4 YEARS LATER
"Sakura. Kakashi. To what do I owe this inconvenience?"
Sakura glared back fiercely at him with watery, red rimmed eyes.
"Sasuke."
Sasuke stood on a slope adjacent to a small rocky clearing. Hands firmly on his hips, he stared down to where Kakashi and Sakura were standing on the flatter ground below. His posture seemed arrogant, yet his face revealed no emotion whatsoever.
He wore the same sort of clothes he had first donned when he'd joined Orochimaru.
His white shirt fluttering slightly in the breeze, revealing glimpses of his leanly muscled chest. He looked almost to perfect to be human, standing there with strands of his dark hair blowing unnoticed across his face.
"Pursuing me is pointless." He intoned blankly. "You have become just as much fools as Nar-"
"SHUTUP!" Sakura burst out in sudden fury as she readied herself to attack him.
"You have no right to even SAY his name!"
Her voice wasn't just angry… it was laced with pain. She was lashing out.
Moving in front of Sakura, Kakashi placed his hands on her shoulders forcefully, effectively restraining her. "Stop, Sakura! This won't help anything."
But she was not done raging at Sasuke and struggled against the grip. It took a few moments of futile struggling before her shoulders slumped forward in resignation.
With a sigh, Kakashi moved with sudden inhuman speed to stand beside Sasuke. Sasuke did not look even slightly shocked.
"We are not here for you, but for Naruto."
"And yet I don't sense his chakra." Sasuke replied.
A stream of loud incoherent curses came from Sakura's direction.
"SAKURA!" Kakashi shouted, stunning the raving girl in to silence.
"Please let me handle this."
Sakura mouthed a few silent protests before shutting her mouth under Kakashi's piercing gaze, and slowly nodding in angry acceptance.
Kakashi turned back toward Sasuke.
"Just don't interfere with Konoha or her plans, and no Konoha ninja will stop you again."
"I doubt that. Even if you desist, no matter how pointless it is, there is one idiot who will never drop this."
"I'm afraid he is no longer able to make that choice… We were ambushed. Itachi got to him. They fought."
"Itachi. Where is he?"
Though only the upper half of his face could be seen, bitter disappointment showed clearly on Kakashi's face.
"Sasuke, I'm trying to tell you that Naruto… He's dead, Sasuke."
"..."
Short chapter, so I'm adding two at once. Read on!