A Night to Remember

"So disappointing…this is the kind of thing I'd expect from the dope not you."

"Sasuke? Sasuke, I-I'm so sorry! Y-you're not hurt are you?" She apprehensively looked over the upper part of his body for any apparent injuries.

"Sakura…Sakura, will you relax?" he responded, still smirking at her franticness. "I think I'll survive."

She stopped searching over his body and looked back at his face, sighing in relief. "Oh good. I mean you just got out of the hospital and everything and…well are you sure you're all right?"

Her concerned emerald eyes pierced Sasuke's onyx ones as she awaited his response. Although Sakura was too frazzled by her mistake and focused on Sasuke's wellbeing to notice, Sasuke was beginning to realize just how close Sakura was to him at that moment. Their faces were no more than a few centimeters apart. It's just like back at the hospital… cherry blossoms…

Sasuke's hesitation made Sakura frown slightly as she re-evaluated the situation, thinking perhaps that maybe she really did hurt him somewhere. Her roaming eyes came to an abrupt halt and widened as her cheeks suddenly became flushed when she realized she was currently practically straddling her teammate with her elbows pressed beside both sides of his body, and her face was so close to his she could feel his breath on her lips when he exhaled. No sooner had she discovered this than she literally leapt off the boy, awkwardly plopping onto the floor, heart thumping furiously against her sternum.

They both just as suddenly stood up from the floor, brushing themselves off. Sakura cleared her throat uncomfortably. "S-sorry about that, um…" Her cheeks were still quite red from embarrassment.

Sasuke brushed the back of his head, feigning coolness. "Oh uh, yeah, yeah, no i-it's fine. Everything's fine. I'm fine. A-are you fine?"

Sakura gave an abrupt nod. "Yup, yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine, you're fine, we're all fine, haha."

"Yeah, it's good to be fine." The both nodded their heads in agreement for a while, some might say a bit longer than was necessary.

Recovering his cool, Sasuke broke the ice. "So, where exactly were you torpedoing off to anyway?"

As if his comment suddenly activated some subconscious nerve center in her brain, Sakura's stomach gave an irritable growl, reminding its host of their current meal-finding mission. The kunoichi placed a hand on her stomach hoping to muffle its cries, but to no avail. Sakura sighed in defeat and Sasuke gave another smirk and shook his head in amusement. "Maybe you really are becoming more like Naruto…"

Sakura eyed Sasuke with a death glare and then gave a mock pout. "Yeah, well a real ninja would have been able to sense me coming and dodged the collision, no sweat. Looks like you're losing your touch, Sasuke. Or do I just move way too fast for you to keep up."

The genin narrowed his eyes at his teammate and scoffed. "Psh, you wish. I could have avoided you on a normal day, but I did only get discharged from the hospital today. I'm not at full strength yet."

Sakura rolled her eyes in response. "You keep telling yourself that, Sasuke."

Sasuke gave another annoyed grunt. "Believe what you want. I have a lot more important things on my mind today…" His expression gradually turned more solemn as he stared off into the distance.

Sakura acknowledged this with a look of concern and placed a hand on his arm to get his attention. "Sasuke, is everything all right?" Her fingers tingled a bit as they contacted his skin, like when touching a statically charged doorknob, although not as unpleasant. She ignored it.

Sasuke's thoughts returned to the girl before him as his eyes shifted back to hers. He could see the worry in her eyes, feel the warmth of her concerned touch. He smiled softly at her and she slowly returned her hand to her side. Sasuke gave a smirk. "Relax, Sakura. For the umpteenth time, I'm fine all right. Geez, you worry way too much."

Sakura rolled her eyes again. "Well excuse me for caring about my teammate. Maybe next time you might be hurt I'll just act like I don't care and walk away. Would you prefer I do that?"

Sasuke screwed his lips together tightly, averting his eyes from hers once again. "No…I guess not…" he replied quietly, more to himself than to her.

Sakura cocked her head to the side in confusion as her teammate continued staring off into space again. What is with him today? He seems so distracted, like he's wrestling with himself about something. Was that what I was feeling when I grabbed his arm? She absentmindedly rubbed her fingers with her other hand. Just what is he thinking about?

Sakura's lips were just about to part to convey her concern when another defiant gurgle ripped through the air between them. The sound drew Sasuke's attention back to his teammate.

There was a beat...

"Damn you have a noisy stomach."

