To Love and to Love Again Chapter 12: Getting Somewhere

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER AND AUTHORS NOTE: I do NOT own Naruto. The awesomeness of the Naruto Manga and World is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. This is Purely Fanfiction. All things Medical in this entire fanfiction should not be taken as serious medical advice or facts. PLEASE CONSULT AN ACTUAL DOCTOR FOR ANY MEDICAL INFORMATION/QUESTIONS. THANK YOU AND ENJOY!

Neji Hyuga was a very protective man. So what's a protective man to do when an earthquake suddenly hits? He simply forbids is pregnant wife from anything and everything he deems as unsafe for her as well as his child.

Therefore Tenten had been sentenced to an unnecessary bed rest and was not permitted to be outdoors or anywhere else but the bedroom.

"Neji, you've gone overboard!" she shouted. She was lying down on their bed and doing absolutely nothing. Neji was down stairs making breakfast.

He tried to convince her to stay home from work but Tenten put her foot down on that one. "I'm getting up!" she informed. As she began to get up, Neji came busting in with a tray in his hands.

"You're not going anywhere," he ordered, bringing the tray to her. Tenten pouted and looked at what he made, which was a traditional Japanese breakfast.

"I know you're trying to be a good husband, but really, it's not like I can't move around and do stuff for myself," she pointed out while subconsciously bringing her hand to her belly and inching away from the tray. The soup was smelled like all kinds of funny business.

"After that earthquake I'm not taking any chances with you," he replied. "You're going to stay here where you're safe. Besides, Sakura said you're not allowed to do anything strenuous."

"Strenuous not mundane Neji," she clarified. She sighed as he sat next to her.

"I think you shouldn't go to work today." Tenten narrowed her eyes at him. "You need to take it easy."

"Neji, I've practically been stripped of my title as a "well-respected surgeon". I will not have you tell me that I'm not allowed to do what little work I can do. It won't hurt the babies."

When Neji didn't say anything, Tenten turned to find him staring at her with a questioning face. "What?" she asked.

Neji's eyes traveled to her rounded stomach then back up to her face.

"…Babies?" He saw her eyes widen a fraction before correcting herself.

"What? I mean baby…yeah…it won't hurt the baby," she chuckled nervously before stirring the soup. "Crap I almost slipped!"

This was the one thing that she knew she could keep from him for as long as she could, but she wouldn't be surprised if he found out about it.

"I had to marry a genius didn't I?" she moaned internally as she brought the soup to her lips. Before she could even taste it, she put the spoon down. She didn't feel like throwing up today.

"Can you hand me my B6 vitamins?"

Neji reached for the bottle that was next to the nightstand and handed it to her. She popped the lid and took a tablet while drinking the water that Neji brought her.

"Are you okay?"

Tenten placed the glass down and sighed. She turned to Neji and smiled. "Yeah… I'm fine."

Neji looked as though he didn't believe her, but he couldn't do anything about it. He brought her into his arms and lay back down on the bed with her. Tenten snuggled into him and inhaled his scent.

"When is your next appointment with Sakura?"

"In a few weeks. I'm scheduled for a second trimester ultrasound. Why?"

Neji just shrugged and re-positioned them so that she was lying on her back and he was lying on his side. He ran his warm hand over her noticeably rounded belly.

"You're growing pretty fast," he commented. Tenten placed her own hand on her belly and rubbed it as well. Sakura told her that she would be showing faster than normal due to the circumstances. The next two months were going to be her fastest periods of growth and after the second ultrasound Neji was going to find out.

"I know. I think I'm feeding him too much."

He raised a brow. "Him?"

Tenten turned her head and smiled at him. "I just have a feeling that it's going to be a boy. But then again, I only have that feeling right now. Sometimes I feel like it's a girl too."

"Is that supposed to be your mothers intuition or is that you just being confusing?"

Tenten laughed and shrugged. "Do you want a boy or a girl?"

Neji looked thoughtful. He read somewhere in a certain periodical (coughparentingmagazinecough) that these questions could land you in big trouble with your wife if you automatically shout out a preference. So he decided to play it safe.

"Both would be nice," he settled. Tenten just gave him a look and rolled her eyes at him. "What?"

"Seriously, boy or girl?" she pressed. "Come on Neji."

"I'm looking forward to either a boy or a girl, Tenten. Besides," he smirked as he carefully hovered over her. "It's not like this will be our only child."

"CRAP!"she thought. "Don't tell me he figured it out already!"

"What do you mean?" she asked astounded. Neji leaned in and started kissing her neck and working his way up to her cheek.

