Probation

Sakura hadn't been able to find sleep after talking with Ziom. She ended up on the roof to her building, looking as the night sky switched to a pinkish hue. Dawn was breaking and that only meant he would be returning. Every fiber of her being ached at his second chance, but there was a part of herself that had doubt he really wanted to return. She sighed, trying not to think about that part of herself at all.

"Mind if I join you?"

Sakura turned around at the familiar voice. It didn't surprise her that it was Ziom who decided to join her in watching the sun come up. "No, not at all." She smiled and patted the open ledge next to her.

He took the seat as a yawn started to make its way through his body. He covered his mouth with his hand but in the process had he had brushed the amber gem that was strung around his neck. It glistened in the morning light, which brought back a curious thought from earlier. She hadn't known she'd been staring at him until Ziom made a noise of interest which brought her back from her reverie.

"Can I help you?" He asked, a smile threatening at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh, no. It's nothing." Sakura tried to advert her eyes from his necklace, but its gleam was just to dazzling to ignore.

Ziom had noticed where her eyes were placed and smiled. He took the gem and wrapped his hand around it. He had closed his eyes for just a split second as his smile increased to show his teeth, most likely at a memory that revolved around the gem. But as quickly as it came, his face had gone back to a dull happiness compared to the one that was just displayed. "This," he breathed, "is a special crystal created by Mai. As long as the color doesn't fade, I know that she's alive."

"That's remarkable." She commented. "You know, I've encountered a Shoton user a few years ago before the war. I remember that her crystals took on a pinkish hue, but yours is amber. Do you know why that is?"

"I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, it's probably because of bloodline." He gave a slight smile after seeing the confusion in Sakura's eyes. "You see, Mai is the heir to the Sintessa clan. As far as I've seen, only the heirs of the clan have amber colored crystals, though Mai isn't just limited to that color. She's the only one in her clan that has been able to produce several different colors. That's why she is the heir to the clan even though she's not from the main branch." He explained.

"Is that what makes her so special?" The longer they stayed on the topic of Mai, the more Sakura noticed how Ziom acted. He had said nothing but praise about this woman, and every time he spoke her name, there would be a flash of emotions running through his eyes. Though it was only a flash, she could've sworn that there was a great deal of love behind those golden eyes of his.

"To her clan, yes."

"But...?"

He sighed. "She is more than just a powerful key to her bloodline. Mai is wise beyond her years, charismatic, independently strong, compassionate, and so many more things." Ziom paused as his mood switched from praise to tension. She could hear him grind his teeth as he spoke, "Though some people don't see all of that."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. Her curiosity had intensified now, causing any other thought to drift out of her mind.

Keeping his hand on the amber crystal, he continued, "Our village elders don't believe that Mai should ever leave the village. They're obsessed on completing her cure for Ketsueki Doku so that they can maintain their profits in her clan's income as miracle healers. They don't want her clan to die off, though neither does she." His free hand had clenched tightly into a fist. "Because of them, they forced her to test the medicine herself and now she's in this state. That village gets me so fired up."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing. The angrier Ziom got the more heat started to radiate from his body. The fingerless gloves that he was wearing were starting to burn up in flames and it was all related to his fiery anger. Besides the heat that was radiating from his body, his eyes were also changing, but it wasn't like any dojutsu. Their amber light was starting to fade to a dark crimson that made it seem as if they were tainted in blood. After witnessing his eyes changing, Sakura really started to panic when his hair started to dye itself crimson to match his eyes. She had reached out for his hand suddenly before his hair had finished its completed transformation, and as soon as she did that, it receded back to its normal black and his eyes changed back to their radiant amber. He was still warm from his rapid temperature growth, but it seemed that he was cooling down.

"Ziom-kun, please, calm down." She could hear the fear in her own voice. It wasn't something she normally showed around "guests" as she tried not to show any of her weaknesses.

He rubbed his eyes and then the side of his head as if his color change had given him a headache. "I'm sorry." He told her. "It's nothing to be afraid of."

