A/N: I re-read some early Part I chapters, and it makes me so sad to think of how they were then and how they are now! *sobs* I'm so hoping for a happy ending in the canon!!
Chapter 13: A Very Special Person
Well, this was unexpected.
Karui still wanted to bash Sasuke's face in, but every time she thought of her sensei's "schoolgirl in love" comment, she burst into uncontrollable laughter. Omoi was secretly pleased to see that the ninja over whom Uzumaki Naruto had shed tears was not a complete bastard. Samui decided to reserve judgment until they had a sense of Sasuke's behavior on missions.
As it was, Sasuke behaved perfectly. He faced danger without complaint, offered helpful advice without being asked, and seemed eager to put his powers to their best use. The Kumo-nin had expected Sasuke to be bitter and resentful about working for Kumo with a noose around his neck, and the best they had expected was that he would obey orders without mouthing off. But an actively cooperative team member? That was something else. Naturally, their curiosity was piqued.
One evening, after they returned from a mission, Omoi had a chat with Sasuke.
"Hey, Uchiha," said Omoi. "I have a question for you."
"Yes?" said Sasuke.
"What happened to you?" asked Omoi.
Sasuke raised a questioning eyebrow.
"You've turned into a completely different person," said Omoi. "How'd that happen?"
Sasuke simply shrugged. Looking back, he was not entirely sure himself.
"Why did you try to kill our sensei?" demanded Omoi. "Just because someone killed your family?"
"Yes…" said Sasuke slowly. "I suppose that's what it was, back then."
"How does that make any sense?" cried Omoi. "Did you think it was okay when someone killed your parents? If not, then why did you think it was okay for you to kill other people?"
"Okay or not, it happened," said Sasuke bluntly. "That was the only thing that was real to me."
Omoi frowned.
"My clan made peace with Senju and rejected Madara, yet they were still treated like criminals," said Sasuke. "When they tried to fight back, they were killed. Why? To maintain the balance of power in the ninja world? To prevent a war? To let others live? Could I let the world enjoy a peace that was built upon my family's corpses?"
Omoi pointed out the obvious flaw in this logic. "But most people knew nothing about any of this."
"Pain, anger, and hatred left no room for thinking straight," said Sasuke. "Like I said, all I knew was that my family was dead, my brother was dead, and Konoha had lied to me. I simply stopped caring whether what I did was right or wrong. I no longer knew what right or wrong even meant."
"Right or wrong… Was anyone in Konoha punished for the Uchiha Massacre?" asked Omoi curiously.
"Yes and no. Danzo's in jail, but that's for being AWOL during Pain's invasion. The Elders were punished for the murders of the Uchiha who knew nothing about the clan's coup d'etat, especially the children, but that was it."
"So, no judgment was ever weighed on the Massacre itself, or the coup, or anything that led to it. Whether any of it was right or wrong."
"Well, Naruto said that he wouldn't let something like that happen again."
"And you're satisfied with that?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Well, I realized something. Seeking revenge, lashing out—such things can bring momentary, vindictive pleasure and ease the pain for an instant. But such things don't lighten the burden of grief and sorrow. Such things don't heal the wounds inflicted by loss, longing, and loneliness."
"So then, what does?"
"Bonds with the living. Hope for the future. Faith in humanity. The knowledge that I am not alone and that things do not have to be the way they are. But those were not things that I could find on my own, so a friend found them for me."
"The Rokudaime Hokage?"
Sasuke nodded.
"Wow," said Omoi.
"I know," agreed Sasuke.
Omoi reflected on this. He felt that this conversation had touched upon something important about the world and human nature.
"The Hokage really changed you, didn't he?" said Omoi. "World needs more people like him."
"Hn," chuckled Sasuke. "He's lucky. Things turned out okay, even though he believed in me when he had no reason to…"
"No, he must've had a good reason to believe in you," countered Omoi. "That's why things turned out okay."
Sasuke pondered on that, and a torrent of memories flooded his mind. He wondered how those memories looked through Naruto's eyes, those memories that had sustained Naruto's faith in him. Naruto remembered that they had trained together, fought together, squabbled together, and laughed together. Naruto knew that Sasuke once cared about Team 7. Above all, Naruto never forgot that Sasuke had been willing to risk his life to protect a friend, that Sasuke was capable of overcoming his demons and treasuring his bonds.
"That usuratonkachi…" muttered Sasuke, smiling. If this is my true self, then he saw it more clearly than I ever did…
"Your bond must be very special indeed," chuckled Omoi. He could not resist adding, "Very romantic, schoolgirl-chan."
"Oh, shut it," snapped Sasuke.
One evening, as the girls were hanging out at Ino's house, Sakura suddenly burst into tears and told them that her relationship with Naruto was over. Her friends quickly gathered around and comforted her. Ino and Tenten put their arms around Sakura's shoulders, while Hinata sat by with a box of tissues. However, Sakura would not say a word about how the breakup had happened.
Later that night, Ino invited Sakura to sleep over, but Sakura declined. So, when it was time to call it a night, Hinata offered to walk Sakura home. Presently, the two of them were passing through the park. Suddenly, Sakura stopped by a bench below a streetlamp.
"Hinata-chan, can I talk to you?" asked Sakura.
"Of course," said Hinata, and they sat down on the bench.
"Naruto and I…" began Sakura. She paused, not to cry but to search for words.
Hinata did not know what to expect. She knew that Sakura felt bad about crushing on Sasuke, but Sakura had seemed to feel more sadness than guilt over her breakup with Naruto. Hinata wondered exactly why Naruto and Sakura had broken up.
"Hinata-chan, Naruto broke up with me because…" Sakura took a deep breath. "…because he likes someone else."
That caught Hinata off guard. Naruto had never liked anyone except Sakura…right?
"But he said that this other person wasn't interested in him," Sakura went on. "He had no hope that his feelings would ever be returned."
"But he still broke up with you because of this other girl?" said Hinata, frowning.
"Yeah," said Sakura. "Hopeless or not, his feelings must be very strong."
"Who is this other person?" wondered Hinata.
"No idea," said Sakura. "But Naruto said that it was a close friend whom he sees often."
"Someone we know?" asked Hinata, eyebrows rising.
"My thoughts exactly," agreed Sakura. "Hinata-chan, I want to help Naruto. Maybe he does have a chance with this other person. And if he really doesn't, then we can help him find someone else, someone who's so special that he can overcome his other feelings. I don't want Naruto to give up on ever finding love."
"You're a good friend, Sakura-chan," said Hinata warmly. "But why are you telling me this?"
Sakura's expression saddened a little. "I feel bad asking this of you, Hinata-chan…" We all know how you feel about Naruto… "But I know that you have his best interests at heart. We're gonna have to poke around a little, and I wouldn't trust anyone else," said Sakura.
"I see," said Hinata, smiling. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I'm with you on this."
"Great," said Sakura happily. It would be perfect, thought Sakura, if Hinata somehow turned out to be the one whom Naruto liked.
"Where could we start?" asked Hinata.
"Naruto's closest friends are Sasuke-kun and Sai," said Sakura. "Since Sasuke-kun isn't here, we'll have to try Sai. Naruto might have confided in Sai, and Sai might be willing to help us help Naruto."
"I'll try to talk to Sai-kun," said Hinata.
"Yeah, it'll be less awkward if you do it," agreed Sakura. "Good luck, Hinata-chan!"
A/N: Heeheeheehee… In the next chapter, a certain character who's been gone for a while will finally reappear :).