A/N: I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with this, but I tried. I have to apologize because this fic will start out slow since Sakura is still wary. But don't worry. Sasuke is dogged when he wants something. ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, it would either be MUCH better... or a pile of word-vomit and the worst thing you have ever read.

000

Chapter 1: Distance

i never meant to wither

000

Haruno Sakura loved helping people. She did. It gave her a feeling of fulfillment, even if the only payment was a smile. But today was shaping out to be, for lack of a better word, a drag. A dull ache had long since wormed its way into her skull and her eyelids continued to droop with each sentence she read. Paperwork would soon become her arch nemesis at this rate. But Lady Tsunade needed the help; her resignation was right around the corner and she wanted to tie all loose ends concerning her term. And among those loose ends was every scrap of paper she had failed to stamp, sign or otherwise approve or organize.

And so Sakura sat, reading through each file and piling the papers she had stamped with Tsunade's seal, separating those from the ones that she found questionable or just had no freaking clue. But if she didn't do it, some other poor soul would be left to this hell.

Besides, Tsunade needed the help. For the past month, she'd been splitting hairs over a certain ex-nukenin and said ex-nukenin's punishment. Sakura knew that if it was up to Lady Tsunade alone, the process wouldn't be this complicated. But as it was, there was a newborn alliance to consider, to tiptoe around. Each Kage had an opinion on the matter (except for maybe the Kazekage) concerning the nukenin that had caused multiple problems for all of them. The only reason Tsunade had such an edge was because the Uchiha was also an ex-Leaf shinobi. But the fact still remained that Sasuke had not only betrayed the Leaf Village and sought its destruction, but was also an enemy to all villages as long as they got in the way of his goals.

Sakura wasn't sure how she felt about the decline of a trial. While she agreed; what's the point, all of them knew he was guilty, she also didn't like the way the Uchiha just went along with everything. It made her suspicious. Like he still had a trick up his sleeve, an ulterior motive. It made her uneasy.

The weak two-tapped knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts, her neck popping from the speed in which she lifted her head to look at it. Something wet slid down her chin and she quickly swiped it away, horrified at the thought that she may have been drooling on her shishou's paperwork. Had she really been falling asleep?

Shaking the fog from her mind, she ran a hand down her face once more before calling a terse 'come in'.

The door creaked open to reveal too dark hair and mismatching eyes that seemed to see into her very soul in once glance. For a moment, all she could see was flashing lights, blue crackling through the air, a burning in her chest that suddenly had an arm slicing through it. Despite knowing that ANBU agents were stationed in every corner of the Hokage Tower, that Sasuke had returned willingly to them, that he wasn't allowed to carry an weapons, that his chakra was sealed until the punishment was decided, she found herself stiffening and reaching for her kunai sheath. But she stopped herself when he took a step forward, face blank as he stared at the table in front of her and then slowly lifted his gaze to meet her's.

"Sasuke," she managed, taking a subtle deep breath to calm her nerves and slow her heart. His head tilted ever so slightly to the side a second before he nodded back in greeting. She swallowed the lump in her throat and straightened her shoulders, forcing a smile to her lips. "What are you doing here?"

He stayed silent for another moment and she once again found herself wondering what was going on inside that head of his.

"It's almost midnight."

Oh. Was it?

"Oh, sorry. I was just finishing up some of Lady Tsunade's..." She faltered before pursing her lips. "What are you doing here, though?"

His eyebrows twitched, but his face remained otherwise passive. Silence filled the room.

Just when she was beginning to think he'd never answer, he shrugged and took a few steps closer. "Did you need any help?"

If not for his noncommittal tone, she would have thought he was actually trying to be helpful, but before she could entertain that idea, she stood to her feet and grabbed her coat from the back of her chair. "Actually, I was just going to head home." Smooth, Sakura, she thought as she squirmed into her jacket.

"Right," his voiced floated to her, pausing her movements and making her jaw clench.

"Yeah," she managed, surprising herself at how much cheerfulness she exuded. Making sure her pace was calm and casual, she moved past him and out the door, making her way towards the exit. The silence behind her was almost deafening, but she knew he was following her.

As she reached for the front door's handle, he was suddenly there, beating her to the punch and pulling the door wide open. He moved with it, standing to the side. A sick feeling settled in her stomach, but she forced herself through the opening anyway and turned to watch him close it after himself.

"Are you even aloud to be out this late?" she asked warily, trying to keep her tone exclusively curious.

He shrugged once again. "They don't seem to mind. They just monitor my activity," he stated simply, falling in stride next to her.

The late-night crowds were just starting to gather, pleasant sounds of conversation drifting from the various restaurants and bars that they passed, filling her with warmth and easing her muscles out of their intensity that she hadn't even noticed was there. Out of the corner of her eye, Sasuke watched each civilian and shinobi as they weaved through the street with a surprising amount of focus. She wondered what he was seeing when he looked at them. Mindless cattle? Potential corpses? Useless tools?

"Did you have any dinner?"

She blinked, startled, waiting for his words to register in her mind. Well, maybe she forgot it. There was just so much paperwork. It must have slipped her mind.

"I may or may not have forgotten," she bit out nervously, keeping her voice lighthearted. She wasn't actually that hungry.

Something cold suddenly wrapped around her left bicep, soft and callous at the same time, spiking adrenaline through her system. Her body twisted around, right hand coming around to wrench the offending grasp off. Just as her fingers brushed it, it retreated, the grip disappearing but leaving a chill in its wake. A shiver raced down her spine as she locked gazes with her opponent, eyes narrowed and body coiled like a spring. She flinched when soft jade met pitch and pale lavender.

