Go Home, Sasuke

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

Chapter Five: Drinking Partners

Ame, South wing, Inn, 8:15 PM.

"Sasuke-Sama, Where will we go next?" Jugo questioned the still silent Uchiha who was staring off into the mass of forest from the outer balcony of his penthouse sweat. His crimson eyes were hard, unreadable, his stance perfect, large hands over his waist, watching the stars.

"I do not know." He responded, his voice a smooth baritone, he eyed the orange haired man from the corner of his eye, watching the way he moved, the large man's gentle steps and fluid motions, and although he was a head taller than Sasuke himself, Sasuke felt no intimidation from the large man, knowing him to be a gentle soul, pitiful, but gentle. He'd always favored Jugo, considering he was silent, knew when to speak and when not to.

"Sasuke-Kun! I wanna' go out tonight, we've been doing nothing for two days!"

Ah yes, Karin, who wouldn't know when to shut up if Kami slapped her in the mouth. Sasuke didn't bother to look at the redhead, knowing she was there. He could smell the thick, caramel scented perfume she wore. It was too sweet, too unnatural. Too thick. She was nothing like Sakura, Sakura's scent was light, floral and earthy, like the forest after falling rain, innocent, pure.

Nothing Karin could classify herself as, her promiscuity already forgot to look the gift horse in the mouth, not that she had the smarts to do so in the first place, her mind was filled with ignorance and instability. She didn't have the smarts Sakura-

Why did he keep comparing everything to Sakura today? Why did nothing add up to her? It was undeniable that she was beautiful, intelligent, tactical, and strong. But it wasn't like she was anything special, she didn't posses a bloodline, or any kind of demon. She was a type of woman easily found, despite her exotic features, although why on earth would he want pink-haired heirs?

Where did that come from? He didn't need to have children any time soon, true, he needed to begin to rebuild his clan but he was still young, merely twenty-one. Besides, he's yet to find a woman worthy of bearing his child, she would need to be able to protect his children, and himself if need be. A formidable bloodline would be nice as well.

Sasuke heaved a sigh and turned to face the redhead, who now looked at him with that crushed expression, seeing as Sasuke didn't respond to her but, was outside talking with Jugo instead. Sasuke paid no mind and pushed her aside, grabbing his katana from the top of his bed, before turning to his teammates who were standing there looking at him with a confused expression, he simply shrugged and turned away, not bothering to spare a second glance.

Something inside him told him to travel to the pub once more before he left. He had to leave, he couldn't stop thinking about the pinkette, he didn't need a distraction, especially one from the woman who singlehandedly stole his reason for life.

As he walked through the hallways of the Ame inn, he truly wandered what it would have changed if someone else were to have killed his brother. Would he have slaughtered them out of spite? It certainly sounded like something Sasuke Uchiha would do. What makes his former comrade different? Was she not the nuisance she once was when she was a young woman? Always pestering and nagging him, weather in physical form or mental?

His crimson eyes didn't miss a beat as he pushed through the crowds of people, it was quite strange how everyone here practically ignored the fact that it was constantly raining, and walked through the streets as if enjoying a warm summer day with a light breeze, most of them didn't even bother to carry an umbrella, just allowing the rain to pelt them and not batting an eyelash at it, Sasuke, being the kind of man he was, didn't carry in umbrella for the simple reason that he was an Uchiha, and had been pelted with so many powerful Jutsu's that some mere rain was nothing to him.

He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of the streets, not as clear and natural as in the forests of Amegakure, the scent of rain was covered by the smells of smoke from the abundance of pubs, and the musk of thick perfume as he passed the occasional brothel or casino. It was as if this village was created to harbor solely criminals.

Perhaps it was. Sasuke couldn't help but notice the amount of weaponry stores and ninja whom seemed to have abandoned their village; some went as far as to actually wear two headbands, one from a foreign village, slashed of course. And one from Ame, their loyalty was certainly in question, Sasuke himself had never seen a person wear two hiates.

