Chapter One

He was back.

Sakura stared and stared while she sat quietly in a tree above the entrance towards their hidden village. She wasn't able to speak or move, she simply looked at the black haired boy that had clearly changed since the last time she saw him. Sakura wasn't sure if she was supposed to squeal in joy or be scowling at his betrayal. It was funny wasn't it? The past couple years of her life she spent thinking of him. Imagining how it would be if he didn't leave, how it would've ended up if he didn't betray everything in the name of power. She was supposed to hate him. If he didn't leave, everything probably wouldn't have ended up like this. Now nearly everybody was dead.

Her parents, Hinata's family, even Kakashi had gone missing.

"Kakashi…" Sakura's lips quivered as she whispered his name. Her past sensei has been gone for over a year now. He was supposed to be back two months ago, but he never showed up. Sakura could still remember that day, Naruto and she were waiting at the bridge hoping their sensei would randomly pop up late as always…but it never happened. The day grew old and night washed over. Days came and left, slowly turning into months and their hopes of him returning started to diminish as well. He had left for Sasuke, to bring him home. But now Sasuke was back, yet Kakashi was still missing.

Sakura's green eyes glanced at the black haired man that was talking to Naruto. Had he thought nothing had changed? He can just come here and pretend nothing happened? No, he had no right to. He changed everything.

Suddenly, Sakura blinked as she quickly turned around and found Neji standing beside her in his usual cocky composure. His arms were crossed and his long black hair flowed freely in the wind.

"No welcome home to your old teammate, Sakura?" He said quietly while his white eyes glared at Sasuke. The sudden appearance of the Uchiha prodigy made him feel a bit uneasy. What had he come back for? And most importantly, how much greater had his skills advance?

Sakura flinched at the mention of the word teammate. That's right…Sasuke was her teammate long ago…one reason why she was unable to hate him fully. He had saved her so many times as a child. The memories of him calling her weak and useless came floating back and she groaned in dismay. She hated it. She hated being weak and defenseless. It was because of that, her parents were killed before her eyes.

Her pink full lips curled slightly at the memory of that dark night. Screams and crying echoed throughout the village…many were killed, more were lost. Sakura smiled bitterly as she shook her head, first she lost her childhood love, then she loses her only family. Truly alone, she trained herself day after day to her limits, determined to become stronger and help those that were left. Naruto, Neji and Hinata were always by her side while she trained though. Something told her they were afraid that she would become a second Sasuke. It was funny how they thought that since she knew she wouldn't be like that. No, she wasn't selfish and wouldn't betray her village for anything.

And now, 5 years later, she proved that you don't have to betray your village to gain power. She did it all by herself. It paid off, all of her hard work. At age 16, she became a member of the Anbu Squad along with Naruto, Sai and Hinata. Neji was an Anbu slightly earlier than she was and had been helping her ever since.

Sakura turned her head to glance at Neji who was still studying Sasuke intently and shook her head while she answered his question.

"Welcome him home? Yea, right." She tapped her finger against her pink full lips and sighed, "I don't think he even remembers me." Sakura replied bitterly.

Neji raised an eyebrow as he looked at Sakura a bit puzzled by her reaction. Everybody knew this girl was crazy about Sasuke. It had began when she was merely a child, and now fully grown into a woman…could it be that those feelings had gone? He opened his mouth to say something, but was distracted by Naruto's loud yell.

"SAKURA! LOOK WHO'S BACK!"

Giving out a heavy sigh, Sakura looked at Neji almost pleading him to help her get out of this situation. Neji merely shook his head and Sakura knew there was nothing he could do. She had to face Sasuke sooner or later. What was she afraid of? They were grown ups now. She was more mature and there was no way she was going to make the same mistake twice.

Taking in a deep breath, Sakura closed her eyes and disappeared from the branch only to reappear by Naruto.

"What is it Naruto?" Sakura asked in a slightly annoyed tone while she slowly opened up her emerald eyes to look at Sasuke for the first time again in so many years.

Oh god, she hoped her eyes revealed nothing. On the tree, she wasn't able to look at him closely but now he was merely inches away and Sakura couldn't help but gulp slightly. He had changed. Become more handsome if that was even possible. His hair had grown slightly longer and got more untamed. It wasn't as neat as it used to be and Sakura itched to run her hands through his hair. Her thoughts made her frown. What was this? Sure she had a crush on him so many years ago but that was just simple little girl infatuation, right? Now she was a mature adult and was smart enough to know what was good for her. Everything in this Uchiha boy screamed betrayal, besides, he probably wouldn't notice her anyway. He never did while they were children. He had saved her of course but it was because of duty. She was his comrade and nothing more.

The thought made her stiffen a little and she took a step closer to Naruto.

"Hello, Sasuke." She whispered softly and while she stared into his dark eyes. She wasn't quiet sure how to act around him. There was so much about him that she didn't know, so many questions unanswered. Her face blushed slightly as she inhaled his clean masculine smell and she nibbled quietly on her inner lip. It was odd, how she was feeling. Her heart thumped loudly and she wondered if others could hear it. It was as if time had stopped and brought everybody to the past. This was the familiar feeling she got whenever she was around Sasuke. Flustered and uncertain…She lifted her head slightly to look at Sasuke closely. He didn't seem as shaken as she was, as always…her feelings were one sided only.

"Sakura." He nodded his head slightly and his eyes gave away nothing. Sakura bit her lip as she oddly felt a pain of loss at her heart. Then again, what was she expecting? For him to care and ask how she was in the past few years? Did he even care? Of course not…why would he care? He was the same Sasuke. She was the same Sakura…to him at least.

Silence fell between the two and Naruto looked at them wondering what was wrong. It was so awkward. Nothing like what Sakura would've imagined it to be. She thought she would either hate him or love him. But she was very uncertain and didn't know what to do. He on the other hand seemed calmer than ever.

He seemed as distant as ever, not even giving Sakura a second glance, he turned his head to look at a few birds nearby.

How embarrassing, Sakura thought to herself quietly, I'm not even as interesting or attractive as a couple birds.

It was so humiliating for her. Since the day Sasuke left, she dreamed of his voice, his scent, his touch every night. He was like a ghost, haunting her letting her compare him to every boy she dated. She tried so hard to forget, even convincing herself that she hated him for awhile but nothing worked. He was still there, inside her head. Oh god, please let it be simple infatuation. She begged and lifted her head just in time to see the tree that she had sat on earlier. Sakura's lips curled mockingly as she remembered how she had blamed everything on the Uchiha prodigy earlier. It was funny the effect this boy had on her, he let her forget everything temporarily. Only him. Too bad obviously he didn't feel the same way for her. She would forget wouldn't she? She'll find a better guy somewhere else right?

Sakura looked at Sasuke again and he had that uncaring look still on his face. Was he pretending? Surely he had at least heard of their sufferings since his departure? Not that it mattered…He was the old selfish Sasuke after all. When will he ask of Kakashi? Oh would she be happy to explain that to him later.

"You're in time for the Moon Festival, Sasuke." She said, deliberately pushing off the urge to say "kun", "It's starting tonight at eight. See you there." She whispered softly and took one last look at him before disappearing.

The sudden arrival of Sasuke had affected Sakura deeply. She was shaken to the core even if she wasn't willing to admit it. So many doubts had surfaced, she thought the moment he left Konoh that everything was over…but now it seemed as if nothing in life was ever that simple.

A/N: No review? No update. Simple as that…I'm working on a Sakura x Itachi anyway, so this can wait. However, if I get a lot of good reviews, I might continue this…Thanks for reading!