Right, so here I am again, with a new fanfiction, which somehow popped into my head whilst I was listening to a song. If you want you can head off and listen to it if you'd like. It's called 'slow dance' by Framing Hanley, and you'll see where the song fits into this story I came up with.
Since I have literally JUST finished typing and sorting it all out, I'll probably come back and sort out any bits I feel are iffy or off.
Anyways, I've actually got most of the chapters sorted, (as in I know where I'm going with it), so I hope you enjoy this fanfiction story!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, THE SONG, OR ANYTHING COMMERCIALISED IN THIS STORY.
Read, Review, and Enjoy!
-Slow Dance-
"Gather around! Come on now!" Tsunade's voice hollers, her voice filled with an air of authority, and also of annoyance.
"I said gather around!" She repeats. She really was at the end of her tether, anymore and she would explode like a ticking time bomb.
Her brown eyes glower in annoyance, and at last, the look from their hokage settled the group around her. She smiles and sniffs in triumph, looking purposefully at every single face she could detect in the group.
"Now, you may be wondering why I've gathered you all here..." She says, the whispers had died down into utter silence, and all eyes were on her, standing out in the breezy day of spring. It was mid-spring, and the sky was blue, a few fluffy clouds floating above their heads.
"I do realise some of you have been taken off missions to be stood here" she continues, ignoring a few groans in show of their own annoyance.
"But it is of the utmost importance that you all be here, it is not of my own request, but of the village elders" another small groan and a few mumbles resounds after her words take effect.
"They have requested that we organise something more traditional and exquisite for the cherry blossom celebrations during summer" to this, there was simply silence. Stunned or curious, tsunade couldn't tell. She looks at the faces in front of her, knowing them all so well...before continuing.
"The elders felt that the villagers were putting far too much effort into the preparations, and due to that and many other reasons, they also felt it was high time the shinobi of this village took part in village celebrations..."
Her brown orbs detect a few shuffles as her words sink in, the shinobi in front of her seeming to become restless at the slight mention of unorthodox work.
"They also came up with the idea, along with help from Konoha's history, to hold a cherry blossom ball, which has historically not been held in konoha for nearly 500 years" She refuses to observe the shinobi infront of her again, simply continuing to read off of her small scroll instead.
"It is a traditional ball, and the elders have made the decision to include a ceremonial dance, of which konoha's shinobi will be required to take part in..."
She hurriedly finishes off the last part, knowing what is about to come.
"There are no excuses, ALL KONOHA SHINOBI MUST, I repeat MUST participate"
And with her last statement, the shinobi around her burst into different reactions, most of them saying things about the elders and the outrageousness. She sighs as they all try and get their opinions heard.
"All of you, shut up!" She growls, and immediately, silence consumes the previous roar of shinobi, unhappy with the current situation.
"Now, if you have a question, I suggest you be quiet and wait your turn", her words dictating and still annoyed.
She points towards a boy in the front, with black hair in a ponytail, Shikamaru Nara, and she speaks up, "what is your question?".
He shuffles a bit, before looking rather bored with the whole matter, "how are we expected to do a dance when pretty much none of us have ever done so before? Shinobi don't dance, its troublesome"
"Don't be silly, Nara. Anyone and everyone can dance. However, since you've brought it up, all konoha shinobi will be taught how to dance the traditional ball dance" Tsunade replies.
At this point her eye catches sight of Ino Yamanaka standing a few people back in the crowd, raising her hand, albeit a little impatiently, but still.
"Yes, Yamanaka?"
"If its a traditional thing, what are we going to wear?" She asks, and the males in the crowd groan.
"You will be supplied with the dress for the dance, however you will all need to comply with the elder's choices on dress code"
"And what is that code?" Someone else's voice pipes up, Kiba. He was looking slightly overwhelmed, akamaru running around his feet in a confused manner.
"Males must wear traditional clothing, females must do so also. You can find myself and any senior shinobi for help with that" she replies again. Some of the others in the group had silenced a little, simply listening to the answers given.
"Will we be paid Granny Tsunade?!" Comes a boyant loud voice.
A vein pops in tsunade's forehead and her eye begins to twitch a little, staring at the blonde at the corner of the group.
"Naruto, shut up"
She says simply, ignoring his cheeky smile, rubbing the back of his head with his hand, looking a little sheepish now.
"It seems we are done here, if you need anything at all, you can visit me in my office later. However you are free to return to missions" she pauses, looking at them each in turn.
"Your training for the ball will begin tomorrow, you are all required to meet at the training grounds at 9am sharp" she waits for the information to seep into their heads, "do I make myself clear?"
A resounding "yes" comes from the shinobi students in front of her. She smiles in triumph and strides away from the area, heading back to the comfort of her office...away from the mini headaches threatening to burst her brain.
"This is going to be so much work..." Shikamaru sighs, immediately flopping onto the floor after Tsunade had left the area, he props his head up with his arms, sighing deeply again.
"But we get to wear cute outfits!" Ino retorts, her blue eyes wide with some form of excitement. Shikamaru sighs for a third time.
