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

XXIII

Sasuke was looking at sleeping Sakura with a pensive expression on his stoic face. After she had fainted, he had wrapped her in a towel and raced to the hospital, where he'd endured a long wait in the corridor before a nurse told him that Sakura was going to be fine. Apparently, the kunoichi had stopped by there earlier, straight from the mission and carrying both of her incapacitated teammates, but she hadn't wanted to stay overnight and take up a bed as her wounds weren't very serious. Sasuke guessed they must have reopened when she had fallen on him.

The soft light streamed through the windows and on Sakura's face, highlighting the slightly sunken cheeks and unhealthy pallor of her skin to Sasuke's impeccable eyesight. She looked exhausted and he knew it wasn't just from the mission, though it did a number on her, pushing Sakura far past her limits. He'd been informed that she showed signs of overwork, lack of sleep and beginnings of malnutrition, though all these symptoms weren't very severe, most probably because she'd been neglecting herself for no more than three months, in the doctor's estimate. But by Sasuke's more accurate calculation it had been exactly two months and sixteen days, because this was how much time had passed since the end of the war.

His frown deepened. There was just one more matter.

After making sure no one was coming, Sasuke rolled up the sleeve of Sakura's hospital gown.

XXIV

Kakashi wasn't exactly surprised when Sasuke entered his office unannounced, without caring for pesky formalities like making an appointment or even a basic knock on the door. The new Hokage's lack of reaction wasn't as much of a display of his usual aloofness, but a result of the same occurrence repeating on a fairly regular basis. Sasuke stopped just before the desk and slammed his hands on top of it, causing a few pages of meticulously stacked paperwork to fall off and drift to the ground.

Kakashi gave his former student a lazy look, which was returned by a fierce scowl.

"Is there something I can help you with, Sasuke?" the Hokage drawled.

"Sakura." The name was spoken harshly – it was a demand for explanation and a threat of bodily harm in case of non-compliance, all rolled into one small word.

Kakashi nodded. "Sit."

Sasuke glared a while more before taking the chair for visitors. He didn't sink in it fully, just perched on the edge, still ready to attack in less than a time it would take an average person to blink.

"What do you want to know?" Kakashi asked.

"Why did you recruit her to the ANBU? Did you lose your fucking mind, old man?" Sasuke growled. It wasn't often that he cursed Kakashi out. The Uchiha was livid.

Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Ah, I don't remember... Why did I? The age must be getting to me," he subtly mocked his old student.

Sasuke snarled. "Don't fuck with me, just answer the fucking question." It was a last warning and Kakashi wasn't dim-witted enough to miss it.

"I didn't recruit her," he explained and Sasuke's eyes narrowed at him suspiciously, looking for lies. But Kakashi was completely honest. "She asked me to let her join."

"And you agreed? Just like that?" The Uchiha scoffed.

The Hokage sighed. "No, not just like this." He snapped his fingers for emphasis. "There are procedures to follow and Sakura fulfilled all of the requirements. Everything checked out and I had no reason to deny her."

"She's a medic, Kakashi. ANBU's not a place for her," Sasuke argued. Clearly, Kakashi lost his marbles if he thought there was nothing wrong with inducting someone like Sakura, with her mental fortitude, into the assassination squad.

"She's a battle medic," Kakashi countered. "We need specialists like her who could both heal their comrades and fight. And she wanted to join. She knew fully what she was getting into and she still wanted to do it. Don't underestimate her resolve."

Sasuke mulled over this before attacking from another angle.

"Then why didn't you make her cut down on her regular hours if she was already in ANBU? Did you intend for her to run herself into the ground? Just this night, I had to take her to the hospital, because she collapsed from overwork." His tone was unforgiving and accusing.

The Hokage eyed the angry young man before him shrewdly.

"Good job," he praised, earning himself a confused look. Kakashi was definitely amused by his old student's lack of understanding. He laced his fingers together and put them under his chin, looking like a classic schemer. If he had worn glasses, they would have glinted dangerously.

"Why do you think I made you live with her, Sasuke? So she would observe your every move, even though she already has her hands full with everything else, never mind that you don't need any observation? No, I wanted someone to keep an eye on Sakura and you were the only one she wouldn't suspect. Or turn down."

Sasuke gaped at his old teacher as he assimilated this revelation. Everything was clicking into place.

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

Kakashi surveyed him with a calculating look. "Did I really need to? From what I heard, you looked out for Sakura on your own anyway. Glad you didn't forget my most important lesson."

