Well, in my defense; I had this tensed trapezium muscle, so I couldn't sit for a long time, let alone actually type. Then there was college; so yeah, life.
Well, here's the new chapter; you guys were so sweet to me really.

Oh; and for those who want me to follow the manga plot more; I will use tiny bits, but right now, I am just waiting for the series to end, so that I finally can say; no more plot holes.

Chapter 11: How It Used to Be

Before long, Sasuke found himself in front of the Hokage. The blond was glaring at him from over her fingers. "I am not sure whether I should thank you or be angry at you," she stated.

Sasuke stared her down, "Explain that, and then decide," he said.

Tsunade raised a brow, "You brought my student back from her induced coma but you made her cry in doing so, isn't that obvious?" she asked.

Sasuke sighed, "Hn, how was I supposed to react to what I saw?" he said in his defense.

Tsunade huffed, rather frustrated, "That's why I am not sure," she said.

Sasuke stayed silent, mentally debating on pushing the subject. Then: "Why have I been called here?" he asked.

The Godaime weaved a hand through her hair, "Straight to business, huh," she said more to herself than to any of the others in the room, namely Sai and Shizune. She continued when Sasuke didn't reply, "I decided not to pursuit a new trial," she said in a much louder and official voice. "Uchiha Sasuke, hereby I clear you of all charges and relating punishments. You have proven your right to stay in the village by saving the medical kunoichi Haruno Sakura, instead of the obvious choice to run."

Sasuke had no way to explain the weight that fell off his shoulders. He hadn't even known he had born the weight all this time. Then a thought entered his head, "And my chakra oath? Will that one be released?"

Tsunade smirked, "Of course, that's up to the holder to decide." Sasuke groaned softly and turned to make his exit. "Uchiha, go visit her. She's in distress about what happened. Don't make her cry more."

Sasuke didn't reply and left; making his former teammate cry. It seemed that that was all he had ever been good at concerning Sakura.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss ssssssssss

Despite that complaint, Sasuke was facing the very much hated hospital. The place was where he had woken up after the worst moments in his life; it was only normal. He wondered; the hell was he doing here?

Telling himself it was because he wanted that bond of chakra gone, he stepped inside. He felt the scrutinizing gazes of the older people, some interested, some downright loathing. He ignored them heading straight for the counter. Even if he had his fair share of pride, he knew when to ask certain things and he really wasn't feeling like checking every single damned room in the cursed building.

"The room of Haruno Sakura," he demanded at the desk.

The lady behind the counter narrowed her eyes, "Do you have any reason to visit Haruno-sama, sir," she asked. Sasuke didn't miss the way she stressed her words. It was rather clear that she was one of the people who didn't trust him as far as she could throw him; much like Sakura.

"I have something that I need to discuss with her. What that is, is between me and her," he replied icily.

The woman stared at him, visibly running her mind over the possibilities. Now while Sasuke wasn't going to stir up a fuss he wasn't above of forcing his way through. If he needed to get Tsunade's written approval for that, so be it. "Room 712," she said finally, deciding it was not worth the fuss.

Sasuke nodded and made way to the room. He was relieved to know that the ward she was placed in was not high-risk. It meant that the illusion would not have long-lasting effects; he did not save her for nothing after all.

When he arrived he heard hushed voices from the inside. The door opened then and Nara Ino stepped out. She narrowed her eyes at him. "I am not even going to ask what method you used to get this room-number, but make her cry and restoring any clan will be the last of your problems," she said. Sasuke had no doubt she would make true on her word.

As she left Sasuke was free to enter. Sakura was staring outside when he did so. He saw her tense and her face hardened. "Come to gloat? Laugh at how weak I am?" she asked tersely. Sasuke silently took seat on the only chair in the room. When Sakura noticed he had no intention of speaking she slowly turned towards him. They settled for staring at each other and just like the time in the kitchen the silence felt not strained with things said; only things not said.

They had a lot to discuss.

"Why did you stay, Sasuke?" Sakura asked, the first to break the silence.

Sasuke raised a brow, "Was that supposed to be a rhetorical question?" he asked.

Sakura narrowed her eyes and then seemed to calm herself. This was good since Sasuke had no intention of fighting. "You know bloody well what I mean," she said sharply. "Why didn't you leave while I was….immobilized?" she continued, searching for words.

