I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It's a style I've been wanting to use for a while, and I think it turned out quite well.

Read and Enjoy!

Forget Me Not
Chapter 4 – Home

Sasuke

Every Friday night has been deemed as 'Team 7' night.

Naruto suddenly announced his brilliant plan one day while they were eating lunch together. Whoever is not on a mission must be there or face the wrath of the others – particularly Naruto's. While his wrath is generally not especially angry or frightening in a painful sort of way, it does tend to be detrimental to one's sanity - as Sasuke had discovered. So, after three weeks of nagging, harassment, and pranks, Sasuke finally became a regular to these meetings.

The night's activities sometimes vary from drinking to games, but they always have dinner and it usually involves some heavy threatening and insults from any of the members of the team. However, lately Sakura has been noticing another constant: Sasuke is always the last person she sees.

Not that she is complaining – of course not. It's simply a passing observation that Ino had made one day.

"Sakura, I heard your team last night."

"Oh?"

"We were sitting in another restaurant."

Sakura visibly winced before she sipped on her coffee, hiding her embaressment in the steam. "Yeah, sorry about that." She set the coffee cup down.

"I also noticed that you walked home with Sasuke." She should have noticed the smirk earlier. Ino was never very good at hiding her ideas and theories.

"Why does that sound like so much more is happening?"

"Sakura, this has to be the fifth time I've heard you all leaving a place and then I always see Sasuke walking you home."

"That's not – "

"And how about the time I called on a Friday night? He was there long after everyone had left."

"He was helping – "

"And what about when I saw you shopping for groceries with him?"

"Ino!"

"I'm just saying…"

She wasn't just saying, and both of them knew it. But now that it had been 'just said' – Sakura couldn't get it out of her mind.

So the next dinner, Sakura watched carefully.

It was her turn to cook dinner. When she stepped out to go shopping, she ran into Sasuke at the market. He said he was just nabbing some tomatoes – and Sakura tried to hard to push Ino's thought's out of her head – and he did indeed buy tomatoes. He also took those tomatoes and followed Sakura home with them. By the time dinner had finished, Kakashi and Sai had left, and Sakura kicked out a raging drunk Naruto, Sakura couldn't help but notice that – yes, Sasuke was still there and he didn't seem to be leaving any time soon as there were still a lot of dishes to be washed.

The next dinner was at Naruto's place – which really meant that they were eating ramen. When Sakura pushed herself away from the counter and stood up from her stool saying that she head to head back early for work, Sasuke similarly followed suit, saying that he had training and was heading in early as well. Sakura could picture Ino snickering across the street.

The third week of observation occurred at Sasuke's. Without thought, Sakura had packed up her own contributions and made her way over to Sasuke's. It wasn't until she was already halfway there that she realized just how early she was. When she did reach his place, the door was unlocked and he just nodded at the table as though he was expecting her this early. She went right to work setting her food up and getting out plates and even then it dawned on her how well she knew where everything was. She and Sasuke stayed up drinking tea and watching a movie long after the others had left.

By the time the fourth week rolled around, Sakura was noticing other little things too – like how he would conveniently walk by the hospital on days other than Friday just as she was leaving or how the amount of fan boys trying to talk to her and ask her out on a date had dropped in number drastically. And sometimes Sasuke would also drop off cakes because he noticed they were on sale when he was getting his tomatoes and they were her favorite. Inevitably, on those days, she would invite him in for tea.

So now as the fifth week has come, Sakura feels that she has enough evidence together to confront him about it. It is partly due to the wagging eyebrows of Ino every time she sees her, and partly because even the dense Naruto made reference to their growing closeness. And, really, it is also in part because Sakura just wants to know.

It's Kakashi's turn to choose the dinner, but he is on a mission, so it defaults to Sakura. As she refuses to subject herself and her teammates to more ramen, whenever it is her turn, they know to meet at her house. Sasuke doesn't bother to wait until the market this time. When she opens the door, he is standing outside – an impatient yet passive expression adorning his face.

"Good afternoon!" Sakura greets.

Sasuke shrugs, but Sakura doesn't mind. She sees him relax and his eyes become softer when they land on her. That's more than enough of a greeting for her.

The shopping trip is longer than usual. It's a holiday and everyone is preparing for dinner. Sakura looses Sasuke at some point while she is trying to grab at the good fruit before it's gone. Someone shoves her and she falls back into a body. She turns, uttering a quick apology. It's Sasuke. He eyes her warily, wordlessly asking if this is necessarily. Sakura responds with a vivacious nod and dives back into the fray with renewed energy. She returns victorious and proud five minutes later.

It's a simple dinner and easy to prep, so Sakura shoos Sasuke from the kitchen with a plateful of tomatoes and a cup of his favorite tea. Naruto and Sai arrive a little late. Neither comment on Sasuke's presence. Sakura is unsure if it is because they are late, or if it's because it has become such a common place now.