Sakura's head dropped forward. "Hmf, yeah don't I know it," she mumbled. This is what she gets for eating nothing but ramen all day long. Now her unhappy digestive system was striking back with a vengeance. "Maybe I should get going…before I start generating earthquakes next." Although she muttered the last part under her breath, Sasuke's amused expression clearly indicated he had heard every mumble.

"Enjoy your meal. And just make sure you leave something behind for the other customers, will you?"

Sakura gave him a deadpanned look. "See you later, Sasuke," she answered flatly. She decided to spare herself another one of Sasuke's irritating smirks by turning on her heals and walking away without a second glance. She had the nerve to execute half of her plan perfectly, at least, but could not bring herself to follow through. She turned back to give him a friendlier farewell-gesture. Expecting to find a cocky smile plastered on his face, Sakura was startled to find her teammate was staring off to the side yet again.

Sakura frowned a bit as she watched his blank facial expression. She was about to call her teammate's attention once again but someone else beat her to it. "SASUKE! SAKURA-CHAN! HEY!"

Sakura looked to her left and Sasuke to his right in response to their names only to find the most hyperactive member of Team 7 waving at them from afar. Within seconds he was standing in the space between his two best friends, panting slightly. "Hey (pant) what're you guys up to?"

Sasuke raised an amused eyebrow and Sakura shook her head. "Naruto you didn't have to speed all the way over here," said Sakura, eyeing her huffing teammate. "It's not like we were going to run away from you or anything."

Sasuke muttered a "speak for yourself" which earned him an annoyed glare from Naruto.

The blonde then turned to the kunoichi. "I was just wonderin' what you guys were doing, is all."

"We were saying good-bye," answered Sasuke, "how about you start doing the same?"

"I wasn't talking to you, teme!" snapped Naruto.

Sakura gave a pained expression as Naruto continued glaring at Sasuke while the raven-haired genin seemed purposely indifferent. The scene was almost identical to the day they took their team photo and Sakura sighed at this thought. After all the messes we've gotten through together and they still can't manage to be decent to each other.

"Well as fun as this is," chimed Sakura attempting to draw her teammates' attention away from their mutual animosity, "I really have to get going. If I don't get any food in me soon, I'll probably just pass out." Sakura began to turn away. "I'll see you guys around."

Naruto's head snapped in her direction. "Hey wait, Sakura-chan! Don't go just yet!" Sakura stopped and turned back to her blonde friend, who looked at her hopefully. "Let's go out to eat together!" He then turned to his other teammate, his eyes squinting at him in disgust. "You can come too, Sasuke." The words barely escaped through his teeth.

Sasuke just scoffed. "As if I want to spend my first night out of the hospital with a loser like you."

Expecting Naruto to respond explosively to Sasuke's taunting, Sakura was taken completely by surprise when she suddenly found herself being dragged away, arm in arm, by her smiling blonde friend. "Yup well you heard him, Sakura-chan, looks like it's gonna be just you and me tonight. See 'ya teme!"

As she was being pulled along by Naruto like a rag doll, Sakura stared out blankly for a couple seconds before she realized what was going on and resisted Naruto's tugging to a halt. "Hold on, Naruto. Sasuke was just kidding."

"Tch. No I wasn't," answered Sasuke coolly.

"See, no he wasn't," echoed Naruto. "Let's get a-move-on." He pulled on Sakura's arm again only this time her body did not move with him.

Sakura gave Naruto one of her 'stop-being-an-idiot' looks. "You know he wasn't being serious, Naruto." She then turned to Sasuke, a glimmer of worry in her eyes. "Were you?"

Sasuke blinked back, taken slightly off guard before he rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "All right fine, I'll go with you guys."

Sakura smiled and Naruto made his face into a very unconvincing pout which almost instantly shifted into an expression of excitement. "Oh whatever, I just wanna eat! Hey, let's all go and get some-"

"NOT RAMEN!" growled Sakura in a very uncharacteristically aggressive tone. Naruto and Sasuke were looking at her as wide-eyed as if they were watching a two-headed dog doing the hokey-pokey. Sakura sweat-dropped in response, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, uh I just meant…I mean w-we always go out for ramen…um, it might be nice to try something, uh, new?"

Recovering from almost going into shock, Naruto gave a defeated sigh. "OK OK, we'll eat something else. What do you guys have in mind?"

"There's a new steakhouse open we could try." Sakura and Naruto snapped their heads in Sasuke's direction, eyeing him with even more shock than the boys were giving Sakura moments ago. "Tch. What, I can't make a suggestion?"

