Sakura had woken up the next morning to the sounds of her curtains billowing. She was on her stomach, an arm dangling off the bed, her fingers brushing the hardwood floors while her face was halfway buried in her pillow. Usually when she woke up like that, it meant she had been in a deep sleep, a rarity these days, but that was when she felt the most rested.

Even with all that, it only took her a moment to remember yesterday and a smile tugged at her lips. She always knew that if anything like that happened with Sasuke, it would make her happy, but never had she thought she would feel this way. The weird thing was, that even though it only just happened yesterday, it felt right. Maybe that was from already being in love with him, but she knew that this wasn't something that would last just a month and then they'd call it quits.

No, she had a feeling that unless something horrible happened, she'd still feel this way in months, years, and maybe if Sasuke felt the same way, they'd be in it for the long haul. She knew not to get her hopes up, but she also knew Sasuke cared about her.

Sakura wasn't sure how long she laid there before she finally pushed herself out of bed and headed down for breakfast. Her parents were already awake, and all through the meal they kept the chatter up, as if it was their last time to eat together or something. It made her feel guilty in a way, but she knew they were just worried. It took her nearly half an hour to reassure them she was fine, happy, and healthy. Hell, during that time she even got Sasuke's, along with her own, lunch made and packed.

The rest of the morning she spent getting a few books and putting them in a small messenger bag along with a journal she took notes in. After one last reassurance to her parents she said her 'byes' and left, her feet taking her in the direction of the Uchiha district.

It wasn't a long walk by any means, maybe ten minutes at the most, but when she got there, she slowed. The place was already looking better, a good portion of the land cleared. She hadn't imagined Sasuke would of already been this far along, but then again, she doubted he took the breaks he needed too and he had always been a diligent type of guy.

When she spotted Sasuke, she just gave him a soft smile before heading to one of the cleared areas and sat down, placing the lunches she made along with a few bottled waters on her left and her bag on her right, pulling out the contents and laying them out in front of her. Sasuke saw Sakura sit down nearby but he didn't stop to greet her.

She'd make Sasuke take a break in a bit, or hopefully he'd come over to her and save her from yelling at him across the compound to rest. Taking one last glance to him she finally forced herself to look down and opened one of the many books.

Just before noon Sasuke took a few more minutes to finish up the area that he was working on, before stopping what he was doing and walking over to where Sakura was sitting. He took a seat beside her and picked up a bottle of water, taking a drink.

Sakura glanced up to him, raising an eyebrow. She put her pen down in the medical journal she had been scribbling in before closing it and the book she had been reading out of, setting them both aside.

After taking a moment to breath Sasuke looked over at Sakura.

"Sleep well last night?" he asked with a smirk, referring to when Sakura said she was going to have a hard time sleeping after everything that happened.

She was caught up in that smirk on his face, as one of her own crept across her lips as she stretched her arms across her crossed legs.

"I actually slept great, thank you. Never better, so I guess your kisses just don't have the effect I thought they would."

Her smile had matured to a full blown grin, and it was obvious she was kidding with him. Sasuke was like a drug to her, he clouded her mind in the best way possible and the reason she slept so good last night was due to the fact that this Sasuke, her new Sasuke, made her feel relaxed and at peace.

"Tch, I'll just have to try harder next time to make sure you can't sleep," he responded, obviously not serious.

The only bad thing about it all, in her case anyways, was that Sasuke knew all of this. He knew how long she'd cared about him, of what lengths she'd go to for him, how she reacted to whatever he did, so ont-family: Times New Roman,serif;"Sasuke to her though was still an enigma. Sure, she understood his background better, but not fully. She knew his likes and hates and that language that was all his own. She could decipher his glares but everything else was greek to her. Ask her to explain Sasuke's feelings on anything and all she'd be able to do was give some weak attempt at an answer or just stay silent about it all. At least she knew he liked her, but then again, that didn't really explain his feelings for her save the fact he could be around her.

"Yeah, try harder and than deal with the repercussions of me with no sleep. I'm a joy to be around."

She looked over at him and smiled. "I don't think trying harder will help you though. You just have to accept there is some things you're just bad at."

She was still joking, but she had a feeling that comment could go one of two ways. Either he'd take it as a joke, or he'd take it as a challenge if it bruised his ego in any way that he could possibly be bad at something. Sasuke was never one to take something of any caliber when it came to being the best at something. He was a prideful guy, and prideful people just didn't like hearing they were bad at things.

"Hn. We'll see," he said with an annoyed glare.

"We'll see? Really, Sasuke-kun?"

