Entropy

Chapter 9: Wisteria

The disparity between the noise inside the walls of the hospital and outside of the walls was almost comical. The birds chirped sweetly outside and the villagers passing by would call out their cheerful "hello" and "how's your family doing". But as soon as she slipped past those glass doors, pure sound assaulted her ears. Telephones ringing, babies shrieking, and beds rattling down the hallway on their wheels almost made her want to turn right around and leave.

"Sensei! Haruno-sensei! I-" one of the trainees called as she ran up to meet her. Sakura held a hand up as she began striding through reception and down the hallway. The girl silently followed Sakura's every step with wide eyes glittering with adoration.

"Morning, Sakura-sensei!"

"Good morning, Haruno-sensei!" various nurses and medics called out as she passed. It was only when Takumi walked up holding a cup of coffee that Sakura spoke.

"Bless you, wonderful, fabulous child," she sighed after she had taken a sip of life-giving elixir. They resumed walking at the same brisk pace, Takumi handing Sakura a clipboard as they moved. He knew from experience that she would not be in the mood for socialization without some caffeine in her blood.

"These are the most priority patients we've had since yesterday. The rest we've divided up among the staff like you requested," he explained. Sakura flipped through the files to skim the basic facts. Since the return of the ANBU a few days ago, the hospital, already packed with injuries, was now overflowing with patients. She had been forced to patch up the more minor cases and send them home for bed rest. Letting out a sigh, Sakura glanced over at Takumi.

His hair had grown out at the border and now he held it back in a little ponytail. He was taller than he had been before leaving for his rotations. But his face didn't show signs of acute exhaustion. He was at the hospital before she was and left late in the morning to get some sleep, returning just at the tail end of the night shift. He was better at juggling his personal health with those of patients than she was. Sighing again, Sakura pulled the bottom file off the stack to hand to him.

"You can handle this one. Just patch his organs up and set the bones. We'll leave them to heal naturally. We don't have enough chakra to spare right now," she instructed. Just as she finished speaking, Sakura heard quick footsteps approaching. She and Takumi paused in time for Kei to stride up from the direction of the ER in the west wing.

"Good morning, Sensei. Takumi-kun. I thought I heard your voices," she greeted them with a smile.

"Ah, good timing, Kei. I want you to help out Takumi with this patient and then I want you to accompany me on my rounds later," Sakura stated. With a nod, Kei looked down at her wristwatch.

"That's strange, I haven't seen Nozomi-chan around this morning. She's usually up here complaining by now," Kei remarked. It was indeed unusual not to see the bubbly girl with curls flitting around. She had a keen sense of knowing exactly when Sakura arrived in the hospital each morning. But as if speaking about her summoned her, there was the loud tap of high heels in the hallway. Exchanging smiles, the trio waited for Nozomi to join them. Hands in the pockets of her white lab coat, Nozomi ran up and butted her forehead against Sakura's arm.

"Haru-haru-sensei, half the staff hasn't showed up at research this morning," she whined.

"It can't be helped. They're out in Sound dismantling the research labs there," Sakura patiently reminded her. Nozomi straightened with a huff.

"Ignore her, Sensei. Nozomi-chan's just annoyed because that Aburame hottie in toxicology isn't here," Kei interrupted. Nozomi flushed bright red as she swatted at Kei. Sakura arched her eyebrows.

"Is that so? Well, next time when I need data or new herbs, I'll be sure to send the two of you together," promised Sakura. Shaking his head with embarrassment, Takumi looked determined to act as if he didn't know the three of them. Nozomi glowered for a moment and then her expression softened.

"…Really?" she tentatively asked. Sakura gave her a wink and that seemed assurance enough.

"By the way, Sensei, what's this?" inquired Kei, pointing at the mousy little girl still following them. Sakura started.

"Oh, sorry, I completely forgot about you. What do you need?" asked Sakura.

"Um… I'm currently still in training but I was wondering if I could shadow you for today?" the girl timidly requested.

"Well, I'll be in surgery for most of the day but you're welcome to come and observe," Sakura replied after some thought.

"Aw, Sensei, you're a big softie now. I remember when we were still in training, you told us not to bother you," Nozomi grumbled half-jokingly. Smacking Nozomi in the butt with her clipboard, Sakura shooed her back off to the lab. She sent Kei and Takumi running off too so they could get to work.

After a simple appendectomy and a few hours of knee surgery, Sakura shed her bloodied scrubs and was back in her regular clothes. The little trainee had excused herself a few minutes into the first surgery. Sakura made a note to herself that if that girl made it through the program, to place her in research where she wouldn't be near a scalpel. After lunch, she made rounds with Kei, checking in on patients and comforting nervous families. When she had just finished her afternoon coffee break, Sakura walked up to the reception area to chat with the nurses and was met with an unexpected but completely welcome sight.

"Hey! Sakura-chan!"

She turned around mid-sentence and saw Naruto striding up to her. He enveloped her in a big hug that surprisingly didn't reek of sweat for once. Normally he stumbled in to visit her after some vicious spar with a dumb injury like a dislocated shoulder or a broken hand. Sasuke followed after, his eyes carefully analyzing the room and all its exits before they slid to her. Disengaging herself from Naruto, Sakura gave Sasuke a smile.

"What's up, you two coming around here?" she asked, leaning her hip against the reception desk. Naruto held up a letter with a threatening red stamp on it.

"All ANBU personnel returning from duty are required to get a physical upon their return. This is the last day we can get it done before the old lady throws us out the window of her office," he explained with a sheepish grin.

"Okay. Naruto, I understand. But Sasuke, why're you here so late? I always thought you were punctual," Sakura teased half-seriously. Sasuke fixed her with a scowl and then he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I don't like hospitals," he muttered in response.

"That aside, Sakura, what are you wearing?" demanded Naruto. Sakura looked down at herself and then at Naruto.

"Oh, this? This fabric's fire-retardant and tear-resistant. I snagged a sample from my friend in Weapons Development. Pretty cool, huh?" she said as she plucked at the fabric of her black dress under her coat. It was a stretchy and surprisingly thick material that hugged her body snugly. The round neckline revealed her collarbones but was modest enough to cover her chest. It was sleeveless and ended mid-thigh, ensuring maximum mobility. The outfit was paired with a pair of black high heels. Though they weren't the most comfortable, Tsunade had once pointed out to her that having a doctor that looked professional helped reassure a lot of patients. The gel inserts under her soles helped cushion her feet and that seemed to hold her over until she made it home each night.

