Disclaimer: I won't pretend that I own rights to Naruto or any of the characters. I just enjoy playing with the new ideas that pop into my head whenever my muse permits it. ;)

I thank you all for the lovely feedback! Here's chapter two! Enjoy!

Life Restored – Chapter 2

The morning was bright and chipper, but her mood certainly didn't reflect it.

Making her way down the street to the hospital, Sakura encountered several people all whispering animatedly about something, their hushed voices filled with excitement.

The moment she heard the words "Uchiha Sasuke" however, she turned and headed back in the opposite direction.

"Poor girl," She heard out of the fog. Sakura's feet nearly came to a halt, but she slowed her pace, feeling her eyes narrow.

"All this time he's been gone…and she's been alone."

"Such a waste. She's grown so strong under Godaime-sama."

Sakura felt her stomach clench in anger, and she took off at a run.

Even the village elderly were gossiping now. About her.

Joy.

Lost in her own head, Sakura found herself wandering farther and farther down the street, until she stopped in front of the Shinobi Memorial before realizing her feet had carried her there.

The morning was still early, the sun still had yet to peek above the massive tree line as she slowly sank to her knees in front of the memorial stone. Carefully releasing a heavy sigh, Sakura's eyes found one of the most recent names to be carved into the black marble.

"Kaka-sensei…" She whispered, feeling the knot growing in her throat. Tears prickled the corners of her eyes as she lightly traced the characters of his name.

Plopping herself back on the dewy grass, she missed the pair of sharp red eyes watching her closely from behind the trees.

She tucked her arms behind her head and lay back on the soft earth, feeling another heavy sigh escape her lips.

"I wish you were here," She whispered, looking up at the large stone. "You would know what to do. You could tell me if I was really losing it or not."

Her eyes drifted shut as she slowly drew a breath.

"Naruto's happy, of course. The guy hasn't stopped grinning since that night. I guess he can fulfill his destiny and become Hokage now. All of his precious people are…" She swallowed, feeling her eyes well with tears. "Well…most of his precious people are back home and safe."

She thumbed her right eye clear, drawing away any sign of tears. "He's changed, Kaka-sensei. I don't know how much, but…he's just…different."

Sakura laughed humorously. "At least he didn't try to kill me again the night he came back. Just acted like a superior asshole." She scoffed very unladylike.

Footsteps nearby alerted her and her eyes immediately snapped open. She was on her feet fast, but the alarm faded as she saw another shinobi approaching, long luxurious blonde hair swaying in the wind.

Ino.

Light blue eyes lifted to meet hers as she came closer, and Sakura's eyes widened a touch when she saw the pair of to-go coffee cups in the kunoichi's hands.

"Peace offering." Ino said as she stopped in front of Sakura. She extended the cup out to her friend, a faint smile on her face.

Sakura carefully took the cup, delighting momentarily that the liquid within must still be steaming hot, as the cup warmed her chilled hands.

"What brings you out here this early?" Sakura asked after a long moment. Her eyes dropped to the lip of the to-go cup as she carefully tested out a sip.

"A hunch." Ino murmured.

Sakura ignored the jab as she sank to the grass once more, slowly and cautiously sipping her drink.

"I'm calling you out, Pig. You've brought me my favorite coffee and called it a peace offering. What's going on?"

Ino felt the sigh escape her before she could stop it. "You know Forehead, sometimes I do things for the people I care about for no good reason at all. How about that?"

Sakura snorted. "Shenanigans."

Ino grinned instantly. "And you say that I do that too much…"

Sakura's face lit up in a smile. "Yeah? And where do you think I picked up that horrible habit up from?"

Ino's smile slowly faded. "Seriously though. I came to see how you were doing. I know this is a place you usually come every morning, but I haven't seen you in a couple of weeks, and Tsunade-sama said you've been working double time at the hospital recently."

Sakura shrugged. "It's the beginnings of flu season. Duty calls." She nudged Ino with her shoulder.

