Sasuke's first impression of Sakura's parents was completely different than what he had prepared himself for.

She was very thin and petite with subtle curves, and that pink hair had to be a hereditary trait, as far as he was concerned. As such, he'd expected her to have equally diminutive parents, perhaps an identical-looking mother with soft features and petal pink hair just like hers, and a thin, reserved, unimposing father.

But he'd totally missed the mark. Sakura's mother Mebuki was very tall, her face not necessarily unattractive, but it didn't boast any of the soft beauty of her daughter's. Instead her features were taut and severe, lines around the corners of her mouth, and her hair, far from the flowery pink he'd been anticipating, was blonde. And her father, on the other hand, was even taller than Sasuke was, thickly muscular and with a temper that looked to rival his daughter's. Nothing like the tiny people he'd been picturing in his head.

His second impression was that her mother liked him. It was obvious in the warm smile on her harsh-looking face, in the affectionate handshake she gave him; this didn't necessarily surprise him. Women generally approved of him regardless of his attitude.

And his third impression was that Sakura's father Kizashi absolutely fucking despised him.

They stood across from each other, Sasuke's hand extended in what he thought was a very polite gesture, while Mr. Haruno slowly purpled with incandescent rage; Sasuke tried to look at it from his perspective, and realized that his living situation with Sakura was suspect at best, and a father's worst nightmare at worst. His only child, the apple of his eye, shacking up with a tall, dark, and handsome stranger she'd only known for ten minutes before signing a lease with him? He knew how it looked.

"Sasuke's not a GQ model," Sakura argued weakly. "He's…look, Daddy, I know this looks terrible but we're just friends."

"You think I was born yesterday?" Kizashi thundered, his eyes wide; he looked demented. Sasuke lowered his hand, realizing he was likelier to be throttled if he kept it out, and glanced at Sakura. She looked distressed. "You think I don't know what this is? You see my innocent, impressionable young daughter and you put the moves on her, don't you?"

"Daddy!" Sakura squealed, and Sasuke suppressed a derisive snort with difficulty. "It's not like that! We just…look, I'll explain it. How 'bout you sit down, Daddy? I know about your high blood pressure."

"SIT?! I want to murder the little…"

"Sit down," Mrs. Haruno said sharply, and Sasuke suddenly saw the family resemblance. Though she looked nothing like Sakura at first, there was the same underlying feminine ferocity that made Sakura such a formidable foe when the mood caught her right. Both Haruno women could effortlessly vacillate between sweet and charming to pissed-the-fuck-off and downright menacing in the span of a second. "I'm sure Sakura has an explanation. Though I admit, I'd love to hear it," she added, glaring at her daughter, who sighed. "You, too, Sasuke."

Wanting nothing more than to retreat to the safety of his bedroom, Sasuke met Sakura's imploring gaze and narrowed his eyes at her, silently demanding a pile of bacon for his troubles when this was all over, and he joined the Haruno family in the living room. Kizashi sat on the overstuffed couch flanked by his wife and daughter, while Sasuke, feeling increasingly like a war criminal facing a tribunal, swallowd his pride and sat on the armchair opposite them to field more insulting questions.

How'd I get drafted into this mess? He thought angrily. He refused to admit that Sakura's father intimidated him, even to himself, but there was something a little unnerving about a guy closer to seven feet than six positively salivating for his blood. I'm not her boyfriend so why are they reading me the riot act? After I helped her clean this place to impress them. Jesus. This bitch OWES ME.

"Now," said Mebuki pleasantly, with a quelling hand on her husband's arm, while Kizashi stared flaming daggers into Sasuke's skull. "Let's hear it. How'd this arrangement happen?"

"It's really simple," Sakura replied quickly. Apparently, she'd sensed that she had an ally in her mother, and was eager to convert her completely. "There was only one apartment I could afford left in pretty much the whole city; all the openings downtown at the swankier places were way too expensive, and I didn't know anyone in Konoha to share. Sasuke and I met by accident at our landlord's office. All he had left was this two-bedroom, and for whatever mysterious reason, he wouldn't let either one of us take it without the other."

"I want his name and social security number," Kizashi said immediately. "Your landlord's."

"Daddy you're not gonna kill him."

"I didn't say I'd kill him, I said I wanted his name and social security number. My reasons are my own. Now skip to the part where this punk is a sexual deviant who takes advantage of you."

"Daddy!"

"Shut up!" Mebuki hissed. "Go 'head, Sakura."

