Vie

THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK ON CHAPTER ONE! Sniff. I love you guys! I appreciate every single comment and review... I read them all multiple times... I'm just that pathetic... uh-huh. Sniffle.

I'm sorry! It took me longer than I intended to finish Chapter 2 - I had a busy week, not to mention it took me a while to figure out exactly what I was gonna do with it. I had graduation and prom and blah blah blah... I have to go job-hunting and student-loan scrounging this week, but now that it's summer I can tell you for sure they'll be coming a bit faster.

This whole chapter is about the happenings inside Konoha! I wanted other characters to be in it, so now I'm working them in without really knowing what I'm going to do with them! Isn't that exciting! Oh yeah! Don't worry though! Chapter 3 gets back to Sasuke and Naruto! Just bear with me.

...I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Chapter 2: This Fragile Life

It was after dark when the genins finally arrived home to Konoha.They rode in on the makeshift stretchers of the medical ninja, their faces shielded by the jackets of others out of the rain. Jiraiya watched them rush through the city gates one after another from his position perched on the wall surrounding the city, toting an umbrella to shield him from the torrent of rain that was beginning to subside. Although no one had informed him yet of what had happened on the journey, he watched as the results of the journey filed in one after the other. Akimichi Chouji didn't seem all that bloody, but Jiraiya could guess that he had used the pills his family was famous for. His body probably couldn't take the strain. Using his judgement, he decided it might be difficult to recusitate him, and it may already be too late for that. Hyuuga Neji was suffering from multiple wounds that you could see were serious, including a hole that ran through his chest. The medical ninja ran him into the city with more haste than they had with Chouji. It wasn't likely that they would be able to save the Hyuuga boy at all. Jiraiya pursed his lips silently. Naruto would be upset if someone died. Either way, this entire group would likely be hearing lectures about what it meant to be a ninja. Death happened. That was a part of the job, as well as whole other aspect of life.

It stopped raining by the time the second party arrived, and Jiraiya had closed his umbrella and leaned it against the inside of the city wall. Inuzuka Kiba was carried in on a stretcher, half-concious as the boy stroked his dog's fur slowly. The two of them would be fine, but not so much as Nara Shikamaru, who came out of the forest walking without so much as a limp. A trio of medical ninja were still pleading with him to climb onto a stretcher so that they could take him to the hospital quickly to be treated, but Shikamaru ignored them. He walked of his own accord through the city gates, one hand hanging limply at his side while he silently examined his broken finger of the other. Both Jiraiya and Shikamaru knew together that he would be fine - likely the best one off out of the original team. The boy glanced up to meet the old man's gaze, and the Sannin nodded at him with a reassuring smile. In spite of the kind gesture, Shikamaru looked dejectedly away. Close at his heels, Temari and Kankurou came in without a scratch on them talking quietly to one another about how strong - but naieve leaf genin were. Jiraiya couldn't help but agree with them.

It was always in the most tragic ways that the young ones realized what it really was that they were getting themselves into. By the time they got that far, they had already given up most of their lives. It was hard for them to turn back to any other way of life. Jiraiya placed his head on his hand, his elbow on his knee which was propped against the city wall. He could feel his hair blowing out behind him by the cool, damp wind as he stood still and waited for the results that really mattered to him. It was heartless, but... He sighed.

He was worried, but he had faith in Naruto.

Rock Lee and Gaara of the Desert came in together, tired and bearing scrapes and bruises. Lee had chosen to walk rather than being on a stretcher - likely eager for a chance to gain the exercise - and Gaara had decided to walk beside him as well. His arms were crossed, his face was solemn and his posture was as neutral as ever while Lee beside him told him colourful stories about what he had been able to accomplish using hard work. He was in the middle of what appeared to be a particularly lengthy tale as he went through the gates and realized that he had actually ended up gaining nothing from that particular situation. Having ruined his own glory, Lee slouched and pouted for a moment, walking sloppily onward. Gaara turned to him slowly, offering a quiet suggestion that Jiraiya failed to hear from his position. As the boy from Sand continued walking, Lee straightened and ran to his new friend's side, crying "Gaara-san is so nice!"

Jiraiya didn't move from his position for several hours. Instead, he recieved several stares from those who patrolled the city walls. Everyone knew who he was... they just didn't understand why he was there, and they were too polite to ask. Jiraiya was 50 years old and understood what it meant to be patient. He stayed where he was and waited for his apprentice to return home, bearing unwavering faith that the boy would be fine.

...but his certainty failed when he saw Kakashi appear before the village, hopping down from a tree branch as the sun began to peak over the horison. He slowed to a stop before staring up at the doors for a long time and heaving a visible sigh.

