Disclaimer:The characters involved, as well as their universe, do not belong to me. This is a nonprofit fanfiction.

Rating: M (lemon, language)

Pairing: Sasuke/Sakura

Synopsis: AU - not long after his encounter with Sakura, Sai and Naruto, Sasuke returns to Sakura in Konoha.

Amends

Sakura was peacefully reading a book, sitting on her couch. Her grey t-shirt and black shorts indicated that she was about to head to bed, but for now she was enjoying the soothing, rythmic sound of the heavy rain that had just started, hitting the roof and windows -until she was startled by a loud bang on her door. The first bang was followed by another, then another. What in the hell...? Sakura wondered as she put her book down and made her way to the door.

Absolutely nothing could have prepared her to what -or rather, who - had been banging on her door.

"Sakura-"

She gasped: his dark hair was damped, his skin even paler than usual, and he was visibly out of breath and in distress, but what the hell was he even doing here?

"W-what are you-" she tried to ask, unable to detach her jade eyes from his face, wondering if she should try to touch him to make sure he was real.

She never knew if Sasuke intended to say anything, or ask her permission to come in: he tried to take one step towards her, but his legs gave out and he collapsed forward - only avoiding a crash face first on the floor because she was there to catch him. It was only then, when he had fallen into her arms, that she noticed the deep cuts and blood on his back.

The sight of the wounds and blood snapped her out of her reverie. She would have time to contemplate the whys and hows later, but for now all she could think of was taking care of his injuries. She carried him inside, closing the door with her foot as she walked away with him. She was glad that she was home alone that night - the sudden appearance of Sasuke Uchiha in her house would bring questions and issues that she had no desire to deal with at the moment. He was still conscious - barely - so Sakura was able to sit him on a chair.

"I'll be right back," she hastily said, hurrying upstairs.

When she came back, her arms filled with bandages and other medical supplies, she found him right where she had left him - nearly passed out on the chair. She removed the white top from his outfit, so that she could see the cuts on his back properly. No words were spoken while she tended to his wounds, not until she began using medical ninjutsu to mend the bones in his wrist. The pleasant warmth seemed to rouse him a bit, and he started to observe her quietly. She was good - her movements were precise, betraying no hesitation.

"You've been trained well," he noted.

"Yes," she replied, more stiffly than she expected. "By Lady Tsunade. To each their mentor."

The last part was said bitterly, before Sakura could even think about stopping herself, but Sasuke took the blow without a snarky reply, for once.

He figured he deserved it. And then some.

"I left," he deadpanned.

He could have triggered a paper bomb in the middle of her living room and she would not have looked nearly as flabbergasted.

"You'll have me believe Orochimaru just let you leave after all he did to lure you in?"

"No."

He glanced back towards the door.

"The blood on your floor should attest that he did not let me go."

Sakura bit her lower lip, trying to decide if she should believe him or not.

She chose to believe.

She wanted to believe.

She needed to believe.

"And you thought you could just waltz back in here-"

He lowered his head. She had never seen this much sadness in a person. She was sad, too. And angry. And relieved. And worried. All of these emotions swirled inside of her, leaving her almost dizzy. All this time she had trained so she could work with Naruto to find him, so many nights she had spent missing him, so much had been sacrificed to get him back and he just strolled in Konoha and fell on her lap, quite literally.

She did not know how she was meant to feel about that.

"I had no one else I thought I could go to. If you... if you want me gone, just say the words. I'll go."

"Don't you dare leave, or so help me, you'll be wishing it was Orochimaru getting his hands on you."

Once she was done tending to his wounds, Sakura studied him in silence for a bit, her fingers lingering on his shoulders without her consent, before asking:

"Are you hungry? I made soup earlier, I can get you some."

"I'm not hungry," Sasuke flatly said, only to be betrayed by his growling stomach mere seconds later.

"I'll heat you some," she quickly said before walking off to the kitchen.

