Sakura awoke with a fright, clutching at her throat. She closed her eyes when she realized it was still before sunrise and, it being her day off, she would sleep in until then. Snuggling back into her covers, Sakura began to drift of to-

She bolted upright once more, the memories of last night coming back. Or was it a dream? Her shaky hands rose to cover her blushing cheeks. God, had that really been Sasuke?

Deciding that sleep was no longer in her near future, Sakura got up and began to pad about her bedroom and bathroom, getting ready for her day. Hinata had asked her to come over the last few Saturday's to teach her medical ninjutsu, just in case something ever happened to Naruto.

Or, so she said. Sakura knew it probably had to do with her attitude the last few months. She had stopped going out with her friends and chosen to stay in. She slept in later, but at least ate the same, if not more. Naruto and Hinata had both tried to reason with her one evening at dinner, Hinata saying that she was depressed and Naruto openly admitting he was worried.

Sakura knew better. It was just the laziness that came from peacetime. But, she also knew that Naruto wanted to take care of those who were precious to him and Hinata cared more than anyone in the world, so she let them dote on her. She didn't mind being the third wheel, anyway. Well, she hadn't for a while. It had started to make old wounds sting, though, she'd never tell either of them.

After showering and changing into her weekend clothes, Sakura made her way out to the kitchen to make some coffee, but gave up after a while. Sakura didn't know if meeting Sasuke on the way home last night was real or a dream, and it showed in her inability to do basic tasks. She had been unable to focus long enough to brush her teeth, knocked over the red hot kettle, and managed to put the tea leaves in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard.

Sakura leaned her head against the wood and closed her eyes. "I really need to get out my head," she whispered to herself.

After reading through her reports from the previous night and checking on a few things for her grocery list, Sakura grabbed her bag of treats for her friends and headed out the door.

The morning was chilly, but only just. She hugged her coat tighter around her and was again thankful that she lived in such a central part of Konoha. Naruto's new house was only a few minutes walk in the opposite direction of the hospital and it was a lovely route.

When she arrived, she knocked once, then twice.

A flushed Hinata opened the door instantly. "Sakura!" She opened the door wider. "You're here!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Um, yeah? Just like every other Saturday!" She brushed a kiss against Hinata's cheek before stepping into the home. She took her boots off and laid them neatly next to the pile by the door. "Where's Naruto?"

Hinata smiled softly and shifted on her feet. "Oh, Naruto? He's-um, he's in the-"

"Sakura chan!" The blonde idiot came flying around the corner and latched onto Sakura's arm. "You'll never guess what we have for you!"

Sakura laughed, albeit nervously when she saw Hinata's worried face, as Naruto basically dragged her to their kitchen, near the back of the house. "Please don't let it be another gross prank, Naruto. I was washing that stuff out of my hair for weeks."

Naruto snickered, remembering the prank. "Trust me. This is actually a good surprise!"

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura slid from Naruto's grasp when they turned the corner and entered the kitchen. When she saw who was sitting at the table, her heart did a ridiculous leap in her chest.

It wasn't a dream.

Sasuke Uchiha sat in the kitchen, his good arm resting on the table and the other only noticeably missing due to the sleeve hanging loose at his side. He wore an iteration of what she had seen last night; a dark shirt with a lighter vest and dark pants.

Mismatched eyes...

"Sasuke is back home!" Naruto yelling in her ear pulled her from her shock. She watched him run around the kitchen to hug their friend who shoved him away with annoyance, but not as harsh as when they were kids. It was strange, to see these two, whom she knew so well as boys, grow into the men in front of her. And, still up to their antics as usual.

Her head tilted to the side while she took in the subtle changes. Sasuke had grown even taller and slightly wider. His hair had gotten longer. So long, in fact, that it had started to be less spiky in the back and, once shifted to the side, entirely covered his Rinegan.

"Get off of me, dobe," Sasuke muttered. His eyes had moved to Sakura's imoble form.

Hinata, always there to save Sakura from unbearable amounts of embarrassment, poked her from behind to get her moving. "Go say hello," she hissed.

Hinata was right. She was a grown woman now! She had to do better. But oh Kami was last night playing over and over again behind her eyes. Embarrassment lit her cheeks and ears up like a Christmas tree, but she slowly made her way over to the table.

"Welcome back, Sasuke." It came out in a breathless whisper. She was going to refuse to acknowledge last night as reality until she it was forced upon her.

Sakura felt like Sasuke's eyes swallowed her words and kept them. "It's good to be back."

Naruto slung his arms over both of their shoulders, tugging them in for a hug. "Gosh, I can't believe it! Team 7 reunited after all this time!" He fake cried for a moment before squeezing them all tighter. "I missed this so much!"

"Naruto!" Sakura and Sasuke said his name in different tones and levels of annoyance. It was timed perfectly all the same.

Naruto's grin was too mischievous for her liking, so Sakura deftly maneuvered out from underneath Naruto's arm and turned to face Hinata. "Do you still want to do a healing lesson today?"

