In front of Konoha's main entrance Sakura was impatiently tapping her foot. Apparently Naruto hadn't gotten rid of his habit of being late to everything, although she caught herself being glad that he really hadn't changed too much. When she saw him come running towards her she put on her angry face again. He was a bit out of breath.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, I dropped by the Hyuga compound to see Hinata before I left. Did you go get Tsunade no baa-chan's instructions already?"

She couldn't even be mad at that.

"Yes. Which reminds me: She asked me how you're going to find Sasuke-kun. And I couldn't give her an answer, because you didn't tell me either."

"He was in the land of rivers at least up until yesterday, so even if he already left he can't be too far away. We'll just start travelling southwest, and once we're in the area, I'll track him down."

That answer wasn't entirely satisfying, but Sakura knew that at this point Naruto could have the ability to fly and she wouldn't be all too surprised.

"Alright! Let's get moving!", he said, full of energy.

The weather was nice. The two of them were walking pretty relaxedly on small path, mostly without talking. It wasn't awkward, they had that level of comfort with each other. At some point though, Naruto decided to start up a conversation:

"What do you do at the hospital? Are you really that busy?"

Sakura thought a bit.

"Well, people are always getting hurt, even during peaceful times, so medics are always needed. Last week I had to heal a boy who was brought in because he made a fire cracker explode in his pocket. Seriously, those things are way too dangerous, you would have thought somebody had stuck a paper bomb to his thigh."

"HAHAHAHAHA! Man, kids sure do some dumb stuff these days."

She looked at him, putting her hands on her hips.

"You sure you should be talking on the matter?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you trying to tell me that you were the most responsible child out there when you were younger? Because I'm sure Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei would have something to say about that."

Naruto stopped laughing to think of a rebuttal.

"That's not the same thing. I never put myself in danger like that."

She almost snorted out loud at this absolutely outrageous claim.

"Whatever you say, Naruto..."

"Speaking of Kakashi-sensei, how has he been doing? I didn't get the chance to catch up with him."

"He's been taking it relatively easy. He doesn't have his Sharingan anymore, so he hasn't been very active. He's been mainly preparing for when he becomes Hokage. And enjoying his free time, I guess, while he still has any."

"Yeah. He'd better keep my seat warm."

"So you're still dead set on becoming Hokage?"

"Of course! And I will! You just watch me.", he said enthusiastically.

There was that same twelve-year-old kid again.

She smiled.

"Don't worry, I... we all know you're up next. I was just asking because... I mean, you always used to say that you wanted to be Hokage so that everyone would acknowledge you. You already got that. The whole world not only acknowledges you now, you literally are the hero everyone knows."

"Aw, Sakura-chan, you're gonna make me blush.", he joked.

"You better not let it get to your head, because I'll be there to deflate you if people gas you up too much, trust me.", she threatened him, trying to sound serious.

Naruto laughed.

"I'll keep that in mind."

After having walked the whole day, they decided to spend the night at an inn. They had stopped to eat at a small tavern around noon. After that they had picked up the pace a little. They had traveled quite a long distance already, so Naruto was still confident that they would be able to catch up with Sasuke, although every hour he could be moving farther away from them. Luckily he knew that even his old friend and rival usually rested at night.

Right now, Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the floor in his room. Outside of his eyes was the typical toad-sage orange pigmentation. If Sasuke had by any chance been moving towards them, he probably would have already been close enough for Naruto to sense him.

Naruto scanned the Chakra traces in the radius of a few miles. He knew that Sasuke could easily just conceal his Chakra if he wanted to, but he didn't think that was the case. Since he had seen him a few times he had a pretty good idea of how Sasuke liked to move. He mostly just made sure not to attract too much attention.

Since he couldn't sense him, that probably only meant that Sasuke had been travelling west. Naruto wasn't stressed about it. As long as tomorrow him and Sakura weren't going to waste any time, they would probably have caught up with him by the evening.

