Sasuke

How had she?

He had been masking his chakra almost perfectly. He had even using an illusion to blend in with the surrounding trees. He walked out slowly, trying to suppress his surprise.

"Hello Sakura"

"What are you doing here Sasuke?"

"We have to talk."

"No we don't. I don't want to have anything to do with you."

"Sakura, we need to talk about what happened when…"

"Nothing happened."

In a flash he was next to her, close enough that he could see all the flecks of emotion in her eyes. Close enough that he could see from her body language that she wanted to take a step back, but she wouldn't. He bent over to whisper in her ear, pushing the small wisps of hair out of the way, but not taking his hand away. He was close enough to touch her, but he knew that if he did she would bolt, so he didn't. He lowered his voice, the way he always did when he was trying to get a womans' attention.

"I could remind you exactly what happened."

Her body leaned in, so that the hand that was grazing her chin touched her face. He couldn't help it, he smirked. And that small movement of his lips was enough to wake her out of her stupor. She took a step back, but he flashed behind her so quickly that she bumped into him in her hurry to get away. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his body effectively trapping her. The stillness in her body ended and she started thrashing wildly in an effort to get away.

"I could remind you exactly what happed. I could remind exactly what you said and how it felt. You can't tell me that nothing happened, because what happened is written all over you. Each struggle is a reminder of what happened."

His words had the desired effect and she stilled in his arms. He turned her to face him, still keeping her close enough so she could not bolt.

He looked down into her face. The dark green eyes filled with tears.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

It hurt him to see the tears. He wanted to stop but he couldn't. He needed her to know. He needed to know that he had a chance, that this thing with Gaara (and the very thought of him almost made him snarl) would end.

He tilted her face up leaning in to the temptation of her lips.

"Why do you keep doing this to me Sasuke? Why are so determined to hurt me? Isn't it enough that I loved you Sasuke? Cant I love anyone else?"

He was close enough now that her words came as warm breath across his own lips and the temptation was too much. He kissed her.

The way she stilled at first hurt him but he kept on coaxing a reaction out of her, trying to get her to respond. He nibbled softly at her bottom lip and she sighed almost inaudibly. He took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, slanting his mouth over hers and reveling in the feeling of her mouth against his.

"I just want to talk Sakura."

He slid his hands down her arms, past the slim wrist and in an effort to grasp the hands that he had seen obliterate stone, but somewhere along the way his hand got caught on something hard on one of her fingers. He pulled the arm up to glare at the offending item, a ring, a small one with a pink diamond that was shaped like a sakura petal.. It looked like the kind of thing that a mother would give and he could almost let himself believe that if it weren't for the small etchings that wound around the gold band that were clearly grains of sand.

He dropped the hand as if burned, rage filling him. How dare she! She was his! How dare she make that kind of promise to someone else?! And she let him make a fool of himself!

He stepped back from her.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"In Konoha"

"Do you mean before or after you ran away"

"I did not run away."

"So telling me that we were going to talk and then coming here before we had the chance to, was what exactly … a strategic retreat?"

Her eyes hardened.

"So when exactly did this happen?"

Her silence was all the answer that he needed.

"So what happened between us was what exactly? Was that some last minute fling so you could get it out of your system? Or do you go around fucking every male that you go on a mission with?"

Her mouth slid open with what he was sure was disbelief. She shut it closed quickly, the set of her eyes and mouth revealing her anger.

Then she smiled. A cold bitter smile similar to the ones that she gave him when he first came back.

"Does Tsunade know that you broke parole?"

'Don't change the subject Sakura."

"She doesn't does she?"

"Sakura…"

"You do know that this is going to make it harder for her to argue keeping you alive."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You do know that the council wants you executed as a traitor."

"They wouldn't"

"Really …?" this time she moved closer to him. "… tell me exactly why wouldn't they? After all you not only ran away from Konoha, but you were directly responsible for the almost fatal injuries of some of our years finest, including a Hyuuga, a Nara, an Akimichi, an Aburame and an Inuzuka, …"

she listed them off on her fingers as if counting.

"… all of whom have family members on the council. Also in the process you fatally injured Naruto, someone who the village has come to respect as the Hokage in training. Not only did you run away, you went to a man that was hell bent on destroying Konoha. And maybe that could have been forgiven since you killed him. But killing him was a double edged sword …" She had gotten close enough that she couldn't have gotten any closer without touching him so instead she started to circle him, giving him thoughtful and appraising looks. "…you betrayed him as well. You killed the man who taught you everything so that you may achieve the goal that drove you for so long. No one knows if you even know the meaning of the word loyalty. And now that you've achieved that goal… after all you said it yourself. You're the only one who could kill him. We needed the sharingan to defeat one of the slurs against Konohas' good name. And you did that. Now the council has to evaluate whether or not you are so valuable that they can overlook the madness that seem to run in the veins of the Uch…"

"Don't say another word Sakura"

She looked down to see his hands around her throat and winced from the splinters she must have gotten from the force with which he had slammed her against the tree.

