The next morning she woke up early enough to catch her parents. She sat through a completely awkward breakfast and broke the news about herself and Sasuke and how she planned to move in with him. She explained to them how long she had been seeing him and her feelings about him, etc. They certainly weren't pleased about it and her father hadn't stopped trying to convince her to change her mind, but when she mentioned a dinner with Sasuke they eased up a bit. The whole ordeal wasn't exactly a fantastic way to start out her day, in Sakura's opinion.

On the way to work later that morning she was surprised to see that everything seemed normal. No one was staring or giving her a questioning look. Sakura made the mistake of thinking it wouldn't be that bad though. By the middle of her shift she started to notice the looks but just from a few people here and there. It wasn't until she was leaving the hospital that all hell broke loose and Ino showed up.

The blond started interrogating her immediately about the rumors and Sakura didn't bother to deny any of it. It made the girl furious that Sakura had kept it a secret, but what surprised Sakura the most was when Ino hugged her.

It caused the rosette to laugh and when Ino invited her to dinner so they could talk it was impossible for her to pass up. Sakura was duly reminded of Ino's definition of 'dinner' was though. A little bit of food, and a whole lot of sake.

It was late after a long night of what had supposed to be dinner with Ino, the two just leaving what the pig had called a restaurant but turned out to be a bar. Sakura was focusing on just trying to get one foot in front of the other as she left when she heard someone calling her name. It caused her to stop, stumble for just a second and then locate the source of the sound.

It just so happened to belonged to the most movement in the area too, that movement coming from a hyperactive blond. She could barely register the fact that Sasuke was with him before Naruto was already heading towards her. When he was in arm's length, all rational thinking went out the window. She didn't care Sasuke had never seen her drunk, cause Naruto had.

"Naruto!" She laughed as she met the blond, hugging him tightly.

She pulled away after that, placing a hand on his shoulder as she started laughing, telling him about how she got herself in the situation about trying to find her way home. He only started laughing as he responded with a 'you're drunk' in a sing-song voice.

"I am not!"

She made a serious expression like she was offended, though it only lasted mere seconds before a smile came across her face again.

"Okay, maybe a little... Or a lot."

She poked him once in the chest before she turned her attention to Sasuke walking up, her grin increasing ten-fold. "Hey!"

She didn't even think twice before she hugged him, though it was different with Sasuke than Naruto. She hugged him closer, burying her face in his chest as she took a deep breath. Sasuke looked very uncomfortable.

Sakura was quick to pull back, a pouty look on her face as she took a step back.

"I forgot! You don't like PDA."

She laughed as she wagged a knowing finger at him before she tripped backwards, grabbing on Naruto to steady herself, the blond still laughing. At least he was enjoying a drunk Sakura.

"You smell like sake,"Sasuke said, a statement which Naruto fond hilarious for some reason.

"I smell like sake?"

She gave Naruto an odd look, as if questioning why he was laughing as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Well that's a possibility." She looked back over to Sasuke, a grin spreading across her features. "Yeah. Definitely."

She had taken a step away from Naruto, because even though she was drunk, she still had a hazy state of awareness. She knew if she clung to him, like she had the previous times he had seen her drunk, that Sasuke would probably get mad. But if she wasn't allowed to hang onto Naruto for balance, than that was going to be Sasuke's job.

Sasuke looked her up and down. "You shouldn't be walking alone when you're like this. I'll walk you home," he grumbled in a serious voice.

"I had to walk alone! I had a real bad day ya see, and Ino took me here and then her team showed up. Shikamaru always tries to test me when I'm slightly impaired. I couldn't risk it!" she explained.

Sasuke frowned. "That's no excuse. You're more than slightly impaired. You can barely stand."

Naruto was finding this hilarious. He always enjoyed watching when Shikamaru would zero in on someone who had a little too much to drink. He'd have them flustered in seconds.

"Ino's drunk ya know. Go catch a show." She pointed at the restaurant before nudging Naruto in it's direction, trying to shoo him like a bird.

"Go, go, go!"

Sakura turned back to Sasuke, a coy smile on her face as she took a step towards him, she had planned to stop when she was just in his reach, but a stumble caused her to veer off course for a second and nearly fall over.

"You know, I dunno if home is the best idea for me right now."She only laughed as she tried to regain her center of balance.

Sasuke quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her upright. She let out a quiet 'whoa' before she placed her hands on his arms, grounding herself.

"I think you're right," he said, far more serious than she was.

