"So, I heard you've been helping Sakura-chan?" Naruto grinned, taking a sip of his water.

Sasuke narrowed his gaze at the blonde, "I feel like you're suggesting something."

Feigning ignorance, Naruto tried to hide his smile, "What? Me? No, no of course not..." his face faltered slightly, "I know you've only been back a week but still, you've spent a lot of time with Sakura-chan. I happened to mention it to Kakashi-sensei, and he said you've been at her hospital with her."

"Why do you look so upset all of a sudden?"

"Well...I've missed you too, ya know! But I only see you when we decide to train. It's not fair Sakura gets you all to herself..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at that, "For someone who's married, I'd think you'd be more mature than that."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"I'm working, Naruto. I'm off duty for another two weeks, and if I weren't working I wouldn't be doing anything. It's not a case of me spending more time with Sakura, it's a case of spending my time usefully. What else would I be doing besides training?"

"You could hang out with me!"

"Third-wheeling frequent trips to Ichiraku's with you and Hinata hardly sounds like good use of my time."

Naruto stalled at that, slightly offended that Sasuke didn't want to be at Ichiraku's. "You wouldn't be third-wheeling! Hinata doesn't like to hold hands and kiss and stuff when we're outside!"

"Hn."

"Well, what are you doing at the hospital that's so great then? I didn't think you'd be in to filling vials and watching Sakura treat kids."

Sasuke could feel his skin heat up, and took a gulp of water, "Well...I am."

Grinning, Naruto leaned over and nudged Sasuke's side, "Or is it the 'watching Sakura' you're in to?"

Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction and he shoved the blonde back, "Shut it, urasakontachi!"

Naruto snorted as he laughed at Sasuke's disgruntled expression, but stopped abruptly as Sasuke's hair caught his eye, "Hey! You're wearing it in a ponytail. Never thought I'd see that."

Sasuke tentatively touched the spiky ends at the base of his neck, "Hn...Sakura did it. It's getting longer and in the way. It's bothersome."

"Why not just cut it?" Naruto asked, sitting upright again.

"I've decided to grow it out. If I cut it again it'll just stick up."

"Duck-ass!"

"Oi! At least my hair re-gains a gravitational pull with length; you've got to get a ridiculous buzz-cut to calm yours down."

"Hinata likes the buzz-cut!"

"Sakura doesn't."

"Eh!? She lied to me!"

Sasuke tittered quietly as Naruto rubbed the top of his hair.

"You'll end up looking like Neji, ya know. Or It-...Itachi-san." Naruto's gaze softened as he looked over at his friend, "Is that why you're growing it?"

***

Sasuke smiled to himself once he spotted Hima coloring furiously at her desk. He shut the door quietly behind him, letting her know she was there. She looked up for a brief second, flashed him a smile then called him over.

"Look here, Sasuke-san! I've made a drawing; do you think they'll like it? Look, look, it's me in the middle between them and then Ichi-chan – you know, my bear – is on the chair over here because I don't know how to draw arms properly," she babbled, "And you know! The bird came back again earlier, I haven't seen him for ages Sasuke-san, but he didn't come in this time. I think he likes you better, but that's ok because you let me stroke him, you know. Oh, and Haruno-sama saw me before you came, she said that my new family want to take me out to dinner today. I really like them, Sasuke-san, do you like them? Do you think they're nice?" she grinned, and continued scribbling color onto her drawing.

Sasuke sat beside her, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips, "Yes, I do."

She continued talking, and Sasuke zoned out as she chatted on, until she got up. Sasuke watched her walk over to her bedside-drawer, and pull out a picture frame. She returned to him, her expression serious. He took the frame from her offering hands; the photograph was of her on the shoulders of an older man; the similarities between them were remarkable.

"It's my papa," she said, her mouth wobbling slightly as she held back tears, "I only have this picture of him. I want you to take it, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke allowed his shock to show with a slight widening of his eyes. His lips thinned into a tight line, "Why, Hima?"

"I'll never ever forget my papa. But, when Haruno-sama came today, she helped me to understand that moving on won't hurt my papa...and that it's ok to be happy with my new family. I've decided to leave my past, Sasuke-san, and to do that, I'll give away my picture."

Sasuke wiped his thumb over Hima's father's face, "That's very brave of you, Hima."