Sasuke ducked to avoid the tent of an oncoming fruit stand, snarling at the fact he had to lean forward due to the low height of its rim. An older man who seemed to notice this apologized imminently and raised the rim so that it was out of the tall Uchiha's path.

Second guessing, seeing as the stand looked quite age worn and perhaps even custom made to the constant weather in Ame, he turned on his heels and approached the small man, who didn't even seem startled by the spinning sharringan eyes now peering down into his very soul.

"Hello young man. Might I interest you in-"

"I have no use for your wares. I will however, pay for a bit of information." He cut off, his voice a charming baritone, not nearly as menacing as he would have been with anyone else, seeing as the elder man was most likely desensitized by the amount of rogue ninja in this area.

"I'm sorry young man, but I don't have the information you're looking for." He spoke, his tone final and the defiant glint in his wrinkled Hazelnut eyes telling the Uchiha man that he would not give in to his fetal attempts to pull information from him. Definitely desensitized.

"It's on a pink haired woman from this area, she is my relative and I am looking for her." He lied, her Sharringan eyes spinning as he considered the thought of making the man tell him, but he didn't feel like causing a scene as some people had already given sharp glances to the old man whom looked ready to once again deny the Uchiha, when his eyes softened.

"Lady Taiga?" He stated, the Uchiha man nodded and stared down at the old man who looked to be in his early eighties, he pointed to a small shack of a home behind him that was wedged between two large metallic buildings, Sasuke took this as a silent request to follow, and did just that.

Once they were inside the older man shut the door behind them and plopped down into a chair that was seated by the door, motioning to yet another that Sasuke himself took a seat in, crossing his arms to stare at the older man.

The elder sighed and rested his elbows on his knees, "Young man, I know you aren't a relative of our Lady Taiga, and if you are here to harm her, I must warn you her strength is beyond any shinobi I have ever seen in my many years. This village was lost until she arrived here with that young man, the young man I am sure you are looking for." He stated, a hardness glinting in his hazelnut eyes as he raised them to level with the Uchiha, who said nothing, merely looked down at him through sharp, crimson eyes.

"If you are looking for him, he is dead. And if you are here for our Lady Taiga, this village would die protecting her. Some of the worst criminals here fear her. But for the few of us who came here because we had no where else to go, she is our guardian angel." He spoke, his voice calm and serine; the Uchiha had yet to say anything, but slowly raised himself from his chair, leaving without a word.

He didn't need to hear any more.

Ame pub, 8:57 PM.

She sat silently at the bar, sipping from her plate of sake, no one near her as she preferred solitude, just as he remembered her. He didn't move from the front door, knowing she knew he was here. His eyes cold and calculating as they fixed on the pinkette, no one else in the room would steal his attention from her.

She wore a pair of snug black pants, the bottom tucked into knee-high white boots, he couldn't see the her shirt, as she was covered in a traditional black haori, the kanji for 'serenity' embroidered in white on her back, her long locks hung in two loose pigtails, much like the fifth hokage.

He didn't dare approach her, not yet. Not until he had confirmation that she had noticed him, that if she did notice him, that she would acknowledge him, if not, he would walk out the doors of this loathsome pub and never step foot into this cursed village once more.

He watched as one of her smooth hands came to the air, slowly spreading into a small, acknowledging wave he knew was meant for him, as his eyes bled crimson he stepped forward, stride powerful and commanding, as an Uchiha's stance should be as he fluidly slipped into the seat beside the kunoichi who slid a secondary cup of sake in his direction, a quirk of his lips followed, She's been expecting me.

"Thought you would have left by now." She spoke tiredly, raising the china glass to her lips as she took a long drink of the warm liquid.

The raven haired male arched an eyebrow as he sipped the lukewarm liquid, "Eager to see me gone?" He questioned, watching as the beautiful features of her face twisted into somewhat of a sneer, you spent years chasing after me, after all…

She paused and raised her eyes to the ceiling, the sneer wiped off her alcohol-flushed face as she took on a more thoughtful serine kind of look, her nose crinkling slightly in thought as it always did, "I suppose not." She spoke quietly, closing her eyes to take another sip of sake.

