disclaimer.

summary. "I have to find that person. I have to tell her that I'm breaking that promise."

-

mr.
endlessly

-

and hard-boiled strawberries, struggling marshmallow. "Taijutsu?" asked Naruto with a grin.

Sasuke fixed him a blank stare.

Typical bastard, so conceited.

"Hn."

Naruto's vein twitched in annoyance, but underneath the underneath, there was relief, and bittersweet melancholy, and joy (a bit, only a bit, he asserted, both adamant and defiant, to anyone who would bother to listen) because that hn is so Sasuke, so arrogant, so irritatingly familiar, at the same time, that familiarity is a comfort.

Teme is back.

Without that annoying, irritating, arrogant unintelligent "hn", Sasuke would not be Sasuke.

Naruto never knew that a simple word

(no, that's not a word!

he growled)

would be a comfort, a reassurance.

Sasuke-teme…

Sasuke is back.

The bastard is alive.

Oh, he was pondering.

Naruto… pondering?

Oh, joy.

Oh no! I'm… using my brain? Like… I am "aware" that I am… thinking? Naruto swelled with pride. Sakura-chan will be proud!

Her name jerked an emotion from him. A deep, painful feeling.

Abruptly, Naruto dismissed it. "So, are you on, teme?" he grinned widely, foxily.

The dark-haired boy closed his eyes, and opened them again slowly, lazily, thick lashes brushing against the swell of his nose, flat gaze meeting blue stare without a flinch.

And then, there was that smirk.

The corner of Naruto's mouth twitched.

Bastard.

That arrogant, know-it-all, Uchiha bad-ass, bastard smirk.

"Aa."

And that response.

Oh, the bastard will go down, down, down.

This is for making us wait for three years, bastard.

The blonde shinobi launched forward with a battle cry.

"DATTEBAYO!"

"…"

"YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

And for getting engaged! Really! When there's this hotshot, cutie cute girl like Sakura-chan who can cross her eyes at will while reciting the long winding history of Konoha, who needs to look for a redhead to bang?!

Sasuke readied, bending his knees and meeting the blonde head on.

-

-

-

my perfect 100% not-type-of-girl sweetheart. "Idiot." Sasuke was saying, "Are you aiming for my head?"

"Ah, no, no!" Naruto countered, shaking his head. His thick, wild blonde hair stuck up in different directions moved like porcupines. "Me? Aiming for your head? No way, man! I'm aiming for your hydrocephalic head!"

Sasuke raised a brow. "You know what it means?"

"Of course I do!" Naruto yelled, "I'm not stupid!"

"Yes. You're not."

The blonde gawked, freezing for a moment. Wow. Wow. This was amazing, Naruto pondered. A… compliment?

Wow.

Sasuke seized the moment, seeing the confounded and superbly amazed look. Quickly, a flash of lightning, in a blink, Uchiha landed a kick on the blonde's right flank. Naruto staggered, but caught himself quickly.

"You're very stupid."

A vein throbbed over Naruto's temple. "BASTARD!"

They parried, Naruto attacking, Sasuke deflecting. It was obvious that they were evenly matched, as Naruto employed reckless taijutsu but with hard blows, and Sasuke repelled with precision and involuntary grace. A right hook breeched Sasuke's defense, and it landed on his stomach.

He growled, and retaliated with a precise spin kick which Naruto easily deflected with his arm. But it was a decoy. The action to repel the kick opened up his guard, exposing his torso.

The thin smirk was the warning.

"Ow!" Sasuke's fist hit his gut, and Naruto lurched backward, skidding to a halt. "Hmph! That was girly."

Sasuke snorted.

"You punched like a girl!"

It was a lie.

It fucking hurts, bastard!

"Idiot." That right hook… damn.

They both dropped to their defensive positions.

Sasuke took out a kunai, expertly twirling it around his fingers. With a snap, he gripped the handle. At the same time, Naruto produced a kunai from his sleeve, gave it a practiced spin before grasping it in his palm.

