Chapter 3

Weeks went by and group was functioning as normal as ever. It was as if they'd been together all this time and had never been 3. One afternoon, they were all gathering in their clearing for lunch. Sakura and Naruto were sitting against a tree across from Sasuke, enjoying their meal, while Sasuke was keeping to himself. Chihiro ran up to them, running late. Sakura waved, but Chihiro walked past her and over to Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke, do you want…" She started, reaching in her bag.

Sasuke who had been keeping to himself as best he could, sighed and stopped her midsentence. "No, I don't wanna hang out! Or go on a date! Or whatever the hell you ask…" His snap was normal, towards Sakura and other girls, but after their few weeks together, him saying that to Chihiro shocked even Sakura and Naruto. Chihiro took a step back, her brow furrowed, looking at him intently.

"I was just gonna ask if you wanted my soup." She stated, rather taken back. Hearing this made Sasuke realize what an ass he'd just been. He didn't think. He looked up to see her holding a container of soup with confusion and even hurt in her eyes. "There's this little café outside of my apartment building. I get my lunch there, every day. But the messed up my order and accidently gave me mushroom soup, today. I hate mushrooms."

"I love mushrooms…" Sasuke muttered

"Ok, then…Do you want it?" She asked

"Umm… sure. Thanks." He replied, taking the container carefully and rather shyly. She nodded and turned to towards another tree when he stopped her.

"Wait." Fumbling around in his bag, he took out his own container. "I'll trade you… it's onion…"

"I love onion…" she muttered

"Ok, then… Do you want it?" He asked, shrugging rather apologetically. Slowly, she reached and carefully took the container from his hands.

"Thanks…" she removed her bag from her shoulder and sat at the tree next to Sasuke's, as they both looked away and ate in silence.

Sasuke glanced up trying to think of something to say; anything. "Hey, I'm sorry." He said quietly.

"Yeah…" was her only reply.

Across from them, Sakura and Naruto had stopped eating, in complete confusion. Sakura slowly leaned over to Naruto and whispered, "This is weird, right?"

"So weird…" he replied.

From that point on, Chihiro continued to purposefully get mushroom soup and she traded it with Sasuke on a daily basis. It had just become something they did, but to Sakura and Naruto, each day was weirder than the last. They still ate in silence, for the most part, but no longer faced away from each other. And this was just the beginning…

The air outside was brisk and as the leaves began changing colors, Sakura turned the corner at the top of the stairs to the 3rd floor of the apartment complex and continued down, examining the numbers of each door. 312… 313… 314! She knocked on the door, eager for it to open. A day off from training was nice and she just wanted to have some fun with her friend. Suddenly, the door to 315 opened, and outstepped Sasuke. He stopped when he saw Sakura; his hand still on the doorknob.

"Sakura?" He asked

"What are you doing?" she asked in return

"I live here… What are you doing here?"

"I came to get Chihiro… She's having lunch with me and my parents…"

"What…" he began as the door to 314 opened, and outstepped Chihiro, smiling at Sakura, and closing the door behind her

"You ready to go?" She asked Sakura who then pointed at Sasuke. Chihiro turned and her smile vanished as she saw him.

"…the hell…?" he finished.

"Wait, so you're saying you two have been living next door to each other for 3 years and you didn't know!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"That's exactly what I'm saying…" Sasuke responded, now standing in Naruto's doorway

"How did you not know?"

"I don't know! I only know the names of, like, 2 people in that building."

Crossing his arms and giving a slight smirk, Naruto leaned against the door frame. "So what are you gonna do?"

"What do you mean, what am I gonna do? She's my neighbor…and my teammate…and…"

"And…?"

"…and that's it."

"You sure?" Naruto asked, now fighting back a smile.

"Yes, I'm sure. What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." Naruto suppressed his smile and stood back up, off the doorframe, as Sasuke sighed and shook his head.

"Hey, do you wanna go do something?"

