Naruto stuck close to Sakura's side as they walked through the city. Though the small, braided bracelet that nee-chan gave him made most people forget he was there, a fruit vendor shouted at them when they tried to enter his shop.
Sakura glared, tightening her arm around Naruto as he shrunk into her side.
Sasuke-kun walked some distance behind them, his chakra flaring unintentionally at the surprise intrusion by the civilian. Sakura paused, turning to let him catch up.
Sometime later, she would ask Suzu-nee to pay the vendor a visit and set him straight. But, for now she focused her chakra to hide some of Naruto's. When Sakura first started the academy, she hadn't even noticed Naruto's chakra but, having felt it even just once, she realized why people shied away from him. It was stronger than any chakra she had felt, stronger than nee-chan's or the Hokage's.
Though she didn't have as much chakra as Naruto, Sakura knew how to manipulate hers a lot better than most people. Using it to protect Naruto even just a little was worth the slight exhaustion she felt by the time they get to her house.
Nee-chan wasn't home. Sakura threw the windows open allowing a soft breeze carrying the scent of sweet rolls from the bakery below to fan into the apartment. Naruto's whole body relaxed inside the house and he threw himself onto the couch, shoving the strawberry shaped pillows underneath his head.
"Hey Sakura-chan, do you have any yogurt left?"
"Peach or plain?" she asked, heading to the fridge. She froze for a second, looking back at the hesitation written all over Sasuke-kun's face.
"Sasuke-kun, it's all right you can come inside. Naruto, give him a pair of slippers." Naruto groaned but followed her orders. Sasuke-kun's jaw clenched and he took off his shoes leaving them in the genkan and stepping through the door. He slipped on the slippers, moving slowly to the couch. His nose crinkled at the sight of the soft pink couches with fruit pillows.
"Do you want one too?" she asked, shaking the small bottle of drinkable yogurt in his direction.
"Hn," he responded. Sakura wanted to scream. Sasuke-kun was quiet but, that's not even a word. Were all the Uchiha like this? The thought sent her annoyance fleeing.
She would have to ask Ino what to do. Ino was always better at getting other people to talk even if it was out of annoyance.
"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" asked Sakura.
"It's survival training. We do it so much that it's boring now," Naruto said, responding to her question. Sakura handed him the yogurt, placing one in front of Sasuke as well.
"You barely ever focus on them when we do. Kakashi-sensei is a jounin. That means it's going to be harder than any survival training we've ever done."
"I bet we could take him. If he fell for my eraser trick, he must not be that smart."
"Or maybe he was pretending. Nee-chan says that jounin see more than anyone else."
"Your sister is a jounin?" Sasuke asked. He too has leaned back, hands fiddling with the cap of his yogurt. It was the most relaxed she saw him all day.
Sakura nodded. "Yes."
"Then why hasn't she trained you?" The look on his face wasn't one, the one she was anticipating. His nose curled; eyes narrowed as he ran them over her form. Sakura wanted to cringe and hide away in her clothes. Sasuke-kun looked cruel.
"Who says she hasn't?" Sakura responded, sharp and cutting. Sasuke-kun didn't know anything about her or her sister. And she didn't like the insinuation in his tone. Sakura heard enough of that from the other kunoichi in her grade. She didn't like hearing it from him.
"She's not just a jounin for show, she goes on missions all the time," said Sakura. Her tone cold and Sasuke looked at her in surprise.
Naruto interrupted, launching a pillow in her direction. "We can't really plan for tomorrow without knowing what sensei wants, Sakura-chan. We should just tackle him into submission and force him to pass us."
Sakura looked at Naruto at the same time as Sasuke-kun, their eyes meeting. Sakura's grin was real and bright at the sudden look of amusement in Sasuke-kun's eyes. He'd learn soon enough what it was like being near Naruto.
Naruto hid a lot behind the sunny smile and pranks.
They'd make a good team, all three of them.
She eyed the dark-haired boy with a hint of annoyance. He had yet to say a word since she arrived home and despite the circumstances—she understood what it was like to lose your entire world—the rudeness was not something she expected or liked.
Sakura looked at him with a level of infatuation that Colin Creevy once held for Harriet.
Yeah, not happening.
"Are you planning on speaking or should I start learning how to read minds?" she asked.
The boy blinked at her, slowly as if she was intruding on his day.
"What was your name? Saki? Sachiko?" Suzu muttered, hiding her smile at the rising red in Sasuke's neck.
"Sasuke," he muttered, sending a heated glare her way. The plant behind her nearly withered from the force of it, but Suzu smiled brightly. Placing her chin into the palm of her hand, she tilted her head, a small glitter genjutsu floating around her face.
He was cute, a downright tsundere if she had ever seen one. Sasuke's glare grew deeper, and she swore she could see flames in his eyes. Suzu increased the genjutsu, forcing the room behind her to melt away into soft pink clouds.
"You're not cute," he said, breaking the effect, with a soft release. "Genjutsu shouldn't be used for stuff like that."
"We're going to be best friends, Sasuke-kun," she declared. Suzu moved away from the kitchen counter, pulling things from the fridge to make dinner. She felt Sasuke's eyes on her, a cold, questioning glare.
