Yes! The hiatus is officially over! I put this story on hiatus as life got in the way, and the Naruto fandom really pissed me off at one point. But of course I can't stay away, and the lovely MissKluck and I have decided to finish this story. Please go and check out MissKluck's stuff if you haven't already! Now, onward!

I don't own Naruto.

"Sasuke-kun… Thank you."

The screeching of one thousand birds roared through the air as a burst of electricity splintered the unfortunate tree in Sasuke's path. It'd been three days since the incident with Sakura, and the raven hadn't heard a peep from her since. Of course she'd avoid him. After all, that had been the norm since he'd returned to the village, and especially after that damn auction. Over the past few days, Sasuke had found himself wanting to seek the pinkette out. However, his pride had stopped him. After all, Uchihas don't just chase after girls and offer up sappy apologies! She had clearly overreacted! Couldn't she see that he was just concerned about her?

Unfortunately for him, her words and the image of her retreating back had haunted him ever since their last encounter. Hell, he'd even had a hard time sleeping over it. How could he have been so stupid? Why did he have to interfere? It wasn't like him whatsoever, and those stupid bullies were civilians for crying out loud. Setsuna hadn't even pulled out a kunai, it was only a pocket knife. But in that moment, watching her wave the weapon at his teammate, the tiny pocket knife had looked like a massive blade. Instinct and protectiveness had kicked in, and he'd reacted without thinking.

'Reacting without thinking… That seems to happen a lot when it comes to those annoying teammates of mine,' Sasuke thought.

The raven knew that Sakura was more than capable of defending herself. The girl had taken down an Akatsuki member, and played a major role in the war. She could have taken out those girls with her eyes closed. So why the hell had he reacted so strongly? Even more than that, why did he care so much, to the point of losing sleep over it? She was just a teammate, and she'd get over it eventually.

Sighing to himself, Sasuke took a seat on the ground and leaned against what was left of the tree he'd just destroyed. His racing thoughts even made it hard to focus on training. It was then that he decided it was time to be honest with himself, and with Sakura as well. He knew exactly why he cared about her so much, and knew damn well that she wasn't just a teammate.

Ever since Tsunade came up with the ridiculous auction idea, he'd said that the only woman he wouldn't be completely opposed to dating was Sakura. Though things had been tense between them since he'd returned to Konoha, she was still the woman he'd always been most comfortable with besides his mother. The pinkette was strong, intelligent, and beautiful. During the last few days, he'd had a lot of time to look inside of himself and reflect on things. She'd loved him once, and over the years he spent so much time ignoring things like romance in favor of achieving the goals he'd set for himself. He now realized that he loved her too. For exactly how long, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that it'd been for a while, and he'd been pushing it back. Now he worried that it was too little too late. There was no guarantee that she still felt the same way, even if she did bid to win the date with him. It was more than likely just a pity bid. After everything that had happened, Sasuke was sure that Sakura had to hate him.

He refused to acknowledge just how much that thought made his chest constrict painfully.

'Sasuke-kun… Thank you.'

Though as Sasuke remembered those haunting words, he didn't know what to believe. He thought back to her confession to him when they were thirteen. They were so young back then. Now Sakura had clearly thrown his words back at him, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. They both remembered that intimate moment shared between them and them alone. Did she still love him, or was she letting him know she'd moved on?

Instead of seeking her out, he'd give her space. Their date was just a couple of days away, and then they'd talk things out once and for all.

Sakura sat in her office, a large stack of medical files on her desk. To most people, the insane amount of work would cause nothing but a feeling of dread. Sakura Haruno wasn't most people. She thrived on working, thrived on the challenges that presented themselves from day to day. It was during times like this, where she was having an internal crisis, that she was especially thankful for her hefty workload.

Picking up the first file and making some notes, the pinkette attempted to focus on the task at hand. Unfortunately for her, it didn't take very long before her mind started racing. She'd been avoiding Sasuke for the last few days, and knew that she couldn't keep it up forever. Their date was in just a couple of days, and Tsunade had made it clear that if she tried to run away, there would be dire consequences. Knowing her master, she probably wouldn't be allowed to work for a while. That simply could not happen, especially since she now had to worry about paying off that stupid, impulsive bid.

While going on a date with Sasuke had been one of her longtime dreams, she never wanted it to be under these circumstances. She wanted the raven to fall for her and ask her out himself, not be forced into dating her! It was clear to Sakura that the raven would never return her feelings, and she'd been trying to accept that fact. That's a large part of the reason she'd avoided him even before the auction. Just seeing his face or hearing his voice made feelings that she'd been trying to fight against rise to the surface with a vengeance.

