Kakashi was glad that Sasuke hadn't been injured like him, but he was surprised to find that it was not for the innocent reason that he cared about his student's safety. He would file this bit of information for future analysis.

Kakashi and Sakura were walking along the market district to get ingredients for their dinner tonight with Team Seven.

'Sakura-chan!' A young civilian man at a stall selling fresh produce called out.

'Hi Akio.' Sakura greeted.

'I was worried since you haven't been around lately. You have been busy?' The man smiled at Sakura as he start the conversation.

'Work at the hospital has gotten busier lately, so I eat out more often.' Sakura explained as she perused the products the stall had to offer. Kakashi who was standing off to the side was absently glancing along the street. He hadn't gotten another Icha Icha since the hospital yet, so he had nothing to pull out as a distraction.

'That can't be very healthy, can it? You can drop by for dinner anytime, my mum was asking after you a few weeks back.' Akio offered.

Kakashi audibly cleared his throat.

'Ah, forgive me. Akio, this is Kakashi, my teammate.' Sakura finally introduced.

'Hi.' Kakashi greeted as he provided his trademark one-eye-smile and stepped closer behind Sakura.

Akio's eyes widened. The copy-ninja had quite the reputation even among civilians, and he hardly ever visited the market or civilian district, so he was something of an unseen legend.

'Hello.' Akio replied without his previous enthusiasm and with slight reverence.

'Can I get some eggplant and tomato?' Sakura asked the stall owner.

'Sure! I'll pick some nice ones for you.'

As Akio was wrapping up the goods, Sakura explained to Kakashi that he was someone she knew from childhood, since they lived near each other in the civilian residential area before he had to move to another street.

Sakura picked out the right amount of change for Akio.

'Don't worry about it. I have to keep you fed or my mum will nag at me.' Akio laughed as he pushed away her money.

'Well, if you're sure. Thanks, Akio. I'll drop by to greet Maeko-oba someday.' Sakura smiled as she thanked her friend.

Expecting Kakashi to follow after her, Sakura left the stall without a backward glance.

Kakashi remained where he was standing.

'Don't worry, I'll make sure to take care of her.' Kakashi eye-smiled and spoke the man who was now staring at him. Kakashi felt slightly affronted that someone else had to be acting all caring about Sakura when she looked a little tired. She was his teammate, and it made him feel as if he hadn't done his job well enough.

At least, that was the excuse Kakashi told himself for doing what he did.

After Kakashi left, Akio was still a little unnerved at having been spoken to by a famous shinobi, and the tone of the message sounded somewhat threatening. He also found money left at the stand where the copy-ninja was.

'Why eggplant and tomato?' Kakashi asked Sakura as he was walking beside her.

They were now heading in the direction of the residential area where Sakura's apartment was, so Kakashi assumed that they had gotten everything they needed.

'I promised Naruto.' Sakura stated simply.

While they were walking, Sakura had subconsciously hooked her arm into the crook of his elbow while his hand was in his pocket. She did that a lot with the members of Team Seven whenever they were out together, and Kakashi suspected that Naruto had gotten her into that habit.

Since young, Naruto hadn't had much experience with physical contact, se he grew to crave even the small touches he had with his team. As time went on, the image he had of a mother figure was subconsciously imposed onto Sakura, and he took it as a given that mothers held onto their children when they were out.

The first time Naruto pulled Sakura's arm to grab his elbow, Sakura thought it was cute and humoured him. Evidently, it never stopped, and Kakashi never brought it up.

'Sakura-chan, I'm hungry.' Naruto whined from where he was seated at the sofa of Sakura's apartment.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Naruto was always hungry.

'Aren't you supposed to be with Tsunade-shishou today?' Sakura asked. There was a meeting with Clan Heads, and Sakura knew the Hokage wanted to bring Naruto along to start teaching him proper formalities.

'I told Tsunade-baa that we were gonna have dinner as a team today, so she let me off early.' Naruto replied.

Sakura sighed. No doubt, when Naruto said he "told" her, it probably meant he whined about it until Tsunade had enough and chased him away.

Anyone among their circle of friends knew how hard Naruto worked to get to where he was today. Getting the acceptance of the shinobi and civilians hadn't been easy for a child who had been an outcast since his birth. He had to show physical power and mental fortitude in order for Tsunade to get the approval of the council to train him as the future Hokage. It had taken him so many years, but he finally did it, and Sakura couldn't be any prouder.

On days like this, however, she had to wonder what possessed the whole village to allow him to become Hokage.

'Come help me cook. Kakashi, you can set up the table.' Sakura ordered as she brought the ingredients into the kitchen.

