Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Honestly, do I LOOK like Kishimoto-sensei? (YOU BETTER SAY NO!) lol

"Talking"

Thoughts

It was quiet night; the street lamps now turning on signaling it was getting late. All the bustling daily commotion throughout Konoha was now dying down; people returning to their homes, some shopkeepers closing up for the night. Everything was calm and serene, with the exception of a certain raven haired man's mind. That, that contained racing thoughts that matched with his heartbeat. But of course he wouldn't show that. He retained her stoic façade and he walked along the street. His thoughts and feet had him ending up along the path he was sure led to the home of 18 year old Haruno Sakura.

Half of him was shocked he actually ended up in front of her house. The other half expected this to happen sooner or later. He returned to the Leaf Village nearly 2 months ago. And during those 2 months, his former teammate and (though he didn't want to admit it to anyone) close friend chose to ignore him the entire time. In the short moments they did have an encounter, they would exchange short greetings, and if he was lucky, a quick smile from the cherry blossom. But other than that, all was left in solitude. And that drove the Uchiha to the brink of insanity.

A sigh escaped his lips, his dark obsidian eyes stared at the front door of Sakura's house. With one hand stuffed into the pocket of his dark blue jeans, he used his other to apprehensively knock on the door.

"Coming!" he heard her melodic voice chime from the other side of the door. He innerly smirked, knowing that voice all too well. The voice he missed.

A few seconds later, the door opened which revealed a pink haired woman with sparkling green eyes. It was the person who was there the night he left his home village, the one he left behind, the only one whom he cared for, the one that's been plaguing his thoughts for far too long without an action to settle it, the only one who eventually he admitted he loved.

Sakura…

A smile adorned her face as she answered the door, expecting a strange or a friend. Not the man that had her heart bound to a string around his finger, or the one who left he abandoned 6 years back. With one look at Sasuke, her smile faded into a sad one, but still a smile none the less. "Hi Sasuke-kun." she greeted in a soft tone.

Sasuke instantly took notice to her slightly emotionless expression, which is what he expected. Still, a slight frown made its way to his lips, his jaw stiffening. "… Can we talk?" he asked half-heartedly. Although it was a question, he knew he wasn't going to leave without more than a couple words exchanged between them.

"Sure." she said blankly, allowing the Uchiha inside, gently closing the white painted door behind him. She returned to the kitchen, where it seems she was cleaning dishes. Sasuke followed her quietly and leaned his back against the counter. "So, what did you need to talk about?" she said drying of a large dinner plate, placing it on the rack with the other dishes.

Sasuke took a brief moment of silence, trying to get his thoughts and words straight. He knew this was a "make it or break it" moment; he probably wouldn't get this chance to discuss things with her again, and he didn't want to ruin it by something he said. He drew in breath and said, barely above a whisper, "Why have you been ignoring me…?"

"Nande?" Sakura asked, looking up at him. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you."

The Uchiha's gaze turned stern as he looked at her light green eyes. "Why have to been ignoring me?" he said a little louder, slightly pressing on each word.

Sakura's eyes softened as she looked down and away from her former teammate in front of her. What was she going to say? Oh Sasuke, I was ignoring you because I'm afraid you'll maliciously rip my heart apart into pieces again, just as it FINALLY started to heal itself again? Of course, that's completely easier said than done. The pinkette didn't want a reason for Sasuke to be mad at her, so she too chose her words wisely. "I-I just…" she trailed. "It's complicated I guess."

"Complicated?"

"Why did you come back? Because you killed your brother, ne?" she asked ever so softly, clearly avoiding his question with one of her own.

Sasuke fumed silently, opening his mouth slightly about to protest and demand she answer his question. He mentally stopped himself, knowing that an argument was the last thing he needed right now. He closed his eyes, a calloused hand reaching up and rubbing his temple slightly. This definitely was going to be harder than he planned.

With the amount of time that was stalled for Sasuke to recollect his thoughts, Sakura began to think that she wasn't going to get an answer to any of her questions. So why bother asking, right? Sasuke clearly saw the hurt forming in her beautiful emerald eyes, causing a slight striking pain in his heart. He had to think fast, but what could he say? What could he say to make all the pain between them both just stop, even for just a moment?

How about you just tell her the truth? Or is it really that hard for you?

His inner self did have a point. His breath caught in his throat as he swallowed quietly. He took a step closer to her, placing his pale hand gently under Sakura's chin. He raised her head so her emerald eyes were boring into his onyx ones.

"You." was all he uttered.

Sakura's eyes widen in confusion. "W-what?"

"I came back…for you."

At that moment, Sakura felt weak at the knees as she felt her heart skip a beat. Was she hearing correctly? Did Uchiha Sasuke just admit to her that he came back for HER, Haruno Sakura? She stared at him; her mouth slightly hung open in disbelief, her eyes scanning his frantically looking for any signed that he was lying.

She found none.

Not knowing what to say in retaliation, all she could do was quickly regain her composure and mutter a quick "sure".

Sasuke's heart twitched at her disbelief. How could she not believe him? As if this moment broke through him, several emotions started flooding through him. Just as those emotions flooded through him, his words starting flowing out of his mouth. The truth.

