Chapter 7: They Are...

Sakura blinked. "What happened? What's with everybody's face?"

Naruto appeared to be hyperventilating. "G-G-G-G-Gah W-W-W-W-Wha-S-S-S-Sakura-c-c-c-chan-S-Sasuke-t-t-teme-n-night-"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Spit it out, dobe."

Naruto let out a strangling noise that nobody could comprehend. He sounded like a dying cat. Sasuke grew pissed with each second, impatiently waiting for an answer from Naruto. Luckily, Tenten stepped in.

"Wait a minute! What are you two doing here, together, at a time like this?" Tenten interrogated furiously.

"Ah... Hyuuga lover," Sasuke greeted nonchalantly, irking Tenten.

"OH MY GOD GET OVER THAT UCHIHA!"

"Hmm...so you still didn't get him yet," Sasuke replied with a smug look.

"LEMME KILL YOU-"

"AH TENTEN HOLD BACK!" Lee urged, grabbing Tenten by the waist to prevent a murder.

"Don't avoid the question, Sasuke-kun!" Ino cried. "Now explain you two!"

Sakura, however, moaned loudly. She crossed her arms against her chest, frowning.

"We're the ones that should be asking! What are you guys doing altogether at night? Without us?" Sakura asked, annoyed.

"We asked first, forehead girl!"

"You wanna start a fight, Ino-pig?"

"You bet I am, pinky!"

"OH YEAH CAT FIGHTS MEOW! SEXY!" Kiba screamed before receiving death glares from the female ninjas. He cowered away immediately.

"But seriously, stop hiding guys! What were you two doing?" Naruto asked, curious.

Sasuke scowled. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

"STOP TALKING IN YOUR SECRET TALK! JUST SPILL IT, MAN!" Naruto screeched.

"Sasuke-kun's right, Naruto! Tsunade-sama summoned all of us for an emergency mission around midnight yet only we showed up!" Sakura exclaimed sternly. "I'm exhausted because we had to do all the dirty work and now I wanna go home and sleep in my comfy bed!"

Everybody's eyes widened, their cheeks blushing sheepishly.

"A-A-Ano, w-w-what kind of mission?" Ino asked innocently.

"That doesn't matter; we already finished it, without you guys," Sakura answered sourly. "Mou, how could you ignore such a crisis?"

"I'm sorry, Sakura!" Ino apologized, squeezing her into a tight hug. "We'll repay you the next time but while we're at it...mind answering one tiny, eensy, weensy question for us?"

Sakura eyed Ino curiously, unsure of her motive. "What are you up to?"

Ino chucked nervously. 'Ah-well, you see, it's a very personal question! You might be intimidated at first and I know it's very difficult to answer, but seeing as we're all friends here-"

"What the fuck is going on between you and Uchiha?" Neji interrupted calmly.

All eyes widened upon hearing Neji's voice. Out of all the people to ask, it had to be the Hyuuga. Ino stared at him horrified, scared of Sakura's and Sasuke's reaction. The said two, however, still had the same, plain expression.

Until Sasuke sighed. And for a moment, everybody held in their breath, waiting for Sasuke to speak.

"Training partners."

Crickets chirped. A pasing crow croaked. A breeze sweeped among Konoha. And silence followed...until everybody fainted to the ground. With the special exception, of course.

"I WAS RIIIGGGGHHHHTTTT!" Lee cheered joyfully, jumping up and down like a rabbit.

Then, everybody else recovered.

"DON'T GIVE US THAT SHIT, SASUKE-TEME!" Naruto screamed uncontrollably.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY, UCHIHA!" Tenten yelled.

"WHO GIVES A SHIT WHAT YOU SAY! WE ALL KNOW YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS!"

"FOR THE LAST TIME KIBA, SHUT UP, YOU PERVERT! THEY'RE CLEARLY JUST WINGMEN!"

"SO WHY THE HELL DID THEY MAKE OUT, EEHHHH? YOU JUST DON'T WANT TO THINK SAKURA GOT A MAN BEFORE YOU DID, YAMANAKA!"

"COME OVER HERE, DOGGY BREATH!"

"NO THEY ARE STILL MASTER AND SLAVE! SHE STILL GOT HIM UNDER HER LEASH AS HE STILL REFUSES TO REVEAL THE TRUTH!"

"ENOUGH SHIKAMARU! YOU'RE SO PARANOID! THEY'RE TOTALLY IN DENIAL ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS!"

"I DOUBT KISSING IS A SIGN OF DENIAL, TENTEN!"

"DAMNIT WHY DO THOSE TWO HAVE TO BE SO FREAKIN' COMPLICATED!"

"I KNOW RIGHT! I COULD HAVE BEEN SLEEPING AND DREAMING OF RAMEN!"

