Title: Return to Me

Rating: M

Summary: After eight years Uchiha Sasuke has finally returned to Konoha. He will discover that a lot of things have changed, especially a certain pink-haired kunoichi.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, no matter how much I beg and pray . . . sigh . . .

Read and review please. Arigatou.

Chapter 1

The pink-haired young woman fell onto the ground, squinting as the bright sunlight shone on her face. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, her breasts rising and falling with each quick breath she took. Closing her eyes, she sighed and stretched her arms, feeling the cool grass beneath her bare skin.

"You used too much chakra in that last move."

"Yes, I know," she replied calmly, not at all startled by the masculine voice. She'd sensed him several minutes ago, right before he instantly masked his chakra. Strange, she mused. Years ago she wouldn't have noticed him even if he hadn't masked his chakra. Ah, what a pitiful excuse of a ninja she'd been back then.

"You shouldn't push yourself too much."

"Yes, I know."

His shadow covered her prone figure as he came to stand next to her, staring down at her with a bemused expression on his face. "Is that all you're going to say?" he asked.

She opened her eyes to gaze up at his bright blue ones. She half smiled and brushed her bangs away from her face. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I should be asking you the same question."

"Unlike you, you lazy ass, I was training," she answered. "We can't all have inhuman amount of stamina, you know."

"And we can't all have inhuman amount of strength," he shot back.

"You realize that isn't a very good comeback, don't you?" she said wryly.

"Yeah, I know." He let out a small sigh and then fell on the ground beside her. He brought up his knees and slung an arm over them.

For a moment, neither of them spoke a word, both of them comfortable enough in each other's presence to withstand the silence. After a while, she sat up, mimicking his move by wrapping her slim arms around her long legs. The sun glinted on their hairs, hers a unique shade of pink, his a bright yellow color.

From where they sat, they could see the field that was painfully familiar to them. The very field they'd come together, not only as a team, but as a family. The legendary Team 7, that was what they were known as. All of them unique in their own special way. And all of them, in the end, decided to walk their own path.

It was he who finally broke the silence. After a brief glance at her, he returned his bright blue gaze to the field, his heart twisting slightly at the memories the sight invoked.

"What are you doing here, Sakura?" he repeated his earlier question, his tone soft.

This time, though, she didn't reply. Like him, her eyes were also focused on the training field. Their training field, she thought. After Team 7, no one else had used that spot, even though it was clearly a suitable place to train. Maybe they did it out of respect, or maybe they did it because they didn't want to end up the way Team 7 had, but for whatever reason, no one dared to use it.

"He's been asking about you, you know," her companion continued in the same gentle voice.

"Has he?" she said indifferently.

"Aa," he answered. "It's always one of the few things he says when I come to visit him; 'Where is she?' or 'Is she coming today?' or 'How is she?' Sometimes I think it's the first thing he wants to ask but he doesn't want to lose his 'cool guy' image. That teme."

A wry smile twisted her lips. Oh, yes, that sounded like their former teammate all right. "He doesn't even say my name. What makes you think he's asking about me?"

"Who else would he ask for?"

"It's not like I don't visit him at all."

"Oh, no, of course not," the blonde young man said, sarcasm heavily lacing his words. "You come in once in a while, check his wounds and then leave without saying more than three words. Hell, Sakura, you barely even look at him!"

"What would you have me do, Naruto?" she asked softly. "Would you have me engaged in an idiotic, one-sided conversation? Or would you perhaps prefer me to sit by his bed and peel apples for him, only to have them tossed to my face?"

"That was a long time ago, Sakura!"

"No. It was only a memory ago," she whispered. She shook her head as if to erase the dark thoughts away and then turned to look at her best friend, a bright smile on her face. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore. I'll visit him later, okay?"

Instead of feeling pacified, Naruto felt even worse. "I hate it when you do that."

"Eh? Do what, Naruto?"

"That." He pointed at her face. "I hate it when you smile."

Sakura blinked. "You don't like to see me smile? Why, Uzumaki Naruto, what kind of friend are you? I thought friends wanted their friends to smile."

"Not like that. It's empty. It's not genuine at all," the blonde said bluntly. "It hasn't been genuine for years. I thought . . . when he came back . . . I'd see you smile again. A real smile, like the girl I used to know always wore. The girl I used to know would never smile like you're smiling now. She would never smile to hide her true feelings. Hell, she didn't even know how to hide her feelings. When she was happy, she laughed. When she was sad, she cried. When she was hurt . . . well, she'd cried some more." Naruto smiled wistfully. "That's the girl I used to know. Where is she now, Sakura-chan?"

