It doesn't take long for Sakura to forget about the awkwardness between her and Sasuke. There's simply too much work to do. For the first half of the day, the duo works in silence to keep up with the mountain of paperwork, emails, and phone calls needing processing. They just fall into their old routine, the one they had when Karin was on vacation.

The time comes, around noon, that it's time to visit a few of the company's locations.

Sakura follows her stoic boss downstairs, to the employee garage, and into his car. That's when she begins to feel the tension resurface. Heat threatens to flood her cheeks as she steals a glance at the Uchiha man driving. He looks godly, as usual. She bites the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from sighing and averts her gaze out the window. As far as appearances are concerned, Sasuke looks exactly like he did when they first met: straightfaced and unconcerned with her presence.

Self-irritation churns the woman's stomach as her mood falls. Is it just her that can't stop thinking about how close they are in this enclosed space? It'd take little energy to reach over and touch him.

But Sakura can't do that, and even if she could, she wouldn't. As strong as her affection is for the man, she can't just pretend he didn't treat her improperly. If she just ups and forgives him without forcing him to reflect on his actions, she'll not only be disrespecting herself, but also their relationship because it'd have started off sourly and never been fixed.

Sakura shakes her head when they arrive at their first stop. Then, she follows Sasuke out of the car and through the shopping mall with her tablet at the ready to notate anything necessary. It's the same location where the opening party had been, the beauty-based mall. Ino's face is on a lot of the posters and window displays for various stores, like makeup, shoes, salons, and more.

Soon, they approach a perfumery. It's the only of it's kind in Konoha because most shops sell perfumes and colognes, just not as their sole product. The CEO, Fugaku Uchiha, wasn't entirely on board with putting such a place into one of his malls, but his two sons provided substantial evidence that it'll do well. As a result, Sasuke is checking in on it today to verify how things have gone with his own two eyes rather than relying on reports emailed to him by the staff.

Before they can enter the shop, Sakura notices Sasuke pull on a ballcap and a pair of glasses to alter his appearance. If they were on better terms, she'd have laughed at his disguise. He doesn't need to explain what needs to be done because they've done this a few times in locations that underperform. If the Director of Operations shows up, of course the stores' staff will be on their very best behavior. If they aren't aware of his identity, though, he'll get a sincere experience. Usually, Karin is the one to go with Sasuke on these little secret missions, so this is the pinkette's first time.

Since it's part of her job, she doesn't argue and simply takes a deep breath before sticking the tablet into her purse and walking into the perfumery while trying to tone down her professional aura. A soft, pleasant scent is in the air. It isn't overbearing or headache-inducing. Sakura temporarily forgets about what she's doing as she looks around in awe. It's a beautiful shop. She finds it odd that she's thinking such a thing because she's never found a store pretty before. Elegant lavender and pastel pink lights hang from the ceiling, which casts a gorgeous, mood-setting light over the dozens of crystal perfume bottles on display.

There's a thin, feminine woman behind the counter in a form-fitting dress that smiles, "Welcome!"

Sakura returns the smile, only to jump when a man suddenly appears before her. He's tall and in shape, wearing a dark blue business suit that makes his similarly-colored eyes pop. The man offers a blinding smile while taking Sakura's hand in his own, "Thank you for stopping in today. My name is Mino. May I help you find the perfect scent?"

The way he's staring confidently into her eyes makes her feel both uneasy and bashful, so she gingerly slips her hand from his and averts her gaze, "Oh, um, sure. Do you have any recommendations?" She's uncomfortable with his overbearing customer service but doesn't say anything because the goal is to experience a genuine interaction with the staff. They greeted her immediately, which is great, so things are off to an alright start.

"Of course! Follow me," Mino says. He gestures to the row of bottles furthest away from the exit, which coincidentally are the most expensive. Sakura doesn't fail to notice the difference in price from these compared to the ones closest to the entrance.

The salesman holds out a hand while picking up a tiny pink bottle. She isn't sure what to do, and he picks up on that with a chuckle. Mino grabs her wrist and turns it around in his hand so he can spritz a tiny bit of the perfume onto her skin, "This one will suit you perfectly. It has hints of strawberry and vanilla-" Suddenly, Sakura's wrist is pulled from Mino's.

It's then that the woman realizes she'd forgotten about Sasuke, who's been silently following along the whole time. He frowns, releasing her. Rather than acknowledge the act, he corrects the salesman on something else, "She prefers floral scents. Shouldn't you use a test strip rather than automatically put a product on her?"

Sakura barely manages not to drop her jaw in surprise. She stares, wide-eyed, at her angry boss as Mino bows and politely apologizes for the mistake. How does he know what kind of perfumes she likes? He's right, too. She does prefer floral scents compared to fruity ones. Absently, she wraps her hand around her wrist, the one he'd tugged away from the salesman, a blush dusting her face.

