A/N:Another story resurrected! I think this one is just younger than Precious People, at sixteen-ish months since the last update. Haha, better late than never, I guess. I tried to get this done yesterday as a birthday present to myself but was too occupied stuffing myself full with seafood and cake. I'm now eighteen! And to think most of my current stories were started when I was around fifteen. Reading the early chapters, like I did with Only Human today, it's rather obvious haha.

Recap of chapter 6: Sakura is still mad at Naruto for killing her Uncle Konosuke. Bummed out, she takes a shower and comes out looking for a shirt to see Naruto sitting on her bed. They have a 'crap, Sakura's topless' freak out episode, Naruto looks away while Sakura fetches a shirt and, mortified, she ends up whacking him with a pillow. Naruto takes Sakura out for McDonald's, getting a bit lost along the way. Naruto tries to comfort Sakura, slightly successfully, and they head home. Sakura writes in the diary Naruto gave her, a letter to her father, and (silly girl) hides it in the underwear drawer.

It may help to have a quick glance at the previous chapter to refresh your memory of the small details. Unlike PP, recaps aren't too helpful because this story is a lot less event-oriented.

Finally, here's the chapter!

Chapter 7 – Simple Facts

The girl behind the counter noisily popped her bubblegum as she stared down at the four – no, five – boxes piled before her. "You sure?" she eventually asked the customer.

A brief look of confusion flashed in his eyes. She waited for him to realise exactly what he was doing and bolt out the door – she'd seen more than one guy do it – but the young man simply nodded patiently.

"If you say so." The girl scanned the first package and glanced up at the customer as she reached for the second. She had to hand it to him; he didn't look the least bit embarrassed. In fact, the blonde man looked impatient and, if she looked for it, uncertain. Discomfort didn't seem to register to him at all. Not bad-looking, either. "First time?" she asked conversationally as she rang up the price.

"Huh?" The guy looked up from his wallet, his head cocked. He followed her meaningful glance down at the two plastic bags sitting between them, and smiled slowly. "Yeah, guess so." He handed over some notes and a fistful of coins. "Keep the change," he said when she grimaced and began to count. He gave a quick wave on his way out. "See ya."

The cashier absently swept the coins off the table to sort. That boy was quite a keeper. She sighed, reluctantly trampling over her lustful desires. To be buying stuff like that, he had to be taken. Lucky girl.

Outside the convenience store, Naruto Uzumaki sat in his car, frowning at his purchases. He still wasn't sure if he had gotten the right type, not to mention quantity. He hoped he had bought enough. If he had screwed up... well, no one could blame him.

Less than an hour ago, he had returned to his apartment after dealing with a sabotage assignment. Every now and then he received a mission that did not result in casualties – although he was usually sent in again on a later date. This time, he'd had to ensure that a certain private jet could not leave its hangar. The entire ordeal had taken less than twenty minutes but the two hours of travel had ensured that Naruto would not be home before the sun went down.

Disgruntled and hungry, he had headed upstairs to check on Sakura, as usual. He wasn't surprised to find the door unlocked. Sakura had gradually opened up a little, elevating their rocky relationship to a slightly more agreeable acquaintance, and although they were still a long way from becoming friends, Naruto was strangely uncomfortable with keeping her locked up. So he installed an additional lock on the front door that could not be opened from the inside without a code, and let Sakura roam the quarters, almost like it was her home.

She hadn't quite taken the new arrangement the way he'd expected.

"You're not afraid that I'll stab you in your sleep? Poison you?" she had asked – practically demanded.

He chuckled and, crossing his arms, leaned over so that their eyes were level. "But if you do either of those you'd be just like me, wouldn't you?" He grinned at her expression. "Don't you like me being nice to you?"

"No," she shot back darkly. "I never like it when people do things without reason. I hate it."

"In other words, you're scared."

Instead of snapping back, Sakura steadily looked him in the eye. "Is that a problem?"

"Only if you let it be," he replied easily, and that was that.

Sakura seemed to prefer the confines of her room and was particularly sensitive to having her 'territory' disturbed. Quite often Naruto entered her room only to slam into a wall of displeasure. He quickly grew used to it, though, and began to find it very interesting.

Flying pillows, inquiries on dinner, angry remarks – he was prepared for all of them.

But blood on the bed? Not quite.