"What...just happened?"

He sighed. "My clan is known to have very...sensitive emotions. Depending on our emotion, our appearance changes to match it. When I'm angry, I turn red for example."

"What about when you're happy, sad, or...in love?" She nearly gulped on the last emotion as it was harder to say the "L" word aloud.

Ziom simply smiled and humored her question. "Well, usually only my eyes change color, but the stronger the emotion the more I change to match it. Just now, I was angry so my eyes changed first but since I was furious, my hair started to change. When I'm sad my eyes turn blue, when I'm happy my eyes are amber, and when I'm in love...my eyes turn pink."

"Were you...were you ever in love?" Blushing at the question, she waited for his answer.

He turned his head away to look toward the morning sun. Sakura could see a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "I don't know if I can answer that. I have seen members of my clan, though, and they've all had pink eyes or pink eyes with pink hair to match. That's how I know." He explained and brought his attention back to her. "You know what I like about people like you, your colors don't have to change in order to show someone else your feelings for them. I envy that about other people. You don't have to wear your emotions so outwardly, but yet...that's why you people bottle in all of your thoughts until they explode."

Sakura couldn't help but to inhale deeply. It was as if he was reading her mind about a couple nights ago. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding in her ears and her breath was caught in her throat. 'Maybe it would be better to wear my emotions like the color of my hair. Maybe then it would make things feel easier.' she thought.

"You know, though," he smirked, "you do remind me of a fellow clansman. Though your colors don't change due to emotions, your hair does resemble my color of love. Your hair is a representation of your love for your comrades." He ran his hand through his own hair as if imaging what the feeling would be like. "I haven't known you long, Sakura-chan, but I can tell that you love your comrades. I remember seeing your face after Uchiha Sasuke woke up from his coma. Your love for him was easy to read in your eyes, and for a moment, I thought that was our true color of love in my clan. Hopefully one day, I'll have your shade of pink."

She smiled lightly at the compliment and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, isn't that a pretty picture."

Both Sakura and Ziom turned to see Mai standing in the doorway that led back into the building. Her brilliant white hair was disheveled and Sakura could see where the sweat had pinned her loose strands to her forehead and the back of her neck. Mai's outfit was also simple with its light blue t-shirt, a weird symbol on the front, and black shorts as it was the same one she had worn last night with the blood stains as evidence. She stood there like stone in her bare feet with her eyes heavily locked onto the morning scene.

"Mai, you're awake." Ziom smiled and Sakura saw his eyes take on a pinkish hue before returning to a dazzling amber. She also noticed that Ziom never used honorifics with Mai's name unlike with her own.

"What are you doing up here?" Mai was very demanding. In fact, the first night that Sakura had met the woman, she had also been very serious and authoritative. She had given her the impression of being the dominant one of the pair.

"I was just watching the sunrise. Will come join us?" He moved over so that there would be a spot on the ledge for the cold woman and waited patiently for her to sit by his side.

Her cheeks flared with color then and it looked almost as if she had a fever, but her eyes weren't hazed like in a usual fever. She cast her violet eyes away from them and tightened her jaw, trying not to look at Ziom. "Don't mind me. Finish your conversation."

"Mai...are you alright?" Concern grew in his eyes as they started to change to a light violet, almost matching Mai's.

"I'm fine. Don't let my well being interfere with whatever you're doing." She huffed and walked back inside the building. Her mumbling was heard even as she descended the stairs.

"Mai! Come back!" He called after her and got up from his seat, but he didn't leave. Sighing, Ziom took his seat and let his head fall into his hands. "Sometimes...she has the worst timing in the world."

"I'm sorry. Did I do anything to upset her?" Sakura asked.

"No, it's not your fault." He smirked. "Oh, that reminds me. Can you arrange a meeting with your Hokage for us? You see, Mai is a genius in medicine but even she's having a difficult time with the cure, as I've told you. She needs help from a master, and, well, that would mean asking assistance from Konoha's own Slug Princess."

