Wow. Sorry it took me so long to get this reposted. I'll try to get updates in…I have two other stories I'm working on too so. For anyone who read the original version…I hope this one turns out better and a bit more in character. Not so rushed too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor do I make any money from this fic!

EDIT! I'll be renovating this story. No big changes, mainly grammar/spelling. You're free to read it again though if that'll make you happy! :D

Her tired feet were close to allowing her body to fall to the ground. Sakura wanted nothing more than to collapse in her soft, warm, inviting bed. She was the only person on the dark street as far as she could see. The street lights guided her way, small balls of light shimmering.

She reached her place; her small, lonely apartment and hurried to open the door. Walking through her home, she lazily walked down the hallway to her bedroom. Without changing out of her nurses' uniform, she fell onto her bed and smiled for the first time that day.

But no matter how much her body desperately called for sleep, her mind wouldn't let her rest. Again. Just another night of a lousy three hours of sleep.

She felt so alone. Looking over at the empty place next to her, Sakura wondered why she didn't get a smaller bed. Why did she want such a big bed? She had no one to share it with.

With a sigh, the girl turned onto her back and stared at the ceiling. It was late. She knew that. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled her pager out and placed it on her bedside table. All the nurses had a pager in case there was an emergency and they were needed right away.

She had performed an exhausting surgery alongside Shizune today. She had the job of reconstructing his almost severed arm while Shizune and the other medics tackled the shinobi's messed up internal organs. She was chakra deprived and completey exhausted.

Her thoughts didn't allow any time of rest. She had always been thinking a lot. She was 19 now, her birthday having been mo more than a few weeks ago. She had just been promoted to jounin, after plenty of training with Tsunade and Kakashi.

Naruto was at the same level she was now and still working on his goal of becoming Hokage.

Kakashi, as far as she knew was still his usual old perverted self, spending most of his time reading his dirty novels or going on missions with their team.

The last member was still missing. Sasuke still hadn't returned. She spent countless nights wondering where he was. She wondered if he was ok, if he was coming back soon, or if he even thought of her. Probably not.

But she wanted him back. More than ever. Naruto had been helping her through the heartache he left her with and trying anything he could to make her happy. She started to warm up a bit, but stuck to his side a lot. A couple times they would spent the night at each others place, just so they knew they still had someone who wouldn't leave them.

Sakura had grown less trusting and more aware of how her friends were acting. She didn't want them walking out on her as well.

She remembered though, the time her world came crashing down. When Naruto informed her that he was leaving. He was leaving with Jiraiya for training. She curled back into her protective shell, and didn't talk a lot after that.

She wanted Naruto back. He promised her that he would return to her. That he would come back, stronger than ever so they could go and get Sasuke back.

And he did.

He came back to her and she was so relieved. He was stronger; she was stronger thanks to Tsunade. They had set out to find their missing teammate. And they had gotten so close too. But he slipped through their fingers. She was broken after that. She wanted him back so bad.

Beep

Beep

Beep

Sakura sat right up despite her tired limbs and reached out for her glowing pager. Damn thing. Why did she have to be called out now? It was close to midnight and she wanted sleep. She wiped away a tear that had somehow escaped from her eye and looked at the number.

It was Tsunade.

She would only call Sakura if it was an emergency. Detestably she climbed out of her bed and walked out of her apartment and into the dark abyss once more, making her way to the hospital.

XxX

Through half lidded eyes Sakura walked into the hospital doors and cringed as the bright fluorescent lights blinded her. She looked around. It didn't look like an emergency had happened. Tsunade was the one who told Sakura to go home a rest, so she wouldn't page her unless it was a serious situation.

She looked down one of the hallways from the waiting area. "Sakura."

Sakura jumped and spun around. "Oh. Shizune," she said, grasping her chest. The woman gave her a shock. At least she was awake now.

"Sorry. Tsunade wanted you to come here. There's uh…well she'll explain it to you," Shizune said and yawned. She was pretty tired too. Shizune walked down the hallway and Sakura followed, curious as to what could have possibly happened.

Soon enough a blonde was coming towards Sakura, her face unreadable.

