Homecoming

Naruto let his feet carry him through the darkened streets of Konoha. His eyes saw nothing; his ears heard not a sound. In a dream, he let his legs take him to his destination. He was sure he'd wanted to go to the Hokage Mountain, but he found himself headed in completely the opposite direction, towards a part of the village he had not been to for a while. A place he tried to avoid nowadays. Memories were painful things, Naruto knew this better than most: something he had shared with Sasuke.
The abandoned Uchiha compound loomed before him. His senses came flooding back, his eyes seeing the clan symbol, his ears taking in the sounds of crickets, the far off yapping of a dog.
"Why am I here?" Naruto said to himself, shaking his head. He slowly turned to leave, when something caught his eye. The unmistakable flicker of lamplight from one of the windows of the building. Wasn't that Sasuke's room…?
Naruto crept forwards, curious. Had they let Sasuke out of questioning already? How could they be sure he wasn't Orochimaru's spy?
The blonde ninja moved silently forward, a strange feeling squirming in his stomach; excitement? Fear?
As he got closer, he could hear the sound of someone busying themselves with pans. Whoever was in there was cooking, or cleaning up, or something…
Naruto peeked in through a window, noticing now that more lamps had come on inside, and this person seemed familiar with the surroundings.
"Naruto, stop sneaking around." That exasperated voice. Naruto could almost see his former team-mate's eyes rolling to the heavens, although Sasuke was quite obviously behind him.
"H-how did you get out here so fast?" Naruto demanded, as he spun around to face the Uchiha.
"Idiot, I was never inside. I saw the lights on and came to see who it was, just like you." Sasuke sighed, and approached Naruto unhurriedly. "You don't have to be so wary, Uzumaki. I'm no threat."
Naruto stood his ground as Sasuke came closer. The boy was still taller than him, better looking than he was before he left, his eyes more piercing. Naruto looked down at the floor, not wanting to look upon his ex-best friend. Instead he mumbled "Well let's o see who the intruder is then..", and, keeping low, crept around to the side door, Sasuke following close behind.

*

Hinata strolled leisurely past the two watchmen positioned at the gates to the Hyuuga compound, smiling at one as she entered her home. Checking no-one was around, she quickly darted down a corridor, taking a sharp left and coming out into a small, walled garden. This was the only garden with a wall onto the outside, most of the others were situated at the centre of the compound. With baited breath, she whistled softly. A reply came, low and quiet from behind the wall. Excitement gripped her as she hurried to the wall that backed onto the road outside. She carefully found the footholds that generations of love-sick Hyuuga's had carved, and hoisted herself up the grey stone, panting slightly with the effort. Upon reaching the top, she looked down to see Kiba, grinning cheekily up at her from the undergrowth.
"Where's Akamaru?" Hinata whispered.
"I told him to go home. And not to wait up." Kiba whispered back, causing Hinata to giggle a little to loudly, and teeter dangerously at the top of the wall.
Kiba reached up with his hands, and grabbed the smooth holes in the wall, carefully pulling himself upwards, towards his love. Her face was framed by her dark hair, making her skin an almost unearthly pale, beautiful to behold. His breath caught in his throat as she smiled down at him.
"You're like an angel." He sighed, reaching out for her. She giggled, and disappeared from his sights.
He heard her feet hit the hard ground on the other side of the wall. Eventually he reached the top, swung his legs round to face the other way, and made the descent into forbidden territory. Adrenalin coursed through his veins as he turned from the wall, back against it, seeking the dark garden for Hinata.
Sniffing, he could smell all types of heavenly flower. But where was Hinata, with her delicate, sweet scent? His ears pricked up as he heard clothing brush against petals, and he crept softly in that direction, eyes adjusting to the dark as he did so. He could smell her now, her beauty surrounded him, and he could hear her breathing not far away. How much longer would she hide? Suddenly, a hand shot out of nowhere, covering his mouth, while an arm pulled him backwards into a bush. Wild eyed, he span around as the arms released him and was confronted with Hinata, her finger pressed to her lips, "Shhh" she whispered.
And then Kiba heard it, the sound of clothes rustling as someone walked through the garden. Suddenly this great idea of his was not so appealing, as he imagined the stern face of Hinata's father, not to mention the beating he'd get from Neji. The small dark ninja next to him snuggled closer, pressing her body into his. He turned to face her, and saw she was smiling. Her eyes closed as she leant in towards him, and he received her soft kiss, just suppressing a longing moan. This was torture. How long would they be trapped in this bush, aching for each other, but unable to touch? The whole situation was ridiculous. Slowly, the sound of rustling got fainter, until far off they heard a door click shut. Both waited in silence for a few minutes, which seemed like hours, and then left their hiding place.
"That was close." Hinata whispered, grabbing Kiba's hand and almost running with him towards her room. The corridors were completely deserted, and Hinata silently thanked the gods.
The door to her room creaked slightly as she opened it, and she all but shoved Kiba inside, tumbling in after him, about to explode with laughter. The boy looked down into her eyes, wanting suddenly to grip her tightly and not let go. The girl walked to him slowly, never breaking eye contact as she did so.
"So here we are, Kiba-kun. My room." She said, quietly.
Kiba looked around. There was a dressing table, with a mirror above it, an ornate chair in front of it; a four-post bed dominated the room, with blue silk hangings hiding the mattress itself from view. A wardrobe stood next to a full-length window, which backed onto a small garden, a pond with fish swimming placidly around.
"It's nice. Just what I imagined."
"You imagined my room?" Hinata raised an eyebrow.
"Of course." Kiba never missed a beat. "I obviously imagined your bed too…and you in it…"
Hinata blushed, looking away. She and Kiba had not been able to spend the night together often, what with her father being so strict, and Neji practically stalking her everywhere. It was one of the only things that still embarrassed her, made her go shy. Kiba took her hand, and placed it upon his cheek.
"I love you." He said, his brown eyes melting her.
"And I love you." She replied, snaking her arms around his neck and drawing him into a kiss.
He gently placed his arms around her, slowly guiding her towards the bed, and sitting with a bump. Her nose knocked against his, and she laughed, pulling away from him for a second. He stared at her, taking in every detail of her face, her skin, her eyes, her little nose, her flushed cheeks. He counted his blessings over again. Countless times he'd had to pinch himself just to make sure it was all real.
Hinata's small hands crept to the hem of his t-shirt and slowly lifted it, to reveal his toned chest. He flung the top to one side and lay backwards, pulling Hinata with him. She sat on top of him, her thighs teasingly either side of his groin. Leaning forward, she planted little kisses all over his face and neck. His hands reached out for her, and he had to restrain himself from ripping her top clean off. Instead, he slowly undid the buttons down the front of her shirt and slid it off her shoulders. She wasn't wearing a bra, and Kiba grinned sheepishly. Not that I didn't notice earlier. he said to himself. She leant forward again as their mouths met in a passionate kiss, and she drew the hangings around the bed, obscuring them from view.

