A / N: OMG IT'S UP.

Okay, so I've literally had such a difficult time with this chapter, but after rewriting it so many times and just wanting to strangle myself (I'm surprised I'm still alive tbh) I've finally been able to come up with a decent chapter and here I am updating.

To be completely honest I do really like the way it turned out, much better than my past 98293289739237 attempts.

SO.

I know many of you expected punches to be thrown and guns to be fired, but then I realized "WHOA that's way too extreme." And let me explain why.

Firstly, Naruto doesn't even realize that this is Sasuke Uchiha (which is SO Naruto since he's a dense idiot and I thought it was just so in his character to disregard the fact that he could possibly be Sasuke Uchiha)

Secondly, even though Sasuke knows that Naruto is from the Alliance (basically his rival company) he's not going to start up a huge scene especially in front of Sakura. He wants to make sure she forgives him, which of course she does because Sakura has a lovely character and gives others second chances (which I don't find OOC since she does this in the manga on MANY occasions) And as some of you may see the small hints, Sasuke actually does kind of well like Sakura.

^ And that's that my lovely readers. I hope not too many of you are upset with the chapter. I had many (if not all) of my siblings read this chapter and they enjoyed it...so hopefully you will to!

Anyway if you still have questions regarding the plot feel free to PM me, but I don't want to give too much away so yeah...just get to reading!


"Who are you?" Naruto asks, his blue eyes widening slightly as he stares at the raven-haired male. His slightly tense posture drops, and he stares in bewilderment at both Sakura and her mysterious roommate.

Was she…already seeing someone?

Her roommate sighs, running a hand through his messy black hair before kicking the bedroom door shut with his heel and stalking over to the blonde.

He politely extends a hand and an unnatural smile graces his lips.

"The name's Sasuke."

A shiver run's down the blonde's spine.

Could this be Sasuke…Uchiha?

After a moment of thought he shakes his head.

It couldn't be. Sasuke Uchiha would be hiding out in a base right now probably equipped with guns and armed men.

Besides…Sasuke is a common name, he could be Sasuke Watoshi for all I know.

The air already seems thick in here enough…if I start firing questions about an Uchiha to this guy Sakura might break down again.

He doesn't seem to recognize me as Naruto Uzumaki…no it's definitely not him.

"Naruto." The blonde says smoothly, gripping the male's hand and shaking firmly.

Out of the corner of his eye he snakes a glance at the rosette, noticing that she's staring at the both of them in shock. Her tears seemed to have dried up, although her eyes are still puffy and there's mascara streaking down her pale cheeks.

Naruto internally winces.

"So," Sasuke begins, letting go of Naruto's firm grip as he backs off and leans his arm against a kitchen chair," You're the famous Naruto Uzumaki Sakura's been talking about eh?" He presses, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinizes the blonde.

She…talks about me?

Naruto's cheeks dust red from embarrassment.

"You're looking right at him." He says, scratching his cheek in attempt to hide the blush.

Sasuke lets out a low chuckle.

"Well, I hate it that I'm interrupting your date," He checks the watch, the very expensive looking watch, on his wrist and then looks back up at the blonde," But, it's already getting late…hey I got an idea! Why don't you stay for dinner? I'll whip you up some of my mother's famous recipes." Sasuke inquires, his eyes dancing with excitement as he steps behind the kitchen counter.

Naruto raises a brow at the idea.

Although Sasuke seems like a decent guy, wasn't Sakura just bawling her eyes out seconds ago because of him? Wasn't he entering a warzone?

"I…I don't know." Naruto admits, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as he sneaks a glance at Sakura, who merely rubs her eyes in attempt to get the mascara to stop running.

"I insist, Sakura you don't mind right?" Sasuke asks, an innocent look glazing over his features.

Naruto supposes he shouldn't have seen the fire in Sakura's eyes as she glares at the Uchiha, but the fire diminishes a second later as a smile graces her lovely features.

"No, I don't mind besides I promised you a date didn't I?" Sakura says, sniffling up her remaining tears and running a hand through her tangled hair, trying to put herself together.

The blonde nods, feeling as though his fate has been sealed and he's forced to stay at this dinner whether he likes it or not.

"Fantastic!" Sasuke shouts out, using a French accent as he does so.