"I plan on getting you pregnant again…" he stated with a kiss to her jaw "…and again…" he said kissing her cheek "…and again," he finished with a kiss to her lips.

"Okay… so he didn't figure it out yet,"she thought with relief as she wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. "…and for now…I don't care."

Their kisses became more intense. Tenten's hands traveled up from his back to entangle themselves into his rebelliously long dark brown hair. Oh how she loved his hair. She briefly wondered if one of the babies would inherit his hair. All thoughts about babies were pushed out of her head when she felt his hands sneak their way underneath her shirt and making a line for her bra.

Tenten pulled away from the kiss for two reasons. One: she and the babies needed oxygen. Two: they would both be late for work if she didn't stop this now, because when Neji gets started… things happen. Neji continued with his kisses along her face and neck while she caught her breath.

"…Neji," she breathed. "We need to go to work soon," she reminded as she felt his fingers play with the hooks.

"I'd rather you stay right here," he said as he moved to sit next to her. Tenten remained lying down as she rolled her eyes again and sighed.

"Neji I'm going to work and that's that. I will not use this pregnancy as an excuse to get lazy!" she said flinging her arms above her head. "I know you're worried and that's sweet and everything but think of it like this," she said sitting up. "If anything bad happens, which it won't," she added hastily. "I'll be in the best hospital in the country anyway so when you think about it, it's better to be at work, with the best doctors on hand, then here at home alone."

Neji sighed at his stubborn wife. Although he preferred she stay at home, he couldn't help but acknowledge that she did have a very good point. It was better to be somewhere where she had immediate medical attention available than anywhere else without him.

"Alright then," he conceded. "But you're still out of commission as far as procedures go."

She just smiled at him as he got up and helped her to her feet. They both went and got changed for work. After grabbing a quick breakfast from the kitchen, they set off for the hospital.

Sasuke left his office and went to the elevator. A few weeks had passed since his day off with Suki and he found that he actually enjoyed taking a small break every now and then. He would now leave the hospital once a day to go out for lunch with either Naruto or just by himself. He found it to be a nice break from his usual routine and to his surprise the paper work seemed to get done quicker when he came back. Who knew?

He stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the first floor. As the elevator descended, he began to think about someone who he seemed to be seeing less of these days: Sakura.

It was strange. As soon as he makes it a point to ask her out, he barely sees her at all. He does his thing and she does hers. The few times that he had seen her in the elevators were uneventful too. She would quickly say hi and then bolt from the elevator and go off to do whatever it was that she had to do. In other words, she seemed to be pretty busy.

Sasuke was getting fed up with trying to date in general. This was why he hated it so much back in his college days. It required too much effort. The elevator stopped at the seventh floor and the doors opened.

"…" was what was going through his mind when he saw Sakura walk in.

She was wearing green scrub pants and her scrub top had teddy bears printed all over it. She had her purse slung over her shoulder and her phone in her right hand, supposedly checking her messages. She looked up in surprise and put her phone in her pocket.

"Um… hi Sasuke." She smiled as the doors closed. "I'm surprised that you're out again."

"You're the one that told me to take breaks," he thought before offering the standard "Hn." In response. Sakura sighed.

"There he goes with those one word answers again," she thought.

After her discussion with Ino about dating again, Sakura still couldn't seem to get the ball rolling on that plan. Work seemed to "conveniently" keep her occupied and give her no time to make any plans with anyone. The trouble was, it kept her thinking about it… or rather someone, and he was standing right next to her.

Sasuke on the other hand saw the perfect opportunity to get his "plan" in motion. "Are you going out to lunch?" he asked eyeing her purse.

"Yeah. I was thinking about trying out that Chinese place down the street. Tenten recommended it. I asked her to go with me, but she said she probably wouldn't be able to handle it. It's a sad thing when pregnancy makes you hate your favorite foods."

"…Hn," he replied. "How do I ask her without sounding ridiculous?" Thinking about asking her was one thing, but actually asking her was another. He somehow found himself unable to do it.

Sakura seemed to be having a similar problem. "I wonder if he's going out to lunch too. Maybe I should ask him to come with me."

She hadn't seen him for a few weeks. It gave her some time to think about her conversations with both Ino and Tenten. The person that always came to mind was Sasuke. It was like there was no other man she knew that she could go out with. Everything seemed to point to him and half of her didn't want it to.

But here he was, standing with her in this elevator and thinking about whatever it was that was on his mind. If only she knew what was thinking.

