When Sakura wakes up her brain is foggy and her body stiff. The bed feels exceptionally warm and comfortable. She doesn't want to get up. She stirs to stretch her legs and her foot touches something under the sheet. She freezes. The bedroom is silent. The night before comes back to her brain. She slowly looks over her shoulder. Sasuke is still next to her, his back towards her, the spikes of his dark hair messy against the pillow.
She remembers it all. It crashes over her in a wave of burning feelings. The way he held her, he kissed her, the feeling of his touch, of him over her, against her, inside her. She flushes again all the way down her chest at the thought. It was so sudden, so impulsive, and so good, that if he had not been lying next to her at that moment, she would have thought it was a dream.
She briefly wonders what to do. It is still so early, there is barely a hint of the first light of the morning through the curtains. Sasuke will probably sleep for another couple of hours. Whatever happened last night, she doesn't want to face the awkward morning conversation. Part of her fears that he will regret it. That he will brush it off as a mistake. She quietly slides out of the bed, picks up her clothes from the floor, and tiptoes to the bathroom to get ready for work. Before leaving, she checks one last time that the man sleeping in her bed is not a hallucination.
Her mind is elsewhere when she picks up her shift at the hospital. She is on autopilot when she gets in the locker room and gets changed into her scrubs and coat. She barely manages to say hi to her coworkers. The more she thinks about it, the more she recalls from the night before. His lips. His touch. His breath against her skin. His hand in her hair. His mouth on her breast...
"Sakura?"
She twitches in surprise and looks up. "Hm?"
Shizune is staring at her with her hands on her hips. "I called you three times. What's going on?"
Sakura looks away. "Sorry. Bad sleep."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Sakura considers the question. She thought she'd immediately want to tell someone, at least tell Ino, so they could unpack what happened, but now she doesn't feel like telling anyone. What if Sasuke thinks it was a mistake and never wants to talk to her again? What if it's just a one time thing? And it's so intimate, she feels fuzzy at the thought of these caresses and kisses that were just between the two of them. No, she doesn't want to tell anyone, she wants to keep it to herself.
She shakes her head and offers a small smile. "It's fine, I watched TV too late."
Sasuke wakes up in a cold bed and looks at the empty bedroom for a while before he actually gets up. His day quickly becomes very complicated as he becomes aware of his inability to focus on anything. He was already confused to wake up in Sakura's bed without Sakura, and now it seems that his brain lives in his pants, and no matter who is talking to him, no matter how important the person or the subject matter, he barely registers anything and the only thing on his mind is Sakura's pink cheeks when she came undone in his embrace. He looks at Kakashi without seeing him, he hears Naruto's loud chatting without catching a word of it and he swiftly avoids Shikamaru and a pile of paperwork to go get some fresh air as soon as he can. Even outside in the open, he can almost still feel the heat of her skin against his and the thought of it gives him pleasant goosebumps.
Sakura isn't home when he comes back to the apartment that night. He cannot stop wondering how she will react when they see each other. When he hears the front door open, much later in the evening, his heart races.
Sakura walks in. They glance at each other and stand in the living room without a word. The air is heavy. Neither of them dares to say the first word and so they just stand like that, almost still in the entryway.
Sasuke knows that he needs to say something but he doesn't know what. Sakura's face doesn't let anything shine through. Does she want to talk about it? Does she want to pretend it never happened? Did she tell her friends? Does she regret it? Did she hate it? Is she mad?
Did she like it?
Does she want to do it again?
Sakura doesn't say anything. After a pause, she finishes taking off her shoes and drops her bag. His eyes follow her when she comes up to him without a word. He wonders if she'll scold him. She stands right in front of him and her scent wraps around him. She places her hand on his chest and rises on her toes as she tilts her head to kiss him. He immediately indulges. He melts against her with relief and need.
They are both cowards, avoiding speaking about it, enjoying the moment and pushing back the problems to later. She takes her top off. His brain disconnects.
Sakura has been thinking about this all day, just the thought of doing it again gets her flushed all the way down. It's less messy this time. They go slower. They pay more attention. His hand on her body is more careful, more attentive. She takes the time to look at him up close. His mouth over her chest is even hotter than she remembered in her daydreams. His hand slides in her panties and she squirms with pleasure at the touch of his fingertips. He kisses up her neck as they move to the bedroom. They undress each other quickly. She is on top of him and she rubs against his length until they are both completely ready. She aligns herself against him, but she feels him briefly hold back. It looks like it takes every ounce of willpower for him to shake his head slightly.
"Sakura wait- we should- I should use-"
He looks concerned. She understands.
"I have an IUD," she whispers.
His face instantly relaxes. He grabs her firmly by the waist and rolls over her on the bed. She loves to feel his strength and his muscles against her. She relishes every second of him pushing inside her. The stretch is divine. The pressure when he is all the way in makes her moan with pleasure. He is exactly what she needs. He knows how to touch her, how to hold her, everything he does makes her feel good. He kisses down the line of her throat and pulls out and pushes inside her again. She hooks her leg over his shoulder and the angle makes her eyes roll. They fit so well together, they easily find the right position and the best rhythm. His breath is burning against her jaw with every thrust. She feels him twitch against her walls and empty deep inside as he presses his hips strongly against her. The feeling of him reaching so deep inside her pushes her over the edge. The strength of her climax surprises her and she cries out much louder than she would have wanted. Her hands scramble to hold onto something. He holds her tighter.
"I got you."
She pants against him as she comes down. She kisses him again.
The next day Sasuke is the one to come home after her and kiss her before taking her to the bedroom. The following day they don't make it to the bedroom and they do it still almost fully clothed on the couch. And every other day after that sees them kissing and panting when they find each other home.
Sasuke starts sleeping in Sakura's bed regularly. He realizes that sex with her is addictive. Addictive like a hard drug. Before trying it he had no idea what it felt like and now since the first time he tried it he cannot stop thinking about the next time. Her touch brings him such a shot of pleasure and happiness, such an instant bliss that makes him forget about all his worries, he needs to feel this every day. His brain is constantly bathing in the euphoria of seeing Sakura red and limp with pleasure. When she welcomes him into her bed and he feels her body against his everything else vanishes and he thinks about nothing but her. She's an island of peace and comfort in the ocean of his problems. Deep inside he knows that he craves something more than sex. If it were just that, just physical, mechanical sex, he could have another woman. He has traveled to lots of villages, lots of hostels and bars where women can keep men company for a night. But he craves the familiar comfort and the safe reassurance of Sakura's embrace.
