12. Two birds, one stone

Silence: A period of time without speech or noise; total absence of sound.

That's one way of defining what silence is, but it's very basic and covers only one aspect of it… there is so much more to silence than just the lack of sound. It can also be silent in a loud and crowded room, where words tear through the air like a swarm of disoriented hornets, hitting anyone in reach…

It's not the absence of sound in total, not necessarily at least, it can also be the lack of response, the lack of hearing the words you want to hear, the lack of attention from the person you want to get it from, or even so little as the lack of simple gestures. That's the worst kind of silence, the one that is hardest to bear, because in most cases it occurs as a reaction to something…

It was another of these shifts that would never end and there were more than just the usual reasons for that…

Actually, after that last mission, they had all been given five days off and the guys could still claim that for themselves, whereas Sakura and Sayuri had to work in the hospital again after only three days, because a group of badly injured Jounin had just gotten back from a long-term mission in the Land of Thunder.

The first part of the day had been really stressful and demanding, but in the course of time, after they had been able to stabilize them, it had gotten a bit calmer again and that's actually when it had gotten worse.

Once there wasn't so much to do anymore, it became impossible to miss the sphere of concentrated silence which was literally surrounding the pinkette and seemed worse than any word she might have said. It wasn't like she didn't talk to her… when their work demanded it, she would speak to her, but no more than necessary and without looking at her.

"Did you already treat the man in bed 6?" Sayuri asked her colleague after she had checked the medication of the person in the white-curtained bed next to it.

"No. That's your job." Sakura said in a blank voice, never averting her emerald eyes from the patient chart she was flipping through.

Failed attempt at starting a conversation number 8.

Sayuri knew that she was responsible for bed 6; it had just been yet another desperate attempt to converse with the Haruno… She didn't really know what she would have expected for a response, this had just been the first thing she was able to come up with spontaneously… Yet more proof that this whole talking-thing really wasn't in her nature…

This is how most of the afternoon had passed. They walked on from patient to patient, did their jobs and talked as little as possible. And the quicker the hours moved to the end of their shift the more desperate Sayuri became, as she still hadn't been able to get through to the pinkette. Trying to save what can be saved, but Sakura really didn't make it easy for her.

About half an hour before their shift would ultimately come to an end, the two girls where standing in a narrow corridor, right in front of the huge massive door leading into one of the numerous operating rooms, where their presumably last patient for the day was being treated at the moment.

Sakura stood with her back leaning against the cold wall and her arms firmly crossed in front of her chest. Her green eyes were fixed on the window wall in front of her, but she didn't seem to look at anything in particular.

Sayuri on the other hand was sitting on one of the long wooden benches, with her hands folded in her lap and her eyes switched from her knees to her team-mate and back again. You should think that now that she was with Sasuke, her limit for tolerating silence would have risen, but apparently it was much lower than it has ever been.

"You think he'll be okay…?" Sayuri asked the pinkette hesitantly, not only because she was still anxious to talk to her, but also because she knew the person who had been really badly injured during his mission and was really worried about him – after all he was in the OR since four hours now and still no news from within.

"Hm…" Sakura merely shrugged, still not averting her eyes from the dirty glass, which softened the incident light like a filter.

Failed attempt at starting a conversation number 15.

"Phew…" Sayuri sighed wearily, more than disappointed by how things were going.

Maybe she should stop talking about some random things and start with talking about what she really wanted to say, about what had gotten them into this precarious situation in the first place… So, even though it took her an awful lot of overcoming, Sayuri finally turned her head towards the pinkette and raised her voice.

"Sakura… can't we… can't we just talk about it?" She asked in a timid voice, even though she tried really hard to appear calm and confident, but unsurprisingly that didn't work…

"Pfft…" Sakura exhaled sharply and closed her eyes. "You wanna talk…? Now?"

"Mmm-hmm…" She nodded, already intimidated by the snappy tone in Sakura's voice, but definitely willing to get this over with…

"Tze… You had all the time in the world to open your mouth and now you wanna talk…" The Haruno snorted and now finally looked directly at her team-mate for the first time this day and her eyes seemed to be filled with anger and Sayuri couldn't help but to swallow hard as she saw that… "Okay then – let's talk. Tell me: when did that start with you?"

"That's hard to say… a short time before he came back, right before we were attacked by Deidara…" Sayuri murmured, trying to keep up the eye contact to read something in Sakura's features, but still there was nothing but rage and apparently also disbelief…

"Is that so? Are you sure, it wasn't more like… phew… I don't know… about the time we used to live together… as I've seen you and you promised faithfully that it was just a 'misunderstanding'?" The pinkette glared at her and raised an eyebrow waiting for her to reply and something about her posture told Sayuri that it didn't really matter what she'd say, Sakura had already decided on what to believe…

"But it was a misunderstanding. There hadn't been anything then. Really… "She defended herself meekly, but was then interrupted as Sakura snorted scornfully.

"Are you sure about that? Because it would make sense… Like we were here… all worried about you, because you were supposed to be missing, when in reality you were just visiting your boyfriend."

"I didn't visit him! I ran into him by accident and then they more or less kidnapped me and-"

"-and still it was about then that you came together… after he kidnapped you – who is supposed to believe you that?" Sakura interrupted her brusquely and cast another one of her all too famous and not to forget intimidating killer glares at the violet-haired girl, who had shrunken down on the bench by now.

"But it's the truth…" Sayuri murmured helplessly and looked down at her knees again. "I would have told you earlier but-"

"BUT YOU DIDN'T!" Sakura barked and spun around to face her directly, but as she saw the shocked expression on Sayuri's face and then also that of a nurse who just happened to pass them and was apparently startled by her volume, she closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath, trying to calm down a little.

"You knew that I liked him and still you hadn't thought it necessary to tell me. Friends just don't do that…" She shook her head and looked down at the floor briefly, before she focused her eyes on her team-mate again and looked at her with a mixture of disappointment and hurt.

It was really hard to defend yourself when your opponent had so damn good arguments… Sayuri knew she was right; every single word of what she had just said was true, she hadn't behaved like a friend would, so Sakura had every right to be mad at her.

