Wrote this at one in the morning one night, so if it doesn't make sense, I blame sleep-deprivation.

Inspired by a scene in Appreciation by Yellow Mask. If you haven't read her stuff, you should. IT IS GODLY! And I started writing this halfway through reading this. Didn't realize it would end up being so similar (I finished reading Appreciation after I finished writing this). Hm…

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

Sasuke was not happy. Granted, he had never been much of a happy person to begin with and even his return to Konoha didn't seem to change that, but nonetheless, he was unhappy. The storm outside seemed to be reflecting his mood. The thunder was crashing outside his window.

It was raining—had been for the last week while Sakura was gone on her mission. He found it ironic given the circumstances, as if Sakura was actually their sun and with her departure, gloom fell over the village.

Or maybe he was just projecting. He did have feelings for her after all, though he would never admit it to anyone—not even himself—despite how obvious it apparently was to Naruto, but that idiot had had years to learn how to read him. If he'd asked anyone else—any person who had not fixated on bringing him back for the past six or seven years—they would've been stunned to learn that Sasuke was actually capable of feeling, let alone feel anything for his pink-haired teammate.

He sighed angrily on his couch. Looking back, this had all started the day he came back. Naruto had managed to convince him to come back—Sasuke was still reeling from the fact he'd managed to get him back, but the severe head trauma he had suffered during that incident might have had a part in that—but the first thing Sakura had done upon his return was greet him. To any outside party, this would have been nothing, but this was Sakura. He had expected tears, banners and bands proclaiming her joy upon his return, but all he had was a quaint greeting. Sure, he had dumped her on a park bench, nearly killed her and her friend on multiple occasions, but still…she said she loved him. Where was that love now?

After the trial, it was decided he would be kept under watch. His chakra was sealed—not that it meant much to him since he still had taijutsu to fall back on if he was ever attacked—and he had to test to become a Chuunin after he was deemed reliable by the village. Oh well, at least they didn't drop him back into the academy.

Of course, after this, Naruto had decided there was to be a celebration at where else but Ichiraku Ramen. It was annoyingly predictable, but the fact some things never changed no matter how much time passed, was a comfort to Sasuke who never realized just how much he missed the idea of normalcy.

And of course, during this time, Team 7 had taken it upon itself to fill him in on the things that had happened during his absence. They also furthered their introduction of their new member, Sai, and he noted they had specifically declined in calling him his 'replacement.'

Despite the distrustful stares and occasional drunken heckling, coming back was not without its benefits. He had less to worry about in terms of being attacked in his sleep and he now had ample free time to discover Sakura's change in behavior. Granted, he should've realized that time changes everyone; Sakura was no exception.

She was stronger, faster, and smarter now. One of the leading medics in the hospital, she was one of the most respected members in the village, and she treated everyone with equality. Gone were the days that she would cling onto him like a shadow in the hopes of him looking her way one day; she no longer sought out his attention and he no longer had to tell her he had no time for trivial things like dates, and for some reason, he found himself missing that. It was strange to think that she no longer needed him and it put Sasuke at odds with himself—something he was very uncomfortable with because it meant confusion and confusion was never something any shinobi liked.

And so he questioned it, silently to himself like shadows, as he spent more time with her. Part of it was to see what had changed, but also to see if he could change it back to what it was before.

Perhaps this was when he started falling for her. It had occurred slowly: realizing her pet peeve of when he gave monosyllabic answers three times in a row, noting that she wore French-tips on her nails occasionally, and committing to memory the sound of her laugh so he'd never forget it, had all been part of it. According to Naruto, apparently he was also more talkative around her and sought out her presence whenever she was free, but it seemed he was the only one who thought so. Then again, Sai didn't understand anything pertaining to emotion and if Kakashi knew, he wasn't going to say anything.

So he followed her around, fell in love with her, and just when he began entertaining the idea that maybe—maybe—he would hazard a relationship, he'd overheard a conversation between her and Ino about her boyfriend, and his world fell apart. Maybe not "fell apart," but the crumbling feeling in his heart made it seem as if it was.

And so he began to stew, investigating in his copious amount of free time (because if he wasn't going on missions and had no one to spar with, what was he going to do?). He found out that her boyfriend was named Daichi and that he was a civilian (which made him untouchable and never had Sasuke cursed the fact he was a shinobi more than the moment he found out he couldn't pound his new rival into the dirt during a "friendly spar"). They had been dating for six months and Sakura had never been happier.

