The silence was deafening.

That was the conclusion the knuckleheaded ninja reached as he watched his friends from across the table.

Sure, they were not the most communicative of couples, but Sakura talked—a lot. She hated the silence, and always attempted to fill it with chatter—the only times when that was amiss was when she was either tired or upset. But in this case, neither of the options seemed to be true. No, this was more than just that, he observed, eyes narrowed into slits as he continued to slurp his ramen.

His best friend was silent—eerily silent. Not that he usually talked, but still. There was a difference between being sinisterly quiet and brooding—about to spout off an insult at any given moment. Call him crazy, but as much as he hated his stupid comebacks, Naruto actually preferred the latter to—to this.

It was a usual Monday morning, and they were having lunch at Ichiraku's, as they always did. It was a tradition they established two years before, when Sasuke was dragged back to Konoha and promptly reinstated as a genin—and as part of Team Kakashi. When his two teammates showed up one of those days holding hands, Naruto got the shock of his life.

Yet somehow… It didn't quite compare to the uneasiness he was feeling now.

Watching them, it was clear that something was wrong. Kakashi might have not picked up on it, but he had. He had, because he was Naruto, and he knew his teammates. Hell, he had because he didn't have his nose buried in a porn book and because it was too damn obvious!

Sasuke was not an open man—that was clear to the entire village. But he was possessive, and he considered Sakura to be his. Therefore, when the two of them were together, he was always by her side. And not just by her side, but next to her. He was next to her now, too—but he wasn't touching her; and she wasn't touching him, either.

Actually, she was glaring at her ramen bowl in such a dangerous manner that it made him shudder. Sasuke had his usual scowl etched on his features, looking as indignant and as stuck up as ever, but that was also something that gave him away, because, you see, that scowl was never there when Sakura was around.

And finally, Naruto could take it no more.

"Did you two have a fight or something?" he blurted out, a deep crease between his eyebrows.

For a moment, as both of their heads snapped up, he felt satisfied that he had caught them off guard.

Then he had to shrink back into his seat as Sakura replied with an acid, "What do you think?"

He gulped. "Well—"

"Shut up, dobe," his best friend snapped.

He scowled, and immediately prepared to retort, but the murderous, red-tinted glare the Uchiha sent his way made him rethink his decision.

"Well, well," Kakashi drawled from beside him, setting his orange book face-down on the table. "It seems like our two lovebirds have finally had their first real fight, huh?"

All he received in response were two death glares.

Naruto watched the interaction warily as he continued to slowly eat his ramen.

"Do you want to talk to us about it?" the silver-haired jounin offered innocently.

"Shut up, Kakashi," Sasuke hissed, Sharingan spinning wildly as he turned to regard his old sensei. "Any problems that we might have, Sakura and I will solve them at home—between us."

A sharp laugh from the pinkette stopped the jounin from making a teasing remark at his ex-student's address.

"Excuse me? There's this buzzing sound in my ears—like a stupid fly taking residence to my right. I believe I managed to make out something about a 'home'. And it's weird, really, because the only home I can remember is the apartment my parents gave me for my sixteenth birthday. Remember? We threw a huge party—"

"Sakura," the Uchiha growled angrily beside her.

"Oh my God, would you look at that?" she exclaimed, feigning shock. "It's getting louder. How annoying! I believe this is my cue to leave. I have a shift at the hospital. Bye, Naruto! Bye, Kakashi-sensei!"

Then she was gone, pink hair flying behind her, and Sasuke was glaring at the tabletop, sulking more than either of the two men had ever seen him.

"Geez," Naruto was the first to break the silence. "What the hell did you do?"

"Shut the fuck up, dobe," he snapped, before pushing off the chair and promptly storming out of Ichiraku's, leaving the blond to gape after him.

"What the hell was that?" he asked no one in particular, scowling down at his ramen bowl. He hated being rebuffed like that—especially by Sasuke.

"Well," Kakashi drawled in a bored voice, "I would say he went to grovel at her feet."

"The hell!" Naruto exclaimed, blue eyes wide as he considered the possibility of his old sensei being crazy. "Sasuke-teme would never do that! His ego is too damn big!"

"You would be surprised…" he replied in a knowing tone.

"Hellooo? Kakashi-sensei?" the blond yelled loudly, waving his hands in front of him. "This is Sasuke-teme we're talking about! Sa-su-ke-teme. No way in hell he's gonna give in first."

Kakashi seemed unfazed. "I believe he will."

"No way!" he insisted, vehemently shaking his head. "No way, I'm telling you. No w—" A sudden idea popped into his head, and he abruptly stopped. A grin spread over his features. "Hey," he said. "Wanna bet?"

The first day was uneventful.

As was to be expected, Kakashi agreed wholeheartedly to his student's brilliant plan, the temptation too big for him to resist. It was, after all, high time for his old genin team to learn that he was still leagues ahead of them in matters of knowledge, even though they were no longer under his tutelage.

