Always

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, sadly.

Warning: SasuFemNaru, swearing and if you don't like don't read. Especially don't send a review telling me how bad it was. I, quite frankly, don't want to hear it. Criticism in how to improve it is welcome, a rant, however, is not.

Chapter 1: Home Coming Gift

Konoha hadn't changed one bit since I last saw it. That had been three long years ago. The sun was still out; everything seemed to be, surprisingly, still in one piece. Everyone still went around with their business, ninja mingling with the crowd. If anything the village had flourished, the trees seemed even bigger than what they had been before and the houses seemed to have had a nice, new, fresh flick of paint on them.

The only thing that had changed, from what I had noticed, was the Hokage Monument. Tsunade Senju, the current Hokage, now had her face on the mountain with the previous four Hokage's. What a sight, they'd even put her diamond on her forehead and somehow her eyes seemed to shine with determination. Credit goes to the sculpture.

Glancing towards a white haired man, who was walking next to me, I noticed the wide grin that was on his face. As we got nearer to the gate it only seemed to widen, if possibly more, which spread his wrinkles even further than before. It was refreshing to see him smiling despite the three hard years that had, thankfully, passed. In a way, the grin reminded me of how I used to grin. Sometimes, I wished I could smile that way again. Unfortunately, time after time life somehow proved me that it's not worth it.

Slowing down I watched as the white haired man clapped his hands, walking over to the guards. Following him with my eyes I could see the guards tediously doing their job, already half asleep. On the other hand as soon as they caught sight of the pervert they brightened, calling out "Master Jiraiya! How were your travels?"

Jiraiya gave a hearty deep laugh from the back of his throat, replying "Ah, not too bad men. So, let's get down to business. How's Konoha been, Tsunade-hime keeping you all in line?"

Rolling my eyes I could already tell where this particular conversation was going. Trust the old pervert to start talking dirty when we hadn't even stepped inside of Konoha yet. He'd already got out his notebook and pen, wiggling his eyebrows hoping to drop the hint. The oblivious jonnins apparently didn't catch on, confusion evidently on their faces.

Rather confused one of them, Kotetsu, replied "Boring, same old missions and duties. Although I try to get Izumo to sneak off the job so we can go to the Jonnin Standby Station. It's way more fun."

Pinching the bridge of my nose, an oncoming headache already making an appearance, I thought "Fools…" sighing as he rubbed his hands together "here we go."

Jiraiya chuckled, deepening his voice he told them in a hushed whisper "No, I'm talking about the ones who walk around with a bounce at the front and a jiggle at the back. Come on boys, you know what I mean!"

Izumo, who finally caught on, jabbed his partner in the side. Raising his eyebrows as he made a glance towards me, Kotetsu caught on as he grinned.

I gave them a blatant stare; I was not going to be used as an example. Crossing my arms over my chest I sent a silent message towards their eyes. They seemed to have caught it as Izumo looked back towards Jiraiya and Kotetsu sent a grin, to show he meant no harm.

Snickering, the two guards beckoned Jiraiya closer as they told him all the juicy gossip, a sly grin playing on the old perverts face. By the looks of it, somehow, I knew it couldn't be good. Hushed whispers could be heard as they heatedly discussed their topic. I could hear a few words that had managed to escape their whispering and it made me uncomfortable. They were grown men yet they were giggling like school girls. It looked like the topic had just got good as Jiraiya began to quickly jot down notes. By the looks of it they were going to be there for a while.

I'd already had the birds and the bees unsuccessfully told to me, to hear it again was something I wanted to avoid. Jiraiya hadn't been the most serious person when it came to a topic such as that. He'd be half way through a rather detailed moment when he'd suddenly start jotting down notes for his perverted books. Just remembering made me shake my head. Honestly, that dirty git.

Looking awkwardly around, I kicked a stone by my foot. Scratching my head, with my finger, in thought whilst I studied the ground and with nothing other to do then wait I decided to look around. Something didn't feel right, a niggling feeling was in the back of my mind and it wouldn't leave me alone. Putting it down to exhaustion and paranoia I stretched. I was bored and I hated being bored, my mind tends to wonder.

Hearing a deep snort from deep within my mind I said "What're you snorting at?"

"You. You're lucky you have me to explain it; otherwise you wouldn't have guessed that guy was-

"Okay, okay! Jeez, don't go there."

"You just had to stop me before I got to the funny part, didn't you?" he drawled on.

"Why yes, yes I did. It was embarrassing enough without you howling with laughter in my mind. I couldn't think straight!"

