A/N: Hello, people! I've got a few things to say first. Firstly, I am really, really sorry that updates have been so slow for my stories. Things are really busy this year, and next year too - I'll be doing my O levels - so Sugar Crystals will be on an indefinite hiatus. And if i get the the time, I'm also thinking of rewriting Famous Three Words. Maybe. Possibly. I don't know. ANYWAY, i just had to write this one out, the idea's been bugging me for a while. So ENJOY~

I do not own any Naruto characters.

Flipside

He waited for her to cry and run towards him; waited for her to envelop him in her outstretched arms and whisper reassurances of her promise of undying love for him.

She studied his undeniably handsome face. Midnight blue hair framed his strong jaw and contrasted beautifully with the pallor of his skin. His lips were pressed in a hard straight line. But the look in his eyes surprised her. They stared back at her with a strange expectancy.

He waited for the moment she would break. It never came.

"Sasuke," she finally acknowledged. For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of emotion in her eyes. He tried to place it, but it was gone as fast as it came, leaving him to wonder a bit about what she was feeling at the moment. It had been almost twelve years since he had left.

Sasuke had yet to respond to Sakura's acknowledgement. Instead, he studied her from top to toe. Her most noticeable pink hair was still short – hovering at just above her shoulders. Her lips were a light shade of red and full and her skin pale and smooth. Her body had matured greatly. Gone was the washboard-flat chest. She had developed a nice full bust that wasn't overly large but not exactly small either. She no longer wore the traditional Chinese cheongsam dress but now donned a red sleeveless shirt, which clung slightly to her feminine curves, and a short black skirt with black shorts underneath. But her physical appearance was not the only thing he noticed had changed. Her eyes irked him. They were unreadable, and Sasuke noted grimly, almost strangely reminiscent of his own. They had lost the sparkle they held in her younger days. Though part of him reasoned that it was to be expected – she was a well seasoned shinobi, after all – the other part of him, a small part, was silently outraged that Sakura had lost that innocence in her. It didn't feel right; it wasn't right. Because staring into the emerald depths of the exotically beautiful woman now before him, he couldn't find the Sakura that he knew so long ago.

The soft humorless chuckle that escaped her lips snapped him out of his inner musings.

"So you're back, huh?" Though it was phrased as a question, it came out more of a statement. When he didn't reply, she sighed.

"Well, I'll see you around… I guess," she said while turning away. For a fleeting moment, Sasuke had the urge to call out to her; to stop her from leaving. He was genuinely confused – what had caused her to change this much? And the answer hit him, and he felt something crumble slightly inside him when he realized that he was probably the reason. He had pushed her away so many times. Hell, he had tried to kill her, even. She had every reason to hate him, but when he had looked into her eyes, he hadn't seen hate, or even any hostility stirring in them. He'd seen… nothing. And he would never admit it, but it scared him.

He had always planned to return to Konoha after taking revenge on his brother, and the fact that the rest of Team 7 had gone through insane lengths to try to get him back always had, in a way, reassured him that there was someone who would always be ready to welcome him back to the life he had left behind. He knew he didn't deserve it. He knew he didn't deserve friends like Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura –he frowned slightly at the possibility that might not be true with regards to Sakura anymore. And, yes, he considered them friends. No matter what he had said in the past to them, no matter how hard he had tried to completely sever the bonds between them, he never could. His genin team were people he would always hold dear. They were his precious people. And the thought of losing one of them made something in his chest constrict painfully. He watched her back as she drew farther away from him and wondered if it had hurt this much for her too, every time he had walked away.

-000-000-000-

Sasuke was walking towards Ichiraku ramen with his loudmouth of a best friend after their usual morning training. Stealing a glance at the blonde walking next to him, his lips curled into a small smirk. He was slightly taller than Sasuke himself now, his skin a bit tanner than before and his golden locks longer. He really did look like his father, the Yondaime Hokage. Naruto was still complaining about their spar earlier on. The one where he had gotten his ass effectively handed to him by Sasuke.

