Sakura was standing frozen with a blank expression staring at Sasuke; she couldn't believe what Sasuke just said. Nope! She definitely heard him wrong, however, her alter ego within her was screaming at what she heard the Uchiha say. 'A DATE! I KNEW THIS WOULD FINALLY HAPPEN! YEAH! CHA!'

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her and asked again, "Are you sure this is a good time? I could always come back tomorrow" he said nonchalantly, which snapped Sakura out of the frozen spell she had been under. "No!" she said a little too loudly, "No, it's okay, you just took me by surprise, that's all" she said more softly. Sasuke nodded and asked, "Shall we go" and she nodded once behind a bashful smile as she followed him.

They were walking down the street heading particularly nowhere because Sasuke had no destination in mind. He had no idea what he was doing, they were walking side by side in complete silence, and this was beginning to feel… awkward. Sakura's glances every now and then weren't helping to ease things either. He wracked his brain trying to recall what is it people did on dates.

Sakura was stealing occasional glances at Sasuke; she was on a date with Sasuke Uchiha! How long had she waited for this? Sakura couldn't believe that this was really happening! She was feeling incredibly nervous until she felt suddenly alarmed. I'm on a date with Sasuke and I'm still covered in guck! Sakura how could you let yourself go out like this! She chastised herself. She wished she had the basic sense to ask for a few minutes of human time before they headed out. Of course this would end up being her luck; she dreaded how she would be recollecting this memory in the future as her being covered in grime and all kinds of other nasty substances. This was far from all the fantasies she had.

Sasuke and Sakura were walking in the village centre now. One of the things Sasuke did well was collecting intelligence and so he looked around him to spot any couples hoping he could learn anything that would make this impromptu date less uncomfortable.

He had seen many people around them but failed to discern if they had been couples or not, when he then spotted a man emerging from a flower shop with a bouquet in his hands. That's when it clicked in Sasuke's mind, women like flowers. That's supposed to be romantic or something, and he was on a date, so romance was expected.

He walked over to the store and prayed that it wouldn't be Ino's shift; he was feeling a little embarrassed by his behaviour from earlier. Although she did say he was being nice, so maybe he didn't behave that badly at all.

"Wait here" he said, which came out like an order, but Sakura was used to Sasuke's way and didn't feel insulted by it. That, or she was way too lenient when it came to the Uchiha, because had this been Naruto barking orders at her, he would have been met with a monstrous punch in the gut. She nodded and watched Sasuke enter the flower shop. Aw, is he going to get me flowers? This is a whole new side to him I never expected to see, she excitedly mused.

Sasuke entered the shop and found Ino standing behind the counter. "Sasuke! I never expected to see you here… come to buy some flowers or are you here to speak about the incident from earlier? You did appear to be upset." Ino was straightforward like Sasuke, except unlike Sasuke, she was missing filters. Which is why he preferred to avoid conversations while she preferred confronting them head on. "Just the flowers" he said indifferently, but Ino looked disbelieving and arched an eyebrow at him.

"I was kidding before, are you seriously here to buy flowers?" she pressed, and his silence and blank stare gave Ino all the answers she needed, "Wait, are you serious?! Are you like on a date or something?" she pried, and Sasuke was beginning to get irritated, "Look, can I get the flowers or not?" he said a little too harshly, and Ino chuckled and said, "Alright, alright… so what are you looking for?" and Sasuke said, "I'm not sure. You and Sakura are close right? What does she like?" and Ino's eyes lit up wide "Oh my God! You two are finally going out! Wait… is this your first date? What do you have planned? It's so cute that you are getting her flowers! Ugh! it's about time you asked her out already!" she ended with a chide.

How? Is all Sasuke thought as he was listening to a very loud Ino. The rest of that thought was, how did Itachi, the taciturn, reserved, and completely introverted brother of his end up having Ino as a first friend? How did he tolerate this?

"I don't really have anything planned. It just happened" he remarked, and Ino was stunned frozen, and wondering how did the highly anticipated first date just suddenly happen. Never mind that though, because this Uchiha clearly needed her help. "Ok Uchiha, listen up and listen up good, this is what you're going to do…" Sasuke was taken aback by the graveness that took over Ino all of a sudden, but when he emerged from the store, he was actually grateful that it had been her shift.

She gave him a single rose and told him this would be more than enough to convey romantic sentiment and instructed him to take Sakura to Senju Park. There is a bench situated over a cliff by the river, and it is one of the most romantic places in the village. He had no plan anyway, so anything was something for him at this point.

