Sakura Haruno stood in front of the mirror, admiring the gem on her wide forehead for the hundredth time in the past few years since she got it. It was the Hundred Sealings Jutsu she had received from the Fourth Great Ninja War that marked her existence as the strongest Kunoichi in the village.

Sakura smiled at herself in the mirror. She felt that today was going to be a big day for her, so she woke up extra early to go see Kakashi Hatake, the Sixth Hokage, about the new therapy center in the Hidden Leaf Village and its progress. This was her big break and her chance to show what she could really do to help the village in the same way the village hero, Naruto Uzumaki, and even Sasuke Uchiha, helped to save the village. This is her contribution as a member of Team 7. She gazed outside at the construction of new buildings in progress, amazed at how much and how fast the village has grown. She was startled by the sudden knocks on her door.

"Who could that be at this time..." She checked her watch briefly to open the door, "yes--" she gasped when she recognized her visitor, "you..."

"Hey, Sakura. I'm home."

Her gaping mouth spread into a smile as she leaned forward and hugged the man tightly, "welcome home."

______________________

"What?! Sasuke's in the village?!" Naruto slammed Kakashi's desk, "why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"Because I didn't know either until Sakura called up." Kakashi shrugged.

"What? You mean he never came here?"

The Hokage shook his head, "nope. When he got here at seven this morning, he went straight to Sakura's house."

"Seven? It's eleven right now..." Naruto checked his watch, "dang, why'd I decide to sleep in today..."

"Well, Sakura was supposed to meet with me at eight, but she's been with Sasuke around the village the whole time." Kakashi sighed, "they never even came to see me yet."

"How come I never saw him on my way here?! Man this sucks... I need to go, Kakashi-Sensei, see ya!" Naruto shouted to him as he ran out the door, but came to a halt to avoid running into someone on the way out, "oh, I'm so sorry si-- Sasuke?!"

"Hn. Pay attention to where you're running, Loser." Sasuke smirked.

"Naruto?" Sakura peeked over Sasuke's shoulder, "what are you doing here?"

"Woah, before you start asking questions, explain to me why you never told me Sasuke was here earlier!"

"What? Oh, sorry. I was showing him around the village, ever since we made these renova--"

"So."Kakashi cut Sakura off, "how've you been, Sasuke?"

"Fine." Sasuke replied bluntly, "I see the village is thriving well. As expected from a Hokage like you, Kakashi."

"Why, thank you." Kakashi grinned, "so what brings you back to the village? You don't normally show up unless there's an emergency."

"No emergency. I just came back to see what's been happening here, lately." Sasuke responded, "and also to congratulate Naruto on the marriage. Sorry I couldn't be here for the actual ceremony."

"Nah. It's fine, Teme." Naruto chuckled, "So where are you staying? Hinata and I finally moved into a temporary apartment. You can sleep on the couch in the living room!"

"Hn." Sasuke smirked, "thanks, but I'm staying with Sakura. That is, if she doesn't mind."

"Oh, no not at all." She blushed.

"Well, good, we got that settled." Kakashi shrugged.

"I'm going to be busy with work. I need to go around the village a lot, working at the Therapy Center and all." Sakura rubbed her elbow.

"That's okay." Sasuke turned to her, "I think it'd be nice to go see the Therapy Center anyways. I'll walk you."

"Good." She smiled, "so, uh, here Kakashi-Sensei. Here's the report I meant to tell you about this morning. But I got so... Caught up."

"It's alright. Thank you." Kakashi took the folder she held out to him.

"Hey, Sasuke! While you're here, I'm sure you haven't had ramen in years!" Naruto grinned as he slung his arm around Sasuke's shoulders, "let's go to Ichiraku for breakfast!"

"It's too late for breakfast, Idiot. It'd be lunch." Sasuke corrected. 

"Brunch, then. It's breakfast for me." Naruto laughed as the three friends left Kakashi's office.

_________________________

That night, Sakura stood preparing dinner for Sasuke and herself. She looked up to see him sitting on the couch, reading a book. She took sudden fascination, so she turned the oven off, set the bowls on the table, and went to peek over his shoulder, "what are you reading?"

"Oh, it's... Nothing." Sasuke shut the book as soon as she walked over.

She rose a brow, "'nothing'?"

"Just some mission report I got when I arrived here..." Sasuke inspected the book, but never turned it over to reveal the title.

Sakura only sighed, "well, okay. Dinner's ready whenever you feel like eating."

"Okay."

She turned to go take a shower.

"Sakura?"

She stopped and turned to him.

"Thank you."

Sakura smiled, "you're welcome."