cħąpŧεя ợиε : sŧяąиġεя
sυммąяy: [SAKUSASUINO] Where else could he go now? No where else. So, Sasuke Uchiha set off, stained with his brother's blood, towards his old home. Konahagakure.
яąŧε₫: M+ [Mature Only]
ωąяиıиġ: Other pairings, minor and not minor, sex, drinking, drunk people, cat fights, drama, and violence.
đıscℓąıмεя: I know this will depress you all greatly, but I do not own Naruto.
Wind whipped through the lush, soft grass, and swayed the dark shapes and shadows of trees, making them whisper in the black night sky. Tired blood red eyes slowly morphed into exhausted onyx ones as the lean silhouette of a male slumped down against a cherry blossom tree. The dark eyes studied a limp, cloaked body lying uselessly on the earthy grass, covered in blood. Itachi Uchiha was officially dead. Now the dark-eyed male wiped a bloody hand, stained with his brother's blood, against his sweaty forehead. A light breeze blew against his raven-colored hair; it felt nice as it glided past his skin, hot and sweaty with the effort of murder. Something soft and delicate-feeling slid into his hand, which was laid out open against the ground. Curious of what had blown directly into his hand, Sasuke looked down to see none other than a cherry blossom, fully bloomed and beautiful as ever. Sakura. It was the first thing that had immediately drifted into his mind when he had realized a cherry blossom had slid into his hand—her name. What does she look like now? Sasuke wondered to himself. Now, the two of them were nineteen, and the last time he had seen her was when she was fifteen; it had been four years. The remaining Uchiha closed his eyes now, remembering her flawless porcelain skin, her mesmerizing aqua eyes, and her delicate pink hair. So many questions about Sakura Haruno now filled his head. Was she still fond of him? Had she gotten stronger? Has she grown her hair out? Was she still wearing red as her main color? Sasuke sighed, irritated with himself. It shouldn't matter what Sakura was like now, though he was morbidly curious—about her and Naruto. No doubt Naruto had gotten stronger; he always had when Sasuke used to see him. Now another strong gust of wind blew past him, and with it, it carried away Sasuke's questions and thoughts of his ex-teammates and ex-best friends.
His eyelids felt heavy, and a long, tired yawn escaped from Sasuke's mouth. He shifted around until he was comfortably lying down, though the tree stump Sasuke used as a pillow was not exactly pleasant. Sasuke just shrugged it off—for tonight, he would just have to live with it. Now his heartless black eyes stared up at the jet black sky, covered with glimmering, twinkling stars. From Earth, the stars looked cold and cruel as they twinkled down upon Sasuke that night. He took in a deep, relaxing breath and let his eyelids cover his dark, mysterious orbs of coal as sleep took him for the night.
Icy wind whipped against Sasuke's already chilled, damp face, waking up as the sun just barely peaked over the horizon. His clothes were damp as well—it must have drizzled a little while Sasuke had slept. A feeling of confusion swept over the pale-skinned Uchiha as he saw the many bloodstains, weapons, and indentions in the ground from last night's battle with Itachi, but his body was gone. Had the Akatsuki come to see how the battle had gone, seen that Itachi was obviously dead, seen the bloodstains all over Sasuke, and had declared him for dead as well? Sasuke just shrugged it off; he honestly didn't care what happened to Itachi's body. Now his eyes traveled to the sunrise—a beautiful mix of blues, purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows all up against a dull, dark blue sky with the icy stars still glowing in the gloomy early morning sky. The dark-eyed man wasn't admiring the sunrise though; he was contemplating where he would go now. Konaha? He suggested to himself. No, He quickly, firmly decided. But where else could he go now? Orochimaru was dead—so now he could go nowhere else. It was decided then—Konahagakure. Stiffly he stood up, using the tree for support, and Sasuke darted off immediately, stained with his brother's blood, towards his old home. Konahagakure.
A long while had passed—Sasuke had started at sunrise, and it was now sunset. He had kept going, and had not stopped at anything, though his eyes were tired, his feet were aching, his stomach was growling, and he had to take a piss. Sasuke ignored it though, his perfect, pale face remained robotic, and his dark eyes remained cold—nothing about his strong, fast strides gave away any sign of being tired or uncomfortable. Suddenly he stopped gracefully and silently on a strong tree branch. He narrowed his eyes, and concealed his chakra flow altogether. Four people...are thirty meters away. (Thirty meters are ninety-eight feet.) He could tell two of them were either tourists or ninja checking into Konaha, while the other two were on duty at the gate. Slowly Sasuke began moving forward again, but at a slower rate, until the two others had long since gotten into Konaha. Now only less than fourteen meters, (forty-five feet) Sasuke slowed even more, and became very stealthy. He cautiously crept down the wide path until he was less than three meters (nine feet) away from the gates. Then Sasuke casually began walking down the dirt path, being less stealthy and noisier to be sure the people at the front gate weren't surprised, or thought that he was attacking.
