When I wake up, I wonder where they've taken me this time, what new, horrendous hideout we've taken cover in. At least in the genjutsu, Sasuke had let me rest in Konoha. There were no fires. He laid me down in green pastures. He led me beside still waters.

But when I open my eyes, I see light. Everywhere, all around me, light flooding everything.

This can't be right.

I sit up faster than I should and knock heads with someone. I groan, leaning back on my elbows as someone braces my shoulders, and a voice says, "Jeez – relax, Ren! It's just me!"

"Who—?" I rub my forehead as my vision clears. I'm on a bridge – it's wrecked, the sides of it broken, entire chunks of it torn out. Naruto, sitting on his haunches, rubs his own forehead.

"Naruto," I say. "Why – where are we? This isn't Konoha."

Over my shoulder, Sakura peeks her head out and says, "Good – recognizing surroundings and speaking clearly. Those are good signs."

"Sakura," I say. Kakashi leans in and waves at me too. "Kakashi – this is – the genjutsu. Where's—"

"It's not a genjutsu," Sakura says. "I would have woken you up, Ren. Naruto might be useless, but Kakashi-sensei and I would have woken you up if you were in a genjutsu."

I stare at her in disbelief. "He – he let me go," I say quietly.

Sakura takes my hand and squeezes it. She smiles, a tear gathering at the corner of her eye. "He let us all go," she answers, her voice low. Sakura brings my hand to her chest and twines my fingers around hers. "He let us go."

She's so warm. It spreads throughout my whole body, waking me up. I clasp her wrist with my free hand, pulling myself up. My sudden movement surprises Sakura, who retreats.

"I'm sorry," I blurt. "I'm – sorry. For leaving. I'm sorry for not coming back sooner. I'm sorry—"

"No," Sakura says. "No more apologies. Let's just go home."

So we go home.

On the way, they tell me everything. They tell me about their training, about how their first mission together when Naruto returned was saving Gaara from being kidnapped by the Akatsuki. They tell me about how, when they saw me again for the first time, they couldn't believe it and spent the rest of the day talking about how Sasuke and I had changed, how we looked different, but how they knew – they still knew us. They still knew who we were. They stayed up that night and they dreamed about us. And then they kept running toward us.

I tell them about the bond, why I had gone after Sasuke all those times, why I stayed with him. I tell them about all my secrets, the way Sasuke and I lived under Orochimaru. They stay silent at first, but then Naruto grins at me.

"I knew there was a reason," he says. "You were always trying to protect all of us, Ren."

Naruto tells me about Sakura's excellence, how she'd figured out how to create a life-saving potion. Sakura tells me how Naruto had saved the village after it had been totally destroyed. She tells me about how the villagers had gathered around him, how they had finally acknowledged him and celebrated him.

"You should have seen it, Ren," Sakura says. "I wish you and Sasuke-kun could have both seen it."

I wish I could have seen it too. I wish I could have been there and held him with Sakura. I cling to Sakura's hand as we return to the village. She stays close to me, and finally I recognize the depth and breadth of her love. She walks with me to the Hokage's office, and she stands beside me as Kakashi determines my fate. With Danzo dead and Tsunade still incapacitated from the attack on the village, Kakashi is left as interim Hokage.

"Normally," he says, "we would have you stay with the interrogation squad while we determine where you stand. But you shared quite a bit of information on our way home. And I've seen your remorse, Ren. I believe you," he says, and Naruto and Sakura nod beside me. "I know you."

Their mercy is the final straw. I burst into tears, and Naruto and Sakura both reach for me and squeeze me between them. How can anyone stand it, all this love? I had run away, afraid of exactly this, believing that I could stop the pain by addressing the root of the cause, when all I needed was to learn what it was like to be loved. It would have healed the wound a hundred times over.

"You'll be assigned a minder instead," Kakashi says as someone knocks at his office door. "That is, we can't let you roam freely around the village after the three years you've spent as a rogue ninja. Your minder will make sure you get to your wellness checkups, your appointment with the interrogation squad, and that you get settled into temporary lodgings. You can come in now," Kakashi says, raising his voice.

The door opens. A flood of vibrations spill in and a tremor goes through my body at the familiarity of the frequencies. Before I even turn, I know who it is. I would recognize his chakra signature anywhere.

Shikamaru.