"You damn bastard! Don't think you'll be so lucky the next time we spar! Anyway, I was just going easy on you, since you're still genin and all," the foxy man let out a snort. Sasuke growled softly.

"Shut up, dobe."

"Don't call me that, teme!"

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his best friend. Naruto had matured from the annoying, loud, idiot he had been, but only slightly.

It had been almost three months since Sasuke had returned to Konoha, and he knew he had been lucky. Thanks to Naruto, who had pleaded with the Hokage, Sasuke had been let off with a much more leninent punishment of a year of probation, during which he was not allowed to leave the village and had to be under constant surveillance by the Hokage's ANBU operatives. After his year of probation, Sasuke would be able to be reinstated as a Leaf shinobi and be permitted to take the tests he needed to get to the rank of jounin, just as his other teammates now were. His thoughts drifted to the conversation, or not really, which he had had with his pink haired (ex)teammate, almost two weeks ago. She had left again; gone back to Suna where the Kazekage, Gaara, had requested her expertise to instruct Suna's new batch of medics. She had been in Suna when he had come back, but Naruto had mentioned that he had told Sakura all the details of his return. That, and of course the news that the infamous S-classed nuke-nin had chose to go back to his home village, had spread like wildfire, so he hadn't been surprised that Sakura had known about his return. What had bothered him, though, was her total indifference of his presence. He had expected a crying, overjoyed Sakura, not the woman who had regarded him coolly before just walking away.

They had already entered the small shop, sat themselves at the counter and called out their orders when Naruto noticed the slight furrow of brows on the dark haired man's usually impassive features. Naruto knew for a fact that the Uchiha had no trouble keeping his feelings hidden. In fact, he did it so well that most of the time, the emotionless mask he always wore was the only thing people saw. That something could be bothering him to the extent that it had shown on his face could only mean… it was big.

Sasuke, noticing Naruto's uncharacteristic silence, directed a questioning look at his friend, which was met by the blonde's cerulean gaze.

"I know something is bothering you, Sasuke. What happened?"

Sasuke clenched his jaw and looked away. He doubted his displeasure had been so plainly obvious to see, so when had Naruto gotten this insightful?

"Fine," he heard Naruto sigh. "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't push."

Thankfully, Ayame had come around with their orders and had placed the steaming bowls of noodles in front of them. He heard Naruto break his chopsticks and call out a hearty 'Itadakimasu!' before tucking into his meal. Casting the jinchuuriki a sidelong glance, Sasuke mused that he would have never thought the day would come when Naruto learned how to respect other people's space. If it had been in the past, he was sure the blonde would have badgered him until he relented. This was yet another unexpected change on his former teammates' part, though it was one he wholly welcomed. Sasuke let out a sigh and the blonde man next to him looked up from his meal and raised an eyebrow. Sasuke silently regarded Naruto for a moment. This man probably knew Sakura better than anyone. Naruto often mentioned Sakura in his conversations with Sasuke, and Sasuke knew by the way his tone always took on an affectionate note when he spoke about the rosette haired female that they were very close. If he wanted to understand Sakura's dramatic character change, Naruto was the best person to ask. He began slowly.

"…It's Sakura. She's… different," he frowned.

Several emotions flashed through Naruto's deep blue eyes before he closed them. Sasuke waited until he reopened them with a sigh and answered, "What did you expect, Sasuke? We've all changed; haven't you noticed that by now? It's just that Sakura-chan… Sakura's changed more than others."

Sasuke snorted at that and Naruto felt a sudden surge of irritation at the man beside him.

"Sakura's been through a lot, Sasuke. More than you can imagine, and would know. Even though she knows she can trust me, that I'm her best friend, she always keeps her feelings locked up so deep down. I know she's hurting; it's hard to see behind that mask she hides behind, but it's there. But never once, for the past six years, have I seen Sakura shed a single tear. She's grown stronger, and not just physically. I'm glad to have you back and all, I'm sure Kakashi is too, but Sakura… I would like to say I did, but I don't know, Sasuke. And though you should know you will always have my forgiveness and full support, I can't say the same for her. You've hurt her a lot, and by the way she's responded when I've mentioned your homecoming to her, I don't think she's ready to forgive you." He gave Sasuke a pointed look, "I can't say I don't completely understand her; you've been a real jerk."

