Ch. 12

The sun was setting as Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura walked through the village at a casual pace. The three noticed they were starting to draw attention to themselves. Random villagers were now casting glances at them and whispering amongst themselves, "Those are the three original members of Team 7…" It was a little too late to try to be inconspicuous so the three decided to just speed up their pace.

Choji, Ino and Hinata were eating at a tempura restaurant when they noticed the three walk by briskly.

Choji stopped short of taking a bite, "Whoa. I heard he was back but I didn't expect to see that."

Ino was still in shock, "I don't even know what…THAT…was…" She turned to Choji, "You think they're all back on good terms?"

Hinata interrupted in a silent but firm voice, "No, I know Naruto. If they were all on good terms, he'd be smiling… or laughing. He looked like he didn't really know what to do with them by his side. Like he didn't know what to say..."

Choji paused then turned to Ino, "She's right. I still remember what they used to be like, there's no way they're all on good terms."

Ino gave an understanding nod. Maybe she would talk to Sakura later to get more information.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura finally arrived at Ichiraku and sat down. Teuchi and Ayame were in the kitchen preparing a new batch of noodles. Ayame heard the customers sit down and rushed to finish her batch. After a few seconds, she rushed out of the kitchen with a smile, "What can I get you guys?"

Then she noticed that it was all three members of the former Team 7 who were sitting at the bar. "Dad? I think you'll want to see this…"

"What is it, Ayame?" Teuchi inquisitively peeked out of the kitchen. An expression of shock crossed his face before he regained his composure. He knew that tensions were probably running high so he wanted to help them relax a bit. "Remembering old times, huh?"

Naruto took his ANBU mask off and placed it on the bar then he looked at the broken team before replying, "More like we needed to talk, but in any case, you know what we usually order." He managed a slight smile and Teuchi noted he was actually trying to be somewhat sociable. He had witnessed the change in Naruto after the war and was hoping that he'd one day see that kid who just really enjoyed eating his ramen. He smiled at the fond memories then turned to Naruto, "You got it boss."

As the ramen was being prepared, there was an awkward silence between the three. Sakura was now a lot more coolheaded and had a lot of questions, but she didn't want to immediately start pressing the two for information, so she resolved to try to start some light conversation. She turned to Sasuke, "So, how are the mountains?"

"Rocky."

Sakura slightly rolled her eyes then sighed as she thought about how hopeless her situation was. She wanted to talk to the two shinobi but she wasn't on speaking terms with one, and the other one wouldn't even hold a conversation. Then she heard something she hadn't heard in a long time. Naruto was giggling to himself. He had been so serious and grave the past few years but now she saw a small sliver of his old self.

Sasuke turned to Naruto, "What's so funny?"

Naruto still wore a slight smile as he looked at Sasuke, "I forgot about how you used to answer questions with one word…"

Sasuke grunted and turned back to look at some condiments on the bar.

Sakura gave an affectionate smile as she savored the sight of a little bit of the old Naruto. Naruto noticed she was looking and turned to her. She had no idea what to do. Her cheeks suddenly turned a light shade of pink as Naruto and her were now looking directly at each other. After a second of looking into those blue eyes of his, she saw that his eyes weren't the vibrant blue they used to be. They were a pale, light blue. He looked like a man hardened by life. She didn't see the anger and rage she had been seeing the past few years, she just saw raw pain. She immediately wished she hadn't looked into his eyes and looked away. She always thought that Naruto was so strong, that he could bounce back from anything, but in that moment she saw that somehow, someway she had deeply scarred him. Her betrayal was the one thing he couldn't take. It broke him, possibly beyond repair. Naruto slowly turned away. There wasn't much to look at so he just looked down at his fox shaped ANBU mask.

After a few minutes of silence between the three, Ayame came out of the kitchen. "Dinner is served!"

The three nin expressed their thanks, said grace and started eating. Sasuke finished first and noticed that Naruto was eating with less enthusiasm than he used to, "It's almost disturbing to see you eating like a normal human being."

"Thank the ANBU." Sasuke gave him a short glance and turned away to look at the condiments again.

Sakura watched as Naruto slowly ate the ramen. She knew he was using the ANBU as an excuse. The real reason he was eating with so little enthusiasm was because of the pain she had caused him.

"Did you come here with us just to ask me about the mountains?"

Sakura got knocked out of her thought process and saw Sasuke giving her a blank stare as he waited for an answer. She was caught off guard…..again. She decided she better take a deep breath and try to ask the best question she could think of.

It was as if all the questions she had been thinking about spilled out at once. "What exactly is going on here? What's all this business with the Sound? And what does it have to do with you?"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, then, after a short pause, Naruto put down his chopsticks and turned to Sakura, "The scroll we intercepted on our mission ended up containing crucial information. It was a communication between the Sound and the Rain. But it wasn't any communication, it was a communication confirming a future offensive against the Leaf and possibly the Sand." Sakura's eyes widened at the news. "In the communication, the Rain's new leader was declared to be Sasuke." Sakura started leaning closer in after that. Her shock was apparent. "When we ran into Sasuke, he was on his way to try to clear his name. He claims he has nothing to do with this alliance. I'm filling the team in tomorrow at the training session."

After sitting there in stunned silence for a few seconds, Sakura thought about another question she had wanted to ask. A more personal one. She wanted to know the real reason they were fighting, not the cover up they had gave the council. She wasn't sure how they would respond so she asked in a rather silent voice, "What were you guys doing fighting each other?"

Sasuke turned to her. "Weren't you at the training ground when Naruto was talking to Kakashi?"

Sakura looked down and muttered out a silent, "Yes." She knew that he knew what she was really asking and he wasn't going to give an answer.

Just then, Naruto finished his bowl of ramen. He stood up, picked up his ANBU mask that was on the bar, and turned to his former teammates. In that same monotone voice he had grown accustomed to, he simply said, "I think we're done here."

Sasuke stood up as well. Sakura just sat there with her head slightly down. Naruto looked over to Sakura, "See you tomorrow." There was no mistaking it, he was being strictly professional. His voice was too monotone to be anything else. As he and Sasuke walked away, she found herself almost wishing he hadn't said anything at all. She sat there alone at the bar for a couple of minutes before slowly walking away towards her apartment.

Ayame looked at Sakura as she left the bar then whispered to Teuchi, "They're broken, Dad….."

"Give it time, Ayame. Give it time….."

Author's Note

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