A/N: I'm trying to get this thing finished soon, but it looks like it's going to be another long one. So, I'm going to get as many chapters up as I can today, and I'll just have to work on it throughout the semester. So. Warnings? OOC. Lots. Mostly with Sasuke, just like the last chapter, but I think Naruto is a little OOC, too. Also, there's a bit of mild cursing in this chapter, but nothing too bad. Beware of the yaoi Kabuto! Um...anything else? Not that I can think of.

Legal Stuffiness: Naruto is not my property. I don't even own Konohamaru. Oh, well.

Last time...

"Very good, sir. What's the plan?" It was decided that they would return to Konoha for the moment, since there was no sign of Akatsuki. "Ok. Then let's get going." They took off in the direction of Konoha, now with a new addition to their group.

Time: Four and a half years after Sasuke's departure

Place: Konoha

Chapter 2: Unceremonious Welcome

One year earlier...

"Go away, Kabuto."

"But Sasuke-sama, I'm supposed to bring you to Orochimaru-sama." The silver-haired man's voice was oily, and obsequious. He was up to something. "He wants to see you." Sasuke snorted. The snake-weilding Sannin always wanted to see him. In fact, he had developed an unhealthy liking for seeing the young Uchiha, which was why Sasuke was trying to limit his contact with him. When Kabuto put a hand on his arm, Sasuke stared down at it, wanting to break it. That would do no good, because the medic nin would just heal it in a matter of minutes, and that would be it. So, he let it be for the moment, and stared at the rock in front of him.

"I'm training, leave me alone." He continued to concentrate his chakra into his fists, punching the large rock in the cave he used for training. Kabuto just pissed him off. Why did he have to act like that? He got his answer when the hand lying on his arm moved up his arm to his shoulder and tugged him, turning his back to the rock. His dark eyes met Kabuto's and an instant later, he was pushed against the stone, with the taller man pressed against him and one of Kabuto's medical jutsus at his neck. Trapped. Shit. And with his hentai…

Kabuto's eyes scanned his face. Sasuke knew that look. He'd seen it on Orochimaru often enough. Geez. Are all of the men in the Sound after me? He just stared at Kabuto, betraying none of the panic he was feeling at having a man against him, and he just tried to think happy thoughts while attempting not to lean too far toward the chakra scalpel at his neck. Happy thoughts. Puppies and kittens, birds chirping…no, he'd never really liked those things.

Happy thoughts. Sitting in Ichiraku with Naruto, listening to his loud and exuberant voice expound on how he would be Hokage one day, and then Sasuke calling him a dobe and a deadlast. Those were happy thoughts. The feeling of his mother's hugs, of being comforted. Those were happy thoughts. Then, unbidden, the thought of another embrace rose in his mind. He had been on point of killing someone…had felt arms encircle him from behind him…and a soft voice whispering to him, begging him to stop. Not a happy thought, but those arms had been comforting, and that was the only reason he had actually stopped. Why do I keep thinking about that? Damn it. Pull yourself together, Sasuke.

In the midst of his thoughts, he didn't even notice when Kabuto began to kiss him, the hand not holding a jutsu coming up to caress the side of his neck. Though he did not notice it at first, it didn't take him long to snap out of his reverie and bite down on Kabuto's tongue. The medic nin jumped back, saying thickly around his injured tongue, "Sasuke-sama! Not so rough!"

Sasuke snorted. "Go away, you hentai. I'm not interested." Kabuto's lips compressed into a thin line. "Just because you got a kiss out of me doesn't mean you'll get anything else. Don't look at me like that. You know as well as I do that I wouldn't have let you if you hadn't had that stupid jutsu held at my neck." Kabuto's eyes flashed in anger, and he left Sasuke's training area quickly. Honestly, everyone had turned into horny little bastards lately! Sasuke continued his training. It was that night that he'd started putting seals on every possible entrance to his room, even the walls and floor. There was no way he was letting Orochimaru or Kabuto into his room.

As they traveled, Sasuke wondered how long it would be before Orochimaru noticed he was gone. He had never meant to stay with him long enough to let himself become Orochimaru's "container," and he wondered, after his last evasion, how the man would react now that he had really gone. He liked the idea of being a host body less than that of being Orochimaru's boy toy…ugh. No, he was not going to think about that right now. He was away from the Sound, away from both of those hentai bastards, and it felt good. He had been training himself for a while now, and he didn't have to use his curse seal at all anymore. That felt good too. He thought he could probably best Orochimaru, which meant he might be able to kill Itachi, too.

