-XXX-

SASUKE

The next day, on a Wednesday, we met in the parking lot after work and headed to her apartment to get the moving boxes. Other than her hesitant instructions, the trip was quiet. When we pulled into a strange alley near a shabby looking apartment building, I turned to look at her. "This is your house?"

"No." She shook her head. "I'm renting an apartment here." She explained and I parked in a flash and unbuckled my seatbelt. Hard to believe there were multiple apartments in that building. "Let's go." I double checked to make sure my car door was locked before following her down the bumpy road. I hoped that when I got back, the car would have all its tires. Actually, I was hoping that at least the car would stay.

Then, as I looked around the apartment, which looked like some kind of den, I didn't even try to hide my concern that this was where she lived. It was just a dump. The only pieces of furniture were a small wooden bed, an old armchair, and a desk that apparently also served as a dining table. A bit of counter space with a two burner stove and a small refrigerator claimed to be the kitchen. A few boxes were stacked against the wall. On a rack nearby hung the old-fashioned dresses and suits she wore to work.

I walked to the only door in the room and opened it. "Wait!" Shouted Miss Haruno behind me as I burst without permission into the tiny bathroom with a shower so tiny I couldn't even fit in it. I closed the door again and turned to face her. She watched me with nervous eyes.

It didn't make any sense at all.

I got right in front of her. "Do you have a problem I should know about?" I asked her outright, because I couldn't just pass this off. "What? What do you mean?" She asked awkwardly, her eyes darting to the side. "Drugs, alcohol, gambling? Or do you have another addiction?"

"What?!" She yelled in horror, immediately giving me more eye-to-eye attention. She gasped and clutched her hands to her chest. I gestured around the room with my hand. "Why do you live like this?" I wanted to add like a church mouse, but I preferred to keep that comment to myself. "I know how much you make a year. You can afford a decent place to live. What do you spend that money on?"

She squinted her eyes and frowned at me. "I'm not a drug dealer, if that is what you mean!" She was furious, but I rather wanted to grin at her pouty cheeks. "I invest my money in other things than furniture and property. It doesn't matter what my apartment looks like." I didn't know if she was trying to convince me or herself. I returned her stern look. "It does to me."

I took a few steps and walked towards her. The room was so small that when she backed up, her back almost touched the wall. I towered over her, studying her face. Her eyes, though furrowed, were pure. I wanted to trust her. Not taking my eyes off her, I grabbed her wrist and pulled up her sleeve. She almost grunted as she tried to wriggle away, but I held her and examined her other arm as well.

"I don't have any needle marks!" she hissed at me. "I'm not taking any drugs. I don't smoke them, swallow them, or inject them. See?" She held out both arms to prove her point.

"I trust you, but if I find out otherwise, our contract is over." I said sharply and backed away from her. "I'm not lying to you." She said a little calmer and I simply nodded in understanding. If this wasn't about addiction, or living expenses, or gluttony, or spending money on clothes and similar accessories for women, I still couldn't figure out where all of her paycheck went.

I turned away from her and slowly went to carry the boxes she had ready to move to my car. " Come on, let's go. I don't want Namikaze to know you live like this." She wasn't pleased with my comment, considering the thick line that formed across her forehead when she frowned at me.

"But what if he doesn't give you the job after all?" She sadly rolled up her sleeves and slowly went to help me carry the boxes away. "What am I going to do then? I doubt you'd let me stay at your place then..." She said rather to herself as she bent down to pick up the box of books.

"With the amount you get, you can get a decent place to live." That was all I could assure her, she had to trust me or it wouldn't work. I looked around at her furniture. "We're not taking any furniture." I informed her. "It's not mine." She added simply and parted out the door with the box. "Thank God." I commented on her remark with relief, and I heard her giggle at my comment. Her little body shook with laughter in front of me and I thought to myself that I preferred her giggles rather than temper tantrums.

When we had the car loaded a couple of minutes later, she took one last look around her apartment. "You know you're a snob?" She asked me and I waited in silence for her to explain what she meant. "The apartment may be old, but it's clean and still serves well."

I ignored her mocking remark before. But she was right about the second one, I had to acknowledge that. It was a tiny apartment, but it was meticulously clean and tidy. But it was still a dump. I left without a word and waited for her in the car before we could drive to my house.

...

I opened the door to the guest room I had prepared for her, stepped inside and turned on the lights. I had already placed the same pile of boxes here earlier that we had taken from her apartment at the end of town. Together we carried everything into her new room. I took a step back and assessed the situation. There wasn't much. I was tempted to ask why she had so little, but then I figured it wasn't worth further argument. I could tell by the way her shoulders tensed and her lips pursed that I had put her under enough stress for the day.

