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Naruto is not mine. Just this plot.

The question isn't the price… it's whether or not you're willing to pay the price.

The door to Tsunade's office clicked quietly behind the retreating group. Naruto and Sasuke just glanced at each other nervously as sweat made its way down their worn clothes clinging to their skin. This was it. There was no chance of survival. Who would imagine that their last moments on Earth would be spent in the Hokage's Office? Naruto shifted on his feet, his baby-blue eyes looking anywhere except at the woman before them. Sasuke looked ready to be sick as he stood as still as possible, staring at a point on Tsunade's cracked desk. The Godaime herself was silent as the minutes ticked by, sitting there looking at them with her piercing eyes.

Finally without a word, she sighed heavily and reached into a drawer and pulled out a tall, thin vial of clear liquid. The two boys watched her with quiet fascination as she pulled out two small sake cups and set them on her desk, poured them full then pulled the stopper from the vial and let three drops fall into each cup. Nodding in satisfaction, she quickly put the vial away and stood, motioning to the boys to each take a cup.

"Drink." She commanded, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared them down. Both stood, unmoving, and stared at the cups warily. Sasuke glanced from her to the cup.

"What's in-"

"You're not in a position to be asking questions Uchiha." She glared, her voice slightly rising as she once again motioned to the cups. "Now drink."

Naruto and Sasuke took the cups after some hesitation and finished them in one gulp. Immediately after they set the cups down, they felt impossibly weak and would have crashed to the floor if Tsunade hadn't pulled over chairs for them to collapse on. They sat in heaps and stared at Tsunade with dull eyes as she stood in front of them, leaning against her desk.

"What was in there?" Naruto slurred out, rubbing his eyes as his vision faltered.

Tsunade took a deep breath and counted to ten. How she had managed not to kill these boys yet was amazing, especially to her.

"Let's just say it's something that will assure me of your honesty, and keep you from arguing against me." She growled. Naruto flinched as her voice slowly rose. She continued without even glancing at them as she picked up a folder and flipped through it almost absently.

"So, tonight two missing-nin of Konohagakure have returned of their own will. Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, do you agree with this, that you have both returned to Konoha by your own accord and not from the pressure of an outside force?" Both boys nodded up at her with glazed eyes.

"Yes Tsunade baa-chan, we came because we wanted to…" Naruto mumbled, rubbing his head. He felt as if a dozen kunai were lodged in his skull, attempting to hit his brain yet failing miserably and instead left him aching.

"You sure have caused a lot of trouble in the past four years for us, did you know that?" she sighed, picking up the other file behind her. Her eyes flashed as she glanced at Sasuke over the top of the paper.

"Are you aware of the bounty for your head?" she asked in a dangerously calm tone. Sasuke just kept his eyes glued to the floor. Tsunade sighed heavily and threw both files back onto her desk as she pinched the bridge of her nose tightly. It was seriously way too late to be dealing with this, she thought as she glanced at the clock on the wall above the door. It read 3:27 a.m. But, she knew it couldn't be helped.

Suddenly, she slammed both of her palms onto her desk, which immediately splintered into two causing papers to fly everywhere in the soft uproar. The shock made both boys jump and look away from her.

"You don't know how lucky you two are that Kakashi was with you when you arrived! Because I swear to you both that if he wasn't, you would've been killed on sight!" she screamed, her eyes blazing. All Naruto and Sasuke could do was back into their chairs as far as it would allow them to and stare up at her in fear. Tsunade huffed, glaring down at them with a fist raised, looking ready to pommel them in their weakened state. Instead, she yelled out and stormed away from them, retreating behind the ruins of her desk and collapsing into her chair. After a few minutes of silence and deep breathes, she managed to keep her voice to a reasonable level, yet they could clearly see the vein still pulsing in her neck and forehead.

"I suppose it can't be helped, but with my acceptance of your presence in the village again, so too does Konoha accept you back." She sighed. Naruto and Sasuke perked up at this and sat up straighter, already their minds were slowly coming into the present and away from whatever Tsunade had given them.

"However," she continued, "There will be repercussions. Do you swear to uphold any and all punishment I, as the Godaime Hokage, place upon you?" They glanced at each other for a brief second before nodding.

