Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter one

Flash Back:

_Sakura walked into her office and was surprised to find Sasuke, sitting on the examination bed by her window. One leg drawn up and the other straight, an elbow resting on his raised knee._

_Sakura, asked "What are you doing here? Are you sick?"_

_Her question was answered with a short, "No." He wasn't even looking in her direction, his attention focused on the street below._

_Now confused, she asked, "Then why are you here?"_

_Sasuke merely shrugged and continued to stare out the window. Sakura inwardly sighed; clearly she wasn't getting an answer out of him. Had she really expected otherwise?_

_Though accepting his silent company, she warned, "You annoy me, you leave."_

_Sasuke snorted quietly at the irony, her being annoyed at him, made a change._

End of Flash Back.

And so that was how it had been. He wouldn't always come into her office to stare out her window. Some days, even weeks would pass before she saw him again. But true to his routine, he would be found later in her office, sitting on the bed, not saying a word. Sakura had grown used to his company and continued her work around the hospital as always. Attending to patients on her rounds and writing reports when at her desk. He never disturbed her.

Why he came, she didn't know. Ever since his return 6 months ago, he hadn't been quite the same. If possible, he had become moodier and even more withdrawn than before. He had been gone for 9 years; a lot had changed in that time. All of those who had been together as genin, were now chuunin and jounin. Naruto had become a jounin at the record age of 17 and Sakura not much later at 18. Now both were members of the ANBU, however had very different roles. Naruto was often out on the highest ranking missions with his squad, while Sakura remained in the hospital. Only going on missions when a medic nin was required. Kakashi was also still around, though since Team 7, he had never taken on another genin team. He had returned to the ANBU, and usually went on solo S-class missions.

No one was entirely sure of the exact details of Sasuke's return. All anyone knew was that 6 months ago, the ANBU squad Naruto was apart of had been given a dangerous mission, situated in a reclusive village near Sound. The squad were forced to call retreat due to complications. The squad returned, however Naruto did not. More ANBU squads were rallied and searched everywhere for the missing ninja. Until late at night, or very early in the morning, the guards on duty recorded two unknown figures coming toward Konoha's gate. Both with chakra so low they shouldn't have been standing, Naruto and Sasuke walked into the village. Despite many fractures, lesions and bruises, they were unharmed.

That was all anyone knew, apart from those directly involved. Sakura had been on the nightshift, when her two old team-mates walked through the gates. She was used to seeing Naruto fairly beaten and out of shape, and so was not surprised when he staggered through the hospital doors. But when he was followed by someone she hadn't seen in so many years, she could only stare.

She remembered the hollow expression on his face when she saw him. A few steps behind Naruto, he walked in to join him in the examination room and sat down. He looked the same as she remembered him, only older. Dark eyes, surrounded by equally dark hair and skin extremely pale. But now he also had a fine scar that ran the length of his right cheek. No one said a word, no-one knew what to say. Sakura could only look, dumb-founded, at the two men in front of her. Was she supposed to heal them? Just like that? Like nothing happened? Not to mentioned the questions that were plaguing her mind. Why has he comeback? Is he back for good? Is Orochimaru dead? What about his brother?

Naruto was the first to speak, "Please Sakura, don't start on him now. Wait 'til tomorrow." He was exhausted; they all were. But she was also absolutely furious, that she was all of a sudden expected to heal someone she hadn't seen in nearly ten years. She didn't reply, only went about healing them both in a hostile silence, and left the room when finished.

Upon walking into her office, she shut the door and leant against it. Eyes closed; her head swimming. It was all too much. She had just healed her old team-mate, whom she hadn't seen for 9 years. 9 _years_. And he hadn't said a word. He hadn't even looked at _her;_ just remained staring at the blank wall opposite with a far away expression. Naruto hadn't said a thing either, that _was _strange.

In the coming weeks since his return, Sakura saw nothing of Sasuke. Everything just fell back into old routine; her at the hospital and Naruto on missions. The Hokage had personally dealt with Sasuke's return and let him off on a good behaviour bond. No one knew the particular's of the meeting. Naruto visited Sakura when he wasn't away, she tried asking him what on earth had happened; but, behaving _extremely_ out of character, he wouldn't utter a word. Saying it wasn't his story to tell.

So when she arrived at her office one morning to find Sasuke on her examination bed, gazing out the window, it was fair to say that she had a few questions running through her mind. But her questions were only met with shrugs, despite her anger and frustration at being brushed off; she took the hint and stopped.

And that was how it had been.

Today, as usual when she walked through the door, he was there in her office, not saying a word. She wondered how he got into her office; he arrived even before she did. Though considering he was a powerful ninja, it probably wasn't all that difficult.

"Morning" said Sakura, with two coffees balanced in one hand and opening her office door with the other.

"Mm," was the response she received.

"I figured you'd be in today, so I got you a coffee, she said, placing a drink on the table beside him "no sugar right?"

For what seemed like the first time, he'd been in her office, he directed is attention _away_ from the window, to the cup beside him. Well, glaring at it, to be more accurate.

"It's not poisoned."

He looked up from the cup to look her in the face, his dark eyes met her green ones. "Why?" he croaked, his voice raspy from lack of use.

She, following his example, just shrugged.

He picked up the drink and held it between his hands, savouring the warmth. And that was enough for her. But don't get the wrong idea, she wasn't doing this because she was interested in him romantically (He was asexual anyway.) She had moved on a long time ago, she just though he could use a friend.

:----------------:

Things continued on in much the same way. Although Sakura did notice that the time differences in between Sasuke's absences were becoming less and less. He would only go a few days now, before he was back in her office again. It had also become a ritual for her to get two coffees, instead of one on her early mornings.

Sasuke was even beginning to talk, not about the things she wanted to know; but just talking for him was such a feat that she wasn't complaining. He would sometimes ask her about some of her cases at work.

At the moment, Sakura was bored. There were no new cases. She still had a few reports, but they never took long. It was times like these she missed having regular missions. Always being in the action; having to be constantly alert. She knew she was too valuable and Tsunade was reluctant to put on more missions than necessary. Having trained under the current Hokage for 6 years, Sakura was a very capable nin. She had grown a lot since her genin days.

When she arrived in her office the next morning, a little late, she was quite surprised. There on her desk was a coffee. She looked from the coffee to the Uchiha on the bed.

"You got me a coffee," a statement, not a question.

Sasuke gave her a quiet, "Hn."

"You, _voluntarily_ got me a drink?"

"I got one too," he said tonelessly. It hadn't been about her, he was already getting one, another cost little extra.

She sat down at her desk, still staring at the drink.

"If you don't want it, I'll drink it," he drawled, a moment later.

"No, I'll drink it."

After that, they were silent. He stared out her window in thought and she did her work. Both thinking different things:

'_Just coffee, meant nothing'_

'_He did something for someone else'_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Reliance

Chapter 2

Sakura was bored.

For the three weeks, nothing had been coming in. Every one was out on missions, doing their own thing. No one needed healing. This part of her job drove her nuts. She loved the research, the new discoveries and puzzles, medicine brought. But the lack of momentum at times was enough to drive _anyone_ to the brink of sanity.Except maybe Sasuke; he seemed immune to boredom.

Now there was a puzzle. How the hell could he just sit in someone's office and not say a word? God, she got restless, after ten _minutes_ of silence. And why _her _office? Surely there were other places, he could go and contemplate his grim life. Not that she disliked his company; the stony silence just became really morbid day in day out. She'd tried to talk to him too. He asked her about cases, and actually seemed interested, but as soon as she ventured off the _safe_ topic, he clammed up; still refusing to answer her questions. So albeit very annoyed, she concluded he would answer her when he was ready, _if_ he was ever ready. Nothing she did would make him budge.

Something else that had crossed her mind was how much Naruto knew. She had always known they were close, sharing a familiar understanding of loneliness, but there was a point at which even _he_ wasn't allowed into Sasuke's world. Had Sasuke told him about anything that had happened? Or did he just know what he saw? What had happened in those days Naruto remained near Sound? He _obviously_ knew something, but to her frustration was keeping tight-lipped about it. She couldn't even get anything out of her sensei, Tsunade. If possible she was even worse than Naruto, telling her in less polite words, to mind her own business.

So seeing she wasn't going to be much use in the hospital, she decided to take the rest of the day off.

Once she collected her things, she walked down to the front desk to refer her clinic hours to other Medics. While writing on a clip-board, a voice spoke from her left.

"Sakura, I was hoping to find you. Are you free to –" Tsunade began.

Sakura knew too well, what her sensei wanted. She wanted Sakura to go and check up on one of the elders. She would usually do this herself, however if she was too busy or feeling lazy, would pass it off to Sakura.

"No can do," smiled Sakura, still focused on the clipboard; knowing it would annoy her no end, "I'm taking the rest of the day off."

"Are you now?" asked Tsunade, raising her eyebrow, "And who said you could?"

"I did. You know very well I'm owed leave."

"You could take it another time; I'm up to my neck in paper work."

Seeing an opportunity emerge, Sakura looked up and suppressed a grin. "Alright, I'll stay, if you tell me what happened to Sasuke."

Tsunade had to applaud her effort, Sakura was persistent. She smirked, "Nice try. Answer's still no."

Sakura sighed, putting her clipboard back, can't blame someone for trying.

"Just have patience," said her sensei wisely, then changing tactics, "Now, how about checking up on the elders for me mmm?"

"No." she replied over her shoulder, while walking out the front door.

Damn.

:-----------:

Sakura walked outside, into the sunlight. Freedom was sweet; even if it only lasted half a day.

The question now was: what to do? She could go home, have a bath and read a book or go and have a nice lunch somewhere. Sadly that was really all that came to mind, there wasn't anyone around to visit, they were all away. Except one, but he was fickle to deal with. And at the moment, Sakura wanted something simple. So deciding she would combine both options, she went first in search of something for lunch. Low and behold she ended up at Ichiraku; apparently Naruto had rubbed off.

Perching up on a stool, she ordered her usual and began to eat. Moments later, she felt someone sit, somewhere, on her right. It was Sasuke.

Swallowing a mouthful of hot noodles in surprise, Sakura managed a "Hi," before downing a gulp of water (nice owners had foresight) to cool her burnt tongue.

Ordering his own ramen, Sasuke nodded to her, a noticeable smirk at the corners of his mouth. Another glass of water later, Sakura was back to normal. Sasuke felt it was safe to talk. "You're not at your office today."

Sakura stalled a moment. _Where to take this? Be rude: "No shit," State the obvious: "Hey! Wow your right!" or Explain: "The hospital was boring." _ She decided on the second, with facetiousness. "Ooh, you're good."

Sasuke scoffed, "Smartass." Despite his retort, he hadn't expected that answer. _She's changed._

They ate in a comfortable silence for a while, before Sakura asked, "What are you doing out and about?"

Sasuke, as usual, shrugged. Sakura made an aggravated noise, "You are the worst conversationalist in the world. You just shrug to avoid answering."

"Not to avoid," corrected Sasuke, finally looking at her, "just can't be bothered."

Sakura didn't respond immediately. This was nearing dangerous territory. Did this mean he also just couldn't be bothered explaining what happened in Sound? Or was he just making excuses? Sasuke was as interpretable as Naruto playing charades. Not wanting him to close off again, she kept the conversation safe.

"Sasuke, you can't blame all your faults on laziness."

Pretending to be confused; "Faults?" What are these 'faults' she speaks of?

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Look it up sometime." She paid for her ramen and hopped off the stool. "I'm heading home, I'll see you later," she said, walking away.

Sasuke just nodded and continued eating. He couldn't quite explain it, but her company was so _easy_. She had stopped asking her questions, for which he was grateful; he'd already gone through enough with the Hokage. She didn't expectanything from him, he could just _be_. That's why he went to her office, all the time. There was not pressure, for once nothing was conditional.

:-----------:

Back at work the next morning, Sakura was feeling very refreshed. It was amazing what a good lunch, a hot bath and a long sleep could do. To add to her mood, she had a case. Shizune had come into her office and said Tsunade wanted to see her. She looked shocked to see Sasuke, sitting comfortably on the bed and looking out the window.

Sakura, understanding Shizune's expression, explained, "Can't do much about it, just came with the office. I've already tried disinfectant."

Sasuke, didn't rise to the bait, only snorted. Shizune, leaving the office, smiled, and said "I'm sure you'll think of something." Sakura, following her, paused in the doorway, speaking to Sasuke.

"I won't be long, but if you have to go _you know_, please go outside." She laughed, while sidestepping a pillow thrown in her direction, and closed the door behind her.

Although he was scowling, he had to admit, he liked her laugh.

:-----------:

Tsunade stopped writing when Shizune walked through the door, accompanied by her pupil.

"Ah, good," started Tsunade, looking at Sakura, "I need you in emergency, ANBU squad 6 should be back today and I'm expecting chaos."

Sakura understood. Whenever any team came back from a high-ranked mission, madness was expected. Usually a squad would try to send some message before they arrived to alert the necessary medics, and by the sounds of things, today was going to be hectic. Suddenly she was anxious; something else had clicked in her mind, squad 6 meant Naruto.

As if reading her mind, Tsunade said, "Naruto's fine," Sakura, breathed out in relief, "it's two of the younger jonin. They encountered Mist nin and were outnumbered 3:1."

Okay, so not _great_ odds, but there had been worse. "I'll head to emergency now." She said, leaving the room.

Once, she was gone, Shizune turned to the Hokage, and said "You'll never guess who else was in her office."

"Who?"

"Uchiha."

:-----------:

Emergency, was, as predicted, busy. When she arrived, it wasn't long before Squad 6 did too. The two jonin weren't critical, but nevertheless serious. She attended to the worst one first, who looked no older than 18. He had deep gashes along his abdomen and a large wound to the head. What took most medics half an hour, took Sakura, ten minutes tops. She wasn't the Hokage's apprentices for nothing. Moving on to the second injured nin, she saw he looked little older than the first. Both his legs were broken and he had internal bleeding. After she had healed both, she assigned nurses to each, who would look after them during their stay at the hospital. She would check on them tomorrow.

Despite having used a fair amount of chakra, she wasn't feeling too bad. Her reserves over the last few years had become much more plentiful. Right now she wanted to find Naruto, even though Tsunade had said he was fine, she just had to check. But where the hell was he? She asked one of Squad 6, if he had returned to ANBU headquarters.

He shook his head, saying the blond had headed upstairs. Upstairs? _Her office_. Of course, that's what he usually did after a mission; visit her. Worrying slowed her brain cells considerably. She thanked him hurriedly and made her way back to her office.

When she opened her office door, she heard voices. Sitting on a chair beside the bed, was Naruto animatedly telling Sasuke about his mission. Sasuke, inturn, looked half bored half amused, at the dobe's storytelling. He was sitting in his trademark position on the bed, elbow resting on raised knee, other left straight. He made eye contact with Sakura as she walked in the door, watching her movements as she walked toward her desk. Naruto, slower, on the uptake, only realised she was in the room when she sat down.

"Sakura – chan!" yelled an excited Naruto, he ran over and enveloped her in a crushing hug.

"Oophm!"

"Dobe, she needs to breath at some point," commented Sasuke dryly.

"Oh, yeah" he said, releasing his hold on the pink-haired girl and scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry 'bout that."

Catching her breath gave Sakura time to think. This was the first time they had been together since Sasuke had returned. She remembered them, in the examination room, not saying a word to each other. Except Naruto asking her not to start on Sasuke. He had called her _Sakura_ then. He only did that when he was serious. Apparently things were back to normal now; Naurto was his usual energetic self. She was pleased that Sasuke was becoming warmer too. He looked at her now when he talked to her, instead of staring out the window. Even falling back into the habit of making the dry remarks she found entertaining. She had been _really_ surprised to see him at Ichiraku's yesterday; even stopping for something to eat! His progress was startling.

Taking deep breaths, she said "I'm glad your back Naruto, but go easy, yeah?"

Naruto just grinned and sat down again. "I'm just happy to be home. I was telling the teme 'bout my trip; it was a nasty one. Mist nin an' all. They had us completely out numbered, and I didn't get a scratch! It was awesome!"

Sakura laughed at his excitement.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes tiredly, "Dobe, it was boring the first time."

"Oi," yelped Naruto, "It was not. At least _I_ don't hole myself up in someone else's office, hiding from the world."

"I'm not hiding, it's just peaceful," Sasuke sighed and added, "well, _was._"

Naruto, shrugged him off, "Whatever you say teme."

Sakura, deciding now was a good time to but in, "Hey, I finish in 5 minutes, wanna go get some ramen?"

"Hell yeah!" And Naruto was out the door in a flash.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Sakura as she got her things, "You had to ask."

She levelled his gaze, "No one's making you come." She said easily and walked through the door. But who was he kidding? They both knew he'd go.

_Just like old times._


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter 3

_Peaceful._

That was what he'd called her office.

_Peaceful._

Didn't matter how many times she thought it, she still couldn't wrap her head around it. Did peaceful imply her office, her company or both? There was evidence for either; she couldn't determine one way or the other. When she was in her office, he would stay and when she was wasn't, he would stay. Though there was the interesting comment he had made at the ramen stand. _You're not in your office today._ He could have been stating the obvious, or suggesting that because she wasn't there, he wasn't either. Over analysing everything was one of her major flaws, she needed to install a 'shut down' button in her brain.

It was around 5 in the morning and she couldn't sleep; not for lack of trying. Realising there was little point in staying in bed; she got up and headed to the bathroom. A shower always woke her up. Once done, she pulled on some training clothes, a simple black t-shirt and black pants, grabbing some shoes and she was ready. When stuck for things to do at ungodly hours in the morning, there was a simple answer: train.

She jogged down to her old training grounds, where she had trained as a genin. As expected, few were up at this hour, most preferring to train, when the sun was fully up. Passing through the trees toward the main clearing, Sakura sat down on the grass and started warming up. A slight breeze swept through, making her shiver.

_Where had that come from?_

Only then did the dusty clogs in her mind begin turning; but she caught on too late. In a split-second, one hand was pinned tightly against her back and a kunai at her throat.

She spoke in a calm voice, "Kakashi, you pull that on me one more time and I'll thump you into next week."

Once released, she swiveled round, using her legs, and looked up to see her old sensei. She could tell he was smiling down at her through his mask, as he offered her a hand up.

"You're getting careless, Sakura."

Once she had a firm grip on his hand, she pulled him down, catching the Copy Ninja off guard. She had him on his back, pinned down with her knee and holding his arms as his sides, in a flash. "You're getting _old_, Sensei."

Sighing, he agreed, "Yeah, your right," before adding, "Though this _old_ sensei still managed to catch you completely off guard."

"You're annoying. Go read you're book."

He only laughed, which was rare for Kakashi. He sat down beside and joined her in her warm up. "I don't usually see you up this early,' he remarked, stretching his leg.

"Couldn't sleep," she answered.

"Ah, know that one well."

For the next few hours they trained together. It made Sakura remember how much she enjoyed his company. He was such a rare sight around the village nowadays because of his missions; it made spending time with him difficult. She thought about how he had never taken on another genin group, since Team 7. She realised she had never asked him why. Feeling it would be okay, to test the waters, she tried.

"Kakashi?"

"Mm?" he looked toward her, as they did laps around the training grounds.

"Why haven't you trained anymore genins?" she asked. She wasn't sure whether or not she expected an answer.

"No one ever matched up," he answered simply.

"What do you mean, never matched up? Are you back to failing them all, 'caz you're lazy or…"

Kakashi smirked, through his mask, "No, they just didn't meet the standard."

Now it was Sakura's turn to scoff, "Come on, it's been over 6 _years_ and not _one_ has met your standards?"

Kakashi just smiled, "They're not _my_ standards anymore."

Sakura, confused, asked, "Whose are they then?"

"Yours, Naruto's and Sasuke's."

:-----------:

After Sakura got back to her apartment, she still felt like she was another planet. He had just said it so _openly_. Kakashi, rarely gave compliments, and if he did, they were always paired with a warning of some sort. Usually, the grand ol' _Your greatest strength is also you're greatest weakness._ He loved that one. But he just talked as if stating a fact. Had they really been that good? Sasuke had always been a star at whatever he tried and Naruto harnessed so much power sometimes, it made you tremble. But her? Where did she fit in? She wasn't anything amazing, sure she had good chakra control and what not, but she wasn't _them._ Maybe she was missing something.

After having another shower, (training sweat) she dressed in her clothes for work, which today consisted of a black long sleeve shirt and black pants (though nicer than the ones used for training.) Sakura ate some breakfast and headed to work, making a pit stop for coffee.

She unlocked her office door and was not surprised to find Sasuke, as usual perched on the bed. He _wasn't_ however looking out her window. His nose was stuck in a book! _A book_. She placed his coffee, on the table beside him and sat down at her desk, staring at him.

Not removing his eyes from the book he was reading, he stated "Staring is rude."

"So you can speak!"

"Hn."

"You've got a book."

Sasuke gave her a look. _No shit._

"What's it about?"

"Stuff."

"Ooh, like pervert stuff? Has Kakashi done a number on you too? I think he got to Narut-"

"No!" he finally snapped, glaring at her, "it's about advanced jutsus."

"What kind?"

"Medical. Okay! Don't you have a job?"

"Fine! Going," she said, grabbing a chart and making her way out of her office. She couldn't stop the grin that made its way to her face. He _was_ paying attention when she rattled off about her cases. So much so, he was _reading_ about it! Who'd have thought?

:-----------:

Sakura, was checking on the two young jonin from Squad 6 when Tsunade appeared at her side.

"I heard something interesting yesterday," she said.

Sakura knew. Though she liked Shizune, she knew what chronic gossips her sensei and assistant were, when they had something juicy to talk about. Even if it was just between themselves. Still, she played along, like she knew nothing.

"What?" she asked.

Tsunade, eyed her student, shrewdly, she knew Sakura knew. "Apparently, the Uchiha has taken up residence in your office."

"Really? Who knew!"

Tsunade sighed, "Seriously Sakura, is this a good idea?"

Sakura, façade gone, became annoyed, replied "He's not mental, just withdrawn."

"He's not a wounded puppy you can just nurture back to health, he's been through a lot."

"And he's not an accessory I'm going to dump in a week. He's a _friend_. And I'm going to help him." She snapped, absolutely furious.

"I'm not saying you can't, just understand it won't be easy," replied her sensei wearily. Suddenly her teacher seemed so much older to her in that moment, so much wiser. Like she understood pain. _What the hell do I know? _Then Kakashi's words pounded through her head:

'_That there are no shortcuts in life.'_

:------------:

Sakura, was confused, really confused. Tsunade's cryptic words and Kakashi's sayings ran through her head. She had thought she could help him, maybe her teacher was right, and perhaps she shouldn't get involved. But she _knew_ she could help him. She wasn't expecting amazing results straight away, it would take time, a _long_ time. But she was determined. That's what you did in a team, you helped each other out. If Kakashi had etched anything into her skull, it was this:

_Those who abandon they're teammates are lower than trash_.

Some may have seen Sasuke's leaving as abandonment. She didn't care and Naruto didn't either, they were still a team.

With a new resolve, Sakura opened her office door. Sasuke, unsurprisingly was still absorbed in his book, not even looking up when she came in.

"Sasuke?" she said calmly.

His dark eyes slowly looked up from his book; his attention on her.

She took a deep breath. "I've tried to be as patient with you as I can. I've stopped asking you the same questions over and over, but I need you to give me _something._"

He didn't say a word, though his eye's visibly darkened. His expression was hollow, like the night he arrived. She knew she was pushing it, but she had few options; if she was going to help him, she needed him to open up a little.

"I really want to help you; get you back to normal. And I know that's going to take a while, but I _can't_ do that if you won't let me in."

He hadn't said a thing. She noticed the book was closed on the table and he was staring out the window again. _Back to square one_.

She tried one last time, in a whisper, "Please, it doesn't have to be a lot. Just _something."_

After what felt like hours, he finally turned to look at her again. His eyes boring into hers.

"I never asked you to help."

"We're a team, you don't have to."

"I never wanted it."

"Don't have to. You get it anyway."

He was still looking at her with the same intensity. He was weighing the decision in his mind. Did he want to tell her? It was none of her damn business. But what did he have to lose?

"If I don't want to answer it, I won't." he said finally .

"That's ok," she whispered. Relief flooded her mind. She didn't want to know how close he had come to changing his mind.

"Ask your questions."

_One step at a time._


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter 4

Having planned this in her head to the detail, Sakura had known exactly what she was going to ask. Though sometimes, no matter how much preparation has gone before hand, when the moment arrives, your mind draws blank. So forgetting her original questions, Sakura started with the obvious.

"Is Orochimaru dead?"

"Yes," answered Sasuke softly. The intensity of his stare was starting to unnerve her. It was like he expected her to run away any minute and he wouldn't think any less of her if she did.

"Is Itachi dead?" she asked hesitantly, she'd worked too hard to get this far. She was not going to stuff it up.

"No," he said simply. She had expected at least a hint of bitterness in his answer; there was none. Didn't he want his brother dead? Wasn't he strong enough? Would he leave again to kill his brother? "Are you going to kill him?"

"No."

Of all things, that was not what she had anticipated. She had become so absorbed in his answer that she nearly fell off her chair. Straightening herself up again, she looked at Sasuke, and could have sworn she saw his mouth twitch. Caught off guard; her question did not come out that articulately, "Um, why not?"

"I'm not playing his game anymore."

Unsure, Sakura continued, "But what about you? Your revenge?"

Sasuke gave a humorless laugh, "That's just it. It was _never _about me."

"Not about you?" Sakura frowned, confused, "I don't under-

"I was only his entertainment."

"But then why bother to fight you?" she asked.

"It always amused him, to see how long I could hold my own. He knew I was never going to be strong enough to beat him."

"How could he know that? You left to get stronger and –"

"Because," he started to raise his voice, then sighed, "he knew I still cared."

Sakura didn't press him anymore, he'd given her enough. She had the impulse to hug him, he just looked so tired. God knows how he felt; chasing after something for so long, to find it hadn't been what he thought. Sakura knew he disliked like contact; it made him uncomfortable. But she had to do something to show she appreciated what he had told her.

Slowly, she stood from her chair and made her way over to the bed. He was sitting in his usual position and staring out the window in thought. She sat lightly on the edge of the bed. Sasuke could sense her approaching, but made no move to stop her. She slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a tentative embrace. He shifted slightly; bringing her closer. They stayed like that for a moment, her holding, he not pushing her away. She brought her mouth down toward his ear and whispered a barely audible "Thank you" that sent shivers up his spine. When she drew back, he felt cold.

He heard he pick up a clipboard off her desk and move to the door, walk through and closed it with a soft click.

:----------:

Sakura could barely focus at work that afternoon, her mind was reeling. After first hearing it, she had felt sorry for Sasuke. She was worried he would some how blame himself for not being able to defeat Itachi. But it wasn't his fault and thankfully he didn't seem to see it that way either. There wasn't anger in his voice when he spoke, only a bitter irony. The most numbing part was what he had said last. _Because he knew I still cared. _Sasuke, in their younger days, had always seemed so disconnected. Now he was still grumpy, sarcastic and withdrawn, yet he wasn't the same as before. She couldn't pinpoint the difference exactly; he just seemed less self-contained, more _human_.

:----------:

The next day was just as ordinary as any other. Sakura got up, showered and went to work. Picked up her usual order on the way, though when she arrived at her office, she found it was unnecessary. Her office was _empty_.

No Sasuke.

If he was running from her, then he had better run _fast_. She was not going to let this turn into something counter-productive. She had honestly thought that damn Uchiha had more guts than that. They finally take one step forward and he moves five back! When she found him…..

:----------:

It was late that afternoon when:

"Sakura" said a voice. Snapping her neck up, she looked at the figure in her doorway, belonging to her sensei.

"So this is where you've been hiding? Following the lead of the Uchiha I see." She smirked. Sakura rolled her eyes at the slight.

"Not hiding. Doing work, you know the kind _without_ sake."

Tsunade's smirked widened, "Aren't we feeling vicious?"

Sakura, resigned, put her head in her hands, "You give me a headache. What do you want?"

"Well aside from your sunny charm, your report on the two jonin from Squad 6."

Head still down, Sakura mumbled, "I gave it to Shizune this morning."

"Oh, Right. Thanks." And with that she closed the door behind her.

That was awfully strange. Sakura could count on a hand the number of times her sensei had come to _her _office. She usually sent Shizune. Something was up. But she would figure it out later, too tired to think. Right now she wanted to go do her grocery shopping, and then head home. She packed her things and left the hospital.

:----------:

Meanwhile in the Hokage's office…

"So was he there?" asked a curious Shizune.

Tsunade, closed her office door behind her and sighed, "No. I'll try again tomorrow."

"She didn't suspect you?"

At this Tsunade grinned, "Not at all."

:----------:

With a handle over one arm, Sakura wandered down the isles of the supermarket, throwing in the necessary items as she passed. She was in the fruit and veggie section, when a familiar figure caught her attention. There by the tomatoes, was Sasuke, placing a large amount of the fruit in his basket.

"Preparing for a tomato famine?" she asked, eyeing the amount in the section compared to his basket. Fair to say, it was unequal.

"Sakura," said Sasuke in acknowledgement, with out turning around.

Sakura wondered how she was to ask him if he felt weird about yesterday. _Hey Sasuke, you remember when I hugged you right? Did that make you feel uncomfortable?_ Or _Hey! Sasuke! Um, well I hope you don't take yesterday the wrong way but…_Stuff it. She'd just ask; subtlety was never her thing anyway.

"Are you avoiding me?" It was to the point.

"No." he answered evenly.

"Then why weren't you-"

"I was training with the dobe." Oh, well that answered a lot.

Deciding he had enough tomatoes he made his way to the check-out. Sasuke made a side way glance at Sakura and smirked, asking "Why? Did you miss me?"

"Like a pimple on my ass," she deadpanned. Sasuke just looked down at her, amused.

"Like a WHAT on your ass?" came a shout, there bounding toward them was Naruto.

Sasuke, already resigned, muttered a "here we go." While, Sakura looked up at the ceiling and mouthed, "Why me?"

:----------:

Suffice to say, the three of them made it out of the supermarket in one piece. Sakura looked furious (as usual), Sasuke looked bored, and Naruto was rubbing the sore spot where Sakura had smacked him. Breaking the silence amongst the group, he spoke, "So, uh where are you guys heading?"

"Home," they said simultaneously. Naruto, began going through Sakura's bags he had offered to carry for her. "Hey, you've got ramen in here!"

"No!" said Sakura in mock surprise.

"Yeah, you do!"

Sasuke snorted at this, the dobe was oblivious to sarcasm. Naruto continued "Man, I could really go for some ramen right now…."

Picking up the not so delicate hint, Sakura offered, as Naruto knew she would, "Would you like to come to my place for tea?" It was rhetorical.

He grinned in response, "I thought you'd never ask!"

"Sasuke?"

"Hn." That was the lengthiest affirmation she'd get.

:----------:

Once they'd arrived at her place, Sakura busied herself with putting things away. Naruto was foraging through the bags looking for the ramen. Sasuke, with his casual demeanor was leaning against a wall, watching the dobe make a mess of the groceries. Everything was going reasonably well until Naruto pulled out a small box of tampons. He put it up to the light and stared at it with fascination. "Hey teme," he asked, still gazing in wonder, "What are these?"

Oh, this was just _too _good to pass up. Smirking lightly, he replied, "They're nose plugs dobe."

"Serious?" he asked raising his eyebrows, "Sakura-chan must get one hell of a cold!"

:----------:

Dinner passed in an easy fashion. Sakura talked about her cases she'd had that day and answered Sasuke's question about a jutsu. Naruto ran a running commentary on how he had 'whooped Sasuke's butt,' in training, who in turn scoffed and profusely denied the claim. It was a nice reminder of old times.

As they left, Naruto said he'd come and see Sakura before he left for a mission tomorrow. Sasuke paused on his way out the door and said quietly "I'll bring the coffee tomorrow," then left with the dobe.

Sakura smiled to herself, thinking: _stranger things have happened._


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter 5

Authors note: If this chapter had a title it would have to be Sasuke's thoughts, caz' that's pretty much all this is.

It was 4.30 in the morning and Sasuke was awake. Even before he had left Konoha, he hadn't been much of a sleeper, now he barely slept at all. An average night's sleep for him was around 4 hours. Strangely though, since his return to Konoha, he found that average was gradually increasing to 6 hours. There were less vivid dreams and more deep slumbers. Didn't take a genius to figure out, that unconsciously he was more relaxed at _home_. He was pretty sure, that was the same on his conscious levels of awareness as well.

Sasuke's thought's wandered to the night before, when they had had tea at Sakura's apartment. It had all just been so _natural_. Like they had always been that way and always would be. The dobe, was just the same as ever, stupid, rambunctious, annoying, though loyal, good and honest. If asked to guess, no one would know he was his best friend.

Sakura was another matter entirely. She wasn't the infatuated love-sick child anymore. That much was obvious. But he hadn't expected who she'd grown up to be. She'd always been intelligent, nothing had changed there. Though her vanity had subsided; she didn't seem to give a shit what people thought. There was also something else, a quiet confidence, he found interesting. She didn't doubt herself anymore, she wasn't _afraid_. Oh, and of course, her temper. He could say with a certainty _that _was still intact.

These thoughts led to her office, or more accurately why he went there. He'd already admitted aloud that he had found it peaceful. But that didn't imply a lot. Could just mean the hospital was nice and quiet. The dobe probably thought it was that superficial, but he was pretty sure Sakura had different ideas. Trouble was; he couldn't exactly explain all that clearly himself. He was always relaxed in that room; there was no level of expectation placed upon him. But it went a little deeper still. In that room, he wasn't Orochimaru's vessel, Itachi's little brother, an avenger or any other stupid title he had. He could just be himself. Sure those titles were/had been apart of what he was, but none could account for _who_ he was. However, he wasn't blind to that fact that this wasn't all because of the room. Sakura had a lot to do with it.

Her company, like the room, couldn't be easily explained. He only knew what he felt. And as silly as it sounded, he felt light. Like nothing weighed him down, holding him back. Initially, when she had asked him to give her something, he hadn't wanted to. Naruto only knew what he had witnessed. He hadn't felt compelled to tell them anything. What right did they have? Then he remembered her saying she wanted to help him. Being the eternal sceptic, he had very much doubted that. Everyone only ever served their own self interests, whether they knew it or not. But then why did she bother? She could have easily had told him where to go and had nothing to do with him, but she didn't. She persisted. At first he would have just said she was interested in him. But her behaviour showed otherwise. She wasn't clingy, didn't stare incessantly at him, and had stopped annoying him. He just concluded she wanted his friendship. While that wouldn't come straight away, he felt that wasn't an unrealistic expectation. And while he had answered some of her questions grudgingly, he found in the end, for some reason, he didn't mind talking to her about it.

She had seemed surprise when he'd said he didn't want revenge on his brother anymore. Though thinking back to their genin days, when that was all he focused on, perhaps her shock wasn't that unfounded. As far as he'd come, he still wasn't quite ready to revisit in his mind, the events that had occurred between Itachi, Naruto and himself. (A/N: And yes, to avoid reviewers asking, you _will _find out what happened, just not all at once.) Even though it was months and months ago, it was still _too_ raw. However one thing he was dead sure about; he was done playing his sick brother's source of amusement. This rat had jumped out of the maze.

Deciding that was enough contemplation for one morning, he got up. A quick glance at his clock told him, it was 6 o'clock. Enough time for a quick training session, before grabbing coffee and heading to the hospital. Hopping in and out of the shower and getting dressed, in 10 minutes he was on his way to the training grounds.

Walking through the clearing, he immediately sensed his presence. _Haven't felt that chakra signature in a while _he thought. There had been mixed emotions between the two, when they first met since his return. Fair to say, guilt, admiration and anger were felt by both. Sasuke had thought, his old teacher would hate him. Apparently not, he hadn't even been disappointed; just relieved he'd finally come to his senses. _Only took 9 years_.

Starting his warm ups, Sasuke planned on letting Kakashi show his presence. If he didn't want to interact, who was _he_ to force it. A light thump, told him Kakashi had jumped down from his tree and was in view. He looked up from the ground. As expected walking toward him, nose stuck in a familiar orange book, was his former sensei.

"Still a pervert," remarked Sasuke, dryly.

"Still an ass," retorted Kakashi. Sasuke could tell he was smirking through his mask. It was something they both did a lot of.

"Wanna spar?" asked Kakashi, not looking up from his book.

_He must want to see if I've changed _thought Sasuke. "You're on. Going all out?"

"Is there any other way?" he answered, lifting up his head band to reveal his Sharingan, finally putting his book away.

Sasuke smirked, "Bring it." And with that both disappeared. The competition had begun.

:----------:

Sakura had a lovely sleep in, after all she could afford to. She wasn't on coffee duty. She took her time having a shower and getting dressed. It was nice not to rush for once.

Opening her office door, she saw Sasuke, but he wasn't on the bed. Instead, he was on her leather couch in the corner, engrossed in a book. A different book she noticed. Feeling playful, she said.

"Sasuke! Another book! I'm so proud of you, such big steps!"

He didn't bother took look up, only turned a page and said "Your annoying."

She just laughed, "Oh come on! Your perpetual 'Hn's' are getting monotonous, I'm mixing it up a bit."

"You're just the life of the party, aren't you?" he drawled.

"Of this one I am," she grinned, "the competition's crap!"

At this he raised an eyebrow at her, to which she just grinned. It was then Naruto decided to make his appearance. "Morning all!"

Sakura gave him a chirpy, "Morning," back.

Sasuke managed, a grunted, "dobe."

"Well, can't stay long, got a mission" said Naruto grinning, then added, "Now teme, I don't want the sad face." Sasuke made a rude gesture with his hand, which Sakura ignored.

"Where, how long and rank?" she asked.

"Near Sound, 'bout a week and A class." He answered, quite used to this questioning. On hearing "Near Sound" Sasuke snapped his head up from the book, a dark look crossing his features.

Naruto saw this and read his expression, 'Don't worry teme, it's authentic, the old bat made sure." He looked at Sakura's confused face and realised he'd put his foot in it. Time to go! Scratching his neck and walking backwards toward the door, he said "Well, I'm going, see you soon!" And he was gone in an instant.

Sakura looked toward Sasuke accusingly, "Authentic?"

Sasuke, trying to play it cool, just shrugged. "Dobe learnt a new word. He was showing off." Sakura glowered, at him and said in a calm, but dangerous voice, "If you think that bullshit is going to wash over; think again. What did he mean?"

Sasuke sighed, "he was referring to another mission that turned out to be a hoax."

"How do you know about it?"

"I was involved."

"Stop evading. Give a straight answer." She ground out.

Sasuke, couldn't avoid her now. He shut his book and looked up at her and said seriously, "Remember the mission Naruto's squad was on when he found me?"

She nodded.

"It was set up by the Akatsuki to capture the kyuubi."

"Why were you there?" she asked.

"Looking for Itachi," he said tonelessly.

"Then how did you two find each other?" she asked, feeling like a link was missing.

"I'm not going there." He answered shortly. Sakura nodded and didn't push it.

She knew they'd eventually come to this. A point at which he'd stop. She was actually surprised it hadn't happened sooner. She'd been so caught up in how well he was progressing and opening up that she forgot what she was dealing with. This was Sasuke, hardest nut in the world to crack. One session on the Oprah show (In my story they have T.V) was not going to make him all warm and fuzzy. She had to respect this.

Sasuke returned to his book, while Sakura did her work. He didn't feel guilty shutting up. He'd already told her enough. Besides, he had to level what happened with Itachi in _his_ head first, before any one else could.


	6. Author's note

Authors Note:

Just letting you all know I won't be updating for a couple of days; have to finish some work that's due. Chapter 6 should be up by Monday.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter 6

Authors note: This is a little longer than usual to make up for recent lack of updating. Oh, and in this story, to become a medic nin, you have to attend university, so just bare this in mind.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Sakura looked toward her door, frowning. Who on earth was that? Few people came to her office directly; each with their own personal entrance. Naruto; true to his character, burst through the door, leaving Sakura in sympathy of the hinges. Sasuke, knocked once, but didn't wait for a reply before coming in. As if he knocked out of warning rather than consideration. Shizune knocked once too, however waited for permission. Kakashi just 'poofed' in cloud of smoke, avoiding the door altogether, so that left……Tsunade. She was at her office again? Then Sakura remembered she was trying to spy on Sasuke and sighed, at least he wasn't here yet. Furthermore, when did her sensei knock? She was usually similar to Naruto in her approach, though out of authority than excitement. So why bother knocking and show consideration now? She must want something. This would be interesting.

"Come in," Sakura called.

Tsunade poked her head around the door, as if scouting the room for snipers. "You're alone?"

"Yeah, no Sasuke," said Sakura, then added, "Though isn't that why you came to my office to 'get my report' a couple of days ago? to see Sasuke?

Tsunade, sighed, looked up and down the hall, then walked into the office and closed the door behind her. Sakura, was curious about her behaviour, eyed her sensei as she sat down in the chair opposite her desk.

"You and I both know I already had your report. I came to see how Sasuke was doing," she answered.

"Then why not just say so? And I doubt you were coming to see how he was _doing, _more like how he was acting," said Sakura, knowingly.

"Well when Shizune said he was sitting in your office doing nothing, what was I supposed to think?" asked Tsunade.

"Nothing," replied Sakura evenly, "You were supposed to mind your own business."

"Careful, Sakura," she warned, "I could easily _force_ you to tell me what is going on."

Sakura was starting to get angry, "Nothing _is_ going on!"

Tsunade just scoffed. "Come off it! Why is he coming in here everyday then?"

Sakura, paused then said, "Its peaceful for him, he doesn't get harassed." _Well use to not get harassed_ she thought.

Tsunade needed Sakura's cooperation, so decided not to push the matter further, "Has he told you anything that happened?"

So this was where this was really heading, Tsunade wanted information from her. She thought Sasuke had explained what happened, when he first returned. "He's already talked to you about it."

"Yes," Tusande confirmed, "But he didn't tell me everything, a lot was left out. I thought he might have told you something."

Sasuke had given her information in confidence, not for her to hand around like free lollies. "Even if he has, I'm not going to tell you," she answered firmly, she was not going to be swayed otherwise.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at he student, deliberating in her mind whether or not to accept her student's answer. Should she thump her for her defiance or let it go? It was a tough choice, though in the end she sighed; resigned. "You're lucky I like you."

Sakura smiled, as her teacher continued on "You don't have to answer this, but has he told you Orochimaru is dead?"

Sakura, seeing no harm, nodded.

"Well, what he told me was that after he killed Orochimaru, he we-"

"Wait," said Sakura, shocked, "_He_ killed Orochimaru?"

"Yes, you didn't know?" said Tsunade thoughtfully; _Maybe she doesn't know as much as I thought._

Sakura shook her head, and asked, "When?"

"Well, before reaching the correct age to become a vessel, Sasuke became too strong. He greatly over powered Orochimaru, and knowing this refused to give him his body."

Sakura just nodded blankly, wanting her to continue.

"Orchimaru, tried to trap Sasuke in a powerful genjutsu, to beat his mind into submission, but with his Sharingan, he could see through it."

"But then how did he kill him?" asked Sakura.

"Turned the jutsu on the master," Tsunade said simply.

_Wow. You could do that with someone else's jutsu_? Sakura had to admit she was impressed, though she'd never tell Sasuke. Exactly how strong was he?

Then Tsunade spoke again, drawing her out of her thoughts. "This is where his story gets hazy, he said after killing Orochimaru, he travelled around looking for his brother, then found Naruto and decided it was time to come home. Just like that apparently. But of course we all know that is a load of crap."

"Have you talked to Naruto about it?"

"I've tried. He won't say a word."

"And so you were hoping I would?"

"Pretty much, but you don't seem to know." She eyed her student as she said this, to see if she saw anything that hinted otherwise.

"You're right, I don't." she said honestly.

"But you wouldn't tell me anyway, would you?" she asked already knowing the answer. Sakura only smiled in response, confirming her sensei's suspicions.

Her teacher sighed, (for the umpteenth time) and stood up, 'I guess I'll have to wait 'till his ready." Sakura watched as she walked out of her office, thinking, _you're not the only one who's waiting._

Sakura, then picked up a file off her desk and went to begin her rounds. Not noticing as she left her office, the presence that emerged from an unusually dark corner.

:------------:

After finishing her rounds, it was around lunch time, so she made her way back to her office for her break. _Its weird Sasuke wasn't in this morning_ she thought. She figured he must be training somewhere. It was at times like these Sakura missed Naruto, she loved meeting the energetic boy at the ramen stand for lunch and listen to his entertaining tales. Upon opening her door, she saw Sasuke on the couch, reading a book. So the bed was out and the couch was in? Deciding it was best not disturb him, she ignored him and sat down at her desk. Not realising, Sasuke had kept his eyes trained on here since she'd put her foot through the door.

She started writing up some results, when she felt goose bumps run the length of her spine. Looking up, her eyes locked with his, wondering why he was staring, she asked, "Something wrong?"

Sasuke, blunt as ever, went straight to the point, "I know you talked with Tsunade."

Sakura, hid her shock, and maintained composure, "So….?"

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Now Sakura was confused, "What for?"

"Not telling her."

"I couldn't have told her anything, anyway, I don't _know_ anything." She snapped the last part, letting him know she was annoyed at being kept in the dark.

"You know _something _she doesn't and you didn't squeal, so thanks," he explained.

Sakura didn't respond, instead taking time to absorb everything. He had just thanked her, as in shown signs of gratitude. Did an Uchiha even know how to do that? She then thought of something she had been meaning to ask him.

"Why didn't you tell me _you_ killed Orochimaru?"

He looked up from his book and shrugged at her, "couldn't be bothered."

Sakura rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Of course, you'd be too lazy"

"Doesn't matter who killed him, bottom line is he's dead," he said dully.

"If you say so," Sakura said nonchalantly. It was then her stomach decided to rumble, however it sounded suspiciously like something else.

Sasuke, again turning up from his book, smirked and said, "If you have to go _you know_, I'd prefer you go outside."

She glared at him, how dare he use her own line against her! "It's called hunger, nimrod."

Sasuke, reading again, just hummed an "Mmmm." That sounded like, 'Yep, sure.'

Standing up and getting her jacket, she made her way to her to leave, when in the door way he spoke casually to her back, "Are you taking order's yet?"

She looked over her shoulder at him, exasperated, "You use my books, insult me, then expect me to get you lunch?"

Sasuke, pretended to ponder it for a minute, before grinning slightly (it was hard to tell, but it wasn't _quite_ a smirk) and gave a smug, "Yep."

She took a deep breath and said, in a controlled voice, "What do you want?"

:----------:

So the boy _could_ have fun, who knew? Sakura couldn't deny she was happy. After him closing off _again_ about Itachi, she had though it was all down hill _again_. But things were definitely looking up, he seemed back to usual sardonic self, except his quips had less sting and more humour in them, meaning he wasn't feeling pressured. And if he wasn't feeling pressured, it meant he would eventually open up in his own time. She'd even received a 'Thank you' from him; a feeling that was up there with learning your first jutsu.

She picked up some takeaway ramen and headed back to the hospital, however, before she could make it to her office, she was stopped by Shizune.

"Sakura, there you are. I need a favour."

Sakura was feeling prickly toward the assistant, for ratting out about Sasuke. "Really? Are you sure it's not Tsunade asking through you?"

Shizune, looked slightly hurt, "Look Sakura, of course I was going to tell her, I was worried about you."

"What for? For the last time _nothing _is going on!"

"I don't want to fight with you. But _please _just ask yourself why. Why does he come to _your_ office and not some other place?"

"I was his team-mate, I'm someone he knows!" Sakura defended.

"He could do what he does, in an empty room, he doesn't need you there." She pressed. Seeing Sakura, start to walk away, she grabbed her arm, to get her to stay and with an apologetic expression, said. "I just don't want you hurt again."

Sakura's expression softened, she couldn't be angry Shizune for being concerned. But she'd just wish they'd stay out, it had nothing to with them. And 'it' wasn't anything anyway, nothing was going on, but no-one seemed to register that despite how many times she said it. She then said, in a calmer voice, "You needed a favour?"

Shizune understood, and dropped the topic of Sasuke, "Yeah, they need a substitute lecturer at the uni for medicine, and I was hoping you could do it."

Sakura thought about it. She was getting bored being in the hospital, and hadn't had a mission in a while. Getting out could be fun. This was also a good opportunity to get rid of her clinic hours…..

Sakura nodded and said "I'll do it, if you take my clinic hours for the rest of the week."

"Deal. Now the lecture starts at 4 this afternoon. You'll talk for about an hour tops."

"What's the topic I have to talk about?"

At this Shizune couldn't help but smile, "Sex."

Oh boy!

:-----------:

It was hard to say whether or not to say she was happy about her new situation, sure she'd get out of the hospital for a bit, but was it really worth this? The aggravation of talking to a bunch of kids about sex? Okay, so maybe they weren't kids, more like 18, only 3 years younger than her, but still. Why sex? Why not about warts on toes? Something completely mundane. Then her inner-self came out, maybe she could have a little fun. She could tell them things that would scare the crap out of them………

Smiling at her evil thoughts, she came back into her office, set down the ramen on her desk and began to collect her things to leave. Sasuke, hadn't moved from the couch. What a surprise.

