Growing Admiration: Five times Haruno Sakura loved Uchiha Sasuke, and one time she didn't.

I do not own any rights to Naruto.

"I'm sorry. Would you – could you repeat that? "

Despite her question, Sakura was around 90% sure that she had heard and correctly understood Sasuke's mumbled request. What she did not and could not understand was her own reaction, or rather, lack thereof.

"I asked," he forced out, "if you wanted to maybe…gooutforsomethingtoeat."

It was odd enough that Sasuke appeared to be more uncomfortable than she had ever seen him (and this included the occasion he and Naruto had to cross-dress for an infiltration mission in Stone. She had the pictures to prove it).

His jaw was set so hard that she worried he would crack a tooth. He also wouldn't meet her gaze which was unusual for him, or any Uchiha she'd ever met for that matter. They tended to have the upper hand when it came to staring contests.

What she absolutely could not believe, however, was the lack of...well...anything she felt in response. All she could muster up was just an overall feeling of confusion. The was the moment she had long waited for; after years of pining and mooning over Sasuke, he was, or at least he appeared to be, asking her to get something to eat with him.

But that opened a whole new can of worms.

Why was he so unconfutable? Was he really trying to ask her out on a date, or would Naruto be there? Where had this come from?

And, of all the things she could have asked or said, what decided to come out of her mouth as a sheer reflex was, "Not Ichiraku."

Sasuke's expression reflected a flash of horror for mere milliseconds at the suggestion that he would go to the ramen stand of his own free will.

She felt her surprise subside enough to be amused at the sight and casually offered, "There's a cute café around the corner I've been wanting to try. It's nice enough to eat outside today too."

Seeming to regain his composure in the face of a more logical choice of restaurant, Sasuke schooled his face back into its classic, cool expression and nodded his agreement, moving to follow her when she pointed him in the right direction.

While she channeled her own inner Sasuke and maintained an outwardly composed appearance, her thoughts were running rampant inside of her head. What had brought this on? She hadn't done anything differently in training and their missions had been largely uneventful lately, (barring the cross-dressing incident, of course). Was it something to do with her appearance? After pulling double shifts at the hospital all week and working with Iruka to implement a new first aid program among genin recruits, she highly doubted she was looking her best.

So, what had happened?

Their five minute walk to the restaurant was made in complete and utter awkward silence, which only added to the building tension. When they arrived at the cafe, they were seated by a cute blonde civilian girl, who was making her best doe-eyed expression at Sasuke - not that he bothered to notice. Once they were at their table, she immediately took their order, or, at least, she took Sasuke's order and then strolled off with an extra swing of the hips that vaguely reminded Sakura of Ino.

Sakura waited a beat for the anger to come, but, surprisingly, it never did. She felt nothing but pity for the girl making goo goo eyes at her teammate.

But that didn't make any sense either! She had spent years pining after Sasuke! Years! And, now that she was finally on a date with him, she couldn't muster up enough jealousy to be mad at the girl who hadn't even bothered to be subtle while hitting on him in front of her. All she felt was the slightest irritation that she hadn't been able to order her food yet.

What was wrong with her?

"Sakura."

Blinking owlishly, she redirected her attention to her date, who was observing her with a keen eye. Any previous trace of discomfort had suddenly been swept away.

At his pointed expression, she waved off his question. "I'm fine, just feeling a little weird that's all."

His eyebrow kinked just the slightest bit upwards. "Weird?"

Was he offended? She narrowed her gaze at him and noted that he didn't seem put off by her comment. He simply maintained his scrutiny, seemingly watching her body language with the same level of attention that she was studying his with.

So far, the weirdest date she had been on.

Their food came moments later, Sasuke had ordered her her favorite type of pastry when it was apparent that the waitress wasn't going to give her the time of day. She was pleasantly surprised he even remembered what it was. The waitress, noticing the way he simply slid the plate across the table towards his teammate, finally deigned to acknowledge Sakura, if only to glare at her and stalk back to the kitchen.

Sasuke, oblivious as the rest of her boys, completely missed the interaction. He was already lifting the coffee that he ordered to his lips, but paused when he caught her looking at him.

"What?"

She smiled and shrugged delicately, resisting the urge to giggle at his obtuseness. "Just thinking about how much you've changed. Used to be you didn't want anything to do with me. And now," she claimed, breaking off a piece of the tart, "you're taking me out to eat and ordering my favorite treat for me."

Was that the beginnings of a blush dusting his cheeks? "I never said I didn't want anything to do with you," he mumbled defensively.

She almost choked on a crumb. "Evidence suggests otherwise, Sasuke-kun."

"When did I ever–"

"We could go in order," she quickly interrupted. "Remember the bento incident?"

"I was five."

"Bench?"