"Shenanigans." Ino murmured.

Sakura sighed and dragged a hand through her long hair. "Look, I'd rather be doing what I am, instead of feeling like I'm holed up inside the village with a bunch of people who are happy to see…" She let her voice trail off, her hands clenched tightly into fists.

"See…what?" Ino questioned. "Oh out with it already, Forehead!"

Sakura shook her head, draining the last of her coffee in one swig. "I've got to get to work—"

"It's about the Uchiha coming back, isn't it." Ino's voice was hard.

Like that was really a question.

Sakura shot her best friend a glare. No matter what she tried to pretend, or who she tried to save face for, Yamanaka Ino knew her best. Better than anyone in the entirety of the Hidden Village of the Leaf.

"I know why you've thrust yourself into your work as of late, Sakura." Ino continued. "You've been doing it ever since Naruto came back nearly dead. You were trying to save everyone that you could. But not anymore. Now…you've changed."

Sakura froze.

"Your work isn't your passion like it used to be. I never hear of any new medical jutsu that you've learned; only I hear of the kind of hours that you keep from my father, who has been supplying the hospital staff with the soldiers I know you've been popping like fucking candy."

Ino's voice rose a little in volume as her emotions spiked. "Your work has become nothing more than your escape! You long for people to heal so that you can avoid facing the reality of what life has become. Naruto is on his way to becoming Hokage. You've spent the last five years doing nothing but work and training. Tenten, Hinata and I rarely ever see you anymore! What's happened to you Sakura?"

Sakura's eyes were narrowed, but she fisted a handful of grass beneath them and yanked aimlessly on it.

"I guess I thought I'd reached that point, Ino." She said softly. "I thought if I made enough of an impact in people's lives that I could atone for not being strong enough back then."

She sighed heavily as her eyes lifted to the sky. "I'm so angry, Ino." She whispered. Her eyes squeezed shut.

Sakura felt a hand grip hers and her eyes snapped open. Ino was looking at her with a mixture of pity and sadness on her face. "Who is it that you're really angry with, Sakura?"

Her head lowered as she looked down at her lap. "I'm furious at him, Ino." Her jaw clenched.

"Because you still love him, right?" Ino's voice was soft.

Sakura's heart skipped a couple of beats at her friend's words and leapt into her throat.

"Because he fucking left!" Sakura's voice hardened and she glared daggers at her best friend. "And now I'm just supposed to believe that he's changed and is ready to turn over a new leaf? He betrayed the village! He tried to kill Naruto! Kaka-sensei…" Her voice got trapped in her throat as tears sprung to her eyes. "Kakashi died fighting Obito to save Uchiha's life. He's gone because of him! How the hell can he not know of the amount of destruction that he's caused?!"

Ino chose her words carefully, worrying her lip as she pieced everything together. "Sakura-chan," She murmured. "You're mad at him because he left you, Naruto and the village behind. You were mad at Naruto when he went off for a couple of years training with Jiraiya, and when Kakashi—"

"I was not mad at Naruto for leaving to train. I encouraged him to go." Sakura interjected. "And I can see where you're going with this. I do NOT have abandonment issues."

But the look on Ino's face told her she'd yet to convince the blonde kunoichi otherwise.

With an annoyed eye roll, Sakura stood up. "I don't have to explain myself if you're not going to listen."

Ino shot to her feet too. "I'm not judging, I'm just trying to help. I don't want to see you upset anymore! I just want my best friend back!"

Sakura's throat tightened and she felt her eyes well with tears. Her arms were around Ino instantly and she hugged her best friend as if she were a life line. "I'm sorry," She whispered.

Ino squeezed her back, both kunoichi hugging the other like they hadn't seen each other in years.

Finally Ino pulled back from her. "You've got to pull it together, Forehead girl. I thought we were past this mess." A small smile touched her lips as she looked at her best friend.

Sakura turned her head, feeling her stomach tighten.

