Hey everyone! This is inspired by the Naruto Gaiden series taking place generally after the Chunin exams. Sasuke and Sakura pairing. They just never seem to really have their own moments, so i wanted to elaborate on those. Just something that was in my head and had to type out. Not exactly sure where it's ending up, im just gonna wing it basically. Hope you all enjoy :)

Chapter 1

It was quiet this Saturday evening. As the sun was setting, a pink haired woman carried two grocery bags down the empty street towards the Uchiha compound. Sarada was with friends tonight, so Sakura didn't have to hurry to an empty home. She wouldn't waste time cooking a meal just for herself either, as she remembered giving Sarada her allowance before she had left. Sakura's shift at the hospital today wasn't very exciting, thankfully though that was due to the long awaited peace between the countries. She smiled to herself as she thought of the people who had made that all happen. Especially her teammate, Naruto.

He is doing great as the Seventh, Sakura thought in all honesty. He might overwork himself a bit, and try and spread himself too thin sometimes, but he was doing his best. She reached into her pocket and pulled out two keys. The first opened the outside gate, the second unlocked the house. Once she was inside, she kicked her shoes off at the stoop and put on her slippers, hanging her keys on a hook by the door. Sakura turned towards the hallway looking at the empty house. She flipped a light on. "Im home." she sighed, even though no one would answer her.

Sarada was out with her friends a lot lately, whether it was training with Boruto and Mitsuki, or at the Diner with Chouchou. She was glad her daughter was becoming stronger every day, and even more so glad that she had friends who care for her. Sarada definitely had Sakura's strength and Sasuke's skills.

Sasuke… he hadn't been home in a month. She knew his mission had been far away this time. He never liked to linger around the village too long anyways. He would stay long enough to spend time with Sarada and to crash train with Boruto. Sakura enjoyed it when he was home, though the contact between them was… limited in a way. He cared for her in his own way, the way any man would care for the mother of his child. Sakura accepted this as her duty. She would raise his daughter and take care of his home while he was on his missions. She was his wife.. wasn't she?

Sakura flipped the lights on in the kitchen and set the grocery bags on the counter. She sighed, brushing her hair behind her ear and began putting the few things she picked up away. Sakura then filled up the kettle with water and opened a cup of instant ramen. She set it on the stove and then patiently waited for it to boil. Sakura leaned on the counter looking out the window into the back yard. She sighed deeply again. A lot of the nights were like this now. Just… lonely.. Almost feeling empty nested. Sarada was so grown, she almost never needed her mother. As she looked into the backyard she smiled to herself, imagining a young Sasuke training in this very backyard with his brother. Sometimes Sarada would do her shuriken training there. Sakura couldn't help but see her father in every move she made. She can't begin to explain how proud of her she was. She hoped Sasuke was just as proud of her as she was.

When he was home he was still as silent and brooding as ever, but it was comfortable. He didn't throw off an uncomfortable aura around him anymore. She believed he was becoming at ease with his little family. Sarada adored her father, and she knew Sasuke adored her too. Sasuke would smile with her, talk with her, tell her stories. Even now Sasuke was beginning to smile at Sakura too. He always complimented her cooking and thanked her for taking care of everything. And usually, that's as far as it would go.. Sasuke and Sakura were married after she discovered she was pregnant. It was an extremely private ceremony, only Kakashi there to marry them and Naruto to witness. The ceremony though was clearly just for formality because she had gotten pregnant. And Sasuke being Sasuke, he wanted to make it legitimate. Sakura understood that she was now a part of his mission in rebuilding his clan. She knew he cared for her deeply.. but she couldn't quite say he was in love with her. That night of the wedding, Sasuke had left for another high profile mission that had lasted near her whole pregnancy.

The whistle of the kettle jolted her out of her thoughts. She cursed and flipped the stove off, removing the kettle from the heat. The steaming water filled up the ramen cup and she set her chopsticks across the lid to let it sit.

Just as she was about to sit down at the table, she heard the front door open and close. Is Sarada home so early? Sakura thought and stood up from the table and went into the hall.

"Sarad-" she started, but instead of it being her little girl, it was a tall dark headed man. He looked up at her as he slipped his shoes off and took off his cloak. "Sasuke?" she whispered.

Sasuke turned more towards her. "I'm home." he said to her and rubbed the back of his neck like he was sore.

Sakura's heart fluttered a bit. Every time he came home she became a bit more nervous. But she smiled at him and folded her hands by her lap. "Welcome home Sasuke." she said gently to him.