Then there was the fact that Sasuke obviously didn't think she could take care of herself. Alright, maybe she was overreacting. Maybe he was just being a concerned teammate. If she was being honest with herself, the fact that the raven interfered almost made her happy. It gave her hope that maybe he didn't hate her after all. If he didn't care about her, he could have just stood by and ignored it. But he didn't. That had to count for something, right?

"Forehead! Earth to forehead!"

Sakura was immediately shaken from her thoughts by the screeching of the village pig. She looked up at the blonde woman in mild annoyance.

"What is it, pig? I'm trying to work here," Sakura grumbled.

Ino let out a very unladylike snort. "Is that why you've been staring at the same page in that file for the last five minutes?"

Ignoring the comment, Sakura merely let out a tired sigh. "Seriously, what are you doing here at the hospital? It's your day off."

Ino grinned and took it upon herself to take a seat on Sakura's desk, much to the latter's annoyance. "I'm here to kidnap you, girlie. You've been throwing yourself into your work ever since the festival. I know it has to do with the auction. Let's go out and take your mind off of it! You like tea shops, right?" the blonde babbled excitedly.

The pinkette was tempted to decline the blonde's offer. Though the more she thought about it, the more she realized that maybe she needed the girl time. After all, she had been completely distracted by her racing thoughts. Clearly, no work would be getting done for the time being. Accepting the situation for what it was, Sakura agreed.

"Fine. Lead the way, pig."

It was a beautiful day outside, and the walk through the village square was peaceful. Mothers were out with their children and some people were even out walking their dogs while enjoying the sunshine. Sakura smiled to herself while Ino rambled about the latest fashion trends. The pinkette was glad she'd taken the blonde up on her offer. Ino led her to a tea shop that she wasn't familiar with, and the girls were told to sit anywhere they'd like. As soon as they sat down, Sakura picked up on a familiar chakra signature. Ino grinned at the look on Sakura's face.

"Is that…?" Sakura trailed off.

"It is. Now hurry up and mask your chakra before he notices us!" Ino replied.

The medic rolled her eyes but complied with the request anyway. On the other side of the tea shop sat the insensitive asshole of her team, Sai. Seated in front of him was the elderly woman who'd placed the winning bid on him. So her and Ino had stumbled upon their date, had they? Sakura was sure that the elderly woman was regretting her decision to bid on the artist.

"I'm glad you knocked him out!"

Sakura couldn't help but snicker as she remembered the woman's words. Oh yeah, she was regretting her decision alright. Her smile quickly turned into a frown as she saw Ino watching the two like a hawk. Honestly, the blonde could be so childish sometimes.

"You totally knew they were here," Sakura accused.

"Of course I did! I couldn't give up the chance to spy on Sai and his date!" Ino replied, turning her attention back to the pinkette for the moment.

"Wait. Come to think of it, isn't Kiba supposed to be on his date right about now as well? You two seemed rather flirty at the festival. Why are we here and not out looking for him?"

At the mention of Kiba's name, Ino frowned and crossed her arms with an angry huff. "Screw that player! Yesterday I spotted him out with two girls within a few hours of each other. He'll flirt with anything with a vagina. I should have known better," she growled.

Sakura shook her head at her friend, deciding not to discuss it any further. To be honest, she wasn't surprised. Their waitress brought them some tea and then took their orders before walking away with a pleasant smile. The girls turned their attention back to Sai, and the medic couldn't help but smirk at the sight before her.

"So Iwa, how do you like the rice?" Sai asked, taking a bite of his own rice.

The elderly woman rolled her eyes at the much younger man, utterly annoyed with him. Why the hell had she placed a bid on this guy anyway? She really needed to stop going after the young ones. After all, she wasn't a spring chicken anymore. "How many times do I need to tell you that my name isn't Iwa!? I'm from Iwa. My name is Kokona!"

"Right, Nana. But that still doesn't answer my question about the rice. You may want to get your hearing checked," he replied.

Kokona took a deep breath, willing herself to calm down. She wasn't sure if the man sitting in front of her was really that rude, or if he was just a complete idiot. Wanting to get her moneys worth, she decided that maybe she should try to salvage the date. Attempting to think of something to do after the tea shop, she suddenly smiled as a thought struck her.