"I can try, but if she does decide to take up an audience with you, it most likely won't be today. She's pretty busy these days..." Sakura's thoughts trailed off elsewhere as she remembered about what was happening today.

"Oh, I see." His face sort of fell at her answer but perked right back up as he shot her a slight smile.

"If you need a place to stay, I know a good friend who will let you stay at his place while Mai stays with me. You won't be able to find a decent hotel this late in the season." She offered.

"Thank you so much and I appreciate your kindness." He looked over toward where Mai had stormed off. "I know Mai feels the same way."

Sakura's impression of Ziom was that he was a kind, caring, compassionate, and fearless man who showed great passion for his comrades. She also got the feeling that there was something going on between him and his partner, Mai, and that was one reason why she didn't want the two of them staying with each other in the same house. The other reason was she didn't quite trust him enough. He was still an outside ninja, no matter how nice and understanding he was, so she had to keep him under some sort of surveillance.

"Hello, Sakura-chan." It was a familiar voice that made her turn around.

Sakura was lost in thought as she was making her way to see Tsunade, so she was a bit startled when Sai had called her name. He was only being polite, so she managed to keep her reactions to herself. "Oh, it's just you, Sai. Good morning." She smiled at him.

"Are you headed to see the Hokage?" He asked. With his ANBU background, it was no surprise that he had already found out what she was up to.

"Ah, yes." Then it hit her. She had found the perfect babysitter. "Sai, could you do me a favor?"

"Of course. I read in a book once that if you take up a favor of a friend that that friend will owe you one in return." He gave his closed off smile which had always gave her the creeps.

"Yeah...Anyway, I have a friend who's staying in the village but all of the hotel rooms are taken up. He needs a place to stay and I was wondering if you could offer him your couch. Will you do it for me, please?" She asked, not wanting to tell him her true reason until he took up the offer.

His eyes had opened then as their blackness pierced right through her. It was as if he could already tell what she was thinking. "Of course, but may I ask something?"

She nodded.

"Is he a shinobi, perhaps?"

She nodded again. "Yes, and as much as I want to trust him, I've only just met him. If he is putting on a facade, then he's doing a pretty good job about it, though his emotions tell me otherwise."

"I see. So you also want me to keep an eye on him as well?" He asked.

"If that's not too much to ask." She said a bit sheepishly, feeling that she was asking a lot from Sai.

He shook his head. "Not at all. I've had harder tasks."

"Thank you, Sai." She smiled. "You know what, I think you'll like Ziom."

Both Sai and Sakura had already started to make their way toward the Hokage residence. Sai had been very silent since she had thanked him and it wasn't until they were nearly there did he make another sound. "That's it." He said, nearly startling Sakura by his sudden gasp. Even though he was still reading books on other people's emotions, he was actually starting to get a personality of his own. Sometimes she would think it was Naruto influenced by some of the things that he reacted to. Like now for instance.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I've been thinking where I've heard the name Ziom before." He pulled out a book from his back pocket, but this wasn't his usual 'Easy Guide to Friendships and Hatred' that he'd been reading lately.

It was small and black without any title on the cover. He flipped through a few pages before landing on one with a picture of Ziom in the corner. Sakura thought it was a bingo book at first but soon realized that it was an info sheet. It's title was on the corner of the page right above Ziom's picture: 'Gifted Shinobi of Our Generation'. She tried to look over his shoulder to get a better look at the page, smiling at some of the interesting facts that were listed.

"'Ziom, the Solemn Lion, Katorabe is one of the most intelligent shinobi of our time," he read, "He was ranked at Jounin level in Kagegakure, but there is reason to believe that he was once of higher rank before the Fourth Shinobi War. Right after the war, he had mysteriously vanished from the village and people believed that he had died in battle, but there have been recent sightings that he's alive in a smaller village just west of Konohagakure in Medikusu Village. As the young heir to the Katorabe clan, it is crucial for him to return to Kagegakure but so far not a single sensory ninja has been able to find him.'" He closed the book as they stopped right outside of the Hokage's building.

