A/N: love the idea that even when sasuke thought sakura was annoying as a genin, he was mostly just embarrassed (did someone say secret relationship? Mutual pining anyone?)

"Stop pulling!"

Sakura was running ahead of Sasuke, pulling him along by the hand. As much as he acted like he didn't enjoy Sakura's affections, he couldn't lie to himself anymore. He had a stupid, annoying crush on this irritating, adorable girl. And while he could privately admit that much, he couldn't let anyone else know. Then it would be like the academy all over again: countless girls would vy for his attention by falling all over him. Didn't they know they didn't stand a chance because they weren't Sakura?

When Sakura turned around to laugh at him, her eyes were sparkling and his heart skipped a beat.

Later, he told her to meet him at the training grounds after the day was over. Inner Sakura was screaming.

The sun was setting as Sakura approached the training grounds. "Sasuke-kun? What's this about?"

He walked up to her, grabbed her hand and started dragging her along.

"We're going for a walk." He turned to look at her and squeezed her hand so she would understand, "not in public."

"Not in public."

Sakura understood. Sasuke had recently returned to the village after spending time on the road and while he was absolved of his former crimes, some villagers were still wary of him. He didn't want to implicate Sakura any further by being openly affectionate. Their relationship was too new, too delicate to risk any outside interference.

"Let's go home then?"

Sasuke nodded. They walked close to each other, but didn't hold hands. Sakura could wait a little longer.

Besides, Sakura had recently learned that Sasuke was surprisingly affectionate behind closed doors.

"Not in public!"

Sasuke paused, his face extremely close to Sakura's.

"Why?"

Sakura looked at the ground, but didn't move out of Sasuke's one armed embrace.

"It's embarrassing!" she whined, choosing to bump her forehead against Sasuke's shoulder.

He decided to tease her, "are you saying you're embarrassed by your husband, Sakura?"

"You know that's not it, you jerk! It's just that…"

"It's just what?"

She hesitated. She couldn't feed his ego, he already knew the power he held over her, but she could never lie to his face. "You make me blush."

"And that's embarrassing because? Everyone already knows that."

"I can't take you anywhere! We're going home."

"And I can kiss you at home?"

"Sasuke!"