Happy Accidents

Chapter 20: Omnia Causa Fiunt

Sakura was just cutting into the lasagna as he came down, and it smelled even better than it had before. He grabbed the bottle of wine that he'd bought and set it on the table, reaching for a couple of glasses that he had.

"I picked up non-alcoholic wine since I know you're still taking a prescription for your pain, right?" He asked, setting the glasses out as well as plates and cutlery on the table for them.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, by the way. What kind?" She was just finishing cutting the lasagna, carrying it over to the table to set it in the middle.

"Cherry. DA Yamanaka said you liked cherry-flavoured things." Of course, he'd gone to the blonde for recommendations. "How do you two know each other, anyway?" He hadn't realized the two of them seemed to know each other until Sakura was in the hospital.

"Oh, Ino and I have been friends for years," she said, taking a seat and grabbing a piece of lasagna for herself as well as a glass of wine. "We've been friends since we were kids, actually. Went to all the same schools, spent so much time together, all kinds of things. We were even roommates when we were in post-secondary. I was a few years ahead of her, but we managed."

"Oh, right. I forgot you mentioned you graduated early," he remarked. She was incredibly intelligent; very few people would be taking post-secondary education at the age she did.

"Yeah, I was always... advanced, I guess." Advanced was one way of putting it. As a kid she'd been incredibly shy; books and studying were her best friends aside from Ino. She was nothing more than a wallflower that everyone overlooked. It was a fact that she didn't like to talk about; not something she was going to voice to him any time soon, if ever.

"Well, it means you're good at your job, and that's what matters. You have a unique skill set that's hard to find." He took a bite of his lasagna, a surprised expression crossing his features. It was good. Incredibly good. It reminded him of his mother's cooking. "Since you've been in the hospital they've had to outsource things, and... let's just say things aren't running as efficiently." Something he was certainly annoyed by. "Not that you should rush getting back to work. I just mean... you really are that good at your job."

Sakura was surprised by the compliments. "Really?" She asked, a little dumbfounded. "I thought you found me... annoying. You seemed to give that impression, anyway."

Sasuke shrugged. "I'm efficient. I had no idea how your processes worked when we first met, and I wasn't keen on the idea of a partner. I've always worked cases on my own and only worked with outsourced professionals. It wasn't until they hired you that I was told I had to work with anyone... let alone you." Let alone her? What was that supposed to mean?

"You have a problem with working with... women?" She asked, hoping that wasn't what he was implying. By the surprised look on his face, she gathered she was very, very wrong about that.

"No. That doesn't matter to me in the slightest. I've worked with some great female cops and detectives when I was still just a street cop, and they did their jobs just fine. I just mean... no one seems to understand efficiency the way you and I do. It works. I can't complain about that." Sakura was deeply surprised; this had to be the most they'd ever held a conversation even in the field.

"Yeah... I get what you mean, I think. Most people I can't really bounce ideas off of or just talk about what I'm looking at because they don't understand most of the technical jargon."

He laughed. "Some of it I don't understand, to be honest," he interjected.

"Well, you're not medically trained, so that makes sense. But you know enough that I can talk about it, and you seem to understand what it is I'm talking about, at least to some degree. I see the complex things, I see the things that require that complex mental processing, and you see the simple things. You catch the things that I overlook. And I find the things you can't." She took a bite of her own lasagna, humming happily. Amazing as always. She was quick to start eating the rest, easily finishing off a single piece as she leaned back, He, too, seemed quite hungry; he was already reaching for a second piece, having quickly finished his first. She stared at him curiously, frowning as he was seemingly very into whatever he was eating.