Sakura met his gaze with her own before walking past him and out the door towards the gates of Konoha. She had never forgotten how much she loved him but she was not part of this life and therefore couldn't be a part of his life anymore. She felt his hand grasp her wrist and halt her movements. "Sakura, would you stop and explain to me what the hell is going on? First you took off several years ago without a word, we were best friends Sakura, you me and Naruto." He said forcing her to look at him.

"Were Sasuke. That is in the past, I am no longer part of Konoha, forget my existence, for we are no longer allies and friends. I am sorry but that is the way it must be" She ripped her wrist from his hand and continued walking out the gates, Sasuke sighed before turning and running to Tsunade for information.

"I Demand to know what the hell is going on with Sakura. We were best friends with that girl and some reason prevented her from telling us anything. So you are going to tell us what you know or I become a rogue just like her and I doubt you can afford to lose an Uchiha and the Kyubbi vessel in one shot" Sasuke demanded as he watched Tsunade's expression shift.

"Alright, I will tell you….Sakura is my daughter. However one fateful night her father tricked me and I thought he cared for me, turns out all he wanted was a child to test experiments on. I am not proud to admit I once loved Orochimaru and hoped he would change. I believed he had, but it was all a lie. He told me that while she was half innocent, she would always be half evil and would be the downfall to Konoha. She almost caused its downfall once, I cannot allow it to happen again Sasuke regardless of you and Naruto's feelings towards the girl" Tsunade said while her eyes shut against the pain of her actions.

Sasuke shook his head, "I can't believe you. That GIRL is your daughter, a daughter who has been lost without her mother's guidance or proper care. You think her father gives a care for her? No, he only cares for what power she can bring him. I'm going to go get her and bring her home, I am not letting her go again." Sasuke said as he turned and left, slamming the door behind him. Tsunade sighed and brought her hand to rest under her chin while thoughts of her face years ago were fresh in her memory…

FLASHBACK

"Mom I didn't mean it, I swear. I will never do it again" a 4 year old Sakura exclaimed when her mother escorted her to the gates and told her she was banished from Konoha. "I didn't know my father was bad Mom. He said he wanted to help…" Sakura was cut off as the gates closed before her leaving her oon her own in the cold forest. She moved to a tree and sat inside the hollowed trunk, crying for hours, a figure shifted before her and cupped her chin in hand, lifting her face up.

"There there, what is a little one like you doing out here and all alone too?" Sakura glanced up and saw a white haired man with glasses. His eyes looked merciful and she took his hand in hers and let him pull her out before explaining she was banished from Konoha. 'So this is the girl who Orochimaru fathered.' Kabuto thought and smiled. "Come, I have a home you can stay with me in till you are old enough to take care of yourself." Sakura smiled and followed willingly, her eyes shifting to a golden serpent eye while she glared at her mother and Konoha from the forest.

FLASHBACK

Sakura lay on the grass watching the clouds pass by, she sensed Sasuke and smirked. "You never give up do you Uchiha?" She looked up when he stood above her, watching her. She sat up and moved over to let him sit. "Won't your precious Kage flip her lid if she discovers you not in KOnoha?"

"I don't care. Come home Sakura, me and Naruto have gone crazy missing you and trying to find you. No one ever told us anything and we were never allowed to go search for you, it was forbidden. Please Sakura, tell me what happened." Sasuke met her gaze and for once, didn't like what he saw. Her eyes mirrored his own, emptiness, a void, loneliness, solitude and isolation.

"I was 4, my mother tossed me out because I met my father and thought he wanted to help, when he attacked the village I was blamed. I left to make myself stronger instead of trying to come back because I wanted to make Konoha proud of me, somewhere along the way I fell in with Kabuto and you could say we were brief lovers before I became seduced by the power of what he offered. Soon I was killing innocents, people trying to stop me in my quest for power. Until one night, I witnessed my father torturing an innocent child." Sakura said, her voice caught before Sasuke watched her wipe a tear away before it could spill down her cheek.

"The child had something Orochimaru wanted, and it was hidden in the village. When the child claimed to not know where it was, my father tortured him in unspeakable ways and I realized this was not the power I wanted. Nor was it the glory I wanted to bring to Konoha. So I left and tried to come home, and a lot of good it did me because I am still not welcome here." She said, standing swiftly. "I should leave, It is getting late and I don't want you in trouble with the Kage sasuke." She said softly before turning only to find her in his embrace.