"I like the sexy doctor look but I kind of miss the badass doctor in shinobi attire too," Naruto commented after some observation. Sakura rolled her eyes as she twisted her hair up and stuck a pen in it to hold everything in place. Crossing her arms over her chest, Sakura tapped her clipboard against her thigh. She glanced up at the clock over the reception desk and then looked at her friends. Sakura leaned over the counter to confer quietly with one of the nurses who wheeled back in her chair to the walls of patient files in the back. After a moment of rummaging, she returned with two manila folders marked with colored tabs. These were the general medical files Konoha had for the two of them. The classified information was stored in locked cabinets back in Sakura's office but these would do for now. Lifting them into her arms, Sakura thanked the nurse, and then turned back to her friends.

"Alright. Come with me," Sakura finally ordered as she started down and the hall and pushed open the doors leading into a stairwell. When they climbed, Sakura chatted happily with Naruto about their friends and all the things that had happened since she had seen him three days ago when he and Sasuke had shown up unannounced in the middle of the night.

Sakura had woken up when Naruto had rolled on top of her and she had shoved him off with her foot. Grumbling to herself, she crawled into the kitchen to make breakfast and more importantly, coffee. Hair mussed and eyes barely opened, she cracked eggs into the frying pan with one hand while sipping coffee with the other. When a wide yawn stretched her mouth, Sai walked in, his forehead wrinkled.

"Naruto tried to spoon me," he grunted. A tired snigger of a laugh left her.

"Were you the big spoon or the little spoon?" she asked. Sai shuffled to the fridge to pull out a carton of milk.

"Little. I find that I don't enjoy the sensation of morning wood between my butt cheeks," Sai confessed so frankly that Sakura laughed again. When she looked back, Sakura found Sasuke walking into the kitchen as he scratched at his wild mane of hair. Squinting in the morning sunlight filtering in through the window above the sink, he gave a nod in greeting. He sank into a chair, letting his head slump back.

"Ah, Mr. Low Blood Pressure. Coffee?" she greeted him with sympathy. An incoherent grumble left Sasuke's mouth. It was funny to see how differently he slept here compared to at the border. With his closed eyes and lolling head, it was sort of cute to see him completely unguarded. And part of her was touched, too. Sasuke sleeping through the night and puttering about all groggy meant that he trusted them. Feeling a little giddy at the thought, Sakura walked past him to get to the fridge and mussed his hair on the way. Letting out another groan, he cracked open an eye to stare at her.

"What?" he demanded in a gruff voice.

"Nothing," Sakura innocently replied. She sliced up ham and dropped it into the frying pan. It sizzled in its own juices, filling the kitchen with the heavenly aroma of meat. Naruto stumbled in to join them a moment later, rubbing at his sore back wonderingly. Sakura had no doubt that there would be a bruise in the shape of Sai's foot there in an hour or so. Naruto put his chin on her shoulder to peek down at the frying pan like a little kid. Sai sat at the table next to Sasuke, sliding a mug of coffee toward him along with the sugar bowl. Sasuke grunted his thanks.

They gathered around the round wooden table, swapping out plates of fried eggs and thick slices of ham. Sasuke looked at Sakura and Naruto like they were crazy when they slathered their slices of toast with condensed milk. There was plenty of coffee being poured between Sakura and Sai. Naruto stuck with milk, earning a little teasing from Sakura about still being a child. Sasuke drank from a cup, not really caring what was going into his mouth at this point.

Thinking back to that morning, it always struck Sakura that it was the first time all four of them had been together in Konoha. She had imagined dozens of scenarios over the years. One of them involved beating Sasuke into a bloody pulp into the ground and Sai eventually pulling her off him while Naruto dragged Sasuke to the hospital to save his life. Others involved her giving Sasuke the cold shoulder and never speaking to him ever again.

But this was much simpler.

Sasuke was her friend. Naruto was her friend. Sai was her friend. Friends slept over at her house and woke up to have breakfast in the morning. And that was all there was to it. It was a lot less messy than she had expected, but it was a fitting reunion for them all, she decided as she stirred sugar into her coffee.

After eating, Naruto had used Sakura's phone to call the power and water companies about his apartment. Then he and Sasuke were off while Sai did dishes and Sakura got ready for work.

And now, three days later, Sakura sat Sasuke down on a little bench next to an examination room on the second floor.

"Let me deal with you first," Sakura said, steering Naruto into the examination room by the shoulders. She shut the door; Naruto pulled off his shirt and plopped down on the cushioned table. The crackle of the paper on top always irritated him but he didn't complain this time.

"So, how did the hearing go?" inquired Sakura as she opened up Naruto's heavy file and plopped it down on the side table.

The hearing regarding Sasuke's sentence had been a quiet, private affair. Only people directly involved were permitted to attend, though they all knew it was specifically to ban Sakura. The elders knew she would have probably picked up a chair and beaten them to death with it during the proceedings. Naruto was only allowed in the room as Sasuke's superior officer and promptly kicked out after giving his testimony. Shikamaru, along with Kiba, were there too. Sakura suspected that upon reading mission reports, Tsunade had specifically chosen those two to speak on Sasuke's behalf. Despite all her muttering and grumbling when it came to Sasuke, the Hokage seemed to be rooting for him too.

"Ah, well, bringing back Danzo's head on a stick, literally, softened up the old bats. The other Kages were happy about it too. Six months grounded in the village with a chakra limiter and then a two-year period where he can leave the village but not alone. Pretty generous since he tried to kill the Kages the last time he saw them," Naruto told her. But Sakura didn't let her breath out just yet. Naruto caught the furrow between her eyebrows with a chuckle.

"And in light of the evidence brought forth by both you and Baa-chan, we're holding a thorough investigation on Konoha's involvement in the Uchiha massacre," he finished. Letting out a profound sigh of relief, Sakura sagged forward to hug Naruto. They squeezed each other tightly, more than relief passing between them. It was a deeper feeling, one that spanned across 10 years of friendship and disappointment and deep love.

Smacking Naruto's bare back, Sakura pulled away.

"Alright. Time for your physical. Lose the pants, keep the boxers," she ordered. When she turned and began snapping on gloves, Naruto snorted.