A week after their first night together he has a mission in the north of the village, but as he walks through the trees, his mind keeps bringing up images of the past few days with Sakura. He shouldn't be so affected and yet he cannot stop thinking about those moments they spent together. His heart swells with the touches and the breaths they shared every time his brain brings them back to his focus. He cannot wait to be done with his mission and be back in Sakura's arms. What is she doing right now? She is probably home from her night shift and sleeping in her large bed. He imagines joining her when she wakes up. She often wears her hair tied up for work or training and there is something incredibly hot in seeing her disheveled in the morning, undone, simple, before she gets ready for her day.
A branch cracks in the tree next to him and the sound takes him out of his steamy daydream. With just a quick look he realizes his mistake. The thieves he was supposed to stop are around him in the bushes, on the branches, behind every trunk. He let himself be surrounded and didn't keep any way out. They come out of the darkness and he counts about fifteen of them. He doesn't want to use his Sharingan if he can avoid it, it is too recognizable and the fewer people who know that he is around the better, but he really isn't in the mood for a long fight.
He bites his thumb and pushes his hand onto the ground. In a cloud of dust and leaves, a giant snake appears. With a swipe of the tail, Aoda sends half of the opponents flying. Sasuke knocks out the others himself, a few manage to flee and he doesn't chase them.
When the dust settles, he lets himself fall against a tree. He walked into the trap like a genin on his first mission. After fighting the worst demons in different dimensions, he almost got a clean shave fighting a ridiculous group of forest vagabonds.
"Master Sasuke," Aoda hisses."You didn't used to call me for this kind of job."
No, he never summons Aoda for such a low threat. In fact, he almost only ever summons Aoda because he wants someone to talk to.
He should have seen them coming a mile ahead. Actually, he saw their traces earlier between the trees and he didn't even react. He was distracted. His mind was elsewhere. Too busy daydreaming of pink underwear and wrinkled sheets, his brain didn't register the warnings. He doesn't reply and climbs onto Aoda's head to catch his breath.
"Your smell is different," Aoda hisses.
Sasuke shrugs. "I smell like Sakura because I live in her apartment."
He lives with Sakura, sleeps with Sakura, has sex with Sakura, in her sheets that smell like her laundry soap and her shampoo.
"Did you get in her nest?"
"… Sort of." He feels stupidly proud to admit it.
"Did you eat the other males?"
"No."
"Master Sasuke, I'm glad to hear that you are not alone anymore."
"We're not in a relationship, I just live there because I need a place to sleep."
In Sakura's bed, that's where he sleeps.
"Not a relationship? Why?"
Sasuke doesn't reply. It's not a relationship, right? If anything, it's merely a roommate arrangement between adults. They don't go on dates, they don't do romantic things. They just live in the same apartment and eat together sometimes. Like friends. Like friends who sleep together. The frustration of not knowing what to reply makes Sasuke's cheeks and ears get hot.
When he remains silent, Aoda hisses again. "The first mating season can make younglings very confused."
"I'm not confused. I'm not a youngling and it's not mating season, humans don't have a mating season."
"When do you breed then?"
"Anytime. I mean- whenever we want."
"All year?"
"Yes."
"Then it's always mating season."
"It's not."
"Are you not interested in mating?"
Sasuke gives a grunt of frustration at the insistent questions. He doesn't have any answers. He doesn't want to think about the questions he doesn't have answers to. He likes sleeping with Sakura, that's all. How complicated can it be?
He lets himself slide down the side of Aoda's head to the ground. "I'll finish alone."
When he walks into Kakashi's office to report after his mission, he almost bumps into someone who is walking out. Her pink hair flows under his nose and he stops in his movement. Sakura gives him a look as she squeezes past him through the door but they quickly look away from each other. He tries his best to clear his thoughts but her scent makes his brain bloom with pictures and his chest practically vibrates with anticipation. The door closes behind her. Kakashi looks at him with concern.
"Is everything alright?" he asks, "with Sakura?"
Sasuke nods. He forces a frown and pretends nothing happened. Kakashi doesn't insist.
Soon it feels like a game between Sakura and Sasuke. A delicious, thrilling game that is just between the two of them and makes their days and nights exciting. Outside of her apartment they don't see each other, just nodding briefly whenever they meet, barely acknowledging the other, hardly ever in the same place at the same time. And when they come home they immediately find each other's bodies and exchange the most intimate touches, until sleep takes them or duty calls them back to work.
At first Sasuke thought Sakura would quickly tell her friends and everyone in Konoha would know within a day, but she kept it to herself and he himself didn't tell anyone, and it made him enjoy the time with her even more.
Sakura enjoys having Sasuke all for herself. She fears that she will scare him away if she tries to talk about what is between them. She is happy to see him home, it's enough.
It's easier that way for both of them. It's easier not to have to explain things that they themselves don't quite understand. Easier to spare themselves the stares and glares and questions and opinions. Easier for them to deal with it in the privacy of the bedroom. If their bubble of bliss pops just like it formed, they don't have to answer to anyone as to why they are not seeing each other anymore. And it feels quite exciting, the thrill of living a double life like a secret they keep together and that makes every moment together feel even better because it only belongs to the two of them.
None of Sakura's previous experiences with relationships or sex were like this. With other men, it was always more or less awkward, not always comfortable, and she often wondered if she was doing something wrong. Now it feels like Sasuke knows her, and she knows him, and when they are together in the dark on the pillows she abandons herself to his touch without second thoughts.
That night Sasuke covers her body in kisses. He kisses between her breasts, down her stomach, and lower toward her belly button. His lips are not shy on her skin. She feels his breath on her lower stomach, and her heart rushes when he doesn't stop there. A light wave of panic rises in her chest. None of her previous dates have kissed her this low. He keeps going. What is he doing– He can't–
"No!" she squeaks.
He stops with his nose just over her pubis. He looks slightly surprised. "... No?"
Sakura can't find her words. She isn't completely sure of what he intended to do. "I… I don't know?" she mutters.
He blinks and pulls back from between her legs. He kisses the side of her knee and kisses a line up the inside of her thigh. He kisses her belly again, down the side and closer to her center. His breathing is hot against her sensitive skin. His nose brushes her lower stomach. She feels him kiss lower, and then his mouth is in the crook of her inner thigh. She isn't sure how to breathe anymore.
His fingers tease her gently. His lips get closer but never quite there and the anticipation is killing her. One kiss is particularly close, slightly more pressing, and it feels amazing. She sighs with need.
