Chapter 1
The wind blew upon the cloaked figure as he stopped in front of the gates of his home village for the first time in a long time.
It's been three years since the end of the 4th Great Shinobi War, and a lot of things have changed for the
The first few months after the conclusion of the war he had spent in prison with his chakra sealed as a punishment for his crimes in the war. It wasn't the most fun time he's had but he couldn't pretend like he didn't deserve it for the decisions he made. He spent that time reflecting on what he did and how he could atone for it. Even though he didn't necessarily think that anything he did was wrong; he did understand that he betrayed the village with his actions. He did have a little remorse for what he did; even though he'd probably do it again depending on the situation. This Village's corrupt leaders cost him his family, and that wasn't something he could just forgive and forget.
When he was finally released from the prison, he was offered an arm made from Hashirama cells to replace the one that he lost in the final battle against Naruto. He initially refused it claiming that he didn't deserve the prosthetic arm since his actions led to him losing his original; though with the constant nagging from Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi, along with the dreadful thought of Naruto having an advantage over him, Sasuke reluctantly accepted the operation.
After the successful operation, Sasuke decided that the best way to atone for everything that he did was to leave the Village once again to go on his own personal journey of redemption.
Over the years he had seen almost everything that the ninja world had to offer. He had wondered around the shinobi world saving random people, solving different issues from the shadows and improving his already God-level strength as he searched for a new purpose in life.
His best friend had quite literally beaten his philosophy into him, so it took some time to figure out exactly what his new role would be in the Village he abandoned as a teen, and now as he stood in front of Konoha, he realized that he still didn't really know what that would be.
Despite this, he knew one thing for certain as he looked at his best friend standing at the other side of the Konoha's gates.
He knew that he would try to figure out while he was at home.
XxXxXx
Naruto smiled when he felt Sasuke's chakra heading towards the Village and he hurriedly rushed to the gates so that he could welcome his best friend home.
As he watched Sasuke take step after step towards the gate, Naruto resolved himself to give Sasuke a reason to stay in the Village permanently this time. He didn't know how he was going to do that, but he knew that he wasn't going to give up until he thought of something.
His smile widened when Sasuke stopped right in front of him, officially walking back into Konoha's walls.
The two stood in silence for all of ten seconds before Naruto couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Welcome back Sasuke-teme! There's so much that I have to tell you about from these past three years! Let's head to Ichiraku's and catch up over some Ramen" Naruto said with his voice full of excitement.
Sasuke gave his usual noncommittal grunt but the smirk on his face let Naruto know that he was glad to see him too, as the two friends walked together through the Village.
Sasuke's presence was almost instantly noticed by the population of Konoha as his ominous and cold chakra contrasted against Naruto's warm and bright chakra.
Most of the civilians and even some of the shinobi were too scared to even look in his direction, but the few that were brave enough to look, either had a look of hatred or fear in their eyes. A fact that didn't go unnoticed by neither Sasuke or Naruto.
Being the optimist that he was, Naruto attempted to explain away the looks that Sasuke was getting from the Villagers.
"Don't worry about them Bastard, they just haven't seen you in three years. It's going to take them some time to get used to you being here again, but I promise that they aren't thinking anything bad about you. You're a hero of the war!" Naruto said as they finally reached the Ramen Stand.
Internally, Sasuke wanted to laugh as he stared at Naruto with a blank expression. Even that idiot had to see the Villagers stares for what they were. It was obvious that they didn't really want him here.
Sasuke knew hatred when he saw it, and that's all he saw in the eyes of the Konoha citizens, but it didn't really bother him much. He didn't care about what they thought about him, and he knew that he very well might deserve some of those stares.
"Right. I'm sure that they're all just thinking of ways to thank me for fighting for their lives" Sasuke said sarcastically.
Naruto either didn't notice the sarcasm or just decided to ignore it as he agreed with a smile on his face and ordered his usual 8 bowls of Ramen.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and ordered his own bowl as well. He didn't care for the stuff nearly as much as the idiot did, but he could admit that Ramen is tolerable.
For the next few minutes, the two friends chatted aimlessly about what they've been up to for the past three years. Well, more like Naruto chatted and Sasuke listened with little interest and the occasional grunt.
However, their conversation was cut short with the arrival of the rest of the Rookie Nine and Sai led by Sakura.
"Sasuke, you're back!" Sakura shouted happily as she stared at the man that once upon a time held her heart.
