Switching off the final light on the ward Sakura turned round and walked into the staff room. She walked over to the coat rack and with a tired sigh grabbed her coat and scarf, preparing herself for the bitterly cold weather outside. She took a final look round the room surveying the solitude that she had become used to and she let out one final sigh,

"When did I become the only person in the world without a life?"

She picked up the book she had bought to read in the break that she never got to and placed it inside her bag lying on the table; she rummaged around in it and finally pulled out a small compact. She flipped it open and surveyed her face,

"Bags," she commented to herself and pressed her finger lightly on the raccoon circles under her tired looking eyes. After applying a small amount of powder she walked out of the staff room finally, hearing nothing but the solitary clicking of her shoes on the marble tilling.

She kept her hands clasped in her pockets as to guard them from the biting cold and although her toes were numb and her face stiff she had to admit she loved the cold; it was numbing and soothing. And although the cold brought along many more unpleasant things with it and in league with death, it was beautiful at this time of year; all things had a glisten and sheen that came with the frost and the possible snowfall. Sakura suddenly felt a cold fleck land on her cheek and she looked up slowly. As if by thinking about it she had the power to conjure up snow, heavenly snowflakes were beginning to cascade all around her. She let them fall on her face softly and she shut her eyes tentatively until her cheeks felt wet. She opened her eyes with a small smile as her eyes glistened and carried on walking down the Konoha high street.

She walked over a familiar red bridge, careful not to slip on the icy logs; she cast a glance down at the water that was slowly freezing over, she could no longer see her reflection in the dark ice. She walked on and felt her feet crunch under her boots; she loved that sound, the sound of freshly fallen snow crunch under her shoes, and it made a small smile spread across her face. She was amazed that something as simple as snow could make her smile so many times in one evening, she hadn't smiled in what felt like months. People, namely Tsunade had commented on that many times but this was the first time she had realised just how much she had missed it. She carried on walking, feeling the warm interior of her apartment call her to its welcoming comfort. She meandered off the high street through the alley that she had devised as a short cut and walked with a little extra urgency as she felt the tips of her fingers quickly loose all feeling. She walked hastily between the two buildings trying to avoid the dripping water from the gutters above; she pulled the collar of her coat up even further and trudged through the snow.

Suddenly she caught a glimpse of something, a person? Somebody standing in the alleyway ahead of her, standing in the shadow of her apartment building with their back to her. She stopped immediately, desperately trying to be allusive but the crunch of the snow gave her away. She could tell from his stature that he was a man and as he rounded to face her she let her eyes survey him. He was tall, dark, masked in what appeared to be a black travelling cloak and she couldn't see his face in the dark of the evening. All these foreboding qualities he had made her feel nervous and exposed, he certainly seemed to have a dangerous air about him. The man took a step towards her and she shot her hand down to her kunai holster strapped around her thigh. She whipped out a kunai and held it solidly in her hand preparing herself for his attack, she prepared herself mentally to attack but suddenly the man's face was illuminated as he walked into the light that spilled in from the high street. Her breath caught in her chest and her eyes widened, the only sound in the narrow alleyway was the clatter of a kunai on the wet ground, slicing through the snow. His face was angular and chiselled, his hair was dark and she could make out a tinge of blue, exposed by the street light. The sole feature of the mysterious man that jumped out at her was the onxy eyes tearing right through her. It was a face that she had once known well but it was changed and the old image of his face seemed now like a strange dream compared to what stood before her now.

"Sa…Sas..uke," she said under her breath. They stood silently for a small moment, she finding herself completely unable to move. He was just stood perfectly still and silent; all she could make out was the wisps of his breath that were visible in the cold.

"Sakura," he said. His voice was tense and weak; he stepped forward slowly and she could now see his face was blank. "I've… come back." He stepped towards her again but suddenly he stopped. She saw his body tremble, his face contort in pain and his eyes roll into the back of his head. He fell to the floor and collapsed into the snow; he remained perfectly still, as if dead. Sakura stood rooted to the spot trying to remember how to breathe; she was immobilised with shock, she could feel her skin ripple in fear, her breaths hitched. Suddenly a cold drop of water landed on her forehead and it awoke her from her trance. With a mix of fear and apprehension she took a tentative step in his direction. He lay in the snow unmoving and she took another small step towards him, he didn't even seem to be breathing. The medic within her overcame the fear and she ran to him and dropped to the floor next to him. She turned him over and could see he was breathing but it was shallow and laboured, his skin was freezing to the touch and his lips had a blue tinge. She took his limp arm and pulled it over her shoulder, she managed them both over the road and she shifted them both into her apartment effortlessly with a few quick hand signs.

