A/N: I'm not Dead! Haha, sory if this update took long, I really wanted to set a constant pace for this story and update at least once a week but sometimes life is just like F*** You! I got more hours at my job, started school, and just had so much to do this week that I didn't know what to do with myself. Then I got writer's block and couldn't figure out how to continue. I'm kinda making this up as I go with the exception of a few scenes that I already have in mind so the filler is what keeps getting to me. I'm not sure I like the way this chapter turned out but I am satisfied with it so I hope you guys are too.

Special thanks to everyone who followed and favorite!

EXTRA special thanks to those who reviewed! minniemousemom and Eric Burrell you guys are awesome and faithful and I love you for it.

Eric Burrell: Yeah I know what you mean about Sasuke being nicer but this is only a few months after his return. You'll notice the changes the in his personality. Soon he will be just one of the rookie nine again. :)

Chapter 6

Sasuke Uchiha

The next sunrise showed Sasuke sitting on that same dock. So many things ran through his mind last night that he just couldn't sleep. So, he decided to go for a walk. Somehow he ended up at the dock. Looking down at his reflection in the water.

He thought about his brother. Itachi

How is the after-life treating you, Nii-san.

Well, I hope. If anyone deserves a happy after-life it's you.

The Uchiha thought of his Nii-san often. Wishing he was there with him. Itachi was always better at social interactions than him. Actually, Itachi was always better at everything than him.

Sasuke smiled. A genuine, heart felt smile that held a small amount of sadness in it. Thinking of his brother always had this effect on him.

The raven-haired male shifted his thoughts elsewhere. He thought of baby pink hair and bright green eyes.

Sasuke thought about how Sakura now called him Sasuke instead of Sasuke-kun. He hadn't realized how much he had missed the the term of endearment until he heard her say his name again and the suffix was clearly missing. He hadn't shown it at the moment, but it had created a strange pang within him.

After a moment more of quiet pondering, Sasuke looked up to see the sun had completely risen already. It was almost time to go to his volunteer work.

He got up and started making his way to the hospital. Somehow, feeling lighter than he had in a long time.

Sasuke Uchiha

It was a quiet morning in Sakura's office. Again she had been dragged away to some emergency after barely stepping foot in her office. Leaving him with another mountain of paperwork that had somehow mysteriously appeared overnight.

He quickly organized them into categorized piles. Then, he filed away the ones that were stamped for filing, and left the others in a neat pile on Sakur's desk to sign and look over when she got back.

It was almost lunch time when Sasuke felt a familiar chakra signature approching the office at a very fast pace. He got up to open the door and hadn't even taken his first step when a blonde man in and orange jumpsuit barged in, swinging the door all the way open so that it slammed against the wall.

"Dobe." was muttered as the Uchiha sat sat back down on the large chair behind Sakura's desk.

"Teme! What are you doing here?!" Naruto bellowed as he pointed a finger at Sasuke.

At that moment Sasuke noticed that Naruto was accompanied by a blushing Hinata who was standing slightly behind him to his right. His gaze flicked down a moment to notice their intertwined hands.

"Volunteer work assigned by the Hokage, Dobe. Don't you know how to knock?" Sasuke responded as he looked back up to the blonde's blue eyes.

"Oh. Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned, completely ignoring Sasuke's question, as he walked into the office and sat down on the lounge with Hinata still in tow and still blushing. The Hyuuga heiress sat down next to Naruto and their hands were still intertwined and Sasuke briefly wondered if they were an item.

"She got pulled away to a surgery a couple hours ago. Did you need something?" He replied seriously.

Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his head in a familiar way before answering.

"Ne, not really. Hinata and I just wanted to see if Sakura-chan wanted to come have lunch with us. She skips lunch sometimes because she's so focused on her work so we thought she might want to come with us. Right, Hinata." Naruto said as he turned to her.

"Yes, and Hello Sasuke-san." She replied, sounding a lot less timid than she used to. Although, the blush would not leave her face.

