A/N: I don't exactly feel all that well today. But, I did just eat a cheese sandwich on wheat bread, so I think I'll make it long enough to write this fanfiction out. Oh, by the way everyone, wheat bread is the most delicious carbohydrate I've ever eaten. Nearly as good as General Tso's Chicken, which is the most amazing substance on the planet!
A Promise Made On A Sakura Tree
Chapter 5
Because she had suddenly fled yesterday, Sakura had no idea when or where she was suppose to meet Sasuke. Thankfully Naruto had had some wits about him, and had gone to the trouble of leaving a note taped to the front door of the Haruno home. And for the first time in his life, Konoha's knucklehead ninja proved to have a brain cell.
"Sakura, honey, this was found outside. It's for you. You should read it quickly; it took all my power and focus to keep your nosy father from getting it on my way up the stairs." Sakura's mom said as she entered Sakura's room unannounced. Sakura jumped in surprise and nearly fell off her bed. In the process she did end up dropping the book she had been reading.
"You scared me mom!" Sakura half complained as she picked herself up and brushed herself off. Her mother smiled and picked up the fallen book before handing over the letter.
"Well, here you go. Hurry and open it; I want to know what it says!" the two Haruno women sat down on Sakura's bed, and Sakura opened her up her letter.
"Sakura-chan, I just wanted to write and remind you to swing by my flower shop; you forgot to pick up that order of roses for your parents yesterday. Come get them today at two o'clock, okay? Love from, Ino-chan." Sakura read aloud, her puzzlement shining on her face.
'Ino-san's handwriting isn't sloppy like that. And why she'd sign it 'chan'? We're no longer friends; not that I'd ever tell mom about that. And I haven't a clue about these roses. Why…?' Sakura's thought train trailed off as she understood the code hidden between the lines.
"Oh I forgot!" Sakura slapped her forehead dramatically.
"My, my, Ino-chan's handwriting is slacking somewhat…. Anyway what's this about dear?" Mrs. Haruno asked curiously as she looked at her daughter with smiling eyes, as if she was waiting for a juicy piece of information.
"You know how you and dad are going away on vacation tomorrow? Well, I stopped by at Ino-chan's flower shop to order roses for you two as a goodbye present. But, um, then Naruto Uzumaki-san, from my squad, showed up and acted like the cocky idiot he is. He put me in such a bad mood that I left and completely forgot about the roses." Sakura lied quickly, surprising even herself at how easily the words flowed from her mouth.
'Handwriting this atrocious couldn't belong to anyone other then Naruto-kun. I guess I owe him one.' The pinkette thought, a tiny smile tugging at her lips.
"And that's why you were so angry last night?" Her mother concluded, seeming pleased with Sakura's explanation.
"Yes. And I'm sorry I acted like such a terrible daughter." Sakura sighed before hanging her head. She really was sorry for acting so rudely towards her family last night.
"It's okay honey," Mrs. Haruno said and swiftly kissed her child's forehead.
"But, don't you have a mission today?" She continued with a slight chuckle at her daughter's forgetfulness.
'Yes, we do. Our mission is to spend time with who you call the devil.' Inner Sakura said nastily.
"Oh, that's right! Thanks mom!" Sakura jumped up and fled from the house, sticking the note in her pocket as she went. Before she met up with Sasuke in front of Ino's flower shop, Sakura decided to make a quick trip to Naruto's house to thank him properly. When she knocked, however, nobody answered.
'Huh, wonder where he's at?' Sakura thought before walking away. Now, as her feet subconsciously carried her towards the flower shop, Sakura felt her stomach go up in butterflies.
'Just hanging out with an old friend…no, keep it professional. I'm going to talk to my teammate. That's all. The 'rents won't catch me, and everything'll be okay…' She told herself warily while she walked.
'Ugh, and we didn't even get dressed up or anything! Heck, you made your hair nice for Naruto-baka. What's Sasuke-san going to think?' Inner Sakura moaned, bringing up another worry. It was true though; Sakura looked down at herself and saw she looked the same as she did any other day.
What joy. She rounded a corner without looking up from herself. Because her eyes were downcast, it was impossible for her to see where she was going. Sakura felt herself ram into somebody standing in front of her, and the collision nearly knocked the mystery villager over. Instead she found herself smashed against the strong back muscles of a blue shirted ninja.
"I'm sorry!" Sakura gasped quickly when she realized whom it was. Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance when he heard the familiar soprano voice. He spun around and Sakura found her face inches from his.
"Watch were you're going." Sasuke hissed, his warm breath mingling with Sakura's. For a moment Sakura thought her breathing would stop, and she felt her muscles freeze. His coal black eyes swept over the surrounding people, as if to make sure no one was watching.
"Follow me, but stay at least twenty paces away at all times. Do you understand?" Sasuke asked, still not looking at Sakura but rather at the other villagers. Sakura noted an edge to his tone, and she knew he wanted to hurry before someone would notice them and tell their families. She nodded once and then Sasuke turned and walked away.
'Ten…fifteen…' Sakura counted each step in her mind, and when Sasuke's foot touched the ground for the twentieth time she followed in pursuit. Unbeknownst to either Leaf shinobi, a pair of blue eyes had been watching jealously in the background.
