Summary: sasusaku o6. "So I'll make sure to keep my distance, say 'I love you' when you're not listening." from distance by christina perri

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the things mentioned in any of these writings.

Inspiration: "And I'll make sure to keep my distance, say 'I love you' when you're not listening. And how long can we keep this up, up, up? And I keep waiting for you to take me. You keep waiting to save what we had. How long till we call this love, love, love?" from Distance by Christina Perri

Written: The early morning hours of February 10th, 2012 - The early morning hours of September 16th, 2012

She was trembling. It was mostly unnoticeable unless you were watching her closely, and most of the group was paying attention to the Hokage's speech about peace in Konoha

Everything in her was screaming silently to touch, but she wisely held the urge at bay, curling her hands into fists with the effort. She swallowed to lubricate her suddenly dry throat as her thoughts centered on his hands. Stupid, really, there were certainly better things to focus on, but he was holding a kunai, which kept twirling, the sunlight catching on the metal surface and twinkling as it spun. Her attention was on the fingers making the weapon move, the long, calloused fingers that made her dreams more than slightly risqué and her heartbeat quicken astronomically.

Perhaps her reaction wouldn't be quite so strong if they weren't standing side by side; where was Naruto when you needed a buffer?

Her annoyance was short-lived, for she caught sight of the spiky blonde head through the crowd, snuggled close to a blue one, and they were so cute that she couldn't help but smile. Then she turned her head and locked eyes with Sasuke.

"Those two are sickening," he murmured, not quite willing to risk Tsunade's wrath if they were caught talking by speaking up. "They've only been together a week and they make me gag."

She rolled her eyes even as her stomach bottomed out, then said, "She's loved him for years. The baka finally pulled his head out of his ass and asked her out. They're happy, they're our friends, and I'm happy that they're happy. True, they are a bit sickening-"

"Ha," he snorted and she smiled. "But they deserve it. It's everything she ever wanted," she continued softly, carefully looking away from his gaze.

They didn't say anything more on the subject, and Sakura went back to holding herself in check. When he had first come back home, she had made any excuse to touch him, be it a brush of the fingers as she handed him something or being an overly touchy medic, but after a few weeks she had realized that the contact was making it harder to keep what she felt hidden. With every purposeful caress, the words leapt to the tip of her tongue and she risked ruining the rocky friendship they had reestablished.

Finally they were free to leave, and Naruto sought them out, fairly dragging his girlfriend along as he did so. "Hinata-chan and I are getting ramen!" he announced with an air that they should be surprised. "You guys wanna come?"

And be awkward not-couple as you two kiss? Definitely not-

"Sakura and I have to do some research," Sasuke declined, drawing her from her thoughts.

Naruto nodded. "Oh, for that eye jutsu? Alright, no problem." His grin turned sly as he added, "Just make sure you two actually work."

Sasuke scoffed and replied, "For the last time, Dobe, we are not secretly dating."

"I didn't say you were dating, just that you two are-"

"Unless there's a kinky jutsu to cure Sasuke-kun's eyes through sexual intercourse, we're not going to have sex tonight," Sakura interrupted even as she internally winced. Great, now you'll be thinking about it all night.

Hinata giggled at the expression on her boyfriend's face, then tugged on his arm. "Leave them alone, Naruto-kun," she told him softly. "Besides, aren't you hungry?"

Right on cue, his stomach rumbled and they all groaned in unison. "Go stuff your face, baka," Sakura teased, lightly punching his arm and laughing as he winced. "Have a great dinner, Hina-chan," she told Hinata as she moved to hug the girl. "Don't let him eat too much, he'll get horribly gassy."

Naruto scowled good-naturedly, then wrapped his arms around her and squeezed hard, lifting her up off the ground. She cried out in alarm, then returned the embrace awkwardly, as her arms were trapped beneath his. He sat her back down and allowed her to kiss his cheek before he gave Sasuke a friendly punch on the arm, ducking the hand aimed for the back of his head, and ran off with Hinata in tow, calling out a grinning farewell as he did so.

"Dobe," Sasuke growled.

Sakura gave him a nervous smile, the urges returning now that they were alone and no longer distracted. "So, your place or mine?" she asked casually. Normally they went to his apartment, simply because he was more comfortable there.