Oh yeah, this was going to be a long and painfully awkward night.

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.

.

After getting properly cleaned up and trying to get herself composed again, Sakura walks out to see Sasuke and Naruto seated on the couch having a friendly conversation and cracking a laugh or two.

What the hell?

The rosette thinks to herself, shocked to see Sasuke's sudden change in character. He looked far more relaxed now; so much different from how animalistic he was acting earlier.

She tugs on the ends of her long sleeve shirt, hoping to cover up the small bruises on her wrists from Sasuke's tight grasp.

Letting out a shaky breath Sakura shuts the bedroom door lightly before walking over to the stove where water was boiling and large lasagna strands were bathing.

"I'm making my mother's famous lasagna, hopefully you'll enjoy it." A low voice says behind her as blob of black hair pops up beside her and the sharp eyes of Sasuke Uchiha land on her.

"What's with the sudden change in character?" She snorts, almost finding the situation funny.

Who did he thinks he is? Inviting her date over and making her look like some crying fool?

Sasuke sighs, leaning his palms on the counter.

"Sakura, I am so sorry for doing that to you. I..I don't know what came over me." He pauses, inhaling a shaky breath.

"I don't understand why you would do that to me? All I ever did since your arrival was treat you with respect? And you go off and use me for personal pleasure?" Sakura says calmly, although the rage and fury is evident as she stirs the pasta, her knuckles turning white from gripping the wooden spoon so hard.

Sasuke's large hand gently lands on hers.

"You have every right to hate me and be upset, Sakura I wasn't thinking clearly. I was a complete wreck from work, and then coming home and finding out that you were going out on a date with Naruto just…it pissed me off."

Sakura's eyes widen.

"You were, jealous?" She whispers, clearly surprised as she sets the wooden spoon on the counter and turns her body to face the Uchiha.

He averts his eyes in embarrassment.

"Yes." He admits quietly.

"So you sexually harass me?" She fires angrily, her voice hushed so that the blonde won't hear.

"I wasn't thinking, my jealousy overrode my mind. I'm so sorry Sakura, you've been nothing but a wonderful host to me…I screwed up." He admits, running a hand down his face as his eyes crumble in sadness.

Sighing, Sakura can't help but feel pity towards him.

By the look of his eyes and the warmth of his voice she had every right to believe he was truly sorry.

Perhaps she was more shocked that Sasuke Uchiha wasn't the perfect man she had imagined him to be? All her life she had built up this perfect image of him, that he was her knight in shining armor, but he was just an ordinary man, with thousands of flaws.

Everyone did deserve a second chance, even the worst of them.

Turning around and grabbing the wooden spoon, she plunges it back into the boiling water of large pasta strands.

"I forgive you Sasuke, but please never touch me again."

He smiles, genuinely smiles, which surprises Sakura even more than his apology.

"Of course, princess." He winks, grabbing some plates before walking over to the blonde with whom he immediately engages into some wild conversation about sports.

Sakura can't help but smile.

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.

.

"Wow, this is really good Sasuke." Naruto compliments the chef's cooking, taking another bite of the ooey gooey lasagna.

"Why, thank you." Sasuke says playfully, bowing his head slightly.

"I agree Sasuke-kun, it's very good your mother must have been an excellent chef." Sakura agrees with the blonde, forking another strand of lasagna.

Did she just call him Sasuke-kun?

Sasuke finishes chewing, wiping his mouth with a napkin before answering.

"She was truly an astounding chef. Taught me all I needed to know."

The three fall into a small silence, chewing and finishing up their meal.

"So," Naruto finally speaks, deciding to ask the question that has been itching him ever since he laid eyes on the raven-haired male.

The two of them lift their eyes from their plates.

"Are you two…dating?" The blonde asks, raising a brow as Sakura turns bright red and practically spits out her food from shock.

"No, Sakura and I are nothing like that. She's simply providing me with a place to say while I stay here for business reasons." Sasuke says calmly, lifting the wine glass to his lips as he sips on the red liquid.

Naruto stares at his orange juice feeling quite less fancy.

"B-Besides Sasuke-kun is only visiting for a short time, a relationship wouldn't work out." Sakura says, placing her palms on her cheeks in attempt to calm them down.

