This is the edited version of the chapter, enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto or the characters mentioned in the story
Chapter XII - SASUKE
Sasuke has spent the last four months on minor missions like finding an old lady's cat and missing purses—part of his punishment. The embarrassment almost caught up to him before Kakashi encouraged him to be patient for the sake of everyone that's been fighting for his civil rights back, since the council are still not very fond of his return to the village without severe consequences.
"Sasuke, how about going out to the fair tonight to cheer up. I don't see how sulking at that house can be any fun" Kakashi say after accompanying his former student on an low rank mission. Kakashi had notice that Sasuke is less than excited to live in the house he's staying at right now, but since the old Uchiha district has been destroyed during Pain's assault, he really has nowhere else to go.
"Not interested" Sasuke reply bitterly
"Everyone would be there, stop being such a depressed bum for once would you" Kakashi say
"I'm not depressed" Sasuke say. In fact he has been feeling quite good after his return, some unexplainable sense of peace that's not complete, but it's there
"No? Well, you look so, and you're making everyone else depressed by seeing you"
Sasuke just give him his infamous glare, before saying "You're wrong. Not everyone would be there"
"Eh, are you upset that the other members of your former team are out on missions? Well, I heard Yamato and Sai are coming back as we speak, but Naruto is still stuck somewhere and will come back a little later"
"Hn" Sasuke indeed has been feeling a little left out while everyone on his team got assigned to either an A-rank or an S-rank mission. But most of all, he's been wondering what has become of Sakura. She promised to come back in three months top, it's already past the fourth and he still hasn't heard from her. No letter, no rumor, no nothing about her whereabouts. Not that he would admit to himself that he misses her that much.
Seeing Sasuke's expression, Kakashi decided to leave him to his thoughts as they walk to the house. It's already past daylight when they reach their destination "Well, nice walk and talk Sasuke, I have to go" Kakashi say
"Aren't you suppose to watch me?"
"Well, I have a mission in the morning and I have to go see the council again tonight. I'm sure they will send someone soon. Ja, I'll be going" Kakashi say before disappearing in a flash
"Tch" Sasuke curse silently, now Kakashi has gone on a mission. Sasuke wouldn't say it out loud but he feel a lot worse without his friends around.
Sasuke was about to slide the door when he feel someone behind him, must be a replacement to watch him over tonight.
"We have the same feeling of abandonment huh Uchiha? I was too left out on the mission, just like you" Shino say hollowly
"This is going to be a long night" Sasuke sigh
Sasuke feel a little grateful that at the least Shino doesn't talk much and doesn't snore when he sleeps. It's already past midnight and his sitter is passed out on the couch, humming some bug species's name once in a while
Sasuke lie motionlessly on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Being the melancholy he is, he's thinking about everything in the most negative way and only looking at the bad, he's been trying to cast those kinds of thoughts but he can't help some of them to still bother him. Maybe he's just making himself depressed, or maybe Sakura is avoiding him and refuse to come home because she feels weird after what happened the night before she left, maybe she has been telling herself that she still loves him out of guilt since he's already home-and now refuse to face him, maybe she's having a great tense-free time in Suna and prolonging her stay on purpose.
She would be smart enough not to get herself hurt as a medic-nin—something Sasuke's grateful for—and if she did, she could heal herself easily, so there's no way she had gotten herself hurt.
If he ask the Hokage about her, then his pride would be thrown out the window.
Sasuke force himself to sleep by closing his eyes, but his paranoia becomes worse as he picture Sakura's face turning away from him, and rejecting him. When he snap his eyes open, his Sharingan spin.
It is true that ever since Sakura left, Sasuke has been thinking about his ultimate goal-something he has kept in the back of his mind-something he would eventually do as his main goal, but postpone even the thought.
Restoring his clan.
He would have to rebuild the Uchiha name, picking everything that has been destroyed. Itachi had said that this clan was shallow, blinded by their pride, lacking the heart to co-exist with everyone else and eventually failed to survive. Sasuke intended to change that, making the honor in beholding the name means more than just blind pride. Once again being the strongest clan, not only in prowess but also at heart, changing the ways that was Madara's legacy and proving the Nidaime wrong about the Uchiha.