*

Sasuke crept silently through the door and signalled to Naruto that the room was clear. His former team-mate followed him quietly in, and they crouched behind a counter. Someone was humming in the next room as they busied themselves with some delicious smelling food. Sasuke edged closer still, Naruto following, as they decided without saying it, that they would ambush this intruder in 3, 2, 1…
"Aaaaaarggghhh!"
Naruto went flying through the air, hitting a wall and landing on his head. Sasuke cursed under his breath, ready to attack.
"Naruto-kun! It's you! And Sasuke-kun. What a way to greet a friend."
Lee stood in Sasuke's kitchen, a frilly apron tied around his waist, and a spoon in his hand. Sasuke almost smiled. Almost.
Naruto stood up, a sizeable lump on his head.
"What are you doing, Lee?" he demanded.
"Tsunade-sama wanted someone to make Sasuke-kun feel more at home, and as Ino has been giving me some cookery lessons, I thought I'd try it out. Sorry for throwing you Naruto, it's an automatic reaction."
With that, Lee turned around and busied himself with the bubbling pots in front of him.
Sasuke looked at Naruto, and then sat on one of the mats around the low dining table. Naruto followed suit.
"Sasuke…I…"
Sasuke did not let him finish.
"I see you're with Sakura now then. How'd that happen? Brain transplant?"
Naruto clenched his fists under the table.
"How can you be so normal? You deserted the village, you've been gone for years! We all thought you were gone forever, Sasuke, I…" Naruto looked down, swallowing.
When he looked up again, Sasuke had his eyes closed, head held high. He spoke softly.
"It will be difficult for any of you to trust me again, I know. It is difficult to trust myself. I've seen, and done, some awful things. I understand you gave up in the end. I wanted it that way, I suppose. I dreamt of this place Naruto, I dreamt of you, even! That's why I came back."
He opened his eyes and stared straight into Naruto's.
"I'm happy for you and Sakura. I hope you're happy."
Naruto's mouth fell open, and he quickly closed it again.
"Let's eat!" cried Lee, breezing into the room with a tray of food. It smelt amazing.
"Please. Naruto, Lee, join me for dinner. I insist." Sasuke bowed his head, and dug in to his noodles.
Naruto slowly raised his chopsticks, not taking his eyes off the Uchiha.