Sasuke watched as Tsunade smiled down at Sakura and gave her a loving pat on the back before exiting through the doors they entered. Sakura turned back to Sasuke and gave him that warm smile that he had missed for so long.

"It's time to go Sasuke," she gently took his hand and led him outside to where Naruto and Kakashi were waiting for them. Naruto grinned at his old comrade and smacked him on the back. Sasuke gave only a slight smile as he closed his eyes and shook his head when the dobe started talking about absolutely nothing on the way to his home. He just let Naruto babble, listening every now and then. He saw Sakura glance back at them and giggle a bit to herself before turning back to conversation with her sensei.

For once, in the many years that followed the slaughter of his clan Sasuke thought to himself;

"I'm going home,"

"WOAH! Sasuke! Nice pad!" Naruto gawked at the "house" (more like an estate), "Why didn't you invite me to be roommates a long time ago?!" he swung his arm around Sasukes' shoulders nearly bursting his eardrum. 'Maybe because you're so goddam noisy dobe,' Sasuke thought to himself. He then opted to shove Naruto off him instead of vocalizing his annoyance. He saw Sakura moseying around the main room and taking a peek through the doorways of adjacent rooms. She was pretty impressed with the grandeur of such a simple looking Japanese style home, that is, until she found the kitchen…

"Oh wow! NICE kitchen!! Oh yea, I will definitely have no problem getting used to this place!" Her excited voice carried some much needed warmth throughout the complex as it filtered to the main room where the boys were. Naruto's mouth was already starting to water, and Sasuke couldn't help an amused little smirk surface at her excitement over such a typical room.

"You probably didn't know this," Kakashi had appeared beside Sasuke at the moment, with his infamous book in hand, "But once she started taking almost 24 hour shifts at the hospital as part of her training, she ended up getting well acquainted with the kitchen there," Sakura had emerged from her rummaging of the kitchen and took a plop on the couch next to Naruto who was daydreaming (probably of home made ramen).

"Yea, buying food from the store or the cafeteria became too expensive, so I bought a bunch of groceries and a cook book and stocked up the hospital fridge. I've become quite the little chef haven't I sensei?" She grinned at him while Kakashi grudgingly reminded her first few attempts at cooking. Needless to say she had to keep his precious book hostage to get him to be her taste-tester. The upside was…eventually…the job became worthwhile.

Sasuke saw the slight look of discomfort pass over his sensei and raised an eyebrow at him as the silver-haired man made his way to an empty room with his bag.

"Seriously though Sasuke," Sakura interrupted, "we need to have a real heart-to-heart about the state of that kitchen," he vaguely acknowledged a slight warmth in his stomach when she mentioned heart-to-heart, "There is nothing there!" At this comment Naruto finally decided to snap out of his impersonation of a waterfall.

"What?? You're kidding me! TEME, what are we going to do now? Are we expected to go a night without Sakura-chans' heavenly cooking??" Sasuke just rolled his eyes, choosing not to remind the moron that no one had been living in the Uchiha complex for five years.

Sakura just laughed him off and the three decided to do a quick trip to the store to pick up just enough food and cooking equipment for tonight and tomorrow morning. Being used to Kakashi's penchant for disappearing, they ignored the fact that they hadn't heard a peep out of him since he picked a room to stay in. So, the three went off and Sasuke couldn't help but feel grateful for fate. Because of it, he was able to be brought together with the only three people in the world that would treat him as if he had been around everyday of his five year absence. Once again, Sasuke caught himself thinking;

"I'm finally home,"

A solitary figure was sitting on the edge of a grassy cliff. Beside them were various animals from the forest slumbering peacefully. The silhouette of the figure had gentle but defined curves of a woman. Her hair shone like spun gold in the sunlight. She lifted a hand gracefully to the wind and caught a leaf caught up in the breeze. She closed her hand around it gently and brought it to her heart. She gave a small smile as she released the leaf back into the wind.

Shortly after, a scar on the right side at the crook of her neck began to throb. She hastily jumped up disturbing some of the birds that had been resting on her shoulder. The wolf beside her lifted its head swiftly at the sudden movement of its companion. Her head whipped back and forth making a scan of the surrounding area. She gave a slight nod of her head before her and the wolf both backed up slightly and ran off the edge of the cliff, disappearing into the froth of the waterfall below.

