Leo: Hey guys, I realized I forgot to announce the scores for the voting. So here they are:

Gaara: 7

Sasuke: 6

Leo: Wow, its pretty close people, don't forget, you can vote every chapter, so when you review (you better), you have to TELL ME I want Gaara/Sasuke. Otherwise, I won't count it. That seems pretty fair to me. :D Now for the disclaimer, Menma~!

Menma: Leo does not own Naruto, never has, and never will. Ever.

Leo: I'm feeling the love. Commencing story!

Misaki's POV

I waked outside the hospital looking around for Lee. I paused for a second, what was I doing? What could I even say to Lee now, nothing could've made him feel any better than he was feeling now, unless I could magically make his wounds disappear. Even Tsunade couldn't do that, what was best for now was to leave him alone and let the news sink in. I gulped. I hope he returned back to the normal Lee soon.

I turned and headed back towards Sasuke's room wondering if Sakura was still there trying to flirt with him. I walked in seeing a familiar shade of orange and pink.

I looked between Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto had a puzzled, almost confused, look on his face; Sasuke was attempting to glare daggers through his head. I briefly wondered if Naruto had annoyed Sasuke to the point of anger. Seems like it could happen anyway.

"Sasuke…why are you staring at Naruto like that?" I asked slowly trying to grasp the reason behind the tension in the air.

"Hey, Naruto." Sasuke ignored me and stared Naruto down. "Fight me. Now."

"What are you babbling about? You're still recovering." Naruto furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Shut up and fight me!" Sasuke roared, I noticed he had activated his Sharingan.

"What are you talking about Sasuke?" I asked impatiently, "You're a patient. Do what patients do and rest."

"N-Naruto tell him to stop!" Sakura glanced at Naruto, "I mean-"

"Well then, I was thinking the same thing." Naruto interrupted Sakura to send Sasuke a challenging look.

"You guys are being idiots!" I yelled in frustration, this was going too far, "Sasuke stop picking stupid fights; and Naruto, ignore him!"

Sasuke wordlessly slipped off the bed and stood up to face Naruto, "Come with me." He jerked his head in the direction out the door. Naruto huffed and followed Sasuke right out the door stepping on the apple slices on the ground.

I grit my teeth, why are boys so stupid? I sat own on the now unoccupied bed leaving Sakura to follow them out the door. I sat thinking to myself what could've happened while I was with Lee…maybe it's something to do with that curse mark Sasuke had gotten in the Forest? I sighed holding my head in my hands. Everything seemed to be happening so fast. The Leaf was invaded by the Sand, the Third had passed away, and our team seemed to be slowly falling apart as the Leaf did. I even found my 'adopted' mother, Tsunade. It was all a lot to handle.

My train of thought halted when I heard the familiar sound of Naruto's Rasengan forming. I stood up quickly rushing towards the direction of the sound. They didn't actually start fighting, did they? Sakura was even there to calm them down and they STILL fought? I opened the door to the roof in time to see Naruto and Sasuke flying at each other with the Rasengan and Chidori. Before I could stop myself I was rushing out there using all the power in my legs to make it in time, it was a dumb move but I couldn't help it. Sakura seemed surprised to see me rush past her, looks like she was going to go out there if I didn't.

"STOP IT!" I cried loudly getting in the middle of the fight, Sakura called out in a panicked voice, probably for me but it was too late; I could never get out of the way fast enough. There was a flash of silver and before I knew it Kakashi was standing before me. Sasuke and Naruto had slammed into two different water towers. Sasuke left a large spiral indent in his while Naruto's was just a medium-sized crater. A large gush flowed freely out of Sasuke's tower when he pulled his hand out. Naruto managed a small stream when he removed his head.

"Heh!" Sasuke smirked at Naruto.

"SASUKE!" I growled as he flipped over the railing. From my point of view I could easily see the huge hole in the back that Naruto had ripped in his tank. Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw the damage. Sasuke looked downtrodden before he jumped off probably wanting to get away. Oh, so he runs away after he nearly kills me and Naruto? "SASUKE, YOU'RE GONNA REGRET IT IF I HAVE TO COME AFTER YOU! GET BACK HERE!"