"You're right…" The violet-haired girl murmured in a faint voice and averted her eyes to the floor again. "I wish I would have told you… but it's too late now."

"Yes… it's too late now." The pinkette repeated her words in a blank voice and stared into space as well. "I can't trust you anymore… I just neither have the time nor the nerve to deal with fake friends…"

These words were like a slap in the face. She had known that Sakura was disappointed and she had known that she had totally screwed up – she had even been sure that this is exactly what it would come down to and yet she didn't even feel nearly prepared for this… all her great knowledge didn't even help her a bit to deal with this entire situation… all she could do now was to surrender, to accept that their friendship was apparently over…

"I just want you to know that I'm really sorry…" Sayuri apologized in a shaky voice. "I never did anything with the intention of hurting you…"

"… It's too late now…" Sakura repeated again in a toneless voice, her saddened emerald eyes likewise fixed on the grey linoleum floor, which seemed to be a thing of greatest interest today…

After that none of them spoke another word, until, after an endlessly long seeming time, the door of the operating room finally flew open, before two men, dressed in the typical white uniforms most medic-nin wore, walked out, greeted them briefly and informed them about how the surgery had gone, before they vanished again.

After they were gone, the two of them walked into the room and on to the bed which stood in the middle of it and looked at the brown-haired man and noticed that he was snoring lightly.

Actually this would have led to a comment, but right now none of the two felt like speaking, so they just walked to either side of the bed and started rolling it out of the room, through numerous corridors and finally into an empty hospital room in one of the upper floors, where they connected him to various machines.

"Look who we've got here…" The Jounin raised his voice in a drowsy tone and stared through lidded eyes and with a hazy look into the room, apparently trying to follow the movement around him, but not really able yet.

"Shigeru – you're awake already?" Sayuri turned around to him and regarded him with a surprised expression, before she walked up to him and pulled out a small flashlight with which she checked his pupil reaction.

"Long time no see." He grinned seeming far less dazed than just a few seconds ago and was apparently not bothered by the fact that someone was fidgeting around at his eyes.

"You're right…" Sayuri smiled mildly, glad that there was at least one person in the room who wasn't mad at her… She had met Shigeru the first time when they had done a mission in Kusa-Gakure – actually the first one as the old Team7, right after Sasuke had come back the first time. Since then they had been given quite a few missions together, especially around the time they had feared an attack by Orochimaru and had therefore positioned more ninja at the borders and all teams had gotten wildly mixed anyway.

"What happened to you?" She asked and finally moved the flashlight away from his face.

"We've been sent to the Land of Thunder, to keep watch on a suspicious group of ninja, who were all known to bear a grudge against the Hidden Leaf… Phew… hard to believe that that's already three months ago-"

"Three months?" Sayuri asked in a surprised tone, while Sakura kept quiet, since she had never had much to do with the Jounin anyway and carried on taking care of his IV.

"Tze… you didn't even notice I was gone this long, huh?" He sounded slightly offended and even managed to put on a pout, even though one half of his face seemed a little less inclined to do what he wanted to than the other, which made it look kind of asymmetric, not to say funny…

"Oh… of course I did, but I didn't think it was just one mission…" Sayuri said truthfully, but the injured man didn't seem too convinced.

"Wooh… I think I smell a lie here." He nearly sang the words in an amused voice, while Sakura exhaled sharply, as if she meant to back him up.

Sayuri lowered her head a little, but otherwise pretended she hadn't heard that and turned back to Shigeru. "So how come you nearly died here…?"

"Tze, tze…" He shook his head and smirked slyly. "I'm afraid that is top secret. I can't tell you that we've been right with our suspicions and I can't tell you either that we've gotten involved in fights with them and most of all I can't tell you that we so kicked their asses." He grinned proudly and winked at the girl next to him.

"Well then you better keep it to yourself…" Sayuri returned the grin and was really glad that he was here – not that he was injured of course, but that he was here and managed to cheer her up. It was much easier if she could hide her worries behind a smile, especially when she didn't even have to do much to summon that smile…

"You must have a whole lot of holiday now, don't you?" She asked and stepped to the side as Sakura squeezed past her, looking a little annoyed, since she was doing all the work here while Sayuri was just chatting to their patient.

"That sounds like there is a bit more to that question…" He raised an eyebrow meaningfully and then added with a wide grin on his face. "Does my favourite nurse crave for spending some time with moi?"

"Pah – I'm not a nurse!" Sayuri pouted, really glad that there was no real nurse in the room, who might feel offended by her words, but then she cocked her head to the side as Sakura left the room without saying another word, which made her feel quite doleful again, but she tried to hide that as best as possible.

"How come you're in such a good mood anyway? You just woke up after a really long surgery – aren't you supposed to act a little more drowsy and suffering?"

"Nah – I never felt better!" He assured her and grinned cheekily and now Sayuri realized what was going on.

"Oh…" She exhaled and cast another look into his patient chart.

"What 'Oh…'?" He scrutinized her sceptically, waiting for her to explain that weird and apparently meaningful sound.

"Well… I fear that's just because you're drugged…"

"You mean I just think I feel good when actually I'm in pain?" He stared at her through wide eyes and received a hesitant nod in response, which caused an uncommonly thoughtful expression to appear on his face.

"Hmm… well… I guess that's okay… As long as I can still think I'm alright then that's okay, I guess…" He grinned and winked at the violet-haired girl, who looked a little startled at the moment.

As long as he could still think he's alright…

It seems like he hadn't understood that whole thing… the drugs made him unaware of the pain… it's not like his own thoughts kept it away… but still these words kept haunting her… think you are alright… Maybe he had some more experience with that… maybe it really did work; how comforting it would be to believe you could just think your pain and all your worries away… It was definitely worth a try – it would be great if it worked and even if not, she couldn't be more than disappointed and she had quite some experience with that, so there was nothing to lose…

Late in the afternoon, Sayuri finally left the hospital; she had again staid longer than she actually had to, but on a voluntary basis, so no reason to complain…

First thing she did when she arrived her small hut was to take a long shower, trying to get rid of all these different, pungent hospital smells, which seemed to have soaked through her clothes, her hair and every single pore of her skin – or maybe it was just in her nose and she imagined all this…

About an hour later, as the sun was only just beginning to set, Sayuri was on her way to the Uchiha compound; actually she was a bit late already, but not much and since they hadn't planned to do anything special anyway it shouldn't matter too much.