Sasuke flinched a little at Sakura's loudness, but quickly recovered and nodded at his other teammate in greeting. She gave him a quick smile before claiming the other seat net to Naruto.
Sasuke watched with concealed interest as the two engaged in a conversation. He had expected Sakura to sit in the seat next to him, but he was pleasantly surprised that it seemed like Sakura was too distracted by Naruto to focus on him.
Now Sasuke wasn't an expert on anything concerning romance, but he wasn't an idiot either. They sat way too close to each other, the banter was very playful and it even seemed that Sakura didn't hit Naruto anywhere near as hard as she used to when they were children.
'Hn, seems like the idiot forgot to mention something' Sasuke thought to himself as his highly trained eyes picked up the slight blush on both of their faces.
Sasuke smirked to himself happy that Sakura finally seemed to be over him, and that Naruto finally got his longtime crush to acknowledge and possibly reciprocate his feelings. It truly was the best possible conclusion for Team 7 in his eyes. Especially considering that he had no attraction towards Sakura in the slightest.
Though, he quickly wiped the smile off of his face before he assessed the rest of the shinobi that entered the Ramen shop with Sakura.
He didn't really have a relationship with any of them before he left the Village and most of them were hostile towards him when he arrived on the battlefield, so he was interested to see how they would respond to his presence now that he wasn't considered a criminal.
Surprisingly, Shikamaru was the first one to speak to him.
"Welcome back to Konoha, Sasuke. Based off of the enormous amount of chakra that I can sense from you, I'm guessing it's safe to assume that you won't be leaving the Village again in search of power?" he asked with a smirk on his face.
Sasuke was caught off guard not only by the comment, but by the double meaning in Shikamaru's words. Sasuke figured that the other genius was clearly trying to test him.
"Still the smart guy huh Shikamaru? I'm sure you've already answered your own question" Sasuke said. Although his comment was dripped in sarcasm, the slight smirk on his face showed Shikamaru that he was at least trying to be a little friendly.
"Yes, I have, and I hope I'm right because having you as an enemy is troublesome. I'd much rather have you as an ally and possibly a comrade, but that decision is yours to make" Shikamaru said as he played with the hairs that were starting to grow on his chin.
Sasuke relaxed his posture a little but didn't respond to the shadow user's comment.
Seeing that the conversation was over Shikamaru walked to the end of the table and sat in the last seat. He was satisfied with his assessment of the situation, so he didn't feel like anymore conversation with the last Uchiha was necessary. He didn't think the Uchiha was completely sure of his path, but being sure that he wasn't going to destroy them all was good enough for Shikamaru.
Choji didn't say anything to Sasuke, but he tilted his bag of chips towards Sasuke. He was confused at first until he noticed the unspoken question in Choji's eyes and was once again surprised by the actions of one of his former classmates.
"No thanks, I'm good, but I appreciate the offer" Sasuke said.
Choji shrugged and went to take a seat next to Shikamaru. He wasted no time in ordering the same number of bowls that Naruto had minutes prior.
Ino was the next to approach him, with Sai following closely behind.
"So, are you back for good this time, or is this just a temporary stop on your journey of redemption?" Ino asked.
It seemed like her statement dripped in sarcasm, but internally Ino was really hopeful that Sasuke would be staying in the Village.
Sasuke's first reaction was to shrug, but he realized that that action probably wouldn't have come across as friendly, so he replied.
"As of right now the plan is to stay in Konoha. We'll see how it goes."
Satisfied with his response, Ino smiled at Sasuke before taking the seat next to Choji. Sai stayed and stared at Sasuke for a moment. Sasuke found the man's staring weird, but he returned the gaze evenly. He didn't want to give him the impression that he was intimidated. Sasuke Uchiha was NEVER intimidated. Suddenly Sai spoke.
"It's nice to see you again…. Duckbutt" he said giving Sasuke a weird smile before going to sit next to Ino.
Sasuke was so shocked by Sai's use of such a disrespectful name that he almost didn't notice the glare that Kiba gave him before he sat down next to Sai.
Sasuke didn't think he did anything wrong to Kiba specifically, he didn't really care that the dog boy seemed to have a bone to pick with him. Kiba was far too weak to pose any kind of threat to him, besides, if he was the only one out of the Rookie Nine that wasn't willing to give him a chance then Sasuke could live with that.
Shino didn't say anything to Sasuke either, but he did give him a nod of acknowledgement, showing that he did in fact feel something about Sasuke's return. From what he remembered; Shino had always been the strong silent type, so Sasuke wasn't offended at all. If anything, he was grateful because that was the method of communication that he was most comfortable with.