"It's better this way." I tried to lift her spirits so she wouldn't be so tense. "Now you won't have to lie about us living together."

"And if your idea doesn't work, my life will be ruined."

Apparently my effort didn't help. "If my idea doesn't work, your life will be ruined one way or another. Danzo would have fired you whether you knew about my situation or not." Regardless of the fact that I'd already told her that, I repeated it because one reassurance was clearly not calming her down. "At least you'll have money and a new job. Actually, you'll be a hell of a lot better off than you are now." I pointed out the obvious. The obvious that she still didn't see and just stared at me.

"It's your room now, feel free to make it your own. There's a bathroom, too." I motioned to the door that was on the right side of her new room.

"Is there a bath in there?!" She shot me a glowing look with hope in her voice.

I was strangely pleased to be able to nod in agreement and motion with my head for her to go over there. For the first time I saw a real wide smile on her face as she beamed over the massive tub. Her expression on her face softened and her eyes lit up. They really were incredibly emerald. "It's yours. You can use it as you please."

"I'd love to!" She shouted to me from her bathroom, her gaze never leaving the tub. "Unpack and get some sleep." I walked over to the door and paused right between it when I heard her soft and slightly nervous voice, this time from just behind my back and not from the bathroom.

"Good night, S-Sasuke-kun..."

My eyes widened in surprise, as this was the first time she had ever addressed me by my name. Once again, she revealed the spunk she had been gradually getting out and into the eyes of others. I figured I should start making an effort too. At least half as much as she was doing for me.

"Night." I shoved my hands in my pockets, closed the door to her room behind me, and returned to my bedroom, exhausted from today's moving and with a few things on my mind.

...

SAKURA

I couldn't sleep. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't fall asleep. I was exhausted both physically and mentally, but even so, I couldn't switch off. Strange thoughts of the events of the last few days were running in an endless loop in my head. Sasuke's unexpected offer, my even more surprising acceptance, and his reaction to my apartment.

Sasuke was not pleased to be in such an environment and I don't think he was pleased that I was living there either. Before I could blink, my meager belongings were loaded into the trunk of his luxury car and I found myself back in his house, and for an unspecified period of time. Or at least until he was done with his extreme plans, which I was now as involved in as my boss.

His house was silent. There was literally no sound. I was used to being surrounded, even at night, by the sounds of the street and the neighbours, i.e. traffic, other tenants walking and shouting, and the constant screaming of sirens and the noise of violence outside my window. Those sounds woke me up and sometimes scared me, but now that they were absent, I couldn't sleep.

I knew I was safe. This place was a hundred, no, a thousand times safer than the lousy apartment I'd been living in for the last years. I didn't consider Sasuke a threat, given his personality. I should calm down and sleep, shannaro! My bed was deep and shallow. The sheets were soft and smooth, and the blanket felt like a light, warm feather on my body. I was lying in a perfect bed, but the silence was too loud.

I snuck out of bed and walked to the door. I opened it and blinked as the hinges protested with a low creak. I perked my ears, but heard nothing. We were too high up, so the sound of traffic from the street didn't reach in. But even if the bedroom had been downstairs, I still think it would have been just as quiet. This part of town was very quiet and peaceful, I guess that's why Sasuke moved here. But he still had the walls insulated just in case, as he told me during the tour, so that no unwanted noises would be heard.

I tiptoed into the hallway and stopped in front of the door I knew was leading to Sasuke's room. It was cracked open, so I boldly opened it wider and stuck my head in.

Sasuke was sleeping in a huge bed, even bigger than the one in my guest room. Now in my room. He slept half naked with his hand on his chest. At least I don't think he slept completely naked under the covers. I had to shake my head to get the thought out of my head and cool my hot cheeks.

The events of the last few days had apparently not disturbed his sleep. His shiny raven hair was tossed on the pillow in a disheveled way that allowed his face to finally be seen properly. The hair that fell lightly into his eyes added to his mysterious and cool appearance, that was for sure. But as he lay so peacefully on that bed, face softened, he looked vulnerable in his own way. It was as if just at the moment of sleeping, he had his high walls that he guarded pulled down.

To my surprise, I found out that he snores. Not that lumberjack, rude sound that just makes everyone crazy, no. This was a muffled but consistent sound. Relaxed like this and without a scowl, he looked both younger and less oppressive. In the moonlight, he seemed almost peaceful. I'd never used that word in connection with him before, and he certainly wouldn't have looked like that if he'd woken up and find me at his door, staring.

But I needed to hear his regular breathing and muffled snores to know I wasn't alone in this huge, strange house. I left the door to his bedroom wide open, returned to my room, and left my door open as well.

