Title: An Understanding

Summary: We've spent so many years growing apart. Let's grow together from now on.

Prompt: Night Out

Warnings: K

Comments: Unedited. Hate the ending. The end is sort of inspired by The Book Thief, which is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't yet read it.

In the week that Sasuke stayed with Sakura, he found that she rarely, if ever, went out after coming home from work. Sometimes, it was understandable; long hours attending to patients and sitting through dull meetings whittled a person's spirits down to the smallest nub. Other times, she was just too damn lazy to leave.

"It's too troublesome," she whined once. "If I go out, I have to get dressed up and put on makeup. I'd much rather read. There's a fascinating article on the human genome and it affects chakra…" She'd trailed off at the smirk Sasuke leveled at her. Suddenly self-conscious, she cleared her throat and hurried on, "Besides, my couch is much to comfy. It refuses to let me leave."

And for good measure, she'd shot back, "Anyways, I thought you were antisocial. Why does it matter that I stay at home?"

He'd stopped talking after that.

On the seventh day, he'd had enough. Naruto was two days late, and he was tired of watching Sakura read her case studies.

"Sakura, let's go." She looked up in surprise to see him standing by the door and ready to leave.

"Eh? What's going on?" she asked in confusion.

"We're spending the night out," he replied gruffly. "Don't change. You look acceptable."

Perplexed, Sakura persisted, "But why do you need me to go out? It's not like you can't handle yourself."

"It's not… polite to come and go from here as if I owned it," he said, ears turning the slightest shade of pink.

"… Well when you put it that way," Sakura said, a slow smile stretching across her face.

Perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised to find out that Sasuke somehow managed to make even a night out antisocial. He liked to walk in the most crowded, well lit parts of Konoha, where the street vendors stood shouting their wares, where steam billowed from the inside of busy restaurants, and where people rushed by like a river, eyes downcast and unseeing of anything except the way home.

Walking with Sasuke felt isolating. They observed these harried people at their leisure, not participating. Briefly, Sakura wondered if this was how he felt all the time—as if he didn't belong. She followed him loyally though, never bothering to comment on the loneliness she felt, but rather curious to understand this side of Sasuke she'd never seen before.

Eventually, they left the crowded streets and made their way south, walking along well lit streets towards the older part of town.

They stopped in front of a brand new apartment complex, the posters hanging along the walls still advertised open rooms.

"This used to be an older complex Sarutobi maintained for widows and orphaned children," Sasuke finally said quietly.

"Oh!" she gasped, catching on. "This was where you—"

"Aa." Still looking up, he continued, "I used to hate staying in at night. It always felt too empty, too small. One of my neighbors was an old widow whose husband and son had both died in the line of duty, and she would spend most of the night wailing. I couldn't stay there."

"I never did visit you here," Sakura said thoughtfully. "I was so innocent back then, so naïve. I hadn't realized that you… that your family was… Well, maybe it's a little too late, but I want you to know that I'm here for you, and that… whenever you need to talk I'll be available."

"Hn."

Sasuke started walking again, and Sakura hurried to catch up. "Tell me something about yourself," she commanded.

He snorted. "Like what?"

"Hm," her finger tapped pensively against her lip, "for starters, tell me more about living here. More than what you've already said."

"There's not much more to tell," he said. "It was a place to sleep, nothing more."

"No, stop! I want to understand, Sasuke-kun, not just hear about it, imagine it. Make me understand it," she insisted.

Brows knitting together, Sasuke tried again. "The place… was a cesspool of misery and despair. Sarutobi's intentions were good, but he failed to realize that placing friendless orphans together doesn't lead to bonding. We had no role models, no families to emulate. And most of the widows there were too beaten down by life to take us in. So the entire complex was trapped in the past, unable to leave behind its tragedies. Unable to grow up. I used to wander the streets at night just to be around people, to see families and remember what I once had. It fueled my hatred for Itachi."

"Did it ever occur to you to talk to some of those families? To befriend someone and find a surrogate family?" Sakura asked.

He shook his head. "I didn't want another family. I already had the perfect one and lost it."

At this, Sakura paused, forcing Sasuke to stop as well. With the moon shining above, he could see her face lit up with determination. "Sasuke-kun, it's like I said at the ramen bar all those months ago: you need to grow up. You've been stuck in the past for so long, you still see the world like a ten year old child; everything is black and white, right and wrong. But the truth is, there are nuances and colors to this world, ones that you're missing out! We've been your family all this time—team 7! And whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us because we're not going to let you go so easily, and we'll keep trying until we get through to you.

"And maybe-maybe I'm not the best person to help you. I know I can be immature sometimes, and I'll never understand you the same way Naruto does, but I'd like to help. We've spent so many years growing separately. Let's—let's try to grow together from now on, okay?"

She stuck out her hand in an awkward and tense and brave moment of formality.

It felt like forever and a half before he took it in his own and agreed.

"Okay."