A/N: So I'm not exactly a reliable author. The thing is, I hadn't really thought it through when I asked if I should make the original oneshot into a multi-chaptered fic. But anyway, I promise myself that I would finish it, and I will.

I've decided that it's been way too long since I updated, so even though this is a short chapter, I thought I should get it out there. I guess it's kind of a birthday present to myself since I've been so exasperated at my lack of updating lately. So I made a deal with myself. From now on, I shall update every month, no matter how short the chapter. Hopefully this works out. Tell me what you think.

Allow me to bestow upon you a quote that described my situation perfectly: "My thoughts are stars that I can't fathom into constellations."

-The Fault in Our Stars (John Green)

Disclaimer (since I guess I should write one): I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is a hobby, and I do not expect to make any profit from my sad writing. Please forgive me.

Sakura and Sasuke had been sitting in complete silence for the past twenty minutes. Both minds whirled with all of the information that had just been brought to light. It was a large, complicated puzzle.

Sakura's thoughts kept coming back to the letter. What business had occurred? The vague sense of the letter irritated her. And the money... Wait.

"Sasuke," she said suddenly, causing the brooding Uchiha to glance up at her. "Let me see the letter again!"

He glanced down at it, then back up at her, holding it out. She practically snatched it from his fingers, eyes hungrily seeking the print.

Just as she'd suspected. She sat back, then slowly turned to look at Sasuke. "It's dated two days after your parents' death."

Dark eyes peered at her. "Yes." His tone implied the fact was obvious.

"Well-" Sakura started. How to put this delicately? "Ah... Considering the amount of money, and the fact that Itachi had recently conducted some mysterious 'business' with them..." She trailed off, unwilling to finish her thought.

Sasuke looked away, gazing at a on the wall. "I've considered that possibility," he said. "But I don't understand his motivation. Father was already setting him up to be the next head of the company. He had nothing to gain."

"Aside from a few million dollars," Sakura muttered.

Sasuke shook his head. "That's nothing. He already had money. Even if he'd done nothing at all, he would have been set for life. That's part of being an Uchiha."

"Maybe they had something on him. He could have been blackmailed."

"Perhaps," Sasuke agreed.

The pair sat in silence once more. Sakura wondered yet again why Sasuke brought this information to her, specifically. Surely he had met many intelligent people since leaving? She put her head in her hands, sighing hopelessly. Her fingers dug into her scalp, eliciting a sharp pain. She wondered if this was perhaps a dream. What was the likelihood of this happening anyways? The return of Sasuke, whom she'd thought to be gone forever, plus an intricate conspiracy?

Sakura's hands ran over her face. "What do you even want from me, Sasuke?"

"What I want, Sakura," he said. "Is for you to help me discover the truth."

"I don't even know how to begin," she objected.

"I do," he replied. "My parents' things have been in storage since their deaths. Itachi and I left immediately following the accident." He enunciated that word with disdain. "We will start there."

"Okay," Sakura said. "Okay, then. When do you want to go?"

"Tomorrow. The place is open until 5:00; if we go after school we should be able to get through it all in a few days."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "Do you want to take-"

She was interrupted by a chime from his phone. He took it out and read the message, eyes flashing in irritation.

"What's wrong? What is it?"

"Someone who can't take a hint," he muttered, deciding against responding to the message in favor of conversing with his fellow detective.

Sakura took a moment to wonder what he meant by that, before coming to the conclusion that he would tell her if he wanted her to know. She would maintain politeness. Speaking of...

"Ah, would you like some tea?" she asked.

"Hn, sure."

She went to the kitchen, filling the kettle with water and placing it on the stovetop. As she stood waiting for the water to boil, she stretched her neck, tilting her head to one side, then the other.

In the other room, Sasuke finally took a moment to study his surroundings in more detail. He sat on a plush violet velveteen couch with gold accents. The large chair beside it was zebra print, and just behind that stood a tall lamp that looked more like a tree. One wall was completely gold, from floor to ceiling, upon which hung a detailed painting of a sakura tree.

His eyes roamed the room, and were caught by a photo on the fireplace. In it starred Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke himself. He remembered the occasion fondly, thinking of the same picture that he kept in his wallet.

It had been taken by Sakura's mother the very week they'd first been forced to interact. The three of them had been assigned a project together, and they met every night, albeit unwillingly, at Sakura's house. At the time, her mother was going through a phase of documenting every event of her daughter's life. She'd forced the three of them to squeeze together in front of the fireplace, which resulted in a wide range of expressions on the children's faces. Sakura, ever the obedient daughter, had smiled sweetly at the camera. On her left stood Naruto with a shit eating grin on his face; at the time, he'd had a crush on Sakura, and relished the opportunity to press up against her. Sasuke, on the other hand, sported an unhappy scowl. He detested posing for photographs, especially for someone he'd just met.

But, it had been the beginning of a great friendship. Not that he would admit it openly, but he trusted them more than just about anyone else, at least outside of his family. As it turned out, though, Sakura's family and his were already well acquainted. Her father was a lawyer who worked for Hyuuga and Associates, who in turn worked almost exclusively for Uchiha Enterprises. Biological engineering could pose certain problems, after all. Some people were not too keen on the type of research they explored. It helped to have a loyal law firm on your side when dealing with those things.

