Multi-chaptered Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: What's this? A new story? What? What?

Hmm . . . I'm a little late with the new story, aren't I? Excuses and explanations aside, here it is. And now, here are important things you need to know:

1) Slightly AU in that they're Shippuuden age, but Sasuke never had his hissy fit with Itachi or the Akatsuki.

THIS STORY IS NOT ABOUT SASUKE. He plays a large role in the first chapter because he's the reason behind the plot.

2) Take it slowly. This story is all about development.

3) What is this story about? This is the most important. It's about overcoming fears, strengthening and breaking friendships, and a little romance here and there. What kind of romance? Broken hearts. Little bits of passive fluff. Squints of yaoi. Never-to-be relationships. Team 7 is broken, and now it needs to get back together. This is going to be their rough journey.

I guarantee real emotions. Real fears. Real life.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke not perfect. They will make mistakes. They will seem out of character. And you will get angry, and I will not understand why, because I warned you.

Let me shut up now. Enjoy the story, and review only if you feel moved to.

Chapter One
…:::Serendipitous:::…

Read the author's note. It should answer any burning questions.

Almost there . . .

Almost there . . .!

"Ha!"

Naruto held the bells triumphantly in his hands, raising them to the sky for Sai and Sakura to see as he pranced around his smirking sensei.

"I told you I'd be the first to get them!" he said, laughing. "I –"

Poof!

The bells – and the smirking sensei – disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto blinked his round sapphire eyes for a moment, staring at the empty palm of his hand where the bells used to be as if they would magically reappear if he stared long enough. Sure enough, they didn't.

Oh, Kakashi was good. Too good.

The infamous sensei came sauntering out from behind a tight row of trees, clapping lazily. Sai and Sakura joined their teammate in the center of the clearing on the training grounds and watched with narrowed eyes as Kakashi came to a halt a meter in front of them.

"Well, that was entertaining," the older man said with a contradicting yawn. He winked at Naruto with his only visible eye. "Better luck next time."

"If you would've waited long enough, dickless, you would've realized that it was just a clone," Sai chimed, his eyes closed from the force of his smile. The reaction he received from Naruto was almost immediate.

"Dickless?!" he yelled. "You have the nerve to –"

But he stopped himself, blinking owlishly like he had done moments ago. His expression softened, his whiskered cheeks dropped, and he looked almost saddened.

"You haven't called me any weird names in a long time," he continued. "What's with the sudden return to the nicknames?" And then, as if answering himself, he said, "It's because of him, isn't it?"

"Nonsense." It was as if Sai had felt insulted in a blue moon moment. "I would never do anything because of that bag of scum."

"Don't you –!"

"Well."

Kakashi clapped one hand down roughly on Naruto's shoulder and the other reached into his back pocket for his book with the infamous orange cover. He prided himself in well-timed interruptions.

"That's enough team training for today. You're dismissed."

Naruto frowned. "But I wanted to train longer."

It was Kakashi's turn to frown, but his lips quickly quirked themselves upwards in favor of a fake smile. "Naruto, I'm technically not your sensei anymore. I have other duties, and I'm sure Sai and Sakura have theirs as well."

"Yeah, whatever," the blond tried to brush off the comment, seemingly unfazed. He walked to the base of a nearby tree to pick up the small bag he had left. Sakura followed him to retrieve her bag as well.

"You're not going to visit him now, are you?" she asked, her emerald eyes darting to the bag of grocery store couture in Naruto's hand.

Naruto caught both the hesitance and the slight anger lacing her voice. He smiled at her. "Of course I'm going to visit him," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the universe. "He hasn't had company for almost three years. I'm making it up to him."

"Naruto, he almost –!"

"Bye, Sakura."

He was sick of hearing the same lecture he'd been given for the past two months.

His destination had almost been routinely designed. After a rare training session with Kakashi, Sai, and Sakura, he would make his way there as if it was completely normal. He would always take something with him, like a bar of chocolate or a package of ramen noodles, feeling awkward upon showing up empty-handed despite the fact that he didn't care.

Up to that isolated, one-roomed apartment he went, knocking on the front door eagerly. He announced his entrance rather pointlessly and moved to turn the knob of the door so he could enter. A gloved hand stopped him unexpectedly. He turned his eyes to find a porcelain mask staring down at him.

"No visitors," a gruff voice said from behind the mask. "Hokage's orders."

"What do you mean 'no visitors'? I've been coming here for almost two months! Granny Tsunade knows I come here all the time. The ANBU always let me in." He paused, scrutinizing the mask for a few moments. "What's your mask supposed to be? A cat? You're a new guard, aren't you?"

The ANBU let go of Naruto's arm and crossed his own over his broad chest. "It's a tiger," he said, sounding rather offended. "And I've been given orders not to let anyone –"

"Relax, Tiger."

Another ANBU appeared at Naruto's side suddenly, placing a hand on his shoulder. Naruto recognized the beaked mask and relaxed, shifting weight to one leg as he waited for an explanation.

"Uzumaki's one of the few people allowed to visit him."

"Fine," said Tiger. Naruto imagined a sneering face behind that mask. "Continue."

Tiger disappeared, soon followed by the falcon-masked woman. Naruto finally turned the doorknob without further interruptions and peered into the darkness of the room. The dying sunset spilled through the bare windows, creating a glossy glow on the naked wooden floors.

"Hey," Naruto called, closing the door behind him and maneuvering through the miniature living room. "I'm here."

