A/N: Woohoo! Classes are over! What a sucky semester I had.

Chapters 10 through 13 all happen in the same night, I didn't plan on two of these chapters but the nights are more fun to write than the days anyway!

Also I've decided to be more liberal with the personalities of some characters since they've aged (and maybe even matured!), but hey that's what fanfic is for!

FYI: Chapter 2 describes that Sasuke looks different now.

[Disclaimer: Alas, Naruto will never be mine]

Chapter 13 – Cheesecake

Sakura hated being late.

She supposed it was due to her dislike for breaking the rules. Since she was little she always tried to do the "proper" thing and that meant obeying her parents, respecting teachers and helping those classmates less fortunate than her. She liked to be praised by everyone as the 'good' girl, the one whom her mother's friend would point to and whose daughters' would glare at with daggers of jealousy.

"It's probably Kakashi-sensei's fault," she decided. His poor punctuality when he was her genin sensei had made the vein on forehead appear regularly. She had spent a small fortune on foundation makeup to cover it and another small fortune on the acne cream she had to use because of that. Beauty care was a challenge even for the naturally endowed.

Once Sakura got within three blocks of Sasuke's house she moved to the streets, slowing her pace. The Anbu who observed his residence didn't allow anyone to approach from a vantage above the ground. The sentries by now were used to her visits and it had been months since Sakura had even sensed them, but it was plain stupid to take a chance like that. If she made a mistake, it would be painfully clear the Anbu were still around.

She approached the door of a large well-kept looking residence, the only one on the street with light emanating from its windows. It was strange at first to notice that only one person lived on this particular street in Konoha. The dozen or so lifeless houses that surrounded it lay in mute testament to the once proud clan that had resided here, where a single remnant of that clan still clung on in his way.

Such unpleasant thoughts caused a shiver to run its course through Sakura as she shook off the discomforting feeling. She scolded herself mutely, "The least I can do is act normal for him."

A step before she could knock the door opened with Sasuke standing in the entrance way. He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Hi!" say Sakura cheerily. "Sorry about the time!"

Sasuke turned away, his response trailing in his wake.

"Whatever."

Sakura followed him closing the door so it wouldn't slam.

Except for his bedroom, Sasuke had everything on the ground floor his house. The rooms of his parents and sibling were so off limits they might as well have been stuck in a space-time jutsu. It had been his idea to move back into his clan's estate. As a genin he had a nice apartment at the other end of the village, the cost of which was covered by the clan's treasury, yet since his return the Hokage had let him stay here.

As Sakura approached the kitchen behind him the smell of garlic drifted teasingly into her nose. Sasuke only knew how to cook one thing it seemed and that was pasta. It was the main reason they alternated doing the cooking when she visited. Sasuke also liked a lot of garlic in his tomato sauce.

Sakura was about to tell him that too much garlic was a sure way to drive a girl away when divine providence struck. She realized that it might be an inappropriate thing to say. Quietly, she followed him to the small kitchen table where two plates of spaghetti steamed away lightly with tall, sweaty glasses of iced lemonade in tow. Everything looked like it had just been put out instead of being over two hours old.

"It looks great," said Sakura trying not to sound insincere... which of course only increased the fake pleasantness in her voice.

Sasuke ignored her and moved around the table to sit on the opposite side. His eyes fixed were on his plate in a deliberate fashion as he picked up his utensils and dug in. Sakura sat down quickly to join him, hoping he wasn't "wall" boy all through dinner. His quiet, sullen moods while rarer now than years ago, but they were still something to watch out for.

She put the glass of lemonade to her lips and took a swallow of the cold drink. Uchiha lemonade was always a tad too sour for her taste and she often wondered what Sasuke had against things being sugary.

"So how is Neji doing in the hospital?" Sasuke asked casually out of the blue.

Sakura became wide-eyed with shock and she gasped in mid-swallow almost dropping her glass.

"That is why you are late, correct?" he said looking up with a small wicked smile.

Covering her mouth with the back of her hand, she tried control her choking coughs.

