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Assistant: Title: Back together, again
        Author: Bright_Frog Bright_Frog 
        Chapter: 1/20 
        Summary: After Sasuke’s battle with Itachi, Naruto finds him before Obito does. Without knowing the truth about the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke returns to the Konoha and it shifts things in a way Naruto could have never expected.
        Contents: Chapter 1
    

    


      
        
          
          (See the end of the chapter for  notes.)
          
      
  

  
  
    
    
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   It takes time to relearn where all the pieces are supposed to go - one by one, meticulously clicking each into place. But somehow, they put themselves back together, again. 
 
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CHAPTER 1: HOMECOMINGWhen Naruto first saw them, he thought he was too late. Sakura must have thought this too because he heard her whispering a quiet mantra of “no, no, no, no” as they ran at full speed, blackened trees, slabs of concrete, and upturned earth that littered the ground in a 70 ft diameter of destruction. At the center of it all, surrounded by a halo of blood, lay two bodies. One of them was slumped against the remnants of a stone wall, and the other was sprawled on the ground at his feet. Neither was moving.Sakura reached them first, kneeling and running glowing hands over the one on the wall as the rest of their makeshift group stayed back to guard the area. Naruto was right behind Sakura, but as he got a clearer picture of the damage the two had inflicted on each other, his steps slowed down to a halt. He felt frozen in space, feet stuck to the ground as he watched Sakura frantically scan the lifeless-looking body of his former teammate.  GO,  he commanded his body.  MOVE.  Still, his feet remained nailed in place as he studied the battered and broken body before him; intensive bruising all over his face and chest, blood matting his hair indicating a head wound, forearms and hands mottled with what looked like burns, and left ankle swollen twice the size of the other. There was also a strange misplaced streak of blood running from the center of his forehead down without an apparent cut. Almost like someone had painted it there on purpose - gently even - making a macabre portrait. You need to keep it together.  Naruto reminded himself.  Just breathe. He is right there. He can’t be dead. He’s right there. Not dead. He’s -  “He’s breathing!” Sakura yelled, and it pulled Naruto back from the edge of hysteria just enough to body-flickered to her side and kneel beside Sasuke’s crumpled body, not caring about how the blood soaked through his pants and cooled his skin. With a shaking hand, he reached out and pressed two fingers into the side of Sasuke’s neck. It didn’t matter whether Sakura was already healing him or if she said that he was alive. Naruto had to feel it for himself - Sasuke’s heartbeat. He had to  feel  that he was still there, and after a few horrible moments of nothing, Naruto eventually felt a steady, albeit faint, beating under his fingers. The relief made him dizzy, and he finally felt like he could breathe again.“Sasuke,” Naruto said on a shaking exhale, barely more than a whisper, but suddenly, as if speaking had somehow woken him, Sasuke’s eyes flew open. He sat up violently with a burst of chakra, knocking his hand off and Sakura backward in the process. Neji was in front of where Sakura fell in an instant, Byakugan already active as he crouched before her in a clear threat. The others had also closed in around them at the abrupt movement but didn’t seem to be preparing to attack or subdue Sasuke, which was good; Naruto didn’t think violence should be the way to bring Sasuke back. He had once thought that, but he had also been 13 then and thought he could solve everything with fists. Plus, it didn’t seem like Sasuke was even aware any of them were even there - too fixated on staring wide-eyed at Itachi’s body to bother glancing in their direction.“Sasuke?” Naruto said again,  but Sasuke didn't move. He just kept staring at Itachi with blood-red eyes and a too-blank expression. “Sasuke, look at me.”Naruto’s voice was rougher, more forceful the second time, and slowly - so slowly - Sasuke finally looked away from his dead brother and over to Naruto. It was common sense to never make eye contact with a Uchiha while his Sharingan was active, but Naruto sensed that if he looked away, he would be setting the precedent for how things with Sasuke went from this moment forward. The action would speak to a lack of trust. It would say, "The damage you've done is irreparable, and my trust in you is broken," and, despite everything Sasuke had done, Naruto didn't feel that way. So, When Sasuke's gaze finally found his, Naruto didn't even blink.Red met blue, and time stopped moving. It felt like the whole world was holding its breath, but maybe that was just Naruto, whose lungs burned as he held Sasuke's gaze for what felt like forever, gradually watching the mania in his eyes recede.Recognition and an unreadable emotion took their place before Sasuke spoke for the first time.