Thank you all for the nice reviews, you guys are so sweet and continue to make my day when I read them!

edited: 12/23/19

Disclaimer: I know I don't own these characters, if I did Sakura would've had her own genjutsu arc...but that's a story for another day

Chapter 3: Starting Point

"Some people never say the words 'I love you'. It's not their style to be so bold. Some people never say those words: 'I love you' But, like a child, they're longing to be told." - Paul Simon

He didn't bother knocking as he barged into Kakashi's office. Not surprised in the slightest, he had found the Hokage reading his favourite book instead of finishing the important paperwork that cluttered his desk.

"Sasuke, I see you've finally made it." Kakashi's visible eye crinkled at him, putting his beloved book down to address the evidently pissed off man in front of him.

Shooting him a heavy glare, Sasuke sighed. His fingers massaged the bridge of his nose as he realized he had walked right into his former sensei's trap. "You had been expecting me? Figures…"

Grinning curiously, the Hokage placed his folded hands underneath his chin, his elbows connected to the newly made wooden desk that sat at the center of his office.

After accepting the title of Hokage, Hatake Kakashi took it upon himself to renew everything in the village including the monumental Hokage office, stating that they needed to upgrade for increased village workability. Everything was updated, from large compounds and houses to small village shops and regime buildings.

The new office retained its old design, but with newer materials. The scent of multiple layers of paint could still be smelled dwindling through Konohagakure's atmosphere.

The only thing that really changed about the Academy was the administrative office. With its new marble tiles, neoteric wooden desk, and updated library, it was, Sasuke had to admit, a practical space.

Clearing his throat, Kakashi once again smiled politely at the Uchiha. "Took you long enough, I figured you'd come running over here as soon as you had an idea."

"Kakashi, I don't-"

"It was for your own good. Tell me, Sasuke, do you get it now? What you need to do?" Raising a thin brow, the Rukodaime examined the young man in front of him, awaiting a response.

Sasuke looked to Kakashi quizzically after a pregnant, tense pause had passed. "What?"

Kakashi's eyes analyzed his student's steel gaze, immersed in their crazed depths. The silver-haired Hokage was searching for something, though what that something was, remained unclear.

Getting weary of his teachers probing eyes, Sasuke snapped his fingers to get the Hokage to stop his observations.

"What?" Sasuke snarled through clenched teeth. The old man's antics were beginning to get on his nerves. "What is it Kakashi?"

"Never mind, Sasuke-kun." The Hokage shrugged, beaming at his student in a insincere manner. Sasuke gritted his teeth in annoyance, his eye twitching as he tried to calm himself. Sometimes he really wanted to hit him.

"Kakashi…" Sasuke warned through gritted teeth, his patience wearing thin. He looked down at his clenched fists, rigid at his sides, before his eyes met the concerned and almost pitying expression painted on Kakashi's face. He hated that look.

"Sasuke-"

"Why? Why would you do that? You had no right!" Sasuke slammed his palms onto the wooden desk, effectively interrupting the Hokage and creating a loud thump. He leaned in to hiss at his former sensei, his nostrils flaring in anger. Kakashi seemed indifferent, merely arching a gray brow questioningly.

For several, tremendous seconds, Kakashi's single visible eye dared Sasuke to continue on with his outburst, the latter snarling at him. A small crack dispelled the silence before both looked at the desk where Sasuke's grip held tight, small splinters freeing themselves from their home and lodging into the Uchiha's palms.

Sasuke snatched his hands back, narrowing his gaze at the Hokage. He spoke in a dangerously low voice, warning his former sensei, "Stay out of my business." Abruptly turning on his heel, heavy steps paused at the doorway of the spacious room. "Don't try to emotionally manipulate me again. I won't be as forgiving next time."

"We both know you're saying empty threats Sasuke. You know exactly what I'm looking for, and you're just too scared to admit it."

Sasuke didn't look back as he released a bitter exhale, disappearing all together from Kakashi.

He began travelling from the rooftops. It wasn't normally allowed but he did it anyway. And no one bothered him considering who he was.

He wasn't in the mood for any social interaction, especially from his other teammates. Naruto and Sakura were in no doubt searching for him.

Quickly moving through the village, he found himself stopping near a vacant training spot where he spotted a small little clearing and stationed himself there.

Lowering himself to the ground, he found himself beginning to calm instantly. The tranquility of his surroundings dragged his anger to a stop. He laid there idly has he tried to clear the pandemonium from his mind.

Sasuke very much enjoyed nature. He appreciated the fact that the weather could change from a bright azure sky, adorned with golden specks of sunlight, to a stormy, almost melancholic, overcast of chaotic rain.

He and the sky were similar in that respect. They both possessed the curse of rapidly altering demeanors. Sasuke was frivolous with his emotions and he considered that to be his greatest flaw. He was certain that one day it would be the death of him.

Letting out an empty sigh, he held his head back to ponder at the clouds and began to think. He had almost lost himself to his emotions before and he vowed he would never let it happen again. He wouldn't give anyone the chance to manipulate him as most people tended to do. He couldn't even remember the amount of times people thought for him, feeding him lies to get him to do their own bidding.

