Summary: Haruno Sakura has moved into her new apartment, and the neighbours are the Uchiha brothers. They become determined to show her the might of super-heroes. AH.
What you can expect from this story: Sakura is not useless, Itachi is not modest, and Sasuke is a sweetie pie the way he was before Itachi murdered the clan in canon. Naturally, I thought Sasuke will remain a sweetie pie if the massacre had never taken place. Naruto is not the God-like hero he ends up becoming by the end of canon. Although, he is still the same optimistic, smiling fella with a short-fuse when it comes to all Sasuke-related things.
Kakashi and Obito are an important part of the story, though their appearances are limited. Ino, Hinata, Temari, and Shikamaru can be expected to make regular appearances. The rest, let's see.
Lastly, I should mention that the story is written with ItaSaku as the main pairing. I wholeheartedly believe that Naruto and Sasuke belong with each other, and no one else.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story. As the summary says, "super-heroes" are references to the awesome Marvel Cinematic Universe characters. Please note that they do not become part of the story as characters.
CHAPTER 1 – Apartment 10A
Haruno Sakura has just moved into her new apartment, a decent sized two-bedroom place with a small balcony that overlooks the side street, on the tenth floor of a fairly new apartment building. The neighbourhood is purely residential with buildings lined up on both sides of the street.
The lease on her old place had gotten over and the landlord told her that his son was coming back home to stay for good. Sakura doesn't know if that's true or not but it didn't matter because the place was quite old and the landlord was a pain in the ass at times. Not to mention, the rent was not justified at all.
The new place, however, is closer to her workplace than the old one had been, and Sakura recently invested in a car for commute. She reckons she'd need one eventually and since she's saving up on rent, might as well use that for another essential commodity.
It takes her three days to completely unpack all of her things and make the place liveable. Thankfully, the mattress had been hers and she'd carried it with the rest of her stuff while moving so that sleeping didn't become an issue.
It's her sixth day in the new apartment when she runs out of milk for her coffee. Sighing and mentally cursing, she places the mug back on the breakfast bar and rubs her forehead with her hand. She has to leave for work soon but she really needs a caffeine fix and there's not one coffee place nearby. She supposes that she can always pick one up on her way but that would require waiting in line and a quick glance at the clock tells her that she doesn't have it.
Now, Sakura does have neighbours. There's someone who lives across the hall but she doesn't know who because she's never actually seen them. She's heard noises over the only weekend that she's been here until now and she hasn't bothered to see who it was.
Cursing once again, she picks up her mug and goes across the hall to 10A. She knocks thrice on the door and waits. There's some shuffling and muffled voices on the other side and the door opens to reveal a man in his twenties with black hair and eyes, and looks like Sai. He's wearing a T-shirt and a pair of denim pants.
"Yes?"
Sakura tries for a smile. "Hi, I'm the new neighbour," she says and sticks out her hand. "Sakura."
He slowly shakes it, still eyeing her up with a tiny frown on his face. "Sasuke."
"I'm really sorry to bother you but could I have some milk?" she purses her lips together in embarrassment and holds up her mug. "I ran out."
Sasuke's eyebrows shoot up as if he never would have guessed for such a possibility ever occurring. Sakura isn't sure which possibility is he referring to – his neighbour asking for milk, or milk ever running out. Maybe both, she supposes.
"Sure." He steps aside to let her in.
Sakura looks around. It's the same size as her apartment, a mirror copy, but the furniture is a bit on the expensive side. There's a sofa set in the middle of the living area facing a sleek black TV on the opposite wall. A large bookshelf is placed nearby bursting with the number of books. There are weird assortment of ornamental pieces scattered around, two working desks with laptops on them, and the open kitchen in the corner divided from the living area by a breakfast bar.
Sasuke has already moved to the kitchen and is grabbing the milk from the refrigerator. He motions with a hand to come over.
"Take a seat," he says.
Surprised at the gesture, Sakura makes her way to one of the stools and sits. Sasuke's mug is to her left.
"Coffee person?" she asks as he pours some milk in her mug. "Thanks."