"Kakashi!" Jiraiya called, straightening from his position and finally being able to move as he took to the edge of the wall and jumped down. Kakashi watched him in silence as several medical-ninja rushed past them, racing to assist those who had already returned to Konoha. Kakashi stared off after them, unable to face Jiraiya as he asked the inevitable question. "Where are they?"

"I can't tell you for sure," Kakashi replied at length. "...I think it's safe to assume that Sasuke succeeded in going to join Orochimaru."

Jiraiya nodded slowly, his face firm as he continued. "...and Naruto?"

"Naruto..." Kakashi murmured, closing his eye. "...I have no idea. But I think... he may have gone along with Sasuke."

"What?" Jiraiya leaned in order to look Kakashi in the eye. "Are you serious?"

Kakashi sighed. "We followed their trails to the Valley of the End. There was no one there, and it started to rain. There was nothing more we could do since we were unable to track their scents any further." Rather than pursuing that train of thought, Kakashi blew it off. "Anything could have happened between their departure and my arrival."

"...I see," Jiraiya murmured, straightening once more. "Did you survey the area?"

"Yes," Kakashi answered. "They had quite a fight there, it seems. But it was over."

Jiraiya hummed quietly to himself. He didn't want to doubt Kakashi - the man was a fantastic ninja. But Jiraiya knew in his gut that something else must have happened to Naruto. Why would he, bearing the Kyuubi, choose to walk straight into Orochimaru's grasp? The Legendary Sannin stroked his chin thoughtfully as he closed his eyes. "This is... worrisome."

"Indeed," Kakashi said, crossing his arms. He wasn't looking forward to telling Sakura.

"...so neither of them made it home...?" Tsunade confirmed, keeping a straight face as she washed her hands off in a nearby sink. It had been a huge burden off of her back when she was able to tell Shikamaru that everyone would be okay. She had planned to check with the hospital staff for Naruto's room when Kakashi intercepted her in the hallway. He didn't have to say anything for her to understand the situation based upon the look on his face. "It's alright, Kakashi. Like you said in the first place; it was my fault from the beginning for only sending genin out after him... but I had faith in Naruto. I'm sure that he fought with everything he had to take Sasuke home. These kids have proven to me today that they are a lot stronger than we give them credit for. They managed to prevail over Orochimaru's strongest." Tsunade sighed, straightening in her place. "Do you have any idea where they may have gone?"

"I believe Sasuke may have taken Naruto to Sound country," he replied quietly.

"Sound country..." Tsunade echoed, brushing her bangs from her face as she stared down at her feet. "That is an interesting assumption."

"They were together when we lost their trial - that is all the evidence I really have to go by." Kakashi folded his arms over his chest and closed his eye in thought. "The one thing is that - as far as I know - Sasuke wasn't aware that Naruto had the Kyuubi. I believe that would be the only reason for Orochimaru to be interested in Naruto... but I don't think that would have been enough for Sasuke."

"...Maybe Sasuke and Naruto got tired of fighting and chose to abandon both ends together?" Tsunade suggested with a smile.

The proposition seemed to surprise Kakashi, and he stared at her for a moment. "...I don't think Sasuke or Naruto would have been eager to do that."

"I think that if we've learned anything in this whole ordeal, Kakashi-san, it's that we don't know Sasuke quite as well as we would all like to believe, am I right?" Tsunade tilted her head to peer up at his face. "During the fight, Naruto may have told him he had the Kyuubi. Maybe Sasuke figured it out on his own. Everyone knows that the two of them need to sit down and talk out their problems. There are plenty of ways that Sasuke may have found out about the Kyuubi, and chose to bring his new master a gift." She sighed and stood up straight again, placing a hand on her hop. "Orochimaru is sick like that."

"I suppose anything could happen, but..." Kakashi sighed. Perhaps he didn't know his students as well has he would have liked to believe. He knew they had their problems that they had to overcome, but he also had faith that all of them would knew how to do the right thing in the end. He never would have guessed that Sasuke would have chosen the blood-strewn path of life. Kakashi had tried to teach the boy lessons about selfishness using himself as an example, but Sasuke had never been much of one for talking, and Kakashi had a hard time talking about himself. He wanted to believe that he had done his best to do the right thing... but now Sasuke was giving up his life and his body to Orochimaru. And now Naruto... "I like to think I knew him better than that."

"Everyone will always say those kinds of things about a person," she told him as she averted her gaze to stare down the hallway. "Be careful."

Kakashi turned to follow her gaze to see his student walking slowly up the hall, Sakura's hands folded shyly on her chest and her green eyes wide with concern as she watched them both.

"I can tell her," Tsunade murmured to Kakashi quietly enough to keep the girl from hearing.

"No, I should," Kakashi protested. "I am her teacher."

"I'm the Hokage," she reminded him playfully with an accompanying wink, but she failed to clear the air. "It doesn't matter either way; the news will be the same, and just as painful for her."