Landing roughly on the hard wood floor she manoeuvred them through the living room into the spare bedroom; she laid him on the low futon and kneeled by the side of the bed. She moved her hand slowly towards the travelling cloak attached to him, it was soaking and frozen. She pulled it off him hastily and felt his shirt and pants, they were soaked through also. If she stayed in them any longer his heart would fail from hypothermia. She undid the tie on the lower half of his white wrapped shirt and pulled it away from his body with ease, his pants were even less troublesome to remove as they were slashed and fraying. They fell away in her hands as she touched them; fortunately his shorts and wrappings were fully dry as to save her the dilemma over whether to remove those also. She gasped at the sight of his body; there were scars carved savagely all along his torso, one running from his shoulder all the way to his left hip. There were several deep gashes along his arms and one through his abdomen that were still fresh and bleeding. She covered his lower half with the thick blanket and rubbed her hands together with her eyes closed. She took a deep breath and felt chakra fill her body and run through her arms and collect at her palms, she was digging deep to find any residual chakra left in her tired body. Her hands were enveloped with a pearly green glow and she moved them to Sasuke's chest; she paused them just above his heart and took another deep breath. She forced her hands down quick and hard, his body convulsed under her violently. She poured her chakra into him, running it down the network of vessels and allowing the chakra to seep through his muscles, skin and blood until it reached right through to his heart. She focused her chakra and infused it with a small amount of her own bodily heat which gave it a pink tinge. After some time she felt his skin thaw and his face slowly fill with some colour once again although he still pale. His lips remained a slight shade of blue which worried her but his breathing had settled and his hands were warm again. She straightened her back out and felt a relieving click, she sighed and then looked down and surveyed him, he was still unconscious but he seemed stable. He was suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion and without a doubt excruciating pain. She knelt back down and with another deep breath began to work on stopping the bleeding of the freshest wounds.

After another twenty minutes she had managed to stop the bleeding but her chakra was too low to fully seal the wounds, she would have to bandage them up until she had restored her chakra. She stood and walked out of the room with a backwards glance, she found herself checking he was actually there and that she hadn't hallucinated or fallen and hit her head on some ice. But he was lying in her guest's bedroom as sure as she had pink hair. She walked out and into the kitchen where she put on the kettle and prepared to make some tea.

As the kettle hissed in the background Sakura sat at her kitchen table and sat staring into space as one phrase repeated in her mind,

Sasuke's back. It seemed to repeat in her head like an annoying dance song that you couldn't get out of your head. The high pitched shrill of steam escaping the kettle started Sakura from her daze; she got up quickly and unconsciously slipped back into "doctor mode." She walked over to the counter and got out a bowl with a cloth and filled it with freshly boiled water. She grabbed some antiseptic from under the sink and some bandages under her arm. She walked out of the kitchen and back into Sasuke's room; she saw him lying right where she had left him, still unconscious with his dark head lying lightly on her cushions. He seemed to sleeping peacefully though his obsidian eyes were clenched shut. She walked back over to him, gently stepping on the wooden floor trying not to wake him with the sounds of her footsteps; she placed the bowl on the floor by her and dipped the soft cloth into the warm water and then wrung it out. She folded it over and lay it on his brow after sweeping the bangs from his eyes; the contact stirred him gently and he cracked his eyes open slightly. She looked down at him as he slowly regained his consciousness and she tried to gauge his condition. He blinked slowly and then tried to move his neck tentatively so that he could try and grasp his location.

"Where?" he asked, his voice still sounding weak and husky.

"My apartment," she said simply with as calm a tone as she could muster while she removed the towel to re-warm it once again. She placed it in the water and began to wring it out when she saw him shifting as if trying to sit up. She rushed forward and placed her palm on his bare chest,

"You're not strong enough yet," she said, her voice had a small resonance of annoyance. She had expected him to put up a bit of a fight to treatment like most of her shinobi patients but he was delusional if he thought he was fit enough to walk out now. She was obviously right as he had not sat up even an inch before he fell back again. Sakura felt wetness on her hand and looked down to see her palm stained red, she looked at his chest and surely enough blood was seeping from his wound. She looked at his face and saw his eyes flutter and then open again but only halfway. He looked up at the white ceiling and spoke quietly with a cracking voice; Sakura could only make out the odd word.

"Can't….stay….put…jeop…ardy," were the only ones she could hear properly. She laid her hand on his exposed shoulder soothingly. She held her crimson hand up in front of his face,

"You're wounds are not fully healed yet. For now you need to rest," she said in a soft but clinical voice that one couldn't disobey. Sasuke made a semi-conscious gesture like a nod before his eyes closed and his breathing slowed into a regular rhythm. She reapplied the warm compress and monitored his breathing, she checked his pulse which was still faint but improving. She got back up and shut the blinds in the room.