A/N: Sorry for being late. I broke a nail.

Volume 6. Dependence

Chapter 38 — Kindling

He wasn't a fool, nor was he lacking in empathy.

At least, he wasn't lacking in empathy when it came to his teammates. Them, at least, he understood well enough to sort of understand why they did the things they did.

When Sakura had been ill, Naruto and he had both been fuming at the knowledge that they were unable to take steps to rectify it for five days. And now, for Sakura, she was obligated to wait two weeks. It was entirely natural that she'd be agitated.

He even understood why she'd want to risk everything to leave. Relying on others— who were often selfish and moronic— was physically painful. It was natural for her to think she would resolve the issue more expediently and better than with the aid and advisement of others. Natural, even if wildly, arrogantly optimistic.

It made sense. She hadn't been through what Naruto and he had. Even so, their intervention helped decide her against acting rashly, even without the same formative experience.

So it was fine. He'd understood her perfectly. She wasn't stupid, but she wasn't a complex person either.

But she was avoiding him, and not trusting him, and it was leaving him sour.

You would think it would be difficult to avoid speaking to two people you were living with. Sasuke even had to be a little impressed she was pulling it off. He'd started waking earlier and earlier each day— and even when he cut his wake time to four-thirty in the morning, she was still already gone to the training grounds.

Well. Somewhere, anyway. He'd tried going to the training grounds at five in the morning before— but she wasn't there either.

At least she took one of Sensei's dogs with her. Otherwise, he might actually lose his mind.

Naruto had been pulled into the new routine as well— there were only two dogs, and Sensei had made it very clear that he wanted them all accompanied when wandering around. Fortunately, he hadn't seemed to mind. To Sasuke's surprise, Naruto picked up the habit of reading training scrolls before bed.

He'd nearly been impressed until Naruto continued, "they're the only thing boring enough to make me sleepy this early!"

Mildly disgusted by what his life had come to, Sasuke started preparing for bed at eight in the evening. He'd try waking at three tomorrow, and if she'd already left the house, he'd simply have to track her down. Between his Sharingan, the dog's scent tracking, and Naruto being able to support a perimeter with clones, it shouldn't even be difficult.

At that moment, the front door opened, and Sakura walked in.

He didn't bother trying to pull her into a conversation. She'd do what she always did— yawn, mutter something, and go directly to sleep. Once, he'd even tried jostling her awake. To put it mildly, it hadn't been effective.

He finished filling Sarada's water bowl and went to the sitting room to sleep.

Sakura was still awake.

Naruto had dropped the scroll he had been reading entirely and was staring at her. Clearly, they had both been waiting for Sasuke to enter the room; he'd not heard any voices.

Sakura was sitting patiently on folded knees on her futon, looking much more awake than usual. She subconsciously smoothed out her blankets as though tidying a formal kimono skirt in a much more ceremonial setting than their sitting room. The dog sprawled out belly-up behind her rather ruined the effect.

"Uh," she said eloquently.

Sasuke sighed and dropped onto the couch. "Yeah."

"What the hell, Sakura?" was Naruto's immediate input. "Why haven't you been talking to us?"

Sasuke may have found Naruto profoundly annoying, but he did appreciate how he didn't mince words and pleasantries.

"My trial is tomorrow," Sakura said.

Both he and Naruto exchanged a glance.

"So?" Sasuke asked. She'd told them about her court appointment before; she'd been firm on the whole thing being 'no big deal'. Had she been lying?

"Um." She wrung her hands together. "I was wondering if either of you wanted to go."

Naruto frowned and leaned back. "I dunno if we'll be much help. Are you just nervous or something?"

She shook her head. "I'm, ah, trying to include you guys more. In things. And stuff."

"Things?" Sasuke echoed.

"And stuff?" Naruto added.

"You don't have to!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I'm just not sure how to do this whole, uh—"

"Not avoiding us?" Naruto suggested helpfully.

"That." She bowed her head. "So, uh, open invitation. It's around eight, so I'll wake around seven tomorrow, and—"

"Wait," Sasuke cut her off. "Seven? Since when do you wake up that late? We've been waking up before sunrise and still missing you."

She crinkled her nose. "I always wake up a little when your chakra starts stirring. It's enough for me to get myself up, so I've just been leaving before you wake up completely. You didn't have to keep getting up earlier every day, you know. I haven't been enjoying it either."

Sasuke buried his face in his hands. "Of course," he grumbled. "Clearly my fault."

"Well, can we do something else?" Naruto asked. "Sorry, Sakura, but I don't really want to go into a courtroom. I'm, uh, not good at that kinda thing, and I don't wanna get you in trouble. Can we just get ramen after you get home or something?"

She smiled softly. "Sure. Of course, Naruto."

He sprang to his feet and pumped a fist in the air. "Yeah! Finally!"

Sasuke frowned. "I'll go."

Both heads shot to stare at him. "What?"

He crossed his arms. "I said I'll go." He cocked his head to the side. "Don't act so shocked when you're the one who asked."

For some reason, her face flushed pink. Sasuke didn't know what to make of it, but suddenly, Naruto cried out and pointed an accusing finger at her. "You only invited us 'cos you thought we'd say no!"

