Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Of Hearts and Dreams ❯ A renewal of acquaintance ( Chapter 2 )

Of Hearts and Dreams

Chapter 1 - A renewal of acquaintance

 

 

"Hokage-Sama!" The muffled voice rang from the other side of the thick wooden door.

 

"Hai-Hai, Come..." Naruto answered wearily, rubbing one eye as he continued stamping his seal onto each and every new Genin recruit's paperwork. "What tedious work..." he grumbled, not glancing up as a chuunin messenger stepped up to his desk. "I really didn't expect this much paperwork... I'd really rather be at Ichiraku's right now." He smiled widely at the messenger and gave the young man his full attention. "What can I do for you, Hashi-san?"

 

"Hokage-Sama, I was told to come tell you that Uchiha Sasuke has been spotted and detained at the outskirts of the village. Kakashi-san would like to know of your wishes?"

 

Naruto took a deep, slow breath, fingers forming a steeple. "Well good, it's about time he got back." he said lightly, flashing a beaming smile. "Tell Uchiha that the Hokage requests a meeting with him immediately." He looked back down at his paperwork and continued with what he was doing, signaling that the conversation was over. Once the door was closed, Naruto let out the sigh he was holding in. "It's about time. Bastard." He stood and walked to the window, his stomach knotted with...what? Uncertainty? Nervousness? He wasn't quite sure, though he admitted that he was slightly nervous. All these years, he'd been bitter about Sasuke no longer acknowledging him, be it as a friend, a teammate, or even just a fellow citizen. Now, Sasuke would have to acknowledge him and they would be, for the first time in seven years, face-to-face, eye-to-eye. It was nerve wracking, but Naruto steeled himself. He was Hokage, and this was part of his job. And... this was Sasuke. 'There goes those damned butterflies again' he thought to himself, absently rubbing his stomach, eyes scanning the rooftops of the leaf village.

 

Will you stop mooning over that brat, brat? You're giving me a headache with your emotions pummeling around like this. You sound like a girl with all that bitching and sighing!

 

"Oh shut up, baka fox." Naruto grinned ruefully despite himself, his nerves strangely at ease all of a sudden. His eyes didn't budge from their vacant staring out the window until a sharp knock sounded at the door.

 

 

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As soon as he had realized that Itachi was heading towards Konoha, Sasuke knew it was inevitable that he would have to go home and answer for his tardiness, either willingly or through capture. He wasn't so sure that he wouldn't just be assassinated, but he didn't think Tsunade would be quite so brash.

 

Sasuke leapt through the trees silently, his eyes focused but his mind slightly askew with fragmented thoughts. It hadn't been his intention to become, once again, a missing nin. He was on a simple mission that was completed quickly, silently and without any problems, when he had decided to take a slightly less populated route back to Konoha, when on the first day of his journey, he had felt a strong chakra. A familiar chakra.... one that he could not ignore. Since that time, it had been a game of cat and mouse, but much to Sasuke's fury, he wasn't sure if he was playing the part of the feline or the rodent. His brother had managed to slip out of his grasp every time he came close to catching up, and he had wound up going on a blind chase that took him farther and farther away from his village, until finally, Itachi's trail began heading straight back towards the Leaf. Sasuke frowned.

 

He had many thoughts on why Itachi had chosen to run from him instead of face him, but more of a mystery was why he chose to turn towards Konohagure. His stomach stirred uneasily as he thought of him. He was in the village. And as far as Sasuke knew, Itachi still wanted to get a hold of the blonde haired ninja. Sasuke's frown deepened, hands clenching into white-knuckled fists. He had blocked himself off from Naruto, hadn't laid eyes on him in many years; but the thought of his brother touching the dobe set his skin itching to tear, maim and kill.

 

Sasuke stalled briefly, leaning against the trunk of a tree. Itachi's trail was still clear to him, but it was old. He began to leap off the branch he was standing on, when a movement caught his eye. Prepared to fight, he dropped down into a fighting stance, kunai's held between every finger on both hands.

 

"Uchiha." A voice drawled to him from above before a blur appeared behind him.