"Yeah, yeah, kit. Count yourself lucky."

I left a soft, unnoticeable, chuckle slip past my lips and responded "Lucky? Since when have I been lucky, do share?"

The voice had been talking to me for the last two years; I'd been a bit freaked out at first. Eventually, after some pranking on the voices part, I'd finally learnt who it was. Kyuubi no Kitsune, he'd eventually explained that we'd share our thoughts as we merged together. The last merging we'd done was when he explained himself, that had been two years ago. I hadn't had any merging since although Kyuubi said it would gradually happen over time.

Laughing, Kyuubi replied "Well, let me think. You won the lottery, you made Jiraiya win a gamble so he could find out where the slug princess was, you learnt the rasengan in less than a week, you betted with Tsunade Senju and won, you also have me, Kyuubi no Kitsune at your service! What more could you possibly want?"

Smirking I said "Someone's getting a bit cocky. Besides, I could name quite a few things. For examples a willing Uchiha back in Konoha, all the udon noodles in the world and to actually be acknowledged as a strong ninja."

There was silence before a snort, and then a snicker and then a burst of laughter and a gasped "Keep dreaming, kit!"

Rolling my eyes I stated "You were the one who said I was lucky in the first place."

But after another round of laughter I gave up on having any conversation with Kyuubi. Cutting the connection with the demon off, I sighed.

"Jeez, so much for him being a friend…" I thought bitterly.

Noticing the men still talking I walked over to the sign in book, jotting down my name, Uzumaki Naruto. After finishing that I took a nosey look at the other recent sign ins, noticing no one I knew I closed the book. I called out to the pervert, "I'm going, later!"

The pervert either acknowledged me and didn't answer or was way too into that conversation. Luckily, I didn't hang around to find out. Besides either one, I could care less.

As soon as I stepped foot into the village I could feel the stares. They were flourishing with every step I took, whispers heatedly spreading like wildfire. I didn't care. Let them whisper and stare at me; it was only amusement on my count. Minding my own business, ignoring the obvious points and looks, I must have blanked out for a second as a few moments later I had a hand waving in my face rapidly. Blinking I looked down towards the hand and saw a little brown haired boy.

"Nee-chan? I-Is that really you?"

Blinking I looked towards the thirteen year old; he had spiky brown hair that was styled like an old senseis of mine. He'd grown from that little ten year old I knew who loved to cause mischief, as much as I had once upon a time. It felt slightly awkward seeing him once again, it felt like I'd let him down in a way. I'd told him that I'd teach him all I could when I got back. I'd lost that spark; I didn't fancy teaching him anything.

"Erm…" I didn't know what to say, those round brown eyes were staring right at me in curiosity.

"Err; yeah…I was training…"

"Eh? Really?! Who with? Awww bet you learnt loads of cool jutsus! I can't wait for you to teach 'em to me!" he exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air with a grin.

"Hehe…yeah I suppose... Jiraiya taught me…not a lot but enough…"

Come on think! How can I get out of this one…scratching my head with my hand I frowned, trying to think of what the old me would have said… Probably some rubbish about how you can't beat around the bush…or was it the hedge?

Sighing I let out a deep breath through my lips, replying with a forced grin "Anyway, I won't be teaching you any of these extra cool jutsus. You've got to work your way up from the ground; you can't beat around the bush. Ya know?"

He seemed a bit dumbfounded before eventually catching on, saying "Oh! Of course! I want to be as good as you one day, nee-chan! I'm heading straight to the training grounds!"

Nodding I patted him on the head, smiling as I said "Good luck, Konohamaru."

His eyes widened slightly, a blush dusting his cheeks. Stumbling over his words he snapped out of it as he realised something. A grin overcoming his features he told me "Oh! Nee-chan! You haven't head, have you?"

"Haven't heard? Heard what?"

"Your dream!" he said, excitedly.

"My dream, what do you mean?" frowning I licked my lips, my dream…I didn't have one…other than to be acknowledged by shinobi.

"Sasuke came back to the village!"

It felt…strange. It wasn't like a huge weight had been lifted but it wasn't dread. It was…numbing. It was like talking about the weather, I didn't care. It was a conversation you could talk about and then move on from. He came back, great, good for him. What'd it have to do with me? It was from his own decision; he could stand on his own two feet and understand the consequences of what you do. I could forget about him now. However what Konohamaru came out with next wasn't what I had been anticipating.

"You'd never believe who brought him back, nee-chan! Sakura! She brought him back!"

