Yume-Chan Here!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… but if I did…(Evil Laugh)

O.K. O.K! I had an evil idea! So Sakura bleeps both Sasuke and Sai, dumps them both, and hooks up with…JIRIYA! (Writing all those pervy books really helps in bed…) LOL! OMG! I fall over laughing just thinking about it.

Gomen. I'd never do that. Or maybe Sai and Sasuke will realize what a bitch Sakura is (I didn't mean that! Forgive me, Sakura-chan! I love you to the grave! My favorite character forever and ever!) and become gay- Sai w/Garra and Sasuke w/Lee!

All right, I'm done being random and pocky-high. Well, lazy bums, review already and tell me who Sakura should end up with! Before I come up with more sickening pairings. Hmm…I'm starting to get good ideas for future fanfics…

BTW, it seems like Sasuke has truly won the hearts of female Naruto fans. I love him too, but at the same time, I absolutely detest him. Sakura's feelings in this chapter really reflect my own views on Sasuke.

I also wanted to know, are there any male readers out there? It seems like everyone who has reviewed is female. Please forgive me kindly if this is the wrong impression. Is it true, though?

Right now, it seems like Sasuke is in the lead, so, Sai fans, click that beautiful review button down there! And Sasuke fans make sure your man stays on top! I can't end this without you guys!

Love always,

Yume-chan

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Recap…

A la café:

"Sasuke's back."

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poof Sakura was gone. Ino sighed. She'd check up on Sakura in a few days. Hopefully she'd be out of shock by then. (A/N: maybe I should just drawl on about Ino for the rest of this chapter, just to annoy you. Then you'd swear me to hell and never read my story again. Never mind. I love you guys! I'll stick to team 7 for this chapter.)

Sakura poofed in front of Tsunade, Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi. Her shock was obvious, showing through her big green eyes. Kakashi was restraining a fuming, cursing, ready to kill Naruto, and Sai was standing impassive.

Sai was eager to meet the former teammate of his teammates, which had caused them to be so devoted, so angry, so unpredictable with their emotions. He was eager to smash Uchiha Sasuke into the middle of his next lifetime.

Tsunade was twitching, giving Sakura a look when she entered. Sakura wasn't sure what the look said, but thankfully, Tsunade accompanied the look with some words.

"ANBU are bringing Sasuke up now. He's been in a high security cell for three hours. He had simply walked right through the gates, as if he belonged in the village…" her voice trailed off, and her eyes glazed over.

The next few minutes were like being a marshmallow in a microwave- everyone was slowly melting, waiting to explode. Everyone was twitching. And tapping. And sweating. And anxiously anticipating the return of the former team seven member.

Finally, Sasuke arrived, weak, and tied together with chakra strings. It was apparent that his chakra had been drained, based on his current state.

Everyone stared at him. And stared. And stared. His ever-onyx eyes only glared at Tsunade, however, avoiding eye contact with everyone else. Sakura guessed he wasn't to pleased to be removed of his chakra, kept in a high-security prison cell, and be constantly accompanied by ANBU.

He wore a loose black t-shirt and khaki shorts. His clan symbol was nowhere in sight. He was a head taller than Sakura, a half-head taller than Naruto, and a few inches shorter than Sai and Kakashi. He wore no headband, not showing which village he is loyal to, or proving the fact that he is an official shinobi. His hair is longer than Sakura remembered it from 7 years ago, but it still stuck up in the back. With his mature face and handsome muscular body, his chicken hair looked really, well, …cute.

Upon looking at Sasuke's hair, in any other given situation, Sakura would have giggled, Naruto would have made fun of him, and Kakashi would have smiled fondly. But that wasn't what was happening.

Instead, Naruto glared at his ex-friend, ready to murder him for what he did to both Sakura and himself. Sai was in the same situation, thinking mostly about Sakura's feelings, however, and both are being restrained by Sasuke's ex-sensei Kakashi. It was clear, however, that Kakashi really wanted to let the two boys beat Sasuke to a pulp.

And Sakura, well, she wasn't sure how to feel. She hated him for leaving and breaking her heart, but at the same time, she wanted to forgive him and go back to the way team 7 used to be, when they were still genin. So she just stood there, taking her turn to be the impassive one.