Sakura's heart was pounding as she realized what was going to be happening. Today would be Team 7's official reunion after everything that happened, and there were so many things that could still go wrong. She tried to put all of her doubts behind her, but they kept resurfacing like bubbles in a pond. Taking a deep sigh, she started to head into the building with Sai on her tail.

She stopped quickly and turned around, nearly surprising the ninja behind her. "Wait, are you going to see Sasuke too?" She asked.

He nodded. "Am I not apart of Team 7 as well? At least this time when I meet him, we'll be on equal grounds."

She stared at him for a few more seconds before speaking, "There's something else as well, isn't there?"

Sai closed his and gave her a smile—a fake smile. "What makes you say that?"

Sakura could read him like an open book. He was never really good at lying to her. "Don't pull that crap with me, Sai. Now tell me, did Tsunade-sama order to watch Sasuke today?"

"Perceptive as always, Sakura-san." He dropped the smile. "Yes, she did."

"He doesn't need so many body guards." She muttered mostly to herself. "Naruto and I can handle him quite fine." Sighing, she simply waved all her thoughts away and continued to proceed into the building.

She couldn't help counting the steps every time her heart pounded along. The sensations she was feeling were the only things telling her that this wasn't a dream. The sweat on her palms were another sign of this reality as she clenched and re-clenched her fists out of nervousness.

Finally, they had reached the Hokage's office and Sakura was still showing signs of nervousness as she hesitated to open the door. Sai didn't pick up on her nervousness and simply opened it for her, without her being prepared for what she saw. Tsunade was sitting at her desk like any other day while Shikamaru stood in front of her, clearly whispering something to her. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but she didn't care either because her eyes immediately locked onto the still figure that sat on the ledge of one of the large windows in the office.

This figure was familiar as she saw him in her dreams nearly every night. His hair was shaggier, though, since she last saw—not counting yesterday. He wore nothing but gray in loose clothing that made him looked skinnier than he was already. She could tell that there were circles under his eyes, most likely from a restless night of no sleep, and another thing she noticed were black markings all over his forearms that led up to his biceps, but that was as far she could see. He was also barefoot with the same markings on the tops of his feet, and his attention was focused far away in deep thought.

"Sasuke...kun..." She had barely been audible, but nearly everyone had their eyes on her, all except the said Uchiha in question. The pain in her chest had tightened greatly and it felt as though her heart was going to burst right out of her chest. She repeated in her mind that she wasn't going to cry, and so far she was doing an excellent job. Regaining her voice, she tried to direct her attention to Tsunade, though her eyes kept a close lookout on Sasuke in her corner vision. "Ahem, Tsunade-sama, I need to speak with you."

"Go ahead, Sakura. Shikamaru was just leaving." The Hokage's eyes glanced up at the young Nara and he simply grumbled an inaudible response before heading out the door.

"Um, okay." She cleared her throat, in hopes that her nerves would go away. "Last night, two shinobi from Medikusu Village appeared at my door asking for help. I let them stay with me, but they request your presence." She reported.

"Ah, they must be Ziom and Mai, right? I was expecting them, but not this soon." She paused as she looked down at her desk, most likely looking at her schedule for the day. "Sakura, could you find them a place to stay? I won't be able to see them for another two days, I'm afraid."

"Right." Sakura mentally smiled, thanking herself for asking Sai to look after Ziom earlier.

"Tsunade-baachan!"

Everyone could hear Naruto's voice as he made his way up the building. Sakura gave a little smile at hearing her friend's voice while Tsunade simply closed her eyes, sighed, and clenched her fists at the sound of her nickname. He skidded into the room wearing only a t-shirt and his trademark orange pants, and at first, he didn't see Sasuke on the windowsill.

"Where's that Sasuke-teme?" He asked as he looked around the room.