The next morning Naruto was woken up at an ungodly hour by Sakura banging on his door.

"Get up! The earlier we leave the better!"

It took him a minute to realise where he was and what was happening. After some more aggressive knocking he finally stumbled out of his bed and went to open the door.

"What time is it, what do you want and what the hell is wrong with you.", he asked, sounding more than just sleepy.

"We need to keep on walking or we're never going to catch up!"

He looked at her for another few seconds, before sighing loudly and started to get ready.

Ten minutes later they were outside. The sun was just starting to rise, and the air was chilly.

"I'm supposed to be making our schedule. If you wake me up at five in the morning again, I'm sending you back to Konoha.", he said, still grumpy.

Sakura was taken aback by this.

"Y-You wouldn't dare. I don't care if you're the leader of this mission. We're going to get Sasuke together, as team 7.", She replied. It hadn't even occurred to her until that point that Naruto was in fact her captain at the moment. She was a bit offended. He wouldn't actually send her back, would he?

They started walking.

Naruto's anger dissipated quickly. He looked at his pink-haired teammate. He should have tried to be more understanding of what she was going through. He himself was very excited to see Sasuke, and it hadn't been as long for him as it had been for her. Plus he could tell that she wasn't only looking forward to it, she was a little scared as well. To say that her and Sasuke's relationship had been rocky would have been an understatement, and it was still healing. He knew that with Sasuke's feelings of guilt and her fear of rejection this was going to take some time.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I wouldn't dare. In fact, I was wondering when you were going to start to show some nervousness."

Sakura turned her head to him like she was going to counter with something, but he quickly continued:

"It's normal, it's been a few years. I'm pretty sure the only reason why he isn't as nervous as you right now is because he has no clue we're coming. You'll do no worse than he will."

Sakura looked a bit calmer, then said:

"You're making it sound like Sasuke is capable of emotions.", she chuckled humourlessly. The worry could be heard in her voice.

"Are you kidding?! It'll be interesting to see if he shows it or not, but I guarantee you, he is going to freak out as soon as he sees you."

"You think so?", she asked, hoping with every fibre of her body that Naruto was right.

Sasuke Uchiha was currently in deep thought. It was around noon and he was roasting a rabbit over a small campfire. His mind kept wandering back to the letter his hawk had brought back the day before. He hadn't been necessarily surprised, but had expected it to just be a brief answer from Naruto, something like "Understood", or "Don't worry, I'm on it".

It had ended up being a lot more than that.

Apparently the Dobe had returned to Konoha. Sasuke remembered him saying something about that the last time they had spoken.

Thinking about his old home made him anxious. He still felt ashamed. He knew that the majority of the village would, in the best case, still be hesitant to accept him. And he couldn't blame them in the slightest.

And he had received a letter from the person he was scared to face the most. She had let him know unmistakably that she wanted to see him and that she had forgiven him. And yet he was unsure. There was no way he could be forgiven that easily, not after everything he had done. To her, especially.

His life right now was alright. He could be alone, as it was right for him, while being useful to the people he was indebted to. Which was everybody. The world. In his past he had made several mistakes, hurting the people close to him, all on his path in the darkness. He had been very close to destroying everything he knew, blinded by his anger and pain. Everyone, including himself had given up on bringing him back to the light. Everyone except for one person.

In the end he had been saved. And now it was on him to right his wrongs. Somehow Naruto never had seemed to resent him in the slightest, despite having been affected the most by his actions. Sasuke was infinitely grateful for Naruto's unconditioned friendship. It was the only thing that was keeping him connected to society. Though he wouldn't tell him that under torture.

So now that left the other person he had hurt the most. Like Naruto had always believed in him, Sakura had always loved him, even when she had tried not to. Sasuke wasn't yet ready to return to the leaf, but when he would, he was going to make sure she knew how he felt too. He decided right then and there, he would never again let her love for him be wasted.

"Let's stop for a few minutes."