"Oh don't be such a buzz kill, Sasuke."

She gave him a serious expression for a record time of maybe half a second before she started smiling again. What kept her laughing was the fact that she knew she was acting like an idiot right now. She knew that Sasuke was probably going to be mad at her about it and that she was definitely going to regret it in the morning. She knew all of this, but she had just simply accepted the fact that it was happening and that there was nothing she could do about it. She relaxed, and that wasn't something she did that often.

He sighed. "Come on. You can stay with me tonight," he said, leading her down the street.

He still had his arm around her waist, once again appearing uncomfortable with being so close in public. Her grin just widening a bit as she focused more on trying to figure out how she was going to walk. There was absolutely no way she could go home right now. Her parents were definitely in for the night, but the task of her getting to her room without making a sound was right next door to impossible.

She stumbled the first few steps before finding a rhythm. She couldn't help but start to laugh again, looking up at him.

"Oh well thank you. You're so good to me." She reached over and patted him on his chest before she leaned over and cupped her hand over her mouth as she started to whisper to him. "Look at you, trying to get lucky tonight." It came out a little louder than she meant it, but there wasn't really anyone close enough to hear. She dropped her hand then and leaned against him a little bit.

"Hn," he grumbled, becoming more annoyed.

She could tell how forced the sound came out. He seemed embarrassed a little bit, though he was far to pride to acknowledge that. If Sakura had stopped herself when she had just started to feel the effects of the alcohol, than she wouldn't dream of bringing something private like that up outside of his, soon to be their, apartment. She was past the point of rational thinking though, and frankly, she just found it absolutely adorable that he was getting flustered by some little comment.

"I really did have a bad day," she repeated.

"Tell me about your bad day."

She could only smile and lean against him some more.

"Well I told my parents about us and about how I was going to move in with you. After I explained to them everything my mom was completely on board. She already loves you so don't say I never did anything for you."

"Yeah you did me a real big favor," he said sarcastically.

She pointed a finger up at him before she let out a sigh and looked forward again with a sign of defeat. "My dad's still a little skeptical though and I had to sit through the majority of the morning listening to a lecture. I lost a patient at the hospital, and then right after that people started staring and that's just been getting worse. Like right now, so many people are just looking at us. I wish they wouldn't." She yelled that last sentence out before she let out a groan, slowing her steps a bit.

"Maybe they're just staring at the awkward drunk girl," he said, halfway joking and halfway serious.

"You know something. You could be right."

She looked up at him as if they were solving the mystery of why people were looking at them. She knew she was drunk and she was probably making the situation a bit awkward she would admit.

Of course he was going to smirk a little. "Of course I'm right."

Sasuke always thought he was right, and almost never admitting to being wrong. She rolled her eyes. Sasuke was ever the egoist and he liked his share of compliments. She really didn't have a problem with giving them to him either. She loved him and she wanted him to see himself how she did. She loved everything about him from the flaws of his personality, a. k. a. anti-social tendencies, to the way his eyes would go from being dark as coals one minute to a stormy grey the next all depending on his mood. She couldn't get enough of just looking at him and she would say anything if it helped him realize that he was a good person.

"Are we almost there?" Sakura asked, changing the subject.

He looked at her, amused and actually laughing just a tiny bit. "No, which you should know. You are aware of exactly where I live. It's still quite a ways."

He pulled her forward more, urging her to keep walking. "Come on. We'll never get there if you don't walk."

She wasn't even mad that he was making her walk faster, instead her focus going to wrapping her arms around his middle and hugging him. "I love it when you laugh."

Once again in response to her remarks, his only answer was an uncomfortable, "Hn."

She frowned slightly when she felt him tense under her hug. She kept forgetting that physical contact out in the public eye made him uncomfortable. She wondered what he would do if she blurted out the fact he was a closet cuddler but she assumed he was already peeved enough at her for deciding to get a little hammered.

If she could remember, she'd try to keep herself in check. Yet when she took notice to how her hand was resting over his again she knew that would be impossible.

She smiled to herself before she pulled away, letting out a sigh as she made a slightly distraught expression. "It's so much farther," she whined.

Okay, maybe she'd complain a little bit.

"It wouldn't be so far if you would let me help you home without jumping around," he answered, pulling her closer again.

Se just let out a sigh of defeat, trying to get herself in a walking mood. She wasn't oblivious to the fact that he referred to his apartment as a home though, and that helped a little. In a way, it seemed he was referring to it as their home, and it would be in a few weeks and that was what excited her more. She was excited to come home to him everyday.