He considered the choice for a moment, then said, "Your apartment is closer."

I will not think of how wrong that sounded. "Alright, that works. I actually would like to take a shower before we get started, I feel a bit grungy."

He glanced her up and down and said, "You look fine."

Every girl's dream. "I spent the day with sick children. There's still vomit on my skirt."

His lips thinned out as he tried to hold in his amusement at her expression. "It's hardly noticeable."

"You're such a man," she snorted, thankful that it came out as condescending rather than the purr that it was in her head. "Let's go, then."

Silence fell between them as they began the short walk to Sakura's apartment. They were about halfway there when Sasuke swore loudly and stopped in his tracks. "I left my notes at my apartment," he explained at her confused look.

"Okay, not that big a deal, Sasuke-kun," she told him with a grin. "You go get your stuff and I'll jump in the shower. See, nothing to scare the children over."

He glanced to his left where two little kids were standing completely still, gaping at him, and he groaned in frustration. "Damn."

"Not helping."

"Alright, I'm going to leave before I tell them where babies comes from," he muttered darkly, throwing her a glare as she burst out laughing before he walked away in the opposite direction.

"Just give me the signal when you come in!" she called out after him, and he raised a hand in acknowledgement before he turned and disappeared behind a building.

Sakura reached her apartment in record time and swiftly undressed, tossing her clothes haphazardly in the direction of her bedroom and, grabbing a towel from the linen closet, entered the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She had been in the shower for maybe three minutes before there came three hard knocks on the bathroom door, followed by two softer ones. Smiling, she called out, "There are tea leaves in the cabinet, help yourself!" He knocked again in thanks and then he was gone.

Stepping out of the shower stall, she towel-dried her hair and did the same to her body, then stood before the mirror and critiqued her appearance as she couldn't help but to do every day. What she saw only made her depressed, so she cute the pity party short and, wrapping the towel around herself, safely made it down the hallway before pausing just at her bedroom door. From here, she could see Sasuke seated on hr couch, head bent over a medical text and his hand jotting down notes in his unnecessarily neat scrawl. His head began to lift, sensing her presence, and she quickly ducked into her bedroom and silently shut the door. Cursing her weakness, she dropped the towel and rummaged in her dresser. She chose a pair of red shorts and a large orange shirt that had been Naruto's and clashed horribly with her hair, which she dragged into a high ponytail. It was getting long, too long for comfort.

"Sorry it took so long," she apologized as she reentered the living room after donning a pair of fluffy orange socks, an unfortunate Christmas present from her fashionably-challenged teammate.

"I think I found something," he replied, not wasting time to accept what wasn't really an apology. "This case study on-" He abruptly cut off as she came to sit beside him and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. "Sasuke-kun?" she said softly, concerned by his odd behavior.

Eyes still closed, he shook his head. "Never mind. Um, so this case study, have you read up on it?"

Sakura took the book in her hands and got comfortable, curling her legs up underneath her body and searching the page with a slight frown. "I've never seen this before. This isn't from the library, is it?"

"No, I found it in the Uchiha family archives today," he said quietly, bitterness creeping into his voice. The Uchiha complex was generally off-limit; no one entered the grounds but Sasuke, and only rarely did he exercise that right. It was with great regret that Sakura had asked him to gather some of the material from the musty library for their research. He was always so sad after a visit that it broke her heart.

"This is definitely interesting. Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she half-murmured at the haunted look in his eyes.

As he usually did, he lashed out. "I doubt that it will help - you haven't made much progress so far, have you?" he snapped.

But she just smiled and countered, "Considering the fact that we started with next to nothing, I think we've come a long way. Stop being such an ass."

His annoyed expression gave way as he huffed out a laugh at her bold admonishment. "You're too good for me, Sakura."

"That's why we haven't had sex yet," she quipped, grinning as he chuckled at the long-standing joke. "Now focus; my legs aren't going to keep you from going blind in a few years."

"But a great sight to fade out on," he mumbled, receiving a kick for his efforts.

After three or four hours of reading medical texts and scrolls, Sakura yawned and, marking her place, shut the book she was reading and set it down on the coffee table. "I'm starving," she announced, stretching luxuriously as she stood. "I'm going to make something to eat. Are you hungry?"