His eyes wandered past that picture to another just beside it. He studied it for a moment, confused at the fact that Sakura was not in it. Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji stood together, the young man wearing a graduation cap and gown. Sasuke realized he would have graduated last year.

Looking around further, he saw that other things lying around the house also didn't seem to belong to Sakura. He opened his mouth to say something about it when he heard the front door open. He looked over just in time to see Hyuuga Hinata step inside with a wide grin on her face.

"Sakura, I'm back!" she called. "Naruto asked me to-" Her eyes widened upon catching sight of Sasuke lounging on her couch. "Oh, u-um," she stuttered. "I-I didn't know that-"

"Oh, Hinata!" Sakura exclaimed, walking back into the room with a pot. "You remember Sasuke, right?"

Hinata nodded. "We have a class together."

"Right, well," Sakura continued. "We're just catching up. Would you like to join us?"

Sasuke glanced at her, pointedly. Not that he disliked the girl, but she definitely shouldn't be involved in this.

"No, thank you," Hinata replied. "I was actually just picking up some things-"

"Hey Sakura, you home?" Naruto yelled, throwing the door open, causing it to bounce off the wall. He strode in, took in the moment, and promptly broke into a huge grin. "Hey there, Sasuke-bastard! You and Sakura taking some time to catch up, huh?"

"Yes, would you like to join us?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, but-" he turned and met eyes with Hinata. She shuffled forward to grab his hand. "We have plans, so we should do this another time-" he finished as she pulled him behind her down the hall.

Sasuke directed a quizzical eye at Sakura. "How long has that been going on?"

"They got together over the summer," she said, smiling fondly.

The Uchiha accepted that with a nod. Took the idiot long enough. For a while, Naruto had been the only one unaware of the Hyuuga's pining after him.

"You and she live together?" he asked, remembering his thoughts before the couple had entered. "How did you convince your father to let you out of the house?"

"Oh, yeah," she said, scratching her arm awkwardly. "My parents actually died a couple years ago. They were on a cruise, and the ship sank. After that, the Hyuugas took me in, but I didn't want to be a burden to them, so they helped me get emancipated. Hinata's already eighteen, so she moved with me to help with the rent and stuff."

The news was a surprise to Sasuke. For some reason, the idea that the Harunos could be deceased had never crossed his mind. "Ah, I see," he said. There wasn't much else to say.

A clatter and then an outburst of laughter drifted down the hall. Sasuke's expression twisted into a scowl as the happy couple sprinted through the apartment, barely pausing to call out goodbyes. Sakura, on the other hand, shared in their happiness.

They spent the rest of the evening drinking tea and making small talk. Sakura was vaguely surprised, since Sasuke wasn't usually one for that sort of thing, but welcomed the chance to find out what he'd been doing all this time.

It was quite nice, almost as if they were just old friends meeting up for tea, and not two teenage detectives trying to solve a possible crime.

XxX

Naruto laughed as he tossed Hinata into the pool. She landed with a splash, resulting in a slapping sound as her body hit the water. He dove in after her as she came up gasping for air, trying to breathe through her laughter. His head bobbed to the surface. His eyes followed the flow of her limbs as she treaded water. Her skin shown milky white in the moonlight. Raven hair was slicked back, exposing two silver orbs, which sparkled with laughter.

Very discreetly, he inched forward. Every step he took caused Hinata to bite down harder on her lip, for his sneak mode was quite un-sneaky. He reached her, and grasped her around the waist. A blush dusted her face as she felt the length of her body pressed to his.

"What will your neighbors think of all this noise we're making, hm?" she asked. Won't they mind?" She was proud to think of how little her speech impediment affected her now. It only presented itself when she was either surprised, or nervous. Being around Naruto was good for her. His outgoing personality forced her out of her shell. At first it had been quite nerve wracking, but after a while she'd realized there was nothing to be nervous about.

"Ch, nope. Most of them are still on vacation."

She smiled happily. "Good. Wouldn't want them to make a noise complaint."

"Oh yeah?" He raised his brow suggestively and winked.

She slapped the back of her hand against his chest. "You know what I mean." Her blush intensified. "You take after your uncle, Naruto. You're quickly becoming a pervert."

He put on a mock-offended expression. "Are you saying you don't like that about me?"

"Of course not," she said. "Just wanted to make sure you're aware of it."

He grinned as he pulled her even closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through his hair. Greedily, she pulled him down to her level, simultaneously stepping onto his feet. With a breathy moan, her lips melded to his. His lips parted, allowing her access to his mouth. She took advantage of the opportunity, tracing the contours of his mouth with the tip of her tongue. Several moments passed like this before she pulled away.

With a playful smile dancing across her features, she took a step back. Then, with slow, deliberate movements, she reached back, untying the top tie of her bikini. Naruto stared for a moment, in awe of her confidence, before he stepped forward, pulling her against him once again.

A/N: So here it is. Filled up my inbox with reviews ; )