"Yes… "
He looks up through his bangs again. "Yes?"
She nods quickly. "Yes."
His hand gently pushes her legs further apart. She has never felt this exposed, looked at from so close, touched so intimately, and yet she cannot wait for him to keep going. The first touch of his tongue over her folds makes her take in a sharp breath. Her fingers dig into her pillow. The feeling of his mouth over her swollen clit makes her legs tense. The sensation is so unusual, so wet and slippery, and yet so overwhelmingly hot. After a few seconds, she lets the pleasure take over. She spreads her legs wider and angles her hips to press against him. Why does it feel so good? The tip of his tongue and the gentle feeling of his lips, kissing, sucking, licking all over her without restraint, make her lose any sense of embarrassment. She holds onto her pillow for dear life. His fingers gently push inside her while his tongue rolls on her clit. The gentle stretch and the constant caresses wake new sensations inside her. It's too much at once, too many stimuli, too much tension accumulated. Her release comes in her whole body. Relief and pleasure flood her brain. Her thighs shake and her core spasms so strongly that the overstimulation of his touch is unbearable. Her leg jerks against him to push him away.
A loud thump interrupts her bliss. She needs a moment to realize that Sasuke is not on the bed anymore. She quickly crawls to look over the edge of the mattress. He's lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling.
"Are you ok?" Sakura asks with worry. She isn't sure what her knee connected with but it might have been his temple.
He blinks slowly and rubs his face with a painful wince. "You almost knocked me out..." he says in disbelief.
"I'm sorry."
She gives him a hand to get up and checks the sore spot on his head. She uses medical chakra and he soon seems to feel better. He gives her a side smile. "Next time just tell me to stop."
Sakura is still red and shaken from her orgasm. "I didn't want you to stop."
In the morning Sasuke is gone for a mission before Sakura wakes up for her shift. She meets with Ino on her lunch break and listens to her gossip about the clients of the flower shop. Part of Sakura's brain is constantly daydreaming about her nightlife with Sasuke. She spends her day waiting to go home and find his embrace again.
"How's Sasuke?" Ino asks out of the blue as she shoves a spoonful of rice in her mouth, and the mention of his name takes Sakura out of her fantasy. She fears that she let something through. She wouldn't even know what to tell Ino. And Sasuke has not told anyone, she doesn't want to out him before they talk about it together.
She frowns. "Why?"
"I don't know, he's still at your place, right?"
Ino doesn't seem to mean anything and Sakura makes a mental note not to be so defensive about the subject. "Yeah."
"So?"
Sakura looks away and shrugs. "I don't see him a lot, you know how he is."
Ino nods and picks up another spoonful of her meal. "Tell me about it, he barely says hi when I see him."
Sakura spends her days between the hospital and Sasuke's arms. When she is home and he is on a mission, her place feels empty. It is painful to extract herself from his embrace for her morning shift but she loves to come home to him and nestle against him after a long day. One day she is halfway through her shift when her intern comes toward her, clutching her clipboard to her chest. She looks afraid.
"Doctor Haruno? He's back," the intern says.
"Who?"
"The man with the weird eye."
"Oh."
Sakura frowns. Sasuke is out of the village for the day with Naruto. "What does he want?"
"He got stabbed."
Sakura's blood freezes. She didn't think he was here for an actual emergency. "What-"
She takes the clipboard and rushes to the exam room. Sure enough, Sasuke is sitting on the exam table and waiting for her. He looks unfazed despite the large bloody bandage that covers his right upper arm.
"You got stabbed?" she exclaims as soon as she sees him.
He winces. "It's just a cut."
She puts on a pair of blue gloves. She carefully undoes the bandage and frowns more and more as she sees the extent of the injury. The wound is long and deep, much more serious than what he lets show. He seems completely oblivious to the severity of the injury. She pokes the skin around it and he winces.
"I can see your bone."
"At least this time the end of the arm's still attached."
She sighs in frustration at his casual attitude. She reaches for her fabric shears.
"How did you even-"
His look is enough of an answer. There aren't many people in the village that could manage to actually hit Sasuke and wound him, and only one person where he'd take it so calmly.
"Naruto…" she whispers under her breath.
"He says he's sorry."
She looks at the wound more closely for a minute.
"I need to clean it, take off your shirt," she says as she rolls up her sleeves.
There is something about the white coat and the gloves that make Sasuke pay very careful attention to Sakura. He opens his shirt but struggles to take it off with only his injured arm. She helps him.
"I thought you two were done fighting," she comments as she grabs gauze and tweezers.
"Naruto perfected his rasen shuriken technique."
She sighs. "How did you survive when you were on your own?"
"When I was on my own Naruto wasn't there to send me to the hospital."
He clenches his teeth and doesn't complain when she picks gravel out of the wound with tweezers and drenches it in disinfectant. She looks so focused and serious, he cannot stop looking at her, and the pain is only in the background of his mind. Something about having her for himself and seeing her so focused on him makes him feel hot. Her cheeks are pink and her hair slightly messy from her agitation.
He watches her close the gash in his skin with the glow of her palm. She wraps it tightly with a band to protect the fresh scar. She inspects her work and looks up.
"How does it feel?" she asks as she takes off her gloves.
He extends and bends his arm a couple of times. It feels like nothing ever happened. He grabs her by the waist and pulls her towards him. "Perfect. Thank you."
She is close and he takes the moment to kiss her.
Sakura makes a little noise in surprise. She had not expected him to do this outside of the apartment. He wouldn't do this in a public place, but this is a private room and no one would come in while she is in there with a patient, it's medical confidentiality. It's excitingly new. She relaxes and kisses him back. His hand slides down the curve of her ass, his kiss deepens, and she understands it's not going to be just a kiss. A thrill travels down her spine. She briefly pulls away.
"Are you aware that I'm very busy?"
"You're not. The waiting room was empty."
She shakes her head at his nerves. "I have a lot of other things to do."
"Really?"
He's serious. She knows that if she says no he won't insist. She steps back and pulls away. He looks disappointed but doesn't say anything. She walks across the room as if to leave, but when she reaches for the handle, she locks the door and turns back to face him. Their eyes meet. Within a second he is kissing her silly against the door.
