Chapter Text
It had been two weeks since he was released from solitary confinement back into Konoha. Life here isn’t what he thought it would be. His teammates had chased after him, begged and pleaded with him to come home for the past 4 years. He thought that now, since he was now not only back in the Leaf Village, but released from prison that he would never see peace and quiet again.
He was wrong.
Two weeks in and he had seen Naruto five times; Sakura even less than that. Realistically he should be ecstatic, this was the ideal situation. He had all the time in the world to himself, to slowly adjust back to life surrounded by the rambunctious Rookie Nine, most of all his annoying teammates.
He hadn’t had a chance to adjust to their presence at all, though. He was on strict probation orders which meant there were very few hours in the day he was allowed to be in the village, outside of his apartment without being accompanied by another member of Team 7. Seeing as Kakashi was now Hokage and he didn’t know Sai or Yamato that well that left him only two options…
Naruto and Sakura had stopped by earlier and Sasuke hated the excitement that bubbled in his chest upon seeing them. For years he had felt nothing but disdain and indifference, but now emotions seemed to flood forward at the weirdest times and it confused and enraged him.
They had let themselves in, chatting about their days and pointedly ignoring his bad mood. Sakura was busy at the hospital as the worst of the war injuries were still being dealt with. Those closest to death among the forces were sent to Konoha because of her and Tsunade’s superior abilities. One glance spoke of the amount of time that was being spent healing others and letting herself suffer. She looked exhausted and thinner than he remembered, though it was true everything before his battle with Naruto now seemed blurry. Maybe he had just imagined it.
Naruto was just as busy, though his work wasn’t near as stressful in Sasuke’s opinion. He was making his way around the village, which was still working on construction from Pein’s attack. Naruto helped where he could, but really he was there to save face. After the tragedy that follows war, people need a camaraderie boost. Not only was Naruto the perfect person for that because of his cheery demeanor, it also helped that he was a War Hero that had previously saved the village from certain death.
So Sasuke was surprised when the two mentioned that they would all be going out tonight to celebrate.
“We survived the war and even though things will be different now…” Sakura paused, soft green eyes looking up to meet his in a manner she never used to be capable of. “We just think we’ve earned the right to a night off, all together.”
“That’s right, Teme! So of course you’re coming too, and it’s around the time you’re allowed out! Meet at Sakura-chan’s apartment at seven.”
Just like that they were gone. He didn’t even have time to process what he was being told, never mind reject the offer.
It was 6:30 now and he was getting restless. He headed out the door and to the pink haired girl’s home. He didn’t think she’d mind and he wanted to talk to her before they met up with everyone. He hardly had any alone time with her. Every time he’d seen her Naruto had tagged along.
They hadn’t had time to discuss… well, anything. He thought it best to have everything out in the open. The past, both their feelings and anything else she wanted to say. He was serious about redeeming himself, and he couldn’t help but feel a large part of that was wrapped up in Sakura.
It was 6:38 when he knocked on Sakura’s door. She answered swiftly, giving him a broad smile with bright eyes.
“Sasuke! It’s so great to see you, come on in!” She held a high heeled shoe in one hand and was putting it on as he looked around her apartment. He was surprised to see that she wasn’t alone.
Sitting on a large couch in her living room was Lee, Neji, Sai and Naruto. They all gave their greetings before turning to listen to Sakura, who was apparently in the middle of telling a story. Sasuke turned his attention to the girl who was standing in the bathroom, lining her lips in red while speaking.
“So I told Ino if she actually had enough chakra left to heal that shinobi’s broken ribs then I’d wear the dress. So, here I am.”
Sasuke glanced over at all the men in her apartment to find that they seem enamored in what she had to say. It was shocking, to say the least. When he had left at the age of thirteen Sakura had been little more than an annoying, weak girl. He could tell just by glancing at the room that neither of those things stood true anymore.
“Sakura-Chan, you should know better than to make a bet with Ino! She’d do anything to get you out of your normal medic wear!” Naruto laughed and it must have been contagious because everyone else followed suit.
