Sakura woke to the warmth of the sun against her skin, and attempted to will herself back to sleep to enjoy it longer. Like a nightmare, her night came flooding back to her. Oh no, god no. She did not. She groaned and held her head in her hands.

She wasn't some stupid kid anymore, fainting at the mere sight of a man was unacceptable. Tsunade would actually have her head if she knew that she fainted. Sakura turned to look at the clock and her muscles seemed to kick into autopilot, she didn't have time for a pity party, she started work in four minutes. Good thing she worked ten minutes away.

She walked quickly to the clinic, she knew she had several reports to file before even thinking checking in with patients today. The air was crisp today, which was unusual in the land of fire, but welcome. It caused goosebumps to form and she crossed her arms, attempting to warm herself.

As she approached her office she admired the door: 'Haruno Sakura – Director'. It was even gold plated. Few things in this world made her happier than her work. Every day she was able to mold children for the better, she was able to heal them. There would be fewer adults on the path for revenge with her work. She opened the door and immediately noticed something out of place. A sack on her desk. Upon further inspection, it was a lunch. A lunch of all her favorites nonetheless.

Sakura placed the lunch to side, considering it was still morning and put herself to work. Yet, she definitely felt her lips quirking upward and it certainly was not because of the paperwork.

Before Sakura knew it, a few hours had passed. She stretched up and felt her body crack. That was better. Her brief moment of peace was interrupted by a rapping at the door.

"Come in!"

The door opened and in walked Sasuke, with a lunch container which resembled the one on her desk. Sakura raised an eyebrow, "Did we have a lunch planned?"

Sasuke sat down at the chair on the other side of her desk. "Well, you blew me off last night." He hadn't even looked at her yet as he began to unwrap and unpack his lunch.

Sakura's face went warm, "Welcome home, Sasuke. I never got to say it." He glanced up at her, smirking. That damn smirk.

"So, what brought you back?"

Sasuke frowned. That answer to that question was far more complicated than he wished to explain. "It was time," He sufficed.

Sakura pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. He was as mysterious as ever. The silence between them was both the most comfortable and the most awkward silence. One thing Sakura was sure of, was that she loved Sasuke. Whether she should love him, whether he should love her, or if he cared about her at all was all up in the air.

She hadn't truly interacted with him in years, but somehow, she knew him. He was familiar and warm to her. Considering his stoic and unfriendly demeanor, Sakura couldn't exactly figure out why she felt so comforted in his presence.

"So what do you do here? In the clinic."

Oh, so Sasuke makes small talk now. Interesting. Sakura attempted to stifle a small giggle.

"Well, we heal children, but not just physical wounds. The mental ones you often can't see. After the war, there was such an influx is traumatic disorders, especially in children. While we were united, the war wasn't pretty. It was gory and brutal. We, well initially I, wanted to prevent bitterness and rage toward the shinobi world and villages. If we healed the wounds early we'd prevent traumatized children from becoming people like…like…"

"People like me," Sasuke stated. It wasn't accusatory, but nonetheless the words hurt.

"I-I didn't mean it like that. You're different. You changed. You're- I'm sorry," Sakura sighed. She wasn't going to stick her foot in her mouth. She sat up a little straighter. "I do mean like you. And Naruto. And any other child who is forced to grow up to soon."

Sasuke nodded. Maybe if a woman like Sakura had come along sooner, he wouldn't be the way he is now. Maybe he wouldn't have left the village. Maybe he wouldn't have killed his own brother. Maybe he wouldn't have…But he did. And he needed to live with that.

"I'm happy for you."

Sakura smiled and reached out to touch his hand, "Thank you."

The rest of lunch was filled was pleasantries and exchanges of their lives for the past few years. Sasuke had seen the world and Sakura had learned to move mountains. Sakura sighed as she began to pack her lunch away, "This was nice, we should do it more often."

"If that makes it so you eat and don't pass out, of course."

That smirk was back.

Sakura reddened and as she tried to compose herself, a tall blonde came barging into her office. "Forehead! We need you on the floor at some point today. I don't know what you've been doing in here all day," Ino had yet to notice or acknowledge the third person in the room. "But for the love of god, stop fucking around and get out there."

Finally, Ino noticed Sasuke and grinned a grin only Ino could. It was almost impish as it stretched from ear to ear with an evil glint in her eye. "Oh I see what you're doing in here….Welcome home, Sasuke. Are you treating-"

"Pig! Get. Out."

"Oh, so he comes home and suddenly you're too busy-"

"I said out! I'll be on the floor soon!"

Ino was possibly the only person in town not afraid of Sakura when she was angry. "Yeah, yeah," She dismissed, still grinning and finally heading toward the door. "Be safe," She jeered as she sped out the door and Sakura threw a book.

"She still calls you forehead?" Sasuke inquired, still smirking.

"Heh..yeah, it's because…uh.." Sakura began, flustered as ever brushing her forehead. When Sasuke mentioned forehead, something else came to mind. It only lasted a few seconds before she was filled with rage. "-because she's a stupid pig!"

Sasuke could barely keep himself from snorting. It was strange, but charming to see Sakura so worked up.

"I want to see what you do."

Sakura turned to him bewildered. Sasuke was showing genuine interest in her field. While she knew he wasn't actually made of pure apathy, seeing the apathy pulled back was always fascinating. "I mean, I don't participate in the talk therapy anymore, so I suppose that's fine." Sakura began to get up, grab her lap coat and head toward the door. Sasuke followed suit.