She walked across the open yard, right in front of the huge mansion, when she heard some voices and a couple of seconds later she could see a well-known shock of red hair, which could only belong to a single person.

"Karin…?" She stared at the back of the woman, who stood there in the doorway, right in front of Sasuke, who now looked past the redhead and met her gaze.

"Sayuri-chan!" Karin spun around on her heels and clapped her hands together, with an obviously fake smile on her lips – apparently the interruption bothered her, but she should have known… she was this great, ultra-skilled chakra censor type, wasn't she? - So she should have already sensed her from a distance. But maybe she had… maybe this was just an act – another one of her intrigues… she couldn't effort to lower her guard with her around, the last time should be proof enough…

"Hey." She replied in a neutral voice and regarded her with a light frown on her face, before she walked to Sasuke and kissed him briefly, feeling some weird kind of satisfaction at seeing the sour look on Karin's face and she was actually tempted to kiss him again, like a lioness marking her territory, although she wouldn't go so far as to pee a circle around him now.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but are you helping me now or not, Sasuke?" Her face had gone back to normal again and her voice was as snappy as usual.

"Help?" Sayuri asked not knowing what she was talking about.

"I just need two strong, male hands for a little job…" Karin purred with a light smile on her lips, before she crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised an eyebrow in a challenging manner.

"What is it Sayuri – can you spare him for half an hour?" She asked and kind of startled the violet-haired girl, since she still didn't really know what she was talking about, so she looked up at Sasuke, but his face was entirely blank so she couldn't really read anything in it.

"Well… he can do whatever he wants…" Sayuri furrowed her brows and now drew Sasuke's gaze back to her and still tried to figure out what this whole thing was about, when Karin raised her voice again.

"Oh… that's good to know…" The red-haired woman murmured slowly and cast an ambiguous glance at Sayuri, who now felt like it had been incredibly stupid to say this. After all Karin was like really good-looking, and just far too self-confident and not to forget so very obviously interested in her boyfriend – and she had just told him he could do whatever he wanted – as if she didn't care about it, which was clearly not the case…

"But what do you want to do anyway?" She asked hesitantly and again saw the hint of a smile play about Karin's lips, as if she saw her question as a sign for suspicion – for weakness…

"I bought some new furniture and asked Sasuke to help me get it here… what have you been thinking?"

There it was again – this question and especially her intonation and then that self-satisfied look on her face… she was definitely trying to make her look bad here…

"Nothing – that's why I asked." Sayuri retorted, trying to sound entirely unimpressed.

"Good, then can we go now, Sasuke?" Karin smiled at the Uchiha-heir, who didn't look too keen on this whole thing though, which kind of relieved Sayuri a bit. Still she didn't know why he was doing this then. He was thankful alright, after all she had helped him with achieving his goal and he felt like he was in her debt, but that didn't mean that he had to do whatever she asked him to.

"I'll be right back." He murmured and pushed the door behind him further open, motioning her to go in, before he stepped past her and walked off with Karin, who couldn't help but to look over her shoulder and shoot a meaningful leer at the violet-haired girl.

Once they were out of sight, Sayuri walked in and closed the door behind her, before she leaned her back against it and closed her eyes, while taking a deep breath.

So he was gone with Karin now.

And she had more or less allowed him to do whatever he wanted to do…

But she trusted him now… They had kind of talked about it and he had assured her that there was nothing between him and her, so she believed him. This was definitely just another of her plans to separate them – it was easy to tell from the way she had talked and behaved – just another act, but this time she was above these things. She wouldn't allow herself to be unsettled by her again. Still she didn't feel too good about this whole thing, but that was probably because of how the day had gone in general and just because she trusted Sasuke, didn't mean she trusted Karin…

She still didn't know why he slept with her anyway. Actually she had meant to ask him, but she hadn't really known how. How can you ask someone why he's had sex with another person? Had he done so because he was attracted to her? It definitely seemed to be the most plausible explanation, but then that didn't really fit to who he was, or who he had been. He had never been known for his womanizing, on the contrary. He was this unapproachable, emotionless person who had never shown the slightest interest in the opposite sex or other people in general, so it was surprising to think that he of all people would succumb to his urges and have a one-night stand. But it must have been somewhat in the course of the time he had been with Orochimaru that he must have changed, had grown up and had apparently developed an interest in women – otherwise he wouldn't be with her now. Then he had realized that he was attracted to Karin and they had slept with each other. And Karin was completely different form her, so if Karin was apparently his type how come he was with her then? Maybe he had felt attracted to her on a physical level, but just couldn't stand being near her, which would explain, why he wasn't with the redhead now, but with her, the girl he apparently wanted and that should be enough for her. Quite frankly, she hadn't really expected him to say something of that sort, but she was really glad he had – it was just damn reassuring…

Even so it might be good to tell him what she had said after all… just to make sure he knew what she was up to, because at times she really doubted that he did… But then it was quite some time ago now and it was probably a bad thing to rake over old coals… Especially considering that she hadn't told him about it right after it happened, which had been a really stupid thing… She'd have to learn to be more open with him and tell him when something bothered her – swallowing the bitter pill and submission had no place in a relationship… she should know that by now…

She ran a hand through her hair and opened her eyes again, staring at the dark and empty corridor in front of her. Somehow this house was different when she was alone here, or just when Sasuke wasn't here… It was so huge and most of the corridors were shadowy and grey, it sometimes actually seemed as if its dark past would shine through the walls, but somehow only when Sasuke wasn't around – as if his presence could somehow force it back…

She sighed again and let her eyes wander across the entrance region; there was nothing special to it; just a simple cupboard and a single step, which led to one of the main corridors and the staircase. Still she didn't feel comfortable, but it wasn't really surprising – after all every time she had been alone here was connected to some not so very nice memories…

She finally pushed herself off the door and tried to fight back those irrational thoughts, before she slipped out of her shoes and walked upstairs, but didn't really know what to do with her time, so she just strolled through the different hallways and peered into room after room. Even though she had once lived here she hadn't really seen all of them yet, especially the eastern part was still pretty much new territory for her.