"How... [cough] did you know... [cough]?"

Sasuke put down his knife and fork and wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin before reclining back to survey his quarry. With his elbows on the table he folded his hands in front of him level with his mouth. Neji had once told Sakura that people always hid a body part when they lied. Either hands behind the back, one foot behind the other or covering some part of the face... fortunately Sakura did need to read body language to know what Sasuke was about to deliver would be a crock of crap.

He was enjoying himself too much.

"Actually I have you followed," Sasuke told her menacingly. "The Anbu who used to guard me are now under my total control." Letting the sinister moment of uncertainty thicken he paused before adding, "I... know.... everything."

Sakura stared at him. Her face was a flash of serious wonderment before transforming into a look of disbelief. She crumbled up her napkin threw at his head laughing at him.

"You're such a dork!" she exclaimed.

Sasuke ducked the shot at his head began to laugh himself. His breathy, barely audible laugh was the equivalent of Naruto's ear shattering guffaw. Still Sasuke's ability to laugh at all was a minor miracle. It was only after accepting his brother's death at Tsunade's hand that it had even been possible for him to learn to be more human.

It was a slow process.

"Ok, ok," he said throwing his hands up. He scooted his chair in a little closer, "Well actually, Lee saw Kiba when they got back to the village, who told Tenten who stopped by the academy to tell Ino who made sure I knew, so I'd be prepared when you were late." Sasuke picked up his utensils to eat again as he added cleverly, "Both you and Neji are very predictable."

Sakura felt her face coloring as she folded hers arm crossed her chest. It had been a while since Inner-Sakura had voiced an opinion, but she clearly heard, "Damn you Ino-pig!" echo in the back of her head.

"And what does that mean?!" she asked.

Sasuke finished chewing his pasta in a calm fashion before answering.

He explained, "Oh, you know, where Neji confesses his undying love for you and then makes a bad pass at you while you act all indecisive which of course he then interprets as a scoring opportunity.... Rinse. Repeat."

Sakura stared at him stiffly this time. Somewhere along the line the conversation had stopped being funny.

"That's not fair," she said in a tight voice.

"It's true," he replied coolly.

They resumed eating with eyes downcast as a new awkwardness settled in. Sakura was very tired and she certainly didn't need to run halfway around the village at close to midnight so some passive-aggressive bastard could feed her crappy spaghetti and insult her.

She stewed angrily for a bit until her mind wandered off for a distraction

"It's almost like he's jealous," she thought. "Except who wanted to be 'just friends' in the first place. He could just hate Neji, but that seems too simple... Ino likes Neji a lot, but doesn't think he's good for me.... She likes Sasuke too.... Shikamaru finds Neji annoying, but Shikamaru finds Sasuke annoying... of course, Shikamaru also finds breathing annoying...."

Sakura's train of thought spiraled away, eating mechanically she continued on.

"Maybe Sasuke's gay... That would be an easy answer... Kiba could magically come out of the closet and declare Sasuke his one true love.... It could work. Kiba's tall, rough looking, loud... Sasuke's certainly got the bishonen look down... They'd be the perfect couple... They even have their surrogate child, Akamaru...the way Kiba's always giving Hinata and Naruto that 'hurt' look it probably won't happen...perhaps Kakashi sensei...except from what Ino says Iruka-sensei is already circling him for the kill..."

A voice from the outside rudely interrupted her inner dialogue.

"Sakura, are you ok?" Sasuke asked, finished his meal.

Focusing on Sasuke' face Sakura was oblivious to the fact she was chewing with her mouth open. She paused with her maw gaping at his inspection.

Sasuke looked away disturbed by Sakura's "see-food" expression and got up to put his plate in the sink.

"Hey, "he said, "If you don't like it, I've told you that you can do all the cooking."

Sakura composed herself with a quick swallow as her mind latched onto a new topic.

"How do you feel about cheesecake, Sasuke?" she asked.

"Huh?" he replied as he started to clean his dish. Sakura was thinking he realized, always dangerous.

