A Walk in the Park-

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto.

Chapter Thirty Three-

Beach Day

The next morning I woke up with a head full of pink hair in my face, strawberry scent filling my nose. I couldn't help the grin that came to my lips as I pulled her closer, one hand playing in her soft strands. I would never need anything more in my life as long as I could wake up every morning with this woman in my arms. I had no idea that it was possible to be this happy with someone else, to want someone so much that it drove me to insanity. No matter how much time we spent together, it wasn't enough. It honestly made me question if this was normal. It baffled me that I was even capable of this kind of attachment to someone I could never imagine losing.

Sakura stirred and nestled closer against my chest. She was so dear to me, so irreplaceable. I wanted to always be with her and she with me. I can't imagine her ever leaving my side and I didn't want to give her reason to. One day, one day soon I was going to marry her.

"Mm . . ." Sakura hummed. "Sasuke." She held tight to me, sighing as my fingers continued to play in her hair.

"Hm?" I hummed, leaning over to press a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Don't stop." She grumbled sleepily.

"As if I would." I lightly teased.

"I love you." She murmured, trying to snuggle even closer to me though she was already halfway on top of me.

"I love you more." I ensured her.

"No way. I love you the most." She said, sounding more awake now.

Good, I had no intention of letting her sleep. "I highly doubt that." I said. "There is nothing more important to me than you."

"And there's nothing more important to me than you. So, maybe we're even."

I smiled and gave the tip of her nose a peck. "Perhaps."

She grinned against me before stretching out in bed next to me. "Ahh . . . so . . . it's beach day."

I blinked at her before laying flat on my back, chuckling. "One track mind. You aren't even dressed yet."

"And I have no intention to get dressed either." She told me matter of factly.

"I have no complaints." I winked, blatantly checking her out. "Food first. Although I am in the mood for a light pink snack."

"I like the sound of that. But real food first, and a shower and then maybe we can talk about it."

I sighed. "If you insist." Then I pulled her back on top of me and licked her bottom lip. "At least give me something to hold me over til then. I'm starving."

"If you start I'll give you much more than enough to hold you over and then you might be too weak to make it to the beach. So no."

I made a face and raised an eyebrow. "Me? Weak?" I asked. "Maybe you should put that to the test. See how much I can take."

An evil grin crossed her features then. "I was just trying to be nice and feed you first because I know you must be hungry . . . but I'm definitely up to the challenge. Don't think I'm not."

"I don't know . . . you seemed rather hesitant." I mused.

"Only for your sake, trust me." Feisty. Point Haruno.

"Whatever you say, kitten." I said cooly.

"Okay . . . we can play a bit. Then have breakfast and a shower. But if you try to skip out on beach day you will regret it."

Oh how wrong she was. "I regret nothing." I told her. Point Uchiha.

"You think that now." She smirked.

"Tell me, Ms. Haruno. What will happen if I miss this all important beach day?" I asked cheekily.

"Hm. Don't worry, you won't miss it. That's why you're not getting anything special right now." She declared, sticking her tongue out at me and then darting off the bed before I could even think about stopping her. Well, well, let the chase begin. I got off the bed and went after her downstairs to the kitchen.

"Don't pout." I cooed and she sent me a glare. "I have no intention of missing out. I live for beach day."

"Oh, just not beach night then?" She rolled her eyes and I smiled.

After tying on a white apron, she went about rummaging through the cabinets for some things and in a matter of minutes had started cooking. I calmed down quickly when I noticed her pull a pack of bacon out of the fridge and put it on as well.

Damn, she knew me too well. The second the smell hit my nose, my stomach growled loudly. She turned to look at me and I felt the tips of my ears burn.

"See . . . and you thought you wanted to be burning calories before breakfast." She teased and turned back to her work.

"I'm not against the idea of breakfast." I told her. "I had just wanted something a little sweeter."

"And you can have it, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Real breakfast." She scolded.

"Alright, you win." I smiled and made my way around the counter. "Do you need any help?"

"You watch and learn." She told me with a knowing look.

It was a blessing and a curse that she knew me so well. "I can watch better up close and personal." I insisted, dancing around my real reason.

"Sure you can, but you try to grab and I'll swat you." She warned and I laughed.

She was something else. "Would you really deprive a starving man?" I asked. "I only want to taste a little."

"Starving and yet wanting to wait for breakfast and partake in extra curricular activities instead." She sent me a playful glare and shook her head at me as she continued to cook.

I checked out her naked form as I tried to bargain with her. "That and this are two different matters. Can I at least have a piece of bacon?" I asked innocently.

"Just calm down, it's not even ready yet." She smiled then. "But yes you can have some when it's ready."

"I'm holding you to that."

Only a second later she started pulling bacon out of the pan. She gave me a soft angelic smile as she pushed the plate closer to me, urging me to take a piece without giving me any argument. At least somebody truly loved me and cared about my feelings.

"Good?" She asked as I picked up a piece and immediately had a bite.

"Hn."