"The rice is fine. Would you like to go to the park after this? It's a beautiful day out," she said patiently.

Sai tilted his head to the side, looking utterly confused. Actually, he was staring at her as if she was crazy. "Why would we do that? The park is like, half a mile from here. You'd probably break a hip or keel over on the way!"

Any and all patience that Kokona had immediately went out the window. This asshole had no manners, and she had finally had enough. She stood up and pointed at the artist accusingly. "You inky eyed, puffy lipped, snowman skinned fucker!"

The artist regarded the woman with a smile, genuinely happy for some reason. "Why, thank you! Does this mean we're friends now?"

Sai wasn't sure what to think when the woman threw her drink at him and stormed out of the shop. People were so confusing with their emotions and their ways of social interaction.

On the other side of the shop, Ino and Sakura gaped at the scene in wonder. How someone could be so clueless, neither of them had any idea. Sakura was the first to break the silence.

"Honestly, I have no idea how Sai can be so stupid. He certainly isn't charming in the slightest. I almost feel bad for him," she said.

"Well, he did call me beautiful that one time. Maybe there's some hope for him," Ino muttered.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the way Ino was looking to the side, and she could swear there was a slight blush on her cheeks. "No way… You like Sai, don't you!?"

Before Ino could respond, the waitress came by with their food. The blonde dug into the dish immediately, and for once it seemed like she didn't know what to say. Sakura simply smiled and shook her head slightly, deciding to let it slide for now. She glanced in Sai's direction and realized that he had noticed them. He seemed to be watching Ino's back, and the pinkette's smile only widened.

"Maybe you're right, Ino," Sakura said softly.

"What'd you say? I couldn't quite hear you," the blonde replied.

Rather than answer her friend, she simply kept eating her food with a smile on her face.

Elsewhere in town, Kiba was on his date as well. The woman who'd placed the winning bid on him was from Sunagakure, and he'd learned that her name was Midori. The Inuzuka had decided to take her to the dog park with Akamaru, so she could get to know his beloved companion as well. After all, the two were a package deal.

Midori reached a hand out to pet Akamaru, who seemed to appreciate her attention. He nuzzled into her hand, and she couldn't help but giggle happily. He may be twice her size, but he was a big baby. The woman was usually afraid of dogs, but she'd make an exception this time. She looked up at Kiba, smile still present on her face.

"How long have you had Akamaru? You two seem very close," she asked.

"About ten years now, and going strong! Of course we're close. He's my best friend. Isn't that right, Akamaru?"

The dog simply let out a bark in agreement, still savoring the attention he was receiving from Midori.

The woman noticed that even though Kiba did seem charming and great with animals, he seemed to have an almost unhealthy attachment with his dog. Loving animals was fine, but it seemed to be all he talked about. No matter how many times Midori tried to ask him about himself, all of his answers had something to do with dogs this or that. She found herself wondering if maybe something traumatic had happened to the brunette, to where he found comfort in his furry companion.

"So, when Iruka-sensei yelled at me for bringing my dog to class, Akamaru went and peed on his sandals! Oh man, it was hilarious. You should have been there!" Kiba exclaimed, scratching his furry companion behind the ears.

Midori forced herself to keep smiling, not wanting to seem rude. She wished that Kiba would ask her about herself, but he didn't seem interested in knowing much about her. Seemingly picking up on the girl's discomfort, the brunette changed tactics.

"Enough about myself and Akamaru. I want to know more about the lovely lady sitting in front of me. Do you have any pets of your own?" he inquired, giving her a handsome grin.

Well, it was still centered around pets, but at least he wanted to know more about her. It was a start, at least. Midori figured she'd take whatever she could get.

"I don't, actually. I am not usually much of a dog person, but Akamaru has charmed me so much that I may actually reconsider that! I'm allergic to cats, so that's out of the question. The only pet I had growing up was a goldfish," she said sheepishly.

"At least it wasn't a cat. Goldfish, I can handle. If you ever do decide to get a dog one day, I can give you some tips on how to train them!"

"I would definitely appreciate that," Midori replied with a smile.

Even though Kiba did seem really obsessed with dogs, he still seemed like a decent enough guy. He was extremely handsome, and was charming in his own way. Maybe a little into himself, but wasn't that to be expected to some degree? He was still only seventeen, and maybe he'd mature a bit in the coming years.

'Wait, why am I thinking about the future with him already? This is only our first date. Calm down, girlie!' Midori thought with a blush, hoping he wouldn't see it.