He looked over at Naruto. An ANBU captain, huh? I guess he isn't that much of a deadlast afterall? We'll have to see. He looked forward to sparring with him, and wondered vaguely if they would destroy half of the forest when they did. Naruto never could restrain himself when it came to fighting with Sasuke. He was incapable of holding back, it seemed. Or at least, that's how he had been four and a half years earlier.

Then, he turned his face to see Sakura. Her hair was still short. She apparently liked it that way. He couldn't see her face, since he was walking behind her and to the right. Sasuke watched her as she walked, the way she moved, and how she signed to Naruto now and again. The two of them had been having a conversation on and off throughout the day, mostly having to do with Akatsuki, but sometimes about him. Naruto tried to hide his signs from Sasuke, but the Uchiha saw them anyway. Naruto thought they should be wary of him. Especially where Sasuke's attitude toward Sakura was concerned.

Good old Naruto. Still as protective of her as ever. He was, it seemed, still very attached to her. Sasuke couldn't blame him. He was rather attached to her himself. Well, that was a little bit of an understatement, but he wasn't going to go advertising (even in his own head) that he loved her.

All I'm saying is that we need to keep our wits around him. Naruto signed at Sakura, trying his best not to let Sasuke see, but he was sure that he could see what he was doing anyway. Sasuke went with them willingly, for which he was glad, but it seemed as if it had been far too easy. Naruto was waiting for the knife in his back, so to speak. Nothing was ever easy when it came to Sasuke, and he was a little scared of what would happen when things decided to go the way they usually did where the Uchiha was concerned. He was worried about Sakura. She was happy that Sasuke was back, that much was obvious, and Naruto supposed that it was to be expected. But the problem was that neither she nor Sasuke were acting like themselves. Sasuke had actually smiled a couple of times when they talked earlier, and Sakura wasn't acting like her old fangirl self around him.

Sakura signed back to him. I thought I told you. He's fine. Trust me. That didn't really satisfy Naruto, but he left it alone after that. He didn't know what they talked about when he took his walk, but whatever it was, he was pretty sure that Sakura had come to a modest assurance that it was Sasuke, and that he was coming back with them willingly. There was a little voice nagging at the back of his head, saying that there was danger, and he needed to be alert.

The danger might not come from Sasuke, but from his former associates. He smiled at Sakura, then slowed his pace, dropping back to talk to Sasuke. He signed to him, So, how long until you're missed? The Uchiha seemed to think for a moment. Naruto watched him. He furrowed his brow in a frown, just like the old Sasuke used to when he was concentrating. It took everything he had not to smile. He used to tell him that he looked constipated when he did that.

Signing back, Sasuke said, Not long, I guess. I was leading a group of Sound against those Mist nins, but I wasn't supposed to be back until tomorrow night. We have about half a day before my group misses me, then however long it takes them to get back to headquarters. No more than twenty-four hours. Naruto's eyes widened. He nodded, then ran up front to the ANBU and Sakura. After a quick and silent conference, it was decided that they were going to have to move double-time to make it back to Konoha before the Sound caught up with them. When he told Sasuke, the Uchiha tossed him a small bag.

Soldier pills? Naruto asked when he opened the bag. Sasuke nodded, motioning to the rest of the group. Naruto took one for himself, then gave some to the rest. He threw the bag back to Sasuke, nodding his thanks. The pills gave them a nice energy boost, and they went at top speed for the entire trip back to Konoha, which lasted three days. By Sasuke's estimation, the Sound nins, and possibly Orochimaru and Kabuto as well, were two days behind them, if they decided to follow at all.

They stood at the gates of Konoha, Sasuke staring up at them, an odd look on his face. Naruto was talking to the two jounin guarding the gates. Sakura was talking to the ANBU. The guards kept eyeing him in suspicion. He did look a little different than he used to, so he didn't really blame them. He had let his hair grow longer, and it no longer stuck up in the back. He was much taller, nearing six feet, and his clothes were nothing like those he wore when he was younger. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and looked around. From the treeline, he thought he saw…

Sasuke dropped to the ground as a kunai streaked by, precisely where his head would have been. He pushed himself to his feet, and launched himself at where the kunai had originated. As he broke through the bushes, he found nothing, other than a pair of footprints. His eyes narrowed, and he activated the Sharingan, looking around him. He smiled as he saw bark dislodged from a nearby tree. In an instant, he found what he was looking for, and moved toward his target.