Sasuke knew that is former team wanted to kill him. He knew perfectly well. He didn't even know why he came back to Konoha. He had escaped from Orochimaru and killed Itachi. (A/N: Sorry. I didn't need him so I killed him off) Konoha just seemed like the best place to live out his life. Except for one tiny detail: He's a hated, no despised S-ranked traitor.

Yeah, he had definitely drunk too much sake the night he decided to come back to Konoha.

He took advantage of the fact that everyone was silent, besides the fumings of Naruto and Sai, and everyone was still, except for the attempts to strangle Sasuke from across the room from Naruto and Sai, to soak up the new image the shinobi and kunoichi he was once proud to call his teammates held, 7 years after he had last seen them.

Naruto was as blond as ever, still clad in orange, and from the bits of conversation he had managed to pick up, just as hyper, in a more mature, sport of way. ? Apparently, his skill has surpassed Jiriya's, and since he became ANBU, has proven very helpful to the village.

The entire world has heard of his great power! Even Sasuke, as detached as he was, had caught wind of the great Naruto. Taller and more mature (in some aspects of his life) Naruto had certainly grown in strength, wisdom, and height.

He never realized it before, but deep down, Sasuke knew he would do anything to see Naruto give him that toothy grin again.

Sasuke then shifted his gaze to his precious sensei. Kakashi hadn't changed. The same orange book poked out of his back pocket, the same gray hair stood straight up, and the same black mask covered the majority of his face. Sasuke would have smiled at seeing something the same as he had left it, but his situation wouldn't permit it.

Next, Sasuke looked at Sai. He had heard of this guy. Sai looked suspiciously like himself, and is known for his killer attacks. But what intrigued Sasuke the most about Sai is that he had heard that he was secretly dating Haruno Sakura. He was seen with her all the time, apparently, even when they weren't on missions together. Sasuke wasn't sure why, but this really pissed him off.

Speaking of Sakura, Sasuke tried to look at her, only to find her staring at him. Was that hate in her eyes?!? She couldn't hate him! She averted her gaze quickly, to Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi. Sasuke watched painfully as her eyes softened for her current team.

She glanced back a Sasuke. His onyx eyes met her green ones. He took a second to look her up and down. Wow, (A/N: Someone told me to take out the holy cow, so I did) she had certainly grown in the past 7 years. And in all the right places…

Sakura turned her head again, not being able to handle keeping eye contact with him. Sasuke just stared. Her hair is still short and pink, and tied up in a cute ponytail. Her bangs, however, are loose and frame her mature, beautiful, perfect face. Her body is slim, but strong. She had a "mess with me and I mess with you" aura around her. But although it is clear she's strong, she had no protruding muscles, her skin's smooth, beautiful. She wore dark green shorts and a magenta skirt that slit to show her thighs. She also wore a fitted, strapless magenta shirt. Her arms are wrapped with green strips of cloth, but Sasuke could see patches of skin here and there. Her legs are long and lean, her waist tiny, and her chest's not too big, but not even close to being small. She's perfect.

"Sasuke." Sasuke look at Tsunade.

"Hn?"

"I leave Uchiha Sasuke open for questioning."

"Why did you leave?" Naruto spat.

"To gain power."

Kakashi- "Why did you come back?"

"Didn't have anywhere else to go."

Tsunade- "Where's Orochimaru?"

"Dunno. Left him."

"Why?"

"Gained enough power. Needed to kill Itachi."

Sakura- "Did you kill him?" Sakura's voice was soft, beautiful, and feminine. But it had an edge to it. Sasuke shivered.

"Yes. And the rest of his group. "

Tsunade- "What have you doing?"

"Whatever Orochimaru told me to do."

Kakashi- "And after you left?"

"Wandering." Sasuke was wondering why he was telling the truth. Shouldn't he be lying? Then again, he did remember Tsunade slipping something into is cup of water, so he probably had to tell the truth anyways.

Sai- "Are you planning to stay?" Everyone sucked in their breath.

"Yes." Sakura wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. She decided it was a bad thing. And Sasuke noticed. And he was determined to change her viewpoint.

Sai- "But will you be loyal to Konoha?"

"Yes. I hope to once again help the Hidden Leaf Village." And he meant it. And everyone else could tell.

Naruto- "But where will you stay? What are you going to do? You're still hated here, you know, teme."

"I know."

