For Someone Important... Three years have passed since Uchiha Sasuke's betrayal of Konoha. But now that he has mysteriously returned to his old home, what awaits him and his companions as they try to mend what has been broken? Sasuke+Sakura, Neji+Tenten, Naruto+Hinata, Shikamaru+Ino, and Kakashi+Kurenai.
---------- Chapter 02: Affliction ----------
Some things Sasuke would probably never understand, such as why Sakura seemed so accepting of his return or why Naruto hadn't attempted to kill him yet. Those among other things, like the reason Kakashi felt compelled to promise that he would try and talk Tsunade into lessening the punishment he would receive regarding the time he had spent as a Nukenin. What the raven haired boy did understand were the long and ridiculously extensive speeches he received from each of those particular three regarding his absence.
From Naruto, it had been a rather difficult rant about various things concerning his choice of Orochimaru over Kakashi as a teacher and the fact that he had abandoned those close to him. From Sakura, it had been a few choice words about making her worry so much and him promising never to affiliate himself with the Oto or any other villages aside from Konoha ever again. From Kakashi, it had been a rather complicated discussion about never turning ones back on the people you care about and always honoring teamwork and dedication to one's comrades.
They were all three right, and some part of Sasuke was ashamed to admit that they were. He had really done something terrible, something that probably would have shamed his parents and clan had they still been alive. He had abandoned those he had come to care about in favor of gaining power to avenge those he had already lost. He had lost a good portion of his honor, and now it was his job to try and redeem himself.
Kakashi had agreed to continue training him on a regular schedule, another mystery to the Uchiha's mind, but it wasn't an unaccepted offer. There would be a lot of work to do, but determination -- the ability to never give up... That spirit was what the Hinokuni was best defined by, and it was about time he realized that.
But before he could continue training, he had to focus on finding a way out of the hospital first...
-----
"Sasuke-kun, don't try to move around so much." Sakura commanded as she pressed her hands against Sasuke's shoulders to push him back down into a sitting position. He raised his eyes to her as if to question why, and she could only smile slightly. "It's for your own good; you're not completely healed yet," she murmured and Sasuke reluctantly nodded. She was right, whether he liked it or not. He couldn't train to the fullest while he was still injured, and he didn't feel like fighting through Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi, and who knew who else, to try...
Sakura bit down on her tongue. She had assisted his recovery a bit, but there was more she could do -- she was a Medical Ninja now, she would have been able to heal some of his injuries. She just wasn't certain she was ready to let him break his back trying to get strong enough to avenge his clan. She would have been lying to say she wasn't worried about his health, she was very worried. And true enough, he would eventually heal anyway...
"Sasuke-kun..." she began somewhat uncertainly to draw her former teammate's attention. "I... can heal you," she finished. Sasuke seemed puzzled when a look of determination made itself visible in Sakura's eyes. She allowed them to land on him squarely as she took in a deep breath. "But, you have to promise not to push yourself too hard. And you have to let me help you!"
Amazingly, she seemed completely serious about that. Sasuke breathed out deeply. But, if he would just agree to her demands, then he could get started training all the sooner...
"Fine," he agreed and a happy smile formed on Sakura's lips. She nodded and moved back a little from him before raising her hands towards Sasuke, who seemed to study her expression as she closed her eyes in preparation. Come to think of it, how would she heal him? He hadn't really thought to ask... It looked like Medical Ninjutsu she was using, but he hadn't been aware of her knowing any.
"Sakura, where did learn this?" Sasuke asked when the pink haired girl finished with her Jutsu, causing her to smile slightly again with a tiny wink.
"I learned all kinds of new tricks while you were away. This is Medical Ninjutsu that Tsunade-shishou taught me," she explained as she clapped her hands together once to signify that she was finished. What appeared to be the hint of a smirk tugged at the left corner of Sasuke's mouth as he pushed himself to his feet. It had worked, and that was the most important thing -- now he could continue training.
"Thanks Sakura," said Sasuke, and the welcoming grin he received in response was enough to prevent him from becoming nervous about his expression of gratitude. Something was different about Sakura, something was definitely different. He had known that from the start actually, but he hadn't quite managed to put his finger on it.
"Demo, before you get started training, you have to talk to Tsunade-shishou so you two can discuss your trial." Sakura informed and Sasuke merely nodded once affirmatively as he rolled his left wrist to make sure it wasn't broken from his latest fight. He had known that it wouldn't be easy in the least; his punishment was probably going to be horrendous in severity...
