When he became a Genin, Sasuke didn't plot out the specifics of his career as a ninja. He didn't think of the bullshit menial work that went hand in hand with graduating, because he was a man on a mission. Even before he was swept up by Orochimaru-sama, this was a fact. Before the Wave mission, where he was first shown the limits of his strength and the power of his teammates, he had one goal in mind. Find Itachi, kill him to rightfully honor his clan's memory.
The last Uchiha said as much on their very first day as a team, before that stupid fucking test. Both Naruto and Sakura had such childish dreams, he thought them both to be shortsighted, blinded by the 'glory' of serving Konoha. He was certain that they would not last long, given the circumstances and the harsh reality of the world, so just as quickly as they enter his life, they are written off as a means to an end.
Sasuke doesn't plot the specifics of his career because a career doesn't matter when his purpose in life had been set in stone from the time he was old enough to walk. He would live to honor his clan, and by that honor, he would die. It wasn't glamorous like living a life of competency, or worthy of boast like becoming Hokage, but it would be his life. He would clamor for the power to exact vengeance, and then burn out with the stars.
He shouldn't have had anything to live for, and yet, his team fucking proved him wrong. He didn't predict this, because how could he have?
"Sasuke-kun, aren't you coming?" Sakura turns, hands behind her back and that same annoying smile on her face that makes him forget how to be angry at the world. Blinking slowly, he tries to recall where he's being lead this time around. The Dobe is nowhere to be seen, and when it's clear that he had been spacing out, Sakura pouts a little deeper. "We're going to meet Sensei. He didn't say what it was about, but I have a pretty good idea." Oh, right. He left his home with purpose today and Sakura wasn't just accompanying him on an afternoon stroll.
He falls in step behind her and she accepts his movements as compliance. Once again, Sasuke is unquestionably thankful for her hardheaded nature and their friendship. She didn't pressure him to talk, didn't pester him in the same fashion that his fangirls did. Even if she had been... annoying, at first, he had come to recognize that her doting qualities were simply her personality. She was timid by nature (or, she was until Naruto brought out her more... boisterous side), and he didn't hate her for it. It wasn't a weakness, but a learned sort of respect, because they were partners in work before that bond had deepened to a friendship.
He thinks on what Orochimaru had once told him. "True power comes with the release of such bonds."
He looks to the pinkette leading the way. A Chunin with the skills to probably take on most Jōnin, should she choose. A knowledgeable girl, who used her intelligence to aid in her taijutsu specialty. If she could hold on to her own bonds, keep such power while keeping the idle affections of her dear friends, then why couldn't he?
"...Do you even listen when I talk? I swear, sometimes you're worse than Naruto." Such a comment would never have been uttered in the infancy of Team 7, and yet Sakura says so with a smile that makes Sasuke growl. Of course, she knows how to get to him. And... sure, he was lost in his own thoughts, but he had a lot going on today!
The smirk falls from her face as she sees something in his icy expression that he couldn't have possibly interpreted, and she steps forward. They're in broad daylight, on a common path, and she's close. Not intimately so, but easily slipping past casual boundaries. "You're worried, aren't you?" Her fingers are cool against his cheek and he wants to curse. When had she become so bold, again? Who was teaching her these mind reading techniques? Had she picked something up from hanging with the Yamanaka?
"Hn."
"You're a child when it comes to emoting, but I understand." She brushes his skin and the warmth of his face betrays his expression. Swatting her hand away passively, he turns again.
"I'm not. And I'm nothing like the Dobe." Naruto was sunlight and crisp summer air. Burning, eternally warm but never unpleasant. He could light an entire room with his words or that stupid smile and Sasuke was nothing of the sort, in comparison.
Sakura simply quirks a brow, keeping that same sickeningly sweet smile as she retreated to a more sociable distance. "Okay, okay. But, really. If you still need someone to talk to about... you know." About Orochimaru, about betraying the village, betraying his team in some mad grab for power. "You know that Naruto and I wouldn't... we wouldn't think any differently of you." Deep down, he knows that she's absolutely right. The entire reason he was even back now is that they didn't think any differently of him, after a year and a half of being groomed by a Sanin. They saw his night terrors, the way he always hesitated before a fight on missions, and they embraced him anyway.
