The sudden scream of fright startled the hidden stranger, they even started to panic themselves! They looked around to find the source of her fright, not realizing that it was them that had scared her. Sasuke tensed up before an agitated look crossed his face, finally realizing who was just standing so casually by his house.

"Kakashi."

Eve, who had hidden her face in Sasuke's arm, peaked out shakily.

Had it really just been his teacher?

A tiny, embarrassed laugh had cut through the air as the figure walked out of the shadows the large home had provided. There stood a tall silver-haired masked man, an embarrassed smile on his face that was hidden by his mask.

"Sorry for the intrusion, Sasuke. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The adult male came closer, his face back to normal as he placed his hands in his pockets. If Eve remembered correctly, he more often than not had his porn book out, reading the world away.

Had he put it in his pouch?

Regardless, Eve refused to trust him. For all she knew, this could be someone posing as Kakashi and Sasuke just didn't know it!

"What are you doing here?"

"Now that's just mean... Is that any way to greet your teacher?"

"Don't avoid the question."

Kakashi laughed again, turning his attention to the girl behind his student. He blinked in surpised before smiling.

"Ah yes, you must be the one who screamed. My name is Kakashi Hatake, and what's you're name?"

Eve peaked out just a little, but refused to come out completely.

"Eve… My name is Eve."

It felt awkward for her to be introducing herself to Kakashi. He was Sasuke's teacher, or to be precise, his old teacher. If he didn't like her, would that mean that nobody else would?

"It's nice to meet you Eve! I was told you were his wife, please take good care of him. He used to be my student, after all."

The silver-haired ninja offered her a smile, ignoring the scawl that took hold of Sasuke's features. The tension was so thick that Eve wasn't sure that even Sasuke's sword could cut through it. It made stomach churn; it felt as if a category five hurricane was just making its way downtown within her abdomen.

"Would you like to come inside...?"

Eve wasn't sure how this whole thing was supposed to go, so she did what she would do in her own house. If she were lucky, good ole southern hospitality would make some of the tension go away. Kakashi shook his head, that same cheery smile never leaving.

"No thank you, I just thought I'd pay him a little visit. He's been on vacation for a while."

"Don't you have a report to file?"

"Oh, you're right! Thanks for reminding me."

For such a respectable ninja, Kakashi sure was funny. Eve couldn't help herself and ended up laughing a bit. Eyes had landed on her and once more Eve felt small.

"I'm glad that you find me funny."

He once more offered her a cheerful smile before turning back to the male next to her. One eye met two for a moment before the older male turned away.

"See you. I need to go report in before Lady Tsunade gets angry."

Where the man had stood before was now empty as he left. It seemed that just as soon as he had come, he had gone. Sasuke looked up, watching the older male leave.

"...Sasuke?"

Eve couldn't see any emotion on his face, but something felt troubled and upset. He looked at her with the same look, she had never seen eyes so cold before. It made her feel like she had been thrown into the waters of Alaska during a bitter winter.

He wasn't going to hurt her, was he?

"Wh..why are you looking at me like that?"

He said nothing.

"I know I said you could be a butt once we got home but please stop looking at me like that..."

The pain in her gut was getting worse with every second he looked at her with those bitter eyes. He hadn't the chance to say anything, not that she was sure he would have said anything at all, before her stomach could no longer take it.

Moments before it happened, all she could think was that she was so relieved that it had just been the two of them...

She took a few steps back from him, moving quickly before her body forced her to bend over. With little warning, she hurled up all that had been left in her stomach.

Not that there had been much...

The last thing she had eaten she had hurled up while she was with Shizune and Tsunade. He went wide-eyed in surprise at her sudden action, moving quickly to get out of the way. His eyes, though no longer bitter, held a look of exhaustion. Sighing as she heaved heavily, he walked over her mess and over to her. She tried to back away from him, but he didn't allow for it.

"Let's go."

Shifting what was in his hands he lifted her in one of his arms and walked towards the house.

"I can walk!"

Eve protested weakly, hands gripping tightly to him to keep her balance. It wasn't that she hadn't minded being carried, it was just that she was scared she would puke on him.

There wasn't anything left in her stomach, but she wasn't willing to risk it.

Sasuke ignored her weak pleas of wanting to walk on her own, only putting her down when they had gotten into her bedroom. Laying her on the bed he uttered not a word before he left the room for just a moment before returning with a trash bin for her to throw up in.

"Thank you..."

"Hn."

Leaving once again he walked into the kitchen where he had left all the food, he began moving around quickly. She could hear the sounds of boiling water and clinking tableware. The strong smell of tea drifted through the room, but she couldn't tell what kind of tea it was.

In all honesty, she felt dizzy and like a migraine was soon to be headed her way.

While she wondered what he was doing, and why he was taking so long, Eve was much too drained to do anything about it. Standing up would only result in a trip to the trash bin. She laid down, not bothering to undress to put on her night-clothes. Right as Eve closed her eyes she smelt something spicy and earthy enter the room, it smelt like...ginger?

"Get up."

She cracked open her eyes to find that Sasuke was standing over her with two cups in his hands. Placing one of the cups on the table he helped her sit up, a look of annoyance clear on his face.

"You're such a handful."

She shot him a weak glare, but still attempted to thanked him for the tea that she had been handed.

