Forever Mine

Chapter 16

Two weeks.

It'd been exactly two weeks already and Sasuke hadn't seen much of Sakura lately. They had only seen each other twice. Once when she was walking with Hinata in the street and another when he accompanied Naruto to drop off paperwork at the hospital.

Both occurrences happened so briefly that they were hardly able to talk.

Sasuke wanted to ask her about moving in until he found a place of his own, but was never given a chance. For some reason, he felt awkward asking.

Had it been two years ago, he could've asked without a problem...actually, no. He would've grabbed his things and stayed the night without asking, leaving her to get used to him being around without having to talk about it at all. He was sure she wouldn't have minded. Now he felt inclined to ask for proper permission.

There was also another thing bothering him.

Sakura had said she'd make it up to him for arriving late and leaving early during his welcome home dinner, yet she still hadn't shown up to ask him out anywhere or to do anything, nor had she made time to see him. Usually, she made it up to him right the next day if not the same day. She hadn't even brought it up during their random encounters.

"Is something the matter, Sasuke?"

Sasuke blinked back into reality at the sound of the soft voice.

Hinata was sitting right across from him in her living room with a concerned look on her face. For the past two weeks, Sasuke had been visiting the Uzumaki Household for breakfast, and every time he couldn't train with Naruto, due to a mission or work, he would stay with the bluenette to keep her company for a while.

They were both quiet people by nature which was why Hinata decided to pull out some knitting tools on the second day he stayed to keep her company. She taught him how they worked and he easily got the hang of it. Now instead of sitting in uncomfortable silence, they sat together comfortably while they worked, occasionally speaking their mind when they wanted.

"No, nothing." Sasuke shook his head.

"Oh, it's just..." Hinata hesitated. "You seem distracted."

"I didn't know we were being timed." Sasuke glanced down at his unfinished work.

"Of course not," she smiled kindly. "You look like something's troubling you though."

Sasuke looked into her pale eyes. They were looking back at him with genuine concern, telling him it was okay to confide in her. Both Naruto and Sakura told him about Hinata having this calm and trusting aura about her, and this was the first time he was witnessing it.

They'd been spending time together alone for merely a few days, yet he felt as though they were closer than he originally thought. It was odd considering Hinata used to not be fond of him for everything he'd put her husband through. Now she was silently letting him know it was okay to confide in her and he was being pulled right in.

At first, he was hesitant, unsure if he should really speak his mind. Sakura not being as present as before was one of the main things he'd been thinking about, but it was something else he wanted to ask her about that was bothering him.

If he was wrong, he'd be flushed with relief. If he was right, he didn't want the answer.

Just when he was finally mustering up the courage to speak up while Hinata showed signs of silent encouragement, letting him know it was safe to talk, Naruto barged in ruining his chance.

"Man, I'm beat!" the blond stalked to the kitchen. "And it's barely lunchtime."

Sasuke shot him an annoyed look which he merely shrugged off, too used to seeing it to be fazed.