Sasuke stayed silent, searching for his own words, "I think, I have come home," he finally said. Sakura looked at him questionably and Sasuke knew he had no choice but to go on. He rarely explained himself; he couldn't get away with it this time. "I am tired of running, only when I came back I noticed that my feet aren't taking me away anymore."

Sakura nodded and then returned looking outside. Sasuke would've liked to stay in this silence, but there were things that needed to have words. "Do not dwell on the past, Sakura. I have no care for whatever vision you might have had," he said monotonously.

To his surprise, Sakura laughed softly, "That's very hypocrite of you to say," she commented. Sasuke didn't reply; he knew that it was. Sakura sighed, "You probably are here to get that chakra oath removed, aren't you?" she asked.

Sasuke nodded, 'Among other things', he thought and then inwardly scolded himself for letting his mind wander. She was a patient for kami's sake. Suddenly he felt Sakura's chakra, as low as it was, spike.

"I'll have to hit you if you decide to leave again," she added playfully. At Sasuke's skeptical gaze, because surely even if he had hit her out when he left, she wasn't planning on hitting him with her monstrous power? She'd kill him! Sakura laughed, "Loosen up, would you? After this I'm still deciding whether to like you or detest you," she said.

Sasuke didn't respond: if there was one thing he knew, he knew it was that he didn't like being on the receiving end of her detest. Things usually ended up ugly for him, one way or another. He hadn't forgotten her reconnaissance.

"Anything else, Sasuke?" she asked, in a tone that meant he'd better have something else. With a shock Sasuke realized she had been addressing him with his given name and just that. He immediately decided he liked it more that way. Because when she called him Sasuke, it meant she recognized him as such. He wasn't the patient who required the utmost politeness; he wasn't her longtime-crush needing some endearment. He even wasn't the descendant of the treacherous clan that gave him his surname, traitor of the village.

He was just Sasuke and this newfound standing could go any way he decided it to go. Despite his previous saying of not liking the pink-haired kunoichi, he liked this revelation. The time had not been right for anything but his name.

"Sasuke?" Sakura inquired and Sasuke pulled his attention back and searched for a way to voice something he hadn't told anyone, let alone the person that was Tobi. To tell Sakura suddenly wasn't easy and as a matter of fact it reminded himself that trust had to be earned.

"Hn, I need your…help," he grunted.

Sakura raised a brow, "With what?" she asked with no small amount of suspicion.

Sasuke sighed and told his pride that no matter how much he wanted it to be, he couldn't deal with this himself. "My eyes," he told her. "I want you to look at him," he said looking away. Sakura blinked at Sasuke was not surprised at this. After all, his eyes were probably his most prized possessions. "My sight's getting worse each day. Implanting Itachi's eyes only helped for a little while.

Sakura rubbed her temple, "So you're telling me that because of your Sharingan, and in some way Itachi's eyes, you're going blind?" she asked.

Sasuke nodded, "Hn"

At this Sakura sighed, "Come here," she said and Sasuke looked warily at her order. Sakura rolled her own eyes, "You didn't say please, but you're you so I'll blame it on the stick shoved up your ass, but before I can do anything at all, I will need to examine your eyes to see what's wrong." She replied rather irritated, and for a moment Sasuke was of a mind to just go to the hospital another day.

But Sakura wasn't having it and yanked him from his chair closer so he was forced to sit on the bed, and placed her hands on both of his temples. "What are the symptoms," she continued, now using her doctor-voice, which Sasuke recognized when he had been admitted, tolerating no opposition.

Sasuke was momentarily distracted by her hands and the warm chakra entering his head and frowned at which Sakura told him not to flex or strain his eyes. "The edges are black, sometimes worse than others. It is spreading, and the overall sight is blurry sometimes."

"Does it make any difference when you're tired?"

Sasuke grunted, "Hn, yes. It gets worse when I am tired."

He saw Sakura frown and felt her chakra focusing on some points in and behind his eyes; it was a most curious experience. "And when you are using the Sharingan?" she asked.

Sasuke hissed when he felt her probing a bit, and she immediately softened the touch of her chakra. "When I am using my normal Sharingan, there is no difference in symptoms. When I use my mangekyou my eyes bleed worse each time."