Sasuke sighed.

"Well I knew you guys would hate the idea of me moving in with a boy I barely knew, but really, it's worked out pretty well for us so far."

"How?"

"We split the rent, so it's not nearly as expensive as it would have been getting a place by myself. We both have jobs, you know I'm a waitress nights and weekends, and he works at a grocery store, and we make more than enough to pay our bills…"

"It wasn't an ideal arrangement at first," Sasuke spoke up quietly, at Mebuki's inquisitive stare. "Neither one of us wanted to do it. But she's right. It's working out."

"You're a student as well, Sasuke?" Mebuki asked.

"Yes, ma'am," he murmured. He was an asshole, for sure, but unfortunately, his mother had drilled manners into him as a child, and even if it shocked everyone who knew him, he WAS capable of holding a polite conversation when he had to. And blatantly disrespecting the parents of his roommate for the next ten months didn't seem like the best idea. "A freshman."

"And you make the rent payments on time?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you see to it that our daughter is safe and happy?"

Thinking of his efforts in removing the squirrel that nearly killed them both, and allowing Sakura to sob all over him when she was frustrated at work, and choking down her vegetables even though he just wanted a fucking steak, he felt confident in nodding to affirm.

"It's a really weird, but really good arrangement," Sakura chimed in. "We're friends, and we get along pretty well," Sasuke thought that was stretching the truth well past the threshold of believability, "and…yeah. It's a good situation all around, even if it wasn't ideal how it came about. We're really lucky to have found this place."

"So you're just friends, huh?" Kizashi snarled, apparently having kept quiet as long as he possibly could. He was physically shaking as he glared at Sasuke, who met his gaze and tried not to let his uneasiness show on his face, like a baby deer. "I'm supposed to believe that this kid who looks like a fucking movie star moved in with my daughter and there's no hanky-panky going on?"

Hanky-panky? Sasuke thought, stifling a snort of laughter.

"There really isn't!" Sakura insisted.

"Bullshit! You think I'm stupid, girl? You think I don't know exactly how a teenage boy's mind works? I was eighteen once, too, remember? And you know what I remember every time I looked at a beautiful girl?"

"Oh, God, yuck!" Sakura groaned. "Please for the love of all that's holy don't tell me."

Sasuke fought to stay apathetic, but it was difficult, mainly because Kizashi's accusations were hitting a little close to home. He and Sakura were technically, officially, and honestly just friends on the surface, but to say he wasn't attracted to her would be a huge lie. He did have thoughts of a decidedly non-platonic nature when he looked at her sometimes.

She was like an infection. Slowly eating away at him from the inside out, until she'd taken him over completely.

And it wasn't just the fact that she was a bona fide ten, either, although it helped. Her personality was winning him over little by little; now that she was friendlier to him, showed him a bit more of her sweet and caring side as compared to her batshit crazy wild harpy side that she'd delivered on a daily basis when they'd first moved in, it was easier to open up to her. They still fought, of course, but they did get along a lot letter than they used to.

He could truthfully say he considered her one of his closest friends now. Second only to Naruto. Living with someone for two months had a way of bringing unlikely comrades together.

But lately, calling them friends felt a little…dishonest. Not that he was lying, but that he was leaving out a significant part of the truth. His growing attachment to her was something he'd rather avoid thinking about, hoping it might dissolve on its own, but seeing her father waltz in and point it out right away didn't make him feel very good about it.

"I'm telling you it isn't like that!" Sakura shouted, losing her temper at last. "He's just a friend! See, this is why I didn't tell you from the beginning who I was living with, I knew you'd fly right off the handle and jump to conclusions. When have I ever done anything to give you guys a reason not to trust me?"

Kizashi faltered, and in that brief moment of weakness, Sasuke knew the fight was over. He'd been on the losing end of many a fight with Sakura by now to recognize the signs of defeat, even prematurely.

"I kept a 4.0 my entire life," Sakura began listing off her many accomplishments. "I study hard and I work my ass off. I've held down a job since my fourteenth birthday. I pay my bills on time, I'm doing well in my classes, I'm keeping up on tennis and an internship with the best doctor in the universe, and I'm a good friend and a good daughter. Why can't you just trust my judgment that living with Sasuke is the best thing for me to do right now?"

"Well put, Sakura," Mebuki said with a smile. "She's right, sweetheart. Though I wish you'd've told us the truth earlier, you have a very good point. As far as daughters go, Kizashi, ours is trustworthy."