"I was stupid."

"Did your training trip really need to be three years long?"

He paused over his coffee. "I see your point."

She giggled at his quiet show of embarrassment. Sakura was pleased to note that they had reached a place in their relationship where they could talk about these things, where she could even laugh and joke about it.

Curiosity nagged at her until she asked, "When did that change?"

He must have realized what she was referring to because he lifted a hand to his jaw and shot her a very pointed look in response. "I got a very forthright wake up call."

She certainly wasn't going to apologize for it either. If anything, she was glad she had done it. If that had truly been his "wake up call" then it was totally worth it. They're friendship had only grown and deepened since he'd been back until she felt that he saw her as a true teammate. That appreciation and recognition was all she'd ever wanted from him. After all, as a genin, she'd always assumed that that would be the open door for him to–

But that was just it. For the first time since she was a little girl, Sakura found no hint of excitement or anticipation at the prospect of Sasuke seeing her as anything more than a friend or teammate. She felt nothing.

She couldn't believe it. While she was sitting here laughing over Sasuke's obliviousness, she had not even bothered to notice her entire world turning upside down. When had this happened? And without her even noticing? Sure she had been busy lately, but surely not enough to miss the fact that she no longer…that she had…

"Sakura."

Borderline panicked by her realization, Sakura turned to face him, only to find that he had shifted closer without her noticing, as he was wont to do. His face was but inches from her own. If she paid attention, she could feel his breath on her cheeks, on her lips.

She waited for the butterflies to come, expected her pulse to at least skyrocket, but there was nothing.

"I don't–"

His mask of composure did not falter the slightest bit. "Did you finally figure it out?"

Newly startled she sat up straight, establishing some personal space, and narrowed her eyes at him. "You knew!"

He, too, leaned back in his chair and continued to observe her with eyes that apparently saw more than she gave them credit for. "Of course I knew."

Wildly embarrassed at this point, Sakura felt her face burning and quickly became irritated with his know-it-all attitude. "And how long did you plan on keeping me in the dark?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, not at all cowed by her bite. "A while. Kakashi told me it was better to let you figure it out, but we were all worried it was never going to happen."

"All?" If anything her embarrassment only deepened. "Just how many people think they 'figured it out'?"

Sakura was surprised to see his face finally break into an irritated grimace. "Only the two people that matter haven't figured it out."

The meaning behind his words eluded Sakura completely. "But you just said that you-"

"Not me, Sakura."

It was all becoming a bit much for her, the sudden revelations, the cryptic words. Sakura suddenly found herself standing abruptly from the table, startling even Sasuke. "I'm sorry. I just - I just need-"

And, for perhaps the first time ever, Sasuke managed to grace her with an expression that wasn't laced with boredom or irritation. "Go figure it out yourself," he bid her almost gently.

Not even able to respond, Sakura walked away from the cafe with wooden steps and made it as far as the end of the street before moving to chakra-enhanced speed. She knew very well that she was in full flight mode, not really aware of where she was going or who she was passing along the way, but she didn't care. Her thoughts and feelings were in such disarray that she couldn't even find it in herself to think straight.

Eventually, she ended up, out of breath and energy, on a remote training ground at the very edge of the village. Sakura barely registered where she was standing before the strength of her legs failed, and she landed hard on the sprawling grass.

First things first, she needed to get herself under control. Tucking her legs in towards her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and rested her forehead on her knees. Drawing from years-old meditation lessons, Sakura deepened her breathing until the knot forming in her chest loosened and there was no chance confused tears would leak out.

In the three years her boys were gone, Sakura found the need, not necessarily to completely change who she was as a person, but to grow into the best possible version of herself, as both a person and a kunoichi. This, of course, was not only limited to her training, but to who she was as a friend, a medic, and a daughter. Perhaps the most important lesson she learned when her team temporarily separated was the value of looking at herself through a clear lens and of using only truthful observations when judging herself.

The truth wasn't always kind or flattering, but that wasn't what she needed it to be. First and foremost, Sakura valued honesty and its ability to help her improve herself.

So, as her heartbeat evened to a steady comforting pace, Sakura finally allowed herself to let the truth she had been avoiding to come to the forefront of mind.

She tested the words, first silently in the safety of her thoughts, and then, fully acknowledging them, she whispered, "I don't love Sasuke anymore."

And, just like that, the tension she hadn't even realized she was holding onto eased from her bones as if they, like Sasuke, were saying, "So, you finally realized it."

But where did this leave her, then? How did this change her?

The answer was simple and immediate: it didn't. She was still the same kunoichi she had been when she sharpened her kunai last night, the same doctor who yesterday had eased the common cold in a sick child. She was the same person, friend, daughter, teammate that she had been this morning when she had walked out of her house. The only thing that had changed was a goal she had held onto with two hands for most of her life. She didn't want to be with Sasuke anymore, and, rather than feeling guilty about that fact, as was her initial response in the cafe, Sakura suddenly felt...free.