"There's more to this than talking?" Sasuke seemed genuinely interested.

Sakura nodded. "Yes. Through research we found certain chakra points flair with bad memories. Now, blocking these points permanently causes severe developmental issues since these are also the chakra points which facilitate the flow of neurons around anxiety, stress and other negative emotions. While these emotions aren't pleasant they're necessary for normal development. So, what we… well I, since I'm the only one able to currently, do is-" Sakura turned to glance at Sasuke as she walked. She was rambling, but Sasuke seemed to actually be listening.

She internally shrugged and proceeded. "-is place a 'build up' of sorts around these points. The memories are still intact and as the patient goes through continual therapy they are able to process these memories and emotions more slowly. The 'build up' slowly breaks down allowing the patient to experience the emotions slower, preventing PTSD, but still allowing them to develop normally. We've had great success. This is for the most severe cases, however, because it is quite risky."

Sakura came to a stop in front of a one-way window. Inside was a playroom and there was a little brown-haired boy who danced happily with a stuffed animal. He was singing so loud, you could hear him beyond the glass.

"This boy didn't even speak when we got him. He barely opened his eyes because he was so in pain every time he opened them because he could only see the terrors he faced…He was our first patient." She crossed her arms and beamed at the young boy.

Sakura kept going and Sasuke followed as they entered a room. This room was far more medical than the others. There was a surgical chair and the boy in it was sedated heavily. "Doctor Haruno, this patient was found in a basement after his town had been raided. We've noted several markings on him. They appear to be burns - intentional ones." Sakura shook her head and swallowed the bile near her throat.

Sasuke grimaced, remembering some intentional marks of his own.

A young Sasuke screamed, strapped down to a table as a prod was removed from his hip.

"One more level, Sasuke," hissed Orochimaru as he grinned down. Sasuke wanted to rebuttal, but had learned better. Noticing his reluctance Orochimaru got closer to him, "You want to be strong? Strong enough to beat Itachi? That's not made by being weakness."

Sasuke closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. Kabuto pulled down a level and Sasuke screeched and bit his tongue. Blood filled his mouth and he began to cough and choke on his own blood. Sasuke couldn't help but find himself filled with fear and tears. He wanted to go home, he wanted his mom, he wanted his brother. But, they weren't there. None of it was. The same brother he wanted had destroyed it all.

That was the first night Sasuke cried.

"Sasuke," Sakura soothed as she touched his arm. Sasuke had been gnawing his lip so hard he'd broken skin. "Is everything okay?"

Sasuke took a step back, snatching himself away from her. The medic-nins in the room recoiled and Sakura grimaced. Remorse filled his belly, but that was an emotion he refused to acknowledge.

Sakura shrugged the behavior off. Working with the traumatized did that to someone. She had her own patients to deal with right now, Sasuke would have to wait.

She turned around, as clinical as ever and squatted down next to her child. She placed a hand on his arm and even fully sedated, the child twitched to move away from the touch. Sakura frowned and stood up. "Chart, please?"

Eventually, Sakura's hands turned green and she began to hover over the child's head. A man with byakugan assisted, directing her expertly. Activating his sharingan, Sasuke could partially see the inner-workings of her technique. Sakura had grown so much as a kunoichi it was baffling.

The way her chakra moved with such accuracy was outstanding. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and tried to determine if his control was so fine tuned. He frowned, it wasn't. His chest swelled with an emotion couldn't quite pinpoint. Sakura was not a weak woman.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged blows. Every punch was met with a block or dodge. Every jutsu with a counter. It was like a fighting a perfect match. Every hit that landed was an accomplishment, but the blow was never lasting.

"Have you found anything?" Naruto punched.

Sasuke ducked in second "Not enough, yet. Have you sensed anything?" Bounding up, he roundhoused

A grin and block from Naruto followed. "No. The signature you gave me is weak, you weren't very developed back then." Naruto went in for a punch.

Sasuke grabbed the punch, Naruto had been far to cocky, and twisted his arm. "Yield."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto stood up straighter and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Ahhhh, so whats been going on with Sakura?" Naruto plopped down and grinned up at Sasuke

"You should ask her."

If Naruto didn't know better he could swear Sasuke was pouting. "You're always so damn septic. Is it because you liiiiike her?"

"It's cryptic you idiot."

"Cryptic, whatever. Stop avoiding the question. Unless, oh oh, you do like her?"

"We're comrades, of course I like her." Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto rolled his eyes and truly considered how it possible that Sasuke was the smart one between the two of them.

"You look at her the way I look at Hinata. I can tell." Sasuke sat, facing enough away from Naruto so his friend couldn't read his face. "Come by for dinner tonight. Sakura will come too. Also, Hinata's cooking is great."

Sasuke smirked. Naruto bragged about Hinata any chance he got. He hadn't seen the previously timid woman in years. He was curious how she handled his rambunctious friend. Naruto glanced up at the sky. He realized it was past the halfway point, roughly two in the afternoon.

"AH. She's going to kill me."

Sasuke raised a brow with a small grunt.

"Hinata! I told her I would be home before noon. Just some early morning training. Nothin' crazy. I haven't helped around the house is ages and I told her I would because she did all the shopping this week too. She's going to kill me!"

Sasuke let out an audible chuckle at the thought of Hinata enraged. "It's not funny! I'll see you tonight!"

Just like that, Sasuke was alone in the field.

Dinner, huh. It had been over a decade since he'd been to a friendly dinner.

A/N: Round two of the redo! Please review, they are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading!