Chapter Twenty-five- Attempting Amends

"Hey!" Naruto's voice boomed from up above. "I see the border into the Land of Lightning!"

"Good! Now get back down here!" Tsunade called back to him.

"Coming!" Naruto responded, and a moment later a black and orange figure dropped to the ground from the tree he had been in.

"If only that drop hurt you." Sasuke mumbled.

Naruto glared at his teammate, having heard him. "Well sorry to disappoint you. But I happen to be one of the greatest ninjas ever! I've got mad skills!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sure…."

"Teme!" Naruto proclaimed, but then huffed. "Sour as ever. But come on! Let's go meet the Raikage! If you're lucky, maybe he won't kill you!"

"I can handle myself." He replied, and turned to start walking down the path with Tsunade. He looked over his shoulder. "Coming, Dobe?"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto answered, quickening to catch up with them.

"Boys, you should know I want you on your best behavior when we do greet the Raikage. I won't have you marring the Leaf Village name with your endless bickering. Got it?" Tsunade instructed them.

"Don't worry, Granny Tsunade, we got it!" Naruto responded, swinging an arm over Sasuke's shoulder. "After all, we're best friends! We can get along!"

"Right, well then you better start acting like it." Tsunade replied, turning to look down the road again. "If you misbehave, I'll personally see to it that you never become Hokage."

"You can't do that! I'm almost as strong as you are, Grandma! No one can deny my abilities!"

"Should I give you a repeat of the time I beat you with one finger?"

Sasuke almost laughed. "One finger? How pathetic, Dobe."

Naruto glared at him, taking his arm away from the Uchiha. "Hey! I was twelve! That was a loooong time ago! I'm way stronger than I was then!"

"Okay, enough of this." Tsunade interjected. "We're soon sure to be under the watch of some Hidden Cloud Ninjas. We could even be right now. So get your act straight now."

"Yes, Grandma." Naruto declared, and then it fell silent.

Sasuke's eyes flickered from side to side as they walked. He couldn't sense anything, but Tsunade's statement did make him wonder if they maybe were already being watched. If so, he wondered if the Raikage could already know that he was coming. He didn't know the odds that it was common knowledge to the Cloud ninja that it was him who tried to capture Bee, but if any of them did, he knew he'd have to be on his guard from more than just the Raikage.

'"'"'"'"

The trio entered the territory of Land of Lightning just a couple hours before nightfall. They continued on their trek for most of that time until Tsunade declared that they had just enough light to prepare camp. Naruto and Sasuke immediately set to work making camp.

Naruto looked up from his work and over at Tsunade sitting on a rock watching them. He turned his gaze to Sasuke with a small frown on his face.

"Is this what it's like being all important and stuff?" Naruto whispered. "Once you become Hokage you don't even have to do any prep work before bed?"

Sasuke's gaze flickered towards Tsunade for a moment, and then returned to the blond before him. "You should be used to it. Unless you've never noticed, the VIP's never help in setting up camp. Why should now be any different?"

"I dunno. Just I thought she'd maybe do something rather than just watch us set up. She's a ninja too after all. She could do it all by herself with no trouble."

Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes at Naruto's complaints. "Well if you become Hokage—"

"When." Naruto interjected with a sly grin. "When I become Hokage."

Sasuke huffed, annoyed. "If you become Hokage, Dobe." He glared at Naruto to keep him quiet. "Then you can just stand to the side and watch as everyone else sets up camp, too."

"True." Naruto replied. "I'll be the boss of everyone. Even you! Haha, I'd love to be able to boss you around. Hmmm…what would I make my first command?" He looked off as if pondering the thought with an amused smile on his face.

"Tch, you say that like I'd listen. Hokage or not, you'll still be the Dobe."

Naruto pulled out of his thoughts to give Sasuke a matter-of-fact look. "Oh, you won't be calling me that much longer after I become Hokage. I could have you executed for insulting your superiors!"

"You wouldn't." Sasuke proclaimed.

"Who says I wouldn't?"

"Because you're not that kind of person, Sakura would kick your ass before that happened no matter what rank you were, and it wouldn't benefit anyone for you to be selfish. In fact, the village would probably hate you for it. Good luck being a respected Hokage then."

Naruto tried to come up with a retort, but failed. "Okay, so I wouldn't have you executed, but I could always demote you back to being a Genin!"

