Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: After war. Sasuke is still suspected and Sakura is his ticket to regaining Konoha's trust.

Rating: T

The Difference Between Moving In and Moving On

XI

True to her word, Sakura came back to the apartment at an outrageously late hour and Sasuke, as a very light sleeper, woke up instantly. He pretended to sleep, half of the floor taken up by his newly-acquired futon, while she stumbled to the bathroom, oozing tiredness from her hunched shoulders. He smelled a vague scent of blood clinging to her. It figured that she must have had a late surgery at the hospital. Sasuke would have felt sympathy for her if not for his utter annoyance with the woman.

It wasn't even that she was right, because she wasn't... not entirely... he really didn't know anything about her family... but he wasn't going to apologize for stating his opinion. He stood by what he had said – he just couldn't fathom how someone could ignore and avoid their parents like they were nothing. Sasuke wouldn't believe for a second that Sakura's were anything but loving – her mother must have heard about all he had done and she had still invited him over, just because he was staying with Sakura. This spoke volumes to him, a former rogue that still didn't feel very welcome in the village.

Ever since they had become teammates, so long ago in the Konoha of their childhood, Sakura had always been an annoyance to him, every time for the same reason. He left the village, they both grew up and fought in the shinobi war, he came back and still nothing changed in how Sakura affected him. She made him doubt and question himself, she made him overthink things and act without a reason. Just like now. Even though he had no personal interest in finding out why she didn't want to see her family, he inexplicably wanted to know anyway.

Sasuke closed his eyes and clenched a fist in the bed sheet when she came out of the bathroom and with much struggle unrolled her futon. She was too noisy. He heard a telling rustle and a small sigh, which meant that she finally laid down, so he carefully cracked an eye open. Through the thick darkness, he could make out her small figure with her back turned to him.

So, so annoying.

Sasuke followed her example and turned away from her too.

XII

Morning greeted Sasuke with the too bright sunlight which obnoxiously landed right into his eyes. Of course Sakura's apartment had no curtains or blinds to keep it away. He sluggishly got up and glanced at the pink haired lump in the other futon. His annoyance with the woman and the living conditions she was putting him in spiked when he noticed the tear tracks under her eyes.

The remnants of another nightmare...

Sasuke tried hard not to think about what must have caused her to cry in her sleep, though he had a good idea. Even after he had cut off their old ties with that genjutsu (his hand ripping straight through her chest, killing her), he still made her shed tears. It would be good if the ones he saw were of the cleansing kind. Yes, she just needed to get all that emotion out of her system, he argued to himself as he brushed his teeth. She wasn't like him, chained to a dark and gruesome history, she still had a chance to put it all in the past.

After completing his morning ritual in the bathroom, Sasuke checked the contents of the fridge. He pulled out eggs and began making tamagoyaki. It seemed only fair that since Sakura had cooked breakfast the other day, it was his turn now.

The delicious smell brought the kunoichi back to the world of the living. She stretched out and stumbled out of her bedding, still a little out of it.

"What's that smell?" she asked and yawned cutely.

"I'm making breakfast," Sasuke replied without taking his eyes off the pan. "Go wash up. You have five minutes."

"You can cook?" She let his instructions pass by her ears, as she found interest in this unexpected new ability.

Sasuke wanted to sigh. Why did she sound so surprised? Did she think him incapable of such basic, domestic skills? He was reminded of her reaction when she had found out he'd swept the floor too. He could see a pattern here.

"Yes. Go and hurry," he told her, letting a bit of his irritation leak out.

With one last long look, sharper than it ought to be at this hour, Sakura went to the bathroom.

The breakfast was pretty normal, if a little subdued, considering the argument they'd had in Sakura's office the other day. They didn't speak to each other, but Sasuke still felt there was some improvement in the atmosphere between them. He guessed it was thanks to the food, which Sakura was busy shoving into her mouth with a single-minded focus.

"Sasuke," she said seriously, when their plates were finally empty. "About yesterday..."

XIV

A giant fireball shot by Naruto's ear, almost scorching his blond mane and forcing him to get a new haircut, but the ninja was already on the move, two shadow clones flanking him as he rushed at the Uchiha with Rasengan. Sasuke threw a volley of shuriken to slow down his opponent and destroy the clones, but the real Naruto jumped, going straight for him. In a split second Sasuke substituted himself with a log, which was then blown to smithereens by Naruto's attack.

Despite the deadly techniques being used, the two didn't display any intent to kill. It was just a leisure sparring to keep their skills from getting rusty. They usually partook in it after the work on construction site was finished for a day. Sasuke had never thought he would be able to fight Naruto just for fun, without any pressure of having to kill one another, so upon his return to Konoha he found this outcome quite agreeable. Pitting their abilities against each other, testing, measuring, challenging – he liked the simplicity of their friendly competition. It was perfect to take his mind off... other things.

"Hey, Sasuke, what's bothering you?" Naruto asked as they traded blows. He must have sensed something was on the Uchiha's mind with that uncanny insight he gained from fighting. Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Is it about Sakura-chan?"

