I think it's time for a song parody! He's coming home, he's coming home/Tell the world that he's coming home/Let the rain, wash away/All the pain in Sa-su-ke….Yeah, I know, I should stick to writing fanfictions :)

So, if I may take my own advice, I present… CHAPTER 6!

.:Restoration:.

Chapter 6: Return

There was a tree. A tree located just outside the main gate of Konohagakure. This tree, although surrounded by many others, was special to the shinobi of the Leaf Village, for this tree spawned many great ninja.

There was a specific branch of this tree, one that jutted out over the dirt road that led away from the village, that had acquired notches and dents and deformities not naturally caused by weathering.

This history of this tree and its branch is one that was formed from an antic that had evolved into a custom. Every young, aspiring ninja dreamed about this tree, because it would mean that they'd finally become worthy of a mission that involved leaving Konoha. You see, when you're leaving the village for a mission, the most efficient way to travel through the forests of the Land of Fire was tree-hopping. And to get up there, you'd have to start somewhere, right? The specific branch of this specific tree was always the initial step to leaving the village on a mission. All first-timers out of the village took their first step on that branch. It was low enough for young ninja to hop up, yet high enough to make jumping to the next branch simple. The perfect transition step.

But that was only the first half of the custom, for when a team or an individual successfully completed their mission, they'd arrive back at the village by landing on the branch then hopping down to the ground in front of the gate and wait for access back into the village.

This branch saw heroes out of the village, then welcomed them back home.

The custom was not forgotten by Team Kakashi, as they arrived back in Konoha with a very taciturn Sasuke in tow. First Naruto, then Sai, then Sakura, Kakashi, and finally Sasuke landed on the branch then to the ground before the entrance to Konoha.

The immense omfort of seeing the gate was something Sakura had never felt before. It was like she'd been gone so long, and was finally, finally, back home. But she'd only been away on this mission for 4 days, so it made no sense that she felt that way. She shouldn't have been feeling the way Sasuke was probably feeling. He was the one who'd been away for five years.

Or maybe he wasn't even feeling nostalgic. He'd left the village of his own free will, and was able to stay away for this long. He even killed Danzo, head of ANBU Root. She took a sidelong glance at his face, but he wasn't showing any sort of emotion, except maybe annoyance. His hands were incapable of moving, after all. But it wasn't anything that a missing-nin couldn't handle, Sakura thought scornfully, thinking the words with bitterness. Why, Sasuke, why did you have to leave? But it was okay now, because he was back. And he was coming back the same way he left: of his own free will. He hadn't even struggled or tried to run off the whole way back, either.

The gate opened to reveal Tsunade, with Pakkun and Shizune at her sides. She looked fierce, even in the dead of night, while Shizune looked a little… nervous. She'd never met Sasuke before, and after hearing how he'd been able to take out Danzo, she was scared.

"Thank you, Pakkun," Kakashi said quietly, dismissing the summon. Pakkun nodded and disappeared in a miniature cloud of smoke.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you're to follow me to the Hokage Tower immediately. You're lucky it's the middle of the night; I wouldn't want to find out how the villagers would receive you," Tsunade said, turning on her heel. Everyone followed.

That got Sakura thinking. How would everyone feel about Sasuke being back? People didn't know about Danzo's death, mostly because the Root leader had tended to act behind-the-scenes. So what did they have to work their opinions on? Well, for one, there was the Uchiha massacre carried out by none other than Itachi. They would probably feel pity for Sasuke. Most of them believe that the tragedy of losing his whole clan in one night and that discovering his own beloved brother as the traitor had driven him to leave the village.

And if any of them displayed their pity… They were going to be in some big trouble. Sasuke was never one to take pity easily, and Sasuke's tolerance was probably even lower, if how he'd acted the last two times they'd met was any testament. For the second time that night, Sakura was glad they'd arrived at night.

The only sounds in Konoha were the soft tapping of sandals hitting dirt as the shinobi made their way toward Hokage Tower, plus the occasional cricket chirp. Everyone's lights were out by 9:30pm, as per typical village life, and the group relied on all of their other senses to direct themselves to the building.

The Hokage Tower was a mess of corridors, once you passed the main lobby. To any Konoha shinobi, walking these hallways was practically in their job description, and a very important part as well. If you couldn't find your way to Tsunade-sama, you wouldn't be able to receive your mission.