"We'll do this the hard way, eh?" The blonde grinned toothily.

"Hn."

A few minutes later, Sasuke's back hit a tree bark. He doubled up, expelling a sharp breath. In front of him, hand on hip, Naruto stood several steps away, his other arm wiping his mouth. Regaining his breath, Sasuke straightened up, cracking his neck, gritting his teeth.

Naruto grinned.

Sasuke scowled.

The dark-haired shinobi grabbed another kunai and flicked it with precise flip. Naruto would have doge it easily but a smoke went off in front of the blonde.

Poof!

"Huh!"

Smoke went up, swirled.

"Yo, Naruto!"

Unruly brown hair atop a tanned face with red tribal prints.

"Arf!"

And an annoying stupid grin on that face.

"Mutt-face, watch out!"

Kiba simply bent his neck to the side. The kunai zoomed past his ear, catching a brown strand before thudding into a bark of tree behind him.

"Are you trying to kill me, Sasuke!?" the brown-haired jounin gaped at Uchiha.

"You're in the way." Sasuke scowled murderously. If looks can kill, the jounin would have dropped and died. On the spot.

Naruto yapped loudly, "You! Again! What the hell do you want, dog-face? I'm not going to play dress-up with you, yeah! In case you haven't notice, I'm busy kicking some constipated ass. Now, shoo and drop a poop somewhere shady and dark."

"Hmph! I'm waiting for my team, you idiot." Kiba drew himself up smugly, "Godaime-sama gave us class-A mission. Since you are so below to my team, you are stuck baby-sitting tall, pale and constipated Sasuke." Kiba grinned smugly, while Naruto gawked in disbelief.

"You?! Class-A mission?"

Kiba sparkled with pride.

But the sparkles—

"Man, you're gonna pull weeds outside Konoha?"

—vanished with a bling.

"Idiot…" Kiba twitched, and cleared his throat. "Anyway," he grinned knowingly, "where's Sakura?"

Naruto's cerulean eyes widened. "What! Why are you looking for her?! What do you want from her? I'm telling you now, dog-face, keep your paws off Sakura-chan! She's going to smell like you if—"

Impassively, with that poker, poker face— Sasuke interrupted, "let's continue, idiot."

"DON'T CALL ME IDIOT!"

"Hn." The dark-haired boy snorted and glared pointedly.

Kiba winked, "I asked her out a couple of days ago and she promised she'll think about it so—"

"YOU ASKED HER OUT? WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? WHERE WAS I?"

"Dunno, maybe you're busy pulling weeds—"

"MY GOD! YOU HARRASSED SAKURA-CHAN, DIDN'T YOU? DOG-FACE, I'M NOT GOING TO FORGIVE YOU EVER—"

The jounin's eyes widened. "Hey! How could I! I—" he jammed a thumb over his chest, "am a good-natured person! I would never ever try to harass a beautiful lady! I like Sakura!"

Naruto gawked at Kiba's amazing bluntness. "You… I— how could—" his tirade was interrupted with a sharp sound of metal. The two loud ninjas turned to the silent dark-haired boy, who unnecessarily forced open a Fuuma Shuriken. What perturbed Naruto the most was the cryptic— almost livid, at the same time, very blank look

(how did the bastard do that was beyond him— that stupid alien bastard)

—on Sasuke's face.

"I said…" Even his voice was scary. Very cold. Dark thick hair fell to his face, shielding his eyes. Naruto can see the menacing tremble of Sasuke's jaw as he spoke coldly, "Let's continue."

"Man, that's cheating!" Naruto yelled in alarm. Fuuma Shuriken was Sasuke's favorite toy. The Uchiha merely pressed his lips tighter, jaw in rigid clench, as if to convey a message: spar or die. His eyes were flashing icily. "Alright, alright! You," Naruto shot Kiba a pointed glare. "If I so much as catch you touching Sakura, I will—"

"You will what?" Kiba drawled, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not scared! I'm more scared of what Sakura is capable to do if I try to touch her! But… I wonder how her skin will feel like— what the fucking banana pie! UCHIHA!"

