Part of Me

I had this idea and I thought I'd try it.

Summery- Sasuke returned and Sakura hasn't stopped by to see him. Curiosity gets the best of the last Uchiha, and what he finds is something he didn't expect… SasukeSakura

"Glad to have you back, Sasuke." Naruto pretty much bounced on his best friend.

"Get off of me," the last Uchiha growled in annoyance.

"Come get some ramen with me! So we can catch up!"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes," Naruto jumped off of the boy who had been absent for three years. Still the same, yet different. His hair was longer and he had grown more muscular. "You just got out of the hospital and you need to regain your strength, and ramen will do the trick. I'm surprised Grandma Tsunade stuck her neck out for you against the council and they lightened you punishment. I was dreading it and I'm sure Sakura was-" he then stopped. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Sakura in days."

"Hn." Sasuke answered as he continued down the path toward Ichiraku.

"Hey, Sasuke? Have you seen her? Did she visit you at the hospital?"

"Hn."

"Sasuke, it's a simple yes or no answer. I'm sure you could at least say one of those one syllable words."

"No."

The blonde put his hand to his chin in thought, "Hm, that's strange. She said she would when I seen her, but every time I brought you up, she said she had something to do. I don't know why, she's off duty this week."

'I know why…' Sasuke thought, 'she's avoiding me…'

"Sasuke, what do you make of it? She was excited when I told her that we found you and when I came back with you I didn't see her and when I did she said she'd see you when she was free, but she hasn't. I thought she would have stopped to see you at least once. Maybe she's hanging out with the girls."

It was true; Sasuke had been back for a week, and in the hospital. He was assigned a doctor, but he honestly expected it to be Sakura, but it wasn't. The woman would blush each time she examined his chest injuries and would stutter and talk in baby language. Sasuke remembered hearing from Naruto that Sakura surpassed the Hokage in the medical field and he wanted to see it for himself, but he was treated with another doctor, much to his dismay. She annoyed him! Worse than Sakura ever was. Heck she was worse than Sakura and Ino combined. The woman reminded him of Karin with her attempts at flirting with her patient.

He could still hear Naruto rambling about who knows what, he wasn't paying attention to him. They finally arrived at the ramen stand and Naruto ordered, Sasuke ordered one, but picked at it as it came. The blonde noticed this, with his mouth full of ramen he dared to ask, "What's the matter Sasuke? Do you want a different bowl?" the Uchiha put down his chopsticks and pushed the bowl away.

"I'm not hungry." He stated, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.

"What?! How could you not want ramen?! You can't tell me you honestly liked that hospital food! I will take your ramen though, so it doesn't go to waste."

"Knock yourself out," Sasuke pushed the bowl to his blonde best friend, who began to inhale it. He watched him consume the large amounts of noodles and turned away disgusted. Maybe it was Naruto who made him loose his appetite? But there was something that was nagging at him in the back of his head. 'Sakura…'

"Oh man, I pigged out!" Naruto leaned back on his stool and his hands holding his rounded belly, stuffed with his favorite meal.

"Idiot…" Sasuke turned away with a small sad smirk.

"You're lucky I'm stuffed or you would have a knuckle sandwich." The Kyuubi boy balled his fist threateningly.

"Hn. As if you could beat me."

"Whatever Sasuke, I'll have Sakura beat you up for me…" Sasuke nearly snapped his head at the name. "Hey, have you seen Sakura?" Naruto asked the ramen owner.

He thought, "Now that you mention it, I have."

"Really!" Naruto jumped and fell back down on the stool. "Ow, too much movement. When?"

"Actually you just missed her; she left about five minutes before you two got here. She was with someone though. I think it was a date."

Sasuke and Naruto looked at him, confused, though on Sasuke's face – you would see a little bit of disappointment. "Who was she with?" Sasuke was glad Naruto asked the question, if he asked, he would be bombarded with questions.

"I think it was Jiro-"

Naruto interrupted, "What? You mean she finally said 'yes' to his offer on a date! I didn't think she would after all the times she rejected him. Whoa… so she finally accepted, it's about time, he's liked her from before our academy days." The dark haired sixteen year old scowled silently. "No wonder why she hasn't come to see you, Sasuke – she's got a boyfriend." Naruto was completely oblivious to the anger Sasuke was trying so hard to hide, and he did - not only from the blonde, but from everyone else.

'So that's the reason… she's moved on… moved on without me…' his scowl softened as he looked at the table sadly. 'I can't blame her… not after everything I've done. I've killed innocent people, killed allies to Konoha and even shinobi from this village. And I've also tried to kill Naruto on more than one occasion, but I almost killed her once. When she tried to interfere with our fight.' Sasuke turned his head to look at the other teen, who was talking to Teuchi. 'She doesn't trust me… I wouldn't trust me either… but Naruto still does. And even after I've tried to kill him for power. Why does he trust me?'

"Naruto." Both boys looked back to see Hinata standing there, smiling. "Sasuke." He replied with a nod as she approached, sitting beside her boyfriend.

"Hey Hinata, you want some ramen?"

"No thanks, I just ate. Are you and Sasuke hanging out?"

"Yeah, why Hinata?"

"I was going to see if you wanted to hang out, but since you are busy we-"

"Go on, Naruto." This surprised the couple; they both looked at Sasuke questioningly. "Go hang out with your girlfriend. I'm fine by myself."

"You sure Sasuke?" Naruto asked unsure, "You just got out and have no one to hang out with?"

"I'm not one for social gatherings. Crowds aren't my thing. Go." Sasuke gave him a smirk, something that reminded them of old times.

"If you're sure, see you later then." Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand. "C'mon Hinata!"

She nodded and smiled at the last Uchiha, "Bye Sasuke." She waved.

