Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: After war. Sasuke is still suspected and Sakura is his ticket to regaining Konoha's trust.

Rating: T

The Difference Between Moving In and Moving On

XXXV

Sasuke left.

Numbly, Sakura entered the apartment and shut the door with a soft click, leaning her back on it. Then she wondered why something she had been looking forward to at the beginning of the month would hurt her so much now.

It seemed that regardless of what she felt for him, Sasuke walking out of her life would always be painful to her. Sakura chuckled as she slid down to the ground, then released a small sob.

Ever since he had used that genjutsu on her in the war, she knew that she was nothing to Sasuke. He didn't want her affection or anything else from her, so she resolved herself to grant his wishes, bury these feelings and forget that she'd ever loved. She wanted to cut herself off from him, but no matter what she tried, he found a way to get under her skin. And with his every kind gesture she foolishly allowed herself to hope that he cared about her, if only a little.

She was such an idiot. Such a stupid idiot.

Sakura rubbed at her face furiously, wiping away the wetness at the corners of her eyes. This wasn't the first time he walked out of her life and just like when she'd been thirteen, she would pick herself up and move on with her life – though this time with a different goal in mind. She was not going to bring him back, as this purpose had been fulfilled – she was going to learn how to get rid of the longing that was coiled around her limbs, free herself from these restraining manacles.

And with time, she believed that she would succeed.

Sakura went on with her daily routine as if it hadn't been interrupted already, though when she prepared dinner, she had to put the extra set of dishes back into the cabinet, reminding herself that she was going to eat alone from now on. And when she went to sleep, sinking into the soft mattress, the strong scent of its previous occupant surrounded her and she realized that she had laid in Sasuke's futon by mistake. The stinging in her chest turned unbearable and, before she knew it, she was clutching and weeping into the pillow that smelled like him. Under the cover of the night, she finally allowed herself to release the pent up emotions, promising futilely that this would be definitely the last time she cried because of him.

XXXVI

Sakura didn't call after him, which made it only easier to walk away. Sasuke wasn't in the mood for heartfelt pleas and tearful goodbyes. As a swordsman, he preferred a clean cut with a sharpened blade, not a jagged, bloody mess made by a dull one. Sakura desired to separate from him both personally and professionally and even if she tried to hide it, he knew he overstayed his welcome. Causing her more pain when she still didn't recover from the war would have gone against his code of honour.

Sasuke arrived at his new, temporary residence – an empty apartment, slightly bigger than Sakura's, right next to the Uchiha district. He chose this location because of the construction that would soon take place there.

The place was barren, but Sasuke didn't mind it. He didn't need much and there was no point in making himself at home when he knew he wouldn't stay there long.

However, the feeling of emptiness only grew within the apartment's walls, though he didn't realize what was its real cause. Not until he laid in his new futon and tried to fall asleep without the soft breathing and warm presence nearby to lull him.

Sasuke banged his fist on the floor in frustration, then got up and went for a late night walk.

It was only a coincidence that he passed by Sakura's apartment block on his way. He surely didn't plan to briefly stop and look up at her windows. The lights were off but the curtains weren't drawn. Sasuke remembered that he had always had to cover the windows, because Sakura didn't care if sunlight woke her up.

Realizing what he was doing, the Uchiha cursed under his breath and hurried along on his walk. He had no reason to be there.

He would avoid going this way in the future.

XXXVII

Sasuke didn't understand what was the purpose of having a homecoming party, especially since he moved into his new house long before the construction in the whole Uchiha district was finished. But Naruto insisted and wheedled in his irritating way so much that Sasuke reluctantly agreed.

He came to regret this.

His living room was noisy and packed with their group of friends – or rather they were Naruto's friends but for Sasuke mere acquaintances he was just more familiar with. Some of them he didn't mind – like Shikamaru or Shino, others were getting on his nerves with their loudness – cue Lee – and a few he really wanted to throw out. Ino and Sai, who were shamelessly making out on his couch, belonged to that last category. They were saved only thanks to Naruto who was taking up all of Sasuke's time and attention in his typical fashion.

