"I'll see you soon…Thank you."

xxxx

14 MONTHS LATER…

It had been over a year since Sasuke was last in Konoha. Immediately after the war concluded, he was granted a pardon by The Village Hidden in the Leaves and began his journey of redemption.

Throughout the time he was away, Sasuke travelled through every major village, apologizing to the Kages and assisting the villages with reconstruction, training, and the sorts.

Although many were opposed to accepting Sasuke's apologies, his persistence, hard work, dedication, and good word from the war hero, Naruto, ultimately led to a majority of the Kages, ninjas and villagers to accept him.

In his journeys, Sasuke learned many things about the shinobi world, and himself, that he had overlooked because of his blind hatred. While in the past, he hated the shinobi world for the violence that it promoted, he never noticed how kind, strong-willed and, overall, wonderful humanity could be if it was given a chance. This could have been the post-war effect, but Sasuke was certain that it was something that was always there that he was unable to notice…Naruto noticed from the very begin, but of course, Naruto did not have a single bad bone in his body.

Sasuke not only learned things about the Shinobi world, but also about himself. During the past 14 months, he had a lot of time to himself to self-reflect about his feelings of restarting his life again. When he left Konoha, he never expected to comeback or to even have the opportunity to come back. He was driven by revenge and expect to either die at the hands of his own brother or to be executed for high treason, if he was ever captured. The idea of starting a new life seemed foreign to him. Where was he supposed to begin?

The question bothered him for a long time. He often pondered over the idea for days, without sleeping. Even with the pardon, was Konoha really capable of fully accepting and trusting him? His teammates seemed to have forgiven him…or had they really? People always say that the past is in the past, but is it really?

When Sasuke realized that, he came to a decision. He would starting working on the relationship he had with Team 7, and then make his way out to everyone else that he had wronged in the past.

Without Team 7's love and support, he would never be able to fully forgive himself, he thought.

Now, standing at the front gates of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, he was faced with his uncertain future.

xxx

"Welcome back Teme!" Naruto said as he placed his wrapped hand on his best friends shoulder. Although it had not been very long, Naruto had changed a lot. He was slightly taller and leaner. His face had lost all signs of boyhood and his hair was kept shorter than he had ever kept it.

Sasuke gave his friend a slight smile as he glanced around his surroundings. Something was missing, but he couldn't quite lay a finger on it…

"Looking for Sakura?" Sasuke looked at Naruto, slightly taken aback. That was what was missing. He had half expected for Sakura to meet him just outside of the Village's limits, but there was no sign of the pinkette there or at the entrance.

"She says she is sorry that she couldn't make it, but the hospital is extremely busy with this virus going around. Half of Konoha is bed ridden. Even "Hogake-sama" is sick." Naruto said the last part bitterly, which made Sasuke chuckle.

"Well, I'm sure to see her at some point today…" Sasuke said.

"You better believe it! Now…I'm pretty sure it's been years since we both grabbed ramen at Ichiraku's," Naruto grinned widely. Sasuke cringed in response. Everyone who knew Naruto well enough, knew that he could out eat anyone when it came to ramen and whoever took him to Ichiraku's would often have to pay for him.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I don't think I can afford your appetite after my trip," Sasuke joked, half serious.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I get Ichiraku's for free now that I'm this big shot war hero! They even renamed their miso ramen to Uzumaki ramen."

Naruto kept bantering as the two slowly made their ways towards Ichikaru's. I was as if nothing had ever happened.

xxx

It had been 3 days since Sasuke had returned to the village. While him, Naruto and Kakashi had been catching up, training, and eating their hearts content at Ichiraku's, a key element of Team 7 had been missing. Sakura.

In the past, Sasuke had never truly acknowledged Sakura as anyone but his teammate. When they were children, he found her extremely annoying and self-centered. Unlike Naruto, she was incapable of connecting with him at an emotional level, because they had nothing in common. While he disliked Naruto for empathizing with him and being positive, he disliked Sakura because of her incapability of understanding him and being positive. That and, because to him, she was just another annoying fan girl.

As time went by, he started to appreciate her a little more. Sure, she wasn't physically up to par with him and Naruto, but what she lacked for in brawn, she made up with her intelligence and chakra control. Not only that, but even with all the torment he put her through, Sakura still loved him and fought for him no matter what.

During their battle with Kaguya and after his battle with Naruto, she could have left him for dead and just saved Naruto, but she didn't. Through all the emotional pain, she still managed to love him and to forgive him.

That was the moment he started seeing Sakura in an even bigger light. Her positivity, love, and overall radiance began affecting him. Under her glowing hands, he felt the warmth of the mother that had long lost. He was finally able to feel and understand the love that Sakura had always professed to him.

