Parking her car in front of Ino's house, Sakura chewed her lip and reached up to knock on the door, wishing she could hide the glum expression on her face. Ino quickly answered, her face only half done up with makeup as she looked curiously at her friend standing on her doorstep. It took no longer than five seconds for the situation to click in the blonde's head before she had Sakura by the wrist, practically dragging her into the house.
"Okay, girl. You start talking, now," Ino demanded, hands on her hips. She looked like she was ready for a fight; Sakura could see the fire in her eyes.
"I don't really want to talk about it," she mumbled as she set her bag down on the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest on the couch. "I just didn't want to go into the office alone." She could park her car at Ino's place, and worst-case scenario, she'd walk home from the office. Ino lived the closest of all of them, so it wasn't a long walk at all.
"Well, okay, if you want to park your car here, that's fine. Where are you going to stay?"
"I'm just going to stay in my office for a few days. I have stuff I need to get done, anyway, so it'll help with that. Don't tell anyone, okay? I need a couple of days until I can figure something else out." The last thing she wanted to do was burden her friend further than she already was.
"Okay... but please, let me know if something's up, okay? I worry about you sometimes." Ino's concern was expected; she tended to worry a little too much at times. Right now, Sakura didn't want to talk about what had happened between her and Sasuke. She wanted to bring her things to her office, get settled, and start looking at what she needed to work on. At least she didn't have to worry about seeing him at work, given he was on administrative leave; he was confined to working out of the office and away from fieldwork.
Sakura nodded in response to Ino's statement, quietly following behind her until they were in the car. She knew Ino was going to ask questions; in fact, she would have been surprised if Ino chose not to. Sakura took the time to steel herself, waiting for the bombardment of questions she was going to face.
"What happened?" Ino asked. That was a big question to answer; definitely not something she could give a simple answer to.
"Sasuke and I... had a fight, sort of," she began, hanging her head. "I don't really know if that's what you'd call it, but that's the only way I can think of to describe it." Admittedly, it'd been quite one-sided. She tried to continue what she was saying, but she was stuck on how to go past that. "I just... I'm starting to think that maybe we don't work together. I mean, look at us. In some respects, we've gone way too fast, and in other aspects, we've barely got anywhere." It was such a strange conundrum. They lived together, slept in the same bed, yet they'd only ever kissed and nothing more. Weren't relationships supposed to move quicker than that? From the stories she'd heard from Ino, it was definitely a slow pace.
"What, because you two haven't had sex yet?" Ino was blunt as always about things. "Honey, don't use me as a benchmark for that kind of thing. Sure, you guys aren't a normal relationship by any means. But I think saying you two don't work is wrong." Sakura was questioning Ino's perspective right now, though she still listened to her friend's advice. "What exactly did he say to you that has you so upset?"
Sakura did her best to hold back tears as she spoke. "I was trying to tell him that I was there for him and that I understood how he felt," she began, sniffling and wiping a few tears from her cheeks. "He just yelled at me, told me that I didn't understand, that I didn't know what it felt like to be as haunted by something like what he experienced. He told me I would never be able to understand what he'd been through."
"Sakura," Ino began with a sigh, "Do you remember back when we were in high school, and Shikamaru broke up with me?" Sakura remembered that incident fairly well; it was one of the few times they'd been in a fight as friends. "Remember how I told you that you had no grounds to give me advice or tell me how things were going to go because the only date you'd get would be with a textbook?" It'd been an incredibly savage comment that Ino had made, even if it had been right; up until the last few months, Sakura had still believed it to be the truth.
"Yeah," she replied quietly, wishing Ino hadn't brought it up. Those words certainly weren't helping the situation any.
"Well, obviously, I was wrong. Sure, you had no definite experience, but in no way did that mean you had zero understanding about how I was feeling. That's what makes you special, Sakura. You understand people, you empathize with them, and you have the biggest heart of anyone I know. You care about everyone around you. And if Sasuke doesn't realize that, then he's the fool, not you. He's the one that doesn't understand. And he's the one who needs to figure it out, so the two of you are better off. But that's not my only point. Sakura, I'm trying to tell you that I think he was just lashing out and didn't really mean things as harshly as they came out. I didn't mean it that day when I said that. I was upset, and I took it out on you. I wouldn't be surprised if he were doing the same thing. You just need to give him some space to figure things out."