Naruto studied his reflection in the mirror, satisfactorily noting that the panic had long since left his eyes. With his upbringing it was rather hard to force down the rush of instinctive adrenaline that had burst forward at the sight of the crimson stain. His reaction had involved knives, plenty of evasive rolls, and busted bathroom doors.

What could he say? He hadn't exactly read The Professional Assassin's Guide to Kidnapping Adolescent Girls.

In other words, how was he supposed to know about menstrual cycles?

Sakura descended the stairs with as much dignity and grace as Cinderella without her glass slippers. She was determined to keep The Incident from being brought up even if it cost her life – but when Naruto looked up from setting the table to give her a bashful smirk, she felt herself twitch and before she could wish it back, her voice had betrayed her.

"You bought too much."

He scratched the back of his head. "Well… it's not like I know about that kind of stuff."

He even had the gall to look embarrassed. Unbelievable. It was in times like these that she had to remind herself who, and what, she was dealing with.

Dinner was bento boxes that Naruto had picked up on his way back from the convenience store. Sakura sat down. "Wasabi?" he offered. He looked aghast when she shook her head. "You don't like wasabi?"

"I don't like anything spicy," she admitted after a pause.

He seemed to have trouble digesting that. "What else don't you like?"

She gave him a sceptical look. "I'm a picky eater."

"Try me."

"Raw food."

He glanced down. "What, like sashimi?"

"Like sashimi."

"Oh."

Sakura followed his gaze. A throbbing headache and aching abdomen meant that she was slow to register the seafood bento sitting in front of her. "Oh," she said stupidly. "I mean, I can still-"

But right before her very eyes, her dinner rose on a tanned hand and glided away while another took its place. "Mine's vegetarian," Naruto explained.

She looked at him, an uncomfortable tension pulling her mouth in a small frown of protest. "You don't have to. It's fine."

"Too late," Naruto said around a mouthful of seaweed. Sakura wrinkled her nose. He swallowed with some difficulty, chased down the burning wasabi with Coke Zero, and nodded at her dinner. "Go on."

Eventually, she snapped her chopsticks and picked up a sushi. She eschewed even soy sauce. She had worked through two more in the time that it took Naruto to polish his bento. Out of sporadic habit, he began to watch her eat. Most nights Sakura told herself she couldn't care less – but today, she just didn't want him watching her with those icy, deceiving eyes that saw right through her.

"No appetite?" he inquired after she laboriously finished her fourth mouthful. She shook her head, and he fell silent. He did, however, pull her bento to his side of the table and slide a glass of water over to hers. She sipped the cool liquid slowly, closing her eyes.

"Why do you do that?" he asked suddenly.

Her eyes flew open. "What?"

"It hurts, doesn't it?" When she continued to stare vacantly at him, Naruto gestured ambiguously. "You know what I mean."

"… Cramps?" she said blankly.

"Yeah. Why do you do that?"

She blinked. Then narrowed her eyes. "You think I choose to be in pain?"

He made a face. "No, not that. Why do you try so hard to pretend it doesn't hurt?"

Sakura watched Naruto Uzumaki carefully. She could never tell what he was thinking and not knowing actually scared her at times. She'd kept a close eye on him ever since he started to leave her room unbolted. Most days he was so surreally cheerful that she suspected its authenticity – but she could never tell. There were nights where unbroken silence reigned; there were no lame jokes and hazy questions about her past. It was during those phases that Sakura realised she was in fact orbiting around Naruto Uzumaki, analytically watching his every move like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He had deceived her – she had no control at all.

Sakura rose from her chair. His eyes followed her. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked. She hated how sincere he sounded.

"No," she replied truthfully. "I just don't have the appetite."

As she turned to the stairs, Naruto spoke up. "You still haven't answered my question."

Sakura stopped and looked over her shoulder. She didn't always entertain him but she just wasn't in the mind to care. She met his eyes. "Because," she said quietly, "it doesn't stop hurting no matter what I do about it."

He held the gaze, blue eyes abruptly devoid of mirth and curiosity. "Goodnight," he said finally.

"Goodnight. Thanks for, um… yeah."

Naruto's gaze followed her thoughtfully as she climbed the stairs. Then he shook his head, finished the last sushi from Sakura's bento, and cleared the table. As he put the empty containers in the bin, his eyes lingered on the messy lime-coloured smudge on his lid and he tilted his head slightly. How can she not like wasabi?

