Chapter 1

"Sakura, I'm home".

"Welcome, home Sasuke-kun".

The night Sasuke returned to konoha was a stormy one, he had shown up late at night at Sakura's apartment soaked with rain, stunned Sakura stood there gaping at him for a few moments before he uttered " Sakura, I'm home".

Sakura's eyes filled with tears, butterflies in her stomach as she leapt into his chest and hugged him, he leaned his head onto hers in response. "Welcome home, Sasuke-kun".

She invited him inside to dry off and get warm, he hesitated for a moment but accepted. "Sasuke-kun", she looked at his tall handsome figure, his mismatched eyes looked at her softly. She gazed back at him lovingly and smiled. Then her eyes averted down to his clothes. " Sasuke-kun, you must be freezing"!

She excused herself and walked down her hallway only to return with a towel and handed it to him. He took of his cloak and he began to dry himself off, he then parted to her bathroom to changed his clothes

Sakura took them from him, "I'll hang these up to dry", she said happily. Oddly Sasuke didn't object.

" I'm so glad to see you, but what were you doing out in this weather you could have gotten hurt, shinobi or not", she spoke with worry " I promised to see you when I got back", he said matter of factly, gazing softly at her again. Sakura couldn't help but blush (had she been the first one he came to see?) her heart swelled with joy.

They spent the rest of the night drinking tea on the couch and talking, well Sakura talked, Sasuke listened intently, she told him all that went on while he was away, about the child clinic she opened, Toneri, and their trip to the moon and all the couple's that blossomed after the war.

Sasuke told her only briefly about his journey, that it had taught him a lot and mentioned some of the people he helped, Sakura couldn't help but smile and felt her heart fill with pride at his story.

With Naruto now being married to Hinata and almost all inns in the village being taken by tourist, mostly to see Naruto the great war hero. Plus Kakashi told Sasuke it might make some of the villagers uncomfortable if they saw him in a hotel or apartment especially since they were in the heart of the village, and since Sakura was a respectable jonin and medic trained by one of the legendary sanin and fifth Hokage he asked if he could stay with her for now.

Of course Sakura was thrilled when Sasuke told her this and had agreed. They both fell asleep on the couch in the wee hours of the morning, Sasuke awoke an hour later and carried Sakura to her room.

Sakura woke the next morning to find Sasuke nowhere to be seen. "Sasuke-kun, are you here"? No answer followed, she walked to the kitchen and found that a note was left on her kitchen table. " Went to the Hokage tower".

Now that Sasuke had stepped back into her life, it felt like their relationship could finally start, of course Sasuke was as emotionally constipated as usual, but from their long conversation the night before it seemed that Sasuke had become more comfortable around Sakura. He also seemed a bit softer and kinder than she remembered, still not by much, but it was a start.

She put the note down smiling, it made her heart beat faster to know Sasuke thought enough of her to leave a note, ( another change in him) she thought.

Sakura quickly got ready, she was due at the hospital in an hour, after she took a shower and got dressed, she grabbed a quick breakfast and headed out the door.

"Sakura", she turned to meet the smiling face of her shisou. "Lady Tsunade"! Yelled a cheerful Sakura. " Your here a little early, what has you so chiper this morning, Tsunade asked with a coy smile. "Did you and Sasuke have a fun night".

Sakura gasped," Lady Tsunade"!! How did you! No, no it's nothing like that, I swear we just talked, that's it I swear", she babbled." Good grief I was only teasing, try not be such a prud Sakura", Tsunade winked at her. Sakura hung her head in embarrassment.

The hospital was slow that day, as it had been for months, it wasn't since the exploding human incident that Sakura didnt really have too many things to do. A few easy cases here and there then she was sent home.

"Sakura-san"!

She was one her way out for the day when she was stopped by a man, he was a tall slightly muscular man, with broad shoulders, long spiky brown hair and green eyes , he wore a warm smile on his face as he greeted her.