Silently, he climbed the tree using the old "sticky feet" chakra climbing technique, then jumped up onto the branch where the offending party stood, still scanning the forest for him. He leaned closer to the person, and whispered, "Nice to see you, too, Ino." She jumped, turned, and pulled a kunai, a startled look in her eyes. Then, a glare of abject hatred entered her eyes, and she took a step toward him. He blinked. Why is she looking at me like that?

"You have some nerve coming back here, Sasuke." She put the point of the kunai against his throat. "Chouji nearly died because of you." Her voice was quiet and deadly. He raised an eyebrow.

Raising his left hand, he wrenched the kunai from her grip, and smiled wryly. "You'll have to tell me about this later, Ino. Right now, the Sound are coming. You don't want to be caught out here, do you?" Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "Good. Now come down and get inside the gates with us." He handed her back her weapon and jumped from the branch, landing lightly on the ground. Walking back to the gates, he found Naruto and Sakura still standing there, waiting for him.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked. "Who threw that?"

"I did." Ino came out of the trees, twirling her kunai on her finger. She didn't look happy. One final smirk at Sasuke, and she disappeared inside the gates of the village. Sasuke needed to talk to her, and Chouji, too. Sakura had mentioned something about Chouji being hurt because of him, but hadn't said anything more. There was going to be a lot that he had to catch up on in a very short amount of time. There wasn't going to be a very long period of relaxation. Something he hadn't thought of until this point was what would happen when he saw the Hokage. That made him wince. She'd probably throw him out of her office window.

They all entered the gate, and the ANBU disappeared to put in their report, while Sakura and Naruto led Sasuke down the main street and toward the Hokage's tower. People stared at him as they walked, and he breathed evenly, trying not to notice the way many of them narrowed their eyes in suspicion at him. He sighed. Naruto looked back at him, a quizzical expression on his face. Then he realized what it was that Sasuke was nervous about. "Don't worry, Uchiha. She won't kill you. Just remember: she favors her right jab. You'll be fine." When Sasuke's eyes widened, his friend laughed. "Calm down, baka. She's wanted you back here for a long time. She just wouldn't let me go get you, that's all."

It wasn't as if he'd have gone back with Naruto, but it was nice to know that he had actually tried. They now walked in single file, Naruto in front, then Sasuke, and Sakura brining up the rear. He tried to stay calm, but it was getting more difficult the closer they got to the tower. He wondered if the Hokage would really be happy to see him, or if she would throw him into a cell. If that happened, things could get complicated. His legs felt like lead as they walked up the stairs to Tsunade's office. Naruto entered the building first, saying that they should wait outside.

Long moments later, a familiar face peeked out of the door, eyes wide, and Sasuke tried to recall her name. Sakura stepped forward. "Shizune-san!" She hugged her fellow apprentice, and the older woman smiled. "So…how's it going in there?"

Shizune smiled nervously. "Tsunade-sama is grilling him right now. You know how she is when it comes to him. She can't keep her temper. So far, she hasn't broken anything yet. I guess that's a good sign." She looked over at Sasuke, and nodded. "Good to have you back, Uchiha-san. I hope you're well?"

He nodded. "I'm fine, Shizune-san. Although, when you have time, I think I would like to speak to you about my seal. You know, to see if there's any way to get rid of it." She seemed surprised. "I don't need it anymore, but it itches every now and again, like it wants to be used." His voice became quiet at that. It was true that he had no need for the seal anymore. He hadn't used it in over a year. But every now and again, he woke up in the middle of the night, the back of his neck feeling like an entire mound of red ants were biting into that one spot. It was a burning, stinging itch that he couldn't and wouldn't scratch. It usually only took about four hours for it to go away, but it might be nice if he didn't have to deal with it anymore.

She nodded. "I might get Tsunade-sama and Sakura-chan to help, though. Orochimaru might have made it so that it isn't easily removed. If I know his techniques at all, that is." Sasuke nodded gravely in agreement. The snake-Sannin was not one to let his future containers go without a fight. Right now, that fight was inside Sasuke's body, and he'd been winning for about a year. He just wished it was over. "We might need to get Anko in on it too. She was marked by him a long time ago, and her seal is dormant, now. Maybe they're related." Glancing at Sakura, she smiled warmly. "Take care of him, Sakura-chan." She murmured her farewells, and went down the stairs.

