Once Naruto left to spend the rest of his day with his wife, Sakura and Sasuke walked back to the latter's apartment together ("I'll help you carry this stuff, Sasuke-kun" Sakura had insisted. Sasuke could hardly say no, of course, given his missing limb). Once there, Sasuke automatically began to file away his family's possessions, leaving Sakura on the couch with his mother's gift and one of the two photo albums. With his permission, she started to thumb through it.

The first photograph was of Sasuke as a baby (Sakura guessed, given that there was a slightly older child hovering over his mother); immediately, she burst out laughing, "Sas-Sasuke-kun! Oh, oh I'm sorry, it's just-"

"What?"

"Sasuke...you were a very ugly baby...!" she snorted, rubbing a thumb over his moustache-like hairdo, "Or at least, you didn't have great hair..."

She then noticed his slightly forlorn expression – her face fell in horror, "Oh, kami I shouldn't have said that, Sasuke I'm sorry that was insensitive-"

"You sound like my mother."

She paused, then blinked, "Eh?"

"She said I was an ugly baby too. Weird hair," he walked over to her, and peered over her shoulder, "...I can't help but agree. Why was it only my hair that stuck up?" he mumbled. Sakura took to giggling again, and flipped over the page.

"Aa, you're hair has grown a bit here...yep, this is the Sasuke-kun I remember," She said fondly, "And look! Your mom...she's so beautiful, Sasuke-kun. Your father was a lucky man. It would have been nice for her to have a daughter too, you know, that looked like her. Of course, you, and, I admit, Itachi-san are both very handsome, but pretty girls are something else, aren't they? Ino is gorgeous...she's got a really sharp chin, you know. I don't think I've lost all my baby fat yet...or maybe I need to stop eat-"

"Sakura."

"Hm?"

"You're rambling."

"Oh! Oh, sorry, sorry-"

"Don't apologise."

"So-"

"Sakura."

With a small smile, she cleared her throat and flipped the page. She talked about a few more of the pictures – Sasuke stayed silent for the most part, just scanning over the pages as Sakura's comments and questions continued. He didn't mind much, only when she started demeaning herself. She did it quite a lot, he noticed, and that irritated him. Usually about the way she looked, or her eating habits, or the way she dressed. Is she stupid? He wondered, Can someone truly not see how aesthetically pleasing they are? Does she really look in the mirror and think she's not pretty? Are all girls like this? Tch...annoying.

Annoying.

Annoying.

She said that word too. "Whoops...I must be annoying you with all my talking, Sasuke-kun."

That really, truly, irritated him. Because she wasn't annoying him. Because 'annoying' was his word to use. Because 'annoying' meant things she would never understand and right now, 'annoying' didn't fit.

He couldn't stop himself, "Don't say that."

"Huh?"

"Annoying. Don't say you're annoying me."

She shifted a little and puffed out her cheeks, "Well...no offence Sasuke, but you said I annoyed you quite a lot when we were genin." Her eyes seemed sad, "So, so I just...I'm trying Sasuke. I'm trying really, really hard you know. Trying to re-connect with you, but you make it damn hard you know. First you piss off for a couple years, then you come back all stoic, yet slightly softer, and I'm not sure if I can see a difference in you but I brush it off because it shouldn't matter because you're back! You're finally here and then you let me in, you let me inside your original home, you, you tell me things...you let me see things...I feel for you, I think I understand you more...Naruto, he...but then, but then you're weird again and you keep changing and it's...it's...it's annoying Sasuke! You're fustrating!" with an exasperated growl, she collapsed onto his shoulder and glared at the rug. She didn't even care anymore.

Sasuke stayed stock still, his hands clasped together and his eyes glued on the mass of pink hair splayed against his shoulder. He noticed how tightly her fingers grabbed onto the edges of the photo album – how white her knuckles had become.

"Irritated, frustrated, annoyed?"

"What?"

"You have to pick one."

"What are you even on about?"

"You have to pick one."

"They all mean the same thing, Sasuke."

"No, they don't."

"Fine...then I pick all three."

"Pick one."

"Ugh! Ok, ok...then...annoying," she said, sounding smug, "You're annoying, Sasuke."

He smirked at that, his eye glancing here and there. Good.

Sasuke listened to the tick of the clock as Sakura stayed silent. She shifted slightly, not caring that she was still leaning on Sasuke. He didn't mind particularly. It was nice to have a weight on him, a human weight. During his travels, he had met a heavily pregnant woman struggling with her toddler. He offered his help and she graciously accepted, telling him she was on her way to a nearby village to meet her husband. He carried her squirming child as she balanced a broken bag on her stomach. She chatted to him for a while (he was grateful she wasn't flirting) and her child – a little boy – occupied himself with the ends of Sasuke's hair, before settling into the crook of his arm and falling asleep. He wasn't a bother – Sasuke got used to holding him, and felt unnervingly lighter once he dropped the boy home. Sakura reminded him of that weight; it was comforting to know someone was that close. Had it been years before, Sasuke would have pushed her off. He didn't even remember the reason why he would have done that.

"Why...why aren't there many pictures of Fugaku-sama?"