The question faded away unanswered as his eyes narrowed at the sound of slight shuffling behind him. Naruto whirled around like a predatory python, startling the girl who had been standing several steps behind him, like she had been there for a while. Naruto blinked at her expression, a curious combination of self-control, shameful shock and red-faced embarrassment.

He rubbed the back of his neck, relaxing as she averted her gaze. "Sorry, did I scare you?" He knew her well enough to predict that shake of the head. "Are you still hungry?" Another no. Naruto's eyes travelled down to her curled fists, then back to her red face. "Are you mad at me or something?" he asked slowly.

"That's a really stupid question, you know," Sakura muttered. Then she suddenly sighed and faced him point-blank. "You have spare bed sheets, right?"

He stared blankly at her.

She gave him an exasperated look, barely contained. "Bed. Sheets."

He blinked. "Err, yeah, I have them. What do you need – oh." Her expression, if possible, went even redder. He could only wonder how much pride-swallowing it had taken for her to come back down and ask him for something like this.

Naruto felt his own ears begin to heat up traitorously. Damn it, why couldn't Kazuo Haruno have had a son instead?

"Well?" Sakura muttered, sounding irritable. Now that he knew about from being on the receiving end of Ino's sporadic tyranny too many times.

Naruto patted his hands dry on his jeans. "I'll change them for you. You just sit for a bit."

She frowned and crossed her arms. "Bed sheets cannot crack coded locks, last time I checked."

He blinked at her. Then he threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, wow!" Sakura Haruno was funny. Who would have thought? She also seemed to have a short temper. Naruto snorted hastily. "Okay, okay. I'm serious, just wait while I change them. Won't take long."

"But-" Sakura's voice broke off not because Naruto came towards her. No, it was because he touched her. He put his hands on her shoulders, spun her around and marched her to the couch, chuckling under his breath the entire time. Eventually snapping to her senses, Sakura pulled free and spun to face him. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

He held up his hands in surrender. Sakura was surprised to see a strange… self-consciousness on his face. His ears were pink. In the back of her mind, she wondered if that strange sensation in her chest was surprise; surprise that Naruto Uzumaki was, for once predictable. Sometimes, the ability to kill a man bare-handed in God knows how many ways didn't mean much. Only to Sakura, it always would; it would always linger in her subconsciousness, tinting the eyes with which she viewed the boy who had somehow taken and given her a life.

Naruto looked into her eyes, then meaningfully at the couch. "Just… sit."

Slowly, Sakura did. She looked expectantly up at her captor, eyebrows raised. He was studying her. Then, hesitantly, he reached a hand toward her. Sakura shrank away slightly but the back of the couch was behind her. His palm pressed flat against her forehead. "You don't have a fever," Naruto said curiously.

She tried not to squirm. "Of course I don't."

"What, so it just hurts?" There was an almost childish wonder in his voice that would normally have made Sakura laugh. But it was Uzumaki.

Not knowing what he expected her to say, she just nodded. "Is there anything I can get you?" he asked after a pause. "Because you look pretty bad. I've got heaps of painkillers if you need them."

His cool, blue eyes studied Sakura's tired face thoughtfully. She looked expressionlessly into them, wondering if that was concern in those icy eyes – the same ones that still haunted her from that night. Sakura ripped her gaze away before she could get pulled in again, jaw clenched.

Not looking at him, she closed her eyes and let her body slide down the couch to rest against the cushions, her legs dangling from the edge. She'd said the pain would never go away, and Naruto knew it was her way of saying she would never forgive him. He didn't need it. But he couldn't just watch her lie there, arms cinched around her midsection as she tried not to show it.

In the end, he got her a glass of warm water. Her eyes were still closed, breathing as if she had fallen asleep. But as he turned away, she mumbled, "Can you turn on the TV?" He obliged, putting it on a low volume. Before he headed upstairs, he glanced back at her; lying on the couch, Sakura Haruno looked… 'vulnerable' was only the second-best word. 'Young' was the first.

But they were the same age, weren't they?

Sakura slowly opened her eyes when she heard Naruto's footsteps fade. She idly watched the flickers of football on the large screen. Eventually, her eyes fell on the glass of water on the table. She reached out and brushed her fingers against it, feeling its warmth seep into her clammy skin. Something tugged at her chest, making her grimace and coil in on herself.

