I was going to post this chapter way earlier, but my computer decided to be mean and destroy my OS by accident. All my stuff is fine, which is good. Computer is up and running again to a point, so the next chapters should be posted up faster than this one.
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
-Sasuke-
February 1st, Friday afternoon.
Sasuke dashed down the hallway with Naruto following quickly after. Surprisingly enough, the snow had stopped and melted just enough that children could get back to school again. It felt out of place to not be in school for so long, but it was good to be back.
Sasuke flew out the doors and skidded on the ice that had frozen over. He slipped and fell backwards giving a groan as he hurt his back. Naruto followed his lead accidentally and slipped, but kept on sliding. He flew into Sasuke and made both of them crash into a pile of snow. Sasuke gasped for breath as he popped out and twitched when he heard muffled laughter.
Moments later, Naruto popped out of the snow laughing hard. Sasuke punched him in the arm as he struggled to get out.
"I've officially come to hate snow and ice," Sasuke mumbled as he finally got out of the snow. He pulled Naruto out and dusted off his hair that was full of fluff. Naruto grinned and sweat dropped as he pulled on his jacket. Sasuke watched as a ton of snow fell out and gave a laugh. "Let's just get home before we freeze."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed with a shiver. He shook his head and then carefully began to walk. Sasuke followed him after holding his book bag closely. They left the school grounds and took to the sidewalks where there was more snow and less ice.
Sasuke watched the road as they walked home. It was empty due to the fact that only a few cars with special tires could drive on it. Even though the snow had melted, the ice had greatly frozen the roads preventing travel to anywhere. It was still cold enough that ice wouldn't melt, which confused Sasuke as it was the other way around when it came to the melting of snow and ice.
Usually, ice would melt off first and snow would be left around before disappearing. Sasuke groaned as he thought about what Kurama had said about the weather disturbances due to the land dying. It's not going to get any better just because it looks like it is. Sasuke thought with a sigh. It made him remember how long he and his friends had been stuck out in the snow.
They had been out there for about a week, and the weather hadn't even gotten better until another week later. Sasuke was greatly surprised to see that it had settled down, but felt depressed thinking again that it wouldn't last. Kurama had made it sound like it wasn't going to end even when Spring and Summer came around.
When they arrived back at the house, Sasuke waved goodbye to Naruto as he entered his house. Itachi wasn't home yet as he was out helping Obito with clearing out ice on the roads. Due to the unnatural weather, there also had been no homework given. That left Sasuke with little to do.
Sasuke shivered greatly when he realized the house had been empty and no heat had flowed in. Quickly, he went over to the thermostat before turning it on. He stared at it as he heard it come to life, but gave a frown.
"It's going to take a while for the house to warm up…" Sasuke sighed and looked at the clock. "I guess… I can take a shower." He softly spoke aloud before going into his room and putting his school things away. He went into his closest and grabbed a long sleeved shirt with warm pajama like pants. With his clothes ready, he headed into the bathroom to shower.
On a split second reaction, Sasuke had instead taken a bath and had taken over an hour to get out. As he strolled into the kitchen feeling refreshed and warm with a towel over his head he noticed a note attached to a bowl of food. Sasuke picked up the note and gave a sigh.
It read:
"Sasuke, I didn't want to disturb you and I didn't have enough time to stay, but here's a bowl of chicken gravy over rice that I cooked earlier today. I won't be back until either late tonight or tomorrow, so please make sure to turn off the thermostat before you go to sleep.
-Love Itachi."
Sasuke placed the letter aside and uncovered the food before sitting down to eat it. It was still warm, so it had probably just been cooked up. Sasuke looked at the clock to read 5:25p.m. before munching on his food.
I must have just missed Itachi. Sasuke thought as he poked at his food. I had music on while in the bath, so if he spoke I sure didn't hear it.
After finishing up his meal, Sasuke headed into his room grabbing his cell phone. He blinked when he noticed he had a few unread texts. He shifted through them rolling his eyes when most of them were from Naruto explaining how Kurama was doing, and also about random stuff that happened to be on his mind.
Just before he was going to answer, Sasuke noticed another text that had only occurred a few minutes ago. Taking off his towel and sitting on his bed he stared at it wondering who it was from.
