Hey everyone, I thought I'd give this story an extra chapter. Mainly so I could work on some of the scenes a bit more.

I'm going to work on a brand new story shortly. And just so everyone knows, as long as I feel the story is good enough I will continue to write Naruto Fanfiction, even when the Anime ends.

Just a small note: For my followers of you that have seen this new chapter in your story alerts; This isn't the isn't the only new thing I've done. I rewrote the whole story so I hope you enjoy it. Hopefully it's better than before.

Second Chance

In the medic's haste to retreat, Kabuto hadn't been able to destroy any of his research. So, while the rest of the glacier village kept watch just in-case the ninja returned, two young men were tasked with destroying Kabuto's lab. Despite the back braking work, the pair were glad that the Hokage hadn't ordered them to surrender any of the medic's belongings. "Good thing those ninja were too stupid to grab any of this stuff." He joked. As the man went to grab another pile of paper work, he noticed something was missing. "Hey, wasn't there a box full a tapes over there?" He asked.

His comrade didn't sound too concerned about the missing box. "Kabuto was always listening to those things, that crazy snake, probably took the tapes with him, just help me move this thing." He ordered.

When the two men walked passed, Sasuke Sakura and Kakashi steeped out of there hiding places. After narrowly avoiding that close encounter the raven just wanted to leave. "How much longer do he have to stay down here?" Sasuke asked.

Feeling just as uncomfortable as the raven, Sakura rounded on the impatient boy. "I don't like being here as much as you, but Tsunade-sama needs us to gather as much Intel as possible before they destroy it." She reminded.

Unlike Sakura, the copy-ninja understood Sasuke's desire to leave. The Jónin didn't say anything until Sakura was out of earshot. "We'll get back to Naruto soon." Kakashi promised.

Sasuke blushed a little at his sensei's comment. Ever since confessing his feeling for Naruto, Kakashi started finding subtle little ways to tease him. "Damn you Jónin and your perspective skills." He cursed.

When they first entered the Sasuke left the group and returned to the room where he'd first found Naruto. "I found this back in that room." He explained handing the tape to Kakashi. "Don't ever play it to me." He ordered.

Knowing what it meant, The copy-ninja quietly took the tape and put the small object in a sealed bag. "We should keep moving." He suggested.

As the trio wandered deeper into the tunnels they stumbled across what served as the villages prisons. Unlike every other chamber, this place was much darker than the rest of the tunnels. When the trio approached the cells a putrid smell hit them. Sakura needed to cover her mouth to shield her from the burning, while nether of her male comrades expressed their distaste little they too found the stench just as horrendous.

"What on earth is that smell?" The girl screeched almost retching.

While Sakura recovered, Sasuke and Kakashi continued to walk towards the source of the odour. The pair stooped and looked into the empty cell. Not only did it reek of urine, they pair could tell this one had be recently modified. Clues like the countless sealing tags lay scattered on the floor. In the darkness they could make out the thick chains bolted to the ground.

Kakashi didn't voiced it, but he too felt the same disgust as Sasuke. Back when he'd carried Naruto on his back, the blond wouldn't stop nuzzling his hair. This small detail didn't mean much at the time, but now the Jónin felt bad for complaining about it. "I bet my hair felt like silk compared to the floor." He thought.

The raven only increased Sasuke's guilt growing. During his stay Sasuke the villager's made him comfortable. "While I slept they allowed Naruto to lie in his own waste." he spat. "If I'd found out sooner, I could have saved him from this." Suddenly the raven wanted to return to the blond even more.

With Sasuke dealing with his guilt, Kakashi stepped inside the cell and inspected the chains. When he tried to lift one of the metal restraint just how heavy they were. "With these chain wrapped around him, I doubt Naruto wouldn't been able to move much." He noted.

Collecting evidence wasn't their only reason for coming back the village. By returning to the scene of the crime, the trio hoped to better understand what Naruto went through. None of them expected it to be so hard, with everyone drained emotionally they all decided to call it a day and return to their temporary home.

It didn't feel like it, but five days had passed since they'd rescued Naruto from Kabuto's clutches. Even though they'd successfully repaired the seal, Naruto's wasn't recovering as fast as they liked. As much as Tsuande wanted to move Naruto back home as soon as possible, but the dangerous terrain and unpredictable weather made that impossible.

Time hadn't eased Tsunade's anger, watching her precious gaki suffering only heightened the Sannin's need for justice. Sadly for the the woman, nether Kabuto or Madara were within her reach. Undeterred, Tsunade set her sights on his accomplices instead. On top of arresting Saburo for his part in the abduction, the Hokage decreed that the Hidden-leaf would no longer associate with the Glacier village. "There's no place for them in the shinobi system."

Less than twenty-four hours after healing Naruto and after delivering the villager's their punishment, Tsunade reluctantly returned to Kohana-leaving both Sakura and Shizune to care for Naruto. Just as Tsunade feared, the injured teen developed an infection two days later. Within in hours Naruto came down with another high fever.