Everyone stopped in front of the door to the Hokage's office. Tsunade turned around, a serious look on her face, and spoke. "Kakashi, Shizune, Sasuke, you three will join me in my office. You've got a lot of explaining to do, Uchiha. I hope I won't have to make use of Ibiki's interrogation techniques, but I've called him here in case you are uncooperative. Naruto, Sakura, Sai, you three are off for the night. You can leave the poison samples with Kakashi, and I'll take a look at them later. But that's not the most important thing right now." She looked at Sasuke as she said this.

The three teens dropped their vials into their leader's outstretched hand. "Go home and get some rest. We'll talk tomorrow," Kakashi said, closing his fist around the glass tubes. He sounded worn out and wary at the same time. He followed the two women and Sasuke into the office, then shut the door behind him. It closed with an echoing click.

"Well, I'm going to return to my residence. Please have a good night," Sai said, not bothering with one of his smiles. He could tell they weren't in the mood. The pale teen walked away.

Sakura and Naruto stood there, facing the door like lost puppies. They couldn't hear the exchanges that were going on just on the other side of the door. Naruto's voice penetrated the silence, "Do… Do you want to go home?"

In response Sakura nodded, feeling numb. This was a day she'd been dreaming about: the day that Sasuke would return back to the village. It had started out as a dream within reach, then as the years passed became an impossible fantasy. But now… now it was actually happening. It had already happened. He was in the Hokage Tower with Kakashi and Tsunade, within Konoha's walls. And of his own free will. It just didn't make any sense, but Sakura was afraid to make any inquiries. All that was important was that he was back, right? Perhaps she didn't deserve an answer to all her questions. It was a gift enough that Sasuke was home, so she wouldn't push it. But it was still eating at her mind.

Looking to her side she noticed that Naruto was uncharacteristically quiet. The reality of Sasuke being back was probably sinking in for him too. His eyes were wide, like he'd just seen a ghost, and he was actually walking pretty slowly. Reaching out a hand, Sakura intertwined her fingers with his, squeezing his palm gently. He squeezed back, but other than that didn't change his stricken demeanor.

The reached their apartment building and jumped up to the outdoor hallway of the second floor, right in front of Sakura's front door. Extracting her key from her pocket, she opened the door quietly and walked in, switching on the lamp. Sakura went into her room to deposit her mission things, not noticing that Naruto had followed her into her house until she heard the door close and the squeak of her sofa accepting weight. She walked out of the room and stood by the sofa, looking at Naruto, who held his head in his hands. "Naruto?" she asked tentatively. "You okay?"

He lifted his head and flashed her a dazed smile. "Yeah, Sakura-chan. I'm okay."

"Do you want to stay the night?" She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. Naruto didn't seem to be himself he looked a little odd. It made her worry.

"No, no it's okay. My room's right on the other side of that wall, it's not like it'll be a long way home or anything. But…" he paused, fidgeting with his fingers, "Could I maybe have some of that tea you gave me last time? The one for calming down?"

One corner of Sakura's mouth turned up. "Of course. But I thought you hated my tea."

Naruto smiled back, shaking his head a little. "I won't say I love the taste, but it always works for whatever you give it to me for." He followed her into the kitchen, hopping up to sit on the countertop in a place where he wouldn't be in the way and watched her put a pot of water on the stove to boil. He sat quietly as he observed Sakura pulling out various jars of herbs from her cabinet, crushing some in her palm, then carefully bundling it all up in a square of cloth. Sakura always customized her tea my making it herself, adding in various medicinal herbs along with the typical recipe to add to the natural vitality of the drink.

"Here," her soft voice called Naruto back into the room, though he hadn't even realized he'd spaced off. Accepting the tea cup with two hands, he took a sip and sighed. The soothing peppermint worked instantly and he calmed. He downed the cup and Sakura refilled it for him, then they walked back out to the living room. Naruto sat down cradling his tea and Sakura walked into her room to change into her home clothes.