Naruto and Sakura stopped on a tree branch.

"What's wrong?", she asked.

"Nothing.", he said, "I just think we might be in range by now."

Sakura looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

Naruto didn't respond, he just sat down cross-legged best he could on the branch and closed his eyes.

Sakura was about to ask again, but quickly closed her mouth when the pigmentation appeared next to Naruto's eyes.

She sighed and smiled lightly:

"Of course."

She sat there in silence for the next few minutes, trying not to disturb him. She just stared into the distance as the nervousness came over her again, she knew they might be close.

Then she heard Naruto stand up, so she turned to him. She was almost too scared to ask.

But she didn't even need to ask, as when she turned to look at her teammate, he had one of the biggest grins she had ever seen on him.

Sasuke had just stomped out his campfire and was continuing his journey with a full stomach. It was still summer so his black cape was stored away. He usually kept it on since his arm stump attracted some stares, but he was in a forest and hadn't encountered anybody in two days. He was just wearing a white shirt, the upper few buttons open. The left sleeve was fluttering in the light wind, his right hand was resting on the handle of his sword, which was attached to his belt. He was pretty relaxed nonetheless.

Suddenly he heard something in a bush in front of him move. He knew it wasn't a person, he would have noticed earlier. He stopped, waiting to see if some animal was going to jump out. And an animal did jump out. To be exact, a giant frog, about the size of himself, leapt in front of him, lifting a cloud of dry dirt as it landed. It looked him dead in the eye, croaked, then leapt into the next bush.

Sasuke didn't know what to think, but he was a little more alert now. He was pretty certain frogs in that size didn't usually appear in nature. He kept walking, scanning his surroundings. Suddenly he sensed someone's Chakra in front of him. Sure enough, after walking a bit more, he found himself face-to-face with the same frog, however it had a person's Chakra signature.

He pulled out his sword.

"You've got three seconds to drop the transformation."

The frog croaked again, then after a small cloud smoke appeared and dissipated again, in front of Sasuke stood...

Might Guy. In a pink spandex suit.

Sasuke was beyond confused, but didn't show it in the slightest.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, then Guy jumped at Sasuke with a flying kick, which Sasuke avoided easily, before hitting him in the back of the head with the handle of his sword. Enough to hurt him seriously, but there was too much he didn't understand to try and kill him.

However, Sasuke didn't need to worry further, as Guy-sensei disappeared in another cloud of smoke as soon as he was hit.

A shadow clone.

Sasuke was on edge now, in full danger mode. He sensed two other people's Chakra not too far behind him and quickly turned around. He couldn't see them, but he quickly realised that one of the Chakra signatures was unique, in a way he knew very well.

His alertness turned down again. There clearly was no danger.

He was pissed.

He turned around again and started walking away.

He heard someone jump down from a tree behind him.

"Aw, come on, Sasuke, don't be mad. I only get so many chances to mess with you."

That obnoxious voice.

He turned around to see his best friend walking towards him, giggling like a little girl.

When Naruto was close to him, Sasuke punched him straight in the jaw.

Naruto flew backwards. The two looked at each other. Still lying on the floor, Naruto started laughing again, before disappearing with yet another cloud of smoke.

Sasuke was angry at himself for being surprised. Of course Naruto would be spamming his shadow clones.

Then from another tree, what he assumed was the real Naruto jumped down. He was still grinning like crazy.

"Ha! I got you this time. Really, Teme, you should have seen your face. Totally made the trip worth it."

Sasuke kept his face serious.

"Hn. What are you doing here?"

The he added:

"I thought you were back in the village."

"I am. Just imagine, the first mission I get when I'm back is to go and find your solitary ass, always wandering around god knows where."

Sasuke paused to think. So Konoha was looking for him?

Naruto read his face and said:

"Don't worry. Tsunade no baa-chan just gave us a scroll to deliver to you. It has some instructions in it, you're not being forced to come back."

