AN: Happy early christmahaunakwanzaka to everyone! Here's my little gift, a nice 11-pager chock full of teasers and info for your brain to suck on during this busy holiday season! Hehe, Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Team Seven

x-x-x

As the last one to wake up, Sakura slid the rice paper door of her room open and muddled her way towards the bathroom. When she noticed Sasuke walking towards her, she held up her hand to him, not even bothering to look at him as she clutched her head with the other hand.

"Not a word." She said quietly, as to not increase her migraine anymore than necessary.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, slightly sadistically amused. He'd never seen Sakura hung-over before and never imagined he would. He didn't stop to think he was the reason why he she had gotten drunk last night. The angsty raven-haired teen walked into his room and paused as he looked outside.

The rest of the team was returning from breakfast and Sasuke raised his eyebrows again at the way Suigetsu and Karin were talking like friends. He watched as their facial expressions changed, signaling that they were still bickering, yet it seemed different. When Suigetsu would insult Karin, she'd become flustered, yet he'd laugh at her reaction and her anger wouldn't last long. This would go back and forth, and he even saw Karin laugh a few times herself.

Demons were definitely building snowmen in hell somewhere. Sasuke was beginning to wonder if he was stuck in another dream or dimension.

He rolled up his mat then went back out to the hallway to knock on the bathroom door, "Hurry up, we're leaving soon."

He winced as he heard the pink haired girl retch into the toilet. Yep. She definitely was a drinking virgin.

She couldn't stop thinking about her dream last night. She watched so vividly as Naruto ran after Sasuke through the temple ruins, far ahead of them.

"Naruto, don't!" she cried, fearing for his safety in being alone with the Uchiha. He was perfectly capable on his own, having perfected the Rasenshuriken should the situation call for it, but she still predicted nothing good to come of it.

The two had run into a dead end hall, the doors on each side either locked or crumbled in. Suddenly, Naruto was the one being cornered, with the blade of kurosagi pointed at his neck.

"The kyuubi is mine." Sasuke lifted his hand, enveloped in a hazy blue light. It seemed to happen in slow motion, yet it happened so fast that Naruto had no way to avoid it; Sasuke's hand pierced through his chest, causing the blonde to only gasp for air.

Curling his hand into a fist, Sasuke pulled out a translucent, yet rusty orange looking vein out of the blonde, who, at this point looked purely out of it. Dropping the kurosagi and letting the vein hang loose from the boy, the raven haired teen quickly formed a few hand signs, then sliced his own exposed chest open. Sasuke pulled enough of the kyuubi spirit out of Naruto in order to slide just an inch of it inside his own skin. Manipulating his own hands into three more signs, he placed both palms flat on the vein, causing the kyuubi rush out of the blonde and into the Uchiha.

Naruto fell limp to the ground.

Having finally caught up with the two, Sakura rounded the corner to see she was too late. Sasuke had made quick work of sewing up his own skin, hand still covered both their blood.

"How could you?"

"Don't worry, he's not quite dead." Sasuke pointed to his head. "He won't shut up."

Sakura clenched her teeth, "You BASTARD!" she screamed, running after him with a chakra-powered fist.

"Ah, if you kill me, you kill your precious Naruto as well." Sasuke grinned and Sakura immediately stopped her hand still at her side.

She spotted the fallen body on the ground behind him, and instantly ran past the Uchiha to pick up Naruto's corpse. Not uttering a word, she held it to her chest and began to cry torrents of tears for her best friend. Sasuke left them there and simply began to walk away.

And then she woke up. It was all so vivid, so clear. Would Sasuke really do that? She thought of how Itachi had killed everyone in his own clan, The apple doesn't fall far from the tree… She followed him through the tall, twisting trees of the Land of Fire, watching his back from afar. And this one is definitely one of that tree.

"Konoha Shinobi about two miles in the distance." Karin announced to the group, but Sasuke didn't stop.

The group remained still as Hinata jumped onto the sturdy branch to do a survey of the land around. They were coming close to the Uchiha hideout, and with knowledge of the Chakra-sensor type on Sasuke's team, Hinata was the perfect way to make sure they weren't revealed.

Closing her eyes, she formed the seal required to activate her Byakugan, then opened her pupil-less eyes to see the world around her in a vastly different way. She looked left, then right, then behind, and finally straight ahead; what she saw nearly threw her off her feet.

"Th-They're coming!" she announced excitedly.

"Which direction?" Shikamaru asked as Naruto's jaw fell slack.

