Work Text:
Sasuke stood upon a hill that was their designated rendezvous point, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his former, er, his..team. The cold winds felt like daggers to his skin, and his poncho seemed to fail at keeping him warm. He had never been one for cold weather and agreeing to meet Team Kakashi in the Land of Snow ultimately seemed to be a horrible idea.
His teeth began chattering which only added to his annoyance. He dug the toe of his left ninja boot into the ground, silently cursing himself for agreeing to this mission. His body normally gave off more heat than the average individual, but even the natural furnace inside of him was no match for the freezing temperatures of the Land of Snow.
It had been almost two years since he last saw his team. They wrote him occasional letters, updating him on the happenings of the village. He usually didn’t have time to respond, but he appreciated the letters nonetheless, and considering they kept coming in, he assumed they understood as much.
Kakashi contacted the Uchiha about two weeks ago regarding an S-rank mission with a known mobster as the target. Sasuke didn’t normally accept missions while he was on his journey seeking atonement, but they needed his Sharingan and so, he reluctantly agreed to help. They were supposed to meet him half an hour ago, but of course they were late. He had a sneaking suspicion that his old, grey-haired sensei had something to do with it.
He shivered once again as the harsh winds raged on. He brought his remaining palm close to his mouth, and delicately began to gather his breath, ready to blow a slight Katon Gokakyu No Jutsu. As soon as he exhaled, he heard a loud crashing sound, causing him to burn himself.
“Fuck,” he grimaced more in annoyance than in pain. He heard rumbling noises to his right, alerting him of a battle taking place nearby. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. That couldn’t be..
“SHANNAROO!”
That was them. That was definitely them. He immediately whipped his head towards the sounds of shouting and took off in that direction.
--
He came across a rough terrain, blanketed in snow. Forrest trees lined the peaks of the hills and from the distance, he could make out four figures jumping from branch to branch, clashing with enemy ninjas dressed in all black. They seemed to be fighting on the defense, clearly out numbered. The attire the enemies sported seemed to be warm, probably adjusted for the climate. These ninjas definitely originated from the Land of Snow.
The ninjas in black were on the offense, trying to push the battle upwards, which meant trouble. Too much force could easily cause an avalanche, putting everyone who was in the vicinity in harm’s way. This put Team 7 at a huge disadvantage, Naruto and Sakura especially, who both used very potent moves.
Naruto was the first, and thanks to his traffic cone inspired outfits, the easiest to spot. He was mostly using taijutsu to ward off the attackers. Sasuke figured Naruto was playing it safe, as too many shadow clones could add unnecessary weight, causing more harm than good in this situation, while a powerful Rasengan would surely cause massive destruction on this terrain.
Naruto was growing impatient with the endless amount of rogue nin that seemed to be coming at him from every direction. He was trying his hardest to ignore the temptation to summon a few clones to get the job done faster, but with each slight shake of the ground below him, he reminded himself not to take the chance.
“Damn it,” he cursed to himself, while swiftly moving to dodge a kunai aimed his way. The culprit was to his left, and Naruto leapt up into the air and landed behind the nin. Before the enemy could finish turning around, Naruto hit him hard enough to knock him unconscious. “Take that, you bastard!”
His excitement was cut short however, when he heard a noise behind him.
He readied another fist while rotating in that direction, but he stopped himself when he saw no other than Sasuke, joining in on the action. He knew that they were meeting his best friend, but still, the shock of seeing him after so long was not lost on him. “Oy, Sas-“
Suddenly, Sasuke kicked a man off the ledge and Naruto remembered they were still in battle. Three other nin made their way towards them, and Sasuke jumped in the air, kicking one nin down and then using the momentum to bounce off him and back flip into the air while blowing a katon at another ninja. Naruto took this opportunity to sneak up behind the remaining nin and hit him with a powerful punch, rendering him as useless as his fellow teammates.
“Couldn’t let you take them all, y’know,” Naruto grinned in triumph.
Before Sasuke could retort back, they heard shouts above them. They looked up to see Sakura, outnumbered five to one, and the two hastily made their way up to help her. Sasuke could see the panic in her eyes, and the glowing chakra around her fist, and he realized with dread what she was about to do.
“Sakura, no-“ The dark haired ninja yelled out, attempting to stop her.
