Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Shinka

~ e v o l u t i o n ~

Part One

When Sasuke returns home after five long years, he doesn't know what to do with himself.

Perhaps "return" is too lenient of a word. More like dragged by the roots of his hair, he thinks. It was in no way his choice at all to be brought to Konoha. Not like the dobe would respect his wishes.

So here he is. Sitting silently in an interrogation room, his hands bound behind his back, his head hanging low, chin nearly touching his chest. The slow, steady beat of his heart is the only sound that reaches his keen ears.

He slowly raises his gaze when the door across from him opens, and in walks Ibiki. The stocky man regards him with cool eyes before sighing.

"Let's just get this over with. You look like you've seen Death himself."

Sasuke finds this disgustingly ironic.

Sakura first hears of his return when she is released from her twelve-hour shift at the hospital. The Fourth Shinobi War ended not two days before, and she's been working constantly. Hundreds of thousands died, but even more were injured, and it is her job to heal them. However taxing, she is forever grateful that she is able to help.

It's Naruto who finally comes crashing down an alleyway and nearly runs her over in his haste. She hasn't seen him in over four days, since he departed on his own to hunt the Uchiha down. Sakura supposes it took him this long to travel back from wherever he finally found Sasuke. She's been religiously keeping track of the time that has passed since Naruto departed on his own, praying everyday that he was alive.

When Sakura thinks about it, she doesn't really mind if it were only he who returned. It sickens her at first - because hasn't everything she's done been to bring him home? - but she knows deep in her heart that it is true. Naruto means more to her than anyone, and she doesn't know what she would do if she lost him.

Even before Sakura sees him she can hear him screaming, "Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! He's back, Sakura-chan! Sasuke's back!"

She swears her mind goes blank, and then Naruto is upon her, shaking her, crying over her, and he has the brightest smile she's ever seen him wear.

As he sobs, holding her in his embrace, he chokes out, "Sasuke's back, Sakura-chan. He's home."

Sakura closes her eyes.

"Sasuke's home."

She pulls Naruto closer to her, her arms tight around his torso, and she thinks to herself that even if she wouldn't mind if only he returned, she's happy to the brink of tears that both her boys are with her again.

It's been a week. Sasuke is held by chains to the walls of a special isolation chamber deep underground, where even he knows it would be futile to try to escape. His chakra has been sealed, his food and water rations minimal - kept between life and death, with no way to completely reach either.

He'd rather be dead, he thinks. There is nothing left for him to accomplish. Itachi is dead. The Fourth Shinobi War is over. The Council Elders are gone, and Madara has been outsmarted at his own game by the five Kage.

Nothingness.

He lets his eyes fall shut.

And yet, something. Something loud and blonde and blue-eyed and quite possibly the very source of Sasuke's newfound troubles.

He first hears the dobe's voice outside of his chamber three weeks after his retu - his placement in Konoha.

Dear Kami.

Sasuke swears mutely under his breath, and wills his mind to convey to his guard not to let the blonde in.

Telepathy refuses to agree with him, and consequently does not work.

And so Naruto is allowed in, and Sasuke is thoroughly and completely lashed with the blonde's tears, distress, relief, and, above all, his joy.

Naruto is joyful, and Sasuke is silent throughout it all.

Not like that ever stopped the dobe before.

Sakura is granted permission to see him two and a half weeks after his return. Naruto's on a mission and probably won't return for another few days or so, and she's a little hesitant to see Sasuke without him. But she figures it's now or never, and not five minutes later she is brushing past Ibiki - giving him a clipped nod - and standing at the door to Sasuke's temporary prison. There is a small window carved into the steel door, allowing her to peek inside. She holds her breath for a moment, and then silently steps so her eyes are aligned with the glass.

The room inside is dark and foreboding. The only light comes from a small light bulb dangling from the ceiling, and it flickers constantly, sending uneven flashes of dimmed yellow throughout the room. Sakura is thankful that the hallway she is standing in is nearly pitch black, so as not to throw her shadow where Sasuke can see it.