When Sasuke entered the clearing, both at the check-in desk were dark-haired men, and both had their eyes closed in a welcoming smile to him—obviously they hadn't seen him yet. "Hello, welcome to—" That's when they opened their eyes. "You're…Sasuke Uchiha," He noted, his tone thick with surprise, though his eyes were guarded, and Sasuke could tell the men were ready for an attack. "Code five-oh-one!"
Immediately, the man beside him used a transportation jutsu and ended up right behind Sasuke—just as he thought. Sasuke easily could have avoided the man even being behind him, and both knew that, but he didn't, because he wanted to live back in Konaha again—permanently. He allowed the man to knock him down, and tie up his hands in the back. The man, a dark-haired man, with greenish-brown eyes and light skin, moved him along throughout the entire town. Everywhere, pedestrians, most he didn't know or remember, stopped and stared at him as he passed by. There wasn't anger, fear, or outrage in any of their eyes—just respect and genuine excitement and surprise.
Finally, they had entered the Hokage Towers, and were walking down the long, intricately decorated hallway towards the end—where the Hokage waited. The walk was too short for Sasuke, because he had figured that he would be sentenced to jail. Now the dark-haired, hazel-eyed man knocked on the door, and as they waited, a beautiful voice could be heard—obviously female. Her words were muffled, but just by her voice, Sasuke could tell she was pretty. "Come in!" A louder, harsher voice, though it was also obviously female, called. Then Sasuke calmly opened the door. Immediately his eyes took in a woman with chocolate brown eyes, two blond ponytails, a revealing shirt, and lip gloss-coated lips. This was Konaha's new Hokage? She gave Sasuke a hard stare. "Arigato, Isamu." The man that had escorted Sasuke, Isamu, left quietly and shut the door behind him. "Sasuke Uchiha," The woman noted, her voice welcoming, though her eyes were fierce. "Please, take a seat beside my apprentice." Silently, he obeyed, without casting a glance in the girl's direction. "I suppose you shouldn't know me, since you left before I became Hokage, correct?" Emotionless, he nodded once. "Alright, well I'm Tsunade, and you have already met my apprentice."
It was only now Sasuke turned to look at the woman sitting in the chair beside him. Her aqua eyes were icy, and stared blankly out of the window. Her hair was pin-straight, and very unusual. The top part was a rosette pink, and the bottom was a light platinum blond, and she had her bangs shoved to one side. The woman's all-black, tight, revealing, ridiculously short outfit—black short-shorts, a revealing black tank-top, black knee-high sandals, and black gloves—accented her hair, eyes, and pale skin, and oddly enough, he could smell a calming scent of vanilla and strawberries coming off of her. The woman was familiar—she reminded Sasuke so much of someone, but he couldn't begin to remember who. He slowly tore his gaze away from the beautiful woman and nodded towards Tsunade, though he really had no idea of who it was. "Alright, you are dismissed," She said in a gentle tone, her attention towards the pink-and-blond haired girl.
The girl smiled a breathtaking smile, lighting up her entire face. She nodded towards her mentor. "Arigato, Tsunade-sama," she said in a delicate voice—she was the girl Sasuke had been hearing earlier outside. "Sayonara," She added as she gently closed the door.
"Alright Uchiha," Tsunade began, her voice icy suddenly, "why have you come back?"
Sasuke smirked; she would have to let him off the hook since he had killed some of Konaha's biggest threats. "I killed Orochimaru, Kabuto, Itachi, and Kisame." He paused for a minute, to let Tsunade absorb that fact, and then continued, "Then I decided to come back to Konaha, because I had nowhere else."
Tsunade was in all honesty surprised. She was expecting only Orochimaru and Itachi, not their partners too. At first she had planned to give him a fifteen-year sentence still. Now, with him killing four people, that matter changed everything. Tsunade was stumped at what to do for a punishment. "Alright then, Sasuke," She began calmly. "That takes life in prison, and the death penalty off the table. But, you're still liable to go to jail, in my book. You've had to have given out valuable information to our enemies."
The dark-haired man simply nodded in agreement. "I have," He admitted honestly, "but, only to Orochimaru, and I killed him, then I went through all of his files, and destroyed the information about Konaha I gave him."
"It's probably gotten spread around though," She pointed out.
"He kept it to himself," Sasuke shot back coolly, "because he needed it to make a plan to destroy the village, and he didn't want others getting hold of the information, and destroying his chance."
Tsunade nodded, beginning to give in. "But some of his most-trusted ninja and workers, still alive, must know of it."
Her response made Sasuke think for a minute, and then he remembered, "His most-trusted ninja, the sound five, were all killed in the first retrieval mission the Leaf assigned. Then, his most trusted workers were Kabuto, Karin, and me. Kabuto was killed, and Karin knows none of the incriminating information."
