Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: After war. Sasuke is still suspected and Sakura is his ticket to regaining Konoha's trust.

Rating: T

The Difference Between Moving In and Moving On

II

The feeling of cold steel pressed oh so delicately against his jugular was more irritating than scary, as Sasuke found out upon waking up. Irritating, because the assailant was skilled enough to get a drop on him when the Uchiha was asleep. Granted, it didn't actually give this unknown assassin any advantage over him, but it still bothered Sasuke to admit that he wasn't as alert as he used to be while on the run. Konoha was truly mellowing him out and he didn't like it.

Alas, this wasn't the right time to contemplate the village's influence on him. In a blink of an eye, Sasuke caught the wrist holding the kunai and twisted it while throwing the person to the ground and quickly pinning him down – correction, her, the Uchiha thought, as he heard a recognizably feminine grunt and noticed the slight frame he was restraining.

He was above showing surprise that someone would send a kunoichi to finish him off. In the end, they were all the same and he would deal with this one accordingly. Sasuke lifted his left arm, the electricity arcing around it as he activated Chidori. The blue glow illuminated the assassin's shocked face.

Sasuke froze and cut off the chakra from the technique.

"Sakura?" he whispered, unnerved at how close he had come to killing her again. If he just used her kunai, not Chidori, she would have been dead.

"Sasuke?" she sounded equally stunned to see him there. But her surprise quickly vanished when she pushed him off her and sat up. She didn't let go of her kunai, though at least it wasn't pointed at him anymore.

"Why did you attack me? Do you have a death wish?" Sasuke asked, suddenly angry at her apparent stupidity.

A delicate pink brow rose.

"Well, what else was I supposed to do? I thought you were some creep who broke in. What are you even doing here in the first place?"

Sasuke blinked, then his eyes narrowed speculatively as he connected the dots.

He was going to murder exactly two people – someone orange and someone Hokage.

I

"Is this some kind of a joke?" Sasuke blurted out, his eyes going back and forth between Kakashi and Naruto, however he found not a trace of a teasing smile there, no hidden mirth just waiting to burst at his reaction to the news they gave him. No, they were both serious, the Sixth Hokage and the Hokage-in-training, but Sasuke, despite knowing this already, despite a deep sinking feeling in his chest in front of the inevitable, still sneered and denied the truth. He would rather believe it to be some sort of a new prank. He bet Naruto had enough immaturity in him to use his status to the advantage and Kakashi also possessed quite a mean streak in him. But this, this was too much. It was uncalled for, it was...

"No joke. Do you really think we would joke about something like this?" Kakashi replied.

"Yeah, Sasuke, it's Sakura-chan we're talking about. Give us some credit. We could only be serious about her, she's deadly with her fists when she's pissed." Naruto snorted. "Though I get why you would think that, you never treated her seriously."

What was that supposed to mean? Sasuke sent a glare the idiot's way, not liking the derision and implications in his tone. A poisonous retort was already forming on the Uchiha's lips, when Kakashi quickly intervened before a fight broke out.

"Sasuke, this is not a request. It's an order. Even if you helped end the war and save everyone from the Infinite Tsukuyomi, you had been a rogue for a long time. Many people are still wary of you. If you want to restore the Uchiha name, you need to listen to us."

Sasuke's glare petered out as his eyes left Naruto's challenging ones to stare hard at Kakashi. The Sixth returned the gaze calmly.

"From all people, why does it have to be her? Aren't there any other suitable replacements?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto scoffed. "Scaredy cat," he muttered under his breath, earning another harsh glare.

"Shut up, no one asked you, loser," Sasuke hissed out. He was losing his patience.

Kakashi coughed.

"To answer your question, Sakura is the only one suitable for this job. She's the only medic-nin with enough strength to suppress you until help gets there, if anything goes wrong," his old sensei said pointedly, making sure Sasuke understood that such a scenario was thought to be very unlikely to ever happen. "She also knows you personally, so she can notice any irregularities in your behaviour faster than someone who just met you. She's our only choice," Kakashi stressed and Sasuke recognized that this battle was lost.

