Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto.

AN:

Sorry, I know I usually comment and thank the people who reviewed but this week, I'm a little out of time and can't really do that. But I've read all the reviews like a million times, and thanks to you all (you know who you are, reviewers)!

Faded Petals

Chapter Four

She was standing in a field of fresh snow, icy petals floating down from the dark sky. Her hair was crusted with a veil of ice, snowflakes resting on her eyelashes. The wind blew against her arm and she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

It wasn't long before her knees crumpled and she fell to the powdery snow below. She closed her eyes, feeling sleep reach at her mind…It was so cold…

But then, a faint, muted yell that she could not quite hear reached her ears, and a ball of red-orange fire appeared, flicking all around her, fire that did not burn her skin, but instead, warmed it.

The ice melted slowly and before she knew it, the sun was shining on her back, and she was sitting on a field of blooming flowers.

"Who…..?" She stuttered.

And she turned and saw a glimpse of black hair…obsidian eyes…But it was gone as soon as she blinked. Faces flashed before her, images of a blond haired, laughing boy, images of a serious black haired boy, images that went away with the wind.

Sakura's eyes opened to the brown of the ground beneath her, the fast fading memory of last night's dream still imprinted in her mind-the feeling of the snow against her arms and face, the feel of the sun on her face, and the visions of those faces she still could not remember.

She sat up from the ground where she had been sleeping. Why do I have the same dream every night? Why do I always see the same faces? …Are these dreams meant to mean something?

She had been traveling with Itachi-san for over two days now, journeying through the same forests all through silence. She did not know where they were headed…Itachi-san never told her-it seemed he did not like to talk. The only time they stopped was to let her rest-apparently he did not need to sleep-and to eat. His presence still made her uncomfortable. But she trusted him. She was positive, positive, that he was a good person, even if he was the "silent" type.

She blinked, yawned, and stood up. She saw Itachi-san close by, leaning near the base of a tree.

"We shall go now, now that you are awake."

He started to walk and she followed him, following a non-existent trail that only Itachi-san could see through the forest. But progress today seemed slower somehow, and a heavy weight hung around the air. Sakura saw him move his arm-at least what remained of it- and saw the twitch of his face-as if in grimace. Perhaps his wound was bothering him…

She reached her arm out to touch his shoulder.

"Itachi-san are you alrigh-" But before she could finish, her hand was being crushed by his. Tears of pain sprang to her eyes.

His cold, red eyes met hers…. "Don't touch me."

It was a command, laced with ice. His grip was hard, and Sakura winced, her heart beating, resounding loudly in her chest. His red eyes stared at her again, before he turned back around, his hand letting go of hers.

"Gomen-nasai….I'm sorry…" She whispered.

Silence hung in the air….

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He knew he was surrounded even before they appeared from behind the trees- the black clad ninjas. A smirk gracing his lips, he waited as the Hokage stepped out from their ranks, her arms crossed against her chest. He had known beforehand that they would not have let him enter the gates of Konoha so easily-him being a "dangerous" missing nin. He would just have to bear with their questioning, and hope they would see he meant no harm and let him enter Konoha.

"Do not move, Sasuke. You are surrounded." She looked old, older than she had looked before.

"Hm…" Do you think I'm stupid?

"You do know you have been labeled a missing nin after disappearing for all those years, don't you? We could kill you on the spot, you know. But if you answer our questions, we may consider letting you back into Konoha, though you will be supervised extremely thoroughly through several months of probation. Do you agree?"

"Hm. Just get it over quickly…"

"Alright….However, I will have to bind your arms while I question you in case you attempt anything dangerous. It's part of the procedure and it will help convince me that you are not….dangerous."

He nodded and Tsunade flicked out a rope, tightly tying his arms together with it.

"First of all, why are you back in Konoha? I'm sure you know yourself that you have been labeled a missing nin. The punishment of abandoning your own village is not a particularly pleasant one, you know."

He looked at her levelly before replying. "I felt like coming back."

"That's not an answer, Sasuke. I want reasons, real reasons."

"Fine, let's just say I got tired of my revenge. Call it regret or whatever you want…."

Her eyebrows furrowed but she continued with her questioning. "How do I know you are not a spy who has come to steal our secrets?"

"You're the Hokage. You should know. I guarantee I'm not dangerous."

"I'm not that sure I can trust you."

"Look, if you really don't trust me, then capture me and toture me for information. But I'm telling you now, my abilities are much stronger than before. I can take a lot of your men down before you capture me."

"Is that a threat, Uchiha?"

He shrugged. "Only if you want to take it like a threat."

There was a moment of silence. Then, Tsunade shrugged.

"It's a little out of the blue, isn't it Sasuke? To come back after all this time, out of the blue? But I believe that with your abilities, you have much to contribute to our community. I shall allow you to stay, but you will be supervised-by Naruto. You remember your teammate don't you? But I have to warn you, things are different from the way you remember. Things have changed."