"Let's go," he whispered and Sakura nodded before heading out the door, ready to lead the way... This was going to be annoying, but Sakura wasn't about to be letting Sasuke go -- not after what happened, she was going to stick with him until the very end. And there was no way that even the Godaime could stop her.
-----
"So you really think you should be doing this?" Tsunade asked one more time to be certain. "If Sasuke does end up doing something like that again, if he ends up betraying Konohagakure again, then the penalty will be on your heads as well as his. You still want to go through with this?"
Kakashi only nodded once, before preparing to speak. "I have faith in Sasuke," he answered, then added more to himself than anyone, "Probably more than he has in himself." Gai seemed fully agreeable to Tsunade's terms as well, he was fully willing to stand by his arch rival's decision.
"I believe in Kakashi's decision; if Kakashi has faith in Sasuke then I, too, have faith in him." Gai responded as well, causing everyone to turn their eyes to Kurenai. She breathed a low sigh before preparing her reply as well.
"If Kakashi really believes that Sasuke won't try anything, I have no choice but to agree with his decision -- his judgment has pretty much always been validated in the past." Kurenai gave her answer, and Tsunade nodded once affirmatively before turning her attention to the forth and final Jounin.
Hyuuga Neji closed his eyes before speaking, "If Uchiha intended to escape Konoha to go back to Orochimaru again, why would he have nearly died getting back here?" He knew all too well of the injuries Sasuke had sustained(which clearly signified a struggle of some sort, more than likely with Orochimaru of the Sannin and probably others within the Oto); he had been the one to find him early that morning and carry him back to the hospital after all.
Tsunade breathed a low sigh of reluctance. There was no talking them out of it. "Since you all seem determined, you leave me no choice," she began, her voice stern; she had made her decision, which was fortunately in their favor. "Instead of a trial, I'll try my best to come up with another way for him to earn his rank back; his success is in his own hands, there's nothing more any of you can do for him. Everyone is dismissed."
-----
Neji folded his arms in thought upon stepping out of Tsunade's office; not to his surprise, he found Tenten and Rock Lee waiting for him. He shifted his ivory eyes from one to the other before recalling the conversation with the Godaime Hokage in his mind.
"So, what's up Neji?" Tenten finally asked, causing the dark haired Jounin to prepare a suitable answer.
"Uchiha Sasuke is back in Konoha," he explained, causing the eyes of his teammates to widen a bit in reaction. So the rumors were true, Sasuke was actually back.
Tenten smiled a bit; she had developed a fairly close friendship with Sakura over the past three years, and she could only imagine how happy Sakura must have been. A day hadn't passed that Sakura hadn't thought about Sasuke, Tenten could tell that much just by looking at her; it was on rare, special occasions that she actually spoke of him however. Perhaps his name brought up bad memories or remembrance of Konoha's failure to bring him back, but regardless, the pink haired medical kunoichi seemed almost afraid of the subject. And that was enough to convince Tenten that Sakura's feelings for Sasuke were indeed deeper than they had seemed to be at first. And, more importantly, those feelings hadn't diminished over the past three years.
"But, Neji, how do you know?" Lee asked suddenly, drawing Neji's attention. He seemed to frown a bit.
"I was the one who found him just inside the village boundaries this morning and carried him back to the hospital," he replied, "It seems that he just wandered back here of his own will."
"We will have to stop by and say hello to Sasuke-kun later!" Lee determined, and Neji sighed. He supposed it wouldn't hurt, not that it really mattered if he were to go or not. It wasn't as if he had to do everything his teammates did, but he did feel strangely more comfortable around them than simply walking around or training alone.
So, it was decided; the three of them would drop by the hospital to see Sasuke later on in the evening.
-----
"That's right; they said someone found him this morning!" Naruto exclaimed to Hinata, Kiba, and Shino. Kiba and Shino exchanged glances as Hinata was hidden behind a nearby tree, blushing. Naruto shifted his eyes to each of the three individually before smiling broadly. "Well, just thought I'd let you guys know; I'm off to get some lunch!" he added with a wave before turning to wander off.
Kiba and Shino both looked over at Hinata as she started to speak. She nibbled gently on her bottom lip as she poked her index fingers together, her cheeks reddening.