It was a cell number from Konoha, but that's all he could determine. Giving a frown, he opened it up and read the text.
"Um, I hope this is the right number… But it's Sakura! Naruto gave me your number cause I guess you had forgot to give it to me. I didn't ask either, so we're both at fault, haha."
A smile slowly crept on Sasuke's face as he saved the number, and then answered the text.
"Yup, this is Sasuke's phone alright. Yeah, my bad. I should have thought about that sooner. I'll have to thank Naruto for that. How are you doing, Sakura?"
Sasuke placed his phone down, but jumped when he heard it ring off immediately. He opened it up to see a text from Naruto that sounded concerned. He mentally hit himself that he forgot to respond then texted Naruto back about how he had been taking a long bath.
A few moments later, a text from Sakura came in reading:
"I'm doing great except I hate all this snow… It's horrible! I felt like all my clothes were soaked when I got back to my dorm room. Did you have to face worse going home today?"
Sasuke laughed imagining Sakura's white coat dripping water everywhere she walked before he replied to her saying:
"It wasn't so bad until I got out of the school building. Slipped on some ice, but then Naruto ran into me and we slid into the snow. It was not fun."
Sasuke closed his phone and stretched as a thought came to his mind. He hadn't drawn in a while, but he thought now was the best out of any other. He bent down at a desk and opened up the drawer pulling out a booklet with drawing sheets in it. Grabbing a pencil, he went back over to his bed and began to draw.
Hours past, and it was well beyond midnight by the time Sasuke crawled into bed. He and Sakura had stayed up all night texting, and just a few hours ago they had started up voice chatting. He reached over placing the charger on his cell phone that was close to dying before yawing greatly. He gave a smile as he closed his eyes and wishfully gaving a soft sight hoping that he could have many more conversations like this with Sakura.
I think… I'm almost ready to tell her. Sasuke thought just before he fell asleep.
-oO0-o)
February 4th, Monday, 7th period.
"That's a pretty drawing, is it for a girl?"
Sasuke jumped when he heard Deidara's voice behind him. Quickly, he covered his hands over the drawing and glanced up at Deidara with a glare.
"No, it's for the author of this story whose birthday is today." Sasuke replied. Deidara gave Sasuke a confused look opening his mouth so say something, but closed it as he raised an eyebrow. "I'm joking. Naruto said something stupid like that today after reading a weird poem in English."
"Ahaha, yeah that sounds like something Naruto-kun would say. The other teachers always tell me how odd he is." Deidara rubbed his head before moving Sasuke's hands away. "But seriously, who is it for? I've never seen you draw something really soft like this. The last soft thing I saw was of that other cherry blossom, but this…"
Sasuke glanced down at his work and grumbled under his breath wondering why Deidara was so interested. It was very lightly drawn as Sasuke had yet begun to apply more detail. He blushed when he realized he had drawn all the things that had reminded him of Sakura.
It was a small hill with a cherry blossom bloomed at the top. There were a few flowers here and there, but he hadn't placed any detail into the hill yet. He had drawn in a few light clouds with the cherry blossom's branches in a light swaying motion. It was one of the few pieces of work that he actually worked hard to get accurate.
A cherry blossom tree, a grassy hill with flowers, light flowing clouds, and a warm breeze. Sasuke thought as he remained silent with Deidara staring at him curiously. This is a place I would love to spend time with Sakura at. Too bad such a place doesn't exist…
"I'll just wait for the final product then," Deidara finally spoke as he began to walk away. "Alright class! I'm not sure if you have heard about this or not yet today, but the Valentine's Festival is next week. Like during the other festivals, the art rooms will become work stations. There are no assignments due, but please remember that I'll be checking portfolio's in March, so don't slack in your work!" With that, Deidara went into his office to let the students continue working.
Sasuke blinked slowly as he pondered over Deidara's words. Valentine's Festival? Sasuke pulled out his school book and flipped through it until he found the calendar. Thursday of next week was indeed Valentine's Day. It was usually a day he greatly avoided. He was quite popular with the girls as a kid because he had inherited good looks. It frustrated him greatly when he got tons of cards and chocolate, which he usually tossed the chocolate at Naruto who didn't get any because he was thought of as a delinquent.
