When he moved to sit next to her, Sakura froze slightly but did her best not to express any form of hesitance on her features. It had been an unexpected repositioning - not that she minded. She wondered why he felt the need to sit next to her, desperately wishing she could somehow read his thoughts. If she had had that ability in the past, everything would have been so much easier, wouldn’t it, she thought to herself. Perhaps then she would have been less of an annoyance to him and more of someone he looked to with admiration. Sakura always regretted the way she acted during their younger years but nothing could truly change the past.
She could tell the way his leg was now sitting was terribly awkward so she did her best to move it slightly so it wasn’t twisting as badly. Was he still in pain? He was not showing it if he was, but she didn’t want to stop yet. Maybe her plan hadn’t taken its toll yet.
As he spoke, Sakura smiled softly to herself, staring down at her hands and allowing her bangs to cover her face from his view. She knew how to answer his question, knew the right things to say, but she didn’t want him to think he was supposed to hate her and Naruto again. She was afraid of him returning to his stoic, apathetic self who wanted nothing to do with them if he remembered everything they had been through, and all the choices he had made that ruined everything Team Seven once had. “We were friends,” she said quietly, still smiling gently toward her lap. “Not at first, though. I think you hated me when we first met. I wasn’t exactly the most useful or tolerable person.” With that, she gave a small laugh though there wasn’t much amusement behind it. “We were placed in a squad when we were Genin, together, with Naruto and Hatake Kakashi, our sensei. You seemed very distant from everyone at first but… eventually… we all learned to like each other.” She turned to face him now, her smile even brighter now. “You probably feel that way about Naruto because you treated one another like rivals, though you called each other best friends at the same time.” Her lips twitched slightly at the corners but she regained her composure quickly. “I think… he annoyed you more than anyone else ever could but at the same time, he was one of the most important people in your life. At least then he was.” Her happy expression was completely wiped away at that and she turned back to look at her lap.
“And I don’t mind hearing you talk. It’s… nice, actually. You’ve never opened up to me before, not like this, even if it might be an obligation right now.” It was true. This was the most she had ever heard Sasuke willingly say to her that may have been personal in the least bit. She liked it and wished it had happened more often, before.