Set Post-War and Pre-Gaiden.

A/N: Here I go again, casually slipping in a one-shot amidst of other obligations.. no shame. Reviews are so so appreciated!

Rated T: For Sexually Suggestive Themes.

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

.

.

Uchiha's Property

.

.

"I'm sorry, things have been so hectic at the hospital lately, it's been keeping me right on my toes."

"Well, when you find some time, you should drop by more often. We've missed your company, Sakura-chan.."

The raven-haired man proceeded to listen idly at the sound of the cherry-blossom Kunoichi's warm laughter with some people he didn't know. The two of them had been out on a village walk during a sunny late afternoon before heading to the front gates, until she had run into two guys who began to closely chat with her as if they were Sasuke and Naruto themselves. It was only after she had asked him if it was okay that they stopped here for a bit before continuing with their walk, that he had replied with a nod in reluctant approval.

By the way, this wasn't just any sunny afternoon. Today was the day Sasuke was due back to his missions after staying in the Leaf for the past two days on report duty. During his stay here, he had made sure all of his tasks with Kakashi had been settled before spending the rest of the time with the person that mattered most to him since the word 'love' had been inputted back into his life dictionary.

There was only one concern regarding this.

The Uchiha had been in a terribly unpleasant mood.

One would think that this shouldn't be the case; seeing as it was his first return to Konoha since departing for his journey of redemption, everything was set up for nothing but good vibes and happy energy now that he was reunited with the person he was meant to be with.

Only, things didn't seem to be so easy. He had nobody to blame for that but himself- it had been years since he last spent quality time in the Leaf Village. Even when he had first passed judgement after the defeat of Kaguya, he had only spent a short time here, enough to recuperate and to be well-fed before leaving again. He definitely had not stayed long enough since his Genin days to know that Sakura was now working full-time shifts at the hospital, that she didn't have all the time in the world to follow him around like she did before, and also that she was now unnecessarily, annoyingly popular with the male population of the Leaf.

Though they hadn't stopped for long at all, it seemed like an eternity for him until they finally started their walk again. She bidded goodbye to the two guys, and he made sure to watch them carefully for any signs of longing as they parted with her.

"You seem rather well-acquainted with a bunch of new people lately." Sasuke stated cooly, diverting his eyes back straight ahead.

"Those guys?" The pink-haired girl questioned, "They've actually been around for awhile- they run the taiyaki shop together as friends. It's because you-"

Sakura paused in her sentence, immediately thinning her lips to refrain from saying anything unwarranted. Sasuke watched her from the corner of his eye, noting the way her lids became hooded with sadness.

It's because you weren't here for awhile.. otherwise you'd know.

.. is what he knew she was going to say.

This is exactly what he meant. Over the span of three years, you'd be surprised at how much an old village has changed, yet at the same time not in the slightest. He still felt like he knew this place like the back of his hand, and it was true, he navigated himself around as if he had never even left.

"As if he had never even left", though, was the biggest lie a Shinobi could tell for as long as they knew who Sasuke Uchiha was.

This is because it was painfully obvious to everyone that he did, in fact, leave. Even if he was apart of the once top-prestigious clan of the village, even if this was the place he had found the true meaning of friendship and bonds, it still doesn't change the fact that he once abandoned it. And like he said before, in the span of three years, it bothered him that many things were now alien to him- especially when it came to Sakura.

One of the most important things, was that he had been unaware of the fact that she had been the most eligible bachelorette for the longest time, and he had no idea, nor cared to know until he finally realized what he had thrown away for mere revenge.

The atmosphere turned slightly awkward after that. Nevertheless, the loud, active environment of Konoha's streets hadn't ceased.

"Do you see? That's him, rumors say he's back for awhile and he's off again soon."

"Wow.. live in the flesh, huh? I guess Sakura-chan will have to be bothered later, then."

"Wait, they're actually together? I thought she'd long given up on that bastard."

At the sound of the near but distant whispers, the Uchiha narrowed his eyes and tried with all of his strength not to punch anybody in the face. Himself being unaware of his partner's spiked desirability was one thing, but it was another when people were unaware of him, his very existence in her life. Even if they knew, did they think so little of him that they could freely decide to find her the moment he stepped foot outside of the gates? Clearly, the Uchiha name had fallen a considerable degree if that were so.

Again, his eyes traveled to the petite girl walking beside him, close enough so that their shoulders were inches apart. She seemed to be relatively oblivious to the whispers around them. Her innocence didn't do anything but bother him even more.

"Oh!"

He was took back by her sudden, wide viridian eyes in realization as her hands clapped together in unison.

"I forgot to remind the two of them to make reservations for tonight!"

At this, the Uchiha clenched his teeth in further annoyance before deadpanning. "What's tonight?"

"I'm meeting Ino, Hinata and those guys plus another for lunch after and possibly go out later tonight for a drink." She responded, a slightly worried look forming in her expression, though Sasuke was sure it was trivial compared to his concerns.

