Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters.

A/N So I've decided that this story isn't going to be THAT long... Maybe 10-12 chapters tops. I don't have a lot of time to write currently, so it will take a while to get this story. I just hope you stick around to read it all!

If you haven't figured it out, the prologue took place before the Blank Period of Chapter 699. From now on, it takes place about two and a half years after that. All events from now on are an alternate timeline. I am not including the events of "Sakura Hiden" into this story, because the ending kind of doesn't work with how this goes. Basically I am only taking the manga as canon, no movies and no books.

Also, the scene between Sakura and Sasuke has changed around a lot, so if you have read this chapter before I would recommend reading it again just to get the new stuff.


Chapter One

In Konoha, summer was blistering hot and winter was frigidly cold. The seasons in between were pleasant, but there were always days where the weather was so fickle that one could walk outside in the morning wearing their lightest of clothes, but before sunset they would have to bundle up in their heaviest of sweaters. Oddly enough, big storms didn't come to Konoha often. In fact, when the rain would come it would be slow and light as it fell to the earth, occasionally a downpour or two would show up but it was barely enough to make puddles for children to play in. Though when a big and unforeseen storm was forming, the elders would say that an even more unpredictable event was sure to follow.

No matter much the villagers would disagree, Sakura Haruno believed it. Her superstitions were never prevalent, but she was sure that this one was true.

So when a fierce storm ravaged the village on a late summer night, Sakura made sure to keep up her guard. She could never be too careful or prepared for whatever could happen. It proved to be worth it when there was a heavy and slow knock on her door in the dead of the night, right at the peak of the storm.

Sakura wrapped her thin robe over her shoulders and trotted to the door, a kunai hidden behind her back. That was habit regardless, mainly because a visitor- announced or not- at this time was either there to kill her or request her assistance for an urgent call at the hospital or a mission. Neither happened much but she always had to be ready for anything. That was her life as a kunoichi.

It was too dark to see out the peephole, so she had to rely on sensing the chakra of the strange visitor. Unfortunately for her, the unexpected guest was masking their chakra- probably to not be noticed when they came into the village.

"Who's there?" she shouted through the door, loud enough to be heard over the pounding of the rain and a roar of thunder.

There was silence, but then a groggy reply came that she could barely hear through the wood: "It's me."

Sakura stiffened; her whole body now frozen. She never thought he would be back, not now at least. She waited for him but she was sure it wouldn't be for a while before he returned to her again. There was a coiling in her chest and her stomach flipped. Her heart soared and tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. He was back.

Sasuke.

She dropped her kunai, not hearing it clatter on the ground as she swung open the door, revealing the soaking wet and bedraggled shinobi. His hair, covering his left eye and grown out from years on the road, was plastered to his face and the navy wraps that held it down were sagging downwards. His poncho was sticking to his body in every bulge and crevice. His one visible eye was tired, but was still bright in the darkness of the night.

"You're back," she breathed, at first thinking it was too quiet. But then she remembered that she was speaking to Sasuke- he could hear her even if she had barely even uttered a thing.

His lips pulled up at one corner into a lopsided smile, right as he exhaled a humored snort and replied, "Yeah..."

Before Sakura had time to respond, Sasuke's eye fluttered closed and he collapsed. With a shout of his name, Sakura wrapped her arms around his shoulders and lowered him to the floor. Reminiscent of a time long ago, she cradled him to her chest. It was so surreal having him here. After not seeing him for so long it was almost like a dream. Whatever it was that brought him back to her, she thanked the stars that she was able to hold him again.

There was a flash of lightning and sound of the raging storm outside brought her back to attention. They were partially outside, sitting on the ground as Sasuke laid unconscious in her arms. With a sigh and a wry grin, Sakura adjusted him in her arms before scooting him into the house and shutting the front door with a kick of her foot.