Free from the pressure of trying to get Sasuke to notice her. Free from the image of being the lovesick teammate. Free to find someone who didn't require fifteen years to acknowledge her as an equal.

"I don't love Sasuke anymore," she reaffirmed, finally looking up from her knees and allowing the joy she felt from that simple fact to suffuse her voice. "I don't love Sasuke anymore!"

And, when her eyes became focused on the world around her once more, the first thing she noticed was a deep onyx gaze that seemed to pierce right through her.

Time froze as they took each other in, and the silence that descended upon them was alive with energy.

Itachi was crouched gracefully on the space in front of her. For all intents and purposes, he seemed to be completely at ease, but there was something in his posture that made Sakura's ninja training prickle. Her observant eye caught the slight tension that lined his limbs and realized his position was not relaxed but poised, purposed, as if he were a tiger just waiting to pounce.

Sakura suddenly had to swallow past a lump in her throat, a motion, she realized as she watched the direction of his gaze, that did not go unnoticed.

She broke the quiet it with a breathless question, "How long have you been sitting there?"

His voice was almost too impassive, too calm when he answered, "Long enough. I saw you leave the cafe and–"

"Came to check on me." A feeling of warmth spread inside of her. She allowed it to rise to her face when she smiled at him. "You always do."

Even the ever-impassive Uchiha Itachi couldn't help but be affected by that warmth. Though he remained perfectly still, restraining himself to his poised stance, something she couldn't name burned in his eyes and made the butterflies she had been waiting for all day finally flutter.

Oh, she thought, is that it then?

"Is it true," he asked quietly.

Sakura didn't have to ask what he was referring to, and suddenly realized why he was holding himself the way he was. He understood how drastically her perspective had changed with a single truth, understood how important Sasuke's love had been for her for so long. He would give her all the time in the world to come to grips with this new reality.

Time she didn't really need.

Unfolding herself from her makeshift fetal position, Sakura shifted slowly forward until she was on her knees in front of him, all the while taking stock of his expression. She really didn't want to be wrong and just end up invading his personal space, but the closer she got, the brighter that spark in his eyes burned.

"I don't love Sasuke anymore," she told him, quietly, assuredly. "I haven't for a while now. I just never realized it. I'm realizing a lot of new things today." Hesitantly, she raised her hand to gently rest on his cheek, searching for any minute change in his expression. "And you?"

Sakura swore she didn't breathe in the five seconds it took him to answer her question. When he did, it was with a small shake of his head. Her heart plummeted, and she couldn't help the way her expression crumpled in front of him. He obviously understood the reason behind her distress because, just as she went to pull her hand away from his face, he laid his own on top of it, holding it there. The action only confused Sakura even more.

"I have only learned one new thing about you today, Haruno Sakura. The other I have known already for quite some time."

She didn't really process his earnest statement at first, but after a few moments, its meaning sent her brain reeling into overdrive. In full disbelief, she looked back on all of their interactions, thought over every word and gesture, and tried to piece together how or when this, too, could have happened without her even noticing.

While she tried to come to grips with his words, Itachi finally freed himself from his own self-control. He shifted until he too was kneeling on the grass of the training grounds. She hadn't even noticed the way he moved until his greater height had him leaning over her. Then, she could only watch, completely frozen, as he moved her hand from his cheek, sliding it against his warm skin, until it rested on the back of his neck. That hand continued down the length of her arm, leaving a trail of warmth in its wake, only stopping when it found the curve of her spine. His other hand found its way to her cheek, and she leaned into it without really thinking.

She saw the way his eyes immediately darkened at the gesture and couldn't stop the shiver that ran down her spine in reaction. Judging by his smile, she knew he had felt it, wrapped around her as he was.

Slowly, gently, his forehead came to rest against hers. The way he brushed his nose carefully along the length of her cheek while curling his fingers through her hair was starting to short circuit her brain.

Frustratingly, he paused there. Sakura looked up, confused, only to find him already watching her.

He was so close that his lips and breath left soft half-kisses with each word he spoke. "Be mine, Sakura."

After everything that she had been through today, those were the words that finally brought the tears to her eyes, but, unlike all of their other tearful meetings, these were filled with joy, and she even found herself laughing breathlessly.

"Why is it you always find me crying?"

A thumb stroked away those happy tears with a gentleness she wasn't aware any ninja was capable of. "Someone has to take care of you."

It was Sakura who closed the final gap between them, pouring all of the joy and gratitude and love she possessed into a kiss that was a long time coming.

The first of many.

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