"Big time," he replies, screwing the cap back on the milk. He returns it to the refrigerator and shuts the door with his hip. "Breakfast?" he asks with raised eyebrows.
Sakura knows that he's not "making the moves" on her. His entire demeanour screams that he's not interested in her in that way, and is genuinely being nice and neighbourly.
"Thanks, but I already had a sandwich."
He shrugs and takes his seat on the breakfast bar again. He doesn't move to make any breakfast for himself.
"Since when do you stay here?" She asks him, taking another sip. She has maybe five minutes to spare at most if she wants to make it to work on time. The only reason why she even decided to sit was because he'd offered and it would have been rude to ask for milk and leave immediately.
"Three … four years," he answers. "You moved here last week, right?"
"Yeah."
"I didn't see any moving trucks though," he says thoughtfully. "Do you not have a lot of stuff?"
That and … "I actually moved in some time during the middle of the day. I doubt a lot of people were here."
He nods in acceptance. "We must have been at work, in that case. I just heard you at times in the apartment. It's been empty for a few months now so it wasn't difficult to surmise that someone moved in."
"We?" Sakura prompts. She'd heard some noises before Sasuke had opened the door but since he was the only one here, she thought he could have been on the phone.
"Yeah," Sasuke says. "My brother. He's in the shower."
"Ah." She drains the rest of her coffee and gets to her feet. Sasuke doesn't move. "I better get going. I'll be late for work."
He nods and holds out his mug in an imitation of a toast. "See ya. Let me know if you need any help or anything. You know, neighbourly stuff."
Sakura chuckles. "Hard to believe your previous neighbour left. You're quite good at this."
Sasuke smirks. "I know."
She laughs again and waves her hand in goodbye. Once she's back in her apartment, she rinses her coffee mug, grabs her jacket, purse, phone, keys, and quickly leaves. On her way to work, she wonders what neighbourly stuff she could do in return for the milk. Maybe inviting them over for dinner some time? Or breakfast, since that's a quick affair.
xXx
"Is he hot? Single? Asked you out? Flirted?" Ino fires question after question when Sakura tells her about the morning events during their lunch break.
Sakura rolls her eyes. "No. He seems to be a decent guy who helped me out."
"What does he do? He's not some closet freak, is he? Did his apartment have any weird stuff?"
Sakura pauses. The strange ornamental pieces come to mind but they seem harmless. Besides, who would keep weird stuff right in their living room? "I don't think so. And I don't know what he does, either. I didn't ask."
"Maybe he's unemployed?" she suggests thoughtfully.
"I don't think that, either," Sakura answers. "He was wearing jeans. No unemployed person wears jeans in the morning at home if they have nowhere to go. He might be working in a place where there is no formal dress code."
"Maybe," Ino agrees hesitantly. "Are you going to ask them to come over?"
Sakura plays around her salad with the fork and thinks over her reply. "I'm thinking of it. A breakfast invitation on a workday so that they don't get the wrong idea. They can eat and leave."
"Isn't that a bit rude?" Ino's nose scrunches up. "It sounds like you're doing it just for the sake of it."
"It does?" Sakura sighs, and silently agrees with Ino since that was her plan in the first place. She just hoped that it didn't come out that way. "Damn. I guess dinner it is."
"You don't have to, you know," Ino reminds her. "Just because you took some milk doesn't mean you're suddenly expected to do things in return like this."
"I suppose," she sighs again. "I've never had decent neighbours. This is hard."
Ino slaps her arm lightly. Sakura glares at the uninvited gesture. "Chill the fuck out," Ino tells her and rolls her eyes. "You literally just met the guy today. Don't plan your entire dynamics yet. You might end up living there for a few years, so don't mess it up by hurrying things."
"You're right," Sakura mutters lowly. She eats another forkful before directing the conversation to Tenten – someone they both dislike from their workplace.
It does the trick as Ino launches into another hateful rant about the woman and Sakura nods along, giving her own input from time to time.
xXx
The next morning, Sakura curses loudly at herself. She goes across the hall once more.
