The most terrible thing about love is not that it breaks one's heart—hearts are made to be broken.

Sakura thinks it's a deeply cynical truth that she can't help but agree with. Hearts are made to be broken. But how many times, she wonders. Is there an infinite number or does each human being receive a finite amount of heartbreaks before the self-flagellation is over and they can settle into apathy?

Apathy, blessed apathy. She thinks it would be nothing short of a miracle if she ever got around to that.

Of course, what with all the Fourth Shinobi War, relentless training, and unyielding research Tsunade assigned her, she didn't have too much time to tend to a half-sutured wound carved hideously through the right ventricle of her still-bruised heart. Or maybe she wouldn't need to if said wound was quite as literal as she's described it.

Ino once said that falling in love was a delirium but staying in love was a conscious choice. But Sakura had spent the better part of three years trying to fall out of love—she wasn't on either end of Ino's spectrum and it disturbed her to realize that maybe falling out of love also needed to be caused by delirium.

Half the time she wonders if getting hit in the head would fix all this.

Probably not.

But then again, what would? She doesn't know why she's in love—only that she is. It's an integral part of her, a soul-splitting truth that she can't shake or discard. Love. Oh, how she would adore falling in love with someone who could one day love her back. That'd be the prettiest, most wonderful thing of all.

Sakura groaned, arms crossed on her work desk as she slid down her chair. Love.

She was really beginning to despise that word.

Couldn't she have fallen in love with anyone else? A butcher? A baker? She'd even take a candlestick maker. Someone who would be easy to love, someone whose image wouldn't cause Sakura to wake up at two in the morning questioning her life choices and then being forced to read medical textbooks to numb her mind back to sleep. Someone who was actually in the village maybe, but if that wasn't possible she could definitely make do with dating someone from another country.

Temari had mentioned her brother (which one, Sakura couldn't guess) found her clever and talented and while part of Sakura preened at the compliments, she had given the blonde kunoichi a noncommittal answer.

An answer she was now beginning to regret.

If she had known she was going to be plagued with these incessant aches of ardor three whole years down the line she would've jumped at the girl's not-so-subtle offer of setting Sakura up with one of her brothers.

As it was the whole "long distance relationship" schtick sounded great. So what if her significant other lived in Suna? She could totally make do with telegrams and messenger hawks and, if came down to it, she could ask Naruto to give her one of those cool transport seals he created after a year's worth of fuinjutsu study in Whirlpool—she and Gaara or Kankuro could instant message each other that way. That could absolutely be a fulfilling relationship, right?

Ugh. She mentally groaned. Who was she kidding? She'd spontaneously combust if she couldn't see her significant other and lord knows she had a wild imagination that could—or better yet, would—lead her down the path of hastily drawn conclusions and subsequent tangents of furious I-hate-you's and you-bet-your-ass-I'm-breaking-up-with-you tantrums which, in retrospect, wouldn't exactly be conducive to maintaining a longterm relationship.

Fucking fantastic.

Picking herself up Sakura blearily glanced out her window to see that dusk had fallen. Rich hues of amethyst, amber, and orange unfurled across a midnight blue eve and Sakura was mildly alarmed to realize her mental tirade had gone on for more than two hours.

Turning around Sakura grabbed her jacket, slipped her purse over her shoulder and walked out of the research lab and onto the streets of Konoha. Shizune-san had left to get dinner with Genma an hour ago and Sakura figured she wouldn't be coming back afterwards.

That thought alone put another grimace to her already downturned face. That wasn't to say she wasn't happy for Shizune—of course she was! She'd been over the moon when she'd learned that her quiet, meticulous teacher and friend had caught the eye of perpetual playboy Shiranui Genma and had spent literal hours helping Shizune select the perfect outfit that'd have Genma's jaw on the ground.

Sakura believed in love—she believed in redemption, affection, and the fact that every individual had a soulmate out there somewhere.

But for the love of god, Sakura thought as she passed by a takoyaki stand, hand gripping her purse, why can't I fall in love with someone who wants to fall in love?

Biting down on her lip, Sakura glanced back at the food stall and hesitated for a brief second before deciding screw it, diet's done for the day and promptly ordered two double servings of something she knew would clog her arteries a decade down the line.

Peachy, just peachy. Here I am eating my feelings because the universe hates me and I'm not destined for happiness so might as well drown my feelings in octopus and grease right?

She was officially going crazy.

With a quick thank you to the vendor Sakura rushed home before she could be compelled to buy out every food stall she came into contact with.

Gripping her front door key the pink-haired ninja gave one last look out of the large glass window of her apartment complex hallway, admiring the ever-deepening cobalt sky and the faint glimmer of stars coming into view. She'd always loved winter in Konoha and maybe this winter wouldn't be so bad.

Sure she was on the slippery slope to madness, what with her increasingly frequent bouts of existential melancholy, and sure, she was burning a hole in her wallet buying up random medical textbooks to keep her mind occupied at all hours of the night and yes, she'd even begun to loosen her diet restrictions because why bother to restrict yourself needlessly when the man you love was god knows where, roaming the earth in a horribly colored poncho?