Sasuke remembered Sakura screaming in a drunken rage, "I AM THE LAW!" at the police officers who were seconds from arresting her before he pulled her drunk ass over a fence, and decided to hold onto that information for the time being.

Kizashi bit his lip, then sighed gustily, all the wind released from his lungs and all the fight drained out of him. He must have recognized the futility of arguing not only with Sakura, but with her mother as well; Sasuke relaxed a tiny bit before he was directly addressed again.

"All right," said Kizashi gruffly. "Now…now let's say for one minute that I go along with this…this insanity. You can bet your ass I'm gonna find out everything there is to know about you, boy. I won't have my innocent daughter living with some closet criminal for the next year, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Sasuke sighed.

"All right. Your age, and your birthday."

"18. July 23rd."

"City you're from."

"I was raised in Konoha, but I moved to Oto in middle school. Came back for college."

"Major."

"Prelaw."

"Minor."

"Criminology."

"Any sports?"

"Yes, sir. Soccer and baseball."

"Baseball, huh?" Kizashi looked thoughtful at that. "I can't stand soccer. Too much running around. But baseball? Sport of champions. What position?"

"Pitcher."

Sasuke could tell that he was slowly but surely winning Sakura's father over with his answers. Judging by the smile on Sakura's face, both grateful and slightly shocked, he knew that the matter of getting her father's approval was definitely an attainable task.

The question, though, was why it mattered so much to him.

Normally, he wouldn't care one iota if someone liked him or not, even if it was his roommate's parents. He didn't need anyone's approval. The opinions of others couldn't have been less important to him.

Again, those were normal circumstances.

And it was his huge misfortune to fall into this situation with the least normal girl in the history of creation.

Everything Sakura did was ass backwards. From her stupid vegetarian ways to the bizarre, confusing forehead kisses she left on people when she thought they were sleeping, from the way she could transform from a screaming, argumentative witch into the sweetest, funniest, most charming girl he'd ever met, she twisted his every conception of the female race into something complex and indecipherable. He couldn't figure her out anymore than he could figure out the strange feelings she was eliciting from him.

Namely, this ridiculous attachment to her that didn't look like it was going anywhere anytime soon.

So the fact that he craved the approval of her parents, when normally he couldn't have given two animal shits about the subject, was just another mystery to add to his growing list of things he couldn't fucking understand in his life.

But it was there all the same. For whatever reason, he had to make an effort to win over the Harunos, and he was doing exactly that.

After Kizashi forced him to recite his complete medical history along with a list of his fears, Mebuki put a halt to the Spanish Inquisition taking place in the living room.

"Enough," she sighed. "All right, I'm sold. I think you're a nice boy, Sasuke." (Sakura snorted into her hand, and Sasuke promised her a silent, swift revenge later in the day.) "And I think that you're a good fit for Sakura's roommate. Thank you for taking care of her. Lord knows she's a handful!"

"Mom!" Sakura whined, while Sasuke smirked. At least someone understood his eternal struggle, having to deal with her bullshit on a daily basis.

"It's getting late," Mebuki said, glancing at her watch. "Come on, Sakura, show us around campus…your father has to be on a plane to Ame in the morning for a business meeting, so we'll need to leave before it gets too late."

"All right," Sakura said, standing up. "You wanna come, Sasuke?"

"Hn. No thanks. I have homework." He didn't really, but after being read the riot act for the last hour, he could definitely use a break.

She knew he was lying, he could tell, but the secretive, grateful smile she threw him told him she wasn't about to say anything.

Kizashi shook his hand on the way out the door, with a gruff grin on his face.

"I misjudged ya, kid," he said warmly. "Anyone who can keep my daughter safe and in line is all right by me. But mark my words…" Here, his voice shifted to something dark, threatening, and reminiscent to Sasuke of hellfire and damnation, "…if I hear even the slightest rumor that you do something to my daughter that I wouldn't approve of? I'll slice you up with a blunt butterknife so there's nothing left of your pretty boy face but skull fragments."

Visited with a particularly vivid visual, Sasuke suppressed a shudder and shook Kizashi's hand nonetheless. "Aa. Yes, sir. Nice to meet you."

Mebuki's farewell was a tad nicer. She hugged him tightly, like she'd known him for years, and beamed up at him.

"Lovely to meet you, Sasuke!" she said kindly. "We'll stop by again sometime, maybe take you guys out to dinner. I know you must not be getting enough meat in your diet living with my picky daughter all this time…and if you don't have any plans over the holidays, you're more than welcome to stay at our house. We'd love to have you."