Anyway, Sakura followed Sasuke to the outskirts of the village, and then past the Konoha gate. Sasuke continued to lead her through a thicket of trees before Sakura began to grow impatient.
'How much further do we need to be?' Inner Sakura complained, her voice loud enough to give normal Sakura a headache. She was tempted to catch up, but Sasuke did say she was to stay twenty paces behind the entire time.
'He never said you couldn't talk to him.' Inner Sakura said slyly before moving to the back of Sakura's mind.
"H-Hey!" Sakura stuttered, trying to sound normal. Her voice came out a few octaves to low, but Sasuke's magnificent hearing didn't fail him. He turned his hand and made a shushing gesture. Sakura unhappily zipped her lip.
They walked for another ten minutes until Sasuke stopped in front of a large meadow. She had to admit, it was worth walking all this way to see it; the wild flowers were in bloom, sending a wildfire of color up and down the fresh green grass.
Sakura hesitated before walking to stand next to the Uchiha. He stared at the beautiful scene before them and said nothing. A light breeze flew by, gently playing with the ends of their hair. Only then did Sasuke whisper something.
"Sometimes, when our parents would fight, I'd come here to think." His lips barely moved as he spoke, and Sakura half doubted she heard him correctly.
"Come." He said suddenly, his tone back to its usual bossy, commanding self. Taking long strides Sasuke walked forward and sat down among the vegetation. Sakura followed silently, her heart beating audibly.
'This is much more serious then my time with Naruto-kun…' Sakura thought as she sat down next to him. She wasn't sure how close to be, so she sat down at a distance that could have been filled by a small child. Sasuke didn't seem to care at all. He merely gazed up at the sky, as if there was something interesting to see. All Sakura saw were clouds.
She wanted to make small talk, to break the silence that had fallen between them with a witty comment, but sadly nothing came to mind. Instead she too looked up at the puffy white clouds and tried to find shapes in them. They stayed like that until the sun hung low in the sky and Sakura thought her neck would break off from staying in such a position.
She stretched out her neck and arms before yawning. Sasuke's eyes flickered in her direction for a moment; Sakura's were closed from yawning and she didn't catch the motion. Again, silence. Sakura found herself growing bored, and that turned to tired-ness. Her emerald eyes began to droop, and before her mind could think of ways to stay awake the lights went out.
Sasuke heard the swoosh of air that was associated with something falling, felt the light and easy breathing on his heck, and felt the sudden pressure on his shoulder. His subconscious knew what had happened, knew that it was an ordinary reaction to someone who had fallen asleep.
Yet, if that's what his mind was telling him, then how did it explain the sudden burning feeling that was creeping up the heartless Uchiha's face? What logical function caused his breath to catch in his throat, and make his heart increase its tempo?
The answer? Nothing. Nothing in the entire universe could explain these things. Except one thing, a thing Sasuke Uchiha would never have thought could possibly happen to him.
'What is this…what's happening to me?' Sasuke thought blankly, his body tensing. Slowly Sasuke turned his black head until he was peeking down at the sleeping girl, whose head was resting comfortably against his shoulder.
Now that he had a quick look, the Uchiha found he couldn't, didn't want to, look away. He took in every detail of her sleeping form, from the way her locks hung down over her face to the slow rising and falling of her chest.
Using his right hand Sasuke gently reached forward and brushed away the strands of hair, a gesture he would have done years ago as Sakura's best friend. That was too much for the onyx-eyed boy. His eyes widened as he realized how he was acting.
"I've got to get out of here!" Sasuke gasped out loud, though it was quiet enough not to wake Sakura up. He carefully shifted Sakura's weight until she was lying in his arms. Then, with the grace of a swan Sasuke jumped up; it was like Sakura was a weightless pillow. He was about to leave the meadow when he saw two long stemmed roses growing.
'Naruto-baka said that Sakura had to lie to come; he said that lie involved roses. Last time I heard Sakura-san and Yamanaka-san weren't getting along well. I doubt she'll want to go get flowers from her.' Sasuke thought and, after sighing irritably at his out of character behavior, Sasuke kneeled down and plucked the two roses from the ground. He swore silently when a thorn pricked his thumb. It didn't hurt, but the stem had a few drops of blood on them.
'She can worry about it then.' Sasuke thought with a quick glance at Sakura. After being assured she was still asleep, Sasuke started the trip home. He knew a few shortcuts around the village thanks to Itachi, and given the time Sasuke had no trouble sneaking into Sakura's back yard and sitting her down against the house.
He put the roses on her lap and disappeared before anyone could catch him. But, little did Sasuke know, all his effort to keep their 'date' silent was wasted. A particularly jealous blond girl had seen them together outside the Yamanaka flower shop, and the green monster was working angry thoughts into her mind back at the shop.
A/N: Fluff! Oh how I loved writing the fluff in this chapter! It made me all happy and I even blushed at the whole Sasuke gets normal feelings part. Now I'm off to watch new episodes of Bleach that are on in eight minutes! Which, by the way, are owned by Tite Kubo, not me.
