A/N: So, writing post-Shippuden Sasuke is really difficult. In fact, I think he's a rather complicated character to write, especially Shippuden Sasuke. I'm trying to make his redemption days as believable as possible taking everything into account and based on his reaction at the end of his and Naruto's final fight. If you have any comments, any constructive criticism is more than welcome (as well as normal reviews :3).

I thought Teuchi would be of the first ones to accept Sasuke given that he accepted Naruto when everyone hated him. All in all, I'm trying to stay in character so I can make his character development in a way it can lead to a more open Sasuke.

Ch.17.: Dog Brawl

The next day he was up before the sun had shined its first rays. A cup of green tea had sufficed for breakfast.

As he kicked some poles, Sasuke couldn't help but note his strength hadn't faltered that much during his time confined. Yet he needed to gain his strength back; get stronger was what he needed.

His feet had made him repeat the same route he had followed the day before, not being long before Ichiraku's came to sight. Just at that moment he spotted the old man arriving, their gazes locked and Teuchi greeted him.

"How you doin', kid?"

"Fine, thanks." He responded. They stayed in silence a moment before Teuchi spoke.

"Want me to teach you my famous Shoyu Ramen?"

Sasuke's lips curved into a smirk and nodded before following the man into the establishment.

"Thank you."

They fell into a steady pace, Teuchi chopping the scallions as Sasuke prepared the pork shoulder. Cooking had served to take his mind off all the stuff that had been happening lately. He seemed to forget his problems while cooking, it served as some sort of therapeutic excercise ever since all that stuff with his family had happened. His mind drifted to Neji and how she had been the one to teach him how to cook for himself after his parents' passing. He was reminded of how his heart stopped the moment he saw her jump in front of those spears, just as he was arriving at the battlefield. The way his legs moved before his brain could even register it.

"Okay, let's have a taste." Teuchi sai interrupting his thoughts once he deemed the ramen was ready. He grabbed a spoon and tasted the broth. His eyebrows rose and his expression morphed into a content one.

"Ahh." He sighed. "Perfection." Afterward, he tasted the noodles. "Damn, we do make a good team, boy." Teuchi grinned, Sasuke giving one of his own.

Soon enough the ramen was ready. Teuchi had insisted for Sasuke to stay and eat, but he politely refused. Nevertheless, the old man invited Sasuke to come over whenever he wished to.

Soon enough he found himself walking towards the hospital, remembering Sakura's words about getting his arm (or lack of) problem resolved. The streets leading to the hospital sure were busy ones, a lot of people coming and going out of it.

On his way, in the corner of his eye, he found the other team on his year, sitting on a bench. One of them whispered something and all three heads turned to look at him not so discretely. A member of that team had been giving him the stink eye and actually had the nerve to suddenly growl at him. The raven's eyebrow twitched.

"What ya' looking at, Uchiha?" the man practically growled. Ah, now he remembered who he was. The dog by his size had certainly grown a lot bigger than when they were at the Academy.

Sasuke's eyebrows raised as he glared at him.

"Well, nothing interesting for sure."

"Why you…" a soft hand stopped Kiba.

"K-Kiba-kun, stop. You'll only get into trouble…"

"Hinata, this guy left the village, your cousin and Choji almost died trying to get him back, he killed the Hokage and now he's just roaming freely the streets…!"

Sasuke's stomach churned but he did not allow it to show in his face. Who the hell did this guy think he was?

"Yeah, but h-he saved us with Naruto-kun." She replied, still not letting go of his arm. "And look…" she said stealing his chakra restraining bracelet a glance. Kiba's eyes followed her gaze, widening in understanding.

"Don't think just because I have this, I won't be able to put you in your place." Were Sasuke's words, a dangerous glint appearing in his eyes as he said so.

The Uchiha saw Hinata visibly take a step back and Kiba gulp, yet the dog boy immediately growled, as if trying not to show weakness.

