If you are reading this, I'm SO glad you're here. I am sorry for my absence. I went through a very, very difficult time in my life; I thought I lost my voice. I just couldn't write anymore. But, I desperately want to continue. If you are here, if you are reading this, and you want me to keep going, please let me know. If there are still readers out there, I will keep going.

This is a chapter that I am desperate to share. I wrote in some time ago - 2015! It is several chapters ahead from where the story stopped. I was ready to start writing about the happier, more relatable parts of Sasuke and Sakura's life together. I hope this chapter makes you happy. If you like this, I will do my best to keep going.

For now, enjoy.

Sakura bolted upright in her bed.

Had she really fallen asleep?

How could she have fallen asleep? She had just wanted to rest her eyes until he came.

Her heart relaxed when she saw that her clock read 9:12. He wouldn't be there until 9:30 or so.

But she didn't want to sleep. She wanted to stay awake. She didn't want to miss the chance to see him the night before they left.

Sasuke promised he would visit. One last time…

Sakura carefully made her bed and replaced her pale, pink nightgown with a light green frock and black, ankle-length leggings. Aunt Rin was incredibly fond of the dress, insisting it matched her eyes perfectly, though Sakura felt like she looked ridiculous in the getup. Still, wearing it made her Aunt happy. It was a small sacrifice overall.

After a quick once-over in the mirror, she realized she had forgotten her red ribbon.

Where had she left that thing? She was always falling asleep in it or leaving it in their living room.

But before she could even look, Rin opened the door to her room, a wide smile gracing her face. "You almost forgot your favorite ribbon!"

"Oh, Aunt Rin! I was wondering what I did with it. Thank you." Sakura reached for the hair ornament, but Rin motioned with her hands for Sakura to turn around. "Sasuke will be here any minute, and I told him we'd meet him outside. Let me help you with this, kiddo."

"Sure!" Sakura eagerly nodded and faced her body mirror, which was quite a bit taller than her, but she didn't mind. Rin hummed to herself as she tied the ribbon in a perfect bow at the top of her head. Rin pulled Sakura back gently, just enough for her to place a chaste kiss on the girl's soft hair. "There. You look very cute."

"Will Sasuke like it?" Bright green eyes stared back at Rin, as each of them continued to gaze in the mirror.

Rin was slightly taken aback by her comment, but caught her bearings quickly. She smiled, perfect white teeth flashing. "Of course. Sasuke likes you no matter what."

Sakura turned and faced her aunt. "Even if I didn't take baths, and I smelled gross, would he still like me? And, what if I get taller? What about then?"

Rin chuckled. "Yes, silly. Of course. Where is all this coming from, Sakura?"

Sakura's eyes lowered as she attempted to hide her embarrassment beneath her pastel lashes. "I'm afraid I'm going to leave, and I will change, and Sasuke won't like me anymore. I heard him tell Uncle Kakashi he doesn't like change. I might get ugly. Or tall. And then he won't carry me places anymore, or want to be around me..."

Warm arms quickly enveloped Sakura, who was momentarily surprised. A soothing voice whispered in her ears. "My silly Sakura. Sasuke loves you. Just because you are going away to school, that doesn't mean his feelings for you will change."

"Loves me?" Sakura asked as Rin pulled away, her eyes wide.

Rin didn't dare expound upon what she said. She had to be careful with her words around the young girl. She was getting too curious for her own good.

As Rin gently fixed a stray, pink hair behind one of Sakura's ears, she couldn't help but stare straight in her eyes.

Her little girl was growing up.

Sakura was incredibly loving, kind, talented and bright. Rin knew that the day would come when it became obvious…

Sakura was crushing on Sasuke, and leaving a crush was always a painful experience, even at her age.

They were definitely making the right decision. Sakura needed to go to a good school and focus on something other than Sasuke. It was going to be hard, but she would adapt quickly.

As they had decided many years before, she needed to be her own person, to find herself; they all knew Sasuke would love her no matter who she turned into…

So long as she was okay with loving a vampire in return.

Rin chuckled once more. "Come on. We're going to be late." She grabbed Sakura's hand and lead her from her bedroom, biting her lip and reminding herself to tread lightly.

"SASUKE!"

Sasuke slowly turned towards the high-pitched voice, a grin playing at his lips.

He had been staring at his future home. The mansion was progressing nicely. While work on it had been extremely slow, he couldn't have been happier with how it was turning out. It would never replace the original Uchiha mansion, but he hoped the structure could bring honor to his clan.

He had smelled her coming. He could recognize that scent anywhere; but he decided to let her run to him. It was more fun for her that way, anyway.

