Notes: Because no matter how much I hate Sasuke, I still love Sasuke, and I felt like he deserved something, even if it's not Sakura.
This is a sequel of sorts to my fic Two, Then One—I highly recommend you reading that first, otherwise this won't make a lick of sense. And there, uh, may be a part three in the works? I don't know. I hope so.
The In-Between
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Sasuke hates Levi.
It's the only thought he has, the only emotion thrumming under his skin as he watches him and Sakura leave Ichiraku. She's saying something that Sasuke can't hear, a smile on her face, and Levi responds with the same apathetic expression that Sasuke has gotten to know. A few moments later, he watches her reach out and intertwine her fingers with Levi's.
"Careful," Naruto remarks as he chews on a piece of pork belly. "You might burn a hole in his back with that look of yours."
"Good," he replies, tearing his eyes away.
He doesn't even really know what happened. He and Sakura never had a conversation about it after their initial argument. All he knows is that she was dead and then she wasn't. And that she was suddenly living with some man no one's ever heard about.
Sasuke had spent weeks living like a ghost. He couldn't bear going to her funeral.
Naruto refills his sake cup, and he takes it like a shot.
"I wasn't imagining things, right?" Sasuke asks him. "She loved me. She had always loved me."
"Yeah," Naruto replies through the loud slurping of his noodles. Sasuke is a little miffed at how unbothered he is that Sakura just up and decided she loved someone else. "But now she doesn't. I mean, she does, but y'know—she doesn't want to bang you anymore."
Sasuke pours himself more sake. As he drinks, he stares at what's left of his broth in his bowl.
"Dude. Do you even know what happened to her? Did you even ask?"
"Of course I did," he says through his clenched jaw.
"Are you sure? Or did you do your 'I'm Sasuke and Sakura loves me no matter what' thing and just assume that she'd tell you?"
He doesn't respond.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Finally finished inhaling his third order of ramen, Naruto sets down his bowl, sated. "She fell through some weird wormhole thing while on a mission with me and Sai and landed in some other world. And it wasn't a good one, dude, it was all dystopian with human-eating giants and none of the people there were shinobi so they just fought them with big knives and most of them got eaten. Levi was apparently their best soldier."
Sasuke stares at Naruto. "Are you on drugs? Was she on drugs?"
"What—no, man, it's real! When she came back, they both had these weird clothes on and she showed me the gear that they used to move around. It's pretty cool, actually."
He reaches up to rub his temples. Whatever story he conjured up to make sense of the situation, to reason himself into understanding how Sakura could have so quickly fallen for another man, it wasn't that.
"I mean, it's not like I really get it either," Naruto continues to prattle. "But she said that Levi was there for her when she was over there. He's not a bad guy."
"But he's not me. Sakura loved me."
"Hate to break it to you, but she told me the reason why she loves him is because he's not you."
"What did I do wrong?" Sasuke exclaims. The sound of him raising his voice has Teuchi shooting them a look from over the counter. "I came back to see her once I knew she was alive, didn't I?"
Naruto shrugs. "I dunno, dude. If I knew how to make Sakura-chan fall in love with me, I would've done that when I was twelve."
"Shut up. You're with Hinata and you're happy."
"Hell yeah, I am."
And Sasuke is miserable and alone.
He's always had so much comfort in the thought of Sakura always being there. That every time he returned to Konoha, she would greet him with the same smile she always does. He had a vision for their future. He always thought they'd start a family eventually. But all of that's gone now, and he is miserable and out of the loop and alone.
He can't stop imagining them together, insufferably happy. All he can think about is how she looks at him with expectant eyes and beams with delight when Levi gives her a half-smile. All he can think about is that stupid teahouse and how she's always there during her off-time. All he can think about is what they must do at night, underneath the sheets—
"Whoa, maybe you want to slow down," Naruto says as Sasuke forgoes his cup and drinks the sake straight from the bottle.
"How do I win her back?" he bemoans quietly, laying his face on the counter.
"I don't know."
"She looks so happy."
"I know."
"I hate it."
"You don't want her to be happy?"
Sasuke turns his head to glare at Naruto. "Whose side are you on?"
"I don't know! No one's! Why does there have to be sides?"
He takes one last swig of sake and sets the bottle down. "I'm going to go talk to her."
"Uh, are you sure that's such a good idea?"
"All of my ideas are good."
—
Sakura has only just settled down on the couch beside Levi, freshly showered with her book in hand, when she hears the knock on the door.