"Yes Hokage-sama. We accept all faults for our actions." Sasuke said evenly. Tsunade nodded.

"Very well…then these are the terms." She said, looking at both of them in the eyes to make sure they were paying close attention. They were both damned if they made her repeat anything.

"You both are to be on probation for the rest of the year."

Naruto practically choked as he heard this. The stabbing pain in his throbbing skull seemed forgotten for a minute and he jumped up, eyes bright and fists clenched. Tsunade had to suppress a grin as an image of the hot-headed little boy he had been before he left flashed in her mind's eye. For a second, it was as if Naruto had never left. But she quickly halted her smile and just glared, listening to his rants.

"Excuse me? What do you mean, probation?"

Tsunade glared at the boy and stood up so that she towered over him. "Shut up! You are lucky that this is all you're getting off with! If I were a lesser person then I would've told my agents to execute you on sight instead of bringing you back you little brat!" she screamed. Naruto huffed and glared right back at the hissing woman but managed to keep his mouth shut.

"What exactly does this probation entail, Tsunade-sama?" Sasuke said in a much steadier and quiet voice as he glared at Naruto to stay quiet. The throbbing in his head from whatever Tsunade had given them to weaken them was beginning to clear a little and he was actually starting to absorb what he was hearing. Tsunade huffed and glanced at him, trying to calm down and crossed her arms. Both Sasuke and the Godaime sent warning glares to Naruto, making sure he didn't say anything.

"It means Sasuke that for the rest of the year; you and Naruto are off the mission roster. You won't be able to leave the Fire Country for the next year either. For the first month, you shall be nothing but a civilian. No training, no weapons, and nothing that has to do with being a shinobi. After that, if all goes well, then you will be reinstated as Genin, your last recorded rank before leaving the village." Sasuke and Naruto looked ready to argue, yet held their tongues. Actually, Naruto was turning an impressive shade of red and looked ready to explode, but Tsunade sat back down in her chair, ignoring him.

"After you are reinstated as Genin, you will be allowed to train, under supervision of course, and can participate in the next Chunin Exam in July. If you pass the exams-" they both scoffed at this, earning a killing glare from Tsunade,

"If you pass, then you will be eligible to be placed back on the roster for D and C class missions within the village and then, finally, after your probation ends, you will be allowed B and A class missions and your analyses for Jounin Rank will begin." she finished.

"Agreed?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." They said in unison, suddenly feeling very tired and drained. The color drained from Naruto's face and Sasuke just sat silently. Listening to the plan of their future, suddenly all that mattered now was sleep. Tsunade could swear she saw the light leave their eyes, and it pained her but she also knew she couldn't change anything. There were just certain events that had to be accounted for. They truly were lucky that Tsunade was being this generous. No doubt that if they had showed up without an escort, things would have been much messier.

A piece of her temper melted away when she finally realized that, after four impossibly long years, her boys were finally back. The two insane and fearless young-men of the entire rookie nine, whom she thought of as sons more than any others, especially Naruto, were finally back where they belonged and once again, the dysfunctional family that was Konoha was complete for the moment. A small, sadistic smile appeared on her ruby lips and she finally grinned at them. Genuine happiness and amusement shone on her beautiful face.

They just stared at her with dull, tired eyes.

"Cheer up boys, there's only nine more months in the year!" she chirped. Naruto and Sasuke just groaned.

Sakura stood leaning against the wall across from the door leading to Tsunade's office. Her arms were folded across her chest and she was chewing relentlessly on her bottom lip as she debated weather or not to barge into Tsunade's office and keep her from massacring Naruto and Sasuke. Kiba yawned from his spot on the floor as he sat against the wall, reclining with Akamaru. His mask was pushed up to the side of his head and his cloak and arm guards sat in a heap on his lap. He tapped Sakura's leg that was next to him, causing her to look down at him.

"What?" she asked, not liking his annoying stare. Kiba just sighed and shook his head.

"Kura, we've been waiting here for twenty minutes and we still haven't heard anything! Believe me, I think they're going to be okay!" he huffed, clearly irritated. After all, they had just gotten back from a multi-month mission the day before, and then suddenly assigned escort duty. She completely understood his need to want to get home and sleep. But still…Sakura sighed, still chewing on her lip and glanced at the door again. True, they had been there for at least thirty minutes, maybe even longer and so far there was no screaming, cursing or shrieks of pain that could be identified beyond the door.