He glanced around. "Is Sarada not home?" he asked her.

"Eh, no. She went out with Chouchou to meet up with everyone at the diner I believe. She said she's probably going to stay over." Sakura said. Then realizing, that they were going to be alone…

Usually Sarada was home when he was. They never were really alone unless they were in bed. Even then, Sasuke didn't sleep very much, and would sit in his father's old study going through research from the missions. By the time he came to bed Sakura would already be passed out, and by the time she would wake he would already be up training before breakfast.

Then she realized she wasn't prepared for him to come home and she hadn't cooked anything. "Oh!" she said and covered her mouth. "Are you hungry? I can fix you something if you are." Sakura asked like the good wife she was.

"Im ok, don't worry about me." he said walking down the hall. He paused at the kitchen doorway and saw the pitiful ramen cup waiting for Sakura on the table. He looked back at her. "Have you been eating properly?" he asked her in his usual cool even tone.

Sakura looked at the ramen and blushed. "Uh well… I didn't want to cook very much if no one else was going to eat it. It fills me up."

Sasuke turned to her. "Not very nutritional. You should eat properly."

Sakura blushed again. He always made her like this when he was home. "I'll try," she said.

Sasuke winced again and rubbed the back of his neck. Sakura showed concern on her face. "Let me draw you a bath." she put a hand on his arm. Sasuke looked down at her and gave her a gentle smile and nodded.

She smiled back and hurried to the bath. Once the water was hot she let the tub fill. It was rare they had these moments. And she wished they had more of them, but he was always so busy. Once the tub was filled, she called to Sasuke it was ready and went into the kitchen to finish her measly ramen. An hour passed, she finished cleaning the kitchen and decided to head to bed. Sarada had already called to check in saying her and Chouchou were having a sleepover since it was the weekend. So she locked the doors and turned out all the lights and headed down the hall to the bedroom.

When she opened the door she expected Sasuke to already be in his study. He sat the edge of the bed rubbing his neck. His hair was damp, he was wearing dark blue sweats and a black tee shirt. Sakura almost hesitated, but when he looked up at her she felt stupid just standing there. Sakura went into the closet and put on a pair of leggings and a tee shirt as well. When she came back Sasuke was still in the same spot on his side of the bed.

Sakura bit her lip. "Rough trip?" she asked him as she got closer to her side of the bed, his back to her.

"Nothing I can't handle." he said trying to brush it off as usual.

Sakura smiled and watched him as he tried to rub out the soreness in his neck himself. She then crawled over to him across the mattress and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Here." she said and brushed his hand away.

As she went to work on his neck, he seemed to wince a little, but hardly visible. Sakura worked her fingers into his stiff muscles, working down to his shoulders. She could feel him relax, which made her relax. "You shouldn't work yourself too hard Sasuke. Sarada may need you in one piece someday." she teased him gently.

Sasuke only hnn-ed.

She smiled to herself again. She never thought she would actually be the woman in his life to rub his shoulders after a long day of work. She had always hoped when she was just a Genin that she would be, but as she had grown.. she was unsure. Even some days now she felt like that. She knew he would only let her in so far. She was just merely part of his internal mission.

When she felt his muscles relax in his neck and shoulders, she rubbed his back lightly and then patted him on the shoulder

. "There. You should feel a little better." she said, keeping a private smile to she could lift her hand away, he caught her hand on his shoulder, and simply held it there. Sakura was a little surprised, but she wasn't about to pull away. She moved a little closer to him when he didn't let go of her, and slowly embraced him from behind. Once he was in her arms he sighed with a sort of relief. "You ok?" she asked quietly, concern tipping her voice.

Sasuke just nodded then, and gently pulled from her embrace and stood up turning toward her. "Just… thank you." he said as he looked down at her with his intense obsidian stare.

She blushed and turned away from him, embarrassed he was looking down at her like that.

Sasuke smirked and brushed his knuckles across her cheek. "I'm going into the study. Don't wait up." he said and left her alone. Sakura sighed aloud, her face feeling hot. Her cheek burned where he touch her. Sakura placed a hand on her cheek where she burned and flopped back on the bed.

Baby steps… she said. Maybe we'll get there eventually…

So there's that. And I'm pretending Sakura didn't destroy the house in the manga btw, just thought it was easier lol. And it would be a tad bit more sentimental. Well, I'll be working on a second chapter, hopefully I'll put one out once a week depending on how busy I am. I'll keep everyone who's interested updated :)

~Annie