As the days continued in a similar fashion, Sakura became accustomed to Sasuke picking her up from work and escorting her back to her apartment. They would spend the nights comfortably, usually talking for a while before reading. Sasuke had gone through a lot of her books now, but each time he finished one, he just picked a new one to start. Sometimes he'd spend the time cleaning his gear or sharpening his sword as well. Sakura began to wonder if this is what married life would be like.
Of course, the main difference from their current situation and married life was that Sasuke slept on the sofa in the living room. Sakura had offered that they could switch or even both sleep in the same bed, but he outright refused. Although the bed was plenty large enough for both, the Uchiha's were a formal clan, and he couldn't bring himself to overstep that boundary.
Sakura woke one night to feel her roommate's chakra flaring. Concerned, she jumped out of bed to rush to the living room. Sasuke was asleep and obviously having a nightmare. He thrashed around rather violently, so she grabbed his shoulders to try to keep him still.
"Sasuke! Sasuke, wake up! It's just a nightmare! Wake up!!"
While the young man's eyes flew open, Sakura didn't have time to feel relieved. Sasuke rolled off the couch, pushing Sakura to her back on the floor. The wind knocked out of her, Sasuke straddled her body and placed his hand on her throat. His eyes were glowing purple and red in the darkness. When the hand on her neck started to tighten, she squeaked out a noise in fright and her hands wrapped around his wrist.
Everything changed faster than the blink of an eye. Sasuke's weight disappeared from on top of her, and she gasped in a few breaths of air frantically. Sitting up, she saw the man with his back against the wall, panting and sweating. She met his eyes to find them looking terrified. He seemed slightly confused, scared, and horrified that he had tried to choke her. Desperately, he looked over at the closed window, ready to run.
"Don't," Sakura's voice was quiet. "Please don't run."
Sasuke froze, still panicking inside. He turned to look at the girl and saw tears streaming down her face. He looked almost paralyzed. Sakura took this as her opening and jumped up, ran into his chest, and hugged him tightly. Sasuke stiffened when she hugged him, but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop the tears coming now, and she needed a bit of comfort too.
"I'm sorry. I know you want to run. I know you want to get far away and process things. I know… but if you leave me right now, I don't know what I'll do. You aren't the only one who has a hard time adjusting. Just please. You don't have to do or say anything. Just stay. Please."
Realizing he wasn't trying to fight against her at all, Sakura held him tightly as she felt his breathing and heart rate slow down to normal. Soon she could feel that his body was shaking slightly, and she just hugged him more. A cautious hand appeared at her back as he lightly returned the hug, allowing her to leave whenever she wanted. Given her way, though, she wouldn't leave his embrace for quite some time.
Sakura's tears finally started to dissipate, and her own breathing returned to normal with an occasional hiccup. She hadn't noticed when he stopped trembling, but his body was calm now under her hands. She felt his hand move to the back of her head as he put his chin on top of it.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. She responded by just squeezing him tighter, too worn out for words now.
After a while and starting to feel awkward, the pink haired girl slowly unwrapped her arms from around his torso as he let go of her in turn. She didn't want to look at him right now when she knew she looked horrible, so she kept her eyes down and turned to look at the clock. It was 5:30 in the morning, and she didn't think either of them were going back to sleep at this point.
Still not looking at him, she took a deep breath and said, "Well I think I'm awake for the day now. I'm just going to take a shower." With that, she turned and walked quickly to the bathroom, leaving Sasuke to decide what he was going to do now.
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When the shower water started, Sasuke was snapped out of his thoughts. When was the last time someone had hugged him? And even more, when was it because they wanted to comfort him and receive comfort in return? Probably his mother was the last one to do that when he was a child. It was strange, but he didn't dislike it. Not at all.
Unsure what to do next, he cleaned up the living room of his blanket and pillow and picked up some books that had fallen when he knocked her to the floor. Sakura hadn't asked him any questions, not about what his nightmare was or why he reacted that way. He was grateful not to have to talk about it, but now he felt he owed her some kind of explanation. He was going to leave her a note when her voice echoed in his mind. "Just stay. Please." He knew she had meant right at that moment, but it didn't seem right to leave now.
So, he started looking through the fridge to see if he could make something for breakfast. Coffee was easy enough to get going, but cutting up vegetables was difficult with one hand. He hadn't really thought of all the ways his daily life would change with only one hand, but it impacted him more than he cared to admit. Foregoing anything complicated, Sasuke decided eggs were perfectly fine.
Sasuke heard the shower turn off and a few minutes later, the door opened revealing and a much more put together Sakura. Her eyes didn't look too bad, but they were still swollen. Concentrating on his task at hand of getting the eggs on two plates, he waited for her to initiate some type of conversation.
"I didn't think you'd still be here."
"I thought you wanted me to stay?"
"No, I'm glad you're here, but… well anyway, what are you making?" He was sure Sakura felt awkward, and so did he to a degree. But they would just have to get over that and keep interacting. Allowing the conversation to change, Sasuke held up a plate with her eggs on it, offering it to her.
Sakura smiled and took the plate with a small "thanks." She also got a large mug from the cupboard to pour herself some coffee. Sasuke wasn't too fond of how jittery coffee made him, so he had just made the pot for her. Sitting down across from him at the table, they both started eating. Noticing the girl in front of him was looking absolutely anywhere but at him, Sasuke sighed quietly and decided he needed to take some responsibility for getting things back to normal.
"So what time is your shift today?" he asked, although he had already memorized her busy schedule.
"Hm? Oh, today's my day off!"
"They actually allow you to take a day off? I thought they must have something over your head to force you to work so much."