"NARUTO YOU WOKE US ALL UP IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"YEAH THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT NARUTO!"

"Oi, where did Uchiha and Haruno go?" Neji asked suddenly.

Everybody stopped their shouting. It was true: Sasuke and Sakura had disappeared. Everbody's head spun back and forth, searching for pink hair walking side by side with raven hair. Pink and black, pink and black, they searched for. But none could find.

"Alright guys! We need to split it up in teams!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. "Now then, let's all embark on an amazing-"

"I'm out of here, this is too troublesome," Shikamaru complained, walking away.

"Me too, I'm out of chips," said Chouji, rubbing his stomach.

"I need my beauty sleep," Ino excused herself, rushing home.

"AHHH I MUST MEET UP WITH GAI-SENSEI TO TAKE OUR DAILY WARM UP OF 2000 LAPS AROUND KONOHAGAKURE!" Lee shouted, sprinting outside the village.

"I'm tired of this mess," Tenten grumbled.

"I need to feed Akamaru," Kiba moaned.

"A-A-Ano, m-m-my father w-w-will b-b-be w-worried," Hinata stuttered.

"..." Shino just left.

"AHHH EVERYBODY WAAAAIIITT!" Naruto pleaded as everybody left him alone. Just as he was about to tear up, he noticed Hyuuga Neji was still standing around. Naruto brightened up immediately, embracing Neji into a tight bear hug.

"NEJI THANK GOD I HAVE YOU TO SUPPORT ME ON THIS STALKING JOURNEY! NE NE NE WHAT SHALL WE DO FIRST-"

"I rather die." And within a second, Neji disappeared, a cloud of smoke appearing in his place. Naruto wailed. He was forever alone in this journey, a journey that would have to wait.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, you think they really bought it?"

"Hn."

"Mou, Sasuke-kun, it wouldn't hurt to at least talk for once."

"It doesn't matter. They're not following us."

"It feels weird; keeping us a secret."

"This was your idea."

"That's true...Oh no, it's almost sunrise!"

"Then hurry up, Sakura."

"Why are you so mean, Sasuke-kun?"

"That's how I make you happy."

"You're weird."

"That's why you're with me."

Sakura smiled warmly. Walking side by side, she leaned gently against Sasuke's shoulder as his hands found its ways into hers. Their hands held each other tightly, refusing to ever let go. It was a miracle not to hold onto a pair of soft, delicate hands in front of all of their friends. But it was alright. What the had was special between them. It was something they didn't want to share just yet with the world. It was something they wanted to cherish in secret, in seclusion, by themselves. Just for a moment, they wanted to be in an oasis. If they were to tell the truth, their oasis would be shattered. Labels would be placed on them. People would probably get the wrong idea. General people make terrible assumptions. And even though the two knew it would come, they didn't want it now.

Because for today, they didn't want labels on them. They didn't want people assuming what they are, because it was never steady. Their relationship was never steady, even when he first returned to Konohagakure. They had been through so much together. They've been through several stages of anger, hurt, comfort, denial, anything feeling that could ruin them. They didn't want to deal with the friends of lover question. They didn't want to deal with the question of acquaintances or couple. It didn't matter what status they had. All they knew was through their time together, from their genin days to now, they was always something special between them. There was a deep feeling for the other, a type of kindness, that they normally wouldn't reserve for others. Maybe they didn't deserve each other, but that feeling held on for each other. Even when they didn't know what it was, they could not deny that it was there. So they stopped questioning what that feeling was. Instead, they gave up on trying to find answers, letting it come to them.

Because no one can put a label in love, and that is what they were, are, and forever will be: Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura are in love.

The End

Ahhh I'm so sad that I finished this story! I actually really enjoyed writing this, even though it was only a side project. I'm really proud of this story as I truly felt it was a real romantic comedy. I also liked the simplicity of this story, how nothing crazy or out of control happen; it's something we see everyday. Everyday, people always wonder what kind of a relationship a boy and girl have with each other that is so special, so people come up with assumptions. Maybe it's because I've been on both sides, like Sasuke and Sakura, and the rest of the Konoa 12, that I can write this story to my potential. Nothing complicated happens in this story; this was something that I can actualyl draw from real life.

Thank you to all who have read this story and review it everytime I post up a new chapter. I appreciate you guys taking the time to read my stories, especially those who have read every single one to this date. For Naruto fans, I'm sorry that I won't be writing a new Naruto fanfiction for a while as I've fallen in love with Prince of Tennis, which I plan to be my next story. It's a Ryoma-Sakuno pairing, obviously a romantic comedy because drama is just too much. When I'm finished with PoT, I'll resume back to Naruto except this time, I want to do a NaruHina because there's so much comedic potential in that pairing. I would like to resume to SasuSaku eventually since they are my favorite Naruto pairing.

Until then, with love,

Nakoujou