Sasuke had viciously thrown the Fuuma Shuriken, forcing the two ninjas to jump apart and dodge clumsily. The four-bladed shuriken flew ominously over their bent heads, nicking a few strands of hairs, before thwacking forcefully into a tree, causing a crack that later splintered the tree into halves. Naruto and Kiba gawked at the poor, poor tree.

"What the…" Naruto spun his head around to look at the glowering Sasuke. "… You wanted to kill me!"

Sasuke sneered, his dark eyes narrowed and hard.

"That's… my favorite tree, Sasu-chan! YOU ARE HEARTLESS!" Kiba wailed.

"What are you so pissed off about!? You ass, I'm going to tell Sakura-chan that you tried to kill me and she will punish you! I'll make sure of it! YOU WILL BE—"

"Shut up, idiot."

Naruto did— to dodge Sasuke's spinning kick. In the process, the blonde received the dark-haired boy's knee on his gut, which temporarily rendered him immobile.

"…holy crap bananas." Naruto whimpered, air trapped inside his lungs. "That's so low."

Kiba, who was watching curiously, whistled. "That was hip."

Sasuke straightened up, snapping him a frightening glare with obvious severe dislike. Kiba wondered what he did wrong to deserve such… Look.

How scary!

"Uh… will you stop looking at me like that? Really, man, I don't like you, too. And the way you look at me, it hurts me."

The Look intensified a hundredfold.

"I'll make sure it'll hurt." Sasuke said quietly, advancing.

Naruto waved his arms like a windmill. "Teme, stop! Be kind to animals! Damn it, dog-face, don't provoke him! He might kill you!"

"Do I look like I'm provoking him?" Kiba's voice rose dramatically. "Holy damn, he's checking me out, ramen-ass!"

"I won't hesitate." Uchiha's voice was a hard, cold growl.

"What's wrong with your frilly panties?" Naruto was rewarded with a scalding look, which the blonde returned with a funny face. Sasuke seemed to decide that it was a waste of time to butcher a blonde nightmare in flesh.

"HEY! HAVE SOME RESPECT YOU ASSHOLE! I'M STILL TALKING HERE! GET BACK HERE! LISTEN TO ME AND— YOU ASSHOLE, HOW DARE YOU—"

However, Sasuke didn't look back as he walked away.

"HEY VIRGIN BASTARD—"

The virgin bastard merely gave him a dirty finger over his shoulder without looking back. Naruto recoiled, puffing out his cheeks.

"Bastard."

"He's really pissed, man." Kiba nodded thoughtfully. "He's so gay for you."

"What the hell Kiba!" Naruto slapped a hand over the brunet's head. "I DON'T DO EMO GUYS, GOT THAT DOG-ASS?"

"Man, he flashed you a finger!"

The urge to murder the canine-loving guy was all-consuming. Naruto wanted to tear him from limb to limb and— wait, he can easily break this dog-face's heart by breaking Akamaru's heart, no— he will break—

A blur landed in front of them.

"Whoa, Sai? What are you doing here?"

Sai straightened up.

"Keh. If you're here to give a comment about my dick, I'm going to—"

"Ugly has arrived."

Naruto blinked. "Sakura-chan?"

Sai nodded. "Let's hurry."

"Is there something wrong?"

The artist-extraordinaire didn't hesitate. "Yes."

"How's Sakura-chan? Is she—"

But Sai became a blur, and Naruto followed.

-

-

-

the eve of billowing fireworks, dawn of orange suns. "Her vitals are stable now. Don't worry."

Kakashi snapped his book close and thanked the Hokage.

Naruto stood beside the bed, solemnly watching the patient's serene face.

