A/N: Thank you to those of you who reviewed the prologue. It somehow influenced me to write the next chapter of my other story Learning to Live. And right after that, I started on this chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! :)

Renewing Old Bonds

Hikaru

Five years later...

The hot summer sun radiated through all of fire country. Not too far away from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a small town was located nearby. It was a civilian town. It was rare to see a ninja pass through the tiny town.

Somewhere in the town, a young boy around the age of five, sat on the porch of an old woman named Akina. His little legs were dangling off the porch as he watched many people pass by the small house. His bright green eyes were focused on a dog across the street. The dog was limping towards a short man with gray hair. The man held out a piece of meat, which the dog quickly snatched from his hands. The limping dog turned the next corner and went into a dark alley.

"Akina-baasan, when is Papa coming home?"

The old woman named Akina turned to the small boy with a large smile on her face. "Be patient Hikaru. Your otou-san is on a very important mission. He'll be back soon before you know it."

Hikaru sighed. It has been three days since he saw his otou-san. He was on a very important mission in the Land of Waves. Hikaru never knew what his dad had to do on these missions. He always pictured him fighting bad guys and winning. The little boy couldn't wait for his dad to come home since he promised to bring back some strawberries. Thinking about it made Hikaru smile.

Just then, a crash was heard. Startled by the sound, Hikaru jumped off the porch. He saw two ninjas in dark clothing run past him. They each had a sword and straw hats.

A moment later, Hikaru saw two other ninjas rush past him. One had a shock of yellow hair with large blue eyes. The other had long pink hair and eyes similar to his own. Hikaru fumbled through one of his pockets and pulled out a picture he took from his dad's belongings.

It was a picture of Hikaru when he was a baby. His mother was holding him with a warm smile. She had long pink hair and green eyes that were the same as his. His father was standing next to his mother with his hands in his pocket with a small smirk on his handsome features.

Hikaru looked in the direction he saw the two ninjas past by. The one with pink hair had to be his mother. Without thinking, he started running in the direction of the ninjas. He didn't stop once, not even to the warning cries of Akina.

Arriving at the scene, Hikaru hid behind a cart filled with cabbages. The two ninjas in dark were laying on the floor unconscious. The blonde and the woman he thought to be his mother were standing over the two on the floor. They looked worn out. Looking closely, Hikaru saw the pink-haired woman's hands glowing a greenish color. She placed her hand over a cut on the blonde's arm and the young boy watched as the cut instantly disappeared.

Wanting to hear them, Hikaru ran towards the edge of a building closer to the duo. He stuck his head out from the corner to get a better look at these ninjas. The blonde had whisker like marks on his face. He was unnaturally tanned and had a well built frame. He wore a green vest under dark blue clothing. He had a forehead protector around his head that had the same symbol his dad had.

The woman had long pink hair that reached her waist. Her clothing was much different from the blonde ninja. She wore a red tank top with a mesh vest under it. She had on a tight black skirt that came to her mid thing. Wrapped around her thigh, was a kunai holster. She had ninja sandals that came up to her mid-shin. Her forehead protector was tied around her neck instead of her forehead.

"So what are we going to do with these two?" The blonde man asked the woman.

"We have to take them back to the village. Tsunade will probably deal with them there."

"I say we just leave them here. They can't possibly do much harm. Catching them was way too easy."

"Naruto! We can't just leave them. Come on. Grab one and let's go. I want to go home and pass out on my bed."

Naruto chuckled sinisterly. "Oh? I know the real reason you want to go to bed, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smacked him hard behind the head, causing him to fall head first on the ground. "Baka! Let's go."

"You're so much more violent than you used to be." Naruto whimpered out in pain.

Each grabbing a body of the unconscious ninjas, the two disappeared in the woods.

Hikaru looked at the picture he was still clutching in his hands. That ninja just now had to be his mother. She looked exactly like the picture he held. His father told him that his mother passed away years ago. Did his otou-san lie to him?

Without realizing it, the small green-eyed boy started crying. His sobs were heavy and his tears were flowing freely down his round cheeks. His entire body was shaking furiously from crying so much.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed him. Hikaru turned around and saw Akina. The old woman was surprised by his tears. She quickly pulled him closer into a hug.

"What's wrong Hikaru? I told you to stay away from those ninjas. Did they hurt you?"

Hikaru couldn't respond coherently, so he shook his head. He put his arms around Akina and sobbed into her clothes.

The old woman didn't have the slightest clue as to why this boy was crying. Not worrying about it too much, she carefully picked him up and carried him back to her home.