Sakura rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. She told me no man would be able to keep their eyes off me tonight, but I just want to go out with my friends and have a good time!”
No man indeed, Sasuke thought to himself as he looked at the fellow ninjas in the room. He looked towards Sakura curiously.
She was definitely a sight to behold, in a dress shorter than the skirt she normally wore, and lacking the shorts, it certainly accentuated her long legs. Her hair, which had been in ever changing states of chaos every time he’d seen her was now smoothed down and he noticed that it was growing past her collarbones. The lipstick worked to bring out the darker colors in her eyes and her smile looked even brighter now.
Sasuke felt his mouth go dry and he turned to face the coffee table in front of him. He couldn’t understand why Sakura had all these people here, and why hadn’t he been invited? He was instructed to show up at 7; had he not stopped by early would they have told him about the laughs that were shared in Sakura’s apartment?
“You ready to go?” Sakura’s voice shook him out of his paranoid reverie and he looked up to see everyone piling out of the door. He glanced at the door, then to her and then to the couch.
Sakura nodded before turning to Naruto. “We’ll meet you there, okay?”
Sasuke only looked back up after he heard the door click shut. Sakura tilted her head at him curiously, but he remained silent.
“What is it, Sasuke?”
“It’s not Sasuke-kun anymore.” He had tried to ignore it, and for a little while had even convinced himself that it was just a slip of the tongue. During the war she had said it many times, but as soon as he returned from jail it was just ‘Sasuke’. It hadn’t bothered him until he saw all those people in her tiny apartment.
Sakura shifted in her seat, moving forward and facing him head on. “Sasuke I— for so long I was all about you. I got strong for you, I searched for you and I even tried to kill you just so I could be free of the prison I had put myself and Naruto in.” She paused and took a deep breath. “It wasn’t healthy. We’ve been back from the war for almost a month and I’ve spent a lot of my free time reflecting on what I need in my life.” She looked into his eyes and he was taken aback by how kind they were, in a way he knew he would never be capable of, not with his ever present rinnegan and the blaring red of the Sharingan.
“I forgave you because I love you. And that remains true, I do love you and I do forgive you. But after all that we put each other through… I realized I could never be with you. The history is just too complicated and filled with negative emotions.” She put her hand over his. “I look forward to building a path of friendship with you.” She slowly stood up, and he numbly followed the action.
He wasn’t sure what he was feeling at the moment. Sasuke was too out of touch with his emotions to identify anything other than anger or vengeance, which he has since been told isn’t even an emotion.
He hadn’t come here tonight to confess his love for Sakura, but her withdrawal of feelings left him unsettled and strangely empty. It was something he could always count on being there, something he could be sure of when nothing else made sense. Two weeks in and that had already been torn away.
He walked beside her silently, trying to listen to her steps that used to echo loudly when they were on missions. But they were silent, even in the heels. She moved with the grace of the skilled fighter he swore she could never be.
“I’m sorry we’ve been absent, Sasuke. In the upcoming weeks Naruto and I should have more time to come visit and bring you around town.”
“You’re exhausted.” The make up was hiding her dark circles, but he knew.
“And I can take care of myself, so like I said I will be coming around more often.” Her sharp tone was unfamiliar and it caused his temper to flare.
“You’ll collapse from chakra depletion before you leave that hospital.”
Sakura scoffed. “You have no idea about my limitations, Uchiha.”
“Don’t think I’ll baby you the way Naruto does.”
“Luckily I stopped relying on that a long time ago.”
The words stung but they were well deserved so he pressed his lips together and reminded himself to not activate his sharingan. He was under strict orders to not fight and the red eye would send the ANBU following him on high alert.
They arrived at the restaurant then, but before entering Sakura turned and glared right into his rinnegan.
“You don’t know me anymore, Sasuke. If you treat me like I’m 12 again, you will regret it.” She then opened the door and walked inside, leaving a stunned Sasuke on the street alone.
—-
They were half way through their meals when Sasuke realized he was enjoying himself. He hadn’t spoken a word, too overwhelmed by all the loud voices around him, but the conversations were entertaining to listen to. Plus they were so unimportant. There was no discussion of assaults or assassinations, no pressing matters to attend to. It was carefree in a way Sasuke thought he would never be able to experience.
“Sakura, that boy from the Sand is here. I treated him today.” Ino sipped her drink innocently while Sakura raised an eyebrow.
“There are a lot of people from Sand here; you’re gonna have to be more specific.”
Ino shook her head. “The guy from Sand. You know, the one who confessed his love for you?”
Sasuke’s ears perked up at this. Confessions of love to Sakura? From a Suna shinobi? It was preposterous.
Sakura blushed down to her neck and nodded quickly. “Oh right the one with the intestinal damage? What was his name? Sumere?”
The rest of the table fell silent as Ino gaped at her.
“Sakura, his name was Morio. He handed you a love letter in the medical tent during the war.”
Sakura choked on her drink. “Right! That’s who I was talking about, silly me I just mixed up his name with another patients. What’s he doing here?”
Ino put her elbows on the table and eyed Sakura suspiciously.
“Morio didn’t have any intestinal damage.”
“I treat a lot of patients every day, Ino-Pig.”
“And how many of them have confessed their love for you?”
Sakura sputtered for a moment before the table burst into hysterics. Naruto was the first to form a coherent sentence.
“Sakura-chan, how many patients have confessed their love for you?”
Sakura fiddled with her necklace before answering. “Everyone knows that people like to fall in love and get married and have babies after war! So it’s really not that unusual that someone wakes after surgery all loopy and high and feels a little extra grateful towards the doctor that saved their life.”
“How many?” Tenten asks, only egging Ino and Naruto on.
“I don’t keep track, there are people dying here! I’m too busy for any of that!”
“Oh really? Because I told Morio where we’d be tonight, and if he wanted to stop by you’d consider giving him a second chance.”
Sakura dropped her head into her hands. “Ino, you can’t be serious. This is so not the time for me to be getting into a relationship.”
“But it’s the perfect chance for you to blow off some steam with a man who is due back in Suna next week.” Ino raised her eyebrows.
Sakura opened her mouth as if she was going to speak, but hesitated. “I don’t know, I—”
She was cut off by the sound of someone entering their private room. A man with black hair and dark eyes stood awkwardly, glancing towards Sakura. Her face grew even more red before she stood and walked over to the stranger. She pushed him to head out the door, but he held his ground. They were talking in low tones but Sasuke urged his ears to pick up what they were saying.
“Morio, it’s nice to see you. Wouldn’t you like to talk outside?”
He shook his head. “I do not wish to make you uncomfortable.”
Sakura threw a glance over her shoulder at the same time that the entire table pretended to be looking anywhere but at the pair.
“They’ll be listening, you know.”
Morio grinned. “I would be honored to be the center of attention from a group of war heroes.”
Sakura shook her head slowly as a small smile appeared on her face. It looked familiar and it made Sasuke’s stomach twist uncomfortably.
“What do you want, Morio?”
“I know you mentioned of someone else holding your heart back at the medical tent, when I gave you that letter. But Ino mentioned that might have changed, that you might have made peace with that part of yourself. She told me I should try again.” He grabbed for her hand. “Would you like to try again, Sakura-chan?”
Sasuke watched as she pink haired girl twisted a piece of her around her finger. She seemed nervous, but not as uncomfortable as Sasuke would have expected given her earlier proclamations of having no interest.
“Why don’t you have a seat with us? We’ve barely started our celebrations, and everyone should be welcome.” Sakura grabbed his hand and plopped him down between herself and Naruto.
Sasuke spent the rest of the night analyzing the complex bonds the group seemed to form during his absence. It was obvious that while they were all close, the relationships between the separate teams remained the strongest. They were all grouped together, turning to each other and laughing at things that made no sense to Sasuke. It wasn’t just that they weren’t humorous, but they were flat out bizarre.