At that moment he felt the ANBU chakra flare. The other three must've felt it too since their heads turned towards the trees, where the ANBU should have been. Kiba gave him one last dirty look before cautiously retreating, his dog, who had shown himself to be calm during the altercation, following while shaking amicably his tail. The Hyuga girl had stayed with him as her teammates retreated, making Sasuke wonder if she was looking for a fight.

"I-I'm sorry for Kiba-kun's actions. H-he's always like that." she instead practically mumbled.

"He better learn to control that temper, " Sasuke threatened, locking eyes with her. "If not, he will get in trouble with the wrong person."

The girl meekly nodded and Sasuke, if briefly, couldn't help but note how different she was from her cousin.

"Also, umm, I wanted to thank you. For everything you did, b-but especially for saving Neji-oneesan." She managed to say while giving him a small bow in thanks.

Sasuke sighed, it wasn't wise of him to get into further trouble and Hinata was basically offering an olive branch, so he forced himself to calm down.

"It was nothing." Hinata nodded before joining her teammates.

Sasuke allowed himself to give a last sigh before he retreated, resuming his path towards the hospital after the turbulent encounter.

He arrived and Shizune immediately received him. The woman kept him until dark as she kept taking his measures and revising his blood, getting everything ready for his new arm. He stayed silent the entire time, the medic-nin also not making an attempt to start a conversation. Once she was finished, he thanked her and left.

Konoha's streets were bright, multiple lanterns hanging outside the stores illuminating the village. Sasuke's strides were long and firm, and it wasn't long before he noticed where his feet were taking him.

The Academy looked exactly the same as it always had. Sasuke's eyes raked all over the old structure, reminiscing the old days that seemed so distant now. He had been at the Academy when his parents were still alive. He always did his best, always trying to reach Itachi, yet he seemed so far away, every passing day even more so. It was Itachi who had helped him get the best grades at shuriken practice. Back then he had blamed himself for so long for not being able to protect his parents from Itachi.

When Sasuke had found out the truth, all the rage went to Danzo. If he were honest, Sasuke would kill Danzo all over again, and knew the man deserved what had happened to him (in fact, he thought he had died too quickly). Even after Danzo was gone, he couldn't get back what had been taken from him. His family, his brother…his innocence. It wasn't until, after experiencing, even if it was for a brief moment, the horrors of war, he could understand why Itachi had done what he did, though it enraged him more how they had manipulated his brother and forced him to carry such a heavy burden.

The raven couldn't bring his family back nor he could turn back the clock and revive all the precious moments he had spent with them. Yet, he could form new ones, he could form and repair the bonds he had broken and form new ones. The Uchiha could make new memories, starting with his not blood-related family: Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. Itachi had given his life for peace but, especially for him to live. Not only to be alive and breathing but to live life at its fullest and, even if it was proving to be difficult, he intended to do so, for Itachi.

The old swing that hanged from a tree on the Academy was slowly swinging, following the wind's rhythm. There was no light and Sasuke could easily smell the trees and grass accompanied by winter's soon arrival. He noticed a presence behind him. Contrary to Karin, he was no sensory ninja and could not identify chakra signature, only presence, yet he knew who it was even before turning around.

"Naruto."

"Sasuke."

Naruto had dark bags under his eyes and his eyes denoted tiredness, yet the flame burning inside them had not dwelled a bit, if nothing it had even intensified.'So this is the Will of Fire.'Sasuke thought remembering his conversation with Hashirama.

"Well, I had never seen a shittiest looking Hokage candidate." Sasuke playfully taunted.

"Ahaha, bastard. How funny." Naruto pouted. "Iruka-sensei has no compassion. You know how much sleep I've been getting recently? All I do all day is read and memorize scrolls-ttebayo."

"You're the one who wanted to be Hokage, dobe."

"And still want, but man." He dragged the 'a' a little too much. "What would I give for more than an afternoon off or better yet, a mission."

"Only you could wish for a mission after all this." The Uchiha sighed. Ah, he still was the same hyperactive knucklehead on that aspect. Always eager to do something. "If what you wish for are constant missions, I assure you that as a Hokage you won't be getting many of those."