"I-It's not that you can't…" started Sakura in awe.

"…but more like we didn't know it was physically possible," finished Naruto, still looking mesmerized.

Sasuke turned his head from Naruto to Sakura and back to his male teammate again. He grunted, "Will you two quit staring at me now? I promise I won't make anymore suggestions ever again."

Sakura and Naruto simultaneously turned to each other and back to their annoyed teammate and chuckled. Sasuke raised a questioning eyebrow as Naruto moseyed over to his friend's side and punched his shoulder lightly. "Hahaha just teasin 'ya, Sasuke. Now come on, let's head over to your restaurant and get some food. I'm starving!" Naruto patted his stomach for emphasis and Sakura inwardly seconded his suggestion as the three friends made their way to the steakhouse.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The evening went on with a jovial air and friendly fluidity to it as the young ninja of Team 7 enjoyed their dinner together. Despite being seated across from his sworn rival, Naruto was smiling from ear to ear the entire time; Sakura could not recall a single occasion she had laughed so much, and even Sasuke had his lips constantly curved in a way that for once did not resemble a smirk.

They were more or less finished with their meal (Naruto was adamant not to give up his plate until he cleared it of every grain of rice) and they were awaiting their bill when familiar voice drew their attention.

"Aw look at my cute little students, having dinner all together…you make your old sensei proud."

The three ninja looked up from their table to find none other than Kakashi staring down at them, his right eye closed in a genuine smile despite his teasing tone.

"Kakashi-sensei, what the heck are you doing here?" Of course only Naruto could make such a tactless greeting.

Kakashi dropped his head in a comically dejected kind of way, muttering something along the lines of, "No one around here appreciates me…" He recovered and placed a casual hand behind his head. "Oh you know, I was just in the neighborhood stretching my legs a bit. I was unconscious for over two weeks remember?"

Sakura raised a suspicious eyebrow. She knew her sensei long enough to know he never just runs into anyone unless he means to. Sasuke's face mirrored hers, and even Naruto was watching Kakashi more intently than usual.

Realizing he most definitely was not fooling anyone, Kakashi decided to abandon his coy charade and to, as they say, cut to the chase. "Sakura I actually have a message for you from Tsunade-sama."

At the mentioning of the sanin, Sakura suddenly became unnaturally aware of her heartbeat. "Um…what is it?"

"She would like for you to meet her in her office - the Hokage's office - after the inauguration ceremony tomorrow morning."

"Sh-she wants a meeting…with me? W-why?"

The jounin shrugged. He was about to say something when his arm was grabbed by his blonde student. "Hey wait, sensei! Are you tellin' me the old lady is becoming the Hokage tomorrow?"

Kakashi and Naruto's conversation went on - the genin asking for the specifics of the ceremony (since he would of course be going through the process one day himself) and his sensei giving him a fruitless scolding on being more aware of the goings-on of the village.

The specifics of the conversation were lost to Sakura, however. Her mind wondered more about the ending of the inauguration, not the ceremony itself. Tsunade-sama…our Hokage…wants a private meeting with me? Why? Does it have something to do with Orochimaru? She bit her lip at this thought. B-but wait, if it is about him then, well, maybe it's actually good news? Yeah, this could all just be information for the better. She moved her empty plate to the side for the waitress, who had just appeared, to pick up their dishes. Sakura then gave a small sigh. Face it, Sakura, it's not Orichimaru that has you scared right now…it's the thought of being in a room with that woman. Why do I always feel so nervous when I'm around her? It's not like that with Jiraiya-sama…

"Hey Sakura-chan, why didn't you tell us?"

It took the sudden silence around the table before she realized that Naruto's question was being directed at her. "Huh? What did you say Naruto?" Sakura noted the excited expression on his face.

"I said, why didn't you ever tell us you made chuunin? Kakashi-sensei just spilled the news."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "You make it sound like I'm some kind of gossip. I only mentioned it because I thought you guys knew about it and that's why you're out tonight, celebrating her promotion. And you know…" The silver-haired jounin put a pensive index finger on his masked chin. "…now that I think about it, I guess that means you all really weren't here celebrating without your dear old sensei. Haha I was beginning to think you guys didn't like me." His uncovered eye closed in the relieved, mocking smile only Kakashi could do.