Naruto nods, getting the feeling that they're hiding something from him.

"A-Anyway Naruto I wouldn't be going on dates with you if I was already seeing someone. That'd be absurd." The rosette states, a smile on her lips as she sips on her white wine.

I feel like a two year old drinking orange juice…Gaara would probably yell at me.

The blonde thinks, staring down at his glass before grabbing it and taking a large swig.

A thought keeps creeping in the blonde's mind as he watches the two.

Why exactly was Sakura crying when he had arrived?

Did Sasuke do something to her?

Or was it something else?

Placing his glass down, the blonde pushes his plate away from him and smiles.

"Thank you for the meal, it was very good." He says politely.

Sasuke nods.

"Of course, I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Noticing the quiet air, Sakura decides to break the tension.

"So you two, tell me how long have you known each other?" Sakura asks casually, folding one leg over the other as she looks at the two.

Naruto's brow quirks at the question.

Sasuke freezes.

"For a while, it's funny how well we get along now isn't it Naruto?" Sasuke says, a grin on his lips as he stares at the blonde, his eyes pleading for him to go along.

Naruto clears his throat.

Why did Sasuke lie to Sakura that they knew each other?

Just what was going on here?

"Hilarious." The blonde retorts blankly, his eyes narrowing.

"So funny in fact," Naruto begins, leaning against the couch," That I don't even remember you."

Sasuke's eye twitches at the comment, whereas Sakura gives the both of them a confused look.

"You always were the jokester." Sasuke says, forcing a laugh.

After a moment of awkward silence Sasuke sighs and stands from his seat.

"Well, let me tidy things up." He shoots a pointed glare at the blonde when he grabs his plate.

Naruto rolls his eyes.

And with that he grabs everyone's plates and heads to the kitchen.

"You two don't really know each other do you?" Sakura asks once she hears the water run and dishes being cleaned.

Naruto chuckles softly.

"I did not know of his existence until I stepped through this door."

Sakura rubs her temples.

"So now he's a liar, wonderful." She laughs at herself for being such a fool.

Naruto leans forward, focusing his eyes on the rosette.

"Sakura," He whispers softly, hoping not to gain the attention of her housemate," Are you sure you're okay? When I first got here you were, not to be offensive, bawling your eyes out. Did he," He tilts his head towards the direction of Sasuke,"Do something to you?"

Sakura's breath hitches in her throat.

After her talk with Sasuke she hasn't thought about the night's earlier events.

"It's nothing Naruto, I'm fine." She says hastily, her eyes turning watery as she blinks the tears away.

"Bullcrap. I don't buy it." The blonde says shaking his head.

Sakura bites her lip nervously.

"J-Just drop it, okay? Everything is fine." She says shakily, inhaling sharply through her nose in hope to reduce the water in her eyes.

Naruto frowns, but decides to drop the topic for her sake.

He makes his way towards the kitchen, where an apron wearing Sasuke stands, and pats the male on the back.

"Thanks for the dinner, you don't mind if Sakura and I go out for dessert? Since it is our date and all." He says, his lips curving up into a smile.

Sasuke shakes his head.

"I don't mind at all. You kids don't stay out too late!" He jokes, laughing as he returns to scrubbing the dishes.

Naruto shoots a large smile Sakura's way as he walks over and takes her hand. She looks at him skeptically before grasping it. He guides her towards the door, where he helps her slip on a jacket and opens the door for her.

She bids Sasuke her goodbye and the door shuts behind the two of them.

"Are you a fan of ice cream?"

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.

.

Taking a spoonful of chocolate ice cream Sakura closes her eyes and smiles.

It's been a while since she last had the frozen goodness and the soft tingle it leaves on her tongue leaves a warm feeling in her chest.

She missed being a child and eating this every Saturday with her friends in the summer.

"I never sized you up to be the chocolate type." Naruto says playfully, swooping his spoon down into her ice cream before popping the spoon back in his mouth.

"Hey! You have your own ice cream!" She scolds and hits his spoon with her own.

The blonde only wiggles his eyebrows playfully causing the rosette to giggle.

"But, I wanted a taste of yours." He pouts, licking his own ice cream as it drips along his fingers, the cone unable to hold the massive pile of cookie dough and other various ice cream flavors.

