Chapter 1 – And so it Begins

It had been two years. Two years since the Fourth Great Ninja War. Not a war between the nations, but rather a war in which the nations came into glorious alliance to fight a great evil. The battle was bloody. Gory. Messy. There were many casualties. Many deaths. And when all seemed bleak, and all hope lost, He saved the day. Uzumaki Naruto, with the Will of Fire, and the spirit of a wild beast, harnessed the Kyuubi's chakra, and used it to defeat Madara. And in the same process, finally put Uchiha Sasuke back into reality. With great force he knocked sense back into the broken prodigy. It wasn't easy though. It took a lot of fighting, a lot of pleading, and a lot of blood, sweat, and sheer strength of will for Naruto to point Sasuke to the path back home.

The two were nearly completely exhausted from battle, each on the brink of fatality. When by some otherworldly circumstance, Sasuke stopped. A long, quiet, and strained stare was shot Naruto's way. Naruto held an expression of aggravation, sadness, and the utmost determination he could muster; he was going to bring this bastard home no matter what the consequences. No one quiet understood what, at that very moment, caused Sasuke to swiftly jump to Naruto's side, and with a single breath muttered "this war is over." Never before had such wave of emotion flood Naruto's soul. It was a mixture of relieve, excitement, joy, happiness, thrill, and anticipation; he had finally got his best friend back. And they were going to kick some serious ass.

And so it ensued; with a little help from a quick medic nin fix, the two joined forces. With their final chakra, and the last of their willpower, they took down Madara once and for all. That is not say, that they had miraculously overcame this feat single handedly. They had the great nations behind their back! And when the smoke finally cleared, there laid Naruto and Sasuke, unconscious, drenched in blood not only theirs, bruised, battered. But content all the same. It was a finally over; a calm expression painted on each of their faces. Mere feet away from their sleeping forms, lay the corpse of Uchiha Madara. Broken masked, his eyes closed slowly as he took his last breath. All the while grinning to himself as he struggled to breathe out his final testament, "The Uchiha name...will be avenged..."

It was a glorious battle; one which the Leaders swore that they would NEVER wish to see again. Yet one that left terrible scars upon the Land and its people. Many were injured in such ways that they would never be able to return to training as a ninja. Others were so mentally scarred by the turn of events that they would never be able to return as a functional member of society. As for Naruto and Sasuke? Naruto was left with nothing that his innate ability to super heal couldn't fix up in a few months. However, having used his Mangekyou in the battle against Madara, Sasuke's eyes were left in an ungodly state of deterioration. Of course, as thanks for helping defeat Madara in spite of running of and being a Missing Nin, it would be nothing a few months, maybe years, of continuous surgery could fix; all thanks to the World's greatest medic nin and Hokage of course. Although he would most certainly return to 100% perfect vision, he would unfortunately have to spend the time till the end of his treatment, as a blind man; having to wear bandages wrapped all around his head and eyes.

And so we return to the current Konoha. Two years had passed; but it would be many more before the city was back to full capacity. A lot of repairs and clean up had to be done; and it sure as hell was going to take a lot of time, money, work, and patience. But there was never a shortage of volunteers; the whole ordeal brought everyone just that little bit closer to one another; for the time being of course. Before you knew it, the nations would go back to their silly squabbles and start messing with one another.

As it were, the once cute and adorable genin 9 had grown up into fine, strong, and talented adults. At the present time, the original Team 7, minus Kakashi, were enjoying the nostalgic taste of Ichiraku Ramen; how it brought back memories of their childhood. Running around, doing D rank missions, and just enjoying being 12 years old. Now, the young adults ate delightfully and enjoyed each other's company.

"Te-hah!" Naruto sounded as he slurped the last bit of the ramen soup, placing the bowl down from his grasp. "Ne-San! Another one!" He urged Ayumi.