She beamed at that, "Thank you, Sasuke-san!"

"I'll look after the photograph. You can have it back when you want it."

Hima began to chat again, and once she found a tangent to follow Sasuke found his mind slipping elsewhere again, but this time because of Hima's previous words. He recalled a short conversation he had had with Kakashi earlier that week.

"Sasuke, we still have to discuss the future of the compound," Kakashi said, making Sasuke turn away from the door.

"...I know."

"I've put it the answer on hold, and to be honest with you, I didn't want to bring it up again so soon after your return, even though you've had two years to think about it. But, land developers are putting the pressure on now. It sounds crude, but they want the land. They'll pay you well, but since you own it, you call the shots."

"I don't want it taken down."

"But you don't want to live there either."

Sasuke froze. Why would he? But he couldn't tare down his heritage. That would be wrong...so wrong. It would be like he had forgotten about them.

Sasuke had left the Hokage without sparing him an answer. But now, sat with Hima with her father's photo in his hands, he had decided. The Uchiha compound would be torn down, but not before he himself had paid a final visit to his childhood home. He had left it long enough, regardless.

***

The second thing Sasuke did, after talking to Kakashi again, was find Sakura and Naruto. In a method that ironically reminded him of when he created Team Taka (the name made him cringe now) he gathered them first, and then while eating at Ichiraku's (upon Naruto's insistence) he told them of what he planned to do.

Sakura was the first to respond, "Are you sure about this, Sasuke? I know the compound is important to you..."

Naruto nodded in agreement, "I understand why you'd give permission, but still."

Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, "I know, but the old clan is gone. I don't even live there anymore. There's no point keeping the compound, the houses will just rot away. It's better that the land it used for development anyway. The village is expanding, and I have no right to stop that."

"They can expand in a different direction! It's not fair Sasuke; Kakashi shouldn't ask you to do such a thing."

"He didn't. He gave me a choice. I chose to say yes, and saying that is my business."

Sakura turned away at that, unable to dampen her anger. Not at Sasuke, not even Kakashi, but just...everything. Had the system not been so fucked up, Sasuke wouldn't have had to make this choice. She sometimes wondered what it would be like had Itachi not been given that order, and the clan still alive. Would Sasuke have still turned away from the village, seeking power? He would have had no reason to. He would still have his parents and beloved brother...would he have stayed the kind and happy boy he was? She even thought about how they would have been. Would Sasuke have fallen in love with her? She glanced at the boy now. It was hard to tell.

"So, if you've made your decision," Naruto continued, "What is it you're asking us?"

"To come with me."

Sakura was stunned. For once, Sasuke wanted company?! He'd always done everything by himself!

"I want to go back home, collect anything valuable before they tare the houses down."

"And you want us to go with you? How come?" Naruto asked. Sakura could see his nervousness.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly, "Does it matter?"

"I...I guess not. What do you say, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura nodded, holding back how eager she was to finally be able to understand just that little bit more about Sasuke, and was also flattered that he would trust her to visit his old home with him. She never thought he would ask something like that.

***

Sasuke's home was smaller than he remembered. He knew it was his, of course – it wasn't like he couldn't recall the street it was on, and only the head of the Uchiha had large Uchiha fans painted either side of the front door. He supposed that, being as small as he was, and perhaps nostalgic memories would have distorted the true size of his home. Not that it mattered now. He was interested about what was inside, not out.

The three walked in together, with Sasuke instinctively acting to remove his shoes, before he realized there was no point. The wooden floors were dirty, anyway.

Mikoto hated dirt. She was always so strict about shoes staying outside; Sasuke almost felt guilty treading through the dust with his on. He recalled a time when Itachi had returned home and Sasuke – only about two or three years old – had become so excited that he pulled his nii-san through the threshold before the older boy had removed his shoes. Mikoto scolded him for that. He smiled now at the memory, remembering how sad he had been to be told off by his mother. He knew that, even if it meant his mother would never spare him a kind word again, he would want her to be alive, now, cleaning and cooking and tidying around him, letting him chatter on about nonsense as he followed her about with a cloth in his hand.

"I'll start at the back of the house; Sakura, Naruto, you two go upstairs first."

"What is it I'm looking for, exactly?" Naruto asked, a step or two behind Sakura.

