I'm back! Sorry for the delay in updating. But at least this chapter is extra long. Think of it as an apology to all my dear followers ^.^

Enjoy!

Yuki called her mum at lunch time, complaining of an upset stomach so she could go home early. She spent the rest of the day in front of the television screen with a tub of chocolate ice-cream and the old photo album out to keep her company while episodes of Pokemon played in the background. The tub was half finished by the time there was a knock on the door later that afternoon. Yuki looked at the clock—it was a quarter past three and her mum would be home soon—wondering who it could be at the door. Tenten and Hinata never knocked anymore, they knew to come straight in. Yuki knew she should go to the door and see who it was but she didn't have the energy to get up. Her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying she had done since she came home and she felt exhausted.

"It's open!" Yuki called from her place on the couch. The door opened to reveal Sasuke in the entrance way, holding a brown paper bag in his hands. "Oh. Hi Sasuke." She turned her back to him so he wouldn't see the mess her face had become.

"You should really have the door locked when you're home by yourself." He scolded from his spot near the entrance. "And don't tell people to come in when you don't know who's there."

Yuki rolled her eyes at the screen, where Brock was declaring his love to Nurse Joy. Again. "Is that all you came here for? To lecture me?"

Sasuke let out a loud sigh and Yuki imagined him rubbing his temple in frustration. "No. Actually I just wanted to know if you were feeling better." Sasuke explained, making his way slowly—cautiously—to the couch, not wanting to set the brunette off again.

Feeling herself deflate, Yuki wiped her damp eyes with the back of her hand before turning to face the young Uchiha and giving him a watery smile. "Thank you Sasuke. And I'm sorry for snapping at you at school."

"It's fine." Sasuke finally made his way over and sat beside the upset teenager. "So? How are you going?"

Yuki lifted the tub of chocolate ice-cream and shook it at him. "Just what the doctor ordered. I'm feeling much better now."

Sasuke peered into the container and raised an eyebrow at her. "You ate all of that in one go? I'm impressed."

Yuki shrugged, though a grin spread across her lips. "It's what I do."

"So I'm guessing you won't feel like these then?" Sasuke said, holding out the bag for her to take.

Yuki grabbed the bag and looked inside, spying two blueberry muffins at the bottom. Her grin spread even wider and she looked back at a slightly flushed Sasuke. "This is great Sasuke, thanks so much!" She immediately took one of the muffins out and broke it into two halves, handing one to the raven haired teen.

"Thanks," Sasuke took the offered muffin half with a smirk. "I'm sorry for what Karin said today." He stated after a few minutes of silence.

Yuki gave him a reassuring smile. "It's not your fault Sasuke so don't worry about it."

Sasuke looked at her pointedly. "But I am worried. She upset you." Yuki blushed at his words and glanced at her lap, unable to keep eye contact. The photo album was still open and she gazed at a picture of her at about three years of age riding atop her father's shoulders as he ran around the yard. They both had big grins on their faces as they looked into the camera. "Is that your dad?" Sasuke asked softly as he leaned over Yuki's shoulder to see the photo.

Yuki nodded, her eyes filling up at the memory. "Yeah, that's dad. I don't…" Yuki took a deep breath, giving herself courage to say what she wanted to say. "I don't usually tell people this—only Tenten and Hinata know the story—but I don't want you to think my dad walked out on us. Most people know that it's just me and my mum and they naturally assume that my dad left us." Yuki forced herself to look Sasuke in the eye, even though hers were blurry. "He had a brain tumour. By the time we were aware of it, it was too late. I was only eight years old when he died."

Arms wrapped around Yuki and she was pulled into Sasuke's hard chest. The warmth of his arms encircling her was the last straw and Yuki felt herself give way to tears again. She sobbed into his chest, her arms gripping the front of his shirt tightly in an effort to draw herself even closer to the warm embrace.

"I miss him so much." She managed to choke out around sobs. Sasuke shushed her, his hands running in soothing circles on her back. They stayed that way for a few minutes before Yuki drew back, wiping her hand under her nose and sniffling. "Sorry. I dirtied your shirt."