"Can you lock the door when you leave?" she asked.

"You're leaving early?" he asked.

"Yeah, got to lecture at the uni in," looking up at her clock, "ten minutes, so I'll see you later." Turning on her heel, she was out the door, leaving Sasuke by himself.

He thought for a moment, whether or not he should go too. He didn't want her to think he want he was going, because she was. If he did go, it would be because he was bored and it would be something to do. But would she think that anyway? Sakura, hadn't taken him sitting in her office, most days, to mean something else, so why this? With this in mind, he got to his feet, put the book back on her bookcase and was gone in a whirl of smoke.

:---------:

Sakura was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, in the direction of the university, when she felt a powerful chakra beside her. A sideway glance to the tall figure with dark hair told her it was Sasuke.

"You're coming too?" she asked, midair, and landed on a yellow roof.

"Obviously," landing in sync with her on the next roof.

"Why?" upping her pace, she didn't want to be late.

Sasuke really was amazing, he could be jumping from roof to roof, at high speed and still manage to shrug, "something to do."

Arriving, at the medicine lecture theatre with a minute to spare, Sakura made her way through the doors and to the room she knew so well, leaving Sasuke to himself. Sitting her things on the desk, she looked up at the amphitheatre of chairs and the students who began to file in. This brought back memories.

Sasuke, did not join her up the front, instead chose a seat for himself at the very back. _Still too cool for school_ she thought with a smile. Then a sharp realisation hit her, she was going to have to teach these kids about sex in front of him. She started to blush. Although she had grown from her fan-girl days, Sakura still found this embarrassing. Just as she would if he were Naruto, _Oh God! _She thought _Naruto would be worse. He'd ask questions!_ Feeling a little better it wasn't her other team-mate, she started talking.

"Okay, settle down everyone. I'm your substitute for today, and you may call me Miss Haruno."

Sakura was quite surprised to be on the receiving end of wolf-whistles and several _interesting _remarks, none of which she'd repeat to her goldfish, let alone another person. Some boys even moved to chairs closer to the front. Most of the female students rolled their eyes. One, who was sitting near the front, spoke up with a friendly smile, "You'll have to excuse them, it has been a while since they've had some fresh meat."

Fresh meat? What were they dogs? Sakura sighed, this was going to be more difficult than she'd first thought, _so much for an easy afternoon._ And did they really expect that to work on girls? Sure, Sakura wasn't blind, she knew she wasn't unattractive, but that didn't warrant they're behaviour. Deciding to end it here, she spoke dryly, "I admire your energy boys, but I'm afraid, I'm in to mature types." At this, the females cheered in support. She began the lecture again, before this turned into Jerry Springer, "So, as I was saying, my name is Miss Haruno and the topic for today is sex."

The boys started up again, however Sakura shouted over the top, "But I figure, most of you are well experienced in the basics" there was a murmur of laughter, "and so think we'll do something a little more _specialised._"

Her former embarrassment forgotten, she turned to the white board and with a marker, wrote in capital letters, CASTRATION. She put the cap back on the pen and turned around. No-one said a word, but they didn't need to, their expressions were enough. The girls, were all grinning and the boys looked as though they were constipated. Sakura, also grinning and barely able to contain her laughter, clapped her hands together and said, "So we'll start with a definition shall we? Anybody?" All of the female students raised their hands. This afternoon was looking up

Sasuke could barely control the smirk that crossed his face and thinking _coming to this had definitely been worth it, _Sakura was quite unpredictable at times.

:---------:

Getting in to bed that night Sakura smiled over the days events, that lecture had been a lot of fun; she wouldn't mind doing it again. Then something hit her and wondering why it hadn't occurred to her before. How the hell had Sasuke known about the conversation with Tsunade? Neither she nor her sensei had felt any nearby presence at all! _Just _how _powerful was he?_


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, easy mistake.

Reliance

Chapter um 8? (I think)

Sakura woke up the next morning to a world of blue. And not just any blue, a bright clear blue that belonged to Naruto's eyes. Low and behold, there he was inches from her face, grinning like a maniac. Upon seeing her crack a green eye open, he shouted:

"Morning Sakura-chan!"

"Thanks baka, now I'm deaf."

"Sorry," he said smiling guiltily, "I just got back from my mission."

She sat up and yawned, replying "I noticed." She was very used to his early morning visits.

She got up and pulled her dressing gown on, looked at the boy sitting on her bed, asking "what time is it?"

Naruto looked at her alarm clock, "Um bout ten to 7."

She yawned again, nodding, "Okay, I'll have a shower, and then we'll grab some breakfast yeah?"

He made his way out of her room, giving her privacy, saying "sounds good."

Sakura finished showering and got dressed, today's outfit consisted of, jeans and a dark blue top, simple yes, but still nice.

Emerging onto the kitchen she found Naruto bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, trying to fight boredom. He looked up; eagerly "Ready to go?"

Grabbing a jacket and her bag, said "Yep" and they were out the door in a flash, Naruto dragging Sakura to Ichiraku, while she yelled "Slow down!"

:------------:

They were the only two sitting at the ramen bar, because it was so early. Though the time of day seemed to have no effect on Naruto's appetite, he still managed an impressive pace, outranking Sakura's bowls in a ratio of 6:1. As he slurped down ramen, she rattled on about work and how her sensei was probing her for details about Sasuke.

"I thought she'd start on you soon, old bat already had a go at me," he managed between mouthfuls. Had Sakura, not been a master at 'Naruto mouthful speech' she would have had some difficulty understanding him. The only others with such credentials, were Kakashi and Sasuke.

"She said she'd already asked you, but you didn't say a word," replied Sakura, who was eating her ramen like a princess compared to the vacuum beside her.

"Too right. It's teme's story, not mine," he said seriously, before adding with a grin, "Besides he'd get all huffy if I did, quite the drama-queen that one."

Sakura smiled, putting in, "I know, he gets snippy if you _look_ at him the wrong way."

There was a snort from behind, "Well, considering old habits die hard, I'm bound to be a little suspicious," said a dry voice. It was Sasuke and he was making a joke about her fan-girl days, wonders never cease.

"Teme!" shouted Naruto, swinging around on his stool to face his friend. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Training," muttered Sasuke, as he ordered a bowl of ramen and sat beside Sakura.

"With who, yourself?" Sakura asked, and then said easily, "Sasuke, even for you, that's sad."

He looked at and said arrogantly, "No one else provides a challenge."

"Hey!" Naruto piped up, "You just name when and where, and I'll whoop your butt."

"As _tempting_ as the offer is dobe, even you're dull," replied Sasuke, before adding at the put out look on Naruto's face, "I know you're weaknesses too well."

Sakura, looked at him, perplexed and asked, "Did you just offer Naruto reassurance?"

Scoffing and turning to his ramen, he said "No."

"Teme, I think you did. I knew you cared!" hailed Naruto.

Sasuke just ignored him and continued eating, while Sakura asked, "What about Kakashi?"

"What about him?"

"Surely he would be a challenge?"

Sasuke just raised an eyebrow at her, and said in his usual tone "You serious?"

"Er, yeah" she answered, confused.

Reading her expression, Naruto, put in, "You didn't hear about the match between those two?" Her blank expression, told him 'no,' so he continued, "Well, it was full on, Sharingan and all, and Sasuke had him out in less than 10 min."

Shocked, Sakura turned to Sasuke, "Out? As in out cold?" He only nodded, and went on eating. She turned back to Naruto, worried, "Is he ok? Should I-"

"He's fine," mumbled Sasuke.

"I wonder who could fight you then…" Naruto sat with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Easy dobe, don't force it," said Sasuke smirking, catching Sakura's wrist as she tried to smack him, still holding onto her, he said around her back, "It'll feel weird at first."

"Can I have my hand back now?" said Sakura, bored.

"You may," he said dropping her hand and resuming eating, "But try to hit me again and I start breaking fingers"

"You're so charming in the morning!" she chirped, to which he rolled his eyes.

"I know!" Naruto, said, with a tone of 'Eureka,' "How about Neji?"

"Yeah," agreed Sakura.

Sasuke just looked at the two of them, "How about no?"

Naruto, sighed and ordered another bowl of ramen, he'd lost count of how many he'd had.

Sakura, prodded his shoulder playfully, "Come on! We'll make a social butterfly of you yet!"

Sasuke just ignored her. Then Naruto spoke again, 'I know…"

Sasuke, sick of hearing these stupid suggestions, said "No, dobe, you don't."

"What about Sakura-chan?" For the first few moments, there was silence. All three wondering whether this would bring up the past of Sakura, always being the weakest of the three, always left behind. She broke the silence, with humour in her voice, "Thanks, but unlike Kakashi, I like the realm of the conscious."

Sakura, no longer felt like the weak one. Since her training had begun under Tsunade, her powers had soared to heights; she never thought she'd reach. She was faster, stronger, and fitter. But her speciality was medicine; that was her _true_ talent, because she enjoyed it. Naruto smiled at her comment, while Sasuke appeared interested.

"Oh come on! You've beaten the shit out of me plenty of times!" grinned Naruto, to which she laughed. This type of banter disturbed Sasuke somewhat. He had made his choices along time ago and he had accepted them, still didn't stop him wondering what he'd missed out on.

Sakura, continued shaking her head, "answers no."

"I'd go easy on you," said Sasuke, speaking for the first time in a while.

Sakura tuned to him and groaned, "Not you too. I at least thought you'd be on my side for this."

"See Sakura-chan! You've got to say yes!"

Sakura, smiled, "No I don't."

"I'd make sure you stayed conscious," added Sasuke, as if that made the deal all the more tempting.

Sakura only snorted, "What a sales pitch! With that you must have people lining up left, right and centre!"

"Come on," pleaded Naruto. Sasuke just looked at her, waiting for an answer.

Trying to change the focus of attention, she started on Sasuke, "Why would you want to fight me anyway? There's no doubt in anyone's mind, that you're stronger."

Sasuke, turning back to his meal, shrugged, "I haven't fought you in 9 years, I don't know how you work yet. Besides, it's not about strength."

"Oh I get it, I'm a puzzle. You've already got Naruto pieced together and I'm next?" she asked knowingly, an eyebrow raised.

Sasuke, smirked, "Something like that. Dobe was simple" there was an indignant "Oi!" one seat over, "You're a challenge."

She just laughed at his honesty, "Well, the answers still no. I enjoy having four limbs." She looked at her watch, she had to get to work in 15 min. Getting off her stool, she stretched and grabbed her stuff, "Well, I'm off to work, see you guys later."

As she walked away, she smiled as she heard Naruto squawk "I am _not _simple!" and Sasuke's amused reply, "No, you just have a challenge with complexity." It was interesting that Sasuke tolerance of Naruto was improving, usually, his response would be something like 'shut up, dobe.'

:-----------:

Sakura was in high spirits on her way to work, until she was told by the nurse at the front desk, that there was blonde waiting for her in her office. Curious, she made her way upstairs and opened her door. Sitting in front of her desk was Ino. Now her relationship with the blonde could be simply described was tumultuous. They were 'friends' of sorts, though there would forever be an underlying rivalry. Well, that was Sakura's take on things anyway. Both women had gone down different paths, Sakura had become absorbed by the hospital, while Ino had taken on a team of genin.

Sakura sat down at her desk, and started, "So what can I do for you?"

Ino sighed, "Look Sakura, I know we don't talk that much, but I want you to listen to me; Sasuke is bad news."

Sakura could not stop the look of complete and utter shock that took over her features, what the hell was she on about? "Uh, excuse me?"

"Sasuke, is not good for you. He is bad news," she repeated.

"And this is what you came to see me about?" questioned Sakura.

"Yes, and to see how you were holding up; I don't see you anymore, you're always here, doing something."

"Yeah, I know, it's so cool. I even get paid for it!"

Ino looked hurt, like she'd been trodden on, "I don't need your sarcasm, I just need you to promise me you'll stay away from him."

"I'll promise nothing. He's a friend."

"What about your other friends, do they matter too?" she argued, "The only people who ever see you are Naruto, Kakashi and now Sasuke!"

"Did you really come here to talk about Sasuke, or yourself?" asked Sakura emotionlessly.

"I came to talk. But I'm just wasting your time." She got up and left the office quietly.

Sakura had never felt so guilty in her life, and continued wallowing in her self pity when someone knocked on the door, then opened it. Unsurprisingly it was Sasuke, carrying a book. He made his way over to her couch and sat down, legs running the length of the couch, casually crossed over, and back resting against a couch arm. He took one look at her expression and asked, "What's up with you?"

Sakura placed her head on her desk and mumbled "Life."

Sasuke shrugged and began reading his book.

:-----------:

Sakura, left work deliberately early that afternoon, with every intention of seeing Ino, when she arrived at her flower shop, she found no-one there. Deciding she'd come back tomorrow, she started on her way home. Kakashi happened to be coming up the same street, nose stuck in the familiar book. As she came into sight, he raised his hand to say hello.

"Hey Kakashi," she said tiredly.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much, just usual work and all. How 'bout you?"

"I get the every mission now and then, but it's quiet at the moment,' he said nonchalantly.

"Hey, I heard about your thrashing with Sasuke," she grinned, just remembering. "10 minutes huh?

Kakashi just chuckled, "Yeah, I got whopped, I must be getting old." For getting so severely beaten, he was pretty casual about it. Sakura, wondered if he really had gone all out.

"Do you wanna get a drink?" she asked. Alcohol was looking fantastic at the moment, she could forget about her guilt with Ino, about her annoying boss and how confusing Sasuke was being.

"Yeah, why not, always healthy to drown the sorrows," smiled Kakashi, well, as much as one can smile through a mask.

:-----------:

Needless to say, Sakura fulfilled her goal of forgetting about her trouble, she was having difficulty remembering her name. Challenging Kakashi to see who would be the first to blow (throw up) had seemed like a good idea at the time, now she was regretting it. She was completely wasted. Although she could hold pride in the fact that should could hold her alcohol better than most. Kakashi, wasn't as pissed as she was, but he certainly wasn't sober either.

"Sakura," he hiccupped, "I think we should call it a night."

"You know sensei, for once, I think you're right."

"Come on, I'll walk you home. Hate for you to get mugged or something."

"Even when you're pissed, you're still a wit!"

Kakashi, gave a lop-sided smirk, ruffled her hair and walked out the front door with Sakura in tow.

The streets were still relatively busy, which was not surprising as it was only 11pm. The night was just beginning, for those who _didn't_ have to work in the morning. The two trudged down the path, in silence, nodded to the people they knew when they came across a familiar group. There standing outside, another bar, was Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba and a few others she recognised, but couldn't name (or more like remember they're names.) Damn alcohol.

Naruto waved them down, they joined the large group saying hello to everyone.

Naruto, with his keen sense of smell and void of tact asked, "Are you two drunk?"

Sakura, who could care less, answered, "A keen observation."

Kakashi nodded, "I concur with that assessment."

Naruto frowned, "You concur? What?" Kakashi talked weird when he was drunk.

Sasuke finally spoke, "Come on Sakura, I'll take you home."

"Ah, that's ok; sensei and I were walking that way anyway."

Grabbing her arm and pulling her in down the street, he said "Let's just go."

Sakura being stubborn, rebutted, "Really, its fin- would you sto- give me my arm back!" Sasuke ignored her and continued to drag her home. She sighed, accepting her fate. She waved to the group, that was slowly shrinking in the distance, and shouted, "Thanks for the drinks sensei!" she heard a faint 'Your welcome,' in response.

She tugged on her arm again and said annoyed, "Sasuke, I swear I won't run away, can I have my arm back now?" He released her with a huff.

"What's up your ass?" she said, wondering what had gotten him in such a bad mood.

"Why were you drinking?" he asked bluntly.

"I dunno, caz' its fun," she smiled, then shrugged in an imitation of him and added "something to do." This softened his expression, he slowed his pace and became less grouchy.

"Why won't you fight me?" he asked curious and he figured, while she was in this state he might as well try for an answer.

Turning the question around, she retorted, "Why do you want me to fight you?"

He shrugged, "I've already told you. I haven't fought you before, you're something new."

"I'm a toy?" she asked, arriving at her apartment building and walking up the stairs.

"A source of entertainment," he said. Sakura, like anyone in that situation felt annoyed.

"You know Sasuke, for someone who hated being his brother's amusement, you're awfully good at using people for the same purpose," She said softly, then turned around and shut the door. Leaving a very shocked Sasuke deep in thought on the door step.

_I hadn't meant it like that at all._

Preview of next chapter ( I won't always do this, only when I've written the next chapter in advance:)

"_What is going on between you and Sasuke?"_

_This caught her off guard; she had been expecting something like wanting her advice for a girl he liked. Not this. But unlike others, she wouldn't close off to him about this topic, because he was Naruto. Self explanatory. "Um what do you mean? He uses my office as a retreat and I let him…"_

_Naruto scrutinised her, "I think we both know it's a bit more than that, I mean take last night for example."_


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Reliance

Chapter 8 or 9? – stuff it, who cares.

Sakura was at work, with her forehead on her desk (again) in complete and utter agony. Hangovers were a bitch. Whose idea had it been to go drinking again? Oh yeah, hers. For someone so smart, she could be incredibly stupid sometimes. (Amazing how often those coincide.) Aside from agony, she was also feeling anxious. Last night was still a blur, although she remembered some parts. She had challenged Kakashi to a drinking contest and somehow Sasuke had ended up walking her home. They had talked about something that had made her angry and leave him on her doorstep quite shocked. What had she said? Asking her-self for the millionth time. But to no avail. She could only hope it wasn't something tactless about his past. Her heart rate soared even higher when Sasuke walked through her office door. Time to panic!

He had a determined look on his face and opened his mouth, about to speak when she cut him off. She had to get this out first, "Sasuke what ever I said last night, I was way out of line; and I was drunk, so I'm really sorry if I was rude, or…" her blabbering died out, unfinished.

Sasuke, waited for her to stop, then said carefully, "You don't remember?"

Biting her lip, she said "Not a lot; I remember drinking with sensei and you walking me home, but that's about it." She could have sworn she saw Sasuke smirk ever so slightly.

"That's probably a good thing," he said mysteriously, while taking his seat on the couch.

Panicking, she blurted out "Why? What happened?"

He sighed, "Well, remember you were _really_ drunk, you reverted to old days of a sort…"

_Old days? What the- Oh no, please don't let that be what he means_ she thought. He must have been referring to her days as a genin; when he was the centre of her world. Crap. Not really wanting to know, she asked in a quiet voice, "What did I do?"

She couldn't see his face, because her head was face down in her hands, but if she could, she would understand immediately. He was smirking, as usual, but not in a sinister way. His eyes showed mirth they usually didn't hold. He said lightly, "Nothing too bad, just a bit of casual flirting." He laughed internally as he watched the colour drain from her face. She groaned in embarrassment, "Oh God, I'm so sorry; I swear I'm not into you anymore."

"It's okay; I wasn't scarred for life, a little scared, maybe..."

She finally looked up at him as he talked, he was smirking. Bastard. He had been stringing her along the entire time. Realising he was caught, his smirk grew wider, "Finally caught on have you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "That was low, even for you." And for the first time in history, Sakura witnessed something extraordinary, Sasuke laughed. Ok, so it wasn't a full blown laughing fit, that Naruto was capable off, it was more a deep chuckle, but none the less, he was laughing. "Not my fault you're slow on the uptake, hell even the dobe is quicker,' he retorted easily. She made a frustrated sound and threw a rather large text book in his direction, which he dodged easily and let it thud into the wall behind him. It left a rather large crater in the plaster.

Somewhat satisfied she'd vented her frustration; she resumed her earlier position of her forehead on her desk, thinking it was _way_ too early in the day to be playing mind games.

Sasuke left the book where it had fallen and returned to his own; his face still holding a smirk that wouldn't quite go away.

:-----------:

Around lunch time, Sakura left for lunch, Sasuke just gave an "Hn" and continued reading, which didn't annoy her. Sometimes he would be really easy and opening up, his laughing was proof of that, then he'd become re-immersed; back to his usual withdrawn self. He did this so often that she was starting to be accustomed to it. Everyone had dynamics to their personality, it just happened to that his was opening up and closing off when he wanted to.

To add a little variety to her day, she decided to somewhere _other_ than Ichiraku. She went to a little café, near her old training grounds. She grabbed a couple of muffins and a coffee to go and walked to the familiar area. There already training was Naruto and Kakashi. Naruto was joking with him, telling him he'd spoil the ending of Icha Icha _Extreme (_think extreme sports, but with a twist… even literally in some cases.) But Kakashi was having none of it. He wouldn't fall for the same ploy they'd pulled on him so many years ago. Sakura smiled fondly at the memory.

"You won't get your first word out, before I have you on the ground," said Kakashi springing back to avoid a front kick from Naruto.

"You sure? You're reflexes aren't quite what they used to be," replied Naruto, aiming another kick, this time to his sensei's side.

Kakashi's gaze flickered over to the pink haired woman sitting over on the grass, "So I've been told." Following his gaze Naruto too saw Sakura and realised his mistake, a little too late. Using the distraction, Kakashi had grabbed his ankle and tripped him so Naruto landed flat on his back, with Kakashi's foot poised over his windpipe.

Applying a slight pressure, Kakashi spoke, "yield."

Naruto ignored him and shouted out to Sakura, who waved and laughed at the sight before her. Kakashi was trying to end the fight, and Naruto, oblivious, was trying to socialise with a foot about to crush his throat. Bring his attention back to the fight, Kakashi sighed, and said, "Naruto, yield."

Turning back, he said, "Oh yeah, I yield." Finally, Kakashi removed his foot and walked over to Sakura, as Naruto jumped up from the ground and caught up with him.

"Hey, you've got muffins!" shouted Naruto.

"Yeah," nodded Sakura, "Do you want one?" she handed one over and winced as Naruto inhaled it in one go. Ah well, at least it hadn't gone to waste. Then Kakashi asked her, "Where'd you get those from?"

Sakura pointed and said, "That café over the road."

"Thanks, be right back." And Kakashi walled off to get him self some muffins, as Sakura only had two.

Naruto slumped to the ground behind Sakura, arms behind his head. Watching the clouds he asked, "so what brings you out here?'

Sakura, shrugged, a habit from Sasuke, and said, "Get out of the hospital, change of scenery."

"Yeah I know what you mean, I'm getting a bit bored, I haven't got another mission for a _week_." He sighed.

"At least you get out; I'm stuck in the hospital everyday."

"Why don't you change to ANBU for good then?" he asked, looking at her, "No doubt they'd find you a permanent spot."

"But then I'd miss the hospital," she replied. Naruto laughed, "You can't have it both ways Sakura-chan."

"I know."

"Ah, just ask the grouch for more missions, she won't refuse _you_." He said, with a playful resentment. Obviously he had tried to get more missions and failed.

"That's actually not a bad idea," she said, thinking it over in her head.

"Hey," started Naruto indignantly, "Don't sound so surprised!"

Sakura grinned at him. Then Naruto's expression turned serious. "There's actually something I wanna ask you about."

Sakura, curious, replied, "Fire away."

"What is going on between you and Sasuke?"

This caught her off guard; she had been expecting something like wanting her advice for a girl he liked. Not this. But unlike others, she wouldn't close off to him about this topic, because he was Naruto. Self explanatory. "Um what do you mean? He uses my office as a retreat and I let him…"

Naruto scrutinised her, "I think we both know it's a bit more than that, I mean take last night for example."

Sakura, becoming anxious again, said quickly "What about last night?"

"Well, why was he pissed you'd been drinking and keen to get you home? You were only with Kakashi."

Sakura had no answer for that, she could only guess, "It's what friends do, they look out for each other."

Watching her reaction closely, he said "So, you're just friends, that it?"

"That's it," she repeated. She didn't feel uncomfortable talking to Naruto about this, he knew her too well. But his concern did make her nervous, if Naruto had noticed something too, then was this really something bigger? The only option was to wait and see.

A slight rustle directed their attention to the source of the noise. There walking toward them, with an entire bag full of muffins in one arm and orange book in another was their old teacher. He sat near them, leaning against a tree and started opening the bag, still reading. Fishing out a blueberry muffin he bit into it and turned a page. Completely ignoring the two gob smacked jonin, beside him.

Snapping out of his stupor, Naruto's stomach took over, and he lunged for the bag; Kakashi let him. With a mouthful of muffin, he said "God, these are good."

Sakura, too helped herself to one, and asked, "Kakashi, is there any food left at the café?"

He looked thoughtful, before answering "Do a few biscuits count?"

:-------------:

When Sakura left, Sasuke was kind of grateful; it gave him a chance to think, about, well everything. His head was teeming with thoughts, a montage of disconnected ideas, save one factor; himself. He thought about the jutsu Orochimaru had used to beat his mind in to submission. But failed because his will was to strong. To the journey back to Konoha and the overwhelming conflict of emotions he had felt. And finally to Sakura's office; one of the only places he'd felt calm and un-harassed.

He had to admit, when he first arrived back, he hadn't known what to expect with Sakura, but never had he thought she would become so… he still couldn't explain it. He'd doubt he'd ever be able to. Maybe that was the trouble, people say speech was freedom; you could say anything you wanted. But was that really true? What if there wasn't a word for how you felt? Every way of describing it seemed wrong, but yet you knew _exactly _what it was. This reminded him of his mother. She had talked to him once about memories and people; you don't remember people because of their name, or what they've done, but by how they made you _feel_.

It was then ironic, for such a woman, to have two virtually emotionless sons. He couldn't account for Itachi, _nothing could, _but he hadn't always been that way. Sasuke remembered there was a time when he had been happy. After his family were murdered, he felt like the scraps left over from a meal, a shell of his former self. Though since coming back, after everything that had happened, he was starting to heal. He would never be who he was before; too many scars, but there was room for improvement.

And so he found himself coming to Sakura's office regularly. At first it had just been, because she was familiar. If Naruto hadn't always been away, he would probably have been holed in his apartment too. It was so odd, he used to loath another's company, and now he sought it. Though now it wasn't just because Sakura was familiar. And while he couldn't explain it, why it was more than that, he knew how he felt. And her company made him feel something like he had before his parents had died. Naruto didn't have the same effect. But he didn't have Sakura's ignorance of life without a family. Perhaps that was part of the reason he sought her company. Because with her, he wasn't reminded that he didn't have a family, he could forget. However, that was also the very reason why he could tolerate the dobe; because they shared a similar history. It was contradicting and confusing. And when something was confusing, he had learnt the best thing to do was to leave it. Things had a strange way of solving themselves over time.

Unlike feelings, one thing he could think about with clarity was experience. There were so many misconstrued truths out there, that while they offered comfort, enlightenment, and entertainment, they were no substitute for experience. Because at the end of the day, when you're laying broken on the ground, head smashed in, nose bleeding, wheezing every breath you take, you crawl to your feet and feel fine. Joyful even. Because you're alive.

Everything else is just a bonus.

_Itachi took this from me once, he won't take it again. _

_**I like this chapter, because it goes into Sasuke a bit more, not just his perspective on Sakura, but Itachi and how he thinks. So I hoped you liked it too. I read this through carefully, so if any grammar or punctuation is off, deal with it! (Intended as a joke.) **_

_**Unfortunately, I haven't written the next chapter yet, so no preview. But I can tell you some things that will happen, (not necessarily in this order):**_

_**Naruto talks to Sasuke about Sakura.**_

_**Tsunade admits she **_**may**_** have been wrong.**_

_**Someone will die.**_

_**Sasuke goes through even more personal growth.**_


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter 10?

Warning: I think this is still considered a T rating fan-fic, but I should warn you there is a little more swearing in this chapter than usual, so if you're offended by that. Please don't read it.

It was early in the morning and Naruto walked to the old training grounds of Team 7, where he knew Sasuke would be. Naruto had a sure purpose in mind today; to find out what his intentions were with Sakura. Now on the surface this sounded very territorial, like Sasuke was messing around with stuff he shouldn't be. But that was far from the case, knowing Sakura as well as he did, it was clear that she was her own person and wanted to be treated as such. No, Naruto's intentions were protective in nature, and despite how well he _knew_ she could handle herself, he felt it was still his duty as _both_ their friend to make sure everything was ok.

Only now did it occur to his _usually _agile mind, that it might be important to decide what approach he would take. Sakura had only said they were friends; that she was lending her office to him as a haven of sorts. Of course he hadn't said anything against it; he didn't want to worry or irritate her. But honestly, in an imagined scenario, where an audience were asked 'Raise a hand if you believe her,' safe to say, no one would. Did she think he was blind? A little vague perhaps. But not stupid. Or maybe it hadn't even occurred to _her _to wonder what on earth is going on.

There were many reasons that made Naruto concerned, most noticeably, the fact that Sasuke _voluntarily _sought out her company. That spoke volumes. Actually, that reason alone was enough, he didn't need any others. Because for the Sasuke he knew as a genin, to seek out _anything_, revenge aside, was amazing. And now here he was seeking out a girl. This _should_ go against the very grain of Sasuke's being; to seek out something (a girl!) openly and regularly, like he was dependent on it; a _reliance_. Surely that was something only the _weak _did. Had Sasuke become weak? Or just more human?

Then there was the fact that he had been _extremely_ pissed off, to find she had been drinking with Kakashi. Naruto wasn't quite sure which part in particular, whether it was that Sakura was drunk or that she was with Kakashi. Either way, as soon as she'd appeared he'd grabbed her arm savagely and stormed off. Leaving the rest of the group wondering what the hell was up his ass. Kiba had suggested PMS, to the group's amusement.

There were also smaller things; though subtle, hinted to something larger. For instance, if they were at Ichiraku's, he would often sit next to Sakura, something he had been _very _reluctant to do in their younger days. And the night when they had had tea at her place, Sasuke had asked her questions about _her_. He'd shown interest in someone else. While that doesn't seem major to most, Sasuke was one of the most self-absorbed people he knew; who _usually_ didn't give a shit about anyone but himself. However his behaviour was to the contrary. None of the previous judgements seem to apply. Though one could argue, that he was still was still serving his self-interest, albeit indirectly. If he was dependent on Sakura for _whatever_ reason, to know things about her and if she was ok; would be important for him.

But the bottom line was simple: What the hell was _that_ reason he'd become so reliant?

Naruto had come to two options; which were quite plain: friendship or something more. He hoped to god, for the peace of everyone and to avoid complication, that it was the former. But when had luck favoured him before?

And so, deciding an upfront approach was best (he couldn't do much else) he took a deep breath and moved toward the dark haired man training in the clearing.

:----------:

_The dobe took his time_ thought Sasuke, upon sensing his friend's chakra. He'd been expecting this and was slightly surprised he hadn't brought it up sooner. Though, he supposed, Naruto, in nature, was anything but organised. But he couldn't say much more about himself. He hadn't been demonstrating anything remotely Sasuke-ish in his behaviour. As to why this was the case, his guess was as good as anyone else's. He wasn't sure he would be able to give the dobe an answer.

Sasuke stopped his training and went to rest by a tree, sitting down and leaning his back against it. Better to have his entire attention focused on the dobe and save revealing more than he wanted to. Naruto, walked into the clearing, saw where Sasuke was sitting and made his way toward him.

Naruto, not one to be pretentious, had a serious look on his face. This was not a time to fool around. He sat down, in a similar fashion to his friend against a nearby tree and said, "Teme, we need to talk."

Sasuke remained silent, but Naruto knew he was listening. "What's going on between you and Sakura?" he asked; straight out.

If he liked anything about the dobe at that moment, it was his directness. He didn't fuss around with unnecessary crap. Sasuke thought carefully about how he should answer this, he didn't want to dig himself a hole he couldn't get out of. A while ago he had begun to consider Sakura a friend, on par with Naruto. This he had no problem admitting. "She's a friend," he answered.

"And that's it?" Naruto pressed.

"That's it," was the simple reply.

Naruto sighed, the said, "Did you two talk about this? So you'd both give the same answer?"

Sasuke's looked directly at Naruto and asked, "You asked her about this?"

"Yeah," he replied, trying to gage a reaction, "But she was just as vague as you."

"So you came to me."

"Come on Sasuke," said Naruto prying for an answer, "What do you mean by 'you asked her about this?' What is _this_?"

"I told you, we're friends," he said, remaining stoic as ever.

"Are you _sure_?" pushed Naruto, he wasn't backing down on this one, "Then why do you seek her out everyday?"

Still calm, Sasuke replied, "I don't seek her out _every_ day. I just go to her office sometimes."

"So this is all just about her office right? And _sometimes_? Are you kidding? It's you're second home!"

Getting irritated, Sasuke said, "No, I go to her office because she is there. But I'm not seeking her out _every_ where she goes."

"You and I both know her life is her work. She doesn't go anywhere else."

Flat out annoyed, Sasuke snarled, "Look, she's a friend. That's it. Plain and simple."

"Then why'd you get so angry the other night she was drunk with Kakashi?"

"Because!" he snapped, "Kakashi's a pervert and she was drunk. God knows what could have happened."

Naruto looked slightly shocked, "Do you really think that low of Kakashi? And of Sakura?"

"No. But they were both drunk and not in control of their actions."

Naruto snorted, "If you think _that _was bad, then …" his voice died out, remembering his tact. Sasuke didn't need to be reminded of other times, the lot of them had been utterly wasted and done numerous stupid things. E.g. Sakura mistaking a bar stool for a cat, Kakashi reading a menu, thinking it was is favourite orange book and trying to interpret 'chicken soup' as something dirty, and Naruto, being, well Naruto, multiplied by ten.

Sasuke remained silent. Naruto sighed, "Teme, you've gotta understand Kakashi and Sakura are friends _too_. He would _never_ pull something like that on her. Nor would she let him."

Still Sasuke didn't speak. Naruto continued on, "So that's it, you're just friends."

"We've done this," Sasuke replied tonelessly. Shit, he was shutting off. Naruto could see the window of opportunity closing fast.

"She used to annoy you."

"Yeah, well she doesn't now," Sasuke replied.

"But that's no reason to start hanging out with her."

"Her company's easy. She doesn't fire questions at me. Unlike some." He shot him a look.

"Fine," said Naruto, rubbing the back of his neck; frustrated, "I'll back off."

"What a blessing." Sasuke replied sarcastically, as he stood. He was pissed off. Those questions had made him confront issues, he had stored away in a neat box in his mind; to be revisited at _his_ leisure, not at someone else's. But by answering Naruto's questions, he got the idiot off his back.

He walked back to the clearing to train, and sighed when he heard the dobe getting to his feet and following.

Not wanting to this to end bitterly, Naruto thought if he trained with the teme; all their frustration could be vented and lost. He shouted out, "Hey teme, you wanna train for a bit?" He was speaking to Sasuke's back.

He shivered when Sasuke turned around. His Sharingan was activated, making his eyes glower and entire aura seem much darker. And before Naruto could move, the dark haired boy was moving toward him with such speed, he seemed to disappear entirely. Next minute there was a presence behind him, and a voice spoke, "Not today dobe." Then there was black.

:----------:

Sakura walked into her office that morning, with two coffees. She placed both down on her desk and reached for today's files. Sasuke didn't appear to be in yet. Sitting down and flicking through the files, she found there were only three. On average she'd get about fifteen. Odd. Deciding she'd finish the three cases, and then see Tsunade, she opened the door; to find she'd almost ran straight into Sasuke. She swiftly sidestepped him, to avoid a collision and said, "Hey, you're coffee is on my desk and there's a new book you might be interested in."

He nodded and muttered a "Thanks."

Thinking he was more quiet than usual, she grabbed his arm, to stop him and asked, "is everything alright?'

He looked down at her and said, "Just the dobe."

Sakura grinned, dropped her hand, and said "What'd he do this time?"

"Annoyed me."

Figuring she wasn't going to get anything more, she continued smiling, and responded "Naruto could sit near you and you'd get pissed off."

She got an "Hn" and a closed door. Chuckling to herself, she walked off to begin her rounds. While, Sasuke; inside her office, grabbed the remaining coffee, picked up the new book and made his way to the couch. The title of the book read, '_From the Eye to the Visual Cortex: A study of blood line limits in vision.' _Smirking slightly, he sat down and opened the book, thinking, _she must have ordered this deliberately, it's too specialised to be a common text book most medics have. _

:----------:

After whizzing through, the three cases, she promptly made her way to her sensei's office. Knocking on the door, she received a quiet, "Come in."

Her sensei's head was down on her desk, surrounded by empty sake bottles. Sakura could see Shizune grabbing the last two _full_ bottles and hurrying to her office to hide them. Tsunade groggily looked up and said, in a slurred voice, "Sakura. Good, I'm glad you're here. You're going to emergency today."

Sakura, quite used to finding her sensei slumped over her desk, drunk, asked, "Sure. Is there a reason for this or….?"

"Oh, don't worry. You're work's fine; still on top. Just not much coming in at the moment."

Feeling slightly relieved, she wasn't losing it, Sakura replied, "Alright. I head down there now." And with that she left the office, closing the door behind her.

:----------:

Meanwhile, in the clearing of the old training grounds, a blond man woke up slightly disorientated. Taking in his surroundings, and thinking back to the last thing he remembered, he growled in frustration and shouted, "Teme! You're dead!"

:----------:

Emergency set a rapid pace. It wasn't like cruising down the halls, at a leisurely pace, floating from one patient to the next. You were on constant alert in this place, and couldn't afford to falter for a second. Or it could cost someone their life.

Sakura had replaced her usual long white coat, with a matching set of blue scrubs and tied her hair up in a messy ponytail. She was then approached by a flustered nurse, who was handing her a file on an incoming patient, rattling of descriptions at her, "young girl, 8 years old. Fell from a tree, 50 feet. Severe lacerations, to the head, torso and left leg." Then she added, "It doesn't look good."

Sakura felt the extra comments weren't necessary, and said sharply "I'll decide that."

However as the girl was wheeled through the emergency doors on a stretcher, surrounded by hurrying nurses and her distraught parents, Sakura felt perhaps the nurse wasn't far from the truth. Rushing forward, Sakura, shooed away some of the nurses to get a closer look.

Had Sakura not been told the girl's age, she would have guessed she was only about 5 years old. Her tiny body was covered in blood, from her many wounds. Her skull had been cracked open, almost right through the middle, and blood was spurting out. Not matter what the nurses did, it wouldn't stop. The other major injury was the deep cut in her torso that was dangerously close to her heart. Fragments of her ribs were tearing through her skin, and as Sakura far could see, puncturing her right lung.

"Get her into the first operation theatre. Now!" she shouted, and pointing to particular medics and nurses, "I want you two to take her down there, seal off her left lung and stabilise her breathing, I'll be there shortly. And the rest are scrubbing in with me."

:---------:

In less than two minutes, the entire surgical team were working on the patient in the operating room. The young girl's breathing had been stabilised, and medics were controlling the bleeding from her torso. Sakura's first concern was the head injury, she had sent chakra to slow the bleeding and redirect the blood to other areas of the brain. The corpus colosseum had been partially severed and she was working on re-knitting the connecting tissue back together. Once the hard part had been done, she had another medic, finish healing the remaining wound. She then turned to the injury on the torso. Her primary concern was to make sure; the heart had not been damaged. She sent chakra in to the wound, which acted as a sensor, telling her where and how great the damage was. This was a technique Sakura had developed, with her chakra control. It saved time usually spent on looking for the injuries, to instead healing them promptly. She'd taught Tsunade, who no doubt mastered it easily and now it was being taught the more advanced medics at the university.

The heart had not suffered any direct damage; however two of the main arteries leading to it were perforated, so she quickly sealed them. This wound was deep and Sakura had to use an enormous amount of chakra to knit each fibre of tissue back together. Slowly but surely, the wound was coming together. Then Sakura felt a warning from her chakra, both lungs had collapsed. Monitors started beeping and nurses hurried to stabilise the girl again.

Her heart rate was dropping fast.

They needed to get air back into the lungs, the right was already screwed, so Sakura focused on the left. She shoved a tube down the girl's throat, that was attached to a pump and when she was sure it was in far enough, she began manually pushing air into the lung, through the tube. However, it wasn't enough, her oxygen levels were plummeting, despite. One lung wasn't enough. She handed the pump to another medic, so she could try to heal the other lung.

Sakura sent chakra into the right lung, sealing it off so it could hold air. But it was taking too long. This lung was like a sieve, it had so many holes.

It was all over when the young girl flat lined. Sakura used her charka as an electric shock to revive her, over and over, but it didn't work.

The girl was dead.

Another medic called her time of death, the rest of the team were quiet. It was well known throughout the hospital, that you could number the patients Sakura had lost on one hand. She was that good. But on the rare occasion, her efforts and training weren't enough, Sakura hated it, absolutely loathed it. In her mind, if you were good enough, no one need die.

Sakura, expressionless, said "Clean her up before her parents see her. They shouldn't have to see this." And with that she left the operating room, pulling off her hat and mask as she went. (Part of the uniform for surgery.)

Sakura didn't stop walking until she reached a deserted corridor, on one of the higher levels. No one would hear her up here.

"Fuck!" she yelled, kicking the wall in frustration, then rubbing her eyes tiredly. She slid down the wall, knees brought up in a sitting position. Elbows supported by her knees and her hands holding her bowed head.

"Shit," she cursed again. Sakura, didn't get riled up about too much, but there was _nothing_ like losing a patient. And for those who had never experienced it, they could never understand. It was her responsibility to save people. That girl's life had been in her hands, and she'd let it slip away. Gone. If she had trained harder, learned another jutsu she could have saved her. _God, I'm slipping._

Sakura didn't know how long she been sitting like that, when she felt someone sit down beside her. The familiar chakra told her it was Sasuke. He was sitting in his signature position, one leg raised, the other stretched out, raised knee supporting an elbow. He waited a moment then asked quietly,

"What happened?"

There was a long pause, before she answered, "I lost a patient. A little girl."

"Surely you've lost a patient before?"

"Yes!" she snapped, "Doesn't make it any better."

"Then what's the issu-"

"The _issue_ is if I had been stronger, I could have saved her."

Then it became painfully obvious to Sasuke. This was _really_ about Sakura feeling inferior. But in a different way than before. Instead of measuring herself against team-mates, she was measuring her abilities by how many lives she saved, which in his opinion was just as stupid.

He sighed, "Sakura, you're a good medic. I doubt Tsunade could have done any better."

She just scoffed, looking at him, and said bitterly, "You'd hope so. Seeing a she is my equal as a medic."

Slightly confused, Sasuke asked, "Then why is she still you're sensei?"

"I only match her skill, not her experience."

"So you're still learning."

"I'm _always_ learning. Nothing I _ever _do seems to be enough!"

"Bullshit."

"Its not-" she started indignant.

"Get over it!" said Sasuke cutting her off. "Yes, it's sad you lost a patient. But be upset because of the life lost, not you're performance. No one is perfect. I think _I'd _know."

Sakura snorted, "You're so bloody arrogant."

Sasuke, smirked slightly, said, "At least I'm not pretentious enough to think I can save everyone."

"No, you just think you're more powerful than anyone else," she shot back.

"_Did_ think that," he corrected.

Sakura, tired off arguing, mumbled "Whatever."

Sasuke felt a change of scenery was in-order. "Come on," he sighed, getting up and hauling her up by her arm. "You need a drink."

Sakura gave a short laugh, "You sure you won't get all huffy? I remember the last time I had a drink…."

"There's a difference. You're with _me _this time," he answered evenly.

:---------:

Tsunade emerged from her office, and saw off the parents of the little girl who had died. Turned out she had been up in her tree house, when the supporting branch gave way, it was quite sad. And the Hokage felt sorry for their loss. But if you'd worked as long as she had in a hospital, you learned that was apart of the job. Doesn't mean you valued a life any less, just means you dealt with a loss differently. For instance, some might say that was one of the reasons she had so many sake bottles in her office. Sakura's way involved immersing herself in medical textbooks, as if to fix the reason the person had died, even if it had been _beyond_ her control. That girl expected too much of herself.

So she was very intrigued to find Sakura, _not_ surrounded by text books, but leaving in blood covered scrubs, with none other than Uchiha. But what was even more astounding was the expression on each face. Sakura was rolling her eyes at something Sasuke had said, while he was smirking, as usual. Though it held a warmth Tsunade didn't recognise.

How he'd managed it, she didn't know. But if Sasuke could get Sakura out of her books and away from the office once and a while, perhaps he wasn't so bad for her after all.

Shizune behind her had witnessed the same thing. "Maybe we were wrong."

Tsunade smiled slightly and said, "Wouldn't be the first time."

_Assumptions are the absolute mother of all stuff ups._


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter 11

Inches from his face looking directly at him, was Sakura. "You have beautiful eyes." (There is the fantastic line from Ice Age, when Sid describes Manny's eyes.)

Sasuke took a deep breathe and counted to ten. When he had suggested getting a drink, he hadn't envisioned one turning into many. Though unfortunately that is what had happened, skipping from one bar to the next. And now here he was babysitting a wasted medic, _again_. True, the first time had been by choice and so arguably was the second, but did that make it fair?

Cursing his lack of foresight, Sasuke, took a step, back. Enjoying his personal space again, he grumbled, "You have no stamina."

"That's crap!" slurred Sakura, "my stamina has greatly improved." She thought he was making a slight on her strength.

"I mean you can't hold you're alcohol," said Sasuke, calling on all remaining traces of tolerance he had left.

"Can too," came the reply.

"So then why I am hauling you home at 1 in the morning, so you don't pass out in the streets?" inquired Sasuke.

"'Cause I'm you're friend."

"Hn," replied Sasuke.

There was a comfortable silence between them. Sasuke continued supporting a drunk Sakura, by the waist (she'd fall down if he didn't), while Sakura wobbled along, keeping up with his brisk pace. He made a mental note, to _never_ go drinking with her again. Ramen was fine, but if there was anything alcoholic in range, he was gone. She was _way_ too much like her sensei at times, except Tsunade seemed to have a better stomach for her drink. But that could be owned to years of experience.

_Experience._ That was what Sakura had said she'd been lacking, and if she'd had more, she could have saved the girls life. Which was absolutely ridiculous. You could be the best damn medic in the world and you're still going to have fatalities. In fact that made you a _better_ medic. You learned to cope, under _all _conditions. And try as he might to point this out toward Sakura, she would have none of it, sober or drunk. Ah well, he'd tried.

But why had he tried to help at all? He hadn't helped her, by offering any comfort; more just pointed out the obvious and told her to get over it. Though he had done it in a tactfully and almost caring manner, which was the part that concerned him. Did he care for Sakura? Sure he didn't want her to die or anything. Though hopefully, it was above something so basic. She was a friend, as she'd just told him (though he already knew.) People cared about their friend's right? _Yes_ he told himself. He supposed if this is what it meant to care, he felt the same for Naruto as well.

Despite his very great efforts of trying to destroy these bonds, they wouldn't go away. Like an annoying fly, you swat, but still keep's coming back. So he figured it was more energy efficient to accept them, than continue trying to ditch them. But they'd have to remove his spine and beat him with it, before he even _considered_, admitting that to anyone. (But it was probably pretty obvious in his actions anyway, e.g. he wasn't trying to leave the village again.)

Breaking his train of thought, Sakura mumbled, "Slow down. Don't need to walk so fast."

While he had been thinking, Sasuke hadn't paid attention to the rate his legs walked at. It seemed he had unconsciously been using his speed. He slowed down considerably, so Sakura would stop moaning.

Sakura, through her hazy vision took note of her surroundings; they were walking past the new training grounds. These were smaller than the older ones, but had more modern equipment. Personally she preferred the old ones; these other grounds were too _soft_. Then an idea came to her:

"Fight me."

Sasuke had been thinking again and hadn't heard her, "Hn?"

"Fight me." She repeated, and then added, "You said you didn't know all my powers yet."

"I said I didn't know how you _worked_, as in how you _use_ you're powers."

"Same diff, but only way you're gonna know is if you fight me."

"No." said Sasuke firmly.

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"You can't stand and can barely see. I'll fight you when you're sober."

"It doesn't have to be serious. Think of it as practise."

"If I go along with this, you'll fight me for real?" asked Sasuke.

"Yep."

Sighing, Sasuke redirected them toward the adjacent training ground. Although it was a complete waste of time, he ultimately stood to gain from this. She had agreed to fight him seriously in the future, as in all out. Finally, he would have a new opponent.

They were both standing in the middle of the training grounds. Sakura, managed to find her balance and stand on her own. When Sasuke spoke, "This is pointless. You'll be down in a second."

"Just start."

"You asked for it," he warned, before disappearing.

Now, picture this, you're drunk, could barely see in the day, let alone the night. And now were standing in a seemingly deserted clearing, completely open for an expected attack from a sanin level ninja. Nice.

Did you get fries with that?

He had been wrong. It had probably been about 2 seconds before she was down. He must be losing his touch. But nevertheless she was down, sprawled on her back, the wind completely gone from her.