"Just shut up."

She frowned as she drunk some of the tea, upset that this had happened. She had taken the medicine before she had gotten dressed, but the stress had been a little too much for her. Eve was glad that it kind of worked, it held her off a lot longer than she would have thought it could have.

"I have a weak stomach, I'm not a big fan of attention so when everyone at the festival got too close for comfort my stomach got upset... When you looked at me like that, I couldn't help but feel stress AND fear... I just don't like attention, good or bad..."

"Then you're going to skip the lunch?"

"The lunch?"

How could she have completely forgotten about the lunch?!

How was she going to be able to handle that? She was the new bride of the notorious Sasuke Uchiha, she would be more of the center of attention that Sasuke would be!

"Oh..."

She bit her lip nervously and felt her stomach begin to swirl again. The room was starting to spin a bit, and Eve held the cup of tea in her hand tightly to try and ground herself.

How would she be able handle his friends?

Did he even really consider them friends?

They were lively, they were loud, and they were nosy. Just the thought of being around them was stressful, but that didn't mean that skipping the lunch would be enough for her to avoid them all together.

Avoiding them would raise suspicion and problems. Being around them gave way to the potential for her to screw up and be revealed.

The way Eve saw it, the whole thing was a lose-lose situation.

Though she hadn't thought about it earlier, Eve felt relieved that Tsunade had assigned her to Sasuke instead of any of them.

They both knew the situation well enough to keep things simple.

There was no fronting between the two of them, they both knew that it was pretend, they could be rude and bicker all they wanted. She just wasn't fond of the others.

Eve, however, was willing to give credit when credit was due. They were the people who have been in his life longest. If he didn't know what to do, no one did.

"We both know the dangers of what could happen if I avoid them, even more so if I'm around them. What do you think I should do? "

Sasuke rose a brow at her statement; She was asking him? How was he suppose to know? He himself could barely handle his friends, as they called themselves. It wasn't that he disliked them, but he didn't care for them either.

They were the ones forcing themselves into his life, not him.

He didn't get how him being forced to come back was good enough grounds for things would go back to their version of normal.

How things use to be.

He hated himself back then, just how weak he was. He hated the village that had taken everything around him, and he hated that none of the people who claimed to be his friend was willing to look at things from his point of view.

"Just sleep on it. It's at two-thirty tomorrow."

He had things he needed to think about himself. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go, or would go simply because of obligation. Naruto would drag him there, Sasuke was sure of it.

"If you choose not to go, don't worry about it. Chances are I'm not going either."

He stood, looking over the woman that he was being forced to call his wife before turning to leave.

"Sasuke."

Her voice stopped him, he turned to her with a face as blank as normal. He didn't turn completely to her, but she most certainly did have his attention. Taking the hint, Eve finally spoke.

"I know that the place they're probably going to go is Ichiraku's-"

She took a sip of the tea once more, trying to calm her nerves. Eve wasn't use to having all the attention on her, even from just one person.

"-I don't want to go to that lunch. I want us to go somewhere."

He rose a brow and turned to her this time, arms crossed.

"And by that you mean..?"

"Take me to a place you like. We don't know each other very well, and I'd rather not be surrounded by any of them."

Eve wanted to get to know people, but the loudness and the risk of it all just wasn't to her fancy. She was going to be living with him, so wasn't it a better alternative for her to get to know Sasuke instead? She didn't find him romantically attractive, but maybe she could at least befriend him. It would make everything easier on her, and she was sure it would do the same for him too.

"I'll think about it. Just go to sleep already."

Sasuke rolled his eyes before turning once again and walked out the door, closing it so that nothing more could be said.

"Night..."

Eve sighed as she muttered the last part. Just wanting to relax, she turned her focus back to the tea that he had made her. It was better than she thought it would be.

As he walked he could just feel her room getting farther and farther away from was she trying to become so buddy buddy with him? Did she think he was going to give her something?

It made his blood boil.

Sasuke was flabbergasted at just how many people thought that they could just worm their way into his heart or life.

Just who did she think that she was?

After all that he had been through, Sasuke had become well aware that he now had trust and abandonment issues.

How could he not have?

After Itachi had done such a thing to him only to find out that it was Konohagakure that had ordered him to do so? That Itachi only did so so that Sasuke could stay alive? The village hadn't even helped him when it happened either!

He gritted his teeth and decided to take a shower. Maybe that could be enough to sooth his anger.

With the water running down his pale skin, it clung to his hair as he watched the white walls of his shower.

How was he supposed to feel about all of this?

It was easier for him to push the others aside, keep them at arm's length, because they didn't live with them.

How was he going to do that with Eve?

It wasn't any help that Tsunade was involved. He snarled as he glared at nothing.

He wanted to lash out, he wanted to throw a fit. Didn't he deserve just that? To be able to express himself after all this time of being forced to keep a cold façade?

"She won't be here for long. I'll just have to deal with it until then."

Running a hand through his hair he let the steam of the hot water fog up his senses. He stayed in there until it became hard to breath, but even in bed he repeated the same thing to himself.

"She won't be here long."

"I only have to deal with it until she leaves."

Sasuke watched the ceiling, forcing the thought to keep running through his head. Sleep had taken a while to get to him, but the last Uchiha had been glad when it had.