"Hello, Hinata, you can just call me Sasuke." He replied stoically.

Hinata smiled and nodded her head in response.

He looked back to Naruto who was still looking at Hinata with a look of pure adoration.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at Naruto's happiness. But he didn't let it show because he was also genuinely happy that the Dobe foud someone. He also realized that it made him feel better that Naruto didn't still have a crush on Sakura.

"I guess we'll just wait for her here then until she finishes. If she's been gone for two hours then she should be back soon." Hinata spoke up after a moment.

Naruto nodded in agreement and then leaned back on the lounge to get comfortable.

"So, Teme, how is everything going with the volunteer work and with Baa-chan?" Naruto piped up after settling on the lounge with his legs on Hinata's lap.

Naruto didn't expect much of a reply from the usually quiet Uchiha and was surprised when Sasuke gave him an actual answer.

"It's actually going okay." Sasuke replied. He had leaned foward on the desk to lean his chin on his folded hands.

"What about you? What have you been up to? I haven't seen you since that training session we had last month." Sasuke replied.

"Well, since the world is at peace right now Granny Tsunade sent me and a few others on a mission to strengthen the ties with the other shinobi alliances by delivering supplies that the other nations might need to recover from the war. I just got back yesterday." Naruto stated.

Sakura Haruno

As she neared her office Sakura could sense three familiar chakra signitures coming from her office. She briefly wondered what was going on before coming to a stop in front of her office door. Just as she was reaching for the knob the door was pulled open dramatically to reveal a tall blonde with bright blue eyes smiling down at her before pulling her into a bear hug and sweeping her off her feet.

"SAKURA-CHAN! It's so good to see you after so long!" Naruto practically yelled.

Sakura laughed whole-heartedly as her blonde male best-friend swung her into her office.

"It's nice to see you too Naruto." Sakura giggled hugging him back.

"Now put me down and stop yelling, we're in a hospital for Kami's sake." She scolded him.

"Gomen." Naruto said sheepishly as he put her down and rubbed the back of his head.

Sakura shook her head at him with a rueful smile.

"Hello Hinata" Sakura said walking past Naruto to give Hinata a hug. She smiled at the girl. Happy that her and Naruto had finally gotten together.

"Hello, Sakura-san" Hinata said as she hugged her pink-haired friend. Hinata knew better than to be jealous of her over Naruto. Sakura was the nicest person she knew and Hinata knew that even though her and Naruto were close, Sakura had never felt that way about him. She saw him as a big brother and nothing else.

"Sakura, Hinata, how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Sakura. The *-san* makes me feel old. Not to mention that I am not abaove you in rank or status. We are equals." Sakura said smiling at the girl.

"Gomen, Sakura, I just want you to know that I respect you." She replied as another blush creeped across her face.

Sakura turned to the Uchiha who was oddly quiet sitting behind her desk. Their eyes met and, instead of the usual dark pensive look he normally wore, he was smirking and seemed to actually be in a good mood.

"How did the surgery go?" He inquired.

She didn't think she would ever get used to him starting a conversation with her. Or anyone for that matter.

"It went well, the patient is in recovery now." She stated.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" She asked as she turned back to the pair who were now standing side by side to her left.

Hinata was the one who spoke up.

"We wanted to invite you to lunch with us." She stated with a smile.

"Yeah! And Teme can come too if he wants!" Naruto piped up.

Sakura giggled at the nickname Naruto had given Sasuke and it turned into outright laughter when she turned to see to death glare Sasuke was giving him.

"Sure, I'd love to." Sakura said after calming down.

"Are you going to join us, Sasuke?" Sakura asked turning back to him.

He blinked and then looked at her and just nodded his head.

"Awesome! It'll be like a double-date!" Naruto bellowed. . . . "OW! Sakura-chan! What was that for?!" Naruto cried after being violently wacked across the back of the head.

Sakura shot him a glare that made him wither and run to hide behind Hinata who was chuckling softly at her boyfriend's sillyness.

