Chapter 1 - Return

Authors Note: I haven't done a fanfiction in a long while, but I really wanted to get back into writing again! Eventually there will be some sort of plot, but in the meantime, enjoy Sasuke being a huge nerd over Sakura. I'm going to try and take some "head canon" stuff that I like from the ss tumblr tag, and if you have any suggestions, please let me know! Bear with me, it's been awhile, and I'll do my best to improve my writing as I go and edit as much as I can. Already I have the first 3 chapters written, and I'll hopefully figure out some kind of regular update schedule when I get a clear view of where I want this piece to go. I'm going to ask for some patience, as I have a part-time job and I'm a full time college student.

Of course, reviews, comments, etc. are ALWAYS welcomed, and much appreciated.

I don't own Naruto, all of these characters belong to Kishimoto!

Uchiha Sasuke knew who he was. He was a man of honor, who took great pride in his skills and accomplishments- good and bad. He was a genius in his generation; a prodigy of notable dedication to his goals. Intellect, cunning, and an unbreakable will were all part of his arsenal.

Uchiha Sasuke knew who he was. He was the last of the Uchiha, after ending the life of both his delusion great, great Grandfather and his beloved older brother. He was a foolish man, just as his aniki had always told him.

Uchiha Sasuke knew who he was. And truth be told, behind his cold exterior, he was the biggest dork of the century.

Outwardly, the shinobi scoffed to himself.

No, possibly to ever exist.

It was perhaps the biggest secret he had ever kept, even bigger than that of the true amount of blame he put on himself for his brothers suffering. No, that was something he would reveal to no one, ever.

But his dorkiness was always there, from the time when he had first entered the academy, to this very moment, almost two decades later. He watched as the red gates of Konohagakure no Sato towered over him, growing bigger by the second as he got closer. Two decades, and nothing had changed.

As Sasuke approached the gate, the silence that only nature could bring slowly filled with the thrum of chatter, hundreds of voices speaking at once combined with the noise of training, carts, and other miscellaneous activities made up the sounds of the village.

It sounded like home.

For the past three years, this day couldn't have come sooner.

An hour later found him on top of the many rooftops of Konoha, watching the sun set behind Hokage Mountain. It had been eventful, to the say the least, as he thought back to first being greeted by the shinobi guarding the entrance. He had then been stopped, interrogated, and promptly brought to Hokage tower, where he was granted an audience with the Rokudaime, who, to his surprise, was none other than his first sensei.

"Sasuke," Kakashi had stated simply, the crinkle in his eye showing his smile behind the ever present mask, "You're back."

"Hn. You're Hokage," He stated.

Kakashi's face visibly softened, "I missed you too. And, ah, yes, someone had to take the position when Tsunade-sama retired." Kakashi leaned forward on his desk, lacing his fingers together and looking almost a little skeptical as he watched the Uchiha from behind his desk. "Are you finally ready to settle down? Cleared your head after three years?" Kakashi proceeded to shuffle some papers, pulling out a file which Sasuke assumed was on him, and looked at the Uchiha expectantly.

Sasuke slowly nodded, watching Kakashi with his one black eye, the other hidden by grown out hair.

Kakashi looked older, more tired. His hair was a bit more grown out, and instead of the usual jounin attire, he now sported the robes which served as an indication of his rank and power over the village. Yet the bags under his eye spoke miles to Sasuke, and he was sure that the stacked paper work had everything to do with it.

"Good, good… Of course, there is the matter of your punishment which has to be settled," to this, Sasuke let out a soft sigh, which the white-haired nin noticed. "What? You didn't expect me to let you go, scotch-free? I'll have you know that I'm a well-respected figure of authority- hey, hey don't touch that!"

Sasuke had stalked over to the Hokage's desk and toppled over a stack of paper work, underneath was two open copies of Icha Icha Paradise as well as a couple of scandalous photos of well-endowed women in stringy bikinis.

"Well-respected?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Kakashi, who giggled and hid his porn underneath more paperwork. "You're worse than Tsunade and her alcohol problem."

Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Yes, well, I'll make you a deal. Promise not to tell Shizune and I'll give you tonight and tomorrow to catch up with your friends before reporting back here for your trial and punishment. Deal?"

Sasuke had to wonder what Shizune's opinion could possibly mean to Kakashi, but threw the thought out of his head in a moment's notice. It wasn't his business what his formerly sensei, turned Hokage did with his spare time. Regardless, he grunted his agreement before turning around to exit the room.

"Ah, one more thing, Sasuke," Sasuke turned to face his former sensei, hand almost on the door of the circular office. "We're glad to have you back, finally."

Sasuke smirked and turned to the door.

"Don't tell anyone that I'm here," Sasuke paused for a moment, before closing his eyes and opening up the door. "I'll do that on my own."

And that's how he found himself there, sitting, alone, watching the sun set as it casted shadows of the packed village's buildings onto the streets. He could hear mothers calling in their children for dinner, friends saying goodbye before heading home as the crowd in the streets started to dwindle.

He was unsure of what to do now, truth be told. Eventually he would run into his former classmates, of course. But three years was a long time, and he knew not of what changes had occurred. He had what was left of today as well as tomorrow to spend reacquainting himself with the village before he faced his punishment. Sasuke was almost happy (as happy as he could feel at that moment) to hear that even he would escape punishment. Though, he suspected that with the replacement of the old, decrepit, senile, douchebags of elders that Konoha used to have out of the picture and dead (he had made sure of that himself, along with a little help from a certain jinchuriki), he suspected that his sentence would not be life threatening. His status as a war hero, despite the ulterior motives he may have once possessed for initially helping the Allied Shinobi Forces, placed him under good- well, better regards under the general populations opinion. There were others, though, who still thought very much less of him, and more of his time spent as a rogue nin.

That was why he had left, to make some kind of attempt at doing right for a lifetime spent doing wrong. During the period of time he spent away, Sasuke tied up loose ends, and had been doing some soul searching, so to speak. He had done so many bad things, so many inexcusable acts of cruelty that Sasuke would forever be under the impression that under no circumstances, should he truly be trusted. And though he was grateful for Naruto bringing him out of his own personal darkness, he still had so many regrets.

He stared down at where his left hand should be, the lose sleeve now orange in the dimming glow of the sun.

A red-haired woman screamed as he laughed ruthlessly, carelessly letting her body fall and leaving her to die.

A chidori engulfed arm sliced through the body of his best friend.

Bright green eyes, fearfully staring into his own, her mouth wide open as he strangled the breath right out of her-

Sasuke closed his eyes.

He would never forgive himself.

His shinobi senses worked without him even trying, and picking up on the last few remnants of chatter, a familiar voice caught his attention and allowed for his head to momentarily clear.

"So then I pummeled him into the ground like WHOOSH and before I could even go back in for another punch he was like AHHH NO I SURRENDER but I-," the voice, loud and obnoxious as always stopped mid-sentence. Sasuke looked down at the source.

Black met blue.

"OI, SASUKE-TEME!" Naruto shouted, jumping onto the roof next to him. Sasuke stood up, his arms retreating into the folds of his cloak, and smirked.

Naruto was as blinding as usual – his skin seemed a bit darker, and his hair was chopped shorter. But his eyes were the same, the same bright blue eyes that always had a fire in them. It seemed as if Naruto was insistent on the continuous use of orange, Sasuke noted grimly. His eye caught his bandaged right arm, all the way up the elbow, and a pang of regret hit him hard in the chest.

"Naruto." Said blonde's grin only widened, and Sasuke felt a wave of nostalgia hit him.

"I can't believe you're back-"

"Your mouth is as loud and obnoxious as ever, dobe." It had been so long, but teasing the famous idiot of Konoha was still something that came naturally. The desired effect came immediately. Naruto's smile faltered, and he noticed that his fists clenched into fists in front of him, bringing one up threateningly.

"What did you just say-"

"You heard me."

