Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter I: The Walk Home

Sakura was humming. The tune of the song was erratic as she was making it up along the way. The moment she caught herself, she became even more distracted from what she was doing.
'Ow!' he hissed. 'Sorry!' she quickly apologized. 'Just a bit…' she muttered under her breath while feeling heat rise up to her cheeks from embarrassment. The moment she looked at the man, she caught him sending her a mischievous grin. His stiches were almost done.
'Aren't you going to finish that up?' he asked when she kept staring at him.
'O-of course!'
'Not that I mind,' he grinned again. 'I wouldn't mind being around you all the time.'
Sakura was certain her face was beet red by now. Flirting. This is so uncomfortable…
How socially awkward she had become overtime, she sighed at herself and her childish thoughts.
'Just a minute…' she mumbled back, ignoring his comment.
'I heard your friend is in town,' the man said. Sakura looked back up, eying him suspiciously.
'The Uchiha heir,' he then said.

Sakura looked around longingly, noticing she had no patients left on her charts or in any of the waiting rooms. She let out a bored sigh.
The peaceful area she found herself living in, unsettled her from time to time. It made her anxious for some reason. Like a calm before a storm…
Letting her head rest against the palm of her hand, she stared out of the window of her office.
She had thought about exchange programs, set far out of the borders of the Land Of Fire where she could be of more use. A medic of her caliber shouldn't be wasting away stitching up a carpenter, she thought bitterly. But projects took up a lot of time and even more if you had to wait for the permission of another to proceed. In a few more months…
She snickered. Probably when we have a new Hokage, since that is a nice little thing to start off your career with. The though made her shook her head disapprovingly. The public eye… such a delicate matter these days. Oh, well… I can wait.
Getting up from her desk, she decided it was time to take one of her long walks around time before going home.

Feeling the light breeze on her skin in the early evening, she loosened up the bun in her hair. Long strands of pink flew to her lower back. She tried to remember the last time she cut it, while thoughtlessly running her hands through it to untangle it.
Taking a deep breath while wandering out of the busy streets of Konoha, Sakura walked next to the still stream that would loop around the village. Always tricking her into thinking it was going to take her some place special.

Walking further she saw familiar silver haired man standing on the small bridge just outside of town.
She couldn't remember the last time they talked…
He seemed to avoid her most of the time. Sakura felt a pang go through her heart at that thought.
Was it as long ago as the last time I cut my hair…? You're never around, Kakashi.

'Kakashi!' she yelled happily.
He slowly turned around, greeting her as kind and friendly as always. He had aged quite a bit since her Genin years. I guess worry and heartache do that to you much quicker than time, she thought sadly. She smiled at him, but you could still see there was a handsome man hiding underneath that silly piece of cloth he always used to cover up his face.

Sakura came to stand next to him on the bridge. 'It's going to be a beautiful night,' she commented.
'Yes,' he nodded shortly his head, agreeing with the view of the crescent moon above them.

'How are you, Sakura?' he asked her kindly.
Shyly looking at him in the corners of her eyes, for a small moment in time she felt like the little girl who saw him for the very first time. 'I'm ok.'

Her face let a painful grimace slip through. Swallowing the feelings in, she focused on the small bug shortly touching the surface of the still water.
'Something the matter…?' he asked with slight hesitance.
'Not really,' she answered softly. Liar, her own voiced echoed in her mind.

Kakashi simply gave her a frown, obviously not convinced of her answer. But if there was anything she knew about her awkward relationship with her former sensei, it was that he liked to avoid complicated conversations. Especially with her.

'Please, tell me what is on your mind,' he said, giving her a soft expression when she looked up at him, startled that he did not feel like letting it slide.

'Nothing, it's stupid,' she said dismissively.

Kakashi hadn't seen that look in her eyes for a very longtime. It was strange, this place, this conversation. The thrill to run took over his body but his stubborn mind made him tense up and stand even more still next to the young woman he was talking to. For once, he told himself, be the bigger man and figure out what was making this rather cheerful girl so sad.

'Don't. You never say stupid things. Tell me what is on your mind… Is it Sasuke?' he asked, trying to hide his uncomfortableness by acting aloof.

'Oh! Sasuke!' she snickered with a relieved face. 'I don't know what to think of that.'
'What do you mean?' he asked confused. 'I thought… eh, you liked him?'

'I… I haven't really thought of him that way since… Well…' she was struggling with her words.
'Before everything… Before you got taken away,' he sighed again, feeling a painful jab going through his heart when thinking about it. Sakura always made those feelings resurface, hence why he avoided her as much as he could. Coward.

'Sasuke is a stranger to me,' she simply said, as if she had just came to that conclusion herself.
'I don't really think much of him, in all honestly,' she confessed quietly. 'Other people seem to think I do. After the war and all…'

He noted she had ignored his words, which he was grateful for. But the answer she had given didn't ease his soul, he felt pained by the idea that it was because of him she was no longer carefree. That she no longer had a silly crush on her fellow teammate. He knew deep inside the scars she had and the things she had gone through… He didn't want to imagine any of it. A part of him blocked out certain memories. Memories that still made his blood boil until this day.