Surprisingly, the one who showed up and was currently accompanying both him and Naruto, was Sakura. This gave the blond all the more reason to celebrate the complete team reunion of all members. At different points in the evening even Kakashi and Yamato dropped by for a short while to congratulate Sasuke before disappearing again.

"Hey, hey, I just thought of something, Sakura-chan and Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed. "Sasuke's all settled down, got the house and stuff, so he can go on missions with us! Just like in the old times!"

Sasuke grunted when he was clapped on the back. Naruto was well-informed, in fact Sasuke could have returned to active duty earlier, but he had wanted to finalize the construction in the district first. Also, there was a matter of Sakura not rejoining Team Seven. Sasuke was sure that she still hadn't informed Naruto of her decision, otherwise he would have heard his best friend's complaints by now.

"Let's toast! To our team!" Naruto raised his cup of sake and they had no choice but to follow suit, Sasuke with a perfect poker face and Sakura with a smile so deceptive, he would've been fooled if he didn't know the truth. Predictably, Naruto didn't notice anything amiss with them.

Throughout the evening, Sakura's happy facade didn't crack. Sasuke observed it over the rim of his cup, surreptitiously also keeping tabs on her alcohol intake. He didn't want a repeat of that time she got drunk, not in his house. Drunk Sakura was dangerous – much easier to rile up and with her strength it didn't bode well for those who would get in her way. Furthermore, she was exceedingly louder and prone to profanity falling unfiltered from her mouth... mouth which was yet another problem in itself.

So far, Sakura was drinking in moderation, which was good, because Sasuke really wasn't too keen to find out her reaction if he tried to take alcohol away from her. As he watched her subtly, Sasuke's gaze lingered on her lips, cherry red from her lipstick like that time in the club, remembering the soft thanks she had whispered in his ear and the hot sensation of a kiss on his neck when he had carried her home. He caught himself staring and quickly removed his eyes to somewhere else before she noticed.

Someone – probably Ino's idea – put on the music for dancing. Rock Lee came up to Sakura and, against Sasuke's expectations, she agreed to be his partner. The Green Beast looked close to tears of youthful happiness as he led her to the free space on the floor and wrapped her in a gentle embrace for their dance. Sakura seemed to enjoy herself too, despite swaying on her feet too much, which caused her to clutch onto Lee's shoulders and lean into him more. He certainly didn't complain.

Sasuke took a swig of his sake, not even tasting it.

Sakura exchanged partners with Hinata and was now dancing with Kiba. Unlike Lee, who was cold sober, Kiba was at least tipsy and his hands began to wander a bit too much, going lower and lower... Sasuke's eye activated, Amaterasu at the ready to burn off the offending limbs, when Sakura grabbed Kiba's wrist and whispered something that had him go rapidly pale and excuse himself from her. Left without a partner, Sakura made her way to the table for a drink.

"Will you stop staring at me?" she asked Sasuke.

"I wasn't," he flatly denied. Sakura raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"I can tell when I'm observed, you know," she said, tapping her upper arm where her ANBU tattoo was hidden by the sleeve. "I felt your eyes on me the entire time I was dancing. I couldn't focus because of that, so I'm telling you to stop."

"I was only wondering if I'll have to carry you home again tonight," he replied with a bite.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'll manage." She put a full cup to her lips.

"Not if you don't stop drinking," Sasuke remarked.

She shot him an annoyed glare and gulped down her drink as if to make a point that she wasn't listening to him. She was turning to go back to her dancing when he grabbed her wrist.

"When are you going to tell Naruto?" Sasuke asked, lowering his voice so she would be the only one to hear.

"About what?" she played dumb, but he wasn't letting this one go.

"You know what," he hissed.

Sakura weighed her options, then tugged her arm free from his hold. "Let's get some fresh air," she suggested.

Sasuke nodded and followed her outside discreetly. The middle of the party wasn't the best place for this kind of discussion, you just didn't know who was eavesdropping on you. And the risk of Naruto overhearing them was too high inside.

The porch was thankfully abandoned and Sakura leaned her back against the pillar. Sasuke crossed his arms and she unconsciously mimicked him, though the chill in the air also had its hand in it.