"You wanna hang out with me?" Naruto asked, shocked. Sasuke never wanted to spend time with him, willingly.

"Yeah, you're my friend. Why not?" Friend? Something was definitely up.

"Oh, well… umm…" Naruto began fidgeting with his clothes, not sure how to respond to this. "Can I get a rain check? I have plans with Hinata, today."

"Since when do you hang out with Hinata?"

"Since she asked me and I'm not a dick…"

That night, Sasuke was pacing in his kitchen. He couldn't stop thinking… thinking… "Are you sure?" Naruto's question kept repeating in his head.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm sure." He thought. Continuing to pace, he glanced at the clock. It was almost 9. Chihiro had been with Sakura's family all day. "Where the hell…" he started to think, just as he heard the door to 314 open and close. He walked back through his bedroom, to the balcony, and peaked over to Chihiro's side. The lights turned on and she walked over to pull the curtains shut.

Sasuke went back to his kitchen, stopped, and leaned against the counter. His mind was racing; not knowing where to stop. Taking a deep breath, he got up, grabbed two mugs, and began making tea. Shortly after, he headed back out to the balcony with 2 hot mugs, saw that her curtains were open again, and strode over to her window.

Inside, Chihiro was sitting on her bed, in a white t-shirt and red sweatpants, while putting her hair up in a ponytail. Her hair parted to the right and had long side swept bangs that softly framed her face. The bed was made of dark brown wood, with dark gray sheets. On the far wall was the door, on the left, and a closet, on the right. In front of the bed, there was a desk with a silver laptop, and a nightstand on either side of the bed.

She picked up the alarm clock from one of the nightstands and set it for the morning, before carefully taking off her necklace and laying it next to the clock. Looking around the room, she then went over and took 2 wet wipes out of a container. She laid them on the floor, stood on them, and began shuffling around to clean the floor. What a dork…

Sasuke tapped on the sliding glass door, causing Chihiro to jump. "That's different…" Sasuke said through the glass. Confused, Chihiro opened the door.

"Sasuke…?"

"Hey, I…umm…would you like…I… I made…." He stumbled, getting frustrated. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he thought. Taking a deep breath, he finally got out, "I made extra tea. Would you like some?" he gestured toward the 2nd mug.

"Umm…sure. Thank you." She gently took the cup and as Sasuke quickly turned to leave, she asked, "Would you like to drink it…umm…with me?" Sasuke froze and looked back. He hadn't thought this far. "We can sit outside…" she continued.

"Ok." Sasuke replied and they both cautiously took a seat on the balcony.

A few weeks later, Naruto was off throwing shuriken at a tree, smiling. He'd had dinner with Hinata the previous night, for his birthday, a couple weeks late.

"Naruto!" Sakura called, bolting up to him.

"Hey." He greeted.

"I need to talk to you. It's about Sasuke and Chihiro." She seemed rather giddy.

"What about them?" he asked as he suddenly stopped throwing the shuriken. "Wait, what is up with those two? Seriously. They're so weird around each other. Have you noticed how comfortable he is around her? We've only known her a few months and he's already more comfortable with her that he was with us, after going to school with us, for years! And then the damn soup thing…I mean, they were already weird, before that. But, it's like the soup thing just escalated the weirdness. And…"

"Naruto!" She exclaimed, snapping him out of it. "Look, I hate to stop you mid rant, but that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What about it?"

"Ok, well, I've been doing extra training sessions at night, for a few weeks, now, to try and catch up with you guys…"

"Really? That's great. How's it going?"

"Good. But, that's not the point. Every night, going to and from these sessions, I have to walk by their building. And, every night, I see them out on the balcony, talking."

"That's it?"

"That's it! They just talk, for hours!"

Naruto glared at her, putting away his shuriken. "If you're messing with me…"

"I'm not messing with you! Come with me, tonight, and I'll show you."

"Then how do you know they're out there for hours?"