That, was four months ago. Since then, Sasuke had gained the Chuunin rank and had returned to his quiet brooding self. Sakura had questioned this sudden change, but chalked it up to him acclimatizing to his new surroundings before going on an espionage mission and would be gone for two months. It would be grueling and was bound to make her skin crawl (all she had said was that she hoped she would get through without breaking down), but she accepted the mission and slipped off quietly in the early hours of morning.

Now after two months away from home, her body bloody and tired and cold from the rain, all she wanted was to go home for a nice bath and to be with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, when she landed on the windowsill, she had interrupted her boyfriend in something. Apparently, he didn't think Sakura had been enough and decided to cheat on her.

Sakura ran to his house in tears.

Shortly after that, as if sensing her distress, Ino and Naruto arrived at his house. They asked what had happened and consoled her as Sasuke made tea and answered the door, more and more guests arriving by the minute—even Kakashi, of all people. They all told her he wasn't worth it and the two blondes of their group promised to make him pay (because you never cross a friend of the town's resident gossip and the future Hokage without some punishment).

But even they left eventually. It didn't matter; Sakura had calmed down by then and glancing at Sasuke, he wordlessly allowed her to stay the night. But no sooner had he finished washing the dishes did the phone ring. It was Daichi. How Daichi had gotten his phone number, Sasuke didn't know, but he did and he was calling to say he was sorry, and soon Sakura was in tears once more. She told him she didn't want to hear it. She saw it and it had been enough and she would pick her things up in the morning, and then she hung up the phone. By that point she had been sobbing.

Nearly half an hour later, she was still curled up on the couch by the wall. Her sobbing had died down to soft sniffling now, but it still irked him. A lot of things irked him, he realized sitting down on the couch across from hers.

First off, Daichi now knew his phone number and Sasuke would certainly have to deal with repeated calls to his house from the offending man. Secondly, she was crying over him. This was partially due to the fact that a part of him always hated seeing women cry—either because of some ill-notion of male chivalry or because of the fact he never knew how to deal with it—but partly because Sakura was still crying over Daichi. He had cheated on her and she had stated not too long ago that he wasn't worth her time, and yet she was still crying over him.

The lightening flashed across the sky once more and the glass he was spinning on the table was dancing precariously close to tipping and shattering as he narrowed his eyes at the wall. The anger in his veins was stewing thickly now, causing his body to feel warm and fidget unnecessarily. He felt like strangling something—someone in particular. That bastard. How dare he do that to Sakura? He had Sakura when there were others who would die to be in his shoes and he threw it away for some cheap tart?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became until he was livid, his sharingan spinning slowly over his snarling lips. It was annoying that Daichi had done that. It was annoying that he couldn't throttle the boy like he deserved. It was annoying that Sakura was still crying over him. Her sniffles were grating on his nerves and he felt his control crack with every sad whisper of "Daichi" that left her lips. He clenched his jaw and ground his teeth. The glass in his hand tottered drunkenly on its corners and she sniffled once, twice, three times before ducking her head into her arms.

"Daichi…"

The glass in his hand fell on its side.

"That's it," he snarled and that was the only warning Sakura had before she was hauled up roughly by her arm before she felt hands trapping her head and she felt Sasuke's insisting lips on hers, threatening to devour her whole. She should've been shocked, and in the back of her head, she could hear the alarm bells ringing. But the episode with Daichi had left her drained and all she could think of was that Sasuke was as demanding a kisser as she always imagined he would be.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was thoroughly enjoying this turn of events. He hadn't meant for his control to snap, but between her self-pity and the idea of Sakura being hurt, it just happened. Granted, this was severely inappropriate behavior. She had just been dumped. The last thing she needed was for the former love of her life to start kissing her, revealing his inappropriate feelings to her, but frankly he found himself not caring. It may have been Naruto's impulsiveness that was rubbing off on him, but he found himself not minding as much as he thought he would've and deciding to be impulsive once again, shifted his mouth and slid his tongue against hers.

It was only when his lungs screamed for air that he pulled away, his hands not leaving their place as he surveyed his work. Dazed eyes, blush on her face, kiss-swollen lips; his smirk was still on his face when he sat back down on the couch. Seeing Sakura's dazed and confused expression, he shot her a look. "What?" he asked snappishly.

"You…y-you kissed me," she stammered, flabbergasted.

"So?"

"'So?' I was just dumped, and you kissed me."

Sasuke snorted and folded his arms. "It got you to stop crying, didn't it?"

Sakura didn't know whether to slap herself or start crying just to spite him.