"Hn." He watched them run off and then something totally struck him. He growled, "I'll tell him this is only a once in a lifetime deal." Sasuke paid the bill with countless stacks of bowls.

"Come again." Teuchi called after him as Sasuke placed his hands in his pockets. He could see many couples walking around, hand in hand. This made him growl.

'Why are these people making me sick?' he seemed to glare at the world. It was night; lamps dimly lit the streets as he walked where ever he could. This was his first night out of the hospital in a week, and also first night in Konoha in years. 'Nothing's really changed.' A couple ran passed him, making him stop in his tracks before they ran him over. He growled. The girl was teasing the boy as she giggled, running away from him, encouraging him to follow. Sasuke continued on his path.

Within an hour, he had wandered all around the village; couples were everywhere, young and old. However there was one place he hadn't been yet; and he was surprised to see himself going there. His head shot up as he heard a giggle, one that sounded familiar yet different. Sasuke walked quietly and leapt into a tree. There was his pink haired former teammate, with someone else he guessed to be Jiro. He was about their age with short spiked red hair and dark eyes. It suddenly angered the spy to see that he was carrying her bridal style, her arms wrapped around his neck. They didn't notice his presence because he had masked it. When Sasuke was with Orochimaru, he had made a habit of masking his chakra, even when he was inside the base.

"Jiro!" Sakura screamed, gripping onto him tighter.

"What? Don't tell me you're afraid?" he grinned.

"You can put me down, I can walk you know!" the medic replied, with a blush growing on her cheeks.

"And what if I don't want to?" his grin stayed as he spun around.

"Jiro! Put me down!"

He rolled his eyes and walked over to the bench that was all too familiar to Sakura and Sasuke, though Sakura hid the fact that she didn't want to be here. Too many memories of Sasuke. Now that he was back, she didn't know what to think. Jiro sat down beside her. "What made you say yes?"

Sakura shrugged, "I thought I should try to move on." Jiro knew she was talking about Sasuke, and stayed silent. "I thought that since you liked me for so long, I could at least give you a chance."

The red-head managed a small chuckle as he turned his head up toward the sky. "I'm glad you at least gave me one, sometime one chance is all it takes, to see if you click with another. Even if you don't feel the same for me, thank you for at least coming just once." He looked back to the pink haired girl, "Would you like me to walk you home?"

Sakura shook her head, "No thanks. I want to get some air for a while. I had a great time, thank you."

"Glad to know I could help some." He gave her a quick kiss before he got up and waved. Sakura was blushing as she stood up and watched him disappear. She raised her hand to her cheek, where he had given her a quick peck. A smile formed on her face, maybe she liked him? She heard the ruffling of leaves and turned around quickly, in case of attack, only to see the one person she was trying to avoid and succeeded, though only for a week.

"Sasuke." She stated, lowering her gaze with a small bow before she turned.

"What's his name?" Sakura stopped at the sound of his voice, it had grown deeper.

"Jiro," she continued on her way.

"Does he make you happy? Do you love him?" these questions made the medic stop abruptly, looking at him.

"What?" she asked, 'Did I just hear right? Did he just try to ask some questions? Was he watching?'

"Does he make you happy? Do you love him?" he repeated, without emotion, he was watching her.

Sakura looked away from his gaze, "I don't know. He's nice, treats me like I'm somebody. But I don't know." She placed her hand back to her cheek. "Maybe a little more than a friend, I guess." After a few moments she heard footsteps and she looked up to see Sasuke walking away.

"Why do you want to know?" Sakura asked. She was surprised when Sasuke answered, though he kept walking.

"To see if it was true."

"See if what was true?" Sakura nearly shouted, this caused Sasuke to stop, he turned just enough to look at her.

"To see if you have given up on me. You've finally moved on and now I don't have to deal with you flirting with me now that I'm back."

"Of course," Sakura said. "I gave up on you because I know you can never return what I would have given you. I would have done anything to make you happy, but it's about time I gave up on my fantasy and accept the fact that you never could love me in any way. Even if we were just friends I would be happy. But since you left I've always prayed for you to find happiness." Sasuke blinked. "I've always prayed for you, for you to be at peace and find it. When your goal was accomplished you'd feel relief and be as happy as you could be, even if I'm not.

"I lied to you Sasuke; part of me still loves you and always will. I can't deny it as much as I try." She managed a small sad smile. "I've always cared. When you love someone you would do whatever it takes to protect them, even if it kills you in the process. I would give anything just to see you smile, to see you happy – with whoever and whatever you do, Sasuke." The kunoichi was surprised with herself that she was able to hold her tears; none had formed in her eyes. Sakura gave Sasuke one of her kindest and most sincere smiles before she turned to walk back to her apartment. Before she knew it, Sasuke was standing there, looking down at her impassively. "Yes?" Sakura inquired, looking up at him.

"You're annoying," Sakura was about to retort when he gave her a quick three second kiss on her lips. "And a part of me cares." He pulled back to see the stunned expression on her face. "What?"

"Did you just…"

The Uchiha smirked, shoving his hands in his pockets, "You're still annoying." Sakura sent a light punch to his shoulder.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid Uchiha…" she growled storming away, fists clenched.

"You know you enjoyed it." Sasuke followed, smirk still playing his features.

"You caught me off guard." The kunoichi replied crossing her arms and she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.

"If I asked you would you have accepted?" his breath was hot on her ear, she instantly blushed.

"No," she lied.

"You're not a good liar, Sakura." He then walked passed her, tilting his head back with that confident trademark of his.

She narrowed her eyes and sprinted after him, "I'm gonna get you!" the boy only quickened his pace as she followed with curses.

I don't think it turned out too bad, please review and tell me what you think.