But it was too late. Sakura’s chakra infused fist hit the ground with an omnipotent punch, immediately causing a huge crack to form into the surface. This sent the nin around her flying in every direction and the atmosphere surrounding them began rumbling dangerously.
Sakura turned behind her, fear taking over as she realized what she had done. Too stunned to move, she thought for a moment that this was it.
--
Instead, she felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her into the air. Relief immediately took over when she realized it was her sensei. They landed on one of Sai’s ink birds that hurriedly rushed them into a nearby cave. Almost as soon as they made it in there, the entrance of the cave was closed off by snow.
Horrified, Sakura hopped off the bird, running towards the direction of the entrance. She felt someone, probably Kakashi, grab her arm, and she turned around ready to protest.
“But Kaka-sensei, Naruto-“ She was surprised when instead of Kakashi, she was met with the cold gaze of two familiar, onxy eyes.
“Sasuke-kun,” she barely managed to choke his name out, stunned by his appearance. She didn’t even notice Naruto standing behind him.
“Don’t worry Sakura-chan, I’m okay,” the blonde rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and Sakura began to blush at the thought of how frantic she must have sounded moments ago.
Sasuke released her arm without a word and made his way towards the corner where Sai stood, flashlight in hand.
“Can’t the bastard just do his fire release and melt the snow?” Naruto questioned. Sasuke instantly scoffed in response, “And cause more damage?” Naruto started grumbling to himself incoherently while Sasuke approached Sai.
Despite not knowing him well, Sai could already sense that Sasuke was scouting for wood. Sai complied by reaching into pack, silently handing over logs that he kept in case of emergency. Sasuke took the wood and began clearing an area to light the fire.
Tensions were high in the room, and no one spoke as they waited on him to blow a katon and light a fire.
--
The team had been huddled around the fire for warmth for more than ten minutes, and still not a word had been uttered.
Naruto and Sakura’s eyes darted back and forth nervously and Sasuke was convinced they were morons if they thought he didn’t notice. His irritation grew and he surprised everyone by being the first to break the silence.
“That was reckless,” he said, annoyance laced in his tone. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he was referring to Sakura’s punch which led them to their current predicament.
Stunned, Sakura didn’t know what to say. When she imagined seeing Sasuke again for the first time in almost two years, this is not what she had in mind. She thought she would ‘wow’ him once more with her continued growth in power, not trap them all in a cave. Disappointed and embarrassed, she hung her head low, as her eyes began to water.
Sensing his teammate’s distress, Naruto immediately sprung to his feet in a defensive stance, shouting at Sasuke, “Hey you bastard! Don’t blame Sakura-chan, she only did what she had to do!”
“She acted impulsively,” Sasuke responded coldly.
“She was outnumbered!” Naruto argued back, throwing his hands into the air. “Besides, we’re all fine anyway. I don’t see the big deal.”
“Naruto.” Sakura cut him off and everyone turned to face her. Shoulders still low, she spoke in a barely audible voice. “I can speak for myself,” Naruto appeared hurt at her words, but didn’t say anything as she continued, “besides, Sasuke-kun is right. I-I acted impulsively, I’m sorry I put you all in danger..” she trailed off, hurt evident in her tone.
“It’s okay, really, Sakura-chan. Don’t let that bastard,” he turned to sneer at Sasuke, “get to you. You know he’s always in a bad mood-“
“My mood was fine until I had to come rescue you all-“
“Rescue!? We were doing fine without you!” Naruto shouted, his voice echoing in the cave. Kakashi debated on stepping in, but before he had the chance, Sai spoke up instead.
“Naruto, don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Everyone stopped to stare in the direction of the pale ninja. He put a hand to his chin, contemplating. He continued, speaking in an analytical tone, “Sakura already apologized for what happened and yet, you’re still screaming in her defense. I believe I read about this in a book once, something about ‘defending your lover’s honor’ I think..”
Both Sakura and Naruto blanched at Sai’s words. Before Sai could finish his thoughts, he was swiftly knocked to the ground. Sakura towered over him dangerously, the vein in her forehead throbbing. Kakashi sighed.
“Sai, now is not the time for another one of your weird comparisons from whatever cheesy romance novel you think is going to give you insight into the real world,” Even as Sakura spoke, she knew her words were harsh, but at this point, she couldn’t find it in herself to care. Her embarrassment over her previous actions coupled with Sai’s inappropriate response was getting to her.