"See, "she said, "the way I see it. There are two kinds of people in this world. The people who like cheesecake and the people who don't."

"Sakura, I'm allergic to cheese. It's why I don't use shaky cheese in the sauce," said Sasuke dismissively.

"You're missing the point, Sasuke," Sakura continued raising her finger for emphasis. "There's nothing wrong with cheesecake. But some people love cheesecake, while other people hate cheesecake. And still other people feel only so-so about cheesecake."

"Were you exposed to anything at the hospital?" Sasuke countered.

"No, but you get my point, right? That what people think about cheesecake has nothing to do with cheesecake being cheesecake."

"You're insane," he told her.

Sakura nodded, "Fine, point taken. But it makes sense right?"

"Mou! If it will make you feel better, sure Sakura. Despite people's opinions cheesecake can only be cheesecake."

"Thank you, Sasuke! See! I feel better now. Don't worry I'll do the dishes. Just go relax outside. It's such a beautiful night."

Sasuke wandered out to his front porch muttering something about mental patients traveling in groups as Sakura bounced up to clear the table.

Sakura hummed happily to herself as she straightened and put away the dishes. She refused to let Sasuke drive her away again. He could be cold, snide and sarcastic. It didn't matter to her. She saw the good in him despite it all and wanted to help him to be 'ok' again, maybe for the first time since he was eight. He hadn't mentioned escaping from Konoha a long time and it was over a year since he said he wanted to die. Sakura knew he was improving. Ino had warned repeatedly about becoming his emotional "punching bag" again, but she wasn't going to give up. Somehow as his friend she'd help him learn to live with all that had happened to him.

"He'll learn to be happy or I'll kill him," Sakura said to herself happily and given his inability to access chakra she had at least a decent shot at one side of that promise.

Sakura closed the cabinet as she put away the last few dishes. She walked towards where Sasuke would be and paused at the door. With his glasses place to the side and his hair loose Sasuke was sitting cross- legged up the night sky. Sakura waited. She knew he frequently meditated now and even once asked him why. He told it was to gain "peace of mind".

"The way he's obsessed with it you'd think he was going become a monk," Sakura thought. "It almost looks like he's training chakra... but that's impossible."

Sakura only caught the occasional glimpse of the second seal that Tsunade placed on him after he was brought back. Whatever it was it looked both ugly and permanent. It was what had shut away his ability to mold chakra completely.

"I can't concentrate with you staring at me," Sasuke said remaining stonily in his pose.

Sakura walked outside and took a deep, cleansing breath. With a sigh she plopped beside him. "Then don't," she told him pointedly.

Sasuke surprisingly smiled at her beside him and relaxed. Leaning back he gazed up into the night sky which led Sakura to look up too. The summer sky was crystal clear tonight.The stars shone with a white fire on blue black sky. Lounging together, the mild breeze washed over them with a dreamy coolness.

"What's that constellation?" Sakura asked pointing up.

"I've told you before," he said.

"I forgot," she said.

"You're a bad liar, Sakura." replied Sasuke dryly, but he consented. "That chain of three bigger stars right there is called the Summer Triad. You see around this time ever summer. The one on the right is called Alta and the one on the other side of there is Tanuta. The story goes that Alta wanted Tanuta for his bride, but that third star above them was her father and..."

Sakura moved over closer to Sasuke while he talked laying her head on his shoulder. This was the only touching he would ever allow. She had discovered by accident a short time ago that he loved stargazing as kid. Now on evenings like this she would ask him about the stars and constellations. It amazed her how much he knew. Listening to the enjoyment in his voice it gave her the confidence that things would all workout.

Sasuke was getting to her favorite apart of the story where the girl sneaks away from her father to see her true love as her eyelids unbidden slid slowly down over her eyes.

Sasuke knowing she was asleep, but kept talking anyway. Sakura would be mad at him if he didn't finish it.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: I will be putting in extra effort to finish. I really don't want my unfinished story to have a birthday!