Of Bulls and Golden Apples
"Maybe we were something of lore, of myth, of legend. Or maybe, Sasuke and Sakura were never meant to happen."
Chapter 01
He always took pride in his impeccable memory abilities. Even at a young age, he was always able to remember long passages in books or the incredibly long sequence of any particular jutsu. And while that served him well in his shinobi training, it was the great amount of details he can recall in his personal memory vault that he took great pride in. He could still remember the way the house smelled when he woke up in the morning to the sounds of his mother's cooking or the way his father liked to read the paper, folding it vertically and then horizontally. That also meant that he remembered in great detail the way his aniki greeted him at the stairs with an affectionate poke in the forehead before striding into the dining room to take his seat as the heir. Those memories both helped him sleep at night and kept him awake at night; it was the 'what could still be'.
Of course, throughout his shinobi career, there were a lot more moments that he stored and locked away; some he secretly loved and others he wished he could forget. It was a curse and a gift.
One of those moments was his 'return' to Konoha after defeating Orochimaru and avenging his family.
He could clearly remember the clouds in the sky and the smell of rain hanging in the air. There were no standing ovations, no warm greetings, or the annoying swarms of fan girls whom followed him along like trained dogs. Instead his arrival was met with hateful glares, disdain expressions, and the fan girls he once knew all feign ignorance - as if they had not 'been in love' with him once. Amidst the crowd of onlookers, he could faintly make out a head of blond spikes making its way towards him. He allowed himself a brief moment to smirk and noticed the ANBU guards around him give a faint nod of acknowledgement to the blond.
"Well, look who decided to come home."
Before he was able to reply that this was surely not by his own will, the blond had already thrown an arm around his shoulder and simply said, "Welcome home Sasuke."
He gave a faint smile and replied, "Hn."
One of the ANBU, with distinctive silver hair, leaned in and placed a hand on his other shoulder. At that moment, the rest of the world melted away and all that was left was the bond he had been unable to break over and over. It wasn't until he felt a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that he remembered about the other quarter of their dysfunctional team. Maybe he wasn't as emotionless as he thought or maybe his teammates really did know him that well but he didn't even have to voice his question before Kakashi answered, "She is on a mission"
Naruto gave a straining smile, that didn't go unnoticed, but Sasuke brushed it aside as he placed his own hands on his team member's shoulders.
"I'm back."
And just like that, after years of running away, he finally came back to the place where everything started, to the people whom never left his side.
It almost felt as if nothing changed.
Slowly opening oynx eyes, Sasuke took a moment or two to collect himself before fully rising from his bed.
He still got up before dawn, trained well into the afternoon before taking a short lunch break, and then trained some more. The only difference was the ANBU guards whom followed him closely in the shadows and the annoying blond who took up the position as his actual shadow. Well, actually there was another difference, the addition of another emotionally constipated teammate and the disappearance of their only female comrade.
"Oh come on! Everyone will be there, teme!"
Not even bothering to pause from his katana exercises, Sasuke gave an exasperated sigh, "That's the point." In the past 3 months since his return, the Uchiha had thankfully only seen occasional glimpses of the former Rookie 9. Even these short run-ins were awkward and tense, each side unable to forget their last encounter on the battlefield.
The blond scratched his head in confusion before issuing a quick pat to the back of his bond brother, "It'll be okay! Everyone is very excited to see you, I promise."
Ignoring Naruto, a skill he had perfected since his return, Sasuke continued through his morning routine well into dinner time. His original plan was to head home and heat up his simple leftovers of onigiri but Naruto had other plans. ("You need to eat something nutritious after a tiring workout - like ramen!")
And that was how Sasuke found himself walking with Naruto in the streets after a hot meal at Ichiraku. While the blond continued to rant on in his endless tirade of seemingly nothing, Sasuke allowed himself a brief moment to enjoy the light breeze. That moment came to a screeching halt, just about the same time Naruto abruptly stopped talking.
A chill hung in the air.
It was late and the streets were mostly cleared of civilians and nins alike. A soft tinkle rang in the evening and Sasuke strained to locate the sound's origin. Slowly from the distance, he watched as any people that were still left in the street slowly part to the sides. From the shadows, two masked ANBU was making their way back.
The taller of the two had a high ponytail that was tightly bound. A black katana was strapped to his back and he walked with his head held high. The standard tight black ANBU gear adorned the man's body which rippled with each confident stride. Even without confirming, Sasuke knew that if he called out to the man under the wolf mask, a pair of milky eyes would greet him back. But it wasn't the Hyuuga who intrigued him but the much smaller, daintier, graceful, ANBU next to him.
A porcelain fox mask covered the identity of the ("Female, most definitely female" Sasuke thought to himself) female nin. Silvery white hair fluttered behind her with some strands carefully caressing her soft lithe body covered in the same ANBU gear. Around her waist were a multitude of pouches that blended to her effortlessly. In the distance Sasuke couldn't make out any weapon, save for a pair of kunais strapped to her thigh. A soft tinkle sounded from a pair of bells tied to the kunais and that seemed to break the fox ANBU from her downward stare. Sasuke watched as she paused in her step and slowly glanced his way. Green - viridian, forest, spring, emerald - eyes shone back at him through the two holes in the mask. He knew those eyes.
It was Sakura.
For a moment, Sasuke felt as if it was only him and her pair of eyes. The ones he could never fully quite put a color name to. The ones that he dreamed of on occasion - not that he would admit it because she was only an acquaintance, a comrade, to him.
He was sure the moment would've went on forever if the taller ANBU - the wolf - didn't touch her arm and broken the spell.
A/N: I know, I haven't updated in forever and my Lurking Within is most definitely unfinished but I simply couldn't get this story plot out of my head! I'm working full-time now so please be patient. The ink is flowing on this one (and Lurking Within)!