Something about watching Naruto fumbling over his words and making Aa complete idiot of himself entertained Sasuke to a whole new level. I mean sure he thought it was entertaining from when Sasuke himself would make the blonde flustered, but this one was different. Naruto was actually trying to make himself not look stupid to someone. To Sasuke, he was making himself look like a complete idiot.

"H-How was your mission, Hinata?" Naruto asked the blue haired girl. She looked over at the blonde, her face reddened from having the boy she was so fond of all these years finally talk to her. She still couldn't believe that the two of them were in what she would call a relationship. The two of them were actually spending time with one another. They were both in the same place at the same time and it wasn't coiencidential. This was something she waited for from when she first laid eyes on Naruto. She felt as though she could never compete with someone like Sakura, someone who she thought Naruto completely adored at one time. She didn't know what changed, but she was sort of relieved that it did. She knew that Sakura would probably never accept Naruto simply because she was too into Sasuke to understand that someone else actually found her attractive.

"Uhm, it was nice." Hinata spoke softly, avoiding her gaze on Naruto. Her eyes quickly found Sakura, pleading for some sort of comfort that she was doing okay. Sakura pursed her lips together and nodded slowly. She was proud of her friends coming together like they were. She knew eventually she would find someone for herself. Someone who would actually love and appreciate her the way she would love and appreciate them. She wanted to be loved so badly, but she knew that she was going about it the wrong way. She was chasing after the wrong love. She wanted a love that didn't want her and the harsh reality was, she had to accept that. They were friends now and that's all she ever really wanted.

"Great." Naruto nodded awkwardly, trying to find something else to talk about. He tapped his fingers on the woodened table of Itchiraku's. "Just, Great."

Sasuke took in a deep breath, trying to contain his laughter. Sakura heard a grunt come from the raven and she quickly shoved him in the ribs, shushing him. Sasuke hunched over, coughing loudly from the impact of Sakura's Elbow in his side.

Sakura took the same arm and placed it on the table, Watching the two from the corners of her eyes. Her attention immidietly went to Sasuke, who raised his eyesbrows surprised that she moved towards him so fast; and because he was too busy staring at her.

"Sasuke take a walk with me." She says. "Our food isn't going to be ready for a while and I'm getting antsy sitting here."

"We'll walk with you guys!" Naruto quickly offered. He was already standing to his feet when Sakura and Sasuke looked their way.

"Let him come." Sasuke whispered. "He's trying."

Sakura pursed her lips together and stood as well as Sasuke. "Sure." She finds herself saying. Naruto pulled the small curtain back for them to walk through, Sasuke meeting his gaze as he walked behind Sakura. Naruto blushed, knowing his best friend knew his motives. Naruto quickly stepped out behind Sasuke.

Sakura linked her arm with Hinata's and the two girls walked a few paces ahead of Naruto and Sasuke. They both giggled loudly, Sakura teasing the girl of her and Naruto's new found love.

Sasuke stuck his hand in his pocket, his pancho blowing in the wind.

"Congradulations." Sasuke says to his friend. Naruto's face flushed.

"What are you talking about, Sasuke?" Naruto kept his cool. Sasuke finding that very amusing, smirked.

"Hinata's a nice girl." He says. "And she likes you. Maybe, this one might work out for you since ya'know, Sakura didn't."

Naruto threw his head back in sarcastic laughter and shook his head. "Ha! Alright man." He says. "You're funny."

"I try to be." Sasuke says. "It's all I have now, if I don't want to be exiled."

"It's nothing like that." Naruto shook his head. "You're not being exiled. Being stoic is what makes you 'Sasuke', and without no one knowing what's going on in that head of yours, you'd be just like everyone else. That's what made Sakura like you. But seeing that you were human is what made her love you."

Sasuke frowned to keep from blushing. Everytime someone reminded him that the pinkette was still head over hills in love with him, it would remind him of just how much he felt the same. Reflecting back on the times he almost killed her, it hurt. He knew deep down he wouldn't actually do it, but she was trying to kill him. With her monstous strength, she probably would've succeeded if she hadn't let her guard down.

"Sasuke, don't." Naruto told him.

"What?" Sasuke answers dryly.

"Stop guilt tripping yourself." He says. "You two are friends now and look how happy she is. She smiles brighter when you're around. You're actually trying to be her friend. Accept that and forget everything that ever happend then and just be happy now."

Sasuke's eyes traveled over to the pinkette, watching her as she smiled and laughed with her friend.

"It's gonna come a time where you're not scared to express yourself to her." Naruto says. "And I pray that she hasn't found someone else by then." He looks over at Sasuke as he looks at Sakura. "I really hope you don't expereince the kind of rejection you've been giving her all these years."