"You've got to accept the fact that he's back, Sakura. Because dragging yourself through the mud every day like this isn't healthy. Just act civil towards him, and agree to work with him on missions if that's what ends up happening."

Sakura wasn't looking at her. Her eyes were narrowed on the tree line.

"How did you know to find me here this morning, Ino?" She asked suddenly, her voice no more than a whisper.

The blonde looked at her with a puzzled expression on her face before responding, "I didn't. Naruto told me that you come here in the mornings to talk to Kakashi-sensei, and you coming to my flower shop every week suddenly made that much more sense…wait, why are you standing up?"

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose, trying her best to control her pounding heart. "I'm gonna be late for work, Ino-pig. Walk with me?"

Ino rose to her feet, brushing the grass and the morning dew from her skirt as she did so. Gathering up hers and Sakura's empty coffee cups, she smiled brightly at her best friend.

"You know, we really should go shopping together again sometime. Tenten only ever wants to go look at new weaponry, and Hinata…well, I can rarely ever get the chance to steal her away because Hiashi-san rarely ever lets her do anything nowadays. I need someone to pick out clothes with! We used to do that all the time before you got so busy you forgot all about me."

Sakura couldn't help the small smile that reached her lips. "I didn't forget about you Ino-pig."

Ino nudged her as they walked down the path together that led back towards the main part of the village.

"Shenanigans."

He watched her go.

He'd planned on approaching her after she arrived at the Memorial this morning, but then he'd heard her talking and he couldn't help the frown that took over his face.

He knew talking to her was going to be hard. Especially given their encounter that first night.

A smirk found its way to his face as he watched her go. She'd been able to sense him. Which meant she'd known to look for him. He knew from experience that Sakura was certainly not a stupid girl. Her very status within the village proved that. Not to mention during the war he'd seen shinobi that would have been dead due to the extent of their injuries brought back to good health after she'd tended to them.

He'd know, he was the one who'd injured some of them.

Sasuke rose from his crouched position in the trees, lost in his thoughts.

The sun was peeking above the horizon, which meant it would be time for her to be at work soon. He had to meet up with Naruto to train this morning as well, but based on the dobe's tendencies to sleep in; Sasuke doubted he would see the idiot before noon.

The sight of Sakura and Ino leaving angered him. He slammed a fist into the tree he was standing on. His heart froze in his chest when he saw Sakura turn a quick glance over her shoulder back at him. He knew she couldn't see him, but looking at her face pulled him to her even more, and he found himself taking a step closer on the branch.

He'd been following her during the days when he wasn't caught up in some meeting with the council, or when he wasn't training with Naruto. Most of the time he spent watching her from afar, never confronting her outright.

A slight movement caught his eye to his left and he had to repress the urge to use a katon jutsu in that direction. Of course another perk of his return had been to be placed under constant ANBU surveillance. Tsunade had decreed it, and as a stipulation for his ability to stay and rebuild what was left of his clan's estate, he had to comply.

The test he had to undergo was in just a couple of days now. Whatever sentence the council was devising, no doubt would be dependent upon the amount of power he displayed.

The only question now was to decide if unveiling everything he'd mastered in the ten years he'd been gone would be worth the trouble or not.

The corner of his mouth tilted upward slightly.

It was funny how both the village council and the Godaime Hokage thought they had control over what he did. In reality he was playing nice to get back in the good graces of Fire Country once more. His Clan needed to be restored. He would do whatever it took to make that happen.

But the retreating pink haired kunoichi was another matter entirely.

His hand tightened into a fist.

"I'm not going to let you go." He murmured softly to himself as he watched her disappear in the trees.

The door to her office burst open and Sakura tossed her white lab coat onto her messy desk.

Ino tentatively followed her in, curious as she looked around. Her eyes widened as she noted the still gaping hole in the wall of Sakura's office. Someone had covered it with a plastic tarp, where it was haphazardly duct-taped closed until a construction crew could properly attend to it. "Geez Forehead, got something against the walls in here?"