Sasuke gave a nod back which seemed to satisfy Shino as he took his seat next to Kiba. The final person to enter Ichiraku's was the Hyuuga girl with long midnight blue hair. Her name escaped him for a moment before he recognized her as the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan. Sasuke believed her name was Hinata.
She never said anything to him while he was in the Village, and if it wasn't for the fact that she was the only girl who never seemed to have a crush on him growing up, Sasuke doubted that he would've ever noticed her.
He had vague memories of her from before the massacre. His mother would often meet her mother for tea when the woman was still alive. She would always bring him along, and Hinata would often be there as well. He and Hinata never spoke to each other during these tea dates, but he remembered being forced to sit next to Hinata for the entirety of the teatime.
He never understood what the two women would talk about, but he was observant enough to realize that they were close; even though the relationship between the Uchiha and Hyuuga Clans were tense at best.
Sasuke was almost sure that his father and Hiashi hated each other. He was too young to understand back then, but now that he's older, he understood it was most likely over Clan politics, or disputes over which dojutsu was superior.
Thinking about it, Sasuke honestly didn't know a definitive answer to that. Although his Sharingan is obviously stronger than every Hyuuga's Byakugan; Kaguya Otsutsuki had a Byakugan that was leagues beyond anything he's ever seen from the dojutsu. So, to him the Byakugan's potential was just as limitless as the Sharingan's.
Sasuke was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the soft voice next to him. He was snapped back into reality when the woman beside him lightly tapped him on the arm.
Sasuke blinked a few times before staring intently at the Hyuuga who blushed a little at the attention before speaking again.
"Sorry for interrupting your thinking, but I was just asking how you were feeling now that you're back in the Village" Hinata said with a soft smile that even the pessimistic Sasuke couldn't deny looked genuine.
Sasuke thought over Hinata's question. He honestly didn't know how he was feeling. All he knew for certain was that he wanted to find a new purpose, but so far, his feelings on Konoha as a whole were conflicting.
He's only been in the Village for an hour or so, and he's received either hostile or fearful gazes from everyone apart from the Rookie Nine. Even within them, there seemed to be some animosity from Kiba. Overall, he was just unsure now.
"Honestly, I don't know how to feel. I'm just taking things a step at a time for right now" Sasuke said slightly surprising himself with the number of words he had spoken to the heiress.
Hinata was surprised as well, but quickly concealed it and looked to continue the conversation before the silence became awkward.
"Well, all of us are here to help you get reacclimated into the Village" she said.
Sasuke grunted in a way that almost sounded like a laugh to Hinata before responding.
"Are you sure about that? Because to me it seems like the mutt isn't that happy to see me" Sasuke asked with a smirk.
Hinata instantly turned to look at Akamaru only to find that the giant dog was rested peacefully next to Kiba's foot. She smiled at the dog before turning back to Sasuke.
"Akamaru isn't bothered by you at all. He wouldn't be so relaxed right now if he was" Hinata said, but Sasuke's smirk only widened before leaning closer to Hinata.
A link pink blush adorned her face at the proximity, but she listened intently as Sasuke spoke so only, she could hear what he said.
"I wasn't talking about the dog, Hinata."
Hinata's eyes widened in realization as she turned once again to observe her other teammate.
Kiba was having a conversation with Shino, but Hinata could tell that he was anything but happy with whatever they were discussing. He gripped the fork in his hand hard enough to bend it, his hair was all standing on end, and after a few seconds his eyes drifted to where Sasuke was sitting. When he noticed Hinata's attention on him; he quickly averted his gaze back to his food. He was obviously irritated, and Shino picked up on it too. He was currently trying to calm him down.
'It's unlike Kiba to be this on edge in the Village. I wonder what's wrong with him' Hinata thought to herself.
As if reading her mind, Sasuke's smirk widened as he responded to her thoughts.
"Isn't it obvious Hinata? He's mad that you're talking to me right now" Sasuke whispered.
Hinata frowned at that. She was a grown woman; she could talk to whoever she wanted too. Besides, that couldn't be it. Kiba never had an issue with her talking to somebody before. There had to be something that she was missing.
She decided that she'd just ask him about it later as she turned back towards Sasuke; only to see that the Last Uchiha was still very close to her.
She blushed at the lack of distance between them, and it took every once of her willpower to stop her from shrieking from surprise. However, she was soon able to recover and conceal her emotions, like the kunoichi she is.