"She needs rest. She's working too hard in the past few days." The Godaime frowned. "I told her to stop practicing every medical ninjutsu she found. This girl is stubborn… look where it brought her. On a hospital bed stuck in a machine pumping chakra into her," Tsunade checked the monitor, and the chart, while speaking. "The stress her body underwent and the strain of single-handedly dragging almost half-dead bodies of two fully-grown boys and of a girl were too much for her body to bear. Plus the emotional stress…" She shook her head. "She needs to relax and replenish her nutrients."

Kakashi nodded.

"This would not have happened if you allowed me to go with her." Naruto said quietly. He lifted his gaze. "She needs me. All the time. No one can take care of her the way we do."

Tsunade snorted, "Sakura would not like to hear that."

"But it's true! Where she goes, I go. Where I go, she goes. That's the way it is!" His eyes hardened. "I'm not going to lose another important person."

Kakashi stayed silent, watching the drama unfold.

Tsunade didn't bite, choosing to leave instead of retorting.

"And strictly no ramen for her, idiot."

-

-

-

a sobbing cherry blossom in a three-lane road. The last few days of autumn were crimson. Lots of russet leaves. Streets covered in crimson leaves. Colder winds. As Sasuke stepped out of the inn where he and Tsubasa temporarily stayed, a frown furrowed his forehead as he watched the leaves indifferently.

Winter.

In few days, winter will arrive.

His scowl deepened as he thrust his fists inside his pockets. From the corner of his narrowed eyes, he saw a familiar yellow blur clad in offensive orange jacket and pants. That fashion sense will kill the blonde someday. It simply screamed "murder me!". Grunting, Sasuke made his way to Naruto, moving smoothly through the crowded street.

"Oi."

The blonde ninja turned his head around. Blonde eyebrows furrowed before jerking his chin as a sign of greeting.

"Teme."

Sasuke expected Naruto to invite (or rather challenge) him to another sparring, but the blonde walked past him. What confused Sasuke was the fact that Naruto— yes, the loud nightmare in flesh— was not being loud (and stupid and annoying and kill-me-kill-me-now idiot).

Following him, Sasuke said, "You're supposed to look after me. When are you going to tell me about my—"

"Not today, teme." Naruto interrupted. "As much as I want to kick your constipated ass, I've got something better to do than watching after you, emo-kid."

"Such as?" asked Sasuke uninterestedly.

"Visiting Sakura-chan!"

Dark brows shot up. After a few heartbeats, he said. "What happened?"

Naruto glanced at him, confused. "What is it to you?"

Sasuke's face was blank, as always. "She's my babysitter."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man."

"Well?"

The blonde shot him a bleary look. "Well what?"

The scowl on Sasuke's brow deepened. "What happened?" The blonde gave him a sharp appraisal, which surprisingly looked intelligent, judging at the serious glint and it was silent. Sasuke kept his face carefully blank. The blonde narrowed his blue eyes even more, and Sasuke, in turn, narrowed his eyes, too.

"What, idiot? Stop looking."

Naruto made a face. "You're not my type, asshole." He lifted a hand to scratch the back of his blonde hair. "Something about chakra depletion. She collapsed and didn't wake up. They had to hook her up to machine to supply her chakra to keep her alive."

"Hn." Sasuke looked away. "I knew it. She's weak."

"Oi! Shut up, teme! She's strong and amazing! She's just clumsy, emotional and impulsive but she's great!"

"Whatever."

"Why are you following me, anyway?" Naruto pointed out.

"I'm coming with you."

Blonde brows went up to Naruto's hairline. "Why?"

The dark-haired boy met Naruto's inquisitive gaze with an unemotional glare. That's, the blonde thought, referring to that face, a forced neutrality.

"After seeing her, you'll spar with me."

"You mean, I'm going to kick your ass."

"You wish."

-

-

-

it's a smiling supernova. "Sakura-chaaaan~!" The door slid open and a blonde head poked in. "Stop being lazy already!"

The occupant of the room whipped her head around. "Oh. Naruto!" Sakura grinned toothily, swinging her legs off the bed as she sat on the edge of the bed. However, her grin froze when she saw who came next. "Sa… Sasuke?"