He lifts her up to sit her on the countertop. He pops the snaps of her coat as he hungrily kisses down the curve of her neck and down her cleavage. She runs both her hands through his hair and sighs heavily, pressing his face between her breasts. He pulls her towards him so she is sitting on the edge as close to him as possible. She can already feel him through their clothes. She hastily wiggles out of her pants. He pushes her top up and her panties to the side and she sighs at the feeling of his touch. She tightens her legs around him. Her arms hold around his neck and her fingers run through his hair on the back of his head. They don't break the kiss as she unbuckles his belt and opens his pants. She slides both hands into his boxers and feels him tense when her fingers touch his length. He brings her closer to the edge of the counter. She feels him against her. She hides her face in his neck when he pushes inside her. With so little foreplay, the rub and the stretch are intense. She moans softly at the initial discomfort.
He stills. He kisses her. "You ok?" he breathes against her lips.
She kisses him back and tightens her embrace around his neck. "Yeah."
He thrusts and she gives a loud gasp. She bites her lips so as not to make any more noise that would attract the attention of her colleagues. She almost forgets to breathe. With them upright, the angle is new and the sensation even more intense. When he comes, the feeling inside her pushes her over the edge. For a moment they are both slightly panting against each other.
"I didn't think you missed me this much when I'm at work," she says as she comes down from the countertop. She waits for a witty reply but Sasuke simply looks away.
They just have time to fix themselves and wipe the countertop before someone knocks at the door. Shizune is in the hallway, her hands on her hips. Sakura tenses but Sasuke serves her his usual impassive frown as he walks out, and Shizune barely glances at him.
"Is he alright?" she asks Sakura when they are alone.
"Yeah, he's fine."
Shizune picks up the clipboard from Sakura's hands and glances at the report. Sakura pales when she realizes that, interrupted at the end of her task, she didn't write anything down about the care she provided. It looks like another case of gross negligence.
"Sakura," Shizune says sternly. "You can't keep kicking him out of the hospital, he has the right to be treated like any other patient. Next time he comes I'll orient him to another doctor."
Sakura looks at the floor. "I understand."
After Sasuke's impromptu visit, Sakura tries to keep a low profile so as not to attract attention to her relationship but she keeps finding herself in embarrassing situations. The following Tuesday she has a day off after a double shift and takes the chance to train with Ino. They meet in the locker room of the training ground. Sakura changes into her training gear and ties her hair up to prevent it from getting in her way. Ino glances at her and pauses.
"That's a serious hickey," she comments pointedly.
Sakura looks up. Ino is looking at her neck.
"What?"
She looks in the mirror of her locker. On the curve of her neck, under her ear, her skin is colored with a bright purple love bite.
"Oh wow," she breathes. She hides it with her hand but her heart is rushing. She prays that her hair hid it while she was at the hospital.
Ino has a little teasing laugh at her reaction. "I didn't know you were still seeing Toshi..."
Sakura shakes her head. "I'm not."
Ino looks at her blankly. Sakura realizes her mistake.
"I mean not seeing him today but yeah, yesterday, yeah," she adds quickly.
Ino seems to hesitate but her doubts vanish as she smirks. "I thought you said he wasn't that fun in bed…"
Sakura briefly remembers the feeling of Sasuke's lips. His breath, hot against her skin, and his voice, velvet in her ears. A shiver of desire runs up her body at the memory.
"He has improved a lot recently."
Naruto talks about Hinata more and more and, after a mission where he listed out loud every single symptom his wife is developing, including the most intimate, Sasuke wonders how he will bear this for the rest of her pregnancy.
"She was so sick this morning I wasn't sure I could leave her," Naruto says, after describing Hinata's morning sickness in great detail. "I've never seen her like that. She says it's normal but it doesn't look normal to me, you know? You think it's normal?"
"How would I know?"
Naruto nods. "Maybe I should ask Sakura..."
"Yeah."
"I think she's dating someone again."
This time Sasuke looks up. "Really?"
"Ino said she had a hickey," Naruto says seriously. "Hinata says she's distracted at work and last week she asked to switch shifts like she had something to do in the evening."
Sasuke avoids his gaze. He remembers the mark he left on Sakura's neck in the heat of the action the previous week. He has not talked to Sakura about making their relationship public. Is it even a relationship? If he tells Naruto anything, the whole village will know about it before the end of the day. Luckily for him, Naruto doesn't seem to be expecting an actual answer from him.
"I bet it's another idiot", he says grumpily.
"Why?"
"She always goes for idiots. Like when she wanted to be with you."
Sasuke doesn't argue. It's an obvious provocation but he doesn't want to raise suspicions. He is saved when Shikamaru and Sai join them as they walk out of the Hokage tower. Naruto looks back at him.
"We're going to the yakitori place, you coming?
Sasuke takes slightly longer than necessary to reply. With her double shift and his mission that took a day longer than expected, he hasn't seen Sakura in almost a week.
"Go without me," he says as he buttons his cloak, "I have other plans."
Naruto stares at him with surprise. "... Like what?"
Going home, having dinner with Sakura, having Sakura as dessert, and falling asleep against her breasts.
"I'm tired."
When he comes home it seems that Sakura had the same plans as him. Not in the same order though, she jumps him before dinner, but they do end up falling asleep together like he has been waiting to do.
Sasuke gets used to this quickly. He had never thought he would enjoy a stable rhythm and a daily routine, coming home to Sakura, or waiting for her to come home, and indulging in the warmth of her arms for the night. Waking up at her side in the morning is like nothing he has felt before. He picks up food for both of them if he knows that Sakura is going to be home late. When he doesn't see her for a few days because he is away or she sleeps at the hospital, he misses her. He gets used to her touch, her scent, her voice. During missions he is eager to come back to the village to see her. For the first time since his family disappeared he feels like he belongs somewhere. In her arms, he feels at home.
Sakura gets used to it too. She thought Sasuke would be the kind of man to disappear after sex and leave a cold bed in the morning, but he is surprisingly clingy when they are alone together, and when he isn't in the bed in the morning, it's because he had to leave early for a mission. Outside of her apartment he is just as broody as usual, but when they are home he is careful and attentive. True to himself, he doesn't speak much, but his touches always surprise her with how gentle they are. Now she feels like she knows him and she understands what he wants or needs whenever they are together without him using words.
That's what Sakura is thinking about the next morning, after she had to extract herself from his warm embrace to go to work. She is with Hinata in the locker room in the basement of the hospital to get changed for the day. It's so early, the sun has not come up yet and her brain is still foggy from sleep. She takes off the sweatshirt she wears over her t-shirt and grabs a set of clean scrubs in the laundry. She is checking the size on the scrubs when Hinata's voice behind her surprises her.
"Sakura?"
"Yeah?"