"You're going to get brain freeze if you eat that fast. And goodness Naruto you eat messier than a first grader." She says, watching as Naruto devours his ice cream at rapid speeds.

"It's melting all over my hand! I need to eat it quick." He retorts, his mouth full of ice cream, a trail dripping down the side of his chin.

Sakura giggles, rolling her eyes at his childish behavior.

Chomping down the cone and finishing up his dessert in a nice and speedy five minutes, Naruto wipes his mouth with a napkin before his eyes grow serious.

"W-What?" She asks, growing uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

He reaches his hand over and wipes his finger along her chin, his finger glazed in chocolate ice cream as he pulls away.

Too stunned to say anything, the rosette immediately feels her cheeks flush as her palm comes up to touch the fiery spot where his fingers had just been moments ago.

"W-What are you doing?" She stammers, growing even hotter as he tilts his head to the side and a lopsided grin blossoms on his handsome features.

"You had ice cream dripping all over your chin, and you scold me for eating like a first grader." He mocks lightheartedly, earning a roll of the eyes from the rosette.

Finishing up her ice cream, Sakura places her plastic spoon in the cup before rolling up her sleeve and checking the time on her small wristwatch.

"It's getting late I should probably-…what?" She asks, looking up from her watch and noticing Naruto's intense stare at her wrists.

"Sakura, explain to me what these are."

He reaches over and rolls down her the sleeve of her shirt even more, Sakura too stunned to slap his hand away.

With fiery eyes he stares at her intently.

Sakura's mouth hangs open, too in shock to find the right words.

She had made sure that she had covered the bruises up, how could she have slipped up?

"Who did this to you?" He asks, and Sakura shivers by the dark and uncharacteristic tone of his voice.

"N-Nobody, geez Naruto calm down," She says light heartedly, a small smile on her lips as she rolls down her sleeves, hoping to hide the marks.

Naruto lifts a brow.

"Then how did you get these bruises?" He asks suspiciously.

Sakura chortles nervously, trying to act nonchalant about the situation when in reality she's sweating buckets.

She can't have him find out that Sasuke had caused those no that would be a bad idea. She wanted Naruto and Sasuke to get along, and so far they were doing pretty well…she couldn't ruin it now.

One small lie wouldn't hurt…right?

"You're getting worked up over nothing. I had this patient and she was so afraid of getting a shot that she gripped my wrists a lot harder than intended. She dug her nails into me as well, hence why the bruises formed. I promise, it's nothing and I'm fine." She reassures him, grabbing her cup as she stands.

Naruto thinks about it for a moment, his brows furrowing before he lets out a breath and shakes his head.

"Wow, your patient must have been really strong. And don't the kids usually hold their parents hand or something?" Naruto asks, as they exit the small ice cream shop and head back to her apartment.

The streets are quite busy for the time of night and Sakura pulls in closer to Naruto.

Their shoulders brush a few times, each time a jolt runs down the rosette's body.

"That's what usually happens but nope, this little girl was trying to get me to stop the needle from going into her arm. Not to mention her nails were digging into my wrists, probably the cause of the bruises. Poor thing was so scared she nearly fainted." Sakura says, feeling horrible for lying to Naruto who so far didn't deserve to be lied to at all.

Naruto lets out a low chuckle.

"I was like that when I was younger, I couldn't handle needles or even being in a doctor's office. I'd probably end up biting your arm off if you tried injecting a needle in me." He jokes, his shoulder brushing hers for a few seconds as they continue walking.

Sakura laughs at his joke, actually laughs which makes all of her worries and frustrations shimmer away for only a few small and rejuvenating seconds.

Being with Naruto…to Sakura it's like a breath of fresh air.

That is until…until he presses on further with the questions.

"So, you're really not going to tell me what happened before I arrived to pick you up this evening?" He asks, hesitating as he does so.

He knows that it's a sour topic for the rosette, but in all honesty he just didn't understand what could have made her cry so hard and cause her to look so…so weak.

To Naruto, Sakura Haruno was a strong girl, someone who could hold themselves up.

Seeing her in such a weak and vulnerable state…well it put an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

The rosette shakes her head.