It was somehow weird to see some of these rooms – especially those which had escaped their cleaning tour the year before and were still left in the very state from about eleven years ago…

One of these new rooms caught her attention in particular; some kind of workroom or library. She didn't know if it was okay, but she couldn't help but to walk into it. As she did, the dust which seemed to cover each and every surface, seemed to spring to life and danced through the air, so she came to a stop and waited for it to settle again before she dared to walk again and take a look at the really large bookshelf at the wall across from the door, containing everything from small to big, narrow to thick books, but what they all had in common was an almost finger thick layer of dust which made it impossible to read their titles.

At first Sayuri thought about blowing it away, but then she figured it would be better to just pat it off, so she wouldn't end up inhaling it. There were various different pieces among it, something to just about every subject area, except for fiction maybe and there were noticeably many medical books among them and one really huge volume about herbs and their uses caught her attention in particular. She pulled it out of its row and brushed her hand over its cover, exposing a very detailed illustration of some plants, above which was the book's title, written in a very old script, which was pretty hard to read.

She opened to a random page and leaned the upper edge against one of the massive shelf-boards, since it was pretty heavy, before she started reading in it and was really impressed by some of the things she found in it.

"What are you doing here?" She perceived Sasuke's voice and twitched in surprise, since she had been so distracted by the book that she hadn't even noticed his entrance.

"Just reading… These are some really interesting books… was anyone in your family a medic?" She asked and stared back at the two shelves, which were entirely filled with medical books.

"No. My father thought it was necessary to have knowledge of everything, so he bought all these books." Sasuke stated in a blank voice, even though he was talking about his family here…

"Really? Your father must have been really intelligent…" Sayuri looked with an awed expression over the at least five hundred books here and tried to visualize how much knowledge they must contain…

"He never read them. He was just a collector…" Sasuke said and leaned back against the door frame, while putting his hands into his pockets and keeping his eyes fixed on the girl on the other side of the room, who again focused her attention on the book she was holding.

"What a waste…" She sighed after some time, as she got more and more into the book. "This is really great…"

"You can keep it." Sasuke ripped her out of her thoughts again and caused her to turn her face back to him.

"Oh… I didn't mean it that way…" It kind of made her feel uncomfortable to accept a present from him; especially something like this here; it was very old and apparently handwritten so it had to be very valuable. "I couldn't accept that."

She watched how Sasuke shrugged indifferently and clasped the book shut before she squeezed it back into the bookshelf again and wandered with her fingers over the backs of all the other books, until she reached the end of the shelf and looked at the dark wooden bureau beside it, which looked mainly grey though. There were numerous picture frames on top of it, completely grey as well, so you could think they were tiny mirrors if you looked at them from a distance.

Her eyes wandered across the different picture frames, before she picked one of them up and patted the dust off it, revealing a picture of Sasuke and his family. He was very young there, maybe four or five and was carried piggy-back by his brother who smiled into the camera, while Sasuke held up bunny ears behind his head and cast a toothless grin into the camera. To their left was their father, who was wearing some kind of uniform and had his hands crossed in front of his chest – on a whole he looked very stern, but also fair and authoritative - a typical leading figure… And then to their right was their mother, a kind looking woman with long black hair and equally black eyes, looking very much like her two sons…

"Your mother is beautiful…" Sayuri whispered and couldn't avert her eyes from the tender smile on the young mother's face and the proud look in her eyes…

"Was." Sasuke corrected her and now finally left his position at the door and planted himself right in front of Sayuri, who gazed at him with an uneasy expression, before he took the picture out of her hands and put it back to where it used to stand.

She still side-glanced at the numerous pictures and couldn't keep a saddened expression from appearing on her face… It was cruel. Here were all these pictures of this apparently happy family, all seeming very close to each other the way they were smiling into the camera, as if they meant to show how good life could be, when in reality…

"How can you bear this…?" Sayuri breathed in a muted voice and turned her eyes back up to Sasuke, who wore a light frown on his face, but then closed his coal black eyes briefly, knowing exactly what she was talking about…

"It's not a question of 'can' – it's something I have to do." He stated in a blank voice, as if this whole thing didn't affect him at all and yet there was something about his eyes, just something… a different kind of blankness, not the usual one, something more deep and thoughtful…

"Living in this house, carrying my clan's name and restoring it's former reputation – it's the least I can do to preserve their memory." Sasuke said while looking at the pictures himself, before he turned back to the girl in front of him and found her looking at him, with an equally thoughtful expression on her face.

This was the first time she had talked to him about his family and it somehow made her wonder if this house felt the same to him, when he was alone here, as it did to her… if it wasn't a privilege for him to have a house as great as this here all for himself but rather a sacrifice. A sacrifice he felt he had to make, but still nothing more than a sacrifice…

Somehow she felt like hugging and comforting him now, but she was sure that he neither wanted nor needed that – he had his own way of dealing with these things and that one didn't include admitting weakness, even though he still had that look on his face, as if he felt a little uncomfortable talking about these things, but didn't want to let it show. Maybe he was strong and was in control of his feelings, but that didn't mean he didn't have any – alone the fact that she was here with him showed that – so instead of comforting him, she should probably try to distract him, even if only in case she imagined all this, simply because she wanted to believe that it didn't leave him all unaffected…

"So… what did Karin buy?" She tried to change the topic and it seemed as if Sasuke was grateful for that, at least his face went back to entirely blank again – his usual emotionless mask.

"A table." He replied curtly and caused a startled expression to appear on Sayuri's face.

"She needed your help for carrying a simple table?" – Now at the latest she knew that Karin had really just been acting this whole thing… kind of pathetic to think that she had to come up with such a stupid story to get him to spend some time with her…

"I doubt it." Sasuke shrugged, but then furrowed his brows as he saw the grin on Sayuri's face.