Who cares right? Even she heard the slightly hysterical shriek at the end of that internal thought.

Pushing open her apartment door Sakura exhaled a sigh of pent-up frustration before removing her scarf, coat, and purse, takoyaki tucked safely under her left arm.

"Do you need help with that."

Sakura screamed—half-screamed—as she whipped around, charka flowing to her left arm as she readied herself for battle.

"It's me." The voice—rich and low and so goddamn familiar even after all this time—spoke again, this time it sounding like he'd moved closer.

Sakura's eyes narrowed, lips pressed in a thin line as she flicked on the switch.

There, standing in front of her—in all his poncho glory—was Uchiha Sasuke, mismatched eyes and ridiculously pretty face.

"You couldn't have turned on the light?" The words rushed out of her before she could formulate a proper greeting.

As soon as they did, Sakura had to fight back a moan of embarrassment. Lovely—just lovely. Perfect way to greet the man you're in love with—why not demand to know why he didn't wash your dishes while he was here?

Briefly, she wondered if she could tunnel her way out—forget the door or window, she could just punch a hole straight through the floor and then run out screaming.

Then again with his Sharingan, she probably wouldn't get very far.

Sasuke didn't seem to mind her complete breach of courtesy.

Instead, he replied, "I didn't want to increase your electricity bill, especially since you weren't home."

Sakura's cognitive functions sputtered to a stop. What? "My…electricity bill."

He nodded. "They're increasing prices next month."

"Oh." Was her ingenious response. "I didn't know that. Wait, how do you know that?"

He didn't exactly shrug but his attitude was so blasé she wouldn't be surprised if he did. "Not a lot to read in the desert."

"So, you bought a copy of the newspaper with you or...?" She honestly could not puzzle this out.

"No, I found it."

"You found the newspaper?"

"Yes."

"In the desert?"

"Yes."

Sakura blanched. "Did you peel it off a corpse?" Her vocal chords seemed to have a mind of their own. Good for you, Haruno Sakura, Expert Mistress of Social Commentary! She wanted to crawl into a hole and maybe stay there for two or three decades.

Sasuke made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a huff. "I found it." He repeated, neither confirming nor denying her question.

"Okay." She didn't know what else to say.

"Do you need help with that." He repeated his earlier question.

Sakura frowned. "With what?"

"The takoyaki."

"The takoyaki—? Oh!" She glanced down at the paper bag still tucked her under left arm. "Right, yes, takoyaki! Right." She glanced between the paper bag and Sasuke. "Um, I bought a lot." Okay bad opening but I can go with this, I can build on this. "Do you want to get a plate and we can...split it?"

Sasuke glanced at the brown paper bag that was now leaking soy sauce. A moment passed and then he began making his way to the kitchen.

A strangled, mildly inhuman sound of inquiry escaped Sakura's lips. "Wait, is that a 'yes, we can split' or more of a 'I'll just get you a plate and you can eat it yourself' reply?"

Sasuke returned, two plates in hand.

An embarrassed blush tried clawing its way onto Sakura's face but she beat it back with the force of a thousand furious Tsunade's. "Right." She cleared her throat, moving to place the bag on the dining table. "I'll just set this down then."

Sasuke followed suit, saying not a word as he deposited a plate for her and then one for himself. "I don't know where the chopsticks are."

"Oh, they're in the fourth drawer to the—" she broke off, remembering that she was no longer holding the takoyaki bag. "You know what, I'll just get the utensils."

Sasuke's expression seemed to say yes, that would be best.

"Right." She agreed for what seemed like the fifth time that night.

Moving quickly to the kitchen Sakura grabbed chopsticks, napkins, two cups, and a bottle of juice she kept tucked in the back of her fridge. With her bounty in hand, Sakura tried to move as quickly and as gracefully as she could back to the dining area before Sasuke decided roaming the desert and reading electricity reports was more interesting than a pre-dinner snack with her.

And even though she knew returning to Sasuke and takoyaki would be jarring, she was completely unprepared for the sight of Sasuke actually sitting down at her dinner table, eyes fixed on the bag.

"Um."

He glanced up.

"Do you, um, I mean—" she was faltering, faltering fast. What do I say, what do I say, what do I say?! "D-do you think we should invite Naruto here? I mean, I bought a lot of takoyaki and you know Naruto, he'll at anything so ha! Better invite him too because he might get hungry and we both know Kakashi's not gonna let him go anytime soon but he may be amendable to Naruto coming here—in fact, we should invite Kakashi as well, you know him, sensei's kind of forgetful—"

"Naruto's dining with the Hyuuga tonight." Sasuke cut in. "That's why I came here."

Okay, ouch. The blunt admission of being second best to Naruto stung but at this point, Sakura couldn't exactly blame either Naruto (for coming first on Sasuke's very, very short list of people he didn't hate) or Sasuke (for putting Naruto at the top of the very, very short list of people he didn't hate).