Quietly, he asks it. "...would you two really have done it?" He's brought back to Orochimaru's research post in Amegakure. Bitter rain harried by the tempest, the patter of footsteps in the mud as the three of them brawled it out. Naruto's initial punch had been a bit of a proclamation. He could have come forward with his signature jutsu but chose not to. So, the three of them kept to the taijutsu that had been hammered into them in their infancy as a team. Sakura's much faster than he remembers, and it takes an activated Sharingan to confirm that her movements aren't even chakra enhanced. She's legitimately just strong enough to make the ground crumble beneath her feet. Naruto's swift on his feet, more creative and fluid with his strange boxing than Sasuke had ever seen.
Some point, even with the training he had received, with the progress he'd made, the prodigy is overwhelmed by his teammates. Pinned in the mud like vermin, with the pinkette clawing at his shirt, leaning into him and whispering. "We will leave with you. If we can't bring you back to the village, we'll go with you and... him." And Naruto's clearly in on this, because he's shouting up some jutsu now, to drown out conversation and Sasuke's surprised expression with his own theatrics. So... the two most loyal shinobi that Konoha had to offer, would have easily turned their backs on the village for him?
"Those who abandon their friends are scum. To abandon your village? Is lower than the scummiest."
So, he shakes his head in contrition. Exclaims that he had been 'captured', and the show gets out of hand from that point on. Apparently, Naruto decided to stop holding back, and the mere notion that he could control the Kyuubi's chakra was enough to scare Orochimaru off to regroup. He's captured, and the pride of Konoha is returned, heralded as an outcast for what he had done. What he chose to do to his village-
"Sasuke!" He turns his head just slightly, being pushed away from memories of fresh rain and molten ash, and back into a present of crisp autumn leaves and the smell of Sakura's shampoo on his shirt. That second sense is what allows him to dodge Naruto's punch, and as the brunette prepares a jutsu to burn his friend alive, he explains. "Sakura's been trying to get your attention for ages now, what's up with you?" The last Uchiha is pissed but tries to get over the fact that Naruto's go to seemed to be assaulting him. Except... his expression softens, and the fist that had just narrowly missed his head clamps down on his shoulder. "You know we're still here for you, right? After this meeting, we can go to Ichiraku's and I'll get Teuchi ji-san to make us something. We can... do whatever you want." Naruto's concern is just as surprising, and the boy turns to Sakura, who's mirroring their blonde teammates' worry.
Yeah, he really couldn't have anticipated this.
"...I'm better, now. Really." He wasn't, and so long as Itachi lived and he was under scrutiny by the village, he never would be. The Will of Fire still burned in him, but Konoha itself was suffocating now. The village was too quiet, too stifling and he hated it with every fiber of his being. The Uchiha monuments simply removed, his family remembered by nothing but the burned down and desecrated district. As a child, living among the graveyard had been harsh, but it was a way of being close to them all. With Orochimaru, being given a chance to see the world, to see his own potential as a fighter and get a taste of what growth could be was exhilarating. The insight that the scientist had onto the Uchiha went far beyond anything Konoha had ever offered him, and Sasuke was certain that if the Sanin wasn't diabolical, he would be an incredible informant. Konoha was... none of this. It was a monument of falsehoods, of false peace and prosperity forced through the brutal defeat of any and all defectors.
The fact that he was even alive was only testament to Naruto's swing as a Jinchuriki.
"You're still making that face." Swallowing the knee-jerk instinct to punch the blonde, Sasuke heaves a sigh, rolling his eyes as he began to walk again. Didn't they have a meeting to get to? It wasn't every day that Kakashi actually requested to meet with them for something other than training or a mission. To hear that their Jonin sensei was seeking them out was... a little worrisome.
"Ne, Sasuke. If your teammates are expressing concern for you, don't you think there's a better response? I thought we all agreed, the whole 'cool and quiet' thing wasn't for you." Sakura's already holding his hand, distracting him from affixing his fingers into the well-practiced jutsu he wanted to hurl at their sensei for yet again, sneaking up on them. His smooth monotone drops from a tree behind them and somehow, even when they were fully aware of his presence, the team couldn't pick up any hints of him.
Truly an Anbu captain, if he'd ever seen one.
"What did you want, Sensei?" It isn't a bad day, so Sasuke decides to at least hear the man out rather than gripe about his choice of words. Watching the silver-haired Jonin move from his perch in the tree, his singular eye goes to their hands for a moment, the way Naruto seems to hover a little closer to his rival than usual, and then thinks better of the response he was going to say.
"How rude." He rolls with the new information as if someone had told him that the sky was now green. "I'm simply here to deliver a message. And here I thought you three might be excited with the prospect of becoming Jōnin..." He leads with the bait and Naruto's quick to bite, scurring forward like an excitable child and practically whooping.