It was really good to know that he had apparently seen through her, even though it wasn't really hard - against expectation discreetness didn't seem to be Karin's strong point…

"So… what do we do now?" Sayuri asked, still barely able to bite back the gloating grin, so she wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck and kissed him lightly, while he reflexively put his hands on her hips.

"Let's go eating." He breathed against her lips, causing her to open up her eyes again in surprise.

"You mean go as in 'go down into the kitchen and eat there'?" She murmured while pulling her head back a little to look into his eyes.

"If I had meant that I would have said so." He merely replied and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"So… you mean… go eating… like… a date?" Sayuri asked hesitantly, feeling somehow strange while saying the words…

"Call it as you like – so?" He asked somewhat impatiently, still waiting for her to respond, even though the beaming smile on her face should have been answer enough…

"Well – yes!" She grinned and kissed him again, already looking forward to her first real date and even if he might not call it that way, to her it definitely was one…

It was already dark outside, or at least it should be, but the clear sky was speckled with numerous tiny stars and the full moon stood like a cosmic lamp in the middle of the indigo firmament, bathing the streets in a pale silvery glow.

This pleasant, subtle light soon yielded to a more salient and colourful one, as the two shinobi came across the district in the Village Hidden in the Leaves in which most shops and restaurants were located.

They were walking side by side, with only little distance between them, but without touching each other, like most of the other couples did they came across… But that was okay… she felt confident with him now, she didn't need to display their closeness through these kinds of gestures, which didn't mean she wouldn't like that, but still it was their privacy and no one else's business…

"Where do you want to eat?" Sasuke stopped, as they were in the middle of the street and looked from one of the numerous restaurants to the next, before he looked down at the girl beside him who still gazed indecisively up and down the street,

"Uhm… I don't know…" She sucked in her bottom lip, before popping it out again and finally turning to the dark-haired man. "You decide."

"Hn." He pressed his lips into a thin line briefly, before he looked to the side and then started walking into that direction, closely followed by Sayuri.

It was a relatively small but nice-looking one. It had two dining areas both in- and outdoors, which were mainly separated by a half open wall, which enabled you to look into it and had some paper slides at the top of it, bearing the restaurants name on them. They walked across the outer terrace, all of whose tables seemed to be occupied, with vividly chatting or at times just quietly dreaming people and walked into the restaurant, where it was far less crowded.

They didn't wait for any waiter, but walked directly to one of the a bit more secluded tables, since they were all completely identical anyway; they were all rectangular with two benches at either side of them and behind theirs there was also a big plant, which served a bit as a cover – it wasn't really romantic, but she hadn't really expected so anyway…

They sat down across from each other and ordered their food by a young waiter who cast a baffled look at them and stayed longer at their table than he would have probably had to without really doing anything, until a rather distinct look of Sasuke drove him away.

Once they were more or less among themselves again, they began chatting carelessly, or rather Sayuri did so, while Sasuke posed some questions occasionally, or answered some himself, even though in a rather reticent manner, most of the time. Still they were both having a good time; Sayuri told him most of her day, but left the whole Sakura-part out, since she didn't want to dampen the mood, or maybe she just wasn't ready to talk about it yet, and while she did, Sasuke kept his eyes fixed on her, as if he was really interested in what she had to say. They were so absorbed in their conversation that they nearly forgot about the people surrounding them, until their waiter came back and brought them their food, but that wasn't good…

Not that the food was bad – on the contrary, it was really good; she wondered why she had never eaten here before – but now that they were eating and staring at their plates and not talking anymore, their surroundings seemed to force themselves back into Sayuri's awareness…

With the falling temperatures outside it had gotten fuller in here, so they weren't really sitting at a secluded table anymore but just at a table and she could hear the people talk and could hear their names quite often… actually just his name – he was the famous one here, but she couldn't help but to think that 'that girl' in combination with his last name, referred to her… but maybe she was just imagining this…

She looked to the side, trying to move her head as little as possible and saw two women at the table next to them who were huddled together over their table and whispered secretly, while casting some stealthy glances at them every now and then, until they noticed they were caught and looked pointedly into the other direction. On the other side it was pretty much the same and she still heard people murmur his name more often than not. It seemed like they were THE discussion topic here and she really didn't like that… She couldn't stand the thought that all these people were watching them, talking about them and probably inventing their own stories about them, as it was always the case… She really hated being in the centre of attention – regardless for what reason, however the temporary one made it just all the worse…

She directed her attention back at the still fairly full plate in front of her and all the delicious food on it and noticed that she wasn't really hungry anymore. Or maybe still hungry but she just didn't feel like eating, now that she could literally feel all these curious and speculative eyes on them, which made her feel really nervous and self-conscious. Still she didn't want something like that to ruin their night so she tried her best to block them out and forced herself to carry on eating again, really slowly though, because she felt so shaken that she was afraid she'd miss her mouth and poke her food into her cheek, which would probably just fuel even more rumours then…

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked after he had finished his plate and had quite some time to watch the girl in front of him stare at her food with an almost intent expression.

"Huh?" She looked up and met his gaze, before she nodded hesitantly and fixed her grey-blue eyes on the collar of his black pullover. She had about eaten up now, so this was the time to carry on talking again, so she could focus on his voice, instead of all these other ones, especially since the words they uttered became all the more blunt and suggestive over the time and it became really hard to listen to them, but she just couldn't think of anything to say now…

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" She asked in a faint voice and looked at the young Uchiha-heir, who just nodded his head lightly but scrutinized her with a piercing gaze. His nod was almost like a starting signal for her to get to her feet and rush off to the restroom, all too aware of all the gazes, which followed her, or maybe just imagining they would, but fleeing from them anyway.

Once the heavy wooden door fell shut behind her, she leaned against it and put a hand to her forehead, while filling her lungs with the ocean-fresh air and then holding her breath.