"Sakura." he said calmly, once again gaining the attention of the pinkette in front of him. The way he says her naming, just rolling off her tongue, sends shivers down her spine as if to taunt her. "I realized…my feelings for you. I've noticed everything, everything important in my life. All the things you've done for me...you've cared for me…loved me…held me…and I need you."

Sakura held in her emotions to the best of her ablilities. She bit her bottom lip to prevent her from breaking down sobbing and immediately taking him back. Stand your ground, Sakura. Stand your ground.

The Uchiha noticed her resistance to the situation still. Mentally cursing himself, he grabbed her hand gently, earning a quiet gasp. "Please, Sakura." Her eyes widen. Was Uchiha Sasuke really pleading to her?

Her thoughts haunted in her mind, along with several unpleasant memories. All of which caused her to whisper, "No."

Sasuke then looked at her in shock. She said…no? About 6 years ago, she would have killed just to get a date with him and now, she rejects him.

6 years…his inner said. 6 years…you really expect her to still have the same feelings toward you, let alone love you? Think about it, Sasuke…think…

"What?" he choked out.

Sakura turned off the water, and dried her hands. She turn to face the Uchiha with the most hurt, and even insulted, expression on her face and said, "No. You had your chance, for several years actually. But you constantly insulted me, shoved me away, and shown all amounts of disgust—" he winced at her emphasis on the word "—with me. You did all of this and I STILL stayed there by your side. I still tried to help you. I still tried to hold myself together after you tore me down. And I still…I still tried to tell myself loving you was NOT a mistake. And I succeeded. Then you abandon me on a street bench as you leave the village, and my life. And when things FINALLY decide to calm down and get better and I finally start copping, you show up back into my life. And yet you still expect me to just forgive you that easily? No."

Sasuke was clearly taken aback by Sakura's rant; if he would've known, that she was that hurt and affected by his actions, thought he still doesn't know how he didn't notice, he would've tried to find it deeper in his iced-over heart to show sympathy. But then again, why did he feel like he knew this the entire time and continued to act so cold toward her, regardless of his feelings?

Because you knew it all along.

His eyes widen at his inner's truth. He did know all along, and he so stupidly chose to continue with his actions. And here he is now, standing in front of the love of his life, only seconds away from losing her completely if he already hadn't. He debated harshly with himself: whether he should start pleading with the cherry blossom, or tear himself apart because of how much anger and hatred he felt toward himself at the moment.

He chose pleading, and that's exactly what he did.

He hugged her as tight as he could, despite her protests. Knowing this was the weakest moment in his entire life, he didn't care as he spoke in probably the softest, most serene voice he had, "Please, Sakura…I shouldn't ask for ANYTHING: your love, your heart, you. I don't deserve it in any way possible. But please, just let me back into your life…I need you, Sakura. No one else. Just. You."

Sakura tried to free herself from Sasuke's grasp but it was no use. She just snapped back, "How do I know that you're not just tricking me? That this isn't some sick joke to 'get me back' for whatever your purpose is?"

Sasuke said nothing as he just leaned in and kissed her; kissed her with everything he had, all the might he could. He held her gently yet firmly in his arms as if that very moment was going to be ripped away from him. And unfortunately, it was.

As soon as Sakura realize that she was kissing him back, she pushed him off her and slapped him. "Get out of my house!" she screamed.

A shock, hurt-beyond-repair Sasuke stared at the cherry blossom wide eyed, a hand slowly making its way to his stinging cheek. As much as that hurt, he knew he deserved that. Fuck, he knew he deserved WAY more than that; he didn't deserve her at all. In completely silence, he walked out of her house, leaving a broken Sakura crumbling to her knees—

—and crying as hard as she could.

Give up? Not a chance in hell. That night, while Sakura was in her room, Sasuke climbed up to her window. He saw her curled up into a ball on her bed…crying. He was the cause for MORE of her tears. He opened her window silently and jumped into her room.

As he was about to call her name but he heard her say, "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun."

He couldn't stop the slight smile that adorned his face as the return of suffix. The return of hope. Sasuke then walked over to the bed and sat down next to her.

When Sakura felt the shift in weight on the bed next to her, she quickly sat up shocked, looking at the intruder. When she registered that it was Sasuke, she frantically wiped her tears, hoping that he wouldn't notice. Although he already did, that hurt—pleading?—expression remained in her eyes. "Sasuke—" Before she even finished her sentence, Sasuke placed his lips on hers.

Once he reluctantly pulled away, he grasped her hand tightly, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles and said, "Haruno Sakura, will you do me the incredible honor in marrying me?"

"Yes…" she said softly as she smiled, tears forming in her eyes, "yes."

And so he finally smiled; a true, rare smile before he leaned down to claim her lips once again.

"I love you, Uchiha Sakura."

Smile. "I love you too, Sasuke-kun."

Thank you.

**EDITED 10/23/11.

And there you have it, another update. (: Thank you ALL to those your liked the crappy, original version of this story. And thank you to you new readers; I hope you liked this. With that said, review and tell me how you feel? Thank yoooooooooouuuuu. c:

~Cherry-chan