"Jōnin? You're pulling our leg, Sensei. You're really gonna nominate us for Jōnin?" His voice is beyond glee, a child discovering that his birthday had come early. Meanwhile, Sakura looks skeptical, as if she was trying to figure something out.
"But... there's a protocol before nominations can be given out. Don't we have to like... accomplish some sort of 'feat' that our peers haven't? We can't actually be in the running, right?" She was well versed on the inner machinations of the Hidden Leaf and for all of the things it got right in terms of bureaucracy, this little detail was archaic. Outside of the wars, Jounin were hand-picked by the Kage and nominated by only the highest echelon of Konoha's elite. Kakashi's recommendation would be a shining star on any sort of file the three of them had, but they couldn't have possibly done anything worthy of earning it.
Sasuke thinks for a moment, while their sensei is clearly having a field day with their reactions. "...We've been doing nothing but C and B ranks. We've done A ranks with Sensei but... none of those could count, for a feat, right?"
As if anticipating this, the Sensei simply shrugs. It was a bit impromptu and unprofessional for a meeting place, but a sunny little lane that was sparsely used by pedestrians was as good a place as any. "They wouldn't under normal circumstances. But, Naruto, Sakura." Turning toward his two points of pride, his tone grows a little more serious. "Bringing back a former missing-nin alive is no small feat. Forcing a Sannin to retreat, no other Chunin has that under their belt." He avoids looking at Sasuke, but the mere title 'former missing-nin' brings a strange sort of pang to his chest. A reminder that no matter how far he'd come, there would be no 'going back'. There's no home to be had in a village he ha abandoned in his pursuit for power.
But... he could be excited for his teammates, still.
"That does sound rather impressive. Have the daimyo heard that two of Konoha's Chunin managed to subdue me and played a role in driving off one of the Sannin? Surely, that would be enough to grant them some sort of fame." As much as the prospect of his teammates fighting on the front lines terrified him, Sasuke wouldn't lie to himself. Both Naruto and Sakura had come far from the meek, overzealous children they had been prior to his departure. While he wasn't present for their growth, he could see the fruits of their training and testify to their strengths wholeheartedly. Such a response seems to genuinely stump their Sensei, as he stays quiet for a moment.
"...They haven't, actually. The news that your even in the village isn't very well known. There are rumors of course, but with Naruto's mouth... well." There had been rumors for years, then. Naruto has the decency to at least appear a little bashful, while Sakura excitedly shoves his shoulder.
"Wait, so you're really gonna give us your recommendation? Just like that?" It didn't include Sasuke just yet, but that was fine. What was rank between a team? Little barriers, meaningless titles that meant nothing in the heat of battle. They would still depend on him just like they did in Wave, during the Chūnin Exams, and during the Invasion. He's their glue, and not even this would change things.
Except... Kakashi shakes his head. "No. There's still training to be done before you hear my recommendation, Sakura. And Naruto, I'm pretty sure Tsunade would skin me alive if I were to recommend you for more responsibility." Their jaws drop, and Sasuke has to hold Sakura's hand this time around, as she balls the pretty fingers into a fist. While Naruto looks near tears at having his hopes dashed so easily, Sasuke's perplexed.
"...Why bring up Jōnin recommendations, then?" There had to be a point to this meeting because for how playful Kakashi could be, this sort of prank was beyond him. Right?
Their sensei shrugs once more as if stating the obvious. "If you kept in touch with your fellow rookies, you'd know. Yamanaka Ino's been recommended for Jōnin by her sensei. Under some... interesting conditions." He sounds as if he's spreading gossip now and the surprised shouting to his left and right do well to complement the confusion on his own face.
"Ino-pig got recommended for Jōnin and didn't tell me? I'll throttle her!"
"How did she get Jōnin before us? Did Shikamaru and Chouji get it too? Why?"
Both are overly exuberant and okay, maybe not exactly Jōnin material now that he gave it a moment of thought. But... what does Ino's recommendation have to do with them? It didn't really matter unless she was going to be overseeing a mission with them. And even then, it was nothing to call a meeting over. Clearly reading his thoughts, the Jōnin sensei cough.
"Keep that excitement, Sakura. You might get the chance to do just that. Asuma tasked her with... well, beating all of the Rookie 9 in direct combat."
"What?"