"Damn, hobo bastard-"

"Hobo?" It was Sasuke's turn for his smirk to falter, narrowing his eyes at the blonde. Who the hell was this idiot calling a hobo? Sure, he had not stayed in one single place for the past 7 or so years, but that didn't make him a hobo. If he had to call himself something, he much preferred the term "wanderer" or "nomad." It was much more fitting. The orange-clad shinobi laughed hardily, pointing at his rival.

"You look like a hobo, teme! No girl will go for you now!" Naruto threw his head backwards and cackled. "Sasuke-teme is ugly as hell!"

"Look who's talking," Sasuke let out coldly, regaining his confident smirk yet again when the laughter ceased. "No sensible ninja wears… orange."

"Eh?! I'll have you know that orange is the color of strength! Unlike blue! FUCK BLUE!"

"Your eyes are blue, dumbass. You're still an idiot. Glad to see nothing's changed."

"Idiot?! At least I'm mentally stable!"

"At least my vocabulary is broader."

"Teme…"

"Dobe…"

"A-ano…" Both were almost a foot apart from each other now, unknowingly closing the distance in anticipation of a fight. At the interruption, both heads turned to the girl who now stood on the rooftop with them. Sasuke recognized her as the Hyuuga heiress- Hinata. In the back of his mind he wondered what business Naruto could possibly have with her.

"Ah, gomen, Hinata-chan!" Naruto's smile brightened his face once again, and he stepped away from his longtime rival, scratching the back of his head. Sasuke followed suit and stepped away as well, raising an eyebrow as he glanced between the two. As Naruto walked back towards the blushing girl, Sasuke nodded to Hinata, who granted a warm smile back.

"It's nice to see you again, Sasuke-san." Naruto threw his arm around shorter girl, who smiled up at him and leaned her head on her shoulder. Sasuke's eyebrows raised, surprised.

"Neh, Sasuke-teme, I didn't tell you! Hinata-chan and I are engaged!" Naruto gave him a thumbs up while Hinata's smile only seemed to become bigger. Sasuke noted the ring on her finger, which caught the glow of the sun and shined at him.

"Congratulations, dobe. Though how you got someone to agree to marry you is beyond my understanding," Sasuke smirked, and Naruto's eye twitched. Before he could spit out a comeback, Hinata spoke first, which surprised the Uchiha considering that this woman was a lot different than the shy, quiet kunoichi he remembered from their genin years.

"Would you like to join us for dinner, Sasuke-san? We were just heading to Ichiraku." She inquired, but Sasuke shook his head. It was no surprise that of all things, Naruto would, of course, want ramen.

"Thank you, Hinata-san, but I have things to take care of."

Sasuke turned to leave.

"Sasuke, make sure to see Sakura-chan," Sasuke stopped where he was, his whole body seemingly frozen as felt both the ghost of where his left hand was as well as his remaining hand shake.

"She's been at the hospital for days at a time," he continued, "and I'm sure she would like to see you, instead of hearing about your return from someone else." When Sasuke didn't respond and stood where he was, Naruto sighed.

"Out of anyone who you need to talk to, it should be her." When Sasuke still did not respond, Naruto turned with Hinata. "See ya later, teme. Come find me and we'll spar so I can kick your ass again."

"Hn." With that, Sasuke jumped away, headed towards Konoha hospital.

Naruto watched him go over his shoulder before turning back to his wife-to-be.

"Do you think Sasuke-san will talk to Sakura-chan?" She inquired. Naruto shook his head.

"Out of all the people he has to make amends with, Sakura-chan will be by far the hardest." Naruto stated quietly, pausing to think of his two teammates. "The relationship between those two… Not even they know what it is, I think. It's hard to say what will happen," he grinned, "though I wouldn't mind him ending up in the hospital, being on the side of Sakura-chan's devil punches for the first time."

Hinata giggled at the thought and tugged on her fiancée's arm, "C'mon, Naruto-kun, let's go get some ramen."

A resounding "Yosh!" followed soon after, and the two jumped off of the rooftops and went on their way, where Naruto would eat to his heart's content while the love of his life laughed at her childhood love's antics.

A/N: I thought this was a good place to end this chapter! It seemed natural. Next chapter I may put up next week.

Coming up: Chapter 2 - Apology