This is my 1st fic written in many years and 1st fic set in the Naruto universe, so I do not expect it to be above mediocre in terms of quality.

Timeline : Post-War period, and it excludes anything that comes after.

Rating : T for now, though it may soon change to M due to graphic details, exploration of mature themes, etc.

Main pairing: Sasuke Uchiha / Hinata Hyuga

In order to make this pairing viable without taking them out of character, this fic will need to be a slow burn, since their interactions within the show are non-existent, giving me no option but to start from scratch with building them up.

I also wish to portray the Naruto universe in a more realistic tone. This is a world in which child soldiers are sent to war, people kill each other without hesitation and villages get wiped out due to collateral damage... and yet, in the show, all of these aspects are passed over due to the typical shounen style and tropes, only being properly explored in the case of Obito or Madara.

In order to flesh out this world, there may be entire chapters that do not focus on SasuHina.

I hope you enjoy reading it.


"Come bitter rain,
And wash from my heart
That saddest of all words:

Home"


"Wake up..."

The low rumbling voice sent ripples across the water covering the chamber floor. He had often wondered why the water was always there, always at the same level, always perfectly still, except for the times when his partner stirred. Many were the times when he tried to simply think it away, but it never lasted long.

"Wake up..."

At least it did not leave his clothes soaked whenever he'd move through it. It was weird like that - wet to the touch, but never leaving its mark on him. Perhaps that is why his partner didn't mind it... or maybe he was the one responsible for it. Slowly getting up, his mind flashed to the past. The gates that split the giant room in two had been gone for years now. The thought brought a smile to his face.

"Wake up, damn it! I've agreed not to interfere, but you're embarrassing the both of us right now!"

[...]

The moment Naruto snapped back to reality, pain shot through the left side of his jaw and he quickly moved his hand to rub the spot. He took a second to push his tongue against his front teeth and then both upper and lower rows on the affected side, glad to conclude that none of them were wobbling.

"What the hell was that for?" he jumped to a sitting position, firing a frustrated gaze directly into the red orb staring him down "I thought this was supposed to be a friendly spar."

"Your mind was drifting." Sasuke raised his only hand, casually clenching his fingers into a fist. "I thought it necessary to bring it back to the task at hand." He had put enough force into that last hit to kill a lesser shinobi, but that was exactly because he knew Naruto could take it.

"How long was I out?" The blonde's frustration melted away.

"Seven seconds." The Uchiha moved closer, extending an open palm "And I know the fox woke you up..."

"The Sharingan was supposed to be off-limits for this session." Naruto grabbed his hand, pulling himself to his feet. Of all the techniques the ocular prowess of his sparring rival possessed, its ability to track Kurama - even through the depths of his inner world- was the most unnerving.

"The fight was technically over..." Bright red turned to black when Sasuke cut the cakra flow to his right eye.

"I hate it when you do that, you know."

"Then don't get caught off-guard and knocked unconscious." A slight grin curbed the corners of his mouth.

"Ye ye…" He dismissed Sasuke's remark with a wave-off "I'll show you unconscious next time." The last part was uttered under his breath as he dusted off his outfit and moved to grab his Jounin travel cloak.

"So…?"

"So what?"

"Stop being daft, Naruto. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing." He turned only to see Sasuke cock an eyebrow in disbelief "Look… it's nothing, alright? Just…" a drawn-out sigh left his lips "…more of the same, you know?"

Sasuke moved his gaze at the patch of ground before Naruto's feet. He did know. This was not the first time the topic was brought up between the two, nor would it be the last, he suspected. The world's problems were too big for the vast majority of people to comprehend, so instead of even trying to, they would just limit themselves to their own small corner – their family, their clan, their village. This kind of small thinking would eventually always lead back to conflicts. This was something that both Sasuke and Naruto perfectly understood. It was human nature – inescapable on some level.

"Do you ever dream of it, Sasuke?"