'Why can't I cook?' Kakashi asked innocently.

Both Naruto and Sakura just gave him a blank look.

After so many years of missions outside as a team and suffering through Kakashi's "cooking", it was an unspoken rule to never let Kakashi go near so much as a cooking pot.

The food Kakashi served always looked like bits of raw meat in cold water – and it tasted exactly like it looked.

No one answered him as they went into the kitchen to start on the food preparation.

'Kakashi.' Sasuke greeted with a nod when he entered the apartment.

'Sasuke.' Kakashi acknowledged.

'You're just in time, Sasuke. Come sit.' Sakura said, as she exited the kitchen carrying a pot of soup. Naruto soon followed, carrying another pot.

'Sai can't come today, so let's eat!' Naruto exclaimed with great eagerness.

Dinner that day was a filling tomato soup and miso soup with eggplant, which was odd, because Sakura always made sure to feed her team a balanced meal whenever she could – not that Sasuke or Kakashi were complaining.

Sasuke was made to wash up after dinner since Sakura and Naruto had done the cooking while Kakashi had set up the table. Although Kakashi hadn't done nearly enough to be excused from further duties, Kakashi glibly talked his way out of it as usual, and no one really wanted to waste energy arguing against him. Even if they managed to get him to do some work eventually, they would have already wasted hours – hours that Kakashi would spend enjoying at their expense.

'Sakura, can I talk to you?' The occupants of the room all perked up at Sasuke's question.

Team Seven were having a game night, where they would spend time together playing whatever inane game they fancied. Sometimes it was board games; sometimes it was a competition to compare shinobi skills; sometimes it was to see who could unmask Kakashi.

Naruto was setting up a game board while Sakura cleared away her files and papers on the coffee table for some space. Kakashi was lounging on the sofa reading one of the novels Sakura kept.

'Sure. Shoot.' Sakura replied, expecting Sasuke to need her opinion on something.

'I mean alone.' Sasuke said, when it was clear that Sakura wasn't moving from where she was.

'Oh. Right.' Sakura got up from where she was kneeling beside lower shelf of her bookcase.

As the two of them walked out of the apartment, there were two pairs of curious eyes following them.

'Is there something wrong, Sasuke?' Sakura asked with a worried frown.

If Sasuke called her out alone to talk, he must want her opinion as a medic on something. This might have something to do with his sharingan, or maybe some long-term trauma that he wanted to keep from the rest.

'Is it your eyes?' Sakura pressed, stepping closer to palm his face and stare at his eyes when Sasuke remained silent and brooding.

Sasuke grabbed both her wrists and forced them down.

'Sakura…' Sasuke began. There was a touch of hesitance in his tone that wouldn't have been detected by anyone other than a member of Team Seven.

'If this is about the medical supplies, then it's fine.' Sakura offered, referring to the last time when Sasuke took her supplies before rushing off on an ANBU mission. He hadn't gotten to returning them, and Sasuke was the type to agonise over the most uncommon things.

'Go out with me.' Sasuke finally explained the true purpose for calling her out.

Sakura was stunned.

Many years ago, when she had still been a child hounding after him along with Ino, she would have squealed and jumped for joy at his announcement, but now, she didn't know how to react.

'Those years ago, when I was with Orochimaru, I thought about Team Seven a lot. I even missed everyone, and I thought of you the most. You refused to give up on me even after how badly I treated you, and I wanted to apologise right after I returned.

'Then, when I came back, I saw that you didn't need an apology from me anymore. You moved on. You have become an amazing kunoichi, and an even more amazing woman.

'I…' Sasuke seemed to be stuck.

'I fell for you then.' He concluded.

Sakura didn't know what to say. After a string of failed relationships, she stopped actively searching for companionship anymore, and she had resigned to simply let nature take its course.

Now, Sasuke was offering for her to become his partner, and her answer should have been obvious – the same answer as the one she gave all the other guys who asked her out. Sakura should be telling Sasuke that she would try out this relationship.

However, Sasuke wasn't the same as any other guy, was he?

He was her teammate, and her friend.

He was someone she couldn't bear to lose if it turned out that the relationship wasn't going to work. People say ex-lovers could still be friends after a breakup, but that was only for those people who never loved deep enough. When Sakura loved, she loved deeply.

'Sasuke-' Sakura began, but was cut off by Sasuke's hand cupping her cheek.

'Don't tell me now. You can think about it.' Sasuke said. 'Just know that I won't give up so easily.'

Sasuke left Sakura standing frozen outside of her apartment.

A/N:

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