Sasuke Uchiha

Sauke froze as the words 'double-date' left Naruto's mouth.

All those dreams of Sakura came rushing into his mind and he quickly started walking towards the exit without a word to make sure no one saw the steady flush creep across his face.

Sakura Haruno

She watched as the Uchiha practically ran out the door and wondered briefly if the idea of going on a date with her would be so terrible.

They ended up at Ichiraku.

*No surprise there* Sakura thought.

Being there together reminded her alot of their genin days with Kakashi. And as if the thought had summoned him Sakura heard a "Yo" come from the curtains of the Small ramen stand. She, and everyone else sitting at the booths turned in time to see a grey-haired jonin walking in with a very pale Sai following him. Sai had that same fake smile plastered on his face as he came to greet everyone.

"Hello, Dickless." He said to Naruto who replied with something equally as insulting.

"Hinata, how do you and Naruto perform coitus if he doesn't have a-" UMPH! Sakura has gotten up and punched Sai so hard he flew out of the ramen stand, across the street and into a wooden stand full of lettuce. She was so fast he hadn't even registered what had happened until he heard her screaming at him.

"Have some respect Sai!" Sakura yelled to the painter across the street who was just getting up from where he landed.

Sai gave her that fake smile of his and just walked back over to the stand and sat down on the far end of the booth.

"Hello Ugly, Traitor." He said once he was in his sit with Naruto and Hinata between him and Sakura. Naruto laughed in spite of everything and Sakura couldn't help the rueful smile that graced her lips as she shook her head and sat back down. She turned to kakashi was reading his usual orange book with feigned interest. Sakura knew Kakashi well enough to know that his sadistic nature was enjoying their bickering but that his "cool" attitude wouldn't let him show it. Sakura caught the hint of a smirk underneath that mask of his.

"Hey Kakashi." She greeted him with a smile.

"Yo." He responded peeking at her from over his book.

Sasuke Uchiha

Sasuke watched as his teammates interact with each other and wondered when Sakura had become so close to Naruto. He thought back to that hug the Dobe had wrapped her in back at her office and remembered how she used to hate him near her before he left.

Things change. His mind whispered to him.

"Hey Traitor," Sasuke turned to look at this Sai guy who had replaced him on team seven. Sasuke had heard that a member of root had replaced him and wondered if this guy was upset about his Sasuke killing his mentor. Judging by his relaxed demeanor and fake smile Sasuke guessed he wasn't. He had already caught on to the fact that his "nicknames" were a product of growing up in root and not knowing how to interact with people. That didn't make it bother Sasuke any less, but he didn't say in regards to it.

"Why did you return?" Sai asked sounding genuinely curious.

Sasuke considered his question for a moment. He had turned to look down at his now empty bowl of ramen and took a deep breath before giving the painter the best answer he could without breaking character.

"It's what Nii-san would have wanted." He replied after a while still refusing to look at anyone.

Everyone had gone quiet when Sai had asked the question and Sasuke fought hard not to walk away as he normally would. Sasuke was alone for far too long. He had promised his brother that he would live his life the he was meant to before the massacre and although his personality was going to be the hardest thing to change the uchiha decided he would atleast work on it.

He could feel five pairs of eyes on him as everything had gone silent. The ramen guy had disappeared behind a curtain after surving them.

Sasuke looked up to meet their eyes and realized these people here were truely what he could call friends. They all smiled at him and then returned to their chatter. As if they knew this was an uncomfortable topic for him and didn't want to make him feel exposed.

Sakura Haruno

She watched as he went back to staring at his empty bowl.

Sakura realized that the confession Sasuke had made was the first thing he had said all night and wondered if he was feeling left out.

As if on cue she heard Naruto's voice bellow out to the Uchiha.

"Oi! Teme, You got plans for tomorrow evening? Kakai-Sensei, Sai, and I are going to train together tomorrow. Would you want to come with us?"

Sakura thought she saw a hint of a smile cross his lips and then firgured she probably imagined it.

"Aa." She heard him reply.

.

.

.