"C'mon. I'll walk you home and then we'll all see Baa-chan tomorrow." Kiba coaxed as he stood up and gathered his gear under his arm. Sakura sighed and nodded, finally giving in to her sleep depraved body and its pleas for her to go home.

"Alright, I'll leave." She huffed, running a hand through her long rose locks and tucked her mask under her arm.

"But what about you Shizune, shouldn't you be getting home too?" she asked the dark-haired woman across from her as she started picking up the rest of her scattered gear. Genma suddenly appeared from somewhere further down the hall, his cloak around his shoulders loosely and his mask hanging from his neck. He had already put on his backwards headband and a senbon gleamed from the corner of his mouth.

"I'll walk her home." He grinned innocently as he stopped next to Shizune, who was glaring steadily up at him yet there was a faint blush to her cheeks. Sakura and Kiba met with amused and slightly confused glances, before laughing. Genma and Shizune? Since when? They were suddenly dying to ask what was going on. Shizune just narrowed her eyes on both of them as Sakura stepped foreword to hug her friend and fellow apprentice, winking at her.

"Sure Genin, just make sure you get enough sleep for tomorrow's meeting okay?" she teased as she stood on tiptoe to peck him lightly on the cheek. She could hear Shizune choke next to her and glanced over to see the woman, who was now red enough to rival a tomato, and looked ready to kill. She winked at both of them, before taking off down the corridor with Kiba and Akamaru, laughing the whole way.

When they were finally out of the building, Sakura stopped their sprint to catch her breathe. After a minute she straightened and walked between Kiba and Akamaru towards the block where their apartments were. The town was silent and empty as they slipped through the streets, lost in their own thoughts. Sakura couldn't believe that they were back. Never in a million years could she ever imagine what had happened that night. Oh how Fate plays its merry games, poking and pulling until there's nothing left to give. Never before had Sakura ever felt such a fluctuating range of emotions. All in the span of a few ours, the steel cage of indifference and frigidity that had been pressed upon her since she had first applied for ANBU had been shattered into pieces, allowing bits of emotions she thought long gone to resurface and engulf her all at once. She didn't know whether to be thankful or weep in frustration.

The appearance of her old team evoked in her things that shouldn't have been there at all. She wanted to kill them and throw her arms around them all at once. There was no doubt in her mind that things in the village were about to change drastically, and it would be up to her to adapt to make it work. But wait; was it completely up to her to make the change? No. She wouldn't. She couldn't. Too much had changed for things to go back to the way before when Team Kakashi was indeed still Team Kakashi. When Naruto and Sasuke left, she wasn't the only one affected, albeit she felt the greatest loss…but she was most definitely not the only one. All of the genin who had trained beside them were also unknowingly left behind. The very people whom Naruto and Sasuke had called friends. Tsunade would never admit it now, but Sakura was there, and had seen the rare moment when the exceptionally strong woman broke down and wept the day Naruto left against her orders. Then, there was Hinata. The young heiress who had been madly in love with the stupid blonde since they were in the academy. Naruto crushed her heart the moment he stepped through the gates to pursue his best friend. All of Konoha had been shot when its too greatest prides were ranked as criminals and Sakura knew it would be a long recovery back into a descent state of normalcy now that they were back.

Just as they were passing a deep blue apartment, Sakura caught the slightest movement from the corner of her eye. Glancing up, she saw a curtain swaying in a window that had been left open on the fifth floor. A silhouette looked down at her from the open window. She stopped in the street, staring up as the person moved away from the window and her line of sight. Kiba realized she wasn't following him and stopped to glance back at her.

"What's up?" he asked, stifling a yawn with his hand. Sakura shook her head and shifted her gear to her other arm, running a hand through her long hair.

"Nothing, but I think I'll stop here for tonight." She said, nodding up to the apartment. Kiba glanced at the building as if just realizing where they were and looked at her pointedly.

"You think that's a good idea? Maybe you should give him a minute to adjust don't you think?"