Hinata's cheeks are bright pink. She avoids Sakura's gaze as if she had seen something embarrassing. "Erm… Your t-shirt?"
Sakura looks down. It's a white shirt. She checks for a stain.
"On the back," Hinata squeaks.
Sakura twists to look behind herself in the mirror inside her locker door. In the middle of her back is a small red and white fan. Her heart sinks. She grabbed this T-shirt quickly in the bedroom without turning the light on so as not to wake Sasuke up. She knew it felt too big, but she was still half asleep while getting ready in the bathroom at 4 am for her shift. She didn't pay further attention and forgot about it once she had put her sweatshirt over it. She swiftly takes the t-shirt off, gets a full cloud of Sasuke's scent in the process, and puts on her scrubs.
"It got mixed up in the laundry, that's all," she says as casually as possible.
Hinata nods. "Happens all the time."
They exchange a look and Hinata smiles. She always has such a soft and kind smile, she isn't teasing or mocking. Sakura feels her heart calm down. She knows that Hinata, while not completely oblivious, won't tell this to anyone. Sakura gives a small embarrassed laugh and Hinata giggles as they finish getting ready.
Sasuke now sleeps in her bed more often than not, until most of his clothes and belongings end up in her room. One night she comes home from her shift and sees him in his bedroom, and drags him to her own bed. From that point he sleeps in her bedroom even when she isn't home. He enjoys his new rhythm. His missions are more interesting now that he can leave the village with Naruto. When he is not on a mission, he escapes the Hokage tower and spends his time at the training ground to avoid being given paperwork. The phantom pain in his arm has not come back since the last time Sakurashe healed him. His nights are what he looks forward to the most, when his and Sakura's schedules align and he knows they'll find each other home in the evening. Some nights she is the one who hugs him as they fall asleep. She holds him in her arms, his head against her chest, his nose against the soft cushion of her breasts, and he had not realized how much he was craving this. He cannot remember the last time someone hugged him like this before Sakura. She runs her fingers through his hair and it feels more intimate than everything they do under the blanket. She doesn't say anything. The warmth of her skin and the slow rhythm of her breathing lull him to sleep. After all these years of loneliness, the comfort is overwhelming.
As they indulge more and more in each other, it becomes harder to separate their nightlife and their day jobs. On an early morning in September, Sakura's alarm goes off and makes her stir in her sleep. It's hard to wake up. Sasuke's arm is around her waist, his face against the back of her neck. When she tries to get up, he holds her back. She gives a small smile that he doesn't want to get up. He pulls her back against him and his hand travels down her stomach. Her heart quickens. His fingers brush over her legs and make his ideas pretty clear. She bites her lip and gently pushes his hand away.
"I'm gonna be late, I have to see the Hokage this morning…"
Sasuke holds her closer and kisses the back of her shoulder. His breath is hot against her skin. "He's always late."
Sakura doesn't need more excuses. She drops back down on her pillow, closes her eyes again, and allows his hand to wander on her body and down between her thighs. His fingertips roll slowly over her clit and she sighs at the sensation. It's so easy, so soft and comfortable in the morning. The bed is warm, she is still groggy from sleep, and his body against hers makes her flush all over. She opens her eyes again and turns to kiss him. His hair is messy. Waking up to the feeling of his lips and the heat of his skin, she could get used to this. The bed dips under their weight when he moves over her and she opens her legs. She kisses him again when he sinks into her and pleasure awakens in her core.
In the fuzzy bliss that comes after her climax, Sakura falls back asleep in his embrace. Sasuke rests against her. Sakura's skin is warm from sleep and from their cuddle. Her hair is soft. He holds her tighter and closes his eyes for a second.
The knocks against the window of the bedroom wake them up. Again. It's Sasuke's hawk, beak tapping against the glass. Sakura opens wide eyes. She scrambles out of Sasuke's arms to check the time.
"Oh shit."
What was supposed to be a few minutes of naughty cuddles turned into a full hour of peaceful snooze. Sakura shakes her head as she fumbles in her drawer to grab clean underwear. "I can't believe I'm gonna be even later than Kakashi."
Sasuke hastily grabs his t-shirt. He was supposed to meet with Shikamaru thirty minutes ago. He doesn't like to be late. He doesn't like to have to explain why he is late and apologize for it.
They briefly push past each other to use the bathroom sink and they are out the door and on their respective ways without exchanging another word.
Shikamaru looks more surprised than annoyed to see Sasuke arrive almost an hour later than they had agreed on. "You're late."
"I was held back somewhere else."
Shikamaru raises an eyebrow.
Sasuke doesn't flinch. "It's classified."
Shikamaru's face shows that he has doubts. He has the highest accreditation for confidential matters and he has no idea what Sasuke was doing. He squints, but Sasuke's impassive frown doesn't waver. Shikamaru eventually sighs and shrugs.
"I wanted to brief you before seeing Kakashi but we don't have time anymore," he says as he grabs a pile of folders and heads out of his office.
"We're seeing Kakashi?"
"Yeah, he has new info. Naruto, Sai, and Sakura should be there too."
They walk into the office. Sakura is indeed already there. She visibly tenses when Sasuke stands across from her in the room to listen to Kakashi.
Sasuke does his best to focus on the meeting but his brain keeps getting distracted. It feels like it's written on his forehead that a few minutes earlier they were under the sheets together. He is almost sure that he smells like Sakura. He can see Naruto lean towards him on his right. Naruto looks at Sasuke's t-shirt and squints. Sasuke looks down. Embarrassment washes over him as he realizes that he has put his shirt on backward. The crest of his family that is usually on his back is on his chest, and it looks ridiculous.
Sakura in front of him is not in any better state. Her hair is all over the place, she has tried to fix it with her headband but several strands are flying free around her face and it's clear which side she was just sleeping on. One button of her outfit is not fastened properly and makes a strange fold in the fabric. Her whole face is bright red and she is looking at the floor to avoid looking at Sasuke.
It feels like the meeting lasts forever. They both try to stay still and hope that no one puts two and two together.
Just when Sasuke thinks he's in the clear and is about to walk out of the office behind the others, Kakashi's voice holds him back.
"Sasuke."
Kakashi waits until the rest of the group has left and the door has closed.
"Sakura and you were both late today. She looked upset with you." Kakashi pauses and Sasuke holds his gaze. "... Did you two fight?"
Sasuke remains silent.
"I know you don't feel the way she does," Kakashi adds with concern, "but at least be nice to her. She's giving you a place to stay. You should at least be grateful for that."
