Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi.


"What…is love actually?"

As the wind breezed through his question, an utterly familiar chakra lurking behind the trees triggered his attention and the Uchiha sent his glare towards the shadow with his dual dojutsu.

"Get your ass out here, Kakashi."

Sighing at the unwelcoming gesture, the figure slowly walked out of the woods and faced the Uchiha with an aloof manner.

"Yo, Sasuke." Kakashi greeted with his right hand as a gesture and his left hand holding his favourite book at sight to the disgusted Uchiha.

"Hn. What are you doing there? Tying me with a dog leash?"

"Well, you're not gonna believe me if I say that I'm just walking around, wouldn't you?"

"Hn." Sasuke began to walk away from the shrine and Kakashi when unexpected, yet predicted words came out of the mask.

"Thanks for saving the village last year. You were a big help then." Remembering a brief glimpse of his student saving the village from a meteorite and disappearing at a glance had left a quite big impression to Kakashi as the former's words of protecting the village in Naruto's place were uncalled for. However, Kakashi was also left questioning his sudden departure from the sight.

"Hn."

"But, why did you leave immediately, Sasuke? You could have at least stayed over and waited for Naruto and Sakura to return."

"…my journey was not over at that time. I was just on my way when I saw Hyuuga Hiashi and a meteor towards here. That is all."

"Is that so? But thanks to you, Naruto was really mad at me for not stopping you."

"Hn, as expected…"

"Is that the same reason you're giving for not attending Naruto's wedding last month?" Kakashi sarcastically asked as he remembered how the Uzumaki fussed about Sasuke not attending on purpose while in truth no one knew where he was to send the invitation to.

"Hn. Is that all you want to say?" Sasuke unwaveringly asked.

"Then, would you spare some time with me, Sasuke? For old times' sake?" Kakashi asked with deep sincerity.

Sasuke turned to face the Hokage and deliberated the right decision to stay or leave. Well, no harm can be done conversing with the Hokage unless he starts spouting out perverted stuffs, which Sasuke is not close to be interested at all. Besides, Kakashi must have meant serious business with that tone. The motion of Sasuke walking towards Kakashi's direction gave him the sign of acceptance and joined the wanderer at the same time.

Both men then sat in front of the hall of worship, facing the footway of the shrine with the moon as their front audience of the night. Sasuke kept looking forth, waiting for the Hokage to start the conversation first, as always. Anticipating the glance, Kakashi reached out his pocket and passed a scroll to the Uchiha. As the scroll was being laid on his thighs and his right hand pulling it wide, Sasuke read through and his eyes widened at its contents.

"This is…"

"A contract of ownership to the land where the Uchiha residence once laid. Because of Pain's attack four years ago, most of the buildings in the Uchiha district were destroyed. Only the main mansion which is your house, stood firm against the attack since it was located the farthest from the center of the village. " Sasuke looked at Kakashi with unwavering eyes as the latter continued.

"It was quite tough fighting for the contract with the council but…now, it's yours."

"…!? But why?"

"Well, it's not just me. Even Tsunade-sama had to put up some acts to get it."

Shocked, Sasuke looked at the scroll, remembering first the structure of his house and then his past with his parents and Itachi. How he used to play ninja with his toys alone in his room. How he always waited for Itachi to play with him. How he strived for his father's attention. How he was comforted by his mother. How everything ended on that bloody night. Painfully remembering memories that should have been kept away, Sasuke quickly closed the scroll and handed it back to Kakashi.

"…?"

"Take it back. My journey is not over yet. Before I can completely atone for my sins, I should not have a place to return to." Sasuke sternly responded.

Kakashi sighed at his student's acclaim "No place to return, huh?"

"Ah." Sasuke firmly agreed.

"Does that include the promise you made with Sakura?"

'I'll see you soon…'

Remembering those words and the unknown intention behind, he lowered his hand with the scroll and head. Seeing his side profile of confusion and displeasure, Kakashi looked at his student who was slowly coming out as a person, not a shinobi. To Kakashi, he is now seeing how much the journey did and changed Sasuke for the better; be more opened and emotional in the presence of others.

"Sasuke… What's redemption to you?"

"…"

"Sa…"

Sasuke's sudden words stopped the Hokage. "…what is …love actually?"

"…!?" Kakashi's mind went blank. It would be the first time for this aloof student of his to be asking him questions outside shinobi-related. To see that hard shell cracking bit by bit behind its true nature, Kakashi listened patiently to his next words.

"Could he be…?"