"Because they're there when I go to train and still there when I come back…"

"Fine." He answered and followed her back to town while, outside their knowledge, Kakashi had been up in the tree with his book, listening the whole time. He watched the two as they left, turning the page in his book, and smirked.

"Hormones are a bitch, aren't they?"

"See! I told you!" Sakura whispered to Naruto as they peeked around the corner of the business next to Sasuke and Chihiro's apartment building. Looking up, they saw the two drinking from mugs, sitting in chairs, and – like Sakura had said – just talking, with blankets wrapped around themselves. Chihiro appeared to be laughing at something as Sasuke took a drink, but they couldn't hear.

"You don't think…" Naruto began

"Oh, I know." Sakura stated.

"What do we do?" He asked as they backed away around the corner and started walking down the street.

"Whatever we can… You take him. I'll take her."

"Start tomorrow?"

"Done." They shook hands and exchanged a rather devious smile.

"I'll see you, tomorrow."

"See you…"

Cuts, bruises, and sweat; a lot of sweat. Kakashi had been working them hard, all day at the indoor training center. He'd finally dismissed them, although they were all too tired to leave. Naruto and Sasuke slumped to floor, exhausted, against the cold, concrete wall of the hallway. It was a relief to their sore muscles.

Sakura and Chihiro came up from down the hall, both holding a small plastic cup of water in each hand. Sakura handed one to Naruto, and Chihiro, one to Sasuke. Naruto quickly downed his water and wiped the sides of his mouth with the back of his hand, giving a sigh of relief. Chihiro had finished hers and stacked her cup with Naruto's. She gathered up her hair with one hand, and began fanning the back of her neck, with the other. Sasuke glanced up, briefly, to see small beads of sweat trailing down her neck, and beneath her shirt. He took a gulp of water and focused his eyes downward, avoiding eye contact with any of the three. Sakura saw an opportunity.

"Hey, Chihiro, I'm gonna go to the bathroom and cleanup, a bit. You wanna come?" Sakura asked, before finishing her water, and giving Naruto a suggestive glare to Sasuke.

"Yeah, I feel kinda gross." She replied, letting her hair fall back down over one shoulder and began heading down the hall to the bathroom. Naruto looked at Sakura, confused, for a second, before realizing what was happening and gave a subtle thumbs-up to his friend.

"You coming?" Chihiro called after Sakura, from down the hall.

"Yeah." Sakura quickly replied, heading after Chihiro.

Naruto waited until the girls had turned the corner, at the end of the hall, before turning his gaze to Sasuke, who was putting a tiny bit of water in his hand, before rubbing it on the back of his neck. Oh gosh, where to start?

"Hey…" Naruto started.

"What?" Sasuke groaned as he set down his empty cup and looked over.

"So…how've you been…?" Damn, this was awkward.

Furrowing his brow, Sasuke replied, "You see me every day…"

"Right…"

Sasuke's gaze intensified, as he shifted himself into a more upright position. "The hell is wrong with you?"

Shit. "Nothing. Just trying to make conversation; and failing." He needed to speed this up before the girls came back. "Come on, Naruto. Man up." He thought to himself.

"Ok…"

"So…anyway…What do you think about…Chihiro?" It was a good start.

Sasuke quickly turned his gaze away and began readjusting the straps on his arms. "What about her?"

"You know…just…what do you think?"

"She's cool, I guess." Sasuke continued, now adjusting his leg straps. "Nice."

"Is that it?"

"Maybe…why?" Now retying his headband, Naruto could see that Sasuke had seemed to tense and was forcing control over his breath. This was it…

"You know, you seem awfully fidgety. Does thinking about her make you nervous, or something?"

Sasuke froze for a second, before stretching one arm back, over his head. "Why the hell would I be nervous?"

"Because I think you like her." Naruto finally got it out. Maybe, too quick?

Sasuke froze. "You're an idiot. I don't have time for that." He replied quickly, before taking off a shoe, to shake out a rock.