The so-called living room was devoid of any furniture. No couches, no chairs, no tables, and nothing decorating the walls. The kitchen, connected to the living room and equally as small, had nothing but a refrigerator, an oven with a stovetop, and cupboards Naruto knew were empty save for three dishes, two glass cups, and a bag of uncooked rice. He sent the area a fleeting glance, checking for any signs of life, before venturing into the only other room the miniature apartment had, besides the bathroom.

Naruto knocked twice, not even bothering to wait for a reply before swinging the door open and turning on the lights. His eyes swept over the futon mat, over the bare desk, to the figure huddled in the furthest corner of the room and he frowned.

"You're always in that position when I come in," he commented offhandedly as he neared the figure. "Get up, Sasuke. I just got back from training and I don't feel like sitting on the floor today."

Uchiha Sasuke had his back wedged into the corner the connecting walls created, his knees drawn to his chest, his arms wrapped around them to pull them closer, and his forehead resting on his knees. Every time Naruto came to visit, he was always in that position, and every time Naruto left, he was always in that position.

Naruto sighed and dragged the futon mat over so that he could lie down in front of the boy. He lay on his stomach, head propped up by both of his arms, and tossed the bag he had come with at the Uchiha's feet.

"I brought you another cup of ramen. Kakashi-sensei told me he stopped by and you didn't seem to be eating anything. You got thinner." He chuckled humorlessly. "Well, thinner than before, anyway."

He was used to the silence that followed. Sasuke had barely said anything since he returned. He hadn't really been the one to return . . .

----------

. . . He was back.

That bastard was back, crimson eyes intact, chakra pulsing around his entire body, barely alive. Found by a girl and her father. Returned by force. Confronted by the Elders beneath their beady eyes and accusing glances.

"Orochimaru?"

"Dead."

"And Itachi?"

". . . Still alive."

Their patience wore thin beneath their wrinkled skin. What to do, what to do? What to do with this missing-nin, this sacred survivor of the Uchiha clan, this traitor, this killer of Orochimaru?

"Will you try to escape again?"

Silence.

"Will you try to escape again?" they asked once more, their patience a sliver away from disappearing.

"I'm thinking."

They gave him plenty of time to think – in prison. Locked him up, threw away the key. Watched him suffer in his own puddle of blood and sweat and piss. They knew they needed him. He knew they needed him; they wanted him alive. He had gained all the information on Orochimaru, on the Akatsuki's whereabouts, hideouts, plans, experiments; all the information they had been trying to gain for years, he had gotten in months.

In and out of consciousness he went, never having been healed from the deathbed state they found him in. He stayed alone for two days in that prison, chakra-suppressing shackles around his ankles and wrists, ANBU guards at the gate of his cell, watching him behind the rotting bars with their hidden eyes behind their porcelain masks.

You could've been one of us.

Sasuke knew that.

But he didn't think about his status. He didn't think about Orochimaru, or about the prison he was in, or about the Elders. All he could think about, and all he didn't want to think about, was his team.

Could he still call it his team?

Was he going to return to Konoha? Was leaving really worth coming back?

Where was he going with his life?

What the hell had he gotten himself into?

They took him out of his cell on the third day. Forced him out of unconsciousness with a rough shake and a slap across the face, because that was how anyone treated a traitor. A traitor wasn't one of their kinds. Wasn't one of them.

You could've been one of us.

Interrogation time.

Why were you found almost dead in the middle of the forest?

He didn't know.

Lies!

Where was Orochimaru's hideout?

He didn't know.

Lies!

What did Orochimaru do to you?

. . . He didn't know.

LIES!

"Uchiha," Ibiki's gruff voice spat out disgustedly, as if the name was a sin. Written right next to Beelzebub in the Holy Bible. "If you cooperate with the interrogation, the Elders have agreed to lessen the intensity of your punishment. You will be allowed to stay in Konoha. Your death sentence will be lifted. Would you like that?"

Yes, yes, yes!

"I'm thinking."

SLAP!

"You're done thinking." A gloved hand grabbed his chin roughly. Sasuke could feel the calluses beneath the leather, digging into his bruised flesh. "Yes or no?"

Silence.

His thinned face was squeezed tighter. He was thrust backwards, falling to the cold cement without so much as a cry, the chair he was tied to digging painfully into his prominent shoulder blades. Ibiki straddled him, his gloved hand at his pale throat, thumb digging into his windpipe.

"Yes or no," he whispered ominously, and it wasn't a question anymore.

He was so ready to leave at that very moment. To give it all up. He didn't come back so he could get tortured and interrogated and treated that way! But there was something stopping him. And he didn't want to admit it.

Anything to stop the pain, Sasuke told himself. Anything to keep me alive so I can finish what I need to do.

"Yes!" he screamed. "Yes, yes, yes!"

The interrogation ended there for that day and he was back in that cell, back to where he started, alone and cold and hurt and hungry, because he never got any further than that. Always alone, always cold, always hurt, always hungry.

They healed a little bit of him that night for the next interrogation. He desperately tried to stay awake as medic-nins tended to the worst of his injuries, desperately searching for any sign of pink hair, any glimpse of green, green eyes.

None.

He fell into darkness with nothing but fluorescent lighting in his memories.

At the next interrogation, Ibiki asked him for a story. Sasuke gave him one. He asked if the information would be kept confidential. Ibiki told him that between him, the Hokage, and the Elders, no one else would know. So Sasuke told him everything. And no one but Ibiki, the Hokage, and the Elders heard.

No one.

The next interrogation, they asked him for information. He gave it to them. He gave them everything his brain could remember, every sickening detail, every disturbing experiment. He could even give them the exact times a gut-wrenching fit of laughter reverberated off of the stone walls underground; he had started to, too. One-forty-seven p.m., two-thirty-three p.m., four-oh-five p.m. . . . A slap to the face was the only thing that stopped him from continuing.