Through dinner, Sakura steals glances, wondering if she can keep the courage and enthusiasm she had earlier. Sometimes she catches him watching her. Other times she catches glimpses of a small smile and chuckles. Those are her favorite moments.

Naruto and Sai leave suspiciously early. Naruto shoving Sai out saying that they have a mission the next day. Sakura doesn't miss the confusion just before Naruto slaps a hand over the artist's mouth and shoves him out the door.

After a wink from Naruto and a slamming of the door (Sakura feels the need to scold him even through the shut door), Sakura returns to the kitchen. She watches as Sasuke gathers up as many dishes as he can and expertly balances them in his arms while returning to the kitchen.

She knows she shouldn't, but she can't help but smile at his domesticated side. Sasuke is calm and relaxed when he washes the dishes – his eyes far off and in a happier place. His movements are firm and steady, but not so harsh as to crack or chip the plates. Six dishes in, Sasuke turns to her with an eyebrow raised. He pointedly looks down at the soaking dishes resting on the towel then back at her. Sakura jumps, realizing she was caught, and rushes to grab a towel. They was and dry in comfortable silence.

When they finish, Sakura automatically goes for the tea bags while Sasuke boils water.

"Want to sit outside today?" Sakura asks as she pours the steaming water into the cups.

Sasuke shrugs and takes his cup. He still doesn't answer, but he walks to the sliding door and steps onto the balcony. With a soft, and only a little smug, smile, Sakura follows behind.

Outside the air is clean and pretty. On the third floor of her apartment building, Sakura has a good view of Konoha. It's always especially beautiful when the sun sets. She says so.

Sasuke nods, glancing briefly at her once before returning his gaze to the sunset and sipping his tea.

Sakura observes him from the corner of her eye. He is relaxed – so relaxed from how he was just a few months ago. His eyes are softer. He is leaning against the glass sliding door as though all is right with the world and as though he was finally… happy.

When Sasuke sighs, places his cup down onto the saucer, and turns to look at her, Sakura knows she has been caught.

"Yes?" His voice is deep, annoyed, but not terribly so.

"Sasuke-kun," She starts, then stops to gather her courage. He raises and eyebrow and she knows there is no going back. "Did you notice we are spending a lot more time together?"

He grunts and looks away.

"I don't mind!" She quickly reassures him, one hand waving, "It's just that… well…" She stumbles, unsure how to phrase it. The hand drops and grips her cup. "I thought you didn't like people."

"I don't." He answers. He takes a sip of tea. Sakura is about to continue, but he beats her to it, "You aren't 'people.'"

Sakura cocks her head slightly and contemplates. Then… what am I?

Sasuke's annoyed glare in her direction makes her realize she spoke the question out loud. He doesn't answer for a time and Sakura thinks he looks a bit lost, so she doesn't push it. They continue to sip in silence.

When Sakura has nearly finished her tea five minutes later, Sasuke does finally answer, "You're home."

Sakura immediately turns her face towards him. She nearly drops her cup. He isn't looking at her, but she can see the tips of his ears, and they are red.

She looks away, allowing him to hide. "You've been a lot happier."

"Ah."

"I'm glad."

"Ah."

Sakura finally sneaks a glance and is rewarded with a smile. It's not a big smile by any means – but it is certainly a smile and coming from Sasuke – that is worth more than anything. She holds back the squeal and the giddiness, but she can't stop the shining grin that overtakes her face – she doesn't try.

She hears a breath that sounds suspiciously like a chuckle and then some shuffling followed by the sound of a plate or cup being placed onto the small table. She feels a feather light touch on her fingers and Sakura tentatively closes her hand around it. The touch doesn't disappear; instead his hand fully grasps hers.

(Story End)

So… thoughts? I love this chapter though the ending is a bit… abrupt I suppose. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anything that wasn't painfully cheesy and slightly out of place, so I thought it best to leave it as is instead of ruining it with some terrible line.

I've been wanting to write in this style for a while. I like it a lot – but unfortunately, if I ever want to do a vaguely complex longer story, this doesn't quite fit. Still, I'd like to do something like this chapter again.

As I'm a SasuSaku supporter, I would envision his 'home' meaning they will move in and make a family together – but for those of you who aren't interested in that, you can also take it as he has finally found a place he is comfortable in – it doesn't have to be romantic.

This story was a lot of fun to write. It was short, simple, and I actually wrote everything before I posted – so yay no pressure! I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you everyone who reviewed!

Thank you everyone who took the time to read, review, and favorite! While I want to say that I don't need reviews and that I write for the sake of writing only - it's only partly write. I love love reviews. Authors feed off of reviews. So please, be super awesome and review!