"Famished," he replied, setting his own book down and yawning quietly. "Fried tomato sandwiches?"

"I was thinking rice."

"Both?"

"Alright." She made her way to the kitchen, aware as always that he was following her, watching as she gathered all of the necessary materials together, not speaking until she was cooking the food. As she was stirring the rice, he finally said, "You really do belong in the kitchen."

She rolled her eyes and said, "That better not be a woman joke."

"No, I'm serious. I'm amazed at how you always seem to belong. At the Academy, you were one of the smartest, and you were fairly popular even though you were also terribly annoying."

"Where are you going with this, Uchiha?"

"Shut up. So then, when you were placed on Team Seven, you made the transition with a bit of difficulty, but you somehow managed to pull us all together."

"You must have me confused with Naruto, which is weird, because he doesn't have gorgeous pink hair and amazing breasts."

"Shut up. And somehow, you also managed to make me actually begin to respect you. Beneath the hatred and anger, I actually admired you. You had so much faith in me - more than I deserved. Do you realize that one of the reasons I left Konoha back then was because you were actually starting to believe in Naruto, too? I was crazy jealous."

"S-Sasuke-" she stammered, eyes wide and food forgotten as his admission. "You never-"

"I was an idiot. I didn't know that I was crazy jealous. I managed to convince myself that I hated you just as much as I hated Naruto, for being weak, for being so naïve and trusting so blindly in everything you'd been told, you the way I wished I could be. But I haven't been innocent since Itachi killed the Uchiha clan and made me hate him so much that I couldn't think clearly about anything else. It took me a while to admit it all to myself. You're going to burn the rice."

"Huh?" She blinked and turned to the pan that was emitting quite a bit of smoke, cursing and fairly throwing it into the sink and running the cold water. "Damn, that was the last of the rice, too! I guess it's fried tomato sandwiches all around. "She turned back to Sasuke and frowned. "But finish your little monologue first, I'm not burning anything else tonight."

He smiled at her disgruntled expression and continued, "You know what I was thinking on the way back to Konoha, after the war? I wonder if Sakura still feels the same way she did back then. But then I finally did get back, and you punched me in the head." Sakura winced at the reminder. "And I figured that was my answer right there. After that, you were trying so hard to keep us on a friendly level that I just accepted that we would never be anything more."

"S-Sasuke-kun-"

"But I've seen the way you look at me when you think you're being covert, and I can hear the sadness in your voice sometimes when you talk to me," he spoke over her, taking a step closer so that she was nearly backed into a corner. "I need to know, Sakura. Do you still feel that way?"

The words were on her tongue again, so heavy and thick that she had to swallow, and even then they were still there, lingering, building up into a crescendo until she wanted to scream it, shout it from the rooftops for all of Konoha to hear. But still something made her pause, the same something that a moment later made her shake her head and give him a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, but I think you're mistaken," she told him, the words jumbling up in her mouth but somehow making their way around those three words.

The expression on his face - disappointment and a flash of pain - made her throat clench and she had to struggle not to sob as her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry," she whispered again as he turned away, his head bowed as he fought to keep his emotions in check. "I'm so, so sorry-"

"You said that," he interrupted, his tone harsh. "I'm going to keep looking in the texts. Call me when the food is ready."

"Sasuke-" she began, but he was already walking out of the kitchen. The tears ran down her cheeks as her face flushed with the force of her grief, and she fell to her knees on the floor. "I love you," she whispered faintly. She clutched her chest, sure that her heart was going to explode out of her ribcage as it broke again, piece by piece falling somehow into the pit of her stomach.

Her Inner voice, thought to be long gone, reared its enraged head and in a thunderous voice boomed, "ARE YOU INSANE?! THIS IS SASUKE-KUN, OUR SASUKE-KUN! HAVE WE LOST OUR MIND?! TELL HIM!"

'I-I can't do it,' she thought desperately, trying to keep her grief as silent possible, lest he walk in to check on her and see her in this state. 'He's become my best friend! If it doesn't work out-"

"YOU THINK THINGS ARE GOING TO BE THE SAME NOW?! HE JUST POURED HIS HEART OUT TO YOU, BAKA! YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE HIM FOREVER IF YOU DON'T TELL HIM!"