Hinata bit her lip, glancing over Sakura's shoulder for a moment before answering. "I think since Sasuke's here, we should all catch up, right?"

Sakura's eye twitched. She hoped her smile didn't look fake as it felt when she turned around to face the boys. "Right."

Hinata chuckled nervously and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Tea anyone?"

Sakura was counting down the seconds before she could leave.

It had been unbearable, to say the least. Naruto kept going on and on about Sakura's so good at this, Sakura's the best medic-nin that. He even said that Sakura had all of the single shinobi lined up to propose. She promptly kicked him under the table and denied any knowledge of the matter, but she couldn't help but hope she had seen some emotion flash in Sasuke's eyes at the mention of another man in her life.

It was probably nothing. Sasuke had been silent for most of the visit. He listened to Naruto's rambles, albeit with his signature unamused expression. He even offered a small smile when he congratulated Hinata on getting married to the "loser". He only asked Sakura one question, at the end of Naruto's ramblings.

"Do you like what you do?"

The natural response came immediately. "Of course. I love what I do."

He hadn't said anything in return. He hadn't been able to, not with how Naruto jumped back into the conversation. And, for the first time, Sakura felt no obligation to scold him for talking so much. It saved her from doing something stupid, which she always felt like she did around Sasuke.

It wasn't like she wasn't happy Sasuke was there. She was. She just didn't expect to see him, especially after discounting the previous night as a dream. She had backed away from him in fear, then fainted when she realized it was the Sasuke she had dreamed would come home. Just thinking about it made her stomach tilt like she was suddenly free falling. Especially when Sasuke looked at her.

He hadn't looked at her in a long time. He seemed to do it more often today than he had before, but no more than occurred in most conversation. As a child, Sasuke didn't like eye contact. He'd speak with his back to you or looking down. Now, he seemed to be a somewhat active listener.

Eventually, the conversation died and Naruto seemed stuffed with cookies and tea. Sakura saw it as her opportunity to depart quietly.

"Well, it was nice seeing everyone!" She smiled a bit too hard and hoped they didn't notice how abruptly she had risen from the table. "I'm helping at the clinic in a few hours and had a late night, so I better get some more sleep."

It was a lie, at first, but then Sakura figured she'd rather spend her time occupied at the children's clinic than spiral into her own mind all night.

Hinata frowned. "So soon?" Her eyes shooting to Naruto's quickly before resettling back on Sakura. "I thought we could-"

"Anything interesting happen last night?"

Sakura froze. That couldn't have been….

Sakura turned around and hoped that her face wasn't as red as it felt. To make it worse, Sasuke looked even cuter, leaned back in his seat, eyes on her. She wasn't going to say it, so it was up to him to admit to their friends she had

Naruto looked between the two of them. "Did something happen last night that I don't know about?"

Sasuke finally spoke up in the silence. "I saw Sakura on her way home from work last night."

Sakura closed her eyes. Oh Kami, he's going to tell them about it- in front of her!

"What!" Naruto looked between them accusatorially. "Why didn't either of you say anything!"

Sakura was saved from answering, yet again, when Sasuke spoke up, shrugging. "She didn't see me, so that's why she didn't say anything." When he looked up again, his expression hadn't changed, but his eyes definitely held their secret between them. "I made sure she got home since it was so late."

Hinata smiled softly. "That's so sweet!"

Naruto had a different reaction. "What! What time was it?" He turned to Sakura. "It better not have been past midnight! What have I told you about working such late hours?"

Sasuke frowned. "It was well after midnight."

Naruto nearly shrieked. "Sakura! I thought we agreed on this!"

Hinata neatly sipped her tea. "We really did try to tell you last weekend that you worked too much, Sakura."

Sakura herself could not believe the direction that the conversation had taken. They had skipped over her and Sasuke seeing each other before this morning and went straight into lecture mode. Not that she wasn't happy with that, but it was still uncomfortable to talk about this in front of Sasuke.

"Guys, I really don't work that much!" Sakura frowned when Hinata and Naruto both gave her disbelieving looks. "What! I'm here, aren't I?"

Naruto threw an accusatory finger her way. "Says the woman who said she was going to the clinic later!"

Sakura winced at her forgetfulness. "Well… I did say that I was going to go home and nap first!"

Naruto shook his head, but finally Hinata intervened. "Sakura, you do look pretty tired. Why don't you sleep here?"

Sakura was all too quick to grab her things. "Oh no, not again. Last time, Naruto tried to stack pillows on top of me."

"It's not like I thought you'd wake up every time I tried!"

"I'M A NINJA YOU MORON! I SLEEP LIGHTER THAN A FEATHER!"

Sasuke smirked. "I see you still love to yell at loser over here."

Sakura quickly sobered her expression. She stared, wide-eyed at Sasuke. "I - P..please, you know how much of a dufus he can be."

Great delivery, Sakura. Super natural.

Sasuke closed his eyes and nodded in affirmation.

It was…odd. Not a usual reaction that Sasuke had ever had before. Sakura was unsettled for a moment before a slight amount of awe started to creep in.

Sasuke had changed on his journey.