Mouthing to herself, Sakura repeated Sasuke's last words and then pulled her hands back. Sasuke startled himself with the revelation that he missed the warmth of her chakra. It was a different feeling, but not all that bad, like taking a hot bath.

"I probably should tell you, it is fixable," Sakura started, settling with a stern glance. "But it will take more than one session. You severed serves at microcellular level." She shook her head, "I don't even want to know what force brought that to happen. For now, you are indefinitely forbidden using that Mangekyou or you can say bye to your sight."

Sasuke nodded, "Will you do it?" he asked. He rarely asked.

A smile played on the edges of Sakura's mouth, "Wouldn't you rather have someone with more knowledge about the human eye than I? I am a crisis-doctor for most."

Sasuke stared her down, "Like I would get anyone near my eyes," he said simply.

Sakura sniggered at his typical defensive reaction, "Then, why me? I have no problems hurting you," she said.

That Sasuke could agree with; she had after all once crippled him. Healed him, but the pain was hardly forgotten. There was irony in it. "At least I know you won't use back-handed means to get rid of me," he said. "You'd face me face to face, Kakashi must have taught you better than that."

Sakura leaned back in her pillow, "So did Tsunade," she said. Sasuke nodded and that signified the end of the subject. Sasuke knew she would help with his eyes, and he was supposed to make this all easier by not pulling stunts.

He didn't leave right away, joining her in watching the sun set from the window. The sky was colored deep purple before any of them spoke.

"You aren't freaked out by what you saw in my mind?" Sakura asked, hesitating to break the silence.

Sasuke raised a brow, "In what way?" he asked.

He thought she turned a rather flattering shade of red, "Well, know these things played around my mind," she said slowly," she said. Sasuke couldn't help but notice she used past tense again.

He reverted his view back outside, "To be honest, not really. You haven't really conjured these thoughts on your own so I can't and won't judge you for that. Besides," he smirked, "As far as I know, I always have been your childhood-crush, and females tend to imagine a family life. It's…natural, I guess," he said. He felt like he had said a lot of unnecessary stuff but it had made Sakura at ease apparently.

She was glaring at him, but there wasn't any real force behind it. "I should hit you for that sexist remark," she said.

In his mind, Sasuke ran over the things he had said and frowned, "I'd rather have you not," he said.

And that settled it.

A loud noise from outside the room broke the silence and Sakura sighed exasperatedly, "In three, two, one…" she counted down.

Right on time, Naruto stumbled in, "Is everything ok, Sakura-chan?! I was really worried! Hey, teme." He rattled off. Then he did a double take. "Sasuke?" he asked incredulously.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Hn," he grunted in reply.

Naruto glared at him, "No need to be so short about it," he muttered. In his head, Sasuke wondered how grunting could be classified as 'being short about something,' but kept silent. "I was just wondering why you were here," Naruto continued. Then a foxlike grin appeared on his face, "Or have you something you didn't tell me?" It was hard to mistake the twinkle in his eyes.

It was however, Sakura who answered. "Of course not, you idiot. We had some unfinished business between us," she said.

Naruto looked scared for a moment, "Are you two still at each other's necks?" he asked slowly. Sasuke knew it handy been true for him for a long time now. He couldn't bear a grudge towards Sakura either now that he knew the grief he had caused her. So instead of answering the blond, he settled for listening to Sakura's answer.

She smiled at their mutual friend, "Still deciding on that," she replied.

Naruto pulled over the chair, Sasuke had been seated in before and sat on Sakura's other side. "Don't decapitate him, it's so bloody," he said lightly. Then he silenced for a while. This alone made Sasuke feel that once again he was the only one that still needed to grow up. "You know, this is slightly messed up," Naruto remarked suddenly.

Sakura looked up at him, "Why so?" she asked.

"It used to be Sasuke sitting in the bed, I heal so fast," Naruto explained himself. "The one sitting on the bed beside him was you and the ones hating each other's guts were me and Sasuke," he said.

Sasuke frowned, "I didn't hate you. You irritated me, yes, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody not concerning you," he said.

The blond blinked surprised and then laughed full out, "I missed this," he said. The other two didn't need to voice their thoughts that they shared the sentiment.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Not much later, Sasuke and Naruto were kicked out since Sakura wanted to sleep. On the hospital's front porch, Naruto stared at the avenger and grinned. "That was fun."