Hotaru would make her brown sugar water when she had cramps. Father told her it had been her mother's secret formula. It worked most of the time, but Sakura had never been naïve enough to believe that it was a universal solution. All it did was numb the pain for a moment.

Sakura let her eyes fall shut again. The low sports commentary teased her ears. Uzumaki had touched her so casually, at the same time so consciously gentle and careful. He'd tried to help, and that for some reason made her clench her teeth. She hated the realisation and abhorred the thought, but deep down, Sakura knew some part of her had wanted him to stay and sit with her. He didn't have to speak – she didn't want to hear his voice. She just wanted to know that someone was there, wanted to pretend that her only companion until the uncertain future wasn't a boy she would never be able to look at without remembering.

With a soft groan, Sakura turned her face into the cushion. Pathetic. She was so, so pathetic. She definitely needed to find a way out if she was going to have to face this every single month.

OoOoO

It took nearly half an hour of turning out the wardrobe for Naruto conclude that, on second thought, he didn't really have spare bed sheets lying around. At one point, he accidentally went through a drawer he shouldn't have and knocked his knuckles against something hard that certainly did not qualify as underwear. Cautiously, he picked up a familiar diary and for a long moment, simply stared at it. Then he put it back, awkwardly rearranged the drawer, and shut it. A promise was a promise.

After scrubbing the mattress, he fixed it with his own bed sheet. He hadn't changed it in over a month but it would have to do. That and he looked forward to whatever deadly glare Sakura would fire at him when she woke up reeking of his scent. That would be a sight to see.

Chuckling, Naruto went downstairs with the dirty sheets. He stuffed them into the already overflowing bin. He'd just get new ones tomorrow.

He had tried to finish washing the dishes as silently as he could, but his company slipped his mind when he fell back on the armchair with a large sigh. Remembering, he glanced back at where Sakura had fallen asleep on the couch. It was hard to realise how tensely she had been holding herself around him until he saw her smooth, tranquil expression as she slumbered. Naruto smiled slightly when he saw that she had drank the water he'd left for her.

His eyes fell on the clock. It was half past eleven. Two hours away, a certain politician would be discovering that his pilot could not get his private jet to start up. By now, last week's target had probably had a burial already. In another thirty minutes, a woman would mourn the anniversary she shared with a man who she hadn't seen in a year and never would again, because of someone on the other side of the world.

He was everywhere. That was the revelation Naruto had reached after his first international assignment. That had been over three years ago. Now, he was here.

Naruto's gaze pulled back to Sakura's sleeping figure. The fact that she was here, too, sometimes eluded him. Sometimes, it felt like Sakura Haruno had lived within these walls with him for longer than she had. Sometimes, he had to think to remember what it was like coming home to an empty house and immediately switching on the radio, to fill the hollow space with the false sounds of life.

After a while, Naruto shook his head to clear his mind, and rose to his feet. He slipped an arm under Sakura's shoulders and another under her legs. "Up we go, Sleeping Beauty," he murmured with a small chuckle.

Then the doorbell rang.

He didn't freeze anymore – it had long been drilled into him that there was no time to freeze. But Naruto's eyes did narrow with cool, calculated sharpness as they flickered to the door. He stood still, Sakura warm and strangely light in his arms. An impatient knock thumped against the reinforced wood and Naruto's expression shifted thoughtfully.

He carefully lowered Sakura back onto the couch, while the thumping escalated. There was no doubt about it now. Naruto had removed the peephole after he'd taken out a target through something similar, but it wasn't like he needed to check when his late-night visitor was making himself blatantly obvious.

Punching in the code, he pulled the door wide open. "Hey bastard," Naruto greeted amiably. "Missed me so much you couldn't sleep?"

His greeting was met with raised eyebrows. His visitor's gaze flashed past Naruto's ear, into the apartment – but without breaking the easy smile, the blonde shifted his footing to put his unkempt hair in his line of sight. The dark eyes shifted back to blue ones, giving Naruto enough warning to sigh in resignation even before the flat voice questioned: "Pads?"

"Don't remind me," the blonde grimaced. His tone betrayed none of the subtle caution that shifted his casual stance as he moved to plant himself firmly in the doorway. "So… was the great Sasuke Uchiha so bored that he decided his cooler and handsomer best friend was worth tailing?"

The raven-haired man snorted. "Wrong. Especially the best friend bit."

