This story is a rewritten version of one I had previously posted. Enjoy :D


Cherry Blossoms:

A Shadow in the Mind

Chapter One: Interrupted

It was just like any other day; every morning Sakura would wake up, take a quick shower, and head to the hospital when she wasn't on a mission for the ANBU.

So much had changed since the fall of the Akatsuki. Sasuke returned home, despite his failure to take his revenge, and was currently a jounin being watched closely by the ANBU. Naruto was training to be the next Hokage, and had married the beautiful Hinata. Sakura was not only the head of the hospital, but also a respected and admired ninja in the ANBU ranks.

With a sigh, Sakura twisted her long pink locks and held them up with four hair-sticks. She grabbed her eyeliner and lightly traced her waterline before slipping on her long doctor's coat over her dark red mini-dress. She stepped back to judge her appearance; she was only slightly taller now, though her body had finally filled out and she could show off, leaving Ino in the dust.

Looking over at the clock, she slipped on her red stilettos and headed out of her apartment. Immediately, she was hit by the morning humidity and the distinct scent of cherry blossoms was carried on by the soft breeze. A soft smile touched her lips.

As she passed the buildings and happy civilians, a sense of serenity washed over Sakura. The village was rebuilding itself nicely and expanding as well. The people of Konoha were stronger now, and the ties to the other villages strengthened the world of the shinobi.

"Sakura," a cool voice called from a small cluster of buildings.

She turned and saw a handsome shinobi strolling towards her. He wore all black, except the dark green jounin vest around his torso, and had a similar style hair to when he was younger, but his eyes were just as dark as ever.

"Oh, hey Sasuke," she gave him her sweetest smile.

He casually picked a rose from the bush beside him and tucked it behind her right ear.

"Don't forget," he leaned in close and wrapped an arm possessively around her waist, "we have a date tonight."

Sakura sighed softly, "I won't forget, Sasuke."

"You said that last time," he glowered as he stared at her lips, "and the time before that…"

He glanced down and saw something in her jacket pocket. He reached down and pulled out a small orange book.

"Oh…"Sakura blushed.

"Icha Icha Paradise?" He narrowed his eyes. "Spending some late nights with Kakashi?"

Sakura held up her hands in surrender. "It's not like that, Sasuke, we only had dinner once. He let me borrow his book…"

"Sakura," his voice was low and dangerous, "do I have to talk to Kakashi? Need I remind you who you belong to?"

"What?" Her voice grew sharp. "I don't belong to you, Sasuke. Until my name is Uchiha, I'm a free woman."

"Hn," he gave her his trademark smirk, "in due time, Sakura, in due time."

"Sasuke-sensei!" Three voices chirped loudly.

Sasuke groaned and let go of Sakura. They both turned and saw three genin running towards them. Two of the kids were boys, leaving on girl in their mix. One of the boys looked similar to Choji, with the same adorable little swirls on his cheeks, however with aqua eyes and short platinum blonde hair; he, of course, was holding a bag of chips. The other boy had spiky black hair with milky eyes; he seemed shy, but powerful, like both of his parents. The girl seemed to have dark brown hair that was held back into two braids and her blue eyes glittered with wisdom and boredom.

"You were late, sensei!" The Choji clone shouted. "Again!"

"Are you done talking to your girlfriend?" Shikamaru's daughter asked while fighting back a yawn.

"Girlfriend?" Sakura gave Sasuke a hooded glare.

"Hn. All right," Sakura half turned. "Don't forget, Sakura."

Just before he left, Kakashi rounded a building with his nose buried in the latest Icha Icha book. Sasuke tensed and tossed the orange book he held straight at his former teacher's head. Being Kakashi, he caught the book without even looking before slowing his pace and giving Sasuke a confused and surprised look.

"Hey, Kakashi," Sasuke's voice was unnecessarily cool, "keep your hands off what isn't yours."

With that said, Sasuke turned around some buildings and disappeared out of sight with his students on his heels. Kakashi approached her and handed her the book back, which she put back in her pocket.

"What was that all about?" His dark eye was fixed on her beautiful emerald eyes.

"Oh, nothing," she waved her hand, "he just thinks we're sleeping together."

Shock froze Kakashi. "Wha…?"

Sakura giggled. "Are you doing anything at the moment?"

"I don't know," he mumbled, "will Sasuke kill me if I say 'no'?"

"Maybe," she linked her arm through his and began steering him towards the hospital. "I'll make sure he puts something sweet on your headstone."

