Chapter 44

Opening the door she walked in, a smile on her face though she probably needn't have bothered. Sasuke's bed was titled up a little, so he was in a reclined sitting position when they entered. The rays of the fading sunrise were shining down on him, somewhat silhouetting his form against the window. The bandage around his head was clean, and he had already been showered and garbed in his clothes, the Uchiha emblem partially visible.

"Ohayo, Sasuke," Sakura said in a semi-cheerful tone. She supposed she could have done better, but then it was a mix between cheerful and her regular voice, so she supposed she sounded more serene than anything. As long as she didn't sound depressed, that was fine.

"Sakura," he acknowledged evenly, then after a short pause, "Good morning…dobe."

Beside her, Sakura saw Naruto smile weakly, a saddened look on his face, but she knew him well enough to know that he would not do anything stupid.

"Oi, teme," he replied lightly, with an undertone of empathy, "It's been a while. I owe you some pain, you know?"

Sasuke smirked faintly, "I owe you some too, dobe, opening your mouth. Is there anyone left in Konoha who doesn't know I'm here?"

Naruto snorted good-naturedly, "Oi, oi, you caused a bigger fuss when you left."

"Only because you made such a big deal out of it," Sasuke retorted, a crooked grin on his face.

"I promised Sakura-chan here that I'd bring you back," Naruto stated dutifully, the tension seeming to slowly fade away, "You have some nerve to let someone else do the job for me."

Sasuke snorted in answer to this, "I wouldn't have let you drag me back anyway."

Naruto let out a noise of protest. "Grrr! I'm stronger than you think, teme, and if I had known where you were I would have come down and had you out cold in a few seconds!"

Sakura smiled as the bickering began. It was like it had been before—like it had been when they were genin. The constant rivalry between the two of them, both acting like stubborn children, neither willing to give in to the other, and determined to outdo what the other did. It was supposed to be this way—this was how it should be: Naruto and Sasuke squabbling, while she stood off to the side, shaking her head at them, merely smiling at their childish behavior.

The fight seemed to have been brought to a stalemate. Naruto was glaring fiercely at Sasuke and Sasuke's expression clearly showed that he was doing the equivalent of glaring back. She crossed her arms, knowing that this was the point where she would step in and tell them to stop being such idiots.

"Alright you two, calm down," she smiled, cutting into the tension between them, "Honestly, you haven't come in contact with one another for years and the first thing you do is fight?"

"He started it," Naruto pouted, looking away from her in a sulky manner.

Sasuke tilted his head vaguely upwards, and Sakura suspected he was rolling his eyes.

"Oi, teme," Naruto piped in suddenly, "I almost forgot. I brought you something."

From within his pocket, Naruto drew forth the gift that he had brought for Sasuke. Having not seen it before, Sakura watched curiously as he unwound an old cloth from around it. In his hand, he held the Konoha forehead protector—the one that Sasuke used to own—the one that the scratch across it, almost crossing the leaf through the center.

Sasuke held out his hand expectantly as Naruto approached the bedside. He put the forehead protector in his old teammate's hand and took a step away as Sasuke turned it over in his palms. He was quiet for a minute, running the cloth through his hands, brushing his fingers over the metal. Slowly his fingertips traced the symbol of the leaf emblazoned into it, passing his thumb slowly along the crude scratch mark. Even though he said nothing, Sakura knew that he was moved, despite his emotionless expression refused to show it. She smiled contentedly.

"You better get used to wearing it, ah teme?" Naruto grinned, putting his arms behind his head lazily, grinning broadly, "Cause if you're going to get stronger again, you're going to have to train. And you'll need it when you train, especially against me—after all, I managed to put a scratch on it."

A smirk crossed Sasuke's face and he took the ends of the fabric, raising the protector to his forehead. He tied it firmly behind his head, and smirked in the direction of Naruto's voice.

"You won't have as easy a time of putting another one on," he answered back, a defiant tone in his voice, "Even if three years have passed, a dobe is still a dobe."

A flame seemed to erupt in Naruto's eyes and he struck an overdramatic confronting pose, the arguing rekindled, "We'll see about that, teme!"

Before either of them could get another word out, there was a knock at the door; Sakura and Naruto both turned as the door opened; Sasuke merely sat and listened. A nurse poked her head in the door and looked at the trio, raising an eyebrow slightly at Naruto's theatrical stance. She quickly turned her attention to Sakura.

"Haruno Sakura?" she asked, and Sakura nodded in reply, "Maeko, the receptionist, wanted me to let you know that the girl from yesterday has just arrived."

Sakura straightened up and nodded firmly, "Thank you."

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