"Well? When are you going to break the news to him? Or did you rethink this and decided to join us?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura shook her head, pink hair falling into her eyes. She pulled it from her face in a short, impatient gesture. "No, I didn't change my mind. I'm not joining Team Seven. I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't find the right time."

"Then when are you going to? You don't plan for him to find out when he requests a mission for the team, do you?"

Sakura shrugged, looking to the side. "I'll do it soon. Obviously not now, that would ruin the evening for him."

At least she cared that much. Sasuke gave her a slanted glance and tried again. For Team Seven.

"There's no chance you won't reconsider? You, of all people, want to destroy Naruto's dream?"

She swiveled to face him, her hands straightening and balling into fists. "You're in no position to lecture me, Sasuke, not after everything you did to him."

"Hn." She had a point, but that wouldn't deter him. An idea came to his mind. "How about a bet?" he suggested.

"A bet?" Sakura repeated, surprised. She didn't take Sasuke for a gambler.

"Yes, a bet. I bet I'll win a spar against you."

She snorted. "Forget it, of course you'd win-"

"Without using my Sharingan," Sasuke added and watched how her expression shifted to perplexity, then suspicion.

"This actually would give me a chance... but what's in it for you? What do you get if you win?"

"You will rejoin Team Seven."

Sakura grimaced. "Nice try, but I'm not going to change my decision because of the outcome of a spar. There's nothing in it for me."

"If you win, I can keep Naruto off your back when you tell him the news," he offered but she waved it off without much interest.

"I'll pass. I can deal with Naruto by myself, thanks."

Sasuke reevaluated his options. He had to up the stakes if this bet was going to work.

"Then I will do anything you want."

This gave Sakura a pause. "Anything? And what if I don't want anything from you?"

Sasuke eyed her impassively. "You can keep the favour and use it some other time."

Sakura bit her lower lip. "Anything, you say... I could ask you to murder someone and you'd do it?" she challenged. "Or I could make you do something humiliating. What then? Will you still accept this bet?"

If she thought she would scare him off, it didn't work. He didn't even bat an eyelash. "I'm not going to go back on my word, Sakura. You heard me once. I'll do whatever you ask of me... if you win the spar."

"And you can't use Sharingan, so your eye techniques aren't allowed, right?" she wanted to make sure.

Sasuke nodded. Sakura took a while longer, but he already knew what she was going to say.

"Alright, I'll do this. I agree to your bet," she finally declared.

Sasuke hid a triumphant smirk.

XXXVIII

It was a crisp morning, when Sasuke entered the unfamiliar training field deep in the sparsely wooded area. The craters he could spot all around meant that Sakura picked her home turf, increasing the odds in her favour even more, however he wasn't worried in the least. He expected she would use any advantage she would get.

The kunoichi was doing stretches as she waited for him. She seemed in a tiptop shape and there were no visible signs that she suffered a hangover from last night. He supposed medical ninjutsu was useful like that too.

When he approached, Sakura jumped to her feet. "Ready to lose?" she asked with a cocky grin, pulling on her black gloves.

Sasuke responded with a smirk of his own and unsheathed his blade, eyes devoid of red per their agreement. The surge of excitement and anticipation went through his body, energizing him and bringing everything into focus. He finally got to spar with a Kage-level ninja other than Naruto, someone whose moves he didn't know and who most probably learned quite a few new tricks in the ANBU.

"Show me what you've got, Sakura," he replied arrogantly, motioning for her to attack.

Her grin turned feral and she charged.

"Shannaro!"

The booms of Sakura's earth-shattering punches echoed in the woods surrounding the training field, but didn't raise any alarm in the neighbouring grounds, most probably because the commotion coming from the place wasn't anything unusual. After all, Sakura trained there on a regular basis and her attacks didn't belong to the quiet sort.

Just as Sasuke predicted, the swings she took at him in the beginning were only meant to corner him into the traps she had prepared. Even with knowing that, her excellent handiwork almost caught him a few times. Sasuke didn't escape all the traps unscathed, not without Sharingan at his disposal, but he was fairly well off, all things considered. A few scratches weren't going to slow him down.