"Straight ahead. There's five of them." She focused further, trying to look for distinguishing characteristics, "Sakura-chan's with them!"

A large grin spread across the kyuubi-container. Yamato, noting this, warned him, "Don't get too happy yet. We still have yet to even meet them. You may end up having to fight Sasuke as well."

Naruto shaped his face into a frown that almost looked like a cute pout, yet was deep enough to look serious, " I know. But I'm just happy to see her again."

The group didn't need to be told twice to conceal their chakra as they placed themselves into strategic and effective hiding positions. Hinata kept watch to make sure their target group kept on course.

Shikamaru had quickly gone over the plan which included using Yamato as a frontal diversion, Shikamaru himself to suspend, Kakashi to attack, and Naruto and Sai as a back up if Shikamaru and Kakashi failed. Hinata would also serve to keep the other team members busy. Secretly Naruto wondered if it would be better for her to stay out of the fight completely.

The trees rustling indicated that bodies were moving quickly up through the forest.

"Mokuton Moku Jouheki" The wood user muttered, and abruptly the traveling Five were brought to a halt as a wooden wall enclosed all around them. Yet, unlike the normal cocoon, it was open at the top creating a circle shape enclosure, quite similar to the chunin exam battle arena.

The sun, angled at just the right degree, offered Shikamaru a perfect amount of shadow to work with, "Kagemane No jutsu." The Nara whispered as the team tried to leap out of the well-shaped enclosure, effectively catching them by their ankles and pulling them back to the ground.

Suigetsu, however, bypassed this, morphing into water and slipping out of the shadow's grasp. Yet, being the only one with this ability, and no way to cut the shadow, he was slightly at a loss.

Just then, Kakashi jumped down into the circle.

"Who are you?" The silver haired water-ninja asked as he reformed into his human shape.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura whispered out, then suddenly looked away, ashamed to look at the comrade she abandoned.

Kakashi looked over at her, then Sasuke.

"What are you planning, Sasuke?" He asked the teen blatantly.

The last Uchiha smirked, though it was an ironic position to be smiling about, as he was the one lying on the dirt, bound by a shadow. "hn. I don't feel the need to tell you."

A chidori formed around the silver haired jounin's hand, yet the sound of metal distracted him.

"Hey, your fight's with me. You never answered my question either." Suigetsu picked up his sword, which piqued the child of the White Fang immensely.

"The sword of Momochi Zabuza, hm? And would you have anything to do with this, Sasuke?"

"Perhaps."

Afar, Shikamaru wished they would cut the chit-chat. His chakra would only last about four more minutes.

The chidori on Kakashi's hand grew larger. "I don't think you know what you've done by stealing that." He charged after him with the blue sparkling weapon in his arms, yet Suigetsu swung at him, effectively chopping him in half.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakrura screamed, yet wondered why she didn't recognize it sooner—Kakashi's body suddenly turned into a split log, with the real copy-ninja behind Suigetsu, hand aiming for the nymph's body.

Suigetsu realized this a tad too late, and let out a wail as his body was electrocuted; being a water type and vulnerable to lightning, he fell to the ground, exhausted from that one blow. "Suigetsu you idiot!" Karin wailed, and Sakura wasn't sure if she heard sadness in the girl's voice.

Kakashi drew another Chidori when Sasuke called out, "Wait, Kakashi…"

"Hm, something the matter?"

"…if you let them go, Sakura and I will go back with you to Konohagakure."

"What?!" a unison of voices echoed as both Karin and Sakura nearly suffered a stroke from his last statement.

"Hm, I don't know. You're not in the position to be making propositions like that. I can easily wipe them out and force you back with us, and I'd be in a better position."

Sasuke smirked, "Kakashi…you should know. If I wanted to be out of this bind I could be before you even can blink."

"You underestimate Shikamaru's abilities. You're not the only one who's been improving."

At that point, an orange blur fell from the sky as Naruto jumped in to the join the group. Shikamaru's shadow bind released Sakura from its grip. Reaching out a hand, he courteously attempted to help her up, but she refused to look at him or take his hand as she stood up.

"I'm sorry…Naruto." She looked at the ground, away from Naruto, away from Kakashi, and away from Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan…I forgive you." He smiled, "I know how bad you feel. Don't worry about it." Suddenly she felt arms wrap underneath her legs and she was lifted bridal style into the air as Naruto leapt away with her, out of the open dome.

Sasuke growled internally, seeing the blonde dobe carry away his possession.

