Rumour had been going around lately that Uchiha Sasuke was coming back, making  Kakashi wonder who had spread the information so far it reached civilian ears. His money was on Naruto, who had probably been contacted by Sasuke about the raven's arrival long before Kakashi was.

The Hokage sighed.  That blonde idiot had trouble keeping his mouth shut when excited, but still, he should have known alerting the whole village was a bad idea considering the controversy of Sasuke's release still hanging in people's discussions. A kind few supported the decision...

But most of Konoha wanted him dead. 

He spun around in his chair, facing the large window that allowed him to view the mass below. It was Saturday, meaning every civilian was out of their homes and in the streets, either having fun, working hard in the market, or running some house errands that could not be done during the weekend. The streets were packed, to say the least, and Kakashi knew his former student would not appreciate that.

"Perhaps I should tell him to wait till night falls..." He nodded at his decision. He would send a message informing Sasuke of the activity and advise him to delay his arrival.

His lips quirked. If Sasuke were more socially adept, then he would have known this, but Sasuke was a bigger hermit than Kakashi himself. The social workings of a village was something the Uchiha would never familiarize himself with. Ever.

Not a second later of the messenger bird fleeing the office did Naruto barge into the once quiet place acting all bubbly and excited, and trailing behind was Sakura whose smile looked faker than Sai's at Ino's aunt's bridal shower. Kakashi's brows furrowed at the latter.

"Did ya hear, Kakashi sensei?!" Naruto slammed his hands on the table. Papers jolted upwards like they were actually alive and scared for their safety. "Sasuke's coming home, 'ttebayo!"

Kakashi sweatdropped. "Yes, I heard. Pretty sure the entire village's heard. Did you go around screaming it at the top of your lungs or something?"

Naruto's cheery expression did not change, but Kakashi could see his former student was confused. "Eh? Why would I do that? I mean, I did tell Hinata and Iruka and Shikamaru and Saiㅡbut no one else was around, I'm sure. Telling everyone else ㅡ I mean, I wouldn't fuck with Sasuke that hard."

Sakura snorted at the sexual reference only her and Kakashi understood.

The Hokage tried to hide his perverted smile. "I believe you. Don't tell anyone else okay? We can't be having an angry mob ambushing Sasuke on his first day here." Kakashi paused, "Maybe on the second day."

Naruto grinned.

Sakura raised her hand, "Uh, alsoㅡI told Tsunade sama and Lee about Sasuke. Lee promised to keep shut, and I don't think Tsunade's stupid enough to tell the whole village."

"You'd be surprised what drunk hags can do."

"Are you asking  me to break your nose, Naruto?" She should've smacked him, but she didn't, and her lack of action was a bit alarming to the Hokage ㅡwho let his scrutinizing gaze linger on the medic.

Lately, Sakura had been acting strange. Most of her time was spent either in the hospital or in the training grounds sparring with Lee like she was trying to bury herself in work and ...forget. He wondered if it had anything to do with the Uchiha she was in love with.

Remembering her last trip to visit Sasuke, Kakashi realised it most likely did. She never spoke of what happened, but everyone could tell that something went down and it had broken her heart.

Kakashi felt a bit of anger at the thought.

Sakura scratched her arm, in nervousness, Kakashi was sure. "Did he tell you guys any details of his travel?"

Naruto's eyes widened, visibly expressing the emotions Kakashi kept sealed inside.

'So Sasuke had messenged everyone else on his team except Sakura on his arrival?'

Whatever happened...it had put a serious strain on their relationship.

"He didn't send you a message?" Naruto knew by the slight solemn look on her face that he was right.

Why was Sakura always getting hurt by that bastard again? Hadn't he been satisfied the first ten times?!

"Why not?!" He seethed. Sakura flinched at the murderous tone of the Uzumaki while Kakashi shifted backwards in his seat, telling Naruto to calm down from a safe angle.

The boy could do wonders  when he was pissed.

Sakura regained composure and shrugged. "'Dunno."

She did  know, but she wouldn't tell them.

Because it would only complicate things more if she added people like Kakashi and Naruto into the mix of her issues. They would both take her side, making Sasuke look like the villain in the situation when really, he wasn't.

It was her fault for chasing after a man that had hurt her.

It was her fault for hoping for something that would never come true.

It was her fault for never asking him how he felt.

"Don't take my side, Naruto." She clenched her teeth, something she had learnt stopped her from crying. Just focus on the grinding, Karin had said. "Sasuke has his reasons, so don't worry about it, kay?"