The whole time, a pair of blood red eyes had been watching her from the forest behind her. The owner hadn't even been fazed when she leaped off the edge, nor did he make a move to look below for signs of life. He merely stared at the spot she had been inhabiting as if burning his gaze into the grass would make her return. After a few moments he disappeared out of the area and the sound of shaking fur came from the bottom of the cliff.

Sasuke was none too pleased by the rather obnoxious chorus of birds that had awoken him from his first night of restful sleep. Resisting the urge to chuck a table near the bed out the window the Sharingan user stumbled to the kitchen. He almost forgot about his new living companions had it not been for the sweet aroma that was wafting through the hall from the kitchen.

Sakura was well awake and smiling to herself as she was busied at the stove preparing breakfast that the three boys only imagined (seeing as how all their circumstances didn't really allow for that satisfying home-cooked breakfast every morning). Naruto looked about dead if it weren't for that stupid grin and the stream of drool steadily flowing from the corner of his mouth. And aside from the occasional twitch of his hyper sensitive nose, nothing else was moving. Kakashi would have looked much the same, if only he didn't look like that most of the time anyways. His visible eye had a glazed look to it and wasn't staring at anything in particular. Although, it did seem his gaze was in the direction of a rather generous pile of blueberry pancakes.

Sasuke got a small taste of Sakura's improved skills when she didn't even so much as flinch when he pulled out a chair none too gracefully from the table. All she did to acknowledge his presence was a wave of her hand that was clutching the spatula. Finally, after it seemed like the guys had fallen back asleep, Sakura cheerily placed some mouthwatering plates of food in front of her team before she took a seat herself. The three perked up immediately and ate like they had been starved for years (although, this was much the case for one of the members at the table).

"Slow down will you," she laughed, "I don't want a repeat of what happened in Mist," as if on cue both Naruto, Sasuke, and this time Kakashi nearly choked up their food before taking a big swallow, and then everything was back to normal. Sakura just laughed heartily at the scene thinking that no matter how long she's with them; their stupid male pride will never cease to amuse her.

"Hey Sakura," Naruto managed between mouthfuls, "Why aren't you eating?"

"Watch where you're aiming that thing dobe," Sasuke brushed off some food chunks with his napkin. Naruto just grazed him with what was supposed to be a glare, but it lost whatever malice he intended since his cheeks were the size of balloons.

"Well, some of us are unfortunately unofficial advisors/assistants to a very lazy Hokage and have to be up whenever they are called upon," Naruto, of course, not understanding the little mind game just stared. She took pity on him and simplified it; "Tsunade-sama called me over so I already ate," seeing that the fox was satisfied Kakashi cut in;

"What's up?" Sakura looked at them pretty excitedly,

"Seems like she needs Team 7's miracle power for another dangerous S-Class mission," Naruto instantaneously woke up at that vague remark, already jumping out of his seat to get dressed so they could see the old lady about the mission. Sasuke himself was a little excited, although found it odd that they would be allowed on a mission so soon after his rather rocky arrival.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Naruto slid violently back into the kitchen. Sakura and Sasuke just stared at him. "We've been eating this whole time…" they waited for him to continue to see where this was going, "WHICH MEANS KAKASHI'S FACE IS SHOWING!" the other two snapped into realization the minute Naruto said his name. But by the time they looked over to where their sensei was sitting, he was no longer there.

"AAAARGH! JUST YOU WAIT KAKASHI-SENSEI! I'M COMING FOR YOU!" with that Naruto leaped out the window, forgetting that he was shirtless (a little fanservice for you Naruto lovers). Sasukes' expression remained the same blank stare as he gazed out the window, sighing to himself. Sakura just chuckled and picked up some dishes before heading into the kitchen.

Her movement shook Sasuke back to where he was, and he realized that now they were the only two in the house. He watched her innocently washing the dishes and was amazed. She still trusted him. Even after his abandonment and all these years living with Konoha's number one enemy, she trusted him enough to turn her back on him and go on like nothing had ever happened. It was a feeling he had never had before and caused him to lose control of his feet as they silently led him to the kitchen.

He stood right behind her thinking that she wouldn't notice.

