||Five: Sakura's Birthday Part I

It was Sakura's birthday when she realized that maybe, just maybe, Sasuke was ready to return her feelings.

It was her first day off after three months that Sakura had gotten from Tsunade-shishou. Sakura had decided to spend the entire day resting and replenishing her chakra after long exhausting hours of work, but all that had gone down the drain the moment her doorbell rang.

At first, Sakura didn't want to get up, but when she heard the doorbell ring again, after a span of exact five minutes, she decided to get up.

It was probably Naruto, with a large bouquet of flowers that he collected for her birthday like every year. Sakura sighed, the gesture was quite appreciated but she didn't understand why he had to show up so early at her doorstep.

Sakura pushed her hair back as she yawned, still clad in the pink bunny sweatshirt that Ino-pig had gifted her, she grumbled as she opened the door.

"Naruto, couldn't you wait to barge inside my house at least till the sun was fully up?" Sakura said as she stifled a yawn as she opened the door.

She was unable to close her mouth as she saw the face of her guest. A huge blush covered her face as her grip on the door tightened.

Sasuke looked back, hesitantly as he saw her state. He felt like he has intruded on her sleeping, he should just come back later, he decided.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said with a high pitched voice and an awkward laugh, as she thought about what she was wearing. "Good Morning!" She chirped awkwardly.

Sasuke merely blinked back, not knowing how to respond, he did not want her to feel uncomfortable at all.

"I will visit later." Sasuke had managed to say, was that the right choice of words? Sakura seemed to get quiet all of a sudden. Had he said something wrong?

"W-What happened, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. Her voice sounded sad to Sasuke, and then she fell quiet.

Sasuke sighed, and he tried again, "I apologise for my rudeness, I shouldn't have come by so early in the morning."

Sakura took a moment to finally let the words sink in, and when she did, she just laughed, Sasuke sighed, so she wasn't sad anymore.

"Nonsense, come inside."

"I don't want to intrude."

"Don't worry about it." Sakura said as she went inside the wide opened door and waited for Sasuke, but he did not move. Sakura merely rolled her eyes as she went out again, only to hold Sasuke's lone hand and lead him inside.

After what felt like moments of hesitation, Sasuke finally let Sakura lead the way. He found himself sitting on her couch moments later as Sakura prepared tea. He looked around her apartment, since this was the first time he had come inside. The house did not particularly scream feminine—which was understandable as this was still a shinobi's house, but it still screamed Sakura.

Every inch of it.

Sasuke's mood lightened up as he soaked in the ambience of Sakura and her house.

"So what brings you here, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said as she put two cups of tea on the table and sat down as well.

Sasuke looked at her contemplatively, "Ah." He acknowledged her question as Sakura blew on her tea—still clad in the pastel pink sweatshirt with the bunny ears.

Sakura looked at Sasuke and his overgrown hair that still managed to make him look so good. How could someone, who didn't even spend a good second in front of the mirror, look so handsome? Sakura blew on her tea again, ignoring heart, which skipped another beat.

"It's your birthday." Sasuke finally said, as he looked at her with a sincere look on his face, Sakura almost dropped her teacup as she looked at him with a mixture of shock and surprise written on her face.

H-he…he remembers my…

My birthday.

Sakura's heart beat wildly in her chest as she looked at Sasuke, her blush growing darker and darker.

The way Sasuke's lips curled upwards upon seeing her reaction sent Sakura's mind and heart in a frenzy, was this a dream? He finally spoke again, the curl of his lips finally stretching into a smile,

"I wanted to…spend this day with you."

And Sakura thought she nearly fainted that moment, but the sound of her teacup falling on the floor is what snapped her out of her reverie. Sasuke looked at her disapprovingly as Sakura sheepishly fetched a kitchen towel to clean.

Sasuke did not know how to decipher her reaction. She had been taken aback for sure, but was she happy? Or was she angry? He did not know. He decided to observe her further and then deduce from her behaviour.

When Sakura bent down to clean the tea, Sasuke noticed the bunny ears that had been attached to the shirt she had been wearing. Sasuke's interest perked up and he failed at controlling his urge.

He put the cap on her head with a smirk on his face as Sakura looked up, not even aware of what he did. He smirked as one of the bunny ears came down on her head.

"It suits you." He remarked as he stood up and watched Sakura turn into a red tomato.

Sakura tried to breathe normally as she saw Sasuke smile. She did not know how to react, so she merely fell back on her ass as she placed her hand on her head where Sasuke had touched her. He merely smirked as Sakura stuttered her way out of the awkward situation,

"I-I'll just…I need to…yeah." Sakura got up as she scurried off to the comforts of her kitchen where she pretended to wash the teacups and mumble incoherently.

Sasuke watched the scene unfold before his eyes, he didn't miss how she secretly smiled to herself as she washed the cup.

Sakura decided that moment, that she would wear the sweatshirt more often.