Sakura just shook her head again, frowning slightly as she turned, already heading for the entrance. "Go home Kiba, don't make her wait more than she has to."

"You sure?"

"I'll be fine." Kiba shrugged and sighed. "Whatever you want Kura, just do us a favor and don't kill him okay? Oh, and don't be late tomorrow…"

Sakura just waved him off as she slipped into the building and out of Kiba's sight. Once inside, she stopped for a minute at the bottom of the stairs, just listening to the quiet. She took a few deep breathes before beginning her ascent. She kept counting in her head as she passed each landing. One, two, three…four…she stopped on the landing to the fifth floor. Slowly, she walked through the long hall before turning right down another corridor filled with doors on either side with painted numbers on each of them. She stopped at the eighth door on her left and knocked softly. No one answered it. She knocked again, harder this time, and the door slowly creaked open a little as she pulled her arm away. Silently she slipped inside, shutting the door behind her.

"I should kill you for breaking and entering you know." A deep and quiet voice said from across the room. Sakura looked up as she dropped her stuff onto the floor with a dull thud. The room was completely dark, except for the bright moonlight that filtered in from the open window in the next room. The figure leaned languidly against the doorway leading into the next room, arms crossed, and the dim glow of a cigarette the only thing illuminating his features.

"What do you want Sakura?"

"I came to apologize…I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said earlier. I wasn't thinking-" she started, taking a step towards him.

"Don't. "

"What?" she whispered, thrown by his harsh tone. That single word cut her off and she faltered in her steps towards him. His entire stance was tense, as if her very presence had put him on the very edge. He just looked at her for a long second, his deep eyes penetrating her. He shook his head and pulled the cigarette from his lips, flicking it into the ashtray on the table next to him. Then, in one fluid moment that only a ninja was capable of, he had her pinned against the door behind her, the breath knocked from her lungs. His arms were on either side of her head and his body was pressed tightly up against hers, making all of the blood in her body rush to her face.

"Shikamaru…I'm sorry." She tried again, her eyes stared down at his chest, refusing to meet his deep stare. The hand that rested to the left of her head suddenly slammed into the wood behind her, cracking it. She winced, yet stayed put.

It was extremely rare that Shikamaru ever lost his temper, but when he did he was even more terrifying than Tsunade. Sakura wasn't a coward, actually she was the farthest thing from it, and there were only so many things in the world that scared her…and unfortunately, an angry Shikamaru was one of those things. Though, since it was she who had screwed up royally this time, it was only fair that she fix it.

"Don't bother apologizing if you don't mean it. If you really were sorry than you would never have said what you did in the first place." He muttered through clenched teeth.

Shikamaru clenched his fists tightly as he stared down at the girl he had been with for the past four years and took deep breaths. What she had said earlier shouldn't have cut him like it did. It shouldn't have affected him at all. But it did. And he didn't know why. Maybe it was because she had never pulled ranks before that night, in all the three long years that they had been ANBU. No, he knew exactly why he was pissed off now. Knew exactly why it pained him to look at the beautiful face in front of him. It was the truth that Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi were back. He didn't like that fact at all. Actually, if he had had his way, then there would've been two more names scrawled onto the Memorial stone rather than two more shinobi added to the roster. Damn. Things were about to get a hell of a lot more complicated in the Hidden Leaf village. Wherever there was stability and change decided to visit, chaos and mayhem were sure to follow.

Sighing heavily he tried to relax as he took deep breaths. He knew in his head that Sakura hadn't meant what she said. Hell, if he really thought about it she really was just following orders. He would be a real asshole if he pinned the blame on her, and he couldn't do that. "Go home Sakura." He whispered as he pushed away from her and turned, walking back towards the other room.

"Shikamaru!" she called out suddenly, tentatively. For some reason, Sakura knew that if Shikamaru walked away from her now it would kill her. Shikamaru glanced back at her over his shoulder. Seeing her standing there in his dark apartment with her arms wrapped around herself, and that lost look in her jade-green eyes…she looked like a little girl again. And to see the fierce, temperamental ANBU captain fade to the small and scared girl of four years ago made all of his anger dissipate for the moment.