Sasuke gaped. "Seriously?"

"No!" she cried out. And then, "Not entirely. I just… didn't really think this far ahead." She scratched the back of her head— a gesture she had no doubt picked up from Naruto. "Honestly, won't you be bored?"

He shrugged. "I've sat through worse. It'll be good to know how cases work anyway. Besides, won't you be nervous if you're alone?" He was honestly surprised she'd been acting so calm about it. Sakura got along well with most people but tended to wither the moment someone so much as frowned at her.

"Oh!" she smiled. "I would not be alone. Tsunade-sama will be there, of course. And Neji-san," she tacked on as though it were normal.

"What."

Her smile faltered. "After what happened with Lee, he offered to give a statement as a witness. He was very..." Her voice trailed off.

Naruto smacked a fist into his palm. "You should've asked me! I could do that for you!"

She smiled. "You couldn't, though. That's not what a witness is. You would have had to have been present," she explained.

Sasuke ignored them both and tried to picture Sakura alone in a courtroom with Neji of all people as her support. Tsunade would be less than helpful, as she was technically the opposing counsel.

She'd probably cry, and then he'd have to kill Neji. And then she'd be angry and become even more impossible to deal with.

"Oh yeah, and you were saying, 'he was very'. What was he doing? He wasn't being mean to you, was he?"

Sakura shook her head rapidly. "No, he… Tsunade told me he sort of reprimanded everyone, for how they were treating me in the situation. He even came to my hospital room to let me know he'd stand as a witness for me. He's actually very kind."

Sasuke wondered, idly, what Neji would look like if he were turned inside out.

Naruto, on the other hand, beamed. "Eh, I guess training with them wasn't such a bad thing if you made friends! I'm surprised that jerk was nice to you, but it makes sense! Nobody could be grumpy with you around!"

He felt a headache forming. He stretched his arms and sighed. "What time is your hearing, again?"

She blinked. "Ah- oh, right. It will be at eight. We'll have plenty of time."

He nodded. "Since you've been waking up at three, that's practically afternoon for you."

She at least had the decency to look abashed.

Wanting to take advantage of her current mood, Sasuke continued, "So are you finished avoiding us then? Not going to try to flee the country?"

For a moment she seemed to shrink, before straightening her back. "I'm done avoiding you, yes. And I won't run away. I've thought it over, and… decided to trust what Sensei said."

"And us, right?" Naruto prodded.

She grinned. "Yes, and you. The thing is… I'm probably lucky to even live in a village where they would care about civilians enough in the first place to want to get them back. And they're letting us help with the mission. As long as the village cares, and as long as I can do something? I'll take it." She smiled serenely.

Sasuke didn't buy it. "It's annoying the hell out of you."

Her face fell into a scowl. "Yes. Yes, it is. So I decided that after our intel mission, I'll keep pushing for more involvement. I might even be able to find out more than they're expecting if I'm careful. If I do a little at a time, they're more likely to give way, especially if we do well."

Sasuke frowned. She sounded like she meant it, but something was off. Now that she wasn't avoiding them, he'd have to try spending more time around her. There was something he was missing, and it was clear that simply asking was no longer effective.

Naruto beamed. "It's gonna be so cool to finally do a mission with you! Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Missions are, like, super easy. You're gonna be bored."

Sasuke elbowed him and hissed, "Don't tell her that."

Naruto blinked. "But like, not SO bored that you'll run away forever." He crinkled his nose. "That reminds me, though. What have you been doing this whole time? You were training, right?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah. As you said, I don't like being bored."

"Have you been training in anything cool? Anything you can teach me? I tried learning chakra sensing on my own with the bast— with Sasuke, but I'm not very good at it yet."

She beamed. "We haven't trained together in a long time. It would be fun. Let's see… I finally started working on seals a little bit, but I'm not very good yet. Ten-Ten has me practising with pre-made seals, so I've mostly just been copying what other people have done. She said it's the safest way to familiarise myself. She also said that if I tried inventing some of my own immediately, I may cause a tear in the fabric of reality." She paused. "I like to think she meant it as hyperbole."

Naruto smiled. "What?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Ten-Ten's making her slow down and work carefully so she doesn't blow anything up."

Sakura cut her eyes to the side. "Well, you say that, but the seals I've been working with are exploding tags. They're a bit pricey to buy, so if I can make them on my own, we'll be well-stocked." She brightened. "I've only made a couple, but Ten-Ten says they look stable, so I'll give you some!" She turned to rummage through her pack and procured a small handful of tightly-rolled scrolls.

Sasuke took one of the proffered scrolls and scanned it. After a moment of pause, he set it on the floor and carefully channelled chakra to expand the text. "… These don't look like normal exploding tags at all."

Sakura shrugged. "The interface method doesn't matter; Ten-Ten said it's okay to use my own language, symbols, and shorthands. She tested them for balance, and we field-tested them, so they're fine."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You can't ever do something simply and properly without trying to do something new, can you?"