Punishment time.

The Elders had their fun then. They had been waiting for the punishment. And so Sasuke sat in the Hokage's office in a chair, hands bound, face hung so that his too-long bangs fell over his face in oily wisps. The vaguely familiar woman sitting in the Hokage's chair stared at him with honeyed eyes, brows together, hands clasped, thinking.

Thinking.

Thinking.

The Elders sat at the side like hungry vultures, waiting for their injured prey to be bitten and wounded and left to bleed for death before they could swoop down and feast. A man with wild white hair was there, too, in the corner; Sasuke vaguely remembered him, but couldn't place a name.

And Kakashi.

Kakashi was there, too, and that was what hurt the most.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Tsunade broke the heavy silence at last with the sinned name. "S-ranked missing-nin returning to Konoha. You realize the penalty for any missing-nin is usually death, correct?"

He nodded his head ever-so-slightly, unable to meet those accusing eyes.

"However, you have managed to kill another S-ranked missing-nin, and have provided valuable information on both said missing-nin and the mercenary group known as Akatsuki. You have not been brought back willingly, but you have willingly decided to stay. Is this correct?"

Nod, nod.

"At your age –"

"Tsunade, age has nothing to do with it!" Koharu, the only female of the Elders, snapped. "Sixteen is nothing! At thirteen, Uchiha Itachi slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan!"

Sasuke finally raised his head to glare at her with all the anger he could muster, inwardly thanking her for the dear reminder, and then slicing off her head. In his mind, of course. His hands itched to do so much more.

"I understand that," Tsunade ground out between clenched teeth. "Uchiha Sasuke, I have decided that your punishment will be . . ."

Three weeks later, there is Uchiha Sasuke, sitting alone in a one-roomed apartment, the scars of his punishment – physical and mental – still fresh on his body as he cradled his knees to his chest and rested his head on them for hours and hours without moving the slightest inch. House arrest. They gave him that miniscule apartment saying that would be his new home for two years. ANBU would be watching him like the hawks on their porcelain masks for a year.

Stripped of his Genin status, he was now nothing but a lowly academy ninja. No missions for three months. A small trickle of money would be provided monthly by the Hokage. Community service. Errands.

Return to Team 7 would be contemplated, but not immediately granted.

Kakashi stopped by several times to speak to him. Sasuke expected a casual talk with an undertone of a lecture, but Kakashi was dead serious. He crouched in front of the Uchiha and very seriously, he said, "I'm disappointed in you." Sasuke didn't think he listened to the rest of the conversation. Those four words were all that swam in his mind for the rest of the nights.

Of course, Naruto had gotten word of Sasuke's return some way or another, and during his previous two weeks of punishment, he had made it his mission to have a word with the Uchiha. He got his words in, all right. His words, his punches, his tears, his emotions. He had been livid at the Uchiha and stayed that way for several days. But when Sasuke's punishment had gone into play, he stayed up all night next to the punished Uchiha and spoke of everything, asked him everything, tried to heal him when he could. Sasuke never said anything. He just listened, because he had nothing to say.

----------

And so there sat Uchiha Sasuke, knees to his chest, with Naruto in front of him telling him about how training went. After a while, he fell into silence, and they stayed like that for however long it was. Sasuke wasn't counting. He didn't even have a clock to count with.

"You know," Naruto whispered after the wave of silence died down, "I really felt the tension today when I was training."

Sasuke said nothing. As usual. But Naruto knew he was listening. As usual.

"I told you Sai shows it openly, right? But Sakura's different. She seems kind of uncomfortable. I'm guessing she didn't visit you, right?"

Not expecting an answer, Naruto was somewhat shocked when Sasuke suddenly said, "She's not as annoying as she was back then, is she?"

Naruto frowned. "I never thought she was annoying."

The Uchiha finally stood up straighter, running one handcuffed hand through his oily hair, vaguely noting that he needed to take a shower. "Kakashi came this morning."

"I know," said Naruto with a smile. "He was extra late to training. What did he say?"

"Nothing."

Naruto left it at that. Sasuke had told him about Kakashi's random visits. The man would stand there for ridiculous lengths of time in silence. He crouched in front of the Uchiha from time to time, leaving the ghost of a touch on his cheeks or his hand, but never said anything since the first day he saw him.

"I'm thinking about asking him to take you on a mission with us."

"Don't." Sasuke's dull eyes bore into Naruto's suddenly, narrowing. "It won't do any good. Let them pretend I don't exist."

Naruto sat up in enthusiasm, pointing a finger at Sasuke. "They know you exist! They just need to warm up to you again, you know? Being away for almost three years and then suddenly coming back takes a lot on close friends –"

Sasuke smiled humorlessly, shaking his head in a pitying manner. Naruto thought he looked almost manic.

"You're an idiot," he whispered. "You know I didn't willingly come back. They're doing the right thing, ignoring me. No one is going to warm up to me, Naruto. I'm a traitor of Konoha. You're the only one stupid enough to still be talking to me."

"Fine," Naruto said, not offended in the least, but his smile was gone. "Then I must be the stupidest of them all, because I believe we can forgive and forget –"

He was cut off when Sasuke's cuffed hands suddenly grabbed the front of his shirt. The grasp didn't hold much power; the cuffs drained his chakra to a bare minimum. All Sasuke could do was pull Naruto towards him, their faces close.

"Forget that I tried to kill you?!"

As if they worked with the flick of a switch, four ANBU guards were in the miniscule bedroom, three of them detaining Sasuke and one of them prying Naruto from his weak grip.

"No, wait –!" Naruto tried to reason as he was dragged away from the Uchiha.

