Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…. Come on people, do I seriously have to do this every time?

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When Sasuke awoke he had a splitting headache, the sign that once again he had drank too much. Once he left Hidden Sound he had been drinking at bars on the way back, sometimes staying days at a time. The drink made him forget his problems and his worries.

He knew his hands were stained with blood but didn't seem to be able to wash it off. Sakura never noticed Sasuke's new compulsion of constantly washing his hands. Perhaps Sasuke thought the drink was more efficient in washing off the bloodstains that only he could see.

The young prospective jounin looked around the room and noticed he was on Sakura's futon mattress, as her blanket was green with patterns of flowers while his was a plain blue. His futon was still properly made; this caused him to wonder what had happened the other night.

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Sakura hummed quietly as she washed yesterday's dishes she had neglected. Today she wore a simple green tank top and long black skirt, for the first time in a few days her ninja head protector adorned her head. She also wore an apron, as she usually did when in the kitchen.

"What happened last night?" Sasuke asked, coming into the room still in yesterday's clothes.

Sakura turned around and smiled at him, "Good morning to you too Sasuke-kun."

He approached her slowly, looking at a bruise running down her back. She shivered when he touched it. "When did this happen?"

"This morning… it was stupid of me really. The floor was wet and I tripped backwards onto the wall. No big deal, I'll prepare an ointment to put on it later." Somehow her reply wasn't entirely convincing.

Sasuke traced the bruise with his fingertips before stepping away. "I did that to you, didn't I?"

She didn't answer, instead Sakura continued drying her dishes. "I prepared a bath for you, it should still be hot."

He nodded, "Sakura, do you know if my old apartment is available?"

"I-I'm not sure/" She turned around again and frowned, "You don't like staying here with me?"

Sasuke took a moment before answering, "Its not that…"

She stopped what she was doing and wiped her hands. Sakura went up to him and took his hand in hers, "You didn't mean to hurt me, I know you didn't. Tsunade-sama won't let you live by yourself. You heard the council, you're to be in my constant supervision."

"How can I be supervised by someone I can hurt?" Sasuke responded coldly, tearing his hand away from hers and heading towards the front door.

"S-Sasuke-kun... you can't leave!"

"Watch me."

"Don't underestimate your supervisor Sasuke-kun. Yesterday I was careless." Sakura then performed a jutsu similar to Shikamaru's shadow binding jutsu. Her hands made the seal to a special jutsu she had developed. It basically paralyzed her opponents' bodies until she released the seal.

"Impressive." Sasuke grinned, "Your chakra control is flawless like always."

"Thank you, I am Tsunade-sama's apprentice. Don't underestimate my strength, I'm not the weak and confused genin you left behind."

"No." Sasuke agreed, "You are the strong young woman I came back to."

She released the seal and took his arm smiling, "Go take a bath, breakfast will be ready when you come out."

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Kakashi took Sasuke to Naruto's favorite ramen shop, where said chuunin waited patiently. Well, at least he waited after finishing a bowl of ramen.

"You moron, you were supposed to wait for us before eating!" Sasuke scolded Naruto, after smacking him.

"I got hungry waiting for your ass!" Naruto countered.

Kakashi ignored the two and smiled at the waiter, "Two Tonkotsu Ramen bowls please and pork guioza to start. Oh and please ignore these two idiots."

"Will do Kakashi-sensei!" The waiter chuckled.

Then the jounin sat in between the two youths to keep them from making a scene at the ramen shop. "Keep your cool during lunch you two."

"Aye sensei…" Mumbled Naruto.

"So Sasuke, how is Sakura treating you?" Kakashi asked, trying to be casual. The jounin was obviously concerned for his former student who had a weak spot for Sasuke Uchiha.

"Better than I deserve." He answered quietly.

Naruto looked over Kakashi to stare at his former companion. "Sasuke, we're all good friends right? I mean even after the situation in which we parted…"

Sasuke looked surprised and smiled, bowing his head, "Yes, Naruto I still consider you to be my closest friend."

Kakashi got up, "I'll be right back." The jounin knew that those two needed to talk about something.

"Sasuke, did you kill Orochimaru?" Naruto asked.

"No, but he is dead."

Seeing that Sasuke was now starting to open up, Naruto asked him another question, "How did he die?"

"Itachi killed him. I don't know why he came to Hidden Sound but I think it has something to do with me." Sasuke paused when the guioza arrived, they thanked the waiter. "Orochimaru wanted me to defend him when Itachi attacked. I refused; I wanted to kill Itachi on my own terms and not his. He said he would punish me if I refused, so Itachi killed him."

Naruto took a moment for this new information to sink in, "Itachi… defended you?"

"I think he thought he was depriving me of my sensei. He said he wanted me to become strong on my own." When Sasuke had finished, Kakashi returned and somehow managed to devour his guioza without revealing his face.

"How the hell do you do that?" Naruto sweat dropped, watching Kakashi chew food that he had no idea how it got in there.

"If I told you that I'd have to kill you." Kakashi grinned.

Sasuke then ate his own guioza.

"So… Sasuke, what do you think of Sakura?" Naruto grinned, pushing aside the information his former companion just gave him.

Sasuke almost choked on his guioza when he heard the question, "She's umm grown quite a bit, her jutsu is incredible."

Kakashi smirked.

"Is that it?" Naruto continued, an innocent look on his face, "She's pretty isn't she? I mean she's always been really cute but now… woooo." Kakashi tried to hold back a laugh as Sasuke turned red. He avoided answering by grabbing the jounin's green tea and downing it.

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Sorry about the delay of this update, my internet was down. But to compensate I finished a couple of chapters which I will be adding in good time. Ok so like seriously though, I really enjoyed writing this chapter but I'm afraid I made Sasuke a bit too OOC. What do you think?