Her thoughts tripped over themselves and heat rushed to her cheeks.

"What the hell, Sasuke?"

Wait. No. She hadn't meant to say that. She meant to say 'What the hell is wrong with me why am I freaking out over nothing?' But that was definitely not what came out over mouth.

Sasuke just stared, face blank and eyes dead. The urge to pound his face in until it showed something made her hands clench into fists. Okay, so maybe she didn't regret what she had said.

"Did you want something to eat, Sakura?"

She took a step back, brain sputtering. So that's it? No apology for giving her a heart attack and making her jump out of her skin? All he had to say was-wait. Did Uchiha Sasuke just ask her if she wanted something to eat?

"Um," she started, body struggling to catch up with her brain. "Sure."

WHAT!? inner Sakura shrieked. You're just gonna let him off that easy!?

No, I just do want something to eat, she bit back. Oh great. Now she was talking to the voice in her head.

000

The restaurant was small, quaint, and on the outskirts of down. The building looked worn, despite being built not that long ago (due to reconstruction after Pein's attack). The walls were bare aside from a few paintings and the crowd was small and rough around the edges. She couldn't help but notice how tight the kitchen looked, even from the brief glance she got of it. Sasuke ushered her through the mingling (and mildly intoxicated) pool of people to a booth in the corner. She made a mental note of the way he relaxed, his shoulders loosening a fraction once they got to the quieter side of the building.

An older lady with civilian garb asked for their orders; Sakura a small bowl of some sort of broth and Sasuke a glass of water. At the Uchiha's order, the woman narrowed her eyes but scribbled on her notebook anyway and stalked back towards the kitchen.

"Charming," she said after a while, not able to stand the silence between them.

"Donguri-san owns one of the few restaurants that allow me inside," he said, gaze scanning the other tables and their occupants. Sakura raised her eyebrows, shocked but at the same time not really surprised. Sasuke had a long ways to go before the people of Konoha trusted him again.

"She seems... disgruntled," Sakura said carefully. A small snort hopped off her tongue; her wording could have been a little more polite.

The corner of Sasuke's mouth twitched. "Yes. I would be too if I had this crowd every day."

Sakura angled herself to get a quick look at what he was talking about and couldn't stop her grimace. There didn't seem to be a single customer that wasn't wobbling around, drunk, or at the very least filthy as hell. Probably a lot of laborers helping rebuild, so she couldn't be too repulsed, but all of them did look to be overdoing it on the drink.

She huffed a dry laugh. "Is that you on Saturday nights?" she quipped, right before clamping her mouth shut. Why did she say that? Speaking to Sasuke no less? She wanted to be completely civil, give him some slack, but she also couldn't regret the edge of bitterness in her tone.

"Hn," he grunted (wow, Sakura didn't see that coming) and fingered the hem of his black longsleeve. "Not exactly."

She squirmed, not quite sure what that was supposed to mean. There was a hint of bitterness on his words, a change from his constant monotone but not entirely the same bitterness as Sakura's.

Before she could say anything, the woman-Donguri?-returned with a steaming bowl and a glass of water.

"Enjoy," she said, a well-practiced smile wrinkling her already pruney face as she turned and walked away.

The soup was actually pretty good, but the stifled silence that came with it left a bad taste in her mouth. They both finished up quickly and Sasuke herded her around the rowdy crowd once again and back out into the night.

"Thank you," she forced herself to say, still wary as to why they even did that. Sasuke only nodded. She pursed her lips and shifted in place, eying the end of the street in the direction of her house. "Well, goodni-"

"I'll walk you home."

She blinked. "Oh. Uh. Okay."

He hovered uncomfortably close to her as they zigzagged through the streets towards the largest residential area of town, gaze sweeping past every passerby as if searching for something. By the time they made it to her house, her nerves were buzzing with nervous energy and her ears were nearly ringing from the silence.

She fished her keys out of her coat pocket and unlocked her door, stopping to lean on the frame and scrutinize him.

After a beat of silence, she spoke up, eyes narrowed. "What are you doing, Sasuke?"

He flinched, a minuscule movement, but she caught it. His features smoothed back to blank and for once, she could tell that he was actually thinking of a response.

"You said you didn't have dinner. So I bought you dinner."

Oh. Yeah. She'd been so distracted by her own thoughts she hadn't even noticed he had paid for her food.

"Yeah, but..." Her sentence drifted off as she struggled to find a reason for her suspicion. By normal standards, Sasuke hadn't done anything wrong, per se, but... It just wasn't something Sasuke did. Sasuke didn't go out of his way to buy her dinner. She'd be lucky if she caught him alone in a public restaurant (aside from Ichiraku's, but Naruto somehow always got them both to eat there). Something was definitely off.

But none of this could she bring herself to say aloud, so instead, she gave a stiff nod and fingered her doorknob. "Goodnight, Sasuke."

He paused, but then bowed low at the waist, face still unreadable. "Goodnight, Sakura."

With that, he turned his back to her and padded off into the night.

She watched him go until she could no longer see him. With a sigh, she closed her door and locked it, kicking off her shoes and shrugging off her coat. She didn't even bother changing her clothes before she dropped onto her bed, stuffing her face into her pillow. She was too tired to think about Sasuke.

000

A/N: So, constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome. I haven't written in forever, so grammar, flow and characterization critiques are appreciated! Share your thoughts.