~Chapter 1~

The summer rain fell in sheets, hammering against the roof of the hospital building and running off down the gutters and splashing against the windows and ground alike in a fierce torrent. Sakura Haruno sighed, and stared out of the window in her office. From the hospital she could hardly see the rest of the city or the forest beyond that was cloaked in low fog. This kind of weather wasn't particularly common in the village of Konohagakure, located in the large forested country of Fire. Like most residents of the village, Sakura had expected sunshine and warmth that always seemed to seep through the skin and warm the soul.

It had been dreary like this now for the past two weeks, nothing but endless rain and misery. It was an unexplained phenomenon in this part of the world but there was nothing that any person could really do about it except sit and wait for it to eventually clear up, if they didn't get flooded out first.

Everything about life for the young Haruno was fine though, or so it seemed. Aside from her training sessions with Naruto, Sai and Kakashi, she spent most of her time tending to patients in the hospital. Those close to her would probably describe her as a workaholic but Sakura knew better. The only thing waiting for her at home was a deathly silence that screamed the truth; she was utterly alone.

Sure her friends would try to take away some of that loneliness but it was never enough. She felt ruined and cold when it came to matters of the heart, and it was all thanks to the bane of her very existence, Sasuke Uchiha.

The pinkette remained standing by the window, having seen to her patients already. Her next scheduled appointment wasn't for another hour so now she found herself in this very irritating predicament.

She was so very bored.

She stood absolutely still, her emerald hues gazing out at the depressing weather, not seeing anything of any interest, not that she could if she wanted to since the low fog obscured anything worth looking at. Her stance was rather statue-like; her slender legs spread apart just enough to keep her balance, her arms resting behind her back, hands laced together. Her shoulder length hair had been pulled back into a high ponytail, a style she had grown accustomed to sporting at all times now, not solely for her 'medic mode' like in her younger years.

In the years that Sakura had been a medic, she had grown a lot as a woman, both physically and mentally. At the tender age of 18, she had finally acquired a chest to be proud of, a decent cup size of C. Sure it would never rival her Shishou's, but it was better than what she had for so long. Her slender waist line had formed into a perfect hourglass shape, her hips accentuating her bust line with ease. She had even managed to grow into her large forehead, boosting her confidence that much more. With her new body, she had decided to rid herself of her old clothing and acquire new attire that would complement her adult looks.

A pair of skin tight, stretch black Capri's replaced her now forgotten black shorts and white medic apron. She had received a white long sleeved kimono style blouse with pink embroidered cherry blossoms flowing from the bottom left and stretching up to her right shoulder, with a dark red obi that she used to keep it closed, the neckline forming a low v, exposing her cleavage. Tsunade had been the one to gift the shirt to Sakura after a late evening conversation the two shared in which the pinkette expressed her interest in obtaining a more mature look. To complete the image, she ditched her knee high boots in favor of the pair of black sandals with heels matching the Godaime Hokage's. As another birthday gift from Shizune, she wore a dark red lab coat that matched her obi; with the kanji for 'Heal' embroidered onto the back.

Sakura had become known as the medic who easily surpassed the legendary Sannin slug princess as her skills grew stronger, and now with the new look; she looked much like a younger version of the Hokage. To say that Sakura Haruno had become beautiful with age was an understatement. Coupled with her deadly skills as a Kunoichi and her devoted lifesaving personality, Sakura was gorgeous.

'Damn this weather! Why does it have to rain like this? It's ridiculous! I can't get any good training in if I can't see!' She ranted inwardly as she looked past her reflection in the glass and glowered out at the village. She had already tried to train in this rain a couple days ago but found out the hard way that muddy dirt doesn't work well with her inhuman strength. All she ended up doing was creating a pit in the ground, the mud squelching under the power of her fist and sending it in all directions with sickening thuds, including her.

She had spent at least an hour that day in the shower trying to scrub every bit of mud from every part of her where the mud had traveled.

"SAKURA!"

All too soon she was brought out of her silent curses regarding the foul weather as her office door burst open with such ferocity, causing it to smash into the wall behind it, splintering the door, but not quite breaking it entirely. It was a wonder that the hinges were still hanging on.