"That feeling…is a fragment that I lost in the past and I can't seem to remember how it feels like. Sometimes, I feel that I should not attempt for that fragment as I have not finished atoning yet and that..." "…I will lose it again…"

"What is love? Hmmm, that is a very tough question to answer, Sasuke. There is no right or wrong answer to that. Many would think of love in their own ways and there are many types of love in this world like romantic love and family love." Kakashi glanced at the Uchiha with a reflecting expression upon himself.

"Let me ask you this…What's Sakura to you?"

Kakashi impatiently went straight to the main point. The Uchiha was visibly shaken to the question that he never asked himself at all. What is she to him? A teammate? A friend? Or…? Sasuke kept his silence with the sensei taking the lead again.

"You know, I can still remember what you told me after putting Sakura asleep; that you're not interested in her and her daydreaming her love fantasies. So no offense but I'm not completely sure of your thoughts on her, even now."

"Despite how deep I plunged myself in the darkness and how much I pushed her to despair, I still can't understand how she could hold such feelings to someone like me for so long." The Uchiha finally let go of his mental grip to express all his inner thoughts that manifested throughout his journey to the Team 7 sensei.

"Sasuke, I've said this before but the only time you need a reason is to hate someone and love happens regardless of any reasons you have. From what I see, the feelings Sakura harboured transcend from a simple admiration to a pure dedication. A dedication where she is willing to give up anything to save her loved one from being hurt. One where she tried to even kill you back in the Samurai Bridge to simply stop you from plunging in the darkness."

"That's why I will…shoulder it by killing him. All…by myself." Those words from the mountain echoed in his ears. In Kakashi's sight, Sasuke's expressions remained unchanged but his right hand was clenched as a fist, visibly trembling of fear.

"Many of us know how Sakura feels over the years but not yours. Although you may not harbour any bad intention towards her, but…to be frank with you, there are some in the village who think otherwise. Like for say… "

"…restoring the Uchiha clan, is what you're saying?" Sasuke intervened with words he recalled from the previous illusion of memories.

"Yeah. If it was in the past, I would believe it honestly. But seeing how much you changed, that doesn't seem to be the case to me. So…"

"…" Sasuke then remembered how he who was trying to sever his bonds from Konoha, attempted to kill her instead. He could still feel the sensation of Sakura's throat in his hand, burning on the inside for salvation.

Sensing the lack of convincement in the Uchiha, Kakashi decided to approach the simpler psychological way with him "Hmm…Just ask yourself these questions, Sasuke. You don't have to say it aloud but in your mind. What do you think of Sakura as a person?"

"She's…strong, smart, stubborn... and really annoying…" Remembering their times together where he first witnessed her true self in the war, Sasuke then smirked at the last word.

"…How do you feel with her next to you?"

"I feel…at peace…"

"What comes into your mind when Sakura's with other men?"

"…I don't…No… I'll skew that bastard…" Sasuke thought with great disgust and jealousy after imagining Sakura laughing with another person's arms and remembering the conversation in Ichiraku Ramen and the illusions earlier on.

"After your first answer, what comes into your mind when Sakura's in danger?"

"I…must save her." Memories of him saving her notably during their first Chunin Exams from Orochimaru and Gaara and the feelings emerged through those actions began compiling each other in his core.

"Why did you think of that answer?"

"…don't …want to lose her…" Sasuke thought as he reminisced the time when he told Naruto to save Sakura from Gaara for the same reason but on a different basis.

"How do you feel when you see her smile?"

With his eyes closed, he saw Sakura turning around, facing him with a soft smile, the unchanged kindness that pleased him deeply. The same grace that always at its doorstep, stopping him from pursuing the dark path, which he eventually ignored last time. Collecting his thoughts, emotions and memories of them together, that solidified everything in Sasuke.

"…I want…to see…to protect…that smile. Only she…no, only I that belongs to her and… I will do anything…to protect…what has been waiting for me all these years."

Seeing Sasuke's emerging onyx eyes of determination, the pleased sensei smiled and gave his final advice as dawn started to appear beyond their eyes.

"Sasuke, neither you nor I can predict the future. We are bound to lose something in the future; it's just the matter of when will it be. That's why time is there for us to realize how precious it is and to cherish it within that time. If you truly want to redeem yourself, I think one of it is to give an answer to Sakura who waited for you long enough and I'm sure she's willing to listen to and accept your words."

"But…"

"Hm?"

"But with my reputation, she will be…"

"Hm…now I wouldn't call that considerate for you, Sasuke, and Sakura wouldn't like to hear that at all. She might think that you're putting her as a weak person. Besides,…" Sasuke waited for the man's words.

"If she loves you and you love her, so why bother?"

Seeing a flustered Uchiha would be a rare sight for anyone to not miss and Kakashi was glad enough to be spectator to such rarity. Hence, he would never reveal it or the secret to the rarity to anyone, including the Uzumaki.