Naruto grinned broadly. "Ta-da!"

"Hn." The boy responded, looking at her flatly.

"What are you doing here?" asked the pink-haired patient, wide-eyed.

Naruto interrupted their staring contest by jumping in between the bed and stoic Sasuke. "Sakura-chan, look!" The pink-haired girl blinked and refocused her gaze.

"Eh? You're…"

Naruto positively glowed. "Yep! I know. I'm amazing. Please. You don't have to tell me or I'm going to blush!"

"Baka! Why did you bring me instant ramen?! And… and…" Sakura squinted, examining the items closer, "how many did you bring?"

"Jeez, Sakura-chan, you should be thankful! I'm giving you my whole stock— the whole stock for a month! It's assorted so don't worry! I've got chicken, pork, beef, miso, shrimp, original, vegetable—"

"Naruto!" Sakura interrupted shrilly.

"What?" the boy innocently blinked at her.

"I…" She stammered, "…are you planning to kill me?"

The blonde recoiled, feigning hurt. "Hey! That hurts!"

"…idiot." Sasuke snorted, glancing around the room.

"Naruto?" The three turned to the door where Shikamaru poked his head in. "Oi, come with me for a while. I want to discuss something with you."

Naruto puffed out his chest proudly. "Ha! Finally! You realized my greatness, lazy ass!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "what greatness? Shut up and move."

"Fine." Naruto waved at his friends before joining Shikamaru. Sullenly, Sasuke watched the blonde go while Sakura inspected the items inside the plastic bag Naruto brought, murmuring under her breath.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

At the sound of Sasuke's curt question, Sakura lifted her chin and frowned. "…sorry?"

"You heard me."

Sakura made a face. "I'm not suicidal." She snapped, lifting a vegetable-flavored instant ramen from the bag, looking thoughtful. "It's just chakra depletion. I…" she wet her dry lips, averting her gaze. "I healed Neji and…" she shrugged, "that's all." She felt her face flushed, feeling Sasuke's stare on her face.

"You went overboard, didn't you?" he said quietly. Sakura shrugged one shoulder. "You want to impress him." Her face flushed healthily and Sasuke met her sharp glare.

"I'm not trying to impress anyone." Sakura snapped, her brows furrowed as she threw him her sharpest— oh she hoped so— glare.

"Hn."

"What are you doing here anyway?" Sakura hastily changed topic. "You're not here to express your worry or wish me well, are you?"

"You wish."

She made another face and dropped the instant ramen cup to pick another flavor: shrimp.

The boy pushed his fists inside his pockets. "Go to sleep."

Sakura snapped up her head to look at him. "Hey! Don't order me around! What are you doing here? You're not here to bring me flowers, are you? Or wish me fast recovery or something—"

"You're ranting."

"I am not! Answer my question! Why are you here?"

His face was carefully blank as he replied nonchalantly. "To stretch."

Sakura stared.

At the stare, Sasuke felt the back of his ears go red.

"What?"

"To stretch."

She gawked— and she knew she looked stupid. But she could not help it. "You're… here to stretch?"

The boy merely glared, challenging her.

Sakura continued to gawk, her large green eyes filling her face. She had to stop gawking, because to gawk was stupid. But… But— And then… a smile stretched her lips, which turned into a grin of mirth which, to Sasuke's surprise, became a laughter that shook her small body. At first, it was suppressed, sounding as if she was trying to contain it. Eventually, however, the volume rose and she started to clutch her stomach, bending over.

To Sasuke, it sounded so… real. It was loud, yes, but not unpleasant. She laughed like a kid playing inside a sand box. Like a little girl who saw and chased a butterfly. Realizing he was staring, Sasuke averted his gaze.

"…o-oh, Sasuke-kun."

He blinked, and stared at her.

Sasuke-kun.

Why did it sound so familiar? And so right? And almost painful.