She smirked, and Sasuke knew she would win now. "She knows information, though." Tsunade noted pointedly. "Information she could tell others."
"I could easily go back and kill her." Sasuke offered.
Tsunade chuckled a little. "That's not necessary, now anyways; let's get back on topic please." She paused, thinking of where they had left off before the argument had started. "Anyways, your sentence will be lighter than it normally would have been, but most likely you will still be going to jail for quite a while unless," She paused for a climax, "you answer every question honestly, and describe everything interrogators ask you to truthfully. In the meantime, you will be training with your old teammates until we find you another group."
"Another group?" Sasuke echoed emotionlessly. He liked his old squad, no matter how annoying his teammates were. Sasuke trusted that they had changed drastically. "Why can't I stay with my old one?"
"Well…you're still a Genin," Tsunade explained, a little amused, "while the others are in Jounin, ANBU, and Sakura is a genius in medical fields at the hospital." Sasuke scowled. "Don't worry, Sasuke—the Chuunin exams are soon." She smiled widely, "Naruto is still a Genin, too. I'll make sure you both are in the same group." That made Sasuke chuckle—Naruto had all this time to become a Chuunin, he actually should have the first time, but he never did. That was golden, and certainly something to annoy him with. "Alright, well for now you'll be staying with Naruto in his apartment. I'll have him notified immediately. "Arigato, Sasuke," She finally said as a dismissal, "sayonara."
Sasuke bowed a little as he stood up out of the chair. "Arigato, Tsunade," With that, he fluidly exited the room, and quickly escaped from the building only to realize it was nighttime, and the sun was almost completely set. How long had he spent with the Hokage? He sighed, and still remembered the village perfectly, so there was no point in just standing. He casually began walking around the streets of Konaha, towards Naruto's apartment complex, getting looks from pedestrians.
"Sasuke-kun?" A soft voice, obviously female, asked in surprise. He turned, curious to see who it was, though he had an idea that it might have been Sakura. No, it was a woman, with short, soft-looking platinum blond hair, and bright crystal blue eyes, even lighter than Naruto's. The woman's skin was fair, and she was wearing a short, white pharmaceutical uniform. Immediately Sasuke realized this woman was Ino Yamanaka—a fangirl worse than Sakura had been. Sakura was tolerable, and at times cute, but Ino had just been like a stalker. To his intent surprise, Ino smacked him in the jaw, tripped him, and then rammed him in the stomach once he was down. Then, without even telling him why she had done it, Ino simply walked away in a casual manner, just as she had walked up to him.
What had shocked him most though was that she had actually hurt him. Sasuke had always thought of Ino as pretty, bitchy, and occasionally slutty, but certainly never strong. He knew that she was weak. Weaker than Sakura, but that would certainly not be the case now, would it? Now, he limped towards Naruto's apartment complex, and just as the sky darkened up completely, he knocked against Naruto's door. Two seconds went by, and the door swung open. "Sasuke!" He greeted, grinning widely.
Naruto had changed a lot, as well as Ino. Naruto was taller than Sasuke now, and Naruto had grown his hair out into a shaggy style, rather than spiked. His outfit hadn't changed much though. Its main colors were still orange and black, but now he was wearing a plain black t-shirt, with bright orange pants that had interesting splatters of black on them. Eagerly, Naruto pulled him into his messy apartment, and tackled him with a hug that had the intentions of killing. "How does it feel to be my new roommate, Teme?" He asked with another ridiculously wide grin.
"What's new, Dobe?" Sasuke asked him casually, ignoring Naruto's question. "Enjoy being a Genin?"
That made Naruto growl, irritated by Sasuke already. "Hey, you're still a Genin too, and I'm going to become Chuunin five times faster than you ever will!" Sasuke just snickered. "Come on, bring it on, Sasuke! You don't scare me!"
"I should scare you, Dobe." He shot back smoothly, giving him a smirk.
"No you shouldn't, because I'm way better than you ever will be!"
"Sure, sure," Sasuke noted dismissively, "you just keep telling yourself that."
"Hey!"
Sasuke felt his stomach growl loudly, loud enough to where Naruto could even hear it. "Do you have any tomatoes around?" He asked curiously. "I haven't eaten I days."
"No," Naruto replied with a grin, "but I'm gonna treat you to the best place in town—besides the ramen shop! Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan are going to be there, too. To reunite the team."
Unsure onyx clashed with animated azure eyes, which slowly faded to where they looked defensive, angry, even. "Sakura-chan's changed," Naruto all but growled. Sasuke's face remained impassive, but secretly his mind was buzzing around in surprise. How did Naruto, the idiot of Squad Seven, figure out he was hesitant to go because of Sakura? "She doesn't like you at all, actually." He added, surprisingly icily for him.
