Aha..update. ...I don't know if I'll really continue this. ; I have no confidence in my..er..work. So, don't be shocked if this fic drops off the face of the planet.
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
During the years following the war with Sound. He had left. He had gone after his brother. He had gone to train and search. And swore not to return until he had done what he set out to do.
He had trained. Learning what he could from those willing to teach. Following any trails his brother had left. Sometimes going on wild goose chases. Sometimes, just missing the S-Class criminal by a few days. But he never gave up. He had traveled through several countries, seeing several villages. Some hidden shinobi villages, some just ordinary villages with small homes and kind people. Had seen some fallen villages, brought to ruin by bandits or harsh weather. He had seen so much during his travels, that nothing could surprise him. He had followed his brother around until they came up a village near the fire country borders.
And finally it happened. He found his brother. And they had fought. And putting everything he had trained for, everything he had learned, and seen into his fight. He had won. Sasuke had finally defeated Itachi. It had nearly cost him his life. But he had done it. Had avenged his clan. He was finally free of that shadow, that darkness. But even then. The hate, the pain had remained. After all of it, he still had that darkness. It hadn't disappeared with his brothers last breaths. Hadn't given the young Uchiha relief. It had even grown. Grown with the knowledge that he had HURT people with his decisions. With the knowledge that when he returned, unlike before, he would truly be alone. There would be no squealing girls (although, he honestly could live with out them), no pink-haired girls to ask him out every so often. And no annoyingly laid-back senseis. But most of all. No annoying, loud, blonde idiots to tell him (and the rest of the world, for that matter) how much of a prick he really was. And that had made the pain almost unbearable. But the return home, had not been so.
When Sasuke returned to Konoha, it had been a warm spring day. Entire forest was a sea of emerald and umber. Stray leaves fluttering in the warm breeze, dancing to the winds melody. He could see the large gates of the Hidden Leaf village looming not too far ahead. As he drew closer, the faint sound of children laughing caught his attention. Changing direction, the dark-haired ninja headed toward the source. Curious. Moving through the trees until he came upon a small clearing, he ducked behind a tree. There in the center of the clearing were a group of children, they looked no older than eight or nine. Standing before them was a young woman with pale blonde hair and ice-blue eyes, none other than Yamanaka Ino herself. She held several flowers in her hand, and appeared to be lecturing the children on something. To her left was another young woman. This one, Sasuke did not recognize. She had dark hair and light brown eyes and didn't appear to be a Hidden Leaf shinobi at all. He assumed she was one of the villagers just helping out. Tensing, Sasuke whirled around in time to see Umino Iruka approaching, a head full of pink hair could be seen bobbing along behind him. Great, no what I need right now. I had hoped to get into Konoha with out seeing anyone. I'm not ready for questions I know they'll ask. Sighing, he decided there was really no use in hiding.
He stepped from behind the tree in time to startle the children and put the other leaf-nin into defensive positions. At least until the two young woman realized who he was. The only warning Sasuke received was two high-pitched squeals of 'SASUKE-KUN!!', before he was tackled to the ground. "Your back! How ARE you? Where have you BEEN? What have you been doing? Are you ok? No injuries? Did anything happen? Why did you leave?" Blinking several times, Sasuke propped himself up on his elbows. The two girls were going on and on, question after question. "Sak-" "Did you travel far?" "In-" "Did you fight any really strong foreign ninja?" "Wil-" "Did you see any of the other Kage?" "Ple-" "Have you eaten?" "GIRLS!" The three young shinobi looked up surprised. Iruka smiled, "Ahh, sorry. But you really should give Sasuke-kun a chance to answer. And really, let the poor boy up. " Sasuke would have to remember to thank the older chuunin. Reluctantly, the two girls climbed off the dark-haired boy, smiled sheepishly and offered him a hand. "Welcome back Sasuke-kun!" Sakura smiled. Sasuke allowed himself to be tugged up, offering bother girls a small smile. "Arigato Sakura, Ino." He turned to Iruka, and was dragged into a fierce hug. Behind them, the young dark-haired woman was trying to calm the children down.
After spending a good two hours in the forest with the small class Sasuke was dragged along with the group back to the village gates. There he was handed over to a gate guard and escorted to the Hokage, where he would find out if he was still a part of the Leaf village. From what Sasuke could tell, not much of Konoha had changed. There were a few more buildings and lots more children, but nothing that was drastic. Upon reaching to Hokages office, he was left to wait. And wait he did. For a good three hours. Just sitting there. Finally a short woman shuffled over to him and kindly informed him that the Godiame was currently in the Hidden Sand village, attending a ceremony to the newly appointed Kazekage. Sighing, he stood. There would be no use sitting here all day and night. He could come see the Hokage once she returned. Turning towards the exit, he was stopped by a poof of smoke. "Yo!" Oooh, no I most certainly don't want to deal with HIM. Sighing again, Sasuke waved weakly. He was tired. Very tired. He wanted to go back to him home (assuming it was still HIS) and sleep. Sleep for a whole week.
A/N: Thank you to those who actually reviewed.
Uhm..the strange spacing, I'll try to work that out. I'm still getting used to using this.