Of course, Kiba's trained eyes wouldn't miss such a thing. He was a ninja, after all. He scooted a little closer to her, making her blush even more. "My, my. You're even more beautiful when you're blushing," he said smoothly.

'Oh my gosh, he's so close. Why is he so close? Is he going to kiss me? Do I want him to kiss me? He's so handsome. What is even happening right now?'

"Kiba? Kiba Inuzuka? Who in the world is this girl, and why are you sitting so close to her!?"

The two teens immediately pulled away from each other at the sound of a very angry voice in the distance. A woman with blue hair was stalking towards them, and appeared very pissed off. Midori was utterly confused, and Kiba looked like a deer caught in headlights.

The blue-haired woman stopped in front of them, and put her hands on her hips. "Well, Kiba? I'm waiting."

"Um, Kiba? Who is this woman, and why is she looking down at us like she wants to punch us?" Midori asked, catching on to the situation.

The Inuzuka opened his mouth to reply, but the woman in front of them beat him to the punch.

"Who am I? I am Kiba's girlfriend, or I thought I was. We went on a few dates, and he seemed interested. Of course, he never told me he wasn't being exclusive," she said with a growl.

The dog lover rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, wondering how in the hell he was going to get himself out of this one. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that the jig was up.

"Now, now girls. I can explain!"

Midori promptly stood up from the bench they were sitting on, and pointed an accusing finger at the man. "You player! You knew you were seeing other women, yet you agreed to be part of that stupid auction? Have you no shame!?"

"Even if I'd mentioned anything to our hokage, she wouldn't have let me get out of it! My friend Naruto tried getting out of the auction for that very reason, and she still made him go through with it!" Kiba exclaimed, throwing his hands up in defense.

"You still could have told me if you were seeing other people! Now I feel like a fool. To think I almost fell for you!" Midori shot back, clearly hurt.

For some reason, the hurt in her eyes really shook Kiba to his core. She seemed like a nice girl, and he felt bad for hurting her like that. He realized that maybe his playboy ways did more harm than good. Just as he opened his mouth to apologize, Midori put her hand up to silence him.

"I don't care what you have to say, I don't want to hear it."

"Look, I didn't want to ruin your date or anything. I'm sorry you had to find out Kiba's a player, but I didn't even know myself until I saw you two together," the blue-haired woman said quietly.

"Yo, blue hair. That's nice and all, but you did in fact ruin my date. This kind girl paid good money for a chance with me!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Blue hair? Do you even know my name?"

"Um…"

Kiba didn't even have a chance to try coming up with an excuse. After a hard slap from each woman, they both walked away without a word. Sighing to himself, but realizing it was probably his fault, he sat back down on the bench.

"Well, at least I've got you, Akamaru. I wonder what Ino's up to…"

Some people never learn.

It was 2:55 in the afternoon, and Temari was supposed to be at his house in just a few minutes. Pulling himself off of the couch with a yawn, Shikamaru gathered a few empty take-out boxes and threw them away. The only thing the lazy genius could think was how troublesome this whole situation was. First he gets forced to participate in an auction where he himself is the prize, and now he had to go on a date with one of the scariest women he knew.

The two of them hadn't even discussed any details of what they'd be doing. The date was bound to be super awkward. Sure, they'd spent a fair bit of time together over the years, with him acting as her escort during her visits to the village. However, he wasn't sure dating her was a great idea. They lived in different villages, she was scary, and he couldn't be bothered to do anything. Would they really make a good match?

'Gosh. So troublesome,' he thought with a sigh.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a knock on his door. With a final sigh and shake of the head, Shikamaru answered the door. He had to admit that he was slightly taken aback by what he saw.

Temari had her hair down, rather than in it's usual style. She wore a sea green kimono with a slit down the side, that went down to her ankles.

Nodding in greeting and stepping aside to let her in, Shikamaru couldn't help but think that she almost looked... pretty. More than pretty. She'd clearly dressed to impress, but why? He was just an average guy, nothing special. Plus, there were no romantic feelings between them. At least, that's what he kept trying to tell himself all of these years.

"Are you going to keep staring at me, or are you going to ask me if I'd like to sit down?" the blonde asked teasingly.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her, he gestured to his couch. "It's not like you haven't been here before. Make yourself at home," he said, making his way to the kitchen. "Would you like some tea?"

"That would be lovely, thank you," Temari replied, sitting on the couch and smoothing out her kimono.