"Sakura. I'm sorry to have woken you, but I really need you here for something. I have so many people to take care of tonight; I need you to keep watch over a new patient."

Unconsciously, Sakura nodded. She was a bit angry though. Called out of bed to simply watch a patient?

Shizune took a different path from the other two, and Sakura continued to walk next to Tsunade. They were heading down towards the critical condition section. Sakura looked up at the Hokage suspiciously.

"How hurt are they?" she asked. Tsunade sighed.

"He had a couple of broken ribs and some internal damage. His left arm was broken and his palm was burned, most likely from an attack he used. Also he had a good amount of cuts. Most of them I healed and it took me awhile but I was able to get him in stable condition. I'm tired but I still have others to take care of."

They stopped outside of a door and Sakura looked around curiously. Tsunade took the patients status folder and flipped through a paper. She handed it to Sakura who looked it over. She looked for a patient name but this paper didn't have one.

"Looks like they he had a tough battle. Where was he found?" she asked. Tsunade's hand rested on the doorknob.

"He was found out deep in the woods by one of our returning teams. He was unconscious and lying next to another dead body." Sakura's eyes darkened as she looked up at her teacher with confusion.

"Who's dead body?" she asked.

Tsunade hesitated for a moment. "Sakura, I want you to know if you don't think you can stay here for the night, then I want you to just say it. Don't think you have to do it."

Not knowing what to say Sakura nodded. Who could be behind the door? Tsunade took a deep breath. "You promise that you can handle anything?"

Sakura hesitated before nodding this time.

Tsunade continued. "The boy was found beside the dead body…of Uchiha Itachi."

A gasp escaped Sakura's lips. Could it be? Was it…? No. It wouldn't be. If it was…

Tsunade opened the door and Sakura looked into the room. She took a few steps into the dim place, the shadows enveloping her. "Sasuke-kun," she whispered.

Tsunade walked beside her. "Looks like his goal was complete. Itachi was taken into examination. Sasuke was close to not surviving. He was lucky he was found. Any more time…he might not have made it." Her words were whispered so quitely, give them an eerie effect.

Sakura wasn't listening though. She walked closer to the bed and looked down on the pained looking face of Uchiha Sasuke. This was a dream. A cruel dream. Right?

She raised her arm and pinched the top of her hand. It hurt. This wasn't a dream. Her hand reached out to touch his, but she stopped, not wanting to. He might disappear.

"Sakura. I know it's a surprise. Now, I need you to check his vitals at least every hour or two." The beeping of the monitors rang through the room and Tsunade looked at the back of the girl who was hovering above the injured boy. She knew this would happen.

"Sakura. Are you listening?" she asked firmly. Sakura spun around.

"Sorry Tsunade-sama. It's just…wow," she said softly.

"Well, you got what I said?" the blonde asked. Sakura nodded and gave her a weak smile.

Tsunade smiled back and looked at the clock. "I need to get going. Look over his injurious and keep checking on him. Oh and here," she said and grabbed a needle off of the table next to the bed.

"If he wakes up…which I doubt…and tries to escape or gets a bit angry in any way, inject him with this through his IV. It will put him back to sleep. And make sure you call me if anything goes wrong, or if you're having trouble with anything. Or if you have to get someone else to take over. You got that?" Sakura turned her back on Tsunade and nodded.

"Hai. I got it Tsunade-sama." Tsunade placed a hand on the girls shoulder.

"You sure you're going to be alright?"

"Yes. I'm sure," Sakura said quietly. With one last smile, Tsunade left the room to see her patients.

Sakura took deep unsteady breath and looked over at the bed behind her. He was still there.

She slumped down into a chair next to the bed and looked at him intensely. She still could swear this was all a dream. Reaching out, she touched his hand lightly. He felt real.

His handsome face was just how she remembered it from their last encounter. Maybe…things would be different now. Maybe they could be…normal.

Maybe…

Just maybe.

Yay. Another story. Uh…I'll try my hardest to keep updating regularly. I'm not promising. Rach will remind me though….this whole story is already planned out so…it shouldn't be hard.