Another shuriken flew through the air, speeding towards its target, and then whizzing past it. Cursing he aimed again and again every one of them missing their objective goal greatly. Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke cursed under his breath, looking at all the shuriken through the area, most of which had missed their targeted pinpoint. All morning his focus had been off, which affected his training tremendously. Wiping the sweat from his brow he frowned, unhappy with things so far. Walking away from his failed training, he sat under a tree taking advantage of the cool shade.

---

Ino had been to three of the training grounds and had yet to find the raven-haired loner she had been seeking out all morning. Before she had merely been curious as to how he had been doing, but now she had another more pressing matter, well pressing in her mind, to find the regained shinobi. One more just one more and then I'll give up. Stubborn though she was she also knew when to give up and stop wasting her time. Arriving at the fourth training ground she smiled, there under the shade was Sasuke, his eyes closed with an empty lunch container next to him. Finally.

Straightening her clothing, she made her way over to the resting Uchiha. Although she no longer felt that way about him didn't mean she could allow herself to look messy. After all, she had a reputation to keep as the Beauty of Konoha. Her footsteps were soft; the diminished sounds of the grass crunching under her feet as she walked would go unnoticed by most people. Though Sasuke remained unmoving, she figured he had heard her coming. "You're pretty hard to find, Sasuke-kun." No words escaped his lips, nor did his closed lids open to reveal his dark orbs. Still the same.

Looking around her water colored eyes found every fallen shuriken, noticing their missed marks. Her brows rose in surprise. Never had she seen him miss his target, not once in all the years she had been in the academy with him. I wonder. Looking back down she smiled a little to herself, it seemed she would find out exactly what she wanted to know whether or not the boy said it himself. "Do you mind if I sit here?" At this, he opened his eyes, vaguely glancing up at the bothersome girl.

"Betsuni." Smiling she sat next to him, as he went back to his supposed sleep.

"I haven't seen you around much." Silence, pure silence followed. "At least not as much as Sakura has." He tensed slightly at the name, of which did not go unnoticed by the flaxen haired girl. She smirked a little. "It seems you've fallen back into place, that's good. The village hasn't really been the same without you."

"Hn." Rising to his feet, Sasuke made his way back onto the grounds to continue with his training. Picking up his scattered shuriken, he took his time, a little annoyed by the extra, unwanted presence. Pocketing the last one, he positioned himself before the targets taking a deep breath. It didn't matter who was there, he needed to focus on the targets and nothing else. He didn't spend all those years training and gaining power to end up like this. This was way below his level, which made it all the more frustrating for him. Reaching for the weapons at his sides, he readied to shoot them out when a voice broke his concentration.

"It's nice that you're training, but wouldn't it be nicer to train with others Sakura's...oh wait she's at the hospital isn't she? Hmmm, well there is Naruto I suppose." Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, trying to control his ever-building anger inside of him. Turning ever so slightly at the rambling blonde, he glared at her before returning to his training. Ino merely smiled feigning innocence as she watched him, knowing very well that she was pushing his last nerve. Folding her well kept hands on her lap she began to think aloud to herself, enough so he would be able to hear. "I wonder how long Sakura will be. Hmmm I was hoping we could eat dinner together." She sighed rather dramatically. "But I guess Sakura's going to be really busy today, and she was late this morning." Sasuke ground his teeth, trying his best to ignore Ino, but was beginning to find it an extremely arduous task at the moment. "Sakura will probably work till late then because of that."

"Ino." The girl named ceased speaking as she looked over at Sasuke, blinking naively at him.

"Yes Sasuke-kun?"

"Stop talking about Sakura, it's annoying." Overreacting being an understatement, she began to apologize, rising to her feet.

"Ah, gomen Sasuke-kun, I didn't even realize I was thinking out loud."

"Whatever."

"Maybe I should go; I'm in your way here." Smiling brightly to the frowning Uchiha, she waved at him. "It was nice talking to you. I'll have to thank Sakura for telling me where you were. Ja ne!" Leaving him behind, Ino's satisfied smile gleaming proudly, she had seen the subtle twitch in his eye at the mention of the pink haired kunoichi's name. Snickering, she had found out exactly what she needed to know. "Now what to do about it."

---

The moon was shining brightly above the village, the dark clouds billowing around it, shadowing sections in a darkened abyss. Aside from the shinobi on guard, most of the streets were empty and those with walking inhabitants scattered at the sight of the lone boy heading their way. He ignored their quickened pace, their quick intake of breath and the hushed curses. His mind was occupied with other things and paying attention to ignorant villagers was not one of them.

The morning had been wasted; he had gotten no further in his training than the day before. How could he when his mind was bombarded with unwanted thoughts, assumptions and doubts, an unneeded battle raging within his already troubled mind. Much to his dislike, he had to come to terms with this or else he would never have peace of mind, well as much peace as he could get at the moment. Before it was easier to ignore, perhaps a little denial or good self reasoning, but now it was messing with this concentration, with his performance.

It was something that could be ignored no longer. Wanting to settle his mind and prove his troubling doubts false, he would get this over with soon, that being now, this very night. He was calm despite what he was about to do. His confidence brimming rather high on the outcome he expected. It wasn't something to worry about, almost silly to waste his time on such a matter, but he wanted the reassurance. His hands sunk deeper inside his pockets as he made his way towards the hospital. He could already make out the large building, a faint glow coming from a few of the windows. If he was correct, she was still inside, that would give him enough time to prepare, an unnecessary thing but one he figured wouldn't hurt to be. He wasn't going to repeat himself nor was he going to back out. One and one time only, that's all it would take.