Sakura sighed at her sensei and then turned back to Naruto's excited and slightly wounded gaze. "Well, I mean a lot happened after I got the news myself, what with searching for Tsunade-sama and running into Itachi and Orochimaru…"

"You guys saw Orochimaru?" asked Sasuke, the light tone he had adopted during their meal disappearing from his voice completely. "What did he want?"

Sakura screwed her lips together, not really certain how to respond. "He was after Tsunade-sama," answered Kakashi. The three students looked up at their sensei. Naruto and Sakura gave him a look of confusion, but he pressed on. Judging from Sasuke's expression, he clearly wanted more answers. "He needed Tsunade-sama to heal the injuries he sustained during the invasion last month. Of course she refused, and the three sanin battled it out for a while. Jiraiya-sama told me all about it."

Sasuke's eyes fell to the table in contemplation while Naruto's and Sakura's gaze remained on their sensei. He gave them a knowing look, indicating that this lie was better than the truth and the two teammates shifted their eyes to Sasuke. The Uchiha kept his eyes down as he asked quietly, "So…does that mean you two weren't hurt?"

Sakura blinked back in response. She was not sure whether to feel guilty for lying to her best friend or touched by his concern. Sakura looked up at Kakashi for reassurance but she could not make much out of what little of his face she could see. Although she could have sworn she saw the outline of a smile hidden beneath his mask. The pink-haired chuunin turned back to Sasuke and answered, "We were fine, Sasuke, don't worry. Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama took care of him. He didn't lay a finger on us."

Sasuke looked up into Sakura's eyes and she sensed a hint of relief hidden in the onyx hue. Naruto folded his arms assertively. "Not that we couldn't have taken that creep out on our own if we wanted too!" His teammates could hear the edge of hostility in his voice. "Hmf. The only good thing that came outta him gettin' away is that next time, you'll be with us, Sasuke, so we can all get a little payback!"

Judging from the disgust in Naruto's voice, Sakura could tell he certainly did not forget the way the snake sanin threatened her during their last encounter. The look in Sasuke's eyes told her that he definitely would not mind paying the villain back for marking him, as well.

"Eeeeeasy boys," said Kakashi, in his carefree, no-worries voice. "You've both got ways to go before going toe to toe with the likes of Orochimaru. Anyway, you all should get back to your evening. It actually looked like you all were getting along before I showed up." He said the last part eyeing Naruto and Sasuke mainly.

"Yeah," replied Naruto, his emotions quelling, "I guess you're right sensei. Congrats Sakura-chan!" The blonde gave his favorite kunoichi a wide, toothy grin and Sakura smiled back.

"He's right, Sakura." The girl in question turned to Sasuke, who gave a small smile. "Great job. You deserved it."

If she were being completely honest with herself, Sakura had to admit that she probably did subconsciously avoid revealing her promotion to her teammates, mainly because she worried it would spark a bit of jealousy towards her. But sitting there in that restaurant, at that table, in that moment, she could tell Sasuke and Naruto were genuinely very happy for her. She gave herself a mental slap; she could not believe she ever doubted her two best friends. Sakura smiled softly. "You guys…"

Kakashi gave a fake sob and wiped his eye with his finger, as if removing a tear from it. "Ooh, look at my cute little students, going out together, supporting each other…what more could a sensei ask for?"

That was it. That was the last straw. Team 7 grew to become tolerant of their eccentric sensei and his ways out of necessity, but there was only so much mocking any self-respecting ninja could take. They knew retribution was in order.

Sasuke was just about ready to slap Kakashi silly, sensei or not. And Sakura half-wondered if death-glares might be a suitable means of punishment. But Naruto, of course Naruto, the prankster Naruto, had other ideas.

"Aaaw senseeeeei…" began the blonde, matching Kakashi's innocently sweet tone with his own, "I'm so glad you feel that way. I mean, as our sensei, I'm sure you, more than anyone else, can understand the importance of team members getting along. Otherwise, our teamwork would suffer, right?"

Kakashi peered at Naruto through his half-opened eye, clearly wondering where he was going with this and bracing himself for some scheme. "I follow you…"

Sakura and Sasuke eyed Naruto curiously. Oh, if only they were mind readers…

Naruto gave a purposeful pause and continued. "Yeah, you might say the more often we all get together, the better out team gets. And as our sensei, you want our team to be the better, don't you?"

The jounin raised an eyebrow. "That is true."

