Happy Ending

Chapter 13

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"You got to be kidding me!" Tsunade slammed her hand onto her desk, so furiously that it made one of the legs fell apart.

"You let one man get away! What if he tells the others! What if he had some important information he could tell us!" She glared at the blonde man who flinched at the tone of her voice. "This is unacceptable. What if he had information about you or your comrades? Your life could be in danger." With the last words, she bit her lower lip and glanced away. She was worried. Naruto may be very skilled, but he still had far to go, and he already had injuries on his arms, and small cuts all over his body.

She sighed and rubbed her temples. No matter how hard she screamed this argument wouldn't get anywhere. This wasn't the first time he had been in her office since the war started around two months ago. The boy may have grew up, but he still wasn't careful enough when it came to battles.

Naruto was looking down at the floor, bowing his head in shame. Never had he felt so useless. Noting good had happened this week and all he wanted was a shower and a bed. He was craving them more then nothing else right now.

Tsunade sighed again and waved her hand, mumbling "dismissed" under her breath.

He bowed politely and walked out from her office.

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This so-called war is nothing more then another sacrifice.

It feels that nothing good will come out of it, and that the ones who started it are too blind to see that. Or maybe they just don't want to see like that…

But for me it feels stupid and painful.

Rock Lee has already died because of this, saving Sakura as he did. He died with honor and we all know that we will never forget him.

Kakashi and Kiba are in the hospital. They have both manage to stay alive somehow, though Kiba's dog died, Akamaru. The veterinarian said they couldn't do anything for him, because they didn't have an antidote to the poison that was in him.

But we will keep moving. We will win this for all of them. I won't let anymore of this happen.

I won't allow it.

Uzumaki Naruto. 05 December.

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It was chilly outside. The wind was blowing, not making anything better.

Sakura clung to her coat, keeping her warmer compared to the cold weather while she looking down at the gravestone at the ground. It made her sad coming here, yet she couldn't stop.

She was grateful to be alive, yet she sometimes wished that she would've been the one who had taken the hit, not Lee.

She bit back a few tears. He was always so kind to her, and yet, she always treated him in a way that made him think that he had a chance with her, but in reality he never did. She just played with his feeling when she felt like it. And now it had come to this. He was dead and she couldn't do anything.

When she had started to train under Tsunade, she was doing it because she wanted to prove that she could take care of herself. But this just proved the opposite. If she had watched her back this would never have happen, he would still be alive if she had just...

She wiped away the tears on her cheeks; she hadn't even noticed them running down her face. Even if a Shinobi wasn't supposed to show any emotions, she couldn't help it. It all felt that this was her fault, all her fault.

"Sakura-kun, isn't it?"

Sakura turned around, smiling as much as she could while she watched as the one woke had spoken approached.

"Neji-san." The boy nodded, hands in his pockets. He looked at her red face, as well as her puffy eyes.

She looked like she was freezing but he shrugged the thought off and looked at the grave.

"You have been here almost everyday visiting."

She looked down at the grave as well, smiling sadly.

"I want to show my thanks in some way." She whispered.

Neji looked at her from the corner of his eye. She really was the type who blamed everything on herself, and from what he had heard about her she had been having some rough times with her mom and so on.

He didn't like to know too much about people he barely knew.

"Don't blame everything on yourself." When he saw that her eyes were on him, he continued. "It was his decision, and even if you wished that it had ended up different, life doesn't repeat itself. And I don't think Lee would rest happily if you blame everything on yourself." Neji tossed a flower, which had been in his pocket, on the grave- but just as the flower was about to hit the ground the wind carried it away.

"Lee was never the person who acted without thinking."

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Kakashi didn't know what bothered him the most, the boy beside him or the fact that he couldn't find his book.

He glanced over at Sasuke, his sharingan eye closed. Even if Sasuke came everyday, well almost everyday, he didn't speak much and he didn't offer to help or even ask if Kakashi needed something. He mostly sat there doing nothing, just crossing his arms and staring out of the hospital window.

But Kakashi didn't question him, why should he anyway? Maybe Sasuke just came here because he was worried about his old teacher? Kakashi started to giggle, making the other glance his way, raising an eyebrow.

Kakashi waved it off and smiled through his mask at his old student.

"I don't know what you're thinking about... But whatever it is, don't tell me." Sasuke said under his breath and gave Kakashi a look that said 'pervert'.

"Aww, Sasuke-kun! What do you think of me?" Kakashi made dramatic movements with his arms; he needed to get out of this boring hospital soon. It was driving him crazy.

"But either way, I want to know what you're thinking." Kakashi said, once he had calmed down and cleared his throat.

Sasuke sighed, turning his face away from his teacher, and said nothing.

"I know something is on your young mind, you just don't know how to tell me."

"Well…" Sasuke started and sighed again. Finally that idiot had asked what was wrong.

"Yes?" Kakashi answered happily. His mind was screaming 'Yes, Gossip!'

Sasuke moved uncomfortable in the chair, he didn't like hospitals, they could change people.

"It's about the idiot." Sasuke said biting his lower lip. Should he really call Naruto that? Yeah, he should. He is still a idiot no matter what happens between them.