Naruto's anger went down, but he still looked unconvinced. "But, Sakura chan ㅡ"

"She said it's okay, Naruto." Kakashi did not need to be a genius to know that everything wasn't  okay, but Sakura did not want to cause a scene and he respected her decision. "Stop pestering her."

Naruto pouted, feeling like he was the bad guy. "I'm just worried..."

"But you don't have to be," Sakura put an arm around her best friend, shaking him lightly to cheer him up again. "Everything's fine. I'm not sad, Sasuke's coming home ㅡand Kakashi shows us his ugly face on occasion."

Said man glared at her. She stuck her tongue out at him like a child.

A soft smile graced Naruto's lips, which quickly morphed into the former excited one he barged into the office with. "You're right! Team 7 is finally complete, dattebayo! And we're going to celebrate!"

"Yay." Sakura air pumped along with the blonde, her excitement as fake as her smile. Kakashi frowned, but immediately wiped it off when Sakura looked at him. "How long is he staying?"

Kakashi pretended to think.

"I don't know. He didn't mention anything other than the fact that he'd be bringing a foreigner into Konoha."

Naruto stopped fist bumping the air, "Huh? A foreigner? Who?"

"One of his teammates ㅡI believe we have met her before and you, Sakura, have a close relationship with her, do you not?"

Sakura's eyes widened and her smile finally became genuine and as excited as Naruto's.

"Karin's coming too?!"

::

Delay your travel and come to Konoha by nightfall. Maybe around 8.

Or ignore my orders like you usually do and come now so you can get swarmed by villagers who either want to hug you to death or kill you ㅡto ,well, death.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his ex-sensei's dry humour that reflected clearly in the message. It seemed Karin had a thing for Kakashi's jokes, because she laughed loudly before slumping against a tree.

"He's the guy that carried me to the interrogation room you people have." She recalled. "Hm, his chakra was kind and cool... but it was tainted with so many dark scratches that I couldn't count. That's a shinobi I can get behind."

Sasuke raised a brow, slumping next to Karin. Their shoulders touched, but neither seemed to care at that point. "Hn?" which translates to why  in Uchiha language.

"Because he's a guilty Shinobi with a good heart who's lost and who's taken. He reminds me of you."

Above them, parrots yipped, yapped and flapped. Sasuke's eyes squinted.

"I see."

"Not to mention, he's like, super hot."

Sasuke could groan. "Karin."

Her boisterious laugh scared all the parrots away.

: :

"Why is Sasuke coming back?"

It was a legitimate question. Sasuke left the village to find himself and also to keep danger away, so did it mean that he had finally found peace with himself? Shikamaru doubted it; trauma and guilt did not just leave at the snap of one's fingers.

Perhaps he had found someone or something worth reporting in person, like the case of the Öotsuki clan and if there were any threats besides Kaguya. 'No'. Shikamaru ruled that out as well, since he and Sasuke did have secret codes they used to discuss threats to the village through messenger birds and summons  (because Kakashi and Shikamaru were 'the only ones with brains that he could rely on'  as Sasuke once said).
So if he had anything to say, he wouldn't have to come all the way to Konoha and say it.

Then there was the third option : Sasuke simply missed his village and wanted to come back to something familiar for a change.

"Eh, we'll find out when he comes!" Naruto shrugged it off like it meant nothing. "I wonder when, though. He better inform me when he's here. I need to be the first person to smackㅡI mean, welcome him to the village again."

A strange gang had been formed; not as large as Konoha twelve, but not as small as Shikamaru preferred.

Naruto had shown up with Hinata once to the ramen shop, and she quickly was initiated to the Sakura-Naruto duo. Then because Sakura felt like a third wheel, she asked Ino to come along as her plus one. Then Ino had completely unbalanced the equilibrum by inviting Sai to their Saturday rendevous, much to Sakura's annoyance. Naruto had noticed Sakura's gloominess so he invited Shikamaru to join them ㅡ who brought Chouji along from time to time. Sakura finally made a close friend of her own; Lee, and he was the last to join the "Saturday Night" club.

The table was loud. Chouji munched like a beast; Ino screeched like a pig; Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs; Sakura yelled at Naruto for yelling; and Lee yapped like a parrot.

Shikamaru hated noise, but at the same time, it put a smile to his face.

"Please don't try to kill Sasuke." Sakura sighed. "You've done it like, four times? It's really getting old now."

Shikamaru snorted and Naruto's grin turned mockingly sheepish. He over exagerrated a shrug, which made Sakura playfully (meaning it hurt like shit) slap his head and demand him to take her seriously.

"Ah, I hope Sasuke will be up for a one-on-one taijutsu match!" Lee's eyes sparkled with vigor.