"So because I insulted you, you'd demote me to Genin, thusly giving me a lower pay, and you'd just watch as Sakura, our child, and I fell into poverty all because of your ego?"

Naruto thought for a moment as that realization hit him. "Ah…I couldn't torture Sakura like that, or your kid."

Sasuke smirked. "So no matter what you are, you'll always be the Dobe."

Naruto sent him a quick glare. "Fine, then I'll just have to beat it out of you."

"Tsunade said she didn't want any fighting while we were here." Sasuke retorted.

"Just wait till we get home, then!"

Sasuke almost laughed. "Like you could beat me."

"Never know. We haven't had a real fight in a pretty long time."

"Doesn't mean you'd win."

"Hey boys, quit your chatting and finish setting up." Tsunade ordered from afar. "I'd like to get some rest soon."

Naruto looked back towards Sasuke. "Yeah, in a few years maybe, that's what I'll get to do. That'll be nice."

"Well, for now you're still just an average Leaf Ninja." Sasuke declared, and then he dropped a bundle into the blonds' hands. "So why don't you set up the sleeping bags?"

"And why don't you?"

Sasuke turned away. "I'm going to get firewood. Considering I'm the fire user, and last time you tried to light a fire, you lit everything but the wood."

Naruto glared after him. "Just you wait. In a few years, you'll be doing all the work! And I did so light that fire! It just went out before you could see!"

"Whatever, Dobe." Sasuke called with a hint of disbelief in his tone.

"Teme!"

Tsunade watched the two of them interact with contained amusement. The two of them would never change, she thought. Even long after they've retired from their ninja lives they'd still continue to bicker as they did now.

"Perhaps that's a good thing." Tsunade mused. "The future needs people like them. Strong, loyal, hardworking men. Even if sometimes they're a pain to deal with." A smirk reached her face. "It's just what people like in their leaders."

'"'"'"'"

A while past midday the next day, the walls of the Hidden Cloud Village finally came into sight. Within an hour of the sighting, the three found themselves standing at the gates of the village.

Tsunade walked forward to stand before the gates and took in a deep breath. "I am Tsunade! The Hokage of the Land of Fire's Village Hidden in the Leaves! I am under the concession of the Raikage of this village to come meet with him! Grant my escorts' and I peaceful entrance into your village!"

It fell silent for a moment after Tsunade's declaration, but then the sounds of gears turning creaked around them, and the entrance to the Hidden Cloud Village crept open. The three looked ahead and spotted three ninja standing waiting for them on the other side of the gate.

All six walked forward in time until they met at the line that bordered the outside world and the Hidden Cloud Village.

The ninja in the center bowed, followed by the two beside him. When he stood up straight he looked at Tsunade. "Greetings Lady Hokage. We've been expecting you. We will escort you to the Raikage's building."

Tsunade inclined her head. "Very well. Thank you."

The center ninja turned on their heel and began to lead the way through the village to the Raikage's building. As they walked, Sasuke took in their surroundings. The village was undoubtedly different from the Hidden Leaf Village, but he knew that inside they weren't all that different. They were both a ninja village, serving under the rule of their Kage, and doing what they could to keep their villages running.

Suddenly, the one girl that had been in their greeting party fell back a bit to walk beside him.

"Hello." She greeted him with a smile. She had the same looks as most of the other Cloud ninjas he had met over the years. "Welcome to the Hidden Cloud Village."

"Hn, hey." Sasuke responded, trying to be polite.

"I never imagined that someone from the Leaf Village could be so handsome." She grinned flirtatiously.

Mentally Sasuke sighed. Another fangirl.

"So how long are you all expected to be here?" She asked curiously. He already knew where her thoughts were headed, but he decided it would be best to ignore them. Hopefully, he thought, she wouldn't be so forward as to actually ask him for a date or anything.

"I don't know." He answered.

"Well, if you do, why don't you drop me a line? I could show you some of the sights of this place. Or…maybe we could do something else."

"No." He answered bluntly.

She frowned dejectedly. "Why not?"

It seemed he couldn't ignore it, he thought. He had to just get it over with and break another heart. "I'm married."

His statement seemed to take a moment for her to register. Once it did though, her whole demeanor dropped. "Oh…." She responded hollowly, and then she appeared to feel self-conscious. "Uh…sorry…I didn't realize. You know?"