After calming his quick heartbeat for absorbing that foreign sentence, Sasuke glanced at the floor with a relieved heart. Having someone to listen to and speak to has definitely put his heart at rest, as he never thought of relaying his inner thoughts and questions to Kakashi. To the wanderer, Kakashi would have become one, if not only, adult he could completely rely on, after losing Itachi, for guidance. Sasuke stood against the emerging light of dawn when Kakashi's final words made him shaken.

"By the way, Sasuke, I won't advice you to move things too quickly with Sakura, like what happened in the mountain." Sasuke annoyingly turned to the snickering Hokage, and cussed at both the usuratonkachi and the pale ass for their blabber mouths.

"You're … a big help, Kakashi." Sasuke spoke before he disappeared before the Hokage's eyes.

Accepting it as the Uchiha's new step to say thank you, the Hokage stood up in relief.

"Ha…Young love. I'm happy for the two of you, Sasuke, Sakura."

Shizune then appeared behind in a hurry to report two shocking news to him and rushed out with her.


Thinking of how to relay his feelings properly, Sasuke reached Sakura's house with anxiety making its rounds in his stomach but a small smile covering his face throughout the journey. However, the absence of Sakura's chakra left his excitement down as he opened the door to the house. His eyes then captured two objects on the floor; a scroll and a shiny object.

Walking towards the objects, Sasuke picked up the scroll and a cherry blossom necklace with its hook broken. Knowing that Sakura dislikes disorder in her house, Sasuke was left confused and many things went through his mind as he held onto the scroll and looked at the necklace when a loud shout echoed the house.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto shouted as he reached the door with heavy breathings.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke turned around annoyingly at the Uzumaki's morning habit.

"Where's Sakura-chan, Sasuke!? Is she not here!?"

"No, she should be in the hospital." Sasuke frowned at the worried look of the blonde.

"She's not there! Damn!" Naruto cussed.

"What's going on, Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he stood up with the two objects in his hand.

"Tch… just follow me to the hospital!"


After a while, both shinobis reached the first floor of Konoha Hospital. Naruto hurriedly opened the sliding door and his face immediately went into sadness and concern as he rushed towards the occupier of the sole bed. Sasuke followed suit into the white room.

"Hinata! Are you alright!?"

In front of the Uzumaki was a severely injured Hinata sleeping with IV drips and machines around her. Tsunade, Kakashi, Sai and Shikamaru were standing at the other side of the bed as Naruto consulted his wife who was sleeping.

""…Hinata…" Naruto spoke in a sad tone.

"She's fine, Naruto." Naruto turned his cerulean eyes to the Fifth. "Those injuries are not life-threatening and she'll be alright in a week."

"Thanks, granny." Naruto said as he held Hinata's hand softly. Sasuke looked at the couple and thought that he would probably react the same way if Sakura is in Hinata's place, but in a calmer, yet murderous manner towards the perpetrator.

Naruto angrily turned to the two Hokages "Tsunade-bachan, Kakashi-sensei, what the heck just happened? Hinata…!"

"Naruto, it wasn't just Hinata. The entire Team 8 are in the same condition as Hinata, including Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san who were guarding the gates. They were all attacked last night and fortunately another team found them here in time. " Shikamaru stepped in to ease his anger.

"Then, who…the hell did this!?" The blonde demanded.

The two Hokages exchanged glances upon Naruto's demand. When Kakashi gave a flash glance at the Uchiha, what he saw there was…hesitation. Silence enveloped the room as the Sixth Hokage replied with an answer no one would imagine, one that would shock Naruto and Sasuke out of their day light.

"It was…Sakura."

###

FINALLY FF'S BACK! Hehe I'm sure some of u guys r shocked at the last name...

Again first thing first, wanna thanx those who fav, followed & reviewed again...

-SasusakuAV: U're welcome anyway!

-f-zelda: glad that u find it interesting!

-Natalie: dont die just yetXD

-jenniturtlez5: glad u like the twists! There's more in later chaps

This chap is shorter but that's cos I wanna hv it solely about Sasuke and Kakashi's talk together. It's quite hard writing this bit & I actually wrote this chap two weeks ago but made lots of changes to make it flow properly (which I hope it works out for u guys & Sasuke might be abit OOC here). I listened to NS OST 2's Reflection & Fallen Leaves while reading through the chap & I hope you guys can do the same for better imagination, I guess.

Sorry for debuting Hinata in a bad shape but that's how it is for now.

So...if you wanna know what's wrong with Sakura since she fainted in the house first then her attacking... we'll find that all out in the next chapter then^^ Til then^^

Please review for any remarks/comments (it'll be great if I could find out abot ur opinion on the story so far through the reviews) & hope u enjoy^^