"N--N--Naruto-kun, m--matte," she called after him, causing the blond haired boy to toss her a glance back over his shoulder. She was still clinging to that same tree, but she seemed to have something to say now. "U--U--Um..."
"What's up, Hinata-chan?" he asked, and Hinata bowed her head as she let out a deep breath to prepare herself. She was probably hoping her heartbeat would slow down a bit, because in all nervousness, she wasn't sure it ever would. She waited a few seconds before offering her suggestion.
"I--I c--c--could... come... with y--y--you..." The tension rose for her as she awaited his answer. What would he say? If possible, she thought her heart might have been beating faster than before. She was almost scared that it would hop right out of her chest...
Naruto grinned that boyish grin of his, and Hinata lowered her head a bit as if bracing herself. "Sure! I like company!" he responded, and Hinata's head shot back up to reveal a shaky smile forming on her mouth. Several minutes of complete silence passed between them as Kiba and Shino just kind of disappeared in one direction -- not that anyone seemed to notice very much.
He had said yes! He had actually said yes! Hinata's heart was doing back flips as her smile only widened. After quite some time, Naruto's smile faded a bit and he raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Well, we can't go if you stay glued to that tree all day," he pointed out, and Hinata blinked a couple of times in embarrassment. He was right; she couldn't keep hiding behind the tree if she was going with him.
So, not wanting to miss her chance, Hinata ducked out from behind the tree and took a couple of small steps forward. Smile returning full force, Naruto marched over to her and grabbed one of her hands in one of his before spinning and starting to lead her off toward the Ichiraku Ramen. Hinata's blush deepened as she smiled contentedly.
Meanwhile, nearby, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji just happened to be passing by and overheard everything. Ino smiled a rather broad smile, squealing joyfully. Shikamaru and Chouji both looked at her strangely.
"Did you hear them? Sasuke-kun is back!" she exclaimed, and Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Troublesome females, would they always flock to that blasted Uchiha even after he had betrayed the whole country?
Ino then added, "Sakura-chan must be beaming right now! I've gotta go offer her my support." Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged confused glances as Ino turned to run off, waving back at them. "I'll meet up with you guys later!" she called, before taking off in a dash that left her two teammates speechless.
Shikamaru closed his eyes, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and continued walking; Chouji soon followed after him. The black haired lazy chuunin lifted his head to look at the clouds, frowning slightly. "I hate women," he muttered finally, knowing it wasn't true. Chouji grinned as he popped a potato chip into his mouth.
Shikamaru couldn't hate women; his mother was a woman and he had to love her; he was also friends with Ino and Temari(sort of friends with Sakura, too)! Plus, it was common knowledge, at least to Chouji, that Shikamaru possessed some admiration for their lively, plucky, loudmouth blond of a teammate. Chouji knew him better than anyone, after all.
-----
"So?" Sakura asked, her hands clutched together in front of her hopefully. Sasuke folded his arms as Tsunade breathed a low sigh. This was going to be bad news, and Sasuke knew it...
"While Sasuke did betray Konoha to join the Oto, he is a valuable asset to this country as one of only two remaining members of the renowned Uchiha clan. Therefore, I've decided to grant him a single chance to reclaim his rank as a Genin of Konoha." Tsunade explained causing the hint of a smile to hug Sakura's mouth as Sasuke seemed confused by this unwarranted lenience.
"Sasuke; I will be sending you on an important mission tomorrow. Sakura, Naruto, and two others will accompany you to ensure that you don't attempt to escape again. If you accomplish the mission successfully, then I will reinstate your rank and you can begin vying to become a Chuunin," she added, and Sakura was quick to respond.
"We'll complete this mission of yours, no problem!" she stated, punching her fisted right hand into her open left. Sasuke glanced at her only briefly. So they were giving him another chance, after all -- they really were more forgiving than he had expected them to be...
"And also, to make sure you don't try anything, Sakura will be staying with you at all times." Tsunade added and a strange bubbling feeling pooled in Sasuke's stomach. So there was a catch. He rubbed his temple soothingly as Sakura seemed surprised by this assignment. Tsunade only smiled a bit. "Sakura, I have already informed your mother that you'll be living with Sasuke for a while as part of the mission; I expect there will be no objections."
"Tsunade-shishou--"
"Sakura. I need to speak with you alone; Sasuke can wait outside for you," the golden eyed woman commanded sternly and Sakura only nodded once before turning to Sasuke to ask that he leave for the given minute. Before she could speak however, he turned towards the door.