"You seem relaxed, what makes you so sure I didn't come here to kill you?" He questioned pointedly, knowing himself that it wasn't his cause, just curious of his reaction, which was to be expected, a bitter, aged laugh, face back in the twisted sneer that didn't suit her at all.

"I'm not saying I wouldn't blame you. But I'd probably be forced to fight back, and I advise you," She spoke lowly, eyes darkening as she peered at me through the corner of his eyes, "I wouldn't go down easily."

A short, humorless chuckle escaped his lips, "Hn. I suppose it's a good thing I didn't come here to do such things then." He spoke calmly, taking a long sip from his cup of sake, watching silently as she lent over to refill his cup, giving him a good waft of her floral scent, mixed with the scent of rain which hung constantly in the air here.

"I suppose it is, I wouldn't want to have to kill a former comrade." She spoke, staring down absentmindedly into the glass before her, not entirely knowing what to make of the situation she had drowned herself into with the somber Uchiha beside her, She couldn't even find the drive to look him in the eye… those crimson sharringan eyes, so different from his.

"Does Naruto know of your disappearance?" He questioned, watching from the corner of his eye, gauging her expression, resisting the urge to snarl at the light smile that touched her pale pink lips, even her small smiles lit up the room, but that wasn't what bit at him, it was that the smile was sincere and fond, not like the forced, bitter smiles she had offered him.

"I've been gone for nearly five and a half years now, but I've kept some tabs on the knucklehead, seems he's on his way to becoming Hokage, even engaged to Hinata. Bout' time he noticed her." She chuckled blandly, taking another drink before refilling her glass once more; she bent over and did the same to his, although his was nearly to the rim of the cup anyway.

"Aa." He grunted, sipping absentmindedly at the cup before him, he would never admit it, but somehow it lifted a bit of the weight from his shoulders knowing the dobe was actually doing something good with his life, despite the wronging of both his teammates.

"And your parents, what do you think your defection did to them?" He questioned, watching as the sake cup she was once lifting to her lips froze half-way, and she let out a sigh, her bangs falling over her eyes, hiding them from his predatory gaze.

"You and Naruto… You both said you had a bond I could never understand, because you were both alone, ne?" She questioned, and he felt his eyebrow rise in silent question, a bit annoyed she would bring it up in the first place, but when he noticed she wasn't continuing, he offered a soft grunt. Yet to realize he'd unconsciously let his eyes slowly drift back to onyx.

"My father was a blackops, and when the Kyubi attacked, he was killed trying to protect the Fourth Hokage. That's… that's why I…" She said, the cup of sake in her hand trembling slightly, droplets sloshing onto the smooth counter top, Sasuke noticed this, and with a caring had he didn't even know he could control he gently took it from her hand, placing it before her, the gears in his head clicking as he realized where she was going with this, "That's why you were so resentful to Naruto." He finished, watching her suck in a shaky breath and nod.

"My mother was a civilian, apparently she didn't realize how high the chances of her losing my dad were, ninja die all the time. It's a fact of life. But she was never the same after it, she became an alcoholic. Do you remember the two weeks I was absent at the academy?" She questioned suddenly, as she took another long drink from her cup, refilling it instantly, and calling to the elderly bartender for another, a heavy flush touching her cheeks.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, trying his best to take in the information given to him, he'd seen the pinkette a lot as a child- although now that he thought about it… he'd never actually seen a parent, or even another adult with her. A pang of guilt hit him, but disappeared as soon as it came, death was a part of life, especially for a shinobi.

"She had drank herself to death, I came home from the academy, it was the day we were doing target practice, I- I remember because I hit all the targets, and I thought I would finally got your attention," She laughed bitterly, "but when I came home, my mother was on the living room floor, dead in her own vomit." She sighed, her eyes slightly cloudy, but as dry as the sands in Suna, if she were the girl she had once been- she would be in tears right now, trying to get Sasuke to comfort her.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Her emerald eyes slowly widened, and she turned to the man beside her, who was looking at her with striking onyx depths. He- he doesn't have his sharringan activated. She thought, a small smile touching her lips, and for the first time in a very, very long time a little bit of the weight that crushed her shoulders so long ago.