While the blond's body fought this illness, Naruto was barely conscious half the time. Whenever, Naruto did wake up, the teen didn't recognise his surroundings. At night they'd often be woken by the kyuubi host's terrible screaming.

Try as they might, none of them were able to comfort their distressed comrade. To make matters worse, the blond would try and rip off his bandages and rip the IV's out of his arm. To prevent further injury Shizune and Sakura made the hard decision to sedate Tsunade's instruction, they kept Naruto heavily sedated.

Sedating Naruto wasn't the only decision they'd had to make. Even with Saburo in custody, both Kakashi and Yamato feared the villagers would try to killing their comrade again. With their safety threatened, it didn't take much to convince the rest to move Naruto to a safer location. As soon as the weather cleared Yamato and Sai searched for a more safer location.

Reluctant to sleep in another cave, Yamato constructed one of his wooden houses.

When the three ninja eventually made it back home, where Shizune and Sai happily greeted them. "Did you get everything you needed?" She asked.

After seeing a brief glimpse of Naruto's imprisonment nether Sakura or Sasuke spoke.

The copy-ninja Shizune waved to the pair. "How's Naruto been?" Kakashi asked, silently praying for good news for a change.

The kind woman smile grew even bigger at last she could give them some good news. "You'll be pleased to hear, Naruto's infection has cleared, and his fever broke a few hours ago. So I'm going to take him off the sedative today." She announced, hoping to bring some much needed joy to the trio. But not even this news had any effect on the two teenagers.

Unlike Sakura and Sasuke, Kakashi smiled at the news. "That's great Shizune-Chan, I think we can all agree its been far too quite around here." The first time he'd a genuine joke in days.

Even when Shizune took Naruto off the sedative, the teen still didn't wake up as quickly as they hoped. Through out the day, everyone took turns watching the sleeping Naruto around the clock, waiting for any signs that suggested he was waking up. Whenever Naruto twitched, team jump to his side hoping he'd wake up.

That night Kakashi offered to watch over the blond. The copy-ninja lay in his sleeping bag, using the dim glow of the fire place to read his book. He was just about to turn a page when his sharp eyes spotted Naruto's eyes flicker. Watched as the twitches continued until finally Naruto eyes fluttered open. Kakashi stayed quite for a while. The Jónin couldn't help but smile when he saw Naruto staring up at him.

The first thing the teen tested was his voice. "Sensei?" As Naruto expected, his words came out groggy.

Delighted to see his student awake, Kakashi put his book down and sat up. "It's about time you woke up sleepy-head." Kakashi teased.

Remembering little of his ordeal, Naruto still believed he was in a cell. After spending hours trying to fight off hallucinations, Naruto wouldn't let himself believe the figure was real. When Kakashi's hand moved towards him, the anxious teen slapped the hand away. "No, it can't be you, not again, just go away." Naruto began using his unrestrained hands to swat at what he believed was just another cruel illusion.

The Copy-ninja watched his student as he. "Naruto really can't tell I'm real." He thought sadly. Nothing but anger towards the missing-nin. "I swear if I ever see Kabuto again it will onlytoo soon." Unable to get his revenge just yet, Kakashi gently took his student's hand and placed on his face. "Naruto, it's really me." He sat still and soon felt the teen using the fingers to explore his features.

"Where am I sensei?" He asked panicked.

Sensing Naruto's fear, Kakashi gave a brief the confused boy a summery of the last few days. "We're not in the village anymore," he reassured. "We moved you a few days ago. For now we're staying in one of Yamato's wooden houses. Tsunade wants us to stay here until you're fit to travel." The Jónin explained.

The teen still seemed a little confused. "How much can you remember?" He asked carefully.

With the last of sleep clearing, Naruto tried to concentrate. It felt like someone went in his head and rearranged his memorises into a confusing timeline. However nothing could make the blond forget holding Sasuke's cold body. When the teen recalled this horrid detail, Naruto frantically looked around the room until he spotted Sasuke's trade mark duck-butt hairstyle lying on the pillows. Knowing Sasuke was safe Naruto confided in his sensei. "I can remember the villagers taking me," he began. "I know Kabuto did things to me. But I can't remember much."

Naruto looked back at Sasuke sleeping in the bed, when another flash, this time Naruto saw himself attacking Sasuke while he'd been under the foxes influence. Alarmed by the new flashback, the worried teen turned back to Kakashi. "Is Sasuke all-right?" The blond asked.

From both Saburo's and Sasuke statements had already explained Kakashi already knew about Kabuto's lies. "Yes, thanks to Sakura and Shizune his injures have already healed." He promised, "Now, how are you feeling?" The copy-ninja asked.

Naruto gave himself a quick exam, the places where his skin was still regrowing still burned, but at least his stomach no longer hurt. On top of a few minor complaints the teen did feel thirsty. "I'm ok," Naruto said. As the thirsty blond licked his parched lips the need to quench his thirst increased. "I'll just get myself some water." The moment Naruto tried to sit up his body immediately protested.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and gently stopped the teen from moving. "I am under strict intrusions to make sure you rest. Don't push yourself, Tsunade-Sama will have my head if you move. Sit there and I'll get you a drink." The Jónin got some water and returned to the teen.

