Disclaimer: This is a work of a fan fiction using characters from Naruto. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line.

Chapter 2

Sakura froze in shook.

It had been almost two years since she last saw him, and when she thought of meeting Sasuke again, she had imagined a different scenario from the one happening right now.

She had imagined herself at the gates of Konoha, together with Naruto and Kakashi, waiting for Sasuke's arrival. It was supposed to be a Team 7 reunion.

She never expected him to be outside her doorway at midnight.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Yeah..."

Sakura quickly glanced him all over.

It was dark outside and the only source of light was coming from inside her apartment, but it was enough for her to see how Sasuke had changed in the past two years. The turban and poncho she saw when the Kido incident happened were gone and the dark cloak he had when he left for his journey was again over his shoulders. She remembered how the cloak used to reach his ankles but now it ended below his knee.

Sakura then looked up to meet his gaze and her eyes fixated on his obsidian eye. She searched for his other eye but she could barely see it, Sasuke had let his dark hair grew longer on his left side, probably with the intention of hiding it.

She then leaned a little bit closer to him and was surprised to see that the indifferent look he always had was replaced with a more gentle expression. She let out a small chuckle.

The vengeful boy that once left Konoha wasn't there anymore.

Sasuke remained silent, he was also watching her and then she remembered she was wearing her pijamas that consisted of an old shirt and sweatpants. His expression change into a look of concern and then he lowered his gaze.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have come this late, I can come back in the morning" he said before turning on his heels and walking away.

Sakura suddenly grasped his cloak and pulled lightly back.

"Wait!" Her voice was louder than intended and he turned around surprised by her sudden action. "Don't just go like that." She said timidly.

He turned to her but didn't look her in the eyes. "You were sleeping," he said in a low voice.

"Eh? No it's fine, I was about to but..." She looked down at the hand that was still clinging to his cloak. She blushed and immediately let go of it, hoping he didn't notice how tight she was holding it.

"Don't worry about it," she said shaking her hands in front of her, then she pointed behind her, "do you want to come inside? It's kind of cold out here." The moment she said those words her eyes widened in terror.

Dammit, she thought, she didn't want him to think that she was looking for an opportunity to be all over him.

But Sasuke shrugged and calmly said: "Sure."

Maybe it was her imagination but she saw the corner of his lips curved slightly upward.

Once inside, Sakura made herself busy making some tea and Sasuke was sitting in the living room. She looked over her shoulder and saw him in the same spot she was a while ago, but instead of reading piles of reports, his head was resting in his hand, staring out her window.

His presence made her more nervous than usual and she had never thought that she wanted Naruto barking in her apartment to make things noisier for once.

She turned back and pulled out two cups from the kitchen cabinets. She served the tea as slowly as she could and then she walked toward the living room. She sat down on the tatami opposite him.

"Did you just come back?" She asked while pushing his mug in front of him.

"Yeah" Sasuke turned to her. "A while ago, but I was with Kakashi" he added holding his mug.

"Ok..." she sipped her tea. "Does Naruto knows you're back?"

"Not yet."

They sat in silence, occasionally sipping their teas, she would glance at him and he would do the same, but they wouldn't talk.

This is awkward, she thought.

Sasuke finally said something, but because she was so concerned in what to say, she didn't hear.

"Sorry, what did you say?" She asked.

Sasuke was looking at the documents on the table, his hand was shuffling through some of them "What are all of this for?" he said. "They seem important". He gave her a quick glance and looked back at the pile of documents in front of him.

Sakura set down her mug and grabbed one of the documents. "It's paperwork from the hospital. I need to give them to Kakashi-sensei tomorrow..." she paused and looked at the clock that was behind Sasuke, "today in the morning" she said with a laugh. "We are trying to improve the medical system here, so we are running different programs for that. So far we have the children's therapy center and a medical ninjutsu program for genins and chūnins. Kakashi-sensei said that we should also expand the hospital so we have been tracking down what areas are needed to ..." she stopped talking and lifted her gaze from the paper to meet his.

