Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its contents, though I do have hat similar to the one Naruto sleeps in.
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A week passed before Kakashi told Sasuke he had to go see Tsunade-sama. Apparently she had left Sasuke alone for a while to settle in, hearing daily reports from both Kakashi and Naruto. Sakura was always with Sasuke and refused to go see Tsunade for over the past week.
However, the time had now come to face the Hokage and perhaps receive answers to many questions.
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Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were kneeling down in front of Tsunade and Konoha council members. Iruka, Kakashi and Jiraiya were among them.
Tsunade took a deep breath and weaved her fingers together before speaking, "Sasuke-san, although I'm happy for your return, the village is concerned. We cannot fully return your citizenship of Konoha back to you without a thorough investigation of you and your time spent with Orochimaru in Hidden Sound village."
Sasuke remained silent looking down at the tatami mat floor. Sakura looked over at him with a worried look, Naruto didn't move but did notice his former teammate's angered expression.
"Furthermore," Tsunade continued with her unusually formal speech, "You will remain under Sakura's constant surveillance as she is the only one available to offer you temporary housing. Kakashi-san and Naruto-san will also remain in your company investigating your case. I will make this clear; I am being extremely lenient in letting you confide in your friends instead of an interrogation. They will as may have guessed report to me regularly on your status."
Sakura widened her eyes at Hokage's decision, "Are you asking us to spy on our friend?"
"No Sakura, I am telling you. This is a direct order from your Hokage. Believe me it is only for the good of Konoha." Tsunade explained.
"I can't follow through with that order Hokage, I apologize." Sakura bowed, placing the palms of her hands on the tatami mat.
Sasuke stared at the pink-haired girl, moved by her actions.
"Neither can I!" Naruto stated, not occurring to him that he should bow also.
Tsunade massaged her temples impatiently; "You don't have a choice in the matter. The council has the power to strip you of your chuunin title or not allow you to take the jounin exam if you fail to comply. I'm sorry Sakura, its out of my hands, the village demands an investigation. Sasuke may be rejected from our village even if we grant him back his citizenship."
"I-I understand… I beg your pardon Tsunade-sama." Sakura gently answered, sitting back upright.
Naruto also apologized. Sasuke continued his silence, though now with that small smile of his.
Tsunade smiled and looked over at Sasuke with her business expression. "Finalizing… do you agree to these terms Sasuke-san?"
Sasuke took a moment to respond, he turned to Sakura who gave him an encouraging smile. "I agree."
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Word soon spread of Sasuke's return. Some were suspicious but were calmed when they learned of Hokage's decision. Others, like Ino, Shikamaru, Kiba, Rock Lee and others were happy to hear of his return.
In fact, a day after their meeting with Tsunade Sakura and Sasuke received a visit from Ino, Shikamaru, Kiba, Rock Lee, Hinata, Tenten and even Neji! They brought sake bottles to celebrate his return.
Naruto soon popped up and they all drank up in Sakura's small house. It was yet another night of nostalgia and talk of the old days. To Sasuke's surprise he saw Ino and Shikamaru holding hands, according to Sakura they've been together for over a year now. Ino had to make the first move after finding out through others (Sakura) of his feelings. They seemed to be really happy, Sakura felt a bit jealous of them.
A few hours later and everyone began to leave, most of them fairly drunk. Except Lee, who had sworn off the drink due to interesting side effects. Naruto was the last to leave, but was so drunk that Hinata had to help him walk back to his apartment.
Sakura closed the door, after waving good-bye to Hinata and a drunk Naruto who happened to be babbling something about a bunny stealing his ramen. She smiled as she looked back at Sasuke, who poured himself another drink.
"When do you think Naruto is going to notice Hinata's feelings for him?" She asked him.
"Maybe he already notices…" Sasuke replied quietly, taking in another shot of sake.
Sakura frowned, her feelings for Sasuke were still strong but she had lost hope long ago. But now with his return, she didn't know what to do. "You should stop drinking Sasuke-kun, you're going to get a hangover tomorrow if you keep up that pace."
"I can handle it." He muttered, pouring more sake into his cup.
"Sasuke-kun, come on! You've already had too much." Sakura reached out and tried to take his sake cup away from him. She was unsuccessful and was instead pushed aside. Once more she advanced but this time he violently pushed her away, this time she landed on the nearby wall with a thud.
Thanks to all her endurance training it could have been worse but because of his special training it did have quite a painful impact on her but psychologically. Silent tears streamed down her eyes but at least Sasuke had stopped drinking. She sat on the floor and hugged her knees, barely making a sound.
He got up from his seat and picked her up silently. "I'm sorry Sakura." She put her arms around him as he took her to the bedroom. Sasuke set her down on her futon and although drunk, he still had full command of his senses just not his reasoning. He wiped away her tears with a tissue.
"You know…. The last time I cried was when you left, Sasuke-kun." Sakura mumbled, reaching out for his hand.
"I'm sorry I hurt you…" Was his reply, pure and simple. He was quite red in the face from the drink.
She clamped both of her gentle hand on his roughened one. "What are you running away from Sasuke-kun? Is that why you drink so much? I can tell this was not the first time you drank like this…"
"If I tell you anything, you'll just go and tell Tsunade-same." Sasuke said in a low cold tone, pulling his hand away from hers and turning around in the process.
Sakura sat up and hugged him from behind, "Not if you tell me not to. You're suffering Sasuke-kun, that's why you came back here isn't it?"
After a moment of silence Sasuke nodded and gently moved away from her, wanting to lie down on the bed. She laid down next to him, holding his hand affectionately. "Get some sleep Sasuke-kun, you can talk about it in the morning if you're ready."
"Good night Sakura…" He mumbled before dozing off into a drunken sleep.
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Ok! So longer chapter this time since I took awhile to actually write this one! Thank you for everyone who reviewed! Here have some more cookies:) I really appreciate the reviews, I'm such a sucker for them!
By the way Sasuke didn't actually cause her any physical pain, just to make that clear. Its more the meaning of the gesture that made her cry. Oh and Sakura did some drinking too!
Next chapter is going to answer some questions, make some more and create more tension between Sasuke and Sakura.