Prologue

The night was colder than I thought when I left Tsunade's office, at about 11:30. My team and I had returned from a mission earlier that evening and they had all gone home before because I was the leader and had to write a report. It didn't take me long, but by the time I was done, I could feel the tiredness creeping into my body. All I wanted was a long shower and a good sleep. The next day was my free day, so I could sleep as much as I wanted.

Being an ANBU wasn't easy at all, but at least the members of my team also happened to be some of my best friends: Naruto, Hinata and Kiba. Although they had insisted on waiting for me to finish the report, just looking at the dark circles under their eyes made me dismiss them. I smiled as they walked away, Naruto with the usual grin on his face. He and Kiba must have seen Hinata to the Hyuuga compound before heading off home themselves, since they shared a rented flat near the main street of Konoha. As for me, I lived alone. I had recently moved to an apartment in the center of the village, not bearing to live in the same house my parents had died in.

Konoha hadn't changed much since I left the Academy and became a genin. Unlike the village, I had changed a lot. I dared to think of myself as a mature, independent woman already, although I was barely 19. In the past few years I had been struggling to become a great medical ninja, like Tsunade, but my skill in taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu had improved a lot as well. I spent nearly all of my time training. It came as no surprise to me when I actually defeated Neji Hyuuga in a spar.

And now I was an ANBU leader, like Shikamaru. My parents had been so proud the day I officially became an ANBU squadron leader… and the next day they were gone, killed by an enemy ninja. A year had passed since then and I was starting to feel less and less affected since I had little time to think about them anymore. Perhaps one of the greatest things I've ever learned is that sometimes you have to let go of the past.

I barely made any sound as I walked down a little, dark street. I couldn't wait to get back home, but my feet wouldn't drag me any faster. The moon was shining high in the midnight sky, making everything around me glitter in the silvery light. When I stopped and looked up at the sky I could see no stars. The color of the sky reminded me of a certain pair of dark grey eyes I hadn't seen in almost six years. The same full moon shining above… so distant and cold… just like him.

Sasuke Uchiha. I hadn't thought about him in a long time. It surprised me that his memory kept haunting me still. I'd heard rumors about how he had killed Orochimaru and continued to pursue his brother. I had accepted the fact that he would never come back to Konoha again eventually, but a small part of me continued to hope: the Sakura he knocked out the night he left, leaving her on a bench.

I shook my head, stopping the thoughts about him from invading my mind again. I was tired and just wanted to get home. I didn't need those memories back right then. I continued to walk slowly toward the small building where my apartment was, at the last floor. In half an hour, I was going to be sleeping in my soft, warm bed and not on the grass, under the stars, with the thought that we could be attacked anytime somewhere at the back of my head. I was certainly happy to be back home and no nostalgic thoughts would grab a hold of me even for one minute!

For a few moments, my eyes jolted upwards and I suddenly stopped, staring wide-eyed at the silhouette on top of the building. Before I could have a better look, it disappeared into the night, but I remained in the middle of the street for a long time, shaking slightly. Then, perfectly sure my eyes had deceived me, I entered the block and ran upstairs, hiding behind my apartment door. But even from that distance, I could have sworn a pair of blazing crimson eyes was looking down at me! And I could recognize those eyes anywhere: the sharingan!

But it couldn't possibly be… Kakashi only had one sharingan eye, Itachi wouldn't have been sighted anywhere in Konoha had he come for Naruto again and Sasuke…

"Sasuke is just Sasuke, Sakura!" I scolded myself, sitting on the bed. "He's never coming back again and you know it, so stop daydreaming about it! Besides, what did you really see?! It's quite dark outside, and this building is high, so you couldn't possibly have seen the color of his eyes from that distance! You must be getting paranoid. Now have a nice shower and go to bed before you start seeing kami knows what!"

"Yeah…" I sighed, looking out the window.

My reflection looked back at me with the same puppy eyes and my expression suddenly turned colder as I frowned, brushing a few pink strands of hair from my forehead. My hair was shorter than three years before, when I had it chin-length. Now, only two strands in the front were that long. The rest of my hair was cropped short and tousled. My face was now oval and it had an air of maturity, just like the rest of my body. I was a fully-grown woman.

Almost nothing was left of the little Sakura I once thought I knew. Except that little part of me that kept crying out his name, telling me it was him I had just seen, telling me I should go out there and look for him, because he was back and he probably needed help…

With a single move, I pulled the curtains and turned around, locking myself inside the bathroom.