Authoress' Notes: And here's another one. I'm sorry to report that it is not a particularly eventful chapter, but nor is it a "filler". We learn a little about Sakura (I have this whole story in my head about what happened with her over the two and a half year time skip) and we see more of both Sakura and Sasuke's thought processes. Next chapter, provided I don't scrap it in editing, there might be a little something – maybe more exciting is the right way to say it? – for you though. Bear with me. We can't see a deep relationship come about too fast now, can we?

And as for the action, well consider the time frame of the manga: Naruto had sage training for a while and everything in Konoha was pretty normal until the attack by Pain. Each of the chapters I've posted so far has covered a fairly brief time frame. I mean, the events in Chapters 4, 5, and now 6 all take place on the same day, so you can't expect monumental occurrences to happen in every single one unless I pick up the pace – which I may in time. Right now, I have one more prewritten chapter and then I have to start writing again. I'll take your words and opinions to heart in crafting the new chapters, so please review.

Chapter 6 - The Middle

Hey, don't write yourself off yet.

It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on.

Just do your best, do everything you can.

And don't you worry what the bitter hearts are gonna say.

It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride,

Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright).

- The Middle, Jimmy Eat World

As they walked together to the training grounds, Sakura was internally debating the intelligence of this idea.

She was going to spar with Sasuke.

And she couldn't help but be nervous as hell about it. Her heart was already pounding out a ferocious beat in her chest. Sakura couldn't remember ever facing off against Sasuke in her childhood – it had always been him and Naruto.

One of the things that made her sure of her decision though was the fact that she might be able to show off some of her new skills – and she found herself needing to show him that she was not weak. She wasn't one to be watching anyone's back anymore. She was strong and capable, and the days of writing herself off were long over.

That was one reason she was so willing to fight him. But it didn't hurt that she might actually have a chance at beating him.

True, she wouldn't be using her chakra powered strength; it wouldn't be fair to Sasuke if this was to be a strict taijutsu spar since he had no real chakra of his own to speak of. Still, it wasn't her fault that her hits tended to pack a punch, even without chakra. Her raw physical strength had increased something fierce under her teacher's tutelage and – frankly – insane training. She would never have the same ludicrous natural strength Tsunade did, but she wouldn't be reduced to a weakling if her chakra level was low.

And though it was true that she didn't have Sasuke's speed, he didn't have the sharingan to help him predict her moves, or the chakra to boost his (already-better-than-her's) speed to a completely unmatchable level. Her taijutsu technique would also probably be about on par with his given the extensive training she had put in with Tsunade, not to mention some time with Lee and Gai, and anyone else Tsunade could trick or bully into fighting her. She was no pushover anymore. She had fought jounin in the past in straight taijutsu matches and won.

She could handle one Uchiha Sasuke.

Right?

Out of nostalgia, she took him to the third training ground where they had first acted as a real team during Kakashi's bell test – or maybe it was better to say after the bell test – when the two of them had both shared their food with Naruto...who had been tied to a stump.

She tried to stop it, but it was impossible. A small giggle erupted from her lips.

Sasuke looked at her with both confusion and annoyance present in his features. She knew it was his way of asking "What?" without opening his mouth.

"I was just remembering the first time we were all here together. Kakashi tied Naruto to that stump over there," she explained as she pointed out the upright log. "Just imagine if he were to try something like that nowadays."

She knew she was grinning stupidly, but it wasn't like she could help it. Things were going too well right now with Sasuke for her to be sad. She still hadn't forgotten Naruto or Tsunade and their pain – because even she felt a small twinge in her heart for the loss of Jiraiya – or the fact that Sasuke had not come back on his own after killing Orochimaru, had formed another team, and had obviously changed – though why was she seeing so much of the old Sasuke then?

All of that was too confusing for right now and had the potential to send her into a dark downwards spiral. She didn't need that. She had to stay strong right now for her teammate and surrogate brother, and her teacher and surrogate mother. So she shoved all that into the forgotten recesses of her mind and focussed on all the good things – like maybe kicking Sasuke's ass...or at least bruising it somewhat.

"So? Are you ready to go?" she asked him with some newfound confidence when they had settled on the field, maybe twenty feet apart.

"Hn," he answered her, and she took the grunt for a yes.

And then she moved.

He had watched as Sakura hadn't waited for him to make the first move and had come right at him, her fist drawn back as if to punch him square in the jaw. He had dodged her fist easily enough, with a smirk on his face, but he hadn't been expecting for her leg to immediately and flawlessly follow her arm, and for her foot to kick him squarely in the chest. He had gone reeling backwards...much more than a few feet.