"Are you going to ask me to turn my head and cough, Sensei?" he asked. Turning around, she pulled another latex glove out of the box and snapped it against his arm.

"No. But if you don't shut up, I'll get Tsunade-shishou to come in here and do it for me," Sakura warned. They stared at each other, both imagining the ridiculous and horrifying scenario before they burst into raucous laughter.

When Naruto left the room half an hour later, he bumped his fist against Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sakura-chan saw me naked," Naruto bragged childishly with a wink. The disgust etched across Sasuke's face was mirrored by Sakura as she braced her hands on the doorframe and dealt a swift kick to Naruto's rear. It wasn't enough to hurt him. The force only sent him stumbling out of the way.

"Come on, Sasuke. The only way I can bully him out of here is if I can kick you out too. Let's get this over with," said Sakura, beckoning him inside. Smirking, Sasuke got to his feet and slipped into the small exam room. Naruto followed after them, his grin still in place.

"Ew, Sasuke's stripping in front of me, Mommy," Naruto hooted when Sasuke began shedding his shirt. Normally his overly ridiculous attitude would have irritated Sakura. But in light of the good news he had just given her, she found that she was more than tolerant of it.

"Yes, yes. Mommy knows how much you want to see Sasuke naked but you'll just have to buy him dinner first," she calmly replied, patiently pushing Naruto out of the room.

"Huh? What? No I don't! Gross, Sakura!" the blond complained. Laughing, she shut the door on his face. She could still hear Naruto chuckling through the wood. When she turned, it was to face Sasuke in black boxer briefs sitting on the exam table. His shirt and pants were folded and stacked in a neat pile beside him. It crossed her mind that Sasuke's body was beautiful, of course. But this was no time to be hot and bothered. Besides, she lived in a shinobi village. What man walked in for a check-up with anything less than a six-pack?

"You've gained weight," she noted as she picked up his file and shut Naruto's.

"Are you calling me fat?" he asked. Sakura chomped down on her lower lip to keep from smiling but failed miserably. Sasuke's jokes were rare and unexpected. And maybe it was this rarity that always made his dry remarks effective on her. She took a few steps toward him until she was standing directly in front of him.

"Considering you were underweight the last time you had a physical, yes. You're nice and tubby now," replied Sakura as she patted his stomach. She stood there, noting a few things about his physical appearance in her notes. Her pen paused when she felt a tug on the front of her white coat.

"It suits you," Sasuke stated. Their eyes met and she smiled.

"Thanks," she responded.

"Haruno-sensei, are you with a patient right now? I need you to sign off on the order for hypodermic needles," a nurse called through the door.

"Ah, just come in. I'll sign it real quick," Sakura called back. There was a pause and then the door opened. The young nurse froze. Sakura stared at her, wondering what could possibly be wrong. When she looked back at Sasuke, he fixed her with a bored stare paired with a shrug.

"The form?" Sakura prompted. As she held out her hand, the nurse started sharply. Quickly pushing the papers over, the nurse continued to look back and forth nervously between the two.

"Is anything the matter, nurse?" inquired Sakura while scanning numbers and signing on dotted lines.

"It's just, I'm sorry I interrupted," she quietly answered.

"Huh?" Sakura demanded, head rising sharply. With a tentative finger, the nurse pointed at Sasuke still holding on to the edge of her white coat. At this, Naruto, peeking into the room with a nosy expression, began roaring with mirth.

"What happened to having to buy Sasuke dinner first, Sakura?" Naruto guffawed. Cheeks tinged faintly pink, Sakura sniffed proudly.

"Hey, I made him pork cutlets once, remember? Now, out; both of you," Sakura ordered. She shoved the forms at the nurse and then pushed the two intruders away. Shutting the door, she locked it this time. With the muffled sound of Naruto's laughter outside, Sakura pressed her back to the door.

"Does that happen to you a lot?" inquired Sasuke.

"…Well… come to think of it, once. Kiba came to drop off flowers and one of the nurses walked in on me giving him a thank you kiss. What a bunch of gossips," Sakura recalled with exasperation.

"Whatever. They'll have something new to jabber about. Have you been experiencing any headaches lately?" Sakura moved on, reading the first bullet on the standard questionnaire for check-ups.

"Other than you and Naruto, no," Sasuke solemnly responded. Sakura smacked his arm with her clipboard.

"You are just full of jokes today," she said with a shake of her head. Their eyes met and she could see the wry amusement glittering in his gaze.

So this was the Uchiha Sasuke she had never gotten to know before.


A few days later, rolling out of bed on Saturday morning, Sakura realized that her bangs were seriously in her way. Stumbling into the shower, she resolved to go visit the only salon she trusted: the kitchen of Ino's house. Sai was still sleeping after a round of drinking with Naruto and some of the guys the night before. She left the coffee maker warming the rest of the coffee for him and then pulled on some presentable clothes. Still yawning, Sakura walked to Ino's place, stretching her arms and shoulders on the way. She stopped by the bakery to pick up some fruit tarts.

When she arrived in the Yamanaka district, Sakura cut through the relatively quiet streets to the familiar house. She walked around to the back door to knock twice. Ino's mother answered, a smile already on her face when she saw who it was.

"Sakura-chan, come in! What a surprise! I haven't seen you in a long time," she greeted, ushering Sakura in. She accepted the box of pastries as Sakura slipped out of her sandals.

"Oh, thank you for these. Ino should be down in a bit. I just called her down for breakfast. Have you eaten, dear?" Mrs. Yamanaka said, guiding Sakura to a chair. Ino bounced down the stairs a few minutes later, still in her pajamas. When she saw Sakura, she looked a little dubious until she saw that a peace offering of fruit tarts had been brought over as well. Mrs. Yamanaka, as considerate as ever, excused herself to do laundry, leaving Sakura and Ino to talk.

"You here so early in the morning can only mean one of two things: you're here to share steamy details about last night or you need a haircut," Ino guessed as she bit into the flaky crust of a tart. Sakura held up two fingers and Ino's lips twisted with disappointment.

"Ugh, get a boyfriend already, Sakura. I haven't had any decent girl-talk with you since you broke up with Kiba," Ino sighed.

"I'm glad you're living vicariously through the nasty details of my sex life, Ino," Sakura replied with a wry smile. At this, Ino waggled her eyebrows.