"At this point, I don't see any reason to keep these criminals alive." Kakashi announced as he noticed a large man starting to go stage-two cursed seal within the Kage Mane.

"Juugo! Stop." Sasuke glared at the monstrous looking man with his Sharingan, effectively keeping the man from completely losing it.

"Sasuke, why aren't you breaking free?" Karin shrieked.

"Yes Sasuke, I'd like to know that as well." Kakashi asked.

"I have no reason to tell you." Sasuke stated once again and smirked as he noticed Shikamaru's kage man beginning to wane. He could move his upper body enough, and with a bit of force, could easily break out of it. Assuming the same for the others, he looked at them and activated his newest Sharingan.

Suddenly, both team eagle members broke free. Karin quickly picked up Suigetsu and leapt out of the area, effectively avoiding the snake-shaped ink blobs that ran after her. Within seconds she vanished into the trees. Juugo, however, remained, and simply stood there.

Finally Sasuke stood up, releasing himself of the shadow jutsu as if brushing off dust on his sleeve. "It's been a while, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi frowned. Why was Sasuke being so smug? Of course he was always like that as a kid, but now, of all times, it didn't seem appropriate. "Indeed it has. So what brings you to this neck of the woods?" he asked, playing along with Sasuke's verbal banter.

"Well I would like to tell everyone, but I would appreciate it if I could speak face to face." Sasuke explained.

Yamato heard this, and instantly the wooden barriers around them receded to the ground as they were joined by a now-visible Shikamaru, Sai and Hinata.

"And why didn't your friend there leave?" Shikamaru asked.

"Juugo is not a bad person." Sakura finally spoke up, "He was born naturally with the effects of the curse-seal, and it wells up within him without his consent. Like the Kyuubi, but with absolutely no control over it." She explained. "He has no reason to run, and would be of great value for Tsunade-sama to research and possibly cure."

"So, you two are going back to Konoha then, for sure?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "because something doesn't seem right. Why were you traveling with the others?"

"I hadn't told them the plan yet. In fact, Sakura wasn't even aware of this." Sasuke finally explained.

"Teme…you're not staying, are you?" Naruto doubted the teen despite his answer.

"No. I am. I only said that so my team members wouldn't think I was leaving them. I'm coming back to Konoha for good now." Sasuke announced.

Sakura's eyes widened, along with the rest of the group. Yet she didn't realize that everyone thought this was attributed to her.

Naruto's eyes softened and his guard dropped. "And I had hoped to be the one to bring you back…" he outstretched his arms and launched a fraternal hug onto his old comrade.

And typical of the usually stoic Uchiha, he tried to push him off, squawking at him for invading his personal space.

Naruto rubbed his neck sheepishly, "Sorry, I'm just so glad to have my best friend back."

For the first time in a long time, Sasuke let out a seemingly genuine smile. "Dobe, I never left."

Team 7 was back together again.

They walked into town with only a day of traveling behind them. Kotetsu, having been drinking a large sip of tea, nearly choked when he saw the infamous Sasuke Uchiha walking amongst the resident leaf shinobi who had gone out to capture him.

And capture him they did.

Or so it seemed that way. Izumo could hardly believe his eyes either. He stared at the group, reaching over blindly as he attempted to get the other's attention. "Do you see that?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

As Kotetsu finally was able to clear his throat, he nodded, "Hokage-sama is not going to believe this. And Sakura-sama is with them as well." Kotetsu had acquired a deep respect for the pink-haired prodigy after he learned of all the work she went through during Tsunade's training. Knowing that she took orders from the tempered old lady day in and day out while being one of the best medical ninjas the hospital had to offer, it seemed to Kotetsu that using the "chan" suffix didn't seem appropriate.

Making their way through the town, people stopped to see what was happening. A large group of shinobi including the Nine Tailed Fox container, Tsunade's apprentice, the legendary Copy Ninja, the pale ex-ROOT member, the first chunin of the rookie nine, the beautiful byakugan user, the only wood chakra manipulator, and most of all, the last Uchiha stood out in the town streets like a sore thumb. They were surrounded by a nearly tangible aura of whispers, yet they moved on.

The door to Tsunade's main room looked more ominous than Sakura could ever remember, yet she knew it was something that she had to face, and she supposed it would be best to just get it over with now. Shikamaru lead the way as the captain, pushing the doors open and the pink haired female swallowed with an barely audible gulp. The Japanese symbols for "gamble" on the back of Tsunade's cloak were visible with her pale blonde hair cascading over the green material. She knew.

