Chapter 108: Dinnertime

There was a cold aura that hung in the air as Sasuke did everything in his power to remain calm and rational. While Sakura was chatting pleasantly with her mother and brother, he could tell it was forced, doing her best to slacken the mood of the room. He was trying his best to be pleasant, which basically meant he wasn't saying anything at all. He could feel Sakura's father's gaze resting distrustfully upon him, studying him like he was something to be regarded with caution and suspicion. Sasuke had placed his hand on his knee, and he was letting his fingers dig into it so hard that he wondered if he might accidentally shatter his kneecap.

His outward appearance was blank, as he usually kept it, but inwardly he was extremely irritated. Dimly he wondered how on earth he had arrived at this exact position, sitting at the Haruno dinner table with Sakura on his left, Kanaye and Sakura's mother across from them, and Sakura's father sitting at the head of the table—thankfully on the other side of Sakura. Actually, it had all started with a very simple sentence: 'My parents have invited us over for dinner on Saturday evening.' Those eleven words marked the beginning of a number events that led up to how things sat now at the table.

"I think that I should perhaps stay an evening at the Uchiha household," Sakura's father was now saying, and Sasuke inwardly twitched in irritation, "Just to see how things are going."

Sasuke tried his best to remain composed; he just wished the evening would end.

-Earlier that Week-

A long afternoon of training with Naruto had considerably worn Sasuke down that day, and as he finally managed to shake off the exuberant boy, declining the dinner invite for ramen, he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the evening relaxing. Walking down the familiar stretch next to his house, he was feeling rather contented, a feeling he hadn't felt in a while. He had hit Naruto square on the jaw that day, having caught his best friend off guard, and was feeling quite proud of his achievement. The weather was warm and through detecting the subtle changes in the outdoor temperature, he could deduce that the sun was most likely setting.

Coming around the corner of the house, a quiet melody caught his ear on the breeze, and he realized it was Sakura in the yard; he most likely would have walked right by without noticing if he hadn't heard the song. He stood for a moment on the porch, listening to her quiet notes, many new fragrances being delivered to him on the wind. He was about to head inside, when something compelled him not to, instead he hopped carefully down off the porch and followed the sound of her humming, the new fragrances growing stronger as he drew nearer to where she was.

He stopped behind her and waited for some sort of greeting. However she just sat where she was on the grass and continued to hum, working away with whatever she was doing.

The fragrances hung heavily here, and seemed to come from everywhere around him. It was not unpleasant, but a little overwhelming, the great concentration confusing him slightly. The song she was humming was beginning to invade on his content mood, making him feel a little nostalgic for days long gone, days that could never be ever again. Assuming that Sakura wasn't going to say anything, he decided to break the silence.

"Hey," he said awkwardly, used to never being the one to speak first in a conversation.

She paused in her work and her humming died off—the pause was a surprised one, he was sure. However when she responded to his greeting, her voice was warm, "Hi. You're back early."

He gave a grunt in reply and was about to sit down when Sakura called out to him.

"Wait! Don't sit down there—there's a rose plant!" she shouted suddenly, grasping his wrist preventing him from sitting, "Just hang on—" There was shuffling as she moved something, "—okay. You can sit down now."

The hold on his wrist released and he seated himself comfortably down on the lawn, listening to her as she resumed her work, the song picking up from where she left it off.

"What are you doing?" he asked after a moment, listening to the occasional metallic clank and the soft ruffling of the earth as she moved it.

"I'm gardening, silly," she replied lightly, sounding cheerful, "I thought it would have been obvious, seeing as you almost crushed the rose bush I was going to be planting here."

"I see."

"I went out earlier and bought some stuff to put in the garden," Sakura said with a pleasant tone in her voice, "I thought it would be nice to have flowers. You can probably smell them better than I can."

"I could smell them all the way from the porch. You seem to have a lot," he replied, the scent of upturned earth also coming to his nose, along with the grass.

"Yeah. I picked out flowers that were particularly fragrant," she explained; the rose bush he was sitting beside was picked up and moved, "I hope they're to your liking."

"Aa," he replied—they did smell rather nice, even if at the moment it was a little overwhelming.

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