"You're our friend Sasuke. I doubt that whatever's bothering Kiba has anything to do with us talking to each other" Hinata said reassuringly.
Sasuke scoffed at the thought of being friends with anyone currently in the Village besides the Idiot.
Sakura was a teammate art best, calling her a friend would be a bit of a stretch. Shikamaru was okay, but the two of them were nothing more than civil towards each other and that trait didn't necessarily make them friends. Ino was just as annoying and loud as Sakura growing up, so he doesn't have the most positive opinion of her. He never spoke to Choji, Sai or Shino, so the notion of being friends with them was ridiculous, and Kiba literally looked like he was going to try to attack him at any time. Hinata… Hinata was alright so far, but he didn't know if she deserved the 'friend' title just yet.
Instead of verbally saying all of this, he replied with a simple 'Hn.'
"I understand why you don't think so now, but give it some time, and I'm sure that you'll see that we're all here for you. Well, maybe not all of us, but definitely Naruto, Sakura and I." Hinata said.
Sasuke was beyond surprised by Hinata. Not only did she perfectly translate what he meant by 'Hn', but she also included herself in the small list of people that she claimed cared about him.
Seeing Sasuke's surprised expression, Hinata laughed quietly to herself.
"The way you act is a lot like the way my cousin Neji acted. It's easy for me to interpret what you mean by the sounds you make because I've had years of practice learning what the different noises you geniuses make really mean" Hinata said as her eyes glazed over.
Sasuke knew that she was probably remembering Neji, so Sasuke took the opportunity to do the same. He remembered the long haired Hyuuga who was regarded as the prodigy of the class the year before his. He had always wanted to test his skills against him, but he never got the chance too.
Sasuke didn't know what happened to him, but he did know that by the time he arrived on the battlefield; the Hyuuga was nowhere to be seen. It's only natural to assume that he didn't survive the battle against Obito and the Ten Tails.
"Hn. If that's the case, it sounds like this Neji must be a pretty smart guy. I remember him as an overconfident prude that had one too many sticks shoved up his ass, but I did leave the Village, so my opinion of him could be a little outdated" Sasuke said before he could stop himself.
He looked at Hinata to gauge her reaction, and almost slapped himself when he noticed her bottom lip quiver.
'Good going Sasuke. You made the only tolerable person in the Village upset by talking about her possibly deceased cousin. Damn, I really am a bastard' Sasuke thought to himself, but his internal monologue ceased when he heard a quiet laugh coming from Hinata.
Seconds later she exploded in laughter causing the rest of the Rookie Nine to look at her with confusion and curiosity on their faces. However, when she noticed the attention that she was getting, she blushed a deep red and quieted her laugh to a whisper.
"That was mean, but not entirely inaccurate. Though, I'm sure that some people would probably say the same thing about how you used to be when we were younger Sasuke" Hinata replied with a small smile on her face.
Sasuke looked at the woman beside him, not knowing what to think about her. Not only had she been capable of carrying a semi-decent conversation with him, but she had just made a joke at his expense.
He didn't know how many people would be comfortable enough around him to do that. Sasuke was at a lost for words because the stuttering mess of a girl that he vaguely remembered Hinata to be couldn't have been the same woman that he was currently talking to. He wondered what could've changed her so much.
"Fair enough" Sasuke responded with his normal stoic expression, but Hinata could see the amusement in his eyes.
The two continued their conversation for what seemed like hours until they were interrupted by someone else clearing their throat behind them.
"You know, when I received the letter you sent saying that you were returning to the Village, I thought the first thing you'd do was come to my office and demand your district back immediately to seclude yourself there. But this… this is a pleasant surprise." Kakashi said.
Sasuke rolled his eyes when he heard the voice of his former sensei, who just happened to be the Hokage now.
"That was the original plan, but the Loser was waiting for me at the gate, and forced me to get Ramen with him, so here I am" Sasuke replied.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this.
"Is that so? Maybe you should take a quick look around" Kakashi said.
Sasuke was annoyed but did as Kakashi suggested. That's when he realized that it had gotten dark outside and the only people remaining in Ichiraku's were him and Hinata.
'What? When did everyone leave? How long have I been sitting here talking to Hinata? Was I really that lost in our conversation!?' Sasuke thought to himself with the shock clearly showing on his face.
Hinata was thinking similar thoughts as a blush spread across her face. She didn't know why Shino and Kiba left without her, and she didn't even notice them move. She had been completely distracted by her conversation with Sasuke.