"At least you won't have to break the news about me moving in with you to my parents."

The dark haired boy sighed, then he smirked in that way he did whenever he thought of something completely brilliant.

"Come here," he said, pulling her into an ally without any people in it.

She followed him without a second of hesitation on her part. She trusted Sasuke completely, and if he said it was okay to go into a dark and slightly creepy alley then she'd believe him one hundred percent. She wondered if the roles were reverse would he be so ready to believe her, but then again, she'd probably never be in that situation.

"I'm glad I don't have to break the news to your parents," he said, giving her a quick kiss.

It'd be a rare sight to see Sasuke drunk, probably a sight she'd only experience if Naruto dared the boy... Something that was a definite possibility.

"That means that all we have to do now is have dinner with my parents and then I can move in. So just when you're ready." She emphasized the 'you're' by poking him in the chest.

Sasuke reached down in one swift movement and scooped her up, carrying her easily. A slight yell escaped her , her hands immediately going around his neck. He'd caught her off-guard, but the second she realized that he had picked her up he was already jumping up to the rooftop. If she were sober, she'd be throwing a fit at the prospect of being carried like a helpless child, but right now, she was enjoying it. Also, she was majorly laughing.

He was able to carrying her across the rooftops very quickly and before long he landed on the roof of his own apartment complex, where he set down Sakura.

"There, we're here," he asserted.

Now it was just a few flights of stairs down to his apartment. Hopefully she could restrain herself for that.

Her laughter finally started to die down before she turned to him, her hands sliding around his waist as she leaned forward, kissing him gently.

"Did you not like walking with me?" Sakura asked.

She knew she was contradicting her earlier behavior that insinuated she despised the long distance to his apartment but she couldn't help herself. It wasn't like she was trying to confuse him, she was just saying what came to mind, and for some reason, that was the question she blurted out.

"Yes, being near you disgusts me," he said sarcastically.

"You know you're a real fast runner? I think you do. I mean, you're there, aren't you?" she questioned in a flurry of giggles.

She was clearly thrilled with herself at the moment as she pulled away from him and making her way to the edge of the roof, stumbling only once before grasping the ledge and looking over.

"That's really far down."

She pointed down towards the street as she looked over to Sasuke before giving him an innocent grin and turning to where she had her back to the railing along the roof, leaning back against it and letting herself teeter over the edge a bit.

"I don't think a cat could even land on it's feet. It is really far." She stretched out the word 'far,' getting her point across as she shook her head. "Come look."

He rushed over to her, pulling her away from the edge and towards him. "Damn it Sakura, you can't get so close to the edge, especially when you're so drunk you can stand up right."

She just laughed, leaning against him as she placed her hands on his arms to hold her balance. "Don't be a scardy-cat, Sasuke. I'm a ninja, I'm not going to get killed by a roof."

Sasuke sent her a very annoyed glare and then lifted her up once more to carry her. "You're not walking anymore."

Then he opened up the door to the stairs going down into the building and started to carry her down, visibly annoyed. A yell of surprise escaping her.

"Sasuke!" She squirmed for only a second before she seemed to give up, relaxing completely in his arms as she sighed. "Fine."

She leaned her head against the crook of his shoulder, her breath fanning his neck. Her arms were folded across her stomach, one hand fisting his shirt as if she were nervous that any second he was going to drop her.

"Even if I was pathetically weak enough to drop you, holding onto my shirt wouldn't stop you from falling. You'd probably just rip it, and I like this shirt," he grumbled in annoyance.

She turned her head to look up. It caused a smile on her face and almost made her laugh. "Well I like what's underneath the shirt."

She shook her head and gave a light tug on his shirt before she rested her hand on her stomach again. She could easily go to sleep like this. She felt comfortable and safe, not to mention the fact that Sasuke was warm. Or maybe that was just her. He was right about her being a bit too drunk to function.

"I don't think you know how much I love you." She didn't look up at him as she slurred the sentence together, a yawn escaping her. "I have for a real long time and I just don't think you know."

She smiled softly to herself and slowly released the grip she had on his shirt. "I know everyone else doesn't know. That's why people were staring at me today. I just didn't like it and I wanted to give them a reason to stare besides us being together."

"Oh really? And how much do you love me then?" Sasuke asked.

He managed to unlock the door and stepped inside, setting her down once they were in. Then he close the door and locked it, just in case a certain blond hadn't learned from his mistake.