Of course, protecting comrades always took priority. How could he not remember it? The bell test had left a lasting impression on all of Kakashi's genin without any exception.

Sasuke grunted in annoyance, but didn't object to Kakashi's assessment. His relationship with Sakura may have been on rough and shaky grounds since the war had ended, but that didn't erase their past. The bond between teammates, though tattered, couldn't be so easily broken.

All of this made so much sense that Sasuke half wanted to let Kakashi off the hook for coming up with this extremely efficient plan. Except...

"Wait, so these reports Sakura's writing about my mental state aren't really needed?"

Kakashi chuckled. "No, they are. It's like killing two birds with one stone. Your cover-up is actually real and Sakura has no reason to look for any ulterior motives from me..."

XXV

Something was pressing on her forehead. Sakura furrowed her brow, but the warm, light pressure persisted, attempting to smooth out the wrinkles, so she turned her face to the side with a muffled groan of protest.

"Mum, stooop," she mumbled, snuggling into the pillow.

An evil chuckle that definitely didn't belong to her mother alarmed Sakura to a much worse menace.

"Wakey, wakey, Forehead," Ino said sweetly. "We need to talk about being a responsible, mature kunoichi who doesn't work twenty four on seven like a complete idiot," her tone grew dark and harsh and Sakura gulped, before reminding herself that it was just Ino.

She turned to look at her friend with undisguised irritation. "The hell? You're not my mother, Pig. And why am I here?" she asked, recognizing her surroundings to be a standard hospital room. "I'm pretty sure I went home."

"You collapsed in the shower and Sasuke had to bring you here," Ino explained flatly. "And I can get your real mother if I'm not good enough to take care of you."

Sakura grimaced."That... won't be necessary." She didn't want to deal with an overly fussy mum.

"Good."

Sakura thought for a moment. "Wait, Sasuke brought me here?" she blurted out, remembering what Ino had just told her.

Ino nodded.

"And, and... he found me in the shower?" Another nod. Sakura looked at her best friend in a dawning horror. "Please, don't tell me he saw me naked."

"As the day you were born," Ino replied with a grin, taking obvious amusement in Sakura's plight.

Sakura just ran a hand over her face. "No..." she muttered. Was this some sort of a living nightmare?

"Well, he was probably too busy freaking out to ogle you. I heard you bled quite a lot," Ino attempted to comfort her. It didn't work, so she tried again. "Chin up, Forehead, it's not like he had anything to ogle, just look at you! You're so thin, your ribs are showing!"

Sakura glared at her. "Inooo..." she growled.

But her friend wasn't cowed in the least. A light blond eyebrow was raised as Ino stared hard back at Sakura. "I had a look at your chart. You overworked yourself and didn't get enough food to let your body regenerate properly. I even talked with Tenten and she told me everything you did on that mission."

Sakura lowered her gaze. She had to give it to Ino, she was damn fast at gathering intel. Tenten was one of her teammates for that mission and likely she had only just woken this morning.

"What were you even thinking, Sakura?" Ino continued tearing verbally into her. "For two days you ran to Konoha, carrying your two poisoned teammates, while being also injured, and you didn't immediately check yourself in? What did you expect, that you wouldn't crash after burning off all your reserves like that? God, I'm glad Sasuke's living with you, you could've died if he wasn't there!"

Sakura stayed silent, listening to her friend's scolding before trying to explain. "I would've been okay if my wounds didn't reopen. I'm not an idiot, I was planning to get plenty of rest at home. I just wasn't lucky."

Ino looked her into the eye and shook her head at the confidence she saw there. "Do you even listen to yourself? You weren't unlucky, Sakura, you were reckless! You should take a better care of yourself! You're a medic, for god's sake!" Ino paused to catch her breath, then asked in a much more softer tone, "Just tell me, why are you doing this to yourself? Pushing your body so far isn't healthy and you know it, so why?"

"Ino..." Sakura wavered, choking up on emotion. "I... You're right. I'm going to stop this." She clenched her fist. This was a promise.

Ino noticed that she still avoided giving an answer for her reasons, but decided to let this one go. "Good. You do this." She leaned over as her expression changed to something more playful. "And when were you planning to tell me you joined ANBU? I expect the full story."

Sakura sighed heavily and nodded. "Yes, Ino." And then her stomach growled. She blushed a little. "So... what about breakfast?"

The blonde laughed and stood up. "I'll bring you something."

Sakura smiled. She could always rely on Ino. Even if her best friend was a nagging pig.