“Naruto.”In one word, all the speeches to convince Sasuke to come home vanished from Naruto's mind. He had practiced them over and over in preparation for this reunion, but now it didn’t matter.Naruto had thought that Sasuke would put up a fight or ignore him or tell him to f@ck off the way he had at the Valley at the End. But with Itachi lying dead only a few feet away, Naruto sensed a shift in Sasuke.It was the way Sasuke said his name, full of something heavy and new, that matched the look in his eyes as Sasuke openly stared at Naruto. There was not a trace of the old malice left in his expression, and Naruto knew then that he wouldn't have to fight Sasuke on this - that Sasuke was done fighting.“It’s time to come home," Naruto managed to say, and, for a second, he thought he saw Sasuke’s lips quirk up in a smile, but then he looked away and back at Itachi’s body.“I killed my brother,” he said in reply, any hint of prior emotion on his face now void, blank.“I know,” Naruto said, trying to hide his sadness and disappointment from his voice. He understood why Sasuke had done it, but it still seemed so wrong for him to have to be the one to gain revenge like that. Revenge gets people nowhere - it gets them looking as broken and empty as Sasuke’s did now. “Sasuke-kun,” Sakura spoke up, moving past a reluctant Neji and to Sasuke’s other side, taking one of Sasuke's bloodied hands in hers. He didn't react. “Please, come back with us.”Sasuke said nothing in reply, and Sakura flinched slightly at the blatant disregard of her presence. Still, she recovered more than Naruto would have and gently placed his still-limp hand back in his lap before adding, “I am going to keep healing you, okay? We can’t stay here for much longer, so we have to get you healed enough to transport you."To Naruto’s and everyone else’s surprise, Sasuke nodded his head and leaned back against the wall he had initially been found slumped against, remaining motionless as Sakura approached him, hands already glowing green. Naruto continued to watch in disbelief as Sasuke still didn't resist the help, and Sakura began to heal his head wound that was still leaking blood from it.There were a few minutes where Naruto could barely keep his eyes off of Sasuke, still having difficulty believing that he was really right in front of him and willing to come back to Konoha, but eventually, Shikamaru signaled him from the corner of his eye.“I’ll be right back, okay?” Naruto said, and Sasuke’s eyes finally flicked away from Itachi's body, but his expression was indecipherable. He just stared at Naruto, eyes filled with something that made Naruto's chest ache inexplicably.Naruto could still feel that heavy gaze on him as he got up and walked over to where the rest of the guys had regrouped and were talking in hushed tones.As he approached the circle of Shikamaru, Lee, Neji, Choji, Sai, and Kiba stood, a wave of gratitude washed through him. He was so thankful for his friends, most of whom had, not once but twice, gone against the Hokage’s orders to help him find Sasuke. This time had taken a bit more convincing than the first, but when Naruto had overheard Granny and Kakashi talking about intel that Sasuke was headed toward a known Uchiha base in Fire country and that sightings of Itachi had also been in that area, he had a gut sense that this was it.  “I think we should inform the Hokage of our return now that it seems like Sasuke isn’t going to resist,” Shikamaru said as Naruto approached, sounding incredibly bored despite the situation. “Everyone must be aware that we are gone by now, and silence won’t help us in getting forgiveness for the unsanctioned mission.”Naruto nodded. He knew he could have gone to Tsunade or Kakashi and asked to be assigned to another retrieval mission, but after how poorly the last retrieval mission at Orochimaru’s hideout had gone, he knew it would have been denied.“I can get the message out securely,” Sai said, already pulling out a paintbrush and ink, “I also think it would be best to try and mitigate punishment for this. Although, I don’t think the Hokage or the elders will be mad about the return of a rogue shinobi and the death of someone as infamous as Itachi Uchiha.”The others nodded in agreement, but the mood was solemn. Even though the elimination of a high-ranked missing-nin was a good thing for the village, it had come at the cost of fratricide - of Sasuke's suffering and life mission as an avenger. It had made him push everyone away and defect from the village, and even though his mission had been completed, everyone could sense how hollow it was.