Sasuke just shrugged it off. He didn't care about Sakura's feelings towards him, and actually didn't even want to know about them. In fact, Sasuke just wished the two hadn't met period. "Good," He replied in his usual tone, "but that's not why I didn't want to go."
"Why, then?"
"Have you even seen how dark it is outside? It's probably nearing morning again already." Sasuke noted pointedly, but Naruto just shrugged it off. "I'm not even in the mood to eat out. I just want some tomatoes." This made his roommate roar with laughter, and slowly the laughter faded as Naruto stubbornly began dragging Sasuke out of his apartment, towards the nicest, most elegant restaurant he could afford in Konaha.
The journey to the restaurant was endless for Sasuke; he just wanted to rest at Naruto's apartment in all honesty. Obviously Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura had planned just the opposite. "Ah, Sasuke," A husky, familiar voice noted fondly, "I'm glad to see you again after all these years."
Sasuke smirked as he spun around to face his former trainer. "Kakashi," He noted with a bit of surprise, "you're on time."
The Jounin nodded, and smiled beneath his mask—unfortunately, he still wore it, but now Sasuke realized with surprise that he would be able to see what his face looked like tonight when he ate. "I'm usually the one on time now—Sakura's always the one that's late." Sasuke of course hid it easily, and well, but he suppressed a scoffing snicker. Beauty queen doing her hair? "Even I don't have a schedule as rough as hers." Kakashi continued.
Silent, Sasuke watched as Naruto solemnly nodded in agreement. "I can't believe Tsunade-baachan does that to her. We hardly spend any time together anymore!"
"Talking about me behind my back again?" A teasing voice, an exact copy of the beautiful one Sasuke had heard at the Hokage Tower in Tsunade's office, asked. Then straight from nowhere, a blinding light cut through the intense darkness—other than the street lights—and was gone in a millisecond, replaced by the platinum blond-and-rosette Sasuke had seen earlier, except an ANBU mask covered her face now. "Sorry I'm late," She began to explain, gingerly taking off her mask and sliding it into an expensive-looking black bag she wore on her arm. "Tsunade-sama sent me out on an emergency mission."
Cold eyes clashed together in that moment. Her piercing gaze affected even him, Sasuke Uchiha. "Sakura-chan, what was the mission?" Then, her negative attention placed on him evaporated at Naruto's question, and was replaced by positive emotion.
"A Hyuuga was killed; we had to destroy the evidence," Sakura explained vaguely. Naruto drew in a breath to ask more questions, but Sakura just gave a tiny smile, and put her index finger up to her mouth. "Classified information," She noted, which caused Naruto to sigh.
"Do you ever get sent on a mission that isn't so important the information is classified?" Naruto asked bitterly. Sakura just laughed lightly, a laugh of an angel singing, and smiled.
Then one hand gently flew down to her stomach, which growled loud enough the entire group could hear it. "Let's get inside—I haven't eaten all day." Kakashi nodded calmly, and lead the way in, with Naruto and Sakura following a little ways behind, but each were side by side. Suddenly feeling awkward, Sasuke slid in quietly behind all the others. Finally, when he entered through, Sakura was already talking to the waitress up front in a friendly manner, and almost immediately the woman nodded, grabbed four of the shiniest menus there, and began to lead them to an extravagant booth.
"Doctor Haruno!" A loud, urgent voice called throughout the restaurant now, interrupting the other three's conversation about something or other—Sasuke wasn't involved in any of the conversations—and causing them to all direct their attention to a weary-looking, dark haired woman with her eyes wide, her face with a nervous expression upon it, and her hair frazzled. Immediately, Sakura stood up to greet the woman who had called her. "Doctor," She sighed in relief, though her tone was still urgent, "the Kazekage and his siblings arrived in Konahagakure just a moment ago." The tiny woman paused to gasp in air, "They arrived because none of their doctors in Suna could treat Kazekage-sama. He requested you as his doctor for Konaha."
He watched intently as Sakura simply nodded at the woman's urgent message. "Arigato, Akira-san," She responded politely, "Let's hurry back then." The small frail woman, Akira, nodded at Sakura's calm instructions, and the two sprinted off, Sakura obviously ahead, towards the Konaha Medical Emergency Center.
Silence surrounded the group, everyone, Sasuke included were lost in their thoughts. So, the stranger of "Tsunade's apprentice" was solved. Sasuke now knew that the apprentice had been Sakura Haruno, kunouchi of the Leaf.
Comment if you love me.:)
I know it wasn't much of a chapter romance-wise, but it's progressive. There will definitely be more romance in the next chapter, so just be patient and read on. AND COMMENT PLZ. I'll love you forever if you comment me.
Sorry about the characters being a little OOC. Especially Sasuke, I think.:/ I'll work on that in the next chapter.
~lUN!T!C