After the Storm.

15.

Sakura sat on the edge of her couch staring at Sasuke as he sipped on the tea she had made for the both of them. She replayed the exact words he had told her just a few minutes earlier. He didn't want to be home alone, so he came to her house. He could've easily went to Naruto's house, but he came to her.

She couldn't wrap her mind around it. What made her so special?

Sasuke refused to look Sakura directly in the eye. He had said something completely embarassing while trying not to be creepy. He wanted to punch himself. He didn't know how to look at her after that.

"Are you okay?" Sakura found herself asking. She understood that sometimes being alone could be nerve wrecking, but for Sasuke she couldn't understand why. He was always the one who prefered to be alone when it came to splitting up on missions. But he always went with Kakashi instead. Someone who gave him the independence he so desired.

Sasuke took in a breath, thinking of the words he wanted to put together. He thought of how he wanted to say these things and how he wanted them to effect her train of thought as well. He wanted her to believe everything he was saying.

"Yes, I'm okay." He says slowly. "I just didn't want to be alone."

"You could've easily went to Naruto." She says furrowing her eyebrows. She wasn't trying to sound ungreatful, but she wanted answers. Answers that she knew she would have to drag out of him.

"I also wanted to be around someone who knows how to shut up when I want them to." His eyes finally found their way to hers, watching her lips curl downward into a frown.

"Take your pick Uchiha," She crossed her arms as her eyes narrow. "You said earlier that I talk too much. Now you're saying I know when to shut up?"

A smirk appeared on the raven's face. He watches as the pinkette uncrosses her arms and quickly begins to fidget.

"Do you not want me here, Sakura?" His head turns in her direction, giving her his full attention. The girls coughs, trying not to choke on her own saliva before she looks him in the eye.

"It's not that I don't want you here, but I was just wondering." She shrugs. "I mean when you were in the confinement you only wanted to see Naruto."

"Would you want to be seen in the conditions I were in if the tables were turned?" Sasuke's eyes slightly narrowed. "Would you really want me to see you in a straight jacket and blindefolded?"

Sakura sat there in silence, trying to gather her words before she spoke them. She looked down at her hands as she played with her thumbs. Chewing on her bottom lip. After taking in a deep breath, her eyes landed onto Sasuke's who's gaze never faltered from her.

"Exactly." He says before bringing his cup back up to his lips. He took a sip, still locking eyes with Sakura.

"So what made Naruto so different from me, Sasuke?"

"Naruto understands me more than you do." He says with a sigh. "The things he and I spoke of before you and Kakashi found us, it's something that really made me think about where I wanted to be in my life. I never meant for any of these things to happen Sakura, but they did." Sasuke sets the cup onto the coffee table and turned to give Sakura his undivided attention. "I've shared things with Naruto, that I cannot share with you. Don't ask why, I just can't. You don't have to know everything and that's the problem that we have. You want me to treat you the same as I treat Naruto and things can't happen like that."

"Why not?"

Sasuke sighs, using his hand to run his fingers through his grown out hair. As he did, his Rinnegan became visible to Sakura. She could see the frustration in his eyes, She knew he didn't want to talk about it; but at the end of the day, she needed answers.