"Oh, so not the cooler and handsomer bit?"

"You forgot idiotic. Very idiotic." The atmosphere morphed into something heavier, almost foreboding, as Sasuke regarded his companion. His black eyes were murky. "Police and the media are looking for a missing heiress, and you are buying sanitary napkins as if preparing for a nuclear meltdown." He paused, crossing his arms. "Soon they won't be the only ones looking, dobe."

The blonde said nothing. Both of them knew better than to discuss the Agency in the open. When Naruto did not move from the door, Sasuke stepped forward to nonchalantly shoulder his way through. The arm barring his access tensed. "Not now, Sasuke," Naruto said in a low voice.

A flicker of annoyance flashed across the chiselled face. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "This is exactly why I checked up on you."

Naruto frowned, knowing precisely what he was talking about. He wondered about it too, why he had automatically resisted the man closest to a friend as any person could be to someone like him. He hesitated – that was enough for Sasuke to grip a pressure point that temporarily numbed Naruto's arm, and brush past.

There were three provisional weapons within Naruto's reach and he could have incapacitated his visitor in nine different ways. But he did nothing except let Sasuke step in front of him – partially because he knew the latter could easily deflect seven of those hazards, and Naruto was reluctant to injure him with the remaining two methods. If anything, the unexplainable territorialism he felt only deepened his frown.

So Naruto only closed the door behind them, shaking out his tingling hand. Sasuke had stopped at the sight of the sleeping girl on the couch. Then, slowly, he lowered himself into the armchair furthest away. Naruto deliberately avoided his intense gaze as he went into the kitchen. "Coke alright?" he called.

"Hn."

Head in the fridge, Naruto rolled his eyes. He supposed he should be glad that Sasuke hadn't changed in the seven months that they hadn't seen each other. Distantly, he realised that Sasuke's mere presence should speak volumes for how undeniably stupid Naruto had behaved to result in Sakura Haruno sleeping on his couch. Unrestrained. And alive.

Sasuke deftly caught the can Naruto tossed at him. He was on the verge of opening it when he seemed to remember something. It took Naruto a beat to catch on, and when he did he grinned. "Damn, I forgot." He sounded genuinely sorry.

Sasuke continued to eye the can suspiciously.

Naruto chuckled. "Seriously, I forgot. It's safe."

"If you're lying, I'll tell the Agency about her," Sasuke warned.

Naruto supposed he should be glad for the lack of fizzing foam erupting from his companion's drink. As it was, he hardly noticed it. He was distracted by what he knew to be an empty threat, as always. It wasn't out of compassion so much as it was a matter of principle; those of their profession did not touch another's business unless it became a threat to themselves. They looked after their own – which for most of them, only vouched for themselves. Naruto had lived his life and survived on this simple philosophy. Even now, he reminded himself that Sakura was only here because of that mindset.

Aware that Sasuke Uchiha was the embodiment of that same philosophy, Naruto turned to his childhood friend. "What's the matter, Sasuke?" he asked teasingly. "Are you here because you're worried about me?"

Sasuke scowled. "When will you get it into that thick skull that the only reason I haven't killed you for all those pranks is the debt I owe you?" He shot a meaningful glare at the blonde. "That you keep dangling over my head like a carrot."

His companion only grinned. But it did not escape Sasuke that Naruto continued to glance at the couch's occupant as he casually lowered himself into the opposite armchair. It made the Uchiha snort quietly. They both knew that Sasuke couldn't care less for Sakura Haruno, dead or alive. Only curiosity kept him in his seat, along with a vague twinge of something foreign that Sasuke decidedly asserted was not concern.

"Are you going to tell me why you have a target's daughter in your living room?" Sasuke asked impatiently. "Do I even want to hear it?"

Naruto contemplated simply saying no. Only he realised that it wasn't about pride, that maybe he needed to be told how illogical his decision had been. "She's a witness," he muttered shortly. Pride or not, it still wasn't easy to admit.

Sasuke was glad he hadn't been drinking at that moment. "She saw you? I can't believe you're still so careless."

"Shut up," Naruto grumbled. Only Sasuke Uchiha could rile him so quickly and easily, could make him bicker like the children they'd once been and were still supposed to be. He was proud to say that he at least had the same effect on the other boy.

A shake of the dark head. "She saw you, so you kidnapped her and kept her in your apartment." Sasuke studied Sakura Haruno's face, the steady rise and fall of her chest with each breath. "You kept her alive," he clarified.