With a burst of speed, he appeared behind her back, wanting to chop her neck and render her unconscious, but Sakura parried the blow and jumped back to create space between them. She pulled out a scroll and with a drop of chakra fluidly unsealed from it two large battle axes, which she swung around menacingly.

Sasuke lifted a brow. "This is something new," he muttered. He didn't remember if he'd ever faced an ax-wielder. The fight was getting more and more interesting by a second.

Sakura grinned. "Tenten taught me a thing or two."

"Then let's see how good of a teacher she is."

Usually, one would expect axes to be too heavy and impractical in a ninja battle or only good for a one-hit attack before being discarded, but in Sakura's strong hands they transformed into deadly weapons, whirling with unbelievable speed. Sasuke found himself hard-pressed to avoid being struck as he fended off her dual-handed attacks with just his katana.

"Chidori Nagashi!" he released the electrical current, hoping to slow down her movements. For a few seconds it worked and Sakura's body buckled. He took the opportunity to disarm her, but she retaliated with a kick to his wrist, which made him drop his sword to the ground. Before he could get it back, she charged at him and they engaged in a furious hand to hand combat. Sasuke would have admired her graceful dodges and fluid counters if he had the time. He was dancing on the tightrope, one little mistake was all required for him to lose because fighting Sakura at the close range was like a suicide, one glancing hit was all it could take to knock him out.

Sasuke felt the thrill of a good fight build up, now certain that even if he was allowed to use the Sharingan, there was no guarantee it would have helped him much. Just like Naruto, Sakura grew into an opponent he had to treat seriously. He found it peculiar that she didn't use her seal, as if she was evening the playing field by handicapping herself equally to him.

The ninja retreated, throwing a few shuriken to cover his escape, then weaved the signs and released a large fireball, but Sakura didn't let it catch her off guard. She dropped to the ground and a wall of earth sprung up, shielding her from the flames. It seemed that she took lessons not only from Tenten, as this move was one of Kakashi's.

A shuriken with an explosive tag attached to the handle flew from the side of the wall and exploded sending Sakura right into the punch which slammed her into a tree... where she dispersed in a puff of smoke.

A clone! Where's the real one? Sasuke looked around frantically. If he used the Sharingan, he wouldn't have fallen for her ruse.

Two hands burst out of the ground and caught one of his ankles, the other one slipped from the grasp when he backpedaled away in a last ditch effort not to be buried alive. With the harsh tug, Sasuke fell on his back and Sakura, who had emerged from the ground, was already on top of him with a kunai poised at his throat. She let a victorious smirk unfurl, but his smug expression and a pointed look made her glance down.

Sakura cursed.

Sasuke's kunai was aimed at her kidney.

They were at a stalemate.

"What now?" Sasuke questioned, amused.

"We didn't plan for a draw. So the bet is off," Sakura suggested.

"But if no one won, then we both lost the wager," he calmly pointed out.

Her eyes flashed with determination and the kunai's tip prickled his jugular. "No. I won."

"How so?" Sasuke just increased the pressure of his kunai, making a small hole in her clothes.

"If you stab me, I can release the seal and heal myself instantly. You can't do the same if I slit your throat, so I'm at an advantage. I win," Sakura explained.

"You don't win until I surrender," he objected.

She gritted her teeth. "Don't test me, Sasuke. Do you really want me to stab you?"

"Go ahead. I'm not giving up," he said with conviction, dark eyes so infuriatingly confident in her inability to go through with her threat, that she was strongly tempted to prove him wrong.

Instead, Sakura leaned closer to his face. "Is making Naruto's wish come true that important to you? You'd risk a fatal wound for it?" There was a genuine bafflement in there, mixed with frustration. She just couldn't figure him out.

"You'd rather fatally wound me than join Team Seven again?" Sasuke shot back.

Sakura slightly recoiled, then regarded him with a pure irritation. "Why are you going so far for this? Don't pretend that you want me to come back. The only teammate you've ever cared for is Naruto, not me."

