The guard slowly opened the creaking gates to reveal the sad streets of the Konoha Village. It was supposed to be the middle of the afternoon, but the darkness suggested midnight. Winters were extremely harsh, it was a problem for everyone in the village. Sasuke stepped into the coldness and breathed in the air. Even though this was the the day that he was finally free from 2 long years of prison, he didn't feel pleasant at all.

He had been locked up since the day Sakura and Naruto persuaded him to come back. Although the authorities of Konoha decided to take him again, they agreed that they would not be able to without punishment, thus he was sentenced to 2 years of prison.

Sasuke walked out onto the street and turned to say a, "thank you" or "see you around" to the guard, who he'd seen pretty frequently in the prison, but the guard slammed the door in Sasuke's face before he could say anything. Devastation filled Sasuke for a moment, but he decided there was no reason for him to ponder. With his head bowed down, he walked into the street. He stopped the minute he looked up. There was a small creature huddled up by the curb of the road. He walked closer and recognized the pink hair of the creature. He walked up to it quickly and put his hand on it's shoulder.

Sakura looked up from where she was sitting. The moment her eyes met his she darted up and opened her mouth to speak, but apparently not knowing what to say she froze. She was extremely pale and shivering. She was obviously waiting in the cold for an extremely long time. Finally her voice came out and she said, "I was waiting, I heard you were coming out but I wasn't sure what time..."

"I can see that," said Sasuke turning to resume his walk.

Sakura watched him take a few steps for a second but quickly called, "w, where are you going?"

He glanced at her, "why should I tell you."

"D, do you have anywhere to go?" she was still shivering and her teeth chattered when she wasn't speaking.

"I'm going home."

"The authorities took your home, you know I know that!"

Sasuke was silent. It was true, all his possetions were taken from him the moment he returned to the village. At the moment he had nowhere to go, and no one to turn to except his... friends.

The silence lasted a moment longer until suddenly Sakura shouted out, "come to my house!"

Sasuke stared at her in disbelief.

Sakura suddenly started speaking fast as though she'd gotten out something extremely hard to say out of her and was now free to say anything. "You could come to my house! I live alone now, but there is plenty of room, my parents spoiled me till the end. Of course you only have to stay there until you find a place of your own. I don't want to bother you, I just want to help you a little..."

Sasuke looked down for a moment, thinking about her request. Sakura bit her lip, her heart pounding as she waited for the response. Finally Sasuke looked up and replied, "if it won't be any trouble..."

"It won't! It won't!"

"Only until a find..."

"A place for yourself, yes!"

"Well let's get going then," Sasuke replied, putting his arm around Sakura as she turned bright red. "Lead the way."

Sakura's house was neat and tidy, just as Sasuke expected. It had a big living room and a bedroom that was a little smaller. Sasuke got the couch, which was quite comfy, he had to admit. Sakura bustled around, getting things ready for her special visitor. Sasuke just sat and watched her, debating several times whether he should ask if he could help. Finally Sakura stood still and declared, "I have to go buy the ingredients for dinner."

"Sakura you don't have to fuss about anything, we can have leftovers," Sasuke started.

But Sakura's replied, "you don't have to worry you're a guest," and was out of the house before Sasuke could say anything.

Sasuke leaned back on the couch he was sitting on and looked up at the ceiling. A flower shaped light hung from it. He felt more relaxed than he'd ever been in the past few years, and he thought it was bizzarre that the place he found most relaxing happened to be Sakura's house.

"Hey Sasuke," a voice suddenly said right next to Sasuke's ear. Sasuke turned around but no one was there, he knew the voice must have been a jutsu.

"Hi Kurokage," replied Sasuke sitting back with a serious expression on his face.

"So you're back to you're peaceful little life in the village," the voice of a man smoke beside Sasuke's ear.

"You have a problem with that?"

"Actually I do, I have one last request for you..."

"What do you want to do?" Asked Sasuke, his eyes thinning.

"I need you to do an assassination for me. There was a ninja that got away, he doesn't remember anything now, but soon he will, and he has vital information that we cannot bear to lose."

"So you want me to kill him, when he is most likely to be in an area of high security, and get caught again? They'll probably lock me up for eternity this time."

"Well what to you have to lose?" The voice made Sasuke's eyes widen. "The only thing you were faithful to was us, isn't that all you have right now?"

Sasuke didn't say anything. He just sat in silence. "You just think about it. What do you want to do, live the rest of your life known as the traitor of the village, or end it here as the most courageous memeber of our group. It is your decision. I will be here the same time tomorrow night.

And the voice was gone. Sasuke was still in the same position he was in when "Kurokage" left him as when Sakura returned twenty minutes later.