Sakura grinned at him toothily, her green eyes wide and so-green. She let out another burst of laughter, clutching her stomach. "I… I haven't laughed that hard for a long time." She rubbed her eyes, and laughed to herself again.

"…it wasn't a joke."

Her grin widened. "But it was funny." She giggled and pushed a fist into her mouth, her shoulders shaking.

"…stop it."

She did after several tries. "You can stretch now if you want." The grin she wore almost cracked her face into clean halves. "I won't look." She snorted a laugh again.

Sasuke's brow twitched. "Idiot." A faint— very faint— flush colored his cheeks.

Now in such a giddy mood, Sakura let the remark slide. After all, he made her laugh. She giggled to herself again.

How weird.

"You're the first person I encountered who almost died because of chakra depletion."

She raised a brow. "I didn't almost die. Naruto's exaggerating! I've always had problems with chakra reserves. That's why I'm good with chakra control. There's so little for me to control." The corner of her lips lifted in a half-smile. "I feel so much better now. Thank you for visiting me."

He stared at her with his unreadable face. Sakura blinked, suddenly uncomfortable. She breathed a sigh of relief when he broke the stare and looked somewhere else.

"You should go back to sleep."

Sakura sighed, exasperated. "I just woke up from what— a two day sleep? You can't make me go back to sleep."

For a second, Sakura though she'd won the argument. His next words felt like a ton of bricks falling onto her.

"You must not die."

The pink-haired girl looked at him, startled.

"You owe me two weeks, Haruno. I don't care what you do after two weeks, but until that time, don't do anything stupid."

Sakura stared at him in disbelief and rising temper. A vein started to throb above her right eye. …the balls of this guy! First, he confused her. Next, he made her laugh. Now, he's bluntly pissing her off. Really now, being with this guy was detrimental for someone's emotional health.

"Now, go back to sleep. Your weak—" Sakura's whole body twitched. "—body needs rest, doesn't it?"

That's it.

He said the magic word.

Before Sakura could think it over inside her head, her fingers clenched around the object she was holding, and growling under her breath, she threw the plastic cup at his head.

Startled, Sasuke automatically raised a hand and captured the object before it could hit his face.

"…you… you… I'M NOT WEAK. YOU… YOU… YOU…"

Sasuke raised a brow arrogantly, watching the girl go red in the face, speaking through gritted teeth.

"…SELF-CENTERED, BIG-HEADED, INSENSITIVE... PUNK! MAYBE I'M NOT AS GREAT AS YOU MISTER-I-AM-YOUR-GOD-BOW-DOWN-TO-ME-BOW-DOWN-TO-ME-ASSHOLE! BUT I AM NOT WEAK!"

The girl took a deep, deep breath, and continued.

"I can crack your pretty face open and I can, believe it! I'm just too kind to do it because really, you're pretty and that's not the point! I'm just too considerate and I'm not violent and I'm not going to waste my precious chakra just to prove the point that I'm not weak! You better stop trying to provoke me because really I can crack the earth open with my pinky!"

By the time she was finished, she was breathless and very flushed. Her eyes were very green. Sasuke was smirking at her, and it made her want to throw another plastic cup at his head.

"For a girl with annoying hair color, small body and—" Green eyes flashed dangerously, and she dug her hand inside the plastic bag. "…really bad aim, you sure can shout."

Sakura flushed.

There was a silence.

"I'm leaving."

"Good! Leave before I throw another ramen at your head and this time I'll make sure it'll hit!"

"Be quiet and go back to sleep."

"You—"

"Popochi."

She froze.

He smirked, and left the room.

-

-

-

he says the things she wants to believe in. "So, you're healthy now?"

She glared as a response.

"Let's start."

She snorted.

"Haruno."

"What?" She scowled, brows twitching.

He glared back. "I said, let's start."

She scoffed. "Then, start asking questions."

Sasuke leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's your height?"

Her jaw dropped. "What?"

"Are you deaf?"

"I'm not!" Sakura replied quickly. "It's an expression! What's the point of asking that question?!"