XXVI

Sasuke strolled through the marketplace, two bags of groceries in each hand, as he mulled over his conversation with Kakashi. While certainly enlightening, it also made him think of uncomfortable things, things he'd rather not acknowledge...

"Sasuke," Kakashi stopped him before he left the office. "Do me a favour and take a good care of Sakura. Please."

Sasuke grunted in annoyance, remembering this request. He was already looking out for her, what more did the old man want from him? What constituted as a good care by his definition?

The Uchiha stopped by the fresh produce stall and looked at the tomatoes with a scary concentration, picking out the best ones.

"Sasuke-san! Hello!"

Sasuke turned to see it was Sakura's mother.

"Haruno-san," he inclined his head in a polite greeting.

"Is Sakura with you?" the woman asked, looking around hopefully, but received a negative response. Her expression fell. "Oh, that's too bad. How is she doing? Did you tell her to come to dinner?"

Sasuke briefly thought what was the best answer in these circumstances. Should he tell her the truth? That would be most prudent, but he imagined Sakura wouldn't be very thrilled with him worrying her mother.

"Yes, I told her. And she's fine," he decided to say as little as necessary. It was all the truth – Sakura was alive after all and getting better – just not the whole truth.

"Hmm, I see... Sometimes she gets like this, all closed up in her work..." These words got Sasuke's attention. Sakura's mother continued her observations. "It means she has a problem with something and she's working it out. There's no other way than to wait until she's done." The woman sighed, then gave Sasuke an easy smile. "I guess I'll count on you, Sasuke-san. Please take care of Sakura for me."

Sasuke was taken aback. Why would she ask this of him? Didn't she hear what he'd done to her daughter? Was it just because he was living with Sakura that she asked?

But instead of a swift rebuke, like 'Sakura can take care of herself' or 'She'll be fine on her own', his mouth opened and against his intentions, reassured the woman with a simple "I will."

"Thank you." Sakura's mum beamed at him and he was uncomfortably reminded of another pair of identical green eyes smiling up at him once, a long time ago.

Haruno Mebuki departed, muttering something about visiting pharmacy and irresponsible husbands, while Sasuke returned to his shopping. No longer caring for the quality of tomatoes, he just grabbed what was on top of the pile and after paying, set out to the apartment in a pensive mood.

XXVII

Sakura with a little difficulty dressed herself in the clothes Ino had brought from the apartment, sparing her the embarrassment of Sasuke doing that. The possibility of him riffling through her underwear drawer was too disturbing. It was already bad enough that he'd gotten an eyeful, even if it had been during an emergency. She just didn't want this type of closeness between them.

Walking out of the hospital as a discharged patient definitely felt different. Sakura took in a huge gulp of air and stretched out her arms. While taking time off was necessary for her body to heal fully, she didn't plan to slack off. There was a bit of research to be done in the library, plus she might see Sai there. Ino still hadn't given her details about their date, so Sakura decided to grill her poor teammate to learn how it had gone.

"Sakura." A dreaded voice stopped her in her tracks.

She turned her head slowly and there he was – Uchiha Sasuke, arms crossed and looking at her neutrally.

"Sasuke? Why are you here?" she asked, trying to sound perfectly normal. It was so awkward to talk to him when she knew that he had seen her naked and didn't care.

"To take you back home. Let's go," he replied without any hint that he felt as uncomfortable as she did now.

Sakura realized that he had probably already forgotten how she even looked like without clothes. It stung her pride, but it was still better than being embarrassed in his presence forever, she rationalized.

"Uh... thanks, but you don't have to. I'm going to the library," she told him.

Sasuke shook his head. "You're on bed rest. If you want to read, you can do it home."

"I'll be fine, as long as I don't do anything physically straining – which I won't – so you can go now. Aren't you still working at the construction site?" Sakura knew his work schedule, they talked about it too during their sessions in her office, that's why she was surprised that he came for her.

"It's almost finished there," Sasuke replied. "And you're going home with me."

Sakura heaved a sigh. It was hard to get him distracted.

"No, I'm not. Didn't you listen to me?" She placed hands on her hips, ready for a confrontation. "I'm a medic, I know better than you what I'm allowed to do or not. I can take care of myself."

He gave her a sardonic smile. "Then how come I had to bring you to the hospital yesterday? You could've bled to death."

Sakura reddened. "Th-that's..." Damn, why did he have to bring this up?

Sasuke, apparently thinking he'd won the argument, strode up to her and grabbed her by the wrist. "Enough of this. Let's go," he commanded, dragging her along.

