The version with more explicit/detailed scenes is on aO3 under bebluvsnaru

This was a one-shot/companion story to Hinata's story, which I turned into a stand alone story... but there may still be some details that are filled in by the original story.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy

Disclaimer:: I own nothing. But I like writing stories about Masashi Kishimoto's characters.

Part One

Sakura watched Naruto run from her door into the night after Hinata. The fear in his face and the urgency in his continence made her heart ache. Not only because of her friends' crisis, but also because she wanted so badly for someone to feel that way about her.

More specifically, she wanted Sasuke to feel that way about her. She had nearly given up. She could not take the ups and downs between them. Sasuke went from hot to cold in a matter of hours. She woke up every day with dread in the pit of her stomach. Certain that he had left the village without saying good bye again.

She spent the first couple of years after the war, watching him change for the better. No longer consumed by revenge and anger and a thirst for power, he became obsessed with redemption, traveling from village to village, looking for people to save, and in the process, saving himself. He accepted his bond with Naruto. He accepted, whether good or bad, that the village hidden in the leaves was his home. She finally saw a chance to be a part of his life. To maybe help him find the salvation that he was searching for. But after two and a half years, not much had changed between them. He tolerated her presence most of the time, and when he did not, he stayed away… usually for weeks at a time.

Then finally they had their first kiss. But this only made things more complicated. Afterwards, Sasuke was gone more often and more erratically. When he did return, he was attempting to fill up every intimate space in her life. And as soon as she let him have her heart once more, he was gone with it again.

Their first kiss happened one night at the end of one of their awkward pseudo-dates. Earlier that evening, they met up with the rest of the group at a restaurant. Ino, Sai, Shikamaru, Temari, Choji, and Karui were there, so it was more like a large group date, being that everyone was either dating or married with the exception of Sasuke and Sakura.

As usual this made Sasuke uncomfortable. If Naruto and Hinata were there, he may have stuck it out. But since the newlyweds chose to skip again, Sakura found herself following Sasuke out of the restaurant soon after the appetizers were served.

"We couldn't have stayed a bit longer?" Sakura asked, attempting to keep up with Sasuke as he stalked down the street.

"I told you that you could've stayed." Sasuke replied coldly. "I was ready to go."

Sakura did not know where Sasuke disappeared to at night. She assumed he had a place somewhere in the old section of the village, where the Uchiha clan used to reside. But he never invited her there. He would just appear at her place when he was ready to see her. Or they met somewhere in the street.

"Where are you going then?" Sakura asked, determined to not let Sasuke end the night so abruptly.

"I have some business to discuss with Naruto. I've made contact with some of my old comrades from the time when I lived separate from Konoha."

"You mean, Karin?" Sakura asked, sharply. Maybe a little too sharply, because Sasuke looked at her with a quizzical expression on his face.

"Yes. I mean Karin… and Jugo and Suigetsu." Sasuke sounded irritated. He lengthened his strides even more. "I'll see you later."

"Wait!" Sakura kept in stride with him, not dissuaded. "You can't just go over to Naruto's house uninvited. He and Hinata are newlyweds. I'm sure they need their privacy… If you know what I mean."

"This is more important." Sasuke's voice continued to have its hard edge. He did not know what she meant. He made no time in his life for relationships, therefore he could not grasp why and how others might.

They turned into the yard of the new Uzumaki house. Sakura had been impressed with Naruto's initiative when he purchased the place. It was a nice house. He was actually becoming a very good husband.

Sasuke walked up to the door, and without bothering to knock, he walked right in. Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but then shut it again. Questioning Sasuke's behavior was an exercise in futility. For someone who built hundred foot walls around himself, Sasuke had no concept of boundaries when it came to other people. He was consistently walking through unlocked doors without invitation, and making himself at home in other people's spaces.

The living room was empty. There was a half eaten dinner on the table, but Hinata and Naruto were no where in sight. Sakura followed Sasuke further into the house. There were muffled sounds coming from the back, in the laundry room area.

The hairs on the back of Sakura's neck stood up. She wanted to grab Sasuke's arm and pull him back, almost certain about what they were going to walk in on. But another part of her was curious to see how Sasuke would react.

Consumed by his quest to get away from Sakura, Sasuke continued to follow the sounds to the laundry room.

The door sat wide open. Sakura could not see inside, but she could see Sasuke's body stiffen as he got an eye full. The sounds of pleasure coming from inside the room did not stop. Both Naruto and Hinata were too wrapped up in each other to notice that they had a spectator.

Sasuke stood there for almost a minute. He seemed to be right smack in the middle of shock and intrigue. Finally, he quietly backed up and turned around, running into Sakura. He looked down at her, realizing she was still there too. His eyes were deep pools of embarrassment and lust.