"Anything of value." Sasuke dismissed, and walked ahead.

"...the hell does that mean?"

"Things like photos, or jewelry, or toys and ornaments...that sort of thing. Nostalgic value, Naruto." Sakura said in hushed tones, somehow nervous as she trod up the stairs.

"Aah..." Naruto mumbled, looking around him. The walls were bare. He'd never had a family house of his own, but he imagined that mothers would like to have lots of pictures hanging about the place. He knew Fukagu was in the police force – where were his badges, his certificates? Sasuke's house seemed a bit...empty.

Sakura broke away from Naruto, entering one of the rooms at the end of the corridor. She slid the door back all the way and stepped through.

"Must be Sasuke's old room..." she mused aloud, noting the child-sized wardrobe and desk. The bed was missing, however. She'd ask about that later.

She half expected the floor to be strewn with toys and books, much like her old room when she lived with her parents. However, Sasuke's tidiness appeared to have stemmed from childhood – various stuffed animals lined the shelves in neat rows, and the books were placed spine-showing and all the same way, tightly packed into a bookshelf. Even the papers on his desk were stacked neatly. She half-mindedly ran her fingers over the papers. She vaguely remembered seeing them before – academy homework, filled out but not marked.

She then noticed a wrapped gift and card on the opposite side of the desk. She tentatively picked up the card, reading 'Sasuke' neatly scrawled over the envelope in expert penmanship. Her heart sank as she realized the feminine swirls must have belonged to Sasuke's mother. She could imagine her now, mumbling about careless children as she positioned Sasuke's toys back into their places and placed the gift on his desk with a smile, utterly ignorant to what was in store for her.

"Was it hard for him...?" Sakura muttered under her breath, her thoughts shifting to Itachi. She couldn't imagine facing her parents like that, knowing what she had to do...

Itachi...a Shinobi too kind for this world; far, far too kind. Her heart ached horribly thinking about how she had criminalized and hated the man that had saved her child-self from war. Saved Sasuke from death...she wished she could talk to him now, apologize and thank him. She was grateful for the edo-tensei, in a way. Sasuke had told her, with a thick voice and pained eyes, how he had met his brother once more in that form. He told her of how it was Itachi who had defeated Kabuto and broken the jutsu. Itachi had died twice saving the people who vehemently hated him, and he did it with a smile and a tilt of his head. Sakura listened as Sasuke recalled his brother's last words – he didn't say them, but Sakura could guess well enough. It had been one of the few times she and Sasuke had spent his visits alone. Though it was sad, Sakura was proud that Sasuke trusted her enough to share such things with her. She didn't know if Naruto knew, and didn't intend on bringing up the matter. Recalling it once with someone else had been hard enough for Sasuke; she wasn't about to open old wounds.

"Sakura?"

Naruto stepped over the threshold, "eh? What's this room?" he asked, looking around.

"Sasuke's old room. Look, there's a card here from his mother," she said, holding it up.

Naruto blinked twice, "Are you sure? I thought I was just in Sasuke's room!" he exclaimed, and held up a book, "Look! See? It's a diary I think, I thought it was Sasuke's," he snickered, "I found it in the room across from here. It's bland and boring like him so I thought it was Sasuke's room."

"Naruto-!"

"I resent 'boring', Naruto. I'm definitely not boring." Sasuke frowned, coming into view, "And I never kept a diary." Two books were tucked under his arm.

"Then who's...?" Naruto flipped the book open; two seconds later, his eyes widened in shock and he clamped it shut again, thrusting it towards Sasuke, "...It's Itachi-san's."

Sasuke gripped onto the diary, focusing wholly on it. He didn't notice Naruto take the two photo albums from under his arm.

Sasuke rubbed his thumb over the soft cover, his heart heavy, "...I didn't know he kept one either." He sighed, and walked into his brother's room. Naruto followed him; Sakura lingered behind.

"I have no right to look through his things," Sasuke muttered, slipping the diary under Itachi's pillow, "He's told me everything he wanted to."

Naruto nodded behind him; his mouth turns down slightly at the corners. Without a word from either of them, they exited the room. Sasuke slid the door shut quietly behind him.

In the corridor, Sakura handed him her findings. She saw Sasuke smile briefly, and then say he would open his mother's gift back at his apartment. He shut the door to his old room too. Naruto and Sakura went downstairs for a last look around while Sasuke went to his parents' bedroom.