Sai’s face remained blank, not giving any indication on whether her words affected him or not. He retorted back calmy, “Geez Ugly, you act as if I was personally attacking you with my comment. If anything, you should be grateful that Naruto seems to love you despite your monstrous strength-“
Sakura immediately readied another fist, but Kakashi grabbed her elbow, stopping her. “Now, now,” he spoke with a playfulness to his tone, smiling under his mask, “How about we all take a moment to calm down?”
“That’s rich coming from you.” Sasuke stood up, anger evident in his voice.
“Sasuke-kun, what are you-“ Sakura questioned, but was cut off by the dark haired nin.
“I’d bet money the entire situation could have been avoided had you for once, arrived on time, Kakashi.” He sneered in the direction of their team leader. Sasuke was never one for honorifics, but the way he said Kakashi’s name was purposefully disrespectful, indicating he found him at fault.
Not surprisingly, Kakashi didn’t respond. Naruto, however, wouldn’t stand to listen to this. “You’ve got a lot of nerve,” His voiced wasn’t raised as it usually was when he was angered, instead it was low and deep. “You come in here insulting Sakura-chan and then Kaka-sensei, as if you have any right. Everything they do, they do for us. For the team. When was the last time you thought about the team? When was the last time you thought about anyone but yourself!?” The blonde roared out the last line and the cave grew silent.
Sasuke stared him down, unsure of what to say. Is this what they thought of him? Here he was, traveling the world, trying to make up for his past deeds, and yet everyone still thought of him as nothing but a self-centered, careless man.
“Naruto,” Kakashi tried to intervene. He wasn’t hurt by Sasuke’s previous accusations, he knew the anger was misdirected, and he definitely wasn’t interested in watching Naruto and Sasuke duke it out for the hundredth time since he’s known them.
“Kaka-sensei, I’ve seen the sacrifices you’ve made for us! The sacrifices that Sakura has made for the team! But this bastard, he doesn’t even think about us! If it wasn’t for the mission, you would have gone even longer without speaking to us, because even after everything we’ve been through, you’re still avoiding us!”
Sasuke clenched his fist. The hurt in Naruto’s voice didn’t go without notice, but how he dare he accuse him of avoiding the team? Of not caring for them?
“He’s right.”
Sasuke froze. He whipped his head in the direction of the voice, just to affirm what he had just heard. That was Sakura who just agreed with Naruto. That was Sakura who just reaffirmed that they thought so little of him. Of everyone, he didn’t expect her to feel this way about him too.
She refused to meet his gaze, choosing to look at the ground instead. Still, she continued to speak albeit her voice was shaky, “Naruto and I..we keep waiting for you to return. We wait for you to respond to our letters. But god, you just-I don’t understand you!” She lifted her head, although her eyes were brimming with tears, her expression displayed absolute rage. Her eyebrows were knit together, and her jaw was clenched.
“You just keep putting more and more distance between us! We just keep waiting for you-”
“I never asked you to!” Sasuke was surprised at the sound of his own voice. Usually, he was able to keep emotions in check, but he had had it with the accusations. He collected himself and responded with a cold quality, “I never once asked any of you to wait on me. You two are the ones who keep trying to force this team on me.” He knew his words cut deep.
Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura all stood frozen in place, Sasuke’s words weighing heavily on their hearts. Sai felt awkward amongst them all.
Unable to respond, Sakura turned on her heel and stalked off deeper into the cave. She needed to get away from him, she needed a moment to process his words and the way he really felt.
“Sakura-chan..” Naruto wanted to go after her, but Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder. He knew Sakura needed the space.
“Way to go, traitor.” Sai spoke up, and for the time, there was a venomous quality to his words. Upon instinct, Sasuke’s sharingan flashed in warning, but in one swift jerk, Naruto had Sai’s shirt bunched up in his fists as he stared him down, threateningly. “Listen here, you asshole. Don’t you ever say that about him again.” Kakashi pried Naruto off him and Sai flushed, feeling incredibly self-conscious about his words and confused at his teammate’s response.
He was still trying to understand Team 7. He had grown close to Naruto and Sakura, and even Kakashi to an extent, but in times like this, he still felt left out. One minute, Sasuke was causing them pain once again, and the next they were defending him like their lives depended on it.