"And now you've gone and attacked the Godaime's prized apprentice. Tsk …tsk …Sasuke, what are we going to do with you? You keep following this self-destructive pattern and it's going to be harder and harder for the psych ward to declare you sane, loyal and able to complete missions. Face it Sasuke, by a series of bad decisions you have probably been just as effective at destroying the Uchihas as your brother."

His hands tightened around her throat.

"Don't ever talk about my family again Sakura"

"And if I did … what would you do Sasuke? Would you try to kill me just like you tried to do with Naruto? Will you have the same epic battle with me?"

She hung her head.

"Probably not. You would never waste your time with weak, pathetic little Sakura. After all I never meant anything to you. You never developed that bond with me. I was barely even a teammate to you. I was just an annoying little girl."

"Sakura I…"

Her voice was quiet.

"Sasuke let me go"

"You did…"

All of a sudden he was ripped away from her by a stupendous force and brought face to face with Gaara of the Sand.

"She said let her go."

And just as quickly he was flung into a very unyielding tree.

He woke up to Sakura's voice, she was speaking in low hushed tones, clearly arguing with someone. He could not hear what she was saying and he opened his mouth to yell at her, anything to get her to shut up and get out of his room. He was tired and the last thing he needed was her trying to baby him. His train of thought was interrupted by another voice, this time slightly less quiet and a lot angrier.

"No…"

He was slow to open his eyes, trying to catch what they were saying.

"Why are you taking care of him?"

The voice was laced with anger.

"It's my job, Gaara."

"It's your job in Konoha, let the Suna medics take care of him."

"If the Suna medics take care of him then you will have to report to the Hokage that he is here."

"And…?"

"And if you report him then the council will have more than enough reason to execute him."

"…"

"Well I know you don't care if he dies but think what Naruto would do if he finds out that you had anything to do with his death."

There was a small growl and then, "…Fine, just get him out of my village." There was a sound like her sticking her tongue out at something and then

"Baka!"

And then room was quiet save for a small sigh and the sound of footsteps towards him. He felt rather than saw her crumple into the seat beside him.

"I'm not leaving."

"Eep!"

The sound of her falling out of her chair in surprise gave him a sick sense of satisfaction. The way that he had never been able to surprise her annoyed him. He sat up and extended his hand in an offer to help her up. She scowled at it, but grabbed it any way and pulled herself up.

"I'm guessing you feel mighty proud of yourself, scaring me like that."

"Why Sakura-chan what would make you say that?"

She glared at him as she plopped herself into the chair next to the bed.

"You mean apart from the fact that you are grinning like Naruto at a free ramen buffet."

He laughed, and she looked at him surprised.

"What?"

"I didn't know you even knew how to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Laugh, I thought Uchiha Sasuke would be way to cool to do something as human as laugh."

He scowled.

"See now that's the Uchiha Sasuke we all know and love."

She reached in and poked him in the middle of his head. Reflex made him grab her wrist and she looked up at him quizzically.

He relaxed his grip.

"So how about you? What happened to the Sakura we all knew and loved?"

Her eyes softened with sadness.

"She grew up."

He grasped her hand.

"We want her back Sakura, we miss her."

She glanced away from his gaze.

"I know, but I don't think she is ever coming back."

"That's not true."

Her head snapped to him, staring at him like he was crazy.

"Sometimes, when you're with Naruto or …with ..with…. Him, she comes back."

He lay back down tired. The realization had hit him somewhere during the argument and he had realized that for once Naruto was right. She did seem a lot more like her old self when she was with Gaara. He didn't like it, but he was an Uchiha and Uchiha's changed what they didn't like about the world. He had made her act like her old self once and he'd be damned if he couldn't do it again. Even if it meant yielding just a little.

"Go to him, Sakura, but remember this. Konoha is your home. No matter what you've done or where you go it will be your home. There are people there who love you and none of us will let you leave without a fight. That's my promise of a lifetime."

AN: Okay once again I apologize for not uploading for several million years I deserved to be hung up by my tonsils and tickled with dusting feathers …but if you did that then you would not get another chappie giggles evilly in the corner But on the other hand there is someone who you should thank for getting me back on track with this story and that is…

drum roll

The envelope please…

Lady Hanaka , an awesome writer who was kind enough to read my work so thank you to her.

Also thanks to all the wonderful people who read my work and reviewed, waited patiently for me to update. I really appreciate it and will try to update again as soon as possible.

Love you,

Ciao