Four years had passed since they sealed Kaguya away. For the vast majority of Konoha's populace life had resumed its normal rhythm and for some it even flourished beyond what it had been - war was profitable, but to the open minded and flexible individual, so was peace. For others, however, the events they had experienced during those months never left them. Sasuke lifted his eyes to meet Naruto's but did not answer him. The truth was that he did not dream, at all. Early in his tutelage under Orochimaru all those years ago, he was forced to develop a meditation technique to empty his mind and achieve dreamless sleep. It was selfish, but the only way of not having the horrific experiments witnessed in his teacher's laboratories rob him of the rest needed to survive his brutal training. It did not save him from his waking thoughts, though.

"…I do." The blonde continued.

"Naruto…" During their conversations, over the years, his friend had told him in detail how the war progressed and what he had witnessed. While it registered as the one with the most losses, the battle against the Ten Tails had been the only one Sasuke participated in – Naruto, on the other hand, through his shadow clones, had seen both White Zetsu's ambush of the intelligence headquarters as well as Madara's decimation of the fourth division.

"Weird that I didn't in the first few years. But now I see those fields of corpses almost every night." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck.

"Death is a normal part of a shinobi's life." He realized, as he stated the words, that it sounded like something his old self would say. A feeling of helplessness creeped into Sasuke's mind at the thought of not being able to come up with anything more comforting in the face of his friend's confession.

"Not on that scale. Nothing of what we went through during those days was normal."

"And yet, we survived." Sasuke felt a tingle go up his left arm's stump. Barely. "Your faith in people sparked hope for a better future." He couldn't help but crack a smile of his own when he saw Naruto's gloomy state slowly subside at hearing his words "And four years of peace is what we have to show for believing in your crazy ideals."

Through the efforts and sacrifices of thousands during the Forth War, the five great nations had finally achieved peace between them. Humans, however, are creatures of burden – without adversity, they will create problems where there are none. This was, of course, much less the case with those individuals who had experienced the horrors of war first hand, and more an issue created by those who had not bled or lost loved ones on the battlefield. Sasuke might have changed his perspective after their confrontation at the Valley of the End, but he was a realist. Peace needed constant effort to be maintained. It was the reason why, while Naruto was being groomed for the position of Hokage, he had taken lengthy leaves of absence from the village in order to make sure that any new potential threats to his friend's vision did not have room to grow. This included uncovering minor conspiracies orchestrated by corrupt politicians, working to disband various groups of mercenaries and even dealing with an upstart crime boss who thought to exploit the vacuum of power left behind by Pain's defeat in order to assume the reigns of leadership in Amegakure for himself.

"Speaking of hope for the future… You never answered my question. What do you intend to do about your clan's revival?" The question took him by surprise.

"I… don't know." It was the truth. Immediately after his return to Konoha he had thought about this a lot, without ever finding a solution that would satisfy him. As time passed and he spent more and more time away from the village, such ideas died down again. He had pretended not to hear the question the first time Naruto asked him, before their sparring match, but it seemed the blonde couldn't take a hint.

"What's not to know? Not many ways to go about it other than the obvious." Naruto squinted his eyes and placed his hands on his hips.

"Oh? Well, if it's so easy, then I can expect to see more Uzumaki members soon?" If he couldn't answer it, then he would at least deflect it back at his friend. "Afterall, you and Karin are the only ones left."

"Hey you worry about your own clan, damn it!" The plan had worked and Naruto got immediately flustered "Besides, I need to concentrate on my future Hokage duties. I know I make it look easy but such things take a lot of time and focus."

"Yeah… I bet they do." Sasuke snickered without skipping a beat.

Seeing his sparring partner throw him a look of disbelief made Naruto get even more defensive, but as soon as he took a step to close the distance between them, his head snapped to his side.

"Pakkun!" Kakashi's faithful nin-dog made his way into the clearing that had been their sparring arena.

"Naruto. Sasuke." He gave a nod to both of them "Lord Sixth has requested both of your presence at the Hokage's tower."

"What's this about?" Sasuke's natural frown deepened.