Konoha did it, Orochimaru did it. Even his own brother did it. He couldn't trust anybody.

"Am I that weak?"

Saying the thought aloud to no one in particular, Sasuke heard a rather suspicious sound coming from one of the bushes, feeling like someone had indeed answered him. Abruptly standing to his feet, he expertly reached for the katana that he always kept strapped to his back, ready for the prospect of battle.

"Who's there?" Sasuke asked.

When there came no sign of an answer he angrily stalked towards the bush, a menacing look on his face.

He swore, if it turned out to be Naruto or Sakura…

Pushing back the leaves that were now in front of him he was surprised to find none other than Hozuki Suigetsu looking up at him, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Oh! Hey Sasuke, didn't see you there!" Suigetsu loudly proclaimed as he got up from the ground proceeding to dust himself off. "Long time no see!"

Astounded, Sasuke didn't know whether to kill the man for disturbing him or kill him for acting so oblivious to the whole situation. He could practically smell the stupid lie emanating off the idiot.

"So, how've you been?" The albino haired man patted the Uchiha on the back, an air of heedless and defiant disinterest surrounding him. He really didn't care about Sasuke's past and was one of the few people who were able to say whatever he wanted around him without a care. Needless to say, Suigetsu was gutsy.

"Suigetsu, what're you doing here?" Sasuke queried in a low voice. He couldn't recall the last time he saw anybody from his former group.

After the war had ended and he had served his sentence and year of atonement, Sasuke had decided to continue travelling and become a wandering nin. He went travelling from village to village for various mission requests with the rest of team Taka. For a while it had been satisfying, but as always, the Uchiha wanted more. He wanted to be pushed to his limits and tested to the highest degree and, unfortunately for Taka, being a nomad just wasn't cutting it for him any longer, so he disassociated himself from the group and headed to Konoha.

Needless to say, the other members had been devastated, especially Karin and Juugo. Even after their unremitting pleading, Sasuke had still opted to return to his previous home and further his training there. Without him as their leader, he expected them to fade away and follow in his example of returning to their respective villages, but much to his disbelief, they remained allegiant to each other and decided to continue together as a team, with or without him. It had taken a while for them to forgive him, they only came around once he turned nineteen a few years back. Once in a while they came to the village to catch up with him and search for work. That usually came with a two-week notice prior to their actual appearance, so he was definitely surprised when to see Suigetsu.

Said man awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the Uchiha uneasily. "Well you see, lately we've been having a bit of a problem..."

He chuckled humourlessly, his voice slightly higher than usual due to nervousness.

"What do you mean by 'problem'?" Sasuke crossed his arms across his chest, shooting him an unimpressed look. If they expected his help, they most certainly weren't going to get it.

Hardening his gaze, Suigetsu shook his head dismissively. "That's private team business and for the Hokage's ears only."

As Sasuke narrowed his eyes and arched his brow, Suigetsu realized his mistake. He defensively put his hands in front of his face, shaking them for damage control. "It's nothing, really!"

"Your presence is irritating," Sasuke deadpanned as he turned, not wanting to be around the man any longer. Even when he was the leader of the group, the idiot barely showed him any respect. Out of everyone in the group Suigestu really knew how to annoy him the most.

"Well I can't really do anything about that!" Suigetsu called as he ran after him.

Walking in a slightly comfortable silence, they had made it to the center of the village where an annoyed Team Seven and contented Team Taka were making their way towards him. Letting out a sigh Sasuke frowned at the pathetic sight, what else could possibly go wrong that day?

"Sasuke-kun, where have you been?!" Sakura hissed as she shot him a look of exasperation. "We've been looking all over for you!"

Not bothering to answer her, he looked to his old team and nodded his head in greeting.

"Sasuke it's nice to see you again." Juugo smiled. He had always been the least annoying of the bunch; Sasuke almost didn't mind his company at all.

"Juugo, Karin." He acknowledged, his voice remaining impassive. "What are you doing here?"

Karin quickly opened her mouth to answer him but was stopped when a peeved Suigetsu nudged her and glared coldly.

Shooting Sasuke a knowing look Suigetsu rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. "Sasuke, I told you already. It's for the Hokage's ears only."

"Whatever."

He walked away, ignoring the calls of all of his former teammates. He had left Kakashi's office wanting to be alone, not have a team play date. He only hoped no one had taken to following him.

As Sasuke continued on his peaceful stroll he spotted the Hyūga woman on his team. She was sitting by her lonesome at a dango stand. Looking up, she met his gaze shyly and quickly looked away, only to hide behind her curtain of thick bangs and look back up curiously. She looked like she was contemplating something as she stared at him, her eyes slightly bothering him. As Sasuke was about to turn away, she hastily waved her hand in an awkward half-wave, signaling him to join her.

Not knowing what to do, Sasuke froze. He was rarely invited to accompany anyone anymore. He had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with occasions of comradery. It had taken him a whole year before he was even comfortable going to the ramen stand with the rest of Team Seven, although he always left early regardless. So, for this woman, to suggest such a thing was almost humorous.