"Hokage-sama, we have returned." Shikamaru announced with the rest of the group behind her.

Tsunade remained in her position, looking out the large picture windows of the Hokage's office, down onto the streets of Konoha. "Come in, Sakura, Sasuke. The rest of you may leave. I will call for you later to go over the details of the mission. Dismissed!"

"Ano, Tsunade-baa-chan, shouldn't I stay?" Naruto asked.

"No, Naruto. I need to speak with these two alone." She said, finally turning around to cast a dark gaze on the two young shinobi.

Knowing not to argue, he nodded silently, leaving the two alone to inevitably face the wrath of the last Sanin.

The large wooden doors slammed shut as threateningly as they opened, leaving Sakura's arms in Goosebumps. Her body froze and stomach dropped—she knew she was in deep trouble and could be sentenced to death for her acts.

Tsunade didn't sit down at her desk. Instead, the young looking old woman walked around to stand right in front of the two. While Sasuke looked at her maturely, Sakura looked down, hands folded behind her back.

"To be quite honest with you two, I'm at a loss for words." Tsunade began quietly. "I can have you both executed for leaving the village…" she looked at Sasuke, "and for abandoning your mission." She glanced at Sakura.

"if I may speak, Hokage-sama," Sasuke began, with much more politeness and respect in his voice than Sakura had ever heard, "I kidnapped Sakura. She did not leave willingly, and I threatened her life if she tried to escape."

Sakura looked up at him a little surprised. While this was all true…she was just as guilty for wanting to stay with him.

"Please, if you're going to exact any punishment, place it on me, not Sakura. She is innocent in this affair." He was standing up for her.

What on earth is he thinking? This is not the Sasuke I knew yesterday, nor two years ago, or even four years ago. I'm so lost… Sakura thought to herself as she looked at the eyes of her master.

"Is this true, Sakura-chan?" she asked the pink haired female.

Sakura felt as if she should take the blame, but if Sasuke was going so far as to portray her as innocent, it most likely meant he had a plan and she should go along with it.

"H-hai, Tsunade-sama. It's true."

Tsunade wasn't going to be swayed so easily, "I am disappointed with you, Sakura-chan. One would think through all that training I had you go through that you would have been able to escape from such a situation, if you wanted to. So I'm only left to wonder if you really did want to escape or if you even tried."

"I allowed myself to remain captured in order to find more about Akatsuki and their plans regarding Sasuke and his team. I had planned to escape once I had gathered enough information and the time was right. I wasn't expecting Sasuke to give up and return to Konoha." She looked up at the raven haired teen.

Tsunade turned to the last Uchiha, satisfied with Sakura's answer, "And just why did you come back?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, "I have finished my revenge. Being with Sakura made me want to come back and leave that life. I wish to return as a shinobi of the hidden leaf, if you would so permit, Hokage-sama."

Well this was news to her. Sakura remained calm, not betraying the fact that she was just as surprised to hear this as Tsunade. She knew, or at least thought she knew, that Sasuke was lying.

Or perhaps she had just become so jaded that she had come to expect things to never be the same again. Perhaps she had become so cynical in that one week with him that every one of his words had lost its value. Sasuke wasn't back. He would never come back to Konoha willingly, and her and Naruto should have known it best. But the blonde haired boy…oh how naive he still was--still just a child holding onto childish dreams of friendship and bonds. While his optimism was often his charm, it obviously was his downfall as well.

Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed, visibly relaxing. "If you are coming back, why did you kidnap Sakura in the first place?"

Sakura looked over at him, wondering how he'd get out of this one. What cunning lie would he come up with this time to fool them all? She wanted to scream out to Tsunade that it was all a lie, but she couldn't be sure.

"I needed Sakura's ability to heal and her chakra control skills in order to bring my brother back to life."

Wait. He's not lying…he's telling the truth. Why?

"Why would you do that, after you work so hard to kill him?" Tsunade asked.

"I was told by a certain man that my brother, Itachi, killed the entire clan on orders from the third hokage, and not out of spite. I wanted to make sure that this was true, so I decided to find someone who could help me revive him using a technique I learned from Orochimaru."

Tsunade frowned, "Don't even think about using that jutsu. You have to sacrifice a life for it, and what would have you done if the person was lying and you had to fight Itachi all over again? You would have put both your lives in danger." She tried to justify. But her voice didn't betray that she was somewhat shocked to find that the elders weren't lying. There was one more person out there who knew the truth about Itachi, and it was most likely Uchiha Madara. She didn't want to ask, however, as to not rouse suspicion that this story about Itachi were true; instead, she'd have Ibiki or Inoichi find out for her.

