Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Hey everyone! thanks for your reviews. I hope you have so far enjoyed Sakura's return to her Village. I'm not gonna give anything away for this chapter, so read on and enjoy!

Chapter Two: Melancholy Reunion

The pink-haired medic nin sat there on the branch for a moment, gaining back her out of control emotions. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for an instant, preparing herself for what was to come. Getting down off the tree suddenly seemed the hardest thing to do. She opened her jade orbs again and gazed out, a smile breaking out as she found Konoha's most famous landmark.

Overlooking the village like a great fleet of protectors was Hokage Mountain, the carved visages of all the past leaders gravely staring down on the bustling Leaf. She smiled to think that one day Naruto's face very well might be carved onto that same mountain, crowded there with all those other legends.

Wiping away that lone tear on her face, the flushed Cherry Blossom leapt down off of the tree branch lightly and composed herself again. Kami! Her nerves always seemed to get the best of her! Hope and excitement filled her heart: she was finally here! The looming gates of the village rose before her; she could tell the architect had designed them to fully impose the power of the village on the visitor.

Calmly, almost robotically, Sakura ambled into the Village, the guards waving her on. The two unfamiliar jounin didn't even take notice at her passing, but Sakura was too happy to note it.

Heady with nervousness, she expected the Rookie Nine, all of them, to be waiting just inside the gates, at the very spot she bid them farewell. She could almost imagine Naruto there, holding a cup of instant ramen, or Kiba cradling Akamaru in his hands. Perhaps Ino would be there as well, full up on the latest gossip. The Cherry Blossom sighed; she had five years of gossip to catch up on.

But as she entered, she turned and gazed at the small guard outpost, the spot everyone had seen her off at on that rainy morning five years previous, but no one was there. She looked around again, hoping desperately that they were somewhere, anywhere, but all she saw was just a long empty street leading into the heart of the Leaf. Her heart sank in her breast. Could they have forgotten her? But a more important thought slammed her in the chest, would HE have forgotten her?! Panic erupted inside her head as she stomped over to the outpost.

It wasn't much, just a simple shack meant to house the jounin watching the gates if it rained. A rusted metal roof and three square wooden walls made a nice door less shelter where one could wait out the weather. There wasn't much room to do anything else. She looked inside, knowing that the small shack wasn't going to house nine fully grown teenagers. Dejected, she looked down the street and up at the Hokage Tower. At least Tsunade would be happy to see her…or had the sake-drinking Sannin forgotten her as well? The Cherry Blossom felt the tiniest thread of anger weave its way through her being, but before she left, she spared one last glance at the lonely looking outpost.

I can't believe their not coming to see me, Sakura thought sadly. She turned her pink head down and sighed, thinking of the rookie Nine. How she missed them, her silly ridiculous wonderful friends. She missed everything about them: Naruto's childishness, Hinata's shyness, Shikamaru's laziness, but most of all, above and beyond the feelings she felt for the rest of them, she missed him, the infamous Hyuga prodigy and, above all, her very best friend in the entire world.

The way she felt now about the elusive Hyuga had surprised her at first; it had seemed so dubious a source to arouse her affections; Cold and even sometimes arrogant, Neji was an unlikely candidate for a close friend, but, as the pair had been thrown into more and more dual missions by Tsunade, Sakura had realized what a caring individual Neji really was. He made sure of her well-being when they fought their enemies, saving her life on several occasions, and, when Sakura pestered him, could hold an interesting conversation quiet well. They had grown even closer as the number of mission's they accomplished racked up.

She closed her eyes and remembered his soft voice and gentle smile, those pale eyes gazing into hers. He was so strong, even when they had been genin, he was a prodigy, what would he be like now? She had often wondered before her journey if she loved him, but had never really thought so. Her first encounter with love had ended up with her left unconscious on a park bench; understandably, she was reluctant to try the experience again. Her young twelve-year-old heart had been shattered by Sasuke's abandonment, but through it, she had developed a wall of steel around the fragile organ and wasn't willing to just hand it off as soon as she "thought" she was in love. She wanted to be absolutely sure before she gave it away again.

Opening her eyes, the Cherry Blossom walked on again, feelings of despair and anger coursing through her. They weren't here; they weren't coming to welcome her. They had probably even forgotten that today was the day of her return. Shaking her head in disbelief, she made her way down the road into the downtown part of the village, making headway for Hokage Tower.