Now that Naruto seemed more coherent, Kakashi wanted to talk to his student. While it was far too soon to discus There were a few things he needed to hear from Naruto. The thing he wanted to know more than anything was if Kabuto was telling the truth. "Is it true what Kabuto told us, were you feeling sick before all this happened?" Kakashi didn't really want to question the teen.

While he tries to come up with an answer, Naruto played with his glass for a moment until he slowly nodded. "Yes, but I swear I didn't know about the seal. After I fought with Pain I could only use my sage mode. I just thought it was taking a while for my chakra to settle." He explained.

Although Kakashi accepted Naruto hadn't known how serious the situation was, it didn't excuse the fact the blond hadn't told anybody. "We narrowly avoided disaster, not just Naruto's life, but the hidden leaf as well." While Naruto's actions were reckless to say the least, it just didn't seem right to scold the teen. Even so, Kakashi still wanted to understand why his student kept quite for so long. "Why didn't you say something?" The Jónin asked.

Once again, the orange-clad stared at his glass while he tried to think about what to say next. After spending months of finding ways of avoiding the topic, Naruto knew the time had finally come for him to tell his sensei the truth. The teen took a deep breath and explained. "I had other things on my mind at the time." He admitted.

With Naruto's walls breaking down, Fearing his student would clam up again. "Anything in particular that you want to talk about?" He asked.

After a short pause Naruto finally confided in the copy-ninja. "I was angry at my dad." He explained.

His student's admission surprised Kakashi a little. Even though he hadn't seen the Naruto's fight against Pain, many of his comrades filled in the gaps. he learned about the nine-tailed foxes appearance. Kakashi always suspected, that something happened to stop the Nine-tails fully forming. A few days later Naruto explained how Minato intervened. At the time Naruto seemed delighted to at last meet his father. They'd never really spoken about his father since then, "I thought you were pleased to finally meet him."

Feeling more confident Naruto explained. "Because not only did the hero I admire all my life seal the nine-tails inside me, but he was also my dad. I'd always believed that fathers are supposed to love and protect their kids. Not seal demons inside them and then leave them alone."

The Jónin sighed with sympathy. "Your father had no choice, if there had been any other way-"

Before his teacher could share his wisdom Naruto interrupted. "It's ok sensei," the teen interjected. "I know everything, my mum told me what happened the night I was born. I know I both my parents loved me." He said.

The Jónin would have loved to talk about it more, but he thought it best to leave the matter be until later. While it did explain some of Naruto's odd behaviour. But it still didn't explain his student's angry outbursts towards Tsunade and himself. "I'm glad you've told me, but I suspect that's not thing that's been on you mind lately." After already admitting hating his own father, Kakashi wasn't sure if Naruto would tell him anything else.

After spending countless sleepless nights mulling over his question, Naruto finally confronted his sensei. "Why didn't you or someone else tell me who my parents were?" He asked. "I asked the third so many times, but he'd just say they'd died during the nine-tails attack." Naruto stared at his sensei. "You were my dads student, I couldn't believe you'd known all that time, but never told me. I understand why you couldn't tell me when I was younger, but what about when I was learning to surpass him. Every time I thought you were all laughing at me behind my back." Ashamed of his own words, Naruto broke down in tears.

There where a million different ways he could respond. "It's complicated." Kakashi explained.

His teacher's vague answer filled the blond with anger, Naruto snapped. "Don't give me that, I had a right to know!" After this small outburst, Naruto began furiously wiping his eyes furiously. "I'm sorry." He apologised.

"Why are you sorry?" Kakashi asked a little surprised to see his student crying.

"For everything, I've treated you so badly." Naruto said as he choked back his sobs. A pair of arms warped around him pulled him into a tight hug. In a bid to comfort Naruto, Kakashi grabbed his sobbing student and pulled into a hug. Naruto let out all the pain he'd been feeling for the past few months out.

As Kakashi consoled his student. "Shhhh, its ok, I don't blame you for being angry." He said try his best to explain why kept this information from him. "We always planed on telling you when you were older, but after everything you've been through, it just got harder to tell you the truth." Now that the Jónin thought about it more his student didn't even have a picture of his family. "While you're recovering how about I tell you more about your father. I've got lots of stories to tell you, I even have pictures if you like we can look through them together when we get home." He offered.

"Really?" Naruto sniffed he wondered if the Jónin had any photos of his mother. "Do you have any pictures of my mum?" After only meeting his mother briefly, the teen didn't want to forget her face.

Kakashi beamed at the question. "Oh yes, I have plenty of those, and I'm sure if I ask around other people will too." Then Kakashi recalled his sensei's wife had an odd habit. "Although, she'd often pulled funny faces in the background." He added. When Kakashi looked down he saw Naruto half asleep on his shoulder. "You should get some more rest." He encouraged.

