Hot Springs

-xxx-

Sasuke sighed. It had been a month since Kaguya had been defeated, at great cost to the village both numbers-wise and financially, and still nothing had changed.

Why was he here? He had completed his goal in life, and whilst Tsunade and the other council members decided what to do with him, his future was truly at their mercy.

Sure, his participation in the ninja war had been stellar and Naruto would always vouch for him, but that was no guarantee that his past misdeeds would be wiped out. He wasn't naive enough to assume that everything would be forgiven.

His thoughts drifted to a certain pink-haired medic..

No. He stopped that thought right where it had started. He couldn't afford to wallow about how he had treated her, or he would surely degenerate into an inescapable ball of despair.

It was dusk as he walked along the busy streets of Konoha, bright lights lining the path advertising Ramen and various edible goods. It really was a beautiful evening, and as Sasuke walked, his steps calm and measured as always, he allowed himself a moment to take in the gentle breeze and the smell of cherry blossoms.

Soon he had reached Konoha's Hot Spring, all but deserted as the rest of the village settled down in their homes after their evening meals. This was just how he liked it though, not too dark but quiet enough that he could be left to his thoughts in peace. He knew for a fact that the Dobe would be on his fourth bowl of Ramen right about now so there'd be no chance of him barging in.

Sasuke casually started stripping his clothes off, tossing his slacks and black T-shirt adorned with the Uchiha symbol into the nearest locker. Grabbing a towel off the rack he slipped through a pair of sliding doors out into the tepid air, heading towards his usual spot in the corner of the spring between some bamboo rushes and a fountain.

As he settled into the steaming water Sasuke felt his troubles melt away, if only for a moment. His raven locks were damp now, clinging to the back of his neck as he absently swirled the water through his fingers, gracing past the taught and tired muscles of his chest to settle on the edge of the pool.

Unbidden, his thoughts landed again on the girl that had been haunting his dreams recently. The memory of Sakura, screaming at him from the acid dimension as he ran for the quickly closing portal was fresh in his mind. Sasuke had no idea how his glamourised substitution technique had suddenly worked so perfectly, neatly depositing him next to the subject of his thoughts in place of her mangled jacket. Though he was sure it had nothing to do with the desperate expression on her face as she called out just for him. Of course not.

Regardless, the memory of holding her in his arms as she fell back, exhausted, her quietly inquisitive eyes staring into his, burned.

Not long after that him and the Dobe had finished Kaguya off, resulting in the transformation of the environment around them into one of normalcy.

He still remembered the guttural panic that had overtaken him when Sakura came dangerously close to killing herself through Chakra-depletion trying to resurrect Obito. Obito, of all people! He had thought they were standing a little too close in the desert dimension, but for her to risk her life to heal him when so low on chakra.. It was only when Kakashi gently reminded her that Obito had wanted to be with Rin that she realised wasting the little chakra she had left after saving Sasuke would help nobody.

Her big heart was entirely the opposite of his own, if you could even call it that. Ice cold, Sasuke had neglected to allow himself the luxury of sincere happiness for so long he could hardly remember life in a world without hate clouding his vision. He wondered briefly what Sakura thought of him now.

He had seen something in her eyes when she had rescued him from the desert dimension, unidentifiable but warm nonetheless. Since then he'd had little contact with her. Sasuke had half-expected her to seek him out, yelling at him for attempting to kill her and Naruto in his quest for vengeance, or sobbing in happiness that he had returned to her. This, these half smiles that didn't quite reach her eyes as she gazed at him from across the ramen store, this was far worse.

Of course her smiles for Naruto were far more accommodating. Then again, Naruto hadn't abandoned her. Sasuke silently cursed himself.

*splash*

"Ouch!"

Sasuke paused in his brooding. What the hell was that? He craned his neck. It was no one on this side of the male-female divide, so who in the hell..?