"It is no longer safe for you to visit Uchiha Sasuke," the ANBU – the same female that had allowed him entry – said. "Do not come again. You will no longer be allowed access."

"No, you don't understand. He wasn't trying to do anything . . ."

As he was pulled from the room, he heard Sasuke give a strangled yell – of agony? of anger? – before silence reigned upon the apartment. The ANBU pushed Naruto out the door, slammed it in his face, and the night stilled.

Well, that went rather well.

Naruto thought it was time to speak to Kakashi.

Speaking to Kakashi was easier done than said.

"Kakashi-sensei, I think our teamwork has been really awkward lately."

"I know."

"And I think it's because Sasuke's here."

"I know."

". . ."

". . ."

"And I think it's a good idea to have Sasuke go on a mission with us."

"I know."

What the hell?!

"And I want a unicorn for my next birthday."

Kakashi walked past him, tapping him on the nose. "Now that," he said, wagging a finger, "I didn't know."

And then he was gone.

Kakashi made a quick stop at the Uchiha's apartment before he went on with the plans he had in mind. He was mildly surprised when an ANBU stopped him before he could enter.

"Uchiha Sasuke is no longer allowed visitors," she said.

Kakashi leaned back into his carefree slouch and, with lidded eyes, commented casually, "What did he do, kill a puppy?"

"He assaulted Uzumaki Naruto on his recent visit."

Kakashi did not seem at all surprised at the news. Naruto had seemed perfectly fine when he had spoken to him, save for a shirt that seemed more crinkled than usual. The ANBU guarding Sasuke had a tendency to be out to get the Uchiha since his return.

"That's okay," Kakashi continued in his even tone. "I think I'm a little more experienced than Naruto." He brushed past the ANBU and turned the knob on the door. "And besides, I'm just here for a minute visit. A few words and I'll be gone. You can watch, too."

Because it's not like you haven't been recording his every twitch, anyway.

The ANBU said nothing to his entrance and so he carried on into the darkness; the sun had long since died. Kakashi made his way through the apartment to Sasuke's room. The boy was in a familiar position in the corner, head down.

"Well, well," the silver-haired man began as he stood in front of the Uchiha, staring down at him.

Sasuke immediately looked up. Unlike Naruto, Kakashi did not make it a habit to show up unexpectedly and rant for long hours on end, and so Sasuke made sure that he listened more intently. He didn't know why, either. His stabbing conscience, however, told him it was to make up for those four words he couldn't get out of his mind from his former teacher's first visit.

I'm disappointed in you.

Kakashi noticed, with bitter amusement, the blood at the corner of Sasuke's lip, and the growing bruise on his cheek. The ANBU had already had their fun, just like the Elders.

"It seems you're to blame for my team's training going down the drain lately," he said, watching Sasuke flinch at the deliberate wording he used. My team.

"Funny," Sasuke said with a sullen snort. "I thought I didn't exist to them."

"It's the fact that they know you exist that is driving their poor focus."

Kakashi crouched in front of his former student, his visible eye moving from Sasuke's long sleeves that stretched over his arms, to the bruise along his jaw, to the unwashed strands of hair over a porcelain complexion, and finally stopped to stare directly into seemingly endless oblivion.

"I'm going to take you on a mission with us."

Sasuke grew angry almost instantaneously.

"Who the hell do you think you're kidding?" he barked. "I don't belong on a team anymore. It's like I never graduated from the Academy. And even if I ever manage to get my rank raised, all I'll ever be used for is solo life-or-death missions. I can't be on a team anymore, Kakashi. You need trust to be able to work with a team."

Kakashi smiled to himself a little.

"You haven't changed," he said, feeling a little more than accomplished at the annoyed twitch he received from Sasuke.

Silence ensued.

"I'm still pretty disappointed in you."

"I know."

"But I'm willing to give you a chance to redeem yourself."

Sasuke stared at him for a while, wondering if Kakashi could read his mind. I don't want to redeem myself, damn it, he thought intensely, but Kakashi merely blinked.

"If you won't take the mission to redeem yourself, then take the mission as an excuse to get out of this apartment. You haven't left this place for two months. I think that's pretty unhealthy."

Silence.

"And you'll have those chakra-draining handcuffs taken off of you."

Silence.

Kakashi stood up, brushing imaginary dust off of his knees, and sighed. "I want to know what you're thinking sometimes, Sasuke," he said quietly. Then, louder, he said, "Well, I'm expecting you tomorrow for training at noon. It's up to you to come."

And with that, he left.

Sasuke wished he had more glass cups in the kitchen. He had the sudden urge to throw one.

"No. Absolutely not, Hatake. No. Never."

Talking to Tsunade was a lot easier with alcohol. Kakashi, however, was rather short of alcohol and was therefore forced to take the hard way: convincing her manually.

He had arrived at her office early the next morning (Tsunade almost had a heart attack; Kakashi, early?!), crouching on her windowsill in a mellow style only Hatake Kakashi could achieve, his portable porn in hand. At first, he had casually asked her how she was doing, to which she'd remarked that he was up to something. And so, pocketing the portable porn, he got down to business.

"I want to send Sasuke on a mission."

She would've thought he was joking if the porn was still in his hand. But it wasn't, and so she laughed humorlessly and flat-out denied. So he asked again, and received the former answer.

"I have that boy down on punishment, and the Elders have their eye out on him, too. It's one month too early to send him out on a mission, Hatake. His lack of rank indicates that he needs to return to the Academy, so even if he achieves Genin level, he will still be doing D-rank missions."

Kakashi casually pointed out that the first mission he had sent the original Team 7 on was an A-rank mission. Then he waved his hand a little and pointed out that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru – a Sannin. Tsunade did not take kindly to these casual pointing outs.