"And how do you know they'll be 'cute'" Choji replies to the blonde, and she stares at him incredulously.
"I'm pretty sure they won't give us ugly things" she replies, insisting she was right.
"This is the elder's we're talking about here..." Shikamaru replies, covering his face with an arm. Ino plops down beside him.
"Do you really think we'll get paid for it?"
"Naruto, please, shut up about that now, you know we won't"
"Awwwh but Sakura!" The blonde said to the pinkette, and she just simply looks at him.
"We have more important things to worry about" she interrupts him, looking back towards the main village, then at the konoha 12 around her.
"That reminds me, has tsunade decided what she's going to do with him?" Kiba pipes up, ignoring the looks he gets from both hinata and ino.
Sakura pauses, unsure how to respond. She didn't really expect anyone to say anything about it at all. Naruto stiffens by her side.
"Tsunade spoke to me earlier, and she said it was not entirely her decision, the elders play a part and so does the interrogation process" Sakura replies. Her voice, she noticed, hadn't sounded like her own. It almost sounded alien when the words had come out of her mouth.
Her green eyes travel back to the hokage tower, her mind wondering down into the depths of the holding chambers. She hadn't been down there for nearly 3 weeks and she wasn't sure why.
Well, she was, but she wouldn't let any of her friends know why she had persistently refused to go. Naruto had been a couple of times, with others and also alone.
Slowly, she looks back towards her close team mate, his blue orbs were watching her closely, as if trying to decipher her facial expressions, but she fought back, her expression plain.
"I think maybe we should go and talk to Tsunade, it can't take the elder's this long to decide", her voice wasn't shaky, it was more determined than anything.
Naruto nods, sighing a little. The others had been caught up in their own little conversations, and most did not notice the two team mates slip away from the group, heading off for the hokage tower.
It had been 3 years, over 1000 days since Sasuke Uchiha had left konoha seeking power and vengeance for his older brother. It had been a year and a half since Naruto and Sakura had given up all hope of ever getting him back.
It had taken just under a year for Naruto to accept it and learn to forgive himself for not keeping his promise to sakura. It had taken Sakura longer than that to even acknowledge the idea of forgiving the Uchiha for causing Naruto so much pain. They'd had to move on, and learn to carry on with life.
That they had done, until just 2 months previously.
"SAKURA! SAKURA!" The shouts came fast and loud, waking her from her slumber immediately, and she jumps out of her untidy bed, throwing open her apartment door and staring at her distressed team mate.
Her eyes widen as she takes naruto in, he was standing before her, he wouldn't stand still, he seemed to be shaking and he looked confused about something.
"Naruto? What's wrong?" She asks, not caring about her barely dressed body, raising a hand to naruto's shoulder, worried for her close friend. The chill of the early morning was beginning to catch at the pinkettes legs, her door wide open.
The blonde boy looks at her with widened eyes, as if he is unable to speak for a moment, before he pulls himself together and finally crying out, "SASUKE'S BACK, HE'S COME BACK".
His words take a moment to seep into her mind. Her heart was locked off, blocked out immediately, the tension and emotions unable to get through. Her brain processed the information, and she was stunned.
How? What?
She pounds through the streets, her boots pulled on quickly, a small over shirt covering her as she blusters through the village, Naruto close to her side as she races towards the hokage tower.
Deep into the bowels of the earth they go, down the many sets of steps of the hokage tower, towards the prisoner chambers. As they round one of the tight corners, she slides to the side, effectively halting Naruto for a few seconds, and that was all she needed. She was off like a shot, sprinting away down the corridors as fast as she could.
Knowing that her anger would cause some very big problems, the young blonde chases after his Team mate.
She ignores the stench of dried blood as she passes some of the cells, running for the rooms right at the back of the chambers, before Shikamaru appears and manages to grab her by the waist and carry her back a few feet.
"Sakura, no" he says, his voice strangely calming, he knew what was going on inside her head right now and he was trying to bar her before she could do any damage. It didn't stop her though, and she slips from his hold on her waist, bounding towards the double doors at the end of the corridor, kicking the door open with such force that one of the hinges snap.
She half pauses when she enters the room, Tsunade and an elder standing on one side of the room with Ibiki, feeling a little self conscious. But another person in the room captures her attention again.
Bound by the hands and weak on a chair, was Sasuke Uchiha. He was watching her with his eyes, although he was half doubled over, a large bruise cascading across his arm and a large gash on his face. His hair was longer than it was the last time she'd laid eyes on him, but He looked worse for wear, and after pausing for a moment, staring at him, Sakura forces as much chakra into her hand as she can, bunching it into a fist as she comes up infront of him, smashing her fist into the side of his face and causing him to fly across the room, smacking into the wall across from her. Pushing chakra into her feet, she pounds over to him, catching him before he can even fall, holding him up with a chakra filled hand around his throat, holding him tightly against the wall, squeezing his neck.
She wasn't sure how her face looked, but he was staring at her with an almost shocked expression. She moves close to his face, staring into his dark eyes. "I will NEVER forgive you Uchiha" she spits at him, her mouth turning into an ugly snarl. She then let's go, his body slumping down the wall and onto the dirty cold floor.