She laughed as she looked back down at her food, shaking her head as a amused smile crept up on her face. He had changed a lot over the past three years, but she guessed there were same things in him just too adamant to budge. Like his ego.

He obviously didn't like the comment she had made about him being bad at something. Yet it left her grinning like an idiot. He was good at kissing, his freakish talent for being awesome at anything he did coming into play, but she couldn't imagine what it would be like if he was actually trying to prove her wrong. She was almost excited for it.

Yeah, we'll see. I'm going to prove you wrong," he said, looking even more annoyed.

"I'm sure you'll try." She knew it was taunt to Sasuke as she lay down, a pile of debris blocking her view of the road. She doubted he'd try anything right now though, he wasn't going to gain anything from taking risks. Still, it was amusing to poke a little fun at him.

Sasuke sighed lightly and leaned back, looking up at the sky. It was a clear day and there were almost no clouds in the sky at all.

"What did you make for our lunch?" he asked.

"No Sasuke. I didn't make you anything. I'm a horrible person."

She smiled at him before reaching behind him and picking up the two lunches. She set one down in front of him and then pulled the other in her lap, opening it to reveal rice and dumplings.

"I didn't really have a lot of food in the house this morning so I just had to stick with onigiri again. I did find a tomato though, so you have at least one of those. One of these days I'll make you something fancier though. Maybe," she said with a smile.

She smiled at him before taking a bite of her own food.

"So Sasuke. I've been thinking. I know we'd agreed on keeping this a low profile, also if anyone asked you wouldn't deny it, but I figured maybe we should just keep this between us for awhile. I mean, I don't want to add any pressure on you, and as much as I hate to say this, if people found out they'd probably make it into a big deal. As much as I'd love to go screaming to the world that Uchiha Sasuke is finally off the market, it would probably be a lot easier on the both of us. I'm sure the last thing you want is people asking you about us."

He looked up in surprise. She laughed and looked over at him, a wide grin on her face.

"And can you imagine what Naruto would say?"

He spoke after thinking for a moment. "Alright, it can be a secret. Just don't slip up and accidentally tell someone. It'll be all over Konoha within the hour."

A wave of relief passed over the medic. "Like I'm gonna slip up you jerk. I'm an excellent secret keeper. I think it's you we should be worried about."

She raised an eyebrow as she stabbed at her food with her chopsticks, trying to keep her expression straight while holding back a laugh. She honestly couldn't imagine Sasuke whispering secrets with anyone, like Ino for example. He wasn't the polar opposite of a gossip queen.

She laughed. "You were always the one who gave the blunt truth when we were kids."

Sasuke frowned. "Right, because I'm so chatty. I have a hard time resisting the urge to tell everyone I know about my love life. That sounds like me," he said sarcastically.

He took another bite of food. "And I won't have to change a thing to give the blunt truth still. I can still tell girls that I have no interest in them, with or without saying that I'm already with someone."

She took one last bite before setting her finished lunch down next to her, glancing over to him and giving him a wide smile. She opened one of Tsunade's journals she had brought with her and started reading it, reaching up with her free hand to trace small circles along Sasuke's back.

Sakura sighed. "I know, I know. Trust me when I say Im relieved that you'll be able to keep things quiet. You don't have to worry about me telling anyone though."

This was going to be better for them, but he was right. If one person found out about it, the news was going to spread like wild fire. She hated to admit it, but it'd be a big deal if she was dating Sasuke. For one, Sasuke was still new to the villagers, the idea of him being back was something they were all trying to accept.

Another thing, was that seeing as how he was interacting with people, actually making an effort to show that Konoha was his home again, people were warming up, namely girls. The last thing she wanted was for a bunch of girls would be plotting ways for her to disappear. As funny as that was because she knew they wouldn't succeed, it was still an annoyance she could do without.

Sasuke eyes moved to examine Sakura, who was now laying down, obscured from the road by a pile of debris. She was smiling but the wheels seemed to be turning in that genius brain of Sasuke's. Then his eyes moved to the stuff around them, the lunch boxes, a couple bottles of water, and that medical journal Sakura was reading. A smirk formed on his face.

She smiled to herself as she continued to run her fingertips over his back. He had made it clearly obvious that he was the better one at flirting, but this seemed to be working, a little. Sakura could only find it funny that it was a challenge that had him interested. Maybe that was why he considered Naruto his best friend. The blond always had a new challenge for Sasuke, but then again, her challenges were quite different. He seemed like he was calculating something, which she assumed was a way to get back at her. Yet when he turned to her, she didn't expect what came out of his mouth. Not in the least bit.

Sasuke picked up a bottle of water and took a drink, but neglected to put the cap back on. Then he turned, so that he was sitting, directly facing her.