"If I'm an idiot, then, why haven't you looked at me, since I brought her up?"

"I don't have to explain myself, to you!" Sasuke exclaimed, aggravated, and glaring at Naruto, before shoving his shoe back on. He gathered up the empty cups, got up, and charged down around the other end of the hall.

Left smirking, Naruto simply whispered to himself, "You didn't say no…"

Down in the girl's bathroom, Chihiro was splashing water on her face, while Sakura was drying herself off with paper towels. She handed one to Chihiro, who took it, and dried off her face.

Glancing at Chihiro, Sakura knew it had to be now. "So, I know you've only been with us for a few months…" She started, "but I feel like we're pretty close and we can actually talk about stuff."

"Yeah, I guess we are." Chihiro agreed, throwing away her paper towel, and turning to face her friend. "Did you wanna talk about something?" She asked, leaning against the sink.

"Just wanted to get your opinion on something…or someone…"

"Ok…shoot."

"So…Sasuke…"

"What about him?" Chihiro asked; as Sakura saw her physically tense.

Fighting a small smile, at this, Sakura continued. "What do you think about him?"

"He's ok…" Chihiro replied, crossing her arms.

"Just, ok?"

"He's kind of a jerk, but he has his moments."

"Moments like when you sit out and talk all night?" Sakura knew she may have jumped to this too quick, but when she saw Chihiro's eyes widen, she knew she was getting somewhere.

"How…" Chihiro started, but was interrupted.

"Do you like him?"

"First of all, you're insane. Second of all, that's really none of your business."

"Oh, come on."

"I'm going home…" Chihiro quickly turned towards the door, but Sakura immediately blocked her path.

"I'm serious. You and I are the only girls that he hangs out with. And you're the only one he hangs out with, willingly. And I, sure as hell, think he likes you."

"Let me out…" Chihiro begged, before glaring at Sakura. "The hell are you smirking at?"

"You're not answering my question."

Chihiro pushed passed Sakura and out the door, with Sakura quickly on her tail. They continued to argue down the hall, with Chihiro continuously telling Sakura to "shut up". Sakura could see Naruto come into view, with no Sasuke, and before they got too close, stepped in front of Chihiro to say one last thing.

"Ok, I'll stop. But think about this: would you be telling me to shut up if I was wrong?"

Chihiro just stood there, as Sakura took a seat next to Naruto. She didn't know how to respond to that. Would she? She forced herself to move; slowly taking a seat next to Sakura. Naruto looked over at the internally confused Chihiro, and then to Sakura, who gave a slight nod, before tapping her fist to his. Done. Sasuke came back up the hall and gave a sharp glare to Naruto, before walking around to the other side of Chihiro. Not only did he sit down, but he slid down onto his back, shifted to use Chihiro's leg as a pillow, and placed his arm over his face. Chihiro froze while Naruto and Sakura had to fight back smiles.

Sensing the attention on him, Sasuke groaned, "I'm tired. Let it go."

A shocked Chihiro turned abruptly to Sakura and whispered, only, "This proves nothing."

The next couple of months were anything but normal. Sasuke had grown distant from everyone, especially his team. He had slowly stopped going over to Chihiro's for their talks, and even closed his curtains to ignore her when she tried coming over to his side. Thinking it was best, he rarely ever saw anyone. Decisions…

Then came that night… Naruto had managed to drag Sasuke out of his apartment for 1 night; New Year 's Eve. Standing in the hall outside his apartment, with Naruto and Sakura, he could feel their concern emanating from them and wanted nothing more than go back inside; alone. He fastened his coat, as the cold air struck them; snow falling on the streets.

"Ready to go?" Naruto asked, sounding cheerful, even if part of it was forced. He smiled at Sasuke, who only glared back.

"We've still got one more…" Sakura cheered, before knocking on Chihiro's apartment door.