"I know." He nodded, "And there is one more reason why I came back…"

"Yes?"

Sasuke looked over at Sakura, who immediately looked away, "…I…I'm pregnant."

Tsunade raised her eyebrows as her eyes widened, "In only a week? How would you know?"

"We met a fortune teller in the land of Rice who told us. Also, I should have gotten my period by now, but I haven't." she explained quietly.

"A fortune teller?" Tsunade nearly laughed, "They don't know anything. And you probably missed it because you're stressed. Though if you insist, I will do a test." She looked at Sasuke, "Though your concern for her care and the child's care, if it exists, does precede you. I am going to need you to go through a mental examination to know if you are telling the truth, but I am going to allow you to stay in the village for now. Though I'm sure you can understand that you will be staying in the prison under ANBU surveillance until then."

Sakura looked up at her, "And me?"

"You will be required to undergo an examination as well, though you are free to go." She sighed and let out a louder voice, "Naruto, you may come in now."

The door creaked open as the orange-jumpsuit ninja crept into the room sheepishly, followed by Kakashi.

"You as well, Kakashi-sensei?" Tsunade asked.

"Someone had to make sure he didn't hear anything." The silver haired jounin ruffled the frustrated blonde's hair, tucking his orange book in his back pocket.

"Heh" the old woman half chuckled, then seemed to think of something. "Wait here…" she ran behind her desk and began to rummage through some files lying messily in her desk. Pulling out the folder for Team seven, she flipped to the front of the folder to find a picture paper-clipped to their very first mission reports. A picture had been taken of them, standing in a line, starting left to right with Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, almost four years ago. Looking up, the group happened to be standing in the same position, and the woman smiled. "I think you might want to see this." She held out the picture for Kakashi to see.

The jounin looked at the picture blank faced. There was so much emotion in seeing his students having grown up so much, but perhaps even more emotion in having them all back together again. He was a grown man, not one of sappy emotions, but his one eye suddenly began to water at the scene. Deciding to not let it progress any further, he passed the picture onto Naruto, who looked at the picture shocked.

"Wow…I forgot about this picture…" he blinked a few times, mouth hanging open slightly. Sasuke leaned over to see, as well as Sakura. He showed the picture to the two of them.

Sasuke smirked quickly, then handed the picture over to the curious girl on his left. Sakura took the picture from him, smiling as she tried to hold back the tears. To have Sasuke back was just so surreal, and to see how they had all grown up and the paths their lives had taken since then was overwhelming. She handed the picture back to Tsunade and thanked her.

But another thought arose in her head. What about Yamato and Sai? The two had become very special to her, especially Sai. She couldn't imagine what must have gone through the inky-black-haired boy's head when Sasuke announced that he was coming back to Konoha. He knew that he was meant to be a replacement team member in Sasuke's absence, and now that he was back, Sai would no longer be needed.

But despite it all, Sakura just had this nagging feeling that this was all temporary. If he could fool Orochimaru, there's no telling how many more people he could deceive.

Whatever the situation, she didn't want to leave the room at that moment. There was no more reason to move on; moving on would only bring a change, and Sasuke would probably leave them again. This was all a vacation from reality, and she wished she could stay here forever, back together with her old teammates, standing with the man she loved, her best friend, and her beloved sensei.

But time moved. Kakashi escorted a captive Sasuke to the prison where he stayed the night. She was showered with questions from Ino, Naruto, and her parents as she came home that night. Yet, with a wave of her hand, she refused to speak. Exhausted from the day, the week, and just plain everything, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and sleep away the day. Tomorrow was when she would be interrogated and would have her pregnancy test. Tomorrow was another day. Tomorrow would come soon enough.

Tonight, she would sleep.

RA: I'd like to say that as unbelievable as it sounds, I actually DID have the dream that Sakura had, and it was my inspiration. Well, the beginning at least. Sasuke took the kyuubi, and then Naruto was trapped in his head, and then Naruto started getting bored, so he was sending notes out to people, and because I love yaoi so much, Sasuke was like "I know you've been seeing other people; I found your notes in the toilet!" LAWL. Okay, so I ended it a little bit more sensibly XD. Because we all know Sasuke has a toilet in his head. That's where his heart went!

Yeah, anyways, you know the drill. Go do it :D.