"That's why I wanna go on missions before being Hokage, dattebayo! I've gotta, you know..." he paused before snorting. "Enjoy my youth. God, I sounded just like Gai-sensei."

Sasuke shook his head amused and chuckled.

"What are you laughing at, teme!" Yet the blond ended up also laughing. "Aww man, I'm serious. I'm overflowed with every bit of information that's being pushed in my head. I've not had a single chance to hang out with anyone. Everyone's so busy, so when I finally have some time, the rest doesn't. I bet it's Kakashi conspiring against me or something."

At this Sasuke actually laughed.

"I bet screwing you over is one of his Hokage duties. Get prepared Naruto, once you're Hokage you're gonna have to find some poor soul to conspire against."

"Ohohoho, I've already found the poor bastard I'm gonna conspire against and I'm looking at him right now." It could almost feel as if it were the old times. A faint sense of normalcy made its way towards the Uchiha's heart, warming it.

"Well, I don't see the mirror." They both were chuckling, their armless sleeves shaking along their body.

"I had really missed this." Naruto chuckled. His hair had grown and, Sasuke noted, so had his own

The Uchiha could only nod.

"You know, I bumped into Sakura-chan this morning. She told me you two went to eat lunch together yesterday." Naruto wiggled his eyebrows. "So…"

"Usuratonkachi, none of what you are insinuating has or is gonna happen."

"If it wasn't a date now I'm feeling offended you two didn't invite me." The blond feigned being mad but, at the end couldn't help but grin.

"Weren't you just crying because you didn't have enough free time?"

"Oi, I wasn't crying at all, bastard!"

"So, you bumped into Sakura you were saying."

"She told me you were mingling pretty well, actually. Considering..."

Sasuke passed a hand along his face and sighed.

"I almost had an altercation with the dog boy of our generation."

"Kiba?"

"Yes, him, so mingling hasn't been my forte exactly." Sasuke admitted.

"Well, it never was." Naruto deadpanned. "What did that asshole say?" he questioned. Sasuke could see Naruto was ticked off, even more so than himself for the incident.

"He just was looking for a fight, nothing interesting."

"Okay, but what were his exact words?" he insisted.

"Something along the lines of my audacity on walking around the village after everything."

"That bastard…"

"C'mon, Naruto. We both know that's what's crossing the whole village's minds, only he has been the only who has dared to say it to my face."

The Uzumaki's expression fell.

"It's just…" his fist clenched. "It isn't fair. It was both of us who saved the world." Naruto could painfully remember the times when he had been the pariah of the village. The fact that his best friend was going through the same thing made his blood boil. Yet, there was next to nothing he could do about it. All he could do was give Sasuke his full support.

"It was also me the one who fled the village and killed their Hokage."

"Yeah, but you came back! And Danzo was an ass…!"

"Naruto, I know what I did." His eyes went for a second to his friend's armless sleeve. Naruto's brows furrowed.

"It wasn't your fault…"

"Yeah, it was, and I'm sorry…"

"Well, I'm not. An arm for an arm, literally." The blond chuckled. "In my book we're square."

A fond 'usuratonkachi' escaped the Uchiha's lips.

"Everyone will come around, you'll see." Were his friend's words. "Eventually."

Sasuke could only hope so.

They stared at the stars for some time, in complete silence. The same stars they were looking at, were the stars Hashirama and Madara had gazed at in their youth. The same ones he had watched with his brother, that night his parents had gone away, and he and Itachi slept under the stars after an opulent dinner. If he concentrated enough, he could almost feel as if he was back at that moment.

"I won't let anyone get hurt again." Naruto suddenly muttered, his eyes shimmering with raw emotion.

"You can't protect everyone, Naruto."

"Damn right I can't. But I will give my best." It was a promise.

"Go sleep, Naruto." Sasuke told him. "If you're gonna be Hokage you need to be well-rested."

The blond snorted before giving his friend a small smile.

"Take care, Sasuke."