"She grew up, Naruto," Sakura answered crisply. She climbed to her feet and dusted her skirt. "I'll come by later today. Ja ne, Naruto."

She had walked several feet away when Naruto abruptly sprang to his feet and shouted, "Eight years, Sakura!"

She froze, but she kept her back to him.

"Eight years we've waited for him," he continued. "Eight years we've searched for him, prayed that he'd come back. And you . . . you've been miserable, hiding yourself behind your smiles. Now that he's back, I thought . . . you would smile again . . . really smile . . ."

Sakura's fists clenched at her sides, but she remained quiet.

"He needs you, Sakura."

Her eyes briefly closed and she forced herself to speak past the bitter lump in her throat. "Does he?" she said quietly. Against her will, a hollow laugh escaped her throat. "He doesn't need anyone, Naruto, least of all me."

"You're wrong, Sakura. He's changed. He's different. Itachi's dead and he's—"

"Naruto!" Her sharp voice cracked through the air, startling the birds from their perches on the trees. She took a deep, steadying breath and then turned to look at her best friend over her shoulder. She smiled at him and said, "I am happy that he's back, Naruto, but I won't go back. Now if you'd excuse me, I have some work to do for seishou-sama. Ja ne."

And with that, she disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving her friend alone to stare at the field in which their lives had been irrevocably changed.

Eight years . . .

Naruto's words rang in her mind as she made her daily rounds through the hospital. Hai, they had waited eight years. She had waited eight years.

Sakura yawned and stretched her arms lazily above her head. She glanced at the two new Jounin on either side of her, a languid smile on her face. "Man, that was a good mission, wasn't it?"

They glanced at her as if she were crazy. One of them was clutching his bandaged ribs, still feeling the soreness there despite the attention he'd been given by the top medical kunoichi, bar the Hokage herself. "If you say so, Sakura-sama," he mumbled, his face slightly red as he recalled the mistake he'd made. If the pink-haired kunoichi hadn't intercepted, he would have been dead by now.

"Hey, lighten up. So you made a mistake; just don't make it again. And be thankful that you're still alive," Sakura told him with a cheerful smile, one that, unnoticed by the two Jounin, didn't reach her eyes.

"Sakura-sama," the other Jounin called out to her and she tried not to wince. She'd tried to make them drop the suffix during their one-week long mission but she'd yet to be successful.

"Hai?"

"We're coming near the gates."

She smiled. "Hai," she agreed softly and they picked up their pace.

The sight of Konoha's gates never failed to make her feel at peace and she passed through it with a pleased sigh. It was midday and the streets were busy. And if the crowds were larger than usual today, she didn't remark on it. She turned to the two new Jounin, telling them to go home before leaving them to make her way to the Hokage's tower.

"Sakura-neechan!" she heard a familiar voice calling out to her above the noise emitted by the villagers. She stopped walking to search for its source.

"Sakura-neechan!"

Sakura whirled around and was almost barreled to the ground by the dark-haired teenager that screamed her name in her ear. "Sakura-neechan!"

"Konohamaru!" she exclaimed, covering her ears. "Konohamaru, I'm right here. Stop screaming."

"Hai, hai," the young but sadly misdirected Naruto worshipper said impatiently. He tugged on her hand. "Come on, Sakura-neechan. Tsunade-sama told me to bring you the hospital the moment you arrive."

She blinked. "What? Why?"

"No time to explain. Come on, Sakura-neechan!"

Two minutes later, they were running down the corridor in the hospital towards one of the rooms. Konohamaru refused to tell her what was going on despite her questions and short of punching him through several walls, she didn't know what else to do.

They finally slowed down when they arrived in a room where a group of people were crowding around a bed. Most of them she knew; she spotted the familiar bright yellow hair and the silver head near the head of the bed.

Her former sensei must have sensed her presence because he turned around, a gentle look in his uncovered eye. She knew he was smiling beneath his mask, as she could see the crinkle at the corner of his eye. "Ah, Sakura."

