"Sasuke, we really have to talk about this window thing…"

She took note of his form against the window sill, sitting partially inside and partially outside, as if wanting to exploit the loophole of 'technically not being in Eri's room while she's not in' -probably because he knew that it would be something she would playfully leverage against him.

The moon was out in full force that night, so even with every light in her room being out and no candles being lit, she could clearly see and identify him. "Isn't it the middle of the night?" She picked up her pillow from the end of her messied bed and settled it back up towards the top where it belonged, idly tidying up. "How long were you waiting?"

He was much quieter than she had expected. He didn't immediately answer her question. There was a hanging silence in the air before a reply came through, uncertain and flat, "about an hour, probably."

Her arms -wound with her blankets-, slowly began to uncoil, draping the coverings across her bed carelessly. From time to time, she still tended to think something was up with him. During that first battle in the preliminaries, and their conversation prior, she had developed a fear that had attached itself and never quite left. It was a consistent dread that poked its nose into her daily anxieties every now and then. He kept so much close to the chest about it when just a short time before, he had been so outspoken with her. He told her everything, no matter how personal - or how terrible: every gorey detail. Having him clam up like this was leaving her to bridge the gaps of silence with her own assumptions, and given her state of mind lately, it was never anything good.

She thought that the worry would dissipate with Kakashi taking over his training. She had hoped that with the two working so closely together, any problem Sasuke would have could be easily sussed out and dealt with in that moment. Despite that, caution kept sprouting in her chest.

After talking with her mother though, Eri felt somewhat… confident. She felt like it was alright to say what she was thinking. In fact, it made her feel silly to imagine that she ever felt that she couldn't.

She was always outright with him.

In fact, knowing him and how observant he was, it was only now that it began to dawn on her that he could have been holding back for her sake as well.

"You came out in the middle of the night to talk? Were you that bored, or is this some unprecedented emergency?"

That… that was a good question -one that he didn't have an answer immediately prepared for. He didn't really know why he had decided to stop by. It was around late evening hours that he had felt particularly compelled to take one of his usual walks.

It was later than normal, and he spent most of it just roaming around different parts of the village for some time. The place was damaged, and the people were in pretty low spirits, not as if he was expecting any kind of celebration right after such a devastating blow. Anything less than the downtrodden spirits and low faces would have felt out of place. Not to mention that he put very little stock into what everyone else was doing or how they occupied their time. So he couldn't exactly say why he turned up here; he couldn't think of a time during that walk that Eri had consciously popped up into his head. It was more like… while hitting every usual street in his routine wandering, he looked up and found himself standing outside of her compound. So if he was already there, then pop in, right? Of course. It was just routine.

"I was just passing…by," before he realized how questionable and commonly false that answer was, he was greeted with the way her eyebrow climbed her forehead suspiciously.

"Passing by," she repeated, not as a question but as if to reiterate how suspicious it sounded.

"Whatever-" he spouted through an 'uncool' sputter to cover the way he flustered from being so blatantly called out, "that's the truth." He turned his head away from her to peer defiantly out of the open window, only to be followed by the chittering fit of giggles that felt to tauntingly slip through her lips. While it pulled his face in tightly from hardened annoyance to hear her prod at him like that so freely, the irritation eased from his expression in favor of a softer, unintentionally delicate face.

Something in her voice felt happy, more so than the way she had laughed and prodded at him over the last month. It felt less burdened and strained - probably one of the most familiar sounds he had heard in quite some time.

"You sound happy," he carelessly tacked on, as if trying to disguise his interest in something like that.

"Do I?" Her tone lifted with curiosity, as if she hadn't caught such a thing herself. She sat on the other side of the window that Sasuke found himself perched on, her body turned more to face the inside of her room as opposed to the outside like him, and her hands settled in her lap. "I guess I didn't notice."

