Chapter 3: Vexation

The next morning Sakura woke up with bags under her eyes, and for a second she forgot where she was. One quick glance around her at the dreary décor of her surroundings was all it took for her to recall the events of the past few days. She was currently sitting on the edge of a bed in the guest room of an Uchiha household.

So it wasn't just a bad dream after all, she sighed inwardly to herself, what a job I have ahead of myself.

She stood up in her pink nightgown and walked over to the double glass doors at the back of the room. She then pulled open the thick black curtains that had kept the room perfectly dark throughout the night. She slid open the door, and stepped onto the cool grey stone that made up the balcony that overlooked the vast garden which must have been at one time the most marvellous feature of the property. Now, however, the garden was fairly overgrown to the point where it had become almost impossible to judge where the property ended and the lush trees of a forest began.

As fresh air filled her lungs, her thoughts wandered back to the hell of a day that was yesterday. After the picture fiasco, both she and Sasuke had missed more than half of their training session. For that, their punishment was double the hours of strenuous work as Kakashi-sensei treated Naruto to ramen. Not only had she forgotten to eat what with all the commotion, but the stress of the recent predicament along with the rainy weather had made training an exceptional nightmare.

Once they were finally allowed to turn in for the day, she had followed Sasuke back to his home. As if that action alone wasn't awkward enough, as soon as they had crossed the threshold of the front door, Sasuke had rushed to his room, locking his door behind him. She hadn't seen him again that evening, not even when the time for dinner had come and passed.

Not that she was any better though. As dead tired as she was, she took it upon herself to collapse into bed as well. Still, she had attempted at least some communication and all she got out of it was the door to his bedroom slamming in her face. Had she any sort of energy left at that point in the day, she might have found it incredibly rude of him and done something about it.

Considering Uchiha Sasuke now though, certainly did remind her how much of a jerk he had been to her yesterday. During training, he would deliberately be unhelpful, act as though she didn't exist, and often made her look or feel like an idiot. She was beginning to think that it was impossible for him to care about anyone but himself, or to act like he cared at all. Every minute she spent with him in their new situation, was another minute put towards her new discovery that she was beginning to despise him. Her outlook on the entire job the Hokage had delegated to her was becoming more and more negative with every distasteful action of the Uchiha.

I don't really want to be here…She thought to herself, especially not with an anti-social jerk living across the hall from me. Still, when life gives you lemons…

Sighing once more, Sakura retreated to the gloomy confines of the guest room-rather, her room now. She walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pink t-shirt and baggy white cargo pants. Her usual outfit which was soaked in rain water, sweat, and mud, was tossed carelessly into the laundry basket in the bathroom down the hall. Gathering the rest of her toiletries, she stepped lightly down the hall towards the bathroom to take a shower. Shortly after, she was once again fully dressed in her bright clothing, staring at the mirror in her bedroom. It was slightly depressing how much she stood out from the dull background. Turning away from the sight, she wondered suddenly what to do next.

It was obvious she would have to cook a large breakfast in order to satisfy her hunger, but it was what she would do afterwards that had her bothered. Kakashi-sensei had told the team to take a few days off from training which, although not unusual, gave Sakura the funny feeling that it had something to do with her new assignment. She hadn't really thought as far as to what exactly she would be doing with Sasuke, let alone how she would convince him to do something with her. He hadn't even emerged from his room yet as far as she knew, and who knew if he would come out to share a breakfast with her.

Now that she thought of it, she hadn't really seen Sasuke eating with anyone else before. Even during their early training days when they would be out in the forest and have mini-picnics, he would always find a secluded area to eat by himself. A sudden grumbling noise came from her stomach and she was snapped out of her deliberations.

Right! Food first, and then I can worry about how to get this assignment kick-started, she decided.

As she left her room, she noticed Sasuke's door was still as locked up tight as it had been all night. For a fraction of a second, she considered knocking to wake him but thought it might be best not to.

He might actually be awake and just doesn't want to be bothered…she reasoned.

Sighing again (it was becoming a habit in her sad environment), she went downstairs and entered the kitchen.

Although she had glanced at this room in passing during her brief tour of yesterday, upon further inspection she found the counter tops we completely empty. Not a single appliance, save for the oven itself, could be found. A slight hint of worry began to sprout, then grew enormously as she discovered every single one of the cupboards were barren. Turning to the fridge (her last resort), she sucked in a deep breath and crossed her fingers before opening it. Yet again, disappointment flooded over her as it too was devoid of any object whatsoever.

Empty. Completely empty.

And then, with another grumble from her stomach, Sakura almost cried out loud in complaint.

