A/N: ****Hiding behind my couch*** Oh hey there, it's just me, the author who takes her sweet time in updating….I'M SO SORRY! Please don't hurt me, I am going to do better in updating HWA from now on. Uwahhhh T_T You guys, I feel absolutely horrible!

I hope you enjoy the continuation of HWA. And I know that it's been so long that you may have forgotten what's already transpired, so I have included a lil summary just to jog your memories.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

XXX

What's happened so far…

Sakura was able to heal both Sasuke and Itachi after their battle to bring them back to Konoha. There, they stood trial against the elders who ordered Itachi to kill the Uchiha Clan. Sakura was able to help them out at the trial (resulting in the elders being thrown in jail and the Uchiha brothers to walk free), which has infuriated Danzou enough for him to try and have her assassinated.

Team 7 has been given a mission to escort a prince from the land of steam, who is quite the shameless flirt. After Danzou's escape from jail, Tsunade asked Itachi to meet up with them in case anything goes down.

Sasuke's feelings for Sakura have been steadily growing, and Sakura has been in denial of Sasuke's growing attraction towards her. Once Sakura found that Danzou would most likely now be coming after her himself, she fainted from pure anxiety. Sasuke carried her the rest of the way to the prince's home. She woke up and briefly spoke with Itachi on a balcony about her and Sasuke's relationship.

XXX

Sasuke found himself wandering the grand hallways after leaving behind an irksome Naruto. He found that he did not have the patience to sit through anymore rantings about what Naruto would do once he became Hokage someday.

He knew how badly his friend wanted the title, and how hard he'd worked to achieve it. Sasuke really did believe that one day the idiot would make his dream come true. But, that didn't change the fact that his mind was somewhere completely different.

It was on another of his teammates entirely.

Sakura had yet to awaken, and he was growing more and more concerned with each passing hour. So, Sasuke told Naruto he was going to take a walk, but really he was going to check on the pink-haired kunoichi.

His hands were thrust deep in his pockets, his gait a steady one as glass doors came into view on the left of the hallway he was walking through. The door opened and suddenly Itachi was standing there, and it didn't take long for their eyes to lock.

"What are you doing?" Itachi asked after carefully making sure the door behind him had completely shut.

"Out for a walk," was Sasuke's lone response, but he couldn't manage to look Itachi directly as he spoke it.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, it seemed that Itachi picked up on this, always seeing right through him no matter what.

He nodded his head in the direction of the glass door. "She's awake. She's out on the balcony."

Sasuke was annoyed at the smirk on his brother's face, but still he was pleased to hear that she was fine. "I wasn't looking for Sakura."

"Regardless," Itachi continued, completely unfazed by Sasuke's lie. "I think it'd be nice for her to see one of her teammates."

And then he strode off, his form disappearing after he turned right at the end of the hall.

Sasuke sighed and then made his way onto the balcony.

The night air was crisp, a comfortable sort of temperature for him as he'd grown used to living underground with his stint with Orochimaru. But, when his gaze finally landed on Sakura laying on the bench, he was suddenly overcome by a wave of regret.

She looked just the same, just the way he left her as he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

As he walked over to her, he watched as those green eyes flutter open to find the source of noise. Their eyes clashed, and there was such feeling behind it, such power.

"Sakura," he said, grateful that she was now sitting up. "You're okay."

A faint blush tainted her cheeks, as she had been embarrassed to be found in such an odd state.

"Yes, I'm fine," she squeaked, and then her blush intensified. "Thank you for carrying me."

He hummed in response, taking up the area that had now been made available. There was an odd feeling for him as he couldn't bring himself to face her.

"Sakura...I-"

"Sasuke," she suddenly interrupted him. A blush bloomed across her features and she seemed to be summoning up some hidden strength for her following words. "I just...I want to…"

He finally turned to her then, taking in all of her. The way she was fidgeting, the way her eyes were downcast, how she was nibbling on her bottom lip.

He knew what she wanted to say.

And he couldn't find it in him to let her continue, so he interrupted. "Have you eaten anything yet?"

She looked absolutely confused, derailed from her previous line of thought. "Yes, an orange. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "Just thought I should ask."

The quiet was brimming with some feeling that he couldn't place. But, Sakura seemed to drop her earlier thought entirely by letting out a low sigh.

Finally, she let out "I can't believe I actually fainted. How can I be so weak?"

He took a second to observe her. The fact simply was that the thought hadn't even occurred to Sasuke when it happened. In just this short amount of time he had seen her grow so much that he didn't think it to be possible. She had been pulling trees out of the ground and throwing them for god's sake. Who in the world was capable of that?

"You're not weak," he said steadily.

Her eyes widened in shock, staring straight at the floor in front of her.

He sighed. "Sakura, you're strong. It'd take a fool to think otherwise."

Sakura honestly could not believe the words coming out of his mouth. Was he...praising her?

That was all she'd ever wanted, for him to acknowledge her. It was finally happening, she was getting her wish. For someone so strong, such a capable shinobi as Sasuke Uchiha to tell her that she was strong was such an incredible feeling. A warmth spread throughout her body quickly, her face heating so very easily at his words.

But what rendered her completely and utterly breathless was that he reached his hand over and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Such an uncharacteristic move on Sasuke's part had her moving her attention solely on him now. The way he was staring at her with such a kind expression, such warmth in his eyes, made her melt right on the spot.

"Sasuke," her voice quivered as she said his name. Her conversation with Itachi just moments before playing over in her mind as she looked at those wonderful and alluring obsidian eyes.