She knows it's Sasuke. His chakra signature tonight is fluctuating and unrestrained, which leads her to think that the drinks he had during dinner had quickly become many more drinks. It's only been a few hours since she last saw him at Ichiraku, where she persuaded Levi into joining them. It never takes much to convince him to do anything, even if it's obvious he's not fond of Sasuke.
That being said, getting them into the same space is one thing. Getting them to talk to each other is an entirely different issue.
Judging by the way Levi doesn't look up from his book, he knows it's Sasuke too, and him ignoring the knock on the door is his way of delegating the responsibility of answering it to Sakura. Sighing, she pushes herself to her feet again; the seven steps it takes to go around the coffee table and reach the door feel exhausting. Whatever it is that Sasuke wants to say or do, she does not want to deal with it. To put it simply, he hasn't been too fun to be around lately. Sakura isn't sure if this is a recent change, or if he's always been this way and she never noticed.
She opens the door and leans against the doorframe. "Hi, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke doesn't look much different from how he did earlier, save perhaps his hair, which appears a bit more disheveled. "Hi."
"What's up?"
He takes a step towards her and she instinctually backs away. She can smell the sake in his breath when he says, "Can we talk?"
"Sure—oh okay, yeah, come in, I guess." Sasuke invites himself into the apartment, tripping a little on the doormat in the process. Sakura frowns in concern. She's never seen him this drunk before.
"Close the door behind you, will you? Let me grab you some water."
"I don't need water."
"You're going to regret not having any tomorrow morning." As she goes to the kitchen and grabs a glass from the cupboard, she notices Levi's eyes following her from above his book. He and Sasuke haven't done so much as acknowledge each other's existence.
Sasuke trails behind Sakura into the kitchen. She hands him his water, and he gulps it down in one go.
"Look," he says, clinking the glass on her counter, "I don't know what I did, okay? Apparently I fucked up. And I acknowledge that. That doesn't mean you have to rebound to a guy like him, right?" He gestures wildly at Levi in the next room over—who, by the way, is still fully within earshot. "He's not even taller than you. When are you going to get over this phase so we can get back together?"
"Get back together?" Sakura frowns, perplexed. "Sasuke-kun, we were never together in the first place."
"Yes we were. You wanted to travel with me—I poked your forehead—" He stops, then trails off. She can only stare at him, wide-eyed and dumbfounded.
"I mean, I knew that was your way of telling me you loved me, but…I didn't think that was the inception of a relationship. How could it be? You left! I can't be in a relationship with you if you're not there."
"That guy"—he's gesturing at Levi again—"didn't even exist until a year ago."
"It's actually been nearly two years now."
"Whatever. You loved me for all your life, two years is nothing."
Realizing that this conversation is going nowhere, and that he had actually said something quite rude, Sakura sighs. "I think you should go home, Sasuke-kun. Get some rest. We can talk in the morning."
"No. I need to know. What can he do that I can't?" He moves until she is stuck between him and the counter. He is close, unnervingly so—something she would have no complaints about a few years ago, but things are different now.
"It's not so much about a list of capabilities than—"
"So he can't do what I can do, then."
"Can and will are two very different things, Sasuke-kun. What have you really accomplished in your life that's worth comparing? Mass murder? In which case, I have no doubt that Levi could do the same, except he's a decent human being—"
"I'm decent!" Sasuke is loud now, and more agitated than she's ever seen him off the battlefield. "I'm good, Sakura. Despite everything—I'm trying to be good."
She searches his slightly crazed eyes, and sighs. She knows the reason why he travels. She knows that he's trying to atone. She understands that he's trying to make up for everything that he's done, but there's such a thing as too little, too late. "I know," she says, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze. "I know you're trying." His forehead comes down to rest on her shoulder. Sakura doesn't know what else to say, so her hand comes up to gently pat his hair.
"Once I've atoned enough, will you come back to me?" His voice is quiet and meek.
"I don't think so. I'm sorry. C'mon, let's get you home." By home, of course, she means Naruto's apartment. Sasuke doesn't have a home in Konoha anymore.
He nods into her shoulder, composes himself, and straightens up. His eyes are now shrouded, revealing none of the hurt that he's clearly feeling. Sakura's seen a lot of walls in her lifetime, but the most impenetrable have always been the ones that Sasuke puts up.
Despite his intoxication, he is perfectly capable of returning home himself, but of course, she's still Sakura and her heart still bleeds for him, so she does the only thing she can think of that might ease his pain a little: she walks him home.
—
Half an hour later, when she returns, Levi is still on the couch.
"That was kind of you," he says, turning the page of his book.
"I think he needed a little kindness." He automatically raises an arm and makes room for her to nestle against his body, curling up into a ball. "He's so sad, Levi, and I can't fix things for him."
