Post-War. Sasuke x Sakura.

After three years of traveling Sasuke stops resisting the appeal of Konoha. He returns not knowing what to expect or what he wants, but nonetheless surprised that those who had fought for him so hard have managed to move on so completely, or have they?

Sasuke still didn't know why he was heading in this direction. It hadn't become a conscious decision until he realized that, for whatever reason, his travels had been leading him closer and closer to his current destination. He had spent three years travelling, observing. He had traveled to such lengths that he found himself in lands where the presence of ninja was so limited that shinobi were similar to a legend told by parents to their children. He had seen lands enveloped in peace and those marred by violence. He lived every moment observing his surroundings. He had always been observant, but now that hatred, vengeance, and revenge were not consuming him, his mind could pick up on things it selectively ignored before. He saw the kindness of strangers, abuse of power, communities whose loyalties to each other rivaled the bonds of shinobi.

Years of anger had brought him to the steps of this newfound peace. While he did regret the vast majority of his actions, he could not find it in himself to regret the road his life had taken. The events of most of his life seemed inevitable. He was the world's punchline; he had brought it to the brink of destruction, and then when no one had expected it, least of all himself, he had decided to save it.

But then, it wasn't really anger that brought him here, he mused, it was Itachi. In the past his brother's name had been synonymous with anger. More recently, it only brought on a steely sadness; the kind of sadness he did not let himself feel for years after his clan's massacre. If he had let himself feel all that he felt now at the mere thought of brother's name, it would have rendered him incapable of training as hard as he did to enact the revenge he once thought would end his constant burning rage, the revenge that was his sole purpose for the majority of his life.

Not for the first time, he ponders how things would have been different had he known all the facts. Would Itachi be alive? He pushed the thought out of his mind. He had never been one to ponder what-ifs and maybes. He had instead chosen to turn to action; training, killing, whatever it took. He could not bring his brother back; all he could do was go on with his life in accordance to Itachi's wishes. Still, despite the newfound clarity in his life he often found himself trying to fight off the rage that was once all consuming. While it was not near the level it had been when he was with Orochimaru, it was still present, poking and prodding, looking for an out.

As he drew nearer to the familiar gate, jumping from tree to tree with the agility and speed only a ninja of his caliber could achieve, his thoughts wandered to Konoha. It was almost comical to think of the amount of resources the Hidden Leaf had dedicated to ensuring his return to the village when he was on the path of vengeance. Now, when he had no affiliation, no such commitment to any life guiding emotion, they had let him be.

Sasuke knows he should be grateful; they could have locked him up or ended his life. Both of which would have been fitting punishments. He also knows, why neither of these were seriously considered. Kakashi and Naruto wanted to see him redeemed and the rest of Konoha knew his strength, that of which was only rivaled by Naruto himself. It was the kind of strength that could be an asset to the village. He had once been loyal to Konoha, had even fought to save it when he hadn't been loyal. This was enough to placate those in power that it would be in the best interest of the village to let him on this path of redemption with hopes that his allegiances would re-align themselves with Konoha in the foreseeable future. And so like that, with no real reason or need to be there, he paused on the branch closest to the gate that was once a very familiar sight, the symbol of the Hidden Leaf shining bright in the midst of the metal bars.

Sakura stopped in the break room to quickly chug down her third cup of coffee of the morning. She prayed that none of the nurses took notice, she had taken extra care to cover the bags under her eyes with makeup and even spent a little more time then usual on the rest of her face and hair so no one would correctly assume that she was dead on her feet.

She knew that if anyone in the hospital got a whiff of how exhausted she truly was it would get back to Shizune which would mean Tsunade would undoubtedly hear about it and like a domino affect Kakashi would be on her case too. She didn't doubt that she would be sent home to rest and have any potential missions coming her way passed off to another willing Jonin. Her former mentors were all too eager to get her rest, it was sweet and infuriating at the same time. She grudgingly admitted to herself that this one time she wouldn't have minded it. She had just returned from a S-ranked mission last night that had required a lot of combat and healing of her comrades, leaving her low on energy and chakra.

To say Sakura was busy would be an understatement. Since the war, she had cemented herself as the most skilled medic-nin in any of the villages and one of the most formidable Kunoichi in the Leaf. Kakashi was regularly fielding requests of her presence in the other villages. When she would protest he would pull rank, gently reminding her that the Hokage made these decisions, not the head medic. In addition to her responsibilities at the hospital she was ANBU, regularly being sent on missions where a healer of the upmost skill medically and in combat would be required.

