A new life of attonment.

Chapter 1

Sasuke x Sakura

"Well here it is" said one of the Anbu guards escorting Sasuke.

Sasuke froze in shock. His eyes were fixed on the little more than a shack he was going to be calling home. He didn't really expect much but this …

"By the way if you try anything, we'll put you down like a dog" gnarled the other Anbu guard.

"Got it" Sasuke calmly replied.

Yeah right he was thinking to himself as he stepped into his dwelling, making his first impressions of the interior of the building. His house consisted of three rooms. A main room which he also had to use as a kitchen. It contained little more than stove, a fridge (which was empty), a small table and a chair. The bathroom which surprisingly contained a bath along with the necessary shower sink and toilet; although Sasuke questioned if any of this contained hot water. Moving on to the bedroom, no surprises here a bed. It looked like it was made out of feathers Sasuke was half expecting to fall through it when he laid down.

He was amazed, not only did he not fall through the bed but it was comfortable. It allowed him to enter deep thought as he did not have to worry about being impaled by spikes coming up from the mattress.

Looks like I'm going hungry tonight. I don't receive any money until I complete tomorrows mission, which of course will be D ranked offering me little money for the basics like food. I need to prove my loyalty to the village and fast so I can advance from doing poorly paid missions and keep this sorry excuse for a roof over my head.

He was hastily awakened from his thoughts when he heard a loud banging on the door. He got up to 'greet' the uninvited guest but when he opened the door he was ambushed by a certain blonde ninja shouting "SASKUE!" as he hugged him to the point he could barely breath.

"Naruto" was his response in a very unimpressed manner, disguising his relief. So far he has been the only person to not glare daggers at him since he returned to the village.

Naruto let goof Sasuke giving him a chance to breathe. "How have you been" he enquired. "I'm so glad your back"

"Better" he coldly replied

"It's time to get something to eat, i'll buy you some ramen" the blonde ninja happily shouted.

Sasuke's face lit up at the thought he was very hungry and he he knew he probably would not be able to eat tomorrow morning either. He then gave a gentle nod to show that he agreed. However before they could leave there was one thing Sasuke needed to ask before leaving.

"Why are you being so nice to me? The last time we met, I tried to kill you"

"Because everyone deserves a second chance" Naruto turned around and grinned. "Now that ramen" using his hands to signal him to follow him.

On the journey there as expected Naruto could not stop talking. Somewhere on the way he mentioned that all of the previous genin's have now became jonin level. He passively listened, he was more concerned with observing his surrondings. The sky was a crimson red as the sun was starting to fade away, leaving the perfect atmosphere for a reunion with perhaps the one person who did not see him as a threat.

As they began eating away Naruto forcfully suggested "You should meet Sakura afterwards I'm sure she's missed you" Sasuke knew from the stare in Naruto's eyes that he was not going to take no for an answer and dared not refuse

"Sakura, has she changed much since I've left"

"She's more mature now and she's dating Neji, the little Jerk"

"Well sure I suppose I should meet her, being a member of team 7"

"Great!" Naruto screamed sounding a little to over excited notifiying everyone across the street of their presence. This was the last thing Sasuke needed, more people staring at him.

As they left and headed towards Sakura's apartment it was noticably darker. The moon was now out shining and the stars sparkling brightly ahead as the drew nearer to her apartment. There was a cool breeze which slightly blew out Sasuke's robe and blew his hair gracefully as he walked through the streets alongside Naruto in a realtivly comfortable silence.

As they arrived right outside her apartment Sasuke in an almost jokingly voice asked Naruto "how do you think she'll react to me after I tried to kill her"

"Lets find out" he muttered sounding unsure of himself as he was knocking on her door.

The door opened revealing a pink kunoichi. She was clearly shocked to see Sasuke has she immediately swallowed upon meeting her gaze. She clearly was not happy to see him as Naruto initially told him over dinner.

Sakura then looked at straight at Naruto who was sheepishly grinning at him. Sakura looked furious at him with a stare powerful enough to inflict fear even to the calmest of people.

Naruto went on to explain himself stuttering as he spoke "I thought it would be a great idea... if the whole of... team 7 got back together again." He struggled to finish his sentence.

Sakura calmed her self down and spoke "come on in both of you"

They both headed in through into the main room, Sakura continued "please make yourselves comftorble I'll" go make some tea in an akward sounding voice; she briefly glanced at Sasuke in untrusting way. She was about to make them drinks until they were interupted by a key turning throught the lock with Neji storming through the door.

He proceeded through until he reached Sakura; he wrapped his arms around her waist.

For some reason this just bugged Sasuke...

To be continued.

This is my first fanfiction so I would really appreciate feedback and comments.