Stringing Together the Broken Pieces

Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was situated within the widespread forests of the Land of Fire. It was one of the Five Great Nations of the Shinobi world and arguably the strongest one. Throughout history, It had seen some tough times, but it had always persevered, attained victory and happiness. It took pride in its code, conduct and Will of Fire. People knew and remembered Konoha in different ways, some holding it in high regard others finding it unpleasant because of historic animosities, but for this dark figure lingering around the uneven paths towards the hidden village, this place was home.

Uchiha Sasuke had always been a famous person, albeit not always regarded in a positive perspective. He had been the son of his Clan’s head, Rookie of the Year, a rogue, a traitor, a worldwide criminal and finally a “hero”. For more than a year now, Sasuke had been wandering around the continent, on a long voyage of self redemption and exploration. Even though he had been pardoned for his heinous crimes by law, he adamantly desired to earn his place back in the world he had lost all right to belong in. However, after a long time, the last surviving member of the Uchiha Clan had been called back to Konoha for an urgent mission. Sasuke had been quite anxious by the whole situation, considering Uzumaki Naruto, the hero of the Fourth Shinobi War, was more than capable of handling whatever danger his home was against. Nevertheless, Sasuke made haste as the rocky roads merged onto a singular path leading towards a set of giant vermilion gates held together by high scarlet walls spreading around the village. Not bothered by customs, Sasuke ignored the security check and decided to take his chances with the village barrier that might recognize him. Surely enough he was able to teleport onto one of most prominent structures in Konohagakure, the Hokage Monument. With the nostalgic warm breeze, calm atmosphere and a heartwarming scenery in his sights, Sasuke let out a small whisper, “I’m home” with a sadden smile burdened by the pain of his past. It was the pricking the individual due to his past intentions of destroying this place out of his love and hatred. It was only natural, after all, Sasuke still had to complete his odyssey to make peace with his past regrets and redeem himself. Sasuke turned his back on the scenery and prepared to make his way to the young Uzumaki’s location, but it looked like he had no need to do so… “Yo, Sasuke. Welcome back home”, said a tall teen with a bright smile and flowing sun blond hair. Sasuke just responded with pleasant “hmm’. Naruto continued, “Ne ne, Did you bring me any souvenirs?” With hopeful eyes and a heartfelt laugh. Sasuke replied with a serious tone, “Nevermind that Naruto, What’s the urgent matter you had to discuss with me. Did you find something on Kaguya’s origins”. Naruto's smile morphed into a nervous one and he whispered , “already onto the serious stuff huh” . He did his awkward head rub as if trying to think of something. “Oh yeah!”, he exclaimed, “Yeah yeah it’s a super urgent secret mission we have to take care of…. Why don’t you go ahead and rest for now. Just be there at Sakura-chan’s place by 6 today, don’t be late-ttebyo” as he immediately vanished out of existence. Sasuke sighed with exasperation, finally understanding the foxy teens intention to get him to Konoha, but he didn’t know the reason for doing so…but he decided to play along with his antics regardless, since he wanted to say hello to Sakura before heading out again. After all…. he still had to come to terms with her feelings.

Sasuke sat down on the monument watching down of the busy streets of Konoha. Haruno Sakura was a difficult subject for the last Uchiha. He was always aware about her feelings for him, but he never found them of any value, at least until after the war. Behind those strong feelings, he saw her fiery passion and her unbreakable determination, which made him start to respect the feelings she had for him, and thus the pink haired Kunoichi caught the lone Uchiha’s eye. Sasuke was genuinely interested in her, not necessarily out of attraction, but it was her conviction towards him that intrigued him. However, he wasn’t sure of the way he should respond to those feelings. it wasn’t that Sasuke had no sort of attraction towards her, no, Sasuke considered her a special person he had special feelings for, even after going rogue, he often missed her presence. The problem was that Sasuke was not ready for a committed relationship until he had dealt with his burdens and lingering hatred.