It had all happened so quickly, she had sensed movement coming from behind and made to turn before she was tripped. Her legs gave way and plonk, she was on the ground. Bugger.

Crouching beside her head was Sasuke, wearing a fairly bored expression. As if he'd been asked to recite his ABC's. "We done?" he asked.

Sighing, accepting defeat, _for now_, she sat up, "Yeah, I guess. You're just too damn fast."

"My apologies. I should be more considerate to my opponents and slow down," said Sasuke dryly.

"You should," she grumbled, healing the area, where she'd fallen, that otherwise would've bruised.

Sasuke half smirked, "If its any consolation, you're sense of motion isn't half bad. The dobe is a lot slower."

Sakura, scoffed and got up, as Sasuke also stood. "Oh well, in that case, I feel loads better." Both knowing Naruto had the observational skills of a gnat.

And with that they both made they're way to Sakura's apartment, where Sasuke, mumbled a 'night' amongst a 'never again' and made his own way home.

:------------:

Sasuke and Sakura, could be seen a day later sitting side by side at the ramen bar having breakfast. Sakura had taken the previous day off work to get over her hangover. Both could feel a raw chakra signature headed straight for them. Sasuke, asked her, "Shouldn't you be at work by now?"

"Yeah. But I'll say hi to Naruto first." She said.

"He'll live. Come on, let's go." Urged Sasuke. Odd thing was, Sasuke, never urged anyone to do anything.

"What's with you?" she said, curious. "Something happen?"

"As I said the other day, the dobe annoyed me."

"So, suck it up. Or just go on ahead."

Sasuke didn't move, just kept eating.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, "Spit it out." If he was staying, he was going to explain.

Sasuke, rolled his eyes, and drawled, "Dobe spoke, pissed me off and I blacked him out. End of story."

'What'd he say?" She asked, not surprised in the least he had knocked him unconscious.

Sasuke ignored her and finished his breakfast. _There are always walls with this boy_ she thought.

"Well, whatever he said, he's going to thump you. I can tell from here, he's pretty pissed." Remarked Sakura, conversationally.

"He'll try," said Sasuke, in his usual tone.

"Ten says he gets you."

"You're on."

"Teme! You're _so _dead. I'm gonna rip out you're intestines and choke you with them!" shouted a fuming Naruto, storming down the street in a cloud of dust.

"Oh," said Sakura, slightly disappointed, "You didn't get the spleen threat. He's not _that _angry." She'd wanted a show.

Sasuke didn't seem the slightest bit ruffled. He just continued eating casually. When Naruto was a metre away, he began "Hi Do-" though was interrupted by a fist in his stomach. Naruto had punched him.

And Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke; a shadow clone. Naruto looked bewildered and Sakura looked mildly impressed. A voice made them both turn; leaning against the fence was Sasuke, hands in his pockets, "Still too slow."

Naruto, remembering his anger, raised his fist again, when he noticed, a fresh bowl of miso ramen on the bench, his favourite. Anger now completely forgotten, he hopped on the stool and began slurping down the noodles. At a rate a vacuum would be jealous of.

Sakura sighed. She had to hand it to him, he was a good strategist. With the perfect timing of the replacement jutsu and ordered bowl of Naruto's beloved ramen, the plan was flawless.

Sakura said goodbye to Naruto and walked over and handed Sasuke a ten dollar note. He took it wordlessly and they both headed toward the hospital.

Then he said smugly, "You have too much faith in dobe's abilities."

"No," she corrected, "I just underestimated his love of ramen."

:-----------:

It was early in the afternoon, and Sakura, who had finished her rounds, was at the front desk, filling out one last form. She felt the arrival of her sensei's pounding chakra beside her.

"Finished for today?" asked her sensei.

"Yep." Confirmed Sakura.

"You can go home early then." Said Tsunade.

"Was planning on it," replied Sakura, with a grin, while finishing the form.

"So, I hear you abandoned the text books for a drink? I'm impressed," said Tsunade casually, changing topic.

Sakura, gave a laugh, "I'm not an alcoholic yet. Just know there are other ways than text books."

Tsunade sighed; here she was thinking Sakura would finally come to grips with losing a patient. Apparently not. Just found another venue in which she could escape. The classic: Alcohol.

As if reading her thoughts, Sakura, continued, "I don't accept that I _have _to lose patients, but I understand that it happens."

For a brief, hopeful moment, Tsunade asked, "So you won't get bent out of shape when it happens again?"

"Yeah I will. But I can work smarter, not harder. I should practise more techniques, not just study theory."

Sakura, smiled at Tsunade's 'nothings changed' expression and handed the completed form to the nurse behind the desk.

"So, I'm not coming with you to AA just yet," she said with a wave and made her way back to her office. Tsunade rolled her eyes, and went back work, quite use to the quips about her drinking.

:---------:

Sakura opened her office door and made to collect her bag and coat. Sasuke was reading the book, she had ordered him on the couch. He looked up at she put on her coat, "You're leaving early?"

"Uhuh. Going shopping if you wanna come," she said, while grinning at his 'as if' expression.

"Lock up when you leave yeah?" She said walking toward the door, bag in hand.

"Will do."

She paused in the door way, then asked "Hey Sasuke, what exactly was you're punishment?" It had been on her mind for a while. None of them had really discussed it, probably because it was minor to everything else that had happened. But she was still interested.

Sasuke, looked at her curiously, wondering where that had come from, "I'm exempt from missions, until you're sensei decides otherwise."

"I thought so. Can you leave the village?"

"No. Why?"

Sakura, shrugged, "Just wondering, anyway I'll see ya."

:---------:

Sakura had been so focused on everything in her own life, she had completely forgotten about Ino. She had promised herself, she would see her old friend and apologise for being so cold. Figuring now was as good a time as any, Sakura made her way to the flower shop she knew so well.

There arranging, the front collection of flowers, blonde hair in a messy bun was Ino. Talking to her back, Sakura announced her presence.

"Hi Ino," she said.

Ino, jumped in shock, turned to Sakura, and said, "Hi forehead."

"Look Ino, about the other day, I was rude to you and I –"

"It's cool. Don't worry about it," interrupted Ino.

"What?" said Sakura, surprised. "You're not angry."

"Angry? No." said Ino, "Worried? Yes."

"Why? There's nothing to be worried about."

"Sakura, he hurt you once. You fell to pieces. I don't want to see you that way again." Explained Ino.

"You're ignoring a few _crucial_ things. One I'm not an insecure 12 year old. Two, I'm 21, and capable of looking after myself."

"I _know_. Just don't forget who he is."

Sakura, accepted her friend's concern, and said, "I'll be careful okay?" then added, "But I think, I'm only beginning to know _who_ he is."

Ino, nodded, slightly relieved. At least she'd be careful. They then went on to discuss more superficial topics, such as the awesome green top Sakura was going to buy.

:---------:

That evening, arms laden with the afternoon's purchases, Sakura, went to the supermarket, to get something for tea. Unsurprisingly, she found Naruto, in the ramen section, in the biggest dilemma of his life.

"Chicken or miso? Which to choose." He said out loud to himself.

Coming up behind him, Sakura, answered, "Just get both."

Naruto didn't startle, but turned around and grinned "Sakura-Chan!" He'd known she was there. "That's genius."

"Isn't it just." She deadpanned, as he stacked the entire ramen section into his basket. God, both of them were terrible. Between Sasuke and Naruto the tomato and ramen sections were completely demolished. The grocer probably hated them.

As he did so, Sakura asked, "You still shitty at Sasuke?"

Naruto looked at her and grinned, "Why? Is he afraid I'm still after him?"

Sakura, laughed, "Hardly. More just wondering when it's safe to go to Ichiraku again."

"Nah, I'm over it. But I've been thinking about him…."

"Oh no.." began Sakura.

"Hang on. Hear me out." Naruto stopped her, "I think we should talk to the grouch about giving him a mission."

Sakura hadn't been expecting this and remained quiet. While he continued, "Enough to kill his boredom. Nothing major, after all, he's only ranked as a genin."

Sakura, smiled at his superiority, he loved holding rank above Sasuke. "That's not a bad idea. But when you say 'we' you mean _I'm _going to talk to Tsunade, ne?"

Naruto, nodded, "Pretty much." He was lucky to make it to her office without being thrown out.

"Alright, I'll talk to her. But we ask Sasuke first."

" 'Kay."

"And I suppose I'll be asking him as well, save you getting knocked out again."

"Hey!" said Naruto, somewhat indignant, "He got lucky, I was caught off-guard."

"Yeah, right," said Sakura, as she made her way to the checkout.

Naruto just grinned. There was something in this manipulating stuff.

:---------:

Sakura walked into her office that morning, a little late. Sasuke was on the couch, finishing the last few chapters of the book. She looked toward her desk, and saw a cup of coffee. She exchanged her coat for her white one and sat down at her desk and sipped the drink. Not coffee, hot chocolate. Weird.

"Hot chocolate?" she asked.

"Felt like a change." He answered, absorbed in his book. A moment late, Sasuke could still feel her eyes on him, he looked up expectantly.

"Would you like a mission?" she asked.

"What?" he said.

"If I asked Tsunade to give you a mission would you do it?" she explained.

"Trying to get rid of me?" he smirked.

"No. Naruto and I just thought you were bored, and a mission would mix it up a bit."

"Dobe?" Sasuke, raising his eyebrows marginally, "He's in on this?"

"Yeah, his idea actually."

"Amazing. He looked beyond his square."

Sakura, rolled her eyes, "So would you do it?"

"Wouldn't be much of a mission, I'm still a genin."

"Doesn't matter. Could get you out of the village."

Sasuke scoffed, "_she_ wouldn't let me leave."

"She might if Naruto, Kakashi or I were with you." Said Sakura fairly.

"See if that pitch works." He said, returning to his book; hardly expecting anything to come of it.

"So that's a yes?" asked Sakura hopefully.

No response. Well he hadn't refused, so she interpreted that as a 'yes.'

:---------:

"What?" asked a dumbfounded Tsunade. Had she heard rightly? Sakura wanted her to give a mission to Uchiha. As in give him a responsibility. Was she dense? Had all her culturing of scepticism in the girl been wasted? Granted, he had had some good effect, e.g. loosening Sakura up, if ever so slightly, but that didn't mean she had to _reward_ him for it.

"Could you give Sasuke a mission." Sakura repeated calmly.

"Are you seriously expecting me to consider this?" said Tsunade, exasperated.

"Yes," answered Sakura, "it's been _ages_ since he's return and he's shown nothing but good behaviour."

"By good behaviour, you mean he's done nothing _wrong_."

"He's behaved exactly how he was supposed to. Not trying to escape."

Tsunade laughed humourlessly, "So I should reward him for it?"

"No," said Sakura, tersely, "But I think giving him a simple mission would serve as a test to see if he can be trusted again. You'd be giving him one eventually anyway, why not now?"

"Why are you vouching for him? Where's Naruto?"

Sakura, scoffed, "Come off it, Naruto won't set foot near you're office, if he can help it."

"Smart boy," smirked Tsunade, "So it's down to you to persuade me?"

Sakura, sighed, "Yes. So, back to the point, will you give him a mission or not?"

Tsunade leant back in her chair and considered the girl in front of her. Her student was everything she wanted her to be, smart, talented and independent. And she was an absolute pain in the arse. "It would be a simple one. Completely mundane and pointless."

Sakura, suppressed a grin, Tsunade was laying down rules. That meant she agreed. "That's ok. Can it be out of the village?"

Tsunade frowned, "You're lucky I'm giving him a mission at _all_…."

"Please, just let him get out for a bit."

She eyed the pink haired woman, then said, "He wouldn't go alone then."

"That's fine," said Sakura quickly agreeing to anything she said. Sasuke wouldn't like it, but he couldn't expect a solo, for a long time. Then she asked, "Who would go with him?"

There was a pause. Tsunade just stared. Sakura didn't need an answer, she already knew. She and Naruto, were in for a road trip. Probably Kakashi too.

Tsunade smirked, "I think it's only fair, being _you're _suggestion and all."

Sakura felt it could be worse. At least she'd also get out of the hospital for a bit. "Kakashi too?" she asked.

"Yep. Some one responsible has to go."

Sakura rolled her eyes, if Kakashi was her idea of responsible the world was a screwed up place indeed.

Having an answer, Sakura, made her way to the door, when Tsunade called, "I'll let you know when something _good_ comes up."

Sakura wave a hand in acknowledgement and left.

:---------:

It was difficult to say whether Sasuke would thank her or not. Her money was on the latter. A completely useless mission in the company of Kakashi, Naruto and herself was probably not all that appetizing. But he should learn to give straight answers. Like a straight out yes or no, instead of Hn and outright ignoring people.

So opening her office door hesitantly, she meet his dark eyes as he looked up waiting for an answer.

"Good news. You're getting a mission."

"Bad news?" he asked, expectantly.

"Bad news?" said Sakura, feigning a confused look.

"There's always a down side."

"Is not. You're just a misanthropist."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Sakura, sighed, "Well, there was the condition that Naruto, Kakashi and I go with you. But is that really a bad thing? Better someone you know, right?"

Sakura had hoped that by presenting it casually, it wouldn't seem like such a big deal.

"I suppose." He answered tonelessly. Well, that was easy.

Then, as if he had rehearsed earlier, Naruto walked through her office door, with blotchy eyes and tissues stuffed up his nose. It was a test of their friendship that Sakura didn't burst out laughing. She merely suppressed, though with great difficulty, a huge smile and asked, "Are you okay?"

While Sasuke, in a cool expression, remarked dryly, "You look dashing dobe."

Naruto gave a stuffy sigh and slumped down on the couch beside Sasuke, who promptly shifted away from the infected boy. Sounding like he had the worse head cold in the world, Naruto stated the obvious, "I'm sick."

Sakura, was already rummaging through her personal supply, for something that would help, while Naruto continued. "I think I got it when I was _left _in the clearing for 6 hours."

Sasuke merely smirked, as if proud of himself.

Sakura, was a little more sympathetic and handed him some tablets, "Here these should help. Though the Kyuubi would have it gone in a day."

"Yeah, but I've got a mission in an hour." He snuffed. (He sounded like chucky from rugrats.) "So did you talk to the old bat?"

"Yeah. She agreed. But you, Kakashi and I have to go as well."

Naruto swallowed a handful of the tablets, ignoring the prescribed dose, and then grinned. "That's awesome, eh teme?" he said, he nudged Sasuke with an elbow, "Like old times!"

Sasuke moved even further away and looked far from thrilled at the prospect. Sakura and Naruto just laughed at him.

Naruto gave another great sniff, "these tissues are useless. Hey, Sakura, you wouldn't have any of those nose-plugs on you?"

Sakura was confused, _what on earth is he talking about?, _while Sasuke was forced to turn away to face the wall, stifling the biggest smirk of his life, thanking what ever higher spirit existed for this moment.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter 12.

Beep, Beep Beep.

Came the annoying sound of Sakura's alarm. She could see it was still slightly dark out, meaning it must be early in the morning. A quick glance at her clock told her it was 6 o'clock. Why 6? Usually she didn't need to get up until 7.30.

Then the events of yesterday came rushing back. Oh that was right, she had a mission. Tsunade it seemed had remained true to her word. Several days later she had informed them they were to 'fetch' an injured Konoha ninja from the hidden village of sand. So basically they were playing escort.

It was obvious Tsunade had made a special effort to 'get' this mission for the original Team 7. It was nice and simple, out of Konoha, yet not so out of range it was really dangerous. And while the Hokage could have sent a solo chuunin to retrieve the injured ninja, she had decided to go all out and send three ANBU and a genin. Funny thing about that is, the genin was actually stronger than all three of them, save _perhaps_ Naruto. Life was full of irony.

And Sakura would be sure to thank her sensei specially. Though now her mind was focused on getting packed. They would probably only take three days max. Shoving some black pants and tops into her bag, Sakura added some basic toiletries, spare kunai, and her bedroll, various medical supplies and she was done. Then she showered and donned the ANBU uniform; consisting of a black singlet covered by a white/gray vest of armour, with black pants, and gloves reaching her biceps, protected by white arm guards, just under the swirl of a tattoo that signified ANBU.

Some would argue it wasn't necessary to wear such a uniform for a simple assignment. But rules dictated that you wore the rank you represented, while on a mission. So if you were ANBU, it followed you wore the uniform. _Oh dear_, _what will Sasuke wear?_ She doubted he'd have any of his old genin clothes, probably wouldn't even fit. He'd be too tall. Maybe Naruto would lend him something. Sakura could only snicker at the thought of Sasuke, in Naruto's signature orange and black outfit. It made a priceless mental image.

So gathering her pack and locking her apartment door, she made her way to the front gates where they were to meet at 7.30. She was around 5 minutes early when she arrived and unsurprisingly Sasuke was there before her. This brought back memories of the younger days of their team, when she would arrive to find him already there. She'd tried so hard to impress him then.

He was leaning against a pole, hands in his pockets. It seemed he had found something suitable to wear after all. Simple black pants and shirt, with a sword and pack strapped to his back. While she too had her own sword, she doubted they'd use them. What did annoy her though; was this cool gene Sasuke seemed to possess. It seemed he could be in any situation and nothing fazed him. For example, here they were, dressed as if this was an s-class mission, when really it was a simple escort. Most would think it was ridiculous. Yet Sasuke didn't look a bit out of place.

Some people just had it.

She approached him and greeted him with a "Morning."

Her response was a calculating stare and the comment, "You look different."

He was brilliant at comments like that. Ones that seemed to state the obvious, but implied something deeper. And as always when presented with these, she was at a crossroad of where to take them. _Keep it simple: Yeah, different uniform. Or complicate things: How so?_ Taking a chance, she tried the later.

Sasuke considered her again for a moment, and then said, "You look more serious."

Sakura scoffed lightly, "I'd hope so. ANBU means business."

Sasuke smirked at her arrogance, "Yet here you are on a measly escort mission."

Sakura, smiled, "If that part's kept quiet, my dignity stays in tact."

"Be thankful you have dignity to protect. I'm still a genin."

Sakura only laughed. "I hadn't pegged you to play the sympathy card."

"Sympathy? No. I was only putting you're situation in perspective."

"You'll be a genin for a month longer, tops. Chuunin exams aren't far away."

It was Sasuke's turn to scoff, "She won't let me compete this year. I'll have to wait. You watch."

Sakura, annoyed, said, "Would it _kill _you to be a _little _optimistic?"

Sasuke looked at her and shrugged, "I prefer practicality."

"The two aren't necessarily opposed." She reasoned.

"In my experience they are." He retorted. They stared at each other for a moment. Sasuke tried to read her expression, while Sakura tried to hide it. She was slightly shocked his was view was so black and white, when his behaviour showed gray.

Just then with the timing of a comic book hero, Naruto made his noisy way up toward the gates. Shouting to the heavens, "Sakura-Chan, Teme!"

Sasuke made a frustrated sound and Sakura held back a sigh of relief. At least Naruto wasn't complicated.

'Hey baka," she said happily, once he stood in front of them. It didn't escape Sasuke's noticed she had relaxed a little, upon Naruto's arrival.

"Isn't this great?" said Naruto, already full of beans. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

Naruto was also wearing his ANBU uniform, and like Sakura, looked a lot more serious than usual.

"Hey what time is it?" asked Sakura.

"Uh, I dunno, aro-," began Naruto.

"Its 7.40," answered Sasuke simply.

"Hey how'd you know?" squawked Naruto.

"I can see the clock tower, dobe."

"Really. From here?" he said raising his eyebrows, and looking at the very distant clock, impressed. "Not bad."

"So I'm thinking we have about an hour and a half for breakfast." said Sakura.

Naruto, nodded, "Yeah, around that."

Sasuke gave a 'care to explain' expression to them both.

"Kakashi. Minimum lateness of two hours. Give or take a bit. Remember?" explained Sakura.

Understanding hit Sasuke, as he returned to his usual bored expression. "He still does that?"

'Yep." They both replied.

:---------:

So they had breakfast in a relatively easy fashion. Naruto managed 8 bowls of ramen, while Sasuke managed 4. Sakura forewent ramen and grabbed two muffins and a coffee to go. Finishing up, with 10 minutes to spare, they returned to the gates to find Kakashi, sitting in a tree, reading a blue book, with _Icha Icha Extravaganza _engraved on the spine. Laughing quietly at a particular scene, Kakashi lowered his book, to see three people in front of him. Sasuke was leaning against another tree, hands in his pockets, looking pissed off, which was one up on being bored. Sakura was standing in the middle, with her arms crossed and with an annoyed expression on her face. While Naruto was sitting on the ground, arms folded behind his head, enjoying the sun.

Kakashi grinned at the quirks of fate. How many other times could he name, when he had been found in a tree by his genin team? Though interestingly their stances differed considerably now, for one Naruto had always been in the middle, jumping up and down, and teasing Sakura. Sasuke had probably differed the least, still off to the side, though wasn't as pissed as he was now. Sakura would often be on the other side of Naruto, standing there timidly, vying for Sasuke's attention. Didn't time fly?

Kakashi hopped down nimbly, to land lightly on his feet. Swiftly tucking the book away, in his pouch, he started on his explanation. "Well you see, there was this..."

"Save it, Kakashi." Yawned Naruto.

"Really? Because this was a good one – " he began again.

"Really," assured Sakura. "You're creativity is limited."

"Oh well." He sighed. "Your loss."

"We going?" asked Sasuke, tired of fussing around.

"Yeah. I'll fill you in on the details as we go." Said Kakashi.

And with that, all four jumped in to the trees at top speed, heading toward the hidden village of sand.

:---------:

"So, it's pretty simple. Go to sand, pick up injured girl, and bring her back," summed Kakashi, as they all whizzed through the trees, hopping from branch to branch. He was in the lead and Sasuke bringing up the rear.

Sakura, who was level with Naruto, commented, "I love how you assume the injured ninja is a girl.'

Kakashi, the shit, had said it deliberately to get a rise out of her. "Well, logically it stands to reason. Females are physically weaker than males."

Naruto, looked nervous, "Don't do this Kakashi,"

Kakashi glanced back, innocently, "Why not? I'm only stating the truth."

"It's all right for _you_. _You're_ up the front. But there are other lives at stake here!" he finished dramatically.

Sakura, just grinned, she'd conditioned him well.

Kakashi called for reinforcements from another party, "What do you think Sasuke?"

Sasuke, had been more reserved than usual and hadn't even told the dobe to shut up yet. Maybe he needed to warm up a bit and get back into the routine of things. "I don't have an opinion." He said dully.

"Thank you, teme!" sighed Naruto in relief.

But, not being able to stop himself, Sasuke smirked slightly and added quietly, "But he's right. They _are _weaker."

"No, no stop.." whimpered Naruto pathetically.

Kakashi, with his new found support, grinned. "See Sakura? I think you should just accept it as a fact that - "

Thud. A sharp kunai, whizzed passed a still grinning Kakashi, into a nearby branch. It was a warning.

"Oh, now she starts," he said gleefully. Kakashi had opened up a lot more; becoming quite the trouble maker now they were all a little older and on equal footing (excluding Sasuke.)

"You'd better watch your back sensei." Sakura threatened, playfully. "Same for you, _teme_." She added as she aimed another kunai at the dark haired boy behind her. Although he hadn't expected it, Sasuke dodged it easily. But couldn't stop the surprised expression reaching his face, this was another of those instances that reminded him, how much she had changed. Before she would have whined at Kakashi, thumped Naruto and batted her eyelids toward him. Now she went with it, letting Kakashi have it, sparing Naruto, and threatening him! Who'd have thought?

And though he wouldn't admit it, he enjoyed the feeling of inclusion. Sometimes it _was _more entertaining to join in than to stand superior on the sidelines, waiting to say 'I told you so.'

Meanwhile, Naruto had conflicting emotions running across his face. He had relief, that it was over and he wasn't going to get thumped. And fear, that she'd decide she would smack him anyway, out of habit.

:---------:

They arrived in sand, with half a day to spare. They stopped for a rest, grabbing some lunch at a local café, then moving to head-quarters to check in and pick up their quarry. This to Sakura's annoyance and Kakashi and Sasuke's amusement was a girl, around 16 years in age, named Rana.

They didn't stay long and re-stocked their supplies and were on their way back home before dark. The girl had broken her leg on a lower class mission and had been left at sand, while the rest of her team finished their mission. She was a chuunin in rank. And to the others' _immense_ joy, she was absolutely besotted with Sasuke. His own earlier amusement fading fast, karma was a bitch.

It soon became apparent that the three day limit would be needed to travel back to Konoha. They're original pace was severely dampened by the girl's injury. This didn't seem to bother Kakashi at all, who remained absorbed in his book, when he wasn't teasing anyone. Naruto spirits were still high; he was so excited they were back as a team for a mission. And Sakura, was enjoying the break from the hospital. Three guesses for the person who wasn't having the time of his life. Poor Sasuke, despite his medial efforts at opening up and accepting things, he still seemed to get the crappy end of the deal.

It was nightfall, and while Kakashi lazed about reading his book. Naruto had gone to get fire wood and Sakura had gone to get some water for boiling. He was left, looking after the girl who wouldn't stop staring at him.

_I'm so bloody lucky. You lose one fan girl and gain another. When do I get a choice in this? _Thought Sasuke. _And did I really agree to this mission? No. I was fine back in the village. All this has done is piss me off. And where the hell is Kakashi? That git has done nothing, since we got here. That's it. _

And with that resolve, Sasuke went in search of Kakashi. The young girl, on sight of him leaving, made to stand, but was quickly stopped when she caught the intense glare of the Uchiha. Safe to say, she was intelligent enough, to understand what he meant. _Fuck off!_

As expected, Kakashi was in a tree reading his book. His visible eye, moved from the page to the very angry man on the ground below.

"Everything ok?" asked Kakashi, lazily.

Sasuke, very close to letting out a stream of swear words, he'd doubt Kakashi had ever heard, said tersely. "She's yours. I'm going for a walk."

"But my watch doesn't start ye-" shouted Kakashi, to Sasuke as he walked away. Scratching the back of his neck, he muttered, "Guess it does then."

:---------:

Sasuke walked for a good 20 minutes, until he felt he had put enough distance In between himself and the camp. _Finally, a place no-one will stare at me._ He let out a sigh of relief. For someone so usually composed and indifferent, Sasuke had been uncharacteristically shitty. And he knew why too. It had started when Sakura had told him about the mission. He didn't want either of them interfering. If he had wanted a mission, he would have gone to Tsunade, himself and asked for one. They should butt out! But then his more rational side understood that they were only trying to help. That they had done it because they thought _he _would be less bored. But still.

When Sakura asked him if he wanted a mission, he should have given a firm answer. Instead of some sarcastic comment, that didn't confirm one way or another. Now not only was he pissed off with them, he was angry at himself. He needed to figure out what he wanted.

But what did he want? Since his family were murdered, all he'd ever known was revenge. A single focal point; which his entire life had revolved around. And while, he had removed himself from Itachi's grip and stopped playing the game, what was left? So much of his life had been stolen. And he was angry for it. Angry that others had their whole families; while he was left to rot by himself. How was that fair? But then he'd learned a long time ago that life wasn't.

Then how did you explain Naruto? He was an orphan too, but why wasn't he so screwed up? Because he didn't know what it was like to lose what he'd never had. Take two blind people. One was born blind, while the other had lost their sight later in life. The latter was much more broken; they _knew_ what it was like to see.

Angry was probably a bad way to describe how he felt. He had been angry. For a very long time, anger and hatred towards his brother was all he'd known. Now he felt more a dull jealousy when he saw families together. And uncertainty; nothing in his life was concrete. Revenge, for all its destruction, was a fixture, to which he could hold on to. Now, he didn't know how to fill the void that was left.

Then to top everything off, there was Sakura. Who, he had begun to accept into his world, as one of the few people who _really _knew him. It seemed when he was in her company, all his contradicting thoughts about his anger and uncertainty didn't exist. He only felt a peace around her, he couldn't quite explain. And the more he got to know her, the more he felt like _himself._

Now it seemed like she was tense around him. That while, he could relax; she couldn't. Had she really been all puff and wind when she said she wanted to help him? Would the rug be pulled out from underneath him _again_?

_God, I'm so fucked up. Itachi really did a number on me._

:---------:

Sasuke, walked through a few more trees, to where he found Sakura, sitting, on the bank of the river. Beside her was a bucket of water. She turned to where he was standing.

"Hey Sasuke." She said quietly.

He didn't respond, just sat down beside her.

"Are you okay? You seem annoyed about something." She asked concerned.

"You think?" he said bitterly, "I'm on a mission I didn't want and I have a new addition to my club. Why wouldn't I be pissed?"

"I did ask you." Said Sakura.

"I should have said No." he admitted grudgingly.

"Yeah, you should have. But I shouldn't have forced-" began Sakura.

Sasuke shook his head slightly, to say it didn't matter.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" asked Sasuke abruptly.

Sakura, frowned, "No. Why?"

"Sometimes you're tense around me."

She just laughed, which made Sasuke feel like an idiot for asking. "No. You frustrate me. But I'm not uncomfortable."

"_I _frustrate _you_?"

"Yeah," she smiled, understanding the irony, "Sometimes you'll be normal and other times you'll be down on everything."

"How do they differ?"

"You're not _always_ walking around with a storm cloud over you're head. Some days you're really easy company," she explained as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Mmm." He replied, thinking over what she'd said.

"Where's all this coming from anyway?" she asked curiously.

"Nowhere." He said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. It had been a long day, physically and mentally.

"Really, I wanna know," pressed Sakura.

Sasuke, sighed, "I feel lost."

"Lost?" She asked, needing him to elaborate.

"My purpose was to kill Itachi. What's left?"

Sakura, took a moment before she answered, considering the best way to word her answer. Then beginning carefully, she looked at him and said, "I don't know," answering honestly, "but you had to come to this sooner or later. And I think the only way out, is to work through it, slowly."

Sasuke didn't reply, but she knew he was listening.

"And you may be confused, but you're still _you._" She added with grin, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "A smug bastard with chicken hair." And she fluffed his hair at the back to prove her point.

Sasuke looked at her darkly, and repeated her last words. "Chicken hair?" Then he looked at the bucket of water beside her.

Sakura, followed his gaze, her eyes widening, she shot up quickly, slowly backing away. "You wouldn't."

Sasuke's eyes gleamed darker as he smirked. "I would." He picked up the bucket slowly, and walked toward her. She continued stepping backwards, away from the danger.

"Chicken hair isn't that bad," she reasoned, then grinned again, "I bet Rana likes it."

That last comment had been the final straw. Sasuke was so fast, she didn't see him move. She did however feel the ice cold water hit her body.

"That's freezing!" she shrieked, as she witnessed for the second time, Sasuke laugh. She narrowed her eyes dangerously at him, repeating Naruto's words, "You are _so _dead!"

Sasuke's smirk grew wider, "Good luck with that."

This meant war.

:---------:

Suffice to say, it was clear to see who had won, when the two made there way back to camp. Kakashi, Naruto and Rana, look up surprised when they made their entrance. Sakura was completely drenched from head to toe in her ANBU uniform, her wet hair clinging to her shoulder blades. Sasuke looked much less worse for wear, considering he was completely dry. However he did have a few stray twigs and leaves sprouting from his hair. He was smirking, while Sakura, looked torn between being pissed she was soaked and smiling because it had been so much fun.

Kakashi was the first to comment, with a brilliant deduction, "So I'm guessing we need more water then?"

:---------:

It did get a bit fluffy toward the end, but I think that's inevitable. You can't write a romantic story without something along those lines. Otherwise it's just depressing. But hey, I could be completely wrong. If you found it OOC, let me know and I'll try to make it more realistic.

E.g.:

"Are you okay? You seem annoyed about something."

"_Sod off!"_

Though makes for them getting together, rather difficult.

And here's a quote I think sums up the water fight nicely, as Mark Twain once said, _"Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company."_

Thanks for all your reviews!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter 13.

A/N: This is set a little further forward, than where the last chapter left off. They successfully completed the mission and are back in Konoha.

**Flash Back:**

_Sasuke raced toward the place he had last felt his brother's undeniable chakra signature. For years he had been chasing him, following his beating presence, to catch nothing. He was always on the move and always steps ahead of Sasuke. But now he had stopped, why?_

_He hid himself in the foliage and disguised his own chakra. He could see nothing, but still feel his brother's presence. Though now he could also feel two more. One was Kisame. So Itachi isn't alone, he thought. And another, he knew all too well. _

_The dobe._

_Suddenly, no matter how prepared he was, everything happened so fast he was powerless to stop it. Naruto came crashing through the undergrowth at full speed. Sasuke could see he had 4 tails, already. What had him so riled? He came to an abrupt halt, when met with the two figures of Itachi and Kisame, they both looked dangerous, with their infamous red cloud cloaks, billowing ominously around them. Kisame was grinning insanely and Itachi, dark hair surrounding an expressionless face._

"_Hello fox-boy," taunted Kisame, his chakra draining sword, swung over his shoulder casually. "Long time no see, eh?"_

"_What do you want?" growled Naruto, his chakra literally pulsating, angrily, he already knew what they wanted from him._

"_The demon," said Itachi, tonelessly._

"_Ha!" laughed Naruto humourlessly, "like you'll _ever_ get it from me."_

_Kisame's grin only widened, beyond the capabilities of a human mouth. He looked grotesque. He said: "Let's test that theory, shall we?" With a loving caress of his sword, __Samehada, __he began walking forward. _

"_No," said Itachi, halting a disappointed Kisame in his tracks. "You came looking for my little brother, no?" he asked Naruto._

_At the mention of him, Sasuke felt Naruto's chakra increase outrageously, leaping to 6 tails. His eyes were red, hands clawed; the marks on his cheeks became more prominent. He almost looked as inhuman as Kisame. "How the hell would you know?" roared Naruto._

"_It's an interesting web really. You're chasing Sasuke, Sasuke's hunting me and I'm hunting you. Makes a scenario like this inevitable," explained Itachi._

_Naruto, didn't move a muscle, expecting a trap, "A scenario, like what?" he spat._

"_Why, a scenario, in which we would all meet." He smirked, ever so slightly. "You can come out little brother, there's no hiding now." And he looked, in the direction, of where Sasuke was._

_Naruto's eyes widened, as understanding hit him. Sasuke was here? He had felt his signature a day ago, while on a mission, before he'd lost it, most likely because, Sasuke had repressed it. So Naruto had been travelling blindly, in a vague direction of where he'd last felt him. He hadn't thought he would encounter Akatsuki._

_Alternatively, while Sasuke had been listening intently to their conversation, he had been fuming. He had had a mild suspicion that Itachi wouldn't be alone, but Kisame's presence still complicated things. And now Naruto as well? It would be wiser, to turn back and wait for a more opportune moment. But he'd come so far. He'd been waiting _too_ long for this! _

_At his brother's words, Sasuke felt a cold chill rip down his spine. So he'd known the whole time. He had no choice but to act now. First, he had to get rid of Kisame, and quickly. Then he'd deal with Itachi. Hopefully, the dobe would cotton on and get the fuck away; because he had no time to deal with him. _

_Sasuke repressed his chakra even further, to the absolute minimum. He should be undetectable, even to Itachi. And moving with his incredible speed he had strengthened over the years, he raced toward Kisame. _

_He didn't even need a weapon, one tap on the back of the neck, and the shark Akatsuki, was out cold, before he'd known something was coming for him. _

_Sasuke then turned, and the sight he saw, made his anger increase tenfold. Itachi, had used, his attack on Kisame, as time to grab Naruto. And he had him in a head lock, knife poised at his neck. Damn it! Kisame had fucked everything up! If Itachi had been alone, this wouldn't have happened. And didn't the dobe know how to piss off?_

"_Let him go," ordered Sasuke, "We finish this _now."

"_You'll never learn, will you little brother? To care invites weakness," taunted Itachi._

_Sasuke, snarled, "I couldn't give a fuck if you slashed his throat. But this ends here."_

"_You're still as predictable as ever. I knew you'd go for Kisame first. Though to you're credit, you got him out more easily than I expected. Or maybe he's just getting weak." Carried on Itachi, conversationally._

"_Stop using him as a distraction." Shouted Sasuke, "FIGHT ME."_

_Itachi, considered, him, with a cold glance, "Tell you what. You get rid of the boy and then I'll fight you. We both stand to gain. You'd get the Mangekyo and I the demon."_

"_I'll die before I help you gain anything," spat Sasuke. "And I'll get the Mangekyo my _own_ way."_

"_Pity. You don't stand a chance without it. But so be it." Said Itachi, and he slashed Naruto's throat, in one clean stroke. The dobe crumpled to the ground, blood spurted from the great gash, like a waterfall, his open eyes glassed over, gazing at nothing._

"_NO!" yelled Sasuke, as he watched Naruto collapse. Anger, like he'd never known, surged through him, as he charged Itachi. He would _not _lose this time. _

_Itachi, was not surprised by his brother's reaction. He'd always been weak, too emotionally invested; such a waste. If their mother hadn't been so soft on him, he might have been different. He looked at the broken boy at his feet. He hadn't even struggled the entire time he had held the knife at his throat. Stupid 'til the end. His death would be slow; only once he was dead could he take the body to the leader, so the demon could be removed. And while the fox-boy was dying, he would deal with his brother. _

_Itachi was mildly impressed by the speed at which his brother came at him. _Almost_ as fast as I am, he thought. He saw, his brother had adopted a lightning like shield all over his body, like armour. Also impressive; a jutsu of his own perhaps? Maybe he wasn't a waste yet. Itachi didn't move, but waited for the attack._

_Why isn't he moving? Wondered Sasuke, as he charged at him, Chidori in hand. His raised his arm aimed to blow through his brother's heart, but his fist was caught mid air, Itachi merely looked bored. Fist still held, Sasuke received a heavy blow to his own gut that sent him flying, but not before he managed a sharp kick that got his brother's side. He landed on his feet, his lightening shield considerably lessening the blow. _

_Regaining his balance, from the kick, Itachi, intoned, "You've improved little brother. So let's stop playing." _

_Sasuke watched his brother's eyes turn a demonic red, the black centre began swirling dangerously. He activated his curse seal, his own eyes going red. Before Itachi could make the first move, Sasuke summoned two great pythons, one from each arm that shot toward his enemy. _

_Itachi, reacted quickly; unsheathed his sword and leapt into the air, to avoid the great snakes. They, too, raised themselves into the air, snapping their fangs, as Itachi dodged their attacks and swiped at their necks. He killed one, by lopping its head off and landed quickly, when he saw Sasuke coming at him, in level two curse seal and a new Chidori in hand. He was fast. Itachi, quickly constructed an almost impenetrable black shield and finished off the remaining snake. _

_His shield was shattered, by the Chidori. But it had taken the whole power of the attack so there was nothing left. He could barely recognise his brother, in the monster before him. Two great hand-like wings protruded from Sasuke's back and a clawed hand encircled his throat. He was interested to know just how powerful had his brother had become._

"_You're_ _through," whispered Sasuke, nose to nose with his brother. And Itachi, felt his claws rip at his throat. _

_Then his brother made the ultimate mistake of looking him in the eye._

_Tsukuyomi_

_The black centres swirled and Sasuke released his hold, captured in an illusionary world of torture. _

_Nothing could save him now._

"_Even after everything, you're still weak." Said Itachi. "And even when you've shown so much potential."_

"_I'm NOT WEAK." Screamed Sasuke._

_Itachi only sighed, "And it's all to waste, because you care. Maybe I should have killed you that night. Have been merciful, and put you out of your pain. But, I'll admit, you've still been, awfully entertaining."_

_Sasuke's eye's widened, as understanding hit him. This was all an experiment._

_Itachi watched as his brother's curse seal receded and he returned to normal. He enjoyed the look of absolute horror on Sasuke's face, as he began to replay for him the murder of their family, over and over and over. Bodies of their clan littered the street, remnants of a massacre so long ago. And their stood, a little boy with black hair, crouching over his lifeless parents, crying out "Why?"_

_Suddenly, Itachi, felt a _huge _chakra presence. And he turned, to see the fox-boy charging toward him, with immense speed. He had 9 tails. He was so fast Itachi barely, had time to react. He broke his illusion with Sasuke, and focused his attention on the kid who wouldn't die. _

_Itachi, released, a huge flame, that engulfed the oncoming ninja. To his slight surprise, the boy just charged through, and sent several kunai in his direction. He'd also managed to summon almost 300 clones. Great. _

_He easily dodged the kunai and sent several in return, earning a few 'poofs' that meant clones were disappearing. He let out another burst of flames, which eliminated at least 50 odd. He was deflecting incoming attacks, from all directions, and swirled effortlessly, kicking one and rebounding off another. His cloak swirled around as, he fought, the clones, until eventually, they were gone. His red eyes scanned the area, looking for the original. But he could see and sense nothing. Damn it!_

_He looked to where he had left Sasuke crumpled to the ground, to find him gone. Then he laughed out loud. He'd been had. The clones were only a distraction, so the blond boy could escape with his brother. Maybe the kid was not so stupid after all._

_He walked toward, his unconscious partner, picked him up, threw him over his shoulder effortlessly and began his journey back to head quarters. He'd lost the demon, again. The leader would not be happy. _

_Sadly, the loss of torturing his brother didn't even rate. But he'd enjoyed their little spar._

**End of flash back.**

Sasuke, shot up in bed covered in sweat, eyes wide open. He had dreamed about it again. Images of a glassy eyed Naruto, blood seeping from his neck and Itachi, replaying the murder of his family and explaining he was only a source of entertainment, swam through his mind. It had been months, and he was still dreaming about it. Sasuke, cursed out loud in frustration.

He'd accepted that his brother's only reason for keeping him alive was to amuse him-self and see how far Sasuke could go, before his emotions stopped him. And although he was still a mixture of hatred and anger; the former toward Itachi and the latter toward him-self, for being fooled, he was getting there. Or as Sakura had described it: working through things slowly.

There were times he felt peaceful and almost, dare he say it, grateful. It was so much easier, not feeling vengeful every five minutes. It cost so much energy! And she was partially responsible for that, as was Naruto.

He remembered waking up after the incident, to find, his old team-mate, standing furiously over him and upon seeing him wake, up, punched him square in the face. After a heated exchange of words, they were silent. They'd both had a right to be angry, Sasuke at Naruto for interfering where he shouldn't have. And Naruto at Sasuke, for not helping him when he needed him to.

Sasuke wasn't exactly sure, how Naruto had survived. Only thing he could get out of the dobe was the demon had saved him. Maybe Itachi hadn't completely severed his windpipe or Naruto had even more reserved taps of untouched chakra, which the demon had used to save him. Bottom line: the demon wouldn't let Naruto be killed easily.

They didn't talk about where they were heading. Both just kept moving in the same direction. Naruto didn't ask Sasuke, why he wasn't leaving again and Sasuke didn't offer a reason.

And he still remembered, vividly, the last words, Naruto uttered to him before walking through Konoha gates:

_Remember, the next time I'm about to die, that I came back for you, when I didn't have to. _

:---------:

Sasuke, now wide awake, pulled on his training gear, and went for a jog. He prayed to god that the exercise cleared his mind or better yet, stopped him thinking at all.

He trained for two hours before heading home and taking a shower. He redressed in his usual, black trousers and black shirt, with the Uchiha crest on the back and headed toward the hospital.

He was in the hallway outside Sakura's office when he heard two voices laughing. One was Sakura's and the other's a male. He listened quietly to their conversation,

"So, um, I was wondering if it would be possible to get in on the surgery?" asked the male voice.

"I'll have to see, my team's already booked. I'm not sure there's a vacancy," answered Sakura.

"Please?" begged the male voice, "Everyone's trying to get with you on this. I mean the lecture's you give at the uni are brilliant."

Sakura, did not sound swayed, chuckled, "Flattery will get you nowhere. But why may I ask is everyone so keen to get in on my surgery? Dr. Kowalski, has just as much experience."

The male voice, paused, then said, in a flirting tone, "He doesn't look as good in scrubs as you do."

Sasuke expected the door to fly open, and the male to slam into the opposite wall. Though to his surprise, Sakura, laughed again, and answered mildly, "Ah we'll have to see. If I find an opening, I'll let you know."

"Thanks a lot!" said the male voice. He merged with the shadows, as the door opened, to reveal a young male, presumably in first year med. He was averagely handsome, and had a cocky disposition. Sasuke disliked him already.

What pissed Sasuke off no end was the way Sakura had reacted. Instead of telling this little prat where to go, she had just taken it, even gone so far as to promise to try to get him a spot. What the hell? She should be thumping him into next week, in typical Tsunade style. And Sasuke had to scoff; did the kid seriously think he had a chance? Sakura, was a first rate medic and one of the best ninja in the village. He was just some weedy hotshot looking way beyond his league. But above all else, why did he even give shit? He should careless, who Sakura is involved with; even if he believed she was too good for them. Why was he so angry?

Deciding it was a better idea to go and train again, than enter Sakura's office, ready to shout at her. He left the hospital and journeyed to the nearest training ground.

:---------:

Sasuke had finished his warm ups, when a voice shouted out from behind him.

"Sasuke, my fellow comrade of youth, what do you say to a little spar?" asked Lee, who still had his black bowl cut and gleaming smile. The spitting image of his old sensei, Gai.

Sasuke, spared him a glance, as if to say 'you've got to be kidding me.'

Lee, continued on, unabashed, "Nothing fancy of course, just basic taijutsu."

Sasuke, considered, him for a moment, and before dismissing him completely weighed, the pros and cons of the offer. Yes, he was an idiot and weak. But he was good at taijutsu. And it had been a while since, Sasuke had fought a new opponent, hence his offer to Sakura (Though she'd be more of a challenge.) Maybe this would be the necessary distraction that could take his mind of everything.

Sasuke, nodded and said, "Fine."

They started off simple. Lee initiated attacks, and Sasuke blocked them. Then he started delivering attacks of his own, most of which had Lee down. But being the good sport he was; Lee said nothing of it and continued fighting.

Then it got dangerous.

Sasuke became bored with the predictability of Lee's attacks and found he was becoming dissolved in his thoughts again. Still, like a robot, defending and attacking quite easily. Though the more he became absorbed internally, the less attention he could pay externally.

Sasuke eventually became completely consumed, reliving his fight with Itachi. He had fallen in to that stupid trap of looking into his eyes. He was forced to witness his parent's murder over and over, his father begging and his mother screaming. And he had been so close! Itachi's neck had been in his grip, his claws centimetres away from piercing his throat and crushing his windpipe.

Then a gurgling sound, snapped him from his thoughts.

He looked to see, Lee, on his knees in front of him, gasping for breath. Sasuke's hand was around his neck, choking him. His face was blue and his hands grabbed at his neck, for Sasuke to release him. This wasn't Itachi! Coming to his senses, Sasuke, dropped Lee and let go of his neck like he'd been burned.

He looked down at the man clutching his throat, wheezing in every breath. Sasuke also noticed there were other injuries, all over; Lee was sporting welts, burns and scratches, of where he'd been hit. He looked like he'd been tortured.

_What did I do?_

Then a voice cried out, "Teme!"

_Oh shit._

Naruto and Sakura were walking toward him, with smiles, carrying what appeared to be lunch in their hands. Though as they drew nearer, they're smiles faded, to turn into looks of horror. Sakura dropped the food she was carrying and ran over, "Oh my god, Lee!"

She sank to his side and immediately began healing him. After a minute, he breathing had eased considerably and most of the deeper wounds and broken bones had been healed. Sasuke and Naruto just stood there; Sasuke, completely blank, and Naruto staring at him in a kind of sick awe.

She picked up Lee's body gently, and handed him to Naruto. "Take him to Tsunade, just say you found him like this. Don't explain anything." She said, like she was on the verge of her breaking point.

Naruto nodded wordlessly, and with one last glance at Sasuke, headed toward the hospital.

Sakura, turned to Sasuke, finally snapping; gave him a rough shove and shouted, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Sasuke, didn't know how to react. He was still feeling very confused, all these conflicting thoughts and emotions, were pounding through his head.

Sakura didn't interpret his silence well. "I just told Naruto, to lie to my sensei, to cover _you're _ass! You owe me an explanation."

"I don't know," said Sasuke quietly, as he looked her in the eye.

"WHAT?" she screamed. "You just beat Lee to a bloody pulp and you don't know?"

"No I don't," he repeated, tonelessly.

"Sasuke, I swear to God, I've been patient with you – "

"I said, I DON'T FUCKING KNOW," he shouted. He wasn't a child, whom one had to treat carefully, with patience, least he blow up in their face.

Sakura, grew even angrier, and shoved him again, this time he stumbled backwards slightly. "Well, you'd better get a fucking clue, as I've just about had it with you."

"Don't shove me," he said through, gritted teeth.

"What else can I do? Nothing I've done seems to work! You seemed fine after the mission, what changed?"

"I'm just confused." He answered.

"About what? You said you weren't angry anymore –"

"You don't just stop being angry." He snapped.

"I know," she said, calming down a little, "But come on Sasuke. Are you sure it's not something more than that?"

Sasuke, was tired of being treated like a basket case. So he had stuff to work through, didn't everyone? "Would you just shut up?" he growled.

