Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: Welcome to my new story! I feel a few things need to be addressed first before you can begin reading. This is a prequel to Weak to Temptation, brought by a popular demand. If you read WtT - good, if you didn't - please don't bother. This story will contain SasuSaku as a primary focus and NaruSaku, though only as much as I deem necessary for the plot. Also, there will be lemons at some point, but not right away. My aim is to concentrate on the feelings of main characters. The last thing is that if you absolutely can't stand cheating, then please don't read this story, spare yourself the pain.

That said, please enjoy the story and let me know your thoughts.

Stolen Sakura

Chapter 1

A Foregone Conclusion

The story goes like this – a boy has a crush on a girl, but she crushes on his greatest rival, who is obsessed with revenge. The rival leaves the village after knocking out the girl who tried to stop him by confessing her feelings to him. The boy promises the girl he will bring his rival back and though he manages to catch up, their great battle ends with his defeat. In the next few years the boy and the girl train to become stronger and get back their friend, who meanwhile also trains and eventually obtains his revenge, only to find out that he didn't kill the real culprit. He becomes an international criminal and almost kills the girl when they meet again if not for the boy saving her life. In the end, a great war erupts and the boy's rival has a change of heart. He returns to his friends and aids them in defeating the ultimate villain.

The girl forgives her old crush, who seemingly out of nowhere returns her affection, while the boy is just happy for them. And they all live happily ever after.

Perfect ending, right?

Except, it had never happened.

Try this instead – the girl is rejected and the boy consoles her, while his rival suffers the consequences of his actions in prison. The boy sometimes visits him, but the girl doesn't. She isn't welcome there and, truthfully, she doesn't want to be.

This was the story of the boy – Uzumaki Naruto, the girl – Haruno Sakura, and the boy's rival – Uchiha Sasuke.

Two years later, it begins again...

"Uchiha, get out."

Sasuke remained still for a moment too long, just to piss off the prison guard, then turned around fluidly. He walked out of his opened cell without a word, his mask of apathy unwavering even when the spiteful man took this last opportunity to jab him in the back with a truncheon. Their journey to the upper levels of the prison went uninterrupted, if one didn't count the jeering of other inmates.

Sasuke blocked it out. It was like insects buzzing – insignificant noise that could only serve to annoy him. Among the various insults hurled at him, there were also mocking shouts asking to put in a good word for them with the Hokage. Sasuke ignored them too, his steps still brisk but unhurried, until the guard forced him to quicken the pace with another merciless jab in the kidney.

In this prison, Sasuke was known as a man with connections.

Not without merit. Who else was deserving of such reputation, if not him? He was the last of the prestigious Uchiha clan, the former student of the current Hokage, Hatake Kakashi and a friend to a world hero Uzumaki Naruto, who kept visiting him for the whole two years since the war had ended and Sasuke had been incarcerated.

As he was led to the prison warden's office, Sasuke supposed this was the most expected outcome. And when the door swung open, he wasn't in the least bit surprised to see Naruto already waiting in there.

"Finally, bastard! What took you so long?" Naruto greeted and clapped him on the back.

"Idiot," Sasuke grunted without any heat. Naruto grinned.

"You should be more thankful to your future Hokage!" he still boasted. "I got you the early parole! You're finally coming home!"

The warden took this as his cue to begin with the standard procedure of releasing prisoners from his care. As the man droned, Sasuke's mind wandered.

He was really coming back to Konoha. He'd never thought this would actually happen, but with Naruto's legendary stubbornness taken into account... after he survived the war and averted the possible end of the world, this seemed to be just a foregone conclusion.

The heavy manacle, restraining his one remaining arm, was at last taken off and he was given privacy to change out of the prison garb into a regular shinobi outfit his friend brought for him. Sasuke's back straightened and he left the prison with his head held high. Casting the last look behind at the dreary building, he set out to the village with Naruto as his single escort.

Konoha, huh...

A flash of memory, pink blowing gently on the breeze and a warm smile, came to the Uchiha's mind. She would be there, he thought briefly before forcing the annoyance out. Inwardly, he scoffed. He had no inclination to play at romance. She was nothing to him, a mere acquaintance, and that's the way it was supposed to stay.

The first he saw of Konoha was the monument, six severe faces carved in the yellow cliff and watching over the village, then the looming gate, open wide and beckoning him to enter, the prodigal son finally returning after the long journey. Sasuke unconsciously slowed down his stride, Naruto keeping pace in silence at his side. Finally, the Uchiha stopped just inside the gate.

Naruto let him have the moment to himself and ambled up to the guard post to chat with the bored chunins residing there. Sasuke was aware of their curious glances sent his way, but he was too preoccupied with his thoughts to bother with responding. Instead, he decided to step forward and jump up on a telephone pole to take a better look at the village.

