Nothing But the Truth

Chapter 19: Finally Home

AN: Hello there friends!

So, here's the deal. It is almost August. Here is a glimpse into my life during August: Eat, work, eat, sleep, eat, work, eat, sleep, eat, work, eat, sleep. Do you get it? I work in retail, and it is time for hell month, meaning you shouldn't expect too much out of me for the next month or so. I'm hoping to maybe to a one-shot or two, but honestly, I don't even expect that much out of me. By the time I drag myself home, shower, and have a proper meal, I'm so tired I don't even turn on my television.

So thank you for being patient and understanding, and thank you for reading.

Please review. They make the words melt onto the page. They fuel me, my friends.

Nothing but the Truth

Chapter 19: Finally Home

"For the two of us, home isn't a place. It is a person. And we are finally home."

― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

They arrived in Konoha, via the hidden route of the training grounds that Sakura had used to sneak in and out of the village, just in time to see Uchiha Sasuke jump on one Haruno Sakura, straddling her waist on the ground and plunging a kunai to her neck.

Well, that was one hell of a welcome.

The duo didn't seem to notice their arrival, though, because they were so persistently wrapped up in their spar. A fury of movements, harsh yet almost majestically graceful, ensued, resulting in Sakura's lithe form launching herself from under Sasuke and throwing a chakra-laden punch towards the jaw of the youngest Uchiha. His stiff, broad shoulders twisted quicker than one would think possible for someone so well built to dodge the hit that could have easily dislocated his jaw. Red, Sharingan eyes emblazoned with silent concentration traced the fluid movements of the woman in front of him. Her fierce sea foam eyes were on him and only him as her petite form launched towards him once again.

Itachi quietly watched the duel unfold and silently appreciated the agile form of his lover and ferocious champion. If it were possible, her body was even more toned and muscled from her months of travelling to and from Suna as well as her ANBU training, causing a bout of appreciation to wash over Itachi for the ANBU Black-Ops program in Konoha. Her shorter-than-usual black shorts accentuated her long, toned legs. The mesh tank top that she wore was riding up, teasing him with a small stretch of her washed stomach. He had to forcibly tear his eyes away from her in order to keep his cold, bland composure, and focus on the small clash going on in front of him.

From what Itachi could tell, it seemed to be a spar judging by the way that none of the other ANBU who were around them was attempting to stop them. Sakura was now dodging, from foot to foot, from Sasuke's katana now. Her short pony tail, holding back her cotton candy tresses, bounced wildly from side to side as she jumped back, avoiding each jab from Sasuke's deadly sword. The battle was vividly intense. Itachi found it impossible to take his eyes away from the vaguely familiar, intense movements of Sakura's thin form, and by contrast, Sasuke's broad, muscled physique.

It had to be a spar, Itachi decided, when he spied the Soutaichou of Konoha's ANBU standing at the edge of the field, his dark eyes watching the two fighting carefully and calling out any flaws in their form.

Fujioka Takeo had been the head captain of the ANBU forces since he was a young man, having been groomed by his father, the former Soutaichou, to take over when he either passed away or retired – the former being the cause in his case. It was in his blood completely since he was bred and raised for the job, which Itachi understood from his own personal experience, and the many years of fighting alongside his comrades had rendered the older male scarred worse than Morino Ibiki, who happened to be one of his closest friends since they had graduated the academy together. Takeo had been the one who had enlisted Itachi into Konoha's elite more than ten years prior, and he had seemed old back then, even though he was no older than 24 at the time.