When his teacher tried him lie back down, Naruto didn't let go. "I don't like lying on my back." Naruto explained as he clung to Kakashi's shirt.

Before today the copy-ninja wouldn't have understood, but now that he'd seen a glimpse of Naruto's prison, Kakashi didn't need to ask why. "Lying in that position probably reminds him of being chained to the floor," he told himself. Knowing this the Jónin quickly came up with an alternative arrangement. "Why don't you sleep next to me?" Kakashi offered. "It's been rather cold sleeping in a cave for almost a week, I wouldn't mind the company." The Jónin felt his exhausted student respond with a small nod.

Just like the night before Naruto's abduction, Kakashi joined their sleeping bags together. After the copy-ninja crawled inside, Kakashi carefully manoeuvred Naruto's IV line to prevent it from tangling during the night. Even with Naruto lying on his side, there was more than enough room for them to sleep side by side. As soon as Naruto could the young shinobi snuggled up by his teacher's side and quickly fell asleep.

Kakashi lay down beside the teen shortly afterwards.

A few moments later, a certain ANBU-captain stealthy connected his own sleeping bag. For a few minutes, Yamato just watched his young charge sleeping peacefully. The tiered brunet settled down, before sleep could come, Yamato felt like someone was watching him. Although the gaze didn't feel threatening, the cautious Jónin still went to investigate. When the wood-user lifted his head, he spotted Kakashi practically glaring at him.

"I hope your not planing on stealing my student from me." Kakashi warned as he pulled Naruto a little closer. While The Jónin appreciated Yamato's help, he still wanted to make sure Yamato didn't get any ideas.

Yamato couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his friend's accusation. While he wouldn't deny that he'd become quite close to the blond by now, but that didn't explain why his friend seemed to disapprove. "What are talking about Senpai?" He asked.

The copy-ninja didn't take his eyes off Yamato for a second. "Don't play dumb with me," He warned. "I've seen Naruto fall asleep on you. At first I thought this was only a fluke, but now I know that Naruto thinks of you as a sensei, I'm starting to wonder if you're getting ideas. While I am touched that you share a strong bond with him, I do not intend to give him up so easily." He warned.

Yamato barely managed to stifle his laughter. In all the years he'd known Kakashi, Yamato never believed his aloof friend capable of jealously. Even so, the wood user still wanted to put Kakashi's concern at ease. "No, of course not Senpai," he chuckled. "I just wanted to keep Naruto warm that's all. You have nothing to worry about, while I like Naruto, I have no plans on taking your place." He promised.

No sooner did Yamato promise this, Naruto turned over and snuggled into the ANBU's chest. Yamato smiled warmly at the sleeping boy. As much as he didn't want to admit it, absence certainly had made the brunte grow fonder of Naruto. Yamato lifted his gaze, only to see his friend's glare increasing by the second.

"From now on you're my rival." Kakashi declared.

Competing with his superior was the last thing he wanted. Wanting to avoid the conflict, Yamato desperately tried to think of a away to escape the sudden rivalry. When an idea suddenly came to him. "Won't Guy get upset if he hears you have another rival?"

The Jónin didn't see it that way. "This isn't some petty score keeping, this means war." he said.

This time Sasuke offered to watch Naruto while Kakashi and Yamato looked for food.

Last night he'd herd everything that Naruto said to Kakashi. Naruto's forgiving nature Sasuke had thought the teen would have just given his father a long winded speech about not giving up, got on with it like every other trial he'd faced. But no, Naruto had grown to resent his father for forcing such a burden on him. And yet somehow Naruto had found it in his heart to forgive his father. "Is it possible for you to forgive me too?" He wondered.

While Sasuke pondered this thought, Naruto began quietly wined in his sleep. "No, stop it get away." The teen begged.

When Naruto's continued to watch Naruto fight his invisible foe, he wondered if he should get some help. But with Kakashi and the rest of his team busy, there wasn't anyone else to step in this time. A small part of the raven was curi to know if he could accomplish the same thing again. Naruto again.

As sad as this was to watch Sasuke also saw this as an opportunity. "This might be the only way I can know for sure." After taking a deep breath, Sasuke crouched down and gently placed his hand on Naruto's head and started rubbing the sleeping blond's hair. "It's ok, I'm here, you're not there anymore." Sasuke hoped his voice would be enough to comfort Naruto.

Just like before, Naruto stopped moving and settled down. It seemed not even sleep could from knowing him."Sas..uke." He rasped.

Now that his rival wasn't moving, Sasuke could have said nothing and left Naruto to sleep. "Yeah its me, stop making so much noise." Anyone else listening may have thought Sasuke was scolding the teen, but Sasuke's voice lacked the sharp tone. With Naruto sleeping peacefully, Sasuke went to remove his hand, only for the sleeping blond to grab hold of his wrist.

