Chapter 3.0 - Friends again and the rising menace.

Sasuke is following the light that his other self has turned into. As he
walks, pictures of his parents talking float up into view. They appear to be
talking about him, but he is not really sure what they are saying. He
remembers this as a conversation his parents had alone when he was up late.
He
can't hear their voices, however. As he walks toward them, they begin to fade
and he hears the voices of Sakura and Ino calling for him. He calls back,
saying he is coming, and opens his eyes. He is in a propped up bed, and
Sakura
and Ino are directly across from him. When Ino sees that he is awake, she
yells "Sasuke-chan!!" and nearly jumps on him but stops herself once she sees
how much pain he is in. Sakura asks him if he is okay. Sasuke doesn't say
anything, and then asks how long he has been out. Ino replies that he and
Naruto have been knocked out for some time, and they are the last ones still
in the intensive care section. Sasuke then says out loud that he saw them.
Sakura asks who? Sasuke says he saw his parents talking about him in private,
for the first time, and he can't really remember what they said since in the
memory he saw he could not hear their voices. Now that he thinks about it,
however, he doesn't really need to know what they said, since he can take a
good guess about it know. He remembers now how after he did the Uchiha
fireball skill for the first time, his father smiled when he had his back
turned to him. His mother always spoke with pride about him. And his brother,
for the first time, was so jealous of him that he let him live. He had not
read about "it" back then, so his parents were proud of him that he was
becoming strong on his own, and not due to some legend of fate. As he says
all
of this, Sasuke smiles a deep smile of peace and a tear falls down his face
as
he finally realizes what his parents said of him. He quickly wipes it off,
toughens up, and then laughs out loud, saying that will not let him down
and freaking out Ino and Sakura. He then smiles a confident grin and says
that
he will get strong his own way, how his parents wanted him to, and beat his
brother that way. Ino is shocked by what has just happened, but Sakura smiles
to herself, thinking that the feeling of revenge is beginning to leave Sasuke
and confident that he will make a recovery. He then surprises them both by
asking to speak to Naruto if he is up. They both try to downplay such a thing,
but he insists, saying he will not be satisfied until he has spoken to
Naruto. They then hear noise that sounds like Naruto and someone else
yelling.
Ino runs over there and tells them that Sasuke wishes to speak to Naruto. A
few minutes later, Ino comes back with the rest of the Genins who went to see
Naruto and Jiraiya yell at each other (the team, Lee, Tenten), Jiraiya,
Hinata, and finally, Naruto supported by Gaara. Sasuke is shocked at how badly
hurt Naruto is, and Naruto, reading his mind, laughs that it can't be all
that bad. Sasuke looks down and says that he is sorry that he tried to kill
him. Naruto looks surprised, then laughs, saying that there is nothing much to
apologize for, since now Sasuke has seen the truth. Sasuke looks up surprised.
Naruto asks him if they are still best friends, and grinning, Sasuke agrees
and they hit hands together, while everyone around looks relieved that they
are friends again. While the genins are celebrating in Sasuke's room, Jiraiya, smiling,
slips out of the room and quietly makes his way to the Hokage's Office.

A dark room - Somewhere in Orochimaru's place.

A blood-curling scream is heard. Kabuto rushes into a room to find Orochimaru
standing up straight and slightly shaking. He asks what is wrong. Orochimaru
says that it is gone. His link to Sasuke-kun is gone. Driven out by a force of
fire. Kabuto looks puzzled, and then gets shocked as he feels Orochimaru's
hate rising. "He will pay," Orochimaru says. Kabuto starts sweating in fear.
"He will!! UZUMAKI NARUTO!!!"

Leaf Village - The Hokage's Office

Tsunade, the Village Elders, and members of the Sand Council are in a meeting.
They look up as Jiraiya enters, and he announces that both Naruto and Sasuke
are up. Tsunade says that is good, and asks when will they be able to get back
out on missions. Jiraiya says that by tomorrow both will want to get moving.
Kakashi enters at that point, and confirms that Orochimaru's Elite Four and
the fifth have been eliminated by the Genins. The Leaf Elders says that is
good, but this time, Orochimaru will turn to another country for aid. The Sand
said that they already have some spies in the Rock and Cloud Countries.
Tsunade says that this has been confirmed by the ANBU, who are also out.
Jiraiya says that there has been some movement on the border with the Sound
nation. Tsunade then turns to Kakashi, and tells him to begin assembling a
team to go on a mission into the Sound Country. They will leave in three days....

That's all for now. Check in next time when Naruto and gang get out of the
hospital and Kakashi starts to assemble the team for the mission.
Chapter 3.1 - Looking back and forward.