Hey everyone!

first off, THANK YOU! i was pleasantly shocked at how many wonderful reviews I got last chapter, and I love how many people are starting to take notice of this story! Honestly, this story has grown so much since the prologue, it almost feels like my writing has grown as well, and I will openly say that I think that it has gotten better as time goes on. In my opinion, the story really starts getting good starting chapter 22. That chapter - as well as being my favorite - is (i think) the biggest milestone in terms of the development of Hikari's character, and the milestone in which she truly lets go of the past and begins truly embracing the world she's in. I think that the past chapters

Special Acknowledgment: I love every single person who reviews this story, but I have to mention one person who actually woke me up in terms of where Hikari's character was going. The review given by kyriaomi really set me on track, and it was this person's review that actually inspired the talk with Lily and Hikari in chapter 22. Reading the review now, i really dont know why i hyped up so much over it, but I am SO GLAD THAT I DID! without this person's review, i doubt that Hikari would be the character she is now. So even if kyriaomi doesnt think her advice was very inspiring, trust me...IT WAS! Thanks so much!

Anyway, thanks for listening, and as always, PLEASE REVIEW!

:D

Chapter 34

Kakashi watched his two students standing close together at the edge of camp, speaking quietly to each other. Naruto was shaking his head furiously, while Sakura gently tried to reason with him. Kakashi didn't have to use his supernatural sense of hearing to understand what they were talking about, it only took one look at the blonde's face and everything was explained.

The silver haired jounin glanced back to examine the rest of the camp, watching as Kiba stretched out his shoulder, which had been dislocated in the fight. Hinata was rolling up sleeping pads, her pale eyes soft as she glanced at her rambunctious teammate every so often, making sure he didn't overdo it. Shino was helping Yamato pack up any leftover supplies, while Sai was lookout, making sure no enemy ninja approached and tried to surprise them. Gangs and other wrongdoers often attacked during the night, thinking that most people would be asleep and easy to rob.

Kakashi let his eye scan the surrounding darkness carefully before returning his attention to the hyperactive blonde and the exasperated girl beside him.

It was time to go, but Naruto was refusing. Naruto kept staring off into the distance, his eyes confused as he continued to shake his head. As if waiting for something. The certainty in his eyes worried Kakashi, and he closed his eyes as he listened.

"Naruto…what are you waiting for?"

"I can feel something, Sakura-chan. They're…headed this way."

"Who is coming?" Sakura growled, and Naruto concentrated for a moment, and then, Naruto's eyes shot open, his mouth dropping open in surprise. Kakashi felt it too, and his mind blanked in shock as a very familiar chakra appeared to their right, along with four others that were less familiar. The chakras exuded from the first two ninja were exceedingly strong, while the others were more subdued, less of a threat. Kakashi remembered feeling both of those powerful chakras during the skirmish that had occurred before, and tensed automatically.

The entire camp felt their presence, and everything seemed to freeze as five cloaked figures appeared from the shadows, slowly coming into the light of the flickering fire. Kakashi held his breath as the leader let his onyx eyes flicker towards the girl beside him – she was the one from before, the one who had been so close to overcoming the silver haired jounin – for a moment before letting his icy gaze settle on his former sensei. Kakashi stood in a flash, and Yamato was by his side in an instant, both of the jounin preparing to defend the camp. Naruto rushed to the front, but was held back by Kakashi. Sakura was walking towards them, her hand covering her mouth in shock as she took in the dark haired boy before them.

Kakashi was surprised too, but the instinct to be wary was even greater than the desire to rejoice.

Sasuke Uchiha stood there, silent and fierce, his eyes staring into Kakashi's. Kakashi couldn't help but notice that the look in those eyes was different now. No longer was there a burning hatred and resentment…instead, there was a more subdued…tired look to his eyes that made Kakashi breathe a little easier. That man Tobi had been right…Sasuke had managed to defeat Itachi.

But he forced himself to remain calm, and did not allow himself to let his guard down. Sasuke was still a traitor to the village…he was still a threat. Until Tsunade proclaimed his punishment, Kakashi would remain distant. There were so many things to explain, so many hearts and friendships to mend before Kakashi would allow his personal feelings toward the boy who reminded the jounin of himself to show through.

Kakashi glanced at his companions, which included two boys and two girls. The group of three behind the two in front – a red haired girl, a pale lanky boy, and a immense boy with bright orange hair – was glaring at the way Kakashi and Yamato prepared for combat, while Sasuke and the blonde girl – Kakashi suddenly remembered that Naruto had called her Hikari – were strangely calm. This wasn't surprising. Sasuke and Hikari were skilled enough to pose a threat to every ninja present, while the group of three behind them were strong, but could be taken care of fairly easily. Kakashi let his eyes glance over the large orange haired one, feeling the immense amount of chakra. That large one could be a threat too, but his aura seemed much too nervous to be threatening in battle. But Kakashi was going to keep his guard up, so that he would be ready for any surprises.

