"It's hard but it's fair." -Michael Jordan
Train
They knew that power wasn't and still isn't everything. Most people think that power equals force, but not them. Power comes from within. It is the ability to assert yourself; to show that you are not weak. Power is not beating the tar out of someone and making people suffer; it is using your mind and your body to create something strong and then dominate with that something.
There is no more Sasuke this, or Sasuke that. They're too old and they're too proud.
They've been there and done that, but are not yet a has-beens.
They learned that you have to get things for yourself, not rely on others. They depended on Neji, on Shikamaru, on Choji, on Kiba and Akamaru, on Lee and on Naruto, all because of one person. They were even depending on the three sand siblings, who were not even from their village.
They were ashamed, and vowed to train harder; to gain power.
From then on it was no more running. It was face the facts. Do or die. Eat or be eaten. You only get one life, so live it right.
Day in and day out they trained, all to get more powerful. And then the time came and one of them left on a mission to gather information on someone that might have a lead on Sasuke.
And then she saw him, and could not do anything. She was frozen on her spot. From that moment on, she pledged on her life to train more intensely than ever before.
The next time a lead was found, they went together. With their teams, and their classmate's teams and then some. They failed.
And still they trained longer and deeper until they lost fatal amounts of blood everyday. Until their skins were a permanent black and bluish color. Until they were near death.
And they found him eventually. They caught him and brought him back and they celebrated and had their fun and then thanked the heavens for their luck.
And after the whole ordeal they suited up. They put on their shoes and shirts, their pants and gloves, and finally their weapon pouches and their headbands. And then they trained.