But without realizing it, a smile slowly crept onto Sasuke's face as he thought of Valentine's Day. This year, it was going to be different for him. He glanced down at the picture he was working on and began to work on it again.
I'll finish this and give it to her. I know exactly what I want to do with it now. Thanks Deidara-sensei… Although, I'll never say that aloud!
-oO0-o)
"Sasuke, wait up!" Naruto shouted as Sasuke stopped glancing back. He had a box of materials in his hands while Naruto caught up to him with another box. They were headed over to the Konoha High as that was where the festival for this event was taking place.
"Slow poke…" Sasuke grinned as he headed out the door to head to the gates to the girls' school.
Naruto made a pouty face, but said nothing else.
Carefully, they made their way over to the Konoha High without slipping on the ice. Upon entry, Sasuke and Naruto's eyes went wide.
The hallways had already begun their decorations even though it was only the second day of preparation. Red streamers with hearts on them were hanging across the ceiling and doors while flowers hung down from different colors of red string. Sasuke and Naruto slowly made their way to the classroom where they had to help in.
Sasuke was glad that Konoha High was designed pretty much the same as Kitsune High, so they had no trouble finding the classroom where they needed to be. When they entered they saw Neji, Hinata, and Temari directly a few other girls where to hang certain decorations. Hinata looked up and smiled before running over to hug Naruto who almost fell over. Sasuke rolled his eyes as he placed his box down in front of Neji.
"Ah, Sasuke, Naruto, I'm glad that you two could make it," Neji bowed to them then frowned casting a glance behind Sasuke. "Hinata-sama…"
"Ah!" Sasuke glanced back hearing Hinata's voice. He saw her blush up greatly as she let go of Naruto. Naruto grinned and took a quick peck at her cheek before coming up next to Sasuke. Sasuke watched a Hinata's voice worsened before she came up behind Naruto burying her head in his shirt mumbling about embarrassment.
Neji groaned and grabbed Naruto and Hinata's arms before dragging them off to a different corner of the classroom. That left Sasuke and Temari by themselves to sort through the boxes on the table.
Sasuke tried to focus on his work, but he was always looking back at Naruto and Hinata. He watched as they made secret flirting passes, mostly Naruto's doing, behind Neji's back. They were fooling around more than they were actually working. Sasuke breathed out at an envious sigh as he watched how much fun they were having.
"A bit jealous of them, huh?" A voice interrupted his thoughts. He glanced up to see Temari grinning at him. He shrugged and turned to go back to work. "I know I am… They are quite happy together."
"Yeah… they really are," Sasuke couldn't help but agree. He stopped working realizing he was actually jealous of them.
"What about Sakura?" Temari asked as she leaned against the desk staring at Sasuke.
Sasuke frowned at her and crossed his arms. "What about Shikamaru?" He shot back at her. Temari's eyes widened before she blushed.
"That little shrimp? HA! What's so good about him?" Temari pouted as she turned her head away.
Sasuke shook his head as he remembered how much Temari hung out with Shikamaru when he and Naruto had visited the Nara's household over the last week after coming back from finding Shukaku. He could definitely tell that Temari had a thing for him even if he was two years younger than her.
Thinking about that made him think about how Shukaku still hadn't spoken yet. Kurama was beginning to think he had lost the ability to do so, and wouldn't get the ability to talk until after the issues had been resolved in Konoha and Suna. Sasuke slumped his shoulders thinking about how unaware and blissful everyone was right now, and not one of them knew of the impending dangers that were coming at them. So far, Kurama and Shukaku hadn't been any different in their powers, nor had any success in figuring out what to do. Gaara and Naruto had been trying many things with the tailed beasts, even from throwing them around, but nothing had worked.
Sasuke began to feel hopeless and the excitement of the festival preparation faded being replaced by depressive feelings.
"You know…" Temari began to speak making Sasuke look up just slightly at her. "Gaara's been working really hard to make things better… Naruto too. After watching them work so hard, I can't help but be happy that they're happy right now. Even with something supposedly worse coming, it makes me want to believe that even if it seems hopeless right now it'll all be alright in the end. So, it's alright to be blissful without worry when one doesn't give up, right?" Temari turned to look at Sasuke with a gentle smile.