It wasn't too much longer until she was finished and we sat down at the table, the seat cold against my naked skin. She placed the apron back where she found it before fixing the both of us some orange juice and then joining me. I wasted no time digging in, enjoying her food. I would have no complaints eating her cooking for the rest of my life, it was right up there with Itachi's.

"Thank you, love." I said, showing my appreciation for breakfast.

"You're welcome." She replied as she continued to eat her own food.

Just as we had finished our meal, a knock sounded at the door followed by Luna's barking. Sakura and I froze, our eyes widening at the realization that Itachi was early. Very early.

"Shit!" I cursed at the same time Sakura said "Oh no…"

We both ran up the stairs, almost knocking each other over and laughed. We rushed to get dressed in the bedroom and I was the first to make it back down, having less to put on. I fussed with my hair on the way to the door before opening it to reveal an amused Itachi.

Luna ran in to search for Sakura while I stepped aside to let him in. "Hope I wasn't interrupting." He mused, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Your presence is always interrupting. "Not at all." I mumbled as I shut the door.

Sakura came down with Luna at her heel, looking as happy as ever. Maybe I should be worried. . . Sakura is lovable, Luna might actually ditch me. Itachi smiled and pulled her into a hug.

"Good morning, little sister." He greeted and my jaw dropped. What the fuck?

"Morning." She smiled almost too brightly at him.

I was definitely missing something here. "Since when is she 'little sister'?"

Itachi looked at me as if that was the dumbest question I could have asked. "I am preparing for the future, you should praise me."

My face reddened and I rolled my eyes. "Yes, well you can leave now."

"Oh? I see." He said and turned his attention back to Sakura. "Am I a nuisance?" Yes.

"Of course not." Sakura waved him off and I scoffed.

"Don't encourage him, he's just looking for sympathy." I insisted.

Itachi faked a hurt expression and dropped his eyes to the floor. "Well, I know when I'm not wanted. I can see you aren't in the best of moods this morning."

Sakura swatted my arm. "Don't worry about Sasuke… you can stay as long as you want."

Really. I can't believe she's buying this. "What about beach day?" I asked, unfortunately peeking Itachi's interest.

"There's plenty of time." She muttered, sending me a glare. This is bullshit, why did Itachi even come here in the first place?

"Beach day? Are you telling me you persuaded Sasuke to get in the ocean?" Itachi asked her and I shook my head. I knew where he was going with this and I'll be damned if he keeps this up.

"Nevermind that." I said, petting Luna as she jumped on me. "Hey, girl."

"Sasuke stop being so mean." She scolded me. "And it's nothing really." She added, laughing nervously. "And I can't swim anyway. We were just gonna… Um… take a walk."

"That sounds nice." Itachi said and if he asked to join us I was going to flip out. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Now that I've had my daily dose of teasing Sasuke, I really should be on my way."

I held back a sigh and tossed Sakura a put out look. Then I turned back to the front door and held it open. "If you're finished, I have better things to do." I told him and he came over, flicking me in the forehead.

"Now, now. Manners, little brother, or else I might think you don't want me here." He smirked before looking back at Sakura. "I'll see you later, enjoy yourselves."

"Bye big bro! Be safe." Sakura waved all too enthusiastically.

He smiled and winked at her so I slammed the door in his face. "Good riddance."

"You're so mean it's ridiculous. It's a shame considering Itachi is your favorite person in the world and you treat him worse than anyone." She rolled her eyes at me, turned on her heel and started walking away.

I quickly followed and defended myself. "He purposely pushes my buttons, knowing how to rile me up. He thinks it's funny and I bet he's plotting his revenge right now for shutting the door in his face."

Sakura's hands went to her hips then. "Whatever Mr. Ridiculous. I'm over it." She turned away once more, shutting me out as she knelt down to give all her affection to Luna instead.

Damn it, this is exactly what I was talking about. Everytime my brother gets involved, someone ends up mad at me.

I sighed again and knelt down too, not bothering to meet her eyes since she would avoid my gaze anyway. "I'll admit I rarely say anything nice to him. I'm working on it, but it's hard."

"As much as you respect and love him, it shouldn't be that hard." She told me, hugging Luna close as she rubbed her. Great, now I was going to lose my dog too.

"As I said, I'm working on it." I repeated. "Just looking at his smug face is enough to irritate me. Do you really think if I play nice so will he?"

"I'm not arguing about it, Sasuke. I'm just saying… you don't need to go straight to being rude every time he's around us." She sighed. "I don't see how he puts up with it."

I opened my mouth and closed it, taking in her words. ". . . Is it really that bad?"

"I mean… I guess it's just how you two are but… it is a bit annoying. Like, you shouldn't try to push him away… at least not all the time."

"Tsk . . ." He was the annoying one, but perhaps she had a point. "Old habits die hard. It's not as if we never have serious conversations . . . but usually we just nit pick at each other. I don't really know how else to treat him."

