Threads That Can't Be Picked Up

by Kizna-Kitty

Team 7 has been separated for two and a half years. After all that time, the three will finally be reunited. But the reunion isn’t a happy one, and neither are the events that follow. Can the three former friends pick up the threads of their old life?

1. Prison Cell Reunion

Threads That Can't Be Picked Up

Kizna: Hi! Well, this is my first Naruto fanfic. So pretty please with coffee on top read and review. It's only rated T just in case.

Note: Of course I don't own Naruto. If I did, I would be focusing on how to kill Sasuke instead of writing this fanfic. I can dream, can't I?

Warning: Spoilers from after time skip (meaning after and around Chapter 245), including the incident with the Akatsuki and Gaara (later on). I'm going to purposely keep some things the way they are in the series because I like it. But I'll change more, trust me. So don't get confused if it hop-skips around a bit.

Summary: Team 7 has been separated for two and a half years. After all that time, the three will finally be reunited. But the reunion isn't a happy one, and neither are the events that follow. Can the three once-friends pick up the threads of their old life?

I really suck at summaries, so please just read. Pairings will probably be NarutoXSakura and several smaller ones. For the love of all things Naruto and coffee-ish, PLEASE REVIEW!

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"Sakura?"

The pink-haired kunoichi looked up, staring hard into her former teammate's face. He had become so much more like his older brother, taller, his hair longer, his face gaunt and deep lines etched under his eyes. Now he lay on the floor of the dank cell, a row of cold steel bars separating the two.

He stared back into her brittle emerald eyes, and momentarily Sasuke imagined he had glimpsed some softness in her eyes. Some love left over for him. But now, that moment passed and her eyes resumed their distant and somewhat cold stare.

Sasuke had to admit, she had gotten prettier over the past two and a half years. And stronger, an aching pain in his leg reminded him. That was how he had been captured, he had underestimated her. She was no longer the weakling that annoyed the hell out of him.

Flashback

"Sasuke-san, is this a good idea?"

"Leiko, I did not ask for your opinion. I don't even need you here," Sasuke responded sharply to his subordinate. It was true, since they were just useless baggage to him. Orochimaru would no doubt punish Sasuke harshly if he had found out he had disobeyed orders and come near the Leaf. These two had followed, hoping to assist in some way.

Leiko was no more than two or three years older than him, her black hair matching her almost black eyes. She wore the dark flak jacket of the Sound, which along with her features contrasted sharply with her pale skin. Despite her age, she was one of the more experienced shinobi in the Sound, clever and agile. Her arms contained the same kind of air vents her former comrade Zaku's arms had contained.

Jundai, on the other had, was a husky, middle-aged shinobi garbed in a basic sound soldier outfit. His brown hair was graying at the temples, and there were very visible wrinkles lining his eyes and mouth. He was an average-strength shinobi, though more than a bit dim-witted, his power coming from his immense size and muscle mass.

Suddenly Leiko stiffened, backing towards Sasuke and motioning Jundai to do the same, so they would be protecting him from two sides. A sudden flurry of kunai confirmed Leiko's suspicions, and the trio dodged easily.

Leiko raised her hands toward the source of the attack and yelled "Zankyokukuuha!" Instantly a massive gust of air pressure erupted from the vents, directed at the enemy. The powerful attack mangled the trees, leaving either naked trunks or broken stumps in a roughly 10 meter path. But the attack had achieved its goal, exposing their enemy. The attackers stood in the midst of broken forest, the three none other than Kiba, with Akamaru of course, Tenten, and Sakura of the Leaf.

There was a moment of tense silence, quickly broken when Jundai let out a grunt and charged haphazardly for Kiba, while Leiko simultaneously launched a kick toward Tenten. Both leaf-nins dodged the attacks, though it was clear that Tenten's opponent was more skilled.

"Zankuuha!" As soon as the sound kunoichi had done the seals and shouted this phrase, a burst of pressure weaker than the previous one shot toward Tenten, the weapons expert stumbling back a few feet by the force. She pulled out a small scroll and unrolled it with a flick of her wrist, producing a long, sharp two-sided blade and threw it before Leiko could react. It missed her by mere millimeters, flying past the sound-kunoichi's ear.

"Look's like you missed," Leiko taunted with a smirk.

"Look again."