Now Sasuke stood, watching her as she brought her extended leg down and ducked into a defensive stance, her fists raised to protect her body, her expression smug as if she knew that the kick had hurt him...which it hadn't. Much anyways.

"Your turn," she called out, and he could have sworn that she now had a nearly teasing lilt in her voice.

Still, he wasn't going to lose to Sakura of all people, so he sped towards her, using his superior speed to duck past her leg, that came out in a defensive sweep, and get behind her. Before she could spin around, he aimed a kick at her kidney. But she seemed to expect the move, as she twisted out of the way of his foot and managed to bring her elbow down on his knee at the same time.

He quickly retracted the limb and watched as she turned to face him, her grin huge. They were only a few feet apart, within easy distance from each other. Either one could attack, but neither moved – at first.

"You're underestimating me," Sakura pointed out before she launched herself across the short distance, directing a punch at his face.

Sasuke blocked her fist with one arm while he kicked at her with his right foot. She didn't dodge fast enough this time, and caught the blow on her other arm as it came up to defend her chest, where the kick would have landed otherwise.

She sprung away from him and examined her arm briefly before grinning again and literally jumping back into battle, a flying kick aimed at his head.

It was a half hour later when she finally asked him if he had had enough.

"Hn," he answered, and she smiled in spite of the fact that she was sweaty, panting hard, that her hair was a mess, and that she was covered in light bruises that would normally have healed on their own if she hadn't been trying to hold her chakra back.

Sakura was satisfied.

Because even though she hadn't won, neither had Sasuke.

Sasuke stood a little ways away from her in a state just as bad as her's. He wasn't panting nearly as hard, but she could see the sweat on his brow, his hair was just as dishevelled as her's, and his bruises, though fewer in number, were slightly deeper than her own.

"Well, that was fun," she commented as she placed a glowing hand over a large bruise on her arm painful enough that it actually bothered her.

She was so absorbed by her injury that she didn't notice that Sasuke's eyes were locked on her healing hand. As soon as she finished, they flickered away immediately before she could look up and catch him staring.

"Now it's your turn," she told him as she walked across the field to where he had taken a seat on the ground. It was a reflex. She always healed her opponents after a bout if she had the strength. So, she settled down cross-legged next to him and asked for his right arm which he refused to give to her. She sighed in frustration and grabbed the limb anyways – something she wouldn't have dared to do only earlier that day.

"You can act all tough," she started as she began sending her healing chakra into one of the deeper bruises she had given him that was bound to hurt – if not now, then tomorrow for sure, "but I know how hard I can hit and I know where I can do the most damage to a person – I'm a medic, remember? So just stop acting all proud and let me fix it, alright? You didn't see me trying to pretend I wasn't hurt."

She held back her sudden urge to tell him to stop being such a baby.

Still, he didn't pull his arm away and let her fix the bruise. And when she asked for him to extend his left leg so she could get to a similar deep tissue injury she had dealt his thigh, he actually listened.

The worst of their bruises healed, she pulled away from Sasuke and lay down on her back, a little tired, but otherwise fine. And dammit this all felt so good.

Sasuke meanwhile was busy reevaluating Sakura. He should have figured out by now that she wasn't weak anymore, but still she had surprised him. Sure, she had healed his injuries after his fight with Itachi, and yes, he had watched her shatter the earth, and of course he had seen that she worked in the hospital and was very trusted and respected there, but somehow he hadn't been able to equate that to a Sakura who could actually fight him.

Now that he had seen such a Sakura though, he actually found himself impressed that her taijutsu had improved so much and that in a straight up spar with no tricks, no ninjutsu, and no genjutsu, they were pretty evenly matched. He had the faster speed, but reluctantly he had to admit that somehow she had the greater strength...as proven by his numerous bruises. Her's seemed to be fading to nearly nothing before his eyes.

He couldn't help but smirk a little as he considered the girl lying down on the ground next to him. He was finally starting to get a feel for Sakura as she was now. She had changed from the young girl in his memory, but it seemed like the greatest changes had been in her fighting abilities and her confidence – and those were actually changes that he approved of.

Sasuke listened as her breathing evened out and she relaxed. It was a sound as comforting as Naruto's constant blathering. Frankly, this felt so damn easy and right after years of just going through the motions and focussing on his first goal in life. It was just like old times after training with team seven, though two of their members were currently missing.

