Kakashi watched as his former student was swept away by the swirling mass of ravens. He noticed that her head was turned in the direction of where she came from, and Kakashi guessed that Sasuke and Naruto were somewhere there.
With Sai on his back, Kakashi sped off in that direction until he found the two boys. "Release," he said when he walked up to Naruto.
As soon as his eyes were open, Naruto shot right up and shouted, "Kakashi-sensei, the other Akatsuki is ―"
"I know," he said bitterly.
"Were you able to bring her back?" his hopeful face fell when Kakashi shook his head solemnly.
Kakashi stood up and went to Sasuke. "Release," he repeated. Slowly, Sasuke rose up, but unlike Naruto, he didn't shout or speak.
"Hey Sasuke, you okay?" Naruto asked.
"We're gonna have to get to a medical center," Kakashi said when Sasuke didn't respond. He swung one of Sasuke's arms on his shoulder, then asked Naruto, "Can you take Sai?"
"Yeah."
Sasuke sat on the hospital bed, looking down at his sheets. From time to time, his hands would clench into fists.
A knock sounded from the door, making him jump. He half-expected Sakura to come in and throw her arms around him, but another woman came in and set down a tray of food, then leave.
A little while later, the door opened again and Naruto came in along with Sai . "Hey Sasuke, how ya doing?" Naruto greeted him with a grin. "You haven't touched your food eh? And why do you have to be bedridden? I got way worse injuries than you, and all you had to do was say nothing!"
"Was this how you guys felt when I left Konoha?" Sasuke asked, his voice sounding strained from being silent.
Naruto stayed quiet for a long time before answering, "Yes."
"Sakura means so much to you guys," said Sai. "And when she was still here, and Sasuke was gone, he meant a lot. But it seems like I don't have any significance as a part of your friends. I think I feel like I'm just a replacement for any of your friends."
"That's not true, Sai" Naruto said quickly. "You have your own identity as our friend. You're not a replacement."
"Hello guys," said Kakashi as he entered. "How have you all been doing?"
"I'm almost healed," said Naruto. "But Sasuke still doesn't say much."
"He is probably still traumatized over the fact that Sakura betrayed us," guessed Kakashi. "But I want to know why she abandoned Konoha."
"It's because of me," Sasuke answered. "Sakura betrayed Konoha because of me. When she was still around, I told her she was weak and she needs to become stronger." He slammed his fists and added, "It's all my fault!"
"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself, Sasuke," said Kakashi. "You know you did it with good intentions."
"It doesn't matter."
"Well if you won't stop punishing yourself, then the least you could do is finish your food," Kakashi nodded at the tray and left.
"I guess I should get going," said Sai and he left after Kakashi.
Both boys stood quiet for a long time. Twice, Naruto tried to have a conversation by either bringing up the weather or saying how much he disliked Sai sometimes, but Sasuke didn't respond to his attempts.
"Sasuke, I know that you feel really bad about what happened," said Naruto, "and I know that this is not the first time someone's betrayed you, but Sakura is my friend too, and I will get her back. I promise." With a chuckle he added, "this feels like the time I promised Sakura to bring you back."
"I will get Sakura back too," Sasuke said. Then when his hair was covering his face, he grabbed his cup and threw it at Naruto. "Now get out. You're making this place seem like a gross love scene."
Naruto walked out growling, "Love scene? Why that little . . ."
The moment he was gone, Sasuke gave a long sigh. He swung his feet over the bed and looked out the window. Now their roles were reversed. Sakura was out there, traveling the world, while he was back home in Konoha. "The next time we meet, I will bring you back." He looked to the clear sky, wondering if Sakura was looking at the same sky to at this moment. "And when that happens, I'll make sure that Team 7 stays together."
Finally, I changed. Why? Cause the ending was so horrible! Sasuke cried, dammt! so I fixed it, and made Sasuke less of a crybaby, and gave him a reason to go find Sakura. HAH! got rid of Sasu-sissy pants! I feel so much better about this. What about you?
As said before, still no tenth chapter.