.

.

They finished their lunch and Sakura said good-bye to everyone except Sasuke. The Uchiha was waiting for her so they could go back to the hospital because he still had volunteer work to do.

Sakura kept her pace at a leisurely stroll on the way back. She had missed spending time with her boys and it made some of the stress of working at the hospital disolve away.

She looked up at the sky and smiled contentedly.

Sakura was broken from her musings when the man next to her spoke up.

"You and Naruto have gotten close." He didn't phrase it as a question but she felt the need to answer anyway.

Sakura looked down. She didn't like thinking about those times. But her worst times were also her best. It was when Sakura realized there was more to her than Sasuke Uchiha. It was when she started doing things for herself and realizing her true strength. It was also when Naruto became a constant in Sakura's life. The pink-haired girl took a deep breath and kept her gaze to the sky.

"When you left, I was broken. I didn't know what to do or who to go to. Naruto came to me at that point. He comforted me and was so sweet to me. I realized how I acted like a total bitch towards him when all he wanted was for me to be happy." She confessed. She looked at Sasuke and saw the pain he so fiercely tried to hide. It seemed as if Sasuke actually felt bad about what he did.

"Gomen, Sakura. I never realized how much I had hurt you guys in leaving." He replied after a moment.

Sakura still couldn't get used to him replying to her so simply and easily. It was as if this was a completely different person and not the stoic, quiet Uchiha she had come to know in her childhood. She noted that in some ways, he really was a different person.

"Sakura-chan!" Their conversation was interrupted by a brown-haired shinobi who was jogging up to them.

Sakura smiled at Genma as he approached and raised her hand as a form of greeting.

"How are you, Genma-san?" Sakura asked when he had reached them.

"I'm good. When are you gonna let me take you out on a date Sakura-san?" Genma inquired flirtaciously.

Sakura giggled and shook her head.

Neither noticed the death glare coming from the Uchiha next to the girl with the viridian eyes that was directed towards the senbon-user.

"Genma-san, how many times do I have to say no nicely before you get that I'm not interested in dating right now." Sakura replied.

"As many times as it'll take to wear you down and get you to say yes." He chided.

Sakura laughed.

"Well, good luck with that. You know how stubborn I can be." She said good-naturedly.

"As stubborn as a mule, but that'll make it all the more worth it when you do say yes." The senbon user replied.

Sakura smiled, not knowing how to respond.

"Well, I really have to get going now Genma-san. I'll see you around." She said after a moment.

Genma grabbed her hand and planted a swift kiss on it before replying.

"I hope that's a promise" He smirked.

"Good-bye." She said before hurrying off.

*Back at Sakura's Office*

"No time for relationships, eh?" Said the Uchiha about an hour after they returned to the office.

Sasuke was now laying across the lounge in Sakura's office since he had already organized the entire thing and now had nothing to do.

Sakura looked up briefly from the notes she was scribbling on her paperwork before looking back down.

*Why would Sasuke care about my personal life?* She wondered to herself.

"Well, you've seen how busy I can be here. There's not really any room for dating in my life." She replied.

"Hn." He said.

Nothing more was said throughout the entire day.

Sasuke Uchiha

Sakura was called into another operation and was gone for most of the day. When she came back she went straight back to filing and signing paperwork. Sasuke noticed how late it was getting and wondered if she was going to get up to eat dinner anytime soon. Then remebering how she had skipped breakfast the day before he figured this was something she probably did often.

He got up without a word and walked out of the office before she even realized he was gone.

When he returned with dinner she was still engrossed in her work.

"Where'd you go?" She asked without looking up.

He held up his hand with the to-go box he had gotten and waited for her to acknowledge him.

After a moment of silence she seemed to notice he wasn't going to say anything and looked up.

He saw the flush creep across her cheeks as she realized he had gotten her food and thought there was nothing sexier than the pink blush that covered her cheeks. He quickly pushed those thoughts away and walked over to place the food on her desk.

"You... You didn't have to do that." She said after staring at the box now covering her paperwork on her desk.