"Hn," he grunted, but then realized that unlike Sakura or one of his friends, she wouldn't understand him. "Yeah."

She fell really silent for a long time. "Sure she's pretty." She murmured, mostly to herself.

"Beautiful." He muttered before he realized he was thinking out loud.

That just seemed to lessen the girl's spirit as she heard him. "I see…. Um…what's her name?" She asked with a feeble attempt at conversation.

Sasuke felt a lightness come over him as his thoughts drifted around his wife. "Sakura."

"Nice name…it sounds familiar." She stated, and then thought for a moment. "…She doesn't have pink hair, does she?"

"She does."

She smiled a little. "I think I've met her. She came here a couple times before." Sasuke remembered briefly the couple of times he'd been separated from Sakura for a long time while she had been in the Land of Lightning. "She taught me a few things while we were working together. I'm a medical ninja. Her name was…Sakura Haruno?"

"Uchiha. She's Sakura Uchiha now." He corrected.

"Oh yeah…right." She looked towards the ground, and then another thought hit her. "Wait…so you're Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Yeah."

Several different emotions crossed through her eyes at once. "Then…you're the boyfriend she had been talking about at that time. She spoke so fondly of you back then." Sasuke could feel his mouth twitch up towards a smirk. "And you…you were the traitor who came back." Her eyes widened. "And you're the guy who took—" Her voice caught and Sasuke's near smirk dropped.

"Shit." He thought. "Looks like people do remember."

"I wasn't a member of the Leaf Village when that happened. And it ended in failure anyway." Sasuke quickly tried to dismiss the subject.

She appeared to be caught for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"Hey, hey, Sasuke. Making friends?" Naruto's voice suddenly poked into the conversation.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted again, not missing Naruto calling him by his name in agreement with Lady Tsunade to not argue with him.

"Hello." The Cloud ninja girl greeted him.

Naruto grinned. "Hey there! I'm Naruto Uzumaki. And a few years from now, you guys may be escorting me through here again, but I'll be the Hokage!"

"Oh, are you Lady Hokage's successor?"

Naruto opened his mouth to answer, but Sasuke beat him to it. "Tch, he likes to think he is."

Naruto's expression quickly turned to a glare. "I will be Hokage. Just you wait!"

The girl laughed a little. "Well then, best of luck to you."

"I don't need luck. I have all the skills necessary! Say, speaking of Kages, you know how much longer the current Raikage's gonna be running this show?"

Her eyes widened to show her surprised confusion. "Lord Raikage has been the leader of our village for years. He's a great man, and many of our citizens would be sad to see him retire. I hope that he doesn't step down any time soon, or at least not before picking out an able bodied successor who will do just as great a job as he has done for so long."

Naruto almost seemed put down by the declaration. "Oh…I see. Well, okay…."

The group came to a sudden stop in front of a large building. "This is the Raikage's building." The lead ninja declared.

Without another word, the six of them walked in. Tsunade, Naruto, and Sasuke followed the three Cloud ninja for a couple minutes until they came to an abrupt stop.

The lead ninja pointed down the hall. "Just keep going forward and you will reach the designated meeting room that the Raikage has set aside for you."

"Thank you." Tsunade responded. "Your help is appreciated."

The three Cloud ninja looked at the Leaf ninja for a moment, bowed, and then disappeared.

The group started on their way down the halls of the Raikage's building, and soon they walked into a large, open room. At the end of a long table the three immediately noticed the Raikage sitting, watching all of them.

A huge grin reached Naruto's face as he noticed someone standing next to the Raikage.

"Hey, Octopus Man!" Naruto exclaimed.

Killer Bee grinned back at the blond. "What's up my nine-tailed brother? Been waiting so long…hmmm…hey, what rhymes with 'brother?'"

"Mother!" Naruto answered. "Been waiting so long, you thought I was your mother!"

Bee stared at him for a moment. "You should leave the rhymes to me. That's why I'm Killer Bee!"

"Alright, that's enough." The Raikage declared. "Good of you to finally arrive, Lady Hokage. Take a seat."

Tsunade inclined her head. "Good to see you, Lord Raikage." She took a seat, and Naruto and Sasuke stood on either side of her.