At the hospital her only superiors were Tsunade and thereby Shizune. She knew the necessity of her reporting to them came with her tender age. Having a 21-year-old running a hospital was alarming regardless of the accomplishments and skill of said 21-year-old. Tsunade was technically retired and mostly took on rare medical cases, throwing back sake in her spare time. This meant that most of Sakura's reports came in the form of drinking nights with her shishou. Though, they had decided to cut back a little when a drunken joke involving a scalpel had almost decapitated Naruto while he was sitting in on one of their meetings. He claimed it was good for him to observe the heads of Konoha's shinobi units as Hokage-in-training, but Sakura knew his company was courtesy of Hinata being away on a mission. Naruto and the Hyuga beauty had gotten together soon after the end of the war, and while they were not married yet, it was understood by all that that was the relationship was surely headed. It regularly made her heart swell with joy to see her teammate happy.

"Forehead, you've got a special patient in Room 10." Ino said, poking her head into the breakroom, eyebrows wiggling.

"Ugh," Sakura groaned. "If its that Chunin with the red hair again complaining that he can't regain his speed, I will personally take care of it and make sure his only mission for the month is running laps around the village."

"Just wait and see," Ino said with a laugh. "We still on for drinks later? I have news."

"Yeah yeah, you owe me a drink though. If I didn't love you my ass would be asleep by 8 tonight."

"You bitch, if anything you owe me a drink. You've already rescheduled twice this week," Ino accused as they made their way to the patient's wing. Sakura stopping at one of the many doors, Ino continued on and warned "Usual bar, don't be late!"

Sakura pushed open the door grabbing the patient chart on her way in, eyes on the file, already reprimanding as she stepped through the threshold, "Kenji, for the last god damn time your legs are fine, if you want to regain speed you need to condition—" a pair of strong, familiar lips attacked her own, cutting her off.

"Trust me, I don't need any conditioning." her assailant whispered against her lips.

She smiled and pulled away, looking up at dark eyes, tan skin, a chiseled jaw and tousled brown hair, "Thought you were Kenji,"

"Evidently, it's insulting really. Little Kenji doesn't know half the tricks I do," Reki says in a superior tone, his hands wandering on Sakura's back, his head bending to her neck

Sakura giggles at the sensation of his warm breath on her skin, "Oh, so you have tricks now? Please share with a curious medic; Kenji could use all the help he can get. I don't know if you've heard, but apparently his speed is seriously lacking."

"Of course I've heard; kids been telling anyone who has the misfortune of crossing his path"

As hands and lips start wandering places inappropriate for a hospital Sakura draws away, "When did you get back? Shikamaru said you would be gone for at least a couple more days."

"Checking up on me, huh?" Reki asks with a smirk, "Lucky for you, unlike Kenji I still have my speed."

The sun from the window reflects off his forehead protector, lazily tied around his collar, the symbol of the Hidden Sand shining at the center.

"The report was pretty short this time, the Hokage didn't have that many policies he wanted changed or implemented and Gaara is content with how things have been running as well, so here I am." Reki explains with a shrug.

He was the lead on a relatively new liaison between the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand. After the war, Kakashi and Gaara agreed that the relationship between Suna and Konoha should be strengthened as they were the two strongest villages in terms of economy and power. Most of the Sand trade to the Leaf ran through a Shinobi run company owned by Reki's father. As a distant relative of Gaara, a member of one of the famous ninja families in Suna, and a heavily skilled Jonin they agreed that Reki would be best to lead this new operation. He secured the trade routes and passages which were as of late, high profile targets for those who wanted to sabotage relations between Konoha and Suna.

Additionally, he had recently started acting as a diplomat of sorts in partnership with Shikamaru. Together they delegated between the two Villages. Sakura knew that Kakashi was more than willing to in trust Reki with this responsibility after learning of her personal relationship with him. He now had a very important stake in Konoha; her.

Shikamaru's relationship with Temari similarly contributed to the trust he received from Gaara. It was an odd circumstance, but it was working.

