Sasuke leaned back on the wall with closed eyes. "...I would need to leave soon." He stated. "I found a lead near Sunagakure."
"Aa." Replied the Hokage. He had propped his elbows on the desk and entwined his fingers together, listening carefully to the younger man's report. "I'll have a copy of your report sent to the Kazekage." He paused, leaning back in his seat with a more relaxed posture. "They would want to know what's happening around their village."
The younger man nodded and pushed himself off the wall, turning to leave the Hokage office.
"Have you gone to see her yet?" There was mischief in the Hokage's voice. "She was hoping to see you when you had fought off the defectors a few days ago."
"I'm about to."
Kakashi nodded, glancing out the windows behind him. "Well," He began, turning back to his former student. "The sun isn't out yet, she must still be at home."
Sasuke stopped right before the door, hand firmly grasping the knob. "The other day..." He trailed, eyes narrowing into a glare as he remembered the scene from a few days before. "...When she was kidnapped..."
The older man grinned behind him, tapping his nose. "I picked up your scent a mile away." He added cheerily. "It didn't matter whether you cloaked your chakra or not."
"Hn." Sasuke smirked, turning his head slightly to the silver haired ninja. "So what was that for?"
The Hokage chuckled. "I was just trying to help her out." He gave him a wrinkled eye smile. "I thought you might want to come home immediately if you got jealous enough."
"I'm not jealous." He frowned.
"Then why are you here?" Kakashi poked.
Sasuke turned to him fully now still frowning. "I had to report back sooner or later."
The older man leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest as he gave the younger man a raised eyebrow. "You could have sent your hawk like always."
"This is important information-" He glared.
"What's so important about it?" The Hokage said in a teasing tone. "You just surmised a lead."
He clicked his tongue in an annoyed manner, shifting his weight to his right in a defensive posture. "It's an important lead-"
"Kakashi-sensei!"
"Wait, Naruto!"
Two familiar voices interrupted the two shinobi's conversation as the door behind the Uchiha opened with a bang.
"Sasuke?!"
The young man turned and nodded, greeting his friend. "Naruto." He eyed the man behind him. "Shikamaru."
The latter gave him a knowing look and smirk. "So you're back, Sasuke."
"Oi, Sasuke!" The blond cheered, stepping closer to him with a grin. "We've been waiting for you!"
The silver haired man behind them sighed audibly. "You three," He began lazily. "It's too early to be this noisy." He stated. "Get out."
Shikamaru began to remove the two from the office.
"You too, Shikamaru." Kakashi added, pointing the three of them to leave.
Naruto's grin grew wider. "Cool!" He yelled, wrapping an arm around the Hokage's adviser. "Day off for you, Shikamaru! Let's go get something to eat to celebrate the bastard's return!"
Sasuke moved towards the door. "I have plans actually-"
"Let's go!" Naruto raced out with Shikamaru held by one hand while his other grabbed Sasuke as he rushed out.
Kakashi could hear Shikamaru as they exited the tower.
"Tch. What a drag..."
Sakura dragged her feet out the door, clasping down a yawn.
"Let's go to Ichiraku's!"
The young woman rolled her eyes at the loud voice of her friend. He must be with Hinata again, she thought. There weren't that many reasons for the blond to be so enthusiastic so early in the morning.
She closed the door behind her and leisurely walked down the flight of stairs of her apartment building. It wasn't a usual thing for her to get up so early before her shift at the hospital, but it was is if something pushed her to get up and get an early start. So she was off to the training grounds.
"They have a new special-"
Sleepy green eyes rolled once more, stopping at the bottom of the staircase, waiting for her friend to turn the corner.
"Hey," Her eyes tightened with a shake of a head as she prepared to scold him. "People are still sleeping-"
"Sakura." Another familiar voice interrupted her.
Her eyes widened at the sound of baritone.
"Heh, Sakura-chan!" The blonde gave her a sheepish grin. "Look who I found in Kakashi-Sensei's office?"
The kunoichi stared at the raven haired man momentarily before regaining her composure. Hands folded behind her back she smiled at him. "Sasuke-kun." Her voice was gentle and sweet as it always was when she spoke to him, as was the blush she never could fight at sight of his sudden appearance. "Welcome home."
Sasuke kept his gaze on her. "Thank you."
"You wanna join us for breakfast, Sakura-chan?"
The pinkette turned to her friend, broken out of her reverie and smiled apologetically. "I'm actually headed to the training grounds." She looked past her two former teammates. "Hey, Shikamaru!" She greeted.
The latter who had remained silent until now gestured to greet her. "G'morning..." He yawned.
"Wanna join us for breakfast, Sakura-chan?"
"Ramen?" She asked, turning a skeptical gaze to her friend. "For breakfast?"
The young man grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I haven't been there in forever! I've been so busy studying-"
"Liar!" She interrupted, narrowing her eyes dangerously at him. "I can smell the Ramen in your breathe!"
Sasuke watched the two bicker with feigned disinterest. He had always known the two to bicker but seeing them now just shows how close they are. Unreasonable as it may sound to him, what if-
"They're gonna go at it for a while." Shikamaru's voice interrupted his thoughts.
He turned to the brunette, wordlessly asking what he should do.
"Take your pick." The young genius nodded to the two before them. "I'll take whichever you don't." He smirked, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Hn."
"Don't you have any respect for your body-" The kunoichi stopped and looked up. "Sasuke-kun?"
"Hey, teme, Ichiraku's is the other way!"
Sasuke paused in his tracks. "I'm not hungry." He said simply, turning his head slightly to the two. "It's going to get hot before you get to the training grounds if you don't start moving."
Before Naruto could utter another word, Shikamaru takes him by the arm, pulling roughly. "Come on." He grumbled, leaving the two behind them.
"R-right."
It hadn't dawned on her that since Sasuke had accompanied her to the training grounds, he'd also offer to spar with her.
It hadn't dawned on him either that sparring with Sakura would mean extremely close proximity and a lot of heavy heaving. No, he doesn't know much about what he was feeling, but he knew he needed to touch her.
He had cupped her face gently when he pressed her against a tree, earning a surprised gasp. No, he's not sure what he wants to do next, but her parted lips were drawing him in. He lowered his head towards her slowly, waiting for a reaction.
She flushed heavily, partly because of the exhausting sparring session she just had but mostly because Sasuke was so close.
"Sakura-"
"-Sasuke-kun-"
BEEP BEEP
The two turned their heads quickly at the direction of the offending object.
"Oh," Sakura pulled away, realizing it was her hospital beeper. She frowned, running towards it. "I'm sorry." She began, wiping the sweat off her forehead before turning to the man behind her. "I'm being called in."
Sasuke simply nodded his head, tucking his arm back into his cloak. "Go."
She gave him an apologetic smile. "Thank you for sparring with me."
The pinkette made to turn and run off to work as Sasuke prepared to leave as well.
"Sasuke-kun!" She called, making him turn back to face her.
He stared at her smiling face.
"Welcome home."