Author's Note: In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm announcing the start of a new post-Sasuke Shinden fic. This story will address the development of Sasuke and Sakura's relationship after Sasuke returns to the village following Sasuke Shinden. *This fic is tightly adapted to the Sasuke Shinden and Sakura Hiden. Please read the novels or refer to the summaries. I'm tired of waiting for their story, so have decided to write it myself. ( _ signifies time lapse, and . . . . signifies transitions between p.o.v.)

Pairing: SasuSaku

Summary: After 2 years, Sasuke returns to the village where friends anxiously await him. Still troubled by the mysteries of Kaguya and his personal guilt, Sasuke is split between friends and his journey. One specific pink-haired individual has perhaps waited for him with far more dedication than anyone else. Troubled by rising casualties and international dependence on her abilities, Sakura is torn between her love for Sasuke and her duty to her village.

Chapter 1: "A New Dawn"

Looking down at the letter in his hands, Uchiha Sasuke read the sloppy script slowly. It was from Naruto, who was congratulating him on his success protecting the Hidden Leaf Village. His idiot friend was saying something about the Uchiha's quest of atonement and then mentioned how Sakura thought his efforts were very much like the members of the once proud Konoha Police force. Maybe it was the overwhelming sense of nostalgia that came with those words that had the Uchiha turning on his heels. Or maybe it was this sudden desire to stand, if just for a moment, in front of that building that had once displayed the crest of his clan. Flashes of his older brother carrying him on his back came to the front of his mind. Perhaps it was time he returned home.

Sakura gathered the herbs she needed for the healing poultice she had in mind. Turning, she began to walk briskly down the road towards the hospital. The pink-haired nurse struggled to meet the new demands that were left in the wake of the recent phenomena of exploding humans. Sadly, there was nothing to be done for the innocent lives who had been used as bombs. However, with Hinata's help, Sakura was able to recognize and remove any strange chakra that was present in other individuals. Other medic ninjas in the lands of Water and Lightning quickly followed the kunoichi's lead soon after she relayed her methods to Kirigakure and Kumogakure. Within weeks, the foreign chakra had vanished and the villages soon pursued their pre-existing peace. Haruno Sakura was then able to look at the various other injuries related to the strange explosions. Ninja who had been injured during their attempts to stave off exploding humans were her most pressing patients and suffered mainly from severe burns. Burns were well within her range of healing capability. However, Sakura's supply of expendable chakra could only be stretched so far. She began to feel a little fatigued by the end of the day and more and more burn victims were coming in by the hour. Not only this, but the other villages were facing the same demands. For the benefit of herself and the other villages, Sakura spent the evenings developing a very strong burn solvent that could easily be replicated and passed on. The herbs she had now, were just what she needed.

Clanging into the medical lab at 2:00 a.m. wasn't an abnormal habit of hers anymore. Except for the few late night roamers and ninja on watch, there weren't many individuals up this late. Sakura found that this was her best time for productive and undistracted work. Laying out her medical supplies on the table before her, she began her craft immediately. Her plan was to create a compound that acted as a second skin, thin but hard enough to touch without peeling away. The idea was that as the solution dried over the burned skin, a protective shell would form on the outside while keeping the medicine on the inside. Over time, with frequent application combined with chakra, the covering would allow new skin to form without damage from reopening or splitting. How she would manage to create this, she only had a faint idea. But that's why she was here to test and experiment.

Sakura looked down at her left arm. Although there were several adequate patients being housed at the hospital due to their critical condition, Sakura felt that neither waking them up at this hour or using them as guinea pigs were good for their recovery. On the bright side, she had managed to carefully collect chakra throughout the afternoon and had enough in store to continuously heal any minor self-inflicted injuries that could react sorely to her new cure.

Glancing over to the wall, Sakura found a candle that she had lit previously. Grasping it in her right hand, she held the flame under the bottom of her forearm, allowing it to sear her skin. She didn't even flinch. The pain was more than bearable in comparison to anything she had ever suffered as a ninja. She applied the solution gradually to the charred place on her arm and slightly frowned at the severe stinging sensation spreading across her arm. She bent down over her scroll and noted to add less harrow leaf in the mixture, then began to proceed.