Sasuke opens the door wearing a T-shirt and jeans again. He smirks as soon as he sees the mug she's holding.
"Come in."
"Thanks," she sighs and enters after him.
He's having his own morning cup of coffee at the breakfast bar again, and his brother is once again missing. She sits down on one of the stools. She does have some time to spare this morning, thankfully, and her approach to Sasuke was out of laziness more than anything else.
"Sorry," she apologizes when he pours the milk and screws the cap back on. "I forgot to buy it yesterday. Hectic day. Too tired."
"No worries." He takes his seat beside her on the stool. "What do you do, anyway? Your clothes are quite casual."
Sakura laughs as she pointedly looks at his black T-shirt that has the picture of some weird green monster. She's seen that character in kids' stores.
"Touché," he chuckles.
"I'm a surgeon," Sakura tells him and his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Uniform's at the hospital, obviously."
He nods. "That's impressive. Never would have pegged you for a doctor."
Sakura's face scrunches up. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Sasuke immediately realises that he's said the wrong thing. "I don't mean it … like that. I wasn't trying to offend. It's just that … aren't doctors supposed to be anal about everything? And you seem … normal." He shrugs by the end of his speech.
Sakura has gone from defensive to confused to amused in mere seconds. "Not everyone is. Besides, that's a prejudice you hold. All professions have some anal people."
"Yeah, but doctors have more numbers," he tells her as if he's researched about it.
"Sure," she says, unconvinced. "I always thought IT people are anal."
Now Sasuke definitely looks offended. "Hey," he says vehemently. "I'm in IT. And we're not stuck up at all. Are you not seeing what I'm wearing?" He gestures to his clothes.
"Yeah what is that?" Sakura points at his shirt. "I've seen that in kids' stores."
Sasuke's eyes widen in shock as if he can't believe someone would not know this green human (?) person – either that, or he can't believe Sakura basically implied that he is childish for wearing something like that.
"For your information," he begins icily, "this is not a thing. He's the Incredible Hulk from MCU. And it's not kiddish at all. MCU has a great fan following and I can't believe you don't know who Hulk is! I mean, everyone knows!"
"Eh …" Sakura trails off uncertainly. Clearly, Sasuke is very taken by whatever the hell MCU and Holk is – the green coloured questionably human dude – and Sakura is at a complete loss as to what to say. Moreover, he's one of those software people whom Sakura honestly believes to be stuck-up asses. Sasuke is kind of acting like one, too.
Maybe the breakfast invitation can wait.
Sasuke shakes his head, still in disbelief at her lack of what he believes to be important knowledge. Sakura wonders whether she should start naming all the bones in a human hand and how to fracture one with the least amount of pressure at what point when one of the doors in the apartment opens and both Sasuke and Sakura turn instinctively towards the sound.
A tall, handsome man is staring at them in confusion. He's obviously Sasuke's brother with black hair and black eyes. However, his hair is long enough that he's tied it in a bun on top of his head. His skin is tanned, not caramel quite yet, but clearly implying he's quite the outdoorsy kind of a person. He's wearing a formal fitting black shirt tucked in light grey trousers. His shoes are shiny and clean, not one speck of dirt visible.
"Hello," he says and looks at Sasuke inquisitively.
"This is Sakura," Sasuke introduces. "I told you. The new neighbour."
The man nods and starts making his way towards them. "Right. The milk thief."
Sakura frowns at him as he reaches them and moves to take his own cup from one of the cupboards. "It's not stealing when I ask for it."
The brother shrugs. "Don't be so quick to defend."
"Don't be so quick to judge," she shoots back instantly.
The man pauses in his task of pouring milk in his own cup. "My bad. I'm Itachi. My foolish little brother forgot his manners."
Sakura frowns again. "You called me milk thief the moment you came out," she reminds him. "I'm Sakura."
"You take offense very easily, Sakura," he tells her, now leaning against the island on the opposite side to sip at his coffee.
Sakura snorts and waves one hand in Sasuke's direction. "He was just telling me about Holk in a rather passionate way."
"Hulk," both of them correct her at the same time.