Inside the hospital, the pink haired kunoichi hurried down the empty halls. Her shift was about to end and she was anxious to leave. Having spent the majority of the day indoors, she was eagerly awaiting a walk outside in the cool air. She was feeling rather claustrophobic having been inside four walls for so long. It was rather rare when Sakura was in such a mood, tonight being one of them.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sakura was finally off for the night. Saying her good byes and such to the others inside, she happily walked out of the hospital, the cool air whisping about her face. Instantly she felt refreshed, breathing in to the point where she filled her lungs with the chilled air until she couldn't anymore. Exhaling, she turned for her home only to stop short in surprise. Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her, for what she saw couldn't be truly there. "Sasuke?" Looking up at the shocked girl, he merely nodded in greeting waiting for her to come to him. There was no point in approaching her when she had to pass by him to get home anyways.

Confusion was one of the many things the medic-nin felt, not once since his return had Sasuke come to see her at the hospital, the only exception was when Naruto had dragged him over so they could all hang out. Yet here he was, alone standing with his back against the wall, one of this legs propped up behind him. Getting the feeling that he was waiting for her to approach him, Sakura ambled over as casually as she possibly could not wanting to appear too surprised in front of him.

Keeping his stoic image, Sasuke's mind calmly went over everything. Soon enough he'd have his ease of mind and then he'd move on, with another untangled thread. "What are you..."

"I'll walk you home." Pushing off the wall, he didn't bother to wait for a response from her. It wasn't a question after all. Whether she wanted him to or not, he was walking her home. Further bewildered, Sakura could only follow the Uchiha, wondering what possibly could have brought him here, at night and then to walk her home of all things. None of these things were like him at all. A sudden fear developed in the pit of her stomach. Something had to be wrong; nothing else could explain his sudden appearance.

Staring at his back, her large eyes filled with worry. She should say something to him, ask him what was on his mind and if she could help him, there was no other way to know unless she asked. Her lips parted, expecting the questioning words to flow out to him, but they didn't. Getting caught halfway, deep within her throat, unable to be vocalized they stayed, too afraid to go free. She couldn't ask him, what if her prying words pushed him away. They were finally getting back to the way they used to be, she didn't want that to go away, she wasn't sure she could handle that, not again.

"You're slow." Sasuke uttered dryly, startling her from her thoughts. "Tired?" Shaking her head she stuttered a no while quickening her footsteps so she was now next to him. Those were the last words spoken during the long walk. Afraid to break the silence, Sakura bit her lip nervously. Years ago this would have been a dream come true for the girl. She would be squealing endlessly inside her head, a profuse blush streaked across her cheeks. How time changed things, she couldn't enjoy the moment, too wrapped up in worry and wonder to think of anything else.

Stealing a few glances his way she could read nothing from his face, his serious demeanor revealing nothing of the Uchiha's thoughts or feelings. This perhaps was one of the few times she wished Sasuke would be more like Naruto. The over emotional boy made it easy to understand what was going through his overactive mind. Sighing she kept her gaze low to the ground.

Hearing the sigh, Sasuke, out of the corner of his eye could make out the troubled expression she carried. A slight pang of guilt reverberated through him, but he pushed the feeling back, not wanting to lose his focus. "We're here." Head tilting up, she was stunned at the sudden arrival, or perhaps it was by his sudden speech, she wasn't sure.

"Oh, t-thanks...for walking me home."

"Hn." Unsure what else to say, still having been unable to figure out why Sasuke had come in the first place, she just let it slide figuring she wouldn't get much out of him if she did ask, so instead she headed up the small steps to her front door. "Sakura." Hand reaching out for the door, she stood unmoving, not wanting to look back for fear of what he might say. Hearing him climb up the few steps, his pace a slow one, not rushed at all but calm and steady. That only made her stomach twist into a tighter knot. "Sakura." He repeated, noticing how tense she had suddenly gotten at the call of her name, causing him to frown.

Turning to face him when he called out to her the second time, Sakura stumbled back, when she realized just how close they were. His expression unchanging as he took another step closer, forcing her to take the last step, backing up against her front door eyes wide, mind spinning and her heart beating so rapidly she was sure it would shoot out of her chest any minute. Keeping his cool, Sasuke placed his right hand against the door, readying himself. Now or never, he would soon have his peace of mind. His thoughts repeated over once again becoming a sort of mantra now for the boy. Leaning forward, he ignored the signal that shot through his mind screaming that he was getting too close to her, closer than he was comfortable with.

Taken aback by Sasuke's sudden actions Sakura sunk down a tad, barely realizing what was taking place. Either out of expectancy or just by sudden reaction, Sakura closed her eyes as the Uchiha inched dangerously close to her lips. Just a breath away from making contact with the kunoichi's lips, when a spark shot through him, opening his eyes, he gazed at the girl before him. Jumping back he cursed under his breath before he spun around away from her and her home, quickly making his way down the solitary street, disappearing into the shadows created by the covered moon. He had found his answer but the outcome had not been the wanted one.

Having held her breath, Sakura opened her eyes when she heard Sasuke's hurried steps. Exhaling Sakura fell to her feet, her hands covering her mouth still in shock over what had just happened. What did just happen? Her heart was racing, so much so she could hear its quickened pounding resonating in her ears. Did...just...now...almost? The event had seemed a blur, but the feeling of his warm breath upon her lips was still vivid. But she couldn't ask she couldn't be sure it was real. The clouds parted slowly allowing the ghostly light to shine down, illuminating the empty street, no sign that Sasuke had ever been there.