"I get that." She nodded to herself before finally looking at me. "I didn't mean to upset you or anything, it's just, Itachi did come a long way to bring Luna for us and I felt like we ran him off."

As if to emphasise her point, Luna nosed my hand for me to pet her. A wave a guilt hit me and I sighed for the hundredth time that morning. I went to the bedroom and grabbed my phone. Then I went back to Sakura and Luna, dialing Itachi's number and putting it on speaker.

"Miss me already?" His voice gloated on the other end of the line.

"Thanks for bringing Luna." I told him. "We really appreciate it."

"You're very welcome, Sasuke. She would have more fun at the beach than at home with me." He admitted.

I smiled. "Well, I am her favorite." I teased. "You can come back you know, for dinner or whatever. When you have time."

Itachi laughed. "I might take you up on that. Though I'm curious, what brought on this sudden need for my presence?"

"No reason, I'm just being nice." I stated. " . . . I should do that more often."

Silence filled the room for a few moments as Itachi took in my words, for once shocked speechless.

"Well this certainly takes me back. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was talking to the childhood Sasuke that used to always follow me around."

I blushed at the fact Sakura heard that and avoided her gaze. "I did no such thing." I denied but tried to stay true to the reason I called in the first place, to be honest and nicer. "I only wanted your attention . . . and to spend more time with you. You were always so busy."

"Aw." Sakura whispered, her fingers clutching my free hand. This is so embarrassing.

"I have all the time in the world now, little brother. All you have to do is ask and I will be there."

I cleared my throat and decided to end this quickly before it got too nice. "I'll remember that . . . well, that's all I wanted to say. Goodbye." I said and ended the call.

"Sasukeeeee!" She cooed, standing up next to me and hugging me tight. "I knew you could be such a sweet ass if you wanted to be! I love you."

"I prefer to only be sweet to you . . . but it can't be help." I smiled. "He is my brother, even if he gets on my nerves most of the time."

"I'm so proud of you. I love your sweet ass." She gushed.

My arms held fast to her waist and I kissed her forehead. "I love you too."

"Come on you two, let's go enjoy the beach!" She was pumped now and my mouth fell open when she started stripping on her way to the door. I fucking love this woman.

I wasted no time following her lead and got rid of my clothes, coming up behind her to kiss her cheek. We walked barefoot and naked down the beach, Luna playing in the surf.

It was a sweet and happy time. I found that I was always happiest when I was with my two girls. Just watching Sakura run along the beach with Luna, looking back at me with the brightest of smiles every so often . . . I wasn't sure if I'd ever been so happy, so at peace.

Every minute was enjoyable. There was nobody to bother us. We played on the beach until we got hot and tired and then we lazed in the hammock on the porch, talking about us and life and things we wanted in our futures . . . that's when things got deep.

"That's about all my thoughts about work… I mean I've already reached my goals. I know you have a lot more to think about but I have more… Personal matters on my mind."

This definitely piqued my interest. "Such as?"

"I don't know… Like us. Our future together." She shrugged, smiling lazily at me.

"I see. Do you have anything in specific in mind?" I asked, running my fingers up and down her bare arm.

"Hmm… hard to say." She murmured, amusement thick in her tone.

I smirked and took her hand. "Well, if you don't have any definite plans, I have a proposition for you."

"And what is that?"

I brought my hand to my lips and lightly kissed her fingers. "If you stay by my side forever, I'll let you steal Luna."

Sakura chuckled, the widest of grins on her face. "Luna is already half mine and I'm not going anywhere… ever."

My hand went to her waist and held her closer if possible, enjoying the warmth of her naked body against mine. Then I smiled into her hair as I said, "I couldn't ask for anything more."

"This is all we need. Just us. Forever."

It was no secret that I wanted us to spend the rest of our lives together, but hearing Sakura want it just as much as I do helped me finally decide. I was going to ask her to marry me someday in the near future. It won't be anytime soon, but I will ask her before the year is over. Seeing Naruto and Hinata finally take that last step has also made me realize that that's what I want. I want to be tied to the person I love most in this world, to be with her as long as we drew breath.

Before I had met Sakura, I never thought I could feel this way, that these thoughts would grace my mind. It was impossible for me to see a future like this happening. I wasn't prepared to be this happy, to feel this complete. So much in my life has changed since I met her and I hope it continues to change. With her next to me, I could handle anything that came our way.

"Hn." I hummed and breathed in her strawberry scent. "Forever."

A/N:

Thanks for reading and all reviews! Next chapter will be the last call for any questions or comments that we can respond to in an A/N, get them in! Also the next chapter will be two chapters in one but we're posting it as one chapter. It will start off with Sakura's point of view and then move to Sasuke's.

Question:

Will he be calling Sakura 'little sister' in front of Sasuke now or is it just Sakura and Itachi's inside joke?

Kana: He will call her that most if not all the time now, hehe. Its so cute, I can't help myself.

Tyy: He better. Lol.

That's it for this update. Only a couple chapters left! Ahhhh! We're not ready!

Til next time...

-Kanatyy