And so, when she denied his request for a third time, he finally explained what he planned to do, why he planned to do it, and the catch behind the mission.

Tsunade said she'd think about it.

Kakashi took it as an okay.

He thanked Tsunade and left. Tsunade sighed. Although she was the Hokage, and although she was a powerful Sannin, she was also a mother-figure with a soft spot that Sasuke had punched. It didn't help that moments later, Naruto burst into her office and demanded she give Sasuke a mission with all of Team 7.

She kicked him out with a smirk on her face.

Sasuke was there the next day.

On time.

Kakashi, of course, was not.

And so, this left things rather awkward for the students waiting for him to show up. Sasuke had been the first at the familiar bridge, leaning weakly over the railings to stare at his reflection in the water down below. He wore loose clothing: a long-sleeved, plain navy shirt with the Uchiha symbol proudly on the back, and something resembling sweat pants, looking rather awkward in sandals. He knew the ANBU were not too far behind, either; the guards had asked for Tsunade's permission before letting Sasuke out of the apartment, and they had been following him ever since.

He had almost collapsed when the chakra-draining handcuffs had been removed. The gradual surge of power overwhelmed him; he had adapted to a minor amount of chakra for two months, as well as to no sleep. Even standing there, looking over the bridge, he felt a bit fatigued. He would be damned if he showed the slightest bit of weakness at training, however.

When it was Naruto who showed up after him, he felt slightly relieved. He could relax around Naruto, simply because he knew the blond had no hard feelings.

He still found that hard to believe.

"I didn't think you'd come," the blond said. He smiled. "But I'm glad you did."

I didn't think I'd come, either. A gust of wind carried with it a whistling That's what she said.

Sasuke honestly did not know why he came. Perhaps it was the idea of training – getting stronger. Perhaps it was the idea that the cuffs would be removed. Or perhaps, perhaps it was the idea that he would get the chance to redeem himself –

No!

There's no way in hell I'll be able to redeem myself.

Speaking of hell:

"You look like hell."

Naruto was always the best conversationalist. Sasuke focused on his reflection in the water again, staring at the hollows of his cheeks. He had lost an immense amount of weight from the two weeks of torture he endured. He was sure that the only reason the clothes on him were loose was because he had gotten smaller.

Naruto watched his expressions with a slight frown on his face. Sasuke had seemed different ever since he came back. He had grown, definitely, and his appearance had adjusted well to his growth, but that wasn't what Naruto thought had changed. There was something else. Something less confident in the way Sasuke stood. Something less arrogant in the way he stared.

Something less Sasuke-ish.

He joined Sasuke, looking over the rail in silence, both of them unknowingly thinking of the same thing: the others' reactions.

Sai was the first to saunter over the bridge. He didn't stop and stare at Sasuke; something told Naruto that the strange boy had gotten word of the unexpected guest. Instead, Sai walked to Sasuke's other side and leaned over the railing. When Sasuke turned to stare at him in confusion, Sai gave the largest, fakest smile he could muster.

"Traitor," he spat, smile still in place.

The old Sasuke, Naruto thought, would've done one of two things: he would've gotten angry at the words of a complete stranger, asking him what the hell his problem was, or he would've cracked that arrogant smile of his and snapped his own insult right back.

But this Sasuke – this new Sasuke? – did neither. He simply stayed silent and looked back down into the water. Naruto wondered if he agreed with what Sai said.

He missed the old Sasuke.

Sakura was the obvious next person to arrive. From where she came, she couldn't see Sasuke between Naruto and Sai, all three boys leaning over the rail and looking at the water. And so she hopped up happily.

"Hey," she said, still walking towards them. "What are you boys looking at – oh . . ."

She paused mid-step, her words fading and her eyes growing round as she stared at the figure that did not move to acknowledge her presence. Naruto, however, turned to take in her reaction.

"Sakura," he started, but he did not know how to continue.

It was the second time Sakura had seen Sasuke since his return, her first being in the very early days when he had been on his punishment. She had had no hand in healing him; Tsunade had not asked, despite her excellent expertise in the medical field, nor had Sakura asked to see him in those two months. It was something she could not bring herself to do. Something she knew was inevitable, but she wanted to keep away as long as possible.

Something that was happening right now.

Naruto watched Sasuke turn around. He wondered what was going on in that mind of his, wondered what Sasuke was thinking at that very second, because his face certainly betrayed no emotion. Sasuke simply leaned backwards against the rail and crossed one ankle over the other. He didn't even say anything, and Naruto suddenly wanted to hit him so hard it hurt.

So Sakura didn't say anything, either.

She didn't know what she was feeling. She wanted to pump all her chakra into one fist and knock Sasuke's head clean off of his neck. She wanted to break down in tears then and there, but knew she would never allow anyone to see her weaknesses anymore. She didn't know whether she still harbored that love for Sasuke she had years ago, but she could feel her heart pounding at the situation nonetheless.

"See?" Sai interrupted bluntly, unafraid to speak. "Even she agrees. Traitor."

Sakura did not say anything in protest.

And neither did Naruto.

Sasuke turned around to look at the water over the railing again and suddenly wished Sakura would push him over and he would drown. Maybe if he moved to slap Naruto or something an ANBU would take him down and bring him back into his apartment.

Because Sasuke truly, honestly had no idea what he was doing there.

A surge of anger bubbled in Sakura suddenly. Suddenly, all of the pain she had endured, all of the pain Naruto was forced to endure because of Sasuke, came washing over her, pushing her over the edge. Her eyebrows furrowed, and Naruto saw her raise her hand as if she was about to slap Sasuke, her other hand itching to turn him around so it would hurt more. And that hand stayed suspended in the air for what seemed like hours.