I heard the sound of sniffles behind me; I turned to see Sakura hastily wiping her eyes. I calmed down a bit. I watched her cry to herself as Kakashi and Jiraiya had their conversation about Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry.

"C'mon, Sakura, shinobi don't show tears." I reprimanded her.

"The team's falling apart." She sniffed to herself. I sighed.

"…Don't worry…soon things'll be back to the way they were before..." I looked down. I gave a weak smile to Sakura and she returned it with one of her own. But we both knew nothing was going to be the same again. I felt so useless; I couldn't even stop Sasuke and Naruto from fighting. Was there nothing I could do to hold the team together?

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Naruto…I'm gonna go hang out with Lee. I'll see you at home later." I didn't even look back when he called out my name. I needed to breathe. I needed someone outside of our team to talk to. Shikamaru probably wouldn't want to hear me complain, I had no idea where Choji, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino were so that left Lee.

I finally found him sitting alone by himself in the small tower on the outskirts of the forest. I plopped down next to him sharing a long but comfortable silence.

"Why did you come?" Lee eventually asked.

"You're my friend and a fellow shinobi." I answered nonchalantly. The answer came easily; I didn't even have to think about it. I guess that's what I liked about Lee, around him I never have to look for the answers.

"…I may never be able to be a ninja again." Lee lowered his head. I paused letting that thought sink in.

"Yeah, you might." I said bluntly. Lee looked up at me in surprise. He looked down when I didn't say anything.

"But you know…the surgery is still a 50-50 chance. You might make it. You're an exceptional ninja, Lee. The kind of ninja I want to be. You're persistent, and friendly, and caring about everyone whether it's your comrades or the villagers. I admire that about you. So don't give up just yet. You never have before and you won't now. For you there's probably nothing else outside of being a ninja, right? So why don't you give the surgery a shot. I know you can make it. So don't give up just like that or you'll never know."

Lee looked up at me and I looked to meet his eyes. He blushed and looked down.

"Gai-sensei was here just awhile ago. He, too, told me to take the surgery. Thanks." He flashed me a familiar 'nice guy' smile. I smiled and got up, I had to get home before Naruto came looking.

"Good luck, Lee." I smiled, I felt happy I had made him feel at least a little bit better. I jumped down from the tower and headed back towards Konoha.

As I headed home I saw a familiar flash of pink, I stop and turned to look as Sasuke placed Sakura down on a bench.

"Sasuke…where are you going?" I stepped out of the shadows walking towards Sasuke.

"…I'm leaving." Sasuke stared straight back at me impassively. I cringed.

"…Is your revenge really that important to you? So much that you want to leave us all behind?" I could feel my voice shaking, "You can't do this Sasuke. You can't do this to Sakura and Naruto."

"What about you?"

"Huh?" I asked puzzled. Sasuke took a step forward.

"You keep talking about Sakura and Naruto. What about you? Will you even care if I'm gone?" Sasuke stared down at me. I stared blankly up at him.

"Are you completely insane? Of course, I care. I wouldn't have stopped here if I didn't." I snapped.

Sasuke broke the eye contact and looked down smiling softly to himself. I twitched, what's gotten into him?

"…I'll come back." He murmured quietly.

"Eh?"

He looked up and looked me in the eyes with surprising determination. "I'll be back after I get my revenge."

"What makes you think you'll be welcome? The moment you step out those gates, you are a missing-nin." I looked at him blankly. He looked away.

"…I'll find a way. Just wait." With those last words Sasuke walked out the gates and into the night. I bit my lip, was this treason if I didn't stop him?

"…Sasuke! You better come back, or else!" I yelled not even sure if he could hear me. I bit my lip and headed back towards the apartment. I didn't know where Sakura lived and I'm sure if I woke her up she'd start to squeal about Sasuke leaving. I don't know why but I felt okay with the thought of Sasuke leaving. Something deep down told me I couldn't stop him from going.

Nobody could anymore.

Leo: Yup, Sasuke's gone, this'll mark more Gaaromance while Sasuke's gone. :D Lol, see what I did there? I feel like I've been giving Sasuke too much Misaki time so…yeah. Here comes Gaara!