"Well, I think it's cool!" Naruto exclaimed. "Plus, if there are ever any spies, they won't know what her scrolls mean!" He pointed at one of the sections that had expanded into visibility. "Like this drawing! It's so cool!"

"That's just a normal mathematical equation, you idiot..." Sasuke's voice trailed off weakly on the final word, re-reading the formula. "How big are these explosions supposed to be?"

Sakura flushed crimson. "Ten-Ten said it's safe!"

"For who?"

"I mean, they're user-friendly." She scowled. "No, you won't understand that phrasing. Hmm."

His headache was increasing. "No, I get it. Fine." He allowed the mass of text to shrink back onto the scroll and tucked it away in an outer pocket of his mission pack, sitting at the base of the sofa.

"Thank you, Sakura! You should show me how to make these too!" Naruto said before pausing. "Wait, didn't you say maths? Uh, maybe something else, then. Have you been learning other things?"

As the topic moved on to herbal medicines, Sasuke allowed himself to drift away from the conversation. He couldn't help but feel relieved. Ever since Sakura had become chakra-exhausted almost daily, all of her energy and positivity had drained away.

He'd thought to himself, at the formation of his team, that he'd hate spending time with them. Having to pretend to care about trivial things, frittering away the time uselessly. But as it happened, Sakura and Naruto were much more useful when they were energetic. Having them dull and depressed was far more aggravating.

Plus, Naruto had a point when he'd asked Sakura for help with training. Ever since they moved on to working with Team Gai, he'd felt like he'd stopped progressing. Even though he and Naruto were able to take missions, unlike Sakura, it looked like she was improving without them.

Well, in some aspects. She was less level-headed recently. The simple fact was that the three of them performed better together. Sakura needed Naruto to be rash so she'd be more sensible. Naruto needed Sakura to be clever before he did something foolish. And Sasuke…

He frowned to himself. He didn't know. He just knew he needed them in order to be effective. It bothered him, not knowing something so important about himself.

He quietly tried comparing having them nearby to having them far away. The most simple example was Naruto and Sakura moving in with him. Even when strained, he felt stronger having them around. Perhaps it was a leadership instinct to take care of his team? But then, Sarada had the same effect, and she arguably needed less effort of care than his team.

Maybe they were just a distraction… no, to phrase it correctly, a way to clear his mind. Hadn't Sensei said something before? Not to become focused too narrowly on one goal, or you'd lose opportunities for growth.

"—ke?"

He blinked, realising Sakura was calling for him "Hn?"

"I asked, do you want to do sensory exercises with Naruto and me? You probably use a different method with your Sharingan, though."

He frowned. "You aren't tired?" It was barely nine, but she'd been waking so early…

She beamed. "I'm feeling pretty great today, actually! I should have spoken with you both sooner."

Sasuke frowned, activating his Sharingan. He saw her eyes widen as she flinched; he was used to that reaction by now. He surmised it must seem like a signal of fighting to her since he most often used it in combat or training. Well, she'd get over it.

He scanned over her quickly and let his Sharingan deactivate again with a frown. She did have more chakra than usual, but it still wasn't much. For the last few weeks, her chakra had nearly resembled how she looked after the attack on the road from Tanzaku-gai. Today it was stronger, but nowhere near her levels when she was healthy.

He honestly wondered how she walked upright most of the time.

He grunted. "Feel only, don't push," he reminded. "Don't use up any chakra."

She blinked rapidly. "Wait, were you— were you checking my chakra?"

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed. "I thought he was just memorising your face! You know, 'cos the Sharingan helps you see things fast and memorise stuff? So he'd use it on you since you're so pretty!" He grinned.

"Hmm," Sakura hummed. "I think my take is actually more heartwarming. Thank you for your concern, Sasuke!" She smiled, clasping her hands in front of her. "I appreciate you!"

Through his growing headache, Sasuke tried to remind himself that no, really, his life was technically better with them around.

Grumbling gently to himself, he spun around and pulled Sarada from the bookshelf, chucking her into Sakura's lap. "Look after her," he told the cat.

"Oh! I'd never let anything happen to a kitty!" Sakura promised.

"… Right."

Feeling his pulse throb in his temples, he watched them leave the room. Even if they wanted to stay up late, he was more than ready for bed. He threw himself on the sofa— he hadn't bothered moving back into his bedroom; it saved him a trip down the stairs to stay with the others. He tried to sleep.

… He'd gotten too used to Naruto and Sakura being here. Having a headache was bad enough, but part of him felt like something was wrong if they weren't nearby. Foolishness. They were hardly out on a mission, and they'd ascertained that the danger level within Konoha proper was low.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, he cast out his senses until he could barely sense the faintest outlines of their chakra, out on the patio. Naruto's chakra was always practically screaming, 'I am here!' so it was honestly amazing he could sense Sakura's chakra at all. Especially when he wasn't using his Sharingan and going by feeling alone.

He could feel flickers from Naruto's boisterous chakra, obviously failing in the 'sense-only' aspect of sensory training. He'd probably have a burned patch of grass in the morning. But Sakura's chakra remained steady, without any of the tell-tale flickers of chakra loss. She must have listened to him.

Almost the moment he had determined this, he fell asleep.