Of course, he probably wouldn't pay much attention anyway. He's chained harshly to the wall, his ankles and wrists held tightly in steel cuffs covered in sealing jutsu. Sakura sees red welts appearing where the metal has chafed against his skin. Cuts have found themselves upon his face and arms, and Sakura's fingers twitch in their need to heal.

Sasuke appears to be asleep. His head rests atop the curve of one raised arm, and his eyes are drifted shut. Matted black hair falls into his face, and even from here she can see that it's crusted - with blood or something else, she doesn't know. He's clad in a dark grey kimono-styled top, one that parts to expose his pale chest. That same purple rope she detests is tied loosely at his waist, and black shinobi pants adorn his bottom half. He looks beaten, worn. If not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, she would pronounce him dead.

Sakura watches him for a minute more. And she thinks to herself that she's not ready to face him. Not after trying repeatedly to steal his life. He probably hates her. Forcing herself upon him, when he seems so defeated, so utterly tired of life, would just be mean of her.

But as she walks soundlessly away, she muses that she's not exactly too fond of him anymore, either.

That doesn't change the fact that she misses him.

It's been six weeks, and Sasuke is finally moved to a semi-isolation ward. He's allowed his first full meal in what seems like ages, and he is surprised at how fast he eats. Onigiri and slices of teriyaki never tasted so good before.

He figures it's around the time that Naruto makes his daily appearance, and sure enough, the blonde opens the door not three seconds later. Naruto's face is turned to his left as he moves to step inside, as if he is talking with someone. Sasuke hears a faint voice respond to whatever the blonde has said.

"All right, then, I'll see you later, Sakura-chan!" Naruto calls, and Sasuke catches a soft "See ya!" before the blonde shuts the door behind him.

Naruto has a solemn look in his eyes, and his gaze locks with Sasuke's before he swallows, erases all traces of sadness from his features, and smiles.

"So, bastard, how's the food? I ordered it for you myself," Naruto proclaims proudly.

Sasuke keeps his gaze focused on the shut door. He frowns faintly before finally turning to acknowledge the blonde.

"Anything associated with you is therefore utterly repulsing," Sasuke replies smoothly.

Naruto becomes enraged at this, and they fall into a disjointed, rough pattern of what used to be.

He's allowed to be seen by a medic for the first time since the night he arrived. That night they checked the basics, made sure he would be fit for interrogation yet weak enough to the point where he had trouble staying awake for too long.

Now he is healthier, but apparently the Hokage has decided he deserves to have the last of his chipped bones and especially tough bruises healed.

It's been three months, after all. And he hasn't done anything to hint at hidden motives or secret plans to try to escape.

Where could he go, after all? There is nowhere left for him but here, and even here he is empty.

He's been empty for a quite some time now.

The medic that walks in looks to be around his age - a male with spiked brown hair and hazel eyes, who seems less intimidated than Sasuke would guess him to be.

Sasuke allows the boy to mend the various miniscule fractures along his body, and the few purple bruises that cover his abdomen. The medic furrows his brow as he works, mumbling under his breath about this or that technique or how he needs to repair this tendon before he can knit together that muscle.

"I should've asked Sakura-san about that bone marrow recreation jutsu," he mutters once. "Would've made my life a whole lot easier."

Sasuke tilts his head to the side minutely, but remains silent otherwise.

Five months have passed, and he is allowed outside. His eyes throb as they come into contact with the intensity of the sun above him. Even from being around Naruto he is not accustomed to such brightness.

He squints so that he has some amount of visibility, and slowly takes in the world before him.

Konoha hasn't changed much. Here and there, however, he sees a recently recreated building, or a new house where there once was a vender cart. The worst effects of the war have long since past, and now the citizens are left in the stirrings of rebirth.

Four ANBU guards flank him on either side, and Naruto stands a little to his left, anxiously looking for any sign of reaction from Sasuke.