She placed him on her living room couch and wiped the tears from his face. Retrieving a blanket from the hall closet, she placed it over him. Hikaru had stopped crying by now. Exhausted from all the crying, the little boy quickly fell asleep.

The giant silver moon in the sky illuminated everything in sight. That included the small town below. Sasuke walked through the small, silent town with a basket of strawberries in his hand. He shook his head. Hikaru may have his looks but he was more like Sakura than he was like himself. Everything about his son reminded him of the pink-haired kunoichi he left behind. Strawberries were one of the biggest factor. Hikaru ate the fruit more than anything else.

Sasuke came to the small house he usually left Hikaru to stay. The woman that lived here, Akina, has been gracious to him for the past few years. She always took care of Hikaru when Sasuke had a mission. He knew his son was in good hands.

He slowly knocked on the wooden door. A few seconds later, Akina appeared at the door and opened it for Sasuke to enter.

"What a relief. I thought you weren't going to make it back tonight."

"I was a little delayed." Sasuke held up the basket to indicate what took him so long to return.

Akina gave a warm, welcoming smile to the older Uchiha in front of her. "He's sleeping on the couch."

"Was he good this time?" Sasuke knew that Hikaru could really throw a tantrum when he has to wait for a long time. But other than that, he raised him to be respectful.

Akina's smile faltered for a bit. "There was a little problem. A few ninjas came into town today and he followed them. It took me a while to find him. When I did find him, he was crying."

Sasuke's brows furrowed. Ninjas rarely passed through this town. He walked over to the couch and saw Hikaru sleeping. He didn't look troubled at all.

Sasuke carefully picked his son up and the boy instinctively curled up like he would always do. The older Uchiha turned to Akina. "Thank you for looking after him."

"It's a pleasure having him around."

Akina walked both son and father out the door and into the warm evening air.

Sasuke continued to carry Hikaru home. They lived in a small cottage half a kilometer away in the woods from the small town.

Sasuke liked this area since there were hardly any ninjas. That's one of the reasons he chose to live here five years ago. The main reason was because he knew Naruto and Sakura wouldn't think of looking for him in an area close by.

Arriving at the small cottage, Sasuke took Hikaru up to his room and tucked him in. He was about to leave when he heard a small whimper coming from the bed.

Sasuke walked back towards the bed and leaned down on the side. Hikaru's expression changed immediately. His face looked worried and scared. Silent tears were streaming down his face. Sasuke really wanted to know what happened earlier with those ninjas. How had they hurt him without touching him?

"Mama."

Sasuke froze in mid thought. Now he understood. The ninjas weren't bothering him. He was just thinking about Sakura. But how did she all of a sudden come into his mind? Hikaru never once asked about his mother. The only time Sasuke ever talked about Sakura was when he was telling Hikaru that she passed away shortly after he was born. His son never questioned him about his mother from that point. It was just a known fact not to talk about her.

Sasuke gently shook Hikaru to wake him from whatever dream he was having. The little Uchiha resisted for a while before he was fully awake.

"Papa? Is that you?" Hikaru's small, innocent voice could barely be heard.

"Aa. What were you dreaming about?"

Tears started to form once again in the little boy's eyes. "Mama. I saw her today."

Sasuke wasn't expecting that. "Are you sure it was her. It could be someone that looks like her."

Hikaru twisted around in his sheets for a few seconds before pulling out the photo he had earlier. He showed the picture to Sasuke. "She looked exactly like this. It was Mama!" He was starting to get frantic.

Sasuke looked at the picture and then looked at Hikaru. He sighed. Of course the boy would go find the picture that was hidden in the very back of his closet. This was definitely Sakura's son. Stubborn and mischievous in every way possible.

"You're right. It was your mother. I'll explain everything to you in the morning, okay? Just go to sleep and get some rest. Papa is very tired at the moment."

Hikaru's tears stopped. He let a big smile spread across his face. The boy jumped up and tackled his father in a giant bear hug.

Sasuke briefly smiled before embracing his son. He let go and tucked Hikaru back into bed once again. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Papa."

Sasuke exited the room and closed the door slightly. He walked towards his own room and shut the door with a reassuring click. He walked to the middle of the room and sat on his bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. He never planned on telling Hikaru about Sakura. It was only bad luck that she managed to pass through the town. It was also bad luck that he found that picture and knew what Sakura looked like.

Sasuke kicked off his sandals and pulled his clothes off his body. He crawled into bed and let his tired eyes shut. He was planning on falling asleep right away, but that seemed impossible since his head was filled with images of a certain kunoichi not too far away. Eventually, he fell asleep.

His dreams were filled with nothing put pink. Pink hair and green eyes.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think. Hopefully the next chapter will be uploaded shortly :)