Sakura glanced at him from the side of her eyes. He seemed to be in deep thought. His eyes were staring straight ahead and Sakura swore she could see her reflection in the darkness of his iris. What she didn't realize was that she was beginning to lean towards him. She snapped out of her staring when his eyes turned to look at her, effectively catching her in the act.

"Something wrong Dr. Haruno?"

Sakura stood up straight and looked forward. "N-nothing."

She was a little embarrassed to be caught staring like that. She began to fidget when she felt his eyes on her. She must have looked ridiculous looking at him like that.

"I should just ask him already!" she huffed.

Sasuke looked at her and decided that this was it. He was going to ask her right now and nothing was going to get in his way. They both looked at each other and were about to say something when the elevator stopped on the second floor and a familiar voice called out to them.

"Hey Teme… and Sakura!" shouted Naruto as he stepped into the elevator and stood right in between them.

"Dobe!" Sasuke nearly growled. Leave it to Naruto to have perfect timing.

"You guys want to go have lunch together?" he asked while looking between the two. Sakura smiled at him while Sasuke sighed.

"Sure," they both replied. Since they were going to lunch with Naruto, Ichiraku's was inevitable.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura arrived at Ichiraku's and took seats at the bar. Naruto immediately ordered his favorite pork ramen while Sasuke and Sakura both ordered the beef ramen.

"So Sakura are you coming to Suki's birthday party?" Naruto asked.

"Oh I didn't know her birthday was coming up," she said leaning forward from her seat. She had to talk over Sasuke, since he was sitting in between them.

"It's this Saturday," Sasuke informed. "Suki wanted me to ask you and Sora to be there."

Sakura smiled. "Well, I'm on-call on Saturday so I guess I can be there. She's turning five, right?" Sasuke nodded.

Naruto grinned. "Great. That means that whole gang will be there. By the way… I'm going to need a little help getting her present to your house."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What did you get her?"

"I built her something and it's too big to fit in my car. It's not like I made her some screaming metal death trap or anything!"

Their orders came and Naruto quickly dug into his ramen.

Sasuke and Sakura began eating their ramen as well. Although it might not be what they had planned, internally they were both a little grateful for Naruto being there. At least this way, they could talk without the pressure. Plus, Naruto was too busy devouring his ramen to really be included.

"I thought you wanted to go to the Chinese place," Sasuke said glancing at her.

"I can always go another time. Besides, it's nice for all of us to hang out like this," she replied as she twirled her noodles on the chopsticks. "How's Suki doing?"

"She's doing well. I think you inspired her to become a doctor," he said surprising her.

"Really?"

"She said she wants to be just like you. I think that means she wants to become a doctor. Personally I wouldn't mind it if she did."

Sakura smiled. "Aww she's so cute. And was that a compliment I just heard from you?"

"Maybe."

"I think Suki would make a great doctor. You might as well get her a toy doctor's kit. That's what my dad gave me when I turned three. It turned out to be good practice."

"You based your career off a birthday gift?"

"Of course not. My dad told me that my mom was in the medical field," she explained as she stirred her soup. "Since I never knew her, I wanted to do things that she did. In some strange way, I felt like I was sort of bonding with her. It turns out Tsunade was in the process of training her before she died."

Sasuke watched her carefully. She had a small smile on her face and her eyes looked as if they were lost in her memories. "Anyway, what about you?"

"What about me?" he asked.

"Did you always want to run your family's hospital?"

"It wasn't really a choice so much as an obligation."

"Well… did you want to do anything other than this?"

"I grew up knowing that one day I would have to take over the hospital. There really wasn't any point in dreaming about anything else."

"Sasuke… every kid has dreams. I'm sure you did too."

"Hn."

Sakura just frowned. "I really wish you would stop saying that. What does 'Hn' mean anyway? Yes? No? Maybe? Whatever? You're annoying?" she asked twirling her ramen again.

"The last one."

He received a nice punch in the arm for that. The sad thing was… a petite pink haired woman wearing teddy bear print scrubs was the one who punched him. "For a doctor, you're pretty violent."

"So I've been told," she grinned. "Sora seems to be following in my footsteps then. His karate teacher told me that he was his best student. My little karate man," she said affectionately.

Now that she mentioned her son, Sasuke felt as though he should confront her about Sora's attitude with him. He hadn't seen the kid for a few weeks, but Sasuke couldn't get the way Sora looked at him out of his mind.

"Speaking of Sora," he said, grabbing her attention. "Does he have any problems with me?"

Sakura put her chopsticks down and looked at him. "Problems? What do you mean? Did he say anything to you?"