He remained quiet. His side-cast glance traced her profile, catching a glimpse of her warm eyes, and the subtlety of her lips beginning into a smile. It wasn't wide and goofy or taunting like he was used to. It didn't look like she was preparing to shoot an unholy hell of torment his way, or like the somewhat childish expression he was used to. It was… uncharacteristically mature. The only times he had seen her face like that were the times when they were children; he told her about his… history sometime ago, when they were both still really young, and yet he always vividly recalled the look on her face becoming understanding like that of someone twice her age.

"If… I'm being honest…" She trailed off, her fingers coiling around the tails of the ribbon tied around her waist. "This has been a pretty terrible time. Going to the academy and becoming a ninja has felt like the worst decision of my life for a few months now." Her lips burned with truth, and though it bred hesitation, she felt she had said too much to stop.

"I would never want to regret making the friends that I have, or getting to have some of these experiences with my team." She would never regret helping people, or being able to do her part in supporting the village. "But it has seemed like a little much for me, and I didn't really know if this was something I could do."

He couldn't say he was surprised. He suspected that years ago; it was never a question of whether she was soft, or maybe too soft. It was more of a question of whether that would change. Sasuke would be the first to admit that he would have preferred her to be able to protect herself. Her family's power safeguarded her, yes, but he had come to understand early that the power of a clan was just sometimes not enough to stand against the cruelty of an individual. Simultaneously, he could feel a pressure in his chest begin to ease, a sense of relief in imagining her living out a less chaotic life as a civilian rather than potentially forfeiting her life on the battlefield.

"But…" Eri spoke up at that moment, "I don't think I'm ready to stop yet. I might just be a glutton for punishment, but… I think there are too many people rooting for me. I won't do it only for them, but it does make me feel like I should give it a little more time. Besides!" Cheer returned to her expression, and while still less bright and blunt as usual, it provided a little more of a sunny disposition to the tenderness of her face, "who knows what other secrets you'll keep from me if I'm a civilian."

There it was. He couldn't explain how this felt like a trap, but now he felt like a fool for not considering it obvious. He was no stranger to this. He had seen it numerous times before, the way she carefully sifted her words and played the conversation like a strategy game - the worst of it all was that it had been several years and he had yet to decipher whether or not it was intentional half of the time. Either way, he had been ensnared, like a clumsy fly in spider's web. "What are you talking ab-" he aimed to feign ignorance, to pretend like he had nothing to hide, but never missing a beat, Eri outdanced his careful steps.

"You told me before that I didn't have anything to worry about." Her tone grew softer, but she had neglected to avert her gaze, boring into his dark, cold eyes with a warm, brown stare of sincere wonder. "Is that still the truth?"

Checkmate.

His resolve to deflect and redirect deteriorated like any words he had intended to conjure up. He couldn't tear his gaze away for a few moments when she shot him that chocolate-eyed stare of subtle pleading masking hurt. It did little to help him that she had long mastered the art of portraying innocence - a skill that he once again was unsure if it was intentional.

Rather than words, he loosed a hefty sigh of exasperation. He had been caught. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't backtrack on his statement, she had likely already caught sight of his hesitation. "What answers do you want?" He practically grumbled through clenched teeth.

"I just want to know what's been going on." She turned now to straddle the window sill in a similar way to how he had chosen to sit - with half of her inside and the other outside. She placed her hands on the sill in front of her, facing him with gentle conviction. "Are you okay? Are you safe? I know people grow apart, but… I still worry about you, you know."

"Yeah, I know," he replied quickly without thinking. The assertion that they had simply grown apart didn't sit well with him. It was much more complicated than that - It wasn't as if he had simply marked distance off of a passing whim. 'I guess that's what she needs to know.' He admitted internally. "But I want answers too." The reasons for her own distance, and all of the things they had agreed to save for a later conversation but never made it around to, those were things he wanted to know.

As if understanding immediately, Eri rose her hands up to show her his palms, as if appeasing a wild animal in a playful fashion, "it's a done deal. I'll share whatever you want…within reason."