It was dark, but through squinty eyes, Sakura immediately knew it was Sasuke standing there . She ripped her hand from Rin's grasp and bolted towards him, her lungs struggling to keep up with her legs. She tripped once, her knees planting themselves into the grass. Rin gasped to herself, her hands rushing to her mouth in surprise. "Sweetie, are you alright?" she called out.

But Sakura paid her no mind. She stood up quickly, brushed the grass from her leggings, and began to run towards Sasuke again, her eyes free of tears.

Sasuke smiled, teeth and all. Few things brought him to smile like she did. She was so eager to see him, pain and dirty knees be damned.

When she was close enough, she jumped. Of course, he caught her.

"Sasuke! I missed you! So much. So much." She wrapped her skinny, pale arms around his even paler neck. "I almost didn't wake up in time to see you!"

"Really?" They pulled away to stare at each other. Her eyes sparkled at him. "I would have been sad if you hadn't come to see me tonight."

"What did you bring me?!"

Rin, who had caught up to the child and Sasuke, laughed. "Sakura," Rin half-heartedly chastised. "Don't be rude."

"But Aunt Rin!" The girl craned her neck towards the woman. "I'm not being rude. Sasuke always brings me things. It's a fact."

"She's right, Rin. I have spoilt her… Sakura, do you want to get on my back, and we can go to the top of the hill?" One last time…

"Piggyback!" she chanted in return. "Piggyback! Piggyback!"

"Yes, yes yes." He set her down on the ground, turned his back towards her and crouched. She jumped on him again. The sudden change in weight probably would have hurt a normal human, but it didn't phase Sasuke, even when her feet slammed into him.

They bid their goodbyes to Rin, and began to climb up the hill, to "their" spot.

"You remember why we come here, Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he slowly made his way to the top. He had no reason to hurry. Even if he kept Sakura out late, she had napped, and could sleep on her train ride tomorrow afternoon.

Her arms gripped him tightly, and he felt her giggle reverberate through him. "Because you can see the sakura tree where you found me! The tree I'm named after!"

"That's right. The place where I found you before Rin and Kakashi adopted you."

"Why didn't you adopt me, Sasuke?"

The question threw him so far off, he stopped dead in his tracks. He swallowed and regrouped. He kept forgetting that she was becoming so much more aware of things. She was growing up fast.

But not fast enough, he thought silently. Either way, he needed to have more answers prepared for times like this…

That is to say, he needed more lies.

"Because I was too young." It was partially true. He was in rough shape back then. And Sakura didn't know it, but he had such a large part in her upbringing. He made himself her sole caretaker her first few months, feeling like no one else was worthy of the job.

It took a lot of prying to get him away from her, but looking back, Sasuke was pleased he pursued other interests. He was shaping a nice life for them with his businesses and the villages, even if things weren't booming at that moment. In the end, the separation would all be worth it when she was old enough to marry him.

"Oh. That makes sense. You are still young now though. Like 16, I bet. Because there is a boy in the village who is 16. So, I think you kind of look like his age."

"Hn. Something like that."

There was so much he desperately wanted to share with her. He hated lying to her, hiding things from her. She deserved better. He could only hope she would forgive him in the future, when she found out the truth about everything, including what he was.

"We're here." He leaned down, and she reluctantly slid off of him with a slight huff.

He grabbed her hand and led her to the edge of the hill, where they could look out towards everything: his village, formerly a dark, dead spot on the Earth, had grown vibrant and bright. There were a few people milling about, shopping and such. His mansion, though dim, stood impressively near it all.

And then there was the tree.

It was sectioned off, protected by barbed wire, and further protected by ward spells. Though it had been twelve years, he still did not fully understand how Sakura came to be. The tree was extremely important to him, and he would let no harm come to it if he could help it.

He gracefully sat down on the grass and laid his head back. "Let's look at the stars, Sakura. They are bright tonight because there are no clouds." One last time…

She laid down beside him clumsily and laughed. "I slid, did you see?"

"Hn."

"What's in the sky tonight, Sasuke?"

"I don't know. What do you see?"

"No, you first."

"Hm." He paused and laid his hands across his chest, his palms meeting each other halfway as his fingers folded together. "I think I see… Ah. That's Orion's Belt, Sakura. See?" He pointed towards the sky, his finger dwarfed by the heavens. "The three stars. You've seen those before."

"Yeah." She nodded eagerly. "But why did Orion leave his belt in the sky? Doesn't that mean he can't keep his pants on now?"

A bellowing laugh filled the air.

Only she could bring him to laugh like that. No one else could. She was such a funny, unknowingly witty child. Being around her after being surrounded by stiff people of the Lore was a breath of fresh air.