Someone with a pure heart and love has to be an Uchiha to make all he desires happen. Someone powerful, a kunoichi that would double the Uchiha's inherit power, someone that understand the same heartache as he does but managed to overlook the bitterness and escaped the temptation of darkness. Someone who can heal kokoro no kizu.
There is no one else that would ever suit the red and white fan emblem better than Sakura.
Sasuke has been tossing and turning almost every night for the past three weeks upon the realization of what he wants his future to be. Something that would be so precious that it got him scared, even terrified by the idea alone. But sooner or later he would have to give in.
He has all things figured out now. He would leave, he would get himself ready for the new life he wants, then come back to Sakura and be with her… when he's ready, he hope she would still be waiting, or at least willing to take him back
Then the most annoying part of the morning finally arrive, it is when Sasuke walk to the kitchen to get breakfast but whoever's sitting him would be still spread out on the couch. At least with Sakura he doesn't have to wait for her to wake up that long since she also starts her day pretty early, and she sleeps in his bed so she would walk in and find him asleep if she has woken up before him. It was only for a few days yet he's already feeling comfortable with the routine, and now not used to not having her around even it's been four months already.
Sasuke grab a tomato and walk outside, the street is still empty as expected. He lean on the side of the front door for a while before Kakashi suddenly appear
"Ne, I knew you would be up" he say
"You're early, for once" Sasuke say mockingly
"No, not really. I'm already half an hour late from the time the team promised to meet, and now I'm visiting you before I go"
"How typical. I guess, something never change"
"Well, I will pretend you didn't say anything and tell you the good news anyway" he say
"What would be so great that you would go all the way here before a mission, sensei?" Sasuke ask cooly
"Well, the rest of the team are all here now, so don't worry, you won't be lonely anymore Sasuke"
"The rest of the team?"
"Well, as i said, Yamato and Sai has been here since last night so you would probably see either of them today, and I heard from the Hokage that Naruto and Sakura should be back this afternoon"
"What do you mean Naruto and Sakura? They weren't even in the same mission"
"Well, I'm not sure how that happened, but they're together right now. Now that I think about it, this will just add more fire to the rumors, ne" Kakashi shake his head
"what rumor?"
"Well, for whatever reason, a lot of people think that Sakura and Naruto are together... as in, a couple" he explain
"Why would anyone think that?" Sasuke clench his fist a little tighter, but still more curious than angry
"They've been getting along really well while you were gone, and the rumors probably came from people that actually bought their confession to each other"
"Confession. To. Each. Other. Huh?"
"Don't worry about it, Sasuke. They didn't mean it. Beside Sakura only said she loved Naruto when she wanted to pursue you herself, right before you tried to kill her that time, ha ha ha" Kakashi try to laugh it off "And CPR during a war should never count as a kiss, right? So, no need to be jealous or anything"
"I'm not jealous" Sasuke say a little less cool than he entended to
"If you say so" Kakashi shrug, as he pull out his icha icha series "I'm sure gonna miss these books" he say
"Why would you miss it, they're right there aren't they?"
"Well, there will never be a new book since Jiraya-sama had passed away. And I've read these a million times now" he sigh "I would like to ask you to hold on to these for me"
"Why?"
"Just do it"
"I won't till I know why"
"I understand that restoring your clan has been something you'd want—"
"How did you.."
"You told everyone during the war"
"Hng" he curse himself
"And I thought someday soon these will be useful for you"
Sasuke look at his former sensei in annoyance
"Beside, the council thought I shouldn't be seen reading these in public, it will leave a bad impression"
"Why would anyone care if a hidden leaf's jounin read these?"
"Well, they just said they do, now take these and I should be going, they're waiting for me at the gate y'know"
"Hng" Sasuke hesitantly take the three books from Kakashi "what will you tell them when they ask why you were late this time?"