"I know you've noticed how he gets a little distant when I'm around. I want to know if there was any reason for that."

Her eyes bore into his for a second before looking down at her ramen.

"…I'm trying to figure that out myself," she admitted. "Honestly I have no clue why he feels so strange around you. He's not like that with anyone else."

Sasuke remembered Sora's question from the okonomiyaki place a while back. "He asked me something interesting a while ago."

"What did he say?" she asked, completely turning to face him from her stool.

"He asked me if I used to play with him when he was little," he answered, observing how Sakura's face changed from curious to confused.

"Why would he ask you that? It doesn't make sense to me," she said looking away in thought.

"I made no sense to me either," he replied. "Maybe he's confusing me with someone else," he added without thought.

Sakura's eyes shot back to him when he said that. She took a look at his face and was thinking hard. Suddenly it made sense. Sakura gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

Sasuke was right. Sora was confusing Sasuke with someone else… Sai! But how was that possible? Sora was only two years old when Sai died. There was no way he could remember anything from that age.

"Oh my…," she whispered. Sasuke gave her a confused look and became concerned when her eyes began to water a little.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Naruto—who was on his third bowl of ramen by now—stopped and looked over at Sakura.

"Hey Sakura, what's wrong? Did this Teme do anything to you?" he asked giving Sasuke a look. Sakura shook her head and tried to smile for them, but wasn't succeeding.

"I'm fine. Sora is confused Sasuke. And now I know why. I'm sorry but I have to go," she said getting off her stool. She flipped through her purse and placed enough money to cover her bill on the counter.

"But Sakura," Naruto whined as he stood up to. "What happened?" She just shook her head apologetically.

"I have to go. I'll see you guys later," she breathed and quickly walked out of the place.

Naruto watched her leave, and then turned to Sasuke who looked perplexed at the situation.

"You bastard!" Naruto shouted with his finger pointed at Sasuke. "What the hell did you say to her?"

"Dobe shut up and sit down," he grunted as he stood to follow Sakura. He left Naruto at the bar and walked out to look for her. She wasn't hard to spot walking down the street with that hair of hers. Sasuke jogged a bit to catch up with her.

"Sakura!" he shouted. She stopped and she turned around. He walked up to her and saw that she was once again avoiding eye contact with him. "What happened?"

She still wouldn't look at him as she spoke.

"Sasuke I can't talk to you right now. I have to talk to my son first. I've been wondering why Sora was acting that way around you and it only made sense when you said he might be confusing you with someone."

"Who is your son confusing me with?"

She just continued to look down and shake her head. Whoever Sora thought Sasuke might be was very upsetting to her. That much was obvious.

"I can't talk to you about this now!" she repeated. "I'll tell you soon but right now, I'm going back to work."

She continued walking away from him. Sasuke just stood there, annoyed and frustrated with himself. He shouldn't have brought anything up, but as he watched her walk farther away from him, his curiosity continued to grow.

Just whom did Sora see through him?

Later that night, Sakura made some fried fish with vegetables for dinner. Sora helped her in the kitchen doing little jobs such as stirring and handing her things. Sakura put her happy face on as she watched him get a kick out of stirring the veggies. Sora was so easily amused.

They sat at the table and ate their dinner. Sora had changed into his pajamas and told her all about his day in karate and how he was the first one to be able to break his wooden board. Sakura smiled at him as he got into more detail about it. She knew that it was his artistic side that had the knack for detail, just like his father did.

"Suki is going to have a birthday party this weekend. Are you excited?" she asked.

Sora nodded his head while finishing off his vegetables. Sakura cleared the plates and put them in the sink. She would deal with them later. Right now, she wanted to talk to Sora.

"Sweetie, let's go into the living room," she suggested. They went and sat on the couch.

"Sora, I have something that I want to show you," she said as she reached under the coffee table and pulled out a large photo album. "Come here sweetie."

Sora sat next to her. Sakura placed one arm over him while the other hand opened the album.

The first picture that could be seen was of a teenage Sakura in her high school uniform. "That's me on my first day of high school," she said as Sora gazed at the picture.

"Mommy you look funny like that," he giggled. Sakura playfully pouted and ruffled his hair.

"Yeah your daddy thought the same thing," she mumbled bitterly. She flipped through some more pictures of herself before she turned the page again.

The next picture really caught Sora's interest. The picture was a tall man with dark hair and dark eyes. It was the man in Sora's memories. Sakura was always telling Sora that he looked like Sai as well as telling him small stories about his father from time to time. But she never actually got around to showing him any pictures of Sai. It was just too painful to have Sai's pictures lying around the house so she transferred them onto an album.

