Unconventional Hero: Chapter 1
Summary: Very OOC. Sakura sees the return of Sasuke, but it has been so many years. They are now in their mid- 20's. Sasuke ended Orochimaru's reign of terror and hunted down Itachi, but is now reeling over the discovery of Itachi's intentions and the deceit of the Konoha Council and Danzo. Their orders placed on Itachi led to the execution of his entire clan, save for Sasuke himself. But Madara has retreated after Orochimaru's slaughter and hasn't dug his claws into Sasuke - here he is stewing in his thoughts and being an idiot while planning revenge on Konoha. Much of everything else is extremely OOC for the characters and plot.
Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership of or affiliation to the Naruto franchise. This is non-profit recreation.
"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing out here?" I had walked into a dark, unnamed tavern in a faraway small village. I was surprised, to say the least, to find my old teammate sitting at the bar, all alone. I heard light sounds bustling around me, but no other person registered - only silhouettes of figures in the shadows.
He didn't turn around to acknowledge me. He just stared straight forward, towards the glass lining the backsplash behind the bar. I could make out the basic contours of his face. But strangely enough, he wasn't wearing his most recent attire that consisted of a loose shirt and baggy pants. He was wearing something akin to his old attire when he was still a member of Team 7. It was a plain blue shirt with khaki shorts. The back of the shirt bore the Uchiha clan's uchiwa fan insignia.
He knew it was me. Who else would it be? He knew my voice. He could see my reflection in the mirror behind the bar. Now he was just pissing me off. How dare he!
I didn't even remember marching right up to him on his bar stool, but I was there and ready to pound him straight into the filthy wooden floor. I grabbed his shoulder with every intention of turning him around to face me, but it didn't work. His shoulder was ice cold. I retracted my hand very quickly, panicking.
'No. He. . .he couldn't be. . .'
As if on its own, the bar stool skidded back just enough for Sasuke's chilly body to slink backwards, his limp neck throwing his head backwards for me to see his lifeless eyes and blank expression on his face. I don't know why it defied gravity just to mock me, but I was too shocked and horrified to think about that. His forehead held a kunai lodged deep into his skull, with blood trickling from the wound. It looked fresh, further baffling me. I remember someone screaming, but it felt distant. I immediately found it odd that I could feel the screaming, and I then noticed it was me. I couldn't hear myself over the shadowy figures cheering for the infamous avenging Uchiha's long-awaited death.
*ring ring* ~ *ring ring* ~ *ring ring*
'Shit.' I open-palm slapped the snooze button on my alarm clock, ready to throw the thing through the window. But I was certain my landlady would never forgive me for that one. Old lady Tsukehara still hasn't forgiven me yet for the busted french door leading to my balcony. . .or the Naruto-shaped imprint on the sidewalk below. You can guess what happened there. . .the open-palm slap turned to my face and connected with a light slap. That was when I felt the warm tears trailing down my cheeks. Really? What's wrong with me? And why should I care?
What a horrible nightmare. Since Sasuke's trail had gone cold several months ago, I hadn't been able to stop thinking about him. What if his enemies had caught up with him? If ANBU was successful in capturing and killing him, would Tsunade even tell me or Naruto? I'll bet she'd tell Kakashi, though. I know she would. Maybe he knows something I don't. . .
Since it was 6:30 a.m. and I had a little bit of time before I had to start my shift at the hospital, I took my sweet time in getting ready for my shower. It was a Friday, the Friday before my promised two-week-long vacation. This summer has been absolutely brutal for me. Just last week, there had been an accident during reconstruction on a building from Orochimaru's unsuccessful attack on Konoha. It has been a long time, but I'll never forget how I witnessed Orochimaru's demise. Sasuke sliced his head clean off. The sight of Orochimaru in one piece was disgusting, but the decapitation made even my iron stomach want to rip at the seams. He began to regenerate, but Sasuke used a Chidori or similar attack to char the skin, effectively cauterizing the wound. Somehow, that prevented Orochimaru from regenerating, and it seemed Orochimaru's body shut down. He left everything else for us to clean up. He just left, like his job was done and he was ready to leave. Leave and go where? That was the question on everyone's mind. Especially mine and Naruto's.
In no time, I was in the shower. I needed time to seriously relax, and just thinking about my time off was making me downright giddy. At age 25, I should be dating. I should be planning a romantic getaway with an amazing lover. Heh.
Don't get me wrong - I've dated, and I'm not 100% angel. I'd been dragged to a youthful outing with Lee that only happened once before I ran for my life, a very romantic couple of dinners and a date to a festival with Shino in a casual dating that lasted only a few weeks, and I even lasted a few months with Kiba. We didn't go out too much. Let's just say he's a bit wild and animalistic, and we'll leave it at that. It was intense, but it was wonderful. It just wasn't anything serious.
But nowadays I'm back to about 80% angel, and not really by choice.