Kakashi, previously having prided himself in well-timed interruptions, never felt prouder. He sauntered down the bridge, his mind completely alert yet his idle expression speaking otherwise. Feeling unacknowledged when he finally reached the students, he hummed a little ditty to make himself known.

"I'm glad we're all getting along," he said, digging his hands into his pockets.

Sakura lowered her hand and turned to stare at him, and Kakashi wasn't sure if her expression showed anger or sorrow, or something in between. Naruto wondered if her hand would have made impact with Sasuke's face if Kakashi hadn't shown up.

Sakura wondered the same thing.

"Kakashi-sensei," she whispered, eyes oddly blank, "what is the meaning of this?"

Kakashi pretended to look confused. "The meaning of what?" he asked. "We're training like we always do. I've got a particularly cooperation-oriented test to do today, by the way. Let's all head off –"

"Kakashi-sensei."

He was surprised inwardly at the dripping venom from Sakura's normally sweet voice. A sigh escaped his own lips. "Sakura, let's just get training, okay? You're a ninja. You have to learn to adapt." He turned without another glance at them. "Now, let's strengthen some teamwork."

"All right," Sai responded positively with a smile, pushing himself away from the railing and following Kakashi. "But I'm not cooperating with the traitor," he chirped in a singsong voice.

Again, no one said anything. Not even Sasuke, who pushed himself from the railing in an equal manner and followed suit. Not even Naruto, who didn't agree in the slightest with the word, who wanted no more than to turn back a clock and right the wrong. Not even Sakura, who found herself agreeing with Sai, and found herself feeling terribly guilty for doing so.

The test Kakashi set them to take, of course, hadn't worked out so well.

Well, it had for Sakura, Naruto, and Sai. Sasuke, however, found himself suddenly alone amidst the trees, watching Sakura, Naruto, and Sai as a team complete the test without him. It was only when he had walked into the clearing after them did the three realize their mistake (although Sai's had been on purpose). Sakura stifled a gasp at her own inconsiderate attitude and took several minutes trying to convince herself that it was perfectly fine to show Sasuke inconsiderateness, because that was how Sasuke treated everyone else; she ignored the part of her that told her that was a lie.

Naruto cursed himself openly for the mistake.

"You were masking your chakra," he tried to defend himself by accusing the Uchiha. "We're not trying to hide from each other, you know. I couldn't figure out where you were."

Sasuke did not shake his head, did not nod, did not hum in agreement. He stood still, a little off to the side from everyone else, and stared through oily bangs that reached below his chin. He had half a mind to tell Naruto that masking his chakra was something unintentional that he did; it was something reflexive that he was taught to do, and instinct told him to do it the second Kakashi had given the okay to begin the test. But he wasn't in the mood for an argument.

He wasn't in the mood for anything.

Naruto frowned. He really missed the old Sasuke.

Kakashi watched the ongoing with disappointment. He had expected the tension to lighten just the slightest. Perhaps Sakura would fall into routine and the old Team 7 air would resurface, but she seemed adamant to punish Sasuke in her own way. Naruto was too caught up trying to please everyone and get everyone to work together to be too effective. And Sai was a lost cause.

Things didn't get better, either.

The tension stayed with the other tests they carried out that day, following the Uchiha like a fraying string from his shirt sleeve, tickling him with an annoying itch from time to time. Kakashi took note of this. It would never work out between them, he thought. The tension was just too . . . awkward. Too strange. Too bizarre to have a traitor back. Someone they would have died for two years ago, they would now not cast a second glance. Even Naruto's attempts at bridging Sasuke to the rest of the team were failing horribly.

"You're dismissed," he said after the fourth failed test, staring over his sweating students with his arms crossed over his chest. "Training again next week, same day of the week, same time."

He went back to Tsunade that night.

"Still thinking?" he asked her from his position on the windowsill.

"My only problem is having Sasuke out of Konoha's gates," she admitted. "We found him. He didn't come back willingly, Kakashi. If that man never found him, he would've gotten back up and dragged himself to wherever without a second thought towards this town! What if he takes it as his chance to leave?"

"You don't think he'd have left already?"

Kakashi picked himself up from the windowsill and walked slowly to the front of Tsunade's desk. He placed his gloved hands upon the surface of the wood, leaning forwards onto his arms slightly so that what was exposed of his arms rippled with veins.

"He's been here for two months," he said. "He agreed to stay. If he wanted to leave, don't you think he'd have left already?"

"I've given orders for the ANBU to do anything to him should he try to escape. That includes putting him in a near-death state. The only reason Sasuke hasn't tried to escape is because he wants to stay alive so he can fulfill whatever twisted desires he has. Even with two weeks of torture and two months of house arrest, his skills haven't deteriorated in the least."

Kakashi had to agree. Sasuke, despite more stoic than usual, showed no signs of weakening skills. But he shook his head anyway.

"That's probably not the only reason Sasuke hasn't tried to escape."

Naruto did not expect to find himself avoiding Sasuke in the week between their next training session.

It wasn't that hard, really. Sasuke never came out of his apartment. All Naruto had to do was not go near it and he would do just fine. He, like Sakura, could suddenly not bring himself to see the Uchiha. He hoped Sasuke didn't mind, because right now, Naruto needed a break from chaos.

Sasuke minded.

But he didn't tell anyone that.

After all, since Naruto didn't come, there was no one to tell.

Kakashi tried the teamwork routine at the next training session. That one had gone particularly horrible. It went like this:

". . . Hey, Sasuke," Naruto had started.