Sakura and Reki had started spending time together about a year ago, soon after he arrived in Konoha to start his position based in the Hidden Leaf. They had met when he was admitted to the hospital after a sparring match with Naruto and Shikamaru had taken a rather bloody turn. He refused to to let her heal him and she snapped at him for being an entitled, whiny, Sand ninja. He followed her for weeks, until she finally agreed to let him take her to dinner. Reki and rejection were not synonymous.

Ninjas did not label things, shinobi where either married or they weren't. If you weren't married but still committed to another shinobi, titles weren't necessary. Ninja were perceptive by profession, they knew who was with who, and they knew how to judge the seriousness of these attachments. Reki and Sakura had been deemed serious by their comrades.

"I wish I'd known you'd be back; it could have gotten me out of drinks with Ino." Sakura grumbled. She loved her best friend, she really did. Hell, if she didn't would she continuously let Ino complain to her about how Sai's lack of emotional knowledge is stopping them from having the perfect relationship? But, she was tired, so so tired.

"Nope. I'm not touching that, she already threatened me with bodily harm if you don't go out with her tonight. So, maybe just go out with her? I'll be waiting at your place with more alcohol in case your liver is still intact after." Reki says gently poking her nose. "I wanted to see you first, but I have to report to the Hokage." With one last kiss he's out the door, the calendar on the wall lifting in the air by the force of his speed, drawing Sakura's attention to the date.

3 years.

3 years since the war had ended. 3 years since the other two original members of Team 7 all but killed each other. 3 years since Sasuke left. Again.

A small pang in her heart draws her attention away from the calendar. This pang is all she has left of her feelings for her former team member. Over the course of the years she slowly realized that what she had for Sasuke was infatuation, unrequited obsessive infatuation. She was drawn into the appeal of a tortured, angry, beautiful, intelligent boy. Her adolescent mind did not see the thousand problems with this one sided relationship, problems that her mature self now sees like a flashing light.

Still, she cared for him. He had been her teammate after all, they, along with Naruto had spent a good part of their developmental Shinobi years together. While she knew this probably held no importance in his mind, it was important to her. She knew he had a hard life, knew he had suffered the greatest losses of anyone she has known. His loss, like his skill, was only rivaled by Naruto.

When he had first set out to see the world, she noticed a change in him. Everyone did. It was hard to miss that he was no longer a deranged power hungry lunatic hell bent on destruction. So when he had left with an affectionate promise to see her again soon, she had taken his word for it. Letting the little bit of adolescent girl left peek through and dare to hope that things could be different, that maybe this could happen.

Months passed, he didn't come back. She knew Naruto had been writing him letters, she never asked what was said in these letters, or if he even got a response back from their elusive teammate. It didn't matter. What mattered was that all his demons were behind him and he still didn't want her. And she was finally okay with that.

She didn't know if it was her companionship, or companionship at all, that he didn't want. She had to grow up and move on. And she did, she trained harder, became an even better medic, started enjoying her life in a way she didn't allow herself to before. She knew that Naruto, in his own way, had done the same. And they thrived. They were happy. She was happy. They finally escaped the dark cold shadow of their former teammate, and for her there would be no looking back. It made her stronger, but she was done with that part of her life.

The Uchiha Compound looked just as it did 3 years ago. Which was the same as it looked before he left the first time: empty. Sasuke surveyed the abandoned group of houses for the last time and then swiftly raised himself to a rooftop to travel through the village undetected. He maintained the same blank expression he had kept in place in the hours he had spent at the compound as he masked his chakra. He did not know why he was back, so there was no need to alert others to his presence.

For 12 years everything he did held purpose, and in the last 3 he had become accustomed aimlessness. Not that he enjoyed it or even disliked it, it was what it was. As he jumped from roof to roof, fast enough that it would take a very well trained eye to even notice the movement he thought of who exactly he was masking himself from. Most of the population of Konoha probably wouldn't be too thrilled to know he was back. Those in power, besides Kakashi, would assume his return to the village was synonymous with the return of his loyalty to Konoha and the Shinobi life.

"Hn. Is that what this is?" He asks himself. He knew he was a shinobi through and through. Training and the chaos of battle brought his mind and body peace, while his 3 years of travel brought his soul a sliver of the peace he needed to move on from his mistakes. He would regularly find formidable opponents on his travels to battle, none of them were any match for him. This made him restless, he found himself holding his full power back in these battles through different lands and village. He needed a release. He knew there was only one Shinobi who could give him the battle he needed: Naruto. He did not crave a battle similar to their last; one full of blood lust and vengeance. He wanted a simple spar with someone who had proven himself time and time again to be a…friend.