"You know he cares deeply for you," Itachi let out. "I can see it in his eyes."

Was this what...he meant?

How long had Sasuke been looking at her in such a manner? How had she been unable to pick it up before? Itachi had seen it, so why couldn't she?

Her heart began to quicken its pace as she considered to share eye contact with the love of her life, the man she would have never thought capable of returning her feelings.

But...but, here he was giving her such a caring look. Maybe...maybe Sakura had been wrong all along.

Her confidence returned at the thought, and she broached the topic she was going to bring up earlier. Though, this time she rushed the words out so that she didn't have time to second guess herself.

"Sasuke, my feelings for you haven't changed."

There it was, the thing that Sasuke knew she was going to say, but he hadn't wanted her to actually form the words.

His eyes shut automatically, unable to look at her then. The realization of his feelings towards her came bubbling to the surface now, and he knew what he wanted to do, but he also knew what he should do.

"Sakura," he started, his voice as warm as a fire. "You shouldn't feel that way about me."

He stood up then, afraid to catch her eye. He could practically feel the heartbreak rolling off of her.

He made his way quickly to the door, the faster he could retreat, the better. He gave one fleeting look over his shoulder and to see her in such a state almost shook his resolve to leave. He cursed himself for leaving, but cursed himself for wanting to stay as well.

Even though he had resolved to never hurt her again, he had gone and done what he promised he wouldn't. But, Sasuke knew. He knew that he wasn't any good for her. He would always be tainted, always a darkness incompatible with her light. And she deserved better than that.

Sakura was speechless as he got up to walk away; hot, angry tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

No, not again. She was not going to be left behind on some bench after confessing to him. He was not going to just walk away from this like last time, she was not going to allow him to walk all over her heart.

"No," she ordered. "You do not get to leave."

His hand halted on the door handle, but his back remained to her.

She shot off the bench and stormed over to him, closing her hand over his shoulder to turn him around to face her. He was going to look at her face as she said her piece.

"I still love you, Sasuke. I do. I know it may seem crazy to you that I've held onto those feelings all these years, but it's the truth. You have always been the one to have my heart, and I don't think it's selfish of me to want to look after yours." She furiously wiped at the tears that spilled over her cheeks, her anger radiating off of her so intensely. "I think you feel something for me, too, Sasuke. If I'm wrong then call me a liar, but if I'm right then I deserve to hear it from you. No more games, tell me how you feel about me."

Her outburst had shocked him, his eyes widening a fraction with her speech. He looked down at the woman before him: the wonderfully stubborn woman that he had grown feelings for.

He just stood there taking all of her in. Even though he wanted to, even though he knew, he knew, that she deserved someone who hadn't caused her so much pain before, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Sasuke thought he could be strong, thought that he could push aside his own feelings in order to protect her. However, he found that he was in fact such a selfish person.

He reached out swiftly, one hand at her hip and the other at the back of her neck. His lips crashed into hers and he let the kiss explain his own newfound feelings. Though he was starting to really understand that they hadn't been new at all, in fact, they had always been there just below the surface. His need for revenge completely consuming him for most of his life, but now that that feeling was gone, it was able to make way for something else entirely.

Sakura's tears continued to fall, but she kissed him back with a matching intensity that set her soul ablaze. She hadn't been wrong, he did care for her. Sasuke wasn't a man to do things just for the hell of it, he was someone who thought fully through the implications of his actions.

He wanted this kiss, he wanted her.

A happy sob escaped her and she threw her arms around his shoulders, further deepening the kiss. After a few more seconds, they pulled apart just far enough to catch their breath, their noses still touching slightly.

Sasuke pulled his hands from their current locations to bring them up to her face. He gently wiped away the fallen tears with his thumbs before leaning his forehead into hers and closed his eyes.

Peace. He felt completely at peace in that moment. A feeling that he hadn't been able to experience in such a long time that he had actually forgotten how amazing it felt.

She was his peace, and he was never going to let go.

XXX

A/N: Again, I am SO SO sorrrrrryyyyyyyy. Guys, I just had the worst, WORST, realization ever. I started this fic almost TEN years ago. I am such a bad updater, I'm so sorry! T_T I hope that this chapter gave you all the feels and then some! I will be working on HWA more often now, I promise, promise, promise!

Also, a little self-promotion now. The reason why I was gone for so long was that I was working on my own writing. But, I have decided to turn all my WIPs into SasuSaku fanfictions. There are three new stories I'm working on and these are the summaries of each:

Hunting the Shadows

Under Tsunade's guidance, Sakura and her team get assigned their first mission after graduating from Hunter Academy, a place where Konoha's young adults learn to fight off supernatural creatures. Turns out, their mission is more than they bargained for, and when presumed-to-be-dead Sasuke Uchiha shows up and takes Sakura away from her team, all bets are off the table. Vamp-Fic AU

To Seek a Sun

Sakura's lost something near to her heart, which is the one thing that can secure victory in the war against dark forces her kingdom has been battling. While searching for it, she cannot help a deep pull that has her seeing through the eyes of Sasuke Uchiha, known enemy of the throne, and experiencing his emotions. Little does she know, he's going through the same exact thing. AU

Variant Souls

Sakura couldn't be more excited to start off her freshman year at Konoha University. But, everything turns upside down when students start dying on campus. And not just that, but they start dying in the presence of the mysterious Sasuke Uchiha, a guy Sakura was eager to get to know better. College was already going to be hard, why did they have to throw murder into the mix? AU

Check them out, I think they're all good reads! Plus I have a lot of them already written, so the updates should come faster. :)

~LazyApples