"Sasuke's taijutsu is not as good as yours, in my opinion." Sakura mused, "I doubt it'd be a fair match if Sasuke does not activate his Sharingan."

"The man has a rinnegan, forehead."

"And this man right here has legs of fucking steel  ㅡso, your point?"

Shikamaru's brow raised. He was sure someone else other than him had noticed Sakura's constant praising of Lee's abilities, because really, she was overstretching  it. She had been ever since they started training together.

Perhaps she saw what he went through to get to where he is now and felt he deserved praise?

Or...

A small smile played on his lips. He was never one to be interested in other's relationships, both platonic and romantic, but watching the Green Leaf and the Cherry Blossom, piqued just the slightest bit of interest.

Just the slightest.

: :

2 o'clock in the morning and all of Konoha had gone to sleep, exhausted due to the Saturday rush. The only ones remaining were two watch guards, Konoha 12, the Hokage and two ANBU operatives, who stood at the Konoha entrance.

Hinata chewed on her bottom lip nervously. She hadn't known Sasuke, and the Uchiha did not care enough to know her either, and it was making her feel a bit guilty. How could she be a stranger to one of Naruto's best friends?

"Hina chan?" Naruto whispered in her ear. She whipped her head up to the endearing sight of Naruto gazing at her like she was all he could see. "You nervous?"

Hinata rubbed her hands together, glad she had worn mittens. "A bit..."

"Hm. Why?" He smiled softly, understanding before Hinata even spoke.  He wrapped an arm around the Hyuuga, causing her to squeak in surprise.

"Sasuke's going to love you, 'ttebayo. And if he doesn't then I'll break his other arm."

Sakura looked enviously at the couple.

She was not a fool, she never believed she would have something like that with Sasuke. She just thought he'd show her he cared in other ways, in ways only she would understand.

How wrong and naive  had she been.

She wished Lee were here so they could discuss training regimes or count the stars or play silly kid games like they normally did. But she understood; he was exhausted from the Saturday rush, and Sasuke was not somebody he was rushing to see.

A part of Sakura wondered if Lee saw Sasuke as an obstacle.

Someone stepped sideways towards Sakura. "You've been having a staring contest with that pole for ten minutes now."

Kakashi gazed down at her with a soft glint to his eyes, like the way a father would look at their sad child.

The pinkette smiled, brushing a stray strand of her hair out of her forehead. "I have a lot on my mind."

"Like?"

She did not want to tell him, but it had been something that was eating her up since she came back. Kakashi was the only person who could offer her an ear ㅡ not advice or judgment.

Just someone she could open up to.

There was a beat of silence, then Sakura spoke.  "Sasuke rejected me. Outright. No confusing parables or cryptic messages. He straight up told me he does not love me."

A sigh. He had expected it to be something like that.

Did he know Sasuke did not love her? Not really. There were times he suspected it and other times he so firmly believed Sasuke was only masking his feelings. But he had always thought, that Sakura's persistence and determination would get her what she wanted, and Sasuke would fall for her if he never did in the first place.

He was wrong. It seemed.

"I placed my determination in the wrong goal," Sakura started. "I could have used my precious time to develop my friendships, my ninjutsu, my self esteem ㅡanything, really." She paused. "I'm glad he was honest with me though, I just...I usually sit by my window and wonder if there was ever a time he was in love with me."

She said it so blandly that it caught Kakashi ㅡthe king of blandlessㅡoff guard. He stared at his ex student with both sympathy and pride, bouncing between the two emotions.

He settled for the latter, "I'm proud of you."

Sakura smiled. Words she'd always wanted to hear. "Thank you, Kakashi sensei."

Silence.

Then, moment ruined.

"I FEEL HIS ENERGY!" Naruto's sudden outburst caused everyone to flinch. "HE'S COMING! AND HE'S COMING WITH  ㅡHEY? IS THAT MY MUM?!"

Appearing from the shadows (like all of his usual entrances, really), was no other than the last Uchiha on earth. Behind him followed a cloaked redhead, pushing up her glasses and assessing the crowd like she was preparing for a battle.

Naruto beamed.

Neji   ㅡ wait, he's dead.

Kakashi incredibly and uncharacteristically opened his arms wide, "Welcome home, Sasuke."

And the one girl everyone expected to react more than anybody else to Sasuke's arrival, stood still on the spot, eyes showing no emotion.

Until her gaze landed on the woman behind, and the widest smile broke out on her face.

"Welcome to Konoha, Karin!" Then she tackled the redhead in a bone crushing hug.