“I’m going to go find ugly,” He muttered as he excused himself from the group to follow behind her.
--
Kakashi could think of a million places he would rather be than in this cave, sitting between an angry Naruto and Sasuke. He knew his pupils well, maybe better than they knew themselves, and he certainly knew that neither one of them would hesitate to choose violence. He’d rather be playing another stupid game of rock, paper, scissors with Guy than be here. He’d rather be chasing after that old woman’s cat again, than to be here. Hell, he’d rather be at his Hokage desk, doing his paperwork than to be in-between these two emotionally volatile students of his.
They continued to leer at each other, each one silently daring the other to speak. Sasuke stood up, and Naruto’s posture immediately stiffened in response.
Sasuke scoffed in his direction, “I’m just looking for more firewood, you moron.”
Naruto’s shoulders relaxed, but his expression shifted from one of anger to one of sadness.
“Why, Sasuke?” He started, and Sasuke instinctively rolled his eyes, but the knucklehead ninja did not back down. “Why? Why do you keep avoiding us? You’re hurting us..you’re hurting Sakura-chan.”
“Keep Sakura’s name out of your mouth!” Sasuke snapped back at him, and Naruto rose to his feet in a challenging stance. Sakura was dangerous territory for the two teammates.
“You’re always speaking for Sakura, as if she can’t speak for herself. Stop acting like you know how she feels!”
“I do know how she feels! I know better than you, that’s for sure! Because while you’ve been away, acting like we don’t exist, I’m the one who’s been there for Sakura.”
Sasuke winced. Naruto continued on, this time speaking in a hushed tone, “She loves you, you know? Hell, of course you know that, but you act like you don’t even care. You’re so fucking- you’re just-you’re just an ungrateful bastard!”
“And you’re just jealous.” The words slipped out of his mouth carelessly, and Naruto appeared stunned.
That was it, that was his breaking point. Naruto charged towards his best friend, who quickly leapt out of the way. Sasuke came up behind, fist connecting with Naruto’s jaw. Naruto immediately got back up, hitting Sasuke with an equally powerful punch.
“You don’t deserve her!” The blonde shouted in a rage, while they both charged against each other again. Sasuke kicked him in the stomach in response. Naruto jumped back up and formed familiar hand signs, summoning a shadow clone. Sasuke aimed a punch at the shadow clone, and as it vanished with a poof, Naruto was able to grab his teammate from behind, forcing him into a headlock.
“She worries over you, you bastard! You should see the look in her eyes when someone even mentions your name!” Sasuke managed to slip away from Naruto’s grip, then he threw the blonde onto the ground.
Poof. Another shadow clone. “And it kills me that I can’t do anything about it,” Naruto said, sneaking up from behind. Naruto kicked him down, but Sasuke caught himself before he hit the ground.
“Cry me a fucking river,” Sasuke sneered as he swung on Naruto. As Naruto fell, Sasuke grabbed onto his shirt and began spinning him, “And what the hell has being the ‘good guy’ done for you, huh?” He questioned before throwing Naruto into the wall. “No matter how hard you try, she’ll never want you loser.”
Naruto got back up, eyes flashing dangerously red with Kurama’s chakra. Sasuke’s words had clearly had an effect on him.
“You think I don’t know that!” He shouted in a rage, running as fast as lightning in Sasuke’s direction. He punched him square in the jaw, and Sasuke fell back with force. “You think I don’t realize that no matter what I do, she’ll never see how much I love her!”
--
Sakura sat on the ground, leaning her back against the cold walls of the cave, arms wrapped her knees. She could hear Sai’s footsteps approaching her but couldn’t bring herself to look up at him as he sat down next to her. She felt awful for what she had said to him earlier. Although the pair occasionally engaged in banter, it wasn’t like Sakura to hit below the belt.
“Ugly,” he approached her casually, as if words hadn’t been exchanged between them earlier.
“Sai, I feel terrible for what I said!” She blurted out. Sai took her in, realizing that she was genuinely upset over the possibility of hurting his feelings, and then he flashed her a compassionate smile.
“Don’t worry about it, ugly. I’m not upset.” Sakura returned his smile, feeling relieved. Sai took the opportunity to voice his true thoughts aloud.
“I don’t understand why you keep letting him hurt you,” the shock upon hearing his words was evident in her features, and internally Sai panicked that he might have pushed the conversation back into tumultuous waters.
