A/N: Here's the next chapter, guys. Compared to Return & Reciprocate, I didn't get much of a response for this story so I'm wondering if you guys are disappointed? The lack of feedback is a little discouraging to be honest but I still tried to put up a good chapter for you. Hope you like it. :)

'Sakura...,' he said aloud.

Of course. Of course, she had invaded his thoughts again. It had been over a year since his mind had entered a vicious cycle of painting itself pink, strikingly pink every few minutes. And sometimes, Sasuke was terrified. Terrified of how he felt blood rush throughout his body and how his stomach churned uncomfortably when he thought about her. He was not an idiot. He knew what these feelings were and he felt guilty. He felt guilty longing for something he didn't deserve.

He felt guilty for what he had done in the past and he felt guilty for what he knew he would do in the future. No, he would not hurt her. At least, he would try not to. But he would claim her. He would keep her. He would keep her with him, for himself, forever. And that, to him, was the most selfish thing he could think of. That was what made him feel guiltier than he could handle. He knew she loved him and so, he had convinced himself that she'd be happy with him but deep down, he knew that after everything he had put her through, he didn't deserve her. And she didn't deserve him. She deserved someone who was everything he wasn't. But being as heinous as he was, he knew he could never see her with someone else.

His mind went back to a day that, despite his best efforts to forget, had remained etched in his brain.

A few days after his last battle with Naruto, Sakura had visited his hospital room to check on his injuries. He had been sitting up on the bed, legs dangling from the side as Sakura examined what remained of his left arm, when, suddenly, they had received what was in his opinion a very rude interruption. Someone had actually had the audacity to knock on the door during his check up and then enter without even waiting for permission.

'Sakura-san,' a man called out, still half concealed behind the door.

He was wearing a uniform similar to Sakura's so Sasuke guessed he was a medic-nin working at the hospital as well.

'Ah, Hitoshi-san, I'm a little busy right now,' Sakura responded apologetically. 'Can we talk later?'

'O-oh, but I was just heading out,' the man started again. 'And I just wanted to ask you if you, maybe, wanted to get something to eat together?'

What. Had that bastard not heard her say that she was busy? With him. How dare he not respect her wishes to be left alone? With him. How dare he interrupt his time with her and that too to ask her out? Pfft. To think the likes of him had actually thought he had a chance with Sakura. The mere idea was infuriating. Sasuke turned his head away in disgust.

'Go ahead, Sakura. Reject him,' he commanded mentally.

'Oh, I'm sorry, Hitoshi-san, I have a lot of work to do,' replied Sakura and was that a pink tinge on her cheeks?

What. She was blushing because of that idiot? Sasuke felt a lump form in the middle of his throat and he could swear his insides were burning as if a fire jutsu had just been released within his body. In his indignation, he almost didn't see the man leave and Sakura turn to him nervously.

'S-Sasuke-kun,' she started hesitantly. 'Why are you glaring at me like that?'

And that's when he had realized it. She was blushing because of him. Because of his gaze.

'Hn' he grunted in triumph.

'H-huh?' blinked Sakura.

Sasuke shook his head with a smirk.

After she had left the room, he had spent a lot of time just lying on his bed and thinking. Thinking about why the feeling that had stirred up inside him a little while ago hadn't felt new. Trying to recall just when he had felt something akin to this before. And then, damn his memory, he had remembered.

'It was Naruto who saved you.'

Sasuke clenched his eyes shut. Why were all these memories resurfacing again? Why were all these feelings resurfacing again? Sasuke opened his eyes. Did he really... love her?

He sighed because a part of him already knew the answer. In his heart, he knew. He knew that he had for quite some time now.

Sasuke buried his face in his pillow.

'I can't. I can't do anything about it right now. I have other things to take care of first,' he reminded himself.

But Sasuke knew, even then, that one day, the right time would come and he felt more selfish than ever because he... he really wanted Sakura to wait for him.

He smiled because as despicable of a thought as it may have been, he knew she would.

And so, here he was, in this meadow, still as despicable and selfish as ever. He couldn't even think about letting her go and thus, he had concluded that he would do the only thing he could at this point. He would try to make himself worthy of her love. He would become someone that would take away her pain, not cause it. He would become someone who could make her smile. He would love her, as much as she had loved him all these years. He would return every ounce of love she had given him, with interest.