Naruto sighed. "I, personally, would love to eat out with these guys all the time, but I unfortunately don't have the budget for it." The boy wore a sad frown, which was obviously forced to anyone who knew him. "It really would help if someone could chip in once in a while…"

Sakura's lips curved in realization of the plot. She then added, "Hey, sensei, maybe you wouldn't mind doing it some time."

Kakashi eyed her dangerously. He knew the moment more of them began chiming in that he was in mortal peril. "Doing what?"

"You can't expect him to do it unless he cares," said Sasuke, also catching on to the plan.

"Are you suggesting," asked Naruto incredulously, "that sensei doesn't care about our teamwork being on target so we can keep each other safe?"

"Based on passed experience, I'd say he does care," said Sakura in a matter-of-fact kind of way.

"He cares," said Naruto, "which means he'll do it."

"And now's a good a time as any," said Sasuke.

Seeming to have come to some irrefutable conclusion, the trio suddenly got up from their seats all at once and began filing passed Kakashi, Naruto being the last and patting Kakashi on the shoulder as he went by. "Gee, thanks for paying for us, sensei. With the money you'll save us, we'll be able to do this again some time real soon. Our teamwork is indebted to you. Haha, you're the best!"

The moment the young ninja were in Kakashi's blind spot, they sped out the door leaving Kakashi standing as if he were a balloon that had just been deflated.

I think I've just been duped…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were laughing through the dark streets of Konoha, happily recounting their successful exploits on their unsuspecting sensei.

"Hey, you guys don't think we went a bit too far though do you?" asked Sakura.

The boys turned to the kunoichi, who was currently walking in the middle of them, and gave her a look that screamed "hell no."

Sakura gave an amused smile. "Nah, I didn't think so either."

They reached their usual parting point. Naruto gave an exaggerated yawn. "Yup, I think it's time I went home then. Hehehe, it ended up bein' a great day though!"

"It was definitely one of my best days," commented Sakura.

There was a small pause after which the two looked at Sasuke expectantly. "Pft. All right fine…this day was pretty OK for me too." He looked away as he folded his arms and said quietly, and albeit begrudgingly, "I really enjoyed myself." For once, Sakura was the one smirking and Naruto grinned widely. "Tch. Well, weren't you just ready to leave or something, Naruto."

Naruto grunted. "I'll leave whenever I want to, teme!"

Sakura sighed. And they were getting along so well…

"Hmf, anyway," began Naruto, his anger dissipating, "I guess it is getting pretty late. And if we're all gonna make it to the ceremony on time tomorrow morning, I guess it's probably best we get to sleep right?"

His teammates nodded. "Meet you guys at the same spot?" inquired Sakura.

Sasuke gave a disinterested huff. "I suppose if I'm going to go to the ceremony, I might as well have some company."

Naruto smiled to himself. "You're not fooling anyone, Sasuke. And would it kill you to admit you actually like us?"

"Tch. Probably," retorted Sasuke.

"Hmf. Well I'm not chicken like you." Sakura recognized this tone. Whenever Naruto struck this cord, it often meant he was about to make a dramatic speech. "Because I for one…am really glad I've got you two to have my back. I can't imagine anyone who could do better!" Naruto gave a warm smile as he turned from one teammate to the other. "Honestly…I don't think I've ever really told you guys how much you mean to me. I woulda been completely lost without you two. So thanks…thanks for being the best friends ever! Haha."

Sakura could feel her eyes watering but held them back as best she could and just smiled. Even Sasuke was watching Naruto with a sort of grateful look in his eyes. This, however, did not last long. "Could you get any cornier dope?" Naruto's eyes fixed on Sasuke, his facial expressions impassive. "Next thing you know, he's gonna start confessing he's really a girl under there." Naruto bore his teeth. "It would definitely explain the way his voice sounds, and the height impairment."

One moment, Naruto and Sasuke were glaring at each other and the next Sakura was using all her strength to prevent Naruto from all but pouncing on their overly sarcastic teammate. "Naruto. Naruto! That's enough! Sasuke was only teasing." Sakura shot the Uchiha a dirty "you-know-this-is-all-your-fault" look, which he responded to with a shrug.

After struggling against Sakura for a while, Naruto finally yielded and was just huffing furiously. "Fine, I take it back," he said as Sakura released him. "All that I just said only applies to you, Sakura-chan. You're my one and only best friend. Hmf…and here I was about to suggest we all go have breakfast together before the ceremony, well you can just forget it." He smiled. "Good night, Sakura-chan!" He glanced at Sasuke through slit eyes. "Pleasant nightmares, teme."