Laughing slightly, she responded, "Well I know it seems like a crazy schedule, and to be fair, it is. But I did this to myself. After the war ended, I wanted to stay as busy as possible. If I didn't, I would start thinking about things, and that never ended well… So! I threw myself into work, and now I'm used to that schedule. Even so, it feels like ages since my last day off. I wonder what I should do with it!"
"You don't have plans?"
"No, not really. Why?"
"Do you want to spar with me this morning?" Sasuke's question was just a little bit quieter than his normal speaking volume, and he inwardly cursed himself for it. Why was he so nervous? She would probably say yes, and even if she said no, would it be that terrible?
"Really? Are you sure you're ok with me?"
Her question puzzled Sasuke. He wouldn't invite her if he wasn't ok with it, so the answer was obvious. Not sure if he was understanding her meaning, he just gave her a small nod. That seemed to do the trick, and Sakura smiled brightly at him. She finished her eggs with vigor and went excitedly to change into her training gear while Sasuke offered to clean up. He didn't know he could make her that happy with one answer, but it warmed him to see.
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Excited at the idea of sparing with Sasuke, Sakura bounced happily as they walked to the training grounds. It was fairly early, so the streets were empty. It didn't take long to get to their destination, which was also empty. Picking a field further in anyway to avoid having crowds later, the two stood opposite each other and sank into fighting stances.
"Any rules?" Sakura asked.
"I'm game for anything. You scared?" Sasuke smirked.
"Oh no, just wanted to give you the opportunity. Let's go."
The two stared at each other for a while before they leaped into the match. Sasuke was more clumsy than normal, still adjusting to one arm, but Sakura was more cautious than normal. She had never come face to face with the Rinnegan, so she didn't know exactly what to expect.
They started slowly, easing their way into a more difficult regime. About twenty minutes in, Sasuke activated his sharingan to keep up with the pace. Sakura couldn't figure out what Sasuke's deal was. Sure, he was slightly handicapped in the fight, but he was capable of more than this. Was he just toying with her? She grew angry at that thought and threw all her strength into the fight, narrowly missing punching Sasuke right in the face. He was surprised by that but got back into his rhythm quickly. Sakura kept pushing him as hard as she could, trying to test herself against him. He seemed like he was finally actually trying when she heard it behind her. A piercing cry of lightning. She turned to see Sasuke running at her with a chidori, and she froze for a second. The last time that was aimed at her, he had meant to go through with killing her. Sakura still had nightmares about it occasionally.
Just as quickly as she froze, her body reacted to the perceived threat, and she kicked him harshly in the side, sending him flying into a tree. The kick was much harder than she ever intended to use on a friend, and looking at Sasuke's body on the ground, it was clear she hurt him. Closing the distance quickly, she pooled chakra in her hands and started to repair the cracked ribs.
As she worked, she muttered apologies. "Sorry! I didn't mean to use that much force. I don't know what came over me. I'll fix the damage, just give me a minute. Do you hurt anywhere else?"
Sasuke looked at her with unreadable eyes and muttered, "It was my fault."
Allowing the chakra to recede from her hands, Sakura sat back and asked, "Feel better?"
Nodding, Sasuke sat up next to her. The two were quiet for a time. Sakura had used a lot of chakra and was still catching her breath after healing him. She glanced over at him and saw his downcast eyes. Hopeful, she tried to start a conversation.
"What's wrong, Sasuke?" When he didn't answer for a few seconds, she sighed and thought he wouldn't answer. She started to stand up, but Sasuke caught her hand with his. Surprised, she relaxed into the grass again, eyeing him curiously.
After a few more seconds, Sasuke finally answered in a low voice, "This was supposed to be fun. A good way to get things back to normal. But it was pointless."
Sakura's mind raced hearing that, and she couldn't stop on any one thought. He wanted to have fun with her? To get things back to a normal place? That had to be a good sign, so why was he so upset now?
Sighing and looking down at the ground, she told him, "Sorry, I guess sparring with me is different from Naruto. He can keep up with you better, but you have to pull your punches with me. I am still weaker than you too, so it's only natural. I should've known I wouldn't be a challenge to you."
Feeling his hand on hers start to squeeze slightly, she glanced back at Sasuke, and he was staring at her with a mixture of confusion and anger. She raised her eyebrows at him.
"I never said you were weak."
"No, I know you didn't! I just know that I'm…"
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" she whispered.
Sasuke's eyes moved away from her to stare at the sky, but he kept hold of her hand. He didn't seem conscious that he was holding it, and it looked like he was trying to decide what to say. She knew he didn't like to talk about his feelings, but he was also keeping her from leaving. Deciding to give him some space, she waited until he gathered his thoughts.
Sasuke took a deep breath and released her hand. He wouldn't look at her, but he did start to speak.
"You call yourself weak. This was my fault. You aren't to blame."
"Well if you want to have a contest on who blames themselves more, I think you would win that."
Sighing, Sasuke ignored that comment. Instead, he looked over at her to see her watching him.
"But it was my fault. I scared you."
Sakura could see Sasuke was hurting from even admitting that. She grabbed his hand again and smiled slightly.
"I did get scared. Rationally, I knew we were sparring, but my memories came flooding back… Sasuke, you aren't that person anymore. Yes, I know about everything that happened, but despite all that, I am on your side now. I fought for you to be allowed to go free, to be allowed to atone and become an even greater person. So did Naruto and Kakashi! The people who know you best are by your side. It may not always be easy, but life never is. We just want you back in our lives."
Sasuke looked down at their joined hands without answering her, so Sakura became more forceful.
"I'm NOT scared of you. I trust you. I know you. Hell, I love you!"
Sakura paused there, and looked away from Sasuke as she continued, "I know you don't want to hear that. I know I'm annoying, and you probably just want…."
Sakura stopped short again and widened her eyes. Sasuke had kissed her lightly. He pulled back and smirked slightly, saying, "I thought you knew me?"