Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming. I am updating this story as soon as I can so that it ends by the end of this week. I already have an idea for the next story I'll be writing so I hope you all look forward to it. I have college starting in a couple of weeks and I know I'll be getting busy then so there won't be much writing then which is why I am hurrying this.

Sakura's breathing trembled as she felt the walls of her brain collapse and shuddered in abhorrence. Her voice was meek, yet audible. "Sa-Sasuke is-is back?"

Naruto simply nodded and looked out of the kitchen's window. He did not want to give out any more details than he had because he felt that she couldn't endure the talk anymore. Sakura's hand accidentally hit the bowls of fruits that was placed on the slab behind her as an apple rolled over and fell onto the floor. Naruto bent over and grabbed it before placing it back moving closer to Sakura only to hear her heightened breathing.

"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" he placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him before pressing her lips into an awfully unreal smile before turning around. "Is there anything else you wanted to tell me Naruto?"

After snapping out of his thought, Naruto replied, "Oh yeah, Kakashi wants us to meet him tomorrow. He didn't say what it was but I guess it has something to do with Sasuke coming back," he gazed at Sakura's back expecting a reply but she simply nodded.

"Well, I'll get going then". He turned around to leave; the kitchen now felt less and less pleasing to Sakura. She walked into her office and buried herself in textbook after textbook forgetting everything that had just occurred.

After what seemed like hours of reading, scanning and noting she moved her body, rising from her carpet which had initially seemed like a comfortable thing to sit on only now realizing how her ass had completely frozen. She decided to make herself some lunch as she moved towards the kitchen tossing her book aside. In mere seconds, her doorbell rang again. This time Sakura really froze. She felt the abnormal urge to run as if someone had violated her privacy. Gathering all her courage she slowly walked towards the door, making it long enough for the doorbell to ring again sending shivers down her spine. She reached the doorknob, curling her fingers against it before swiftly turning it around and pulling the door open.

A small bouquet of white roses welcomed her as she stared at the figure trying to recognize them before it lowered the bouquet down. Sakura heaved a sigh of relief on recognizing the familiar navy blue hair and dull blue eyes. Yumire stood before her, grinning as she pushed the grill open to let him in.

"Sakura-san, how have you been?" he sheepishly asked hiding his blush.

"Yumire I didn't expect to see you," she replied before adding "I am fine, what are you doing here?" her gaze now shifting to the flowers he was holding.
"I was uh just in the area, so I decided to see you," he replied before looking down as his cheeks reddened, "Oh uh, these are for you by the way" he added as he extended his hand passing her the bouquet. She simply grasped them as her cheeks turned a shade of pink, she could smell the roses easily even though she held them below her chest.

"Thank you, you didn't have to," she responded in a small voice.

"Well you have been gone quite a long time now, and I was really well, really missing your presence. How is your health?" he merely reacted spreading his hands apart in oh-its-nothing gesture.

"I am doing quite well, thank you. How are things at the hospital?" she quickly asked. She really did want to know the status of her workplace since she wasn't really aware of anything happening.

"Oh well, ever since Koshima took over things have well, become quite interesting," he seemed to sound a lot sarcastic.

"And why is that?" she simply asked.

"Well for starters, her work aesthetic is like that of a parasite, always hovering over her subordinates and the department head's of their doings and overlooked every little proceeding. Nothing gets past her without her approval and she clearly doesn't plan on handing over reigns too soon. She's even gone to the lengths of customizing her office to her tastes and plans on expanding it" he explained.

"Wow. Well, that says a lot," she responded bleakly.

"When shall you be coming back?" he inquired.

"I suppose in a week or two. I do not wish to push my limits, so I want to take as much time as I can to recover".

Yumire simply stood there for a few moments, before she realized his stiff body as the situation bordered on awkward. She beckoned him inside, "Would you like to have lunch with me?"

"Oh it's alright, I was just going to go home now. I think I forgot to mention to you, I have decided to apply to the Medical Corps for aid in Battle services and Special Ops as a Jounin," he stated with a small smile on his face. "I shall need to clear the Jounin exam and other tests before I am cleared to serve".

Sakura turned around to look at him, "Oh Yumire that is such great news," she clearly was happy for him. "What about the hospital now? You plan to leave?"