Sakura tracked her gaze and waved her off. "That," She paused. "Was an accident."

Ino snorted. "Right. And I'm guessing the state of your office is simply a case of the "I forgot to cleans" too, hmm?"

Sakura whirled and pegged Ino with an unamused look. "Says the girl who practically needs a bulldozer to do her dirty laundry."

Ino stuck her tongue out. "Hey, just because I happen to have more clothing than you do doesn't mean you get to hate on my cleaning ability."

"Just your poor habits." Sakura winked at her and grinned.

Ino made a dramatic gesture and plopped onto the worn couch in Sakura's office. She waited a beat before pegging her best friend with a hard look.

"All right Forehead, so what is it?"

Sakura slowly lowered herself into her chair, her thumbnail in her teeth as she slowly chewed on it. With a heavy sigh, she looked at the floor.

"He tracked me down the night he returned, Ino."

Ino's eyes bugged out of her head. "Wait…what? What the heck do you mean?!"

Sakura threw her an annoyed look that clearly said You're kidding me, right?

"I mean he tracked me down the night he came back. I was…accidentally injured while on that ANBU mission, and hadn't had the chance to really heal myself yet. And…well…"

She really needed to summarize this thing quick. Ino was known for asking too many questions.

"Look, you said that I needed to act civil, like we were just acquaintances, but after that night—"

"HANG ON." Ino was holding up a hand to stop Sakura from continuing. "He tracked you down. You obviously were hurt so you must've been easy for him to catch…" Ino gasped. "HE DIDN'T HURT YOU DID HE?!"

Sakura suppressed the urge to shudder. In a quiet voice she whispered, "No Ino-chan…he didn't." But her arms went around herself as she hugged her torso.

Ino sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. She'd not seen Sakura act this way in years. "Well? Then what happened with you two?"

Sakura was quiet for a long moment before she was suddenly up and out of her chair. Her lab coat was in her hands as she went to the small locker in the corner of her office and hung it up. She proceeded to clear the clutter of papers and files and books from her desk as she talked, walking to and from the desk to the bookshelf, the desk to the filing cabinet.

Cleaning was therapeutic for her, she'd realized some years ago, and it helped her to have something to do as she relived that night with Ino.

Ino watched her, stifling her impatience. She knew from experience that forcing Sakura to talk would be counterproductive, but damn it all if watching the pink haired medic pace around the office like she had a serious case of the rattles wasn't driving her crazy! Finally, she uncrossed her arms and planted them firmly on her hips. "Out with it, Sakura-chan."

"He didn't hurt me, but Kami, when I say I was terrified, I mean every word of it. He's so different now Ino, it was like seeing a stranger with Sasuke's face. I've been on edge ever since his return, and then days like today, I swear I feel like I'm being watched…"

Ino's expression changed, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Do we need to go to Tsunade-sama about this?"

"No!"

Ino startled as Sakura dropped the heavy textbook she was holding. Sakura was looking at her with a horrified expression. She arched a perfectly formed blonde eyebrow at her best friend.

"So you don't want to go to Tsunade-sama, you'd rather just pretend like you're mad at him when in reality you're just scared shitless? Is that it?" Ino was looking at her with a stern expression. "I swear you make no sense, Forehead. What is it that you really want?"

Sakura's knees decided that they didn't want to hold her up any longer, and so she sank slowly into her chair once more, a defeated look on her face.

"I'm not sure," She whispered after a long moment. "I know he's fighting hard to regain his Clan's honor. I'm not about to do anything that would jeopardize that. But I won't lie when I say I'm terrified of him. I AM still mad at him, over everything that's happened, and I guess reminding myself of that every time I see him helps me keep it together…"

She sighed as her eyes dropped to the book in her hands.

"SAKURA-CHAAAAN!"

The door to Sakura's office opened, startling both kunoichi. Naruto entered a big grin on his face with his hands tucked behind his head.