"The truth of course" Kakashi smile trough his mask "that I had to take care of an important duty for the good of the nations, and it took me a while since it ended up being an emotional experience for me"
"Hmph" Sasuke reply as he walk inside the same time Kakashi disappear
Sasuke feel ill by just holding on to the books too long, these are the books that his sensei has been laughing pervertedly at since the first dayhe knows him. Sasuke get an empty container box from under the closet and shove them inside before putting te box at the back of his closet, hidden by his clothes and several other stuff he threw carelessly inside
Sasuke sit on his bed, thinking of what he would do when he see Sakura after four months, now he couldn't even imagine how she felt when he left her for four years. And in her state back then, she must've been suffering quite harshly inside. Anyone in the right mind would just hate him at that point
Sasuke curse at the time being still early in the morning, Kakashi said she'll be back in the afternoon. Even so, she would probably head to the Hokage's office first, then take a nap or something at her apartment. The soonest he might see her is tomorrow morning. But he couldn't wait that long. He decided to clean himself up and wait for her at the gate, cheezy as it sounds
After a quick dip Sasuke put on his signature blue shirt and shorts minus the ninja attire, he even make sure he looks presentable when he sees her for the first time again. He himself couldn't really understand why he's trying so hard, it's just Sakura
When he left the house it's already early noon, and Shino has gone but no one has arrived to switch shift with him. Sasuke knows it's best to just wait for someone to come before going, but he got so impatient that he decided to leave anyway. On the way, he just take a lazy walk to kill the time. The market begin to get quite crowded, and in the corner of his eyes, he can see Sai talking calmly towards very flirty Ino in front of the Yamanaka flower shop. Sasuke consider the possibility of Sai being on duty to watch him but ditched the thought of being on time to talk to Ino.
Sasuke make his way to the gate without interacting with anyone, he still get the occasional look and whisper but as usual he dismiss them without a slight of interest. And when the jounin guards see him, they quickly stand up and get on their position, ready to lunge at him
"Relax, I'm just waiting for my team to arrive" he say cooly
"How do we know you're not just gonna leave again?" one of them ask
"Cause you'll be here at all times of course, kono usuratonkachi"
"What did you just call us?!"
"Ne, just get back at our post. It's too early to do this, he looks unarmed anyway" the more reasonable one speak
"Hn" Sasuke reply dryly as he stand by the gate patiently
Sasuke wait for a good eight hours without moving, some group has come and left the gate but still no sign of Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke get a little more tense by every hour that passed, but there's no one, or nothing, to lash it out to. Something about what Kakashi had told him this morning still bothers him no matter how hard he try to push it aside. Sakura and Naruto, tch.
Sasuke couldn't help the new jealousy that has overtaken his mind, the familiar emotion he used to have of his brother, Itachi. Something he wanted to have but couldn't, now something he thought he had but now it's being threaten to be taken away from him. Maybe an Uchiha is shallow, he thought to himself
He was about to turn around when three familiar figures appear from the direction of the trees, heading to the gate
"You guys are troublesome" say Shikamaru
"Ne Naruto, we shouldn't have stopped at that ramen stand on the way home, we would've arrive earlier" Sakura protest
"I couldn't help it 'tebayo, I was hungry and the ramen was so good, wasn't it Dakura-chan, Shikamaru?"
"Well it was, but it was a suspicious tea place in the middle of nowhere, aren't you afraid that you'll get food poisoning or something?"
"Well, I don't think something that taste that good would be bad for me. Besides, if anything actually happen to me, I know I have you 'tebayo" Naruto say sheepishly
"Hmm, that's true. But that doesn't mean you can do reckless things like that. You know what, if you get a stomachache after this you're on your own Naruto"
"What, don't be so mean Sakura-chan"
"As if she can leave you if that actually happen" Shikamaru say
"I know, she just loves me too much" Naruto say happily, grinning humorously
Sakura cross her arms on her chest, ready to say something when she saw someone looking at them intently from the direction of the gate "S-sasuke-kun?"
"Sakura"
"Teme!" Naruto greet cheerfully, running towards his best friend and clung an arm to him "You're here to welcome me home, ne? I feel so loved by my teammates! Now where is Kakashi-sensei?"
"Get off me dobe. He left this morning" Sasuke
"He? Out on a mission? Well I bet if he wasn't, he would be here too" Naruto walk casually past him
"Naruto, where are you going?"
"It's Tuesday" he say, walking away
"Shikamaru?"
"I have to give an official report. I am after all, the captain and the only jounin in this mission" He lazily walk away, not before mumbling about how troublesome these all are
"Right" Sakura walk slowly towards Sasuke and stop when she's just a few feet away from him, they look at each other for some time without moving a muscle. Sakura note that Sasuke look slightly angry but something in his dark mysterious eyes, she sees softness and longing
"welcome home" he say
"arigatou" she smile
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