Chapter 2

Sasuke was running. Around him, the corridor was a blur. He was inside the Ninja Academy, headed towards his classroom. He had something to do. He couldn't remember exactly what it was, but he knew that there was something important he had to do. He absentmindedly noted the unusual emptiness of the corridor, safe for some chuunin teachers. School had probably just been dismissed. The rhythmic sound of his footfalls was echoing around the hallway, making the teachers glance at the seven-year-old boy as he passed by them.

Had he forgotten his set of throwing knives and shuriken in the classroom? Maybe yes, maybe no – he just couldn't seem to remember at all, but he usually practised kunai and shuriken throwing after school.

Finally reaching his classroom, Sasuke made a sharp turn towards the door. And was instantly engulfed in a blinding light.

Sasuke woke up with a start. A dream. It had all been a dream…

The blinding light again. Shielding his eyes with his right hand, Sasuke noticed the single ray of sunlight piercing through a small gap between the curtains of his large bedroom window. This lone ray of light gave some colour to the otherwise dim room.

He glanced at the mirror on his wardrobe, his raised hand involuntarily reaching up to shove his front bangs away from his forehead. His palm was now moist with sweat. A handsome eighteen-year-old teenager was staring back at him, his expression slowly turning into a scowl. The Fourth Ninja War had just ended, he needed to relax, yet his subconscious was like: "Oh! Sasuke-kun, have a little look at what I just found deep down inside your psyche!" Definitely scowl-worthy.

Sasuke sighed, his fine features relaxing oh-so-slightly. The alarm clock sitting on his bedside table read six in the morning. He had had only seven hours of sleep; the previous day had been his birthday, July 23rd. Last night, Naruto and the others of the former Rookie Nine had thrown a big party for the occasion, inviting as many people as they knew to the celebration. It had been a sort of multipurpose event: the boys had just wanted an excuse to party hard while the girls had celebrated the fact that Sasuke-kun was now of age to get married—squeaaaal!

As for Sasuke, he had simply – and quietly – enjoyed his birthday, the first normal event since his return to the Hidden Leaf Village.

Still, that didn't mean that he was out of trouble. As he had been underage upon his return, the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade, had assigned Uchiha Sasuke to various tasks, namely:

"Participate in the next Chuunin exams and become Chuunin.

"Participate in the next Jounin exams and become Jounin.

"Accept any assigned mission."

Upon receiving this rather short list, Sasuke had been all but surprised at its briefness. Indeed, he had even expected some sort of penalty, since he had killed people, including Konoha villagers. His expression had transpired no emotion whatsoever, of course; however, inwardly, relief and apprehension had suddenly engaged in a ferocious battle. So, he was expected to become a Jounin, the highest rank for ninjas. Perfect. Justperfect.

Sasuke got out of bed and made a beeline for the bathroom. He really needed a cold shower right now…

Fifteen minutes later, Sasuke was locking the door to his newly acquired apartment. It was close to the Uchiha compound, near the outskirts of Konoha. But he didn't feel ready yet to go visit the place. So much had happened during the past few years… Now Sasuke was completely sure that he was the last survivor of the Uchiha clan. A fragment of memory flashed through his mind at that moment: he had mentioned his intention of restoring his clan during the introductory session of the former Team 7, led by Hatake Kakashi, and composed of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and himself.

Sasuke shook his head, realising the implication of his words back then. Anyway, it was training time now.

He was walking down the streets of Konoha towards the training grounds, shifting from one tree's shade to the next. Each time the bright sunlight touched Sasuke's skin, he would feel its warmth. Its oh-so-annoying warmth. Sasuke definitely preferred the coolness beneath the trees' shade: it was much more refreshing in his opinion. He briefly wished for some clouds to conceal the sun – at least as long as his training would last.

It hurt. It hurt a lot.

"That idiot Naruto," muttered Sasuke under his breath after he was thrown to the ground. He swiftly got back up on his feet. He eyed said blond, annoyance gripping at the corners of his mind. They were supposed to work as a team in order to defeat their sensei, yet Uzumaki Naruto had actually managed to knock Sasuke down with one of his many Shadow Clones. The real Naruto was at present busy creating a Rasengan, determined to hit Kakashi-sensei this time.

From where Sasuke stood, near the edge of the training area, his clothes covered in dust and dirt, he could see that Sakura, who was perched on a low tree branch, was a tad too close to the impact zone of Naruto's attack. Heck, she wasn't even supposed to be present at this training session, which concerned their preparation for the upcoming Chuunin exams. They were only one week away, to be exact.

"RASENGAN!" shouted Naruto as he charged at Kakashi-sensei. Predictably, the latter easily dodged the direct attack using a simple Substitution technique. The chakra orb destroyed the log to pieces, thousands of splinters scattering about into the air.

Sasuke resisted the urge to face-palm himself. He almost did so when a clear, loud scream was heard from Sakura's direction. There would soon be bloodshed…

The young lad actually took a minute to debate whether he would help his blond friend or just let the pink-haired girl beat the life out of Naruto. He seriously considered the first one, since he needed Naruto on his team for the Chuunin exams. Yet, a look from Kakashi-sensei told him that he could go for now if he wanted; the training would, as usual, resume at dusk.

Thus, Uchiha Sasuke calmly exited the training grounds, undetected to both Naruto and Sakura, although the latter had purposefully attended this morning's session to hang out a bit with her long-time crush: Sasuke. It didn't matter to her that he had once attempted to kill her. When Sakura had her mind set on something – or, in this case, someone – she could go to lengths merely to achieve her goal. Sasuke, on the other hand, was completely unaware of Sakura's perfect-love-story-and-eventual-romantic-wedding plan.

For now, Uchiha Sasuke just wanted to make some good memories.

As he walked on, retrospection overtook his mind. He could still remember bits and pieces of his dream. Sasuke, seven years old, running down a corridor. Was that a childhood memory? Sasuke racked his brain for more details – to the point that he nearly felt a minor headache coming – but to no avail. Just what was wrong with his memories? That dream simply didn't seem to form part of them. And that was slightly frustrating. As far as he knew, he had always walked along corridors. Well, most of the time, anyway. But he was a hundred percent sure that at the Ninja Academy – ah, another detail he finally recalled of the dream – he had never done so.

At this point, Sasuke was so caught up in his own thoughts that he failed to notice the slight frown that now marred his delicate features. And he also failed to notice, as he rounded a corner into the busier streets of Konoha, that someone was coming his way.

Sasuke bumped into none other than a certain Hyuuga Hinata.