Leiko whipped around to see the blade had indeed hit a mark, now embedded deeply in Jundai's back. The older sound-nin gave a shudder before collapsing in a limp heap. Kiba looked surprised for a moment, though his expression changed to eager happiness as he and Akamaru launched an attack on Leiko.

Meanwhile, Sakura faced her black-haired former teammate. An awkward silence hovered around them for a few moments.

"Sasuke," Sakura stated firmly, breaking the silence. "Come back with us."

Sasuke started laughing, laughing in an insane way he hadn't before. Abruptly stopping, he smirked at Sakura. "I will never come back with you. And there isn't anything you can do to convince me."

"Come back with us or I'll kill you."

This comment evoked a malicious smirk from Sasuke. "Are you serious? Sakura, I promise you that you can't even scratch me."

"You're wrong," Sakura said, slipping on her gloves. It looked like force would be needed.

"Fine. I'll be nice. I'll give you one free hit," Sasuke said. "Then I'll kill you."

"Chakra no Mesu!" With this said, Sakura's hands started glowing a smoky blue. Sasuke stood there confidently. She can't do ANYTHING to hurt me, Sasuke thought while deactivating his sharingan.

"Stupid move," Sakura hissed, shooting toward Sasuke at a fast speed. She placed both her hands on Sasuke's left leg momentarily before retreating a few steps.

Sasuke stared at her, his eyes a mixture of pity and arrogance. "I told you," he said matter-of-factly. "You can't even lay a scratch on me." He stepped forward and instantly collapsed, shock written all over his face. "W-what happened?" he exclaimed angrily.

Sakura held up a hand, the glowing subsiding. "Chakra no Mesu. You should've known what it was. Tsunade-sensei tells me that one of your comrades uses it."

It was then Sasuke remembered seeing Kabuto use the chakra scalpel once before. Shit! Why didn't I see that? He tried standing, but to no avail. And he knew no healing jutsus, which were one of his weakest points. To put it lightly, he was screwed.

Sakura moved toward him again, this time hitting him on the forehead with two fingers. All the raven-haired missing nin could feel was mind-numbing pain before blacking out.

End Flashback

He tried to stand, but fell down again, cursing under his breath.

"Your left femur bone is still fractured. You can't stand up."

"Where's Naruto?"

A wave of frustration and sadness swept over Sakura, quickly replaced by anger. He wakes up and the first actual thing he does is ask for Naruto? "The girl you were with is here, but she's in critical condition. The man is dead, unfortunately for you," Sakura said calmly, as if Sasuke's question had been about the welfare of his teammates.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke said again, this time more urgently.

"Your current teammate is DEAD!" Sakura shouted, the dam that had been holding back her anger breaking. "And all you do is ask for the teammate you betrayed?"

"WHERE'S NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled at the top of his voice.

Sakura calmed down, her anger ebbing, replaced by sadness. "He's not in Konoha. He left shortly after you," she said solemnly.

"And you didn't send ANBU or shinobis after him?" Sasuke asked spitefully.

"Naruto left to train with Jiraiya-sannin," Sakura shot back. "He had permission from the village."

"I left to train with Orochimaru, who's also a sannin. What's wrong with what I did?"

"You didn't have permission to."

"As if I could ask. Do you seriously think ANYONE in the village would allow me to go and train with a missing nin?" Sasuke asked.

Silence followed. Sakura felt like her heart was being torn into pieces. Here was the person she had wanted to see so badly, to be with him again. And here she was, barely resisting the urge to beat him into a bloody pulp.

"So I guess another guy left you, eh? Not very popular, are you?" Sasuke asked mockingly.

Sakura shot him an icy glare. She couldn't resist punching him any longer, so she silently exited the prison without so much as another look toward Sasuke.

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Kizna: So, how did you like it? Please review! Please! Or I'll cry. I'm kidding, I won't, but it would be extremely appreciated if I did get reviews. I want to get like one or two (I have extremely low standards) before continuing to the next chappie. And in the reviews please tell me how I can improve!

Sorry if you're annoyed by the jutsu names being in Japanese. If you don't understand;

Chakra no Mesu: Chakra Scalpel

Zankuuha: Decapitating Airwaves

Zankyokukuuha- Extreme Decapitating Air Wave

Zankyokukuuha - Extreme Decapitating Air Waves