Part 2

Sasuke is careful around Sakura these days. He speaks more gently, where once he would have been brusque and straight-forward. Keeps his distance, a thing that is difficult to do when he's so used to sharing space with her. He maintains this fragile restraint for a full month, until Sakura catches him in the hallway and pins him against the wall. She nearly knocks the wind out of him, and his voice is breathless when he asks, "What was that for?"

For being an idiot, she signs.

"You're going to have to be more specific," Sasuke says dryly.

You're treating me like a weak little girl, but that's not what I am, she says, her hands moving so quickly that he can barely keep up.

I don't know what you're talking about. He signs it, because he's sure that if he speaks she'll be able to tell he's lying.

Sakura scowls, but she looks more sad than angry now. I'm not made of glass. You don't have to treat me like this.

She can see through his dishonesty, no matter how he conveys it, so Sasuke tells the truth. "I don't want to hurt you again."

You're hurting me now, she says.

Sakura's moods are as changeable as the wind, always have been, but it stills surprises Sasuke when she wraps her arms around his waist and hugs him, as gentle as she was violent a moment ago. It's the closest they've been in weeks, and he can't help but hug back. Cling to her and bury his face in her pink hair.

Sasuke usually buys something practical for Sakura's birthdays—books on medicine, new senbon or shuriken, clove oil to polish her weapons with. But when she turns fourteen he gives her a ring. It's nothing especially fancy, just a slender silver band engraved with vines, but when Sakura opens the little box she blushes and says, Thank you.

His parents frown at one another. Sasuke can't imagine why they're upset; Sakura seems to like the gift, so shouldn't they be happy too?

Okaasan prepares a special dinner that night, and the table is laden with all of Sakura's favorite foods. Even Itachi shows up, finally back from one of his long missions. He ruffles Sakura's cropped hair, kisses her on the forehead, and says, "Happy birthday, little sister."

Something about this makes Sasuke shift in his seat. He knows that his parents see Sakura as their daughter, and while he too considers her family, his feelings for her are not quite brotherly. Sometimes, when he looks at her, he can't help but notice the slender line of her throat, the graceful curve of her shoulders, how her hair falls just so and her eyes are bright with all the words she doesn't speak.

That night, Sasuke lies awake, staring up into the darkness, thinking about Sakura. As if he summoned her, she knocks on his door softly and comes into his room. Right away, he can tell something isn't right, but before he can ask her what's wrong, Sakura climbs onto his bed and slips beneath the covers. She lies right next to him, so close he can smell the vanilla of her shampoo, and Sasuke can't help but cradle her face, trace the apple of her cheek with his thumb. She leans into his touch, and for a moment he has the overwhelming urge to kiss her. Would she let him? Would she like it?

They stay this way for several long minutes, but then Sasuke sits up, turns on the lamp on the bedside table, and asks, "Are you okay?"

I had a nightmare, Sakura says. But I feel better now. I always feel better when I'm with you.

Sasuke doesn't know how to answer that, so he just looks away, a little embarrassed.

Sakura plays with the ring he gave her and says, This is so pretty. I love it.

Good, he signs. She deserves beautiful things, and he'd like to give them to her, if she'll let him.

Sakura sneaks into his room again the next night. He was awake, reading this time, but he puts his book away when she approaches him. At first he thinks she had another nightmare, but when he asks if she's all right, she says, I'm fine. I just… Her hands still, frozen with some emotion kin to nervousness, before she finishes: I just wanted to see you.

"Oh," Sasuke says.

Do you mind? If you want me to go I can leave, she says, fingers moving so quickly that he can barely follow her words.

"No!" he says, a little more forcefully than he means to. You can stay.

She nods, turns off the light, and wraps her arms around him. She's so warm and close, a sweet burden that he wants to hold forever. Sasuke runs his fingers through her hair, marveling at the softness of it. When his touch wanders to the nape of her neck, Sakura shivers a little and makes a small noise, and when he hears it, Sasuke only wants to draw more sounds from her. He slides his hand down to the small of her back, then skims the roundness of her hip. To his satisfaction, she draws a sharp breath, just barely audible.

I wish I knew what her voice sounded like, Sasuke thinks. He's willing to bet it would be as lovely as the rest of her.

They fall asleep tangled together, limbs entwined, and when Sasuke wakes there's dawn light peeking into his room through the gaps in the blinds. Sakura's leg is hooked over his hip, her face snuggled into the curve where his neck meets his shoulder, and he can feel her hot exhalations on his throat.

"Sakura," he whispers. "It's morning."

She pulls slightly away from him, blinks sleepy green eyes, and stretches. The movement presses her small breasts against his chest, and the sensation makes his heart beat faster. Without thinking, he wraps an arm around her waist, pulls her closer, so that she's flush against him. One moment, their mouths are only a breath apart, and the next her lips are brushing his. Tentative and gentle at first, but there's hunger beneath her shyness and his, and soon Sasuke is on top of Sakura, kissing her fiercely.

He thinks he could do this every day for the rest of his life and never grow tired of it.

After their first kiss, Sasuke and Sakura steal as much time with one another as they can. They hide in his room or hers, or sneak around the empty training grounds under the pretense of practicing taijutsu. Spring melts into summer, summer fades to fall, and as the months pass, they're careful not to get caught.

On a cool autumn day at the Tenth Training Ground, Sasuke and Sakura lie on their sides, facing one another. They've already spent a good hour kissing, entangled, and now they rest, exchanging small talk. They discuss the upcoming chunin exams, and Kakashi-sensei's nasty literary preferences, and how they're both going to be sick if Naruto drags them to Ichiraku one more time.

Then Sakura asks, What do you think your parents would do if they found out about us?

"I'm not sure," Sasuke says. "They wouldn't be happy, though."

You don't think they would kick me out of the house, do you? She fidgets once she finishes signing, and this relays her anxiety as much as what she's just told him.

"Of course not," Sasuke says with firm certainty. "Okaasan and Otousan love you."

And what about you? Sakura asks. She sets her hand over her heart: Do you love me?

Sasuke reaches over, runs his fingers along her arm from shoulder to wrist. She trembles under his touch, pale eyes wide.

How do you think I feel? he asks.

Sakura frowns. Well, you've never said it.

He smiles, kisses her, then whispers against her mouth, "You should know better than anybody that you don't have to say something out loud for it to be true."