Kairos | SasuSaku

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The first time he came back, Sakura had just finished an impromptu surgery that had driven her out of bed in the early hours of the morning.

It had been a serious one, and Sakura, along with a number of other medics, had to spend a total of four hours in the operating room before the patient was finally clear. The anbu had a crushed femur, splintered ribs, and severe internal bleeding. It was a wonder they had managed to save him at all.

Sakura had walked out of the hospital, drained of chakra as well as most of her energy, feeling the morning sunlight hit her face, rejuvenating her mood a bit.

She looked up, squinting a bit, idly registering how much time had passed, before heading toward her home on tired legs. Her scrambled mind was already making a list of the things she had to get done that day, and as the list grew in length, the time she would be able to spend curled up in bed dwindled.

With her spirits dampened considerably, it took Sakura more than she would have liked to detect the very familiar chakra signature heading directly towards her. The strong, warm, and familiar feeling was definitely–

She snapped her head up, feeling herself pause in her tracks, her sandals scraping the gravel loudly as Sasuke came to a stop in front of her. The same spiky hair, long bangs covering his rinnegan. The same black clothing he had worn when he had left three years ago. The same features, now looking more mature, more masculine, more refined.

Sakura felt her eyes dampen as she finally stood face to face with the person her heart had longed on the loneliest of nights, and her lips lifted into the smile she felt like she hadn't worn in a very long time.

"Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke smiled in that reserved way of his, "Sakura."

***

The second time she saw him, he was already on his way to leave on his journey again.

It had been night time, the sky above alight with stars as the street lamps lit a yellow path on the streets below, and Sakura had just stepped out of the barbeque restaurant, where Ino had invited her for a night out with their comrades.

She had made time for her friends, even though her schedule was far from open, and had taken her leave to have an early night in, when she had heard Naruto call to her from behind.

She'd turned, a smile already gracing her lips, when her eyes had landed on the person standing next to Naruto.

Naruto waved, a boisterous smile on his face, and Sakura walked over, consciously aware of the way Sasuke was staring at her. She took them in, standing next to each other, so different yet so similar, her mind conjuring up images of them from their genin days.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, his voice echoing in the empty streets. "Look who's here. Sasuke's back!"

She met Sasuke's eyes, laughing softly. "I can see that, Naruto."

"Hn," Sasuke turned and began walking again, and both Naruto and Sakura stepped in line beside him.

Sakura was still unsure on how to approach conversation with Sasuke. The last time they'd met, he had left shortly after their initial greeting, where they had only exchanged short greetings. Whether Sasuke simply had no interest in conversing with her, or he'd observed the exhausted state she was in, Sakura was unsure. But she was still grateful in a sense, seeing as she had been a wreck: messy hair, covered in sweat and washed blood, sleep deprived, and overall feeling very disoriented.

Sasuke, as usual, stayed silent, so Naruto (once again, as usual) filled the silence as they walked towards the gates of The Hidden Leaf.

Sakura listened, hands folded behind her back as he talked about how Sasuke had come to deliver his report about his travels to Kakashi-sensei, complaining that he had always had them delivered via his hawk (mostly complaining about him missing Naruto and Hinata's wedding, to which Sasuke had sighed and apologized like he had heard this conversation countless times before).

"Well, you still sent your well wishes, so I'm grateful," Naruto said, looking down at Sakura mischievously. Sakura ignored his gleeful eyes, her gaze set on the nearing gates before them, willing her cheeks not to heat as she recalled Naruto's wedding.

Congratulations.

"Sasuke, this bastard, was going to leave without even seeing us, like he did last time. Can you believe that? I only found out when Kakashi-sensei told me," Naruto started again, hands folded behind his head, and Sakura looked up at him, eyes widening momentarily in surprise.

"Weren't you away on a mission, loser?"

"Still, a warning would've been nice."

She heard them talk, but she wasn't listening anymore. Sasuke hadn't gone to see Naruto? This was news to Sakura, and she darted a look past Naruto at Sasuke, who stared ahead.

"Quit nagging, Naruto," Sasuke said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Hmph!" Naruto retorted. "Sakura-chan, you say something too! This bastard will never learn basic manners like this. Always staying outside, away from people, of course he wouldn't..." Naruto continued his mutterings. Sasuke remained wordless, and Sakura found herself smiling amusedly. They really haven't changed, have they?

The trio finally reached the gates, and Sakura and Naruto paused as Sasuke walked ahead, turning to look back at them. He met her eyes, and Sakura finally asked what had been on her mind since they started their walk.

"When will you be back again?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, as if contemplating the answer, then:

"I'm not sure yet."

"I see," she willed the disappointment away, giving him a small smile. "Stay safe."

"Take care, Sasuke," Naruto said, grinning broadly.

"Yeah."

Sakura thought back on that day three years ago when she'd watched his back as he'd walked away a free man, and prepared for the same sight once more. But instead of walking away, Sasuke's eyes flitted to her once more.

"Sakura, Kakashi asked me to tell you to send me a list of medical herbs the village needs. Send it to me later."

"What?" Her mind immediately conjured up the herbs he was talking about. In fact, she herself had made the request for a lower rank medic to report to Kakashi of the shortage in certain ingredients. But she thought he would randomly assign a team to gather the ingredients. He's always done that before, so why would he suddenly assign that task to Sasuke? Sakura didn't have time to ponder, as Sasuke started to walk away.

"Wait," she said loudly, and he paused. "Wouldn't it be easier if I gave the names now?" She didn't want to bother him any more than was needed.

"l'll send Taka sometime later," and with that, he turned around and walked away, his cloak billowing around his knees.

***

True to his words, by the time Sakura had come home from the hospital the next day, his hawk had been sitting contently on her balcony railing, pecking his wings.

She hastened to write the herbs on a small paper, attaching it gently on the leg Taka held out. When she was done, he gave a great flap of his wings and flew off. Sakura watched, wondering where his master was at the moment.

She had thought that would be it, but a few days later, Taka sat at the same spot, and Sakura had hurried over to retrieve the note attached to his leg.

She unfurled it, reading the written words in Sasuke's familiar writing.

Congratulations on the children's clinic.

Sakura smiled, cheeks warming, and gave Taka some food to eat as she sat down to write her short response.

A little note, a tiny gesture, but her heart was full as she watched once again, as Taka flew away, not knowing that this would be the first letter of many that would be exchanged.