“Not everything is for you to understand,” Sakura piped back. He exhaled in frustration.
“Time and time again, you and Naruto stick your necks out for him, and for what?” Sakura snapped her neck up, eyes burning with anger, but Sai continued to speak. “Do you really think he would the same for you?”
“Of course he would!” Despite the argument she and Naruto had with them earlier, Sakura never once doubted Sasuke’s loyalty.
“Sasuke has and always will be a member of cell seven. No amount of silly arguments will ever change that.” Sai took this in.
“I find it interesting how devoted you two are to him, yet you don’t extend this same acceptance towards me,” He concluded, “I suppose there will always be a spot on Team 7 reserved for Sasuke. However, I wonder if you will ever make enough room for me.”
Sakura was stunned into silence.
--
Love? Did Naruto say he loved Sakura? Sure, Sasuke was aware of Naruto’s feelings..but love?
Fury took over him, and Sasuke leapt back to his feet, rushing towards his teammate. Naruto quicky dodged and aimed another punch, but he missed as Sasuke back flipped out of the way. Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s arm, still in midair from throwing the punch he had missed, then he spun the blonde towards him so they were face to face. Naruto was quickly met with a punch to nose, drawing out blood.
Naruto was momentarily dazed, but Sasuke wasn’t done. He struck Naruto again, this time bringing the blonde back to his senses. Naruto formed his signature hand sign, alerting Sasuke to the two clones appearing on either side of him.
Sasuke roundhouse kicked the clones, while the real Naruto jumped in the air and then struck Sasuke from above. Sasuke rolled back onto his feet, and then shoved Naruto from the side, pushing his head into the wall. Sasuke aimed another fist at the blonde’s face, but Naruto quickly used his arm to block the throw. He aggressively threw Sasuke off of him with incredible force, that ended up knocking both of them backwards.
Rage had overtaken the two of them and both of them stared at each other intensely. On the right side of the cave, Naruto readied a Rasengan in his left palm, while on the opposite end, Sasuke’s right hand flicked blue.
“ENOUGH.” Kakashi’s voice bellowed out into the cave, bringing the homicidal energy to a halt. The enraged men whipped their heads in the team leader’s direction. They had forgotten he was there.
His voice was stern, and his eyes were full of disappointment. He shook his head while staring at the two, almost in disbelief at what he had just witnessed.
“You two should be ashamed of yourselves! You’re grown now and yet, you’re still behaving like children. You’re both so quick to respond with your fists instead of using your words, like adults.”
Naruto shrunk back, influenced by Kakashi’s statement. He looked down at his hand in shame, he had never meant for it to go this far. He let the Rasengan vanish from his palm. The Chidori light in Sasuke’s palm also flickered out. The two men slowly backed down, each choosing to sit down on logs on opposite sides of the cave walls.
Kakashi took a deep breath, before turning to look at Naruto. “Sasuke’s right about one thing. You need to stop speaking for Sakura,” Naruto’s fist clenched in response, but he said nothing in return. “You keep referring to how Sakura feels, when in reality, you’re speaking of your own feelings.” Naruto’s head hung low, knowing there was truth to his words that he was unable to argue with.
“And Sasuke,” Kakashi began, turning towards the Uchiha’s direction. His face portrayed no sense of emotion, but inside, he was still seething. However, the fact that he hadn’t scoffed or said anything, was a sign that he was open to hearing what the older man had to say. “Your journey of atonement is important, no one’s denying this, but while you’re out there, you can’t forget that you have a team-a family, waiting for you at home.”
Home. Sasuke still wasn’t sure if Konoha would ever feel like ‘home’ to him again, but he kept these thoughts to himself.
“I know going out of your way during your travels would inconvenience you, but a visit or even a few letters here and there wouldn’t hurt. Sometimes we do things that inconvenience us for those that that are dear to us,” Kakashi glanced at Naruto, “Being Hokage was never something I had in mind for myself and believe it or not, I don’t always enjoy the tasks required of me.”
“Could have fooled me,” Naruto replied sarcastically. Kakashi shot a smile Naruto’s way, “but I do it anyway, because I’m holding this seat for you, Naruto.” Naruto couldn’t help but smile, touched by his sensei. “I would do anything for my team,” Kakashi added.
Naruto and Sasuke took this in, and then stared at each other, both wearing apologetic looks.