"Kakashi-sensei," she replied, puzzled. "What's—"

Her question was cut off by a loud "Sakura-chan!" Over the years, his voice had deepened, had lost it boyishness and matured into that of a young man, but the affection he'd always used when saying her name was still very much there and she doubted it would ever go away.

She smiled at him. "Naruto," she said warmly, stepping forward. She was still slightly breathless from her run. "Konohamaru said . . ."

Once again, she wasn't able to finish her sentence. She wasn't even able to think clearly. No, it seemed as if the moment Kakashi and Naruto had moved away from the bed, everything she had, everything she felt was focused on the person sitting there.

She took in the spiky black hair, longer now and even more unruly. She studied the bare arms that had grown more muscular, at the faint scars she could see there.

Her heart beat rapidly and she felt as if she could hardly breathe. "Sasu . . ."

He stared back at her, his gaze dark and intent. "Sakura."

She almost shivered. Like Naruto's, his voice had deepened. No longer a boy, she thought. Just as she was no longer a girl, he was no longer a boy. His face had lost its boyish roundness and his features were now sharper, more prominent. As a twelve-year-old, he'd been cute, but as a twenty-year-old, he was utterly handsome.

Her round green gaze met his black one. The onyx orbs were devastatingly familiar, filled to such depths with hidden emotions. A bitter laugh threatened to escape her throat. After all these years, she was still unable to read them, to know what he thought, what he felt.

She took a step forward, her knees trembling. For years, she'd dreamed of this day. She'd dreamed of how it would be when he came back, of how she would react, of how she would feel. And now that the day was finally here, she felt . . .

Nothing. At least nothing that she'd thought she would feel.

"Can you believe it, Sakura?" Naruto asked excitedly, oblivious to his friend's inner turmoil. "He showed up just before dawn, bruised and bloodied. Che, who knew the teme could be so weak?"

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke said quietly and the words tugged at Sakura's heartstrings and a glance at Naruto told her that he felt the same. How many years had they waited to hear those words, uttered in that familiar, impassive tone?

Too long, she thought.

"Ne, Sakura, aren't you going to say anything?" Naruto demanded, still smiling widely. "It's Sasuke! He's back!"

Sakura looked at the bright grin on Naruto's face to the softness in Kakashi's exposed eye to Tsunade's encouraging smile. And then she turned to look at Sasuke, who stared back at her, his eyes unreadable but the beginnings of that oh-so familiar smirk playing at the corners of his lips. For the first time since she'd entered the room, she took in the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt. A thick bandage was wrapped around his stomach and fading marks covered what the bandage didn't. He was pale beneath his light tan and while he was sitting up, she could see the fatigue on his expression. Bruise and bloodied, was how Naruto had described him.

She took a step back, surprising the others. She ignored them, her eyes glued on Sasuke's. She bowed slightly and when she raised her head, there was a smile on her face. "Hello, Sasuke," she said, her voice clear and pleasant. "It's good that you're back."

"Ah . . . aa . . ." he replied, startled himself by her coolness. It was obvious that he hadn't expected this kind of response—not from her.

She smiled and tilted her head, clasping her hands behind her. "Well, then, I hope you get well soon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish the report on my mission. With your permission, Tsunade-sama?" she said, turning to the older woman.

The Hokage was apparently too shocked to do anything but nod and with a short wave, Sakura left the room.

"Oi, matte, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out.

"Sakura!" Kakashi exclaimed.

She kept on walking.

Naruto had eventually caught up to her, only to be frustrated by her vague answers. Sakura herself wasn't sure why she'd reacted the way she had or why it seemed as if she were avoiding Sasuke. It was just a feeling within her, a voice that prevented her from going to him. She was no longer the eager, easily excited girl who would tread through fire to be by his side and she wasn't sure if she wanted to be that girl anymore.

She approached the closed door slowly and as her hand twisted the doorknob, she mentally donned her medic cap. Her face was impassive as she stepped into the room, but a small smile curved her lips when she looked at the young man sitting up in his hospital bed, much like he'd had the first day of his return.

"Good afternoon, Sasuke."

He turned from staring out of the window to look at her, his face emotionless. He had sensed her approaching, so he wasn't surprised by her presence.

"Sakura," he acknowledged.