"I guess I should bring you back home now," Sakura mumbled, breaking the silence that had descended upon them.

Well, it was almost like old times. In the past Sakura would have been begging him to go out on a date with her at this point.

"Or," she suddenly began speaking again, "maybe I could make dinner for you at my place first. I'm guessing you didn't eat breakfast since there would have been no food in your apartment, and I know that I didn't stop for lunch today so you wouldn't have had the opportunity to eat then either – unless Neji or Kakashi-sensei brought you any sort of food in interrogation, which I sincerely doubt. And I know you bought food this afternoon, but none of it looked like anything you could make a proper dinner out of, so I just thought that the least I could do was feed you. Or, you know, we could just stop somewhere on the walk back to your place. Or we could do neither and you could just forget I asked. Or–"

By the end of her little speech, Sakura was babbling, but surprisingly, he didn't care. Nor did he care that it sounded like she was asking him out. He was actually finding himself glad to have an excuse to spend more time with her instead of returning to his empty apartment. Maybe in the process he would ease her overheard worries about his intentions some more.

"Sakura," he interrupted her. Then: "Whatever. Lead the way."

She looked confused for a minute before a huge smile broke across her face.

"Of course," she answered, hopping to her feet and automatically extending her hand down to him so that she could help pull him to his feet as well.

He surprised both of them when he took it and let her yank him up to a standing position.

The walk to her place was spent in silence, but Sakura didn't mind. She was too busy trying to figure out what had come over her. Why had she asked Sasuke to come eat with her instead of just walking him home? Well she knew why. She had been lying there, catching her breath when she had felt the first pangs of hunger. Only then had she realized that she hadn't eaten all day, and then, of course, she had realized that Sasuke also probably hadn't eaten all day. After that, the question had just sort of...slipped out.

As soon as she had realized what she had said she had tried to do damage control. She had gotten too comfortable with their situation, too relaxed with him in too short a time. But then Sasuke had shocked her when he had actually accepted her proposal, and she couldn't help but feel even better about how things stood.

He had barely been back in Konoha a day and already things felt so perfect – well, no. Things would be perfect if he returned her feelings...but if they could just be friends, she would be more than okay. It was a testament to how real and all consuming her love for Uchiha Sasuke actually was. It didn't really matter if he felt the same way. As long as he was safe, happy, and at the very least her teammate, with no intentions of running away from them again, she could be happy. All because she well and truly loved him and wanted the best for him. It was a simple concept – easy to understand.

And yet, not everyone understood her feelings.

Her own mother had never understood.

At first she had been as proud as any civilian would be that her daughter had started training under the Hokage herself, but soon she had started to question why Sakura had suddenly started to spend so many more hours training than she ever had before. When her mother had confronted her angrily, saying that she never helped out around the house anymore, Sakura had tried to explain to her mother about her desire to become stronger and her promise with Naruto. Her mother had actually scoffed at her and had told her to forget the Uchiha traitor and move on.

Sakura hadn't spoken to her mother about Sasuke ever again after that.

When her apartment building came into sight, she led Sasuke up the stairs until they reached the fifth floor. It was at this point that she finally realized she had left the bag she had brought over to Naruto's house last night in her office at the hospital. That was okay though. She kept her keys in her weapons pouch when she was in the village, since that was one thing she was always sure to be wearing, and she had extra toiletries for home use – a little bit more extravagant and less durable than those she took on missions with her.

When she unlocked the door to her apartment, she motioned for Sasuke to go in before her, and he crossed the threshold before stopping a few feet into her home. As she also stepped inside, closing the door behind her, she wondered what could be holding him up. She was surprised when she heard Sasuke's sudden question.

"Did you move out of your parents' home already?" he asked her. "You didn't live here before."

The question gnawed on an old ache, but she shoved the wave of pain that threatened back.

"Something like that," she answered him simply.

"And they let you?"

That question didn't surprise her. Convention in the village was that an individual wouldn't move out of their parents' home until they turned eighteen – and even then, that was only if they had a proper job and could support themselves. With the old clans, a person often stayed with their parents even longer: until they were married and ready to start a family of their own.

She decided to answer him honestly – a testament to her newfound willingness to have faith in him. It wasn't like it was a secret anyways. All of her friends and important people knew why she lived alone at the young age of sixteen...as did practically the rest of the village.

Gossip spread quickly in Konoha after all.

