Summary - Sasuke has returned after a five year absence. Completely void of all emotions, he claims he only wants to become the strongest. Naruto and Sakura, along with the rest of the infamous 'Rookie Nine' need to draw out the old Sasuke and reassert their friendship before he turns into the one person he really hates. Main pairing is SasuNaru, along with many minor pairings for fluffy goodness.
Rated For - Swearing, violence, and future citrusy situations.
Disclaimer - Believe me, if I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be writing this.
Chapter One - Prelude
A blur of dark blue and white sped past thick clumps of trees. A screech from a nearby bird caused the blur to alter its direction with lightning-fast reflexes. Nearby, a pink-haired teenager wearing clothes of the same shade of pink crouched in the bushes. As soon as the blur passed her, she began climbing stealthily up a tree whose blossoms shared her name. A few metres away from them, a conspicuous orange-clothed male with equally noticeable blond hair was holding his breath in the quiet stream, whilst fish swimming past eyed him suspiciously. The sun was setting slowly, lightly dusting meandering clouds in hues of pink, purple and orange.
The blond-haired teen surfaced almost noiselessly, forcing himself to breath slowly and deeply. He shivered as the cooling air came into contact with him. The blur slowed, its form becoming tangible enough to identify it as a black-haired male. A grey-haired man stood in the middle of a clearing, a book poised in his hand as he glanced up momentarily. The other three quickly hid themselves, and although his head turned in the direction of the blond, he went back to reading.
Without warning, three explosions around him caused him to abandon the book, his head snapping around as a loud yell was heard behind him. He quickly dodged a black four-sided shuriken, but failed to notice another one thrown from the opposite direction. A loud 'poof' was heard, and a log clattered to the ground where his body had once been.
"Itai..." the orange-clad Naruto whined. He rubbed the back of his head, where the older man had rapped him sharply.
"It's no wonder he saw you, Naruto." Sakura scolded, her hands on her hips. "With that outfit."
"What's wrong with it?"
"It's bright orange." Sasuke muttered from where he was leaning against a tree.
"So what?! Sakura's wearing pink! When was the last time you saw a pink tree?"
"When was the last time you saw bright orange water? And don't tell me about the time you threw up ramen. That's not bright orange." Sakura shuddered. She shot a glance over at Sasuke, hoping the two would not fight again.
Sasuke sighed.
"What's your problem?!"
"Shut up."
"Don't tell me to shut up, you bastard!"
"Don't yell at him, Naruto!" Sakura snapped, more anxious than angry.
The three of them were interrupted by someone clearing their throat loudly.
"You three...have you forgotten about me already?"
"Ah, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura began hurriedly.
"Never mind." Kakashi cut her off. "It's getting late, anyway."
He gestured towards the sky, the moon already rising. It was starkly contrasted against the dark blue blanket the sky had become. "Make sure you're all here the same time tomorrow. We'll pick up where we left off." With that, Kakashi disappeared.
As if waiting for his moment, Naruto started grumbling about the exercises. "I don't see why we have to keep training this hard."
"Of course you don't." Sasuke muttered, walking away.
"What'd you say?!"
"Naruto, do you think Kakashi-sensei became a Jounin by sitting on his arse all day and eating ramen?"
Naruto sighed, crossing his arms. "That's not what I'm saying. I just mean that for once it'd be nice if we got some acknowledgement that we're at this level now. Even you, Sakura."
Inner Sakura bristled angrily.
Sakura sighed. Over the many years Team Seven had been together, she had become progressively more tolerant of her loud-mouthed teammate. Finding out about the nine-tailed fox had certainly helped her understanding, although from time to time she still found him to be the most irritating person on the planet.
Still...
Sakura walked alongside Naruto as he continued to chat aimlessly. Her thoughts were on Sasuke, and the three years he had been absent. After another few years of chasing after him and trying to appeal to him, he had finally agreed to join them again. Sai, his former replacement, had respectfully bowed out as an official member of Team Seven, although he and Team Eight (1) were frequently sent on missions with them, with occasional help from Team Ten (2) and Team Guy (3).
Ever since he had gotten back, Sasuke had been the same cold, indifferent person he had when they had first started out. This frustrated both herself and Naruto since this meant that not only did they have no knowledge of what had happened to him, but also the friendship ties they had built up over the time spent together beforehand were completely severed.
"Hey, Sakura-chan, are you alright?"
"Huh?" Sakura turned to find Naruto had stopped walking and was giving her a worried look.
"Oh, sorry. I was just...thinking..."
"About him."
"Uh, well-"
"It wasn't a question." Naruto interjected. "Don't worry. He's only been back with us for a month. It took us much longer to get him to respond to us. Can't be long now...I mean, we've done it before, right...?"
Sakura watched him walk off without waiting for an answer, his hands in the pockets of his bright orange jacket and the loose ends of his headband blowing slightly in the wind. She shivered, the chilly winter air finding its way into her open jacket. She zipped it up, pausing when Naruto stopped walking again.
"Sakura..." he said, without turning.
"Yeah?"
"...He...he will want to be friends with us again, right?"
Sakura said nothing, unsure of what to say and questioning the truthfulness of the answer they both wanted to hear.
"Forget I asked." He murmured. He rounded a corner and disappeared from Sakura's view. Despite the rapidly dimming light, Sakura stood still for a moment, deep in thought, eventually making her way home when a stronger breeze made her wince from the cold.
(1) Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka.
(2) Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi.
(3) Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee and Tenten.