"Ow!" Sasuke shouted, yanking his right arms out of Sakura's grip. "That hurts!"
"Well it wouldn't if you hadn't tried to run away in the first place!" Sakura snapped back. She snatched his arm back again, finished bandaging it, and leaned back, shaking her head.
Sasuke grasped his arm, stood up, and stalked off. Sakura sighed.
Kakashi, who'd been standing by, rolled his eyes and walked away. Naruto, who was asleep at this early hour had not been informed of Sasuke's little escapade.
The old team 7 compound was not nearly what it used to be. First of all, team 7 themselves had gotten older, now at the rather difficult age of 15.
Secondly, the compound was no longer in possession of those three sweet, naïve (okay, maybe not Sasuke) 12-year-old Genin. All three teens were hardened; Sakura and Naruto by Sasuke's betrayal, and Sasuke, already mature enough for his own good, by his return.
Of course, their teacher was hardly the same person, either. Though still in possession of his older, goofier habits, he had also turned sarcastic and snide, mostly towards Sasuke.
But the final reason team 7's compound had changed so much lied in the fact that they now lived here.
Sasuke, after returning to the village several months ago (though not so willingly, he'd admit), had promptly been placed in jail. He was lucky he was the last Uchiha, or else the consequences would have been execution (it was a sad truth, but had to be said). With much coaxing from Naruto and Sakura (and maybe a tiny bit by Kakashi), Tsunade agreed to put him under house arrest in the compound, but only if the two stayed with him. Naruto, who had no family anyway, was fine with it, and Sakura had eventually gotten her mother to agree. Kakashi was there of his own free will.
Sakura sighed. She might as well go start breakfast. Taking one last look into the room Sasuke had disappeared into, Sakura herself vanished into the kitchen.
Through the years, Sasuke had grown up, and not just in personality. His features had evened out, and his hair was no longer spiky. Rather, it had grown out, and Sasuke kept it back in a loose ponytail. Ironically, he had come out looking rather like Itachi; minus the twin scars on his face. As if in compensation, two identical slashes ran down his back, a reminder that, indeed, Sasuke had become a demon for a day.
Sakura, meanwhile, had become all angles. Her eyes were a sharper green, and they carried a harder look. She'd kept her hair short, choosing instead to raise her attitude towards ninjahood up a notch. Brown work boots. Arm protectors. A belt of scrolls. Balancing two specialties was hardly a walk in the park.
Sakura glanced up at the clock on top of the fridge. 6:09. Why did Sasuke have to choose such ungodly hours for his brilliant (yet so far, unsuccessful) escapades? She sighed and buried her face in her hands.
"Exhausted?"
Sakura smiled at the comforting hand rested on her shoulder. She turned around.
"Doesn't even begin to cover it" she said. Kakashi smiled behind his mask.
"Sasuke's a handful" he said, sitting down at the table. Sakura swung her legs up and onto the kitchen counter.
"You can say that again" she said. Master and student sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments.
"How'd he get out?"
"What?" Kakashi looked up.
"How'd Sasuke get out this time?" Sakura repeated. Kakashi sighed.
"Bedroom window"
"Oh. Chakra climb?"
"Yeah"
More silence.
"It was brilliant of you, though, to think of looking up there"
"Please. It was you that brought him down from the roof"
"Yeah, having to just about slice his arm off to do it"
"What's for breakfast?" an unexpected voice from behind asked. Both teacher and student looked up. Sakura's heart sank. There stood Sasuke.
But surprisingly, Sasuke didn't look angry. He was, however, gripping his bandaged arm a little tighter that normal…
"Bacon" Sakura answered simply. Sasuke shrugged and took a seat at the table. The farthest chair from Kakashi's, Sakura noticed.
When she served Sasuke his plate, however, he rose to his feet, picked up the food, and walked out of the kitchen. Sakura and Kakashi sighed.
"Somebody say bacon?"
There was a creak of a door and Naruto entered the kitchen. He looked from anxious face to anxious face. "I miss something?"
Sakura shook her head and began to make Naruto's plate. Sometimes it actually pained her to look at the boys these days.
While Sasuke had taken on a much darker look, Naruto had turned out looking like some kid back from summer vacation. Messy blond locks, even brighter blue eyes and a natural tan all made him the perfect opposite to neat-haired, charcoal-eyed, pale-skinned Sasuke.
"Hey," Naruto said, taking his breakfast and sitting down, "what'd Sasuke do now?"
Sakura looked at her blond teammate in shock. How could she have forgotten how much Naruto had grown up in these three years?
"Tried to run away" she finally mumbled without making eye contact. Naruto leapt to his feet.
"He did not!" he cried. He looked to Kakashi, who'd been silent the entire time. The Jonin just sighed, stood up, and left. Naruto slammed his fist against the table and stormed out of the kitchen. Sakura sighed and reburied her face in her hands.
-xxxxxxxxxx-
"Hey Traitor" Naruto said as he reached Sasuke's room. The teen's head shot up.
"Stop calling me that" he growled.
"Why?" Naruto asked. "That's what you are, isn't it?"
All of a sudden, Sasuke was off his bed and slamming Naruto into the wall. His hand was at Naruto's throat.
"What are you gonna do?" Naruto whispered challengingly. Sasuke bit his lip, as if having an argument inside of himself. Finally his hand dropped and he looked away.
"Thought so"
The boys stood in silence for a while.
"Heard you tried to run away" Naruto said.
"Congratulations" Sasuke said, still not making eye contact.
"Kakashi do that?" Naruto asked, pointing to Sasuke's bandaged arm. The Uchiha nodded.