"Maybe the mission was bad idea," she continued, ignoring him, "I mean, maybe you weren't ready –"

"For god's sake, stop talking!"

"Look, I'm trying to understand! You make it so diffi –" But she didn't get to finish her sentence because Sasuke had grabbed her face and kissed her. She had just been talking incessantly, about stuff, she didn't understand, because she'd never experienced the loss of her family. Or what it meant to hate someone with all of your being. But it couldn't be said that she didn't try.

And she'd just been standing there, trying so hard, it annoyed him. This annoyance just topped the pile of every other feeling he was experiencing at the moment. Hatred at Itachi, anger at himself, and that stupid kid who'd hit on Sakura. And jealousy, that there were still people like her, who had whole families. The list went on. And he needed release. So he took the first thing that sprang to mind.

He wasn't rough with her, moving his lips over hers gently, but still holding her face so she wouldn't get away. And while she didn't shove him away, she also didn't respond. He drew back, when he felt two hands on either side of arms. Sakura brought down his arms lightly. She didn't look shocked at what he'd done; only pained.

"Sasuke," she began quietly, still holding his arms in her hands, "don't do this."

He just looked at her, their faces still quite close, waiting for a reason.

At his silence, she continued, while releasing his hands, "At the moment you're confused. Don't do something we'll both regret."

"I'm not confused." He snapped, quietly, contradicting what he had said earlier.

Sakura gave a small smile, "Yes, you are. And that's where I come in, Naruto as well."

Sasuke, felt his anger resurfacing, "I don't need a therapist."

"No," she said, lowering his head with her hands, standing on the balls of her feet and gently kissing his forehead; he didn't push her away, "You need a friend." And with that he watched her walk away, leaving him, as confused as ever.

"_Everyone, at least everyone fascinating, has a few scars." (Marisha Pessl, 2006.)_

:---------:

This was a tougher chapter to write than some others. But I think I achieved the overall feel that Sasuke's is still working through his feelings with Itachi, in addition with developing new ones for Sakura. If this was lost on anyone; my apologies.

Also note, that in my story, it is apart of the extraction process of capturing a demon, that the host be dead first. If this is out of alignment with the series, then so be it. Not everything is going to match up. Also, in Reliance, the group, Hebi did not exist.

Thanks for your reviews so far!


	14. Chapter 14

Reliance

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 14, I think.

Most of us are well acquainted with the ever infamous adage known as Murphy's Law.

However, for those a little behind, in common pessimistic philosophy, let me educate you in the basics.

Murphy's Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong.

So, if you, in you're _careful_ planning, have left anything to error then you're fate's sealed to a bleak future.

Now, undoubtedly there are firm optimists out there, who will strongly refute this idea. Suggesting, in place, that it is actually you're _outlook_ that will determine what happens.

So, if for instance, you believe you'll be successful, you will be.

A self-fulfilling prophecy if you will.

Though when considering these two concepts, it doesn't take a genius to determine the short comings of each. Murphy's Law, _on the extreme_, paints such a black picture of life; it makes even death look brighter by comparison. And the optimistic theory, fails to account for those nameless external forces, over which we have no control. (Correction, they have been given names, i.e. God's will etc, but that's another argument, for another time.)

So what's the conclusion?

In sum, both are pretty crap theories. Although, until I invent my own; I am unable to offer a replacement. I can say I am more sympathetic to Murphy's Law, because, although it's black, at least there is no pretence. You can't fall any further, if you're already at rock bottom. So if something, against all odds, happens to work out, then you can appreciate it wholly. While you stay safe, from having you're expectations broken.

And this, at the moment, was where Sasuke stood.

He didn't place expectations, on other people, because it often ended for the worst. He protected his own interests by relying on his person only. All came down to self preservation really. So then why the hell, had he put himself out on a limb and kissed Sakura?

Sasuke had rationed it to a few basic things. She was _really _annoying, trying to understand shit, she had not clue about. Two, she wouldn't shut up. Three, he was still 'working through' all this, and was confused. It had built up and needed to be discharged. (Bad describing word, sounds like a behaviour associated with the _other_ end.)

Never, ever, did he entertain the thought, that he was a certified bullshit artist and a much more realistic and probable reason for his uncharacteristic behaviour, was that he liked her. Not to say, that he _wasn't _confused and Sakura _did_ understand. But at the end of the day, he was still in total control of his actions.

Although this did bring to mind, his next question, where the hell, had his number one fan girl gone? By no means did he want her back, and he had deduced quickly, upon returning, that she had changed. But surely, something as, um, physical, as kissing would illicit some sort of reaction, other than, 'don't do this.' By rights she should be sticking to him like glue! Though evidence was to the contrary, she was different.

And hopefully, this was the cherry on top of all the other evidence, pointing toward that very conclusion. It may just begin to settle in his, usually very quick, but at emotional times, drastically slow, mind.

This was an ironic description; because 'giving a crap,' was the very reason Itachi had condemned Sasuke to always being weak.

:---------:

Sakura, was up earlier than usual this morning. (Not being able to sleep, seemed to be contagious; a condition usually caught via swapping of saliva.) So decided to get up and train.

_That's the answer to every ninja's problem _she thought wryly, _when in doubt, train!_

Upon entering the ever reliable Team 7 training grounds, she was not surprised to find a familiar figure, with a shock of messy silver hair, already there, warming up.

Sakura shouted with a wave, "Kakashi!"

It was clear he was in a good mood from his response. He feigned a look of confusion and looked over one shoulder, then the other for this so called 'Kakashi.' Then using his awesome powers of deduction gave an expression of mock enlightenment and pointed to him-self, as if finally understanding.

It was only because she knew him so well that she was able to get all of this. A stranger would see someone in a mask, trying to attempt a pantomime. Sakura, rolled her eyes, muttering, "Idiot."

Kakashi, had his trademark, eye crinkle, and asked as she approached, "What brings you here on this _delightful_ morning?"

Sakura shrugged, "Couldn't sleep."

"Ah, yes, a common affliction amongst the overworked medics in today's society." He said.

She eyed him cautiously, as she sat down and warmed up beside him, "Kakashi, are you _high?_"

Kakashi, just grinned at her through his mask, "Oh no. It's better than that. I'm _happy._"

"Oh, I got that. But are you happy because of something you snorted, swallowed or injected?" asked Sakura, dryly.

Kakashi just laughed, at her. "None. Because of something I bought. Specifically, the newest volume of Icha Icha."

Sakura, didn't respond. She wasn't sure which was better; drugs or porn. At least the latter had no _ill_ physical side-effects.

"Do you wanna know what it's about?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine." She assured.

Kakashi sighed and said resignedly, "I suppose if you don't convert them when they're young you never can."

Sakura, looked slightly disturbed, and said, "There's something wrong with you. Really."

Kakashi, just laughed again.

A moment of silence passed between them, as they finished their warm ups and began laps of the training grounds. Sakura, now, was well able to keep up with Kakashi's intense pace.

"You know I heard something, yesterday." Said Kakashi, breaking the silence.

Sakura, didn't respond, just kept jogging. Though he knew she was listening.

"Apparently, Sasuke pummelled Lee."

Sakura, felt, all colour drain from her face. How had _anyone_ found out? Naruto wouldn't have said a thing. That meant Sasuke must have…

"Lee told Gai." Said Kakashi, guessing her thought process.

"And Gai told you?" Sakura confirmed, as he nodded. "Who else did he tell?"

"No one, from what I know. He seemed to think because I was Sasuke's former sensei, I should know."

"And Lee's okay, by the way. He woke up a couple of hours later." Continued Kakashi.

Sakura, suddenly felt very guilty. In her haste to cover's Sasuke's tracks, she hadn't even thought about Lee's wellbeing. "Oh, I'm glad."

"Do you know why Sasuke hurt Lee?" he asked mildly, but Sakura, could tell he was quite serious.

How much should she tell? How much did she have the _right_ to tell? Following honesty is the best policy, she answered, "I don't know. But I don't think it was about Lee. Sasuke's confused at the moment, and probably got caught up in it."

"Mmm," replied Kakashi.

"He told me, he was still angry about stuff." She explained. She could trust Kakashi with this, and hopefully he could offer some well needed insight. "But I don't get it. I mean, I'm trying. I'm _really_ trying. And I know he has lost his family and he's angry at Itachi. But there's a point when you start moving on, you know?"

Kakashi, didn't reply immediately. But when he did, he asked a simple question. "Have you ever lost someone you loved before Sakura?"

Sakura frowned and wondered where he was going with this, said, "No."

"Then as good as you're intentions are, try as you might to understand, I'm afraid you never will." He said.

Sakura, took his explanation the wrong way and became pissed. "I'm not some cold hearted bitch telling him to get over it. I'm just trying to understand and be a friend."

Kakashi, smiled, almost sadly, "That's just it. You can't understand. You can support. But _true_ understanding comes with experience."

Still missing it, Sakura continued to argue, "Look, I get he's lost his fami-"

"But you don't!" he said cutting her off. "Think of it this way. It's like a club; to be initiated you have to have suffered the loss of someone close to you."

"What the hell would _you_ know?" she asked tactlessly, and immediately shut her mouth, when she realised what she'd just asked.

Kakashi, gave a patient smile, one could only gain with age, "A lot."

Feeling, incredibly guilty and rude, Sakura said remorsefully, "I'm sorry, Kakashi. I should've though-"

"No sweat." Shrugged Kakashi, easily.

Sakura, thought for a long moment, then asked, "But then how can I help him? Naruto has some empathy with him, I can't offer much."

"Like I said, you can support him."

"How?"

"Just be you. You're behaviour will give Sasuke a base of normalcy, something fixed. And when's he's ready to talk" he said, then rethought his words, "_if _he's ready to talk. Then you listen."

Sakura, nodded, something finally clicking, and then thought further and asked awkwardly, "What if he does more than talking?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in question.

"Well, he um…" she muttered. 

"I think, if he went beyond talking," said Kakashi, effectively cutting her off, "You should make you're boundaries clear. Not doing so, could result in something messier, than what you started with."

Sakura, heaved a sigh, thankful she didn't have to explain herself. Kakashi, was good like that, he let you talk about as much as you wanted to. But you could still say enough, for him to get the idea.

And it was suddenly a lot clearer now. Her mistake had been in thinking she could help him work through his issues. But only he could do that. But she could be a friend and support him. And if that support was taken for something else, then she would have to be firm. Brilliant.

"When did you get so wise?" she asked, grinning, happy she had a plan of action.

Kakashi, just shrugged and said casually, "Just gifted I guess. Though, I must admit, Icha Icha has helped _a lot._"

Sakura, sighed, losing her new found respect for his wisdom. "I don't know why I bother."

Kakashi, just grinned through his mask and gave her a nudge, "Come on. I'll race you to the next tree."

Never one to back down from a challenge, Sakura replied, "You're on!"

:---------:

Sakura could say she felt in very high spirits. She had a plan. And while, she didn't 'get' everything, (would she ever?), she understood enough to see the larger picture.

Sakura, grinned as another Kakashi proverb flash through her mind, _the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts._ He may be disturbed, but he was a genius.

As luck would have it, she knew of another disturbed genius, Sasuke. (Naruto, granted, was definitely disturbed, but to call him a genius would be a stretch.) She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the kiss. It had certainly been unexpected. Sakura hadn't thought Sasuke knew what a kiss was. He was supposed to be asexual. He was supposed to be the cold and indifferent ass he'd always been, ignoring her, like in their younger days. Well, not ignoring her, but just being him. And when she finally got over her obsession with him, he was supposed to rejoice, with a 'thank god' or an 'about time.' Not stick his bloody foot in it and make everything worse.

Team 7, despite all its talent, seemed to have a knack for blundering things, just as Murphy described.

Oddly enough though, she didn't feel anything for him. Sure she wanted him to get back on his feet, but that was it. There wasn't the racy heartbeat, or butterflies in the stomach. Instead there were alarm bells and formulating of escape plans. She wasn't bailing on him, but she couldn't do _that_. While Sasuke hadn't changed all that much, she had. She had learnt that there was _so_ much waiting to be done. There were places to explore and other things to experience. She enjoyed her job and was excited to see where it could take her. Admit ably this didn't mean she could have a relationship, it just meant she was focusing on herself at the moment.

Although, this was all on the bold assumption that Sasuke's intentions had been of that nature. It was more accurate that he _was_ confused and just needed to vent. While kissing is an odd choice to do so, it wasn't unheard of. And her mouth had been going a million miles an hour. He probably just wanted her to be quiet.

But as Kakashi had suggested, if, on the very unlikely chance, Sasuke did want something more, then she had to make herself clear. Just like before, when he kissed her, and she had been straight once, so she could do it again.

Of course this was all only as a precaution, Sakura, very much believed that things would return to normal. And she would just be herself and with Naruto, would support Sasuke, then things could only get better.

:----------:

When she opened her office door, later that morning, she didn't know whether she was expecting Sasuke to be there or not. Turns out he wasn't. Although she did see a note on her desk, with a neatly scribbled:

_Having lunch with dobe at ramen stand; be there at 12._

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the note. Interesting choice of words; not a 'would you like to come,' but a 'be there at 12.' Ah well, Sasuke always had been presumptuous snot.

She checked to see her cases for that day and noticed her surgery had been cancelled. That was odd. It was only for the removal of an appendix and she had several first years lined up, as apart of their practical experience. She'd have a word with Tsunade later.

Then a book came to her attention. It was the one she had ordered for Sasuke, about the Sharingan and other blood limits. There were creases up the spine of where it had been thoroughly used. She opened it up and flipped through to the section on the Sharingan. There were notes scrawled up the entire side and down the middle margins. Words and entire sentences had been crossed out and Sasuke had written his own info around it. He practically defaced the entire book! Someone was also going to have a talking to later….

:---------:

At 12.10 Sasuke could be seen sitting at the ramen stand, looking rather bored. The dobe had said 12 and that was what he'd written on the note to Sakura, yet neither one was here. Which was odd, not so much for Naruto, but definitely for Sakura, she usually always arrived just after him.

A slight shuffle on the stool directed his attention to his left. There beside him was an out of breathe Naruto.

It was about time.

"Dobe, you're late." Said Sasuke.

"Yeah, sorry bout that. Mission briefing went later than expected. I've got the biggest idiot for my squad captain. Major stick up his –"

A slight cough interrupted Naruto from finishing his sentence. The man behind the counter gave him a warning glance. Other customers were beginning to get, a little disturbed.

Naruto, scratched the back of his neck nervously, "well, yeah."

Sasuke didn't say anything, just smirked.

"Hey, is everything cool? With you know or whatever?" asked Naruto.

Sasuke, looked at him, and internally thought, _this is one of the reasons we're friends._ He didn't hint at anything, just asked. And while it was sometimes invasive, it was never insincere. You could _always_ trust the dobe to be real with you. "Everything's fine."

"You sure? Because if you need a fight to vent, I don't mind." Explained Naruto, "I've got this awesome new jutsu I wanna try anyway."

"It's okay." Assured Sasuke, then paused before adding, "But thanks anyway."

"Alright. But get you're shit together, yeah? This misunderstood thing is getting a little old, even for _you_," said Naruto, deliberately provoking him.

And for his effort, he was rewarded with a slight nudge, enough to topple him off his stool. He laughed out-loud as he landed with a thud. He dusted himself off and got back up. While Sasuke, rolled his eyes good naturedly, muttering "Idiot."

It was around 12.30 when Sakura arrived, in a similar fashion to Naruto. Puffed out and looking harassed, she ordered some ramen and begun wolfing it down at a rate, Naruto considered quite impressive. She had not said so much as a hello. Naruto and even Sasuke looked slightly shocked at her

Finally noticing their glances, she shrugged in return and said through a mouthful of noodles, "I'm hungry."

Naruto, said in mock surprise, "No! Really?"

As Sasuke added "Yeah. We hadn't noticed."

She swallowed her noodles, and gave them a tired smile. "It's been one of those days."

"So that's why you were late?" inquired Sasuke.

"Yeah. Got caught up in surgery." She said taking another mouthful. Sasuke wondered if it was the surgery that little maggot had been trying to get in on.

"Be back in a sec," said Naruto quickly. Chasing after a team mate up the street, "Hey Kiba, I wanna ask you something." He shouted.

Sakura, didn't even look up, but just kept stuffing her face, completely forgetting Sasuke was there, until he spoke.

"You are allowed to chew." He remarked.

"So that's what teeth are for! Thanks," she said.

Sasuke just shook his head slightly. He had to ask, before things became awkward. And he was never someone to sit and wonder. "Listen, about the other day…"

Sakura, slowly stopped eating and regarded him carefully.

"I didn't mean it in _that _way. I just got caught up."

She said honestly, at him, "It's alright. I understand."

Sasuke had to be sure, "So don't think I…"

Sakura, smiled as his persistence, "Sasuke. I don't think you like me. Chill."

He looked, taken back, by her frankness. Apparently Naruto had rubbed off. "Good."

"Not talking anymore. I need to eat." She said, beginning to stuff her face again, in a very Naruto like manner. And speak of the devil he'd returned, and resumed to imitate a black hole too.

Sasuke scoffed, "You're telling me to be quiet? You rarely shut up."

"Come here and say that." Threatened Sakura, while she waved a chopstick, dangerously.

Sasuke smirked, "Is that a challenge?"

"Er, teme, I wouldn't," warned Naruto, "It hurts. A lot."

He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Don't ask." He said.

"Oh, I'm sure he'd like to hear it Naruto." Goaded a grinning Sakura. 

Naruto turned to Sasuke and looked as though he was passing on the philosophy of life, "Just know this: it's not _natural _to have a chopstick lodged up your nose."

Sasuke smirked at the mental image. These moments were priceless.

:---------:

It was one o'clock when Sakura, announced that she should probably return to the hospital. She looked at Sasuke, and asked, "You coming?"

He shrugged, paid for the three of them and said, "'spose."

She said goodbye and walked away, with Sasuke following, when the dobe muttered in a sing-song voice, only Sasuke heard, "Teme, she's got you on a leash."

He just rolled his eyes and kept walking away, but said, "Stop talking dobe."

Naruto just grinned.

They made their way through the streets toward the hospital. It was such a bright day, Sakura didn't feel the need to rush, and enjoyed the sun. Sasuke was walking at an even pace beside her, hands in his pockets.

"Sasuke," she said, as he looked sideways at her, to show he was listening. "That book you were reading is completely ruined. It's got graffiti all through it. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Have you actually looked at what is written there or did you just flip through, get all huffy and put it down?" He inquired.

"I don't get huffy," she said indignantly.

Sasuke just a looked at her. "Of course you don't."

Then he said, "It _isn't_ graffiti, its additional information, and in some cases, corrections of where the book's wrong."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "You corrected a _published _medical textbook?"

"Yeah."

"Its just not fair." She said exasperatedly. While he just smirked. Some people just had it all didn't they?

"I was wondering if you could look at my and Kakashi's sharingan." He asked.

Sakura, frowned, "Why? Do you want to compare or something? I can do that now; you've got two and he's got one."

"Thanks," said Sasuke dryly, "I really couldn't have done that without you."

"I help where I can."

"I want you to compare the physical differences between the normal Sharingan and the mangekyo." He explained.

Sakura looked slightly surprised, "I can do that. But this won't help you gain it."

"Not doing it for that. I'm just interested at how it works and if they're different." Said Sasuke.

She smiled, "Ah, we'll make a medic of you yet."

He looked at her and said, "Don't count on it."

A silence passed between them. Then Sasuke said, "You'll still owe me a fight."

Sakura looked slightly crest fallen, "Oh yeah."

He smirked, "You thought I'd forget."

"Well, I'd hoped…."

He cut across her, enjoying her dread, "7 am tomorrow, Team 7 training grounds."

"No way! It's my day off and I'm sleeping in."

"I could always send dobe to get you……" he said, easily. Both knowing, there was nothing scarier than to wake up with these bright blue eyes and heavy ramen breath, millimetres from your face. Both involuntarily shuddered.

Reluctantly, she agreed, "7 am it is."

He laughed internally, at the resigned look on her face. It was like she'd been told Naruto was staying in her apartment for a week. He could always rely on the dobe; he was the best threat ever. He was looking forward to their match because he could finally see how far she'd come.

Or was it just because he got to see her?

:---------:

Sorry, no previews. But obviously you can gather there's going to be a match. Takes a deep breath which is not going to be easy to write, lol.

Thanks for you're reviews!


	15. Chapter 15

Reliance

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 15

As the sun rose, rays of light beamed through a gap in the curtains and onto the face of pink haired woman, very asleep. Initially the light was too weak to wake her, but as it grew in intensity, the brightness and heat became unbearable to sleep through. An emerald eye, cracked open and squinted at the curtains. If she had shut them properly, Sakura thought, _I could still be asleep._ Stretching and giving a great yawn, she looked at the clock, the bright green numbers, read 9.34 am. On glancing at the time, something began nagging at the back of her mind, that she had somewhere to be, but couldn't quite name; the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. Sakura just shrugged, owing it to the fact that her unconscious mind probably thought she had to go to work. _God, I needed this holiday more than I thought._

Sakura, crawled out of bed, stretched once more and stifled another yawn. Grabbing her dressing gown she tugged it on, neglecting to tie it, and shoved on some slippers. Making a continuous _scuff scuff_ on the floor boards, she made her way to the kitchen. Coffee was a must. After foraging around in the cupboard for a cup, she moved toward the kettle. She let go of the cup and heard it shatter as it hit the floor, as a voice sounded behind her, her heart beat racing.

"I could have sworn I said seven."

Whipping around, she saw a black/blue haired man, sitting casually on her couch, leaning forward, elbows on his knees and interlaced fingers supporting his face. He was regarding her thoughtfully.

Sasuke.

At the word 'seven,' the events of yesterday came flashing back. She'd agreed, very reluctantly, to fulfil her earlier promise of fighting him, properly. Her racing heart began to calm, as the shock of someone coming into her apartment unannounced started to recede and turn into anger at being scared.

"You scared the crap out of me!"

Sasuke began to smirk. "Serves you right for making me wait." He internally was laughing at her anger. She stood him up; he had more right to be pissed off than she did. He had given her until 7.30 to make her appearance, and when she didn't, he had made his way to her apartment. Sasuke would be damned if she was backing out on this. Upon entering her apartment Kakashi style, he could immediately tell, from the state of her chakra and breathing, that she was still asleep. So he figured he'd wait. It would be a crap fight, if she was too tired to stand up.

When she had emerged from her bedroom, without a glance toward him, he waited in anticipation for the moment she sensed him there, which, granted she could only do if she saw him, as his chakra was completely masked. He could tell this wasn't a stunt, simply by the fact that her hair was ruffled, dressing gown not even tied up and slippers on the wrong foot. What also interested him were her pyjamas. Observing people, when he could be bothered, was something Sasuke found entertaining. You could tell a lot from a person, from all sorts of things, like body language, to the way they dress. Sakura's pyjamas, sadly for the perverted out there, did not scream 'revealing.' A simple grey sleeveless shirt, with blue cotton trousers, if anything screamed 'practicality.'

Now this may seem quite unimportant, but in some ways it spoke volumes. This told him, she wasn't trying to conform to anything and not the follow the pacts of fashion victims, whose world was ruled by, brand names and the latest fashion. She wasn't superficial. Although her behaviour had said much the same thing, since his return, it was still interesting to notice it was a 'common' theme in her life.

She only gave a dignified "Humph" in response.

There was a silence as she busied her making her coffee and he watched her as she did. This was starting to become a habit of his, watching people, especially people he knew, especially her. Even as a genin; despite being consumed within in his own feelings, he had always taken an interest in observing the behaviour of others. The way dobe would always try hard to beat him and how it irked him, when Sasuke got things right so easily. The way Sakura would, when not completely boy crazed, would actually sound quite smart about the conversations she had with other people. If only the dobe had realised he would get there in the end and Sakura, that is was ok to be who she was.

Sasuke had never really appreciated then, that Sakura, was in fact a girl and as far as they went, an attractive one. He wasn't terribly in tune with what was considered beauty, but in his own personal taste, she was not bad. Only in the last few years, had his endocrine system kicked into gear and started pumping hormones through his system. This didn't all of sudden turn him into a raging maniac thirsting for anything of the opposite sex, but it did switch on a few neural path ways, which had otherwise been 'out of order.' The pink hair was unusual, as were the vibrant green eyes and the combination of the two, was even more unlikely, but on her it worked. As a ninja, her physic had always been slim, or now more fit than anything. Sasuke also wasn't blind to the fact that she was now quite obviously 21.

During in his day dreaming, Sakura had taken a seat at her dinning table and started reading the paper.

"You didn't even offer me a drink," he drawled.

Not looking up from the article she was reading, she said, "You've got two hands. Do it your self."

He snorted softly and said, "Should've guessed. You stand me up and I have to make my own coffee." He walked over to the same cupboard, he saw her get a cup out of earlier.

She looked at him, with a half smile, "You'll live."

"You are still going to fight me," he reminded, sitting back on the couch with his coffee.

She sighed, "Yeah I know. Hey, weren't you gonna send Naruto to come and wake me up?"

Sasuke just shrugged, "Couldn't be bothered." Truth be told, had he retreived the dobe, he would've have stayed to watch the fight. Sasuke didn't want him intruding.

Sakura just shook her head at his laziness. Finishing the last of her drink, she walked into her kitchen, placing her cup on the sink. "I'm going to take a shower, and then we'll go, yeah?"

Sasuke nodded, "Be quick."

:---------:

After a quick ten minute shower, Sakura towelled her hair a little, figuring it would dry properly once outside. She threw on a blue sleeveless shirt, black three quarters covered by her fighting boots and a grey jacket. Something she wouldn't care about if it was ruined. This fight was not going to be easy.

Meanwhile Sasuke had been looking at various photographs placed around the room. Most were of Naruto and herself, in the training grounds, at Ichiraku, at a bar etc. There was one with Ino, and a few with Kakashi. He also noticed some family photos. They looked fairly average, though he could see; Sakura's colouring must have been recessive genes, as her parents both had dull brown hair and dark eyes. This was another of those moments, where somewhere at the back of his head; he wondered what he'd missed out on.

Footsteps sounded Sakura's arrival into the kitchen, collecting various kunai, and strapping them to her holster. As she checked everything was locked, she said conversationally, "You know, it was kinda rude, breaking in the way you did."

"You forgot our appointment." He replied.

"So, that's not automatic licence to come in uninvited."

"I'm sure you'll live," he smirked, throwing her words back at her.

"Do you do this to Naruto?" she asked, holding the door open so he could walk through and following him, locked it behind her.

"You've seen dobe's apartment," he said, as if that explained everything.

She grinned, "Yeah, he has some issues……"

"Some?" he raised an eyebrow, "He's yet to master basic hygiene."

Sakura, smiled in understanding, "I know. I usually sit in the chair in the corner; it usually has the least amount of 'stuff' on it. But he is getting better."

"I don't doubt it." he said wryly, really thoroughly unconvinced.

They continued in much the same way to Team 7 training grounds. Both could easily have 'poofed' their way to the grounds, or used their speed to arrive there more quickly. Yet both were comfortable to casually stroll through the streets talking about completely pointless and mundane things.

To Sasuke, while he would never admit it, he enjoyed this type of thing. The fact that he could just rock up at her house without her batting an eyelid, although she had been a little angry, it was more out of surprise, than anger at his presence. But she didn't seem to care. It was unusual for him to seek company out, but since his return he had been doing it more and more, but only to certain people. Sasuke wasn't interested in making friends with complete idiots, he wanted people who understood. Naruto immediately fell into this category, and Sakura, now did too. And things like this, which to the outsider, it would seem incredibly dull, but to Sasuke it gave him a level of comfort he hadn't felt in a while. Sakura also seemed at ease with his 'surprise' visit, so much so that he'd had to get his own drink.

:----------:

Once they arrived at Team 7 training grounds they began their warm ups and discussed the 'conditions' of the fight.

"So all out?" asked Sakura.

Sasuke, nodded, "But I won't be using Sharingan or the curse seal."

"Why not?"

"You wouldn't stand a chance, if I did." Said Sasuke, as if stating the obvious.

Sakura frowned, "I though this was about seeing how far I've come, not beating you."

"Yes, but to do so, you'll need to at least try to beat me," He explained.

Sakura had the faint feeling that they were genin again, and as usual, Sasuke could do something she couldn't and would try to teach her how to do it properly. She could understand him not using the curse seal, that didn't need explaining, but why not the Sharingan? "I've beaten Kakashi, when he's using his."

"That could be from a number of things. One, it costs him a lot to maintain his Sharingan, it costs me very little. Two, he's only got one, and his depth perception would be lacking. Three, if he used the 'true' power of the mangekyo, not only would you be destroyed, he'd be unconscious."

After that lengthy explanation, Sakura concluded, "Okay, no Sharingan. What about Forbidden jutsu?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in interest, "You know any?"

Sakura nodded.

"What types?" he asked.

She grinned, "Like I'm gonna tell you."

He smirked. _**You're learning.**_

"How do we know who's won?" she asked.

"When the other yields."

"Alright. So no boundaries, at _all_ right?"

"No boundaries." He confirmed.

Sakura nodded, she took off her grey jacket, and tossed it to the side. It was a warm day and fighting would make it seem even warmer. She pulled her black gloves out of her pocket, and strapped them to her hands. Sasuke, had taken his black jumper off, and was wearing a sleeveless white shirt, with the Uchiha fan on the back. Sakura had a sudden rush of appreciation that he was an adult, quite tall and very fit. It was like a glimpse of the old days, of fawning over Sasuke's every move.

Sasuke also had his long sword and was strapping it around his waist so he could manoeuvre easily. Sakura, hadn't brought hers, she fought better without it and really on used it when on missions. He watched her put on her gloves.

"Why do you need those?"

She smiled, "You'll see."

"Ready?" he inquired.

Sakura, eye the sword carefully and suppressed a gulp. Somehow, despite all the training and the different circumstances, she could help the overwhelming feeling of lingering doom. She was going to get royally thumped.

"Yeah," she said apprehensively, "But, um, just remember your promise of keeping me conscious."

He half smirked, almost a half smile, "Will do." And with that he disappeared. Just like that, not even a puff of smoke.

(A/N: _this means Sakura's thoughts _and _**this means Sasuke's thoughts.)**_

_I'm so screwed. _

Holding in a sigh, Sakura too disappeared. Unsurprisingly, she couldn't detect Sasuke anywhere, worriedly; she suppressed her chakra signature to the absolute minimum. If she was to stand any chance, she need to formulate a plan of attack and to do that, she need some time. She sent out numerous Kage Bushin, to hopefully distract him, while she thought.

_I know he's fast, very fast and he has a shield of chakra. Without his Sharingan, he is susceptible to genjutsu, which could be useful. I want to avoid getting into hand-to-hand combat; he'll probably over power me. But if I can get close enough to get one tap in, he's down. _

Suddenly, she sensed an overwhelming charka signature nearby. Very nearby. She looked toward the clearing and there was Sasuke standing in the clearing expectantly. Apparently he was tired of their 'hide and seek' game and just wanted to get started. Sakura couldn't sense her clones anyway, obviously they'd been destroyed.

_Fine. I'll start._

Sakura left her hiding spot in the foliage and using her speed ran a perimeter around Sasuke, she threw kunai as she completed a circle, so it looked as though the sharp objects were raining from every direction. Attached to some were explosive tags, a trick she had learnt from him.

Sasuke, finishing off her few clones, had grown tired of waiting and figured if he played the open target, the fight would start. He could sense her as soon as she started moving, and throwing weapons in every direction. Unsheathing his sword, he whirled around on the spot, using his word to deflect them as they came. A rapid succession, of dull 'clinks' could be heard, as metal met metal, and the kunai were deflected of in different directions. Some he noticed, had explosive tags, and once hit by the sword, immediately exploded in the air, a short distance away from their intended target. While the explosions weren't dangerous, they generated a lot of smoke, and made it difficult to see anything.

_**Sakura's intentions I'm sure.**_

Suddenly, Sasuke felt the ground crack beneath his feet; the ground began to split into jagged segments and caused him to become unstable. And before he had time to react, a side kicked was aimed at his hand, sending his sword flying in the smoke.

_**Good.**_

Sasuke was not slow to react this time, he grabbed the foot as it was being retracted and pulled. The smoke was had mostly died down and he could see Sakura, clearly, she had frown on her face. As he pulled her foot, he felt a surge of chakra flow down her leg, as if to repel him. He dropped her leg quickly and aimed a punch at her torso, followed by a kick. She was faster than he'd anticipated and side-stepped the punch and deflected the kick, very quickly aiming a punch of her own. Caught off guard, Sasuke, winded from the hit, was sent skidding for 20 metres on his ass before coming to a stop.

Okay, so fair to say, he wasn't going all out, yet. His abilities, had been a little dampened by not using the Sharingan, but by no means did that mean he should be down on the ground in less than 10 minutes. Slightly peeved, he jumped back to his feet and began walking toward her, while she adopted a prepared stance, ready for an attack.

"So this is your super strength?" he said conversationally.

Sakura, hadn't expected him to start talking, they were fighting for gods sake. She answered, hesitantly, "Yeah, Tsunade helped me copy it."

Sasuke stopped and squatted, to pick up his forgotten sword, confident, his distracting conversation would prevent her from attacking, "That why you got the gloves?"

"Partly." She said, eyeing him very carefully, as he turned the sword over in his hands. It was chipped from the deflection and weakened by the explosions. It wasn't the sword he usually used, only a normal one. And deciding it was now useless, he tossed it aside. Now standing, he continued toward her.

"You're still going easy on me," she said.

"I'm trying to gage your abilities." He said, before disappearing.

Sakura was alone in the clearing. She was very good at detecting motion and from what she could gather he wasn't moving anywhere at the moment. Her heart rate began to increase, as the seconds drew out, trying to guess from which direction he'd attack. Her common sense told her to hide again, but her ego, told her to stay. The ground was still uneven, so she doubted hid try from beneath. She suddenly felt some motion, but it was impossible to pinpoint its direction. Attacking from behind was a big cliché and he would know she would be expecting it, so that left above…..

She quickly gathered chakra in her fist and aimed up, but hit nothing, then that'd mean he was…..

_**Too late.**_

He _had_ attacked her from behind, and quite roughly at that. There was a well placed kick to the small of her back and she fell forward with the momentum of it. In the blink of an eye, her hands were grasped behind her back, as she was face down on the ground. She felt a knee pining her diagonally, to hold her down. Then she felt someone whisper in her ear, "Your motion detection is good. But your reaction time is slow."

He was still leaning over near her ear, when she turned her head to the side and said frustrated, "So you _finally_ start using your speed."

He was trying to provoke her. Granted so far, she had done quite well, her opening ambush was quite clever and her strength was impressive. But he very much doubted that she had been able to beat Kakashi and apparently Naruto, on those skills alone. If he got her angry enough, perhaps she'd finally let loose. "Yeah, are you gonna start using your's or should we just end it here?"

Sakura didn't say a word, only emitting an aggravated snort. Sasuke felt her wrists he was binding, begin to heat up. Very quickly they soared to an unbearable temperature, and he was forced to let go. Sakura used this time to use a replacement jutsu, and very quickly, Sasuke felt himself kneeling on a log. He couldn't sense Sakura anywhere. Then he felt a movement to the left, anticipating it he turned and aimed a kick. It met its mark and he heard a winded, "oomph."

The kick had hit, but hadn't knocked her off balance. Sakura shook it off and ran at him again, aiming two hits in succession. Sasuke was taking full advantage of his speed now and avoided each, aiming two of his own. Sakura narrowly dodged the attempts, and leapt into the trees. If they continued in hand-to-hand combat she would tire easily. The trees would give her time to think and plan an attack. She created several Kage Bushin again and sent them to sidetrack Sasuke. Watching from a safe spot, she watched as the clones lunged forward at once to attack Sasuke. His movement was so fluid it looked like it was rehearsed. He kicked one, and whirled around, rebounding off a tree, and kicked another. It seemed effortless, as the resounding sound of disappearing clones vibrated through the trees.

She needed something drastic, something he wouldn't see coming. And one thing came to mind. A forbidden genjutsu Tsunade had taught her. It wasn't that ethical, but it was one of the only attacks Sakura could think of that would work. If she had him trapped for a few moments, then she could use that time to immobilise him and drain his chakra. All it would take was a few seconds, and she wouldn't get that crucial moment, if she was in hand-to-hand combat. But for the genjutsu to work she had to be with in at least a metres distance. So timing was crucial.

Sakura joined the remaining of her clones, to get close enough to administer the jutsu. She created another 20 to increase her chances. Sasuke, still in motion of defeating the clones, notice them double. That meant the original copy was nearby.

_**She's going to try something**_

Sasuke needed to figure out and quickly which was the real one. A _large _fireball wouldn't be smart, but a few small, well placed fireballs would do the trick. Performing the required signs, Sasuke expelled fireball after fireball, like a cannon, at the remaining 'Sakuras.' Some predictably had managed to doge and were teaming up to attack from all angles.

Sakura cursed inwardly as he used a fire technique, he practically demolished all of the clones; there were only about five remaining. This caused her to re-evaluate her plan of attack. She wouldn't get the chance with so few clones to administer the genjutsu. Now the best she could do was try to get him unconscious. While they distracted him with oncoming kick and punches, she aimed for a direct tap to the back of his neck. But he'd anticipated this.

_He knew where I was going to aim._

A crackling shield of chakra enveloped Sasuke's body. Her eyes widened as she remembered that it was an altered form of chidori covering his entire body. The amount of surface area the chakra had to cover did lessen its potency, but nevertheless, it would be best not to touch him. Sasuke quickly kicked two of the five clones in the chest and used them to flip around in the air. While airborne there was a rain of kunai, one hit their mark, dead on, the clone disappearing in poof. The other two managed to dodge, while the real Sakura was hit, the sharp weapon lightly scraping diagonally across her thigh, it was a shallow cut and the blood was superficial. The kunai directed at her had been slower.

_He wanted to mark me, to distinguish between the clones. Smart._

After Sasuke landed on a tree branch, the two clones attacked head on. Sakura used this distraction to hide, needing to reformulate, _again._.. As soon as the clones touched the electric shield they disappeared. Sasuke didn't even raise an arm. He took in his surroundings. Sakura was hiding again, but he could sense her, a few trees over, on a branch. He suspected in her haste she had forgotten to cover her chakra, or was it a trap?

_**Only one way to find out, besides with my shield she can't touch me.**_

He was in front of her in less than a second. She was leaning against a tree, panting heavily, cleaning away the blood from her wound. Maintaining his shield he approached her, slightly worried his kunai had cut deeper than expected.

"The cut shouldn't be deep," he said, close, but still keeping a distance. She was still attending her cut, while mumbling under her breath. Then he paid closer attention to her hands, they weren't cleaning, they were making signs……..he'd been had.

_**Oh shit.**_

The moment she looked up, he was caught.

She'd used a genjutsu.

Everything went black. His whirled around and nothing. The ground was black, everything. He couldn't even see himself; there wasn't a single source of light. He cursed his luck, all he had to do was use his Sharingan and this would all be gone. But he'd promised. And really, what could she conjure that could be that awful…..

Then a very familiar voice sounded in his ear, barely a whisper, but still as patronising as ever.

(A/N: _This means Itachi (Sasuke's unconscious mind or other half if you while) is talking_ and this normal text means that Sasuke, the normal character or conscious part is speaking. _**And this means Sasuke's conscious mind's thoughts as mentioned before**_. Still with me or have I completely confused you all? Lol.)

"_You're still weak."_

_**Itachi**_.

"_Letting a little _girl_ beat you. My how the mighty have fallen."_

"_You like this one don't you? She's something special."_

"_But how could you? You used to be impenetrable. All my conditioning, all my work, for what? For you to become soft over some _girl_?"_

A sardonic laughter resounded around, echoing in the darkness. Sasuke kept telling himself that this was all an illusion; it was all in his head.

_**This has been conjured. It's **__**not **__**real.**_

But this illusionary Itachi's words just sent him over, _"Have you at least managed to bed her yet?"_ Itachi had walked around and was visible now, about a meter away; Sasuke could only see his face. But that was enough, just that face nearly sent him into a flying rage. _"Wonder if she's a screamer?"_

Sasuke lunged at his brother, only to attack midair. He was gone. But his voice sounded behind him.

"_It's no use. You can't hurt me, I'm apart of you."_

This was the strangest genjustu he'd ever experienced. Most were just images and reliving moments of horror. They weren't supposed to be this interactive. But then he'd always had the Sharingan to avoid this….

_**Remember this isn't real.**_

"This isn't real. _You_ aren't real. This is all in my head."

The voice just laughed, _"I hit a sore spot didn't I? You _do_ like this girl. Well, I suppose she wouldn't be bad to…."_

But before he could finish, Sasuke's eyes had turned a very deep red, as he said, "This ends."

And it did. Just like that, he was standing in front of a shocked Sakura, who looked as if she was just approaching him. Clearly she hadn't expected him to come out of the jutsu so quickly, blessing his blood limit, he lunged forward to pin her to the tree with two electricity covered arms.

The wind was knocked completely out of Sakura, she'd just been about to black him out when his eyes suddenly snapped open. And they were red. Now she was pinned to a tree, by a furious looking Sasuke. The electricity was surged up his arms to surround her body, the voltage increasing. She was nearly at screaming point when she summoned her chakra as a shield to completely encase her body and repel the electric shock.

Sasuke, after regaining awareness of his surroundings, realised, his electric shield was still at work and he was electrocuting Sakura. Quickly he withdrew the shield, and as he did so, he felt another shield encase her body. Green chakra engulfed the whole of Sakura, and was acting as a repellent to words the electricity. She was controlling the properties of her chakra, and using it to repel his! Watching in awe at the control it took to maintain the shield, he didn't see the hand coming up to the back of his neck. The sharingan too focused on watching the green chakra molecules, actively resist his blue electricity. Only when he felt a tap on the back of the neck did he understand, as his world once again went black.

:----------:

Sakura, for the umpteenth time that day let out "oomph" as Sasuke fell forward, completely unconscious. Despite her extra strength, she could still appreciate the weight of nearly 6 feet of human. He'd fallen completely forward, her fast reflexes allowing her to catch him under each arm, though his head rested in the crook of her neck. His electric shield had receded as soon as Sasuke had lost consciousness, and so she let her own shield withdraw. No doubt she would receive a fire of questions about it when he woke up.

Sakura had barely administered the jutsu before his eyes snapped open, a gleaming red. He'd seemed quite angry at first that she'd used such a jutsu on him. Then when she'd used her shield, he was shocked and fascinated by it, giving her ample opportunity to knock him out.

She didn't feel _that_ bad for using a forbidden jutsu on him, after all he had said there were no boundaries. But having experienced it herself, Sakura could understand why it was forbidden. It was designed so that the victim, as it were, would confront 'themselves' in the form of someone they hated. A couple of minutes in this world were equivalent to a second in earth time. And now thinking about it, he hadn't used _one _forbidden jutsu on her. Was he scared he'd hurt her, or was it just because he was trying to gage her abilities?

_Both probably._

The task now was to get down from the branch and onto the ground in one piece. 'Poofing' out wasn't an option, they were only solo trips. So she threw Sasuke over her shoulder, and supported him as best she could and leapt down, to land in a crouching position. She then set him up so he was slouched against a tree. She briefly checked him for injuries, but unsurprisingly found none.

The tap to the back of his neck had been a light one, she thought, which meant he should be coming around soo-

"Fuck," was the sound that announced Sasuke was awake.

Somewhat guiltily, she said, "How're you feeling?"

Rubbing the back of his head, he grumbled, "Peachy. I feel like my head was hit with a brick."

"Ah, yeah, that would be the jutsu I used." She admitted. "I can relieve it a little if you like."

He didn't answer, so she obliged anyway. She sat next to him and placed a hand on either side of his head. Green chakra flowed from her hands into his hair. She could see Sasuke's expression relax as the pain was dulled. "Better?" she asked, leaning back against the tree next to him.

"Thanks." Said Sasuke, as he leant his head against the tree and closed his eyes.

There was a silence for a moment, before Sakura could help herself, "So does that mean I won?"

Sasuke gave a quiet snort, that reminded her of the first time she'd found him in her office. "No. No-one won."

"How does that work? I knocked you out."

"Doesn't count, I thought you were hurt." He explained.

"It was a scratch!"

"If you hadn't run and attacked me close range, you would've been out in 5." He boasted.

"That's why I hid, genius. It's called strategy, and it worked. You fell for my jutsu."

"Where did you learn that jutsu?" he asked, ignoring the 'genius' quip, still with his eyes closed.

"Tsunade," explained Sakura, "She has a tonne of genjutsu like that."

"Was it supposed to make you confront yourself as someone else?"

"Yeah, who'd you see? Itachi?" asked Sakura.

Sasuke nodded.

"I'm sorry, if it was out of line, but I figured 'no boundaries' meant no boundaries."

"Don't apologise. I meant no boundaries. You did what you thought would help you beat me."

"And you used your sharingan to get out of it!" she exclaimed, with a grin, slightly pleased that he wasn't perfect all the time.

"Yeah, well, I had to get out somehow. That was the quickest way." He said grudgingly, "What was that shield you used?"

"It was just chakra control. Nothing special." She shrugged.

Sasuke, opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at her, "You changed its properties so it would repel my chakra."

"Yeah."

"Can you teach it to me?"

Sakura's grin widened, "You want _me_ to teach you something?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Get over it."

"So what's my prize for winning?" asked Sakura, enjoying the annoyed look that crossed Sasuke's face.

He just sighed, "You didn't win. Neither one of us did," his gaze wandered to the nearby river, "but if you want a prize despite ….."

Sakura experienced in how dangerous it was when Sasuke drifted off in speech, immediately leapt up, "Actually, you know what? Gloating privileges is just fine with me."

Sasuke unfortunately was still too fast, the very reason why she had avoided hand-to-hand combat. "Really, I insist." And with that he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, in the same way she had carried him earlier. Before she knew it she was plunged, into the river, which thankfully, given the sunny day, was relatively warm.

She surfaced spluttering and swam to the bank, walking out. Her clothes felt extra heavy with the weight of the water, she'd absorbed. Sasuke had already left and walked over to collect his jumper and her jacket. He threw her jacket toward her, while smirking, "You might want that. You look cold."

Catching the piece of clothing and pulling it on, she scowled, "You've got issues with getting revenge with water. Can't stand to be beaten."

Sasuke, regarded her, quite amused, "It's a soothing therapy. You should try it. But then, of course, you'd have to be able to catch me first."

"Just you wait, Uchiha, I'll get you when you least expect it."

Neither Sakura, nor Sasuke quite understood the irony of her words.

:----------:

They parted ways. Sakura, grumbling she needed to dry off, while Sasuke just laughed at her and left for home. Yes he laughed.

He was a bit of a mix about how he felt about the fight. But overall, he was, dare he say it happy. She proved she could fight quite well, albeit not hand-to-hand, but she'd understood that and planned a strategy around it. Her strength was just as Naruto had described it, as "awesome, but painful on the receiving end." But what had impressed him most of all, was her chakra control, it was to put it plainly, exceptional. So much so, that she could change and alter the very properties of it.

The genjutsu she'd used didn't bother him as much as he thought it would have. He had been saving those feelings for a time he was ready to confront. But maybe to have them shoved in his face was a good thing. It showed once and for all that, Sakura was important to him, maybe more so than Naruto. But he also understood that genjutsu had a knack for playing on emotions and running away with them. So, safe to say, his 'mind' had taken the liberty to exaggerate some of its findings. But there was still something about the way Itachi had spoken about Sakura, which disturbed him.

:----------:

Sakura had arrived home, thoroughly soaked. She swapped her wet clothes for dry ones, tossing the others on her heater to dry. The fight hadn't been as been as bad as she'd expected. In fact it had been kind of fun, even getting drenched for the _second_ time, wasn't that bad. She smiled when she thought of Sasuke's company. When he wasn't being broody, he was actually worth talking to, she even found his arrogance and sarcasm rather endearing.

And she looked at her kitchen floor, realising she still had to clean of the broken mug from the morning.

:---------:

(This is the next day, specifically that evening, just to put this scene in context, you know, avoid 'what the..?" and all.)

Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke were sitting around a small circle table at a bar having a few drinks. It had been Naruto's idea to come out that evening just to catch up. Sasuke figured dobe was usually good entertainment and Kakashi had surprised them both by actually showing. Although _unsurprisingly, he_ was an hour late. Sakura would be arriving later, as she was working a night shift at the hospital.

"Hey teme, how'd the fight go?" asked Naruto.

Sasuke looked at him inquiringly.

"Neji said he saw you two at it. Said it a lot of chakra was used." He explained.

"It was ok."

"Who won?"

"No one."

"No one?" repeated Kakashi, speaking for the first time.

"It was a tie of sorts." Said Sasuke.

"A tie?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah, Kakashi it means there was no result one way or another." Supplied Naruto helpfully.

"Thank you Naruto," said Kakashi dryly, he was well aware of what a tie was. What interested him the most was that the tie involved Sasuke. If he knew anything for sure about the youngest Uchiha, it was that he rarely settled for anything other than first. He had to win. "You went easy on her."