"Hn," his response was short and typical of him. He stepped out, leaving the matter to Sakura and Tsunade. The latter's expression softened a bit as she sat her pencil down on her desk.
"I am well aware of how you feel about Sasuke, but I have to ask you as your superior; don't let him talk you into letting him leave or anything of that sort. If you really care about him, you'll try to keep him here in Konoha, and you'll try to help him accomplish this mission so he can take the Chuunin Exam this year -- this is the best possibility for him." Tsunade stated, and Sakura lowered her head slightly.
"Thank you, Tsunade-shishou," she murmured, closing her eyes briefly before raising her head and focusing them on her teacher. "I will keep Sasuke-kun here, even if I have to beat the desire to stay into him!" she stated, determination visible in her eyes. Tsunade knew that she was being completely honest, if only for that gleam of affirmation on her face. The older woman nodded slowly.
"Good. I trust you won't let me down. You have complete surveillance over Sasuke, that is your official mission until things quiet down a bit," she stated before smiling a little, "Do not let him out of your sight, though I'm sure you wouldn't whether or not I tell you."
Case closed. There were no more words and discussions, only missions given and two young shinobi dismissed. This was certainly going to complicate things quite a bit in the Uchiha's eyes, especially if Sakura was really set against him pushing himself -- that would make training quite the difficult task, and that's what he was afraid of.
-----
The minute they began walking down the sidewalk, Sasuke was automatically the most popular thing to glare at; the looks of distant admiration and respect were gone from the faces of Konoha, though fear still remained in a few of them. He had turned his back on each and every one of them, so at least in his eyes their dislike of his presence was well warranted.
After a few minutes, Sakura was beginning to get annoyed. It wasn't long before she started returning glares, shooting homicidal looks that would have frightened almost anyone and did end a bit of the rude scrutiny. Sasuke merely lowered his head a bit. He didn't want to meet any of their eyes, and Sakura was rather quick to notice this. Finally, gritting her teeth, she stopped walking which instinctively caused Sasuke to stop behind her.
"What the hell is with all you people?" she yelled, startling the throngs of spectators. She was growing very, very annoyed. "Do you have a problem or something?" Some of the bystanders continued about their business, while others were far more stubborn...
"What's he doing back here!"
"Didn't he betray Konoha?"
"Why doesn't he just go back to wherever he came from!"
Sakura felt her blood pumping through her veins faster than usual; she bit down on her bottom lip to calm herself down and breathed a low sigh. "Sasuke-kun is no worse than any of you," she stated, causing Sasuke to look at her as everyone else seemed appalled by her response. He really was hated, wasn't he? "Look at you, gathered around here like you're watching a parade! And for what? So you can glare at someone for just being here?" she lectured, venting a bit of steam. A few murmurs were exchanged between the people, probably directed towards her.
"Sakura, let it go--"
"Iie!" Sakura argued, causing Sasuke to sigh lowly. It was pointless to try and convince them that they were wrong about him when they were so perfectly right. He was nothing more than a worthless waste of space. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed tears culminating at the bases of Sakura's emerald eyes.
"Sasuke-kun wanted to avenge his clan and he thought that it would be easier if he went somewhere else! At least his reasons were honorable!" Several more people drifted away; Sakura was kind of intimidating right now...
"You tell 'em girl!" a voice called from behind, causing both Sasuke and Sakura to glance back. Ino smiled and winked slightly as she stopped by Sakura's other side. "Why don't you all just beat it! Go on! Scram! Make like a tree and leave!" she called mockingly, making a shooing gesture with her right hand.
"Get lost! And don't make me tell you again." This time it was none other than Hyuuga Neji who had come to the rescue, leaving all three of the others in a state of bewilderment. The swarms of people seemed to vanish without a trace in reaction to that patented Hyuuga Death Glare that Neji had developed all on his own.
"So, Uchiha, you're back," he pointed out even though he very obviously already knew that little fact. Sasuke closed his eyes.
"Hn."
Sakura breathed a sigh to calm herself before curling her arms around her midsection. "Arigatou, Neji-san," she murmured with a quick bow of her head as another approached from behind Neji. Tenten smiled softly.
"You know the trouble we had finding you guys? You weren't at the hospital and Godaime-sama just said that you should be wandering around town somewhere," she stated, causing Sakura to blink twice -- Tsunade had said that? Tenten inhaled deeply. "Well, let's go!" she exclaimed next. Sakura and Sasuke simultaneously raised an eyebrow.
