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

XVIII

Sakura came to slowly. First, she realized she wasn't dreaming anymore. She felt warm and tired, but in a good way, like she had spent all her energy on some sort of exercise before falling asleep. The warmth, which enveloped her comfortably, was soothing the pain in pulled muscles and making her wish to go back to sleep, however it couldn't do anything for the killer headache that was pounding on the inside of her skull as hard as a debt collector on the door of the indebted.

She supposed this was her price to pay for drinking so much on her night out.

Okay, so first things first, she needed to get some painkillers and water – damn, she was so thirsty – then back to bed, Sakura formulated a plan of action. She carefully cracked one eyelid open, then quickly shut it, wincing at the brightness of the sun that burned her retina with one flash, sending another spike of pain through the optical nerve straight into her brain. When she could think again, she decided to get up without opening her eyes. She'd had some training with a blindfold, so she was fairly certain about her ability to find her way around this place... Wait, where was she again? She couldn't remember and trying to call forth the memory of how her night ended only made the headache worse.

Deciding to worry about her exact location later, Sakura, who was laying on her right side, clumsily pushed herself up, but without success. Something heavy dragged her down, something that was under her left arm, wrapped around her middle and not letting go. She wiggled, but the thing only held her tighter.

Sakura risked a look down and gasped. It was an arm! The slight jostle to her head caused another wave of pain, even as she struggled with this new revelation. She was in a bed with someone, a man, she realized, judging by the size of the arm and finally recognizing the warmth emitted from behind her as a body of her... bed companion... spooning her. Sakura felt his breath on her neck as he nuzzled into it and she scrunched up her nose at the pungent smell of alcohol she detected coming from him. A bit hypocritical, considering her own breath also didn't smell like roses at the moment.

To sum up, Sakura was alone in bed with a stranger in an unknown location, without any recollection of how she got there in the first place but with a pounding headache. Her day couldn't start any worse.

XVI

In an unusual occurrence, Sakura came back to the apartment when the sun was still up. It was Saturday and fortunately both she and Ino had a time off, so they agreed to meet up in the evening at the popular local club. Sakura would have preferred a quieter place, but Ino insisted that she had to go out and have some fun too. Given her long working hours in the week and the tense 'home life', if it even could be called that, Sakura actually felt the real need to unwind and was looking forward to her night in town.

"I'm back," she said, quite needlessly, upon entering the apartment; it was impossible for Sasuke not to hear her coming in. He was sitting at the table, presumably brooding. Sakura didn't spare him another glance, instead she went straight to her small closet and grabbed the only nice dress currently in her possession. She hadn't exactly had time for shopping after Pain's invasion and the war, so she had to make do with this for a while.

Sakura's eyes stayed a second longer on the insides of the closet. She disliked that she had to share it with Sasuke, but at least he didn't take too much space and had all his clothes folded with a military precision, which contrasted with her still neat, but noticeably sloppier side of the closet. Sakura pursed her lips, somehow peeved that even in such a small thing he found a way to show her up, inadvertently or not.

She shut the closet with a little too much force and when she turned to go to the bathroom, Sasuke was standing before her. She hadn't noticed when he'd gotten up and it unnerved her slightly.

"Yes?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her. "Do you need something, Sasuke?"

"You're early," he commented.

"Well, yes, I don't work all day everyday, obviously," she said in a patronizing tone, which seemed to hit the nerve in him as his gaze became razor-sharp in response. Good, she thought. "But I'm going out, so I'll be back late like always." She tried to step around him but Sasuke blocked her way, then crowded her against the closet.

"Wait, there's something we need to talk about," he said in an authoritative manner that infuriated her. He had no right to order her around her own home!

"I don't have time. We can talk tomorrow," she replied with a forced civility.

"Then take the time out of your busy schedule, because we're going to talk about this now," Sasuke ground out.

Sakura pretended to think about it. "Fine," she huffed. "Just be quick."

"Why was there an empty sake bottle in the bathroom?" Sasuke asked without preamble.

Shit! He found it! I really should have thrown it out when I was done! Sakura thought, even though her face took on the expression of puzzlement.

"What about it?" she asked back, turning her head to the left.

"Why was it there?"

"Hmph, I don't know. I must've forgotten about it being there. I am allowed to misplace things in my own bathroom," Sakura shrugged. "Just throw it out, if it bothers you so. Case closed."

Sasuke's arm barred her way, but she simply pushed it down with her strength and breezed past him to lock herself in the bathroom, leaving behind the fuming Uchiha. Sakura felt that she was in the right. She didn't owe him any explanations. She owed him nothing. It's him who should be thankful to her for housing him and putting up with his shitty attitude. Didn't he realize that she could make Kakashi reassign this sham of a mission to someone else?

Sakura put on the short-sleeved red dress, brushed her hair and added a touch of make-up to her face before declaring herself ready to go. She exited the bathroom, only to find Sasuke glowering at her from his old place at the table. She ignored him and bent to slip on her heeled sandals.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Out."

And she was gone.

XVII

The club was filling up with people at this hour and Sakura paused at the entrance, unsure where to go, as she wasn't a regular at this establishment. She saw Ino waving to her from one of the booths further away from the bar counter. Relieved that her friend was already there, Sakura walked over and slid into the seat across from Ino. A waiter came up and she ordered the strong stuff. She needed it after enduring Sasuke for an entire week.

"Isn't that a bit too much for a start?" Ino eyed the two sake bottles placed in front of Sakura. The blonde had just a martini for herself.

"It's not, believe me," Sakura poured herself a cup and took a sip.

"If you say so." Ino didn't look convinced, but she let it rest. She'd rather discuss a much juicer topic. She leaned forward, elbows on the table and eyes gleaming in unrestrained curiosity. "So, what is it I'm hearing about Sasuke living with you?"