"Oh, goodie." Kakashi grumbled. "So, why are we going to the hospital?"

"I need to check your eye," her voice was suddenly serious and her brow stitched together with worry. "I'm worried about it and you keep skipping out on your appointments. Afterwards, we could go out for a drink and you can show me your face."

"What makes you think I'd do that?" He gave her a quizzical look.

"Because I'm your favorite student," Sakura giggled. "Besides, I know how to get under your skin."

Silence fell between them as they walked towards the hospital. Sakura pulled out her book and began reading it; a distinct blush formed on her face and she nibbled on her bottom lip.

"You remember that last mission we had?" Kakashi spoke quietly, his eyes never leaving the book.

Sakura slowly tore her eyes away from the page she was and looked up at his half-covered face. "Yes. What about it?"

He sighed. "I wanted to apologize for stepping out of my boundaries."

Sakura remembered that mission well. It was an undercover mission and they had to pose as newlyweds to fool their target, so they could retrieve a bunch of scrolls that were stolen from a noble family. Upon investigating the layout of their targets home, they had been caught and forced to quickly take the scrolls and flee the city. She remembered having to stop in a cave, due to the blizzard that was whipping them. They had spent a few days in that cave and had nothing to start a fire with, so they had to use each other's body heat to survive while they waited out the storm. It had been an awkward time, so she understood how he felt, though she never told him that he had groped her in his sleep.

"Don't worry about it," her blush deepened. "If we hadn't, we would've died."

"I know," he sighed again as they entered the hospital.

They passed the front desk and the mousy woman behind the desk jumped when she saw Sakura walk in with her arm linked with Kakashi's.

"Lady Haruno," she squeaked when they both looked at her, "you have some mail."

Sakura dropped her book into her pocket and grabbed the heavy stack of envelopes.

"Thank you," Sakura smiled at the woman. "If anyone comes looking for me, can you tell them I will be busy with a patient?"

"Y-yes, Lady Haruno." The woman glanced at Kakashi and her face turned several shades of red.

Sakura could only guess what the woman was thinking of when they continued down an empty wing.

"So what room are we going to…?" Kakashi mumbled.

"My office." She replied as she shuffled through her mail.

He nodded and looked at the stack in her hands. "Looks like you have a fan club. I guess Sasuke is their president?"

Sakura giggled at the remark. Most of the mail was 'thank you' cards, a few were love letters from previous patients, and the rest was just paperwork.

They neared a closed door at the end of the hall. Without letting go of Kakashi, she opened her door and stopped dead in her tracks.

"He…" She stammered.

Her office was full of bouquets and vases of various flowers, boxes of chocolates, and a few bottles of wine. Each vase had a small card attached to it and on her desk was a small box that was wrapped in a floral foil.

"He really wants you," Kakashi spoke barely over a whisper.

"Yeah," Sakura said breathlessly, a sound that caught Kakashi by surprise and forced him to look down at the kinoichi before him. "Maybe I should cut him a break…"

She sighed and entered the room. Sakura gently closed the door as she motioned for him to sit in the chair in the middle of the room. She set her mail on her desk and crossed her room to the large window overlooking the village. Sakura opened the window and willed the morning air to fill her office. She leaned against the windowsill and allowed the sunlight to warm her skin.

"Shall we begin?" She turned to Kakashi and stumbled over her feet as she noticed he had put his book away and gave her his full attention. She walked over to him and sighed. "Can you show me your Sharingon?"

Kakashi lifted his hitai-ite to reveal his mismatched eyes.

Sakura summoned her chakra to her fingertips and placed them on his temples. "Have you experienced any headaches?"

"A bit," he mumbled.

"Do you get dizzy or lightheaded at all?"

"No."

"Ok," she shifted so she could focus on his eyes. "Look up."

He looked at the ceiling, but nothing changed.

"To the right."

Still nothing.

"Mmk. Now look to the left."

Everything was still fine.

"Look down."

Sakura felt him hesitate, but he eventually looked down. She hadn't realized that his eyes were in perfect line up with her chest, but she felt him hold in his breath and tense.

"Does that hurt?" She asked as she pulled away.

"A little," he choked out.

Sakura leaned back in and slowly probed the area around his left eye with a gentleness she rarely used. "Does this hurt at all?"

"No," his voice was thick and strained.

"Here?"

Kakashi took in a deep breath, "no."