Naruto shrugged with one shoulder. "That's what it looks like, doesn't it?"

"I shouldn't have to remind you that the ocean is a twenty five minute drive away."

Naruto regarded his colleague with a quirked eyebrow and a defeated smile. Sasuke knew that look. It reflected a hopeless and childish fantasy that had no place in the merciless body containing it. At times, Naruto could be more efficient than Sasuke – better even. But he had an assassin's worst weakness, and that was damning enough for anyone involved with him.

"You weren't this soft before you spent too much time around that old perverted fool," Sasuke told him. He almost sighed when he noticed Naruto's brief grimace of pain. He hadn't seen that look in a while.

Naruto gulped down more soft drink, chasing down memories that could have been fond, but which he'd been forced to suppress just so he could keep living the way he did. "You make that sound like a bad thing."

"If it gets you into these silly situations, what else could it be?" Sasuke gave his colleague a sharp, meaningful look. "By this point, the Agency might actually want you eliminated for this. When they find out."

"She's not doing anything." His companion only looked at him, and eventually Naruto had to silently agree. So far, Sakura hadn't made a threat of herself, but there was no guarantee that she would remain this complacent. Instead of voicing this, Naruto shrugged. "They'd need another S-rank to take me."

Both men's eyes flickered up to catch each other's gaze. It was a calm, casual exchange, but something indiscernible flashed between them. Then, as if he couldn't care less, Sasuke said, "Probably me."

"We've never really fought seriously, have we, Sasuke?" Of course they hadn't. 'Seriously' meant going for the kill, a primitive instinct neither of them were certain they could restrain when a friendly spar came down to the grit and adrenaline.

Sasuke took too long contemplating his answer and Naruto was content to let it slide. "That's if they ever find out about her," he added lightly.

The look Sasuke fixed him with was almost exasperated. "I'm here, aren't I?" he pointed out. Why, he didn't really know. Naruto had always had a strange effect on the calm Uchiha. Ever since they had been children, Naruto was the only reason Sasuke got into trouble at the orphanage. Maybe it was that long time acquaintance – something both of them agreed was better off forgotten when they'd met again in the Agency's halls – that made Sasuke sigh. "Are you getting anything out of this?" he wanted to know.

It was something he had spent far too many hours pondering on in the first weeks. Naruto shook his head wryly.

"So you're not using her?"

He was confused for a moment, eyebrows pulling together in a puzzled frown. Then Naruto's eyes widened with genuine shock. "What? No! God, Sasuke, how low do you think I can get?"

His outburst made the Uchiha roll his eyes. "They might have let it pass if you used that as an excuse. Of course, their opinion of you would need reassessment." Naruto still looked disturbed when Sasuke cut to the chase. "Humour me… why haven't you disposed of her already?"

Naruto stopped, his gaze wandering over to Sakura once more. He'd gotten accustomed to her presence, so much that he only now appreciated how absurd it must look to Sasuke, who was meticulous down to the last detail and allowed no mistakes. Sakura Haruno was the biggest mistake any assassin could make.

Finally, Naruto looked away. He didn't meet Sasuke's quiet gaze. Instead, he watched the beads of moisture on his Coke can tremble and crawl down the chilled surface, as if disturbed by the soft breathing of the room's occupants. "Sasuke?"

"What?"

Naruto opened his mouth, held his breath to gather the thoughts. Then he closed it with a quiet chuckle. If he tried to explain that Sakura Haruno reminded him of what it was like to be human – to hate someone so much yet die at the thought of putting a knife into their father's murderer – Sasuke would think he was developing an unhealthy attraction to the girl. He wouldn't understand. Sasuke was more morally decent than most of their other colleagues, but Naruto knew his friend simply wouldn't comprehend the notion. Naruto was so certain because he knew that, three years ago, he wouldn't have been able to either.

So he just smiled wanly at those unreadable eyes. "I guess Jiraiya taught me better than that."

As expected, Sasuke reacted to the name, even if it was just a twitch of the corner of his mouth. He hid his disapproval well, and only watched silently as Naruto set his can down and got up. The blonde boy bent over the couch, gathering the girl in his arms. "Be back in a sec."

