THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE IS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT—I SWEAR TO GOD I'M NOT RAMBLING, DAMMIT, SO JUST READ IT, YOU LAZY BASTARDS. DO NOT SKIP IT. BECAUSE IF YOU DO, THEN WHINE ABOUT WHAT'S IN HERE, I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE.

This is just me, toying with how Sasuke might readjust to Konoha. I don't own Naruto—insert witty excuse for how I will somehow own it in the future here—And I want to make it very clear that while Sasuke will end up with someone by the end of this, it isn't going to be SasuNaru, okay? And while there are regular pairings like NaruHina and SaiSaku, Sasuke's is most likely going to be YAOI. There will also be KankuroKiba, as well as any other yaoi pairing I find that strikes my fancy. There will be fluff, and there will be sad parts. And the rating is more than likely going to go UP in the future, most likely for language, or sexual scenes. I intend to keep it tasteful though.

This is mainly just Sasuke centric, examining his feelings and emotions, and his slow process of healing. There are going to be original characters in here—but I will attempt to make them classy, and well done. And don't worry, you are NOT GOING TO SEE SOME STEREO TYPICAL GIRL, WITH SOME RANDOM POWER THAT NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT, WHO HAS SOME SORT OF BULLSHIT CONNECTION TO SASUKE OR ANYONE ELSE SHOW UP. GOD. I HATE THAT. No offense to anyone who does that. The only thing you really need to do when you read this is keep an open mind. So please, do that.

It's been several months since the war ended. Countries are being reshaped. Lives are being rebuilt. And the city of Konaha was peaceful. For the first time in what seemed like years, there was no stress, anger, or resentment hovering over it's citizens. Finally, the world was taking small, timid steps towards being pieced back together.

He talks to Naruto everyday. They go on missions together now, after all. Him, Naruto, and Sakura do. There's something comforting about it. Something vindicating. Kakashi used to come along, but a month after the war's end, old lady Tsunade resigned. There was only one clear choice, and before he knew it, his sensei was the new man behind the desk. It didn't exactly suit him, but he handled it with his own style, just like his predecessors. Yes, Kakashi managed to pull off management, especially considering that Anko would periodically show up and force the white haired man to actually sit down and focus. Which was ironic, considering the fact that Sasuke was fairly sure that the woman hadn't managed to sit still for more than thirty minutes in her life. Yet it worked. Come to think of it, his sensei had been spending more time with the snake woman lately…

…hn…what did that make him? Snake boy? Tch. Even he could recognize the hypocrisy in judging the woman. Yet he did. He'd joined up with Orochimaru, learned from him, just like her…but he'd never idolized the man. She seemed to be disillusioned now, but that didn't change much. She still spoke of the man with an odd sort of reverence, like she was caught somewhere between loathing and respecting her old sensei.

The first time he saw Naruto, after the battle, it hadn't been what he'd been expecting. He expected the idiotic blonde to run up, clap him on the back, and make some sort of stupid, irritating comment. Maybe he would rejoice over him changing sides…or, maybe, he would punch him out for the mistakes of the past few years. Yes, he expected any of those things…but instead, he was just sitting—with her.

He doesn't remember much of her. Other than her silence, her weakness, and her cowardice. She didn't look like a coward that day though. With her fingers intertwined in his, she looked quite strong. Neither one of them seemed to be speaking—which was a rare thing, for the Dobe—but neither one of them seemed to mind the silence. He was hanging his head, muttering something, something that sounded oddly like 'sorry', but Sasuke only saw her shake her head, like he shouldn't dare to feel remorse. Yes, in that moment, she seemed to find a deep, resounding strength. And Sasuke grew to respect her for that.

In the weeks following the war, several decisions had to be made, very quickly. At first, the most pressing seemed to be what they ought to do with him. He was a rogue ninja, after all. While he had surrendered himself to hidden leaf authorities, he was still responsible for quite a bit of heart ache in the village, it seemed. He was brought up under review by the council, principally for the murder of Danzo, and he would've been convicted. He could only assumed that he would've faced death in that scenario. But he found himself being saved by a man he'd only briefly met, and even then, the artist had been attempting to kill him. Yes, his life was saved by none other than the cold, unfeeling Sai. He chose to step forward and reveal the truth behind Root, and all of their hidden activities and brain washings. It was able to prove a lack of innocence on Danzo's crime that made Sasuke's punishment…far less severe.

Tsunade and the ANBU captains seemed to think that he had suffered enough, and that imprisonment wasn't going to help him, or anyone else. They couldn't exactly let him off scott free though…so they came to a resolution, stating that he would be followed by two ANBU on a constant basis for the next five months, he would have to under go rigorous testing to even be allowed back into the Shinobi ranks, and he had to see a therapist, once a week, until said therapist deemed him ready to stop.