The Uchiha closes his eyes. He breathes in the smell of daily life - fish, cooked meat, bread, a trace of blooming flowers - and ignores the disbelieving looks the various passersby are giving him. They have known of his return for some time now, but to them it must still be shocking to see the last Uchiha amongst them again.

Sasuke exhales softly. If he were someone else, he would say something like, "It's good to be home" or "I really missed this place."

But he is Uchiha Sasuke, will always be Uchiha Sasuke, and so he simply remains silent.

"It's nice to have you back." Of course, Naruto always made up for what he lacked.

Sasuke shifts his eyes to the blonde, and nods.

Naruto smiles.

Another month kept in the semi-isolation ward, and he is released. Not all the way - he will still have four ANBU guards with him at all times until the Hokage deems so otherwise, and he is neither allowed outside the village nor allowed to be replaced on the shinobi roster - but he thinks it's far better than any room in the Interrogation Ward.

He is reinstated into an apartment, and when he takes his first glance around it he finds it odd that this will be his new home. After having been constantly moving from place to place for five years, he will have some sense of consistency.

Sasuke ignores the four guards behind him, and takes the first step toward his new life.

Naruto comes to visit him the next day, loudly complaining that Tsunade is sending him on a week-long mission to retrieve valuable scrolls from a village off in the west.

"I mean, where can I get some decent excitement around here?" the blonde rants. "I've gotten nothing but boring missions for the last two months, yet Sakura always gets some dangerous, fancy A-rank missions and -"

Naruto realizes what he's just said, and promptly becomes quiet.

Sasuke frowns a little. The blonde hasn't mentioned Sakura since he returned, and seems to want to keep it that way.

"And?" Sasuke repeats.

"Oh, nothing. I should really go pack for tomorrow. It's gonna be a boring mission, but a long one at that." Then, in a whirl of orange, he is gone.

Sasuke sits in silence for several moments more before deciding he is hungry, and rises from the small couch he is sitting on. Ichiraku's sounds surprisingly appealing.

Sasuke's eyes immediately flash toward a red-clad figure when he enters the ramen stand. Short pink hair brushes against the counter, an empty bowl off to the side, as the figure sleeps, her head resting on her crossed arms, face hidden.

Sasuke's lips tilt downward, and he steps toward her - having no clue what he plans on doing - only to glance up at the movement of the shop owner behind the counter.

The old man places his index finger against his mouth, shaking his head slowly. "Don't wake her," he whispers. "She just returned from a mission. Told me she hasn't slept a wink in two days. Let her rest."

Sasuke remains motionless for a moment before he mutely steps forward and takes the seat to her right, careful not to make any noise. He orders his food quietly, then, with the owner's back turned toward him, shifts his eyes to the girl beside him.

She's caked in dirt. It's dried, flaking away in some places, and there are several specks of what he assumes to be blood on her light pink skirt. Her back moves up and down as she breathes peacefully.

He turns his eyes away as his dinner is placed before him, and he eats in complete silence, chewing slower than usual as he stares sightlessly at the counter. Twenty minutes have passed by the time he finishes, and he rises to leave after placing his money next to his empty bowl.

He turns, then glances once more at her sleeping figure.

Silently, he puts down another few coins, enough to pay for the both of them, and exits without a word.

The next day, Sasuke decides he desperately craves tomatoes, and heads out at seven (years of being a shinobi always have him up at the crack of dawn) to visit the various food stands a block away from his apartment. He has gotten used to the ANBU guards trailing a decent distance behind him, always hidden from the eyes of civilians.

At this hour there are only five stands open, and his gaze is drawn to one ran by an aging women with grey hair piled in a loose bun and wrinkles softening her skin. He steps forward, into the street, just as pink enters his gaze, and he freezes.

Sakura rounds a corner at the opposite end of the street, her arms held above her head as she stretches and yawns widely. Her eyes move to focus on the food stand closest to her, and she lets her arms fall as she turns to its owner with a wide smile.