 

Sasuke sighed, putting his weapons away quickly, ebony eyes flickering as he was surrounded by his team of Anbu, a team of chuunin appearing a few seconds later. Sasuke took his Anbu mask off and swiped hair out of his eyes before turning around to face the one behind him. "Kakashi-sensei. Nice of you to come out here and meet me..."

 

The gray haired Anbu smirked under his black facemask, his Anbu mask dangling loosely in his hand. "Don't mention it, former student of mine." His eyes crinkled with a smile as he motioned to the chuunin team, one of the members nodding briefly before they disappeared into the forest. "You've been gone a while. We've been worried about you..."

 

Sasuke fixed him with a gaze. "Has Itachi been seen around the village?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly. The rest of the Anbu team had fallen back, a few already blending into the surrounding forest.

 

Kakashi seemed to pause before speaking. "That's something you'd have to ask the Hokage about. Besides, you know me, I don't know anything that goes on around here." He said, whining slightly. Sasuke shook his head. Things never changed.

 

"Yeah right." He muttered before a shape drew his attention. One of the Chuunin reappeared, having dropped out of a tree. Sasuke watched mutedly as the ninja strode to the Anbu captain and muttered something. Kakashi let a slow smile spread across his face. "Uchiha Sasuke! You are to report to the Hokage at once! I'll escort you, you lucky devil you..."

 

The black haired “missing” Anbu shook his head and darted up into the trees after his old sensei and now-team leader. He knew he was about to get a reaming from the old hag, and while he knew he deserved it, that didn't mean he had to like it, or that he had to be regretful for his crime. They knew when they accepted him back into service that his life goal was still the same, and that he would go after it no matter what. Upon entering the village, he was put at ease when everything seemingly peaceful and in once piece. If his brother had been there, he hadn't caused much visible trouble.

 

He sighed wearily as they moved through the Hokage's tower, feet barely making a sound as they walked towards the wooden doors at the end of the hall. Kakashi turned to him with a strange look on his face, one that even Sasuke couldn't read. The Anbu captain raised his fist to knock but hesitated. "You'll be going in alone, of course. I'll wait for you. Prepare yourself, Uchiha." Was all he said before rapping on the doors, pausing only briefly before pushing them open and motioning Sasuke inside. Sasuke walked through the doors with his shoulders squared, the door clicking softly as it closed behind him. Ready for the blonde woman to start a tirade, he was brought up short.

 

Instead of Tsunade, there stood a tall man with his back to Sasuke, golden spikes of hair standing out over his head, falling well below the front collar of his short-sleeved duster. Sasuke blinked, lips parting in awe as his eyes roamed over the long white coat with blood red flames licking up the hem, memories of portraits and history lessons flying through his mind at warp speed. His eyes widened as the man turned towards him with a smile, sky-blue eyes capturing his immediately. 'What the hell?' was all he could think before his eyes jerked upwards to the portraits on the wall. "The fourth.......no....wait..." After a lame attempt to keep his surprise unnoticeable, Sasuke's eyes moved past Tsunade's portrait to a new one. All he could do was swallow hard as he stared at the blue eyes gazing at him from the portrait, and just below those eyes, soft whisker marks.

 

"Naruto..."

 

 

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The door opened behind him, but he waited until he heard the door close before turning to greet his guest. Azure eyes met ebony and locked. Naruto didn't say a word, just watched the emotions, mostly surprise, flit over his teammate's features. 'He's even more handsome...' he thought absently as he allowed his eyes to roam the other man's face. Uchiha Sasuke had become a very handsome man, as if that wasn't to be expected. Naruto almost snorted. The blue-black hair was now worn a tiny bit longer in front, but the face was leaner, sharper, the eyes darker if at all possible. The Anbu's body was tall and lean, without much bulk at all. Naruto could imagine that the muscle under that pale skin was lean but rock hard. He fought down the rush of blood that was aimed to spread a delicious blush across his cheeks, but for what reason, he didn't know. It's not like he was drooling over the guy or anything. Tch. As if.

 

Yeah, right, brat. You just keep telling yourself that. You're looking at him like he's a piece of meat. And such a nice piece of meat he is...I'd like to eat him, actually...