Almost.

He blankly stared in her direction and turned away and ignored her. He didn't even take three steps until he felt a light tug on his sleeve. Getting ready to shove off whoever was invading his personal space, he stopped himself when he caught the thin wrist of the same woman.

"What?" He hissed, letting go of her.

Nervously, her eyes flitted from his shoes to hers as she twisted her hands in what seemed like a nervous tick. "Just, please... stay, Uchiha-kun."

Against his better judgment, he decided to spare the awkward woman at least one minute of his time and followed her back. Joining her at the table, he raised his brow expectantly, startling the woman seated tensely in front of him. "Well?"

She looked up from her ostensibly stimulating hands and to his cobalt scrutiny, a small grimace that Sasuke noted was masked as a smile found its way to pinch her pink lips.

"It's just, I always see you by yourself, and I thought…" She cut herself off, looking away from him. Sasuke exhaled irritably.

"Would you stop that?" He spat, aggravated by her fleeting looks. She couldn't even look at him for five seconds! Sasuke had to wonder how this incredulous woman was even considered to be ANBU material.

"Sorry." She mumbled, wringing her hands in the process.

He frowned. He didn't know why he had bothered to entertain her company in the first place. She was quite boring. He was about to leave but was stopped as her voice called out for his attention.

"I saw it." She announced, although Sasuke had no idea as to what she was referring to. Seeming to sense his confusion, she thankfully elaborated on her previous statement. "I saw what was engraved on the rock you were staring at earlier."

He involuntarily sighed as he glowered at her. "What?"

"I was curious as to why you were transfixed in that spot for so long, so I decided to take a look. A-at f-first…" she stuttered, clearing her throat as she dared herself to say it again. "At first I saw nothing but then, as I looked closer I noticed it. The dragon with your clans crest on its chest."

"What? Where are you going with this?" Sasuke asked, aggravated. Was this what she had to say?

This was exactly why he hated socializing. People could never mind their business.

"Nowhere. I was just trying to start conversation…" Hinata spoke softly this time, playing with a thick lock of hair that framed her face.

A pause.

"Well, you're quite terrible at it." He said flatly. This woman was something else. Frustrated, Sasuke ran a hand through his thick hair. He heard her gasp in front of him and looked up curiously. "What?"

"Your hand," She ushered to his palm, "You have splinters in it,"

He glanced at his hand then. With all the commotion he had forgotten they were there. Though the dull pang of pain he kept feeling now made sense. In a split second Hinata's hands reached toward him. Sasuke held dangerously still as the Hyūga woman's soft hands feathered over his callused, larger ones. Her thin fingers wrapped over his palm as she inspected each and every individual splinter that had made its way to nestle in his skin.

He faltered for a moment before narrowing his eyes and snatching his limb away from her, glaring harshly. "Don't touch me,"

Hinata visibly swallowed thickly until her hands fell back into neatly folded fingers. Her gaze travelled with this movement, this time with an accompanying lip bite. Her nervous little quirks were kind of annoying.

If being around him made her so anxious why did she ask for him to come?

"Um…Shikamaru-kun will be here soon," Hinata spoke quietly as if answering his question. Her face heated up in embarrassment as Sasuke rolled his eyes in her direction. She couldn't tell him that earlier?

Sasuke took a deep breath before relaxing slightly. She appeared to relax on her own as well, her shoulders slumping as she pushed the locks of hair that framed her face uselessly. They fell into a comfortable silence, watching people go back and forth in front of the dango stand.

Feeling a bit hungry, he nonchalantly cleared his throat to get her attention.

Hinata's pearly eyes met his curiously before a strangely hesitant smile appeared at her lips again, "Yes, Uchiha-kun?"

"How long will this take?" He quickly looked away, more so in frustration than embarrassment. Hopefully his stomach wouldn't betray him.

Hinata blinked twice before her eyes lit up in understanding. A polite smile spread onto her lips as she called over a waiter.

Sasuke studied Hinata as she ordered a plate of dango that he didn't plan on eating. She seemed different from when she used to hang around Naruto post-war.

She was a simple woman who didn't choose to draw attention to herself, but not unattractive. Far from it, actually. Her long, midnight coloured hair contrasted nicely against her moon-like face.

She looked mature. Her features were sharp and angular, but the glow that radiated from her huge eyes spelled out an obvious gentleness about her. There was however, a hint of sadness in her eyes that told him she had a story to tell. Her style of dress was a simple purple ensemble, which looked good enough to move around in battle with no issues. She was fairly petite for her age, but he figured that was an advantage she could use in battle.

He hadn't noticed how long he had been staring at her until another person had entered in his peripheral view.

"Sasuke you're here," Shikamaru acknowledged, his head nodding in approval. "Then we can get this started."

Raising a dark brow, Sasuke switched his attention from the Hyūga to the Nara. "Get what started?"

Sitting down beside Hinata, Shikamaru placed one hand comfortably on his cheek, his head lolling to the side; he practically looked like the embodiment of laziness.

"Our plan to pass ANBU."