"Sora," she said gently as he looked up at her. "This is your daddy."

"My daddy?" he asked as he touched the picture.

Sakura watched as his little hand slid over the picture. His eyes were looking onto the face of his father, memorizing every detail that he possible could. By the look in his eyes, Sakura knew that Sora now had some clarity about his confusion. Sora's hand remained on the picture.

"Daddy," he whispered. He looked up at his mother, who was trying so hard not to cry again.

"Yeah sweetie this is your daddy, Sai," she clarified as she turned the page. The next picture was another high school picture of both Sai and herself. "I met your daddy when we were in high school. He always used to tease me and play tricks on me."

"But why?" he asked innocently. "Didn't Daddy like you?" Sakura chuckled.

"Of course he did Sora," she answered with a smile. "But he didn't know how to tell me that he liked me, so he played little jokes on me all the time. But then I would beat him up and make him pay."

Sora chuckled.

"Mommy, girls can't beat up boys," he said confidently. Sakura laughed and turned the page. The next one was a picture of Sai and herself on their wedding day.

"This was when we got married."

The picture showed Sakura in her very simple wedding gown with Sai next to her in a tux. It was outdoors by a lake with a huge cherry blossom tree next to them. She showed Sora some more pictures of Sai and herself before she turned to another page that caught Sora's interest.

"Mommy your tummy is really big!" he gaped as he stared wide-eyed at the picture. Sakura chuckled.

"That's because you were inside my belly."

The picture was of Sakura standing by the same tree from the wedding, holding her very pregnant belly. Sora looked at his mom with his mouth open.

"Reeeeaaally?"

Sakura nodded her head. She then pointed to the ultrasound picture on the next page.

"See?" she said indicating the sonogram. "This is a picture of you while you were still in my tummy," she explained.

It was a profile shot that showed the outline of Sora's tiny body in the womb. "Daddy was jealous because Grandma Tsunade took this picture instead of him."

She turned the page again to show a picture of Sakura in the hospital.

"And there's you on the day you were born," she said affectionately. The picture showed Sakura in a hospital bed holding a small bundle wrapped in a blue cloth in her arms. Sai was sitting next to her on the bed with his arm around her and his other hand on the baby's head.

"See? You look just like your daddy."

The next page had a picture of just Sai and baby Sora. "Daddy loved you more than anything," she said as a tear slipped out of her eye. "Sora, do you remember him?"

Sora looked at the picture of him and his father. He looked just like the man in his dreams. "Did Daddy play with me?"

Sakura nodded her head. "Yeah… he used to play with you all the time. You were his little man. That's what he used to call you," she said as she wiped the tears away.

"He looks like Suki's daddy," he noted.

"I know. But Sora, Sasuke only looks like your daddy. He isn't your father."

Sora ran his hand over the picture again and nodded. "But be nice to him… okay? Suki's daddy is a nice man and he's my friend, just like Suki is your friend. No more glaring at him okay?"

"Okay."

Sakura kissed his cheek and continued flipping through the album and showing Sora various pictures of the three of them as a family.

Sakura arrived at work the next morning and decided that she needed to set things straight with Sasuke. She felt bad about the way she left him and Naruto yesterday without any explanation. Sasuke deserved to know why both she and Sora had been acting strange around him. Her only concern was that he would look down on her for not being able to control her emotions.

She took the elevator to the top floor and went up to the secretary. She pushed the intercom button and announced Sakura's presence. She heard Sasuke's voice say, "Come in". She thanked the secretary and walked towards his office. She suddenly became nervous about seeing him.

She opened the door and walked in to find him sitting in front of his computer with a few files and books on his desk.

"Dr. Haruno," he said as he clicked his computer files off.

"Mr. Uchiha," she returned as she took a seat in front of his desk. "I wanted to fill you in, I guess… about yesterday." She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. She was wearing her pink scrubs without her white coat.

Sasuke turned his chair around to fully face her. He watched as she twiddled with her shirt with her head tilted down. Again, she refused to meet his gaze and again, this frustrated him.

"When you said that Sora might be confusing you with someone it all made sense," she began. "The reason why he was behaving a little oddly was because he was confusing you with… with his father."

Sasuke resisted raising his eyebrow. His father? Her son was confusing him with his father?

"Are you sure about that?" he asked after a moment. Sakura slowly looked up at him and nodded her head.

