A/N: Hello, readers! This is my first Naruto fanfiction (and my first fanfiction to be published in several years), so I welcome your constructive criticism, suggestions, and comments! I apologize in advance if anyone seems out-of-character. After the war, I imagine Sasuke to be quite a bit different from his past self. I have not completely finished the manga, but I know the general plot line. [Spoiler Alert] Also, I have eliminated the fact that Sasuke and Naruto each lost an arm, and I've eliminated the rinnegan for simplicity's sake. With that being said, I'm trying to be as canon as possible while still using my creative license. If you like the story, please review! If you have suggestions, please review! If you hate it, feel free to leave a constructive comment to help me improve my writing! I've already written several chapters, but I have not yet completed the story, so any suggestions will be considered. Without further ado, please enjoy the story!

The Fourth Great Shinobi War had ended a little over a year ago. Shortly afterwards, the nine-tailed jinchūriki and the last surviving Uchiha clashed in a battle that had been years in the making. Although the battle nearly cost them their lives, it also mended the broken bonds of Team Seven. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi were finally reunited, but the joy was short-lived. After being pardoned for his betrayal, Uchiha Sasuke left Konoha to travel the world, leaving his teammates behind yet again. Although he left on good terms and promised that he would return, nobody knew when exactly that would be. And while Team Seven had made their peace with each other, the fact still remained that nobody really knew who Sasuke was; nobody knew what his goals and desires were. And that was something that even the Uchiha himself had yet to figure out.

Uchiha Sasuke quickly and quietly made his way into the village of Konohagakure in the dead of night. He was keen to avoid human contact for as long as possible, merely because he had no interest in speaking to anyone. He had been reinstated as a member of the village before his departure over a year ago, but that did not mean that the village people would accept him back into their hearts so easily. And he knew for a fact that most of the shinobi community considered him to be a traitor; they didn't understand him like his old teammates did.

Swiftly leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Sasuke made his way towards the old Uchiha compound. After all this time, he somehow knew that it was time to return. For how long, he did not know. But he had to start somewhere. He leapt from a nearby roof down onto the ground in front of the main gates that bore the Uchiha crest. Remnants of yellow police tape hung limply from the iron bars, but there was nothing to stop the last surviving Uchiha from quietly sliding between the two doors and returning to the home where he grew up.

He wandered past the long-empty houses of his relatives until he came to his childhood home. The front door had been left unlocked, so he let himself inside and shut the door behind him. His eyes adjusted to the lack of moonlight, and he walked through the house as memories flooded his brain. Ever since he had found out the truth about Itachi, memories of his childhood no longer pained him in the way that they used to. Yes, it was painful to remember the events of the Uchiha massacre itself, but he no longer associated Itachi with coldhearted betrayal. He had come to understand Itachi in a way that he never thought possible, and although Uchiha Sasuke was not one to admit regret or remorse, he knew in his heart that he would always harbor some amount of guilt for killing Itachi.

Sasuke surveyed each empty room of his house and thought to himself, What am I going to do with all of this space? Sasuke was not the type to share his living quarters with a roommate; he liked his solitude. But as he walked into his parents' bedroom, an idea came into his mind that he realized he had been trying very hard to ignore for quite some time.

Haruno Sakura arrived for her usual morning shift at Konoha hospital in a rather sour mood. Today was her double-shift day; she would be working from eight o'clock in the morning to twelve o'clock midnight. She knew that these double-shifts were often necessary to maintain a fully-staffed hospital, but sometimes she resented her own skillfulness that caused her to be such an asset to the establishment. Since Kakashi had taken Tsunade's place as Hokage, Tsunade herself had become the head of the hospital, with Sakura and Shizune as her second- and third-in-command; Sakura had long since surpassed Shizune in skill and stamina.

Sakura made her way down the hall to her office and unlocked the door, immediately dropping her bag of medical supplies onto the small futon that sat against the wall. She started to move toward her desk to sort through today's patient files when something caught her eye and she froze.

There, lying on her desk, was a single purple orchid. The delicate flower looked so out of place among the unorganized stacks of paper and yellow file folders. Sakura picked the flower up gently, curious as to where it came from. She didn't know of any secret admirers, and on the rare occasion that Naruto decided to bring her a gift as a friendly gesture, he was always very eager to give it to her himself and to proudly announce that he had picked it out all on his own. She also wondered how someone had managed to get the flower into her office if the only people who possessed keys to the room were herself and Tsunade.

Before she had any more time to ponder over the flower, a nurse was banging urgently on her office door:

"Sakura-san! The patient in 44D has gone missing!" the nurse shouted anxiously from the other side of the door.

Sakura sighed to herself, shaking her head as she grabbed her medical bag and ran out the door, leaving the flower all alone in her office once again.

"Sakura, are you sure you wouldn't like an escort? You've expended nearly all of your chakra; you look like you're about to faint." Shizune said concernedly as Sakura packed her medical bag and gathered various stacks of paperwork into her arms. It was half past midnight, and Sakura was getting ready to leave the hospital for the night. After finding the escaped patient from 44D, she had run into a slew of other crises, once after the other. If it wasn't a baby being born with the umbilical cord wrapped twice around its neck, it was a severely injured shinobi fighting for his life. Life at the hospital was never dull.

"No, I'll be alright, thank you. What kind of shinobi can't even walk themselves home at the end of a hard day's work?" Sakura said lightly, although her muscles ached from exhaustion and her eyelids felt quite heavy. She stifled a yawn behind her hand.

Shizune bit her lip, but held her tongue. She didn't want to irk Sakura, who had a stubborn independent streak. Ever since Sakura had promised herself as a genin that she would no longer be the one hiding behind her teammates, she was determined to take care of herself without the assistance of others. And if anyone hinted that she was incapable of doing so, they were met by her fierce temper.

Sakura surveyed her office, making sure that she had everything she needed before she went home. That's when she spotted the orchid on her desk; she had forgotten about it until now. She carefully picked it up and balanced it on top of her large stack of files before ushering Shizune out of her office and locking the door behind both of them. "I'm fine, I promise. I'll see you tomorrow for my next shift." Sakura said, trying to look more awake and alert than she felt. Shizune nodded and made her way down the hall toward her next patient.

Sakura walked out into the cool night air and inhaled deeply. She loved the way the air smelled at night when the world was asleep. The atmosphere was quiet and very still; she felt like she was in a world all her own.

Well, not quite all her own. She detected someone's presence behind her in the dark, although she did not outwardly show the follower any recognition. She continued to walk as if she hadn't noticed a thing, but she knew the strange person was following her, albeit at a distance. She struggled to analyze the chakra signature, and her brow furrowed as she tried to focus her senses. She was very tired indeed, and although she had plenty of strength to walk herself home without an escort, she wasn't sure if she was ready to defend herself against an attack from an unknown foe.

Suddenly recognizing the chakra signature, she stopped in her tracks as her pulse quickened. She noticed that her follower had stopped, too. Without turning around, she composed herself and spoke directly to the man. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice?" she asked quietly, feeling a bit insulted. She sensed the stranger walking towards her now, although his footsteps were silent. The man stopped right behind Sakura, and she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck. It gave her goosebumps, and she cracked a weary smile.

"Welcome back, Sasuke."

A/N: Even if you don't like leaving reviews, please add my story to your Story Alerts list so that I know you're interested in reading future chapters! Thank you!