Team 7 was the exception, with the outlier being Morio, who was way too happy as he chatted with Sakura. She became more and more enamored with their conversation as the night went on. He watched as Sakura moved closer, touched his arm, his hand, his cheek. She laughed harder and harder until it was genuine.
Of course, it could have been the drinks. Despite the fact that they were all under age, the war heroes of Konoha were given a special treat, this night only. They had rented out the room and were given unlimited alcohol. Certain people, such as Naruto and Kiba seemed to be taking far too much advantage of that. He noticed that the girls always seemed to have something in their hands, but none of them seemed near as intoxicated.
Sasuke of course abstained. He would not, and probably would never purposely inhibit his senses. This allowed him to watch freely and silently from a corner. It was informative at first, but after he gathered what he deemed important intel from the group he was ready to leave. Unfortunately for him, it was past his curfew and he would have to wait to be escorted by one of his teammates. He looked around to assess who he should narrow in on.
Naruto was not an option, as he swayed dangerously Hinata righted him with a giggle. He was way too drunk to take care of himself, never mind take Sasuke back to his apartment without attempting to detour him.
Sai was wrapped in a sickeningly intimate embrace with Ino. Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes. Clearly he would get nowhere with him.
He turned towards Sakura then. She was still sitting in her spot from dinner with Morio practically in her lap. Sasuke could have sworn they had started out a few feet apart, but after a few hours they had nearly began sharing the same seat.
He had been paying pretty close attention to Sakura, so he knew there had been no sexual advances made on the kunoichi. Yet.
That was good news for Sasuke, because that meant she was free to take him back. He stood and placed himself behind Morio, directly in her line of sight.
She was laughing, tears pooling in her eyes as they shot up to meet Sasuke’s. He didn’t say anything, merely waited for her to catch on. Her shoulders slumped once she realized.
“Already? The nights barely begun.”
“Aa.”
She moved to stand up and then turned to Morio.
“I have to go. Thank you for tonight.” She placed a hand over his and flashed a genuine smile.
She was beginning to walk away and join Sasuke when Morio called her name.
“Sakura-chan, can I see you again?”
Sakura’s expression remained the same, but Sasuke noticed the way her shoulders straightened at the question.
“Maybe you can come by my office tomorrow after your check up and we can talk.” Sakura didn’t wait for his reply, simply turned away and sauntered out the door.
Sasuke fell into step beside her on the street. They walked in silence for a few blocks, Sasuke taking in her soft smile and rosy cheeks that only confirmed her state of inebriation.
“You stayed longer than I thought you would.”
“Aa.”
“But I was kind of hoping you would ask Naruto to take you home.”
“Dobe was wasted.”
Sakura gave him a hard glance. “I was hoping to be in his spot in just a few hours.”
“A medic of your stature should know the dangers of drinking in excess in their teenage years.” He didn’t turn to look at her, he didn’t need to. He could tell by her harsh breaths that her temper was rising.
“I just spent the past 16 hours in the hospital, so I think I earned this night to let loose and not care.”
“If you spent so much time healing others today then it’s pertinent you go home and get your rest, instead of flirting with some no name nin from Suna.”
Sakura stepped in front of him and halted his movements. “Is that what this is about?”
Sasuke knew if he attempted to go around her she would simply block him. If he tried to push past, surely the ANBU would be on him for assault. So he opted to stand there silently.
“There’s two ways we can do this, Sasuke.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper and the fall winds whipping around them made him lean in closer to hear.
“You can spite me for not being in love with you anymore, even though we both know you aren’t ready.” She stepped closer, dipping her head until her green orbs were looking straight into his. “Or, we can move on and try to build a friendship. One where you aren’t quite so condescending. Maybe you could even get to know who I am.”
Sasuke couldn’t look away from her, couldn’t pull away from her warmth on the blustery night. It was confusing and a reminder that he had no control over emotions, most of which he hadn’t felt in years.
Which is why he pushed down his irritation to give her a sincere look of acceptance, before side stepping her and heading forward.