"It's understandable. You look very similar to my late husband Sai. I noticed it when I first came in for my interview. But I never realized that Sora would notice it too."

That threw him for a loop. That wasn't necessarily the thing you wanted to hear from someone you were thinking about dating.

"Did you talk to him about it?"

"Oh yeah," she said quickly. "We talked about it last night. He now knows who his real father is. Actually, I don't think he really made any connection to you as his father per say. He was very young when his father died—barely two years old. I didn't think he would remember much about his father, but I guess he does… on some sort of subconscious level I guess."

Sasuke leaned forward on his desk and rested his chin on his entwined fingers. This complicated things. If Sora was mistaking him as his father, then what did that mean for Sakura? What was on hermind when she looked at him? Part of him wanted to know and the other half didn't want to care about it. But oddly enough, this made Sakura a little more appealing.

"I know this is probably awkward," she said, trying not to fidget under his scrutinizing gaze. "But I just felt that you should know."

She grew tense when Sasuke didn't say anything. He was just sitting there, staring at her with those eyes of his. It was like he was analyzing her or something. She tried not to let his gaze get to her, but she couldn't help but want to disappear.

"Sasuke?" she asked when the tension grew too thick. "Say something. You're freaking me out."

His eyes quickly darted to the clock and then came back to her. He leaned back in his chair and watched as the emotions on her face changed from curiosity, to frustration, to apprehension then back to frustration. It was really quite amusing.

"You haven't gone to the Chinese restaurant yet."

Sakura almost fell out of her chair.

"I…What?"

"We'll go out for lunch today," he stated, turning back to his computer.

She looked at him curiosly. "Sasuke is that all you have to say? I just told you something that would make anyone else freak out. Why aren't you freaking out?"

"We'll talk about the upcoming meeting in December. At Shikamaru's request, I'm going to need one physician from every department there," he continued as he browsed through his computer.

"But…what are you..." she huffed as she got up from her chair. She began pacing in front of his desk. "Sasuke why are you being so indifferent about this?"

"I'm sure you have patients to see," he replied. He inwardly smirked when she gave a frustrated sigh and walked out of his office. Ten seconds later she barged right back in and marched up to his desk, placing both her hands on the desktop.

"You know what? I don't like that you're indifferent about this. I'm not going to lunch with you by the way. You didn't even ask me, you ordered me," she pointed out while crossing her arms over her chest.

"If we leave now, we can beat the lunch rush."

"I am not going to lunch with you! You're being really weird about this."

"We should get going then," he suggested, shutting down his computer. He got up and got his coat from behind his chair. Sakura stood there, not really knowing what to do. Sasuke was acting very un-Sasuke-like.

"I. AM. NOT. GOING. WITH. YOU!" she said as if he were slow.

"I can't believe I came with him," she thought bitterly as she slumped in her side of the booth.

She held up her menu in front of her to hide her face from him. He somehow managed to get her to argue with him from his office all the way to the Chinese restaurant that was just down the street from the hospital.

The waiter came and took their orders before taking the menus, which meant Sakura had to face him now. She was still frustrated with him for being so freaking vague. Why couldn't he just tell her how he felt about it? She crossed her arms and sighed again. She knew he was looking at her and she didn't care. If he didn't want to talk to her, then she wouldn't have to talk to him.

"I think you're weird," she scoffed childishly as she directed a glare in his direction.

"I think you're annoying," he replied as he sipped his tea. Sakura pouted and slumped back in her seat. She avoided looking at him and took to looking around the restaurant. She saw the fish tank near the entrance and briefly thought about bringing Sora here. He and his Aunty Tenten shared a love for Chinese food.

She turned back to Sasuke and decided to try to talk to him again.

"Sasuke, are you ever going to tell me what you think about what I told you?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, he chose to just look at the wall across the restaurant. The truth was he didn't really know what to tell her. Here he was about to attempt to date this woman, and she throws him a curveball like that before anything could get started.

How do you ask her out after she indirectly tells you that you look like her past love?

"In case you haven't noticed," she continued. "I'm not good with silence Sasuke. So you either talk to me or I'm leaving." Sasuke brought his onyx eyes back to her and locked onto her emerald ones. "At least I get a reaction from him this time."

"The conference will be here in no time," he commented. "I expect you to be there and represent your department."

Sakura sighed in defeat. Well, at least he was talking to her, right?

"When and where exactly is the conference held?"

"Kyoto," he answered. "Two days before Christmas."

Sakura was a little surprised when she heard that. Kyoto was her old home. The place where her life began. Her father was also there.