"Why don't you open up your eyes, aho." Sasuke muttered, which caused Naruto's ears to perk up and directed his eyes to where Sasuke was sitting. His voice sounded dry as if he'd been out in the sun for far too long without any water. He didn't sound like Sasuke to Sakura right now, though his true colors were being shown.

"Kan'aro..." Naruto grumbled, but before he could jump down the Uchiha's throat, Sakura managed to snap out of her frozen state and hit him upside the head—resulting in the blonde's attention to be brought to her. "Sakura-chan, why'd you do that?" He asked while rubbing the soft spot where she had hit him.

"You're here for only ten seconds and already you're going to start a fight with him? Really, Naruto, think before you act." She told him.

He muttered something incoherent in reply.

"What did you say?" Her annoyance tolerance for the day was starting to rise, and apparently it was evident on her face.

"Nothing." He was quick to respond.

"I thought so." She crossed her arms over her chest in satisfaction.

"Ahem," Tsunade cleared her throat to get their attention, though Sasuke didn't pay her any mind and continued to look out the window. "Can we get on with this? I have many important appointments that need attending to today."

"Hai," Sakura answered immediately out of habit while Naruto and Sai simply nodded.

Tsunade picked up a scroll that was laying on her desk before reading aloud, "'The captured ninja, Uchiha Sasuke, is hereby under probation within Konohagakure. He will be bound without the use of chakra which means that he cannot perform any ninjutsu, genjutsu, fuinjutsu, or kenjutsu and will also be placed under constant surveillance. He must stay within Konohagakure with no contact of the outside world. If he is to break any of these rules, Uchiha Sasuke will be killed immediately on sight without any hesitation from either Jounin rank to members of the ANBU. If he makes it past his probation period, he will be released with the allowance of chakra flow, though a seal will be placed on him to alert any high amount of chakra being used. The seal will remain in effect unless the Hokage deems it unnecessary.'"

Sakura had to contain her gasp when Tsunade read that he could be killed on sight if he broke the rules, telling herself that she had nothing to worry about. Sasuke had told her that he would come back to Konoha if he was allowed, though she was still a bit suspicious. Five years ago, he seemed that destroying Konoha would bring him the revenge that he wanted for his brother's sacrifice, but now he wanted to come back. It was as if this was an entirely new Sasuke and he broke out of his own nightmare. What could he have dreamt while he was in that coma?

"Anyway, I take it that you three will be watching him today?" Tsunade asked, trying to bring back the energy in the room.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Sakura couldn't help but to glance over at him, but of course he wasn't looking over here.

"Alright, I read you the rules, now go. I have important things to attend to." She told them before sitting back down behind her desk.

"Um, Tsunade-sama?"

"Hm?"

"Could I ask when his probation will be over?" Sakura asked, hoping that it wouldn't be long.

"I expect a weekly report, and if they turn out well, then I say he'd have the minimum of about twelve months. If he's showing signs that he's not improving, then I'd say a maximum would be about five years." She told them.

"Well, that ain't gonna happen." Naruto said. "C'mon Sasuke, let's get outta here." He was the first to exit, though Sai, Sakura, and Sasuke all remained in the room. After he noticed that no one followed him, he reappeared in the doorway. "Get a move on it, people! Everyone else wants to see him too!"

No one moved.

"That's it. Don't make me move you." He threatened, but again, no one moved. "I warned you." He clasped his hands together. "Orioke no Jutsu!" He exclaimed and a puff of smoke erupted from nowhere as he transformed into a beautiful, young female version of himself.

Sai simply stared at him while both Tsunade and Sakura clenched their fists. Sakura was the closest one to him and managed to hit him upside the head once again, causing him to transform back. Both Tsunade and Sakura were chastising him very loudly, and in the mix of all things, no one noticed the slight smirk that had formed on Sasuke's face. He had closed his eyes and turned his head away as he noticed that nothing had changed. Just like all those years ago, huh...Itachi. he thought.