She placed her hand against the wall to keep balance as he locked the door. She waited for him to turn back towards her before she moved to him, sliding her arms around him and resting against him.

"You wanna know how much I love you? Let's see... I'd spend my entire life trying to make you smile at least once everyday and well.. More stuff like that. I can't even explain how much I love you." She grinned at him.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her waist. "More stuff like that huh? How very specific of you," he said with a smirk.

"I could use something to drink and maybe a shower." She leaned backwards, almost stumbling before she tightened her grip on him. "Or maybe just go to bed."

She shrugged and looked over her shoulder as if she were trying to make a decision. "Help me out here, Sasuke."

"A glass of water, then bed. You can shower in the morning, when you can stand up without nearly falling over.," he said sternly.

"Stay here," Sasuke said, prying himself from her grip.

He walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water for her, not trusting her to do it herself. Then he brought it back into the living room for her, handing it to her.

"If you're dehydrated in the morning, your hangover will be worse."

She could only smile at him. "Thank you Nurse Sasuke."

That earned Sakura a very annoyed glare from Sasuke. "I am nobody's nurse."

She laughed gently as she leaned back against the wall, taking a big drink. She took in a deep breath as she held the glass to her chest, staring at nothing particular as she let herself get lost in her thoughts.

They mostly revolved around Sasuke, but there was the occasional one about other people, the hospital and about what it would be like to live here. She could probably go ahead and start moving some things in.

When she finished the drink she passed the glass to Sasuke and moved past him. "I'm going to lay down."

She pressed a hand to her forehead as she went into his room, placing her hand against the wall along the way to hold her balance.

"Don't walk into the wall or something," he called after her.

She was still fairly inebriated, but she could feel herself to slowly start sobering up. Right now her main focus was to change into comfortable clothes and then get in bed.

It didn't take her long to pull on a pair of his sleep pants and the shirt he had given her, crawling over to the far side of the bed and getting under the covers. She relaxed completely once her head hit the pillow.

She loved sleeping in this apartment, knowing she was the one who got to fall asleep next to Sasuke each night and that he wanted her there. She didn't want anything else in the world right now besides that and she could honestly admit she was happy.

Being quick to change into sleeping clothes, Sasuke crawled into bed as well, lying down close to her. He wrapped an arm around her, his hand slipping under the bottom edge of her shirt and resting against her bare skin. She couldn't help but smile to herself.

Before laying his head down to rest, he planted a kiss on her cheek to say goodnight. Her smile only grew, but she was far too tired to muster up anything to say to him.

She moved, folding her arm over his and resting her hand on his through the fabric of her shirt. She loved his touch, craved it to be precise. It was what kept her anchored.

"I love you.," was all she could come up with in the end and it didn't come out much more than a whisper.

"I love you too," Sasuke managed to say in a sleepy and very cute sounding voice, at least to her.

She leaned back against him and let out a yawn, shutting her eyes and easily falling asleep. She could let her guard down next to him. Nothing was going to get to her, not while she was here.

It was about four in the morning when Sakura jolted awake in a cold sweat. She wasn't sure what she was dreaming about but whatever it was had woken her from a dead sleep.

Sakura wasn't sure if she woke Sasuke up or not, but she didn't care to look when she felt the first signs of the hangover that was coming. She didn't necessarily feel sick, but she knew she was feeling it enough that she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep.

Sighing, she slowly untangled herself from the sheets and sat up, turning to where her legs were hanging over the side of the bed. If Sasuke wasn't up by now it would be a miracle, but she would still be quiet, just on the one in a million chance he had slept through her getting out of bed.

Slowly standing up she went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, trying to shake the feeling of whatever nightmare she'd had away.

It wasn't very long before very sleepily, the dark haired boy walked from the bedroom, looking for Sakura. He found her in the kitchen and he leaned against the door frame, looking at her.

"Are you alright?" he asked somewhat groggily.

Sakura jumped when she heard Sasuke speak, nearly dropping the glass of water she was holding, which caused Sasuke to give her a sleepy smirk. He was sneaky even when half asleep.

She looked over at him and smiled gently before nodding, taking another drink. "Nightmare."

"Hn."

Sakura finished her drink and set it down on the counter, placing her hand down next to it as she leaned back. "I don't even remember what it was about."

She pushed the hair away from her face before closing her eyes, focusing on deep breaths. She wasn't feeling so great, but she was sure Sasuke knew that. She probably looked like a mess, she was guessing, but she couldn't find it in herself to really care right now. She didn't think she was going to get sick though, and that was the only good sign she could see right now.