"Not exactly," she began, and she noticed that with that cryptic response she had his attention. As she removed her shoes and passed Sasuke, motioning for him to follow her into her small kitchen where a little table with four chairs propped around it sat, she resumed her tale, steeling herself against the emotions that it would undoubtedly bring forth.

"They left the village when I was fourteen. Right before my second chunin exam. I think you know that they were...are civilians. They had lived here their whole lives. They thought that living in a ninja village was safe. When I wanted to become a kunoichi, they indulged me, encouraged me even. They didn't really understand what a kunoichi actually had to do. All they knew were the romanticised stories and the pretty little missions they saw genin doing around the village.

"They lived through the Third Shinobi World War, but it never came as far as Konoha's doorstep," she continued, even as she went to her fridge and pulled out all the ingredients she would need to make okonomiyaki, noting that Sasuke was sitting quietly at her kitchen table...listening. "They never saw the true damage of war. They never knew exactly what it meant to be a shinobi of Konoha. They never understood that it would mean risking my life for the sake of the village. If they had, they probably would never have let me become a kunoichi in the first place."

She paused in her story for a moment while she moved to the kitchen sink and washed her hands. That done, she retrieved a cutting board from one of the overhead cupboards and a knife from one of her drawers. Then she grabbed a head of cabbage and started chopping, taking up her narrative. It was easier to tell the story while she was half distracted from it.

"When Oto and Suna attacked during our first chunin exam, my parents were at home, so they weren't affected by the genjutsu that fell over the crowd at the stadium. They heard the alarm, they witnessed shinobi fighting for their lives in the streets before they made it to the safe houses, and they saw what being a kunoichi could mean...they saw the dangers of living in a ninja village. It didn't help that I returned home that day bruised, battered, and exhausted, with some difficulty breathing. That's what started the change in their mindset," she continued.

"Then I started training with Tsunade-shishou. It wasn't easy. She'd come at me with her full strength when we sparred, often putting me in life threatening situations, and she would train me in medical jutsu until I barely had the energy to move. As we got closer to the chunin exam, I'd break bones during training, and she would refuse to heal them, insisting that I do it myself, even if it had to wait until the next day before I had the energy to deal with it. It was rough and I worked harder than I ever had before.

"At first, my parents were proud. They could go brag to their friends and acquaintances that their daughter was training under the Godaime, the legendary sannin Tsunade. But their illusions about what a shinobi was and the amount of safety that the village provided had been shattered. My parents started getting increasingly upset with how much time I spent training and the way I would come home, injured and too tired to help out. It didn't help that we then had to deal with another small attack orchestrated by a band of rogue ninja who thought Konoha would be easy pickings. They were dealt with easily, but my parents heard about it and they were scared that the village seemed like a target.

"One night, maybe a month before the exam, I came home with a broken arm that I hadn't had the chakra to heal," Sakura kept going, glancing at Sasuke to see if he was still paying attention. He was watching her, so she proceeded, all while she mixed the cabbage in with the batter she had finished and then dug around for the pans she needed, placing them on the stove. "My parents were furious when they saw me that night. I tried to calm them down and explain that it was a part of my training, but they had had enough of watching their daughter play ninja in a village they no longer thought was safe.

"They told me that they had talked it over, and that we were moving within the week to a small civilian village in Fire Country. I told them that I couldn't just stop being a kunoichi nor could I abandon my village. They just said that living around ninja was proving to be too dangerous and that they wouldn't let me risk my life as a kunoichi. I was told to pack my things and that I would thank them in time.

"The next day, I told Tsunade-shishou what had happened," she told him, turning on the burner beneath one of the pans. "And I told her that I didn't want to move, that I didn't want to stop being a kunoichi of Konoha. She went and tried to speak with my parents, reassure them, but with the chunin exam fast approaching and foreign shinobi set to arrive in town soon, they were terrified of another attack. They were moving. I still refused, and that was when they reminded me that I had no choice.

"Well, Tsunade-shishou said I did. She said she would help me settle into an apartment of my own if that's what I wanted. So I told my parents that I would stay here and that I'd come visit them all the time... And they begged and pleaded with me to reconsider, but I couldn't leave. When I told them that, they got angry and they said they wouldn't help me with this stupid scheme of mine and that if I was so intent on staying and making my own decisions, I could support myself. They said they'd see me again when I was thinking straight and was ready to move back in with them. And just like that, they sold our home and left me with nothing more than an address where I could find them.

