Happy Accidents

Chapter 54: Change

Though it was by far the longest two weeks he'd had, by the time he was back at work, Sasuke understood the need for the time off. It'd given him time to think and process and determine a better course of action than trying to arrest his border at work under an alias. He'd searched and searched, but there was nothing he could find, nothing he could do to link his brother to any other crimes that he could bring him in on. In reviewing the case files, Sai and Naruto had done everything they could to bring Idate in.

It had also given him some time to bond with Sakura in ways he hadn't expected. They'd agreed that things would be slow, and even before then, they'd expected it to have moments of awkwardness, tensions, and the like. They'd taken a few steps out of their comfort zone; one of those had been Sakura dragging him out to a club for the night for some relaxing fun and drinks, where he'd mainly dealt with keeping other girls off him. Sakura had found it deeply entertaining; he would try to brush them off, and they'd giggle at his awkwardness.

Alas, even after a night of drinks, work called. Both of their phones went off early the following day. Sakura was quick to pick hers up, hearing the call details and getting out of bed. She was a morning person; even after a night of fun, getting up and ready for work was no issue with her. While she was up and organizing things, Sasuke groaned and rolled over, swiping Sakura's pillow and putting it over his head like he could ignore the call.

"Get up, sleepyhead," she called teasingly as she grabbed her things and got dressed. "They'll need you in about an hour, so you've got time. I have to get down to the office and get the van because Tenten's on holiday, so that means I am by myself with the temp forensics tech, and they're not authorized to drive the vehicle yet." She was straightening her blouse in the mirror, brushing her hair up into a ponytail before adding the slightest touch of makeup.

"Hnnnnn," he groaned from underneath the pillow, waving her off. She chuckled and grabbed her keys, sweeping out of the room. Sasuke might have had the pillow over his head, but he was undoubtedly watching... and enjoying the view he was getting. That was the other thing those two weeks off had given him: time. It was time for him to build up the courage and basis for whatever next step would happen between them.

And time to bypass his... awkwardness. He had a feeling Sakura assumed that he'd been with plenty of girls, but the truth was... he hadn't. Not a single girl. Hell, he hadn't even gone on an actual date with them; there was one girl who liked to think that their times out had been dates, but he never saw it that way. He never saw her that way. She was just a high school friend, nothing more.

Perhaps he'd have to get something ready for that. It was a conversation they'd never had before; it was not a subject they'd approached. How did people even do that sort of thing? He wondered... There was maybe one person he could ask for advice, though in the back of his mind, he wondered if it would be advice he'd regret asking for. He hadn't spoken to Suigetsu in a while, though... would that dummy even remember him?

He fired off a quick text asking if Suigetsu had time to talk, taking the time to get dressed while waiting for a response. He got a message back, then a phone call; he answered it quickly, hoping he wouldn't regret this.

"So... you said advice on girls? Why would ya ask me for that?" Suigetsu greeted, earning an eye roll from Sasuke.

"Because you're the only damned person I know who's going to give me a straight answer. Jugo would be confused, and Naruto... good lord, don't get me started." Sasuke rubbed his temples. "Look, there's this... this girl that I've been seeing, and you know, things have to move forward. I'm not... you know, unlike you." Not experienced. Not at all.

Suigetsu's raucous laughter echoed through the line. "Okay, well, you know, you gotta butter her up first." He hummed in thought for a moment before continuing. "Does she have a sister?"