"And what will it be today, Sakura-san?" the civilian man asks, smiling in return.

The kunoichi ponders this for a second, then nods minutely to herself and answers, "Two apples, please. I haven't had any in a while."

"Sure thing, my dear," the man says as he picks out the two ripest apples and hands them to her. Sakura pays him, smiles once more, and moves to walk down the street.

Sakura's gaze finally lands on him. Her green eyes widen in disbelief - is that a flash of anger he sees? - lips parting, before she blinks and schools her features into a hesitant smile.

"Sasuke-kun," she greets him, as if she has done so every day for the last ten years. "Naruto didn't tell me you'd been released from the Interrogation Ward." Her tone grows a little harder with those words, but then lightens as she says, "Good morning, anyway."

He remains still for a few more moments before nodding slightly at her, expression impassive.

As she walks closer to him, she tosses him one of her apples. He catches it effortlessly and frowns in confusion, but then her expression softens, and she explains, "For last night. Teuchi, the man who owns Ichiraku's, told me you paid for my dinner." She pauses before him, no more than five feet away. "Thank you."

Her voice is sincere, eyes calm, demeanor gentle with the slightest hint of wariness.

Sasuke thinks to himself that this is very odd. This girl in front of him, who he assumes has avoided seeing him since he returned, is smiling and speaking to him like nothing ever happened.

Odd.

He can only nod at her once more, and then she has passed him and he is left standing at the end of the street, a ripe apple clutched in his hand. He looks at it, then brings it to his lips and takes a small bite. It's sweet and crisp, and he reminds himself that he doesn't like sweet things, that he came here to buy tomatoes.

Sasuke swallows, and takes another bite before he turns around and walks back to his apartment.

He repeats his actions the next morning, and finds her in the street once again, but this time she has already bought her fruit for the day: a bag full of strawberries. He supposes that she must do this every morning, and mentally adds this little outing to his daily routine.

She sees him as she pops one in her mouth, and he finds the fact that her cheek resembles a chipmunk's amusing. She chews quickly and swallows before addressing him.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," she says, and her words are a little scratchy, as if she didn't get much sleep. "Care for a strawberry?"

He nods without thinking, and she places one into his open palm. Then she moves to walk past him, and he opens his mouth.

"Where are you going?" His voice is quiet, hesitant almost.

She freezes, and turns to regard him with cautious green eyes. "To the hospital," she says slowly. "I have work."

Sasuke finds himself maneuvering so that he is standing beside her. With his gaze focused on a random spot on the house before him, he says impassively, "I'll walk you there."

He sees her eyes widen from the corner of his own, and then her brows furrow.

"You really don't have to, Sas -"

"I'll walk you there," he repeats steadily. His blank gaze meets her own bewildered one.

Her lips curve up slightly. She seems tired, too weary to put up a fight. "Okay then. If you say so."

And they start forward.

Their walk is kept in complete silence, but the view of the rising sun over the mountains in the distance and the symphony of birds chirping make up for it.

Sasuke keeps his hands in his pockets, stride long and smooth, as he walks beside her. Beside this girl with pink hair and green eyes who, before his return, resolved to kill him multiple times and who he almost killed as a result.

When they reach the hospital, Sakura smiles and thanks him. He merely nods at her, and watches as she makes her way through the hospital's doors and disappears from his view.

He shoves his hands back in his pockets and begins to make his way back through Konoha's streets.

A/N: Well, this idea came to me quite some time ago and has been festering ever since. It's pretty much plotless, gonna be a three-shot, but enjoy at your own risk. I guess this is my attempt at explaining what I think could possibly happen after the Fourth Shinobi War ends. And with this new Naruto movie (Road to Ninja, if you haven't heard of it yet) coming out, who can blame my SasuSaku fever?

You can thank SHINee and NU'EST for this story's existence. I've had their music on constant replay the whole time I was writing this. I have a soft spot for Korean boy bands, it seems.

Anyways, I'd love it if you'd review. :)

Please and thank you,

Silver Echo