Tsunade- "Uchiha, if you do 100 hours worth of ninja work for Konoha and promise never to do anything rash on your life (A/N: I sort of made this up. See, if Sasuke agrees and then betrays the village, he will die, so, yeah.) then you can regain your title as a citizen of Konoha. You may stay in the Uchiha mansion, but when you go in and out of your house will be monitored by ANBU."

"Fine."

Sakura- "What do you want with us." It wasn't a question. It was much too harsh to be a question. Her tone of voice was no longer soft. Her aura had changed to "You've already messed with me, punk, so be prepared for me to kick your sorry little ass." Oh, god, Sasuke thought, she's scary when she's like this.

"Nothing, Sakura, I just want to rebuild myself. I've got potential, but I don't want to use my talents for the wrong side. Konoha is my past, present, and hopefully my future."

"Then why the hell did you leave us in the first place, Uchiha! Do you know what you did to me? What you did to Naruto? What you did to the entire village?!? What makes you think that you can just waltz through our doors after what you did? We finally let go of you, and here you are again! Bastard! Go back to Sound Village hell! You'll never be welcome here!" Sakura isn't on the verge of tears. No, she is much too strong for that. But she is ready to punch Sasuke with her mad strength. Sasuke wasn't sure he was ready to find out just how many new techniques Sakura had learned.

Tsunade, sensing a forceful attack from Sakura, said, "Thank you Uchiha, ANBU will bring you to your mansion and when you report here at 5:30 tomorrow morning, I will have your first mission, and I will give you your chakra back."

Sasuke and the ANBU disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Sakura, Sai, Naruto, Kakashi, you shall all get the next month off. Sasuke will be taking most of your missions. I don't expect his missions shall take more than a month. If he ever needs back up, I'll call upon you. Until then, rest. Take a well-deserved break. Sakura, I expect to see you at the hospital tomorrow. Your ward will be happy to have you with them for such a long period of time. You are dismissed."

And with that, the four ninja disappeared.

The next week went by like any other. The citizens of Konoha were informed of Sasuke's situation. Everyone went back to their lives as normal. Ichiraku ramen got more business than usual (A/N: Guess why) and the hospital was no longer backed up with patients, and many people with terrible sicknesses or wounds found themselves healed within hours of reaching the hospital. Sasuke wasn't seen at all, except once or twice when he was on his way home or in Tsunade's office. Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, and Sakura hadn't come in contact with him since the day that he spilled his guts to them. And they hoped to keep it that way.

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Saturday, End of Week One

Sasuke was on a mission with Tenten. Her weapon skills were needed. Sasuke was returning from the river to where Tenten had set up camp. He had just caught their dinner. Tenten had been apprehensive about working with Sasuke, and she still didn't see to trust him.

Sasuke brought his focus back into the real world, alert, listening for enemies. They were in enemy territory, and were positive they were going to be ambushed before dawn. They were both on edge.

Sasuke walked back into their small encampment. Tenten's back was turned. His foot snapped a twig while walking toward her, and Tenten turned on the spot, and shot her whole shebang of weapons at him.

"Get the hell away from our camp ya- SASUKE!"

Sasuke lay motionless, bloody, torn apart from the multitude of weapons that has just hit him. Tenten's skills have sure increased, Sasuke thought, slipping into a dark sleep.

A few hours later, Sasuke found himself in a hospital bed. Geez, he thought, that hurt!

He looked up, to the plaque above the door to his hospital room.

Room 103,

Ward 1- Serious Injuries

Personally Overseen by Haruno Sakura

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Sorry that took so long!

Once again, it is a lot longer than I originally planned it. I know this chapter wasn't really that exciting, but I needed to get all the interrogation and crap over with. I promise some fluff for both pairings in the next chapter. The next chapter is really where my summary fits in. Read it for an idea of what's in store.

I won't promise how long it will take me to update, though. The only time I really get large blocks of time to type is on the weekends, so approximate next weekend. But I have an interview at a school next weekend, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to update. Cross your fingers and give me your support! And wish me luck! I'm sure I'll be fine; I have the power of anime and manga on my side!

Review! Wow! 40 reviews for just two chapters! I can't wait to find out how many I'll get for the next chapter! Tell me who Sakura should end up with! I'm still continuing that, and I will be for the next couple of chapters.

I Love You Guys!

Love always,

Yume-chan