When He Returned

mcmea:

SASUSAKU MONTH 2018

Day 20: CLOAKS

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It has been more than two years since the day he crossed those gates and left his village looking for redemption and a new view of the world. Now he was standing a few meters away from Konoha gates, and he wasn’t sure of how to feel. It’s been a long time, full of learning and diverse experiences but above all, full of reflections. He’d carried in his heart so much hate and desire for revenge that he’d had to make a side other feelings. And now that his soul was clear of those dark tribulations, he felt charged with many different emotions. Feelings that he couldn’t really unscramble.

It had been two months since he decided to go back to Konoha. He made that decision after having helped so many people and more importantly, after losing part of the guilt he felt for the offences he committed before the war. On the last village he’d stopped by, things had been really calmed, so calmed that he’d had a lot of time to relax and to think. This spare time filled his mind with thoughts of one pink haired kunoichi. He could remember the warmth of her smile, the kindness in her eyes and the connection they had shared when he gently poked her forehead with his fingers, passing her the sign of affection he tenderly stored in his heart and reminded him of his beloved brother. It was time to come back. His burden was lighter, and he was missing her too much. It was time. So, now he was there, in those gates that had seen him leave more than just one time. He felt a knot in his guts, looked up to the sky, felt a fresh breeze in his face, took a deep breath and walked in.

He felt the urge to look for her, but he wasn’t sure of her location. So he decided to follow the protocol and walked towards the Hokage’s office. He had to inform Kakashi of many of his missions. He didn’t take the shorter direct route though. He went through the streets that were close to Sakura’s family house and then to the ones facing the Hospital. Maybe, just maybe he could meet her in the way. Additionally, by walking through those secondary streets, the probability of encounter Naruto was lower. He had missed his wedding six months ago, and he knew Naruto would harshly remind him of that. He did wanted to go and would have gone to if it weren’t for the bandits he was following to aid a small village. He sighed at that; he could have Naruto yelling for later.

He walked slowly, scanning all the surroundings, feeling a kind of nostalgia and still a hint of sadness. Even though almost all the village was completely remodelled after the Pain attack, the atmosphere was the same, some streets and house remained untouched, and a lot of the new buildings kept the same style. Tons of memories flew back to his mind. He remembered happy moments with his family, dark, sad images and the turmoil he felt for many years. But this time, those hateful feelings were in the past. Somehow returning to Konoha was easy and harshly difficult at the same time.  He passed next to Ichiraku Ramen, and the memories of team 7 invaded his soul with warmth, and then he remembered eating there with Sakura two days before leaving into his redemption path. He remembered how comfortable he felt in her presence and how calming her gaze was. He was possessed with mix feelings. He sighed again and kept walking. He finally reached the Hokage building and luckily and unluckily for him, he didn’t run into any familiar face in the way.

He found the Hokage’s office open and walked in. Kakashi in surprise at his presence opened his eyes widely. Sasuke hadn’t informed anyone about his comeback, so certainly his former sensei wasn’t expecting to see him in his office. Sasuke reported some of the most important details of his missions and other relevant information he had gathered. There were some important things that were worth discussing further, but Kakashi was buried in paperwork, and none of those matters were urgent, so they agreed to address them in another day. Sasuke was ready to leave when Kakashi interrupted him. He mentioned that both Naruto and Sakura were outside of the village in separated missions. Sasuke couldn’t help to feel disappointed at this. He was expecting to see her emerald eyes soon. Kakashi noticed the expression that Sasuke couldn’t wholly conceal. And teasing him, he recommended Sasuke a fine Inn and told him that it was one block away from Sakura’s new apartment, suspiciously giving him many details about the latter location. Sasuke noticed his sensei’s tone and gave him a hard look while he turned back and left the office.

Yes, he needed a place to stay.  His previous apartment was destroyed years ago. And after his trial was over and he was set free, he didn’t really look for a new place. He knew he would be leaving soon so didn’t worry about that. That time he stayed some nights at Kakashi’s, Naruto’s, two different Inns (which he disliked) and even some nights at Sakura’s family house. Although he didn’t appreciate the teasing tone of Kakashi, the information he gave him was valuable. He left the Hokage building and decided to go to that Inn. He could see were Sakura’s apartment was and visit her some other day.

It was quite far and when he was in the middle of his way he felt how droplets of water hit his head. A sudden heavy spring rain started. Fortunately for him, he was still wearing his cloak, so he just pulled up his hood and kept walking.

Then the unexpected happened. He was five blocks away from the Inn when a something resonated in his ears.

“Sasuke-kun”

That was so familiar. He turned just to meet her gaze some meters away. Sakura’s big green eyes met his onyx ones. She had returned earlier from her mission. The rain was pouring hard. And for a moment, for them, it seemed to have stopped. They looked intensely into each other eyes. For Sakura, everything froze, and she couldn’t believe that he was there in front of her after all that time. After an instant that felt like hours, Sakura smiled at him, moved and started walking towards him. She was wearing an utterly soaked cloak with the hood up. Her eyes were tearful. She no longer had bangs falling on her forehead. Soaked streaks of pink haired were to one side of her face. While he was still digesting that view, and his heart was skipping some beats, Sakura hugged him firmly.

She wasn’t thinking. She just followed her feelings. And now that she was hugging him so tightly she felt self-conscious and worried about what Sasuke could think. But while she was getting ready to let him go and say sorry, he hugged her back. She had her arms around his neck, and by doing so, she had pulled down the hood of his cloak. He had placed his arm around her waist. And although the hug lasted for just a few seconds, for them it felt like forever. And there they were for a brief period of time embracing each other, while their cloaks kept soaking from the pouring rain of a spring afternoon.

He separated, just to look at her kind eyes, and calmly told her, the exact words she had been wanting to hear from a long time.

“Tadaima Sakura”

Her heart skipped a beat. She felt happy and so many more things. She pulled her hood back and grinned at him.

“Okaeri Sasuke-kun”

He felt calm, her smile made him feel at home, and his heart was filled with affection. He had made a good choice by coming back to Konoha, by coming back to her.