"Sakura, I know I can't say anything to make it better for you, but I swear to you I will find a way to make Tsunade accept you again. Even if I have to become a rogue shinobi to do it. " Sakura cut him off by placing a finger to his lips. Sasuke met her soft gaze before her lips replaced her finger, Sasuke was lost in her kiss before she pulled back.

"I will return Sasuke. I Promise, I have something to take care of first." She whispered, watching as he nodded and went back through the gates into Konoha. Sakura looked the other way and knelt to the ground, monitoring the hoof prints. "So, Kabuto has made his move already, guess I better head in." she whispered before moving back to Tsunade's office.

"I told you to leave Sakura, you are not wanted nor needed here." Tsunade said when she found Sakura standing before her again. She refused to believe Kabuto would move against Konoha with his pitiful army of weaklings.

As Sakura was explaining what Kabuto was up to she heard a scream, she moved to the window and watched as Kabuto dragged a woman by her hair. "I WON'T LEAVE UNTIL YOU BRING ME SAKURA! I WILL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU IF YOU F AIL TO DO SO" he yelled, multiple villagers pleaded with him for mercy as they did not know where she was. Kabuto laughed and accused them of lying.

"They weren't lying Kabuto." Sakura's voice came from behind him. Kabuto released the woman and turned. "You should not have come here" She said, watching him closely, not noticing when Tsunade, Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi shouldered into the crowd to witness the transaction.

"How was the welcome home Sakura? Did they throw you a party?" Kabuto sneered, he moved to grasp a child before Sakura's hand on his wrist stopped him. He glanced at her and smirked "Still grabby are we? That hasn't changed about you, always grabbing something"

"I have an easy way to settle this Kabuto. You choose weapons, I choose conditions and winner gets the prize" Sakura said firmly, Kabuto thought for several minutes before asking what the conditions were. "We fight, up on that training ring. First one to touch the ground dies." Sakura stated without hesitation. Tsunade's eyes widened when she realized what Sakura was doing.

"Fine, I choose the staff. You were always poor in your fighting with it from what I recall, it wasn't your favorite weapon" He mocked her, Sakura smirked and grabbed her own staff, watching as he showed off his skills in aerial flips to get up to the ring. She shook her head and jumped onto the bottom bar before flipping upwards the rest of the way, landing directly before him. "Tch Showoff" he whispered.

He charged at Sakura and she met him strike for strike, when he shifted to hit her side, she spun and landed a kick to his lower back before landing a blow with her staff to his stomach. Sasuke could only watch as Sakura fought one on one with Kabuto for the fate of the village she was banished from. He watched as Kabuto cheated and knocked her off balance and she swung from her staff while her feet were mere inches above the ground. Tsunade shut her eyes in despair and hoped Sakura could pull off a win.

"Why are you doing this Sakura? All this fighting, all the effort for what? A village who doesn't care. They despise you Sakura, hate you. You are worthless" Kabuto stated as he landed blows to her knuckles trying to make her let go of her staff. Sakura blocked out the pain and swung upwards, catching the end of his staff between her feet and kicking backwards and making it hit him in the face before swinging backwards and flipping to land back in the ring.

She spun to the side, evading his staff strike and delivered a side kick, watching as he fell backwards, Sasuke stuck his foot out and tripped Kimimaro, letting Kabuto hit the ground, Sakura flipping and landing on top of him. "I haven't touched the ground yet Kabuto. But You Have" she said looking around. "Hmm, I guess since no one wants to kill you, I will do it myself. Unless you are willing to make a deal" she said.

The villagers all said he didn't deserve a deal. "Swear you will be out of Konoha by sundown and I may let you live Kabuto." She said, emphasizing her point that if he didn't agree she would kill him. He quickly agreed and she let him up, she spun quickly when he threw a dagger. She was confused why he would kill one of his own men when he told her a deal was a deal before saddling up and heading out with his men.

Tsunade moved to Sakura and framed her face in her hands. "Mother forgive me please. I truly did not mean to cause Konoha so much grief, I just want to come home." Tsunade pulled her close and held her tightly before whispering she was home, and that she forgave her.

TIME SKIP A FEW DAYS

She stood at the vegetable stand looking over the tomatoes. Sakura knew Sasuke was picky about his tomatoes before selecting a few. She felt his hands slide around her before he kissed her cheek. "Hey Sasuke. It feels so good to be home." He smiled and turned her around to claim her lips with his own.

"It's good to have you home, Sakura" he whispered.