Sakura and Naruto talked quietly outside of Ibiki's office. Sasuke was in there, being debriefed.
It was hard to believe that after all these years, Sasuke was being seperated from them by a flimsy little wall. Sakura contemplated crushing it so she could find out his secrets.
"What do you think he's talking about right now? How he killed Kabuto? Or Orochimaru?"
"I don't know, Naruto. Your guess is as good as mine."
"Man I wish we could hear what they're saying." Naruto grunted in disappointment.
Soon enough, the door swung open and Sasuke emerged from the darkness of Ibiki's office.
"Sasuke, you finished your briefing so soon?" Sakura asked, curious. She would try and play nice as long as she could stand it. As much as she wanted things to be normal again, they never could go back to being the same. They could come close, but that would require them to all trust eachother. And trust was something Sasuke had to earn back from the two scarred ninjas.
Sasuke knew he could trust Naruto and Sakura, and he was selfish, so he thought they had to earn his trust too.
"Hai." He nodded.
The three started off down the hallway, their moods light. No one was feeling the tension and ready to be at each others throats, which was a good sign.
"What do you want to do first?" She offered him the decision.
"Well, duh. He wants to eat. You're going to love Teuchi-san's new tomato ramen! Well, he's actually been serving it for a few years now but you weren't he-" Naruto said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, before stopping himself. He didn't want to ruin the mood. Maybe today would help break the tension between the three.
He was a little worried about Sakura. She was a girl, girls feelings were more sensitive, no matter how toughened by war and death she had been. She was also hurt the most when Sasuke left, and Naruto wanted the three to be a trio again. He didn't doubt Sakura would make Sasuke work for years to make it up to her, while she was in solitary confinement per her own orders.
He wasn't worried about himself and Sasuke at all. Guys, guys move one fast. They can't hold a grudge. No matter what was said and done, they'd be okay. Hell, if they could make it through this, he knew they could make it through anything.
"Hn." Sasuke shrugged, indeifferently.
"Talkative as ever I see." Sakura remarked, bitingly.
An awkward glance was wxchanged between the three.
"Okay, well let's go." Naruto mediated.
All three took off together.
No more words were spoken by Sakura or Sasuke.
Naruto ran ahead to his favorite ramen shop, leaving Sakura and Sasuke to catch up to him.
Sakura and Naruto entered that shop like they did quite frequently. Sasuke disliked the wave of nostalgia that came from him entering the shop.
It had been six years since he had been in here. Six years since he sat and ate with team Seven, as a real team. Before he left the village out of vengeance. Before he was distrusted by them.
True to Naruto's word, Sasuke did want to eat. The food in Oto was mediocre at best and he had been travelling.
Teuchi and Ayame were surprised to see the last Uchiha.
"So the rumors were true. You didn't bring the Akatsuki though, that's a good thing. You're not going to kill me are you?" Teuchi had joked lightly.
Sasuke gave a dry chuckle just to... well, he was going to have to regain everyone's trust. The people of the village needed some re-affirmation that Sasuke wasn't going to cause any harm, and that he was still good.
Sasuke withdrew to his thoughts as he downed the best ramen in the fire nation.
How could he ever regain their trust? It would take a long time and he may not ever be seen exactly as he was before, but when he even had a semblence of true trust, he'd be okay. He knew he would have to work to earn it, but it would definitely be worth it.
Also, surprisingly, Sasuke liked the tomato ramen. It seemed like a terrible idea, but it didn't matter because it tasted good.
"See Teuchi! He likes it! I told you he would!" Naruto practically shouted. He had said that Sasuke would like it several months ago when it was a new thing.
The three finished eating their meals, paid, and left.
"Shall we go to the hot springs now?"
"No." Sasuke spoke up.
"No?" Naruto and Sakura asked in shock.
"I don't feel much like it." Sasuke explained.
"Whatever you say, Prince Sasuke." Sakura bit out.
So she was reduced to coping through bitter remarks. That's how she was going to play this game. If it was up to her, she would forget about Sasuke and stay alone in her house.
Sakura knew that wouldn't work and that as part of team seven two-point-oh they would have to be able to rely on each other when the time comes. She didn't know if she'd be able to.
"Well I guess we should head back now. Right?" Naruto awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
They looked at one another, unsurely.
"Right." One nodded.
"Fine." The other sighed.
As Sasuke 'didn't feel much like the hot springs', all three went back to the hokage tower, sullen.
It was going to be harder that they each thought.
Naruto's incessant chattering background noise to the deafening awkward silence.
So I hope you liked the chapter, California was beautiful. I'm now at the beach writing. There should be some action coming along soon.
Question:
What would you like to see happen in this story? I'd be happy to talk to my readers about what they want.
Also, I'm working on a new fic that's a totally different style from this one. This one is kind of a challenge for me to write, the next one will be something pansy, like about high school or something.