"Yes that is what I will have to do in case I pass and they plan to deploy me," he replied, his lips now frowning into a thin line.

"I see," she only added. She turned towards the counter, pulling a vase out of the cabinet below and filling it with water before pulling the wrapper off the bouquet placing it in the vase. Yumire took a few steps closer to her shifting right behind her placing both his palms flat on the counter towering over her petite form.

"Sakura..." his voice trailed off as his face lowered onto her shoulder as she slightly shuddered due to their closeness, almost feeling his breath linger on her skin. His lips very gently grazed the skin of her shoulder as he places tender kisses along it reaching her neck. She simply murmured under her breath as her weight shifted backward as she pressed against him. He too pressed towards her, wrapping his hands around her waist, violently turning her body towards him in his usually domineering fashion. Their face only inches away from each other, "Yumire, we can't," she whispered as his pale blue eyes met her emerald ones gazing intently.

"I am not going to be around for too long anyway. You shouldn't stop yourself from letting me in," he gently replied.

His lips brushed against hers as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. "You know you want to".

He dived into the kiss as their lips met in a frenzy as his hands now roamed her body and hers lifted to press against his chest. The kiss lasted a few seconds before she pushed him further away, his arms barely grasping at her waist.

"Yumire you don't understand, I can't be feeling all this".

His head lowered as he stared woefully at the hard oak wood floor. "Do you feel anything for me?" he slowly asked her.

"I do but I don't want it to grow on me. Please, you need to understand that I am not in the position to dwell on a relationship or anything of that sort for now. I need some time to resolve my own issues before I begin to ponder on those lines. Yes, I thoroughly enjoy your touch and the time we made love, but I cannot act on these feelings because I am certainly sure they won't last very long".

Her head too lowered to stare at the floor as he slowly withdrew his hands from her. He simply lifted her hand and kissed it, "I understand. Just know that I feel deeply for you and no matter what you choose my heart will continue to seek your affection".

He turned towards the door as she turned her back towards him, tears building up in her eyes as she quickly brushed them away. As the door closed behind him, her cheeks were now soaked as her eyes gazed at the roses that stood in a bunch.

After a few moments, she moved to her fridge grabbing some frozen pizza and unwrapping it. She placed it in the microwave as all her intentions of making herself lunch were out the window. She grabbed herself a glass of water from the tap and took her usual medication as the microwave buzzed. She placed the huge slice on a plate and grabbed a soda from the chiller walking into her bedroom, switching the television on. A few minutes passed as she had already gulped the soda down and the pizza before she picked her plate and moved towards the kitchen again, just before the doorbell rang. Again.

Her mouth turned into an unpleasant frown, she usually did not appreciate so many visitors in a day and had a strange feeling it was going to be one of her friends. Most probably Ino just checking up on her. As she dumped her plate in the sink and washed her hands, she walked towards the door drying her hands with the trouser. Swinging the door open, the sight before her leaving her immobilized.

A raven haired man, with an onyx right eye and a rinnegan in his left eye, greeted her presence. His pale skin reflecting sharply against the light. He wore a short single shouldered vest on top of his long sleeved black pull over. A small Uchiha crest embedded into the vest as he adorned black pants and black sandals. His left sleeve flapping to the side revealing the lack of an arm.

Her mouth opened as she gasped, taking in the image before her. Her soft pink pair loose from her encounter with Yumire, caused strands to crowd her face as the wind filled her living room. She gently pushed the grill open as he walked in not wanting her approval. She simply moved aside. Her eyes never once leaving her gaze, onyx and purple eyes almost boring into emerald ones.

They stood in silence before Sasuke spoke, "I am back Sakura".

"Welcome home, Sasuke".

Her breathing hitched as he inched closer, his eyes drilling into her every feature as he took in her luscious and full lips, celestial shaped nose, jade eyes and smooth skin. His hand lifted to brush the loose strands of pink hair aside as he tucked them behind her ear not breaking eye contact. His face only inches away from hers. He certainly knew how to make a girl weak in the knees but not literally, because that was the next thing she did. She fell to her knees before Sasuke could scoop her in his arms losing consciousness.