"I would be sad too, if I lost you."
She tilts her head up at him. He says this very factually, and his expression reflects that. "You're not going to lose me."
"I know." He closes his book and sets it to the side. "But you still love him."
"Sure, but not like that."
"You wouldn't bat an eyelash at risking your life for the ones you love, even the ones you don't love like that. That's all I'm saying."
At his words, Sakura uncurls herself from against his body and sits up. In the two years they've been here, the only missions she's taken on are the ones where medic-nin are required and she's the only one available. Other than that and traveling to Suna for medicine related business, she has remained in Konoha. All things considered, her chances of dying have dropped significantly, but still, nothing is guaranteed. "Death comes for us all. Isn't that what you used to say?"
Levi's expression doesn't change, but he reaches out to touch her hair. "I still say that."
Despite having held the title of humanity's strongest, he can be incredibly honest with how he feels, as long as one knows how to read him. Sakura smiles, and leans her face into his touch. "I'd be sad if I lost you too. Let's try to avoid death for as long as we can." He doesn't say anything more, but he nods.
She spends a moment just looking at him and admiring his face. She's always loved his eyes; how dark they are in dim lighting, how they look like parting clouds in the sun. She continues to smile as she moves to straddle his lap. The action is comfortable and familiar to both of them, and his hands come to rest on her hips.
Sakura weaves her fingers through his hair and dips her head down to kiss him. Levi's right—even now, even if her job has become significantly less dangerous, they still live in a dangerous world. Perhaps not as pressingly so as his world, but it's dangerous nonetheless. Tomorrow is not a guarantee. She presses harder against his mouth, frenzied, hands pulling him tighter against her. When she rolls her hips, his own rise to meet hers.
"We probably shouldn't," he mutters when they pull apart for air. "Tomorrow's Tuesday." That means that he needs to get up early for the weekly seafood delivery.
"Oh," she mumbles against his mouth. "Then we should make it quick."
Despite his short stature and his lack of chakra control, Levi is still strong. His arms wrap below her thighs and he easily lifts her and stands in one swift motion. Sakura smiles, both in delight at the sensation of being carried and at the thought that he refuses to have sex anywhere other than the bed.
When he drops her on said bed and climbs on top of her, she closes her eyes, and the rest of the night is lost to them.
—
The next afternoon, as Sakura is filling out some patient forms in the lobby of the hospital, she sees Ino walking towards her with purpose. She frowns; this is not a place that Ino normally frequents. "Hey, Ino. What's up? Did something happen?"
"Yeah," her friend replies. She doesn't look particularly worried though, so Sakura deduces that it's not a life-or-death matter. "I know you and your man are doing well, so I just wanted to give you a heads up that Sasuke purchased some flowers earlier."
"Oh. Uh, okay." She's pretty sure she knows what for, but she asks anyway. "What does that have to do with me?"
"Hello? They're obviously for you."
Sakura sighs. "You know, I can't even believe I'm saying this, but I need Sasuke-kun to stop romantically pursuing me. I don't want it, I don't need it, and it's putting a strain on me and Levi." For the past week that Sasuke has been in town and sleeping on Naruto's couch, he has seen Sakura and Levi nearly every day, and he hasn't exactly been fun to spend time with—and the previous night was fully aggressive. On a whole, Levi's been a bit more irritable, and there is only so many times she can lift his mood with sex.
Ino shrugs. "Hey, there's nothing I can do about it. I just wanted to let you know, so you're not suddenly accosted later."
"Well, thanks, I appreciate it."
Ino hums, leaning onto the receptionist's desk as Sakura returns to filling out patient files. "I saw Levi sparring with Lee the other day. He's pretty good."
"Isn't he?" Sakura decides not to tell her that it was due to a forced life of crime.
"Yeah. Lee mentioned that he has a bit of chakra control?"
"A bit, yeah. He has the potential, anyway—I've seen it flare up on occasion. But he hasn't really been interested in developing that, so not much has happened on that front."
"He's obsessed with his teahouse, isn't he?"
"Yeah." She smiles. "I think it's nice."
"I've been there a few times. I like the cakes he has. They're unique."
"They're from his world! I think his menu makes him niche and interesting. No one else can offer what he's offering."
"Still, you can't beat a stick of dango though." Ino glances at the clock on the wall and curses. "Shit, I gotta go. I was supposed to meet Shikamaru and Chouji ten minutes ago." Sakura hardly has the time to say goodbye before her friend rushes off.
She only thinks about their conversation for a few moments longer, and returns to her work.