Sasuke was gazing at her with such concerned eyes, Yuki realised it should frighten her. "Don't worry about it." He murmured. His hand came up to cup Yuki's cheek and he ran his thumb across it, chasing away the stray tears on her skin. Yuki was both alarmed and comforted at the gesture and she leaned into his palm, closing her eyes. Sasuke whispered her name and Yuki's eyes fluttered open, watching as his face inched closer to her own. He lifted her chin and her heart stuttered in her chest as her eyes shut again, anticipation coursing through her.

"I'm home Yuki! How are you feeling?" The couple bolted apart at the sound of her mother's voice. The older woman was walking through the door humming a tune, completely oblivious to the teenagers in the lounge room. She peered over and noticed the boy on the couch with her daughter. "I didn't know you had a friend over dear."

"H-hi mum. Sasuke was just coming over to give me some schoolwork that I missed out on." Yuki was impressed at how easily the lie came out. "He's also my partner for the English assignment we have to do, so we were going to go through a bit of that."

Her mother continued to look at her, noting the puffy, red eyes on her daughter. She trusted her daughter enough to know that Yuki would tell her what was wrong when she was ready. She waved a cheery hand at Sasuke before continuing on to her room to change.

"I should go." Sasuke said, standing abruptly once they were alone again.

"O-okay. Thanks for the muffins." Yuki replied, silently cursing herself for stuttering.

"You're welcome." He made his way to the front door before turning back to look at her again. "See you in the morning?"

A smile spread across Yuki's face and she nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you in the morning."

The next week seemed to set a pattern for Yuki and Sasuke. He would drive her to school in the mornings and drive her home in the afternoons. They would detour to the café on the way home a couple of times after school to eat blueberry muffins and work on their English assignment. And at school Sasuke and Naruto would join the girls by their tree at lunch time. Yuki noticed that during those lunch breaks Naruto seemed extra boisterous. He seemed to have even more energy than usual, though at the same time he seemed almost shy. The blonde said he was only there so he and Hinata could work on their assignment but he had yet to get it out and work on it during the break. Naruto spent most of his time trying to talk to a blushing and stuttering Hinata, though it was hard for him to get anything out of her. Yuki didn't know if Naruto thought the Hyuga was weird and was just trying to get her to speak, but whenever Hinata did say a few syllables he would grin like a madman.

It was on one such lunch break while Naruto was trying to coax the crimson Hinata into talking that Sasuke strolled over to the small group.

"Oi Sasuke! Why are you late?" Naruto asked, turning his head towards the Uchiha.

"I had a meeting with Yamato-Sensei." Sasuke replied as he took his seat beside Yuki.

"You had a meeting with the scary guidance councillor? Why?" Naruto tilted his head, confused.

"None of your business, idiot." Sasuke retorted, glaring at the blonde. Naruto just shrugged in response, turning back to talk to Hinata again.

Yuki reached over to touch Sasuke's arm, hesitant to ask if everything was alright. She didn't like when he snapped at her for being concerned. But, she decided with determination, I'm his friend so I have the right to be concerned. If he snaps at me then I'll snap right back at him.

Resolved, Yuki let her hand rest on Sasuke's arm in a comforting gesture. "Is everything okay?"

Sasuke surprised Yuki by sighing. He glanced down at the hand resting on his arm before looking back at the brunette. "Everything's fine."

"That sigh didn't sound 'fine' to me. Don't worry, I'm not going to pry," Yuki rushed to add when Sasuke opened his mouth to speak again. "But I'm always here if you want to talk." Yuki smiled warmly at the young Uchiha—she wondered when her smiles stopped being forced and started coming out naturally—and nudged his shoulder with hers.

"Thanks," He replied, a small smile playing on his lips. He let out an 'oomph' when Naruto came up and locked his arm around the Uchiha's neck.

"Sasuke, stop flirting with Yuki and come to the cafeteria with me." The blonde demanded, winking at the brunette over Sasuke's head.