Sasuke's face doesn't let anything shine through when he recalls how grateful he was just a couple of hours earlier.
"At the very least it shouldn't disturb your missions," Kakashi finishes. "Don't be late again."
Kakashi looks at him for a few more seconds as if he expects a reply, but gives up when he sees that Sasuke is as taciturn as usual, and gestures to let him go.
"And fix your t-shirt!" he shouts finally, before Sasuke leaves.
"What did Kakashi want? This morning?" Sakura asks when they lie in bed together that night, naked after a replay of the morning.
"He thought we were fighting and asked me to be nice to you."
"... What did you reply?"
"Nothing."
He waits for her reaction. He wonders if she will be upset that he kept their relationship secret.
She smiles and nestles against him. It seems that she likes their arrangement too. Her eyes sparkle. She runs her hand over his chest.
"Will you be nice to me?"
He pushes her chin up with his finger to kiss her.
The incident could have been a one-off, but they are late again for the morning briefing the following week. Sasuke gets up on time and takes a shower before going to work. Sakura was still asleep when he left the bed and it was a pain to have to get up. He lets the hot water run down his face to try and wake himself up. The door of the bathroom opens. He realizes he didn't lock the door but he is even more surprised that Sakura doesn't seem disturbed at all to walk in on him in the shower.
"Sakura…" he grumbles to let her know he'd like more privacy. He loses his frown when he sees her get undressed, and step into the shower next to him.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm late and you're taking too long," she says matter of factly as she steps next to him under the hot stream.
"I was here first," he argues.
"It's my bathroom. Move, I need to wet my hair."
He is annoyed but in the tight space of the shower, their wet bodies come close and the proximity distracts him from his bad mood. She raises her arms to run her fingers through her hair under the stream, and water trickles over her nipples, down the curve of her breasts, over the flat line of her stomach, and down between her thighs. She catches him staring. She tilts her head back to let the water run down her hair and exposes the bare line of her throat to him. He leans in to kiss the crook of her neck and up to her lips. It's so wet and slippery under the shower, she glides her hand down his stomach and he abandons the idea of having a real shower.
He gently makes her turn around in front of him until her ass is pressed against him. She grinds against him. He teases her front with his fingers and she hums in appreciation. The steam and the water make it so easy to touch her and slide between her thighs. She tightens her legs around him and the friction makes him impatient for more. He aligns himself and she gasps out loud when he pushes all the way inside her. She moans loudly at the intense stretch.
"Still want to share the shower?" he whispers against her ear.
"Don't stop."
Soon Sakura is trapped between his hips and the shower wall. His fingers reach around her waist between her thighs and her clit throbs under his touch. Her fingers glide on the wet tiles as she tries to cling while he thrusts inside her. The water splashes with each move. His fingers rub her folds harder and she cannot move between his hand and his hips. She tilts her head back against him and he kisses the side of her neck.
"You close?" he asks.
"Yes keep going keep–"
He is filling her so deep and the stretch is so good that she abandons herself to him completely. The feeling of his fingertips playing with her clit, his length stretching her inside, and his lips on her skin while the stream of hot water falls on her breasts and runs down her hard nipples, it's too much. He holds her hips firmly for a stronger thrust and stays inside. She feels him come deep inside her. With a soft cry, she lets her release wash over her. Her legs shake and bend like jelly under her weight. He holds her up and kisses her again.
Kakashi is highly unimpressed when Sakura and Sasuke walk into the morning briefing twenty minutes after everyone else. For a moment they think they managed to be discreet about it and that their lateness might have gone unnoticed but Kakashi holds them back at the end of the meeting.
"What's your excuse this time?"
To Sasuke's surprise, Sakura speaks first. Her voice is clear and she doesn't let anything shine through. "It's my fault," she says. "I woke up late and took too much time in the bathroom, he couldn't get ready. It won't happen again."
Kakashi stares at them for long seconds. He looks irritated but also slightly desperate.
"If being roommates is a problem for your work life you will have to separate."
Kakashi calls Sasuke into his office later that day. He seems concerned and Sasuke worries that he might get lectured again for his morning lateness. Kakashi hands him a form with an official stamp on the corner.
"The village has apartments for people who work at the Hokage's office or official visitors from other villages," Kakashi says. "There's one that will be free next week. You don't technically qualify but you can put in your application, I'll see what I can do. I know living with Sakura isn't the best arrangement for you two."
Sasuke nods. He takes the paper and folds it to slip it into his pocket.
He is at the training ground that afternoon, taking off his gear to shower, and he knows that he will see Sakura in the evening. A group of men walk into the locker room before he is done. They all have the same tattoo on the shoulder. It's an ANBU team. They come for their usual training time. They are chatting and laughing, they don't seem to notice that Sasuke is here. A man behind him across the room gives a painful groan.
"I think I fucked up my knee yesterday," he says, "it still hurts."
"Go to the hospital," someone else says.
"No, I hate that place."
A third man cuts in. "Dude, tell them you're an ANBU, you'll get the nice chick."
"The what?"
"If you tell them you're a shinobi you'll be seen by the medic-nin, the one with pink hair."
Sasuke tenses. He briefly considers walking out but he is not done taking off his gear and with only one hand it's not as quick as he wishes it were. They keep talking behind him.
"She basically brought me back from the dead last month, and let me tell ya, when you wake up and you see her over you, it's like you're in heaven already."
The man gives a gross chuckle that gives Sasuke goosebumps along his spine.
"She's got no tits, though?" someone calls from the back.
"She's got a nice ass and she's good with her hands, that's good enough for me!"
Sasuke's heart is beating in his ears. He wants to tell them to stop, he doesn't want to hear another word of it, but he doesn't want to reveal that he has been seeing Sakura. They go on before he decides what to do.
"I could do with a happy ending from her too," another man says.
"Does she date her patients?"
"Oh I'm not asking for a date you know, I'd just bend her over real quick…"
They all laugh, a hoarse, lewd laugh, and Sasuke feels sick. Imagining Sakura in a hospital room with one of them, taking care of them, while they all just think of her as a sexual object. Sakura is strong but some of these guys are skilled enough to overpower her if they take her by surprise. He imagines them embarrassing her with disgusting comments and trying to touch her inappropriately while she is doing her job. The louder they laugh the worse his anger gets. He looks at them over his shoulder. One of the men mimes a very explicit sexual gesture and Sasuke snaps. He slams the door to his locker too strongly and the loud metal noise makes the room go silent. They all turn around to see where the sound comes from and look right at him.
