I do not own any of the characters from Naruto.

He sat at the seat closest to the window with his head bent over his homework he was trying to finish. It was already way past when school ended but Sasuke decided to stay to finish his work. He would not admit it but this had become sort of his routine now, trying to take as much time as he could just so he did not have to go to an empty house. Itachi would be home late at night, as usual so it was mostly silent rooms and lonely dinners. No one would like that. But Sasuke never admitted that it bothered him, because he either failed to realize it or did not want to realize it. It being that how alone he was actually feeling in this world.

Packing his stuff in his bag, he finally decided to leave as the sun was slowly beginning to set. How long had he stayed at school today? 2 hours? He did not care. At least that was what he told himself.

"Hey, pass the ball here, you idiot!" Sasuke faintly heard someone yell as he walked towards the entrance of the school. Judging by the time and the owner of that voice, it was probably the soccer team that was still practicing in the field.

Reluctantly, he took a detour and headed towards field where he could see people from his school running and playing. He kept his distance but still stood in his spot to see what they were doing. He could not believe he was a part of this team once. The same team that was running across the field laughing and cursing with sweat drenching each and every one of them. How had he been able to do that so carefree back then.

As soon as he caught sight of a blonde head running in his direction, Sasuke decided to take his leave. He was still friends with the people on the team, but he was not in any mood to talk to them today, especially Naruto. He was Sasuke's best friend, although the jury was still out on that one, and he was one of the few who had forced Sasuke to stay in touch with him. He had also been there when he found out he could not play on the soccer team again. Even though Sasuke appreciated Naruto's efforts, sometimes he just needed some space and time to himself.

Right at that moment his phone began to vibrate. Seeing the caller ID to be Itachi, he answered with a sigh.

"Hello, Sasuke are you there?" Itachi asked when no one spoke on the other end.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered as he walked to his house.

"Are you at home?"

"…Yeah," Sasuke answered as he looked at the sky above him.

"Ok… I just called to tell you that I won't be able to come home until later so you can have dinner without me. Order takeout if you don't want to cook." Sasuke sighed thinking how predictable this had become now.

"Got it, anything else?"

"No...that was it," Itachi answered, "then I'll see you later."

"Hn," Sasuke ended the call without waiting to hear Itachi's response.

This was how things had been ever since their parents died and Itachi joined the company. It used to be better when Itachi was still in college but once he took over his father's position, he became busy to the point of being almost nonexistent in Sasuke's life. Sasuke knew it was not his brother's fault and that he was doing what was best for them, he had to be the one to take the position, but it did not make things any better.

There was a time when things were bearable, when the empty house, and Itachi's absence did not affect him as much, but now he did not have that either. Playing soccer was his solace from all the things he wanted to avoid. Now he had no choice but to face them, the empty house that was once not so empty.

...

"How are things going over there?" she asked the person on the other end of the call.

"We're managing it somehow." She could almost hear his smile through his voice, "We'll have this place in one piece when you come back, that much I can promise."

Hinata chuckled as she held her phone between her shoulder and her ear. She was unpacking her things from her bag as she spoke to Chouji. She wanted nothing more than to be anywhere but where she was now, and no place seemed better to her than her little bakery in Konoha. It was a small place that was barely crowded but it was hers. She had worked hard to start her own business and Chouji was someone she had hired to help her. Now she had to leave Konoha for a little while and the only person she could trust to take care of her shop was Chouji.

"Thank you, Chouji. I'll see you when Im done here." She said as she finally finished unpacking.

"Don't worry about anything and just focus on what you went for, okay. Take care," and with that Chouji ended the call.

Hinata laid back on the bed in her hotel room, sighing as she realized how tired she was after traveling for so long. She just wished she did not have to be here in the first place.

...

The next day Sasuke's hand kept shaking. He did not know why it did that but his body was going through a constant buzzing. It didn't help that the girls around school were hyperaware of him today. Valentine's day was always the worst day for him.

He hid in the boy's restroom trying to wait out the crowd before going to class. He waited until the bell rang hoping that everyone would be in their classes by now. It was like this every year and he was even sure that by now the teachers knew not to give him a tardy warning on Valentine's Day because he was always late that day.

Somehow, he had managed to survive the day unscathed, although he did have a heaping pile of chocolates and letters at the end of the day. It was a shame that all of it would have to go in the trash. He did not like sweets and neither did he have the time or patience to read through each letter. Why did people not get the hint already? He was not interested in any of this, and forcing it on him would not magically make him like them either.

Taking the same route as always, Sasuke walked out of his school to go home. It was such a nice weather and he would have enjoyed playing outside today if he could. Cursing out his frustration, he decided to take a different route, one that would take longer to get home.

As he walked through the new street, he passed by something that caught his attention.

"Help wanted," he read the sign on the glass window. It hung outside a small bakery on the street.

Staring at the sign Sasuke thought of something absurd. What if instead of wasting time here and there just so he does not have to go home, he worked-

"No," he answered his own question, but still kept staring at the sign.

People were walking in and out of the bakery while Sasuke just stood there contemplating. It did not seem like a bad idea.

Shrugging away his indecision, Sasuke walked into the shop and asked the girl at the counter for an application. After some ogling she finally brought it out for him.

He hated going back to an empty place so he had to find a way or an excuse to stay out so Itachi wouldn't get suspicious. On the plus side, he would also get to make some money if he got the job.

He dropped off his application and contact information in the application box, and hoped that he would hear from them soon. He was bad with patience and even though he hated sweets he just felt that this might be the perfect place to hide after school.

It didn't take long for Sasuke to hear back from the bakery either. The next day he had a response in his email asking him to come down for an interview, and after meeting with the assistant manager, Chouji, Sasuke was pretty confident that he got the job.