"Stupid Ino, it's her fault I'm so dirty in the first place. Inviting Kiba and Sai out with us, in the heat of summer to the beach! Of course I was gonna get thrown in, now the sand is all stuck to my skin."

Sasuke tensed. Somehow the idea of that mutt and his emotionless replacement touching Sakura in a bikini didn't sit well with him. He strained his ears to listen as she continued, mere feet away on the other side of the bamboo divider.

"Honestly what is with my life right now. With him as well. I really don't know what to do."

Sasuke frowned deeply. Him? Had Sakura gotten a boyfriend while he'd been away? He shook his head. Of course she probably had. They had been in the middle of a war but she was still young and attractive.. A low growl escaped his throat unconsciously as he considered the idea of guys hitting on her in the medical tent.

Not that it concerned him, of course.

He didn't care about Sakura anymore. He had severed that bond years ago. She would have rescued anyone in his situation in the sand dimension, she was a healing nin for kami's sake. It would be stupid for him to see it as anything else.

But he couldn't help but think of how the bare skin of her arm, fragile and acid burnt as he held her, had felt as she'd stared at him, and the brief second he had allowed himself to imagine a life on that first path that he had been so against during his quest for revenge. He had wanted to restore his clan, and really Sakura was the only kunoichi worthy of the Uchiha name..

Not that it concerned him, of course.

"But god, his eyes. I could have ravished him on the spot."

That caught Sasuke's attention.

"Honestly if I hadn't been so injured.."

Sakura let out a throaty groan, and Sasuke's heart raced.

All previous thoughts aside, when had he stopped to consider Sakura's feelings before? To continue being selfish for a little while longer wouldn't be so bad.. After all no other guy was of the same calibre as an Uchiha, and Sasuke was sure he could convince Sakura of that too..

Sasuke smirked darkly.

His wicked thoughts stopped abruptly when he heard gentle sobs drifting across the barrier between their backs. His image of Sakura was of a carefree and smiling woman, she reminded him of his mother in that respect, annoying sometimes but strong in her opinions and loving. Whoever had hurt her.. an image of her sobbing, hair cut in the forest of death drifted into his head.. Sasuke would break his neck.

"I thought I was over it! Over him! I might as well be invisible for all the attention he's given me. He doesn't find me attractive at all! And he tried to kill me!"

Sasuke's breath caught in his throat.

"If he cared about me at all he never would have done that, I'm obviously not anybody special to him. It's not like he'd ever want me to be an Uchiha, he's probably got other girls with much more unique capabilities than chakra control lined up for that."

Sasuke was done with being passive. In one swift movement he rose fluidly from his seat in the scalding water and swung his leg up and over the fence to the other half of the hot spring.

Sakura yelped. "Sasuke-Kun?!"

Sasuke simply stared at her, his features dark.

"Sakura. you're still annoying."

Sakura gazed back, bewildered and looking a cross between a frightened rabbit and Naruto being caught stealing instant Ramen.

"You.." Sasuke sighed agitatedly, running his fingers through his jet black hair and glancing away.

"You are the most special.. person.. I have, Sakura."

Sakura's face suddenly took on a deep hue of pink, she drew in a deep gasp as the colour rose to her cheekbones and her emerald eyes widened further.

Sasuke stole a glance at her, wondering why she'd had such an extreme reaction to his words. It's not like he'd been that subtle, he was sure that most of their eye contact in the past had been far from innocent.

It was then that he noticed where her gaze had fallen, and the faintest hint of a blush rose to his face.

Shit.

He had forgotten the towel.

A.N Hi! Thankyou for reading this :) I haven't found a lot of fanfic for these two that leads on from recent chapters, so I've decided to attempt a few myself XD This is my third fanfic, so any constructive criticism or general tips would be much appreciated! I've been lucky enough to visit Japan in the summertime last year so hopefully I captured the feel a little. Writing Sauce is really hard so sorry if you found him a little OOC, I feel like even though he doesn't talk much he thinks a lot (particularly when he's having eye smex with Sakura ;D)