I snuggled into bed and focused on Sasuke. It was a soft and quiet sound, but I could hear it. His peaceful breathing at least provided me with some comfort, a supportive anchor that I desperately needed. I sighed, realizing that if he knew what comfort it brought me, he'd probably spend the whole night sitting up just to annoy me and try not to fall asleep.

I buried my face in my pillow and I don't know when I found myself in dreamland, but the important thing was that I was finally able to fall asleep.

…

The next morning, Sasuke was brooding. When I came into the kitchen, he was sipping from a large mug and motioned for me to also use the countertop coffee maker, which had so many buttons and functions that I didn't know what most of them were for. I made a simple coffee in that strange awkward silence because I didn't know what to say. "I wasn't expecting a visitor, so I don't have cream."

"That's fine." I replied to his unexpected attempt to start a conversation, if that was indeed what he was trying to do.

I went to sit down on my now usual spot on the bar stool with a cup of coffee and Sasuke pushed a piece of paper towards me. "I wrote you a resignation letter." He said and I took the given letter from him, reading it and pouting over it. The text was bare, if you could even call it text, plain and straightforward. The letter completely screamed 'Sasuke'. "I think I could have written it myself..."

"I wanted to make sure it was as simple as possible. I don't want you to go into the details of the reason for leaving." He explained, but I didn't understand why he would do that. His words were harsh at times, though I honestly don't think he meant it badly, he just says it casually, but sometimes I thought he could be a little more considerate of the words he chooses. We could work on that as well, though I don't think we can change that.

It's my resignation letter! "If you don't trust me to write a simple letter, how do you expect me to act like we're..." The next word stuck in my throat. "...lovers?"Sasuke ignored my question and picked up his suitcase from his chair. "I'm going to work early. Here's your house key." He took the key out of his suitcase and handed it to me. I told the staff about you."

Staff? I thought he only had a doorman, and luckily Kabuto seemed nice. I didn't know I'd be meeting other people here. "When did you get all this done? It's not even morning yet..." I asked with a glance at the clock on the wall, which read 5:30 in 8 minutes.

"According to the documents, you've been living here for three months." He ignored my question again and went to the coat rack in the hallway where his blazer jacket was hanging. "Leave your resignation letter on my desk when you get to work." He added and a small smile crept onto my face that he was going to let me take care of it. "Thank you, Sasuke..." I wanted him to know that I was glad he was letting me take care of it.

"Hn..."

"I've ordered boxes for the office, so I'll be packing in the morning." He told me and walked over to the glass bowl in the hallway on the shoe rack to get his car keys. "Put your stuff in them too and then I'll have it driven away." He crumpled something on the video doorbell. "I don't have much at work." I said as I slowly walked towards him. "Even better."

"I understand that I'm quitting today, but why are you going to pack your things? Danzo hasn't fired you yet..." I asked him curiously before he could walk out the door. "I'm quitting with you today. Danzo will be pissed and Namikaze will see that I'm serious." He stopped and turned to me. "I'll take both of our a resignation letters and dump them on Danzo's head." I had a feeling I saw a mischievous glint in his eyes that made me feel uncomfortable.

I was staring at him and he suddenly asked me, "Do you like Italian food?" He asked it so unexpectedly, as if he hadn't had his head full of evil plans for revenge just moments before. "Well... I do..."

"I'll order dinner at six o'clock. By the way, I have a stylist friend. She could help you get ready for the barbecue tomorrow. Give it some thought." I nodded, not very enthusiastically, because I don't like shopping. I'd never heard of him knowing a female stylist, but I was a little suspicious that it was more likely to be a friend of Naruto's. Sasuke had almost no friends from what I'd seen so far.

I thought he was going to leave the house right away, but Sasuke took two steps closer to me and stopped right in front of me. I looked up at him, startled and a little embarrassed that he was standing so close, the pleasant smell of wood and the fresh nature of his cologne bursting into my nose.

He looked into my eyes so intently that I shuddered and felt my body stiffen instantly. I couldn't tell from the expression on his face whether he had something nice or unkind to say to me, his expression blank yet focused on me. I was worried about how I was actually lookin' because my cheeks were on fire.

I saw his hand rise to my face and I unconsciously held my breath. His fingers moved closer to my face and I realized it was my fallen strand of hair where his fingers were reaching. He gently touched my messy strand of hair and tucked it behind my ear so it wouldn't stick out. His gaze then curled to the side, as did his body. Then without a signle word from him, he turned his back on me and walked towards the door as if nothing had happened.

I think I saw his ears turn a little pink as he walked away, but it was probably just my imagination, I decided. The door slammed after he left, and all that could be heard in this quiet house was the beating of my stampeding heart. I must have sat down in the chair at the small table a short distance away because I felt dizzy. And then I finally started breathing again.

What did I sign up for?

-XXX-

End of Chapter 12