"I suppose... but I feel responsible," he confessed.

He murmured a quiet farewell over his shoulder as he turned and walked down the hall to meet the last remaining member of his team. Tsunade watched with a softening face as Sakura gazed up at Kakashi, concern on her face as she asked him the question of the day. With one hand in his pocket, Kakashi put his free arm on her shoulder and turned her around to walk her back down the hall. Sakura's bright eyes lingered on Tsunade's face for a moment as she turned, and the Hokage managed to bear the most supportive smile she could muster as the girl disappeared down the hall under Kakashi's supportive guidance. Tsunade was finally left to herself.

Turning, she placed her hands on her hips and turned to stare down at the other end of the hall. The sun shining through the windows as it drew to an afternoon height left a bright square shining on the tile floor. Everything was silent. It was peaceful... but all of Konoha would seem quiet now to those who had known Uzumaki Naruto. Until they found him, he wouldn't be playing ninja with Konohamaru, or getting into fights with Sasuke, or convincing his teachers to buy him ramen. The hokage closed her eyes and pondered a moment over whether the feeling might have been the same for Naruto without Sasuke.

You would never know just looking at him that Jiraiya was heartbroken. Naruto knew very well that his training had been far from over. Jiraiya had skills upon skills that he had been planning to teach the boy - but he was hurt over the thought that Naruto felt that Jiraiya's training wasn't worth coming home for. The Legendary Sannin sighed, sitting on a bench in the middle of Konoha, a foot resting on his knee as he stroked his chin in thought. If Tsunade were there, she probably would have told him that he wasn't worth coming home for.

...but Naruto was smart. He liked to believe that he could take on the world on his own, but he acknowledged that he didn't know how yet. That was why Jiraiya had helped him in the first place. He made a much better teacher than the closet-pervert that the genin would make fun of all the time. Not as if Jiraiya was much better, being called 'pervert hermit'.

Jiraiya put his foot down on the ground and stilled his hands firm against his knees as he stared off towards the ramen shop nearby. Konoha hadn't been Jiraiya's favorite place to begin with, and now the village seemed so silent... he could hardly imagine being able to stay there for very long at all. There were more important things for him to take care of now anyway. Inwardly, Jiraiya swore he would sacrifice his girl-watching in favor of sincere information gathering. There was something more going on than he knew, and he had to fill in those blank holes with research. Standing finally, Jiraiya brushed off his clothes and made his way toward the hospital to apologize and say goodbye to Tsunade. He had to take care of his student.

None of Naruto's friends knew how to react to the news. They had placed so much faith in the fact that Naruto would complete his mission, they didn't know what to think at the concept that he hadn't even made it home. Gaara, Temari, Kankurou, Lee, Kiba and Shikamaru all sat together in Kiba's hospital room as they waited for Neji and Chouji to regain conciousness as the chuunin stared down at his broken finger. Everyone exchanged silent glances while Lee jumped back and pointed accusatory at Gaara.

"You said Naruto would be fine!" He cried, his eyes filling with tears. "You lied to me, Gaara-san!"

"...this is unusual," Gaara commented, paying the shinobi no mind.

"Something big must have happened," Kiba said with a nod, appearing very awkward without Akamaru. The dog was with his sister and the bandages he wore constricted his movement. "That Sasuke guy must have... oh, uhhh... I don't know - knocked him out and sold him for slavery."

Shikamaru seemed to have a hard time believing it himself. He pursed his lips and stared at his hands.

"...or maybe he saw a chance to gain power for himself and took it," Temari proposed, a hand on her hip and a smirk on her lips.

"Don't joke about that!" Lee wailed.

"Naruto isn't that selfish," Shikamaru mumbled.

"Yeah," Kiba agreed. "The only reason he ever wanted to become stronger was to live up to Sasuke, and to become a better ninja so he could be Hokage."

"Jeez," Temari sighed. "I was only joking."

Tsunade had been standing outside the door, observing the ninja when she noticed Jiraiya walking down the hall towards her. She momentarily stopped paying attention to the conversation and turned her attention to the other Legendary Sannin and she asked the only question she needed answered. "What will you do?"

Jiraiya moved his mouth into something most people would assume was a smile. "I'm going to gather information," he replied.

"I thought so," she smiled back. "But I can tell you're serious this time."

"It's a better time than any," he said. "This time, I have a reason."

"How loyal of you," Tsunade chided. "I'm impressed."

"I didn't come here for your approval," Jiraiya said sharply. "I came here for your help."

Tsunade said nothing, but instead raised an eyebrow in question.

Jiraiya averted his eyes. "I never had a reason to ask you for help before - you never had anything I needed and you never would have given it to me anyway. Now, I've gone full-circle and have become Konoha's errand-boy again. Whether you agree with me or not, I must find my student, and I would like the help of Konoha if I need it - which I have the feeling I will."