Sasuke looked away from Naruto, down to his cooling bowl of noodles.

"I'm sorry."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock before a small smile graced his face and he clapped Sasuke on the back loudly. The dark haired man turned to his best friend in surprise and the blonde laughed. "It's over, Sasuke. We can only look forward to the future…. And ramen!" The Uchiha chuckled softly at this, and the two men continued their meal.

-000-000-000-

The next time Sasuke saw Sakura was when he was making his way to his usual midnight training spot in the forests surrounding the Uchiha compound.

"Sakra-chan will be back from Suna by the end of this week. I can't wait to see her again!"

Naruto had told him that two weeks ago, and although he knew she should have returned by then, he hadn't even gotten a glimpse of his female ex-teammate yet. So when he felt a flicker of her familiar chakra as he entered the clearing, he quickly masked his own before jumping into a nearby tree to observe.

The pale moonlight illuminated her lithely moving form, which to the surprise of Sasuke, was but a pink blur. She moved so fast his well trained eyes struggled to keep up. Slowly, they bled into the red of his clan bloodline limit. The sharingan made everything clearer – and more beautiful. He felt his breath hitch silently as he watched her fly through the small clearing, performing kicks and blocks with deadly accuracy. It was simply enchanting to see her small form gracefully move across the clearing; her flowing movements made it look more like an elaborately choreographed dance than an attack form.

He had learnt from Naruto that she had become strong…. But he had never expected this. He was amazed. And impressed.

Suddenly she stopped and Sasuke's body went rigid on his perch in the tree.

'Shit, did she see me?'

His answer came when a kunai flew straight for his head a second later. He caught it expertly between two fingers. His gaze traveled down to the foot of the tree where it clashed with green. They stood like that for a while, staring at each other, and Sasuke who still had his sharingan activated, noticed how the moonlight reflected in her eyes, making the green intermingled with slivers of pale silver. She turned away then slowly walking towards the exit of the clearing. Sasuke felt his eyes narrow. She wasn't getting away so easily. By the time she had taken another step, he had already come down from the tree and stood before her, blocking her way. She stopped in her tracks.

"Are you avoiding me?" Sasuke began.

"No."

He took a step towards her. She didn't move, just stared at him impassively.

"Do you… hate me?"

Sakura blinked, "No."

Sasuke's crimson eyes narrowed slightly before fading back to onyx. He had not expected that. His next question was on the tip of his tongue and he swallowed hard.

"Will you ever… forgive me?"

Sakura's eyes widened in response and her lips turned up into a small sad smile.

"I already have, Sasuke," she answered quietly. A sudden surge of annoyance and anger swirled in his gut when he heard that; he was unconvinced.

"Then why have you been so… so cold?" he gritted out. Damn, why wouldn't she just tell him the truth?

Sakura scowled, "Cold? So you're saying that if I don't throw myself at you every time I see you, I'm being cold?" When her only answer was the narrowing of his eyes, she resisted the urge to punch his face.

"What the hell do you want, Sasuke? What do you want from me? You want things to go back to the way they were before you left? Is that it? You want me to be the stupid little fan girl who worships the ground you freaking stand on?" she glared at him.

"I just want to be friends again-"

Her eyes widened almost comically at that and she could not choke down the hollow laughter that bubbled from her lips.

"Friends? Is that what you thought we were? Tell me Sasuke, tell me that you honestly saw me as something more than an annoyance when we were genin. Tell me that there was even one time when you genuinely treated me as your friend; more than just a team mate you had to put up with and felt obligated to protect. Or tell me of just one time when you gave me a reason to believe that we were friends. Go on."