I felt…betrayed. I'd taken on the role as the 'saviour of the day'. I'd promised her that I'd bring back 'her Sasuke-kun'. I never failed my promises; they were completed no matter what. My pride, what little I had left, was stabbed and ripped away, just like that. In a blink of an eye he was gone and another he came back. She took on the role as the weakling, Sasuke took on the silent, isolated type and I was the loud, passionate role. That had changed, it seemed so different now.

Biting my inner cheek I clenched my fist, my knuckles turning white. Calmly, or as calmly as I could, I asked "What…did you say?"

Stepping back in a bit of fear he shook. I could feel the effect of Kyuubi on me; my eyes were probably reflecting my anger. I had to give credit to Konohamaru though, he hadn't wet himself.

Stumbling over his words he managed to say "S-Sasuke's back. He c-came back…well no…S-S-Sakura b-brought him b-back…"

Letting out a soft growl from the back of my throat I thought "That can't be true…he said to me, he swore, he wanted to rip apart his bonds and kill me and everyone in Konoha. What's going on? This had to be some sort of joke…"

"It's no joke kit, the kid's telling the truth. I can smell the Uchiha…although it's faint. I'm shocked I hadn't smelt it before…"

Bitterly I thought "Well then…I suppose the bastard is in need of a talk then."

"Kit, I wouldn't-

Before Kyuubi could finish his warning I ended the connection. I didn't want to hear it. Sighing I tried to calm myself down, telling Konohamaru "Okay, thank you Konohamaru. I'll see you at the training grounds later, okay?"

Konohamaru blinked in confusion before nodding slightly, confused as to whether I was really okay or not.

Yeah sure…I'm up in cloud nine, totally…

Not.

Waving towards him I carried on with my journey. If I thought about this correctly, and from what I'd faintly heard from a passing shinobi, then Tsunade was in the hospital, treating people. That meant I could sneak into her office without anyone finding out, look at Sasuke's file and hopefully find his jail cell number.

However, before I could put my plan into action I came across people I really didn't want to see right now, not with my anger coursing through my veins. The pink bitch, as I was now referring to as Sakura, ran up to me. Her sweet smile brightened catching sight of me. As soon as she got close to me she pulled me into a hug. Pulling me back she examined me, analysing me like I was something in a cage.

"Naruto? Is that really you? The idiot we all knew actually grew up? Well, this is a surprise, now I have a surprise for you! You'll be so happy, I'm sure."

I pushed her away from me; I didn't want her to touch me. She wasn't my friend…how could she be? She angered me right now; I wanted to lash out at her, scream at her. But I remained calm, a memory of Kakashi mentioning a rule shinobi were meant to follow: show no emotion.

So I sharply replied "I already know."

"Wait, what? How do you know?" She seemed surprised, shocked even.

"That's for me to know…" I paused, watching her. Her emerald eyes were glistening in concern. "Why?" I began "Why did you bring him back? I said I would bring him back, I promised you." I told her.

She took a step back, bringing her hands up to show peace as she explained "Listen, you've misunderstood. I found him on a mission, Naruto. He was beaten and bruised and he told me to take him back to Konoha. So I did, I couldn't leave him to die."

No matter what her excuse was I didn't care. The mere fact of feeling so weak, violated, annoyed and…hurt. Why couldn't she see that I wanted to bring him back, to prove to him that I was strong? I wanted to show that I was worthy of being a ninja, that I could fight for what I believed in.

I just wanted to feel accepted by him…

…was that too hard to ask?

Sighing I glared towards her, crossing my arms. She looked to be getting angry now, her voice becoming high pitched as she said "Believe it or not, Naruto, it's not always about you. You and your stupid ninja way, it's so annoying. I wanted him back as much as you did and so did everyone else."

Looking towards the others I checked to see if they were with her and her assumption. I dared them to say anything, to speak. They kept their mouths shut, looking rather ashamed of themselves.

I snarled I couldn't help it; she wasn't there to see her comrade's fall all because of that bastard. "You weren't on that mission to retrieve him, Sakura. Lee was close to losing his shinobi life. Yet you say it's all about me, me. That's rather ironic coming from you. Haven't I always put other first, haven't I always put up with you hitting me, I've always put everyone before me, haven't I? When you were crying and whining saying 'bring my Sasuke-kun back' I promised you and I went out there. Everyone on that squad put their lives at risk whilst you stood on the side-lines crying. If anyone you need to grow the back bone. At least I wasn't as pathetic as you!"

Sakura glared, countering "I may have been pathetic, Naruto. But I've grown into a better woman then you have. Look at you; you've ruined your hair…you-

"Don't."

