Sakura.
Why would she do this? Why the hell would she waste her time cleaning the Uchiha district while I was gone?
Did she know I'd come back?
Sasuke slammed a fist on the wall, making sure he didn't hit the painted fan, but still managing to make a large crater next to it.
"That stupid girl! She should have been doing something like training! She should have been making herself stronger so she wouldn't have to worry about being killed! Stupid, annoying, girl!"
He stopped shouting and sighed. His sharingan flashed and he had the gate locked behind him in an instant.
Tch. Stupid girl.
When he tapped on her window, Sakura nearly died of fright. The enraged look on his face, coupled with the sharingan made him look lethal. She cautiously opened the window and stepped back, giving him space to step inside. When he stayed put, standing parallel to the street below him, she sighed.
"Sasuke-kun?"
He glowered at her.
"I want you to fight me," he snapped.
She watched him carefully. "You—You want me…to fight you?"
"That's what I said, wasn't it?"
"Ano…I, ano, I don't think that's a good idea."
"It's not like I'll kill you," he pointed out, "seeing as we're going to be on the same team again before long."
Her eyes widened. "We are?"
"Meet me tomorrow morning at seven. You know where."
Before she could even blink, he was gone.
Tsunade reached for one last bottle of sake and nearly dropped it when her pink-haired student ran into the room.
"Tsunade-shishou!" she exclaimed. "Sasuke-kun wants me to fight him! What am I going to do—?"
Tsunade was scowling at Sakura, who backed away slowly. "Gomen, Tsunade-shishou. I just—I didn't mean to interrupt."
Tsunade waved a hand, her face relaxing. "Worry don't…I'm not Sakura…drunk…"
She hiccupped.
"Now, what wanted was you it?"
Sakura sighed and went to help Tsunade get up out of her chair.
"Why must you do this to yourself?" she muttered. "Come on, Tsunade-sama. You have to go to bed."
"But tired I'm—hic—not."
Now what am I going to do? Tsunade-shishou is drunk and Kakashi's impossible to find. Maybe Naruto has some sensible advice.
On second, thought…I'm better off on my own.
She yawned and went back to her apartment.
Uchiha Sasuke—
You will begin probation tomorrow, starting at noon. The Hokage-sama would like you to be in her office by that time. The details of your probation are as follows:
1. Your probation will last one year, though should any emergency arrive, we will need you to fight for Konoha.
2. You will have a curfew of eight o'clock at night to six o'clock in the morning—except to go to Hokage-sama's office, or to the hospital.
3.You are only allowed to be alone with me, Tsunade-sama, Kakashi-san, Naruto, or Sakura.
4. You are not to send any scrolls to anywhere. If your activities are thought to be suspicious, you will be taken into custody or the ANBU will see to the matter directly.
Please do not do anything that would seem suspicious to anyone. Follow this without any complaints or problems, and your probation may shorten in length.
—Shizune
Sasuke waited impatiently on the bridge. How long was Sakura going to keep him waiting, damn it?
"Sasuke-kun."
He whipped around to see a smirking Sakura.
"Tch."
"So you didn't notice my chakra, huh?" she said, still smirking.
"Hn."
Sakura's smirk turned into a huge smile.
"It seems that you've noticed how much I've improved. I can tell by the way you're looking at your feet and making an angry face."
'Making an angry face'? What the hell? Is she five?
Sasuke didn't say anything out loud and walked away.
She took the hint and followed him to where he wanted to fight her. As they were walking, she noticed the Uchiha fan on the back of his shirt. The collar was not big like the ones he had in his youth. She couldn't see where Orochimaru had bitten him and left the curse mark. He was also wearing black shorts with the Shinobi gear pouches tied as though he was ready for a battle. The wrappings covering his arms were supported by the same black tie that he had worn during the last part of the Chuunin exams.
It seems so long ago. I wonder if he ever thinks about what happened in the Forest of Death. I think about it everyday.
The way my arms felt, wrapped around his body. Even then, I felt as though I could never let go.
Naruto and Hinata stood facing each other and panting. Kunai and shuriken surrounded them and there was grass and dirt everywhere. Hinata's Byakugen was activated and Naruto's pupils were slowly changing from blue to a reddish color.
"You…are…a great…ninja…" gasped Naruto.
Hinata blushed bright red. "So…are you…Naruto-kun."
The blond ninja's cheeks tinged slightly red but not enough to be noticeable to Hinata.
He dropped the kunai in his hand and took a few slow steps towards her.
Her eyes widened as he asked, "Would you like for me to treat you to some ramen?"
"H—Hai! I would…I would like that very much!" she said rapidly.
He smiled, his eyes changing back into bright blue. "Alright, then! Let's go!"
Hinata gasped. "N—Nar—Naruto-kun."
Naruto turned to look at her, confused. He noticed a look of naked panic on her face. Her Byakugen was still activated, so he knew she saw something coming towards them or the village.
"What is it, Hinata-chan?" he asked her worriedly, shaking her shoulders.
Her Byakugen deactivated and she fell forward. It was a good thing Naruto had been there, or she would have fainted and fallen face-first into the dirt.
"It's…it's," she began.
"It's what?!"
"Uchiha…Sasuke."
"Sasuke-kun! Slow down!" Sakura yelled, trying to catch up to the enraged man. What had gotten him enraged so much, she didn't know. All she knew was that for some reason, he wanted to fight her. With that curse seal, he'd be able to beat her in a second, so she had no idea why he would want her to try to have a fight with him. "If you want me to fight you, you're going to have to slow—the—hell—down!"
When she finally saw him, he was standing on a large branch of a tree near the old training grounds.
"Someone's already there," he muttered.
She jumped and landed next to him.
"Sasuke-kun, if you want me to fight you, there are rules. You can't just take off and leave me in the dust."
"Shut up."
Sakura frowned. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?"
Sasuke glowered at her.
"I said, 'Shut up.'"
"Don't be a smart ass, you jerk!"
Sakura's hand started glowing as she started focusing her chakra. Sasuke watched her out of the corner of his eyes with his arms crossed. It was almost as if he was bored.
"What are you going to do?" he asked. "Are you going to try and hit me?"
"I'm not going to try," she stated, and aimed a blow to his abdomen.
He jumped out of the way and landed on the ground without even having to use his Sharingan. Sakura smirked as she jumped and landed a few meters away from him, her hand still glowing.
He fell right into my trap.
"Hn," Sasuke said, pulling out a kunai and holding it between his index and middle finger. "I could destroy you without even breaking a sweat."
Sakura scowled at him. "Want to try?"
He threw the kunai so fast she didn't have time to blink. When it flew right past her right ear, slicing a few strands of hair, she gasped and he smirked.
"I see your special training had no effect whatsoever," he said, taking out another kunai.
She snarled and raised her fist in the air, and as quick as possible for the young ninja, she slammed her fist into the ground, creating a huge earthquake that engulfed around Sasuke.
Naruto stared at her.
"Sasuke? What do you mean? Is something wron—"
An earthquake reached them, nearly sending them down huge cracks in the earth, and Naruto set Hinata down.
"I'm sorry, Hinata-chan, but you're too much in shock to do anything. I'll be back after I defeat whoever made you scared!"
With that, he ran off.
"Naruto-kun, it was Sasuke," she whispered, not noticing that he had gone.
"His aura of chakra…it's…it's…gone?"