Sasuke opened his mouth but then scowled and closed it again. How was he supposed to tell Sakura any of what she had asked him? While it was true that during his time under Orochimaru's tutelage, (though he had tried to think otherwise) he had come to realize how important his genin team were to him, before that, they were just a hindrance. And Sakura was right; he had never given her a reason to believe they were friends. Sure he had protected her, but she was right, he had always done it out obligation. He had always pushed her away and called her annoying but he had always assumed that she would understand, just like she always did.

"I thought so," she muttered quietly when he did not reply. Quickly, she made a move to step around him and exit the small clearing they were standing in. In that moment, Sasuke realized that this was Sakura, someone he considered one of his precious people, walking out of his life, and that if he didn't really want her gone for good, he'd have to move now. Spinning around, he grabbed her wrist just as she was about to get out of his arm's reach. Her head whipped back towards him; she was clearly stunned at his actions, but the expression melted of her face as soon as it came. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at him and he tightened his grip on her slender hand.

"Let go," she hissed. He shook his head, no.

"Let go of me now you stupid-"

"Sakura," he interrupted. He needed to tell her. His heart was beating so fast and hard in his chest and the thought of her rejecting him made it constrict painfully.

"Sakura – Sakura I want to start over again. I – I know I've… hurt all of you a lot. I've been a jerk, and I'm sorry," he paused, letting her soak in what he had just told her and to gauge her reaction. But her face was impassive and he received no such opportunity to guess what she was thinking.

"I want you to know that I consider you as a friend, despite what you think. Yes, I may have not treated you in the best ways when we were genin but even then, you were someone important to me. So please, Sakura, please say that you'll still be my friend." He slowly let her wrist go. They stood facing each other wordlessly: his eyes shining with usually pent-up emotions and hers still blank.

She took a step forward then, and her face broke into a smile. Sasuke felt his breath hitch slightly as he saw how her eyes lit up and the dimple in her left cheek became apparent. Her smile hadn't been as brilliant as it had been when they were younger, but it was still more than he was used to getting from her nowadays. He couldn't help being a bit dazzled.

"I hope you understand that though all is forgiven, it's not so easily forgotten," she whispered, still smiling, though a bit of sadness had crept into her voice. Sasuke inclined his head wordlessly. He was willing to live with that; as long as he still had her friendship.

-000-000-000-

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked, not pausing to look up at him. The office was quiet except for the scratching of pen on paper as Sakura went through various patients' reports. From his position at the large mahogany bookcase he was leaning against, Sasuke shrugged. "Naruto told me to come get you. We were supposed to meet for dinner, remember?" He watched as she put down her pen and leaned back into her chair. Running a hand tiredly through her pink tresses, she muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'stupid ramen freak'. Sasuke snorted. She gave him a pointed look and sighed. Casting a glance at the pile of unfinished reports on her desk, she turned to him.

"I can't go."

Sasuke shook his head, "He told me to drag you there if you said no."

Sakura sighed heavily, but Sasuke noticed the tips of her lips turn up slightly. "I really can't go, Sasuke. I've got work to do. Tell Naruto that I'm sorry, we'll meet up some other time. I'm not really hungry anyway."

Sasuke frowned. Bullshit! He wanted to say. It had been two months since their confrontation in the forest, but Sasuke had only seen her a handful of times, mostly when she was out at dinner with he and Naruto. And each time he saw her, she seemed to be getting thinner and more tired. Sasuke studied the black smudges under her eyes and her slightly hollow cheeks. When was the last time she had slept? When was the last time she had eaten? "Naruto won't be happy," he said.

"I know," she answered. "I know, I'm sorry."

He nodded, and Sakura watched as he disappeared in a cloud of gray smoke.

"Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked his best friend when he appeared beside him with a small 'poof!'

"She couldn't come. Too much work at the hospital," he grunted, recalling the numerous stacks of paperwork arranged on her desk.

"Damn right there's too much work! Maybe I should go talk to Tsunade-baachan, this is ridiculous!"