He said nothing.

"Two ninjas will escort you to Naruto's house. They will explain to him his duties and if you show me you are trustworthy after a period of probation, you will be allowed to stay."

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They led him to a medium sized, wooden house near the center of the village. Sasuke noticed, with slight amusement, that it was only a few buildings away from the ramen shop.

"Uzamaki-san!" One of his escorts knocked loudly on the wooden door. "Please open the door."

A moment passed before the door was opened by-to Sasuke's utmost surprise-the quiet, periwinkle eyed girl he remembered was called Hinata.

Things really had changed if Hinata and Naruto-the-dobe had tied the knot. Sasuke vaguely remembered Hinata and Naruto dating before he had left.

Hinata's eyes blinked and widened as she saw Sasuke. Then, she nodded to the men escorting him.

"I'll go get Naruto-kun right away." She ran back into the house.

A moment later, Naruto came lumbering out, rubbing his head of blonde hair with one hand. He hadn't changed that much, Sasuke noticed, except he looked a lot like one of the former hokages, whose picture hung in Tsunade's office. Naruto looked curiously at the two men at his door, not noticing the third, black haired man behind them.

"Hey, what's going on-"

Their eyes met and both of them-former allies, former enemies-froze.

Silence was in the air.

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Then, silence was broken.

"It's you! Sasuke-teme! You're back!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, pointing and jabbing wildly at Sasuke.

Sasuke glanced nonchalantly at Naruto, before his two escorts began to speak in hushed voices to the blonde haired man.

"What, I have to supervise Sasuke-teme?" He heard Naruto say loudly. He saw Naruto leer at him over the shoulders of the two escorts with laughing blue eyes, before returning to converse with the two ninjas.

Finally, the two ninjas bowed to Naruto and vanished in puffs of smoke. Naruto stared hard at Sasuke, before grinning widely, looking more foxy than he had before.

"You're back huh? Well, I told you before that you should have stayed in Konoha. Well, whatever. I guess you'll be staying with me and Hinata for a while, huh?"

"Still an idiot, Naruto? I'm telling you now. Just cuz you're the one supervising me doesn't mean you've become any less of the idiot you were bfore." Sasuke smirked.

"Whatever. Still an icebox, Sasuke-TEME?" Naruto glared back.

The two of them stood there, not saying a word. There was a familiar air around the two and for a moment, it felt just like it had before when it had just been Team 7.

"Naruto!" Hinata ran out of the house, eyes worried.

"Huh?" Naruto looked questioningly at her. "Oh yeah, Sasuke-teme will be staying with us for a while." He was cut off as Hinata shook his shoulders wildly.

"Naruto! Yuki is gone!"

Yuki? Confusion filled Sasuke's head as Naruto raced off after Hinata inside the house. Then, he remembered what Tsunade had said.

"But I have to warn you, things are different from the way you remember. Things have changed."

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I'm going to find Okaa-san. I'll bring her back. I'll find her and we'll go back to Konoha together!

It had been his fault after all that his mother had been kidnapped by that man. That man with the strange eyes and black hair. If he had….if only he had stayed with her…

Yuki slid down from the limb of the tree he had been sitting on. He would find his mother. But first, he would have to get stronger. He would train as hard as he could, maybe with Naruto-san. He would get stronger…and then he would find her.

He had climbed from out of Naruto-san's house from the window, feeling slightly guilty that he had been so rude to Hinata-san. He had walked back to the empty house he and his mother had once shared, climbing onto the tree that had stood close by, feeling the need to think by himself. He knew Hinata-san and Naruto-san would be worried when they found he was gone from the room. His mother would have yelled at him. But considering she wasn't here anymore……….

He headed back to house, intending on apologizing to Hinata-san and Naruto-kun. But then he saw a strange man near the door, a man with black hair and eyes of obsidian. Why does he look like the guy who kidnapped Okaa-san…? Could he be……….

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Sasuke waited impatiently for Naruto to return. It was true, what Tsunade had said. Things had changed without him. Many things were different now-he could not expect them to be the same. He would just have to learn to get used to the changes-whether he liked it or not.

He heard a rustle behind him and saw a small boy of about seven or eight, glaring at him.

"Hey, what's your problem……" He stopped and looked closer at the boy, and saw a face that mirrored his.

Black hair. Black-no, green black eyes…That face….it looks like…it looks like me. But it couldn't be….

Then, with growing alarm he remembered, remembered the night he had shared with Sakura, remembered gazing into her green eyes…

It couldn't be……Was it? Was it possible…….? Had things really changed that much?

A/N: Please review! Gomen for the long pause between updates! Hope you like the cliffhangie!