 

'Shut UP, damned fox! If I want commentary, I'll let you know!"

 

Naruto crossed his arms smoothly and tipped his chin up as Sasuke fought to get his surprise under control. It had been almost comical the way he looked like he was seeing a ghost...which of course was understandable. Naruto had grown to look like an almost replica of Yondaime, at first glance, anyway. Naruto grumped to himself. `Note to self: get hair cut.'

 

"Naruto..." Sasuke said smoothly, lips slipping into a trademark smirk.

 

Naruto nodded softly motioning to a chair. "Uchiha Sasuke..." he said, pronouncing each syllable with some thought. "It's been a long time." He smiled as he himself sat.

 

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Sasuke grudgingly sat and stared at the man across from him. 'This is Uzumaki Naruto? This is Dobe?' Dark eyes shamelessly inspected the blonde ninja, easily finding the boy he once knew in this man's face. Naruto had filled out. A lot. His broad shoulders reminded Sasuke of the dobe's own teacher, Jiraya. Though he was pretty sure that Naruto hadn't gotten quite that tall. Sizing him up, Sasuke guessed that they had less than an inch difference between their heights. The black net on the Hokage's arms showed visible bulked muscle on the forearms, and he was sure that the muscle was just as bulky everywhere else. 'I haven't looked at him in so long...haven't met these eyes since...'

 

He startled when the blonde man spoke. "So Sasuke, are you going to tell me why I had to keep conveniently "forgetting" to sign this? Why I had to keep the elders off your ass? Why I had to act like I knew what I was talking about when the feudal Lords came to question me?" With that question, a warrant of extermination by assassination was held up. "You were a missing nin once already, and escaped death. Twice is cutting it close, don't you think?"

 

Sasuke was ready to open his mouth, but was cut off as Naruto turned in his chair and laughed loudly. "OH! RIIIIGHT. What am I saying? We're talking about the great Uchiha Sasuke here,aren't we?" Sasuke lifted a brow, sensing with some relief that Naruto was still Naruto, as much as that annoyed him. "Uchiha Sasuke, the untouchable, is it? Your shit still doesn't stink, is that it?" Now Naruto's face went from gleeful to pissed as he stood up and slapped his hands down on the desk, glaring at him. "Well?"

 

Dark eyes bore right back into the accusing ones across from him. "Dobe." was his only reply. He got much satisfaction as Naruto visibly bristled.

 

'I'll kill him. I swear I'll kill him!' Naruto growled to himself, cheeks flushing with anger. He distantly heard the kyuubi cheering happily. 'Oh shut up!' "Get serious, Sasuke! This isn't something to be taken lightly. And don't call me dobe or I'll toss you out on your ass and you know it." He growled, pacing back and forth. "You think this is funny? You think that it was a “great time” for me to have to agonize over the fact that I would be the one having to sign your death warrant?!"

 

Sasuke watched him carefully but said nothing. He now saw lines of stress and worry that he hadn't noticed before, and the skin under those blue eyes were tinged with purple. Naruto turned away from him then, his coat billowing out.

 

"It's my job. And I would do it if I had to, Sasuke. I would. But the thought of it killed me inside."

 

The dark haired ninja glanced away then, his brows drawing together. How was he supposed to respond to that? He understood very well what Naruto was saying, and his skin warmed a bit at the implied care, especially after being ignored by him for so many years. He licked his lips when he felt eyes on him and opened his mouth to speak.

 

“Naruto…what happened, it wasn't on purpose. It wasn't planned, and I didn't take the mission with the intention of disobeying orders and not returning immediately.” His eyes lifted to meet the hokage's. “You know I wouldn't lie to you about something so stupid.”

 

The blonde hokage smiled wearily as he slumped back into his chair, moving to stretch his arms over his head. Even now he felt he could be himself with Sasuke without feeling as if he weren't living up to some weird “hokage vision” that some of the villagers had. Of course, they'd had it in for him since he was born anyway, so anything he did they looked at with distaste. He had managed to win over many of the villagers, however, and was now generally respected by the village, even though he had the feeling that many saw it as “having the demon on their side, now”. He quickly shook off his wandering thoughts. “So tell me, Sasuke… and don't leave anything out. And, of course, you'll also have to write me out a hand-written and signed copy for records. You can come tomorrow to do that if you like.”

