I glanced at the back of the woman in front of me.
We'd been on the move for about an hour now. The sun was beginning to sink into the horizon when she nearly fell out of the branches, fifty feet above ground. I watched her miss a branch and falter in her steady rhythm and begin to descend into the darkness below. I lurched forward and snagged her around the waist, hoisting her up; I stopped jumping to check if she was awake. She was not.
I slung her unconscious form over my shoulder and continued running in the direction of my hometown. I glanced at the sleeping woman over my shoulder, and rethought how I was carrying her. So, I shifted her weight around until I was carrying her bridal-style. Her hair was tickling my neck, and it made me smile reflexively. The pastel strands were surprisingly soft and thick. I moved her head around so it was next to my shoulder, where it was cradled agenst my neck. Her hand twitched towards my chest. When her slender fingers fisted in my shirt, I smirked. She snuggled closer into me; her face was now turned halfway into my bicep. I had the sudden urge to stop and just… absorb her warm, friendly aura. So I pushed it away, pushing on faster.
I looked up to see that we were almost there; the gates should be only about 20 minuets away. I shook Sakura in an attempt to wake her up. She mumbled a little and tried to roll over, but that was pretty much not gonna happen. I put her down, leaned her agenst the tree I was on. While I was doing that, She awoke. Her eyes snapped open, and she was pinning me to the branch before she realized it was me. Her green eyes flooded with realization when she examined my face closer. Her cheeks flushed a delicate rosy pink. " Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize, my instincts just took over!" She got up, offering me a hand. I happily took it, having been almost choked to death.
She examined the area, her face slowly getting more and more confused as she studied. "Where are we?" she asked finally. Eventually her gaze slid to me when I didn't answer. " We're almost there. Konoha is only twenty to thirty minuets away. Let's go." I said lightly, watching her move. She turned around, grabbed my hand and took off in the direction of the village.
"Uchiha! Are you listing to me?" the busty blonde Hokage was yelling at me in her office, holding Sakura. Apparently, she'd been gone for a long time, nearly a year and a half. " Yes, Hokage-sama. I'm listening to every word," I drawled. Her tawny amber eyes narrowed as she stroked Sakura's hair, she'd taken out the rubber binder and let her hair fall to her shoulders.
" Don't you sass me, mister." She was interrupted by someone outside of her rather large office, arguing with one of the ANBU that had been assigned to my case. "Let me in! I need to see the Teme! MOVE!" there was an unceremonious thud, then the double doors swung open to reveal a very angry Naruto. He had changed too, though not as drastically. He still wore orange; his pants were orange, he was wearing a jounin vest under a red short-sleeved robe like thing that was embroidered with black flames along the hem. A flash of light caught my eye. An engagement ring? No fucking way! Who'd want to marry him? Unless, of course… He'd finally caught on with Hinata's feelings for him… I glanced over my shoulder at Sakura's right hand. I sighed. Her hand was bare. I turned my attention back to Naruto. "… Naruto… you baka. It's been a long time," I said, a slight smile gracing my lips. He grinned that trademark grin of his. "Hell yeah, it's been a long time. It's been around… what? Seven YEARS? A lot happened in those seven years, I have take you to dinner, catch up," He turned to Sakura, " You want to come too, Sakura-chan?" he asked her sweetly. She smiled fondly at him, "Sure, Naruto. I've missed you." He smiled and loped over to her, scooping both her and Tsunade up in a hug. He bid us good-bye, hopping out the open window.
"Well, I've decided on your punishment, Uchiha. Since you never really did anything to harm the village, you'll get off easily. One year probation, and you will be reinstated to your previous status as a genin, and you will be part of a genin team again. You will then take part in the chunin exams, and so on. If your behavior is any less than good, you will be put in jail. Dismissed." She released Sakura, in favor of a bottle of sake and her chair. Sakura walked out of the office, pulling me along with her.
We met Naruto at the ramen shop we'd favored as children, but there was a man sitting next to him that I didn't recognize. The man had shaggy honey colored hair and dark, sea blue eyes. My jaw fell open when Sakura leaned over and kissed him lightly, intending to peck his cheek, but he moved his head over so her lips met his for a brief second. She greeted him as 'Ken'. This strange man was invading on my territory. I'd always assumed, after Sakura's proclamation of love the night I left, that she would wait for me to return. But, apparently, that was not the case.
She noticed me staring at 'Ken'. "Oh, Sasuke, I suppose you two haven't met?" She inquired. I plastered a fake smile across my face, as I said, "No, I don't believe we have." She smiled and leaned into the mans well-muscled chest. "Sasuke, this is Ken Utori, my boyfriend, And Ken, this is Uchiha Sasuke, He was on my team when I was a genin," She said, honey dripping from her voice. " Nice to meet you," He held out his hand.
I stared at it. I was fully aware I was being rude. But I was mad. He stole what was once mine. Well, she never really was mine, but he still stole her. I tried to convince myself that I was in no way whatsoever jealous as I watched them through angry eyes as they cuddled and looked like the perfect cliché couple. I knew that once she was with me (like she was supposed to be) we would be nothing like that.
Oh no, we would be much better. We'd be like the super couple. Yeah. We'd have like… wings and we'd fly all over the place. Then we'd breathe fire and shit out monkeys. Yeah, we'd be awesome. All our kids would have black hair and sparkly green eyes. Because I refuse to have pink haired, black eyed little brats running around and fucking up my fantasy.
"Sasuke?" a feminine voice reached out.
As I snapped out of my thoughts, I realized I'd been grumbling and glaring.
"Are you okay? You were scowling. Is everything alright?" As I considered my answer to her question, she began twirling a lock of his hair in between her thumb and forefinger. I felt heat rise like bile up my throat and I turned and stalked off. I heard Naruto shove his chair back and stand up. Footsteps echoed behind me, and a hand clapped down on my shoulder. "Hey, what's up? You're acting weird, like, all tense and stressed and weird." Ebony irises flashed over to him and my eyebrows sunk even lower. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "…Wait a minute. You're… you're either really, really pissed about something, or you're like… pmsing or something." He looked dazed and confued, so I turned to face him and said, "Naruto. I'm glad you care so much, but," and then I flipped him off, and continued stalking away from my sputtering best friend.