Sakura made her way up the stairs and past the guards at the door, ignoring their cries of protest. Retracing her steps, she was hit with memories left, right and center.

There: where her and Neji were assigned their last mission together.

There: Naruto had been sent to go on his journey with Jiraiya.

There: Sakura had begged to become Tsunade's apprentice.

It was almost too much for the young woman as she approached the double doors leading to the Hokage's office. With one ferocious kick, the strong oak doors cracked under her strength, causing a smirk to appear over the kunoichi's mouth. She was glad she had expended some of her excess anger. Chunks of wood flew through the air as she retracted her foot and sauntered in smugly. Let the old Lady yell at her, she didn't care. The Cherry Blossom was just too happy to be back in familiar territory.

"Tsunade-sensei! I'm back!" she crowed at the top of her lungs, enjoying the feel of releasing some tension. She looked over at the desk, mountains of paperwork weighed down on the table and empty sake bottles littering the floor. Kicking one on accident as she moved into the room, Sakura sent it klinking jovially across the floor. It was messier than she remembered, "Tsunade-sensei! Where are you? It's me, Sakura!" she cried a little louder, wondering where everybody was.

Slowly, almost fearfully, a gray-blonde head rose trembling above a stack of paperwork.

"Sakura? Is that you?" the Gondaime's amber eyes peeked out over the top of the paper, recognition registering in them, "Sakura? Oh thank Kami! I was worried Orochimaru had finally come for me!" she laughed insanely and ran over from behind her desk, crushing Sakura in a rib-breaking hug. Sakura returned the gesture cheerfully, happy someone was glad to see her.

Tsunade let go after she heard Sakura's back crack and allowed her to take a seat across the desk from the Hokage's chair. The old Sannin herself sat down, draining a whole bottle of sake in the process. Sakura noticed the Gondaime's hands shake a little at the movement, and turned her eyes upward to get a full look at the healer.

The Gondaime looked and acted so much older. Her once blonde hair now had obvious strands of gray in it, and the once lively amber eyes, eyes that used to be challenging and spunky, were now ringed with dark circles. The sake had temporarily restored the flush to her cheeks, but Sakura knew that without it, the Hokage would be pale as a sheet. The Cherry Blossom reached across the table and grabbed one of her ex-teacher's hands.

"Tsunade-sensei? What's going on?" she forced the Hokage to meet her eyes, "Why were none of my friends at the gate to greet me? And why do you look so exhausted? You're a medic for Kami's sake! You know the importance of sleep!" Sakura felt like a mother scolding her child as she chastised the Gondaime.

A great sigh heaved its way through Tsunade's chest.

"Sakura…sigh…there's so much to tell you." The Sannin looked helplessly up at the ceiling, "Well, I'll start with the easiest thing to explain. Your friends weren't there to greet you today because I sent them all out on missions. It's that simple." Sakura nodded hungrily, she desperately wanted information. The Gondaime was making her worry, "Naruto, Shino, Neji and Tenten are all out by the border of Wind country securing the border; the other's are in Suna with the Kazekage, we've been working out a treaty for the past few years and we're finalizing the plans today…" A look of pain clouded over Tsunade's face as she tried to go on.

"Yes Tsunade-sensei? Please go on!" Sakura's face conveyed her alarm at seeing her old sensei so distressed, "Tell me, please. Is it something about Naruto? Or…" she couldn't bring herself to say the other name, but Tsunade knew who she meant. For a moment, just a moment, a spark of mischief and amusement shone bright in her eyes.

"Still mooning after Neji ne?" she gazed slyly at the blushing kunoichi, " I'd watch my man if I were you Sakura, Tenten has been hounding after him since the day you left." The old Tsunade shown out of the shell sitting before Sakura for a bright instant, " I wouldn't worry though Sakura, Neji hasn't approached her as a potential anything as of yet, he's remained true to his feelings for you, though he'll die before he actually admits he likes you." The crafty Tsunade gave Sakura one more glimpse of herself before becoming the exhausted Gondaime again.

"Please Tsunade-sensei, if it's not about Naruto or…N-Neji" she had an intense moment of difficulty while saying his name, "then what is going on? Who is this about?" she looked frantically into the Gondaime's drained eyes, trying to hide her jealousy and anger at Tenten by focusing on another issue.

Meeting her gaze with steady, calm, almost dead eyes, the Hokage whispered a few words.

"It's about Sasuke… he's back."

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll update asap.