"Although I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle it, since I do have work tomorrow first thing in the morning..."

He knew it. He loved her and all, but like hell was that the most important thing right now. He had no idea in the world how Naruto or Sai could possibly be alright with their women being present at that sort of thing. Well.. frankly, he would have been indifferent towards it himself, if not for the fact that Hinata was not the one swarmed with an army of men. Nor was Ino.

Is it just because he wasn't familiar with them that he had felt this way? Maybe they were actually nice people. Nice people who didn't harbour any intention to do indecent things with his girlfriend in his absence.

Yeah, right. Like he was just going to settle for that.

"You're saying you're joining them right after?"

His question was responded with a single nod, and he remained silent after that.

After making their way further down the pathways of the Leaf, it wasn't long before they had finally gotten close to the tall gates that marked the exit of the village. As the two of them began to near the border between entrance and exit, Sakura tried her best to look normal even though she felt her heart beginning to go crazy.

The past few days were good, but it wasn't great. She felt guilty because her duties at the hospital kept her for so long most of the time, leaving Sasuke either by himself in her house or being forcibly entertained by the other members of their gang. They did have good moments together when she managed to find time away from her obligations, though. After all, they got to have dinner with eachother every night since he was here. Even so, she felt that it hadn't been enough.

She snuck a look at the raven-haired man beside her, who appeared nonchalant and indifferent towards the fact that they were about to part. Sometimes she wondered if he really was interested in her romantically, or if it was all just a facade.

As immature as it sounded, she was nervous as to how they were going to bid eachother goodbye. When Sasuke had left the village on his journey, she remembered all too well his confession of love as he prodded her forehead with the poke of his finger. That alone meant more to her than she would ever know.

So, at this point, doesn't this mean they should.. advance further now for the sake of being in an official relationship?

As if on cue, her feet automatically paused when they took a step outside of the gate border with Sasuke walking further in front before turning around to face her.

I don't know what I'm expecting. The pink-haired girl thought as the two of them stood in what seemed like awkward eye contact for awhile. The atmosphere had clearly read, "This is the moment where we split again and who knows when we'll see eachother next."

Part of her became disappointed that he hadn't initiated anything already. Instead, his gaze at her seemed blank, as if his thoughts had been occupied by something else.

"Uh, um.." She began, interrupting the tense air and trying her best not to let the disappointment get to her.

Ah, to hell with it. What kind of romantic guy did she think he was? He came back to see her for three days and that was good enough for her. She didn't want to ask for too much.

"Okay, I'll see you soon, then!"

Sakura flashed a silly grin before turning her back on him, though it seemed obvious to the Uchiha that she had been expecting more than what she settled for.

As she headed in the opposite direction back towards the village, the raven-haired man narrowed his eyes in dissatisfaction while he observed her petite but fit frame. The entire time, he was still unsettled by the fact that the moment they parted here, Sakura would end up being the prize in a free-for-all.

At that moment, he decided.

She wanted more?

Good. Because he wasn't about to be finished with her yet. After all, Uchiha's are territorial. It's in their blood. Until he had marked his territory on what clearly belonged to him, he wasn't going to be satisfied until everybody else in this village knew.

And if they still couldn't see it, then he just had to make it more obvious.

His obsidian orbs immediately travelled to the guards standing inside a wooden cubicle where they watched the gate. Izumo and Kotetsu seemed to be busy chatting, laughing at something Sasuke could care less about as he then took advantage of their distraction and sped towards the pink-haired girl.

Sakura let out a little gasp as she felt a harsh grip on her wrist, turning her head around to meet eyes with the Uchiha, who looked a lot more fierce than he was a few moments ago. It wasn't until he began pulling her back that she was forced to walk the other direction, away from the village.

"S-Sasuke-kun!? What are you doing?"

Despite receiving no reply whatsoever, the viridian-eyed girl looked back at the village as she continued letting herself be lead to a forested area on the side of the gates. She had no idea what had gotten into the Uchiha all of a sudden, but it started to make her nervous.

Her eyes locked down at his tight grip on her wrist, and she furrowed her brows at the change in his attitude before asking him once more.

"Sasuke-kun." She started, this time with more firmness in her tone. "What are you-"

His footsteps stopped in a sudden harsh manner, and before she knew it, his cloak had swirled around with a swoosh along with his entire body. He took advantage of the momentum and pulled her wrist forward so that she leaned in closer to him, their faces inches apart.

The pink-haired girls' eyes widened in horror as they met with crimson red swirls, but before she even let out a gasp and had the chance to react further, he proceeded to push her until her back had come in contact with the tree behind her.

"What am I doing?" Sasuke slurred in a low tone, cocking his head to the side ominously.

If she didn't know better, she would've thought he was ready to hurt her. A sinking feeling in her stomach took place as she watched his Sharingan shine, brought into light by the contrast of his dark bangs hanging on the sides of his face. She had never seen him act this way to her before- it was shrouded in mystery.