This was far more difficult than she would have thought – she had known that people would talk – after all gossiping was about the favourite occupation of Konoha's inhabitants, but still she wouldn't have expected this to affect her so much – but then she wouldn't have thought they'd be this blunt and blatant either…

She exhaled the held-breath again and dropped her hand down, before she roamed her eyes through the white-tiled room, making sure she was really alone here and then walked up to the sink and stared at her reflection. She couldn't get these words out of her head – the questions of what they were doing here, what he – Uchiha Sasuke – was doing here with her anyway and then their conclusions to it, which she really tried to banish from her mind. She wondered if Sasuke didn't hear them or if he just really didn't care about all this – he always said so, but it was still hard to believe… at least for her, who was just completely unsettled by all of this…

She ran a hand through her hair and then bowed down to splash some cold water into her face, hoping it would help her calm down a little again…

She shouldn't care about what they said, about how they couldn't imagine why she was with him – or rather he with her… But then she didn't really know that herself – but he wanted her, he told her he did, what more could she want?

She turned off the water and looked into the mirror again, before she groped for some paper towels and started drying her face. It had been a nice evening so far – a really pleasant change to the shitty start of the day, so she shouldn't let those people she didn't even know anyway ruin this for her…

She closed her eyes again and took another deep breath, mentally bracing herself, before she opened her eyes again and walked out of the restroom again.

She kept her eyes fixed on the wall in front of her, trying not to look into any faces, until their table came into view and she could see a well-known blonde man sit on the bench right where she had sat before.

"Naruto?" She raised her eyebrows in surprise and stared at the back of her team-mate's head, until he turned around and flashed a wide smile at the violet-haired girl.

"Sayuri-chan – how are you doing?" The Uzumaki asked in a loud and cheerful voice, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Oh – I'm fine, but what are you doing here?" She wore a puzzled expression on her face – really not understanding it since this was clearly not Ichiraku's…

"I was just on my way home when I saw Teme here and decided to say hello – I nearly missed him – hidden as you are– but I guess I've got a good eye…" The blonde chattered carelessly, not even taking into consideration that he might not be welcome here, which wasn't really the case though, at least not in Sayuri's opinion, she didn't really know how Sasuke thought about it, but she was somehow glad he was here…

Since it really didn't look like Naruto would leave any time soon, Sayuri walked to the other side of the table and sat down next to Sasuke, who then put an arm around her waist, which no one could see though, since there was the wall behind and the table in front of them, but still she gave him a familiar smile and moved closer to him, before she looked to the front again and noticed that Naruto was staring at them with a happy face.

"So you're really a couple now, huh?" Naruto asked and grinned archly at the two people in front of him, who just nodded in response, even though that hadn't really been necessary, simply their posture made it easy to tell… "Say, Sayuri-chan, how is our ice-block here in private – is he also so cold when you're among yourselves or is he actually more of the cuddly kind – have you ever been alone with him anyway?"

"Well… different, no, not really and yes." She worked off his questions one by one and first caused a clueless expression to flit over Naruto's face, until he finally understood what she meant, which caused another thoughtful look to appear on his face as he apparently had to recall all his questions again, so he wouldn't get them mixed up.

"Not really, but practically yes?" The blonde asked and grinned mischievously, while Sasuke sighed in annoyance, which then caused Sayuri to grin as well.

"Just… not really…" Sayuri shook her head lightly and smirked before she looked up at Sasuke, who still appeared clearly annoyed, but wouldn't say anything to defend himself.

"Mmm-hmm…" Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest and nodded knowingly before he seemed to be hit by a sudden idea and nearly jumped onto the table.

"Hey! You won't believe who I saw yesterday!" He said in an excited and above all loud voice and looked at his team-mates expectantly, but didn't carry on then – as if he meant to keep them on tenterhooks and have them begging for finally being relieved of the suspense…

"Well – who?" Sayuri asked after a couple of seconds, as the silence was only just beginning to get awkward…

"Hehe –guess!" He grinned impishly and stared from one of his opposite's to the other, already sure that they wouldn't know anyway and actually it didn't even seem like they'd try, but then he didn't really give them a chance, because he answered his own question after hardly more than two seconds himself – apparently too excited about this whole thing to keep quiet any longer.

"Ino and Kiba!" The blonde enlightened them, but somehow didn't get the reaction he would have expected to this news.

"…So…?" Sayuri asked, while Sasuke observed him with a frown on his face.

"I mean together… You know… like you." The Uzumaki explained, but still his team-mates didn't seem too surprised by these news… "Just sayin'… It's obvious that spring is in the air…"

They carried on chatting for quite some time and Sayuri didn't know if Naruto's appearance had caused the people to stop talking about them or if Naruto was just so loud that she didn't hear them anymore – either way she didn't notice them any longer, so she was really glad that he was here, but simultaneously wasn't, because it conveyed the impression that they needed other people around to feel comfortable among each other and that was clearly nothing she wanted to think about right now. It wasn't true anyway. She had no problem with being alone with him, but apparently only as long as they were really alone…

"Let's have some desert! – Your treat, Sasuke!" The Uzumaki proposed after he had finished the plate he had only just ordered, which had put an end to their date at the latest, but this evening among friends was about just as good.

"Tze – no." Sasuke refused bluntly and caused a shocked expression to appear on Naruto's face.

"What? You can't do that!" The Uzumaki exclaimed with a terrified face, his eyes wide as saucers. "Have you ever seen the prices here? I don't have any money left – you want me to get arrested or do the dishes here?" He whined and turned a little pale from one second to the next.

"You shouldn't have ordered anything then." The Uchiha murmured relentlessly, while Naruto sunk down on the bench, as if he meant to vanish under the table, but then shot up again and pointed at the half-open wall which overlooked the street.

"Look there is Neji!"

Now a shocked expression appeared on Sayuri's face and she stared at the street but couldn't see him yet from where she was sitting. She hadn't told Neji about them yet – and if Naruto had been able to see them in passing then Neji should be able to do so, too, so she should better intercept him beforehand and explain everything to him.

"Could you excuse me for a second?" She turned towards Sasuke, who still had his arm wrapped around her and therefore kept her from just getting up, but instead of letting go, he only drew her closer and observed her through narrowed eyes.

"Why…?" He asked with an edge in his voice, so Sayuri was sure he knew what she wanted to do, but didn't think highly of it…

"Neji doesn't know yet and I think I should be the one to tell him…" She murmured in a muted voice and looked deep into Sasuke's eyes, until an uneasy giggle on the part of Naruto drew both their attention to the blonde.