Sakura knew that Ino was right, but her heart couldn't believe it entirely. She felt glum and defeated; it was like her heart had been ripped out of her chest by his words. Her head hung as she stared into her lap, debating her next words. It was one thing to admit it to herself; it was another thing entirely to admit it aloud to anyone, especially her best friend or Sasuke himself.
"Ino, I..." She was hesitant to admit it. "The way I feel about him, I just... I'm worried and upset at the same time. I want to talk to him, and I want to check on him, but I'm scared I'll push him too far or that if I try, I'll just end up pushing him away."
"You love him, don't you?" Ino asked directly; Sakura let out the smallest gasp, head swivelling in Ino's direction before she looked back at her hands in her lap, giving the smallest nod.
"Look, you can't help how you feel, so you don't have to hide it," Ino continued. "But maybe... maybe you guys are moving at different paces in life, you know? And maybe he just needs some time to figure things out." She paused again as she parked her car, getting out and closing the door as Sakura exited the passenger side.
"Listen, Sakura. Sasuke is your epic love, so I want you to know that I will not go down without a fight for you, got it?" Leave it to Ino to be ready to fight for her. "Now go to your office, figure out what you're going to do next, and just get your own side of things straightened out. I'm, uh, possibly going to be away for a few days, but if you need anything, just call me, okay? I will be there for you, no matter what." The last bit had Sakura concerned; Ino was going to be away? For what reason?
"Okay, I will. I'll just get my housing situation figured out first, and then I'll let you know what I'm going to do." She waved goodbye to Ino, heading for the stairs down to her work area.
Sasuke couldn't believe what he was experiencing. She was gone. Just like that, she'd disappeared out of the house, practically out of his life. He remembered the feeling in his chest, but he'd only felt it once: he'd been a child the first time he experienced the feeling of pain and emptiness he was feeling now.
"Sakura," he said softly, his voice choked with emotion. His voice caught in his throat as he aimlessly wandered back into the bedroom, seeing the bed perfectly made, the blankets pulled tight and straightened like it were a hotel room. That was Sakura to a T; even as he wandered the room, her scent seemed to linger. She always smelled faintly of a mix of strawberries and cherry blossoms: a sweet, light, a mildly floral scent unique to her.
He'd screwed up beyond recognition. Even now, he was afraid he could never make up for that. How could he have said those things to her? How could he have treated her that way when he, of all people, knew what she'd been through? He'd disregarded her feelings and pushed her away, the exact thing he'd promised never to do to her again. He was such a liar. Hell, the worst kind of liar, as far as he was concerned.
The kind of liar who'd snap and hurt those around him, who'd treat a person full of nothing but kindness, warmth, and love like she were worth nothing. He sat there on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands as he tried to straighten everything out. Exhaustion was getting to him; despite his little nap on the front lawn of his old house, he still had yet to get some proper rest.
He changed and crawled into bed, instinctively pulling the pillow she'd slept on close to him, inhaling what was left of her scent. And for the first time in at least a decade, he felt a single tear slip down his cheek.
After getting most of her general daily duties out of the way, Sakura set to browsing some of the housing sites, looking specifically for something she knew she could afford. She did have a goal in mind at least: she could get an extension on her mortgage to purchase a small apartment, which she'd be able to handle the payments of through her regular wages. After that, she'd work on moving her things to the new apartment to furnish it and work on selling her old house. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to get much out of it; places that had major crimes happen in them tended to depreciate significantly in value.
She sent a few messages off, dipping between her work and replying to one of the sellers who got back to her quicker than she was expecting; within about half an hour, she was on the phone with them and ironing out the details. Luckily for her, there was a viewing open for the afternoon. She could take her lunch break, view the place, and hopefully close the deal without any issues.
Biding her time until lunch, Sakura ensured she had every bit of paperwork ready to go by the time she left, leaving to view the apartment she'd shown interest in. It seemed perfect from what she could tell: it had a single bedroom, a decent-sized kitchen, and a living room with a fireplace. Sakura had grown attached to having a wood fireplace; it was on the top floor, which meant that it was generally quieter. It came with rooftop access, which, although it was partially a shared space with the rest of the upper floor tenants, she was looking forward to having a common area where she could potentially meet other residents. On the other plus side, the building had a communal pool where only residents had a key to the basement. It was slightly out of her price range, but it was the best deal she'd managed to find. Showing no hesitation, she worked on signing the papers quickly and was told that she could move in within the next few days.
Great. That meant she only had one thing left to do: figure out how she would manage living out of her office for the next two days.