"What! You didn't go all out!!!" said Naruto rather loudly, "I get thumped all the time by you. No consideration what so ever. Yet you go easy on Sakura."

Sasuke scowled, "Dobe, keep it down. It wasn't about me beating her; it was so I could gage her abilities."

"Even so, you don't tie. With _anyone_." Said Kakashi.

"What would you know?" accused Sasuke.

Suddenly, Naruto developed a look of understanding. It was all so clear. In a quieter voice he mumbled, "Oh no."

"What?" snapped Sasuke; he was sick of these two pairing up against him.

"You like her," whispered Naruto, "You like Sakura."

Sasuke snarled at him, "I do not."

Kakashi just looked at him, with that one eye, as if he understood everything, no matter how much Sasuke denied it. While Naruto continued on, "I thought maybe it was just on Sakura's side, but it's you too."

"What? Sakura's side? Has she said something to you?" asked Sasuke, then looking at their reactions, "What?"

Kakashi had maintained his 'I know everything look' but had now paired it with, 'See. Case proven look.' Naruto too looked as though he had just handed them all the evidence they needed.

"Sasuke," began Kakashi, in his usual calm voice, "I think you should just admit it. You like Sakura."

"Whatever."

"Teme, face it, your behaviour, it all adds up." Reasoned Naruto.

The office visits, the reading the medical journals, the buying her coffee, the interest in her work, his interest in _her_. The crashing realisation was enough to knock him off his stool. Almost equivalent to the moment he had realised his entire life was one big experiment on his brothers behalf.

Dobe was right. This added up to more than friendship. It added up to……

_**Shit.**_

_**I like her.**_

:--------:

This chapter was a lot longer than usual because I felt incredibly guilt for not updating for so long. The fight is also rather drawn out, because I figured if I was going to write it, it may as well be thorough. And chapter 16, I can promise you, will be up in a few days, it will not take nearly a month to write, lol. Also keep an eye out for some one-shots coming your way, of course they're pairing will be Sasuke/Sakura, as always.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter 16

Somebody was 'up there' laughing at him he was sure of it.

"_Just you wait, Uchiha, I'll get you when you least expect it."_

That statement just made him laugh at the utter irony of it all. He could only laugh or he was sure he'd hit someone (probably the dobe.) If god had a file on every human to be born into this world, detailing their life as it were to played out, Sasuke was sure, his file would have 'Royally Fucked' stamped across it.

Like he didn't have enough on his plate to deal with, this was just the icing on the cake. Why now? Why not in the distant future? When time, the miracle worker that it is, had lessened the mountain of emotional crap he had to work through. The scheduling of some things was just uncanny.

He supposed if it had to be anyone, Sakura would be his first pick, by far. But again why did there have to be a pick at all? He was quite happy, (excuse the paradox) being the solitary being he had always been, with the odd friend here or there, but nothing fixed. Change was the only consistency you could rely on in this world, and after losing everything at such a young age, that was a lesson he clung to.

But this _feeling_, if you will, was constant, (now that he could put a name to it) it was everywhere; he couldn't _not_ see it. Take buying a new pair of trousers for instance, once you got them and they're yours, all of a sudden everyone else, with the same pair, stands out to you. When, prior to purchasing them, you wouldn't have paid them or their owners a moments notice.

Now, upon examining his past behaviour, it all seemed very obvious as to what it all meant. And to someone as astute as Sasuke, not noticing something this _personal_, for such a long time was insulting. _**For god's sake, even the dobe pieced it together before I did. **_But then again, it was probably _because_ it was close to home that he had been, for a time, completely blind to what his actions meant.

He had to wonder at how it could possibly work between them when they weren't even similar. He was moody, self absorbed, and entirely closed off to the world, while she was open, cared about people and friendly. The only real thing that could tie them together was their intelligence. They were both astute and opinionated, and Sasuke found, that now, she could hold her own in conversation and was usually interesting to talk to. He also enjoyed her humour. At times it was a little too bubbly for his liking, but generally he tolerated it, because she could be quite dry and was not afraid throw it back at him. Sakura was also a lot of fun to tease, she gave the best reactions. Sometimes he reaped a bigger reward from teasing her than he did the dobe.

She was also cute. Always had been and probably always would be. And although he was much more interested in her mind, it didn't hurt that she was okay to look at externally. For instance when Sakura had filled in for a lecturer at the university, the first year's male reactions was enough to tell him, they aware of how attractive she was. It annoyed him sometimes when people were so superficial about stuff, which in the long run meant very little.

The kiss, now thinking on it, probably wasn't a fluke either. While it was true, he was still caught up in it, he could still physically control himself, (Unless having hallucinations of strangling Itachi,) and he had controlled himself so much, that his mouth met hers. Strange, huh?

Worse he wanted to keep doing it. Hell, any physical contact was okay by him, as long as it was her. This made him cringe, because, normally he was _not_ the touchy feely type. Craving human contact was not something he did. In fact he went out of his way to avoid it. But for Sakura it was different, (wasn't it always?), when she touched him, healing his headache or a simple grasp of the arm, he felt it was ok. Somehow that mountain seemed a little less tall, a little less steep.

_**God, listen to me. I've gone soft. Huh, my brother would laugh at me now. **_

But Sasuke didn't care. He had something Itachi didn't, something more valuable than all the power in the world. Peace.

Though on top of this realisation, Sasuke's egotistical side, chimed in, _**Peace is great. I happy for you mate, really I am. But is the overload on emotion necessary? Our masculinity is going down the plug as we speak…………. Can't we just accept it and move on?**_

If only it was all so easy.

:---------:

Sasuke had left the bar shortly after his abrupt conclusion on his feelings toward his female team-mate. There had been the rather urgent need to clear his head.

He now looked out his bedroom window and figured Sakura would be arriving at her office about now. Should he go in? Truth be told, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to. He didn't want to run and avoid the situation; it was inevitable that they would meet. But then was it too soon? Sakura wouldn't notice any difference. To her, it was just your average day, nothing special. Though Sasuke would, even if he sat in her office and just read a book, his ever active mind would still be ticking over, laughing at the fact that he, Sasuke Uchiha, liked Sakura. When not too long ago, she had absolutely adored him

This train of though brought forward another question. If hypothetically speaking, Sakura _did_ know how he felt, what would her reaction be? He sincerely doubted that she would coming running at him with open arms, (he would cringe and probably walk away if she did.) But would she accept it at all? Would she consider the possibility of them 'upping' their relationship? Or would she spin him some 'you're still coming to grips with it all' talk and lay it down to a passing faze. Personally Sasuke would bank on the last option, but he hoped for the second last. But what was hope these days? In some lands, hope was akin to stupidity. _**Maybe that was where the dobe was born……**_

Sasuke _could_ decide however that he was not going to tell her straight away. He was going to 'sit with it' and see how things went.

The only imminent danger at the moment was keeping the dobe quiet. He doubted Kakashi wouldn't blab, after all, who exactly would he tell? His stupid books? Sasuke trusted that he could keep silent. The dobe, however, was a very effective foghorn and when armed with the wrong information, became very dangerous, especially to those affected by said information.

Sasuke needed a plan to keep the dobe quiet. He smirked to himself as an idea came to mind. The dobe was his best friend, they shared a strong bond, (he knew it was strong because of several failed attempts to sever it,) and while a great trust came with this bond, there where other, just as effective tools that Sasuke could rely on and feel a little _more _secure about.

Bribery.

:-------------:

Sasuke stood in front of the dobe's apartment and knocked. (This was not out of courtesy, more self-preservation. God knows what the dobe was doing in there….)

There was a muffled "Hang on a minute," followed by several thumps, before the door sprang open to reveal a bed ragged Naruto in mismatch pyjamas and rumpled hair. Didn't take a detective to work out he had just gotten out of bed.

_**Lazy-ass**_thought Sasuke.

Stifling a yawn, Naruto ground out a greeting "Mornin' teme."

Sasuke scrutinised him and took a wary look over the dobe's shoulder. "Is it safe?"

Naruto grinned in understanding, "Yeah, don't worry. If anyone was here I wouldn't have answered the door." He stood back to allow Sasuke in.

"How considerate of you," remarked Sasuke; flatly, as he entered the dobe's apartment. Said dobe was already in his kitchen heating up instant ramen, presumably for breakfast.

"Make your self comfortable," offered Naruto. Sasuke cast another cautious glance around the apartment; everything looked pretty disgusting; like it was alive and would talk to you at any moment. Even the 'safe' chair, as dubbed by Sakura, looked questionable. Safe to say Sasuke remained standing.

"So do you wanna train later?" asked Naruto, perching on a stool and with a pair of chopsticks, began digging in, literally to his breakfast.

"Not today. I have a deal for you though."

"Yeah?" said Naruto slightly interested.

"If you stay quiet about my _situation _with Sakura," began Sasuke, as Naruto gave a fully fledged grin, enjoying the teme's discomfort, "You can place all the cost of the ramen you eat on my tab." As far as Sasuke was concerned, the vast Uchiha funds were there to be used, so he may as well. He personally, had never cared for a lot of material things anyway.

Naruto, still grinning, said almost gloatingly, "So you admit it then?"

Sasuke's jaw clenched in frustration, "Do you accept my offer or not?"

Naruto was still too entertained by the intriguing reactions Sasuke was giving, it was rare to find the Uchiha in such a vulnerable position and he was going to cherish the moment, "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Dobe," growled Sasuke warningly.

Naruto dropped his grin and said seriously, "Don't hurt her teme."

Sasuke sighed, annoyed, "I'm not going to hurt her. Do you accept the deal or not?"

Naruto shrugged, he figured he had nothing to lose, and free meals to gain. "Alright, it's your business; I'll stay out of it." _But if you hurt her _he thought to himself, _I will hurt you._

"Good," finalised Sasuke.

:---------:

Sasuke came to the conclusion that now with all the loose ends tied up, the only way that Sakura would notice anything…new, would be if _his _behaviour changed. And that was now, why as usual, he was sitting in her office on the couch reading one of the many text books she had accumulated over the years. Sakura, he assumed was doing her usual rounds, checking up on her patients, or in the clinic, he hadn't seen her since he'd arrived. But that happened sometimes, that was normal…..

The sensation of a green chakra approaching and the following sound of the door opening snapped his attention from the book. Looking up he saw Sakura walking into the room, looking at a file with a slight frown on her face. As she closed the door, behind her she noticed he was there.

"Hey," she said with a smile. "I was wondering when you'd come in."

"Hn," he replied, and continued to read his book.

"Tsunade gave me a job." She continued, completely used to his lack of participating.

He raised an eyebrow at her, and said somewhat condescendingly, "Really? Does she pay you as well? Or is it voluntary on your part?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "You're no where near as witty as you think you are."

Sasuke folded the book in his lap, and directed his full attention to her, and said, "It's a matter of perception, isn't it?"

Sakura gave him a mischievous grin, "Tsunade has asked me to give you a full physical. Our medical records of you need to be updated."

This wiped Sasuke's self-impressed grin right of his face. "What?"

"You heard me," said Sakura, as her own grin grew wider, "My sensei has ordered me to give you a physical examination."

"When?" asked Sasuke.

Sakura grin in place, "Whenever you're ready."

Sasuke relaxed a little, "Well, not toda-"

"Some time today that is," explained Sakura, effectively cutting across.

"No." refused Sasuke.

"Sorry, I only follow orders," said Sakura.

"Why? Is it really necessary?" pushed Sasuke, whose hatred of check-ups was akin to Kakashi loathing of hospitals all together. Sasuke didn't hate hospitals in general though, because of a certain medic……

"I'm afraid so," she confirmed, "You should be thankful it's me doing it. There were several squealing nurses who seemed more than willing to take the job."

"Oh god," said Sasuke, sounding strangled.

"Oh yes," Sakura sighed dramatically, "They said something about getting your shirt off with their teeth. I didn't follow the exact details, but it sounded quite involved."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the green-eyed medic, "You're enjoying this."

Sakura grinned again, "Any day you're out of your comfort zone."

"This," said Sasuke through gritted teeth, "does not reach the dobe's ears, got it?"

"Aye Aye Captain," said Sakura in mock salute.

"Fine," said Sasuke sourly, "Let's get this over with."

:---------:

They moved to the lower floors where the examination rooms were held. Sakura could easily have checked him over in her office, but Sasuke had simply refused, mumbling about not needing to ruin a perfectly good room with awful memories. While walking down the hallway, on the ground floor they happened upon the current Hokage, Tsunade.

"Well, well well," she said with a smug grin, "look who is out and about." Referring to the Uchiha, this was not meant in a nasty fashion, only a reminder to keep him on his toes. She didn't _hate _the boy, but she didn't like him and didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, (which would be far, super strength remember.)

Sasuke looked as though an unpleasant smell had wafted under his nose and his face formed into a faint scowl. "Hn." He acknowledged. He was careful to hold his tongue in check, now was not the time to be a smartass, with him wanting to take the chuunin exam soon and all………

Despite his best efforts however, it seemed the Hokage was going to find something wrong in whatever he did; she always needed to cut him down. "Still rude. Maybe Sakura could help you with those manners of yours."

Easing on his self control, Sasuke said with restrained evenness "The question isn't whether I was rude to you, but whether you've seen me treat anyone else any differently."

Tsunade just grinned further, now somewhat malicious, "And you bite too! No wonder she's keeping you as a pet!"

Sakura felt it was her time to step in, and she did quite literally in front of Sasuke, and said with a frown on her face, "Sensei, leave him alone. He's agreed to do the check up; there is no reason to taunt him."

"Sakura," she began, her expression softening, "You're a smart girl. I think you deserve better than a trai-"

"That's enough!" snapped Sakura. She stepped closer to her sensei and began in a violent whisper, "You have no right to –" Only at this shorter distance did the intense smell of alcohol drift over. And she judged by that intensity, that her sensei was thoroughly pissed, and when she was pissed, her tact levels went to the negatives and her dislikes sky-rocketed.

"Tsunade!" shouted Shisune, as she came hurrying down the hall to their spot. "Come on; let's get you back to your office."

The drunken Hokage left without a fight, muttering to herself under her breath. Shisune shot Sakura and Sasuke an apologetic look.

Sakura trying to break the horrible uneasiness, "Well, let's go give you a once over mmm? I know you're eager to get started," she finished with a grin, her mood returning to her earlier playfulness.

Sasuke continued to look bored and followed her into the room, closing and locking the door behind him, (you never knew with fan girls.) Then he said dryly, "I'm just giddy with anticipation."

Sakura just grinned and gestured for Sasuke to sit on the bed, as she rifled through some draws, extracting necessary instruments. She walked over and stood in front of him, almost touching his knees, she motioned for him to open his mouth; she pocked around with a flash light and then said in her best doctor voice, "Say ahhhhh!"

To which he promptly snapped his mouth shut. Her fingers were spared thanks to her quick reflexes.

"You know you _are _sort of rude and you have no tact." She said. Placing the flashlight beside him on the bed and moving to look in each ear, through her instrument.

"Tact is for the people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic."

"That's crap." She scoffed, and picking up the flashlight, shinning it in each eye, then added, "close your left eye."

Sasuke complied, saying nothing.

She jotted a few comments down on his file then announced, "Okay, I'm going to need your shirt off."

Sakura had expected a scowl and muttering about "completely unnecessary" instead she received to her shock, a conforming client, easily slipping his black shirt over his head and placing it on the bed beside him. There was also a very smug grin on his face, "You lot will try anything to get me naked won't you?"

Sakura repressed the urge to kick his shin, and said, "Arrogant ass." Which was not the wittiest reply she'd had in mind, but that was all she could get out. For now she was too busy trying to forever maintain the visual image in front of her. Sasuke, she could determine, was a very fit and active young man, who had nothing wrong with him what so ever. In fact, he should always have his shirt off to serve as a reminder to others as to what they should be aiming for.

_Hang on, back up_ she thought, _how many men have I checked over? Tonnes? Did I drool over them too? _Answering her-self honestly, she thought _probably a few, but he certainly tops the list_. It just wasn't fair, he was a genius, and he was absolutely gorgeous. _I guess now I know why those nurses went nuts. _These thoughts, a result of his current state, were making her nervous. _You left years ago, and now you come back and I'm feeling like a little girl again…._

A slight cough snapped her out of her thoughts. Sasuke was still sitting on the bed, smirk still in place, "When you're ready."

"Huh? Oh right." She said, vaguely, still collecting her runaway thoughts. She walked over to stand in front of him again and applied pressure on various points along his shoulder and around his neck. Asking every few moments, "Does that hurt?" to which Sasuke would respond, with a quiet, "No."

"I need to check chakra flow, following your spine to your brain, so er… just lean forward a bit, save turning around entirely…..and relax." She said, unsure why her heart was pounding faster than usual and hoping to god he couldn't hear it.

She gently placed her arms under his, and brought them into a loose embrace. Sakura was now stationed between his legs, as she lightly traced her fingers up his spine, using her chakra as a scout to find out information. Apparently Sasuke had no trouble relaxing and placed his head on Sakura's left shoulder, while she worked her way up to the back of his neck. She gave a small smile when she felt this and made no move to stop him, though warning "don't fall to sleep on me."

There was no response.

Sakura moved her fingers were at the base of his and working the way into his hair. This was the area covering the brain stem and was the gate of chakra passing into the brain. Sakura remained there for a few moments, sending a warm rush into his head. She felt slightly envious, this was probably the best head massage there was. Deciding everything was normal she withdrew her hands from his hair, though he mad no effort to remove his forehead from her shoulder.

Standing there, starting to feel nervous, for reasons she knew not, she started speaking, "I'm done."

Sasuke did not move his head, but mumbled into her shoulder, "I got that."

"You can move now."

"What did you do to my head?" he asked, in a muffled way.

"I told you. I sent chakra to it."

"Hmm. It was nice." He said quietly.

Starting to smile, Sakura said, "Sorry didn't quite catch that."

Sasuke, finally lifting his head off her shoulder, had a knowing expression on his face and said, "You heard." Reaching for his shirt, he threw it over his head and pulled it down over his torso, aware that Sakura was watching his every movement. This made him smirk.

"You gonna move?" he asked, gesturing she was in the way of his getting off the bed.

This was when it all became too much for Sakura. Her heart was still pounding so fast she was going arrest any minute, her thoughts were going haywire. Her usual cool headedness and relaxed approach had hung a 'be back in 5' sign and was yet to return. And Sasuke was way too close, way too arrogant, way too much of an asshole, way too cute….so she kissed him.

Sasuke for all his powers of foresight, had _not _seen this one coming, and almost fell off the bed, when the pink haired medic grabbed his face with both hands and forced his mouth onto hers. It didn't take long, for him to start kissing her back. He brought her hands down from his face and used them to pull her closer, putting her flush against his chest, between his knees. He tilted her chin, to get better access and deepen the kiss.

At that moment Sakura's mind wasn't working properly; it had fused out the instant her lips had touched his. His mouth was so warm and firm, and his hand was gentle on the back of her neck, the other moving around her back to draw her closer. This wasn't like the first time he had kissed her, that had been somewhat urgent, as if she could give him answers there and then. This time, she'd started it and he was going slowly, not wanting to rush her or scare her away too quickly.

When they broke apart, their breathing was short and ragged. Sakura placed a hand on both of Sasuke's leg's to support herself. As the reality of what they had done, hit her, one hand flew to her mouth in shock as she suppressed a gasp. "Oh god, what have I done?" she started anxiously, backing away, "That was completely out of bounds, I sh-."

All the while, Sasuke's arm around her back prevented her retreat and he brought the hand, on her mouth, down with his own. "Calm down."

Sakura still looked wide eyed at him, "Sasuke I just kissed you! That was totally out of order!"

Sasuke just looked at her and said calmly, "Relax. The world isn't going to end, because you kissed me. Which, if you noticed, I didn't stop you from doing."

This helped, somewhat, "Still, I shouldn't have…"

Sighing Sasuke sought to stop her from talking was by grabbing her face and silencing her, with his lips on hers. _**It's the only bloody way to shut her up**_ he thought, savouring the warmth of her mouth. He held her like that; until he was sure she would stay quiet, then withdrew, and said easily, "As I said. It wasn't just you."

Sakura looked at him, unsure, and suddenly he saw the vulnerable genin he'd known as his team mate. For all her change, and growth, the nervous young girl was still apparent in her. Just like the time she'd lost that patient of hers, afraid of weakness and being left behind. To be reminded that something so familiar still remained in her was somewhat comforting. Like Sakura didn't seem so alien to him now….

"What does this mean?" she asked.

"I don't know." He said, dishonestly. He knew exactly what it meant. Well, on _his_ side at least. It meant he liked her. But he didn't want to scare her; she could shy away from something too soon, so he'd take it one step at a time.

But looking straight at her, dark eyes boring into her green ones, he said, "Just promise me you won't freak." And stopped him-self from adding "_and give it a shot."_

"Okay." She said, as confidence found its way back into her voice, "I won't freak. Just don't rush me, into whatever……"

"Okay," he said with a nod.

She took a step back and took a deep breath, being near him confused her thoughts….when she really needed to get some clarity.

Sasuke hopped down from the bed, walked over toward the door before turning around, and dropped the quip, "I would stay, but there is a time limit for each girl. I'm already late for the next one."

"You're such an –"

"Ass. I know." He finished for her, "You're getting predictable."

"I could always get few of those nurses in here, I'm sure they'd _love_ to see how much of an ass you can be." She suggested, as she went to write the results of the examination into his file. Her answer was a soft click of a latch and a very speedy exit.

:---------:

Well. That little 'scene' she'd just had with Sasuke had effectively shot any chance of her getting any work done that afternoon. Sakura, now sat at her desk, well more accurately, lay, at her desk, using her paperwork as a forehead pillow. Which, she considered, a much better use than just writing all over it and filing it away.

She had kissed Sasuke. Kissed, as in lips touching, joined at the mouth _and tongue _she thought. What had she been thinking? Better question: Had she been thinking at all? _Have you seen my mind? It's wandered off again…_

And now to ask the obvious question: what did it all mean??? Did she like him? Did she not like him? Was he only a friend or was he more than that? Was this like her genin crush or was it something different? Furthermore how did he feel about her?

Sakura had no idea what to make of it all. She wasn't even absolutely sure she liked him. _But you kissed him! _Her traitorous mind reminded her. Which was true, there was an eye witness to testify. But just because you kissed someone, did that mean you liked them? Couldn't you just do something on impulse? But what was impulsive with Sasuke? _Nothing _she told her self. One thing she could be sure of, this was definitely different than her previous infatuation with the Uchiha, very different indeed. She still had the same nervous reactions and fluttering heart, but the lack of thought was something new. Beforehand, she would work her brains overtime, trying to think of something interesting to say that would get his attention or constantly watching him to see if he looked at her. Now with him acting like such a wanker, she couldn't think at all. It was electrifying and terrifying at the same time. He was so _sure _ofeverything he did it made her unstable.

But did her like her? As far as actions when, the signs were looking positive, or more truthfully, they weren't looking bad. When she had been ready to jump back and run out of the room to hide, he held her still. He'd even asked her not to freak out, to think about this calmly. Though he'd forgotten to state what exactly it _was_ she wasn't suppose to be freaking out about. Did he mean a relationship of sorts?

Sakura stewed over these thoughts and wondered whether it might be an idea to consult Kakashi on this. Maybe he could offer some insight, or point out something she couldn't see. Only difficulty was that she would have to explain that she had been the one to kiss him, not the other way around, (unlike the first time.) And given his original advice of not letting things get messy, she was probably right in thinking she'd receive something along the lines of, "You brought this on your self."

But heck, a bit of "I told you so" was worth it, if it helped to put her poor, poor mind at rest.

:---------:

She found Kakashi on a roof nearby to the hospital; he was lazing about in the sun reading his book. God, did he need another hobby.

"Hey Kakashi," she said, sitting down next to him on the roof.

"Sakura," he acknowledged, eye still focused on the book in front of him.

"Can I ask you something," she asked.

"Mmmm."

"Well just be warned it's not very reasonable and I know I kinda brought this one on myself." She explained.

"I tried being reasonable once." Said Kakashi conversationally, "I didn't like it very much."

"You don't say." Said Sakura, dryly, then began, "Well, you know the whole thing with Sasuke?" Without waiting for conformation she continued on, "I took your advice and let things flow along. And it worked, nothing else weird happened, it was all fine. I mean I even sparred with him and he was completely normal about it. Then sensei asked me to give him a physical examination, which I did, and when things were finishing up I went and kissed him. For no reason." She finished this rather long story with an exhale.

Waiting a moment to be sure she'd finished, Kakashi, dog-eared his page and closed the book, tucking it away in his pouch. He folded his hands in front of him, and each elbow supported by a raised knee. Looking across Konoha, he began with a sigh, "Well, you certainly haven't done yourself any favours."

"No shit."

"But I don't think it's as terrible as you imagine it to be." He finished.

"You don't?" repeated Sakura, hopeful.

"No, I don't."

"What _do _you think then?"

Kakashi shrugged, "I don't have a solution, but I admire the problem,"

Now rather deflated, Sakura said, "You know, you're about as useful as a wet sock."

"Really?" asked Kakashi, intrigued, "Wet socks are surprisingly useful. In fact Icha Icha has one or two suggestions on where to put them…"

Sakura scrunched her nose in disgust, "You're a sick man Hatake."

Kakashi just smiled.

"But seriously, you've got to think _something_," she pushed.

"I think," said Kakashi, somewhat enigmatically, "that you should see how it goes. It might not be what you're expecting."

Sakura narrowed her eyes in scrutiny, "Why are you so vague?"

"A little inaccuracy sometimes saves a lot of explanation." He answered wisely.

Sakura sighed; once again she had been fobbed off with one of his stupid proverbs. "You're so frustrating!"

"Am I?" asked Kakashi with a grin, "I think I'm not giving you the answers you want. But I know when I feeling aggravated, reading Icha Icha is the best relaxation…"

At this Sakura just rolled her eyes, "You and your stupid books." Standing she dusted herself off; you never knew what was on these roofs. "I guess I'll see you sometime soon. Thanks, I think, for listening and all."

"Not a problem," said Kakashi easily, "But I should warn you, my hourly rate has increased, so you're bill will also increa-"

Sakura didn't respond, as she'd as already left, but he distinctly heard the mutterings, of "absolute idiot" and "desperately needs professional attention."

Chuckling to himself, he returned to the page he'd dog-eared earlier, smiling as he thought about his last genin team _they've grown up a lot, and yet in some ways, they haven't changed at all. Naruto is still full of life, Sasuke's stick up his arse remains and Sakura, is still finding her place in the world._

_Almost as entertaining as my books……._

:--- ---- ----:

Ah another chapter, finally up. As most of you are aware I have grammer issues, but I try my best. Thanks for reading!


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Reliance

Chapter 17

It was a quiet day at the hospital, with hardly any patients coming in. Emergency was absolutely dead, (excuse the pun). The clinic was also rather slow paced, the waiting room looking unusually empty. And while this lack of activity usually created an atmosphere of boredom, there were those who were taking advantage of it to get some much need paper work done. Namely the current Hokage, Tsunade.

She sighed as she stared at the many overbearing stacks of paper on her desk, a pile which, sadly, no amount of sake would reduce. Grabbing the closest pile she glanced at the top sheet. They were those bloody assignments from the fifth year med students; she was supposed to look over. Tsunade had to snort quietly to herself as she wondered how long they had been there, _probably months _she thought. Well, they would have to wait a little longer, student's assignments were at the _very _bottom of her 'to do' list. At the top were those blasted treaties……..

At that moment, her favourite student decided to come into her office unannounced. But of-course she would say nothing about it, it was Sakura after all, self-explanatory.

"Morning sensei," said Sakura, in her usual friendly manner.

"Good morning Sakura," replied Tsunade, "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if there was anything I could do, I finished my rounds, and my clinic hours for this week. And nothing else is coming in so……" she trailed off.

Tsunade felt like an angel had answered her prayers, "Well, there is something I can give you, but be warned it's awfully mind-numbing."

Sakura just shrugged, "I don't mind, it'll be something to do."

Tsunade beckoned her over to the front of her desk and gestured toward the rather large pile of assignments, "These need marking. They're the fifth year's major projects. So be generous with the comments."

Sakura smiled lightly, remembering her own major project, "I'll start on them right away." And with the pile supported by both hands, she made her way out of the office, when Tsunade's voice stopped her.

"Sakura," she started, causing Sakura to turn and look at her over her shoulder, "I want to apologise for my behaviour with the Uchiha; I was out of line."

Sakura gave an appreciative smile; she understood what it cost for the Hokage to admit she was wrong. "That's ok sensei. By the way, did you get my report for him?"

Tsunade nodded in response, judging from the check-up everything was fine, no abnormalities. Sakura gave a nod of her own and left with the stack of paper, thinking it was a wonder she could see over the top of it. While her sensei, gave a grateful smile, thinking her student, was a saint. Then she looked over the remaining piles of paper and smirked as she thought of other's she could 'off-load' some of them to.

:----------:

Sakura walked through her office door, stack still in her hands and dumped it on her desk with a satisfying thud. It was moments like these she thanked god for her super strength, it was so handy! She moved around her desk to take a seat behind it, and as she did so, she noticed Sasuke sitting on the couch book in hand. Except he wasn't reading his book, he was looking at her with a quizzical expression on his face. As if to say 'what the…?'

Answering his unspoken question, she told him, "They're assignments that need marking."

"You drew the short straw?" he asked.

"No," she explained, "there's nothing else to do."

"You _asked _for this." He stated, as if saying 'What are you? Stupid?'

"Yes," she smiled, at his tone, "_I_ don't mind doing something for another person."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh, "Are we going _there_ again?"

She didn't offer a verbal response, her smile only widening, which Sasuke had to admit, he liked being the cause of.

Silence fell between them; Sakura plucked the first sheet of paper of the pile and began her long and arduous task of marking, while Sasuke returned to his reading, though his thoughts were far from the medical text book on his lap.

His mind was currently lingering over the check-up from yesterday, or more accurately the kiss. _She _had kissed him this time. _She _had started it. This knowledge made Sasuke smirk. Was it a happy feeling? He couldn't be sure; it was difficult to find comparison material in his storage bank of memories, but it had to be close. But better yet, it meant there was a potential. This, _thing_, whatever it was, was certainly not one-sided. And yes, they would have to talk about it eventually, preferably soon, but he was ok with just, for now, _going with it_.

He had been so lost in his thoughts, he hadn't been aware that he, rather than looking at his book, had been staring at Sakura. Which had been happening a lot lately, and she was apparently aware of it.

"It's rude to stare." She said, without looking up.

"Really?" he asked, getting to his feet and wandering over, to stop in front of her desk. "I wonder who told you that."

"You, actually."

Sasuke picked up an assignment off the top and leant against the desk, so his back was facing Sakura. Looking at the assignment and frowning slightly, he said, "And how does it feel, now the shoe's on the other foot?" he asked, referring back to her own 'ogling' days, "Not so fun, is it?"

Sakura, shrugged, still concentrating on the paper in front of her, adopting a creasing forehead of her own, "Doesn't worry me."

"Oh, that's right. You _like _attention."

Snapping her head up to look at him, "I do not." She said indignantly.

"'Course you don't," muttered Sasuke, unconvinced, then added before she could reply, "What level are these assignments?"

"Fifth years," she answered, going back to her marking, "but, I'm finding them – "

"Total bullshit" finished Sasuke.

"Below par," concluded Sakura, ignoring him.

"That's putting it nicely." Said Sasuke, "Take this guy, -" and pausing to take a look at the written name, then continued, "Aai, he can't even explain what a clot is."

While the fact that, such basic knowledge had escaped the fifth year did disturb her, Sakura was still too busy getting over his name. "His name is Aai?" she asked incredulously.

Sasuke didn't answer the pointless question. But Sakura went on talking with a grin, which Sasuke knew usually meant he wouldn't like what she was going to say, "That's like, your entire vocab."

"Oh come on Sakura-Chan," sounded a loud voice from the doorway, it was their blonde friend, Naruto who, like Sakura, was grinning, "Give him some credit; he throws the occasional 'Hn' in here and there, though you'd still get more conversation from a rock."

Sasuke smirked, "You would have tried."

Naruto only poked out his tongue at him, before collapsing on the couch, where Sasuke had been.

"So what have you been up to?" asked Sakura.

"Nothing much," he said, "Just saw the grouch, asked for more missions. You know; the usual."

"Yeah," agreed Sakura, "I think I'm going to do the same. Its too quiet at the hospital, I need a change."

Naruto grinned knowingly, "You said that last time."

Sakura smiled guiltily, "I'm gonna ask her this time. The boredom is nearly unbearable."

"'Least you've got teme!" he said.

"Oh yeah, he's great," she said with forced enthusiasm , Sasuke only raised an eyebrow at her waiting to see where this was going, "He does all sorts of neat tricks. Why don't you show him?" the last part directed at Sasuke.

"I'm not a performing monkey," he said flatly.

"But you'd do it for treats, right?" bartered Naruto.

Both Sakura and Naruto burst out laughing at the 'some one shoot me……please' expression on Sasuke's face. He pretended to ignore them and went back to reading the rest of Aai's assignment. Neither saw the slight twitch at the corners of his mouth. Naruto and Sakura continued to chatter about anything and everything, and he was quite content to listen, enjoying the fact that he had company, but didn't have to expel much energy in participating. Then the topic of the approaching Chuunin exams came up.

"You're going in it, right?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, I'd rather not be a genin for the rest of my life." He said dully. It had actually been surprising when he had asked the Hokage in a private meeting and she had agreed to allow it. He guessed Sakura had been right, when she said it didn't hurt to be a little optimistic.

Naruto said with glee, "I'm so coming to watch. Can you imagine what the others are gonna be like when they compete against teme?"

Sakura also had to grin, "They'll probably need a second change of underwear. It's kind of cruel really."

"And pointless," added Sasuke, "I should just be able to sit the jonin exam. This is a waste of time."

Naruto just shrugged, "We all had to do it."

Sakura was a little more empathetic, "I know, but I can see where he's coming from. Maybe I could talk to sensei…."

Naruto looked hesitant, "Er…. You sure that's a good idea?" While Sasuke said, a hint of hopefulness in his face, "Would you?"

"I can try. Nothing to lose right?"

Naruto scoffed, "Yeah, nothing at all. Only limbs."

Sasuke smirked at Naruto's quip, and drawled, "Dobe, Sakura has what we call 'people skills'."

Naruto grinned, "Which is a good thing, caz' _you_ don't. I'm gonna get you a t-shirt that says 'You come near me and I'll bite you."

For the second time that day, Naruto and Sakura burst out laughing at the expense of the Uchiha, who tried to look annoyed, but found the sincerity of the emotion severely lacking. And really, he thought, _who could be bothered?_

At that moment, there was a knock at Sakura's door, to which she said "Come in." It was Shizune, with what seemed another stack of papers.

"Tsunade found another pile of assignments," she said with a friendly smile, "and said, I quote, 'Sake _might _help these piles look a little smaller, but no guarantees.'"

Sakura offered a smile of her own, "That's looking like a favourable option. Have you read any of these? They're terrible."

Shizune nodded in understanding as she sat the assignments on a table by the door, "I know. It makes me worried for the next generation of medics." Then finally taking a glance around the room, she noticed Sasuke leaning on the desk, and Naruto slouched on the couch. Smirking she added, "I see your numbers have grown. Was it a faulty disinfectant?"

Sakura gave a small chuckle, "I think it encouraged bacteria growth rather than prevented it." Shizune gave one last smile before closing the door behind her.

Naruto looked confused, "Bacteria?"

"She meant you dobe," drawled Sasuke, and grabbing a pen, began to make corrections on the paper. Sakura could see a lot of angry red crosses.

"And what are you?" she asked, "A pot-plant?"

Sasuke merely gave Sakura a look.

Naruto, was getting restless, and got up and stretched. "I'm gonna go train, you guys have fun with you're marking."

"Bye Naruto," said Sakura. Sasuke only offered a grunt.

Pausing at the door, he said, "Few of us are going to get a couple of drinks later, if you're interested."

"Sounds good, around 8?" she asked.

"Yeah that'll do. What about you teme?"

"Whatever," he said.

Grinning Naruto said before he left, "Alright, I'll see you both there. Remember your bib teme, with what happened last time and all."

Sakura stifled a laugh, as Sasuke glared at the now closed door, muttering "Idiot."

Then he turned to Sakura and said "I'm not you're babysitter. You drink yourself under the table, that's where you'll sleep."

Sakura gave him a sure smile, "Like you'd leave me there."

Sasuke didn't say anything, only continued his marking, but he didn't deny it either. Both knowing the chances of that happening weren't even slim to none, they were non-existent.

:---------:

By the time Sakura and Sasuke arrived at the bar, it was around ten past eight. Sakura had finished at 7, but was late due to the fact that they had stopped off at her apartment, so she could have a shower and change clothes. There was a distinct 'hospital' smell on her medic clothes she didn't like very much. Sasuke had proved he could look after himself well enough. Having finished getting ready, she'd found him stretched out on her couch, half asleep with a book split in half; face down, over his chest. She had shook him lightly awake, mumbling "wake up sleeping beauty," to which he responded, as he sat up with a smirk, "guess that makes you the witch."

She tried to smack him in retaliation, but he was too fast and was found leaning against a post, waiting for her outside the apartment building.

As soon as they had entered the room, they easily spotted Naruto amongst the usual mob (Neji, Kiba, Shika, Chouji, Lee, Ino, Hinata, Tenten etc.), he was easily the loudest and most energetic, and apparently he was in the midst of telling to a story about one of his missions – "And then Neji here, turns around and says, '_I_ saw what happened. Excuse me, while I bring up my breakfast.'" This was met with the group erupting in laughter, except Neji who looked like he was ready to thump Naruto. Wiping his watery eyes, a result from laughing so hard, Naruto concluded with a sigh, "Those were the days." Then upon noticing Sakura and Sasuke, he shouted across the room, "Teme, Sakura-chan over here!"

Soon everybody became immersed in their own conversations, and the original Team 7 talked amongst them-selves. Not long after, another group of jonin, entered the bar, and joined the already large group, drawing chairs and sitting down where ever they could fit; among them was their perverted former sensei, Kakashi. He plopped down on a chair next to Sasuke, bought a drink and began reading his book.

Sakura was the first to comment on his odd behaviour, "Kakashi, you're in a room full of alcohol and people and you decide to read a book?"

Kakashi was about to answer when Naruto added, "Yeah, what's _wrong _with you?"

Kakashi started to answer Naruto's question, when Sasuke cut across, saying wryly, "I think that would take a long time to explain."

Kakashi gave up hope of answering any questions and went back to reading, but not before he shot Sasuke a glare, which in turn made the Uchiha smirk.

"God," began Naruto, after taking a swig of his beer, "I can't remember the last time I read a book….."

Sasuke smirk, "Dobe, the last thing you _can_ remember is being tagged and thrown back into the wild." This made Kakashi stifle a laugh behind his book and Sakura take a sip, grinning behind her drink.

But Naruto just treated it as water off a ducks back, retorting with his own smirk, "This from the guy whose stick up his arse has a stick up its arse."

Again Kakashi had to suppress his laughter, but continued reading. Sakura despite her grin, felt the need to interrupt their little spat, "Cool it you two. God, do I _always_ have to play peace-maker?"

Sasuke scoffed at her arrogance, "No one asked you to take the moral high ground."

"Yeah," added Naruto grinning, "You're not a peace maker; you're a pain in the arse."

"I'll drink to that" smiled Sasuke, (yes, he smiled) offering his glass up for a toast.

Naruto micking his action clinked glasses with him, Sakura, outnumbered, gave a resigned sigh, then smiled knowing she wouldn't want it any other way. She too raised her glass, and then all three downed the remainder of their drinks. Then a low chuckle resounded around their section of the table. All three of them turned to look at the source of the noise: Kakashi.

"Did you just giggle?" asked Naruto incredulously.

Kakashi's dark eye snapped into focus on Naruto's face, "No."

"I distinctly heard a giggle," added Sakura mischievously.

His eye narrowed on her in scrutiny, "I don't giggle."

"Why have you been on the same page for the last fifteen minutes?" asked Sasuke.

Kakashi cursed the Uchiha internally for being so observant.

"Have not." He defended, weakly, trying to cover the current page he was on. But god bless him, Naruto was too quick and was already behind him, peering over his shoulder.

"My god." He said, looking at whatever was displayed on the page, his eyes as wide as saucers, while stuttering, "That's...how would yo-…….Kakashi you're a pervert!"

Kakashi, although embarrassed about on-lookers from Naruto's loud announcement, smirked under his mask, saying "Yet you're still looking at it."

Naruto, finally tared his gaze away from the offending picture, while turning slightly red, "Yeah well……..it's er….pretty." Sakura rolled her eyes, as he turned his sight back on the book and began ogling the picture again.

Sasuke curious as to what this fuss was all about, too leaned over Kakashi's shoulder to look at the picture. He raised his eyebrows slightly, considering the image for a moment. Sakura only groaned, "Not you too."

Sasuke looked at her with a grin, "It's quite artistic. Why don't you come and have a look?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose in disgust, "I'm gonna go get another drink, you boys enjoy you're porn." Sasuke only laughed quietly at her response, while Kakashi was indignant. "It's not _porn_, Sasuke's right, its art." All the while, Naruto remained intently focused on the book.

Later as the evening wore on the number of people lessened, while the level of intoxication of those who remained increased. Sakura could happily say she had not had as much as her male counterparts, and could be sure in saying she would walk home without stumbling or ending up lost in the woods. Sasuke while he held his alcohol well, had his head slumped on the table and looked like he was about to fall asleep. Kakashi was quite drunk, but Naruto was by far the absolute worst of the group and was completely off his face. The two, for the last half hour had been playing a game of truth and dare, of sorts, and it was apparently Naruto's turn to dare Kakashi to do something.

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it," he slurred, "is to sing 'I'm a Little Teapot' in an erotic manner." Everyone looked at him, even Sasuke managed to lift his throbbing head and stare at the dobe in a disgusted manner.

Kakashi, despite his inebriated state, still had enough wits about him to reply sensibly, "Naruto, you were a good student, very hardworking. But I'm going to go home now and we'll just file this moment under 'emotionally scarring.'" And with that Kakashi hobbled to his feet, waved goodbye to his old team and was gone in a pufff of smoke.

Sakura had a concerned look on her face, "Do you think he'll be okay? Using that jutsu while he was drunk, he could end up anywhere……"

Sasuke, head down again, mumbled into the table, "He's a big ninja, he can look after himself."

"I guess," said Sakura, not entirely convinced.

"Hey Sakura-chan let's play truth or dare!" said Naruto, who needed a new source of entertainment.

"No Naruto, I think its time we all went home." She said standing up and shaking Sasuke gently, so he'd get to his feet. The reluctant Uchiha slowly got up, though she noticed, he didn't wobble at all. He could be drunk and still have excellent co-ordination. It wasn't fair.

Sakura moved over to where Naruto was slumped over the table and using her strength slung one arm over his shoulder and brought him to his unsteady feet. "Come on Hercules, let's get you home."

It took them less than five minutes to reach Naruto's apartment, Sakura continued supporting him, while Sasuke lagged behind, taking it slowly. She found Naruto's keys in one of his pockets, and opened his door, flicking a light on as she went. The place was an absolute bombshell. She vowed the next time she returned to this apartment, she would be armed with a very thick pair of rubber gloves, a tough scrubbing brush and the most potent cleaning chemicals known to man-kind. (She would risk depleting the ozone layer somewhat, to make the place for human habitation.) Sakura dragged Naruto through to his bedroom and threw him lightly, onto his bed. He was already snoring to the high heavens by the time she had made it back to the lounge. Closing Naruto's door behind her and locking it, she noticed Sasuke hadn't even set foot into the dobe's apartment, choosing to remain in the hallway, probably preferring a more sanitary environment.

Having tucked Naruto safely into bed, (more like dumped,) the remaining two, headed toward their own apartments. Sakura raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, when they reached the point at which Sasuke usually headed towards his own place, but instead chose to keep moving on towards hers. When they reached her door, she unlocked it and left it open, so he could follow and close the door behind him. She dumped her bag on a nearby chair and moved into the kitchen to find her home remedy that prevented hang- overs, (A recipe curtsey of Shizune, her very recent development was a life-saver and was something she often made for the Hokage.)

Sakura grabbed a flask out of the fridge and poured some of the green mixture into two mugs. After downing one her self, she carried the remaining mug over to the man currently lying flat on his back on her couch. She set the mug on the coffee table in front. At the sound of ceramic hitting wood, Sasuke cracked an eye open, then sat up.

"What's this?" he asked, eyeing the questionable mixture.

"It'll help your headache."

Sasuke just shrugged and downed the contents in one go. He then lied back down on the couch, stating rather than asking, "I'm staying here tonight."

Sakura smiled but didn't object, "Okay." And left the room to fetch him some blankets and a pillow. She returned to find him all ready asleep, except unlike Naruto, he slept quietly without sounding like a volcano was about to errupt. She spread the blanket across him and lifted his head to place the pillow under it. This movement woke him up, but he didn't open his eyes, but mumbled a 'thank you."

Sakura tried, but couldn't curb the impulse to kiss his forehead, and so she did. It was soft and feather light, but provided enough pressure so that Sasuke could feel it. As she drew back, he opened his eyes. His gaze held hers for a long time, as though he was holding her in place, even if it wasn't physically. She had never noticed before how incredibly dark his eyes were, they weren't an ordinary black, there was a tinge of dark blue in them, _God listen to me _she thought _I sound like a love sick puppy_. Only as she thought this did she notice, that she was able to see these colour separations in his eyes, because he had sat up and was drawing closer. One hand grabbed her arm and pulled her down, so she was sitting on the couch beside him, while the other moved to the back of her neck and gently turned her head, so his mouth could meet hers.

Much like the last time, Sasuke dominated her mouth, demanding as much as she could give. His lips were a strong pressure against hers, as pulled her down so he was lying on the pillows with her on top of him; enabling him to deepen the kiss. But it couldn't be said that he wasn't a considerate kisser, because he was. She loved the way he chewed and licked her bottom lip, in an effort to draw her out and explore his own mouth. He also didn't just shove his tongue aimlessly down her throat, like he hoped to catch a fish. He did so methodically and sensually, in such a way that was impossible not to enjoy. But who couldn't? His mouth was so warm and inviting. It just felt too damn good. _He could be a drug_…

The need for air broke them apart, and left them both breathing heavily. Sakura had her arms on either side of his head, to support her. Sasuke as per usual, had a smirk on his face, 'I think that was a better 'thank you.'"

Sakura got her feet and stifled a yawn, "I agree, much better. Anyway, I'm really" – yawn - "tired, so, goodnight." And with that, she flicked walked into her bedroom and literally fell asleep as soon as she hit the sheets.

Meanwhile Sasuke was on the couch, drawing the blankets over his shoulders, enjoying the comfort of the couch. _I've got to get one of these_ he thought. What also ran through his mind was how casual Sakura was about this all, it was oddly surprising. She was mature enough, not to draw the situation out of context, yet relaxed enough not be a total prude about it. Just another reason he was attracted to the girl.

:---------:

The next morning had Sakura fast asleep in her bed, completely dead to the outside world. Even the sun blaring through her curtains or the grating sound of her alarm couldn't wake her up, though unfortunately it was enough to wake Sasuke. He trudged through her bedroom doorway, took the batteries out of the offending clock and returned to the couch and went back to sleep.

Eventually Sakura did wake up, at around one in the afternoon. At first she rushed around like a headless chook scrambling some up clothes before racing to her bathroom, when she remembered it was Sunday; her day off. Immediately calming down, she grabbed her dressing gown and slippers and scuffed her way to her kitchen. She had to stifle a laugh when she looked at her couch and the slumbering ninja on it. Sasuke had his face turned to the side, of which only half was visible, the remainder was covered by the pillow. One arm was slung carelessly over the side, and touching the floor, a leg was also sneaking out from under the blanket and hanging over the edge. Her gaze shifted back to his face and she noticed his hair was ruffled, which of course, only added to his image and overall appeal. Sakura would wager he didn't know what it meant to have an 'off' day appearance wise. Then again, he also wouldn't care.

The sound of the kettle boiling caused the lump on the couch to let out a tired 'I'm awake' groan and a stretch. Getting to his feet Sasuke gave a yawn and had another stretch, this time focusing on his neck, and there was a loud crack as he turned it opposite to the way he had been sleeping. Sakura while pouring them each a drink, had trouble concentrating on the task at hand. While it was true, he was very cute in the morning, that wasn't what had her attention. It was the fact that his stretching and yawning seemed so _normal_ and he was so relaxed. As a genin she had _never_ seen this side to Sasuke. All of their interactions had seen him closed off to the world and always on guard. Even on their missions, he would still prefer to sit alone, sharpening a weapon or two, never really appearing relaxed or open for a casual conversation. Though he always managed time to spare the odd death glare here or there……

To see Sasuke this comfortable was something new. If he was aware of her watching him, he didn't say anything, and only walked over to take a seat at her table. She sat a coffee down in front of him, and then returned to the kitchen to start breakfast.