"Nasty? Really? Who is it?" she grilled with a devious look. Sakura shoved another fruit tart into Ino's mouth and mimed zipping her lips shut. Grumpily chewing, Ino let the topic go. They chatted a little longer, updating one another about each other's families. Sakura asked how things were going with Chouji and the stupid grin on Ino's face answered it all. Feeling just a little pang of jealousy, Sakura smiled.

"You're a really lucky girl, Ino. I don't think anybody can take care of you the way Chouji-kun will," she said so sincerely that the words almost hurt to say. Her flighty friend, her first friend. The idea of her marrying the still slightly chubby man with a big appetite and a steadfast smile seemed like a good match.

"Right? Only I could snag a secret cutie like that. Anyway, what're we going to do with that mop on top of your head?" Ino said, clapping her hands together. She wetted Sakura's hair in the sink and then sat her down in a folding chair in the middle of the kitchen. As Ino moved around combing through Sakura's hair and mumbling to herself, Sakura had a sudden thought.

"Ino-chan," Sakura called. Ino tilted Sakura's head back and picked up her scissors.

"Hmm? What's with the 'chan'? You need to borrow money or something?" replied Ino. As Ino began snipping through locks of pink hair, Sakura let out a deep breath.

"I slept with Hyuuga Neji," Sakura announced. The cutting stopped. There was silence. Just when Sakura began to wonder if her friend was alright, Ino was pulling Sakura's bangs out of her face to stare at her.

"Whoa. Seriously?" Ino demanded. Sakura nodded once.

"Like once?"

Sakura shook her head.

"When? Yesterday?"

Another shake of her head.

Ino's mouth puckered as she scowled.

"…We ended about a year ago, right before I left for my rotation. We had a thing for a month or two," Sakura admitted. Ino hummed.

"That's why I was getting seriously weird vibes from the two of you out at the border. I couldn't tell if he wanted to throw you against the nearest table or if you wanted to throw him into the nearest pile of broken glass," Ino commented. They both laughed at that. Certainly nothing had been wrong about the physical aspect of the relationship. The trouble was, Sakura wasn't sure if it could actually be called a relationship.

"It was a sort of mutual pity fuck. Tenten had just gotten engaged and I was just… well… me," Sakura elaborated. Ino let the wet hair flop back into Sakura's face and she went back to cutting.

"Girl, there's nothing wrong with you," Ino reminded her a little gruffly and really lovingly.

"I know. But it's like you told me that night I broke up with Kiba. I have this perpetual fear that any guy that gets too close will break me into a million pieces," Sakura reminded her. There was no response. There was just the scissors snipping through hair.

"I don't blame you. Look what happened with Sasuke," Ino half-muttered. Sakura scoffed.

"It wasn't a relationship, Ino. That was just a crush," argued Sakura.

"Bullshit it wasn't. Any time two people are connected, it's a relationship. You and me, we've got a relationship," snapped Ino. At this, Sakura scoffed again, louder this time.

"Is this a way for you to ask me to seduce you, Ino?" Sakura asked.

"You wish, Forehead," Ino shot back just as smoothly. But then Ino's voice sobered right back up again.

"Anyway, Sakura, when you deal with people, you always give 1000% of yourself. So Sasuke pushing you away the way he did hurt you more than it would hurt anyone else. I don't get why you even talk to the shit. I still think you should break his jaw a couple times," continued Ino in mostly a growl. Her fingers tilted Sakura's head slightly to the right before they took up the scissor again.

"Ino, we were talking about Neji. Why did it suddenly change to Sasuke?" laughed Sakura. She blinked when Ino pushed her bangs back and suddenly opened up her view of the kitchen again. Still scowling fiercely, Ino snipped pieces of the bangs off.

"Because, while it's a close match, Sasuke's hotter than Neji is," Ino ground out.

"Stupid," Sakura chuckled. And Ino's frown slowly morphed into a smile. She flapped her hand for Sakura to continue her story.

"So… things ended pretty ugly with Neji. And I feel bad about it. He's really not such a jerk. We just sort of met up at a bad point. But when I see his face I get so mad that I can't really talk… nicely, you know?" Sakura blurted out, spilling all the angry, ugly frustrations that had been building up for a while. Sakura was a people person. Not getting along with anyone bothered her.

Sakura's head jerked back when Ino suddenly raked her fingers through her hair, ruffling it.

"Sakura, you know when I dated that civilian for a while and I found out he was cheating on me?" Ino asked as she began layering the hair she had just cut. Sakura made an affirmative noise in the back of her throat.

"And I kept saying I wasn't mad and I tried to act all mature until I saw him one day and I flipped out and head-butted him in the middle of the street?" Ino went on. Stifling a laugh, Sakura made the noise again.

"Don't do what I did. You're obviously upset right now and you have a right to be. But he's probably not happy either. You might as well both be mad and talk about how mad you both are," concluded Ino. Mulling over those words, Sakura thought carefully.

"…Are you sure I can't head-butt him?" Sakura finally asked.

"Only if I'm there to watch," Ino replied. She ducked off to the bathroom for a second and was back with a hand mirror. Sakura grasped the handle and lifted it up to get a look at her hair. Ino hadn't really taken much length off it- maybe an inch or so. She had thinned out Sakura's bangs though and layered a lot so her head felt significantly lighter.

"Thanks, Piggy. I'll put it on my tab," said Sakura when she handed the mirror back. Ino rolled her eyes.

"I'll consider the fruit tarts my payment," Ino replied.


Once things had really settled down, about a month or so after Naruto and the others had come home, Sakura found out that Sasuke couldn't find a place to live. There were enough apartments and houses up for rent but as soon as people found out who was asking, those vacancies suddenly disappeared. It seemed that while there many people who knew the truth, there were still more who believed Sasuke was the antichrist himself. Using her day off from work, Sakura accompanied Sasuke around the village as they went down the list of ads in the newspaper.

After an entire day of fruitless searching, Sakura plopped down on her sofa with a scowl. She sat glaring off into space for a while until she suddenly jolted upright.

"Oh! I'm so stupid!" she exclaimed. She dragged them off to the hospital where Takumi was working in the ER. The moment he saw her, the boy walked over, his face already concerned.

"Is something wrong, Sensei?" Takumi inquired.