Sasuke stood back up, looked blankly the evening sun and made his way towards his old clan compound. The once majestic and widespread compound was now only a ghost of what it had been before, most of the buildings were cleared out except a single mansion that remained as an honoring place for the slaughtered clan. It was the place where the new generation would take roots and rebuild their clan. Honestly, Sasuke didn’t mind this. Lingering memories would only make past wounds worse. He had learnt and wanted to move on to the present. Sasuke headed up inside of his house, took a bath and changed into a pair of short black shirt with the Uchiha emblem embroidered at the back and black pants. He also tied his long hair back into a ponytail, he usually hid it but his hair was becoming quite unpleasant to handle these days, but he made sure to keep his Rinnegan eye closed, as it would create unnecessary trouble. With a bored expression, He headed out on to the streets of Konoha. Looking at the crowd and new buildings, he saw the times had really began changing. Sasuke could see how fast the village was progressing and it made him feel relieved, it meant that Konoha had undoubtedly recovered from the detrimental war. After the interesting walk, Uchiha Sasuke was standing outside of his destination exactly on time. His slow knocks were immediately replied by an eager Naruto who violently grasped onto his arm and pulled him into the apartment. With no time to protest, he was suddenly in front of his old squad who promptly shouted a loud, “Happy Birthday, Sasuke~!”. Only then Sasuke realized what the date was. He wasn’t a fan of birthdays after all… the tradition died out with the loss of his family. Sasuke looked at the small group, Sakura was holding a strawberry cake with 18 candles lit onto its surface, with Kakashi right besides her holding a decoration banner with his usual lazy smile. As the shocking began to settle, Naruto put his arm around Sasuke, “I bet you forgot about it, Sasuke, but let’s have tons of fun today-dattebayo. I’m really glad you came”, he said with his signature bright grin. Sasuke pouted a bit at the whole commotion and urgency Naruto had pretended it to be but he soon smiled softly at the warm atmosphere of the room. Haruno Sakura had been waiting for this moment, she had been planning this for days and now it was finally happening. She had made all the dishes Sasuke liked, albeit not many. Most of them had something to do with tomatoes. Sasuke settled down on the table, with the cake in front of him, Sakura said in an endearing voice and a happy smile, “Make a wish, Sasuke.” Sasuke, however, didn’t really have a wish… All he could think of within his set of desires was… he looked back at his old squad, his friends and with a determined promise Sasuke had the candles go out without *ing on them of course, that just wasn’t his thing. Soon after the four individuals had fun enjoying the dinner, talking and reminiscing about the good times.

After the Party

Following the party rush, Naruto and Kakashi left early to attend to other priorities. Sasuke, however, was resting on the balcony railing gazing at the stars. He had grown quite fond of them during his lonely travels. Today’s events had him really delighted, the consideration from his old squad and the various tomato dishes made him feel really warm inside. He was really indebted to his friends. Even now his promise of always protecting them and their wishes became even stronger. His quiet thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a short pink haired girl, who silently peeked through the glass door and asked, “Hey Sasuke-kun, would you mind if I sat beside you?. Sasuke used his only arm to gesture his reply to the shy green eyed girl. They both sat in a comfortable silence with the soft breeze of Konoha flowing through them. Sakura looked at Sasuke’s face, noticing her Sasuke looked back. They both stared until Sakura burst out laughed with a flustered face, breaking the tension. Sasuke gave her a confused look, she said, “You’ve changed so much Sasuke-kun… your gaze is so much softer now”. Sasuke smiled awkwardly and "hmm"ed. “Sasuke-kun…”, she continued, “Are you going to be leaving again?”, she asked with a dejected tone. “Yes, tonight”, Sasuke replied with a straight voice but with a heavy heart.

“Do you really have to? If so, I’m always ready to follow you, Sasuke-kun”, she exclaimed. “No...Sakura. You know the purpose of my journey…I can’t just abandon it. I still have a long way to go before I can redeem myself?”, he explained calmly. Sakura had no reply, her face fell and her shiny green eyes started to water. “Just how long do I have to wait”, Sakura whispered sadly. Sasuke’s heart slightly twisted, the answer to that... even he didn’t know… but Sasuke couldn’t...he couldn’t abandon it… he couldn’t let himself or others be burdened with his accursed hatred again.

Sasuke stood up, Sakura followed after him. He walked towards the other side of the balcony and turned back to face Sakura. “I’m really sorry, Sakura”, he walked closer to her, “Next time for sure” he whispered as he softly tapped her forehead with the same loving gesture Itachi had taught him. However, this time, he felt it wouldn’t be enough. He wanted to do something to cheer her up. Sasuke teleported behind the flustered teen and in an instant softly pecked her on the lips. Sakura’s face began to heat up and the waterfalls she had been fighting so hard to keep back began flowing down her red cheeks. Sasuke gave one final smile before teleporting to the village gates. It was time to head back on route, he decided. The memories he had made today would be plenty to keep him strong through the upcoming starless, lonely nights.

The End

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