"Morning" he mumbled.

Sakura could only smile in understanding, it too, took her a while to warm up in the morning, get the system running. So the delayed greeting was not surprising, "Morning" she replied, "What would you like for breakfast, I feel like bacon and eggs, but if you want I can –"

Sasuke started to drink his coffee, then looked at her and smirked, "You're offering to make me something? Usually I'm left to my own devices."

Sakura shrugged, "It's my day off and I'm feeling generous, so what will it be?"

"You got any tomatoes?" he asked.

"Yeah, should be some in the fridge," she said, already stationed over a fry pan, cooking. Not hearing any sound of movement, she turned around to add, "This would be where you get up off you're seat and –"

Sasuke gave a snort, but got to his feet coffee in hand and walked over to the fridge, "So now I have to do it myself. Make up your mind woman."

Sakura ignored him, now used to his anal remarks about anything and everything. He found a tomato and instead of returning to the table, remained in the kitchen, leaning against the breakfast bar, while taking a bite out of his tomato.

"We need to talk." He said in a tone that, for him, was quite conversational, one up from his usual monotone.

Sakura had put her eggs and bacon on a plate and now stood, leaning opposite Sasuke, with a fork in hand and began eating her breakfast. "Isn't that what we're doing already? If not, I'll do you a deal, you talk; I'll eat. And on the odd occasion I might even listen."

Sasuke waited until she'd finished being a smart-ass, (something he could assimilate with, though would never admit it.) Then said, "We need to talk about where we stand."

Sakura turned serious, and looked at him, while chewing on a piece of bacon in thought, "Okay. Why don't you tell me what you're expecting?"

Sasuke didn't know how to beat around the bush, wasn't in his nature, and never would be. So he told her, straight up, "I want a relationship with you."

Sakura didn't freeze or do the 'deer in headlights' as he'd expected instead, she was still focused on him and had understood every word he'd said, she began slowly, as if choosing her words, "A relationship, as in a casual thing or a boyfriend?"

Sasuke developed a disdainful expression at both of those options. He definitely didn't want something casual, but he detested the idea of being's someone's 'boyfriend.' It had always sounded like something that genin did, when they held hands and gave each other a kiss on the cheek. For Sasuke, it didn't describe the relationship he wanted with Sakura.

"I don't do casual, but I don't want to be you're boyfriend. It makes it sound like we're fifteen." He explained.

Sakura didn't reply immediately, because she hadn't formulated a response to give. She couldn't say she hadn't seen this coming, because she had, just not this soon. She had thought there would be a sort of 'testing' period, where they slowly tested the boundaries, gauging what the other's expectations were. For him to just come out with this was a little confronting, and made her feel like she just needed to think. But on the other hand, that was all she had done; think and analyse. She had even gone to Kakashi for advice. Sakura had done enough thinking and questioning, to last her a life time. And wasn't it Kakashi who had said, she should just go with this, that it wouldn't be what she expected. He was usually right about most things, why start doubting it now? Besides her own senses, all advice aside, told her to take a chance, after all there was nothing to lose…..

"I get what you're saying….." she said trailing off, and he was looking straight at her, waiting for her to finish, "and I think it would be worth a shot."

Sasuke didn't say anything at first, and then gave a quiet, "Okay then." He proceeded to take a bite of his tomato, which disguised the triumphant smirk that had appeared on his face. He also had this weird, jumpy feeling in his lower stomach. Was this what they called excitement? It was difficult to say, but for Sasuke, it was a feeling that reminded him of the time he had earned praise from his father for finally mastering a basic fire jutsu. It was a feeling that he associated with getting something he _really _wanted, almost to the point where he needed it. As a child, pleasing his father had been something he strived for, and now Sakura……….

Sasuke didn't finish this train of thought for two reasons, one he had been interrupted by her voice and the other, was that it was a little frightening to admit, even to himself, that this want/need was so strong, it could lead to weakness……….(and we all know his history and attitude towards weakness……)

"So what do I call you then?" she asked, finishing the last of her breakfast, and placing her plate on the sink.

Sasuke just raised an eyebrow at her; surely it was too early for her to be asking such stupid questions. Due to his lack of a reply, she kept talking, this time developing a grin, "Sasuke-poo? Mmmm too nice. How about Sasuke-kun? An oldie, but a goodie. Ooooh, I know, how about me and my shadow? And we could get matching T-shirts! It will be brilliant!"

While Sakura chatted away with her over the top ideas, Sasuke's expression had darkened considerably. If they were going to be together, they were going to lay down some ground rules, especially regarding nick-names. Her next comment just made him snap, "I should probably get you a leash. You know, for when I have to go into a shop and leave you outside….." Sakura had noticed the dangerous look in Sasuke's eye and was thankful there was not a vast amount of water any where nearby. She had slowly been edging toward the door in the need for a fast exit, and by the look of things, the leash comment had done it.

Finishing his coffee, he placed it on the sink with deliberate slowness, before turning to her and saying darkly, "If I were you, I'd run." And Sakura, didn't need to be told twice, she was out the door in a flash, making it to the roof top when she noticed a black blur, very close behind….._Shit, I won't last five minutes!_ Pumping her feet full of chakra, she turned her speed up to the max. It was just a pity she wasn't paying attention to the fact that she was heading straight for the lake…….

Sasuke noticed the direction they were running, and smirking to himself thought, _**Maybe third time will be the charm**_.

:------------:

Meanwhile a very confused and disorientated jonin emerged from the nearby woods. Extracting a few loose leaves and twigs from his silver hair, he scratched the back of his neck and made a shrewd observation, _this isn't my apartment. I never had this many indoor plants….hmmmmm_. Suddenly a shout snapped him from his thoughts, "I didn't mean it! Really, you can just have the collar!!" Looking up the source of the noise, he first saw a pink and white blur bonding from roof to roof, which looked like a Sakura in a ….dressing gown??? Followed by a black blur, which could have been Sasuke…. maybe??? Then they were gone, and it was as if he had seen nothing at all. Shaking his head and rubbing his eyes tiredly, Kakashi thought to himself, _I really should stop drinking, I'm seeing things………_

_:-----------:_

_Well, another chapter finished. Again, my grammer is far from perfect, so bare with me. Anyway, thanks for reading, and let me know what you think._


	18. Chapter 18

Reliance

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, never have and I doubt, ever will.

He couldn't explain the feeling. It wasn't something that was easily described or explained, yet, if given a living example he would be able to say, _'There, that's it, right there. That is _exactly _how I feel.' _If only it were so easy to get others to understand. Maybe this was another of those circumstances which you had to experience first hand to know how it felt.

Sasuke was now standing in the deserted streets of his old home, the Uchiha residence. It hadn't changed much. The buildings were more weatherworn, and bleached from the sun. The once bright colours were difficult to make out; time had turned the structures into a pale and worn version of what they once were. Had he not known the black and horrific events that had occurred within theses walls, Sasuke would assume nothing more sinister than abandonment. That whoever had stayed here, had decided to just get up and leave. He couldn't help but think, for the millionth time in his life, _what if_…….

What if his family hadn't been slaughtered? What difference would it have made to the person he was now? What if Itachi had been just a normal brother? Would he have had a life similar to Sakura's? Would he have been a more open person, who could laugh more easily? Would he have enjoyed the attentions she gave him as a child? Would he have had the rival/brother relationship he had with Naruto? Would he be truly happy?

Question after question rotated around in his mind. One question, rather than being useful toward a solution, only bred another. Thinking about what ifs and what could have been rarely did any good, and yet it was a train of thought that lured many along its winding, unpredictable path, often leading to irreversible behaviours and their consequences. It would be all _too_ easy to surrender to the madness, always lingering out of sight, but never out of mind. To give in to the temptation of doing the one thing that might make the pain numb, if only for a while. But that was as good as it would get. The pain, whether through a drastic action or time, could be dulled, but _nothing_ on the face of this planet was capable of bringing back the one thing he would do anything for; his family.

There were so many memories, so many stories that lay within these walls. Like the lines of those who are aging, there were marks all over these buildings that, if one understood what to look for, told of events that had happened long ago. Sasuke could remember running through these streets, so eager to get home, to see his brother.

"_Brother! Brother, I'm home!!!" shouted an excited 4 year old Sasuke._

_He raced down the ever familiar streets of his home, finally coming to a skidding halt outside one of the larger houses. He ran up the steps, missing two at a time, and sped around the veranda, his school bag thumping against his back as he hurried to the area he knew his brother would be training. _

_In his excitement, Sasuke had paid little attention to the approaching figure, coming around the corner and as a result, came to a painful stop and a face full of cloth. Stepping back slightly, he looked up, wide-eyed at his father, who had a stern expression, that clearly conveyed he was far from impressed at his younger son's behaviour. _

"_You should pay attention to where you are going. Such disregard will get you in trouble one day." Lectured his father._

_Sasuke felt like a fool, lower than the ground he was standing on. How could he have been so careless? Uchihas were always alert and aware of their surroundings, Itachi would have known their father was coming around the corner before he was even in sight!_

"_Aa, sorry Father, I will be more alert next time." Mumbled an ashamed Sasuke, staring at his feet._

"_Hn." Replied his father, and he heard him continue moving behind him. Sasuke was about to let out a sigh of relief when another male voice sounded, "Give him a break father, he's only four. He's hardly likely to have perfect behaviour at such a young age."_

_Sasuke's head snapped up in shock. Itachi was coming from the same direction his father had been and was now standing a little further down the veranda than Sasuke. His dark hair, a little lighter than his own, reached his shoulder blades and was tied at the base of his neck. Loose strands too short to be held back, framed a pale face with piercing dark eyes. His 12 year old body was slight, but extremely powerful. Sasuke himself had seen what it could do. It amazed him, that while Itachi was so much younger, he managed to hold as much presence as his father, a grown man._

_Sasuke watched as his father, who had his back to them both, turned slowly. His gaze regarding Itachi only, Sasuke it seemed didn't exist. In a soft, threatening voice their father spoke, "At four, you had mastered the clan's basic fire jutsu. Not being able to follow a simple rule of constant vigilance is rather pathetic in comparison."_

_Sasuke while he wasn't a prodigy like his brother, was still intelligent enough to understand the slight his father had made against him. But as usual he remained quiet, barely having the courage to look his father's imposing figure, Sasuke then turned to Itachi, awaiting his reaction. He could have sworn for a split-second that his eyes had flashed red, a hint of the demonic blood line possessed by their clan; a hint of something much darker and bloodthirsty. Sasuke could tell his brother was trying to control his anger, despite his mastery at concealment of emotions. (Which ironically, Sasuke later in life became equally adept at.)_

"_It seems I'm forever reminding you father, that Sasuke and I are two different people, with different strengths and weaknesses." Said Itachi, his voice soft and dangerous._

_Their father, had turned around fully now and now held looked at Itachi with intimidating gaze, almost urging him to step over the line, to go that little bit too far. "And yet while there are differences, there is the same genetic base. Through which, similarities should begin to emerge. Yet I see nothing of this between the two of you. If it weren't for the fact that you looked alike, it would be impossible to tell you were brothers."_

_Sasuke felt as though he'd been slapped in the face and the fear that had been keeping his mouth shut and feet rooted to the ground finally snapped and he ran. Ran away, not paying attention to the direction he was going, the only thing he knew was that it was away from the truthful words of his father. Behind him he could hear the defending shouts of Itachi, "Of course, you're not going to see a resemblance! Not if you keep treating him like shit! If _you _paid a little more attention, then maybe he'd be progressing at the rate you wanted. But instead you've been too busy jumping down my throat and telling me what to do!"_

"_Don't you dare tell me how to raise my –" shouted his father, but Sasuke didn't hear anymore. He had blocked his ears to the world of sound. He had finally stopped running and looked around at his surroundings. He was in a garden of sorts. Finding a bench he sat down and hugged his knees. Sasuke could remember very well, the wet trail of his tears as they ran down his cheeks.  
_

Snapping out of his day-dream, Sasuke realised he had unconsciously been walking through the maze of streets to his old home. There in front of him, were the familiar steps he had often raced up. Now, he walked slowly up them, taking his time. As he approached the front door, his hand hesitated as it grasped the handle. This was it, this was the threshold. He silently opened the door, and all of a sudden his mind flashed with images of the night his parents died, remembering the blood coating the walls in such a way it was though the artist had been drunk. But there was no blood this time, only bare walls tinged a mouldy grey. He walked forward, down the hallway, passing the very room he'd found Itachi standing over their bodies, as though he had been victorious in battle……the memory was vivid, etched into the very insides of his skull, never to be removed. A tall figure, hidden in shadows, standing over crumpled bodies, with their limbs at distorted and unnatural angles, Sasuke could imagine the screams that would echo up the walls had they been alive. The amount of blood had almost made him retch. It was impossible that humans had this much in their bodies; surely they couldn't hold this much. Worse still, what had he done, for them to spill so much?... but now the room was only dusty. The midday sun was beaming through the windows and casting a bright light into the room. Sasuke wondered who had cleaned it all up….

Moving on up the hall way, and eventually arriving at his room, Sasuke was surprised to find all his belongings, exactly as he left them. He moved to sit on the bed, a layer of dust rose into the air as he did so. He felt like a ghost, forever tied to haunting a place, never able to move on. A slight rustle, snapped his attention toward the door, he could sense a familiar chakra signature.

"Sasuke?" called a female voice. "Are you in here?"

He heard her foot-steps as they made their way down the hall. A figure then blocked some of the incoming light from the hallway, and he saw her walk toward him. "Sasuke?"

He brought his attention down to his hands in front of him. He asked in an even tone, "What are you doing here?"

She was still moving toward him, a little cautious. "Naruto said you came to collect your things. I thought maybe you needed a hand."

"I've got it covered, thanks." He said testily, just wanting to be alone.

However, Sakura was never one to be put of by his tone. Hell, she'd experienced worse and still managed the courage to ask him out. She moved further into the room and squatted in front of him, trying to catch his eye. "What's up?"

He finally looked away from his hands and up at her face, into her emerald eyes. "Nothing, I'm fine. You don't need to be here, I can manage."

She just shrugged, as though she hadn't expected much difference and went back to moving around the room. "That's okay. I can wait."

He narrowed his eyes at her back, annoyed she couldn't take a hint. She was looking at two of the only photos in the entire house. They weren't a family who'd cared much about documenting their memories, despite his mother's best efforts. The first photo was one she would have a copy of. It was the first Team 7. Kakashi was smiling as was Sakura; Naruto was glaring at Sasuke, while he looked bored, as though the entire thing was a waste of his time, time which could be spent on training and getting stronger. The second photo was the only photo his family were altogether. His father was standing upright at the back and was stoic as ever. Itachi appeared much the same, though where his father's eyes commanded authority, Itachi's gave off contempt, a rebellious disdain for the rules, loathing the fact he had been _told_ to stand in this picture. Sasuke was smiling and looked as though he was bursting with pride to even be standing _next _to Itachi. But the happiest expression of all belonged to their mother. She was sitting in an elegant pose in front of her husband and sons, and Sakura could see, she was a very beautiful woman. Both her sons had inherited their dark colouring and pale skin from her. Though Sasuke beared the greatest resemblance to her, his eyes the exact same shape and colour.

"Your mother was gorgeous." Said Sakura quietly, breaking the silence, while still absorbed in the picture, "You look a lot like her."

Sasuke finally stopped his glaring and managed a reluctant scoff, saying dryly "Is this your way of saying I'm gorgeous?"

Sakura turned away from the photo, and looked at him, happy to see his mood pick up a little. "No. This is my way of saying you look like a girl."

Sasuke gave a quiet snort, and turned his attention back to his hands. "if we didn't look alike," he said softly, mirroring his fathers words, "you wouldn't know we were related."

Sakura had since, moved across the room and taken a seat beside him on the bed, through the rays of sun shining through the window, the newly raised dust particles could be seen somersaulting through the stale air. "What was she like?" she asked.

This question made Sasuke half smile at the irony, as he said, "She was warm, funny, loved people, and absolutely adored my father. I have no idea what she saw in him."

Sakura too was smiling at the irony of it all. But her smile was out of affection for Sasuke and the fact that he also had those traits, he just couldn't see it. "What was he like?"

Sasuke did not miss the slightly teasing tone, and looked at her out of the corner of his eye before saying, "Cold, unemotional and hated company."

Sakura continued smiling at his description, thinking that at first glimpse how like his father he was. But upon getting to know him, the _real_ him, his nature was similar to the way his mother's sounded, though his father's traits were still quite apparent. "So he had a stick up his butt?" she summed up.

"A big one," agreed Sasuke, once again staring off into space in front if him.

"And Itachi?" she asked, hesitantly, very aware she was walking on untested ground.

Sasuke looked at her now, regarding her thoughtfully, wondering how far down this path she would go. "A lot like my father. But where my father held pride for his clan, Itachi had a vanity about his own personal abilities. He detested being the poster boy for our clan, yet he loved reminding them what he was capable of."

"What about you?" she asked.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her, 'What about me?"

"Where do you think you fit into all of this? Who do you think you're like?" she clarified.

Sasuke formed a slight frown, "What's with the twenty questions?"

Sakura just shrugged, "I'm just curious."

The frown didn't go away, but he answered her questions nonetheless, "I'm not warm and I hate people." And so by process of elimination, he was saying he was more like his father.

"I disagree."

"Good for you." Said Sasuke, hoping she would finally drop the subject.

"I think you're warm, in your own way. I mean, you buy me coffee and ramen. You help me at work a fair bit, like those assignments."

Sasuke scoffed, "You're making it bigger than it is and remember, I'm still on probation, so entertainment is severely lacking."

Sakura dismissed his rebuttals with a wave of her hand, "Trifles. You still have a choice. You don't _have _to do anything."

Sasuke leaned forward on his knees and rubbed his face tiredly with his hands, "No, I don't. But it's fairly obvious why I do."

Sakura, grinned leaning forward to inspect his curse seal, she could see peeking out of his collar. "And why's that? Mmm?" she pressed.

Sasuke shivered, as he felt her fingers on his neck, tracing lightly over where he knew the curse seal to be. He didn't make a move to stop, but did turn his head to the side to look at her and said with a sigh, "You already know."

She grinned, moving her hand up his neck and into his hair, rubbing circles into his scalp affectionately. Sasuke, she could tell was enjoying it, as his posture had relaxed and his eye's had closed, like he was trying to maintain concentration. Of course there was also the outstanding fact that he hadn't grabbed her hand and told her to stop. Withdrawing her hand, she said quietly, "I don't think you hate people either. You're best friends with one of the most social people I know."

Sasuke's eyes had snapped open the moment she had stopped massaging his head. With unrivalled speed, he grabbed her retracting hand and brought it back up to his head, clearly indicating he didn't want her to stop. Sakura laughed at his method of communicating, it was never asking with Sasuke, just outright taking. But she didn't mind in the slightest, he would soon know if she did. Closing his eyes once more, he said just as equally quiet, "You and the dobe are different."

It was Sakura's turn to sigh, "Yeah, I guess we are. But so are you." She used the hand on his head to pull her self closer. She gently pressed a loving kiss to his temple and leaned back, getting to her feet. Sasuke looked at her and said, "You kiss a lot."

Sakura smiled, "I'm an affectionate person. Got a problem with that?"

Sasuke shrugged. "No, its just…..new."

"You are too, when you wanna be."

"Yeah," said Sasuke in a disbelieving tone, "right."

Sakura wasn't winning this one and dropped it. Instead she turned to the reason he was here in the first place. "So which room did you wanna start in?"

Sasuke got to his feet, and said, "None. I don't want any of it."

"What?"

"There's nothing here that I want." He repeated.

"But…." Said Sakura, shocked, "This is all your stuff, your family's stuff."

"Exactly." He explained.

"All right, fine." She said, "But I'm keeping those photos."

Sasuke shrugged, "You do what you want." And with that he walked out of the room.

"Awesome!" said Sakura, happy she didn't have to put her heel down. She went to the wall and took down the two picture frames, and headed out of the house to find Sasuke waiting in the streets. The image of Sakura walking down the steps, with the photos in hand was eerie. He at the moment, had two things of opposite value, simultaneously existing. One he would gladly see torched to the ground, the other he would run to the ends of the earth and back to save.

She grinned at him, when she was finally at his side, "I think this makes the score, Sasuke: 10 and Sakura: 239."

Sasuke felt his mood hit the highest point it had been that day, and smirked as he said, "Interesting score. I'd love to know the method behind it. Did you learn it off the dobe I wonder?"

Sakura in mock seriousness, "Oh no, this was an original creation. You see, I get 200, because I'm just plain awesome. And 40 for whooping your butt in our little spar, but I lost one because I kind of played on your emotions."

Sasuke, smirk still in place, enjoying the utter stupidity of it all, "And where does my ten come from?"

"Well, three of that was for each time you drenched me in water. And the 7 was because some of my awesomeness rubbed off."

"Naturally, I should have guessed." He said wryly, as though he was stupid not to have seen it.

Sakura grinned at him again, "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll catch on soon enough."

'With your apparent mathematical skill, why on earth would I worry?" he drawled. But Sakura was ignoring him, instead focusing on the two pictures in front of her, estimating measurements. "Do you think this will fit above the fire place?"

Sasuke found himself giving an amused chuckle. How much kinder the situation of this morning looked, now he was talking about something as mundane as frame sizes with Sakura. It seemed so fantastically normal.

:------------:

Next morning Sakura arrived as per usual to find fresh coffee and Sasuke on her couch, in her office. Something that had been beginning to amaze her was the difference between what Sasuke said and what he actually meant, she was finally beginning to distinguish the two. For example their conversation as follows:

"Morning"

"Hn." Which in Sasuke language, meant _Morning._

"Yeah, that's about how I feel too."

"Hn?" _And what's that?_

"Oh, just bored actually. You know what?"

"Hn." _No, but you're about to tell me anyway._

"I'm going to see her _now_ about getting those missions"

"You do that." _I could care less, but remember to ask about my skipping the chuunin exams._

"And I will remember."

"Hn." _Thank you._

Sakura walked over and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, saying as she withdrew. "I'm beginning to get it." To which Sasuke didn't reply, instead grabbed the front of her shirt, to keep her in place and put his mouth back on hers.

Guess Tsunade was going to have to wait.

:-----------:

Several long minutes later Sakura emerged from her office looking unusually ruffled. She self-consciously smoothed the newly formed creases in her white coat several times and ran a hand through her short hair, straightening any out of place strands. She was about to close the door when Sasuke came through behind her, closing it himself. On his face was a rather satisfied smirk. She noticed, suppressing the urge to hit him, that _his_ clothes were immaculate, as ever. Why for the love of all things living was she _always_ the only one who showed signs of their previous activity. By the look of things he was well aware of he looked in comparison to her.

'Take a stumble did we?" he smirked.

Sakura gave a forced smile, which said she found him anything but amusing. "I was trying to crush an annoying insect."

His smirk widened, he was amused. "Must have been some bug."

"Yeah, the kind that just won't die." She replied.

Despite her best efforts, Sasuke's smirk would not be removed. He leaned forward to fix her collar, which was half up, half down, then whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her neck and making her shiver. "You should check yourself more thoroughly. Some might associate your lack of attention with a lack of intelligence."

"Careful Uchiha, you ever want kids, I suggest you step back." She retorted.

Sasuke tilted his head down, without moving back. Sure enough, one swift upright movement of Sakura's leg would have him effective as a eunuch.

Sasuke whispered again into her ear, "You do that and you're only hurting yourself." Sakura couldn't help but blush at his meaning, while gritting her teeth in annoyance, her jaw clenched. "You're lucky we're in a hospital, or I'd…."

But he'd already vanished from sight, without smoke. Though a voice sounded in her ear, like he was right behind her, "You'd what? Tongue me to death?"

"You just wait until I get you," she snapped, feeling ridiculous talking to thin air.

"Look forward to it," was the suave reply.

:---------:

She was having serious thoughts about re-considering her offer of asking Tsunade about the chuunin exams. By rights, she was entitled to tell him where to shove it. But being the dedicated girlfr….no, partner she was, she pictured something happy in her mind, to act as a distraction as she walked the green mile to her sensei's office. Now, it would be false to claim she was afraid of the woman, she wasn't. Sakura admired the person who had trained her, when Kakashi wouldn't and she felt a kin-ship with her, which she shared with no-one else. As Sakura grew older, she had found their relationship to be a little more tumultuous, with them often butting heads over issues. But despite this frustration, Tsunade was first and foremost her teacher and her friend, and Sakura would always treat her as such. Still, didn't dispel the thudding anticipation of her heart…..

"Sakura," spoke Tsunade, as she observed her student in her doorway, "What can I do for you?"

Sakura stepped into the office fully and closed the door behind her. Taking a seat in front of her sensei, she began to speak. Having finally settled, in her mind, on the best approach to take, which in this case was the truth, but presented in such away as to arouse as little suspicion and distrust as possible, so maybe a little sugar coating here or there…….

"Hi," she began somewhat nervously, a fact that didn't escape her omniscient sensei. _Great start_ she thought to her self, _Just stutter some more, maybe wring your hands a little and the stage will be set……_"I was wondering whether you might consider letting Sasuke skip the chuunin exams."

For several long, agonising moments, the office was dead silent. It would be one thing to say you could here a pin drop, but more truthful to say you could have heard a butterfly passing wind. Tsunade looked torn between the appropriate expression, and in the end adopted a face of half disbelief and half joking. The humorous side gradually took over and had Tsunade roaring in laughter. Sakura didn't think she could sink any further down her seat. _Well, in my defence there was a short moment where she almost believed I was serious……Now how to get out of it……_

Her sensei took several moments to calm herself. "Oh dear," she chuckled, "I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. So," now serious, "what are you really here for mmm? An afternoon sake perhaps? And here's you having me convinced you're not a drinker……."

Taking a deep breath and preparing for whatever onslaught she met, Sakura said in her steadiest voice, "Sensei, I was being serious."

At her student's words, all traces of humour left her face. She was now studying the woman in front of her carefully, as if looking for cracks, signs she was about to break. "Even if you _meant_ it seriously, how can you _possibly_ expect me to _take_ it seriously? For Christ sake Sakura, its Uchiha!"

Sakura began to plead, "But couldn't you think ab-"

"No," said Tsunade, cutting across.

"But maybe if-"

"No."

"Surely…"

"Sakura," said Tsunade in a tone that commanded obedience. "I said no."

"But why not?" she said, loudly hoping to stall all efforts to silence her for the fourth time. Tsunade opened her mouth to speak, but Sakura fired on. "Surely you can see the benefits? Firstly, how the hell are the other genin going to fair against Sasuke? It's just downright cruel. Even if you told Sasuke to go easy, he would still flatten the crap out of them (which was putting it lightly, see, there was that sugar coating,) Secondly, what point is there in holding him back any longer? His probation is almost up and we need ninja with his strength out on the field. I mean with some of the idiots we have running around out there….Lastly, he's recent behaviour has shown he is ready. He has obeyed every rule you've given him and kept his chin down…

Sakura trailed off, she'd finally run out of breath and ideas. It was all up to Tsunade now.

"That was a very impassioned speech you gave. I wonder, how long did it take you to rehearse it? Did you and the Uchiha sit down and work out the dot points together?" she asked, feigning pleasantness.

Sakura frowned, unsure, "What?"

"I know, you two are close, please don't insult me by thinking I'm blind or stupid." Said Tsunade.

"I haven't denied that we are close. But we didn't concoct some speech, which I would practise, so I had if perfect by the time I talked to you. This is me, of my own accord (Okay, so a little more sugar coating, a slight lie….,) asking that you let Sasuke skip the exams, it's a load of crap that he should do them, he's just wasting everyone's time. It'd be much easier to enter him into the jonin exams straight up.

"Protocol isn't a load of crap." Replied Tsunade.

Sakura made a frustrated sound, "Oh come on! Like we all haven't cut our own corners when it's suited us."

"Be that as it may, this is Uchiha, he hasn't _earned _the right to cut _any_ corners."

"You know he has, you just don't want to admit it. I think you're deliberately holding him back, you don't want him to succeed." Said Sakura, her anger growing by the minute.

"Don't be ridiculous, why on earth would I hold him back? You're overestimating how much I care. I'm only wary of the boy, who if you remember, once walked out on Konoha, on _you_..." said Tsunade her own temper flaring up.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock then narrowed in anger, "How dare you -…"

"Remember, Sakura," said Tsunade warningly, "I'm still your Hokage….

"Fine, forget it." She said, absolutely furious, getting up, she walked to the door determined to leave as quickly as possible before she said something she seriously regretted.

:----------:

Upon returning to her office, Sakura's mind was not so clouded with anger that she couldn't see the reactions her 'standoffish' behaviour was receiving. Nurses were taking quick side steps, evading her path, determined not to end up a fixture in the wall. Some of the braver ones, including Shizune, merely gave her questioning looks, but said nothing.

Sakura retched open her door, with more strength than necessary and heard the top hinge buckle at the force. Upon closing it a little more gently behind her, she stormed over to her desk and instead of sitting down, remained standing staring out her window, the one Sasuke; himself had so often looked out of….

"I take it, it didn't go that well?" asked Sasuke, in his usual monotone, his voice giving nothing away.

Sakura didn't turn around, but gave a quiet snort, saying sarcastically, "What on _earth_ gave you that idea?"

"The thumping for one." He answered.

Sakura walked around and leaned against her desk, arms folded over her chest. "I thumped? _That _I didn't notice."

"What did she say?" asked Sasuke.

"She said a lot of things." Said Sakura, trying her best to maintain a calm voice, and resisting the urge to throw something, "But the general themes were, she doesn't trust you, has some doubts about me, and doesn't think you're at all deserving."

Sasuke looked sardonically amused, "I expected as much."

"Then why even ask?" asked Sakura, actually wondering why she even bothered with such a pointless endeavour.

Sasuke shrugged, "Had nothing to lose by trying. On the odd and unlikely chance I was wrong." He finished his answer with his trademark smirk, and Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes.

She new it was his attempt to cheer her up, and what better way than to be reminded of what an arrogant ass you're dating. Though what had truly caught her attention was the lack of defeatist attitude she had been expecting. Where there should have been, "What's the point?" instead there was, "Well, I gave it a shot, right? I lost nothing by trying." He was changing. Not into an unrecognisable Sasuke, just a more human one.

"Let's go somewhere." Said Sakura, as she turned back to stare out the window.

"Where to?" asked Sasuke, wondering where this was going.

"I dunno, just somewhere." She answered.

"What about your job?"

"At the moment, I couldn't care less about my job."

"Let's get a drink."

"Good idea." She said, very keen, in favour of _anything_ that was away from the hospital, and even better alcohol was not only a far distance from this stifling and infuriating place, it would also encourage forgetfulness.

:----------:

Sitting at a table in the corner, Sasuke and Sakura could be found arguing, (how surprising.) Sakura wanted Sasuke to participate in a drinking competition, excluding all other drinks, except shots. Sasuke at first didn't even reply to her suggestion (wondering why the hell she would even ask such a stupid question, when the answer should be incredibly obvious,) but at her insistence, replied that he was all too experienced in her drinking competitions, having witnessed them first hand and had no inclination to enter one himself. Sakura predictably pleaded, threatened and did all she could to change Sasuke's mind, but to no avail. Sasuke had said he wasn't doing it and in this instance, Sakura found he meant exactly what he was saying.

"For god's sake, just _one _shot!" she pleaded, "It's a fair compromise."

Sasuke scoffed, "It's hardly a compromise, if I didn't agree to it."

"Would you just do it?" she commanded, sick of his resistance.

"No." was the short reply.

"Fine, don't expect _me_ to stay sober, just because _you_ decided to be boring." She shot back.

"By all means, this entire excursion wasn't for me." He reasoned.

Still slightly miffed, she bit back, "Yeah, but you could _help_ it along, by being involved, if you're just going to sit there and –"

But Sakura didn't get to finish her sentence, because every occupant of the bar had their attention directed toward the entrance, as the doors flew open with a bang.

"I Lee, ninja of the Konoha village, hereby buy everyone a drink!" he proclaimed with raised arms, as though he thought he was Jesus walking on water. His statement was met with cheers and there were many shouts at once of orders to an overwhelmed bar attendant. Amidst the ruckus, Lee was throwing money everywhere, and dancing around, all over the show. He looked like a green plaid elf, who had sniffed one too many leaves. Apparently his generosity had also reached ears outside the pub, as many others came in through the wide open and slightly damaged doors, (which made Sakura feel slightly better about her damaged hinge.) Amongst the group of newly arrived free-loaders were Naruto and Kakashi, which was hardly surprising as both had an uncanny sixth-sense when it came to alcohol and free stuff. (So naturally with the two paired together, it made the entire ordeal doubly exciting.) Their old team-mates quickly noticed the squabbling couple in the corner and grabbed a seat.

"Isn't this brilliant? Free drinks!!" exclaimed Naruto.

"It's not bad," agreed Sakura, feeling slightly cheered at the presence of new company, sometimes talking to Sasuke was like talking to a brick wall.

"Interesting how you knew where the free alcohol was so quickly," remarked Sasuke.

Kakashi shrugged, but was reading his usual book, that seemed permanently glued to his hand, only ever being removed if there was a newer volume to take its place. He was leaning his chair on its hind legs and had his legs casually crossed over the table. "It's a talent."

"So," began Naruto, "What are you doing here?" He thought they were awfully committed to be drinking this early; perhaps he hadn't given them the credit they deserved.

"I needed to escape, the hospital is driving me insane," sighed Sakura.

At this Kakashi grinned, while Naruto had his own knowing smile and Sasuke, his usual smirk. Sakura could guess what was coming.

"Personally," said Kakashi, "I don't think it was the hospital."

"Yeah, maybe you should look at other things that might have done it," added Naruto.

"Like, genetics for example," finished Sasuke.

"You lot may think you're entertaining, but really you're just lame." She responded. "And god, do I need a drink." She signalled a very harassed bar attendant and a short while later was presented with a drink.

"Never fear, for Lee is here!" came a cheerful voice, and suddenly there he was, a vision of green right in front of their table. Sakura instantly looked to see if his pupils were dilated, to see if a substance was the reason he was less _with it_ than usual. But then her attention was drawn away from his eyes, to a point higher on his face, his eyebrows. And apparently she wasn't the only one looking.

"Jesus, what the hell did you do?" hollered Naruto. And though the rest of them were not as vocal, they too shared Naruto's astonishment. For where there was normally a pair of thick black hairy caterpillars, that were threatening to become one long caterpillar, stood two, thin, very sculpted lines. Lee had waxed his eyebrows.

"Fuzzybrows is…" began Naruto, but was still so startled by the image in front of him, was unable to complete his sentence, so Kakashi did it for him. "Not so fuzzy," he said, sounding very amused by his own wit.

"But why?" asked Naruto, still unable to come to grips with Lee's new eyebrows. It was like saying you ate ramen on toast, it was just _wrong._

"I needed to show the _inner _me," said Lee, in a far away voice that told them he was still quite out of it.

"You look stupid." Said Sasuke bluntly, as he figured he may as well tell the poor boy what everyone else was struggling to say.

"You," said Lee, with force as he pointed a finger at Sasuke, "Are a non-believer."

Finding his voice again, Naruto said in a slightly strained voice, "If _that's _what you have to do to become a believer………"

"Oh, the eyebrows are optional, though there are other places, that unfortunately are compulsory," explained Lee.

This statement managed to yield several simultaneous reactions. Sakura, who had been in the mist of taking a sip, gasped in shock at the same time and had confused her body as to whether she was swallowing or breathing in. The end product being a rather violent coughing fit. Sasuke, the usually composed person he was, found his nose scrunching slightly and a frown setting in as he looked at Lee with disgust. Even Kakashi, through his mask, balked at the boy in terror, his chair returning to all four legs with a loud bang. Though the best reaction, by far was Naruto's. His expression changed several times, beginning with confusion, then dawning comprehension, followed jaw-dropping horror. He stuttered out his thoughts.

"You…….down there….Oh man, way too much information………the visuals…." He shuddered. In fact all of them shuddered, at the nightmare-encouraging mental images that erupted in their minds. Wanting to leave as quickly as possible, Naruto invented a terrible excuse. (There was a reason he wasn't the one sent on missions of espionage.) "Er… Gee, look at the time; I have to go…..train. Bye!" And with that he was gone in a flash.

"Sadly I too have to go," said Kakashi, quickly getting to his feet. His lie sounded a little more genuine. "Oh Sakura, had to tell you, we have a mission and need a medic, so let me know if you're interested. And now, to go walk on that road of life." A split second later, it was just Lee, waiting for Sasuke and Sakura to respond.

"Sakura didn't you have to go to.." started Sasuke.

"The hospital, yeah. Come on then." She said, as they stood. "Bye Lee, er, good luck with ….stuff."

When they had all gone, Lee was left standing at the table, thinking, _maybe I told them too soon. Should have eased them into the idea instead….._

Poor Lee was still convinced it was a matter of approach, rather out right rejection of the idea, whatever form it took. It couldn't be said, he wasn't an optimistic fellow.

:---------:

Tsunade had sat in her office for the last few hours. She had done nothing in terms of physical labour, but the miles her mind had run were exhausting. She had been mulling over her conversation, or more accurately, argument with Sakura that morning. It couldn't be denied, the girl had a made some fair points. But there was still something that didn't sit right with her. Maybe she should talk to the man himself, and see what his position in this was. She very much doubted, Sakura had come to her with this idea alone, but it didn't seem likely that she would play hand puppet to his every command either.

The Hokage had thought long and hard about what she would do. Firstly she would talk to him. That was a necessity. But if it went as she expected it too, she would give him permission to sit the exam. Of-course there was a catch, after-all nothing in life was free. The jonin exam had three stages. The first was a simple gauging of abilities, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the participant. The second was a psychological exam, which for the Uchiha, would be very interesting. Lastly, after the two former tests, were evaluated, the contender would fight someone the judges had deemed the equivalent of their ability. And if Sasuke was as strong as she had been led to believe, there was only a select few of whom could fight the Uchiha, and stand a chance at winning. One was Naruto, but he would have fought him so often, he would know his fighting style too well. Kakashi was another option, though if rumours were true, he had recently been ousted by the Uchiha. There were others who she _could_ put up to the task, but didn't want to risk endangering. There were few ninja in the village of such strength and she needed them running at full capacity, not hampered by injuries from a stupid spar. So that left one option. Why send others to do a task, when you were quite willing to do it yourself?

:-----------:

Sakura flatly refused to return to the hospital and instead suggested they go sit somewhere quiet. She just needed to escape the world, if only for a while. Sasuke didn't say anything. But she didn't need him to. In some ways just having him _there_ was enough. He understood exactly what she was feeling; nothing needed to be explained.

While Sakura enjoyed the peace, she couldn't help asking one question, which had been plaguing her for some time. "Do you trust me?" she asked, her gaze concentrating on the clear sky above.

Sasuke didn't answer, though brought his dark eyes to focus on her face, as if trying to read it. To be honest, he was a little shocked by the question; he had thought she was too pre-occupied with feeling suffocated by the hospital to think about something like this. Her question had caught him off-guard, left him un-prepared, which wasn't a feeling he liked. Usually, he was ever alert, conscious and aware of all surroundings, calculating potentials and possibilities, always with a back up plan. And if that plan failed, there was always another after it to revert to. This new level of being unorganised, as it were, left him feeling somewhat naked and vulnerable. But this begs the question, how was it that his defences had dropped in the first place?

Trust was a funny thing. Sasuke doubted, very much, that you could _ever_ trust someone wholly. Even as a child, he had never placed complete trust in his family. Sure, he trusted his mother to heal any injuries he had received from over-exerting himself, but he wouldn't seek her advice for something training-related. Much the same way, he would or did, trust Itachi's advice when it came to training, but wouldn't expect an ounce of sympathy from him, had he hurt himself. Trust, in his experience, was a very volatile thing; it depended heavily on the person and the context.

In the _current _context,those who he trusted in _any_ waywere so limited; he could number them on one hand. He trusted Kakashi in a sense, that his former sensei to an extent, understood his own situation, so any advice imparted in that respect, held some sway with the Uchiha. How-ever much he hated to hear it. But that was where it ended. Naruto too, also held his faith. He could trust the dobe to let things lie, when he didn't want to talk about something. He could trust when the dobe said he would do something, he would _actually_ follow through with action. Though there were times, he wouldn't give too much information to the dobe, for fear he would make a rash decision.

Sakura was another case entirely, wasn't she always? She didn't have Kakashi's understanding or Naruto's sense, to leave things alone. If she believed something to be true, she would tell him and she would try her very best to understand. Though she did share Naruto's unshakable word, that if she said she would do something, she would do everything within her power to achieve it. Sasuke could trust that she was _true_ to herself and she wouldn't change. So to answer the question, did he trust her? Well, it would be untruthful to say he didn't, so by elimination, he supposed he did, in his own way.

"Yes." He replied. Sakura didn't look at him instead gave a small smile to the sky.

_If I lay here,_

_If I just lay here,_

_Would you lie with me, _

_And just forget the world?_

_Forget what we're told, _

_Before we get too old,_

_Show me a garden, _

_That's bursting into life._

:----------:

Another chapter up, if you've followed the hints in this chapter, the next should be rather interesting. Thanks for reading! And the lyrics I must credit to Snow Patrol, from their song Chasing Cars. Just a note too: I don't need to be reminded of every error that I make, if you find it detracts from the story, there is a simple solution...don't read it. I'm sure other authors will agree, it is next to impossible to do a fanfic that will please everyone, so if you're just reviewing to tell me I made an error, save your time.


	19. Chapter 19

Reliance

Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Despite common belief, I do not own Naruto.

A/N: This chapter is not as long as the last. And yes, there are guaranteed errors. If you don't like them, you don't have to read this. Isn't that the beauty of freewill?

"You wanted to see me," said Sasuke, trying his absolute best to keep his voice civil, but despite such efforts, still managed to sound borderline rude.

"Yes," replied Tsunade, who was seated behind her desk; which supported her elbows and interlaced fingers. "Are you interested in becoming a jonin?"

"Yes," answered Sasuke, he had predicted this would happen. Ever since Sakura had told him, how …unsuccessful her plight had been, he had assumed the Hokage would want to speak with him, to judge for herself where exactly the situation stood.

"Do you think you would be ready to sit the required exam?" she asked, her expression revealing nothing of her intentions.

"Yes." He answered again.

"Then it's settled. The jonin exams are in two weeks time and you will be entered." She said, as though that put the matter to rest.

Sasuke who had always kept his emotions well disguised, did not give a physical reaction to this news His face remained as stoic as ever. But internally his mind was going haywire. He couldn't understand it. Anyway he looked at this move, he couldn't reason it. The only reaction Sasuke could string together was, "Right."

Tsunade had to prevent herself from giving a smile. She understood he would be suspicious and he had a right to be. But even in the face of something that seemed quite generous, he still managed to be rude.

"That will be all." She said, dismissing him.

Sasuke turned on his heel and walked out of the Hokage's office, confused as ever, but determined to find out the truth before he entered the exams. If he ever suspected a trap or fowl play, he was _never _under prepared.

:---------:

The sound of porcelain clinking signalled another addition to the already swaying and unsteady tower of empty bowls. Naruto could be found sitting at his favourite ramen stand, in the very early hours of the morning. Almost through his 9th bowl, he signalled with his chopsticks that the cook should begin to prepare another. The cook raised a sceptical eyebrow, as if to say, you had better be paying for all of this, but set about making another bowl.

He didn't have any pressing engagements later that day; the only thing he had planned was to meet Kakashi this morning to discuss their mission. Hopefully he had remembered to ask Sakura whether she would be their medic. But Naruto didn't have much faith; he had learnt long ago, that the reliability of Kakashi's memory was akin to his ability to be on time.

And speak of the devil; here she was on her way to work. It always surprised him, how understated she had become, over the years, about her appearance. He could well remember as genin when she and Ino had grown their hair long in an effort to draw Sasuke's attention; as they had heard he preferred girls with long hair. He had to chuckle at the stupidity of it all. Things that seemed so important long ago now seemed quite insignificant. Naruto supposed it was all down the 'broadening of their horizons' as Kakashi would say. Time had changed their perspectives.

The sound of Sakura sitting down next to him and placing an order, snapped him out of his thoughts. "Morning" she said, to Naruto.

By her tone, he could judge she was in an okay mood, but had a severe case of Mondayitis (a terrible affliction that, sadly, many suffer from.) "Morning," he reciprocated.

Sakura gave the leaning tower of bowls a quick glance, and then said, "You got paid today?"

"Nah, this is um, calling in a bet." Lied Naruto, he couldn't very well say this was practically hush money.

"And the bet was?" asked Sakura, beginning to eat her newly served breakfast.

"Er, terribly disgusting and degrading to women,' said Naruto, rather quickly. He hoped to god she took this as nervousness that she would hit him, rather than a cause to be suspicious. Sakura didn't pursue the matter any further. Naruto had hit the nail on the head, with mentioning two of things that would turn her off.

A familiar 'poof' behind them, alerted them to Kakashi's presence. Their ex-sensei proceeded to seat himself beside Sakura, and ordered a bowl of ramen, wondering how he could possibly skive it off so he didn't have to pay.

"Morning," mumbled Sakura, who had first swallowed her mouthful of noodles, so Kakashi could understand what she had said, sadly Naruto was not so forward thinking. As he greeted him, what was intended as a 'morning' came out a muffled, "Morumphh."

"Naruto, you're as eloquent as ever." Replied Kakashi, beginning his meal.

A quizzical expression overcame the blonde man's face, "Eloquent?"

"Means stupid," explained Kakashi, as he smiled under his mask. Naruto only made a rude gesture with his hand at the slight and continued eating. Meanwhile, Sakura was giving Kakashi a look, to which he said, "What?"

"That was lame." She answered.

Kakashi's smile returned, "A cheap shot is a terrible thing to waste."

Sakura only rolled her eyes.

"You thought about the mission yet?" asked Kakashi.

"How can I think about it?" she responded, "You haven't even told me what it's about yet."

"We're going to sound; apparently rogue ninja have been killing off innocent civilians." Explained Naruto.

"Who else has been assigned?" asked Sakura.

"Just the two of us, plus a medic. Are you up for it?" asked Kakashi mildly.

"Yeah, doesn't sound too nasty and I've been looking for a break from the hospital," answered Sakura.

Naruto grinned, in understanding, "Is she _still _driving you mad?"

"A little," admitted Sakura, "I don't know, lately she seems to have a major pole up her ass."

Naruto only snorted in disbelief, "When doesn't she?"

"True."

"I think you should have a little more respect." Said Kakashi, then added "Granted, she's not as wise as me, but she's not bad."

"You're not wise Kakashi, you're just old" countered Naruto.

"Surely they go hand in hand?"

"Age can bring wisdom, or it can show up alone," sounded a familiar drawl. Sasuke was behind them, leaning nonchalantly against the fence.

Sakura, feeding off his input, grinned and said, "And in this case, it's definitely the latter."

Kakashi just smiled under his mask and retorted easily, "I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong."

A slight groan brought their attention to Naruto. Having completed his 16th bowl, he was looking a little green.

"You should never eat more than you can lift." Commented Kakashi airily.

Naruto didn't respond, only sat there clutching his stomach.

"Shhhhhh," scorned Sakura, "I think he's really ill….."

"He'll come around," assured Sasuke.

"You don't know---" began Sakura, but was cut off, by a very loud noise, that reminded Sakura of someone blowing raspberries, with the sound magnified many times over.

"Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

Naruto had farted.

Feeling infinitely better Naruto turned around to the glares. Even the cook had stopped what he was doing and quickly covered his mouth and nose with a tea-towel.

Sakura was the first to say something, or more accurately, shriek. "URGGGG! Naruto! You filthy bastard!!!"

"What?" he said indignantly, while looking at them. "If you have to fart, you have to fart."

"You could have done it somewhere else!" she seethed and hopping off her stool, said, "I'm going to work." And with that Sakura left.

Naruto just shrugged, and ordered another bowl of ramen, completely ignoring the silent stares of Sasuke and Kakashi. The cook had grabbed a pair of tongs and with the tea-towel still in place, quickly placed a bowl on the table, and then retreated to the backroom, not wanting to be gassed to death. "You, Naruto, are a rare treasure." said Kakashi.

"Maybe someone will bury you." Added Sasuke.

"You're just jealous." Retorted Naruto.

"Yep, that'd be it." Said Kakashi sardonically.

"By the way dobe, how are you intending to pay for all this," asked Sasuke, gesturing to the sky high tower of bowls.

"Er, your tab."

"My tab no longer exists."

"But why…." Began Naruto, before it clicked. "You got her!!!"

Sasuke didn't say anything. But his not deny anything was confirmation enough for Naruto. He bounded over to his best friend and clapped him on the back in congratulation. "I'm proud of you teme." Sasuke made to shove him off, but Naruto held fast. "But if you hurt her, I will……"

"Buy him a tea-set?" offered Kakashi, who had been admiring the whole scene with interest.