"Two days before Christmas? That's really pushing it. I assume we'll have to leave a day or so before, right?"

Sasuke just nodded his head. The food came soon after and the two of them ceased their brief conversation to eat.

Of course, Sakura could never really let anything go.

"You know I'm just going to keep bugging you about this right?" she said as she twirled her chow mien in her chopsticks. Sasuke didn't give her any indication that he even heard her. He just continued eating. "Why is he ignoring me? It's pissing me off."

"I told Sora not to glare at you anymore," she continued. "Even though you kind of do the same thing every now and then. He should be more pleasant from now on."

"Hn."

"Will you stop with the "Hn"? It's not a real word." She was getting fed up with him and his strange behavior.

"You're easy to provoke. It's amusing." he admitted as he sipped his tea.

"Well I'm glad you're entertained," she said dryly. "I really would like you to tell me what you think about this Sasuke. Why are you trying to avoid it?"

"I'm not."

"Well then why won't you tell me what you think?"

"What do you want me to say?" he asked. "What did you expect me to say?"

"Well I thought that maybe you would be a little disturbed by me and the situation and that you would try to avoid me or something. Instead, you act like I didn't even tell you anything strange and then you force me to eat Chinese food with you. What's up with that?" she asked in a frustrated voice.

"You shouldn't get so wound up. I wouldn't want to raise your blood pressure."

"Are you mocking me? Is this your way of calming down? By getting me upset? Please," she pleaded. "Please just tell me how you feel about this."

Sasuke looked at her sincere face. She honestly wanted to know how he felt. Well, if she wanted to know, then he would tell her.

"Sakura, what your son thinks about me is not of my concern. I understand that he was confusing me with someone else. Now he's clear about me and there shouldn't be any more problems. But tell me something Dr. Haruno," he said leaning forward "Why are you so concerned about how I feel?"

"Because, Mr. Uchiha, you're my boss," she replied. "And since we've meet I would like to think that we have some kind of friendship. I care about my friends and I care about you. You and I can relate on things that others can't, so is it so wrong to be concerned about you?"

"I think you're putting more into this than necessary."

"No I'm not," she retorted. "If you were to tell me that I remind you of your late wife, I would be a little affected by that."

Sasuke looked at her and thought about what she just said. There was one thing that Sakura had that reminded him of Aya. Let's see how she would react to that.

"You do."

"I do what?"

"You remind me somewhat of Suki's mother. It's the eyes. You share the same eyes."

Sakura raised her eyebrows and leaned back in her seat. "You never mention your wife."

That was a bit strange. She wasn't expecting him to actually say something like that.

"I don't mention a lot of things Sakura," he said vaguely.

"Well maybe you should. Maybe you should open up a bit more to your friends and family. It's not good to keep things bottled up inside you. If you want to say something, then you should just say it."

Sasuke observed her for a moment before he thought back to his promise for Suki. His original plan was to ask Sakura out, so why shouldn't he? She wants him to open up, but he'll do it in his own way.

"Let's just drop this Sakura. If you're worried about me, don't be. This hasn't affected me in anyway and that's the truth." he insisted. She looked like she wanted to punch him before she sighed in defeat.

"Fine."

They continued to eat the rest of their food. Sasuke paid for both their meals and they went back to the hospital together. On the way, Sakura couldn't help but become even more worried about him. She'd only known Sasuke for a couple of months now but she already thought of him as a friend.

But they had a work relationship. There were certain boundaries that came that, and she didn't know whether or not they've crossed it by bringing their personal lives into their work lives. She looked up at him as they walked towards the hospital. He was looking straight ahead with a look of indifference plastered onto his face.

"Stop spacing," he ordered. Sakura blinked a few times.

"I was not spacing," she said with her arms crossed.

"Yes you were."

"I told you I wasn't."

"Hn."

"That's not a word!" she fumed as they turned into the entrance of the hospital.

Sasuke smirked. Call him sadistic, but he rather enjoyed seeing her get so worked up. It was too easy and it was pretty entertaining to see her get so animated about it.

They both walked into the elevator and pushed their respected floors. As the doors shut, Sasuke turned to her.

"When are you free?"

She looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

"What?"

Sasuke looked away and scratched the side of his face.

"I'm taking you out," he announced. From the corner of his eye, he could see her tilt her head to the side.

"Are you asking me out?" she asked incredulously. That was unexpected. She looked over at him, while he looked anywhere other than her direction. "Sasuke?"

"Are you free or not?" he asked impatiently. Man he was bad at this.