After a mere minute spent contemplating, Naruto decided that their best bet was to follow his best friend. He also decided not to allow Kakashi to follow Sakura, and that was for two reasons: one, the old man was a pervert, and two, he was a cheater. Besides, in order to make up, they needed to meet, so he figured that if he supervised one of them, he would eventually lead them to the other. Better said, the other would eventually make it to him. Sasuke would, after all, never give in.

As stated, the Uchiha spent the rest of his day locked up inside his house. Normally, Naruto would have itched to bother him, but as it was, the bet he had made with his ex-teacher was currently more important.

Important enough for him to swallow his excitement and sit still through hours and hours—which was quite the feat.

Kakashi was another story. He could spend his entire life giggling with his nose buried behind his orange book.

The following day, Kakashi and Naruto waited for Sasuke to show up for training.

He never did.

Neither did Sakura, but that was to be expected; since she worked at the hospital, it was not uncommon for her to miss these weekly training sessions. It would have been understandable for her to miss it this time even if she wasn't busy, considering how mad she had seemed to be at the Uchiha the day before.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was always ready for training. Come hell or high water, that man would never lose an opportunity to work out or improve his techniques—or beat his idiotic best friend into the ground.

For him to miss out…

"See, Naruto?" Kakashi stated, without lifting his eyes from his book. "When a man locks himself into his house, that means he's brooding. When a man like Sasuke locks himself into his house and doesn't even show up for training because he is too busy brooding, that means he's groveling."

Naruto turned his narrowed gaze upon his teacher. "That's not true, old man! Just because Sasuke's not in the mood for training this morning doesn't mean he can't live without Sakura-chan!" he exclaimed. Then he paused, frowned, and tried again, "I mean, he better not be able to live without Sakura-chan, but that doesn't mean he'll show her that!"

On the third day, Kakashi decided not to fool around anymore. He claimed he knew he was right and that Naruto would see it by himself.

On his part, the blond-haired shinobi decided to check up on Sakura.

Judging by his standards, the pinkette did not have a very interesting life. He, of course, had no way of knowing everything that happened in a single shift or the stress she was submitted to day after day, so he would say that, considering that going from the hospital at home and then being called back to the hospital to do the same thing was not his idea of exciting.

Not to mention the fact that she was living with the King of Boredom himself, Uchiha Sasuke.

That was not to say Naruto didn't respect his female teammate, because he did—and he probably respected her more than he respected anybody else. She had earned everything she now had and had climbed her way to the top and now there she was, living the life she had wanted.

Predictably, though, her day didn't consist in nearly as many activities as he could have fit in his. She stayed in the hospital, overtime as usual, before making her way to her old apartment. As twilight broke over the village, she exited and met with Ino at a nearby café, where they seemed to have a very heated discussion in which they both agreed to each other.

To be perfectly honest, that bored him.

Which was why he might have fallen asleep on a tree branch.

He surely fell asleep on a tree branch on the fourth day, when he once again returned to Sasuke. To his credit, the Uchiha grounds were very quiet and very peaceful that time of the year, when the temperature in the shadow was simply perfect for a nap.

He was also very bored.

He was jostled out of his beautiful dream—which included ramen and a certain shy kunoichi—when Sasuke walked out of his house and slammed the door behind him.

A second later, there was a kunai lodged in the tree trunk behind him and he was falling straight into a bush in an effort to dodge it.

"Hey!" he complained as he resurfaced, stumbling out of the bush, his voice hoarse with sleep.

"What are you doing spending time in my trees, dobe?" Sasuke demanded, his dark eyes cold as they took in the sight of his frazzled best friend.

The fact that he had been caught, along with the adrenaline cursing through his veins due to the wake-up call he had been granted, stopped Naruto from noticing the dark circles underneath his eyes.

"I came to ask you to train with me!" he exclaimed after a moment spent in silent, though not very calm, contemplation, plastering a grin to his face.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his dubious attitude.

A second passed.

Then he huffed and turned to leave.

"No," he grunted.

Naruto never realized that it was in his nature to continue to pester him until he agreed. Happy that he had been let off the hook so easily, he jumped right back into the tree and waited until his friend was a good distance away, before continuing to follow him.

His destination was common, and one he did not expect: the grocery store.

He made himself comfortable in another tree while Sasuke went about his business, and was only able to see him again when he was at the check-out counter. Just then, he felt an all-too-familiar presence behind him, and his eye twitched in annoyance.

"When a man goes grocery shopping with that scowl on his face, that means he is groveling," his old teacher's voice reached his ears.

Naruto scoffed. "Please, Kaka-sensei, you really are getting old!" he exclaimed. "Sasuke's just trying to prove her that life goes on—with or without her. He doesn't need her to go grocery shopping, for Kami's sake!"

"That may be true, but if that was the case, why would he be buying her favorite food?"

From his spot on the tree branch, Naruto could see clearly: there was nato and chocolate in his purchases.