All those months on the road, he finally decided that he would give her an answer.

xxx

"Ah! Finally! The last patient is recovered and I can finally take a break and go home!" Sakura exclaimed to no one in particular.

After Tsunade had stepped down from being Hokage, she appointed Sakura as the head of the hospital. Sakura gladly accepted the job, thinking that it would give her something to do. With the Shinobi Alliance, crime in the Fire Country had exceedingly decreased to the point where Jounins were begging Kakashi for D-ranked missions. At least in the hospital, Sakura could always count with people getting sick, so she would never be bored.

Sighing, Sakura closed the last file she was working on and began leaving her office. It was dusk and many of the villagers and shinobi were rushing home to be with their families for dinner. Sakura inwardly smiled and began the trek to her apartment, looking forward to a TV dinner and her bed.

Not paying attention, she bumped into something hard and stumbled back. "I'm so sor…Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of the ex-avenger. With the hospital being so busy, she had nearly forgotten that Sasuke had arrived several days prior.

"I'm back." Sasuke said smiling at the pinkette. She, like Naruto, had also changed. She was a lot curvier than he last saw her and she looked more feminine. Her eyes were brighter, her lips fuller, and her face was more angled. She was beautiful.

Sakura blushed and averted her eyes out of nervousness. She wasn't expecting to run into him like this. When she imagined her reunion with Sasuke, she expected Naruto and Kakashi to be there, not just the two of them. From the brief look she got of him, he had gotten a lot taller and more built. His left eye held the same Rinnegan that was gifted to him by Hagoromo.

His left arm was also still missing, which reminded her…

"Oh! Remember that artificial arm that Tsunade was working on? It's done. Want me to help you, um…attach it?" Sakura stated.

"That can wait. You just got out of the hospital, right? Let's grab dinner first, then we can talk about that arm."

Sasuke began walking toward the town center but noticed that Sakura was not following him.

"Dinner?"

Sasuke looked back at her, not moving from his spot, "I have something to tell you."

Sasuke brought them to a small, quite restaurant in the middle of the village center. The restaurant was practically deserted with the exception of the chef and his waitress daughter.

At the table, not much had been uttered between them besides comments about the menu.

While waiting for their food, the silence became painful and Sakura could not bear it any longer.

"So how…" Sakura began before getting interrupted by Sasuke.

"Thanks again…for everything." Sasuke said. Sakura's eyes widened and began to tear. The two times he had ever thanked her, he had left her. Did he bring her here to say goodbye? Had he decided that he no longer wanted to be affiliated with Konoha, Team Seven, and with her? A million questions rushed through her head and tears seeped down her cheeks.

Sasuke smiled and cupped her cheek with his only hand. With his thumb, he wiped away the tears that had made their way onto her face. "Baka…"

Sakura froze, unable to comprehend what was happening. Why was he calling her an idiot and why was he being so intimate?

"I'm not leaving." He reassured.

"Then why did you say thank you?"

"Because I needed to thank you. You've been so patient with me all these years and I have done nothing but make you suffer. So, thank you, Sakura Haruno, for supporting me for all these years even when I don't deserve it."

Sakura was unable to control her tears and began crying harder, not out of sadness but happiness. "You're the idiot here. Why wouldn't I support you? I love you!"

"I know."

"And I will always love you."

"I know... Sakura look at me."

Sakura turned her gaze into Sasuke's obsidian eyes, confused.

"I know you love me and while I can't tell you that I love you right now…lets see where this goes." Sasuke whispered, barely loud enough for Sakura to hear.

Her heart was racing and she was beginning to feel like she was suddenly in a dream where Sasuke was finally responding to her feelings.

"Are you…being serious?"

Sasuke chuckled, "Completely."

Sakura jumped from her seat and embraced Sasuke tightly. Her head rested on the nook between his neck and shoulder and she cried inconsolably.

With his right arm, Sasuke rubbed Sakura's back and comforted her until she stopped crying.

At that moment, in Sakura's embrace, he finally had found the peace within himself that he was been searching for all along.

To be continued…?

xxx

Hey everyone! It's been a long time since I've written a fan fiction, but after reading today's last chapters, I couldn't help myself.

SasuSaku is finally canon and I needed to express my happiness through writing.

As of now, this is a one-shot, but if the response is good enough, I'll consider turning this into a multi-chapter. If that is the case, I wouldn't be able to start writing until after I finish the semester in December, so please be patient.

Please leave a review either commenting on the story or anything related to the manga chapters (699 + 700)

Until next time 3