"Idiot, get off of me!" Sasuke growled, grabbing Naruto's head to shove him away. Yuki was sure she hadn't imagined the faint dusting of pink that covered Sasuke's cheeks and she smiled shyly, her own cheeks flushed at the blonde's comment. They had not been flirting.Does Sasuke even know howto flirt?Do I? She mused. She had never flirted with a boy before so she wasn't sure how to go about it. Not that she was thinking about flirting with Sasuke or anything…

The raven haired teen finally managed to pry Naruto off and he scowled at the blonde. "Go by yourself."

"But Sasuke," The blonde whined, dragging out the 'e' in his friend's name. "We always go together."

"That's because you're an idiot that can't do anything by yourself." Sasuke retorted. "Take someone else."

A sly grin appeared on the blonde's lips and Sasuke glared suspiciously at his friend, slightly worried. He knew that look. "Yuki, can you please come to the cafeteria with me? Sasuke is being mean." Naruto pouted, giving Yuki puppy dog eyes.

"A-ah, sure, I guess so." Yuki stuttered, not at all expecting that. She didn't really want to go but Sasuke had already rejected him and he looked desperate. She went to stand up only to have a hand grip her wrist and pull her back down.

The raven haired teen glowered at his blonde friend fiercely. "She isn't going with you either." He barked.

"She already said she would Sasuke. Don't be such a jealous boyfriend." Naruto taunted back.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Yuki yelled at the same time Sasuke growled "Shut up idiot."

Naruto burst out laughing. "He's not denying it!" He turned to Yuki and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Hear that Yuki, he didn't deny being your—" Sasuke punched Naruto in the gut before he could finish his sentence and the blonde doubled over, winded. "Owww. Sasuke that hurt!"

Sasuke grunted, obviously satisfied. "Good."

Yuki tried to tune the boys out when Naruto started yelling at the young Uchiha while Sasuke barked angrily back at him. She turned and scooted closer to her two girlfriends, wincing. The two girls just giggled at the brunette, amused at the whole situation.

Finally Naruto jumped away from Sasuke and bounced towards the three girls. "Hinata," he sang cheerfully. "Would you like to come to the cafeteria with me?" He gave his most charming grin and Hinata almost swooned.

"M-m-me?" The blunette squeaked, turning beat red. At Naruto's insistent nod the young teen blushed darker. "O-okay." Naruto whooped and grabbed Hinata's hand, pulling her to her feet. After Hinata steadied her feet—she had almost fallen over again after Naruto helped her—the duo made their way towards the building, Naruto chattering away as the shy Hyuga tried not to faint from their close proximity. Tenten jumped up and followed after them, calling back to Yuki something about needing to find Neji to go through more of their assignment.

Yuki smiled as the trio walked away, feeling blessed to have such amazing friends. She glanced at Sasuke from the corner of her eye to see him scowling at something in the distance. She surprised herself by giggling at him which drew his attention and he raised a questioning eyebrow at the brunette. Yuki just shook her head at the young Uchiha, the grin not leaving her face.

"What?" He grunted, a slightly puzzled look marring his features.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that you have a really good relationship with Naruto." She replied, still smiling amusedly.

"You call that a good relationship?" He asked, indicating what had just gone down between the duo.

"Yeah, I do. You just seem so much more relaxed around him. Like you can be yourself and not put up that wall of yours that keeps people out. I like that."

"He's an idiot but he's a good guy. He's been there for me through some…hard times." Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, realising what he had just said. "Don't even think about telling him I said that."

Yuki pretended to zip her lips, throwing the imaginary key behind her shoulder. "My lips are sealed. It's important to have friends you can rely on so I'm glad you have Naruto."

Sasuke grunted, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the conversation at hand. He didn't like talking about his feelings to people. Sasuke took a deep breath, steadying himself for what was to come. He had something he wanted to ask the brunette but he just couldn't get the words out. Don't be a coward! He scolded himself with an internal scowl.

"So did you want to go to the café this afternoon to work on our assignment?" Yuki asked, frowning when she noticed Sasuke wasn't paying attention. "Sasuke?" She shook his arm and he blinked at her, refocussing. "I said did you want to go to the café this afternoon for our assignment?"

