Chapter 10: A Final Chance

Kiri POV: It was so obvious that Sasuke was going to leave again. Who wouldn't? I mean, you leave the village and just randomly come back when people tell you to. So unrealistic, right?

I guess it's mission time again, huh? I think it is about Sasuke once again. I reach the Hokage's office first. I was surprised that all of the Konoha Shinobi 14 came. Usually it is 15, but ever since Sasuke left it has been 14. Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Tadashi, Amye, Naruto, and Sakura. That sure is a lot of people. So all of us are going to get Sasuke back? Isn't that a little over? Like, if we all get him back… that seems like each one of us is pathetic… We can't get one person back by ourselves… We need fourteen people to get one person back to Konoha. That makes me feel bad… Well, I never was very strong anyways, so maybe I really was always meant to do things with one another, not be myself. No, I can't lose self-confident. I need to have that to be strong. At least, how strong I am right now.

And indeed we are supposed to bring Sasuke back right now.

"This is your final chance, fellow shinobi," Tsunade said. "If you don't get Sasuke back, well, he will always stay with Orochimaru." She put a sterner face on and threatened, " If you fail… YOU WILL LOSE YOUR CAREER AS A FORMER SHINOBI!"

All of us flinched at that. We were surprised that she would say that to us and we kind of thought that we were now deaf.

"Now you can leave," she calmly said.

Lady Tsunade's words were nice and clear for everyone to hear. Those strict words were very loud too. And like me, I'm guessing that those words rung in everyone's head on their way out. I'm pretty sure that those words are now imprinted on my head. We have to get Sasuke back! I obviously DO NOT want to lose my job as a shinobi. Ever since I was little, that was my dream. To be a former shinobi. Now, my dream is to be a strong shinobi, one that can do many powerful justu. I want to show everybody that I am not some random worthless person on the street. I never was much of a failure, but I don't think that I am good. I may be better at things like that, but I am obviously not stronger than any of my friends. They are all good at different things. Okay, now even to myself, I think I'm going off topic. Oh, looks like it is time to set out on our mission. Everyone is such good friends' to Sasuke… I wonder if I should be too… No, focus more on the mission. Focus on where you are going… There! I see movement… That shinobi, this person is definitely from The Village Hidden In The Sound. I've got my first target. Out! Ah, so there is a row of Sound shinobi here huh? Out, out, out, out! I won't need to kill that many if my comrades are going to kill them too. That was fast; here I am, at The Village Hidden In The Sound. No, wait… this is just some random base for Orochimaru. The others better get going; they have to check the other bases… Oh, a snake! Maybe he really is in here after all? Peek… Sasuke is in here. Taking a nap at such a weird time… Using my walkie-talkie earpiece, I told all of my comrades that Sasuke is in the base I am at. (The earpiece is something I put in my ear that contacts all of my comrades because each one of them has one, too. I speak and they will hear what I say because the earpiece is programmed to reflect anything it hears, like my voice.)

Sasuke is moving; I can't be seen. I guess I will hide behind this wall and spy on him as he goes somewhere if he even comes out. I guess he won't. I don't want to check though, there is a possibility that he turned around in his bed. I can hear my comrades closing in that is a good sign. Sasuke comes out eh? He's coming this way… "Run," I whisper to my comrades. Sasuke closes in and sees me. I stare at him with no emotion. What is he going to do? I want to see.

"What are you doing here, Kiri?" he asks. " Why disturb me when I am deciding to get more training from Orochimaru?" "Another mission? You know, I won't come back. Probably…" he added.

"I want you to come back to Konoha. Even you hesitate before sternly saying that you will never come back. You even add a probably at the end," I tell him. This is the easiest time to catch him; before he is sure that he never wants to come back.

"That is true," he replied. "But how do you know when someone lies if they never have emotion? There are no true feelings anyone can associate with me. If that is true, then no one should be able to tell whether or not I am telling the truth."

I glare at him and tell him, " Go on, if you really are at ease in this place you would." He just stands there and looks at me. "You do know that I am telling you to go on and reach Orochimaru's room, right?"

"Everybody sounds suspicious when they say something like that," he replies.

"That is true. Anyhow, I don't care if I sound suspicious or not, I just want to get this over with. If I fail and lose- I shouldn't be telling you that, but you just hurry up. Leave or stay and argue about a pointless subject," I state. For some reason, he decides to stay. I call for my comrades and tell him, " We are all here to get you back, indeed. However, you are a great friend to all of us. None of us really wants to have you here and living with Orochimaru."

"That's the truth. All of us would say that if in lead. We don't want you being the strange Sasuke that is influenced be the evil," Sakura says.

"Yeah! Sakura is right!" Naruto adds.

And then, right there, Sasuke feels different, even if just for a little bit. He doesn't feel like staying with Orochimaru that long anymore. Maybe even not at all. "I'll say, maybe," he says.

~After we fought for a while~

We all knew this wasn't fair for him, but we knocked him unconscious and tied him up. Naruto carried Sasuke on his back because he insisted on it. We got back to Konohagakure and Naruto dropped Sasuke on the ground yelling, "Yeah! Mission accomplished!"

I slightly smiled at him. It was nice seeing people so happy and blithe. And after a while, Sasuke starts to awake.