Shikamaru and Naruto then grab her again within seconds of her letting go, and this time she willingly let's them cart her away, holding back any more emotion from showing. She'd let her anger out and she felt freer.
That was under 2 months ago. It had taken her a long while to accept everything that had happened. The elder's had put her on probation as she'd effectively shattered half Uchiha's jaw in the process, meaning he couldn't talk for a few weeks.
She hadn't minded, she couldn't have concentrated at all if she tried.
However as she walks back to her apartment, away from her's and Naruto's conversation with Tsunade, her facade falters, and her suppression of any emotion breaks, a whole flood of emotion showering over her.
Stumbling through her door, she slams it tightly, sliding to the floor, curling up against it, tears over spilling and trickling down her face as she cries silently. She wouldn't allow him the satisfaction of seeing her cry over him. Not again. That was the past and that's how it would stay.
She wasn't quite sure how she felt about any of this. She was relieved for Naruto, for his friendship with Sasuke, that had somehow begun to rebind its ties once more. But inside she was cringing. Tsunade, having persuaded the elder's to let Sasuke live, had also managed to persuade them to allow him a trial period of 6 months to be intergrated back into konoha, and if at any time did he cause a problem or was seen to be engaging in foul play, he would be banished from konoha entirely.
But because of this persuasion, the elder's had effectively reinstated Sasuke Uchiha into shinobi life, and that meant his old team. Their old team.
It wasn't that she didn't want him to be back, she'd hoped and hoped he would at first, in the first year he was gone. She vowed she'd bring him back. But he didn't want to come back, Naruto and she had failed, and Naruto put himself through all kinds of trouble, putting himself under serious pressure, injuring himself so badly during training, trying to push himself to the limits, all so he could become stronger and bring sasuke back. And his depression and effort was all for waste.
That's what was getting at Sakura. After all this time, time spend missing him, missing the team, everything, and she'd gotten over it all, even started seeing others the way she'd seen him, and now, he was back. Back and on the team, and she didn't know how she was going to deal with it.
"Pull yourself together, Sakura" she tells herself, standing on partially wobbly legs, forcing herself to stand.
"Its not as bad as it seems". Making her way into her bathroom, turning the shower on high, stripping herself of her clothes, sighing. Her green orbs catch sight of herself in her full length mirror. She stands infront of it, her eyes cascading over herself, her face, still young looking, but more defined with her age, lips, still so pink and soft, but kept in a formal straight line. Physically, she was a woman. Her breasts were perky, but not large. One thing she minded but didn't mind at the same time. It was bad in the ways of male attraction, but good when you were trying to escape a foe in battle. Her muscles and slim frame gave herself the overall impression that she was a ninja, even if she hadn't been on many missions lately.
Shaking herself free of any emotion, any negative emotion, she steps into the steaming shower, the water drenching her and washing away the problems, unknoting the tight sensation she felt.
A slim hand reaches for the shampoo, lathering it as she moves the shampoo into her hair, massaging it on her hair and her scalp, soothing her a little.
The scent of cherry blossoms fills her bathroom as she washes her hair, the scent drawing her attention back to the current predicament; the cherry blossom ball. Sighing, she finishes washing, stepping out of her shower, pulling a big fluffy towel off the rack and wrapping it around herself limply, drying her hair and then grabbing a comb and combing it through quickly, then padding out into the hall, heading to her bedroom to get dressed.
She presumed she'd need to have an early night, since she'd need to be prepared for tomorrow.
But she couldn't help thinking it might be a little fun, besides, she'd danced a little before.
"There are no buts in this, Sasuke"
"But Lady Tsunade, you know it won't work"
A hand comes slamming down onto the desk, but he refuses to jump or budge.
"I do not give a damn, Uchiha. The elder's think it will promote the morale between our shinobi and the public. They also decided that you should participate, as part of your reintroduction to the konoha community"
He bites the inside of his lip. He had no idea what to reply to that.
"What about..."
His words wouldn't come out. This new found way of thinking was making him weak.
"What about what, Uchiha?" Her sharp and harsh voice comes, and his dark eyes look into her brown ones.
"The team, you saw how she reacted a few months ago, do you really think she'd accept me on the team again?"
His question seemed to, remarkably shock Tsunade, who stares at him for a moment, before shaking her head and saying, "I cannot be sure. My student does not share her thoughts as much as she used to, or her emotions for that matter"
She hands him a scroll, leaning over the desk, and he takes it quickly, stuffing it in his pocket.
"I suggest you remember the circumstances, and try to realise why she broke your jaw like that" and she laughs, slightly sadistically. Sasuke bites the inside of his cheek.
"Although, I presume you're scared"
The statement caught Sasuke off guard, his eyes widen a smidgen and he opens his mouth to reply, then closes it again.
"I'm not 'scared', I am simply worried about the future circumstances" he defends, snapping back, but with his usual, cool exterior.
At least he wasn't scared now.
-Slow Dance-
So, do you like the idea? Any suggestions? Thanks for reading!
Love,
BloodIsMyDrug
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