"In so many words," agreed Naruto stepping back.

Sasuke moved further away, "Dobe, you smell." And with that, Sasuke left.

Naruto grinned and shouted after him, "There is more where that came from."

Kakashi got to his feet, and said, "You are going to make a woman very happy one day."

Naruto grinned, well aware of Kakashi factiousness, and punched the air in his customary way, "Believe it!"

To which Kakashi responded with an eye-roll and got to his feet. So too did Naruto, when the cook cried, "Hey, you have to pay!!!"

Naruto looked nervous, then turned to Kakashi and said in the nicest voice he'd ever heard, "You, um, wouldn't have any spare change, would you?"

Kakashi could only sigh and placed a wad of bills on the counter, _there goes that massage chair I was gonna buy……_

:---------:

Sakura was a multi-tasker. In addition with completing the assignments of your everyday medic, she was also playing, (quite well too,) a game of hide and seek. The slight twist was that the person she was hiding from didn't even know they were playing. She skittered about from room to room, checked all her patients and made sure she was up to date with reports. She was so frightened she would run in to Tsunade that she did everything outside of her office very quickly and completed what ever could be, inside her office. And to her surprise, Sasuke was no-where to be found. (Never fear, Sasuke will make another debut, its just the last chapter was quite Sasuke-centric, so I thought we'd focus on the others for a while.)

By the afternoon, Sakura could conclude that there was no motivator that could compare to having hell's wrath unleashed upon you. Although whether that would actually happen, if she did happen to encounter Tsunade, she didn't know. Though she'd be damn sure she wouldn't leave it to chance. Not only was she afraid of what Tsunade would say; she was also a little concerned that if she was in the room with the woman again, whether her tongue would get a mind of its own and say everything she was thinking. Finishing the last of her work for the day, she got up and stretched. Grabbing her back and jacket, she scribbled a note on her desk, and then jumped out the window, leaping from rooftop to rooftop toward her apartment. Sakura would welcome the day when she could once again leave through the front doors without fear of an ambush. On her way home, she happened to notice two squatting figures on a nearby roof, recognising them at once, she made a slight detour toward their spot. Landing soundlessly in front of them, she said, "Twice in one day? Does this mean the relationship is serious?"

"Who? Us?" asked Naruto, who was holding an orange book, identical to Kakashi's.

"No, I meant the two pigeons behind you." She said sarcastically, "Is there something you two want to tell me?"

"Well, there is something _I _want to say, but it's not to you," interrupted Kakashi. "Naruto, I'm sorry, I don't think I can do this anymore."

Naruto, going along with the story, put on a wounded expression, "But why? Is it something I've done?"

Kakashi sniffed dramatically, "Not its not you, it's me."

Sakura shook her head, wondering what on earth she'd do with them both. "Alright, I get it, you're funny. Now what are you _really _doing here?"

Kakashi grinned under his mask and his dark grey eye crinkled, "Here's a hint, it involves a book."

Sakura only sighed, "Lord, where is some serious company when you want it."

"Not our fault you're boring." Said Naruto, turning a page.

"I'm not the one who get's their kicks from farting." She countered.

"You think I'm bad? Kakashi can tell what you've eaten from a fart!" exclaimed Naruto, and added, "Can't you?"

"What?" said Kakashi, who clearly hadn't been paying attention.

Sakura scrunched her face up in disgust, "You're as sick as each other."

'I don't know; I can be _pretty _sick when I want to, though Naruto I suppose can be…." said Kakashi thoughtfully.

"I need to know more about this mission," said Sakura, cutting across, before the conversation wandered in a direction that in all probability would scar her for life. (It would be one among many, this certainly wasn't the first time she'd had one of these conversations.)

"What's to know?" shrugged Kakashi, "We're going to Sound, to investigate any possible avenues or follow any leads that may lead us to our mission objective. Though we are only there to scout and find information, not to engage in any military activity."

Naruto was rubbing the back of his neck, "Could you ah, vague that up a little? It seemed much simpler in the de-briefing." Kakashi ignored him.

"If it's so simple, then why do you need a medic?" asked Sakura

Again Kakashi shrugged, "Strictly precautionary, we're moving behind enemy lines, there is a very likely chance we'll encounter rogue ninja who'll no doubt want to try to obliterate us.

"God," said Naruto, "for a moment there it all made sense….."

Kakashi grinned; he had deliberately used the biggest words possible, hoping to elicit a reaction from one of them. And Naruto didn't disappoint.

"And when do we leave?" asked Sakura.

"In three weeks," replied Kakashi.

"What's the time estimation?"

"A month."

"A month?" repeated Sakura, wide-eyed. "For a simple espionage?"

"Tsunade wants a thorough job done." Replied Kakashi, his voice giving away no feeling. "If you don't want in, say so now."

"No, I'll do it," assured Sakura. A month was a long time, but she desperately needed something other than the hospital. "By the way, do either of you know where Sasuke is?"

"Escaped his cage did he?" asked Naruto, though Sakura knew better than to rise to the bait.

"Try the training grounds," suggested Kakashi.

"Thanks. I'll see you later." And with that she continued her way home.

:-----------:

Sakura lay slumped on her couch. She was absolutely exhausted from running around at a million miles per hour. Though, she supposed it was nice to be home earlier than usual. Soft foot steps on the floor beside, made her snap into a sitting position, already she was gathering charka in her fists, ready to aim a punch. There in the middle of the room stood a sweaty and warn looking Sasuke. He had obviously come back from training, he had his jacket in hand and was wearing a white sleeveless shirt that he usually wore for training, paired with black trousers. Tossing the jacket aside, he sat down in a chair opposite her.

"How was your day?" he asked.

Sakura had to do a double take. Sasuke had asked her questions before, many in fact. But never had he been so outright and willing to make conversation.

"Uh long." She answered, "You were training?"

"Yeah."

"You look like you're about to drop dead." She said honestly.

Sasuke half smirked (its all the energy he had left for,) at her bluntness, and replied, "You look wonderful too."

Sakura rolled her eyes and got up to make some tea.

Then Sasuke hit her with a blind one, when he said out of the blue. "I'm moving in."

Only half listening, Sakura replied, "Huh?"

"I said," said Sasuke, moving into the kitchen, "I'm moving in."

This time she heard fully and time seemed to stop. "What???"

"I'm not saying it again."

"You're moving in." said Sakura.

Sasuke closed his eyes in irritation, "It's like talking to myself……"

"_You _are moving in." she said again.

Taking over the tea-making process, as Sakura was still processing the new information, Sasuke replied, "Congratulations, you're a mimic."

"And when did _we_ decide this?" she asked, hands on hips.

"_I_ decided yesterday, when I got sick of doing my own washing." He said, well aware that this would provoke her.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, "You…..Oh, stuff it. I haven't got the energy to insult you."

"What a pity," smirked Sasuke, and placing a cup of tea in front of her, asked, "Where are your towels?"

"Third cupboard down the hall, why?" she asked.

"I'm going to take a shower." He said.

"Okay."

"Company is always welcome." He offered.

Sakura scoffed, "if I have no energy to insult you, I'll hardly have energy for _that_."

Sasuke smirked, "Offer's always open." Then he left down the hall.

His absence left Sakura time to think about the last half hour. Sasuke was now living with her. Even in her head that sounded weird. And for all her efforts she couldn't imagine what it would be like to live with him. Was he a slob? Well, he wasn't Naruto, but he was certainly lazy. Where would he sleep? This was a two bedroom apartment, but she used the smaller room as her study/office. It was where all the papers and book that wouldn't fit in her office in the hospital went. Obviously he would sleep in the same bed as her. But how would that work? She was very used to her own space, and enjoyed being able to roll over without considering anyone else. But now, she'd have to bear in mind that Sasuke was there too. Sure he stayed before when they'd spent the night together but that was only a night or two. Now there would permanently be someone else there……….This realisation gave Sakura a mixed feeling of giddiness and anxiousness.

:----------:

Over the few days, Sakura found herself getting use to having the Uchiha around. It had only taken a day to move in his things. Most of his items he kept in boxes which they put in the study. She'd asked him what was in them and received a mumbled answer of, "weapons and stuff." Suffice to say, she didn't pursue the matter any further.

There was of-course one very big upside to Sasuke moving in and that was his furniture. Naturally, being as well off as he was, she had expected him to have nice quality things, but nice, she found, didn't even begin to cover it. His bed was king size (did you expect anything less?) and was the most comfortable thing she'd ever laid down on. It was an incredibly easy choice to make, about whose bed they would keep and whose went into storage. His dinning table and chairs, which he said he never used, was also to take pride of place in her dinning area. It consisted of a beautiful oval mahogany table and matching chairs, that were built and shaped, to it seemed accustom any body shape. His also had a rather lovely leather lounge suit, which Sakura would have gladly exchanged for her humble chintz couch. But Sasuke sent his into storage, and when she asked why, he only said, "I like yours."

So by the end of it, looking around the place, Sakura could barely recognise her apartment, it was now a charming mix of class and homeliness. The only thing left to do was to put up the photo of Sasuke's family above her fireplace. Having done so, she stepped back and thought, _Yep, its finished now._ At that moment, Sasuke entered, having come from their bedroom, into the lounge. He looked at what she was staring at. Sakura saw him glaring at the picture and immediately stood in front of it, as if protecting it.

"This is one thing, you _don't_ get to decide." She said.

"That's _my_ family," he replied.

"That you didn't want anymore," she countered.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, "But I still have to look at it."

Irritated, she folded her arms across her chest. "You said, 'Do what you want.' So I did."

"Anything, but _that_." He spat.

"It stays." She said with, what she hoped sounded like finality.

"Fine," said Sasuke, "You can hang up the picture, but in your study."

Sakura had to applaud his persistency, "You're in no position to bargain. The picture stays, _end of story_."

"You could put the one of Team 7 up instead. It would be a better fit," suggested Sasuke. He did _not _want to have to see _him_ everyday.

Sakura considered what he'd said for a moment. He was right; the photo of the original Team 7 was larger and would look better above the fireplace. But then again, he got his way _too_ often. She finally relented and said, "Fine. Team 7 can go up there. But I'm still keeping the other."

Sasuke gave a slight smirk, "I knew you'd see reason."

Sakura, having swapped the pictures, carried the one of his family to her study, as she passed him, she said, "Oh it wasn't about reason. It was about picking my battles."

Somehow that wasn't as consoling as Sasuke would've liked.

:-------------:

"Beep, Beep, Beep Beep,"

A blurry eyed Sakura woke up to a very irritating noise. She was currently lying on her stomach, with her head turned to the side and arm outstretched. The bedside table, upon which sat her annoying clock, was just out of reach, her finger tips scrapping the edge of the table. _So close, yet so far_ she thought. Suddenly another arm extended across hers and slammed the clock silent. It took Sakura a moment in her haze, to realise it wasn't her own. This arm was slightly thicker and more muscular, and the fine hairs on it were black. Who on earth did she know who had black hair?

Sasuke.

_What the fuck?_ She thought, panicking, wondering what the hell the Uchiha was doing in her apartment, let alone her bed. Then the events of the last few days went tumbling forward into her memory. _Oh yeah, he lives here now_. Now, having the offending noise put to rest, Sakura resumed her previous activity of sleeping. Though now it wasn't so easy. Despite the silence, she found she was aware of things she hadn't been before. Firstly, she could feel Sasuke's weight in the bed beside her. Secondly the arm that had smashed the clock was now slumped across her back, as if he couldn't be bothered retracting it any further. Thirdly in his reaching across her to get to the, now very beaten clock, he must have moved closer, as she could feel his head in her shoulder and his breathing tickled her skin, which caused her to shiver involuntarily (thought definitely not out of disgust, just chills.)

Her shivering had roused Sasuke, causing him to drape more of himself across her, and mumble unintelligently in her ear. There was no chance of Sakura going back to sleep now. Feeling more comfortable laying on her back, Sakura rolled over. Sasuke's arm was now across her stomach. She turned her head to the other side and found herself nose to nose with the Uchiha. Despite his eyes being closed, from her new position, Sakura had the opportunity to admire the symmetry of his face (as you often do.) His nose was one of those aristocratic noses; it was thin and perfectly straight with a slight upward tilt at the end. He had fine cheekbones that added a masculine definition to his face. But if Sakura had to pick her favourite feature, it would be his eyes. They were almond-shaped and were so dark (though you couldn't see them now), it was like looking into a pair of bottomless wells. All in all, he was beautiful. Testing their proximity, Sakura blew lightly across his face, awaiting a reaction. And sure enough, he gave a slight shuffle and an adorable scrunch of the nose and was still again.

She blew a second time, a little stronger than the first. Sasuke merely mashed his head further into his pillow, so Sakura could now only see half of his face. His hair had the 'bed look' going, with stray strands falling into his face. Sakura decided that if he was a puppy, you'd just pick him up and take him home.

Feeling even braver, she slowly grabbed a corner of the sheet and brought it up, with out moving too much, to his face. She lightly traced the corner across his cheek. There was no reaction, not even a twitch, (that should have been the give away.) Trying for a second time, Sakura tried pulling the sheet up a little further, and when she went to bring it too his face she froze. The once closed eyes were now open. Knowing dark eyes locked onto her green ones, for several moments, and then they slowly went down to look at the sheet, she was trying to untwist. They then returned to her face. His gaze never wavering from hers, Sakura felt a hand tug the sheet from her grasp under the blankets. The same hand then grasped both of hers and held them in place at the wrists. Feeling satisfied she wouldn't try to annoy him again, Sasuke went back to sleep. Several moments later:

"I know you're awake," said Sakura. Her voice was a little raspy from sleep.

"Go to sleep," mumbled Sasuke.

"Why? It's morning," she said.

"Because…."

"Because?"

"Look." He said frustrated, though his eyes remained closed. "Close your eyes and stop talking."

A triumphant grin flittered across Sakura's face; though Sasuke did not see it. Still feeling mischievous, Sakura leaned forward and pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss. This only earned a slightly irritated expression across Sasuke's face and a slight tightening on the grip around her wrists.

Sakura just figured she'd keep going till he snapped, which judging from his expression wouldn't be long. She shifted her head so they were cheek to cheek and began lightly pressing kisses along the line of his jaw; she dipped under his chin and concentrated her lips there for a moment, smirking when she felt him swallow. She looked to his face for any change, and could see there was a visible frown now, as if something pained him.

Sakura then moved back to his mouth, and rather than playing the innocent, began to tease his lips with her teeth. As soon as she ran her tongue along his bottom lip, he snapped. All of sudden, Sakura was on her back again and Sasuke had positioned himself above her. He had released her wrists and was supporting himself by the elbows, on either side of her head. Sasuke hadn't given her a moment to adjust to the change before his mouth was down upon hers in a very deep and forceful kiss.

The thing about Sasuke was that despite his lack of visible emotion, Sakura found you could tell a lot from how he kissed, as strange as it sounded. At the moment the way his tongue explored her mouth so sensually and lips moulded against hers with a fierce pressure, she understood this to be him 'letting loose' as it were. Whatever had been holding him in check was gone (for now.) Sakura enjoyed Sasuke the most in these moments, as he was the most responsive. And the way he brought his teeth to draw out and chew her sensitive bottom lip, made her shiver all over again.

They were both gasping for breath by the time Sasuke finally relented his attack on her mouth. But a split-second later, his lips were back on hers; the force of the assault sent Sakura's head deeper into the pillows. Sasuke's hands had intertwined themselves in Sakura's hair and held her head, as if to keep her in place. He had also positioned a leg between hers, to use as leverage, in addition with his elbows.

Breaking for the second time, Sakura found herself more out of breathe than Sasuke. While he lent his forehead against hers to re-cooperate, Sakura found herself tracing the light indentations of muscle across his chest and abdomen, as Sasuke watched her through half-lidded eyes. Sakura's nose gave a slight twitch, as Sasuke's hair was falling down and tickling the sides of her face. She moved her hands to trace over his back and marvelled at how warm he felt.

"You're very warm." She mumbled up to him.

"Wonder why that is," said Sasuke softly.

Sakura made an amused sound.

"You're going to be late for training today." He told her.

Sakura gave him grin. "You make it sound like I don't have a choice."

"You don't." confirmed Sasuke, before sealing his mouth with hers once more.

:-----------:

Sakura had told Sasuke a while ago that she had agreed to the mission with Kakashi and Naruto and that in the three weeks leading up to their leaving, in place of the hospital, her time would be spent training. Which she desperately needed to if she had any hope of keeping up with either of them. Sasuke had training of his own to do; preparing for the jonin exams and all. He had told Sakura of his meeting with Tsunade and her reaction; to put it mildly was very surprised. It had been a shock for her to hear, especially with her last impression being that the Hokage had a problem with him. Sasuke didn't outwardly show his shock, but inside was extremely wary of there being strings attached. Though he had no real evidence to support these suspicions, he still felt un-easy when reminded of the upcoming exams.

:------------:

It will be of no surprise to learn, then that Sakura _did_ in fact arrive late to training. When she appeared she found Kakashi seated under a tree, with Naruto no where in sight. She asked Kakashi where he was, and Kakashi merely shooed her away with "You, off my planet." To which Sakura responded with a quizzical expression and the comment, "I don't know what's wrong with you, but I'll wager it's hard to pronounce."

So Sakura did a solo-search mission for her missing friend. In the end, she didn't find him, rather he found her. Apparently it had been an organised ambush. The plan being: Naruto was supposed to attack her and put her through her paces to test her response under pressure. This had also been agreed to by Kakashi, who had thought it a remarkable idea, as it didn't require an ounce of his participation and left him free to read his much loved porn. Though when Sakura hadn't turned up straight away, it left Naruto wondering what was going on and led him to run amuck in the forest while waiting. Kakashi naturally had known she hadn't arrived yet, but didn't feel the need to inform the kyuubi, because it would require energy.

And so after a few rounds of warm up exercises and one-one spars, Kakashi deemed Sakura as fit as ever and more than qualified for the mission. Having said this, he also reminded her that this didn't mean training was cancelled and there would _still _be three weeks of rigorous preparation for their mission. Naturally Sakura was not surprised to hear this, after many years of experience with Kakashi. Anything positive from the man was always followed by a 'but.'

Sakura was grumbling about this exact trait of their ex-sensei as they went to stop by a café for a break. Even though Kakashi was within earshot of such complaints, he could have been on mars for the difference it made. He had his head stuck in his favourite book, as his feet carried him closer to his favourite blueberry muffins.

"He's impossible to please!" said Sakura.

Naruto just grinned. "You can't please everyone. But I have learned that it's possible to make them all mad."

This made Sakura smile, remembering their genin days, "Yes, that seems to be a talent of yours."

"So you and teme eh?" asked Naruto.

Sakura just shrugged, "Yeah, just went to the adoption agency and bam, there he was."

"Seriously though, is this what you want?"

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" asked Sakura.

"Just making sure, it's all good." Relied Naruto.

"I am able to make up my own mind."

"Yeah, I know. But come on, you know I'm gonna do the whole, 'Are you sure' crap. It's what I do." Said Naruto.

Hearing something this honest from the blonde man, was something rare for Sakura. That wasn't to say he wasn't himself most of the time, he was. But to see something so raw, that hadn't had the usual crazy and energetic flavour, that was Naruto, added to it, was something she hadn't seen in a while. The last time she'd seen this element of Naruto, was when Sasuke had left, and he'd promised with his entire soul that he would bring him back.

"Thank you." She said, thinking it was the only appropriate thing to say.

Naruto, being oddly perceptive, read her expression and understood she was trying to be respectful of the fact that he had been unusually open. What he didn't like was how formal and serious it made him feel, it was too weird. Breaking the slightly dramatic atmosphere, he gave her a friendly shove and ruffled her hair, while making the joke, "Let's not turn this into a soap opera."

Sakura grinned, "Please, with your sensitivity, you'd be lucky to star in an advertisement."

"Oi!!" began an indignant Naruto, and then said, "Mmm, what's that smell?"

"What smell?" asked Sakura. Then the scent reached her less sensitive nostrils, "Oh that, mmmm don't know, smells good though."

Then Kakashi, who must have wandered off, came back into view. He was holding a large brown paper bag, and peeking out of the top were steaming blueberry muffins. Just the scent alone, was enough to make even Ibiki dribble. The silver haired jonin waved the bag in-front of his teammates, while saying "If you come over to the dark side, you get a muffin."

:---------:

The two weeks seemed to literally breeze by. Sakura very much enjoyed her time spent with Naruto and Kakashi, despite the gruelling training sessions, they were a lot of fun and she was once again reminded of what it was like to be in a team with the two of them. Sometimes even Sasuke would join them, usually sparring with Naruto, as he considered him the most challenging. He also had Sakura teach him her chakra repelling jutsu. Predictably it didn't take him long. He figured it would be one jutsu that the judges and his opponent would not be expecting, giving him a slight edge. Sasuke had actually thought a lot about the upcoming exams and his approach. Obviously all the forbidden jutsu he knew were out of the question, as well as his curse seal. But the Sharingan would come in very handy, especially if he was put against Neji.

In two days time the jonin exams would take place. Sasuke had received a timetable. In the morning he was to sit the first test. Then an hour break and he sat the second test. And then after two hour break, he would face his opponent in the third task. When Sakura read this, she frowned in confusion. Usually the tests were stretched out over a week at the least. Though Sasuke was hardly surprised they weren't spending any luxuries on him. It was then that they were approached by Naruto.

"What about the jonin exams?" He asked.

"I'm taking them." Answered Sasuke.

"YOU'RE WHAT?" he hollered, which earned a few curious glances in their direction.

"I'm taking the damn exams, foghorn." Hissed Sasuke.

Still confused, Naruto said, "But how? And why didn't you tell me before?"

"Tsunade organised it." Replied Sasuke, answering the first question, "and because I knew you'd screech."

"Oh, did she really?" he said thoughtfully, "and I don't screech."

"Yes, really." Said Sasuke in a very bored voice (though had he _really_ been as bored as he acted, he wouldn't bother talking to the dobe), "How about a manly scream then?"

"Manly scream?" repeated Naruto, "Teme, you're an idiot."

Sasuke merely smirked at this, "Takes one to know one."

"I'd say you're more of an ass actually." Offered Sakura.

"Didn't ask you," said Sauske.

"Yeah, he's that too." Agreed Naruto.

Sasuke didn't enjoy this teaming up and like anyone else in the defence position, he deflected the attention else where. His chosen target was Sakura. "Don't you have boys to go obsess over?"

"You meant arrogant ass-wipes who worship their own shit?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

Sasuke didn't reply, only scoffed. And usually when he scoffed it meant he didn't have a comeback. Meanwhile Naruto was looking between the two of them, with a curious expression on his face. "So this is the type of relationship you two have; Sarcastic and insulting."

Sakura just grinned, while Sasuke said nothing.

"Ah well," Naruto mused, "I suppose its one up on my relationship with teme. He doesn't even waste the effort to be sarcastic, he's just insulting. You should feel special Sakura."

"Oh, I feel quite honoured." Laughed Sakura.

Sasuke however was not so amused, and said with a scowl, "_We_," and he gestured between the dobe and himself, "do not have a 'relationship'."

It was Naruto's turn to laugh, understanding Sasuke to be interpreting his use of the term relationship in something more than friendship. "Don't worry teme, no one thinks you're gay, well now you're dating Sakura anyway……"

"Dobe…" hissed Sasuke threateningly.

"Naruto, I would run, _now!_" advised Sakura. And Naruto took his friends advice and ran away at top speed, chuckling to himself. However, Sasuke was no where in sight, which was worrying. "And avoid all water!" she added, shouting to his retreating back.

:----------:

The day of the dreaded exams arrived. Naturally Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi were on standby to support Sasuke. However when each offered, they received much the same reaction in varying degrees. Kakashi received a "Sod off," Naruto a "No dobe," and Sakura a "Later." This was something Sasuke felt very quite strongly about. This was something he needed to deal with alone. By all means, he _might_ talk to them about it after, whatever the result. But before and during, it was only him.

The first test was as mundane as he'd anticipated. They basically gave him a floor and asked him to show what he could do. Fifteen minutes later, he was told that was enough and dismissed. Sasuke had been careful not to show too many of the jutsus he planned on using in his third test, as for all he knew; he could be fighting one of the judges themselves.

He didn't really enjoy the second test. They asked many probing questions, about his family, Orochimaru and Itachi. And while it did mean he had to confront a lot of what he usually kept down, Sasuke found it wasn't totally unbearable. In fact toward the end it became monotonous and boring. All they did was focus on the past, and he understood, that was all they had to work with, but in his mind he could just hear one of Sakura's rants about "open mindedness and moving on."

His entire mind was geared for the third and final task. Despite his best efforts, he had found _nothing_ on who he would be facing. But he had added up all the possibilities and come to the conclusion that it would be either Kakashi or Neji. They were a few of the only ones who stood a chance. Although Naruto was probably his equal in ability, even they wouldn't be stupid enough to put him against someone he'd fought so many times before, that he could emulate Naruto's style perfectly.

As he walked into the arena, to where the judges and his opponent were waiting, he noticed there was no audience; deliberately so on their part. This was a strictly invite only event. Finally approaching the bench he stood in front of the judges. None of whom he knew, aside from Ibiki, and it was he who spoke first.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you are here to complete the third test of the jonin exam. In which you will battle a chosen opponent, until either of you yield or are incapable of battling any further.

Looking at all the judges, Sasuke's eyes settled on Ibiki's scarred face, "Who's my opponent?"

"That would be me." Came an all too familiar voice.

Swivelling around a complete one eighty, Sasuke looked at the current Hokage.

"You?" repeated Sasuke, shocked.

Tsunade smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "Don't look so surprised. I'm curious as to where exactly you stand and what better way to find out than to fight you personally?"

Sasuke schooled his expression to one of composure, and said "When do we start?"

"Whenever you're ready."

"Fine," said Sasuke, his heart rate began to increase in anticipation and a sort of odd excitement, that he had a new adversary, someone he had never fought before. The desire to test his strength was getting stronger. "Let's do this."

_So guess what the next chapter will be about??? Will Sasuke make it? Or will Tsunade defeat the Uchiha prodigy?? Tune in next time for an exciting episode of Reliance!! So yeah, I think you get the gist. And once again there are errors, I have accepted this and moved on. I hope you can too._


	20. Chapter 20

Reliance

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Surprise!

A/N: This update took a long time. Unfortunately between exams and severe case of writers block, I wasn't able to produce much. But thankfully the chapter is finished now, and I hope you like it. To answer a question, Reliance should have another 10 chapters before it's finished.

"Let's go," said Tsunade sharply, "we're not fighting here," she added, answering Sasuke's glare.

Sasuke followed the Hokage silently wondering how much of this 'fight' was actually rule abiding. It seemed she had certainly gone out of her way to make his chances of actually passing and becoming a jonin, as unfavourable as possible. But then again, he'd always enjoyed a challenge.

The feeling of anticipation was building. Even as he was bounding over the rooftops, in tow of Tsunade, he could feel the squirming in his stomach, a chill of excitement running down his spine. He wasn't sure whether there was someone in his head trying to get him to focus or whether that really was his heart thudding loudly in his ears.

It was hard for Sasuke to tell, the last time his body had felt so alive. For the last months, training minimally and maintaining a fairly average lifestyle (well, compared to most people,) had kept him dulled and sluggish (by his standards.) Since returning, everything had been new, and so required adjustment of some kind, and with this coming in from every corner of his life, at times he fell into a pit of total alienation, from himself and the world.

Fighting was another story entirely. This was familiar territory, the way he had lived for the past nine years.

This was _his_ arena.

Tsunade he noticed had come to a halt in a clearing he had never seen before. Sasuke assumed this was her private training grounds. He landed lithely on the ground a short distance from where she was standing.

"Alright Uchiha, the rules are simple." She said tonelessly, "We fight until the other yields. You may use what ever abilities you have at your disposal. Any questions?"

"You're giving me _free _reign?" asked Sasuke.

"In a fight, you use anything you have to give you an advantage, as you are well aware," explained Tsunade and added with a humourless smile, "Goodluck."

* * *

Sakura sat in her office, wondering what on earth it was about this plain and fairly average room, that made everybody want to visit. For, there at the very moment, one lounging comfortably on the couch twirling several kunai on his fingers, while staring in boredom at the ceiling and the other, with his back leaning against the wall, while sitting on the bed reading an orange book, were Naruto and Kakashi. It was rather pathetic. 

Sakura let out a groan, in frustration. She wasn't getting any work done! Because she was stuck with looking after her two team-mates, who had decided, that because they were all waiting for the outcome of Sasuke's exam, why not wait together?? Though the odd thing was this little gathering had not been arranged verbally between them. It was more instinctual. Naruto had been the first to rock up, and then not two hours later, Kakashi strolled through her office door, without so much as a knock.

"Chill out, he's gonna be fine." Said Naruto, while gazing at the ceiling and spinning his kunai.

"It's not him, it's you two!!" she said, exasperated, "You're both making it impossible for me to do any work!!"

Naruto just rolled his eyes. Kakashi turned a page and while keeping his eyes trained on the novel, said mildly, "Did we take your pen or something?"

"No," said Sakura, "But you're invading my personal space."

"We've both been on Naruto's team long enough to lose the luxuries of personal boundaries," said Kakashi, with a crinkle in the corner of his visible eye.

Suddenly one of the kunai that had been on Naruto's finger, soared across the room with acute accuracy toward Kakashi, who merely titled his head sideways to avoid the sharp weapon, now lodged in Sakura's office wall.

"Hey!!" cried Sakura, "I do work here you know, so I need the room _intact_."

Naruto just grinned and gave a slight shrug, "Claim it on tax, god knows we pay enough of it."

Kakashi pulled the kunai out of the wall and called, "Heads up" and tossed in back in Naruto's direction. The blonde ninja was able to catch the weapon with his finger, and promptly began twirling it again.

Sakura gave another sighed and got to her feet; she walked over to her window and gazed out at the streets and the people below. This was the same scene Sasuke had so often observed in silence. Though she doubted he actually _saw_ any of it or took any of it in, he was too lost in a world of his own. She turned around and went to stand over her desk, and grabbing some books, walked to the bookshelf to put them away.

"You're pacing," said Kakashi.

Sakura continued her shelving and said, "You're annoying."

"You _are_ pacing," agreed Naruto.

"Shut it, both of you."

"He'll be alright, he knows what he's doing," assured Naruto. "I feel for the poor soul who's got to fight him."

"Just think," added Kakashi, "There'll be a lot of work for you to do after the match: Cleaning up after Sasuke!"

"Thanks Kakashi, that's very comforting," said Sakura sarcastically.

Kakashi nodded in pretend earnest, "I try."

* * *

Sasuke was currently hiding in the nearby foliage of the clearing wondering what on earth his approach was going to be. He would have to be severely disturbed to go out 'gun's blazing' as it were, with no plan of attack. His opponent was one of the Legendary Sannin, and despite being the one responsible for bringing their numbers down to two, Sasuke was not about to underestimate Tsunade, who was Hokage for a reason. 

The best idea that came to mind was to attack, but with great care. Never giving too much away and always being ready to pull back. She probably wasn't expecting him to be cautious, instead preparing for a full frontal attack. This would hopefully give him a little advantage. Sasuke also remembered the few bits of advice Kakashi had said before starting.

_If I'm right, they'll tell you to use any ability at your disposal. Though I'm sure you remember my favourite quote, look underneath the underneath? I think this will be a test to see what you do. To be a jonin, you must show the utmost control in every respect; especially your powers. If you show a reliance on your curse seal, they won't hesitate to fail you. Show your power by not using all your power._

Although he had been very reluctant to accept any advice regarding his tests, Sasuke could admit what Kakashi had said made sense. Though he certainly didn't believe that she had given him free reign over his abilities to test his level of self control, it was all just a ruse, to hide the fact that it was a trap. Tsunade _wanted_ him lose control, so she could prove she was right.

"Come on out Uchiha," taunted Tsunade. She was standing in the clearing, waiting for him to make the first move. "I didn't think you'd be the type to hide. Isn't that your brother's job?"

She was fighting dirty. When she meant nothing was off limits, she truly did mean _nothing._ But Sasuke couldn't let his emotions take over, he needed a clear head, if he was to get through this, _cleanly._

Sasuke made several hand seals and created several shadow clones. He sent each in a different direction around the perimeter. Tsunade sensed the movement and spun around to follow the source of motion but found herself sidetracked. There'd be a glimpse of white at three o'clock, then a slight rustle at 8, then more movement at 12. It was impossible to follow.

This slight disorientation was all Sasuke needed to attack. Using his incredible speed, he ran straight at her, he didn't even blur, instead seemingly disappeared altogether. He aimed a kick at her side, and was pleased to find it connected with the intended target.

Then suddenly, he felt an arm grab his ankle. Sasuke found himself being swung around by his leg and tossed into the trees. He landed lithely in a crouch, none the worse for where. Apparently he'd underestimated her sense of motion.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and searched the area for his clones. They were no where to be found.

_**Crap.**_

Gathering his speed, he charged toward where she stood in the clearing. With his blood-line limit, it was amazing how much clearer everything became. Everything was sharper.

_**Now we're in business. **_

If he was to stand a chance at winning this, Sasuke's best bet was in combat. It was only here that he could use his speed to his best advantage. Attacking from a distance had never really been his style; he was more a hands on kinda guy. Unfortunately, it was also Tsunade's preferred fighting style. With her enhanced strength, she really only needed to land one blow.

Sasuke needed to be wary. _**Watch the fists and use your speed.**_

Once she was within reach, he proceeded to land a roundhouse kick, which Tsunade barely managed to dodge in time. Sasuke felt his foot brush her side. Before she could collect herself to give a return attack, Sasuke had already vanished, only to re-appear behind her, crouched. Leaning on leg and supported by his hand, Sasuke swept his other leg around 180 degrees, in an attempt to trip her up. Again, Tsunade was able to move out of the way in time, but only just.

Tsunade whirled around, to face the Uchiha, but found her-self looking at nothing.

_He's too goddamn fast. I've never seen someone move the way he does. He just flickers in and out of vision. _

And before she knew it he was right in front of her, his fist inches from her fast. _Crap. I didn't even sense him moving! _She shifted slightly left, and then right, shifting and blocking the oncoming barrage of punches and kicks. He never came from the same direction. Each new attack was somewhere different. He was too hard to keep up with. Furthermore with the aid of his Sharingan, he was always able to anticipate her movement and plan where to best place his next attack. And not to mention, if she used any of her jutsu's, he could simply copy it and use it against her!

_Then I need to do something about that. _

She blocked a knee aimed at her torso and elbow aimed at her head. He flickered and was gone, only to reappear at a distance. She leapt back several metres to avoid the oncoming kunai he threw, though still remained within the clearing. Predictably he vanished from her sight again, the minute she jumped back. She probably had only a second at most before he attacked again.

But that was all she needed.

Summoning her chakra in her right hand, she thrust her fist down toward the earth. A deep rumbling, like thunder, reverberated throughout the training grounds. The ground was shaking. A large crack like sound whipped through the air. Only then did the damage from deep within the earth begin to surface, as the ground began to divide in to large craters. From a birds eye view, it looked like a very bizarre jigsaw puzzle.

Tsunade knew this wouldn't get rid of his speed, but the unevenness might slow him down enough for her plan to work. Returning to an upright position, she stood motionless. She was waiting for the slightest hint of movement. Unlike before, she wasn't under constant attack and so was able to focus. As soon as he…..

_Gotcha!_

He was coming toward her, from her right. She would be able to duck in time. She remembered Jiraiya's advice for fighting the Sharingan. _Watch the feet._

Guessing correctly, she leaned backwards _just_ in time to miss the kick that had been aimed at her head. And as he passed in front of her, she managed to land the crucial tap the back of his head. It was so light he probably didn't even feel it.

Sasuke landed lightly on his feet. He cursed himself inwardly. The stupid ground had slowed him down and allowed her time to concentrate. She had completely broken his momentum.

Deciding not to let her _small_ triumph break his attacking streak, Sasuke made several hand seals and created several more clones. If there was a lot of movement at once, like before, she hopefully wouldn't be able to sense which direction he was coming from. Gathering his speed, he and his clones rushed toward her.

Tsunade could only smirk when she felt several chakra signatures moving at once. He could send as many clones as he liked, now that he couldn't predict her moves. The clones attacked simultaneously, and she made short work of them. Punching one, rebounding of one to kick another, and a quick one-handed whirl later and they were all gone.

But the real Uchiha was no where to be seen.

_He finally must have realised._

* * *

"God I'm _bored_," whined Naruto, for what was the nine-hundred and eighth or nine hundred and ninth time. Kakashi wasn't quite sure, he'd lost the exact count a while ago, but it had to be close to a thousand. 

"Pick something else, you've been bored for a while." Said Sakura, who had her hands fisted in her hair; trying not to pull it out in frustration.

"Is there anything exciting you could do? Like reattach legs, set an arm back into place, remove someone's brain." Complained Naruto.

"The last one has already been done," mumbled Sakura, she was mellowing in her frustration to defeated acceptance that their _strained_ situation wasn't going to change until Sasuke returned.

"Just something!" he huffed, exasperated.

'Well, there is _something_ we could do…" began Kakashi thoughtfully.

"What??" said Naruto, instantly.

"Please, anything," grumbled Sakura.

"We could find out who Sasuke's fighting." He explained.

Naruto immediately perked at the idea. Sakura wasn't so keen.

"Sasuke told us not to interfere. He'll find _us_ when he's done."

"We not going to watch the fight, we're going to go find someone who'll tell us who he's fighting. My pick would be Ibiki." Said Naruto.

Kakashi smiled. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Sakura just sighed and muttered under her breathe, "We're asking for trouble."

* * *

She'd done something. Nothing else could explain it. 

He had been about to attack, one amongst his clones, when he realised how dull everything had become. Everything had lost its sharpness and he could no longer sense her next move. So he retreated, to figure out what the hell she had done to his Sharingan.

_**I tell myself to watch her hands and what do I do? Ignore them!**_

It had to be that freaky chakra blocking thing Sakura could do. The results were similar to Neji's gentle fist, but different in the mechanics. Medics would have to know the charkra pathways by heart, they didn't need a Byakugan. However instead of sealing off an opponent's actual charkra points, they infused their own charkra along these paths to act as a road block of sorts. The old bat must have placed a block the charkra path to his eyes, rendering his bloodline limit useless.

Admit ably this changed his odds, but he could still win, if he was smart about it.

Tsunade had to smirk. It had worked, his Sharingan didn't work and he was re-evaluating. Which didn't matter one bit, she could wait all day.

She stood there waiting for some sort of sign that the Uchiha had finally gotten his act together, when she noticed white fog, creeping across the grounds.

_Is that mist or is this a genjutsu?_

She quickly began with the rudimentary hand-seals that worked against minor genjutsu and worked her way up the ranks. Nothing worked. It was real.

The mist began to thicken and rise, and in minutes she could see no further than a metre.

She shook her head and almost had to laugh. _Does he really think a little bit of fog is going to hinder me?_ She quickly made hand-seals.

A strong wind blew through the training grounds, unearthing small bits of ground their fight had loosened. Leaves hurled past in front of her and seemed to dissolve into the fog. The fog that _wasn't_ moving with the wind.

She tried several other jutsu's to try and remove the fog, but nothing worked. It was there to stay. _Guess he's not so mediocre after all. _

Then she sensed movement on her left, and judging from the chakra, it was not a clone. Though something struck her as odd. _Why would he choose a jutsu that is equally as hindering to him as it is for me? Without his bloodline limit he can see as well as I can._

Sasuke had a plan. Albeit it probably wasn't one of his more brilliant ones, but it did all he needed it to. It levelled the playing field sight wise. She could only see as far as he could. But he had captured a mind map of the area with his Sharingan, before it was taken. He was hoping the map would be enough to guide him.

Now he was engaging phase two of the plan. He had to be very quick about it before, she grew suspicious.

In an attempt to sidetrack her again, he created even more clones and sent them toward her chakra signature. They would launch a sequenced attack. As soon as one was destroyed another would enter the fight, until all of them were gone. This might just give him the time he needed.

Sasuke could hear, the faint sounds of fighting and attacks being launched then, blocked. He ran from one edge of the perimeter and then too the other, constantly weaving a random path around the fight situated in the centre of the field. He made a mental note, of each path he created and where he had overlapped another.

_**Almost done.**_

Tsunade was getting pissed off. He sent clone after clone, never the original. Surely he _still _wasn't thinking of a plan of attack. He'd had nearly a whole five goddamn minutes! Where the hell was he? At the back of her mind she began to grow slightly wary. He wasn't hailed a genius, for his ability to hide in bushes and create diversions.

Then the last word sank into to her mind.

Diversion.

_Crap._

She quickly summoned her insane strength and with renewed gusto finished the last of the duplicates. If her opponent would come to her, she would go to him. She set off cautiously in a direction trying to look for any signs of charkra, all the while cursing the mist. She couldn't even use the sun to get her bearings! She had moved maybe five metres from her original spot, when she heard a crackling noise behind her. Quickly she spun around on her heal, a fist already in motion.

The Uchiha was half a metre from her, and his entire body was enveloped in this bright blue electricity.

_Wonder if that's one of his own?_

He caught her oncoming fist, which caused her eyes to widen. Under normal circumstances he would now be flying several feet in the air. Thankfully Sakura had taught him her chakra absorbing technique, it was a great antidote to the Hokage's super strength.

With her fist still in his hand, he titled his slightly, and said in a mocking tone, "Looking for me?"

His words, snapped Tsunade out of her shock. She quickly retracted her punch and aimed a kick at his side. He avoided it with a back flip.

But that didn't explain,

_**Why wasn't she electrocuted?**_

She answered his unspoken question. "You're not the only one who can repel charka."

_**That would explain it.**_

Tsunade's anger was increasing. She was sick of all this dancing around. All she needed one tap and he'd go down in a flop, she only needed to get close enough. She forced chakra to her feet and used all her speed as she ran toward him.

Sasuke made several hand seals and sent a huge fire dragon toward her. He used this time to retreat further back, where he needed to be. From memory, a few metres right would be just about perfect.

Again he underestimated her. He turned around in time to see that she summoned some sort of black hole, like a rift that swallowed the dragon whole, and then vanished a split second later.

_**I've gotta learn that.**_

Then she was in front of him, a kick aimed at his midsection, which he blocked. But he didn't move fast enough and before he could absorb of her chakra infused in the kick he felt a weird sensation in his head.

Ignoring it, he tried to summoned chakra to his right hand to counter her attack.

Instead the chakra decided to appear in his left hand.

_**Shit! What the hell has she done now?**_

Looking at his now confused expression, it was Tsunade's turn to mock him. "Haven't you ever had your neural pathways re-written?"

At his scowl, she smirked. "Guess not."

Sasuke quickly tried to figure out what moved what. He raised his right leg, his left shoulder moved. He moved his left hand, his left foot moved. He twisted his head and his right leg moved. It was a mess and he needed more time to work this out. He needed to retreat. Thankfully, while Sasuke was trying work how the hell he was going to make the hand seals he needed, Tsunade had chosen that time to punch him square in the gut.

He went flying.

Though his ego was bruised, at letting her land such an obvious attack, he was consoled in the fact that at least he was now out of hitting range and could finally complete the rest of his plan.

Sasuke gathered his wits and managed to figure out enough, to land very awkwardly on a tree branch. Not his usual smooth style.

_**What nobody sees, nobody knows.**_

He began to work out the right seals he needed to de-activate the mist as a voice shouted out.

"Retreating again are we? That's _all _you do! Not so strong with out the Sharingan! Maybe you should just use your curse seal and been done with it? Apparently you can't do much without it."

Sasuke only smirked from his position in the tree. He finished the seals, and the mist began to recede. Now she would see how _useless _he was without his seal.

* * *

"Come on, let's go, he's obviously not here!" nagged Sakura, as she stood looking up and down the hallway. 

All three of them were currently standing inside the ANBU headquarters, in particular in the interrogation section. Naruto had said if they waited in the main hallway, they were bound to find Ibiki sooner or later.

"Why don't we just ask where his office is?" suggested Kakashi, as he slouched against a wall and read his beloved porn.

"Or how about we just sit here? We'll have more luck waiting here, like I suggested," said Naruto firmly. He was sitting on the floor, his elbows resting on his raised knees and back leaning against the wall.

"_Or_ how about we just go get some ramen and wait for Sasuke? He'll kill us for being here."

Naruto only sighed, at Sakura's anxiety. "He won't need to find out, if _nobody_ tells him."

"The plan is foolproof," said Kakashi, in his usual enigmatic tone. She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic toward Naruto or herself.

With another sigh, this time from Sakura, the three returned to silence.

* * *

It was only her advance experience with the unexpected that Tsunade only emitted gasp at the sight the now receded mist left. 

Every tree around the perimeter was connected, with a thin clear wire, to its opposite in the clearing. There was a wire at every imaginable height and they criss-crossed everywhere; she could only move so far without being blocked by one. Trying to escape this would be like trying to navigate many alarm laser beams in a museum.

Upon closer scrutiny, she noticed how tight each wire was. She also noticed each had an explosive tag attached. A slight vibration would be enough to set one off.

She was trapped.

And to top things off, the mist returned. To move would be to walk blind in a mine field.

_Fantastic! _She thought sarcastically. _I can't see or move without causing an explosion._

Using her strength was also definitively out of the question. She sighed to herself, and pulled out several kunai. She threw one in each direction, and then leapt into the air.

The resonating "boom" that followed made Sasuke feel like his ear drums had burst. He hadn't actually thought she would set them off.

It took several long minutes for the smoke and dust to settle. The grounds were an absolute mess. Trees were scorched; a fair portion of the ground was unearthed. Sasuke only full appreciated the level of damage when he saw that the clearing in which they had been fight was now at least a metre below the normal ground level. It was like a massive pit. He scanned the area for his opponent, and found her sitting under a tree, panting. Her chakra was low.

Cautiously he leapt down from his own spot of safety and approached her. His co-ordination was getting better all the time. He would be ready to attack if she made the slightest movement.

When he got closer he could see she had been healing herself.

_**Well that explains the charkra shortage.**_

"I underestimated you," heaved Tsunade. She was healing the last few burns that she had sustained from the explosion.

"I thought you'd rely on your other abilities. But I stand corrected. You've shown you're resourceful without resorting to your curse seal or any other forbidden techniques my old team-mate may have taught you."

Sasuke remained silent, waiting to hear the words he wanted.

"Congratulations Uchiha, you pass."

* * *

Sadly while Sasuke was being told he was now a jonin, the other members of the former Team 7 were having a much less exciting time, waiting in a hallway. 

"That's it," said Sakura, with conviction, "I'm leaving. I don't know why I came here in the first place."

"Oh come on, two more minutes." Pleaded Naruto, "I'm sure he'll be here any minute."

"No." and with that she started to walk away when Kakashi spoke.

"You know we could always go and ask Tsunade."

"Hey, that's a great idea," shouted Naruto, jumping to his feet.

"You only thought of this _now_?" questioned Sakura.

"Well, no." admitted Kakashi, "But I _really_ wanted to finish this chapter when Junko finds this waitress and ---"

"Ooh, is that the one where he 'I just moved you to the top of my 'to do' list?' " asked Naruto excitedly.

Kakashi nodded. Then added, as he sighed in awe, "The man is a legend; I really don't know how he does it."

Sakura, having just witnessed the last few seconds, proceeded to find the closest wall and hit her head against it, repeatedly.

* * *

Sasuke and Tsunade parted ways, after she told him he was to report to her office on Monday. The part that interested him was the way in which she told him. It wasn't cold or said with sneer, rather a reserved respect. She didn't like him, but she didn't hate him either. 

Things were looking up.

Now he was making his way back to the hospital to see Sakura. He couldn't wait to see her expression when he told her who he'd fought. When he arrived he found her office empty, so he went to find a nurse or someone who could tell him where on earth she was.

Meanwhile, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi were about to knock on Tsunade's office, when a familiar voice made them quickly turn around. "Aren't you three supposed to be training?"

Sakura was the first to respond, "Well I came into work to catch up on some stuff, when these two decided to……. er…. offer their company."

Tsunade frowned. "You don't need to be here. You should be preparing for your mission."

"That's exactly what I said," said Kakashi, he smiled as Sakura and Naruto glared at him.

"And my, weren't you effective." Replied Tsunade dryly.

"I know I'm-" he began, but was cut off by an impatient Naruto.

"Hey we came to ask you who Sasuke was fighting."

Tsunade adopted an expression Sakura couldn't quite read. "You'll have to ask him."

"See! I told you." Harped Sakura.

"Ask him what?" came a deep voice. Sasuke appeared, from a side hallway.

"Teme! You're back!" yelled Naruto. He talked a million miles per hour. "So tell us who did you have to fight? I was only telling these guys I fell sorry for the poor bas-

"He fought me," said Tsunade, sighed. Now that Uchiha was here, they were going to know either way, might as well be her who told them.

A very long silence followed. Naruto stood there completely gob-smacked, Kakashi's only visible eye widened. The fact that he'd looked up from his book alone, was a sign of just how surprised he was. Sakura looked completely stunned.

