Soul Searching

Chapter 88

"I'm sorry for breaking the table" Sakura said sheepishly as she returned to her seat next to me.

"It's fine. I'm glad you're having fun" I whispered in her ear before kissing her temple. Little did she know I fully expected this and paid the barkeep for the damages while she was celebrating her victory.

"Oh look at the love birds" Ino teased loudly from across the table. "You two act just like newlyweds."

"Shut it Ino" Sakura said, her cheeks blazing red from the alcohol and blushing.

The rest of the evening went without incident. There weren't any more arm wrestling matches or any more broken tables. We all sat and drank and talked well into the night and by the end of it I think everyone had their fill of alcohol. The barkeeper ended up kicking us out because we were there so late and we all stumbled out into the quiet street.

Kiba clambered up onto Akamaru's back for a ride home, Sai half dragged Ino while she insisted she could walk, Rock Lee took off running saying he'd beat everyone home, Hinata guided Naruto by his elbow, and Shikamaru volunteered to get Choji home using his Shadow Paralysis Jutsu. Shino just disappeared, no one knew when he left.

I had my arm around Sakura's waist to help support her weight as she said goodbye to everyone. She was giggling to herself as we turned to walk down the street back home.

"What are you laughing about?" I asked. I couldn't help but smirk at her current state.

"I just had a lot of fun. And I'm glad you were there with me" she said lovingly as she leaned against my arm. "I used to come all by myself, it wasn't the same."

"I'm happy that you're happy" I told her as I gently squeezed her waist. We spent the rest of our walk in blissful silence. The streets were empty, the moonlight lit our path between the street lamps, and it was just the two of us.

"This reminds me of when we were traveling together" I admitted to her. "Before Sarada, before we were married." We traveled where ever we wanted, when ever, and for however long we wanted. There was nothing else except us. Nothing mattered to me but her.

"I miss those days a lot but they lead us to where we are now, and I wouldn't change that for anything" she responded.

We took the long way home, the cool air helped Sakura sober up. The pink flush was slowly leaving her cheeks and her steps were becoming a little more coordinated.

We finally arrived on our doorstep. As I started to unlock the door I felt her hands slide around the sides of my waist, up my stomach, to my chest, then back down to tuck her fingers in my waist band.

I quickly unlocked the door and spun around, backing her inside as my lips locked onto hers. We clumsily kicked our shoes off while never breaking our kiss. I backed her into the living room and we both nearly jumped out of our skin when we heard someone descending the stairs.

"Mama. Papa. Is that you?" Sarada called out sleepily as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Ye-yes it's u-us" Sakura called out shakily as we quickly composed ourselves before turning the light on.

"I thought you were at a friend's house?" I asked her after I cleared my throat and straightened my shirt.

"She ended up not feeling well so I just decided to come home and wait for you but I fell asleep."

"Well why don't you go ahead and get back to bed since we are home now. We didn't mean to wake you" I told her.

She silently nodded and went back upstairs. Once we heard her door shut we shared a sheepish grin. Sakura grabbed my hand and put a finger to her lips before pulling me upstairs to our bedroom.