He turned around, silently watching as she turned on the stove and started re-heating the soup she had cooked earlier. The silence was heavy, but it was clear to him that she wanted to keep busy to avoid dealing with it, and taking care of him must have been the only occupation she could find. Without taking his eyes off her, he put his white top back on and got up from the chair. He still felt a bit weak, but much better than when he had been banging on her door; her skills as a medical ninja were impressive to say the least, and in such a short time, too.

"Sakura-" he started.

"Here," she cut him, handing him a bowl of soup. "Eat."

Sasuke glanced down at the bowl of soup that she had just forced in his hands. It was pleasantly hot on his skin, with vegetables, noodles and pieces of beef; it smelled deliciously hearty. Feeling her eyes on him, he took the spoon between his fingers and began eating. The soup was even better than it looked and smelled, and given that he was truly starving, he went through the bowl in a matter of minutes.

"Thank you," he said, putting down the bowl on her counter.

His own voice sounded ridiculous to his ears - "thank you" after all she did for him and all he put her through did not quite cut it. He should apologize, he knew, but where to start? Did she even want to hear anything from him? Probably not, Sasuke thought as she picked up the bowl and spoon and walked way a bit to put it in the sink. What was the point of apologies if forgiveness was not possible?

And yet...

"Sakura," he said again, facing her so she could not walk pass him anymore.

She froze, not knowing what to expect, yet nothing could have prepared her for what he did. Taking her hands, he slowly fell to his knees before her.

"I'm sorry."

His words hit her like a bucket of ice cold water.

"I shouldn't have gone. I shouldn't have defected. I shouldn't have left you. I should've stayed when you asked me to. I should've known... God I should have known it was a terrible idea. The things he's done, things he still does-"

"You're damn right you should have stayed," she replied, her voice shaking.

He felt her grip on his hands get tighter.

"I know why you left," she said bitterly. "I know why you wouldn't come back with us last time. Do you have any idea what we went through to find you that day, do you even care?"

He lowered his head.

"What changed? Why leave him now and come back to the annoying girl who tried so hard to get you to stay in the first place?"

"You are annoying, it's true."

Sakura's green eyes widened. Was that his definition of smooth-talking? He got up, cupping her face between his hands, gently, and she wanted nothing more than to push him away - yet all she could feel was her face burn up, all she could do was dig her gaze into his onyx eyes.

"You are annoying when you're around, because you're all I ever see. And you're even more annoying when you're not around, because then you're all I ever think about. I pushed you away, locked the thoughts of you in some corner of my mind, but I was only fooling myself."

Sasuke leaned his forehead against hers, and Sakura closed her eyes. Her heart was pounding in her chest, as if it was trying to juml out of her body, she could hardly breathe.

"Sasuke-"

"Ever since I saw you that day - you're all I've thought about. How I hurt you, how I wish I could take it back."

She didn't see him, but she felt him leaning in, and then his lips were on hers. Despite the shock, Sakura did the one and only thing she wanted at this very moment: she kissed him back.

There would be time to decide whether or not he was full of shit, how to tell the Hokage, how to tell Naruto and Kakashi, and whether or not she was still angry at him after all, but now was not the time for this. She kissed him back hastily, hungrily, digging her fingers in his jet black hair: her eagerness surprised him - not that he was complaining. More than anything, he had feared her rejection - she had more than enough reasons to resent him - and yet she was doing exactly the opposite, pulling him in.

His tongue still battling hers, Sasuke let a hand trail down her neck, then on her shoulder, where it stayed, as if asking for a permission: without breaking the searing kiss, Sakura granted him permission, leading his hand lower, until he was cupping one of her breast in his palm. The round, perky squishiness fitted his hand perfectly, and he had never touched something so soft and perfect. He squeezed it gently, rubbing it, massaging it, experimenting to figure out what she liked the most: his attempts drew faint, pleasured moans from her throat.

