29th October 2016

A/N: To my bestie, with love.

The backyard

Hot steam wafted up from a mug of black coffee. She watched it dissipate into the crisp morning (almost noon) air. The clouds drifted slowly against the pastel blue sky. She cupped her mug, the letters "nobody knows I'm gay" printed on it. She let out a quiet snort of laughter. People have always wondered if Sasuke swung that way, since he showed little to no interest in women as a teenager – he didn't exactly show much now either, but he was comfortable with her, for some reason.

She took a small sip and almost let out a cry of pain – it was scalding hot. She should have known, with the steam and all-

"You do realise that's hot, right?"

Sakura looked up to see Sasuke standing over her, holding a mug of coffee as well. He looked as he always did, messy hair sticking up on the end, a plain grey shirt (probably with the Uchiha emblem on the back) and loose drawstring pants. Barefoot, she noticed. The floor must have been cleaned yesterday, she thought, amused.

"I'm aware, thanks," she said sarcastically, but a smile tugging at her lips.

Sasuke took his place next to her, tucking his feet into his outdoor flip-flops in the process. And there they sat, on those two steps from the kitchen of the house to the little backyard that had a small shed and grass that looked like it was overdue for some trimming.

This was what they did, on days when she spent the night over at his, and she would wake up, her eyes hazy. She'd see sunlight peeking through the curtains, and hear the muffled sounds of people walking and talking on the streets below. She'd wake up to him sleeping next to her, the curves of his muscled shoulders that she knows so well she can memorise where all the lines start and end. Then she'd reach out and trace his tattoo with her fingers, gently so she won't wake him up. But when she would slowly edge her arm over his waist, he would catch her arm with his and pull her closer to him, so that her body was touching his. He'd let her do all this, because it was Sakura, not anyone else.

"So what are your plans for today then?" He asked, sipping his black coffee slowly. Gracefully. She marveled at how anything Sasuke did looked effortless.

She gave a tiny shrug of shoulders. "I'm not sure… probably just go home and do a bit of studying."

"Fair enough." He said no more after this, but Sakura didn't mind. Most of the time, Sasuke didn't have much to say. That didn't mean he wasn't enjoying her company though; she'd learnt this after many years of being his teammate, his enemy, then his teammate again.

They sat, making small talk about what they'd do this weekend. Her pink hair flowing slightly in the wind, his gentle but firm voice lifting through the occasional sound of the rushing trains that passed the backyard of his house.

This was how they spent their weekends, sitting on the steps to the backyard of his house, when the sun was out and the sky was clear, with mugs of black coffee, in comfortable silence. Sakura knew that this wasn't what she had imagined a life with Sasuke would potentially be like, but for now this was enough. She didn't want to think about the future like that anymore, it was tiring and stressful and often caused her unnecessary pain. Sasuke was going to be Sasuke – he is who he is.

She turned to him and smiled. "Thank you for the coffee."

He knew she meant the night she spent at his as well, and the many nights before that. He knew she meant the times he'd pulled her close, the times he wrapped his arm around her when they slept, the times he'd rubbed her arm comfortingly when she had bad dreams. He had a fair few of those himself, and she would be the one to stroke his arm, whispering that it was all going to be okay.

"No problem."

Next weekend, if the weather was good, they'd be at the steps again. And hopefully, the weekends after that, too.

- fin -