"I don't think she'd appreciate that, dobe," Sasuke answered, and watched the blonde visibly wince as he recalled some other time he had been on the receiving end of Sakura's explosive anger. Old man Teuchi appeared and placed their orders in front of them.

"So, how was she?" Naruto asked as he broke his chopsticks.

"Okay," Sasuke replied, frowning. She most definitely hadn't looked okay, but he had a feeling that if he said otherwise, Naruto would leave at that very moment to go check in on her, and most probably cause a ruckus and annoy her in the process.

"She's amazing, you know," Naruto said suddenly. Sasuke cast a look at the blonde haired jinchuriki, and was surprised at the pride that evidently shone in his eyes.

"She's worked so hard... Tsunade-baachan once told me that it's likely Sakura-chan's surpassed her already! No matter how difficult things are, she always keeps such a cool head. I don't know if I would ever be able to handle the kind of pressure she goes through everyday, in the operating theatre. She runs the hospital now, you know?"

No, Sasuke thought, surprised, I didn't.

"Yeah, Tsunade-baachan's got her hands full with political shit and Shizune-nee's helping her out too, so Sakura-chan volunteered to take over until things get better. I bet she hasn't slept a wink since she took the job," Naruto shook his head.

"But I guess that's what makes her Sakura-chan. She devotes everything she has into something once her mind is set on it. Sometimes I wish she'd just take a break, take care of herself. She never listens."

-000-000-000-

A flash of bright color met his eyes as he walked through the dimly lit bar. He had finished his mission early and had nothing else to do for the day, so he had decided to hit the bar for a few drinks. Usually he would have gone with Naruto, but the blonde haired man was out on a mission in wave. He hadn't expected to see Sakura here. Taking a seat next to the pink haired woman, he called out his order to the barkeep.

"One more for me, too," she added, and Sasuke noticed the slight slur in her words. How many drinks had she had? He watched as the petite woman downed the whole glass of sake in one swig and mused that monstrous strength and a nasty temper weren't the only things his ex-teammate had inherited from her mentor.

"I thought you had work at the hospital," he said, taking a sip of his sake.

"I did," she answered, and Sasuke noticed the fatigue in her voice. "Tsunade-sama gave me half the day off."

"So you decide to get drunk," he answered, disapproval heavily coloring his tone.

"Yep," she nodded, and ordered another glass of sake.

"You should go home and get some rest."

"You should stop acting like my mom."

Sasuke's brow furrowed. "I'm serious, Sakura. When was the last time you had a full night's rest? You look like shit."

Sakura snorted, but shook her head. "I'm fine, Sasuke." She turned to face him fully then, amusement shining in her emerald depths.

"What?" he asked finally. She smiled at him and Sasuke felt his heart start to pound painfully in his chest.

"I never thought the day would come when you would worry so much about my health, Sasuke-kun," she teased. Sasuke's heart fluttered when she uttered the familiar suffix and he thank the gods that the bar was dark enough that she wouldn't see his burning cheeks.

"Hn."

-000-000-000-

"You didn't have to walk me home." They stood outside her apartment door, it was close to ten p.m. , and Sasuke wondered when Sakura had gotten that short. The top of her head was just at his shoulder.

"Yes, I did," he answered, and she rolled her eyes exasperatedly in response. They stood in silence, neither knowing what to say, and Sasuke took the opportunity to take her whole image in: the way the moonlight reflected off her hair, and all the different shades of red in the tangled mess it made, her forest green eyes that had gradually lost the hardness in them as the time together in the bar went by, and the slight curl of her full pink lips, that looked so irresistibly soft.

"Well," she said quietly, breaking him out of his reverie. "Goodnight."

"Hn."

He watched as she let herself in, standing in the same spot all the way until he heard the lock click shut, and a few seconds after that. That night, he pondered over the fact that his second goal - reviving the clan - had yet to be fulfilled, and that he should really do something to remedy that soon.

I might write a continuation for this oneshot. But tell me what you think! Review! ;D