It was a hazy dream.

All she had seen were colors really, and a few vague shapes. Black mostly, with some greens and reds and whites and pinks and yellows appearing tall and thin, wide and short, vast and subtle, tiny and striking. It was all over the place, a typical dream.

And like a typical dream it was interrupted by an outside audial disturbance.

Sakura pushed herself straight up off her stomach and held her position for a moment before shaking her head awake and rolling out from under the covers. She quickly covered the short distance between her bed and her front door, flicking on the light switch before flipping back the bolt and all but wrenching the handle.

"Morning, Sakura-chan!" Despite Naruto's cheerful voice, he looked almost as tired as she was. Sasuke, too.

"Morning, both of you," she replied before breathing in sharply and deeply, repressing the need to stretch and yawn. "Come in, Sasuke-kun."

He stepped in beside her and turned to face their teammate. Naruto stared at them for a moment before announcing, "Well, I'm off. Don't miss me too much, though I'll be back as soon as possible." He smiled warmly.

"We'll try," Sakura reassured him, her smile matching his. "Take care. Promise?" she urged him genuinely. She hated when their team was split, though she clearly understood the temporary necessity of it.

He nodded determinedly, before pointing to Sasuke. "You be good while I'm gone."

Surprisingly Sasuke didn't roll his eyes at the gentle but firmly spoken statement and Sakura didn't notice that something had gone on between them the previous night. "See you later," was all Sasuke offered before Naruto waved one last time and turned to meet his short-term teammate on time.

Sakura closed the door, locking it as Sasuke began to take off his shoes. "You can leave your stuff anywhere for now," she told him, noticing the bag he was carrying.

The only hint Sasuke gave that he heard her was following her through the living room and placing his bag by the foot of the couch. She wasn't tense at all; Sasuke was her teammate. But she was vaguely anxious over how the next few days would go. While she couldn't see anything distressing taking place, Sasuke was still Sasuke and wasn't the softest, most easy-going person. Sakura figured she would have to cater to his mood and schedule to a certain degree. But overall, she was pretty confident and excited about this opportunity.

At the current moment, however, she was still tired. But going back to bed was not an option, so she figured she may as well just begin her day. "Are you hungry?" She certainly was; dinner last night felt like so long ago.

He replied after a moment, "Not yet."

So much for having breakfast together. But that was fine; the less expectations Sakura had for this visit, the better. "Okay," she forced out semi-hesitantly, "I'm going to make myself something to eat, though," she pointed into the kitchen, "so let me know if you change your mind." She shifted her weight to her other foot. "Feel free to go back to sleep or just hang around," she offered. Suddenly it felt like she had the smallest apartment and most boring life in the world. She wondered if Sasuke knew what she was thinking because his expression looked like – if he hadn't been tired – he would have smirked. Pushing any thoughts of inadequacy or Leave it to Sasuke-kun to . . . aside, she turned from him and began busying herself cooking some scrambled eggs. She considered making some for him, but in the end only made enough for herself. He would tell her when he was hungry, and if it wasn't right then, then any extra eggs she made would just get cold.

A few minutes later, she sat cross-legged at the table with her plate and a glass of milk in front of her. Sasuke was sitting opposite her, though his head was laid on the table, enshrouded by his arms. Sakura let slip a crooked smile and began eating while staring at the angles his hair was falling at. She seriously doubted he was asleep, but ate quietly anyway, thinking.

"Don't forget I'm meeting Tsunade at nine."

It was a while before his muffled words broke the silence and Sakrua reflected on his words for a moment. He was going somewhere, so she had to go with him. Sakura mentally nodded; she hadn't forgotten that he had asked to meet with her shishou – or rather ex-shishou, now. She could have laughed at the thought. Just like Kakashi was still her sensei-technically-ex-sensei, Tsunade would always be her shishou, even if technically ex.

"Right." She glanced at the clock. Quarter to seven. "So . . ." Sakura began, "What do you want to do until then?"

With a sigh, he pulled his head up and planted his elbow on the table, now resting his head on his palm. He shrugged. "What would you normally do?"

"Sleep in," she answered easily, lightly grumbling and pushing her plate to the side, moving to mirror his position. He narrowed his eyes at her and she knew he was telling her to be serious. Sakura complied. "If I had to get up at this time, though, I'd probably just study or go for a run."

He stared blankly at her for a few moments too long before pushing himself away from the table and leaning back against his hands. "We're going running."

Sakura let out a quick, nearly inaudible laugh at the way he said such things, with finality. "Okay." She was feeling a run this morning, anyway. As she picked up her dish and began washing it in the sink, she saw Sasuke stand in her peripheral vision and shove his hands into his pockets, staring at her still. If he was just staring she would let him be; Sasuke always had a lot on his mind. But if there was something he wanted to say she was not going to prompt him; he had to do it on his own.