The steady rhythm of the rain was in time with Sasuke's deep breaths and Sakura immediately conferred that he was bone tired, exhausted beyond belief by his travels. It wasn't surprising in the least, but what had been a shock was that he was here in her home. He had been gone for two and a half years with no word of when he would return. But lo and behold, here he was in Konoha in the middle of the night without any warning.

Here with her.

She smiled softly as she slowly hefted him up and towards her bedroom, where he could properly rest. Kami knows how long he's gone since he slept in a comfortable bed or had a good meal. She was thankful in the back of her mind for her strength , and suppressed a giggle at the thought of how they looked at that moment: her carrying him bridal style through the halls of her home.

An ironic role-reversal, if she could say so herself.

Sakura would have daydreamed so much more about her holding Sasuke like this, how it felt so right that he was in her arms now, but as soon as she passed the threshold of her bedroom the sound of dripping water hit her ears and she was suddenly reminded that he was still soaking wet.

Stupid.

She grunted as she lowered to the floor, took his sword out of his belt and set it aside. She then began peeling the wraps off of his forehead and as soon they were in a sopping pile behind her, she pulled his pack over his head and discarded it to the side. Meticulously, she went to his right forearm and starting unwrapping those as well. He stirred as soon as the wraps were removed, and his eyes opened slightly, revealing one black and one entirely purple with black rings radiating outward. For some reason, it still unnerved her looking into that Rinnegan.

"Sakura..."

She smiled at him again, then pushed his wet hair out of his face. "Hi, Sasuke-kun."

He gave her a tired and crooked grin at the old honorific, then closed his eyes again as he took a deep breath, saying in a weary voice, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming sooner. I didn't plan to come but I needed to get here as soon as possible..."

Sakura hushed him and began untying the wraps on his shins with one hand- for the other still had him cradled against her- then pulling off his sandals. With a snide grin, she muttered, "A letter or a hawk with a heads up would have been nice."

At her remark, Sasuke chuckled and began to sit up, but hissed in and clutched his left side with his hand. Sakura quickly helped him sit up completely, worry etching her features as she watched him suffer by an unknown cause.

"Sasuke-kun, what happened?"

He gritted his teeth and shook his head, eyes clamped shut as he struggled to overcome whatever had just caused him pain. A flash memory came to the front of her mind, and she had to push down the aching in her chest as she vividly remembered Sasuke's screams and the black marks covering his body. She shuddered, but pushed those traumatizing memories away and thankfully managed to hide it from the ever-perceptive shinobi in front of her.

As he calmed his breathing and removed his hand from his side, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at her apologetically. "I had to come to you first..."

"Sasuke-kun..."

With a bracing sigh, Sasuke pulled his poncho and shirt over his head- which made Sakura's heart flip in her chest and her skin to flush at the sight of his naked torso- and turned around. When she saw his bare back, she couldn't stop herself from gasping out loud in horror, covering her mouth in shock. Mottled on the pale skin was a dozen large bruises, all blossoming like they were fresh and deep. There was a long and narrow gash near the back of his left hip and speckling of small punctures all over mixed with some more, larger stab wounds near his right shoulder. He had been attacked, and they had festered long enough for the reddening and swelling of infection to begin to grow.

Quickly, Sakura put her hand on his hip, immediately channeling her chakra to the wound. Sasuke hissed, but quickly relaxed to her touch as she worked on fixing him.

"What happened?" she whispered, peering over his shoulder.

He turned his head and glanced back at her, eye peaking out from under his damp hair. "It's why I need to go see Kakashi. I was ambushed in the Land of Lightning."

"Do you know who it was?"

He shook his head, his shoulders tensing and his core muscles flexing under her chakra-infused touch. "They wore hitai-ate, but there were no markings signifying what village they came from. They were all blank."

Sakura narrowed her eyes and moved her hands to the tiny little punctures in his skin. "How many?"

She could imagine Sasuke smirking as he replied haughtily, "Twenty."

