Arrangements
Sakura's apartment is small but tidy, and Sasuke gets the feeling that it is little lived in. Perhaps because the twelve-year-old girl he once knew was nothing if not sentimental, he had expected her flat to have a more personal touch. Then again, he supposes that between missions and hospital shifts she has precious few hours to spend at home.
"I'll take the couch," Sakura says. "You can have the bed."
Sasuke sets his pack on the floor beside the doorway. "I'm not kicking you out of your own room."
Sakura sighs, runs a hand through her short hair, and says,"You're not kicking me out. I'm offering it to you because you're a guest."
He glares at her. "Don't be stubborn."
She glares right back. "Don't be an ass."
Then Sakura smiles at him, walks into her little kitchen, and asks, voice cheerful, "Do you want anything to drink?"
Her moods are mercurial, Sasuke knows that, but sometimes her quick shifts in temperament throw him. "I'm not thirsty," he says, "but I would like a shower."
"Okay. Just go down the hall, and the bathroom will be on your left."
Sasuke runs the water as hot as it will go, steps into the shower, and just stands under the scalding spray for a full five minutes. He reaches for Sakura's shampoo (vanilla-something scented) and washes his hair. A thing that was much easier with two hands, but after three years, he has mastered all the simple, everyday tasks like this.
When he steps out of the shower, he finds clean clothes sitting on the counter. For a moment Sasuke is simply thankful for Sakura's thoughtfulness, because his travel clothes are worn, torn, and filthy. But then he picks up the plain, black T-shirt and it hits him that she must have just had these laying around. A man's clothes, in her apartment. He doesn't dress, just wraps a towel around his waist, and goes to the living room, where she's sitting, curled up in an armchair, reading a tome too thick for Sasuke to ever consider picking up.
She looks at him and flushes a pink that could rival her hair.
"Where did you get this?" he asks, holding out the shirt.
Sakura frowns, closes her book. "Shikamaru was between places for a week or so, and I let him stay with me. He left some of his clothes here, and I never remembered to give them back."
He wants to believe her, but Sasuke is mistrustful by nature, and three years is a long time to wait for someone.
She rolls her eyes. "Do you really think that if I was screwing somebody and trying to hide it that I'd be stupid enough to give you his clothes?"
"Of course not," he says.
Sakura stands, walks over to him, and reaches up to cradle his face. Sasuke feels suddenly mindful of his near-nakedness, but it's an anticipatory sort of awareness. Like he's waiting for something significant to happen. And Sakura isn't unaffected, if her blush is anything to go by.
"I love you," she says, and there's such a softness to her smile that she almost looks sad. "Only you, Sasuke. Nobody else."
Her hands drop to his shoulders, and her gaze lowers to his bare chest. Then she takes a breath, steps back, away from him.
After he dresses, Sasuke goes back to the living room, only to find Sakura in pajamas, stretched out on the couch with a blanket.
"I know you're not planning to stay there."
"I am actually," she says, in the same lofty tone she used to employ when speaking down to Naruto.
"You're not sleeping on the couch," Sasuke says.
She shrugs and asks, "What are you gonna do about it?"
Sakura looks at him, all smug defiance, confident in her victory.
"Sometimes you really are annoying."
If he had two arms, he would scoop her up bridal-style and carry her to the bedroom. But he doesn't, so there's no use considering it.
Later, he lies awake in Sakura's bed, unable to sleep because the pillow smells like her hair, and he can't stop thinking about how good it felt to have her hands on his body. To hear her say she loves him.
Author's Notes: SS living together is the stuff my dreams are made of, in case you couldn't tell. ;) Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, favoriting, and following. I really appreciate it. I also appreciate my beta, uchihsass, who looked over this and helped me straighten out my title for this part.