Sakura let out a shallow breath and lowered her eyelids. "I need you to activate your Mangekyo."

"What?" Kakashi's voice went dark as his eyes found hers.

"Please?" Sakura gave him her puppy dog eyes.

He sighed and his eye left slowly changed. Instantly, Sakura felt a surge of chakra rush to his eye, but some of it had built up around the Optical Nerve. After analyzing it, she smiled in satisfaction and straightened up.

"I think I can fix this," she mumbled to herself as she leaned against her desk and placed one of her palms on the very edge while her other hand picked at a box of chocolates. "Your Optical Nerve is damaged, but that's an easy fix. Also, there are chakra points behind your eye that aren't completely attached, which would explain your headaches and it prevents you from deactivating your Sharingon."

Kakashi said nothing as she slipped a piece of chocolate into her mouth.

"There is good news," she rolled the piece over her tongue, "I can repair your eye. I might even be able to attach those chakra points. Then you can stop hiding behind your hitai-ite. However, every time you use your Mangekyo, it will reverse whatever I do to help you."

Kakashi didn't reply, so she swallowed the piece she had and slipped another one in her mouth.

"For me to keep your vision perfect," she paused to savor its flavor, "we'd have to spend every minute of our lives together. I would have to go on all of your missions and every day you would have to come to my office so I can make sure there isn't any chakra build up."

"I see," Kakashi spoke slowly as he pulled his hitai-ite down over his eye.

"If we don't do this," she gave him a measured look, "you could go permanently blind…and you won't be able to read Icha Icha anymore."

Kakashi's eye widened and his mouth opened slightly.

"I could always read them to you," Sakura grinned devilishly, "but you'd have to show me your face."

Kakashi chuckled. "That sounds tempting…"

Sakura giggled and adjusted the chain necklace she wore. "I'll try to stop by the training yard before my date tonight."

He looked up at her with an unreadable expression. "So, you're going?"

She sighed and crossed her arms over her torso and held herself tightly. She could feel the pain in her chest rise to her throat and cause her eyes to burn with tears.

"I figured it was time I moved on," her voice was soft.

The chair Kakashi was in creaked as he stood up. Without a word, he pulled her into a tight embrace. Her lips trembled as she fought back the tears. There was a sharp pain in her chest and she took in a shaky breath to clam herself.

Kakashi pulled away from her and slipped a finger under her chin to get her attention. "Training ground three."

"I'll take off early and bring you lunch." She smiled.

Kakashi returned her smile, "two dates in one day, huh?"

Sakura giggled. She didn't really see it as date, but as a thank you for her through her hard times. Looking into her former sensei's eye, she could tell he knew that as well.

He walked to the door and let himself out without another word and walked out of sight. With a heavy sigh, Sakura walked around her desk and plopped down into her chair; she looked at the gift in front of her and cautiously, she opened it. Inside was a silver chain bracelet with emeralds embedded into it and a floral design was lightly engraved into it; Sakura smiled and slipped it over her wrist, surprised by how warm it was to the touch.

Heaving another sigh, Sakura shuffled through her mail and began to fill out the paperwork before her. She responded to some messages from patients about possible appointments and placed the 'thank you' cards in a draw in her desk that was full of them. She then stood up, paperwork in hand, and headed out of her office, down to the front desk to turn in the work. Afterwards, she wandered the halls, offering her help to the new employees and watching over them as they worked on patients. Satisfied, she took off to her apartment.

Once inside, she kicked off her stilettos and slipped off her jacket. Walking back to her room, she strapped on her kunai pouch to her left thigh and put her book in it. Sakura rested her feet on the bed and massaged out the knots before she slipped on her thigh-high kinoichi boots. Another quick glance in the mirror told her to strap on her arm guard to her left arm to hide her ANBU tattoo.

Sakura pulled the book out of her pouch and left with her nose buried in the book. She slowly made her way to Ichiraku Ramen. She was unaware of the stares that followed her or the whispers from the women who gave her jealous glares. She just remained in her own world, as Kakashi would, and walked through the crowds in the streets.

Once at Ichiraku Ramen, she bought six bowls of ramen and made her way to training ground three. She knew Kakashi didn't have a squad, since they failed the bells test and had to go back to the academy. So, she knew that he would be on-looking Sasuke's squad while hiding in a tree.

Sakura walked into the opening of the training ground and saw the three genin arguing over something and Sasuke was sitting under a tree, staring at the sky. The genin noticed her and stopped arguing immediately, which made Sasuke look up in her direction.