Tsunade sighed dramatically, recieving an annoyed stare from Jiraiya. "I suppose..." She said, rolling her eyes. "The rescue or destruction of Sasuke is just another battle in the war. I don't see how this is any less relevant." She nodded finally, serious. "Of course I'll help you, Jiraiya. I want to see Naruto safe as badly as you do. I wish I could come myself."

Jiraiya nodded. "Thank you, old hag."

"You're welcome, pervert-hermit." Jiraiya's eyes shot up at her in a glare when she said that, but she paid no attention. "What kind of assistance were you looking for?"

"Well..." he sighed, scratching his chin as he recovered from the insult. "Right now, I can gather information on my own, but depending on how things turn out I may need assistance."

Tsunade nodded. "I already know a few people who would be eager to help you."

"Good, hold those thoughts," Jiraiya said, holding up a steady hand. "I'm counting on you to gather people for me while I go do my research. When I'm back I should be able to tell you more specifically who I might need. Right now I just need to go gather information. I don't know how long I will be gone."

"Well, Konoha isn't going anywhere. We still have to pick up the pieces from the battle with the Sand." Tsunade stepped forward, placing a hand on her partner's shoulder, recieving a curious look from the other Legendary Sannin. "We're counting on you, Jiraiya."

Jiraya glanced at Tsunade's hand before turning back to her and smiling. "I am, too," he replied before turning to depart from the hospital. "See you later."

"Good luck," she said, waving.

Inside the hospital room, the talking had fallen silent until Tsunade peeked her head back in to discover all of the room's residents had been eavesdropping.

"I WANT TO HELP, TOO!" Lee cried, the others in the group sharing the sentiment shortly after.

It was difficult, even when Kakashi could see it in her eyes that Sakura knew what he was going to say. Regardless, he had to say it anyway.

He told her quietly as he stared off into space as the two of them sat together on a small bench outside of the hospital. He had deliberately led her to sit on his left so he wouldn't seem quite so rude while avoiding her gaze. Her reaction wasn't unpredicted as she sniffed loudly. He could hear her shift as she raised a hand to wipe at her eyes. "...I see." She said, emitting a sound that almost sounded like a sharp laugh. She was weak; she was helpless... Kakashi could almost hear her thoughts as they ran through her head.

Sighing to himself, Kakashi placed a hand on the girl's head and ruffled her hair gently. "Don't blame yourself, Sakura-chan. There was nothing you could do."

"I asked him to go," Sakura sobbed, more openly now as she trembled gently under his hand. "I asked him to... to go bring Sasuke back... And... and now, because of me... because of me, they..."

"Don't think about it that way," he said, finally finding the courage to look at her as the tears ran down her face.

"I was never strong enough to keep up with them," she cried, burying her face in her hands. "It was just a matter of time before... they left me behind..."

"They didn't leave you behind, Sakura." Kakashi knew he had to be supportive - but he didn't know where to begin. "Sasuke chose to leave Konoha behind - all of Konoha. It wasn't just you. He had it in his head that all of Konoha was holding him back. No matter what you wished Sasuke would be to you, he was just a hate-filled individual bent on revenge. Revenge requires power, and he left Konoha to gain it. We all tried to stop him in any way we could - it was no one's fault. If you blame anyone, blame me. I did my best to drive the thought from his mind while we trained together, but I failed. When he left, I was too late to get to him in time."

"I watched him leave..." She sniffed. "...there was nothing I could do."

"Don't worry, Sakura," her teacher murmured reassuringly. "Sometimes I wonder about Sasuke, but Naruto would rather die trying before he let Sasuke leave Konoha to turn down that path."

"That's what I'm afraid of," she sighed, her voice descending into a whisper. "Kakashi-sensei..." She met his gaze before moving to clutch at his shirt. She buried her crying face into his shoulder as she unleashed her despair and helplessness. "Help me become stronger..."

Kakashi didn't know how to react to the situation, so he simply placed his free arm around her shoulder and rubbed her back reassuringly. He had never been a very emotional person, but he couldn't shake away his own loyalty to be rude enough to brush her away.

Naruto won't let his friends die.

Kakashi had already made up his mind when Tsunade found them, and she approached silently, her face silent with respect.

"Jiraiya is going to find them," she said.

Kakashi nodded slowly in response. "I would like to help him. Both of us - after I train Sakura."

Sakura's sobs relented a moment as she turned her eyes up to stare disbelievingly at her teacher.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him. "Konoha needs you right now, Kakashi-san."

"I know," Kakashi said. "I would like to request time to do so as soon as I possibly can..." He turned his eyes down to his student. "As long as that's okay with you, Sakura-chan."

"Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura sniffed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yes... Yes, I want to."

"Good," Kakashi nodded.