get a hold of me? What for, a mission? Sasuke pondered. I knew I was drawn back here, so soon, for a reason.

"We should go somewhere more quiet to talk about it" Sasuke said gruffly.

Surprised, Naruto took in Sasuke's shift in mood, and exchanged a puzzled look with Hinata, before agreeing.

"Sure thing, I'm actually starving. How about we hit Ichiraku's like old times? I can explain the whole thing there!" Naruto beamed, delighting in the fact that he had an excuse to eat ramen.

Sasuke and Naruto began to walk through town, as Hinata scuttled after them.

"B-but Naruto! We just ate-!"

*~SAKURA~*

"Sakura..." a deep, husky voice whispered. Feeling finger tips skim over her cheeks lightly, Sakura purred, eyes still closed softly.

Putting her weight into the touch, until the hand had cupped her face, Sakura sighed blissfully.

The hand glided to the tip of her chin, raising it slightly, angling her sleepy face. A familiar cologne consumed her, intoxicating her with every lung full, willing her to lose herself in it.

Just inches from her, hot breath ignited her skin, and her lips parted instinctively. Her hands traveled upwards, weaving up from the mans neck, then threading her fingers in his hair. Attempting to close the distance between their bated breath, Sakura whispered...

"Sasuke...Kun..."

"RINNNNNNNG, RINNNNNNNNG"

"AHHHHH!" Sakura wailed, as she rolled off the side of her bed.

Bumping her head on the post, she sat up clutching the sore spot. Pouting, she appraised her surroundings, when it suddenly dawned on her what she had just been dreaming about.

Not just WHAT I was dreaming about, but WHO. The very realization itself, sent the sudden butterflies in her stomach into chaos mode.

Attempting incredibly hard not to dwell on the dream, Sakura pushed it into the back of her mind, as she rose from the floor rubbing her head.

"RINNNNNNNG, RINNNNNNG"

The phone shrilled again. Understanding now what had woken her up, Sakura ran downstairs to pick it up.

"Hello?!" Sakura blurted into the phone.

"Hey! Sakura! What the hell, you were supposed to call me last night!" Ino bitterly spat into the phone. Sakura could hear Ino, fumbling with vases clumsily, and the flower shop bell dinging as customers arrived.

Recalling the night before, it dawned on Sakura that she never really did get around to calling Ino. Sakura had nearly fell asleep in the bath, and had blacked out in her robe as soon as she hit the bed.

"Yeah sorry Ino, I passed out last night. I was more exhausted than I expected" Sakura began to explain as she walked into the living room. "Are you sure you can talk on the phone while at work?" Sakura questioned, wincing back from the phone at the piercing sound of a vase shattering on Ino's end.

"SHIT!" Ino yelled, as she called for a broom and dustpan. Sakura stifled a laugh. "Yeah... It's whatever. Look! I want to know all the details, tell me everything!" Ino demanded impatiently.

Sakura moved in front of the mirror, gaping in horror at her appearance. Pulling at her disheveled bedhead, she started to disclose the specifics of the night before.

"Well, dinner was great. We had a lot to talk about actually, he's a good conversationalist. And then he walked me home..." Sakura stated promptly, analyzing and poking at the bags under her eyes in the mirror.

"Did he kiss you?!" Ino insisted, cutting to the chase. Hesitating, Sakura weighed the pros and cons of honesty with her persistent friend.

"You hesitated! HE DID, didn't he?!" Ino practically squealed.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura quickly killed Ino's joy with a brisk "No". Sitting down finally, she sighed in defeat, and decided to explain precisely how she ran away from the kiss.

"No way... That's really unlike you Sakura. Do you think, that maybe it's because HE'S here? That maybe... it threw you off?" Ino investigated.

Biting her lip, Sakura recalled the heady dream she had. It was if it was reality, and just thinking of it caused her concentration to lapse, and for her imagination to take hold.

The familiar pining piped up in her gut, causing her to unwillingly remember all the years of heartache this yearning had caused her in the past, and how that dream was indeed nothing close to reality.

She could never admit to Ino that she had a dream about him, so she decided to act like it was no big deal.

"Honestly, I think the kiss itself threw me off more than anything. It was like, I over anticipated it or something and psyched myself out. Oh well though, I won't let it happen again!" Sakura confirmed, in mock certainty.

" Well alright... But... Oh! That reminds me, when are you seeing him again?" Ino inquired, as Sakura raised her eyebrows and crossed her free arm, considering the question.

"You know what... I'm not sure. I'll call him!"

*~Authors note: I apologize for the first 3 or so chapters, as I didn't realize the format changed when I transferred

the story into the Doc Manager. The switch between Sasuke and Sakura's POV had no definitive line, and seemed to change

randomly, as the format I used to display this change originally, did not transfer over with the rest of the content.

My apologies if it was confusing for anyone! I went in and corrected this mistake for the past chapters, so that it is more readable.

3*~~Thank you to those that stuck with the story despite that!~~**3 (That'll teach me to review my own work

within DM first, before posting anything ;-; woops)