"It's really just something between Sasuke and I." She says softly, stopping as they reach her apartment door.

Naruto sighs.

"I just want to know, are you sure you're going to be okay?" He asks, genuinely concerned for the rosette.

A warm hand cups his cheek, the touch instantly sending jolts throughout the blonde's body. Sakura tilts her head to the side, a warm smile gracing her pink lips, and her eyes soften.

"Of course Naruto, if I was in danger I'd tell you otherwise. You trust me, right?" She says, her tone of voice like a song, and as sweet as the ice cream they had eaten moments ago.

Naruto swallows hard as he nods against her hand.

"I trust you Sakura," He brings his hand up so that it gently lays over hers, "Always."

They share a smile, getting lost in each other's eyes.

She's the first to pull away after a long while, fumbling through the pocket of her coat until she finds her keys and unlocks the door.

"Back already? I just finished tidying up the place." Sasuke yells from inside, his voice cheery as he comes up to the door.

"You two have fun?" He teases, causing Sakura to turn a shade of bright pink.

"W-What are you my dad?" Sakura teases, pounding him on the shoulder playfully before stepping in.

Sasuke only snickers.

"Well, I'll be going goodnight you two." Naruto says, a grin on his lips as he turns around and heads for the stairs.

"We'll have to do this again sometime!" Sakura yells behind him, and Naruto can swear that means he's got the "ok" for a second date.

"I'll cook up something else this time!" Sasuke says happily and Naruto rolls his eyes as he descends the stairs.

He hears the door shut, the two housemates giggling.

Naruto can't help but feel slightly satisfied with how the night went.

He didn't necessarily get to have a one on one date with the rosette, but her roommate Sasuke seemed like a nice guy, trustable and quite respectable.

Although, there was the mystery behind why she was crying when he greeted her…but didn't everyone have their issues?

Even so, she had told him not to worry about it and he trusted Sakura enough to let her handle her own problems on her own.

If she didn't need her help certainly it wasn't that bad, right?

Another thing that irked him was that Sasuke lied about knowing him.

Why would he do that?

Running a tired hand through his hair, the blonde sighs.

At least he got to spend some time with Sakura, to him that's all that matters.

He was glad she had a good roommate, surely that wouldn't get in between their "budding romance" so to speak.

He had to admit, he liked Sasuke.

Smiling, the blonde brings his hand up to touch the spot on his cheek that Sakura had cupped with her hand.

It was still tingling as if fire was dancing across his cheek.

The blonde grins even harder.

He was definitely looking forward to their second date.

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.

.

Finally reaching his flat, the blonde opens up the door.

"Finally, you're home where the hell have you been? I've left you over twenty missed calls." Gaara fumes, shooting up from the couch and pacing over to the blonde, his teal eyes fixated with rage and panic.

He notes the heavy bags under Gaara's eyes and the nose-scrunching stench of hard liquor from his breath.

"What's going on?" The blonde asks, throwing his jacket into the coat closet before following the anxious redhead to the couch where his laptop was spread out and sheets of paper were sprawled out.

Just what happened when he left?

Gaara hops on the laptop, his fingers typing at rapid speeds.

A small ding is heard from the computer and Gaara lifts his eyes to look at the blonde.

"Shikamaru and I found out where the Akatsuki member is hiding, while you were out doing who knows what." He grumbles angrily, apparently ticked off.

Naruto scoffs.

"I told you I was going on a date. Now show me where's that scumbag's hiding?" Naruto asks eagerly, ready to suit up and catch the culprit.

Gaara rotates the computer so that it's facing the blonde.

He points a finger to the picture on the screen of an apartment complex.

"Do you know this place?" Gaara asks, watching as Naruto's blue eyes widen to the size of watermelons.

The blonde feels his legs turn to jello as the familiar apartment appears on the screen. His breathing hitches and shock is too much of an understatement to describe his current emotion.

"Well?" Gaara presses irritated that the blonde is staring at the screen for so long and not uttering a word.

Naruto clears his throat, not even looking from the screen as if his eyes were glued to the picture.

"I literally was just there like ten minutes ago,"

A sheepish grin forms on his face as Gaara's eyes widen.

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"…And I think Sasuke Uchiha cooked me dinner."


Until next chapter, toodles~