"Go... where?" Sakura questioned. Tenten's smile broadened just a bit.
"Neji and I are here to escort you two to the Uchiha District," she explained, and Ino blinked.
"Both of you?"
Sakura rubbed the back of her neck somewhat sheepishly. "Well, my mission is to keep an eye on Sasuke-kun at all times to make sure he doesn't try anything," she said quickly. Ino nudged her in the side.
"Good luck," she mumbled slyly with a tiny wink. Sasuke looked over at her as Sakura blushed slightly and lowered her head. "... For the mission of course," added Ino, noticing that eerily cold look that Sasuke was sending her.
"Well, I'll be off! I just wanted to stop by the hospital and offer you my support, Sakura-chan, but it doesn't seem like you need it." Ino commented as she turned to walk off the same way she had come from to meet back up with Shikamaru and Chouji, wherever they may have been by now. "See you later!"
Sakura watched as her best friend strolled off with a flicker of amusement in her eyes. Ino had amazingly become supportive of her and her feelings for Sasuke, just as Tenten and Hinata had. Sakura really had so many great friends, and if it hadn't been for all of them(along with her determination to get stronger so she would be able to bring Sasuke home), she wasn't certain she would have made it through those difficult times.
"Coming or not?" Neji asked a bit more rudely than needed, causing Sasuke to start walking forward. Snapping herself out of her daze, Sakura followed close behind Sasuke, keeping her eyes glued firmly to the raven haired boy in front of her. She secretly smiled a content smile.
The trip to the edge of the Uchiha District was rather animated, with Sakura and Tenten chatting about different things as usual while Neji occasionally threw in a small comment. Sasuke merely watched their interactions in partial interest; things hadn't really changed much since he was last there, but somehow everything just felt... different to him. He felt strangely relaxed during the walk back to his old residence, but that didn't stop the tension that found him when they reached it.
"Well, this is where we part ways." Tenten stated and Sakura smiled.
"Thanks for escorting us this far," she thanked them, and after a few friendly parting words, Neji and Tenten were headed back to the training grounds they always used as Sasuke and Sakura continued on the short walk remaining to Sasuke's old house.
Sakura couldn't help but feel a bit dreadful as they walked through the district she'd never really visited before, the entire section of town was dead; it was more like a ghost town. It was like the souls of the Uchiha clan were still roaming about, but perhaps she was being a little too superstitious. Still, living in a place like this, Sakura felt she was coming to understand why Sasuke had always been so dark and aloof from everyone. This place held that same distant feeling.
Stepping up to the door, Sasuke hesitated. He hadn't wanted to even see this place again, not until Itachi was dead. Still, he didn't have much of a choice now. So, sucking in an inaudible deep breath, he slid the door open and slipped quietly inside with Sakura close behind.
The interior was relatively dark but it was very roomy, Sakura was glad to note. There was a set of stairs leading up that she presumed led to the bedrooms and there was a nice dark blue carpet covering the floor. She smiled slightly before turning to her companion.
"Care to show me around?" she asked. She would be living here for a few days after all, so Sasuke figured it wouldn't hurt. He shrugged slightly and pointed to one of the doors.
"That's the living room," he paused and shifted so he was pointing to a door not far away from it, "that's the kitchen and inside there's a door leading to the dining room," he breathed a low sigh and indicated towards the door next to the stairs, "and that's the restroom."
Sakura absorbed his words intently as he pointed toward the stairs. "And the stairs lead up to the bedrooms. There are three of them," he finished before turning to walk up the stairs. Sakura blinked when he tossed a glance back at her. "Don't you want me to show you the other rooms?" he asked.
The emerald eyed girl laughed somewhat nervously at the fact that she had spaced out for a minute there before following him up to let him show her the remaining rooms. It would take some getting used to, but Sakura was fairly certain she could become acquainted with Sasuke's house after a little bit of practice.
Besides, it was all worth it for Sasuke's sake.
---------- Tsudzuku: To Be Continued ----------
Preview: The details of Sasuke's mission are revealed! Next Time: "A Shinobi of Konoha".
Disclaimer & Copyright Information: I do not own Naruto (© Kishimoto Masashi); however, I am the author of this story. If you have comments or suggestions, leave a review or send me an e-mail. Doumo arigatou, for reading my writing!