Sasuke stared at her then gave a small laugh. "I swear, you can read minds."
"Only a little. It was written on your face the entire time you were at the Nara's. Buck up, Uchiha, and also, go get that girl and tell her your feelings before it's too late."
"Ah, wait, what?" Sasuke stuttered as his eyes widened, but before he could say anymore Temari was pushing him out the door.
"Sakura's on the second floor! Can't miss that pink, long hair running through the halls." Temari winked and closed the door locking Sasuke out.
Sasuke stared at the door with a blank expression on his face before he glared and crossed his arms. "Tch, now I'm going to get in trouble." Sighing, Sasuke turned from the classroom and headed to where the stairs would be. No, no… why am I heading this direction? Sasuke stopped on the mid-way platform between the two stairways. He turned to look out the window.
"I want to see her, but… I don't feel ready again." Sasuke hung his head before turning around to head back down the stairs.
He didn't get the chance to, though, as a girl flew straight into him pinning him against the wall.
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
-Sakura-
Sakura waved to Ino as she turned to head down the stairs to find Hinata. A smile came to her face wondering if Hinata had found Naruto or not. She giggled lightly as she skipped down the stairs. Unfortunately, she miscalculated at the last second and tripped over her own foot. Her eyes went wide as she stumbled forward and impacted into someone pining them against the wall. A blush flew onto her cheeks as she stared into two dark, familiar eyes.
"Sasuke-kun, Sakura!" Both of them shouted at the same time. Sakura blushed even more when she realized the kind of position they were in.
Sasuke was awkwardly leaned up against the wall while she had landed to be up against his chest and between his legs. She blushed even more as she slowly pushed off from his chest to stand up right. He straightened himself and glanced away. Sakura twiddled with her fingers as thoughts raced through her mind.
I can't believe that just happened! And how I landed too… She felt herself blush even worse making her hands cover her face. She couldn't even look at Sasuke now with the thoughts going through her head. Ugh, this festival is getting to me!
"Are… you alright?" Sakura heard Sasuke ask making her look up at him. She slowly nodded "What happened there anyway? Erm, to make you fall… onto me…" Sakura watched as redness appeared heavier on Sasuke's face. It made her relax some to know she wasn't the only one embarrassed.
"Ah, I think I tripped on my foot? I made the mistake of skipping down the stairs like an idiot." Sakura rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. Sasuke turned to her and gave her a soft smile before lightly patting her head.
"Silly girl. That's dangerous to do." Sasuke crossed his arms as he leaned against the window seal. "Where are you heading anyway?"
"Oh, I was heading to find Hinata-chan to see if she had found Naruto! Hehe, I wanted to see them interact." Sakura giggled lightly as she came to lean next to Sasuke. She stared up at his face smiling, which the smile slowly faded when she saw Sasuke put a distant look up.
"The first classroom me and Naruto entered, Hinata was in there. They're being silly and flirting behind Neji's back while somewhat working." Sasuke gave a light sigh as he turned to look out the window. Sakura stared at him for a moment before looking down at the floor.
Slowly, she placed her hands behind her back and moved a foot up and down feeling a bit distant herself.
Lately, she and Sasuke had been interacting a lot on the phone, but they hadn't had any real contact otherwise. Sakura sighed quietly feeling sad about how she wanted to have a relationship like the one Hinata and Naruto had. Her eyes glanced to Sasuke and a small, sad smile came to her face making her understand that she wanted the same relationship with Sasuke.
Sakura felt her heart race and hurt at the same time. Sasuke might seem happy to spend time with her, but he hadn't ever shown any other type of interest in her. It made her very happy, yet depressed at the same time. She wanted more from him than just his friendship.
"I guess I'll leave Hinata-chan alone then…" Sakura finally responded to Sasuke as she pushed off the wall. "What were you doing, Sasuke-kun?"
It took a moment for him to reply, but when he turned to look at her, her heart fluttered greatly. "Actually, I was looking for you. I was a bit curious to see what you were up to. I hope you don't think I'm bothering you."