Sasuke remained silent. He knew what Naruto was saying was true, but he wasn't trying too make this about him. This was about Naruto and Hinata. Sasuke made that clear when he left his aparment that evening.

"This isn't about me Naruto." He tells him. "This is about you."

Naruto snorts, amused at how Sasuke honestly turned the situation on him. "Oh yeah?" He scoffs. "You're an asshole, Sauske."

"Hn." Sasuke smirks, using his shoulder to bump against the blonde playfully. Naruto giving the same smirk back before returning the gesture to his best friend.

"It's nice to see Sasuke out." Hinata says to Sakura as they walked along the semi busy roads of Konoha.

"Yeah." Sakura's voice lowered and so did her gaze. She was indeed happy to have Sasuke back in the village, but something still tugged at her heart when it came to him. She knew her feelings wouldn't go away overnight, but she was working on it and that's all that matters. They were friends now, she wanted to keep that going. She wanted him to know that she would be there for him even if he never felt the same about her in the end. "It is."

"I'm glad that the two of you are talking as well." Hinata gave a close eyed smile. Sakura sweatdropped. Hinata only showed this side around Sakura. Hinata was really the sweet, playful type person. Sure she was shy, and it took alot for her to open up to you, but once she did Hinata was a true comedian.

"Says the one who's dating the guy she's always loved." Sakura shoots back causing the girl to blush profusely. Sakura snorts.

"That's not funny." Hinata let's out a breath. "I'm glad you find humor in this."

"Oh like you didn't find humor in talking about me and Sauske." Sakura rolled her eyes. "Which is something in the past now."

"Like I'm gonna believe that." Hinata pursed her lips together. "No one gives up on their first love that easily."

"No one said it was easy." Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "What I'm saying is, maybe it is time that I let it go. He'll never love me, and I've come to terms with it. So all I can do is just overcome it, and find someone who's gonna love me for me."

Hinata decided to keep quiet. She knew it wasn't her business to interfere, but then again she didn't want Sakura to find someone else when everyone knew that she and Sasuke belonged together. The thing is, for them to see it themselves.

They continued to walk around the village untill they felt their food was ready. They reached Itchiraku once more and took their seats on the stools. Their food was quickly given to them.

"Time to eat!" Naruto grinned as he broke his chopsticks before reaching over Sakura and handing them over to Sasuke, who greatly took them. After thanking the blonde, Naruto did the same thing to yet another pair of chopsticks.

"So goood!" Naruto then exclaims as he begins to eat his ramen.

"Yeah it is!" Sakura says as she also digs in to her food. She was far beyond the 'eating cute to look cute for your crush' phase, being as though she was trying to get over that feeling for Sasuke that she had.

Sasuke looked over at her and smirked to himself, watching her eating comfortably. Her big green eyes shimmering like she was a child again. She of course sat inbetween he and Naruto as she always did, with Hinata taking Kakashi's old place beside Naruto.

After they finished eating, they paid for their meal and made their way out of Itchiraku's small booth.

"Man that was delicious!" Naruto rubs his stomach as he walks. His words are followed by a yawn.

"As always." Sakura says with a laugh, referring to Naruto always getting sleepy after he eats a nice bowl of Ramen.

"Hey, don't judge me." Naruto then pokes his lip out as he speaks, earing a slight giggle from Hinata.

"I really enjoyed you all today." She finally speaks after she has been silent for a while. Her lavender eyes lands on Naruto, making his cheeks redden.

"We definately have to hang out with eachother more often when we have time." Sakura says as she places her hands behind her back. Her hair slightly blowing in the wind as she spoke. She found herself looking over at Sasuke, who was in a world of his own. She didn't know what was on his mind, but whatever it was, he wasn't mentally there with them at the moment.

"Sounds like a plan then." Naruto says with yet another yawn. "Well, we'll see you guys later. I'm gonna go ahead and walk Hinata home."

Sakura nods. She hugs Hinata and whispers something incoherent to the boys making the bluenette laugh loudly. She shoves Sakura's shoulder before shaking her head. Shyly though, she links her arm into Naruto's and the two of them began to walk in another direction, leaving both Sakura and Sasuke by their lonesome. Sakura took in a deep breath as she pursed her lips together. Her eyes landed on Sasuke who was once again, in his own world.

"You've been awefully quiet today." Sakura says gaining his attention. She watched as he looked at her from the corners of his eyes before he went back to staring at the empty space in front of him. She watched as he chewed on the corners of his lips searching for what he was going to say next. She wondered if he would actually lie to her, or would be tell her the truth. She knew he often told her to mind her own business, but it was pretty strange for Sasuke to be this quiet.

"I'm always quiet, Sakura." He says slowly. Making sure he sounded as convincing as possible.