By the time I had thoroughly washed myself, I knew I needed to hurry to enjoy a bite to eat. I needed a perfect morning to start a flawless last day before vacation time. I knew the hospital would be hectic, so I needed to enter a peaceful, zen-like zone. It helps to walk in with a positive attitude. Attitude and skill are everything in my line of work, and I have skills down pat. I just need to maintain a positive attitude for my patients. The depressed and ailing can see through to my melancholy soul very easily, for some strange reason. I didn't bother dwelling on it too much as I dried myself off with a fluffy white towel and proceeded to jump ahead and fix my hair, then apply my conservative amount of professional-looking makeup for the day. I needed to bring my A-game today, anyway. Kakashi-sensei was overdue for a physical today, and he isn't allowed to leave on his next mission without one - Hokage's orders. He sets out tomorrow morning, he said, and I was the only nurse who was allowed to touch him. Well, it's much better than his usual stance against hospitals.
As I rolled into my kitchen pantry to fetch some nutritious oatmeal, I struggled to keep my sash tied on my robe. I was only wearing a bra and undies underneath, but it was a bit humid outside. We are in the land of Fire, you know. And it isn't autumn just yet. Not here. It may be cooling off a bit, but that doesn't account for much with our average temperatures.
Through my breakfast, my mind darted back and forth between my dream and reality with Sasuke. Oh, more minutes of my life wasted on that selfish and confused idiot. Good riddance, I say. I even dare to say it out loud.
"Hmph. Good riddance." I snorted a little after I dared to say that aloud, and I placed my bowl in my kitchen sink. I vowed to get to that later, though I know it will remain as neglected as the other dirty dishes in the sink. I haven't felt uplifted enough to feel any motivation for general housekeeping. My good habits have slipped quite a bit lately. When I'm stepping over bags and random items in my living room to get to my door, I know there's a problem with my housekeeping, or lack thereof. I swing my apartment door open to take a peek outside. I could look out the window, but I want to get a feel for the temperature. To my sheer horror, it's raining. Oh, so that explains the high humidity so early in the morning. And I hear a low rumble of thunder in the distance, signaling the worst has yet to come, and it isn't letting up soon. Terrific. What a wonderful day this will be.
When I re-entered my bedroom, I glanced back at my alarm clock. It read 7:28 a.m. Great. I needed to prepare myself for a rainy, stormy walk to the hospital and arrive prepared to work in 32 minutes. Well, I can do it if it earns me my much-needed vacation. I quickly slipped my robe off, letting it fall wherever. I found some semi-clean slate grey pants that didn't need to be ironed. I slipped them on first. Then I found a light, cheery jade green button-up blouse that almost matched my eyes perfectly (though my eyes are way more vibrant than this piece of cloth). It was a sweet and feminine blouse with a small collection of ruffles running vertically down the front, on either side of the buttons. It was cute and feminine, yet simple and professional. I'm a respected doctor, but I'm also a young and attractive (and most importantly, single) kunoichi. Once brave civilians or impressed shinobi get past my deadly fighting skills, they actually find me very pleasant and fun to be with. But I just can't hold interest in any of them, besides those few previously mentioned, more than a date or two. If I go out on a second or third date, it gets to the point where I'm already bored or uninterested, and I feel guilty for just stringing them along. It always ends there.
As I stop feeling so sorry for myself while thinking about my failed love life, I manage to roll up the wool "stay-dry" socks I slipped on my feet, then I shuffled around in the back of my closet to find my shiny bright-red rainboots and matching shiny raincoat. I pulled out my favorite pair of platinum-hued metallic ballet-style flats and stuffed them inside my bag. I checked myself over in the mirror in the tiny foyer before I yanked my umbrella from the catch-all basket next to the door. Then I walked outside to trudge my fake-happy way to work as I pulled my raincoat's hood over my hair and clutched my bag to make sure it fit under my umbrella. What could make this miserable morning even worse, even before work?
"Sakura-chan! Oi, Sakura-chan! Wait up!" Damn it all. It's the eternally-hyper blond baka. He was wearing a yellow raincoat and black rainboots. Underneath, I could see he was wearing a bright orange fleece vest under some black shirt. How original, Naruto.
"What is it, Naruto? I don't want to be late for work." I kept walking towards the hospital, knowing he'd just walk beside me and babble.
"You have a summons to the Hokage's tower. I think you've been dismissed from work today, because Baa-chan has a little assignment for you." Well, that's odd. I decided to take a good look at Naruto's face, now that we're close enough that I can train my eyesight on his face and hopefully get an idea of what he's telling me. He's grinning ear-to-ear. No shock value in that. But the way he's grinning. . .it's a bit unusual. Like Ichiraku just invented a new flavor of ramen and wanted him to be their official taste-tester to see how it compared to all the other flavors. Yeah, his grin was that big.
"That is very strange. So you know what this assignment is?"
Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, obviously wanting me to stop and listen. I stopped and turned to him, walking back a little ways to get closer to his parameter and keep the conversation private. He's still smiling a little, but his facial expression turned a bit more serious. But it's a happy one. So I was optimistic. It's good news, right?
"He's back."
End of Chapter 1
Please review! This chapter is a little predictable with what's coming up next in the next chapter, but it's a good setup for the rest of the story. Whatever happens after this is pure fun, horror, romance, comedy, drama, tragedy, etc. Have fun reading it! Subscribe to know when a new chapter is posted!