"A thank you would suffice." He replied a little colder than he had meant to sound.

She frowned and lowered her head.

"Gomenasai. Arigatou Sasuke-K...Sasuke." Sasuke's breath caught for a moment. She had almost said it. She had almost called him 'Sasuke-kun'.

He felt something bubble up inside him. He was glad but at the same time upset because she had stopped herself. He hadn't realized how much he wanted her to say until just now.

He looked away for a moment. He didn't want her to see the blush that had crept up on him.

"Eat." He said as he walked back to the lounge.

"You don't need to treat me like a child Sasuke. I can take care of myself." She said with a stern voice.

"Hn. Starving yourself to get your work done is not what I would call 'taking care of yourself'." He deadpanned.

She blushed again and Sasuke noted he liked making her blush.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" She asked after a while.

"I already ate before I came back." He said stoically.

"Oh. Uhh okay." She replied as she reached to untie the cloth wrapped around the boxes.

Sasuke watched as she silently ate her food. He noticed that she had gone back to scribbling notes while she was eating. He smirked and rolled his eyes.

This woman is too caught up in her work. He thought.

He got up and walked over to the bookcase on the right wall of her office. He scanned it for something he might find interesting and realized they were all huge medical books. He picked a book at random and went to sit back down.

Sakura had finished eating and was now back to full work mode.

He started flipping through the book he had chosen to entertain himself with.

Thirty minutes later Sasuke realized how quiet it had gotten. He no longer heard the sound of Sakura's pen scribbling on papers. He looked up and what he saw actually made him smile.

Sakura had fallen asleep on her desk.

He took a moment to take in her features. Her pink hair was sprawled on the desk. Soft tresses flowing out behind her turned head which was leaning on her crossed arms. Her emerald eyes were hidden behind pale eyelids and Sasuke could clearly see her long lashes fanned out almost touching her cheeks. Her full pink lips were slightly parted. Sasuke faught back the urge to run his thumb over her lips.

He couldn't figure out why she looked so alluring to him now. Once, long ago, he saw her as a weak little girl who did nothing but annoy her. Now, though, Sakura had done a complete three-sixty.

She was confident and strong. And, much to Sasuke's dismay, she didn't chase after him anymore. He still wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He figured he probably wouldn't be as attracted to her as he is now if she was constantly chasing him like she used to.

Attracted. Sasuke was *attracted* to Sakura. He had never really been attracted to anyone. This realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He *wanted* Sakura. More than he had wanted anything since his journey for revenge. But would she ever be able to love him again? After everything he had put her through, Sasuke doubted it. But, he knew that now that he was certain of his feelings, there would be no one else who could catch his attention.

Sasuke knew Sakura wasn't the type to just give herself to someone. He had witnessed it today. He knew that she would only be with someone who could love her whole-heartedly. That brought more questions to his mind. Could *he love her*? Sasuke didn't even know what love was anymore. He didn't know if he could care for her the way she deserved. But, being the proud Uchiha that he was, he knew he would not allow anyone else to have her. As selfish as it seemed. Sasuke would not allow anyone to have the pink haired girl. She was going to be his at all costs.

At that thought, Sasuke got up and lifted Sakura into his arms where she remained asleep. She must be exhausted to not have woken up. He figured she would wake up really sore if she slept in her office so he decided he would take her home.

It was very late already so everyone was asleep which Sasuke was relived for because he didn't want to run into anyone and have to explain why he was carrying a sleeping Sakura in his arms.

He felt Sakura stir on the way there and looked down, thinking she was waking up, but she was still sound asleep.

"Sasuke-kun." It was barely a whisper and if not for Sasuke's acute hearing he would have missed it. He looked down and stared in shock at the sleeping girl in his arms.

Was she dreaming about him?

Sasuke brushed it off as best as he could and continued to make his way to her home.

A/N: Review ! If you guys see any mistakes like grammar and spelling please let me know. I don't always reread these before I post them. Hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Review guys!

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