"I haven't seen or heard from them since," she said as she finished chopping up some vegetables and then tossed them, along with some pre-cooked pork, into the now heated pan. "I've tried visiting, but they refuse to open the door."

The sizzling of the food in the pan was the only noise for a while and Sasuke used it as a focal point while he tried to gather together all the thoughts racing through his head and make sense of Sakura's story. Sakura though, was apparently not done.

"It's my own fault. I alienated my own parents, made them feel betrayed. Since then, I've convinced myself that one day they'll get over it, and I know they only act like that because they're worried about me...they're my mom and dad...my family. But so are Ino, Naruto, you, Sai, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-shishou, Shizune-san, Yamato-sensei and everyone else. I can't just leave Konoha...I can't just stop being a kunoichi and a medic...I can't just forget about everything and everyone and live the easy, safe life my parents want for me. I love them so much, but they're asking me to do the impossible. I can't be the person they want me to be – I can only be myself.

"I'm lucky...they're still alive, they're safe, and they're healthy, but...but I just wish they could understand why I need to do this so I wouldn't have to lose them to keep the rest of my family," she said while she watched the toppings for the okonomiyaki cook. Her voice, which had retained her normal tone all throughout the story finally betrayed a hint of the sadness she felt as she was momentarily unable to keep out.

It was in that instant that everything came together in Sasuke's mind and he realized that this wasn't just a childlike Sakura complaining about her parents yelling at her anymore. She had real familial issues, all brought on by the fact that she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life and that she was loyal to her friends and her home – something her parents could never fully understand having been raised as civilians. She obviously missed them and wanted to see them and reconcile with them, but at the same time, she couldn't turn her back on the lifestyle she had chosen and all the rest of her important people.

Her devotion was admirable, and surprisingly, Sasuke felt the stirring of a growing respect within him. And even as he acknowledged her dedication, he also recognized the pain she must be feeling for the choice she had made.

She turned the burner on beneath the second pan on the stove and poured the batter she had made into it, and then almost immediately turned her attention back to the other pan where she gave the sizzling vegetables and meat a stir.

He didn't say anything. What could he say? That everything would be okay? Never would he be able to speak those comforting words. He was not like Naruto – he did not have the same optimistic blind faith that his self-proclaimed best friend possessed.

Sakura didn't even seem to notice his silence though. She was too busy working at the stove, now scooping the contents of one pan onto a large plate before pouring more of the batter into its now empty depths. He just continued to study her.

She was the same, but she had changed. Did that make sense? If Naruto had grown up, then maybe that's all she had done as well. Her story now had helped him confirm that she was very much still Sakura, but just not a child anymore – a young girl who barely had the qualifications to be a kunoichi and took everything for granted. In fact, only after this brief amount of time, he found himself very much appreciating Sakura as she was now.

It was almost fifteen minutes later that Sakura placed a plate with the okonomiyaki in front of him, already cut into manageable pieces, before placing a bottle of okonomiyaki sauce on the table, along with some other standard toppings. Then she brought two glasses of water to the table before settling down in the seat across from his. She jumped up as abruptly as she had sat down.

"I almost forgot," she muttered – her first words since she had finished telling her tale –, heading back to the counter by the stove and grabbing the bowl that was sitting there. She placed it down on the table in front of him, and then took her seat again.

"Help yourself to whatever else you want," she said before grabbing the sauce and pouring some of it over her own meal.

Sasuke inspected the cut up okonomiyaki before him and noted that Sakura had included a lot of fried tomatoes in his. Then he looked at the bowl she had placed before him. In it sat slices of fresh tomato. He couldn't stop the smirk from coming to his lips. He hadn't even noticed her cutting it up.

They hadn't talked much while they ate, and Sakura had watched as Sasuke had polished off the okonomiyaki and then his bowl of tomatoes. After the meal, she had cleaned up the table and had stacked the dishes in the sink, resolving to do them later. Then she had put a kettle of water on the stove to boil, and had dug out some tea leaves, placing them into two tea cups to await the boiling water. She had also dug a bowl of cherries out of her fridge and had started snacking on them.

"I guess we should head back to your place soon," she said, leaning back against the counter near the stove and glancing at the clock on her wall while popping another cherry into her mouth. She had gotten control of the sadness that had broken through with the retelling of her story almost as soon as she had started eating. She had long ago learned that dwelling on it was not healthy and that she couldn't let herself wallow in a combination of self-pity and guilt.