'Kakashi,' she softly said, interrupting his chaotic thoughts. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you…'

'You never bothered me before,' he quickly said, distraught by her words.

'But you never talk to me,' she pointed out, looking slightly hurt. Her green eyes stared quizzically at him, not able to understand how his words could be so contradicting compared to his actions.

Ah… He let out a heavy sigh. Yes, he did avoid her at all cost. Except for when he was in the hospital, but that was never by choice. And he rarely was awake the first couple of days during his visits then.
'But we do talk,' he concluded out loud.

'Chitchat,' she answered coldly. 'Same talk I have with all my patients.'

He let out another sigh, feeling disrupted by where their conversation was going. He let his shoulders fall and couldn't bring himself to look up to her. 'I just don't want to bother you anymore, Sakura.'

'You could never bother me, Kakashi.'

Why did her voice still sound so soft? It should be harsh and mean, especially towards him. Too kind, he noted to himself. Too good for this world, now that he thought about it.

'I… I never forgave myself, Sakura. And I know that doesn't make up for anything but I…'
'You saved me, Kakashi.'
'But I was far too late,' he shook his head in defeat. Startled to see a small hand get placed on his chest, he took a step back and looked up to the young woman. Her green orbs were staring calmly into his eyes.

'Not at all,' she whispered. 'What makes you think that?'

'I know you don't see it that way,' he whispered back. 'But I really didn't save you, Sakura.'

Her green eyes turned a bit cold and her face became a bit stoic after hearing him say that again.
Her hand disappeared and she took step back, distancing herself from him.

Sakura frowned at him, she had heard that line plenty times before. Not just from her sensei, but from many other people too, others who claimed to know her better then she knew herself. Her mouth turned into a straight line and it took her a moment to redeem herself.

'I see,' she simply stated, turning on her heels, deciding it was time to actual head home. 'I guess I'll see you at the hospital then, Kakashi.'

Kakashi watched her silhouette disappear in the shadows. Turning the other direction, he walked home himself. On his way home he felt anger overtake him. He didn't want to hurt her anymore… Kakashi, you bastard!
He halted and let his fist meet the solid iron pole of the light flickering above him. He heard his knuckles crack in gruesome manner and blood spattered on the wood panel behind it. 'Idiot.'

Sakura quickened her pace and didn't bother to look back at the man who claimed so many things, of which many of them were untrue. She felt so angry for the moment. Though she had told herself a millions times that it didn't matter what others thought, what even Kakashi thought, it still irked her for some reason. Above all, it hurt her. Because it was all much more complicated than people made it out to be. They were more than a pair of criminals to her. They had made her into the woman she was today, and if she had to believe the whole world, she was a wonderful person. A great Kunoichi, one of the best medics. And that was all because of them, she thought angry.

Brown eyes flashed through her mind, making het stop dead in her tracks. Cold. Kind…

Sakura couldn't suppress a smile but it quickly fell. It seemed today her past was haunting her more than yesterday. What is wrong with me? I can't stop thinking of you…

Walking up the stairs of her apartment, she warily looked up at the hooded figure waiting in front of her door. She had half hoped it would be her former sensei.

'What are you doing here, Sasuke?' she simply asked, though a bit of wariness managed to linger through her voice.
'Where were you?' he retorted on a demanding tone.
'I like to take a long walk before I go home. I ran into Kakashi…' she mumbled, half wondering why she was explaining herself to him. Her hands started searching for her keys in her pockets. She hoped she hadn't forgotten them at the hospital again.
'He didn't walk you home?' he then asked. 'No, he had to... go,' she muttered, getting worried about her keys.
'That is no excuse to leave you wandering on your own,' he said angrily.

Now that answer annoyed her. She took a deep breath, but she had learn to control her temperament, concluding many times that it indeed led to nothing more but trouble when she gave into it. She simply clicked her tongue before giving him an answer, 'I can take care of myself.'
Silence followed until she let out a squeal when finding her keys. Immediately she unlocked her front door, ignoring the man standing next to her. 'Goodnight, Sasuke,' she awkwardly said to him, not really sure how to hold herself when he was around.

'I would like to take you out for dinner,' he quickly said before she could close the door.
She hesitantly halted and gave him a confused look. His dark eyes bored into hers and he patiently awaited her answer.

'I… I'll think about it,' she whispered, shutting the door and locking it. She could hear him wait a minute before leaving. Letting her head rest against the door, feeling uneasy, she took a moment to collect herself. She was feeling exhausted. Memories were keeping her awake lately and strange thoughts were causing chaos in her mind.

Finally, the sequel! Are you new or have you read Up In Flames?