Sakura had managed to keep her surprise and fury within herself, willing her body to remain still, a feat which she had learned after the years she had spent with the blond nin. She knew all too well that she was known for her temper, a trait that she didn't like too much. Sure, it was nice to be able to instill fear in just about anyone with one single look but as she grew older she began to notice her friends becoming more careful in her presence which saddened her. So she decided to fix it by trying to control her rage, as much as she could anyway.

As the door burst open, her best friend and oldest teammate ran into her office, his voice reaching octaves that were not acceptable within a hospital while his arms flailed in the very comical 'Naruto' way.

She forced herself to turn around slowly, schooling her expression into that of utmost boredom as she faced her long time teammate. The first things she took note of about him was that he looked riled up, obviously. His sky blue eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets, his face an unnatural color of red from the hollering he had been doing for Kami knew how long.

"SAKURA!"

"Can I help you, Naruto?" She asked with a neutral tone, one that she had adopted when dealing with the blond. She had learned that if he was given any sign that she cared about what he had to say, it would take him longer to tell her what was on his mind.

"I came to find you; I have something important to tell you!" Naruto announced to the world, not bothering to try and make is voice quieter. At this pitch, Sakura figured that anyone within three floor radius could hear him.

"What is it?" She asked slowly, a delicate pink eyebrow raising in question as she turned her whole form towards him now and crossing her arms over her chest, just under her bosom causing her cleavage to reveal more then she had meant to, though neither her or Naruto noticed.

"It's unbelievable! I thought I heard wrong at first but its true!"

"What's true Naruto?" Her tone had become a little firmer as her irritation grew. She honestly had no idea what the hell he was talking about and his nonsensical words were doing nothing to ease the depression and exhaustion that she felt from the constant rainfall.

"He's back! He came back to Konoha last night! He is in a meeting with Granny Tsunade right now!" Naruto was nearly squealing, eliciting another raised eyebrow from the irked Kunoichi before she brought her hands to her temples, massaging them gingerly.

"Who's back, Naruto?" She bit out in frustration, a headache forming. This day couldn't get any worse at this point, all she wanted to do was finish her shift and go home for some well-deserved sleep.

"Sasuke! Sakura, Sasuke came back to us!"

Sakura's hands stopped mid-massage, her eyes widening at what her best friend had said.

She was wrong, things just got a lot worse.

-:-

Sakura's shift finally ended after another grueling three hours of tending to the usual broken bones, wounds obtained from missions or rough training sessions and the occasional illness. For the last part of her shift, her body had pretty much ran on auto as her mind kept repeating the words Naruto had said to her over and over, no matter how much she tried to push the thoughts away.

'Sasuke! Sakura, Sasuke came back to us!'

Feeling utterly defeated, Sakura walked out of the hospital, her eyes closed against the rain that was still pelting the village, as she turned towards the direction that would lead her home.

The droplets were near freezing, seeping through her clothing and soaking her skin. Chill after chill washed over her, making a mental note to change as soon as she got home and to prevent a cold from weakening her already exhausted body.

As she drew closer to her apartment, she began to feel like she was being followed. It wasn't the kind of innocent stalking that would happen to her on occasion after having attracted the attention of yet another young man within her community. This was the other kind that left her feeling like a rabbit that was being stalked by a hungry wolf. She felt like she was being hunted.

She willed herself to walk faster, her building looming in the foggy distance making her internally jump for joy. Granted she was a skilled Kunoichi, her strength alone could take a man's head off if she so desired but her chakra reserves were running on low. Now was not the time for her to have to fight for her life.

'You know who that is, don't you?' Sakura visibly started from the sudden second voice in her head, causing her to stumble forward and nearly trip over a crack in the road. For the first time in about two years, Inner finally decided to make an appearance, not that Sakura had missed the annoyance in her mind.

'Not you again… go away I don't have the time right now to deal with you!' Sakura seethed inwardly as she unconsciously fisted her hands at her sides, her jaw hardening. Over the years Sakura had grown to loathe the little voice in her head that seemed to pick the worst of moments to chime in her two cents and in most situations trying to coax her to do what her logical side would object against. When Inner had vanished Sakura had nearly thrown a going away party but realized that if she had done exactly that, her friends would have committed her.