The Raikage's eyes flicked away from Tsunade and landed on Sasuke. He stared at him for a moment skeptically, and then his eyes widened and a second later he was on his feet.

"YOU!" He roared. "You're that—!"

"Lord Raikage." Tsunade interjected loudly to get his attention. "I would prefer for you to treat my most trusted escorts with the same respect and hospitality as you treat me."

The Raikage glared at Sasuke. "You expect me to openly welcome the man who tried to kill my brother?"

"I expect you to honor my decision to keep Sasuke with us." Tsunade responded. "He's become an invaluable asset to our village, which is why I chose for him to be one of my escorts. Everything else is in the past."

The Raikage opened his mouth to make a retort, but another voice beat him to it.

"Hold on a second, bro!" Killer Bee declared, turning to his brother. "It's okay, I've already let it go!"

Tsunade nodded approvingly. "Besides, it would be to no one's benefit for you to harm him. Not to you, him, us…or my former pupil, who's now his expecting wife."

The Raikage's eyes widened in surprise. "Expecting?"

"Wheee! A baby?" Killer Bee exclaimed.

Everyone's eyes turned to Sasuke, who looked away from them all in an attempt to hide the slight redness reaching his cheeks.

Naruto jumped on the Uchiha and swung an arm over his shoulder. "Yeah! He and Sakura have a little kiddie on the way! You got what I say?"

Bee held up a fist in their direction. "Yeah! Wheeee! To my new friend! This is to your lady! And also to your baby! Congratulations my man. Good luck in building up a big, happy clan!"

The Raikage continued to stare down the Uchiha across the table from him. Sasuke eventually returned his stare. Anyone could feel the tension still in the air.

"I'm not like I used to be." Sasuke finally declared. "Nine years ago I did jobs for the Akatsuki for selfish reasons, but I've been a part of the Leaf Village for a long time now, and I have no intentions of returning to my former ways. I promise you that."

"It doesn't change what you did." The Raikage retorted.

"Everything's fine now, though." Sasuke responded.

"Are you arguing with me?"

"I'm trying to tell you that I have no plans, or even a thought, to harming you or your brother in any way. There's no point to it."

The Raikage frowned, but Tsunade spoke up first.

"Raikage, understand that he is only here to serve as my escort. Nothing more. And know that it will only harm our meeting if you tried anything against him. I'm sure we're all capable of sitting together peacefully. There's no need for senseless, old revenge and violence to mar this occasion."

The Raikage looked from Tsunade to Sasuke several times before he sighed and dropped back into his chair. "Very well." His eyes narrowed. "But if he does—"

"He will not." Tsunade interjected sharply. "And that's that. Now, let's get on with this. Actually, we'll take this up tomorrow. I know I'm tired, and I'm sure that my escorts could use some rest as well."

"Fine." The Raikage stood at the same time as Tsunade, and turned to look at Bee. "If you don't mind, show them to their rooms, Brother."

"You got it!" Bee began to approach the three. "What's say we hit the hay?"

"I heard that!" Naruto agreed.

The four started towards the exit of the room. As they left, Sasuke threw a look over his shoulder to see the Raikage staring after them, particularly at him. He quickly turned his head back to the front and pretended not to notice.

"Well, looks like the Dobe and Sakura were right." Sasuke thought. "Hopefully Tsunade's words have cooled him down from trying to kill me. If not…this is going to be a stressful few weeks…."

And chapter twenty-five is done! And right now chapter twenty-four STILL isn't up because freaking fanfiction won't let me edit my stories! It's maddening I tell ya. Of course at this point when people finally get to read this, it'll be about a week after fanfiction finally lets me post the twenty-fourth chapter. (Whenever that is.) Anyway, so now we're officially in the Land of Lightning arc! Of course, next chapter won't really have anything to do with the Land of Lightning mission. What exactly I mean, you shall just have to wait and see. Whew…man…I didn't realize how much thought had to go into just having Bee talk! So many rhymes he busts, and sometimes my brain dies and I can't think of anything that rhymes with whatever I need to rhyme it with! (Or at least nothing that makes sense no matter how I use it.) Sigh…well, anyway, whatever. I'll get through it. Till the next chapter peoples!
And about the next chapter, I don't know when it'll be up. I've been insanely busy this week, and haven't had any time to write a word on it. But it'll be up eventually!