She looked at herself in the mirror once in the privacy of her room. Turning her head from side to side, she noticed that the bags under her eyes were pronounced and turning dark. After they'd had their encounter with Sasuke, Kakashi had pushed them to make the trip back home in the same night, effectively completing the journey back in 20 straight hours when it usually took two days, including an overnight camping in the woods that they'd also skipped. It was for the better; if they were to camp out for the night, no one would be able to sleep anyway, since they'd all need to be alert to keep an eye on Sasuke. He was a missing-nin, after all.

Sakura was glad she wasn't Kakashi at that moment, who had to stay awake all through Sasuke's interrogation, along with Tsunade-shishou, Shizune-san, and Ibiki-san. Sakura's eyes lowered to her hands at the thought of the interrogator. What did Tsunade say again? "I hope I won't have to make use of Ibiki's interrogation techniques, but I've called him here in case you are uncooperative." Sasuke… Sakura had heard rumors about the things Ibiki did to the people he interrogated. Sakura didn't even want to think about how he was always able to obtain results.

After throwing on a loose t-shirt and comfortable shorts, she padded back out to the living room to find that Naruto had fallen asleep on her couch, tea cup empty and still in his hand. Her face softened at the familiar sight of his completely relaxed face, and she gingerly pried the small porcelain cup from his fingers, putting it in the sink. She came back to the couch and opened up the blanket that covered the back of the cushions, draping it over Naruto's sleeping form. Then she supported his head as she stuffed a pillow from her bed under his head. Finally, after turning off the lamp, she climbed into her own bed and realized just how exhausted she was.

Sakura recounted the day's events in her head. First they'd left Sunagakure and travelled through the desert. Next they had entered the forests of The Land of Fire and joked about Kakashi's love life. Then they'd been attacked by Sasuke and three strange people he'd put under his genjutsu. (Sakura briefly wondered what had become of them after they'd awakened from the aftermath of the genjutsu wearing off, but her mind moved on.) And finally, they'd brought Sasuke back to Konoha.

Back to Konoha...

The pink-haired kunoichi fell asleep to the comforting sound of Naruto's snoring outside her room.

The smell of ramen was prominent in Sakura's home when she sat up in the morning. The light streaming through her window and a quick glance at the clock confirmed that it was 8 o'clock. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned, but a crashing sound from the kitchen broke the yawn halfway and she immediately jumped out of bed, running out to assess the situation.

Standing there in his undershirt and orange pants, Naruto waved with a cheerful smile. "Ohayo, Sakura-chan! Sorry, I just dropped your pot," he bent over to pick it up, "But I made instant ramen for breakfast!"

"Morning. And thanks," Sakura said, accepting the steaming foam cup. Using her chopsticks, she waited for the noodles to cool then dug in.

Of course, Naruto finished his ramen before she did. "So, Sakura-chan, I guess we should head over to Tsunade-baa-chan's office, ne? Do you think the interrogation will be over by then?"

"I'm not sure, but we should get over there as soon as possible," Sakura said.

"Okay, then I'm going to change. I'll be right back," Naruto strolled out of her apartment, giving Sakura some time to finish her ramen and change as well.

The streets of Konoha were bustling, like they always were on a Sunday morning. Looking around at all the activity made Sakura a little dizzy. People were moving around, selling and buying produce at wooden stands, walking in and out of buildings with paper shopping bags packed with essentials, and people living in the apartments above the shops hung their laundry out to dry.

"Hey, Sakura-chan—" Naruto was cut off by the sound of someone else calling her name.

"Sakura-san! Sakura-san! You're back! Sakura-san!" A middle-aged woman in an apron ran up to the two teens, smiling wide and holding a basket. "Sakura-san, welcome home! I hope your mission was a successs. My son has been asking about you ever since you left! Here, we made this gift basket for you. Hopefully some of the items will be of use to you in your career!" The woman handed Sakura the basket. Inside was a small water basin and cloth, as well as a few rolls of bandages and a bottle of antiseptic.

Sakura smiled kindly to the older woman. "Thank you so much, Hiroko-san. How is Akihiro doing? Is his arm healing?"

The woman, Hiroko, beamed. "He's doing very well, thanks to you! If you hadn't set that bone right away, it might not have ever healed," she looked gratefully at the kunoichi. "Oh! I should let you go, you and Uzumaki-san are probably headed somewhere important. Goodbye!" She hurried back into her house, and Naruto looked down at Sakura with a smirk.