“Okay, then. Sai can send that out, and then we’ll get Sasuke in good enough condition to move him and head out,” Naruto said, looking at each of his friends before adding, “And thank you guys again for doing this. I -”The rest of his words got lodged in his throat as he was overwhelmed with all of the emotions he had since learning about Sasuke's location 5 hours prior. From adrenaline and anticipation to dread and fear to relief and gratitude, Naruto didn’t know how to express his thanks for the support of his friends.“Don’t worry about it, man,” Kiba said, coming over and slapping a hand to his shoulder, “It’s just what friends do.”“Don’t underestimate the power of friendship and youth!” Lee added enthusiastically.Naruto smiled widely at them, pretending his eyes weren’t stinging, before turning to look back at where Sakura was still healing Sasuke, staring at what felt impossible just yesterday. “Go back over to him,” Kiba told Naruto, nudging him with his shoulder. “We got surveillance covered, don’t worry about it.”Naruto shot one last grin at his friends before going back to his original Team 7. It felt surreal as he walked up to where Sakura and Sasuke sat, the latter having closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, looking like sh@t. “The damage is pretty extensive,” Sakura said as Naruto approached them and slid down next to Sasuke, “6 broken ribs, sprained ankle, chakra fatigue, a concussion, several lacerations to his arms, probably from Chidori, and -”“I got it,” Naruto said, cutting her off as panic started to creep up his spine. “It's bad. But, like, not bad, bad, right?”“He should be okay, but I’d really like to get him back to the Leaf as soon as possible for better treatment.”“Okay, well, Sai is writing to Granny, and then we should be good to -”“I’m fine.”Naruto and Sakura both jumped at the sound of Sasuke’s voice, whose eyes were now open and staring at both of them.“Oh, Sasuke- kun,” Sakura said, surprise coating her voice, “How do you feel? Anything that hurts the most?”Sasuke shifted his eyes to her, giving her his full attention for the first time since they found him. “I’m fine,” he said again, but Naruto could see the effort Sasuke was using to keep himself upright.“Oi, you are clearly not fine,” Naruto argued, “so just tell her what hurts and let her fix you. She’s pretty great at it, ya know.”Sakura flushed a light pink under the praise, but Sasuke turned his head sideways, making Naruto suddenly very aware of their closeness; close enough to have their arms and knees almost brushing, close enough to see how there was a slight difference between the deep gray of Sasuke’s irises and the blacks of his pupils. The proximity made Naruto’s heartbeat pick up, but he refused to look away from those dark eyes. There was that look in them again - a softness almost.  Soft was a word Naruto never in a million years would have thought he would use in relation to Sasuke, but here he was. “I’m tired,” Sasuke said after a brief pause and Naruto saw Sakura’s surprised expression from the corner of his eye. In the past, Sasuke would never have admitted to any type of weakness or fatigue, regardless of whether he was bleeding out or not. It wasn't a direct answer to Sakura's question, but it was something. So, boldly, Naruto pressed his shoulder into Sasuke’s in a show of support.“Then rest, @ssh@l@,” he said, tagging their old insult on at the end to lighten the mood, but it ended up coming out like an endearment. Naruto wasn’t sure when the term had switched meaning for him. There was another moment of hesitance, but then, to his ever-growing surprise, Sasuke did what he was told, looking at Naruto for a moment longer before closing his eyes and leaning his head back on the wall. He didn’t pull away from where Naruto’s arms still pressed into his, and it only took a few gradually slowing breaths before his body slumped over completely, leaning further into Naruto’s side as he succumbed to unconsciousness.They sat there in silence for a while, Naruto content enough to just listen to Sasuke’s breathing, reminding him that he was alive - that he was here and not trying to run away anymore. The reality filled Naruto with an emotion strong enough that he felt his whole being vibrating with it, overflowing with a joy he wasn’t sure he had ever felt before. “He’s different now,” Sakura eventually said.She had said it quietly enough that Naruto thought she might not have meant to say that out loud, so he remained silent, choosing instead to focus on the gentle pulsing of her healing chakra and the weight of Sasuke’s body resting against his.  ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ They made it within a mile of Konoha’s walls before the ANBU descended on them. Naruto had expected some sort of rebuff for their actions but not an entire squad of Konoha’s most trained and deadly shinobi. “Set both Uchiha down and back away from the bodies,” a man in a bear mask commanded, and Naruto’s grip tightened around Sasuke’s legs, holding him closer to where he was carrying him on his back. He had denied the idea of making a stretcher to carry him, wanting to keep Sasuke close in case anything happened on their way.“Sasuke is alive,” Shikamaru said flippantly, “and came willingly with us, so there should be no need for detainment.”It was then that Naruto noted the cuffs and blindfold in the ANBU’s hands. It made his blood boil, but he tried to tamp down the rage. He knew that lashing out would only make things worse. “That was not a request,” the bear mask said again, and everyone in the group tensed, unsure of what to do next. They were all looking at Naruto, whose heart was beating painfully fast in his chest. I can’t lose him  , he thought.  I just got him back. I can’t lose him again. I - “I think the Hokage would be alright if Naruto-kun brought Sasuke directly to her, Ichi-san,” A deep voice said from directly behind Naruto. He almost jumped out of his skin at the proximity, but a strong, familiar hand was placed on his head, ruffling his hair. How Kakashi was still able to sneak up on him after all this time never ceased to impress Naruto. “Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto breathed out in relief, but it was short-lived.“Commander,” the bear mask said, “I mean no disrespect, but this is the rouge Uchiha we are talking about, and I have orders to -”“I know very well what your orders are, and I know who Sasuke is even better than that,” Kakashi said, voice taking on a terrifying icy quality to it that had the hair on Naruto’s arms rising, “so, with disrespect,  squad leader, I am telling you to stand down.”There was a horrible moment of terse and charged silence before the bear-masked man and other ANBU nodded before body-flickering out of sight, taking Itachi’s body with them from the ground where Kiba and Lee had laid him down. “Thank you, Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto said, turning to face his teacher. He suddenly felt like he was 12 years old again, getting caught pulling a prank. “And I’m sorry. I don’t regret it, but I am really sorry for not telling you I was leaving.”There was a second where Naruto thought Kakashi would ignore his apology and stay mad at him forever, but then he said, “I knew you would do it. Don’t apologize, kid.”Naruto’s brain halted all processes for a moment before realization hit him.“You knew  I would do it?” he parroted back. “Then - then, that means you let me hear-”“Who’s to say?” Kakashi said, brushing off Naruto’s accusation and the wide-eyed stares from his companions by turning around and heading toward the village. Naruto beamed at Kakashi’s back, who quickly followed with, “You’re still in the dog house with Tsuande, though!”Naruto’s smile turned into a grimace, and he heard the others groaning around him. It wouldn’t be fun, but as Naruto focused again on the weight on his back, he had a hard time not regretting his decision. They made it through the gates and to the Hokage tower without any further incident, but Naruto could sense an increased presence of ANBU in and out of the building as he entered Tsunade’s office. She looked p@ss@d as he walked in, but Naruto swallowed his fear for Sasuke’s sake.“Hi, Granny,” he said sheepishly, and he swore he could see a vein in her forehead twitch. “I uh- got Sasuke to come back. He’s pretty banged up, though, so I was hoping you could heal him and then -”“Naruto.”The way Tsunade said his name, full of exasperation and reprimand, almost made him flinch. She looked like she wanted to punch him through the wall, but she refrained. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed heavily.“Lay him here,” she said, making room on her desk by unceremoniously swiping the stacks of paperwork onto the floor in a way that made Shizune cringe in the corner of the room. “And then I want an explanation,” Naruto laid Sasuke down with the help of Sakura but didn’t move out of arm's distance once he was on the desk, his body feeling unable to be out of Sasuke's proximity now that he was truly back.Tsunade began to run her hands over Sasuke’s injuries, and Naruto did his best to summarize with honesty. He admitted to overhearing her conversation with Kakashi, whom Tsuande sent a sharp glare as if knowing that he had instigated all of this. He then detailed recruiting his friends and using Shino and Neji’s tracking skills to