Kakashi eyed the boy with interest. It wasn't everyday the Uchiha boy was lost in the world of thought. Sasuke sensed the other staring and continued, deciding to ignore the fact that he had spaced out.

"I don't know what to do about him anymore." Judging by the look he got he continued. "He reacts more to what have happen then anyone else. I try to talk to him but he gives one of those smiles and changes the topic."

Kakashi scratched his chin while looking at Sasuke. It was true that Naruto could react very strongly when it came to things like this. No one liked war, no one wanted it either. It's wouldn't surprise Kakashi if Naruto thought that Lee's death was his fault and that some of his actions may have caused one or another to get hurt or worse, die.

It didn't matter if Naruto knew a person or not. If he saw someone die, he would blame himself for not being able to do anything. And if he had heard correctly from Shizune, Tsunade hadn't been all too nice to him either.

Noticing that Sasuke was watching him, he smiled sadly and said, "Oh, what to do? Make him look at the bright side, why don't you?"

What Kakashi wouldn't do right now to walk out of this stupid hospital…

Sasuke frowned and stood up.

"It's not easy when all this is going on." Sasuke walked to the door and opened it, ready to walk out. "Take care." He said over his shoulder.

"Sasuke." Kakashi said from the bed, just when Sasuke was about to close the door.

"When he 'lost' you, he did everything to get you back. Right now, he is doing everything to save this village and everything in it."

Without saying anything, Sasuke closed the door.

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"Don't give me that face, Uzumaki."

Naruto looked at his friend with tired blue eyes, raising an eyebrow.

"I said, don't give me that face." Kiba repeated and continued to look at the wall. He had been starring at it ever since Naruto had walked into the room. He hadn't greeted him or anything.

"What do you-"

"You know darn well! That look you have now, it's not you." Kiba bit his lower lip and closed his eyes. He felt a headache coming.

"It's wasn't your fault. Why do you even think that everything is your fault?" He whispered out. He sounded, well, almost sad when he whispered that.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

After he left Tsunade he didn't head home, he went to the hospital instead. He wanted to see Kiba and how he was, but he didn't want them to act like this. Was Kiba angry at Naruto because he couldn't save Akamaru…? Yes, he must be angry. No, furious. But if he was, he didn't show it.

"Didn't you hear me?" Naruto jumped in his char. If he could, he would want to face his friend, but it didn't seem that he wanted that.

"It wasn't your fault. Nobody's death was your fault."

Naruto opened his mouth. He wanted to say something. Anything would be fine! But his words didn't want to leave his throat. So, instead he looked down at the floor in shame.

It didn't matter to him what anyone said. He should have been the one jumping, saving Sakura, not Lee. If he had just had paid attention, then he would be alive.

Kiba wouldn't have been hurt either if he had acted quick or had not been playing around with the enemy. Even his dog would be alive if he had just blocked that attack.

Naruto swallowed back the tears that felt like coming through his tired eyes. Right now tears were the last thing he wanted to have to deal with, he didn't need to bother with them.

"You don't know when to stop thinking, do you?" He heard Kiba say softly to him.

He moved his head, so that he would be able to look at Kiba on the bed. His mouth fell as he did. He looked into lifeless eyes. It was if like Kiba was looking, but at the same time he didn't. His eyes were just blank, not showing an emotion or anything.

"Listen to me, Naruto." Kiba smiled at him. Naruto leaned back in the chair, not taking his eyes off Kiba's.

"It's not your fault. Do you understand me?" Naruto didn't respond, he didn't even nod. He was paralyzed by Kiba's eyes at the moment to even register what he had said.

Kiba chuckled and the other boy couldn't help but blush in shame. He shouldn't have been staring.

"I guess you are looking at my eyes? Well, I'm blind now after all, so they must look funny." Kiba smiled at him.

Naruto's mouth formed into a 'o'.

"How?" He breathed out.

Kiba turned his face so that he was staring down at the blanket in his bed, still smiling, but with a hint of sadness in it.

"It happened in the fight. But don't worry. Thanks to my nose I can smell people's fear, presence and more. The eyes aren't the only thing a ninja should use after all."

Naruto didn't know what to say. He couldn't take this anymore. He could get away with a few scratches and he had Kyuubi to heal him and all. But his friends… He had never felt so useless before.

The blonde boy stood up from his chair, making it fall to the floor as he did and walked fast to the door. He needed to get out of here.

"I'll come back." He said while walking out and closed the door.

As soon at it was closed he leaned against it and breathed heavily. He had never hated himself this much before. Why couldn't he do anything?

It's not your fault.

It must be a lie. It had to be. He knew it was his fault, so why did Kiba lie to him by telling him it wasn't? Weren't they supposed to be friends?

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked with the person in front of him with tearful eyes.

Without thinking he ran towards Sasuke and took his arms around him.

Sasuke looked down on the sobbing figure in his arms, before he returned the hug. Many nurses and doctors that walked by glanced at them, but he didn't care.

"Let's go home, Naruto." He whispered softly into the younger boy's ear. The boy in Sasuke's arms nodded softly in response, before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Maybe he should have gone home to get some sleep after all.

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To be continued

A crappy chappy. Many cliff-changers. Oh, what to do?

Thanks to Daitai Otonashii Ookami for beta'd.