"Thinking about what else it was you wanted to accomplish?" Her light voice startled him out of his reprieve. She did get better, he couldn't that she had sensed him. It took him awhile to understand what she meant. His mind went back to the time when they had all first met, and Sasuke had stated that his only two goals in life were to kill his brother and resurrect his clan. The other two students at the time were still too young to fully comprehend what the latter statement meant.

But after all these years, of course Sakura would have realized what THAT task would require. And the situation right now had the makings with that kind of motive behind it. He definitely did not want to give her the wrong idea, especially now when he was so confused. Ever since he got back, in the back of his mind he began to see Sakura in that light but he wouldn't want her to think he was just using her. Which was what was confusing him, since when did he think about his female teammate in such a way? He was supposed to be an emotionless fighting machine and she was annoying little fanclub Sakura. But none of that seemed to be the case anymore.

Despite the small war in his head, he seemed to move closer to her, like a magnet, placing his hands on the countertop so that she was trapped with just a bit of space between their bodies. She did not show any kind of reaction at all, and just continued to scrub the dishes.

"It's been a long time since I saw you last," her voice held no resentment or sadness. She sounded like she was merely stating facts. "You've probably noticed it, a lot has changed. Some of us aren't exactly the same as before," he knew she was referring to herself. From the moment he returned, he had noticed how much she matured. He realized, and was partially afraid, that she didn't "love" him like she used to. He saw that when she hadn't immediately embraced him when they were reunited at the gate.

For some reason, the notion exhausted him and he let out a soft sigh as he rested his head on her shoulder. Again, he was just slightly disturbed when she didn't show any kind of reaction.

"I have missed you, more than anyone knows," his heart jumped slightly at the little bit of hope, "But, you were gone a long time and I don't know if I can be everything you expect, like how I used to be," she turned around in his human cage and looked him straight in the eye. She didn't look angry, but she did seem sad, "So I don't think I can help you anymore, at least not in that way. I'm sorry," and with that she gently pushed his arm off the counter and walked to her room.

All he could do was stare in the direction she went. He couldn't blame her. It had been so long, and when he was here he wasn't the nicest person to her. She probably moved on and found a companion in another guy like Neji, even though the very thought left a bad taste in his mouth.

Just then Kakashi climbed through the window, a rather red Naruto tucked under his arm. Sasuke just blinked from the embarrassed fox to his sensei.

"He didn't get very far," Kakashi patted the boys head before setting the blonde down, "I found him passed out from what seemed to be embarrassment. Apparently he ran into Hinata on the way to find me," the one-eyed ninja gave a little chuckle, "She was pretty red herself, trying to wake him up, so I thought I'd be a gentleman and take the brat off her hands," Naruto sulked away muttering murderous ambitions toward Kakashi.

"For those two, it seemed like a long and dead winter after you left," Kakashi took a seat at the table and opened his book, "But eventually the snow melted, it had to. We don't live in Snow Country after all. We've had many springs since then. Naruto started spending a lot of time with Hinata. It's cute; they still act like they're in puppy love. Sakura became quite popular," the teacher merely raised his eye to check his dark student for a reaction. Only Kakashi would have been able to see the sudden tenseness in Sasuke's shoulder, "But she never showed interest in any other boy. The other ninja boys were always jealous of Naruto, Neji, Lee, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru and Chouji since the four teams grew close to each other over the years.

Neji sort of took Sakura under his wing when he saw how much she wanted to improve in her training. I believe they still get together for a weekly training session. She's become quite strong. It was quite amusing for all of us actually, to see Neji's usual stoic face light up with pride when she passed her Jounin exam," Kakashi just stared at his student. Sasuke had to shift slightly as his teacher's eye bore into him.

"Perhaps now, your priorities should change, if you want them to," with those final words, Kakashi returned to his book. Sasuke gave his trademark "hmph" and walked into his room.

Oh my gosh I seriously love you all . ! Everyone is so wonderful to wait so patiently for me, so I hope this chapter made the wait worthwhile. Sorry it's kind of slow, but I knew I had to keep up my end of the bargain with the romance stuff. I promise some KICKASS action will be coming shortly (and an original character of mine who will be Itachi's love interest….sorry, I like him too much and we all know that these "original characters" are the authors wanting to put themselves into the action XD)

If there is going to be any making Sasuke jealous type thing it'll be with wither Neji or Orochimaru

ENJOY my pretties I LOVE YOU ALL!