Sasuke had a puzzled look on his face.

She felt her cheeks getting warmer and looked away in embarrassment. "Sorry, I don't think this is the kind of conversation you want to have right now," she said sheepishly.

Am I talking too much?

Sasuke let out a sigh, "Sakura."

She turned her head back and saw that Sasuke's expression had softened. "I want to hear it" he said without taking his eyes off of her.

Sakura's eyes widened and she stared at him while realizing something.

When team 7 was formed Sasuke really didn't care for what others had to say. He had his own agenda and he pretty much thought of Naruto and Sakura as a burden. She tried talking to him, but being the brat she was back then, she talked ill of Naruto and he bluntly used her own words against her to point out how thoughtless she was.

You are annoying.

It was the first time he had used them, but at that moment, those words made her realized that she needed to be more empathic to others.

As time passed, she noticed how Sasuke started to enjoy his time with his teammates, he wouldn't say it out loud, but the fact that he stayed meant he cared for them.

Unfortunately, everything started to come down after the chūnin exams. She had an idea of what he was thinking. She remembered how he tried telling her about his reason for being an avenger during Kakashi's bell test, he never brought it up again, but she knew it was something that was consuming him slowly.

And then, the fight he and Naruto had on the rooftop happened. She foolishly tried to stop them but thankfully Kakashi intervened and no one was injured. Kakashi then tried talking to Sasuke, but deep down, she knew he was on his limits.

It didn't took long after that and her worst fear became real when she found him leaving Konoha. His vengeance was more important than his bonds with Team 7. He didn't want a reason to stay at Konoha so he stopped listening and pushed them away to gain power.

The only person who managed to get through him in his darkest moments at the end, was Naruto.

Sakura bend down her head and smile.

He had changed after all, and he wasn't pushing her away this time, he actually wanted to listen to what she had to say.

"Sure," she said happily.

She then went on and told him about the changes that happened after he left. She told him about the collaboration of the medical team from Konoha with Suna and how things were getting pretty hectic with this exchange. She also talked about the children's therapy center and Sasuke smiled after hearing that Sakura was the responsible of making it happen and her reasons behind it.

Sasuke lowered his gaze. "That's good to hear," he said with a nonchalantly expression.

She then talked about some improvements Konoha had achieved in the medical field. Sasuke would asked some questions once in a while, because Sakura would keep talking about specifics of the medical ninjutsu and Sasuke didn't have any idea of what she was saying. She blushed in embarrassment and Sasuke chuckled.

At some point she forgot how late it was. She had a lot of things she wanted to tell him.

And then she remembered Kido.

Sakura's smiled faded and she looked away. She could feel Sasuke's eyes on her but didn't looked up. He didn't say anything as well, he was waiting for her to be ready to speak, but she didn't know how to tell him about the time Kido kidnapped her using a fake Sasuke. Kido had said a lot of things involving Sasuke that were messing with her head, but she couldn't forget how angry and scared she was when he told her his plan to steal Sasuke's eyes to made a drug out of them.

She hesitated but Sakura found the courage to look up. "The thing is..."

But Sasuke's eyes were not on her anymore. She was intrigued by this and looked to her right to see what he was looking at. She let out a small chuckle when she saw it as well. Sasuke was staring at the photograph that was on top of a small shelf where she kept her medical books. It was a photo of Team 7.

Her head turned back to Sasuke and saw a peaceful expression all over his face.

"I'm back Sakura," he finally said.

Sakura felt her heart racing. She had waited so long to hear that.

"I forgot to say it but..." she wiped the tears that were about to fall from her face.

Sasuke turned to her, one eyebrow raised.

"Welcome home" she said with a bright smile.

Author's Note: Here is the second chapter. Yay! I hope you like it.

BTW I used some events that happened in Sakura Hiden. I hope the Kido thing isn't confusing you.

I apologize if some expressions aren't used correctly, English is not my first language, so I'm trying my best. Also some head ups, I don't know when I'll update again, I'm super slow writing so thank you for your patience.