"Uhm… well… I guess it's too late for that – I already told him…" The Uzumaki grimaced and looked apologetically at the girl in front of him, who again wore a shocked expression on her face.

"Then that's settled. I don't know why you even bother to talk to him after what happened… " Sasuke stated in a blank voice, arousing Naruto's curiosity, since he had no idea what Sasuke was talking about, but somehow liked the dramatic direction things were taking, but none of his team-mates seemed to pay any attention to him.

"He was drunk and he apologized – and he doesn't remember it anyway. "Sayuri explained in a muted voice, causing Naruto to lean closer to them so he wouldn't miss anything.

"Tze… He doesn't remember and still he apologized – and you fall for that…" The Uchiha hissed in a cold voice and stared at the Hyuga, who had only just appeared in their visual field, but didn't seem to have seen them himself.

"It's not like that…" She likewise stared at Neji who had already passed the restaurant by now and was probably on his way home.

"Please…" She said in a hurried voice and took Sasuke's hand in hers to remove it from her waist, before she hurried out of the restaurant under Sasuke's disapproving eyes, while Naruto cast another curious glance at him, determined to squeeze even the tiniest detail out of the Uchiha.

Once she was out on the street, she saw that the Hyuga was already a couple of metres ahead of her, so she started rushing after him.

"Neji!" She called his name and caused the Hyuga to come to a stop and she couldn't help but to think that he looked kind of tense as he turned around to her and scrutinized her with a blank expression.

"Sayuri." He said her name in greeting, but his voice was so cold that it caused an awkward feeling to spread in Sayuri's chest.

"Is it true?" He asked, before she could even say anything herself and caught her slightly off-guard. She needed a few seconds to recollect herself, in which she noticed that Neji's gaze wandered past her and to the restaurant, where he must have seen Naruto and Sasuke, before he focussed his pale eyes on her again and now finally received a nod.

"Yes…" She breathed and looked past him, unable to bear that reproachful look in his eyes.

"I see." He murmured in a low voice and then turned around, preparing to walk off again, but Sayuri held him back.

"Wait! … Please…" The violet-haired girl called out and caused him to come to a stop and turn around to her again, looking slightly impatient though…

It was far more likely for Neji to behave this way…. Much more than these sudden and entirely uncommon surges of emotion… but still she didn't want him to part this way…

"Don't you want to say anything…?" She asked in a pleading tone and forced herself to keep up the eye contact.

"What do you want me to say?" His voice was entirely unimpressed and he still stood there as if he was about to go any second.

"I don't know…" She shook her head helplessly. "Just… say something – say everything is still okay…"

The Hyuga was quiet for a couple of second, but kept studying the pleading look on the young woman's face, before he exhaled sharply and muttered: "I could but it would be a lie and you know that…"

"… Is this all because of your stupid clan rivalries…?" She shook her head and gazed uncomprehendingly at the brown-haired man.

"Tze… no. It's because he's an asshole and I won't stand by and watch him hurt you."

"So you just walk away and hurt me yourself." She had to bite into her lower lip to keep it from trembling and looked at the ground to his feet, so she didn't see the uneasy expression that flitted over Neji's face for a brief second, but vanished just as fast again.

"It doesn't have to be this way, but you've made your choice…" He murmured, but now his voice didn't seem as blank and cold as before any longer, but had a saddened tone in it.

Sayuri turned her head up again and met his eyes with a mixture of confusion and hurt and noticed how his features seemed to soften, but then his gaze moved over her shoulder again and an upset expression appeared on his face.

"He's already staring at you – you should go back before he loses his temper and takes it out on you…" He snarled and stared through narrowed eyes at the Uchiha, before he turned back to Sayuri again.

She could defend him now, but that wouldn't really change anything - nothing she could say would be able to change anything about the grudge they held towards each other and more or less grew up with….

"So that's it now…? You just walk away?" Sayuri asked in a shaky voice and had to open her mouth slightly, as it became harder to breathe with the growing lump in her throat.

"For the moment…" Neji sighed and now looked to the ground himself, unable to bear looking into her sad face, without giving in and saying everything was alright after all…

"I just need time…" He murmured in a low voice and now searched for Sayuri's gaze after all and earned an assenting, though noticeably unhappy nod from her, which caused him to turn around again and leave for real this time.

That was a new record. Gotten rid of two friends on a single day.

She stared with a faraway expression at the spot where Neji had just vanished, as if she still hadn't realized that he was really gone, before she ran a hand through her dark-hair and inhaled deeply, already bracing herself for going in and acting all cheery and smiley again, but even the dry-run seemed impossible to get over with…

But it had been a really tough and mostly disappointing day, so it wasn't so very surprising that she felt entirely unsettled now… But then she recalled Shigeru's words again: As long as you can still think you are alright then its okay… Self-deception has always been her strong point so she should really put that into action now and just swallow that humongous lump and go back to the restaurant to have at least a bit of a good time, now – after all there were two people, she liked a lot waiting for her… she wasn't alone… She still had Sasuke and Naruto, who seemed earnestly happy for them – probably the only one… except for Suigetsu maybe, even though he was mainly searching for a reason to tease them – which he successfully did, just about every time she saw him and even though that really annoyed her, she always had to bite back a proud grin, or maybe an embarrassed one, she didn't really know, but either way he managed to make her smile…

Still feeling kind of queasy, she walked back into the restaurant; at once in the focus of Sasuke's and Naruto's expectant gazes – even though Sasuke didn't really look curious, but rather reproachful – it had been quite some time now since he had last looked at her with such a cold expression…

She sat down next to him again, but this time he didn't put his arm around her like before, didn't even look at her again and now Sayuri was pretty sure that he was mad at her for having gone to Neji – as if he was jealous or maybe just angry that she hadn't done as he had told her…

"So how did it go?" Naruto asked her in an eager tone, apparently unaware of the change in the mood between the two of them. Now Sasuke looked at her after all, but she felt reluctant to meet his gaze, churned up as she still was, she couldn't stand that grim look of his and least of all did she want to talk about this whole thing.