"I brought lunch," she smiled shyly under his heated gaze.

The three genin rushed over to her grabbed three bowls of ramen. Sakura joined Sasuke under the three and handed him a bowl, then set one on her lap. She noticed Sasuke looking at the extra bowl and frowned at her.

"Why six?" He sounded suspicious.

Sakura merely smiled at him and searched the trees for silver hair. Once she did, she raised a hand to beckon him over. Sasuke followed her gaze and she could see his aura darken and he tensed. To calm him, she placed a hand on his tight and squeezed it gently.

Kakashi approached them and took a seat on the other side of Sakura. He set down a bottle of sake and grabbed the last bowl. The three sat in silence for a bit, slowly passing the bottle until the alcohol took effect. They began to reminisce of the old days, when they were once in a squad together. They had finished their ramen, the genin were dismissed, and the three jounin were on their backs. Sakura had shifted closer to Sasuke and rested her head on his arm and twisted her legs with his, but her right hand was lightly brushing Kakashi's hand, who was sitting so close to her, he could smell her shampoo.

"Remember the time I caught you in a genjutsu, Sakura," Kakashi's words were on the verge of slurring. "All you did was scream and pass out. If I tried that now, you would kill me."

Sakura laughed and shook her head.

"What was it you showed her?" Sasuke's voice was on the same level as Kakashi's.

"Um…" Kakashi tapped his nose in thought. "I believe it was you, Sasuke, and you were…um…something to do with kunai?"

"Why would you scream and passh out from that?" Sasuke slurred as he looked at Sakura.

"Oh," her face changed several shades of red. "Don't you remember? I used to…have this ridiculously…huge crush…on you…"

Kakashi squeezed Sakura's hand before letting go and stood up. He stuck both of his hands in his pockets and turned towards the trees.

"I'll catch you two later," he waved before taking off into the trees and out of sight.

Sasuke propped himself up and stared down at her. His dark eyes hooded by his long bangs."You really felt that for me?" His voice was soft and his breath was warm on her skin.

"Well," Sakura tucked an imaginary lock of hair behind her ear, "it was more than that. The night you left, I begged you to stay. I begged you to take me with you. I even confessed my love for you. Don't you remember?"

He merely nodded.

"While you were gone," she continued, "I still held those feelings for you and I pushed myself to my limits and more to get you back." She shook her head to stop the tears from threatening her eyes. "After the fall of the Akatsuki, I forced myself to move on, though I still loved you. And now that you're back, I want to give in, but part of me won't let me."

"Sakura," his voice seemed warm, but stern, "I was a fool then. I was blinded by my rage and revenge and tried pushing everyone away. I thought by throwing friends, it would be easier. I was wrong…" Sasuke sighed. "While I was gone, I remember this valley full of cherry trees in bloom. I remember falling asleep under one, and I remember what I dreamt of. When I woke, I felt cold, empty. That dream made me come back."

Sakura bit her lip as Sasuke traced her jaw-line with his thumb.

"I dreamt of you…" his voice was quiet. "I realized how much I missed your smile, your laugh, and the way you blushed when I looked in your direction."

Tears welled in Sakura's eyes.

"When I woke in the hospital with you hovering over me, I realized how much I truly missed you and your obscene hair color." He leaned in close but stopped just before her lips. "I don't want to hurt you; I want to help heal your heart. And perhaps you can help me with mine…"

Sasuke closed the distance between their mouths and kissed her with more passion and heat than any other kiss she had ever gotten. Sakura gave in to what she had been denying herself since Sasuke's return. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair, encouraging him to deepen the kiss. She felt his tongue flick across her bottom lip, beckoning her to allow him entrance; Sakura parted her lips and Sasuke thrust his tongue into her mouth. She moaned into him as he ravished her mouth with ferocity than she expected.

Sasuke reluctantly pulled away and rested his forehead on hers, breathing heavily. Sakura smiled and caressed his face.

"Oh, Sakura," he whispered, "I-"

He was cut off by the wind suddenly kicking up and another presence was felt. Sasuke turned, fuming with irritation, but stopped when he saw three ANBU ninja standing before them.

The one in the middle stepped forward. "Lady Haruno, the Hokage needs you."

Sakura sat up, shock rattling her body.


Don't worry everyone. I know what I did with Sasuke, I have a plan for him. Keep reading 3