"It was only when you cried

that I found the courage to be."

Chapter 13: The First Part of an Untimely End

An awkward silence settled upon the four; the atmosphere suffocating as Tenten, Hinata, and Naruto exchanged glances.

"It's getting late," Hanabi stated in a relaxed, aloof tone as she walked towards the sole window in the room, which was located on the wall to the right of the hospital bed. But she then suddenly became tenser.

"You," she said, pointing to Tenten, "and you," she pointed this time at Nartuo. "Get out; aneue needs her sleep and she certainly won't get any if you two keep interrupting her," she commanded as she pointed towards the ajar door that Naruto stood in front of.

"Hana..." Hinata began to protest but was cut off before she could say anything more.

"It's perfectly fine, Hinata-chan. Anyways, you'll never be able to come back on active duty if you don't rest up," Tenten interjected as she forced a smile on to her face for her friend. Hinata clasped her friend's hand and mouthed the words 'good luck' to her.

Naruto had spared no time leaving the hospital room; ever since he had entered the room Hinata had been glaring at him. Naruto was used to glares, he grew up with only anger and hatred as his companions, but never before had Hinata been more than slightly annoyed with him. He truly was afraid of the full extent of the girl's wrath. But more than that, he was afraid of losing a friend. But he also noticed something else, and it was far more spirit breaking than that; he had seen Tenten, the girl that Naruto had never even seen frown before except for one or two occasions, cry. She was crying because of what he did to her.

Tenten slowly got up from her chair and slowly walked out of the room dripping wet as she began shivering almost uncontrollably. It was only as she left that the Hyūga siblings began to talk.

"Hana, you didn't have to be so strict with them," Hinata lightly scolded. Hanabi sighed in response.

"How could I not? They would only cause you to worry if they carried out their little squabble here. And anyway, they wouldn't have been able to truly discover themselves with us here, now would they?" Hanabi asked as she closed the window shades.

"No, they wouldn't," concurred Hinata in defeat. "I just hope that those finally get the happy ending they deserve." Hanabi shrugged indifferently to the notion. She could care less about others' personal lives as long as it didn't interfere with her own.

"You're crying," Naruto stated as Tenten and him stood face to face.

"No, Naruto, I'm fine," Tenten objected weakly as she tried to walk past the blond ninja.

"No, you're not. Please, let me…" Naruto pleaded as his eyes seemed to be begging for something. For what, Tenten didn't know. But she did know that all she wanted was to get home, and soon.

"Just let me go, Naruto, please," Tenten pleaded as she felt the shivering become more intense. "I just want to go home," she whined as she wiped her eyes with her wet sleeve, only resulting in her looking even more distraught.

"At least…at least let me tell you I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to take that long; it's just that I got distracted and…" Naruto attempted to explain. However, it seemed to hurt, more than help his cause as Tenten roughly pushed him aside.

"You have no idea," she said without turning back to look at him. "You have no idea how much I'm hurting now; how would you like it if all of a sudden your dreams that seemed so impossible just a day ago become a possible reality; something that you had believed for your entire life to be childish suddenly becomes so mature, so adult-like. Now imagine it being ripped away from you; would you like it Naruto?

Would you like to be suddenly told that you're going to become Hokage and then at the naming ceremony, be laughed at when another's name is announced? Would you like having to wait outside in the freezing rain for twenty minutes only to find out that the person you were waiting for "just got distracted?" Now get out of my way Naruto, I'm going home. Without you," Tenten confessed emotionally, tears falling freely from her cheeks as she ran out of the hospital.

She could feel it in her bones; she was close to collapsing right then and there. But she couldn't; no, definitely not near him. She had already exposed too much of her weakness, and she refused to let him find her, cold and sick. She needed to get away, get home. She was able to run for several minutes before her orientation began to diminish; every other step she'd stumble and the fear of falling gripped her very soul. She knew that if she fell, she wouldn't get up on her own.

It was the next step that got her; a kid had left his or her ball outside and she had not seen it in her feverish daze. She had tripped over it and fell onto her face, skidding in the wet earth as it splattered all over her clothing.

'At least his apartment is in the opposite direction,' Tenten thought gratefully as the rain pounded down on her still body. She then slowly closed her eyes and let the fever devour her, the dark clouds hanging ominously overhead.