"Great…" Sasuke thought. "This again…"

The door quickly opened, and Chihiro emerged in a dark blue winter coat.

"Hey." She cheered, to Sakura. Smiling, her and Sakura embraced, only to have Sakura suddenly break the hug and extend Chihiro out, at arm's length, looking concerned.

"You're burning up." Sakura said, feeling Chihiro's cheek with the back of her hand.

"What?" Chihiro replied, as Sakura continued feeling her forehead.

"Yeah, you've got a really bad fever."

"Maybe we shouldn't go." Naruto inserted.

Taking Sakura's hands off her face, Chihiro reassured, "No. I'm fine. Let's go."

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. Let's go." Chihiro quickly broke out of Sakura's grasp and proceeded toward the stairs. As the others followed, Naruto glanced over to see Sasuke looking intently after Chihiro. Naruto thought he almost looked concerned.

They made their way through town, through the crowds of people that were out for the night's celebration. Stores were lined with white Christmas lights and multicolored paper lanterns. People were laughing, drinking, and eating; caught up in the festivities. Children were running through, pelting groups of random people with snowballs. Seeing the kids coming their way, Naruto suggested the duck inside a business for warmth, to which they agreed and entered with the chime of the bell above the door.

"Really?" Sakura asked, with implied sarcasm. "An arcade?"

"Why not? It's warm, and we've still got plenty of time 'til midnight." Naruto replied as they made their way down the aisle of lights. Shrugging their shoulders, Sakura and Chihiro figured they might as well, to pass the time. Twenty minutes later, it was almost time and Naruto was mildly frustrated with having lost every game. Chihiro was playing with a claw machine, with Sasuke, off to the side, still brooding, but with his gaze still fixed on Chihiro.

"Whatcha trying to get?" Sakura asked, coming up behind her.

"The turtle…it's cute…" Chihiro replied, distracted. Inside was a green plush sea turtle, roughly the size of a small pillow. The claw dropped it, once again, as it shuddered back to the top.

"Damn." Chihiro said, to herself.

"How long have you been trying?" Sakura asked.

"How long have we been here?" She replied, making Sakura laugh.

"Come on, let's go." Naruto said, leading them out of the arcade.

Just as the door closed behind them, outside, a hand grabbed Chihiro, hard, by the shoulder and pulled her off to the side, shocking the group. Kakashi…

"Where the hell have you been?!" He demanded, from Chihiro, angrily. "I've been looking for you, everywhere! You know you're not supposed to be out, tonight."

"Why not?" Naruto interrupted. "It's New Year's Eve."

"It doesn't concern you three. Oh…" Kakashi turned around for merely a second to apologize to a couple passing by, that he'd bumped into. When he turned back around, the 4 were gone. "Fuck!"

Pushing through the crowd, the 4 finally made it to an opening. And though Chihiro gave a slight giggle, the others looked confused.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked.

"I have no idea." Chihiro lied. "But, come on. Let's just have fun, tonight." Just then, the group of children running around emerged, and began pelting them with snowballs, when one accidently hit a nearby merchant. The man chased them off, leaving the group covered in snow.

Brushing themselves off, Sasuke reached over to Chihiro. "You've still got some in your hair…" He said as he helped brush the flakes out of her hair. Her long, soft hair… His fingers stalled, lost in thought. But as soon as his eyes locked with her, he was snapped back, his hand retreated, and they quickly turned away from each other. Naruto and Sakura, noticing, shared a subtle smile at their handiwork.

Clapping to break the awkward silence, Naruto interjected, "Ok, I think it's about time…" right as the crowd began counting down.

10! ...9! ...8! Sakura, Naruto, and Chihiro began counting down with them. 7! …6! …5! …4! People began to ready their confetti poppers. 3! …2! …1!

But with the stroke of midnight, Chihiro's world went dark. Sasuke looked over just in time to see her collapse to the ground. The last she saw was Sasuke reaching towards her as he yelled, "Chihiro!"