Sasuke had left Konohagakure three years ago.
He'd gotten his revenge on his brother, despite it being a dull victory. He'd learned that, to ensure Itachi's death wasn't in vain, he shouldn't work to destroy his home. He should try to protect it, because it was what he would have wanted. So one day he simply returned, as if nothing had happened.
Though his comrades, for the most part, accepted him with open arms upon his arrival, he couldn't say the same for people his senior.
He was met with disappointed glances, and suspicious glares. Sasuke was kept on a short leash, not allowed to leave the village, and barely allowed to be anywhere by himself. Tsunade demanded he be with a trusted shinobi at all times.
What they didn't realize, however, was that Sasuke had absolutely no intentions of leaving ever again.
Nobody realized that Sasuke, despite what he might say, missed certain things about the village.
He missed the normalcy of going to bed and waking up in the same place every day. He missed the festivals that drew in tourists, and not having to worry about having his throat slit at night. He even missed the people in his life like Sakura and Naruto (even though he didn't want to be around them often, it was nice to know that they were there). Most of all, however, he missed his dear friend Bani.
His heart dully ached in his chest when he thought of the pain he'd caused her. The hurt that showed up in her large, grey eyes when she would see him, and he would ignore her. Bani wanted Sasuke to come home just as much- if not more -than Naruto, and he simply treated her as if she was nothing.
The last time he'd seen her before he came home, the hate that filled her eyes almost promised that he would never be forgiven.
But there she was, curled up into a ball at his side while they sat together on his couch. Her eyes were covered by red hair, but from the way her mouth opened slightly he could tell that she was asleep. She had no intention of moving.
She'd been like this- curled up with Sasuke, sometimes asleep, sometimes not- since the night of his homecoming. They rarely spoke, unless Sasuke initiated the conversation. She came at a certain time, and sometimes she wouldn't leave for days on end.
Sasuke silently wondered if this was Bani's own special way of saying she forgave him. But her silence suggested she still didn't really trust him, because Bani wasn't at all a quiet girl, and she talked whenever the opportunity presented itself.
He brushed her shaggy hair away from her face and lightly pressed a kiss against her forehead.
"Uzumaki Bani... I really hope you forgive me fully some day." he said in a voice that was barely a whisper.
She surprised him by tilting her lips into a very Naruto-like smile and looking up at him.
"I can't hold a grudge against you, ya know! But if you try to leave me alone again, I'll break your legs."
A/N: Just to answer any questions...
Uzumaki Bani is my OC for Sasuke. She's Naruto's twin, she's younger, and just as mischievous~! But I like to think she's really cute. A red head like her mum with a face like her dad's (Cause Naruto has a face like mum and hair like dad's, why not reverse it? XD). And I'm not sure where this one shot thing came from. I just had to write it. I'll update my other stories too, but I'm moving and it's taking a lot of energy. ;w;
Just ask anything else in the reviews! XD
See ya!