Day 3: Shared Apartment. This is an outtake from the same universe as another fic of mine, the Words I Want to Hear. In it, Sakura is an aspiring med school student taking her MCATs who suddenly finds herself sharing an apartment with Sasuke after they pretend to be lovers for a game show. The fic is incomplete (and in re-outlining hell), but it's still quite a fun romp :) Check it out if you have time!

Haruno Sakura had a mystery on her hands. She knew the what, where and when of the matter, the how was self-evident, and given they were the only two people who shared this apartment, she even knew the who. Her problem was with the why.

It started a few days after they'd gone out for brunch to the cat café and settled into a good rhythm as roommates. During the week, they barely spoke two words to each other, as Sakura would prepare his breakfast and lunch with her own, then hole up to study for eight hours, while Sasuke would head out to work. He'd text her an hour before he'd leave the office, giving her enough time to make dinner and leave it on the dining room table as she went back to her room to study her flashcards. He would do the washing up after he was done eating, and that would be that for the rest of the day. Sasuke was quiet, clean, and wasn't a picky eater, and they split the bill on groceries - it wasn't a bad arrangement, all in all, for free rent. After all, her stepmother couldn't find her here.

One day, however, she'd come out of her room to take her evening bath, and when she'd emerged from the bathroom, she'd found a glass of warm milk on the side table near the door to her room. She nearly passed it by the first time, until Sasuke, who was in the kitchen, pointed and said, "That's for you."

Sakura took a couple of seconds to find what he was pointing at. A little bit nonplussed, she nevertheless picked it up and took a sip. It was the perfect temperature, warm but not scalding, and sweetened with just a little bit of honey. "Thank you," she smiled. It was a nice gesture, and not entirely unexpected from this man who she'd been getting to know. He may look like he could have been carved from marble, as quiet as he was, but his actions were surprisingly considerate.

Sasuke just nodded and gestured for her to leave the cup on the side table. Sakura had thought that this would be a one-time deal,, but the next night, she found the same cup of milk there again. Puzzled, she looked around for her erstwhile roommate, but the common room was empty. Still, she drained the cup and left it on the side table, to go back in to try to cram a few more practice questions in before bed. The cup was gone in the morning, back in the cupboard with all the others.

This went on for a few weeks, without fail, even on weekends. It was starting to drive Sakura crazy, wondering what he meant by it, if he wanted something in return or what, but after that first night, she never caught him in the common areas long enough to ask. When she caught herself wondering about it instead of doing her flashcards, she decided enough was enough. That night, she drank the cup of milk like normal, then closed her door without going into her room. Sure enough, it only took him a few minutes to open his door and find them face to face.

He just raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to say something. Is he really not going to say anything? Sakura stared back. They lock themselves into this stalemate, accusing jade against puzzled onyx, until Sasuke finally broke the deadlock. He tilted his chin towards the cup in her hand.

"Problem?"

"What's your angle, Uchiha? Why are you leaving these," she shook the cup at him for emphasis, "out for me?"

"You don't want it?"

"It's not that!"

"Okay then," He took the cup out of her hand and moved towards the kitchen.

Baffled, she watched him calmly rinse off the cup, dry it off, and put it back into the cupboard. Just as he was about to close the door to his room again, she snapped out of her daze and grabbed the handle to stop him. He stopped, a tad impatiently, and faced her again.

"You still haven't answered my question, Uchiha."

"Because you're studying and need sleep. Night," This time, he managed to shut the door in her face.

But why are YOU doing this? Sakura stared at his back as he closed the door in her face. Sighing, she decided to file the case of the milk at midnight in the "to be discussed after her MCAT" folder, right alongside that chicken wing kiss.