Pulling him towards her with the purple rope-like belt at his waist, she led him further inside the house as his mouth left hers and began kissing her neck. They walked through the door to her bedroom, clothes falling to the floor on their way to the bed, leaving them almost naked when they fell together on the soft surface of her bed. He was wearing nothing else than tight, black boxers, and her shorts were all that remained; breaking off the kiss, Sasuke placed his hands on both side of her head.

The rain had stopped and the sky had cleared, and now the full moon was basking Sakura's body in its silvery light, displaying her cute, perky breasts to him, her flat stomach, the curve of her hips, her long, athletic legs. She felt him between her legs, and when he leaned in to kiss and tease her breasts with his lips and tongue, she felt it, hot and hard, pushing against her womanhood even through the layers of fabric.

Sakura moaned blissfully, throwing her hands around him, careful not to touch his bandages as she did so. Her whole world was spinning, and there was no place left for rational thinking in her head: every cell, every fiber of her body was focused on the pleasured chills that his tongue caused as it played with her pink nipples, and the pleasant heat that seemingly irradiated from the pressure of his hardened manhood against her. Without even realizing it, her hips shifted ever so subtlely, moving under him, instinctively seeking pressure and friction at a certain spot.

Sasuke straigtened his upper body, a hand lazily tracing arabesques as it trailed down her body, until he reached his destination and Sakura's back arched. He rubbed her gently, admiring her - how shallow her breath was, how hard her nipples were, how she wiggled under him, rocking her hips, pushing herself against his fingers, completely lost in what he was making her feel. And her moans, God her moans, they were even more delightful than they had been in his dreams. It didn't take long until Sakura cried out, her back arching, her whole mody tensing up, then relaxing as she rode the waves.

She could not believe how good, how powerful this was - she had touched herself before, but she had never felt such an intense pleasure. How could his fingers be better than her own? She felt his hands on her hips, taking off the shorts and her panties, absolutely soaked, at the same time. She did not know when he had removed his boxers, but he was naked as well now, pressing against her, his hands behind her knees to shift her slightly, to find the angle that allowed him to slowly push in. He closed her eyes, a sigh escaping his parted lips. She was so hot, so perfectly wet, so tight around him, like she had been made especially for him.

"Oh-" she breathed between her teeth.

He felt longer and larger than she had expected, and she could feel her muscles adapt to him, but it didn't hurt - the stretching sensation was oddly satisfying. His hands on her hips, Sasuke began thrusting into her, slowly at first, progressively picking up the pace as her moans encouraged him and begged for more. She dug her fingers in his dark hair as an attempt to get even closer, looking at him lovingly, taking in the sight of Sasuke's perfect body in the moonlight, the sight of his pleasured face - she could not help but feel a bit of pride at the idea that she was making him feel this good.

Sasuke leaned in to kiss her, muffling a moan from her, his hands on her shoulder, pushing her downward on him. Her hips were moving in tandem with him, and by God it took him all the resolve in the world to hold his orgasm at bay. He had no idea she would feel this perfect around him, and look even more gorgeous when she was under him.

"Sasuke," her voice pleaded to his ear, "Harder - please-"

And he obliged, despite the resolve that it took. Sakura's moans were louder now, and her fingers on his scalp were tensing, every thrust seemingly edging her closer and closer, until her back arched, her whole body curling and tensing under him, and no resolve could ever allow him to hold back when she clamped down on him like that. Pleasured groans came to Sakura's ears as he pushed even deeper, his whole body trembling, his pushes jerkier, his arms struggling to hold him up and not collapse on her, until he no longer had enough strength and had to roll off her.

Sakura pressed her body to his side, and he opened his arm, holding her against him, allowing her to rest her head on his chest where his heart was still pounding. She glanced up at him, somewhat nervously, but he did not see it: his eyes were already closed, and he was already starting to drift away.

Later, she thought. There would be time for her insecurities and questions later.

For now, Sasuke was finally home again, and that was all that mattered.