"Kakashi didn't mention a reason. I'm sure he'll let you know what's what when you get there. Might want to make it sooner rather than later... Between you and me, he sounded aggravated."

"It's probably related to the Daimyo's visit." Both the jinchuriki and the Uchiha released a sigh of relief at the creature's arrival having given them the perfect excuse to not continue the previous topic. "Thanks, Pakkun. We'll be heading out, then."

[…]

Despite Konoha's reconstruction, the Hokage's tower remained by far the most imposing structure in the village. At these hours it was nothing out of the ordinary for it to be buzzing with activity, and yet Naruto could swear he'd never seen so many people crowd its corridors at once. Navigating the sea of couriers, office workers and maintenance staff turned out to be an easy task, as everybody quickly moved out of his way. Naruto could not be sure if it was due to people's respect towards him… or fear towards his surrogate brother, who was shadowing him only a few steps behind. Under normal circumstances, four years would have been enough for anybody in Sasuke's position to earn back the trust of the village and wash away the stain of having once joined the Akatsuki, but when the Uchiha was not traveling on his own self-appointed missions, he would invest the absolute minimal amount of effort to interact with his peers. The rumours that one could hear traveling the roads of the Fire Nation about a rogue shinobi, resembling the ex-avenger, brutalizing and sowing fear amongst would-be enemies did nothing to alleviate the uncomfortable feeling people got when around him.

"Oy, Naruto!" Shikamaru Nara crossed his path and quickly fell into walking rhythm with them, giving only a nod to Sasuke and receiving one in exchange.

"The Daimyo's visit seems to have everybody riled up, huh?" Naruto's curiosity got the better of him and tried to sneak a peek at the file Shikamaru carried, noticing that it was a report involving Kirigakure.

"It's not a normal visit. That's the real problem. Usually the Daimyo comes 'bout once a year on a formal visit to inspect the village, shake hands with the Hokage, keep up appearances – the things that reassure villagers that everything is as it should be. Thing is… his yearly visit wasn't up for another few months."

"So, either something is wrong or this is a political move of sorts." Sasuke muttered, more to himself.

"I'm leaning more towards the second option." Shikamaru caught on.

After a short double tap on the wooden door to the Hokage's office, the three shinobi made their way in without waiting for a reply, being led by Shikamaru. The Nara did not wait on formality when it came to performing his duties, which is something that Kakashi appreciated.

"I've got the report on the border security with Kirigakure." Shikamaru eyed one of the paper stacks on the full desk and dropped it gently.

"Read this." Kakashi ignored the report and threw him a scroll. "It came in while you were away."

Shikamaru took second to inspect what he recognized to be the Daimyo's seal, then unrolled it and proceeded to read its contents.

"Naruto. Sasuke. Thank you for coming on such a short notice. I'm aware you were supposed to have some time off from your routines…" he eyed Sasuke in particular "…but events have been put into motion and I have a mission for you."

"Finally!" Naruto was brimming with energy at the news. "I haven't left Konoha since I started my studies for the position of Hokage."

"Actually, only Sasuke will be leaving the village on this one, Naruto. Your part will be to act as a bodyguard for the Daimyo during his stay in Konoha."

"But… but… but… but-" The blonde's head dropped in instant defeat. "Kakashi-sensei…"

"And my task?" Sasuke stepped forward, paying no attention to Naruto's sorry state.

"You will be given temporary leadership of team Kurenai for an S class escort mission into the Land of Mist."

"I prefer to work alone." The Uchiha cut him off, immediately vexed by the concept. An escort mission always brought with it annoyances, but at least whenever he undertook them in the past there had been no need to babysit an entire team on top of the target.

"Eh… Can't say I didn't see that answer coming." Kakashi waved his hand sheepishly, in an attempt to placate Sasuke's refusal. "But this is above our individual preferences."

"Fine. I'll bring my own team then."

"Jugo isn't a team." The Hokage measured his words "Besides… I'm aware that his condition has improved since Lady Tsunade helped him with his chakra control, but he isn't exactly what I would call escort mission material."