He could admit on a level that this was fair, more than fair, actually, but…on an entirely different level, he…well, he just hated being regulated. He knew that it was deserved, on a level. He wasn't too proud for that. Not anymore.

After the decision was made about what to do with him was made, they were forced to decide upon a fate for the biju. It was a painful, twisted process. At first, some sealing professional from the Stone Village decided it was a good idea to try to seal it in a jinchuriiki host. This failed not once, or twice, but three times. With each, the host went mad from the chakra levels forced into their bodies, and died from the stress. And each time, the biju would rampage and destroy the area wherever the host happened to be when their heart gave out. Many, many lives were lost. Eventually, it was decided to split the beast back up into the seven already inside of it, and these hosts were evenly distributed between the five great nations, as well as shukaku being given back to the sand. The demon seemed almost…pleased to be reunited with Gaara, in an odd, somewhat disturbing way.

Currently, Sasuke was walking down the streets of his village. The place hadn't changed at all, despite his being told that Pein had demolished it a year ago. It all looked so familiar to him…Naruto explained later that everyone had wanted it to look the same, and constructed it that way on purpose. The thought almost made him want to smile. Yes, it was natural to love the familiar.

He could sense the ANBU that constantly tailed him. One was a young Hyuuga named Daisuke, and the other, a Naara around his own age named Kyo. Neither of them were particularly irritating. Daisuke seemed to be a bit of a snob from what he could gather, who never seemed to feel like contributing more than the occasional lofty comment to the conversation. Well. They didn't exactly know that Sasuke considered himself a part of that conversation. The raven's hearing was impeccable, even with the ANBU's stealth in consideration. So he would listen, and make silent contributions of his own.

…yeah. He was a lonely, lonely guy. And Kyo…well. Kyo proved that Shikamaru was not a good predictor of how the rest of his family was going to behave. He would talk about anything and everything. Though he seemed to have a similar obsession with clouds. Odd. He was currently going on and on about his current love interest, and how he just could not figure out how to get her attention.

Become traumatized as a child. Then proceed to become terrified and angry at all forms of human attachment. Girls love that. The Uchiha thought, quite bitterly. Enough so that he almost wanted to laugh. But no. He wasn't going to freak out Daisuke or Kyo out today.

He'd taken to wearing plain, dark clothes since his return. He was too easily recognized, and tensions were still a tad bit high. As he learned each time he met the gaze of a grocery clerk too easily. They tended to not react very well. And so did he. So it really was for the best. The t-shirt he was wearing was loose, black cotton. For the first time, he wasn't wearing any Uchiha clan symbol. Which was for the best. He wasn't exactly doing the name much justice now. He was doing everything short of burying his head in the sand.

He went out during the least crowded times of day, and tried to attract as little attention as possible. And he kept tearful interactions with Naruto and Sakura to a minimum. Mainly because if those two didn't stop, they were going to make him cry. And they wouldn't be tears of friend ship, mind you.

The sun was slowly sinking lower in the sky, casting a hazy, gold light over the rooftops. It was late afternoon, almost dusk, if he had to guess. He wasn't quite sure where he'd ended up. He just took short walks these days. There really wasn't much to do when you're on probation. Or training. So much of his life had been training. But he couldn't have ended up too far…his eyes glanced around, searching for familiar until…

…oh.

He walked forward, his boots crunching in the dirt a little. It was a small, white walled building, with two wide, red, double doors in the front. The paint was fading, and the leaf symbol engraved above the doors was fading. Had it always been that way? Or had there just been no time to maintain it…?

The academy. He couldn't say his memories of the place were all that bright. Or even that any of them were really fond. But…well, it was still there. He had to pause to think. Had this really been the only place not to get crushed? Just this one place?

Well, he knew that the Uchiha Compound had survived. But he didn't want to go back there yet.

But it was…Ironic. That something so small survived. The small fenced area where he used to beat the Dobe…the classrooms where Sakura used to stare, and giggle obnoxiously at anything that happened to come out of his mouth…before Orochimaru…before Itachi….before any of it. It was still there. He shoved his hands into his pockets, a frown tugging a little bit more at his lips.

There was slight movement. Not much, but enough to catch his attention, even from the corner of his eye. He turned his head quickly, his eyes zeroing in.

It was just a kid. Well. Not a little kid. But he looked like he had to be somewhere around twelve, or thirteen. He was sitting on that old rope swing, that Naruto used to always—

-….a kid on a rope swing? No. No. Do not. Get involved. If it's anything remotely similar to the Dobe, it's just going to piss you off. The kid move's slightly, and looks him in the eye. They're familiar. They're brown, more like a hazel. They aren't light enough for him to call them green…He'd by himself.