Sakura sighed. "It's nothing to get excited about, Ino. Kakashi-sensei just gave me a mission to keep an eye on Sasuke's mental health. He's under observation. You know, he's not very trusted at the moment."

Ino sat back and nodded with understanding as she swirled the little palm in her drink. "I see... Must be tough to have him around all the time, after what he pulled in the war..." she commented.

Their friendship had been invaluable to dealing with their respective traumas when they had both initially returned from the battlefield. They had shared their pain and comforted each other, and their bond grew and strengthened for it. Ino was the only person Sakura told about her experience in Sasuke's genjutsu, while Ino confessed to Sakura about her dreams in the Infinite Tsukuyomi and how she sometimes wished to go back there.

Sakura chuckled drily. "Yes, but I tend to stay away for most of the day. I see him only in the mornings and when we have sessions in the hospital.."

Ino's gaze sharpened. "You seem to have a larger workload," she said.

"Nothing to worry about. My career is on the right track and that's all that matters to me." Sakura waved away her friend's concern.

"What about finding a guy?" Ino asked. "Shouldn't be too hard, you've become quite popular."

"I'm not interested."

"Why not? Is it because of Sasuke? Not all men are pathetic, heartbreaking scum that can't appreciate you for who you are." Ino was rather descriptive in what she thought about Sasuke, but Sakura liked that in her friend. She didn't mince her words.

"I know, I'm just... I'm not ready, Ino. It's too soon. I don't want to look for a rebound. First, I want to... to forget about..." Sakura found it too hard to say. Ino squeezed her hand in support.

"It's okay, I understand," she said softly. "Shikamaru may say that women are troublesome, but it's men who are the worst."

Sakura smiled gratefully. "Yeah... I just need to be patient... Sasuke will move out in a few weeks and I'll finally have some peace."

"Is he bothering you? I thought he wants nothing to do with you?" Ino was referring to Sasuke's rejection and the way the two former teammates had avoided each other after the release of Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Sakura shook her head. "He's getting on my case all the time. You know what it was today? He was questioning me why I left a sake bottle in the bathroom! What gives him the right? I can do whatever I want in my bathroom!" She spilled out her frustration.

Ino regarded her with amusement. "So, why did you have that bottle there?"

"Well... I ran out of disinfectant and I was using alcohol as a substitute. And then I drank the rest and forgot to throw out the bottle," Sakura answered with an embarrassment. "Hey, don't laugh! I really had no other option at the time..."

"Okay, okay..." Ino grinned.

"And that wasn't even the worst thing he did!" Sakura continued her tirade as she downed a cup and poured herself another. She was already feeling much better.

It was good to have a friend who listened.

XIX

Sakura groaned, the pain in her head increasing with every second. Her memories after the heart to heart she'd had with Ino were fuzzy. She remembered drinking some more... then she had been dancing... with some man... and... and...

Sasuke! He'd been there! But what had he wanted?

Think, Sakura, think! She encouraged herself.

Well, whatever it had been, she obviously hadn't listened to him. She could recall the satisfaction of telling him to "fuck off", even though she was now mortified at having such a foul mouth. But she really couldn't help it, she was just prone to swearing like a sailor when she was drunk. However, after that strong flash of memory she drew a huge blank. No matter how much she tried, nothing came back to her, only the headache got worse, so she reluctantly gave up.

Sakura pulled at the arm that trapped her and succeeded in dislodging it. The man laying behind her stirred and his breathing pattern changed. Sakura turned on her stomach and heaved her body up, then stilled as she saw who was her unknown bed companion.

This couldn't be...

"Sa-Sasuke?" she rasped out in disbelief.

He cracked an eye open. "Oh, you're up... Sakura."

"Why are you... I... you... what..." Her tongue tangled as she couldn't decide on the question she wanted to ask. She finally settled on, "What happened last night?"

Sasuke rose on his elbows and cricked his neck, yawning. "You got drunk and I had to carry you home," he said as if it was no big deal to him.

Sakura seethed. "Then why were we sleeping... like that?" There was no other way she could stomach to say it. They had been indecently close, pressed right against one another, he had been even holding her in his arms! She felt justified in being suspicious. He wouldn't have taken advantage of her... or would he? Lately, she felt like she didn't know him and what he was capable of at all. He looked rather disheveled, but thankfully he was dressed in a wrinkled tank top and pajama bottoms, while she still had on her dress, so she could safely assume nothing bad had happened. Still, that didn't mean that nothing had happened.

"You didn't want to go to your futon and I was too tired to argue," Sasuke explained with a smirk of amusement, which gave her an impression that he wasn't telling her everything, then he got up.

Damn, what had she done that night? Sakura grabbed her head, which throbbed viciously in pain.

A hand holding a glass of water and painkillers appeared before her and she took them with a mumbled 'thanks'. After gulping down the drink, she rose to her feet unsteadily. Sasuke was already rummaging in the fridge.

"You can have the bathroom first," he told her in that scratchy voice that could be quite attractive in a right man. Sasuke was that right man.

Sakura was about to go and sort herself out, when she spotted something of a cherry red colour on the base of his neck, where it met the shoulder. She stepped closer to get a better look and squinted.

It was a lipstick mark.

Sakura fled to the bathroom, feeling like she wanted to die from sheer mortification. No more, she declared to her reflection in the mirror as she swore off all alcohol for the rest of her miserable life.

There was no other explanation for what had possessed her to kiss Sasuke on the neck.

To be continued...

AN: I really wanted to write this one chapter from Sakura's pov. Hopefully, this gives a good glimpse into her head and some of her motivations. Next chapter will be Sasuke again.

Thanks for reading and reviews are very welcome! :)