Sasuke walked through the gates of Konoha on a chilly winter day in the midst of January.

Snow was falling as the masses gathered round to welcome him back. People were clamoring to catch a glimpse of the infamous war hero. Children eagerly pulled their parents along, hoping to see him before the weather became any worse. Naruto came soon after and pushed to the front of the crowd; he skillfully guided Sasuke along the throngs of people and through the streets.

Sasuke gave small nods to the strangers surrounding him. The number of people, the way they were shouting his name and the warm smiles shot his way made his heart constrict in a way he had no words for. Sasuke thought they would have forgotten about him from the day he left the village two years ago. He needed to find himself and make amends to the world; he had been content with fading into the background. With the reaction he was receiving, Sasuke wasn't so sure he would be able to blend in anymore. His thoughts shifted to the people he had left behind, with one person in particular.

Looking back into the crowd, Sasuke couldn't help but notice the lack of pink.

Sakura felt as if she was on the verge of losing her mind.

She had spent the last week and a half holed up in her tiny apartment. Take out containers were piled up in the corner and medical journals were strewn across the floor. Dishes were piled up in the sink, threatening to tip over. Her laundry basket was filled to the brim and emitting a foul odor. Just like her apartment, Sakura was a mess.

Sakura had requested to work from home for an indefinite period ever since she heard that he had come back. She didn't know if she could handle seeing him back in Konoha.

It had been different on the battlefield. There, they were all high on adrenaline and weren't thinking of anything besides winning the war. They did not have time to talk about how twisted Sasuke had been, or how Sakura had grown without him, or how his hand felt around her throat-

She shuddered and stopped her train of thought. She knew that they had to talk about things. So much had happened between them; she could not move on without some sort of closure. Despite knowing this, Sasuke was the last person she wanted to see. With Sasuke not around, he consumed most of her thoughts. Sakura envisioned what his return would be like, and played out scenarios in her head in which he never went mad or sought revenge. She imagined conversations with him about his travels; she wondered how he was doing almost all the time. It was about five months into his absence when Sakura realized she was still in love with him, and always would be.

It was almost funny to her that when he actually came back, she couldn't bring herself to see him.

She didn't want to have the conversations she knew were inevitable. Sakura almost wanted to forget how close he had been to killing her, or the she had ever loved him; she wished she could purge him from her mind.

"Where is she?"

Tsunade turned her head up from her paperwork to see Sasuke standing before her. She smirked. 'It's about time,' she thought to herself.

"She's at her apartment. She requested to work from home for a little while," Tsunade responded, looking at Sasuke to gauge his reaction. He shifted his feet and stayed quiet for a few moments before looking to Tsunade again. His eyes shone with determination.

"What's the address?"

Close to midnight, Sakura heard three quiet knocks at her door. She pondered who it could be as she got up from her desk.

It couldn't be Ino or Naruto, as the two would have barged in or gone through the window. Tsunade never bothered coming to her apartment unless there was sake, and Shizune was in Cloud gathering medicinal herbs. She started shaking when she realized there was only one person left who would come to her apartment like this. He was here, and there was no going back.

Sakura walked towards the door. With her hands shaking, she turned the knob and opened the door a crack, just enough to see his face. A lone purple eye stared back at her.

"Sakura."

"Sasuke."

She opened the door wider and allowed him in.

this is gonna be a two-shot, so be on the lookout for the next chapter! :-)