On the fifth day, Naruto once again decided to follow Sakura.

This time, she only stayed in the hospital until noon. She had lunch with Ino and then they headed for the mall.

Knowing perfectly well that neither of them would be getting out of there for another three hours at least, the blond slept some more.

To be perfectly honest, this game was getting boring and tiresome. Naruto had always known that both of his teammates were very stubborn, but he supposed he had never been driven crazy because of that—until now, of course, when he was forced to suffer the brunt of it.

He made a small mental note to burst into Tsunade's office and demand a mission after Sakura finally apologized to Sasuke.

True to his assumptions, the pinkette was out of the building after the sun went down and Konoha was bathed in an orange glow, both she and her friend carrying multiple bags and smiles on their faces. They headed for the Yamanaka residence next, where they spent no less than two hours.

When they walked out the door, he nearly choked on his snack.

His eyes stuck to Sakura in particular, who was wearing a deep purple dress that clung to her every curve and stopped higher than her mid-thigh, her already heavenly legs made even longer by the high-heels she had chosen. Her long, pink hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail, while her green eyes were accentuated by dark make-up.

His jaw suddenly slack, he was unable to stop his mouth from dropping open.

He decided not to follow them to wherever they were going, because if there was any chance that Hinata would be there—and there was—it would be very hard for him to keep hidden.

Instead, he waited outside Sakura's apartment.

The pinkette arrived alone, a mere hour after they had left, which left him dumbfounded.

Sakura always took her nights of fun very seriously. Having Ino as a friend, a stressful job, and a rocking body to show, Naruto supposed he could understand that. So it was quite a surprise for him to see her arriving so early.

She seemed tired as she walked up the exterior staircase that led to her home, her head down as she put the key in the lock and shouldered the door open. The light went on in the apartment, but he was unable to see what was happening inside. Half an hour later, it went out again, and he was left to wait in the darkness.

He told himself he would stay put for another hour and then head home himself.

He didn't have to wait for long, though.

At first, there was a light set of footsteps his trained ears easily managed to pick up. He didn't pay them attention.

Then, a dark silhouette came to stand in the middle of the road, facing the building. Hands in his pockets, spiky hair a mess, he stood there, the clan symbol printed on the back of his shirt visible in the faint light, and Naruto nearly fell out of the tree when his brain registered exactly who he was dealing with.

Leaning forward, he watched the scene unfolding in front of him attentively.

Sasuke took a step and hesitated. He stopped. Then he took another and another, until he was climbing up the stairs and standing in front of Sakura's door. His hand came up and knocked, before he buried it back into his pocket.

A minute passed before the door was suddenly yanked open.

Sakura appeared, dressed in a set of light blue pajamas, pink hair held back in a messy ponytail and face cleared of any make-up whatsoever. Her entire demeanor changed when she was met with the sight of her boyfriend. Raising an eyebrow, she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned with one shoulder against the doorframe.

"What do you want?" she demanded, and Naruto was surprised by the coldness he could hear in her voice.

She looked up at him. Sasuke seemed to hold her gaze for a long moment before she sighed and broke the contact, looking down at her feet.

"Sasuke, if you have nothing to say—"

"I'm sorry," he interrupted her, and everything seemed to freeze.

Naruto's eyes almost bulged out and for all he knew, the entire Konoha fell silent just for this moment.

Sakura looked up, surprised.

Sasuke sighted and shifted, clearly uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. I shouldn't have said everything I said. It wasn't your fault—none of it was."

Swallowing, the pinkette looked away, seeming to be reluctant to accept his apology. "Tell me something I don't know," she muttered.

There was a long moment of silence. Sakura continued to look away, while Sasuke continued to watch her, unflinching.

"…I miss you."

Her head snapped up to look at him, green eyes wide.

It was the second time that evening that Naruto almost lost his equilibrium. Mouth open, he continued to watch the scene unfolding in front of him.

Sakura's eyes softened as a light sheen of moisture covered them. Taking a step forward, she placed her hand on the nape of Sasuke's neck, fingers tangling in his messy hair, forcing him to lower his head. The Uchiha bent over her small figure as she stood on her tiptoes, and their mouths met in a soft kiss.

"I missed you, too," she whispered against his lips, looking up at him through her lashes.

Placing his hands on her tiny waist, Sasuke pressed his lips to hers once more, and she smiled into their kiss, pulling him inside the apartment. He gladly allowed himself to be dragged, a smirk of his own twisting the corners of his lips upwards.

The door slammed shut behind them, leaving Naruto to blink in confusion.

A long moment of silence passed, interrupted only by the well-timed croak of a frog.

"HEY!" he suddenly yelled, outraged, and Konoha came to life again. "HEY, SASUKE-TEME! I TRUSTED YOU! I TRUSTED YOUR MANLINESS AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?!"

A/N: Happy New Year, everybody! :)

I had fun writing this, so I hope you had fun reading it!

Outfits on Flickr, as usual.

Please review!