He knew it was an invitation he would most likely decline, but that she'd even offered meant a great deal to him. It had been so long since he'd had anyone to spend the holidays with. Just the idea of sitting at a family table for Christmas made his heart ache in longing, and the smile he managed for Mebuki wasn't faked at all.

She'd known him for an hour, and was already welcoming him into her family.

Glancing at Sakura, who had known him for ten minutes before doing the same thing, he was glad that in this case, even if they looked nothing alike, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Was it presumptuous of him, to feel like part of the Haruno family already?

Sakura got home that night around nine; he heard her stumble in the front door, tripping as she often did over the welcome mat she felt the need to place in the threshold.

"Sasuke, I'm home!" she called.

He didn't want to admit it, but he liked the sound of that. After living alone for so long, it was kind of nice having someone to come home to, or in this case, being the someone that someone else came home to.

"I'm in the hall," he called back, redirecting his attention to the shelf he was attempting to hang.

She danced over to greet him, kicking off her shoes as she came.

"That went…so much better than I thought it would," she giggled, watching him work. "Do you totally hate me? I know that had to have been rough for you."

Thinking again of Kizashi's welcoming handshake, and Mebuki's readiness to include him in their holiday plans, 'rough' wasn't exactly the word he'd use, but he'd let her sweat it out a little.

"Aa."

"I really appreciate it, Sasuke. You have no idea. Thank you so much. I know my dad's fucking crazy."

"At least now I know where you get it from," he snarked, but she just laughed it off.

"Yeah, for what it's worth, they're crazy about you."

"Huh?"

"Well my mom absolutely adored you from the second she met you, but my dad? The whole time I was showing him around campus, he wouldn't shut up about you. It was almost creepy. He's like…in love with you, I think."

"Can't blame him."

"I think it's your endearing sense of humility that makes you so attractive," Sakura quipped, and at that point, not even Sasuke could deny the fact that they were most definitely flirting. Tamping down the thrill of something that threatened in his stomach, he hammered the nail in place on the wall, then mounted the shelf on top of it.

"That's straight, yeah?"

"Yeah. Stop deflecting me, Sasuke, what did you think of them?"

"They're parents," he shrugged, heading back to the living room now that the hallway was one shelf richer, Sakura on his heels. They sat down together on the couch, as he seized the remote.

"Well, fair enough. But seriously. I know it's normally like, your style to be a giant asshole and rude and a really just terrible person, but I could tell you were trying. And that means a lot to me."

He didn't have time to feel offended by her carelessly-hurled insults, because just as he opened his mouth to tell her what a jerk she was, she leaned up and kissed him sweetly on the cheek.

Certain his cheeks were on fire, he busied himself with finding something suitable to watch, content to never, ever discuss that happening for the rest of his life. The something in his stomach that flared up whenever she was around ignited into something else, and he became hyperaware of her presence.

What the hell is she doing, kissing people like that?

It was bad enough that he couldn't make heads or tails of his feelings towards her. It was bad enough that her father wasn't entirely convinced that nothing was going on between the two of them.

Glancing over at Sakura out of the corner of his eye, her face relaxed and happy as they tucked into late night TV together for the umpteenth time, two sort-of kisses and an almost-kiss between them, he realized that he wasn't entirely convinced either.

Something was different. Something was changing. And he was absolutely going to find out what.

note.. heyhowdyhey, everyone. :) merry almost christmas!

why is neji dead. why.

side note: okay, let me just call a spade a spade. whoever anonymous reviewer bertina is, (i keep deleting your reviews because i'm not interested in your ffnet drama-starting) please knock it the hell off. to my understanding, you have a problem with people having anything but glowing praise for the stories that you like, and while i'm flattered you enjoy my writing, you don't need to spam other writers' review boards telling them about it. you know who and what i'm talking about, and just know that i have a pretty deep contempt for cyber bullies, and that's what you are right now. so stick to reviewing someone's story, not their personal character as diagnosed by you from the anonymity of the interwebz. thank you.

TO EVERYONE ELSE: you have no idea how much i appreciate all the love and support you guys have given me, for this story especially. it keeps me going (and i have got a LOT of ideas on where to take this next. halloween's coming up in konoha, you know. ;) you guys make it fun to write this. thank you thank you thank you, and as always, let me know what you think :)

xoxo daisy :)