"Sakura…." He said, looking down at her with that same smirk.

"You look really hot right now."

She guessed she was expecting something along the lines of a threat, but instead, he had to go and say that. He leaned down and plucked the journal from Sakura's hands in one swift motion, all the while looking down on her. He set it far off to the side, safely out of the way. She barely even noticed, her gaze locked with his.

He stared at her for a moment before tipping his hand holding the nearly full bottle of water over, spilling the entire bottle of cold water directly onto Sakura's stomach and chest and effectively soaking her.

"You should cool down.," he said mockingly, that evil smirk ever present.

Then that jerk had to ruin the thoughts that were in her head as he dumped his water on her. Surprise was the only look that crossed her face as she looked down at herself, a shiver running through her.

Only moments passed before she decided to retaliate against him. That was where they differed. He always seemed to plan three steps ahead, she on the other hand, was an impulse person.

Yet when she looked up at him, her instincts telling her to empty the contents of her own water bottle all over him, it was all forgotten when she saw the look on his face. He was acting like he was almost... Happy? Or maybe content was a better word to tack on it. Sakura couldn't imagine thoughts of training on his mind, or what had happened in the past or what could happen in the future.

He was just living in the moment, he was just enjoying himself. She couldn't ever recall a time where she saw Sasuke like this, and just the fact that she was here to see it, that she had helped cause it, she completely forgot about being mad about him for a good twenty seconds or so.

But then a drip of freezing water ran down her side, reminding her of why that bastard was smiling.

"Sasuke! That was just uncalled for!"

She looked down at herself, sitting up to pull the wet fabric away from her body, a second shiver running through her as she looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. Reaching down she grabbed her own bottle, the cap already off before she pointed it at him and squeezed, half the contents squirting out at him. She started laughing before she turned the rest of the bottle over above his head, her impulse finally satisfied.

He looked down at the water soaking through his shirt and droplets of water rolled down his forehead. Both possibilities all rolled into one. But Sasuke was prepared for this.

"It was completely called for. You looked hot so I cooled you down. It's simple to comprehend Sakura," he said, sounding a little annoyed at her yelling, just for appearances.

She had expected him to evade her attempts at getting back at him. It would of been so easy for him to just zip past her, or hell, make her spill water on herself. But he didn't do anything, he just sat there and took it and it was at that moment she knew she could trust him completely again.

It had been months since he came back and he had changed completely. She wasn't afraid of him and she knew he'd be there for her, Naruto and the village. He was sitting there letting her throw water on him not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair, shaking lose all the excess water. She was about to lean it and smack him in the shoulder for what he said, but as soon as she started to move, he did as well, and his movement stopped her in her tracks. Sasuke looked down at his wet shirt once more, and then he smirked. He pulled his shirt off and tossed it towards Sakura.

"You should keep that temper of yours under check," he said sarcastically with a satisfied smirk.

Everything within her just froze in shock for a moment. Her body seemed to be on auto-pilot though because without a thought in her head she caught the shirt, a wave of his scent hitting her. Her eyes followed him then yet when his sentence soaked in about her temper he was already a good fifteen feet away working.

Then he just walked away, going back to the cleaning he'd been doing before he stopped for lunch.

Setting his shirt on top of one of the lunch boxes so dirt wouldn't get on it she looked around. Grasping a water bottle, Sakura untwisted the top before looking down at herself again. She had seen Ino do something once to a guy and it had seemed to work quite well in her favor. Then again, that guy had been no Sasuke, but she could at least give it a shot.

A sigh passed through her before she poured some water in her hands before splashing it on her sides, stomach and chest, getting the fabric to stick to her again. She was immediately regretting the plan at the chill that passed through her, but standing up she patted the fabric against her before taking a second, unopened bottle and started to make her way to Sasuke. Ino had touched the guy, to make herself known, but if she did that to Sasuke, he would know she was attempting to try and lure him in. She had to be casual. She just had to show she cared while all the while acting mad.

"You wanna be a jerk, fine. But at least be a hydrated one."

She went around him, setting the bottle on a pile of bricks. She swayed her hips as she walked just slightly and she could feel herself blushing. Sakura couldn't believe she was doing this.

By the time she was turning though, she had been able to push the blush down, getting an annoyed look on her face as she walked back past him. She kept herself in his arm's reach though to give him the opportunity to stop her, though she doubted he would.

"I'd rather you not have a heat stroke," she said, trying to sound confident.

"Hn," was his only answer as he finished moving aside a small piece of rubble to get to a more difficult spot.