If he wanted to continue on the path he chose, back in Konoha, as a respectable member of the society... he had to accept the Hokage's order despite his own personal misgivings. It was unavoidable.

And the first step to regaining the honour of Uchiha name was to prove that he was of the sound mind... by going to live with Sakura who was the only medic qualified and capable enough to effectively monitor his mental health.

In a brooding mood, Sasuke memorized the instructions on how to get to her apartment and immediately left the Hokage's office, before Naruto got on his nerves to the point that he would willingly start a brawl. The sun was setting when Sasuke found himself in front of the right door and raised his hand to knock.

He paused.

Why was he even bothering with that? He was going to live there anyway, so he might as well just let himself in. Satisfied with his reasoning, Sasuke pushed on the door handle, which didn't yield. It was definitely locked.

A wave of irritation passed through him. Was Sakura playing games with him? She must have known about him coming.

Sasuke would have busted the door, but refrained from doing so, instead opting to pick a lock. It wasn't difficult for a trained shinobi, even a genin could do that easily.

The door opened with a creak and a stale air greeted him. The apartment was empty. Despite himself, he felt a stirring of disappointment at the absence of an irate voice that would've told the intruder to get out and never come back, debunking Kakashi's order at the same time. Was Sakura really living there or was Naruto actually pulling his leg? Sasuke went inside to investigate, not caring to take off his shoes in the entrance.

The old Team Seven photo standing on the small table in the corner confirmed that indeed, this was where Sakura lived. Sasuke cast around a curious look.

The place was alarmingly small. There was barely any room for one person, let alone two. Sasuke supposed one more futon could be squeezed on the floor, but sharing what little space there was would still be slightly uncomfortable for two people. Did Naruto and Kakashi know about this? Because if they did, he would force them to at least assign Sakura and him some better accommodations than this shoebox. He refused to stay with her in such deplorable conditions.

Sasuke helped himself to the meager contents of the fridge. Just some old package of riceballs, not even one tomato. He quickly chewed the half-frozen meal, trying hard not to taste it, then washed it down with a glass of water from the tap, as the only other drink he found was a small bottle of sake and he wasn't in the mood for alcohol that night.

Counting the change in his pocket, Sasuke decided to make a quick trip to the store, so he wouldn't have to go out for breakfast the next day. And he craved some tomatoes too.

At first, Sasuke wanted to stay up and wait for Sakura to show up, so they could discuss more about their living arrangements, but soon he was fed up and decided to just go to sleep. Of course then another problem emerged when he discovered that the apartment had only one futon, however at that moment Sasuke was just too cranky to care. He rolled it out and slipped inside, trying not to think of how good it smelled. Like a fabric softener, mixed with the faint scent of apples...

His breath evened out and he fell asleep.

III

Sakura was silent as he explained the situation. In the darkness he wasn't sure what expression she was wearing, but she didn't give out any real reaction, which he took as a sign that she would cooperate with him to make their living together tolerable. In the end, Sakura nodded and stood up, announcing that she was going to wash up and go to sleep. It was a unanimous decision that they would talk more in the morning.

Only when she disappeared into her tiny bathroom, Sasuke remembered that they had only one futon in the apartment.

V

"Sasuke, did you buy groceries? And swept the floor? It looks cleaner," Sakura inquired in the morning. Her back was turned to him because she was making tea, but he picked up on the strange note in her question. It was too... hopeful.

But he also picked up on her still addressing him without the suffix. She had been doing that ever since the war ended.

Sasuke should have been pleased with this. Not pissed.

"Of course I cleaned. I refuse to live in a pigsty," he snapped.

Sakura's almost there smile withered in a second and she set the tea on a table before him with so much force it would have spilled all over his lap if he hadn't jumped to his feet to avoid the hot spray.

Their eyes met – his dark, still pools of darkness against her cutting shards of green glass – and the air crackled between them with the pent-up hostile energy.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked deceptively calmly.