Sakura comes home later than planned that evening. Sasuke was waiting for her but she seems preoccupied.
"Something wrong?" he asks.
She nods seriously. "We got a whole team of ANBU in the ER today. Seven guys."
"What did they have?"
Sakura shakes her head in incomprehension. "Someone found them in the locker room. They were… confused and… paranoid. It looked like a genjutsu but…"
"But?"
"You'd need a pretty strong genjutsu to hit the whole team like that, it's a lot of people and they're trained to resist it."
Sasuke gives a non-committal hm. Sakura comes up close in front of him and stares at him with furrowed brows. He avoids her gaze.
"Were they hurt?" he asks as casually as possible.
"No. Just confused. And scared. Like they had seen a ghost."
Sasuke shrugs and Sakura squints at him even closer. "Why would someone do something like that?" she asks.
Sasuke finally gives up and looks at her in the eyes. "... Someone probably had good reasons."
"Actual good reasons?"
"Yeah."
She keeps staring at him for a few more seconds and finally retreats. She sighs. "I wish it hadn't made me stay at work longer. It took forever to get them back to normal."
"Clearly the person who did this didn't think it through."
Sakura nods bitterly. "Clearly."
"I'll get dinner."
On Friday, Naruto forces Sasuke to go to the hot springs with him and Shikamaru after a long week of missions and late-night reports. He hates to admit it but it does feel good to unwind for a while. The hot water soothes his muscles. It reminds him of Sakura's green chakra. He relaxes in the steam but he quickly notices Naruto squinting at him.
Sasuke glares at him and moves away slightly.
"What is that?" Naruto asks.
"What?"
"Your back is red. Are you hurt?"
Sasuke glances above his own shoulder. He can barely see but it's enough for him to understand. He remembers the feeling of Sakura's fingers digging into his back, tensing against his skin as she came closer to her release, how tight she held him and how good it felt. His pale skin still shows light red scratches, on both sides across his shoulder blades, where Sakura's fingernails have left passionate marks. He keeps a straight face and avoids Naruto's gaze.
"It looks like you got scratched by… a branch or something," Naruto says. "Did you sleep against a tree?"
Sasuke shrugs in a poor attempt to kill the conversation but as he looks away from Naruto, he meets Shikamaru's gaze. He can see that Shikamaru is not convinced. He raises his eyebrow slightly, showing he knows what kind of scratches they are. Thankfully, he doesn't say anything out loud. He corners Sasuke in the locker room when they come out of the bath.
"Looks like you've been having interesting activities during your missions…"
Sasuke only spares him a short glance, to acknowledge his remark and tell him not to push it. Shikamaru smirks but doesn't insist.
The following Sunday the sun is already high in the sky when Sakura wakes up. She notices that Sasuke is still sleeping next to her. The sun rays come through the curtains on the bed over his skin. His face is half hidden in the pillow. She doesn't see him sleep very often. At least not this late and not this peacefully. When looking at him like this, she could almost forget all the terrible things that happened to him and all the things he has done. He briefly stirs in his sleep. She wonders how he will react, they don't usually sleep in together, there's always one of them who has somewhere to be, the first to wake up leaves before the other wakes up or they get up together and leave for work without much speaking.
Sasuke feels like someone is watching him. When he opens his eyes he sees Sakura, lying on her stomach, waiting for him to wake up. Her eyes are small, jade green in the white morning light, and her cheeks slightly puffy from sleep. Her hair is tousled and a halo of baby pink strands frame her rosy cheeks. The curve of her shoulder out of the blanket catches the sunlight. He has hardly ever woken up to such a soft and pleasant sight. She looks like she has been watching him for a little while.
They look at each other for a moment. Finally, he speaks.
"Good morning."
She smiles. "Good morning." She stretches on the bed and rolls to get up. He watches her pull up a small pair of panties and bend again to grab a t-shirt on the floor. When she turns around, he realizes it's his. The crest of his family is on her back.
"Do you want tea?" she asks on her way to the kitchen. The sound of her voice rings a bell in his mind. His brain brings back an old memory. His mother, making tea for his father. He can still hear their voices and the sound of the kettle. His mother's voice, calling his father "Anata". He can almost smell the scent of his childhood home in the morning. It smelled like old wood and tatamis, like hot tea leaves and incense. He didn't even know he remembered this. The warmth of the memory fills his whole body.
"Sasuke?" Sakura is looking at him from the doorway, she seems surprised that he has not replied yet. "Tea?"
He nods and gets up from the bed. "Yeah. Thanks."
In the afternoon Sasuke leaves the apartment to get some fresh air outside of the village. As he walks, he fumbles in his pocket and his fingers touch a crumpled piece of paper. He takes it out and pinches the corner of it in his mouth to unfold it. It's the Konoha form to apply for housing that Kakashi gave him a few days earlier. He reads over the document again. He considers the idea of moving out of Sakura's apartment. Coming home to an empty place. Not hearing her comings and goings in the middle of the night. Not seeing her mess in the bathroom and the rest of her too spicy take out on the coffee table. No pink panties on the clothesline anymore. Eating anything he wants in the kitchen without risking lethal poisoning. No slugs on the kitchen table.
Not hearing her welcome him home after a mission. Not smelling her flowery shampoo. Not falling asleep against her. Not waking up next to her.
He stares at the form for a moment while he contemplates these thoughts.
He burns the paper between his fingers.
The following week Sasuke is away for three days and Sakura doesn't expect him to be back before the next day. When she walks out of the Hokage's office and someone grabs her by the arm and pulls her into a storage room, her first instinct is to fight back. Her attacker stops her easily.
"Sakura."
She recognizes him and stops struggling. His touch, his voice, she melts against him. She can smell the wind and the forest on his cloak. He kisses her.
"When did you come back?" she asks.
"Just now."
"I missed you last night."
"Me too."
He kisses her again, against the wall. He presses his body against hers and she sighs. His lips are urgent. She pulls on his shirt to bring him closer. She missed his scent, the warmth of his body, the strength of his embrace. She feels lightheaded already. She wraps her arms around his neck. He pulls her tight. They kiss like they have not kissed in months and yet it's only been a few days. The room is empty and the hallway is silent. They grind against each other while their tongues keep playing.
The door of the room squeaks and they both freeze in each other's arms. They exchange an alarmed glance. In the same move, they turn to look behind them. The door is ajar and a ray of light comes from the hallway. They look down at the floor. Mirai Sarutobi, barely tall enough to reach the door handle, is standing in the doorway and looking at them with big bright toddler eyes as she sucks on her thumb. She pulls her finger out of her mouth and points at them.