But Sakura didn't tolerate manhandling like this. She dug her heels into the ground and wrenched her hand out of his grip. "No, Sasuke. How many times do I have to tell you that I have plans?" she growled in frustration. "I'm going to the library, so just leave me alone."

He openly glared at her, arms tensed and slightly raised and eyes narrowed. "Are you an idiot?"

Sakura recoiled. "Excuse me? What did you just call me?" she inquired, brimming with ire.

"Are you also deaf? I asked if you're an idiot."

Sakura was shaking, her fists clenched as she restrained the urge to smash his face into the ground. She was really, really tired of people calling her that. First Ino, now Sasuke... this was getting ridiculous.

"What... gave you... such an idea?" she managed to get out without snapping. He was seriously testing her patience. Her blood pressure shouldn't get that high.

"You're a medic-nin, but you work yourself to death. You get drunk on your free days. You don't go for treatment when you need it. And now, instead of resting, like you're supposed to, you want to work again," Sasuke listed calmly. "In conclusion, you're an idiot."

She was speechless. She wasn't sure why – because Sasuke knew and remembered all these things about her? Because he kind of had a point? Or maybe because she didn't want him to be right?

"Reading in the library isn't work," she finally objected, but it sounded weak even in her own ears.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sure," he drawled. "You can also tell Kakashi how paperwork isn't really work. It's just sitting at the desk and reading papers. I wonder what he'd say."

Sakura ground her teeth, accepting the defeat by his logic, but not willing to give up. "You're not changing my mind, Sasuke. I'm still going," she stubbornly declared.

"Who said anything about changing your mind?" he asked with a faint touch of humour, then in a burst of speed knocked her off her feet and lifted her in his arms, bridal style. "I'm taking you home and that's final."

She was too shocked to react as he jumped onto the rooftops, the quickest route back to the apartment, but after a few seconds processing what had happened, she smacked at his sternum, momentarily taking his breath away.

"Sasuke, let me go! I'm fine!" she shouted and tried to smack him again, but he just tightened his hold, crushing her body to his chest as he sped through the village. No amount of squirming could help Sakura get out of this.

They arrived at the apartment and finally Sasuke set her down on the ground, mostly because he needed his hands to open the door. Sakura considered bolting when he was busy with that, but decided against it. He would have caught up with her right away as she had no strength to pull a successful escape, at least not from a ninja of Sasuke's caliber. Her shoulders slumped in resignation.

Upon entering the apartment, Sakura noticed that it looked and smelled cleaner. The light citrus scent filled the air. Another glaring change were the curtains affixed to the windows. She had never bothered with covering them, due to the lack of time (and she found the sunlight was the best alarm clock). The third difference was made by the fresh flowers in the vase on the table. Sakura smiled and fingered the delicate petals.

"Ino made me get the flowers."

Sakura started when Sasuke spoke up – for a moment she forgot he was still there – then she went back to petting the white daffodils.

"That sounds like Ino," she agreed, absent-minded. "I like them."

XXVIII

Sasuke's gaze was trained on the back of Sakura's head. He was glad that she came to her senses and stopped fighting him. Maybe she felt better, but he could see the paleness of her face and sense the faintness of her chakra. When he'd carried her, he'd noticed how irritatingly light she was.

What was even more annoying was how everyone he met wanted him to look after Sakura. First Kakashi, then her mother and recently even Ino, who on top of being cryptic, forced him to buy the flowers (To cheer up that gloomy place! she claimed. He bet she just liked to make money off of her acquaintances.) and give her a promise to come and get more everyday until Sakura was completely healed. At least Ino didn't lie and Sakura really liked these flowers.

While getting the stubborn woman into her futon wasn't easy, it went much faster due to her fatigue. He found her a medical book to occupy herself with when he was out training. He needed to clear his head.

Sasuke wasn't used to being responsible for someone's life. It wasn't the same as the usual protecting your teammate's back on the missions. He had to take care of Sakura's very well-being and though he probably could have found a way to get out of this arrangement, he knew this wasn't just a simple favour to Kakashi. This was a test of loyalty and commitment to the village, a final proof that he had forsaken his old grudge and could be safely reinstated as a Konoha shinobi.

Sasuke intended to pass this test.

And when he came home to see Sakura sleeping soundly, he just picked up the open book laying on her lap and put it back on the small shelf. Listening to her soft breathing as he began preparing dinner, Sasuke cautiously let himself think that maybe things were going to look up. For both of them.

To be continued...

AN: Longer chapter because I want this story to conclude in less than ten chapters. And Sasuke and Sakura argue too much :(

Thanks for reading!