She stares between the two of them for a moment. Then gulps. "Wonderful."
"She's a surgeon," Sasuke informs his brother even though he didn't ask.
Itachi's eyebrows shoot up similar to how Sasuke's had. "Impressive."
"Right?" Sasuke chuckles. He turns to Sakura. "I thought you might be into admin. Back office stuff since you were wearing capri pants."
Sakura gives him 'wtf' look. "I'm surprised you even know what capri means."
Sasuke rolls his eyes at her. "I'm not stupid."
"Sure," Itachi says in a flat tone that has Sakura laughing. Sasuke glares at him.
"Anyway," Sasuke drawls in a purposeful way to change the topic. "I was thinking if you want to come over on the weekend?"
"What's on the weekend?"
Sasuke shrugs and stands up to take his mug to the sink. "We're calling some friends over. It's nothing big, just a casual get together." He rinses his mug and places it on the drying rack. "Since you're new, I thought it would be a nice time to get to know each other better. You know, more neighbourly stuff."
Despite herself, Sakura laughs again. Sasuke seems determined to do all the neighbourly things and she supposes that she doesn't really have a reason not to try. Her old apartment had the shittiest neighbours anyone could have asked for, and really, what's the worst that could happen? The brothers seem normal enough, even with Sasuke's maybe-obsession with kid things.
"Sure," she agrees. "Wait. I'm gonna have to check my shift schedule."
"Alright," Sasuke says. Itachi is done with his coffee, too, and he's moving away from the pair of them to start grabbing his things. "It's Saturday night. Come whenever."
"Cool."
Sakura is already standing up as well. "What's the time?"
"8.05." It's Itachi who answers. He's clearly waiting for Sasuke to get his things because now Sasuke is shrugging on a jacket.
"Shoot. I'm going to be late."
Sakura rushes from their apartment to her own. Not bothering to wash her coffee mug, she takes her stuff and locks the door behind her. To her surprise, Sasuke and Itachi are waiting outside the elevator for her with Sasuke holding the door open.
"Thanks." She hurries in after them.
"For someone who holds people's lives in their hands," Itachi begins and Sakura knows it's another judgement again, "you sure are rather tardy."
Sakura rolls her eyes. "What is it that you do?" she asks pointedly.
"Here we go," Sasuke mutters from her left.
"I'm actually a CEO. Surely, you must have heard of Uchiha Corp.?" Itachi asks arrogantly.
"You're shitting me, right?" Sakura looks at Sasuke for confirmation. He shakes his head sombrely.
"I assure you that I'm not," Itachi sniffs.
Sakura blinks in shock. Uchiha Corp. recently rose to fame as one of the delivery services. Of course, it's not as big as Amazon, but it's on its way. As far as Sakura knows, they deliver in the major cities in the country. Sakura has ordered a few items from their webpage a couple of times when she was bored.
"I thought you'd have more money," Sakura comments without thinking. Surely, he must be making decent amount of money if his company is becoming popular.
The elevator doors open to the main lobby.
"I thought you'd have more money, too," Itachi replies smoothly.
Sakura does have a good paycheck since her internship got over and residency began. Although … "Medical schools aren't cheap, you know," she tells them as the three of them make their way to the outside street. The apartment building doesn't have a parking space of its own. They have to park outside in the street. "I'm still paying off the debt."
It would be another year before she's successfully paid off her debt, subject to conditions, obviously. Such as staying on her financial plan faithfully and not going off the rails.
"That's enough for today," Sasuke cuts in before Itachi can make another comment. "Sakura, let me know about Saturday, yeah?"
Sakura nods. "I will."
"Perfect." He waves at her and nudges Itachi to do the same.
Sakura purses her lips to stop from giggling at Itachi's annoyed face. Clearly, Sasuke hasn't rubbed off on him at all. To think that he was the one chiding Sasuke over manners earlier in the apartment.
Sakura waves back and leaves.
A/N: I am not a surgeon or a CEO. I apologize in advance if I get anything incorrectly. Whatever I know is through drama series that I have watched until now.