DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

But I do own the characters you people haven’t heard of in this story! XD Fairly proud of this. My 1st story, so comment plz -- Wrote this very late at night so correct me on any mistakes.

Cousins

Chapter 1: return of Sasuke

It had been about five years since Sasuke had become a free man. He had killed Orochimaru, assembled a new squad, team Hebi, and was right on Itachi’s trail. However, they had decided to take a break from their search near a small stream (mainly due to Suigetsu’s never-ceasing groaning).

“Hey, Sasuke?” Juugo asked, hesitantly. “Hope you don’t mind my asking, but... what exactly do you intend on doing once you’ve avenged your clan?”

Sasuke thought about this for a moment. It’s not as if he hadn’t thought about it before, but the question was so sudden and so unexpected from Juugo that he hadn’t the slightest idea how to answer him. So instead, he simply closed his eyes, stood up and walked off on his own. Juugo wasn’t surprised by this, however, Karin had gone after him, clutching his arm, asking where he was going, telling him he needed to stay with them in case Juugo went crazy again (in actual fact, she just wanted to hold his hand, obviously...) but Sasuke simply brushed her off.

“Rude!” Karin shouted at him as she hit the ground. He, of course, ignored her comment, while Suigetsu snickered quietly to himself and Juugo.

He soon came to the mouth of the river where there stood a towering waterfall, a truly beautiful sight to behold. Sasuke paid no second glance, however. He was thinking about Juugo’s question. He had always thought in the present, not the future. He could have said that to him but he couldn’t think at the time. At that point, he had had enough. He tried to stop thinking so hard and enjoy the scenery, but something else was bothering him. An odd sensation. He felt uneasy and he knew why. He was being watched. Staring eyes surrounded him. There must have been about two thousand shinobi all around him. He looked around cautiously and casually, trying not to allow them to see he knew they were there. He got to his feet and attempted to slowly head back to his team, fearing an ambush. After getting as far as he now was only to either be killed or brought back to that pathetic Konoha. Before he knew it, about twenty kunai flew at him from all directions. Easily dodged, but he couldn’t risk anything now. He tried to make a run for it back to his group to warn them of the threat, but a poisoned kunai had hit him in the back of the leg, stunning him for a second. He cringed. A second wasted. The shinobi revealed themselves from the shadows of the forest concealing them and Sasuke immediately knew what was happening. Sound ninja! Orochimaru was alive and this time wanted his blood, not his body. He wanted revenge for being sent to hell by a teenager.

“He must be really upset,” Sasuke said to himself, sarcastically. He attempted his Chidori Current to push back some of the Sound ninja, but he didn’t have enough chakra to do it again because of Juugo’s last little ‘rampage’. He pushed himself up and headed in the opposite direction from his team. He didn’t want them to get involved in this battle. One problem. The ‘other direction’? Konoha...

Sasuke ran through the forest. He didn’t have nearly enough chakra to hold off this many enemies. “...And Orochimaru knows it...” Sasuke thought, bitterly. He saw the clearing in front of him, his vision blurring because of the poison. He was bleeding badly. When he got through the clearing, he saw something he thought he’d never see again: Konoha gates. Beyond this point, he was not welcome. He heard a rustling from the trees far behind him. Weather he was welcome or not, he had to get away now and that was the only direction, straight through the gates. He dashed through the gates, knowing he’d probably get leaf jounin coming after him as well. He was also bringing sound Nin into the village. That will also be held against him.

He slowed down. He couldn’t keep that pace anymore. He was spreading the poison more by running that fast, too. As he passed the Ichiraku Ramen bar, he saw his old teammate, the number 1 knucklehead ninja. He wondered if they still called him that but he tricked himself into believing he didn’t care. He couldn’t let Naruto see him now. Especially not now. Not while he was this weak. He carried on running, trying to attract the least amount of attention as possible. He eventually came to an alleyway and went in to rest for a while, but collapsed from exhaustion and poisoning. He was still conscious.

Meanwhile, Sakura Haruno, the 5th Hokage’s apprentice, was on a mission collecting herbs for the patients at the hospital. She had been working there for a long time now and was a greatly respected member of the group of medical ninjas in Konoha. She made her way back to the hospital, glancing around the village in a daydream until she sensed very faint chakra coming from an alley nearing the hospital. She decided to investigate.

She followed the weak signal to the alley and gasped at the sight in front of her.

“...Sasuke...” she whispered. He groaned weakly and tried to look up at her.

“Sakura...” he managed to breathe her name and a short snicker before he fainted from massive blood loss. She looked at him, deep remembrance and sympathy in her emerald eyes. She stayed with him, attempting to heal him as much as she could, waiting for nightfall, when nobody could see the traitorous missing Nin, Sasuke Uchiha, back in Konoha.

Sakura carried him to Konoha hospital. He was still unconscious so he couldn’t complain, or resist. She took him strait to Tsunade, who commented on how she was very late returning from such a simple mission, but that was before she saw the badly wounded Uchiha on her apprentice’s shoulder.

“Is that...Oh, Sasuke...” Kakashi stared in awe at how beaten up his old student was. “What happened to him? Where’d you find him?” Sakura didn’t even acknowledge his presence. She walked right past him, without even sparing a glance. She put Sasuke on the hospital bed, listening for a heartbeat. It was very faint. She saw the poison on the kunai that he hadn’t bothered pulling out of his leg and tried all she could to get every drop out of his body. Tsunade and Kakashi just looked at her, watching her desperate movements to bring her old crush back to life. They simply stayed out of her way.

“She’s improved a lot since you last saw her, hasn’t she?” Tsunade whispered to Kakashi. He wasn’t really listening to her bragging. He was more amazed at how much Sasuke had grown in power over all these years and still ended up like this. He feared the worst. Or what he thought was the worst. ‘Itachi had done this’ were his first thoughts. That would be a lot of emotional pain inflicted on Sasuke, but would he really be so cold as to do this much damage to his own little brother? ‘I wouldn’t put it past him...’ Kakashi thought to himself. Just then, Sasuke groaned in pain a little as Sakura pulled at the last bit of poison. Sakura beamed. Sasuke was going to be fine! She then stopped smiling when a thought crossed her mind. ‘What if Sasuke doesn’t want to stay here and runs away again? Or worse, goes after Naruto again? What will he do?’ Kakashi noticed her worried expression and immediately knew what she was thinking. He put his hand on her shoulder and told her “it’ll be fine”. She seemed to feel a little better from his comments. She wasn’t a child anymore. She was 21 years old. She didn’t need to be babysat all the time.

“Kakashi sensei, Kakashi sensei! I need help with...” Naruto burst into the room and almost immediately looked directly towards the body Sakura was standing over. He stopped rushing towards them straight away. He didn’t stumble, he didn’t fall backwards. He just stood there. His face went pale white. “Sasuke...”

Sasuke woke and looked up at him. He grinned, uncharacteristically and closed his eyes again. His heart had stopped...