The raven screwed up his face at his team-mate's clingy reaction. "Typical," he snorted. "How do I get myself into these situations?" Even though Sasuke knew it wouldn't take much force to pull his hand away, but it just didn't didn't feel right to deny Naruto comfort. After carefully going through all his options, Sasuke relented. "All right, have it your way." With his mind made up, the raven slid under the covers. The second he lay beside the blond, Naruto buried his face into Sasuke's chest and held him close.

"Sasuke." Naruto murmured.

Just like before, Sasuke felt his heart skip-a-beat. Yet again, the raven found himself fighting a strong instinct to flee. Gradually, Sasuke warped his arms around Naruto's body. As soon as the last Uchiha rested his chin in Naruto's blond hair, all his fears seemed to melt away. Sasuke hadn't felt so complete since his family's death. "I can't believe I forgot what this felt like." As this thought crossed the content raven's thoughts, Naruto let out another small cry. "Shhhh, go to sleep now." He cooed.

A short while later, Sasuke fell asleep, unaware he'd been watched.

On her way back from collecting fire wood, Sakura heard Naruto crying. Alarmed the medic raced to see what was wrong. Before the concerned girl ran into the room, her comrade's wailing suddenly stopped. she could hear low voices speaking. Never had Sakura ever seen this tender side to Sasuke before. This and the many other things had only made even more confused. The girl slowly closed the door and walked away. "What in the world is going on with those two?" She asked herself. Pushing her question to onside Sakura for her least favourite tasks.

Feeding Saburo.

For obvious reasons, they kept their prisoner in a separate. Using his wood jutsu Yamato contracted a small shed, It wasn't exactly a fortress, but it kept Saburo away from Naruto and alive. Inside there was no light or furniture, unless you counted the wooden cage that held the. The medic wondered if Yamato had prosperously designed the room. Every-time Sakura had visit it always gave her the creeps.

Over the past few days, both Shizune and Sakura fell victim to the elder's constant mind games. Today was no different, Saburo sat at the back of his cage, saying nothing as the young girl pushed the try of food through the wooden bars. "How is your little pet doing?" He asked. "I haven't herd it screaming for awhile?" The cruel man mocked.

Even after spending the last few days taking caring for the old man, hadn't lessened Sakura's desire to punch the the vile elder. "He's doing much better now." She said flatly reminding herself she hadn't come here to talk. After watching her comrade change so many hearts, Sakura and many others believe that Naruto's infectious charisma could change anyone. But they'd all learnt that there were just some people beyond help.

From the moment Sakura had walked in Saburo sensed the girl had an ulterior motive for visiting him. As Saburo ate took a small bite from his meal. "Oh is there something you want to know?" He asked.

Even thought it was true, Sakura didn't want to give her prisoner the satisfaction. "I don't want anything from you." She growled.

In a surprising gesture, the usually cold Saburo gave the medical ninja a warm smile. "Come now child, it's perfectly natural for you and your friend's to feel curious," he began. "Perhaps you're interested in a particular experiment, or maybe you want to learn Kabuto's secrets and make your own mad experiments." He accused.

"No never!" She screamed. So repulsed by Saburo's claim, Sakura almost stormed out, but her desire to learn the truth prevented her from leaving.

Ever since Sasuke left, all Naruto did was talk about brining Sasuke, home. This unwavering determination and loyalty towards the raven used to comfort the chuunin. But now something didn't feel right. Things that never crossed her mind before like; Orochimaru claiming he owned Sasuke sent Naruto into use the nine-tails chakra, allowing a ninja to brutally punch him into selling Sasuke out, and the way Sasuke always seemed to be the driving force behind everything he did..

Try as she might, Sakura just couldn't understand why Kabuto. While the It just didn't make sense for Naruto to just give up like he did. "Why did Kabuto use Sasuke to get to Naruto?" She asked.

"Who knows why that treacherous snake did anything." Saburo thought for a moment. "

Sakura wanted to know more even though she knew what the answer was going to be. "Did Naruto say anything to Sasuke before Kabuto took him away?"

After getting over his shock, Saburo erupted into laughter. "Typical teenage girls, no matter which village they come from you're all the same," He said. "Ok I'll tell you, what I know. After Kabuto's little game, the Kyuubi started crying again, it told me it felt guilty for not saving Sasuke, but I knew the truth. I may live in a small village, but I've seen it enough times."

"What! Just tell me already

Enjoying taunting the girl Saburo as much as possible. "Before you ninja throw me in a cell for the rest of my life, I was wondering if you could tell me something?" He said. "How does it feel to know that not only is the Kyuubi a blood-thirsty monster, but it's also a dirty little...fa." Before he could finish say that word, Yamato burst into the room. As soon as the ANBU stepped inside, Saburo's attitude changed slightly.

After delivering his prisoner the hardest glare imaginable, Yamato turned to address Sakura. "Sakura, I think Sai needs your help preparing dinner." He said firmly. "I just want to talk to him...alone." he said.

By the dark tone in Yamato's voice, Sakura already guessed what Yamato meant and left the room.