In his eyes, Konoha visibly changed. The buildings were different, newer, colours more vibrant and fresher, the terrain was more even with a small depression in the middle giving the village a distinct bowl shape. Sasuke closed his eyes briefly and listened to the usual daytime noise. It was still the same as he remembered from his childhood and when he inhaled sharply, he smelt the comforting scent of home.

He was back in Konoha.

Sasuke leaped down from the pole, landing in a slight crouch. Naruto was smiling from ear to ear.

"So, what do you think?" he asked. "Still want to burn it all to the ground?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No."

He was sure of this answer. Konoha wasn't the same place as back then. And he also wasn't the same youth, mad with grief and desperately lashing out at the world that wronged him. He'd had the ample time for soul-searching after his change of heart during the shinobi war and he used it well.

Uchiha Sasuke returned a reformed man to a reformed village.

"Where are Kakashi and the rest?" he asked out of the blue, belatedly realizing that no one was waiting there, even though they should have known about his release. Given the tenacity of some people to bring him back, he was surprised not to see them around when it finally happened.

Naruto shrugged. "Kakashi-sensei is probably slacking off somewhere with his book, Sai's on a mission and... uh, Sakura-chan..." he paused and shot a nervous look at Sasuke, who, outside of expectation, didn't react in any way to the name. Naruto took it as a good sign. In the prison Sasuke didn't even want to hear anything about her. "Well, she's with Sai. But they'll be back soon, this afternoon I think?" The blond scratched his head in confusion as he tried to remember. In a while he gave up on it and his face brightened with the new idea. "Hey, Sasuke, how about we celebrate your parole and coming back with a bowl of ramen? My treat!"

Sasuke smirked. Some things would always stay the same, just like Naruto's love for ramen.

"Sure."

The ramen stand also didn't change much, besides being obviously newer, and it was owned by the same people. Sasuke and Naruto took seats at the counter and made their orders. It was almost like in the old times, except there was one head missing to complete the picture of their team.

Naruto was telling him about some training Kakashi had been putting him through in preparation for becoming the next Hokage, when Sasuke's sharp senses picked up on the presence approaching them from behind. He ignored it, thinking that it was just another customer of the popular stand, and turned to his food.

The flap of the banner was pulled up and the person, instead of heading for an unoccupied stool, wrapped their arms around Naruto's neck.

"Guess who?" a very familiar, feminine voice asked and Sasuke glanced on reflex, just to make sure he heard it right.

He did.

There she was, her hair just as pink as the cherry blossoms in spring, spilling in a long wave to her shoulderblades. She wore a tunic in her customary shade of red, a wide black belt with pouches in the back girding her slim waist.

For some unfathomable reason, she was also plastered to Naruto's back. This struck Sasuke as extremely odd, as he remembered how much she had been adverse to physical closeness with their team's dobe. And now, she actually initiated a hug as effortlessly as if she'd been doing it since forever.

"Sakura-chan! You're back!" Naruto exclaimed and turned around to return her embrace.

"Did you miss me?" she asked. "I was only gone for three days."

"It was still too long," he replied in all seriousness.

Her green eyes smiled warmly at him and it seemed like some secret thought passed between them, because Sakura leaned down. She was standing between his knees and it seemed like they were pulling into each other, getting even closer and Sasuke, who was watching on expressionlessly until then, suddenly felt like a voyeur. He was intruding on their private moment, but couldn't bring himself to look away as the distance between their faces decreased, their lips almost touching...

Sakura pecked Naruto on the cheek and pulled away. He seemed like he didn't want to let her go, his hands fisting in the back of her tunic momentarily before going lax again and letting her slip out of his grasp. But the look on his face... even someone as antisocial as Sasuke could recognize it as a look of a pure longing.

"So," Sakura began, then her eyes latched onto the steaming bowl on the counter, "if you missed me so much, why won't you buy me a dinner? It's a date."

"Of course, Sakura-chan! But, uhh, it can't be a date, because, you know..." Naruto shot a look to the side. "Sasuke was released from prison today and he's here, and we should celebrate together as a team!" he blurted out.

Sakura froze.

It was for less than a second, but Sasuke saw clearly how her muscles tensed and she went rigid. He briefly entertained the thought that she was now deathly afraid of him (and she had every reason to be, just how many times had he tried to kill her and those she loved?), but then the moment passed and her head swiveled to face him, eyes wide as her hands clasped together in front of her chest.

"Sasuke..." she breathed, her gaze sweeping over him all too quickly and finally resting on a point to the right of his face. "I... I didn't see you there... I didn't know that you were coming back," she said.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, but didn't speak, his eyes unnerving as they dissected her new appearance. Then his gaze zeroed on the pendant hanging from her slender neck.

It was an orange spiral.