Naruto had written him letters over the years, asking him where he was, inquiring how much skill he had lost living like a nomad with no training schedule. He had provided unasked for details of what was happening in the village, of people they had both cared for.

A flash of pink below stops Sasuke in his path. From the roof of an abandoned building he looks down into the window of a crowded bar across the street where had seen the flash of pink disappear to. Easily, he spots his former teammate setting herself down at a table by a window. He notices that her hair has grown. The pink strands reach the middle of her back, half has been pulled back in a bun, the other half hanging loose, wisps in the front frame her face. The purple seal on her forehead shines, he can see it even from where this distance. His curiosity gets the better of him and he jumps to street level, making sure the darkness of the street envelops him to not be detected.

From his new vantage point he can almost hear her laughter, can see the humor in her green eyes as she talks animatedly with Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuga. She is dressed in a pair of shorts that just graze the top of her thighs, and a top that flows long behind her but leaves her toned stomach exposed. Ninja sandals reach her knees. She waves at the bartender who puts something clear in front of her as he kisses her on the cheek. After Ino all but forces it down her throat, Sakura takes down the drink in one quick motion, wincing at the taste, laughing at the cheers erupting around her as another drink is placed in front of her.

Its been 3 years, so he's not surprised that she has grown. He himself has grown, he notes, as he takes in his own appearance in a darkened window. He's grown a foot, his rare Sharigan noticeable as the wind picks up blowing hair from over his eye. Wrapped feet, ninja sandals, black clothing, sword hanging off him. He has a piece of fabric tied around his forehead, more to tame his hair then anything else. Hidden Leaf forehead protector hanging from his belt.

He can't help but wonder what she would say if she saw him. He knew he had wronged her; he had wronged pretty much everyone in his life so this was a given. He had apologized and he knew that when she said she had forgiven him she meant it. He also told her he would see her soon, had encouraged the hope in her eyes when she had come to see him off. And he had meant it, he thought he would be back soon, sooner than 3 years. But the world swallowed him up, and somehow 3 years had passed and he is surprised at the regret he feels thinking over his latest offense against Sakura.

She had told him she loved him, all but said that she would be there for him, that she would wait. She was beautiful in every sense of the word. Watching her now with numerous eyes of the bar patrons on her, laughing with her, enjoying her company, there is not doubt about it. He had always known on some level, but he allowed vengeance to dictate this too and chose to ignore the obvious. He didn't expect anything of her, didn't know what she expected of him. He cared for her as much as Sasuke Uchiha could care for anyone, she had been his teammate after all, been with him and Naruto falling on their faces trying to capture bells and climbing god forsaken trees. Driven mad by revenge he had almost killed her, this wasn't a good reflection of his care for her, but it was true. He cared.

He watches her down two more drinks still laughing, dancing on a table with Ino to the sound of cheers and then his mind is made up.

He was always meant to be a shinobi, and that's what he will do. It's not because of her he tells himself. It's just time to stop being an aimless shit and return to a path long forgotten. He takes to the roofs and soon finds himself at the Hokage's office. He walks slowly to assure anyone who would be worried, that he is not a threat.

"Sasuke," Kakashi says cheerfully, feet propped up on a desk, files spread on what seems to be every inch of the office, not at all surprised by his sudden appearance. "Excuse the mess, what brings you to my office? Excuse me I can sense my guards' chakras going bat shit crazy, let me just assure them you're not here to assassinate the Hokage…Assuming that you're in fact, not here to assassinate me?" Kakashi asks hand frozen over a phone, one eyebrow raised, humor in his eyes.

His face had aged, his grey silver hair still the same. His eyes looked tired, both now exposed.

"Hn" Sasuke smirks, "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead."

"That's what I thought, I take it this means you've found yourself?" Kakashi chuckles.

So I'm a fickle bitch and writing this took a lot out of me. Like a lot. So if anyone out there is actually reading this please comment or favorite or follow so I know to post the next chapter and keep writing. If not well my Fanfiction career was short lived, but rewarding nonetheless? Idk lmk yall!