Ahem. Disclaimer: These charaters do not belong to me. They were created and are owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

This is what I wished had happened after Sasuke killed Itachi. Starting with the fact that I didn't really want him to kill Itachi. But whatever. I don't have the time to drag out the intro. Ideas are floating out of my head as I type!

Shikamaru squinted at the sun to look at the clouds, and then proceeded to lie down on the cold hardwood floor. Temari, on visit from Suna, scooted over and poked him. Chouji, who had been playing chess with him, sighed. "Is there something wrong?" he asked Shikamaru.

"I don't really know," said Shikamaru, which was a bit unusual, him being the genius of the team. It almost seemed like he didn't care. Chouji knew better. "I think it's something important though," continued Shikamaru, "Let's just hope it turns out for the best." Ino, who had just walked in, rolled her eyes. Temari made a similar movement. Of course, they just thought that Shikamaru had been influenced by the broiling sun and his own constant drowsiness. But he was right very often, wasn't he? Everyone who had heard him had the same thought on their mind:

What if he was right?

Sakura ran up to Sai and Naruto, who appeared to be eating his fifth bowl of ramen in one sitting. Sakura saw the bowl and wanted to take it away from him. It wasn't even his record. She managed to ignore it and waved hello. "What's up?" she said brightly. She hoped that Sai wouldn't spoil her good mood. Happiness was hard to come by ever since Sasuke left. Naruto, his mouth full, just gave her a big thumbs up. Sai, the social idiot, just gave her a confused look. Naruto had finished his mouthful long enough to speak. "Did the old lady give us a new mission yet?" before stuffing his face again. Sakura shook her head. Tsunade had been preoccupied upping the defenses of the village. She didn't want another Orochimaru coming in. Sakura tried to be positive while she ordered a miso ramen. She didn't want to find out who the next Orochimaru would be. Her thought started to drift off.

Naruto, who pretty much knew Sakura better than anyone else, wanted to pound the table in frustation. He knew what Sakura was thinking. Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. Sure, he was like a brother to Naruto, but brothers practically lived to be annoying, and Sasuke was doing his job even while absent. Naruto still missed him, of course. Training with Sai was no fun. He just bound you up with his snakes and then left to look up more books on friendship. Joy. Naruto dipped back into his ramen. He'd seen Sasuke with his very own eyes. Was he the same person as before?

Tsunade was on supervision for strengthening defenses. She ran a restless hadn through her hair and repressed the urge to punch down the entire wall. She was just about to when a messenger came up to her. "It has been reported that Uchiha Itachi has passed away." Tsunade, shocked, quickly sucked her breath in. Is this what Naruto and Sakura had been looking for? Was Sasuke coming back?