"Hello", she greeted back. She tried to hide the confusion on her face but the man quickly spoke up.

" I'm Sora", you healed me a few weeks ago". " I'm from the Anbu black ops, Uh the one with the kunai through his chest", he said nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh! of course the mission gone wrong!" " You had a mask on then. " I healed you deep in the forest of death after you escaped an ambush". She said quickly remembering.

" Yeah", that was Me! , he laughed nervously.

"Anyway", I thought it was amazing how quickly you saved me, considering the severity of my wounds.

"Really it was no problem" Sakura replied smiling, waving it off as nothing."

"But it was, you saved my life... and honestly I haven't been able to stop thinking about you".

"Oh", Sakura's cheeks flushed a little, she rubbed her index finger across her cheek awkwardly.

" And if it's not to forward I'd like to take you out sometime", he said quicker than I'm sure he intended.

"Oh! I Uh, thank you but there's someone else, I'm really sorry". She said sincerely

" Oh of course, it's not surprising, whoever he is he's very lucky, and I'm sure he deserves your love".

"Thank you for being kind in your rejection" he smiled before he excused himself and left.

Sakura looked sadly after him while she clutched her fist to her chest. She always hated rejecting people, simply because she knew how it felt.

She slowly turned to exist the hospital when she saw a tall figure casually leaning against the wall in the hallway to her right, looking her way. ( Sasuke-kun, how long had he been standing there?)

"Sakura", his deep voice said in acknowledgement of her presence

"Sasuke-kun"! I-I , What are you.. were you waiting for me? She rambled blushing.

" hmm" he replied and nodded his head once and looked at the wall in front of him

"O-Oh", uh..we can go, i'm done for the day, she said quickly as she rubbed the back of her head embarrassed.

Sasuke stood upright and walked to the door, Sakura hurried to catch up with him, she reached him before they went through the hospital exit.

The walk back to the apartment was silent. Sasuke walked in long, fast strides, Sakura hurried along to keep up in the crowded streets. ( was he angry at her??)

They finally reached the apartment ten minutes later, Sakura unlocked the door and let them both inside. "Sasuke-kun I'll get you a spare key so you won't have to wait for me to get back in the apartment".

" I don't mind" he said

Sakura smiled " I'll make you one anyway, this is your home too so, just in case.

A smirk crossed his face, and he raised an eyebrow at her almost like she had said something amusing. She hoped she wasn't being to forward and making it sound like they shared this house as..a couple. She felt her face get hot (oh no now that she thought if it it did sound like she meant it like that..damn it).

Trying to changed the subject she spoke quickly , " Sasuke-kun, would you like lunch we could always pick something up or I could make it, it's no problem".

Sasuke opened his black cloak to reveal two take out bags and set them on the table. Shocked Sakura happily thanked Sasuke and he nodded in reply.

They sat down to eat and as Sakura opened her meal she gaped at it for a moment completely surpised, a bowl of anmitisu, she couldnt move, she just stared at the bowl of her favorite meal until she heard Sasuke's voice.

" You like it right"? Sasuke asked as he looked up at her.

" Y-yeah its my absolute favorite"! She exclaimed, I-I just didn't know you knew, she felt her cheeks burn as she smiled at him.

"You ate it every time we went out to eat when we were genin" he said confidently, their eyes met.

" I-I had no idea you paid attention" she said shyly looking down.

" Hmm" he hummed and Sakura caught a glimpse of a grimace cross his lips.

" I pay attention to more than you think" he said

There was something in his tone that made her look up at him. " like what"? she urged.

He was silent for awhile before he spoke, the look on his face almost like he was trying to make up his mind on whether to say what he wanted to say, in the end he just turned his attention back to his meal.

" Like, that man in the hospital" she asked boldly. She had wanted and explanation for his earlier behavior. Sasuke stiffened and looked straight ahead with a slight frown resting on his lips

" You two seemed to be flirting" he finally said as he leaned back in his chair with his eyes shut.