"There must be something…" she mumbled to herself as she double-checked the cupboards. "Nothing! Not even a plate…What kind of…How on earth…How does he-!"

Sakura halted her mini-rampage as she distinctly felt a gloomy presence enter the room.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke's stoic voice almost startled her. He was dressed in a dark blue turtleneck and baggy black pants. He had once again left his eyes un-obscured (most likely out of habit) and their misty depths were staring almost exactly at the spot where she stood. It was slightly unnerving. The scent of cherry blossoms that enveloped the entire room was stronger this morning than usual, and he could pinpoint the exact location of its source.

"I was hungry and wanted to cook some breakfast for us but-" She started.

"But what?" He interrupted rudely, hints of a smirk appearing on his flawless face.

"But you have no food in your kitchen!" She finished, clear disbelief in her voice.

"No shit." He commented ignorantly.

Was he always like this?! Sakura wondered exasperatedly to herself. She had known he'd always been reserved and rather cold, even in the days when she would call him Sasuke-kun and follow him around like a weakling. But times had changed and it turned out that no matter how far he'd try to push their entire team away from him, he would need her assistance now whether he liked it or not.

"Well, what are we going to eat?" She asked while trying to keep calm despite Sasuke's evident egotism.

"Don't know, don't really care." He replied, arrogance practically washing off him in waves.

"Alright, what do you eat normally then?" Sakura demanded, ignoring him this time. It was no sense getting angry, nor was it really her place to do so after her intrusions of yesterday. Besides, arguing wasn't why she was there.

"Let me put it to you this way, since you obviously don't understand. When I'm hungry, I go get food. When I'm not, I don't eat. And right now, I'm not hungry." He responded callously, before turning on his heel and retreating to his room once again. And once again, she could hear his bedroom door slam from upstairs.

Nearly following after him, bashing down the door, and strangling him for his blatant audacity, she again reminded herself to be the bigger person. It would, however, become bothersome if all he did for the entire time she was staying there was shut himself up in his room. She had to take charge if she expected her assignment to go anywhere.

He's so damn rude and I'm here trying to save his butt! Sakura thought to herself incredulously.

"Listen up!" She yelled up the stairs to him, "I know you're not used to me being here, or anyone staying for a while, but I'm going to go shopping so this house will have some decent food for once!"

With that she turned and left, grabbing a spring jacket on her way out.

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Sasuke listened to her shutting the front door and knew she had left.

How irritating. He mused. The younger, obsessed Sakura he once knew was no more. Instead, there was a headstrong and reckless older version that was no less annoying; which was part of the reason for why he treated her the way he did. For the most part, he believed as long as he kept treating her terribly she'd eventually give up and leave him alone for good. After yesterday's encounter with Tsunade, who had fed him a pack of lies that Sakura was just another tutor here to help him further develop chakra control (which he'd had no trouble perfecting on his own) and perhaps help him pick up a few more advanced skills in first-aid. But the Uchiha was far from being an idiot.

It was obvious, judging by the way the village had been regarding him lately, that somehow Sakura was there to change him. Whether she was supposed to try and convince him to stop being a ninja, or to try and get him to be more liked by everyone, neither were going to work.

She could go to hell for all he cared. He was only letting her stay here because it was the Hokage's orders.

The whole thing is so damn intrusive…Send an aggravating team-mate to meddle in my life…Yeah, that'll help. He thought sarcastically.

It definitely doesn't take an intelligent being to realize it's hard to change a person.

Especially when they don't want to be changed.

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After grabbing a very quick and light bite to eat at her favourite little café, Sakura proceeded to do some pretty heavy grocery shopping. As she walked through the streets of Konoha on her way back to the Uchiha's home with multiple shopping bags full of food weighing her down, she ran into Naruto.

"Hey Sakura-chaannnn!" He yelled from two feet away from her, making the others on the street look in their direction before continuing on with their business.

I wonder when he'll finally drop that honorific…She sighed inwardly at his tumultuousness, which he'd also never grown out of.

"Oh, hey Naruto." She responded. Their encounter wasn't exactly what she'd been hoping for just at that moment. She began to feel the weight of the groceries get the best of her and was pleased when Naruto subconsciously reached over to relieve her of a few.

"So how's the living block of ice doing? Any improvement?" Naruto asked as they continued walking. He'd learned about Sakura's latest assignment from Kakashi-sensei and had seen the way Sasuke had been treating her during their punishment.

Sakura couldn't suppress a laugh. Maybe running into Naruto wasn't the worst thing in the world. He did know how to cheer her up after all, whether he was trying to or not.