But the two in front were definitely first priority.

Hikari was familiar, but not only from the fight yesterday – Kakashi had been in the hospital at the time of first appearance in Konoha, but he remembered seeing her once in the halls – and he studied her without making it too obvious. He hadn't really been closely observing her in their encounter, and he took the time to do so now. She was tall, the same height as Sasuke, with long blonde hair and piercing blue-gray eyes. Kakashi flinched as those eyes moved to lock onto him.

He knew those eyes. They were the exact same shape and color of eyes that Minato Namikaze had possessed. Not just similar to the deceased Hokage's eyes, the exact same. Her face was the same too, just more feminine and delicate. They had the same gracefully molded features, the same seriousness to their stance...

The girl crossed her arms over her chest, and Kakashi felt a flare of unease as he noted that Minato crossed his arms in the exact same way.

Naruto was the Hokage's son, and though he looked remarkably like his father, the boy had gained most of his facial structure and personality from his mother. And even if Naruto did look similar to Minato, there was no way that they could ever look the exact same, as Kushina Uzumaki's genes would be present as well, creating differences.

But there was no difference with this girl. If she were male, Kakashi had no doubt that she would be the exact double of his sensei. It unnerved him, and he felt an urge to clench his hands into fists.

No one spoke for a time, and to everyone's immense surprise it was Hinata who broke the tense silence, softly addressing the Uchiha.

"Uchiha-san…w-why are you here?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, bastard, what the hell? Are you gonna try and run away again, or are you actually going to finish what you started?"

Hikari snorted, and her low voice filled the silence that followed Naruto's angry yell.

"Naruto, I know you have a brain in there somewhere, so use it. If we were intent on running away, why would we go out of our way to find you guys? And if we wanted to attack you, we sure wouldn't make such an obvious entrance."

Sasuke sighed, his eyes closing briefly before they flickered towards Hikari once more. He seemed to be drawing strength from her, which piqued Kakashi's interest. Since when had Sasuke ever been reliant on anyone but himself? The Uchiha and the girl locked gazes for a moment, and the boy straightened.

"I…wish to return to Konoha. I am aware that I am a missing-nin, and am prepared to face the consequences of my actions." Sasuke spoke quietly and clearly, and those dark eyes were locked on Naruto's shocked cerulean ones the entire time. Sakura blinked rapidly, and her emerald green eyes flickered from Naruto to Sasuke, her fingers white and scared at what would happen next.

Kakashi finally snapped out of his stunned silence, and moved forward, reaching into his bag for a pair of chakra suppressing manacles. Hikari flinched back at the sight, and Kakashi smiled slightly at her distress, slightly irritated at the fact that she had wrecked their spare pair of manacles…now they only had one. Who would've known that Sasuke would bring along his entire team? Kakashi pushed it out of his mind as he stopped a few feet from the Uchiha boy, coldly asking.

"Will you agree to come peacefully?"

Sasuke nodded wearily, holding out his hands without hesitation. Kakashi frowned at his willingness, eye narrowing in distrust. Why would Sasuke be so willing to come now? Kakashi had thought that he knew the boy inside and out, he thought that he could predict what his next moves would be. Kakashi had thought that Sasuke would find ways to continue searching for revenge, the jounin had been sure that Sasuke would fall deeper into the empty blackness of anger and bitterness.

But Sasuke had come back. He had somehow managed to come to himself.

The boy flinched at the feeling of his chakra being almost completely cut off, but calmed almost immediately. Hikari had stepped forward slightly, brushing past him innocently, so quickly that Naruto and the others didn't catch it. But Kakashi's eye was too sharp to be fooled. He saw that she had brushed her fingers against his hand soothingly, and at her touch he stilled.

Interesting.

Kakashi moved so he was in front of Hikari. The girl stood her ground, but he saw her hand twitch towards her kunai case. The jounin lifted his headband up so his Sharingan was revealed, but Hikari was not looking into his face. Her eyes had automatically lowered to watch his hands, waiting for his next move. .

Kakashi spoke. "As you destroyed our other pair of chakra suppressors, I have no choice but to put you into a mild genjutsu. It will prevent any sudden movements, and will muddle your mind enough so that using chakra will be near impossible."

Hikari was silent, but Sasuke was less composed. The Uchiha tried to move towards Kakashi, but Yamato blocked his path. Sasuke's voice was seemingly calm, but his eyes were burning mercilessly.

"She has nothing to do with this, and does not deserve to be–."

Kakashi glared at the boy. "She is involved with your group, and therefore guilty by association. You are her teacher, Sasuke…you know her skills better than anyone, so you should understand why restraining such a powerful enemy is necessary. Letting her run loose would be a risk to us all."