"What happened to them?"

He went to reply, but suddenly winced and hissed when she ran her fingers over his left side. She frowned when she felt there was a broken rib that was barely grazing his lung. It was a miracle it hadn't been punctured yet. More so than the fact that Sasuke hadn't shown any signs of having a broken bone in the first place- or at least was very good at hiding it. That came to no surprise to her.

"Is this why you came to me?" she whispered, working the rib back into place.

Sasuke turned under her hand to look her in the eyes, nodding again before he replied, "I had planned on going straight to Kakashi, but they were starting to hinder me... I just didn't want-"

"To admit you were hurt and needed my help?" she suggested, ignoring her irritation at his obvious macho problems. He glared at her over his shoulder again as she finished up his final wound. "Idiot."

Sasuke turned around- now facing her fully- and stared down at her with poorly veiled gratitude on his face. She just glared up at him with disappointment. "You should have gone to a doctor as soon as you got away from those rogues. That infection could have gotten bad if I hadn't taken care of it."

At this, his cheeks turned a little pink and he looked up and away from her so quickly she almost didn't see it. "Well... I don't like other people working on me... So... I thought I could get to you fast enough and get it taken care of."

Her eyes softened at his reluctance to admit such a fact, and she didn't bother to hide her pride. "Well, I'm glad that it was only that. Any longer and you could have gotten sick, and then you wouldn't have been able to get to Kakashi at all."

The corner of Sasuke's lip pulled up and he drawled, "You must not have faith in my speed."

"Oh, I know you're fast," Sakura countered, then tapped the side of Sasuke's head with a closed fist. "I just doubt your common sense."

His gaze snapped to her and a angry pout formed on his lips, but before he could reply, Sakura smiled and quickly offered, "Would you like to shower?"

Sasuke seemed a little stunned by her change of conversation, but relief quickly washed over his face and he smiled stupidly as he nodded. "A shower sounds wonderful."

"Down the hall, to your left," she said as she regretfully stood up. Being so close to him for the first time was admittedly amazing and made her heart race. She was almost afraid that if she turned around or left his side, he would disappear again. "I'll make some tea."

His smile was enough to make her heart soar out of her chest and into the heavens, but she swallowed it down and nodded at him before she left the room. Though, the urge to tease him overtook any manners she had and she called over her shoulder, "I know you desperately need a shower, but don't go running up my water bill, okay, Stinky?"

The sound that came out of him was a mixture of an insulted snort and a laugh, and Sakura turned around just in time to see him scurry- well, more like hobble- out of her room and down the hall, and Sakura could have sworn she saw a tiny bit of an angry blush dusting his paler-than-normal cheeks. Why, she didn't know. The sound of the bathroom door closing and the shower starting to run hit her ears and Sakura had to force her feet to move towards the kitchen.

The teapot clattered as she set it down on the stove, full of water and ready to be boiled. All she needed to get out was the tea leaves and cups. She had one that she drank out of exclusively, so there weren't many cups in the cupboard for guests. There were two other than her own, because she never entertained more people than that, and she was sure one had a crack in the side and would surely break if used.

It saddened her a little to think of how infrequent her home had visitors. She was always so busy working that she never gets the chance to invite people over. More often than not, she going over to other people's houses anyway. Her apartment was nothing more than a place to for her to sleep, because it was too empty for her to really call it a home.

The water shut off and Sakura could hear Sasuke step out of the shower. There was a loud thump, and the sound of a shocked grunt.

"You okay in there?" she shouted across the house.

"Yeah," he hollered back through the door. "The towels just fell on me."

Sakura giggled to herself and went back to tending to the tea. The leaves had steeped and now the kocha was ready for consumption. And just as she turned around, a steaming mug in each hand, Sasuke exited the bathroom wearing nothing but a pair of loose black pants hanging low on his lean hips. He was drying his hair with a towel, not noticing her oogle him from afar.