Sasuke shrugged, deadpanned. "I'm curious."

Her scowl deepened.

His lips curled slowly in a smirk.

"It's difficult… having to look down all the time."

Without second thoughts, Sakura kicked his leg.

Damn it!

"Next question." She growled. Sasuke was glaring at her angrily, rubbing his shin. Sakura met his glare with her own, her lips pursed.

"What is Sharingan?"

Finally! A normal question!

"Your eye technique. I'm not exactly an expert or knowledgeable enough about Sharingan. You can ask Kakashi-sensei for more details."

"Can I activate them at will?"

"Yes."

"Do I have a brother?"

Sakura took time to answer. "…yes, you do."

"Is he alive?"

She looked up to his eyes, and then dropped her gaze quickly. "Yes."

"Where is he?"

"I don't have any idea," which was true.

Sakura can feel the weight of his stare, and it was uncomfortable. She kept her gaze averted.

The next question made her lost her composure.

"Am I engaged?"

Visibly shaken, Sakura looked up to him, wide-eyed. Of course, she knew what he meant. But still, she replied with, "yes, you are."

Irritation crossed his eyes. "Before Tsubasa. Was I engaged before?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond but no words came out. Sasuke was watching her carefully, eyes dark and unreadable. Her throat went dry, and her heart raced.

"I… I don't understand." She lied. And she had to stop looking into those eyes. Eyes that can forcibly yank the truth from her just by looking.

His expression didn't change.

"I will elaborate." He said slowly, and it made Sakura want to walk away, far away from him. And fast. He looked down to her from his height advantage. "I promised someone that I'll marry her when we turn 30."

Sakura felt her eyes warm at the memory. She willed herself not to show any emotions. She willed herself not to remember, because to remember— it will just hurt so much more.

Repress, bury, anything.

But the memories were insistent.

"When we turn 30, let's marry each other."

"But I will marry you when you turn 30. I will marry you when you reach the point where you will become tired from waiting."

They burned.

Sakura felt her fists shake.

Before her, Sasuke continued.

"I told her, I'll marry her even though I'm her second choice."

His eyes darkened, intensified, as if waiting for her to fall into pieces.

"I have to find that person."

Sakura wet her lips. "…why?" Her voice sounded hoarse.

He met her soulful gaze emotionlessly. "I have to tell her that I'm breaking that promise."

-

-

-

she says the things that he doesn't want to believe in. Sakura swallowed thickly, determinedly holding his gaze. I'm not going to run away. I'm not going to run away, far, far away. She cleared her throat, and tried to smile.

"Next question."

His gaze flickered for a moment, then, he looked straight into her eyes. His stare was very direct, strong, piercing at the same time, emotionless.

"Was I in love with you?"

-

-

-

.AN

Oh. It's been a looooooong time! I missed you guys –sobs— I do. I really, really do. I'm very sorry, okay? Life is tough outside the virtual world. Really. Believe it.

(preparing for exam/s

writing for a tanabata contest –which hurt my head-

and lots of terrible a-holes,

Boohaa.)

Um, mm, so sorry, guys. Please? –bambi eyes- I still love Sasubabe making babies with Sakura-chan with all my red, all-freaky-creepy heart. And no, I'm not in coma –laughs— or dead! Seriously! I heart-heart-heart all of you guys who continually support this story (and other stories, as well) even though one moment I'm alive, next second I'm dead, and most of the time, I'm in coma. Really, guys, so much kisses, hugs and thanks. You're all my life bloods, reviews, criticisms and praises alike. If I can just marry you all, well… that's polygamy. –cough- I made this looooong, epically long, I guess –sweatdrops- and I really want to speed up the pacing but Sasuke makes it so difficult. That sexy kitten. Take care and –nudge-nudge- review? Heehee. You can really flame me and I'd still read it as a 'you-rock-santa-claus!'. That's how healthy I am right now XD. Take care and eat, eat, eat. Thank you, thank you, thank you very much.

Kissy, kissy.