"Takumi, does your grandmother still own that apartment building near the market?" Sakura asked. Takumi blinked a couple times but then he slowly nodded. Face glowing with excitement, Sakura turned to look at Sasuke.

"I just made you not homeless," she proudly declared. To her surprise, Sasuke patted the top of her head. A silent form of thanks- one that she happily accepted.

Takumi's grandmother was perfectly happy to do her grandson's teacher a favor. And all the things he had told the old woman about his time out at the border had left her with a very good impression of Sasuke. They settled rent rate over tea and signed the contract the very same day.

With Naruto now completely occupied with his Hokage training, Sakura and Sai were the only ones available to help Sasuke move. It wasn't that there was so much stuff to be relocated. Sasuke's few possessions had been moved into storage after his defection from the village and those were brought back in one trip between the three of them. Instead, it was the cleaning and the shopping for furniture that took up all their time. The move spanned over an entire weekend, with Sai and Sakura crashing on the sofa during those two nights.

Sasuke's apartment ended up being one block to the west from the central market, meaning he was a two-minute walk from Ichiraku. Naruto heard the news and howled with jealousy. Sakura's house, two blocks to the east from the market, was a 10-minute walk from Ichiraku. And Naruto's apartment, on the southern edge of the market, was also about 10 minutes from Ichiraku. Only Sai's house was at the far southern edge of the village. The idea of all of them being so close together was strangely comforting to Sakura.

As she sat in Sasuke's living room unpacking one of the few boxes he owned, she stumbled upon two picture frames stacked on top of each other. The first one, obviously, was a group photo of Team 7 as children. Sakura eyed the way Sasuke and Naruto glowered at each other and couldn't help but break into a grin. She set that frame up on the coffee table and then moved onto the other one left in the box. As soon as she flipped it over, Sakura felt like she had been punched in the gut.

The woman with the long, dark hair and the soft smile looked so much like Sasuke that it physically hurt to see her. And the man to the left with a stern expression and the same downward curve of his mouth was clearly Sasuke's father. Off to the right was Itachi, his expression dark even in a face that was still that of a child. And in the middle, in the cradle of his parents, stood Sasuke. With a face still round with baby fat and dark eyes that seemed to sparkle brightly, Sasuke stared up at her.

Choking back the noise that rose up in her throat, Sakura quickly turned away from the photo. But Sasuke heard her and he walked over to see what was wrong. He looked at her kneeling on the ground, hands twisted together, and then at the open box. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as she watched Sasuke bend over to look into the box too. All was silent for a moment. And then she heard him lift the frame out of the box.

Sakura opened her eyes in time to see Sasuke set the photo on the coffee table next to the one of Team 7. Then, with his elegant fingers, he slowly pushed the frame over. It fell on its front, hiding the photograph from sight.

Sakura stared at Sasuke, trying to make sense of his expression. Because his face wasn't blank. His eyes were far away and if she looked hard enough, she thought she could see something deep stirring under the surface.

"I can't face them yet," was all he said.

Swallowing thickly, Sakura nodded. She reached out, lightly touching the back of his hand. Not looking at her, Sasuke turned his hand over to lace his fingers with hers. She squeezed tightly and he squeezed back just as hard. Staring off into different directions, neither of them said anything as Sakura shed a couple silent tears.

Seeing that photograph of Sasuke's family shook Sakura. But a few days later, when she had had the chance to think rationally again, a thought occurred to her. In her parents' house, in a small corner of the living room, there was a family shrine. Her family had never been religious but they still kept that shrine with pictures of her paternal grandparents. Every morning her mom left little rice cakes as offerings and sometimes Sakura caught her dad sitting there just talking to his mother and father with the fragrance of incense in the air. Sakura had never met them before but it somehow made them seem closer to her.

Sakura supposed that when her parents passed on, she would set up a shrine like that in her own living room. Somewhere near the window so it would be in the sun. Her mom loved the sunlight.

But what this train of thought ultimately led to was Sakura wondering about Sasuke's family. There hadn't been anything resembling a family shrine at his new apartment. There simply hadn't been anything included in those boxes from storage. And she doubted that he had thought to pack those things up when he had left the village years ago.

So on a strange whim, Sakura snuck into the abandoned Uchiha district. It was closed off with police tape as it had been for several years. But she easily crossed it anyway. There were shoeprints here and there and some discarded trash, probably from little kids wandering around on a dare. She picked up the garbage as she passed, feeling sad for the ruins of an entire family.

Sakura vaguely remembered walking through the Uchiha district with her mother on a delivery one day. There had been a gathering at someone's house and they had ordered food from her parents' business. Sakura had held her mom's hand, eyes wide with excitement as she looked around at all the new people. And the person who had answered the door hadn't been an adult but Sasuke. It had been right around the time she had entered the academy and she had heard rumors about the good-looking boy. Sasuke had run to get his mother as Sakura felt the beginnings of her first crush blooming inside her heart.

But now, in the middle of the night, Sakura stood trying to recall that faint memory. She wandered down the dusty streets, peering into open doors and wondering if it would be alright to enter. It felt wrong to tread near these buildings, like she could hear the ghosts of people rushing around her.

It took her a while to remember from all her digging in the Hokage's archives that Sasuke's father had been the head of the clan. Sakura headed for the biggest house in the center of the district. And she remembered the pair of lion-dog statues guarding the front door. They had been partially eroded away by years of rain and they had turned green but she recalled their intimidating grimaces well.

She hesitated for a moment at the door. The police tape across the front entrance had already been broken. She wondered if it had been Sasuke. She hoped so. Anyone else entering this house felt horribly wrong. Even as she took her first step inside, she felt like an intruder. Slipping out of her boots in the foyer, Sakura sadly noticed that there were still other shoes lined up there, waiting for owners that would never come. She stepped inside, dust powdering her bare feet.

The living room was directly to the left, the sliding door still ajar. Taking in a dusty breath, Sakura slipped into the room. She squinted in the dim light until she saw a rectangular shape up against a wall. As she neared, she saw that it was a lacquered wooden cabinet of some sort. And on the middle platform, were two picture frames. They were caked over with dust. With trembling hands, Sakura reached out and took one. She rubbed the glass with her fingers until she recognized the bright smile as Sasuke's mother. She did the same for Sasuke's father and replaced the frames on the shelf.