Sasuke raised a brow, "Depends on what you think is fun, dobe," he said simply.

But then, Naruto turned serious, "What now Sasuke? What are you going to do now?" he asked.

Half a mind to reply that he was going home to sleep, Sasuke turned his head away, "I don't know, dobe. Maybe I'll try taking missions again, or help building the village," he said. True enough, he still wasn't blind yet and even if he thanked the gods that the Uchiha compound still stood, Konoha had visibly been destroyed. He had caught here and there some pieces of the story about Naruto battling Pain.

It was a sudden realization that Sasuke found he no longer could be angry about Naruto's growth. Surprised, yes. Hesitant, most certainly. But not angry.

Naruto was smiling, blissfully unaware of Sasuke's thoughts. "Going officially for jounin, then?" he asked. Sasuke nodded and Naruto fumbled a bit in his pocket. "You will probably need a new one. This one is a little scratched," he said and got out an old forehead protector.

Upon close inspection, Sasuke noticed it was his old one.

"I don't think I should hold onto it any longer," Naruto continued as he pushed the hitai-ate back in Sasuke's hand. Naruto seemed content with the fact that Sasuke didn't chuck it back at him.

Sasuke clenched his hand around the cool metal. It was true that he wouldn't wear it for he was no nuke-nin anymore, but the large scratch through the symbol of the leaf would remind him that even though he betrayed them, Konoha did accept him back.

"Are you going to look for a girlfriend too?" Naruto asked with a smile on his face.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at him, "Why would I?" he asked. Naruto started making way to Ichiraku ramen and Sasuke followed quietly. He'd rather not have Naruto drag him.

He heard Naruto laugh, "Are you going to survive your clan on your own? Perhaps you should talk with Sakura more. It seems the reproduction process didn't come through," he teased. At this, Sasuke pressed his lips together and Naruto raised an eyebrow, "You are aware you need a female for that, right?" he asked, almost uncertain now.

Sasuke glared at him, and undisturbed Naruto sat down on a stool in the Ichiraku-stand. He made his order known and then turned back to Sasuke. "What?" he asked, finally noticing the look Sasuke was sending him.

Glaring one more time before he sighed, Sasuke said, "I am aware I need a female for that," he said.

Naruto snickered at his serious way of responding; clearly the Uchiha hadn't quite caught on to the fact Naruto was messing with him. "Then you'd better start wooing some woman sometime soon if you want a big family," he said. "Females don't stay fertile their whole life, you know."

Pointedly ignoring Naruto's jab, Sasuke muttered a curse under his breath. The blond pinched his eyes, "Sorry, I'm still not fluent in Sasukenese," he said, eating his ramen, barely halting to say this.

Sasuke too started on the ramen, a taste his taste buds had long since become familiar with, before putting his chopsticks down, staring down in the gooey liquid, Naruto was about to ask what was wrong when Sasuke spoke: "I will not put the mother of my children in a loveless marriage," he said slowly.

Naruto blinked, he hadn't quite expected this, "Sasuke? Is that you?" he asked incredulously.

Sasuke glanced at him, "Hn," he grunted.

Again, Naruto sighed, "That I would see the day you would speak of love," he said.

"My parents were happily married. It had been arranged but they learned to love each other," Sasuke interrupt. He didn't know where the need to defend the Uchiha-traditions came from, because he sure as hell knew that, constipated bunch as they were, the Uchiha were not exactly refined in their ways of betrothals.

After Naruto had cleared his bowl, he surprised Sasuke by not immediately ordering another one, as he knew that Teuchi-san practically had another one ready, and just stared at it. "You still long for a family of your own, right?" he asked solemnly. "You know that we see you as out brother right?"

Sasuke nodded slowly and Naruto smirked, "Although I still feel sorry for the woman you'll choose, at least I think you have a good set of morals considering courtship," he said.

"Don't go sappy on me, dobe," Sasuke said rolling his eyes. Naruto chuckled, and ordered another bowl.

I fully admit it's not my strongest work. It's the silence before the storm.

To be honest I am still working on my transgressions. I suck rather horribly at making them.

Oh well, thanks for reading and staying with me. If you'd find it in you to review; thank you a third time.

Flames will be used to barbecue with. That's all.