"Let me finish. She has to challenge them herself, and then beat them. So far, she's worked her way through Team 10 and Gai's squad with a... unsettling amount of success. The other Jōnin and I all agreed that it was a tad unorthodox, but if she were to beat Konoha's very own budding assault squad in a fight, her skills as a ninja would speak for themselves. Fighting full squads of ninja on your own is no small feat, and is actually an implicit expectation of most Jōnin."
His head's already reeling and Sasuke could feel the abject shock silence his teammates as well. Trying to picture it, he would have never expected Ino to be the one to lead them as a prodigy. She was a splendid kunoichi without a doubt, but having the capacity to fight full teams by herself, without something like the Sharingan or Tailed Beast Chakra to aid her?
"...She can't possibly be that strong, right?" What had she gone through? What sort of struggles made her determined enough to train so hard that she could stand up to any of the Rookies? Besides, Ino-Shika-Cho were supposed to be a secondary assault squad, precise hitters as opposed to heavy hitters like his own team. How could she hope to beat them alone?
"You called us here because you don't want Naruto to use his tailed beast, or me to use my Sharingan." Sasuke's starting to understand, even if his mind's still reeling from the reality presented to him. How had Ino amassed such power? Wasn't Team 8's specialty support? Sure, between the three of them, their skills must have been rather varied and well suited toward a variety of missions, but... what could she have done to earn her notoriety?
Naruto looks a little lost still, while their pink haired mate clearly understood now. "We have to take this seriously, but we don't wanna really hurt her." It puts them at a genuine disadvantage, but still completely workable. Kakashi nods in agreement as Naruto "ooohs"
"Right. This should be good training for you three to work on some of your other skills. As strong as your specialties are, a truly splendid ninja is versatile." Coming from the Copycat Ninja himself, such a tidbit was probably the understatement of the year and all three of them knew it. All of the Jōnin level nin that they were familiar with were famous for one thing or another, but the one thing they all had in common was a staggering mastery of what some would consider 'core fundamentals'. While Sakura was physically stronger than Kakashi and Sasuke knew that he was faster, neither of them could dream of keeping up with him in a bout of raw taijutsu just because of how varied and adaptable his stances were. He had a trick up his sleeve for every one of their blows, and then some.
Could Ino really have reached that level of skill herself?
"...what are the conditions of the spar?" Did she have to knock all three of them unconscious? Because knocking Naruto out was something that was noteworthy, if anyone could accomplish it.
"She has to make you admit defeat, by whatever means." Oh, she was absolutely screwed. How could the stupidest, most formidable bunch of ninja he'd ever known admit defeat?
"Can we... can we say no to this? I don't wanna fight Ino, really." The idea that she would have to... genuinely hurt her best friend just to prove a point doesn't sit well with her and this sort of training exercise feels skewed in their favor entirely. "She can fight another team of Chunin."
"You'd prefer she be subjected to the skills of the veteran ninja in Konoha?" Here, Kakashi twists a knife just a little bit and it may have been unfair but it's the truth.
"...How do we win? Get her to quit?" He wouldn't typically ignore the wishes of his friends like this, but... maybe there was a way they could do this without hurting Ino? Was Kakashi looking to them to solve this without fighting? When the silver-haired man simply nods, Sasuke feels just a little annoyed. Why were they being roped into this sort of game? Was this some sort of ploy by the village elders to see if the Uchiha was still inherently violent?
The other two must sense his displeasure, because Naruto's whooping in that overzealous way he constantly did, patting the wind out of Sasuke's chest. "That'll be easy! I'm sure if Sasuke just smiles at her, she'll give up. Right?" There's a brief silence as Sasuke genuinely considers it and Sakura fumes silently before Kakashi decides that he had seen enough.
"...Right. Just show up to Training Ground 12 by noon tomorrow. And uh, try not to mind the crowd. Asuma might have told a few of his buddies and well... you know how ninja gossip." Before they could hope to bombard him with more questions, the man is gone in a Shushin'd whirl of leaves, leaving the group stumped.
"Do you guys wanna get some lunch?" Naruto is quick to recover, as he starts to walk in the direction of the civilian districts. "Ichiraku's has been on my mind all day. We can like, make a plan of attack for Ino while we're there."
Sakura falls in step behind the blonde, hands folded behind her back as she hummed thoughtfully. "...Do you think it'll be difficult? I mean, all we have to do is avoid getting hit by her mind control jutsu. I'm sure that's how she beat the others too." As they walked, the conversation would continue in such a fashion. While... it wouldn't be optimal to simply distract Ino with her own crush for Sasuke, if their plan fell through, they could work with that as a backup.