Eventually Naruto collected himself enough to point out the obvious, "Gee, this is awkward, eh?" He chuckled nervously.

Another short bout of silence, then Kakashi spoke, like he was admitting a deep dark secret. "I like blue-berry muffins."

Sasuke just blinked. _Clearly _he'd missed something; he looked to Sakura for some indication of what the hell was going on. She only shrugged and looked for another wall to hit her head against.

* * *

"Nice save," said Naruto, once they were all back in Sakura's office. He held up his hand for a hi-five. Sadly Kakashi didn't look up from his book. Sasuke scoffed. 

"You fought _Tsunade_?" said Sakura, brining them back to their main focus.

"Yeah," said Sasuke, unfazed. He gotten over their shock and was already bored.

"I can believe you fought the old bat!" said Naruto, dumbfounded. "Is that even allowed?"

"I'm pretty sure Tsunade is allowed to fight," said Kakashi, deliberately being anally retentive, "But I'm _not_ sure whether she is allowed to participate in jonin matches."

This did not surprise Sasuke. "I think she only made that decision today. Everyone on the judgement panel was quite surprised."

Kakashi frowned. "I wonder why she would go to such lengths to do that."

"I don't think she's ever liked Sasuke very much," offered Sakura.

Sasuke just shrugged. "I don't care. As of next Monday, I'm a jonin."

At this Naruto grinned. It was a particular type of grin that the other three knew well, and scared them. "You know what this means right?"

The remaining members of the room gave a collective sigh, as they all said "Drinks all round."

Naruto's grin, if possible just widened. "At-least I no longer have to explain it."

* * *

They choose a table in the far corner for its discretion, much to Naruto's disappointment. Sakura and especially Sasuke and Kakashi were exceptionally private people and tried to avoid attracting more attention if they could. 

In fact it was an achievement that Naruto even got them to come in the first place. Sakura was the easiest to persuade. Promise her a free drink and she'd be the one dragging you along, (though Naruto was hoping that she'd forget so he wouldn't have to pay.) Kakashi was a lot harder. He wasn't usually one for going out that often and when he didn't have to, he wouldn't. Though Naruto knew to play the 'you were his sensei and now he's a jonin' card. A good ol' guilt trip always won him over.

Sasuke predictably had to biggest stick up his ass when it came to celebrating anything, (except Sakura's birthday, that he was adamant about celebrating. Because he knew if he didn't push her to do _something_ for it, she wouldn't bother,) he absolutely loathed being made a fuss of, which actually encourage Naruto's efforts even further. Maybe one day the hailed genius would understand reverse psychology. Naruto had to snigger. However, once he reeled out the 'this would be important to Sakura if you celebrated it' speech, he managed to convince his reluctant friend.

They didn't end up staying long. Everyone had too much to do the next day. Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura still had one week remaining before they left for their mission, and were using that time to train. Sasuke planned on joining them. He was due to see the Hokage on Monday, and any extra training couldn't hurt.

Kakashi had one drink, congratulated Sasuke and promised to see them all tomorrow. Only once he'd left, did they realise he hadn't paid for his drink. Naruto demanded a reply of the entire fight, and Sasuke did his best to remember every thing. When he described the maze of wires and explosives, Naruto gave him a hi-five, and then nearly fell off his chair. Even a ninja struggled with co-ordination when drunk. Sakura was curious about the mist jutsu and he explained that he'd picked it up on his travels in mist country. He couldn't help but being slightly smug at finally being able to feel proud of something he'd done since he'd left.

They ended the night earlier than usual. Naruto waved them goodnight and made his way home. Sakura had a moment of confusion when they arrived at the junction, Sasuke would normally have taken to his own apartment. Once again she was reminded that yes, he did live with her now.

Yet, for some odd reason, this still felt new. Now every time she left for work she had to remember her bag, her keys, a coat and a Sasuke.

* * *

As soon as they returned to their bedroom, Sakura was ready to hit the mattress and enter the world of dead logs and heavy snoring. Sasuke however had other ideas in mind. 

Sakura plonked onto their bed, not even bothering to get changed and could already feel herself drifting to sleep, when she felt the bed dip from an extra weight above and either side of her. Despite her tiredness, she could help but give a small grin into her pillow, knowing exactly what was coming.

His cold lips ran along the junction, where her shoulder met her neck. One hand grasped her hip in an effort to turn her to face him. He then moved his mouth slowly to her collarbone. She shivered when she felt the bluntly serrated edge of his teeth nip at the skin there. Her shivering only increased when she felt something wet dash out to relieve the now irritated skin. She had to consciously control her voice box to ensure no sound escaped. The slightest of moans would only encourage him.

Sakura did her best to clear her head and find a way to speak. It came out raspier than expected. "Sasuke, I'm _really" _she stressed the word, "tired, so could you um------"

She swallowed the rest of her sentence as he brought his lips to meet hers in a slow and coaxing kiss. Her clear head began to fog again. Sasuke, mouth firm on hers, shifted, so that he was situated above her, his weight gently pressing her back into the mattress. For a few long minutes, her mind remained in a land of mist. She responded to his kiss, her hands travelled to encase the back of his head and force his mouth even deeper into hers.

A low rumble from Sasuke was enough to bring her back down to earth.

Sakura began to shake her head in an effort to free her mouth. Sasuke grudgingly took the hint and moved his mouth to her neck. "I'm serious, Sasuke, I have to sleep."

"Do you?" he whispered into the hollow of her throat. She could feel him smirking against her skin, his breath warm. Ignoring her protests, he moved his mouth back to her own. Sakura couldn't determine whether he thought she was serious or not, either way, the outcome was the same: he'd do what he wanted. And some part of her brain; thought that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, if what he wanted felt this damn good.

Sasuke knew exactly how to manipulate Sakura. They'd start on opposite sides, and then after she saw reason, they'd be on the same side: his side. Already he could feel her relaxing under him; lowering her defences. Just as she was about to pull away again, he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, which made her gasp and gave him further entry.

Just when he thought he was dominating, she began fighting back. Her tongue thrust forward into his mouth and for the second time, a low noise escaped the back of his throat. Her lips began to move more roughly against his own; the biggest turn on came when she added her teeth. Using her strength and throwing a leg over his hip, she, none too gently, turned them over, so now he was on the bottom and she was sitting on top, with a leg on each side. Despite the loss of control, Sasuke wasn't complaining, as long as she kept moving things right along, he was happy.

Breaking their kiss, again, Sakura drew back and took in a much needed breath. Her chest was heaving for oxygen, and Sasuke couldn't of another time when she looked this tempting. Her short pink hair was completely mussed and her shirt very wrinkled. Her lips were swollen and her cheeks red. Green eyes alight. How on earth had he ignored her for all those years?

Sasuke managed to raise himself to a sitting position, which was difficult, considering Sakura was sitting on his waist; but he wasn't complaining. One hand moved to her cheek, to guide her face closer to his, but a hand on his wrist halted his movement.

Not in the least discouraged, he began to lift his other hand, when she stopped that one too.

This was getting annoying.

Finally feeling like she was in some position (quite literally) of control, Sakura managed to find a focus and a voice. "Sasuke, I _need _to sleep."

"And you will, after we're finished." He said, as if it were obvious. His hands freed themselves from Sakura's grip and moved to the bottom of her shirt to begin unbuttoning.

"Sasuke!" she hissed in warning. But once again he wasn't listening. One hand fumbled with the front of her shirt, while the other reached behind to grab her rear and push her forwards. He wasn't wasting anytime. As soon as was pressed as closely as she could while he tried to get rid of her shirt, he immediately moved his lips back to hers. Sakura could feel her body temperature rise, she was too hot and not hot enough at the same time. She needed to get closer and yet she was overwhelmed.

Sakura pulled back a few inches. He groaned in frustration as she did so. "What _now?_" he asked; his voice low and rough.

"1 hour, that's it," she said sternly. She would let him win the battle, but he wouldn't win the war. He looked at her for a long moment, his dark eyes never wavering from her own. Ever so subtly the corner of his mouth twisted into a knowing smirk. Most of the time, Sasuke seemed immune to how his looks affected other people or maybe he knew and deliberately blocked it out, years and years of fan-girls could justify that. However there were other times, that he seemed too aware and knew just the right thing to do. Though Sakura didn't know that this put on cockiness only ever emerged around her.

"3 hours," he said.

"2 hours," she bit out firmly, not really wanting to compromise.

Sasuke smirk, if possible, grew even more self-satisfied, "2 hours" he repeated. He was going to hold her to it. "Not including the time taken to remove clothing."

Sakura narrowed her green eyes at him. "You always bend the rules."

But somehow she couldn't find it in herself to be truly angry.

* * *

The next morning came much sooner than either Sakura or Sasuke would have liked. Neither of them were the most elegant of sleepers. Both were used to their own space in a bed and it showed. For more often than not, they were to be found in a similar position resembling a star-jump. Sakura, like most mornings, was the first to wake. She couldn't hold back a smile, when she found herself sprawled across Sasuke's back, their legs and arms intertwined. Moving slowly, as not to wake him, she sat up and took in her surroundings. She checked under their covers to see what state they were in and while she was still completely naked, he must have got up in the night and put his boxers on. He was pedantic about some things like that. 

A quick glance at the time, told Sakura she didn't in fact have to hurry today. She was due to meet her team in a little over two hours. Pulling on some clothes and a dressing gown, she scuffed her way, in slippers, to the kitchen, to make coffee. The noise of the kettle boiling must have woken him up, as Sasuke trudged out their bedroom door, hair tousled and yawning to the high heavens. In his journey from the bed to the door, he appeared to have pulled on a shirt. Sakura made a mental note to remind him, he didn't _have _to if he was only doing it to be polite. Little did Sakura know that he did it, precisely for the reason that if he didn't; she wouldn't be able to do anything but stare. And while he enjoyed the attention from her, the world did have to move on.

If an outsider were to take a seat in their lounge and observe their morning routine, they would probably find it quite comical. Sakura, having lived on her own for many years now, was quite used to doing everything herself, and not deliberately, just out of habit, did things in the same order; an order which had not taken Sasuke long to learn. After she made her coffee, she went to the cupboard to get some cereal. If she was out, she'd have toast. Sasuke knew they'd been out since last week, so while Sakura checked the cupboards, he went straight to the bread and put them in the toaster. He'd give her a minute or two, to catch up.

When Sakura concluded that there wasn't any cereal, she grabbed two slices of bread and moved to the toaster. However she was snapped out of her morning daze when she realised it was occupied.

"Oh! You've already put bread in there." She said, surprised. "Thanks." She added.

Sasuke just handed her a coffee, thinking she probably needed it more than he did.

"You finished making mine?" she asked, taking a sip, "mm thanks!"

Sasuke withheld a sigh, was he always the only one tuned in? And despite his efforts to tell himself, how much her vagueness in the mornings annoyed him, he found himself unconvinced. It was oddly nice, in a way, to be needed or to be able to do something useful, even if it meant, making sure Sakura didn't sip her toast and bite her cup.

Yes, they still had a while to go yet.

After about half an hour of silence; Sakura was munching on her breakfast, and Sasuke reading the paper. Sakura regained the primary functioning of her brain (it was the coffee), and was able to think coherent thoughts, which lead her to a question. She was curious about how he would account for his ever having liked her.

"Sasuke," she began, "When did you realised you liked me?"

Sasuke, stopped reading, and observed her instead. He looked searchingly between both eyes, wondering where on earth this was coming from. He answered her with a frown. She needed to elaborate.

She got his point, and clarified her question. "Okay, put it this way, when did you realise, you could be in my company and not freak out because you'd thought I'd jump you?"

"When you first healed me," he answered, turning back to the paper, no longer concerned or worried the topic was heading to a place he didn't know.

"Oh. Really?" she said, with her eyebrows raised, "I was more angry and shocked. I don't know how that translates into my not liking you, in that way."

"The fact that you were more angry than concerned meant you cared less about what I thought of you, than you did about getting answers."

Sakura grinned at his answer, her mood becoming playful, "And when did you realise that feelings toward me, were more than just tolerance?"

Sasuke sighed, he had two options. He could either, answer her question and suffer an even longer conversation or he ignore her, and put up with her in a foul mood for the remainder of the day. Sasuke wisely chose the former.

"I don't know. It hard already started before I realised it."

"And what was it about me that attracted you?" she asked.

"You left me alone," said Sasuke dryly, not unaware of the irony of the present situation.

Sakura grinned at his tone, "That's it?"

Sasuke would have sighed, but instead smirked, an idea coming to mind. "And you could hold a decent conversation, after you got over how hot you thought I was."

Sakura could not help but laugh out loud.

"Conceited to the last," she said, as she got up to put her cup and plate in the sink.

"What about me?" he called out from the table.

Sakura came back to see he was still reading the paper and was yet to finish his own toast. She raised an eyebrow at him, arms folded over her chest. "What about you?"

With another smirk, he mimicked her tone from before, "What made you sure that you liked me?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "It was your sparkling personality that won me over."

Sasuke only scoffed, and walked past to put his plate on the bench.

And making sure she had a clear path of retreat, she added, "And the hair, definitely the chicken hair."

The look Sasuke gave her was dangerous and enough warning to make her run to their bedroom laughing.

* * *

While Sasuke had a shower, Sakura was left time to think. She could well remember, when he left, the complete and utter emptiness that took over her entire being. For weeks, nothing she did could take her mind away from the fact that he wasn't there. Every thing she did reminded her of him. Then ever so slowly, things got better. They were by no means great, but there was hope. As the years passed, her feelings for him gradually died, and she moved on with her life. But there was still a little locked down corner of her mind that wanted him to return. 

She couldn't say with any certainty whether her 'love' for him at 12 was anything other than severe infatuation.She did know, however, that the once familiar need to be near and around him was beginning to resurface. And she wasn't sure she liked it.

After years of independence and relying on herself, she was slowly turning into a dependent being.

* * *

_Well, that's another chapter done. Just a note too, there won't be an explicit sex scenes in this fic. Mainly because of the rating and that is not the type of fic I want this to be. And this is not their first time, I just haven't gone into this much detail before._

_Thanks for reading. _


	21. Chapter 21

Reliance

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Their last week of training ended much sooner than anyone had anticipated. 

"Doesn't time fly when one is-" began Sakura.

"Sweating their ass off?" offered Naruto, at the same time Sasuke said sarcastically, "having the time of their life?"

"I was _going _say wishing they were dead, but those work too."

"Oh cheer up you three, it's not all bad." Said Kakashi standing above them, staring down at his three team-mates who were about to pass out on the ground from sheer exhaustion. "If it's any consolation, I found it all terribly entertaining. Particularly when you tripped over your own foot Sakura, such grace!" Sakura snarled at him. Naruto let out a bark of laughter, but immediately quietened when she shot him a glare, a glare which transferred to Sasuke when he snorted in amusement. "Very dramatic too." Added Kakashi, with an eye crinkle, "Maybe you should look at trying some theatre?"

"Oh I dunno, I think Sasuke's a hidden talent waiting to be discovered. I mean just _look _at that thinking pose!" she pointed at the way he was sitting. In his customary fashion of his hands in front of his face as if deep in thought. "I get shivers just watching."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Hilarious, Sakura."

"No she's right. You're very convincing," agreed Kakashi, with another eye crinkle. Then his expression changed and his light hearted tone was replaced with a serious one. "Tomorrow we start our mission. I want everyone here at 7am sharp."

"So, that's like 9.30 ish; maybe 10?" asked Naruto hopefully. Kakashi ignored him.

"Everyone?" repeated Sakura with a frown.

"Yes. Sasuke too." Answered Kakashi.

"I'm coming?" asked Sasuke, surprised. "Is this why she didn't give me anything specific on Monday?"

"Bingo."

"Why would she give Sasuke a mission so soon?" asked Sakura, frown still in place.

Kakashi shrugged, "I'm just passing on the orders," and having whipped it out of his pouch, began reading his book. He wandered off down the street, leaving three confused jonin staring after him.

After Kakashi left, Naruto suggested they visit Ichiraku, for a 'last meal' before their mission. Who knew when they were going to see another ramen stand again? Predictably this idea only upset Naruto; Sasuke and Sakura were both deep in thought.

"It doesn't add up," said Sakura staring at the ground as she walked. Hoping it might offer some answers she didn't have.

"I know," agreed Sasuke.

"What doesn't?" asked Naruto.

"This mission," answered Sakura, as Sasuke said, "Everything."

"Everything?" she questioned, now looking at him. Naruto turned to him too.

Sasuke looked around, not wanting to be overheard and saw a small park area near by, he walked past them in silence and sat down on a bench. He rested his elbows on his knees. Sakura and Naruto immediately followed; Naruto sat on the other end of the bench, an arm hanging over the back and knee drawn up. Sakura dropped onto the ground in front of them and drew her knees to her chest, held in place by her arms.

"Everything," repeated Sasuke and he began to reel off the list. "This mission, my becoming a jonin so quickly and Tsunade and Kakashi's behaviour. Not to mention that there is now all of sudden an onslaught of available missions."

Sakura's brow knitted as she thought. "There are new missions available?"

Sasuke nodded at her. "She told me on Monday when I met with her. She didn't have anything particular at the time, but she said to expect something very soon, because there was a lot coming in. Until a suitable one was found, I was to continue training with the rest of you."

"But it's been dead for months!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Exactly," said Sasuke.

Sakura chewed her bottom lip while she tossed the ideas through her head. Then nodded, as if more to her-self than the others; as she settled on an answer. "I think it's all connected."

"How?" they both asked.

"I think that's why Tsunade let you skip the chuunin exams." She said looking at Sasuke. "You're too useful to waste. And if Konoha has started getting all these missions, she's going to need every skilled ninja she can get."

"I think Kakashi knew too." She continued, "I'd even wager, he knew you'd be fighting her in your match."

Sasuke didn't say anything as he absorbed what she said. Instead, Naruto spoke.

"I thought he was vague the other day."

"That doesn't mean anything. He's _always_ vague. But he did give me some interesting advice before my match," mused Sasuke.

"What'd he say?" asked Sakura, curious.

At this Sasuke gave a wry smirk, "He told me not to over do it. Keep it simple."

Naruto gave a small smile in understanding, "To show you can control yourself."

Sasuke snapped his gaze to his best friend. "He told you the same thing before yours?"

Naruto shook his head, "No Jiriaya did. He said I should contain myself and make sure I stay clear headed, so the nine-tails couldn't take advantage. It worked too. They seemed impressed by my level of control."

This comforted Sasuke somewhat, to know that he wasn't the only one who had been warned to keep a lid on it.

Sakura allowed a small smile of her own as she listened. She, herself, had not been told to control her power before her match. But she didn't have a demon, curse seal or blood-line limit. However, Tsunade did say that the panel would respect resourcefulness and intelligence on the field much more readily than those who could conjure the most powerful summoning or had the best jutsu's. The latter wouldn't save you if you were in a near death situation with very low chakra, which in their career, was promised.

"Kakashi knew," said Sakura, still convinced. "But why didn't he tell us?"

"Tsunade probably ordered him not to," suggested Naruto.

"Whether he knew or not, we're still gonna burn his stupid porn collection," said Sasuke, who for some reason felt vengeful and who better, (when Naruto was unavailable,) to take it out on than Kakashi?

Sakura laughed, as did Naruto, as he said, "Just let me grab my favourites first."

Sakura rolled her eyes, while Sasuke smirked. He was a guy, he could understand.

"This mission's also weird," added Sakura. "Who heard of a surveillance mission taking a month?"

Naruto shrugged. He had no answer.

"Where is it?" asked Sasuke.

"Sound," answered Naruto, watching for his reaction.

Sasuke remained expressionless, "And what are we surveying?"

"There have been a number of killings. They think its rogue ninja. We're suppose to find out who and why." Said Sakura, also trying to read his face.

"But we're not to interfere?" deduced Sasuke.

Naruto shook his head, "Nope."

"And this is all the information we're to expect?"

Naruto nodded. "Yep"

There was a short pause between them.

"I don't think we should confront Kakashi about this straight away. Let it play out a little, see what else we learn," suggested Sakura.

Sasuke nodded. While Naruto said in a happier mood, "For now, let's just focus on the bright side!"

"And the bright side would be?" asked Sasuke, the eternal sceptic, raised an eyebrow.

"We have a couple more hours of freedom left! Let's go to Ichiraku! Sasuke's treat!" he said grinning and leaping to his feet. He didn't wait for them before he raced off toward the ramen stand, determined to get the best seat.

Sakura smiled at Sasuke's scowl as she stood, and dusted herself off. They both began in Naruto's direction, only slower. She heard Sasuke mumbling sourly.

"If I just so _happen_ to strangle the dobe; I hold no responsibility."

Sakura laughed at how dramatic he was being. Sometimes he enjoyed pretending to be angrier than he really was. Grabbing a hand that was shoved in one of his pockets, she pulled him along to quicken his pace. His scowl deepened, which made her laugh even more. "Come on. Time waits for no man."

* * *

As ordered the very original Team 7 could be found waiting inside the Konoha gates. Usually, each member would be wearing their uniform of rank; Naruto and Sakura in their ANBU and Sasuke in his newly acquired Jonin outfit. (That he washed 12 times before deeming it 'fit' to wear, having complained about the material being too 'coarse.' Sakura teased him mercilessly for being such a pampered pooch.) However, in this mission, it was a primary objective to blend in and this explained why they were all dressed in ordinary civilian clothes. Sakura had even gone further to tie a wrap around her head, to avoid attracting attention to her unusual pink hair. (She did offer Sasuke the option of wearing one also, yet for some reason he wasn't at all impressed with the idea. Wonder why?) 

"I couldn't find anything that was orange!" exclaimed Naruto, as he examined his own clothing. He was dressed in dark brown pants, with a lighter brown shirt.

"That's a pity," in toned Sasuke, if ever a day passed, and the dobe wasn't in orange, the world ceased to turn.

"You deliberately looked for orange?" asked Sakura incredulous. She had an incredible respect for the ninja Naruto was, but his fashion sense was another thing entirely.

Naruto grinned at her expression, "Clothes make the man, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura shook her head, as Sasuke rolled his eyes at the intentional rhyme.

"He's right. Naked people aren't really all that respected in society," drawled Sasuke.

Sakura sighed, as Naruto just grinned, amused by his sarcasm. Sasuke failed to realise, the more cynical he was, the more elated Naruto's mood became.

Just then, a well known, 'poof' brought their attention to the spot where their team leader materialised. Like them he was also dressed in casual clothes, which would not raise awareness to complete strangers that they were ninja. He was wearing dark blue trousers, and a black long sleeved shirt. He had chosen to stick to dark colours, like Sasuke. Kakashi was also wearing his ever present mask. Something Sakura was concerned would still draw the unwanted attention they were trying to avoid.

"Hey, what if peopled recognise you as the Copy ninja, by your mask?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi gave her a very familiar eye crinkle as he smiled through his mask. "Not to worry, they'll be out cold before they get a chance to tell anyone."

Then Naruto added, "And if they _do_ get away, I doubt they'd believe it was you anyway. Who would believe the infamous, tough," Kakashi's trademark slouch straightened fractionally at these words. He was smug. "Lazy-ass Hatake Kakashi would be a dedicated reader of porn? As soon as they see the book, they'll dismiss the thought." Kakashi returned to his former posture, somewhat deflated.

Sadly, for Kakashi, there were no counter- arguments offered to rescue his some-what defeated ego.

* * *

They moved at a reasonable pace through the thick forests surrounding the hidden village of leaf. They had a month, which left a fair amount of time for travel. There was no need for any unnecessary exertion. Additionally travelling at a slightly slower pace than normal allowed for all of them to scout the areas within their limits more thoroughly. If they encountered any strange activity, they would be able to investigate accordingly. 

Kakashi, ever the observant one, thoroughly enjoyed his team's antics and the way they interacted with one another. Particular when it was unconsciously done. For instance, when they were leaping through the trees, while he was in the lead, Sasuke and Naruto seemed to automatically flank Sakura on either side. From a birds eye view the three males would appear to form a triangle around the female, as if in protection. Despite all of them being well acquainted with her fists and the ground, it seemed some old habits died hard.

Sometimes when Kakashi, called them into single file, usually when moving through a particularly narrow area, Naruto was always the one to bring up the rear. Then there was Sasuke, who always held back the branch, so it wouldn't smack his friend in the face. He also always remained very close to Sakura, as if at any moment, he'd be ready to jump in the line of fire and protect her. Sakura was well aware of his behaviour and threatened to end his chances of continuing his clan, if he didn't back off a little. After several minutes of dancing around the issue and avoiding the main question, Sasuke hissed the excuse that he did it because he needed her to pay half the rent for their apartment and if she was dead, he'd have to pay all of it. Sakura had the maturity to avoid taking offence to how he overlooked her _own_ ability to defend herself and understand that he was just trying to protect her. Even if his needing her share of the rent money was the closet admission she'd get.

The most interesting time for observation was when Sasuke and Sakura were alone. They never did anything that involved the removal of clothing, (Kakashi would have to stick to his imagination to see visual re-enactments of the Icha Icha series,) but just the way they behaved was entertaining enough. Wherever Sakura was, Sasuke was never usually far away and similarly, if an hour passed and Sasuke was not in sight, Sakura would go and find him. However attached they seemed, the relationship between them was not clingy. They didn't need to touch every time they were in the other's presence, nor did either constantly seek reassurance for their partner's feelings. It was more a form of unspoken communication between them, as if to say, _Okay, you're here. That's all I needed to know._

As they moved further north and closer to Sound, Kakashi insisted on making camp more often. There was no need to rush, as rushing could induce panic and when panic set in, rationality failed. They made camp in a secluded wood, thick enough to provide decent coverage, and easily defendable, if need be. Naruto left to find a nearby water source, while Kakashi went to 'scout the area,' though no one was fooled. They all knew he was going to find a tree, and read his favourite smut. One thing Hatake Kakashi was not was spontaneous. He rarely broke from routine.

Sasuke left to find fire wood and returned early with plenty, he soon had a small fire going in the centre of the clearing. With his part done, Sasuke sat down, back against a tree and his arms leaning against his raised knees for support. Sakura needed Naruto to return with water so she could begin to cook their rice and while waiting, she sat down in front of the fire, savouring the warmth. However despite, her front being reasonably toasty her back, by contrast, was rather cold. In order to achieve a more even temperature, she turned around away from the fire. She continued this way for several moments. Sasuke was watching her with a smirk on his face. Never looking away, he said, "I should just put you on a spit. It'd be much easier." Sakura only sneered playfully at him, before turning around again, her front was now her cold half.

He spoke so quietly she almost didn't hear, "Come here."

She looked over her shoulder at him, frowning. "Why?"

"So I can eat you," he said sarcastically, as he brought up a hand to usher her forward.

Getting up and walking over, she muttered, "I wouldn't put it past you."

"It's so you can get warm." He said, as if explaining the obvious. When she was in front of him, she stayed standing, wondering how exactly this was going to work. Sighing, Sasuke grabbed her hand and none too gently tugged her forward. Thankfully, her ninja reflexes allowed her a semi-graceful landing. She sat almost cross-legged in front of him.

"Turn around" he commanded.

Sakura grinned, "So bossy!" she turned around and faced the fire again, her back to him.

"This isn't exactly any warmer than over there-" she began, but was interrupted by a hand snaking around her waist and pulling her backwards. He was considerate enough partially lift her off the ground, so her butt did not collect grass stains. He stopped pulling when she was sitting between his legs, with her back flush against his chest. Though she would never admit it aloud she very much enjoyed the feeling of his abdominal muscles through the back of her shirt.

"I stand corrected. It _is_ much warmer." she said, appreciative of the extra heat. It was nice not to have to turn every few moments. Sasuke didn't offer a verbal response, instead snorted softly. She shivered as she felt his breath come in direct contact with the back of her neck. However she did catch the quiet mutterings of "never listens."

Sadly for Sasuke, he was under the misconception that now that she was warm, she would sit still. Unfortunately this was not the case. Sakura, unlike Sasuke, needed to be doing something, she could not sit there for hours on end, sitting and thinking; the mere prospect bored the shit out of her (this was perhaps heightened by the fact that she'd been stuck in hospital without any exciting work for months.) Sasuke, who was primarily a solitary creature, did not have such an aversion. He welcomed silence and the opportunity to do nothing.

Sakura in her boredom began to fidget, with her hands. She soon grew tired of her own and became interested in Sasuke's. While his right was still across her stomach, holding her in place, his left hand remained supported by his raised knee. She noticed this one had a few cuts and scraps on it and immediately set about healing them, for lack of anything else to do. He watched her intently over her shoulder, at the way she moulded even the smallest amount of chakra, to re-knit his skin back together. He withheld a smirk at the way she rubbed the newly healed skin with her fingertips, as if to check she had been completely thorough. Sasuke could probably learn a few medic jutsus, enough to heal his shallower wounds. But if he ever learned, he decided then that he would never tell Sakura. That way, she'd always have to heal him.

"Am I dying then?" he asked dramatically.

Sakura brought his healed arm to her face and affectionately kissed the inside of his wrist, where his blue veins were the most visible. Sasuke could feel the warmth of her lips through his skin. "Sorry, not today."

Kakashi watched the exchange between his two former students with great interest. He found himself re-evaluating his opinion. Initially he had assumed Sakura more of an object that Sasuke had used to help him through his emotions. Clearly this was something quite different. The level of affection ran much deeper than he previously thought. Sakura was not an emotional prop for Sasuke. The way he watched her when she wasn't looking and strategically placed himself in front of, in a gesture of protection told Kakashi, Sasuke saw Sakura as something to be treasured. Not used.

Furthermore, Kakashi had been unsure of Sakura's behaviour toward Sasuke. It was plainly obvious she cared for him, but to what degree he had been struggling to make out. When she had come to him for advice of what to do when Sasuke had unexpectedly kissed her, he had been convinced that she was scared of giving herself over to her feelings. That she would become vulnerable to Sasuke again. But this seemed different. She had obviously matured and begun to see Sasuke for the person he was, and not the handsome and mysterious genius who had been her team-mate.

Deciding he'd had enough of 'couple watch' Kakashi returned to his novel. (Sakura sometimes scoffed when he called it a novel, proclaiming it wasn't even fit to be called toilet paper, let alone published text.) He hadn't read a complete page, when Naruto landed soundlessly on the branch next to him. He was about to start talking when Kakashi quickly pointed to Sakura and Sasuke through the trees. Clearly they were within earshot. Naruto watched them for a moment, then spoke a stage whisper in the perfect accent of a wildlife narrator, "Surrounding the water hole we observe the giant ape species. The male is characterised by a smirk and a giant pole up his ass, whereas the female has some major anger management issues. Now as we see here the male primate is checking the female for insects. This is his way of saying "Hey do you want to come back to my tree?"

Naruto would have kept going had it not been for 'male' ape looking in his exact direction. This would not normally have worried him if the 'ape's' eyes weren't red. The warning was clear enough. Changing tactics, Naruto decided to amuse him-self, and find a tree of his own, all the while whipping out an orange book.

Sasuke sighed in relief that Sakura hadn't heard the doe's commentary. If she had, guaranteed there would have been violence. To do that she would have to have move and frankly Sasuke was quite happy with where she was.

* * *

The next morning did not start off in the most pleasant of ways. Kakashi, as usual had been the first to wake, with Naruto not far behind. Sasuke had been the last on watch and so was already awake. Kakashi ordered Naruto and Sasuke to clear all evidence of their camp while he scouted the area. They were all hoping Sakura would be awake by the time they were finished, as no-one had yet come forward with the guts to wake her up. Sasuke was just _itching _for the dobe to volunteer; he'd have a front row seat to a first-class boxing match. 

Eventually it came the point where the camp was cleared up and there was nothing left to be done. Naruto had scattered the remains of their camp fire ash, in a nearby bush. Kakashi had deemed the area clear, for now, of any ninja. Sasuke seeing there was nothing left for it, went to wake up Sakura. Kakashi and Naruto watched as he gently knelt over her and nudged her should for her to wake up. Un-surprisingly Sasuke did not get the feared smack in the face; instead he received a heart warming smile. Naruto snickered when Sasuke reached up to her hair, to pull out a stray leaf. He couldn't help but be reminded of his commentary last night. Kakashi caught his laughter, and turned away with a smirk, thinking if Sakura heard him, he was in for it.

Finally they were all ready to move out, with their packs on their backs. Kakashi was about to give out his orders when Naruto, unable to hold it in, started laughing again. The Copy ninja sighed, in understanding. Sasuke only muttered a 'Dobe" in warning. Sakura passed them all a glance, and immediately saw there was something she was missing and Naruto was at the heart of it. She stormed over to him.

"What did you do?" accused Sakura, giving his chest a sharp poke. He quickly stopped laughing.

"What? I didn't do anything!" he yelped, afraid she was going to hit him.

"Are you _sure?_" she asked sternly, "Because if I find out you've done something…"

She let the sentence drift. Leaving it to his imagination to figure out what she would do to him if she found he was lying.

He gulped audibly.

"I haven't done anything! I _swear." _He assured, giving her his most innocent expression.

"A clear conscious is usually a sign of a bad memory," said Kakashi, as he turned a page of his book. He'd wait until they were finished before passing orders.

Naruto quickly swivelled to face Kakashi, "Shut up! I'm almost in the clear!"

Sakura just glared. Silently promising Naruto this wasn't the end, she moved away to the other side of their 'circle' and as she did, Naruto signalled to Sasuke silently, mouthing 'PMS?' Sasuke gave the slightest of shrugs, lest she turn around and see him.

Naruto let out an exhale of relief happy that for now he was safe.

"Really I'm only thinking of you, Naruto," said Kakashi conversationally, "I couldn't forgive myself, if you missed out on an opportunity for Sakura to hit you."

All of them could hear a low chuckle from Sasuke's direction.

"Yeah," Naruto snorted, "as long as _you're_ okay."

Kakashi just gave him an eye crinkle. Now as it was quiet and no-one was arguing, he decided it was the perfect time to talk about a plan of some sort.

"Alright," he began seriously. All three jonin turned to his direction, awaiting instruction. "It's been fairly quiet these past few days. We haven't encountered any ninja, which is good but unusual. I want us to widen our area we cover to see if we encounter anything. We'll pair off. One lot will move out 3 miles east and scan, whereas the other will move 3 miles west. Be through but not picky. I don't want you to fight, we're just watching." He said the last part firmly. They were not to interfere, _just_ yet. There was still something missing and they needed to understand more first.

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, when Kakashi raised a hand to signal he wasn't finished. "We'll meet 7 miles north of here, near that range." They all looked over his shoulder and saw where the two edges of the giants mounts formed sharp slopes to the ground. "Are we all clear?" they nodded again.

Sasuke started again when, Kakashi interrupted. "So we'll split up. I want a Sharingan on each team." And he turned to Sasuke with mock apologetic expression. "Sorry Sasuke, I know you wanted to call dibs on me, but oh well."

Sasuke didn't dignify his comment with a response instead, he said with a tone of authority, "Sakura's with me."

Kakashi considered him for a moment, his interest piqued. He decided to test something. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, given your relationship." He said lightly.

"You might get sidetracked."

Sasuke's features formed into a scowl. _"What?" _he growled, "you think I'm gonna-"

It was Naruto who interrupted him, calmly saying "Actually Kakashi, I think it makes sense. If she's in sight, Sasuke might act less stupid."

Kakashi watched as Sasuke fought not to glare at Naruto. Instead his eyes remained fixed on him. "She stays with me." He repeated firmly. Sakura was glaring at all three of them; irritated at them acting as though she didn't even exist.

"Hang on, a second-" she began, but Kakashi cut her off by sighing.

"Fine. Naruto and I will take the east and you lot will take the west. Well rendezvous at the range at dusk. If you're not there, we'll wait until dawn. If you think you're being followed, do your best to ditch them and go to the nearest village, which is 16 miles north-west of here. Alright, let's move out." and with that final speech, the four 'villagers' split up, appearing in no more detail than a blur, as the two pairs sped off in opposite directions into the trees.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura travelled wordlessly through the forest. Sakura was leading. As soon as she leapt from one branch, Sasuke would replace her in an instant. They moved this way for several hours, though unfortunately for their increasing boredom, did not encounter anything worth investigating. They arrived at their agreed meeting point with time to spare. So they sat in a tree, perfectly hidden and waited. 

"Something wrong?" asked Sakura. He was sitting there staring into space. Granted not an uncommon pose for him to adopt, but on a mission where she had expected nothing but the highest level of attention, it seemed strange. Instead she was partnered with a zombie. It didn't seem like he was brooding, more evaluating. Like he was trying to solve a difficult riddle and was almost there, save the final 'aha' moment.

Her voice, it appeared broke his stupor, and he turned to her with a vague expression. Clearly he wasn't focused. "Nothing. Why?

"You seem thoughtful." She explained.

He didn't respond, instead returned to staring into space.

Sakura observed him for a moment. Sometimes he'd want her to pry further, and not let up until she'd got an answer. Sometimes he _wanted _to be pushed so he'd spill his guts. He would bounce ideas of her and arrive at an understanding that way. Other times, he'd prefer to be left alone, to arrive at a conclusion of his own accord. Sakura could identify with that easily; she often did it herself.

He didn't seem that talkative this time, so she'd leave it be.

She turned her attention to the scene in front of them. It had started raining when they'd first arrived and hadn't let up since. Unless the short spans of light 'spitting' counted.

She sighed. "All it does is rain." As she said this, she blew a lock of wet hair out of her face. "I'm so bored; I'd get excited if it hailed." The lock of hair swang back into her line of vision, frustrated she blew at it again.

"God lacks variety," intoned Sasuke.

Sakura stared at him, surprised he even spoke.

Another long and unbearable silence followed. The only sound was Sakura puffing upwards to get her hair out of the way.

"You know, years ago, I would've killed for this." She said, Sasuke looked at her, needing more information, "being alone with you."

He gave a light snort and looked out at the rain. "I know."

"Now I find I'd rather partner Naruto, even though he'd be complaining of boredom by now, from the lack of people to hit."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. He was sceptical.

She just shrugged. "_He_ talks." And that made all the difference.

"Yeah, but does it make any sense?" he asked.

Sakura smiled fondly, reminded of Naruto's very individual ways, "He doesn't need to."

Unsurprisingly Sasuke didn't respond. They both relapsed into another silence. Sakura continued to blow at the hair in her face. She'd get it eventually. She refused to use her hands that would be giving in-

_The things I'm reduced to doing to amuse myself _she thought

Suddenly a hand, not her own, was in front of her face.

He reached over, and swept the piece of hair behind her ear. He lingered over her, his hand poised in mid air beside her face. His onyx eyes were on her lips, but they were dazed, not really focused on them. She thought he'd been about to kiss her, but then he paused. She bit her lip; confused and wondering what he was thinking.

Sakura gasped when she felt his thumb run along her lower lip, back and forth, in an effort to stop her biting it. She let it go.

Slowly he leant back and resettled into his original position; arms in front of his face. Sakura stared at him; completely bewildered, and lifted her own had to his lips and traced the very area he'd touched. _Where the hell had that come from?_

She was left to repeat that very thought when he asked quietly, "Isn't change weird?"

"Er….No." It sounded like a question.

"But it's the only thing that's constant."

Sakura was taken back . "Is this what you were thinking about?"

"More or less," he replied.

She thought about her answer. "Yeah, we can't stop the fact that there will always be change in the world. But you can decide whether you're with it or against it."

Sasuke considered her words for a moment, then he asked. "If I go against it, am I only fighting what will happen regardless of what I do?"

"No. I don't believe in fate. I think all change _is_ inevitable. But we can still control _some_ of that change."

"But if change is inevitable and we know this, why do all of us try to manipulate it and force it into something stable?"

"It's the way we cope, with a little stability or a constant in our lives, we can accept the change we _can't _control with some sanity."

"You don't think we could survive in a world without some kind of permanence?" he questioned.

"It wouldn't be a nice place to live," she admitted. "I think everyone has something in their lives that can't live without."

"But those things are still ruled by the inescapable laws of change."

She sighed, getting frustrated with the way he'd _have_ to counter every argument. "Then I guess you try to keep those things you can't be without as stable as you can, _within_ the boundaries of change." There she'd given him a compromise; surely now he'd let the topic drop. It was ironic. She'd been the one that had wanted to talk in the beginning.

"Or," he continued, to which she withheld another sigh. Of course he couldn't accept a compromise. He had to be right. "You can change _with_ what you know you need."

She frowned, that didn't seem logical. "Then you're entire life is reliant on something else."

Sasuke looked at her now with an expression she couldn't quite understand, "I'd rather be reliant, than in constant fear of losing it altogether because of a change I _couldn't_ control."

Sakura just shook her head in disagreement, wondering what had brought this to mind. "Does all this mean anything?" He could be so strange sometimes, bringing up the most absurd topics.

Sasuke just smirked at her in an irritating way, which meant he wasn't answering. But he could feel his mood lighten, and his head clear. She'd help him confirm what'd he had originally thought. It would mean a limit to his independence, in something's, but he realised that was a sacrifice he was willing to make, to keep what he wanted.

Her last question echoed through his head. She didn't know how ironic her last question was. _Did it mean anything?_ How to tell her;

His something was _her.

* * *

_

When they felt two chakra signatures heading their way, Sakura and Sasuke immediately went to defensive mode. Only as they came closer, did they realise, that the signatures belonged to their other team-mates.

"They haven't disguised their chakra," mused Sakura.

"It's deliberate. You don't forget to do something _that_ basic," murmured Sasuke, his eyes were red, as he trained them to the spot he expected Naruto and Kakashi to reach soon.

Sakura frowned in thought. "It wouldn't be for us. We don't need to _know_ they're own the way."

"It's a warning," explained Sasuke, "It means we've got company."

Understanding flooded Sakura's face. "They're being followed."

Sasuke shrugged, "it breaks the monotony at any rate." Sakura couldn't disagree with that.

Before they knew it, Kakashi and Naruto were upon them, slightly out of breath. Sakura noticed Kakashi looked like he was thinking hard about something, as if trying to unravel some great mystery. Naruto looked ecstatic; his eyes glowed with an excitement they hadn't seen in him in days.

"We've got 7 on our tail. They're from Rain. Judging from their uniforms, their only chuunin," he said, eagerly, "But hell, we get to fight, so I didn't think you lot would be too fussed."

"You couldn't outrun them?" questioned Sakura.

"Not sure," admitted Naruto, "If we'd doubled back, then maybe. But aren't you pumped?" he asked incredulous, "We finally get to fight!"

Sasuke couldn't agree more. He was itching for good brawl, even if it ended before it really began. "Nice work dobe," said Sasuke appreciatively. Naruto grinned at him.

"Idiots," muttered Sakura.

They remained where they were for two minutes. Sakura had the sense to hide their gear in a nearby cave. The extra weight would make fighting more difficult than need be. They stood there looking as innocent, as mismatched civilians possibly could. The ninja that now surrounded them, though hidden in the trees, knew they were also shinobi, but of what level they had no idea.

Well, they were about to find out.

Naruto smirked at Sasuke, "Think you can handle it teme?"

"You just worry about keeping your own limbs in tact," replied Sasuke haughtily, then said to Sakura, "Save your chakra, dobe's gonna need healing afterward."

Naruto scoffed. "We'll see."

Kakashi interrupted their boasting, "Have you two stopped to consider that you have just given vital information to our enemy that are watching in the trees as we speak? Not only does your bragging show a weakness they could play on, you've also let them know that one of us can heal."

Sasuke remained silent, though Naruto defended himself. "Relax would you? They're chuunin for god's sake!"

As he spoke, said chuunin, decided they would now reveal themselves. The four leaf ninja, found themselves surrounded.

"Now we're getting somewhere," said Naruto, enthusiastically.

They immediately squared off. Sakura took two, as did Sasuke and Naruto. Kakashi was left with one. Feeling a little deflated. He thought _Why do I get the lame end of the deal?_

The clearing they were in now was host to a flurry of activity. Sakura leapt toward her two opponents, aiming kicks and punches. She took great satisfaction in the shocked look on the Rain ninja's face as he watched as his team-mate was sent flying through several trees, from one punch.

Sasuke had been forced to move, as he was in the 'flying' ninja's direct line of movement. "Hey," he called to Sakura, as he elbowed one of his chuunin in the gut and landed a roundhouse kick to the other, who was approaching from behind, "do you mind aiming _around_ my fight."

She grinned, as she sent her remaining opponent soaring in the opposite direction with a well placed kick. "My bad."

"Oi," yelled Naruto, as he easily avoided an oncoming attack, and stopped the other from doing so simply by grabbing his throat and holding him in place, (the poor shinobi emitted a squawk in protest,) "Are we knocking them out or just tying them up?"

Kakashi raised his lone eye to observe his former student. "Either or, I'm not fussed. As long as they can't escape." He said placidly. He used his hand to gesture to the tied up ninja now hanging upside down in the nearest tree. It looked like he was encased in a rope cacoon. Unfortunately for Kakashi, not only had he only gotten one opponent, he seemed to have selected the most nervous one too. He was so scared, that Kakashi didn't have it in him to do more than a simple wind jutsu. That had been enough.

Naruto quickly finished off his opponents, and created a few clones, to tie them to the tree adjacent to Kakashi's victim. He joined Sakura, who was perched on a tree branch.

"Where are yours?" he asked curiously.

She grinned, and pointed to two unconscious bodies, slumped in a pile under the makeshift cacoon.

Naruto just laughed.

"I had to go and collect them." She explained. "I think my hitting radius is getting better."

They watched as Sasuke battled his last opponent. Out of the lot of them, he had chosen the most gifted. Though he already had one out cold, the other seemed to possess the ability to transport him-self, quickly from place to place. Despite Sasuke's speed almost giving the same impression, it was amusing to watch as he got irritated at having to chase his prey. In the end, he sighed, and caught the chuunin in a genjutsu. All of a sudden the Rain chuunin stopped moving and became glassy eyed, as if in a trance. Sasuke took his moment of stillness to administer a quick tap the back of his skull. The young shinobi crumpled to the ground.

He grabbed each ninja by the arm and dragged them along the ground, adding to Sakura's little pile of unconscious bodies.

Seeing that they were done, Kakashi closed his book and addressed them, "Alright, who wants to question them?"

"I will," volunteered Sakura. She didn't trust the others to be gentle. She approached the two Naruto had tied up. They were the only one's who were in a condition to talk. Save the guy in hanging upside down. But she didn't want her answers to be muffled by rope.

"So who wants to talk?" she asked. The older looking of the two narrowed his eyes and spat at her. Sakura stepped back to avoid being hit. "Look," she said coolly, all politeness gone, "This can be easy or it can't be. Choose."

The one who spat at her only scoffed, "You really think I'm gonna tell _you_ anything?"

She glared at them, about to answer, when she noticed both of the chuunin's faces change. The hostility faded to alarm. Turning around she noticed Naruto and Sasuke on either side of her. Sasuke was playing with a kunai, tossing it expertly into the air and catching it again, while Naruto had summoned charka into his left hand, to form an under-developed Rasengun; they enjoyed the effect they had on the chuunin. She glared at them both, Naruto grinned shamelessly back at her. Sasuke assured her they weren't going to interfere…..much.

"I'm only here for moral support." He explained, and then added as she arched an eyebrow at the weapon in his hand, "Ignore the knife."

Not much time had passed when Sakura had found that these chuunin were relatively new and had been assigned the mission of scouting a given area. They had been ordered to do so, due sightings of foreign ninja in the area.

She was struck by the similarities between this situation and their own mission.

She also noticed the grave expression on Kakashi face.

"What's wrong? Do you think they're lying?" she asked.

"No, they're telling the truth. I'm wondering why on earth Rain would assign chuunin to a scouting mission. Is their situation so dire that they're sending mere children to do a jonin's job?"

"You think they're short on numbers, like Konoha?" she guessed.

He nodded. "My concern is that our situation is connected to theirs. We're probably only scraping the tip of the iceberg."

* * *

_Finally, another chapter complete! Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 20 and for anyone who has reviewed the chapters prior. You don't know how much they motivate me to write the next chapter. I think the more comfortable you are with your writing, the less likely you are to suffer from writers block._

_Also, if you get a chance, check out my other fic, Boy meets Girl, on my profile page! (Nothing like a bit of shameless advertising!)_

_Anyway, over and out (and sounding like an astronaut _was_ my aim, lol)_

_mysweetbabu._


	22. Final Chapter: Author's Note

Hello, mysweetbabu here.

I took a long break from fanfiction for my own reasons. As much as I loved and still love Reliance, I think it's been too long for me to properly continue the story to the conclusion it deserves, which I hate, because I loath not finishing something I've started. However, I am writing under a different penname, Eydeller. I've learned a lot of different things from writing Reliance. The major thing being that a story really needs a plan to follow, for it to be really worth telling. In a way, I was writing aimlessly with Reliance, focusing more on getting the characters right, than developing a plot. Now I hope, I'll be able to manage both with a new Sasuke/Sakura story called Canvas. If you liked Reliance, you may like this one too.


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Naruto, Drama, Romance