Hikari turned to smirk at Sasuke. "It's okay. If I was in their shoes, I'd be scared of me too. I mean, I am the epitome of badass, after all. Thanks for your concern, but I'll be fine."

Kakashi rolled his eyes as the pale ninja behind the two snorted in amusement at the looks on the Konoha ninja's faces. The red haired one sniffed derisively, and the orange haired one remained calm, though his eyes flickered in concern towards Hikari.

Sasuke stared at Hikari for a moment, and then quickly stepped back, glaring at Yamato. Naruto fidgeted nervously behind the two jounin, and Sakura reached forward to take the blonde's hand tightly in hers. The girl was scared, scared that all of his was just a wonderful dream that she would wake up from if she ddint find something solid to cling to. Naruto seemed surprised at the contact, but he recovered a moment later, squeezing her fingers reassuringly.

Hikari let her eyes – Kakashi swallowed hard at the images of his sensei that flashed before his mind at the sight – flicker up to meet his gaze. Kakashi stared at her, and exerted a small amount of chakra to send the girl into the trance he described.

Hikari's eyes widened slightly, and then glazed over, and the fight went out of her face, the tenseness out of her stance. She stood, unsteady and silent, and Sasuke's eyes scanned her carefully with his own Sharingan – the chakra suppressors could only do so much – before gritting his teeth and settling back.

Naruto stared at Sasuke, and without warning burst out laughing. The blonde slapped the Uchiha on the back, grinning. "You're shorter than me, Bastard!"

Sasuke sighed, his eyes only just concealing the shock at the fact that Naruto had willingly initiated contact with him. The Uchiha muttered quietly. "Of all the things to say…that's what you choose to comment on?"

Kakashi was surprised…the Sasuke he knew would never willingly choose to continue the conversation and Naruto seemed surprised as well, but quickly flared at the comment, responding boldly.

"Duh! It just shows that I'm obviously more mature than you!"

"…"

Sakura bit her lip as Sasuke stole a glance in her direction, and her eyes filled with tears as she roughly pushed past the two boys and up ahead where the others were situated. Sasuke stared after her, his eyes unreadable. Kakashi sighed.

It would take a while for Sasuke to mend the bonds he had broken…and even then…it would never be the same.

Sasuke watched Naruto grin at him, and then run up to join Sakura. Kakashi took Sasuke and began leading him away by the elbow. Sasuke stood his ground, and Kakashi saw what he meant. The jounin decided to test the waters a bit, and called out cheerfully.

"Oh, Kiba, you get the job of carrying Hikari."

Kiba glared at Kakashi, but carefully and gently situated himself so that Hikari was on his back, gripping just above her knees and letting her head rest on his broad shoulder. Her arms were loosely wrapped around Kiba's neck, her eyes unresponsive as she instinctively held on. Kakashi felt Sasuke's aura grow colder at the sight, and the Uchiha sent the Inuzuka boy a warning glare before turning away from the two.

Kakashi turned to Sai and Yamato, signaling towards the remaining three members of Sasuke's squad.

"Bind their hands and keep an eye on them."

And with that, Kakashi turned away, and he heard the pale one drawl. "What, no chakra suppressors, no genjutsu? How come Sasuke and beautiful are so special, and yet we get nothing but two guards. You guys can count, right? You're aware that it's three on one, aren't you?"

Yamato sighed, about to call over Hinata. But Kakashi waved him off, smirking. "Two will be more than adequate."

"Oh, very funny, Cyclops. Real witty."

Hikari, who was nearby, mumbled under her breath. "Stop being…an idiot. Gramps…will kick your ass…Shark-boy."

Kakashi blinked. "Gramps?"

The pale one frowned, and then saw the silvery gray color of Kakashi's hair. The water-ninja started laughing. "Even when half-asleep…beautiful manages to get under everyone's skin. Similar to Red here, in that respect."

"If my hands weren't tied, you'd be dead right now!"

"I highly doubt that…"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Kakashi closed his eyes in exasperation as the two continued to snarl at each other. He almost wished that the two were more of a threat…then he would no choice but to put them under the genjutsu as well. Anything to shut them up.

That got him wondering though…why had Sasuke put together such an odd team? He had been perfectly able to seek out Itachi on his own…why had he found these four ninja so necessary?

Kakashi shook his head.

People always managed to surprise him…that was true. But he never expected to include Sasuke in that category.

It felt like days later that Kakashi was releasing me from the genjutsu, and I blinked in shock to find that we were right outside the walls of Konoha, and that I was on my own two feet, supported by a silent Kiba. I blinked slowly, the drowsiness fading as I looked around.

I saw that Yamato and Sai were on either side of the other team members of Hebi, and that they were watching something behind me. I looked around, and saw something that made my breath catch in my throat.