After they left Tsunade's office, Naruto immediately regretted doing his sexy jutsu as he rubbed his sore head where Sakura had beat him several times over. He walked ahead of the group, just slightly, with Sai by his side reciting something from a book he'd just read saying that if a woman hits you it's either out of anger or likeness. Sakura, on the other hand, remained to walk by Sasuke's side seeing that the Uchiha didn't mind, though he hadn't spoke since insulting Naruto.

She kept peeking up at him whenever she thought he wasn't looking, though she hoped that he was. Her heart was beating faster than ever as the soft murmurs of Sai and Naruto filled the background along with the voices of Konoha citizens. She could hear them whispering things as Sasuke made his way through town and knew that he heard them too, though he looked as impassive as ever. The Sasuke from five years ago would've killed them all by now. 'But he's not the Sasuke from five years ago.' she told herself. 'He's changed. I know it.'

"Stop staring. It's rude." Sasuke spoke, though it was barely above a whisper.

"Oh," she blushed. "I wasn't staring."

"Then what were you looking at?" He asked. Was he making conversation?

"I, eto...noticed that you needed a haircut. I could do it for you later, if you want." She hoped that it was a good cover story.

Unconsciously, he ran a hand through his hair but didn't say anything.

She didn't want the conversation to end, so she tried to keep it simple. "You know, you woke up at a good time. I love the summer season."

Still no response.

"I feel like I'm talking to your comatose state again." She muttered, but apparently he had heard her. "At least then I could tell you anything..."

"Sakura..." He began but was interrupted by walking into Naruto's back. "Baka, watch where you're going." He muttered while rubbing his nose.

Though before Naruto could say anything, he hid behind the nearest tree. His behavior had changed drastically and was weirder than usual. Sakura turned her attention to what he must've seen, but that couldn't have been right. There was no threat in front of them. In fact, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata happened to walk by and as they did, Hinata gave Sakura a wave with a wide grin spread across her face. A slight difference in her smile, but otherwise, there was nothing wrong.

"Naruto, what are you afraid of?" She asked as the group walked by.

"Shh," he told her and placed his index finger to his mouth.

"Hello, Sakura-chan." Hinata had closed the space between the two groups, though Shino and Kiba with Akamaru stayed a distance away. They must've noticed Sasuke because Kiba's nose was wrinkled up and Akamaru was growling, though it was hushed from the distance. "Have you seen Naruto-kun? I need to r-return something to him." Her cheeks started to flare a bit red as her eyes went to the ground and Sakura noticed that they Hyuuga was holding something orange and black in her arms.

Sakura could see Naruto in the tree as he signaled for her to keep quiet, but she was curious as to why he was hiding from Hinata. "Yeah, he's over there." She pointed to the tree.

As Hinata turned around, Naruto hopped out of the tree and landed right beside her, his cheeks as red as hers. "Oh, g-good afternoon, N-Naruto-kun. I, um, you f-forgot your jacket..." She trailed off as she usually did whenever she talked to him.

"Right." He scratched the back of his head as Hinata handed him his signature jacket. "Thank you, Hinata-chan."

She gave him another smile before heading over towards Kiba and Shino. Naruto put the familiar jacket on and snugged his hands in the pockets, realizing that there was something in there. He hoped it was a ticket to Ichiraku's but he was wrong. Instead, it was a note from Hinata and his face soon felt hot.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Sakura asked, after she saw the note in his hand and how red his face was getting.

"Uh? Oh, yeah." Putting the note back in his pocket, he switched back over to his normal attitude, causing suspicion to cross Sakura's mind. "C'mon. We got a lot of people to see!" And with that, he started to take the lead again.

Sumimasen, sumimasen! Okay, I know I owe you guys more than what I gave you but I'm tired. I finished this around 2 a.m and now I'm tired. Plus, I had work in the morning. I promise to get started on the next chapter as soon as possible.

In the beginning, I was trying to introduce my OC's a little better because you'll be seeing those two a lot more, along with Yuki. If you wanna read their bios, go to .com and look up animeinsanity112989. You'll come to my profile (hopefully) and then all you'll have to do is check out my gallery to find my OCs. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!