As Temari waited for Shikamaru to finish preparing the tea, she couldn't help but wonder why the hell she went and got herself into this situation. If she was being honest with herself, she'd fallen for the lazy genius a long time ago. She always looked forward to her visits to the village, mainly because she got to spend time with him. He was intelligent, handsome, and she enjoyed his company. However, she had no idea if he felt the same way about her. He seemed content doing nothing but staring at the clouds all day. Did he even think of romance?

She was broken from her thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching her. Shikamaru held out the tea to her, which she accepted with a word of thanks. He sat down next to her with his own tea, and an awkward silence ensued.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable for some reason, the genius was the first to speak. "Uh, so. I know we didn't discuss the details of this whole thing. I'm not sure what you want to do," he said, before taking a sip of his tea.

"I wasn't sure myself, but I heard that there's a festival happening nearby," she replied.

Truthfully, Shikamaru wasn't too keen on that idea whatsoever. He'd had enough of festivals, especially after being forced into the auction. It'd be a while before he'd want to go to another one, but he wasn't sure if it was important to Temari or not. "It seems like there's a festival going on every week," he said, internally wincing at how disinterested he sounded.

"Ah, that's true. You wouldn't be interested in something like that. Attending an event like that together might make us seem like a couple, anyway."

The genius couldn't help but snap to attention at how hurt she sounded. She made it seem as if he thought being in her presence was the last thing he wanted. That couldn't be further from the truth. He enjoyed spending time with her more than he'd like to admit. Yes, she was scary. However, she was also strong, intelligent, and beautiful. Truth be told, if anyone had to win a date with him, he was glad it was her.

Shikamaru was lost in his thoughts for a while, and Temari took his silence as confirmation that he really couldn't care less about their date. Never one to beat around the bush, she decided she better take her leave before she endured any further embarrassment. With that thought in mind, she set her tea down and stood up.

"I actually just remembered that I promised Gaara I'd help him with… something. Something urgent. I should get going," she lied quickly, wincing at how stupid she sounded.

"Temari-"

"No, I insist. I really need to get going. There's no use staying here with someone who thinks being around me is just troublesome," she snapped, making her way towards the door.

Suddenly, the blonde felt a warm hand on her wrist. Her eyes widened as she was turned around and pulled into a tight embrace. She hit Shikamaru's chest with a squeak, and instinctively wrapped her arms around him. Why in the world was he doing this?

"Don't be so upset, please. What you're thinking is wrong. I like you, you troublesome woman," he said, holding her to him securely.

"I… like you, too. But, why did you act so disinterested all of this time?"

"Honestly? You're intimidating. And, I didn't want to ruin our friendship. Or whatever the hell we are," he admitted.

The blonde couldn't help but chuckle at his reasoning, but she understood it. Words couldn't describe how happy she was that Shikamaru liked her after all. Perhaps the date could be saved. Their only challenge now was to figure out what they wanted to do. Temari pulled away from him and smiled brightly, her mood lifted.

"Funny how things work out, huh? Now that we've gotten the awkwardness out of the way, why don't we figure out what to do?" she suggested, before looking out the window.

Shikamaru followed her gaze, but couldn't tell what she was looking at. Women could be so confusing sometimes. "What are you looking at?"

"It's a beautiful day outside. The clouds are especially pretty today," she mused.

"You enjoy cloud gazing too?"

"I admit that I never really took notice of such things until I started hanging around you. I admire how you enjoy the simple things," Temari replied with a shrug.

Considering her words, Shikamaru went to his hall closet to grab none other than a shogi board. He wasn't sure how she'd feel about it, but he felt that there was nothing better than a game of shogi on a nice day.

"Would you be up to playing a game of shogi on the porch? After that, maybe we can stop by that festival you were talking about. They usually have fireworks, right?"

The blonde's face immediately lit up at the suggestion, and she truly appreciated him trying to compromise with her. Giving an eager nod, she immediately took the board from him.

"Race you outside," she said, before taking off.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her antics, before following after her at a brisk pace. She was a troublesome woman, but now she was his troublesome woman. Perhaps participating in the auction wasn't so bad after all.

I apologize for the lack of SasuSaku interaction this chapter, but it was necessary so we could see how all of the other dates are going. We'll move on to the next ones in the following chapter, and I promise you'll have some SasuSaku goodness! If you enjoyed this chapter, please review and save this to your favorites. Until next time!