Sasuke picked up the book that had fallen next to him. He skimmed through the pages, stopping at the one he had been on earlier.

'Ambrosia,' he muttered, carefully reading out the title of the page and examining the drawing of said flower. Scribbled beneath the drawing were two words. 'Requited love'. And then further down on the page were some roughly written paragraphs.

'According to this book, it has to be here somewhere,' mused Sasuke, looking around again. 'That lady better not have given me an unauthentic book.'

He thought back to the time when he had obtained this particular book. He had been somewhere near Kirigakure and the day had been somewhat cold so when he had spotted an inn serving warm tea to travelers, he had decided to go inside and have some. On entering, however, he had changed his mind for there were an awful lot of couples making out in every corner and cheesy decorations all around the place. He had turned to leave but before he could, an old lady had blocked his path.

'Won't you have some tea, kiddo?' she asked, voice slightly shaky and eyes crinkled up merrily.

Sasuke couldn't find it in himself to say no, so he agreed and let her lead him to a table.

'Why is a handsome young man like you alone on a day like today?' she inquired as he sat down.

He blinked. 'A day like today?'

The lady let out a small chuckle. 'Don't tell me you forgot what day it is today?'

Sasuke looked on confusedly.

'It's 'White Day', kiddo!' she informed cheerfully.

White Day. No wonder the atmosphere was as it was.

'Don't you have a special girl you need to repay for Valentine's?' the lady pried on.

Valentine's. Back when they were kids, Sakura had always given him hand-made chocolates on Valentine's. He had hated sweets from the very beginning but a few times, out of curiosity, he had tried the ones she made and they hadn't tasted half bad. He had never let her know though nor had he ever returned the favor on White Day. She really did deserve someone better.

'What's her name?' the feminine voice snapped Sasuke out of his thoughts.

She was now seated on the chair opposite to him. Sasuke hesitated.

'Who's name?' he said.

'The girl you're thinking about, of course,' she winked.

'… Sakura,' he mumbled.

'Well, isn't that a pretty name,' smiled the lady.

'Hn.'

'Does she know how you feel about her?'

Sasuke blinked. How did she know how he felt about Sakura?

'Don't look so surprised, it's pretty obvious,' the lady added with a laugh.

Sasuke felt his cheeks heat up. 'No,' he said briefly.

'Well,' said the lady as she stood up. 'I have just the thing for you. Just you wait.'

And with that, she had retreated to a room he could see at a slight distance. Sasuke waited patiently and after a few minutes, the lady returned with a cup in one hand and a small book in the other. She placed both the things on the table before him. She tapped the book lightly. Sasuke lowered his gaze to find her finger resting on the book's title. 'The Language of Flowers'.

'Why don't you get your flower… some flowers?' said the lady with a sly grin.

'Hm?' was all Sasuke could say at that time.

Only after going through the book had he realized how clever her words had been. He could use flowers to express everything his words couldn't. He just had to use the right ones. And predictably, his brain had picked some of the rarest. And to find one of them was the very reason he was in this meadow at the moment. But unfortunately, his search had proven to be a disappointment so far. However, there was no way he was giving up.

He got back to his feet. He would find it. He didn't care how tired he was and he didn't care how long it would take, he would definitely find it. And then he would find the rest he had chosen too. He would definitely not fail. Because after everything she had done for him, his flower deserved these flowers.

A/N: I know the ending line was a little too cheesy but eh, what the hell? :3 Anyway, please give me feedback. It really encourages me to write. And a special thank you to all you lovely people who did leave me some feedback for this story. :')
I have decided to write 4 more chapters for this after all; the last one will be more of an epilogue though, similar to how the previous one was a prologue.

Oh and a little shout-out to a guest who left me a review under the name 'Mars'. I'm glad you like my work but I feel bad that all the SasuSaku hate has brought you down, so I've put up a little note on my profile that sort of gives a more positive view on things. So, I hope you read that and that it makes you feel better. :) And if any other SasuSaku fans have also been feeling negative lately, I hope it helps you guys feel better too.