They cycled through events of the past few months like a speedy summary to one another, covering everything from before the happenings in the Forest of Death to the final stage of the exam and all that happened in between.

"It wasn't my idea to spy on you," Eri abruptly prefaced, shooting him a warning finger as if quickly disallowing him from poking fun at the notion.

"Oh yeah. I'm sure it wasn't. Weirdo…" Sarcasm leaked from his statement, and her idly rolled his eyes, knowing full well that it would get her riled up, and he was definitely correct.

"I'm not the one that waits at peoples' windows early in the morning."

"I think I remember that being how you woke me for the academy in the morning."

Eri's lips sucked into themselves, and after searching for a proper retort, she found the only thing she could do was nod in begrudging agreement, "I concede."

He would take that win with a certain level of satisfaction, earning a bemused huff from the cat-like girl at his side, though in fairness that only made him enjoy the win that much more.

Despite her embarrassing verbal loss, Eri let her head droop to the tune of a relieved sigh. She tilted her head, smiling a peaceful and satisfied smile his way, "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Yeah."

Had it been during their time in the academy, or not long after, he would have taken that statement and dissected it to death to find ways to poke and prod at her about it. He probably would have sifted through his best ways to leave her embarrassed and quiet, and chalk it up to one of his many 'wins' in a similar fashion Right now, though, despite talking and openly expressing so many of his experiences, he found that his mind now was both more clear and more cluttered than it was in the beginning.

It felt like a quick and easy solution that he should have known he could have utilized months ago. He valued her insight. It was more that in finding such comfort rekindled, it almost felt out of place now. It hadn't been so long ago and yet it felt like he had been climbing mountains for years at this point. Having his feet on the ground again seemed like a mirage, or like a victory he didn't deserve yet.

He couldn't look at her smile. He couldn't allow himself to feel complacent in her warmth.

Why..? Well…

"Hey," it came in like a soft beckon, and like feathers on his skin, he felt her fingers against his cheek, slowly urging him to turn back to face her. "Something's wrong," she remarked with the observance she often had, "that's what this is for, you know. To talk, and figure everything out?"

He hadn't realized he'd slightly resisted her attempts to redirect his aloof gaze, but when he did, he turned his head more willingly: a big mistake. Maybe all of this was a mistake. There were still things he couldn't say. Mainly because there were still things he didn't know how to say; every second spent in deliberation, he had to meet her expectant eyes and feel all of his decisions and questions sit on his shoulders like weights.

"If you don't know… or you can't say, that's alright." She began gently, trying to comfort him in case he felt that his withholding was the problem. She knew well what it was like to be unable to share some things. Even in their earlier recounting, she admitted that there were some details she still had to keep hidden for the sake of her friends' privacy. If it was alright for her to do, it was definitely alright for him to do. "But sometimes it makes you feel better just to say that there's something you can't say."

"I want to say something." He shot back, as if more frustrated with himself than with her statement. He just didn't know how to say it. He tore his eyes away again, sinking his back against the inner frame of the window.

"Your brother?" It felt wicked for her to say that aloud, like she felt it was something that shouldn't leave her lips. She had known about it for years, but she never brought it up of her own accord. As far as she was concerned, she was his confidant through those times, and her only given responsibility was to listen, not to repeat. It actually made her nervous to say, but he didn't become angry with her, or overcome by emotion like she suspected he would have back then when it was still fresh.

Instead, he peered over to her, seeming momentarily caught off guard.

"Sorry," she immediately spoke again, averting her own gaze, "that's the only time I see you look so angry."

He didn't think he had been. He could feel his blood begin to boil when he initially thought of his brother, and sure, she was right in guessing it was because of him. It was just that Sasuke thought he had stopped the anger from reaching his face.

"Don't worry about it." Waving off her concerns, he found the displeasure enough incentive to go on. "I have a lot of decisions to make," he began, deeply in contemplation with his next words urging out much softer by comparison, "and I don't know who I'll be by the end of them."