He turned around, took the two steps to her before pulling her into his arms and crushing his mouth to hers. Sakura gasped as his kiss rang through her like a bell. She suddenly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer as he wrapped his arms around her waist, grinding their bodies together. He caught her bottom lip between his teeth, making her gasp and he took the opportunity to boldly slip his tongue into her mouth, deepening their kiss. Sakura moaned loudly, pulling him closer as she ran her fingers through his shoulder length hair, loving it as the strands fell through her fingers like silk. They battled for dominance as their breathing got shorter and clutched onto each other desperately, begging the other for more. He groaned as she broke their heated kiss to trail wet, open mouth kisses down his neck. God, what this woman did to him…his body immediately reacted and it took all of his control not to mention his sanity to not throw her down and have his way with her right there.

Shikamaru was just reaching to unzip her white ANBU vest and felt her hands slide beneath his shirt, tracing the smooth muscles of his abdomen when his mind finally woke up. In their relationship, it was usually Shikamaru who issued the physical needs, and Sakura who told him to slow down, but now that the tables were seemingly turned, he just couldn't bring himself to take advantage of her. Especially since he knew she probably wasn't thinking straight right now. Inwardly cursing and damning himself to hell for being a nice guy, he somehow managed to cancel out everything else his body was telling him and grabbed Sakura's hands, which were beginning to wander lower and lower and gently pulled away from her.

"We can't Kura…" He whispered, stroking the side of her face gently as they worked to catch their breaths. Her wide, green eyes snapped up to his with an intense stare that scared him a little bit. Never before had he seen such an uncertainty in those eyes.

"You don't want me?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly. Crap. That was definitely not what he meant. He pulled her against him, grinding his hips against hers just to show how much he "didn't want her." Sakura let a breathy sigh escape her as she closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around him and burying her head in his chest. Shikamaru let his hands trail up her back so he could wrap them more fully around her.

"Go home and sleep baby. If you stay here then neither of us will get any rest tonight and we need to be fully awake tomorrow." He said tiredly against her ear as he placed a soft kiss to her cheek. Sakura turned towards him, and met his brown eyes with hers. "Are you still mad at me?"

Shikamaru just smirked and answered her by capturing her warm lips in a languid kiss that left her breathless. Then, he pulled away from her and without a word, slowly retreated back into the other room. There was a time and place for them to talk and he knew they would definitely get another opportunity to finish where they left off, but that time wasn't now, much to his dismay.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said, before shutting the door to the room he had just disappeared through, leaving Sakura alone and completely aroused in the dark apartment. Sakura took a deep breath and bit her lip tightly, wondering if she should just go and break the door down…until the hurt look on Shikamaru's face earlier that night reappeared in her mind's eye. No, she had already screwed up once that night and now she would be a good girl and go home. Shaking her head, she picked up her scattered gear, wrapped it into a bundle under her arm and opened the door to the hall. Casting a longing glance back at the door across the room, she sighed heavily and walked out, shutting the door behind her..

Back inside the apartment, Shikamaru smirked softly as he finally heard the resounding click of the door as Sakura left. Frankly, he probably really wouldn't have kicked her out if she had decided to stay, but then he would hate himself in the morning when they were both dead tired and completely dysfunctional for the meeting with Tsunade. He had taken his shirt off and was sitting on his bed, his back against the wall, and another cigarette dangling from his lips as he stared out the open window across from him. The sky was just beginning to turn the palest shade of pink, signaling the approaching dawn. After a while he eventually got up and walked to the window, staring at the tops of Konohagakure just as the sun was starting over the horizon. He flicked his cigarette out the window, watching as it plummeted down the five flights and then smashed into nothing but ash as it hit the ground. He suddenly had a bad omen as his stomach tightened into knots. He pulled the drapes closed against the approaching light and laid back down, shoving a pillow across his head. His mind was whirling as he suddenly realized that there was only a few hours until the inevitable confrontation. Now he really wished he hadn't been part of the team to bring Naruto and Sasuke back. Everyone was going to have a fit. There was no doubt whatsoever in his brilliant mind.

"This is going to be a disaster."

I would most appreciate feedback for this chapter, especially the little bout of sugary citrus. Tis only a taste of what is to come.

- Serena