There was an old incense burner in there along with a small flower vase. The dried stalk in the vase had probably been some sort of flower at some point. Sakura stared for a long time at these things. Rather than parts of one shrine, it looked like she was staring at artifacts in a museum of a forgotten age. A past that would never return.

Crouching in front of that neglected place, Sakura buried her face in her arms and sat unmoving for a while. And then, she got to her feet, dusted off her hands, and walked out.

The next day, after work, she dropped by the Yamanaka flower shop to pick up a bouquet of white cosmos. Ino's mother, out of friendly curiosity, asked who they were for.

"My friend's parents," Sakura replied honestly.

She slipped into the Uchiha district. This time, she wasn't so afraid. She was still just as sad. But as she sat wiping the shrine down with a rag she had brought, Sakura realized that if there were any ghosts lurking around this place, they probably wouldn't attack her for trying to pay her respects.

Sakura lit the incense and put a few flowers into the vase. She had considered bringing rice cakes or some other food as an offering. But she didn't know how often she would be able to visit and the idea of leaving rotting food at a shrine also felt wrong. So she settled for the flowers and sat on the dusty floor for a while, just looking at the pictures of these strangers.

After half an hour, Sakura got up and went home where she cooked dinner for her and Sai.

She was back again a few days later with fresh cosmos.

And she sat in the dust, knees hugged close to her chest. The silence was nice and the spring air was warm and faintly floral. She grew to like looking at Sasuke's parents- especially his mother. She had a kind face. Sakura liked to think that she was the sort of mother who stroked Sasuke's head and bandaged up his scrapes and cuts with tender hands.

It became a part of her routine, going to visit Sasuke's parents. Sai only knew she came home 45 minutes later every Monday and Thursday but he never asked what was happening. Swapping out flowers and then gazing curiously into those frozen faces was strangely comforting. Sakura kept her odd habit a secret from Sasuke.

He had said he wasn't ready to face them so she would do it until he was ready.


Being home made it easy to fall back into old habits.

For the first few weeks back in Konoha, Sakura had steered clear of alcohol. Not because she wanted to. A cold beer after a long day of work was one of the joys of life. But her compromised immune system was dealing with enough crap as is.

As it was, sometimes she felt woozy or spiked a fever if she was on her feet for too long. This scared the hell out of the hospital staff who often urged her to go lie down and take a nap. Their concern for her was touching, especially since she knew how overrun everyone was at the moment. Cleaning up after war was always toughest on the medical staff.

Still, through weeks of sleep and good food, Sakura felt her body slowly returning to normal. Her yin seal slowly lightened until it was a dull shade of dark turquoise as chakra began to siphon off into it again. Shizune took care of the burn marks on her back and shoulders easily when Sakura reported in for her physical.

"I took a look at Kiba-kun, by the way," Shizune told her while she worked. Lying on her front on the exam table, Sakura just hummed in the back of her throat.

"Do you want to know the secret of minimizing heavy scarring in cases like that?" Shizune asked. Sakura nodded, her eyes opening.

"Make an extra layer of skin," the older woman told her. Sakura arched her eyebrows.

"Really?" she asked.

"I know it sounds crazy but if you generate this really thin layer of skin on top, it'll minimize the appearance of scars and actually help patients heal faster. And then, after a while, it'll just peel off on its own. I did it on Kiba-kun yesterday and he's looking spiffy as ever. He'll have to get his clan's tattoos done again, though," Shizune confirmed. Sakura let out a heavy sigh.

"I wish I'd known that. It would've saved him a lot of discomfort," she grumbled. Shizune's laugh was clear but also a little melancholy.

"You know, Sakura-chan, you're the youngest Chief of Medicine Konoha has ever seen. I think you can cut yourself a little slack. You have time to learn," Shizune assured her in that sisterly way she had always done. Slightly mollified, Sakura lowered her head onto her arms again and let Shizune get back to healing.

By the time things at the hospital started to quiet down, Sakura felt the urge to go visit one of her old haunts. It was a bar located near Jounin HQ. Dimly-lit with reasonably-priced drinks, it used to be her go-to place for a shot or five after a hard mission.

After a shift than ran over an extra two hours, Sakura shed her white coat and headed straight for the bar. Sai, she knew, was at work dealing with an especially tough interrogation for the night. It was drizzling lightly but not enough for her to run. When she walked into the building, hair damp and curling from the humidity, sharp eyes flickered to look at her. It was an instinct though. Shinobi were suspicious by nature and they quickly turned their attention back to their conversations again. Sakura slid into the corner seat at the bar, her fingers tapping against the wooden top.

"Long time no see, old man. You miss me?" she teased the portly bartender. He snuffled behind his moustache, a noise of irritation. But then he set a clean glass in front of her along with a dark bottle of whiskey. She poured herself a generous glass and then sipped. The burn of hard liquor and the heat in her belly were things she had missed.

It was on her second glass that the door opened again along with a familiar chakra. Her eyes lazily slid to the door where she saw Hyuuga Neji walk in. She almost sighed at the cosmic irony of it all. Of course she would have a heart-to-heart talk about the man with Ino and run into him less than a week later. She knew he had sensed her presence there but didn't choose to acknowledge him until he was walking straight up to her. Propping her right cheek up in her hand, she dangled her glass in front of her.

"Want a drink? It's on me," she offered. Neji stared at her with pale eyes for a moment before he pulled up the stool on the other side of the corner. Then he accepted the little glass from her, eyeing the dark liquid inside. As she watched him drink, Sakura motioned for another glass to the bartender. She caught it in her left hand as it was slid down the bar toward her.

"It you came here to apologize, I don't want to hear it," she suddenly stated. Neji coughed a little as he drank but covered his reaction rather well otherwise. Maybe it was the warm fuzz of alcohol loosening her tongue a little, but Sakura just blurted the words out. It had been a long day at work, her feet hurt, and here she was finally talking to the source of her irritation for the first time in a while. Grimacing, Neji pulled his glass away from his mouth to eye her.

"You're terrible," was all he said.

"Shut up," she responded without sting in her words. For a moment, she remembered what had pulled her to him so much in the beginning. He seemed to feel it too because the corner of his mouth began to quirk up. She busied herself pouring herself another glass.

"Hey! Uchiha's here! What're you doing here, you sorry bastard?" someone roared with laughter from a table near the door. There was good-natured chortling as they heard the door swing shut. Sakura's eyes automatically searched for the dark hair and sharp shoulders. When she found him, she found that he seemed to be looking for her too. Waggling her fingers at him in a wave, she motioned him over.

