TO LOVE AND TO LOVE AGAIN

THE PAST AND THE PRESENT

To Love and to Love Again Chapter 13: The Past and the Present

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER AND AUTHORS NOTE: I do NOT own Naruto. The awesomeness of the Naruto Manga and World is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. This is Purely Fanfiction. All things Medical in this entire fanfiction should not be taken as serious medical advice or facts. PLEASE CONSULT AN ACTUAL DOCTOR FOR ANY MEDICAL INFORMATION/QUESTIONS. THANK YOU AND ENJOY!

Sora had gone to Ino's house after karate practice so that gave Sakura plenty of time to get ready. After the whole elevator incident, Sakura had called Sasuke later in the day to actually specify what they were going to do since they never got around to it. As usual, Sasuke was vague and told her to just wear something casual. So she decided to wear some black pants, a beige full sleeves top and a matching jacket. October brought the cold weather down upon them without wasting any time.

She had just finished getting dressed when she heard the doorbell ring. Looking at herself in the mirror one more time, she got her purse and headed down stairs. She opened the door and found Sasuke standing there, looking more casual than she's ever seen him.

"Hi," she said gently as she closed the door.

"Hn," he replied as he began to walk towards his car. Sakura watched him as he walked away and rolled her eyes.

"Five seconds into this so called date and he already managed to make me want to strangle him. That's got to be a world record,"she thought as she sighed and followed him.

They got into his car and buckled up. Sasuke started the engine and began to drive into town. Sakura sat in the passenger's seat and looked around the car. It was completely black, leathery and corporate. The only indication of some kind of other life was the car seat in the back.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who was concentrating on the road. She had to admit that he looked nice wearing casual clothes. He looked more approachable.

"So," she breathed, breaking the silence "Where are we going?"

He looked at her from the side of his eyes for a second before looking back at the road.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah."

"We'll eat first. Anything you want in particular?" he asked. Sakura thought about it for a while. She really didn't have a preference and she hadn't had a lot of time to go exploring with the restaurants.

"Well how about the Hidden Leaf?" she asked remembering the outing with Ino and the kids. "It's pretty nice over there and I never really got a chance to see the Koi pond outside."

He nodded in agreement and made a turn into the shopping district. After about fifteen minutes, they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. They were met with a hostess upon entering.

"Welcome to the Hidden Leaf. How many seats would you need?"

"Two."

The hostess nodded and grabbed two menus from behind her and led them to their table. They walked to a different part of the restaurant then where they sat before. This one was a booth that was on the upper level of the restaurant and it was more secluded from the rest of the guests; perfect for some privacy with a great view of the Koi pond down below.

Sasuke and Sakura took their seats facing each other. The waitress asked if they wanted to start off with anything to drink.

"Just water for me," Sakura asked. Sasuke said the same.