My thanks to kawarimi, who gave me the idea of changing the set up of the first three chapters. The story reads so much better now (I think).
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it is the sole property of Kishimoto Masashi-sama. However, I do own this fanfic, and I would really appreciate feedback. So please review!
CHAPTER 4 – SASUKE RETURNS
"Sakura-chan!"
Sakura woke to the sound of Naruto's annoying voice outside her window. There he was, grinning away as usual. "I'm coming.." Sakura mumbled, rolling out of bed in a most ungainly fashion, falling onto the ground with a jarring thump.
Soon afterwards, Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata were ready to go. They then headed off the way Tsunade had told them to go, towards the place where Sasuke had been sighted.
After three hours of hiking through the dense forests of Leaf country, Naruto started complaining about how boring the mission was and how an ANBU captain needed a more challenging mission.
"Sakura-chan! Hinata-chan! This is soo boring!" he yelled.
Suddenly, Sakura clapped a hand around Naruto's mouth and dragged him towards some bushes, motioning for Hinata to follow.
"Whath ith gofing on," Naruto said, his mouth still firmly held shut my Sakura's hand. She released him and he gasped for breath.
"Sshh" she cautioned, "there's someone out there."
The three of them waited in silence for five minutes. Then a figure emerged from the dense foliage. The inscrutable, coal black eyes were unmistakable, even from this distance.
"Sasuke…" Sakura breathed unconsciously. The tall, strongly built man in front of them looked tired and anything but evil. Sakura was relieved to see that there was no Mangekyou Sharingan to be seen in his eyes. She also knew that her feelings for Sasuke had only intensified in the few short seconds since she had laid eyes on him after all these years.
He did not seem to be aware of their presence. The old Sasuke would have detected intruders in the blink of an eye –he really must be tired Sakura thought. Suddenly she stood up; unaware of what she was doing.
"Sasuke." She stated blankly. The raven-haired man turned his head quickly, his black eyes widened in astonishment.
"Sakura?"
Suddenly Sakura could hold her emotions back no longer. Her legs moved as if on their own, and she ran to Sasuke and flung her arms around him, sobbing. Sasuke simply shoved her away roughly.
"Sa..su..ke" she sobbed, before breaking down altogether, collapsing in a pitiful heap on the ground before him.
"Sasuke?" Naruto questioned. He, too, had come out from the bushes. Hinata was right behind him.
"What dobe?" came the answer.
Naruto was astounded, how could the bastard pretend like nothing had happened? How could he pretend that he had been gone for seven long years and that this was the first tie they were seeing him after all that time?
"Bastard!" Naruto yelled. "Where the hell were you all these years!"
"I've killed Itachi," was all that Sasuke had to say.
"That's it! No apology! Nothing! You've been gone for seven years you know!" Naruto burst out, unable to control his anger and frustration. Before Sasuke had left them all, Naruto had come to regard him as the brother he never had…and then he had left…only to come back and act like …this.
"Hn," was the infuriating response from Sasuke.
Hinata was now helping Sakura up off the ground. The pink haired kunoichi's body still shook with sobs. Naruto, meanwhile, was glaring at Sasuke's retreating figure which was, oddly, heading towards Konoha.
"Hey! Sasuke-teme! Where are you going!" Naruto yelled.
"Going back to Konoha, dobe," Sasuke smirked.
With that Sasuke headed off at a faster pace towards Konoha, leaving a bewildered group of shinobi behind him.
A/N: Ahh! I don't know why I wrote in Sasuke as being so…weird! Oh well…
P.S: Sorry for the short chapters…I seriously don't know if I can make them longer without forcing them to read awkwardly…
Anyways…read and review!