She just sighed with a bright smile, Sasuke was however, not amused. "Why didn't you tell us, Sakura?" He repeated, his tone more pointed than last time.

"I didn't… I didn't want you and Naruto to sympathize with me. I wanted you to accept me because you two thought of me as friends." She said softly, a small smile of remembrance as she looked down into the cup in her hands, turning it softly as she eyed it, as if something in that cup could bring her the peace she so desperately craved.

Sasuke was in awe of her words, She, who followed him around as a child, hopelessly ignoring her training to ask him on silly dates, she who was constantly smiling and trying to get Team Seven to finally become a team, She, who never once implied that her father had been killed in the name of Naruto's father, and seen her mother slowly poison herself. It just didn't seem real. It was strange; she never acted as if something was-

"What's with all the questions, Sasuke? You're normally not this talkative." She sighed, placing down the cup to stare at it irritably, had something he said offend her?

He let out a long sigh, pondering how he should respond to that, to which he offered a simple 'Hn' for one, not being very good at social situations that required him to do anything but give proper orders, and two, he really didn't have anything to say to that. His teammate had always bee confusing to him.

"Aah. Anything else you'd like to ask tonight, seeing as you've already taken a kind of liking to poke into my personal affairs." She sighed, her shoulders slumping, she knew exactly what he was going to ask, it was his brother, he had a right to know. She had no right withholding information like that from him, it just wasn't fair.

Sasuke thought for a moment, before a sigh crossed through his lips, "Why did you do it? Why did you leave the village?"

She looked stunned by his question, and he knew why, she expected him to ask about his brother, and while he really, really wanted to know… he wouldn't push that. This girl had taken so much grief her entire life without a single harsh word to him or Naruto, he would give her the small casualty of not having to lie herself down bare before she was ready, but that didn't mean he wouldn't pry at other subjects, she still had to give him some answers, she owed him that small casualty as well.

"I think, in a way, I wanted what you wanted." She began slowly, the cup of sake in her hands once more as she took a slow sip from it, her full lips slightly moist from the alcohol, "I wanted to run away from my problems, to prove myself. But- I didn't have what you or Naruto had, I don't have a tailed beast or a bloodline to make me valuable, so if I was going to become strong, I had to find someone willing to train someone with nothing special over her head besides some medical training and good chakra control." She sniggered, her face flushed with alcohol and concentration.

"I see." Was the lone Uchiha's reply as he sipped the drink before him, it was a strange feeling, not like he expected it would be like, he expected to see her, burst into uncontrollable rage and attack, but he simply felt hallow, much like the woman beside him, they were simply old shinobi, having a drink as they reminisced.

Nothing more, and nothing less.

She seemed content to sit and drink with the Uchiha in silence, cursing her medical training that caused her chakra to purge most of the alcohol from her system, she however, had drank enough to get a decent buzz, and was enjoying the fuzziness of the room around her.

The Uchiha himself was quite buzzed, but aware of his surroundings, he would never allow himself into a state where he would be at a disadvantage, the pinkette beside him, however, seemed to have no qualms drinking until she couldn't tell the difference between a kunai and her left boot.

"You know," She started softly, her usually achingly sorrowful eyes now somewhat serine, not happy, but peaceful, "It's becoming less of a burden to be around you, Sasuke." She spoke softly, not looking at him, but not wanting to, she didn't need to.

He sighed and nodded, "You too, Sakura, you too."

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Dear lord I've been up all night. I'm dyyyying. Bleh. Anywhoo, enjoy this update, please review, let me know someone out there is still reading this.

Oh, and if you have any questions or requests or something, feel free to PM me, I don't bite. Plus, this story isn't really as popular as a few of my other ones, so I usually get around to updating it after I've done the rest, sorry, it's just the way I work, anyway, if you wanted to see something or whatever, or really wanted an update, just PM me, or whatever.

-Sakura-Centric