EDIT 7/5/06: I tell you peoples, if I don't get over this thing of kisses, I'd never update! (That's why the last version of this chapter was a cliffhanger. I just couldn't write that kiss….) SO!

Now this story has a kiss, written by my good friend XxnoStalgiaxX ! (thank you SO MUCH li-chan!) I'll mark where she wrote and where I picked up with ttttttttttttt.

NOTE: Stuff in () isn't my comments; it's still the person thinking. It's just a side thought and then they get back to what they were thinking before. Does that make sense? ;;

Sakura

Sasuke'd thought that as soon as she saw him, Sakura would hug the life out of him, and once again proclaim her undying love for him. Actually, it had just been the impression he'd had in the back of his mind. He knew better than to expect things to remain the same.

When he thought back to when Sakura and Naruto had come after him... at least Kabuto had stopped him from destroying them. In his lust for power to defeat his brother, his mind had been clouded.

His brain fast-forwarded to when he'd killed his older brother. As he stared at the man, the thought came to him, "What now?"

And he'd had no idea. He'd been empty because he didn't have anything to work for, to look forward to.

It had been a long time before images he'd long suppressed came back to him. He'd gotten so good at not thinking about them, that when they finally came, they poured.

Sakura's bright smile, Naruto's insults, Kakashi and that perverted book.

Sakura proclaiming her love for him as tears ran down her cheeks, Sakura hitting Naruto on the head for something.

Naruto saying repeatedly that he would become the Hokage, Naruto fighting to bring him back.

Kakashi telling him that revenge wouldn't bring him fulfillment to his life.

In a daze, he'd sent a message to the Hokage. He'd been surprised to find that he was able to return to Konoha. There would be repercussions of his actions of course; ANBU members watching him, things like that.

Tsunade had also informed him that he was still a genin, did he wish to be registered in the upcoming chuunin exam?

(It must be Naruto's doing; he'd badgered Tsunade until she agreed without consulting the council. He could do it to. That guy had been a tick in his side even after he'd left.)

But all the talk back and forth hadn't mattered except that it meant he'd come back. He'd lived only to return, to see if there was somehow a way that he could see if his old team would ever forgive him; to see if he could make a life again.

………

"Is it because you don't care about me anymore?"

She shook her head vigorously. "NO! It's not that, it's just…." Her voice faded, as her mind struggled to get used to the new Sasuke.

"I'd have thought that he'd be even more emotionless now than before. Maybe…maybe he's looser, more normal now because he's got nothing he needs to work for; nothing to consume his concentration and time."

Sasuke sighed, and handed her the covering and her mask back. Sakura had noticed it to. Naruto suddenly landed by them and his fist headed for Sasuke.

"Oi, dobe," / "Sasuke teme!"

"Can't you two ever stop fighting?" Queried Kakashi, a foot and hand keeping the two males from each other as he continued to read his book.

Sasuke chuckled, and Naruto hugged him in a horrendously tight bear hug.

"Sasuke you teme!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura cried. Kakashi stared intently at his book, but you could tell he wassmiling to.

"Good to see you again Sasuke." Kakashi told Sasuke,pryingNaruto offand shaking Sasuke's hand.

"Aww, Sakura-chan don't cry!" Naruto whined at her. "Sasuke'll think that you haven't changed at all!" He paused, thinking over this for a second.

"Then again, maybe part of that's a good thing! Hehe" He grinned and clapped a startled Sasuke on the back. "Wish ya luck Sasuke!"

…….

When Sakura had hid her identity, he'd thought that it might be that they didn't want him back. But her protests, and Naruto and Kakashi coming so quickly to them had helped to dispel this idea.

So here, he was again, looking up at the moon.

He wasn't living in his old home; Sakura had lent him her guesthouse until they'd fixed up the Uchiha place. The guesthouse was actually her old woodshed that she'd fixed up. Naruto's place was probably still full of ramen; Kakashi would probably be reading his book still. Ick, give him a cave any day!

Preferably a cave with Sakura, wait NO! N-O spells no, and no dirty thoughts! (Kakashi sensei how dare you suggest such things when Sakura offered to let him stay at her place!)