—
For the next two hours, Sakura is so busy she forgets all about the flowers Ino foreshadowed. After one emergency procedure and two child births, she is ready to go home, shower, and have dinner at the teahouse.
This is how they live now. She rarely goes on missions anymore and she truly doesn't miss it much, and her seniority at the hospital grants her choice when it comes to her shifts. She finishes work at a decent hour most days and keeps Levi company until he closes shop close to midnight. It's a good and comfortable routine.
She's thinking about what she'd like to eat when she sees Sasuke just outside the front entrance, holding a bouquet of roses.
Oh, crap.
Sakura glances around to see if there's an escape route, but Sasuke has already spotted her. From where he's leaning against the lamppost, he stands up straight, watching her, waiting for her to approach him.
She does so, tentatively. "Hi, Sasuke-kun."
He wordlessly holds out the roses to her. It's an extravagant bouquet, filled to the brim, with some baby's breath sprinkled amidst the swathe of deep red.
"You know I can't accept these," she tells him.
"I love you," he says, and despite everything that has happened since they were twelve years old, despite how things have changed, despite the years and miles and entire universes that they have spent apart, her heart still skips a beat. How many times has she wished to hear him say those words to her? "Just take them."
"I can't," she repeats, but still with sympathy. "It wouldn't be right."
"For me, or for him?"
"For anyone. Why are you doing this?"
"Because—" She notices his jaw tense as he grinds his teeth together. "Because it's me. It's you and me. It was always meant to be us."
Sakura smiles sadly. "I don't know what to say, Sasuke-kun. Things are different now."
She doesn't know how many times she needs to reiterate this until he understands and tries to move on, but she knows she didn't succeed this time. Driven by his pride, Sasuke shoves the bouquet into her arms. "Then they'll be different again. I'll change things. I'll prove myself to you." And without another word, he turns and walks away, the determination clear in his steps. Sakura stares at his retreating back until he's a speck in the distance.
She stares at the flowers in her arms. What is she going to do with these?
—
Sakura is apologetic when she enters the teahouse with the roses.
Half of the tables are occupied tonight, so she knows Levi is busy. She's told him several times to hire even one more pair of hands, but he's been so picky about his staff that he's already fired four people and has yet to find someone he's satisfied with. The only person he's worked well with so far is Tomoyo, a young man who apparently follows the cleaning protocol very well.
Sakura places the flowers on the bar and sits, watching Levi ladling some of his signature stew into a bowl at the back of the kitchen. He hasn't noticed her yet as he prepares this order, and she is content to just observe him with her chin in her palm. When she first met him, so long ago and so far away, she never thought that the man with lightning fast reflexes who could cut down Titans and humans alike would be here, working in a teahouse of his own inception. The sight of him is so comfortingly domestic, and although his expression is still set into that default scowl, she can see from the way he holds his weight on his feet that he is relaxed and unworried.
Once the order is complete and he has it on a tray to serve it out front, he turns and sees her. She smiles and he nods—the only acknowledgement he'll usually give her if he's working. It's the same, whether it's in the kitchen or on the battlefield. She notices his eyes flicker momentarily towards the roses in front of her, but he ignores them.
She spends the next few hours reading. First some new research that came out of Suna about the effectiveness of a new medicinal herb, and then her book for leisure. At some point, she snags a grilled squid and some cake for herself (black forest, maybe? She's still iffy on the names of the pastries) from the kitchen.
And when the last customer finally leaves and Levi closes the door, she helps him wipe every surface clean.
"Who are the flowers from?" he asks as he scrubs down the grill.
"What, I can't buy flowers for you?" she asks him cheekily. He shoots her a look, one that clearly says I think flowers are stupid and you know that, and so she sighs and gives in. "They're from Sasuke-kun. I told him I couldn't accept them, but he insisted."
For a minute, Levi doesn't respond. He continues to scrub the grill free of the char marks that accumulated throughout the day, muscles tense from the work. Sakura chews on her lip nervously.
"You can't let him keep doing this," he finally says.
"It's not like I'm encouraging him," she replies. Although now that things have escalated to this degree, it doesn't sound like good enough of an excuse.
"It's one thing for you two to still remain friends. But when he pulls stunts like this, he's just disrespectful of us and our choices." After several seconds of scrubbing the grill harder and harder, Levi finally comes to a stop. "I don't really give a shit, but he's never even called me by my name. He just calls me that guy. And he's obviously making you uncomfortable. Tell him to fuck off. Because if you don't and he does something like this again, I might do it for you."
"Well, don't be too aggressive, or he might kill you," she says, trying to lighten the mood. "It's not that I don't believe in your abilities, but, y'know. Shinobi and all."