…Sasuke was really cool just then….

…..

Sasuke grits his teeth as he and Sakura leave the shop later, after thoroughly experiencing the place. He ended up buying a bottle of perfume for the woman, one she picked out, because it'd be weird to spend so much time in there and leave empty-handed.

They stop by the food court, where she excuses herself to the restroom.

He shouldn't have acted possessive like he had. She's been dead silent ever since. Sasuke's irritated with himself for making her so uncomfortable, but even more so because he can't figure out what to say or do to make it easier for her.

Rather than wait for Sakura to return, he orders food for them both. He's both eaten with Sakura and been treated to her cooking when she used to bring him lunch, so he has a general idea of her likes and dislikes.

His phone rings as he's sitting down with their tray of food. He notices Sakura approaching as he answers it. His mother's voice meets his ear, "Hi, Sweetheart. How's your day going so far?"

Sasuke bristles when Sakura meets his eye, sitting across from him. He isn't sure what to say or do to her, so he wordlessly gestures at the tray, scoots it closer to her, and averts his gaze with an uncomfortable glare.

He responds to his mom on auto-pilot, "I'm well. I'm working right now, so I-" "Of course you are. I know that. I just wanted to let you know that your father would like to have a family dinner this weekend. Are you free on Sunday?"

"Yes, fine. I'll be there," he says. Anything to get off the phone.

The call ends, and the man notices Sakura hasn't touched anything. He takes a sip of his drink and grumbles, "Eat. We need to get back to work soon."

Sakura says nothing, but wordlessly follows his order. He braves a glance at her face and almost groans. Not only are her ears red, but so are her cheeks and nose as she keeps her gaze downward.

Why does everything he does make her angry? The man is confused as to why she's upset and speaks quietly so no one will overhear, "Do you not like it? I'll get you something else."

"No!" Sakura bursts out.

The pair stares at one another in dual-surprise at her sudden outburst.

The red on her face burns brighter and she repeats herself more softly, "No, I like this. Thank you."

Hold on a moment…. Is that redness not from anger? What else would cause it? He hasn't done anything to embarrass her, he's sure, so why? Sasuke thinks on it for a moment before deciding to shelve the query for later. He's just relieved she isn't upset with him for now.

The rest of the day is relatively uneventful. Soon, the duo is back at the office and it's nearly time to leave.

Sasuke pretends not to be sneaking glances at the beautiful pink-haired woman as she closes down her computer and begins gathering her coat and purse. What should he say? Should he say anything at all or just stay quiet until she approaches him first? Before he can make a decision, the pinkette is suddenly standing in front of his desk.

There's an unfamiliar expression on her face. "Um, I want to apologize for making things so awkward today. I'll try to be better in the future." Sakura doesn't wait for his response and turns, walking toward the door to leave.

The Uchiha man's body moves independently, and he finds himself grabbing her hand before she can reach the door. She turns to face him, her shock evident. His courage disappears as she stares expectantly up at him with those pretty green eyes. Sasuke opens his mouth while trying to figure out what to say, but no words come out.

Should he explain that he's never felt so desperate to earn the approval of someone other than his father? Or maybe he needs to tell her, again, how sorry he is for hurting her feelings. It doesn't matter what he should do because his body and lips won't move. He closes his mouth, gritting his teeth with a disappointed frown.

Why is he like this? Why can't he just say what he's thinking and feeling? Why must it be so hard to be normal?

A soft, warmth meets Sakura's face, a look of understanding. She sighs and pulls her hand from his. She's unhappy that he touched her without permission, right? It must be. To Sasuke's surprise, the pinkette reaches up to tug the collar of his shirt so he'll lean down slightly. When he does, she bashfully kisses his cheek, which sends electric surprise through the Uchiha man's entire being. He then stares at her in disbelief, unable to speak for an entirely different reason than before.

Sakura releases him and takes a step back. Shyly, she says, "I like the you from today." Then, like she didn't just severely confuse the already baffled man, she exits the room without another word.

Sasuke's hand slowly lifts to the cheek she'd kissed, warmth meeting his chest. Why did she do that? And what does she mean she likes the him from today? There wasn't much different from how he used to treat her before everything hit the fan like it had. All he knows is that he's never felt such odd sensations from something as simple as a kiss on the cheek.

He clears his throat and shakes his head when he realizes a small smile had met his lips, forcing himself to frown seriously again before turning to go back to his desk. He'll just have to keep trying to earn praise from Sakura like what she gave just moments ago. Surely, with time, she'll forgive him and they can't start over. Sasuke's determined.

He swears to himself and whatever God may be out there that he won't mess it up if he gets another chance.

This time, he won't let his fucked up insecurities get in the way.