Naruto spoke first.
“I’m happy for you, y’know? I’m happy that you’re doing what you need to do in order to get your shit together, it’s just..sometimes, it feels like there’s this big hole in our team. You guys are the only family I’ve ever known, and I guess sometimes I feel like you don’t want to be apart of this family. Like you’ll never really return to us..”
Sasuke frowned. He had never intended for them to feel as if he wanted nothing to do with them. He sighed, looking off into the distance, unable to face them. “I’m still learning how to forgive myself for the things I’ve done. I’ve always planned on returning to Konoha, but I wanted to wait until I could return as the best version of myself.”
“We’ll accept any version of you, Sasuke.” Kakashi nodded along in agreement. A smile tugged at Naruto’s lips and spoke in a more upbeat tone, “No matter what you do, you’ll always be like a brother to me!” He smiled at him sincerely. “And Sakura-chan will always accept you too, there’s no doubt about it.”
Upon hearing her name, Sasuke frowned. He couldn’t help but think of their previous conversation with the Kunoichi. “You were right.” He stated in a somber tone.
“Huh?”
“What you said earlier..you were right about Sakura. She deserves better. She deserves someone who’s there.”
Naruto appeared shocked for a moment, then he burst into a hearty laugh. Both Sasuke and Kakshi turned towards him in confusion. Sasuke’s brow twitched in irritation, the sentimental tone of the conversation quickly faded into one of annoyance. “What’s so funny loser?”
“I was just imagining the way Sakura-chan would literally knock some sense into you if she heard you right now,” his tone then shifted from one of playfulness to seriousness. “She talks about you like you put the stars into the sky, you ass.”
“I can’t imagine she’s actually forgiven me for-“
“Oh, come on!” The loud ninja protested. “Sakura already forgave you, Sasuke. You have to believe that” he closed his eyes and a sad smile overtook his features, his voice growing quiet as he spoke, “Her happiness means the world to me, but so does yours’. I’m okay with burying my own feelings if it means I get to see my best friends happy together,” he then opened his eyes and added in a gruff tone, “I just wish you two would stop being so stubborn!”
--
Sakura’s heart clenched with pain. She hated the thought of Sai feeling like an outsider. She didn’t realize that he still felt as if he didn’t fit in. She internally searched for the right words to say, but nothing came to mind. Instead, she pulled him into a tight hug.
“You are already apart of Team 7. You will always be a part of Team 7. As a matter of fact, there is no Team 7 without you. Without Naruto. Without Kaka-sensai. Without Sasuke-kun,” Sai could feel the tears slipping off of her face and dripping onto his shoulders.
“You are just as important as anyone else in the team, Sai. I hope you know that.”
Sai mulled over this. In the past, he had gone back and forth in his mind, trying to decipher if he was really a part of this team. He wanted to argue back the reasons for why he felt the disconnect, but there was something about the way Sakura said these words that made him hesitate to do so. Her voice was so full of raw honesty, that he believed her. He finally believed it. He reluctantly, awkwardly, hugged her back.
Sakura smiled. “You believe me, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Would this be a bad time to remind of your gruesome strength?” Sakura flushed in embarrassment and immediately relinquished her grip on him.
She leaned back against the wall, and stared up at the dark cave ceiling above them. “The thing is, Sai,” she started, deciding this was a good time to clue him on something about bonds that he didn’t quite seem to grasp, “we’re a family, all of us. And family never gives up on each other, no matter what. No matter how many times Sasuke-kun pushes us away, or Kaka-sensei shows up late for our missons, or Naruto drags us to Ichiraku’s again-“
“I am growing tired of ramen,” Sai grumbled and Sakura couldn’t help but chuckle at him, understanding the feeling.
“No matter how upset we get with other, or how annoyed we grow of each other, we can never, ever give up on each other. Giving up isn’t an option.”
Because Sakura knew that when it came down to it, she loved her team. Kakashi loved his team. Naruto loved his team. Although weary of Sasuke, Sai loved his team. And Sasuke..tolerated his team. Maybe he loved them too.
“I think I understand.”
They smiled at each other, but then Sai looked away as his thoughts shifted somewhere else. “Does this mean you’ll forgive him for what he said earlier?”
“I already have.” Sakura stood up, looking back towards the direction from which they came.
“We should get back to them,” she decided, and Sai followed along.