If she were bothered by his lack of conversation skills, she didn't show it. She stepped further into the room, her eyes straying to the small vase of flowers on the small table beside the bed. She recognized the flowers and dimly wondered if her childhood friend and one-time rival had come to visit recently. She cringed slightly as she recalled the conversation she'd had with Ino a couple of days ago. Like Naruto, her friend couldn't understand her reaction—or rather, lack of thereof—towards Sasuke's return and as it did most of the times, their "talk" had escalated into an argument, ending with Sakura storming off from a yelling Ino who couldn't chase after her because she had to take care of her family's shop.

Stroking the soft petals, Sakura made a mental note to stop by Yamanaka's Flower Shop after her shift. She didn't want to stay mad at Ino and she didn't want her friend to stay mad at her either.

Shifting her thoughts away from her blonde friend to the raven-haired young man in the room, she looked at him and asked, "How do you feel today?"

"Better," he answered. "My ribs don't hurt that much anymore. My wounds are still tender but I can feel them healing."

"That's shishou-sama for you," Sakura said with a smile. She tilted her head, her long pink hair cascading over one shapely shoulder. "You were lucky. Shishou-sama told me you lost a lot of blood. If she hadn't gotten to you in time . . ."

"Aa," he agreed.

There were some things, Sakura reflected, that would never change and his pride was one of them. She knew he would sooner swallow his shoe than admit how grateful he was to Tsunade or how close he'd come to dying. She shook her head and gestured at him to lean forward. "I'll change your bindings."

As her hands deftly handled the thick bandages around his ribs, Sasuke watched her, trying not to show how her nearness or her touch affected him. There were some things, he mused, that would never change and her scent was one of them. She still smelled of vanilla, with a slight hint of ginger. Throughout the years they'd spent first as schoolmates and then team mates, it was one of the things that he'd noticed most about her. It had also been—though he would chew his own foot off before he admitted it—one of the things that he'd remembered most about her during those cold, lonely nights he'd spent acquiring power.

"You've been avoiding me." The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them and inwardly, he cringed.

Her hands stilled for a second and then she continued her ministrations. "There was no reason to come often. Your wounds are healing nicely and I have other patients."

Illogically, frustration bubbled within him, but from the clipped tone of her voice, Sasuke decided it was best to drop the subject.

Since her head was bent, it was safe for him to study her. She'd changed, of course. Her pink hair was once again long, curling just slightly at the small of her back. The large forehead that had plagued her when she was younger was no longer there, partly hidden by her bangs. Her features had sharpened, her cheeks losing their childish roundness. She was taller, though not as tall as either him or Naruto and her body had ripened into that of a young woman, slim yet curvaceous. In short, she had grown into the beauty her young self had promised to be.

Her looks weren't the only things that had changed, Sasuke knew. He recalled what Naruto had told him. Top medic nin, rivaling Shizune and barely one step down from Tsunade herself. Accomplished Jounin, the strongest kunoichi of their year, unbeatable in genjutsu and perfect chakra control. ANBU. That was one of the things that surprised him the most. He'd never thought that she had it in her to be an ANBU member. He could still remember the times he'd seen the hesitance in her eyes when she had to kill an opponent. For her to willingly become an ANBU member . . . how much had she changed?

Not for the first time since he'd returned, he wondered if she hated him. Of all the people he'd thought would be indifferent to his return, Sakura had been at the bottom of his list. But if her current behavior towards him were any indication as to what she felt for him, then it was obvious that she wasn't overly-joyed to see him.

What had he expected, really? For her to jump at him and exclaim her love for him? That had been years ago. But he would be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he felt a bit hurt by her indifference. Along with Kakashi and Naruto, she'd been the closest thing he'd had to a . . . a family. For her to be so obviously cool towards him . . . it hurt.

"Ne, Sasuke?" she said, her soft voice breaking into his thoughts.

"Hai?"

"Do you feel better?"

"What?" He frowned; he had a feeling she wasn't talking about his wounds.

"Naruto told me. You finally achieved your goal, didn't you?" she murmured. She looked up and flashed him a small smile. "Well? Did it make you feel better?"

"I . . ." He couldn't think of an answer. He wanted to say yes—no, he wanted to scream it. But he couldn't.

Apparently deciding that he was taking too long to reply, Sakura continued, "I hope it did. I hope it made you happy. I hope it was worth it."

He stared at her, at the startling brightness of her emerald eyes. "Sakura . . ."

She finished her ministrations on his wounds and without another word, left the room as quietly as she had entered it.

To be continued . . .