He slowly opened his eyes. The first sensations his mind perceived was the heat burning his skin. He found himself laying on the sand, looking at the shining sun. And next to him, two other shinobi were looking at him. He moved his torso up, shaking the sand out of his shirt.

The now dry sweat on his forehead had caused irritation on his skin due to the friction with his purple happuri, so he took it off. He glanced up to take a better look at the shinobi close to him, curious as to whether he had been captured or rescued.

Zaku was surprised to find the two surviving members of the Sound Four, a pink-haired girl and a boy with six arms. Seeing their tiredness through their faces, as well as their wounds, he did not require to ask any questions. He knew they had lost.

"Why are you still here?" Asked the boy who had just woken up.

"Well, Lord Orochimaru is dead, what else could we do?" Kidomaru replied, not even bothering to face the one who asked.

"So we figured we would at least recover as much survivors as possible, given that now the village has no leader." Tayuya explained further, while looking away at the horizon.

"Is there anyone else?" Asked once again the boy of the purple happuri.

"No, just us." Replied the girl, lowering her head. Her face expression was somber.

Zaku put his hands on his forehead and then moved them to his hair. He was startled by the news, and knew he had missed something big, maybe too big for their understanding. Lord Orochimaru died... Even though he was immortal?

"Wait, and why did Lord Orochimaru die? He said he couldn't!"

"I don't know. That kid, that monster, did it anyways." Explained the girl, once again. She was noticeably uncomfortable talking about it. She sighed, and shook her head. "Can we get going already?"

"Hmm. Yeah we better get going." Said Zaku as he finally stood up. He still would need to process all that information, but he admitted it was better to return to the village. And so, he stood up, shook the sand that had gotten into his pants, and followed the other sound-nin.

He wondered, what the destiny of their village, which had become the new home for many, would be. It was still quite young, compared to many other hidden villages, but many people that had been previously abandoned now lived in it. It could not just collapse, right?

Two silver haired men arrived at the mountain that marked the border with the Land of Wind. They had been looking for the squad sent by the Hokage to recover Sasuke from the enemy. However, they were unable to find them in the desert closest to the border. And so, to avoid tensions that could escalate into unwanted conflicts, the pair of jounin returned to the mountains.

One of them wore a blue haori on top of the traditional jounin uniform, while the only peculiarity of the other was his face mask. The sun was shining above them, intensely, which naturally made them more tired than usually. In the end, leaf-nin weren't used to such temperatures.

For shinobi of their level, climbing the mountains was barely a challenge. Even the menacing Wind Mountains were a challenge only for the lower ranked shinobi. The views, however, were always astounding. The contrast between the grasslands and forests of the Land of Fire and the empty deserts of the Land of Wind.

Yuichi had been thinking of their meeting with the members of the terrorist organization known as Akatsuki all through the search. One could have said he probably did not perform at his best while looking for the genin, but one could not blame him. He was certain of what he saw, and now all he could think of was figure things up.

Hatake was the first one to notice the resting group of leaf-nin on their side of the mountain, as the jounin were descending. He was surprised, but at the same time relieved, when he saw them. However, he was yet to find out about the failure.

"They're here."

Senju snapped out of his thoughts to see the lost squad. He nodded and jumped towards them. Kakashi stayed back, trying to make sure from afar that everyone was there, but it didn't take long for him to identify at least four missing.

Around two hours later, the remaining members of the squad finally arrived at the main gates of the village. Neji was helping Kiba walk, as he was seemingly tired and clearly injured. Next to them, Tenten held the small Akamaru in her arms, as the dog had fallen asleep. Shikamaru had his hands inside his pockets, and his head lowered. He had less severe injuries compared to the rest.

Behind the, two jounin also crossed the gates. However, they quickly continued their way through the main street of the village, as they were heading for the Hokage tower.

Lee rushed for his teammates, being followed by a still concerned Hinata. The former received the tired Kiba, to give Hyuga a bit of a rest from carrying him. The shy girl checked on her teammates, though her tears caught Inuzuka's attention.