"No."

"No?" Yuki raised her eyebrow at the Uchiha, confused. He usually gave a quick grunt of affirmation to this request. "You're not getting sick of blueberry muffins already, are you?" She teased.

A light chuckle escaped Sasuke's lips and he smirked at the brunette. "I'm afraid that if I say yes you'll hit me." He replied, making Yuki laugh. "But no, that's not the reason."

"Oh? Do you want to skip today then? We can do it tomorrow instead if that's better for you."

Sasuke shook his head, looking slightly annoyed. "No we can do it today."

"So… did you want to go somewhere else then instead of the café?" Yuki asked slowly, silently hoping she could still get her muffin.

Sasuke frowned deeply, frustrated. "No. Yes." He growled softly, not able to get his thoughts into words.

"Are you okay Sasuke?" Yuki tried to keep a straight face, but an amused smile crept onto her lips. It wasn't every day that the great Sasuke Uchiha was at a loss for words—not that he spoke much anyway, but when he did he always seemed to know what to say.

"Hn, I'm fine." His eyebrows furrowed and Yuki felt the impulsive urge to reach out and smooth out the creases. She placed her hands in her lap so she wouldn't be tempted to do so.

"O…kay then. Well, when you figure out what you wanted to say let me know." She grinned at the sudden scowl on his face. "So my mum wants to take me out shopping again this Saturday." Yuki said, deciding to change the topic. "We haven't been spending much time together lately because she's had to work a lot and she wants to 'bond'. I'm a bit worried though because she's a scary shopper. Seriously, she's fierce when she's on the hunt for a good sale. It's a little embarrassing. And—"

"Stop." Sasuke reached out and grabbed Yuki's arm to stop her babbling.

"Hm? Sorry, was my story boring you?"

The raven haired teen took a deep breath and let it out before speaking. "Come to my place this afternoon to work on our assignment."

Yuki's eyebrow shot up in astonishment at his demanding tone. "Are you asking me or telling me?"

"I'm asking you."

"Really? Because it sounded like you were telling me."

"Fine." Sasuke growled, uncomfortable with having to ask again. "Do you want to come to my place this afternoon?"

"To?" She inquired, too amused to be nice.

"To work on our assignment." He replied in a tone suggesting it should be obvious while glaring at the brunette.

"Does that mean no blueberry muffins then?" Yuki asked with a pout.

"We can stop there on the way to get some muffins if you want." He replied, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Yuki pretended to think it through, ignoring the look of impatience on Sasuke's face. In truth, she was actually really excited to visit his place, though a little nervous as well.

"That should be fine." She said with a grin, unable to tease the young Uchiha longer. "As long as I get my muffins."

"Of course."

"Oh!" Yuki exclaimed suddenly. "Should I bring something for your parents? Do they like muffins? What should I call them?" She felt suddenly very nervous. Was she ready to meet Sasuke's parents? They were like super rich, weren't they?

"They won't be home this afternoon." Sasuke stated, not quite meeting Yuki's eyes. "Dad's away on a trip and mum doesn't get home until later."

"So it will just be… the two of us?" Yuki questioned, feeling immensely more nervous than a moment ago. Sasuke gave an affirmative grunt, still not meeting her eye.

"I thought it would be easier to bring you over when they weren't home." Sasuke admitted. "The maid should be there, if that makes you feel better."

He has a maid? Yuki mused to herself. Wait, what am I saying? Of coursehe would have a maid. She smiled at the young Uchiha. "I'm looking forward to it."

A small smile found its way on Sasuke's lips at her words. "Good."

Soooo? What did you think? Do you think Sasuke is becoming a bit OOC? Please let me know your opinions, as I want to keep them (Sasuke especially) in character as much as I can.

I didn't get to do as much writing as I had originally planned while away from the internet, which means I haven't gotten any further than this. ^.^" Gah! I need to do some serious writing! I just get distracted easily...

Reviews and constructive criticism are loved!

Thanks for reading~