". . ."

"I'm sorry I didn't show up last week."

". . ."

"I had some things to sort out."

". . ."

At least it wasn't a lie.

Naruto, in an attempt to please Sasuke (and to secretly make up for the week he hadn't visited), had teamed up with him, but Sakura and Sai had a hard time completing the mission when Sasuke was around, and Sasuke had somehow ended up in a large hole in the ground. He hadn't even bothered to get himself out of it. He just collapsed on the spot, spread-eagled on his back, wondering why it wasn't raining as he looked up at the sky from where he hadn't moved for hours.

Kakashi visited Tsunade again.

"I've made a decision," she said. "And I will allow you a mission."

Kakashi, just to annoy her, danced in glee. She promptly kicked him out of her office.

Now in the quiet of her own solitude, she took to looking for the perfect mission – anything was better than doing paperwork, and now she had an excuse not to. Picking the mission, however, was harder than she had originally thought it was. It couldn't be a D- or C-rank mission. Kakashi's specifications called for something far more difficult than that. And besides, the members of Team 7, both old and new, were no longer children. They were easily of ANBU skill (and one, secretly, already was).

She laid the folders out for A- and S-rank missions.

A part of her told her she was crazy. She shut that part out with a bottle of sake and a few shots. Or a lot.

She had thought it impossible to originally allow Sasuke out on a mission. It had taken hours when the boy had first arrived to convince the Elders to lessen their original punishment, and the end result had not been too pretty, either. The Elders would have surely disallowed the mission . . . if she had confided in them. But a part of her pride was roused: what good was being Hokage if she couldn't make decisions on her own? If the Elders told her what to do and what not to do? And so she told herself that she was getting Sasuke on a mission if they liked it or not.

The first S-rank mission available luckily required a team and was not a solo mission. She held the folder in one hand and tapped her free fingers to her lips. No, she couldn't send them on that mission. It was too heavily centered on Sound. The temptations would be far too great, and she was not completely sure of Sasuke's intentions. She knew the team's skill was enough to go above and beyond an S-rank mission, but she was skeptical about the idea of starting so large. The A-rank missions required solo artists. All three of them.

And so Tsunade told herself that the next mission she acquired that wasn't a solo mission, regardless of whether or not it was A- or S-ranked, would be their mission. And so she waited.

And so it came, four days later.

Unfortunately, Sai was out of town on a mission of his own and could only join them when his mission was completed. The date was unsure. That would create a problem.

"Take it or leave it, Hatake."

Kakashi took it.

"You have a mission that starts tomorrow morning."

Kakashi stood, staring down at the Uchiha in the corner of the apartment (knees drawn, head down). Sasuke stared up at him suddenly, eyeing him with uncertainty.

"Details?" he asked.

"An A-ranked retrieval and escort mission in the Land of Grass. I'll give you more details tomorrow. Get packed for a month-long mission. And take a shower while you're at it."

"Why?"

Kakashi left without answering the question.

He found Naruto wandering about the town alone, his hands behind his head as he leaned into them. Kakashi casually fell into step with him, and Naruto did not even turn to his side to acknowledge his sensei. He simply smiled and whispered a greeting without moving.

"Contemplating something?"

"The meaning of life," Naruto replied, only half-joking.

"Don't think too hard. You don't want to hurt yourself."

"Oi, oi, oi!"

Kakashi smiled. At least someone was still normal.

"We're going on a mission starting tomorrow morning," he said, and then waited for the explosion. He felt himself get suddenly lifted into the air by a very excited Naruto. The blond had his hands wrapped tightly around the man's midriff and was lifting his feet slightly off of the ground in what seemed to be a Super Hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he chanted before releasing his sensei. "I'm going to go pack right now!"

"Do you even know what you're packing for?" Kakashi called to the orange-and-black streak running into the distance.

"Who cares?!" was the distant reply.

"A month!" Kakashi tried to get in, but he doubted Naruto heard him. Leave it to Naruto to get too excited. He smiled beneath his mask nonetheless as he went back into his saunter as if nothing had happened. It would definitely be an interesting mission.

Sakura was next. Kakashi found her bending before an apple stand in the market, her eyes as green as the fruit she inspected in her hand. He casually bent next to her, picked up an apple of his liking, and paid the vendor. Sakura watched him from the corner of her eye, waiting for him to pull down his mask to take a bite, but he did not. He simply pointlessly wiped the apple on his vest and pocketed it.

"We're going on a mission," he told her as she bent down to pick up another apple.

"We as in you, Naruto, Sai, and I?"

She knew he knew she was avoiding the inevitable.

"Sai, unfortunately, will be away on a mission of his own and will be joining us later. But that's okay. Sasuke will be there to complete the four-man cell."

Sakura pursed her lips. "Why are you doing this, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked in a weary-laced voice as she paid for her apples.

"He's back whether you like it or not, Sakura. I understand your reasons for avoiding him, but I doubt he's going to die soon. You can't avoid him forever." Kakashi followed after her, his hands digging into his pockets. "Things have to be fixed."

"He's a traitor."

"He's your teammate."

"He was my teammate." She turned on her sensei, her eyes set with determination and anger. "Not anymore."

"You know, I cannot believe this is coming from you, Sakura."

Kakashi pulled her to the side, and Sakura was surprised to see anger in his visible eye. The grip on her arm was too tight for her comfort.

"You're acting very hypocritical right now. You wanted him back. Naruto was doing everything he could to make sure he would bring back Sasuke for you. And now that he's back, you act like you never wanted him in the first place. What happened to that promise you made Naruto take? You made him risk his life for you."