Since their last meeting, Sasuke's body had really developed into one of a man. His chest was broad, his shoulders wide, and his abdomen tight and toned from years of discipline and training. There were dustings of hair in the center of his pecs and below his belly button, and Sakura couldn't help but follow the trail down to the waistband of his pants. He was now 19, completely a man, and Sakura could see it plain as day.

It made her nervous in more ways than she could explain.

He looked up at her, watching as she stared, and stepped forward to take one of the mugs of tea from her. She quickly had to shake herself out of her daze before he noticed, and hurriedly handed him the one in her left hand. He took it gratefully and took a long swig before sighing happily.

"You made my favorite," he finally said.

Sakura blinked a few times before looking down at her own mug. Of course she had forgotten that Sasuke had favored kocha especially, preferring it a little stronger and more bitter than her. She hadn't even thought of adding sugar to hers until her mind registered that she had absently decided to make this particular brew.

She nodded once and turned on her heel to go back to the kitchen and fetch some sugar. Over her shoulder, she said flatly, "So when do you plan on leaving again to see Kakashi? I don't think you're in any shape to travel tonight."

Sasuke snorted and Sakura was pretty surprised to find that he was standing right behind her. He set his mug down on the counter and frowned down his nose at her, not hiding his disdain for her worrying. "It's of the utmost importance that I see the Hokage as soon as possible."

Sakura turned around fully and crossed her arms, completely prepared to poke him in the chest as a warning. "That's not an answer, Sasuke. You passed out on my porch, end of story. So I'm putting my foot down. You're staying here for the rest of the night and you can go see Kakashi in the morning. Whatever it is, it can wait until you're at your best."

His face furrowed in annoyance and he turned around to walk to her room. She followed right after him, ready to reprimand him for pushing himself too far, but as soon as she passed through the door she stopped. Sasuke was sitting on the edge of her bed, wrapping his amputated arm with clean bandages. His bag was now at his feet, open to reveal his limited supplies and single change of clothes. He glanced up at her as she entered, but otherwise remained quiet. As soon as he was finished with wrapping his arm, he snagged a shirt out of his pack and pulled it on over his head- with just a bit of difficulty that made Sakura smile to herself. Even after two years, he couldn't put on a shirt right with one arm.

"If you insist, I won't leave tonight," he said as soon as his head popped through the high collar. He stared at her before he bent over and closed his pack and carried it to the wall. "I'll leave in the morning after I get some rest."

Sakura crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame. "Will you at least stay for breakfast?"

Sasuke shook his head and sighed softly, "I have to see Kakashi as soon as possible, Sakura. This is important."

Without stopping herself, Sakura snickered and shook her head. "He probably won't even be in his office until mid-morning. You'll have to wait around anyway."

He glared at her, but quickly closed his eyes. Thunder rumbled overhead and she could feel him reading the chakra signatures in the area. Knowing his strength he could probably see all the way to the Hokage's tower from her little apartment without even breaking a sweat. When he grinned, she instantly knew she had been proven wrong. Instead of gloating, Sasuke just opened his eyes and shrugged.

Quietly, she padded over to her bed and sat down. He watched her the entire time, still standing by his pack, with something unreadable in his one visible eye. She watched him in return, not wanting to break the amicable air between them. He stilled when their eyes locked, but he quickly masked any discomfort by looking down to his pack and bending over to pull something out.

"You're different."

She saw him look up for a fraction of a second- obviously unprepared to hear that- but quickly covered it up by averting his gaze back to his bag. "I'd say the same for you. Time changes everyone."

Sakura hummed with agreement. Not that she could disagree, because the years had been kind to her. He must have noticed, as she did for him. When Sasuke was done rummaging through his bag, he sighed heavily and leaned back on his haunches. Out of the corner of his eye, he stared at her and gave an exhausted grunt.

"What?"

"I don't have any extra clothes. I usually only have these two outfits and wear them for a while before cleaning them."