Sakura almost choked on her food. After she gathered herself she managed to gasp, "What"! ( was he jealous?!). Sasuke looked down. "You were blushing", he said flatly

Her heart jumped to her throat. ( he hadn't heard their conversation, he thought they were flirting!!) No wonder he seemed ticked off when they left the hospital. Oh gods! and it probably hadnt helped that she acted all flustered after she saw him either!!

" Sasuke-kun".. She sighed " I wasn't flirting , he.. he asked me out because I saved his life a few weeks back and I turned him down because I told him I was in love with someone else", she replied in a nervous giggle.

Sasuke fell silent and looked down his eyes shadowed by his hair. He was obviously embarrassed he had jumped to conclusions.

"Sasuke-kun, I think you know me better than that by now, there is only one person I care about like that". Sakura smiled.

He stood up still silent, he walked to the door, and said " I won't be back late" and walked out closing the door behind him.

Sakura sat at the table, still looking at the door where Sasuke stood only minutes ago, she felt her heart break a little. He still can't admit his feelings for her, even when he basically came out and said he was jealous, and the conversation they had last night, even if she did do most of the talking, she never felt that connected to him before, it was like he was starting to open up.

She had hoped things would just pick up like he had left it. That day, the day he left the village for his redemption, the way he poked her forehead..there was meaning behind it she felt it , his sincere thank you, and... The way he looked at her, he had never before looked at her with that much emotion. Almost like.. like.. love.

Sakura sighed and stood up, she started to clean up the lunch Sasuke had brought. She took a shower and decided to turn in early.

Unable to fall asleep, still thinking about Sasuske and if he'd ever admit he loved her, or even if he could just show some sign so she'd know where they stood. Frustrated, she figured she'd catch up on some of her medical reading. She was barely halfway through her fourth scroll before sleep came over her.

Sasuke walked out of Sakura's aparment as quickly as possible, he dashed straight for the training grounds. he trained vigorously, anything to take his mind off of how foolish he acted.

Chidori chirped loudly as he split a tree in half. (idiot!) he thought, how could he be amymore of a moron at this point. He had openly confessed to Sakura that he was jealous.

Tsk! and to make things worse he left so aprubtly he might as well have sprinted out of her door. Why was he so jealous anyway? He knew how he felt about Sakura but.. he also knew how she felt about him, he should've known better than to assume.

It was just something in the way he looked at her, and how she blushed back.. he felt like maybe she could be happy with someone else. He didnt deserve her anyway how could he, he had almost took her life more than once, he rejected her love so many times and caused her pain for years, he could even hope to count the times he had made her cry.. Sasuke knew he had no right to feel this way, but he did, he was ready to pummel the guy just for asking her on a date. Yet he couldnt even bring himself to completely open up to her or tell her how he felt, and he may never be able to say it out loud.

Sasuke clenched his fist tightly and bared his teeth, he hated feeling like this.. it was new to him, being in love was more annoying than he ever imagined, though he'd never say it out loud.

Sasuke closed his eyes and sat in the dirt, If people could see him now, the infamously cold and emotionless Sasuke Uchiha, going crazy over Sakura Haruno, He couldnt even believe it himself. Sasuke spent the rest of the day trying not to think about Sakura, training so hard it hurt.

Later that night, Sasuke walked into the small apartment and found Sakura fast asleep on a bunch of scrolls, he gently picked her up with his only arm and carried her to her bedroom, he walked back to the living room and cleaned up the scrolls.

Sasuke sat on the couch unable to sleep, thinking about what happened earlier with Sakura, he knows he upset her when he accused her then left.

He layed himself down on the couch, his only arm over his forehead, mind racing, not that it was anything new he never slept well not since.. his family. Sasuke lied awake for hours just thinking.. thinking about his mother, his father.. his beloved brother and finally.. Sakura until he finally fell asleep.