Naruto ran off in the direction of his house, a spring in his step despite the recent Sasuke-driven hostility. As Sakura watched his retreating back, a thought crossed her mind which made her grimace. Oh right, breakfast…

Sasuke eyed her curiously as he noticed this and asked, "What's wrong with you? Didn't think you'd be that upset that he's left."

Sakura turned to the dark-haired boy next to her. "Oh no, it's not that. Naruto just reminded me about breakfast." Sasuke did an eyebrow-raise. "I was supposed to go grocery shopping today, and now the only edible thing I have in my house is instant ramen."

"Oh, yeah I see why that thought would depress anyone who isn't Naruto. Well, I mean there's a 24-hour convenience store nearby here."

"Hm, yeah I know the place. I guess I'll pop in and get some eggs or something. I guess I'll see you tomo-"

Sasuke unexpectedly began walking off, although not in the direction of the Uchiha compound. Sakura jolted forward to catch up to him. "You don't have to go with me, Sasuke. It's not that far."

"It's late," he answered simply, still looking ahead as they walked.

"I'm a ninja. You don't think I can take care of myself?"

"It's not that. It's just…well I'd feel better about it…" Sakura looked at Sasuke as if she were seeing him for the first time. "Tch. Besides, unlike Naruto, I actually know how to be a gentleman."

Sakura shook her head in amusement and shoved her hands in her sweater pockets. "And they say chivalry is dead."

Moments later they were in the small convenience store. It had a low ceiling with shelves haphazardly stacked and teeming with goods, making the shop seem even more cramped. A young boy no older than 11 was minding the shop. He was leaning over the counter with a bored expression on his face when the two friends entered. The boy got up with a start and looked at them excitedly, appreciating a change in atmosphere.

Sakura acknowledged him with a nod and went to the overly stocked shelves. "It's a good thing this place isn't very big," she whispered. "There's absolutely no order to how this place is set up. I mean, who stacks cereal right next to fireworks?"

Sakura searched through the shelves for some breakfast food while Sasuke was just looking around to entertain himself.

Ah, here are the eggs. She reached up for the dozen-filled carton when a stack of books near them caught her eye. She had to at least have a look at them. There were a couple of picture books for children and some home-improvement help books. What interested her more were the ones pertaining to ninja. There was one about sneak tactics and another on repelling genjutsu. She decided to get a closer look on the latter one and began skimming the pages. She was hoping she might have stumbled across something worthwhile, however the frequent misspellings and mediocre use of grammar told her otherwise.

"Why're you wasting your time with a book like that?" She looked up from the pages to find Sasuke watching her with a mocking expression on his face. "You can tell just by looking at it that it can't be very reliable." Sakura had to agree. The most reputable books did not normally have rainbow colored covers.

"You're probably right. The title just caught my eye is all."

"What…" he said taking the book from her hands, "the fact that it's about genjutsu or that it's entitled 'The Beast Genjutsu Difence'?"

Sakura chuckled. "I suppose the library would be more reliable place for me to read up on defending against genjutsu."

Sasuke put the book back on its shelf. "Why so interested in genjutsu all of a sudden anyway? I figured you would be focusing more on water jutsu right now."

"I guess I never really had much of a reason to up until now…" She grabbed the eggs and went to the small refrigerator in the store to get some milk.

"This doesn't have anything to do with my brother, does it?" He put as little emotion in his voice as he could.

She picked up the bottle of milk and looked at Sasuke, the sympathy in her eyes indicating that he was right.

"Don't concern yourself with my brother, Sakura. He isn't your problem."

"Of course he's my problem - he's hurt you so much plus he's after Naruto. I can't just ignore that."

"It's like I told you that last time…I'll take care of Itachi."

Sakura stepped forward, a hint of anger in her eyes. "You don't have to do everything on your own, you know. We can help, we're not useless."

"I know you're not," he mumbled. Sasuke sighed and spoke after a short pause, his tone returning back to his normal, nonchalant and less serious self. "Are you planning on buying those things anytime tonight?"

Sakura glanced at the two items in her hands and nodded. She walked over to the boy. He did not notice the two customers' exchange since they had spoken so softly to each other, so he did not look the least bit uncomfortable when Sakura walked over to him. The boy pulled out a small, tattered book and recorded a few things in the inventory before he looked up at Sakura. He blushed slightly as he met her gaze and said, "That'll be 268 yen, miss."