Sakura realized what he was looking at and self-consciously fingered the piece of jewelry before cupping it in her palm and shielding it from his view.

Naruto, to break the prolonging silence, wrapped an arm around Sakura's middle. "Hey, Sasuke, it never came up when we talked, but I'm with Sakura-chan now!" he announced. "Isn't it great? I have both my best friend and my girlfriend in one team and we're all together now!"

Sasuke looked at Sakura, expecting her to explode with anger and sock Naruto in the face for spouting such stupidity, but she did neither. She was just smiling at Naruto with very gentle eyes, eyes she once had only for the one she had claimed to love...

Sasuke turned to his ramen.

"I don't care what you two do on your own time," he said with his characteristic coolness. "Just don't hold me back."

"Ha, you'll be the one to keep me back, bastard!" Naruto relinquished his hold on Sakura, who took the seat on his other side and ordered from the menu while the men bickered like they were twelve again.

Finally, they settled as Naruto came to a decision that arguing wasn't worth letting his favourite food get cold. He slurped on the noodles thoughtfully, glancing between his teammates from time to time.

"Sasuke, you should get a new arm," he said, indicating at the Uchiha's left, empty sleeve. While the wound from their last battle had healed properly, Sasuke didn't have a chance to receive a suitable replacement in the prison. The medics there weren't skilled enough to conduct the procedure, besides lacking the necessary equipment to craft an artificial arm.

Sasuke had never complained. He was used to the imbalance and learned how to move to make up for it. Unlearning these new habits would be bothersome.

"I don't need it," he said.

"But I want to spar with you! You can't make signs with one arm!"

"So what? I can still beat you, arm or not."

Before Naruto responded to the taunt in kind, Sakura interjected calmly. "Actually, Naruto's right. You should get a new arm, especially now that we're capable of producing fully organic ones."

"You see, even Sakura-chan says so! And she's a medic so you have to listen to her," Naruto crowed victoriously. "Oh, I know! She could take care of it for you. She did my arm and it's absolutely perfect."

"Wait, Naruto, I already have lots of work, you can't just push this onto me," she jumped up in her seat.

"But Sakura-chan, Sasuke's our teammate, you have to help him! And you make the best arms," Naruto insisted, throwing in some flattery to which she only sighed.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it doesn't matter which medic does the procedure, because they all do it the exact same way?" she asked in exasperation.

"Come on, Sakura-chan, I'll make it up to you! Pretty please?" he cajoled.

"If she doesn't want to, I can go to another medic," Sasuke said, in the end going along with the idea of regaining the missing limb, as he decided that pros outweighed the cons in this case. "I won't entrust my arm to someone who can't be bothered with it."

"Are you saying that I'm incompetent?" Sakura hissed, addressing him directly for the second time that day.

Sasuke locked his eyes with hers challengingly.

"All I'm saying is that I don't want your pity. If you're not up to the job, I'll get someone else."

With satisfaction he observed the indignant, angry look in her eyes morph into a consideration as she bit on her lower lip. It took only a few seconds for the decision to be made.

"Two p.m., tomorrow. I'll take your measurements," she said.

"Aa."

"Sakura-chan, you're the best! I knew you would agree!" Naruto exclaimed and without thinking, grabbed the back of her head and slammed his lips against hers in an enthusiastic, if a little sloppy kiss, which she very slowly reciprocated, then pushed him away.

"Naruto, not here!" she whispered shrilly, but the small blush belied her true feelings.

"Sorry, I just got so happy!" Naruto scratched the back of his head and chuckled. She forgave him easily with a fond smile.

Sasuke didn't utter a word, taciturn and reserved as always, but the sight of their lips meshed together, moving against each other couldn't leave his head long after they all had parted ways from the Ichiraku. Sasuke was then debriefed by Kakashi and received keys to his new, permanent accommodations. Due to his past crimes, the Uchiha district was seized by Konoha, though his old teacher made sure not to leave him homeless and so secured him the ownership of one of the newly built houses. Sasuke appreciated the gesture.

He would have even felt content if not for the irritating memory of his teammates kissing stuck in his head on repeat. Why was he bothered by it so much? As far as he was concerned, it was none of his business who they chose to go out with.

Naruto wasn't very surprising – predictably, he didn't grow out of his crush for Sakura. But Sakura... Sasuke still remembered her confession during the war. She had stayed steadfast in her feelings for him, even if they were no more than an immature fantasy of love, something he hadn't had time or patience to deal with.

It shouldn't be so strange that after his rejection, she had changed. She moved on to someone who had always wanted her, just as it was supposed to be. Sasuke should feel relieved, not deliberate uselessly over this matter that didn't even affect him. It was simply a foregone conclusion that Sakura chose Naruto.

And yet, he couldn't forget it, this sense of wrongness in the loving picture they had created before his perceptive eyes.

to be continued...

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