He was reaching for that spot when he just happened to catch a glimpse of Sakura out of the corner of his eye. It stopped him right there.

The Uchiha turned to get a better look at the girl, his hand catching her wrist to stop her from getting too far away as he did so. His dark eyes narrowed momentarily as he took a good look at her. She was just about to the point of accepting defeat. She had taken maybe two steps away from him and he had yet to even react. She hadn't even noticed him looking and it made her feel a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.

Then without a single word he led her over behind one of the walls that still partially stood up, still holding onto her wrist. It caused her to stop immediately, slowly pivoting her body to get a better look at him.

Once they were out of sight of anyone that happened to be nearby, Sasuke's demeanor changed. He backed Sakura against the wall, effectively pinning her there with his hands leaning against the wall on either side of her. She had expected him to face her and be angry. It caught her off guard.

He leaned in close, their bodies close enough that he could feel the cold water on Sakura's clothes against his chest. She could feel him move with every breath, a blush heating up her cheeks when she recalled the fact he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Are you trying to drive me insane?" he asked in a whisper in her ear.

When she felt his breath on her ear, a triumphant grin spilled across her features.

"I didn't know I could, Sasuke."

She drawled out his name, lowering her own voice to a whisper as she looked up at him. "I'll keep that in mind."

She knew she was playing a dangerous game with him. Sasuke wasn't going to kiss her here, not after they had agreed to keep things at a low profile. She knew that much. She was taunting him though, and she had a feeling that if he recalled it later, when they were completely alone, he'd get her back for it with full force.

"I'm going to get you back for that," he whispered before backing up from her by a few inches but still keeping her pinned against the wall.

The smirk on her face grew. Sasuke wasn't one to take a hit and then not retaliate, he had proven that much when she had joked around about his ability to kiss, starting this entire ordeal. He didn't seem angry about it all, which was the only reason she was keeping up this innocence facade, chiding him on.

To tell the truth, she wasn't exactly sure what Sasuke was feeling. Maybe frustration? She was distracting him... Apparently, so that could have something to do with it. Yet when he spoke, she couldn't help it when she started laughing.

He moved one of his hands from the wall and used it to brush a stray pink hair from in front of Sakura's face, his hand gliding down to Sakura's waist on the very edge of her shirt, feeling the wet cloth.

"And next time you want me to pay attention to you, you can just say so instead of pouring more water on yourself," he taunted with a smirk.

"Well do you know how hard it is to get your attention? It's like trying to get Naruto to stop eating ramen. It takes drastic measures."

She was very aware of his hand touching her waist, a blush on her features despite the cool nonchalance she was trying to display. Sakura couldn't help but crave his touch. It was usually her that reached out to him, but on that rare occasion he do simple things like brush the hair out of her face or when he held her hand when they walked.

It made her realize this wasn't just some fling or something she was imagining. It was real, and he cared. Even if they were playing some game of Who Can Drive the Other Insane First.

He'd figured out what she'd done, and looked to be amused by it. But with that Sasuke took a few steps away, turning his back to her.

"I'm getting back to cleaning up this mess now. We'll finish this conversation tonight," he said as he walked away.

Her smile softened as she watched him. Pushing off the wall, she caught up to him, keeping her hands intertwined at the small of her back as she looked up at him.

"Well, if we're continuing this conversation later, I should get out of here before I get myself into more trouble."

"Hn," he mumbled.

Sakura smiled at him before slowly changing her path towards her things.

"I need to go see Tsunade sometime today anyways. She said she had something for me to do. I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

"Change clothes first," he said in response.

After that Sasuke got back to work, letting Sakura do what she needed without any further interruptions from him.

When she reached her things, she picked up Sasuke's shirt and laid it out over the pile of debris that was near where they ate lunch so it could dry. She had a smile on her face from Sasuke's comment about changing her shirt. She wasn't stupid, she knew why he said it.

If it could get him to look, it could probably get a few other people to look also and that was really the last thing she wanted. It was definitely amusing though that Sasuke had said something and cute in an odd sort of fashion. She was his, even though she had been since she was twelve.

She had made her way home using the backstreets, quickly changing and leaving the books. Her next stop was the Hokage Tower, Sakura taking her time in getting there. There was no clue as to telling what Tsunade was going to ask of her. It could be anything from a stupid errand to go place a bet on some game in a neighboring village to going on another mission.

Even though she was ready for it mentally, she knew her body couldn't handle running through a forest all day so she highly doubted it had to do with leaving the village. Then again, she could never tell with the woman when she'd had a few shots of sake in her. Whatever it may be though, Sakura highly doubted she was going to enjoy it.