"Hai!" She replied with a gleeful smile; Naruto sure could put it away. He was on his 6th bowl so far, and she was sure he room for at least 4 more.

"Naruto! If you keep eating like this, you are going to run out of money!" Sakura scolded him from her seat on his left, with a small scowl upon her brow. Hands on hips, she sighed at the stupid grin he returned to her.

"Daijoubu, daijoubu Sakura-Chan!" He attempted to reassure her, "I've been saving up money a lot this month! Cup ramen is cheap nowadays, so I can afford to eat out like this today!" He said with a glint of excitement as he saw his next bowl placed down in front of him; hot, steaming, and completely enticing.

Sasuke on the other hand, quietly sat on Naruto's right hand side, eating his bowl with eloquent mannerisms. It's what you expected from a well educated child. Lost in his own thoughts, he paid little to the squabbles of the two beside him. After this many years, he was so used to it, that it became nothing more than mere background noise.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun? Don't you agree?"

"Ah." He responded in time. Not even aware of what Sakura was talking about, and not at all caring that much either. He assumed it more than likely had to do with Naruto's poor financial capabilities. Lord knows how many times he and or Sakura had to treat the Dobe to ramen many nights in a row when he was broke.

Sakura's eyes softened; she was all too aware of Sasuke's body language. He was lost in thought and she knew it. It saddened her sometimes to see him like that; all quiet and reserved. More so than usual of course. The events of the past had a severe impact on his relationship with the two. She missed the old Sasuke; but all the same, she was glad to have him back in her life.

At first she was cold to him. During the return to Konoha, and the first few months back, she didn't make it her business to talk to him. Not unless it was truly important. She didn't really show any sort of true hatred or disgust toward him, but simply had a neutral expression or tone when she spoke to him, or about him. It took almost a whole year, but slowly and surely, she acted around Sasuke as she would anyone else. Of course, the one prominent thing that had struck Sasuke's mind; was that Sakura no longer 'fangirled' over him. And for that he was most thankful. He didn't need another Karin. To be honest he found the company of this new, more mature Sakura to be more pleasant.

Naruto on the other hand treated Sasuke as though he had never left. Sasuke may not have showed it, acting his usual 'cool' self and all, but Naruto's constant loud vulgarity, and genuine openness, was something he missed. Being around people like Orochimaru and Madara, he never had anything like what he had back here in Konoha. He had to keep his guard up constantly, never a moment of relax. And no matter what, he had to make sure to keep his emotions down and in check. The only thing he kept in his heart all that time was hatred, and the sheer desire for revenge.

Sakura sighed quietly and turned her frame back toward the counter. She resumed her meal quietly and composed. Naruto titled his head with a "hm?", not entire sure what just happened. He simply shrugged and continued his meal; splashing soup as he messily slurped the noodles up and big gulps. And of course, the multitude of flying soup landed all upon Sakura's skirt, and her general direction.

"Gah! Naruto!" Sakura yelled and with a swift motion, delivered a much needed 'gonk' to Naruto's head with a gloved fist.

"ITTEEE-EEEH!" Naruto responded loudly in kind.

Hidden by his hair, Sasuke let slip the smallest of small smirks.

AUTHOR NOTES

So after a few years I FINALLY get back into writing fanfiction! Sadly, I've decided to discontinue You Remind Me, and Forbidden Love D: In any case, I have a good feeling about this story. Haha, hopefully I won't lose interest ae! XD I'm toooooo lazy to reread my story to check for grammatical or spelling errors, so if you spot any, PLEASE do not hesitate to tell me so in a review :D Reviews help feed my soul and my soul keeps me alive so you should totally review ;D Also let me know if any characters seem OOC in any chapters later on. Nothin' ruins a story than heavily OOC characters. Hopefully I can keep mine in check as best as possible!

Sorry it's such a short chapter _ but I promise to expand to min 3k per chap later on! That is of course if people enjoy this story :P Else I'll have to scrap it! DX