"Other than the fact that he's still being a big pigheaded, ignorant jerk, and I don't think I'll have any luck at all with this assignment-I think it's going rather swell." She giggled a little at her deliberate sarcasm.

"Eh! Is that teme really giving you such a hard time?" Naruto still hadn't grown out of his dislike for when Sasuke treated Sakura badly. His innate over protectiveness might've been seen as his one redeeming quality.

"Hard time doesn't even cut it. It feels like I'm living with the Grim Reaper himself." She muttered.

"Don't worry, I'll give him a piece of my mind!" Naruto declared as they arrived in front of Sasuke's house.

"That's really not necessary Naruto, but thanks for the offer." She smiled at him as they entered the house and brought the groceries to the empty kitchen.

Upon hearing quite a racket from downstairs, Sasuke left his room. He had heard two voices talking to each other and wanted to investigate. This was still, after all, his abode. The faint scent of packaged ramen noodles wafted up to him from the staircase.

"What the hell is that dobe here for?" he asked with hands stuffed in his pockets as he entered the kitchen. The thought of Naruto existing in his place of residence was definitely the last thing Sasuke ever thought might happen.

"He's helping me with the groceries." Sakura snapped at him before Naruto could start an argument.

"Hey Sakura-chan, where do you want these?" Naruto was holding various boxes and cans. Sakura quickly demonstrated to him where most of the items should go and in a matter of minutes everything had found its place.

"So um, I'm going now." Naruto said as Sakura finished putting away the plastic bags.

"Finally." Sasuke said at the same time as Sakura said "No!"

"What?" Sasuke asked and directed his gaze to where he knew by her faint pink aura Sakura was standing.

"Naruto should stay for breakfast." Sakura offered. It seemed like a good idea to have them all enjoy a meal together for once and let Sasuke experience what it was like to hang out properly. Besides, she wasn't exactly looking forward to spending her time there alone with Sasuke.

However, nothing ever goes as planned…

Before she knew it, Naruto was slowly approaching Sasuke with an awestruck expression on his face.

"Hey teme! You forgot your shades. Your eyes are kinda freakish in a cool way." He said excitedly.

Sakura groaned instantly, knowing he had just blown away any plans for any friendly meal they might have shared.

Instinctively, Sasuke clenched his eyes shut. He turned around and headed to the stairs. In his sudden anger, he lost focus and tripped over the first step. He felt Sakura come to his aid and try to help him stand but he hit her hands away.

"Don't touch me." He growled threateningly as he continued on; struggling very hard to pay attention to where he was going. He made his way up the stairs to his room, and again, slammed the door shut. (AN: That door is going to suffer so much abuse -_-") Once there, he resisted the urge to slam his fist into the wall. The term 'freak' had awakened something in him that he was trying hard to suppress. He didn't need to cause anymore damage to his surroundings or to others. What he hated more than Naruto's blatant disregard for manners, was the fact that he'd reacted in such an immature, weak, and pathetic way.

"Uchiha come back here! You have to eat!" He heard Sakura yell from the bottom of the staircase.

He didn't answer.

"Oops?" Naruto looked stunned at Sasuke's reaction. Sakura just glared at him.

"Let's eat. No point in letting this food go to waste..." Sakura said dully. Her first attempt at socializing with the cold-hearted Uchiha had been a complete disaster.

Ugh, I should be getting paid for this job…She groaned, as she began to prepare the meal.

A little while later, as they sat at the kitchen table eating their breakfast, Sakura came up with an idea that was almost perfect in helping her with her seemingly impossible assignment.

"Hey, Naruto?" She asked.

"What's up Sakura-chan?" he replied happily digging into his egg omlette.

"I think I've got a great idea for how I can get through to Sasuke!" she started, excitement growing in her voice. "And you're going to help me." She smiled. She would need all the help she could get.

It was obvious she would have to be friendlier with the Uchiha if she was going to stay with him and ensure he was on the right track. She would have to convince him that she wasn't such a burden to be around if she was expected to get him to be more sociable. If she was going to convince everyone that he should keep his ninja title, she would definitely have to spend more time with him in order to change his frigid ways. She definitely wasn't going to give up.

Not yet anyways.

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Author's Note: Whew! That chapter was edited like crazy! I can't believe how awful the first version was; there were too many random emotions and reactions at first that weren't explained properly or fully or made the character far too OOC for the way they should be. Anyways! I really enjoy this chapter better than the original and I hope you did too! Click the review button and let me know :D Thanks for reading!

And special thanks to:

Cster

Wisekraker

iPenguin

SugarBunnies16

ReadPass9