'Chill out babe, I'm serious. That chakra is all too familiar…' Inner said, paying no mind to the obvious disgust Sakura felt for her and pointed out something she had failed to notice.

Sakura rolled her eyes out of irritation before she let out a sigh and sent out a chakra probe. What she was met with was darker than she had last remembered, but then again the last time she had encountered the owner of this chakra, he had tried to kill both her and Naruto.

'Goody.'

'I suggest you run like you stole something!'

Sakura didn't need to be told twice. Tapping into her last amount of chakra, she sprang to the nearest roof and began to jump from building to building at a rapid pace, her desire to secure herself within her apartment outweighing her exhaustion and protesting limbs.

The only thing that kept popping into her mind as she fled from her pursuer were thoughts, wondering why he hadn't been thrown into prison for treason and more importantly what the hell did he want with her that he felt the need to stalk her.

'Damn you, Uchiha Bastard!'

As her building drew closer, she used her last bit of energy to push off of the nearest roof, allowing herself to land on the outside hallway floor just in front of her door.

At this point, much to her frustration, panic began to form in the pit of her stomach. When she had first laid eyes on the Uchiha, it had been love at first sight. She was smitten with the dark haired boy with the devastatingly good looks but now the only things that bubbled up at the mere thought of him were hatred, revulsion and… fear.

She had come to fear the last Uchiha after he had tried to kill her team on a few occasions, swearing from that moment on that she would try to avoid him at all costs, even if the blond was too naïve to stop his fruitless efforts to drag that traitor's sorry ass back to Konoha.

Sakura fumbled with her keys before she managed to line it up with the lock, pushing it in and unlocking her door before she slipped inside as quickly as possible, locking it behind herself.

She knew right away that a simple lock wouldn't keep the Uchiha out of her apartment if he was determined to get to her, so she took a little extra precautions and set additional security measures to try and deter him.

Her tactics may not be fool proof but they were enough to delay him and allow her a chance to either flee or prepare for a fight.

'None of that will keep him out you know…'

'Well duh! I just want a warning if he gets in. Now go away!' She really didn't want to deal with her inner at the moment. All she wanted to do was go to bed and forget that Sasuke had ever been mentioned.

Thankfully for her, Inner took her advice and remained silent. At least she wouldn't have to argue with her alternate personality right now.

With a tired yawn, Sakura shrugged off her lab coat and laid it neatly on the back of a chair in her living room before she kicked off her shoes and headed towards her bedroom. She had all but forgotten her plan to change her clothes and stop a cold before it started, her body craving the soft heaven that was her bed.

As she walked into her room, she chose to leave her light off, favoring the darkness given by the bleak weather outside. There was just enough light coming in for her to see where she was walking as she made her way to her bed, stripping off her soaked pants, blouse and undergarments before pulling on a deep purple silk robe that barely covered her rear and synching it around her waist then allowing herself to drop on the bed, snuggling into the many pillows piled neatly near the headboard.

Soon enough the pinkettes breathing deepened and slowed as she drifted off into sleep, her chest rising and falling with her breaths.

She was unaware of the presence that had just so easily broken into her apartment, bypassing all of her security measures.

-:-

~Sasuke~

Sasuke Uchiha drifted silently down the hall towards his former teammate's bedroom. He had never been in her apartment before but it didn't take a genius to navigate the place since all of them were structured almost identical.

When he reached her bedroom door he extended his chakra just enough to verify that it was her in the room before he pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside, striding over to the pinkette.

He loomed over the sleeping woman, his Sharingan activated, hands fisted at his sides as he stared down at the object of his never-ending nightmares that tormented him ever since the night he abandoned Konoha in search of power. If only she had kept her mouth shut and let him leave, he would never have had to choose to come back here to give in to the temptations that continued to bloom within his mind.

The Uchiha stood beside the sleeping woman for several minutes before he silently moved to the furthest corner in her room and knelt down until he was sitting on his haunches, his eyes never leaving her once, watching over her as if she would vanish the second he looked away.

The only thing on his mind after settling himself into the shadows of her room was a repetitive 'You're finally mine, Sakura'.