He stood and walked to the window, and looked out at the Sakura tree. As he watched the leaves being tossed in the wind, it reminded him again of that night he'd left.

He grimaced and went back to his bed, trying to sleep, which was what he normally did at this time of night.

His foot bumped a basket, and he looked at it, and then looked behind it. Baskets of something were stacked on top of each other, taking up half the room.

The one by his foot contained things that triggered memories of all the missions he'd had with Team 7. But after that, it changed.

The baskets that didn't have jars of garden food, gardening tools and medicinal herbs, held random objects that he couldn't figure out, and he sat staring at them.

A knock at the door had him in the rafters, looking out the window to find it was day already.

The door creaked open tentatively, and a sleepy looking Sakura walked in, dressed in a loose red shirt and long black shorts, obviously her nightclothes. She rubbed her eyes and looked around.

"Sasuke?" she'd noticed that the bed was empty, and her heart lurched. Her errand of getting more ingredients for breakfast was forgotten.

She sat down on the floor and stared at his bed for a while, controlling her breathing.

"Sasuke… I was going to help you clean your old place up! You BETTER not have gone training with Naruto and left me to do it alone!" she muttered, trying to keep worry back. Had he run off again? No, it was probably Naruto had gotten him for training already. She'd ask him now, as soon as she changed.

She stood and turned around, about to walk to the door. Sasuke dropped from the rafters by his pack and grabbed a shirt, wondering at his hesitation of startling her.

He found himself pinned the wall by several kunai before he could even stick his arms in. Icy green eyes glared into his. (Maybe his hesitation had been wise.)

"Oh! It's you Sasuke!" Sakura said, her eyes instantly becoming softer and warm.

"Eh heeeeeh…. I'll go make breakfast now," Sakura said, noticing his lack of shirt. "Here, let me get these…" She pulled the kunai out, and rushed out the door.

Sasuke finished putting on his shirt, and strolled out the door.

…..

"And that's how I learned that technique!" Naruto finished. "I usually use a log or a rock to replace me. Sorry bout that!" Sasuke didn't say anything. He would have, except…

Flashback

"Oh oh oh oh YEAH! I remember that!" Naruto exclaimed.

The group was walking to Sasuke's old place to start cleaning, when Ino joined them. Sakura and Ino had been discussing Sai, who was on a mission currently. Ino had made the comment, "Well from the time he first saw me, he thought I was gorgeous. Remember?"

Naruto continued. "And Sai had called you, Sakura, a H-A-g… NO SAKURA-CHAN! IT WASN'T ME!" Naruto ducked, and Sasuke, who'd been standing behind Naruto talking to Kakashi ducked as well. But Naruto had done something, which pushed Sasuke right into Sakura's fist.

End Flashback

"I'm sooo sorry Sasuke-kun!" Sakura repeated, walking beside the stretch Kakashi and Naruto carried. Sasuke's eyes flicked to Sakura, trying to say something, without moving anything else.

Translation: "Where'd you learn to hit like that!"

Sakura had thought she'd been pummeling Naruto, but after the fifth punch, she'd realized her mistake. It didn't mean that he wasn't in horrible pain!

"Here, it's behind my house," Sakura said, showing Naruto and Kakashi where to put Sasuke down. She sat down by the stretcher and smiled at him.

"You'll be fit as a fiddle in a sec!" She proclaimed, producing a myriad of bottles. Sasuke's eyes widened. They were going to sting like heck! There was a few liquids he recognized, from when Kabuto had showed him some basic medical skills.

Neither of them heard Naruto's voice as he and Kakashi walked away."

"Kakashi sensei you owe me! You said that they'd be sleeping together last night, and he's not even in the same HOUSE!"

………

"Finally…" Sakura murmured, tying up the last bandage. She flopped backwards onto the floor.

"Ouch."

She grabbed the thing under her head, to find it was that basket. The one that held a bunch of those leaves from that night… she sat up and stared at them, remembering. But, he was back now. On that happy thought, she fell asleep, still sitting up, and clutching a few of the leaves.

