"I love you, Sakura"

November 189:38 a.m.

———After last night, the two stayed quiet as they got ready for the day. Sakura was writing down the information that she got from Akio while Sasuke went out to do something. He didn't tell Sakura where he was going — just that he'd be back soon and that they'd leave the village once he returned. When she finished writing down the info, she put everything in her bag before waiting patiently for Sasuke to come back.

Around an hour later Sasuke came back. He looked nervous and his cheeks were red. When he walked up to Sakura, she stood up and put on her backpack. "Are you ready to go now?" she asked.

He stared at her for a second before looking to the side and revealing that he was holding something underneath his cloak. It was a hair clip with little cherry blossoms on it.

Sakura looked at Sasuke with wide eyes before looking at the hair clip and taking it. "You got this for me..?" she asked.

"Hn." he said as he headed for the front door.

Sakura smiled and blushed as she happily followed him and put the hair clip in her hair. After they checked out and left the building, Sakura tugged on Sasuke's cloak, causing him to stop walking and turn around. He nervously but curiously looked at her.

The two held eye contact for a moment. Sasuke was about to say something but then Sakura took his hand, pulled him closer to her level, and quickly kissed his cheek. "You're the best, Sasuke-Kun..." she said sweetly.

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat and he shyly backed away, pulling his hand away from her. He didn't know what to say or do so he just stared at her intensely. Sakura had never kissed him before.

Noticing the confused and somewhat panicked look on his face, Sakura giggled. "You know, you look really cute when you're flustered." she teased.

Feeling embarrassed, Sasuke's cheeks became redder and he pressed his lips together as he looked to the side.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." she said, "We should get the scroll back to Konoha." Sakura walked past Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded and followed behind Sakura but kept his distance. He still couldn't quite process his feelings from the kiss. The tingly feeling in his body was both pleasant and irritating. As they exited the village, Sasuke didn't take his eyes off of Sakura. All he could think about was her kiss. He liked the feeling of her lips on his skin...and soon, he started to wonder how her lips would feel on his.

There was no doubt in his mind that she'd kiss him but he wasn't sure if he'd have the courage to do it. Walking through a forest, Sasuke thought about his options. He could ask if he could kiss her, he could kiss her without asking, or he could wait until he felt more comfortable with her. After a while of thinking, he, settled on waiting until he was more comfortable.

—November 189:05 p.m.—

After a long day of walking, Sasuke and Sakura settled down by a river for the night. After they finished eating their dinner by the fire, Sakura looked at Sasuke curiously. "Sasuke-Kun...can I ask you a question or two?" she asked.

"What is it?" he asked without looking at her. Sakura probably couldn't tell but he was starting to get nervous.

"Why'd you get me this hair clip?" she asked with a soft smile. Sasuke had never gifted her before so she wanted to see what his thought process was when deciding to get her a gift.

For a moment, Sasuke stayed silent. He wasn't sure how to answer. Realistically, he got her the gift because it was his way of saying sorry after not telling Sakura that he loved her too. But due to feeling uncomfortable with telling her that, he gave her a different reason.

Sasuke took out a kunai from his weapon pouch and showed it to Sakura. It was the one that she gave him for his birthday. "I wanted to repay you for giving me this..." he said. Although that wasn't really the reason why he got her a hair clip, he was glad that he could show her that he still cherished her gift to this day.

Sakura's smile became brighter and she scooted closer to him. She tilted her head slightly in front of his view to get him to look at her and he did, nervously. "I think that's really sweet of you. But don't think that you need to give me gifts when I give you gifts. The only gift that I want from you is your happiness." she said before looking at the kunai then back to Sasuke, "Sorry if the design is tacky by the way; I wanted to make it unique for you." she giggled.

As Sasuke processed what Sakura said, he put the kunai back in his pouch as he looked at the fire. "Don't apologize. It's perfect." he said firmly, pausing for a few seconds before continuing, "Just like you..." he said under his breath. Shortly after he'd realized what he just said, Sasuke began to blush and hoped that Sakura didn't hear that last part.

"Well I'm glad you like it, Sasuke-Kun." she said happily.

Good...she didn't hear. Sasuke looked at her, wanting her to say more. When he stared into her eyes, he recognized a familiar look in them that used to annoy him a lot. She was analyzing his face and admiring his very existence...just like she did when they were kids. Sakura practically looked ready to pounce on him at any moment. But another familiar attribute of hers was that she was pretty good at holding herself back...for the most part. Sasuke appreciated that.

Feeling comforted by Sakura's undying admiration for him, Sasuke smiled and held out his arm, inviting Sakura to sit right next to him.

This gesture shocked Sakura but it excited her too. Sasuke was clearly trying his best to change even though most times, he tends to fail at doing so. Sakura then scooted even closer to him and leaned against him as he rested his arm on her shoulders. He was shaking a little...he must've been pretty nervous still. Sakura placed her hand on his leg and looked up at him. "Are you ok? Don't force yourself to do anything you're not comfortable with."

"Hn." he said before looking down at her. "Tell me what you told me last night..."

Sakura stared at him confused. "What do you mean? What did I tell you?" she asked.

"You know...the thing that I should've said back to you..." he said shyly. Sasuke was too nervous to ask her directly.

Sakura thought for a moment, trying to figure out what he meant before coming to a realization of what he was saying. She stared at him with wide eyes after figuring it out but the look of disbelief in her face soon softened to a look of affection. "I love you...more than anything." she said sweetly with a warm grin.

Sasuke grinned softly before looking away from her. He stared into the distance for a while before returning his gaze to Sakura. His eyes were filled with tears that he was trying to hold in but his facial expression was full of love. "I love you, Sakura. More than you could ever imagine..." he said softly.———

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