"Oh, no! You're definitely not a bother at all." Sakura placed her hands up before cupping them together in front of her chest. "I've been checking on the progression of the classrooms and making sure they were going well."
"Sounds like a ton of work."
"Quite a bit…" Sakura groaned as she turned around. She stared at the wall in front of her having an idea suddenly come to her. Quickly, she turned back to Sasuke grabbing his hands. A surprised look crossed his face making her smile. "Sasuke-kun, do you want to help me with that?"
"You sure it's alright?" Sasuke asked looking happy. Sakura blushed that he seemed to want to do this.
"Yes! It's no problem at all, c'mon!" Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand and headed down the stairs. She would avoid the side that Hinata was at and head in the opposite direction. A chance to be like this with Sasuke, even surrounded by people, was something she couldn't be happier with.
-oO0-o)
Sakura laughed greatly as she ran away from Sasuke who was throwing confetti at her. They randomly had come across an empty classroom that had a lot of boxes of confetti in it. Originally, Sakura was going to hunt down the abandoners, but Sasuke had found an opened box of confetti and threw it at Sakura, thus a confetti war had started.
So far, Sakura had the most confetti attached to her with Sasuke getting there. Sakura ducked behind the teacher's desk as she gripped the confetti to throw at Sasuke. She knew he was approaching slowly and waited the right moment to attack. When he was right on the other side of the desk, she sprung up and threw the confetti just as some flew at her.
"Gah!" Sasuke shouted out as he laughed loudly. Sakura blinked and came to his side noticing that he was holding his eye.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Did it get in your eyes?" Sakura asked concerned, but at the same time couldn't help but laugh. Sasuke nodded, but then suddenly threw confetti at her.
"Hey!" Sakura giggled as she tried to duck too late.
"Hey is right…" Sakura and Sasuke suddenly stopped when they turned at hearing a mature, female voice. Sakura grimaced when she saw it was Tsunade, the principal of Konoha High. With her arms crossed, and anger on her face she looked incredibly intimidating as she came up to them towering over them. "What are you two doing?"
"Uh…." Both of them responded at the same time and looked anywhere but at Tsunade.
"Tch! Sakura, I expected that you'd be much more responsible than this…"
"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama…" Sakura sighed as she finally looked at her principal.
"Since you two have made the effort to make a mess, you're going to make the effort of cleaning it up! I don't care how long it takes." Tsunade placed her hands on her hips giving both of them a glare through squinted eyes.
"Yes, ma'am!" They responded at attention. Quickly, they went over to where the bags, dustpans, and brooms were located. They got them out and began sweeping up the confetti. Luckily for them, there were no desks in this classroom.
After watching them a bit, Sakura noticed that Tsunade left the room closing the door. When she was gone Sakura took a glance at Sasuke and grinned. Sasuke grinned back before they burst into laughter.
"Oh, we so made fools of ourselves!" Sakura giggled out as she leaned down to pick up her dustpan.
"It was well worth it," Sasuke responded after he was able to calm his laughing down.
"Heh, yes it was," Sakura smiled up at Sasuke before getting back to work.
-oO0-o)
"See you tomorrow!" Sakura shouted as she waved goodbye to Sasuke and Naruto. It had been around five when Sasuke and Sakura had finished cleaning up the confetti. For a moment, Sasuke had thought Naruto would have gone home, but to his surprise Naruto had waited for him.
Sakura twirled her hair as she watched the boys head out of the school. She stood there for a moment before she began to feel cold from standing too long. Carefully, she walked back towards the dorms and went inside into the warm air. Relief crossed her face at the warmth as she walked up the stairs toward her room.
"Sakura!" Sakura heard Ino shout and was pulled into a hug suddenly.
"Gah, Ino!" Sakura groaned out as she tried to push Ino away without success.
"I heard you got in trouble, but did so with Sasuke-kun." Ino giggled as she finally let go. Sakura glared then sighed happily at the thought.
"Oh it was amazing, Ino. I can't tell you enough how happy it made me feel being able to spend time with him."
"You really should ask him out, Sakura!"
"Oh, I couldn't hope to do that… I don't have enough confidence. Besides, he isn't interested in me in the least bit that way." Sakura sighed as she opened the door to their dorm.