She woke up to a dimly lit bedroom as her eyes gave way to the light that entered through the window. She was tucked in her bed with the covers over her and no presence of anyone around. She pulled herself up and examined her surroundings. Sasuke was nowhere. She was utterly perplexed. Had she dreamed his presence? Or had he really been there? She was completely at a loss for words as she stared at the blank wall in front of her before remembering of her meeting with Kakashi. Looking up at the clock, it showed 8:20 PM, she decided to make herself some dinner and catch a movie before hitting the bed again.

The morning light filled her bedroom as she curled and stretched across the queen size bed in nothing but a slip that reached her thighs. She walked into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.

Sakura Haruno felt good.

She felt really good.

Infact she felt almost too good to believe herself.

Her hands slipped into her panties this time flicking her clit before her other hand grabbed one of her breasts squeezing it, as her fingers penetrated her thrusting in and out of her pussy. Minutes later she was gasping for air as she hit the pinnacle of her arousal by achieving a breathtaking orgasm, almost one too good to be true.

She smiled at herself in elation as she skipped into the shower. After a quick bath, she moved to her closet pulling out the uniform she now wore for missions. For some strange reason, she had an intuition Kakashi wasn't just calling her to chit chat, and well she'd been meaning to wear this one for quite a while now as it had just laid there in her cupboard ever since she got it custom made from about six months ago.

The uniform constituted of a sleeveless black vest that was cropped at the waist and had horizontal suspenders to cinch the waist so that it didn't ride up during battle, red low waist baggy pants that had slits along the outseams, a pair of mesh leggings that were high waisted and a pair of long sleeved gloves that reached just inches below her shoulder.

She got into her attire sans the gloves, combing her hair and tying her headband. She placed the gloves on the counter of the kitchen before tossing bread into the toaster and switching on the coffee machine. Grabbing the newspaper from her doorstep, she quickly read the headlines.

'14 killed in mass bombing in village of Gechiko as anarchist groups edge closer to Land of Fire border'

She held the coffee mug and sipped before pulling the toast out, placing the newspaper on the slab in the center and reading the entire article before turning to the clock that showed 9 AM. She finished her breakfast and pulled her gloves on before grabbing her medication and swallowing it down as she made her way out.

She headed towards Naruto's apartment skimming through the hoard of people. Upon reaching she knocked, as he appeared before her a minute later. Almost ready, he asked her to come in as she waved at an almost half asleep Hinata who offered her tea to which she refused. Naruto zipped her black shirt up before adorning his headband and directing Sakura out as they headed towards the Hokage's tower.

Knocking on the Hokage's door, they heard a faint voice that asked them to come in. Upon opening, Naruto quickly walked through as Sakura followed and saw Kakashi gazing out of the glass behind him. Her gaze quickly shifted to the man standing before him to the right, he was clad in a dark clothing and gray one-shouldered vest that was short as he returned her gaze.

She quickly regained her composure as she stepped beside Naruto waiting for Kakashi to break the silence.

"How are you doing Sakura?" he inquired.

"Quite alright,"

"Will you be able to clear the Psych Eval then?" he asked in a positive tone.

"I believe I will".

"Well then, I'll let you in on what I have already briefed Sasuke about," he said.

"If you clear the examination, you are to join Naruto and Sasuke on a short term mission, is that alright with you?" he added.

"Yes, Lord Hokage," she replied, a rather perplexed expression arose on her face, "What kind of mission though?" she finished.

"Read the mission report for yourself".

He handed her a gray file that contained the details of the mission. Her eyes scanned the details as they read-
Mission type: Long range reconnaissance
Minimum members: Three
Mission members: H. Sakura, U. Sasuke, U. Naruto.
Term: Short
Description: Advance toward Land of Rivers and gain intel on the terrorist groups that travel further southwest into the Land of Fire border. Scout and explore their intentions and what they wish to achieve. Report back before they infiltrate into the border.

She snapped the file shut as she looked sideways at Naruto before handing him the file, "I will take your leave then". She only gave Sasuke a glance before leaving the room.

Turning on her heel and heading towards the hospital to face that Psych Eval she had said she'd clear.

How did you like this chapter you guys? Oh my god, I have slogging my fingers typing this out at Starbucks since the past two hours haha. I hope you find this interesting as I will be posting the next chapter later today. Review and follow!