"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan! What's with the book?" His bright smile faded into a frown as he saw the rather large medical textbook raised above her head.

She carefully covered up her laugh as a light cough as she set the book back on her desk once more.

"Naruto, one of these days you're going to have to learn how to knock. You scared us!" She walked around her desk and went to envelop her teammate in a big hug.

Naruto made a face as he hugged her back. He was quick to piece together that they weren't the only two in Sakura's office. "Hey Ino-pig! What're you doing in here?"

Ino stood up, a smile on her face. "Probably the same reason you are, Naruto. Just wanted to visit Forehead-chan here. She practically lives in the hospital nowadays and so I never see her anymore." She laughed at the dirty glare she was getting from her best friend. Her smile disappeared instantly as she saw Sasuke standing in the doorway.

Sakura had frozen in her spot, her feet seemingly unable to move.

"What are you doing here?" Ino managed to say, her eyes narrowing slightly on the Uchiha.

"Well you see," Naruto began to answer, "Teme and I were heading to see Tsunade no baa-chan this morning before we go train! I wanted to see Sakura-chan, so we stopped by!" Naruto was still smiling. He hadn't noticed the two kunoichi's uneasiness at all.

Sasuke's eyes locked on Sakura as he leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed casually over his chest.

"Dobe. We've obviously interrupted their conversation." His eyes never left her.

Naruto bounded forward, engulfing Sakura in a bear hug. "We'll see you later Sakura-chan! Want to join me and Teme for ramen tonight?"

She was jarred enough from her frozen shock enough to lightly return his embrace. "A-Ah…we'll see, Naruto. I have a lot of work to do here. Thanks for coming to see me though."

"Aww Sakura-chan c'mon! You say that every time!" He pulled back from her and gave Sakura his best pouty puppy dog face. "Miso please?"

Despite her stomach doing little flips by having Sasuke in her doorway, Sakura laughed. "Miso please?" She repeated. "That's a new one."

Naruto grinned. "Cause 'Miso' is so much better than 'pretty' cause it tastes so good!"

"Like you really substituting a food for an adjective is going to make her come and eat with us, Dobe." Sasuke smirked.

Sakura silently looked over at the dark shinobi in her doorway, incredulity written on her face.

Did he really just try and make a joke?

Naruto made a face at Sasuke. "Don't be such a stick in the ass, Teme! Sakura-chan always likes my jokes!"

She fought the smile, she really did. But Naruto made it so hard for her to be afraid in front of the Uchiha, even with him towering in her doorway. The warm blonde shinobi engulfed her in a huge hug again before walking her backwards and plopping her into her chair again.

"Get to work then Sakura-chan! Team 7 dinner at seven! Yeah!"

Sakura shook her head with a faint smile as she picked up a file from her desk and flipped it open. "Later Naruto-kun."

Ino had been silent the whole time, but she offered a small wave as Naruto marched himself right out of the office, with Sasuke not too far behind. The Uchiha gave Sakura one last smirk as he pushed himself off of the door panel and followed Naruto out of the hospital.

The second his eyes left her, Sakura felt her heart restart.

Ino waited a couple of heartbeats before going over and closing the door behind them with a small scoff. "Okaaay, so that was weird…" When she turned around and looked at Sakura, her eyes widened a touch.

It was only then, that Sakura realized she'd been shaking.

A/N:

Yay! Chapter two is up! I'm not sure what it is, but I have been so excited to write this story, and so in between classes and work I've been working on this bit by bit. Many thanks to my long time friend and partner in crime Hyuuga Ayame for beta-ing for me. She puts up with my consistant pestering phone calls and emails and helps me through the road blocks, lol.

This story is gonna progress soon, I promise! And the confrontation of Sasuke and Sakura is gonna be fun, hehe. *grins big* I can't wait to get it written! ;D

Thank you to those who left reviews! You guys totally made my day.

Love and hugs,

~Konoha no Uchiha Sakura