Shikamaru finally raised his head, to face Ino. The girl knew something was wrong, especially as she was unable to find Chouji along with the rest. The boy of the ponytail shook his head after noticing the worried expression on the girl's face.

Yamanaka fell to her knees, as Nara once again lowered his head.

"What happened, Hinata?" Asked Kiba.

"It's..." Lee was the one to reply, as he figured the girl would not have the strength to explain the situation. "Naruto."

"What?!" Inuzuka was shocked, as they had only seen Gohan flying back towards the village.

Nara's eyes immediately snapped open. "Did Gohan take him here before us?"

"Yes." Replied Shiho, who stood next to the saddened Hinata. "He went directly to the hospital, ignoring us."

With that answer, the boy rushed for the hospital, being concerned about the blonde's health. None of the remaining members of the squad were aware of the results of the battles, other than the survival of the saiyan.

Sakura approached the group as she was unable to see a certain black-haired boy with them. Neji already knew what the question would be as the pink-haired got closer to them.

"And were you able to bring Sasuke back? I can't see him around."

"No, the end goal changed as he purposefully betrayed the village to join Orochimaru." Neji coldly explained.

Haruno was left speechless. She had seen the boy flee the village by himself, but she assumed he had at least been threatened and forced to do so. But now it was all clear, she now understood.

"And what happened with him?" Asked the girl.

"We don't know, Shikamaru and I just saw him and Orochimaru facing Naruto and Gohan before we left." Hyuga explained, shrugging after revealing all he knew. "Your best bet is asking Naruto or Gohan."

The pink-haired girl nodded, before running right behind Shikamaru, towards the hospital. As she left, Ino was still on her knees, looking at nothingness. She still hadn't been able to process everything she had just realized.

As Shikamaru and Sakura finally found the hospital room Naruto was in, they saw Gohan about to leave. Nara put his hand on the saiyan's chest to stop him, even pushing him back. He was serious, and stared at his teammate as he finally pulled his hand back.

"What happened to Naruto?" Sakura rushed into the room, finding her teammate covered in bandages and with serum being given to him through intubation. He was unconscious, and had an oxygen mask on his face.

Gohan sighed, not knowing himself what had happened. "He fought Sasuke, but he didn't win."

"He clearly didn't." Nara said as he sighed.

"Hinata thought he had died, and so did we." Explained Sakura, while standing next to the bed where the blonde boy was now resting. "He saw you with her byakugan and saw you were carrying Naruto."

"I was afraid, that's why I was in such a hurry." The saiyan explained. "I'm sorry for leaving you behind, but I couldn't let anyone else die."

Shikamaru lowered his face, which made the pink-haired girl confused. "We shouldn't have split up, we should've continued together."

"It's my fault, again. I could've told you to stay together, as I was the leader." Gohan replied. "And I wasn't raised here, so I should've been more focused on protecting everyone that completing the mission."

"What happened?" Asked Haruno, completely ignorant of the situation.

The boy of the ponytail looked away, and then approached the window. He was avoiding the conversation, trying to distract himself with the view of his village, the one his friend died for.

"Chouji..." The saiyan himself struggled to pronounce those words. His tongue seemed to refuse it altogether. However, his face said enough.

"Oh..." Replied the pink-haired girl as she figured. But before she could say anything, a nurse went into the room.

The young woman was wearing the usual white uniform medical shinobi wore inside the hospital, while carrying a clipboard. She turned to look at the teenagers inside the room and noticed the somber expressions. However, those were usual expressions she saw in the day to day life at the hospital, more than she would like.

"Son Gohan, the other patient is installed and stable in his respective room. If you wish, you can visit him already." The nurse explained before leaving the room.

"Another patient?" Asked Shikamaru after wiping his tears, while still looking out the window.

"Ah, yes," the saiyan was looking for the way to explain the situation without getting rough reactions, "I rescued another guy I found, he was abandoned and unconscious."

"But who else? We all made it back together."

"Well, just someone I think would be good to save."

"You didn't rescue a sound-nin, right?"

The saiyan turned around and left the room, heading left into the hallway. His silence confirmed Nara's suspicions, and he lowered his head. It was too much to handle and the day was just starting.