"Sasuke-kun, have a drink with me!" she called. Some of the men that had been out on the border with her had been talking to Sasuke. But when they spotted her, they began elbowing Sasuke with sly grins and pushing him toward her.

Sakura heard Neji let out a sigh. Her ability to switch attention to people was quick, she admitted. She smiled apologetically before she felt Sasuke standing behind her. He smelled like the rain and she could feel the heat from his body against her back.

"Are you drunk?" Sasuke asked without so much as a greeting. The barstool to her right scraped across the floor as he pulled it back to sit on it. Sakura shook her head as she pushed her glass into his hand.

"Not yet. Catch up," she prompted. Lifting the glass to his mouth, Sasuke glanced over at Neji and nodded his acknowledgement. Sasuke downed everything at once before sliding the glass back over to her. Humming with approval, Sakura filled the glass and tossed it back, one dainty pinky rising in the air.

"So, I don't think Uchiha Sasuke is a frequenter of dive bars so tell me what's up," said Sakura when she wiped absently at her face with the back of her hand. Eyebrows knitting together, Sasuke stared at her mouth.

"Are you wearing lipstick?" he asked suddenly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. For work. It's this tinted lip balm Ino gave me," she replied. The faint coral color had smeared past her lip. Sasuke reached over and rubbed at it until the smudge disappeared. Sasuke's fingers burned where they touched. Blaming the heat from the whiskey, Sakura murmured her thanks. Feeling a stare boring into the side of her face, Sakura looked over at Neji. He watched the two of them the same way she had often seen him looking down several enemies he needed to conquer at once.

"Naruto wants me to remind you that we're all having dinner tomorrow. He says if you skip out he's going to break into your house and steal all the food in your fridge," Sasuke told her. Attention reclaimed, Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Funny. Then he's getting nothing but a bunch of vegetables. Maybe I should skip just so he gets some proper nutrition," she muttered. Exchanging smirks, they snickered at the thought of Naruto eating any vegetable not boiled in ramen broth.

"Ah, I see. You two are dating. Well, no need to be the third wheel. I'm going home," Neji finally concluded.

Sasuke swiftly reached over to chug down Sakura's drink while she fixed Neji with a frown.

"What're you talking about?" she scoffed. She looked over at Sasuke who was pouring himself yet another drink.

"I hope you're planning to pay for that if you finish it all," she said. He stared apathetically into her eyes as he slid the full glass over to her.

"You told me to catch up," he replied. Trying not to smile, she signaled the bartender for another glass. Sasuke caught it to fill it up. Still feeling Neji's stare on her, she turned to glower at him.

"Didn't you say you were going home?" she demanded. He bristled until he saw that she was smiling.

"I'll see you around, Hyuuga," Sakura said. Neji held her gaze for a long moment. She remembered the intensity of his stare as they lay side by side, chests rising and falling erratically. Pulling the thin sheets up to her chest, she would glance over and see how far he was. Right there but a million miles away. But now, even though they were sitting so far apart, she could reach him. His eyes searched hers as he set his glass down on the bar. Neji nodded.

"Good night, Haruno," he answered. Sakura watched him turn and exit the bar, her cheek still in her hand.

Ino had been sort of right. They hadn't needed to talk. But she had needed to see his face and exchange a couple barbs. And the whiskey had patched things over. They would never be alright the way she and Kiba were. After all, she and Neji had never been friends to begin with. But Sakura supposed that she would no longer fantasize about kicking him in the teeth whenever she saw him. And that was probably healthier than nothing.

Feeling like a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders, Sakura sagged against Sasuke.

"That's it?" Sasuke's voice in her ear startled her. The vibration of his chest against her arm tickled a little. She sat up straight and then scooted her stool over so their arms were pressed together.

"Yeah, I guess," she answered with a shrug.

"All that tension and anger. Like that?"

"…Yeah."

Sasuke stared at her. Reading his face, Sakura let a grin slip across her lips.

"You think I should've punched him in the face," she guessed. The grim line of his scowl answered. A soft laugh fell from her mouth.

"I think that there's no point being mad since I hurt him too. Hitting him wouldn't make me feel any less terrible. It's better to make peace and move on," Sakura told him. The bias in Saske's disgruntled glare was clear. He saw her as the victim and Neji as some sort of villain.

How chivalrous her Sasuke-kun was. At heart, he wasn't much different from that boy who had protected her in the Forest of Death during her first Chunin exam.

"I'm a big girl, Sasuke. I make a shitty mess out of my life. And then I clean it up again all by myself," she bravely declared and stuck her chin out defiantly. Sasuke's expression softened slightly. He nudged his glass with his pointer finger until it clicked against hers. Dark amber liquid sloshed inside but didn't spill out.

"…Then what am I supposed to do?" Sasuke asked so quietly that she almost didn't hear him.

Those words pierced her. She had never heard Sasuke sound so openly lost before. There had been times when she had tasted it, felt the surface of that vast loneliness. Even though she had spent the past 10 years with a big Sasuke-shaped hole in her heart, she had a feeling that it was nothing compared to the state of Sasuke's.

As she stared up at the ceiling, she listened to the low hum of conversation around them. Her finger traced around a circle of water left by someone's glass.

"You," she said, pausing to draw in a deep breath. His head turned toward her.

"You just need to be the emotionally constipated and awkward Sasuke-kun that you are," Sakura concluded solemnly. When her gaze descended on him, the quirk in his eyebrows elicited another smile.

"One more and then I need to go home because I have work tomorrow," Sakura said, holding up her glass. With a sigh, Sasuke clinked their drinks together. They sat squished together with no room for anything in the world between them.

Despite Sakura's protests, Sasuke walked her home.

Well, he didn't really offer to. He just followed her in the completely opposite direction of his apartment until she let out an exasperated noise and spun on her heel to face him.

"At least quit skulking behind me like a stalker," she grumbled. He stood, hands in his pockets, posture slightly less perfect than usual. Sakura stalked up to him to hook her arm through his. When she leaned against him, she caught the clean smell of soap.

"The weather's so nice and the stars are out and-" Sakura stopped talking when she saw the upwards tilt of Sasuke's mouth.

"What?" she demanded as they continued walking.

