Sakura put on her black gloves still giddy from the idea of meeting as Team 7 once more.
She really could not believe it. Somehow, someway, they convinced Sasuke-kun to return with them when they saw him at Orochimaru's lair last week. After that there were a lot of tests, examinations, and interrogations for Sasuke to go through. Tsunade-sama was extremely skeptical that the Uchiha would just return of his own volition, but he diligently did everything asked of him and now the team was finally free to meet up again.
"You're going to be late Sakura, hurry up now." Sakura' mother broke the girl out of her thoughts.
"Thanks, mama, I'll see you later!" Sakura left her home, eager to meet up with her two teammates again, at last.
"Haha, focusing on all that ninjutsu has made your taijutsu ass, Sasuke!" Naruto jeered before slamming his fist into the raven-haired shinobi's face. Sasuke stumbled back from the hit, then burst forward suddenly, feinting a strike to Naruto's head that the blonde fell for before kicking him sharply in the stomach. The whiskered ninja grunted as he flew a few feet from the impact, rolling on the ground and quickly repositioning into a stand.
"Shit at taijutsu, shit at ninjutsu, and it's not even worth mentioning genjutsu…how are you a ninja again?" Sasuke tilted his head and asked in a serious tone, causing the blonde to snarl.
"What are you guys doing?!" Sakura shrieked in fear. Not even a week. Not even a week since Sasuke returned and the two were at each other's necks like cats and dogs.
The two shinobi disregarded each other to look at the medic-nin.
"Sakura." The avenger nodded in her direction.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto beamed at her, his posture relaxing from his fighting stance. "Aw, it ain't nothing Sakura-chan, me and Sasuke were messing around waiting for you and Kakashi-sensei."
"Messing around? You guys were fighting!"
"Yeah, so?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, confused with Sakura's statement.
Sakura stood, mouth agape as both her teammates looked at her as if she grew a second head. "Then why are you guys yelling rude stuff at each other?"
"Rude?" Naruto's head recoiled as if she slapped him. "You think that's rude, Sakura-chan? Do you even listen to half the stuff you and Ino say about each other?"
"Yeah. Besides what I say about Naruto is just the truth anyway." Sasuke remarked with a shrug.
"Oi, bastard, want to say that again?" Naruto turned toward the avenger with a growl.
Sasuke responded with a wide smirk. "Ah, the dead last is deaf too, becoming Hokage's going to be difficult for you at this rate."
"Sasuke!"
"Naruto!"
Sakura sat down and tried to comprehend the situation. They expected her to believe this is just "messing around?"
She almost stepped in when the first Chidori and Rasengan appeared, but the two idiots were grinning so hard their faces looked demented, so she decided to hold off and just heal their wounds instead.
Well she also gave Naruto a few bashings on the head as a warning too, but those didn't really count.
After Kakashi-sensei arrived the four of them completed a relatively simple B-rank mission, escorting a caravan with a minor noble to a nearby village. They were attacked by some missing-nin, but the fights were almost trivial for Team 7.
Sakura felt herself become a bit green watching Sasuke and Naruto in action together. Naruto returned to the village a little less than two months ago. During that time Sakura and Naruto spent a lot of time working together and honing their teamwork. She knows Sasuke and Naruto haven't had the time yet to practice, yet their synergy eclipsed whatever she and Naruto could hope to accomplish.
Still she stifled those feelings, knowing they were petty. Having Sasuke back was the most important thing and it filled her heart with joy.
But, would it kill them to look her way just a few times as they bickered all the way back to Konoha?
As they returned to the Hokage tower to collect their mission reward, the sun already began to set. The mission took up most of their day.
"Well, that was a productive day, I'd like to think." Kakashi let out an uncharacteristic sniffle.
"…are you crying, Kakashi?" Sasuke did not bother beating around the bush.
"N-no, Sasuke, you should know that when I use my Sharingan too much, my eye can get a bit teary."
"But, sensei, that's your other eye." Naruto pointed out.
"I-I have to go my cute students. Lets met up again tomorrow, same place, same time." Kakashi disappeared in a plume of smoke.
"Ah, that's so sweet." Sakura hummed, understanding exactly where her sensei was coming from.
"I don't understand." Sasuke said, turning his attention to the medic-nin.
"Yeah, me neither, Sakura-chan."
"Boys." Sakura rolled her eyes at their stupidity. "Can't you guys see he's moved because we're all a team again?"
Her teammates both made a face.
"Kakashi-sensei is? Weird."
"Gross."
"Ugh, why are you guys always in sync about the dumbest stuff. I'll have you know that girls love it when a man can show his emotions." Sakura lectured the two. Sasuke looked bored, while Naruto's eyes perked up.
"Oh really? Well, Sakura-chan, actually, one time, I was watching this movie and I, like, really cried, it was so sad. Want to watch it with me sometime?"
"Idiot, stop trying to flirt with her and let's go." Sasuke interrupted, his bored expression shifting to an annoyed one.
"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twist." Naruto taunted at his best friend.
"Go? Where are you guys going?"
"Oh, me and the bastard are just going to do some training? Want to come with?" Naruto grinned toothily at his teammate.
"Look at her, dead last, she's exhausted. Let he go home. This is why girls don't like you." Sasuke chided, causing the whiskered boy to give the medic-nin a once over.
"Oh, jeez, Sakura-chan, I didn't even realize." He rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks taking on a cherry hue from his embarrassment.
"I-I, um, it's okay, don't worry about it." Sakura murmured, shaken up that Sasuke had noticed her condition. Normally something like that would make her feel over the moon, but knowing it was being used to exclude her from their activity, even if he was correct, made her feel sick instead.
She raised her head with some determination. "Actually, I was hoping the three of us could get something to eat. Maybe even ramen?"
"Really?!" Naruto's eyebrows shot up and a wide smile plastered itself on his face. Sakura found herself mimicking his expression.
"Naruto." Sasuke called behind the blonde. Just saying his name was enough and she saw the grin drop to an apologetic smile.
"Um, next time for sure, Sakura-chan. Y'know we didn't really train today, coz the mission took up the whole day, so, uh, next time, after we do some training or something, we'll definitely go for lunch or dinner or something. Right Sasuke?" The hidden threat in the last line was obvious to all three parties.
"Yeah, sure." That was the most they could expect from the avenger.
"Right. I'll uh, see you guys tomorrow." Sakura said, blinking a few times in uncertainty.
"Later, Sakura-chan!"
"Have a goodnight, Sakura."
And with that she watched the backs of the two shinobi as they made their way to a training field.
Sakura walked home, reflecting on the events of the day. Somehow, she thought having Sasuke back would be a much more…charmed experience.
Well, at least he was back. That's all that mattered…right?
A/N: Most of my stories have chapters that are like 4k words or more per update. I find that somewhat annoying and wanted to write something that's like less than 2k words per chapter. This is that story.
Heavily considering writing a parallel story with the same plot idea, but with Fem!Sasuke. Just because I like writing her. Look out for that soon.