"For crying out… you know, you really suck at this," she stated. "I mean I already told you, if you want to say something, just say it! Are you asking me out or not?"

"What do you think?" he asked with annoyance.

"I think you've yet again, ordered me to do something. Why don't you try asking me for once?" she said with a raised voice. He was really getting on her nerves today.

"If you don't want to then just say so," he said turning towards her.

"I never said I didn't want to, I'm telling you to ask me!"

"What difference does it make?" he barked, raising his voice as well.

"It makes all the difference! I don't want to be ordered to do something. You don't command someone to go out, you have to ask them!"

"You're being annoying and difficult."

"And you're being…you," she shouted. "Why would I want to go out with someone as inconsiderate as you?"

"Fine! Will you go out with me?" he shouted as he stepped closer to her.

"When?" she yelled as she came closer as well.

"Tonight!" he said in an equally raised voice.

"Okay!"

By now they were so close that their foreheads were almost touching. The elevator opened on the eighth floor and Sakura quickly stepped away from Sasuke and left. She turned around and saw that he was smirking at her before the doors to the elevator closed.

"Damn him!" she cursed as she walked towards her office.

As she walked, she suddenly realized that she had a date tonight... and it wasn't with just anyone. It was a date with Sasuke Uchiha, her boss. They just screamed plans at each other.

"He's so stupid!" she thought. "Who the hell does he think he is, ordering me like that? He's so authoritative and he thinks he can just tell me to go out with him. Although he did look kind of hot when…" Sakura stopped thinking and shook her head.

Where the hell did that come from? She was supposed to be angry with him, not fantasize about him. But she thought back to his face when they were practically screaming at each other. He looked so strong and powerful. His towering height and sort of mysterious persona gave him an edge. His face was so close to hers and she didn't even realize it until now.

Sakura let a small blush creep onto her cheeks before she entered her office. She had to stop thinking about him. It was getting on her nerves. HE was getting on her nerves, but at the same time, he was getting more interesting to say the least.

Sakura only wondered how awkward tonight would be. She only hoped that they wouldn't end up yelling their lungs off or something. She promised herself that she would start dating, so this was just going to have to do for now. At least she was getting somewhere right?

Sasuke and Suki had just arrived at Naruto and Hinata's house. Naruto agreed to watch her for the night while Sasuke attended to his "business" as he was told.

Sasuke walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, Naruto opened the door.

"About time you got here," said Naruto before looking down at his god-daughter.

"Hi Uncle Naruto," Suki greeted.

"Hey Suki." Naruto knelt down to her level. "Hinata is in the kitchen and she's all set up to bake cookies. But she's going to need some help."

"I'll help her," she offered excitedly. "Bye Daddy!" Suki hugged Sasuke's leg. Sasuke patted her head since he couldn't bend to hug her.

"Bye Tenshi," he said, watching her run into the kitchen.

"So, where are you really going?" Naruto asked as he took a good look at Sasuke's attire. "You sure look pretty casual to be doing anything business-related."

Sasuke was wearing black pants with a white cotton shirt and a dark blue sports jacket over it.

"None of your business Dobe," he replied. "Just make sure Suki isn't on a sugar high when I get back," he warned.

Naruto looked over him once more before his eyes widened and he suddenly shouted.

"Wait! Don't tell me you have a date?"

Sasuke scoffed.

This is why Naruto could never find out. He just can't shut up. "I'll be back at 11:00 at the latest," was all he said before turning around and walking back to his car.

As he watched Sasuke leave, Naruto was secretly plotting. He knew Sasuke wasn't going to any business meeting dressed like that. No, he was going to see someone… a lady someone. The question was who is it? In all the years that Naruto had known him, he had never seen Sasuke dressed for a date. This was big and he had to find out for himself. And the best way to do that was to stalk him.

Naruto went into the kitchen and found Suki and Hinata mixing the cookie dough batter.

"Hey guys, I'm going to go out for a little bit. You two ladies need anything?"

"We do need some more milk," said Hinata. "Do you think you can pick some up on your way back?"

"For you, anything." Naruto blew her a kiss and left the house.

He was going to find out for sure if Sasuke was seeing someone. It was his duty as the bastard's best friend. That's what Naruto thought as he spotted Sasuke's car way down the street.

"Let's see what you're up to Teme," he drawled as he got into his car and started the engine.

Authors Note:

Next chapter is the "Date". Hello everyone. Well, I know this chapter isn't the actual date, but that's in the next one. And I swear Kakashi is coming in the next chapter as well. I love reviews.