After another few minutes, Naruto came out, and said, "Sasuke, come on. I think I got the worst of it. She wants all three of us in there, now." Sakura gasped at him, because he had a bloody lip, and his shirt was ripped. He looked at Sakura, smiling then wincing. "Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan. She pulled her punches. I don't even think I'll need to go to the hospital, this time." Briefly, Sasuke wondered what had happened the last time Naruto had a conference with Tsunade. Then, they were in the Hokage's office, and he took a deep breath.

Lowering himself to the floor on one knee, he bowed his head, and placed his fist on the floor. "Hokage-sama,"

Tsunade snorted. "Get up, Uchiha. Sakura, close the door." Sasuke stood up as ordered, and looked around. Naruto leaned on the wall, nursing his wounds, and trying to get away from Sakura, who was trying to heal him. Suppressing a grin, he looked over at Tsunade. She raised an eyebrow at him, and pursed her lips. "Now, what should I do with you, Sasuke? I could have you thrown into Konoha Prison before you could blink. Give me one good reason why I should let you roam around free." Her expression was one of challenge, daring him to step out of line.

He smiled, not quite insolently, but approaching it. "I can give you two extremely good reasons, Hokage-sama."

"And those are?" She sat on the front edge of her desk, seemingly relaxed. Sasuke knew better.

"I know the Sound Village inside and out, how they work, how they think, and I might be of some use against certain other enemies that threaten the general population, not just Konoha and the Fire Country." He crossed his arms over his chest, and waited for her reaction. She seemed to be weighing her options. It took what seemed like a very long time before she said anything more. During this eternal wait, Sasuke watched her. Her brown eyes seemed not to look at anything, and her brow furrowed, distorting the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead. She bit her lip in concentration, and tapped the surface of the desk with one of her fingers.

Suddenly, she smiled. "Alright. I think I know just what to do with you." Naruto, newly healed and sulking, turned to the Hokage, and Sakura did the same. The air seemed charged with electricity as she appeared to intentionally draw out the silence.

"Tsunade-baba, just tell us! You're going to give me a heart attack from the suspense!" Naruto piped up, and Sasuke had to get between the Hokage and his friend to keep him from being injured again. Closing her eyes and taking deep breaths, the woman steadied herself. It was apparent that this was a regular occurrence.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "You were saying, Tsunade-sama?"

"I was saying, Uchiha, that you'll be debriefed and participate in the next round of chuunin exams. Then, you'll work with Naruto and the rest of the ANBU with this Akatsuki problem." She smiled warmly at him. "Welcome back, Uchiha. I hope you like taking orders, because that's all you'll be doing for some time."

Sasuke again knelt before her. "Arigato, Tsunade-sama. When are the next exams?"

"Next week. I suggest you get your affairs in order. You'll be debriefed in the morning." She turned to Sakura. "Sakura, please fetch your old sensei for me."

The young woman frowned. "Any idea where to find him?" It was always hard to find Kakashi when you wanted him, but if you didn't need him, he seemed to pop up at the worst moments. Sasuke remembered the man always being late.

Naruto laughed. "He's probably down at the bookstore. The newest volume of Icha Icha Violence is out today. He'll want to get it before Anko does, so he can brag." Sakura nodded and left by way of the door. Sasuke nearly laughed. Anko was a very strange woman. She was loud, violent, and apparently perverted, too. He looked askance at Naruto. The blonde man waved him off. There would be lots of time to explain everything later. "Well, I have to go collect reports from my ANBU. I'll see you later, Sasuke." He disappeared out the window, and was gone.

Sasuke now stood alone with the Hokage. He sagged. "Tsunade-sama, thank you. I thought that I'd be in a cell right now."

"You might not want to thank me later. You're going to be taking orders from Naruto." He started, but then sighed. He'd do whatever he had to. If it meant killing Itachi and getting on with the rest of his life, he could take orders from Konohamaru if necessary. He nodded. Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You've changed a lot, Uchiha. For the better, I hope." She gestured to a chair, and he sat. For a little while, she grumbled over her papers, and didn't pay any attention to the fact that he was in the room at all. Then, a knock came at the door. "Come in!" She barked.

The door opened, and Kakashi poked his head in. "You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" He pushed the rest of his body in, not really seeming to recognize his former student, who sat in the chair, not really looking at him.

Tsunade hooked a thumb toward Sasuke, and said, "Take the prodigal son home for me, will you? I have a lot of work to do." Sasuke stood, a smile trying to gain a foothold on his face. Kakashi stared at him. He noticed that he stood an inch or two shorter than his former sensei, and nodded at him. The jounin's visible eye was unreadable, as usual.