Sakura stood without saying a word and went over to the pile of wet clothes, picking them up and tossing them in her laundry basket before picking that up as well and tucking it under one arm and against her hip. She smiled down at him when he looked at her oddly, then stated, "I'll go do some laundry. You go lay down and get some rest."

"But it's late and-"

She held up her free hand and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure those clothes could have used a wash anyway. Just so happens I have some stuff to clean, too. Now, go. Before I force you."

Sasuke gave her an exasperated glare before he stood up- wobbling slightly again- and headed out of the room.

"Wait- where are you going?"

Once again, he gave her a strange look. "Uhh... The living room to sleep on the couch?"

Sakura went over to him, grabbing his bicep and pulling him back into her room, shoving him towards her bed with a light chuckle. "Go sleep on my bed, Sasuke-kun. You need it more than I do. Besides, I'll be coming in and out of the living room so you won't be getting much sleep in there."

Sasuke looked like he was warring within himself- between propriety of sleeping in someone else's bed, more importantly a woman's, and his exhaustion. The more tired part of his mind must have won, because his shoulders slumped and he shuffled his feet towards the bed. He practically plopped himself down- face in the pillow- and he gave her a muffled thanks before pulling her blankets up and over his body. Just as Sakura turned off the light, she began to hear the soft sound of his snores.


When Sasuke came out of Sakura's room right before dawn, she was dozing lightly at her kitchen table. A lukewarm cup of coffee was sitting in front of her, leaving a ring of water on the table. As soon as his foot fell onto the hardwood floor of the hallway, she jerked up- not noticing the string of spit that dangled from her lips.

"You slept out here?"

Sakura blinked a few times, clearing the sleep from her eyes, and nodded before looking towards the couch, where the pile of laundry she cleaned was folded neatly. Sasuke's lone pile sat on the arm of the chair while her clothes took up all of the cushions. Thinking back, she could have easily folded them and put them on the coffee table or even the floor so she'd have somewhere more comfortable to sleep. But hindsight was always 20/20.

Sasuke was already walking over to his pile and started wrapping up his forearm with the clean bandages that had been pilled neatly on top. It was a little entertaining to watch- seeing that he only had one hand to work with, and it so happened to be on the arm he had to wrap- because he had the end of the wraps in between his teeth as he wound his arm in small circles to get the wraps in the right spot. Sakura almost stood to go help him, but he finished wrapping it pretty efficiently in such a small time. She was impressed.

He turned to her then, just as he tied off the end with his teeth, and gave her an apologetic shrug. "I need to go."

She nodded tiredly and stood, pulling her loose robe tighter around her body as she hugged her arms closer to her stomach. "I know. Will I see you again or will you just disappear like last time?"

Sasuke huffed and shot her cross frown. "Look, as much as I would love to stay and relax, I need to tell Kakashi about what happened and get it taken care of. I wasted enough time here and I can't waste any more. Right now, I have my duty to think about."

The sound of distant thunder shook between them and Sakura fought every urge to beg him to wait out the storm even more. Rain hit the roof- a sound she grew used to- and it grew heavier as they stood and stared at each other. The tension was palpable, enough so it almost made her squirm where she stood so she could be out of Sasuke's burning gaze.

He sighed, shaking his head and breaking his stare, and said softly, "I'm sorry."

Sakura just watched as he went back to her room to grab his pack and sword, then as he returned and rewrapped his head and slipped on his sandals. His pack was slung over his head and his poncho right over it. Giving her one more apologetic look, Sasuke approached her. Without another word, he poked her on her forehead- like he had during his last departure- and smiled sadly.

She felt her cheeks burn and her heart race. Unfortunately, she couldn't form any words to say so he just nodded once and turned on his heels towards the front door. As soon as it opened, he vanished into the dim light of dawn.

Sakura wondered vaguely if that would be the last time she would ever see him.


tbc.