For the rest of the day, Sakura busied herself around the house. Even after Saburo's revelation, who was later found with 'unexplained' injuries, Sakura refused to believe Naruto was in love with Sasuke. "That deranged man would have said anything to get under my skin." She reasoned. Earlier that morning The girl recalled seeing Sasuke hand Kakashi a tape recorded. "I'll be that's the one Kabuto hid." She thought.

So desperate for the truth, Sakura was more than prepared to steal the evidence to get her answers. The Chunnin waited until after dinner to sneak into Sai's room. After quietly searching through the small collection of tapes, Sakura found the one marked with the most recent date.

Wanting to listen to the tape privately, the medic quickly came up with a plan. Later that evening, Sakura offered to get some water from the frozen lake. After getting their permission Sakura dashed to the lake. When the girl got to the frozen pool of water, she put the tape into the devise and pushed play. Naruto's loud sobbing were the first thing young ninja heard. The sound was so awful that the kunochi almost threw the tape in the snow.

After waiting the screaming finally stopped, Sakura herd just how grief stricken became. Then Naruto uttered the words Sakura dreaded. "The reason I never gave up on you is, because I love you."

Those last three words echoed inside the medic's head. She unconsciously kept rewinding the tape over and over hoping she'd heard wrong. After listening to it for the seventh time there Sakura couldn't deny the truth anymore. The tape recorder slipped out of her hand and fell on to the snow.

Buried her face into her hands and sobbed. "How could I not notice Naruto had feelings for Sasuke?" The heartbroken girl dropped to the floor. "How could Naruto do this to me." He asked herself.

For the rest of the day Sakura spoke to no one. To make matters worse Sasuke continued to pretend nothing was wrong making her even more confuse. "What's going on inside your head Sasuke." She wondered.

Later that night when she tended to Naruto, Her sensei already asleep beside the blond. Ever since the blond regained conciseness Naruto didn't like sleeping on his own. They all took turns keeping the blond company.

Sakura still couldn't be sure about how Sasuke felt, but that didn't decrease her anger towards Naruto. "All those times you promised to bring Sasuke back. when you only wanted him for yourself."

Lost in her thought's, the kouncohi didn't even notice when she started pressing the pillow over Naruto's face. It wasn't until Naruto started moaning Sakura gasped in shock. Just as the medic was about to move away when a little voice started encouraging her. "You can do it. There's no one around. In his condition He's not going to struggle."To Sakura's horror she found herself unable to stop.

Instead of taking the pillow away, Sakura to cheeked if Kakashi was awake, she saw her sensei sleeping soundly. With no witnesses, there was nothing to stop her from suffocating Naruto. Sakura "Tsunade would be too distraught to perform an autopsy and likely rule his death down to complications."

Sakura tried to imagine how Sasuke would react, "He'd be strong, and pretend he doesn't care, but inside he'll likely feel responsible for his death." Before Sakura knew it, the chuunin started picturing herself standing beside Sasuke during Naruto's funeral. "I'll be there to help him through it, we'll get close again." She said as pushed down even harder. Even when she felt Naruto attempts started to weaken. Her murder attempt was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching the room.

Alarmed, Sakura began covering her tracks. "Shit, someone will see me." She thought. As soon as Sakura removed the pillow, Naruto started coughing and gasping. When Sakura looked back up, Sasuke suddenly appeared at the door. The Kounochi studied the raven closely. Sasuke's eyes never left Naruto as he continued to watch Naruto catch his breath back.

Yamato and Sai following close behind.

Unaware of what happened, everyone assumed Naruto's infection hadn't completely cleared yet. While Yamato and Sai put Naruto's coughing down to his illness. Sasuke found it slightly distressing, watching Naruto struggling for each breath, triggered vivid flashbacks of Manda crushing him. "Don't just stand there, isn't there something you can do?" The raven demanded..

"No, he's fine." She grumbled. "He just needs to rest."

When Kakashi suddenly awoke, "Sasuke, help me role Naruto onto his side." He asked. Between them they gently turned Naruto on to his side to help him breath.

After a few more coughs, Naruto slowly to settled down. couldn't remember what happened one moment he was asleep, then the next thing couldn't breath. Knowing that the rest of group were worried the teen tried to reassure them. "I...m...ok" He panted.

No-one was fooled by the blond's bravado least of all Sasuke. Forgetting he wasn't alone, the raven began to gently rubbed his friend's back. "Stop talking and take it easy Naruto," the Uchiha ordered, he claimed himself down. "Just Slow down and take deep breaths," he said more gently.

While Sasuke did his best to soothe Naruto's coughing fit, Sakura couldn't stop shaking. "What's going on with me, I just tried to kill Naruto." She soon forgot her shock when Sasuke lay beside the blond and started fussing over him. The medic scowled at Naruto, thanks to her attempt to kill Naruto had only bought them even closer. Broken out of her thoughts by her sensei's became uncomfortably aware of Kakashi watching her.