"Sasuke-kun. Come on, let's go." Kakashi turned his back on Sasuke, and walked to the door. Sasuke looked back at the Hokage, who merely shrugged at him and made a shooing gesture at him to get him out of her office. Well. That was unceremonious. He walked out and closed the door quietly behind him. Kakashi was waiting. The man had been cold, and it didn't look like he was going to thaw any time soon. Sasuke walked warily next to him, and waited for him to speak.

It was fifteen minutes of hellishly awkward silence before Kakashi said in a voice that indicated his displeasure, "Why did you come back?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, thinking of how to explain the situation. "It was opportunistic, really. A chance meeting with old friends." His sensei snorted, but he continued in a tone that was rather far away. "I don't need Orochimaru anymore. I've known that for the past year. Now I'm not sure that I ever needed him. You were right, Kakashi-sensei." He looked over at the silver-haired man, and saw that his dark eye was widened in surprise.

"Learned a little humility while you were with the Sound, did you?" The older shinobi's voice sounded like he was trying not to laugh. Sasuke frowned. Kakashi changed the subject. "Have you seen anyone other than the Hokage, Sakura, and Naruto?"

"Ino. She tried to kill me. Poorly, I might add."

"Anger makes you sloppy. She's really mad at you." After scrubbing his fingers through his hair, Kakashi said, "Chouji was nearly killed when he fought with one of the Sound Four. She's never really forgotten that." When Sasuke opened his mouth to ask an obvious question, Kakashi smiled. "She's fiercely loyal to her teammates, Sasuke. Especially him. Talk to her. And you'll have to talk to the rest of them, too."

"How many people suffered because of me?" His voice was choked, and he clenched his hands into fists. The thought that he was the cause of the suffering of others was not welcome. He'd made a lot of people suffer when he lived with Orochimaru. He first thought that it was necessary to gain power, but soon started questioning his own actions. If he could avoid causing pain, he did. Even when he killed, he tried to make it so that no one suffered pain when they died by his hand.

"Chouji, Kiba, Akamaru, Neji, Shikamaru, and Naruto. Those are the people directly affected. Oddly enough, none of them really hold grudges. It's their friends who do." He shook his head. "You should talk to them." Sasuke nodded. He would. He needed to. They would probably never really forgive him, but he needed to apologize.

"I'm taking the chuunin exam again." Sasuke said, in order to change the subject once again.

"Are you?" Kakashi smiled, his eye crinkling. "This should be interesting. Know who your team will be yet?" Sasuke shook his head. "Well, there's time for that. I'll be talking to the others, and seeing what to do. There's one team that lost a member, so you'll most likely be put with them."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Who's on the team?"

"Do you remember Konohamaru?" Sasuke nodded. "He and Moegi lost Udon on their last mission. They were on a C-ranked mission, and it shouldn't have happened. Kurenai's still pretty broken up about it. No one really knows what happened. One minute they're escorting a nobleman's wife, the next, Udon was dead, and Moegi would have been killed as well had it not been for Konohamaru. Kurenai took a hard hit too. She's still in the hospital." Kakashi's voice had taken a hard edge.

"So who was the target?"

Next to him, Kakashi made a grunting kind of sound. "Frankly, I don't think there was one. Probably just rogue nins. They've been playing havoc in the west, where their mission was. Tsunade-sama has sent ANBU over to investigate." Sasuke was having doubts as to whether Konohamaru would like it if he was on their team. When he voiced his concerns, Kakashi shook his head, saying, "He might not be given a choice, and you most likely won't be, either. So you'll just have to use the next week to get acquainted and try to learn each others' strengths and weaknesses, and learn to compensate."

"Are they any good?" Sasuke was hoping that they would work well together, and not get in each other's way.

"You should be familiar with the setup, Sasuke. Konohamaru could be Naruto's little brother for the way he acts. Moegi's decent, but she's pretty strange. So you're in the same boat you were in to begin with, only you don't have to deal with me." Sasuke smiled. This would certainly be interesting if it worked out the way Kakashi seemed to think it would. "In any event, you should know by tomorrow morning." They had now arrived at the entrance to the Uchiha compound. Kakashi nodded his farewell, and Sasuke watched him walk away, and as he pulled out a very conspicuous orange book.

A/N: Yay! He's back in Konoha. Now that he has to take the chuunin exams again, he'll have to deal with a few interesting problems. Then, theres still Orochimaru and Akatsuki lurking over the horizon...just waiting for an opportunity to strike. Heheehehehee. Suspense...or not.