Sasuke was still shackled, kneeling before the two ANBU standing in front of him. One of the ANBU was pressing his hand to Sasuke's forehead, the hand glowing with chakra. Sasuke was hunched and gritting his teeth in pain, and I struggled to free myself from Kiba's grasp.

"Sasuke!" I yelled, managing to break free of Kiba's arms. I ran towards the group, batting away Kiba's arms easily. My heart pounded at the sight of Sasuke's face, and I reached for his arm.

Suddenly, muscular arms were reaching towards me, and I growled as I ducked. This was not a good time to pick a fight with me, not when Sasuke was in possible danger. Somewhere deep down, I knew that I shouldn't be overreacting like this, but at the sight of the ANBU, only one word ran through my head.

Execution.

I made to get up and leap at the ANBU who dare try and interfere, when familiar fingers closed over my wrist, and I looked over to see that it was Sasuke who had stopped me. The boy was panting slightly, grimacing in pain, but his eyes were solid and commanding as he whispered.

"Stand down."

"But–"

"Stand. Down."

I glared at him, and he met my glare with as much vigor as he could muster. The two of us battled for a moment, and then I relented, lowering my fist that had automatically risen to attack the ANBU. I sighed, and glowered up at the silent ninja.

"What are you doing to him, anyway?"

The ANBU were still silent behind their pasty white masks, and Sasuke closed his eyes in discomfort before muttering. "As I am a missing-nin and therefore a prisoner…they don't want me trying to activate the cursed seal. It couldn't be restricted by the shackles, and so before we enter the village they want to make sure it is unable to surface."

I stared deep into his eyes, and saw that he had put up that barrier that I was so familiar with. It was now that I realized that Sasuke was using his emotionless barrier to mentally prepare himself for the worst. He expected to be punished…he expected the village to order his death.

And Sasuke was ready for it. He didn't want or expect pity; he knew that whatever would happen to him was out of his hands now.

I struggled to contain the panic that rushed through my system at the thought, and let my eyes flicker down to his shackled hands. The rough metal was chafing away at his wrists, and I gritted my teeth as I tore my eyes away.

Sasuke followed my gaze, and gave a small hint – so small that it was almost lost to me – of a smile. "You broke one of these?"

I nodded jerkily, my fingers twisting around the fabric of my cloak. "Yeah…had to get shocked a few times to do it, but I did it."

"I see."

Kakashi was by my side in an instant, and his hand was hard on my shoulder. "Get up; it's time to go inside."

I stared at Sasuke for a moment before complying, turning away from the boy and allowing Kakashi to tie a thick metal cord around my wrists. The jounin firmly grabbed a hold of my arm, and made a sign with his free hand. I felt the tug of teleportation, and when the smoke cleared we were in a dark hallway that was obviously underground. I felt a wave of distasteful nostalgia as the familiar smell of torches burning filled my nose.

There were large, thick metal doors on either side of me, only four on each wall, with small windows at the top. They were widely spaced apart, and I felt chakra pulsing from the metal when I passed the first door.

I swallowed hard as Kakashi led me down the hall. All four were empty, and I wondered if this was where they kept their high level ninja…which would explain why there weren't many prisoners still here. This was a temporary holding place while they decided what to do with them.

The thought made my stomach turn, and I forced myself to remain calm as the silver haired man made a few hand signs, and opened the large metal door. I felt a crackling energy as Kakashi led me inside, untying my wrists and staring until I let my eyes meet his gaze.

"You will remain here until Tsunade requests your presence. The guards will deliver food at sunset, along with water."

The man made to leave, but I called out quietly. "Wait, please."

Kakashi paused, and turned to look at me. "Yes?"

"Is there a chance that Sasuke will be pardoned?"

Kakashi stared at me, his eye dark and calculating as I stood there, my hands held firmly at my sides, and my hair pulled into a loose bun. The man was controlling his emotions, that much I could tell by the tenseness to his stance. It was also strange, the way he seemed to double-take every time I looked directly at him. Like he was seeing someone else in my eyes.

He swallowed, letting out a large sigh.

"I hope so. For all of our sakes."

And with a slam of a large metal door, the jounin was gone. I let out a shuddering breath and sank to the floor, pulling my knees in tight to my chest and burying my face in my arms.

I wished that Kakashi had just given me a yes or no as an answer. I mean, even if there was no chance, it was better knowing that than being left alone to wonder what could possibly happen. I would know what was going to happen; I would have something to structure myself around.

I had been hoping that Kakashi's answer would give me something to think about. Well, it did, in a way. But in a way that I hated and loathed with every fiber of my being. It forced me to ask that dreaded question, it forced me to bring up that thread of doubt.

What if brining Sasuke back to Konoha wasn't such a good idea after all? What if, even after all this…he ends up dying anyway?

What would I do? What could I do?

Nothing.