She couldn't help but wonder what it looked like to all of her friends watching them talk. She just hoped they didn't get the wrong idea.
Kakashi, seeing that Sasuke finally noticed the situation that he had been caught in, smiled underneath his mask. He had the perfect ammunition to tease his favorite student about.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation, but the owner of the shop said that he was closing for the night, and he was too afraid to ask you to leave. Personally, I just think that he didn't have the heart to interrupt. Y'all just looked so cute sitting there focused on each other" Kakashi said.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at what Kakashi was insinuating, but he was surprised to see that Hinata had a small frown on her face too.
Little did he know, her frown was because of Kakashi's comment about the Ramen man being afraid of Sasuke. He really wasn't a bad guy. If people could push past their bias and fear of him, Hinata knew that Sasuke would actually be a great person to talk to. She was snapped out of her musings by Kakashi.
"Hey Hinata, as much as I love the fact that Sasuke seems to be interested in something other than revenge and redemption, do you think I can have a word with him?
Hinata blushed and nodded while Sasuke's frown deepened. That was the second time that Kakshi made an insinuating statement about them, and Sasuke was beginning to get annoyed. Sure, time may have gotten away from them, but that didn't mean that he was in any way interested in the Hyuuga woman.
"Of course, Lord Sixth! I don't want to intrude on your reunion with Sasuke. Besides, I have to get home soon anyway. Wouldn't want my father sending out a search party. I'll see you later Sasuke!" Hinata said before she bowed and walked away from the Ramen Stand.
Sasuke's eyes followed her under she was no longer visible. When he could no longer feel her chakra without extending his chakra, he sighed. Then he turned to look at Kakshi, who clearly had a smirk underneath his mask.
"When you didn't come straight to my office when you arrived in the Village, I figured I'd find you next to Naruto. Imagine my surprise when I see you with the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan instead. She's a very nice woman wouldn't you agree?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously, but he chose to ignore his question.
"What do you want Kakashi? It's getting late and I'd like to head back to my District to relax" Sasuke monotoned.
"No need to be so snappy Sasuke, I just wanted to welcome my favorite student back to the Village personally. I've heard a lot about your journey throughout the Shinobi World, saving innocents and stopping illegal fighting tournaments, but I'd love to hear about what else you've been doing for the past three years" Kakashi said.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. He wasn't an idiot. He knew that this was just Kakashi's way of seeing if he behaved himself while he was away.
"I'll be sure to make that the first thing I do tomorrow" Sasuke said as he began to walk away.
He was genuinely tired after his journey, so the last thing he wanted to do was spend another couple of hours explaining to Kakashi everything he's done over the years. Not to mention he hated being watched and it was really starting to annoy him. Any longer he'd probably attack those idiots who thought they were so well hidden.
Understanding this, Kakashi nodded and allowed Sasuke to go rest. He sighed and made a gesture with his hand. Immediately fifteen Anbu appeared from the shadows and kneeled before him. Kakashi frowned through his mask and addressed the captain of the squad.
"I thought I told you that I didn't want you to watch Sasuke. Why are you and your team disobeying direct orders?" Kakashi asked with a stern voice.
"With all do respect Lord Hokage, we were just making sure that you were protected in the event that the homicidal Uchiha decided to attack you. We weren't watching him, just making sure you were safe. He was an international criminal who doesn't have the best track record of control" The crow mask said.
Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. While he understood the captain's concern over Sasuke; people like him were the reason that Sasuke was wary of the Hidden Leaf Village in the first place. Most of the citizens just hate him blindly without having a clue about who Sasuke is and why he did the things he did. He sighed in annoyance thinking about how long it'll take before the villagers will be comfortable with Sasuke being around.
"Understood captain, however, the next time I give you instructions I expect you to follow them. Don't let this happen again." Kakashi said as he waved his hand and dismissed them.
'We have a long way to go, but as long as I'm Hokage, I'll defend you to the people. I just hope you don't make me regret this, Sasuke.' Kakashi thought to himself as he took the long way back to his office.
Hey guys it's been years since I made a chapter for a Naruto fic, and I must say it's good to be back. I'm going through things right now but very soon I'll be back to posting on the bi-weekly to even weekly basis! I know some of you are going to ask about the ending of my first fic 'Trying Again' and I'm happy to inform you that the final chapter is in fact completed. There's just some editing that I still have to do before I can post it but stay tuned for that! As always, please review this story! It helps me progress as an author. Any ideas are always welcomed as well! See you soon! – Dishon 3