 

Sasuke nodded, then told his story from the very beginning, shortly after he had finished his last mission. The hokage listened intently, giving a slight nod here and there, and then sat back in his chair when the dark haired shinobi had finished. He let out a soft sigh.

 

“I know you don't believe me when I say that I understand, Sasuke. However I do understand, and I don't blame you, on a personal level, for doing what you did. But damn it, Sasuke! Couldn't you have found a way to send word of some kind? It wouldn't have mattered greatly, but at least then Tsunade or I could have had some kind of… understanding. Do you know how hard it is to pretend like you know what one of your shinobi is out doing, when you have to answer to all these people demanding to know? You aren't trusted by the elders, Sasuke, you know that.”

 

“Tch. I didn't have time to send word, and it wouldn't have made much of a difference. I know the old fools don't trust me…and I'm not saying that they're wrong for feeling that way - nor do I care. I don't know why you trust me like you do, except that you're a dobe. Hokage or not.” He smirked then, relief flooding through him as the bland look Naruto had given him broke into a small grin.

 

“I'm…happy…to have you back, Sasuke.” Naruto said sincerely. “Don't worry about things here. I'll take care of them; I've been pulling strings for you the past couple months, so pulling a few more won't be a problem.” He paused, frowning slightly. “But I need your word that you will never pull that again, and I mean it.” He gazed steadily at the man across from him, eyes turning deadly in their seriousness, their color like shards of ice. Sasuke shivered despite himself, then shook his head slowly.

 

“I can't. I can't promise you that, hokage-sama.” Sasuke said, his voice soft and deep, his usage of respect mirroring Naruto's own seriousness. “I can't promise that if the opportunity to hunt my brother again comes up, that I won't leave. Because until I catch him, until he's dead… I can't make promises, and I won't. Not even to you.”

 

Surprisingly, Naruto just nodded knowingly. “And once he's dead?”

 

Sasuke blinked, dark eyes widening only slightly. He had never truly thought about what he would do once he had gotten his revenge. “I… “

 

“Would you, Sasuke, promise to be a loyal ninja of Konohagure, under me, and promise - even if asked to sign with your own blood - to never go AWOL again, if you catch Uchiha Itachi and kill him? I need an answer from you. I need to know what my options are, and how loyal you are to me and my village.”

 

The room was silent, both men staring at each other, searching.

 

The Uchiha heir wondered in silent awe when his teammate had grown up, and why he hadn't been there to witness it. He knew the basic answer, and that was because he himself had distanced himself from the blonde ninja - his best friend. For many years, he went out of his way to not be anywhere near the other, and if that were impossible, he made sure that no eye contact was made. Only a few times did he allow himself to steal glances in the fox nin's direction, over a period of many years. He was just now feeling the resulting ache of that self-induce torture. He didn't like admitting it to himself, but he had missed Naruto.

 

“Once I've had my revenge, I have no reason to leave the village against orders, nor can I imagine having the will to do so…Hokage-sama.”

 

“Nngh. Stop with the hokage-sama business already, Sasuke. You're making me develop a cavity.” Naruto whined slightly, waving a hand nonchalantly. “That's what I needed to hear from you. Will you be staying in the Uchiha quarter? I've had various patrols set up near the gates while you were away, just in case anyone got the crazy notion to try to break in and loot the place or whatever.”

 

“Or in case I tried to sneak back into my home?” Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes.

 

Naruto laughed openly at that. “You think I wouldn't catch you before you entered the walls of the village, Sasuke?” Naruto's chuckle was soft and slightly musical to Sasuke's ears. “You underestimate me, as usual. Prick.”

 

“Maybe so. In any case, yes, I'm going home. You want me back in the morning to fill out paperwork?” He asked with displeasure, standing up from his seat when Naruto did.

 

“I'll see you in the morning, Sasuke. You can show yourself out, you snobby bastard.”

 

Sasuke nearly grinned. “Hai, dobe, it would be my pleasure.”