"How do you know that? You haven't even asked," Ino pouted as she plopped onto her bed.
Sakura stared over at Ino for a moment giving a sad smile. "I don't need to… He might be happy to talk to me and enjoys having fun with me, but… when we talk about relationships, such as Naruto and Hinata, he seems… distant as if he isn't really interested in it for himself." She plopped down on her bed and stared at her hands before curling up.
Silence ensnared the room as Ino slowly sat down next to Sakura. She placed a hand on her back and gave a smile.
"I've been a little pushy about it, I'm sorry," Ino half-way grinned apologetically.
Sakura smiled back. "It's okay… Thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to keep spending time with him, as I'll be busy next week so I won't get to see him…"
"Yeah… I'll see if I can drag him at least once to your classroom event!"
"Thanks, Ino, but spend your time with Choji, okay?"
Ino's smile faded for a moment before it was placed back on. She gave a nod then stood up. "Let's go get something to eat before the dorm cafeteria closes."
"Okay." Sakura stood up and followed after Ino, but a sad expression laced her face as she silently trailed behind.
This time with him… it's enough. I can't ask for more. I'm truly sorry, Ino. If there's no success soon, I might just give up.
-oO0-o)
February 14th, Thursday afternoon.
Sakura leaned against her chair as she stared out from behind a curtain. It was her break time from her event, which was a "romantic" café setting that sold sweets from candy to jelly rolls. She was one of the maids that served out the sweets that were made from the kitchen in back.
She glanced down at her maid dress and fiddled with it. A lot of the girls wanted to make it revealing, but due to school rules that had been stopped. Instead, it was a poofy dress that trailed to about the knees. It had layered frills at the bottom while the chest/waist area had a sash tied back into a bow. More frills wrapped around the sides of the dress as well as around the center. It was sleeveless with spaghetti straps, but right above the elbows large arm sleeves were tied and flowed out and over the hands. The outfit was a mixture of several colors depending on the girl's choice, but they were all related to Valentine's Day. Sakura had picked shades of red to match her hair, which was tied up into a ponytailed to stay out of the way.
Unfortunately, the dress pushed up the breasts making them stick out. Guys stared at that more than they ordered sweets. Sakura wanted to punch every, single one of them no matter how much trouble she'd get into. Sadly, it wouldn't stop them.
I want Sasuke to stare at me… Sakura silently groaned as she leaned her head against the wall. It was a dumb thought she knew she shouldn't have, but due to the fact that she didn't get to spend as much time as she wanted with him last week and not seeing him at all this week made her depressed and somewhat desperate.
"Sakura!" Sasuke's voice drifted to her ears softly. She gave a sigh starting to think that she was imaging things now. "Oye, Sakura would you look at me?" Suddenly, she was turned around and was face to face with Sasuke.
"Ah? Sasuke-kun?" Sakura blinked several times before she stood up and hugged him. "Sasuke-kun! I'm so glad to see you."
"Aha, I'm glad to see you too, Sakura," Sakura felt Sasuke lightly embrace her before gently pushing her back. "I didn't come here to just say hi. Do you have a moment to spare to spend some time with me?"
Sakura's face lit up with great happiness, but then the sounds of the café dropped it back down. "I can't… I have to keep the café running. My break's almost…"
Without warning, Sakura was pulled away from the café and into the crowded hallways. "They can deal without you!" Sasuke grinned as he gripped onto Sakura's hand softly, but also with no intention of letting go.
Sakura blushed greatly at Sasuke and looked down embarrassed. Taking that as a no argument, Sasuke lead Sakura through the hallways until they reached a door that led out of the school. Sakura frowned when she realized that this was a back exit not used for leaving the school.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura began softly as she watched him grab a coat and also her trench coat surprisingly, "where are we going?"
"I wanted you to spend some time with me, and I can't necessarily do that here. Naruto's gonna cover for us." Sasuke placed on Sakura's jacket for her before placing on his own. Quickly, he opened the door and hurried Sakura out then quickly crossed the schoolyard. Sasuke climbed up a ladder that was against the fence and reached down pulling Sakura up to him when she reached the last step. As swiftly as he could, he picked her up and jumped down to the other side before placing her on her feet.