"I hope not!... Wait, Sakura, look!" His finger thrust towards the sky once more, pointing at an object flying across the black banner of the universe.

Sakura gasped. "A SHOOTING STAR! Oh my goodness! WOW!"

"Make a wish, Sakura."

"OH! Okay!" She sucked in a deep breath, as if holding in air would help her make her decision.

"I wish…. "

Sasuke continued looking upward, hoping to see another shooting star.

"I wish I didn't have to move away. I wish I didn't have to go to school. I wish I could stay with Sasuke. Always."

Surprised, he turned to face her. When his eyes met hers, he saw that her pretty jade coloring glistened with tears.

"Sakura…"

She blinked, and the water slid past her lashes as it ran down her cheeks.

He pulled her close, and she hid her face in his shirt.

"Hey, don't cry. I'll visit you in a few months."

Except he wouldn't. It was just another lie.

They had all agreed the goal was to only visit her once a year, on her birthday, until she was 16. Then, his visits would become more frequent while she was prepared for life in the underground world she knew nothing about. He could see the progress she was making and reconnect with her during his yearly visit. He would also do his best to attend any events she was a part of. If she continued piano, or maybe picked up a sport… He would be there, in the audience, hidden in the crowd, in a sea of faces. But she just couldn't know it.

"I…" She sniffled, and struggled with her sentences, sniffling ever few seconds. "I already never got to see you. Now I will REALLY never see you. What if you forget about me?"

"That will never, ever happen Sakura. Ever."

"Sasuke," she sat up and looked away from him. "I don't want to move away."

He sat up as well, and gingerly wiped away her tears with his hand. "I don't want you too, either, but everyone goes to school, Sakura. It's a part of life."

"But Sasuke!" she screamed, facing him. "I love you!"

If he had ever had a chance to become paler than he naturally was, he was sure it was now.

He was floored. Speechless. Choking for words that wouldn't come out. Seconds ticked by while he searched for a response he couldn't conjure.

He had never told Kakashi, Naruto, or Rin he loved them. "Love" was such an abstract concept to him, even if he did consider those people his closest confidants, his family. Love was in movies, books, music. It was supposedly shared by mortals. It was not something a cold-hearted vampire like himself could understand.

And yet here he sat, open-mouthed, while she waited for a reply. His mind raced a million kilometers an hour.

How did one define love?

"Sasuke, are you mad at me?"

What was love, anyway?

"I'm sorry I said that. Don't tell Aunt Rin. I don't want to get in trouble. She says I always say weird things…"

Giving up everything for someone, basing your life around someone, doing everything in your power to keep them safe and watch them succeed?

When they become more important to you than you, yourself, ever could be?

"I really don't want to get my daily piece of candy taken away again… Please don't tell her!"

This is love.

"Sakura," he said as his hands motioned for her to calm down. "It's okay. I'm not going to tell your Aunt Rin anything bad."

Though he feared the repercussions of what he was about to say, he knew it was true.

"It's okay, because I love you, too."

She blinked quickly, her shoulders relaxing. "You do?"

"Yes, Sakura. I love you, too."

Sakura looked dazed. "I'm not in trouble?"

He laughed. "Not unless you did something to deserve to be in trouble."

"Ne-no! No, I didn't do anything yet!"

He patted her head, her ribbon smooth under his palm. "Good."

He slipped his hand into his pocket, and removed it, his fist closed tightly. "I did bring you a present, Sakura."

"OH!" She was elated and clapped her hands, seeming to have already forgotten their previous conversation. "What is it!? Show me, show me!"

"Ah. Say please."

She sat up straight and folded her hands in her lap. "Please?"

"Turn around," he said, and she did. She saw gold glint in front of her for a moment, and felt something hit the nape of her neck.

"It's a very special necklace."

Sakura looked down and gasped. "Beautiful!"

She grabbed the charm around her neck: it was a flower shaped like her namesake, with a tiny pink stone on the flower's stamen.

"Don't ever take it off, understand?" He rubbed her head gently. "Wear it and never forget me."

"Oh! I promise! I'll never take it off. Ever!" She quickly spun around, her arms embracing him, squeezing him as hard as she could.

"Hn."

When she pulled away, and he began to lay down once more to look at the stars with her, she stopped him. "Wait, Sasuke! Make your wish! Hurry, before it's too late!"

"Ah, okay." He shut his eyes tight for a few moments, and then opened them again. "I made my wish."

"Well?" she asked expectantly, her arms crossed. "Tell me what it is!"

"Silly Sakura," he said, his finger tapping her nose. "It's a secret."

I wish that Sakura will always love me, and that someday, she will love me even more than she does now…

They talked for hours. She fell asleep on the grass, and he carried her home on his back.

One last time.