Then Naruto sighed. His tone wasn't light-hearted anymore, he was speaking seriously now:

"Though it would be nice of you to show your face around there again. People miss you. I imagine you got Sakura-chan's letter."

Sasuke broke eye contact, Naruto could see him blushing. The grin was back.

"Speaking of Sakura-chan..."

That's when Sakura hopped down from the tree herself. She shyly stood behind Naruto, trying to find the courage to look Sasuke in the eyes.

Meanwhile Sasuke didn't know what to do. His eyes widened as he looked from her to Naruto, as if searching for help, but Naruto just kept on grinning.

Naruto couldn't help it. Between being happy to see his friend and the fact that he found the whole situation incredibly funny, his cheeks were already hurting from smiling the whole time.

"Surprise!", he said, when the silence had become too much even for him, who was enjoying the awkwardness.

"She insisted on accompanying me, so I brought her along."

He had expected Sakura to hit him, but seeing that she didn't even react, he took it as a sign to take his leave.

"I'll leave you two alone. I'll just...", he couldn't come up with anything, "Well don't worry about me. I'll come back in about half an hour, so you two can catch up.", with that he teleported away.

So now Sakura and Sasuke stood in front of each other. She had prepared herself mentally, Sasuke was still a bit in shock.

Finally, looking to the side, he said:

"So, uhm... You... insisted on coming?"

Sakura was confused at first, then she got embarrassed when she realised what he was referring to.

"What? Oh...No! I didn't! I mean, I wanted to come, but it was Naruto's idea.", she explained, fumbling her words. At this point they both had the complexion of a tomato.

"Oh. Ok.", he replied.

Silence again.

"Did you get my letter?"

His heart started beating even faster. He nodded.

"Yes."

"Did you read it?"

He nodded again.

More silence. She couldn't take it anymore:

"Are you really not going to help me at all here?! Sasuke-kun, please! Come back. We miss you. Me especially."

There he was, making her frustrated again, he thought. So he grabbed her hand and looked her in the eyes. To Sakura this had seemed assertive, but he was panicking.

"Sakura." He didn't know what else to say.

"Thank you."

He couldn't help but look away when he spoke again:

"I can't come back yet. But now... now that I know, that you are here... for me..."

He looked at her again. As she was looking up at him, blushed, he thought she looked really beautiful.

"I promise, I will come back soon. And when I'm back, I will make it up to you properly. For now, please know that... I'm sorry."

Sakura almost didn't dare ask:

"S-So, does that mean...", instead of finishing the sentence, she looked up at him with hopeful eyes and a small smile.

"Yes.", he answered, smiling shyly himself.

With tears forming she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly.

"Please do come back soon."

Sasuke was overwhelmed at first, then he wrapped his one arm around her awkwardly.

"I promise."

Naruto was going to be back soon, so after a few minutes, they let each other go.

Sasuke asked the question that was weighing on his mind:

"So, you said Naruto wanted you to come?"

She looked at him curiously.

"Yes. Why?"

"Why... Why is he being so... supportive?"

Again Sakura was confused first, then her mouth made an "o". She blushed and chuckled.

"I guess you don't know yet. He's with Hinata now."

The Hyuga girl?

"That's... unexpected."

"Unexpected?!", she couldn't believe it. "Sasuke-kun, you're... you're just as dense as him!"

After Naruto came back and they gave Sasuke the instructions, the old team 7 said their goodbyes. Naruto and Sakura now were walking back in direction of Konoha.

He couldn't help but notice that his friend's mood seemed to be exceptionally good.

"Soooo, I take it it went well?", he asked.

Sakura didn't even respond, her smile just grew bigger.

"I told you. And I also told you messing with him is hilarious."

"You're so childish."

"Maybe. But you have to admit, the Guy-sensei gig was genius."

She couldn't help but laugh.

"How come he didn't detect the first frog clone?"

"Oh, that wasn't a clone. That was Gamariki. I'll have to thank her properly later."