Sasuke's eyes snapped down, "Huh?"

She sat up, and rubbed her thumb over the images, "There's only one of him, actually. How come? Was he taking the photos?"

"He didn't like photographs. He was away most of the time anyway...he was captain of the police force and head of the Uchiha; it couldn't be helped."

Sakura continued flipping through the pages; Sasuke caught sight of his mother's gift on the table in front of him. He grabbed it, and with slightly trembling figures he pried open the wrapping paper.

It was another photograph, framed this time, of Itachi and Sasuke; the latter held up a certificate from the academy – first place. Sasuke's old pet dog – Shiro – was sat at Itachi's feet. Fond memories of that day flooded through him, lighting a small smile on his face.

He noticed Sakura peaking over his shoulder, and quickly put the frame down next to him. Next, he opened the card.

Seconds later, he felt tears rim his eyelids.

"Eh? Sasuke-kun...? Is, is everything...ok?"

Sasuke quickly blinked away the tears and slid the card back into the envelope, "...hn."

Gently, she rubbed the tips of her fingers against his arm, deciding to remain silent. He placed the card back onto the table; his eyes flicked to the album. She noticed his arm move away from her, and her head dropped slightly.

"You know...I would have liked to have met them," she said quietly, closing the album.

"Hn...they would have liked you."

"You think so?"

"Yeah...I-I mean, they would have liked Naruto- no, no wait, I...never mind," he muttered quickly, embarrassed. She giggled under her breath as he stood up and briskly walked over to the kitchen – seconds later, the tap was turned on and she could her him tidying away.

With a small smile on her face, and slid the album into the bookshelf before retrieving a stack of paperwork from her bag, all the while thinking of how lonely Sasuke must have been, having lost such a big family.

I promise, Sasuke, I promise to you and to myself that I'll ensure you never feel lonely again...

An hour of silence passed full of marking and correcting and looking over patient notes. Sakura absent-mindedly listened to Sasuke going about tidying the house – they hadn't spoken again, but the atmosphere wasn't awkward. Instead, Sakura felt almost at peace. It was comfortable, and she liked that. She wondered if, during those years, Sasuke still carried out the mundane and normal tasks he was doing now. Did Orochimaru ever discipline him about cleanliness? Did Sasuke cook and clean when he was with team Taka? She sighed, supposing that it didn't matter now. He was here, with her, at home, content with what he was doing.

Her eyes stopped reading the page, becoming lethargic. She yawned into her hand; her legs uncrossed. Without thinking, Sakura laid her head on the table and closed her eyes, and within minutes, she was asleep.

At that moment, Sasuke walked into the front room and spied her sleeping form. He cautiously stepped close; her slow and steady breaths were now noticeable. He carefully removed the pages of notes from beneath her (she had a habit of sleeping with her mouth open, after all), deciding to leave them in a pile close to her head. He then sat by her, his hands clasped together.

Should I wake her?

It couldn't be comfortable to sleep on the table.

She's tired. She was up the previous night with a sick child, and today on her feet for my sake. Should I...should I leave her?

He glanced at the between in the curtains.

It's late...and dark. She's tired. I don't doubt her strength, but I do doubt the good intentions of the villagers.

"...kage buushin no jutsu."

A clone appeared beside him – with two arms. "Carry her to my bed." He instructed, before realizing how strange that sounded. He scoffed, it's my clone. He knows what I mean.

The clone did so, and Sasuke followed, picking up a spare pillow and blanket from his wardrobe as the clone lay Sakura down.

She immediately curled up, hugging the pillow and snuggling into the blanket.

"...She'll take up the whole bed, you know." The clone muttered.

"I'm sleeping on the couch. You can go now," he said, releasing the jutsu. Sasuke walked over to the bed and tentatively pulled the covers over her, making sure not to wake her. His fingers lingered for a moment, hovering over stray strands of hair.

Sasuke's face twisted as a familiarly unfamiliar feeling rose in his chest. It was nice, but painful at the same time. He shook his head and retracted his arm, blaming the feeling on fatigue.

I must be tired. It's been a long day.

He shut the door quietly behind him.

__________________________________________

If you watch the animated Itachi Shinden you'll know what I mean when i say that Sasuke is an ugly baby...Kishi/Perriot wtf did you do to my child 

I know it's slow, but realistically I doubt that SasuSaku would have happened quickly. Rekindling old emotions, Sasuke regaining his humanity, moving on from the massacre etc...it'll take time people!

But The Conflict will happen soon I promise you. Maybe even the next chapter. 

Sasuke will start going on missions again fairly soon too, and that'll get rather exciting ;P

I predict 4-6 more parts before the  end of 'how it began' and the start of actual one-shots, which will contain mostly Sarada (I fucking love that kid)

And I'll be including Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo as well - I think they'd love Sarada! I know Sui was rather indifferent towards her in Gaiden (he helped her, but was more interested in who Sasuke banged lol) but then again he didn't know she existed really, meaning he hasn't truly been in contact with Karin. Unless there was a reason Karin didn't tell him? I don't know, I can't be bothered to check Gaiden again

See ya laters peeps xxx