And with that, Sasuke pulled her off into town.
-oO0-o)
Sakura blinked as Sasuke led her into a restaurant, which upon first look seemed empty, but after glancing around she noticed that there was a hallway that led to the back where the customers were at. Sasuke ordered a private seat for two and waited silently. Occasionally, he glanced back at Sakura and smile at her making her blush.
After their "escape" from school, Sasuke had taken Sakura around town to random places. It had begun to snow, but that hadn't slowed them down. They went from clothing, jewelry, game, antique, and drawing stores. Most of the time they only window shopped, but sometimes they bought something from the stores they visited.
Eventually, evening came and they were getting hungry. This is when Sasuke had brought them to this restaurant.
Sakura smiled lightly as she remembered the fun they had roaming about town. It was tons of more fun than sitting in the café, and Sakura also got to learn that Sasuke really liked art.
Finally, they had been seated in the back and given menus to order from. They took their time ordering before they were able to sit at the booth alone waiting for their meal to cook.
Sakura glanced at Sasuke with a light smile as she slowly drank on her soda. Sasuke glanced from the corner of his eye and turned to fully look at her returning the smile.
"You look quite beautiful with your hair like that, especially wearing that dress," Sasuke spoke up. Sakura blushed and shook her head. "I think so."
"You're too nice…" Sakura mumbled shyly and began to unconsciously play with the dress.
"Nice? Nah, I don't think I am. Look how much I beat on Naruto."
Sakura giggled. "Oh, Sasuke-kun you're so silly! You care so much for Naruto that there could be no way you could be mean."
"Ah… I guess," Sasuke grumbled as he looked away. "I care a lot about you too…" Sakura looked up barely hearing his last words. He wasn't looking at her anymore making her believe she had just imagined what she wanted him to say.
The rest of the evening was met by silence as they ate their meal and left the restaurant. Sakura followed after Sasuke no longer being led by the hand as they headed back towards Konoha High's dorms. She stared at the ground shuffling her feet about thinking she did something wrong. Sasuke wasn't even looking back at her anymore.
Once they got back into the school building, Sakura led the way over towards her dorm. She pulled her hood up as the snow was beginning to fall harder. She now only wanted to get out of the cold. Being as it was nighttime made the cold feel five times worse. She wished she had worn something on her legs if she knew she'd be coming back this late.
She stopped at the entrance to the dorm and turned to face Sasuke to say goodbye to him. Her heart tore at the hurt expression on Sasuke's face. Without warning, she embraced him and buried her head into his shoulder. He tensed for a second then she felt his arms wrap around her as he leaned his head against hers.
"Sorry," Sasuke began, "did I upset you?"
He's worried if I'm upset when he's clearly hurting… Sakura shook her head unable to speak herself.
"Sakura… I was just thinking on the way back… It was kind of rude of me to ignore you, but…" Sasuke moved Sakura so he could look her in the face. "I've been meaning to tell you something. It involves the relationship we have right now… I don't think it's going to work out."
Sakura stared at Sasuke with an unreadable expression. Slowly, she backed away from him feeling tears well up in her eyes and before she knew it she was crying.
I haven't even told him my feelings and he's already rejecting me! Sakura placed her hands into her face and began to cry more heavily.
"Ah! S-Sakura, what's wrong? I… what did I say wrong? Oh man… I hope you're not misunderstanding… I uh…" Sasuke was stuttering badly, but Sakura was only halfway listening. She couldn't comprehend exactly what he was talking about. "Sakura…" She felt arms wrap around her and pull her close. She wanted to push away, but couldn't find the will to do so.
Sasuke merely held onto Sakura until she calmed down some. She didn't want to look at him in case she bursts into tears again.
"Let me rephrase what I was trying to say," Sasuke started and made Sakura face him. She cast her eyes away afraid of his face. "When I say the relationship we have right now… I mean the relationship we have as friends."
Hesitantly, she turned her eyes to look at his. "W…What are you talking about…? Are… you saying you don't want to be my friend anymore?"