locate Itachi and Sasuke as they were fighting, tracking their chakra use to the Uchiha hideout. “We found them both collapsed,” Naruto finished, “Itachi was dead by the time we got there… Sasuke said he killed him.”Tsunade’s eyebrows rose in surprise at the last claim, and she ordered Shizune to the mortician's office to evaluate and secure the body immediately. Kakashi volunteered to go with her and, shockingly, Tsuande didn’t protest. Naruto remembered that Kakashi once mentioned that Itachi was under him in the ANBU, so maybe it was sentimental.After that, there was a long, tense silence as Tsuande finished up with Sasuke while everyone else stood at attention, waiting for punishment. Eventually, Tsuande’s hands stilled and stopped glowing. Straightening, she leveled everyone with a tired glare. “As far as anyone is concerned, I sanctioned this S-ranked mission 6 hours ago after receiving intel on the location of a known Akatsuki member. You all went on this mission according to my orders and assisted in eliminating a known threat to the Leaf. Uchiha Sasuke assisted and surrendered. Got it?”Everyone nodded quickly, postures relaxing, but she added, “Don’t think I’m doing this out of the kindness of my heart. If it got out that the ‘hero of Konoha’ and his friends, some of which are heirs to their clans-” she shot a pointed look at Shikamaru, who had the decently to lower his gaze “- went rouge to help return a defected shinobi to the village… it would cause chaos within the council and with the elders and I have been dealing with their sh@t enough as it is. What you all did was reckless and irresponsible, and if anything like this happens again, there will be more than just a verbal telling-off.”The mood sobered as they all took in how bad this could have looked - at how much damage they could have done sociopolitically if the mission had gone sideways like their first try to get Sasuke back had.“Good,” she said at their silence, “then everyone is dismissed.”Thoroughly chastised, they filed out one by one, but Naruto felt stuck to the ground for the second time that day. The idea of leaving Sasuke after just finding him again was almost physically painful. “Naruto,” Sakura said, her voice soft and knowing. “We have to leave him now. It will be alright. Tsunade will help him.”Ignoring her coaxing, Naruto asked, “What will happen to him?”Tsunade sighed heavily, walking in between Sasuke and Naruto before leaning on her desk. “Honestly, brat, you don’t deserve to know after every law you just broke for personal gain,” she said. Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but she held up a hand. “ But  , because I know you would just bug me all night until I tell you anyway, we are going to take him to a secure room at the hospital for prisoners and then-” she flicked him on the nose when he opened his mouth to speak again - “I’m not done so shush. And  then,  once he is healed enough to stand trial before the council and elders for desertion and affiliation with a known Leaf enemy, he will do so.”Naruto felt a tremor in his hands, and he couldn’t tell if it was fatigue or the urge to grab Sasuke and flee from the village with him. Sasuke behind bars and blindfolded was an image that made him feel ill, but he didn’t think he could take on Tsunade and the hoard of ANBU in order to get Sasuke out, who would be dead weight at that, and -“Brat,” Tsunade said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. “Relax. There is nothing more you can do for now, and he isn’t going to disappear or be locked up overnight, okay?” Naruto released a long breath, not really knowing when he had stopped exhaling. “Can I- Can we still see him?” Naruto asked, unable to meet Tsuande’s eyes.“I’ll bring you to the room that we put him in tomorrow morning,” she said reluctantly, sounding as if she already conceded to an argument in her head where Naruto raised hell until he was able to see Sasuke again. “Be at the hospital at 7.”Naruto couldn’t stop himself from throwing his arms around Tsunade’s neck and hugging her.“Thank you, Granny! You are the best!”“Yeah, yeah, whatever, you brat,” she said, patting his back half-heartedly. But, despite her apparent annoyance with him, the corner of her mouth was pulled upward when he finally let go.
  
  

    
      
        
        
          I wanted this to be canon-compliant until Episode 138, but then switched the Pain arc (Eps 163-169) to have happened before this because I felt that arc was critical for Naruto’s personal development. I also increased the time that passed since Sasuke first left because I don’t like writing underaged content.Fanart inspo for this chapter:Sasuke and Itachi: https://pin.it/6QsELSNodThe look: https://pin.it/qR77AKUs1'
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