Sakura said nothing, but her eyes were filled with equal anger. Kakashi could not treat her like a child anymore. She was sixteen and no longer technically beneath his reigns.

"When do we begin the mission?" she asked evenly.

"Tomorrow morning."

"For how long?"

"A month minimum."

"I'm assuming details will be given tomorrow."

"You've assumed correctly."

"Goodnight, Kakashi-sensei."

She walked away stiffly. Kakashi could do nothing to stop her. He only hoped Naruto could pick up the broken pieces that trailed behind her and mend her again.

Mission day.

Kakashi did not come late that day. He arrived with Tsunade at the gates of Konoha to find his team already there, waiting with their bags at their sides, and an awkward tension blanketing over them. Naruto had a foreign look in his eyes – a lost, sad gaze as he stared between Sakura, who sat by the gate with her head in her arms, and Sasuke, who stood silently off to the side, finally looking like he had taken a decent shower.

When Kakashi and Tsunade made themselves known, the teens turned their full attention to their superiors. Sakura bowed to Tsunade slightly. Naruto greeted her with a loud address. Sasuke stood silent.

Tsunade put her hands to her hips. "Kakashi will give you the details to your mission as soon as I leave," she said. "I came here to tell you that this is a very important mission. ANBU level, perhaps, but I trust you runts as a team. Sai will join you in more or less a week, so expect him."

She turned to Sasuke now. The Uchiha eyed her idly, his face emotionless and his lips wordless, but she knew he was listening. "Think of this mission as a test," she said seriously. "For your loyalty. I expect a full mission report from Kakashi, and if there is even so much a single negative word on you, I will rethink my punishment. You will not be pursued by ANBU. I am putting full responsibility not only on Kakashi, but on you as well. You've had a second chance, Uchiha. Don't screw it up."

A dramatic pause ensued. Sasuke wanted nothing more than to bite back with a sarcastic comment, but he kept silent. Furious. How dare she think she could test him?

"Good luck on your mission, brats. Make Konoha proud."

"I make Konoha proud by being a part of it!" Naruto said loudly, pointing to himself with a grin. He stole a glance to Sakura, looking for the slightest hint of a smile, a chuckle, anything.

Nothing.

Naruto stopped smiling.

Kakashi turned to his students. "I want you to stand in a line," he said. "And listen very closely."

They did as they were told, Naruto in between the silent teammates. His eyes were lidded in a hidden sorrow. Kakashi stood in front of them, crossing his arms.

"This is an important retrieval mission. The Feudal Lord of the Land of Grass has been kidnapped, and since it is a small village, they have no ninja. We are to infiltrate the enemy base, rescue the Feudal Lord, return him to his village, and then escort him back to Konoha for a meeting with the Hokage. As you've probably already noticed, this requires a lot of time, patience, and camping out.

"However." He stared pointedly at them, meeting each of their eyes. "Teamwork has been lacking. Therefore, on the entire duration of this mission, we will be training. I've developed a new training system that will be in full effect for the entire mission. You will embrace this new training system. You will not panic, understand? Do. Not. Panic."

He ignored the questioning, worried glances he was suddenly sent. Before Naruto could open his mouth to ask what he meant, he held up a hand and continued.

"You will each have a handicap and will learn how to embrace this handicap and use it to your advantage. You will learn how to overcome it. How? That's up to you to figure out. It will be frustrating. It will make you cry. Do I care? No. You, as growing ninja, will learn to overcome the handicap, use it, and continue with the mission."

"What kind of handicap?" asked Sakura, the worry in her gut growing larger. "This is an A-ranked mission, Kakashi-sensei. Shouldn't the main focus be the mission? Wouldn't we perform better without any hindrances?"

"Sakura, your performance is horrible," Kakashi deadpanned. "The teamwork of this team is disgusting. I would say the handicaps would do nothing to lower your performance rate." And before Naruto could interrupt with a question of his own, he quickly continued. "Each of you will have a different handicap. However, I'll start off with the ones that are easiest for each of you. Each week, I'll give you a new handicap. The third week we are on this mission, you will be equipped with your greatest handicap; by then, you should've learned strategies for overcoming them."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto finally erupted. "What the heck are you talking about?"

He turned to Naruto. "Naruto. While the handicap I will give you is difficult to overcome, it is not your weakest point. You rely on stealth, and therefore, rely on your ears for the silence of your own feet and for the movement of your enemies. Seeing enemies is not a priority of yours."

Sakura came next. "Sakura, you are intelligent. You learn quickly, and strategize quickly. You are also a medic-nin who relies on her own voice to give orders and eyes to assess the situation. Hearing, while useful, is not a main priority of yours."

Lastly, Sasuke. "Sasuke, you are an Uchiha. Your Sharingan is your greatest weapon, and you therefore rely heavily on sight. Rarely do you rely on your voice; you do not goad enemies with words and threats, and therefore, speaking is not a top priority."

Sakura suddenly understood the mission handicaps.

"Kakashi-sensei, you don't mean . . .?"

Kakashi performed a quick succession of seals, his hands a blur to the naked eye. He put his hands over Naruto's eyes.

"Naruto, you will be blind."

He put his hands over Sakura's ears.

"Sakura, you will be deaf."

He put his hands over Sasuke's mouth.

"Sasuke, you will be mute."

There was a sudden blanket of tension as Naruto saw darkness, Sakura heard deafening silence, and Sasuke felt his throat constrict. Kakashi stood before them, taking in their reactions.

"Don't panic."

They panicked.

Explanation of Title: "Playing with Evil." The monkeys: Speak no Evil, See no Evil, Hear no Evil. Well, Kakashi's manipulating evil. He's toying with it. He's having his fun. He's Playing with Evil.