As she worked her way through a brief bout of childish jealously, Sakura's brain finally registered what the other man/love of her life/former teammate said.

"Hyuuga?" She blinked. "Do you mean Naruto's getting dinner with Hinata?"

Sasuke paused. "...Yes."

"Sasuke," Sakura felt like she was stepping into a very unwanted minefield, "you do know how Hinata is, don't you?"

A mildly irritated frown appeared on his face. "Of course I do."

"You didn't sound very sure."

"It was dark." He replied flatly.

You have the Mangekyo Sharingan and the Rinnegan but you still couldn't confirm which Hyuuga Naruto was dining with because "it was dark"?

Wisely, Sakura chose not to acknowledge the obvious fallacy of Sasuke's rebuttal.

"So...Naruto's out, but should we invite Kakashi-sensei?"

"He's busy."

Now that surprised Sakura. "Busy with what? Evading Shikamaru?"

"No, he's on a date."

Sakura's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. "A date?" She frantically tried to think of every kunoichi in Konoha who could possibly even vaguely interest the elusive Hatake. "A date with who?"

"The Godaime Mizukage."

My brain's officially short-circuited for the evening. "…I think I need to sit down."

Sasuke moved his chair over slightly so she could collapse into the one beside him.

"I think I heard you wrong, did you say Godaime Mizukage?"

He nodded.

"But how did you know for sure? Did you get up close? Did you hear him say her name? I mean it could be a henge—"

"I'm familiar with the Mizukage." Sasuke's tone was clipped. "Her chakra signature's unmistakable."

"Right but—"

"We met at the Five Kage Summit." He interrupted. "She leaves quite the impression."

"I thought she tried to kill you?"

Sasuke cleared his throat. "We had a difference of opinion."

"...Ah."

Silence reigned as Sakura attempted to digest the sudden new information involving her teammate and former sensei when she heard the crinkling of paper and turned to see that Sasuke had begun taking out the plates of takoyaki.

He glanced down at the octopus balls with an unreadable expression.

Lifting his head, he looked into her eyes. "They're cold."

Sakura blinked. "Oh." She blinked again, not sure why he was still staring at her before glancing down at the takoyaki and remembering that yes, they'd been chatting for a while so they must have gotten cold and— "Oh!" She leapt out of her seat. "Here, let me warm them up, it won't take long."

"No need." He sat up a little straighter, hand crafting seals at such a speed she could hardly make out what was what before Sasuke took a deep, sharp inhale and Sakura suddenly realized what he intended to do.

"No, don't—!" Sakura jumped in front of him, hands slapping across Sasuke's mouth with a force that was, perhaps, unnecessary.

Sasuke's mismatched eyes widened just a fraction, too shocked to shove Sakura away from him as she continued to press her hands over his mouth.

"Sasuke this dining table is not insured for spontaneous Katon jutsu so please, let me just re-heat these in a pan before you burn down my apartment, okay?"

She didn't let him answer before removing her hands and Sasuke, suddenly flooded with oxygen and cheeks still stinging from the force of Sakura's slap, choked a bit on the air around him, sending the last Uchiha into a violent coughing fit.

"Drink some juice!" Sakura, in a bit of doctorly advice, called out from the kitchen.

Sasuke didn't answer, one hand coming to press against his chest as the other rubbed his jaw. That was going to bruise.

From where he sat, he could see Sakura cheerfully and speedily re-heating the takoyaki, easily maneuvering around her kitchen with a familiarity he hadn't seen since his mother passed.

With a faint look of contemplation, Sasuke continued to gaze at her, no major epiphanies sparking off that would transform his internal world but as he sat there, eyes watching Sakura, a strange thought registered.

She looks…happy.

And unbeknownst to either, the downturn of Sasuke's mouth—always so severe in either temper or pique—softened, forming perhaps not a smile, but something quite close to one.

- "The most terrible thing about [love] is not that it breaks one's heart—hearts are made to be broken." — modified quote from the letter Oscar Wilde wrote while in prison, De Profundis

A/N: I see this as more of a Sasuke and Sakura friendship story but it could also be interpreted as romantic in a sense. Idk I feel like once Sakura eased up on the more flamboyant/enthusiastic aspects of her fangirl persona they could've been pretty good friends. Like buds who casually go out for yakisoba or barbecue and then finish off with a night of drinking while making a bunch of snarky but witty commentary that no one else can keep up with. It'd be great. Really wanted them to have this kind of camaraderie towards the end of the manga but if Kishimoto won't give it to us then fanfiction's the way to go!

Also 500% am sure Sasuke (at least in the beginning) had no idea who Hinata was lmao, he could probably see Naruto with Neji and go "ah, yes, Hianta—the person Naruto will marry" xD (Also I refuse, flat out REFUSE, to accept Neji's death. As such, he is alive in this fic. Whether or not Sasuke correctly identified Neji is another question entirely lol)