Truthfully, he didn't even know who he was now. What he was, sure, but being an 'Avenger' was no different than being a conduit. He would be less of a person and more like a machine with but one purpose and ambition-

"Sasuke."

He lifted his head from his fog of thought to the sound of his name. She had called him?

He was looking in her direction, but he had yet to hear her say anything else beyond that. She was just staring at him, as if he was supposed to be understanding something. He was sure he didn't miss her saying anything else, so what was this idiot doing?

"...What?"

Her brows knit as though it were obvious, but regardless, she repeated her answer with the previous statement in tow "at the end of them, you'll be Sasuke."

All sound ceased, both from his lips and his thoughts grew quiet in his head.

She answered him like it was the simplest thing in the world - as if all of the complex ends and extra parts of the very multi-layered situation were irrelevant. Like that answer was the only thing that mattered.

'You idiot…' He couldn't help but think to himself, a creeping fondness tickling his chest. It still felt difficult meeting her eyes, but at this moment it was all the more troublesome trying to look away. If that weren't tough enough, she took his reaction as a trophy, and he could see just how pleased she was with her handiwork by the way she plastered that delighted smile across her lips. Most of the time he would see it as a bemusing reminder that he had somehow lost an unspoken challenge between them, but right now it felt nothing less than… endearing?

Fortunately for him, something above had spared his troubled soul, and a splash of orange light splayed across her face and set her eyes aglow with new curiosity. She turned to face the outdoors, her eyes catching sight of the rising sun in the distance. "It's… morning, already?"

"No kidding." The composure of his tone betrayed his scattered feelings, and he looked upon it with the same intrigue. "I didn't think we were talking for that long."

"Yeah, tell me about it," she added quickly, her fingers practically clicking with tense shaking, "I haven't slept at all! Kou-sensei's going to have my head."

He didn't have training again so soon after the exams, but that was likely because their teammates had been injured after the invasion. Not to mention there were other details keeping him from being allowed to wander too far out of the village at the moment…

"Sucks to be you," he gracefully put, letting himself up from the window to stand on the roof of the compound. He was just intending to let her be, to get dressed and prepared and scramble to her training like she seemed to be doing in her fit of panic, but-

"I blame you for this." The words rolled from her calmly and without hesitation, forcing a white-eyed stare of vexation from the Uchiha.

"Me? What did I do? Just because you lost track of time."

"Well who has been the one good at tracking time between the two of us?"

"Among other things." He added his last quip on top, referring to direction, a sense of danger/awareness, management, fighting and other such things that he knew she frequently mistook.

"Exactly. Thank you for your admittance of guilt." Eri tugged open her drawer in her fretting, pulling out her tools and pouch of coins, "this is a crime."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes, even if amusement seeped into his face.

Like a couple of children.

"Fine. Hurry up and I'll walk you."

He had to go home anyway, and their usual meeting spot was on the way, so there was no harm done. Besides, he couldn't help but feel that he owed her, not for the mismanagement of time that they both knew was completely her fault, but for the period of catharsis that he was allowed to feel, no matter how short-lived.

The way her eyes lit up as she turned to peer at him showed that it was a pretty worthwhile offering to her as well.

"Really..? Ah! Okay! Get out, get out, I'll be just a second"

He moved away from the window as she fretfully closed her curtains to set about changing, and as he leaned against the exterior wall of her room, he felt a delayed breath of relief shakily escape his lips.

What was he supposed to do?

A/N: HELLO HELLO, EVERYONE! I hope you've been well! This chapter didn't take a year! :D Hurrah! I hope you enjoyed this little heart to heart. They feel like they have good chemistry when I write them, so moments like this come really easily when it comes to working through a conversation. I also personally love the more pure moments of transparency and open conversation between characters.

I am happy you all have enjoyed this story thus far and I thank you for your continued love and support! I kind of know how the next few chapters will go, but of course the difficulty is always in the finer details.

Either way! I hope you guys enjoyed this! Hope to post again soon! Buh-bye!