"Ya know, Sakura, I've always wanted to come to Sasuke's house," Naruto suddenly confided. She looked round at him, her eyes soft and her fingers still hovering over the windowsill. The family garden was overgrown, but the remains of a withered cherry-blossom tree remained.

"Not like this, but when I was a kid – ya know, before I knew about the massacre – I craved for Sasuke to invite me over. I'd never been to someone else's house, and since Sasuke was the closest thing to a friend, even back then, I had hoped he would ask."

Sakura didn't say anything, but relaxed against her friend once he joined her by the window. They looked out together.

"I'm impressed, to be honest. I didn't realize how rich the Uchiha were," he smirked, "I wonder if Sasuke would have grown up to be a spoiled brat in a parallel universe?"

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded, "Don't think about Sasuke like that!"

"Oh come on! Don't tell me you've never thought about how Sasuke would be had...none of that stuff happened. Or even if he just hadn't gone to Orochimaru."

Sakura's gaze cast downward, "...of course I do. All the time. Maybe if he hadn't been so tainted by darkness, he would have...he..."

"He cares a lot about you, Sakura."

"Tch...you say that, but..."

"He does. Sasuke isn't very good at expressing himself; you know that. The whole world knows that. When we were genin, it was obvious that he cared about you. I was jealous back then, I just wanted to believe he was an asshole...but he did, now I think about it. The way he was. After spending time with us, he grew close to you in a way that he didn't with me. We were rivals, but you were companions. He trusted you. He reached out to you in ways that you wouldn't even notice. Maybe he didn't, either. But he told me something when he came back a week ago, something I didn't believe at first. Not because it was unbelievable, but more because Sasuke doesn't share things like that. I asked him why he came back. I asked him what had convinced him to move back to Konoha. He said it was you, Sakura."

The pink haired konoichi couldn't believe her ears. She asked Naruto to repeat himself again, then once more; Naruto obliged with a smile and a laugh.

She shook her head with a grin, "I'll have to hear that from him, Naruto!"

"You don't believe me?" he laughed, happy that she was happy. Hinata had told him that Sakura had confided that she thought Sasuke would never love her – not like she loved him. Even now, Sasuke had been keeping his distance emotionally. Sakura was beginning to lose hope.

Teme...you've gotta get a move on. There are other guys out there that would kill for a date with Sakura. One day, she'll accept one, and you'll lose her forever.

Still buzzing, Sakura took Naruto's arm and ushered him along, "Come on, we're here for a reason. Let's have a last look around."

They went to every room at the back of the house, but the doors had been shut tight. Thinking that Sasuke had cleared each of the rooms, they walked back to the front of the house, where Sakura spied a different room – the door was opened slightly.

Sakura's fingers curled around the doorframe and pushed; "He must have missed this one-"

Sakura froze, her jaw hanging and her eyes stinging with tears. She felt Naruto gasp and still behind her.

There was a kunai a foot away from Sakura, with blue material pinned at the tip. Blood splatters stained the walls and the floor. Faint chalk marked the outline of two bodies – the shape suggested one lay over the other.

Tears streamed down the konoichi's pale face. Her hand was clamped over her mouth.

Naruto caught her as she stumbled backwards; he too felt tears in his eyes, but composed himself quickly. "Sakura..."

Suddenly, the door slid shut. Sakura, still in her stunned state didn't notice at first, though Naruto quickly recognized Sasuke's arm.

"There's nothing I want in there. It's just a meeting room."

Sakura tried to stop her tears; her heart ached horribly in her chest. Naruto quickly apologized.

Sasuke's brow furrowed in confusion, "It's not a dirty secret, Naruto. You didn't know what that room was. I'm not angry. I should have said."

"Sasuke..." Naruto breathed with a new understanding. He noticed Sasuke lightly rub his thumb over Sakura's shoulder. It was a slight act of comfort, but calmed Sakura in a way Naruto didn't think he himself was capable of. Their dynamic had become different, Naruto noticed. He felt a small smile coming on. Maybe it won't be so long after all.

Sakura had wiped her own tears from her face, and offered her own apology. She took Mikoto's jewellery box from under Sasuke's arm; the three walked out together, towards new beginnings. 

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