Sasuke woke up, and stared at the ceiling. He didn't hurt anymore. Did Sakura fix him up? It had sounded like she was going to.

He now knew that if Yamato hadn't stepped in between the onrushing Sakura and himself that one day they'd found him, he would've been brought back to Konoha then. He hadn't believed Sakura could do anything to him then. In his mind, he'd still seen her as a weakling whose strong point was genjutsu.

A sniffling had him looking to his side. Sakura sat, looking through the baskets from before, and looking at a bunch of dried up leaves.

"Sakura…" he whispered.

She didn't move, only released the leaves and started crying even more.

"Sasuke-kun come back!" she wailed.

He climbed out of bed and crept cautiously towards her.

He sat down cautiously beside her, and shook her gently.

"Sakura?"

"Kakashi-sensei! He left! He wouldn't listen to me… I couldn't do anything!" Sakura said.

"I'm not Kakashi, Sakura."

Sakura suddenly buried her face into his chest.

"Wha? Sakura!"

…….

Sakura suddenly woke up. She'd been looking at all the things she'd collected. They were from the missions she'd had when Team 7 was whole, and those missions from when she'd tried to find Sasuke. She must've fallen asleep…

"Sakura, what are you doing?" came Sasuke's deep voice. Only, it didn't come from behind her where his bed was. It came from right by her left ear, and was very close.

She looked up, startled. His wide eyes were right in front of hers. She realized that she was hugging him, to her extreme embarrassment.

Gasping, she released him and tried to shove herself back, but Sasuke's arms stayed around her.

"What was that all about, hmm?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"I-I don't know! I wasn't awake and I can't remember what the dream was." Liar. "Would you let me go now?" Sakura whispered back.

He ignored her. Instead, of letting go entirely, on arm tightened, and the other came up to grasp a lock of her hair. Sasuke murmured,

"I always wondered what it felt like. I knew it smelled too tempting though." He looked at her again and smirked. "Yet another reason I pushed you away."

"Uh-huh…" Sakura said weakly.

"But it doesn't mean that I have to now." Sasuke leaned in closer.

"Sakura…"

tttttttttttttt

...he gently cupped my chin under his calloused hands, and stared intently at my face. I don't know why, but all of a sudden, my infatuation, which I thought had long gone, came rushing back to me like a gush of a river as I looked into his gem-like eyes. I noted how incredibly handsome he'd become; his eyes, his prominent cheekbones, the smooth curve of his jaw, his inviting lips...I was too busy observing the tiny details of his face to notice that he had gotten closer to me, our noses half a centimeter apart. When I DID get around to noticing this, I blushed madly, my already tomato-red face now dark scarlet.

Sasuke's lips hovered above mine. He hesitated, probably wondering if what he was doing was safe, and then, his lips, slowly, caressed my own. I always dreamed of how good it would feel if I kissed him, and it was a heck of a
lot better than I had imagined….

tttttttttttt

On a sigh of pleasure, he murmured,

"Sakura? Can you forgive me?"

I pulled away and smiled brilliantly at him. As I answered, I ran my fingers through his hair.

"Of course Sasuke."

………

"Ero-senin! What are you doing?" Naruto demanded, landing lightly on the roof of Sasuke's temporary home.

"Shhhh! I think he's about to propose!" Jiraiya hushed Naruto, scribbling away.

"ai yai yai!" Naruto groaned, holding his face in his hands as he sat down. He looked up.

"Ero-sennin these are my best friends! How am I supposed to explain to them how I let you put them in Icha Icha!"

"They don't read it do they?" Jiraiya asked distractedly.

"Good point."

……..

"Sakura will you marry me?"

She didn't say anything, but resumed kissing him senseless. No words needed.

TTTTTTTTTTT

Was that better Ana-chan? I thank you bunches for insisting on changing it! (I didn't rewrite it all, but you DID say that a kiss would've made it all better. So…)

I have a SasuSaku video on YouTube (the link is on my profile) …hint hint (what do ya mean hint, it's obvious!)

Please review!

Arigato to everybody who DID review the first time!

Ja ne! Aria-chan