I hope you guys are enjoying the story!

The first year went by with insane work hours and him trying to gain the respect of the members of his team and of the village. He thought about seeing Sakura many times but he didn't know how to face her.

He would do rounds of the village and sometimes see her en-route to the hospital or in the market. He'd follow her for about 5 minutes from a distance. Once he even came close to walking up to her but then she would run into someone or the other and he'd pull a hasty retreat.

He obviously knew where her home was but even he knew that would mean pushing it too far. There were days when he wished he could just walk into her life again, wish that the time loop had never ended. He had been given a lot of chances by the universe to tell Sakura how he felt, he'd messed up too many times. It felt like the universe wasn't going to be too kind to him any time soon.

Spring was coming soon, which meant the spring festival was also around the corner. The fireworks and martial arts display of the village were known far and wide and the whole fire nation would throng to Konoha. That also meant that there was going to be a security nightmare. Despite there being peace, there were always anti social elements. Sasuke knew this would be his greatest test of all.

The rest stops began to fill up with people. Many a times the pubs would request the help of the police to haul away some unruly drunk. The place was getting chaotic. Sasuke's cool exterior inspired confidence in his force but on the inside he was ready to crumble. One year of paperwork, policing, cases, investigations and putting away petty criminals and even some big ones can take its toll when you have no one to talk to. Kakashi would run into him from time to time but he was getting as crazy as Jiraya and Sasuke decided he was great for a good laugh when drunk but nothing more. Neji and Sasuke had formed quite a bond because of the work. However Neji had practically come back from the dead after the war and his soon to be wife Tenten hated leaving him alone for too long worried he might get himself killed again so the boys rarely got together. Shikhamaru was great for Shogi but that was it. A few members of the Izunaka clan were friendly too but Sasuke found he enjoyed the company of the Izunaka's animal companions more than he did their boisterous drunk self.

That was when he came home. Back from mount Myōboku, Naruto received a hero's welcome. Sasuke would never admit it but he was happy to have his friend back. On his first night back itself Naruto and Sasuke went to Ichiraku's to get Ramen. Even the owner commented on how nice it was to see them together but both Naruto and Ichiraku stayed away from the topic of Sakura. He didn't know if he should have been worried or glad.

—-

The village had truly grown and it was big enough for Sakura to avoid running into Sasuke ever. It had almost been a year. Sakura knew of his achievements from Shizune and the others. Hinata especially suggested that She at least give Sasuke a second chance, but Sakura had decided to keep him as far way from her personal life as possible.

Even if she could forgive him, she had become guarded enough to know never to let him near her. She couldn't risk it. She had noticed the following and the lingering but she was glad he never found the courage to follow her home. After all she had secret that she had kept for a very long time and there was no way she was going to tell Sasuke about it.

—

The festival of spring grew closer and the security got more tight, however who can stop kids from being brats. There was one particular groups that had been giving some of Sasuke's rookies a run for their money. He'd been told they were students from the academy who were famous for causing ruckus with their harmless but nonsensical pranks. Of-late they had been pushing their limits and were becoming a nuisance. They were clearly good shinobi and had managed to escape capture this far.

The more Sasuke heard about them, the more they reminded him of Naruto in his younger days. He decided he would take care of this little problem himself. It would be a nice break and maybe he might be able to channel all their pent up energy in a positive direction once he gets a hold on them. As he was mulling over these thoughts, a Jounin came running it "This time they've done it! They've crossed the line! They've defiled hokage mountain!" Sasuke actually snickered at how familiar this sounded. He decided he'd sort this mess once and for all. He got up and walked past the Jounin calmly stating "I'll go… ask all others to leave it be and focus on the new details for the Spring festival security, the 5 Kage's are going to be here"

He leapt to the top of the tallest building and looked. He took a moment to appreciate the creativity of the kids. They'd managed to bring out the worst in every hokage. He saw them standing below admiring there handiwork. Full back hoodies with goggles and face masks. "Smart kids.."he thought as he leapt of in their direction "They want to hide their faces to avoid recognition…"

No sooner was he a tree away than one of them screamed "Scatter!" and in a flash the 3 of them shot of in different directions. He deiced to chase the one who screamed. If he got the leader the rest would be easy. That kid gave him a good chase, he had to admit. He used all the Genin concealing and hiding techniques but Sasuke was sure he wasn't even a Genin yet. A genius he thought and wondered which clan this child was from. 2 mins into the chase he saw the other 2 attack in formation to distract him from their leader. He'd never before seen a Genin squad this much in sync. He was quite impressed. After about humouring them for 10 mins he decided it was time he end this and head back to work. In one swift move he was behind the team leader and picked him up by the scruff of his shirt. In the struggle to get out of Sasuke's grasp, his goggles fell and hoodie dropped to reveal bubblegum pink hair and pair of sharing an eyes.

Sasuke was rooted to the spot

Please review!