"Never have any freedom here" Sasuke finally murmured. Naruto raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, Sasuke, that's kind of the point of house arrest"
"I'm talking about inside the compound!" Sasuke said, his head rising along with his voice. "No one ever leaves me alone! Always trying to see if I'm up to something! No trust whatsoever!"
"Yeah, betraying the village will do that!"
"And nothing has gotten better since then!" Sasuke paused, and then added under his breath:
"I almost liked it better in Sound than here"
Naruto exploded. "Well, why don't you go back to precious Sound, then, if it's so wonderful!"
"Maybe I will!" At this, Sasuke turned on his heel and stormed out of the bedroom. Naruto glared after him.
-xxxxxxxxxx-
Sasuke didn't know whose room he was in, but he slammed the door hard and pounded his fist against the wall. His breathing was heavy, and he didn't know if he could calm down.
"Hey"
Sasuke whipped around. There, on the bed, sat Kakashi. He looked away.
"This your room?" he asked, looking at the dozens of scrolls and weapons piled up across the small area.
"No, actually. It's Sakura's" his teacher replied. "Had a feeling you might end up in here, though"
Silence.
"Nice room" Sasuke finally muttered. Kakashi nodded, stood, and motioned to a spot on the bed. Sasuke bit his lip.
"Sit" Kakashi commanded. Sasuke obeyed. There was silence for a few moments as Kakashi looked at him. Finally…
"What is going on with you, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke closed his eyes.
"Nothing" he said.
"Oh?" Kakashi asked. "So hiding out in your room all day is nothing? So going insane whenever Naruto calls you a traitor is nothing? So, for Christ's sake, threatening to go back to Sound, which is the big problem in the first place, is nothing?"
"I didn't mean-"
"I know you didn't, Sasuke" Kakashi said. "That's why I need to know what's wrong with you, so you can stop. That kind of threat, intended or not, can land you back in jail, Sasuke"
Sasuke bit his lip, and Kakashi's face softened. He took a seat next to the Uchiha and softly, as if afraid that Sasuke might leap up in anger, placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. That was all it took for all of Sasuke's defenses to crumble, leaving him sputtering like an old car that had finally bought it. He collapsed into Kakashi's ready arms, letting loose the tears that had been building up since he was eight.
"I don't want to do it anymore" he sobbed. Kakashi nodded slowly.
"Do what?" he asked softly.
"Everything!" Sasuke cried. "The house arrest, the avenging, the fighting…" Kakashi's face softened further as he saw Sasuke's grip his Jonin uniform in his small hands.
"You don't have to fight everything, you know" Kakashi said. Sasuke shook his head.
"Yes I do!" he cried. "I always do! I don't have anyone else to help me!"
"Yes you do" Kakashi said firmly, tugging Sasuke's head up to look at him. "Naruto and Sakura and I, we just want to help you. You just won't let us in" Sasuke shook his head.
"Not anymore" he said, looking Kakashi in the eye. "You did three years ago. Before Orochimaru. Before the damn cursed seal. Before I… Before I…"
"Left" Kakashi finished for him. Sasuke nodded.
"No one wants to help me anymore" Sasuke continued. "No one would. I'm the village traitor. You were known as the one who taught the village traitor. Sakura opened her heart to me and I ground it to dust. Naruto was left, abandoned, in near-death condition, by his own teammate. Twice.
"Kiba, Shikamaru, Shino, Chouji, and Neji were all nearly killed trying to reach me. And I let it happen. Because I did, Ino was left with no team for two months.
"I destroyed everyone's lives, Kakashi. Why the hell would anyone want to help me?"
Kakashi was speechless. Sasuke looked at him for a moment. Then he shook his head and looked away.
"Because we're a team"
Both teacher and student turned around. There stood Sakura, looking as though someone had ripped her heart out. Naruto was only a few feet behind her, standing in the doorway. His guilt-stricken face was so strong that Sasuke had to look away.
"Did you guys hear…?"
"All of it" Sakura finished for him. Sasuke closed his eyes and felt his fists ball up. Sakura made her way over to the bed.
"Sasuke," she said, "when did I ever make it out like I hated you?"
"This morning" he muttered. Sakura looked down.
"Sasuke, I was just annoyed that you ran away. I didn't mean for you to think I didn't want to help you"
"Yeah" Naruto said, stepping into the room at last. "I mean dude, what I said back there, about you being a traitor, Sasuke, I was way out of line"
"You were right, though" Sasuke murmured, looking at the ground.
"But everything else, too, especially about you going back to Sound, I was just blowing off steam. I didn't mean it. Dude, you're my teammate. You guys are like, the only family I have" There was a long stretch of silence after that.
"Thanks"
Everyone looked up to see Sasuke looking at them.
"For what?" Sakura asked. Sasuke closed his eyes.
He thought of how Naruto had fought for him when he thought he'd died. He remembered how Sakura diligently cared for him when the curse seal became too much for his body to bear. He recalled Kakashi's brave fights with Orochimaru and Kabuto to keep him out of their clutches. How after he first betrayed the village, three years ago, Naruto chased diligently after him. And how even after he'd ruined their lives, the three of them had managed to convince to keep him out of jail. His eyes slowly fluttered open.
"…Everything"
Author's Notes: WHEW! Ten-and-a-quarter pages handwritten, 6-and-a-fourth typed. I would like to say that this is my first real one-shot, but I think it came out all right. I didn't even originally mean it to be a one-shot, but it all came out so well…
Anyway, I wanted to inform you that originally, that confrontation between Sasuke and Naruto was originally supposed to consist of Sasuke and Sakura, and in Naruto's original first entrance, he was supposed to "bounce in", but I like the way this came out better. What do you think?
Please, please, PLEASE review!