"If he does kill me, maybe you'll finally set some goddamn boundaries." He responds with a joke of his own, although he doesn't smile when he does so, and Sakura doesn't think it's a particularly good one.
"That's not funny," she says.
"Good, because I'm not amused."
Sakura moves from her spot at the sink to rest her arms on Levi's shoulders. His hands come to rest on her waist. Pressing her forehead to his, she tells him, "I know Sasuke-kun is a lot to deal with. He has a lot of stuff to sort out for himself. Thank you for being amazing."
Because Levi understands. If he didn't, he'd engage with Sasuke the way he engages with Naruto. He'd banter, exchange verbal jabs, and overall develop some semblance of a friendship. But Levi is perceptive and Levi understands that provoking Sasuke wouldn't lead to anything, so he always stays out of it. Even now, even when he doesn't have to be, he's selfless.
He tilts his head upwards to meet her in a kiss. "I'm not so amazing that I won't break some bones. Go and set some boundaries."
"Tomorrow, I promise."
"Fine."
They finish cleaning up for the evening and Sakura finds a pitcher to keep the flowers in. She sets them near the till, fanning them out until they look nice. She'd rather them here than in their home.
It is dark and the streets are mostly empty at this point. They walk at a leisurely pace, Sakura telling him about a ridiculous delivery mission she and Ino went on a long time ago, when they bump into Sasuke.
At this point, Sakura is getting very tired.
Sasuke doesn't greet them, so she continues to walk, assuming he has business elsewhere. Levi, as usual, follows her lead. As they pass Sasuke, his hand reaches out and grabs Sakura's wrist. She stops in her tracks and looks down at his hand, and then up at his face.
"I've decided to move back to Konoha," he says.
"Oh." She gently tries to tug her wrist from his grasp, but he doesn't let go. "Okay."
"Naruto said the problem was because I'm not around. I'll be around now."
Sakura can only stare at him. She is flabbergasted. She is completely shocked at how adamantly Sasuke believes that she is only with Levi out of convenience, that she somehow settled for Levi and that Levi is the second choice. She is baffled at the idea that Sasuke thinks she will just up and leave him as long as he moves back to Konoha.
(But then again, is it really that much of a surprise? This is the man who chased revenge for his entire life.)
"Sasuke-kun, I—you know what, Sasuke, no." She pulls her wrist again, harder, but his grip only tightens. She chooses not to break his fingers out of courtesy. "It's not about what you do! It's not about whether you move back to Konoha or not. It's not about you. I love Levi—simple as that." She stares at him fiercely, refusing to break eye contact. "I don't want to be with you. Please let go of me."
A heartbeat passes, and then two, and Sasuke doesn't move.
"Hey, you little shit," she hears Levi say from behind her. "She said let go." Finally, this time, when Sakura pulls, she breaks free of his grip. She steps back from him until she's by Levi's side again.
"That guy is nothing, Sakura. He's not a shinobi. He's not strong—he can't protect you."
"It's a good thing I don't need protecting." For all the patience and love that Sakura has for Sasuke, he's beginning to approach her last nerve, and as everyone knows, she doesn't have a pretty temper. "And Sasuke, his name is Levi. Disrespect him again and we're done, you hear? I will never speak to you again." It's a harsh ultimatum—one that she didn't exactly consider before she said it and isn't sure if she can follow through on, but she can only hope that he won't call her bluff.
For the first time in a very, very long time, she sees something vulnerable flash across his face. It disappears too fast for Sakura to determine what it is, but the sight of him displaying any emotion other than anger is enough for her to feel some remorse for what she said.
Sasuke never got a chance. Somewhere, deep inside, he is still that little boy, running and screaming through the streets of his compound. He is still the boy who has lost everything and doesn't know how to cope. He is still that boy and years have passed, the world around him has changed and he has stayed the same for his entire life.
And, looking like nothing more than a scared boy, Sasuke turns and walks away from them.
Sakura breathes in. She's shaking.
She faintly registers Levi talking. "That probably wasn't easy."
She swallows. "I've never talked back to him like that before."
"Hell of a way to start." A pause. "You wouldn't actually cut him out of your life, would you?"
"No, I could never."
And to Sakura's surprise, Levi chuckles. Albeit quietly and not for long, but he does so nonetheless. "Well, I don't think he knows that."
She sighs heavily and looks up at the night sky. The stars aren't as clear inside the village as they are outside, but they're still pretty, twinkling away, unbothered by the events that unfold under them.
"It's been a long day," she tells Levi, linking her arm in his. "Let's go home."
"Alright."
And together, they walk home.