It was within your fears that I found my dreams.

But they were never meant to be.

Only made to wash away in the stream.

"Now I'm going to ask you again; where is Naruto?" growled Sakura as she put even more pressure on the man's arm, which she had twisted against his back as she held him against the wall.

"For the last goddamn I don't know where that demon spawn is! Now let go of me before report you for assault and breaking into my apartment!" threatened the man as he tried to struggle against Sakura's grip. His effort was futile, however. Sakura then threw the man by his shirt into a dresser across the room. The man hit the dresser with a grunt and collapsed to the ground, limp. It was then that the full reality struck her.

She had broken into a man's apartment and beat him unconscious merely because she believed that somehow, he had stolen Naruto's apartment and then completely changed it in less than an hour. It seemed completely irrational to her now, but now the question was annoying her to no end.

If this wasn't Naruto's apartment, then where was it?

All she knew was that it really wouldn't look good if someone happened to walk by and find her in the room with an unconscious man in it. So Sakura did the only thing she could do; she checked the man for any serious injury. And when she found none, she bolted out of the apartment complex and into the pouring rain.

"Shit it's still raining," moaned Sakura as she held her arm over her head and rain towards where her and her mother lived. After several minutes of running, she suddenly skidded to a stop. She was right near the Memorial Stone and she could swear that she could hear sobbing and hastily spoken apologies choked out in between sobs.

Sakura could not stand the sound of crying. She knew that it may make her sound hypocritical, but she just couldn't stand crying. Maybe because she herself cried so often that it began to turn into a bone of contention; every time she'd cry she'd simultaneously mentally scream at herself for acting like such a baby.

And so, with the intention of trying to comfort whoever was making such a cacophony of sounds, she walked through the forested pathway that lead to the memoriam and gazed sadly upon the sight in front of her.

"Naruto," whispered Sakura in empathetic pain. He was the one on the ground on his hands and knees sobbing and apologizing. She couldn't help but feel responsible somehow. Everything she did seem to hurt him, even though he never deserved it. She had always found ways, consciously in her childhood, and now in her adulthood subconsciously, ways to discourage and disparage him. Yet he had always been there for her when she needed it. Now, it was her turn to step up to the plate.

In your mourning eyes,

I found the courage

To retrieve my dreams

From the raging currents.

"So they're not here?" he asked Hanabi. He had been sent by Tenten's mother to tell Tenten that she was needed at her house, but he couldn't find her; nor could he find Naruto. He couldn't help but worry about him, his "father." Naruto looked so used to what he saw in his apartment that it was frightening, disturbing really. He couldn't imagine how many times that must've happened to him if Naruto wasn't surprised at all.

"No, for the last time, Naruto-sensei isn't here and nor is Tenten-san. Now go home Sasuke; I really don't like being pestered by brats," Hanabi commanded flatly as she turned her back to him.

"Wait! I didn't come all this way in the pouring way just to be turned back by some stuck up brat!" objected Sasuke angrily. He had been searching for the past twenty minutes at least for the two ninja, only to be directed to the hospital by the waitress at a restaurant. She had told him that this was where one of Naruto's best friends was staying, and that she would probably know where he had headed off. She had also solemnly noted that he seemed to be in a bad mood. Sasuke had known at that moment that finding Naruto would be a chore; it was intuition, mainly, but it proved to be right.

"Listen, Sasuke, unlike my sister or my cousin, I couldn't care less what happens to Naruto-sensei or Tenten-san; as long as I get trained I'm perfectly fine with whatever happens to those around me. So just screw off; you're not wanted here. And if you don't leave by preference, I'll make you leave the painful way," threatened Hanabi as she walked back in to her sister's room and shut the door in Sasuke's face behind her.

To say that he was downtrodden by Hanabi's answer would be an understatement. He had been absolutely positive that this woman, Hinata, the waitress had told him her name was, could tell him where Tenten and Naruto were. But now, he had nothing to go on, nothing whatsoever.

"I should just head back to Tenten's house. After all, it's not like I can be punished for not being able to do something that I had done out of good will," Sasuke shrugged to himself as he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked out into the rain.