Hearing her name provided a momentary distraction to the Uchiha, which Naruto marvelously capitalized on by slugging him right in the jaw. Sasuke flew back from the force of the punch and hit a tree.

"Ha! I was right! It is about Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. "Did you talk with her?"

Sasuke scowled. On with the same again. He was getting sick and tired of Naruto nagging him about Sakura every time they saw each other. In times like this, Sasuke really wished there were other people he could spar with. Sadly, there was no one else near his level in this village, so he was sentenced to Naruto and his irritating company.

The Uchiha kicked off the tree and went after his best friend, a kunai charged with electric chakra clashing with a wind-infused blade. They continued the knife fight until their weapons couldn't take the strain anymore and broke. Then they were back to the old-fashioned pummeling on each other.

Though, to be fair, Sasuke couldn't really complain about Naruto's company. His best friend may have been a moron, but they had a deep understanding between them. If they had any problems with each other, they would just fight and let their fists talk. Communicating with Naruto was, if nothing else, ridiculously easy.

Unlike talking with some other, utterly frustrating people...

XIII

"I'm sorry," Sakura said.

Sasuke regarded her with a fair amount of suspicion. If she only apologized because she wanted him to say 'sorry' back, then she miscalculated. He was not sorry for what he had told her yesterday. He would never regret saying the truth.

But Sakura wasn't done. "As a medical specialist and your supervisor, I reacted very unprofessionally. My job isn't to get angry with you or judge you and my behaviour yesterday was inexcusable. It won't happen again."

She didn't sound contrite, just cold and clinical. If she felt any remorse, it was for the fact that she hadn't kept up her professional conduct. For him, this apology was meaningless. Sasuke's temper flared, but he didn't let it show... much.

"I see," he replied with a touch of sarcasm.

Sakura's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? I apologized, what else do you want from me?"

"Tch. Annoying," he dismissed her, which only riled her up.

Sakura shot up to her feet and barely stopped herself from punching clear through the tabletop, instead she only banged her fist on it, not even making an indent. Her green eyes blazed with suppressed irritation as she stared him down, but he returned her glare with the same intensity.

"What... else... do you want, Sasuke?" she hissed.

Looking her right in the eye, Sasuke stood up slowly, the height advantage he had on her turning the tables in their little staring competition.

"Honesty," he answered.

"I am honest," she gritted out.

"Not anymore."

XV

While the tension persisted after the initial clashes in the beginning of their co-existence, the life in the small apartment entered the second phase – getting into a routine. Sasuke somehow ended up in the role of the primary housekeeper and cook, mostly because Sakura was present only to shower and sleep and he couldn't wait for the weekend so she would have the time to clean around. He would have demanded that she didn't take so many hours at work, but the distance it created between them suited him just fine. The most he saw of her was when she called him to her office every other day for another session, though thankfully none of these led to any arguments like the first one.

Sasuke and Sakura were like two opposing armies, stuck in their entrenched camps during a temporary ceasefire. The only way to avoid unpleasant confrontations was to stay silent and ignore each other, but Sasuke found this increasingly more and more difficult. What was he supposed to think when he found the empty sake bottle hidden behind the toilet lid? When he was taking out the trash and spotted in the bag some bloodied bandages that certainly weren't his? When he and Naruto injured each other too badly for their regenerative abilities to heal it, so they went to the hospital but Sakura wasn't there, even though she was allegedly on a late shift?

Ever since Itachi, Sasuke hated mysteries.

?

Sakura's nightmare interrupted his sleep again. It seemed worse than the last night, she was shaking violently and sobbing.

Sasuke became rigid as he listened to her, every miserable sound like a punch to his gut. He gritted his teeth and squashed the stupid impulse to react. She's just having a bad dream, it would pass, he told himself.

Was this the real reason Kakashi ordered him to live with her? To feel the punishment for what he'd put her through? He had to congratulate the old man for his ingenuity.

Sasuke felt that, after everything, he truly deserved to suffer. But Sakura... she didn't deserve any of it. When he'd left, he had imagined that she would be able to live a happy life without a single worry. But her feelings for him stood in the way, as proven by her desperate confession during the war. They were like weeds, growing where no one wanted or asked them to, so disgustingly useless...

… so he pulled them out with the roots.

It was for the best.

Sakura's shaking wasn't stopping.

What am I doing? This doesn't make sense. Just leave her alone, she's a grown woman, she can handle a nightmare, Sasuke thought, even as he turned to face her and scooted a bit closer to the edge of his futon. A hand reached out and halted just before touching Sakura's back, undecided if he should go through with this, then finally settled on her spine and gently stroked up and down.

It's okay, she will never know. I'm just doing this so she will let me sleep, Sasuke reasoned, repeating the action until she relaxed under the comforting touches. The nightmare went away, yet his hand still lingered, before he pulled it back hastily.

To be continued...

AN: Thanks for reading! I hope you all still enjoyed this slower chapter. I needed the build-up before some events ;)

I'm open to any comments or thoughts about the story.