Sakura pulled out her money as her groceries were being packed and handed it to the boy. He dropped them nervously on the counter before he picked them up and placed them in the register and pulled out some change.

"Thanks," said Sakura pleasantly.

The boy blushed again. "N-no, thank you. And you have a nice night." He smiled and Sakura returned it and walked out, Sasuke at her heels.

"I think you have an admirer, Sakura."

"Huh?" responded Sakura, blissfully unaware of the interaction.

Sasuke smirked. "Never mind. Here let me carry those for you." He pulled the paper bag out of Sakura's hands.

"You don't have to do that Sasuke." He gave her a purposeful look. "Oh right, I forgot. Always the perfect gentleman, aren't you?"

Sasuke kept smirking as they made their way through the empty streets to Sakura's apartment. At Sasuke's insistence, he carried her foods all the way up to her apartment. Sakura unlocked and entered her place, turning on the lights. Sasuke remained in the doorway with the bag as Sakura kicked off her shoes and entered.

Sasuke coughed to get her attention, since she had not noticed he was waiting for her to take the groceries from him before he left. "What are you standing out there for? You can come in you know."

"It's all right. Just take your stuff and I'll head out."

"Don't be ridiculous, at least come in for a drink of water or something." She took the bag from Sasuke as he yielded and started taking off his shoes.

"You know," Sakura began musing to herself as she packed the food, "I had no idea acting all gentlemanly was so important to you, Sasuke. Carrying groceries, walking people home, not entering houses without explicit permission…"

"I-It's just something my mother always instilled in me, I guess." There was a hint of sadness in his voice that Sakura did not miss.

She looked back from the refrigerator. "You must really miss her don't you?"

Sasuke looked away and walked up to the kitchen table. Sakura turned back and began getting two glasses of water. The genin noticed the picture frame that stood alone on the table and picked it up to examine it. There was a tall, ruggedly handsome man with hazel eyes and short, brown, spiky hair standing with one arm around a young, beautiful woman with long silver hair and emerald eyes. The woman was holding a small child who shared the same face as her mother, except she had pink hair. They were all smiling happily.

She couldn't have been older than 6 or 7 when this was taken, thought smiled softly at the photo. "Looks like you miss your family too."

Sakura turned back with two cups of water in her hands and walked towards Sasuke, noticing the picture in his hands. "Yeah," she answered quietly, "actually I do." Sasuke took the glass in his free hand and rested the frame onto the table.

Sakura took a sip of water, but Sasuke kept staring down at the table. The kunoichi noticed he had the same confused look in his eyes that she had seen on him earlier that evening. She patiently waited for him to speak.

"Hey Sakura…" He did not look up from the table as he spoke. "Haven't you ever wanted to track down the person who…you know…took your parents away from you? Make them pay for what they did?"

Sakura suspected Sasuke's dilemma had something to do with thoughts of Itachi. "Well…to be honest, no…I can't say that I did."

Sasuke's head snapped upwards, not expecting this response. "What do you mean no? Why not?" His tone was a bit scalding, but Sakura tried not to look nonplused.

"Well I suppose my situation's a bit different from yours I guess…the man who killed my parents is already dead." It was Sakura's turn to look away as she spoke. "…and I can't say it made anything easier."

"At least you got justice," added Sasuke bitterly.

"What justice?" Sakura looked at Sasuke, her expression as calm and gentle as ever. "It didn't change anything; it didn't bring them back."

Sasuke scoffed. "So you're saying the answer is to do nothing then? To just keep living on and looking forward, give yourself time to heal?" He spat the words like venom, but Sakura's expression did not change. She understood where he was coming from. She had been there herself.

"I'd never lie to you like that, Sasuke." The boy blinked back in surprise, hearing another answer he did not expect. Sakura looked away again. "But I guess that's what everyone says we should do, right? Just pick yourself up and move on. Be strong for the moment…time heals all wounds. It's as simple as that." She chuckled to herself sarcastically. "But I know better than to say that. Time doesn't heal anything…" She looked back at her teammate. "…it just makes the pain more bearable."

A moment of silence passed. "You told me you wanted to defeat Itachi yourself, make him pay for what he did?" Sasuke give her a look of confirmation. "And you think that'll make you happy?"

"Maybe…it'd definitely make me feel better at least."