"He already knew…" She merely said what everyone knew anyway and before Naruto could point that out, she forced herself to smile and tried to change the topic. "So what about desert now?"

"Nah… stop torturing me – you know I'm broke…" Naruto grimaced but then looked at his opposites through puppy dog eyes, trying to move them to treating him after all…

"Tze – just order something." Sasuke hissed, entirely unaware of how happy he had just made the blonde.

"Thanks teme!" The Uzumaki laughed. "Now it's like we're having a triple date, huh?" His joke didn't really get the reaction he would have liked to have – instead of laughing his two team-mates seemed rather grim, so he turned around and looked towards the counter.

"Yo, waiter!" He waved a hand in the air and a few seconds later their waiter stood already in front of them.

"So… what do you want?" Naruto turned to the people in front of him, who still looked kind of tense and observed them expectantly.

"I don't know… something with a lot of chocolate…" Sayuri shrugged and looked at the waiter, who rolled his eyes and wrote it down then, before he looked at the Uchiha, who just shook his head.

"Okay then and for me another bowl of ramen please!" Naruto grinned and caused the people around him to frown.

"Ramen? I thought you wanted desert…" Sayuri looked at him with a startled expression, but Naruto only shrugged and replied. "What better way is there to conclude the evening than with ramen?"

"About everything else…" Sasuke muttered dryly, causing Sayuri to chuckle lightly, before she sucked in her lower lip, as she saw the sour expression on Naruto's face.

"Did you have a clown for breakfast – or are you a comedian now…?" The blonde grinned wryly and made it really hard for Sayuri to keep a straight face, whereas Sasuke unsurprisingly didn't seem to have a problem with that…

About ten minutes later they were brought their food and same as before silence returned to their table and in spite of all the chocolate, which is actually said to release endorphins in your brain to make you happy, Sayuri sunk back into a dreary mood again. Somehow they must have given her the wrong kind of chocolate – it definitely didn't work properly… She couldn't help but to think about Neji again and then also Sakura and how everything seemed to go wrong lately – even Sasuke seemed to be mad at her now, even though she wasn't so sure about that, since she hadn't really looked at him in the last minutes - she had been far too busy with forcing the corners of her mouth to stay up, so the food had come right in time – a bit longer and she would have probably been seized with a cramp, which must feel really weird there…

She didn't like the thought that she had just abandoned a friend for a lover. But then Sasuke was her friend too and actually for even longer than Neji, even though the two of them had spent some more quality time together, but Sasuke was definitely catching up on that… Still she wondered if he was worth it… From how she felt for him he definitely was, but then she was probably entirely lovestruck and maybe didn't see things the way they were.

What if she woke up one day and realized that she had hurt and scared off her friends for a simple infatuation? But it didn't really feel like that… things between them were still new – theoretically they were a couple since only a week now - at least officially – but just because it was new, didn't mean it wasn't real… Even if he was mad at her now… … No… He was definitely mad at her – third time's the charm, right? – It was either him, or she'd say something incredibly stupid and offending and would actually manage to scare off Naruto, who was about the most loyal and forgiving person there was…

If she had known how this day would go, she'd have thought twice before getting out of bed this morning – but all of these things had been inevitable, they were a reaction to something she had done – so it's had to come down to this sooner or later… She should definitely work on how she treated her friends, before they were all but gone – and she couldn't stand the thought of being all alone again…

"Sayuri-chan? Are you even listening?" Naruto was impatiently waving a hand in front of her face and now finally managed to rip her out of her thoughts…

"I'm sorry… What did you say?" Sayuri twitched in surprise and now raised a frown on Naruto's face.

"You have a reeaally weird attitude towards food…" He murmured. "You're like completely unresponsive when you're eating…"

"Hm…" She merely shrugged and leaned back against the wall, before she cast a hesitant side-glance at the man next to her, whose eyes rested on his brim-full glass though…

"You look tired…" Naruto observed, after he saw Sayuri heave a weary sigh and just couldn't avert her eyes from the broad glass in Sasuke's hand.

"It's been a really long day…" She murmured monotonously, without bothering to look up… Actually she was rather afraid of looking at anyone now; she could feel that lump from before return and didn't want to do anything that might boost its growth… It would probably be best to call it a day and just go home, before she could make things worse…

"I guess I'll go home now…" She sighed and now finally drew Sasuke's gaze towards her.

"Thank you for tonight…" She managed to hold his gaze, but didn't know how to say goodbye now – and not only because they were in a public restaurant here… But there was something in his eyes that caught her breath and she could feel the lump grow again, so speaking was not really an option, therefore she leaned closer to him, slowly, though, so she could stop and pretend she had just looked for something, in case he should turn away, but he didn't, so she placed her lips on his lightly and somehow that actually brief goodbye kiss, became longer than she had intended it to… She just couldn't seem to get her lips away from his again, just keeping them there, barely touching his – just enough to know he was still there – there for her and she didn't even bother about Naruto's whistling and the munching noises he made as he was apparently imitating them.

Only when the first tear rolled down her cheek, did she finally pull away from the Uchiha and turned her face to the other side at once, hoping he wouldn't see it, before she murmured another goodbye and got up from the bench.

"What about me, huh?" Naruto grinned stupidly as Sayuri had only walked past him and caused her to come to a stop, which caused a surprised expression to appear on his face – however that was nothing compared to how he looked as Sayuri leaned down to him and kissed him on his cheek.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." She whispered in a breathy voice, really feeling like thanking him simply for being there, for knowing that in case it should come down to it, she'd still have Naruto and Sasuke, before she turned around again, paid her bill, even though Sasuke had actually invited her, and finally walked out of the restaurant.

Naruto still stared after her and placed a hand on the spot where her lips had touched his cheek, which was same as the other one bright red now, before he turned around and stared, still with an entirely confused face, at his opposite, who was looking at him through narrowed eyes and now a sly grin started to raise the corners of his lips.

"Hehe – looks like you have a rival now…"

"Tze – shut up dobe." The Uchiha glared at him, before he directed his eyes towards the street and watched his girlfriend walk away before she, along with many other people, was consumed by the captivating darkness of the night.