Sasuke was still sitting at her kitchen table, his elbows propped up on the smooth table top and his hands clasped together, resting underneath his chin. He said nothing in response to her statement though. In fact, it didn't even look like he had heard her.

The tea kettle whistled and Sakura turned off the heat before grabbing the plastic handle and pouring the steaming water into both cups. She placed the kettle back on the stove and then carried the cups to her kitchen table, placing one in front of Sasuke before resuming her seat.

She wondered what he was thinking about.

As if on cue, Sasuke's mouth opened and he asked her a question: "How close are you and Naruto?"

She stilled, completely shocked for what must have been the umpteenth time that day. She noted Sasuke watching her with his dark, unreadable eyes as she blew on the liquid in her teacup, all the while wishing that it was sufficiently cool so that she could drink from it and give herself a real reason for not answering his question right away.

After a minute she managed to craft a response to the curious question: "Naruto has always been there for me, but it really took until he came back for me to see that. He's loud, hyperactive, unpredictable, and can act like a child sometimes but...he's become someone I can count on. No. He was always someone I could count on...I just didn't see it before. He's...he's like the big, overprotective brother I never had."

She didn't know if that exactly answered his question, but it was the only answer she had. She couldn't define her relationship with Naruto. They weren't just teammates. No. But they weren't just friends either. They were more than that. They were family, bonded by their memories and their promise. And yes, Naruto had been away for two and a half years, but when he had returned they had just...fit together. There was no need to think. They were just...them.

She looked at Sasuke over the teacup she held to her lips, uncaring that the water was still scalding – she could always heal a burnt tongue – and noted that he seemed to look almost satisfied with her response.

"What about Sai?" he asked her then.

Sakura just about choked. This line of questioning was incomprehensible coming from Sasuke's mouth. But he was looking at her almost expectantly, so she managed to put together another reply.

"Sai is...Sai," she finally settled on the cliche phrase. There really was no other way to say it. "He was sort of...handed to us when we needed a fourth for that mission." She didn't need to elaborate any further because she knew Sasuke would understand. "He's been trying to learn about the bonds of friendship ever since. We decided to keep him. He's part of the team now."

"He calls you Ugly," Sasuke pointed out, his face a blank canvas, his voice purely neutral.

Sakura couldn't help the blush that came to her cheeks.

"Yeah... I'm used to it. He doesn't really mean it in a bad way... I really don't understand what goes on inside that head of his sometimes," she mumbled taking a deep gulp of the hot tea.

Sasuke didn't say anything else and she decided to let silence reign.

Sasuke didn't care though. He used the quiet time to ponder the answers she had given him. He wasn't even too sure what had prompted his questions in the first place. He had been sitting there, watching her clean up around the kitchen and put on the water for tea when he started thinking about what he had overheard last night and had started wondering once again about the relationship between the pink-haired young woman before him and Naruto. All too soon, the question had slipped from his lips, his curiosity needing abating. The question about Sai had followed almost naturally.

Sai was the one he knew next to nothing about. The pale, dark-haired boy was just there. Present, but unknown to Sasuke. So he asked about him and got her vague response. It almost sounded like she herself wasn't too sure about Sai, but was more than willing to accept him into her life. She even let him call her Ugly. Somehow, Sasuke was sure that if anyone else called her that, she wouldn't have the same apparent apathy for the nickname.

He finished his tea, watching as Sakura also took her last sip, grabbing both her cup and his own and promptly bringing them to the kitchen sink. Then she turned around, leaning back on the counter, and gave him a smile.

"I guess it's time to go," she muttered, pushing off of the counter behind her and heading out of the kitchen.

He followed her. Less reluctant to return home now that he had killed a decent portion of the evening.

After they left her house, the two walked down the nearly empty residential streets in a comfortable silence, and Sasuke just knew that Sakura was enjoying the lack of whispering and pointing that they had endured that afternoon. He was as well. It hadn't really bothered him at any emotional level, but he had found the constant buzz of hushed conversations and the flailing appendages that he would catch sight of with his trained eyes annoying.

When they reached his apartment, Sakura again said her goodbyes and again asked about his escort to the hospital in the morning.

He told her that he would expect her around the same time and she grinned and reminded him to eat breakfast now that he had food in his house.

"And if you're really stuck here and need something or whatever, I'm sure it's totally permissible to go as far as next door on your own and get your neighbour," she concluded teasingly.

He nodded and entered his apartment, actually muttering a goodbye that Sakura was likely to have heard before the door closed.