A/N: It seems that I forgot the disclaimer. Silly me.

Anyway, if I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be writing this on FanFiction(dot)net. So now you know. I do not own Naruto.

"Sa...suke...kun…?"

Sasuke watched as the woman who had walked in stare at him with a strange expression on her face. She looked like she was extremely happy, livid, and sad all at one time. How a person could look like that all at once was baffling. She started muttering to herself as Sasuke continued to watch her with a blank expression on his face. The strange woman's knees were shaking so much that she practically fell into the chair that the Hokage had been sitting in earlier.

Finally, he spoke. "Who are you?"

The woman jumped at stared at him for a few seconds. "Wh—What?"

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Clearly, this woman was having some sort of mental breakdown. "I said, 'Who are you?'"

"Oh…uh…could you excuse me for a moment?" she said loudly and quickly.

Sasuke nodded and watched her practically run out the door.

What the hell?

Sakura paced back and forth in front of the door. She couldn't believe the man who had abandoned her and Naruto seven years ago was back, and she hadn't even been able to mentally prepare herself!

This was going to cause some major issues.

Sakura stopped paced and sat on the floor next to the door. Still frantically thinking, Sasuke's back, over and over, she started biting the polish off her nails. Numerous plans were entering her mind.

Look, he doesn't even know it's me. I could pretend this never happened and wait until he tries to find me himself. If he tries to find me. I don't see why he would. At least, I hope he would.

Oh, what am I saying? He hates me!

Tears started rolling down her face as she leaned her head back against the wall. Gradually, her skin paled and her hair returned to light pink. Her shoulders shook as the few tears turned into sobbing. Other people in the hallway must have thought the person she had been visiting died or something, because they left her alone.

It was a good thing, though, because if anyone had asked her what was wrong, she might have slammed a chakra-infused fist in his or her face. That would not please her shishou, she knew.

Slowly, the tears stopped. She was amazed that Sasuke had not come to investigate who had barged into his room while he was trying to recover.

Maybe he has matured a little, like Naruto, she thought. Or maybe he has improved his skills so much that he knew it was me to begin with…No, he would've at least said something like, Sakura, huh? And then attacked me so I wouldn't be able to stop him from doing anything pointless, dangerous, or even stupid.

That cold bastard.

Naruto ate his ramen with more vigor than usual. He had to come up with a plan to get past Tsunade and Kakashi, but without Sakura helping him, it would take a while to come up with a good one.

And for brainstorming power, he needed ramen.

Lots and lots of ramen.

"As you know, I wouldn't organize a meeting without at least a day's notice unless something imperative to the village's welfare has happened."

Heads nodded and the words, "Hai, Hokage-sama," were spoken.

She rested her chin on her folded hands. "I'll get straight to the point, then. Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi are dead."

The few men and women in the room gasped.

"But—"

"How—"

"Who?"

She raised her hand and the room went silent. "By the young man who is now resting in Konoha Hospital. I want all the Jounin, Chuunin, and even Genin of this village to keep an extra eye out for any trouble. As for now, the Akatsuki are quiet, but I know they will try to do something to get revenge."

"What about the ANBU?" someone asked.

"The ANBU are already aware of this, of course," someone else answered. " Right, Hokage-sama?"

She nodded. "They were aware the moment I brought the young man into the hospital. Is everyone clear on the orders?"

They all nodded.

"Then you are dismissed."

As soon as she was presentable, Sakura performed the jutsu over and re-entered the room Sasuke was in. When her eyes became adjusted to the bright light coming from the window, she sighed in relief.

He was asleep.

She changed back immediately. After staring at his sleeping form for a few seconds, Sakura sat on the chair she had collapsed in early and watched his face. She hadn't seen him in so long, but she was pleased to find he hadn't changed much, looks-wise. Oh sure, his jaw was more pronounced, his nose was more aristocratic than it had been (though she couldn't really tell that right now, as it was not stuck up in the air like it had been countless times when they were younger), and all traces of baby-fat were gone, replaced by slender muscles.

Despite her ever-present anger at him for leaving, she resisted the urge to stroke his face.

Any other girl would have given up, she told herself. So why didn't I? Any other girl would have found someone else.

