A/N: hi there! i've loved sasusaku ever since i was a kid, but this is surprisingly my first fanfic for my otp. i wanted to participate in ssm20 somehow and this little drabble popped into my head. enjoy! :)

cross posting from ao3

"How did you get this?" Sasuke asked her, voice calm and quiet like the nighttime breeze. Tender eyes peeked through hooded lids, enamored and devout. Their legs tangled together beneath the bunched sheets.

They were lucky to spend a few nights, for once, at a roadside inn. The nearby village was in need of medical aid and, truthfully, Sakura had begun to miss the small comforts.

Sasuke slowly circled his thumb around the scar on her stomach, his touch always so gentle with her. No matter how many days that passed in their newly formed marriage, she still felt like that giddy school girl whenever he set his attention towards her. She wished for that feeling to never change.

This intimacy was still new to them, a sweet and tentative thing. She would worry, at times, that she pushed things too far, or wanted too much. But her husband always had a habit of surprising her. Sakura welcomed every second of every moment, craving this newfound connection to him even more than she craved his flesh. She would always yearn to know more about her Sasuke-kun.

Sakura shifted closer to him, shivering at the fading heat. "That was when I fought the akatsuki," she answered him. "When I fought Sasori. You know this." She traced her hand up his arm, stopping at the faint pink line beneath his shoulder. "But I don't know about this, Sasuke-kun," she said, smiling. "Where was this from?"

Sasuke hummed, his thumb moving round and round. "Akatsuki," he said simply. "Deidara." His hand drifted upward to rest upon her bare hip, repeating that same caress. "What about this?" he asked of the scar there.

"A kunai during training." She giggled then, warm and bright. "Are you going to ask me about every scar I have, then, anata?"

He stopped the movement, his lazy gaze turned sharper. Sakura grinned at his scrunched nose, toes curling at his frown, waiting for those two little words and the reluctant perk of his lips.

It used to hurt - deeply - when he called her annoying. It hurt her to think that her love for him could be a nuisance, a watery tide that he would push and pull. But she knew better now. She knew him better now. She knew the ways of his heart and the intention behind the words said and left unsaid. His heart had always been guarded, but never fully closed. Never to her. She knew.

Sakura yelped suddenly at the sharp pinch to her hip. She swatted at his chest. "Sasuke-kun!"

He huffed, a precious little laugh that she always wished to hear. Sasuke smiled at her in that beautiful way that would always be meant for her. "Annoying," he murmured, before pressing his lips to the seal on her forehead. He tucked her in close, fitting her body perfectly against his. His eyes shut and he inhaled deeply.

She smiled.