At that moment she didn't know what she would do now that Naruto had broken his once in a life time promise to her. It was like her heart had been ripped out and trampled all over. She quickly placed the pillow under Naruto's head before Kakashi woke up or if anyone decided to walk in later.

For the next few days Sakura kept her distance from Naruto. Not just to avoid the temptation, but also because just hearing the blond breathing angered her. But she soon changed her tune Later that day, When Yamato and Sai busy shifting through the evidence they'd collected, and Shizune having a well-earned rest. Sakura finally saw a chance to ask Sasuke if he felt the same way about Naruto..

Rather than directly confront Sasuke on the matter, the clever girl tried a different approach. Against everything the girl had see, she still hoped that Sasuke didn't reciprocate Naruto's feelings only confused about his feelings. "Sasuke, I wanted to thank you for saving Naruto. If it hadn't been for you, Madara and Kabuto would have killed Naruto." She said smiling casually as she prepared the beds.

The raven quickly shook off her praise. Over the last few days, Sasuke's guilt had only multiplied, after hearing countless tapes of Naruto screaming the Uchiha didn't consider himself a hero. "There's nothing brave about what I did. Madara and Kabuto tricked me, if I hadn't been so naive from the start Naruto wouldn't have ended up like this in the first place." He said.

The Uchiha knew returning home wasn't going to be easy. For one thing he didn't know if the Hokage would even allow him to be a ninja again. The only thing Sasuke knew for certain. "If I'm going to return to Kohana, then I need to start building bridges staring with Sakura." He told himself. Swallowing his pride Sasuke did his best to apologise. "I'm sorry for before, I wasn't in the right frame of mind." It wasn't exactly the best apology, but it was a start.

By now Sasuke guessed the girl had another motive for asking him. "If you have something to say just say it?" he stated, unsure at what she had meant.

Now was her chance to get some answers, like always Sakura got right to the point. "Do you love him?" Sakura asked.

For the first time Sasuke took his eyes off Naruto to look at Sakura. Before he gave his answer, the Uchiha wanted to make sure he'd herded the girl correctly. "What did you say?" He asked, hoping he'd misheard Sakura's question.

Underrated the medic repeated her question, only this time Sakura asked more specifically. "Do you love Naruto?" She repeated.

Sasuke didn't avoid eye contact with. Even as a child, Sakura hadn't been shy about showing her feelings towards him. While also being very dangerous on a personal level. Now that he planned on retuning to the hidden leaf Sasuke needed to tread carefully. Coming out to Tsuande and Kakashi had been hard enough, but telling Sakura, a girl who'd always been obsessively in love with him, was an entirely different matter. AS much as the black-haired teen wanted to, Sasuke just couldn't say it out loud.

When her crush didn't say anything to deny her claim, Sakura knew the truth. As the rage and hurt took over, the girl clenched her fists. using all her self control to suppress the urge to send the raven hurtling through the walls. "Why, how could you do this to me?" She demanded.

As Sakura continued to shout and wail at Sasuke, Naruto started to stir from his sleep.

Although the recovering blond still felt groggy, but Naruto was gad to find his teacher next to him. Once his eyes adjusted to the dim light. Naruto tried to sit up only to feel a little pain in his stomach. "Kumara wasn't lying before," he winced and lying back down. "I guess this mean I'm stuck like this." The blond sighed as he pictured the long recovery ahead of him. These thoughts were interrupted by someone yelling next to him.

When the tried blond turned to find the source of the shouting, he discovered it came from Sakura-who appeared to be yelling at Sasuke. Even from his bed Naruto could see the tears in his friend's eyes. "What's wrong with Sakura-chan?" He wondered. Without hearing the Naruto listened to the rest of the conversation.

Unaware that Naruto had woken up Sakura continued to talk to Sasuke. "We need to talk about this. I need to understand how this happened." Sakura sobbed.

After today's events, Sasuke finally felt like he at least he understood his feelings. He'd loved Naruto for sometime, but he'd been both too blind and consumed by darkness to notice before. There was still the matter of explaining all this to Naruto. But Sasuke didn't feel he needed to explain himself to Sakura. "It's pretty basic, So there's nothing to discus or understand."

While trying to make sense of everything, the medic convinced herself that these feeling were the result of years of unresolved childhood trauma and guilt. To prove this theory, Sakura decided to put Sasuke's feelings to the test. Putting on her best smile, the girl put her plan into motion."I don't blame you for what happened to Naruto," she began. "You and I both know it's Naruto's fault. If he hadn't wandered off that day he'd never of been caught in the first place." As soon as the words left her mouth, Sakura watched Sasuke's reaction closely..