Almost without realizing she was moving, she regained her feet and futilely swiped at her eyes and cheeks as she struggled to get her breathing under controls. The words were still there, quivering amongst her taste buds, and she exited the kitchen before her nerve faded.

Sasuke was sitting once again on the couch, eyes trained on a text, but she could tell by his expression that it was just something to stare at as he pulled himself together. He didn't look up when she walked in, or even when she walked around to sit down beside him. "That didn't take long," he said thickly, clearing his throat the emotion in his voice. "I sure am hungry."

"I didn't make the sandwiches."

"Then what-" He glanced up and froze as he took in her face, the tears still trickling down her cheeks, and the determined set of her mouth. But he wisely didn't comment on any of this. "Sakura?"

"Just - let me say what I came to say," she got out, then her mouth snapped shut on the words she'd resolved to finally, finally say. "I…"

He stared at her expectantly, his eyes trained on hers, and the directness of his gaze made her shaky courage dissolve as quickly as it'd come. "Um…forget it," she stammered, rising up from the couch and walking back towards the kitchen.

His sigh of disappointment made her slow her stride until she stopped halfway there, hands clenching into fists at her sides.

"SAY IT, SAY IT, SAY IT, SAY IT, SAY IT-"

"I love you."

"What was that?"

Sakura gritted her teeth and swiftly spun around to face him, her voice above a whisper now. "I said I love you. I. Love. You. I, Haruno Sakura, love you, Uchiha Sasuke."

He sprang up from his seat and was halfway across the room before she was repeating it, "I love you. I love you. I. Love. You."

"Sakura." He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and holding onto her as her voice got louder. "Sakura, I heard you."

"I LOVE YOU, SASUKE. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU, SO MUCH."

"Shut up," he told her again, hugging her so tightly that her breath hitched. "Just shut up. I heard you, you annoying idiot."

"I LOVE YOU!" she shouted, clutching his back as if afraid she would fall if she loosened her hold. "Oh Sasuke, I LOVE YOU!"

"Shh, it's okay, I heard you, I heard you," he said soothingly, rubbing nonsensical patterns into her back as she continued to repeat it until the words faded into sobs and she was just crying tears of relief, tears of joy, tears of release.

Eventually her sobs faded into hiccups then silence, and still he rubbed her back, pressing kisses to her sweaty forehead and mumbling comforting words into her hair. After she had completely calmed down, her breaths coming slow and deep, he finally pulled back to look into her tired eyes and smiled gently. "Thank you," he told her softly, pressing a feather light kiss to her lips.

Her voice was hoarse from shouting and crying, but she managed to croak out, "I hate it when you say that. You said it the first time I told you I loved you, and you're saying it now. What is that supposed to mean?"

"Then? It meant thank you," he said, pressing another, more substantial kiss to her lips. "And now? It means I love you, too." And he kissed her for real this time, cradling her face in his hands and pouring everything he felt into the embrace.

So I'll make sure to keep my distance

Say 'I love you' when you're not listening

How long till we call this

Love, love, love?

Oh my goodness! Long time no see, my beautiful babies! Hush now, Mommy's back, it's okay. :D My thumb is feeling a lot better (for those of you who don't I thought it was broken, turns out it was just a contusion, I can move it now, but it still hurts sometimes) and I wanted to get something out to you guys real quick! Then Life said, "Hey, screw you, bitch!" and kicked me in the head. And by kicked me in the head, I mean we moved. To a place without internet. That's right, NO. INTERNET. I'm heartbroken. The only time I can even check my e-mail is when we happen to go to McDonald's or a place with free wifi. And apparently no freakin' telephone companies have service in our area. We're only five minutes away from where we lived last, there are a lot of houses around us, but no one has service. Can you say "son of a bologna-eating, flying mother, pancake flippin', football-playin' hunk of baby back bullshit?" I can, and I have been, for the past month and a half. Luckily I came to my mom's house tonight, and now I'm posting this for my darlings. Oh, and I haven't read the manga in FOREVER (seriously, it's been over a year) so no spoilers, please. Unless everyone died. That would suck.