I glared at her, one that rivalled an Uchiha's. She gulped, tears rising.

"What do you know about me?" I was trembling now; I held my arms trying to feel a line of security. Those memories…they were coming back. No, no! I don't want them back… I was shaking; I could imagine that slimy voice whispering in my ear about all the things he would do to me.

"You know nothing about me. You know nothing…"

"Okay, let's all just calm down. Sakura, shut up. Naruto, calm down, Sasuke's back and that's all that matters." Shikamaru interrupted me, his cool gaze analysing us all as he put a hand out in warning.

Pushing the memories away was hard, they seemed so fresh. It was like I could touch them, no. It hurts. They had to go…they had to. Shaking my head I concentrated on the problem in front of me. The way she stood there, so cockily. It infuriated me.

"No…I can't leave it alone. Because…as soon as she brought him back all that I've done was for nothing, I was always trying to prove myself to this village. To everyone. But guess what? I get nothing in return. No acceptance, nothing. That's why I wanted to bring back Sasuke, so I could prove to everyone and myself that I actually did something and not the Kyuubi, not the Hokage, not my friends or sensei's. It's something I did, something I could be proud of. So then, when people asked me what I'd done and what I was proud of I could say that I brought my best friend back."

Sakura hissed "I'm really getting tired of you, Naruto. We all wanted Sasuke-kun back; you don't always have to be the hero of the day. It's probably gone to your head, why am I even talking to you? You're worthless, you're a mess. Just like, you're such a-

"Sakura." Shikamaru warned her, his eyes never leaving her face.

I stood there, looking at her. Where had that sweet little six year old gone? Her innocent eyes were holding such anger for me, was that what- No…I promised myself I would move on. I couldn't turn back, that road held nothing but sorrow… I stared at her, softly smiling as I asked her "I'm such a what, Sakura? Before you go around claiming what other people are first, take a good look at yourself. I dare you, go on. Finish that sentence."

She raised her fist, Ino crying out "Sakura! No!"

A soft breeze washed over me, a sense of calm. I didn't care if she punched me…she could do what she wished. She punched me, what did I do? Nothing, it would only reflect on her.

"Its fine, Ino. She can say it, if she wants. After all, I dared her."

Sakura took two steps forward and I didn't move, not leaving her eyes. If she was going to hit me then she could. I wasn't going to hit her back…I was going to…

"You, you monster!" she said it with such venom, I closed my eyes. Her anger, I could sense it. Such anger, needed to be controlled.

Snapping my eyes open I held my hand out, meeting her punch. Coming in to contact with her punch I realised that she'd put her entire strength and chakra into it. She'd tried to kill me or at least injure me. But, I stayed calm. Clenching my hand round her fist, I smirked.

My eyes betraying nothing as I whispered into her ear "I may be a monster, Sakura-chan. But at least I didn't try to punch someone in such a large crowd, that shows how really good a ninja is. Remember? Rule two of being a ninja? What was that…hm…oh that's right. To never show your emotion…now, go learn."

With one last squeeze to her curled up hand, I heard a deafening crack. She let out a soft cry as I let go, she immediately held her hand to her chest. Tears were gathering to her eyes and I watched in amusement. Poor, Sakura-chan.

No one ever did like pity, especially her.

Everyone watched on, not really sure on how to act or say anything. The area around us was tense, I didn't care. Just before I could walk away, Tsunade and Jiraiya turned up. Jiraiya gave me a look, I stared right back. Sighing, the grey haired man asked "Naruto, calm down."

Blinking I looked towards him, a hint of innocence in my voice "Clam down? Why would I need to calm down? I'm absolutely fine, completely fine, peachy in fact!"

Giving me a warning look that clearly said we'd be talking later, he turned to Tsunade. Tsunade, she seemed to be captured in my gaze. Sending a two finger salute I turned away, walking back down the road I came from. Calling out as I waved my hand "Old hag, shouldn't you be at the hospital? You have a new patient after all."

As I sped up I could hear Tsunade say something. It left a tiny, satisfied smirk trace my face.

"What happened?"

Oh, well weren't they in for a lovely surprise then…

A/N: Okay so, I planned to rewrite this story. Looking back at the chapters I was like "OMG, did I really write this?" So I changed Naruto's attitude a bit and I also made the argue scene a bit more detailed than before. I've planned a few things. A couple of traumatic moments are going to be replaced, I'm not sure on which moments but I'll have something soon. I'll be taking down the other chapters so I can rewrite them.

Reviews would be lovely to see on what you think and what you liked or disliked!

So, please, Review!