"It's so gloomy out," he sighed. He never did like the rain; it reminded of his first memory of him, the man who had abandoned him in the streets of the village to fend for himself.

"What is this place?" the young boy no older than five asked an older man, a shinobi. A loud congregation of people talking, bargaining arguing, or just going to their destination surrounded them; he had never seen a place so loud or crowded.

"This place is Konoha, Sasuke. This is your new home," the man said as he released the grip on the boy's hand and disappeared into the crowd. Instantly the boy began to panic as he desperately looked around for the man.

"Jii-san? Jii-san where are you?" cried Sasuke. However no one answered him, nor did anyone in the village try to assist him.

"Don't worry Sasuke-kun; I'll come back for you in a few years. But right now, we need you here. Serve us well," whispered a voice from the crowd. Sasuke instantly snapped his head around to locate the man, but failed.

"Don't worry, jii-san, I'll make sure to make you proud," Sasuke vowed as he himself disappeared into the crowd.

It had been raining that day, lightly at first, but later into the day it had begun to pour. Sasuke grimaced as he remembered what he had to resort to in those days; he had to sleep wherever he could find a vacant spot and it was only by a sheer stroke of luck that he had found an abandoned mansion that was stocked with food. Of course, it only lasted for a while until people began to see him enter and exit the house. Then they placed guards around it and kept it under lock and key.

Sasuke watched with a mild curiosity as his feet created ripples in the puddles as he stepped in them. He had always wondered the exact reason why water reacted like that. When he was younger he had believed that water like to be alone, and that the rippling meant that they wanted people to go away and leave them be, but he had since threw away that theory.

It was as he was watching the rippling puddles that he had noticed the hand.

It was just lying there in the street: pale, soaked, and dirty. Sasuke then saw the arm that was attached to the hand, and soon he could fully make out the body.

It was Tenten.

She was just lying there like a rag doll, limp and unmoving. Sasuke froze up at the sight; he remembered how, just a few hours ago, she was teaching him how to throw a kunai and how to properly care for them. How, only that morning, she had smiled at him and welcomed him without any problem. After several moments he slowly slung her shoulder over his own and half-carried half-dragged her back to Tenten's house, which was also the weapon shop that he had been dropped off at that morning. Luckily, she had not collapsed very far from her house, so it did not take an enormous amount of effort.

Sasuke pounded frantically on the front door of the house, and after what seemed like an eternity the door was finally answered by the twelve year old who Sasuke had grown to hate over the last twenty four hours.

"So, where is she?" the boy demanded as he opened the door. His eyes bugged out and he tried speaking but no words came out. Sasuke pushed his way past the older boy as he brought in the unconscious girl.

"Onee…onee-chan," he whimpered as he saw the paleness and fragility of his older sister. He then violently turned on Sasuke. "You; you did this to her! Was this your sick idea of revenge for what I said about your precious father? What the fuck is wrong with you? How could you…how could you…do this…to my…my…onee-chan," he yelled. But as he began to talk more and more, the more that the tears fell. And soon enough he had turned into a sobbing wreck, clinging to his sister's body as his mother rushed into the room with a dry set of clothes, towels, and a medical kit.

Sasuke could not believe what he was seeing; the genin that, earlier today, was talking as if he was the only person worthy to live even as he was tied to a tree was now crying like an infant, clutching to his older sister like one would a favored play thing that was about to be destroyed. He attempted to comfort Kazuki but was answered with a swift blow across his head.

"Don't you dare try and comfort me you little bastard; I know you did something to her. So just leave here and don't come back; you won't be missed. Go back to that demon you dare call a father or go crawl into a cave and die for all I care. But I promise that I'll kill you if dare set a foot back inside my house," spat Kazuki as he bore into Sasuke with eyes of steel.

Sasuke didn't have to be told twice to leave there, but before he did, he told Kazuki one thing.

"I didn't do anything to her; why would I have brought her back here if I did?"

He then angrily left the Sataki household and ran as fast as he could. He didn't know where he was running, but he knew that anywhere was a better place to be than here, in this village.

Even though he may have had a "father" in Konoha, he never had, nor did he ever plan to, have a home in Konoha.

He would leave this god-awful place for good, no matter the price.

But how can a dream

Become reality

When it is neverending?