A strong hand then slammed itself above her head at the bark, resting there while he began to lower his forehead onto hers until the back of her head was also pressed against the tree. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, the two of them had never been this close. She felt herself getting smaller in his presence as he towered over her, feeling like she would definitely be eaten alive if she tried to make any unnecessary movements.

A sly grin crept up the corners of his lips, his crimson eyes staring straight into her viridian orbs as he finished his words.

"Marking my territory."

The light blonde girl paced back and forth alongside the fried chicken shop, muttering a few unintelligible phrases to herself in distinct annoyance.

"Oh man, where is that big-forehead girl?! I'm seriously starving!"

"Maybe something came up at the hospital?" The Hyuuga heiress said in a soft tone, attempting to both justify the medic Kunoichi as well as cool Ino down.

"Hah, no way." Ino retorted, shooting her a look of disbelief. The three guys eyed the blonde from their seat as they rested on a long wooden bench outside of the store, looking rather impatient themselves.

"Sakura specifically pleaded, begged Tsunade to relieve her of her duties today because the Uchiha had to depart again.. at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to stop and have a little fun before he left."

As she said this, the girl with the dark hair blushed at the thought. "I don't imagine Sasuke-san to-"

"Sorry I'm late everybody!"

Suddenly, the two of them turned around to finally find the person they had been waiting for. The three men on the side were especially thrilled at the sound of her voice as they stood up in unison.

The pink-haired girl stood in front of the crowd, hoping she didn't look as flushed as she felt. Little did they know, she could barely hold herself up. Nevertheless, she managed to force a sheepish smile of innocence.

Unfortunately, it didn't help as she was then faced with pairs of eyes staring at her in what seemed like frozen in shock. She raised an eyebrow at her audience, noting the embarrassed stares from even strangers that walked by.

"Mama, mama! What're those on onee-san's neck?"

It wasn't until she had heard the voice of a tiny child walking by who had been hurried away from her mother, that she widened her own eyes in sudden realization and felt a huge sense of urgency.

Reflexively, she slammed her hand against the side of her neck, while her other hand grasped the cloth of her clothing at her chest. She thought her shirt was high enough to cover it all.

"W-What happened, Sakura-san?" The pink-haired girl turned beet red as the Hyuuga heiress inched herself closer, raising a hand out into the air in front if her as if she wanted to help.

Oh, Hinata. The blonde smirked, an amused expression forming on her face as she crossed her arms.

"Um," Sakura glanced around nervously, her mouth half-open as she couldn't find the right words to put into her mouth.

"I must've just had an allergic reaction to something. Don't worry about it!"

At this, the smirk on the blonde grew wider as she brought herself closer to her best friend, walking with a dominant and playful stride.

"Sakura Haruno. I've known you for almost my entire life, I'm actually insulted that I didn't know you had allergies."

The pink-haired girl observed as the blonde then shoved her face in front of hers, which only made her press harder on her neck.

"What're you allergic to? Sasuke?"

The viridian-eyed girl turned an even darker shade of red, completely speechless at her best friends honesty. Meanwhile, hearing the Uchiha-spawn's name raised a series of unpleasant looks on the faces of her admirers, who then grinded their teeth in spite and retreated into their own little group.

Sakura on the other hand, at the mention of his name, could feel as if the marks he etched into her skin had started to burn from underneath her palm. It still couldn't process in her mind what had happened awhile ago- her body was tingling in every place he had managed to touch. It made her mind go blurry, as if all her surroundings felt surreal.

Her memory flashed back to the red of his eyes, unable to tell if it were mixed with anger or lust, or both. She then replayed how her words were smothered, how she was caged by him no matter how much she tried to leave.

The vivid images inside of her head were broken by the blonde mouthing a few words at her friend, blocking the side of her mouth with her palm so that only she could see.

"I'll bet Uchiha's are pretty good, am I wrong?"

At this, Sakura angrily mouthed back a silent threat while continuing to receive smirks from her best friend.

She still wasn't entirely sure what had overcome him to do this. For whatever reason it was, it'd cause a lot of trouble for her if she didn't try to heal it up later. At this, she felt slightly annoyed despite getting a lot more than what she had originally wanted.

Sasuke-kun, I hope you're satisfied with whatever this was, she cursed to herself.

Little did she know, somewhere along the dirt pathway leading outside of the village, her curse rang through his mind as if he had physically heard it.

He may not have gotten to spend the quality time with his woman like an ideal couple should have, but the next time he returned, he could expect to see a considerable change in the way pairs of eyes followed her around like a bunch of hungry dogs. He had hoped with the parting gift he gave her, people would pick their battles before thinking about starting one with him.

Sasuke then found himself closing his eyes while an amused smirk played on his lips in triumph. With that in mind, he couldn't help but feel rather satisfied with his first visit back.

After all, he had absolutely no problem showing them how intense a Uchiha's love can be.

Fin.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think!

Also, if you're wondering exactly how far they went.. well, I'll let you believe what you want to believe.