Opening Up To Her

———Over the past few days, Sasuke couldn't stop thinking Sakura. He never saw himself experiencing something like that. Sasuke has wanted to rebuild his clan but he'd never thought of the logistics of it. Or maybe he just couldn't imagine the logistics because he couldn't see himself having a genuine relationship with anyone. Regardless, Sakura made it possible for him to imagine all sorts of things that he couldn't before.

But he also couldn't stop thinking about the raiders. He's ran into many different people and groups who've targeted him for his eyes throughout his life and this wouldn't be changing anytime soon. But now that he's experienced dealing with these people with Sakura around, he was reminded of one of the reasons why he's always distancing himself from her.

If he associates himself with Sakura, then she'd be put in danger. And if they were to have kids, they'd have a bigger target on their backs. He hated the idea of allowing anyone to be at risk because of him...especially when it came to Sakura...

—February 1712:11 p.m.—

Sasuke and Sakura were passing through the Land of Wind when Sakura suggested stopping by the Hidden Sand Village. Sasuke wasn't sure why but he didn't see any harm in it so they went.

They didn't plan on staying long so Sasuke stayed outside of the village, not wanting to be around other people, and waited on Sakura to return.

When Sakura returned, she seemed a lot more cheery than when she went in. She was holding something behind her back. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her as she walked up to him.

"I got something for you!" Sakura said happily before revealing what she was holding behind her back. She handed him a red rose.

Sasuke smiled and took the rose. "Thanks, Sakura." he said, "But you know it'll die out here, right?"

"Yeaaa but some lady gave it to me for free and I couldn't say 'no' to her." Sakura sighed. "So I decided to repurpose it as a gift for you."

"Hn." he said before tying the rose to Sakura's backpack. Then the two of them started to walk away from the village. "So why did you need to come here?"

"Oh I just wanted to say 'hi' to Kankuro and Gaara since we were nearby. I haven't seen them since maybe...last year I think." she said.

Sasuke looked at Sakura confused. "Kankuro and Gaara?" he asked.

Sakura looked at Sasuke like he was crazy as she realized he had no clue who she was talking about. "Don't you remember? They took the Chunin exams with us? You fought Gaara, the one with the red hair...he's the current Kazekage?" she said.

"Oh. Those guys." he said as he looked ahead of him. "I didn't realize you were close to them." Sasuke couldn't quite remember what Kankuro was like but he knew he didn't like Gaara all that much.

Noticing the slight tint of annoyance in his voice, Sakura put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm not that close to them. But we're friends so I wanted to check in on them." she said shyly.

"Hn." Sasuke was starting to get frustrated by the thought of Sakura talking them...especially Gaara. In fact, Gaara was the one who almost killed Sakura when Orochimaru attacked the village. When Sasuke remembered this, he sighed heavily. "You probably shouldn't talk to them anymore." he said quietly.

"Sasuke, I can tell you that whatever you're thinking is wrong. They're good people." she said, "Even Naruto likes them; Gaara is like Naruto's best friend. Other than us, of course." Sakura chuckled nervously. She was trying to lighten his mood but wasn't sure if it was working.

Sasuke stayed silent and kept walking. He wasn't in a good mood and he didn't want to take it out on Sakura so he figured that not talking was the best thing to do right now.

Taking the hint, Sakura stayed silent as well. She knew he wasn't mad at her so she didn't take it personally.

—February 1711:25 p.m.—

Given that they were in the desert, the two were planning on walking all night. Now that he's cooled off, Sasuke decided that this was a good time to bring up his concerns with Sakura.

"Sakura, you know it's dangerous to travel with me, right?" he asked quietly.

Sakura looked at him curiously. "Yea, of course I know that. Why do you ask?"

Sasuke stopped walking and turned to her while she did the same. "Are you sure you want to be with me?"

"You already know my answer. And nothing will change my mind about that." she said as she crossed her arms.

She was right; he did know her answer. But he needed her to reassure him that he's not making a mistake in being with her. If he were to lose her because of some people who were after him, he'd never forgive himself. However, Sasuke knew he wouldn't find anyone who was as perfect for him as Sakura was so he desperately hoped that he could make a life with her work out.

Sasuke stared at her somewhat sadly. Seeing her in the moonlight like this, her hair flowing perfectly in the wind, he started feeling emotional. Then, he ended up saying something that he wasn't sure he'd be able to say to Sakura: "I've always liked you, Sakura..."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows as her body tensed up. Did she hear him right? "What...do you mean by that???" she asked, heavily confused.

"There was never a time where I didn't like you...ever since the academy I've had a crush on you." he said quietly as he began to blush.

Sakura's expression softened and she felt a sharp pain in her heart. "That can't be true...you were always mean to me or just ignored me."

Sasuke sighed and looked down. "I'm sorry.", he said sadly, "It's just...after Itachi...you would've distracted me from my goal. So I tried pushing you away...but clearly that didn't work."

"Really? You're not joking...are you?" Sakura asked. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. It shouldn't matter now since they're already together but she couldn't help but feel excited upon hearing this.

"I don't think I've ever joked about something like this." he said as he looked up at her again. "And it's not just that I thought you'd be a distraction. But just like now...I was worried of putting you in danger. I don't want to see you hurt...or worse..."

Sasuke looked a lot sadder as he said this, causing Sakura to tear up a bit. She held his hand and smiled softly. "You wouldn't let anything bad happen to me, right?"

Sasuke shook his head. "But I won't always be with you, Sakura."

"Look, you need to stop being such a pessimist. Life is full of ups and downs. But you shouldn't let the downs distract you from the ups...if that makes sense." Sakura giggled.

Sakura always knew how to make him feel better. Sasuke grinned at her statement and stayed silent for a moment. Then his grin faded away and the look of admiration in his eyes intensified. "What if I wanted to start a family with you...what then?"

Not expecting him to say this, Sakura blushed as her body began to feel tingly. "Y-You...want...what-?" she said nervously.

"You heard me." Sasuke said as he looked away shyly.

"I uh...well." Sakura was so shocked that she was struggling to think of what to say. She stared at Sasuke for a moment and collected her thoughts before taking a deep breath in and out. "Well...if we had kids, I can assure you that they wouldn't have to worry about whatever you're worrying about." she said before hugging him.

Sasuke hugged her back tightly. "You really think so?" Sasuke asked. He really wanted to be 100% sure of his decision to be with her.

"Yea. They'd have you and me to protect them. And Naruto and Kakashi-Sensei for extra protection too." she said cheerfully as she backed away from their hug. When Sasuke looked at her, she gave him a warm smile. "Any kids that we'd have would be lucky to have us as parents." she continued before kissing him.

Sasuke scoffed as a smirk appeared on his face. As always, Sakura washed away his worries. She was too good at making him feel better. He took Sakura's hand, held it tightly, and started walking with her. "You'd be a great mom..." Sasuke said.

"And you'd be a great dad, Sasuke." she said sweetly. She hugged his arm tightly, wanting to further enjoy the moment. "Thank you for opening up to me by the way...you don't know how much it means to me."

"I think I might." he said. If he didn't know how much she'd value his vulnerability, then he wouldn't have opened up at all.———

This is the end of the chapter! I hope you enjoyed!

{A/N: I'm not sure why but I'm getting these chapters done a lot quicker than before...well it might be because I'm trying to get to the conceiving of Sarada lol but who knows🙃}