"Are you always this clingy when you're drunk?" he inquired.

"I'm not drunk. If I were drunk, you'd have to carry me home. And you should know by now that I'm always a loving, snuggling person, you jackass," Sakura snapped back. She laughed at the ridiculousness of her statement and Sasuke just shook his head. They stayed to the right side of the road, watching out for the occasional person passing on a bike.

"Sasuke?" she suddenly said in a much softer voice.

"What?"

"I'm really glad you're home," Sakura admitted.

"You already told me that," he answered.

"I know. But I had to say it again. I'm really, really glad you're here," she sighed. She heard Sasuke's sigh. And then his arm was shifting, moving to wrap around her. The soft fabric of his long-sleeved shirt was welcome warmth against her bare arms. She could almost hear him scoffing at her for wearing a sleeveless dress when it was still a little cold at night.

"Home, huh?" he repeated the word softly, half under his breath.

Sakura didn't reply. She counted the steps back to her house and wondered when it had become so natural to hear Sasuke's breaths match up with hers.


Naruto's ceremony was a month later.

Sakura cried like she had always told Naruto she would. The white of the Hokage's robes fit him well, sparkling so perfectly against his golden tan. Her heart swelled with pride and when he stepped down from the platform to hug her, she burst out bawling like a child. Laughing loudly, he swayed her back and forth while Kakashi ruffled his golden mane. Sasuke reluctantly let Naruto pull him into the fray too and Sakura yanked Sai in too despite his unsure looks.

There was a huge party thrown that night with nearly everyone from the village celebrating. The heart of the festivities was held on the bottom floor of the Hokage tower. The dancing and the eating and drinking almost felt surreal after over three years of war. But it was something that the people had needed. The open-mouthed laughter and bright smiles had been missing from the faces of villagers for far too long.

In the darkness just before dawn, Tsunade donned her cloak and left the gates of Konoha. Shizune went with her, a sad smile on her face as Sakura hugged her tight. She had been more than a senpai over all these years. She had been a sister and a great comfort during the worst of her training.

"I was brought in during a time of great turmoil and war. It's time for a new leader," Tsunade simply said when Sakura scowled up at her. Eyes tearing up, Sakura hugged her beloved mentor too.

Only she and Naruto were present to see the two of them off. They stood side by side watching the two women disappear into the forest. Naruto and Sakura lingered for longer than necessary in that hushed time when the village was still sleeping.

With Naruto swept up in his new duties as the Hokage, he became a rare sight around the village. In the end, Sai politely turned down the Intelligence Division's offer and rejoined ANBU. With Shizune and Tsunade gone, Sakura suddenly found her workload even worse than before. Sasuke seemed close to going stir crazy being unable to leave the village until Ibiki and Yamanaka Inoichi offered up Sasuke the job Sai had declined. With at least something to do during the day, Sasuke was saved from going insane.

Naruto's absence was a loud sort of silence. Sakura dropped by whenever she could and that seemed to cheer him up especially as he was assaulted with paperwork and meetings every day. Sai's presence became a little erratic too as he flitted around doing various assignments with ANBU.

The routine of visiting Sasuke's old house was a sort of anchor in her schedule. Sakura never failed to drop by with flowers. The hush of sitting in front of the family altar was a rare moment of peace in her hectic days.

As the flowery sweetness of spring shifted to the lazy warmth of early summer, Sakura found herself silently exiting the empty house she had grown fond of. The increasingly balmy nights meant that people buzzed around in the streets longer. Sakura could hear the chatter and glow from the market even from several blocks away. Hugging the remaining flowers to her chest, she began walking down the street when she felt something faint. It was a very well-suppressed chakra somewhere in the district nearby. She half-considering masking her presence too before she realized that abruptly hiding herself would only draw more attention. She occupied herself wondering who would be wandering around here when she saw a figure round the corner.

The low call of "Sakura" hit her deep in the gut. Even though he was too far away to see very well, she would recognize that voice anywhere.

Him and those damn sharingan that found her immediately.

Frozen in place, she gaped as Sasuke stalked over to her. The darkness in his stare was suddenly terrifying. All she could do was watch as he his eyes roved over her and then slid to the house she had left from. She sucked in a shaky breath only when he had entered the house.

She could imagine him staring at her footprints in the thick layer of dust. She was always careful to fit into those prints, afraid to leave any other trace of herself. They would lead into the living room where everything was covered in a heavy layer of white except for the cabinet and the spot on the floor where she curled up each time. Those photos of his parents would be immaculate and the scent of incense would probably still be hovering in the air. His glare would move from the fresh flowers to the photos again and then she couldn't imagine what his reaction would be.

When Sasuke emerged from the house, she wasn't prepared for the blank look on his face. Anger she could handle from Sasuke. Disdain and disgust she could deal with. But he walked up to her again so calmly and words burst out of her in a frantic torrent.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be nosy. But I just thought that if it was my parents and I never had a chance to visit, they'd be sad. And then I thought it would be bad not to leave flowers and then it was all dusty and oh God this is so wrong. But you said you weren't ready to face them so I didn't want to a-"

Sasuke cut her off when he took another step toward her. His fingers grasped her chin, so carefully like she might break into pieces if he was too rough.

Before she could react, his lips were covering hers. It was almost a chaste touch, skin brushing skin. It still sucked the breath from her lungs. She trembled, eyelids fluttering but never closing. When Sasuke pulled back, she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. His forehead rested against hers. With dark irises piercing and soft, Sasuke inhaled slow and long.

"Go home, Sakura," he uttered in a soft voice.

Panic suddenly overflowed in her chest. Before she could stop herself, she had flash-stepped away from him and directly into her home. She collapsed against the wall in her foyer, rattling the picture frame above her head. The noise drew Sai's attention. His head poked out from the living room, hair still damp from his shower. Sakura didn't know what expression she had on her face but his eyes narrowed.

She slid down, flopping to the floor in a numb heap. Throwing the flowers to the side, she raked her fingers through her hair and stared up at the ceiling. Sai padded over to sit next to her. His long legs stretched out in front of him and he just kept her company there.


I am a master of all things evil and cliffhanger. Sorry for throwing some people into panic with the previous chapter. This story still has a ways to go.

Thank you, as always, to each reader and reviewer. All the positive feedback I've been getting has been unexpected but I'm grateful nonetheless.