She cocked an eyebrow and pursed her lips together as the two of them walked down the dirt road together. The wind slightly blowing, tossing their hair and clothes about. Sakura quickly tucked her hair behind her ear as she walked. Not bothering to pry into Sauske's head any further.

Sasuke gave a sigh of relief internally as they walked. He was hoping she wouldn't pry any further simply because he was trying not to blush. As the wind blew, her sweet femenine scent struck his nose and he couldn't help but be intoxicated by it. He always loved the way Sakura smelled. He missed the way she smelled. The way she smelled now was way more mature of what she used to when they were kids.

"Now you're the one that's quiet." Sasuke says. "And that's unusual for someone like you."

"Someone like me?" She scoffs playfully. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"You always have something to say." He answers. "You make up for the words I lack."

Sakura was caught off guard by Sasuke's response. Which was true; she did mostly talk the entire time on the days they spent together, but that was because she didn't want to feel awkward around Sasuke. It's been a while since they have started over as friends and Sakura finally had become comfortable with the silence. She realized that comfortable silence was okay. Everything was only as awkward as you make it. She understood the significance of silence and she learned that she could benefit from it. It gave her opportunity to gather her own thoughts. Take in her surroundings and process all the information she has. 

"I guess that's just a nice way of saying I talk too much." She says as she looks over at him. 

Sasuke says nothing. He just continues walking as if she had never said anything to him. Things like this made Sasuke smile. He enjoyed messing with Sakura only because she was an easy target. She made things easy for anyone who wanted to get her riled up. 

"You know that's not funny." She says again crossing her arms over her chest. She frowned, taking a larger step to ensure that she was ahead of Sasuke as they walked. 

"Well there's always things that aren't funny, Sakura." Sasuke says matter of factly. 

"You know, I don't think this friend thing is working anymore, jerk." Sakura frowns playfully as Sasuke found himself smirking. 

"I signed up for the chunnin exams," Sasuke found himself saying. "I mean, I don't really have a team other that Naruto so." His voice trails off as he continues to look into the distance. 

"I wish I could go through it with you guys," Sakura says with a sigh. "I would've loved to do it with you all over again." 

"Who'd you end up doing it with?" 

"Ino and Choji." She says simply. "Alot of self discovery went into that." 

Sasuke nods understandingly. "I'm sorry I wasn't here." 

"Stop apologizing for things that already happend." Sakura says sternly. "We were kids and we made mistakes. At the end of the day, we have the second chance at getting things right this time. Not alot of people get that. Stop harping on the things that you did. It won't help you move forward in life the way you really want to." 

Sasuke smirks listening to the girl. They finally arrived at her apartment and Sakura tucked her hair behind her ear. 

"Well, see you around Sasuke." She smiles warmly at him as she pulls her keys out of the pocket of her black pants. 

"See you." He answers. He watches her get in the house safely before he made his way to his own apartment. He thought back on what Sakura said. He knew that she was telling the truth, but it was easier said than done. He was trying, but he just couldn't help but feel like scum, knowing that he treated everyone so horribly, just to get what he wanted. 

Sakura... 

He grunts in frustration, hating himself even more. 

She deserves better. He thinks. But I don't want her to find anyone else. 

His mind raced a mile a minute. He wasn't sure what he should do or how he should feel. 

Finally getting home, Sasuke removed his shoes and jacket before walking deeper into the apartment. He sat on his couch and stared at the wall. He blinked heavily, remembering how close he and Sakura was when he fell asleep at her apartment. His face grew hot and he shook his head to try and get the image out of his head. It was honestly a really good sleep that he had. He couldn't deny that. Not wanting to be alone another second, he grabbed his pancho and walked to put his shoes back on. He grabbed his keys and quickly made his way out of his apartment, locking the door behind him. 

Sakura yawned loudly as she removed her sweater. A white tank top clung to her body fittingly. She removed on pants and settled on her pajama pants. Just as she had finished brushing her teeth for the night, she heard a knock at the door. Walking to open it, she wondered why someone is knocking on her door so late. She hoped it wasn't Shizune, coming to retrieve her because the Hospital needed her help. She prayed Lady Tsunade wasn't in a tavern somewhere and she was actually where she said she would be; the hospital. 

She pulled the door open and her face immediately became red. "S-Sasuke." She says softly. What are you doing here?" 

Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down at his feet. He honestly couldn't tell her that he wanted to feel her warmth again. He knew that would sound creepy. 

"I-I didn't want to be alone tonight." He says lowly. HIs eyes finally meet her gaze, noticing that she was indeed blushing. She quickly looks away. 

"Okay, come in." She holds the door open wider for the raven to enter. She let him step inside before closing the door behind him.