Sakura lost track of time as the faint line of sunshine began to trace the outcropping of trees beyond the village gates. It seemed that the sun was rising earlier and earlier recently. Glancing down at the large mess she had made in front of her, Sakura sighed and lifted up the small container she held in her hand before her. It wasn't much to show for her efforts but she would let the results speak for her.

6:23 a.m. She had done it again. That was twice this week that the kunoichi had gone without sleep. Her shift at the hospital began at 8. Perhaps if she hurried home, she could catch an hour of sleep. She frowned down at the mess on the table. She'd clean it up before work, she thought as she walked out the door and down the stairs. Sakura carried the new medicine with a growing pride and relief, thinking solely of her patients.

She stopped mid-step when she sensed a very familiar chakra slowly approaching the village. Instantly on guard, she snapped her head in the direction of the village gates. Could this be real or was it another trick? Perhaps it was another Sasuke clone intent to capture her. How many times had she imagined this very thing to happen? Was it still her hopeful imagination? Sakura waited a minute for her head to clear. The chakra grew increasingly and steadily. Forgetting sleep, Sakura ran towards the gates.

. . . .

Sasuke stepped off of the forest path, stopping as he looked at the familiar sight of the leaf village gates looming above him. Taking in a deep breath, the Uchiha sighed and began to walk forward. Returning was difficult for him, for many reasons. First, being in the village meant that he wasn't tracking down Kaguya and Sasuke couldn't help the nagging feeling that he was losing time. Not only this, but being in the village posed a risk to everyone around him. He was the last Uchiha and even after achieving the peace between nations, there were still individuals who sought him for his power. Chino and Nowaki were two of many that Sasuke knew would come for him.

He removed all emotion from his face as he approached the guards waiting for him at the entrance. It had been years since he left the village but Sasuke knew better than to pretend that these people might overlook his past crimes. He was lucky to leave the village at all, barely being able to escape an eternity of darkness in a strait jacket. However, instead of being given a cold greeting by the guards, two men whom he barely recognized, lifted their hands in greeting.

"Uchiha?"they called out, squinting through the morning darkness. As he came closer, the two men gave him large grins as they recognized the face that matched his chakra.

"Welcome home!" they replied in unison. This was not the greeting that Sasuke had prepared himself for. Since his return after the war and even up until his departure, he had gotten looks of disgust from everyone he came into contact with: ninja, civilians, and even Akamaru had growled at him when Sasuke happened to pass by him; he had frowned at the dog and was tempted to tell the mutt that he liked cats better. Most of these encounters, of course, happened in the very beginning, right before higher authorities demanded that the Sixth Hokage bind him and lock him in prison. He hadn't expected anything else from the village he betrayed and offered no resistance when Kakashi escorted him directly from the battlefield to the jail. He would pay for his mistakes, willingly.

The guards in front of Sasuke, however, didn't flinch or sneer at him as he made his approach. In fact, they began to congratulate him on defeating Chino and stopping the exploding humans. As he turned to acknowledge them, Sasuke felt a mixture of feelings with those words. Should he be happy that the village knew about his efforts to protect them? Sasuke had originally planned to be the village's burden wielder, just like his older brother. The man working in the shadows. Itachi never received the gratitude that he had deserved, so why should he? Sasuke fought down the familiar anger that rose in his throat at the thought. He sighed. Even though he still felt uncomfortable with this praise, he remembered that he wasn't that angry person anymore. He had changed.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Glancing to his right, Sasuke saw a familiar pink-haired kunoichi. The sun was rising steadily behind him and the dawn illuminated her features, making her hair seem a darker shade of pink. It was shorter, he noted. It had been over two years since he'd last seen her. She stood a few feet away from him, just inside the gates and made no attempt to come forward. She was panting slightly and he guessed that she had run here when she picked up on his chakra. He hadn't been expecting to see her at this hour in the morning. In fact, his goal was to arrive before dawn as to avoid as much attention as he possibly could.

He moved away from the guards and closer to the person he had once considered to be dear to him. He stood in front of her, a swarm of childhood memories coming back to him. It seemed so long ago and the visions seemed to belong to someone else; the person who Sasuke was trying to bring back a little more each day. The Sasuke he had been 3 years ago certainly wouldn't have given the memories much consideration. Maybe he was changing after all.

Sakura's eyes grew big at his nearness and she remained silent, utterly speechless at the miracle in front of her. Sasuke guessed her thoughts and decided he would break the silence this time.

"I'm home, Sakura."