She gave him a brittle smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Nothing. Enjoy your tea."

IV

She wasn't sleeping. It was obvious in the nightly quiet that enveloped the room that her breathing was a tad too fast and shallow to be considered that of a sleeping person. She also changed the side she was laying on too frequently, like she couldn't find the comfortable position.

Or maybe she couldn't decide whether to face him, so her back would be safe from an unexpected attack, or not, so she wouldn't have to see him when she would wake up.

Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to ignore her rustling. When was the last time they slept in the same room? Years ago, on some mission when they had been genin. And yet, he still remembered her exact breathing pattern during sleep and the annoying habit of holding onto something as she dreamed. The few times they had slept next to each other, she had latched onto his arm and hadn't let go. Strangely, he hadn't minded it then.

Would he mind it if it happened again?

Sasuke shook his head, clearing it from unwanted ruminations. Thinking about this was pointless. He should better get some sleep too, as it seemed that Sakura finally settled down.

The Uchiha leaned back more, sitting right against the wall, arms loosely crossed and propped on his knees. Across the small room, Sakura sighed in her dream, her curled body wrapped warmly in a futon.

For a while everything was well.

Until Sakura started to whimper and trash around, caught in a night terror.

VI

The breakfast was too quiet. After Sasuke grudgingly wiped the spilled tea and took back his seat, Sakura served the very simple meal – miso soup, riceballs and a side dish of sliced tomatoes – and with a short 'Itadakimasu' started to eat. Sasuke followed suit, keeping an eye on her discreetly, but she seemed calm for now. He wasn't sure how he would be able to handle any more outbursts from her like the one earlier. He wasn't used to her expressing such strong enmity towards him.

This is what you wanted. Deal with it, a snide part of Sasuke reminded him about what he'd done to Sakura during the war.

Yes, he had to live with it. Live with Sakura and face the consequences of his actions. There was no backing out, not if he wanted to accomplish his new goals – Kakashi and Naruto made sure of it. Sakura was the one he needed to ascertain his mental health – without her professional medical opinion, he would never be trusted in Konoha again.

"How long will you have to stay here?"

Sasuke looked up from his plate. She was sipping on her tea, watching him over the rim of the cup, her eyes distorted by the screen of billowy steam.

"I don't know. Kakashi didn't say anything," he answered.

Sakura hummed, turning the cup in her hands as she thought.

"So, no deadline? I guess..." she cut herself off.

Sasuke waited to see if she would finish.

With a sigh, Sakura stood up and took her plate to the sink. She washed it and set on the drier then grabbed her bag and went to put on her boots.

"Sakura, where are you going?" Sasuke asked, annoyed that she abandoned him in the middle of a conversation.

"Work," she replied blithely. Her back was turned to him. "Second key is behind team picture. Lock up when you go out."

"What about you monitoring me?" he pressed. Shouldn't this assignment given by the Hokage take precedence over her other duties?

Sakura shrugged. "Don't worry. I'll talk to Kakashi-sensei about this. I was planning to see him today anyway, might as well discuss it too." Still turned away from him, she gave a small hand wave. "Bye, Sasuke."

The door closed behind her quietly.

Sasuke caught himself wanting to reach after her, the same disgusting feeling he experienced during the night constricting around his chest like a snake. He grabbed his hand and squeezed it punishingly to take his mind off the phantom sensation.

He learned long ago not to dwell too much on things of the past. What was done was done and nothing could change that.

Then, the little whisper returned, why do you feel like this?

I don't know, Sasuke hang down his head and closed his eyes. But I shouldn't.

There was no answer to be found in between the walls of the small apartment.

to be continued...

AN: Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed! I got this idea from a prompt sent to me on tumblr by anon person. I plan to write at least one more chapter for this story. I just need to figure out what's next ;)

I feel the writing is terribly rusty in this, I also experimented with changing the chronology of events, but I think it was clear enough. I'm very open to criticism and opinions right now. Please let me know if you have any thoughts about this story.

-Nile