Alone was the only way Sasuke Uchiha could think properly. It was also the only way he could allow himself to express the troublesome emotions that sometimes interfered with his lifestyle. As soon as Naruto was out of sight, Sasuke shook his head and sighed. He didn't care, of course, but sometimes – sometimes he felt something when he thought about how Naruto's utter idiocy would get the best of him. He closed his eyes and reclined in the armchair, listening for the sounds of the radio that had once been ever-present in the spacious apartment.

"Sorry we woke you."

It was that easy tone and those simple words that made Sakura release a long breath, abandoning the soft, regular rhythm she thought she'd maintained so well. It seemed not. She was silent as he carried her up the last steps. She realised she was tense for some reason, wary, but Naruto showed no change in attitude.

She slowly opened her eyes when they paused outside her room. With his arms full with her, Naruto had trouble opening it. Grateful for the chance to lift her head off his chest, Sakura reached out to twist the knob and let them in.

He deposited her on the bed. "You should get some sleep. I put the, err, pads in the bathroom."

Sakura nodded absently. As he turned to leave, the words let her lips in a quiet, uncontrollable rush, "Is he the same as you?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder, his eyes settling on her. "A killer, you mean," he confirmed lightly. He was smiling in the dim moonlight that illuminated the room, but it was almost like a facade. "As if you don't already know," he said pointedly, a half-decent attempt at mockery.

She supposed she did. She'd heard enough to be surprised that they'd discussed what they had so unguardedly in her presence – and by now she was certain that both of them must have noticed immediately when she'd stirred. Then again, Sakura thought, there was no reason for them to be secretive in front of someone so easily disposed of. That man with the quiet, dry voice, Sasuke, had reminded her that she was living on Naruto's whim. A chill ran through her.

Looking at him now, half-turned away from her with one hand on the door, Sakura felt something odd rise in her chest. Her throat tingled, almost like she wanted to talk to him. But she lowered her head and forced it down. After a while, the shadow on the floor seemed to shrug. "Goodnight."

Sakura just nodded. Even when the door had clicked shut – no lock, she noted with the usual, slight wonder – she just sat on the bed unmoving. Eventually, she realised she was straining to hear the conversation the two boys were having downstairs, but they spoke so softly that it was impossible. It was… weird. There were only three of them, and yet the apartment already felt too small.

Sakura fell back against the pillows, stretching out on the bed. The sheets had been changed. If she hadn't gone down to request it, she probably wouldn't have noticed the late night visit. Had Naruto had other visitors while she was under his custody? Had they known she was under the same roof?

The relentless influx of questions milling in her mind bothered Sakura. When had she grown interested in understanding the anomaly that was Naruto Uzumaki, murderer and single source of her misery? It almost frightened her and she pursed her lips as she wondered where the anger and blame had gone, trying to remember exactly when that terrible, painful burn that scorched her chest every time she laid eyes on him had dulled into weaker disgruntlement.

She'd felt exposed lying on the couch with a stranger's detached voice discussing her. Finally, someone had reacted predictably to her presence; she could tell by his tone that 'Sasuke' thought Naruto should have simply gotten rid of her. Listening to how ruthless this 'Agency' could react to Sakura had renewed the question that still gnawed at her. Why did Naruto keep her around, alive?

"I guess Jiraiya taught me better than that."

Sakura had no idea who this Jiraiya could be, only that he was the reason she was still breathing. Thanks to him, Naruto had silently protected her from Sasuke's unfailing logic. It struck Sakura at that moment that Naruto Uzumaki downright defied conventional logic. He just didn't make sense.

She'd noticed that he had changed slightly around Sasuke. He was less talkative, quieter, yet at the same time more cheerful and almost relaxed. It made her wonder if this was the Naruto Uzumaki beneath the layers of cold, impenetrable killer and overly-exuberant teenager.

Sakura stared unseeingly at the ceiling. Then, decisively, she came down hard on the wild stream that had become her thoughts. Thinking too much could be lethal. She didn't want to know Uzumaki. He didn't matter to her, just like she was nothing more than a moral complication to him. It was better that she didn't understand him, no matter how much it unsettled her.

Sakura turned her face into the bed with a frown. She hated that she was so sensitive today. She also hated that the pillow and sheets smelled like her captor, an eccentric blend of instant foods, leaves and iron.

Wrinkling her nose, Sakura pulled the blanket over her head and tried to pretend that she was far away, back home with her patient father and kind servants, back in a life that had been so much simpler.