So now Sasuke was in the bakery working after school hours trying to use up hours in the day so he could spend less time at home.

...

"Sasuke, can you get that down for me?" asked his brunette coworker.

Tenten was the same age as him but went to a different school than his, which was why he had never seen her before. She seemed like a nice girl but she would always flirt with him whenever she got the chance. Even then, she still managed to get her work done properly so Sasuke was never annoyed by her too much which was nice. He would hate to work with people he could not stand.

"What's with all the decorations?" he asked as he brought down the box she had asked for.

"Oh, didn't you hear? The owner of the bakery is coming back. She was gone for the past two months because of some family emergency. So now the assistant manager wanted to hold a little surprise for her." Sasuke quirked an eyebrow in question. "I think he probably likes her." Tenten winked.

"Who is this owner anyway?" Sasuke asked curiously. He had never seen his boss so it was natural to ask about her especially if he wanted to make a decent first impression. He did not care for what people thought but so far he liked working here and he did not want to leave.

"You haven't met her?" Sasuke shook his head. "Oh, that's right! You started just a week ago. She's really sweet! She usually bakes all the desserts in the shop, but since she was gone Chouji had to cook the deserts as well, and I don't think he was doing a very good job." She whispered the last part. "It used to be pretty busy in here, but sales have gone down since she left. I hope it gets back up once she comes back. You get a lot more tips when there's more people coming in to eat," she sighed.

"Hn." Sasuke went to the register to continue working while Tenten went back to setting up the decorations. Honestly, he did not care much about any of it so he was unaffected.

The next day, Sasuke walked to his locker after school to drop off his books. Once he finished, he closed it and left school to head to his work, but not before a familiar face stopped him.

"Sasuke, how are you?" Sakura asked as she jogged a little to catch up to him.

"Fine," he replied curtly as he picked up some speed.

Sasuke had not seen much of the people he used to hangout with, which included Sakura, and he knew that just like Naruto, she would try to get him to go out with everyone. It was a kind effort but Sasuke was already sick and tired of both of them being so pushy. Could they not give him some space?

Sakura knew that he had been upset when he got injured and could not play anymore, but slowly as time went by, he was becoming a recluse. He was not always sociable but he was never one to be without company like Naruto or the crowd of his fan-girls. It hurt Sakura to see him constantly reject their offers to join them whenever they wanted to go out with friends.

"So there's this party-"

"I'm not going." Sasuke cut her off.

"But you didn't even let me finish."

"I'm busy Sakura. I can't go."

"You don't even know when it is." Sakura frowned.

"Fine," he sighed, "when is it?"

"This weekend."

"I can't come."

"What! Why?" She pouted.

"I have work." For the first time he had a legitimate excuse. He had taken up as many hours as they would allow at the bakery, even on the weekends because those were the worst. Staying at home alone all day while Itachi was holed up in his office always made Sasuke feel frustrated enough to do something stupid again.

"Oh…really? Where do you work?" Sakura asked with a smile. It was good to find out that Sasuke was doing something instead of just isolating himself in his home.

"I'm not telling you."

"Why not?" Her face fell from its cheerful expression at his words.

"Because if I tell you then the idiot finds out, and then everyone is going to show up to bother me at my work." Sasuke scowled.

"I promise I won't tell Naruto!" she pleaded.

"I don't care." Sasuke quickly turned down a different street leaving Sakura behind. Hopefully she would not think to follow him.

...

"This was very nice of you Chouji." Hinata smiled at the man as he welcomed her back to her bakery. She had been gone far longer than she had anticipated so it was nice to be back. She could see a few new faces among the familiar ones. Her assistant must have hired more people while she was gone.

Hinata got back to work as soon as she came back. Her love for baking and cooking was always overwhelming that sometimes she would stay in the kitchen nonstop for hours just to finish a project or an order.

As soon as everyone was done greeting Hinata, they all went back to work, while she stepped out to make a quick phone call.

Sasuke arrived to his work on time as usual even though he was stuck talking to Sakura for a few minutes after school. After placing his backpack in the employee's room, Sasuke clocked in and went to work the register.

Hinata walked back into the bakery and smiled at the young man who was working at the cash register. He was another new face that was probably hired after Hinata left. The boy looked at her impassively and Hinata frowned inwardly as he kept staring at her.

Sasuke looked at the woman who had just walked in and smiled at him. He assumed that she was a customer but she never came to the register. Instead, she went all the way to the side where there was an opening to walk behind the counter and into the kitchen.

Sasuke frowned as he realized where the woman was going. Only employees were allowed to go there so he walked up to her and blocked her entrance before she could go any further behind the counter.

"Where do you think you're going?" He glared at her. Since he was taller than her, he stood over her small frame, trying to intimidate her and it worked.

"E-excuse me?" She flushed at the way her employee spoke to her.

"You're not allowed here," he said impassively yet his expression did not change. "This area is only for employees." He eyed her suspiciously.

"I know that." She stood straighter in front him, remembering that she was his boss.

"Then get out." He raised an eyebrow as if to challenge her to disobey him.

"I own this place." Hinata frowned yet her cheeks were tinged red. She could see in his eyes when realization hit him as he remembered that his boss was supposed to be back today but his face remained straight as ever.

"Hn," he replied curtly and stepped aside.

Hinata all but ran into the kitchen as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. She was actually scared and for a minute she did not know what to do when he glared at her. He could be really intimidating.

Peeking a glance through the glass in the kitchen's door, Hinata saw the boy's back as he worked on the register. As if feeling her eyes on him, he turned to look back from the corner of his eyes. Hinata yelped and sped off without sparing him another glance for the rest of the day.

Thank you for reading my fic, and please don't forget to review!