Hello, Heartache ~Uchiha Sasuke Love story~

Chapter 40: I Get Back

'Good job, you two.' Tsunade praised, nodding at me and Nii-san. 'I hope you didn't run into any trouble during the mission.'

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Nii-san cast me a worried and unsure glance like he wanted to say something but was hesitating to speak.

Making sure to get rid of all possible emotions my face could present, I took in a deep breath before looking directly at Tsunade. I spoke, 'On our way back, we ran into Sasuke.'

Her eyes widened. 'Sasuke?'

'Yes, ma'am,' I nodded. 'He's travelling with three others - two men and one woman. All about our age or a few years older. I don't know much about them but the girl's a sensory type.'

Tsunade scowled, folding her arms. 'Naruto and Sakura would want to here of this ... We'd better go after Uchiha Itachi as soon as possible.'

'I'll tell them about it, Ma'am.' I said, trying to push aside my thoughts about the encounter. About the kiss ...

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. 'Alright, you two can go.'

Nii-san and I bowed before leaving the room.

As soon as Nii-san closed the door behind me, I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see Nii-san looking at me, his eyebrows furrowed and lips pressed into a thin line.

'Don't stress yourself out too much, alright?' he said.

I forced a smile, nodding. 'Yeah, I got it.'

The two of us left the building and my thoughts drifted off, lingering on the memory of the kiss, feeling his hands on my skin. His touch ...

'Oi, Makoto! You're back!'

'Huh?' I looked up and saw Naruto waving at me, together with Shikamaru, who had his hands in his pockets and a lazy smirk. Sakura was there too, smiling and waving me over.

'Well, I'll leave you to your friends.' Nii-said said, patting my head. And with that, he left.

I forced a smile at my friends and waved before walking over to them.

'Hey,' I greeted.

'I can't believe you, Makoto.' Naruto said bitterly, folding his arms. 'You just left for the mission without telling anyone but Sai. Don't think we don't know what's going!'

I blinked at him cluelessly. 'Um ... What is going on, exactly?'

Sakura cupped a hand over her mouth and leaned towards me, smirking. 'You like Sai, don't you?'

I blinked at my teammates before looking over at Shikamaru who just shrugged as if to say 'don't look at me. I didn't say anything these two idiots just said'.

I shook my head, and sighed. 'Don't be ridiculous. I just happened to meet Sai before I went on the mission.'

Naruto looked at me skeptically. 'Alright ... I'll forgive you this time.'

'How was the mission?' said Sakura, looking genuinely curious.

I moistened my lips nervously. 'That's what I wanted to tell you about.'

I noticed Shikamaru eyeing me suspiciously like I was some sort of a puzzle. I could tell from the look he gave me that he knew something big happened to me on the mission. Ignoring the look he gave me, I continued. 'On the way back, we met Sasuke.'

Cue the wide eyes and the gasps.

'Sasuke-kun?' Sakura squeaked. 'Is he travelling alone?'

I shook my head. 'He's travelling with three other people. Two guys and one girl. The girl's a sensory type. One of the guys has Momochi Zabuza's sword.'

'Zabuza?' said Naruto, raising an eyebrow. I nodded and he spoke again. 'What happened between you and Sasuke?'

I stiffened, feeling my palms sweat and my throat get blocked. 'He ... He ... Tried to kill me. But then Ma - a sand shinobi appeared and then Nii-san. After that, Sasuke left.'

There was a pregnant pause.

Naruto's frown twisted into a crooked smile. He placed a hand on my shoulder. 'Don't worry, Makoto. We're going to bring Sasuke back, it's a promise!'

His words worked on Sakura, she cheered up instantly. Normally they'd work on me, but this time, it didn't. The memory of the kiss lingered in my head and my lips felt hot.

'Well, I'll catch up with you later.' Sakura smiled. She began walking backwards. 'I'm going to go make more energy pills!'

She waved at us before jogging off.

I looked at Naruto and Shikamaru in confusion. 'Energy pills?'

Naruto shuddered, clutching his stomach and his face turning slightly green. 'Don't ask.'

I raised my eyebrows but said nothing, finally not being able to take the look Shikamaru was giving me, I turned to him. 'Why are you looking at me like that?'

'What exactly happened between you and Sasuke during the mission?' he asked, making the blood drain from my face. 'Also, was the sand shinobi someone you knew?'

I took in a deep breath, closing my eyes when I felt them sting.

'Makoto? Are you alright?' I heard Naruto say. I couldn't lie to these two. Shikamaru was too smart and Naruto ... Naruto's like the second Makoto. I felt a tear roll down my face.

'Come on, Makoto.' Naruto said, grabbing my arm gently leading me somewhere. I felt a pair of hands on my shoulder and they pushed me down lightly, making me sit onto a what I guessed as a park bench.

I finally opened my eyes to see Naruto and Shikamaru seated on either side of me, both looking extremely worried.

'What happened?' Shikamaru asked quietly.

'Sasuke ... He ... He ... Kissed me.' I said, my voice cracking. Staring at my palms which were placed on my lap, a tear fell onto it. 'He tricked me. He said he was sorry and then ... And then he kissed me. While I was ... Distracted, he tried killing me.'

I sucked in a huge amount of breath, trying to calm myself down. 'Then ... A sand shinobi appeared and helped me -'

I wiped my tears, smiling slightly when I remembered Masoto's cheeky remark when I first talked to him in so many years.

'Who was the sand shinobi?' Shikamaru asked, frowning.

'My twin brother; Masoto.'

Shikamaru and Naruto let out a sound of shock with disbelief written all over their faces.

'But, you - you said he was dead!'

I explained to them what happened to them in detail. Also, Masoto told Nii-san and I that he'd be returning to Konoha after he tells all his friends from Suna that he'd be leaving. He also told us not to tell Otousan and Okaasan that he's alive. He wanted them to know only when he came back.

'Does he look like you?' Naruto asked excitedly, his eyes twinkling.

I chuckled awkwardly. 'Um ... I guess not as much as we used to -'

'Is he tall?'

'He's slightly taller than you -'

'Does he know any cool wind style techniques that he could teach me?'

'Um ... Well -'

'Does he like ramen -?'

'Calm down, Naruto.' Shikamaru said, looking at him like he was a maniac. 'You'll meet him in future. Makoto probably needs to rest.'

I couldn't help but laugh at my friends, ruffling Naruto's hair and smiling at Shika.

I'd rather have fallen for one of these two than Sasuke ...

[AUTHOR'S NOTE]

Hi guys, I know this chapter and the one before are pretty short but hopefully the next one will be longer. Hopefully. I'll try.

But thanks for reading