Drying and putting away her dishes, she made to walk past Sasuke to get ready when he said her name.

"Sakura," he smirked as she approached him, "just don't slow me down."

Her mind was instantly torn between two thoughts; one that she probably would slow him down a bit though she knew his statement was mostly said in jest, and secondly of the first time she had heard him say something similar.

"I'm not Naruto," she replied equally in jest, though quietly, reminiscently, knowing what he had meant.

His eyes never leaving hers, his smirk softened a little, almost like he was smiling oddly to himself in the pause that followed.

"No," he said finally. "No you're not."

Sakura could have sworn that just then he sounded exactly like he had years back when he commended her genjutsu skills before the Chuunin Exam. And she swore his softer tone made her not want to meet his eyes anymore. There was something in them that matched to a point the softness in his voice and it was something she had longed for and worked to see but hadn't expected to. So she pretended like his comment was funny and cut eye contact and continued past him to her room.

"I'll be right back out; I'm just going to change quickly," she called over her shoulder before shutting and locking the door.

She sat quietly on her bed, slumping over a little bit. This was a bad start. She couldn't let every little peek through his defenses shake her. It hadn't shaken her before, not during the war, not during their talk during the mission. Turning around to half-heartedly punch her pillow, she furrowed her brow in determination. She was his friend! Friends were there for each other! So what if she loved him with all her heart? That love wasn't what Sasuke needed right now! It could potentially help, but not if she let it deter her from giving him the friendly love and encouragement he needed. Somewhere in the back of her mind she acknowledged that maybe they would come to a point where she could share that love with him – she would never give it up – though that thought was shoved away with another weak punch to her pillow. Sakura glared coldly at the opposite wall. 'A shinobi must always put the mission first.' 'A shinobi must never show their tears.' 'A shinobi must never show any weakness.' What kind of shinobi was she being? She couldn't even pretend that she was disregarding the rules for the sake of a teammate; it was more like she was failing to meet the rules for her lack of self-regulation. She was older than when she was twelve and had seen Sasuke 'die'. She could control herself now.

Sakura threw herself off her bed and hurried to change to make up for lost time. She threw off her t-shirt, folding it quickly before throwing on a short-sleeved top. She left her loose shorts on and rejoined Sasuke in her living room, looking forward to the run to clear her mind, and glad for the familiar company.


Sasuke only turned around when he heard the door shut and the lock click behind him. He looked over his shoulder at the wooden door and his lips fell into a neutral position. He hadn't meant anything by that comment, but apparently – obviously – Sakura was still struggling with something. He sat himself down on the couch, waiting for her to finish getting ready. Now that he thought about it, he was itching to go for a run. To stretch, to push himself, to lose his breath. He was slightly disappointed he wouldn't be able to really run as fast as he wished he could; he was still on probation of sorts and would have to keep with her pace. He didn't mind that much, though. Sakura was fast and it would still be a good work out.

He leaned forward, pressing his elbows to his knees and familiarly threading his fingers together under his nose. Sasuke closed his eyes. He thought back to some of the things Naruto said the previous night. Revenge. Help. Goals. Others. Self. He knew where Naruto fit in his future. He knew where Kakashi fit. He usually knew where Sakura fit, but sometimes he felt unsure, like he was feeling that morning. It didn't particularly bother him – it wasn't like he had to figure out where everyone fit – but whenever he became unsure he noticed himself staring at her more, hard. Like that would be a way to figure things out.

As if.

Naruto had been sappy the previous night, but that wasn't unlike Itachi either. Some things Naruto had said reluctantly embedded themselves in Sasuke's mind and he would actually be interested in thinking about them further.

After a short flurry of noise from Sakura's bedroom, his teammate walked into her living room, stretching her arms behind her head. She looked over at him.

"Alright, let's go."

The sun had just risen, meaning Naruto and Kakashi had already left on their missions, when Sakura and Sasuke left Sakura's apartment and began running side by side. During their light, warm up jog Sasuke was thinking about his upcoming discussion with Tsunade, but once they reached the outskirts of the village and the two of them picked up their pace significantly, all thoughts that didn't involve how to continue breathing were chased from Sasuke's mind.


a/n: Hmm what could Sasuke possibly have to talk to the Hokage about? I actually meant to get to that this chapter but I feel like I'm skipping so much if I let time pass without covering it. Like, oh, okay, Sasuke came over before dawn and they went to see Tsunade at nine. But what did they do during those few hours? Did they just sit there? Did Sasuke tell a joke? Did Sakura just go back to bed? Doesn't how they interact even in the little moments reflect the advancement of their relationship?

That's why I have trouble skipping just to major plot scenes. Does that make sense or do most of you just find it annoying?

And yes, I hit a bit of a roadblock with Sasuke's attitude in the most recent manga chapter. Not that it was unbelievable, but more of a reality check for my character development.

Alright, until next week! Thank you all so much for reading and your continued support!