"Yes, that is what I'm saying in a sense," Sasuke replied back. Sakura began to cry again, but before she could get anymore upset she suddenly felt something against her lips. She froze, eyes widening to notice that Sasuke was kissing her. Her heart began to race sporadically, and she felt her face begin to warm up. After another second, Sasuke withdrew and placed his forehead on hers. "Sorry. I… I've been wanting to do that for a long time, but been holding back. I couldn't help stop myself there. Sakura, I want to be more than just a friend to you. I want to be your lover and your best friend."
Sakura stared at Sasuke feeling dazed and dizzy. What she had tasted she hadn't tasted since the day she left Oto. She wanted it again. Without giving a reply to him with words, she leaned in and placed her lips upon his. She felt Sasuke recoil in surprise, but immediately his lips were back upon hers.
For a moment, they stayed like that. Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck while she felt his arms wrap around her body. After a bit, the cold began to be felt and it had to end. Sasuke slowly pulled his lips from Sakura's giving a sweet smile at her. She smiled shyly back wishing she could keep him right where he was.
"That… was enjoyable," Sasuke said giving a small laugh before clearing his throat. "Is that your answer then?"
Sakura nodded her head. "Yes, my answer is that I want the same as you."
"Good. Then that means I can give you this picture." Sasuke pulled his arms off before slowly unlatching Sakura's as well. Sakura gave a pout, but watched as he pulled over his bag and brought out a rectangular object that was wrapped up in pink. "Going to town was the Valentine's Day gift. This here is the gift I was going to give you if you said yes."
Sakura blinked then reached out and took the gift from him. Carefully, she unwrapped it and couldn't resist smiling as she did so. When the wrapping was off she gasped and stared at a drawing in a beautiful, light pink frame.
The drawing was a lovely scene. It had light tones of color from what Sakura could identify as water color. There were pink, green, white, and blue colors mixed around with some light variations of over colors. It was of a light green, grassy hill with small flowers of yellow, purple, and blue scattered about it. At the top of the hill there was a cherry blossom tree that was in full bloom with a beautiful array of pinks as its flowers. It was lightly in a swaying motion making it seem magnificent. Against the sky were a few clouds that were beautifully done with white and grey tones. But the thing that attracted Sakura to the picture the most was the girl and boy that were painted under the cherry blossom.
It was easy to tell who they were even though there wasn't super detail into them. Both of them were sitting against the tree with their legs out in front of them.
They were in normal clothing, the boy being in a light, black, long-sleeved shirt with a white undershirt inside. He was wearing dark blue pants and had spiky black hair. In his left hand was a book he was reading, although he wasn't looking at it. Even though no eyes were drawn into the picture, making it very simple in nature, his head was pointed towards the girl to his right whom his arm was wrapped around.
The girl herself had a lovely autumn dress with white frills, and yellow tint to the color. It was long-sleeved like the boys, but at the end were large sleeves that flowed out over the hands exactly like the arms sleeves Sakura was wearing right now. She smiled when she saw how the girl's long, pink hair flowed with the wind. She was leaning against the boy's side with her head drooping somewhat down almost in an indication that she was sleeping. Her hands were in her lap with a book that was flopped open with a page blowing because of the wind.
Sakura could hardly breathe. Tears ran down her face as she looked at Sasuke and hugged him tightly. She felt his embrace back and held onto him tighter.
"T…Thank you…. I… I love it," she barely managed to say.
"That makes me very happy to hear. It was a lot of work, but I just had to get it done," Sasuke gave a light, happy sigh. Sakura shifted so she could see his face that made her heart skip several beats. "I hope I can take you somewhere like that one day."
"I…" Sakura took a deep breath and smiled, "let's find it together, then. I want to go, too."
Sasuke embraced Sakura closer and she felt his head on her shoulder. She gave a smile land placed her head on his. It reminded her of the embrace on Christmas and she began to understand that he had wanted to say this for a long while. She wished she had recognized it sooner, but knew it didn't matter now. They were together, and that's all that mattered.
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-Computer is not doing as well as I thought, do expect delays in chapters-
This chapter was longer than I thought it would be… Tell me what you liked and didn't like about it, so I can improve!
Anyway! Next chapter gets back to the main plot of the story.