Unaware of Sakura's true intention, Naruto stared at the ceiling sadly. During those long hours lying in his cell, the teen had gone through at least a dozen scenarios in his head. Despite Kakashi repeatedly telling him otherwise, Naruto till felt somewhat responsible for his predicament. "Sakura's right," he thought. "If I hadn't wandered off, none of this would have happened. I put Sakura and everyone through a lot. Kakashi- sensei is exhausted looking after me." Naruto told himself,

Sasuke on the other hand, didn't appreciate Sakura's comment. After her less than warm greeting, the Uchiha fully expected future verbal assaults from the girl. While he was fully prepared to endure anything Sakura said, but the raven refused to sit by and allow Sakura to Naruto for his own suffering. Before the avenger knew what was happening he got right up in his team-mate's face. "Don't ever talk about Naruto like that again," he snarled. Sasuke didn't need to raise his voice to make his point clear.

The pair's stand off seemed to go on forever. This wasn't the happy reunion Naruto had hopped for. Since he'd woken up before Sakura asked her question, the blond didn't realise why they were fighting. "Maybe Sakura's still mad at Sasuke for trying to kill her." He thought. He'd much rather if they'd shouted at each other. like it when they shouted at each other and tried to call out to them. but he couldn't find his voice it came out all cracked and thin.

Kakashi reached across and gently rubbed his hair, also been woken up the heated exchange and could see that it was upsetting Naruto next to him so he decided to intervene. "Sasuke, Sakura, that's enough." Kakashi noticed that Naruto was still trying to call out.

Sasuke came over to him and knelt down trying to hear what he was saying "Water please my throat hurts a bit." Sasuke got and went to get him some water. Gently he lifted his head to let him have some water he drank the water greedily.

After surviving Kabuto and Madara's failed extraction and fighting off an infection. Sasuke hoped the worse was finally over. "I was wondering if you plan on getting up anytime soon?" Sasuke asked watching the blond licked his lips dry.

Used to Sasuke's humour, Naruto took no notice. "Thanks a lot," The sore blond mumbled. turning to show his gratitude to Sakura. "Thank you Sakura-chan, if it weren't for you, Shizune and Ba-chan I wouldn't have got through it.." As he thanked the medic broke the glass in her hand. "Sakura-chan is something wrong?" He asked, concerned for his team-mate.

Hearing Naruto adding an honorific at the end of her name, made the Sakura's skin crawl. "How can you look at me like ,that after all you've done," she thought barely restraining herself. "When all that time you planned on stealing Sasuke from me." Sakura didn't want to hear it he had broken his promise and had gone back on his word. This was something she'd never forgive, no matter how much Naruto apologised. "I'm fine, I just need to get something." She lied walking out the room.

As he watched the Chuunin storm out the room, Kakashi sighed heavily. "That could've gone better." He thought. Over the last few days he'd grown more concern for Sakura. Clearly his student wasn't taking the revelation well. Something about yesterday bothered Kakashi. "No, stop that, you were just imagining things." He told himself. He would need to speak to her later right now it wasn't the time.

Still worried about Sakura, Naruto promised himself he'd talk to his friend another time. Right now, the only thing on the blond's mind was how long before Sasuke would leave again. "So teme, what will happen to you now that Madara doesn't want you back?" He asked trying to mask his fear with sarcasm.

For the first time in days, Sasuke found something to smile about. Since his blond team-mate had been sedated for a while, Naruto still didn't know about what he'd asked Tsunade. "I don't know. For now, I'm supposed to guard you until we return home. After that its up to the Hokage what happens to me. It may take a few months to decide my punishment." He explained.

Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke's answer. "That's all I need your gloomy face hanging around while I'm..." The shocked teenager stopped teasing Sasuke, when he realised what the raven just said. "Wait- what do you mean..does this mean your..." No matter how much he wanted to, Naruto couldn't bring himself to say it just in case he was wrong.

As Kakashi quietly watched the exchange, the sliver-haired ninja couldn't help but smile at Naruto's priceless expression. "I've missed that smile." Kakashi thought to himself. "It's going to be a long road, but at least they're all together again."

As much as Sasuke he didn't know what his fate would be. "Don't get your hopes up, I'm likely to be sent to prison at best and that could be for life."

"After all the hell I've been through to get you back, there's no way I'm going to let ba-chan take you away from me again." The loud teen declared. "As soon as I'm healed, I'll find away to save you. Even if I have to talk to the Raikage again." Naruto promised holding out his fist.

Even with this promise, Sasuke was still doubtful Naruto could prevent his fate. they could do, but when Sasuke stared into saw those dazzling azure eyes once again, Sasuke saw the same burning determination he'd seen in his dreams. "I'll hold you to that promise," Sasuke made his own promise.

Considering the severity of his crimes, he'd likely be sentenced to life in prison or death. Ether of one these punishments would undoubtedly break Naruto completely. Even if by some miracle he was spared death, it would be cruel to make Naruto wait for him. "If Naruto can succeeded, then I'll tell him, but until, that day. I won't leave you." He promised.

Sasuke smirked lightly tapped it back.

The End

Thank you so much to everyone that took the time to read this story. I do intend to give Broken Vow the same TLC. (Heaven only knows it needs it) However I'm probably going to do it one chapter at a time.

If you enjoyed reading this story, could you Please leave a review and let know if you liked it. Thank you