Sasuke emerged from the shop and handed Sakura the single rose, and her cheeks have turned pink from the heat rushing towards them. Hm, that worked. I guess the Yamanaka knows what she's talking about. With this thought, Sasuke was encouraged to carry on to the park.

They arrived at the bench overlooking the river, as Ino had described, and they both sat down to look at the view. They were next to each other, but there was a space that still separated them and prevented any of their limbs from accidently touching. Sakura wanted to get closer, but she was afraid she'd scare him off. She began to think of ways on how to make this date less awkward. What conversations could she strike? Things were good with Itachi now, maybe she could ask about how he's settling in.

Sasuke was wracking his mind to say something as well. He usually appreciated silence, but this was a silence imbued with tension.

'Just let it go' the loser's words kept echoing in his head repeatedly, and so Sasuke opened his lips to say what he had always known, "Sakura, I… you… uh" except he didn't really say anything coherent. He was never a man of many words, but he was a straightforward guy… so why was this difficult to say? Just let it go! He chided himself.

Sasuke creased his eyebrows and thought of how he could say it and realized he wasn't really letting anything go by all the overthinking he was doing.

Sasuke exhaled heavily and then just spoke. No thoughts, just words, and they were words that really expressed what he thought.

"Sakura, I've known for a while now that it could never really be anyone else but you" he looked at her eyes, and his were piercing into her own in search for understanding and a reaction.

Sakura was astonished by his words; it was so unexpected. Sasuke… all this time, this was how he felt. She smiled warmly and said to him, "You already know I feel the same way. It will always be you."

Sasuke nodded and revealed a… smirk? No this was a smile. A genuinely happy smile. "So, what do we do now?" he asked. Sakura chuckled and said, "You didn't plan anything, did you?" and he shook his head. She moved closer to him and held his hand for a moment then she released it and said, "We can just sit for a while. We don't have to say anything" She smiled at him, and he nodded gratefully. He liked that idea, and suddenly the silence they sat in no longer felt awkward at all.

This felt quite nice. He looked at her profile as she gazed at the view. Sakura was very pretty, her colouring, her big green eyes, pink hair, and fair skin laced with pink on the cheeks too. She had a beauty that was pleasant to the eyes, and he wondered how he hadn't noticed it before.

Sasuke knew he loved Sakura, but that was because she was his other best friend. They knew each other's souls well and they cared for each other deeply. Looking at her now, he felt a physical attraction to her too that he hadn't noticed before. Without much thought, Sasuke lifted his arm and wrapped it around Sakura to pull her close. He felt very protective of her suddenly and he didn't want to let go.

Sakura was surprised by this physical expression and turned to look at Sasuke whose eyes met her own. He placed his fingers beneath her chin and lifted her head up slightly. Sasuke brought his head closer to hers and placed his forehead on her own they both closed their eyes for a moment feeling the closeness of this intimate connection they were having. It was all so new for him, but it was also new for Sakura as well. He cupped her face in his palm and sighed longingly and she smiled pleasantly at the feel of it all.

"Let me take you home" he said softly, and Sakura nodded.

Sasuke dropped her back at her apartment and Sakura opened her front door and lingered a while to say, "This was wonderful. Thank you, Sasuke" and he nodded at her once to which she responded softly "Goodnight". Before Sakura went in, Sasuke called out to her with a suggestion, "Naruto is planning to host a congratulatory party to celebrate Itachi's promotion. We can go to that together if you like" and she nodded with a smile in acceptance to his proposal. "Goodnight, Sakura" and he left to head back to his family home.

Author's Note:

I wanted it to be short an sweet. Basically true to SasuSaku canon.

Our men are doing well so far.

Thank you for those who left a review. I really appreciate it and it is quite encouraging.

If you enjoy the ItaIno pairing, I have another story called You Came Back on here that is an ItaIno fic. However, it is for a mature audience only. The main genres are: Romance, Angst, and Smut. There's comedy, and there's a plot so it does get interesting, but the main focus is on the relationships in this story.

Summary:

Ino couldn't help but fall for the charming, witty, and lewd Uchiha, and Shisui couldn't resist the sensual, playful, and only woman who could challenge his crudeness. However, a mission gone wrong ended their relationship when Shisui disappeared. Grief over his disappearance led Ino and Itachi to each other. And so, they fell in love, but then Shisui reappears 5 years later...

Link: s/14193830/1/You-Came-Back

Next chapter:

Naruto makes Kurama feel awkward

Sasuke and Itachi talk