"You can go back to sleep. You look tired," she said quietly.

She glanced over at him and gave him a half-hearted smile before she walked past him into the living room, sinking into a seat on the couch. He watched her walk passed him before following her.

If anything, she'd probably take a nap here but she didn't plan on sleeping anymore. "I'll be here when you wake up."

She didn't work today and if she could get over the initial headache, she might even be up for an early morning training session. She just had to get over this first wave of the hangover.

"Are you really stupid enough to think I'm going to sleep while you're clearly unhappy?" Sasuke asked.

She knew he probably wouldn't go back to sleep, but she wanted him to know it was an option. It wasn't like she could blame him, she had put him through hell last night probably. She could remember being carried around... a lot. He probably had just gotten frustrated with her antics and dragged her back to his apartment.

That was the only reason she was letting that 'stupid' comment slide. Plus, she knew he didn't mean it. It was his way of expressing himself. She wasn't about to yell at him for being a good boyfriend and staying up with her.

Sitting beside Sakura on the couch, he placed a hand over hers. "Do you want me to help you sleep?"

For a sharingan user like him, it would be easy to use a genjutsu to make her go to sleep. It might even be a better sleep than normal.

She smiled giving his hand a gentle squeeze as she curled up in the seat next to him. "That might be a good idea."

She rested her head on his shoulder, staring at the scrolls she was reading over, causing him to smirk a little. The scrolls were once again placed neatly on the bookshelf in the room. She felt so special to be his important person. That she could read things like that and he wouldn't bat an eye at saying differently.

"I don't want to walk back to your bed just yet though. Give me a little bit," she added in a quiet voice.

She could feel a headache start to simmer and she was terrified that if she moved it was going to hit her full force within a matter of seconds. Sleep without nightmares though, something she was sure Sasuke could deliver, was something that sounded welcoming.

"I could carry you again," he suggested, only halfway joking.

"I don't know if I would oppose to it, but I'd rather you not," she answered as she smirked to herself.

"Okay," was all Sasuke answered.

She was halfway expecting him to start scolding her now for last night, something she definitely didn't want to deal with right now. Maybe later in the day she could take his verbal lecture of him explaining how stupid she was last night and she'd deserve it, too. But not right now when every word spoken was like a scream in her ear. Still, she needed to apologize.

"Sorry about last night and thank you for taking care of me." She kept it short and sweet, plus, she could elaborate on her apology later.

"Hn."

Right now though she was much more keen on sitting in silence, closing her eyes and relaxing against him. She knew how much he cared simply by the fact that he was tolerating her through all of this.

It wasn't until she yawned again that Sakura moved, lying down on the couch and resting her head in his lap and closing her eyes. Her body was exhausted and she'd be damned if she fought of sleep. After another yawn it was only minutes before her breathing started to slow and she started to drift off again.

She wasn't asleep for too long before she groggily rolled onto her back, her elbow hitting the back of the couch and causing her to wake up. She was met with the sight of Sasuke resting with his head leaned back, eyes closed. He couldn't of been asleep. She knew that much and it was the only reason she didn't try not to wake him when she slowly pushed herself to stand up.

Sure enough, Sasuke opened his eyes when he felt Sakura move, and glanced down at the girl as she began to stand.

"I'm going back to bed," she explained.

The only reason she even bothered telling him was because she was hoping he'd join her, but if he didn't ,she wouldn't blame him. Sasuke was used to waking up at this time and he'd been up long enough to probably push the thought of sleeping aside.

Still, she slept better though with him next to her. She didn't have to worry about keeping her guard up or making sure she kept up a light sleep. Sasuke wasn't going to let anything happen to her so long as he was around. That much she was sure of.

Sasuke looked back and forth between her and his bookshelf for a moment, looking unsure for a moment. In the end he decided to follow her into the bedroom. She crawled back into bed and within a minute she was already falling back asleep. Sasuke filled her mind up until that point where her thoughts began to run together and a dream state started.

That boy meant everything to her and if he ever disappeared out of her life, she knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to handle it. She didn't want to live in a life that he wasn't apart of. No way, no how.

She was half aware of Sasuke climbing into bed but she wasn't near awake enough to open her eyes to look at him. She just smiled gently and sunk back against him, enjoying the warmth of his body. It was always soothing to feel him next to her, reminding her that it was all real and she wasn't about to wake up from some kind of dream.