Now Sakura was becoming turned on by how turned on Sasuke was, and the sounds of sex, coming from the laundry room, had only become louder. She reached up and pulled the back of his head down to her.

Usually this would have elicited a severe reaction from Sasuke. But now, he let her kiss him. Willingly opening his mouth to except her tongue, pulling her closer, so their bodies were against one another.

Sakura thought maybe for a second she was dreaming. All the time she longed for him, she never allowed herself to believe that he longed for her back. But she could feel the hunger in his kiss, as if he had been desiring to kiss her for years.

They kissed each other for a moment until Sasuke remembered himself and pulled back. He moved his hands from around her waist to her shoulders, and then he pushed her back so they were an arm's length apart.

He grumbled, "I'll talk to Naruto in the morning."

Sasuke walked around her and out of the door without another word. And Sakura watched him go before she quickly left the house herself.

Needless to say, Naruto and Hinata never knew that they were the reason for Sasuke and Sakura's first kiss.

Sasuke was pissed at himself. He had indulged in a vulnerable moment with Sakura. And he knew that had opened a can of worms that he was not ready to open.

She would not let the kiss go easily. He would have to hurt her bad enough that she was forced to accept that the kiss was a onetime deal and would never happen again. He did not want to hurt Sakura. That was the biggest obstacle that stood between them. The fact that he really did care about her.

If she had been expendable, like all of the other women in his life, he would have taken her to bed, right then and there, and been done with it. But that would not have been enough.

It had not been enough that he accepted Naruto's friendship. That he gave into his connection to Konoha and came back from time to time. That he allowed himself a moderately affectionate relationship with her. He had done all these things not just for himself, but also for her.

But it was still not enough. She wanted him to love her. The way that Naruto loved Hinata. With marriage, and living in each other's space, and nights like the one that they had walked in on.

Sasuke knew he was not capable of any of that. And after all these years, Sakura still did not understand who he truly was. Her feelings were for a figment of her imagination and not actually for him. She would be nothing but disappointed in a relationship with him.

But kissing Sakura had felt so good at the time that it had happened, he was almost unable to stop himself from going further. Then right afterwards, he felt nothing but guilt and disgust. He knew he had to leave the village again for awhile. He only wanted her more and more with each day, and he was beginning to resent her for the way she was making him feel.

He wandered out of the village a few days later without a clear destination, but eventually found himself in a small village right near Orochimaru's western hide out in Kusagakure. The sannin had not bothered to move the locations of any of his hideouts after Sasuke defected back to Konohagakure. It was a clear message to Sasuke that the Uchiha was not as powerful as he thought. And Sasuke would have been angry if he actually had an ounce of respect left for his pathetic ex- mentor.

The evening after Sasuke arrived, Jugo showed up to the small motel where Sasuke was staying. Sasuke knew that Jugo would find him as soon as he entered the vicinity. Though Jugo worked for Orochimaru, he was still loyal to Sasuke.

Karin was a different story. He was happy to hear that she had moved further away, and was now on Demon island, heading Orochimaru's lab.

He had made more than a few mistakes with Karin. She claimed to hate him after he used her as a pawn to trap Danzo and almost killed her. But soon after the fourth war ended, she was back to vying for his attention.

Sasuke used her for other purposes this time. She became a body when he needed a body. He never understood why she continued to allow him back in her bed, despite how badly he treated her. And too late, he realized he should have been the one to end the affair long ago.

After the last time he called her Sakura instead of Karin while they had sex, she flew in to a rage and refused to see him again. He knew if he followed her, she would give in. But it was better to leave it done and over with. He had toyed with Karin's fragile mental state for far too long.

"What brings you here?" Jugo asked, throwing back a drink at the bar.

"My instincts are going haywire. I feel like your boss is up to something that will mean trouble for us all soon." Sasuke said, drinking his own drink.

"Are you sure this visit has to do with Orochimaru and not with that woman you have stashed away in your village."

Sasuke frowned. "I have no woman who I claim."

"Aww, you poor fool." Jugo said, throwing back another drink and slamming down the glass with his huge fist on the bar. "You haven't figured it out yet. It doesn't matter if you claim her. She's already claimed you."

Jugo sniffed at Sasuke. His face transforming partially into an animal like snarl. "I can smell it on you. It won't be long before she's in your bed. Good thing Karin isn't around anymore. That would be a hell of a situation."

"You're drunk." Sasuke said coldly. These were not the answers that he was wanting to know. Granted, Jugo's senses were never wrong. But he had left Konohagakure because he had been lusting after Sakura ever since their kiss. This was nothing new to him.

Jugo slapped him on the back and then dropped the subject much to Sasuke's relief.