"Wow, Sakura-chan, people really love you around here!" he laughed. Sakura play punched his arm. "So I guess none of them really know about Sasuke being here, huh," Naruto continued.

"I guess not," Sakura replied. "Tsunade-sama probably hasn't had any time to make a public announcement."

"I wonder what people would do once they found out," Naruto thought out loud.

They soon arrived at the Hokage Tower and found themselves outside of Tsunade's door. Sakura nervously clenched at the handle of Hiroko's gift basket, wondering what they'd see once they entered. Glancing back at his pinkette teammate, Naruto knocked on the door.

The door opened a fraction and Shizune's head poked out and retreated back into the room just as quickly. "It's Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun."

"Let them in," Tsunade's voice called and Shizune opened the door all the way, allowing the teens entry. The Hokage's office looked the same; there were still documents piled high on her wooden desk, the worn seats in the corners still sat in their rightful places, and the books along the wall were still dusty. Sakura wondered why she expected anything to be different. Maybe it was because having Sasuke back meant that everything else should be changed too, but that was a senseless expectation and she knew it.

"Good morning, Sakura, Naruto," Kakashi said, drawing attention to himself. He was standing with his arms crossed and leaning against the wall. His voice sounded like he was speaking through a dry throat and his visible eye was obviously more droopy than usual. Even his spiky hair was struggling against gravity.

Sakura frowned. "Did you sleep at all last night, Kaka-sensei?"

"No," he shrugged. "I had to be present for all seven hours of Sasuke's interrogation. I haven't slept since we were in Sunagakure."

Sakura's eyebrows came together in concern, but Tsunade had already begun to speak. "I'm sorry Kakashi, but it's protocol. You can go home as soon as we explain to them what's going to happen with Uchiha Sasuke."

"'What's going to happen'…? What do you mean? What's happening with Sasuke?" Naruto asked loudly.

Tsunade sighed like she didn't know where to start. "After Uchiha Sasuke's interrogation, I've decided to put him on temporary house arrest while we decipher the intel we gathered from what he told us and from what we gathered ourselves." Sakura's eyes widened at the end of the Hokage's sentence. So they did have to use Ibiki's methods. She was going to protest but Tsunade went on. "He'll be kept in an ANBU-guarded residential building, and you, Naruto and Sakura, along with Kakashi, will be monitoring him in shifts throughout the day. You three know him best, and will know faster than anyone when he's about to try something. The ANBU will be around to guard the doors in case someone from outside the village tries to break him out. It'll be your duty to keep Sasuke in that building until we figure out what to do next, and it all depends on what we understand from the information we received during his interrogation. Understand?"

"Hai," Naruto and Sakura said together.

"Good. Then you three are excused," Tsunade dismissed them.

Once outside the building, Kakashi turned to his former students. "We need to figure out our shifts."

"Kaka-sensei, we could figure this out later; you should go get some sleep. You look like you're about to fall over," Sakura said.

"Hey, I have an idea! Since Kaka-sensei is just going to bed now – when it's so early in the morning – he's going to be nocturnal!"

"Naruto, that's not how it works."

"Wait, Sakura. So if he's going to be wide awake at night, why doesn't he take the night shift? I'll take the evening shift, and Sakura, you can have the day shift! See, it works out!" Naruto smiled proudly.

Sakura smiled and rolled her eyes. "Good job on making sense for the first time, baka," she joked. "Sure, that works with me."

"And me," Kakashi added.

Naruto clapped his hands together. "So it's settled!"

"Splendid. I'll be getting some much-needed rest now. See you two later," Kakashi held his hand up in farewell and turned to walk home.

Naruto turned to Sakura. "I'll relieve you at 4:00, okay? Make sure Sasuke's…. okay until then, alright?"

"Of course."

"Thanks," Naruto said with a smile, then he too walked back down the path, probably off to say hello to Konohamaru.

Time to start my shift, Sakura thought as she walked down the road that would bring her to the building where Uchiha Sasuke was currently taking up residence. Her hand tightened around the handle of the basket she was still carrying. Wish me luck.

Hmmm, I wonder what's going to happen during Sakura's first guard shift… *Contemplates possibilities*. We'll see in the next chapter! :)