Of all the members pertaining to team Taka, Jugo had been the only one who decided to follow Sasuke back to Konoha. The reason was the same that he'd given whenever the Uchiha stood at a crossroads and asked him to choose whether to walk down his path or not – his place would always be besides Sasuke, as his shield. In return for such loyalty, the ex-avenger had grown to feel responsible for the unstable shinobi, going so far as to offer him residence under his roof. Jugo had vehemently refused, opting instead to take shelter in various caves near the village until he would be needed. Sasuke stopped insisting when the orange haired man finally admitted to preferring living in nature over the confines of a village.

"There are a lot of things riding on this mission being completed successfully and without a hitch. The Land of Mist was one of the fastest to recover after the war, but their economic growth brought with it all sorts of unsavoury individuals. I don't doubt your capabilities, Sasuke, but team Kurenai has the best trackers we have to offer and this mission has a zero tolerance for errors. They have already been informed of the details and your position in the hierarchy of the team."

"Hn." It was Sasuke's way of conceding the argument without stating it out loud and Kakashi knew it. "Who is the VIP?"

"This…" Shikamaru's eyes widened "This was the Daimyo's plan all along?" Now satisfied with having been brought up to speed on what was actually happening, all pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place and he let himself sink into one of the seats in the office. The silence in the room was broken by his own drawn-out sigh. "This is going to be such a pain…"

[…]

"There's no way I'm accepting this, laying down!" Kiba's voice resonated through the training ground of team Kurenai. "No way!" Akamaru whimpered at the sight of his master's agitated state of mind.

"It's out of my control, Kiba. I trust Lord Sixth's decision."

"What about the Uchiha?! Do you trust him?" he ran both hands through his hair in frustration "It doesn't even make sense! I'd understand if Kakashi-sensei asked him to join us on this mission, but what's the reason for him to replace you as team leader?"

"The mission's details should speak for themselves on this, Kiba. Kurenai-sensei is a genjutsu specialist, but even with her considerable experience, Uchiha Sasuke possesses the Sharingan, giving him an advantage at performing that role in the group." Shino's monotonous voice served only to irritate the Inuzuka further "Team Kurenai's specialty as trackers will be used to detect and avoid any incoming threats before they appear. If we are to escort the Daymio's son to his destination while avoiding as much attention as possible, the smaller you can make the traveling group, the more you raise the chance for success."

"Shino is exactly right." Kurenai's features turned from irritation to a proud smile as she faced her former student "At least one of you is capable of level-headed thinking."

"Level-headed thinking? He's a traitor!" Kiba burst out at the chastising remark. "Naruto and Kakashi-sensei might be lenient towards him due to their history, but we've all noticed his periods of absence from the village these last few years. What is he up to, months at a time, away from Konoha? Hinata… help me talk some sense into these two!"

White eyes blinked nervously at the request.

(…)

"Neji Nii-san, it finally happened. Today I finally caught up with you." She allowed herself a pause, enjoying the summer breeze that rustled the fresh flowers decorating the grave of her cousin "I am a Jounin of Konoha."

The Leaf Village's cemetery displayed an imposing new monument, committing to stone the names of not only Konoha shinobi that had died in the fourth war but also those from all other nations. Its counterparts had been created in every other hidden village. At the time, this had been a bold statement made by the five Kages that the cooperation between the villages displayed during the war – and more importantly, the peace that resulted from its costly victory – was not going to dissipate. Despite this, the colossal five-sided monolith always filled Hinata with dread. In the light of the evening sun, its vast shadow would cover a large section of the cemetery, looming like a spectre from a bloody past, threatening to engulf it, and Hinata along with it. Neji's name had also been carved into the structure, next to the other fallen members of her clan, on the face dedicated to Konoha. She knew better, though. Her cousin - the prodigy of the Hyuga - had not been a simple casualty of war. He had sacrificed his life to shield the heiress, and the burden of that thought pushed her ever onward until she reached her current level. Hinata had commissioned a personalized gravestone for him and had it placed at the edge of the cemetery, where she would spend moments of quiet contemplation, bring flowers and small gifts or simply talk to him about events in her life.

