Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

warning: Foul language, extreme deviation from plot, first time fic.

The sun was shining brightly overhead, without a cloud in sight, basking the figure trudging along with its too hot rays in the already dry weather. Dark eyes looked ahead, sight blurred from dehydration, to see the edge of a forest.

Sweat trickled down the side of his face. Dark hair, normally defying gravity, was now plastered to his forehead. He momentarily contemplated wiping the sweat with his forearm to stop it from stinging his eyes, but then decided that he didn't have enough energy to waste on such frivolities.

A few hours more of barely conscious walking later, he could see the Konoha village gates. Fucking finally. He continued walking dragging along his load behind him.

Shindo was the newest recruit in his Anbu team. He wasn't the smartest ninja in his team or the fastest or even the best strategist. But he never missed any change of detail in his environment, no matter how small. And that's why he was the first to notice Sasuke Uchiha; S class missing nin, possibly the last of the illustrious (albeit fateful) Uchiha clan, Sharingan wielder , Konoha's resident prodigy.

He knew that the Uchiha heir had joined the ranks of Orochimaru in search of power. He also knew the Hokage had sent several search parties to retrieve said Uchiha and that they had failed. Which was why he was baffled to see him coming to Konoha willingly. And his confusion was why he didn't immediately notice the dead body the Sharingan user was dragging behind him.

Sasuke was sitting calmly in the seat provided to him. Maybe too calmly. He saw the Hokage sitting in front of him fuming. She probably thinks I'm lying.

Tsunade had yet to lower her eyebrows after Sasuke had answered her question of why he did the shit that he did and why the fuck he came back. "You forgot."

Scratch that. She definitely thinks I'm lying. "Not forget. I don't remember. Two very completely different phenomenon",Sasuke finished with a straight face. He was leaning back in the chair with his long legs sprawled out in front of him and his left palm holding up his face, with some further assistance from the arm of the chair, as if he couldn't be bothered to use his neck.

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched. "Yes. They in fact are the same. Fucking. Thing." She said between clenched teeth.

Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes slowly. He had glanced at Kakashi just before he did, who had looked like he was even more bored than Sasuke was. He pictured Tsunade's face and felt an irrational urge to laugh. He slowly opened his eyes to see her previously aggravated expression intensified now with a throbbing vein on her right temple. Her jaw muscles working on gnashing her teeth to dust. The urge became stronger.

He shrugged.

Tsunade brought her fist down on the table in front of her effectively smashing it to pieces. She then came to stand in front of Sasuke, who glanced at the table and wondered if he should be a little worried. Then gave up, deciding that it was too much trouble.

Tsunade, meanwhile was chanting a mantra in her head. He's the last Uchiha. He's the last sane Sharingan wielder. Can't kill him. She saw that he'd slouched further down the chair and had once again closed his eyes. Yet. "You left Konoha and joined Orochimaru to attain power, so that you could become strong enough to kill your brother."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows and asked, "Oh?", as if it was news to him. Shizune forehead furrowed in worry seeing the Hokage's fury rise perceptibly.

Kakashi and Shikamaru watched on with morbid fascination as Tsunade's form started to shake slightly in controlled anger. "Why. Did. You. Come. Back." It was a statement. Each word punctuated with a shallow and ineffective calming breath taken through still clenched teeth.

Neiji stepped forward a slight tilt of his head to the Hokage as an apology for taking over the conversation. "You don't remember why you left but you remembered to come back to Konoha?" The accusation was clear in the question, though not enough, by Tsunade's opinion.

He shrugged again. Tsunade grabbed him by his shirt intending to wring his Uchiha neck when the door swung open, hitting the unsuspecting wall hard.

Naruto was panting from the run to the Hokage tower at break neck speed, Sakura at his heels, eyebrows drawn together in worry and Naruto's name on the tip of her tongue, about to ask him to slow down. Both Naruto and Sakura stopped, seeing the state of the room and its occupants. The Hokage, looking angrier than he'd ever seen her before. Everyone at their feet, not sure if they should come between the furious Hokage and the cause of her fury, or in fact if they wanted to. The Hokage's desk long deceased, reduced to a pile of firewood. Sasuke Uchiha, shirt fisted by the Hokage and about to follow in the aforementioned desk's footsteps.

Sasuke Uchiha, his (former?) best friend, one of the strongest and most promising ninja in Konoha, missing nin, was looking at him with those dark, dark eyes. No longer brooding and cold, but glinting with a strange light.

Sasuke was looking at Naruto, taking in his disheveled blond hair, big blue eyes wide with surprise, red lips parted and chest heaving with every breath. Naruto swallowed down the lump in his throat and ignored the weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. He turned to the Hokage and bowed slightly. "I'll handle Sasuke"

"Oh, you can handle me any time babe".

Every head in the room snapped to the Uchiha, the stoic loner, forever silent and brooding over his vengeance, who was now smirking at Naruto and raking his dark eyes over his form.

Everybody stood as if frozen, eyes wide and jaws dropped not sure how to react or sure about what they had heard. Everybody except Sasuke, who was still leering at Naruto; the aforementioned blond, who was blushing crimson; and their sensei who was smiling underneath his mask. This should be interesting.