Sasuke doesn't say anything at first, he just stands there, examining him. He doesn't need a reason. He doesn't need some bullshit excuse. He's tired. He's bored. He has two kids his age getting paid to follow him, just to make sure he doesn't decide to go on a rampage for the sake of the evil-kitten-killing-bambi-slaughtering-passion of his soul. His brother's dead. His best friend—he's not even sure if they still are friends—feels the need to show up at his apartment, everyday, just to make sure he's still there. His brother's dead, and he misses him more everyday. Sakura still loves him, and—and—he wishes he loved her, because then everything would be so damn easy.

So if he wants to stare at some random kid on a swing set, he'll have his damn creepy moment and stare, thank you.

He's looking back at him, but unlike several, angry grocery store clerks, he doesn't look offended that Sasuke would dare look him in the eye. He doesn't look that frightened either. Not in the defiant, 'You don't scare me' way either. He's seen plenty of that. It's different, mainly because he does seem slightly intimidated. Sasuke doesn't blame him. He's older, by at least three or four years, and he knows that he doesn't look like the nice kind of stranger. Hinata even said once, in her soft, quiet way, that he was a lot kinder than he looked. Implying that he was mean faced, somehow. But looking at the boy's face makes it clear.

He has no clue who he is. Absolutely no idea. So he really doesn't have to be the stoic, disinterested Sasuke. He raises his hand slightly in greeting. It isn't really a wave. It's a bit more awkward, and despite the fact that he meant for it to come off as laid back, but it just comes off as…jerkish, he supposes.

Well, we can't be good at everything. The kid tips his head to the side. His hands are holding the ropes on either side of him. A little bit of hair falls into his face when he does. It's lighter than Sasuke's, but it's still a pretty dark brown. It's familiar too, he notices. Not terribly so though. There are a million people with brown hair. He looks a little bit confused at first, and Sasuke's mentally slapping himself. Why did he even bother? But then he raises his own hand, in the same fashion. And the corners of his mouth quirk up into a small little smile. It's not exactly the happy, stupid smile you normally see on kids, like in some dumb anime or something. Nope. He thinks something funny, because even if the smile's small, Sasuke can tell he wants to laugh. It must have been in the eyes then. Sasuke never was very good at reading smiles.

This causes Sasuke's frown to deepen a little bit. Like it usually does when he's thinking. Or doing anything, actually. Frowns are kind of like his face's screen saver. His muscles just sort of…go there, you know? And the kid's eyes twinkle just a bit more with amusement, making Sasuke tip his own head to the side, ever so slightly.

…the kid thought Sasuke Uchiha was doing something…funny? Well. The devil and Danzo must've been making a snow fort to ward off Madara and Obito in Hell's first snow ball fight. The boy started to open his mouth, like he was actually going to say something, and Sasuke leaned forward a little bit, like he was actually interested in it, but the kid's eyes darted to someone else, coming up behind him.

Sasuke himself didn't move, not wanting to acknowledge the person's presence, but he found out who she was, soon enough. Her figure was slightly more curved and rounded, but her hair was still curly and dark, and her eyes that odd shade of red. Kurenai. She was more lined. Tired. Sasuke had heard about Asuma. And the baby. He'd never actually seen the woman since he'd returned though. Her stomach was flat now, so he had to assume that the child had already been born.

"Raiden, you can't just disappear like that." Her voice was tired too. Everything about her was. The boy just shrugged—Raiden, Sasuke supposed—and the smile slipped away. He got off the swing, brushing dust off of his sleeves, and went to her side. She put a hand on his shoulder, and glanced back at Sasuke. He met her gaze, and his face stayed the same. Frowns aren't really that variable, after all. There was something in her look that just…bothered him. She didn't exactly say anything, and Sasuke was glad. He didn't want to exchange awkward small talk. She just inclined her head slightly, acknowledging him, and Sasuke did the same.

"Sasuke-kun." She was always a quite woman, and these words seemed to be all she needed to say. With that, she just took a grip of the boy—Raiden's—elbow, and led him off past Sasuke, causing a slight breeze, ruffling the Raven's bangs. It was all rather quick. And then, he was alone again, staring at the academy.

"…Kurenai-sensei…" she couldn't have heard him. She was out of range. Daisuke and Kyo probably had though. Not that they're input really mattered. They didn't know he heard the comments they made on his day to day life, but he did. He even took them into consideration sometimes. Like they were the devil and the angel on his shoulders.

His eyes narrow in on the doors, the leaf symbol, the fields, the swing, all of it, and he feels something. In his chest. It's tight, and warm, and uncomfortable. He wonders what it is that makes him feel this way, why this place matters, but…

He turns away, hands still in his pockets, and walks back towards his apartment. It probably didn't matter anyway. Whatever it was he saw…

His eyes aren't good for much anymore.