"Kissy!"
"Oh no…" Sakura whispers, and she squats to be at Mirai's height. "Mirai… Come over here baby," she says with a warm smile as she extends her arms toward her. "Are you alone?"
Mirai seems to hesitate for a second, she smiles at Sakura and almost steps toward her but changes her mind, and disappears into the hallway. Before they can move she has waddled out of sight. Sasuke rushes after her. Sakura follows him, but both of them have already vanished. She finds Sasuke again a minute later as he walks back up to her in the hallway.
"How well can she speak?" he asks with concern.
"Where is she?"
"... I lost her."
Sakura raises her eyebrows. She blinks in disbelief. "You… lost her? "
"Kids do things that aren't logical," Sasuke mumbles, "it's very hard to predict their actions. Naruto's hard to fight for the same reason."
"You hunt down criminals into other dimensions and you lost a two-year-old in a hallway?"
Sasuke looks like he will snap back but they hear footsteps coming. They stop talking when they see Shikamaru walk toward them. He is holding Mirai on his hip like he just picked her up. She points at Sasuke as soon as she sees him.
"Kiss! Pink!" she says happily.
Shikamaru frowns, and looks at Sasuke, then at Sakura. Sasuke can almost see Shikamaru's brain put two and two together. He squints at Sasuke for a second, then at Sakura, just enough that they both understand, and laughs. "Come on Mirai, your mom has been looking for you," he says as he walks past them without looking at them again, but Sasuke can still feel the weight of his gaze.
When they are alone again they exchange a glance. He can tell that Sakura saw Shikamaru's reaction. Does she want to tell the truth? How long are they going to keep it a secret? What should they even tell people? Are they dating? Is it just sex? Does she think they are in a relationship? Are they a couple? She doesn't say anything.
That night they lie awake in bed after sex. They have not talked much since they saw Shikamaru. Finally, Sakura breaks the silence.
"Do you think we should tell other people?"
He doesn't reply right away. "... What do you think we should tell them?"
He can see that she hesitates too. That she is afraid to say something he won't like.
"That… we're… seeing each other? I mean we live together, it's not like there's a lot to explain."
Seeing each other. He likes that. It's easy. It doesn't mean much but it means something. It's good.
He holds her closer and nods. "Shikamaru knows already."
"I think Hinata knows too," Sakura whispers as she thoughtfully traces lines over his chest and eventually rests her hand on his stomach. "She guessed. I liked how it was when they didn't know."
"Me too."
"But… it can be good too when the others know."
Sasuke remembers the ANBU team and how he had briefly wished he could tell them that he was seeing Sakura and they should leave her alone. He has become tired of pretending not to see her every time they came across each other at the Hokage tower. He still has in mind, bright and crisp, the image of her wearing his t-shirt with the crest of his family on the back.
"... Yeah," he admits.
"Do you think we should tell them soon?"
He shifts in the bed to sleep next to her. "Whenever you want."
His heart feels lighter that night. He didn't think it was such a burden to hide it, but after the first couple of weeks of excitement the novelty of it had faded and it had become more of a difficulty than a thrill. Now he is excited, almost proud that they will soon share the news.
He is in an unusually light-hearted mood when he walks into Kakashi's office the next day. Kakashi seems to be in a good mood too. He smiles through his mask when he sees Sasuke.
"I've got good news," he says, and Sasuke listens with interest. "The council approved of me giving you a longer mission. Alone." He pushes a thick mission scroll on his desk towards Sasuke. "It'll probably take you a few months. I thought you might be missing your travels."
Sasuke's initial excitement falters. He unrolls the scroll and reads the information summary. The assignment is indeed very complex and very far away. He keeps looking at it without focusing.
Several months away from Sakura. Three months ago he wouldn't have blinked, he'd even probably have been quite satisfied to be given such an important mission, but now it stirs something inside him that he can't describe. It is like everything is crumbling inside him. He had not realized how much enjoyed staying in the village and how unhappy he would be at the thought of leaving. His chest feels horribly tight.
Kakashi sees his reaction. "Something wrong?"
He composes himself and rolls the scroll back up. He puts on his usual frown again. "No."
Sakura seems particularly bubbly when he arrives home after leaving Kakashi's office. Or maybe it's because he himself feels quite low that her enthusiasm seems stronger.
She comes very close to him and rests her hand on his chest as she smiles at him. "I was thinking we could go to Ichiraku with the others on Friday and tell them? About… you know… us? What do you think?"
She looks very excited. He blanks. She immediately loses her smile.
"Are you ok?" she asks. "If you don't want to tell them we don't–"
"I got a new mission. A longer one."
Her shoulders drop. He can tell she wasn't expecting this. "Oh."
"I don't know when I'll be back. Five or six months probably."
Sakura takes a step back. A brief wave of panic comes across her face. She looks like she will say something but changes her mind. After a long moment, she nods slowly.
"It's good. Isn't it?" she says, but the tone in her voice makes his chest hurt.
"Sakura–"
"I knew Kakashi would see that you were working hard."
"I didn't think he'd send me out for so long so soon."
She turns around and he hears her take a deep breath. "Be careful while you're out there."
They don't talk much that evening. When they lie together in the dark, she whispers to him on the pillow.
"When are you leaving?"
"Next week."
She nestles against him to sleep. He hides his nose in her hair. He wants to remember all of this. The scent of her shampoo. The softness of her skin. The warmth of her arms. He wants to imprint it in his mind to remember every night he is away.
Sasuke leaves while Sakura is at work the following week. She comes home to an empty apartment. He has picked up his things in her bedroom and rolled his futon in the spare room. It's like he was never there.
She doesn't hear about him anymore once he has left the village. She knew it would happen but it still hurts. It hurts even more that no one knows what they have shared. Ino jokes that Sakura is finally free from the freeloader who was living in her apartment and Sakura forces herself to laugh.
She focuses on her job to distract herself from the fact that she has no one to join at home anymore. She works late and starts early, she picks up night shifts to avoid the empty bed. She loses her appetite and her sleep. She feels weak all over. When the night is silent she worries about him. The first days without him seem to drag on forever, until she buries herself in enough tasks and chores that the days and nights blend together and she loses the track of time. When she comes home she is so tired that she immediately falls asleep and has no time to think about the silence of her apartment. There's no trace of him left, no one talks about him anymore, it is like the months they spent together were just a blurry dream.