"Hanabi is doing well. Father is training with her every day. He misses you a lot, you know? He would never come tell you this, but… but he feels responsible for what happened that day. Whenever I mention your name, I see the same guilt in his eyes that I feel." Tears started rolling down her cheeks "I wish you were here…"

The wind shifted again, but with the scent of flowers there was something else… Hinata lifted her head, only to see a dark-haired man kneeling in front of another gravestone, a dozen meters away from her. How long had he been there? How did she not hear or sense him? She must have been so caught up into her own thoughts that his approach did not register. No. One of the first things she mastered in order to become a Jounin – and especially due to her team's expertise in tracking – was to always remain aware of one's surroundings, regardless of circumstances. And yet, the one in front of her had managed to elude her senses. Whipping the left-over tears, she stood up, said her farewell to her cousin and started closing the distance, never taking her eyes off the target. A black, worn-out travel cloak concealed his garments, and as it followed the contour of his back, a slight bulge that would have easily been missed by a less attentive observer caught her attention. A weapon - most likely a sword, she concluded. The idea of an unknown, armed individual tested her self-control. She instinctively thought of activating her Byakugan, but repressed the impulse a moment later.

"Is that really you… Uchiha Sasuke?"

When a response did not come, she moved even closer, step by hesitant step. There was no chance that he was unaware of her presence, especially after she announced it through the question. She opened her mouth to ask it again, but her eyes snapped over his shoulder at the tombstone that came into view. Empty. Completely devoid of any markings or a name. It was then that he chose to stand up, a full head taller than her. When the Uchiha turned to face Hinata, she immediately felt the guilt of having intruded on his moment.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to bother you." She felt his gaze press on her psyche, forcing out her old defensive habit of bringing her hands to her chest.

"Was there something you wanted?" His tone carried no hostility but immediately made her feel unwelcome.

"N-No… I simply did not recognize you." and she doubted anybody else in her position would. This had been the first time she saw him ever since the war. Others from her class claimed they met him in the village at different moments during these four years, but the encounters had always been short and the people very vague in their description of the event.

"I see." To Hinata's surprise, his features relaxed and he turned his attention back to the blank stone slab.

The uncomfortable silence lasted long enough for the Hyuga's curiosity to come up with a myriad of questions that she never mustered the courage to ask. Did Naruto know he had returned? Where had he been these last few years? Was he going to stay this time? Who was the gravestone for?

"Welcome home." was the only thing she could bring herself to utter, in the end. In exchange, she got to witness something she never remembered having seen before in the man – bewilderment.

(…)

"I don't think he is a bad person." Their encounter in Konoha's cemetery somehow stripped away part of the myth surrounding him. The plain confusion on his face at her words… the barely noticeable curbing of his lips that followed…. the sadness she saw in his eyes when he looked at the unmarked grave. He had somebody to mourn too, just like her. That's right. Just like everybody else… he was human. "Naruto trusts him. That should be enough for any of us to treat Sasuke like a comrade of the Leaf."

"But…" Kiba flinched at the uncharacteristic conviction with which she spoke "But what about all the rumou-"

"That's enough." Kurenai didn't raise her voice, but the look in her eyes was enough to stop the ninken specialist in his tracks. "Honestly, Kiba, I had hoped that after you passed your Jounin exam you'd be acting more like one, but it seems you are as hot-headed as always." Between Hinata's shy behaviour and Shino's exaggerated antisocial tendencies, the Inuzuka's temper had brought spice to her team across the years and it was something she grew to like most of the times – after all, she remembered a time when her own youthful impulsiveness got her into trouble – but like any good teacher, she had wished many times that her interventions to keep him in check would eventually become unnecessary.

"Tsch. Whatever." He crossed his arms and turned his back to his team. "I'll do my part." Akamaru barked in approval "And I'll make sure to watch your backs when it turns out I was right all along."


That is all for this chapter. Take care.