"I've never said anything like that."

"You didn't have to say it! It's not like you can hide something so obvious!" Sakura snapped, bending even closer, her pink hair brushing lightly against his cheek. It was becoming hard to ignore the warmth radiating off her and filling the slim space between their bodies. "I know you don't really want me back on the team and if you're doing this just out of loyalty to Naruto, then don't bother!"

"Shut up," Sasuke growled suddenly, his dark eyes ignited with a fire akin to Amaterasu.

Sakura parted her lips, but she was cut off when something incredibly soft pressed up against them, muffling her response. In a while she forgot what she had wanted to say and why – all that existed was the insistent, warm pressure on her mouth and with a startled moan, she surrendered to it.

The kunoichi was so out of it, she was completely unprepared when Sasuke knocked the kunai from her grasp and flipped them around, reversing their positions. Sakura looked up at him, breathing hard after the kiss, her eyes deep green and clouded with pleasure. He put his kunai to her neck.

"I win," Sasuke declared raspily. He was also panting and out of breath. "You're going back... to Team Seven."

Sakura's eyes cleared and filled with anger as she realized what he'd done to her. He used her feelings against her, just to get his way, nothing more. Her lips burned and tingled and she could still taste him in her mouth.

"You... you bastard," she whispered, blinking the tears away. Her first kiss... taken like that... It was supposed to matter, not to be used as the means to an end!

"Do you admit defeat?" Sasuke asked. He didn't plan to let her up without this.

"Yes," she spat out bitterly. "I... lost."

He nodded, putting away the kunai... and grabbing the hand that she tried to slap him with.

"I won't forgive you for this," she snarled. "I don't care that you did it for Naruto's sake, it was still low. Now get off."

She tried to wrench her arm away, but Sasuke pinned her down with a growl, then leaned down, looking at her threateningly.

"You should stop yammering about the idiot," he said, his breath fanning her face. "When did I say I was doing anything for him?"

She looked at him incredulously. "There's no other reason for you to make that bet."

"Really? Can't you think of anything else?"

"Like what?" she spat out coldly. "Am I supposed to believe that you did it because you like me? I'm not delusional, Sasuke. You can't stand me."

"Yes..." he agreed and the admission of his loathing for her pierced through her defenses as easily as if they were smoke. Sakura closed her eyes. She didn't want to see the sneer of derision that must have appeared on his face.

She just wanted to be left alone.

"... I can't stand how damn annoying you are," Sasuke finished.

Her eyelids flew open and once again, she was incensed at him. "And what is that supposed to mean?" she practically hissed. Why did he always call her that? Was this some sort of the code she wasn't privy to? This was getting on her nerves.

"It means you can't take a fucking hint," he growled.

Sasuke glared down, taking her in – she was laying beneath him, subdued and angry, but still so annoyingly clueless. The feeling he had been suppressing ever since that night he'd held her in his arms, this feeling of unabashed want resurfaced and took over him.

His hand curled in the pink locks and he pulled her up into a kiss.

Sakura gasped into his mouth in surprise. The sound transformed into a moan of pleasure when his lips glided across hers and he nibbled sharply on her soft lower lip. A tongue poked out and traced her opening before slipping in without hesitation.

The heat descended and enveloped her body as her own slick appendage was drawn into a duel with his. At some point her hands were freed and she grabbed the back of his head, pulling him closer. Sasuke's palm went under her back and pressed her flush against his chest.

They broke apart, gasping desperately for breath. Sakura's eyes were hazy and she swallowed before trying to speak.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun..." she called him in her old, affectionate way and he felt like the king of the world – his rightful status was finally restored. "I... I don't understand..." Sakura looked at him in askance, adorably confused.

"Annoying," Sasuke muttered and swooped down for another passionate kiss that elicited all these delicious moans from her.

He was resolved to kiss her senseless as many times as she needed to understand his meaning. And he would enjoy every second of the process.

The End

AN: Thanks to all of my dear readers and reviewers! Without your support I wouldn't have managed to write this story past second chapter.

I will be very happy to hear your thoughts on this story. :)