"Don't call me that," he muttered at last.
"Wow, why is it always the rude ones with fan clubs?"
"Hn."
"What do you want to eat?" She asked, ignoring his non-response. Was it an Uchiha thing to make that noise? She felt a hollowness fill her again at the reminder of what happened to his family. How alone he must have been these last couple of years, living in the compound with the constant reminder of their deaths.
Suzu breathed in deeply, shaking the sadness away and burying in in her gut. She caught Sasuke's eye as she stared at the fresh tomatoes she put on the counter and made up her mind. In another life, Molly Weasley had barely blinked before welcoming Harriet into her family. The least she can do in this life was offer Sasuke the same.
The boy disappeared as she cooks, slinking back into the living room where she can hear Sakura yelling at Naruto. Suzu hummed, using magic now that Sasuke is gone. A knife rose in the air, chopping tomatoes and onions while Suzu set to making dough for pasta.
When the food was finished, table set, the kids wandered into the dining room. It's not a meal they would have had here, but Suzu has an arsenal of odd knowledge in her head. She left a whole pot near Naruto, knowing the boy would eat more than any of them. Sasuke looked happily surprised, awkwardly nodding at her in approval.
He ate the whole plate, not sparing them a glance as he attacked the tomato-sauce covered pasta.
She silently fist bumped her sister under the table.
After dinner, Suzu cleared the table, leaving the pots and pans to wash themselves in the kitchen. She shuffled the kids into the living room, silently summoning a deck of cards from her room.
Sasuke watched silently as she shuffles the cards, putting a bit of chakra in her hands to do it quicker than any civilian could.
"It's a training exercise," she claimed, dealing the cards to Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke hovered at the edge of the table, slightly uncomfortable from the casualness they exude. She leaned over, tossing seven cards in quick secession in front of the couch. He looked at her for a long moment before sitting down. Suzu tossed a warm smile his way and dealt her own cards.
"The aim of the game is to cheat as much as possible without getting caught by the other team. Me and Sasuke will play together against the two of you. You match the suit or the number until you have no cards left. The first team with none wins. An ace, jack, or queen allow you to give the other team 5 additional cards."
She caught Sasuke's eyes, hoping to convey that she wants him to take those cards before anyone else can. He gave her a tight nod, that has her grin growing.
Sakura and Naruto lost the first three rounds, ending up with half the deck each. Suzu played the next two with just Sasuke, not willing to admit that the kid has quick fingers when it comes to sneaking cards into her hand when she was not looking. She won the first round and let the second one end on a tie, drawing the first smile of the night from the young Uchiha.
Naruto and Sasuke end up going back and forth afterward. The banter pulled more words out of Sasuke than she had thought possible. Sakura and her settled for watching the two. Whenever Naruto goes a bit too far and Sakura jumped between them to defend Sasuke.
Suzu made a mental note to talk to her, Ino too, about boys.
Her heart squeezed uncomfortably at the thought of the boys, both having lost so much, going back home alone. She had not known any of the Uchiha personally, but Suzu was assigned to help clean up after the massacre.
Despite everything she had seen, both in Harriet's war and hers, Suzu cannot forget the blood that covered her hands that nights. Children slaughtered in their beds like pigs by a boy no older than some of them. She shuddered at the thought, shifting her gaze away.
If Sasuke made her breath stop, then Naruto made her heart shatter. Looking at him, made Suzu hate everything about this world. She failed Minato as badly as Dumbledore had failed Harriet. The thought ate at her with every glance at the blue-eye boy.
Seeing him here, teasing Sakura and fighting with Sasuke, all for a bit of attention, a small piece of love to call his own, put a sliver of hate for the Hokage in her. She was willing to risk his anger, ANBU's constant eyes, to let Naruto gain a night of peace by staying here.
"Do you want to sleep here tonight, Naru-chan?" The smile he sent her when she asks, just as unsure as the first time she had asked, cracked her some more.
"Hai, nee-chan. Maybe you can make some ramen in the morning for me and Sakura-chan so we can beat Kakashi-sensei."
"Maybe not ramen but, I'll make you breakfast. Can't have my little genin fainting on their first day, can I?"
"Faint? I won't faint. Sasuke-teme might. He's always so delicate."
Sasuke snarled in annoyance, "Shut up, usuratonkachi. I actually passed on the first try, unlike you."
"Do you want to stay?" Suzu kneeled to the ground, talking over the two arguing boys. Sasuke met her stare. His eyes were deep and dark. It was hard to believe that one day they will hold the famed sharingan.
"No. We have to be up early tomorrow." He frowned as he spoke, revealing a small dip in the corner of his mouth. Suzu resisted the urge to squish his face between her hands.
"Okay, but you have to pinky promise me that next time you'll stay for the night," she held her pinky finger out in the air between them. Sasuke glared at the finger as if it's offended him, which she wouldn't be surprised to find that it did.
"Hn." He looped his finger with hers anyway and Suzu swung her thumb up, pressing it against his. His nose curled at the movement, cheeks turning a rosy pink.
Sakura joined her at the door, hands flying to fix her hair as she waved goodbye. Suzu reached down and messed the locks up again.