--
Both Sakura and Sai were surprised to hear laughter as they approached the entrance of the cave. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi sat around the fire, enjoying the warmth of the flames. Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be exchanging quips with each other in good nature, while Kakashi was reading his book.
“Sakura-chan!” Naruto beamed at the sight of them. Her heart warmed at her friend, always so excited for her presence.
She snuck a glance in Sasuke’s direction, a part of her afraid that he was still upset with her. Instead of seeing anger or annoyance in his features, he seemed to display a look she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She had seen him sport a similar expression once before, after his fight with Naruto when he apologized to her.
Before she could look too far into it, she noticed something else about the Uchiha. There was a nasty cut near his right eyebrow and another one near his lips. She instantly whipped her neck in Naruto’s direction and sure enough, there was some bruising under his left eye and what appeared to be dried blood near his nose.
Sakura began fuming. “Don’t tell me you IDIOTS got into a fight,” the question was rhetorical, and Naruto and Sasuke both shrunk back into themselves, neither one of them daring to speak up.
Sakura closed her eyes and inhaled a sharp breath. Green chakra began forming around both fists, causing Naruto to flinch.
Surprisingly, Sakura felt a calming hand on her shoulder, and opened her eyes to see Sai.
“Remember what you said earlier? Something about, no matter how annoyed we grow of each other..” Naruto and Sasuke exchanged confused glances and Sakura let out the breath she had been holding.
“Right,” She said, deciding to let the matter go. “Well, we should probably form a plan to get out of this situation,” she stated and the boys were silently thankful for the change of conversation.
Kakashi waived her off, “Already taken care of. I summoned Pakkun and gave him a letter to deliver to Konoha. Help is on its way.” She smiled at this.
“In the meantime, I’m starving!” Naruto whined as he jumped to his feet, heading for their packs sitting in the corner. “Naruto, that’s not yours!” Sakura barked at him and he quickly let go of the pink colored backpack he had in his hands. “Fine,” he grumbled and began rummaging through his own.
Sakura sat down on the log next to Sasuke. All of her previous anger with him had vanished, and she was just happy to be around him once more. Sasuke rose from his log and for a split second, Sakura was afraid he wanted to put distance in-between them. Instead, he moved towards her and sat directly next to her.
He wore that same somber look on his face, and she struggled to decipher what it meant.
After a moment of silence, he spoke, “Sakura, what I said earlier-I’m-I didn’t mean-“ he stopped speaking for a second, growing frustrated with himself and his inability to form a proper sentence. He turned his head to face her and mustered up his courage once more. Sasuke had always been a man of pride, but he knew in this instance, it wasn’t worth it. “I’m sorry, Sakura. I never meant for you to think that I was purposely avoiding you. I wanted to handle my own issues before I saw you because I didn’t want to risk hurting you again..I didn’t realize that I was hurting you even more by doing so.”
“Sasuke-kun..” she stared at him blankly, processing his words.
“I..support you, you know that? I know that it’s important for you to finish your journey, I was being selfish-“
“No,” He countered, “You weren’t being selfish. Quite the opposite, actually..” He trailed off for a moment, replaying memories in his mind. “You’ve always waited on me, Sakura. Even when I committed unspeakable crimes, you waited for me to return home. I think you might be the most selfless person I know.”
Sakura blushed. Praises from Sasuke were rare, but completely sincere when they did happen. He reached for her hand and Sakura was caught off guard by the contact. Still, her body instantly reacted, accepting the attention.
“I don’t want you to think that you’ve been waiting for nothing.” His eyes bore into hers, and she squeezed his hand in response.
“I’m just so happy that you’re here now,” her voice was so full of love as she spoke, and her green eyes shone brightly. Naruto said that she acted as if Sasuke was the one who put the stars in the sky but in this moment, as he gazed into her jade orbs, he was convinced it was she, who lit up the darkness.
--
Naruto finally managed to find some jerky at the bottom of his backpack. It wasn’t much, but his stomach was growling and at this point, he was thankful to snack on anything he could get his hands on.
He turned around, eager to join his teammates once again, but paused momentarily at the sight before him. Sakura and Sasuke were sitting next to each other, with Sakura’s hand in his. A light blush dusted her cheeks.
An unfamiliar feeling churned in his stomach. He gave them a pained, but heartfelt smile.