"No, I don't think it will. And I don't believe that's why you want to do it either…" Sasuke looked at his teammate curiously. "Don't convince yourself you're doing this for your benefit, Sasuke…I think you're doing this to hurt yourself."

"You think I want to be in pain?" said Sasuke, painful sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah actually," she answered simply, "I do."

Sasuke scoffed and turned his back on his female friend. "What do you know about it?"

"I know I went through the same thing." Sakura stepped forward, a hint of desperation in her voice. "Why do you think I didn't make any friends until we became a team? Don't you remember?" Sasuke wheeled back to face her. "I said I didn't want any until I was sure I could protect them. Because I didn't want to be put through that kind of pain again. In retrospect though…well I know better now." Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she pressed on. "The truth is I hated myself…" She clenched her first. "I didn't want friends because I didn't think I deserved them. I didn't have the right to be happy ever again, because after that attack I got to live and everyone that I loved didn't. And I hated myself for that…"

"Sakura…"

The girl wiped away the fully formed tears from her eyes. "Don't make the same mistake I did, Sasuke. Because you do deserve to be happy…I think so at least."

"I-I don't know Sakura…fighting for revenge is all I've ever known. It's what kept me going all these years. And I don't…" He let his words trail off, unable to finish.

"Is it really that impossible for you to forget about the whole revenge thing? To just let it go?"

"No, it isn't," he replied quietly, "…that's kind of the problem." Sakura cocked her head to the side in confusion and Sasuke put his un-sipped glass down on the table and turned away. "When I'm with you…and Naruto, and even Kakashi…it makes it so, so easy for me to forget it, so easy to make revenge a second priority to keeping you all safe. The problem is…I'm not sure if I want to…if it's right…"

Sakura walked closer to her friend. His back was still turned to her but she grabbed onto his hand with her own. Again she felt the shocking tingle as she made contact with his skin. She ignored it as she did before. Sasuke turned and looked down to her so that their eyes met. "I think it is…" They remained in each other's gaze for a moment before Sakura released his hand and stepped backward. "Of course, that's just my opinion anyway."

"Well I would be a little foolish not to consider a genius's advice," joked Sasuke, his voice now more conversational. He picked up his glass and took a few gulps before he rested it back down. "Well it's getting late, and I should probably head out now. Still, I'm glad I got to finally see your place," he said, looking around the room to take in its full effect. "I always wondered what your home looked like."

"You did?" questioned Sakura, taking hers and Sasuke's glasses to the sink.

"Yeah, although this place is a bit dusty," he said, sliding his finger across the kitchen table and pretending to examine it. "I had you pegged as more of a neat-freak."

Sakura gave an embarrassed gasped. "I-It's not normally like this. I mean, I was just saying to myself this morning it needed a good dusting after I'd been away for so long, b-but I never got the chance to-" Sakura paused as she noticed the amused expression on Sasuke's face. "You don't think it's dirty at all do you? Why did you say that?"

Sasuke smirked. "Just proving a point. You're actually even more of a neat-freak than I thought."

Sakura folded her arms in a playfully aggressive way. "You know what, just get out of here already. Go. You are no longer welcomed in my home."

"Pft. I was on my way out anyway," he answered as he walked to the door and was putting his shoes back on. "Good night Sakura."

"Later Sasuke," she said, waving as he opened the door to leave.

"Oh and Sakura…" Sasuke's back was still facing her but her turned his head to look behind him. "Thank you…for everything."

He then exited and closed the door behind him, leaving Sakura staring after him. Sasuke…I really hope you find happiness somehow…

Hahaha...another update complete, and ahead of schedule too! It's amazing how much writing you can get done when you're sick and forced to stay in bed all day no?

And this was a pretty long one too...I just couldn't stop writing! I was originally supposed to include Tsunade's inauguration and all that stuff in this chap but by the time I wrote all this I was like "Hm, page 20 huh?...best leave that other stuff for later."

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the Chapter! I love Team 7 so I felt they deserved a nice long chapter to themselves. Plus, it has some important character devlopment for future events, especially for...cough cough...never mind.

For my action-lovers...one more chapter before we get to the good stuff OK? Promise! Just let me have my fun with the characters for a little while longer, kay?

I'll try to write the next chapter asap! And from now on, I'm going to be posting updates for where I'm at in terms of chapter writing on my profile from now on. So if you're curious about my story's status, just check my profile. I figure it's more convenient and less tortuous for you guys than just blindly awaiting an update that could take anywhere from a week to half a year!