"I must really love you, Sasuke-kun," she whispered. "Because even though you abandoned Naruto and me, I still only hope to see you happy one day. And if that happiness is given to you by someone else, I would not be sad. Or angry. I'd be happy. Because, though you might not know, and though even Tsunade-sama and Naruto do not know, I faked laughing. And smiling. On the inside, I was crying my heart out. Every single day. I couldn't stand not seeing you for so long. All I had of you was that stupid picture and the words 'thank you'."

She glared at his sleeping form.

"And what did that even mean?" she asked, still whispering. "I've thought of that moment every day for seven years! I couldn't get you out of my head, even when I was in danger of dying! How did you do this to me? And you didn't even try to impress me or anything, like Lee, or try to make me laugh, like Naruto. You were cold and apathetic. And for some reason, I found it attractive."

She paused and looked down at the floor.

"It was only recently that I found out why," she whispered quietly.

"What do you mean, someone's already visiting them?" Naruto half-yelled at the nurse who was in charge of visiting hours in the hospital for that day. How she wished she had called in sick.

"I mean exactly that," she said, her voice gradually getting louder. "Patients on the third floor can only have one visitor at a time."

"Who's in there?!" Naruto said, peering over her shoulder at the door.

"A young woman with brown hair and dark green eyes," a boy around the age of fifteen said, coming up behind Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Green eyes?"

"Yeah," the boy answered. "She said she was doing research on the Hokage-sama—"

But Naruto was already gone.

Sakura looked back up at Sasuke's face as she said the next part.

"I thought I could change you. I thought I could make you see that there's more to life than avenging your clan. I thought I could make you happy. And then that night, I offered to help you. I didn't really want to, but I wanted to be with you, to see your face. And you rejected me. Do you know what it's liked to be rejected?"

"Yes."

Sakura gasped and jumped up from the chair.

"Sasuke-kun? You were awake?"

I hope he didn't hear anything before that.

"Sakura." He opened his eyes, but didn't look at her. "I know what's it's like to be rejected."

Sakura could not believe they were having this conversation after seven years of nothing. She also could not believe the popular Uchiha Sasuke had been rejected.

"By who?" she asked, blushing at her forwardness.

He closed his eyes again. "My father."

She watched as his hands clenched the sheets and beads of sweat appeared on his face. This was obviously not an easy subject for him.

"Sasuke-kun, please don't strain yourself. If this is too hard to talk about, please don't try to," she urged, grabbing one of his clenched fist, attempting to heal the cuts he had made with his fingernails.

Suddenly, Sasuke relaxed. Sakura sighed and let go of his hand.

"What kind of training have you gone through?" he asked, obviously interested, even if only a little.

She blushed. "Well, uh…"

Oh, good job, Sakura. Great answer.

She cleared her throat. "Tsunade-sama has trained me. I am well practiced with medical techniques and am even better at controlling my chakra."

Inner Sakura cheered. That was better!

Real Sakura, however, was frowning. Sasuke had looked down at the sheets and showed no emotion on his face again. She watched him closely, looking for any sign that he would snap.

Still looking down at the sheets, he spoke again. "And…Naruto?"

Inner Sakura raged. Naruto? What the hell? Why won't he talk about us?

"Naruto trained for three years under Jiraiya-sama. When he came back, he, Kakashi-sensei, and I became Team Kakashi," she told him.

He turned his head towards the window. "And how is Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura smiled. He was showing curiosity about old comrade. That was definitely a human trait.

"He is doing well, though slightly stressed that the latest Icha Icha Paradise won't come out for a whi—"

She stopped when the window suddenly shattered and Naruto flew through it.

He glared at the man lying in the bed. "You."

Sasuke simply stared at the broken window.

Naruto stomped over to the bed and grabbed the collar of Sasuke's shirt.

"How could you?" he yelled. "You cold-hearted bastard! How could you leave us for that damn Orochimaru and then come back? Were you expecting a damn party? Were you expecting everything to go back to normal? Were you?!"

Sasuke looked down. "I wasn't expecting anything."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What?"

"You have every right to be pissed right now."

Naruto loosened his hold on the shirt. "What the hell are you saying?"

Sasuke looked up at Naruto for the first time in seven years. "Baka."

Naruto glared at him again. "Say that again and I'll make you wish you had never come back."

Sasuke glared back at Naruto. "I didn't mean you."