Some Things Will Never Change

After four long years of searching they finally found him.

Sasuke Uchiha

Barely alive and next to a cold, lifeless, corpse known as Itachi Uchiha.

Yup, that's right. The Sasuke Uchiha accomplished his lifelong goal of killing the Itachi Uchiha.

He would've died with him too if they didn't just happen to pass by from a mission and notice two motionless bodies covered in blood.

And by "they" I mean Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru.

Coincidence? I think not.

Right now Naruto and Sakura are highly skilled Chunnins and Shikamaru was just recently assigned a Jounin. Go figure.

Flashback

The three of them were coming back from a mission hopping from tree to tree towards Konoha.

"That mission was ssooo boring. I mean, how does guarding some old guy become a

B-ranked mission? I didn't even get any of the action," complained a certain hyperactive ninja.

"Naruto, that old guy you're referring to is one of the highly respected Feudal Lords who are only guarded by the most capable and skilled ninjas," informed a certain lazy ninja.

"Yeah, Naruto, Shikamaru's right. You should feel honored instead of complaining. And besides, we got to fight a very strong and powerful ninja. Wasn't that enough action for you?" said a certain pink hai-Oh, I give up. It's Sakura OK?!

"YOU and SHIKAMARU got to fight him while I was stuck with the old guy."

"SOMEONE had to. You were injured anyway," said Sakura.

"I could've taken him," pouted Naruto.

"Naruto, you were practically limping and your chakra was almost completely depleted. If it wasn't for Shikamaru, you would be in pieces."

". . ."

…silence…

Moments later

"…I still could've taken him."

Sakura just rolled her eyes and decided to drop the subject seeing it was pointless to reason with Naruto and his stubbornness.

"Forget it Naruto and be quiet. I see something up ahead…troublesome Chunins," said Shikamaru.

They all stopped and saw blood, kunai, and shurikens everywhere. Not to mention a big treeless gap in the middle of a forest.

"Looks like a big battle took place here. I wonder wha-"

Sakura was interrupted by a frightened looking Naruto shakily pointing at something and having difficulty speaking. He was trying to say SOMETHING, but his voice was too unsteady for Sakura to understand.

"Sa…Sas…" stuttered Naruto. It was as if his mouth just stopped working.

"Naruto? What's wrong?"

She looked over to Shikamaru and he too was shocked and held the same facial expression as Naruto.

"What are you guys looking a-"

She was wide-eyed and struck with horror as her mind absorbed the horrible sight before her. She tried to speak…to move…to do…SOMETHING, but she was too traumatized to do anything. She wanted this to just be a dream. To suddenly wake up, do her morning routines, and eat ramen with Naruto, but this is no dream. It's a NIGHTMARE come to life.

There, directly in front of the stunned shinobi was Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha.

Finally coming to her senses, she approached the two men who lay unmoving on the cold, hard ground. She cautiously looked for any sign of life in them.

Being able to speak again, Naruto asked with still a little unsteadiness in his voice, "I-is h-he a-alive?"

"Just barely, but if we don't get him immediate medical attention soon, he'll die. Itachi wasn't as fortunate. He wasn't able to survive." Sakura gingerly picked up Itachi while Naruto picked up Sasuke.

"If that's the case, then let's hurry while there's still time. Naruto, you go take Sasuke to the hospital while me and Sakura report back to the Hokage," Shikamaru said firmly.

"Hai," agreed Naruto and Sakura.

End Flashback

I woke up with my eyes still shut (I was too exhausted to even open them) hearing a conversation, but I couldn't quite make out the words.

One of those voices was Naruto of course. He's the reason I woke up. Loud like always. That dobe.

Another voice I heard sounded very familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It belonged to a woman. That much I'm sure of.

I opened my eyes and tried to sit up but I ended up lying back down on the bed with a painful groan. Everything hurts.

It wasn't until I groaned that they noticed I was awake. Took them long enough.

"SASUKE-TEME!!YOU'RE AWAKE!!" Naruto practically screamed in my ear.

"Shut up, dobe. You're giving me a headache." That's when I noticed I was in the hospital. Well…THAT and the strong odor hospitals tend to have. Last time I checked, I was in the forest fighting my brother. The dobe must've found me. I managed to sit up and I caught sight of the person who held the familiar voice I heard.

Sakura??!

If it wasn't for her pink hair and green eyes giving away her identity, I never would've recognized her as the weak, annoying, pathetic little girl I used to know who would pester me non-stop.

Well, she wasn't little anymore that's for sure.

She transformed from a scrawny, little girl into a fully (well, almost fully. She's only 16) grown woman. And not to mention the fact that she's HOT! Yes, that's right. FACT. Definitely not an opinion. Wait. Did I just call Sakura, the Sakura Haruno whom I've known since the Academy days…hot? That fight must've really affected my brain. Well, it's not like I'll ever admit it anyways.

"Sa-Sakura?" I tried not to look too surprised when I looked in her eyes.

Her appearance wasn't the only thing that's changed. Her eyes have changed as well. Not physically of course. They're still green like they've always been. They just held more emotion in them then they did the last time I saw her, but that was a long time ago. Those emerald eyes of hers had confusion, anger, hate, sadness, but most of all, it had loneliness. A feeling I know too well about. Just one glimpse of those eyes can make you either tremor in fear or it can make you pity her for her grief.

She didn't answer me. Instead she turned to Naruto and said, "Let's go Naruto. The UCHIHA needs his rest." I felt myself flinch at the way she had said my name. She had emphasized it with much distaste like it wasn't worth mentioning. But what affected me the most was that she had said my LAST name. What happened to Sasuke? Let alone the –kun after it.

Naruto silently obeyed, but not without saying one last thing to me before he left. "Hey, Sasuke. Me and Sakura are going over to Ichiraku's later. After you're rested, you should come over and eat with us. It'll be just like old times! After that, you can get reacquainted with everybody!"

I just silently watched them leave and caught a glimpse of Sakura elbowing Naruto in the rib and giving him a dirty look.

Once they were out, I lay back down on the bed and collected my thoughts.

So much has changed. I wonder what else has changed? Oh, well. Naruto will tell me. But what's gotten into Sakura? I'll find out eventually anyway. Right now, I need some slee-

He fell asleep from exhaustion before he even finished collecting his thoughts. At least he'll be well rested when he goes to the Ramen Shop. But little does he know that he's in for a big surprise…