Sakura limited herself to checking on Naruto, while he was completely out. She wondered what could possibly have happened to him, and what would happen with Sasuke.

Once he arrived at the room, the saiyan grabbed the chair next to the bed and sat down. He rubbed his hands on his face, before finally checking on the white-haired boy. He was laying down on the bed, wearing the usual patient uniform for hospitals, but had no serum or oxygen mask.

Behind the black-haired boy, the same nurse was standing, checking her clipboard. She checked a table inside the room where several papers rested. She grabbed some and put them in her clipboard, and then finally headed for the exit.

"He is mostly fine, there is no need to keep him here for longer than an hour." She said, turning her head slightly while moving her hair out of the way. She wanted to glance at the saiyan, who glanced back. "We did find some blood inside his mouth and throat while checking, so we left some medicine on the table, as it may avoid a tragedy. Regarding your other friend, he will be under surveillance for these few days, to make sure he is improving. And that would be it."

Gohan could swear something in her blue eyes was off, but he could not find out more as the woman quickly left the room. And once again, he was left alone in the hospital room. He turned to see the white-haired boy, whose eyes were now open.

The saiyan even jumped back as he was taken by surprise, but the boy that was now resting remained completely serious and still.

"Why...? Why would you take me here?" Asked the boy.

"I saved you, no need to thank me!" Gohan forced a friendly smile into his face. "I felt no bad intentions in you, so I figured it wouldn't hurt anybody."

"You didn't save anyone, you gave me a worse death, if anything." He replied, his eyes closing once again out of disappointment.

The saiyan raised an eyebrow, not understanding where he got that information from. However, his previous line once again reappeared in his mind. "I think I'm missing some information here."

"Every shinobi is taught this type of stuff at the academy. Information is important, and even dead bodies have information. That is why there are always ANBU checking the battlefields. And if they get lucky enough, they might find a survivor to torture and get even more information than they would from a dead brain." The green-eyed boy explained.

"Ah... Well, I spent not more than a week at the academy, so I'm afraid I wasn't aware." Gohan once again put his hands on his face, realizing that he had probably just killed someone he intended to save.

"Who are you trying to trick?" He sighed, as if it did not really matter. He still refused to open his eyes. "I have failed Lord Orochimaru, yet again."

Gohan remained silent for a moment, before deciding to reply as the boy also did not say anymore words. "Whatever you mean, I don't think he knows..."

"Hm?"

"I killed him, as he killed my friend." He clenched his fists, while fury once again started to overcome him. But knowing it was not the moment, he managed to control himself. This had caused the boy to not only open his eyes, but sit on the bed.

"Stop trying to trick me. First you were at the academy only a week, and now you killed Lord Orochimaru? Don't you know he was immortal, he could change his body at will even when his old one was completely destroyed!" Kimimaro was visibly angered, as he felt he was being treated like an idiot. "This is the real world, these dumb lies are pathetic."

"I can't prove it to you, but I'm not lying." The saiyan said with a soft tone. "I'm sorry, I didn't know of what they could do to you. But I'll do my best to avoid it."

The boy once again laid back on the bed, not replying to Gohan.

"To be honest, I was interested in what you told me before." The saiyan finally admitted. "About the Hokage not being different from Orochimaru."

"I don't know you." He coldly replied.

"But you..."

"I have never seen you before." Kimimaro interrupted. "I don't even remember how I was knocked out, I'm just here..."

"Maybe I was mistaken then..."

Gohan stood up, and turned around. He was disappointed, but as he was about to cross the door, he was stopped by a voice.

"Did you really kill him?"

"Yes."

"Ah..."

"I'll be going now."

"Maybe I didn't say that but, just know that it's true."

Gohan's eyes snapped open, and as he glanced back, the boy nodded at him.

"You just need some experience and you should be able to notice, if it's true you spent such little time at the academy." Kimimaro explained.

The saiyan nodded, and then moved his sight back forward. "My name's Gohan, if you were curious. Son Gohan."

"Kimimaro."